> The First Standoff
>  by bookhorse125
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dark clouds swept over the mountain range that bordered the north. Beyond that lay nothing but flat plains of fertile soil until you reached the desert. Small homesteads with only a few acres of land dotted the territory, staying well away from the forest.

Everypony knew the forest was haunted. It was rumored to be where souls went after ponies passed away. That would certainly explain the howls that Whistle heard every night. But what was coming toward her small farm would be worse than haunted forests - much worse.

Stories had preceded the dark cloud, and they spread like wildfire, despite the fact that everypony was about fifteen miles from their nearest neighbor at least: a powerful and ancient ram known as Grogar was declaring himself the emperor of everything from the mountains in the north to the desert in the south; everything from the east coast to the west, everything he saw and wanted, it was all his.

Whistle dropped the bag of seeds she had been carrying and looked fearfully at her husband, Panther. His gray coat and black mane would have matched the dark cloud perfectly, but his wide green eyes were filled with fear. He used his magic to lift the harness for the plow off his shoulders and raised a magic barrier over the farmhouse as Whistle dashed inside. He stood on the porch, intent on at least slowing the darkness down. Whistle wished she could help him, but while her husband was a unicorn, she was just a pegasus, and something told her that this cloud wasn’t something that could be controlled with pegasus magic.

A strong wind kicked up, blowing Whistle’s green mane into disarray and rustling her white coat. A cry came from her newest child, who was a unicorn, like her father, but shared her mother’s looks. Whistle’s other child, a cold about seven years of age, tucked a blanket around his little sister and looked at his mother. As always, Whistle was struck by how alike Panther and Ocean Breeze looked, the only difference being Ocean’s sky blue eyes.

“Mom?” he asked, uncertainty mixed with fear in his voice. “What’s going on?”

“Take your sister and get into the cellar now,” Whistle ordered, looking nervously behind her at the ever-approaching cloud of darkness, and her husband who bravely put himself between them.

Ocean Breeze nodded and flapped his wings, lifting himself into the air, and allowing him to use both of his front hooves to pick up his unnamed sister. His parents had given him permission to name her, but none of the names he’d come up with sounded right.

He tugged the rug away from the center of the sparsely furnished home, revealing a trapdoor underneath it. Prying up the wod, Ocean Breeze lowered himself down through the hole, ignoring the wooden steps that had been placed there. The cellar had a single cot, big enough for two ponies, several shelves full of preserved foods, and a barrel of water in the corner. It was designed to be a shelter from the tornadoes that frequently occurred in the area, and Whistle hoped it would protect her family from whatever was coming.

But it might already be too late. A tendril of the dark cloud began rapidly approaching their small farmhouse, attracted by the yellow glow of Panther’s shield. Whistle let out a cry of fear and raced outside to join her husband. The cloud solidified into a towering blue ram with piercing red eyes, long horns that curled around his head, and a cold sneer.

Behind Whistle, Ocean Breeze and his sister peeked up out of the cellar, watching silently.

“You’re that emperor everypony’s talking about,” Panther said, taking a step forward and tilting his head as he studied the ram’s face. “Grogar.”

The ram’s sneer twisted into a sinister smile, not any warmer than the previous expression. “So you’ve herald of me,” said, his voice heavy and powerful. “Good, good…”

“What do you want?” She meant it to sound brave, but it came out more like a whimper.

Grogar barked a laugh that echoed across the mountains, resonating deep in Whistle’s bones. “Why, I thought it would be obvious, my little pony,” he said, taking a few steps forward and lighting up his horns. Black lightning crackled across his horns as Panther and Whistle hurriedly backed up. Panther gritted his teeth and dug his hooves into the wooden floor, preparing to fight. “I want the world, and I’m going to start right here.”

At that last word, he lunged, slamming into the magical barrier, causing cracks to appear in it. Whistle and Panther looked around fearfully as cracking sounds began to emit from the damaged shield, which didn’t sound too good. Grogar lunged again, making the barrier shatter, shards falling from the sky like bits of glass. Whistle and Panther quickly diverted their attention back to the ram as he lowered his head and charged.

Being a pegasus, Whistle easily dodged him, but Panther wasn’t so lucky. Grogar slammed him against the wall before using his magic to lift him into the air, immobilizing him. Whistle cried out in protest, but it did no good.

A bell rang. Panther dropped to the floor, weakened, eyes glazed over. Grogar laughed triumphantly as Whistle landed next to her husband, brushing his bangs out of his eyes, urging him to get up. When all he did was moan, Whistle cried, “What did you do to him?”

Grogar said nothing, and Whistle realized he was staring into a globe, watching dark shapes inside it, frowning. He was also wearing a bell attached to his harness, which seemed to be glowing.

When the ball he was holding went dark again, Grogar roared, throwing the orb through one of the windows, shattering the window, although the globe seemed essentially untouched.

“This doesn’t make any SENSE!” he shouted. “The only pony who could’ve had the power to defeat me should have been right HERE!” He stopped, turning slowly to Whistle, an evil look dawning on his face that didn’t look too good to her. She began backing up nervously, looking behind her every now and then to make sure she wasn’t going to run into anything. She spotted two pairs of eyes peeking out from a small gap underneath the trapdoor to the cellar, and she knew that if she tried to go down there, she would lead the monster directly to her children.

“Unless…” Grogar said slowly, still advancing on Whistle, “it’s somepony else entirely.”

He blasted his bell with his magic, and Whistle felt her strength slowly sapping away. It was only when she collapsed to the floor, unable to stand any longer, when she realized that the familiar tingling sensation she always felt was gone - and with it, her magic.

Ocean Breeze ducked into the cellar again, taking his baby sister with him. She was struggling and looked like she was going to start crying; even at such a young age, she recognized that the situation was very bad. Ocean himself was shaken by what he’d seen. But he knew that there was nothing he could do to help his parents, and they would have wanted him to take care of Gusty.

Gusty. The name hit him like a lightning bolt, and he instinctively knew that it was the right one. A small smile came to his lips. Even amidst all the fear, he had finally found the perfect name for his little sister.

Grogar studied the body of Whistle in front of him. He threw back his head and laughed, the kind of laugh that rang across the mountains and echoed in every corner of the land. To celebrate his victory, he lit up his horns and blasted magic in every direction, creating a magic shockwave that kicked up dust for the next ten meters.

When the dust cleared, Grogar was standing alone in a pile of rubble and debris. The weakened bodies of Panther and Whistle were reduced to ashes. The only thing left was an orange and yellow globe that resembled an eye - his seeing ball.

Picking it up, Grogar left the farm, wanting to leave it as a desolate place to stand as a reminder of what would happen if you dared stand in his way.

Lack of organization meant that the land was easy to conquer. Within a few days, the land that would one day be Equestria fell to a cold-hearted villain who ruled with an iron fist of terror and suffering for everypony.

But freedom would come. For now, though, the future is uncertain.
> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gusty crouched behind a bush, wishing for the hundredth time that the streak of pink in her mane would turn the same shade of green as the rest of her short, choppy hair. She deliberately kept it short, hoping that it would make ponies think of her as a warrior, not some prissy unicorn.

“All right,” her brother said from the center of the clearing. “I give up. Come on out.”

A smile appeared on her lips, but she kept still, even though her brother had already accepted defeat.

“Gusty!” he cried indignantly, spinning in a circle, scanning the area for any signs of his little sister. He heard a rustle to his right and whipped around, narrowing his eyes at the tree, trying to see past the thick green canopy. He heard a twig snap, and then-

“Gotcha!” Gusty leaped out of her hiding place, tackling her brother from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck and pushing him to the ground. They wrestled for about a minute until he lifted his hooves in surrender, Gusty sitting on his back. She rolled into the grass, laughing, while Ocean Breeze stood up, brushed off his coat, and tried to recover some of his dignity.

“That wasn’t funny, Gusty!” he said, glaring at her. “Stop laughing!”

“Maybe not to you,” Gusty said slyly, sidestepping him as he tried to tackle her again, rosy patches of embarrassment clearly visible on his cheeks, “but to me, it was very entertaining.”

“You scared me!” Ocean collapsed on the ground, worn out by his sister’s antics, and Gusty felt a pang of guilt that shut out all feelings of amusement. “You could have gotten hurt, you could have gotten captured, you could have gotten lost…” He broke off, forcefully swallowing his tears and clearing his throat, avoiding his sister’s face.

“Sorry.” Gusty rubbed her arm with her hoof, ashamed now of what she’d done. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Ocean Breeze shakily took a deep breath and got to his hooves, still avoiding Gusty’s eyes. “I’m going into town,” he said, looking at the ground. “Stay safe while I’m gone.”

“Oh, please let me go with you!” Gusty begged, jumping in front of him. “I promise I’ll be good, I promise!”

“No,” he snapped, taking Gusty by surprise. Her brother was a pretty easy-going pony who almost never got really mad. He must have noticed her shocked expression, because he said, “Sorry. But I’ve already lost Mom and Dad. I can’t… I won’t risk losing you, too.”

He unfolded his wings, launched into the sky, and then… he was gone. Gusty plopped on the ground with a defeated sigh.

Since Grogar had invaded, ponies began to band together. Twins sprung up along the east coast, fueled by the huge amounts of fish a single pony could haul up in a day. Gusty and Ocean had been living close to these twins for all her life, moving around every once and a while to stay hidden. Ocean Breeze went into town everyday to do odd jobs and try to earn a little bit of money, usually to buy food, but sometimes to buy other things, like candy for their birthdays, or medicine for when one of them got sick.

And all her life, all Gusty had seen were trees, trees, trees, with the occasional tree. She was not happy about this.

“I’m not old enough,” she mumbled, listing off every excuse her brother had given as to why she couldn’t accompany him to any town or even any house they came across. “It’s a pegasi household. Grogar’s army is occupying the city. I’m not old enough. Unicorns are discriminated against there. This is a job for a pegasus. I’m too young. Grogar’s army is recruiting unicorns; they might try to snatch you. I’m not old enough. For stars’ sake, Ocean, I’m not a filly anymore!”

Gusty paced angrily around the clearing, fuming. “Look, I know you want to protect me, I get it. But you don’t have to protect me! I am perfectly capable of protecting me by myself, thank you very much.”

She stopped in front of a tree, glaring at it. She imagined that it was an army under Grogar’s command. Lighting up her horn, Gusty blasted that dumb tree, the tree that was only one in a billion trees, the tree that was the only thing she had ever seen in her whole life.

Her magic blast sawed the tree in two, and the halves fell to the ground with a grash. Gusty grinned in satisfaction and proceeded to chop the tree into firewood. She restrained herself from running away to just go catch a glimpse of what a town looked like. She even made the trip to the creek to refill the water jug and filled a basket to the brim with berries, enough for the next few days.

Despite all that, by the time noon was gone, Gusty was bored out of her mind. She finally took some of the firewood she’d cut and made a dummy out of it. To be more specific, she made a Gorgar dummy that she spent the rest of the day punching and kicking and blasting with her magic, and then fixing him when she reduced him to rubble. So she wasn’t entirely surprised that Ocean Breeze was frightened to death when he came back.

“Gusty!” he yelped, dropping the small pouch of coins he earned that day. “What are you - who - what-” He broke off, recovering his dignity and picking up his earnings. “What are you doing?” he asked again, more firmly this time.

“Practicing,” Gusty panted, lighting up her horn and blasting Grogar’s right horn off.

“For what?” Ocean Breeze poured the three coins he’d earned into a bigger sack, which he buried every night.

“For. Defeating. Him.” Gusty kicked Grogar in the face with her hind legs and vaulted over him, landing on his back and wrapping her hooves around his other horn, intent on pulling it off. She tossed her head, shaking her bangs out of her eyes and glared at her brother. “Obviously.”

“Um, that seems a bit… excessive,” Ocean said nervously, backing up as Grogar’s left horn snapped off and flew across the clearing. “Don’t you think you should leave that to the army? You know, the ponies who are specially trained to do that?”

“Isn’t the only army in existence Grogar’s army?” Gusty asked, leaping gracefully to the ground and studying Grogar as one of his hooves fell off and clattered to the ground in front of her.

“Not anymore,” Ocean Breeze muttered, quiet enough that it was clear his message wasn’t intended to be heard by anypony except for himself. But Gusty’s ears had grown sharp after years of living in the wilderness, and she caught her brother’s words.

Whipping around and narrowing her eyes at him, she said, “What did you say?”

He turned red with embarrassment, ducking his head and keeping his eyes on the ground, saying, “It’s none of your business.”

“None of my business?” Gusty cried, stepping forward. “If there’s another army, it’s probably to oppose Grogar, which  means… there’s a rebellion?” She gasped. “This is. The best. Day. Ever!” She teleported in front of her brother, a huge grin on her face.

“Uh, oh,” he mumbled to himself, but Gusty was already ramped up. There was nothing Ocean could do to stop the flood of questions pouring out of her.

“Is Grogar going to be overthrown? Or killed? How soon? Can I help? Where is the army? How big is it? Do you think they can do it? Defeat Grogar, I mean, do you think we might finally be free? Can I help?”

“NO!” Ocean Breeze yelled, covering his ears and flaring his wings. Gusty stumbled backwards, a look of shock and hurt on her face. There was silence for a minute, long enough for Ocean to get very guilty. “I’m sorry, Gusty, I just…” He reached out toward his sister, but she shrank away from him.

“Why?” she asked in a hurt voice. “All my life, I’ve wanted to do something to free ponykind from Grogar, but you’ve kept us hidden. I want to fight, but you’ve refused. But I never understood why. I know you want to protect me, but as long as Grogar’s in charge, neither of us will be safe. So we might as well do something to help the fight. And yet you still say no. So why-”

“Because Grogar killed our parents!” Ocean Breeze burst out, tears streaming down his face.

Gusty stopped. “You said Mom and Dad died in the flood that destroyed our house,” she said slowly. “You flew off with me, but Mom wouldn’t leave Dad, even though he was too heavy for her to carry. You LIED to me about them!”

“I’m sorry, Gusty, I just couldn’t tell you the truth!” He had to concentrate to keep his voice from wavering, but there was nothing he could do about the rivers of tears splashing into puddles at his hooves. “I thought - I thought that if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t be as angry at Grogar, and less likely to go charging into battle to defeat him. I lied… because I was trying to keep you safe.” He gently extended a wing towards his sister. “I hope you can forgive me…”

Gusty shrank away from him, unsure of how she felt about this. One thing she was sure of was that she was very, very angry. She whirled around and fired her Grogar dummy with her magic, reducing it to ashes. Ocean Breeze winced, but Gusty was too furious to care. She let out a wordless scream and ran off into the woods, leaving her brother alone.

“Gusty-” He called after her, but she blocked him out. She kept running until she reached her favorite tree. It was a huge oak with limbs close enough to the ground that Gusty could climb it without using her magic.

She scrambled up until she was hidden from the world by a thick green canopy. She stayed still for a moment, until she was certain she was alone. Then she buried her face in her hooves and cried.

She cried for what seemed like forever. When she finally lifted her head, her eyes red and puffy, it was dark out. Fireflies passed in and out of the branches with ease, weaving through the leaves as if they were water.

Gusty lit up her horn and teleported back to the campsite. At first glance, everything looked fine. The fire was burning low, the only light coming from the coals and embers. The firewood was stacked up against a tree, and all the food had been put in cloth sacks that hung in a tree. It was Gusty’s job to put a protection bubble around it each night to keep it safe from possums and squirrels.

Once she did this, Gusty walked to a pile of blankets near the fire, which was where she and Ocean Breeze slept every night. Using her magic to lift the top blanket, Gusty found the makeshift bed empty.

Dropping the blanket, Gusty whipped around, whispering, “Ocean? Are you there?” She tentatively took a step forward. “I’m sorry about earlier, if that’s what this is about.” Although something told her that this was something different entirely.

A breath of wind stirred something next to the dying fire. Gusty lit up her horn for better light and stepped forward to investigate. It was a scrap of paper with messy and sloppy hoofwriting. Gusty used her magic to lift the note, intrigued. Very few ponies knew how to read or write, but Ocean had insisted that Gusty learn, so she could read the spell books he managed to find. Along the way, he said, “What the hay,” sat down with Gusty, and learned with her.

The note was hard to read in the dim light, but Gusty built up the fire and lit her horn to make it easier to see.

Dear Gusty,

I’m sorry about earlier. I just wanted to protect you. But you were right. We’ll never be safe as long as Grogar’s in charge. So I decided to actually do something to protect you. I’m joining the Equestrian army. They’re going to try and overthrow Grogar. I promise I’ll come back to you. I love you and I already miss you.

Your brother

Ocean Breeze
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That idiotic, bird-brained moron!” Gusty cursed for the eighty-seventh time. (But hey, who’s counting?) “What was he thinking? ‘Oh yeah, by the way, Gusty, I’ve been lying to you about nearly everything for your whole life, and now I’m joining the army, but I don’t have the decency to tell you myself, so I left an incredibly vague note instead.’ Seriously.”

After finally giving into her exhaustion last night after three hours of cursing her brother’s stupidity, gusty woke up that morning, had an amazing breakfast (which she didn’t have to share with Ocean for the first time in her life; he always took all the good strawberries), and began to - you guessed it - angrily pace the clearing and curse her brother some more. It felt great.

She continued to curse his name until his dying day, until she ran out of insults. So, when she sat next to the fire at a quarter till noon, the sensible-and-logical part of her brain decided that now would be a good time to try and talk some sense into her, so it said, I don’t think cursing is going to do you any good.

Oh, really? Gusty replied snarkily. I hadn’t noticed. Thank you so much for pointing that out for me. I never would have known otherwise. You are just sooo helpful right now, you know-

I may be a voice in your head, but that doesn’t mean I can’t detect sarcasm, the voice-in-her-head said hotly.

Gusty snorted and rolled her eyes. I can’t believe I’m having a conversation with my own subconscious, she grumbled to herself. My, how low I’ve fallen.

I can STILL HEAR YOU, the voice said, sounding so much like her brother that Gusty half expected to look up and see him trotting into the clearing with a bag of coins in his mouth.

Gusty ignored the voice in her head and tried to think of new insults to throw at her brother, whether he could hear her or not. Simple minded jerk? No, that’s too good for him. Hm, maybe mooney-eyed, empty-headed feather brain. Gusty smiled in satisfaction. Yes. That’s perfect.

“You hear that, Ocean?” she said loudly. “You’re a mooney-eyed, empty-headed feather brain! Uh, whaddya think of that, huh?”

I think, the Ocean Breeze inside her head said in an annoyed voice, that you need to work on your curses for a bit more than sixteen seconds. And you shouldn’t just shout them out like that. Somepony could be listening to you and get the wrong idea. It also attracts attention. Do you really want to attract the attention of everypony within a mile of us? What if Grogar hears and comes to investigate?

Yes, Ocean, I do, Gusty replied in a satisfied tone. And why would Grogar be all the way out here?

Why are you arguing with a voice inside your head?

Am not! Well, uh, you started it! Gusty spluttered.

Did not, Ocean contradicted, but fell silent.

Gusty sighed. At this rate, she was more likely to go insane before she did anything to stop Grogar. She resumed pacing until a thought popped into her head.

Ocean isn’t here to tell me what to do anymore, she thought with relish. Which means I can do whatever I want to do! I can go to town finally!

I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Ocean piped up warrily. I mean, I think I might’ve had pretty good reasons for saying no, so, maybe you should stay here? Where it’s nice and safe? That sounds like a great idea. Yes, let’s do that.

Shut up, Ocean, Gusty grumbled. She set off into the forest, excitement building inside her with every step, until she realized that she had no idea where town was, or how to get back there, and that she was hopelessly lost.

You see? This is exactly what happens when you don’t listen to me, Ocean scolded inside her head.

You’re not even here and I still can’t get rid of you, Gusty moaned. How lame is that? You know what, I’m just going to stop listening to you altogether. What do you think of that, huh?

I think you won’t last five minutes, Ocean said ruefully. You’re lost in the middle of the woods, you’re completely clueless about what’s out there, and as soon as you get out of this you’ll eat so much candy that you’ll get sick, because I won’t be there to tell you when to stop.n And if that isn’t enough, you’ll almost definitely get kidnapped by Grogar and recruited into his army.

Yeah, that’s what I tho - Hey! Unfair! That is totally unfair! I can take care of myself, Ocean, I do not need you to do it for me! Now just leave me alone!

Ocean made sounds of protest, but Gusty shut him down and ignored him. She focused instead on what she thought a town would look like, based on what her brother had told her many years ago, back when he thought she was too little to remember much.

“There’s like a hundred houses,” she remembered him saying, the firelight reflecting in his eyes. He wasn’t even fully grown yet, but he was already working harder than some of the other ponies in town. His hoof gently stroked her mane, and Gusty remembered feeling very sleepy, but she fought to stay awake, thirsty for any knowledge about the world outside. “On busy days, it’s like the whole marketplace is an endless sea of ponies, and you can scarcely hear yourself think.”

“What’s a marketplace?” little Gusty asked sleepily, her eyelids drooping.

Ocean smiled. “It’s like a bunch of tents, and each of them have something in them that they give away, but you have to give them something back in return, something just as valuable.” His eyes got a far-off look in them, Gusty remembered, and he seemed to get lost in memories. “I work there a lot. Especially for a pony named Rex. He’s kind of mean and impatient, but he pays me well. He sells furniture, and he’s right across from a book stall. The pony who works there is really nice. When I’m on break, she offers to teach me how to read. I’m not very good, though. She has spell books sometimes, though, so maybe I’ll get one for you. And everyday I walk by this place called a hotel. It’s like a really big house where ponies who are visiting stay, but only for a little while. It looks big and grand, but the ponies there are a little… rough. And scary. But the ocean is so pretty from town. It sparkles in the sunlight, and you can see the fisher ponies yelling at each other because their boat is too close, or they’re stealing all their fish, or they stole their spot.”

“I want to go to town one day, too,” little Gusty announced, barely awake now.

“Someday, Gusty.” Ocean sighed and lay his little sister next to the dying fire. “Not today. But someday.” That was how he used to put off Gusty’s desire to go to town. By promising that she could do it later. Well, that ‘later’ stretched on for years, and now it was finally happening.

She thought about dozens of houses and tents, just like her brother said. She thought of streets bustling with ponies. She thought about places with no trees. Her horn lit up, and she teleported.

When she opened her eyes, she finally saw what her brother had kept from her all those years.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At first, it didn’t seem like all it was cracked up to be. Sure, there were a lot of houses, but there wasn’t really anything special about them. There was a very big ocean, but the cloudy day made it look kind of pathetic. And there were actually very few ponies around.

Gusty frowned in disappointment. Her brother had made town seem like something a lot more exciting than this. She could sense Ocean plucking up the courage to say something and forced the negative thoughts from her mind. Her brother had unfairly kept everything from her, and she wasn’t about to just throw it all away.

She wandered about, trying to look like the nearly full grown pony that she was instead of a two-year-old filly. But it was very hard to restrain herself when she passed a small wooden shop with a huge picture of a peppermint stick that had the words Sweet Shoppe engraved on it, young foals rushing inside to pour their allowances on the wooden counter, the coins bouncing and rolling around and mixing with each other as the foals excitedly pointed to the crystal jars that lined the shelves. She had to look the other way when she spotted a small cart lined with spell books standing on the edge of the road, a few unicorns using their magic to flip through the pages, others negotiating prices with the pony behind the wagon, pointing out tears in the delicate pages and bends in the leather covers. When she passed a small brick building with a bell steeple on the top and spotted the rows of small tables - desks, Ocean Breeze had called them - inside, she knew instantly that this must be what was called a ‘school’, and she let a squeal slip.

A few ponies looked at her strangely, and one unicorn over by the book cart laughed. “I thought I was the only one who liked school that much,” she teased as she walked over. She had a neatly combed blue mane and tail that matched a clear sky, good-natured green eyes, and a strawberry red coat. Her cutie mark was a blue spiral notebook.

“Sorry,” Gusty whispered guiltily, twin patches of rosy red appearing on her cheeks.

“Hey, you!” the pegasus at the spell book cart called. “You’ve got to pay for my book, you know!”

The unicorn looked down at the book she still held in her leaf green magical aura in mock surprise. “Really?” she asked in disbelief. “I wasn’t sure you quite had the brains to figure that out.” She tossed him the book, and he fumbled with it with his wings before dropping it in a mud puddle.

“You need to pay for that,” the pegasus snarled.

“Do I?” Gusty’s new friend said arily, waving her hoof. “I wasn’t the one who dropped it.” She put her hoof around Gusty’s shoulders and led her away from the spluttering pegasus. “Come on, new pony, I know another place to get books - a better place.”

“Why is a pegasus pony selling magic books?” Gusty asked as they walked. “They don’t have any magic besides flying and walking on clouds.”

“And controlling the weather,” the unicorn reminded her. “So you can thank them when the only thing gloomier than outside is the swamp in the Everfree Forest.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m Maggie, by the way.”

“Gusty.” The two unicorns shook hooves. “So, Maggie,” Gusty said, trying out the name, “I’m guessing that you and Mr. Pay-For-That don’t have the friendliest of relationships?”

“He drives such a hard bargain,” Maggie moaned. “I could buy a house for cheaper than one of his books. And he’s a filthy cheater, too. Here’s a lesson for you: never trust a pegasus. They’re all filthy lying traitorous cheaters who only do what they need to do to save their own flanks.”

“That’s not true!” Gusty immediately contradicted. “My brother is a pegasus, and he never-” She stopped. “Well, actually, he did lie to me about something very important. But I’m sure not all pegasi are like that.”

Maggie gave her a strange look. “Sure. Okay. But I think I figured out why he’s selling unicorn spell books. He’s such an idiot that even his own tribe didn’t want him!” Maggie cracked up and nearly doubled over. Gusty forced a smile and gave a weak chuckle. Maggie resurfaced, wiping tears from her eyes, and added, “And given pegasi taste, that’s saying something.”

Gusty forced another smile, but her guilt was overflowing. Just less than an hour ago, she had been doing the same thing. But to hear somepony else say it…

“Oh, look, here we are,” Maggie said happily, pointing up ahead at another vendor selling books. The salespony was an elderly unicorn with a fluffy white mane and reading glasses. “She sells her stuff for less than half of what Mr. Pay-For-That, as you call him-” she nudged Gusty, who gave another small smile “-does. And she’s really nice.”

The words made a lightbulb go off in Gusty’s head. She looked around and spotted a tent across the street that sold furniture. The burly earth pony who must work there had a short blue beard and hardly any mane. He was packing up for lunch break, it looked like.

“Hey,” Gusty said excitedly, gesturing to Maggie to stop. “I think my brother worked there.”

“Oh,” Maggie said, looking semi excited. “Why don’t you go ask about him, and I’ll stay here and get my books. She walked up to the line stretching from the book vendor.

Gusty happily walked into the furniture tent. The big pony in the tent looked up and scowled at her cheerful face. “I’m closing up for lunch, kid,” he growled. “So beat it. I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Are you Rex?” Gusty asked good naturedly.

He grunted. She took that to mean “yes”. So she plowed on.

“Do you by any chance know a pony named Ocean Breeze? You see, I’m-

Rex stopped putting tools in a wooden box, and his expression darkened. “Oh. So you’re one of those ponies.”

Gusty blinked, confused. “W-what do you-”

“Listen up!” Rex snapped loudly. Maggie looked up from the book she was flipping through, her worry dancing in her green eyes.

“I’ve told you time and time again, I had nothing to do with it!” Rex continued, advancing on Gusty. “I don’t know why he did it, but it had nothing to do with me! So go tell whoever keeps sending you after me that you’ve gotten the only answer you’re ever going to get, so you can leave me alone! Understand? Now GET OUT!”

“I - sir! I-I was just looking for him, so I was wondering if you’d seen him in the past few days. I don’t think you had anything to do with… whatever ‘it’ is, if that helps. I just want to know where he is.”

“Oh.” Now Rex chuckled. “Going after that reward, eh, kid?”

“Reward? What are you-” Something strange clicked in Gusty’s brain. “Are you saying that-”

“To answer your request, no, I haven’t seen Ocean Breeze lately,” Rex said, ignoring her. “In fact, nopony’s seen him around here in over ten years, or else he’d be arrested on the spot, the little traitor.”
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She felt like the ground had disappeared from beneath her, freefalling in a massive, empty expanse of shock and disbelief, anger and confusion.

“Say, you seem to know this Ocean Breeze personally,” Rex said suspiciously, studying Gusty’s expression. “Perhaps we should take you in for questioning…”

Gusty didn’t respond - she couldn’t. She felt somepony’s hoof on her shoulder, gently steering her away.

“Thank you, sir, so much,” she heard Maggie say. “My friend here is new - she doesn’t know much about what goes on here. She’s looking for him because she needs to give him a few punches to the face, if you know what I mean. Now, I think I hear a nice lunch calling my name, so if you’ll excuse me…”

“I can’t believe it,” Gusty muttered, almost incoherently. “He lied about my parents, he lied about his job… He’s apparently a wanted traitor…” She shook her head. “I need to find him and give him a free lunch. I packed him a sandwich. A hoof sandwich. Argh, I really wish there was something I could punch right now.” She scowled at a pair of foals playing some strange hopping game on the side of the street.

“I feel like this is something best digested over lunch,” Maggie suggested, steering her towards a tall wooden building with two floors. A large sign over the double doors said HOTEL.

“Oh, no,” Gusty said, pulling away from Maggie. “I can’t go there. My brother says that the ponies in there are too rough for me…” She trailed off as she recalled what she just said.

“Has your brother been really a good source of information lately?” Maggie asked. “I think you should see things for yourself before you make any decisions about them. Trust me, I go here for lunch almost every day. It’s not that bad, really,” she added, seeing the hesitation in Gusty’s eyes.

“...All right,” Gusty relented.

This is a really bad idea, Ocean Breeze cautioned in Gusty’s mind.

Wonderful advice from an outlaw, Gusty replied snarkily. I’ll just listen to you after everything you’ve lied to me about, shall I?

Gusty-

“So what’s for lunch?” Gusty asked Maggie loudly, ignoring Ocean.

“Usually just sandwiches and soup,” Maggie said, paying the unicorn at the door three silver coins - two for her and Gusty’s lunch, and one for a tip. “I just hope that you aren’t allergic to most vegetables.”

The steaming bowl of soup that was placed in front of Gusty smelled amazing, but she was too troubled to eat much. Her thoughts kept straying back to her brother.

Remember when you were younger, and you tried to convince me that you were allergic to vegetables so that you wouldn’t have to eat any? Ocean Breeze said in a voice that clearly said that he was trying to make her laugh.

Gusty didn’t feel even the slightest bit amused. Shut up, you lying, traitorous worm, she snapped.

Gusty, please, you have to listen to me, Ocean begged. Everything I’ve ever done to you has been to keep you safe. Maybe if I had been straight with you this whole time, it would have just put you in more danger than you are already. I-

“Just SHUT UP!” Gusty yelled, slamming her hooves on the table, upsetting the bowl of soup. Twin patches of embarrassment appeared on her cheeks as everypony stared at her. “I - I was talking to, uh…” Her traitor of a brother inside her head? Somehow, that didn’t seem like a compelling argument. “To him,” Gusty decided, pointing her hoof at Rex, who was sitting across from her. “I mean, the guy has no manners. Have you heard how loudly he eats?”

“Just like all those earth pony pigs!” called a voice down the table, followed by a loud cheer from the present unicorns and pegasi. Rex’s face flooded with color, and he glared at Gusty, who collapsed back into her chair from the hatred and anger in it.

Maggie gently put a hoof on Gusty’s arm and whispered, “Come on.” She led the way out of the hotel, and the two of them walked around town, Gusty in a daze. After a few minutes of blessed silence, Maggie asked, “So… what was that about?”

“Ever since my brother left, I’ve been hearing his voice in my head,” Gusty sighed. “I was… having an argument with him, and just screaming inside my head didn’t seem like enough.”

“Your… brother is Ocean Breeze?” Maggie asked, her voice softer than a whisper, her green eyes darting around to make sure that nopony was paying attention to the two unicorns, even though the street that they were on was deserted, apart from them.

Gusty growled, “Yes. I would rather be related to a haystack,” which made Maggie giggle. “I’m assuming he isn’t the most popular pony around here?”

That sobered up the red unicorn. She pointed wordlessly at a tall wooden post across the street from them, where a weathered scroll was plastered, fluttering forlornly in the breeze. Gusty crossed the street and pinned one of the flapping corners to the post so she could read it better: WANTED for TREASON and BETRAYAL. OCEAN BREEZE. Last seen in the marketplace 10 years ago. DESCRIPTION: Black pegasus, cutie mark: blue castle tower. REWARD: 10,000 GOLD COINS.

There was a sketch that accompanied the words, a rough sketch of what Ocean Breeze was said to look like. Gusty studied the drawing. They got the looks right… more or less, but it was the expression on her brother’s face that shocked her. His face was twisted into a cold, cruel sneer that was so unlike the Ocean Breeze she knew… or thought she knew. It sort of fit the pony she knew now.

Gusty’s gaze shifted upwards to a poster advertising Grogar and how “glorious” he was. Gusty had a feeling that every town in the land was mandated to have something like this plastered all over the streets. The poster had a picture of Grogar glowering down at her with the words CONQUER FEAR in big, bold text. Gusty almost snorted, because she couldn’t think of anything that could be less associated with the tyrannical ruler of Equestria. SCREW FRIENDSHIP would have been more appropriate.

She looked into the drawing of Grogar’s eyes and felt a jolt of realization. Her gaze flicked back and forth between Grogar and Ocean Breeze. The same cruel expression was frozen on their faces.

Gusty desperately hoped that wasn’t a bad omen.

“What exactly did he do?” she asked Maggie, who had come up next to her.

Maggie sighed. “Eleven years ago, ponies in this town were planning to start petitioning for more rights. They were going to start peaceful, you know, but they would turn to violence if needed. Before they could even start, though, the leaders started going missing.” Maggie shuddered. “It was a scary year. If you even hinted that you slightly disliked anything Grogar did… you vanished. Just poof, disappeared. Sometimes entire families would go missing. Somepony finally put it together that Ocean Breeze was behind it, and they set a trap for him, and he fell for it. Of course, he tried to keep doing his job, but…” She shrugged, her sky blue hair falling over her shoulders. “The cat was out of the bag now. They put a price on his head and… he hasn’t been seen around here for ten years.” Maggie gave Gusty a sideways look. “He never mentioned having a sister…”

“My bro - he kept me hidden for my entire life,” Gusty grumbled. It felt good to be able to rant about it to somepony. “Apparently Grogar killed my parents when I was just a filly, so he kept me hidden for my whole life to ‘protect me’. I just recently found out that he was lying about my parents’ death - he used to tell me that they died in a flood - and he ran away that night, saying he was joining the Equestrian army. Then I came here and just found out that he’s been a traitor for over half my life-”

“He knows?!?” Maggie yelped, looking more alarmed than she had all day. “He knows about it?”

“About… what?”

The red unicorn glanced around furtively, though the street was still empty. She grabbed Gusty and yanked her into an alleyway, lighting her horn and casting a shield around them.

“Ow! Okay, what was that for?” Gusty demanded, rubbing her arm.

“We can’t discuss this out in the open,” Maggie whispered, her eyes darting around. “Too dangerous.” She took a deep breath and looked at Gusty with a strange look on her face. “I’m not sure I should be talking to you about this. I mean, you are his sister-”

“Right now, my brother’s worst enemy is my best friend,” Gusty grumbled. “And, by the way, I tend to get very angry at ponies who don’t tell me things, so-”

“All right, all right,” Maggie hissed, shushing her. “Okay… the group of ponies who tricked Ocean Breeze? They began to… do other stuff that hurts Grogar’s reign. They were called the Resistance, and they were so undercover that some of the ponies working for them didn’t even know what they were working for. Then Grogar caught wind of it and put it down… Or so he thought. They just reorganized, but this time, they’re an army… sort of. But they’re almost ready to begin.”

The words gave Gusty a feeling of thrill that she only felt when imagining Grogar’s demise. Only this was real. Grogar’s throne might really be toppled.

“I want to help,” she announced. “I’ve wanted to do something about Grogar my whole life,” she plowed on as Maggie opened her mouth to protest. “Please don’t take this chance away from me.”

Gusty’s new friend sighed and lowered her shield. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but fine. Come on. I’ll take you to meet the leaders.”
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maggie acted skittish the whole time the two mares were walking through town, and Gusty couldn’t say she blamed her. Preparing not just a rebellion, but an armed revolution, under their current tyrant, was dangerous, and even that was an understatement. If you failed (and the probability of you not failing was about as likely as all the clouds just magically turning to cotton candy and raining chocolate milk), you would certainly be killed, along with the rest of your family, friends, and that one pony you bumped into at the market that you spent five minutes talking to. Rebellion in Grogar’s Equestria simply wasn’t tolerated.

The headquarters for the Equestrian army was in a two-story wooden building with a jewelry shop on the first level called Ruby’s Jewelers.  It didn’t look all that impressive from the outside, Gusty thought, but perhaps that was the point.

“Ah, good afternoon, Maggie!” the pony behind the counter cheerfully greeted them as they walked into the shop. He was a cream colored, thin stallion with a deep red mane pushed behind his ears. A pair of fancy looking glasses rested on his muzzle. “I see you’ve brought a friend.”

“Ruby, this is Gusty. She’s new here. Gusty, this is Ruby.” Maggie tapped her hoof on the stone floor impatiently. “Ruby, is it okay if I look in your storeroom for a bit? I’m looking for something special.”

Ruby tskd. “Maggie, sweetheart, this is highly irregular-”


I know that,” Maggie insisted. “But you’ve done it a couple of times, and I thought that perhaps you could make an exception? Gusty here’s looking for something to give her mother for her birthday.”

Gusty was impressed with the ease at which Maggie and the storekeeper came up with stories to cover their true intentions, if not a little scared.

The willowy stallion sighed. “I’m afraid the storeroom is a bit preoccupied at the moment…” He took one look at Maggie’s pleading look and relented. “But I suppose… Just promise not to touch anything. It’s a bit of a mess in there.”

Poking his head through a door behind the counter, Ruby called, “Oasis! Get in here and watch the shop for a bit. I’ll be helping these ponies personally.”

A sunny yellow pony with deep blue eyes and a golden mane scrambled into the room and grinned, waving to Maggie and Gusty as she took her place behind the counter. Gusty couldn’t help but grin back. This pony had such a cheerful demeanor about her that Gusty liked her immediately.

“We may be gone a few minutes,” Ruby warned, slipping a ring of keys off his necklace and passing them to the pegasus. “These unlock all the display cases, if you need something from the storeroom, wait until I can get it, do you remember how to use the register and-”

“Oh my stars, yes,” Oasis laughed, tossing her golden braid over her shoulder. “I’ll be fine, now go do whatever it is that you need to do.”

Ruby opened his mouth to protest, but Maggie was already by the storeroom door, so he sighed. “All right,” He conceded. “Shout if you need anything-”

Maggie groaned and grabbed his hoof, pulling him in the storeroom. Oasis snickered, and Maggie gave her a strange look, like she wasn’t sure she should glare at the pegasus or share her smile. With a shake of her head, she ducked into the doorway, Gusty behind her.

“Who’s that?” Gusty asked as Ruby shut and locked the door behind them.

“Oasis is my apprentice,” the thin unicorn explained. “I know it’s a bit unusual, but she’s been a terrific help around here.”

“But she’s a pegasus,” Maggie protested, tapping her hoof on the floor again. “Everypony knows that pegasi are bad news. Why would you-”

Ruby gave her a look that shut her up. “As far as I’m concerned, she’s a pony, as am I, as are you. It makes no difference to  me whether a pony has wings or a horn or neither, and I hope you don’t care much, either.”

“Are you sure it’s safe?” Maggie asked instead. “I mean, with-”

“If I thought it wasn't, do you think I would risk it?” Ruby asked cooly, turning away from the door. Maggie fell silent, staring at the floor.

The storeroom was messy; crates and boxes were piled up, making a sort of maze around the wooden shelves. Ruby navigated through them with ease, like he knew it like the back of his hoov. There didn’t appear to be anything that would indicate that this was a sacred war headquarters, but as they walked, Gusty noticed both Ruby and Maggie shoving certain boxes out of sight.

“This is where we keep our bracelets,” Ruby announced in a loud voice. “And over here are our tiaras, if you’d like to take a look.” He continued to narrate his products loudly, walking off elsewhere in the room.

“Come on,” Maggie hissed, pushing a stack of boxes aside to reveal a door, camouflaged into the wall. The red unicorn tapped her hoof against the door in the same way she had been tapping it against the floor: tap, tap-tap-tap, tap-tap, tap. The door creaked open, revealing a set of wooden stairs that sloped upwards precariously.

Maggie set off up the stairs, Gusty a hoofbeat behind her. The staircase ended at a wooden door. Maggie reached for the handle, then paused and looked back at Gusty. “Look… don’t tell anypony about your brother. It might spark some… trust issues. And… you have to promise that you don’t tell… anypony else about what you’re about to see.”

Don’t tell my brother you mean, Gusty thought sadly. “I promise.”

Her friend gave her a small smile and took a deep breath before pushing open the door. The hushed conversation came to a halt.

“Margret,” a stern voice, male and rich, scolded. “This is a private meeting.”

A second voice, this one female, added in a more gentle tone, “I’m sure that whatever it is you need to tell us can wait just a few more minutes until we’re done.”

Maggie bent her head in a polite bow. “With all due respect, ma’am, we don’t have long before ponies begin to get suspicious. Ruby is a wonderful pony, but even he couldn’t come up with a plausible explanation as to why it’s taking us half an hour to find a necklace.”

“Us?” a third voice asked as the second muttered, “True.”

Motioning to Gusty to follow, Maggie stepped into the room. “This is my new friend, Gusty. I… she wants to help.” There was no need to elaborate on what she meant.

Blinking in the sudden light, Gusty looked around. The room was small with no windows. A table was in the center, currently strewn with paper. Three ponies were gathered around it. One, a tall gray stallion with a salmon pink mane; another a blue mare, her sapphire mane tied up in a bun; the third a storm cloud gray stallion not much older than Gusty, his slick black mane gleaming in the light of a single lamp.

“Your name’s Gusty, I take it?” said the tall stallion, narrowing his eyes at Gusty. “What has Margret dragged in this time?”

“Trout,” the mare scolded. She turned her teal eyes on Gusty. “I’m sure she’s a lovely young pony.”

“Since when have we begun admitting ponies on the spot?” The younger of the two unicorn stallions glared at Gusty. “Don’t they have to complete the trials first?”

“Since we’ve begun needing more numbers,” the mare snapped back, her wings flaring in indignation. “And, Storm, I seem to recall that you skipped the trials at your father’s request.”

Storm’s face turned bright red, and he glanced at Trout, muttering, “That was a special circumstance.”

“These are the times for special circumstances,” the pegasus said with finality.

“Gusty, this is Professor Dolphin,” Maggie said into the silence that followed. “That over there is Storm, and his father, Trout.”

Professor Dolphin studied Gusty, Trout looked at her dismissively, and Storm was glaring at the table and attempting to look busy by moving around papers on the table.

“Gusty,” Professor Dolphin said slowly, “tell us about yourself. Why should we let you join our ranks?”

Don’t trust these ponies, Ocean Breeze said in her head.

Oh, fantastic, you’re still here, Gusty snapped. I seem to recall telling you to shut up and leave me alone. Or have all those years betraying ponies to the monster that killed Mom and Dad addled your memory a bit?

Gusty, please, Ocean pressed, his voice desperate, you have to trust me-

Looking to Maggie for encouragement, the red unicorn nodded, and Gusty took a deep breath. “There’s… honestly not much to say. I’ve had a pretty uneventful life up until now. I lived in the woods so I’ve only heard about how awful things are. But it was enough. Enough to make me want to die rather than live in a world where Grogar is in charge. So, if you don’t admit me, that’s okay. I won’t give up. I’ll do whatever it takes to free Equestria.”

Trout’s expression was hardened and unreadable, but Professor Dolphin was smiling warmly at her, and Storm had even lifted his head to stare at her, open-mouthed.

“Gusty,” Dolphin said, digging into the pile on the table and pulling out some papers, “welcome to the Equestrian army. Please fill out this form with all the personal information that we need to know, and report to training in two days at 8 o’clock, sharp. Maggie knows the way; she’ll show you. Give this to the instructor.” She signed a scroll with a flourish, rolled it up, and tossed it to Gusty, who caught it with her magic. She looked down at the sign-up sheet, grabbed a spare pen resting on the table, and filled out her name, birthday, gender, and species.

“Why isn’t there an earth pony box?” Gusty asked curiously, scanning the form. Maggie cleared her throat and Storm snorted. “Earth ponies aren’t smart enough to handle the challenges of a revolution,” he scoffed.

“Storm,” Dolphin reprimanded. Turning to Gusty, she said, “We typically use earth ponies as messengers, but very few have convinced us to admit them into our troops.” Gusty nodded, her eyes on a section where she was expected to list all her family members and close relatives. With shaky writing, she wrote DECEASED. As far as she was concerned, her brother was dead to her.

You know, I think we might have an aunt or something in Fillydelphia, Ocean said in a voice that clearly was meant to cover any feelings of hurt.

Gusty shoved down her guilt. Shut up.

The tip of her pen hovered over the space to write her current address. Should she put the forest and hope somepony could find her when she was needed?

Maggie seemed to sense her indecision, because she slipped up next to Gusty and whispered, “You can put my place. 817 Hoofington Lane. I figure you don’t really have a house of your own.”

Gusty gasped. “Really? You mean it?”

The unicorn shrugged. “I used to have a roommate, but he left to go live with his marefriend.” Her voice hardened momentarily as she said “marefriend”. “Anyways, I’ve got a spare room that’s just collecting dust, so might as well put it to good use.”

“Thanks, Maggie,” Gusty said gratefully, penning down the address before passing the completed form to Dolphin. Her eyes lingered on the word DECEASED, but didn’t press it.

“We should get going,” Maggie said, nodding towards the door. “Don’t want some ponies getting suspicious. Thanks again, professor.” Dolphin nodded.

Gusty used her magic to take her scroll, and the two unicorns walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

“I thought you hated pegasi,” Gusty inquired.

“Professor Dolphin’s different,” Maggie said immediately, her tone defensive.

“How so?”

Maggie stopped on the steps, thinking hard. “I… I’m not sure. But she’s not like the other pegasi. She’s different.”

“Maybe some other ponies are different, too,” Gusty pressed as they started walking again. “Maybe you just have to give them a chance to prove it.”

Ruby saw Gusty’s scroll, took it, and put it in a small box, which he then wrapped in brown paper, held in place with a string. “I hope your mother likes the necklace you picked out,” he said loudly as they exited the room. “Come back anytime! Oasis, I’ll be just a while longer, there’s a few things I need to put back.”

“Did you already pay for that?” Oasis asked hopefully as soon as Ruby had left.

“For this? Oh-oh, yeah, as soon as I found the one I wanted,” Gusty lied. “Why?” she asked when the pegasus’ hopeful expression faded and her ears drooped.

Oasis sighed. “I just wanted to do something. All I’ve ever done is clean up and bring in new orders and organize. Ruby’s the one who handles the actual shop. I guess I want to do something that really matters. But every time he leaves me in charge, it’s just an empty shop.”

“Anypony with a brain would come whenever you’re behind the counter,” Gusty said spiritedly. “I know I would. And just because you don’t see the impact of what you’re doing doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

Oasis’ ears pricked up. “You think so?”

Gusty nodded. “I know so.”

The golden pegasus grinned. Maggie looked conflicted. She eventually decided to leave. The door was open when Oasis spoke again.

“Do either of you have plans for dinner?”

Maggie froze, halfway out the door. Gusty said, “No, why?”

Oasis fiddled with the tip of her braid. “Well, it’s just that my mom’s making hayburgers tonight, and she does them really good, so, I was just wondering. It’s perfectly fine if you say no-”

“I’ll go,” Gusty interrupted. She had never had a hayburger before, but she’d heard all about them from Ocean, and they sounded delicious. “I don’t have any plans for the evening, anyway.”

She looked at Maggie, who was clearly having an internal war with herself. Finally she said, “Fine. I do love a good hayburger.”

Oasis squealed. She leaped into the air and started doing loop-de-loops.

“I regret this already,” Maggie muttered.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maggie left to buy her books that she had been looking at earlier that day, and she offered to drop off Gusty’s mother’s ‘necklace’ at her apartment. Gusty herself stayed with Oasis for the remainder of the afternoon, worrying that Maggie might decide that she would rather swim in mud than be seen with a pegasus and bail out.

But just a few minutes before Oasis’ shift ended, Magige entered the shop, looking more sure of herself and her decision than she had earlier.

“I’m so excited,” Oasis babbled as she fastened a cloak around her shoulders. It was navy blue and matched her eyes, embroidered with golden suns around the hem, and was so large that it covered her wings, making her look like an earth pony.

“What do you need a cloak for?” Maggie asked, and, to her credit, there wasn’t a hint of judgment in her voice, just genuine curiosity.

Flush began to creep up Oasis’ neck. “It’s a bit chilly outside?” she tried. Gusty and Maggie exchanged a look. They both knew that it was the middle of summer, and therefore a bajillion degrees outside, but they decided to let it go.

“So, Oasis,” Gusty said cheerfully after Ruby had wished them farewell and the three ponies had left the shop, “where do you live?”

The pegasus brightened as the topic changed. “My mom owns a hayburger joint just down here,” she said, pointing down a street lined with shops. “My dad helps her out, and the three of us live above the shop.”

“No siblings?” Maggie asked.

She shook her head. “Just me.”

“You’re lucky,” Gusty said ruefully. “I have an older brother, and he’s a massive, ill-tempered jerk who abandoned me after he lied to me about just about everything.”

Oasis laughed. “I’ve always wanted somepony to hang out with,” she said. “It gets kind of lonely… Oh, here we are.”

Maggie’s mouth dropped open. “Burger Queen? Your mom owns Burger Queen?” she stuttered. “I’ve been here before. I didn’t know it was pegasus owned.”

“It’s not,” Oasis corrected, looking embarrassed. “It’s… you’ll see.”

She led the two unicorns inside the restaurant, which was empty. It was late in the evening, so Gusty assumed that everypony had left. Through the kitchens and up the stairs, Oasis opened the door to her home.

It looked nice enough. The entry hall branched off into the kitchen on one side and three doors on the other. Two ponies - earth ponies - were hard at work in the kitchen, looking exhausted yet cheerful. Already, a mouth-watering aroma was wafting over to the doorway.

Maggie looked from the two earth ponies to Oasis to her cloak, and her mouth dropped open in a perfectly shaped O. “Oh,” she whispered.

“Oasis!” the mare said cheerfully, looking up. She had a sunshine yellow coat like Oasis, along with her golden mane, streaked with orange and done up in a bun. Her bright eyes fell on the two unicorns, and her smile widened. “I see you’ve brought guests!”

“Wonderful news!” the stallion exclaimed, his sandy yellow coat and orange mane gleaming in the last rays of evening light. He came over and tousled Oasis’ braid, straightened her cloak, and rushed back to the kitchen to pull a tray of buns from the oven.

“Mom, Dad, this is…” Oasis trailed off, looking at Gusty curiously.

“Gusty,” she filled in. “My name’s Gusty, and this is Maggie.”

“Hello,” Maggie said politely, though she sounded like she was restraining from lighting up her horn and knocking these ponies’ lights out, which Gusty thought was kind of strange. They had shown them nothing but kindness. Or were pony parents supposed to be rude?

“My name is Sunshine, and this is my husband, Dune,” Oasis’ mother introduced, taking a break from preparing a salad to smile at the three ponies as they took seats at the table.

“I hope we’re not budging in,” Gusty began, but Dune interrupted her.

“Nonsense, my little pony! The pleasure is all ours.” He slid a plate of hayburgers on the table with a flourish. “It’s good to see Oasis making some friends.”

“Indeed,” his wife agreed, setting down a heaping bowl of salad on the table before taking a seat.

“Wait, there’s something I don’t understand,” Gusty said, looking between Oasis and her parents. “If you two’re earth ponies, how come your daughter’s a-”

Sunshine and Dune’s smiles became rather forced. Maggie shook her head, and Oasis ducked her face out of view.

“-earth pony,” Gusty finished lamely.

“So, Gusty,” Sunshine interrupted after an uncomfortable silence. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here. Where are you from?”

“Um…” Out of the corner of her eye, Gusty spotted Dune giving his daughter a look. Oasis nodded and quietly got up and slipped out of the room, her head hanging low.

Maggie pushed back her untouched plate. “I just realized… there’s somewhere I need to be. Thank you for dinner. If you’ll excuse me.” With a quick nod to both earth ponies, Maggie galloped out of the room.

Gusty wished she had followed.

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Sunshine reminded her politely.

“I, um… I’m new here, and… Do you have a restroom?” Gusty peeped. Dune nodded, his mouth full of hayburger, and pointed across the hall. Gusty thanked him and walked in, shutting the door behind her. Once she did, she lit up her horn and teleported downstairs. She heard loud voices coming from the kitchen and went to investigate.

Maggie and Oasis were arguing. Oasis was sitting on the floor with a cloth, scrubbing at the wood planks. She had finally removed her cloak, and her wings, pale and sweaty, flopped defeatedly on either side of her.

“What’s going on?” Gusty demanded, stepping next to Oasis.

“Her parents are miniature Grogars,” Maggie growled, glaring at the staircase.

“They are not!” Oasis protested, pausing in her scrubbing. “Sure, they can be a little… oppressive, but they’re not as bad as Grogar!”

“Why on earth would you say such a thing?” Gusty demanded.

The other unicorn pointed at Oasis cloak, hanging on a hook on the wall. “Her parents are earth ponies,” she said, her voice seething with anger. “She’s a pegasus.”

“They’re just trying to protect me,” Oasis whispered, trying to convince herself as much as the two unicorns.

The puzzle pieces finally clicked for Gusty. “You mean… they make you wear that cloak to hide the fact that you’re a pegasus? They’re ashamed of you?”

Oasis literally wilted, and Maggie snarled, “Something like that. Argh, I swear, I would go up there and give them a piece of my mind if it weren’t for the fact that this would probably attract some unwanted attention. But nopony treats my friends that way-” She broke off as she realized the weight of what she’d just said.

The ceiling rumbled all of a sudden, dust raining down. Oasis groaned as it sprinkled on the clean floor and threw her rag down, standing up as the room shook again.

“What’s going on?” Gusty demanded, her fear seeping into her voice.

“Monster attack,” Maggie said calmly, like how one pony would say, “Nice weather.” “They happen at least once a day. Grogar allows his beasts to roam free about the land, taking everything they want and destroying the rest.”

“How can you not know this?” Oasis questioned, swinging her cloak over her shoulders reluctantly.

“Um…”

“Let’s go see if anypony needs help,” Maggie said hastily to break the silence. She gestured to Gusty, and turned to Oasis. “Do you want to come with us? I can at least promise we’ll be better than them.” She jerked her head towards the staircase.

Gusty could tell Oasis was tempted, but she sighed and said, “I wish, but no. They’re still my parents, and I have to believe that they still care about me and love me as I am.”

Maggie shrugged like it didn’t matter to her, but Gusty could tell that it was breaking her heart to leave her new friend in such an awful place. “Suit yourself. But… if you ever do want to take me up on that offer…” She shook herself and left. Gusty wrapped the pegasus in a hug before she followed in suit.

“She seems nice,” Gusty said as they left Burger Queen behind them. “Her parents are nightmares, though,” she added hastily as Maggie’s eyes narrowed into green slits. “But… why do you care? Why’d you come, anyway?”

A full block passed under their hooves before Maggie spoke. “I was only going because I thought about what you’d said earlier, about other ponies being different and me giving them a chance… and I just figured you were right. But it just made me so angry to see something like that being done to another pony, pegasus or no. And I just… I figure, she’s different, at least. And maybe… maybe everypony’s different. We just never allow ourselves to see it.” She sighed and looked back towards Oasis’ house, though it was no longer visible. “We’re afraid of what we might find. But maybe there’s no reason to be afraid.” She angrily kicked a small stone across the street. It knocked down a glass bottle, which cracked. “I just wish everypony would be able to see that.”
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before long, they could hear the screaming. And not long after that, ponies started rushing at them, running away from a glowing red fire in the distance.

Panic started building in Gusty’s chest, but Maggie looked calm and collected, maybe even a little bored. She forged through the sea of screaming ponies with Gusty in her wake until they reached the source of all the commotion.

A tent in the marketplace was ablaze. A huge creature stood outside, roaring fire into the inferno. It had the head and hindquarters of a goat, as well as the head and front paws of a tiger. The beast’s tail was a live snake, writhing and hissing at anypony who dared come close. The tiger head reached into the blaze and pulled out a table covered with tools falling out of a toolbox. The goat head snapped up the tools, and the tiger growled at it, snapping and snarling before launching itself at the goat. The creature danced in a circle, getting the snake tangled up in its legs, causing it to topple over.

A few ponies had begun throwing buckets of water on the fire, Maggie among them. Gusty turned to help, but something she saw the monster doing out of the corner of her eye made her stop. A pony was standing stock still, staring at the inferno with his eyes wide in shock. And the creature was creeping up on him. Its claws reached out, its tongues flickering between its teeth hungrily, and then-

With a wordless cry, Gusty lit up her horn, making a long, thin whip appear from the end of it, made of energy and crackling as it hissed through the air to knock the beast back.

Gusty placed herself between the monster and pony, her horn lit. The creature staggered to its mismatched feet and looked around in confusion, but once its beady eyes - all six of them - landed on Gusty, it roared and let out a blast of fire aimed straight for her. She met with an equally powerful blast of magic.

The monster roared again and, bit by bit, began to gain the upperhoof, slowly pushing back against Gusty’s beam. Sweat poured down her face, and she gritted her teeth and dug her hooves into the ground. She felt the flames white-hot against her horn, she was certain that this was the end-

Gusty.

She nearly lost control at the sound of the voice in her head, but it wasn’t Ocean Breeze’s voice. This one was female and kind and comforting.

There is a time and place for strong emotions, the new voice instructed her. This is one of them.

Strong emotions? Gusty thought. It seemed like that was all she’d been feeling for the past day. Taking a deep breath, she focused on her hurt and anger at her brother’s lies and betrayal, her pain and heartbreak at seeing her friends suffer, her despise and hatred of Grogar and her desire to rid Equestria of his tyranny.

Newfound strength coursed through her veins, and with a defiant cry, Gusty channeled it all into her magic. A bright light blast exploded in front of her, nearly blinding her though her eyes were closed. When it cleared, she opened her eyes to see the monster lying half a block away, smoking and covered in burn marks. It got to its feet and ran away, whimpering.

The fire in the tent had been put out. All that remained now was a burnt tent frame and some charred furniture. A small flame flared out, but Maggie stamped it out.

Panting, Gusty turned to see the pony whose life she’d saved, and took a step back in shock. It was Rex, the pony whom her brother had worked for for a time, and instead of thanking her, he was glaring at her.

“Well?” he snapped, standing up. “Have you come to finish me off?”

“What? N-no!” Gusty protested. She sensed rather than saw Maggie come up behind her. “I was trying to save you from that monster, who, if you didn’t notice, was about to eat you, so, you’re welcome.” She lifted her head and blew her bangs out of her eyes.

“Yeah, right,” Rex snorted. “Nopony’s been able to make the monsters leave. I bet you’d zap all us non-unicorns with your horn and fry us to a crisp if given the chance.” He turned and ran down a side street, leaving Gusty in a crowd of whispers.

“You know, he does have a point…”

“...never seen anything like it…”

“Just Boom! Bye bye monster!”

“...would be just like a unicorn, though, to pretend to save somepony before they zapped them,” one earth pony grumbled, glaring at Gusty.

“I would never zap anypony! I-I don’t know what happened!” Gusty stammered, taking a step back. “I swear, I never meant to hurt anypony!”

Gusty lit up her horn and teleported both of them out of there. They arrived at a two floor brick building, and Maggie gently let Gusty, who was still in a daze, into the building, up a flight of stairs, down a hallway, and through a door, which she promptly shut and locked behind them. She sat Gusty down on the couch and plopped down next to her. For a while, they sat there in comfortable silence, and then Gusty spoke.

“What did Rex mean back there… that nopny was able to make the monsters leave?” she asked in a quiet voice.

Maggie sighed. “Nopony’s powerful enough - or crazy enough - to stand up to them, and if anypony did, they would most certainly not make it out of there alive. The monsters just come, take what they want, destroy some things, make a huge mess that we have to clean up, remind us that Grogar’s still in charge… They leave eventually. But nopony really knows when. Sometimes they stick around for days, sometimes minutes. They usually come alone, but every once and a while, they bring their ugly friends…''Her eyes hardened. She chuckled, though her voice was hollow. “This one time, it seemed like every monster in all the land was descending upon us. They destroyed the whole city… we had to rebuild everything from scratch.”

Something about the way she said it, like she was used to her life turning into living hell, made Gusty’s blood boil. The shock and confusion that had plagued her mind since the monster incident vanished.

“I feel better now,” she offered. “No, really,” she insisted, almost laughing as Maggie opened her mouth to protest. “I think all I need is a good night’s sleep. It’s been a long day.”

Maggie’s apartment consisted of four rooms, the first of which was the kitchen, though the tiny kitchenette and table with two chairs hardly took up any space, so a couch and some armchairs sat next to a fireplace. Maggie’s room had a bed, bookshelf stuffed with books, and a desk that looked like a tornado had swept through it. There was a picture hanging on the wall of three ponies drinking milkshakes, but Maggie ushered Gusty away before she could get a good look at it. The third room was the bathroom.

The room that Maggie had Gusty settle in was collecting dust, just as she’d said, but other than that, it was perfect. There was a window facing the east, with a desk under it. A dusty but not empty bookshelf stood against the southern wall, with a bed opposite that.

“I washed the sheets this afternoon, and you can help yourself to the books, and if you want anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask, okay?” Maggie said fervently, wringing her hooves. “Well… what do you think?”

“I-it’s perfect,” Gusty gasped, running over to the window and throwing open the curtains. The view over the harbor was stunning, and as Gusty pushed open the window, a light breeze blew in and immediately calmed her down. She whirled around and flopped onto the bed. Maggie winced as a cloud of dust rose into the air, but Gusty didn’t seem to notice. With a sigh, she pulled a blanket over herself and fell asleep, her chest rising and falling peacefully.

Maggie smiled before using her magic to close the window, draw the curtains, and close the door behind her, leaving the unicorn to sleep.

She dreamed that Grogar came and destroyed the entire town, killing all her friends, and when she tried to stop him, an army of monsters, all wrapped in shadow, blew fire all around her. She saw her brother in the flames, and when she cried out for help, he merely shook his head and said, “This is for your own safety, Gusty.” Then Ocean Breeze melted into Grogar, who laughed and said, “This is the little brat who fought off my monster? Do not worry, my little pony. I will destroy you, just like I did your parents.”

His horns lit up, bright yellow crackling with black lightning, and Gusty shut her eyes, holding her breath, bracing herself for the impact, which never came. Gasping, she opened her eyes to see everything around her moving in slow motion.

Gusty, said the same voice from earlier, sounding loud and echoey in the eerie silence.

“Where are you?” Gusty demanded, whirling around in a circle. “Who are you? What do you want from me?”

I’m not going to hurt you, the voice said, and for whatever reason, Gusty believed her. I mean no harm, I’m only here to help.

“Help protect me, no doubt,” Gusty snapped, forcing fury that she didn’t really feel into her voice. “Just like my brother!”

The voice chuckled, and Gusty was taken aback. On the contrary, she said, unlike your brother, I see no sense in trying to protect you, as you both don’t need it and will, no doubt, find your way around anything I do. So, no, I am not here to protect you the way Ocean Breeze tried to. Rather, I will give you guidance, so that you may protect yourself when you need to.

“Geeze, where have you been all my life?” asked the unicorn, finding that she liked this new presence in her head much more than she liked Ocean Breeze’s. “Hey, um, quick question: how do you know so much about magic?”

My husband was a unicorn, the voice said now with a touch of sadness to it. He told me a few secrets.

“Your husband was a unicorn?” Gusty asked. “Was?” Also, does that mean that you’re not?” Her mind flashed to Oasis, and how her parents forced her to hide her identity. “Does that mean you’re ashamed of me?”

Of course not, the voice said. I would love you if you had six arms and legs and were as tall as the treetops.

“Okay…” Gusty turned to look at Grogar, who was frozen with a cruel sneer on his face, flames whirling around him. “Why are you talking to me now? Do you want something from me?”

It’s okay to be scared sometimes, the voice said in a soothing, comforting voice. It’s natural and it’s healthy. But you cannot let that fear control you. Then you become a weapon for others to manipulate to their purposes. Remember that fear, no matter what happens, is just another emotion. You can control it.

“But wait a minute,” Gusty said, confused. “You told me that I should use my strong emotions and just let them all out instead of controlling them.”

And there is a place and a time for strong emotions and letting go, the voice clarified. That is not all the time. Finding the right time is always challenging.

“Why are you telling me this?” Gusty whispered, suddenly feeling close to tears. “What if… what if there’s too much to be scared of, a-and I can’t control anything, and I end up hurting somepony, and everything goes wrong, and I’m to blame, and I c-can’t do anything, a-and it’s all my f-fault?”

Gusty, my darling, the voice whispered. There will always be somepony for you, whether you know it or not. But even if you don’t really know who they are, trust that they can give you strength and courage. Here, try it.

Taking a deep breath, Gusty lifted her head and stared straight into Grogar’s eyes. She reminded herself that he wasn’t real, and that she was in charge. Gradually, the scene around her began to recede. It’s not real, it’s not real, Gusty told herself firmly. She blinked, and she was alone. The fire and monsters were gone.

“Thank you,” Gusty whispered. “Oh - who are you, anyway?”

Her voice was growing fainter as Gusty woke up, but she heard the voice say, My name is Whistle. It’s nice to finally meet you, my daughter.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunlight slanted through a crack in the curtains, and Gusty blinked, her eyes opening, squinting in the bright glare. She sat up, yawned, and stretched as she leaped gracefully out of bed. Shaking her head to get her mane to lie in what was an acceptable position, she reached for the doorknob, then froze. Gusty recalled her dream from last night… and her conversation with a pony who claimed to be her mother.

Whistle? she asked in her head. Are you still there?

Yes, dear, said the new voice. And, yes, I am your mother, but please don’t press it too much. It’s too weird.

At least I know we can agree on something, Gusty said ruefully.

This is dangerous, Gusty, came Ocean Breeze’s voice. Hearing voices of dead ponies that aren’t just your subconsciousness - that could mean you’re cursed, or have an evil spell on you, or something worse-

Oh, shut up, Gusty and Whistle snapped in unison.

Maggie was in the kitchen, frying flapjacks on a pan when Gusty walked in. The red unicorn looked up as she expertly flipped a pancake over her shoulder, landing it on a tall stack with a slight splat. “Morning, sleepy head,” she teased. “Did you sleep well enough last night? I am so sorry if you didn’t, the pony below us has a tremendous snore, and you can hear him on quiet nights, so if-”

“No, no I slept fine,” Gusty laughed, watching in amazement as Maggie flipped a flapjack into the air and caught it with the frying pan, all while her eyes were on Gusty. “Where’d you learn to do that?”

“A friend - former friend - taught me,” Maggie said casually, but Gusty could detect a hint of bitterness beneath her words. She decided that now would not be a good time to press it.

“I was wondering if we could stop by my old… campsite, I guess you could call it. Me and my brother have been saving coins for forever, and now that he’s gone, I might as well put them to good use,” Gusty said, sitting down and pulling a plate of pancakes towards her.

“Sure,” Maggie agreed, using her magic to spoon more batter onto the pan. “But let’s do that in the afternoon. I have to go to work this morning, but I’ll be done a little after lunch.”

“Oh,” Gusty said, looking up and brushing crumbs off her face. “What do you do?”

“I tutor at the school,” the unicorn said proudly, puffing out her chest. “I’m working to get enough savings to go to a university and become a teacher, but I don’t get paid that much. It’s all I can do to keep this place. The professor says that it won’t be much longer before they’re able to really pay all of us, but she’s been saying that for years.” She looked at Gusty. “Just thought I should let you know… it might be a while, if ever, before you get paid for doing this. They’ve had a few… issues with finances.” She tossed the pancake into the air and caught it again.

“Oh, I didn’t join for the money,” Gusty assured her. “I was just sick of sitting around and not doing anything. And don’t worry about me, I can take care of myself.”

“I think everypony knows that,” Maggie laughed, then sobered up. “But after what happened last night…”

“It was dark,” Gusty insisted. “I doubt anypony got a real good look at me.” She stood up and levitated her plate so that it caught the flapjack Maggie tossed through the air.

Fifteen minutes later, Maggie had gone to work, and Gusty was wandering the streets of Manehattan, which Maggie had told her was the name of the town. She searched the stalls of vendors that lined the streets for somepony who sold books, not just magic books, but stories and fairy tales, too. She only knew of two, but one, according to Maggie, was terrible, and the other was right across from Rex’s old tent. Gusty had no doubt that he’d be there today, rebuilding from last night’s attack, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to face him.

After failing to find anything, Gusty decided to head back to Ruby’s place, hoping to see Oasis, but Ruby told her that his apprentice was at home sick.

“Caught that pony pox virus that’s been going around,” the stallion said, shaking his head sadly. “Hey, how’d your mother like the necklace?”

“I haven’t given it to her yet,” Gusty said, picking up on Ruby and Maggie’s ability for telling cover-up stories. “She lives out in the country, so I’m heading out there this afternoon.” At least that would explain why she disappeared for a while. “Thanks again for helping me.”

“No problem,” Ruby replied, waving as she exited the shop.

Lacking anything better to do, Gusty decided to head over to the book cart next to Rex’s burned tent, hoping the burly earth pony wouldn’t be there. But he was, all alone, poking forlornly through the wreckage. Gusty was able to take a look at some books and leave without him noticing, though after seeing him, though after seeing him, she felt inclined to offer to help repair or replace everything. She suspected that, after last night, he wouldn’t be too eager to accept her help.

After returning to the apartment, Gusty immersed herself in one of the few books left in her room, ignoring her increasingly hungry stomach and waiting for Maggie to return. She did want to learn some new spells, and she figured Maggie had some spell books, but she didn’t want to intrude. That would be wrong.

“Gusty, are you in here?” came Maggie’s voice, and Gusty scrambled into the kitchen to say hello. The red unicorn looked worried, but she smiled when she saw her. “Sorry it took me so long, I had to pick up some lunch.” She dropped a couple of wrapped sandwiches on the counter and disappeared into her room for a few seconds.

Gusty took a sandwich without complaint. She had a feeling that this was not the real reason Maggie was late, and there was that worried look in her eyes…

Ten minutes later, Gusty was leading Maggie into the woods in search of her campsite that had been her home for practically her whole life. It was true that Gusty hadn’t been able to find her way from camp to town, but she had a fairly solid plan for how to get there: find the river, follow the river until she found a familiar landmark, and make her way from there.

She had just never considered that there could be so many rivers.

“Uh, Gusty?” Maggie ventured, studying their surroundings. “Are you sure you know where you’re going? Because we’re almost out of the woods.”

Gusty’s head jerked up. “We’re almost out of the woods?” But that made no sense. “How can we be almost out of the woods?”

“By getting lost, apparently,” Maggie grumbled. “Look, you teleported here, right? Why can’t you teleport back?”

Use a lot of magic? Gusty panicked. Ever since the incident with the creature she found out was called a chimera, she’d been afraid to use more magic than necessary. What if I lose control? What if I accidentally blow a hole in the forest? What if-

Gusty, those aren’t your thoughts. Whistle’s voice broke through the frenzy, just barely able to keep her anger down. They’re your brother’s. He’s putting thoughts into your head to make you afraid. Remember what I told you - fear is just another emotion.

And emotions can be controlled, Gusty finished, taking a deep breath and lighting up her horn. I can do this. She pictured the clearing, the smoldering fire, the stack of wood, the pile of blankets. There was a bright flash of light, and when Gusty opened her eyes, she was back in her camp.

“Yes!” She leaped into the air, remembered that she couldn’t fly, and fell to the ground with a thud, sending up a column of dust. “Ugh…”

“You’ve lived… here?” Maggie spun in a circle, taking it all in. “For how long?”

“I think almost twelve years?” Gusty peeled herself off the ground and shrugged. “Eleven to be certain. You know, it’s strange - we used to move around a lot, but when we came here, we just kind of settled. Ocean said that he wanted to show me what it was like to have an actual home.” She looked around and spotted the large rock that marked the place where the money her brother earned was. Using her magic, gusty lifted the rock and pushed the dirt aside to reveal a large brown bag. Grunting, Gusty lifted the heavy sack out of the hole and filled it back up. “Here we go!”

Maggie spotted the bag and gasped, running over. “Where did you get all of this?”

Gusty blinked, confused. “Uh… my brother brought it all? I mean, he made three coins a day, so…”

“Three gold coins?” Maggie used her magic to lift all the coins out of the sack and cast a spell on the floating gold. All the coins divided into stacks of ten.

“Yeah…” Gusty watched, silent, as Maggie ran numbers through her head. She eventually dropped all the coins into the bag and slumped.

“Most of it’s gone,” she sighed, standing up. “There’s only about three hundred or so in there - if he brought home three coins per day for eleven years, that should be around…” Maggie paused as she calculated. “Twelve thousand, at least. And trust me when I say the only pony who has the wealth to pay ponies in gold is Grogar, and he pays his spies five gold coins.”

“So he lied to me again?” Gusty scoffed and used her magic to pick up the bag, straining as she did. “You know, I should almost be expecting it at this point, and yet, he still manages to surprise me.”

“Yes, well…” Maggie shifted uneasily on her hooves. “About that. There is something else that I discovered.” She lit up her horn and blasted it at the sky. Just a few meters above them, the beam of magic hit something… solid?

Cracks ran along the sky, spreading out from where Maggie’s magic hit… whatever it was. The cracks formed a dome around the camp, and once they reached the ground, the thing shattered, sending tiny pieces of it scattering over the ground.

Gusty half expected to see a dark room instead of sky where ponies plotted her entire life and somehow cast it nationwide so everypony could watch her do stuff.

But the sky was the same as before, except… Gusty took a step forward, squinting at the new, dark shape cutting into the sky.

“I figured out why you couldn’t find Manehattan, or your way back here,” Maggie said, sounding exhausted. “It’s because you’re nowhere near Manehattan.” She pointed at the mountain. “That’s Canterlot."
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Canterlot.”

“Yup.”

“As in, the capital of Equestria.”

“Uh, huh.”

“As in, I was living right outside Grogar’s palace for half my life so my brother could go work for him and I had no idea because he can apparently do magic.”

“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”

Gusty hesitated a split second too long, and her mind erupted in questions, which her mouth began to spill. “How? How have I gone my whole life without knowing? How is there a magic shield around it? How did we even get there, anyway? Why does my brother want to be close to Canterlot, of all places? That’s where Grogar is! I thought he wanted me to stay away from that monstrous goat? How am I supposed to do that when I’m living on his literal front doorstep?”

Maggie shrugged and turned the page in her book. “All good questions. Unfortunately, there’s only one pony with the answers, so…”

Gusty groaned and flopped on the couch. “Is anything he told me true?” she whispered, barely audible. “Did he… did he lie about caring about me, too?” Her voice broke, and she turned away before Maggie could see the pain in her eyes.

The red unicorn closed her book and stood up. “I’m not your brother,” she began, “so I don’t know. But I do know that you are the best friend I’ve had in a while, you’re better at magic than anypony I know, and you care about other ponies in a way I’ve never seen before, so if it turns out that your brother is really nothing more than a massive, ill-tempered jerk, just know that there are other ponies who do care about you.”

Gusty lifted her head and smiled. “Thanks. I needed that.” She stood and stretched. “Well, today’s my last day before I start training. What do you say we do some book shopping?”

A huge grin spread across Maggie’s face. “Yes, yes, let’s go!” she squealed.

Ten minutes later, the two unicorns were walking down the streets of Manehattan with a small bag of gold - Maggie had advised her to leave the bulk of it at home. Gusty had been planning to go straight to the book cart across from Rex’s tent - from what she’d heard from Maggie, the pony in charge had both fair price and a good selection.

But as they walked, Maggie would point out a shop or cart that Gusty just absolutely had to try, and Gusty would give in, because most everything was marked in price by silver, which, according to Maggie, was only worth one tenth of a gold coin, so Gusty would leave each shop stocked with whatever they claimed was the absolute best.

They were attracting a lot of attention as they walked, which was making her uncomfortable, so she suggested in a low voice to Maggie, “How about we hurry up just a bit?”

All it took was one look around before Maggie said, “Yeah, you’re right, we should go.”

The position of the sun had changed significantly by the time the two unicorns made it back home, and Gusty felt like they couldn’t get there fast enough. One of her books was about all the new magic spells that had been invented, and she couldn't wait to try some of them - especially since she knew she wouldn’t get the chance in the days ahead.

Thinking about the Equestrian army, and how she would play a role in it taking down Grogar, was the only thing exciting enough to distract her from her new books. Every time she thought about burning Grogar’s throne and freeing the land, her heart leapt with joy.

Not much longer, she kept telling herself. I promise that, as long as the sun and moon are in the sky, that I will fight for what is right. I will fight for freedom, and I will fight for friendship.

That night, Gusty dreamt of Grogar again, but this time, she had Whistle’s advice burned into her mind, and the ram quickly vanished. Gusty sighed with relief when he was gone. Even though she knew it was just a dream, the sight of the emperor was enough to make her heart thump faster.

Whistle’s voice spoke up in her head: You’re getting better at that.

“Thanks,” Gusty said with a burst of pride. She grinned into the darkness, hoping that, wherever Whistle was, she could see her. “All thanks to you.”

I’m not sure this is safe, Gusty, Ocean Breeze said fretfully. I don’t think-

“To Tartarus what you think,” Gusty muttered under her breath. She tuned him out and went back to her conversation with Whistle, switching to mental words. What happened to you? she asked, genuinely curious. Was it really Grogar who… who…

Yes, Whistle said miserably, it was. And yes, she added, sensing Gusty’s unspoken question, I am truly gone. I am not coming back. I’m sorry.

Then how are you here? Gusty asked, desperate for information. After so many years of her brother hiding things from her, she wanted to know everything, so she would never have to rely on anypony for knowledge again.

Whistle was silent for a moment, thinking. I’m not sure, she finally admitted.

“That doesn’t help at all,” Gusty growled. “How can you not know how you got somewhere?”

The last thing I remember, Whistle said, to her credit, very calmly, was Grogar stealing my magic. Then it was like I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew, I could see you facing off that Chimera, and I couldn’t just sit back and let you get burned to a crisp.

“It must have been a lot to process all at once,” Gusty said ruefully.

Once you’ve been with a unicorn for over half your life, you tend to stop asking questions and simply accept things as they are.

Gusty sat down. Talking to Whistle made her feel like she had found a friend that she had lost, but didn’t know she had. It was a stark contrast to how she felt about Ocean Breeze - with him, it was like there was somepony in her head who wasn’t supposed to be. Every word he said seemed… wrong. She couldn’t really explain it. But Whistle seemed right, and comforting.

As if on cue, Ocean Breeze’s voice filled her head, and Gusty gave a little shudder at the wrongness of it.

You shouldn’t be doing this, Gusty.

What? She rolled her eyes in annoyance. Talking to my own mother? Is that illegal now?

Joining the army, he told her, though having mental conversations with dead ponies isn’t good, either, Gusty. Please think about this. You’re the only little sister I’ve ever had. I just want you to be safe because I care about you-

Care about her? Care about her? Gusty was startled to heat the change in Whistle’s voice, which had changed into a ferocious snarl that made the presence of her brother recede in her head a little bit. All Gusty could think at that moment was that she was glad that she wasn’t on the receiving end of the anger, and she was surprised to find that she felt a small pang of pity for Ocean Breeze.

Well, he is still my brother, she thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Whistle was still radiating so much fury that Gusty felt herself getting angry. Ocean Breeze tried to defend himself by saying, I… I only meant…

Spare me, Whistle snapped. Believe it or not, you can discover a lot in a day, such as how your own son, whom you never thought of as even capable of such evil things, has been lying, and is greedy, selfish, and cruel! YOU ARE A LITERAL TRAITOR, OCEAN BREEZE!!! I don’t care what excuses you come up with, nothing is changing my mind!

Whistle took a deep breath, and Ocean took this opportunity to try and defend himself.

I was only doing what I thought I needed to do to protect her! he protested. The world we live in isn’t the same one you remember - now, the only way to survive is-

To only care about yourself? Whistle suggested in a dry voice.

Yes! It’s everypony for themselves now! Ocean Breeze directed his attention at Gusty and said, You know what I’m talking about, right? Gusty? You’ve seen it, I know you have.

“Um…”

This is what I mean! Ocean said triumphantly. You can’t care about anypony else, or else you’re not going to make it-

Like your own sister, I presume?

Ocean Breeze fell silent at Whistle’s comment. I-it’s not like that, he stammered. I meant-

You lied to her, Whistle said in a low, dangerous voice. You deceived her, you kept her away from the world, you abandoned her for something as petty and pointless as money and power!!! I can’t believe I trusted you to keep her safe!

Is it really my fault? he snapped, his calm and caring demeanor suddenly dissolving. You’re the one who left me alone to care for everything on my own! When I was SEVEN! If you hadn’t tried to face off Grogar like an idiot, maybe we wouldn’t be here! Maybe everything would be fine! But you were gone, and this was the only way I could find to survive!

Gusty was startled by her brother’s rant. Despite how angry she was at her brother, she had never considered how hard things must have been for him. Still, there were probably better ways than being a traitorous spy for Grogar.

They’re still your choices, Whistle said gently, her anger burned away. You could have chosen to make a change, to take a stand like your sister. Gusty blushed when Whistle said, I’m so proud of you, Gusty. You aren’t going to turn out like your brother.

Ocean Breeze was silent. Then he said, in a low voice, There will come a time when not even friendship can save you. And when that time comes, you’re going to be very sorry you didn’t stick with me… and Grogar.
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gusty thudded to the ground, the wind knocked out of her. Gasping, she struggled to her hooves, wincing at all her newfound bruises, scrapes, and sores.

Another unicorn crashed to the ground next to her, her sap colored coat matted with real sap. The pony staggered to her hooves and lit her horn, making her dark green mane come out of the messy bun it was in and pulling pine needles out before putting her mane back into a new, neat bun, tying the ribbon double tight this time.

“Up, cadets!” snapped Storm, glaring at the two unicorns from his little surveillance platform in the trees. “Back to the start!”

“How about I knock you out of that tree,” Gusty muttered under her breath, narrowing her eyes at the back of storm’s head as he turned away to yell at some more ponies, “and then drop a boulder on your back, and stand on top of that and yell at you to get back up a million times, and see how you like it.”

The unicorn snorted with laughter. “Please do,” she gasped, wiping tears from her eyes. “It would be much better than doing this all day.” She held out her hoof. “Everpine.”

“Gusty.” They shook.

“I wasn’t joking, cadets!” roared Storm when he saw that the two unicorns hadn’t moved. “Get moving! This isn’t chit-chat time!” A sudden thought occurred to him, and he smirked. “If you can’t complete the training, you need to leave immediately!”

“Would you mind painting me in the direction of the exit?” Gusty called back.

Storm pointed to the east. “Does this mean you quit?” he asked, unmistakable hope flashing across his face.

Gusty flashed him a grin. “No. I just wanted to make sure you knew which direction you’ll be heading. We wouldn’t want anypony getting lost on their way out.”

Everpine burst out laughing again, as did several other ponies who had paused to watch. Flush creeped up Storm’s neck, and he sent a look of pure hatred and loathing at Gusty before he roared, “Everypony back to training!” He turned to shoot another fiery look at Gusty, only to find that the unicorn had turned and was trotting back to the beginning of the obstacle course with a new, infuriating bounce in her step. He growled and turned to yell at an earth pony who wasn’t doing anything wrong to satisfy himself.

Training took place in a secluded clearing, surrounded on all sides by a thick, tangled ravine that was impossible to cross - if you didn’t have access to the secret tunnels under the ravine, under constant watch and protection by unicorns. Pegasi subtly patrolled the skies, keeping a strict no-fly zone over the area and the immediately surrounding five meters. Earth ponies walked through the rope bridges and tree stumps and evergreen trees and other training equipment, assisting the leaders and trainers (more unicorns and pegasi) wherever they needed it, or, if they were lucky, got put on patrols with the unicorns, keeping everything the Equestrian army did a secret.

It was Gusty’s second day here, and it was just as brutal and difficult as it had been the previous day.

She and Everpine climbed a spiral staircase built into a tree and reached the starting platform for the rope bridge Gusty had been trying to cross for the past hour. There were no railings on any of them, but this one in particular was made of chunks of wood, barely as big as one of Gusty’s hooves, strung on two ropes with varying distances between them. The ones near the beginning were easy, but the farther you went, the larger the spaces became, until you were practically jumping from one to the other. Worse, the platform at the end was at least a meter above the starting one, meaning that you got higher as you went. Already the distance to the ground was enough to make Gusty dizzy if she thought about it too much.

The leaders had swapped - now a younger unicorn stallion stood there, his dark red coat contrasting with his bright orange and yellow mane that looked like real flames when he moved. His green eyes were kinder, which was a good sign to Gusty. He introduced himself as Colonel Fire Storm.

“Well?” He stepped to the side and jerked his head at the bridge.

“Seriously?” Gusty scoffed and tossed her head in overly exaggerated disbelief. “No words of wisdom that make no sense until the heat of the battle, when the pieces finally click, and your whole life is suddenly changed forever, allowing you to finally give the enemy the dose of justice it deserves?” She looked around and lowered her voice to a stage whisper. “This could be the difference between victory and defeat, chief.”

He cracked a smile. “Sorry,” he told her. “No words of wisdom from me.”

“Aw, come on!” Everpine begged, getting in on the act. “Just one?”

Fire Storm sighed, as if these ponies were wearing on him. “All right, fine,” he finally relented, and Gusty and Everpine’s faces grew eager with anticipation. “I’m going to share a piece of very important, top secret information.” The two mares leaned forward as the colonel whispered, “Before the battle of the hoof comes the battle of the mind.”

“Pfft,” Gusty said dismissively, “I already knew that.”

Fire Storm’s eyes twinkled. “Ah, yes, but do you know what it means?”

“It means we need to figure it out later and try this dumb bridge again!” Everpine announced, leaping forward and landing on four pieces of wood, wobbling a bit. Once she regained her balance, she turned and grinned at the two ponies behind her. “Come on, Gusty!”

“I’ll bet I’ll beat you to the other side,” Gusty challenged, taking off after Everpine. The pony in front of the sap colored unicorn slipped and fell, managing to spread his wings before he crashed, and flying dejectedly back to the start. But while Everpine wobbled, she didn’t fall, even as she leaped from one wooden block to another.

Then one of the blocks slipped as Everpine put her full weight on it, and the unicorn lost her balance, toppling towards the ground headfirst, unable to twist out of that position. She had only been three steps from the end, and was much higher up than she had ever been. And she was heading towards a massive boulder at an alarming speed.

Everpine screamed, and while many ponies turned her way, none seemed able to react fast enough.”

“Everpine!” Gusty cried, leaping forward half a dozen steps and lighting her horn desperately. The falling pony was suddenly caught in a magic aura of yellow and gently lifted back onto the bridge, on a much safer block of wood, right next to Gusty. Everpine threw her arms around her friend.

“Thank you,” she whispered, unable to say anything more.

“What are friends for?”

“Is everypony okay?” Fire Storm demanded as he came to a halt by the two mares.

“We’re fine,” Gusty assured him. “But you should make sure that none of these are loose - somepony really could get hurt.”

Fire Storm frowned at the tilted stump of wood. “That shouldn’t have happened,” he fretted. “All the steps are reinforced with tree sap - they shouldn’t be loose.”

“It would take magic to do something like this,” Storm snapped, having joined the group. He spun the step and glared at Gusty.

“You think I would do something like this?” She glared right back.

“Why would she do something like that?” Fire Storm demanded, taking a step forward, though his hoof only found air, and it took him a few moments to regain his balance. WHen he did, he fixed his fiery eyes on Storm. “Trust me, I was watching the whole thing - however that happened-” he thrust a hoof at the bridge “-was either an accident or was planned out beforehoof-”

“And would it be too hard to assume,” Storm said loudly to the crowd that had gathered around the group - training seemed to have been forgotten, “that a unicorn would plan something like this?”

Mutters broke out, pegasi and earth ponies leaning together and whispering, while unicorns looked furious, though they still looked at Gusty with suspicion and distrust. She felt her face growing hot, and an uncomfortable feeling was growing inside her, that made her want to light her horn and blast all these ponies in the face for thinking she would do something this awful, but that would only prove them right, and get her kicked out of the army - her last chance to help defeat Grogar and free the land. Now is not the time for strong emotions.

Fire Storm raised his hoof, and everypony fell silent. “As I am the highest ranking pony present, I’ll be the judge of this,” he said in a tight voice. “This will be investigated, but for now, we will assume that it was nothing but a freak accident, one that shall stand as a future example. And rest assured,” he added, “if a pony can be found responsible for this, he or she will be appropriately punished. Cadet, Gusty, a word.” He trotted off, and Gusty followed him, her head held low to avoid the stares, though her ears couldn’t quite shut out the whispers.
> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You’re the pony who can defeat the monsters, aren’t you.”

It wasn’t a question, but Gusty nodded. “I don’t know how,” she added. “I just - I guess I can’t really explain it, but I kind of let my feelings pour into my magic, and it gets stronger. I’m not a bad pony, I promise.” She paused before adding, “Sir.”

Fire Storm nodded, frowning as he thought. “Oh, I don’t have a doubt about that, cadet,” he assured her. “Would you say that you’re… good at magic?”

“I… like to think so, sir,” Gusty said.

The stallion nodded. Then, quick as a whip, he ignited his horn and grabbed a dozen arrows from a barrel behind him, flinging them through the air at Gusty. There was a flash of silver, and when Fire Storm blinked to clear his vision, he saw all the arrows lying at Gusty’s hooves, and the unicorn mare was holding a silver sword in front of her defensively, her eyes narrowed.

He gaped - all weapons were on his side of the tent. This pony had, somehow, managed to bring a sword to her and deflect a dozen attacks almost at once. It took years of combat training to master only a part of that.

“Wait…” Gusty frowned at the glimmering weapons she was now holding. “How did I get this?”

“You mean - you don’t remember doing anything?”

The mare shrugged. “I don’t know. I just… did.”

“Okay, you act on instantaneous instinct so fast you can’t remember doing it, and you’re already much more magically skilled than just about everypony in our troops,” Fire Storm muttered to himself in a weak voice. “Combined.” He shook his head. To Gusty he called, “Catch!” as he tossed six apples into the air.

Half a dozen arrows rose off the ground and flew through the air, pinning the apples to the wooden tent support beams before Fire Storm could blink.

His jaw dropped. Then, as if his own dignity was at stake, Fire Storm lit his horn and sent a massive blast of magic straight at Gusty, shoving his desk and anything else in the way to the sides of the tent. Gusty met it with a beam of her own, equally strong, and the two were in a stalemate.

Gusty closed her eyes and thought of Whistle - her mother, her friend. She was filled with strength, and she began to push back. Fire Storm gritted his teeth, but it was no use. Gusty’s beam reached his horn, and there was an explosion that threw both ponies back and scorched everything in the tent. Gusty staggered back to her hooves and took a look around. She gasped.

“Oh my stars, I am so sorry,” she apologized hurriedly, using her magic to levitate things back where they belonged. “I can replace everything if you need me to-”

But when Fire Storm stood up, he didn’t look horrified at the destruction around him - in fact, his eyes were shining. “I think you can return to training now,” he said in a quiet voice. “I’m going to speak to Dolphin and see if we can’t-” HE broke off, shaking his head as he left. Gusty stood in silence for a while before returning to her training. Everpine was waiting for her when she returned, standing at the end platform of the bridge as Gusty crossed easily in a daze.

“Well? What happened?” she demanded to know as they trotted across a wooden platform that stretched from one tree to another, leading to the next obstacle.

Gusty shrugged. “I’m… not exactly sure,” she admitted. “We fought, but I think he wanted me to. And I beat him every time. I don’t know how. But he seemed… I don’t know, happy about it.”

“Oh, stars,” Everpine muttered when she saw the obstacle in front of them: robes hanging all the way to the ground, swinging gently in the breeze. The pegasus standing by the start raised an eyebrow at them as they approached. Gusty  sighed and prepared to fall on the path to victory.





“Absolutely not,” Trout snapped. Fire Storm mentally groaned, even though he knew that would be what the general would say. Professor Dolphin was off working on something else (the details were rarely ever shared, lest they be infiltrated and found out), so Fire Storm had been forced to lay his request at the hooves of the most disagreeable pony in the rag-tag army.

“You haven’t seen what she can do,” Fire Storm began.

“And I don’t need to.” Trout cut him off. “Nopony’s ready to officially join the army after just two days of training!”

“But she is!” Fire Storm knew that with a fierce certainty, more certain of this fact than anything he had ever been in his entire life. “If you’d just-”

“I will do no such thing,” Trout snapped. “Here, we have rules, regulations, designed to keep us safe and secret until we are ready. I will not jeopardize the well-being and safety of our mission or the ponies involved in it to make an uncalled-for exception for your marefriend.”

Fire Storm felt his face grow hot, and he ducked his head. “She’s not my marefriend,” he muttered.

“Oh, please, it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out,” scoffed Trout as he rolled his eyes. He stood up and paced to the singular window. “Storm told me all about how you stood up for the pathetic mare - a bit sickening, really. We may have to rethink your status. Storm reports that you seem to have abused it. Yes, he gave me all the details.”

I’ll bet he did, Fire Storm thought to himself. But Trout refused to budge, so it was time for the last ditch attempt, that not even he was sure would work. “I think she’s the one,” he blurted.

Trout froze. Very slowly, he turned away from the window to face him. “What?”

Fire Storm squirmed under his intense look. “From the prophecy?” he tried. “The one who makes monsters flee and tyrants topple - the one we need to defeat Grogar. I think - I think it’s her.”

“How do you know about that?” snapped Trout, looking around as if Grogar might have his ear pressed up against the door.

“You’re not the only pony who got their hooves on a copy of Predictions and Prophecies before they were all burned,” Fire Storm said defensively. “I just hope all that business with the ‘Mare in the Moon’ doesn’t happen until after we deal with Grogar, but-”

“You really expect me to act like a collection of foals’ tales is the future?” Trout snorted incredulously. “If the book can be trusted, then where are those ‘Elements of Harmony’? Or what about the ‘Crystal Empire’? Everything in there is foolish nonsense, and you’re a fool if you believe anything in there.”

“The professor believes it,” Fire Storm said quietly. He caught a glimpse of Trout’s disbelieving face, and his voice rose with every word until he was almost shouting. “Everypony does. It’s the only bit of hope that we have that we might be able to come out on top in this fight. And I know you believe it, too - I’ve heard you talking about it with Dolphin.” He shifted his hooves, lifted his head, and met Trout’s eyes.

The unicorn stallion snarled but didn’t deny it. He turned back to the window, staring at the streets of Manehattan Island. Then an idea crept into his mind, and a plan formulated behind his eyes. If it worked… all his problems would be dealt with.

“Do you know why the city was once destroyed?” he asked in a quiet voice.

The colonel nodded. “It seemed like every monster in the world was descending upon us,” he whispered. “I remember. It’s what persuaded me to join. I wanted to fight back.”

“Well, yes,” Trout admitted, “but do you know why?”

Fire Storm thought before he shook his head.

“A pony beat a monster,” said the other pony darkly. “Solar Flare. He was gifted, yes, but incredibly stupid - tried to help other ponies with his magic. So he threw a sphinx out of the city, and Grogar was furious. Firstly, nopony beats his monsters and lives another week. Secondly, he suspected that our city was full of gifted unicorns who could defeat him. So he called monsters from every corner of the world and set them on us, trying to stamp us out.”

“All because of one pony?” Fire Storm asked in disbelief.

“One pony who openly defied him,” Trout muttered, his face clouding over. “Grogar is paranoid - he will destroy you if he even thinks you’re going to betray him.”

The meaning of the story suddenly hit Fire Storm. “You mean… because Gusty beat that monster… the city will be destroyed?”

“Quite possibly,” Trout said calmly, shrugging. “Though that is where my proposal comes in. If this Gusty really is the one from that silly prophecy - the one who makes monsters flee - then she can protect the city. If she can banish every single monster Grogar sends, her training will be suspended, and she will join the troops.”

Fire Storm swallowed. “And… if she fails?”

“Then she’ll be burnt to a crisp, and the Equestrian army will have its first real battle.” Trout turned to give him one last sweeping look. “Either way, it’s time to come out of the shadows.”
> Chapter 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everypony was on edge. Storm had ‘accidentally’ leaked the reason for the last massive monster attack, and the citizens of Manehattan had correctly guessed that, because Gusty bead the chimera, Grogar was going to retaliate.

The whole island was on lockdown. Ponies had spent the day gathering supplies and running to underground shelters. The streets were empty except for a few ponies, grabbing everything else they could salvage and running back to their hiding places. When they spotted Gusty, the majority of them nodded or whispered, “Good luck.” A few glared at her, because they blamed her for getting them into this whole mess.

“This is the only bridge out of the city,” Maggie said in a tight voice, staring at her hooves. “The monsters always come here.”

“So I just have to stand here and knock them off one at a time by zapping them with lightning,” Gusty said, trying to be cheerful and hopeful in a hopeless situation. “...Right?”

“Something like that,” Fire Storm said gruffly, looking away to rub angrily at his eyes. “Argh… I never should have agreed to this!” he burst out, stamping his hoof. “Stupid Trout with his pompous, know-it-all, I’m-so-much-better-than-you face that looks so punchable…” He met Gusty’s eyes, and she was startled to see tears in his eyes. “You shouldn’t have to do this alone, Gusty, it’s - it’s not worth it if you-”

“Please don’t say I’m going to die,” Gusty frette4d, “It seems very counterintuitive and doom-ish.”

“Promise me you’ll come back!” Maggie suddenly cried, leaping forward and throwing her arms around Gusty, who staggered back in surprise. “Don’t you dare go in there, all brave and daring, and not c-come back out-”

“Yeesh, come on, guys, let’s focus on something positive!” Gusty tried to reprimand them, though her shaky voice didn’t sell it. “It’s going to be fine.”

“This is it,” Fire Storm said in a quiet voice. “This is… this is the beginning. And the end.”

“I hope you mean the end of Grogar, and not the end of me,” Gusty tried.

“What?” Maggie straightened up and wiped her eyes, looking back and forth between the two other unicorns, for she had gone into a kind of trance ever since she heard that Gusty was going to be facing off against the entirety of Grogar’s monster army. “The beginning of what?”

“We’re coming out of the shadows,” Fire Storm told her distractedly. “Once this battle is over, for better or for worse, Grogar will know that something is over there. It’s time to fight back.”

“Are you crazy?” Maggie demanded, leaping in front of the colonel. “We’re nowhere near ready!”

“We’ll never be truly ready,” Gusty said calmly. “But every second we spend is another that the enemy has to grow stronger and definitely plan vengeance on you, so… you know, the sooner you get started, the better.”

“Exactly,” Fire Storm agreed before giving Gusty a strange look. “We were told that by Professor Dolphin on our first day. How’d you know that?”

Gusty shrugged. Better to let him wonder than to admit that, when Maggie had said, “We’re nowhere near ready,” she had seen the blue pegasus giving the exact same speech to a group of ponies. Then she had blinked, and she was back here, and absolutely no time had passed. No, better to let them wonder.

Maggie drew Gusty into yet another hug. “Promise you’ll come back,” she whispered into her mane. “I don’t know what I would be able to do without you. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

“I promise,” Gusty assured her, pulling her friend deeper into the hug, and for a moment, they just stood there, the chilly breeze ruffling Gusty’s mane, and she wished she could stay like this - wrapped in her friend’s embrace, with no monsters to worry about. “I’ll come back after beating all those ugly monsters, and then we’ll curl up and read books together to celebrate. And, for what it’s worth, you’re the very best friend I’ve ever had, too.”

“Hey!” Fire Storm protested. “What about me?”

Gusty sighed and pulled the stallion into the hug. “Better now?” she asked, patting him comfortingly on the head.

“Yes,” he whispered mournfully before breaking away along with maggie. And as the two unicorns watched their friend walk slowly away across the long wooden bridge, both of them stared after her, as if they had so much more that they wanted to say, but couldn’t find the words to say what was on their minds.

Gusty’s hoof stepped on a loose plank of wood, and she lost her balance. Flailing, she fell into the river below, sinking below the surface as water filled her lungs-

She blinked. She was standing on the bridge - most definitely not in the water. Reaching out in front of her, she felt the next plank of wood - and it was loose. She gently applied weight, and she threatened to topple over the side of the bridge into the churning, dark, cold water below. Everything about it had seemed so real that she couldn’t shake that feeling.

She faced the dark woods in front of her, remembering her task… and remembering her friends. She felt the strongest urge to turn back and look at them, but she refrained from doing so, because she knew that she wouldn't be able to turn back.

“Gusty, wait!”

The sound of the familiar voice, though it wasn’t one she expected to hear, was enough to make her turn around… and her jaw dropped.

For racing towards her through the empty streets of Manehattan was a huge group of ponies, dozens of them, earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi alike, led by Everpine. They skidded to a halt besides an astounded Maggie and Fire Storm.

“What are you doing here?” Gusty demanded, breaking into a run to meet the sap colored unicorn who now approached her.

“If Trout finds out, you’re going to be in big trouble!” Fire Storm added, raising his voice to address the troops of the Equestrian army. “Everypony, thank you for showing your support, but you need to go home! This isn’t a joke - when Trout learns that you’ve been here, he might-”

“Do what? Throw out over half his army?” Everpine scoffed. “We’re done hiding, we’re tired of doing nothing. We’re ready to fight!” A resounding cheer rose up from the ponies, so loud and defiant and amazing that even Fire Storm cracked a smile. Gusty desperately wanted to agree, to let them fight by her side, but she just couldn’t do it.

“Guys… no. For one, Trout said that I have to be the one who banishes the monsters. And for another, this is dangerous - I couldn’t stand it if one of you got hurt because of me.”

“It won’t be because of you,” an earth pony said fiercely. “This is our choice.”

Their faces were so set, so determined, that it made Gusty hesitate. She knew that, realistically, she couldn’t do this alone. “Well…”

“He only said that you had to banish them,” Everpine pointed out. “He didn’t say anything about ponies helping you fight them. And we’re going to help whether you like it or not, no matter what Trout might say, so…” She shrugged and shuffled her hooves.

Gusty felt a massive grin splitting her face in two, and she looked at Fire Storm, who shrugged and lit the tip of his horn, showing that he was going to fight by her side as well. She looked at Maggie, who looked like she was about to cry with happiness. Then she studied the crowd, nearly a hundred ponies who were ready to die for their cause.

Those monsters wouldn’t stand a chance.

“All right, fine,” she relented, and everypony cheered. “But remember, I have to be the one to banish them. Just keep the monsters from entering the city, okay?”

“What do we do, commander?” called one of the pegasi. Gusty glanced at Fire Storm, but he, like everypony else, was looking at her, waiting for their instructions to come from her.

Quite a change from the unicorn who’d sat around in the woods all day, doing nothing.

“Pegasi,” she instructed, “I want you to surround the city from the air and keep an eye out for any monsters. Make sure you can hear each other - if you see something, communicate it to me immediately.

“Unicorns,” she continued as the pegasi saluted and flew away to get into position, “patrol the city limits, form a barricade between the city and any possible entrance. Keep your horns lit and try to look as big and scary as possible.” The unicorns galloped away, directing each other to form a wall around Manehattan.

“And earth ponies,” she said, turning to the few ponies that remained. “I want you to patrol the forest. Stay in pairs, don’t get lost, and if one of you sees something, tell the others, and all of you get out of there as fast as you can. Join the unicorns and get ready to fight.”

“Wow,” Maggie marveled as the earth ponies raced off. “You’re really good at this.”

Gusty grinned. “Why, thank you,” she said cheerfully, her heart light for the first time that day. “Oh, don’t step there,” she warned as ponies raced across the bridge. “The board’s loose - you’ll fall.”

Gusty, Maggie, and Fire Storm positioned themselves in front of the bridge, their horns lit, so the monsters would have to get through them to get to the city. All around her, surrounding the entirety of Manehattan, unicorns lit their horns, and pegasi hovered, their eyes narrowed at the dark trees.

After standing there for what must have been hours, Gusty’s hooves were numb, and she began to wonder if the monsters were even coming. Perhaps she had scared them off. Then-

Flames erupted deep in the forest, followed by a bloodcurdling scream. The woods erupted into chaos, and Gusty dug her hooves into the ground.

This was it.

They were here.
> Chapter 13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Everypony stand back!” Gusty commanded, her voice rising over the cries of panic and fear, echoing through the empty streets. She began slowly advancing on the forest, taking each step with caution.

“Gusty-” Maggie called, her worry prominent in her voice. But Gusty ignored her. Maybe she could banish the monsters before any more ponies got hurt.

There was movement in the trees, and Gusty lit her horn, preparing to stand her ground. The creature burst through the trees, and-

“Help! Help! Somepony, please!” cried an earth pony mare, tears streaming from her green eyes. She had a bright blue coat and a blackish-bluish mane pulled into a ponytail. A quill rested over her heart, hanging from a green beaded chain around her neck, and her cutie mark was a newspaper. She was supporting a light pink unicorn mare, who was leaning heavily on the earth pony as they stumbled along. The earth pony, whose name was Essence, helped her friend over to Gusty, where the unicorn promptly collapsed to the ground.

“What’s going on?” she asked as Maggie and Fire Storm ran up behind her.

“Chimera,” wheezed the unicorn. “In the woods. Lots of… fire… and smoke…” She gasped for breath and closed her eyes, exhausted.

“Pennie?” Essence said in a panicked voice, gently shaking the unicorn. “Pennie, you’re going to be fine. Everything’s going to be fine. Pennie, wake up! Wake up, Pennie, please!” She rounded on Gusty, her eyes brimming with unshed tears that began to spill down her cheeks. “You have to heal her - you have to! Please, I can’t lose her!”

Gusty blinked. “I - I’m sorry, but I don’t know how-”

Essence broke down sobbing, collapsing next to Pennie, a puddle forming in between her hooves. Seeing this made Gusty hesitate. How could she do this when ponies would get hurt, their hearts shattered if friends and loved ones never got back up? Perhaps it would be better to take the safer route - no more ponies getting hurt. She was just about to tell Fire Storm to send everypony home when Maggie stepped forward.

“I know,” she said quietly. “I’ve never done anything quite this bad before, though…” She sighed when she saw Essence’s face light up with hope. “But I can try.”

All three ponies stepped back as Maggie lit her horn, concentrating. The unicorn on the ground was surrounded by a green light, and the burns began to fade. Her breathing became easier, and Essence gasped. Maggie’s light flickered, then disappeared entirely. Pennie’s burns returned, and her breath was ragged.

“I can’t do it,” Maggie gasped, looking ready to collapse as well. “There’s too much…”

“Try again,” Fire Storm commanded. Maggie looked at him doubtfully, but there was something in his expression that told her to listen. She once again lit her horn, and Pennie began to heal.

Just when Maggie looked about to crumble, Fire Storm lit his own horn and sent a massive beam straight at Maggie. Gusty cried out in fear, worried for her friend even though she knew that the colonel would never, not in a million years, hurt another pony on his side, but Maggie gasped like it was the most amazing feeling in the world.

Fire Storm fought to keep the connection open, and Maggie fought to keep the healing spell working. With one last push, the light dimmed, and Pennie opened her wide brown eyes. She sat up with a gasp, her dark pink mane with a single purple streak in complete disarray.

But Essence didn’t care. She let out a cry of joy and threw her arms around the neck of her best friend, and then they were both crying and not caring about anything else other than the fact that they were together.

Fire Storm let his horn go dim, his knees buckling. Gusty dashed to his side and held him up as he caught his breath. “What was that?” she asked.

“I was lending her my magic,” Fire Storm explained in a quiet voice. “It was the only way. Unfortunately, it means I’ll be unable to  fight for a while until I get enough strength back…”

“Thank you,” Essence told Maggie, her eyes shining. “Thank you so much.”

She shuffled her hooves. “No problem. May I ask… how do you two know each other?”

“We’ve been friends since foalhood,” Pennie explained in her quiet voice, doing her mane up in a bun to keep it out of her face. “We both loved to write, so we promised each other that, when we grew up, we would open our own printing shop and write books and newspapers and things that would help topple Grogar’s throne. We don’t care what it takes.”

“We will fight,” Essence said. “We’ll fight for Equestria, and we’ll fight for each other.”

The two stood up and ran off to join the other unicorns and earth ponies, who had formed a wall around Manehattan. Maggie stared after them with a strange expression on her face.

Gusty turned back to the forest and gasped.

Peering out from the trees were dozens of pairs of glowing eyes, glaring at her. She felt like every single eye was fixated on her - these monsters knew just who she was and what she had done to one of their own. She gulped and stepped forward. Her horn was lit, though she had no idea what she was supposed to do with it.

In the end, though, it was the monsters who fired the first shot.

“Cockatrice!” shrieked a voice. Gusty glanced up to see a pegasus barreling towards them, crashing into the ground. He staggered to his hooves and gasped. “Cockatrice! A whole… flock of them! Ponies… turned to stone…” He swayed and fainted on the spot.

A scream erupted somewhere down the lines as massive black-and-white bears with huge stingers and bee wings emerged from the dark cover of the trees, roaring and scooping up ponies by the dozen.

Cragagators slid into the water and swam across the channel to the island. Cockatrices swooped down on the brave defenders, hissing, their eyes wide. Ponies looked away, only to be swept up in the crushing arms of bugbears or tossed into the river with hungry cragagators. Chimeras roared Fire in every direction, causing ponies to scatter. Manticores and sphinxes by the dozens bore down on the rag-tag soldiers of the Equestrian army, and they were completely overrun.

Unicorns struggled to keep up shields to protect them from chimera fire, but they could do little about any of the other monsters except for occasionally firing magic beams at them, most of which missed. On the rare occasion a cockatrice’s wing was hit, or a manticore’s tail singed, the offender would have little time to celebrate the small victory before they were under attack from a dozen other monsters.

The pegasi could dodge the blasts of fire and avoid the other flying creatures decently well, but they were all so close that usually, when they did, they crashed into each other, making them easy prey for a corckatrice lurking nearby, or dropping into the cragagator infested water. Stone pegasi fell from the sky, and a few unicorns were running around like crazy, catching the statues before they shattered.

The earth ponies had it the worst, however. The monsters didn’t care whether or not the pony they crushed had wings, a horn, or none, so with no natural defenses, earth ponies were easily turned to stone, thrown into the water, or were squeezed painfully in the arms of bugbears. A few were running around like chickens who had lost their heads, not looking where they were going, and fell victim to chimera flames.

Gusty whirled in a circle, trying to discern where she was needed most, but everywhere was complete chaos. She took a step towards Fire Storm, who was fighting a multi-headed hydra, when a voice screamed in her head, GUSTY, DUCK!!!

She dropped to the ground as flames whooshed over her.

Whistle? she asked. You… you can see what’s going on? A thought suddenly struck her, and it made her feel like the ground had disappeared from beneath her hooves again. No. NO. She staggered to her hooves and stared longingly at the forest, so temptingly dark and secluded and alone…

Fire Storm shot a magic blast straight at the hydra’s chest, and it flew backwards, crashing into the ground with a mighty thud. “Everypony listen up!” he roared, and ponies paused to glance at him. Thankfully, the monsters did, too, so nopony got fried. “We have to work together! Pegasi, spread out and bring the monsters further away! Earth ponies, back up the pegasi, and unicorns, back up them both with your magic! We can still win this!”

A new, set, determined look flashed over everypony’s face, and the pegasi suddenly dashed away from the bulk of the group, cockatrices and bugbears hot on their tails. Earth ponies did the same, leading the chimeras and manticores on a wild goose chase. Whenever the monsters retaliated, their flames or poisonous tails or paralyzing glares were met with unicorn shields, and the beasts roared in fury.

Earth ponies and unicorns also jumped on the backs of cragagators and leaped from one beast to the other, their hooves slamming into the creatures’ snouts, making them roar in pain and swim desperately for the banks to avoid getting hurt. Slowly but surely, the waters began to clear. Unicorns stopped jumping on cragagators and started using their magic to try and free the ponies that had been turned to stone, with varying degrees of success.

With all the creatures spread apart, it was much easier for the ponies to knock them down, and each time they did, it took the monsters longer to get back up. Bit by bit, the Equestrian army was winning.

But Gusty couldn’t feel relieved - if anything, she felt worse.

Gusty, BEHIND YOU!!! Ocean Breeze roared in her head, and she whipped around to see a manticore creeping up on her, its poisonous tail raised over its head threateningly. Dazed, Gusty shot a beam of magic at the monster that made it dodge to the left… and that was when she saw Maggie.

Her friend was helping a soaked pegasus out of the water, fending off snapping cragagators as she did so, only to turn around and come face-to-face with a hissing cockatrice. She seized up, and her back hooves and the tip of her tail began to turn to stone.

Something snapped inside Gusty. Here were these ponies, bravely putting themselves between monsters and their home, fighting for the basic right to be free, and all Grogar was doing was hurting them.

They didn’t deserve it, they knew it would happen, yet here they were, still fighting. Getting back up when they got knocked down. Never losing hope.

These ponies had friends, families, lives. And they were willing to throw all of that out the window for this. For freedom. For something that might not even happen. Still, they were willing. Willing to try. Willing to hope. Willing to be free.

And Grogar was trying to keep them in chains.

Why couldn’t there be a happy world, a safe world, where there were no traitors, no hatred, and everypony got to be who they wanted to be, be friends with whomever they wanted, and they were all free? Why couldn’t that be the world they lived in? Why couldn’t they fight for that world?

Blind, raw rage filled Gusty, and her horn glowed white hot. She leaped forward, ducking flames and soaring over tails until she was close enough to launch a pure white rope at the cockatrice that was turning her friend to stone. She lassoed the creature and flung it through the air, higher and higher until the shocked monster flew out of sight.

The high-pitched screams of the cockatrice caught everyone’s attention, and monster and pony alike turned their gaze to the panting, wild-eyed unicorn glaring back at them.

“WHO’S NEXT?!?” she roared, taking a step forward, her horn sparking dangerously. “WHO ELSE WANTS TO HAVE A GO?”

The monsters all looked at each other… and then they all attacked at once. Gusty didn’t care. It didn’t matter to her. She whirled around, hitting monsters with magic and blasts of pure rage. Her vision turned red as she threw back three monsters at once, inflicting heavy injuries.

And still they kept coming. They kept coming until every monster there was piled on top of her. Gusty was no longer throwing them out, but just barely keeping them from annihilating her.

Gusty took a deep breath… and let go of it all.

With a wordless scream, all her anger, confusion, sadness, hope, her sense of belonging, her sense of being lost, all of it came pouring out.

A singular beam of white-hot light shot into the sky, blinding anypony who tried to look at it. With a massive boom, a small ball of light appeared at the base of the light, rapidly expanding until it covered the entire city, pushing out monsters and shooting them into the sky, blasting every single monster all the way back to Canterlot.

All that was left, as the magic cleared and the sun began to rise, was Gusty, gasping for breath in the middle of a ginormous crater. She collapsed to the ground as Maggie and Fire Storm ran over.

“Are you okay?” Maggie asked, fretting. Gusty nodded, looking winded and a bit queasy.

Fire Storm grinned as she staggered to her hooves. “You did it, Gusty,” he said. “You really did it.”

She gave him a smile that was entirely heartfelt.

A voice suddenly rang out in the silence: “What is going on here?”
> Chapter 14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“No.”

“Please, sir, just-”

“I said no, colonel! She was supposed to banish the monsters herself, do you not remember? Having the help of over half my troops does not count as doing things by yourself!”

“But she did, sir,” Fire Storm rushed in the silence that followed. “You said that she just had to banish the monsters by herself, and she did just that. Ask any of the ponies who were there - they can tell you! You didn’t say anything about helping her fight them.” He shuffled his hooves. “Now do you believe what I said earlier about-”

“I will believe nothing of the sort!” Trout roared. Spit flew from his mouth, and his eyes were wild. “She’s nopony! An outsider! She got lucky! She got lucky with the monsters! But she knows nothing! She cannot. Be. The one!”

“Trout,” Professor Dolphin said weakly. “Give the colonel a chance to explain. It was very extraordinary-”

“Beginner’s luck!” Trout interrupted loudly.

“Then maybe she’ll get lucky with Grogar,” Fire Storm said coldly. “But if that was beginner’s luck, I would hate to see actual skill. Why don’t you start teaching us how to have beginner’s luck? Then we might actually stand a chance.”

Trout stood there, fuming. “My son,” he hissed after a while, “tells me that this Gusty of yours may have been involved in a situation yesterday in training - a cadet slipping and nearly falling to her death.”

Fire Storm vowed that, one day, he would find Storm and shove his pathetic, stuck-up face in. “We’re still investigating that,” he snapped. “We still don’t know if it was her-”

“We have no reason to suspect that it wasn’t her!”

“We have no reason to suspect that it was her!” Fire Storm retorted.

“A set-up!” Trout roared. “She planned the whole thing, just like she did with the chimera - save a pony from a disaster she created to make us trust her more!”

Fire Storm’s blood boiled. “Gusty wouldn’t do that,” he snarled. “I know her, sir, and she would never intentionally put another pony’s life in danger because of her! You should have seen her last night - when one pony got hurt, she considered sending everypony home so they could be safe. It would mean facing the monsters on her own-”

“Which was what she was supposed to do!” Trout interrupted.

“-which would have been a suicide mission,” Fire Storm continued as if he hadn’t said anything. “She was willing to put herself in danger if it meant that nopony else had to get hurt because of her.”

Trout seethed. “Well, she seemed to do perfectly well on her own when she banished them all,” he snapped. “Do you really expect me to believe that a single pony had the power to defeat hundreds of monsters without having any involvement in planning the attack? Like everything she’s done so far, it was all a trick! She’s messing with your head, colonel! Trickery, lies, deception! It’s the only way to live in this world!”

Too late, he realized the flaw in what he’d said, but the words hung in the air, unable to be pulled back in, and Fire Storm wasted no time in turning them around and using them against Trout.

“So you’re saying that it could have been, essentially, anypony,” he said quietly. “The only reason you say it’s Gusty is because you hate her for some reason, and because she was… ‘involved’. But why not the pony who fell on the ropes course - Everpine? Also a unicorn, so, if Gusty’s not the one and just an ordinary unicorn, is just as capable of everything you’ve said so far. She was the one who convinced the troops to join Gusty and fight, essentially saving the city. But I notice that you haven’t even considered the possibility of another pony yet - your mind’s been fixated on Gusty. So the only plausible explanation for that is… you’re worried that actually be the one, and you don’t want that to happen, for some reason. I think you just want her gone because she’s a threat to your position.” Fire Storm spat on the floor. “You’re no better than Grogar, ‘General Trout’.” He said the name and title like it was an insult.

Trout’s face turned red. In less than three minutes, this pony had taken a single misplaced phrase and completely tore down his entire argument, not to mention framing him as somepony who was the same as the monster and tyrant he was committed to dispose of.

Not only was this Gusty a threat to his dream regime - Fire Storm was as well. On their own, he could deal with them, but teamed up… Together, they would tear down everything he’d ever wanted as easily as breathing, and they’d have everypony supporting every decision they made.

Something had to be done.

“Professor Dolphin?” Fire Storm asked calmly. “What do you think?”

The pegasus gave a little jump when the colonel addressed her, but his eyes never wavered from Trout’s furious face. Dolphin looked back and forth between the two unicorn stallions, her mouth opening and closing, at a loss for words. “Well-”

Trout turned his gaze to the mare, and she winced under his raging glare. “You know,” he hissed, “exactly what will happen if you say anything of the sort.”

Dolphin gulped and met Fire Storm’s eyes. Unlike the general, whose eyes were wild, his breath coming out in short pants, undisguisable and untameable rage boiling beneath his skin, Fire Storm was almost a mask of calm, a firm believer in justice, a look that said that he would to whatever it took to gain what was right. It was a look she had searched for many times in Trout’s face, but had never found it. And it was for that reason that she wasn’t sure that the Equestrian army could win. But now… now there was a possibility, a chance of hope.

Was she going to do what was right for her… or what was right for Equestria?

Or was it, really, the same thing?

Dolphin looked straight into Trout’s eyes and said, “I agree.”

Trout smirked, and the madness in his eyes calmed somewhat. He lifted his head with a superior look, turning to Fire Storm and opening his mouth-

“With,” the professor continued, “the colonel.” She walked over to join Fire Storm, facing Trout alongside him. The general’s jaw dropped. “Although I doubt he’ll have that rank for much longer, as I am sure that many of the ponies present for the fight against the monsters, if not more, will be requesting a promotion for the courage, bravery, and leadership he showed in the battle.” She lifted her chin and met Trout’s astonished gaze with a defiant expression, as if daring him to give orders otherwise.

“Wait,” Fire Storm started, “professor, you don’t have to do this-” But she held up a single wing and silenced him.

“Unfortunately,” Trout said through gritted teeth, “professor, you have no authority to… promote such a feat. These decisions come down to the word of the general himself, and you are merely a strategizer and a spy. In fact, I see it fit to strip Colonel Fire Storm of his position - I would have him permanently removed if not for our sworn secrecy. In light of that decision-”

“Oh, I’m not speaking for myself,” Dolphin says cheerfully. “I’m speaking for the ponies we’re fighting for. Or do you not care for their opinions or try to meet their demands?”

Trout worked his jaw as he thought. On the one hoof, he clearly needed to get rid of Fire Storm, and possibly Dolphin as well. He had a whole, glorious plan in his mind, and these foolish ponies were ruining it. Not to mention that giving Fire Storm a higher position would give him more resources to exploit, which might end Trout’s plan even sooner. But on the other hoof… Dolphin was a very trusted pony; other ponies would believe her if she told them that he, Trout, didn’t care about the public demand, and was as bad as Grogar. And then there would be no chance of his dream coming true.

Argh. Ever since this ‘Gusty’ had come along, it was as if his control over every single pony in this army was slipping away. He needed to dispose of her as soon as possible, along with everypony else she may have ‘inspired’.

“You… are… promoted,” Trout grunted to Fire Storm, his teeth clenched together so hard he could hardly get the words out. “To captain. As for your… Gusty… her training shall be suspended. Nopony is at fault or will be held… accountable for recent events. She has… done us a great service… by ridding our city of Grogar’s beasts.” Seeing Fire Storm’s mouth open, and knowing the question that would be asked, he snapped, “That is all. You are dismissed.”

The newly-appointed Captain Fire Storm turned to the door and took a step towards it before it slowly opened, and Gusty walked into the room, her eyes focused on the floor.

“Gusty!” Fire Storm cried, running up to her, a huge grin spreading across his face when he saw her. “Gusty, we did it, everything’s going to be okay-” He broke off when he saw her face, which looked like she had just received a chance to have the most amazing thing in all the land, but couldn’t take it, and it was breaking her heart. “Is… is everything alright?”

She stared at him, her eyes set and hard, but as she looked at him, her resolve broke, and everything that she was really feeling spilled into her eyes as they filled with tears.

“You shouldn’t have gone through the trouble,” she whispered in a choked-up voice. She gently pushed him away and stepped further into the room. Gusty looked at Professor Dolphin, who looked just as confused as Fire Storm was, and she thought about how the pegasus had believed in her and given her a chance when Trout had scoffed at her.

Big mistake, she thought miserably.

She turned to Trout, too miserable to notice, or care, about the insane look in his eyes, or the blind rage that was directed at her. She thought, He was right. About everything.

And so was her brother. I never should have done this.

Gusty took a deep breath and said, “I quit.”
> Chapter 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her hoofsteps echoed on the steps, sounding as hollow as her heart. She pushed open the door that led to the storage room of Ruby’s shop, not turning around until she heard somepony call her name.

“Gusty!”

As if in a fog, she turned around to see Fire Storm running towards her. A sob built up in her throat as she was reminded of all that she was leaving behind - that she had to leave behind. But this was for the best, she told herself again. This is for their own good. They can accomplish what they were meant to accomplish, and I can help by leaving so that I don’t jeapordize their mission.

I have to do this. It’s the only way to keep them safe.

“GUsty, w hat are you doing?” Fire Storm demanded, pulling her off to the side, glancing around to make sure nopony was listening. Looking back at her, he said, “You can’t quit. We need you!” He put his hoof on Gusty’s shoulder, and she looked up to meet his fiery blue eyes. “We can’t do this without you, Gusty. Please don’t give up on this. Please don’t give up on me.”

“I can’t-” She broke off, choking back a sob. The unshed tears in her eyes threatened to spill, but she fought them back. “You don’t understand, Fire Storm, but I can’t do this anymore. I’m putting you all in danger just by being here.”

He frowned. “Are you talking about the monsters? Because I saw you defeat them - you can handle it. And we’re where to help you if you need it-”

“It’s not like that,” Gusty sobbed, taking a step away from him. “I-it’s my brother. I’ve been hearing his voice in my head, and now I think he can see what I’m seeing, and he knows all about this, and all of you, and what I did to Grogar’s monsters, a-and I can’t keep doing this - I can’t keep putting you in danger like this.”

Fire Storm stopped, confused. “Well, if it’s just your brother, then it’s no big deal… right?” he added uncertainly as Gusty flinched.

“My brother… my brother’s name is… Ocean Breeze.”

He goes silent. Gusty sees his eyes studying her face, trying ot detect if it’s a lie, can almost sense the gears turning in his brain as he firgures out what this means. He swallowed, then said, “We can’t defeat him without you. If you leave, we’re doomed. If you stay, Grogar will know everything we’re doing, and we’ll probably be doomed.” He looke dinto her eyes and said, “There is no best choice. So I hope you’re making the right one.”

Then he turned around and stormed back up the stairs. Professor Dolphin was hovering halfway up the stairs, the look on her face saying that she had heard the whole thing.

“Captain?” she asked in a small voice. “What…” But the question died in her throat when she caught a glimpse of his expression. He pusehd past her and kept going. The pegasus dashed downstairs to try and catch Gusty, but the unicorn had vanished.

Trout looked up as Fire Storm entered. The younger stallion paused, and then, neve lifting his eyes from the floor, said, “You were right. I never should have trusted her.”

The general blinked, then, realiing what that meant, smirked. “Oh, I know I was,” he said silkily.





The army left the next day, before sunrise. Gusty stood at the edge of the bridge, watching them disappear into the forest. SHe knew that it could prove to be a huge mistake - her brohter might be able to relay information to Grogar that the army was heading out, but she dind’t care. This would be the last time she would gt to see Maggie… or Fire Storm… or Everpine, or any of them. She wouldn’t see them again until he war was over, for the better.

If it wasn’t… if they failed… Gusty knew that Grogar would not punish the rebels lightly. She knew that she would probably never see her friends again. And Fire Storm would probably die thinking Gusty had been a spy for Grogar - had betrayed them.

That was what hurt mroe than anything. The way he had turned his back on her - the way he had stomped out of the room, his face a mask of calm just barely able to disguise the shock, the hurt, and the anger - everytime she thought about it, it made her heart splinter into a thousand pieces that could never be put back together.

Then there was Maggie’s face when she told her - the shock in her green eyes, the hurt, and the way her voice broke when she had asked, “Are you sure? You’re really leaving?”

“Maggie, I can’t keep putting you all in danger like this,” Gusty had said, fighting to keep her own voice from wavering.

“And you’re sure? You’re sure that this is what you have to do? Just abandon us? Gusty, we need you. You saw what you did to those monsters - you’re the only unicorn in the world who can do that! You have to come with us!” She had choked back a sob before saying, “Or do you even care? Was everything a lie? Like how you kept lying to me?”

“Maggie, I didn’t know! I would have told you if I did!” Gusty remembered feeling Maggie’s words drive a dagger straight into her heart, and she remembered hating that feeling more than anything. “Maggie, you’re my best friend. You know me. I would have-”

“Yeah. I thought I did, too.” Maggie had turned away then, her eyes glimmering with tears. “I’m going with them tomorrow. I’m not giving up on everything that easily.”

“Maggie, I’m not - you think this is easy for me?” Gusty had burst out. “I want to go! I would throw away everything to go with you! But I can’t because of my brother-”

“If you wanted to go so bad, then you can fight him!”

“I can’t - I’m not-”

“Oh, because it’s all about you, isn’t it?” Maggie had turned back around, her eyes flashing with anger. “Like because you’re so special because you’ve got some super special magic powers and a fancy prophecy about you that nopony else can have any problems of their own, because only Gusty matters now!” She took a deep breath. “I can’t keep doing this, Gusty. I can’t keep getting hurt.”

She’d turned around, ran into her room and slammed the door. Gusty stood there long enough that she heard Maggie begin to cry.

All night long, Gusty thought about what Maggie had said, and debated between her own desire to punch Grogar in the face… and keeping hte army safe. She decided that it would be best for her to remain here, in Manehattan, so that Grogar could never find her friends. How can Maggie call me selfish with all I’m sacrificing for them?

Now, though, standing on the bridge, she was beginning to have second thoughts.

Maybe I should go with them. Maybe then, they’d stand a slight chance. I could prove I’m not a traitor - I could save them all!

You know it wouldn’t work like that, Gusty, Ocean Breeze whispered consolingly in her head. Going with them would probably mean death - at least this way, Grogar won’t know you had anything to do with it! I’m glad you finally saw sense and quit the army - there was nothing left for you there.

An image of Fire Storm flashes through her mind for some reason. What are you talking about? You’ve probably told Grogar all about me, haven’t you?

Her brother was quiet for a moment before responding. I could talk to him. I’ll make him promise to leave you alone - please, Gusty, you have to know that everything I’ve done is to protect you! I just want to keep you safe! I- He takes a deep breath. Going would mean certain death. This is the much safer option.

Gusty moaned and rubbed her temples wiht her hoof. “Get out of my head,” she said in a tired voice. She didn't feel him leave, but he had at least shut up for now.

She stared off in the direction they had all gone. But it would be worth dying for, she thought miserably, if I could just see my friends again…

NEvertheless, she turned around and began to slowly walk back into the city, and with that, she finally felt her brother leave.





Grogar sat on his throne, impatiently waiting for news.

Ever since that unicorn had beaten back his monsters, Grogar had been getting increasingly angry, and while he tried to distract himself by ordering his troops to replenish their numbers and increase patrols across the land, and had cracked down even harder on the enslaved ponies of Canterlot (that always made him feel good), he was getting very twitchy by the time Ocean Breeze walked in.

“About time,” he snarled as the black pegasus bent his legs and head in a polite bow. WHen the pony didn’t speak, he snapped, “Speak up! Is she going with them or not?”

He rose from the floor aggravatingly slowly and cleared his throat. “Your Most Imperial Majesty. My sister remains in Manehattan while the army begins its first - pointless - crusade.”

Grogar relaxed. That was the news he had been wanting to hear all day. “And there is… nothing controversial in her mind?”

He shook his head. “No, sir. Nothing at all.” He shifted his hooves nervously. “And… you will honor our agreement, right? Gusty will be safe and unharmed after the uprising is dealt with, right?”

“Yes, of course,” Grogar lied silkily, waving his hoof arily. “You and your sister may live however you like when this is all over. She will be quite safe - I honor my word, as you know. Now, you have been spending an awful lot of time in your sister’s brain recently. You have done good work. Why don’t you take a break? There will be plenty of time for the boring politics of war later on.”

Ocean Breeze stood up, gave the ram a thankful smile, and trotted out of the room with a brisk new jump in his step. As soon as he was gone, Grogar leaned back in his throne, chuckling softly to himself.

Ah… ponies were so easy to manipulate…
> Chapter 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After that, Gusty couldn’t really remember what happened. Each day bled into the next, with nothing big or significant determining that an individual day stood out in her mind. She walked around town in a daze. Sometimes ponies noticed her and waved or called out greetings to her. She never really paid attention - it didn’t really matter. She would read books, though that usually ended with her staring at the page without any clue what it said. She didn’t really practice magic anymore. She had seen the price of magic firsthoof, and she wasn’t too eager to pay it again.

She thought without really thinking. She was lost in thought when there were no thoughts to be had. Gradually, she began to feel exhausted and drowsy, and tired. She was sad, but not quite angry. Everything felt pointless. She had no purpose. She missed her friends. She didn’t need her friends. She had something worth fighting for. She couldn’t remember what it was, if it even existed at all. She could sense that this city was full of secrets, secrets she knew, yet it was keeping them from her for some reason.

In short, she was very confused.

Perhaps that was why she liked the mindless task of walking around Manehattan without any purpose or reason - she could leave her confused and jumbled thoughts behind and give into the white fog always lurking at the edge of her consciousness.

Blissful peace… what she wouldn’t give to have just a bit of sense in her mind, but since that seemed so unlikely, not thinking at all was increasingly seeming like the better option.

Occasionally she would hear Ocean Breeze’s voice, reminding her of all the memories they had made together, how much he loved her, how much he had done to protect her and keep her safe. She grew to look forward to hearing him speak, because it numbed the chaos and confusion and made her more certain of one thing:

Just her and her brother. Together. Now and forever. The way it had always been and always would be.

A strange thing always happened, though. Every time she walked past a certain jewelry shop, no matter how far into the fog she was, her mind always reacted. More confusing thoughts poured in, giving her a throbbing headache. Her brother… didn’t he… do something? Something bad? And there was a voice in her head… a voice that she knew…

Then the fog would always come back in. The voice in your head is your brother, and he loves and cares for you more than anything in the world. And her mind was soothed again.

Still… she couldn’t shake the fact that she felt like she was missing something… something important. And as hard as she tried, she couldn’t figure out what it was. The fog said to forget it - that it was an illusion, a paranoid suspicion, nothing more. And she believed it.

That is, until the dream came.

The day started out like any other, with Gusty walking around in a fog until she bumped into somepony.

“Hey, watch it!” the burly earth pony snapped, whirling around to snarl at her, but as he registered who she was, his eyes widened in fear, and he hastily took a step back. “What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice shaking. “Haven’t you done enough?”

Gusty blinked. “I-I’m sorry, do I… do I know you?”

His eyes widened as he realized she wasn’t kidding. “The chimera,” he said slowly. “You… you banished it, and then Grogar sent his monsters after you…”

Something was flapping in the fog, but she didn’t bother to pursue it. “Who’s Grogar? And what’s a chimera?”

“You - you don’t-” he stuttered, and Gusty shook her head.

“I think you’ve got the wrong pony,” she said, stepping around him. “I’m sorry I bumped into you, sir.”

No doubt about it, the fog was definitely clearing up - even a bit of order coming to her disorganized thoughts. As she walked past the jewelry shop, the usual throbbing headache followed her all the way home, and when it cleared, it only left her feeling worse than before.

When Gusty went to sleep that night, she had a dream for the first time in… she didn’t even know how long. It was blurry and choppy, like it had to force its way through the many layers of her subconsciousness, but Gusty got the gist of what it was showing her: the door across the hall from her room opening, herself trotting in, and a voice saying her name: Gusty…

Then the fog closed back in, and she almost forgot all about it.

Almost.





Gusty swallowed nervously as she stood in front of the closed door, which most likely just led to another spare bedroom. She didn’t see what was so special about this room, but she did know that the dream would soon fade into the fog, and she had to find out what it meant…

In all her time in this apartment, she had never been in this room, and now that she thought about that, she wasn’t quite sure why. So, taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open.

It didn’t spill out light as it had in her dream - it was just a messy bedroom. Paper littered the desk and the bed, and there was shattered glass all over the floor.

Huh. That was strange. Gusty’s eyes moved over to where most of the broken glass was - a pile of splintered wood, glass, and paper. Treading carefully so as not to cut her hooves, Gusty investigated the scene. It appeared that the glass was part of the shattered remains of two picture frames. Using her magic, Gusty levitated the two pictures out of the pile of rubble and set them on the bed so she could inspect them.

The first picture was of three ponies, two pegasi and a unicorn. One of the pegasi was a stallion, with a tan coat and a blue mane. The other pegasus, a mare, was a shade of indigo with a purple mane pulled back into braids. The third pony, the unicorn mare, was strawberry red with a sky blue mane and cheerful green eyes. All three were enjoying milkshakes and grinning.

That unicorn… Gusty squinted at her. She looked so familiar…

The second picture was also of three ponies - the unicorn from the first picture, a unicorn stallion with a mane like fire, and in the middle of them both… was Gusty.

The fog was pushed away with a sudden push, and Gusty yelped, clutching her head as she was hit with a splitting headache…

Fire Storm was standing at the head of the entire Equestrian army, facing off Grogar and his monsters. Fire Storm gave a massive cry and lit up his horn, but the ram just laughed and pulled out a bell… Everypony collapsed as their magic was sucked away… The monsters leapt forward and amassed, attacking the ponies before they had a chance to recover…

Gusty gasped as she was yanked back into the present. Her friends were in danger - of that she was certain.

And she was the only one who knew.

Grabbing the picture of her, Maggie, and Fire Storm, Gusty raced out of the room, skidded into the wall, lit up her horn, and disappeared in a flash of light. She reappeared in Ruby’s jewelry shop, spooking Oasis, who was behind the counter.

Her wings flared in surprise. “What-! Oh, hi, Gusty.” She folded her wings and tried for a professional expression. “How can I help you?”

“Is Ruby here?” Gusty asked, stepping forward and looking around for the willowy stallion. “I need to-”

“Nope! He’s gone for the whole weekend. He said I could handle it on my own - Isn’t that exciting!” Oasis clapped her hooves ecstatically. “Now I’m sure to do something important-”

“What? Oh, no, no, no, this is bad,” Gusty fretted, starting to pace. Oasis’ face falls.

“I mean… I know that I'm probably ot as good as he is, and that you would probably prefer to talk to him instead of me, but that’s okay, really, I… I get it all the time.” She tried to keep her expression passive, like she really didn’t care, but her face crumpled anyway, and she had to turn away from Gusty so that the unicorn wouldn’t see her crying.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” Gusty said hurriedly, racing towards the counter and reaching out to comfort her friend, but Oasis used her wing to swat Gusty’s hoof away. “I-it’s just, Ruby knew things, very important things, things that you don’t exactly know, and it’s really important that I talk to him, like, right now, so-”

“I understand,” Oasis hiccuped, wiping at her eyes and avoiding Gusty’s gaze. “I’m not as good as he is-”

“No, no, Oasis, you are every bit as good as Ruby is! Maybe even more!” Gusty exclaimed, trying to console the pegasus, but Oasis’ shoulders were still shaking. “I didn’t mean it like that, and I’m sorry if you thought that was what I meant. The truth is, you’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had, and I will personally fry the brain of anypony who is idiotic enough to say otherwise.”

Oasis sniffed. “R-really? You m-mean it?” Her voice sounded stronger, and her wings had stopped trembling. Still, her voice wavered, like even the slightest thing would make her start crying again.

Gusty grinned. “Totally. And I know that Maggie would agree with me, too, if she was here and didn’t totally hate my guts right now. We… had a bit of a fight. And I felt so bad that I hurt her… I don’t want to hurt any more ponies. Especially you. So I’m sorry - really, truly sorry. And I… I hope that you can forgive me?”

Oasis stood up and turned around, her eyes still sparkling with unshed tears, but she gave Gusty a watery smile. “Of course. You’re one of my best friends, Gusty. I know that you didn’t mean it like that. So of course I forgive you.”

The two ponies smiled at each other, and Gusty felt a huge weight lift off of her shoulders. She would try, but she wasn’t sure that Maggie or Fire Storm would ever want her back. At least, not until Grogar was defeated for good. But she still had one friend, and no matter what happened in the days ahead, no matter what Grogar threatened to do or what her brother tried to tell her, Gusty wasn’t going to let her get hurt - no matter what she had to do.

Her pegasus friend took another deep breath. “So… I know that Ruby isn’t here, and that I probably don’t have the information that you’re looking for, but whatever you wanted to talk to him about, you can always just tell me, and I promise I’ll do my best to help you.”

“Oh.” Gusty shifted her hooves nervously, suddenly remembering the reason she had come in the first place. “W-well, I don’t know if I should…”

“Please, Gusty?” Oasis begged, her expression pleading. “Whatever it is, you can trust me! Honestly, Gusty - if it’s a secret, I can keep it. Anything you need! I promise I’ll-”

“It’s not you,” Gusty said hurriedly. “A lot of ponies are depending on me, and Ruby was the only pony I could think of who might be able to help.” She took a deep breath. What am I doing? she wondered, but before she could talk herself out of it, she said, “Oasis… how would you like to make a difference? Like, a real difference?”

The pegasus blinked, her eyes as blue as the ocean depths, which sparkled with hope and ambition - ambition to help as many ponies as she possibly could. “What are you saying?”

Gusty met her eyes with her own.

“I’m offering you a chance to save the world."