A chorus of cheers set out along the dirt roads as the embezzled carriage glided into the view of the waiting ponies. A mad scramble from the front of the crowd ensued, not even the small foals being exempt from the amount of pushing they did to get their dream of seeing their King up close. The carriage trundled on, coming closer and closer to the madness. The pony hoofman looked on at the surging with discontent. He did not approve of his having to steer through these large hordes to ensure that the ruler was safe. Sticking his head through the window of the carriage he whispered to the pony that sat inside.
“Your Highness, there seems to be a rabble on this road. Do you want us to take you and your friend another way?”
A white snout shifted outwards and moved closer to the window; it peered around and grinned to see the gathering ponies pushing on the road. Helios shifted back and whispered something to his friend in the side of the carriage with him. The friend smiled in the shadows and whispered something back, to which Helios let out a laugh. He turned back to the hoofman, who waited patiently for his answer.
“No it’s alright Emblem. If the ponies wish to see us then we’ll see them,” he informed the disgruntled stallion worker. The stallion, although annoyed, nodded to his King and shuffled back onto his seat at the front of the carriage. Helios beamed. He was so happy today; it was his first day outside of Canterlot in a couple of weeks and he had never been happier to leave his perfect house and enter back into the world he had once known. The land had always been his home; though underground the majority of time, he still loved the farms and fields as much as an average earth pony would.
Lotto glanced at his young friend from the other side of the carriage. He was glad to see him looking okay again; the white half-breed had been looking so lost and forlorn in the last few days. Lotto knew that King Alicorn, as he was now formally called, was deeply upset still about his loss of the pony he had loved. He too, missed Grain a lot, as he also had affection for the young mare, but he did not show it.
He had been extremely proud when Helios had made him Captain of the royal guard; he had trained all of his life to do this and was pleased that he was good enough to have become a leader so quickly. Though some would argue that he was only given the position because he had made friends with the young ruler, he knew that Helios had only given him the position because he trusted him entirely. Why, if it hadn’t been for Lotto and a few others then Helios would not have gained his position of rightful heir back from the clutches of the tyrant Evergreen.
Evergreen had been a nasty piece of work alright. Ruled the kingdom with an iron hoof, she did. When Helios took over, he vowed that it would never be like that again. He was a fair and just King and Lotto firmly believed he always would be. Lotto sighed. It was nice to be travelling with his friend, and it was nice that he was now a Knight, but he supposed that in the back of his mind he was thinking the same as Helios: ‘Why can’t I find my true love?’ Lotto would have loved a mare he could count on and protect; it was his greatest wish after becoming Captain. Helios too was having the same thought about a mare he could find.
There was one mare that they were both fond of and that was Marelin. Marelin was the sorceress and royal advisor to Helios, and had been one of the ponies that had helped him gain his royal title; both cared for Marelin a lot, but neither could see Marelin as more than just a friend. She was sweet and nice and brave and loyal, but she wasn’t what they would call a true love. When they had first met she had behaved not much more than a foal would, and even though she had begun to grow up being in her position of authority, she was still that same friendly foal at heart. Not that they would want her to change--they liked her the way she was, but still they would never consider marrying her.
It was a shame that Marelin could have not come with them on their journey to Zebrica; they could have had fun together. Unfortunately Marelin had had to go away on her own mission and could not accompany them after all. Zebrica was to be their stop, and was in fact a long journey. They had been offered the chance for a Pegasus team to fly them there but Helios had instantly denied and said he would set off earlier and go by land. He wished to see the land his ponies lived on and see if there was anything that he could help fix in any way. He wanted his land to be as pleasant a place to live as possible. Soon in Zebrica a peace treaty would be signed between the two lands, and harmony could reign over their two kingdoms.
Helios stopped thinking and tapped on the top of the carriage, a signal for the driver to slow down and pull over. Lotto watched as the half-breed clambered down the steps and trotted into the surging crowd. He shook hooves with ponies of all ages, chattered amiably to old mares and stallions, and even handed over a hanky to a sick little filly with a cold and a crutch by her side. The ponies could not be more joyous; their new King really seemed to care for each and every one of them: old and young, rich and poor, in health and in sickness. Lotto beamed with pride at his friend’s attention to the crowds but did not attempt to follow him out of the carriage. Helios could do fine all by himself.
The hoofman and other guards watched from close-by, anxious as to whether their King would be injured by the overly eager crowd. They stood weapons ready, just in case. Helios seemed to be a long time in his endeavours but other than having to wipe his hoof that a foal had sneezed on, he received no injuries of any kind, much to his workers’ relief. He climbed back into his carriage and shut the door; giving the ponies a final wave before Lotto signalled for the carriage to start up again. They couldn’t do this too often or they would never stay on schedule.
The next length of the journey would be under the cover of the Everfree forest, as named by Helios himself. Lotto and Helios had no fears of the forest at all, though Helios was always a bit wary of discovering any dangerous creatures that had been moved there during Evergreen’s reign. Lotto, however, most certainly never showed any fear of the forest. Helios admired this. The fact that Lotto had managed to go into the dark place and train to be a soldier, whilst other ponies were terrified of even stepping near the foliage in front of the trees, was a marvel to him. Where he had gained his courage had always been a mystery to him. They had known each other a short while now and yet; still Helios did not feel that he knew everything about the blue pegasus. He knew enough to consider him his friend but that was all.
Lotto noticed the white stallion’s stare at him and grinned to him from his seat. Helios returned the favour. It was hard to not like Lotto; he was such a cheerful pony-- perhaps not as cheerful as Marelin was sometimes-- but a more controlled, sensible type of happy instead. Yes, Helios was content with the ponies he had in his life, even if he sometimes felt lonely without Grain there in the collection with them. Grain had been such a good character and Helios had done her a kind and generous favour when he agreed that she should go back and marry the stallion who she had loved before him; even if her leaving made Helios rather lost in the love department.
Helios had never understood love, nor had he ever really understood the constant obsession with ponies of the opposite gender. He had spent one half of his life living far away from other ponies in a small cottage with only an elderly Nanny to look after him (hardly a choice when considering true romance) and the other half he had spent underground all alone. There had been no opportunity for him to ever speak to a mare properly; most would have run at the sight of what they believed to be a scary story monster told at foals’ bedtimes. He wasn’t real to them, and they could never have been real to him. That was until he met Grain and Marelin, both of which didn’t think of him as deformed in any way.
He sighed as the carriage slowly began to trundle through into the darkness of the weeping willows and oaks. This was going to be a long trip, and he should make the most of every minute of freedom. He put his head back and shut his eyes, yawning. It had been a long day; he really needed to relax and get some rest if he wanted to be awake for the summit when he got there. Lotto moved over and watched the foliage skim past his view…This is what he loved; his Everfree was as beautiful as he remembered.
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The hoofman shot his glances over the dark grass; taking in all that was going on around him. The Knights too, walking by the side of the vehicle, also kept a keen eye on any trouble that may befall them. They didn’t expect any trouble to come but it was always good to be vigilant in case the time was needed when they had to bear arms and defend themselves. The driver kept his eyes on the road in front of him, quite enjoying his long expedition over the newly dug dirt roads. It was a breath of fresh air considering the period beforehand when no work was coming his way from the palace.
The Hoofman turned to the driver and whispered into his ear. The driver nodded and pointed with a hoof towards the front of the car.
“Ah I see,” the hoofman said, “So, there is no chance that they can fall off without the ponies pulling the carriage deciding to do it themselves?”
“Not technically true sir,” the driver muttered while gazing into the road once more, narrowly avoiding a large pot hole. The hoofman looked surprised. He had never ridden much on a carriage beforehand; indeed, he had only begun employment at the palace a few days ago. He was the new colt of the large family, and he was intent on doing his best. Sadly he had not yet begun to understand too much about his job fully, so he was learning on the go.
“Then another pony could take them off and the carriage could stop abruptly?” he asked inquisitively. The driver looked slightly exasperated with all of the questions he was being asked. He was an old stallion, rather set in his ways, and was not entirely good at dealing with any requests of youngsters. He lifted a hoof and brushed back his comb-over so that his bald patch would be covered up again; he was very particular that he should always look his absolute best when escorting the royal family places, Princess Platinum had always admired him for his dedication to his looks.
“No, nopony would be able to make the carriage stop.” He muttered rather than spoke his words and he avoided eye contact as much as he could. “Only me or the stallions dragging the car along can stop it.”
“But you said….”
“I know what I said,” the old stallion snapped. The young hoofman immediately became quiet and left the driver alone in peace. The driver was happy. There was a reason he had never wanted foals.
The foot soldiers carried on picking their way through the flora on the edge of the path, following the tracks of the carriage they were escorting. They had to do their duty and stick by the King’s side no matter what were to happen. For this trip there was a whole herd of knights accompanying the wealthy travellers. Not only was there Lotto inside of the carriage and the two knights pulling the car along, but there was also twelve knights surrounding the front and back. They had to make sure that nothing could get the nobles, as was in their job description.
The two knights at the very back of the crowd were even more wary than the ones up front. It was always bad to be at the very hind of the crew, it meant that they were more susceptible to being attacked from behind and getting knocked down. This horrible job was usually given to the more experienced knights, and today was no exception. Golden Blade and Mighty Joe had been with the knights for a decade or so now, and had even survived working for the old queen Evergreen. They were both loyal to whoever had been put in charge, and never expressed their feelings against the rules that any of the Majesties created. They were puppets under the control of their rulers and nothing more. They had trained to be ruthless and obey, that was all.
However just because they had been trained to follow orders did not mean that they were brainless, and even though they were being watchful over the area it did not stop them talking about what had happened in their lives recently.
“Yes,” Blade told his friend, “Little Dumpling took her first steps the other day; her Mother and I were right proud.” He flinched and pointed his sword towards a bush at the side.
“Oh, I remember when my Shortcake took his first steps. A few years ago now though. They grow up so fast you know.” Blade nodded to his friend and lowered his sword, perfectly confident that there were no dangers lurking in that particular area.
“How is Shortcake? Still having that bed-wetting problem he had last time we spoke?”
“That’s the strange thing; no. Took him to that new healer in the village; you know that Le Neigh mare, she did him wonders she did, not had a wet dream for weeks now.” Joe looked pleased at his son's’ progress, and he was proud of it. It had taken the young colt a long time to get over the problem that had been embarrassing him for years. It was Joe’s turn to flinch as he poked at a large plant next to him. It was clear.
“Shortcake’s such a good colt. I just wish the other foals at his school could see it you know?”
“Yeah I get it mate. I’d want the same for my son, if I had one.” Blaze stopped, occupied with checking another bush that loomed into view. “Though,” he carried on, “My oldest, Glimmer, she was one of those popular foals when she was their age. Nowadays she never seems to act her age.” He sighed and bent down to look under a stone on the floor. They could leave nothing unchecked. Music flew through the breeze nearby him. “I don’t know. She’s not old enough to leave home yet but she acts as if she’s all grown up.” A twig beside him cracked and he shot sideward into it, looking for any interloper if there was one. Thankfully it seemed as if it was the fault of a bird, not a monster, which had broken it. He wandered out of the area and back to where the carriage had carried on going.
“Yeah; the teen years sure are harder than they tell you. Not sure if you can cope when Shortcake starts to…” He jumped and looked around the area. It was empty, aside from the other ponies walking far ahead of him. Joe had gone. No matter where he searched he could not see his friend anywhere. He called to him, thinking he may have gone through the trees slightly after a noise, but Joe did not return his call. Blade skimmed his eyes over the ground. He couldn’t go in search of his friend, not while he still had his duty to see to. The music played a soothing tune into his ears, whispering soft notes to him, telling him that Joe would be alright; he’d be back in a few minutes. They would be together again shortly.
His mind grew cloudy and then he moved and wandered far into the woods… all by himself.
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The carriage carried on into the forest; the driver and the hoofman both sitting on the edge of their seats to avoid the other stallion. They were not so happy in one another’s company, and the hoofman felt quite offended by the older pony’s tone of speech towards an innocent new worker. He muttered to himself; cursing under his breath so that nopony else could hear his anger. He was only a young stallion and he believed that since he now worked in the palace he deserved some respect. Sadly he had not yet discovered that none of the palace workers treated any of the other workers differently to the way they had been treated, and if any new ponies came to work they would be as gruff as possible with them to knock them down off their high horse. The hoofman would come to learn this and then the driver would be a lot friendlier with him.
Helios and Lotto appeared content within the cabin. The young King was half asleep and looked more at peace then he had ever been in his life before, and Lotto seemed happy enough watching the world fly by outside the window. Overall they were pleasantly fatigued both of them and thought they deserved a bit of rest on this journey.
Everything seemed to be working like clockwork so far. They had greeted ponies as they had planned, stopped off at shops and farms on the way to their destination as they had planned, and gone in the right direction to Zebrica which was the key element to their plan. Nothing had disturbed them or worried them in any way and although some of the journey took place in dangerous places they didn’t appear to be too worried about it.
Lotto knew the Everfree like the back of his hoof; he had spent a considerable time of his life in there. He couldn’t see why other ponies appeared to fear something that he saw as quite beautiful and majestic, perhaps they just feared it because they didn’t know anything about it; he would have to rectify that. He watched as the world flew by beside him, moving so fast he felt his view could never quite catch up with it. Because that was the truth of the matter, he thought, his life had seemed to go quite fast what with signing up to join the knights, then the whole trouble with Alicorn, and then now his job as Captain of the guard. True the old Captain had given him some pointers on how the job had to be done but somehow, even though it was his foalhood choice of occupation, he still felt like it had been given to him incorrectly no matter how ready he was for it.
A song lilted through the breeze and into the window. Lotto listened patiently, transfixed by the wonderful melody that swam freely in the air. This song was wonderful; he genuinely loved the natural beauty of the notes, as he had always done. The young King’s ear twitched as the harmony rattled into his eardrums. ‘Lovely’, his mind screamed to him. ‘So lovely.’
His dreams took in all of the sound and pitch, creating them into something new and extraordinary. Look, there was he, Helios, with a mare by his side; a mare that he loved very dearly. Marelin? Certainly not, Marelin was a good friend and nothing more. Grain? No, Grain had left him for another so it could not be her. He pondered in his subconscious but could not think of any other mares he knew well enough and would consider a suitable partner for his wedding day.
It was definitely his wedding day though. There was he with a stunning suit on, his sky locks flowing behind him as he smiled and lifted a tiara into the air, ready to place it on his new Bride’s head and proclaim her Queen. She was turning. He was going to see her face for the first time? An arranged marriage perhaps? Would he ever allow an arranged marriage to occur? He hoped not. However this new bride was certainly one he had never met before. He felt the hesitance coming from the character portraying him; he saw the anguish and the fear of the unknown. He supposed in some ways, he saw that he was a big chicken.
The band struck up a peaceful tune, readying his view upon the face of his new beloved. Here it comes, he’s going to see. Pearly white teeth shine, green hair falls to her shoulders, innocent emerald eyes stare up into his face, and there she is…there is the wonderful…
Emblem?
“Your majesty.” Helios awoke with a start and looked up towards the hoofman peering through his window. The carriage appeared to have stopped moving, and Lotto looked as confused as he did. What was going on here? Emblem looked down on him with his flowing purple mane and waited for his King’s reply. Helios shook himself to wake up.
“Yes,” he asked the hoofman, groggily,“What’s wrong?”
“It’s the work ponies at the front Sir.” Emblem pointed with his hoof to the front of the carriage. Both Lotto and Helios leaned their heads out of the window to take a look. Unfortunately the front of the carriage blocked their view.
“Yes?” Helios asked sharply, “What’s wrong with them? Are they tired?”
“Well, no Sir,” Emblem answered, tugging on his tie with nervousness. “They’re gone Sir.”
Helios stared in amazement at the startling white colt. Gone? How could they have just gone? That was impossible. Had they not been under constant watch from the ponies around them; why even the driver and the hoofman ought to have been able to keep an eye on them. Surely nothing could have sneaked up and taken them without anypony else being able to see them. It was – It was absolutely absurd. Lotto pondered to himself for a couple of minutes; the same thoughts in Helios’s head running through his own, though in a much more logical ‘anything can happen’ sort of way. He beseeched to the young colt leaning through the paneless window.
“Open the door! I want to look at this.” Emblem nodded his head to the midnight stallion, shaking in worry as he clasped his hooves around the door handle and pulled it open. Lotto stood and wandered through onto the damp floor of the forest, the leaves rustled a hello to their old friend but he paid no attention to them. He trotted up to the front of the carriage and surveyed over the empty stirrups that lay before him. The driver stood, as perplexed as an old pony could ever be in such a strange situation. This had never happened in his life before, nor had he ever really wanted it to.
Helios nimbly joined the confused crowd up front, being as cautious as to look around him a few times to make sure it was all clear. He didn’t want to be caught and be the next one on the missing ponies list. At least by Lotto he knew he would be safe from harm.
Lotto tugged and pulled, peered and leered, sniffed and licked (though this seemed highly strange to the other ponies standing around). In the end he could only come to one conclusion.
“Sire,” he said, “These stallions walked off.”
As much as they would have liked to have said that this solved the confusion illuminating in their minds, they were all still drawing a blank. Why would the stallions have just wandered off into the Everfree? Nopony except Helios and his friends could feel even vaguely safe in the dark wonderland, so the idea that two young stallions could have had the bravery to wander off into the unknown seemed startling. That and the fact that they were supposed to say with the royals and protect them at all times, and clearly hadn’t done; the old Captain would have had them punished for breaking their vow of service. Lotto didn’t know what he was to do, he just wanted to find them first.
He stood and shuffled to the carriage door again. From under his seat he pulled out a fine sword and shield, made specifically for him when he was leaving to become a knight by his guardian. A crest of blue and green waves rested on the front; his lucky charm. Comfortable with the way he had positioned them in his armour he called to the watching ponies.
“I’m going to go scout around,” he cried, “See if I can see any signs of them and bring them back.”
Helios didn’t know why but when Lotto left he felt a large chill run up his spine. He felt lost…and alone without his friend. It seemed silly that a powerful stallion like him, who could control the sun and the moon all by himself, should feel nervous when a simple pegasus was not by his side. But he was scared, even if he wouldn’t admit it to his servants.
Emblem’s teeth chattered together. It was freezing, absolutely freezing, and he didn’t like the atmosphere that was gathering around them. He could sense danger, a lot of danger. His horn froze inside, beckoning him to leave and walk away, this was not the life he had needed, this is not what his special talent was. He was a collector of geodes and stones, a keen geologist, not a target for any creature that decided he looked tasty all of a sudden. He had only really joined the palace crew because he needed the money; his Mother needed healing of a terrible terminal affliction; if he saved enough money he could take her to see Le Neigh and everything would be alright again. He needed his Mother by his side; she was too young to leave him already.
The driver was having different thought processes entirely. He kept looking over the bridles and pieces of wood in pure astonishment. Why, never in his whole career had anything like this happened; it seemed strange that it was only when a new ruler were put in charge and opened up the ‘evil’ forest that this should’ve happened. It was happening all right, but why had it happened? He didn’t get it at all. He had been here for far too long, in this job. He was hastily looking forward to retiring in a couple of weeks’ time and then he could be free from all of this stuff: the rules and regulations, the Knights and their constant surveillance over him, the mare that eyed him up every time he went to collect his pay cheque, and these pestering youngsters who didn’t do anything but stand there and shudder in their horseshoes. No complications, no worries, just pure and utter bliss.
The Knights surrounded the area, keeping an eye out for any interlopers to come by. They had seen Lotto go off and had known that when he left it meant that it was entirely up to them to ensure His Majesties safety. They would do this with the utmost diligence just as they had been trained to do. Lotto knew that he could trust the guards he had left in charge, he had hoof-picked them himself to go on this mission. He had been sure that they could accomplish their job and trusted them entirely.
Sometimes Beech Wood wondered why he had been trusted so much at this time; he had never been counted of as anything special by the last Captain, in fact Evergreen had gone so far as to call him a lily-livered coward many times. Beech Wood hadn’t liked Evergreen, he hadn’t minded his old Captain too much, he was only following orders, but Evergreen hadn’t been told to be that harsh to everypony. He had done everything she had told him to do, and it had only taken one incident of letting that young unicorn escape from her room when he had taken her dinner, to get him sent down into the pit of the dungeons.
He didn’t even want to consider how he and his family would have felt if he had stayed down there forever. He would have never seen his wife again that was for sure, and they hadn’t even been married too long. He would have never seen his foal have his first steps; he loved little Dewdrop more than anything in the whole of Equestria…besides his wife of course. He was glad that he had been there for Dewdrop’s first words as well, he might have missed that if he were still down in the prison cells, and he was doubly happy because he had been the one to spark off his first word. Beech Wood remembered that day, the day when he first came home late because of being thrown to the dark ponies below. Dewdrop had been so excited to see him again; very excited indeed. He had opened his mouth very wide, held out his arms for a hug and cried ‘Beech’ right into the face of his tired Mother. While Beech wasn’t so sure he wanted his son calling him by his first name he was still extremely proud of his little colt.
Beech sighed and looked around the area. He wished he were with his wife and son now; nothing or nopony could make him as happy as he was when around them. He loved them so much; there would never be another for him. He surveyed the rest of the guards around him, hoping upon hope that they hadn’t seen any danger coming. He didn’t know how he’d cope in proper dangerous situations.
He turned to two of the guards to his left; his good friends, Charm Bells and Ring Master, stood smiling into the air. Beech grinned to see them, he couldn’t help it, they looked so funny just standing there with that over joyous smile. What was there to be happy about? He couldn’t see anything to be so excited over, just bushes and trees and the overwhelming fear of being struck down at any minute. Nothing to smile about in his view; yet they still smiled.
He ambled over to them slowly, waiting to knock them out of their stolid position. Perhaps if he crept silently enough he could startle them out of their sundered grins; that would be a good joke that would. Silently he pattered up to them before jumping out in front and staring right into their eyes. His heart went cold. They stared back at him with the same smiles, not moving from their constant facial expressions. Their eyes…Their eyes…They were completely white. There was no other colour in the area where their blue and purple rims once covered, no iris with which to see out of…It was – It was horrible.
Beech stuck a hoof backwards in horror. What was this? What was going on? What was wrong with his friends? The forest sang to his worried mind, urging him to realise that his friends were still there, they were still with him. But they weren’t. He could see they weren’t. They couldn’t even seem to realise that he existed at all, nor could they acknowledge the job they were supposed to be doing. The music sounded louder, praying that he would listen and obey it, but Beech would not listen; he did not need a bunch of trees to comfort him. He needed – He needed his wife…and Dewdrop. Now. He needed to be home with them where it was safe.
He kicked his foot back slightly more and felt the sharp stick of a rock poking him from behind. He was too close to the trees; he was being stung from behind his back. His friends, the two glassy-eyed guards moved closer to him, putting one hoof in front of the other as quickly as a tortoise would move. This was not good – Whatever had possessed them was coming to get him. He was going to be killed by his two best friends. He would never get to see Dewdrops first day of school.
He closed his eyes, praying to the ancient royalty that he would be protected from these monsters. He couldn’t die now, he was far too young to die. He had his whole life ahead of him. He heard a rustle from the side of his hooves. ‘This is it’, he thought, ‘I’m going. My life has finally caught up with me.’ He flinched, waiting for the pain to descend upon him…but nothing happened. Nopony came and struck him down with force. He could still breathe and move and feel. He was alive.
He opened his eyes to the world around him again. Charm Bells and Ring Master were gone. Neither of the zombified ponies seemed to be lurking around now. They had disappeared somewhere into the forest. Beech couldn’t help but feel relieved. He had survived that ordeal well enough. He looked over the land in front of him and realised something. Thinking quickly he hobbled over to where the carriage stood.
Helios, Emblem and the driver looked up as a clattering of hooves charged towards them. Could it be an attacker? Was this the end?
“Your majesty,” Beech panted to the King. “The guards sire – The guards.”
“What about them?” Helios barely even dared to ask, somehow he felt he knew what the answer would be. And he didn’t want to hear it because that would make what was happening here too real.
“The guards,” Beech stuttered in fright, “They’re all gone sire. Every last one of them except me sire.”
The darkness flooded over the top of the four stallions. This was serious and each of them knew it.
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Lotto carried on moving through the undergrowth. He had found some hoof prints a while back and had decided that following them would be the best chance to see what was going on here. It had been at least an hour, if not more, and he still hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the two missing guards who were pulling the carriage. It was almost as if they had vanished into thin air.
Lotto knew these woods, especially this part, so he had no worries about finding his way back to the dirt road track where the others were. He just prayed that the other guards were keeping a good look out and protecting his good friend Helios. Helios was strong in certain ways such as in being fair and just, but not in other things like fighting down and protecting himself from big monsters and demons. It just was not his way to fight, unlike Lotto who had grown up being able to stand up for himself against dangers.
His guardian had made sure that Lotto had stuck to what she considered his true calling; to protect mares and stallions in the land. She had been very proud when he had announced that he had begun to train to be a Knight, and she would be even more proud when she’d found out that he, Lotto Lancer, was now Captain of the royal guard.
He had not seen his Mother in a while now, his precious guardian that had guarded him his whole life. He could always trust her, despite her little ways she sometimes had. The forest had been one place where he and her could connect and act as one joint family. Together with his two brothers, he had cared for her as she had for him. If ever a teardrop fell down from her eye, one of her small colts would be by her side ready to wipe the sadness away with their hoof.
Mother did not like stallions to come around. She hated what they made her behave like. But she loved her little colts, Lotto and his brothers, and they loved her too, more than anything. He remembered this part of the trees; the fun times they all had together there. That one time when a young mare had walked through into the woods and Mother had done her very worst into making sure that the mare never disturbed them again. Lotto did not like his Mother in that state; she used to frighten all of them when it happened. Thankfully she never acted like that to them when they were together.
He trundled on following the prints on the floor. ‘Strange, they seem to be going into that cave.’ Lotto knew this cave. This was the ‘Trouble cave’, named because if they even dared to wander near it when they were younger their Mother would be extremely harsh with their punishment. Lotto felt slightly nervous about staring into the mouth that had amazed and frightened him so much as a foal. He breathed in and filled out his chest. ‘Well, if the prints go in here, then I must go in here too,’ he thought. ‘For Helios.’
Lotto wandered through into the darkness. Music lifted through the outside air from the forest, the rocks beat along with the tune. It was loud outside, but inside Lotto could hear none of this wondrous melody. The last he saw of the outside world was the blowing breeze before a large rock sounded a loud percussion and landed right in front of the mouth of the cave. Lotto looked on in fright. He couldn’t believe it. He was locked into the very cave that he feared most.
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Helios was not enjoying his time in the forest. Then again, neither were the other three ponies with him and they were exactly the few ponies that didn’t enjoy the jobs they had been given within the palace walls. All three of them wanted to escape to another life and they just prayed that they got the chance before perhaps becoming ‘prey’ to something themselves. None of them wanted their lives to come to an abrupt halt; they all had something to go back for, and they didn’t want to lose now.
Beech Wood was still shook up from seeing his friends in the state they were. What was wrong with them? Their eyes were so horrifying and disturbing, their corneas and iris’s non-existent. It was absolutely horrible. He had known Charm and Ring Master for a couple of years now, they were very good friends, and the idea that they could just be taken like that. They were far too brave and valiant to be so easily defeated; they had been two of the top students in the training academy, whereas he – he had always been closer to bottom in the line-up.
It’s not that Beech was stupid, far from it. Beech just didn’t enjoy fighting as much as some of the other Knights, and he found easy tears coming to his eyes whenever he was in some form of danger. The problem was, despite the insults and the turmoil thrown his way about the crying he partook in a bit of the time, he was indeed a good soldier. Lotto wouldn’t have picked him to come on this journey if he wasn’t. Unless – Unless he was doing it out of pity? Well, if this was a pity job then it wasn’t very nice, there were far too many dangers around in the Everfree Forest. Beech didn’t like to think of all the scary aspects of the jungle-like growth but he found himself with these being his only thoughts. He shook himself, trying to focus on another factor of his life – like Dewdrop; he would focus on Dewdrop – his lovely son.
Emblem too was having a hard time focusing, but on a completely different matter. He was worried. Not worried about all of the dangers, though he admitted they were there, but worried about the lifespan of this job. He couldn’t stay in here forever, he had a job to do, and he needed to do it because he needed the money. Money was important right now, extremely important, and eventually he would do anything in order to get it. He didn’t want to stoop to crime, the idea made him cry, but he felt that he may have to if he lost his job in the palace. He had already been turned down by many other shops and retailers who didn’t like Emblem because of the reputation of his family.
Emblem didn’t care what they said; his family was good, very good. Emblem shifted his eyes to the young King who stood around looking off in a daze. Even if Emblem thought his family was good he would still never tell His Majesty the truth about them, he would be sure to lose his job if he did say anything. He couldn’t afford to lose the job right now. He just couldn’t do it.
Helios had no ideas as to what could possibly be their next plan of action. True, Lotto had gone in search for the soldiers but what if his efforts come up fruitless? Even worse, what if Lotto himself never came back? Surely he would, he would defend himself with his life, Helios knew. Yet these doubts rang through his mind like a large gong knocking into his senses. They needed an idea of what to do next, they needed a plan, and he supposed since he was King it was his duty to come up with an idea. It was as much his job to protect them as they considered it their job to protect him.
The faces of the other ponies around him looked so anxious and weary, it seemed strange for Helios to remember that two of these stallions weren’t as old as their weary faces made them look at this moment. That poor little purple-maned colt, the hoofman for this journey, being under all of this stress on his first day of work; it didn’t seem fair. And Beech Wood, one of the victims of Evergreen that Helios himself had witnessed being dragged away to the dungeons, now stuck in an even bigger mess than he had previously been in. The driver, he knew, had only a few months left before he became officially retired from this job; he knew because he himself had signed the papers and made it so. But now all three of these ponies were troubled, and it just wasn’t fair in Helios’s eyes.
Helios gazed around into the bushes before turning back to look at the colt and stallions. He wouldn’t be able to do this without help; he just couldn’t do it alone.
“So…” Helios’s voice shattered the silence in the area, his soft gentle tones forcing the other ponies to listen. “We need to find our way out of here, quickly.” Beech Wood looked towards the young King with trusting eyes, he wanted to get out of here more than anything. He would do anything just so that he could go home, and the King wanted to go too. He could go home. Unfortunately Emblem had other ideas.
“But sire, what about all of the other ponies? We can’t just leave them.” Emblem barely dared look and see what the ruler thought of his outburst. Never before had Emblem had the nerve to speak up for something, he had never even tried because he knew that nopony would listen. He needn’t have worried, Helios listened to him.
“I know the others need finding, and I will find them. But it’s not fair that any of you should suffer through this torture with me.” Helios trotted to the bushes and peered through. “We just need an idea of how to do this.”
Beech Wood stood. He knew how to get out of sticky situations like this, it was relatively easy. But he didn’t dare speak up. Helios looked around the disgruntled faces. His soft gaze fell onto Beech and did not let go. Beech knew something, he could tell, and he was too scared to say it. Helios did not like the idea that somepony would fear him in any way, he was doing all he could to get rid of the rift between the rulers and their ponies. Beech tried to avoid the young stallions gaze, glancing over the King’s shoulder so that he couldn’t be penetrated and forced to speak. Helios did not like this one bit.
“Beech,” he lulled in a soothing voice. “Please, if you have something to say feel free to say it.”
Beech thought. Should he do it or not? Technically he had been given permission by the King but also if he said something wrong he may get into trouble for it. This white half-breed did not seem as terrifying or uncaring as Evergreen had been, but Beech felt he had to be cautious just in case he was wrong. Helios’s eyes did not leave Beech for one second, and now Beech could feel the burning stare of both other ponies as well. Three ponies staring at him? This was not such a nice feeling. His saliva bubbled up, the words forming on his tongue; his lips tried to stay closed and not say what the tongue was trying to make it.
“You could follow the dirt road back.” Alas, even if his opinion was wrong he had to say it, it was not his choice. Helios smiled; of course, why had he not thought of it before? He felt like such a foal.
“Well sir,” the old driver said, “We could do that, if it wasn’t for the fact the road seems to have completely disappeared.” The smile fell from the half-breeds face. All four ponies peered around to the place behind them, from the direction they had come. The road had gone. Only trees and bushes seemed to leer next to them now. There was no way out and now it appeared there was no way in for anypony who could have perhaps saved them.
At that moment Beech really began to panic. Nervous sweat dripped down his forehead in torrents of painstaking nervousness and his lips quivered in pure and utter terror. Tears gathered on his eyelids. This was wrong; this was horrible, this couldn’t be happening to him. His hooves began to shuffle on the ground in agony. Helios looked on in fear. What was happening to this young Knight? Had he gone utterly barmy?
“Are you okay?” he asked concerned. Beech didn’t answer, his lips sealed tight as the salty glue stuck his mouth together so that no words could be spoken. His hooves pattered on the floor and eventually…He ran away from the gathering. Through the woods and bushes he ran, voices calling after him every second, the other ponies hurriedly following him to make sure he didn’t do anything catastrophically wrong. He ran, and ran, and ran. He was not going to stop running, not until he was safe back home with his wonderful, wonderful wife and foal.
They were waiting, hooves outstretched, ready to welcome him back. He would sit down on the ancestral couch given to him by his Grandfather, and he would sit through the night with his wife snuggled up on his shoulder and his young foal asleep on his knees. Soon they could have another foal, if they so wanted. And they did want it. A new foal; a girl perhaps, with the same bright blue eyes as her Mother had. Beech could see her now as he ran forward. He could see her wavy blonde locks following past her shoulders. Her orange fur covering the rest of her body in a beautiful shade, for she was beautiful, and she was his. She would always be his; always.
Helios stopped next to a tree. Emblem and the old Driver had disappeared from sight after the long run they had partaken in. He had tried so hard to catch up to the startled soldier who had ran but he had not prevailed. In fact, quite the opposite, he had failed. Failed badly. The wind whispered soft comforting words to him; it eased his troubled mind slightly. His mind began to drift off into a dream. The trees ushered him further into his mind, persuading him that now was the time to go; it was time to leave them.
A scream sounded above the horizons, drowning out the foliage’s constant calling. Helios jumped, his wings opened outwards and he took to the sky. He shook his head, dazed as to where he was. He was—He was in the sky? How’d he get up here? He peered down underneath his hooves to the ground far below. He had managed to get very high very quickly. The scream sounded again from down below. A scream? Where was it coming from?
A shimmer appeared on the floor as an almighty Mere appeared in his view. The large expanse of water seemed to cover at least an eighth of the forest, which was strange because Helios was fairly sure that on the original plans for the road there had been no sign of any Mere’s anywhere. There was movement on the Water’s edge; a large bolt of lightning struck upwards without Helios realising. Before he had even had time to think his wings had wrapped around his body and he had begun falling to the earth floor.
He landed with a splash into the crisp cool water. His hooves fluttered wildly, trying to keep his body afloat, he was barely managing it. Faces appeared in the areas around him, ghostly shadows with mouths wide open circling around him like predators. Translucent hooves from underneath grabbed at his hind legs and tugged fiercely. He lifted his head above the water level for one second, managing to take a quick breath, before being pulled under once again. He couldn’t hold his breath for much longer; he was going to drown if he didn’t get out. The stallion souls clung to his torso, pulling with all of their might and holding on with their clammy grasp. He found himself going deeper and deeper, until his eyes closed shut and the darkness swallowed him whole.
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Lotto tugged on the heavy rock face. He had to move these rocks and escape, he needed to make sure that Helios was safe; it was his job both as his Captain and as his friend to make sure he wasn’t hurt. Every now and again he would move one rock away, only creating another rock slide that laid more rocks over the hole he had just uncovered.
It was tiring work and thus far it was getting the young midnight colt nowhere. But he couldn‘t give up just yet. If he didn’t escape soon something dreadful could happen. He had no idea why his Mother had never wanted him to go inside this cave but he knew she must’ve had a good reason; his Mother didn’t say anything unless it was completely necessary.
He dug in desperation, ignoring all of the cuts and bruises he was being given by the sharp and blunt parts of the rocks. Light came through every now and again before being crushed by yet another stone to fall down from the roof above. Dust scattered over the pegasus, getting into his lungs and choking him. This was not a nice job to be doing. In fact, it was horrible. And yet he carried on digging furiously at the blocked entrance.
Rock after rock fell down in clumps, narrowly avoiding hitting the midnight colt. He still wasn’t anywhere close to getting out, and he didn’t know what else he could do. A large stone flew down from the top of the cave, knocking onto the ponies head with a large bump. Lotto fell to the floor, his breathing going steady and he slept, dust lying all around him. He was out cold.
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Helios awoke spluttering, trying desperately to get all of the water out of his lungs. He was safe? He opened his eyes slowly, pain ringing as he looked into the bright light left by the moon and stars. His view was shaded, he couldn’t seem to see anything but faded images in front of him, which would have startled him had it not been for the fact that his mind was still trying to get to grips with reality. His ears unclogged and heavy panting could be heard next to him. Something was beside him.
Helios rolled over onto his side, peering at the bedraggled figure next to him. Emblem lay near him, dripping with water and trying desperately to catch his breath. The energy in his body seemed to have vanished, his youthful spirit seemed deflated slightly. The young King’s eyesight slowly went back to normal and he reached out a hoof to pat Emblem on the back. The white unicorn looked up at the half-breed still gasping ferociously. He was so—so tired. Helios gave a cough, getting the last of the thick liquid out of his throat.
“You…” he stuttered, trying to get his voice working again. “You saved me.”
Emblem nodded. He had heard the scream and come running to the Mere just as Helios had been flying through the air. When he had finally managed to get there he was shocked to see a body kicking wildly in the large expanse of water and struggling to escape the pull of the ripples, so he had quickly jumped into the water and splashed forward to pull the body out before it was too late. Admittedly Emblem had not known that he had been saving the life of the most important pony in Equestria, but he did not think about whom it was at the time, he just knew that they needed help and he had to do something.
Helios looked at the hoofman with admiration. He could have been killed trying to save him like that and yet he had still done it. It was so brave and courageous; even Helios himself had to admit that he would have not had the courage to jump into the deep pool to save another pony from drowning. Emblem was far more than he seemed.
“Thank you so much.” Helios tilted his head to the wheezing colt, bowing to his saviour. Emblem could only reply with a slight nod back. His breathing seemed to be going back to normal now, though his heart rate still seemed far too quick. He took in a few large breaths of air to combat the speed of his pulse. It appeared to help a bit.
Helios ambled back onto his hooves, wobbling slightly at his lack of energy. Those things in the mere…. The souls that tried to pull him down. He was sure he had seen their faces somewhere before. But he didn’t want to know where they had been; he feared what the answer may be.
The breeze brushed over the water creating small tides on the top to swallow some of the foliage at the edge of the mere. Helios spotted a figure in the distance walking slowly towards the waves, with no hesitation in his footwork. He needed to see what was going on; he needed to understand what was happening here. But he couldn’t just leave Emblem alone, it would be cruel and wrong, and the unicorn was certainly in no state to move himself.
Helios bent down and lifted the smaller colt onto his back. It was a good thing the half-breed was so tall and strong now; otherwise he was sure that he would not even be able to move an inch without dropping to the floor in agony. The hoofman was by no means heavy though, if anything he was far lighter than any other pony Helios had ever met before. How a small pony like him had managed to save a tall stallion was mystifying.
Quickly Helios took them to the area where he had seen the figure and set Emblem on the floor hidden by a bush or two. He should be safe there for a while. He could still see the moving pony in front of him, he clearly was not a fast walker or he would have made it into the mere by now. Helios edged closer to the stallion in front of him, being careful to not be spotted by anypony. What he saw puzzled him. The driver of his carriage was walking with a broad grin on his face and his eyes – if you could call them eyes anymore, were pale white. It was impossible that he could even see where he was going without walking into something. Yet he walked as though he knew exactly what he was doing.
A glowing figure shot out of the water and into the air. A pale pink face stared down at the pony below her, humming a tune that the driver really seemed to love. He swayed his head along with her song, enjoying every moment of her company. She was so—pretty—pretty. The mare reached out her hoof and her voice sang out louder, the wind joining in with her song. Her smile grew wider as she floated down towards the old stallion below her. Her eyes glowed purple, sending sparks of violet down onto the ground surrounding the zombified pony. She bent down, almost touching his face, and opened her mouth wider. Her song grew more and more powerful. The driver looked straight into her eyes with the greatest of pleasure. Her eyes were so—pretty – pretty.
A glow surrounded his hooves and vanished underneath him, leaving his form to be swallowed by the air. His eyes danced in his sockets and faded from his head. A ghostly figure appeared where the stallion had been standing mere moments ago. A scream echoed over the land almost deafening the watching half-breed. It was so loud. It was just horrible. The scream vanished as the translucent creature flew down into the water, joining all of his old companions. Helios watched in terror.
The mare turned to follow the soul but stopped. She could feel somepony’s aura nearby; another stallion who dared enter into her forest without permission. Her eyes flashed red. Helios jumped, realising that she was searching for him, he crawled as carefully as possible to climb over the earth back to where he had left Emblem. If he could only get back there, he could hide and maybe neither of them would be found. The mare was far smarter than he had realised. She glided around the bushes before stopping again.
The wind whistled through the trees, she lifted her arms and sang along with it. The song played softly through the air, dancing through Helios’ mind like a symphony of strings. So—pretty—pretty. His eyes fell to blank, his mind drifted onto his dreams. She was there again, his true love, the one that he would spend the rest of his life with. She was so beautiful. So—pretty—pretty.
The mare watched as Helios moved forwards towards her, just like all of her other victims before him. Ponies just couldn’t wander into this part of the forest without realising that there would be some kind of repercussions for doing so. She opened her mouth wide once more, making sure that her song could be heard loud and clear. It was time for the intruder to go. Helios smiled with joy.
A shadow ran from behind, grabbing hold of the mare’s hooves and cutting off her song. Beech hung onto her legs as hard as possible. She kicked her legs, trying to get him off, but he would not let go. Helios snapped out of his trance and shook his head in confusion. Beech? How did he get here? The mare grew annoyed with the stallion hanging onto her hooves but she could not get him off, no matter how hard she tried.
“You.” Beech could barely talk through his anger. “You locked me in here. You kept me away from my family.” The mare gasped in fright, the stallion seemed so furious, and this was only making his grip tighter. “Now,” he shouted at her “if you want to keep me and my friends here, then you might as well go down with us.” Beech gave a sharp tug on her hoof and she let out a small whimper. They both went down slightly, the water coming closer to their hooves. Beech gave another tug every few seconds, trying to get the mare to come down with him.
The souls in the water reached out, grabbing hold of Beech as they did. Beech found himself being pulled down into the water by the lifeless spirits of his old comrades; the mare came down with him, crying out for the winds to save her, but they wouldn’t listen. Clammy hooves held onto Beech’s torso and his head went down under the cool liquid. The mare set out a shrill scream and vanished under the waves of the mere along with him. Helios stared at the now calm mere. The sky became clear and the woods separated out to become a lot less cramped inside.
Emblem walked over to him, rubbing his head.
“What… What happened?” he asked. Helios didn’t know what he should tell him. He could barely believe it himself. Beech had sacrificed himself for him, he had died so that they could be free. And he had so badly wanted to see his family again. Beech had been happy with all he had at home, more so than many other ponies, and yet he had given all of that up for the good of the kingdom.
“A brave stallion. That’s what happened.” The King stared towards the mere, looking at the calm ripples on the top before walking away back into the forest. Emblem looked towards the lake, confused as to what the older stallion had meant, before following the King through the forest and back to the road where they had started their journey.
The wind played a mournful tune as a smiling stallion beamed down onto Equestria from the sky.
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Lotto coughed as he climbed through the long tunnel and into the light of day. A small stream of water stood in front of him, trickling down through the woods and into the great expanse of water below. This was better. Lotto knew this part of the woods. Now if only he could find Helios and the others then everything would be okay again. A feminine voice whispered in the winds, calling to the young midnight colt.
“Mother?” Lotto peered around and trotted into the stream beside him, splashing around in it as he stared downwards. He was sure he had heard that voice. The voice he knew so well. Where was she?
“Lotto?” A glowing mare appeared next to him, smiling a casual smile as she stared at the beautiful colt she loved so much. He was just as wonderful now as he was on the day he’d left.
“Mother. It is you. I thought I heard your voice.” Lotto beamed. He loved his Mother so much; he was so happy to see her again. She had always been brilliant. She had been so caring towards him and his brothers, especially considering they had not even been her real foals at all. His Mother had found all three of them in the forest and had taken them in herself to care for. Lotto respected his Mother so much for what she had done for him, despite what other ponies ever said about her.
For many years he and his brothers had been oblivious to the truth about their caregiver, the fact that she had been cursed centuries ago and had been made to protect this part of the forest with a ruthless hoof. The same song that she used as her lullaby was the song that made many stallions meet their doom when they wandered too close to the mere where she resided. It was horrible what she had been made to do, when inside she was far too caring to be so cruel.
“Mother,” Lotto looked at her tear-stained face in despair “what happened? Who made you upset?”
“Nopony made me upset Lotto. I am free, and I am happy.”
Lotto looked at his Mother with confusion. He had not seen her like this in years, she was only ever this happy when it was one of their birthdays. Lotto could still recall the party he had been given when he was getting to the age where he could join the army training academy. If it hadn’t been for his Mother he wouldn’t have got in in the first place. And now he was Captain.
“Mother? How many were lost?” he beseeched to her. She let out a tear across her cheek and it rolled onto the floor.
“A few Lotto. But one of them, one of them was brave. He found a way to release me; he saved the last two stallions and me.” Lotto stared up at her, taking hold of one of her hooves. He was glad that she had been freed, but not glad that the brave soldiers, his friends, had perished beneath her hoof. It was upsetting to think of.
“Who were the two that survived? Do you know?”
“A white unicorn and a half-breed, the new King.”
‘Emblem and Helios are alive’ mumbled Lotto excited. Good. He was glad that at least some had survived. Helios had survived, his friend was alive and for that Lotto was eternally grateful. He nodded to his Mother and moved closer towards her, splashing through the water as he did.
“So you’ll be all right now? You’re free?”
“Yes,” she said cheerfully “I am free. And now I many live in the mere in peace. That is good Lotto, yes?”
“It’s great Mother.” He smiled to her again, his pearly white teeth reflecting the sun onto her face. Everything was so much better. She could be happy again; she could be herself and not a monster. A call came from not too far away; Lotto immediately recognised Helios’ voice. He had to go, he had to get them out of this forest before more dangers came their way without them having any army to protect them. But he didn’t want to leave his Mother alone; she was not good all alone. The mare saw his hesitance.
“Go Lotto.” She told him. “Go and do what you love to do.”
He nodded and wrapped his front legs around her in a hug. She hugged him back, squeezing her lovely colt to her chest. Lotto released his grip and ran to where his friends were stood. The winds whispered through to him from afar.
‘I love you my little Lotto.’
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NEXT TIME: The Legend of the Dream Scope