//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Locked In and Checking In // Story: World of Chaos // by ugugg93 //------------------------------// The trip to Xavier City didn't take as long as Applejack had suspected, their pace much swifter than it was when it was just Pinkie and herself. While before, in Sarlaka's domain, the pair had been traveling on very rough trails that appeared to be very seldom used, Xavier's domain had much better roadways and had passed many random ponies going about their daily work. Even a day's travel outside the capital, cobblestone roads were the norm, while in every other nation, even in Equestria before, the government merely maintained the dirt trails that individual ponies had forged through repetitive use over generations. While the hard stone was starting to make her hooves sore from the constant impacts, Applejack had to admit that it was a far more efficient way to travel. In fact, in just a day's time, the group of four ponies had traveled as far as Applejack and Pinkie had traveled in twice that time in Sarlaka's domain. Because of this, Xavier City was now in view. Situated on the top of a massive hill, the city was easily as large as Canterlot in terms of land area. The walls of the city stood tall, rising at least as high as the majority of the buildings inside, and were made of the same kind of gray stone that the border checkpoint structure was. There was a single gatehouse, much wider and more fortified than the checkpoint's, which remained open for any ponies who wished to enter or exit the urban center. Applejack saw several guards standing at the gate, though the walls themselves looked lightly defended. Inside the walls, most of the closest buildings were obscured by the wall protecting them, but many of the farther ones, being situated higher on the hill, had their tops visible. Starting to sense a theme, the buildings all appeared to be made of the same gray stone as the walls protecting them. Adorning the tops of these buildings, a gentle sloping roof with an earthy-red color was another trait shared by most of the structures inside. The earth pony nearly winced at the irony of the ordered and regular fashion of the metropolis, despite the world it was in. There were two exceptions to these rules. The first, was easily the most curious building that Applejack had ever seen. Standing halfway up the hill, a blinding yellow building, coated with random splotches of deep blue poka-dots, stood at least twice the height as the rest of the buildings around it. Topping the structure, a bright green “W” shaped roof stood, creating an even greater eyesore against the blue of the sky. As for the shape of the abomination itself, it was also one of the most unusual that Applejack had ever seen. Instead of a squared structure, Applejack could tell, even at this distance, the outside walls had dozens of angles, creating a shape that she couldn't begin to describe other than saying it was “weird.” The second building that stood out from the norm was at the top of the massive hill that the city was situated on. This building was, unsurprisingly, made from the same material that every single other building was made of, the boring gray stone. This place had all the signs of a citadel, with massive towers, large walls surrounding it, and, Applejack assumed, scores of guards. The quartet of ponies continued their march towards the city, a silent cloud cast over the group. At first, the guards tried to talk to the mares, but Applejack had begun to realize in short time that most of the questions seemed to focus on their business in this domain, what kind of influence the Pie family had, and why would the two travel without proper guard. Knowing herself that she couldn't lie to save her life, she had decided to stay silent on all matters, while Pinkie only answered one or two, with all the others responded with just a dignified giggle. The orange earth pony was getting uneasy, and knew that this hoax could only last for so long. Finally reaching the gate, the four ponies quickly made their way inside the bottleneck, and into main street. Going along this main path, Applejack truly realized how large this stone city really was. Granted, the city couldn't hold a candle to Manehattan from the past, but compared to Conflound, this city was colossal. Ponies everywhere crowded the streets vying for attention, whether they were trying to sell their crops at market, begging passing ponies for a few coins, street peddling with music, or even just chatting with a longtime friend. It wouldn't have been as unnerving to Applejack if so many of the earthy colored ponies, browns and grays being the most common, weren't staring at Pinkie Pie so much. The orange mare silently thanked the princesses for the guardponies that flanked then in the front and rear, keeping the bystanders at bay. Slowly but surely, the group of earth ponies made their way up the hill, past the slums that were near the gate entrance, until they hit a second set of gates. Unlike the outer ring, which was perpetually open to visitors, these gates were shut, filtering access to the other side to only the wealthiest and most influential ponies. With their pair of escort guards at hand, it only took a few quick words and the flash of official papers to have the gate opened for the group. Inside the inner wall, the city seemed to open up completely. The gray stone was still present, but there were many cases where the large buildings were trimmed with a much whiter stone, possibly marble or granite. The estates in this section of the city were enormous compared to the outer section, most being twice as large as the house that Applejack lived in and her barn combined. Even in the cramped confines of the city, vast fields of almost unnaturally green grasses lined the sides of the road, providing a sense of nature in the core of the metropolis. On almost every single estate, there were at least two ponies working the gardens, making sure the flowers growing within stayed in peak condition. If one were to take away the background sight of the intimidating walls, one could imagine being in the countryside again. Deeper the mares were driven into the metropolis, until they stood at the very reason that this whole city existed in the first place, the citadel. If the building looked imposing before, this monstrosity of a building truly dwarfed everything around it. Another set of walls surrounded the castle, serving as a final line of defense in case an attacker somehow made it this far into the city. All along the walls and the castle itself, small “windows” two hoofs tall and only about four inches wide marred the outside of the otherwise pristine facade, though Applejack didn't know what their purpose was for. Reaching the gatehouse, the group are stopped by both a closed gate, and a set of four pegasi. While their colors are varying shades of gray and black, the one thing that stood out was their armor. Unlike the guards that they had come across before, who's armor was made to match their coat color, this armor was colored a deep blue, almost the same color as Rarity's eyes. The metal plate was trimmed with a white hue, further drawing attention to the armored ponies. Emblazoned on the chest-pieces was a symbol depicting an earth pony next to two others, and while the details of the pony were hard to make out, one certainty was that this creature wasn't a pony of any race she knew. While bone structure and stature showed that he appeared to be an earth pony, he was unnaturally massive, even compared to Big Mac himself, and seemed to be covered in something other than fur, though it was hard to tell from the emblem alone. “What is your purpose here, soldiers?” One of the guards at the gate spoke, his voice deeper than his physique, which was quite average, would suggest. “Captain Attend of the Equis Border Crossing has requested that these two see our Lord Xavier. He says that this one,” the guard that Applejack learned before was named Adam said as he pointed at Pinkie, “is the daughter of the noble Pie family in the Equis Domain. She says she was sent by the dragon Lord Sarlaka for a mission of some kind.” “I see... did she mention what kind of mission?” “No she did not. Her servant pony here says that 'their business is their own.'” All eyes tuned towards Applejack and Pinkie. While Pinkie had the most relaxed smile one could ever have, Applejack was doing her best not to freak out at the situation at hand. With a soft giggle, Pinkie spoke, “I apologize for the misunderstanding that befell our two parties at your encampment yesterday, but when my most humble and diligent of servants, Miss Jack, said our business was our own, she merely intended to express that the mission we are on comes directly from our lord himself, and he would be ever so disappointed in my family if I were to divulge the contents to just anypony, no matter what rank they hold in your military force.” The blue-armored guard nodded, “I see. Well, if Captain Attend says these two are alright, then we'll set up a meeting, though I must insist that you leave your saddlebags, and any other equipment you have, with us.” Before Applejack could begin to protest, Pinkie spoke one more in that shrill noble voice of her's, “Oh that is quite satisfactory my wonderful gentlecolt. Neither of us has anything to hide.” Giving a emotionless nod, the blue armored guard motions to two of his similarly equipped companions. Walking over to the mares, they quickly undo the straps of both of their saddlebags, carefully pulling the two sets of bags off of the backs of the ponies, and take them away to rooms unknown. Satisfied, the guard that Applejack and Pinkie were talking to gave a nod, turned, and with a gesture of a wing, motioned the pair to follow him inside. Not missing a beat, Pinkie started to walk, a surprising amount of grace and poise in her careful steps, while Applejack just walked along as she always did, while five other guards flanked the group on all sides. Behind her, Applejack once again heard the closing of their escape route, the portcullis of the main exit sealing itself shut. The citadel, while imposing in a military sense on the outside of the structure, was impressive on a whole different level in the inside halls. The dull gray stone was replaced with shades of marble and gold on every surface. The floor was shined to a perfect finish, so that if Applejack looked down, she could perfectly see her reflection in the polished stone tile. The walls were carved by experts hooves, the common theme of feathers adorned every single empty space on the walls. Where there was a spot to fit one, a painting of various ponies, most of them wearing some kind of weaponry, armor, or both, hung from the wall. Upon the ceiling, the designs of feathers were just as numerous, except in various spots, where the marble was kept smooth. In these bare locations, massive murals were created depicting battles, though half a dozen showed Discord in various positive states. On the floor of the various rooms that the ponies went through, perfectly stitched rugs covered the floors, cushioning the echoing steps of hooves on stone. The furniture in the rooms were just as exquisite, with posh chairs, tables, and other over the top decorations all giving the feel of a vast wealth. Up above, hanging from the vaulted ceilings, massive chandeliers flickered with unnaturally bright light for the candles they held, possibly through either magic, or just the design of the ceiling augmenting the normally soft glow of the lit flames. While Sarlaka's lair was fit for a king, this placed seemed like it was fit for a god. Finally, after walking for what seemed like forever, the group of eight ponies reached a massive throne room. The room was decorated exactly the same as the others, except that everything seemed bigger than it should by just a little bit, to which Applejack realized was meant to make the visitors feel smaller. On the other side of the hall, the two massive tapestries hung against the back walls, muffling the echo the stone chamber would normally give off. The pair of art both depicted massive battles in a little too much detail. The one on the left depicted an army besieging a city strangely familiar to the one that they were present in right now. The the one on the right showed the same feathered pony that is on all the guard's seals holding out his hoof to Discord, who was smiling as he shook it. Behind the depicted pair, a massive fire has erupted in what looks like a different city, though the eventual fate of the city couldn't be determined. The throne itself... Had a very familiar feathered pony sitting upon it. If Applejack had eaten anytime recently, she was certain that she would've upchucked it all. The... thing... that was sitting in front of her was not even close to resembling the pony in all the murals, tapestries, and statues that she had seen. In the art, it depicted an extremely large, strong, and, all things considered, handsome pony, the brown feathers adoring most of its body where fur would normally be. Its mane was a nearly sparkling silver, while its tail was closer to that of a falcon's than a pony's, though the color was the same as his mane. The creature before the eight ponies, instead, was every definition of an abomination that one could think of. The dark brown feathers had lost their shine, now looking closer to the color of dirt or fresh manure than anything else. Furthermore, these dirt colored feathers were obviously falling out in large quantities, for there were several bald patches where feathers should have been. While the mane of this pony was still in decent shape, his tail looked closer to a naked chicken's tail now than a proud falcon. His mouth was a cross between a beak and a muzzle, mixing in a terrible way that even the most creative Nightmare Night storytellers couldn't imagine. Finally, his hooves were in terrible condition, looking as though he galloped thirty miles through jagged rocks. The creature stood itself onto his four hooves, and made his way towards the mares. While Applejack was sure the raised platform the throne room was to blame for him appearing to be at least three times her height, he was still at least as large as Princess Celestia was. Applejack merely watched as the feathered pony made his way towards Pinkie and herself. Initially, he said nothing, simply circling the two mares as he looked at them. Even though recently she had been inspected like this several times in the past few days, something about the way he looked at the two felt... terribly wrong. Finally, as he circled behind them, he spoke, “For a noble, you wear very little jewelry.” “As do you, my good Lord,” Pinkie replied without a moment of hesitation, not even looking back towards the stallion. “But if you must know, I did not feel it wise to bring valuables with me on this journey.” He circled back around to their right, his pace was painfully slow, “Maybe, but most nobles I have met from Sarlaka's realm seek to gloat their fortune in the most... grotesque ways.” “Well I am not certainly not like most nobles; I like to think of myself as my own pony.” “Is that why you have such a... curious tattoo adorning your flanks?” Applejack felt the molesting eyes fixate themselves on her rear as Pinkie continued in an unwavering voice, “It is tradition in my family to have their special talent adorning their side as such; a rite of passage into adulthood if you will. Mine is my ability to bring life to any party my family might put on.” “Three balloons is an interesting way for a noble to signify a party.” “Like I said, I like to think of myself as my own pony. Besides, just because I have balloons signifying a party doesn't mean I would demean myself to such levels. And before you ask, Miss Jack's family has been serving the mine for generations, and find it an honor to partake in the same ritual, as her special talent is her ability to... make the best apple dishes.” “I'm sure...” Pinkie finally looked at the stallion, and narrowed her eyes, “If you are insinuating that I am lying to you about my status, I would have you know that I find such allegations quite insulting. Besides,” Pinkie pointed a hoof at her side, “do you really think a member of the rabble could afford this much dye on a regular basis?” The brown pony stopped, and let out a laugh, “I guess not! And what a luscious color you have chosen my fair lady. I do apologize for my behavior, Miss...” “Pie.” “Miss Pie. My name is Lord Xavier the Conqueror. Welcome to my home. I hope that you find your stay to your liking.” Applejack's ears perked at the last sentence, “Wait... our stay? Ah already told tha guards tha' we gotta be on our way!” “And you will be my dear mares! However, I do insist that you two eat with me at dinner, and stay the night.” He lowered his voice at least an octave, “I insist.” Pinkie replied, “But my good lord, we must be moving on. I simply must request that-” He held up a cracked hoof, silencing her, “I will say again... I... insist...” Applejack felt the presence of another pony behind her. Spinning her head around, she came face to face with one of the dozen guard pegasi that seemed to appeared out of nowhere. Out of options, Applejack looked at Lord Xavier with narrowed eyes, “Fine... one night...” He ignored the tone in her voice as he started to walk out of the hall towards a door behind him, his voice returning to its normal pitch, “Splendid! Dinner will be in an hour. I hope you two brought your appetites...” he turned, and smiled a devilish smile, “I know I certainly will...” ______________________________________________________________________________________ “I don't know...” “Oh come on! You won the race, and I know for a fact you want a nice bed to stay in more than anything! Don't lie to me!” “Umm... well...” Even with night already falling an hour ago, Fluttershy saw Rainbow's eyes roll as she sighed in frustration. Ever since the race yesterday, Rainbow had been going on and on about how she had gotten a wing cramp halfway through the race, and that was the only reason she had lost. Well, that, and the fact that Rainbow claimed to have had to make a fairly large and time consuming evasive maneuver when a dozen tree sized objects came screaming towards her from the wall below, though Fluttershy didn't see it happen. Being polite to both of these facts, Fluttershy of course had tried to have the prize that Rainbow promised for the winner nullified, but her prismatic friend refused to have any of the sort. As Rainbow had put it, “Stuff like this happens in races, and it doesn't matter. You won fair and square, so you are getting your prize.” Fluttershy sighed, now fully understanding what kind of consequences even winning would have from Rainbow. Refusing to merely settle on some 'lame' gift for Fluttershy, Rainbow had held off on telling her what she was going to give her for her prize. However, today, Rainbow had started to get excited for various reasons. For starters, The pair had finally made it to the small town just outside of the location indicated where the Element of Kindness was on their maps. The yellow mare wasn't going to lie, the thought of finally landing on solid ground, and not taking flight for several hours appealed to her. However, what Rainbow had planned now was NOT what she had in mind. Far below the pair, a two story wooden building sat on the corner of, what Rainbow said she had determined to be, two very seldom traveled roads near the border of the town. Indeed, while the pair had been scouting the site, they had not seen more than a couple dozen ponies going down these roads in the last thirty minutes, while the rest of town was abuzz with activity. It was because of this seclusion that Rainbow had stated that she wished to repay Fluttershy: by giving her a proper night's rest and relaxation in an actual bed. In any other situation, the gesture would've been... nice, but here, where any one of those mean ponies would... hurt the two of them if they knew they were pegasi, Fluttershy was scared. “Well?” “But... what if we are seen...” “Come on, Fluttershy! There's nopony around at all, and this place is perfect for what we want. Do you want to spend another night in a weird cotton candy cloud?” Recalling the horribly unpleasant experience and stickiness that had brought the night they made that mistake, Fluttershy was slowly relenting, “Oh... I don't know...” “Besides, we're going to be wearing disguises,” Rainbow smiled. The yellow mare's eyes darted towards Rainbow, meeting her eyes, confusion filling her own, “Wh... what? Disguises?” “Yeah! Disguises!” Rainbow smiled as she searched through one of her saddlebags. Fluttershy watched as Rainbow's multicolored mane bounced slightly, covering her eyes as she dug through her saddlebags. Watching her beautiful friend, she noticed that her fur was slightly darker than normal, no longer the vibrantly bright cyan that Fluttershy remembered. The chromatic mane and tail, while still displaying the many colors with pride, was starting to blur with each other, no longer separated by hard lines. Looking down at herself, she saw that her own bright yellow coat no longer held its shine, but instead was dull, the yellow turning into more of ochre, the brown of dirt and grime starting to show more and more. She didn't even want to look at the condition her precious mane and tail were in. All she needed to know is that they looked like hell, and needed a shower... or bath... or at least a good hosing down. Bad. Already making her decision, Fluttershy decided to allow Rainbow to have her victory anyways. Waiting patiently, Rainbow finally pulled out a large, light brown cloak. Smiling, Rainbow handed Fluttershy the garment, and reached into her saddlebags again, and after only a moment this time, pulled out a second cloak, identical to the first. They were almost perfect copies of the one that Zecora typically wore back before Ponyville grew to trust her, the only exception to it being was that it was slightly longer, coming down, most likely, to Fluttershy's hooves and partially covering her tail. “I packed these babies knowing that we probably would have to go into town for whatever reason while we were here, so hey, if we can't show our our wings, as absolutely awesome as they are, then we should use these to cover them up, ya know?” Rainbow smiled at Fluttershy. Looking at the cloak laid across her hooves, she couldn't deny that she was impressed by Rainbow's foresight, “Wow... oh, this is just perfect Rainbow!” “Yeah... I'm kinda awesome like that, aren't I” Fluttershy giggled at Rainbow's comment, and, looking around at the ground below them, spied a secluded forest area just outside the town. The yellow mare pointed her hoof towards a more heavily wooded section, “Lets go down there, and put these on.” Smiling at each other, the pair of pegasi carefully took off, and, while staying as hidden as possible, dropped to where Fluttershy had pointed out. Landing, Fluttershy looked around, and it was indeed as perfect as she could have asked for. She couldn't see a single thing from outside the barrier of flora. With all haste, the two ponies began to put on their cloaks. Before they did, however, Fluttershy had also insisted, much to Rainbow's annoyance, that they bind their wings so they didn't accidentally flap them under their cloaks, whether on accident or on purpose. The ordeal took much longer than she had hoped, Rainbow was much more troublesome when tying up her wings than necessary, but in the end, the job was done. Stepping back, the two looked like ordinary traveling earth ponies, even if their coloration was, compared to this world, highly unusual. Before Fluttershy could step out of the brush, Rainbow held a hoof in front of her, gesturing for the yellow mare to stay put. She watched as her multicolored friend carefully crept herself to the edge of the tiny clearing, and as she carefully moved, Rainbow silently peeked her head out from their safe haven. While Rainbow was looking around, Fluttershy could only see Rainbow's back half, her body behind her shoulders being the only parts still inside the clearing. Fluttershy couldn't help but stare at the pony in front of her, her muscular flank peeking from under the cloak, out in the open for the yellow pagasus to gape at. She couldn't help but heavily blush, “Oh... my...” Suddenly, Rainbow pulled her head out from the bushes, and made another gesture, this one, a beckoning of her cyan hoof, telling Fluttershy that the coast was clear. Thanking Luna that her pink mane covered up her bright red face, she followed her cyan friend as they walked out of their cover. Before her, the town stood. In many ways, the town resembled Conflound. The entire town was made of a dark wood, with the only exception being the roofs, which were made of some kind of thatch material, though Fluttershy couldn't be sure. There were very few ponies out at this time, so the whole scouting through the brush Rainbow did was a waste, with one moment being an exception in Fluttershy's opinion. Unlike Confound, however, the village had absolutely no walls for protection, so one could easily just walk in, though the outermost buildings created a barrier, funneling most traffic down one of several major roads. Fortunately, the roads that they had pointed out earlier were just as dead as they were before, though they did pass a few ponies. Even more fortunate, the small number of ponies that they were forced to encounter didn't pay them any mind, their disguises passing the simple enough test. It only took a few minutes to get to the inn that Rainbow was so determined to stay at, to the point that once they got to the door, Rainbow walked into the building without even pausing, leaving Fluttershy to scramble inside behind the brash pony. The inside was surprisingly busier than either had expected. While the small room that they were in now, the foyer used for checking in, was quiet, the noises to the left of them suggested that there were several dozens of ponies going about their leisure after a long day of work in the next room. The room they were in currently was kept nicely enough, the décor consisting of the kinds of paintings that you would see in Ponyville hospital's waiting room. The entire room was painted a muted tan, giving it a “cookie-cutter” feel. There was a stuffed chairs along each of the corners behind Fluttershy, most likely forever unused other than in the most unusual of situations. On the far wall, a set of stairs climbed to the second story, where most of the bedrooms most likely were situated. The only other piece of furniture was a large, to the point of being oversized, desk that had a dusty white pony behind it, a wide smile being the only distinctive part of him. His curly black hair bounced as he spoke, “Welcome to the Magnificent Mare's Manor. My name is Quill. Are you checking in, or just stopping by the dance hall?” “Just checking in,” Rainbow said as she pulled her hood back, revealing her majestic rainbow mane. “Only for one night though. One room with two beds would be great.” The smile that Quill was wearing previously fell, “I'm terribly sorry, but the only room we have available has a single, twin sized bed.” Fluttershy once again was indebted to her pink mane as her cheeks lit up at the news. Rainbow's eyes opened wide, and her pupils shrank, “You... you can't be serious!” Quill slowly nodded, his face twitching slightly. A few seconds later, his eyebrows furrowed up slightly, and the corners of his mouth turned up. The cyan mare's tone was flat, “You're not serious, are you...” That was all it took for the dusty white stallion to burst into a light laugh, “Oh certainly not! My goodness! What kind of establishment would we be if we had rooms with only a single twin bed? However, I couldn't handle resisting such a joke considering,” he looked at Fluttershy, then back at Rainbow, “what you are.” “Wha... wha...” Rainbow's pupils grew into tiny pinpricks, “What I am?” “Of course! The Rainbow mane, the overly confident demeanor, why, It all points to one thing!” Quill paused for a second, letting it all sink it, “Why, you're a clown pony!” Even with being her best friend since they were both fillies, Fluttershy never knew Rainbow to grow so angry, she attacked a pony. Sure, the brash pegasus had gotten into several fights, but none of those actually got to the point where too much damage was done to either side. Verbally, Rainbow didn't so much more than just yell a little to let out her steam, then she was done. However, what Fluttershy was now witnessing would be something that would make even Chief Thunderhooves blush like a little filly, the crude language that was being flung at the poor, defenseless white earth pony as colorful as the source's mane. For fifteen minutes, the yellow mare could only look at the scene in shock as her red cheeks turned into a pale face. She even swore that the sound from the other room quieted down in fear of the relentless onslaught of the bound pegasus. Fluttershy thanked Luna, Celestia, Discord, and any other immortal beings that wanted to be something resembling gods that it finally ended. “You got that!? Discord's antlers. Sandpaper. Your flank. Got it!?” The wide eye'd Quill nodded, “Cr... cr... crystal...” Rainbow nodded, “Good.” It was more than a minute before Quill was in good enough shape to continue with his transaction, “Well... uh... I do have a tiny bit of bad news. We only have single queen rooms available, but the couch is a pull out bed, so you should be fine.” Under the cyan pegasus' stare, Quill stammered as he continued, “And because of the inconvenience, I'll be giving you the room for a fifty percent discount!” Rainbow smiled, though it was one more of anger than satisfaction, “Good.” Quickly fishing through the drawers of the desk, the stallion pulled out two keys attached to necklaces, “Your rooms are on the second floor, third to the last one on the right. Room Twenty Six.” Rainbow picked up both, and with another glare, walked off to the stairs behind the desk, and began her ascent. As the timid yellow mare walked by the still shaking Quill, she mouthed “I'm sorry” to him, though she was unsure if his shattered brain could even function at this point. If nothing else, she was sure that he would need some kind of therapy. Regardless, she didn't want to lose her friend, and so with a faster pace, trotted up the stairs. The last thing she heard before turning the corner down the hall was the opening of a desk drawer, followed by a wavering male voice below, “Well... so much for being three weeks sober...” A/N: Whew! Longest chapter yet! Not much I can think to say about this chapter, so I'll just say 'honk!' Remember to comment, and fuel my ego that much more!