You might know Gusty the Great due to the fairytale, but there´s so much more to her than the book tells you. This is the origin story of the insecure mare that ended up freeing all ponies from Equestria´s greatest villain.
Thousands of moons ago, before Equestria was even founded, the merciless Emperor Grogar took over a land of pastures inhabited by ponies. He reigned the land with an iron hoof, restricting their freedom in every way he could, terrifiying and enslaving them.
However, everything would change when an unicorn mare stepped in. Find out how she got involved in the game that would change Equestria´s history forever.
The sun was rising. Everypony knew what it meant. Another exhausting day of toiling the land, planting seeds, growing crops and giving them to the emperor only to receive miserable fractions of food in return. Not to mention the payment of tremendous taxes.
So, the whole unicorn family got up from their beds, dressed up and got ready for breakfast. Well, all except one.
“Sleeping late again?” the stallion asked his wife with a smirk in his face.
The mare sighed somewhat frustrated.
“I´ll wake her up.”
As the mare left the room, the stallion and an older mare laughed softly.
“This filly. She´ll never change.” the older mare muttered playfully.
Meanwhile, the younger mare went up the wall ladder to access to the attic, in which there laid a straw bed with a sleeping filly on it. She approached her and shook her slightly.
“Gusty. Gusty.”
The filly made no movement nor noise.
“Gusty, it´s morning. Time to wake up!”
Again, no answer.
“Gusty!” she exclaimed louder while shaking her harder.
Finally, she got an answer but it wasn´t quite a comfortable one, as always. The filly smacked her mother muzzle. Her mother´s groan was what completely woke her up. The filly rubbed her eyes.
“Is it morning already?” she wondered aloud.
When she realized what she had done, she gasped horrified.
“Oh my! I´m sorry ama.” The filly apologized.
Her mom massaged her muzzle.
“It´s fine. It´s not like I´m not used to it or anything.”
Gusty blushed while giving out an apologetic smile to her mom.
“Now get dressed. We´re waiting for you for breakfast.”
“Coming!”
The filly put her dress and mantle on, climbed down the wall ladder and joined her family for breakfast.
Once they were finished, they opened their house´s door. Gusty gasped in joy and smiled when she saw that it had snowed. Giggling, she ran to it and threw herself into it. Oh, how she missed the snow. Unlike her homeland, Tambelon wasn´t a place it snowed often and when it did, it wasn´t as much as in her home, as it was between the mountains, most specifically, the Himarelayas. Nonetheless, every time it snowed, she felt like she was back there again.
Her thoughts were interrupted by her father´s voice.
“Gusty! This isn´t the time to play.” he scolded her. “You know the land doesn´t labour itself.”
“But apa! It has snowed! You know that foals can´t resist playing with the snow!” she protested.
“Once it´s the time to pay the taxes, you´ll be able to play with the snow.” her grandmother said warmly.
Gusty sighed disappointed. She knew that it would pass hours before that moment. But she also knew she had to help her grandmother. The poor mare was having trouble carrying out her duties lately, as her bones were turning more and more fragile. That was the only motivation she had to work. After all she did for her and her parents, that´s the least she could do.
“Fine...”
She joined her parents and went to the crop fields, meeting with the other unicorns to begin working.
Although she was just a foal, she worked on the fields just like an adult pony. And she wasn´t the only foal to do that. The emperor made no distinction of age and demanded everypony to work. However, he did give them permission to play when their parents were paying for taxes. It was too little playtime for a foal, but it was better than nothing.
While she helped her grandmother to pick up the crops, Gusty stared at the long distance, where the pegasi were working on the other crop field, which was separated by a fence.
“Magaga.” Gusty called to her grandmother.
“Hm?” the older mare raised her head.
“Why is there a fence between us and the pegasi?”
“Well, I am not to answer that question. It was the emperor who decided that.” she replied while putting Gusty´s crop on her basket, seeing she was distracted looking at the pegasi. “But the thing is that we don´t like each other very much, so the more we stay away from them the better. And the same goes for earth ponies.”
“Earth ponies?”
“Ponies without horns or wings. You´ve never seen one because they are farther from our work field, unlike the pegasi.”
“Oh.”
As they conversed, they walked around while picking up more crops. They stopped when they arrived to what they called `the cursed spot´, since nothing of what they planted there ever grew. Gusty´s grandmother sighed sadly.
“Another day without fruits from there. I don´t know why we bother checking here.”
They were about to leave but Gusty came up with an idea. She groaned until she ignited her horn and started conjuring up an unstable gust of wind she couldn´t control very well. Though not too strong, it did have potential to destroy small crops.
“Gusty no!”
Unfortunately, before she could stop it Gusty ended up destroying some crops. The unicorns around gasped.
“Oh no not again!” a mare exclaimed.
Ponies turned their heads to Gusty and glared at her. The filly laughed nervously before hiding behind her grandmother, as they started walking towards her.
“YOU! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO LEARN?!” a stallion yelled at her as she got closer to her.
He forcefully took Gusty by her foreleg, but she held on to her grandma.
“What are you doing?!” the elderly mare asked upset.
“I´m going to teach her a lesson!”
“You´re not touching my granddaughter! Teaching her a lesson is not your task. It´s ours.”
“Then why does she keep messing up, huh?!” another mare yelled. “From the day you came here she´s been bringing nothing but disgrace by destroying our crops.”
“And what´s worse she´s been using her magic! She´s been breaking the rules and we´re covering her up! But not today.”
Gusty and her grandmother gasped horrified as they knew what he meant.
“No. No please!” Gusty yelled.
“We´ve already had enough mercy!”
“Be reasonable, please. She´s just a filly.” her grandmother said in her defence.
“Shut up, you old mare!” a young colt said to show off.
“You can see freakiness runs in this family.” a filly whispered to him.
Without expecting it, Gusty knocked the two of them to the ground.
“DON´T YOU DARE INSULT MY MAGAGA LIKE THAT!”
“Get away from my children you little monster!” their mother pushed her to the ground.
The foals raspberried at her while hiding behind their mother. Furious, Gusty got on four legs and ran to them but was stopped by her parents.
“Hey, hey, what´s going on here?” her father asked upset.
“Your daughter knocked my children to the ground!”
“Because they insulted magaga!” Gusty justified herself.
“I don´t care! Have some control over your child!”
“No need to. I´ll tell the soldiers and they´ll deal with her.” the stallion that threatened them before told them.
“Whoah! You´re not giving our daughter to the soldiers!” Gusty´s mother complained.
“How else will stop doing things wrong, huh?”
“Please, try to understand. We might have been here for a few months, but she´s still getting used to the norms in here.”
“Plus, she doesn´t mean any harm. She´s just a filly who tries to help her own way.”
“Hey what´s going on here?!” a new voice joined the conversation.
Everypony widened their eyes. The Troggles, aka the emperor´s soldiers, had come to intervene.
“Why aren´t you working?!” the troggle continued.
The stallion was dying to tell them about Gusty, but her parents were begging for mercy with their eyes. Frustrated, he sighed.
“Sorry sir, the old mare fell over and we came to help her. We were going back to work.”
The troggles raised their eyebrows, looked at each other and nodded.
“Very well. But it better not happen again! Understood?”
Everypony nodded their heads.
“NOW GET BACK TO WORK!”
When the troggles were out of their sights, Gusty´s family sighed in relief.
“Thank you so much.” Gusty´s father said with all gratefulness.
“The next time she uses her magic, I´ll tell them. You understand?”
The two parents looked down.
“Yes sir.” her mother muttered.
Everypony went back to work. The aftermath of the incident was awful for Gusty. She could sense how they were frowning at her or staring at her with disgust whenever she came close to them. She even heard a mean conversation about her between a group of fillies.
“What a weirdo.”
“I´m not playing with her ever, you girls?”
The fillies shook her heads on agreement.
“Besides we would lose in relay races since she can´t run fast.”
“Or we´d end up in the air, do you imagine?”
The fillies laughed. Gusty´s ears dropped. Her heart was aching from those comments. Foals back home also said things like that or laughed at her for her problems. But at least she wasn´t demonized there. In here, ponies truly believed she was nothing but a monster that brought disgrace.
Finally, after so many hours of work, the time to pay taxes came, which meant that it was playtime for foals. Though initially excited to play with the snow, Gusty wasn´t looking forward to it now.
Instead of going with the other foals, Gusty approached her parents.
“Ama, apa. Can I go home?”
The two unicorns looked at each other.
“But I thought you wanted to play with the snow.” her mother said.
“I know, but now… I want to be alone.”
The parents sighed.
“Ok, you can.” her father accepted.
With her head down, Gusty headed home.
“Keep an eye on her, ok ama?” the stallion said on her mother´s ear.
The grandmother nodded.
Gusty was lying on her straw bed, waiting for the ground to swallow her. She sighed sadly.
Her grandmother walked to the attic´s wall ladder. She sat down in front of her.
“How are you feeling my little nuru?”
“I´m not in the mood to talk. Go away please.”
“Such a shame. I wanted to share with you some oranges I kept for us.”
And just like that, Gusty climbed down the wall ladder.
“Can I have some?”
As the two ponies were eating oranges together, Gusty looked at her grandma and looked down at her orange, thinking on which the right words were to apologize.
“Magaga.”
“Yes, my little nuru?”
“I´m sorry for the mess I caused on the crop fields. I shouldn´t have used my magic.”
The old mare sighed.
“It´s not that you did something wrong by using your magic. Well, you destroyed some crops because you still can´t control very well, still there´s nothing wrong with your magic. But you know you can´t use your magic unless it´s for work purposes. It is forbidden, remember?”
“But I don´t get it. What about the talents our cutie marks represent?”
“The emperor doesn´t want unicorns to use them.”
“But why?”
“He thinks it´s bad if we use them.”
“But if the emperor wouldn´t want it, why are you teaching me?”
“Because you still don´t understand the meaning behind your wind, and if you don´t, you´ll never know who you are and what´s your purpose. The emperor might take away from us many things but there´s only one thing he can´t take away from you.” she put her hoof on Gusty´s chest. “Your identity.”
“But I´m a lost cause. Every time I use my wind, I mess up. I only bring disgrace.”
“Nonsense. You can do beautiful things with your wind. You might still struggle with it but believe me: it will bring happiness.”
“I don´t believe you.”
The grandmother raised her eyebrow. She took a moment to make her granddaughter believe she could do things right and beautiful. She came up with an idea.
“Take my hooves.”
“What?”
“Just do as I say.”
Gusty blinked confused but obeyed.
“Ok.”
“Now close your eye and take a deep breath.”
Gusty took a breath quickly.
“Slowly. Otherwise this won´t work.”
Gusty bit her lip.
“First let the air out, obviously.” her grandma said playfully.
Gusty exhaled abruptly.
“Let´s begin again.”
“Ok.”
“Breath in. Breath out.”
This time Gusty got the order right.
“Very well. I want you to keep on breathing while imagining the water flowing on a crystalline river.”
“How many times do I have to repeat this?” Gusty asked with one eye open.
“Until you feel calm. Now being all over again.”
“Ok.”
“Do I have to?”
“Yes.”
“Fine…”
Gusty closed her eyes again and breathed in and out slowly while picturing the crystalline river her grandma said. She imagined it flowing it through snowy mountains on a windy day. The image brought a smile to her face.
After a minute or two Gusty opened her eyes.
“How are you feeling?”
“Very calm.” Gusty replied with a chuckle.
“Great! Now remember the melody spell I taught you?”
Gusty gasped.
“You want me to play a melody with the wind?”
Her grandmother nodded.
“I don´t know…” Gusty grabbed her mane.
“You can breathe deeply while doing so.”
Gusty looked from side to side skeptical.
“Trust me.”
Gusty gulped, breathed in and out, and closed her eyes. She ignited her horn and created a soft gust of wind that played a beautiful and nostalgic melody. Her grandmother smiled while Gusty´s face went from an expression of insecurity to relaxing and calm smile.
When she was over, Gusty opened her eyes.
“It was short but that´s what came to my mind.”
“Maybe. But you played it beautifully.”
“I did? I didn´t mess up?”
“Nope.”
Gusty laughed slightly.
“Now tell me, do you mess everything up?”
“Well… not everything.” Gusty answered with a shy smile.
Her grandmother rolled her eyes playfully. Though still insecure, it was a small step for her little granddaughter. They hugged together while giggling.
Years had passed by since that moment. There she was. An adult unicorn looking at the ceiling on a stormy night while remembering some memories instead of sleeping and having the same conflict as a filly: Was her magic a blessing or a curse?
So many things had happened throughout those years. And many of them weren´t pretty. But no matter how much it had changed, there was a thing that still didn´t know what her purpose was.
Gusty hadn´t been able to explore and experiment enough with her wind to understand its meaning and thus she didn´t know who she was yet. But there was a time in which she could.
She grabbed the phoenix feather she wore around her neck. It reminded her of an amazing pony she knew. A pony who accepted her and loved her, like her family. Unfortunately, those ponies weren´t around her anymore. Once again, she had to face a world that didn´t accept her. But she wasn´t completely alone.
“Mother?”
A high-pitched voice made her come back to reality. She saw both of her daughters, Celestia and Luna, on the door.
“Sorry to wake you up.” Luna apologized.
“No darling. You didn´t wake me up.” Gusty reassured her.
“Did the storm wake you up too?” Celestia asked.
“Not really. I was just… thinking. What about you two? You can´t sleep?”
“I could because when the storm began, I was asleep. But then Luna woke me up because she´s afraid of storms like me and now I can´t sleep.” Celestia said as she glared at Luna. The other filly looked away.
Gusty left out a small chuckle.
“Wanna sleep with mama?”
The two fillies nodded their heads energetically and got on the bed with her. A thunder came in and the they grabbed their mom but her calming presence and smile told them they were safe. And her daughters´ presence told Gusty she still was loved. Since everything that troubled them was solved, the three ponies fell into a peaceful sleep.
The rays of sun entering through the spaces of the straw ceiling awakened Celestia. She chuckled when she saw her mother and sister asleep. Normally, despite being a young filly, she was the first one to wake up. This happened so often that Celestia was able to read the hours depending on how intense the sun was shining. And this time it was shining very bright.
She gasped horrified at the realization.
“I overslept!”
Immediately, she started shaking both Gusty and Luna.
“Mother, Lulu…”
Gusty started groaning and turned her back against Celestia. Lulu didn´t even bat an eye.
“MAMA!”
“Gah!” Gusty quickly incorporated.
Luna yawned as she rubbed her eyes.
“What? What is it?” she asked somewhat upset.
“It´s way past sunrise!”
“WHAT?” Gusty asked shocked.
She jumped out of bed and got dressed immediately. Luna, however, fell asleep again, so Celestia grabbed a bucket of water and threw it on her.
“Hey!”
“Tia!” Gusty called her name.
“Sorry but it´s the only way to get her up and to fasten things up.” Celestia shrugged. She turned to Luna. “Maybe if you didn´t stay awake looking at the moon and the stars at night like you always do...”
“Well excuse me, but it´s because at night I can get some peace from being with you!”
“Yeah? Well, I have to deal with you the whole day and you don´t see me having trouble getting up, do you?”
As they were arguing, Gusty dressed them up and took them to the kitchen on her back.
“I´m late I´m late!” she muttered as she ran. She stopped at a door. She laid her ear on it. She sighed in relief when she heard snores. “At least she´s still asleep… Still I´m late!” she got nervous again after a brief moment of relief
“Of course she´s asleep mama!” Celestia said cheerfully. “While she´s grumpy and bossy, she´s still and old unicorn. And if there´s something that elders love is sleeping.”
Luna raised her eyebrow.
“What?” to which Celestia asked.
“You do realize this is Ms Prickly Crops, do you?”
Celestia blinked.
“Touché. But you haven´t seen the huge naps she takes at noon. Besides, just like you” Celestia put her hoof on Luna´s nose. “she has a deep sleep and isn´t easily awakened.”
As Celestia was speaking, Luna noticed a breeze. After she took a glance of Gusty, her ears dropped in worry.
“But she might if her house falls down…”
Celestia turned around and saw her mother hyperventilating as she muttered things to herself, while breezes were appearing around her.
“They´re going to whip me, they´re going to whip me…” she kept repeating between breaths.
The fillies clenched their teeth nervously as they noticed that the breezes were becoming winds. Luna walked backwards while she looked at Ms Prickly Crops´ room.
Gusty continued until she made sure there was no more wind.
“Did it stop?” she asked Celestia and Luna.
Celestia nodded energetically.
“Now you can do your daily tasks with no problem.”
Gusty sighed in relief.
“Thank you, I don´t know what I would do without you.” she said as she hugged Celestia.
Luna looked down a bit sad. These moments happened often and every time, instead of being calm like Celestia, she got scared too. Not of her mother but what could happen if her magic got out of hoof one day. And she knew neither the guards nor the unicorns would be merciful with her. So instead of helping her mother, she´d go into a corner to think about all the bad things that could happen. Sometimes she wished Gusty would tell her that after she calmed her down.
“I´ll see you this evening!” Gusty said as she rushed out the door.
“But what about breakfast? Aren´t you hungry mama?”
Gusty widened her eyes and bit her lip as she stopped running.
“Oh! You´re absolutely right.”
Although her words seemed to indicate that she was so stressed that she forgot to have her breakfast, the truth is that Gusty already knew there was no breakfast for her, as usual. Nonetheless, she checked the food containers to pretend. She sighed sadly when she watched how few the wheat grains were. They were enough for only three ponies, and once again, she wasn´t going to be one of those ponies. She turned to her daughters.
“You know what? I´m not so hungry anyway. You may take my ration if you want.”
Luna and Celestia looked at each other.
“Are you sure mama?” Luna asked as she raised her eyebrow.
Gusty gave her a reassuring smile.
“Of course.”
Luna wasn´t still convinced by the answer but she thought she might upset her mother if she kept on asking. So, she smiled back.
Gusty was dazed looking at her daughters, but she shook her head when she remembered she had to go to work.
“I have to leave, take good care of Ms Prickly!” she said to her daughters as she closed the door.
The fillies shared glances.
“You don´t think she´s awake, do you?” Celestia asked Luna.
But before Luna could answer, Ms Prickly herself answered for them.
“CELESTIA! LUNA! WHERE IS MY BREAKFAST?!”
Celestia clenched her teeth whereas Luna sighed.
“I think there´s our answer.” Luna said as she rolled her eyes.
After a time running, Gusty finally got to the workshop she worked in. She gulped before approaching the door, knowing that she was going to be in deep trouble. Slowly, she opened the door, nervously looking from side to side. There he was, the workshop´s foretroggle pacing around the room to check if everypony was doing their job correctly. His eyes widened and frowned when he noticed Gusty on the door. With a nervous smile, she waved her hoof as she blushed.
“YOU!” he said before walking to her and pulling her ear.
“Ouch, that hurts…” she muttered softly.
“WHY ON EARTH ARE YOU LATE?!”
“Let´s just say I didn´t sleep well…” she replied while laughing nervously.
“Who cares if you slept badly?! That doesn´t excuse you from being late!” he said as he shook Gusty.
“I know and I´m sorry. But I´ll make amends for it. I´ll do extra clothes and I´ll work over night if necessary.”
The troggle raised his eyebrow.
“You mean the entire night?”
Gusty nodded.
“Very well. But it better not happen again, otherwise you´ll be lashed or fired. You hear me?!”
“Yes sir.”
“Then get to work!” he exclaimed as he threw her to the floor.
Gusty moaned as she hit the floor. When she got up, she went to the table took a needle and the cloth and began to sew. Despite not being very good at it, sewing was something that Gusty enjoyed. It was a relaxing activity that made her forget about the real world but also thinking about good things for a while. For example, the dresses she would do for Celestia and Luna if she had good materials. Colourful with lots of embroideries, that´s how she pictured them in her mind. Not only dresses, though, she could also do dolls, blankets… There could be thousands of possibilities she didn´t know!
Granted, she would have to improve her stitches… and her attention skills too. Sometimes, she would so immerse on her ideas that she actually forgot to pay attention to what she was doing at times. Right now, she realized she accidentally broke the cloth. Luckily, she had her tricks to hide her mistakes she came up with instead for asking more cloth.
Hours passed and breaktime finally came. For Gusty, it was usually her breakfast, as they served a small bowl of soup. Unfortunately, when her turn came, the foretroggle working ponies didn´t serve her food.
“Came late, no soup.”
Gusty´s ears dropped.
“But I haven´t eaten…”
“Should have thought about it before getting late. Now that I think about it, there shouldn´t be a breaktime for you…”
Gusty frowned.
“That´s not what we agreed on.”
The foretroggle took out his lash.
“Get back to work.”
Gusty took some steps back. Suddenly, a troggle opened the workshop´s door. He called the foretroggles´ attention.
“Hey! We need your help!”
“What? Can´t you see I´m busy feeding the vermin?” The foretroggle asked upset while pointing at the soup.
Ponies frowned at him for calling them vermin.
“It´s about her.”
The foretroggle widened his eyes.
“Oh! Yeah sure. Just wait a second.”
He grabbed Gusty´s foreleg and put her in front of the soup casserole.
“This will be what you´ll be doing during your breaktime.” he cleaned his hand on his shirt. “Ugh, now my hands will smell of pony all day.” he thought aloud as he left the workshop.
The troggle closed the door in a blow.
“Says the one whose breath smells great…” she said aloud, upset by his commentaries.
She turned around and noticed all eyes set on her.
“What are you waiting for? We´re hungry!” a mare yelled from the queue.
The other mares joined in the protest.
“Alright, alright, here you go.” Gusty said somewhat upset. “Geeze..” she muttered under her breath.
As she served the soup, Gusty smelt it and looked at it. It looked so warm, so nutritious and delicious. She noticed how saliva was forming in her mouth, and without noticing it, she took a sip. However, she stopped when she noticed a mare frowning at her. She served the soup and smiled nervously.
“Here´s your soup. Enjoy.” she said fastly.
“Yeah, I´m sure your saliva will add taste to the soup.” she said upset.
Gusty looked from side to side.
“Wow, I didn´t think about it… I´m sorry.”
The mares looked at each other upset. However, Gusty knew that the problem could be solved.
“We can always wash it, you know?”
“With which water? The nearest well is minutes away from here! And we don´t have much breaktime left!” the mare second in line pointed out.
Gusty looked from side to side.
“Well, another option is not using spoon.” she took the bowl and submerged it on the soup. “See?”
The mare took it with her own hooves, but she let go, as it was burning.
“Just make sure to use your magic instead of your hooves…”
“We can´t unless it´s for work purposes.”
Gusty looked at the door.
“Well, the foretroggle isn´t here now…”
“Yeah, let´s just use our magic just to have him open that door, see us and punish us, is that what you´re saying?”
“No, of course not!”
As the mare and Gusty continued arguing, the mare last in the line got more and more impatient.
“Why don´t you ask for another spoon?” she said as if the solution was obvious.
Gusty´s ears dropped. She knew perfectly what was going to happen if she told the foretroggle. Her breath fastened and slowly, fear took over her mind.
“What? No!” she exclaimed scared.
“Fine, then I´ll do it myself!”
Gusty ran to the mare and laid on the floor and put her hooves on the mare´s front hooves.
“Please, don´t do that!”
“What are you doing?!” the mare asked upset.
“He´s going to lash me! Please! Don´t!”
“Well, you should have thought about it before taking a sip…”
Gusty bit her lip.
“But hey, a lash for a sip is too harsh! So, I´ll just say that it was already dirty and that´s it. Stop getting scared and get out of the way, I´m hungry!”
Gusty was so scared that she didn´t hear that last part. She was focused on the fact that she was going to get lashed. She breathed fast and was in the brink of crying. Suddenly, small breezes started to appear.
“Uh… Is it windy here or is it me?” a mare in the workshop said.
Gusty gasped when she heard that.
“Calm down, calm down, calm down!” she muttered to herself.
“Where is it coming from? The windows are closed, aren´t they?” another mare checked the windows.
The mare who was going for a spoon, noticed that the source of the wind was Gusty.
“Hey, are you ok?”
The breezes turned into wind. It started to move the furniture. The mares started to yelp and shove the objects.
“Tell her to stop!” the mares begged the mare near Gusty.
“Hey! Stop it, you´re moving everything. Calm down, will you?” she told Gusty put a hoof on her shoulder.
“NO!” she yelled.
Without thinking it and as a reflexed, she transformed the wind into a ray of magic. Fortunately, every mare in the room avoided it.
“You´re sure they´re working for her?” Roundy asked his workmate.
“Definitely. Cloaked, talking to homeless or the poorest ponies… You know those are the ones she usually orders to reclute.”
“Well, in that case, I´ll keep an eye if I see one of them a-”
Just before he could finish his sentence, there appeared a flash in the window that left a whole on the window once it disappeared. The two troggles blinked surprised.
“Did you just see what I saw?”
“Yup.”
They frowned and ran towards the door.
The noise from the blow made Gusty realize what she just had done. She had turned the whole room upside down. Her eyes widened when she saw the whole on the window. But what broke her heart were how the mares were staring at her. They were around their workmate, checking if she was ok and helping her get up. The look they were giving her was one of fear and anger. Gusty´s ears dropped in remorse.
“Oh no! I am so sorry, are you-” she apologized to the mare as she offered
“Get away from me!” the mare shoved Gusty´s hoof off.
“Monster! You could have killed us!” one the mare´s friends yelled at her.
Gusty´s heart sunk.
“I… I´m so sorry…” she took a big pause before continuing. “I… If there´s anything I can do, I´ll do it, gladly.”
“If you never returned here again, that would be of great help!” another mare yelled at her.
“You´ve done enough.” another mare agreed with her.
Gusty looked down.
“You know I can´t do that…”
Suddenly, the troggles opened the door on a blow.
“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!” the foretroggle yelled.
“WE KNOW ONE OF YOU VERMIN HAS USE MAGIC! WHO DID IT?”
Gusty shook her head to her workmates, begging them not to tell them. Unfortunately, the mares pointed and started accusing her.
“She was the one who caused all this mess!”
“She almost killed us!”
The troggles clenched their teeth and glared at Gusty. The foretroggle grabbed her foreleg.
“First you arrive late and then you use magic?! How dare you!”
“What have you got to say in your defense?
Gusty clenched her teeth due to how hard the troggle was grabbing her foreleg. She was feeling enough humiliated, so if that feeling was going to get worse, then it would be better to confront the situation with dignity.
“It was an accident. Please let me explain… Since I was a filly I had trouble to control my magic-”
“If that it´s true, why did you start using it?”
“That´s the thing! It starts by its own not by will.”
The troggles laughed at her. Now it was Gusty´s turn to frown.
“Do you believe her? She´s so naïve if she thinks we´ll fall for that.”
“Are you really that stupid?”
“I´m not. You are.”
The foretroggle slapped her face, making her fall to the ground. The two troggles cornered her as they took out their lashes.
“How many lashes do you think she deserves?”
“How about thirty?”
The troggles chuckled menacingly. Gusty closed her eyes and yelped.
“Wait!” a mare said.
Gusty opened her eyes. She looked at the mares, hoping they would help her. But what happened next broke her heart more than thirty lashes would.
“We have a better idea.” the mare said with a malicious grin.
“She is a widow with two daughters…” another mare added.
The troggles looked at each other. The emperor always said to punish ponies in a way in which the consequences were for the longest. Lashes would be painful, but they would eventually heal, but what the other mares were suggesting…. it was practically a death sentence. Still, they didn´t seem convinced. Nevertheless, the mares went on making excuses.
“At the end of the day she´ll bring nothing but trouble.”
“And it´s trouble for all and it´s trouble for one!”
“She´s insulted you two!”
“She´ll be nothing but trouble again and again!”
“You must sack her today!”
“Sack the mare today!”
Meanwhile Gusty looked around terrified and gulped while looking at the troggles.
“Right my lady… ON YOUR WAY!” the foretroggle yelled.
The two held Gusty. The mare started kicking and crying.
“No please! Help! Help! Please, I have two fillies!”
They opened the door and threw her out.
“Don´t ever come back here again vermin!” the foretroggle yelled at her.
The other troggle spat at her. Gusty sat down, tears forming in her eyes.
“No… Please.. no..” she cried softly. “What am I going to do now?”
“Come on pretty one, let me get your egg.” Celestia said as she sneaked her hoof underneath the hen.
“You sure it´s a good idea to tell the hen that you´re basically stealing their children?” Luna asked her as she held a bag full of fodder.
Celestia widened her eyes. Even if she hated to admit it, she couldn´t deny that Luna was right.
“Well… how else am I going to convince her?”
“You could say… Time to have lunch!” Luna suggested as she poured some fodder. The hens jumped and gathered around Luna, leaving their eggs unguarded. She cockily raised one eyebrow.
“Ok. But I´ll add `pretty ones´. After all, everypony likes to be called pretty.” Celestia said as she picked the eggs and laid them on the basket.
Luna giggled.
“Sure they do Tia. Sure they do.”
As she was waiting for Celestia, Luna noticed a familiar figure approaching in the distance. After narrowing her eyes, she gasped excitedly when she recognized the figure.
“Mama!”
And without any warning, she rushed out the corral.
“Alright Lulu, I´m done with this line, will you please pour some more food for the hens so I can keep taking their-”
Much for Celestia´s misfortune, Luna wasn´t there, meaning that she was alone with the chickens. What´s worse, they seemed to have noticed what she was doing, as she was holding one egg. Celestia hid the basket behind her and laughed nervously.
“Oops…”
Meanwhile, Gusty walked home with her head down, sighing sadly and overthinking about how she was going to tell the terrible news. Her ears perked up when she heard Luna´s voice.
“Mama!”
Gusty smiled sadly.
“Lulu…”
She returned the hug Luna gave her.
This was usually her favourite part of the day. After an exhausting time of work, seeing her daughter run to her with so much excitement and receiving her with a hug was an excellent reminder that all the efforts she made were worth it. Sadly, she wouldn´t be able to continue her efforts.
Luna´s voice made Gusty come back to reality.
“I´m so happy to see you mama! Although, it´s a bit sooner than usual.” she said excited and estranged at the same time. Luna gasped excitedly. “Did they give you vacation?”
Gusty bit her lip an looked away. Luna´s excitement faded away.
“Something bad happened, did it?”
Gusty nodded and sat down.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Gusty shook her head. Luna´s ears dropped in disappointment.
“Oh ok…”
She was about to leave but Gusty held her hooves.
“Your presence, your hugs and the desire of helping me are appreciated, Lulu.” she told her before hugging her. “That´s enough for me.”
Luna felt a bit badly. She wished she could do more to do her mother happy, like helping her effectively when she was feeling anxious like Celestia did. But her mother´s reminders that she loved her nonetheless relieved her and made her happy. She returned the hug and smiled.
“Where is your sister, by the way?”
“HEEEEELP!” Celestia yelled.
Both Gusty and Luna widened their eyes. The poor filly was being chased by a group of hens that were pecking her. Gusty knew that they usually did everything together, so she frowned at Luna for leaving her sister alone. Luna started laughing nervously. Gusty massaged her temples.
“Like mother like daughter, I guess…” she muttered under her breath.
When Celestia got to both her mother and sister, she hid behind them, shaking in fear. Noticing how aggressive the chickens were, Luna also hid behind.
“I´m never going near another chicken again.” Celestia thought aloud.
“Don´t worry. Mama will handle this.” Gusty reassured them. “Alright, chickens, whatever my daughter did to you, it wasn´t her inten-”
At that instant, the chickens started pecking Gusty instead. She started complaining and shoved all the chickens she could.
“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!” an old cranky female voice exclaimed.
Everypony´s bodies tensed up. Whenever that voice was loud or angry, they knew they messed up greatly. Even the chickens were afraid!
With a few hoofsteps, an old unicorn mare approached both the chickens and the three ponies. It was Ms. Prickly Crops herself.
“What on earth are you doing here?!” she asked the chickens. “Get back to the corral!”
The chickens ran back to the corral. Once they were inside, Ms. Prickly focused on Celestia and Luna.
“Why were the chickens outside when it´s inside time?” she raised an eyebrow.
“They were inside. Until somepony left me alone with them and started pecking me!” Celestia said upset while looking at Luna.
“Don´t lay all the blame on me! It´s not my fault that you did a malpractice mistake.” Luna replied in her defense.
“You were the one who made a malpractice mistake genius!”
“You! Why did you leave your sister alone?” Ms. Prickly scolded Luna.
“Because I saw mother coming…” she shyly said while looking up at Gusty.
Gusty smiled nervously.
“Gusty! Shouldn´t you be working in the workshop?”
Gusty sat down and clapped her hooves together.
“About that… I…” she sighed. “I got fired.”
Celestia and Luna gasped whereas Ms Prickly just blinked shocked.
“You what?!” she asked upset. “But why?”
“Because my magic got out of control.”
The old mare paced around while kicking anything on her way.
“Unbelievable! Unbelievable! It´s incredible how you,” she pointed at Gusty. “a grown-up mare with two fillies to feed still can´t control her magic like a small foal! Take it together, for goodness´ sake!”
If there was something that Gusty hated, that was ponies telling her to take it together and stop summoning winds as if that was so easy. It never helped at all. In fact, it only made things worse. She frowned.
“Fine. Then why don´t you do all the chores by yourself instead of asking my daughters to do it, huh?”
Ms Prickly scoffed.
“Are you joking? My bones are old! I barely have any strength left to do them!”
“Exactly. Then don´t ask me to control my magic for once because it´s not something easy for me.”
“It´s not the same! Yours it´s fixable, mine isn´t!”
“Well, then maybe you should also fix your soulless attitude!”
Celestia and Luna widened their eyes and covered their mouths. Although Gusty was a wonderful mother, she could also be reckless, as she had no filter to express her thoughts, which it often led her to trouble.
“Soulless? I was the only one who was willing to give you a home after you married that pegasus!”
“That pegasus was my husband.” Gusty smacked her hoof to the floor as she firmly emphasized her point. “And you never actually cared about us, you just took us in so you could pay your taxes!”
“Careful about what you´re saying.”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other. They were worried that this would end up with Ms Prickly kicking them out. Luna pulled slightly Gusty´s skirts.
“Mother…”
“Luna no! This isn´t your business!” Gusty scolded her.
Luna looked down. Celestia put her hoof on her shoulder and smiled at her, as to say that Gusty didn´t say that to her because she didn´t love her or appreciate her efforts to help her. She was just stressed.
“You really think that? Fine, then in that case, you´re of no use. So get out of here!” Ms Prickly said.
Gusty gasped.
“You can´t do that!”
“Well, you´re the one who thinks I can!”
Celestia came up with an idea. She ran between the two of them.
“Wait! Wait! It doesn´t have to be like that!” she commented.
“Celestia! Get back with your sister!” Gusty scolded her. “Let the adults talk!”
“Really? Because it looks like you two aren´t acting like ones.”
Gusty and Ms Prickly realized that. They looked at each other ashamed, but still upset at each other.
“Go on then.” Gusty enabled her.
“Mama got kicked out. So what? There are still plenty of jobs out there. I´m sure she´ll be able to get at least one of them.”
“If it involves creativity, I´m sure she´ll do great!” Luna added.
The two mares realized that the fillies were right. There still was a chance for them.
“Fine. I´ll give you another chance. But if you don´t get a job between this afternoon and tomorrow a, I´ll kick you out and I´ll get other ponies to take care of me, understood?”
“Only two days?” Gusty and Luna asked at the same time. Gusty´s tone was full of worry. Luna´s was more of an estranged one
Celestia glared at them.
“I mean… Yes ma´am.”
Ms Prickly raised her head and returned to her house. Once she was out of their sight, the three ponies sighed in relief.
“Finally, she´s out…” Luna mumbled.
“See? I knew it was a good idea!” Celestia said with pride.
“How am I going to get a job in two days?” Gusty said worried.
Celestia widened her eyes while Luna glared at her.
“Kuma! Kuma!” Gusty said to herself as she banged her head against the wall. “You idiot! Why did I have to arrive late and taste the darn soup?!”
Celestia and Luna shared worried glances. Luna made a hoof gesture to indicate her sister to talk to her. Celestia nodded and slowly approached Gusty.
“Ok. First of all, stop banging your head against the wall, otherwise you might break your horn.” she said as she put her hoof on Gusty´s. “Secondly, I and Luna came up with an idea-”
“It was my idea!” Luna complained.
“Well, Luna´s came up with an idea to help you decide your next job.” Celestia and Luna took out of a bag several objects and laid them on the ground. “Look, the branch with leaves symbolizes farming, the stones bricklaying, and lastly this piece of clay any kind of crafting. Those are the ideas we have already, if you have any more, you can tell us.”
Gusty scratched her chin as she thought.
“Hmm…. When I was Luna´s age I used to work on farming. I guess I could go back there…”
Despite thinking that it was a good idea, Luna also noticed that working on farming again made Gusty uneasy.
“But you wouldn´t be comfortable there…” she read Gusty´s mind
Gusty shook her head.
“It´s likely that unicorns working there know me since I was a filly. I don´t think they would be happy to see me…”
“Alright, farming out.” Celestia ordered Luna. She picked up the branch from the ground and kept it on the bag. “What else would you like to work in?”
“Bricklaying could be another option…. But I´m not strong enough. If the emperor let us use our magic, I think I would be of some help! Wind can move pretty heavy objects, you know? But then I would remember that I have trouble controlling my magic and a brink would fall on a troggle…” her smiled faded and Gusty bit her lip. “Then again, bricklaying could also include modelling stones. Oof... but either I would break the stone or not make a simple carving. You know what? Forget it, I´d better go for another job.”
“You heard her.” Celestia told Luna. “What else do you have in mind?”
Gusty took some time to answer. She gasped and widened her eyes excitedly when she got an idea.
“Crafting however... is a job that is organized by a corporation. And corporations exist in other jobs, which means that I have other chances should crafting not work!”
“That´s a fantastic idea!” Celestia exclaimed. “What more corporations could you work in?”
“Blacksmithing needs strength, so that´s a no. However, I could bake bread, make shoes, jewellery... And since I was involved in textiles, maybe I could go for another job related to that! I could work as a tailor, or as a spinner, or as a dry cleaner…
Gusty got more and more excited as she came up with more ideas.
“I hate to ruin all the fun, but I´m pretty sure those professions needs training.” Luna pointed out. “Would they pay you while learning the discipline?”
Celestia sighed frustrated.
“Oh, that´s true.”
Gusty bit her lip.
“Well… Maybe I could offer myself to do their daily chores. I´m sure I would save them lots of work.”
“That´s a good solution!” Luna admired.
“And if the corporation thing doesn´t work, I could work on the market as a seller.”
Celestia and Luna bit their lips while looking at each other
“But there´s a chance you might bump into your ex co-workers… In many occasions, not to mention.”
Gusty clenched her teeth and shivered at the thought.
“Ok. Forget about selling on the market.”
“Good, I didn´t like that idea anyway.” Celestia said excitedly in agreement.
“Ok. So to recap, what we´re looking for is joining a corporation to learn a discipline and in the meantime to earn money, you would work as house maid, am I right?” Luna told Gusty and Celestia.
“Alright, so now that we know which corporations you´re going to apply for and in which order, let the job search begin!” Celestia threw her hoof to the air.
“Yeah!” Luna joined her sister in the excitement.
“Yay…” Gusty tried to be as excited as her daughters, but insecurity was the only thing she could feel.
“Just remember mama: the key is to be calm. If you feel that your magic is about to get out of control, just breath in and out.” Celestia advised Gusty as the two fillies accompanied their mother to the door. “Preferably before you present yourself to the masters.”
“And if I feel it while I´m working?”
“You have two options: either telling the masters before you begin working or getting out of the room and going to a place where you can be alone and breath calmly.”
“Both of them will probably get me fired. But it doesn´t hurt to try…”
“You know what? If I could, I would blast them if they start scolding you and teach them a lesson.” Luna put her hoof against her fist.
“You´re not helping, Lulu.”
“I wasn´t giving advice, I was just expressing my opinion. Besides, don´t tell me you wouldn´t want to to do that.”
Celestia opened her mouth to replicate, but couldn´t find any argument against her sister.
“Touché.”
Seeing that both her daughters were actually getting fond of the idea, Gusty decided to intervene.
“I think if I´m calm, then there shouldn´t be any problem. Or at least I hope so…”
“You know what else could help? Thinking positively!” Celestia suggested “Tell yourself `I can do it, they´ll pick me up.´ They say that if you repeat to yourself something to yourself, you end up believing it. Come on, try it!”
“I can do it, they´ll pick me up.” Gusty whispered to herself. “I can do it, they´ll pick me up…”
“Feeling better?” both Celestia´s and Luna´s eyes were shining with hope.
Gusty smiled at the innocence of her daughters. She moved her head from side to side.
“I´m not feeling anything yet. But I guess that if I continue repeating it to myself, then it will eventually work.”
Celestia and Luna smiled back hopefully.
“Celestia! Luna! The house isn´t going to clean itself!” Ms Prickly called them from inside.
The two fillies sighed.
“Wish we could accompany you, but we´re needed here.” Celestia told Gusty.
“Don´t worry, I understand.”
As they were talking, Ms Prickly approached the door.
“You´re still here?! What on earth are you doing?! Don´t you know you only have this afternoon and tomorrow?!”
Gusty rolled her eyes.
“Ok, ok, I´m going.” she said somewhat upset as she left.
“Bye mama!” Celestia waved her hoof energetically.
“Good luck!” Luna added.
Gusty waved her hoof back. She sighed and bit her lip.
“I can do it they´ll pick me up, I can do it they´ll pick me up.” Gusty said to herself while heading to the building of the bakery corporation. It wasn´t as she imagined, as it was a very old building, almost in the brink of falling.
She stopped right before the door. She inspired and expired.
“It can´t go that wrong.” she said to herself.
After knocking the door, a bearded unicorn stallion opened the door. He raised an eyebrow at Gusty.
“You want anything?”
“Is it open?”
“Hmm…. No… This isn´t for anypony, you know?” the stallion replied as if it was obvious.
“Oh of course!” Gusty laughed nervously. “But I need to talk to you. It´s related to the bread business. It won´t take much of your time.”
The stallion blinked, wondering what was so important for that mare.
“Uh…. Sure…”
“I was wondering… Are any of you feeling stressed lately on your job because all the work is on your shoulders?”
“Not really. We have many apprentices here that help.” the stallion opened the door more so Gusty could see he was not alone.
“Oh…” Gusty whispered disappointed.
The adult ponies looked at her puzzled, but the foals waved their hooves energetically to which Gusty replied with a timid smile and waving her hoof back.
“Why do you ask?”
“Well… I was wondering if you´re looking for more help…”
“You mean if you could become an apprentice?”
Gusty nodded. The stallion looked back at his coworkers. The eldest shook their heads, as they didn´t want a mare that appeared out of nowhere to work with them. Others refused because they didn´t trust her.
“Well… None of my coworkers want more apprentices but for me… Well… Help is always accepted. So yeah, I guess.”
Gusty´s eyes widened in hope.
“Thank you, I´ll do my best, master.”
The stallion smiled when Gusty called him master.
“I have to warn you though, I have trouble controlling my magic, so I might need-”
“Whoah, whoah. You have trouble controlling your magic?”
Gusty´s hope fell apart at that moment. However, since she already spat out the truth, there was no coming back. So, she had no other choice but to stick to her decision.
“Well, it´s not something that always happens but I thought it was important you knew. Don´t worry though, if I put all my attention I´ll-”
“No, no, no. We´re struggling with this business and right now, the last thing we need is trouble. If your magic got out of hoof, the emperor would punish all of us! I´m sorry ma´am but it´s a no.”
Gusty felt it was unfair, so she kept insisting.
“Did you hear what I just say? The chances of it happening are low.”
“I don´t care. We don´t want to get any risks.”
“But…”
“Good afternoon!”
The stallion closed the door in a blow.
“Ok, maybe this time it didn´t go well, but that doesn´t mean it will happen next time.” she told to herself. “It might be better if I don´t tell them about my problem.”
Gusty´s next attempt was at the pottery corporation. She knocked the door. An elder and thin stallion opened the door.
“Good afternoon.” Gusty said with a bow.
“Good afternoon.” the stallion replied emotionless.
“My name is Gusty, and I´m here to tell you that I am very interested in the art of pottery. Such perfect shapes, colours… As a result, I´ve taken the decision of learning pottery. So, I was wondering if any of you would be willing to take me as an apprentice.”
The elder stallion laughed at her suggestion.
“What?” Gusty asked upset.
“Look, missy. I am glad that you decided to involve in the business of pottery.”
The patronizing tone he was using on her treating her as if she was stupid, upset her even more.
“But, there is one little problem.”
“Which is…” Gusty raised her eyebrow.
“You´re too old. We only take apprentices aged 12-14 years. You, mare, are clearly not.”
“Well, one is never too old to learn anything.”
“Right of course. But that´s not how it works in real life.”
“Well, it shouldn´t be like that. Just saying.”
The stallion was getting more and more impatient at her.
“Listen, there´s not going to be a job for you here, ok? I suggest you leave or I´ll call the guards.”
If it was for her, she would have kicked or blasted the stallion. But she held herself together.
“Ok. Fine, I´ll leave. But not because you say so, it´s because if I´m not going to be treated with respect, then you´re no worth my time.”
Gusty held her head high with her eyes closed as she left.
“Fine by me!” the stallion laughed. “Stupid mare.” he muttered the last part.
Just a second after he said that, a stone hit the window.
“Why you-”
Her next attempts went pretty similar.
“We don´t want any more apprentices.” the pony at the shoemaking corporation told her.
“Well… do any of you need a housemaid?” Gusty smiled nervously.
The pony slammed the door on her face.
“Sorry, but this corporation is too unstable to accept a new apprentice.” another pony told her before slamming the door.
Many didn´t bother to answer. One time, Gusty was so frustrated that she kicked at the door and broke it accidentally. Luckily, nopony caught her, so she just ran away.
“Nope.” the pony at the spinning corporation simply replied.
“But why?!” Gusty asked upset.
“Because I said so.”
And once again, the door was slammed at her face. Gusty buried her face on her hooves and growled.
“How does every single corporation here have an excuse not to accept me?!” she wondered aloud frustrated.
“Are you sure it was her? You know, the mare that messed everything up at the tailor workshop.” A voice said from inside.
“Yup definitely! That´s how my friend that works in there described her.” the mare that talked with Gusty replied.
“Thanks, my lovely ex coworkers.” Gusty thought aloud.
She sat down. She noticed a puddle in front of her and contemplated her reflection. She closed her eyes, frowned and hit the water in the puddle. She hated seeing her image reflected. Not because she thought she was ugly, but because every time she saw herself, she didn´t see a well put mare who had everything together. Instead, she saw the opposite. She was a mare with problems, a mother who struggled to make ends meet and feed her daughters and another mare who wasn´t very supportive, despite having letting them in when nopony else would. What´s worse, these problems were mainly due to her difficulty of controlling her magic. She mainly hated herself for that. Unicorns her age don´t have these problems, it was childish! And the worst thing for her, was that she was conscious she was projecting this problem to others. Not only in her job, but specially to Celestia and Luna.
Right now, they were the only ones who treated her with affection, helped her and advised her on what to do when she felt her magic was going out of control. This was a tremendous job for a foal. Their mother is supposed to do that, not a foal. She always wondered how this affected Celestia and Luna but was too afraid to ask them. She already knew the answer: she was not being a good mother.
It was such a difficult to do by her own. She looked at her phoenix feather necklace. Tears formed in her eyes.
“Why were you taken away from us so soon? Why?” her voice tremble. “I can´t do this on my own. They need you.” she sobbed. “I need you.”
She started crying softly. The only thing she wanted was to be swallowed by the ground and never return again. Things couldn´t go worse for her. Or that was what she thought.
“Psst! Hey!” a voice called her.
Gusty´s ears perked up. She blushed when she remembered that she was crying like a foal in the middle of the street. She quickly got in four legs.
“Excuse me were you calling me?” she asked a stallion passing by.
He raised an eyebrow estranged and shook his head.
“Any of you?” she asked the ponies around her.
They had a similar answer. Others directly ignored her. Gusty raised her eyebrow confused.
“Am I going crazy?” she thought aloud.
“Psst! Over here!” the voice spoke again.
No, it wasn´t her imagination. The voice was there! She looked to both her sides.
“Hello?”
The voice sighed somewhat frustrated.
“Behind you…”
Gusty obeyed and turned around. She jumped back when she saw a hooded unicorn in front of her.
“Gah!” she yelped.
The pony shushed her.
“Wh- When did you appear? You weren´t anywhere just seconds ago! Or better question. Who are you and what do you want?!” Gusty spoke the last sentence with a defensive tone.
The pony put their hoof on Gusty´s mouth.
“I know you have a lot of questions, but it´s not safe to talk here.”
“But why?”
At that moment they heard steps, it was troggles! Gusty gasped and looked for the mysterious unicorn, but they weren´t there anymore.
“Huh?”
“Out of my way vermin!” the troggle pushed her sideways as he walked.
She scowled when she noticed his friend laughing at her. She turned around and spotted the unicorn at a lane, who began to run. She gasped surprised.
“Hey wait for me!”
Gusty started following the hooded unicorn. She ran through the lane, bumping into ponies from time to time or facing other obstacles such as carts or boxes, which she skipped by jumping.
After some time running, Gusty arrived to a dead end. She also realized that she was in a place she had never been before, which could be away from home. And if things weren´t bad enough, it was a solitary place. Gusty started walking backwards slowly, regretting the idea of following that unicorn.
“What was I thinking? Maybe that unicorn didn´t have good intentions, and you followed them right to their trap.”
“Indeed you have.”
Gusty picked the first thing she saw, which was an old, almost broken broom. The unicorn held his laughter.
“Seriously, a broom? I´m sorry, but I don´t think a broom is a good wea-”
Immeiately, Gusty started hitting the unicorns head with all her strength.
“Ouch! Ouch!” the unicorn exclaimed in pain.
Then, Gusty hit the cheek and cornered the unicorn. She held the broom with a threatening face.
“Oh, I think you´ve left me a bump.” the unicorn complained while rubbing the top of the head.
“Yeah? Well, you should have thought about that, before bringing me here.”
“It was necessary.” the unicorn got up and dusted off his hood. “What I´m about to tell you can´t be known by the troggles.”
“Why so much mystery? Spit it out!” Gusty put the broom closer to the unicorn´s face.
“Ok! Ok! I´m here to make you an offer. I´ve been following you-”
“What?!”
“Ok, maybe that wasn´t a good choice of words.” the unicorn thought aloud. “Yes, I´ve been watching you, but not only you, I´ve been watching everypony.”
There was a brief silence.
“You know that makes it worse, do you?”
“Ok, I´ll come to the point. I´ve observed you´ve been knocking at many corporations´ door. Why?”
“That´s none of your business.” Gusty put the broom nearer the unicorn
“Alright! Alright! Is it because you´re looking for a job?”
Gusty widened her eyes.
“How did you know that?”
“You are! Good! Then, I´ll make you an offer.”
“ANSWER ME!” Gusty put the broom right beneath the unicorn´s head.
“Ok, ok! I heard you talking to yourself.”
Gusty blushed. She lowered the broom.
“Now, I you let me, I want to make you an offer.”
“Whoah, whoah, what offer?”
“A job offer.”
Gusty gasped softly. She had mixed feeling about what that unicorn. She heard about bad things about mares getting kidnapped or convinced to work on jobs any mare would despise. However, she didn´t have any job options left, so listening to what he had to say might not be such a bad idea after all. Besides, if anything happened, she could use the broom, as the unicorn seemed to be terrified of it.
“Ok. Go on.”
The unicorn´s eyes shined in relief.
“Thank you! I don´t know if you heard about her, but I work for” the unicorn looked sideways. “her.
“Who is her?”
The unicorn approached her head and whispered in her ear.
“Queen Majesty.”
Gusty blinked.
“Who?” she narrowed her eyes.
The unicorn sighed.
“It´s a long story. Too long to be told here, where we´re unsafe. It´s better if she herself tells you. Follow me.”
Gusty seemed a bit unsure, but she nodded her head.
“Fine, I´ll follow you, but if it is what I think it is, I´ll hit you even harder! Understand?”
After walking for some time, Gusty and the mysterious unicorn arrived to an abandoned building. Gusty was about to go upstairs to get to the door, however the unicorn stopped her before she could.
“That is not the way.”
Gusty raised her eyebrow confused.
“This is.” the unicorn pointed at a passage underground.
Gusty scoffed.
“You´re kidding.”
“You´ll soon learn why. Come on, follow me!” the unicorn invited her to enter.
Gusty gulped and frowned in determination. She entered the passage behind the unicorn.
It was very dark and narrow. Gusty tried to get in four legs but bumped her head against the ceiling.
“Ouch!”
“I probably should have warned you before entering, you have to crawl during the first tract.” the unicorn smiled apologetically.
“Yeah, that would have been appreciated.” Gusty massaged the top of her head. “How do you go through this without any light?” she asked while looking around.
“I do use light.” the unicorn replied with a confident smirk.
Gusty was about to ask how, but the unicorn answered her question before she spoke. He was creating light with his horn!
“You use magic?” she asked puzzled.
The unicorn nodded.
“And you haven´t got in trouble?”
“Nope, because this is a place nopony knows of. Besides, I am protected by Majesty.”
“Huh.”
“I could make use of your magic too. So it´s not too dark.”
Gusty bit her lip nervously.
“I´m not so sure if it´s a good idea.”
“Why?” the unicorn gasped in realization. “Oh… You don´t know the spell, do you?”
Gusty saw the perfect chance to make an excuse not to use her magic.
“Exactly!” she laughed nervously. “I have no idea how to do what you´re doing.”
“Well, I could teach you!”
Gusty blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“I could teach you!” the unicorn repeated.
“Uh… Right now?”
“Yeah!”
Gusty realized she was in a jam. If she tried to do what the unicorn was doing, she could get nervous and thus, winds could start forming, and if those winds got out of hood, the unicorn wouldn´t offer her a job. However, if she kept on insisting in saying no, the unicorn could suspect something, and so she´d have to tell the truth. She had no choice but to listen.
“Ok… How do you do that?”
“It´s easy. You know how to elevate objects, do you?”
Gusty nodded her head.
“Ok, you ignite your horn as if you were going to elevate objects, but instead just think about maintaining a light.”
Gusty inspired and expired.
“Gota kisa Gusty, come on. You can do this.” she muttered to herself.
She ignited her horn and did as told. She didn´t dare to open her eyes.
“You did it!” the unicorn exclaimed excited.
Gusty opened one eye and saw that she was right!
“I did it. Huh! I did it!”
However, the effect didn´t last. Just after she said, her horn´s light went off.
“Oh…” she said disappointed.
The unicorn laughed.
“That´s normal. When you begin you have to be constantly thinking about maintaining the light. It´s better if we don´t talk much.”
“Oh, ok.”
Gusty crawled while looking at her horn, making sure it didn´t go out. She felt very proud of herself and shocked. Her winds didn´t come out! She couldn´t understand why. Maybe because she had to prove herself to survive, and thus didn´t think about the possibilities of what could go wrong and focused instead on the spell. But it could also be due to the mysterious unicorn. Although, they had a somewhat rocky introduction, this unicorn had been very friendly towards her, just like her family and husband were. She received an aura of comfortability she didn´t feel for a long time around anypony aside from her daughters. She smiled briefly as she observed the unicorn.
She went back to reality when she realized that her horn went off, which made her remember not to get distracted by other thoughts, which prevented her to listen to what the unicorn was telling her.
“Ok, careful now because we´re getting into steps here, so you need to-”
Just at that moment, Gusty tripped and fell to the ground.
“Maybe I should have told you not to hyper focus.” the unicorn smiled apologetically at Gusty.
Gusty got in four legs while groaning.
“Good news is that now you won´t have to focus on the spell because now we have light!”
The unicorn pointed at a corridor lit by torches.
“I don´t know who built this, but they would have saved a lot of trouble if they had just built stairs that led right here.” Gusty commented somewhat upset.
“That might be true, but this is a secret passage we´re talking about. It has to be subtle, you know?”
Gusty stayed quiet for a brief time.
“Good point.”
“We´re almost there, just a few more steps!”
As they walked through the corridor, Gusty constantly observed the unicorn and looked away whenever she felt she was being noticed. After doing that for a short time, she decided to speak to him.
“Hey… Um… I want to apologize. For the broom thing and for being so hostile towards you.”
“None taken. I was just so desperate to look for an unicorn like you, that I might have been a little too…” the unicorn took some time to think about the right words. “creepy.”
Gusty covered her mouth to hide a giggle.
“Um… What´s your name, young one?”
“Clover.”
“Clover, I still don´t understand why this Majesty you talk about is so…. well hidden. Is she some sort of fugitive or something?”
Clover clicked his lips.
“Let´s just say that she and Grogar are playing a game. A pretty matched chess game. She´s no thief or anything like that but she´s also searched by Grogar.”
“I see.”
“I´m pretty impressed! Normally ponies would be freaking out and running away and you´re still here.”
Gusty sighed.
“When you´re desperate for a job, you´re willing to do anything.”
“Yeah. I can see you´re that desperate.”
“Talk about yourself! You´re clearly a child and you´re already working in this mysterious business.”
“Hey, I am not a child. I´m seventeen.” she said somewhat upset. “Secondly, I work for Majesty because I liked her cause, not because I was desperate for a job. Those are two different things.”
“And your parents let you do this?”
“Actually, I´m an orphan.”
Gusty gasped softly.
“I´m so sorry.” she said full of empathy.
“Nah, it´s ok. My workmates are family to me and I am family to them.”
Gusty widened her eyes and bit her lip nervously. If Clover´s workmates considered him family, then that meant that they had no family. And she had daughters. What if Majesty only accepted ponies without foals to take care of? Just as she kept quiet about her problems with her magic, maybe it would be a good idea not to say a word about her daughters.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Clover´s knock at the door.
“Password?” a voice from behind said.
“You know it´s me already, do you?” Clover replied as he took off her cloak.
“I guess they do, but they need reassurance so-” Gusty explained Clover.
However, before she could finish, the door opened already. The pony that opened the door invited them with a gesture.
Gusty blinked puzzled.
“That´s the password?”
Clover nodded.
“It´s something so unexpected, that not anypony could come up with it. That´s why I suggested it.”
“Clever!”
“Everypony calls me that.” Clover said cockily.
Clover and Gusty entered to the place. It was full of unicorns doing various activities. From practicing with swords to playing chess. Gusty looked around as Clover said hello to the other unicorns.
“You finally did it Clover!” another unicorn congratulated him.
Gusty approached Clover´s ear.
“Is this the first time you get somepony to follow you?” she whispered in her ear.
Clover narrowed his eyes upset.
“I don´t want to talk about it.”
Her expression changed when she saw the unicorn she was looking for.
“There you are! Danny Hooves!”
The blue unicorn widened his eyes and turned around.
“You´re back!”
He hugged Clover. He looked at Gusty.
“I see you brought company. At last.”
“Ok, will any of you cut it out?” Clover undid the hug as Danny laughed. “Is Majesty doing something?”
“Not that I know of.”
“So I can enter her tent?”
“I think so.”
“Ok thank you.” Clover turned to Gusty. “Come, uh…”
“Gusty.”
“Gusty! Come Gusty. You´re finally meeting her.”
“Good luck Clover!”
“Thanks!” Clover waved her hoof at Danny.
Clover and Gusty arrived to the tent, which was protected by two guards.
“Can I talk to the queen?” he asked the two guards
The guards nodded and made space for Clover.
“My queen?”
“Is that you Clover?” a female regal voice asked from the inside.
“Yes, my queen.” she bowed. “I bring a recruit.”
“In due time. Enter both.”
Gusty gulped before following Clover into the tent. When she entered, she saw a bright blue unicorn mare with a serious expression on her face. Though not very old, Gusty could tell that she lived quite a long life. She felt quite intimidated when the royal mare raised her eyebrow at her.
“Clover. Doesn´t she know whenever she sees a royal, she must bow?”
“Bow.” Clover told her as he nudged her.
“Oh, yeah sure.” she bowed in response.
“That´s better. Though I know most pony folk like you don´t know who I am.” the unicorn got up from her seat. “My name is Majesty. What´s your name new recruit?”
“Um… Gusty. Gusty. Ma´am.”
“I imagine Clover must have told you about me. But not the whole story. What did he comment you?”
“She told me that you and the emperor are playing quite a matched chess game.”
Majesty nodded.
“That´s right. And I´ll tell you how this chess game began. However, I must ask you something first. Before Grogar, what do you know about unicorn´s history?”
Gusty bit her lip. She started sweating nervously, fearing if she said the wrong answer might cause a bad impression on her.
“I… Uh…” she sighed. “You´ll have to forgive, ma´am-”
“My quee.” Majesty replied. “That´s how you should address me.”
“My queen, sorry.” Gusty apologized as she bowed before her. “You´ll have to forgive me but I was born far away from here, which means that history there could be different from-”
“That´s alright.” Majesty interrupted her. “I expected you not to know. Not because you come from a different place but because most unicorn folk has no knowledge about our history before Grogar.”
“Ok.” Gusty nodded.
“Long ago, most of Grogar´s empire were farms and pastures, but that doesn´t mean that there weren´t any kingdoms. This city right here was the capital of the Unicorn Kingdom. My ancestors used to rule the land Grogar rules now. When he came here he burnt almost every house in the capital, and told us we could keep our home if we accepted him as our emperor. But unlike the cowardly earth ponies and pegasi, we refused. We were outrageously robbed and disposed of their riches and land. And we´ve been trying to regain it for centuries and centuries…”
Gusty listened Majesty with curiosity. She was amazed at how he managed to deprive unicorns of their history, always making them think they were nothing but his slaves. Not only unicorns, but pegasi and earth ponies too.
“We´ve been at an endless war. Thousands of battles fought… yet he wins again and again. That´s why when my parents passed the mission down to me, I decided to go with a more subtle strategy: espionage.”
Gusty widened her eyes, already guessing what she had in mind for her. Majesty took a map and put it on the floor.
“I´ve been doing this strategy and it has worked as you can see. So far, I have had some cities reconquered.” Majesty pointed the city she reconquered, but there´s still work to do. So, I recruit unicorns in desperate need and give them a job as a soldier or as a spy.”
Majesty gave a cunning smirk to Gusty, which made her uncomfortable.
“So, I am offering you the following job: you are going to pose as a maid in Grogar´s castle while you collect information for me.”
Gusty was speechless. She absolutely had no idea what to say. She scoffed.
“I-” she giggled nervously. “But- But how will I tell you the information?”
“Just like there are unicorns posing as maids, there also unicorns who pose as messengers.” Majesty replied. “You´ll tell them what you heard and they´ll write that down.”
“Ok..” Gusty said somewhat insecure.
“One more thing. This job requires lots of secrecy and dissimulation. You musn´t get discovered.” Majesty scowled as she spoke with all seriousness. “If you did, not only would you endanger yourself, you would endanger my mission, myself and everypony here. You won´t count on my support and protection. Is that clear?
Gusty looked down. This was more dangerous than she thought it would be. Spying on the emperor? Who on their mind would do that? If he found out, they would execute her and her daughters! What´s worse, the problems with her magic could potentially make her get discovered. However, this was the only job opportunity she was going to receive. The only chance she had to ensure food for her daughters.
“If I accept, will I have secured food and money? I don´t ask for riches, but just enough money to get by.”
Majesty nodded. Gusty closed her eyes, breathed in and out, and frowned with determination when she opened them.
“I accept.”
Majesty smiled in satisfaction.
“Brave mare. I applaud you for decision. Now listen carefully because I´m about to tell you everything you need to do and how this works.”
Although Majesty was giving her important and specific instructions, poor Gusty wasn´t paying attention. Rather, she was still digesting the fact she just joined to a secret rebellion and accepted a mission she was probably going to fail.
“Where did I get myself into?” she kept thinking to herself.
“Do you have any questions?” Majesty said suddenly.
Gusty widened her eyes and looked at Majesty puzzled.
“Can you repeat everything again?” Gusty smiled nervously.
Majesty massaged her temples as she glared at Clover, asking him with her eyes who did she just bring. Clover laughed nervously.
Celestia and Luna were sitting in front of the door, expecting their mother to appear in any moment. Ms Prickly Crops, who was walking near them, stared at them.
“Your dresses are going to get super dirty if you keep sitting like that.”
“But we´re waiting for mama.” Celestia replicated.
“Well, you can wait for your mother standing up, can you?”
The two fillies rolled their eyes and got in four legs.
“Do you think she made it?” Luna asked Celestia.
“Well, why else would she take so much time to return home?” Celestia asked in return.
Luna chuckled.
“You´re right. What do you think she got a job as?”
“Hm…. As a baker, mama is great at cooking!”
“Really? I thought she got a job at pottery or jewellery, since she´s so creative. That or something related to cloths making, since she´s got some experience on that.”
“That makes more sense.” Celestia commented as she scratched her chin. “Either way, I think she´ll bring wonderful news.”
The two fillies smiled in agreement. Just then, the door finally opened. They gasped excitedly in unison when they saw their mother enter.
“Mama!” they exclaimed at the same time.
They hugged Gusty. The mare hugged them in return. Ms Prickly Crops came to the door.
“How did it go?” Celestia undid the hug. “Did you get one? Did you get one?” she asked while jumping.
Gusty nodded.
“Yaaaay! I knew you would do it!” Celestia hugged her again.
Ms Prickky Crops´ eyes widened.
“You did? Woah.”
“So what job is it?” Luna asked curiously.
“I got a job as a maid at the emperor´s castle.” Gusty smiled sadly.
The three ponies gasped.
“With the emperor?” Luna´s ears dropped. “But he´s way meaner than the foretroggle you used to work for!”
“Exactly!” Ms Prickly Crops agreed angrily. “I´ve heard that if you do any mistake, you get worse punishments than lashes! Some ponies even died under torture! Did you lose your mind?! Imagine if that happened to you. We would end in the streets and starve! Do you want that for your daughters?” Ms Prickly Crops embraced Celestia and Luna. The two fillies glared at her for the audacity she had to pretend that she cared about them. They tried to get free from her grasp.
Gusty sighed.
“I know it´s not the best job, but it´s the only offer I got. I tried going for corporations but none of them let me in. Plus, we´ll have enough money and food secured to survive.”
Ms Prickly Crops shook her head.
“I still don´t think it´s a good idea.”
Gusty frowned.
“Why are you complaining anyway? I got a job just like you wanted. Shouldn´t you be satisfied?”
“Well, of course I am!” Ms Prickly Crops said in defence as she freed Celestia and Luna. “I´m just saying that because it´s likely that you mess up. Remember that the whole root of this mess was because you got kicked out of your job due to your winds getting out of control.”
Gusty looked away while biting her lip.
“It won´t happen again.”
“It won´t happen again? It won´t happen again?!” she scoffed. “Of course it will, knowing how easily anxious you get.”
“If I feel anxious I´ll just breathe and think positively. That helps me to calm down.” she said firmly.
“Well it had better work, otherwise you might get executed.”
“It will. I know it will.” she replied. “At least it should” she thought to herself.
“You know what? Do whatever you want, I´m going to sleep.” Ms Prickly Crops went to her bedroom and closed the door in a blow.
Gusty sighed tired.
“Don´t listen to her. We know you can do it.” Celestia put her hoof on her foreleg. “We believe in you.”
Celestia and Luna hugged their mother for support. Gusty felt sad. What she was going to say next was going to break their hearts. But she also knew it was necessary.
“Girls. I need to tell you something important.” she sat down as she gently undid the hug.
Celestia and Luna shared estranged glances. Like their mother, they sat down.
“Apart from being risky, this job requires me to stay at the castle at all times. Which means that it will be like my new home. I will sleep, work and eat in there. So, I won´t be able to come back home.”
Their ears dropped in disappointment.
“You´re going away? Forever?” Celestia´s eyes filled with tears.
“The emperor allows me to visit you only to give you resources, but it´s very few time. I know it´s hard but you need to understand. It´s the only way you have a secured home and food.”
Celestia closed her eyes. Luna shook her head.
“No. You can´t go!” Luna begged in tears. “You can´t leave us alone.” she held her foreleg with her hooves.
Gusty´s eyes started filling with tears.
“I don´t want to either. But I have to. I´m so sorry.”
Luna kept shaking her head.
“I won´t let you.”
“Luna stop.” Celestia put her hoof on Luna´s shoulder. “Don´t make this more difficult for mama.”
“Don´t you care she´s going?”
“Of course I do! But she said she´s going to visit us, we will see her.”
“But what if Ms Prickly Crops is right? What if your magic gets out of hoof?”
“THAT WON´T HAPPEN!” Gusty raised her voice and slammed her hoof against the ground. “I have to leave whether you like it or not!”
She covered her mouth with her hoof in repentance. Her heart ached as if a dagger had pierced her chest when she realized what she had done. Luna sobbed softly as she stood there shocked.
“Luna, I´m so sorry…” Gusty tried to reach her.
Luna sniffed and ran to her bedroom.
“Luna! Luna!”
Gusty sighed sadly. Celestia walked to her mother.
“It´s ok. She´ll come in terms with it.”
Gusty held her hoof as she smiled sadly.
“How does this make you feel Tia?”
Celestia sighed.
“I don´t like it either but I understand that you have to.”
But Gusty wasn´t satisfied with that answer.
“You also know what it means, right?” Gusty asked Celestia.
Celestia nodded.
“Luna is now my responsibility.”
“Yes. Which is why it´s important that you tell me everything you feel. I don´t want you to resent me while I am away. I want to have everything clarified between us.”
Celestia bit her lip.
“Well this is a big thing mama. It´s not that I blame you but… I do feel like I´m wearing a huge burden mama if anything happened to you.”
“I know.” Gusty embraced her with her foreleg. “I know you´re having responsibilities that are too much for your age. And for that I´m sorry.”
“Don´t apologize. You haven´t done anything wrong. If there´s anypony who should apologize they should be those troggles…”
Gusty sighed.
“You miss your papa, do you?”
Celestia nodded sadly.
“If he was here, none of this would have happened.”
“I know it´s been some time but how have you been dealing with it? I ask because we don´t really talk about it.”
“I still feel angry and hurt but I´ve been able to move on.”
“And Luna?”
“She… Let´s just say it took a huge tole on her.”
“Of course.”
“But it helps telling he´s still here with us somehow. I do that when Luna is feeling sad about papa and she feels better. That´s how I was able to move on. Knowing he´s somewhere watching over us.”
Gusty looked at her phoenix feather necklace.
“Of course he is.”
Suddenly, Celestia gasped.
“Hey! That gives me an idea. Wait a second.”
Celestia ran to her room, leaving Gusty confused for a moment. She came back with a somewhat badly sewn yellow handkerchief.
“Remember this?”
Gusty chuckled.
“How could I not? My failed attempt to make you a handkerchief. I´m surprised nopony found out I took some cloth from the workshop.”
“Take it with you. So I am with you while you´re at the castle.”
“Oh Tia, that´s so sweet!”
She hugged her daughter.
“I have to go to talk to your sister. I need to apologize for yelling at her.”
“And I should go to sleep.”
They both looked down.
“Good night.” Gusty told her.
Celestia hugged her tightly. Gusty returned the hug with the same tightness.
“Actually, I think you should wait. We could sleep together again.”
Celestia rubbed her nose with her foreleg. She smiled while nodding.
Gusty approached Luna´s bedroom´s door. She inspired and expired before knocking at her door.
“Go away.” Luna replied.
Gusty sighed.
“I´m sorry for having yelled at you. I should have taken your feeling into account instead of snapping at you.”
There was a brief silence.
“Look, tomorrow I start working. So I want to talk and make amends. I don´t want your last moment with me before I go to be a bad memory for you.”
Gusty heard Luna´s sigh. A few seconds later, she opened the door. She avoided eye contact with Gusty, but Gusty could tell that it wasn´t because she was angry. She looked ashamed.
“Um… Apology accepted.” she simply said. “I´m…. I´m also sorry for acting like a brat.” she scratched the back of her head.
“I´m sure you had your reasons.” Gusty said as she entered the room and closed the door. She sat down. “You wanna talk about that?”
Luna looked down.
“I…. I don´t know where to begin. It´s just… A lot of things.”
“What´s the first thing that crosses your mind?” Gusty asked her to help her start opening up.
“Well… First of all… I´m afraid of losing you like we lost papa.”
“Celestia mentioned me you´re still having trouble with that. How does that make you feel?”
“It´s just I see you going on with your lives and not talking about him, and here I am thinking about him sometimes. It makes me think something´s wrong with me. And also… that you forgot papa, although I know the last one is not true.”
“He´s still in our minds, Lulu. I also think about him often, Celestia does too. And there´s nothing wrong about feeling like that.” Gusty hugged Luna. “As for my job, I understand that you´re afraid. Believe me, I am feeling more afraid than any of you. But I´ll do my best to control my magic.”
“How?”
“I´ll do what Celestia says. Thinking positively and breathe. It also helps me to focus on what I´m doing, even though sometimes it´s a bit difficult.”
“Ok.”
Luna smiled sadly, but the smile didn´t last, as she was sad again, something Gusty noticed.
“Is there anything else bothering you?”
“I also don´t want you to go because I won´t have the chance of being useful to you.”
Gusty raised her eyebrow confused and surprised.
“What? Why would you think you´re useless?”
“Because… I see how Celestia helps you by giving you advice and calming you down whereas when that happens, I get nervous and do nothing. You do so many things for me and I give nothing in return.”
“Luna. That´s not true. Like your sister you´re always giving me support and you bring me joy just by hugging me or telling me what you did along the day. That´s enough for me. Besides, you don´t owe me anything. I am your mother, remember?”
Luna nodded.
“But now that you´re telling me this, I want you to answer me one question. Do you often get thoughts like this?”
“Well… Sometimes.”
“Do they make you feel like I do when my magic gets out of control?”
“No… Just bad.”
Gusty looked from side to side before answering. Those statements worried her. Could Luna have the same problems with her magic when she gets her cutie mark? She also got nervous easily, after all. Maybe she inherited this from her, which made her feel somewhat guilty of what might happen with Luna.
“I need you to promise me one thing. Whenever you get thoughts like that, you´ll talk to Celestia about them, ok? Don´t keep them to yourself. You know Tia is always there for you and willing to listen to anything you say. Do you promise me that?” Gusty put her hoof in front of Luna´s.
“Even if they´re awful and ugly?” Luna fidgeted with her hooves.
“Especially those.”
“Won´t she think I´m an awful sister for thinking that?”
“No because you´ll explain it to her they come to your mind involuntarily.”
“But what if those thoughts come to my mind because something´s wrong with me?”
“Do you enjoy having those thoughts?”
“No! Of course not!”
“Then there´s nothing wrong with you Lulu!” Gusty gave her a comforting smile as she massaged her cheek.
Luna looked away.
“Please it´s important that you tell your feelings to somepony. If you don´t, they´ll get worse and worse and who knows what might happen. All I know it´s that it won´t be good for you. Will you do it for me?”
“Promised.” Luna put her hoof on Gusty´s.
She hugged Gusty.
“I´m going to miss you so much.”
“Me too, Lulu. Me too.”
Gusty widened her eyes.
“That reminds me, Celestia gave me the handkerchief I made her so she´s with me while I´m working. You could give me yours so you´re with me too.”
“Good idea! I think I left it here.” Luna ran to her table and picked a dark blue handkerchief. “There.” she handled it to Gusty. “But how will you be with us?”
“With my failed attempts of making you dolls!” Gusty took Luna´s doll from her bed.
Luna held her laughter as she picked the doll from Gusty´s hooves.
“I actually think it´s very cute.” Luna smiled sweetly.
“You´re just saying it because your mother made it. It´s pretty awful!”
Mother and daughter laughed together. Suddenly, Luna gasped excitedly when she saw something out of the window.
“Look! A shooting star! I love those!”
Gusty looked out the window and realized her daughter was right. A meteor shower was happening! She gasped and smiled in awe.
“Can we go outside to watch it? Can we?” Luna asked excitedly.
“Well, I asked your sister if she wanted to sleep with me, so maybe we can watch the meteor shower from my bed until we fall.”
“Ok. As long as we watch the meteor shower.”
After Gusty opened the door, Luna rushed out to Celestia´s bedroom.
“TIAA!”
Gusty shushed her.
“Remember that Ms Prickly Crops is asleep. You don´t want to wake her up, do you?”
“Oh, sorry.” Luna smiled apologetically. “Tiaaa!”
“What?” Celestia got out of her room.
“Did you see the meteor shower?”
“Well, yeah, I also have a window, you know?” she said somewhat sarcastically.
“Since we´re sleeping with mama, she suggested that we watched the meteor shower for some time, do you think it´s a good idea?”
“Of course!”
The three ponies went to Gusty´s bedroom laid in the bed.
“Let´s see if we see a lucky star!” Celestia exclaimed her.
“How did they look like?”
Celestia giggled.
“Silly filly.” she said as she shook her head. “Here, I´ll show you, once again.” Celestia muttered the last part.
“I heard you!” Luna complained playfully.
The two fillies laughed. Gusty smiled at them and silently admired the starry sky. She was having so many bittersweet feelings. On the one hoof, she was happy to be with her daughters watching the stars, but on the other hoof, this was her last moments with them before everything changed. But the worst thing was the amount of uncertainty of what was coming next. Would she be able to control her magic if she felt anxious? Was she going to survive? Would she be able to see her daughters once again? So many questions were wondering her mind.
She was so focused on her thoughts that she didn´t realize the time passing. When she came back to reality, her daughters had already felt asleep, which reminded her that she had to sleep well. She put her foreleg around both her daughters and fell asleep.
“Mama? Mama?” Celestia shook her slightly.
Gusty was still sleeping. Celestia approached her head.
“Mama!” she exclaimed at her ear.
Gusty opened her eyes while yelping. From the surprise, she accidentally kicked Luna out of the bed.
“Don´t yell at my ear like that Tia.” Gusty scolded her.
“Sorry. But it´s time.” Celestia said in a sad tone as opposed to her enthusiastic tone in her voice at the mornings.
“Oh. Of course.”
“Ouch…” Luna muttered.
Luna´s whimper made Gusty realize what she had done.
“Oh goodness! Are you alright Lulu?” she took her with her forelegs.
“Perfectly.” Luna smiled slightly, concealing the pain she was feeling.
“You have everything you need?” Ms Prickly Crops asked Gusty at the door.
Gusty opened the bag with her mouth and checked if she did. She nodded with her head.
“Alright. Don´t mess up this time.” she said as she hugged Gusty. “I beg you.” she emphasized.
Gusty sighed frustrated.
“Yes, Ms Prickly Crops.”
Celestia and Luna looked at Gusty. Tears started forming in their eyes, as well as in Gusty´s. They hugged tightly.
“Take care, ok?” Gusty whispered to them.
They nodded. They stayed some time embraced.
“I love you.” Gusty said as she gently undid the hug. “Goodbye. We´ll see each other again. I promise.” she smiled gently.
“Goodbye mama.” Celestia whispered.
“Goodbye.” Luna said softly.
Afterwards Gusty started walking. She stopped one moment before continuing to have a glance of her daughters. Just like her, they were still in tears. But she gave them a sweet smile to make them feel better. Then, she resumed her journey.
Seeing her mother leave, Luna ran to Gusty but she was already too far away. She looked down. Celestia walked to her and hugged her in relief.
The more she got closer to the castle, the more Gusty´s breath fastened, even though she still had some miles ahead of her. Ever since she first got to the capital, the castle intimidated Gusty. Whether it was by its visibility from afar or the pointy pinnacles, she felt as if it was a warning from the emperor. Just by looking at the castle, a pony already knew it wasn´t a good idea to go right in there or mess with him. And today, she was about to do the exact opposite of that advice.
Like everypony, Gusty was terrified of Emperor Grogar. Back home, she had heard stories about him. He was an emperor from a far away land that had reached their territories and kept them under his control along many other lands he had conquered since then. Luckily, they had more freedom there, as it was very far from him, but his influence could still be noticed. She had also been told that he was the cruellest creature that had ever been in this world. She couldn´t help but feel bad for the ponies who lived closer to him. Little did she know that she would be one of those ponies. Not only that, she was a pony who was going to work against him in the very place he lives! One little misstep, and she, her family, the queen and everypony who worked for her, would be dead. What´s worse, a potential misstep was the failure of controlling her magic. Which is why, she was focusing on her breath instead of thinking all the possibilities that would happen.
“Don´t worry Gusty. Everything is gonna be ok. You can do this. You´re capable.” she kept muttering to herself as she breathed. She sighed heavily. “I can´t believe I´m doing this!” she put her hoof on her forehead. “Oh… Why did I think this was a good idea? Chila?!”
She yelled the last word out loud and angrily. Everypony walking around stared at her. Gusty blushed in embarassment and covered herself with a hoof.
“Maybe I shouldn´t go…” After realizing what she had just said, she shook her head and scowled. “No! You already said yes. There´s no turning back, you know that.” she looked at the castle, gulped, frowned confidently and kept walking.
As she walked more into the capital, Gusty realized that how little she knew the city. There were still tons of places she hadn´t been into despite having lived there for years. She even had to ask for directions! At least nopony judged her for that, which made her feel relieved, as it reassured her that she wasn´t the only one who had that problem, as ponies have very little leisure time to go around investigating the city. But if she could do this more often, she definitely would! After all, she always enjoyed a little adventure.
Finally, after wondering through many unknown corners of the capital and stopping ponies to help her, she finally got to the castle. Her mouth hung wide open when she saw the castle just before her. It was much more terrifying than watching it from the distance. She didn´t know how tall it was until now. The towers and its spires were so tall that they reached the sky. She also realized that not only the pinnacles were pointy, but also the arches on the gates and windows, which made it more terrifying. On top of that, there were lots of detailed carving of various horrifying monsters in its walls, as well as gargoyles. She was right, the emperor used the castle as a warning not to mess with him. But it also reminded ponies of their position. Right now, Gusty was feeling powerless and small. What did she have against a creature who owned this castle? What´s worse, thousands of ponies must have died while building this, which made Gusty more uncomfortable.
She was so impressed and terrified by the castle that she completely ignored what was happening around her.
“HALT!” a voice yelled from the keep towers at the castle´s walls.
The voice made Gusty come back to reality.
“Huh?” she muttered.
She looked up to see troggles pointing their spares at her from the watch towers.
“WHO GOES THERE?” one of them asked.
Intimidated by the spares, Gusty took a few steps back. But then she remembered Majesty´s instructions.
“Don´t let them intimidate you, otherwise they´ll know something´s going on.”
So, she took a few breathes before answering.
“Firstly, can you hear me?” she put her hooves at both sides of her mouth.
“WHAT?!” the troggle put his hand behind his ear.
“Ok, that didn´t work.” she cleared her throat. “I said, can you hear me?!” she raised her voice.
“IF YOU HAVE NOTHING TO SAY, GO AWAY!” another troggle told her.
Gusty massaged her temples.
“CAN YOU HEAR ME?!” she yelled.
“Aaah! YEAHH! NOW WE DO!” the troggle replied.
“Finally.” Gusty said to herself. She cleared her throat again. “GOOD. I´M HERE BECAUSE I WANT TO WORK AS A MAID IN THE EMPEROR´S CASTLE!”
The troggles looked at each other and threw suspicious glances at Gusty. They nodded at each other.
“Keep pointing! She could be lying!” then, he turned to Gusty. “Don´t move!” he ordered her before he rushed out.
“WASN´T PLANNING TO!” she replied back.
Gusty had to wait to figure out what the troggle was doing. Seeing that the troggle was taking long, she started feeling anxious. What if they had already discovered her? Are they going to bring her to the emperor as an intruder? Doubts started going through her mind. Noticing a very small gust of wind, she gasped horrified and started to breath. If it were for her, she would breathe slowly like she usually does, but if she did, the troggles would suspect she was hiding something. She breathed quickly with her nose, while looking at the troggles.
Suddenly, the wall´s gates started to open slowly. Gusty´s ears perked up. Whatever she was about to find, she had to be prepared. It could be an ambush or the emperor himself. Her breath fastened while her ears dropped in fear as the gates opened more. She could feel she was running out of air, but she knew she couldn´t pass out.
“Open now please!” she thought to herself.
But what she saw once the gates let her see what was behind them, made her relax, although it also surprised her. There was no ambush, nor the emperor was there. But instead, there were troggles… with a donkey?
Gusty blinked as she checked the donkey. He was brown and wore an orange hood. Around his waist, he wore a black belt with various golden keys hanging from it. She heard many stories about the emperor and the troggles, but none of them mentioned a donkey. What did that donkey have to do with Grogar?
Nonetheless, she quickly got an answer when the donkey opened his mouth.
“Oi! What are you staring at?!” he told her aggressively.
Gusty´s eyes widened.
“Oh. Sorry.” she apologized.
“Oh, I know what you´re thinking.” The donkey walked towards Gusty. “How is a stupid creature like the donkey doing here in the high elite? Well, I´ll let you know that I am way smarter than your kind will ever be!” he put his hoof on Gusty´s nose. “So don´t you think that you can easily fool me! I know you´re planning something against the emperor, which why you´re here, am I right?”
Gusty was feeling threatened by the donkey. But she remembered Majesty´s words and tried to act cool.
“Um… No.”
“Then why are you here?” the donkey raised his eyebrow.
“I´m just looking for a job.”
“Why?”
“Because I need food and make a living.”
“Well d´uh! But why here?”
Gusty bit her lip. She didn´t want to do it, but she had no other choice. She sighed.
“I tried to get one around the capital, but I failed.”
“And why that is?”
Gusty started getting frustrated by the questions.
“Because they´re not looking for more applicants.”
“Have you got any work experience?”
Gusty widened her eyes and bit her lip. If she told him that she did have work experience, he would ask her why she´s not working there anymore but if she lied, maybe he wouldn´t get her.
“You seem a bit puzzled by this question.” he grinned mischievously.
Luckily, Gusty came up with a solution.
“Are you asking me because you´re looking for the best for the emperor?” she said with an innocent tone.
“Of course!” he answered confidently. “I mean, I do look for the best for him because he´s the best but let´s just say that your kind is…” the donkey took some time to think the next words. “Bellow good quality.”
“U huh.” Gusty nodded with a smile, even though she was upset by the donkey´s comment. “So… since we are bellow good quality, that means that even though a pony has never worked, you still accept them for work, am I right?”
“Well, I wouldn´t accept you for cooking but I would accept you for a simple job such as sweeping or cleaning the floor. Buuut,” the donkey narrowed his eyes at her. “I must say it´s a bit that a pony like you comes here looking for a job in times where a wannabe queen unicorn is sending ponies to spy on the emperor by making them pretend to be ponies in need of a job at the castle.” he said as he approached his face to Gusty, which made her walk backwards.
Gusty gasped softly. Majesty had told her that she had been using this strategy for a long time, but she didn´t tell her that the emperor already knew her strategy. Could this mean that her strategy was beginning to fail? This could be crucial information.
“Why did you gasp?” the donkey raised his eyebrow suspiciously.
Gusty looked back at the donkey.
“Is that happening to the emperor?” she put her hoof on her mouth. “I had no idea.” she lamented.
The donkey widened his eyes.
“You mean you have no idea of what´s happening?”
“Well… I haven´t heard rumors from pony folk about an unicorn recluting ponies. But the strange thing is that no soldier has ever warned us about her.” she gasped. “Is it because this is a secret of state?”
The donkey blinked shocked.
“You know what? Forget what I just said. You´re in.” he turned to the troggles. “False alarm, just a dumb pony looking for a job.”
The troggles stopped pointing their spares at Gusty.
“Don´t you dare to tell any creature about what I told you. Specially the emperor, you hear me?” he put his hoof on Gusty´s nose once again.
Gusty nodded while putting his hoof of her nose.
“Then shut your mouth and follow me!”
Once she made sure nopony was looking Gusty left out a huge sigh of relief and breathed heavily.
“Why are you still?! Move you vermin!” the donkey called her.
Tired of his bossy attitude, Gusty rolled her eyes and followed the donkey.
As Bray opened the castle´s gates, Gusty was left in awe. Even the ceiling was as high as the castle´s towers! At the top, there were pointy vaults, which were held by enormous pillars. Though not very bright, there was enough light provided by chandeliers and torches at the wall, as well as the windows. Speaking of them, Gusty noticed that they had some decorative motives at their top. At front of her, beneath the stairs, there was a huge stained window of the emperor.
As she watched the architecture, questions were wondering her mind: “How on earth was the castle built? How many ponies´ deaths did it take? How can it be so imposing and scary yet so strangely beautiful at the same time?
Noticing that Gusty was still to admire the place, the donkey and the troggles accompanying him turned around and stopped going upstairs.
“Ha! I see you´re impressed.” the donkey smiled cockily, which called Gusty´s attention. “It´s normal. I guess that for simple pony folk like you this must be so shocking since you usually live in much simpler homes.” his smile turned into a serious face. “But as intriguing the castle may be to you, I have to remind you that this is not a tour.”
Gusty raised an eyebrow confused.
“But you´re showing me the castle, right?” she replicated as she caught up with the donkey and the troggles. “If that´s not a tour, then I don´t know what that is.”
“I mean, yes it is, but this isn´t leisure tourism, that´s what I meant.”
“That makes more sense.”
“Ok, will you stop being so insolent?”
“I wasn´t being insolent.” Gusty replied upset in her defence.
However, seeing that she was getting on his nerves by talking, something she could deduce by his death stare, she realized that it would be better to be quiet.
“I mean…” she smiled apologetically. Then, she cleared her throat. “Yes, sir. I apologize for my behaviour.”
“Good.” the donkey replied.
As they walked through the castle, the donkey told her which part they were in, what was that room´s purpose, and most importantly, which rooms it was forbidden to enter in, for example the castle´s library.
“This is the castle´s library. You´re not supposed to enter here. Never.”
“Never? Even for cleaning?”
“Never.” he emphasized as he scowled at her. “Understood?”
“Yes sir.” Gusty nodded nervously.
“The castle´s library, the emperor´s study and bedroom, as well as the reunion room are forbidden to enter.”
“Well, actually, you can enter the reunion room only to serve food and once it´s empty if you want to clean it.” a troggle corrected him.
Gusty´s ears perked up. The amounts of information she could get by doing that. Look down to the left, she smirked softly while raising an eyebrow.
“Ok, your job is to accompany me and to guard the castle, not to correct me!” the donkey scolded him.
“Sorry sir.”
“But anyway, entering to one of those rooms can be punishable by death, you hear me?”
Gusty nodded.
Various minutes passed by, and the tour wasn´t still over, as the castle was enormous. But there was one thing that confused Gusty. Shouldn´t have he showed her to the emperor before showing her the castle?
She stared at the donkey and looked away whether he noticed her stares. Eventually, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“Is there something troubling you?” he asked her intimidatingly.
“Well… I do have a question.” she looked up in thought. “Two in fact.”
The donkey raised his eyebrow.
“Go on.”
“Firstly, what is your name sir?”
“Ok. Ok.” he scoffed while raising his hoof. “If is what I think it is, let me clarify something. We´re not here to be friends. I´m the emperor´s confidant and therefore I am in a much higher position than you and anypony here. You are nothing compared to me, missy.”
“I already know that.” Gusty replied somewhat upset by that answer. “It´s not like you constantly remind us every moment in our lives.” she muttered the last part.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing!” she lied innocently. “I just asked because I was curious.”
“Well you know how the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat, so you should be careful with that. But in that case, Bray is the name. But don´t call me by my name!” Bray ordered her angrily. Only the emperor can do that.”
“Yes, sir. And… When are we going to see the emperor?”
Bray and the troggles stopped walking.
“What did you say?”
Gusty´s ears dropped. She gulped and walked backwards.
“I asked if we´re going to see the emperor…” she answered shyly.
Bray and the troggles blinked. Then, they held their laughter, only to end up bursting in laughter, which estranged Gusty.
“Oh dear,” he wiped out a tear. “Did you hear her? She thinks…” he brayed as he took air. “She thinks we´re seeing the emperor. Oh, that´s the funniest I´ve ever heard!” he kept on laughing with the troggles.
While a bit upset by their laughter, Gusty was also relieved as she thought she had got into trouble. So she simply exiled air through her mouth.
Once he was done laughing, Bray answered Gusty´s question.
“No idiot. We´re not seeing the emperor. Who do you think you are to see him just like that anyway?”
“I.. thought that you presented new employees to the emperor.”
“Well, no we don´t. The emperor can´t afford to waste his time with ponies.” he said the word `ponies with disdain´. “I´ll tell him that there´s a new domestic employee though, if that makes you feel better.” he scoffed. “Where did you get that silly idea?”
“I don´t know…” Gusty looked away as she lied. Since she was presented to Majesty, she figured that it would be the same with Grogar.
They entered to a corridor.
“This is the most boring part of the tour, I warn you, as there´s absolutely nothing here. Just decorations and other stuff.” Bray told her. “But since the emperor likes everything super clean, then you´ll have to clean it, that´s why I´m showing it to you.”
As Bray was talking, Gusty noticed something that contradicted what he was saying. There was something there apart from decorations. And that thing was a door.
“Um… what about that door over there? Is it chambers?”
Bray gasped dramatically when he realized his mistake.
“This is that corridor, is it?”
The troggles nodded nervously.
He ran to Gusty, who was checking the door curiously. He blocked her way.
“It´s forbidden! Super forbidden!”
“I wasn´t going to enter. But is it some special room like the library?”
“I can´t tell you. Just,” he joined his hooves. “Don´t enter here.” he faked a smile.
“Like I said, I wasn´t going to enter.”
“No, no. I mean the corridor.”
“Then why are you showing me-”
“I SAID YOU CAN´T! OK?!” Bray snapped. “Don´t ask questions. Let´s get out of here.” Bray sighed. “The emperor is going to kill me for this if he finds out.” he mumbled to himself. “Don´t tell him about this, eh?” he said to the troggles, who nodded energetically. “How can I have mixed up the two corridors?”
As they left, Gusty stared at the door.
“There must be something really precious and secret behind that door if he doesn´t want me to enter there. What could it be?” she thought to herself.
“And… This is where you´ll sleep.” Bray told Gusty as he opened the door.
Gusty widened her eyes.
“Oh… It´s so… Crowdy.” she commented nervously.
For Gusty´s surprise, she didn´t get a tiny bedroom for herself and a few more ponies. Instead, it was just two endless lines of bunk beds at both sides of the room. This was going to complicate things for Gusty, both to sleep and to deliver information to Majesty´s messenger.
“I´m so sorry, but this is no inn missy.”
“So… which one is my bed?”
“We´ll have to see that.”
Bray checked every bunk bed. In each of them, there was a label in which featured the names of the ponies sleeping there. Gusty was worried that her bed was going to be far away from the door, as that would make her task much more impossible. Fortunately, Bray didn´t take too much time in answering.
“Found one!” he took a fountain pen. “What´s your name?”
“Gusty.”
“Gusty.” he repeated as he wrote her name in the label. “Ok, you´ll sleep on the bed bellow.”
Gusty sighed in relief. At least she had somewhat of a less risk to wake one pony up. Still, she had to be careful.
Bray noticed her sigh.
“Why are you sighing?”
“Because I´m afraid of heights.” she thought quickly.
“Should have thought that before entering to a castle literally as tall as the sky.” he said under his breath. He cleared his throat. “Now all you have to do is wait until the emperor tells me what job to assign you as. Don´t worry, you have great company.” he smiled mischievously as he left.
The troggles narrowed their eyes at Gusty. The unicorn hugged her tail as she laughed nervously.
“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.”
“So… What will my first job be?” Gusty asked Bray curiously.
Bray smirked.
“Why do you think I brought you here?” he walked to a bucket and picked it with his mouth. “I want you to water every thorn.” he said while putting it in front of Gusty.
“And then what?”
“I´ll tell you once is finished. I´ll wait you on the garden gates. Go there once you´re finished. The guards will assist you.”
“Yes sir.”
Bray walked away from Gusty. Once he was away enough from her, he chuckled maliciously.
“Good luck.” he whispered.
Meanwhile Gusty stared at how Bray left.
“I don´t know why, but I feel very uneasy about this.” She bit her lip. “I hope they don´t suspect anything.”
She looked at the two lines of huge black thorns with blue spikes she was supposed to water. She sighed heavily.
“Here goes nothing.”
She grabbed the bucket with her magic. She struggled to lift it, as it was full of water to the top. In doing so, she spilt half of the water. Gusty´s eyes widened. She blinked and then covered her mouth with her hoof. Feeling that her breath was fastening, she talked to herself in order to calm down.
“Ok. It´s not that bad. Maybe there´s a fountain around!” she laughed nervously.
She bit her hoof as she searched for a fountain around her. For her misfortune, she saw no fountain.
“I might not see one here, but there must be a fountain or a well.” she stayed silent. “I hope.” She sighed. “I´m so not going to survive this.” she thought as she prepared to lift the bucket. “At least I can lift it this time.”
And so, Gusty watered them with really tiny water jets. Her intuition was right, as she managed to water almost half of the thorns. Naturally, the water ran out in no time. But luckily, Gusty saw a well.
“Aha!”
Excited, she ran to the well. She tied the rope around the bucket and slowly, immersed it into the well.
As she was busy refilling the bucket, she didn´t realize what happened around her surroundings. The thorns she had watered started moving and twirled around anything near them. One of them moved in direction to Gusty.
“There we go.” she said once the bucket was in the top of the well.
Suddenly, Gusty noticed something stingy in her rear leg.
“Ouch! What the?”
When she turned around, she saw what had happened to the thorns, which made her gasp surprised and horrified at the same time. What´s worse, one of them had already twirled around her leg.
“Lase. Of course this had a trick.” she said unamused.
Then, the thorn raised her from the ground, which made her yelp. However, she wasn´t hanging or far from the ground as she had been able to hold on to one of the well´s pillars. In doing so, she let go of the rope.
“Hoshi, hoshi, no, no no!” she said as she watched helplessly how the rope and the bucket fell into the water.
She noticed that the thorn was pulling her, which scratched her leg.
“OUCH!”
Furious, she kicked the thorn. Surprisingly, it let her leg go but it almost made her fall into the well, something she avoided by holding on to pillar like she did before. She breathed heavily.
“Ok, don´t worry. You still have a way out.” she looked down, finding the bucket and the rope. “All you need to do is to find the rope and the bucket and go up.”
She looked down, desperately searching for the two objects. In doing so, she noticed the state of her rear leg, which made it hurt even more. She moaned in pain.
“Where is it? Where is it?” she asked anxiously.
Right after she asked the question, she found both objects. She sighed in relief and ignited her horn to get them. But just when things seemed to be about to get better, the same thorn from before approached Gusty one more time and its spikes reached her foreleg.
“Ouch! Not again!”
Without thinking it, she turned her hoof aside, causing her to fall into the well. After she managed to get her head out of the water, she tried to swim to the bucket, but unfortunately, the thorn interposed between the two.
“Oh come on!” she exclaimed angrily.
But she quickly realized that something that could seem like an obstacle, was her only way out. So, using her magic, she picked the rope and the bucket, held the thorn, and slowly she climbed it, trying to avoid the spikes if possible. With patience and resistance, she got to the surface and jumped to the ground, running from the spikes. She breathed fast and heavily. Though she had a small moment of glory, she still needed to finish her task. And the bucket was still empty, plus the well was blocked by the thorn.
She started feeling cold and sneezed, so she put her forelegs around her body. In doing so, she looked at how both her clothes and her body were completely soaked. Then, she looked at the thorns.
“He didn´t say how much water I had to use…”
She gulped, frowned in determination and prepared her body to run.
“On the count to three. Chik. Nyi. SUM!”
Several hours passed. The guard assigned to assist Gusty at the garden´s gates fell asleep. Bray, who was back from his duties, opened the door. He widened his eyes when he saw the guard not doing his job. Grogar was right, there was no way that they would achieve their goals relying on them. If they wanted to do things right, the two of them had to do the job, even though Grogar didn´t Bray to be as involved as him.
Angry, he clapped his hooves while looking away in disdain.
“DROG!” he yelled. “Hey!” he hit his head, awakening the troggle.
“Wha- What?” the troggle asked while rubbing his eyes.
“Don´t you know you´re sleeping in the middle of work you idiot?!”
“Sorry, sir but when did you assign me the task?”
“This morning.”
“Look at the sky sir.”
Bray widened his eyes.
“It´s sunset. Ha! That means she´s dead.” he said as he turned around to leave.
“Did you send that mare to the garden to kill her on purpose?”
Bray moved his head from side to side.
“We´re just giving her a warning not to mess with the emperor. We know what to do if she dies or survives.”
“Why?”
“Protocol.”
“I´ve been years working here, and I don´t remember sending anypony to-” Drog said confused.
“I´m just following Grogar´s orders!”
“Ok. But I find it weird that he´s starting to do that.”
“You find weird that a pony enslaver is trying to maintain his power by scaring ponies?” Bray raised his eyebrow sarcastically.
“No, but did he decide not to accept ponies in the castle all of the sudden?”
“He has a reason to. He suspects Majesty is sending ponies, why do you think we´re asking to double the guards, huh?”
“But we haven´t found anything weird.”
“Because you´re useless! You slept in the middle of work!”
“I was doing my job, but a lot of time passed, nothing seemed to be happening, and the castle gave me such a nice shade…”
Bray rolled his eyes.
“I spent years surrounded by these temptations and I´m still focused. That´s no excuse!”
“You´re right. I´m sorry sir.” Drog joined his hands. “I´m sorry. It won´t happen again.”
“It had better not.”
There was a brief silence between the two. As Bray was still angry, Drog decided to give him a topic of conversation to make him forget what just happened.
“So… How are you so sure that she´s dead?”
“Don´t you know whenever they feel something the thorn start moving?”
“I do, but maybe she´s just taking her time.”
“This much time? I don´t think so.” Bray shook his head confidently. “In fact, I think I´m going to send you to another place so you do something more active and not sleep at work.”
But just when they were about to leave, a voice spoke from the distance.
“Done!”
The troggle and donkey turned around and stared at Gusty surprised. There she was, breathing heavily, soaked, with scratches on her face, and her dress completely torn.
“I´ve finished the job sir.”
“Where did you get yourself into to get so wet?” Bray asked Gusty.
“I fell into a well, sir.”
The donkey held his laughter.
“How did you fall into a well?” the troggle asked genuinely concerned.
However, Gusty thought he was just mocking her, like the rest of the troggles always did to ponies.
“I don´t know you tell me.” she replied angry at the troggle. Apparently, somepony forgot to mention me those plants could move!” she glared at Bray.
“Ok first of all, I´m a donkey so don´t call me `somepony´. Secondly, is that a way to speak to your superior?”
“No, I´m just pointing out your mistake. Sometimes, even superiors must listen to their subordinates.”
“Yeah? Well, in case you haven´t realized, things don´t work like that around here. So if you don´t want to suffer the consequences,” Bray made Drog to point his spear at her. “you´d better stop doing that missy.” he threatened her.
Gusty walked backwards. In spite not being the emperor and a donkey, Gusty realized Bray had the potential to harm her, just by talking to the emperor. She looked down and defeated.
“Yes, sir. I´m sorry. It won´t happen again.”
“Oh, I´m not saying it for me. Although you might not believe me, ponies also face up to me. But when it comes to the emperor… they shake in fear, so they´re no threat. I think you´re one of those ponies. But just in case, I warn you. Now come along, I´m giving you the next task.”
“Do you want me to bring her some linen so she can dry up?” Drog asked her.
“Not necessary.”
“I think that was too much sir.”
“I know.” Bray said with a smile.
Bray started walking but stopped when he didn´t hear hoofsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Gusty squeezing her mane, her tale and the skirt of her dress.
“I sprayed an entire line of thorns with this and still takes out water.” she thought aloud as she squeezed the apron of her dress.
“Ahem!” Bray called her.
“Coming sir!”
She shook her body before entering the castle with Bray.
“I gotta go lie down. Now.” she whispered.
Drog stared at Gusty as she left.
“She watered the thorns with her clothes?” he thought aloud when they were enough far away not to hear him. Then, he chuckled. “That´s tremendous.”
“Ok, so your next job will be wiping the corridor.” Bray told Gusty as he guided her.
Though an activity involving buckets and waters was the last thing she would want to do at that time, Gusty simply nodded her head.
“But first you´ll need to get a bucket and a cloth.”
“Where do I get that?”
“In the kitchen.”
Gusty widened her eyes.
“Does that mean I have to walk into a room full of ponies?”
“Well, d´uh!”
“Right now?”
“Right now.”
She clenched her teeth nervously, as she remembered her previous experiences with workmates. They were barely friendly with her before, and it was likely that the same thing would happen to her again.
“I think I prefer the garden.” she mumbled under her breath. “Could I least change my clothes before? I can´t present myself like this to other ponies.”
“You can do that in your free time or once you´re finished.”
“But I haven´t had a free time.”
“That´s not my problem.”
“But-”
Before Gusty could even protest, Bray had already opened the door. There were dozens of mares cleaning the same corridor. Due to her experiences, one Gusty´s biggest stress factors was having ponies around. Specially now since she was soaked and her dress was broken, which made her the perfect target for laughs.
Seeing that Gusty was slowly getting away, Bray grabbed her foreleg.
“What are you doing?” he asked upset.
“It will just take a few minutes, please I-”
“I already told you that you can change your clothes once you´re finished.”
“But sir…”
“Ladies!” Bray ignored her and called the mares´ attention instead by stamping his hoof against the floor.
The mares stopped their work to pay attention to Bray. Gusty put her foreleg in front of her face and avoided eye contact with them.
“I present to you, your new workmate. Dusty!”
“It´s Gusty.”
“Whatever.”
“She will be working with you in the kitchen by doing non culinary activities. Nor right now, but maybe later.”
“What happened to her?” a dark blue green unicorn mare asked concerned by her aspect.
“The so clumsy mare fell into a well.”
“Because of you!” Gusty finished his sentence mentally while she glared at him.
The unicorn gasped.
“Ay, pobrecita.” she muttered.
“Yes, very sad.” he said with false pity. “Anyway, give her a bucket and a cloth, she´ll be wiping a corridor. Although the cloth may not be necessary, since she can use her apron or the skirt of her dress.” he chuckled at his joke, which made Gusty glare even more while blushing in embarrassment. “Those are all the news I had to deliver. Now, get back to work!”
Immediately after, he freed Gusty and pushed her to the kitchen. She smiled nervously at the mares, but they didn´t really notice as they were busy working. The mare that asked about her before, brought her a bucket.
“Thank you.” she said tired and sad.
“You´re welcome. Look inside.”
Gusty obeyed and saw a cloth inside.
“Ah.” she chuckled. “Thanks. Glad you didn´t take Bray´s words seriously.”
“No no. Well, I mean yes, but you can use it to dry yourself before you fill the bucket with water.” The mare advised while putting her hooves on her cheeks.
“Oh. Yeah, sure.”
“You can fill it there.” the unicorn pointed at the tub.
“Um… Thanks. Now excuse me.” Gusty nodded her head.
The mare watched with sympathy as Gusty walked to the tub. Meanwhile, Bray was supervising the mares´ work, but especially Gusty, and paid attention to their interaction. He raised his eyebrow interested as he rubbed his chin.
Meanwhile, Gusty put the bucket on the tub and started filling it with water. As she did, she noticed the mares´ stares, which made her feel uncomfortable. Some of them were even whispering things in their ears. The harsh words she was told on the day she was fired came to her mind.
“Get away from me!”
“Monster! You could have killed us!”
“If you never returned here again, that would be of great help!”
“She´ll be nothing but trouble again and again!”
“It´s incredible that you, a grown-up mare with two fillies to feed still can´t control her magic like a small foal!”
Although it was something inoffensive unlike the plants she had faced before, this made much more anxious. Her breath fastened and put her hoof. She noticed something moving her mane and it moved the other mares´ too, but they didn´t notice. She gasped horrified.
“Hoshi. Hoshi. No! Please stop!” she muttered.
The unicorn from before approached Gusty, but she didn´t notice her feelings.
“Hey, are you finished with that? I just need to wash a-”
“WHAT?!” Gusty snapped.
Every mare stared at her surprised, specially the one who had just been yelled at. Even Bray´s ears were backwards. Gusty covered her mouth.
“I…I… Sorry, I need to go. Thank you for the bucket and cloth.”
Quickly, Gusty caught the bucket and cloth quickly and rushed out the kitchen. She had never felt such a strong urge to cry, but she couldn´t until she was alone.
“Alright, I´m ready, can we go now?” she asked Bray hastily.
The donkey, who was still processing what had just happened, nodded.
“Um… Sure…”
As they were walking, Gusty spilt some tears silently. Bray stared at her. After this little incident, he was more convinced that she had a secret. Otherwise, why was she so nervous?
“What are you hidingunicorn?” he thought while raising his eyebrow at her.
Though not so enthusiastic about it first, wiping the floor made Gusty feel better. It gave her something else to be focused on rather than her yelling at an innocent mare or Bray staring at her.
When Gusty wiped the last corner, she cleaned the sweat on her forehead.
“Done!”
“Good! Just at dinner time.”
Gusty bit her lip. Although she was somewhat hungry, she didn´t want to bump into the unicorns in the kitchen, specially the one she yelled at. Plus, she would rather go to bed.
“Oh! Um… Could I not go to dinner?”
Bray blinked shocked.
“I´ve been many years working for the emperor and this is the first time a pony has asked me that. Instead, they ask me if they can have dinner before their work turn is over.”
“I just feel too tired to eat.”
“Well, do whatever you want, but we won´t save any food for you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Guards!”
“Sir?” the troggles put their hands in front of their foreheads.
“Escort this maid to the workers´ chambers!”
“Yes sir.”
As Gusty and the guards left, Bray went to the emperor´s dining room.
“Oh boy, Grogar´s gonna be so pleased about this!” he said cheerfully.
He knocked at the door.
“Is that you Bray?” Grogar asked from the inside.
“Yup!”
“Then, come in.”
Bray opened and closed the door once he was inside. The ram joined his hooves together.
“So? How did our naïve friend´s first day go?” Grogar asked with cruel irony.
“Ho ho! Wonderfully. I don´t know how but she managed to do the task in the garden. That being said, that dummy fell down a well.” he laughed at the memory. “Oh, you should have seen her soaked, with dress broken, and full of scratches.”
“Indeed, that sounds amusing.” Grogar simply said with a smile. “But she survived the garden.” he said disappointed.
Like Grogar´s, Bray´s smile faded.
“Well… You counted on that…”
“I did. But if she survived that means that she´s a mare that fights tooth and hoof for survival. She´s challenging us, Bray. But I´m always up for a challenge. And she won´t win. Based on your observations, do you think she´s hiding something?”
“Definitely! You see, when we were looking for a bucket and a cloth to wipe a corridor´s floor, she was suspiciously anxious about something. I think she had a panic attack or something like that, I don´t know. She even yelled at one of her workmates.”
“That means she´s insecure.” he chuckled. “Good. Those are the easiest to trick and manipulate.”
“So, what duties do I give her tomorrow?”
“The ones that are part of the next step in the plan.”
Bray bit his lip.
“Right now? Don´t you think it´s a bit rushed?”
“You know that´s how we accorded the plan, Bray.”
“I know but… It just makes me feel scared.”
Grogar frowned.
“After all these years, you still think I´m not capable of doing things…”
“No, it´s not that!”
“Yes, it is!” Grogar replied. “Will you stop being scared of carrying on a plan? Only the weak do that! I thought you were part of the strong ones.”
Those words hurt Bray. His ears dropped.
“Sorry, my emperor.”
“Like I said before, the insecure are the easiest to harm. That´s why I tell you these things. To save you pain and protect yourself. Don´t forget that Bray.”
“I won´t.”
Before Bray left, Grogar called him one more time.
“One more thing. Did you humiliate her as I ordered you?”
Bray nodded.
“Didn´t you remember I told you that she was soaked, her clothes were torn and had scratches everywhere?” he raised his eyebrow playfully.
Grogar chuckled.
“Good. Carry on like that. You may leave.”
Bray nodded and closed the door. His meetings with Grogar always left him with such mixed feelings. He always congratulated his job but there were other times where he insulted him or underestimated him. He was never sure if he was ever truly satisfied with him, which made him feel somewhat sad. However, whenever he felt like this, he shook his head and carried on with his job.
Once she was in the chambers, Gusty threw herself on her bed while sighing heavily.
“That was definitely the worst first day of work in my whole life!” she thought aloud. She massaged her forehead. “I wish the ground would swallow me up!”
After she put her hooves under her pillow, she noticed something slipping and falling to the floor. She looked at the floor and saw her daughter´s handkerchiefs, which made her smile. She carefully picked them up and held them with her hooves. She moved to the end of the bed to get a better view of the outside to make sure nopony was around. Since she didn´t see any, she started mimicking her daughter´s voices.
“How was your first day in the job mama?” she mimicked Celestia´s voice while elevating the hoof on which her handkerchief.
“Well… Pretty bad.”
“Why mama?” she mimicked Luna´s voice, elevating now her handkerchief.
“Where to begin… Firstly, there is this mean donkey that works for the emperor named Bray, he gave me a tour, a bed and then my first task, which was watering thorns that move and made me fall into a well!”
“I managed to do that, but it cost me my dignity, my leg and my mother´s dress.” Gusty mentioned the last object with sadness, unlike the others, with which she did upset. She took it from under her pillow. “It´s one of the things I have left of my family…. And home…” she said with melancholy.
“But you can fix it. I know you can!” Luna´s handkerchief tried to cheer her up. “You know how to sew.”
“Yeah, but it won´t be as beautiful as it was before if I sew the broken parts. I´m still learning, remember?” Gusty caressed Luna´s handkerchief as if it was Luna´s mane.
“Was that the only thing you did?” Celestia´s handkerchief asked.
“No, I also wiped the floor of one of the enormous corridors of the castle!”
“And how did that go?”
“Great! It helped me refresh my mind after something ugly happened.”
“The thorns thing?” Luna´s handkerchief asked.
“No… I yelled at a workmate.” she said with remorse.
The two handkerchiefs gasped at the same time.
“Did she yell at you?”
“No… I just got nervous due to the stares of the mares.”
“Were they looking with disdain?”
That left Gusty thinking. Unlike her previous job´s case, the mares didn´t look her with disdain. Without any emotion of hatred even! Just concern or surprise at her looks.
“Actually, they weren´t…. But even if they did, your workmate didn´t deserve that yell. She was kind to me, you know?” she sighed. “I hope she doesn´t resent me because of that for life.”
“I´m sure if you explained it to her, she would understand.” Celestia´s handkerchief reassured her.
“Let´s hope she does.”
“She will, trust me!”
She smiled at Celestia´s handkerchief.
“Maybe things go better tomorrow.” Luna´s handkerchief said.
Gusty chuckled.
“Even if they didn´t, I would still go on. For you, I would do anything for you. It´s incredible that even by not being here present, you still motivate me to overcome challenges. Come what may, for you, I´ll stand on four legs.” she kissed the two handkerchiefs. “I love you so much.”
She laid down and fell asleep while hugging the two handkerchiefs.
Unlike her workmates, who got off from bed and went to have breakfast, Gusty was still asleep. However, Bray didn´t realize that, as he was busy counting the names of every worker. He only did once everypony left. He widened his eyes when he saw Gusty sleeping.
“You´ve got to be kidding me.” he thought aloud.
For a moment, he was about to leave and not wake Gusty. If she was asleep, then there was nothing she would be able to hear or tell Majesty. But if he did that, Grogar would find out that he was disobeying him.
He rolled his eyes as he sighed frustrated.
“Oi! Didn´t you hear?!” he hit the casserole with the spoon. “It´s time to wake up!”
But the only thing Gusty was stretching and turn her back on Bray. The donkey scoffed.
“How dare she?!”
He walked to her side and hit the casserole in her ear.
“WAKE UP!”
He finally woke Gusty up, but at the cost of getting kicked in the muzzle.
“Yes sir!” Gusty said as she sat on her bed and put her hoof on her forehead as a sign of obedience.
She gasped when she realized what she had done.
“Oh… I´m so sorry! I didn´t mean to hurt you. Are you alri-”
Bray put his hoof on front of her so she didn´t get closer to him.
“Don´t.” he said firmly. Then, he forced a smile. “Please.” he sighed frustrated. “Ugh, I think you broke my nose you stupid vermin!”
“I´m sorry…” she looked around, looking for something she didn´t seem to find in the room. “Wait here, I´ll go to the kitchen.”
“Do you think I´m so stupid to let you go in there and let you steal food?”
“It´s not for me, it´s for you. You need something cold if you want the pain to be relieved.”
Bray was completely caught off guard by those words. Sometimes, there had been ponies in the castle who had had similar incidents like this with him, and none of them offered to help him before he told them to like Gusty just did. On top of that, from her tone, he could tell she wasn´t doing this out of fear but for genuine concern. This left him so confused. Why was this unicorn who had shown some defiance to his orders helping him now?
“Is she messing with me?” he thought while arching an eyebrow.
Before he got to open his mouth, Gusty had already arrived with a bottle of wine.
“What do you think you´re doing?!” Bray asked upset. “Don´t you know that´s the finest wine in the whole empire? Besides, now it´s not the time to drink!”
Gusty, who was initially taken back by his reaction, looked at the bottle of wine.
“Oh.” she said in realization. Then, she chuckled. “I didn´t bring this to drink. It´s for your muzzle.”
Bray blinked.
“What?”
“Before I came here, when one of my fillies got hurt, I used to put a cold container on their injury. And this is the freshest thing I could find in here.”
Although not so convinced about the idea, he didn´t have a better idea. So, he had no choice but to follow her advice.
“Give me that!” he took the bottle from Gusty. “Go to work!”
“From what you told me, I´m pretty sure now it´s breakfast time.”
“Whatever. Just go! NOW!”
Gusty rushed out scared. Once he made sure she was not around, he put the bottle on his muzzle. She was right. As it was cold, it relieved the pain somehow. Although he didn´t want to admit it, he couldn´t help but admire how good that idea was. Why didn´t he think of that?
This also made him confused about her intentions. Sure, she had defied him more than once before but after having put her through such humiliation the day before, she still did this little act of kindness that no creature, neither Grogar, would have done for him. But of course, this could have been an act of cunning. Like Grogar always said, feminine charms were easy to fall for. But that wasn´t the impression Gusty gave him. Plus, she looked like she had no idea what she was doing! However, that didn´t mean she could have her moment of lucidity.
His thoughts were interrupted by Drog, who was looking at him estranged.
“Sir, what are you doing?”
Bray blushed in embarrassment.
“What are you looking at?!”
Drog looked away and pretended to be distracted looking at anything else.
By following some ponies, Gusty managed to arrive to the room where every worker had breakfast. As she was waiting in the queue for food, she noticed the stares of the mares. Like the day before, Gusty felt uncomfortable. She was worried that she had caused a bad impression on her workmates forever. But after what had happened, she came to the conclusion that it was best not to think about their opinions, otherwise her winds might get out of control and bring grave trouble.
When her turn came, she was served a minuscule ration of hay, though she didn´t complain as she was used to small rations. And then, came the most horrifying moment for Gusty: choosing her sit.
Though an action that might seem meaningless, choosing in which table to sit had always been difficult for her in her previous job. Her goal in mind was always to sit in the table without ponies, which was sometimes impossible. If there weren´t any, she would sit on the floor at a corner and eat there. However, she was in a different environment now. It was bigger and with stricter rules. It was highly likely that they wouldn´t let her sit in the corner.
Gusty sighed exasperated.
“Why does everything have to be difficult in here?” she thought exasperated.
But what Gusty didn´t know was that her problem was about to be solved in an instant. Just not in the way she would have liked.
“Hey!” she heard a female voice calling her.
Gusty turned and her eyes dropped in shock when she realized who was calling her. The same unicorn she yelled at the day before. She quickly turned around to avoid eye contact with her.
“Tell me this isn´t happening, please this isn´t happening!” she whispered to herself.
At that moment, she would have rushed out the room, but her body prevented her from doing so, as it literally froze in fear. Instead, her legs started to shake and looked away, helplessly trying to calm herself down. Her heartbeat raised as the unicorn approached her, as well as her breathing.
“Excuse me.” the mare touched her shoulder.
Gusty yelped while jumping back. Seeing that she was looking at her a bit estranged, Gusty regained her composture.
“Oh, uh… Hi! Uh…. How you´re doing?”
“I´m fine, what about you?”
“Um…. Fine?” Gusty giggled nervously. “Eeh… It was nice to see you but I got to go and have breakfast. See you later though!” Gusty prepared to run away.
“About that, I was thinking…. Would you like to come and sit with us?”
Gusty blinked, completely caught off guard by that question.
“What was that again?”
“I said if you want to have breakfast with me and my friend.”
“You´re not mad at me after what I did to you yesterday?”
“Nope. I mean you were soaked, injured, your dress was broken, and you seemed very stressed so I can understand why you reacted like that.”
Gusty was completely in shock. If this had happened in her previous workplace, they would have yelled at her, but this unicorn was instead offering her a place to have breakfast. It was so strange for her that she felt that she didn´t deserve, so without thinking it, she refused.
“No, it´s not-”
But as she answered, she remembered a dialogue between her and Majesty.
“Always bear in mind that you are about to be in an environment that is against you. Anything you do or say can be used against you in the future. So, I´d advise you to be very careful with who you talk to.”
“You mean to interact the least possible with the other ponies?”
“Don´t isolate completely either. That will make it more obvious that you´re hiding something.You can talk to other ponies just don´t get too attached to them. However,” Majesty smiled confidently. “you need to remember that you´re not the only unicorn who´s working for me.”
“Oh right. So, they are the ones who I can talk to the most?”
Majesty nodded.
“Alright. And what are their names?”
“You´ll have to ask them.”
Gusty raised her eyebrow curiously.
“Wouldn´t it be easier to spot them if you told me their names?”
Majesty raised her eyebrow in return, only with disdain and a little bit of frustration, which made Gusty wish she hadn´t said anything.
“Ok.” she got up from her sit. “Let´s revise everything. What´s our strategy all about?”
“Uh… Espionage?”
“Mhm. And what does a spy need in order to be successful?”
“Being mysterious?”
“Quite close.”
“Hiding secrets.”
“That´s right. Secrecy is really important, like I´ve told three times or so.” she threw Gusty a hint. “And what would you do at the castle if I told you the names of the other unicorns working for me?”
“I would look for them.”
“I see. Let´s just say I am Grogar, alright?” she started walking towards Gusty. The unicorn´s ears dropped as the queen got closer to her. “What would I do if my most loyal and competent lackey noticed the same unicorn he hired was asking for the names of various unicorns?” Majesty grew more upset.
“You would suspect something…” Gusty replied in whispers.
“Grogar is famous for torturing ponies. So I don´t think you want to see that in first hoof.” she approached to her ear. “Remember, put me in evidence and nopony will be there to save you the morning they put a noose around your neck.”
Gusty gulped.
“I´m sorry, my queen. I asked because I wanted to make things easier…”
“I´m sorry but I´m afraid you didn´t sign for something easy. No matter what ideas you might want to carry on.”
“But if I don´t know their names, then how will I know who´s on my side?”
Majesty chuckled.
“If anypony reaches to you and invites you to be with them, you´ll know they´re on our side.”
“Soo… Is that a yes?”
The unicorn´s voice made Gusty come back to reality. She shook her head.
“Huh? Sorry, I guess I completely immersed into my thoughts.”
The unicorn laughed.
“That´s alright. It always happens to me. In the minute I least expect it, I start thinking about my own stuff that I completely lose track of reality until Bray comes and yells: `What are you doing dumb pony? Get back to work!´”
That unicorn´s imitation of Bray got a chuckle out of Gusty. Maybe it was because she put her hoofs on her hips or her faces were priceless.
“So you want to have breakfast with us?” the unicorn offered Gusty a hoof.
Gusty looked at the hoof and then at the mare. There was something so warm and welcoming about her, such as her smile or her eyes full of cheer, that ensured anypony that they could trust her. After she remembered her conversation with Majesty, Gusty couldn´t help but admire how good she was at picking ponies for espionage.
“Yes.” Gusty said confidently.
“¿Ha dicho que sí? ¡Ha dicho que sí!” she exclaimed surprised and happy at the same time. But she quickly regained her composure after she remembered she was not alone. “I mean… Great! I´ll lead you to our table.” she quickly turned to Gusty. “Please pretend you didn´t see that.”
“It means I speak another language. Just like you.”
“And my friend too. I´ll present her to you.”
They walked to a table where there was a pink unicorn sitting.
“I see you managed to bring her.” she said after swallowing her food.
The unicorn laughed.
“Yes.”
“But isn´t she the mare who yelled at you yesterday?”
Gusty blushed in embarrassment.
“Yes. But I still want her to sit with us.”
The other unicorn shrugged.
“Sounds fine for me. You can sit there.” she pointed at a chair in front of her.
Shyly, Gusty sat on the chair.
“First of all, I want to apologize for yesterday.” she told the mare that had invited her. “I shouldn´t have yelled at you like that.”
“I already told you it was ok. You don´t need to apologize, really.”
Gusty smiled sadly.
“And secondly, thanks for inviting me.”
“No, no, I should thank you for coming with me!”
“Fizzy has always liked making new friends but she gets too excited and instead scares unicorns away.” the other unicorn explained.
“So, your name is Fizzy.”
“Ajá. And this enchanting unicorn next to me is Buttons.” Fizzy put her foreleg around Buttons. “She´s from Prance whereas I am a proud Boricua!”
“She means she´s from Puerto Caballo.” Buttons explained to Gusty. “Anyway, nice to make your acquaintance ma cherie. What´s your name?”
“Gusty.”
“And from your horn I assume you´re from other place.” Buttons pointed at her own horn. “Either that, or you were born here but your parents came from another place.”
Gusty looked at her horn.
“Oh… Yeah, I was born in the Himarelaya. It´s a mountain range very far away from here.”
“I heard that there are unicorns living there.” Fizzy commented. “Are you one of them?”
Gusty nodded.
“But don´t think that every unicorn living there is the same. There are many different groups of unicorns with different traditions. Specifically, I belong to the Sharta.”
“Interesting.”
Gusty smiled briefly. She always loved talking about her home with her daughters but talking about it with other ponies was also exciting.
“So what brought you to work in here Gusty?” Buttons asked.
“The same thing that brought you here.” Gusty smirked.
“Of course. The desire of survival, am I right?”
Gusty was expecting Buttons to mention Majesty, however, the reason she took her mission in the first place was for survival, so she assumed she was explaining why she started working for Majesty.
“So now that we are together, are we to start talking about-”
She was interrupted by Bray.
“YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES LEFT!”
Fizzy gasped.
“I haven´t even started to eat!” she said before she started to gobble up her breakfast as fast as she could.
“Well, that´s what happens for not focusing, Fizzy.” Buttons said before taking a mouthful of hay.
Then, Gusty realized that she didn´t take anything to her mouth either. She gasped.
“Neither did I!”
Buttons widened her eyes.
“Oh great, now I´ll have to take care of two absent-minded unicorns.” Buttons thought aloud before taking a sip of water.
Luckily the two of them were able to finish their breakfast in time.
“Now what do we do?” Gusty asked them.
“Now, the mares that work at the kitchen, take everything to the tub and wash it.” Fizzy explained. “I am one of those mares.”
“And Buttons?”
“No, I work as a seamstress in the castle.”
“Really? I was also a seamstress in my previous job!” Gusty said excited.
“You had another job?”
Gusty widened her eyes and blinked, realizing her mistake. She cleared her throat.
“Let´s just forget I said that, shall we?”
Fizzy and Buttons looked at each other.
“Alright.” Fizzy replied. “I´ll see you at lunchtime!”
“Bye Fizzy.” Buttons said to her.
“Bye.” Gusty said softly.
“So what´s your job at the castle?” Buttons asked her.
“I´m actually not sure. Bray just gives me tasks. Yesterday, for example, my first task was to water thorns.”
“The thorns? But those things move and prey on you!”
“Oh believe me, I learned that on the bad way.”
“And did it curl around your rear leg?”
“Yeah. How do you know that?”
“You´re limping.”
Gusty looked at her leg as she walked.
“That makes sense. Well, it still hurts, I mean, they did a good scratch in there.”
“Did you have time to heal it?”
“No. Plus, I don´t have anything to cover it with!”
“Mhm, maybe we´ll have to sanitize it later. But for now, use this to cover it.”
Buttons untied the apron from her dress.
“No, no, it´s not necessary, really.” Gusty refused.
“I have many more like this, don´t worry. Could you show it to me?”
Gusty pulled her skirt up so Buttons could see the scratch. The pink unicorn whimpered.
“Sacrebleu, that´s a big scratch.” she said surprised. “But still something we can heal.”
She tied the apron around her leg.
“Et voila. At least that will prevent from any germs entering there.”
“Thank you Buttons.”
“You´re welcome.”
“Dusty! Dusty!” Bray called Gusty. “Where are you Dusty?”
Gusty sighed frustrated.
“There he comes…” she said to Buttons. “I´m here! And it´s Gusty not Dusty.”
Bray turned around.
“Aah, there you are.” he said with a satisfied smile that faded when he saw Buttons. “Shouldn´t you be sewing pants or shirts or whatever?”
Buttons rolled her eyes playfully.
“Duty calls. Have a nice morning.”
“You too.”
Gusty observed Buttons with a warm smile as she left. Although she had just met her and Fizzy, she could tell that she was feeling something she didn´t feel around anypony aside from her family for a long time: comfort. Despite being reserved or having odd behaviours, they still treated her kindly. She was looking forward to being with them again at lunch time, something very new for Gusty. It was a bit alarming and fuzzy feeling but also one that she liked.
“Hello?” Bray asked as he shook his foreleg in front of her to make her come back to reality.
“Eh? Oh! Sorry sir. How is your muzzle? Did my trick work?”
Bray got nervous by that question. He was grateful to her but at the same time he didn´t want to make her think that he warmed up to her.
“Let´s just say my muzzle still hurts. But less.” he whispered the last part, although Gusty was able to hear it.
“I´m glad, I guess.”
Both Gusty and Bray looked away and didn´t say a word to each other for a few seconds, a, uncomfortable time for both Bray and Gusty.
“So…. What is my next task?”
Bray chuckled mischievously.
“You´re taking food to the emperor.”
Gusty´s ears dropped and her eyes widened like dishes. She bit her lip nervously.
Fizzy was in the kitchen drying some bowls with a cloth while humming a song. Her ears perked up when she felt a touch on her shoulder.
“Psst! Fizzy! The newbie wants to talk to you.” a workmate told her.
She turned around and saw Gusty at the door, looking at her with worry as she massaged her foreleg with the other.
“Gusty! Are you working with us?” she asked excitedly.
“Actually…” Gusty whispered.
“Oooh! I can´t wait! I mean, it´s not that I enjoy working for the emperor, but now that you´re here we can work together, and it will be much more fun!” she jumped from excitement.
“Maybe later, but first-” Gusty tried to tell her friend.
“Specially the cooking. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, because we´ll be doing that nonstop!”
Seeing that Fizzy didn´t listen, Gusty massaged her foreleg frustrated.
“I´m taking food and drinks to Grogar!” she exclaimed loud enough for every unicorn in the room to hear.
All the unicorns turned to her while gasping. Fizzy clenched her teeth.
“Yeah…. That´s totally not fun.”
“Please tell me you´ve done this before.” Gusty begged.
“I´m sorry nena, but that´s not my job.” Fizzy lamented. “Each of us is assigned with a task. Some are the kitchen like me, others clean the floor, others wipe the curtains…. And others bring food or water or wine or whatever to the emperor.”
Gusty put her hoof on her temple while sitting down, looking at the floor with fear.
“But that doesn´t mean that you have no guidance!” Fizzy said with a nervous smile, seeing that she caused Gusty to be more worried. “You can always ask a unicorn that has that job.”
“Such as?”
Fizzy said no word. She blinked.
“You don´t know, do you?” Gusty said in a mixture of frustration and worry.
“Well, I´m sorry, but we are too many in this castle! Don´t expect me to know every single one!” Fizzy said in defence.
“What about Buttons?”
“Buttons…” Fizzy tapped her chin in thought. “Hmm… She might know, yes, she´s way better than me at this thing of socializing, so it would be no surprise if she did. But it´s not like you can enter in the room where she is without Bray-”
In just a blink, Gusty was no more by Fizzy´s side. The unicorn glanced around the room.
“Where did she go?”
Her workmates pointed at the door. Fizzy peeked her head out and saw Gusty running through the corridors. She gasped as she put her hoofs on her curls and pushed them back.
“What is she doing?!” she thought aloud as she ran behind her.
Gusty ran to throughout the corridor, only stopping to see through the bolt´s hole, hoping to find Buttons inside of a room.
“Gusty?” Fizzy yelled from behind.
Gusty gasped and continued running until she saw guards coming nearby. She hid behind the corner. A guard´s ear twitched.
“What is it?” his workmate asked.
“I think we´re not completely alone.”
"What do you mean?”
“One of those ponies is here. And not for work´s reasons.” the guard looked around. Then he pointed at a corner, which unfortunately the one where Gusty was.
“I think they´re there.”
As soon as she heard that, Gusty started to sweat. She breathed in and out. Although it was still fast, it was the slowest she could at that moment.
“Breathe, breathe.” she whispered to herself.
Hearing his hoof steps getting closer, Gusty closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting for the worst to happen.
“Where are you little unicorn?”
“Right here!” a cheerful voice said.
Gusty opened her eyes and saw Fizzy walking towards the guards.
“What are you doing here? I´m pretty sure you are of the unicorns who work at the kitchen.” the other guard asked.
“I am. But I was looking for something.”
“Which is...”
Fizzy pressed her lips. Not coming up with a word, she decided to play fool instead.
“Oh dear!” she put her hoof on her temple. “Wouldn´t you know? I forgot while walking towards here!”
The two guards massaged their foreheads.
“Right, you´re the forgetful one.”
“That´s me!”
While Fizzy was distracting the guards, Gusty walked away slowly on the contrary direction of the corridor.
“Well, you´d better go back to work if you don´t want to your back to be full of lashes again!” the guard that felt Gusty´s presence aggressively told Fizzy.
“No worries, gentlemen!”
“Hmph!”
Fizzy smiled as the two guards left. Once they were out of sight, she sighed in relief.
“That was very close. You´ve been very lucky, you know? I´ve done the same thing before and got caught, and let me tell you, the punishment is everything except-”
She couldn´t finish her sentence. She noticed Gusty running away when she turned around.
“Seriously?” she thought aloud frustrated before running behind her.
Gusty´s eyes brightened when she saw no guards at the end of the corridor. However, her joy didn´t last long, as she noticed a white unicorn carrying a bucket of water walking right in front of her. Gusty gasped.
“Care-” she tried to warn her.
But it was too late. She ended up crashing against the mare. Gusty massaged her head.
“Ouch…”
When her sight was clearer, she saw the mare, but her head was in the bucket. She covered her mouth.
“Oh dear, I´m so sorry, I didn´t mean to-”
The mare sighed frustrated.
“It´s ok. Just don´t do that again.” she simply said.
She took the bucket of her head. She looked at her dress and sighed tired. Gusty bit her lip.
“Do you want me to bring you something with which you can dry?”
The mare shook her head.
“If ye want to help me, stand aside. I´ve had a bad day and I need to be alone. Hope ye understand.”
Gusty nodded her head.
“And it would be of help if ye watched where ye´re going next time.” she added.
Gusty blushed.
“Oh… Right. Uh… Sorry about that.”
The other unicorn smiled slightly while nodding her head.
“Have a nice day.”
Gusty watched as the unicorn left.
“And I thought I was the quiet one.” she thought aloud. “Now, where´s Buttons?”
“There you are!” exclaimed Bray.
Gusty gasped.
“Oh… uh… Hi sir!”
“Where were you?” he asked upset. “I told you to wait in the kitchen!”
“I… I needed to get some air.”
Bray held his laughter.
“Missy, this isn´t going to be the last time you´re going to see the emperor. So you´d better get used to it. But I love seeing ponies being scared whenever I mention his name. Now follow me.”
“Yes sir.”
“Gusty?” Fizzy called her.
Gusty widened her eyes.
“Fizzy! What are you doing here?”
“I was looking for you! I can´t believe that you ran away because I said that it wasn´t like you could enter in the room where Buttons was to ask her if she knew somepony who brought stuff to Grogar! There´s one thing you should know about me, never ever take anything I say literally, alright?”
As Fizzy was talking, Gusty shook her head or passed her hoof through her neck to tell her to stop. But since she didn´t stop, she covered her face with one hoof, not wanting to see Bray´s reaction, but having enough field of vision to glare at Fizzy. Meanwhile Bray widened his eyes and narrowed his eyes at Gusty.
“What?” Fizzy asked innocently and upset at the same time.
She gasped when she saw Bray.
“Oh…” she laughed nervously. “Bray! How you doing?”
“I´ve told you thousands of times to call me sir, not by my name.” he simply said.
“It´s true! I forgot.”
“Of course you do. And do you know why she would want to know which ponies do the task she´s about to perform?”
“Curiosity?”
Gusty hit her forehead with her hoof.
“Because I wanted advice.” Gusty replied Bray. “As you said the emperor is terrifying and I know what he can do to me if I do a single mistake, so I needed to know what to do and what not to do. Satisfied?”
Bray took a few seconds before saying anything.
“That makes sense. Just do as he says and don´t stand in his way, alright? Now that you know what to do and what not to do, can you please bring some darn drinks and food for the emperor and the others?!”
“Wait. What do you mean with the others?”
“He´s a reunion. Just come!” Bray grabbed Gusty by the foreleg.
As he dragged her away, Gusty frowned at Fizzy, who smiled apologetically.
“Sorry…”
“Kuma.” she whispered to her.
Gusty walked with a plate of fruit and tow jugs, one of wine and one of water. She stopped in front of the door. She took a huge breath in.
“It´s ok. You just enter, leave them their drinks and food and leave. It´s that simple. He´s not going to hurt me. At least not for now.”
She stared at the two doors. She gulped and reached her hoof to the door to knock. But before doing so, she had an idea. Looking around to make sure nopony was around, she laid her ear in the door, just to see if she could get some information for Majesty.
“So let me recap, you´re telling me that the crazy unicorn is sending spies to your castle now?” a female voice asked.
“I´m pretty sure, yes.” a menacing deep voice, which Gusty deduced to be Grogar´s, said.
Gusty gasped softly.
“He definitely knows…” she whispered worried.
“Then why are you telling us this right now?”
“Because I´ve been suspecting this lately. And I want you to have your eyes open for the unicorns in your lands. We can´t afford to lose more territories.”
“You´re suggesting we kill every unicorn?” a male voice asked.
“Do what you have to do.” Grogar simply replied.
Gusty´s ears dropped. She covered her mouth worried. If Grogar ordered that every unicorn must be killed, her daughters would be included. Ms Prickly Crops was too old to defend herself, so she wouldn´t be able to protect her little ones if that happened. Nor would she be there for them.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Grogar himself.
“For the unicorn out there, are you bringing us food and drinks?”
Gusty widened her eyes.
“How did he-”
“Unicorn?”
“Uh… Yes, my…” Gusty moved her eyes while thinking the right word to address him “emperor?”
“Then come in.”
Gusty opened the gates. She froze when she saw Grogar. Although she had heard of him, she didn´t know how he looked like or how his voice sounded like, in fact, she even had some curiosity. But never in a million years would she have imagined seeing him in flesh. The gigantic blue ram that everypony feared, responsible for all their miseries and suffering, was there, right before her eyes. He had a royal and menacing posture, as an emperor would and there was so much seriousness in his face. His eyes seemed calmed but also murderous, as a predator´s that could launch at any time on its prey. She also noticed that both his eyes and the bells in his collar were shining. She had heard that fear gave him power, which would explain how she was behind the door.
Aside from Grogar, there were also the other creatures in the room, some of them Gusty didn´t know of their existence. There were white monkey like creature with the legs of a goat, a cat like lady, goblins and of course, the troggles.
“Why are you staring at?! Bring us our food!” a troggle ordered while slamming his fist against the table.
That made Gusty jump a little. She nodded. As she was busy laying the plate of fruit and the cups, she didn´t notice Grogar´s little but malicious smirk.
“This is the first time I´ve ever laid eyes on this one specifically, but from what I´ve seen, you won´t have to worry about this one specifically. She´s as pale as a ghost!” the biggest monkey like creature teased her.
“Let´s not discuss that.” Grogar threatened him, but he didn´t listen.
“Um… That´s because my fur is white…” Gusty said in whispers loud enough for him to hear. “Like yours.” she pointed at her fur.
“Don´t touch my fur, you vermin!” he hit her hoof.
“Sorry…”
“Hey! Have they never told you not to speak at reunions?!” the cat asked upset. “Shut up, just serve us wine!” then she laughed. “Or at least just to me.” she held her cup.
Gusty nodded and ran to the cat to serve her wine.
“You´re terrified of us, are you?” she said while tickling her chin with her claw. She turned to Grogar “I agree with Silenius, she´s of no harm.”
“Let´s not mention this again…” Grogar´s anger grew.
“What is wrong unicorn afraid that we´ve discovered your kind´s dirty secret?” a goblin accused her while teasing her.
“WHOEVER SAYS A WORD WITHOUT MY PERMISSION NEXT WILL BE PUNISHED!” Grogar got up from his seat.
Every creature in the room looked at Grogar and immediately turned quiet. Gusty was scared of the other creatures, but it was nothing compared to the fear she felt after Grogar yelled.
“Good. You may resume now, mare.” he told Gusty.
She nodded. She doubted a moment before walking to Grogar. The ram raised his eyebrow, as if asking what she was waiting for. She tried to look away, wanting to make the least eye contact possible. Seeing that she didn´t do nothing, Grogar cleared his throat. Gusty took that as a sign that he was getting impatient, so she had no choice but to walk to him. He was about to pour wine in his cup but Grogar stopped her with his foreleg.
“Not wine, water. We´ll be here for some time.” he ordered her.
Gusty nodded and fetched him water instead.
“Do the same for the others. Including Katrina.”
The cat widened her eyes.
“But I have wine.”
Grogar took her cup and spilt the wine on the floor.
“Not anymore.”
Katrina growled and crossed her arms but made no protest.
“Now, tell me, do you bring any news?”
Katrina and Silenius looked away nervously.
“Well?”
“We… have been having some trouble lately. Specially me.” Silenius replied.
“And why is that?”
“Pegasi.”
That caught Gusty´s attention. Although the only pegasus she ever had a relation with was her deceased husband, she was still curious to see how the other pegasi were doing.
“Pegasi. Again?!” Grogar asked frustrated.
“More and more of them are taking refuge in the sky. In fact, I think they founded a little town named Cloudsdale but I can´t locate it. It´s almost impossible for me to control them! So I was wondering… do you have any monsters that can fly? If so, could I borrow some of them for my army.”
Grogar massaged his forehead.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures. Ok fine. But once you´ve captured all of them and enslaved them again, you´ll give them back to me.”
“Thank you sir.”
Gusty looked at her necklace with melancholy while holding it.
“What about you Katrina, are you having trouble with the earth ponies?”
Katrina puffed.
“Don´t let me get started… They might be the simplest of ponies, but oh boy! They are strong! I´ve recently had one of them entering on my castle to throw me down and managed to kick me. But don´t worry, I´ve had him executed. Still, I´m worried that more might start doing the same.”
“Did you hang them?”
Katrina nodded.
“Then leave his body hanging for weeks where every pony can see them. If you do that, then there should be no problem. But if there is, warn me.”
Gusty shivered at those words. Come to think, she never met an earth pony. She saw them but she never had a conversation with one. She wondered what it would be like.
Once she finished serving all of them wine, she bowed at Grogar and went to the door to leave. But Grogar stopped her from doing so.
“Mare.”
Gusty´s ears perked up. She turned around.
“Where are you from?”
Gusty stayed silent while moving her eyes from side to side.
“Why don´t you speak?”
“I thought I was not supposed to speak during reunions, my emperor.” she shyly said.
“Now you may. Don´t listen to these idiots. I am the only one you should listen to. I am giving you permission, so you can speak now.”
“The Himarelayas, my emperor.”
“That´s very far away from here. And tell me, how are you organized? Do you have kingdoms?”
“That depends on which group of unicorns you´re talking about. In our case, we´re organized by clans. But there are also kingdoms as well.”
“I see. And when did you come here?”
“Recently.”
“Your accent is different yes, but you almost sound as if you grew up here. It´s bad to lie to an emperor, you know? One more time, why did you come here?”
Gusty looked down.
“When I was a filly.”
“That´s better. So since you´ve lived here for quite time, have you heard anypony talking about an unicorn named Majesty?”
Gusty shook her head.
“No, my emperor. There might be stories about her but I… I don´t spent much time with other unicorns.”
“And why is that?” he raised his eyebrow.
“I prefer to be on my own.”
“Hm…. You look like you´re a reflective mare so it´s normal that you prefer to be alone. Sometimes the best ideas come that way. I just asked because there´s been rumours that this unicorn wants to take my throne. But changing the subject, how did you know we accepted ponies on this place?”
That question caught her a little off guard. Nevertheless, she knew what to answer.
“I didn´t. But one is always willing to try crazy things for the ones you love.”
Just like his question caught Gusty off guard, her reply caught him off guard. She noticed that he was thinking about something but she couldn´t tell what. Grogar slightly shook his head and continued his questions.
“And if you had heard about them, would you believe them?”
She raised her shoulders.
“You´ve achieved this whole empire which must have been seen as impossible before. And to do that, I bet you defeated many rulers. I think you must know at this point anypony can be defeated.”
The two of them stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, Grogar with a smirk in his face, while Gusty didn´t have an emotion on her face.
“You may go now, mare.”
Gusty nodded and left. When she closed the doors, she left out a huge breath. Many things had happened to her in her short time in the castle, but this was certainly the scariest and the strangest. The emperor was imposing but he was also very calm. And perhaps that was the most frightening aspect about him. He could have done anything he wanted to her and yet he talked to her with respect, even more than the troggles and Bray. This same ram had tortured and killed many ponies. Everything was so weird.
After taking some time to process her little conversation, she went to look for Bray.
Meanwhile the same unicorn she had bumped up with before and made her to get soaked with the bucket´s water, noticed her leaving the reunion room.
Gusty looked around the corridor while she walked, checking if Bray was in there. Or at least she tried to, as her face to face off with Grogar was still in her mind. She reprised every minute of it in her mind, trying to remember each of his expressions and words and figure out what they could mean. She also mentally repeated to herself the possible important information for Majesty she had heard in the reunion and the day before, as if she remembered well, today was the day Majesty´s messenger was coming to check on her. Though she had information, she was still nervous, specially after meeting Grogar in flesh.
“What if I leave out something? What if the information I give isn´t important enough? What if she sees how bad I am at this job and fires me?” she constantly thought.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a familiar voice.
“Gusty!”
She looked up and smiled when she saw Buttons.
“Buttons! How are you?”
The pink unicorn scoffed.
“How am I? How am I?! Why are you asking me that after you literally served food at the reunion room?!”
Gusty giggled briefly while blushing.
“I guess Fizzy told you.” she widened her eyes. “Please tell me she only told you that.” she said with a somewhat begging tone, hoping Fizzy didn´t tell Buttons her little incident before the meeting.
“Ma cherie, she told me everything.”
“Oh.”
“Speaking of that, why on earth would you escape from your working room?!” Buttons asked angry as she dramatically shook Gusty. “Do you want to end up with your back full of blood?! Don´t you ever do that again, you hear me? Never!”
Due to how hard Buttons shook her, Gusty´s eyes moved in circles.
“In my defence, I´m going to say I did it to look for you.” she said after she shook her head.
“For me? Why would you be looking for me?”
“Because I wanted to ask you if you knew anypony who worked very closely to Grogar so they could tell me important things and not mess up. Fizzy told me you would know, since you talk easily to other unicorns.”
Buttons gave a tiny gasp in realization.
“Oooh… That´s why! Well, it´s a little late for that, but I´ll explain anyway. I do know many unicorns working in the castle, not all of them, however. I´m mostly in good terms with everypony but don´t think I´m best friends with everypony I talk to! The only one deserving of that title is Fizzy but coming back to the topic….” she put her hoof under her chin as she thought. “Oof, now it doesn´t come to my mind… Ah! I do know Glory.”
“Glory?”
Buttons nodded.
“If I´m honest with you, I don´t really know her but she´s the only pony that comes to my mind. She´s a very mannered and sweet unicorn but she barely talks to anypony and is always by herself. When she came to the castle, I tried to befriend her, but she always said a few polite words and left. And I don´t think it´s shyness. She doesn´t get nervous around ponies, even though she doesn´t know them. That´s the odd thing about her. If she´s comfortable around many unicorns, why is she always by herself? Sometimes I even think she´s hiding something.”
“Well, some ponies prefer solitude. I myself prefer to be alone.”
“But is it because you enjoy it or because you´re shy? Those are two different things.”
“I do enjoy it. But I´m also a little shy.”
“Oh, you don´t need to tell me. The first time I saw you seemed so nervous. You were looking around and your legs were shaking!”
Gusty´s ears dropped. Whenever she felt nervous, she knew what her body would do but she always hoped that they weren´t easily noticeable. However, after hearing that, she realized that she might have given the impression that she is hiding something to both Grogar and Bray.
“Does it really show?” she asked worried.
Button´s smile dropped when she realized that she might have not chosen the most adequate words to the situation.
“Oh, but that´s ok. I´m not judging you for that.” Buttons put her hoof under her chin.
Gusty smiled briefly. But it quickly vanished. She was going to need to do a better job hiding her emotions if she wanted to survive in Grogar´s castle. But it also left her thinking, do ponies notice her emotions before she does? And if that´s true, do they notice her winds? She widened her eyes horrified of the possibility. If Grogar or Bray discovered her, she would be directly executed. The thought of leaving Celestia and Luna motherless was something she couldn´t bear.
Seeing Gusty´s face of worry, Buttons bit her lip.
“Honey, are you alright?”
Button´s voice made Gusty come back to reality.
“Huh? Uh, eh yeah.”
“Your face and voice doesn´t make it seem like that. Are you ashamed that your shyness is showing? If it´s that, it helps to talk to a friend.” she said as she put her foreleg around Gusty.
Gusty´s body tensed up when she felt Button´s touch. Although she liked Buttons, she still didn´t reach that level of intimacy. She looked away, which made Buttons realized she was uncomfortable.
“Oh! Sorry. I suppose you don´t like ponies being touchy with you.” Buttons quickly got her foreleg away from Gusty. “But tell me is what I´m saying true?”
Gusty looked down before answering. It wasn´t shyness what ashamed her. It was inability to control her magic what made her feel stupid. But she wasn´t willing to tell Buttons about that. What if she got scared of her or didn´t trust her for the mission? No, it was better to keep it as a secret. However, there was also a possibility that Buttons´ words would help her to control her emotions better if she said yes. So, she nodded.
“First of all, it´s ok to be nervous around new ponies. I even get nervous! But you know what the trick is? Just doing it! You just go there and do your best. It might seem scary but trust me, results will be better that way than wasting your time listening to your thoughts.”
Gusty analysed Button´s words. She looked back to some moments where she felt afraid but her winds didn´t come out. Maybe they came out when she listened those thoughts but there were moments, no matter how scary, that demanded immediate action to survive. That would explain why she was able to contain herself when meeting Bray and Grogar. But the question was what she would do in moments that didn´t require immediate action. Those were definitely going to be harder. But maybe with Button´s advice, she would manage to survive.
“That´s… actually really helpful.” she said in realization. “I´ll take that to heart. Thank you, Buttons.”
“De rien.” Buttons winked at Gusty.
“One more thing….” Gusty rubbed her thoughts together. “When you first saw me, did you notice something…” she paused to think her next words correctly. “Cold moving your mane?”
Buttons raised her eyebrows, estranged by that question.
“Uh… What do you mean?”
“You know, something like… wind?”
Buttons blinked.
“No offense, but that is quite an odd question.”
“I know, but it´s important you tell me.”
“Why?”
“Because…” Gusty bit her lip and whimpered since she didn´t find an excuse other than the truth.
“If it doesn´t make you comfortable, you don´t have to tell me.” Buttons reassured her, as she noticed Gusty´s nervousness. “I was just curious as to why you would want to know that. I´ll tell you though. If you look on the window, you´ll see that it´s cloudy, like always.” she muttered the last sentence. “But if you open the window,” she looked from side to side to make sure no guards nor Bray were around. “You´ll see that it´s not windy. At the dinner room, which is where we have breakfast, the windows were closed, so there´s no way any wind would have entered. And even if they were open, I wouldn´t have felt any wind.”
Gusty closed her eyes in relief. But she also knew she couldn´t sing victory yet. Maybe there wasn´t enough time for the winds to form. Who knew what would have happened if Fizzy hadn´t come to her. But at least it gave her a small moment of optimism that she would be able to face what was in store for her at the castle.
“Anyways, I´m glad to see that you´re ok after such a stressing moment. And I hope my advice will be of help to you. Now if you excuse me, I must resume my duties before a guard discovers me.”
“Me too. I should continue looking for Bray. Do you know where he could be?”
“Anywhere!” Buttons replied after puffing. Just after she said that she noticed Bray poking his head from a corner. He noticed her looking at him, so quickly hid his head behind the corner.
“Such as that corner.” she pointed behind Gusty.
Gusty turned around and widened her eyes when she noticed two big ears.
“Sir?”
Bray widened his eyes.
“Darn it.” he whispered. “Ladies!” he exclaimed unenthusiastically as he walked to them. “I see you two were having a conversation, in the middle of work.”
“Oh yeah. Sorry.” Buttons cleared her throat. “See you at lunch and dinner.” she said to Gusty before rushing out.
“I see you already met the emperor.” Bray said to Gusty as they walked. “Unless you sneaked off.” he somewhat accused her.
“No sir. If you don´t believe me ask the emperor.”
“Oh, I will.” he smirked maliciously. “And how was the experience?”
“Weird, intimidating and scary.”
Bray chuckled.
“You are the one who interacts with him the most. How don´t you feel afraid?”
Bray stopped walking. This was the first time a creature, especially a pony, had asked him that question. Neither he had stopped thinking about that. But he didn´t want to show Gusty his surprise at that question.
“You get used to it. It´s always scary at first but then it becomes part of your day and it´s like a walk in the park. Besides unlike others,” he threw Gusty a hint. “I´m his most loyal servant and as long as I obey him, something very easy, nothing bad will happen to me.”
Although his face and voice looked and sounded confident, those words were somewhat off for Gusty. He was strangely proud of words that a pony who is afraid of another pony would say. Perhaps there was more on this donkey that met the eye. She raised her eyebrow.
Once she made sure everypony was sleeping, especially Fizzy, since she´s the one sleeping in top of their bunk bed. Making the least noise possible, she took the blanket off and put her hooves on the floor. She was going to walk but she noticed a guard walking near by, so she laid on the bed again, pretending to be asleep. Once he was gone, Gusty sat down on her bed and bit her hoof. How was she going to meet the messenger if there were guards everywhere?
Then, she noticed the window at the end of the room. She stared at it for some time. Then, she looked back at the guards. She couldn´t walk to the window through the space between the two lines of beds. But after looking down the bunk beds, she came up with an idea.
After she got out of bed, she bent and started crawling under the bunk beds.
“Sorry.” she apologized in whispers whenever she heard somepony moaning in their sleep.
Once she got to the window, she realized it was closed. She sighed frustrated and with her magic opened the windows, although she had some trouble to unlock them. Then came, the most difficult and dangerous part: jumping off the window.
Before doing so, she gulped and frowned. She walked back a few steps back to take a run-up. After giving a few breaths, she ran to the window and jumped. She whimpered as she grabbed the window´s ledge. She closed her eyes while whimpering, thinking the ground was far from her. However, after noticing that her legs weren´t hanging, she opened one, only to realize she had her hooves on the ground.
“Huh.”
Once she put all of her hooves on the ground, she observed her surroundings. The window of the pony castle workers led to an inner courtyard. Surprisingly it was empty. Or almost empty. Gusty noticed a guard sleeping, his head backed on the door frame.
“Geeze, no wonder how Majesty´s unicorns survived here for so long.” she muttered.
“Psst!”
Gusty´s right ear twitched. She turned around to see a unicorn stallion waving his hoof.
“Right here!”
Gusty gasped.
“There you are!” she said while running to him.
“Tch! Tch!” he stopped her. “Soft steps. We´re not alone.”
Gusty looked at the sleeping guard.
“Oh. Right. Sorry.”
Walking on tiphooves, Gusty approached the messenger. She stared at him for some time.
“I know you. I think you were the unicorn Clover was talking to when I first met Majesty.”
“Indeed I am. Danny Hooves. And your name was Gusty, right?”
Gusty nodded her head.
“So, how is it going?”
Gusty puffed.
“It´s very rough. They´re making my life impossible, I´m constantly working and I´m stared at all the time.”
“That´s normal. After all, that´s the guard´s job.”
“By Bray. And Grogar.”
Danny widened his eyes.
“I´m sorry, what?”
Gusty´s insecurities about forgetting details came back again but she remembered Button´s words and acted on them.
“That donkey is always on my back. He´s always asking me questions or throwing me hints. As for Grogar… I met him face to face today.”
Danny gasped.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think Grogar is suspicious of you too?”
Grogar´s image came to Gusty´s mind. His smirk, his calm attitude, his confidence, his eyes… She thought of his stare, which felt like knifes on her chest. She also remembered what he said before she entered the room.
“Yes. And not only me, he´s suspicious of Majesty too. He thinks that she might be infiltrating ponies in the castle to spy on him. I overheard him talking to his allies. He said if necessary, he and his allies will kill every unicorn.”
“Well, Majesty supposed that Grogar could be suspicious. But Grogar has never had a conversation with any of the spies. And if he´s starting to do that, that means he´s surer than ever. Thanks for telling me this.” he wrote her words down. “Anything else you would like to add?”
“Well… I heard that there are also pegasi and earth ponies revolting. In fact, there´s a city of pegasi in the sky named Cloudsdale which I think it´s sort of a refuge.”
“Um… Why are you talking to me about pegasi and earth ponies?”
Gusty widened her eyes in surprise.
“That´s not important information?”
“Information surrounding unicorns like us or Majesty, yes. But why would you care about pegasi and earth ponies?”
“I thought that maybe we could talk to them? They are revolting too, after all.”
“I see your point, but that idea is crazy. We unicorns don´t interact with pegasi and earth ponies, what do you think that would happen if they saw us in their territory? They would laugh at our faces and expel us with stones. It´s better not to talk to them, you understand?”
“I married a pegasus and that has never happened in my life.” she thought, estranged as to why Danny thought that would happen. “Ok, I guess.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“Ok. Did you meet one of us?”
“Yes, two unicorns.”
“What did they tell you?”
“About important information?”
Danny nodded.
“Uh… nothing.”
“What do you mean with nothing?” Danny said upset.
“Well, maybe we didn´t have the time.”
“That´s odd, because everytime this happens, they meet at dinner-”
Gusty widened her eyes.
“Wait. They meet at dinner?”
“Yes.”
“First day´s dinner?”
“Yes.”
Gusty took a few seconds efore answering.
“Uh oh.”
“What is it?”
“I..” she giggled nervously. “I actually didn´t go to dinner the first day.”
“What?!”
“I… I was too tired.”
“Ok. First of all, who goes to bed without dinner? And secondly are you telling me you spoke to the wrong ponies?”
“Well, just because I didn´t come to dinner doesn´t mean I spoke to the wrong ponies. Besides, Majesty said they would come to me.”
“That´s true, but I´m pretty sure that on the same day you would have told each other information. And you didn´t. You have to be very careful about who you talk to. Who knows? Grogar could also have his own spies. You could be one of his spies, I could be one of his spies. Majesty doesn´t trust anypony. Why do you think she doesn´t tell names?”
Gusty´s ears dropped.
“Am I fired?”
“Did you tell them about Majesty.”
“No.”
“Then, that´s ok, it´s just a little mistake. Just try not to talk to them anymore.”
“What? But why?”
“It´s dangerous. Both for you and for them. Imagine if you got discovered, not only would you be punished but also them for interacting with them. Would you want to happen?”
Although it hurt, Danny was right. She wouldn´t forgive herself if anything happened to Fizzy and Buttons. She knew them for a short time, but they were very kind to her. They wouldn´t deserve to pay for her mistakes.
“No.” she looked down.
“Then you know what to do.”
“But how will I know who´s by my side?”
“Ponies who work for Majesty don´t interact much with others. Did you see any of those?”
Gusty widened her eyes in realization. She saw one and she also knew her name thanks to Buttons.
“Yes. Yes, I have.”
“Good. Try to see if you can talk to them. Until then, see you next Tuesday.”
He was going to leave, but he stopped.
“Oh! I almost forgot.” he took two bags. “Here´s what Majesty promised for you: coins and enough food to survive for one week, in case Grogar´s isn´t enough. Just remember, try to eat it when nopony is looking at you and hide it and the money well!”
Gusty took the bags. She smiled. Although it was few, she could survive with Grogar´s food. But she finally had the food she wanted for her daughters.
“Thank you.” she said as she hugged the bags.
“Until next Tuesday!”
“Until next Tuesday.” Gusty sadly said.
She watched as Danny left. She was left with bittersweet feelings. She was happy to have food for Celestia and Luna, but it hurt her not being able to talk to Fizzy or Buttons anymore. She would have loved to have had a friendship with them.
“It seems I can´t have both.” she lamented.
Repeating the same tactic as before, Gusty entered the room again. Before getting into bed, she looked at Fizzy. She closed her eyes and looked down.
“I´m sorry. I´d love to talk to you more but I can´t. It´s for your safety. Hope you understand.” she whispered, although Fizzy was asleep.
Then, Gusty entered her bed and sighed sadly while looking at the ceiling. It took some time for her to fall asleep, but she did eventually.
What she didn´t realize is that just like her, Fizzy was awake. She had noticed Gusty entering and had heard her words. She looked down at Gusty when she was asleep.
“And that´s why I didn´t sleep well last night.” Fizzy told her friend Buttons as they had breakfast.
Buttons blinked with her eyebrow raised, trying to process what Fizzy just told her.
“You know this is just another dream of yours, right?”
“But this time I was awake! Or at least half asleep.”
“I´ve told you a thousand times, nopony in our room gets up in the middle of the night. In all of the years I´ve been here, this has never happened to me.”
“That´s because when you fall asleep you literally lose track of the world.”
“Isn´t that what sleeping is about?”
“Yeah, but the castle could be burning and you´d still be asleep! Once you fall asleep, nothing can wake you up. My sleep isn´t as deep as yours.”
“Besides, we got along with Gusty! And when you got along with a pony, that pony still hangs out with you. This is just your insecurity talking in your dreams.” she put her hoof on Buttons´ shoulder.
“I hope so. But it felt very real.”
“Don´t all dreams feel very real?”
“Yes. But this one felt realer than usual.” Fizzy put her hoof on her temple. “Do you think I´m getting crazier?”
“You´re not crazy nor you´ve never been crazy. Eccentric? Yes, but crazy? Never! You just doubt your likability. But don´t worry. Gusty will keep talking to us and she still likes you. You´ll see when she comes to sit with us. Talking about her, she´s a bit late isn´t she? I hope she has enough time to have breakfast.”
“Maybe she didn´t see us. Do you want me to look for her?”
Suddenly, Buttons spotted Gusty sitting alone on the background.
“Oh, never mind, there she is. Gusty! We´re here!” Buttons called her as she energetically shook her hoof.
Gusty´s ears perked up when she heard Buttons´ voice. She gasped scared and turned her head in the opposite direction.
“Don´t look at them. Don´t look at them.” she told herself.
Meanwhile, Fizzy and Buttons watched her reaction.
“Did she- Did she just ignore us?” Fizzy asked confused.
“No, she might have not heard us. Or maybe she did hear us, but she thinks it comes from that direction. Gusty! Behind you!”
“TIME´S UP! GET TO WORK!” Bray exclaimed.
Everypony stood up and left to carry on their respective duties.
“Well, we might have not been able to have breakfast with her but don´t worry, we might have better luck at lunch.” Buttons said to Fizzy as she took everypony´s plate.
“Or maybe we see her at work if Brays gives her duties that are near us.”
“Remember Fizzy, it´s just your mind.” she embraced Fizzy with her foreleg.
“It´s just my mind.” she repeated while she smiled at her friend.
But when she wasn´t looking, Fizzy looked at Gusty, who was behind her, with worry.
As Fizzy was kneading a dough in the kitchen, she noticed Gusty looking around the room, as if she was looking for something.
“It looks like she needs help.” she thought as she raised her eyebrow playfully, seeing the chance to talk to Gusty.
Noticing that they made eye contact, the two mares looked away and turned around. Although Fizzy wanted to talk to Gusty, she was also anxious that she scared her and thus didn´t want to be around her anymore. But at the same time, she also noticed that Gusty wasn´t feeling ok either, which gave Fizzy some hope that she still liked her.
“As Buttons said, it´s only my mind.” she reminded herself before jumping into action.
“Hey! How´s that dough going?” a unicorn asked her.
“Almost!”
She quickly finished kneading the dough and passed it to her.
“Hey, would you mind doing this one for me?”
“Why would I do that? It´s your job not mine.”
“I know. But I need to tell her something.” Fizzy pointed at Gusty.
“You´ll talk to her when you´re finished. And you still have a lot of work ahead.”
“So I guess it´s a no, right?”
The unicorn raised her eyebrow.
“Es un no.” she whispered. “Ok, got it. Sorry for disturbing you.”
When the unicorn wasn´t looking. Fizzy looked at Gusty.
“How am I going to talk to her?” she wondered.
She quickly noticed a broom near Gusty. Maybe Bray had ordered her to sweep, even though she was busy at chopping food at that moment. Then, she looked at the counter and noticed a jar full of flour. She approached it to her until it fell to the floor.
“Oops.” she said with fake worry as she covered her mouth.
Quickly, the other unicorns in the room turned around and saw the pieces of the jar and the flour on the floor. Naturally, every unicorn, except Gusty, got mad. Some groaned and others complained.
“Fizzy!”
“You clumsy idiot.”
“Watch what you´re doing!”
“Ok, who´s the one tasked with cleaning the floor?” a unicorn asked.
Nopony said a word. Instead, they looked at each other, asking and replying the same question with their eyes. Gusty already knew the answer but wanted to see if there was another unicorn who was assigned with the same task. Seeing the silence didn´t break, Gusty raised her foreleg while sighing quietly.
“I think it´s me.”
Gusty´s voice made Fizzy´s ears perk up. She smiled in victory. Gusty approached Fizzy´s spot and started sweeping the flour and the pieces, avoiding eye contact and communication with Fizzy at all costs. However, the other unicorn wasn´t going to make it easy.
“Oh dear, I´m so so sorry. Remember when I told you that my head´s always in the clouds and thus I was scolded all the time? Well, this is what I´m referring to. Hope you can forgive me for adding you work.”
Gusty widened her eyes. Fizzy´s sentence demanded an answer. Although Danny told her not to speak to any of them, she knew there would be times where inevitably she had to speak. And this one of those moments.
She made a tiny smile. Though short, these would be the moments she could talk to them, so she had to enjoy them.
Fizzy noticed Gusty´s smile, which made her relieved, as she still liked her. However, she didn´t continue speaking. She knew she was quiet but the day before Gusty followed their conversations. Why wasn´t she now?
“So…. How did you sleep? I would have asked you at breakfast, but it looks like you didn´t find us.”
Gusty´s smile dropped.
“Oh… Yeah, I… I actually prefer to eat alone.”
Fizzy raised her eyebrows.
“You do?”
“Yeah…”
“Then why did you come with us yesterday?”
Gusty started to sweat. She rushed the sweeping.
“Because I thought it would be rude to refuse.”
“I see. Well, you can eat alone if you want but when you finish come to talk with us.”
“I can´t either.”
Fizzy was starting to get a bit suspicious.
“But why?”
“Because… I eat slow and by the time I finished Bray would be calling us.” Gusty smiled nervously.
“Well, then I´ll eat fast and come to you.”
For Gusty´s luck, she finished sweeping before she could ask that question.
“Well, all´s clean! I´m afraid I can´t talk no more. Bye!” she said fast.
She rushed to the other counter and puffed relieved. Fizzy stared at Gusty.
“What is wrong with you mija?”
Buttons searched Gusty between all the ponies at the lunchroom from her seat but couldn´t spot her anywhere. However, she noticed Fizzy coming to her.
“So, did you see her?” she asked her friend as she sat down.
Fizzy didn´t answer by speaking. Her worried face told Buttons everything.
“Oh dear, what happened?”
“We talked.”
“And?”
“She smiled at first but then she started telling me that she preferred to be alone at lunch time.”
“Well, it´s normal. Yesterday she told me she was shy.”
“Yeah, but it seems that she doesn´t want us to be around her.”
“What did I tell you this morning?”
“That this was my insecurity. But this is different. I know that she likes to be around me. Our souls connected the first time we spoke!”
Buttons narrowed her eyes.
“I also liked Gusty and would love to meet her more, but… We´ve known her for a day. One day. You can´t say that about a unicorn that you´ve just met.”
“Of course I can! Only by feeling my soul connects with another I know a friendship is worth it! Why do you think I kept talking to you when we first met?”
Buttons was going to reply, but had no argument to refute Fizzy´s.
“Touché. I just don´t want you to consider best friend somepony you´ve known for a day.”
“No, but she has the potential to be one!”
“I know she does.” Buttons giggled in agreement.
“But at the same time, she avoids me. She finished our little conversation abruptly and didn´t talk to me afterwards.”
“Maybe she has a hard time opening up. But don´t worry, eventually she will.”
“But yesterday she was more open!”
“But that doesn´t take off the fact that she´s shy Fizzy.”
“You´re acting as if nothing´s wrong because you haven´t talked to her.”
Buttons widened her eyes and then narrowed them.
“Are you insinuating that I´m not taking this seriously enough?” she asked upset.
“No, I´m just saying that you´ll change your mind when you talk to her.” Fizzy crossed her forelegs.
“Fine, fine. I´ll talk to her and I´ll make you see you´re wrong.” Buttons slammed her hoof against the table.
“NO SLAMMING AT THE TABLE!” yelled Bray.
Buttons groaned while Fizzy held her laughter.
Buttons hummed a melody as she fluidly sewed every piece of cloth together or fixed shirts or trousers. She was about to finish her stitches when suddenly Bray burst the door open, making her wrinkle the cloth.
“But I´ve told you I´m not good at sewing…” Gusty shyly told Bray.
“And I´ve told you that I don´t care. If you have trouble, ask for some help and that´s it. Now if you excuse me, I must resume my duties.”
Gusty turned to the room, checking everypony who was on it. So far, she didn´t see the mare she was looking for but for her misfortune, she saw one that she knew.
“Ah Gusty! Glad to see you here! Come sit next to me!”
Gusty tried to find another seat but all of them were occupied. So, she had no choice but to sit next to her.
“How are you doing? I haven´t seen you during the whole day!”
“Fine, I´m fine.” she said fast, avoiding eye contact with her.
“Good. Oh! By the way, Fizzy told me that you prefer to be alone to eat and I´ll tell you that´s ok. You don´t have to sit with us if you want to.”
“Aha.” Gusty replied as she started to sew.
After these few words with Gusty, Buttons understood what Fizzy meant. Yes, she was shy the day before, but today she was being shyer, when it should be the contrary or at least the same level of shyness. Plus, right now she was giving quick answers to end conversations whereas yesterday she continued them. And worst of all, she didn´t even look at her.
“Maybe she´s focused.” she tried to reason before jumping to that conclusion.
She came back to her wrinkled shirt. She sighed frustrated. It was going perfectly until Bray came in. She threw it to a pile of used cloths.
“Could you pass me some white cloth, please?”
Gusty looked around to find the white shirts.
“Sure.” she replied while giving her the cloth.
“Thank you. And some thread?”
“There you have it.”
“Merci, you´re being so helpful.”
Gusty smiled briefly while looking at her, enjoying Button´s company without having to speak much to her. At least she could be around Buttons or Fizzy when her duties were the same as theirs.
Slowly, she finished sewing a shirt. But she realized that she ran out of thread. And the only way to get more was by asking Buttons. Although she preferred only to speak when they spoke to her, this time was going to have to be different.
“Um… Buttons could you pass-”
She couldn´t finish her sentence as she was struck in awe seeing Buttons sewing. In the time she sewed a shirt, Buttons had sewn four or five! She was incredibly fast at sewing the pieces together. What´s more, the stitches were flawless.
Buttons noticed Gusty staring at her.
“You want something, chérie?”
Gusty quickly turned her head.
“Uh no. No.” she replied before beginning a new shirt.
Gusty groaned whenever the cloth stretched. And it was many times. As a result, Buttons noticed Gusty struggling. Before talking to her, she observed how she sew in order to know what the problem was.
“Looks like your cloth is stretching a lot, doesn´t it? And that´s because you have few pins. Here take some.” she passed her a box of pins.
Gusty stared at the box.
“Oh! Uh…Thanks.” she said as she took the box.
“Put all the pins you can. It makes a difference. Trust me.”
“Oh. Ok.”
Gusty put many pins together wherever she could. Once she couldn´t put more, she continued sewing.
“Oh, it´s much easier this way!”
“See? I told you. I see you have some difficulties sewing. I could show you some tricks if you want to.”
“Really?” Gusty asked excited.
“Yes of course! Just tell me when you´d like to begin.”
Gusty was so happy. If she improved, she would be able to do many gifts to Celestia and Luna and fix her mother´s dress. However, she remembered that she was not supposed to do that for Buttons´ security. So, her excitement dropped.
“I´m afraid that would be never.”
“Never? But you seemed so excited about it.”
“It can´t be, ok?” Gusty said abruptly and continued with her work.
Buttons stared at Gusty for some time before resuming with hers.
As always, Fizzy and Buttons sat next to each other for dinner.
“You talked to her?” Fizzy asked.
Buttons nodded.
“And?”
“Something´s off.”
“HA! I told you, didn´t I?”
“She did exactly the same thing you told me. But you know what´s the weirdest thing? The weirdest thing is-”
“That she seems she doesn´t want to do it.” Fizzy ended Buttons´ sentence.
“Right out of my tongue! Did she also smile and seemed comfortable around you but then suddenly brushed you off?”
“Yup.”
“But why would she do that?”
Fizzy and Buttons took some time to think before answering. Then, Fizzy came up with a possible reason.
“I think I know why!”
Buttons widened her eyes.
“Spill it out!”
“This has to do with what I told you at night.”
Buttons rolled her eyes.
“I already told you that was a dream.”
“Do you remember what I heard?”
Buttons sighed frustrated.
“`I´m sorry. I´d love to talk to you more but I can´t. It´s for your safety. Hope you understand´.”
But after she said those words, Buttons realized what Fizzy meant.
“Ok, maybe it wasn´t a dream. But safety from what?”
“Maybe she´s carrying some burden from the past and she doesn´t want to tell us because she thinks it might be a toll on us and thus that´s why she said it was for our safety, referring to it as mental safety?” Fizzy suggested.
Buttons blinked.
“That´s actually a pretty good explanation. But what could that burden be?”
“Who cares? Whatever that is, we need to help her see that she´s worthy of having friends!” Fizzy slammed her fist against her hoof.
“But… what if she did something really bad in the past? Like,” Buttons looked around her before continuing. “murdering an unicorn?”
“Does Gusty strike you as the kind of unicorn that would do that?” Fizzy raised her eyebrow.
Buttons looked up while she thought her answer.
“Yeah, it´s ridiculous, what am I talking about?” Buttons said in agreement. “Ok fine. I´m in.”
“Wepa!” Fizzy exclaimed excited.
“But please, tell me whatever you have in your mind isn´t one of those ridiculous, non-sense schemes with crazy ideas you always have in your mind. Because if you want this to work, it´s going to have be better than that.”
Fizzy looked from side to side, avoiding eye contact with Buttons, who massaged her forehead while sighing frustrated. Then, Fizzy smiled nervously.
“Of course, it is. Magnifique.” Buttons muttered under her breath.
Fizzy shrugged.
“We are friends. You should know that at this point.”
“Ok but whatever it is, just tell me, so it works. What is it that you plan to do?”
It was night. Everypony, including Fizzy, was asleep. But the unicorn awakened when she heard a noise. She quickly shut her eyes as if she was asleep, though she could still hear somepony´s steps. She opened them when she heard the rattle of sheets. She looked down and noticed Gusty getting into bed. Once she made sure she was asleep, she hung her head upside down. She saw that Gusty was smiling, which made Fizzy smile warmly at her.
“At least the dream ends happily this time.” she whispered to herself before going back to sleep.
As Gusty was walking the corridor as everypony else, she noticed Glory walking in front of her. Her ears perked up and frowned in determination. After she took in a few breaths, she walked to her. What she didn´t know, was that her plans were about to complicate for some time. And it wasn´t going to be due to Bray or Grogar.
Through the many ponies behind Gusty, there was Fizzy jumping constantly as she walked.
“Do you see her?” Buttons asked her.
Fizzy groaned.
“I don´t!”
“Well, maybe it´s time to look behind.”
“No, wait. I see her!” Fizzy exclaimed enthusiastically.
“Ok, that means we can start.”
The two mares stopped walking.
“Remember, fall gently.”
“Gently, got it.”
But just when Fizzy was going to let herself fall, she stepped on her skirt and fell harder than she originally wanted. Her thump was so loud that even Gusty heard it.
“What the.” she thought aloud while turning around.
She gasped when she saw Buttons still, which meant that Fizzy was the one to have fallen. She gasped.
“Oh no, she´s hurt!” she exclaimed while running to them.
Meanwhile, Fizzy was groaning in pain.
“Ooouch!” she exclaimed softly as she held her foreleg.
“Gently, I told you gently!” Buttons scolded her.
“I tried but my skirt had other plans.” Fizzy replicated in pain.
“Never mind.” Buttons massaged her forehead. “Can you get up?”
“I think so.”
When she put her foot down, however, she changed her mind.
“Ow, ow, ow!” she whimpered. Then, she fell on her stomach. “Ok, I actually I can´t.”
“I´ll help you, then.”
Buttons bent her legs so Fizzy could put her foreleg on her back.
“On the count of three.”
“Un. Deux. Trois!” Fizzy exclaimed.
The two mares got up at the same time.
“Ha! I see that being around me has influenced you somehow.” Buttons raised her eyebrow playfully as she smirked.
“The same goes for you. Otherwise, you wouldn´t be doing this, am I right.” Fizzy smirked back.
“Sí.”
Fizzy laughed.
“So… What do we do?”
“We´ll go to see the doctor, obviously.”
“Of course, but you know what that involves, right?”
The two mares clenched their teeth.
“Yeah… But we must do it if you want to get better.”
“He´ll send me to the dungeon, until I get better, won´t he?”
“Not if I can help. But it´s either that or working until it gets worse. Stay here, I´ll go and look for him.”
“Or you could stay with her and I could you bring you something until he comes here looking for you.” Another voice said.
Both Buttons and Fizzy widened their eyes. They turned around and saw Gusty standing in front of them. Buttons was left with her mouth wide open. Buttons, on the other hoof, didn´t realize much what was happening.
“Ah, hi Gusty.” Fizzy said at first. But after she realized that Gusty was standing in front of them, she left out a huge gasp.
“Gusty! I´m so happy to see you!”
“You two saw me yesterday.” Gusty raised an eyebrow confused.
“Well, I also see Buttons every day, and I´m always happy to see her. And so does she, right Buttons?”
She hugged Buttons, snapping her out of her shock.
“Oh! Ah, yes of course.” she smiled nervously.
Gusty smiled warmly at them. Though small, Fizzy and Buttons were able to notice it.
“I´ll bring you something cold for your leg.”
“Wait.” Buttons stopped her. “Do you know where to get something cold?”
“On the kitchen.”
Buttons widened her eyes surprised and looked at Fizzy, who was smiling slyly.
“I told you she´d say that.” she whispered.
“What did you say?” Gusty asked.
“Nothing!” Fizzy looked from side to side.
Gusty blinked.
“I´d better be going. Otherwise, your foreleg might get worse.”
“No, no. Don´t go to the kitchen. There´s a better place where you can get that. Let us accompany you. You don´t want to get in trouble with Bray, do you?”
When Buttons mentioned Bray and trouble, Gusty realized the mistake she had done. Instead of trying to reach Glory, she got distracted and did exactly the opposite of what she was told. Not lonely that, Bray must have been looking for her like crazy, which could bring suspicion if he found her with them.
“You´re right. I´ll better go and look for him.” she said while she walked backwards smiling in agony.
“No need to! He´ll eventually come here for you after having searched the whole castle since he´s always after you!” Fizzy said excited.
“No, he can´t find us together!” Gusty exclaimed horrified.
She covered her mouth. Buttons and Fizzy stared at her estranged and blinked.
“Why can´t he?” Buttons raised her eyebrow.
“Because… he might think that I could have stopped you from working and thus you might get in trouble because of me!” Gusty said as she started to sweat.
“You can always explain that you were helping us.”
“Yeah, but as Fizzy said, Bray´s always after me and I wouldn´t want you to feel as overwhelmed as I feel when he does that.” she giggled nervously.
“Well, it´s a little too late for that, isn´t it?” Bray said behind Gusty.
Slowly, Gusty turned her head backwards.
“Gah!” she jumped back when she saw Bray. “Uh… Hi sir!”
“I see that you somewhat got distracted with your friends. I hope that your conversation was fruitful.”
“Oh no sir. We weren´t talking.” Buttons explained. “My friend Fizzy fell and hurt her leg so she was trying to help us.”
Bray raised his eyebrow suspicious and rolled his eyes.
“Stop exaggerating, it can´t be that bad. Get to work!” he ordered Fizzy.
Buttons looked at Fizzy, wondering if she needed help.
“Don´t worry, I think I can walk on my own.” Fizzy reassured Buttons.
Buttons nodded and let go of her friend. She walked without putting the leg she hurt on the ground.
“With all your hooves.” Bray specified.
The three unicorns widened their eyes.
“But if I do, my leg will get worse.”
“Well, I want to see if you´re telling me the truth. Don´t worry, you won´t have to walk with your four hooves all the time, just give me a few steps.”
Fizzy looked at Buttons, who was also unsure of what to do. Gusty frowned at Bray.
“Well, if she´s walking like that, it´s for something. What more prove do you need to have?” she said firmly without thinking.
Buttons and Fizzy widened their eyes. Bray was also surprised by her sudden snap.
“I know I´m new, and for that Grogar distrusts me which is why you´re always on my back, but Fizzy and Buttons have been more time here so why are you two suspicious of them? Besides, why would Fizzy all of the sudden lie to you about her leg to free herself from working, huh? I may know her for few time but I know she´s not the kind of pony who does that. You can be after me all you want but don´t you dare distrust my friends!” she stomped her hoof.
Fizzy and Buttons mouth hung wide open. But they got the answer they wanted. She considered them her friends. But if that was true, why was she avoiding them?
Meanwhile, Bray was processing what Gusty just said. Normally, any unicorn would be reclaiming their innocence but Gusty directly accepted the blame.
“So you´re hiding something…” he smiled maliciously.
Gusty´s ears dropped. She accidentally gave herself away. All because she let her feelings get the best of her.
“Wh- What do you mean?” she asked.
“You know that we distrust you, and for a good reason.”
“I I I assumed that because you´re always specifically on my back.”
“I´m always on anypony´s back when they first arrive here.”
“Well you weren´t after my back when I first arrived. And the same goes for Buttons.” Fizzy naively said.
Bray widened his eyes. Yes, he had Gusty on his hooves but at the same time he made another mistake. Grogar told him if the situation of finding her out arised, he would have to confront her when they were alone. Nopony could know that the empire had a crisis. And he accidentally left it out.
“Shut up, will you?”
Gusty remembered that something similar happened when she first met Bray. It looked like Grogar wanted to hide Majesty´s rebellion from the public knowledge. And from what she heard at Grogar´s reunion, not only were unicorns revolting, but pegasi and earth ponies. Which made her wonder, what would happen if everypony knew what was happening?
Her thoughts were interrupted when Bray grabbed her foreleg.
“You know what? I´m starting to get tired of your rebellious attitude. I might be used to impertinent ponies but you´re too much. I´m locking you in a dungeon until the emperor tells us what to do with you.”
Buttons and Fizzy gasped. Gusty stared at him in shock. Whatever Grogar would have in mind for her, wasn´t going to be pretty. However, there was a chance that she would only get hurt and not executed, since Bray had also messed up as bad as her, which could mean that he would get the same punishment as her if he told him everything.
“F- For what?” she asked him in order to know if her instincts were right.
Bray stopped walking. With only that gesture, Gusty confirmed she was right. He noticed that Buttons and Fizzy were expecting an answer as well.
“For your unruly behaviour of course!”
Words that seemed terrigying to Buttons and Fizzy were of relief to Gusty. Buttons ran to Bray.
“Wait, wait. She was just explaining what happened.”
“That counts as unruly behaviour! She needs to learn a lesson. Unless you want to join the party.”
“Don´t worry. I´ll be fine.” Gusty smiled briefly at Buttons. “I am the one who messed up, not you.”
Buttons stared back at Fizzy, who was also worried about Gusty.
“You two get back to work!” Bray yelled at them.
“What about my leg?” asked Fizzy.
“Then take her to the room and nurse her. Call somepony if necessary, I don´t care, just go away.” he walked to them. “If you say a word about what happened, I´ll make sure that leg won´t be the only one broken. Understood?” he threatened Fizzy.
The unicorn nodded.
“And the same goes for you.” he said to Buttons. “Be quiet or you´ll suffer the consequences.”
“Yes sir.” she whispered.
“Good! Now go away!” he yelled before taking Gusty away.
She smiled at the two unicorns to reassure them that it was ok. The two mares stared as they walked away.
“What was that?” Fizzy asked.
“I… I´m not sure, if I´m honest.” Buttons replied. “But one thing´s for sure, this is your skirt´s fault.”
“Well, if I hadn´t tripped over my skirt I wouldn´t have got her attention. She would have noticed I was faking it.”
“You´re the one who was a performer before you came here. Surely you could have performed it in a way that it was believable.” Buttons said somewhat annoyed. “Besides, wasn´t this your idea?”
“A musician performer, not an actress. There´s a difference between the two. And yes, this was my idea. But honestly, I didn´t think it would work. And it did somehow. Although it would have been great if Gusty didn´t end up flogged.”
“Well, maybe he gives her another punishment. But yeah, I agree with you.”
“But looking on the bright side, we got a confirmation that she considers us friends!”
“And not only that… We might have got a reason why she avoids us.”
“What do you mean?”
"Didn´t you hear Bray when he was talking to Gusty? Or how he always has his eyes at her specifically? He´s never done that before.”
“You mean that there´s something he´s occulting everypony and Gusty might be involved on that and thus avoids us so we don´t get hurt if she gets caught?”
Buttons widened her eyes.
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Finding a perfect explanation for everything.”
Fizzy shrugged.
“I just suppose.”
“Well, in whatever she´s involved, I hope she doesn´t get caught.” Buttons said worried.
Gusty waited anxiously for something to happen on the dungeon Bray locked her in. She knew she wasn´t going to die but she feared that Bray was going to involve Buttons and Fizzy in the mess she was responsible of. Apart from fear, she was feeling guilt. She buried her face on her legs as she hugged her knees.
Fortunately, the troggle that was assigned to watch over her was Drog. Of all the troggles, he was the one who had the most sympathy for ponies. He didn´t like how Grogar enslaved or tortured them. He didn´t even like working for him! But he also knew that his kind was better under his command, which was one of the reasons why he didn´t speak up, aside of the fact that he was afraid of him. Nevertheless, he was always willing to help ponies in all the ways he could.
He approached the dungeon.
“Psst. Hey!” he called her.
Gusty´s ears perked up. She unburied her head and when she saw Drog, she looked away.
“It´s ok. I´m not gonna hurt you.”
“No, but you´re going to make fun of me. Like all troggles do.”
“I wasn´t planning to.” he replied, a little hurt by her response but understanding as well. “I just wanted to tell you that if you´re feeling lonely, I´m here available to talk. And don´t worry, I won´t make fun of you. Not all of us are mean.”
“Wish I could believe you.”
Drog took some seconds to think how he could prove Gusty his point.
“What you did for those two unicorns was very brave. I wish I had that courage.”
Gusty stared at the troggle. That comment wasn´t filled with irony, it was just pure and genuine admiration. He smiled at her. She raised her eyebrow, curious about this troggle.
Suddenly, they heard the doors to the dungeons opening. The only thing Gusty could hear were hoof steps but she quickly knew who was coming, as after Drog froze in fear, lights appeared.
“My emperor.” Drog bowed.
Gusty´s ears dropped when she saw Grogar right in front of her. A chill ran through her spine when he eyed her.
“Leave us alone.” Grogar ordered Drog.
The troggle nodded and left, but not without taking a quick glance of Gusty, wishing her good luck quietly. At the same time, Gusty was begging him not to go with her eyes.
“Come closer mare.” he ordered, forcing Gusty to look at him.
Gusty nodded and slowly, she walked to the dungeon´s bars.
“Sit down, you and I will be talking for some time.” Grogar sat down.
Gusty did as told.
“So, I see you got in trouble, huh?”
Gusty nodded.
“I guess Bray told you everything.”
“Indeed. He always tells me everything. Unless… He left something out.”
Gusty widened her eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“Was defending those two slaves the real reason why he locked you here? Because normally he doesn´t lock ponies just because they made him mad. So, tell me: did he accuse you of being a spy in front of them?”
Gusty knew it was a trick question. He thinks that she was angry with Bray and thus leading her to put him in evidence but also putting herself in evidence in the meantime. She kept quiet.
“If you tell me the truth, I might lessen your punishment.”
That was also a lie. Deep down, Gusty had already assumed Grogar knew she was working for Majesty. He was just waiting for her to reveal it herself.
“No.” she replied.
Grogar raised his eyebrow.
“No?” he asked calm yet Gusty could notice some anger was building inside him, which scared her. “Are you sure?”
Gusty shook her head.
“I just get him on his nerves. It´s just I always make remarks telling him to be more understanding. But the last straw for him was telling him not to make a unicorn who just hurt her leg walk.”
“Hm. I see.”
“You were planning on punishing him if that was the case, right?”
“I do everything in order to keep my throne. Always remember that.”
“Have you ever punished him?”
“No, but he has seen my anger directed at him. And you don´t want to see me angry, slave.” he threatened her.
Gusty walked a backwards a bit. She had a very rocky relationship with him, but she felt bad for him. His so beloved master was willing to do anything, which could include killing him.
“I understand why you do that. But Bray is your most loyal subject. I might not like him much but I know he takes everything seriously and thus wouldn´t betray you.”
Grogar chuckled.
“You´re too naïve, you know that? Defending those slaves was stupid and impulsive. Not to mention that makes you weak.”
“Weak. Why?” she asked genuinely curious.
“Because you felt for them, mare. And let me tell you, feelings are a sign of weakness.”
“Well… Actually, I don´t see it like that. If you had achieved your empire, it must have been because you were pushed by something. Call it motivation, call it desire, but those are feelings.”
Grogar raised his eyebrow.
“You´re right. But I´m talking about feelings for others.”
“Those feelings are love, my emperor.”
“I don´t know why that word exists.”
“You don´t believe in love?”
“Oh, I do. But I don´t think it´s something beautiful or fuzzy like you slaves describe it.” Grogar said the word ponies with disdain. “Love is a trap. Be careful with love and feelings mare, as it´s something dangerous that will only bring you pain.”
“Even loving a child?”
Grogar´s ears perked up.
“I mean I would understand why you would have difficulty trusting adults. But children? They won´t harm you.”
“Until they grow up.”
“Not if you love them.”
“Loving a child is the purest expression of weakness.”
“For me it isn´t. You think that because you haven´t any but I know you´re wrong because that´s basically what keeps me ahead.”
“You have foals?”
“Two fillies.”
“And their father?”
Gusty looked at her necklace.
“Dead.”
“What killed him?”
“To this day I don´t know the answer.” she lamented. “All I know is that no matter how hard things are, my love for my girls will make me go through the hardest challenge.”
“No. That will be your downfall.”
“We´ll see.” Gusty said in a challenging tone.
The two of them stared at each other, trying to tell each other that they were stronger than the other.
“You know what slave? I enjoy our conversations, but I can also make your life impossible.” his tone turned more serious. “One little misstep,” he slammed his hooves on the bars, scaring Gusty and making her whimper. “and you´ll see what I´m capable of. And we don´t want that, do we?”
“No sir.”
“Good. Our conversation is over but your punishment isn´t. You´ll stay in this dungeon three days with food and water once a day. And if you complain, I´ll make your back bleed.”
“I wasn´t going to complain, my emperor.”
“Glad you made the smart decision.” he said before walking away but stopped when he realized he still wanted to ask her something. “One more thing. What´s your name mare?”
“Gusty.”
Grogar widened his eyes.
“Gusty. A curious name. I won´t forget it.” he said before leaving while giving Gusty a suspicious look.
“Tia! Tia!” Luna exclaimed as she jumped to her bed and shook her.
Celestia groaned.
“Luluuu. It´s the middle of the night!” she said upset as she massaged her eyes. “What do you want?”
“It´s mama! She´s come to visit!”
Celestia incorporated quickly.
“What?!”
“Look!” Luna pointed at the window.
The two fillies crawled to the window. At first, Celestia found difficult seeing anything that wasn´t the sky. However, she spotted a soft yellow light. When it was closer, she discovered where that light came from. It was Gusty! Celestia´s eyes illuminated as she gasped excitedly.
“MAMA!” she yelled on top of her lungs.
Luna put her hoof on her mouth and shushed her.
“Quiet! You don´t want to wake the old hag up, do you?”
Celestia shook her head. Slowly, and making the least noise possible, they managed to get out of the house without awaking Ms Prickly Crops.
Once they were outside, the fillies ran to their mother while calling her.
“Mama!”
Gusty widened her eyes when she heard them.
“Tia! Lulu!” she ran to them.
“Mama!” the two fillies exclaimed in unison as they hugged their mother.
Gusty hugged them as well, kissing the top of their heads.
“Oh!” Luna exclaimed. She joined her hooves together. “Tashi delek.”
“Tashi Delek!” Celestia repeated and joined her hooves.
Gusty giggled.
“Tashi Delek.”
They hugged her tightly.
“We missed you so much!” Celestia said as she and Luna pressed their heads against Gusty´s body.
“Me too baby. Oh, I´m so happy to see you two. Is everything alright?”
Celestia nodded her head.
“Ms Prickly Crops is grumpy, like always and we had twice as work, but so far, we´re good!” Celestia nodded her head energetically. “But now we´re better, since you´re here by our side!” Celestia hugged her tightly. “We missed you so much.”
“But she did say something very mean.” Luna´s cheerful tone came into a fearful one.
“What did she tell you?” Gusty asked somewhat worried.
“She said that she would sell us into slavery.”
Gusty blinked. Then, she sighed and put her hoof on her forehead.
“Ok, that´s because she didn´t tell you the whole story.” Celestia intervened. “The thing is that we had been working for a very long time, which exhausted Luna and since we still had a lot of work ahead, I decided to make it look like we were playing a game and Lulu got a little carried away and she accidentally broke a container. That´s when Ms Prickly Crops came in and said `Why you little brats!” Celestia put her hooves on her hips, mocking Ms Prickly Crops´ voice. “`One day, I´m selling you as slaves so I don´t have to deal with you anymore! ´ And Luna took it seriously. I repeatedly told her that she said it because she´s angry but she doesn´t believe me.”
“This mare.” Gusty massaged her forehead. “She doesn´t know what tact is, does she?”
“It´s my fault if she does that.” Luna said sadly.
“No, you silly. It´s not!” Celestia said somewhat angry. “I told you a thousand times she´s not doing that! Otherwise, mama won´t give her money anymore.”
Gusty laughed.
“Believe your sister.” she reassured Luna. “Ms Prickly Crops won´t be sending you anywhere. If she still wants to keep me, she knows she has to take care of you and she can´t afford doing you that. Besides, I wouldn´t let that happen.”
“But you won´t be here to avoid that.”
Seeing her mother quiet, Celestia worried.
“You ok mom?”
Gusty shook her head.
“Oh! Yes I am, Tia. Don´t worry about that, Luna. She won´t sell you as slaves. She might not be the sweetest mare but at least she cares about you at some level.”
“See? That´s exactly what I told you.” Celestia told Luna.
“If you say so.” Luna smiled at Gusty.
“Oh come here you two.” Gusty hugged them.
Celestia and Luna giggled.
“Oh! I almost forgot. Look what I bring….” she took two small bags from her bag. “Tadaaaa!”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other confused and then gazed at their mother.
“Go on! Open them!”
Celestia and Luna picked the bags and did as told. They gasped.
“Did he really give you this?” Luna asked her.
Gusty nodded.
“Well, for being a mean emperor, he sure does pay well.” Celestia commented.
“And gives good food.” Luna added.
“If you do as he says, he pays well.” Gusty giggled nervously.
“Talking about him, did you meet him?”
Gusty blinked.
“Yes.”
The two fillies gasped.
“What was it like?”
“Very scary. But I know that as long as obey him, he won´t do anything to me. Or to you.” she stroked their manes.
“And even if he did, we´ll teach him a lesson!” Celestia said confidently.
Gusty smiled sadly.
“Listen, I´d love to talk more but I have to go back.”
Celestia´s and Luna´s smiles dropped.
“Oh… Right.” Celestia said disappointed.
“But I´ll see you next Wednesday.”
“We´ll sure look forward to it.”
“You know what? Tonight, of all the unicorns, I´ll have the happiest dream. You know what it will be about?”
The fillies shook their heads.
“Our reunion.”
The fillies´ hearts filled with warmth.
“Mama…” Celestia said before hugging her mom.
That was the moment Celestia woke up every night since they last saw their mother. Despite it was her favourite dream, why did the dream have to end there? Why couldn´t the ending be her mother staying with them? Then, she realized something.
“Maybe maybe I can´t have that ending but I can change it somehow.” she said while getting up.
Though it was late at night, Luna wasn´t sleeping. Instead, she watched how the crescent moon and the stars shone. Many ponies associated the night with nothing good, a time of darkness where anything could happen to you, from thieves to being attacked. Luna, however, didn´t see it that way. Yes, it was full of mystery, but that´s what made it great in her eyes. Just because what was around in the night was unknown, it didn´t mean it had to be bad. For her it was a time of calmness, a time to reflect on her thoughts, something she didn´t have time for during the day. Plus, it brought her good memories.
“Dad, which constellation was that?” a voice sounded in her mind.
Luna closed her eyes. She envisioned a very young dark blue filly with a dark blue pegasus stallion watching the stars in a field.
“That one,” the pegasus pointed with his wing. “is the Ursa Minor.”
“And that one?”
“Ursa Mayor. Did you know that those are the names of two gigantic bears made of stars?”
Luna gasped in awe.
“Really? Where can I find them?”
“In caves sweetie. But don´t go to one! They don´t like being disturbed. It would be really disrespectful if you did that.”
“Oh.” Luna said somewhat disappointed.
“But who knows? Maybe you see one someday.” the pegasus nudged Luna.
“I hope so.” she laughed. “What about those stars?”
The pegasus chuckled.
“Phoenix.”
“Phoenix? Wait! Isn´t that the name of the bird mom and Tia like?”
The pegasus nodded.
“It is indeed. Knowing that allowed me to make her the greatest gift. As you know, we were very poor and none of us had much to offer. But, one day, I saw a phoenix bird in the sky. The first word that came to my mind when I saw it was the exact same word your mother used to describe it: gorgeous. While admiring its beauty, I saw a feather fall.”
“And that´s when you did the phoenix feather necklace!”
“Yes.” the pegasus laughed.
“Will you do one to Tia?”
“If I´m as lucky, I will. Would you help me?”
“On one condition. If we do it at night.”
The pegasus laughed.
“They didn´t call me Night Eye just because of this.” he said with a mischievous smile as he pointed the black birthmark around his eye. “Don´t tell your mom, though.”
Father and daughter laughed.
“Well… The night is too beautiful to spend it sleeping.”
“I know. Unfortunately, you´re still a filly so….” Night Eye clapped his hooves. “it´s time to go to bed.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
“But I still have so many questions!”
Night Eye shrugged.
“I´m sorry but if we´re more time awake, your mom will discover that I´m the one behind your sleepiness in the morning.”
“Just answer me one more. Pleeease?”
Night Eye rolled his eyes playfully.
“Fine. But then you´ll go to bed. And don´t spend time watching the stars once you´re in bed, you promise.” Night Eye flexed one feather of his wing.
“Promised.”
“What is that you want to know?”
“What is it like flying?”
Night Eye looked at his wings. Then, he smirked.
“Wanna find out?”
Luna gasped. She nodded her head energetically.
“Hold still.” he ordered her as he held her to his chest.
Luna hugged his neck. After he opened his wings and shook them. They were not in the ground anymore. Luna panicked, as she looked down. She whimpered and closed her eyes, holding tighter to her father´s neck. Night Eye noticed that and looked at her with worry. After looking at the sky, he knew how to calm her.
“Look Luna! We´re closer to the stars.”
Luna opened her eyes and watched at the stars. She gasped in awe and smiled.
“How about we reach them?”
“Aha.”
Night Eye flew higher. With his help, Luna extended her foreleg to touch some of the stars. Both ponies laughed in joy. Then, Night Eye came back to the ground.
“Are you satisfied now?”
Luna yawned.
“Yes.”
“You seem sleepy. I think now´s the time, isn´t it?”
“I love you daddy.” Luna said before falling asleep.
“I love you too.” Night Eye said before kissing her forehead.
Luna opened her eyes. Then, she watched the stars melancholically. Those days. Those days were easier, despite the hardships of dealing with other unicorns´ opinions of having a family member of different kind and struggling to survive under Grogar´s rule. At least the whole family had a strong bond that allowed them to make it to the end of the day. But now, it was worse. Her father couldn´t watch the stars with her anymore, neither her mother could be by their side. She loved Celestia and was grateful for being with her, but she desperately missed the affection of her mother. However, she didn´t want to tell Celestia, as she felt that she would make her feel like she wasn´t doing a good job as a big sister. Right now, the stars and the night were her only comfort.
“I wish both of you were here.” she lamented before shedding some tears.
“Lulu?” Celestia asked.
Luna quickly dried her tears before turning to her sister.
“Tia! I thought you were asleep.”
“I couldn´t.”
“Why?”
“Because I was thinking about mama.”
Luna sighed sadly.
“I miss her Tia.”
“I know. But we can still see her! You saw that some days ago she visited to give us food and money!” Celestia said cheerfully as she sat on her bed. “She still loves us.” she put her foreleg around her.
“But I still miss her.”
Celestia sighed.
“I know it isn´t easy. But we need to be optimistic if we want to carry on. That´s what mom would like.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don´t seem to be affected by mom being away.”
Celestia scoffed.
“Excuse me?” she asked upset. “Of course, I´m affected by mom being away! Why wouldn´t I?”
“Then why don´t you show it?” Luna asked frustrated. “You´re always having a smile on your face and whenever I mention mama you always brushed the subject off so quickly!”
“Well, what do you want me to do? I´m the big sister and as such I have to look after you, and that includes having you happy! How will I do that if I´m not happy myself?!”
“But I cannot be happy now.”
“You have to. Otherwise, I won´t be a good sister.”
Luna´s ears perked up.
“Is that why you´re always like that? Because otherwise you think you´re not a good sister?”
Celestia widened her eyes.
“No. Why would you think that?” she smiled nervously as she looked from side to side.
“You´re lying! If a pony avoids looking at somepony it´s because they´re nervous about something.”
Celestia was going to speak but she didn´t say anything, as she did not know what to say.
“So?” Luna raised her eyebrow. “Am I right?”
Celestia sighed defeated.
“Fine. You´re right.”
“But why would you think that?”
“I told you because you´re not happy. And as your big sister, I must make sure you´re always happy. And I´m failing!”
“Ok. Firstly, I´m not sad because of you. It´s mom being away what makes me sad. And yes, I might get upset at you being happy all the time, but after what you told me it makes sense why you do that. But you don´t have to be happy all the time? You also have the right to be sad!. And it´s ok if you are in front of me. You know I like helping you. So, why don´t you tell me what you really feel?”
Although Luna was open to listen to her, Celestia still had her doubts.
“You sure it´s ok? That I´m not leaving big sister responsibilities?”
Luna shook her head.
“Alright. Well, it´s just…. It´s so much pressure! Right now, not only I´m the big sister but I also have to be a mom as well! I don´t know how to be a mom! And I also have to be strong but I cannot be strong, not right now.”
“Well, maybe you can. If we your strength leans on mine.” Luna put her hoof on Celestia´s.
Celestia looked at her little sister.
“Let´s do something. From now on, we´re to rely on each other and we´ll tell each other everything. It´s the only way we can face mom not being with us. Promise?” Luna put her hoof on front of Celestia.
After telling Luna her feelings, she felt somewhat less stressed. So, she agreed.
“Promised.” she put her hoof on Luna´s. “And to begin this pact, there´s something that has been going on with my mind.”
“Something bad?” Luna asked worried.
“No. An idea. But it will take a lot of convincing from Ms Prickly Crops. Unless we do it ourselves when she sends us to get essentials.” she smirked mischievously.
“Ohoho… I don´t know what your idea is but I´m already liking it. Tell me more!”
Bray looked around before entering to a corridor, making sure nopony was watching him. Once he saw that the surroundings were clear, he decided to keep walking. However, just when he was going to give the first step, a troggle interrupted.
“Sir?”
Bray growled frustrated.
“What?! Don´t you know you that this is the forbidden corridor?! Only I and the emperor can enter here!”
“I´m sorry but there´s something going on the castle´s gates….”
“More potential spies? It would be interesting how they interact with the new one.”
The troggle bit their lip and inclined his head.
“Do fillies that want to see her mom count as spies?”
“Ok, to be honest I didn´t make it this far Tia.” Luna told her sister as they waited outside the castle.
“Neither did I. The only thing that we need to do now is waiting for mom.”
“Yes. The only though, is that the waiting would be better if we didn´t have spears pointing at us.”
Celestia and Luna smiled nervously at the troggles around them with their spears at them. They assumed it was for security reasons but why would they do this to foals?
Suddenly, they heard a male voice.
“Oi! You two!” Bray called as he walked to them accompanied by the troggle that warned him about their presence.
Celestia, Luna and the troggles turned their heads to Bray.
“This isn´t playground so don´t think that you can-”
However, he didn´t get the reaction he´d have wish to get. Instead, the fillies put their hooves on their cheeks.
“It´s a donkey!” Luna said in admiration. “I´ve never seen one!”
“You´re so cute!” Celestia told him.
Bray blushed, really caught off guard by their comments. He cleared his throat.
“This troggle told me you want to see your mother. I hate to tell you that right now, everypony´s busy so, get. Out!”
“But if anypony wants to visit a worker, you usually let them!” a troggle pointed out.
“Does that mean we can see our mommy?” Celestia asked hopeful.
“You idiot.” Bray scolded the troggle while clenching his teeth. He sighed. “I don´t have time to make you go, so tell me your mother´s name and we´re finished with this.”
“Her name´s Gusty.” Luna replied.
Bray widened his eyes.
“I´m sorry, what?”
“Her name is Gusty.” Celestia repeated.
Bray covered his face with his hooves.
“You´ve got to be kidding me.”
Gusty sighed as she leaned on her dungeon´s bars. She had already been three days with almost no food or water. Despite being weak, the fact that she was going to get out today was what kept her from falling asleep.
She turned her head when she heard steps. It was Drog bringing her a very small ration of food and water.
“Hi! I don´t know if you remember me but it´s me again.”
Gusty felt somewhat relieved to see him. Although she had been harsh with him, the words he told her before Grogar came to talk to her felt genuine. Maybe he wasn´t that bad after all.
“Yeah, I do.” she nodded.
She sighed when she saw the food.
“I´m sorry. I would give you some of my ration but mine isn´t very big either.”
Gusty raised her head.
“I thought troggles had bigger rations than us.”
“Oh, they are! Not a banquet but big enough not to be hungry. But when you don´t perform well in your duties as a guard, you get smaller rations, almost like a pony´s. And I´m not very good at my job so…”
“Why do you say that?”
Drog looked around before replying.
“Don´t say this to any of the soldiers, Bray and especially the emperor but I don´t like my job. I don´t like having to watch over ponies and mistreating them for no reason. And I´m not the only one who thinks like this.”
“So you´re saying that they´re giving you less food for being kind to us?”
“Apart from falling asleep, yes.”
Gusty looked down.
“Can I ask you your name?”
“Drog.”
“Ok Drog, I´m sorry for having been rude to you. It´s just that none of you had been nice to me since the first day I arrived here and I thought you were the same. But after those kind words you said to me, I realized I was wrong.”
“It´s ok. Some troggles are actually nice but can´t be because of the emperor.”
Seeing that Drog was talking about his kind, Gusty decided to investigate more on their origin.
“I imagine that he´s forcing you to do this.”
“Not force per say. You see, many years ago, we used to live in the forests. We had our own towns and way of life. And our forests were very near to Grogar´s kingdom.”
“Was he a king back then?”
“No. But he was born into the royal family of that kingdom.”
“Tambelon, I suppose.”
“No, it had other name but I don´t remember it. Anyway, but don´t think that Grogar grew with them. There was a huge war with another kingdom that destroyed his family´s, not only that, he was the only royal who remained. So, the nobles decided to send him into a congregation to become strong and obtain the necessary abilities to become a ruler. The war destroyed our forests and so we took refuge on that same congregation. We struggled to adapt there, as most masters looked down upon us. All except the young Grogar. He offered us everything we desired in exchange of our undoubtful loyalty to him. Slowly, Grogar became more and more power-hungry committing unspeakable crimes until he burnt that congregation. It was then when we knew what he was capable of doing to us. But at the same time, we owe him so much, he gave us respectable positions, refuge and enough materials and food to survive.”
“He didn´t do that because he cared you know that, do you?”
“Deep down, most of us know that. For him we´re just means to an end, not creatures with feelings. But some have developed that belief in order to survive.”
“I´m so sorry that happened to your kind.”
“It´s ok, it´s not as bad as what happened to yours.”
Suddenly, Bray walked in.
“Dusty! Dusty!”
Gusty rolled her eyes.
“It´s Gusty.” she corrected him frustrated.
“Gusty? Nice name.” Drog told her.
“Whatever. I have some things to tell you.” Bray told her. “Firstly, your daughters are waiting for you outside the castle.”
Gusty gasped.
“They are?”
Bray nodded.
“Well, I´ve already done my punishment, so when you let me out I could see them!”
“That is related to the second news: the emperor has decided to give you one more day of punishment.”
“What?” Gusty and Drog asked in unison.
“But he said three days!” Gusty replicated.
“I know but he wants to have an eye over you and today he has some things to do. However, that doesn´t mean that you can´t see your daughters. I could bring them over here if you want.”
“No!”
“No?” Bray asked surprised.
“They can´t see me like this. It would break their heart if they saw their mother on a dungeon.” Gusty lamented.
Bray shrugged.
“If that´s what you want. I´ll tell them that it´s forbidden to visit castle workers and that´s it.”
“Thanks for asking though.” she told him.
“I´m not doing because I have compassion for you, I´m doing this because I have no time to deal with your fillies.”
Once he left, Gusty hugged the bars while looking down sadly. She didn´t like breaking her daughters´ heart but she also knew it was for the best.
“Is that why you´re here? Family?”
Gusty nodded.
“What about their father?”
Gusty whimpered.
“Your kind killed him.”
Drog looked down.
“I have to go. I´m sorry for what happened to your husband.”
Gusty said no word. Drog looked at her with guilt before leaving.
“And that´s why our mommy is the best mommy in the whole world!” Celestia explained to the troggle.
The troggles listened and left out an ooh. Luna noticed Bray coming so she pulled her tail.
“Ouch! What was that for?”
“Look!” she pointed at Bray.
Celestia gasped. Her excitement went away when she didn´t see their mother.
“Wh- where is mommy?” Luna asked.
“It´s forbidden to visit the castle workers.”
“But he said-”
“That was before. The rules have changed. Now go!”
Luna´s eyes filled with tears.
“Ok.”
“We´re sorry for disturbing you.” Celestia apologized sadly before she and Luna left. “It´s ok, we´ll still see her on Wednesdays.” she told Luna, seeing that she was sniffing once they were far from them.
Bray sighed as he saw them go.
“I hate dealing with children.” he thought aloud.
Bray returned to Gusty´s dungeon. He bit his lip. She seemed devastated for not being able to see their daughters. He almost felt bad for her.
“I´ve already told them.”
“How did they take it?”
“Bad.” he directly said. “One of them was crying.”
Gusty sighed.
“I know you´re not doing this for me, but I´m still grateful to you for having the decency of asking me of what to do with them.”
“Actually, I´m somewhat doing this for you. As a sign of gratitude.”
Gusty´s ears perked up.
“For what?”
“You know why.”
She quickly remembered Grogar asking her about Bray slipping out secret information and her saying no and telling him to be kinder to Bray.
“You´re welcome.”
Bray nodded.
“And now I have to deal with another child, great.” he muttered.
“Did you say another child?” she asked curious.
Bray widened his eyes.
“That´s none of your business!”
“And he´s back.” Gusty muttered.
If he told her that it was none of their business, it was another secret of the emperor. She remembered Grogar saying that loving a child was the purest expression of weakness. The forbidden corridor also came to her mind. Was the emperor hiding something else?
Once again, Bray returned to the same corridor he went before. Since he saw nobody around, he took the key to open a door, which led to some stairs. Slowly he entered and closed the door from the inside. He stared at the stairs and sighed. Although he wasn´t very old, he wasn´t young either, so going up these long stairs everyday exhausted him.
“Come on Bray, you can do this.” he said to himself before going up stairs.
After a few minutes, he finally got to the top. He breathed in and out before unlocking the door.
“Alright lad, time to-”
But it was just one hoof step on that room and chaos hit. He yelled when he realized that there was floor no more. Luckily, he floated so he didn´t get hurt. He looked around, seeing through the floating, upside down furniture. And if Bray wasn´t dizzy enough, the room was rotating. His headache got worse when he noticed something hitting his head.
“Ouch!”
“Excuse me.” a flying book apologized, to which Bray widened his eyes.
“Excuse me.” another flying book said hitting Bray again.
“Pardon.”
“Permission please.”
Losing his patience, Bray growled.
“STOP PLAYING GAMES AND GET OUT OF WHERE YOU ARE YOU BRAT!”
“Oh, is that any way to ask things?” a young voice said mischievously.
Bray´s ears perked up.
“Where are you?!”
“I could be anywhere. Under the table, on the ceiling… All you have to do is search!”
“I don´t have time for playing this weird and stupid version of hide and seek. Just come out from wherever you are!”
The young voice giggled maliciously.
“If you say so…”
“Good. Wait a minute. Normally this takes more convincing.”
What Bray didn´t realize is that a big threatening shadow appeared behind him. The shadow gave out a small chuckle.
“BOO!” it exclaimed while touching Bray´s shoulder.
The donkey gave out a high-pitched screech. While he panted, he heard laughs coming from the shadow. In a flash, it transformed into a small creature with a serpentine like body. It looked like a dragon, but it was no dragon. It had the horn of a goat and a deer, but it was neither. It had the head of a pony but it didn´t look a like a pony in the slightest. Its arms, legs and wings were mismatched as well. It had the paw of a lion and an eagle´s claw, a pegasus and a bat wing, and a dragon and a buffalo leg. Bray always thought it was a very odd combination but not as odd as its personality.
The young creature laughed.
“Oh, you should have seen your face and reaction. Priceless! Ha ha!”
Bray growled.
“DISCORD!”
“That´s me.” Discord said with a smile as he flew upside down to Bray´s face.
“Stop messing around and put everything back to normal!”
“Geeze, I´m glad to see you too.” Discord said somewhat upset.
“Yeah? I would be glad too if you didn´t do this every time I come to visit you.”
“It´s just my way of saying hello and inviting you into my humble room!”
“You call this a room?”
“Yup.”
“You´re going to have your room like this when your father comes?”
Discord widened his eyes.
“Wait. Today´s monday?”
Bray nodded.
“Well, considering how you have your room and the way you use your magic, I´m not surprised that you didn´t remember. Now for your father´s sake, make your room the way is supposed to be.”
Discord rolled his eyes.
“Fine.”
Discord snapped his fingers but instead of ordering the room, he made it more chaotic by adding more elements, such as a volcano.
“What are you doing? I told you to order it!”
“I´m trying.” Discord replicated. “I just don´t…”
Seeing that Discord was about to snap, Bray put his hoof on his claw.
“No! How many times do we have to tell you?! Don´t snap without thinking! Otherwise you´ll make it worse.”
“But how do I do that?”
Bray raised his eyebrow.
“Are you seriously asking me that question?”
“I know what I have to think,” Discord said in self -defence. “but then new ideas for my room come to my mind continuously.”
“Then don´t listen to them. Just focus.”
“Alright, I´ll try.”
But once again, Discord did the opposite they ordered him.
“Make your room still.” Bray ordered.
Discord snapped his finger and the room stopped rotating.
“You father appreciates gravity.”
Discord nodded and snapped his fingers. Afterwards, everything fell back into their place. Seeing that they were about to fall, Discord summoned two pillows to land on but by doing so he also summoned candy. Bray sighed.
“Take out the candy.”
Discord did as told.
“Now, will you make your books books again?” Bray said while looking at the flying books. “But make sure that they don´t-”
Bray didn´t finish his sentence as all the books fell on his head.
“If this had happened with your father, he wouldn´t visit you next Monday.”
“But you´re not my father.” Discord remarked.
Bray rolled his eyes.
“At least everything´s back to normal. As it should be.” Bray said while heading to the door to lock it.
“Well, firstly, I´m a creature of chaos so of course anywhere I´m in is going to be like that. And secondly, want me to use my magic but whenever I use it you scold me. What is it that you want?”
“Because the way you use it doesn´t make any sense.”
Discord scoffed.
“What´s the fun in making sense?”
“Say that to your father and you won´t be that cocky, I´m telling you that. Anyway, did you revise today´s lesson? Or because you lost track of time you didn´t check? Either that, or you were too lazy to do that.”
Discord narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, upset by Bray´s remarks.
“I did revise it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah!”
“Then let´s check that.” Bray picked up a book. “What was today´s lesson?”
“Uh… The beginning of Tambelon?”
“The birth of monsters!”
“Oh! The birth of monsters.”
“Ok.”
“The birth of monsters begins just when the Congregation,” Discord raised his paw and claw and slammed against the floor. “falls. Alright? I´ll go on.”
Meanwhile, Bray raised his eyebrow and blinked estranged.
“And the story behind this is that da-” he shook his head. “I mean father! Uh… he was planning to take his kingdom. Or was it empire?” he asked himself, to which Bray massaged his forehead. “Kingdom! That´s right kingdom, which he later turned into an empire because he wanted to, because he could and because he felt like it. Anyway, but he had problems because he had the congregation, which he absolutely hated. So… we know what he did in order to get respect and allies.”
Discord took out a cabbage and cut its leaves. Then, he took out a match. Bray gasped and blew it.
“What do you think you´re doing?! As you said, we already know what happened. You don´t need to set the castle on fire you idiot!”
“I was just going to set the leaves on fire. You know, so I could eat it afterwards?”
“I thought you didn´t like cabbages.”
“I can eat anything.” he took out a fork and a bowl full of paper. “See? I thought you knew that.”
“Don´t tell me those are pages from a book.”
Discord looked from side to side. Bray sighed.
“Let´s just go on with this. The sooner we finish, the sooner I can leave this… chaos.”
“Thanks! I´ve been practicing on it.” Discord said genuinely excited.
“Not good chaos. Stupid chaos.”
“Oh.” his ears dropped.
“Go on with the lesson please.”
“But father also had to get rid of the ones who took everything away from him. And so, he got an idea.” Discord split in different animal parts. “Why not mixing dead bodies of different creatures and creating scarier ones with them?” he built himself again as he explained. “They would be his army and use it to scare and punish ponies he would and still rules over.”
“What creatures did he create?”
“Many! From cockatrices to chimeras. Including me, his biggest failure!” he giggled.
Bray widened his eyes.
“He called you that?”
“Yup.”
“Oh, you´re not a failure.”
“Really?” he asked surprised.
“Just a not so frightening monster like all his other creations.”
“But I am scary! I frightened you when you came in here.”
Bray laughed.
“Maybe. But that, my dear, was a prank. Pranks are not a way of domination. But don´t worry, you´ll get there one day. Maybe a little too late but you´ll get there.”
As Bray walked to the door, Discord looked at the window, lamenting that his desire wasn´t still coming. Unless the idea he just came up with convinced Bray.
“I can practice if you take me out there.” Discord pointed at the window.
“Are you crazy?! Do you know what your father would do to me if that happened?”
“Well… I´m not getting scarier if I´m cooped up here, am I? Besides, it would enable me to study ponies.”
“You want to study ponies?!”
“Yeah. I´m always seeing them from my window and I wonder, what makes them tick? Once I discover that, I´ll know how to scare them in the future! Besides… I think there´s something out there that I don´t have here. I would like to know what that is.”
“No offence, but they would eat you up alive on your own.”
“But not if I go out with him. Maybe he could teach me how to scare ponies.” he said with a big smile.
“You´re going to ask him?”
“Yes!”
“HA! Good luck with that.” he said while opening the door.
When he saw Bray opening the door, Discord smile dropped.
“Wait, you´re leaving? So soon?”
“Darn right I am!” he said excited. “And I always leave at this time. I thought you knew that.”
“But don´t you want to play-” he ran to the door.
“No, I don´t. Goodbye!” he blew the door and locked it.
Discord sat down.
“How dull. Pff!”
Suddenly, he noticed a pink butterfly flying around. It landed on the table.
“Huh…” Discord smirked.
As a cat, Discord slowly approached it. Whenever he felt it was noticing him, he hid behind a chair. He sticked his head out a little and quickly, he hid again. Then, he roared as he jumped to the table. The butterfly flew away.
“I scared it! I scared it!” he exclaimed excited. “Too unfrightening? Ha! I don´t think so.”
However, the butterfly landed on his nose.
“What are you doing? You´re supposed to be scared you dummy. Roar!” he raised his paw and claw.
But the butterfly was still on his nose.
“That didn´t scare you, did it? Hmm… How about… This!”
After snapping his eagle claw, a cloud of pink cotton candy appeared. Quickly, the butterfly flew away.
“Ha ha!”
Unfortunately, the butterfly landed near the puddle of chocolate.
“Oh, come on!”
His mood changed when he noticed that the butterfly drank a little.
“Oh, I get it! You need energy to fly away for the next scare. Fair enough!”
He soon realized that this was the perfect moment to scare the butterfly, as it was distracted. He mischievously giggled as he prepared to jump in the puddle of chocolate.
“BOO!”
The butterfly shook his wings immediately.
“Where are you going?” he laughed.
He chased it, trying to catch it. But the butterfly was flying too high.
“Oh wait!” Discord stopped running. He looked at his wings. After struggling to shake his wings, he finally got off. “Better! Now, where are you?”
He took a quick glance of the room. He spotted the butterfly at a corner of the ceiling.
“There you are!” he said before flying to it.
Though he failed multiple times at catching the fly, Discord was having lots of fun. So much, that without realizing it, his magic went out. The floor turned into soap, the chairs started walking and the bed turned into a bouncy castle.
As it was exhausted, the butterfly rested on front of the door.
“Gotcha!”
“Good morning Discord.” a deep voice said.
Discord froze. He looked up and saw Grogar right in front of him. He quickly closed his hands to hide the butterfly, leaving enough space for it. Afterwards, he gave a few steps back.
“Oh… Um… Good morning, father.”
“I see you decorated your room in a disastrous way.”
Discord turned around and saw what he created.
“Oh!” he exclaimed genuinely surprised. “How did that happen?”
“You happened. Normally, I´d order you to put everything in order again, but seeing you still take so much time, I´ll do it myself instead.”
After he ignited his horns, there was an expansion of magic that turned everything back to normal.
“I can´t believe this. After almost a thousand times of explaining this simple task to you, you still have trouble doing this. Pathetic.”
Discord did not answer nor made a movement. Grogar raised an eyebrow suspiciously while looking at the curious position of his paw and claw.
“Discord, are you hiding something?”
“No.”
“Then why are your paw and claw like that?”
“Because…. I like to join them together?”
Discord smiled to lessen the tension of the situation but Grogar was still serious.
“Open them.”
Discord bit his lip.
“I…”
“Open them!” Grogar raised his voice.
Discord whimpered slightly. Slowly, he opened them, revealing the butterfly which flew away. Grogar ignited his horns and blasted its wing off. Discord widened his eyes and looked at the butterfly with worry, seeing that it wasn´t moving.
“Now it won´t bother us.” he looked at Discord and noticed his face. “Are you seriously feeling bad for a butterfly?”
“Me? No! If I did, I would be weak.”
“You´re already weak. But feeling bad for others makes you weaker. Do not make yourself more of a failure, Discord.”
“I won´t, father.”
“That´s right. I see you´re a smart head. Bray has told me that he has asked your lesson and that you´ve memorized it. In your own ridiculous way but at least you know the lesson. Now, shall we review your magic?”
Discord nodded his head. He stretched his index fingers, pointing to the floor. He closed his eyes to focus better. From the noises he made, Grogar could tell that Discord was struggling. He narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, a thunder came from Discord´s fingers and hit the floor. Discord smiled excitedly.
“I did it dad! I did it!” he jumped excited and hugged his foreleg.
Grogar widened his eyes. He shook his head to take Discord off.
“But not fast enough. You´re faster at doing magic that is useless rather than what will determine your future. And don´t call me dad. You know I don´t like it.”
“Sorry.”
“You are forgiven. Let´s see what else you can do.”
Discord conjured up magic in his paw and claw, pulling an object to them.
“Very well. Now, tell me. What´s a cockatrice?”
“It´s a chicken mixed with the body of a dragon. If you look at him in the eyes, you turn into stone.”
“And a manticore?”
“A lion with dragon wings and a scorpion´s tail.”
“A bugbear?”
“A mixture between a bear and bee.”
“What about a chimera?”
“A goat, tiger and a snake mashed into one.”
Grogar nodded. While he was thinking more questions to ask his son, Discord looked at the window, gathering lots of courage to ask him one question.
“Father?”
“Hm?”
“Can I suggest you an idea?”
Grogar narrowed his eyes, which intimidated Discord. However, there was no turning back. So, he continued.
“Look. I might be young, but my mind is older, so… I was thinking…. Um… What I´d like to suggest is…”
“Stop messing around and get to the point.” Grogar said directly. “I don´t have time for nonsense.”
The excitement slowly built inside Discord to the point of getting out.
“Ugh! I want you to take me to the outside so I can learn about ponies!”
Grogar´s ears perked up.
“Excuse me?” he asked angry.
“But of course, if that´s stupid idea like most of my ideas, we could just forget about it.”
“You want to be around ponies.” Grogar hatefully said.
“No! I want to explore the outside because I feel that there´s so much I could learn. I know there´s something out there, far from home that I don´t have here. In here, somewhere deep inside of this flesh, an emptiness began to grow lately. A longing I´ve never known. Maybe by knowing what scares ponies, I´ll be scarier. In that way, I might fill that emptiness.”
“That´s such a stupid argument.”
“I disagree. Don´t you spy on ponies to know their weaknesses?”
“I am the ruler of an empire, of course I must know my slaves´ weaknesses. But not because I´m curious about them or trying to fill something. Besides, we both know that your scares would be personalized pathetic pranks.” That is not scary.”
“But… I´ll have to start practicing someday.”
“Indeed. But you´re still wasting your magic in candy and games, and another bunch of stupidities. You wouldn´t survive on your own out there.”
“But by your side, I could-”
“I haven´t got time for that Discord!”
Discord looked down. Grogar sighed.
“Discord, can´t you understand? I´m doing this for your own good. Do you know what would happen if you went out there? They´d revile you as a monster.”
“But I am a monster. You always say that.”
“Yes. But since you´re weak, you wouldn´t be able to defend yourself. Ponies will be able to attack you. They will hate, scorn and jeer. They´d throw you stones, try to kill you or shun you! The world is cruel and wicked. It´s I alone who you can trust. I am your only friend.” Grogar smirked as he put his hooves around Discord´s face, which for some reason, discomforted him. “I, your creator, the one who had enough mercy let you live instead of destroying you. The one who protects you! How will I be able to do that unless you stay in here?”
“You´re my one defender.” Discord mumbled.
“Exactly. Be faithful to me. Do as I say, obey and stay in here. Don´t ever ask to leave, again.”
Discord sighed.
“Yes father. I´m sorry.”
“You are forgiven. But remember, this is the only place where you´ll be safe and accepted.” Grogar said before leaving.
Discord looked down, feeling ashamed of having asked. When he turned around, he noticed that the butterfly was still alive. He gasped and ran to it. He looked around before snapping his finger. He made himself as small as the butterfly to check the butterfly´s state better. He clenched his teeth when he noticed that its wing was broken.
“Don´t say a word about what I´m going to do.” he told the butterfly. “It would ruin my reputation”
He conjured up a handkerchief and wrapped it around the butterfly´s broken wing. After that, he made himself big again. He picked the butterfly in his lion paw. He looked around the room´s wall, looking for a space in which the butterfly could have entered.
“There it is.” he said when he found a small crack up on the wall, near the ceiling. He approached it.
“Can you fly?” he asked the butterfly.
Though it had some difficulties, the butterfly managed to fly.
“Good. Now go away. At least you can”
Before leaving, the butterfly rested on Discord´s nose once again.
“I… also had fun playing with you.” he smiled sadly. “Goodbye.” he bid farewell as before he watched how the butterfly flew away in the sky.
Though she had been told that she was not to be freed today, Gusty still hoped for a miracle that would allow her to go. She fidgeted with anything that was within her reach such as stones or even chains of the shackles. Rather than sad or scared, she was bored and frustrated. She snarled.
“I get it! I know you´re doing this as a warning!” she yelled as if she was talking to Grogar. “I got it! Can I go now?!”
“I can´t believe you´re asking that.” a troggle near her told her.
“It was a rhetoric question.”
“Oh.”
Gusty laid her head on the bars.
“Or at least make anything interesting happen.” she muttered.
Suddenly, she heard the rattle of keys opening the door. Various troggles entered.
“Don´t resist you vermin!” one yelled as he pulled a chain.
Soon Gusty discovered who he was talking to. When her vision allowed her, she noticed two pegasi, a male and a female, with their wings tied up and their necks enchained. She gasped softly. She hasn´t seen a pegasus since Night Eye´s death. More shockingly, he was the only pegasus she ever talked to. She´d love to talk to more but would any be willing to talk to her ?
After struggling some time to make them move, they managed to throw the two pegasi into a dungeon next to Gusty´s.
“Tomorrow you´ll see the fate that the emperor has in store for you.” a troggle said cockily as his workmates chained their necks to the wall.”
The pegasus stallion sighed.
“I know, I know, we´re going to die tomorrow.”
The troggle raised his eyebrow.
“You don´t seem very scared.”
“Because I know that we´ll get out of here!” he exclaimed confidently.
The troggles winked and burst out laughing.
“You, getting out… Oh! And Grogar thought… Ha! Ah…. The only way you´re getting out of here is by dying.”
“Technically until you carry us to the scaffold, we´re still breathing, so no, we´re not getting out of here dead.” he smirked.
The pegasus mare rolled her eyes.
“Shut up Rain Cloud.” she told him. “You´re only making things worse.”
The pegasus widened his eyes.
“Did you just-”
“Yes. Yes I did.”
“You should listen to your girlfriend, you know.” a troggle advised him.
“Girlfriend?!” the two pegasi asked upset in chorus.
“Why in the world would I date my sister?” Rain Cloud asked disgusted. “And even if she wasn´t, I wouldn´t date her still. She´s too serious to have a good time around her.”
“Yeah? Well you´re not a delight to be around either.” she mumbled.
“I heard you!”
“Silence!” the troggle yelled. “Although now that I think about it, maybe you should talk now before you become silent forever tomorrow.” he and his workmates laughed as they left.
Once there weren´t troggles around, Gusty stared curiously at the two pegasi without them noticing and heard their conversation.
“So, what´s the plan?” Rain Cloud asked his sister.
The pegasus shook her head.
“For now, there is no plan.”
He widened his eyes.
“You don´t have a plan?” he asked shocked.
“Look around you! The only thing around us stones, the window´s bars are too together, plus it´s too small for us to get out, and there´s no guard around from whom we can take a key. How in the world do you expect us to get out?”
“You tell me. You´re the ones with the ideas!”
“You could help me from time to time with the ideas you know.”
“Hey. I do the action and you come up with the ideas. That´s how we agreed, didn´t we?”
“No, we didn´t. We might do that because they are our strengths but we never said we could not help each other in our strengths.”
Rain Cloud opened his mouth to reply but found no argument to refute his sister´s.
“So what you´re saying is to wait to be executed. And you´re accepting that fate? Without fighting?”
“I never said that I accepted it. I meant that I don´t have a plan to execute now.”
Rain Cloud widened his eyes.
“You mean to wait to the last moment? Isn´t that too risky?”
“Says the one who loves taking risks.”
“I know but you´re not the type that loves taking risks.”
“I don´t like it but sometimes I must. After all we´re in a rebellion, which is already very risky.”
“You´re part of the pegasi rebellion?” Gusty asked shocked.
The two pegasi widened their eyes.
“Are you too?” Rain Cloud asked.
“I am part of one. But not yours.”
Rain Cloud gasped.
“We need to attack Wind!” he whispered in her ear.
His sister shushed him and raised her hoof.
“Why are you talking to us?”
“What do you mean?” Gusty asked.
“I don´t know what you are exactly, but we know you´re not a pegasus like us. Don´t you know we´re not supposed to talk to each other?”
“Who says that? Grogar? I thought you were revolting against him.”
“But you don´t like us! And we don´t like anypony who´s not a pegasus!” Rain Cloud exclaimed.
“May I ask why?”
“Let me ask you first, what are you exactly?” Rain Cloud´s sister asked.
“A unicorn.”
“You have a great advantage. You have magic so you have it much easier than us for defending yourselves. And Grogar doesn´t mistreat you as much. He respects you more because of yhat.”
“How do you know that? We also suffer under his rule. Just like you.”
“Oh really? As much as us? Did Grogar command his troggles to kill every unicorn they saw and to burn down their homes?”
“I don´t know. He could have before I was born.”
“No it hasn´t! Both earth ponies and unicorns are more numerous than us. Why do you think that is, huh?”
Gusty widened her eyes.
“What?”
“You don´t know? How could you not know? There were thousands of pegasi corpses throughout the whole empire! And we also saw how your kind and earth ponies gave us in whenever you found us hiding in your territories because ours were completely destroyed!”
“When did this happen?”
“Very few years ago! Three more or less.” Rain Cloud replied.
Gusty´s gasped and covered her mouth. That´s when Night Eye died! Her breath fastened.
“I thought it was just some troggles…” she mumbled in shock.
Rain Cloud´s ear twitched.
“What?”
“He´s dead because of him…”
“Wait. Who are you talking about?” Rain Cloud´s sister asked.
Gusty did not answer. Shock didn´t let her speak nor move. She was completely unaware of her surroundings and paralyzed. However, her magic wasn´t.
Suddenly, small gusts of wind formed.
“Wind, stop moving your wings.”
“I´m not moving my wings. What makes you think that I am?”
“Because there´s wind?”
“Just because my name is Wind Whistler doesn´t mean that I always make wind you idiot. It could be coming from outside.”
Slowly, Gusty´s wind became stronger, and their manes moved faster and faster.
“Is it me or has it turned stronger?” Rain Cloud asked.
Some mane got out of Wind Whistler´s long braid. She spat them out.
“You think?”
The wind was so strong, that it carried both Rain Cloud and Wind Whistler away. Had it not been for them to the wall, they would have slammed against the other. However, as it was chained around their necks, it choked them somewhat. Luckily, they didn´t have to struggle much to hold on to their dungeon´s bars.
“Where is so much wind coming from?” Wind Whistler asked.
“Judging from the direction, I think it comes from there!” he pointed to the right, where Gusty´s cell was. “But I don´t understand, the door is closed!”
His ears perked up when he heard heavy breathing.
“I think I know the source now. Listen.”
After paying attention for a while, Wind heard the breathing.
“You´re right.” she said to her brother. She approached to the right end of the dungeon. “Unicorn! Hey! Unicorn, can you hear me?” she asked Gusty.
She made no response.
“I don´t think she can hear you.” Rain Cloud told her.
“Unicorn! UNICORN!”
Her yell made Gusty come back to reality. She gasped and her wind stopped abruptly. Wind Whistler and Rain Cloud moaned as they hit the floor. Many emotions were inside her heart and none of them were pretty. Confusion, sadness, anger… She buried her head on her knees as she sobbed.
The pegasi siblings looked at each other, feeling sympathy for Gusty´s loss. And the fact that they bashed her out didn´t help in the least, which made them feel guilty.
“So, who was that important pegasus? A good friend?” Rain Cloud asked her.
Gusty was still crying.
“Leave it.” Wind Whistler put her hoof on her brother´s shoulder. “She´s not talking to us.”
“He was more than that.” Gusty replied finally. “He was my long-life partner and the father of my foals.”
“What?” the two asked estranged.
Normally, if a unicorn told them that, they would take it as a joke. But after seeing Gusty´s reaction of what happened to the pegasi, they knew that was the truth. Wind Whistler sighed.
“Listen. We´re sorry for bashing you like that. We… We also failed to protect friends and loved ones.”
Rain Cloud pulled her earring.
“Ouch!”
“What she means is that she, as well as I, understands your pain. And she feels some guilt for what happened, even though I continuously remind her that it´s not. If we didn´t trust you it was because of what my sister said before. Not to mention that our species have never got along. But now we see you´re not like that.”
Gusty sniffed.
“I´m so sorry for Grogar made you go through. Losing my husband was really rough for me. I can´t imagine what it must have been for you.”
For a time, none of them spoke a word, as they weren´t sure what to say, specially Rain Cloud and Wind Whistler, since this was the first time they ever spoke to a unicorn. They knew Gusty wasn´t against them, but it still felt scary and weird interacting with her. Gusty, however, felt no fear.
“So, how did you end up here?” she asked curiously.
“Would you mind explaining, brother?” Wind Whistler smirked angrily at Rain Cloud.
“Hey! It wasn´t my fault.”
This time, it was her turn to pull his earring.
“Ow ow! Ok, ok it kind of was.”
“Kind of?”
“Completely.” he admitted reluctantly.
“But what happened?” Gusty asked.
“I threw an arrow before I was supposed to.” Rain Cloud explained.
“Oh. And what´s going to happen to you?”
“What do you think?” Wind Whistler asked sarcastically. “We´ll be executed of course! Burnt,” she pointed at herself. “and hanged.” she pointed at her brother.
“Wait what?” Rain Cloud widened his eyes.
“For some reason, Grogar gives the harshest punishment to mares. I guess he´ll be doing that to you.”
“What? But he said he would let me here for four days with few water and food.”
“Wait. You weren´t discovered?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“For defending my friends.”
“Ah, that makes more sense. Still, it was a reckless thing to do considering that you´re also part of a rebellion. Remember this: when one falls, everypony falls.”
Gusty bit her lip.
“But I´ll give you credit for your reason. At least it wasn´t stupid. Not like anypony else´s.”
“Ok, I get it, you´re mad at me. But we already have a plan, ok? Quit it out please!”
“What is your plan?” Gusty asked them.
“We´ll have to wait and attack right when they take us. It´s our only chance.” Wind Whistler claimed.
“I can help!” Gusty offered herself.
The two pegasi raised their eyebrows.
“I just said because I thought some magic would be of help. Besides, I have fulfilled my punishment. In any moment, a guard will come here, so you won´t have to wait until tomorrow.”
“You mean freaky spells? Like the ones you casted on pegasi and earth ponies?”
“That´s probably something that Grogar made up. And we don´t know many spells, magic is forbidden to us unless for work purposes. However, I know one that might be of help to you.”
The pegasi siblings shared doubtful glances.
“Could you excuse us for a few minutes?” Wind Whistler asked.
“Yes, whatever time you need.” Gusty accepted.
The pegasi did a circle with their wings.
“Do you trust her?” Wind asked her brother.
“Of course not! I know she´s no harm but… she´s still a unicorn.”
“I know, that´s why I ask.”
“Yet at the same time, I think that some of her freaky magic could be of help.”
Wind Whistler bit her lip.
“This isn´t like a mission. If we were, we could fail and still solve it afterwards. But in this case… We fail, we die.” she sighed. “You´re right. It´s better if we have backup.”
Once the decision, was made they undid the circle and talked to Gusty.
“Ok, you may help us.”
Gusty´s eyes brightened.
“I won´t fail you. Trust me.”
“Let´s hope so…” Rain Cloud whispered in his sister´s ear, to which she nodded.
A troggle walked to Gusty´s cell.
“Well, it seems your punishment´s over. Four days in here. Pity, I would have loved to see you suffer and rot.”
“Really? Wow. I´ve heard so many mean things said since I first arrived here, but yours is the meanest I´ve heard so far.” Gusty said sarcastically as the guard unlocked the door.
“Why, thank you.” he said honoured. “Now, GET OUT OF HERE!” he yelled as he opened the door.
“Gladly.” she said with a smile.
Suddenly, Rain Cloud threw him a stone.
“Ouch! What the?”
“Pegasi! Pegasi!” Rain Cloud cheered “Uh…” he scratched his chin in thought. Wind Whistler massaged her forehead as she clenched her teeth. “You can´t bring us down!” he continued.
“Uh, you think you´re so great, huh? Well, let´s see who laughs when you´re at the scaffold!”
As he talked to them, Gusty ignited her horn and caught the keys. As she was a bit nervous, she accidentally let go of the keys, but she quickly caught them with her hooves on time. She quickly hid the keys behind her back just before the troggle turned his head to her.
“Am I right?” he asked Gusty.
“Yeah! Yeah! Of course.” she falsely agreed.
“Psst! Come here, let me tell you something.” Rain Cloud said to the troggle.
“What?” he approached his head.
He punched the troggle´s nose.
“OUCH! That hurts!”
Taking the advantage that his eyes were closed, in a few seconds, Gusty passed the keys to Wind Whistler. She hid them with her tail
When he opened them, he grabbed Rain Cloud and slammed him against the bars.
“Are you playing with me?!”
“D´uh! Isn´t it obvious?” he asked back with a smirk.
Seeing that the guard was getting angrier with his brother, Wind Whistler decided to intervene.
“Little brother! What are you doing? Don´t you know it´s not a good idea to mess with the guards?”
“Exactly!” the troggle agreed with her.
“But he´s so mean!” he exaggeratedly complained. “He deserved that punch!”
Wind Whistler growled.
“Fine, big sister.”
The troggle rolled his eyes. He grabbed Gusty´s foreleg and pulled her out.
“Let´s go!” he told Gusty.
As he dragged Gusty out of the dungeon´s corridor, she winked her eye at Wind Whistler and Rain Cloud.
“Huh. It actually worked.” said Wind Whistler.
“I almost have some broken bones, but yup! It worked.” Rain Cloud replied. “You have the keys?”
Wind Whistler moved her tail and showed him the keys. He laughed victoriously.
“He fell for it like a fool!” he said as he took the keys. He opened the door. “Come out sis, now all we have to do is wa-”
He noticed that Wind Whistler did not speak nor was happy. Instead, she was reflexive.
“Hey, are you alright?”
Wind Whistler looked at her brother.
“Huh? Oh! Yes, yes I´m fine. I was thinking about the unicorn.” she explained as they walked to the prison´s door.
“What about her?
“What she just did was very dangerous, and she could have easily been discovered. I´m pretty sure she almost spilt her little secret when they sent her here! I never thought I´d say this about a unicorn, but I´m worried about her. Especially with her magic. From what I´ve seen it´s attached to her emotions, and she feels strongly. That will lead her to much trouble.”
“Oof! Tell me about that! Did she realize what she did? Because it looks like she didn´t.”
“I don´t know but the poor mare was in shock after learning what happened to us. I guess her surroundings would be the least of her concerns at that moment.”
“That would make sense.”
“This is the first time we´ve ever talked to a unicorn. Can you believe it?”
“No. It was just too weird to be real.”
“This unicorn was so kind to us. She even risked herself for us, two ponies of a different kind that she just met. And she married a pegasus! I thought all of them hated us.”
“She´s nice but I still have to meet more unicorns like that to change my mind about them.” Rain Cloud said.
“Yeah, me too. But I´ll remember her. I wish we could have thanked her, though.”
“Maybe we will, if we see her again.”
“You think we will?”
Rain Cloud shrugged.
“Who knows? But the future is for later. Right now, let´s just focus on waiting for that door to open.”
Suddenly, they noticed the knob moving.
“Prepare yourself!” Wind Whistler told him.
When the guard opened the door, he widened his eyes.
“What the-”
“Surprise…” Rain Cloud smirked before he punched the guard´s face hard.
“Are you done yet?” Fizzy swung her head from the upper bunk bed.
“Not yet.” Buttons replied focused on sewing.
“Ok.” Fizzy swung back to her bed.
A few seconds later Fizzy asked again.
“Are you done yet?”
“Not yeeet.” Buttons answered a bit more frustrated.
“Alrighty!”
But once again, in a matter of seconds, Fizzy came back with her question.
“Are you done-”
But this time she didn´t finish her question, as Buttons stared angrily at her.
“What?”
“Will you stop asking? Asking won´t make the job faster. A good result requires patience and not rushing. As they say here, haste makes waste.”
Fizzy laughed both excited and apologetically.
“Sorry, it´s just I can´t wait to see Gusty´s face when she sees her thanks gift. Is there any way I can help, though?”
“By staying quiet and keeping the secret.”
Fizzy took a few moments to process Buttons´ words.
“Oooh! Right, you mean because of the big emperor´s secret that only Gusty knows!”
Quickly, Buttons covered her mouth and shushed her. She looked around, making sure nopony heard about them. As nopony appeared to have noticed, she sighed in relief.
“What did I just say?!”
Fizzy giggled in embarrassment.
“Be careful.” she scolded Fizzy in whispers. “The walls have ears. We could get in deep trouble if they knew that we know more than we should.”
“Of course. Sorry.” she apologized. “But now that you say that, what are we going to do with you know who? After what happened I´m pretty sure he´s going to be after our backs too.
Buttons stopped sewing.
“Oh, you´re right.” she put her hoof on her temple. “I guess the only thing we can do is acting normal. And maybe not interact with Gusty as much.”
“But we are friends! She herself said it.”
“Of course! And we´ll still be friends. Just that we´ll not interact until nopony is around. But don´t worry, we´ll suggest this to her and I´m pretty sure that she´ll agree. And hopefully, she tells us the whole story.” Buttons smirked
“I hope so. I´m dying to know!”
“Just one more…” Buttons thought aloud as she did her last stitch. She did a knot to close the stitches and cut the surplus thread. “Done! How does it look like?” she showed her work to Fizzy.
“Amazing! I´m pretty sure Gusty will appreciate it.”
Buttons chuckled.
“I know.”
Suddenly, they heard the door opening. Everypony turned their heads and watched how guard thrusted Gusty into the room. The unicorn whimpered as she hit the floor.
“Unicorn vermin.” he called her before spitting at her.
“Oh yeah? Well, you blind follower.” she clapped back once he left.
Then, she noticed every unicorn looking at her.
“What are you looking at?” she asked aggressively.
After she said that, all the unicorns looked away and pretended to be doing something else. Normally, she would have just blushed but spending entire days locked with almost no food or water exhausted her completely. She sighed.
“Gusty!”
Gusty´s ears perked up. She noticed Buttons and Fizzy running to her. Her grumpy mood changed to one of surprise.
“Oh! Uh… Hi girls. It´s been days, hasn´t it?” she laughed nervously, since she didn´t really know what to say. “How have you been?”
“No. How have you been?” Buttons asked back as she and Fizzy helped her up. “You´re the one who´s been in a dungeon not us! Have they whipped your back?” she asked concerned as she looked at her back.
“No. They didn´t do anything to me. Just starve me.”
“I´m so glad you´re ok!” Fizzy gave her a huge hug.
Gusty widened her eyes in surprise. This was the first time in years that a pony who wasn´t her daughters gave her a hug. It felt good but it also felt bad, as she had something to say that wasn´t going to be pretty for none of them, including herself.
“Look Fizzy.” she said as she gently undid her hug. “I appreciate your hug but I-”
“Oh right! How silly of me. Buttons said that you´re not a touchy pony. Sorry.”
“It´s ok. It´s just it took me by surprise, but there´s-”
Fizzy gasped.
“Talking about surprises, we have one for you!”
“You do?”
“Yes, come on!” Fizzy exclaimed as she took Gusty´s hooves and took her to Button´s bunk bed.
“Don´t forget to have her eyes closed.” Buttons reminded Fizzy by whispering it in her ear.
“Oh sure! Do you mind closing your eyes for a few seconds?”
Gusty was going to object but seeing how excited Fizzy was, she decided to wait a little until telling them.
“Ok.” she smiled lightly.
Once Gusty´s eyes were closed, Fizzy nodded at Buttons and she went to take the surprise. Once she was back.
“Allez.” she whispered at her.
Fizzy giggled.
“Vale.” she replied back. “Ok you can now!”
Gusty opened her eyes and gasped. Her mother´s dress, which was torn and ruined due to the garden incident was fixed and almost looked like new but still with the same style She covered her mouth with her hooves, almost in tears.
“When we first met, I noticed that your dress was torn and I assumed that you didn´t have much, just like the rest of us. And after what you did for us, we thought that we had to repay you somehow. So I remembered your dress and I asked Buttons if she could fix it.” Fizzy explained as Gusty took her dress.
“And of course, I said yes.” Buttons followed Fizzy´s explanation.
Gusty stroked the dress softly, with a small, nostalgic smile on her face. Then, she looked at Buttons and Fizzy. She was about to thank them but suddenly remembered what she had to tell them. Her smile vanished and looked down. The two noticed that sudden change in her mood.
“Oh, you don´t like it?” Fizzy asked a bit disappointed.
“I could make it again if you want to.” Buttons suggested. “In that way you can tell me the way you want it.”
“No, it´s not that. It´s really beautiful and perfect the way you made it. And I´m really grateful that you fixed it. It´s not about the dress.”
“Then what is it about?” Fizzy asked.
“You know that Bray´s always after me. Both he and Grogar have their eye on me and are willing to do anything to me if they want to. I wouldn´t want the same to happen to you. So it´s better if we take distance.”
“Of course! I was going to suggest you to interact less when working and for meals. But at night, when nopony else is watching, is a different story!”
“Even at night, it´s better if we don´t talk at each other at all.”
Buttons´ and Fizzy´s ears dropped.
“Wait. What?” Buttons asked.
“It´s not that I don´t like you but… the only thing that you get by being around me is trouble.”
“That´s not true! We promise that none of us will get in trouble. We´re very good at keeping secrets, so yours is safe with us.” Fizzy said.
Buttons glared at her.
“What secret?” Gusty said both scared and mad.
Buttons looked around before replying Gusty.
“I know this sounds crazy, but after seeing Bray´s behaviour with you during the incident, we think that you´re involved in something that the emperor doesn´t want us to know.”
Gusty widened her eyes. They had found out! What was she going to do now? The only thing that came to her mind was denying it.
“What?” she scoffed as she smiled nervously. “That´s ridiculous! How am I going to be part of something that the emperor is hiding?.”
“It´s ok if you are.” Buttons told her. “We´re not going to tell anypony. And you don´t have to tell us what it is if you don´t want.”
“Seriously, I´m not. Stop saying I am!” Gusty said upset.
“Then we can still be friends, right?” Fizzy asked excited.
“No we can´t!”
The two mares widened their eyes at those words.
“But why?”
“Because we weren´t friends in the first place.”
That answer left Buttons and Fizzy with their mouths wide open.
“But you said that when you were defending us!” Fizzy insisted. “If that isn´t true, why did you say that?”
“I-” Gusty sighed defeated. “We´ve known each other for a few days. You can´t be calling me friend already.”
“Yes I can!” she replied angrily. “Our souls connected. I felt it!”
“I´m sorry. But you´re wrong.” Gusty replied bluntly. “You can´t be everypony´s friend. Accept that. It will bring you less pain in the future.”
From the tone she was using, Buttons could tell that Gusty was also hurt by her own words.
“Gusty, please. Don´t push us away. And I´m not saying this for us, we´re saying this for your own good.”
“I´m not pushing you away.”
“Yes, you are!” Fizzy answered back. “You´re basically sending us mixed signs all the time! You like being with us, you call us your friends but then you try to avoid us.”
Gusty wanted to replicate but she didn´t know what to say.
“Look. Let´s just.” she sighed frustrated. “I need a walk.” she said as she walked to the door.
“You can´t walk on the castle at this time. You´ve literally been in a dungeon for days! Do you want to go through that again? Or through worse?” Buttons asked her.
“Leave me alone please.”
“You´re being impulsive.”
“I said I wanted to be alone.” Gusty said more firmly.
“Gusty please.” Fizzy begged her. “We´re worried about you.”
“Then don´t be. I don´t care so much about me.”
“Because that´s what friends do.”
“I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND!” Gusty screamed as she smacked her hooves on the floor.
Accidentally, she left out a huge gust of wind that made Fizzy and Buttons fall on her backs, as well as the ponies that were sitting on the lower bunk beds, as they fell on domino effect. Had it not been that they held on to the bed´s bars, the ponies on the upper beds would have fallen too. She covered her mouth when she realized what she had done. Everypony looked at her, either scared or confused. She hyperventilated as her eyes met with theirs. Wind started forming around her when she, Buttons and Fizzy stared at each other.
“OI!”
Gusty froze when she heard Bray´s voice. Just the moment she least needed it, he appeared at the door along some troggles.
“Could one of you explain whaaat happened?” his tone quickly changed from angry to one of surprise and shoch when he saw the mess.
He glanced around to look for the responsible. And unsurprisingly, everything seemed to indicate that Gusty was guilty. Noticing their stares, she laughed nervously.
“Surpriise.”
“You. Of course you! Tell me you just did not commit the maximum offense!”
“Which is…”
“Using magic!”
“I did not use magic I swear!”
“Then how do you explain this?” he pointed at behind her.
Realizing that she could not lie any longer, Gusty decided to speak for herself.
“I can explain.”
“Oh, you will, trust me. Guards! Take her! I need to talk to her.”
Without thinking it, Gusty kicked a guard on his stomach once she felt his touch upon her. She rushed out the room.
“Don´t let her escape!” he ordered the guards as they stood up. “As for you, none of you gets out of here, understood?”
Every unicorn nodded scared. Bray closed the door on a blow and locked it before joining Gusty´s chase. As soon as he was gone, they talked among themselves, trying to find an explanation of what happened and wondering what was next. Naturally, the one who were the most worried were Fizzy and Buttons.
“What is going to happen to her now?” Fizzy asked Buttons.
The unicorn shook her head, trying to process the incident.
“I. I don´t know.” she replied as scared as her friend.
However, there was also another group of ponies who also had a reason to be worried.
“Wasn´t she the new recruit, Glory?”
Glory nodded her head.
“I think so.”
“Did you finally talk to her again?”
“Naw. I haven´t had the chance. I was going to a few days ago but she was punished in the dungeons.”
A unicorn gasped.
“Do you think she got discovered?”
“Naw. If she did, I´m pretty sure she wouldn´t be alive. And Grogar would be interrogating all of us.”
“What do we do? Should we help her?”
Glory looked on the floor, as she was unsure of what to answer.
Gusty ran through the corridors, looking for a corner free of guards. Hiding was getting harder and harder, as the more she ran the more guards Bray recruited in the chase. There came a moment where her way was blocked by the guards from the other side of the corridor. Gusty walked back until she felt the point of the spear on her back.
“Leave us alone.” Bray ordered them. “It will just be a few moments.”
The guards nodded. Gusty looked terrified at Bray who dragged her to a corner where the two of them could be alone, which surprised her, as she was a hundred percent convinced that he was taking her to Grogar.
“I know that you´re quite a stubborn, argumentative and rebellious pony. But to the point of using magic? Are you seriously that reckless?”
“Wait. You´re giving me the chance to explain myself?”
He nodded.
“If you ask me why, I´ll take you to the emperor.”
Gusty nodded.
“My magic is connected to my emotions, which gives me lots of trouble to control it. I was feeling very overwhelmed, and it went away.”
“Why were you feeling overwhelmed?”
“You ask me why? You, who put me in a dungeon with almost no water or food and took the chance of seeing my daughters for no reason?”
“For no reason? It was for your rebellious behaviour!”
“I was just defending a unicorn whose leg was hurt and you wanted to make her walk.”
“I was just doing my job.”
“Your job is to watch over everything not mistreat ponies.”
“I´m sorry, but that´s part of my job. Whether you like it or not.”
Gusty scoffed.
“Do you ever not feel remorse?”
“Please, I just insult you and that´s it. It´s not that bad.”
“Alright, that might be true. But wiping out an entire species of ponies isn´t that bad?!”
Bray widened his eyes. He looked away and sighed.
“I did not take part on it. I don´t know why you frame me for it.”
“Because I know that you´re going to say that what he did was justified and that it was for the sake of earth ponies and unicorns, but you can´t lie to me. What he did was wrong, and you know it! I don´t understand why you´re his complicit.”
“His most loyal servant not complicit. I am helping to maintain the greatest empire ever.” he defended but Gusty did not listen.
“Oh wait, I think know why you always follow Grogar without hesitation. Because you´re afraid of him.”
Bray gasped. Then, he scowled, which scared Gusty as this was the angriest she had ever seen him.
“How dare you? How dare you?!” he yelled at her “I am not Grogar´s puppet, or blind follower, or complicit, or whatever you want to call it. I´m his right hoof donkey! Grogar gave me that position because he saw the potential in me! I´m the only one who he sees as his equal.”
“You and I both know that´s not true.”
“Silence!” he exclaimed as he grabbed Gusty´s foreleg. “I can´t believe that I was going to give you a chance because you felt pity for me. I don´t need your pity! You hear me?! Guards!”
“Sir?” the troggles raise their hands to their forehead.
“Bring her to the emperor!” he ordered as he dragged her to the guards.
Gusty gasped horrified. She couldn´t escape by kicking the guards like she did before, there were too many. The only way of getting out was by trespassing Bray. But how?
She looked at her horn, which gave her an idea. It was something that she had never tried before but she had no other choice. She breathed out while closing her eyes and ignited her horn. Suddenly, a bright yellow aura appeared around Bray and made him float.
“What the? What are you doing?! Let go of me!” he ordered her.
As Bray complained, Gusty moved him towards her and the guards, though she struggled a lot, as this was the heaviest burden she had ever lifted. Sometimes her magic went out but she caught him on time.
“Do something!” he ordered the troggles.
“What do we exactly do, sir?”
“I don´t know! Put her an anti magic ring or cut her horn, I don´t care!”
Just when he was beneath all of them, Gusty dropped him, making fall on the guards.
“OUCH!” they all yelled.
Now that she was free, Gusty ran away.
“What are you doing you idiots? We need to get her!” Bray ordered them at first, but then started complaining in pain.
“Sir, I think I broke some bones.” a troggle complained.
“Urgh, me too.” another troggle.
“Unfortunately, I´m in the same situation as all of you.” Bray lamented. “But I´m afraid we´ll have to get up fast!”
“Fast? With our broken bones?” a troggle asked fearful.
“Ok, slowly but fast. Is that better?”
All the troggles agreed.
“I hope Grogar doesn´t find out about this.” Bray muttered to himself.
Once she was far away enough from Bray and the guards, Gusty hid behind a corner. She panted heavily.
“I can´t go on like this. If I do, sooner or later, they´ll find me.” she thought aloud as she looked back. “I need to hide somewhere! But where?”
She looked around. She noticed several doors but all of them were closed, probably locked up. All but two big gates. Gusty remembered Bray´s tour and figured out that those gates were the library, one of the forbidden rooms of the castle.
“You´ve gotta be kidding me.” she said to herself.
But at this point, Gusty had broken so many rules that it wasn´t worth doubting about going into the library. So, with the least noise as possible, Gusty walked and gently pushed the door to enter. Gusty was left in awe. It was full of huge bookshelves with thousands of archives, there were also statues made of marble and also many stares. This was such an easy way to collect so much information for Majesty. Maybe she could find in there the reason why Grogar ordered to kill the pegasi. She walked to a bookshelf too see what kind of books or archives were in there. They were mostly subject books, such as history, science, especially books about magic.
However, she remembered the reason why she was there when she heard hoof steps. She gasped softly. She breathed slowly to calm herself down and think on how to get out of the library. Luckily, she noticed a sliding door. She walked to it and slowly opened it. It led to some stairs. She wasn´t sure if those stairs led to a safe place to hide in but it was better than nothing. So, after closing the door she went upstairs.
Unfortunately, Gusty didn´t notice something very important. Those hoof steps that she heard before didn´t come from any guard or Bray. They came from Grogar himself. Just when she went in, Grogar was reading something. He had heard her enter and walked towards her direction, which is the reason why he gave those hoof steps. And worst of all, he saw her going up those stairs.
“You´ve practically revealed yourself, mare.” he chuckled evilly.
After some time of going up stairs, Gusty finally opened a door. With just a few glance, Gusty realized where she had ended up. There was a desk, many papers, and bookshelves with books and archives. This could be none other than Grogar´s study! The place where she could find better information for Majesty, as Gusty thought that would be the place where he made his strategic plans. And if that were the case, hopefully she could find the reason behind the pegasi massacre.
“I can´t believe I´m doing this.” she said before gulping. Then, she took a deep breath in and out, frowned determined and finally entered.
She walked to the desk, giving a glance on the many papers.
“Let´s see, this is a map.” she set aside the other papers. Perhaps of the territories he plans to reconquer, which is in Majesty´s interests.”
She took other papers and read them one at a time. Many of them had pictures of a strange object.
“What is this? A weapon? Maybe this could be important for Majesty. What else do we have here?”
She found a paper with a picture of what resembled a pegasus wing. She gasped.
“There it is!” she exclaimed as she took the paper. Although she didn´t read much, she knew some of the basics, like everypony else. Reading aloud always helped her. So, that´s what she did. “You, who were destined to be leader turned out to be a tyrant with no love nor compassion in his heart. Should you follow this path and you will be defeated by a Wind Warrior.” she looked up in thought. “Is this some kind of a prophecy? If so, who predicted it? And was a pegasus destined to be that Wind Warrior?”
Suddenly, she noticed a chest with a key. Gusty walked to it, moved the key and opened it. What she saw was the same object she saw on those papers. But looking it in flesh, it was easier to deduce which object was.
“It´s his bell!” she exclaimed.
All the stories she heard since she was a filly mentioned Grogar wearing a powerful bell on his collar. It was said to be a diabolical object of suffering, torture, destruction yet also of creation, but whatever could come from that bell, it was definitely not good. However, whenever she and Grogar spoke, he was never wearing a bell. But after seeing that he kept it under lock and key, Gusty deduced it was because that´s what he most valued. Not his empire, not his position, but his bell. It could even be the reason why he´s emperor!
“What do you have that everypony fears and the emperor appreciates so much?” she asked the bell.
Suddenly, the bell started to flicker, which confused her.
“Why is it flickering?” she wondered aloud.
“Do you want to find out why?” a deep voice asked.
Gusty froze when she heard the voice. Slowly, she turned around and saw Grogar´s angry smirk when the bell´s light showed his face. If not, Gusty would only see his eyes shining in the dark.
“Well, well.” Grogar said with a smirk. “Seems that my suspicions of you being a revolutionary backstabber were right.”
Gusty said no word. Fear completely paralyzed her for a moment. Grogar smiled amused as his bells glew.
“What´s wrong? Are you scared?” he teased her.
Gusty tried to run away but Grogar grabbed her by the neck with his magic and cornered her against the wall by slamming his hoof, making her gasp and whimper.
“How much do you know?! Who else is working with you?!” he asked in a demanding and scary tone while scowling.
“Nothing, I swear!” she replied while struggling to breathe.
“YOU LIAR!” he choked her harder with his magic. “Do you think me as a fool? I know you are here for something, otherwise you wouldn´t have entered in my study. So I´ll repeat. Whatis it that you know?!”
“I… I can´t breathe.” Gusty said.
“That´s the thing. The more you make me wait, the more I´ll strangle your neck until you stop breathing forever.” he strangled her a little more.
Gusty´s worst nightmare had come true. She had come at a point in which no matter what options were there for her, all of them would mean death. Majesty clearly stated that if she was discovered or betrayed her, she would not grant her protection anymore, leaving her at Grogar´s mercy, which everypony knew it was very few. But if she refused to speak, she would die immediately. None of the options granted her safety but only one could grant survival. And she didn´t have much time to think.
“Ok, ok. I´ll talk. But first release my neck.”
Grogar raised an eyebrow.
“You dare to give me orders?!” he ignited his horns to choke her more.
Gusty grunted as she struggled to take some air.
“No. But I can´t talk if you strangle me. I could know something important and have told Majesty through her messengers. And if you go on like this, I´ll die with my secret and maybe Majesty could attack you by surprise.”
Grogar looked away, processing Gusty´s words. He stared at her eyes with suspicion and hate. But surprisingly, the emperor accepted her request.
“Very well.” he stopped igniting his horns, releasing Gusty´s neck in the process.
Gusty fell to the floor. She gasped and coughed while massaging her neck. Then, she felt an aura of magic coming to her which tied her to the wall.
“I´m no fool slave.” he told Gusty. “I know that you´re not as innocent as you pretend to be. So I´m not letting you go until I have the information I need.”
Gusty simply sighed exhausted.
“You better start speaking now. Before I change my mind.”
“I don´t know much.”
Grogar frowned.
“That is not an answer. Rule number one of espionage: every detail is important. I´m pretty sure that self-righteous pretending queen told you that. Be more specific!”
With his magic, he applied strength to Gusty´s joints. She moaned.
“Ok, ok! I know what you said at the reunion. About the earth ponies and the pegasi. And the fact that you are suspicious of Majesty sending spies.”
“Did you tell her messengers that?”
Gusty nodded.
“How about here? How many times have you come here?”
“Once. Only now.”
“And what did you see here?”
“The map. And some sketches.”
“And lastly the bell.” Grogar finished for her. “What were going to do with it? Were you going to steal it?!” he asked full of fury.
“Nothing! I was just curious.”
“So you were curious… Of course. Fortunately for me, only I know how to use that object.” he said while looking at the bell. He turned back to Gusty with a malicious smile. “But I will show you what it can do, since that´s what you wanted to know.”
He took the bell with his magic and put it near Gusty´s face. In response, the unicorn pushed back her head against the wall, trying to get the most away from it as possible.
“As you´ve been told, I´ve used this object to kill and torture ponies like you. Bray didn´t mention this to you, but do you know which is the maximum offense in the castle? Touching the emperor´s bell. And you, my dear. You´ve just done that. Once, I´m done I will ring this bell and you´ll cease to exist. Pity, I didn´t want to do this you knowing that you have somepony to look after.”
Gusty widened her eyes terrified.
“I reckon to remember in one of our talks that you mentioned that you had… Two fillies without a father to protect them? Oh, you should have known that unprotected foals are easy target for slaves before joining Majesty.” his eyes shone as he said those cruel words.
Gusty´s breath fastened. She though that if she collaborated, she might have a chance to run away, as Grogar might order his guards to put her on dungeon. Unfortunately, it completely backfired. She didn´t have a chance to get out alive now. Celestia and Luna would be alone forever at the world´s mercy. Without noticing it, small gusts of wind appeared. Fortunately, Grogar didn´t seem to notice, as right now he was focused on making Gusty speak.
“But don´t worry, it´s a very fast death I swear. Besides, I´m still not done with you. Now tell me, who are you working with?”
Gusty was so focused on her thoughts that she didn´t hear Grogar.
“Mare? MARE!” he yelled at her as he slapped her face, making the small gusts of wind disappear.
“Ah!” Gusty exclaimed in pain.
The, she whimpered as he pulled her mane.
“Answer what I just asked you!”
“What did you just ask?”
Grogar pulled her mane harder.
“Who is working with you?”
Gusty widened her eyes. That´s exactly the only question she couldn´t answer. Sure, there was Glory but she hadn´t spoken to her or maybe she was innocent.
“I… I don´t know.”
“What do you mean with you don´t know?”
“Majesty didn´t tell me their names or or how they looked like, I can´t answer that question!” she replied anxious.
“What about those two unicorns you´re always with?”
“They are just two friends I made here. They have nothing to do with me. Please, don´t hurt them!”
“We´ll have to see if that´s true.”
“What are you going to do with them?”
“I´m going to interrogate them. If they are innocent, then neither them or you have nothing to fear.”
“But you´re keeping Majesty´s rebellion a secret! And not only hers, the pegasi´s and the earth ponys´ as well. You wouldn´t want them to know, would you?”
Grogar gave out a small chuckle.
“Then in that case, I´ll have to kill them. Did you really think that would stop me?” he shook his head. “No ma´am.”
Gusty gasped. Slowly, anxiety built in her and her breath fastened again.
“I´m truly sorry, but this is your own fault. Your two friends are going to die and your precious little fillies, unable to defend themselves are going to be at the cruel world´s mercy. All for what? Because their mother was stupid enough to listen to a scammer that could easily see that she was desperate and took advantage of her and made her do as she pleased.”
Grogar´s words pierced her heart, as she knew that he was right. This was all because of her. She started crying.
“No. This can´t be happening, this can´t be happening.” she whispered to herself as she hyperventilated.
“It is happening. And there´s nothing you can do about it. At least have some dignity not to cry. You´ve made a fool of yourself already.”
Gusty didn´t listen to him. She was still denying the situation by repeating to herself her words. Emotions had completely taken over her mind. So, gusts of wind started forming.
Grogar noticed a small breeze caressing his mane, which estranged him since the window was closed. Though he didn´t give it much importance, as he deduced it was due to an airstream in the corridor. But when they got stronger, he knew something was off. He looked all around his study, trying to figure out if there was a hole on the wall or the ceiling. But then, he got his answer when he saw Gusty. The more she cried, the stronger the wind. He widened his eyes in shock, not realizing that he had freed her.
When she hit the floor, the winds stopped. She panted heavily and stared at Grogar confused, wondering why he had unstrained her. Seeing him shocked surprised her. It reminded her that despite the fact that he was merciless and a tyrant he was still a sentient creature.
“So it is you…” he muttered as he threw a deadly scowl at Gusty.
“What?” Gusty asked confused.
He didn´t answer. Instead, he ignited his horns and fired magic. Gusty closed her eyes, as she thought that strike was directed at her. However, nothing happened to her. She opened her eyes and saw the bell glowing. When it rang, it released a black and yellow beam of magic. She jumped away before it reached her. Gusty stared horrified, as it had done a huge hole on the wall.
“This is what the bell does.” Grogar told her. “And what it will do to you!”
He fired magic at her again but once again, she got away. She ran to the door but Grogar caught her on time.
“You are notgoing anywhere!” he exclaimed as he threw her against a bookcase.
She grunted as her back hit the bookcase and fell to the floor. As it was a heavy blow, Gusty had difficulty breathing. But as much as it hurt or caused breathing, she couldn´t stay there. So, slowly she tried to get on four but Grogar put his hoof on her cheek, pressing her head against the floor.
“Will you stand still?!” he exclaimed as he kicked her stomach.
Gusty´s writhed in pain as Grogar hit her. Once he saw that she barely able to move, he chuckled.
“Cannot move anymore, huh? I´ll admit, you put up a good fight. But let me tell you a tiny detail.” he approached his head to her ear as he pressed her head harder. “You can´t get rid of me.”
As Grogar took his hoof out of her head, Gusty moaned.
“Pathetic. Just pathetic.” Grogar said.
Despite her state, Gusty had one thing clear in her in mind: she couldn´t die. Not until her daughters had grown to hopefully start living a beautiful life. Yet she was too weak to fight. Her muscles ached too much. She looked at her horn, which indicated her that her only option was magic.
She noticed a chain on a torch, which gave her an idea. But she had to act quick, Grogar was preparing the bell. As fast as she could, she ignited her horn, took the chainm wrapped it around Grogar´s forelegs and pulled. As a result, Grogar fell.
“ARGH!” he exclaimed.
Taking advantage that he was on the ground. Gusty got up and rushed out. Grogar destroyed the chain with his magic and frowned when he saw that Gusty wasn´t in the study anymore.
Gusty ran and ran around the halls all that her body let her. When she felt her body didn´t have the strength to carry on she sat down where nopony could see her. She put her hooves on her temples. What was she going to do now? She had betrayed Majesty so she didn´t have her protection. Either that or she would kill her herself. The only thing she could do was fleeing Grogar´s empire but that was impossible.
“Why am I such a fool?” Gusty asked herself as she hugged her knees and broke down in tears.
Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice talking to her.
“Gusty?”
Her ears perked up. She turned around and saw Buttons and Fizzy. The latter shook her hoof energetically.
“Girls!” she whispered as the two unicorns ran to her.
“Oh ma cherie, are you alright?” Buttons asked Gusty. “You´re full of bruises! Specially your neck.”
Gusty massaged her neck. It still hurt and from what Buttons just said, it had left a mark. She looked away.
“Here, take some water.” Fizzy offered her a canteen.
“Wh-What are you doing here?” Gusty asked them.
“Finding you silly!”
“But… how did you find me?”
“Oh, it was easy really. We just listened for the sound of complete and utter betrayal and followed that.”
Gusty sighed sadly.
“Just kidding! We managed to get out of the worker´s chambers and looked around the castle. Although I am bit mad for what you said.” her tone turned more serious.
“Me too.” Buttons added. “So, care to explain about it?”
Gusty was about to push them away, but right now they were the only ones who could help her.
“I had to. I did it to try not to put you in danger. Because… I need to tell you a secret.”
The two unicorns gasped in surprise.
“Whoah!” the two exclaimed in unison. They looked at each other.
“Did she really just say that?”
“Yes!” Fizzy exclaimed excitedly.
“But you can´t tell anypony!” Gusty clarified.
“Of course! Don´t worry, I´m not a chismosa.”
“Chis what?” Gusty asked while raising her eyebrow.
“That means that she won´t tell your secret. And neither will I. So fire away!” Buttons said in excitement.
But just when Gusty was about to open her mouth, another spoke.
“THERE SHE IS!”
The three unicorns turned around and gasped when they saw Grogar with some guards. Seeing that Grogar was wearing his bell, Fizzy and Buttons hugged each other.
“Take her.” he ordered them.
The guards took Gusty. Buttons and Fizzy tried to reach their hooves for her.
“What about them sir?” a troggle asked him.
Grogar looked at the two unicorns, who shivered in fear for his stare. Then, he looked at Gusty.
“Take them with the other vermin. All of them have to learn a lesson.”
“Let´s go!” a guard yelled at them as she poked them with the spear.
Grogar and Gusty observed how they left. Fizzy and Buttons looked at Gusty with concern.
“Turn around!” the troggle ordered them.
Gusty sighed in relief. At least nothing would happen to them.
“As I said, if they have nothing to do with it, then they have nothing to fear.” he told Gusty. “But don´t cry victory yet. We still have to see if they are innocent.” he turned to his guards. “Move!”
Once they got to the unicorn crowd, the troggle pushed them. She laughed when she saw how Fizzy fell. Buttons frowned at her while helping her friend.
“Are you ok?” Buttons asked Fizzy.
“Hm… Yes and no at the same time.”
“Well, she did push you hard.”
“Oh, you´re talking about the fall.” Fizzy thought aloud. “Nah, about that I´m good. I´m talking about Gusty.”
“Oh…”
“On one hoof I´m happy that she was willing to open to us but on the other hoof… What are they going to do to her Buttons?”
“From the looks of it, nothing good. Otherwise they wouldn´t have gathered all of us like this.” she said worried while looking at the crowd.
“Hey!” a voice called them.
Their ears perked up when they saw who was calling them.
“Glory! What a surprise!” Buttons exclaimed.
“Where were you?”
“Why would you care where we are?” Fizzy asked naïvely.
Buttons poked her.
“Ouch! I mean… Good to see you!”
“Well, since you´re close to the mare they´ve framed, I thought that you were with her.”
“Yes, but for little time.” Buttons replied.
“Do you know why they are framing her?”
“For accidentally using magic. Didn´t you watch how she moved the beds?” Fizzy asked surprised.
“Of course. But do you know if it´s because something else?”
Buttons and Fizzy shared confused looks.
“Hmm… No that we know of, no.”
“Ok. Thank you.” she nodded her head and left.
“What was that about?” Fizzy whispered at Buttons´ ear.
“I have no idea. But it´s weird that she talked to us about Gusty.”
“Maybe she´s involved in what Gusty is involved in?”
“Very likely.”
Their conversation ended when the emperor entered. Everypony immediately bowed. Fizzy and Buttons gasped when they saw Gusty.
“Slaves.” Grogar spoke. “Some of you are old, many others are new. But all of you know what the rules in this castle are and what happens if you disobey them. Well, apparently there´s a pony who didn´t listen.”
Grogar nodded at the guards to throw Gusty in front of him.
“This unicorn is a traitor to us all. She has used magic and has entered my study. And worse, she dared to come near my bell.”
Everypony gasped. Glory´s unicorns murmured between themselves whereas she covered her mouth. Buttons´ and Fizzy´s mouths hung in shock.
“You can thank her if I give you more working hours or harden your tasks.”
Gusty stared at Grogar. He knew he wasn´t to be trusted, but she didn´t expect him to say something like that. Suddenly, the other unicorns started yelling at her.
“You fool!”
“Idiot!”
“We´ll break our backs because of you!”
Fortunately for her, not all of them were yelling at her. Buttons and Fizzy stared worried. Glory and her unicorns didn´t say a word either. All of them knew that none of them were truly angry but they were also afraid what Grogar would do to them if they didn´t yell.
And not only were those ponies worried about her. Drog, who happened to be around, also looked in horror.
Gusty looked down humiliated. She closed her eyes. Grogar smiled satisfied.
“But don´t worry. She´ll be punished. But also take this as a reminder and a warning of what happens when you betray the empire.”
Gusty watched horrified at how Grogar touched his bell, preparing to fire at her. This was it. The moment she was going to die. But ponies had to know why she died. Not because she didn´t want to think she was the cause of harder working conditions or more hours or work, but because they deserved to know the truth.
“Can I say some last words?”
Grogar raised his eyebrow. Everypony looked at each other, curious about what she had to say. Glory and her unicorns, however, were worried.
“Tell me she´s not going to do what I think she´s about to do.” a stallion whispered in her ear.
“No, you may not.” Grogar denied her request with a tone that warned her to be careful with what she was saying.
But that wasn´t going to stop Gusty from talking.
“The emperor is hiding information from you! His empire is not as invisible as it seems!”
Grogar widened his eyes. He frowned.
“You´d better shut your mouth right now.” he threatened her.
“There are secret rebellions that have already taken back their respective territories.” Gusty kept explaining. “I am part of one of those! Particularly Queen Majesty´s.”
Everypony was confused by those declarations. Buttons and Fizzy looked at each other in shock. Glory and the other unicorns working for Majesty gasped. They had mixed reactions, from anger to shock.
“Oft, we´re so dead.” Glory said afraid, with her two hooves joined in front of her mouth.
“There´s also a prophecy that says that he will be defeated!”
“Silence.” Grogar´s tone grew angrier and angrier.
“So you see, he´s not untouchable. Deep down he´s just a vulnerable creature like the rest of us!”
“SILENCE!” Grogar commanded.
From the anger, his horns ignited and blasted the wall. Had it not been that she ducked, Gusty´s head would have flown off. He grabbed her by the neck and choked her. Fizzy and Buttons gasped horrified.
“Gusty!” Fizzy exclaimed while running to her, but Buttons stopped her, as she didn´t want her to get hurt.
“You said enough.” Grogar said to Gusty as he raised her to get a better aim.
As soon as the bell ignited, Gusty closed her eyes. But just when he was to ring it, he felt a lashing on his back which caused her to release it. Gusty coughed when she was back on the floor.
“WHO DID THIS?!” Grogar asked to every creature in the room.
Although the primary suspicions would be the guards, since they were the ones in charge of whipping slaves, Grogar saw Fizzy holding some sort of water whip. Buttons stared at her in shock, with her eyes quite widened and her mouth hanging.
When she noticed Grogar staring at her, she stopped igniting her horn, so the water fell. She laughed nervously.
“Agüita?” she said while showing Grogar her canteen.
Angry at what Fizzy had done, Grogar growled like a beast as his hoof touched the bell. Knowing what he was about to do, Gusty gasped horrified.
“Move away!” she exclaimed to Fizzy and Buttons.
“No need to tell us!” Buttons replied while holding Fizzy´s hoof. Immediately, they drew away.
To give them more time, Gusty jumped to his neck.
“Don´t!” she yelled.
He easily shoved Gusty off. Then, he noticed Buttons and Fizzy running to the door.
“Get them! And block the doors!” he ordered the guards.
Taking advantage that he wasn´t looking at her, Gusty got up and tried to reach her friends. However, he quickly saw her getting away.
“Where do you think you´re going?!” he asked as he picked her up.
Gusty whimpered as Grogar took her near him.
“I´m still not finished with you!”
Gusty watched at Grogar with horror. She might have earned more time thanks to Fizzy, but they were probably captured by this time, so she had no help to get out alive. Now she was really going to die. But before that, she needed to know something else.
“Was a pegasus destined to defeat you?”
Grogar raised his eyebrow.
“That´s exactly what I was going to talk to you about.” he laughed. “Well, I´m afraid to tell you that what you read is no prophecy. Just a poor fool´s dream to see me fail. So, no. There is no hope for your kind.”
“Then why did you order to kill every pegasus?”
Grogar scowled at her.
“This is not for Majesty, I swear.” she said sadly. “Just for me.”
“Of course it isn´t! Majesty only cares about unicorns. But why would a unicorn like you care about what happened to pegasi scum?”
“My husband was a pegasus!” she exclaimed angry and full of pain. “And he´s dead. Because of you.”
Gusty knew that Grogar would feel no sympathy or empathy for her. But she didn´t expect him to start roaring in laughter.
“Actually, it´s your fault that your husband is dead.”
Those words truly pierced her heart. That´s what she always thought to herself from that fateful day, that she could have done more.
“Don´t say that…” she said heartbroken. “Please…”
“But it´s true. Having known that it was you who I should have killed in the first place, your husband would still be alive.”
“Wh-What?” she asked confused.
“You haven´t realized? I thought you were smarter. Which gives me more evidence that the prophecy is wrong.”
Gusty widened her eyes when she understood what Grogar was saying.
Meanwhile, Buttons and Fizzy tried to escape the guards.
“You do realize that you could be executed for what you´ve just done, right Fizzy?” Buttons said to her in shock.
“I do, but I couldn´t let him harm her!”
“But by using magic? You could have done some sort of other distraction! You know that using magic equals death.”
“Ok, why are you scolding me? If you think about it, you´ll also be executed. For helping me and Gusty.”
Buttons took some time to answer.
“Touché.”
Just when they were about to reach the doors, more guards stood in their way.
“Well, well. What are you going to do now that you´re surrounded?” a guard teased them.
The two unicorns looked at all their directions, only to find out that the guard was right. They had circled them. There was not a single direction in which they could escape.
The two mares turned their heads and gasped.
“Ok, forget about what about I just said before, do whatever you did before!”
Fizzy bit her lip.
“I can´t.”
Buttons widened her eyes. Abruptly, she turned her head to Fizzy.
“I´m sorry. What?!” she asked upset.
“I have very little water left in the canteen.”
“Well, you can take more from the pond you formed, right?”
“But it´s likely that most of it has evaporated already. It´s not enough.”
Suddenly, the troggles started laughing.
“What are you laughing at?!” Buttons asked upset.
A troggle wiped out a tear of laughter.
“Because….” he sighed. “Because it´s entertaining seeing you angry.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WITH THAT IT´S ENTERTAINING ME SEEING ME ANGRY?!”
When she raised the tone of her voice, the troggles got scared. On the opposite, Fizzy took more lightly the word `entertaining´.
“Entertaining….” she thought aloud. She gasped excitedly. “That´s it!” she took Buttons. “Buttons, I have an idea.” she told her friend excitedly.
While Buttons was not much of an enthusiast of Fizzy´s ideas, she also knew that they didn´t have anything better to do. So, she decided to let her friend do whatever she wanted. All she hoped was that it didn´t take much time, as she turned around to see that Gusty was still on Grogar´s grasp.
In the meantime, Gusty was still processing Grogar´s words.
“No.” she shook her head. “No, it can´t be.”
“Yes, it is. A unicorn makes much more sense than a pegasus. But I don´t repent of what happened to them, as I´m not the main cause for their deaths.”
Gusty sobbed and closed her eyes.
“There, there. I know that the truth is always painful. But don´t worry, I can put an end to it and reunite you with your husband.” he said with a malicious smirk.
However, his mood quickly changed when he heard Fizzy talking.
“Alright! Alright! What shape do you want now?” she asked the troggles, who were sitting on the circle they formed.
“A dog!” a troggle raised her hand.
“No, a cat!” another troggle suggested.
“How about…. One of them.” Buttons told Fizzy.
The troggles agreed with her idea.
“On it!” Fizzy exclaimed enthusiastically.
She ignited her horn and with the water left on her canteen, she made a bubble with the shape of a troggle. The troggles cheered her. Both Grogar and Gusty contemplated estranged and confused, with their eyebrows raised.
“Bubbles? Seriously Fizzy?” she thought aloud in a whisper.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOTS?!” Grogar yelled at the guards.
Quickly, the troggles stood up. Fizzy undid the bubble. Unlike, the troggle she was calm at the emperor´s anger.
“You´re supposed to arrest them not watch their antics!”
“Yes sir!” a troggle exclaimed. Like the rest of his workmates, he pointed his spear at Fizzy, glaring threateningly at her. But his glare went away in just one second, as he noticed that something was out of picture. “Wait. Where is the other one?”
“Hey, do any of you have two spears?”
“Don´t you have one?”
“I do, but I don´t find it. That´s why I ask.”
“YOU!” a female voice exclaimed.
Everypony, troggle and Grogar turned around. The ponies gasped when they saw Buttons with a spear.
“Put her down this instant!” she ordered Grogar while pointing the spear at him.
However, the ram made no reaction. He just stared at her unamused.
“What are you doing?” Gusty muttered to Buttons.
Seeing that her warning didn´t work, Buttons walked to the ram, shaking a little in fear.
“Uh… Didn´t you hear me?!” she tried to conceal her fear by putting on her brave voice. “I said let her go! Otherwise, I´ll cut your throat!” she slightly poked his neck, to which Grogar reacted with a glare. Buttons shrank. “Please…” she asked with a nervous smile.
“You go Buttons!” Fizzy cheered her up.
Grogar rolled his eyes, calmly picked up the spear from Buttons and broke it in half.
“Hey that was my spear!” the troggle that lost his spear complained, to which Grogar reacted by gagging him with his magic.
Unlike the troggle, Gusty still saw some use on the spear. She looked at her horn.
“Well…. I suppose that´s what you want to do to me right now.” Buttons told Grogar.
“Which of the two?” the ram teased her. “The gagging or breaking you in half?”
“The gagging?”
“Guess again.”
Buttons started walking backwards.
“Fizzy… I need your help.” she called out.
“Coming! Thought it will take some time.” she said while looking all the guards she had to fight.
Buttons closed her eyes and covered her head, getting ready for the worst thing. She opened them when she heard Gusty´s moans, which caught Grogar´s attention as well. He smiled when he realized that she was trying to use magic inside his aura, knowing that it was completely impossible. But when he noticed that she was eyeing the spear´s head, he snarled. He took the spear´s head and scratched Gusty´s cheek.
“AH!” she yelled in pain.
“Gusty!” Buttons exclaimed.
She tried to reach them but a guard caught her.
“Got cha!” the troggle exclaimed victorious.
After harming Gusty, Grogar threw her away.
“Thank you for the great idea. I think I´ll try it on your friends´ eyes. But to make sure you don´t go anywhere…”
He stepped with all his strength on one of her rear legs until it cracked. Gusty shouted. Her suffering brought joy to Grogar. She noticed his expression of satisfaction.
“You should thank me. At least they won´t be able to witness your death.” he told her.
“You´re a monster.” she said full of hate.
“Like I said, I´m not the one who´s the cause of all of this.” he whispered in her ear. He turned to Buttons and smirked at her, which made a chill ran through her back. “Let´s start by the pink one, shall we?” he said menacingly as he walked to her.
Suddenly, just when Grogar wasn´t looking. Gusty started floating thanks to a pink aura that brought her to Fizzy, who struggled to keep her afloat. Grogar was quick enough to notice Gusty wasn´t there anymore, even before he could even get to Buttons.
Once she was right in front of her, Fizzy accidentally dropped Gusty but she caught her on time before her broken leg could touch the ground.
“Gusty!” You´re ok!” she said while she hugged her.
“Ok is not the word with which I would define my state right now….” she whispered. “But I´m not the one who need your help now, Buttons is.”
Fizzy turned her head and gasped when she saw Buttons captured by a guard.
“¡Ay bendito!” she exclaimed scared. “Ok. Hear me out. Run as fast as you can and get out of the castle. Don´t worry about us, we´ll catch up with you.”
“I can´t! Grogar´s broken my leg. Besides, I wouldn´t leave you at his mercy.”
“Oh. Well, in that case, I´ll drag outside the door. Once you´re out try to crawl to a place you can hide and wait us there.”
“Will you be able to escape?” Gusty asked concerned.
“Of course! As long as that door is open, you don´t need to worry about us.”
Just after Fizzy said that, they heard a door closing. Slowly, they turned their heads to the door and watched Bray locking it.
“Yeah? I don´t think so.” he told them.
“I talked too soon.” Fizzy thought aloud. “GAH!” she cried as a black and yellow aura of magic dragged her away.
“Fizzy!”
Grogar dropped Fizzy next to Buttons and tied them up on their backs. He laughed as he watched how they tried to get away.
“You should have minded your own business instead of befriending that unicorn.” he told them. “Otherwise we wouldn´t have got to this point.” he said as he showed the spear´s head to Fizzy and Buttons.
“No!” Gusty exclaimed horrified, as she couldn´t do anything to protect them from Grogar.
But thinking it better, there was one thing she could do. Something she knew very well. The core element of her magic: wind. Although a bit hesitant at first, due to fearing not being able to control it, she realized that this moment was about letting it loose not trying to control it. She frowned determined and closed her eyes for better concentration. She breathed in and out as she lighted her horn. At first it was soft, like a breeze. But with some effort and persistence, she managed to do it stronger.
The unicorns, who were watching horrified what Grogar was about to do to Buttons and Fizzy noticed wind. Looking for the source, the ponies glanced at the window, but it was closed. It wasn´t until a unicorn pointed it out that they knew where the wind came from.
“Look!”
Glory and her workmates watched in awe at how Gusty conjured up wind.
“Are you seeing what I´m seeing?” a unicorn asked her.
“Aye.” Glory replied.
Once it was strong enough, Gusty threw it towards Grogar, making him fly to the wall, releasing Fizzy and Buttons on the process. Every creature in the room gasped. Once Grogar opened his eyes, he saw how Gusty stared at him with hatred.
“Wohoo!” Buttons cheered for her as she and Fizzy ran to her
“Go! Gusty! Go!” Fizzy jumped in excitement.
They helped Gusty to stand on three legs. Grogar stood up as well. The two of them shared challenging glances.
“So you want to fight me, huh? Well, let´s see if you survive this.”
After he activated the bell, he zapped at Gusty. Luckily, she jumped on time.
“Come on! Attack me back if you dare.” Grogar challenged back.
Gusty stayed still. Yes, she could attack Grogar but how could she defend herself? Specially if he had the bell. With her leg like that, she couldn´t keep on jumping away. Besides, she didn´t know much about her magic to combat face to face with Grogar.
“No.” she told him.
Everypony gasped disillusioned. Grogar smiled.
“Very well. A cowardly but smart decision.” Grogar told her.
Gusty looked down ashamed.
“But you should have thought about it before fighting me.”
Grogar ignited his horns as he touched the bell. Buttons and Fizzy hugged Gusty to protect her, even though they knew it would be in vain. Once the bell rang, it released a blast of magic. Luckily, before it reached them. Glory and many other unicorns ran to them.
“Hold on tight!” Glory ordered them.
After she ignited her horn, she, Gusty, Fizzy and Buttons disappeared before the blast got to them. Grogar growled in fury.
“Search the whole castle!” he ordered the guards.
“Yes my emperor!”
“Lock all the unicorns in the castle! I´ll do some interrogations.”
The unicorns in the room gasped in fear.
“Yes sir!”
Despite the unicorn´s protests and claims of innocence, the guards took them all away.
“Bray!”
“My emperor?” he asked.
“Stay with me. I want to talk to you.”
Bray nodded and ran to Grogar. Once they were completely alone, there was silence in the room, which made Bray uncomfortable, as it told him that anger was building inside him.
“My emperor. Are you ok?” he asked fearful.
“Why didn´t you tell me?” Grogar replied.
“What?” Bray asked confused.
Suddenly, Grogar grabbed him by the neck.
“Why didn´t you tell me?!” he repeated angrily.
Bray struggled to take some air.
“Tell you what?”
“That she was the Wind Warrior!”
“How could have I known?”
“You told me that she had used magic. Why didn´t you tell me it was wind?!”
“I didn´t see it! I just heard a noise and then I saw that the slaves´ chambers were a mess and assumed it was her. I didn´t know it was wind, I swear. If I had known, I would have told you.”
Grogar snarled as he released Bray. The donkey coughed and gasped for some air.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I´ll kill her. No matter who I have to go through, I´ll kill her.”
“But what if she was right? About meeting your destiny on the road you take to avoid it.”
“No, she wasn´t!” he raised his voice, to which Bray lowered his ears. “She wasn´t and she´ll never be. I build my own destiny and I still have control over the future!”
“I´m just… I´m just scared of what will happen.”
“What if I told you that your destiny was being laughed at and called stupid just for being a donkey? And starving in the streets?”
Bray bit his lip and looked down.
“I, I would respond as you did, my emperor.”
“Exactly. All my life I´ve been underestimated and told that I would never get far nor have a brilliant future. And look at where I am now. Look at where you are now. A so-called prophecy won´t change that.”
Although he still had his doubts, he nodded his head, not wanting to upset Grogar anymore.
“Yes. You´re right my emperor.”
“Do not underestimate me Bray. If it wasn´t for me, you´d be no one.” Grogar said as he left.
Bray sighed sadly.
“I hope you´re right, Grogar.” he said when he left. “I really do.”
The unicorns reappeared at a corridor lit by torches.
“What just happened?” Fizzy asked aloud. “Where are we? I have so many questions!” she yelled as she pulled her curls.
“I know where we are.” Gusty said.
Buttons and Fizzy looked at her.
“Majesty´s secret passage.”
“Aye we are.” Glory said.
“Wait. You´re also in the same mess Gusty is?” Buttons asked her.
Glory nodded her head.
“Every unicorn here is. Nopony knew about it. It was a secret. Until she said it aloud.” she said while glaring at Gusty.
Gusty noticed that she was surrounded by glares.
“What were you thinking?” Glory walked towards her. “Using magic, entering Grogar´s study and then revealing us all in front of everypony? Do you have any idea the danger you subjected us all?”
“I.” Gusty looked down and closed her eyes. “I´m… I´m sorry. But I thought everypony deserved to know what was truly happening.” she opened her eyes. “That Grogar´s empire is not that strong.”
Glory and the other unicorns shared glances. They saw that she didn´t do it betray Majesty but to give hope to everypony. Glory sighed.
“I understand your motives, but it was really unwise to do that.” Glory told her. “You have lots of explanation to do to Majesty. She´s not going to be happy about this.”
“I know she said that if I failed, she would not grant more protection. But could she kill me for this?”
Glory smiled at her warmly.
“I don´t think she will.”
“Huh?”
“You could still be a great asset to us all. All of us think so. But only Majesty can decide that. Come on.” she told Gusty.
“Glory! What do we do about them?” a unicorn asked her.
She looked at Buttons and Fizzy. Buttons looked away while Fizzy waved at them.
“You can come along too. Maybe Majesty accepts them as new recruits.”
“Oh. Ok.” Buttons said.
As they walked along, Fizzy and Buttons ran to Gusty.
“So, now that we know what´s going on, could you explain who´s Majesty, what she´s doing and how you got in this mess?” Fizzy asked her.
Inside a dark and quiet room, Majesty lit one of the candles in front of a painting, a very important possession for the crownless sovereign. She left the stick with which she lit the candle in front of the candlestick. She sighed as she looked at the painting.
It consisted of two unicorns, one stallion and one mare, dressed in regalia. The latter was holding a baby in her hooves. As much as she adored the painting, it also made her sad. Those two ponies´ dreams never came true. None of them got to wear crowns on their heads, as well as their ancestors. The crowns would have made the painting more perfect than it was.
“Don´t worry, father.” she spoke to the stallion in the painting. “Bit by bit, I´m getting close to what our family deserves.”
She bowed before standing up. She turned to a sword and a wooden piece of a unicorn, surrounded by candles as well. As always, she hesitated to come near them at first, mainly due to the toy but she would end up coming near them. She sighed heavily as she sat down in front of them.
“Don´t think you got away this time, young colt.” she said to the toy as she lit the candle. “You might be separated from me but I´m still your mother.” “Plus, I think by this point you´re tired of seeing your father all the time. No offence to him, though. At least you got to know him more than I did.” she chuckled sadly. “The plague took him away just a few years after we got married. But I guess he must have told you that already, hasn´t he?”
Seeing that it had caught dust, Majesty picked up the wooden figure and cleared it out with her hoof. She smiled melancholically as she checked it.
“I know that grew out of toys, but this was your favourite when you were a foal.”
Noticing that tears were forming on her eyes, Majesty shook her head and quickly left it in place. She rubbed her eyes as she got up.
“I must go. I´ll see you next week.” she said as she left.
Just as she turned around, she saw a unicorn in front of her.
“My queen.”
Majesty gasped. She put her hoof on her chest.
“Don´t scare me like that.” she scolded. “Knock before you come in.”
“Sorry, my queen.” he apologized. “I didn´t mean to interrupt you. I know this time is sacred. But I bring important news.”
“What news?”
Gusty waited nervously for Majesty to arrive. She constantly breathed in and out as she rubbed her hooves together. Meanwhile, Glory took care of her injuries, something she took some difficulty with because of Gusty´s hooves movement.
“I don´t mean to sound rude but would you hold your hooves still? Otherwise, this will take more time.”
“Huh? Oh! Yeah sure. Sorry, it´s just I´m really nervous. And I cannot be nervous.”
“Well, you should. But at the same time, I understand you want to preserve some dignity.”
“Not because of that! I mean, yes I´m nervous because I´m going to have explain to Majesty that her work of a lifetime blew away because of me, but I don´t want to make it worse with a tornado!”
“What do you mean?”
“Apparently, since I was a filly, my magic is connected to my emotions. Normally, I can keep it under control but when I´m feeling something intensely… This has brought me a lot of trouble in the past and it still does.”
“So what ye´re saying is that if ye get too nervous, ye make some sort of tornado?”
Gusty nodded.
“It doesn´t have to be in the form of a tornado, but it always brings trouble.”
“I see.” Glory simply said, while looking away in thought. “Now, this might hurt a little.” she said while putting the cloth on Gusty´s wounds.
Gusty groaned somewhat.
“Do they look bad?”
“Ye have lots, but nothing too grave. The ugliest one though, is the bruise on your neck.”
Gusty caressed her neck. She closed her eyes.
“Did he strangle you?”
Gusty nodded.
“Many times. And he hit me too.”
She couldn´t stop replaying the scene in her head. She remembered it vividly, even the smallest details, such as the illumination of the room. But what she most remembered were Grogar´s cruel words and the pain they induced, as well as his hits or magic around her neck. Throughout her life, Gusty has been close to death many times, whether due to starvation or illness, but none of those experiences were as scary as the one she had today. She started crying.
Noticing her anguish, Glory put her hoof on her shoulder. Although she was still angry for what she did, she also understood that what she went through was really traumatic, so she wanted to show some empathy, even though she didn´t know what to say exactly.
Suddenly, one of the unicorns Glory was with at the castle, called her.
“Glory, Majesty wants to see her.”
“Tell her we´re coming.”
The unicorn nodded and rushed out. Glory turned to Gusty.
“It´s time.”
Gusty gulped but held her head high.
“Ok.”
As Gusty walked accompanied by Glory through the assembly, she felt the angry and cold looks of every unicorn who worked for Majesty. She searched for Buttons and Fizzy, as she knew they would have faces of concern for her, but she found neither of them. She did find Clover though, who was biting his lip nervously.
Though the stares made her feel uncomfortable, they were nothing compared to Majesty´s. Her angry stare could pierce into a pony´s soul, which made it very scary, almost as Grogar´s Gusty even dared to think. But at least Majesty´s eye lacked that diabolical touch that Grogar´s eyes had.
As she got closer to her, she noticed that Buttons and Fizzy were in front of her, which surprised and estranged her. She approached her head to Glory´s ear.
“Um, I know I´m the least convenient pony to ask this, but why do Buttons and Fizzy look like they´re going to be tried?”
“Because they are going to be interrogated.”
“Wait. What? I thought it was only going to be me!”
“Well, Majesty needs to know if they are trustworthy before they join.”
Gusty sighed.
“Fair enough I guess.”
Once she was standing in front of Majesty, along her friends, Glory bowed to Majesty and left them both. Gusty gulped and laughed nervously as she shook her hoof.
“It´s nice to see you again my queen.”
“I´m afraid the feeling isn´t mutual.” Majesty responded coldly. “In fact, we weren´t supposed to meet again. But from what I´ve heard, you caused such a great fuss that my spies had to come here back again.”
Gusty´s nervous smile dropped, as well as her ears.
“I said very clearly that if you were to be caught, you wouldn´t count on my protection anymore. But it seems that you have committed a far worse crime: you revealed our secret organization.” Majesty emphasized the last sentence, getting angrier and angrier. “Not only have you endangered all of us, what you have done could cost me the work that has been passed through generations! I´m not going to let it all fade away because of a coward and backstabbing unicorn!”
Gusty looked down in shame.
“Nevertheless, I´m going to give you a chance to explain yourself.” Majesty continued. “I´ll ask some questions and you´ll answer me honestly.” she walked to Gusty. “If you lie to me, I´ll immediately blast you off in front of everypony. So if you want to live, choose your words carefully. Understood?”
“Yes, my queen.” Gusty replied softly.
“And the same goes to you two.” she said to Fizzy and Buttons. “Remember that the only reason you´re here is her, which means that you are also suspects.”
“But we haven´t done anything.” Fizzy replicated.
Buttons kicked her friends leg.
“Ouch! I mean… Yes uh… Majesty?”
“My queen.” Majesty bitterly corrected Fizzy.
“Oh!” she laughed nervously. “Yes, my queen.”
“What about you?” Majesty asked Buttons.
“I have nothing to say, my queen.” Buttons simply replied. “Everything´s clear.”
“Very well. Coming back to you,” she said to Gusty. “Could you explain me how Grogar caught you?”
“I… I got into his study.”
Everypony gasped.
“You got into his study.” Majesty recapitulated. “Hm. How bold of you. But it was an impulsive action. If you had planned it carefully, you wouldn´t have got caught.”
“I know.”
“Were there any other times when you almost got caught?”
“Um…” Gusty stayed quiet.
“Remember. Answer honestly.” Majesty reminded her threateningly
“There was a time where Bray locked me in a dungeon because he suspected of me.”
“And why is that?”
“Both he and Grogar were suspicious of me from the beginning. He knew you were sending spies to the castles, your majesty. And when I came in, he saw the perfect chance of confirming it.”
“I know. But what did you say for Bray to send into a dungeon?”
Gusty looked down.
“That he was right to suspect me. But because I was new!” she added when she noticed Majesty widening her eyes.
“But you sort of implied that you knew what was happening…”
Gusty looked away while she clenched her teeth.
“Um… Your Majesty?” Fizzy raised her hoof. “Can I say something? Me and my friend were around when that incident happened.”
Majesty raised her eyebrow.
“You may.”
“Alright. You see, the reason she said that was because she was defending me. I tripped on my dress´ skirt and my hoof hurt me so bad that I was limping, don´t worry I´m ok now. Anyway, Bray thought that I was just pretending so I didn´t have to work. But this unicorn,” she pointed at Gusty. “Stood up for us, as a good friend would.”
“So, what you´re saying is that she befriended you.”
Gusty covered her face with her foreleg. Fizzy looked from side to side.
“Would it be a bad thing if I said yes?”
“So, not only did reveal yourself and all of us, but you also disobeyed my order of not getting attached to anypony that wasn´t a spy?” Majesty asked Gusty.
Although Gusty took the responsibility for what had happened, this was the only thing she found no blame in.
“Well… She was the first unicorn that talked to me. And from what you said, anypony who reached me and invited me to be with them was somepony who worked for you.”
“Wait. You actually thought that we worked for her?” Buttons asked Gusty.
“Yes.”
“That adds to the explanation why you stopped talking to us all of the sudden.” Buttons thought aloud.
“Didn´t Glory reach you?” Majesty asked Gusty.
“No ma´am. I didn´t have the chance.” Glory replied.
“Did she tell you anything about us?” Majesty asked Fizzy and Buttons.
“No. Not a word.” Buttons replied. “In fact, once she discovered that she spoke to the wrong ponies she stopped talking to us!”
“Yet you two are standing here, which means that she ended up telling you.”
Majesty´s answer caught Buttons off guard. She stretched the collar of her dress while clearing her throat.
“But she only did when she was running away from Grogar.” Buttons smiled nervously.
Majesty raised her eyebrow unamused. She turned her head back to Gusty.
“When he caught you, what did Grogar ask you?”
“No. He asked me who else was working for you, but I replied I didn´t know.”
“Then why are they here and not in the castle?”
“For protection, my queen.” Glory interceded. “It was my idea. If Grogar caught one, he would catch the others. So, I decided that we came back here.”
“Did you tell him where we´re hiding?”
“No. He didn´t ask that, and even if he did, I would have refused to answer.”
“Good, that means we have time to prepare ourselves.”
“For what?”
“Thanks to your little imprudence, Grogar is going to search the whole capital. One way or another he´ll find this place. But we´re not leaving yet, I still have a question left. Why did you say to everypony you were part of a rebellion I was leading?”
Gusty sighed.
“Because… I wanted to make ponies see that Grogar´s a creature like the rest of us.”
The unicorns raised their eyebrows confused. Majesty frowned.
“We´re nothing like him. I´m not like Grogar! He´s a monster.”
“No, no. You misunderstood. I´m not saying that we should have sympathy for him. Throughout so many years, we think that Grogar is a superior creature that has no weaknesses and who will torture us forever. But that´s not true. You have taken back your rightful territories. And you´re not the only one who´s revolting, earth ponies and pegasi are as well! That made me think that Grogar may not be as unbeatable as we think he is. He can be vulnerable as well. I thought everypony deserved to know that. And not only did I want to tell this to ponies, I wanted to make Grogar see this as well. He´s wronged us too many times, it was time somepony put him on his place.”
As she offered her explanation, ponies´ attitudes towards Gusty changed. They were still angry at her, but they understood that she didn´t do it with malice. Majesty´s stare became less harsh.
“After your words, I can see that you didn´t this out of cowardice, nor you had any intention of betraying me. In fact, I really admire what you meant to do. Unfortunately, what you´re causing those ponies is death. Thanks to what you did, Grogar´s going to torture them to confess things they didn´t do and will probably be executed. So, while idealism can be hopeful, don´t let it take over.”
Gusty covered her mouth. She didn´t think of that when she decided to do it. Her eyes filled with tears.
“I didn´t mean for them to pay. They didn´t- Why would he-”
Gusty couldn´t finish her sentence due to the guilt and shame she was experiencing.
“Let me tell you something I wish I had known when I took my father´s hoofsteps.” Majesty told Gusty. “In war, you have no control of who lives, who dies and who tells your story. That´s how it is.”
Gusty paid attention to Majesty´s face. She thought to see some vulnerability, even some sadness in her eyes. But the unicorn quickly recovered her composure.
“That´s everything I had to ask. Thanks for replying honestly.”
“What´s going to happen to her, my queen?” Glory asked her.
Majesty looked at Gusty.
“I spare your life. But you understand what happens if you get caught.”
“Yes.” Gusty admitted sadly and calmly, despite being unnerved by the fact that she was going to be unprotected.
“You may leave now.”
“Thank you, my queen.”
“Wait!” Glory exclaimed. “There´s something else you need to know.” she told Majesty.
Gusty widened her eyes. She knew what Glory was going to say. She shook her head at her.
“What? What do I need to know?”
Suddenly, Danny Hooves opened the main gates.
“Queen Majesty!” he yelled as he ran, catching everypony´s attention.
“Danny!” Majesty exclaimed surprised.
Everypony looked at each other frightened and worried. Majesty raised her hoof, asking them to remain calm.
“Queen Majesty, is the newbie with you?”
“You mean me?” Gusty asked.
“Oh there you are!”
“Danny, what´s going on?” Majesty asked him.
“Well, the thing is that Grogar has already sent guards all around the capital. But they´re not searching for us exactly. Right now, his main target is her.” he pointed at Gusty.
Majesty stared estranged at Gusty.
“Did you upset him that much?” she asked her.
“Well, if somepony had thrown me to the wall, I would be very upset.” Buttons said.
After Buttons said that, everypony stared surprised at Gusty.
“That´s exactly what I was going to tell you!” Glory told Majesty. “She has wind magic! We think it´s her.”
“Is it true?” she asked Gusty.
“No, of course not.” she lied.
“What are you talking about? We saw how you did a huge gust of wind that sent him away!” Fizzy said excited.
“Oh, right.” Majesty chuckled. “You probably don´t know, but there´s a prophecy-”
“No, no.” Gusty interrupted Majesty. “I know about the prophecy, but why do you call me Wind Warrior?” she laid her hoof on her chest.
Buttons and Fizzy raised an eyebrow at her. Majesty blinked perplexed.
“Are you mocking me?” she asked upset.
“No! It´s just why me?”
“Um… You have wind magic, hello?” said Buttons.
“And you literally made Grogar fly!” Fizzy added. “Who else does that?!”
“Well, I´m pretty sure another pony could do that…” Gusty fidgeted her hooves. “Pegasi control weather, and that includes wind too…”
“Even if a pegasus had such physical capacity, they wouldn´t get to a unicorn´s hoof.” Majesty told her. “A unicorn has magic, and thus, they will always be more powerful than any other kind of pony.”
“But maybe there are other unicorns with wind magic.” Gusty replicated.
“That might be true. Yet you are the one that stepped on Grogar´s life.”
“That doesn´t mean that others won´t!”
“Gusty.” Majesty called her name to quiet her, but it was useless, as the anxious unicorn kept talking.
“How can you be so sure it´s me? The prophecy didn´t give a exact description.”
“Gusty.” Majesty repeated more upset.
“Besides my wind magic is a disaster! It only brings disgrace. And I´m not powerful. I can´t be the one to defeat Grogar!”
“Gusty!” Majesty raised her voice.
Gusty would continue arguing on why she wasn´t the Wind Warrior, but after she saw that her words upset Majesty, she decided that it was best if she kept her mouth shut.
“Fine. Keep denying your destiny. But stop for one second and think about your chances.” Majesty circled her. “Right now, you are at a huge impasse. The reason why you came to me on the first place is because you didn´t anywhere to go to. You were desperate to make a living. And if you hadn´t been so impulsive, you could have had a stable job and not starve. But that´s not happened, is it? You have two choices: you can leave me and wait for Grogar´s henchtroggles to capture you and then be burnt at the stake or you can come with me and not only have a chance of glory and riches, but a chance to survive. You decide.”
Gusty´s ears dropped as she looked to the floor. Majesty was right. If she set one hoof outside without her protection, she would have sealed her death sentence, and thus Celestia and Luna would be motherless. She needed to be alive in order to protect them.
“If I go with you, would I have to leave everything behind?”
Majesty nodded.
“Yes. But to my understanding, you must have nothing to lose if you joined me.”
Going with Majesty was also an option that Gusty wasn´t comfortable with. If she had to leave her previous life behind that meant abandoning Celestia and Luna, which to her opinion was far worse than dying, because she would leave them alone willingly. However, there was a third option that would bring her either more trouble or success. Though the three options had potential negative outcomes, only the third one could bring her what she wanted.
“Actually… I do.”
Majesty widened her eyes.
“What do you mean?” Majesty asked her.
“The reason why I came here was because….” Gusty took a deep breathe before resuming. “I have two fillies to feed. And I was fired from my previous job. We´re living with an old unicorn that lets us in her house as long as I bring money to the house. So we had the risk of becoming homeless or be taken as slaves and separated. And I couldn´t let that happen. And if you ask me what role my husband played in this, well I haven´t got a husband that helps me to take care of them! Not anymore.”
Majesty, Fizzy and Buttons stared at her as they listened her story. They had different expressions in their faces. Fizzy and Buttons had clearance whereas Majesty was angry yet also sad.
“Ok. Now, everything makes sense.” Buttons commented.
“I guess we have the full story now!” Fizzy exclaimed. “Anything else to add about you that could explain everything?”
Though the question might have sounded rude, Fizzy said it with an innocent and cheerful tone, so Gusty didn´t take it too seriously. She shook her head.
“No. Not for now.”
“So, you´re telling me that you joined me knowing the danger it could bring to your family?!” she asked angrily, although Gusty could also see that she was heartbroken. “Specially being two fillies! Those are even more vulnerable!”
“I know but I had no other choice.” Gusty justified herself but Majesty didn´t seem to listen, as she kept talking.
“They could be killed in any minute! Do you even know how much pain brings to lose a child?!” she asked almost in the brink of tears.
“Are are you ok?”
After Gusty asked that, Majesty realized that she had lost her composure. She rubbed her eyes and took some breaths.
“You are a very reckless mare, you know that?”
“I didn´t do this recklessly!” Gusty exclaimed upset. “I knew very well the dangers this job could bring but it was that or letting my kids die!”
“But not because of this.”
Gusty widened her eyes and calmed a little.
“Huh?”
“The situation that we live forces us to do things we would never do. Including putting our loved ones in danger to protect them, despite how paradoxical it might sound. And even though I might be royalty and you a poor mare, I understand what you´re going though. This is another widow speaking to you.”
Gusty widened her eyes. She never imagined that she would have one thing in common with somepony of royalty.
“Where are your fillies now?”
“Either home or at the marketplace.”
“And where is your house?”
“Near the wall.”
“Very well. Glory! Lancer!”
“My queen?” Glory asked as she and Lancer bowed.
“Escort her to her house to get her fillies.”
“Yes, my queen.”
“You´re letting me to get them before we leave?”
Majesty nodded her head. Gusty gave a little gasp.
“Thank you!” she said as she hugged her. “Thank you so much my queen.”
Glory and Lancer shared surprised looks. Angrily, Majesty undid the hug and took the dirt off her dress.
“We´ll wait you here.” she told Gusty, Glory and Lancer.
“Yes, your royal highness.” Lancer said. “Come along!” he exclaimed to Gusty.
“Um… Talking about family, I also have a little sister to take care of.” Fizzy added.
Majesty sighed frustrated.
“Where does she live?”
Meanwhile, many ponies were at the marketplace, Celestia and Luna being no exception.
“Ok. We have the bags of grain as Mr Prickly requested. What else did she request?” Celestia asked her sister.
“Um… I don´t remember… Oh! Some herbs, she did say some herbs.”
“But we can find that on our way back home. So, off to home we go!”
As they were walking, they noticed many troggles running around. One even bumped against them.
“Out of my way vermin!” he scolded them.
“My, the troggles sure are busty today.” Celestia commented. “Is there an outlaw on the run or something like that?”
Luna noticed a troggle hanging a poster on a wall. What caught her attention was that the pony of the picture resembled their mother a lot.
“Um… Tia, I think you should see this.”
“What is it?” Celestia walked back to Luna. She widened her eyes when she saw the poster.
“Is it me or does that mare in the picture look like mom?”
“No. It does.”
“But why would mommy be in a poster? And what is it about?” Luna narrowed her eyes as she tried to read.
Though the two had a very limited skill of reading, Celestia was better at it. So, she read it aloud for her sister.
“Wan… ted.”
“Wanted? Isn´t that what they say for… criminals?”
They shared confused and scared looks.
“Ok.” Celestia broke the silence. “It could be a mistake or maybe another criminal looks like mom. It can´t be mommy. She wouldn´t hurt a fly.”
Luna widened her eyes when something came to her mind.
“Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless mommy accidentally let the wind out.”
Celestia pressed her lips.
“Well, until I have more evidence, I won´t believe that mommy is an outlaw.”
Their ears perked up when they heard trumpets. Just like everypony else, they ran to a platform.
“Hear ye! Hear ye!” a troggle yelled from a platform at the marketplace. “By imperial edict, warrant of arrest for an unicorn named Gusty, accused of treason against Emperor Grogar.”
Luna widened her eyes and looked scared at Celestia.
“Ok… Maybe there are other unicorns that are called Gusty.”
“Her physical appearance matches the following: white fur, bluish green and dark pink curly mane and blue eyes. Anypony found harbouring or helping her will be charged as well.”
“That sounds an awful like mom…” Luna said to Celestia.
Celestia blinked.
“I… I have so many questions.” Luna said to Celestia on their way home.
“Yeah.” Celestia agreed. “Treason against the emperor? How on earth did that happen?!”
“What are we going to do about Ms Prickly?”
“Not tell her. Isn´t that obvious?”
“Yeah, but sooner or later she´ll find out somehow.”
“Well, fortunately, Ms Prickly isn´t the kind of unicorn that gossips and goes out much, so it´s very difficult that she finds out.”
Luna stopped walking.
“Maybe she doesn´t need to gossip or get out of home to find out.”
“Why do you say that?”
Luna pointed at their house. At the door, there was Ms Prickly Crops talking to some troggles.
“I really should stop talking.” Celestia thought aloud before running along her little sister.
Meanwhile, Ms Prickly Crops argued with the troggles.
“I´m telling you. I have nothing to do with that Gusty!” she lied.
“If you´re lying to us there will be consequences.” one of troggles warned her.
“I´m an old unicorn, even older than you. I´m wise enough not to look for trouble.”
“Ms Prickly! Ms Prickly!” Celestia and Luna exclaimed as they ran to the house.
The troggles turned around. Ms Prickly widened her eyes and scowled at them.
“What´s going on?” Luna asked her.
“You know those fillies?” the troggle asked Ms Prickly.
“No. What are you talking about?”
Celestia and Luna scoffed upset.
“Well, they seem to know you.” the other toggle pointed out.
“That´s because everypony here knows me. Get out of here you two!”
Celestia and Luna gave a step backwards.
Meanwhile, Gusty, Glory and Lancer appeared near the house.
“You know what? If I had known that spell sooner, I would have saved a lot of trouble.” Gusty said to Glory.
Lancer smiled cockily. Glory shushed them.
“Troggles around.” she whispered.
Gusty gasped when she saw Celestia and Luna.
“Girls!” she exclaimed horrified.
Both Lancer and Glory held her.
“Not yet.” Glory told her. “We have to wait until they leave.”
“But what if they harm them and I´m not able to do anything?”
“That´s why you have to be aware of your surroundings.” Lancer replied. “So far, they aren´t doing anything to them.
Gusty watched anxiously how the situation evolved.
Luna looked at Celestia. The two nodded.
“We´re not moving out.” Celestia told Ms Prickly.
“This is our home.” Luna added.
“Was. You´re not welcome here anymore!” Ms Prickly said.
The troggles looked at each other. They couldn´t care less about the fillies but what was happening seemed intriguing.”
“You´re going to leave us for dead in the streets? What would mama think?” Celestia asked upset.
“Your mother left you for dead the moment she lost her job!”
The two fillies gasped. Even the troggles thought those words were harsh.
“Don´t you ever talk about mama like that!” Luna exclaimed, her blood boiling in fury. “At least she cares for us, unlike you! You only care about yourself! Besides, she got a new job.”
“Yeah, because betraying the emperor is such a great job!”
Ms Prickly covered her mouth. Celestia´s Luna´s eyes were wide open. The troggles frowned and pointed their spears at Ms Prickly Crops.
“I´m going to ask again. And you better answer honestly this time. Did you know Gusty?”
“Yes, yes.” Ms Prickly replied as she tried to move her throat away from the spare.
“Was she living with you?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know anything about her being a spy?”
“No, of that we had no idea. I promise, she hid that from me and her own daughters!”
As the troggles interrogated her, Celestia and Luna walked away slowly.
“You don´t believe me, fine. But do you want to know how to get Gusty? Lay a single claw on their daughters and she´ll appear. Never fails.”
“That´s actually a good plan.” the other troggle said.
“Yes,” Ms Prickly agreed. “But you´d better hurry if you want to carry on with that plan.”
“Why?”
“Cause they´re running away!”
The troggles turned around and noticed Celestia and Luna getting away.
“You two! Where do you think you´re going?!”
“Run!” Celestia told Luna.
The four creatures passed the bush in which Glory, Lancer and Gusty were hiding in.
“Ok, now it might be a great time to attack.” Lancer commented.
Gusty looked at Lancer´s shield.
“Give me that!” she exclaimed as she picked it up.
“Hey! That´s my shield!”
“Gusty!” Glory called her name as Gusty ran after the troggles.
Seeing that she wasn´t coming back, they decided to follow her.
Celestia and Luna arrived at a point in which they couldn´t no more, as the troggles ambushed them against a tree. They chuckled victoriously.
“Got cha.” one of them whispered.
Suddenly, just when things seemed to get really bad for Celestia and Luna, something hit the head of one troggle.
“What the-” the other troggle thought aloud confused.
But she couldn´t finish her sentence, as she was next. Once the two troggles were on the ground, they found out who was responsible for their loss of conscience. And the answer brought a smile to their face.
Gusty panted heavily as she held the shield.
“I´m sorry but you´re not taking my fillies today. Not today, not tomorrow. Never! You hear me? NEVER!” she talked to the troggles, even though she knew well they couldn´t hear her.
“Mama!” Celestia and Luna exclaimed excited as they ran to hug her.
“Girls!” Gusty hugged her girls tightly. “Oh, I´m so happy to see you!”
“Us too.” Luna replied. “But we´re also pretty upset that you didn´t tell us you were an outlaw.” she undid the hug.
Gusty sighed.
“You have all the right to be upset but now it´s not the time to explain. We have to leave. Now.”
“But where are we going?” Celestia asked them.
“Gusty!” a female voice exclaimed.
Gusty turned around and saw how Glory and Lancer ran to them.
“Listen. I don´t care what Majesty says, you have no right of taking my shield and using it like that!” Lancer said upset.
However, Gusty ignored his complaints and answered her daughter´s question instead.
The unicorns reappeared in a place where neither Gusty and her daughters had been before. Judging from the landscape, they appeared to be in a valley hidden by mountains. Gusty smiled as she felt a comforting cold breeze caressing her face. It had been years since she last was in the mountains, and oh how much she missed them. Maybe it wasn´t the Himarelayas, but it still felt like home.
“Khangba…” she muttered.
Celestia and Luna heard her.
“What does that mean mama?” Celestia asked her.
“Home.” Gusty translated.
“Aah, because you lived in the mountains!” Luna exclaimed.
Gusty nodded.
“Well, I´m happy you like it because this will be your new home.” Lancer said as he pointed at a building under a rock up in the mountains.
“Not our home precisely.” Glory corrected. “We´re Queen Majesty´s guests.”
“That is Majesty´s secret hideout?” Gusty asked curious.
“Yup!” Lancer exclaimed.
“Wait. We´re living with a queen?!” Celestia asked perplexed.
“You really didn´t tell them anything, did you?” Lancer mumbled to Gusty.
Gusty grinned nervously.
“But I thought the only ruler in this land was Grogar.” Luna said confused.
“No wee one.” Glory told her with a smile. “It´s true that many, many years ago, before Grogar was ruler, the land was mainly comprised of pastures. But there was also a kingdom of unicorns.”
“Majesty told me that when I first met her.” said Gusty. “But I didn´t know her family´s castle was still standing. I thought it was destroyed by Grogar.”
“That´s not a castle, it´s a monastery.”
“A monastery? Oh! Was she raised in a congregation like Grogar?”
“She was raised in the monastery, but there was not a soul in there when her family settled in, unlike Grogar´s case.” Glory widened her eyes. “Wait. How do you know that?”
“It came to my ears during my stay in the castle.”
“So you still did your job despite messing up later.” Lancer giggled but stopped when he noticed Glory raising an eyebrow, slightly upset at him.
“But their castle is still standing. Only a little bit different.”
“Really? Where is it?”
“At the capital.”
“Grogar´s castle was Majesty´s family´s?!”
“As you heard. But it wasn´t always that scary. Like I said before, Grogar took some creative liberties while reforming it.”
“And she´s been hiding there since she was a filly.”
Glory nodded.
“Then this must be really well-hidden place for Grogar not finding out.”
“Well… He actually knows this place.” said Lancer.
“What?”
“It´s a long story but Majesty will explain it to you better than us. Plus, she must be expecting us.”
“Wait.” Glory stopped him by putting her foreleg in front of her. “We must wait for the others.”
“What others?”
Just after Lancer asked that, a flash of light appeared. There appeared Lancer´s and Glory´s workmates and Fizzy arguing with a slightly smaller, but bigger than Celestia and Luna, pink unicorn. None of them could understand what they were saying, as they were speaking their tongue, but judging from their facial expressions and voice volume, they knew that the two were really angry at each other, probably for something one of them did, as all of their manes were messy, their faces full of scratches and their clothes with some tears. They shared uncomfortable or confused looks with each other.
However Fizzy´s face changed when she saw Gusty.
“Gusty! You made it!” she gave her a hug.
“I see you made it too. Although… With more struggle than me I suppose. What happened?”
Fizzy sighed tired.
“Many things my friend. Many things.”
“You had to be in the castle! YOU TO BE IN THE DARN CASTLE!” one of the unicorns yelled at the pink unicorn.
“How was I supposed to know my sister was on the run?” the unicorn said in self-defence.
“You have a sister?” Gusty asked Fizzy.
“Oh!” Fizzy surrounded her sister with her foreleg and moved her towards her, despite her complaints. “Gusty, I present to you Galaxy, my little sister! Galaxy, this is Gusty.”
“Pleased to meet you Galaxy.”
“So, you´re the one that´s behind this whole mess. Why and how did you convince my sister to do crimes?!” she picked Gusty´s clothes.
“Whoah, calma hermanita calma.” she said to Galaxy as she separated her from Gusty. “Sorry, she´s not usually like this. She´s one of the sweetest unicorns you´ll ever meet but right now she´s overwhelmed by everything that has happened.”
“How can I not be?! We almost died!”
“I know you´re nervous but don´t worry I´m no criminal.” Gusty reassured Galaxy. “Ok, yes I am, but I never ever hurt anypony.”
“Then why is the emperor looking for you like crazy?”
“That´s something we´d also like to know.” Celestia asked curious. “You said you´d explain but you haven´t.”
“Oh. Who are you little filly?” Galaxy asked curious.
“I´m her daughter.”
Fizzy gasped. She covered her mouth.
“Is this your daughter?” she asked, trying to hold excitement. Her pupils grew in size.
Gusty nodded.
“This is Celestia. Say hi.”
“Hi!” Celestia shook her hoof. “I don´t really know who you are but I see you treat my mama well so… I like you!”
“Qué linda….” she muttered in a hight-pitched voice. “Wait. I thought you had two.”
Gusty noticed something pulling her tail. She turned around and saw Luna holding her tail behind her.
“It´s ok, Luna. She´s a friend of mine.”
“A friend?” Luna asked.
“Yeah! She won´t hurt you.”
Slowly, Luna got out from behind Gusty and walked to Fizzy.
“Um… Hi. I´m Luna.” she offered Fizzy her hoof.
“Oh you´re so cute!” Fizzy exclaimed as she picked Luna from the ground and hugged her so tightly that her eyes almost popped out of her orbits.
“Ok, I know they´re very pretty but they´re real fillies, not dolls, ok?” Gusty said as she took Luna from Fizzy and put her back next to her sister.
“You ok?” Celestia asked Luna, seeing that she was massaging her temples.
“My head…” Luna complained.
“Ok, are we done with the presentations?” Lancer asked somewhat annoyed. “Because Majesty must be thinking that we got caught.”
“Right.” Gusty said.
“Sorry.” Fizzy apologized.
As they were walking to the monastery, Gusty and Fizzy explained everything to Celestia, Luna and Galaxy.
“So let me get this straight.” Galaxy said to Gusty. “You lost your job, so you went out looking for a new job and after many fails you found this unicorn who told you that you could have a great job opportunity if you followed him, and he led you to a queen who isn´t a queen and she sends to spy on Grogar. Then, you met my sister and her friend as a consequence as you took information but then you messed up and now we´re in a place nopony knows of. Is that correct?”
“Pretty much, yes.” Gusty confirmed.
Galaxy squealed, almost sounding like a flute. Celestia´s and Luna´s mouths were wide open.
“That. Is-” Luna said but was cut off by her sister.
“AWESOME!” Celestia yelled excited. “You´re the coolest mom ever!” she said as she and Luna hugged Gusty.
“Awesome? Oh no!” Gusty exclaimed in disagreement as she shook her head. “What I´ve done is very dangerous, ok? Don´t take an example of this, I beg you.”
“But you´re the bravest mama anypony could ask for!” Luna replicated with so much energy. “Bravery is something everypony admires right?”
“Oh but being brave doesn´t mean you go out looking for trouble bonny filly.” Glory told Luna. “As the saying goes, one chooses their battles.”
“But mama isn´t a troublemaker.” Celestia replicated. “Are you?” she asked Gusty.
Lancer and Glory raised their eyebrows at Gusty.
“Well…. Not intentionally…” Gusty smiled nervously.
“It´s ok.” Fizzy patted her shoulder. “I understand you perfectly.”
“And despite messing up, she still takes you under her protection? Huh. She must be a really nice and understanding queen.” Celestia thought aloud.
Lancer held his laughter while Glory looked away.
“Um… Let´s just say that compared to my previous boss, she´s nice.” Gusty explained to Celestia and Luna.
“This is not her being nice though.” Lancer said to Gusty. “The only reason why she let you in is because you might be useful to her, otherwise she would have dumped you immediately.”
“Wow. And here I thought that we had a good-hearted ruler at last.” Celestia said sarcastically.
“Oh, Queen Majesty is nothing like Grogar!” Glory told Celestia. “She might appear cold at times but that´s because she has to be like that. Otherwise, others might bring her down easily. But she´s definitely not evil.”
“Well, at least she has a good eye on who to choose.” Luna said while looking at Gusty, who looked away embarrassed.
“What does she have in mind for you?”
“Wel… I… I don´t know. A small thing perhaps.” she lied.
“A small thing?! She literally thinks you are a prophecy!” Fizzy disagreed with Gusty.
Gusty threw her a death stare.
“What?” Fizzy shrugged. “It´s true.”
“A prophecy? What is it about?” Galaxy asked.
“Majesty believes that your mother is supposed to defeat Grogar.” Lancer replied.
Celestia and Luna gasped.
“You are going to defeat Grogar?!” Celestia held her foreleg.
“Well… I….” Gusty tried to explain herself.
“I knew you had potential for any job!” Luna exclaimed.
“There might be somepony who can defeat Grogar but it´s not-”
“Did you hear it? Our mama is going to defeat Grogar!” Celestia said to the unicorns that accompanied Fizzy and her sister.
“So you better not mess with her!” Luna added.
“Girls!” Gusty called them upset. “I´m not-”
“Uh… Is there something that I missed?” Galaxy asked confused to her sister.
“I´M NOT THE PROPEHCY!” she raised her voice to get her daughters´ attention.
Celestia and Luna stared at her.
“I´m not the prophecy, ok? Stop spreading that lie!”
“But the prophecy-” Celestia replicated.
“I´m not saying that the prophecy is false. I´d actually love to see somepony teaching Grogar a lesson! It might be true. But I don´t think that pony is me.”
“Ha! Glad I´m not the only one.” one of Glory´s and Lancer´s workmates said.
“Hey! Watch with what you say.” Glory said.
“What? Don´t you think it´s unfair that after she messes up she gets to still be here with us?” the other unicorn agreed with the stallion. “And probably Majesty is going to favour that incompetent unicorn over us,” she put her hoof on her chest to emphasize her point. “who have been training and working hard for her for years and who have never messed up for once! All for some kind of prophecy that some crazy old sheep made up.”
Though those words were often in Gusty´s mind, they somehow felt like daggers in her heart when she heard them from somepony´s mouth. She actually felt the urge to cry but she held her tears. She didn´t want to make another scene with her wind magic after all.
“That prophecy could be Queen Majesty´s opportunity to return to the throne, which is what she desperately needs right now.” Glory stated.
“But do you really believe in it?”
“I do. Maybe I´m not one hundred percent sure but it could be true. And if it makes Queen Majesty feel hope, the better.”
“I wish I could share the sentiment but if I´m honest I don´t believe in it.” Lancer gave his opinion. “If it´s true, why hasn´t it happened already? Who knows when that prophecy was made.”
“Sometimes miracles take time, I guess…”
“Besides, I somewhat agree with them, it annoys me that she´s still here with us by pure luck.”
As Lancer and Glory talked, Luna noticed a soft breeze. She looked at her mother and observed that she was keeping something to herself.
“Mama?” she asked as she reached her hoof.
“We´re here!” Lancer exclaimed. “Our new secret hideout.”
The breeze stopped when Lancer´s announcement caught Gusty´s attention.
“Well, it´s always been our main secret hideout.” Glory corrected Lancer. “But from now on, we´ll live here.”
“Ok, will you stop correcting or concreting every little thing I say?” Lancer said to Glory.
“Let me think. Mhmm…. No.”
Gusty´s and Fizzy´s families observed their new home. Compared to Grogar´s castle´s elaborate architecture, the monastery was much simpler and humbler. The arcs were rounded instead of pointed and the windows were much smaller. Gusty noticed that the carvings were similar to the ones she saw in Grogar´s castle, which made her think that Grogar must have been there in the past. The state of the building gave her more evidence. There were many ruins. Only a small part of the monastery was still standing.
“Shall we enter?” asked Glory.
Glory´s voice made Gusty to come back to reality. She nodded, and thus they entered the monastery.
Despite being day, inside the monastery was almost completely dark. From what Gusty could see, there weren´t any scary statues or scenery, unlike Grogar´s castle, yet ironically, it felt scarier. Maybe because of the phantasmagorical aura that the darkness, silence, and ruin-like appearance gave to the monastery. Gusty didn´t have any evidence but she could feel that something terrible took place in this monastery, most likely Grogar being the perpetrator.
Fizzy, Galaxy, Celestia and Luna observed how Glory and Lancer illuminated their horns. A very small smile grew in Gusty´s face. Knowing what others didn´t know stressed her a lot, but at that moment she felt grateful and proud for knowing that little spell.
“Woow.” The unicorns in awe said in chorus.
“How did you do that?” Celestia asked them.
“You just have to think of having a light on.” Glory explained.
“Ok!” Fizzy exclaimed excited. She sat on the floor and closed her eyes, laying her hoof on her temple. “Light come out! Light come out!”
“Yeah… That´s not how you´re supposed to do it.” Lancer told her.
“But she said if I thought about having a light on-”
“Thinking. Not reciting it.” Lancer emphasized.
“If you talk, you´ll get distracted by your voice and thus the light won´t come out.”
“But you´re talking and the light is still on.” Galaxy pointed out.
Glory chuckled.
“That´s what practice is for.” She replied.
“Do you know how to do that mama?” Celestia asked Gusty.
“Well…” she giggled as she looked away. “A little.”
“Show us! Show us!” Luna begged.
“Uh.. Right now?” Gusty asked.
“No. Save it for Majesty” Glory suggested.
“Wait.” Gusty stopped walking. “I´m going to have to do a magic demonstration for Majesty?” she asked horrified.
“Well, d´uh!” Lancer replied sarcastically.
“We need to know what your level of magic is.” Glory explained to Gusty.
“Well, I only know that spell, so it´s not great. I think that´s enough information, right?”
“But in order to improve we need to know where to begin. Besides, you don´t have to only show off spells, in fact Majesty won´t mind about them as much as she will with your wind magic.”
Gusty widened her eyes and bit her lip. As much as she would want to run away, there was no turning back now.
“Alright...” she agreed fearful as she continued walking.
“Don´t worry mama.” Celestia put her hoof on her foreleg. “We know you can do it.”
Gusty smiled sadly at her daughters.
“Where are they? They should be here by now.” Majesty wondered as she paced around nervously on the dining room.
She was not the only unicorn in the room. There were several others, Buttons being no exception. She tapped her hooves nervously on the table, worried about Fizzy and Gusty.
“I see you´re waiting for Gusty to return as well.” a younger unicorn than her told her.
“Not only her but my friend as well. Oh, you know Gusty?” she asked surprised. Then, she scoffed. “What a silly question, of course you do.”
“Yes. But not everypony in here has talked to her. I am one of the lucky ones!” he giggled nervously. “I´m the one who brought her to Majesty in fact.”
“Of all the unicorns, you´re the one I´d least expect you to work for Majesty. You´re so young.”
“I´m not doing any risky stuff but yes, I work for her.”
“And now I´m going to as well! We should start knowing our names. I´m Buttons, and you?”
“Clover.” he shook his hoof with hers. “Huh, this is the first time a pony has received me well.” he thought to himself.
Some knocks on the door got their attention, as well as Majesty´s.
“Come in!” Majesty commanded.
She sighed in relief when she saw Lancer and Glory with Gusty. She walked to them. Buttons´ ears perked up in excitement when she saw Gusty and Fizzy and ran to hug them both, Clover following behind.
“I was worried about you.” she told them.
“Who is she?” Luna asked confused.
“She´s mama´s other friend.” Gusty replied. “Buttons.”
“And him?” Celestia pointed at Clover.
Gusty raised an eyebrow confused, as she didn´t see Clover at first. But once she saw him, her eyebrows raised in surprise.
“Oh Clover! It´s been long.”
“Yeah and I wish it had been longer!” he said with a smile.
But the smile quickly vanished when and Gusty looking down in embarrassment he noticed everypony glaring at him.
“I didn´t it mean it like that.” he apologized, very ashamed of his words.
“It´s ok, I know you didn´t.” Gusty reassured him, although she was aloof. “At least you´re not mad at me.” she smiled.
As they were talking Majesty arrived, every unicorn bowed.
“My queen.” Lancer said.
Fizzy and Galaxy imitated them. Celestia and Luna, however, stared at Majesty, who raised an eyebrow at them. Immediately, Gusty noticed that gesture
“You´re supposed to bow when you see her.” she whispered to them.
“Oh!” the two fillies exclaimed in chorus. As they bowed, they continuously watched their mother, checking if they were doing it correctly.
“Like this?” Celestia asked.
Gusty winked an eye in approval.
“Salute her.” Gusty added.
“Uh… Hi.” Celestia said to Majesty.
Gusty clenched her teeth.
“Not like that. You have to say my queen.”
“Oh! Hi my queen.” Celestia repeated.
Gusty massaged her forehead. However, Majesty didn´t take it as lack of respect. Just as a child´s ignorance that she was somewhat amused with, which showed through her smirk.
“Well, aren´t you a funny one, huh? Whenever you see me you only have to say `my queen´ not hi.” she explained to Celestia.
“Oh, ok. Sorry my queen.” Celestia apologized.
“There´s no need to apologize. Your mother´s done far worse thing and she´s here with us. But she still has to prove her worth to me.”
“Why? Don´t you trust our mama?” Luna asked curious and not maliciously.
“My. That´s a little rude to say to a queen, isn´t it?” Majesty teased her. “It´s not that I don´t trust her, I know she has no choice but to follow me because if she doesn´t she´ll end up dead. I´m pretty sure she has so much potential but I want to make sure of it.”
Luna felt intimidated by Majesty´s smirk, so she walked backwards. There was something about Majesty that made the young filly trust distrust her. Nevertheless, if she was going to reward her mother for her servitude, then there was nothing to lose in trusting her.
“Now, if it´s ok with your fillies, maybe you should start showing your magic abilities to us, will you?” Majesty said to Gusty.
Gusty gulped.
“As you wish, your royal highness.”
“Follow me.”
“Good luck Gusty!” Fizzy exclaimed, fully confident that she would slay the test.
Galaxy and Buttons smiled at her. Celestia and Luna shared worried looks.
“Stop here.” Majesty ordered Gusty once they were in front of the stand.
Gusty nodded. Majesty stood up on the stand. As she did, Gusty noticed all the unicorns slowly surrounding her, which unsettled her.
“Begin.” Majesty said.
“Where do I begin?”
“Wherever you want. How many spells do you know?”
“Um…. One?”
Gusty heard some whispers from the crowd. She saw the faces of disapproval that some unicorns wore in their faces. Luna and Celestia glared at the unicorns. Buttons, Fizzy and Galaxy bit their lips.
“Silence!” Majesty stamped her hoof on the stamp to command order. “Then do that spell you know to do.”
Majesty´s voice mad Gusty direct her look towards her.
“Ok…” Gusty said insecure.
She closed her eyes. She breathed slowly before beginning her spell. She tried to focus as much as she could, closing her eyes. However, she didn´t hear any sound of magic coming from her horn. She opened her eyes, hoping that what she thought what was happening was in her head. However, it was very real. She wasn´t able to make light come from her horn. She closed her eyes and try again, but it ended up in failure. She looked at her friends and daughters for reassurance. They were worried as well. Gusty sighed.
“I´m sorry, I can´t.”
“Yes, you can. Just focus on lighting your horn and forget that we are here.”
Gusty nodded and did as told. This time, it worked. However, the light was constantly flickering until it turned off completely. She gave Majesty a worried look.
“I don´t understand when Clover taught me that spell it worked but-”
“I only asked you to light your horn.” Majesty elevated her hoof to quiet her. “And you did as told. Now that we finished with the spell, we can go with the most important part: your wind magic.”
Gusty froze.
“I… I don´t think that´s a good idea.” she said as her breath fastened.
“Then why are you here for?” Majesty asked her angry. “Need I to remind you that´s the only reason you´re here? You´re called Wind Warrior for a reason.”
“It´s just… I have no control over my magic. What if I destroy the monastery? What if I hurt any of you?”
“Do as I tell you.” Majesty told her coldly.
Gusty shook her head.
“Do it!”
“With all respect my queen.” Glory interfered. “Maybe we need to give her more time until she feels ready.”
“And how much time will that be? We can´t afford to lose time Glory. You know that! We need to begin her training as soon as possible.”
“But you can´t force her either.” Fizzy agreed with Glory. Galaxy and Buttons nodded in agreement, Celestia and Luna with more energy. “Maybe you will be the one who ends up flying this time!”
Everypony gasped. Galaxy, Celestia and Luna stared at her surprised.
“Oh boy…” Buttons muttered.
“Be careful with how you speak to me!” Majesty said to Fizzy angry.
“Ok, ok. That sounded very disrespectful. But what I mean is that you can´t force her if she´s not comfortable right now.”
“Exactly!” Celestia stamped her hoof. “Mama´s power is something she´s very sensitive about. Imagine having been shamed for your magic and suddenly now somepony´s forcing you to use it. How would you feel?”
After Majesty heard Celestia speak, she cooled down a little. However, she wasn´t still convinced. As they were arguing, Gusty took the chance to run away to somewhere she could be alone.
“Mama!” Luna exclaimed as she ran after her mother.
“But she´s our only hope to defeat Grogar. She won´t survive if she doesn´t use her wind magic. It´s the key!”
“But these things take time.” Galaxy pointed out. “You can´t expect her to be so willing to do it. Maybe we could give her a day at least?”
Majesty raised her eyebrow.
“Well, she has to train anyway so we aren´t losing that much time.” Clover argued as he shrugged.
Galaxy supressed a giggle when Clover did that. He blushed a little. Majesty sighed.
“Fine. Gusty, you don´t-”
She widened her eyes when she didn´t see her anymore.
“Where is she?”
Celestia noticed that Gusty wasn´t the only one missing. Luna was too.
“Mama? Lulu?”
“She ran away didn´t she?” Buttons said sarcastically.
“Yup.” Fizzy agreed.
“Divide in groups. Search throughout the whole monastery.” Majesty ordered everypony calmly. “I´ll come with you.”
Seeing that Celestia was nervous, Buttons laid a recomforting hoof on her shoulder.
“It´s ok. We´ll find them.”
“I know we will! I´m just worried about mama. This will be something very difficult for her, you know?”
“I can imagine.”
Celestia noticed that Buttons stared at her for some time, which made her a little uncomfortable.
“What? What is it?” she asked nervous.
“You look exactly like your mother, you know that?”
Celestia smiled.
Gusty was sitting in the floor of a dark room, feeling a bit better yet guilty. She knew she had to show her wind magic if she wanted Majesty to protect her but she was scared of losing control and harming her or one of her followers. Her wind magic was something that sometimes she wished that wasn´t her talent. But at the same time, it gave her good memories. She smiled at her phoenix feather necklace.
“Mama?”
Gusty turned around and saw Luna.
“Are you ok?” she asked as she walked to her.
“Well…” she hugged her knees. “Not really.”
“You are afraid of using your wind magic, right?”
Gusty nodded.
“It´s just unsettling. Like your sister pointed out, you´re used to everypony judging you for your magic and suddenly it´s the total opposite. And it´s awful to have everypony believing in you when you believe that your magic only brings disgrace.”
“But it wasn´t always like that. You sang us lullabies playing the melodies with the wind and we played with your breezes. But after that day… You stopped.”
“Because when your father was around, I had a cover for my magic. Whenever anypony saw breezes or melodies in the wind, they would think it was a pegasus doing that, not a unicorn. And after what happened, I became more conscious of the magic restrictions. I didn´t want you to lose me like I lost your father.”
Luna hugged Gusty.
“You didn´t have to sacrifice what made you happy for us, mama.”
“Lulu. You and your sister are a million times more worth than my magic. I didn´t sacrifice anything because you two are what bring me happiness.”
Luna smiled at Gusty.
“And before dad, were you like this?”
“Well, when I was with my family it was a bit different because in that time I didn´t have the cover that your dad gave me. But when nopony nor troggle was around, I practiced my wind with magaga. I even did some demonstrations for my parents as well.”
“But then the plague happened…”
Gusty nodded.
“And until dad came you had nopony that admired your magic. That must have been very hard for you.”
“There was somepony, actually. Well, not a pony. A sheep.”
“A sheep?”
“Yes, but I met her once. After that time, I never saw her again.”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
“Ok. It happened one year or two after my family died and long before the master brought your father into his house. Like everyday, I was having trouble doing my chores, but something unexpected would bring me some joy…”
In a different city to the capital, the streets were full of busy ponies doing several tasks such as carrying heavy lifts in their backs. All of them had tiredness in their faces but some perked up their ears and lowered their heads to glare at somepony.
“Sorry! Sorry!” a child-like voice apologized.
The voice came from Gusty, who was a filly at the time. She was carrying two bags of wood much bigger than her at both sides of her back, making it more to control her movements so she pricked somepony from time to time, even if she didn´t mean to.
“Watch where you´re going!” a mare yelled at her.
“Sorry, I didn´t mean to!” Gusty would apologize.
Luckily for her, she arrived at a street that wasn´t so busy. She quickly sat down as she panted aggressively.
“Ok. Mama, papa. I´m so sorry for complaining about you taking so long to get home.” she said as she looked at the sky. “I took the wood at morning and I still haven´t got home. And it´s afternoon!” Gusty sighed tired. “At least now that master´s not home, I can take it slowly. Which means I can get some rest now.”
But she could not be more mistaken. Her ears perked up when she heard a scream. She turned her head and saw a group of foals older than her throwing a hooded figure against a wall. From the impact, the hood fell, showing that its bearer was a sheep.
“Careful with the hips! Don´t you see that I´m old?!” she exclaimed angry. “Maleducao.” she muttered under her breath.
“Watch out with how you speak to us grandma!” the eldest of the foals ignited his horn. “Unlike you, we have more strength, we´re more agile, smarter and… we don´t limp.” he looked at her right rear leg. All the foals giggled maliciously.
The sheep however, didn´t take it seriously.
“Tú eres tonto, right?” she asked, but they didn´t hear her.
Gusty frowned in anger. Without thinking it twice, she decided to intervene.
“Hey!” she exclaimed to get their attention.
Both the sheep and the foals turned their heads to Gusty.
“Leave her alone!”
She tried to walk to them, however, the lift of the two bags of wood made her walk in a strange manner rather than in an intimidating one. The foals laughed whenever she tried to recover her balance.
“Or what little filly?” one of the foals said. “You´ll fight colts that are older and taller than you?” he walked to Gusty to intimidate her.
Her ears dropped as she walked backwards.
“Well, I…”
“Because if I were you I wouldn´t.”
“And if I were you I wouldn´t steal an elder. Didn´t your parents teach you to respect elders?!”
“That´s the thing. We´re orphans you stupid!”
After hearing those words, Gusty softened up.
“Oh… I´m so sorry. I didn´t know. I myself had parents but they recently died and I felt devastated. I can´t imagine what it feels like not having them at all. It must be very hard.”
The foal looked at her surprised. He looked back at his friends.
“But I´m pretty sure they wouldn´t have liked what you´re doing.” Gusty continued.
“Shut up you freak!” he pushed her.
Gusty´s fell on her back, as well as the wood. The foals laughed at her.
“Look at you! You thought that you could scare when you can´t even resist a push!”
The sheep watched horrified at how they were treating Gusty, so she decided to intervene.
“Ok, ok. Enough with her.” she said as she slowly got up. “You wanted to steal me, don´t you remember?”
“Huh? Oh yeah! Give us everything you have!” the leader said.
“I have some money.” she took a bag of coins from her cloak. When the colt was about to get it, she quickly moved it away. “Eh, quieto parao. What´s the magic word?” the sheep tilted her head.
“What magic word?! I´m not in the mood for joking!”
“It begins with a p…”
“Haven´t you heard?!”
“Pl…”
Gusty raised an eyebrow confused. As the foal yelled frustrated at her, the sheep looked at her and winked an eye at her. Then, she pointed at the street. Gusty understood what she meant but she didn´t like that suggestion.
“I can´t. What about you?” she mumbled.
The sheep smiled at her, telling her everything would be alright. Slowly, Gusty left them.
“Please… The word is please.” the sheep told them. “Can´t believe it took you so long.”
The foal finally took it away. He was about to order his friends to go, but something golden around the sheep´s neck took his attention. It seemed like a pendant although he couldn´t see how it looked like, as it was under the sheep´s shawl.
“Actually, I don´t want your money. I want that!”
The sheep´s face quickly filled with fear. Before she could do anything, the foal had already put his hoof on it. Fortunately, she held it before he could take it away.
“No no no! Stop! Stop!” she begged desperate.
Gusty held her yells and turned around. She gasped.
“Stop it!” Gusty commanded as she frowned up.
Without realizing it, her horn lit and conjured up a wind that pushed the foal backwards. Everypony gasped and stared at her. The sheep was surprised as well. Gusty covered her mouth.
“Oh, you´re so in trouble.” the foals´ leader smiled evilly. “Look for a troggle.” he ordered one of his friends. “We´re going to communicate a breach of the law of not using magic unless for work purposes.”
Gusty said no word. She simply put her hooves in her mouth and fastened her breath. The sheep noticed that slowly, a breeze formed around her. Then, she looked at the foals laughing. She clenched her teeth and frowned as she exhaled air through her nose. She dug some soil with her front leg. Gusty widened her eyes when she noticed that something was shining underneath her shawl. Suddenly, the foals began to float in a blue aura.
“What the? What is going on?” the leader asked.
The aura moved them towards the sheep and turned their bodies so they would be facing her. They felt shivers when they saw her angry face. She channeled the magic through her hoof.
“Back home, we had a word to call those who didn´t have shame. What was it like? Oh yeah. CARADURAS! How dare you?! First, you disrespect an elder and tried to rob her, then, you mess with a filly smaller than you that showed compassion and empathy for one of you and lastly you want to inform the troggles for something she did unintentionally?! Have you no sense of honor?!”
As she spoke, her eyes glew, which frightened the foals more. Even Gusty was intimidated.
“None of you are going to say a word! You hear me?! Because if you do, I´ll make sure you learn a lesson. Understood?!”
The foals nodded their heads.
“Now, apologize to her!” he faced them towards Gusty.
From the fright, the foals couldn´t speak.
“NOW!” she shook them-
“We´re sorry, we´re sorry!”
“Uh… No problem?” she giggled nervously. Gusty was mad at them, however, she didn´t want the sheep to do anything to her if she didn´t accept the apology.
“Hey guys!” the foal that left to find a troggle said as he came back. “There´s one troggle around-”
But after he saw what was happening, he decided not to continue.
“There´s your friend. Remember: you talk, I´ll intervene.”
“Yeah, yeah!” the foals shook energetically their heads.
The sheep released them. Once they were on the ground, the foals ran away terrified. The sheep smirked satisfied.
“That will do.” she turned to Gusty. “Are you ok chiquilla?” she asked with a much different tone to the one she used with the foals as she approached her.
Much like the foals, Gusty was in shock. The sheep bit her lip when she noticed her face.
“Sorry, I didn´t mean to frighten you. But sometimes you have to show you´re the one who´s in control. I´m not going to hurt you really.” she smiled tenderly.
Her smile was so warm that it comforted Gusty.
“Um… Ok. Thank you for defending me.”
“Ay, it was nothing really. In fact, I should be the one thanking you.”
“For what?”
“For standing up to those foals! You put yourself in risk for me.” she put her hoof on her chest.
Gusty widened her eyes. This was the first time
“Well, it´s been nice to meet you. I´d love to talk more but I must get this to my master´s home.” she said as she put the wood back in the bags
“Oh, don´t you want me to help you?”
“No, no, it´s not necessary really.”
“I might limp and not be young, but I can do some things. I can´t carry heavy lifts like yours but I´d love to help you with lighter ones. I don´t know how though…”
“Well, you can use that… thing.” Gusty put her hoof on her chest.
“Oh! No, no. I can´t use this in public. Not using magic unless for work purposes, remember?”
“Well, you´re doing work.”
“Yeah, but I can´t use it.”
“But you just-”
“Because there were no troggles around.”
“Alright, then how about your cloak? I saw you took a bag of coins out of it, so I suppose you had pockets?”
“That´s actually a good idea. You´re quite clever!”
“That´s not true, anypony could have come up with that idea…”
“Oh don´t be modest chiquilla.” she said as she opened her cloak so Gusty could put small pieces of wood on it.
As she did, she noticed that the sheep was wearing something in her hoof.
“Can I ask what is that you´re wearing in that hoof?” she asked as she pointed at it.
“Oh! That´s a lift for my hoof. You see, long long ago, when I was born, one of my legs was shorter than the other. And that made walking very difficult. But with this it makes it easier.”
“Is that why you limp?”
The sheep nodded.
“It looks a bit bothersome.”
“Nah, what´s more bothersome is having to explain to strangers why you limp. Now that´s bothersome.”
“Sorry, I didn´t mean to upset you.”
“It´s ok, I´m used to it. Besides, you´re just a curious filly, not a rude grown up. My physical abilities might not be the greatest but my intellectual ones… Oof! In my village I was considered the smartest lamb because I knew many poems.”
“Where was your village?”
“It was in the land where Foaledo is found, chiquilla.” she sighed nostalgically. “Oh, I remember the olives and the mountains… My village wasn´t near it but in my homeland there´s a beautiful blue sea. Wish I could have seen it before I left.” her smile disappeared and turned into one of sadness. “But the important thing is that we come back to that place through our memories. And I have quite many. For example, when I was a very tiny lamb, I used to do the laundry in the river with my mother…”
“After that moment, I understood how in the right my mother was. She always said: Think before you act. And I never listened to her. And look what happened!”
“Wow, you really have many stories to tell…” Gusty said, somewhat tired of how talkative the sheep was.
“I know, I know. Once I start, I never stop. But my family was far worse. Those never shut their mouths!”
“Well, this is it. My master´s house.”
“You are a slave?” the sheep asked sadly.
Gusty nodded.
“At the capital, there are creatures who trap foals and sell them. After my family died, I was completely on my own and I was captured by one of those. That´s how I ended up here.”
The sheep looked down with guilt.
“Hey, don´t feel bad. It´s not your fault.”
The sheep shook her head with a sad smile.
“One thing before you go, I wanted to say thank you for being kind to me. You remind me of magaga. That´s how we called our grandmothers back home.”
“But of course, you are an amazing filly.”
“No, I´m not.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You only say that because you haven´t seen what happens when I´m feeling a strong emotion.”
“I did. I noticed a breeze around you when you were scared.”
“Whenever that happens, I only bring trouble with my winds.”
“Trouble? You defended me with them!”
“Yeah, but back home in the Himarelayas and when I came here, I did nothing with my magic but destroying crops or causing hurricanes!”
“Wind is a complicated phenomenon. It can bring destruction, but it can also offer coolness in the hot days. So, it´s not necessarily a bad thing. It all depends on how you see it.”
Gusty widened her eyes. This was the first time somepony outside of her family said something positive about her wind magic.
“Well… I can also play some melodies in the wind…” she smiled sadly.
“See? Not only your magic is beautiful, but most importantly, you have a kind heart. The way you sympathized with that foal was amazing.”
“Well, my family always told me to be kind to others. Maybe that´s just what they need.”
“I wish that was true. I wish that was true…” the sheep muttered sadly under her breath.
“But there´s always a possibility! I think just because of that possibility is always worth trying.”
The sheep gave her a warm smile.
“Never change, chiquilla. Never change. You´ll go far. I can see it.”
The sheep turned around and looked at the horizon.
“I must go. They must be expecting me.”
“Wait? You´re going?”
The sheep smiled at the filly.
“You´re not the only one who needs me, chiquilla.”
“Oh.. I see…”
“I mentioned before that I liked poems. Would you like me to tell you one before I leave?”
Gusty nodded.
“Well. Early woke up the count at a morning of June….”
“After she told me that poem, she left. And that was the last time I saw her.” Gusty told Luna. “And the worst part is, I didn´t get to know her name.”
“That´s a beautiful story mama.” Luna commented. “Though I´d love to know who that sheep was.”
“Me too! Or at least know what happened to her. Who knows, maybe Majesty knows. Talking about it, I should probably come back. Or not, maybe they are looking for me already.”
“Yeah, it´s very likely.” Luna agreed.
Mother and daughter looked around the room. They were so focused on their thoughts and the story that they didn´t pay attention to their surroundings. The room they were in was pretty messy, with broken furniture and mirrors.
“Is it me, or does this room looks like the most destroyed?” Luna asked.
“Yeah. Something very big must have happened here. A fight I would say even.”
Then, something rusty on the floor caught her attention. It looked like the pendant that the sheep was wearing, but maybe it was just her imagination. She walked to it, Luna following behind.
“Mama? What is it?” she asked as Gusty picked up the object.
There was no doubt, it was the sheep´s pendant. But the jewel it bore was broken. That´s when she knew what the fate of that sheep was.
“This was her pendant. This is where her magic came from. But now, there´s only pieces of it.” she said with sadness.
“So she was…”
“Probably, yes. But by whom and how did it end up here?”
Suddenly, Luna noticed something green on the floor. She approached it and pulled it towards her, cutting her hoof in the process.
“Ouch!”
“Lulu? Are you ok?” Gusty walked to Luna.
“Yeah, I´m fine. It´s just a cut.”
“How did it happen?”
Luna pointed at the green thing.
“Luna, I told you to be-”
Gusty couldn´t finish her phrase. She realized that the green thing had the silhouette of her face.
“Is that… You?” Luna asked.
Gusty did not answer. Shock didn´t let her speak.
“Mama?”
As she looked up, she noticed more green pieces. She ran to them. She sat down in front of them, picked one and joined it to the one she had. Her theory was proven right, since the pieces fitted perfectly, a small light appearing when together. The two ponies looked at each other before Gusty continued. Slowly, Gusty solved the puzzle. Once it was complete, her eyes widened.
Together, the green pieces made a picture of Gusty underneath Grogar´s head looking down at her, his eyes in a frown. Gusty also had a determined look on her face.
Gusty panted heavily. Now everything made sense. She covered her mouth with her hooves.
“She chose you mama… She chose you.”
Gusty said no word. Slowly, breezes started to appear.
“Mama, are you ok?” Luna asked to her mother concerned, seeing that she didn´t speak.
Nevertheless, she wasn´t prepared for her mother´s response.
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Gusty cried, creating a short but intense gust of wind that almost sent Luna away, hadn´t she held on to her mother.
“Whoah!”
“Sorry! Sorry!” Gusty apologized quickly as put her foreleg around Luna. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah, I´m fine. So… what now?”
Gusty took time to answer, as shock didn´t let her talk.
“I… I don´t know.” she put her hooves on her temples.
Meanwhile, Celestia and Buttons passed by the room´s door. The filly gasped when she saw her mother.
“Mama! Lulu!” she exclaimed happy as she ran down the stairs.
“Careful, careful.” Buttons reminded her, worried that she would get hurt.
Celestia´s voice caught both her mother´s and sister´s attention, causing the breezes to stop. Once she was near them, she hugged them both.
Glory leaned out. She sighed in relief.
“She´s here!” she called out to Majesty and the other unicorns.
“I was so worried about you! Where were you?!” Celestia asked upset to her family as the unicorns entered into the room.
“Sorry I…”
Seeing that her mother was having difficulty to speak, Luna finished for her.
“She needed to be alone.”
“I know, but next time tell me so I can go with you too!”
She toned down her anger when she noticed Gusty´s face. She sighed.
“Don´t worry mom, I know you didn´t mean it, but you really scared me. Even so, I hold no grudge.”
“She´s not like this because of that…” Luna explained.
“No? Then, why?”
Luna signed the prophecy with her eyes. Buttons and Celestia widened their eyes.
“Uh… Is this what I think it is?” Celestia asked incredulous.
Both Gusty and Luna nodded.
“Sacre bleu…” Buttons said in shock.
“There you are!” Majesty said as she made her way through the ponies. “If we are going to work together, you can´t-”
She stopped speaking when she saw the prophecy. She looked at Gusty, her mouth hanging from the shock. The latter smiled nervously.
“I… Was feeling overwhelmed due to having to use my wind magic so I ran away because being alone helps me to calm down,” Gusty explained gibbering. “but my youngest daughter found here and we talked, in doing so I told her about something that happened to me when I was a filly, which is me meeting a sheep I never saw again, and you were right about me being the Wind Warrior, because apparently that sheep really liked me, as when I finished the story I found her pendant and many green pieces on the floor, I joined them together and made this picture, which is me facing Grogar, meaning that the sheep chose… Me?” Gusty shrugged with a nervous smile.
Majesty said no word. She simply approached the prophecy, sat down and picked it up, examining it profoundly.
“Queen Majesty?”
“So it was here all this time…” Majesty thought aloud.
“What do you mean it was here all this time? I thought you knew.”
“I was never a hundred percent certain the prophecy was real.” Majesty clarified. “I came to know of its existence because of my family. They had heard it from spies and have searched for it for ages.”
“Is that one of the reasons you moved here?” Glory asked.
“Exactly. We never found it, but it must be because we searched for a paper not a crystal… Besides, none of us wanted to explore with detail the underground rooms.” Majesty bit her lip.
“Really? Why?” Celestia asked
Suddenly, they heard a scream. Everypony´s ears perked up.
“What was that?” Lancer asked with an eyebrow raised.
Galaxy looked around the room and realized one little thing.
“Fizzy! She´s didn´t enter with us, did she?” she asked Clover.
“No.” Clover shook his head, sharing Buttons´ worry.
“Now that I think about it, she didn´t enter with us either…” Buttons said as worried.
“Then where is she?”
“We know where she is. Follow us.” she approached Gusty´s ear. “You might want your daughters to wait outside, Gusty.”
Gusty and her daughters shared estranged looks.
Gusty, Celestia, Luna, Buttons and Galaxy followed Majesty, Glory, Lancer and Clover. They stopped in front of an arch.
“It´s here.”
“Are you sure you want to enter, my queen?” Glory asked her.
Majesty sighed
“I am not a little filly anymore. I´ve watched worse. And it´s time I enter.”
Lancer and Glory accompanied Majesty downstairs. The rest of the unicorns, except for Clover. widened their eyes.
“What is inside there that Majesty of all unicorns doesn´t want to enter there?” Galaxy asked shocked.
Clover looked away.
“It´s better if you see it yourself. But I´ll warn you it´s not pretty.”
“I´m not afraid of ugly.” Galaxy said confidently.
Clover smiled at her before he, Galaxy and Buttons went downstairs.
“Do we have to wait here like Majesty said?” Luna asked Gusty.
“Maybe it´s for the best.”
“Alright…” Celestia said in response. “But you´ll tell us what´s in there no matter what?”
“Yes. But it might be very terrifying. You don´t mind, do you?”
“Nope!” Luna replied.
Gusty chuckled.
“We won´t be long.” Gusty told them before going downstairs.
The two fillies nodded, watching intrigued how their mother entered the mysterious room.
Once the stairs were finished, she noticed the looks of horror in the ponies´ faces. She understood why once she turned her head in the direction they were looking. She gasped horrified at the sight and closed her eyes.
“Welcome… To the bell room.” Lancer said ironically.
“The bell room? Why that name?” Buttons asked confused.
“Because of what you´re seeing.”
“Does that look like a bell to you?!” Fizzy yelled.
“To Grogar it was…”
Gusty opened her eyes again but struggled to watch the `bell´. Said bell was comprised of twelve skulls, eleven on the floor and one of them hanging on the ceiling, tied to a rope. Gusty remembered what Drog, the troggle, told her about Grogar´s past. That´s when she realized what place they were in.
“This was Grogar´s congregation, was it?”
Majesty nodded.
“How do you know that?” Fizzy asked.
“Because I said it when we were on our way here.” Lancer said proudly.
“No actually I didn´t pick that.” Gusty said with an apologetic smile.
Glory held her laughter when she noticed Lancer´s face of disappointment.
“I guess this happened the day he burnt it.” Gusty continued.
“Not exactly. It happened in two separate days, but this is what led to the burning.” Majesty explained.
“So… Why did he do this?” Galaxy asked.
“Well, he hated this place.” Gusty replied.
“Not only that, it was also a demonstration of power.” Majesty added. “Not many know this, Grogar wasn´t always seen as the tyrant you don´t mess with. I don´t know all the details but my family said that he was a weak lamb.”
“And that must have made the masters think that he was no fit for a king…” Buttons deduced.
“That´s right. So, tired of being underestimated, one day he told to twelve masters that his first action as a king would be building a bell that would be heard throughout the whole kingdom. His masters laughed at his face but attended anyway to show they were right.”
“But Grogar was the one who was right. The bell he built rang throughout the whole kingdom.” Clover said. “And so would the one hanging from his neck.”
“Days later, Grogar was tried for this crime and just when he received his sentence, he unleashed his power.” Glory finished the story.
“And that´s when the building burnt.” Fizzy figured.
“Precisely. That´s how his days of conquest began.”
“No wonder his master read that prophecy!” Lancer commented. “Even though it wouldn´t work.” he muttered the last part.
Gusty´s ears perked up.
“His master read the prophecy?”
“Yeah. That´s why they don´t even mention her name!”
“And what was her name?”
“Lucena.” Glory replied. “Her name was Lucena.”
“Lucena…”
After years of wondering her identity and name, Gusty finally got them. But she still had lots of questions. What happened between her and Grogar? Why did she think that she would be the one who would defeat Grogar? There was still so much she didn´t know.
Could you tell me more about her?”
Meanwhile, at Grogar´s castle Drog and his friends were waiting nervously, Drog pacing around constantly. He stopped when the door was opened by some troggles. They exhaled tired.
“So?” Drog asked anxious.
“Nothing. Thankfully, none of us found her.” one of the troggles replied.
Drog and his friends sighed relieved.
“So that means that this is the beginning of Grogar´s fall, right?” a very young troggle asked.
“Yes.”
“I wish I could be as confident about that as you, Drog.” a female troggle told him.
“Well, that´s what helps me with my day to day.”
“In my case it doesn´t. And I´m pretty sure it´s the same for everyone here. Am I right?”
The other troggles nodded in agreement.
“Come on Yrsa…” Drog told her.
“Don´t come on me!” Yrsa replicated. “I´m just being realistic. If that prophecy is true why did it take so much time to happen?”
“I guess it´s a matter of time?” Drog replied a bit unsure. “Besides, most of the time her prophecies turned out to be true.”
“It could have been pure chance.”
“Or not! Don´t you see? We could be at the very beginning of our freedom!”
“Um… Whose prophecies are we talking about?” the youngest troggle asked.
“Lucena´s!”
Suddenly the door opened in a blow. The troggle gasped when they noticed that it was Bray who was responsible for the loud noise. The donkey´s eyes were widened and vigilant.
“Bray!” Drog laughed nervous. “Geeze… you scared us.”
“Sorry. It was not my intention.” he closed the door with the same intensity he had opened it. “I was just here to ask about if you had found Dusty.”
“It´s Gusty….”
“Whatever. I was here to ask about her until I heard the name, we do not speak.”
“You mean Lucena?” the young troggle asked innocently.
Quickly Bray, covered his mouth.
“Exactly! And if you want to stay alive don´t you ever say it again! Especially now. Thanks to that stupid unicorn, the emperor is so mad that he could destroy any of you at any minute. You hear me?!” he shook the troggle.
“Ok, ok. I think he gets it.” Drog gently separated the two.
“So did you find her?” Bray asked to the troggles that were commanded to search for Gusty.
“No sir.” the troggle lamented.
Bray sighed.
“Great. The emperor will be so happy!” he said ironically.
“But what does this have to do with Lucena?” the young troggle insisted.
Slowly, Bray turned to the young troggle.
“We don´t talk of Lucena.” he stated firmly.
“Come on Bray. He deserves to know. All of the troggles know about her and he should be no exception.” Drog put his hand on his shoulder.
Bray quickly shoved his hand off.
“We don´t talk of Lucena, no, no.” Bray hit Drog´s chest with his hoof. Then, he faced to the young troggle. “We don´t talk of Lucena. But! She could see the future.”
“Was Grogar´s master.” Drog added, making Bray upset both for being interrupted and calling the emperor by his name.
“Raised and taught him magic and considered him as her own son.”
“The two were mother and son.”
“But years passed by and the rules he´d defy.”
“Murder!”
“You´re telling the story or am I?!” Bray yelled at Drog.
“I´m sorry sir don´t kill me.”
Bray rolled his eyes.
“Seeing he gave her so much pain.”
“A prophecy was born.”
“A Wind Warrior was on her way.”
“Her pendant in pieces was torn!”
“She became into dust in vain!”
“What a big mistake but anyway,”
“We don´t talk of Lucena no no. We don´t talk of Lucena.” Bray and Drog sang together.
None of them knew that Grogar was walking around and heard them. He opened the door and entered the room, surprising.
“Hah! Just because the so precious Wind Warrior is on the run, doesn´t mean that the so-called prophecy has begun. I am the one who is in control in here. Sh! Sh! Sh! It´s a pity she has to suffer the consequences due to a sheep that couldn´t come into her senses, nonetheless I won´t stop until her last breath I hear!” as he sang he went up some boxes that formed a stair. His steps got louder and louder.“Is that perfectly clear?!” he asked, intimidating Bray and the troggles.
At the same time, Gusty was listening to Glory.
“A childless sorceress, escaping from war, thought it was a bless to find Grogar on the door. Only to have him constantly saying,”
“Hey!” Fizzy and Galazy vocalized.
“We don´t talk of Lucena no no. We don´t talk of Lucena.” Bray, Drog, Grogar and Glory sang.
“Every time she said what would happen, then boom!” Clover exclaimed.
“Because.” Fizzy and Galaxy said.
“She must have always been right! That´s what I assume.” Buttons commented.
“Because!”
“But what if what she truly saw was her inside in a tomb?” Lancer suggested.
“Because!” Galaxy sang.
“Hey…” Fizzy said upset at Lancer.
“Your fate is sealed when your prophecy presumed!”
“They told me that the life I worked for would be promised if the prophecy´s true.” Majesty sang as Gusty stared at her confused with her eyebrow raised, not sure if she should feel happy for her or angry for not thinking of her.
“They told me that our kingdom would grow and be of the greatest virtue.”
“Hey, why are they taking so long?” Celestia asked Luna.
“She told me that the life I worked for was not to be ensured. Its loss I would suffer.” Grogar lamented in pain once he was alone in his study.“But I won´t let that happen.”
“Gusty.” Majesty called her. “You are destined for something great.” she held her hoof.
“I won´t let that happen.IT WON´T HAPPEN!” Grogar smacked his hoof against the floor.
“Lucena.” Gusty tried to process everything.“Yeah, about Lucena. I need to know all about Lucena. Give me the truth and the truth Lucena!”
“Why is everpony singing?!” Luna pulled her ears confused.
“Summarizing!”
“A childless sorceress, escaping from war, thought it was a bless to find Grogar on the door. Only to have him constantly saying,”
“Hah! Just because the so precious Wind Warrior is on the run, doesn´t mean that the so-called prophecy has begun. I am the one who is in control in here. Sh! Sh! Sh! It´s a pity she has to suffer the consequences due to a sheep that couldn´t come into her senses, nonetheless I won´t stop until her last breath I hear! She told me that the life I worked for was not to be ensured. Its loss I would suffer would suffer! And I´m fine. And I´m fine. I´ll be fine.” Grogar sang somewhat anxious.
“They told me that the life I worked for would be promised if the prophecy´s true. They told me that our kingdom would grow and be of the greatest virtue. Please be true. They told me that the life I worked for would be promised if the prophecy´s true. And I´m fine. And I´m fine. And I´m fine. I´ll be fine.”
“She could see the future. Raised and taught him magic and considered him as her own son. But years passed by and the rules he´d defy. Seeing he gave her so much pain. A Wind Warrior was on her way. She became into dust in vain!”
“Was Grogar´s master. The two were mother and son. Murder! I´m sorry sir don´t kill me. A prophecy was born. Her pendant in pieces was torn! What a big mistake.”
“Hey, why are they taking so long?”
“Hey!”
All the voices mixed together in Gusty´s mind as she put everything together.
“Ok. I think we can all agree that now everything makes sense.” Fizzy commented.
“Yeah.” Galaxy agreed with her older sister. “Even me,” she emphasized her point by laying her hoof on her chest. “who has just recently heard of everything, understands what happened.”
“But there´s something that doesn´t make sense, though.” Lancer said. “Why did she choose a little filly-”
“Well, not a filly anymore.” Fizzy corrected him. “Of all of us here, she´s the one who has foals.”
Buttons noticed Majesty´s expression in her face, which indicated that Fizzy´s words somewhat affected her. She harshly nudged her friend.
“What was that?” Fizzy asked Buttons.
Buttons pointed at Majesty. Fizzy bit her lips.
“Oh… No offense Majesty. I mean! My queen.”
“Non taken.” she begrudgingly reassured her.
“Well, mare now.” Lancer rectified. “But filly if Lucena decided that she would be the Wind Warrior when she met her.”
“Your point is…” Glory rotated her hoof, imploring Lancer to keep talking.
“My point is why she would choose somepony who is unexperienced in combat and surely hasn´t lifted a weapon in her entire life.”
“Does a broom count?” Clover raised his hoof. “Because when we met, she almost killed me with one.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Buttons sarcastically said as she looked at Gusty. The latter looked away.
“No, Clover. A broom does not count.” Lancer replied. “Although it´s not a bad use for a broom…” he thought aloud. He shook his head. “Still, she has never used a sword, does not know any spells for combat and need I to remind that she practically exposed herself? If I wanted an over-powered tyrant out of the throne, I would have chosen somepony with experience and good at combat!”
“Well… If she was chosen, it must have been for a reason.” Glory supposed. “When I asked Majesty why she had chosen me as the spies´ leader she said because I was loyal and caring.”
“Yeah, but one thing is leading spies, and another is defeating Grogar. And just because she´s on that picture doesn´t mean that she´s going to defeat Grogar. It could mean that she could also fail.” Lancer replicated.
“If that was the case, I don´t think that Grogar would have destroyed it.” Buttons disagreed. “In fact, I think he´d have it hanging on his wall.”
“That´s… actually a pretty good point. I´ll give you that.”
“We may not fully know what the prophecy says but if she´s there it´s because she plays an important part in Grogar´s life.” said Majesty. “And I want to believe that part is on our benefit. But most importantly,” she walked to Gusty. “do you believe it?”
Gusty got up from the floor.
“I can´t deny it now. But I still don´t accept it.”
“You still don´t? Gusty, you yourself put the pieces together again and saw-”
Gusty held her hoof high.
“With all my respect my queen, I´d like to finish. Please.”
Though, she´d still speak for hours about the facts that proved that Gusty was chosen, Majesty respected Gusty´s request.
“Alright. Go on.”
“Thank you.” Gusty bowed slightly. “This… Is a lot to take in and a huge responsibility. On one day I am a jobless mother that can barely take care of her foals and less herself and on the other day I am supposed to be the heroine of a prophecy? And not just any prophecy. A prophecy about Grogar getting defeated by me! Much like Lancer says, I haven´t stepped a hoof on a battlefield.”
“See? Even she agrees with me!” Lancer cockily said.
“Shut up Lancer.” Clover told him.
“I´m still made of flesh and bone.” Gusty continued. “I am not invincible nor immortal. I could die at any moment! I don´t care if a prophecy says that I won´t, a prophecy is still a prediction. It´s not a final saying about the future.”
“We´ll do anything to prevent that. I won´t let that happen.” Majesty said. “Besides, we´ll train you very well. A trained soldier always has more chances to survive.”
“But it´s not a guarantee.”
“We know it isn´t!” Majesty´s involuntarily raised her voice, as she was losing her patience. “But it´s what gives us hope for a better future. You didn´t know if you would survive inside Grogar´s castle, yet you still went in. And why? Because you had hope that you could feed your daughters, no matter how dangerous it was.”
“But I ended up failing!”
“Yes, but you´re still alive! You have a chance to make things right, and you don´t want to because you´re scared! I understand that but this is not a matter of whether you want to or not. This is something that affects us all. Start thinking about us and not yourself.”
Gusty gasped softly. Despite having herself at a low standard, there was something that Gusty was really sure of: She was not a selfish pony. That was something that she wouldn´t let anypony say to her. And Majesty had just crossed that line. Slowly, fear abandoned her mind and anger took hold.
“You still don´t understand, do you? It´s not about me. It´s about you. If you are around me, something bad will happen to you. My family died from the plague because they had to take care of me. Because of me, my daughters are in danger. Because of me, my friends almost died.” “Because of me, I almost threw away all of your sacrifice and hard work.”
As Gusty spoke, her eyes filled with tears and her voice grew more and more desperate. Buttons and Fizzy froze when they felt something moving their manes.
“Uh… Gusty…” Buttons tried to warn her, but Gusty didn´t hear her.
“Whenever I made wind, I destroyed crops and caused trouble to other unicorns. Now you praise me for my wind magic but the minute you see it, you´ll run away and start calling me a mess. Everypony does!”
As always, the breezes turned into a stronger wind that made everypony float. Galaxy held onto her sister and Buttons.
“What´s going on?” Galaxy asked scared.
Glory took Lancer´s hoof so he wouldn´t fly away. Then, she ignited her horn to hold Majesty.
“Gusty. Calm down!” Majesty begged Gusty with fear.
“And what´s worse, those who stay around end up the worst.” she sobbed. “It´s because of my wind that my husband is dead!”
Just after she said that the wind stopped. Everypony fell to the floor. Gusty broke into tears as she sat down. Afterwards, she laid her head on her hooves, which were on the floor. Once she was on fours, Fizzy walked to Gusty.
“Is that why you´re so afraid of your wind? Because your husband died?” she asked as she sat down next to her.
Gusty dried her tears before answering.
“Just like me, Grogar tried to deny the prophecy. But deep down, he feared it. Due to their relations with the weather, Grogar thought that the Wind Warrior was a pegasus. So,” her voice broke. “he ordered to kill every pegasus.”
Everypony widened their eyes surprised.
“Wait. Your husband was a pegasus?” Fizzy asked shocked.
Gusty sniffed. She nodded.
“Not a typical choice of a partner, considering that we don´t really get along but I respect it.” her ears went down. “And was he-”
“Yes.” Gusty replied in a whisper.
Fizzy couldn´t find what words to say to her aching friend, so she stayed silent for a while.
“Wow, that´s… Traumatic. But it´s not your fault that happened.”
“Yes, it is! If I hadn´t talked to Lucena, that wouldn´t have happened.”
“You were a filly! How would you have known?”
“I-I don’t´ know. But he shouldn´t have died.”
“Of course, he shouldn´t have mija.” Fizzy said as she stroked her mane.
Without expecting it, Gusty hugged Fizzy. Though surprised, Fizzy returned the hug.
“Oh, my poor chérie.” she said as she and Galaxy walked to join the hug.
“There, there.” Galaxy patted Gusty.
Meanwhile, Majesty, Lancer, Glory and Clover observed the scene. The queen and soldier looked at each other, not so sure what to do or what to say next. Only Glory was able to jump into action. She walked to the four unicorns and sat in front of them. She looked down and took a breath in.
“I am so sorry about what happened to your husband, even if he was a pegasus. I never had a husband but I did have a family. Much like your husband, they were also murdered.”
The four unicorns looked at Glory as she spoke. Gusty looked down.
“I´m sorry.”
“It´s ok. I still miss them, but it was a long time ago. When did your husband die?”
“Three years ago, or so. But it still feels like it was yesterday.”
“And your family?”
“I think I was eight.”
“In my case, I was fourteen.”
“What happened to them?”
“They were thieves. They didn´t steal anything grandiose. Just food or a few coins to survive. And to feed me. One day some soldiers caught them. And you know what happens to thieves.”
“Yeah.”
“I also felt like you. Thinking it was my fault and that I was worthless. However, after Queen Majesty welcomed me to her crew, I understood that what happened to my parents was due to the conditions Grogar forces us to live in, not me. It´s the same for you. Grogar put himself in that mess and he will blame anypony except himself, no matter who he hurts in the way. Just like your husband.”
“But… I could have done something.”
“You can now.” Glory stood up. “By preventing the same thing happening again. By standing up for other unicorns. By fighting the enemy. Your husband´s death will not be in vain, Gusty. By joining Majesty, I honoured my family´s name. By fighting Grogar, you will honour your husband.”
Glory´s words widened Gusty´s eyes. She looked at everypony around her, then at the prophecy and lastly at her phoenix feather necklace, thinking about Nigh Eye, Celestia and Luna. All of them trusted her even if she didn´t trust herself. While looking at the necklace, she could almost hear Night Eye that he believed in her. She saw that Glory offering her hoof to her. In an instant, the insecurity in her face disappeared and was replaced by a frown full of determination. She gave her hoof to Glory as she nodded.
“I´m still not sure if I will defeat Grogar. But I am willing to fight.” Gusty said as Glory helped her to stand up.
Buttons, Fizzy, Galaxy and Clover cheered at her. Glory gave her a smile of pride. Majesty sighed in relief before smiling. Normally, Lancer would have rolled his eyes but after seeing Gusty´s wind, he simply blinked, not so sure on how to react.
Gusty walked to Majesty and bowed at her.
“I think I am ready to show you my wind magic.”
“Actually, you did.” Buttons told her.
“What?”
“Yeah! While you were explaining us why you didn´t believe yourself to be the Wind Warrior. You were pretty emotional.” Galaxy added.
“Oh dear… Was it too strong?”
“You did a mini hurricane.” Glory replied.
“Oh… Sorry.”
“Don´t worry. None of us got hurt. It was very quick, it finished when you stopped talking.”
“It did?”
“Yeah.”
“That´s… Odd. Normally, it stops once I come back to reality. But this time I didn´t. Why could that be?”
“Mija.” Fizzy put her foreleg around her. “You held to yourself the grief of your husband´s death, the fear of using wind magic, the trauma of being in Grogar´s castle, the stress of hiding your intentions from us, and the shock of being the Wind Warrior, all at once. If I were you, I think I would have caused a tornado that would have destroyed everything.”
“I´ve seen the wind you can get to make, and I think it´s impressive.” Majesty told Gusty. “But it´s also connected to your emotions, which is something you have trouble controlling it. You´ll have to work on that.”
“Magaga taught me some methods to calm myself down and control my magic.”
“But I don´t think that will be enough.” said Buttons. “You don´t have to hold your emotions or magic any longer. If there´s anything bothering you, you´ll have to talk to us. Do you promise us that?”
“Hm. It´s going to be difficult but seeing that you are so willing to listen, I think it´s worth trying.” Gusty smiled at Buttons.
“Uh… Mama! Are you finished?” Celestia asked from the outside.
“Yeah!” Gusty replied. “I´m coming. I have so many things to tell you.”
“No need to! We heard everything.” Luna replied.
Gusty playfully rolled her eyes as she shook her head.
“So, you accepted?” Celestia asked in bed at night.
Gusty nodded her head.
“That´s great! I´m glad you´re starting to have more confidence in yourself.”
Gusty chuckled.
“I don´t feel very confident. But I do want to try.”
“What made you change your mind?” Luna asked curious.
Gusty smiled at her phoenix feather necklace.
“The thought of being able to repay to somepony you owe so much was stronger than fear. Besides, even though my wind magic went a little out of control in there, they didn´t bash me. And they encouraged me not to hold it anymore. It felt… Nice. I think it´s worth sticking around ponies like that.”
“See? I told you your magic was beautiful mama.”
Gusty smiled at Luna.
“When do you begin your training?”
“Tomorrow I think.”
“Oh, can´t wait!” Celestia asked excited. “Surely you´ll kick all their butts, mama.”
Gusty laughed.
“Alright, time to sleep. Both you and I are going to need lots of energy.”
“Fair enough.” Celestia yawned. “I´m starting to get a little sleepy. Good night, Lulu.”
“Good night, Tia.” Luna replied back. “Good night mama.”
“Good night sweeties.” Gusty said to the both of them.
The two fillies fell asleep before their mother. Gusty´s smile turned into an expression of worry. The days she could say good night to her daughters could start to be countered. She knew either her or them could get seriously hurt. However, now it was not the time to get worried. As she said herself, the next day was going to be rough. Before going to sleep, she looked through the window. It was very small, but she could see Grogar´s castle. She wondered briefly if the ram was going through the same process of acceptance as she did.
“You brought this on yourself, Grogar.” she muttered before blowing the candle out. “You brought this on yourself.”
Just as Gusty had guessed, she was not the only one worried about what was coming. Thoughts were also keeping Grogar awake at night too. He constantly changing his position in bed. Until he fed up and got up to work on his study.
As he searched for paper in which to write, he found the one in which the prophecy was written. He tore it in pieces as he growled.
“A pegasus. Bah! All along, it was a darn unicorn.” he thought aloud.
Then, he noticed one of Gusty´s posters. He hatefully stared at it.
“You and that innocent attitude of yours. I should have known you were that back-stabbing sorceress´ pawn!” he wrinkled the poster. “Nevertheless, I somehow feel bad for you. Forcefully dragged into a battle that isn´t yours and shouldn´t exist. But don´t worry, I can take you out of it.” he said as he approached the paper to the candle. Slowly it began to burn. “I can free you of that self-righteous Majesty and give you the peace you desire so much.”
He threw the burning poster to the ground.
“But if you already have been brainwashed by that `queen´,” Grogar chuckled. “you have no idea what I have in store for you Wind Warrior. You want to fight me? So be it. But I swear that I´ll make you suffer unimaginable pain. I´ll destroy your soul until it leaves your body.”
Then, he looked at the starry sky as he walked to the window.
“Fine master. Bring it in. I´ll show that you´re wrong.” then, he lowered his sight to the capital´s out borders. “I pledge my word, Gusty. No matter how fast you run, no matter where you hide, I will catch you.”
As always, Celestia was the one awake and Gusty and Luna the ones sleeping at early morning. The filly opened the door and entered the room with a trumpet.
“You told me to make anything so that you could avoid being late.” she said to her mother, even though she was sleeping. “I think this is going to work.” she looked at the trumpet.
She took a huge breath and blew the trumpet, releasing an off-key, chirping sound that made both her mother and younger sister jump off bed.
“What?! What is it?!” Gusty asked both scared and confused, the pillow standing on her head and blanket around her body.
Before she answered, Celestia panted heavily.
“Oof… I didn´t know playing this thing was so exhausting!” she said as she looked at the trumpet. Carefully, she put it aside. She clapped her hooves. “Alright! Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!” she ran to her mother. “Come on, hup hup hup!”
Gusty took the pillow off her head and unrolled the blanket.
“When I told you to wake me up by any means necessary, I didn´t mean a trumpet.” Gusty said to her daughter, somewhat upset at her.
“Should have specified.” Celestia replied. “Get your clothes on and get ready. I made breakfast for you!”
Gusty massaged her head. She looked around.
“Where is Luna?”
“Right here….”
Gusty widened her eyes and quickly got up. Apparently, when Celestia woke her up, she fell over Luna. The little filly smiled at her mother.
“I´m fine…” she weakly lifted a hoof but quickly dropped both her head and hoof.
Gusty clenched her teeth worried.
“Look look. It´s tsampa!” Celestia showed with pride the bowl full of roasted barley. “With salty tea and everything!”
“But isn´t mama supposed to have breakfast with the others?” Luna asked Celestia.
“That´s actually a pretty good ques-” Gusty agreed with Luna, but couldn´t finish due to Celestia stuffing her mouth with tsampa.
“No time to talk. Now remember, this is your first day of training, so listen to the teacher and no fighting, although we know you always follow that rule unless somepony messes with anypony else, then in that case go ahead, but also when somepony messes with you. Then you´ll have to kick that somepony´s butt.”
“Well, the training is about kicking somepony´s butt, so…”
“What do you always tell us about talking with your mouth full?” Celestia scolded her mother. “Now let´s see your war face.”
As her mouth was full, Gusty could barely do any intimidating face.
“Hm… No offense but that face doesn´t seem very war-like.” Luna commented.
“Come on! Scare us, mama.” Celestia cheered her.
Once she swallowed, Gusty growled so loudly that both her daughters had to walk backwards.
“Yeah, that´s our tough-looking Wind Warrior. Now get out there and make the queen proud.” Celestia said as she passed the clothes Majesty gave her to train in. Gusty smiled slightly.
While she was putting those clothes on, Luna looked through the window. She bit her lip.
“Uh… Mama? I don´t mean to rush you but everypony´s already out there.”
“What do you mean they are already out there?” Celestia asked confused.
“They what?” Gusty asked horrified.
In just the blink of an eye, Gusty put on her clothes and rushed out the monastery. Celestia and Luna followed her.
“Wait! You forgot to say goodbye.” Celestia called her but Gusty was already too far away to hear her. Despite that, Celestia smiled and looked at her sister. “Our great mama, off to destroy Grogar.” she said with a proud smile.
Luna nodded her head in agreement.
Several unicorns were talking as they waited for Lancer and Majesty to come. Watching the other recruits, Fizzy and Buttons felt a little out of place, as all of them seemed to know each other. To make things worse, some of them whispered at each other´s ears while looking at them. Buttons would answer by looking away whereas Fizzy would wave her hoof with a nervous smile.
“I´m not feeling very comfortable right now, are you?” Fizzy said Buttons.
“In the slightest, chérie. I don´t want to imagine what they´d do to us when we train for combat. Talking about that… Are you sure joining as soldiers a good idea? Because I´m starting to repent.”
“Fighting for my life doesn´t sound fun to me either. Especially me, who gets easily distracted giving the opportunity to the enemy kill me at any moment. But being executed by Grogar is way less fun.”
Buttons shivered.
“Touché.”
“Besides, we´ll be around Gusty, who is the only familiar face.”
“Am I not a familiar face?” Glory asked playfully with an eyebrow raised.
Buttons and Fizzy turned to her.
“Oh no! I didn´t mean it like that.” Fizzy quickly rectified her words. “You´re nice and all, but we have more relation with Gusty and-”
Glory giggled.
“Of course. I understand.” she said with a warm smile. “Talking about Gusty, have you seen her?”
“No. Strangely enough, she didn´t have breakfast with us. Which means that she probably is being panicky about training and not wanting to tell us.” Buttons said with some resentment.
“Hey girls!” Gusty ran to them. Once she was by their side, she panted heavily.
“Oh, never mind, there she is.” Button´s resentment was replaced by a genuine smile.
“Glad to see you!” Glory greeted her. “I was worried you wouldn´t get to the training in time.”
“So, I´m not late?” Gusty asked hopeful.
Glory shook her head.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Gusty joined her hooves together.
“Are you ok?” Fizzy asked her. “Because you didn´t have breakfast with us.”
“I was, but my daughter prepared breakfast to me and brought it to my room.”
“Oh… That´s so sweet.” Buttons commented.
“Well, you may begin now, Glory.” Gusty said to Glory.
The unicorn blinked confused.
“Oh!” she exclaimed when she understood Gusty. She scoffed. “No! No, I´m not the one who´s training you. I am in no means capacitated to train you. I´m a bit above your level in terms of magic but at combat skills, I´m still at your level.”
“So, you´re also training?” Buttons asked surprised.
Glory nodded her head.
“But I thought you were a soldier already.” Fizzy said.
“Not exactly. You see, Majesty usually chooses stallions as soldiers and mares as spies. But since Gusty´s little incident, most of us lost our roles so she´s given us the option to join as well.”
“Then if you´re not training us, who will?” Gusty asked.
“Ladies!” a masculine voice said.
Every mare turned their head to the voice, whose owner was no other than Lancer. Majesty was beside him.
“Oh no.” Gusty muttered under her breath, knowing what was coming ahead for her.
All the mares distributed in a line and held their heads high.
“Most of you know me, others not so much.” he looked at Buttons and Fizzy. “And some of you will wish to never have known me.” he looked at Gusty. “But in case, you don´t remember, I´m Lancer.”
“Hi Lancer!” Fizzy waved her hoof energetically.
Lancer glared at her while Majesty raised her eyebrow unamused.
“There are lots of things you need to know, and among them, are the rules. Though, it´s not what I wanted to explain right now, I´ll begin by them. Number one: don´t speak without permission.”
Fizzy shrunk.
“Sorry…” she apologized ashamed.
She quickly covered her mouth.
“I don’t want to hear you apologizing, I want to hear you saying yes sir!”
“Yes sir!” Fizzy repeated.
“That´s better.”
Both he and Majesty nodded their heads.
“Now, listen carefully. Me and Queen Majesty will be training you. Majesty will teach you everything you need to know about magic, and I will be teaching you,” he took out a sword. “real fun.”
“Whoah…” all the mares said in awe.
“Looks awesome, doesn´t it?” he smirked smugly. “But in order to get to the fun part, you must first train.”
He walked to a bucket full of wooden swords and shields. He passed them to all of the mares, who took it as quickly as they could. Gusty tripped while doing so, making other mares laugh. Majesty, who had noticed that, pressed her lips.
“And I think we have our first volunteer. Gusty, or should I say `Wind Warrior´.” he said sarcastically. “Would you join us please?”
Gusty sighed. She scratched the back of her neck as she got up.
“Now Gusty. On sword fighting, what level are you at?”
“Um… Level zero?” she smiled sheepishly.
“Same for me!” Fizzy raised her hand but when she noticed Majesty´s face, she stopped.
“Ho ho! Such a pity because usually, there´s no such thing as level zero for a destined great warrior.”
“I know you hate me, you don´t have to show it all the time.” Gusty mumbled.
“But there´s always a first time, so let me introduce you with the basics. There are several ways to defend yourself: depending on how the attack goes. If the point goes to any part of your body, you get the shield. But you don´t have to always use the shield. You can use the sword too if the attack is vertical, horizontal or diagonal.” he explained as he showed her how to place the sword in each of the attacks. “You get it?”
“I think so…” Gusty replied.
“Then get ready. We´re going to begin training.”
“Whenever you sa-”
Lancer didn´t let Gusty finish her sentence. She hit her on the head.
“Ouch! Hey, you´re going too-”
This time, Lancer hit her torso, making her yelp again. Gusty frowned and tried to attack but Lancer quickly dodged the attack and attacked her from behind. No matter how much Gusty struggled to fight or defend herself she was no match for Lancer. She moaned everytime the wooden sword touched her body.
Meanwhile, everypony watched horrified how the battle was being carried out.
“We´re doomed aren´t we?” one of the mares commented.
“Come on it´s her first time…” Glory told her.
“Yeah! And I bet the same thing will happen to you.” Fizzy joined in Gusty´s defence. “So suck it!”
“I wouldn´t be so confident if I were you…” Buttons advised Fizzy.
“Why?”
“Because you´re going to go through the same as well. And I believe you´re next.”
Fizzy widened her eyes in realization.
“Oh…”
At one point, Lancer destabilized Gusty, making her fall backwards. Lancer pointed the sword at her but made no advancement towards her. She giggled nervously when her eyes and Lancer´s met.
“I… did terribly, didn´t I?”
“What do you think?” he sarcastically asked.
Gusty sighed frustrated. Lancer shrugged.
“Don´t worry, at least you achieved something. You established a level zero.”
“I´m not so sure that will make me feel better…” Gusty said as she tried to get up.
“Well, sorry but I´m here to train you, not to make you feel better.” Lancer replied.
“Ugh, everything hurts!” Gusty complained.
“You´d better get used to it. Because if you´re the Wind Warrior, you must be perfect at this.”
“To be fair, Lancer, I think you went too far for the first time.” Majesty said in Gusty´s defence.
Gusty smiled slightly.
“But Lancer´s also right.” Majesty said to Gusty. “In the battlefield, you must not make a single mistake. Because if you do, the game is over.”
“Rest all you can while your partners fight with Lancer, because my training´s next.” she ordered Gusty.
“Yes, my queen.”
“Now, who´s next?” Lancer asked to the girls.
Everypony, except Glory, pointed at Buttons and Fizzy. Remembering what Buttons told her previously, Fizzy pushed her upfront. Buttons glared at her.
“Traitor.” she muttered at her.
“Now, I know most of you are tired or injured due to Lancer´s intensive training.”
Majesty rectified her words when she observed everypony with bandages or scratches.
“Well, all of you. However, as I said before, you´re going to train with me. Luckily, my training doesn´t require much physical exercise. Rather, it requires mental exercise. Yes, you´re going to need swords, shields or other weapons in the battlefield. But we also must make the most of what makes us different to other ponies.” she looked at a flower with a grin. She ignited at her horn and in just a flash, the flower turned into a sword. “Magic.”
Buttons, Fizzy and Gusty gasped in awe.
“Wow! How did you do that?” Fizzy asked curiously.
Majesty chuckled.
“That´s what you´re going to find out. Most of you know the spells I taught you, but you need to perfect them. But for others, this is the first time. So, I decided that we all may start with something simple: turning an apple seed into a grown apple. The spell is simple. All you need is to picture the object in your mind, with every detail: colour, size, brightness, whatever comes to your mind! Once you have the idea, you ignite your horn and zap at the apple. Got it?”
“Yes, my queen.” Everypony nodded their heads.
“Then let the practice begin.”
In most cases, everypony managed to turn the apple seed into a grown apple, which made Buttons, Fizzy and Gusty nervous. Glory noticed that, so she decided to comfort them.
“Don´t worry if it doesn´t go out as intended at the first try. What´s the worst that could happen?”
The three unicorns looked at the seeds with insecure faces.
“Here goes nothing.” Buttons thought aloud.
She took a breath and closed her eyes, doing as Majesty said. When she opened her eyes fearfully, she saw that the spell was successful. She had created a red apple.
“I did it! I did it!” she exclaimed gleefully.
Her friends cheered her.
“Oh! I want to try.” Fizzy said confidently.
She closed her eyes with stuck her tongue out. Although she struggled to ignite her horn, she managed to grow a green apple, to which she smiled.
“You´re next Gusty!” she told her friend, looking forward to seeing what apple she could do.
“Alright.”
Unfortunately, things for Gusty wouldn´t go as smoothly as in her friends´ cases. A unicorn screamed in horror.
“Gah!” Gusty yelped as she jumped from her seat.
From the scare, she accidentally destroyed the seed, as well as leaving a hole in the desk. She and her friends covered her mouth.
“It´s a rat!” the unicorn that cried before exclaimed scared.
Everypony got up from their desks and walked away from the rat.
“Nopony panic. I´ll take care of it.” Majesty ignited her horn but quickly turned it off when she noticed the hole Gusty made.
“Gusty!” she called her.
Gusty whimpered.
“My queen?” Gusty asked nervous.
“What happened there?” Majesty raised her eyebrow.
“I accidentally made a hole in the desk, sorry… Am I in trouble?”
“Not if you take care of this. Come here!”
“Yes, my queen.” Gusty obeyed.
“I want you to transform this rat into a seed.” Majesty explained Gusty once she was by her side.
“You want me to transform a living being into a seed?” Gusty asked, somewhat uncomfortable by that suggestion.
Majesty nodded her head. Gusty and the rat looked at each other. The tiny creature seemed so scared, which broke Gusty´s heart. But as much as she felt bad for the rat, she also wanted to please Majesty. She knew there had to be a way in which the rat could go unharmed. Then, she saw an apple in that same desk, which gave her an idea.
“Well?” Majesty asked her, seeing she didn´t take any action. “You´re not feeling bad for a rat?”
“No, I´m not.” Gusty lied.
“Then why are you taking so long?”
“I´m… trying to make sure I´m focused.”
Majesty and the other unicorns shared skeptical looks.
“Ok.”
Gusty turned to the rat and took a breath.
“I hope this works.” she muttered to herself as she moved her eyes to the left as she looked at the rat.
The animal quickly got the message and jumped as soon as Gusty ignited her horn. She zapped at the apple, making the desk disappear. The unicorns glared at Gusty.
“Oops…” she smiled apologetically.
Gusty was walking back to her chambers. She stopped when she heard Lancer, Majesty´s and Glory´s voices.
“How are you seeing this?” Glory asked the two.
Lancer puffed.
“A long way. A very long way.”
“In respect to magic, things aren´t as bad.” Majesty commented. “Sure, the two new recruits still have to learn more, but they performed the spells correctly. However, the one who worries me is Gusty.”
“Did you see her at my training? She has no reflexes, a few conscience of her body and her surroundings! Why couldn´t Lucena choose somepony who has experience in this?! It would take less time.”
“Not only that, she has trouble learning spells. Instead of creating an apple out of a seed, she created a rat! And when she tried to fix it, she made the table disappear. What´s worse, she felt bad for a rat, a vermin creature. Can you imagine if that happened with an enemy?” Majesty sighed. “This is going to be more difficult than I thought.”
Gusty´s ears dropped. She looked down in embarrassment and sadness.
“Are you giving up on her?” Glory asked Majesty.
“No. As reckless as it was, she exposed Grogar and stood up to him. Only the Wind Warrior could do that. But when things like this happen… I have doubts. Her learning must be fast, or we could lose everything to Grogar. Nonetheless, she´s still our only chance.”
Gusty sighed. She looked at the sky through the window.
“Of all the ponies in the world, why did you choose me specifically, Lucena? I don´t have many magic or combat skills, so what is it that you saw in me that would make me a great warrior?”
After she asked that, she heard some squeaks. She looked down and noticed the same rat she saved, carrying out a seed in its mouth.
“Oh! Hello there, little guy.” she knelt. “Glad you made it out safely.”
The rat nodded its head. After putting the seed in its paws, it offered it to Gusty. She laughed as she accepted the gift.
“Thank you.”
The rat rubbed its head against Gusty´s foreleg before leaving. The day had been very rough and although she had disappointed everypony, she was happy that at least she helped a creature.
As soon as the rooster sang, Lancer opened his eyes. He growled when the light reflected in his eyes.
He yawned as he walked to Majesty´s chamber´s door. After knocking, Majesty opened the door for him. The unicorn had a sleepy and grumpy face.
“Hey.” she greeted him.
Lancer held his laughter. Majesty might be of a higher social status and have a higher cultural upbringing and better manners than everypony, but at mornings she forgets her steady and serious attitude and talks to her subjects as if they were her friends.
“Hey.” he replied with a smirk in his face. “Looks like somepony had a bad night.” he said as he entered her chambers.
“It´s not that. It´s just I´m not ready to be disappointed all the time.” Majesty served him tea.
“You know what my queen? Of all of us, I thought I was the sarcastic one. But when you make remarks like the one you just made, I doubt it.”
Majesty rubbed her forehead.
“Ugh, I know I these things take time, but I´m tired of waiting! All my life has consisted of being patient. And right now, the chance of getting of getting back what my family deserves is so near yet it´s far at the same time.”
“I might not owe my family or have a grand purpose to fulfil as you, my queen, but I also want to go as fast as possible. It´s very frustrating to see your pupils fail over, over and again. I know it´s my job to make them succeed but sometimes it seems impossible! And having time against our favour doesn´t help either…”
“That´s another one.” Majesty sighed. “You know what Lancer? Glory is much better at handling issues related to feelings, but I think talking to you helps me more.”
“Probably because we´re more mind-like. Except on the prophecy part, that´s where we differ.”
Majesty raised an eyebrow.
“Really? Haven´t you seen me being frustrated with Gusty?”
“Well, yes. But because it´s Gusty! Before that, you never doubted the prophecy.”
“Don´t be so sure about that. Many times, I´ve actually thought it was just a foal´s story my parents told me to give me hope about our dynasty´s future. It´s normal for believers to sometimes doubt their beliefs. Even Glory has her doubts about Gusty from time to time.”
“In my opinion, that indicates that you two are down to earth.” Lancer continued walking.
“But if I don´t believe, my bloodline´s future is dark. Yes, I might have conquered small territories from Grogar but we both know that we are still in great disadvantage. Grogar still has the power to shake everything up. I can´t risk dishonouring my family again.”
Lancer stopped walking abruptly. He turned to Majesty and frowned.
“I know I´m absolutely in no position to give you orders my queen, but don´t ever say that. You didn´t dishonour your family.”
“My only heir is dead, Lancer.”
“But that wasn´t your fault. If my memory doesn´t fail, it was Grogar´s soldiers who killed him in battle.”
“Yes, but if I didn´t send him to that battle, none of that would have happened.”
“It may have or may not have happened. I´m pretty sure Grogar would have ordered to get your son killed in other ways if he didn´t go to battle. And who knows? Maybe he would have died as well.”
Majesty looked down.
“Besides, your parents were dead when that happened. They never told you that you dishonoured them.”
“But they did expect me to keep the bloodline. That was the most important thing for them. What they most expected from me, Lancer. And now I can´t fulfil that role. If I can´t keep the dynasty, at least I´ll uphold my family´s legacy.”
“So far, you´re doing a great job, if you ask me. Sure, Grogar has still upperhoof but you´re handling it like a great monarch would.”
“But not good enough. Before Gusty came, I had no hope those accomplishments would make a difference. That´s why I believe in the prophecy, Lancer. Because it´s what keeps me and your fellow soldiers going.”
Lancer stared at Majesty. Every time he and Glory argued about the prophecy, his friend always defended that she believed because it was what kept Majesty going, but he never understood how much until he talked about it with the queen herself.
“It´s getting late. You should begin your training by now.”
“Yes, my queen.” he simply said.
Before he left, he quickly glanced at the queen, who looked at the window sadly.
“So, what do you think?” Celestia asked Buttons, Fizzy, Clover and Galaxy.
Gusty and Luna watched the unicorns taking spoonfuls of their tsampa with as much expectation as Celestia. Fizzy was the first one to finish.
“This is really good!” Clover commented.
“I never knew salty tea was this delicious!” Galaxy added.
“Have you got more?” Fizzy asked while offering her bowl to Celestia.
“Sorry, we´re out.” Celestia answered her after checking the cauldron. “I´m glad you liked it though!”
“Your daughter´s a really good cook!” Buttons said to Gusty.
“Oh stop, you´re making me blush.” Celestia looked away as she laughed.
“Next time, it´s my turn!” Luna volunteered herself.
Gusty and Celestia looked at each other anxiously, asking each other with their eyes what to say next.
“Hm… Maybe one day.” Gusty rubbed Luna´s mane.
“She´s not a really good cook.” Celestia whispered to everypony.
“I understand.” Galaxy whispered back in her ear. “Fizzy isn´t either.”
“Thanks for the meal, Celestia. With this delicious breakfast, I´ll be able to go through Lancer´s difficult but fun and adventurous training!” Fizzy said. “Could you make lunch as well? Just so I have enough energy for Majesty´s training.”
“Exactly. But I believe Majesty´s training is less intense. I enjoy it in fact.” Buttons gave her opinion.
“I know right?” Clover agreed. “If I were to become a soldier, it would be just for the purpose of learning more magic!”
“Really? Well, that might be because I´m used to using my magic for shows and Lancer´s training is new.”
“Could be. However, how is it that you changed your mind that fast? Need I to remind you that yesterday you betrayed me so you didn´t go second?”
“Well, I changed my mind.” Fizzy shrugged, to which Buttons rolled her eyes.
As they talked, Gusty struggled to keep a smile. While happy for her friends being ready or enjoying the trainings, she also felt left out as she was not ready nor enjoyed them.
“What about you, mama? Which training do you prefer?” Luna asked her.
Gusty shook her head as she returned to the conversation.
“Me? Well, I… I don´t have a favourite nor a hated one.” she lied as she looked away, smiling nervously.
Everypony, except her daughters, raised their eyebrows.
“What happened with the `telling everything and hiding nothing´?” Buttons asked her.
Gusty´s smile banished. She sighed.
“Fine… The truth is I like none of them.”
“Ok. So? What´s wrong with that?” Galaxy asked her.
“Nothing, it´s just all of you were talking about how much you enjoyed them that I didn´t want to ruin the conversation.”
“How would you ruin the conversation?” Clover asked her. “It´s just your opinion.”
“Well…” Gusty caressed her mane while looking away. “The trainings bring me bad memories and I didn´t want to centre the conversation around them and turn it into a depressing one…”
“Oh…” everypony said in chorus.
“Let me guess.” Fizzy wrapped her foreleg around Gusty. “Pathetic bullies making fun of you for being clumsy in the games and because you had difficulty learning things?”
Gusty nodding her head.
“Oh, those are the worst. I also had my share when I was a filly. Who else did?”
Everypony raised their hooves.
“Really? I thought I was the only one.”
“Well, you´re not. In my case it was because of my weird personality and called me dumb. Some of them didn´t like my mane. Too bad for them because I liked them both.” she touched her own mane with a cocky grin.
“Same for me!” Galaxy exclaimed.
“Foals didn´t like me. To this day I don´t know the reason but they simply didn´t like me.” Buttons explained.
“Unicorns called me annoying because I was obsessed with magic.” Clover said.
“And didn´t it affect you?”
“Of course it did!” Buttons replied. “I cried a lot as a filly.”
“Then how come you are so confident?”
“Over time, we made better friends that helped us realize we weren´t what other unicorns thought of us.” Buttons looked at Fizzy.
Gusty looked at Celestia and Luna. Until she met Buttons and Fizzy or her husband, Gusty didn´t have friends. She had her daughters, who loved her very much, just as a friend would. Still, she wasn´t as confident as her friends were. Why couldn´t she be like that?
Her thoughts were interrupted by Glory hoofsteps.
“Hey girls! Lancer and Majesty are coming.” she told them. “Get in line. Quick!”
“That´s our cue. Have a nice day, girls.” Clover said as he left.
“Good luck sis!” Galaxy said after kissing Fizzy in the cheek. Then she ran away.
While Celestia and Luna got away, they were near enough to see their mother.
“You can do it mama!” Luna cheered her.
“You rock!” Celestia clapped her hooves.
Gusty smiled and waved their hoof at them as she and the other unicorn recruits formed a line.
“Soldiers!” Lancer exclaimed.
After he spoke, all the unicorns held their chins high.
“Yesterday was a rough start. But today, it´s going to get worse. And tomorrow, much worse, and the day after tomorrow way way worse, and so forth.” he said as he paced around the unicorn´s line. “Yes, it will be a hard time but let´s see the positive outcome of this. Previously, most of you were just afraid mares trying to make a living, in the lowest position of society. After this training, you will be different mares. You are going to be strong and respected soldiers. But, you´ll have to show us you are truly worth it.” he stopped to look at Gusty´s eyes as he said that phrase.
Although, she felt tense she tried not to show Lancer.
“Now today, we´ll begin our training with a circuit. Your goal,” Lancer took out a bow and an arrow. After tensing the string, he shot an arrow, which ended at the top of a pillar. “will be to get that arrow. But in order to do that, you must first overcome a series of obstacles.”
As he pointed the circle, the mares bit their lips. The obstacles Lancer was referring to were tall fences, climbing walls without a rope, traps and spikes.
“Oh dear…” Gusty whispered.
“Now, who wants to begin?”
“Oh, me me!” Fizzy jumped excitedly.
Lancer widened his eyes.
“Of all your fellow future soldiers, are you sure you want to be the one to begin?”
“Yeah!”
“Alright. This ought to be fun…” he muttered. He cleared his throat. “You may begin miss…”
“Fizzy.”
“Fizzy. You may begin.”
“Ok.” Fizzy jumped back and forth to prepare. Then, she bowed to run up. “Here we go!” she yelled as she ran.
Unfortunately, things were not going to be as fun as Fizzy thought they would be. She realized that the fence was higher than what it seemed in the distance. Nonetheless, she decided to try. However, her attempt ended on her falling over the fence. The ponies closed their eyes as Fizzy fell to the ground.
“I´m fine!” she exclaimed as she lifted her hoof high.
“Next!” Lancer yelled.
Buttons was the second to try. Unlike Fizzy, she managed to jump the fence but one of her hooves touched the fence, making her fall.
“Next!”
Glory managed to jump all the fences but fell on a pond when she tried to leap over it.
“Next!”
Gusty accidentally tripped when she started to run.
“We´ve got a long way to go.” Majesty shook her head.
Lancer sighed. He passed them swords, thinking it would be easier to start there.
“Let´s get down to business to defeat Grogar.” Lancer sang as he skilfully sword fought against a stallion soldier, leaving everypony in awe.
“Do you want to earn a medal or a scar?” Lancer sang as he dragged Gusty towards him to fight against her, beating her up in the process.
“You´re the saddest bunch I´ve ever met but you can bet before we´re through. Mrs, we´ll make a mare out of you.” he threw Gusty to the ground and pointed the wooden sword against her throat.
Majesty frowned at her.
After hours of Lancer´s intense training, Majesty´s training. She taught them how to tackle various at objects at the same time against the floor or a wall with magic. After she did a demonstration, the unicorns tried but failed in the process.
“Tranquil as a forest but on fire within.” Majesty sang. She frowned at Gusty when she saw her doing the spell one on one, contrary to what she instructed her, to which Gusty smiled nervously.
“Once you find your centre, you are sure to win.” this time Majesty taught them to defend themselves in a magical attack.
“You´re a spineless, pale, pathetic lot.” when it was Gusty´s turn, none of the unicorns that doubted she was the Wind Warrior had mercy on her. They started to throw stones at her. Instead of creating a magical shield, she threw blasts everywhere, one almost hitting Majesty.
“And you haven´t got a clue.” she glared at Gusty. The latter lifted a hoof from her eyes.
“Somehow we´ll make a mare out of you.” Lancer gave them a bow and an arrow and indicated them to make bullseye. Instead of hitting the target Gusty accidentally tore Majesty´s dress´s skirt.
Fortunately for Gusty, she wasn´t the only one struggling. Her friends were having a really bad time as well.
“I´m never gonna catch my breath.” Glory panted as she tried to climb the wall.
“My bones are going to hurt a ton!” Buttons yelled as her hooves slid through the rocks, making her fall.
“Boy, was a fool for thinking this´d be fun.” Fizzy hit her head against a fence.
“They´ve got them scared to death!” Celestia told Luna as they observed the training.
“Hope they don´t see right through me.” Gusty tried to teleport to where Majesty ordered her.
“Now I wish really that I knew how to swim.” very carefully, Glory tried to pass a rope tied to both sides of a river.
“Be a mare!” the unicorns yelled.
“You must be swift as a coursing river.” Majesty sang as they practiced throwing magical attacks.
“Be a mare!”
“With all the force of a great typhoon.”
“Be a mare!”
“With all the strength of a raging fire.”
“Be a mare!”
“Mysterious as the dark side of the moon.” Majesty looked at the moon, sighing frustrated.
“Time is racing towards us. Till Grogar arrives.” as the unicorns carried lifts on their shoulders, Majesty pointed at Gusty, who fell from exhaustion. Buttons and Fizzy, who were near her, tried to help her but Lancer picked up her lifts.
“Heed my every order and you might survive.” Gusty closed her eyes from embarrassment.
“You´re unsuited for the rage of war. I´d pack up and go home now.” Lancer said to Gusty at night.
The three ponies looked down sadly. Glory patted their shoulders.
“How could I make a mare out of you?”
“Maybe he´s right. Maybe we weren´t born for this.” Buttons looked down. “I thought I would be good at magic.” she closed her eyes. “But I´m not.”
“I´d thought Lancer´s training would be fun. But he´s making me feel stupid.” Fizzy´s ears dropped.
With those words, Gusty realized that even her confident friends could be unconfident as well, meaning everypony could be unconfident from time to time. She looked at the circuit.
“Or maybe he´s wrong.” she said.
The unicorn´s ears perked up.
“What do you mean?” Glory asked.
“All of us are struggling it´s true. But I´m sure he and Majesty struggled as well. I don´t know about you but I´m still willing to try.”
“But it´s impossible!”
“It can´t be. There has to be a way.”
Gusty walked to the circuit. She breathed in before running to the first fence. Seeing she couldn´t jump the first fence, she thought of an alternative when she saw her reflection in a puddle. She looked at her horn and frowned determined. She got up and ran to the second fence. She jumped with all her strength, ignited her horn and helped herself with a gust of wind.
“Be a mare.”
“You must be swift as a coursing river.”
“Be a mare!”
“With all the force of a great typhoon.”
“Be a mare!”
“With all the strength of a raging fire.”
“Be a mare!”
“Mysterious as the dark side of the moon.”
Her friends observed with their mouths hanging at Gusty´s wit. She arrived at the wall and whenever she fell she conjured a small tornado to help her up. This time Gusty skipped all the adversities the circuit had to offer. She kept going even if it was sunrise. Finally, Gusty got to the pillar. Once again she used wind. As she did, everypony got up and watched how she struggled, cheering for her.
Lancer and Majesty observed the scene from the monastery and ran. Gusty threw the arrow in front of them and smiled them from the top.
After days that turned into weeks, and weeks that turned into months, everypony managed to perform flawlessly the activities they had the most difficulty with.
Gusty and her friends weren´t the only ones getting ready to fight. From the moment he discovered she was the Wind Warrior, Emperor Grogar knew that the conflict between him and Majesty was about to scale to a big war. Having accepted this fact, he imposed harsher work conditions in the unicorns´ slaves throughout the whole empire, especially the ones who were working in the castle. He also interrogated them every day, using torture if needed. However, he never got any relevant information about Gusty or Majesty´s plans.
Many weeks had passed, and the emperor still knew little of her location or activity. Despite having his moments of anger like he often does; he still planned his actions with extreme care and thought, waiting for the perfect moment to attack.
As usual, Bray knocked his door before entering to the throne room.
“Emperor Grogar. We finished our daily interrogation to all the unicorns but like always,” he rolled his eyes “we didn´t get answers. Only cries for help and begging.”
“I don´t even know why you keep interrogating the unicorn slaves.” Grogar bashed him. “Isn´t it perfectly clear by this point that Majesty is not sending spies anymore?”
“Well, you didn´t tell us to stop.” Bray muttered under his breath.
Hearing what Bray said, Grogar glared at him. Bray´s ears dropped.
“I mean…. Yeah, it´s clear that we need to stop.” he nodded his head energetically. “But if she isn´t sending spies, what is she doing now?”
“Training Gusty to death of course! By sending her to the castle, she practically exposed that she intends to start a war.”
“Weren´t you already in war?”
“I´m talking about a real war, Bray. The battles in which she stole territories are nothing compared to what will be. Because this time, Majesty will be confronting me face to face. And you know that I´m not merciful when fighting my enemies…”
“Wow… After all this time you´re finally seeing each other again. Oof, she´ll be furious the moment she sees you. You know… because of her son thing.”
“What happened with her son is something that happens in every war. It was not my fault. It wasn´t me who killed Lucky with a sword. She knew the risks of sending her only heir to battle and she sent him anyway.”
“If I remember correctly, that was the first time you saw Majesty in flesh, am I right?”
Grogar nodded.
“I knew of her name because of the problems her family and I had but I never saw her face until the day she showed up to my castle to `negotiate´ with a sword.”
“Oh, I remember it perfectly.” a chill went through Bray´s back. “Compared to you, her rage still falls flat, but I never had seen a pony that furious in my life. And it was somewhat scary.”
“As scary as she might have pretended to be, I still managed to hurt her significantly. If her subjects hadn´t taken care of her, she would have died moments afterwards. Just like I will manage to do so with Gusty.”
“Let´s hope so…” Bray thought as he bit his lip. “Talking about her, how are you handling it?”
“What do you mean by how I´m handling it?” Grogar asked somewhat upset.
Bray wanted to ask Grogar about his emotions, but seeing his reaction, he had second thoughts.
“I was talking if you have progressed on your strategies on how to capture her.”
“I do have my ideas to capture her, yes. Most importantly, I do know how to make her reconsider fighting me…” he smirked.
“And that is..”
Grogar was about to explain but a guard opened the door before he could.
“My emperor. The allies are waiting for you in the meeting room.”
Grogar sighed.
“Tell them I´ll be there in a minute.”
The guard nodded and closed the door. Bray observed how Grogar closed his eyes as he breathed slowly.
“Forgive me for this question my emperor.” Bray looked at the floor to avoid eye contact with Grogar. “But, do they know about the prophecy?”
Grogar´s opened his eyes. Slowly, he turned his eyes to Bray and glared. Bray´s ears dropped and walked backwards, expecting Grogar to blow in anger.
“They don´t need to know about a nonsense superstition. So why tell?”
Grogar´s answer left Bray relieved. Many years of servitude to Grogar allowed Bray to know everything about him, even the most insignificant detail. After a long time of stress and getting angry, there came a point when Grogar would come back to his calm yet imposing attitude, either because he had accepted the situation or was exhausted about wasting his energy in anger. Judging from his answer, Bray could tell that moment had come. He subtly exhaled all the air he held.
“That makes sense, yeah.”
“Let me ask you this, Bray. And I want you to be sincere.”
“You know I would never lie to you. I´m your most loyal follower!”
Grogar raised an eyebrow, skeptical about those words. No matter how loyal Bray was to him, he knew there were moments in which he lied to avoid trouble. However, he also knew that he was too afraid of him to betray him, which was why he still kept him as his confidant.
“Do you really believe in the prophecy Bray?”
“What? No! Why would I?” Bray looked away as he smiled nervously.
Grogar´s eyes and bells shone, noticing Bray´s fear. The ram frowned.
“I told you to be sincere.”
“I am being sincere.”
“No, you´re not. Why are my bells glowing then? If you were telling me the truth, you wouldn´t be so afraid. Answer me again. Do you believe in the prophecy or not?”
Bray took some seconds to answer, wondering if he really should tell the truth. After reconsidering, the donkey gave in his master´s desires. He sighed defeated.
“Believe wouldn´t be the word. Deep down I know that she did it to scare you but there´s also a part of me that´s frightened. And I think we can speak for all that follow you.”
After Bray told the truth, Grogar´s eyes and bells stopped glowing.
“Now you´re telling the truth. See? It wasn´t that difficult.”
“You´re not angry?”
“No. Just disappointed that you would let your emotions take over you. Don´t I always tell you that feeling fear is just for the weak? I never thought you as weak. I saw a strong donkey who could get everything done. But maybe I was wrong.”
Bray looked down.
“I´m sorry, my emperor.”
“You are forgiven. But one more thing. Don´t ever mention the prophecy. Again.”
“Yes, my emperor.”
“Good. Now, let´s just get the meeting done, shall we?” Grogar said as he left.
Bray stared as he left, his ears lowered due to embarrassment. Whenever he showed worry for Grogar, he would just brush it off and make it seem like it was him being weak. Sometimes, he wondered if Grogar truly never felt fear or sadness and it was just an armour to make him feel better about himself. Even worse, he feared that armour would doom him rather than protect him, which was the reason why he was so scared of the prophecy coming true.
“Bray! Are you coming or not?” Grogar called him from the corridor.
Grogar´s voice brought Bray back to reality.
“Huh? Oh! Yes, my emperor. Sorry.” he apologized as he followed him.
Meanwhile, at the meeting room, Grogar´s allies waited impatiently for him to appear. Katrina drummed her claws constantly, to which Silenius reacted by slamming his fist on the table, making Katrina´s fur pointy as she meowed scared, tensing her entire body.
“Will you stop that?!”
“Wow, wow.” Katrina put her paws on the air. “Temper. Temper!”
“What? I´m not the one who´s drumming my fingers?”
“Well, how am I supposed to be waiting then?”
“By not making any noise?!
“I´m sorry but that´s not an option for me!”
“Oh, I will make it your only option.” Sylenius hit the floor with his staff to activate it.
“Oh, Bring it on!” Katrina enlightened her paws.
The two started throwing blasts at each other. A dog-like creature made of stone duck his head.
“Hey, knock it out you two, will you?!” he asked angrily.
“Sorry Crunch, but no.” Silenius replied to the dog without any sign of remorse of upsetting him. “This is urgent.”
“Exactly!” Katrina agreed.
A female troggle smirked.
“Yeah, keep going Katrina! Keep going and waste more spells.” she laughed.
“Oh wait. Unlike you, Hydia, I actually can because I don´t need ingredients to cook brews in a pot!” Katrina clapped back.
The troggle stopped laughing abruptly after hearing her words.
“Are you saying that I´m not a real sorcerer?!”
“I don´t know, am I?”
“Well, I´ll let you know that sorcerers that make spells by brews are as good as those who don´t. I bet could even beat you in a duel.”
“Ha! You wish.”
“Ok. But I think I have more merit than you, as I don´t need to carry a potion all the time to do magic.”
Katrina gasped dramatically.
“Oh, you´re going to repent those words!” she said as she walked to Hydia.
“Hey! We´re still not done.” Silenius called her.
“If you don´t shut up, I´m going to turn you into stone!” Crunch exclaimed as he slammed the table.
As they were too busy arguing with each other, none of them realized that Grogar had opened the gates. He and Bray stared at them, both raising one of their eyebrows. The ram and the donkey shared briefly looks. Unamused, Grogar rolled his eyes before he raised his voice.
“Silence!” he stomped his hoof.
As soon as they heard him, the creatures quickly came back to their seats.
“Good morning your royal highness.” they said in unison as they bowed their heads.
Grogar nodded his head in response, greeting them quietly.
“You know, for a creature that´s always punctual and very consistent on us on not getting late to reunions, you sure are late today.” Silenius said to Grogar as the emperor walked to his sit.
“As you well said, I am always punctual.” Grogar replied back, annoyed by Silenius´ audacity. “Even more than any of you. At least I didn´t make you wait half an hour unlike others.”
“Ok, ok. To be fair I had a little trouble on the way that day.” Silenius raised his hands in defence.
“And by trouble you mean that you forgot that we had a reunion.”
Katrina and Hydia held their laughter.
“Busted.” Katrina muttered.
“Now that we´re talking about reunions, why did you summon us?” Crunch asked angry. “It´s not meeting time and I have many things to do!”
“Crunch, did you forget that I could literally turn you to smaller stones with just a zap just for how you spoke to your emperor?” Grogar raised his eyebrow.
Despite having asked quite calmly, Crunch still felt very intimidated by his angry eyes. He grinded his jaw as he looked away.
“That´s what I thought. But answering to your question, I summoned all of you because I suspect that Majesty is about to take the next step in her plan.”
Every creature gasped.
“You mean that now she´s going to battle you? Like in a real war?” Hydia asked shocked.
“Yes.”
“Huh, well it was time that coward showed her face again.” Katrina looked at her paws.
“But does that mean that all the spying is over?” Silenius asked.
“I´ve interrogated and tortured every unicorn in this castle for months and none of them know anything. Some would say that they knew about Majesty´s plans to stop the torture, but once I asked about the plans, none of them gave a valid answer.” Grogar explained. “So I think it´s safe to assume that she´s not sending spies here anymore.”
“Besides, say all you want about Majesty, but we perfectly know she´s not stupid enough to be sending spies after what happened.” Bray added.
The donkey covered his mouth. Grogar turned his head and glared at him.
“What do you mean by `after what happened´?” Crunch asked Grogar.
Grogar turned his head back to his allies.
“The reason we know this is because one of the new maids turned out to be a spy.”
“Which one?” Hydia asked.
“Her name is Gusty, a white unicorn. She was the one Silenius and Katrina teased in one of our reunions.”
“Wait. That one?” Silenius asked incredulous.
“Yes. That one.” he said full of hate.
Although she tried not to, Katrina burst in laughter, which made Grogar frown.
“It´s not funny Katrina.”
“Ok. Ok.” she said as she wiped a tear. “You´re telling me that weakling was Majesty´s puppet all along? And you didn´t realize?”
“I knew it already! I knew it from the first moment I saw her.” he said in his own defence. “But she and her fellow spies managed to escape.”
“Looks like even the emperor makes the most stupid mistakes.” Hydia whispered to Crunch.
“Who do you think you are to say that, huh?!” Grogar yelled at her. “If it wasn´t for me, you wouldn´t own a castle and you´d live in terrible conditions. Without me you would be a nobody! How dare you speak of me like that?!”
“Ok, ok. I´m sorry.” Hydia apologized, scared by Grogar´s burst.
“Does any of you have anything else to say?” Grogar asked them.
Katrina, Silenius and Crunch shook their heads.
“Good. Now, listen carefully. Majesty is coming for all of you. You need to double the guards at the walls, reinforce security inside the cites, arrest and stop anypony you suspect in any way you can, I don´t care if you have to kill the entire city. But most importantly, train. Prepare yourselves and your armies for battle the best you can.”
“Forgive me, but from my understanding Majesty only wants the parts of her kingdom back. It makes sense for Hydia and Crunch but Silenius and I? His and my territories aren´t part of her kingdom, so why would she be coming for us?” Katrina pointed out.
“Precisely because their territories, which are the ones she´s interested in, are near yours. Which means that she might have to go through you first, so you need to be in alert. You won´t have to take measures as strict as theirs but you could stop Majesty once and for all.”
Silenius and Katrina shared looks.
“And one important thing. You can kill all of them but there´s one of them I want alive. Capture her, bring her to me and I´ll deal with her.”
“And what´s in it for us?” Silenius asked.
“Not being overthrown, isn´t that enough?” Grogar replied aggressively, making Silenius lean back against his chair.
“And that soldier is…” Hydia implored Grogar to continue with her hand.
“Gusty.”
“You mean the spy maid?” Silenius asked. He scoffed. “No offense my emperor, but I think you´re a bit obsessed with her, don´t you think?”
“What do you mean by that?” Grogar raised his eyebrow, both angry and confused at the same time.
“I get it, the mare that caught your attention turned out to be a spy, and you´re embarrassed by that, and as result you want her to pay. But don´t worry, as stupid as she was, even I thought she was somewhat pretty.”
Grogar widened his eyes and perked his ears up as he blushed.
“This is not because I am infatuated with her!” he yelled as he slammed his hooves on the table. “I don´t have those desires, only those who are vulgar and weak do. Especially for a pony.” he said with disgust.
“To be honest, you seemed interested on her.” Katrina agreed with Silenius. “Otherwise, you wouldn´t be doing such a fuss about a pathetic unicorn.”
Grogar conjured gags for both Katrina and Silenius.
“Enough! Let´s not make this about something that isn´t. Yes, she has my interest but for a very good reason. That unicorn is dangerous, don´t underestimate her. She has a very strong wind magic and Majesty is going to push it to its potential.”
No matter how much he tried to warn them, Grogar still didn´t get a proper reaction from his allies.
“Fine. Don´t believe me. But just remember this. If I find out that you failed, there will be deadly consequences.” Grogar said as he left the meeting room, Bray following behind.
The four creatures widened their eyes.
“Wait what?” Hydia asked but Bray closed the door before she got answer.
Once the door was closed, they shared fearful looks.
“Your allies don´t seem to take the situation seriously…” Bray said to Grogar as they walked in the corridor.
“Maybe, but after my warning, they´ll change their attitude.” Grogar reassured him. “Besides, we´ll have more help.”
Bray raised his eyebrow confused. Grogar smiled. He closed his eyes and started chanting a spell.
“Come my minions, rise for your master. Let your evil shine. Find her now, yes fly, run or creep ever faster. Search for a blue-eyed white unicorn mare that has wind magic near Majesty, and if you find her, deliver her to me.”
As he said those words, he activated both his horns and his bells. Once he finished talking, he opened his glowing eyes and rang his bell, spreading the sound throughout the whole empire with the help of his horns´ magic.
“The monsters. That´s clever.” Bray smiled at Grogar.
Grogar smiled back cockily.
“There´s still one thing to do. Most specifically, you can do.”
“Yes?”
“Tell me, did Gusty tell you she had daughters?”
“Of course!” he scoffed. “All the time.”
“Did she tell you how they looked like?”
“No, but I did see them.”
Grogar widened his eyes.
“Expand on that.” he asked intrigued.
“One was white, just like her mother, with a pink mane and purple eyes. I think she´s older, judging by her height. The youngest one was dark blue, her mane of a lighter blue and with her mother´s eyes.”
As Bray described them, a wicked smile drew on Grogar´s lips.
“Interesting…”
After his master said that, Bray understood what his intentions were.
“Wait. You´re going to…”
“That´s up to her, Bray. By joining Majesty, she practically wrote their fate. But if she´s smart enough, she´ll rewrite it.”
Bray knew that Grogar was cruel to every creature, even foals or Discord, who considered Grogar his own father. Bray wasn´t a child enthusiast either, but he was more flexible with them than he was with adults. In fact, he felt bad for Celestia and Luna when he yelled at them. And now, he couldn´t help but thinking on what would happen to those poor fillies if their mother didn´t give in. Or worse, that could be Grogar marking the end of his life if Gusty loses all her mercy after such offense.
Meanwhile, Grogar looked at the window.
“Hurry up Gusty.” he chuckled. “I can´t wait to get started.”