//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: The Wager 
// by kudzuhaiku 
//------------------------------//

	“Oh gosh, I’m almost late!” Anomie cried. 

She turned at looked at her siblings and her playmate, wishing they could come with her, and knowing that they could not. This was a private affair, a rite of passage, a sign of growing up. She was nervous, and her palms were sweaty. 

“Good luck.” Dark Eye said, her unseeing eyes staring off into the distance, not seeing Anomie. The blind lunar pegasus had other ways of seeing though.  

“Choose wisely.” Squeaker said, nodding his head. 

“Make mother proud.” Starling quipped. 

Anomie nodded, touching each them one last time, and then took off sprinting to the barracks, where she was to meet with Kelphos the minotaur. 



 

Anomie stood staring at the weapon rack, looking at the different weapons used by the minotaurs, trying to settle her mind and choose wisely. The choice was difficult. There was the mace, a brutal and effective weapon, but she doubted she would ever be strong enough to use one effectively. There was the axe, a useful weapon for cleaving and chopping, useful for hacking through armor. The spear, with reach and many uses, from poking and prodding, to smashing and crushing with the blunted end. And then there were swords of all shapes and sizes. 

She pondered all of these choices, including some of the more exotic weapons, 

With trembling hands, she carefully reached out and selected a weapon from the rack, and turning on her heel, she walked with slow careful grace to a table and picked up a second weapon. 

“Is this to be your selection?” Kelphos asked, looking down at her sternly. Kelphos was massive, impressively large even by minotaur standards, his shoulders as wide as a pony was long. 

Anomie looked down at her hands, carefully considering her choices, examining them, feeling them in her hands, and she slowly nodded her head, causing her long ginger ponytail to bob as she did so, her face as solemn as the situation demanded. 

“I must say, I am somewhat surprised.” Kelphos studied Anomie as he spoke. “Would you care to explain my little fire haired terror?” 

Anomie suddenly felt afraid, worrying she had chosen badly, and then she remembered Calpurnia’s words… there were no bad choices. She looked up at Calpurnia’s husband and screwed her courage to the sticking place. 

“I already use the bow. I am good with a bow. And I will continue to become better with the bow. I chose the dagger because it is small and light, and I can strike quickly, playing to my strengths, which are speed and cunning. I’d rather never be in a situation where the dagger is needed. I chose the whip because it compliments the reasons for my dagger. It will keep foes away from me, afraid of what I might do. After I turn them into a pincushion, I can rip the arrows out of them if they draw close, adding insult to their injury.” Anomie hafted the dagger, testing its balance, giving a slight flip and catching it by the blade, the tested the balance once again and threw it, lodging it into the wooden beam that held up one end of the weapon rack. 

Kelphos looked impressed, raising one eyebrow, the corner of his mouth turning upwards, his long fingers flexing. 

“You are now without a dagger,” Kelphos chuckled, “thankfully you have your wits.” 

Kelphos lunged suddenly and swiftly, his massive fist coming down towards Anomie like meteor streaking down out of the heavens. His fist struck nothing, Anomie had cartwheeled away, and was now in a defensive crouch, the whip uncoiled. 

“Don’t make me turn this into a bullwhip.” Anomie warned. There was no playful tone in her voice. Her eyes were narrowed and fierce. She also had her dagger. 

She is quick Kelphos thought to himself. 

Kelphos stood up straight, his fist unflexing. He bowed slightly, looking down at his student. He smiled broadly. 

Anomie did not relax her stance. 

“Your mother will be proud of you,” said Kelphos. 

Only then did Anomie relax, taking a deep breath, allowing her dagger to fall to her side, still clutched in her hand. 

“We will find you a real dagger. Not some training poker,” Kelphos offered. 

“Thank you sir,” Anomie replied. 



 

“How did it go?” asked Dark Eye. 

“What did you choose?” inquired Squeaker. 

“Did Kelphos approve?” queried Starling. 

“It went well. I made a wise choice and Kelphos agreed. I chose the dagger and the whip, two weapons I felt comfortable with,” replied Anomie. 

Dark Eye hugged Anomie with her wings, pulling the human girl in close. Anomie wrapped her arms around Dark Eye’s neck, and gave an ear a gentle tug. As Anomie squeezed Dark Eye, she felt her siblings press in against her, squishing her pleasantly. 

“Anomie, you’re growing soft places on your chest, just like the minotaurs,” Dark Eye said as Anomie was squished against her. 

Anomie froze in embarrassment, her new growth the source of a lot of troubling feelings for her. She was at a difficult age to be a girl. A lot of things were happening. She felt Dark Eye nuzzle her softly and then felt very confused and self conscious. 

“My little sister is growing up,” Squeaker said. 

“I’m glad that Kelphos did not squash you again Anomie,” Starling quipped. 



 

“It seems our little girl is becoming a warrior. Seems odd, you allowing her to be trained in weapons that could maim or kill your little ponies.” 

Celestia eyed Discord, studying him, watching his ever changing facial features. 

“Charon says in his letter that Anomie is a skilled archer too,” Discord added. “What if she hunts ponies?” 

“Sometimes, you have to trust that just because somepony can hurt somepony else that they will not. Anomie has to grow up and become something, and she is growing up, make no mistake. It is my hope that she will defend my little ponies. Her chaotic instincts seem to be focused and contained,” said Celestia. 

“But how can you trust her?” asked Discord. 

“I have no choice. I have to allow her to be free and hope she makes the right choices,” Celestia replied. 

“Like me?” inquired Discord. 

“Yes, like you. You have great power and I have no choice but to trust you that you will not do harm again,” Celestia answered. 

“Yes, but how can you do that? I’ve done such bad things! You’d have to be a fool to trust me, I wouldn’t trust me!” Discord shouted. 

“Anomie is proving to be quite different than the first human in our lands… and you have changed a great deal,” soothed Celestia. 

“Are we friends?” asked Discord. 

“I suppose we are now,” answered Celestia slowly. “These talks have changed much between us.” 

Discord looked relieved. “I have wanted to be your… friend for quite some time,” said Discord, his tail twitching nervously. 

Once again, Celestia felt an odd sense of alarm.