//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: Way down Trottingham // Story: Gusty the Great book 2- The crusades // by Dianabel //------------------------------// At that same night, Gusty couldn´t sleep. It wasn´t only due to the fact she shared the castle´s library with everypony to sleep, but there was simply too much to process as well. On the span of days, she managed to join forces with earth ponies, face dark spirits, and what´s more surprising, defeat a tyrant. Never in a million years would Gusty ever imagine this would happen to her. And all because she was nice to a sheep. After today, perhaps the idea of defeating Grogar didn´t seem that insane. But she still had three other tyrants to face before getting to the emperor. Even so, she felt hopeful that things could go better for her and her daughters. If only they were by her side to tell them these amazing adventures that had happened… Leaving Grogar´s castle gave her the chance to see them again but since she had to flee to survive, she didn´t have time to get their handkerchiefs, which were her own way to communicate with them. However, after noticing a scroll, she thought there was perhaps another way to communicate. Carefully, Gusty got up and passed through everypony without stepping on them and controlling the sound of her hoofsteps. Then, she took a paper and a fountain pen and walked to the balcony. While doing so, she took a moment to glance at Starswirl and the earth ponies and smiled at them, thankful for having met such wonderful ponies. Once she sat down, she strolled the scroll and started to write. She felt her heart filling with warmth and joy with each word she wrote down, even chuckling at some sentences that she wrote. When she finished the letter, she hugged it tightly and closed her eyes, imagining herself with her daughters. “Everything´s going to be ok. I promise.” she told her daughters. “Are you sure you want to go?” Moochick asked Knightshade and Alonzo as they packed to accompany the unicorns in their quest to save their leader. “There must be another way we can repay our debts.” “I appreciate your concern, sir Moochick, but we believe the sooner we return the favour, the more likely unicorns will help us in times of need.” Alonzo replied politely. “You never know when Grogar could attack!” Knightshade added while revising they had everything they needed. “Ah, I´m forgetting the food!” he quickly ran to grab it. “There will most probably be an attack, yes.” Moochick admitted. “But I doubt Grogar himself will be present there.” “Yeah, but knowing Grogar, he will probably send some powerful magical creature to destroy us. And I don´t think Magic Star will be able to create enough talismans for everypony for protection!” Knightshade pointed out anxiously. “I understand that unicorns´ magic can seem dangerous and difficult to understand, but from what I´ve seen, these unicorns use their magic wisely and not to hurt others. Unless it´s in self-defence of course.” Alonzo reassured him. “I know, I´m just being prudent. Every time we have interacted with a creature capable of magic, it´s always ended up in harm for us. They prey on us because they believe we are weak for not having their abilities, and some could even believe we shouldn´t exist.” Moochick argumented. “Well.. Katrina never tried to exterminate us all. She needed our work. Every tyrant does.” “Because we were lucky with Katrina. But we don´t know the unicorns´ leader.” “But we know six of her followers. And I believe they see us as their equals. Do you trust them at least?” Moochick looked down through the window, observing the unicorns talking to each other. Lancer and Glory seemed to be worried about something, so Gusty put her hoof on her chest, as if she was promising something. Then, Fizzy swang over Lancer, causing both of them to fall. The other unicorns giggled while watching Fizzy shrugging with a nervous smile at a frowning Lancer. Moochick slightly chuckled, since he was reminded of his youth and the companionship between earth ponies. They were not that different from them. Perhaps these six unicorns were trustworthy. “You´re right.” the elder leader finally agreed. “It´d be wise to return the favour as soon as possible to maintain them by our side, should their leader turn out to be hostile against us.” Alonzo smiled. “Well said sir!” Knightshade congratulated him from the other side of the room. “I´m glad you´re starting to use logic and reason!” Alonzo and Moochick narrowed their eyes at Knightshade, making him realize his wrong choice of words. “I think I´ve just called you irrational and undermined your whole mental capacity.” Knightshade took a brief pause before continuing. “I should probably get out of your sight now.” He bowed to Moochick and ran out the room. Alonzo rolled his eyes. “Take care, Alonzo.” Moochick laud a hoof on his shoulder. “I can´t lose two of my best warriors.” Alonzo nodded with a confident smirk. Meanwhile, the unicorns, Magic Star, Shady and Posey waited at the castle´s gates. They stared at Knightshade, surprised that he came alone. “Where´s Alonzo?” Gusty raised her eyebrow. “Coming.” Knightshade replied after panting for some seconds. “He´s talking with Moochick about something.” “Wouldn´t it make more sense if he talked to ye both?” asked Glory. “Ye´re part of the rescue mission too.” “Is it because you blurted out something out loud that upset sir Moochick?” Magic Star asked Knightshade teasingly. Knightshade clicked his tongue. “Yup.” he admitted. “Don´t worry.” Fizzy put her foreleg around him. “You´re not the only one who does that.” She reassured him. Speaking of Alonzo, everypony perked their ears up when they heard his hoofsteps. They turned around and saw him accompanied by Moochick. “I believe we´re already ready, right?” Lancer asked everypony. “When it comes to packing, I am very detailed and I´ve also revised Fizzy´s packing, so for me, we´re all ready.” Butons answered. “The same goes for me.” Shady showed all kinds of tools, weapons and food she carried on her bag. “Don´t you think that´s too much?” Posey asked her. “For me, it´s never too much. Anything could happen.” “Thank you! Finally somepony who agrees!” Knightshade exclaimed. “Then, let ourselves begin our journey. There´s no time to lose!” Lancer ordered. “Starswirl, Posey, lead the way.” The two ponies nodded their heads. “Why Starswirl?” Shady whispered in Buttons´ ear. “He´s from there.” Buttons whispered back. “Oh…” Before everpony marched, they bowed to Moochick. “We thank you all for your help in the rescuing of our leader.” Gusty said to Moochick. The earth pony nodded as a sign of respect. He entered the castle to go to the balcony in order to watch them depart, getting a clear view of Bridlengton and its inhabitants. The earth ponies praised Knightshade and Alonzo as they passed through the town, although they were also captivated by the unicorns. The stares made them uncomfortable at first, but soon they would realize those stares weren´t hostile. Instead, they were stares of gratitude and intrigue. In addition, they could hear some of their dialogues. “Look mom! That´s the unicorn that moved the clouds! She and her unicorns helped the rebellion to free ourselves!” a colt said to her mother. “Good luck in your journey! Hope you get to rescue your leader!” a family with their foals waved at the unicorns, at Gusty. The latter waved back. “I´ve heard rumours that the white one was the one Katrina was after. Apparently because they say she´s going to overthrow Grogar.” a stallion whispered to a mare. “What? That seems too far-fetched.” the mare disagreed. “But one thing´s clear: she seems not to be messed with.” Though she knew they were admiring all the unicorns, she also noticed that she was the spotlight in their eyes. Most of the times in which she was the centre of attention were of disdain and anger for something she did, even though in her eyes she was doing the right thing. Naturally, Gusty ended up being afraid of stares. She tried to return the smiles, but there came a point, in which she had to avoid eye contact. A familiar ugly sensation in the chest returned, and both her heartbeat and breath fastened. Noticing breezes moving his mane, Starswirl noticed Gusty´s anxiety, so he put a recomforting hoof on her shoulder. “Looks like they admire you.” he teased her. Gusty chuckled and blushed embarassed. They still had to cross the city, but after hearing Starswirl´s words, she felt she was supported and accompanied. And so, while the breezes were still around, they didn´t turn into a hurricane like they usually did. Moochick noticed the earth ponies looking at the unicorns, mostly Gusty. He couldn´t see their faces, but he knew they were admiring her. He decided to trust her and her comrades, but part of him was still afraid. What if by putting his trust in them he brings demise to his kind? What if they are blind followers? So many questions were running wild in his mind. “Don´t fail me. Don´t make me regret my decision.” Moochick thought to himself. Sarama paced around the throne room nervously, waiting for Crunch to come back from his reunion with Grogar while also wondering why the emperor would convene at night. Whatever the reason was, it couldn´t be good. What´s worse, it was morning and Crunch hadn´t arrived yet. The journey to Tambelon´s capital from Trottingham was long, but considering how urgently the emperor needed him, anything could have happened. A knock on the gates got her back to reality. “Come in.” she said to the dog behind gates. Turns out that there were three dogs waiting behind gates. They were Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall. “Hey Sarama!” Gaueko cockily greeted her. “Just came here to inform you that the nocturnal search has been quite fruitful. With the strength of our lashes, there was nopony who resisted to work!” “Good, good.” Sarama said in reply. Sarama´s emotion didn´t match with her words. She seemed to be worried about something. “Is everything alright, Sarama?” Gwyllgi asked her. “You seem tense.” “How couldn´t I be? Grogar called our leader late in the night. That´s weird even for him. Something big must have happened, I just know it.” “Relax! If anything, it´s an advantage to us, I can tell you that.” said Cavall with a sly smirk. Noticing how relaxed the three diamond dogs were, Sarama started suspecting of them. “You know something, do you?” she narrowed her eyes. “Maybe.” answered Gaueko while looking at his claws. “Let´s just say that I was able to track the Wind Warrior and found out about some important news that could cause the emperor to give our dear and greatest leader more support and resources.” “Such as?” They were interrupted by an abrupt blow of the gates. Crunch was responsible of all the noise. “URGENT MEETING!” he cried. “My king!” Sarama exclaimed before vowing. “I´m so glad to see you´re o-” “Get every soldier to the courtyard, Sarama!” Crunch interrupted her. Though somewhat hurt by his coldness, Sarama nodded her head and obeyed. Meanwhile, Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall approached him. “So… How was your meeting?” Gaueko asked him. “You three too! Get the soldiers! GO! GO!” Crunch yelled so loud and strongly, that his breath pushed the three diamond dog´s ears backwards, as if it was one of Gusty´s winds, only with a bad breath included. “We would. We would. But what if I told you we are responsible of Grogar´s sudden decision to call you?” Crunch´s ears perked up. “What do you mean?” the stone dog raised his eyebrow intrigued. “Well… I managed to get something of value from the Wind Warrior.” Gaueko showed Crunch the phoenix feather necklace. “Apart from being an excellent asset to blackmail her, it also served as a great tracker, which led me to Coltlogne.” Crunch leaned towards the necklace intrigued. “Hm…” the dog king scratched his chin. “And then I thought, if we tell you and you transmit this information to Grogar directly, he´s probably accuse you of being incompetent, and we know that you´re the least incompetent creature to roam this land. But perhaps he would take this more seriously if the source of information came from gossip…” Crunch´s grin of satisfaction grew more with each word Gaueko spoke. “Very well thought Gaueko. That´s why I have you three as my main henchdogs. You will be rewarded once the Wind Warrior business is over.” The three diamond dogs bowed to him, Gaueko adapting the most extravagant posture. “NOW GO!” Crunch ordered with an angry yell. The three dogs lifted their shoulders as a response to the yell. Most of the time, Crunch was angry, and the moments where he wasn´t angry were very very brief. Creatures in his environment were used to his mood swings, still, they´re never prepared for the shouting. “Geeze… Ok, ok!” Gwyllgi mumbled to herself while leaving the room. Meanwhile, the soldier dogs waited in the courtyard asking so many questions, whether between themselves or to Sarama. “Is everything alright, Sarama?” “Did something happen?” “Is this code red?” “Should we adapt the code red protocol?” Despite all the chaos, Sarama tried to ease the crowd. “Ok, ok!” Sarama raised her paws up. “We do not know what has happened yet, but we must not panic and take any precipitate decisions. We must wait for Crunch´s explanations and orders. In the meantime, it´s important that we remain calm.” she explained as serene as she could while moving her paws up and down. “And no spreading of speculations!” she pointed at a dog who she noticed was whispering to his comrade´s ear. The dog quickly stopped, hid his hands behind his back and smiled apologetically. Suddenly, the trumpets began to play. “The king of Trottingham, first in his name, Crunch!” Cavall announced. Every dog bowed while Crunch entered the courtyard and went up the platform. “Subjects! I bring you important news. The Wind Warrior has put an end to Katrina´s reign!” he smacked his foot. Every diamond dog gasped shocked. Sarama covered her mouth with her paws. “The prophecy´s true?” thought Sarama. “That brings good and bad news.” Crunch continued his announcement. “The good news is that this shows that dogs are superior to cats!” he put his fist to the air. The dogs barked and applauded in cheer. Sarama and some dogs in the crowd had their reservations, however. How can that be proved if they haven´t faced the Wind Warrior yet? “But that also brings us bad news. That means that the Wind Warrior is a real threat. So, you need to listen attentively to my plan and unleash the wolf inside you! Is that clear?” “Woof!” the soldiers barked as a sign of agreement. “The journey to here from Catnada is three days approximately. If you part right now, it´s more likely a surprise attack is successful.” “But sir.” a dog raised her hand. “Last time we ambushed them, they ended up frozen for a whole day!” “This time will be different. Because we´ll be blackmailing her with this.” Crunch showed them the phoenix feather necklace. “Ooo…” the dogs said in intrigue. “What is that? A talisman?” a male dog asked. “Not exactly.” Gaueko replied. “But it´s an object of value.” Gwyllgi clarified. “We notice she held it in a vulnerable moment.” Cavall pointed out. “Even if it doesn´t have any power, she does clearly have some sort of appreciation to it. If we threaten to destroy it, we could get distract her and catch her.” “Not everything of value has magic, you idiot.” Crunch insulted the dog that asked. “Especially for a punny pony.” “Sorry sir…” the dog apologized, hurt by Crunch´s words. “Is everything clear?” “Yes sir! Only one thing, what about the dogs that don´t form part in the castle? Do we prepare for battle or set a defence?” a female dog asked. “Those dogs will continue with their daily tasks.” Crunch answered. “Whoah, even the slave raptors?” a hesitant Sarama asked. “Yes, even the slave raptors!” “Don´t you think that´s a bit risky?” Crunch widened his eyes surprised. The rest of the dogs looked at their leader with horrified faces, as they knew what was going to happen. “Excuse me?” he asked back estranged. “Well, you know, those five unicorns might plan to infiltrate by disguising as potential targets for enslavers.” Crunch knew Sarama was certainly right. But that didn´t mean he liked it. “Also, I think the idea of having an urgency plan is appropriate. I understand we must follow with our tasks, but it´s also important to be prepared, should anything go wrong.” Sarama continued stating her opinion, despite Crunch´s frown. “Well, that was implicit in the plan, Sarama. Do you consider your comrades stupid perhaps?” Sarama raised her eyebrow. “I never said that.” she shook her head to emphasize her point. “Is that so? Ask them how they feel.” Crunch signed at the crowd. The crowd raised their eyebrows confused and looked at each other, not sure what to do next. “B-but sir.” the last dog that asked stuttered. “I think Sarama has-” “Are you mad or are you not mad?!” Crunch interrupted her. This was not the angriest the dogs had seen their leader, but they could feel the fury building on him. “Yeah! We´re not stupid Sarama!” a dog cried, although from the tone of his voice, Sarama could tell he was doing it so Crunch wouldn´t harm any dog. “Am I right?” The other dogs quickly understood what to do next. They barked in agreement and started `yelling´ at Sarama. “See Sarama? That´s why you should stay silent if I don´t ask you to speak.” Crunch smirked at her. Getting irritated by the noise, he raised his paw. “Alright! Alright! ENOUGH!” he smacked the floor, quieting every dog. “We´ll do as I said. Is everything clear?!” The dogs barked and raised their paws to the level of their foreheads. Sarama was going to leave like the rest but was stopped by Crunch grabbing and squeezing her foreleg. “Don´t you ever humiliate me in front of my subjects again.” he whispered menacingly in her ear. Sarama closed her eyes, supressing a whimper of pain, from Crunch´s squeeze. “I didn´t humiliate you.” she replied after inhaling and expiring. “I just corrected you.” “Oh, you didn´t?” Crunch clapped back once they were alone. “Then why didn´t you do it in private, huh?!” He pressed Sarama´s foreleg. She was starting to feel the sharp edges of his stone fingers penetrating her skin. “I thought we were planning together.” “Yeah right, as if I would believe that! Don´t you know I know what you´re planning? Making me look stupid so the other dogs look up to you and prefer you, a mere subject, to me, their king?! After hearing those words, Sarama felt a rush of adrenaline through her body that allowed her to free herself from Crunch´s grasp. “Not just any subject, your foredog and most important advisor.” she stated sharply. “Who´s the one that came up with all the defences on battles? Who´s the one behind all the military strategies? Who helped you to take decisions? Who-” “I AM THE ONE WHO´S IN CHARGE HERE!” he exclaimed while hitting the wall, leaving a hole on it. Sarama gasped and panted in fear and shock. Unconsciously, she took a few steps back from Crunch. “You´re scared now, aren´t you?” said Crunch. “Good, as it should be. You might think you have power because I chose you as my foredog but never forget that was because I didn´t want to keep fulfilling our parents´ deal. Keep advising me all you want but never correct me in front of others. Remember what your place is, and you and your family will be ok. But if you don´t, there will be consequences.” he said before leaving Sarama alone and closing the courtyard´s gates. Once she was alone, Sarama threw herself on her knees. She sadly looked at the golden ring around her finger and fidgeted with it. “So, to sum up, just when Katrina was about to shoot a sword at you, out of nowhere, you conjured up a crystal?” Starswirl recapped what Glory told him as they travelled to Trottingham. Glory nodded. They weren´t the only ones participating in the conversation. Gusty, Fizzy, Buttons and Lancer were as well. “I swear, I´ve never seen her do such thing. It came out of nowhere!” Lancer raised his foreleg. “Do ye think that could be my talent?” Glory asked Starswirl. “You never knew your special talent?” Starswirl asked genuinely surprised. Glory and Lancer looked at each other while pressing their lips. Feeling they were about to reveal something, Gusty, Fizzy and Buttons raised their eyebrows in intrigue. “No… Ye see....” Glory disassembled the rear parts of her armour, showing Starswirl her flank. “I never got a cutie mark.” With the exception of Lancer, all unicorns widened their eyes in surprise. “You never got a cutie mark?!” Fizzy asked in shock. Glory shook her head. “But, how can that be?” Gusty shook her head confused. “Honestly, I believe the question should be reversed.” Lancer opined. “Knowing how many limitations Grogar puts to our magic, it´s a miracle some of us got a cutie mark.” “From what Majesty and unicorns have told me, they got their cutie mark by accident while playing.” said Glory. “Exactly, that´s something ingrained in our species.” affirmed Starswirl. “As much as Grogar wants to keep us under control, he can´t stop cutie marks and special talents, thus why he forbids using them to the point that some forget them.” “That makes sense.” Buttons thought aloud. “Yes, but I didn´t have that chance. Ponies who can´t afford a roof to live under are in so much risk of being punished, executed or enslaved, so my parents never allowed me to play with magic. I thought I´d get one when I became a nurse at Majesty´s army, alas it never happened.” “You´re not alone. In my time at the monastery, I´ve met unicorns your age who didn´t have a cutie mark but they eventually earned once we gave them space to explore. So if you keep on experimenting with crystals, you might end up getting one.” Glory smiled at Starswirl. “It´s funny. I´ve been many years studying magic and there are still many things I still don´t understand. Like why crystals of all the talents in your case if you haven´t got any connection to crystals.” “Well… I do have some connection… Although my father and I were born in Strotland, my mother wasn´t born there. She came from a land far, far in the north, in which she told me there were many, many crystals. And she told me before she was captured and brought to the capital, she and her family worked with crystals, although neither of them could do the things I know I can do now.” “Huh. That gives me more evidence that crystal manipulation is your talent.” Glory blushed while smiling. Meanwhile, the earth ponies stayed silent. They tried not to interfere, since this was an intimate conversation, as well as they didn´t understand unicorn affairs. That didn´t mean they weren´t listening though, which Gusty noticed, judging by the stares. “You can join in the conversation, you know?” she invited them playfully. “From my understanding, cutie marks also involve earth ponies.” The earth ponies looked away embarassed. “Yeah… Sorry about that.” Alonzo scratched the back of his head. “But I´ll say it´s curious how this issue is prevalent among unicorns. One would think that the magical creatures would have no flaws or issues.” Buttons clicked. “That´s where you get it wrong.” “I never thought we´d have a privilege over unicorns. Never being able to find your purpose nor being able to engage in it sounds awful.” Knightshade reflected. “And if you do, you´re in danger.” stated Magic Star, having lived that in flesh. “Funny how an earth pony shares that experience with unicorns.” she smiled at Gusty, who returned the gesture. “The same goes for me.” Starswirl said to her. “I never imagined that I would identify with an earth pony on fleeing your home for maintaining a tradition alive.” “Is that why you flew Trottingham?” Shady asked him. Starswirl nodded. “For studying magic, yes.” “Speaking of Trottingham, are we there yet?” Fizzy asked. Glory, Gusty, Buttons and Lancer grunted. “Fizzy, don´t begin, eh? Please!” Lancer begged her. “Hey, this is the first time I asked that! And I wasn´t planning on asking that much either like last time.” “What happened last time?” Shady asked curiously. “You don´t want to know, trust me.” Buttons answered her. “Just in case that happens again, I happen to know the recipe for a tranquilizer potion.” Magic Star winked an eye. “That seems a little extreme, doesn´t it?” Gusty asked a bit concerned. “To me it doesn´t. In fact, I see it as extremely necessary.” Lancer disagreed. “Could you prepare one for me, Magic Star?” Knightshade asked her. “I think I might need one, because I´m very nervous.” “You always say that, and it always turns out to be fine.” Alonzo patted Knightshade´s back. “But that was because we knew Katrina. We don´t know anything about Crunch! He could be way worse. I bet he´s the type of guy that has foals for breakfast.” “Ok, you have a point in there.” Alonzo clenched his teeth anxiously. “I haven´t spent much time around him, but from what Katrina told me, Crunch´s always led by his anger.” Posey explained. “Although that might not seem a wise way to lead, his wrath has gained him fear among his subjects and slaves. I´ve heard that if provoked, he turns creatures into stone and crushes them in pieces. That´s why he´s known as The Destroyer.” Lancer, Glory and Starswirl nodded in agreement. The rest shared worried glances. Some, like Knightshade and Shady even gulped. Suddenly, the earth ponies widened their eyes and put themselves on guard. “Something´s coming.” said Magic Star. “What? How do you know that?” Gusty asked them, wondering how they got to such conclusion. “The vibrations from the earth! Don´t you feel them?” answered Knightshade, as if it was something obvious. “Um… No…” Lancer raised his eyebrow, asking for explanations indirectly. “Earth pony thing, I guess.” Alonzo muttered to himself. “And where are they coming from?” asked Fizzy after glancing around. “Underground.” Shady stated. The unicorns quickly understood who was coming. They gasped scared. “Diamond dogs!” Gusty exclaimed. “Fizzy, Buttons! You and I will grab the earth ponies. The rest teleport yourselves to a safe place. We´ll see you there!” she ordered the unicorns. Glory, Lancer and Starswirl nodded before disappearing. Since Posey and Magic Star were the nearest to her, Gusty conjured up a wind to lift them and herself to a tree branch. The two earth ponies whimpered uncomfortably at the sensation of floating. Fizzy took some water from her canteen to grab Alonzo and Knightshade and put them between some tree branches. Due to the nerves and the urgence of the situation, Fizzy didn´t do it carefully with grace, but quick and somewhat violent instead, so much that Knightshade would have fallen from the tree if it hadn´t been for Alonzo grabbing him. “Sorry!” Fizzy apologized once she teleported by their side. “With your permission, mademoiselle.” Buttons hugged Shady before igniting her horn so they could teleport next to Gusty. Shady took a deep breath and panted anxiously once they were safe. “Don´t ever do that again without warning me!” Shady scolded Buttons. Buttons shushed her and pointed downwards, where a hole was opening on the ground. Some dogs came to the surface, but they weren´t Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall. Instead, there were a dalmatian, a golden retriever, a fair brown and white papillon dog and a bulldog. The unicorns didn´t remember seeing any of them at the battle at Starswirl´s house, which was a huge relief. That didn´t mean it was safe though. “Any sign of anypony?” the golden retriever asked. “Nope!” the dalmatian replied after glancing around carefully. “There´s no helpless pony to capture!” Gusty raised her eyebrows. Crunch might seem Majesty and her army as inferior, but `helpless´ is certainly not a word neither he nor his minions would apply to them, considering they had reconquered territories. They had to be talking of somepony else. She tilted her head and raised her ear to listen carefully to every word they said. “Aaaargh! Why is it getting more and more difficult to get slaves for the mines?!” the bulldog dragged his ears down in frustration. “Maybe it´s because we´ve been capturing ponies for so much time that nopony dares to travel to Trottingham because word of what happens to wondering travellers spread around, and the ponies living in surrounding villages left in sought of refuge?” the papillon suggested as an explanation. His comrades stared at him in confusion as to how and why that reflection came to be. “It´s true though.” the papillon said in his defence. “Well, that could be in the unicorns´ case but now that Katrina´s not around anymore, we could go to Marenada and go for earth ponies instead.” the golden retriever suggested. Gusty, Fizzy, Buttons and Shady widened their eyes. “They know already?” they all shared the same thought despite not reading each other’s mind. The rest of ponies weren´t that surprised, as they knew how quickly important information like Katrina´s defeat travelled around kingdoms. Meanwhile, the dogs continued their conversation carefreely. “Yeah! They might be more efficient in finding precious stones than unicorns, due to their connection to the earth.” the bulldog agreed. “I digress, unicorns could be far more efficient if they knew a spell to track precious stones. Alas, Grogar´s against that for some reason!” the dalmatian raised his paws to the air. “Because if they do, they could use that to their advantage.” the papillon informed. “Ok, will you shut up? You don´t have to inform us of everything all the time!” the golden retriever scolded him after punching his head. A tear formed in the papillon´s face and whimpered, both hurt by the hit and those harsh words. Even the ponies felt their sting. “Well, enough with preferences and let´s keep searching instead.” the papillon tried to redirect the conversation as he quickly wiped that tear. “Otherwise, Crunch crunches us. Ha! See what I did there?” “Do you want to get hit again or what?” the dalmatian warned him, as they came back underground again. The ponies waited for the dogs to leave so they could get down the trees. Magic Star climbed down the tree trunk and put her hooves slowly on the ground. The unicorns imitated her, but Magic Star told them to stop by raising her hoof. She waited some seconds to speak again. “They´re far enough. It´s safe now, everypony.” “Oh dear. They know about Katrina. This will make things more difficult for us since it´s likely they´ll be expecting us.” Buttons commented worried. “Not only that, but those three dogs and their legion are searching for us for sure…” Lancer added. “And another teensy detail, we´re a much smaller group now, so it´s not like we can burst up the gates to the city and the castle like last time.” Knightshade pointed out. “There is another way, though.” said Posey. The ponies turned back to her and saw her staring at the hole the dogs left and forgot to close, due to the rush they were in. They all walked to it and looked down with some hesitation. “Oh… I don´t know.” Shady´s ears dropped. “I´m a bit weary of closed and dark spaces.” “About the darkness I wouldn´t worry, since we have light sources.” Buttons pointed at her horn. “But the idea of being in such a tiny space does make me uncomfortable.” “None of us do, but what option do we have?” asked Alonzo. “Tsk, you have a point…” Shady lamented. “It doesn´t seem a bad plan, since we could diverse the diamond dogs easily.” Starswirl scratched his beard. “Yes, but would any of you manage to find your way around underground? Because I certainly wouldn´t.” said Fizzy. “Maybe we can follow them.” Gusty suggested. Everypony stared at Gusty. “And how? We don´t know which way they went.” Magic Star raised an eyebrow estranged. “If you had been paying attention, those dogs were looking for ponies to capture. What if one of us let themselves be captured so the rest can follow the dogs?” Glory widened her eyes and smiled. “Of course! Plus, the pony that volunteers could also infiltrate to free Majesty.” After taking a moment to think, everypony ended up nodding their heads in agreement. “So, which one of us volunteers?” Glory immediately knew the answer when she noticed all the stares. “Oh…” After a while, the dogs resurfaced again and examined their surroundings. In the meantime, the ponies were hiding behind a bush. “Are ye sure about this?” Glory asked everypony nervously. “I don´t know if I´m the most indicated pony for this.” “You are, Glory.” Posey replied firmly. “Diamond dogs are having lots of trouble in finding gemstones and crystals lately. And not everypony gets to be a slave. Once you are captured, you´d better useful, otherwise they´ll end you.” she put her fists together to emphasize her point. “But what happened at Catnada was an accident. What if I can´t do it again? Or what if I end up messing everything up? I still have to find out the hang of this crystal thing I can do.” “You´re telling this to me, who had to endure and escape Grogar´s castle with no knowledge of how my winds work, except that they get out and strong if I´m very nervous.; and almost destroyed Majesty´s life mission.” Gusty smirked playfully. “But we´re still alive, aren´t we? And now you´re more trained in magic, so if the crystal talent fails you, you still have an ace up the sleeve.” “Huh.” Glory said in realization. “I didn´t think of it that way.” Gusty grabbed Glory´s hooves. “Ok, let´s try something. Close your eyes and take a deep breath.” Glory imitated Gusty´s gestures. Gusty opened her eyes once Glory´s were closed. “Very well. Now, I want you to keep on breathing while imagining the water flowing on a crystalline river.” Gusty instructed her. “I don´t think we have time for that, Gusty.” Lancer said to her. “We do, it´s very short, trust me.” Gusty noticed Glory opened one eye, so she closed it for her. “Ok, in every river there are rocks, right?” “Hm.” Glory nodded. “And no matter how hard the water hits them or pushes through, they´re still there, aren´t they?” “Aye.” “Well, when you´re out there, I want to think yourself as that rock. Steady and enduring despite the water. The water being the diamond dogs in this case, of course.” “Ok.” Gusty grabbed Glory by the shoulder, causing her to open her eyes. “We believe in you Glory. You can do this.” Gusty nodded. Glory frowned determined and nodded back to Gusty before getting out of the bush. Since the diamond dogs were some steps away from them, they didn´t notice her presence. Although she had accomplished the first part of the plan, she was hesitant to take the next step. She bit her lip and turned her head back at her comrades, who encouraged her with smiles or gestures. After smiling at them, she looked back at the dogs, took a deep breath, and stretched her forelegs. “Aaaah! What a beautiful and braw morning to take a walk!” she said loud enough so the dogs could hear her. As planned, the dogs noted her presence. They quickly hid in the hole, leaving only the forehead the eyes out to observe Glory. “And of course, to get some crystals!” Glory continued speaking, acting ignorant of the dogs near her. She ignited her horn, closing her eyes to focus better. But no matter how much she had prepared or how much effort she was putting, she didn´t achieve the desired outcome. She stopped when she felt her breath running out, but quickly attempted again. And again, and again… And still no result. Naturally, the situation affected Glory, but her comrades were just as nervous, especially Lancer. The dogs were simply staring estranged, although they also found the situation humorous. After several attempts, Glory ended up losing her cool. “Aaargh! Come out, ye daft crystal!” she yelled before stomping. Suddenly, success. She managed to conjure up a big structure of crystal. At first, Glory jumped on her back, appalled by her abrupt creation. “Oh, finally!” she exclaimed satisfied. The dogs rubbed their eyes, not sure if what they have just witnessed was part of their imagination or real. “Is that-” the dalmatian barely could talk. “Diamond!” the papillon exclaimed. “And of very good quality too!” the bulldog added. “Then, what are we getting for? Let´s get her!” the golden retriever commanded. Immediately, the dogs came back underground, digging their way to Glory. The unicorn closed her eyes, preparing herself to be pulled violently to the underground. However, the dogs took longer than expected, which was odd from their part, since they were usually very quick about it. Glory turned to her comrades to shrug and shake her head. “Did it work or are they setting us a trap?” Fizzy asked confused. “Could be.” answered Lancer. “Which is why we need to-” Just as he was talking, a hole and four paws appeared bellow Glory, which dragged her down before she could scream. Everypony was caught of guard, but only the earth ponies were left in shock, since this was their first experience with diamond dogs. “No, they bit the bait.” Buttons corrected Lancer. Gusty lifted herself up the bush with a small tornado and flew towards the hole, stopping at a point close enough to observe down the hole, but far enough not to be averted by the dogs. “Who are ye? What do ye want? What´s going on?!” Glory asked in fake fear, although her screams seemed to be of pure horror. So much that Gusty began to wonder if the plan was too much for Glory. But Glory confirmed her she had everything in control by winking with a brief smile. The papillon was about to answer but the dalmatian covered his mouth. “Shut up! You´re our property now, and you´ll do as we say!” the golden retriever replied rudely. “You had better obey, otherwise you´ll be punished!” the bulldog advised her threateningly. “And forget your old life behind, because you´re never coming back.” the dalmatian added. “NOOOO!” Glory screamed exaggeratedly as the dogs laughed. Gusty waited for Glory and the dogs to be out of sight to put her hooves back on the ground. She sighed for everypony to come out the bushes. “My goodness. How didn´t she get a cutie mark for acting? Because that scream was surely convincing.” said Buttons while she and Starswirl lifted the bush, opening the way for the rest of the ponies. “I wonder that too.” Starswirl agreed with her. “So… How do we get down there?” asked Alonzo once everypony was out of the pushes. Posey was the first one to take action. She opened her bag and took out a rope. She threw it to her fellow earth ponies. “Take this.” she ordered them. “Whoah, whoah, we didn´t say who would go first.” Knightshade replicated as he and the other earth ponies caught it in the air. Posey tied and secured the rope around her torso. “I don´t mean to throw myself flowers, but I seem a logical choice. I´ve been around diamond dogs many times and I know how they travel underground. It´s a matter following their pattern, trust me.” After hearing her arguments, the ponies changed their minds. They frowned determined and nodded at Posey, who smiled back confidently. “Ok. I´ll jump on the count to three. One, two, three!” She spread her legs while jumping down. Her leap somewhat dragged the earth ponies towards the hole, so the unicorns held them back with magical beams, or a stream of water in Fizzy´s case. “Is everypony alright?” Gusty asked the earth ponies. “Yeah, thanks for asking.” Magic Star answered after sighing in relief. “You good, Posey?” Shady asked in whispers to Posey, since she was the pony closest to her. Posey nodded. She slightly pulled the rope two times, indicating the ponies to let go the rope a little so she could go down. After a while, she pulled one time so they could grab the rope firmly again. time. From there, she began to dig a hole on the left wall until it was big enough for one more pony. As they agreed, after finishing and untying the rope around herself, she waved to the pony behind. “Got it.” Shady winked an eye at Posey. “She´s finished.” she communicated to her teammates. “We need a unicorn now!” “On it!” Fizzy offered herself. She teleported herself to the brink of the hole. After tying the rope to her torso, she jumped to the hole, exclaiming cheerfully. “Weee!” She smiled at Posey once she was in front of her. She helped her to get on to the hole and untie the rope. While Posey was digging to make space for one more pony, Fizzy waved to indicate the next pony to come down. “Ok, I´m going down!” Shady told Fizzy. Despite her statement, she started having second thoughts after looking down, realizing how tall the hole was. “Can´t we change sides?” she asked Magic Star, since she was behind her. Magic Star raised an eyebrow at her. “Ok, ok, I´ll go.” Shady reluctantly obeyed. Magic Star smiled while offering her a band for her eyes. After she tied it to her own eyes while Magic Star tied the rope around her torso, Shady disposed herself to go down the hole. “Ok. Find the courage.” she said to herself while walking to the brinks of the hole. “Do this for your FRIENDS!” Unfortunately, Shady didn´t calculate her steps correctly and kept walking when she should have stopped. Quickly, Magic Star grabbed the rope firmly, preventing Shady from crashing down. When she felt herself hanging, Shady huffed and puffed violently from her nose. She was about to yell after noticing the band on her face moving, but something covered her mouth before she could. Luckily, she was safe. Fizzy was the one untying the band whereas Posey had her hoof on her mouth, shushing her silently. Shady sighed and smiled in relief. Fizzy and Posey aided her to get inside the hole. Meanwhile, Magic Star observed everything from the surface. “Huh. Guess the band wasn´t a good idea after all.” she thought aloud. She shrugged. “Well, I guess I´ll take this into account for future situations. Anyway, I´m going down!” And so, she went down by holding the rope with her front hooves. Once she was in front of Posey, Fizzy and Shady, the first dug for more space. The same process was repeated six more times. The remaining ponies arrived in different manners. Some arrived gracefully, such as Buttons, Lancer and Alonzo, while others not so. For example, Knightshade had some trouble making knots on the rope before going down, so when he arrived, he was upside down with his four hooves tied. Alonzo smirked playfully while looking at him. The only ones that didn´t use the rope were Starswirl and Gusty. Starwirl because he feared the rope breaking after holding so much weight, so he decided to use a levitation spell as he went down, holding his breath until Knightshade and Alonzo offered him their hooves. Gusty, on the other hoof, because she didn´t have any other choice, since there was nopony to hold her. However, even if she could use the rope, she preferred to use her trusted tornado trick. Once Gusty had reached everypony, Fizzy ignited her horn to light the way Posey was going to make. “Ok. Is everypony ready?” Posey asked in whispers. “Hm.” everpony nodded confidently. “I do have one question though, are you sure you can dig all the way out yourself?” Alonzo asked to Posey concerned. “It´s just I don´t feel comfortable leaving all the work to you.” “Don´t worry. I had to dig many times for hours in search of jewels and precious stones while infiltrating for Katrina. I´m used to this.” she reassured her. “I just hope they didn´t change their way while we were going underground.” Lancer said worried. “Nope, they´re still in the same direction!” Magic Star replied. “Ha ha! It´s so clear they haven´t been around earth ponies.” “Um… Hate to be that pony, but how long do you calculate we´ll be here? It´s just I´m starting to get overwhelmed.” Shady looked up in fear. “Not so long. I´m a fast digger.” Posey winked an eye at her. “Even so, the way to Trottingham is long.” Starswirl commented. “I haven´t stepped on this part of the forest in years, and much less underground, but I seem to remember it took me days to-” Starswirl decided to keep quiet when he noticed how much Posey was contradicting his words. After a tiny stretch of her hooves, Posey was at least fifty inches away from everypony. Her hooves dug faster than even the best pick would. The ponies blinked in shock at first, but they quickly advance forward to catch up with her. Starswirl, however, was still too shocked to move. “Does every earth pony do that?” he turned to Gusty. Gusty rolled her eyes playfully. “Just move forward, mister snail.” Gusty pushed him softly with her hoof to make some space between them so she could also move. “Hey, I´m not slow!” he replicated to her while catching up with Posey. “Whatever you say.” Gusty teased him. Starswirl frowned upset as Gusty giggled.