Breaking Quarantine

"Hmm...Interesting..." Star said, stuffing his face into the food as well. He hadn't had food like this since he was an orphan back at the orphanage in Ponyville. It really brought a smile to his face as he remembered his life in Ponyville. Once done, he followed close behind Arachne, whipping his face of food.

Star shook his head at Distortion. "I don't even think you asked a question at all." He said to Distortion, turning to the mare. "Well...First off, what's a Void Knight, Lost, and Turned? And are there any dangers we should be told about since we're heading into the city?" He asked, somewhat happy about his question.

"You have already named three of you're biggest threats in ze city, but to know of them you vill need to hear vhat happened all dose years ago. At first, no-vone knew vhat vas happening. Dere vas dis giant vall of light expanding from ze tower. Den it exploded, upwards, and instantly it started to rain. Dis rain is vhat caused de problem. Liquid dat shifted color every few seconds, rained down upon de city. All de ponies that were caught in de downpour became dis," Arachne paused to gesture to herself.

"I don't know vhat dat liquid vas, but it caused ponies to change into dese monsters. For some, it vas too much and dey vent insane, mindlessly destroying all dey could see. Dese vere de Turned, ponies who truly became monsters. De ones like myself became known as de Lost, former ponies vith no place in dis vorld. Many didn't trust us for good reason, several Lost embraced dere new found power and did terrible things vith it," Arachne remarked forlornly.

"Vhen I changed, I vas vith Pyre's vreal father. Ve became Lost together, but all ve needed vas each ozer. Over time, ve found others like ourselves and joined a community. It vas nice, as nice as any of us could hope for. Den de knights of de void came. Zealots who thought if dey could destroy all de monsters created by de accident by using a special stone dat drained magic, den de barrier would be taken down. Vhen de vere just killing Turned, it vas a blessing, for Turned have no friends, no family, it is simply kill to dem, sometimes food even. But den de knights turned their veapons on us and attacked de community by surprise. Because of de transformations, my husband could not move quickly, he made me leave him dere but I saw vhat dey did to him. Vhat does evil bastards did to dem all," Arachne had to pause again as she was almost quivering with anger that all but radiated off her form.

After a few deep breaths, she called back down and continued her tale. "For a time, I vas vittle better den de monsters. I embraced my changes and attacked de void knights, and how I enjoyed it so. Vut I got careless, vas captured. Made a deal vith a pirate to escape, and den I had nothing. Ze pirate killed the void knights leader, and vhile some still cling to dere old vays, dere aren't too many left. I vas empty for a time, ironic dat it vas den dat I found out I was vith child. Den Vuckle strolled into my veb. I'd known him as a dear friend before my changes, and had assumed him dead all dat time. He helped me and now I- ve, have something of a life here. In de city though, Turned still roam the skywalks. Raiders and airship pirates roam the sky and ground. And Void knights and Lost still battle to de death, all of dis and maybe even vorse still lie in dat city. I hope you vill not meet an end vorse dan death inside," Arachne warned.

Distortion cringed. "That sounds har— Wait, what were you saying about that special stone that drained magic again? Do they still have it? What does it look like?" He brightened up considerably. "Does it use magic too?"

Star listened carefully to the story and made note of the treats to look out for. He looked at Distortion with a slightly dumbfounded look. "Why does magic interest you so much?" He asked quietly before turning to Arachne. "So..Void Knights...What do they look like exactly? What kind of armor do they have? And raiders and pirates...Gonna keep note of that..."

He opened his saddle bags and took out a piece of paper, a quill, and some ink. He dipped the tip of the quill in the ink and started to write some stuff on the paper. Once he was done writing, he looked up at Arechne and was prepared to write more as she talked.

"No, dis stone only drains magic, and all forms of it. Be too close for too long, and it vill drain one dry for good of even dere ambient magic. Pegasi unable to fly or touch clouds, Earth ponies considerably weaker and practically killing de earth they walk on, and unicorns completely cut off from magic seem to have it de vorst, most simply kill demselves. Void stone, vhich is vhy the knights took dere name, is poison to a Lost. It eats avay at our very being, until ve vither avay. Dat is vhy de knights used it to fight us, despite de cost," Arachne half warned, half told the two. "Tis a dark stone, like obsidian but vith a purple tint. De easiest vay to tell vhen you are near some, you vill feel veaker."

Seconds later, Buckle walked back into the room with a simple smile on his face. He kissed his wife before taking a seat next to her. "Overheard ya from the other room love. Warning them about the void stone and Knights that wield it?" Buckle asked his wife. When she nodded, Buckle continued. "Nasty stuff that is, which is why most just kept some as either a pendant, or put some on their weapons. Smaller amounts drain less and drain it slower. The leader though, phew he was something else. Parading around in a suit made from the stuff no less. It's a wonder he could even stand. It's a good thing he never overloaded it either. When Void stone absorbs too much magic too fast, it overloads and explodes, violently."

"Like kryptonite, then." Distortion mused. "Well obviously their leader must have had some kind of immunity or something. Best bet is that he returns as a big bad in our journey. Killed offscreen ain't no death till we see the body."

He paused. "Can I ask another question? Does it just absorb magic from ponies, or will it absorb magic from everywhere? Like, if I shoot a beam of magic energy at one of those rocks, will it absorb it?"

Star dropped the quill he was holding in his mouth. "Can't fly?! Oh that's terrible! Luna knows what I would do if I couldn't fly with my excellent wings." He unfolded one wing of his wings and snuggled it close a little bit before he realized he was doing and refolded the wing back to his side, coughing a little. "Uhh...I mean, just ignore that little display. It's just me being foalish. Hehe..." He rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof. He picked up his quill against and started to write once more, letting Distortion asked his question.

Arachne and Buckle shared a chuckle at Star's reaction, but then Arachne picked up the explanation. "Des, void stone vill drain avay de spell, like it does all magic."

"Now I know what you're thinking," Buckle chimed in. "If it's that powerful of a magic drain, why haven't we used it to drain the barrier and escape. Well, there's a few, first off, void stone's kind of rare. You don't come across a lot of it often. Storm's suit of it was the most I'd ever seen in one place. Secondly, the explosion from that much void stone absorbing that much magic, which it would overload for sure, would take out at least a quarter of the city. And the princesses wouldn't take nearly as long setting up a new barrier. Lastly, there's things in here that shouldn't be let out. The Turned can't be tamed, can't be controled, and believe me I've seen it tried. This one fella, he even went a little darker with straight mind control magic. He was left a gibbering mess of incomprehensible sputters as it turned around and ate him."

"De Turned are not de only monsters. Lost can mix cruelty, brutality, and enough thought to be even more dangerous. I know, I vas vone for a time. Few ever escaped my webs, and none did so vithout first making a deal vith me," Arachne added darkly. Though a quick nuzzle and smile from Buckle brought back out her own weary smile.

"Hm..." A grin spread slowly over Distortion's face. "Interesting... interesting... so say, if someone was wearing an armour of the stuff, and I just so happened to fire a cascade of spells so it overloaded and exploded..."

"Enough of de stone to make a suit vould take a lot of magic, you vould probably run out vell before it reached it's limit. Vut if it did overload, dere vouldn't be a pony left," Arachne responded.

"Nah, all I need is to redirect enough magic being shot at me," Distortion tapped his chest proudly, "and hit whatever deposits of the stuff might be lying around. Surely there have got to be some magic-slinging enemies in this place."

Star dropped his quill once more at the mention of somepony getting eaten. "Ate...him...?" The color seemed to drain from his face as his fear of spiders suddenly took hold and he almost coward behind Distortion again.

"Hehehe, don't worry Star. No two Lost or Turned look the same. As for spell casting... maybe some unicorns, anypony still using the old Magi-tech gear, and some of the Lost or Turned but not all of them. Arachne here's venom and silk might have been caused by a magical mutation, but now it's just another part of her," Buckle said about his wife who was doing wonders at keeping a stoic face.

"Aw." Distortion pouted. "Still, if only some ponies still do all that spell-casting I can bet that any powerful villain we might encounter is bound to have some on his side." He sighed. "Still, that kind of negates my best power. I need to find something else to do with it." He turned back to the two. "How much stuff in this place runs on passive magic, like runes or enchantments or something?"

"Huh..." Star was still practically hiding behind Distortion, but did shake himself off a little bit. He grabbed the paper he was writing on and looked through it. "Void Knights, have void stones. Void stones, stay clear of them, wont be able to-..." He stopped his mumbling as he read the next part to himself, not wanting to make a fool of himself again. "Turned and Lost...once ponies, but are now...different..." He muttered the rest of what he wrote before putting the paper, quill, and ink back in his bag.

"When it was all working, just about everything ran on active runes charged by crystals. Though now a lot of the mana crystals that were powering them have dusted and they're innactive. At least for a lot of your appliances and such. With monsters prowling the streets, ponies don't seem to care as much about the luxuries of life. Now actual Magi-tech weapons on the other hoof have seen quite a bit of care, and they usually keep them ready to go and armed with charged mana crystals. The rune doesn't activate until the crystal touches it though, at least that how the common ones were," Buckle elaborated since he'd had plenty of experience taking things apart. "Old fashioned enchanted swords and spears might have some passive magic if that's what you'd be looking for. A number of the guard used to carry them around. Probably a good number still in the city, but guard weapons were made nice and they probably won't be easy to get."

"Ooh, just what we want!" Distortion clapped his hooves in excitement. Magitech and passive enchantments all fall under my purview! This'll be awesome!" He paused. "So, any idea where in particular we can some of those?"

Star's ears perked up at the mention of weapons. His rushed over to Buckle, his muzzle mear inches away from his. "Magi-tech weapons?" His expression seemed to have not a hint of fear in them any more. At the mention of guard weapons, he looked to the sword that was strapped to his side. "We're gonna have one hell of a time getting into the Magi-tech building, aren't we...?"

"You vill have a hard time just reaching de Tower," Arachne replied then look she looked over to Buckle and whispered something in his ears that perked up as well. They whispered back and forth a little and then together they looked at Distortion and Star. "Maybe ve can help each ozer?" Arachne then suggested.

"What my wife means is, if we help ya at least get into the city, maybe we can hitch a ride out with ya's. We have a mutual friend who lives in there pretty deep. After seeing what we've got just lying around to give you two a chance, I can get a hold of him and tell him to meet you two someplace. If anypony can get you two to the Tower, it'd be him, but we want out of here in exchange. Think you can manage that?" Buckle elaborated.

Star let out a sigh and thought deeply about it. He thought about what the princesses would say to them if him and Distortion came out of the barrier with two Lost. "Hmm...If it means getting Sparky out of this city then...Yes. I don't want a foal growing up in a city run by fighting and violence." He looked away, closing his eyes and remembering his own past. Corrupt guards, getting smacked on the head one to many times with the handle of a spear and almost getting stabbed by a spear.

"I don't want him to lose his family. He's a good kid. Adventurous, if he goes out finding things. I grew up without a parent to watch over me, so...try to go easy on the little kid. He'll be silly, but it's all in good fun." He opened his eyes and looked at Buckle and Arachne, a slight smile on his mouth. "By my oath as a royal guard I will get you out of this city safely." He puffed up his chest and held a hoof to it. His expression was serious and not a hint of a joking matter in his words.

"Sure, why not?" Distortion said nonchalantly. "I mean, this place sounds terrible already. I'm not surprised you guys want out." His eyes glinted with eagerness. "Besides, magic weapons!"

The two ponies nodded in acceptance of the answer, but cringed on the oath swear. "Just for the record, I wouldn't go around announcing you're a royal guard. Might make you a few friends, but a lot more enemies rather quickly. Who do you think were the majority of the original void knights after all," Buckle warned as he stood up with Arachne and then moved to go back to the workshop.

"Come, I vill show you to de guest rooms," Arachne said leading the two to basically a different apartment in the opposite direction. "Everything you could need should be inside. Dis apartment was abandoned because of how unstable it looked, but Buckle was able to get in here and reinforce what was needed to keep it up and solid. Because of that and it's distance from the inner city, lots of things were left," she said while opening the door. Inside was a small apartment, but as a single room it was quite big. Complete with a pair of beds, bathroom, a pair of night stands, and a pair of dressers. "If you need anything, knock first, but sleep vell," Arachne said as she left the two to their room for the night, supposedly to retire herself and await her husband.

"Goodnight!" Distortion said cheerfully, until the door swung shut. His jovial demeanor disintegrated immediately, and a serious scowl settled on his face instead.

"Hey, Star." He said in a near-whisper. "Do you trust those guys?"

Star cringed at the warning he got. "Yeah..Right..." He followed behind Arachne, going a bit slow. When they reached the guestroom, he sat down on the bed with a sigh. He took of his helmet and looked at the front of it, resting his head against it. It was going to be a very long two weeks for him. Being a royal guard in a city where they are despised was not helping his worries.

He stayed silent and closed his eyes as Distortion asked his question. He thought very deeply and wondered in his heart of he really did trust these ponies. No...No he didn't, but there was one pony he would trust...The one pony that reminds him most of himself...He trusted Pyre and wanted him out of this city. "No...No I don't." He said simply before openeing his eyes and putting his helmet on the nightstand. "But...I will do what it takes to get Sparky out of this city...He reminds me too much of myself..."

He stood up from the bed and took of the rest of his armor, dropping it down near the bed and hopping into the bed. He kept his sword strapped to his side encase he needed to draw it suddenly. He closed his eyes, but didn't drift of to sleep. How could he? He was in a place he doesn't know and it was nighttime. It was his hour to be awake. He was not a day pony, he was a night guard, a thestral, a naturally nocturnal pony.

"They're just using us to get out of the city." Distortion continued in a whisper, narrowing his eyes. "I only trust them as far as they can depend on us to do that. And even then I'm not so sure..."

He moved over to the other bed and collapsed onto it, not even bothering to remove his clothes. "Goodnight." He promptly fell asleep and started snoring.