//------------------------------// // 6 // Story: Blankness // by Zaid ValRoa //------------------------------// The air was tense amongst the ponies in the room; the still silence was broken by the sounds of a marker against paper. Twilight fidgeted on her seat and looked at the white earth pony clad in golden armour making marks on a large map in front of the mayor. “We have stationed guards all around Ponyville. Two every three hundred meters all around town,” he said, putting down the marker on the mayor’s desk. He then stretched the map so everypony in the room could see it. “These points will serve as the limits of the barrier, and here are the barracks where, alongside the medical team, we will be stationed until the quarantine ends,” he finished talking as his hoof traced a medium sized circle drawn outside of town. “Let’s see…” the mayor said as she adjusted her glasses and leaned closer to her desk. Twilight cocked her head to the side, hoping to gain a better look of the map. The markings the guard had made circumvented the entire town, with a bigger concentration on the main roads that connected Ponyville with the rest of Equestria, but as her eyes followed the trail of crosses, she found an oddity. “Sergeant, if I may,” said a younger and obviously lower ranked unicorn guard who was standing next to Twilight. His light gray coat and dark blue mane contrasted heavily with the Sergeant. “Speak up, Private,” the first guard said back. The younger guard trotted next to him and pointed at the houses at the edge of the forest. “We noticed a couple of houses on the outskirts of town that are outside of the perimeter, sir,” he said, without losing his firm tone. The guard had pointed at the exact spot Twilight had been looking, far from the centre of the town and near the Everfree Forest, right where— “Oh, yeah, the cottages,” the Sergeant said as his hoof went from one of the marks to the location of the houses, he then looked down and scratched his chin with a hoof as he focused on the offending houses in the map, “I suppose a relocation is plausible,” he said, and Twilight couldn’t help but be bothered by his slightly disinterested tone. The unicorn mare stared at the Sergeant with a furrowed brow, “I’m sorry,” she said, calling the attention of both guards, “but I don’t think we can take the time for relocating anyone right now. Starting the quarantine is of utmost importance.” The Sergeant huffed and looked at Twilight with an annoyed expression, “Excuse me Miss Sparkle, but this meeting is supposed to be between the Mayor and me, there isn't—” “Sergeant Bold Spear, if Miss Sparkle is here it’s because I requested her presence,” Ivory Scroll said, rising her voice, “You may have been given executive power by the Princess during this crisis, Sergeant, but I’d appreciate if you remembered that I’m still the leader of this town, and that Miss Sparkle has been of paramount importance in the detection of this plague, which is why I summoned her to serve as a consultant,” she added in a calmer tone as she crossed her forelegs, “If she has something to say about these procedures, I only ask that you listen to her.” Twilight winced slightly at the mayor’s words, but nopony else seemed to notice. She knew the mayor was stretching the truth a bit for her sake, and she appreciated her intentions; but that alone didn’t manage to quell the feeling of guilt inside of her. There was a voice inside of her that kept nagging her, telling her that had she informed the Princess as soon as she found out about what was happening, this situation probably could have been solved much sooner. Eventually, she was pulled back to reality when she heard Sergeant Bold Spear give a deep sigh. The pegasus rubbed his forehead before speaking again, “You are right, Miss Scroll, I apologise for my attitude,” the Sergeant then looked directly at Twilight, “I am sorry Miss Sparkle, I am just a bit tense, as I hope you can understand. It is not easy to organise and lead several squads of guards in less than eighteen hours,” he finished, a tired look on his face. Twilight allowed herself a small smile, “I understand, Sergeant. My brother used to be Captain of the Royal Guard, so believe me when I tell you that I know how stressful it can be,” Twilight said in what she hoped was a calmer tone. “Captain Shining Armour, I remember him. Good soldier, although I believe he goes by a different title these days, does he not?” the Sergeant said before turning around and addressing the mayor once again, “Either way, regarding those cottages, we would need to reorganise the guards to cover that part of town, but it is doable with the amount of troops we have. I will talk to the squad leaders and inform you of the changes we make.” “I’ll be waiting, Sergeant Spear,” the mayor said. “I can send a letter to Princess Celestia and ask her to send more guards; the last thing we’d want to do is compromise the integrity of the barrier,” Twilight chimed in. The Sergeant shook his head as he rolled up the map, “Do not worry, Miss Sparkle, we have more than enough unicorns to keep the barrier up,” he said as he stuffed the parchment in his saddlebags. “Are you sure? Because there’d be no problem—” “Miss Sparkle,” the Sergeant said in a calm, but firm tone, “while the barrier spell is indeed a delicate one, we only need eight unicorns to keep it up and we currently have well over fifteen in our ranks.” Twilight was taken aback by the Sergeant’s words, “Why do you need that many unicorns to maintain the spell?” “Well, Miss Sparkle—” he started before being interrupted by Twilight. “You can call me Twilight, Sergeant,” she said. Sergeant Bold Spear let out a deep breath after hearing her, “Alright, Miss Twilight,” he said, not breaking eye contact, “if we learned anything from Captain Armour’s wedding, is that it is not wise to rely on one single pony with the safety of an entire city.” Twilight managed not to wince at the Sergeant’s words, but she had to admit that he made a fair point, “Why have almost double the amount you need, then?” she asked. The Sergeant remained silent for a second, as if pondering the answer, before giving Twilight a soft smile, a sincere smile, “It is better to be over prepared than being underprepared, would you not agree, Miss Twilight?” Twilight sighed and returned the Sergeant's smile as best she could, "Yeah... you're right, Sergeant." "Besides, the Princesses went through a lot of trouble to make sure troops were dispatched as soon as possible," the Sergeant twisted his mouth before speaking again, "I am just glad I am not the one who has to deal with all that paperwork," after that, he turned to face the mayor, “Miss Scroll, we will be leaving now, unless any of you feel there is something else that needs to be discussed.” “There’s still the matter of Miss Zecora,” the mayor said. “And who would this 'Miss Zecora' be?” the Sergeant asked, raising an eyebrow. “A friend of mine, she’s a shamaness who lives in the Everfree—” Twilight’s words died in her throat as the memories of yesterday’s evening rushed back in, and the words of the zebra mare rang in her head. Since the Ponyville storm, the day before, I woke up to see my mark was no more. “She… Uh,” Twilight stammered, “she has also been affected by the plague. And judging by the time her cutie mark disappeared, she was probably amongst the first, if not the first to be infected. I'm sure the medical team would find her highly valuable to their research.” The Sergeant stood in silence, musing over Twilight’s words, before turning to the other guard in the room. “Private Radiant,” he said abruptly, causing the younger guard to somehow straighten his back even more, something that Twilight didn’t think was possible, “take the map to the barracks and inform Lieutenant Shield of the changes that need to be done to the formations.” “Sir, yes sir,” Private Radiant said with eagerness before saluting once again and levitating the map from Sergeant Spear’s hooves. “I will be right behind you, as soon as Miss Twilight gives me the details of the location of the house of her friend,” Sergeant Spear said. “Yes, Sergeant,” Radiant said as he saluted once again and turned around to leave the office. “Oh, and Private,” the Sergeant spoke again, causing Private Radiant to turn around and stand in attention. “Sir, yes sir!” “Try to calm down a little bit, you will be of no good to anypony if you are that high strung,” the Sergeant added with a smirk. “Uh, y-yes, sir,” the Private said, resisting the urge to salute once again, and left the room. Once the young guard had closed the door, the Sergeant sighed and turned around to face Twilight, “So, you were telling me about Miss Zecora?” “She’s an esteemed member of our community,” the Mayor said, “I think we’d very much prefer her to be with us during the quarantine.” “Her house is in the Everfree Forest, but it’s down one of the main roads, it shouldn’t be hard to get there though it’d probably be better if I went with you,” Twilight said and walked towards the Sergeant, but he held up a hoof in front of her. “I am sorry, Miss Twilight, but I am afraid I cannot let you do that,” the Sergeant said. Twilight wasn’t willing to yield, so she spoke back to the Sergeant, “But Zecora is my friend, and I promised her I’d get help; you have to at least let me—” “The quarantine starts within the next couple of hours, Miss Twilight. I cannot let you leave Ponyville, and you know that; you read the letter the Princess sent, I cannot let anyone leave the town,” he said as he put down his hoof. Twilight looked down and grimaced as the memories of the letter came rushing back to her mind. Equestria hadn’t faced a threat of this nature in centuries, so there was no real protocol to follow. Therefore, the Princesses opted to err on the side of caution, and their instructions had been pretty clear: Quarantine, get everyone who may be infected together in a single location and do not let them leave said location. “Just tell us exactly where she lives and I give you my word we will bring your friend here, safe and sound,” the captain said. Twilight sighed and obliged. She described the path to the house of the shamaness as best as she could, the lack of ornaments making it hard to pinpoint the exact tree. “…It shouldn’t be a problem, though, it’s the only tree in the forest with a door,” the unicorn finished. “Then so be it, I will send a detachment after her immediately,” the Sergeant said, “If that is all, I will be leaving. Good morning, ladies.” And with a nod, the Sergeant left the office. Once the door closed, Twilight let out a low groan. “Are you alright, Miss Sparkle?” Ivory Scroll asked. “Yes, I just…” Twilight trailed off, not sure of what to say, “I just…” finally, she remained silent as she stared at the ground. The mayor gave her a soft smile and jumped from her seat, “Your distress is understandable, Miss Sparkle,” she said as she walked around her desk and stopped in front of the unicorn, “but I ask you to remember all the good you’ve done for this town.” Twilight kept looking down, until she felt the mayor’s hoof on her shoulder. “If it weren’t for you, Miss Sparkle, there’s no telling how this situation would have developed, or if we could have stopped it in time,” the mayor said with a smile on her face. We still don’t know if we managed to stop it, Twilight thought, but she didn’t voice her doubts, “I hope that’s the case, Miss Scroll,” she said instead. “We all do,” the mayor said, “now, if you excuse me, I’ll try to occupy myself with whatever paperwork I have left.” “Sure thing,” Twilight said, as she walked towards the door. “Have fun,” she added as an afterthought. Her mind didn’t register the words until she reached the door, but when she realised what she'd just said, she turned to face the Mayor with an apologetic look. “Don’t think about it,” the mayor said before she could apologise. With a lopsided smile, she shuffled some of the papers on her desk. “I think I saw a fifty page proposal for gravel roads. That should keep me busy.” Twilight remained immobile for a few seconds before shaking her head and opening the door, “Good bye, Miss Scroll.” Apple Bloom walked down the dirt path that led to the schoolhouse, sporting a frown on her face; she shifted under her saddlebags, trying to settle them in place, as if to take her mind from the events of the last day, but her lethargic trot and the vacant expression on her eyes made it clear that her mind was elsewhere. She sighed and kept walking forward, fighting the urge of turning around and running back to the farm. She knew there was no point in doing that since her siblings would most likely send her back. Not to mention that she also wanted to know how Cheerilee was faring. So Apple Bloom walked, and tried to find something to focus and fill the blanks in her mind. Blank like the flanks of those ponies, she thought. Needless to say, she wasn't successful. "Ugh... Shut up, brain," Apple Bloom said. The filly quickened her pace until it became a gallop. She could feel her hooves aching a bit, but she pressed on and didn't stop until the schoolhouse came into view. She stopped at a distance, far from the building; her uneasiness and the need to return to the farm were pulling her back, while her worry for Cheerilee and the wish for things to be over were pushing her forward. So she stayed there, immobile, not knowing what to do, until she heard a commotion coming from the schoolhouse. Her curiosity trumped over her doubts for a moment, and the young filly trotted towards the wooden veranda. As she got closer, the noises grew louder, but Apple Bloom couldn't make out what words were being spoken. She raised a hoof towards the doorknob, and was about to open it when the door was flung open, startling Apple Bloom, and out came a unicorn with a nervous look on his face. His eyes darted back and forth as he left the room behind, "Come out, honey, don't stay—" he stopped abruptly once his eyes landed on the little filly next to him, "Ah, hello there..." Neither Apple Bloom nor the stallion managed to say anything else before a greenish mare exited the room as well, "Come on, dear, let's go," she said as she pushed the stallion and both left the premises of the school. Apple Bloom stood in the doorway with her mouth slightly agape, her mind was flooded with dozens of new questions, but before she could vocalise any of them, a voice called her from inside the schoolhouse. "Apple Bloom? Is that you?" "M-miss Cheerilee?" Apple Bloom asked as she entered the room. The older mare was sitting behind her desk at the end of the classroom, the decidedly empty classroom. She had suspected several of the students wouldn't come today, but seeing the lone figure of the teacher in the otherwise empty room didn't help her feeling of uneasiness. "Good Morning, Apple Bloom, it's good to see you," Cheerilee said, snapping Apple Bloom back to reality. "Wha... what happened, Miss Cheerilee?" Apple Bloom asked, not sure if she referred to the couple who just left, the empty classroom, or yesterday's events. "Everyone is afraid, Apple Bloom," the teacher said, a melancholic look on her face, "a lot of parents opted to keep their children at home," she let out a sad chuckle, "I can't say I blame them." Apple Bloom let out a sigh and sat on her haunches, "I suppose there ain't gonna be any classes today." "No, and there probably won't be until the situation improves," Cheerilee said as she absentmindedly shuffled with some papers on her desk. The filly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could feel how one of the last traces of normalcy in this maelstrom of madness slipped away from her. She wondered how much things would change before they returned to normal. If they ever did, that is. "Why did that couple run away, Miss Cheerilee?" Apple Bloom asked, remembering the other issue that circled around in her mind. Cheerilee kept smiling, but the forced cheerfulness had left her eyes. "They're the parents of one of your classmates, they wanted to know what happened yesterday when all of you ran away." Apple Bloom winced at the slight reprimand, she felt the guilt resurface and offered the teacher an apology, "I'm sorry, Miss Cheerilee, after we found out about Diamond Tiara, we all kinda panicked and, well, we just..." she trailed off. "It's alright, Apple Bloom," she said, although they both knew it wasn't. "What did you tell them?" the filly asked, trying to veer the conversation back to its original topic. "The truth," Cheerilee said, the last traces of her smile now gone, "I told them everything I know, however little it is." The little filly nodded as she listened to her teacher's explanation, but she felt that there were things that didn't seem right. "But why did that couple run away like that?" the filly asked, cocking her head to the side. Cheerilee blinked a couple of times before answering, "Because I told them the truth," she said, rising from her seat, "all the truth." Apple Bloom still was confused, she didn't understand what Cheerilee meant, until the purple mare walked in front of her. "Miss Cheerilee..." the filly said in a low voice as she stared at her teacher's flank, "How?" "Not too long after I arrived at school," she said absentmindedly, "I know I still had my cutie mark when I woke up today." After saying this, Miss Cheerilee sat on the floor, in front of Apple Bloom. Up this close, the filly could see that the teacher looked very tired, she had bags under her eyes and her mane looked disheveled. "When I heard what happened yesterday, I wanted to remain calm and be strong for you and the other foals," Cheerilee said, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath, "but it seems that I won't even be able to do that," she finished with a sad smile tugging at her lips. "It... it's gonna be alright, Miss Cheerilee. My sister and Miss Twilight are doing their best to solve this, and so are the doctors, and even the Princesses are working hard to fix everything as well." The older mare smiled a slightly more genuine smile this time, "I'll keep my hopes up," she said. "You'll see!" Apple Bloom continued with confidence, "soon everypony will have their cutiemarks back; you, Diamond Tiara, Miss Harvest too—" "Golden Harvest lost her cutie mark?" Cheerilee said, worry taking over her expression. "Eh, well.,. Y'see..." Apple Bloom fumbled with her words as she felt her throat tie itself into a knot, wondering if she had revealed too much, "Miss Harvest came to the farm looking for help the day of the storm, and it looks like she lost her cutie mark that day," the filly finished, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof. "Oh, poor Golden, I hope she's alright," Cheerilee said, lifting her front hooves to her mouth, "We're takin' care of her back at the farm. She was a bit shaken up, but now she’s feeling...” Apple Bloom trailed off. She was doing her best to sound optimistic, though she couldn’t help but remember the way the carrot farmer had looked last night. Sad, defeated, almost as though she wanted to give up. Cheerilee seemed to be relieved by this, which was made evident by the return of her smile, "That's good to know." Silence fell over both of them after she said this. With nothing more to say, the older mare stood up and looked at the filly, "I think you should be going back home, Apple Bloom, the quarantine will begin soon." "Ok, Miss Cheerilee," Apple Bloom said, standing up as well, "What will you do?" "I'm going to stay here in case any more parents come," Cheerilee said looking at the door. "I don't think many will come, Miss Cheerilee," Apple Bloom said turning around to follow her teacher's gaze, "Not if that couple tells everypony about... Well..." she fell silent, not being able to finish the sentence. Miss Cheerilee remained silent for a moment before speaking again, "They will come, Apple Bloom." "Why are you so sure?" Apple Bloom asked. The mare remained silent. "Miss Cheerilee?" The filly asked again. "I guess there's no point in hiding it, you will hear about it sooner or later," Cheerilee said. She looked down at the filly and Apple Bloom could see the sadness in her eyes, "they think I lost my cutie mark because I was being a bad teacher." The filly's reaction was as immediate as it was intense. "What!?" she yelled, jumping on her hooves. "Calm down, Apple Bloom," Cheerilee said, laying a hoof on the filly's shoulder. "How can they think that? You're the best teacher ever, Miss Cheerilee!" Apple Bloom replied. The filly's words caused the mare to smile again, "Thank you, Apple Bloom, that means a lot to me." "It's the truth," Apple Bloom said, looking down, "They all are talkin' nonsense." "Maybe... But it's what everypony seems to be thinking," Cheerilee said, grimacing. "But why?" Apple Bloom asked in a pleading tone. "Maybe they feel the need to blame this on something," Cheerilee shrugged. "Why would they think that's why you lost your cutie mark?" Apple Bloom said. The older mare remained silent for a moment, as if she was deciding whether or not to answer the filly's question, "I couldn't say how it started, but the prevalent theory running around town is that if you're not doing a good job with whatever your special talent is, you'll lose your cutie mark." "But that can't be true, Miss Cheerilee, it can't!" the filly said, almost as if she was trying to convince herself as well. "I don't think that's what's happening either, and as long as we believe that, things may still be fine," Cheerilee said, in the most reassuring tone she could. "But what will happen if everyone ends up thinkin' like that?" the filly asked. Cheerilee didn't answer right away. Instead, she let her eyes wander around the room for a moment before finally answering, "We'll have to cross that bridge when we get there." Apple Bloom kept looking at her teacher before giving a sigh and looking down. Cheerilee stood up and held her hoof towards Apple Bloom "You should head back home, Apple Bloom." Apple Bloom wanted to say something, anything that would make the situation better, or at least bring some comfort to her techer. She just didn't know what she could possibly say, so she simply said goodbye and turned around to leave the room. "Oh, and Apple Bloom?" "Yes, Miss Cheerilee?" Apple Bloom asked back. "Don't be afraid," the teacher said, a sad yet slightly optimistic smile on her face, "everything will turn out fine in the end." Apple Bloom stood in the middle of the room, staring at her teacher. The filly wasn't too surprised that the older mare was able to see through the mask of false bravado she was trying to keep. She remained silent for a moment before speaking again, "G'bye, Miss Cheerilee." "Goodbye, Apple Bloom," Cheerilee said from behind her desk, "Be careful out there." Not sure if she should say anything else, the filly turned around to leave the classroom and head back to Sweet Apple Acres. It wasn't until she was halfway through the road when she had to stop because the tears welling up in her eyes made it hard to watch her step. She rubbed her eyes to get rid of the tears, but she did it with so much strength that she only caused more tears to come out. With a huff, she stomped her hoof on the ground, and then she did it again, and again, and again, and again, now with both of her front hooves, and she kept stomping the ground faster and faster, and the tears kept coming, but Apple Bloom didn't care anymore. And when her shoulders wouldn't let her keep stomping the ground, she shook her head and let out an angry cry, and ran the distance left to the farm. It was the fourth time Twilight had read the same paragraph of the medical textbook she had been skimming, and the words were starting to blur together into an indistinguishable mess. The unicorn sighed and closed her eyes, unsuccessfully trying to clear her mind. She shook her head and, realising she couldn't concentrate, closed the book and placed it back on its correct spot in the bookshelf, resisting the urge of taking out another, since she knew the guards would be coming by the library any minute now. As if on cue, Twilight heard a loud knocking on her door, "Miss Sparkle?" came a voice from outside of the Library door. "I'll get it," Spike said, getting up from his spot near where Twilight had been sitting. Her assistant opened the door to reveal a white pegasus clad in golden armour. "Uh, hi," the dragon said. "Good morning, I'm here to inform Miss Sparkle that the quarantine is about to start." Twilight sighed as she looked at the clock on the wall, "Right on time." "I've been ordered to escort you to the edge of town," the guard added, "we must leave presently." "Alright, I'm going," Twilight said as she walked towards the guard, "Let's go, Spike." The dragon walked behind Twilight as she left the library, and closed the door behind them. They followed the guard, their trek marred by a silence that neither dared to break. Even the ocassional chirping of birds or wind blowing through a tree served only to accentuate the stillness of town. "Hey, Spike," Twilight said as she walked. "Yeah, Twi? Spike asked back. Twilight kept walking in silence for a couple of seconds. "Twi?" Spike prodded her. "Princess Celestia hasn't sent any letters since yesterday, has she?" Twilight said in a low voice. Spike scratched his chin as he watched his friend, "I think I would have noticed, that last one hurt my throat," he said with a smile. His smile quickly died, however, once he saw the crestfallen expression on the unicorn's face. "Twi, I'm sure Princess Celestia will write us back soon," Spike said, as reassuringly as he could. "I know, Spike, organising the quarantine in such a short time can't be easy," Twilight said, and even though Spike noticed that she didn't sound too convinced, he opted not to press the issue. The rest of the walk went without any major incident, most ponies didn't want to leave their homes, and that decision to stay indoors caused the streets to be barren of practically everypony, which increased the eerie feeling that had fell upon the town since the previous day. Twilight could have sworn she saw movement in the houses. Whether it was due to the rustling of curtains, or the shadows moving behind closed windows, she wasn't sure. Regardless, the unicorn kept walking next to the guard, down the road that led to the edge of town. As they got closer, Twilight could see that a group of ponies was already gathered there, talking intently with each other. Some of them were guards who were starting to leave to their designated positions. The rest of them she couldn't recognise, but judging by their attire, they seemed to be a medical team, although she was able to make out a familiar face amongst the crowd. "Doctor Horse?" Twilight asked when she saw the yellow unicorn who was talking with the other ponies in white robes. "Ah, Miss Twilight, it's good to see you," the doctor said, turning around to face the unicorn, "this is the medical team that was sent from Canterlot." The group of ponies nodded in acknowledgement to Twilight, and she could hear some murmured greetings, before they all turned around to face the doctor again. "Time is running short, doctor. Now that the discussions are over, may we take the samples with us?" a mare at the front of the group said. "Of course, they should be arriving shortly," Doctor Horse said. As if on cue, a white mare came trotting down the road alongside another guard. "Here they are," the mare mumbled, holding a medical bag with her mouth. Once she laid it down, she spoke again, "they're processed, labeled and organised." "Thank you, Nurse Redheart, I don't know what I'd do without you," Doctor Horse said with a smile. "We will be taking these, then," another doctor of the Canterlot team said, levitating the bag towards him with his magic. "Our team will be collaborating with the Manehattan Institute of Medicine during our research, we're under the impression you already contacted them, right Doctor Horse?" the first doctor said. "The letter I sent must have reached them by now, no doubt they'll be more than willing to help us," Doctor Horse said. "Very well, then," the first doctor said, adjusting her glasses, "we'll talk to them as soon as we can, it would be for the best for this situation to be kept under wraps until the Princesses deem it appropriate to make a formal announcement to all of Equestria." "It's... Understandable," Nurse Redheart said in a tone that let everypony know that she didn't entirely agree. Twilight stayed silent during the entire exchange, watching from the sidelines at the doctors talking, idly waiting for them to finish. "I never quite understood how medicine works," a voice next to her said. "Gah!" Twilight yelled, startled by the sudden apparition next to her. "I am sorry, Miss Sparkle, I did not mean to scare you," Sergeant Bold Spear said with a worried look on his face. "It's okay, Sergeant, you only caught me by surprise," the unicorn said, catching her breath, "and I told you to call me Twilight." "I will remember it," the Sergeant said. Twilight looked back at the group of doctors for a moment, "I can't say my grasp on medicine is too good, either. There's only so much that can be learned from books, after all." "I agree, it is better to leave those who know about it to do their jobs," the Sergeant said. "Oh, Twilight could be a great doctor if she tried," Spike chimed in, jumping from Twilight's side and onto her back. "Spike!" Twilight said, giving the dragon a stern look, "don't pay attention to him, Sergeant." "And who may this be?" the Sergeant asked as he looked at Spike. "Spike, the dragon, at your service," Spike said, extending his claw towards the Sergeant. Sergeant Bold Spear eyed the dragon's claw for a second before extending his own hoof and shaking it, "You are the dragon Miss Twilight hatched all those years ago, are you not? I have heard about you." Twilight smiled at the sight of her assistant shaking the Sergeant's hoof, and for a moment, her mind could forget about the situation they were in. This feeling, however, didn't last for long. A guard headed towards them, and gave a salute once he was in front of the little group before speaking, "Sergeant, the guards are in position, it's time to put up the barrier." "Thank you, I will be on my way," Sergeant Bold Spear said, saluting as well. Twilight saw the guard walk away, and felt a sour sensation grow in her stomach, for she knew that the time was upon her. "You wanted to be present, did you not, Miss Twilight?" the Sergeant said, looking at her. Twilight nodded in agreement. "Then follow me," he said as he started trotting towards the barracks. Twilight took a deep breath and went after the Sergeant. She remained at a distance, however, and making sure she couldn't be heard, she spoke again, "I guess this is it, isn't it?" "Huh, what do you mean, Twi?" Spike said in an equally low voice. "I mean that it has come to this, a quarantine. The Princess had to have the town sealed because I couldn't solve this in time," Twilight said in a depressed tone. "Twilight..." The dragon trailed off. The unicorn didn't give any sign of acknowledgement towards Spike, so he spoke again, "You can't blame yourself for this, you did everything you could." And I still failed them, she wanted to say, but kept walking in silence instead, as if she hadn't heard what her friend said. Once they reached the tents, Sergeant Bold Spear made them stop, "This is as far as you can go, Miss Twilight," he said. Twilight was about to say something when she realised they had reached the edge of the perimeter established by the Royal Guard, "Oh, I'll go back, then," she said, taking a couple of steps back. Sergeant Bold Spear nodded and turned around to face the rest of the guards, who were approaching him. "Attention!" he hollered, causing the guards to quickly take their places in front of him, "I will not waste the time of anypony, all of you know the reason why we have been sent here. We have been entrusted with the safety of this town and the safety of Equestria, and I know all of you are up to the task," the Sergeant made a pause during which he scanned his troops, "and we shall not disappoint." Once the Sergeant stopped talking, two unicorns gave a step forward and met with him. He gave them a nod and, immediately, the two unicorns charged their horns and after less than a second, a clear, slightly rose-tinted surface started materialising out of thin air. It grew exponentially, quickly forming a gently curved wall that burrowed into the ground, it kept expanding into the heavens, curving ever so slightly, towards the center of the town. Almost simultaneously, similar walls raised towards the sky from several points around the edge of town, all of them just like the first one. They all grew and kept growing until each wall met with the rest, and together formed an enormous dome over Ponyville. Twilight walked towards the edge of the barrier, and raised a hoof towards it, pressing it against its surface. It felt cold. "It lets the sunlight in and filters the air that comes in and out, not to mention it is much harder to dispel," the muffled voice of the Sergeant came from outside of the barrier, catching Twilight's attention, "we have made a few improvements over the spell your brother used on his wedding." "What now, Sergeant?" Twilight asked. "We wait for new orders. Until then, we make sure the barrier is holding up, we divert any curious ponies before they can see the barrier, and we let the medical team do their job, assisting them when possible," the Sergeant said. He then took out a rolled up piece of parchment from his saddlebags, "Right now I am going to check on the eight outposts around town." "Hopefully you won't mind if we join you," Twilight said. The Sergeant stared at Twilight for a moment before speaking, "You would only be able to watch us from the inside, Miss Twilight, I am sure you have better things to do." Twilight spared Spike a glance before looking back at the Sergeant, "Until I get further instructions from Princess Celestia, no, I don't." "Very well," the Sergeant said, stuffing the parchment back where they had been, "let us go." And withouth another word, they walked.