//------------------------------// // Chapter Nine // Story: Era of Grogar // by Pulsar Wave //------------------------------// "Cloudsdale!" Gusty said once she saw the city. Cloudsdale was mobile, the Pegasi could change its position, vertically and horizontally, too. There was a hill next to it; the Pegasi told the unicorns to get to the hilltop, and when they did, they would get the city down, but they didn't want to have it so close to the ground for long, as it was dangerous. Gusty was amazed by the city in the sky. It was a giant cloud, serving as a city, and a large one at that. It was said the army of the Pegasi was a force of ten thousand. The population of Cloudsdale was forty thousand, making every fourth Pegasus a professed warrior. They said no earthy beings had ever been to Cloudsdale. Gusty was really excited by the thought of being among the first to visit another pony state. She didn't know of other ponies, but seeing how the Pegasi, that peculiar kind of ponies with wings instead of horns made her wonder how many other variants of ponies could be out there. After they marched up the hill and saw Cloudsdale in its greatest might, their attention was drawn from admiring the cloud city. A golden and black vortex appeared on the hilltop, and Gusty knew what came next. "Damn it!" They saw Grogar exiting the portal. The unicorn mare immediately exclaimed, "We can fight Grogar together!" Gusty thought that Cloudsdale was close enough for the Pegasi to be aware of Grogar's presence. Gusty felt like they should give them some sort of signal, then ordered, "Everypony, use your powers in unity!" The unicorns all shot magical bolts into the sky. The diverse rays interlocked and formed one unified beam of bright rainbow, which shot out up to the clouds and pelted down on Grogar, wrapping around him and pulling him to the ground. Gusty hoped the rainbow towered high enough to be visible for every citizen of Cloudsdale, but her attention was drawn from her thoughts, because Grogar was getting out of their grasp. "Don't let him escape!" she yelled. But the ram stood up and broke free of the beam, which tremblingly loosened around him, and the whole thing fell apart. The tense moment was disrupted by the Pegasi, who poured down from the sky and started using their weaponry, their spears, bows, slings and slingshots to charge at Grogar, who was clearly annoyed by the entry of another army. "Attack!" Gusty called out. The unicorn army fired at Grogar with their horns, while the Pegasi threw spears, shot arrows and slung stones at him. He dodged or deflected the sharp weapons, but he couldn't avoid being struck by some of them, which lodged into his flesh. The pain - which he hadn't felt for a long time - and the not-so-effective, but still annoying rocks hitting his head unchained his rage. Using a single push, he cleared the space around him. Many Pegasi were knocked out of the air by the hard blast. Most of them were able to recover from the torpor before they slammed to the earth, some weren't. In that second, Gusty noticed something, and the realization hit her like a chariot: Grogar drew magic from his bell. She at last recalled seeing that movement, him raising his hoof to the instrument when they first fought in Hornfort's orchards, and again, right before he cast his sentence on day and night. The bell was what presumably gave Grogar his endless power. If it could be removed, he would be back to being a regular creature. And now seemed the perfect time for it. The confusion, the joint efforts of the unicorns and the Pegasi occupied all his attention. The Pegasi, who inevitably ran out of ammunition, using their speed to kick his face stronger and the unicorns constantly keeping him under fire created the perfect opportunity for her. "Everypony strike all at once! I only need him down for a few seconds!" The unicorns all shot beams at Grogar, but he was able to ward them off with a shield. However, the Pegasi flew down and covered him like flies the leftover food. They used their hooves to grab onto his horns, his coat and beat him, kick him endlessly. While Grogar was struggling to keep his shield holding off the unicorns' bolts intact and get the ponies off of him, Gusty started running at him. She ran past the shield underneath it, and saw her target. When she reached Grogar, she leaped and grabbed the bell in her magical hold, then tore it from his harness, encased in her hooves' sheltering grip and fell under Grogar's abdomen, but the impact made her roll out from below the ram, then she finally came to a halt behind his back. "Ouch," she groaned, and when she opened her eyes, the bell was lying in front of her, having fallen out of her clench during the rough touchdown. She picked it up with her mouth. Grogar wanted to energize, but the only thing he could feel after reaching for the artifact was its absence. He turned around and stared at Gusty holding his Bewitching Bell in her mouth. He let out a terrifying growl, but the unicorns took hold of him and pulled him back, and a Pegasus warrior yelled at her, "Run! Run away!" Gusty turned and ran downhill, moving away from the battle behind her. She ran and ran, even when the sunset fell upon her, and hours separated her from the battle, she still ran. She was very tired and her gallop was more of a stumbling, casual trot, but she didn't stop. She had Grogar's source of magic with her, and she couldn't know if Grogar could follow her or not. She tripped over a stone and dropped the bell. As she was lying on the ground, she thought she could use some rest, but as she was looking at the bell, the terrible dark power radiating from it struck her, and made her continue her way, but fatigue got the best of her, and she fell once again, but this time she didn't get up, the exhaustion overcame her, and lulled her into sleep in the dirt. Gusty heard the busy noise of a household from beyond the darkness of her eyelids, and when she opened her eyes, she found herself lying in a bed and staring at the pale ceiling above her. Curious - she thought, but she didn't have the opportunity to dwell on where she was, because she noticed the bell wasn't there with her. "The bell!" The sudden exclamation turned the attention of the mare dusting in the room toward her. "Good mornin', dear!" she said with an accent Gusty never heard before. Gusty jumped out of the bed and asked nervously, "Where is the bell?", before using her magic to levitate the furniture and look under them. "Oh, this ol' thing?" She heard a male voice but she could barely make out what he said. She looked at the stallion entering the room, holding the bell in his mouth. Gusty exhaled and let the floating chattels go, but cringed as the heavy bed, wardrobes and chests landed with an ear-splitting crash. "Sorry..." she blushed. "How'd ya do that?" asked the marveling couple. She just noticed that the pair had no horns... nor wings. They were another different kind of pony. "Wait a minute! That have to do somethin' with yer horn there?" "Yes, yes it does." "Heh, poor Broadhoof here didn't know whatta make of it," the mare chuckled. "Darn right it is! A horned pony? Ah seen lotsa rummy things in mah life, bu' ain't ne'er did see yer kinda thing," the stallion said, then took up a regretful grimace at the sight of the disapproving look his wife shot at him and apologized. "Ah'm sorry lil' lady. Mah kissa e'er spills things it ne'er should." "Oh, no problem! I didn't mind for a second, really." "Hey! Yer alive!" "Told ya!" Gusty saw two fillies running into the room. "Hi!" She waved at them. "Where did ya come from?" "Is everypony horned where ya live?" the fillies asked. "Yes, we all have horns-" "Jus' whaddid ya do that ya went sleepin' on the soil, eh?" one of them asked, cutting her off. "Um, I had an eventful day... Speaking of which I really should be going now, sorr-" "But you jus' got up!" the father said. "I know, but it's very urgent. Thank you so much for bringing me and the bell here, but-" "Ah thought ya'd be stayin' for breakfast..." "Me too..." Gusty pityingly watched the young fillies' wide-eyed yearning expressions, but said, "I am truly sorry, but I have to continue on my journey, pronto." "But ya'll need the strength to keep goin'. When was the last time ya ate, dear?" asked the mother. At that moment, as if it were a sign, her stomach let out a deep rumble. "Ah, yer belly's on our side!" the fillies beamed. Gusty sighed. "I guess a little snack wouldn't hurt..." "Oh, how impolite we are!" The mother slapped her forehead after bringing out a pot of considerable size, filled with mouthwatering soup. "We haven't even told ya our names! This strong stallion is Broadhoof, my lawful husband, and these are the apples of our eyes: Daisy and Petunia." "And mah only love here is Sheen Blossom," Broadhoof finished the introduction. "My name is Gusty." "So, Gusty. What are ya carryin' 'round that whim-wham for?" Sheen Blossom asked. Gusty pulled the object in question closer to her on the bench before she spoke. "The bell... I'm hiding it. It belongs... belonged to Grogar." The name made Blossom drop the ladle from her hoof, which struck the floor, tingling sharply. Broadhoof covered the ears of Daisy, sitting next to him. "Yesterday we battled with him and I've successfully stolen his artifact and source of power. Now, I'm just trying to find a good place for it. Where it can never be found," she explained. "Well... if ya'll go northwards, that's where ya'll find the snow-capped mountains. Those are fairly high. Ah'm sure not a soul will find it there," Blossom said. "Once again, thank you very much for your hospitality, and thank you for packing me food." "Oh, it's no nothin'. We 'round here go helpin' ponies in need every time," Broadhoof said. "Besto' luck on yer quest aunt Gusty!" Petunia said. "An' don't ya forget tellin' yer unicorns 'bout yer stay here," Daisy instructed. "I won't. I promise. You two stay good kids after I'm gone, you hear?" "Ya darn tootin' bet!" Daisy said, at the same time falsifying her promise with the not-so-nice words she expressed it with, which her sister didn't take kindly to. "Daisyyyyy! Ya said a bad word! Mom, Daisy said a bad word," Petunia sneaked on her. Sheen Blossom and Gusty exchanged a look and giggled. "May ya succeed in yer mission, Gusty. An' Ah sure hope this whole misery will end with Grogar soon. The earth pony villages are starvin' 'cause of the drought." "I'll do everything I can to end this." Gusty was walking in snow. She reached the cool northern territories a few hours ago. The night had already befallen her once, since she departed from the earth pony village, and that reassured her: it meant that the unicorns were still well enough to be capable of managing the orbital cycles. She'd thought of what might have occurred after she left the scene of the battle. She hoped Grogar was defeated, but there was no telling. Did the others think about her? Did they think of where she might tread? Did they worry because she was walking alone on unknown territories? She hoped they understood her burden right now. She had to find a good hiding place for the bell, where no one would be able to locate it. Neither Grogar, nor anyone else. Luckily, she could expect some help in her quest, for she just arrived at a settlement, where ponies houses made of ice, and their coat was gleaming. "Ah, yes. We know of the treacherous one." The leader of the settlement, a crystal pony (that was what they were called, as Gusty learned) handed her a cup full of some warm liquid. "I've acquired the source of his magic, and now I'm trying to hide it." Gusty took a sip. "You came to the right place. If there's a center for the world, the Frozen North is the farthest from it. And the mountains... they're deadly." "Why are you all the way out here? There are so many green lands south of here. Why do you live in the cold?" "We've lived here for generations. And things weren't like this before. Weather wasn't so tough. Now, we hear sometimes a blizzard wipes out an entire village... Right, let's go." "That one," the crystal pony pointed to a mountain after they exited his igloo. "Mount Everhoof, as we call it. Highest of them all." "It'll do."