//------------------------------// // Chapter eight // Story: The Adventure of Galloping Waves // by Evilhumour //------------------------------// “Your highnesses!” A Wonderbolt flew into the library to the most unusual of sights. Dash and Soarin were sleeping on each other; with Soarin holding Dash in his hooves, nomming on her mane and calling her my pie, Spitfire sobbing in the arms of Princess Luna who was rubbing her back, and Princess Celestia had seemed to find Princess Twilight’s secret alcohol stash judging by the sheer number of empty bottles around her. All in all, number two in his list of weirdest thing he ever saw. Not counting Discord, of course, or this would barely register. “We found something. I thought you might-” He meeped as the Princess of the Sun yanked him close to her with her aura. She smelt horrific, looked horrific and if he was one to judge how a mare was feeling, felt enraged. “What did you find?” Celestia knew she was letting her emotions get of control. She knew that she should have taken a deep breath before instead of empty every bottle in Ponyville she could find. She knew that she should be the distant, kind, calm ruler that her ponies knew, trusted and relied on. At the same time, she had made a promise to herself when Luna finally made her way back to her side that she would never ever lose her only family again. That listed grew to include Snowcap, her immortal brother in-law that her parents blessed so Luna would always have a special somepony throughout the ages. It grew to include her former student turned equal, Twilight, and her friends. It grew to include her niece Cadance and her husband Shinning Armour. It also included her only true flesh and blood nephew Galloping Waves. And to bucking hell with all those preconceived notions her ponies had of her. They thought that the Nightmare Moon was a monster that would break the world with her eternal night, they thought that Discord was a being that could bring the world it’s knees with a snap of his claws, they thought Chrysalis was monster from beyond the stars that would plague the land with her swarm, they thought King Sombra was a being without mercy that would unleash untold horrors onto her ponies. She would put all those fools to shame for those she loved, and she would burn those foolish enough to threaten her family. “Th-this note, yo-yo-your majesty.” The Wonderbolt’s whimpering brought great shame to Celestia, making her aware of how dangerous her thoughts were becoming and how close she was to throwing everything she had spent the last thousand years building up away. That is why she wrapped her wings around the Wonderbolt, making what she thought was soothing cooing sounds, in attempts to apologize to the scared pony, while fighting away this sudden headache. Of course, to the Wonderbolt he thought it was just the Princess was just acting like a drunkenly concerned mare about her nephew, making weird sounds at him. Letting the pegasus go, she looked at the note. It was bundled up, the edge a bit crinkled from water damages, torn at the edges as well as teeth marks around it. Something was off about the note, something that should have been a red flag, but she couldn’t place it while her head was tingling like this. Filling it away for later, she quickly opened to read the message. Sighing, it showed nothing that they didn’t know, but still something was off by the note. “No.” Luna voiced startled her, Celestia didn’t hear her little sister walk over to her. She was close to crying again, trembling and holding the Captain of the Wonderbolts tight to her chest. Said Wonderbolt looked very worried and concerned about this, as if she was trying to figure out how to escape the embrace. Celestia looked at the note again and bit her lip. ‘PS. Tell mother that I l-’ “Wait, let me see that!” Twilight popped out of the basement, dusty and grimy from her research in the basement. She walked over and smiled. “This is the best thing ever!” She resisted the urge to bounce over as she was boned tired going over the…scene and researching any spells that could help her find Gallop. With a glare from both of the other princesses and the desperate gasping for air from the pegasus, she blushed and cleared her throat. “I mean, we could use it to trace Gallop.” She smiled, casting the simple spell. It was lucky they found something of Gallop that could be used traced. Wait… was it not working?! She blinked, trying again! It was supposed to work with any object that belong to the person. “Odd, it should be workin-” She groaned, face-hoofing with hard shoes. Which hurts. A lot. “Only personal items!” “Then let us take-” Celestia paused, feeling a bit hot. She blinked and looked at Luna. “Sister, I think that Spitfire requires to breath.” The alicorn in question blinked, looked down at the Wonderbolt, still gasping for air. “Sorry my little pony.” Princess Luna dropped the pegasus on the floor, who took a deep breath of air. “I do hope you feel better.” She nuzzled Spitfire, before walking over to her older sister, squinting. “What is wrong Lu-” Celestia hiccupped, a very strange thing as she could not remember the last time she got them. “Lulu. Sorry, I don’t-” She put a hoof to her lips. How odd. “Are you sober enough to fly sister?” Luna raised an eyebrow, looking at the obscene number of bottles. She frowned, discovering at long last where her son learned to drink. She would have to apologize to Snowcap afterwards. “Of course!” Celestia flared her wings, a bit unstable on her hooves. “I would need to have drank at least fiv-” Hiccup. “Five bottles for me to start feel any effects.” Glaring at her younger sister, she felt her throat go dry. “There are twenty empty bottles on the floor.” Luna pointed out that interesting fact. “And you are drinking another one as we speak.” She blinked, looking down to see she had opened another one and was nearly finished it. “Oh.” She gulped the rest of the bottle down, whipping her mouth with her wing. “Twilight, if you be so kind as to teleport us? I believe that I have devolved into an old bad habit of mine.” She smiled at her former pupil, who was staring at her with wide eyes and an open mouth. “And if you could please tell the Kitchen to withhold any requests I make for further alcohol beverages so I do not slip back into them fully that would be appreciated.” She smiled inwards; she could be drunk off her tail and still act all proper-like. A few hundred years of practice finally paid off. She even withheld a giggle when she saw Twilight round up her friends first and then wake up Rainbow Dash Dash Dasher Dashie Dasherladingdong, -no, she must keep focus. She must be proper propair propare poopare… Blinking, Dash yawned and looked at the teetering, giggling, white alicorn who was holding a bottle of wine in her magic and trying to drink it. “Um, Twilight?” Dash looked at her own giggling friends. “Two questions. Is she?” “Yes.” Princess Luna grumbled, trying to take away the bottle of wine without too much success. “Very much so.” “Ok, and why is my mane all wet?” “Look to the side Dash.” Applejack grinned. That caused the other five mares to laugh more, with Fluttershy visibly smiling. “Oh my pie.” Soarin moaned, pulling her close to him, licking her back some more. “Don’t go.” “Oh boy.” She muttered. ~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~ More heat. What was it that these motherbuckers loved so much about the heat? Gallop thought to himself, panting, as Swift Thought dropped him to the floor. Lazily, he noticed the roof was made of white canvas and he smelt water. Oh glorious, beautiful water. “My Queen, I bring you my latest slave,” Swift Thought spoke, bowing next to Gallop, forcing his head upwards with his hoof. Looking across the room with a big pool in the middle of it, he saw another unicorn get off a number of pillows and begin to walk over. She was dressed modestly, with light silks covering herself, with a simple but alluring crown that was a mixture of gold and onyx, looking eerily similar to his mother and aunt’s crowns- “He is the son of the false goddess of the night, my Queen, and her consort.” Gallop did his best to glare after hearing his father being insulted, but he couldn’t move due to the heat. He felt his tongue was out, his headache was far worse and he could swear he was seeing little spots dancing around. “He looks near death, slave catcher.” Her voice was very smooth, like a calm melody. It almost made him want to go to sleep. “Explain.” She was standing above him, looking at him soft, sunflower yellow eyes. Her coat was milky white with a royal purple mane and tail. “My Queen, when my apprentices and I caught him, I thought it be prudent to make sure of the claims to his innate abilities with water were verified.” Swift Thought spoke, wrapping his magical aura around Gallop, holding him up in the sky. “I had him drink water sparingly; one to see if water did revive his energy sources and two for the practical reasoning.” Swift Thought paused, and cleared his throat. “If I may, my Queen.” “You may.” She spoke, watching the scene. Gallop glared at her as he was moved away from the two before he was dropped into the pool. Instantly, Gallop felt relieved. Curling up on the bottom of the pool, he smiled as body started to heal itself; he felt his headache throb less, his legs started to feel rested and his chest began to feel to loosen up from the tight pain. Looking upwards, he saw the two ponies stare at him with wide eyes as he lay comfortably under water with no bubble of air rising up. All of a sudden a purple aura reached out for him. Gallop leaped backwards and upwards, standing on the far end of the pool’s water, panting a bit. The aura then grabbed him and brought back over to the two ponies, dropping him on his right side. The pain from his broken wing shot through his entire body and out his mouth, nearly causing him to black out. He managed to keep his left eye open, looking around. Already the bucking heat was drying him out, the headache starting to return. “Interesting.” She muttered, using her magic to inspect him, lifting his limbs and looking very closely at his body. At times a bit too close, and if he had the energy he would have been blushing. She leaned close to his left wing, and turned her head to Swift Thought. “I see you clipped his wing.” Gallop blinked and tried to raise his head to look at the stallion. Swift Thought reached into his pack and dropped several of his feathers onto the floor. “I felt it would be prudent to prevent the possibility of him fleeing.” He bowed his head to the mare. “Despite the fact his right wing is broken?” She spoke, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, my Queen.” He knelt before her. “A broken wing can be healed easily, but feathers must grow back.” He looked at the alicorn. “And if my knowledge is accurate, these feathers are necessary for pegasi magic.” He dropped the more feather onto the floor, which Gallop saw were his core feathers. If he had ever displayed any form of pegasi magic, it was gone now. All he could do now was walk on clouds and there were none here! “All the precautions are quite impressive.” She said walked around him, staring Gallop in the eye. “This is a very interesting slave you brought me.” She looked up at Swift Thought. “However, you acted in a blasphemous manner to bring him here.” Surprisingly enough, Swift Thought stood his ground. Gallop knew that nearly anypony in Day or Night Court would tremble and beg for mercy if they were threatened with such a claim. The ones he wasn’t sitting in, that is. They would just see – “My Queen, the fact he does posses abilities that prove his divinity proves how necessary these measure were.” He kept a neutral, respectful tone which was beyond surprising. Gallop expected grovelling, but not this. How was he- “Yes, and I can see that quite plainly.” She spoke sharply. “But you acted in the past knowingly against our laws.” She looked past him. “Guards, seize Swift Thought. Liquidate his belongings.” She looked down at Galloping Waves. “I believe that he had come to sell you to me. Pity that he did not know how to keep his mouth silent.” Shifting his head, he saw the guards drag out the unicorn. “Now s-” “You are a fool.” SLAP Gallop winced, the magical strap across his back, but he continued to speak. “Only a fool of a ruler would turn away a pony that argues against them.” He stared up at her. “Explain.” She sat in front of him, turning him over so he would be looking into her face with both eyes. “In my mother’s and aunt’s court, we have no limit of flank kissing yesponies.” He spat out, the heat getting to him. “It is good to have somepony to willing to tell you are dumb as,” he panted, the heat nearly causing him to black out. “As rocks.” SLAP He groaned, the strap causing him to view dark spots again. “If you are truly the son and nephew of the goddesses, then why would they need somepony to point out facts they already now?” “Because,” He looked up at her, squinting. “Your grace,” SLAP Coughing out some blood, “It keeps them humble and grounded to their ponies. It prevents them over extending their power to be reminded of facts that slip their minds. A pony that argues against you is worth their weight in gold.” “Interesting argument you make slave.” Her horn light up, covering his head with her aura for a moment. It was medical examination spell, to see what was wrong with a pony. “Soft Hooves, Silk Touch.” She called out and Gallop heard two ponies come into the room. “Take him to my personal slave chamber and tend to him at once. He close to passing out due to heat exhaustion. Keep him damp with towels but do not place him in any water at all. Make sure the healer arrives to tend to his wounds and his ailment.” The two slave ponies nodded their heads, lifting the near passed out alicorn on their backs. She levitated the feathers off the floor, and rubbed them in her hooves, nodding her head. “Collect any feathers he drops. I wish to see a bedding made as soon as possible.” She floated the feathers over, a bit surprised how smooth they felt. A cool bath, just at the right temperature. “As you wish, my Queen.” They bowed their heads, watching their Queen walk out the doors and towards the prisoner cells. ~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~