//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Stone Cold // by M_D_Quill //------------------------------// The captain of the guard growled at the sight of the room. A small pile of leaves had collected on the bed, barely covering the few pieces of glass that didn’t fall out of the window his subordinate crashed through. All the ancient machines were in shambles, thrown around carelessly as if someone was trying to figure out how each piece would look if it were chucked at a wall. Their dents in the walls barely noticeable next to the giant holes that once held the two ‘expert mechanics’. Pieces of the walls flanked to the ground and swirled in the wind around the guard. Shining turned to an obviously upset doctor, “I have to apologize for this incident,” he said. He glared behind the fuming pony at his two remaining subordinates. “I will be sure nothing like this ever happens again.” The doctor huffed and stormed out the room. “The crown better compensate for all of this!” he shouted. “Generous compensation!” “I’m sure the Princesses will pay for any damages, and for the cleanup.” Shining Armor sighed. The captain shook his head as the doctor’s steps faded deeper into the halls. He pulled out a scroll and began to write out the report describing the entire incident. He was putting the finishing touches on the report when he heard a quiet knock at the door. He turned to see his second-in-command just inside the room. “Sir, the creature and Cannon have both arrived at the barracks and have been properly detained,” she said. Shining nodded. “The creature tied up in the iron chains, as I ordered?” He asked as he carefully rolled up the scroll. “Yes sir. Gagged as well.” “Good,” Shining placed the scroll in a niche in his armor. “Hopefully this will finally keep that menace from causing trouble for a while.” The second-in-command shuffled her hooves nervously. “Sir, is it really necessary to use the chains? Can’t we just tie him up in something less… barbaric?” Shining stood up straight and gave the guard a glance. “We have no idea how strong this creature is, Moonlight,” he said quietly. “My sister reported that he took multiple solid kicks from Rainbow Dash and it barely phased him. Not to mention he has some strange ability that makes all magic just disappear from any pony it touches. He is far too dangerous to leave free to move at the moment.” “But Princess Celestia said-” “The Princesses do not need to know about this!” Shining shouted. “It is our duty as the Royal Guard to keep the royalty safe. No matter what any of them say, they will not be told how the prisoner is held, they will not be told where he is held, and they are not to visit the prisoner at any time until we, the guard, deem it safe for him to be seen.” He kicked one of the broken machines, “They have already tried to be civil with him, but he has proven himself a menace, not once, but twice now.” He marched out of the room and into the halls. “The report will say that he escaped after he broke out. We only found Cannon in the pink clouds, but the creature was nowhere to be seen.” “Sir? You can’t mean we are going to lie to the Princesses?” Moonlight gasped. “I mean it and you will do it,” ordered Shining. “I will not have another incident like what happened with the changelings.” He growled. Moonlight nodded her head in silent agreement. “We will be going back on high alert, so start banding search parties together and start roaming the city. Order them to keep an eye out for the creature, but their main goal is to keep the citizens of Canterlot calm,” Shining said. “I want a message sent to one of the generals for a platoon to of the militia to be sent out into the country to be sure he does not escape. Make sure no traffic arrives or leaves the city.” He paused for a second before continuing. “This will include the trains.” Shining stopped walking when he realized his second-in-command was not with him. He turned to see her frozen in shock a few paces back. “Sir, the Elements of Harmony are supposed to be arriving soon.” She cried out. “We need them to keep the creature in check.” Shining gave the guard a stern look. “Magic has no affect on it,” he said. “Not unicorn magic, not alicorn magic, and not even those earth pony contraptions were able to do anything to it. What makes you think that throwing something as powerful as the Elements of Harmony will make it different.” He turned and continued his walk out of the hospital. “We just have to accept that this creature is immune to all forms of magic and can only be handled through physical means.” Moonlight caught up to her commander as they were exiting the building. “If that is true, then where can we keep him? The barracks won’t be secret for long. You know how much soldiers talk.” Shining thought about the question for a few minutes. “The only place in Canterlot where magic holds no power. We will lock him in the crystal caverns.” Shining stood at the corner of the street and sent a blue light into the sky. “Gather up only your most trusted soldiers for the guard. Nopony else is to know of this, understood?” Moonlight gulped. “Yes, sir.” “Good. Now go, we do not have much time to lose.” The mare galloped off, leaving Shining standing at the corner. He gazed into the sky until he spotted a pegasus flying toward him. He took a few steps back, leaving just enough room for the courier to land. The pegasus slammed down on the pavement and turned to Shining and saluted. “You called for a courier, sir?” Shining nodded and pulled the report out of his armor and handed it to the pegasus. “To the Princesses. Let them know I have everything covered.” The courier nodded and took off toward the palace. Shining growled and moved down the street. He had to pay a visit to the commanding general, and he was not looking forward to it. x.X.x Blueblood sighed as he gazed in the mirror. No matter how hard the servants tried, they were just never able to groom his hair correctly. Every day he had to keep going over it with his comb to tidy up their sloppy work. Not that he could blame them for their shoddy work. They were commoners, prone to laziness and just not gifted enough to make perfection. Not like him, of course. He was born and bred to be perfect in every way. It was a heavy responsibility to have such a standard thrust on him from birth, but he could proudly say he was the embodiment of the perfect pony. This was because he was a Blueblood. The closest bloodline to the original royal line, the Platinums. One of the oldest families in Equestria. The founding family of Canterlot and the stewards of the throne while the Princesses are away with their duties. The Bluebloods knew their purity because every single one of them had the exact same cutie mark, proving them pure. While other ponies out in the world muddled up their line with a haphazard array of markings, they managed to keep their family beautiful. Each flank sparkled with the exact same star as the other. All of them had the same beautiful white coat, the golden curled blond mane and tail. ‘And the same beautiful, mare swaying smile,’ Thought Blueblood as he gave his mirror twin a perfect smile. He turned and looked down at the package his Aunt left for him. She always bought wonderful gifts during her travels, and it was something he loved to see. His position and responsibilities didn’t allow him much time to travel. Not that he wanted to see the common world, but the option for it would be nice. He grabbed the box and opened it to see a beautiful flower. It was bright blue, and almost in the perfect shape of his cutie mark. He grabbed a note Celestia left in the box and read it. “This flower is only found in the famous Everfree Woods. It is rarely collected due to the dangers of the forest, and by the dark history of the abandoned castle. It was once the home to both my sister and I, before our fight and one thousand year separation. This flower was picked from the center of my sister’s garden. I hope you enjoy it, my nephew.” Blueblood smiled and carefully folded and stored away the letter. He picked up the flower and place it on his jacket. “Today is a good day,” he laughed as he left his room. In the hallway, he saw a number of guards running around. He sighed, feeling tired at all the energy they wasted as they rushed around with their busywork. With a tilting back of his head, he assumed his regal position of staring at the ceiling and started down the hallway to his study. Hoofsteps sounded all around him, but nopony ever touched him. They were trained better than that, after all. That is why they were the castle guards, and not one of those lowly town ones. Slowly the hoofsteps quieted until there were none. He carefully lowered his head and looked around to be sure there were no ponies around. He chose to make his study far away from the living portion of the castle on purpose, since he did not like being disturbed while he worked. With a happy trot, he arrived at the long awaited door. With a flick of his magic, he opened the door and walked into his little safe haven in Canterlot. “What took you so long?” an annoyed voice asked, causing Blueblood to jump in fright. He whipped to the side and saw a dark blue mane billowing in a non-existent breeze. The Princess of the Night was lounging around on a couch Blueblood had placed near the window. “Auntie Luna!” He gasped. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” Luna raised an eyebrow at Blueblood’s question. “Cut the formalities, nephew. We have something serious we need to discuss.” The dark alicorn stood up and moved over to a window. “You are a position of power in this country. The only Prince born into the family within the past hundred years, I’ve heard.” Blueblood raised his head proudly. “That is true, Aunt Luna.” “Then why have you been locking yourself away from the people when they needed you most?” She shouted. The alicorn turned and marched over to the unicorn, glaring down at him. “After the creature was detained those weeks ago, you should have been one of the first ponies out there to help them.” “Why should I care for a few commoners?” Blueblood met Luna’s gaze. “As you said, I’m the Prince. The first in centuries. All of those ponies have no idea how much pressure is put on me to keep up the perfect image of the royal family.” Luna growled at the prince’s arrogance. She opened her mouth to speak, but paused when she noticed something odd. With a smile, she backed off the unicorn and sat down on the floor. “It seems somepony else has heard your arrogance and has seen fit to correct it.” She sneered. Blueblood stared at his aunt in confusion. She raised her hoof and pointed behind him. Blueblood looked back and looked around, not noticing anything different. Then he spotted the problem. His flank was blank. The pride of the Blueblood family, the star of the pure line, was gone. “Wha… wha…” He stammered. “It seems that some magical power has deemed it fit to lower you down to the ‘commoners’ level.” She said. “Perhaps if you learn some humility, it will come back.” She stood up and left the room, laughing the entire way out. Blueblood just sat and stared at his blank flank. x.X.x Blackness. Nothing but deep dark blackness surrounds me yet again. This is all your fault, you know. “Bite me!” I told you to stop taunting that horse. “How was I supposed to know it was going to attack me?” COMMON SENSE! “Pffff. Common. Everyone knows common sense is a rare commodity nowadays.” More so in some places than others, it seems. “Seriously. If you were actually quiet for once, then he would have left us alone. It was your constant yelling that provoked him.” GAAAAAH!!! x.X.x “He wants us to do what?” Tall Shield cried out. “To the crystal caverns. He will be detained there and your squad will be assigned to keep all trespassers from seeing him. That includes the Princesses.” Sword Sheath flinched as the body of the creature started to flail around, fighting the restraints they placed around him. “At ease soldier,” Tall Shield comforted the uneasy guard. He turned back to Moonlight. “This goes against our oaths.” “You are sworn to protect the crown and the country,” retorted Moonlight. “And if that means keeping the Princesses away from a danger, then it is our duty to be sure it is done.” Tall Shield stomped his hoof. “But keeping them in the dark is close to treason. How can we protect her when it is literally hidden just under her nose and she doesn’t know about it?” Moonlight turned to leave, “Then you better be sure you do your job and keep it contained to those caverns.” Tall Shield growled as he watched his commanding officer leave. “Those fools…” “It seems that the Captain was correct to lock the creature in chains,” Javelin said. “So it seems,” agreed Tall Shield. He stared at the struggling creature. It was covered in sweat, and its face was contorted in obvious pain, but the chains were holding it down. “Ok, men. We have to keep all this a secret. so we move tonight when most of the populous is asleep. Understood?” “Yes, sir.” Tall Shield moved to the edge of the room and sat down. He dropped his head into his hooves and let out a weary sigh. “Tall, you ok?” Sword Sheath asked, sitting down next to him. Tall Shield nodded. “Yes… at least I think I am,” He rubbed his temples in an attempt to stop the slowly growing headache. “It just feels like we have just gotten involved in something way above our heads. Keeping stuff from the Princesses, a creature impervious to magic.” He looked over at his comrade. “Who would ever think of the day I would miss patrol duty.” Sword Sheath let out a quiet chuckle. “Oh yes. The fierce sergeant, loudest of all the royal guard on his displeasure of babysitting the pampered purses.” He scratched his chin, gazing at the ceiling. “That is what you called them, right?” Tall Shield laughed, leaning back onto the wall. “They were the fat pampered walking purses. But you were close enough.” He glanced at the creature, who was finally calming down and settling down into hushed whispers and the occasional twitch. “Fat purses are easier to deal with than this thing, though. They are a known enemy.” “The unseen enemy is always the most fearsome,” whispered Javelin. Tall Shield’s ears perked up at the quiet remark. “What was that, Javelin?” The guard sidestepped, keeping the table in his line of vision as he faced his commander. “I fear that this creature is no longer our main enemy,” he said. “He may have been the catalyst to all the chaos now erupting in Canterlot, but I do not see him as the true enemy anymore.” Javelin lowered his head, his ears folding back, “I fear we are becoming the villain.” “What nonsense are you speaking?” blurted Sword Sheath. “We are protecting everyone from it. We are the heros here!” “Then why will we have to move in the shadows, under the nose of the crowns.” Javelin retorted. “If we are heros, then why are we commanded to act like kidnappers and thieves?” Sword Sheath opened his mouth to counter Javelin’s comment, but was silenced at a glare from Tall Shield. The sergeant stood up and moved over to the uneasy guard and placed his hoof on his shoulder. “I know this might not feel right, but I trust Shining Armor’s judgment here.” Tall Shield said calmly. “If you want out of this, I’ll speak to Moonlight to get you transferred to another platoon until this is all over.” Javelin’s head whipped around to stare at his commander, his eyes wide in shock. “I would never leave you, Sergeant!” He cried out. “I’m just a little uneasy at these recent orders.” Tall Shield nodded in agreement. “So am I. But as I said, I trust Shining Armor’s judgment.” He moved back over the wall and leaned against it. “I am going to get some rest before the move.” He turned to Sword Sheath. “You should too, Sword. Javelin, you take first watch and make sure nopony gets into this room. Wake me in three hours and I’ll take second watch.” The two guards nodded in agreement, one more hesitantly. Tall Shield closed his eyes as he slumped against the wall. He had his doubts on the orders and wondered if he was making the right decision on trusting Shining Armor. With a sigh, he laid his head on his hooves, hoping he could get those few hours sleep before his watch. Patrol duty was never this stressful. x.X.x The pink pony sat in the dark. The cellar had no windows. No fresh breeze. Nothing new or exciting. Screwball poked at the pink shield surrounding her. It still didn’t budge. She growled in frustration, summoning a hammer to try and break it, yet again. The hammer broke into a dozen pieces, each piece turning into a yellow, sticky liquid and sliding down the wall like thick honey. Her hoarse, dry voice crackled as she started to scream again. Daddy was awake. Daddy was lost. And he might be locked away like her in another cell. Screwball was going to free him no matter what. And she was going to make that white unicorn pony pay for putting her in this ball. The pink pony sat back down, pulling out a cup from nowhere and sipping on another glass of chocolate milk. Thoughts of how to torment the unicorn flowed through her mind, occasionally a fragment of it would appear just out of the corner of her eye and disappear just as quickly. Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a flicker of light at the edge of the room. He bounced off the ball and hovered in the air, watching it get steadily brighter. Soon, hoofsteps were heard stopping in front of her door. “I’m telling you, you don’t need to feed this one,” a gruff voice spoke from the other side. “I heard ya the first time,” replied another equally gruff voice. “But I don’t care what the higher ups say, I won't let a prisoner starve on my watch.” A loud click resignated around the room, and the door to the cell slowly opened, flooding it with a blinding light. Screwball screeched in pain as the light pierced her vision, her hooves flying up to her face to protect eyes from the pain. “Sorry there, lass,” the guard who opened the door gasped. “Didn’t realize you were awake.” The light quickly faded down to a very dull pulse. Screwball carefully lowered one hoof and tried to look at the intruders. The spots from the bright light slowly faded and she was able to make out the two guards, one a unicorn with a very dull white light at the tip of his horn, the other an earth pony holding a spear. “Came here to feed ya, that is it,” the unicorn said. “Dunno when the last time you were fed was, but it must have been quite a while ago.” He turned to the other guard. “Look at the poor girl, all skin and bones now.” Screwball noticed the plate full of food being held by the unicorn. An idea started to form, and she dropped down onto the bottom of sphere. “P… please,” She cried out. “I’m so hungry. I have not eaten in weeks.” She crawled forward in the sphere, clawing at the edge toward the food. The unicorn smiled and took a step closer, but was held back by a hoof from the other guard. “Don’t do it, Biggs.” The unicorn shrugged off the hoof and growled at him. “I ain’t gonna leave a little filly like this to starve.” Screwball smiled internally when the unicorn stopped in front of the sphere. His horn poked it and opened up a small slit, just large enough to fit the plate. He then quickly flew the plate inside and closed up the opening. It took less than half a second, but Screwball smiled when the food landed at her feet. She snatched it up and scarfed down the food, causing a good bit of crumbs to go flying around. Once the plate was empty, she jumped down in search of the crumbs. “The poor dear,” the unicorn named Biggs sighed, “Weeks with no food. Don’t worry, Lass, I won't let you starve.” The earth pony moved up next to unicorn. “We should get out of here. I don’t like this one bit.” The unicorn nodded and gave one last soothing goodbye to Screwball before he left. Once the door closed and the lock clicked shut, the pink pony quit her frantic searching and gagged, trying to get the taste of horrible food out of her mouth. She summoned up a cup of chocolate milk and guzzled it down and gasped in relief. With a smile, she hovered over the small pile of crumbs. Perhaps a way for her to escape had opened itself up, finally. With a content chuckle, she laid back in the air and stared at the ceiling. She started going over her plans again for the white unicorn, a wide smile spread across her face knowing it may all come true.