“Halt! You are under arrest!” Cried one of the figures. Cloudy’s eyes went wide with panic, and he looked up. Five pegasi decked out head to hoof in golden armor were descending towards him as if heralding a unified bum rush.

Kicking his wings into gear, the lone pegasus began flying away from the lot as fast as he could. He was flying out of the gorge without even realizing it, the armored ponies hot on pursuit. Swerving around, he rushed back to Ponyville towards the crystalline castle at the far edge.

Only to meet with even more armored ponies, this bunch unicorns, as soon as he landed. Magic gripped his wings, and spears were pointed mere inches from his face. Those who flew after him landed a few feet behind, and they approached him like prowling, hungry lions who wanted to feed their cubs.

“You and Swift Wing are under arrest.” Both unicorn and pegasus in armor alike repeated in eerie unison, almost as if it were a chant. Cloudy panicked and struggled to no avail, having chains adorn his hooves and wings before he was tossed in a carriage next to his equally bound friend.

“You just had to get caught, didn’t you?” Swift scorned, eyes narrowed low as he looked at Cloudy.

“I-I was ambushed!” Cloudy replied, once more telling the truth. “B-By four ponies at once!”

The armored pegasi put the harnesses on themselves, wings a-flappin’ like no tomorrow. The vehicle soon found itself lifted into the air, the ponies propelling it dragged it straight towards Canterlot Castle.

“Did they know anything about the...what we were looking for?” Swift asked, still glaring at Cloudy.

“No. They weren’t too friendly--one even accused me of plotting to rape someone else’s girlfriend with you.” Cloudy replied, cringing.

Swift cocked a brow. “What?” He inquired.

“Exactly.” Cloudy agreed with a hasty nod. As he and his friend were dragged closer to the castle, he looked back at Ponyville, seeing a few more guards fly above it.

The guards that flew over Ponyville quickly turned to Ghastly Gorge, wings propelling them towards said gorge as if they were in a hurry. They kept going, one eventually having to stay behind to push in the gemstone that revealed the parting rocks of the cavern. Awaiting the bunch was the red-maned unicorn, face exposed and an irritated expression plastered upon thereof.

“We came here to check on one of your own via Princess Celestia’s orders.” Spoke one of the guards. The unicorn’s irritated look faded away, and he sighed.

“Follow me.” He replied, turning around and trotting into the bleak, barely-lit cavern. It took a good while, but the lot eventually reached the four-way hall again. The unicorn took a left, pegasi in tow, trotting down yet another hallway--this one marked with actual wooden doors. He stopped before one door, opened it, and trotted inside what was beyond. The pegasi followed once more, and were greeted by the white-pelted unicorn helping the blue one eat some warm soup. A wet cloth was on her forehead, and another still wrapped around her horn.

“What….are the guards...doing here?” The blue-coated mare asked, eyelids threatening to close. Her mane was even messier now, and so was her coat.

“Celestia told them to get here, Koto, and that’s just what they did.” Answered the red-maned unicorn, a look of worry on his face as he trotted up next to her.

“I...see.” Koto groaned with a weak nod, blinking a few times. Another spoonful of soup was placed in her mouth.

“How bad is it?” Asked a guard.

“Can’t even hold her own hoof up without her bladder failing because of pain.” Answered the red-maned unicorn, sighing once more.

The guard nodded, blinking a few times.

“Can I...go back to sleep now…?” Koto asked, yawning.

“Alright.” The white-pelted unicorn replied, putting the bowl of soup on a tray and holding that in her magic. “Just yodel if you need anything.”

The lot trotted out of the room and blew out the torches within, letting Koto slowly nod off to la-la land.

The red-maned unicorn looked at the guards. “Anything else the princess told you to do?” He asked, voice in a whisper.

The guards shook their heads. They then trotted all the way back to the entrance of the cavern, and they promptly left.

The two unicorns sighed, and the white-pelted one traversed the caverns while the red-maned one stayed put to keep an eye on Koto. After an hour or two, the white-pelted one came upon Yuuki, who stood like a vigilant guard right down to the stoic expression on her face. Behind her was a door, this one crafted of metal.

A ghastly shriek filled the air, the door was soon being pounded on from the inside after that. Yuuki quickly stepped aside, letting the white-pelted unicorn open the door, barge in, and close it shut in seconds.

A quiet sobbing then filled the air. Yuuki opened the door slowly, poking her head inside the room to find the unicorn soothing a greyish-blue-coated mare with a long, untamed blond mane. Bronze eyes were squinted but not quite shut, and a good portion of her entire body was modified with metal welding, entire right foreleg included. Her feathered wings, as unkempt as her mane, were folded at her sides, and wires of red and green made up her tail. A horn of steel was on her forehead, and she was trying to pry it off with the aforementioned metal foreleg, which ended in three sharp claws.

“Calm down.” The white-pelted unicorn sighed, using both of her forelegs to hold the metal one down.

“But it hurts…” The mare pouted, eyes still leaking tears.

“I know it does. Just go back to sleep, and the pain will go away.” The unicorn sighed, embracing the mare in a hug. “All you have to do is rest.”

Author's Note

A rather short one. Hopefully more short ones won't pop up in the future. :(

~Dragon