Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all associated characters, settings and stories are the rightful subjects of Hasbro, the HUB, Studio B, and Lauren Faust.
Chapter 49
They remained in the kitchen during the whole ordeal, hearing the bangs and crashes echo above, but never once venturing past the doors to see what was occurring. None of them knew how to fight and they dared not risk exposing themselves to their unpreparedness, for their sake and Magicon's. His words were still fresh in their minds, unforgettable, and they silently agreed to follow them.
When they did hear the fighting die down, Littlemore said, "I'm going out."
"Not out there?" Fresh asked worriedly.
"Yes, out there. I need to see what has happened."
"You can't go. Remember what Magicon said," Trim reminded.
"Yes, I know, but I just want to see how bad it is. I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Let me go, for the sake of your health," Garden suggested.
"Nonsense, Garden Hedge. I may be older than you but that does not make me weak. I promise I'll be back quickly."
They knew they couldn't change Littlemore's mind once it had been set, so they slowly nodded with a sigh and the butler ventured out into the entrance hall.
As he departed the kitchen he walked cautiously, trying to make no noticeable sounds. The path he took ended him on in the entrance hall on the side of staircase preventing anypony abode from seeing him. From his relatively secure position Littlemore observed the devastation caused by the fight. Pieces of wood and debris littered the floor. Holes and dents were in the walls and some of the priceless paintings were damaged. Not even the beautifully hoof-crafted wooden railings of the stairway were spared, as some were damaged beyond repair. It was a sad sight and Littlemore wanted to see more, but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard hoofsteps above him. He froze, refusing to look up or behind him. Instead, he retreated back to the kitchens.
He assumed the unwelcome visitors were up there and could only guess that Magicon had either run off or was captured by them, a thought that scared him to no end. When he returned to the kitchen he explained what he saw to them and they all lowered their heads.
"Any sign of Magicon?" Fresh asked.
"None. My guess he either retreated to somewhere in the mansion or he's been captured. Though judging by the devastation in the main hall, I think the former is more probable than the latter."
"Is there anything we can do?" Garden asked.
"I'm afraid not."
"We really should do something," Trim stated.
"I wish we could but Magicon wants us safe. I can't blame him for his noble intentions and I will obey them to a 'T'."
"Littlemore, we should check up on them," Fresh said.
"If you think I'm going to offer tea and snacks to our unwelcome guests when they're after our master, you've got another thing coming."
"Littlemore, I was only suggesting-" she fell silent as did the rest of them as they heard hoofsteps above them tread down the east wing off the mansion toward the bedrooms. They moved cautiously, as if prepared or scared for something. The four listened carefully until they couldn't hear them anymore.
"They're heading to the bedrooms," Fresh stated.
"That only confirms my suspicions that Magicon ran that way. He hasn't been captured," Littlemore replied.
"Thank Celestia for that," Trim relieved.
"But if he retreated that means he's tired and they may win," Garden worried.
"They stayed the top of the staircase a little bit. I heard them when I was in the entrance hall. They are just, if not more, tired as Magicon," Littlemore retorted.
"Well, what should we do?" Fresh asked.
"I suppose inspect the damage. See what we can fix and what we can't, and pray for the best."
They nodded, rose, and walked out to into the entrance hall. They stood at the foot of the stairs and examined the room. It was even worse from this angle than what Littlemore had witnessed just minutes before. Both sides of the room were damaged and few areas were spared from the damage. The beautiful stained glass window was destroyed replaced by a gaping hole that was sealed by some kind of magic.
Littlemore rose to inspect it as the others spread about the hall.
"Strange," he remarked. "This isn't Magicon's aurora. It must be one of the others."
He turned and looked down the hallway that he had heard the group go down earlier. Littlemore strained his ears against the rumble of the storm to hear anything and he barely made out a few voices before he heard a scream and the voices disappear. A loud crash quickly followed afterwards and he looked at the rest of the servants, who all wore worried faces, and hurried down the hall.
They saw the opened door in Magicon's bedroom and heard the storm much louder than before. They stood against the wall and Trim managed a peek inside.
"Four ponies are looking out a hole in the wall onto the roof," he whispered.
"What about the rest of them?" Littlemore asked. "Is Magicon one of those four?"
Trim shook his head. "Guessing by the hole is that Magicon is on the roof with the other ponies desperately trying to stop them."
"He's on the roof!?" Fresh practically roared.
"Everypony, into the first guest bedroom," Littlemore ordered, quickly rushing to prevent anypony from hearing them, and they all dashed into the bedroom just to the right of Magicon's.
Closing and locking the door, Littlemore made sure they wouldn't be found and went to the window to join the others already gazing out. Though they could barely see through the rain they managed to see Magicon's cape flying in the wind, desperately trying to maintain a steady balance and fight back what appeared to be a number of ponies against him.
"Oh, Magicon!" Fresh cried, tears welling up in her eyes.
"He'll beat him, I'm sure of it," Garden stated, though not confidently. It felt more like a hope than an actual fact.
They continued watching, their faces glued to the glass as the fight unfolded. But Magicon was moving backwards and further away from their window as was the rest of the ponies that were on the roof battling him. They were losing sight of them and could no longer see their master.
"I can't see him," Trim stated.
"Can we go into his room?" Garden asked.
"No. Whichever way the fight goes those ponies will be coming back through the hole in the wall and I don't want us to be there to find out what happens. We're going back to the kitchen, now!" Littlemore ordered.
"But, Littlemore-" Trim protested.
"Now!" he went to the door, unlocked it, and forced them all out and down the hallway from where they came. The four were in the kitchen in less than a minute and waited there unknowing of the future and Magicon's fate.
Time was lost as they sat there, anxious of what was occurring above and outside them. They feared the worst and hoped for the best. They remained quiet until their ears perked up at the sound of treading hooves upstairs that slowly descended the staircase. There were multiple hooves, giving a clear indication that it was the mob and not Magicon. The fear then set in and they all gritted their teeth and looked at each other nervously and worriedly. When the hooves finally faded towards the left of the staircase Fresh and Littlemore exchanged glances as they realized the ponies weren't leaving.
"So, they're in the parlor?" Fresh asked.
"Yes,"
"Random observation, but does anypony else hear the storm?" Garden asked.
It took them a moment to register the observation and listen, but it occurred to them that Garden was right. They only heard distant and dull booms of thunder, no lightning, or the sound of a monsoon.
"You're right, Garden," Trim complimented. "The storm is over."
"Well, that's a relief," sighed Fresh. "What should we do now?"
"I…don't know," Littlemore admitted. He honestly had no idea what to do and he wasn't just going to sit down in the kitchen any longer and neither were they. They were all tired, but unwilling to go to bed, without the fate of their master known.
"Should we see those ponies? They'll know," Trim suggested.
"They might attack us though," Littlemore replied.
"Which is why I have an idea," Fresh stated. "We'll all go there together, but I will lead you. We'll pretend that Magicon held us as captives and be so thankful they came. If they didn't like him, they'll be very happy to rescue four ponies from his hooves. Just be ready to follow my lead."
"They'll believe that?" Garden asked.
"You clearly don't know Fresh Mint's acting skills," Littlemore smirked. "Fresh, do you have enough energy for it?"
"It's not much to begin with. I'll be fine," she replied.
He put his hoof to his chin and thought for a moment before smiling and nodding. The four rose to their hooves with Fresh leading the way and they crept into the entrance hall being as quiet as possible. When they reached the entrance of the parlor they stopped next to a wall and Fresh took a deep breath before beginning.
"Oh, is anypony there?" she called in a dramatic fashion. "Can somepony help us?"
Littlemore smiled while Gardena and Trim exchanged confused looks at seeing the maid be such an actress.
She continued her wails and slowly moved towards the parlor just in time to see two ponies hurrying towards her.
She made a small yelp before one of them stated, "It's alright, Miss. You're safe. We're the good guys."
"Yes…umm…wait, how can I trust you?"
"We actually could ask the same of you."
"I…was a prisoner here. Me and these three other ponies were slaves to Magicon. It was completely dreadful."
"Oh you poor, poor, ponies. Come here, I'll take care of you. I specialize in healing and medicine. You'll be safe."
"Well, ok...just hang on a minute," Fresh hesitated. "Guys, it's ok. These ponies look safe to me and they'll look safe to you."
Littlemore, Garden, and Trim cautiously followed her and saw the two ponies examine them. One was a pegasus with a cream-colored coat and light pink hair while the other was a unicorn with a pristine white coat with a delicate purple mane, though it looked like it had seen better days.
"Come in, all of you," the white unicorn welcomed. "You all must be scared to death. We won't hurt you, I promise."
"Thank you. That's very kind of you," Fresh stated as they entered the room and came face-to-face with the rest of the unwelcome ponies. A fire had been lit and they were all sprawled around the room, drying off. An orange colored earth pony tended to a cyan blue pegasus with a very distinguished rainbow mane. A white stallion lay beside pink alicorn, no doubt Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. A very pink earth pony slept on one of the couches while a purple unicorn watched them carefully.
They each introduced themselves, including the pink one who was woken by the group, to the four servants and Fresh introduced themselves as four ponies, forced into servitude and slavery by Magicon. The group looked at Flow with seriousness, not surprised by Magicon's tactics. But Littlemore, Garden, and Trim all attempted to hide their expressions of shock at Fresh's outright lie.
She managed to comfort them out of the corner of her eye and they settled down a little bit to talk with the other ponies that were all seated by the fire and looking at the servants.
"How long have you been here?" Twilight asked.
"A long time," Fresh answered.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Rarity asked.
"No, you've all done your duty and we thank you for what you've done."
"It must've been terrible to live under Magicon with your very lives at stake," Cadance stated, attempting to sympathize with them.
"Yes, yes, terrible…"
"Something the matter?" Shining asked.
"Yes…we may be in the wrong position to ask…but…umm…where is Magicon?"
"He's dead," answered Rainbow.
"Dead?" she looked back at the four of them, trying to hide her shock and sadness.
"Yup, dead. He fell off the roof," Shining stated coldly.
"Oh…well…at least it was quick," Fresh stammered.
"You're not alright," Pinkie observed. "Something is the matter."
"No…I'll be fine."
"She's just…overwhelmed to see Magicon finally meet his demise so we can be free," Littlemore stated rushing to his wife's defense.
"Yes…yes, that's it!"
"I think we're all emotional from what happened to that unicorn," Rarity stated. "Why don't we all get some rest? We'll all feel better in the morning."
"Ah don't feel comfortable sleepin' in Magicon's mansion," Applejack stated.
"He's dead, Applejack. It's not like he's going to come back and kill us in our sleep," Rainbow stated trying to ease her partner.
"You're not helpin'."
"What if you all stay in the servants' quarters?" Fresh suggested. "They are plain and Magicon never went down there. You'll be safe there."
"That's very kind of you," Cadance complemented.
"Indeed, would we be a burden?" Rarity asked.
"Not at all," Fresh stated. "Magicon never had company so it'll be so nice to serve other good ponies like yourselves."
They all smiled at her and the servants and agreed to spend the night in the servants' quarters, safe from any remaining dangers of Magicon. The servants led them to their chambers. Shining and Cadance stayed in one room, Rainbow and Applejack in another, Pinkie and Fluttershy another still, while Twilight and Rarity made themselves comfortable in a final room. When they were all settled, the servants returned to the parlor to clean up and talk about the events.
Littlemore poured whisky for all of them and they sat silently in front of the dying fire for some time before Trim broke the silence.
"What now?"
Littlemore was slow in his response. "I guess…we make them feel comfortable. They'll leave tomorrow, most likely, and then we'll have the mansion to ourselves."
"I can't believe he's really gone," Fresh stated as if she were in a trance.
Everypony fell silent, only the crackles from the fireplace were heard in the room. They avoided eye contact, choosing to stare at the floor, the chairs, their drinks, and anything else they could find except each other. They knew it would only be a matter of time before the real realization set in.
In some ways it did. They knew Magicon's fate, but they hadn't seen it for themselves. They had seen him struggling on the roof, fighting for his life, but lost sight of him. They realized that they never truly had sight of him based on his admissions from earlier. He had done so much and cloaked it. Yet the cloak came off and his actions became known to them and to the other ponies now hopefully resting.
No tears were shed, not even Fresh could honestly shed a tear for Magicon. It wasn't due to lack of sadness or compassion, but rather due to the cold reality that they all faced and survived that day. The question that fell before them was no longer about Magicon; it was about what to do now.
Littlemore grunted and drank a few gulps of his drink before he slowly began, "So, this is it." He paused as the three gazed upon him as he rose and stood in front of the fireplace. "Our master, Magicon, is truly gone. Such a sad and tragic fate for anypony. Now, what are we to do? Carry on his legacy? Does it need to be carried on? Does he have a legacy worth carrying on?"
"Littlemore, please," Fresh sighed. "It's bad enough to have him go so suddenly; even worse that we learned so much about him so close to his final demise."
"I suppose when he admitted it to us, he felt that his time was coming," Garden stated.
"Felt? He knew his time was coming. Magicon was too smart to be so foolish to think he could win against those ponies. As much as it hurts me to admit it, he realized that his fate was already sealed. So he made his final preparations before leaving Equestria for good," Trim summarized.
Everypony took a collective breath after Trim's statement. Littlemore agreed with him and said, "You're right, Trim, but…I don't even know what to say."
"We don't have to say anything," Fresh stated. "We've all been quiet and reflective and that's all we can be."
"Nothing more can be done," Garden stated. "We just need to move on, as painful as it might be."
They all nodded and Littlemore raised his glass and said, "To Magicon: May he be remembered for the pony he truly was."
They all raised their glasses in agreement and finished the contents of their drinks before setting them aside, putting out the fire, and heading to their own respective chambers. Though they knew they wouldn't sleep much, they knew there was no point in staying awake. They needed their alone time to reflect and remember Magicon. They needed to move on.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The morning was quiet as they awoke and their conversations were small as they gathered around for breakfast. They all received little, if any, sleep from the night. Even the servants didn't sleep as they prepared breakfast for the guests. There were still lingering questions that had to be answered but nopony wanted to talk about it. The events that had transpired the previous day had left a mark on all of them and they were coming to terms with it. No tears were shed, no words of sorrow uttered, no memories were shared over the death of Magicon.
After breakfast they all ventured outside to inspect the mansion and find the body. The grounds were covered with twigs, limbs, branches, and trunks from fallen trees. The walls had sticks poking outside of them and dead leaves were scattered everywhere. Garden sighed as he realized it was going to be a long clean-up process for him.
It didn't take too long to find the body, right where it had fallen from the roof. The cape had remained on the body and landed directly on top of it, sparing them the grotesque scene of seeing the bloodied and broken corpse. Dried blood lay around the cape, evident that the fall had been catastrophic to the unicorn.
Fluttershy and Fresh shivered at seeing the bloodied-corpse and turned toward other ponies for support. Shining and Littlemore simply looked down at the dead unicorn with calm eyes.
"It's finally over," Shining uttered.
"So it is," Littlemore replied.
"What do we do now?" Cadance asked.
"Well there has to be a funeral," Twilight stated. "Nopony can know what Magicon truly was and what he did. But for that reason he must still be treated like the Prince of Equestria, even in death."
"Twilight's right," Rarity agreed. "We may not like it but, unless we want to send everypony in Equestria into a state of shock by revealing the truth, we must give Magicon a formal funeral."
"I agree," Fluttershy added. "He leaves Equestria with honor."
"I don't like the idea, but I'll go along with it," Rainbow stated while Applejack nodded.
"Very well," relented Shining. "He will have a proper funeral but you must all take a vow to never tell anypony about what happened here or what happened to you in Canterlot. Nopony can ever know the truth about him."
They all nodded in agreement. "It's for the best," Cadance added.
"Who will rule Equestria now?" Pinkie asked.
"We'll figure that out after the funeral. Let's just get through it first," Shining answered.
"What do we say about his death?" Applejack asked.
"That he died of a heart attack in his sleep here," Fluttershy answered. "It's the most believable since it can happen to anypony."
They nodded and Rainbow asked, "Anything else?"
They looked around and pondered and after a minute Cadance stated, "I think that's it."
"Right, the stallions and I will wrap the body and put in a carriage. You mares just get ready to leave," Shining stated.
"We have a carriage for you all. I'll get it," Trim stated and proceeded to the stables to fetch it.
"I'll grab a sheet to wrap Magicon in," Garden stated and hurried off the gatehouse to get what he needed.
They returned shortly and they proceeded through the work quickly. The colts simply laid the sheet in front of the corpse and slowly rolled it onto the sheet before wrapping it. Trim had brought a second carriage to put the body inside and they carefully lifted it inside.
Cadance and Rainbow Dash hitched themselves to the passenger carriage while Fluttershy and Trim bounded themselves to the other carriage. The girls climbed in leaving Shining standing outside with the three servants.
"When will you leave?" he asked.
"Soon," Fresh stated. "We just want to clean everything up, erase his impact here, you know…"
"I see," Shining pondered. "Just don't take too long. This mansion isn't safe for anypony."
"Believe me, we know," Littlemore stated.
"Well, then, there's no point in staying any longer. Good-bye to you all and I'm so sorry for your sufferings. We all are."
"That's very kind of you and thank you," Fresh smiled.
They shook hooves before Shining entered the carriage and they took off. The three servants watched as the carriages flew into the sky and back towards Canterlot. They saw Trim leave and hoped for his speedy return. They then turned back inside and headed towards the parlor.
Once inside tears were finally shed as Fresh ran to the couch and plowed her face into a pillow, sobbing. Littlemore and Garden looked at her and each other with sad eyes. Even Garden could not help but sniffle at the final departure of Magicon. Littlemore sat down beside his wife and began silently stroking her mane.
"So, it's really…over?" Garden asked.
"It's really over," Littlemore replied.
"He's really gone?"
"He's really gone. He's not returning."
"Will we go?"
"Go where?"
"To the funeral."
"Yes."
"And afterwards?"
"I…I don't know. Let's not worry about it now."
They fell silent after that, listening to Fresh's muffled sobs. Neither one said any words to comfort her; there weren't any to be said. Fresh was like a mother to Magicon and for a mother to lose their son is one of the worst tragedies that can befall on a pony.
Yet Littlemore did whisper some words of confidence towards her. "I'm staying by your side, whatever you do. We'll always have each other."