Bray arrived to the gates of the throne room.
“Is the emperor busy?” he asked the two guards. “I have some news to tell him. You know, the morning report.”
“Well, he´s doing administration stuff, or whatever emperors do.” a guard replied.
“I know that he´s not one hundred percent free, you don´t need to tell me that. I´ve known him for a longer time than any of you!” he said with certain arrogance. “What I mean is if he´s talking with one of his allies or something like that.”
“Oooh…” the other guard said in understanding. “In that case, he´s free.”
“Then open the gates.”
The guards nodded and obeyed. Bray´s ears dropped somewhat when he saw the emperor sitting in his throne, focused in signing papers or thinking about the next strategy to defeat his enemies. If there was one thing Bray knew too well about the emperor, was that he hated being interrupted. Although he was just doing his job, there were times the emperor would snap at him. It depended on the mood he caught him on.
Bray gulped before calling his name.
“Emperor Grogar.”
The ram took his eyes off the paper and looked at Bray instead. As his eyes are usually in a frown, it would be difficult for any pony to identify if he was angry or just calm. Luckily, due to years of experience, Bray was an expert at reading the emperor´s frowns, and this time, they weren´t too narrow, which meant that he wasn´t angry. He sighed softly in relief.
“I come to bring you the morning report.” Bray explained as he approached the emperor.
Grogar nodded at the guards to close the door.
“Speak.” he ordered Bray.
“Ok.” Bray cleared his throat. “Firstly, I must, although without any pleasure, that today is Monday. You know what that means.”
Grogar expirated air from his nose.
“Later. Right now, I´m busy. But that´s not the morning report.”
“I know, it was just a reminder. As for the morning report, so far, things are going pretty normal at the capital. If there´s been any arrests of pony folk, they have been due to stealing minor things, such as food. The gravest one has been stealing money from taxes, but that has been taken care of.”
“What about the other territories? Any news?”
“Not that I heard of. So far, there hasn´t been a messenger with terrible news, so… All good!”
“Good. And what about…” Grogar took a pause before finishing. “Her? Has any of my guards seen anything weird?”
Bray bit his lip.
“No…” he said with certain doubt.
Grogar narrowed his eyes.
“What´s with that no?” he asked suspiciously.
Bray started to sweat. He looked from side to side.
“Bray, are you hiding something from me?”
Bray sighed in defeat.
“Ok. I´ll tell you everything. Just moments ago, an unicorn mare has come into the castle asking for a job as a maid.”
“And you accepted her.”
Bray gulped.
“Well, she gave me the impression that she was a naïve and stupid pony. Plus, she seemed completely clueless about her position in society. She even thought I was going to present her to you, can you imagine?”
He started laughing but it slowly faded, as he noticed that Grogar was not amused on one bit.
“So… I don´t think she´s working for her. Plus, I asked her about rumours in the pony folk. None of them involved a secret rebellion.”
“So you accepted her…”
“I…”
“Did you accept her or no?” Grogar asked angrier.
Bray stayed silent.
“Answer me!” Grogar raised his voice.
“Well, not yet.”
“What do you mean with not yet?”
“I haven´t given her a job yet. I only showed her the whole castle.”
“You what?!” Grogar got up from his seat.
“Not the forbidden places, of course. Especially the corridor. I only told her that she couldn´t enter to those places and that´s it.”
Slowly, Grogar walked downstairs to Bray, which made the donkey walk backwards.
“However, if you want me to, I could just send her away…”
“I think it´s a little too late for that.”
“I didn´t say anything secret.”
“No, but right now she could be sneaking in the forbidden places and getting information for Majesty she could use against me later! DON´T YOU REALIZE THAT?!”
“But if your suspicions are true, then others have done that already. What´s the difference?”
“Time is the difference, Bray. Time. Now we know what´s happening, and we can prevent it from happening. And when time passes new information comes, and if that mare is truly working for Majesty, then she can get that new information and steal me more territories!” Grogar cornered Bray by smacking his hoof against the wall, which made him yelp. “Do you see the difference now?”
Bray nodded.
“I´ll give the order to arrest her right now, don´t worry. I´ll do anything to make amends for my mistake, I promise.”
“Do so now.” Grogar said as he freed Bray.
“Yes, my emperor.”
Bray ran to the gates but before he opened it, he came up with an idea, making him freeze.
“Why aren´t you carrying on my order?” Grogar asked threatingly, seeing Bray didn´t move.
“My emperor. What made you think that Majesty is sending ponies to spy on us?”
“Why are you asking that now?” Grogar asked confused both confused and angry that Bray wasn´t doing his job. “Now it´s not the time. Do your job.”
“It´s important, my emperor.” Bray replied as he turned around to Grogar. “I think I might have a good idea.”
Grogar raised his eyebrow.
“This better be a good idea Bray, otherwise I´ll end you.” he said under his breath as he sat on the throne. “Answering to your question, how else would she have guessed when we were going to retake what she´s taken away from us? Or how did she know our defences? Once could have been by chance, but various times?”
“No offense, Emperor Grogar, but that could be because she guessed your strategy somehow. Perhaps it´s time for a change?”
Bray realized he shouldn´t have opened his mouth when Grogar threw him a death stare.
“But of course, your strategies are really difficult to guess so that´s a no.” he rectified while smiling nervously.
“I was planning on that before you said anything. I know when things are wrong, I don´t need any creature to tell me when I need to fix something. But I don´t think it´s because of that. She must have had that information somehow.”
“She could have ordered her ponies to attack messengers, couldn´t she?”
“I´m pretty sure she´s done that too. To know when to send ponies to the castle. But that doesn´t explain how she managed to get key information. Plus, one never sends a strategy via a messenger, that´s something pretty basic, Bray.” he said the last sentence somewhat angry, as it seemed Bray was taking Grogar for a fool.
“I was just thinking on possibilities.” Bray said in defence. “Another option would be that one of your allies is secretly working for Majesty.”
“That´s also a very plausible one. I´ll get into that. But we shouldn´t discard the theory about infiltrated ponies of hers in the castle either.”
“So you´re a hundred percent that there are infiltrated ponies?”
“Most certainly, yes. I know there are ponies working here who seem innocent but aren´t at all. But I need evidence. And so far, my guards haven´t been able to spot anything suspicious between the castle´s workers. But that´s probably because they are fools.” he massaged his forehead as he sighed. “Not a single creature here is competent enough. Except you Bray, at times.”
Bray´s face fell flat.
“I´m feeling so flattered right now. Thank you.” he said sarcastically.
“Which is why I haven´t been able to take action in this matter. But perhaps it´s time I do. It´s clear that I´m the only one who solves everything efficiently here.”
“Luckily, you have your loyal and greatest follower here to help you with his idea!”
Grogar rolled his eyes in disdain.
“Go on.” he allowed him to talk so he would shut up.
“Finally!” he exclaimed triumphally. “I mean…” he said after Grogar glared at him. “With pleasure, my emperor.” he cleared his throat. “I suggest we keep her around.”
Grogar scoffed.
“You´re kidding. Please, tell me you´re kidding.” he begged angrily.
Bray raised his hoof.
“I know it might seem reckless and stupid or whatever adjectives come to your mind. But what would happen if we specifically kept an eye on her? It would be a shame for her if we caught her talking with some stranger ponies.” he smiled maliciously. “Or worse, if she only talked with specific ponies and they went to hidden places? That would be somewhat suspicious, both for her and other ponies, wouldn´t it?”
Grogar caught Bray´s idea quickly.
“Definitely.” he grinned in satisfaction. “And for Majesty too.”
“So, should I tell her the good news?”
“Not yet. We need to plan this carefully.”
“We´ll double up the guards everywhere.”
“That won´t be enough. Didn´t you hear? Those troggles aren´t capable of doing their job correctly. We can´t rely entirely on them.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
Grogar smiled.
Several minutes had passed, and poor Gusty was still waiting for Bray, surrounded by troggles. The only thing that calmed her was that she wasn´t feeling her magic slipping away. She just felt uncomfortable by the silence.
A bored troggle noticed Gusty´s bag. His ears perked up when he came up with an idea. He whispered at his mate´s ear, which made the other troggle grin mischievously. Although she didn´t hear what they said exactly, she did hear whispers behind her, which made her ear twitch. She raised her eyebrow as she turned around.
“Do you want something?” she asked to the troggle, seeing he was coming near her with his arm in the air.
“Me? Nothing!” the troggle hid his arms behind his back.
The other troggles giggled at him.
Gusty heard a creak on the floor. Her ear twitched again.
“What about you?” she asked the troggle approaching her from the left.
The troggle looked up and whistled with dissimulation. She noticed a troggle opening her bag.
“Hey! That´s not yours to take.” she jumped of the bed.
“Actually it is. We need to see if you´re not carrying anything suspicious.” a troggle invented.
“Really?” another troggle asked surprised. “I thought we were doing that for-”
The troggle next to him nudged him, making him whimper.
“I mean, yes yes!”
Gusty winked with her raised eyebrow, somewhat confused by those troggles´ intentions.
“Fair enough. But if you had told me, I would have done so.” she said before she opened her bag with her mouth.
The troggles giggled mischievously, thinking Gusty was stupid for having fallen in their trap. They expected some coins but instead all she had were two badly sewn handkerchiefs.
“What are these?”
“They´re handkerchiefs. I made them myself.” Gusty replied after she closed her bag.
“As a gift to the emperor?” a troggle scoffed.
“No, just for me. I brought them so I wouldn´t feel alone.”
The troggles shared confused looks.
“Ok. That´s not weird at all.” a troggle muttered under his breath.
“But at least they´re not a gift to the emperor. It would be so disrespectful to give him this trash!”
The troggles laughed. Gusty´s ears dropped in embarrassment when she heard the word `trash´.
“For being a mare, you´re pretty bad at sewing.”
“Yeah? Well, for being troggles you´re not pretty good at your job.” she clapped back.
The troggles blinked shocked. Then, they glared at her, which made Gusty chuckle apologetically.
“Oops…” she said while walking backwards, seeing that the troggles were advancing towards her.
“Well, we´ll let you know that Grogar chose us as his guards for a reason!” the captain troggle said in defence.
Gusty widened her eyes. Maybe the troggles´ backstory could give clues.
“May I ask why?” she raised her eyebrow with curiosity.
“Are you playing us vermin?!” another troggle asked menacingly as he closed his fist.
“No no! This is genuine curiosity!” she raised her hooves. Gusty whimpered when her back hit against the wall. “Look, I´m sorry I said that about you, although that commentary was unpleasant to say the least…” she muttered the last part. “But anyway,” she cleared her throat. “Perhaps I didn´t choose the right words. What I meant is how did you end up working for Grogar? I´d like to know the history behind.”
A troggle scoffed.
“Why would you want to know that?”
“Well, I think that you are as bored of waiting as I am. And this could be a chance of entertainment until Bray arrives.”
The troggles looked at each other.
“I hate to admit it but she does have a point.” another troggle commented.
“Alright.” the captain troggle clapped his hands. “Before Grogar turned into an emperor, we were creatures who desired nothing more than riches. And since Grogar promised us that, we accepted.”
“But how did you meet Grogar?”
The captain troggle was about to answer her question, but Bray opened the door before he could.
“Alright, I talked to the emperor and he gave me his consent to-.”
When he opened his eyes, he saw the troggles around Gusty.
“What are you doing?” he asked confused.
“Nothing, we were just talking.”
Bray looked perplexed at Gusty. The mare lifted her shoulders.
“About what?” he threw her a suspicious glare.
“She wanted to know how we ended up working for Grogar.”
Bray looked back at Gusty as he raised an eyebrow. If she was working for Majesty, she could have asked something about Grogar´s plans or what was going on in his empire. But the question she asked had nothing to with that. It seemed something out of genuine curiosity. Still, he couldn´t trust her.
“Right… Well, I´m afraid that we´re not at a reunion between friends, so get back to work!” he ordered the troggles around Gusty.
They nodded and left the room running.
“And you, are coming with me.” he told Gusty
“Yes sir.” Gusty nodded.
They walked through a castle´s corridor. Although he had shown her the whole castle before, Gusty didn´t remember this one.
“Um… Excuse me sir, it might be because I still have to get used to this big castle but this corridor doesn´t seem familiar to me at all.”
Bray chuckled.
“It´s because I hadn´t shown it to you.”
“That explains everything.”
“You are a curious mare, aren´t you? Always asking questions about everything, such as the troggles.” he said with suspicion masked by fake admiration.
“Well…” Gusty took some time to think her answer. “I´ve always been curious about where troggles came from since I was a filly. We all know these creatures that control us. yet we know so little about them.”
“You don´t say…”
“We might be unintelligent, but we can be curious too.” Gusty said somewhat sarcastically.
“Of course! But you´d better be careful with your curiosity. It might lead to consequences you wouldn´t want.”
Gusty raised an eyebrow. What did he mean by that?
“You might be wondering about why I didn´t show you this corridor. Well, it´s because this leads to the gardens.” he said while opening the door.
“It´s so… spikey.” she commented, seeing that it was mostly a labyrinth of thorns but other plants as well. “Like the whole castle…”
Bray gave out a fake laugh.
“You´re so funny. But you haven´t seen it all. Come along.”
Gusty followed the donkey. Since she wasn´t behind, she didn´t notice his malicious smile as he looked back to the castle.
At one of the castle´s windows, Grogar was observing both of them, but he had his eye specifically on Gusty. He smirked as he watched her.
“So you´re the mare that wants to play, right? Fine, the let´s play.”
He chuckled quietly but menacingly.
Why didn't you respond to my comment?
Very good chapter!!! Great to see Emperor Grogar for the first time and a good references this and Bray's relationship from G1!!!
Can't wait to see what Emperor Grogar has in store for Gusty in that garden!!!
Keep going with this story!!!
10955315
Are you refering to the one in the prologue? Because if it is, I did. If it´s another comment, I´m sorry, it must have slipped away.
10955542
Thank you
10956369
Hey Happy Labour day Weekend!
10964979
Thanks, you too!
Sorry I didn´t upload this weekend, I was in vacation
10965785
Oh cool where'd you go?
10965790
I went to Valencia (in the eastern coast of Spain). Since my sister is studying a master´s degree in Valencia´s university, we rented a tiny flat in there, and we had to take the keys, so we decided to stay one day a visit the city a little. Plus, on 4th and 5th September they are celebrating their festivities, the Falles, in which they burn huge sculptures and there´s lots of fireworks (and tons of firecrackers too!). Normally, it´s on 19th march, however due to covid they postponed it to these days. Although we returned home before the big celebration , we did watch and photographed some falles .. And we just watched them burn on live Valencian TV!
We also visited the City of Sciences and the Arts on the outside and we went to a beach, though we didn´t bathe.
10965939
Wow! Ya'll must've really had a time, my family and I are planning another vacation too we're planning on going to Atlanta, Georgia I've never been there before, but I'm willing to try something new.
10965986
Of course! I´d also love to go to places I´ve never been before
10966009
What was it like there? what did you do there? What was the food like?
10966133
Firstly, really really hot. Valencia´s heat is moist like California´s, so we had our air conditioner high. Very crowdy because of the festivals. We gave a stroll at night at a village and there were children throwing firecrackers everywhere! It was a bit of a torture since I hate loud noises, not to mention those firecrackers were big ones. The next mroning we went to Valencia´s centre to see how the Falles looked like. We didn´t watch all of them, since there were too many people and Valencia is huge (it´s Spain´s third biggest city). Then, we visited the City of Sciences and the Arts, though we didn´t enter the buldings. My mom and my sister did long ago, in a school trip, but I was too young to come. Lastly, we visited a beach. Although we didn´t bathe, I got excited, since it´s been years I´ve been to a beach.
We didn´t go to restaurants, as my mom is too afraid due to covid, however, if you´re curious, the main and most famous food in Valencia is paella. The so famous dish of rice with saffron and seafood or meat, that´s up to your election. Rice and sea food are commonly used in Valencian gastronomy. Then, there´s horchata, a drink made of water sugar and chufas, a plat from Southern Europe, the Middle East and India.
Despite the restrictions, I enjoyed Valencia. Hoepfully, if things get better next year, I´ll be able to revisit again in good conditions
10967032
Wow that's quite a trip! Valencia sounds great! Hey did you see MLP 5th generation if so what do you think?
10967062
From what I´ve seen in the trailers, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, there are things that look good but on the other hand it has the potential to be cringy. I´m gonna watch it because I´m curious, if I´m honest but I´ll take it as an alternate universe. I have too much love for the mane 6 and to think that all their sacrifice its for nothing it hurts. But I´m curious where it´s gonna go.
10967177
Yeah I kinda felt it was a little cringey too and I think it's an alternative universe as well because I know some things don't last forever and yeah there's gonna be some pony new but I don't want to think that after everything that the Mane 6 have done, it all was for nothing.
10967221
Same for me. But it does have its funny moments ( Hitch gives a foal to a mare and the mare says that isn´t her kid. It gave me a chuckle).
By the way, I was wondering, since you´re a Fluttercord fan, what do you think of bride of discord? Did you read it or watch the audio drama? Just curious.
10968428
Yeah Hitch does seem funny, they say he might be a descendant of Fluttershy, but I kinda doubt it the animals are cute though.
Well I read it, it was pretty interesting, I didn't think too much of it but It was very interesting, I couldn't really get into Apple Spike though.
10968447
I don´t think he´s a descedant of Fluttershy but I have no idea what the creators have in mind in regards to his origin.
I asked since sooo many Fluttercord fans adore it. To be honest, I´m not really a fan of it. It makes me a bit uncomfortable seeing Discord treating Fluttershy like that. However, I have huge respect for DisneyFanatic and her work. I even watch her pmvs and read some of her fanfics.
10969745
Me neither
Yeah I'd hate like seeing Discord mistreat Fluttershy either that's totally out of his character, he loves her way too much treat her like that, you saw his reaction when he learned she was kidnapped, he looked and sounded he was gonna blow someone up if they hurt her.
Oh hey by the way I was thinking how do you think it would be if Fluttershy the other Mane 5 were chosen to reform Discord? State your opinion on how would they do would it work or won't
1. Twilight Sparkle
2. Applejack
3.Rarity
4. Rainbow Dash
5. Pinkie Pie
10969764
Agree completely. Though bear in mind the fanfic was written back in 2013, just after Dizzy was reformed. Still, it´s uncomfortable to read or watch for me. No hate to anyone who likes it though!
Ooh interesting challenge! Let´s see... I imagine that all of them would end with a conflict that leads them to deny Discord as a friend and then him realizing his mistake.
1. Twilight Sparkle: she´s a potential one and one that would have been fun to watch. Discord would troll her non stop and Twilight would give up on him but things change when Discord discovers that Twilight likes something he likes, such as a book, and talk about it non stop, realizing that they like being friends. Then, something similar to Discord turning A.J´s orchard to ice and water, which leads to a fall out. Twilight would tell him that she´s disappointed on him and that she doesn´t want to be his friend anymore, which would lead Discord to change. I also imagine that instead of tea parties, they would meet to discuss books.
2. Applejack: this one´s a bit difficult. I guess that A.J would include him on harvesting apples but he would cause mischief and thus, clash a lot. But then she would discover him doing something that she thinks it´s cool and compliment him. He wouldn´t believe her at first but then she´d say that it´s true, after all she´s the element of honesty. Then, conflict and he reforms.
3. Rarity: also a tough one. But maybe Rarity would invite Dizzy to her boutique to work on her dresses and Discord would give her endless ideas. Rarity realizes that they are actually wonderful and at the end of the day, she would thank him, which would make our dear draconequus feel validated, because you and I know he deserves it . So, she sort of earns his respect. Afterwards, a conflict comes, Discord opens hies eyes and reforms.
4. Rainbow Dash: oof! These two would clash the most. Luckily, they have something in common: their love of pranks. So, Rainbow decide to take that route to befriend Dizzy. Their conflict would be harmless pranks vs harmful ones and I guess that the last straw would be Discord pranking Fluttershy. Then, you know what happens.
5. Pinkie Pie: one word. CHAOS. Pure chaos. I think that these two would bond up super quickly since they basically share the same personality, only that Discord is snarkier and Pinkie is more innocent. Their conflict would revolve around the harm words could cause. Discord could say something that deeply hurts Pinkie and she´d get angry and sad (Pinkamena mode basically). At first, Discord would say that it wasn´t that bad and making it worse trying to prove his point, which leads Pinkie to tell him that he isn´t her friend anymore. Luckily, it ends well for both of them.
That´s how I imagine it would have gone for each of them. My personal potential Discord reformers would be Twilight and Pinkie, but motly Twily. Dashie is also a potential one but I´d prefer the other two better.
What about you?
10969959
Well
1. The reason why Twilight despite being the Princess of Friendship wasn't chosen to reform Discord is because I don't think she would have the patience that Fluttershy has to deal with Discord
He would definitely annoy to no end her especially eating all the reforming spells in her books and his "redecorating" her entire library because it's too orderly and boring for him.
2. I don't know about Applejack but I know she won't take kindly to him changing their apples into different colors and shapes, she'd probably force him to work if he's gonna stay at their farm, he's gotta earn his keep, much to his frustration and boredom. At first he'd see no point in slaving away all day I think he would get along with Apple Bloom
3. With Rarity, I think he would be frustrated with her prissiness and her bossing him around. I don't think Rarity will take lightly with Discord changing her stuff and dress designs into his image without her permission when they get along no doubt they would love going the spa together because even though Discord's chaotic he does have a bit of a feminine side.
4. Your definitely right about Rainbow Dash she would definitely have no patience with Discord they would go back and forth until they find out they have a lot in common with pranks
5. Pinkie Pie well you know how easily distracted Pinkie is, Discord probably would use that to his advantage so she wouldn't use her element on him because no Discord means no more chocolate rain
He would get a little annoyed and freaked out with her but would see that she really loves his chaos and they would bond.
10970036
1. That´s definitely true. But I think Discord truly likes being around her and trolling her is like his friendship language.
2. God, I would have loved an episode between the CMC and Dizzy bonding. At least we have the comics.
3. Discord in the spa! I would love to see that.
4. If Rainbow Dash had been assigned with the task of reforming Discord, I don´t think it would have ended well, I´m telling you.
I don´t see A. J, Rarity and Rainbow Dash reforming Discord, I´m telling you that.
5. I think Discord would have felt understood by Pinkie and would have formed a beautiful friendship. But I don´t think she would have been able to understand him on a deeper level like Fluttershy did. Discord has been through lots of rough and raw stuff (mainly because of his wonderful and loving dad) and Pinkie can be very naive, which is the last thing he needs.
However, Flutters was the right and best choice. She understands what it´s like to be misunderstood and ostracized for not being like the rest and thus, she likes the different. I also think that she has a vivid imagination (I actually headcanon that she spent lots of time imagining how she would help animals and expanding her ideas, which helped her to go through Flying camp), knows things others don´t and reads others very easily, in fact she know what´s going on their minds before they can even know it! Unfortunately, she doesn´t because she´s been conditioned to believe that it was weird. That´s why she could connect with Discord. She realized his potential and saw how his chaos magic was as playful as her inner mind. Plus, she also knows his pain.
10971034
Yeah it could be like a little brother pranking and bugging his older sister.
They do know how it feels to be different
And plus after years of living with animals and Angel Bunny she's practically living around chaos so of course she would be used to it.
10971049
Of course