Angry at what Fizzy had done, Grogar growled like a beast as his hoof touched the bell. Knowing what he was about to do, Gusty gasped horrified.
“Move away!” she exclaimed to Fizzy and Buttons.
“No need to tell us!” Buttons replied while holding Fizzy´s hoof. Immediately, they drew away.
To give them more time, Gusty jumped to his neck.
“Don´t!” she yelled.
He easily shoved Gusty off. Then, he noticed Buttons and Fizzy running to the door.
“Get them! And block the doors!” he ordered the guards.
Taking advantage that he wasn´t looking at her, Gusty got up and tried to reach her friends. However, he quickly saw her getting away.
“Where do you think you´re going?!” he asked as he picked her up.
Gusty whimpered as Grogar took her near him.
“I´m still not finished with you!”
Gusty watched at Grogar with horror. She might have earned more time thanks to Fizzy, but they were probably captured by this time, so she had no help to get out alive. Now she was really going to die. But before that, she needed to know something else.
“Was a pegasus destined to defeat you?”
Grogar raised his eyebrow.
“That´s exactly what I was going to talk to you about.” he laughed. “Well, I´m afraid to tell you that what you read is no prophecy. Just a poor fool´s dream to see me fail. So, no. There is no hope for your kind.”
“Then why did you order to kill every pegasus?”
Grogar scowled at her.
“This is not for Majesty, I swear.” she said sadly. “Just for me.”
“Of course it isn´t! Majesty only cares about unicorns. But why would a unicorn like you care about what happened to pegasi scum?”
“My husband was a pegasus!” she exclaimed angry and full of pain. “And he´s dead. Because of you.”
Gusty knew that Grogar would feel no sympathy or empathy for her. But she didn´t expect him to start roaring in laughter.
“Actually, it´s your fault that your husband is dead.”
Those words truly pierced her heart. That´s what she always thought to herself from that fateful day, that she could have done more.
“Don´t say that…” she said heartbroken. “Please…”
“But it´s true. Having known that it was you who I should have killed in the first place, your husband would still be alive.”
“Wh-What?” she asked confused.
“You haven´t realized? I thought you were smarter. Which gives me more evidence that the prophecy is wrong.”
Gusty widened her eyes when she understood what Grogar was saying.
Meanwhile, Buttons and Fizzy tried to escape the guards.
“You do realize that you could be executed for what you´ve just done, right Fizzy?” Buttons said to her in shock.
“I do, but I couldn´t let him harm her!”
“But by using magic? You could have done some sort of other distraction! You know that using magic equals death.”
“Ok, why are you scolding me? If you think about it, you´ll also be executed. For helping me and Gusty.”
Buttons took some time to answer.
“Touché.”
Just when they were about to reach the doors, more guards stood in their way.
“Well, well. What are you going to do now that you´re surrounded?” a guard teased them.
The two unicorns looked at all their directions, only to find out that the guard was right. They had circled them. There was not a single direction in which they could escape.
The two mares turned their heads and gasped.
“Ok, forget about what about I just said before, do whatever you did before!”
Fizzy bit her lip.
“I can´t.”
Buttons widened her eyes. Abruptly, she turned her head to Fizzy.
“I´m sorry. What?!” she asked upset.
“I have very little water left in the canteen.”
“Well, you can take more from the pond you formed, right?”
“But it´s likely that most of it has evaporated already. It´s not enough.”
Suddenly, the troggles started laughing.
“What are you laughing at?!” Buttons asked upset.
A troggle wiped out a tear of laughter.
“Because….” he sighed. “Because it´s entertaining seeing you angry.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WITH THAT IT´S ENTERTAINING ME SEEING ME ANGRY?!”
When she raised the tone of her voice, the troggles got scared. On the opposite, Fizzy took more lightly the word `entertaining´.
“Entertaining….” she thought aloud. She gasped excitedly. “That´s it!” she took Buttons. “Buttons, I have an idea.” she told her friend excitedly.
While Buttons was not much of an enthusiast of Fizzy´s ideas, she also knew that they didn´t have anything better to do. So, she decided to let her friend do whatever she wanted. All she hoped was that it didn´t take much time, as she turned around to see that Gusty was still on Grogar´s grasp.
In the meantime, Gusty was still processing Grogar´s words.
“No.” she shook her head. “No, it can´t be.”
“Yes, it is. A unicorn makes much more sense than a pegasus. But I don´t repent of what happened to them, as I´m not the main cause for their deaths.”
Gusty sobbed and closed her eyes.
“There, there. I know that the truth is always painful. But don´t worry, I can put an end to it and reunite you with your husband.” he said with a malicious smirk.
However, his mood quickly changed when he heard Fizzy talking.
“Alright! Alright! What shape do you want now?” she asked the troggles, who were sitting on the circle they formed.
“A dog!” a troggle raised her hand.
“No, a cat!” another troggle suggested.
“How about…. One of them.” Buttons told Fizzy.
The troggles agreed with her idea.
“On it!” Fizzy exclaimed enthusiastically.
She ignited her horn and with the water left on her canteen, she made a bubble with the shape of a troggle. The troggles cheered her. Both Grogar and Gusty contemplated estranged and confused, with their eyebrows raised.
“Bubbles? Seriously Fizzy?” she thought aloud in a whisper.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOTS?!” Grogar yelled at the guards.
Quickly, the troggles stood up. Fizzy undid the bubble. Unlike, the troggle she was calm at the emperor´s anger.
“You´re supposed to arrest them not watch their antics!”
“Yes sir!” a troggle exclaimed. Like the rest of his workmates, he pointed his spear at Fizzy, glaring threateningly at her. But his glare went away in just one second, as he noticed that something was out of picture. “Wait. Where is the other one?”
“Hey, do any of you have two spears?”
“Don´t you have one?”
“I do, but I don´t find it. That´s why I ask.”
“YOU!” a female voice exclaimed.
Everypony, troggle and Grogar turned around. The ponies gasped when they saw Buttons with a spear.
“Put her down this instant!” she ordered Grogar while pointing the spear at him.
However, the ram made no reaction. He just stared at her unamused.
“What are you doing?” Gusty muttered to Buttons.
Seeing that her warning didn´t work, Buttons walked to the ram, shaking a little in fear.
“Uh… Didn´t you hear me?!” she tried to conceal her fear by putting on her brave voice. “I said let her go! Otherwise, I´ll cut your throat!” she slightly poked his neck, to which Grogar reacted with a glare. Buttons shrank. “Please…” she asked with a nervous smile.
“You go Buttons!” Fizzy cheered her up.
Grogar rolled his eyes, calmly picked up the spear from Buttons and broke it in half.
“Hey that was my spear!” the troggle that lost his spear complained, to which Grogar reacted by gagging him with his magic.
Unlike the troggle, Gusty still saw some use on the spear. She looked at her horn.
“Well…. I suppose that´s what you want to do to me right now.” Buttons told Grogar.
“Which of the two?” the ram teased her. “The gagging or breaking you in half?”
“The gagging?”
“Guess again.”
Buttons started walking backwards.
“Fizzy… I need your help.” she called out.
“Coming! Thought it will take some time.” she said while looking all the guards she had to fight.
Buttons closed her eyes and covered her head, getting ready for the worst thing. She opened them when she heard Gusty´s moans, which caught Grogar´s attention as well. He smiled when he realized that she was trying to use magic inside his aura, knowing that it was completely impossible. But when he noticed that she was eyeing the spear´s head, he snarled. He took the spear´s head and scratched Gusty´s cheek.
“AH!” she yelled in pain.
“Gusty!” Buttons exclaimed.
She tried to reach them but a guard caught her.
“Got cha!” the troggle exclaimed victorious.
After harming Gusty, Grogar threw her away.
“Thank you for the great idea. I think I´ll try it on your friends´ eyes. But to make sure you don´t go anywhere…”
He stepped with all his strength on one of her rear legs until it cracked. Gusty shouted. Her suffering brought joy to Grogar. She noticed his expression of satisfaction.
“You should thank me. At least they won´t be able to witness your death.” he told her.
“You´re a monster.” she said full of hate.
“Like I said, I´m not the one who´s the cause of all of this.” he whispered in her ear. He turned to Buttons and smirked at her, which made a chill ran through her back. “Let´s start by the pink one, shall we?” he said menacingly as he walked to her.
Suddenly, just when Grogar wasn´t looking. Gusty started floating thanks to a pink aura that brought her to Fizzy, who struggled to keep her afloat. Grogar was quick enough to notice Gusty wasn´t there anymore, even before he could even get to Buttons.
Once she was right in front of her, Fizzy accidentally dropped Gusty but she caught her on time before her broken leg could touch the ground.
“Gusty!” You´re ok!” she said while she hugged her.
“Ok is not the word with which I would define my state right now….” she whispered. “But I´m not the one who need your help now, Buttons is.”
Fizzy turned her head and gasped when she saw Buttons captured by a guard.
“¡Ay bendito!” she exclaimed scared. “Ok. Hear me out. Run as fast as you can and get out of the castle. Don´t worry about us, we´ll catch up with you.”
“I can´t! Grogar´s broken my leg. Besides, I wouldn´t leave you at his mercy.”
“Oh. Well, in that case, I´ll drag outside the door. Once you´re out try to crawl to a place you can hide and wait us there.”
“Will you be able to escape?” Gusty asked concerned.
“Of course! As long as that door is open, you don´t need to worry about us.”
Just after Fizzy said that, they heard a door closing. Slowly, they turned their heads to the door and watched Bray locking it.
“Yeah? I don´t think so.” he told them.
“I talked too soon.” Fizzy thought aloud. “GAH!” she cried as a black and yellow aura of magic dragged her away.
“Fizzy!”
Grogar dropped Fizzy next to Buttons and tied them up on their backs. He laughed as he watched how they tried to get away.
“You should have minded your own business instead of befriending that unicorn.” he told them. “Otherwise we wouldn´t have got to this point.” he said as he showed the spear´s head to Fizzy and Buttons.
“No!” Gusty exclaimed horrified, as she couldn´t do anything to protect them from Grogar.
But thinking it better, there was one thing she could do. Something she knew very well. The core element of her magic: wind. Although a bit hesitant at first, due to fearing not being able to control it, she realized that this moment was about letting it loose not trying to control it. She frowned determined and closed her eyes for better concentration. She breathed in and out as she lighted her horn. At first it was soft, like a breeze. But with some effort and persistence, she managed to do it stronger.
The unicorns, who were watching horrified what Grogar was about to do to Buttons and Fizzy noticed wind. Looking for the source, the ponies glanced at the window, but it was closed. It wasn´t until a unicorn pointed it out that they knew where the wind came from.
“Look!”
Glory and her workmates watched in awe at how Gusty conjured up wind.
“Are you seeing what I´m seeing?” a unicorn asked her.
“Aye.” Glory replied.
Once it was strong enough, Gusty threw it towards Grogar, making him fly to the wall, releasing Fizzy and Buttons on the process. Every creature in the room gasped. Once Grogar opened his eyes, he saw how Gusty stared at him with hatred.
“Wohoo!” Buttons cheered for her as she and Fizzy ran to her
“Go! Gusty! Go!” Fizzy jumped in excitement.
They helped Gusty to stand on three legs. Grogar stood up as well. The two of them shared challenging glances.
“So you want to fight me, huh? Well, let´s see if you survive this.”
After he activated the bell, he zapped at Gusty. Luckily, she jumped on time.
“Come on! Attack me back if you dare.” Grogar challenged back.
Gusty stayed still. Yes, she could attack Grogar but how could she defend herself? Specially if he had the bell. With her leg like that, she couldn´t keep on jumping away. Besides, she didn´t know much about her magic to combat face to face with Grogar.
“No.” she told him.
Everypony gasped disillusioned. Grogar smiled.
“Very well. A cowardly but smart decision.” Grogar told her.
Gusty looked down ashamed.
“But you should have thought about it before fighting me.”
Grogar ignited his horns as he touched the bell. Buttons and Fizzy hugged Gusty to protect her, even though they knew it would be in vain. Once the bell rang, it released a blast of magic. Luckily, before it reached them. Glory and many other unicorns ran to them.
“Hold on tight!” Glory ordered them.
After she ignited her horn, she, Gusty, Fizzy and Buttons disappeared before the blast got to them. Grogar growled in fury.
“Search the whole castle!” he ordered the guards.
“Yes my emperor!”
“Lock all the unicorns in the castle! I´ll do some interrogations.”
The unicorns in the room gasped in fear.
“Yes sir!”
Despite the unicorn´s protests and claims of innocence, the guards took them all away.
“Bray!”
“My emperor?” he asked.
“Stay with me. I want to talk to you.”
Bray nodded and ran to Grogar. Once they were completely alone, there was silence in the room, which made Bray uncomfortable, as it told him that anger was building inside him.
“My emperor. Are you ok?” he asked fearful.
“Why didn´t you tell me?” Grogar replied.
“What?” Bray asked confused.
Suddenly, Grogar grabbed him by the neck.
“Why didn´t you tell me?!” he repeated angrily.
Bray struggled to take some air.
“Tell you what?”
“That she was the Wind Warrior!”
“How could have I known?”
“You told me that she had used magic. Why didn´t you tell me it was wind?!”
“I didn´t see it! I just heard a noise and then I saw that the slaves´ chambers were a mess and assumed it was her. I didn´t know it was wind, I swear. If I had known, I would have told you.”
Grogar snarled as he released Bray. The donkey coughed and gasped for some air.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I´ll kill her. No matter who I have to go through, I´ll kill her.”
“But what if she was right? About meeting your destiny on the road you take to avoid it.”
“No, she wasn´t!” he raised his voice, to which Bray lowered his ears. “She wasn´t and she´ll never be. I build my own destiny and I still have control over the future!”
“I´m just… I´m just scared of what will happen.”
“What if I told you that your destiny was being laughed at and called stupid just for being a donkey? And starving in the streets?”
Bray bit his lip and looked down.
“I, I would respond as you did, my emperor.”
“Exactly. All my life I´ve been underestimated and told that I would never get far nor have a brilliant future. And look at where I am now. Look at where you are now. A so-called prophecy won´t change that.”
Although he still had his doubts, he nodded his head, not wanting to upset Grogar anymore.
“Yes. You´re right my emperor.”
“Do not underestimate me Bray. If it wasn´t for me, you´d be no one.” Grogar said as he left.
Bray sighed sadly.
“I hope you´re right, Grogar.” he said when he left. “I really do.”
The unicorns reappeared at a corridor lit by torches.
“What just happened?” Fizzy asked aloud. “Where are we? I have so many questions!” she yelled as she pulled her curls.
“I know where we are.” Gusty said.
Buttons and Fizzy looked at her.
“Majesty´s secret passage.”
“Aye we are.” Glory said.
“Wait. You´re also in the same mess Gusty is?” Buttons asked her.
Glory nodded her head.
“Every unicorn here is. Nopony knew about it. It was a secret. Until she said it aloud.” she said while glaring at Gusty.
Gusty noticed that she was surrounded by glares.
“What were you thinking?” Glory walked towards her. “Using magic, entering Grogar´s study and then revealing us all in front of everypony? Do you have any idea the danger you subjected us all?”
“I.” Gusty looked down and closed her eyes. “I´m… I´m sorry. But I thought everypony deserved to know what was truly happening.” she opened her eyes. “That Grogar´s empire is not that strong.”
Glory and the other unicorns shared glances. They saw that she didn´t do it betray Majesty but to give hope to everypony. Glory sighed.
“I understand your motives, but it was really unwise to do that.” Glory told her. “You have lots of explanation to do to Majesty. She´s not going to be happy about this.”
“I know she said that if I failed, she would not grant more protection. But could she kill me for this?”
Glory smiled at her warmly.
“I don´t think she will.”
“Huh?”
“You could still be a great asset to us all. All of us think so. But only Majesty can decide that. Come on.” she told Gusty.
“Glory! What do we do about them?” a unicorn asked her.
She looked at Buttons and Fizzy. Buttons looked away while Fizzy waved at them.
“You can come along too. Maybe Majesty accepts them as new recruits.”
“Oh. Ok.” Buttons said.
As they walked along, Fizzy and Buttons ran to Gusty.
“So, now that we know what´s going on, could you explain who´s Majesty, what she´s doing and how you got in this mess?” Fizzy asked her.
Gusty bit her lip and looked away.
“It´s kind of a long story.”