After a long miserable night with no sleep, Garlic Van der Grease stood in the pale light that existed in the hour just after dawn. He looked miserable. His eyes were red and bloodshot. His mane was a mess. His tail had not been groomed. He had bald patches on his pelt where wearing armor for too long had rubbed away the hair.
She was gone. Fogwalker Fetlocks was gone. Taken away from him forever. She had been issued an exclusive breeding contract, which meant that for the rest of her life, only one pony had the rights to rut her. Violating the contract carried with it harsh penalties.
Clans needed money, funding, resources to keep fighting and keep soldiers in the field. Males and females both could be secured for breeding rights. There was always the option of saying no, but it was never a good option. Somepony had paid a lot of money to secure exclusive breeding rights to Fogwalker Fetlocks.
Moaning, Garlic felt a dull painful ache in between his ears.
Prodding at his food, Chert didn’t feel like eating. Sunrise Surprise was miserable. Her friends were gone and she was feeling gloomy. And this made Chert feel gloomy right along with her. He looked over at Sunrise, who was not wearing her glasses, they were beside her plate on the table, and then he looked at Princess Celestia, who was chewing quietly while reading over a scroll.
“Why can’t I see Garlic and Fogwalker?” Sunrise asked.
“Fogwalker has been sequestered,” Celestia said, explaining nothing.
“Why?” Sunrise demanded, feeling irritated and out of sorts.
“Reasons which will be made clear later. I am sorry. Do try to eat your breakfast. Poor Chert, I do not think he will eat until you do,” Celestia said as she continued to read the scroll. “Chert, do try to eat. You are no good to her if you are weak with hunger.”
“I’m not eating until I can see my friends,” Sunrise Surprise stated, pushing her plate away with her hoof. “I wouldn’t even be what I am right now without them. I demand to see them.”
“Sunrise, please, be patient. There are things that need to happen,” Celestia said in a patient voice. “I ask that you trust me, as hard as it might seem right now.”
“I’m a fat little unicorn… I can skip a few meals,” Sunrise said as she glared petulantly at Princess Celestia.
“Suit yourself,” Princess Celestia sighed as she set the scroll down. “Today is going to be a long and trying day for so many ponies.”
The unicorn armorer looked up at Garlic, giving him the stinkeye after the earth pony had delivered a request for armor. “Look, you are under orders for rest and relaxation. No armor. You’re not being deployed.” The armorer had been told that Garlic might drop by…
“I need my armor. I… I plan to do drills in full armor until I am exhausted and pass out. I can’t sleep,” Garlic said, trying to think of anything that might help him get his armor back. He needed it for what he was planning.
Nodding, the unicorn gave Garlic a glance of understanding. “I think I understand. Maybe a good run in full armor will do you some good. Your plated barding held up well, better than I expected. The greaves are good quality, those were a good find, and that helmet… you lucked out with that helmet. Magical. Will protect your brains if you use your head as a weapon. Should be able to slam your head into most anything and be okay.”
“Wonderful. That sounds really useful,” Garlic responded as he shifted his body into a better position to have his armor put on. He watched as the unicorn armorer vanished into the storeroom and then returned a moment later with a large bundle of oilcloth canvas and metal.
“Still stinks. Needs to be aired out. You’re gonna smell rancid,” the unicorn warned.
“I don’t care,” Garlic said dismissively. And the truth was, he didn’t care. About anything. Not any longer. Nothing mattered any more. There was no reason to care about anything. Not with what he was planning.
Garlic grunted as he felt the full weight of the plated coat being thrown over his back and the skirts fell into place. He felt the straps and buckles being cinched up and tightened. The collar was secured around his neck. His greaves were being secured to his legs, a helpful layer of padding now between the metal and his shin bones.
“We did some calculations… a suit of partial plate mail on a body your size… would be around one hundred and fifty pounds. Full plate would clear two hundred. I have twenty silvers on the fact that you could wear full heavy plate and barely even notice it,” the unicorn armorer said as he secured everything into place.
“I’ll never have armor that good,” Garlic grumbled as the last of his greaves were secured into place.
“I dunno, anything can happen. Not many ponies can wear full plate mail of any sort. But you, you’re special,” the unicorn said amiably. Finally, he stuffed Garlic’s new helmet over the earth pony’s head. He stood back and looked at the massive armored earth pony.
“Thank you,” Garlic said politely as he immediately began to trot out of the barracks armory and storage. He gave a flip of his head and his visor dropped into place.
The armorer watched Garlic go, knowing full well what was about to take place, and he silently wished the giant earth pony luck. “There goes the bravest pony I know,” he muttered quietly to himself after Garlic was gone.
“I don’t understand why I can’t see Garlic and Fogwalker,” Sunrise said, rapidly approaching a pout. She remained curled up in her chair, a miserable tightly wound ball.
Standing near Sunrise, Chert stood looking out the window, his face alternating between being miserable for Sunrise and being happy to have a window to look out of. He was clean, well groomed, and his upper half had been dressed in a fine tunic and vest, done in a pattern intended to fit minotaurs, only smaller for Chert’s slight build. His dappled coat gleamed after being carefully tended to with a curry comb.
“Garlic is being tested,” Trixie admitted, looking pensive. “For him to become great and powerful, he must first learn how it feels to lose everything he values. A lot of what happens is up to him and the choices he makes. He has already made the first choice. Only time and hindsight will tell if he chose poorly or wisely.”
“Is Garlic going to be hurt?” Sunrise asked.
“That is hard to say. He might. He has already chosen the difficult path I believe,” Trixie answered, looking sad. “He could have chosen the path of gentle inquiry, but being the juggernaut of destruction that he is on the inside, he chose something else.”
“He is very powerful,” Sunrise admitted. “He takes a very practical approach to problems… it is what I like about him. I do hope he will be okay.” The alicorn in the chair rubbed her eyes and then wiped her nose with a foreleg, trying once more to stop sniffling.
“Garlic must learn to use more than his physical strength if he is to become the pony we hope for him to be,” Trixie stated as she eased herself over and then reclined upon her side, settling into the sofa.
“Stinky is kinda dumb… he’s off getting into trouble… he needs his friends… I mean, he’s a big dumdum and he needs Foggy to keep him straightened out and he doesn’t have Foggy… that means he’s gonna make bad decisions,” Sunrise said, her nasal lisp becoming more pronounced in her panic. She popped up out of her chair.
“What are you doing?” Trixie asked, raising her eyebrow at Sunrise.
“Going after my friend before he does something Garlicky,” Sunrise replied as she slipped on her glasses. “Chert, I hate to ask you this, but if Trixie tries to stop us, I need for you to try and take her out.”
“Is this wise?” Trixie inquired, looking mildly concerned as the centaur turned to stare at her.
“As a Virtue, you are sworn to defend the innocent. Chert is an innocent. He… he is my guard and he is following orders. If you hurt him, I’ll spend the rest of my life telling ponies what you did!” Sunrise shouted, moving towards the door. “Protect me Chert!”
“Anything for you,” Chert promised as he moved closer towards Sunrise.
Trixie rose off of the couch and began to move towards Sunrise and Chert, her horn glowing. “Please, sit down. Allow Garlic to face his test and make his own mistakes.”
Snatching a vase, Chert lobbed it at Trixie. It soared over her head and smashed into the wall, shattering into tiny pieces. “I don’t have to miss you know,” he said as he snatched up a candlestick in one hand and made a fist with the other. “If you try to harm Sunrise, just guess where this candlestick will go.”
Heaving a sigh of resignation, Trixie stared at Chert and Sunrise. “Very well. Go then. I shall not stop you. Trixie does not want candlesticks crammed into places where light does not naturally shine.”
“Come Chert… thank you for not hurting her,” Sunrise said in a soft fearful voice. She watched as Chert set down the candlestick and moved closer to her.
Watching the pair slipping out of the door, Trixie slowly smiled, her features becoming hopeful. “Finally. She shows a spine. There is hope for her yet. Trixie is pleased with this development.” The blue alicorn looked around the room, her gaze falling upon the vase. Using her magic, she quietly put it back together and then placed it back upon the table where it belonged.
Looking at the Fetlock compound, Garlic snorted. It was a large wooden fortress, surrounded by a wall of sharpened wooden logs. The fortress was of motte and bailey construction, with the main hall built on top of a mound in the middle. It was all uphill. Not a problem for flying pegasi, but more of an issue for an earth pony like himself. The fortress was built to protect the local peasants and be an island of strength. The Fetlocks controlled this particular wedge of the county, which was arranged like pie slices around the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters in the middle. Each of the outer fortresses served to protect the middle. The pegasi clans served as a living wall to keep the farmers in the middle of the circle protected from all outside threats.
Standing still and bowing his head for a moment, Garlic prepared himself for what he planned. Suicide by invasion. At some point during the night, he had reached the conclusion that life without Fogwalker was not a life worth living. She was his foalhood friend. His boon companion. She was clearly the brains of the outfit, and she was certainly not here now to tell him he was being stupid and beg him not to do this. He had left a note for his family, pleading for forgiveness, a stream of written words begging them to understand.
He lowered his visor, took a deep breath, and then, Garlic Van der Grease charged.
His hooves thudding, thundering against the earth, Garlic charged the open gate. There were cries of alarm. Several pegasi began to swoop in, trying to assess the situation. A guard moved to block the gate. A terrible mistake on the guard’s part.
There was no stopping Garlic.
The armored earth pony slammed into the guard shoulder first, causing the guard’s armor to crumple. Bones shattered in the smaller pegasus from the impact. Garlic’s momentum kept him going and he trampled the guard beneath his hooves. Garlic, enraged, felt nothing. He kept going and collided with the next pony foolish enough to get in his way and try to stop him.
The impact was terrific. This was a much larger pegasus than the first, but still not as large as Garlic. Nothing was as large as Garlic. There was a screech of metal as finely made armor crimped from the force of Garlic’s collision. As Garlic was smashing into the pegasus, a flying pegasus body checked him, hitting Garlic from the side and slamming into Garlic’s ribs. Garlic still had momentum, and as he continued forward, he whipped his body around, causing the pegasus slamming into his side to fall down, and then Garlic brought both hind hooves down upon the pegasus on the ground with a sickening crunch of broken bone.
There were already three pegasi downed and out of the fight, and Garlic wasn’t even breathing hard. He stood defiant, snorting, standing amidst the the three bodies of the fallen. He let out a bellow of challenge. Consumed by his berserker fury, Garlic prepared to give a good accounting of himself as an organised flock of pegasi charged.
They came from all sides, all angles, kicking and pummeling. Garlic mostly ignored them, kicking out with his hind legs and slamming his body around to try and hurt them. Rearing up, he managed to hook one foreleg around one of the pegasi, and using his whole body, hurled the hapless pegasus into the wooden stakes that formed the other wall. He headbutted another one, all around him broken bodies began to pile up.
Much to Garlic’s surprise, he was winning. One lone earth pony against an army of pegasi. He tasted his own blood in his mouth. Perhaps he had bit down on his own lip at some point. He didn’t know. He didn’t care. The scent of blood was thick in his nostrils. He was the stone wall. The tireless defender. He was the immovable object.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!”
But it wasn’t enough. Garlic was lost in his terrible fury. He kept going, smashing, kicking, headbutting, bodychecking, he had come here to get himself killed, and he was failing. He heard more pegasi coming and he felt hopeful. At least he would die well. This would be a beautiful death.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!”
Garlic suddenly found himself paralysed, lifted into the air and forcibly held still. His body ached. Blood trickled from too many places to count. He was still alive, which wasn’t how he wanted this to end. He struggled against his invisible bonds, trying to kick and wiggle free.
“Garlic, please, be still,” a gentle voice said, a voice that cut through his pain and fury. The big earth pony let out a shrill equine scream of rage and tried to break free, trying to break the spell he could feel overtaking him on the inside now.
“We all expected you to do something, but nopony expected this.”
Whirling midair, Garlic felt himself being turned around. In his blurry vision, he saw two figures. One was tall and black… the other seemed familiar. He was having a hard time seeing. There was still a blood red haze in his vision.
“He’s mad with battle fury.”
“I know Virtue Chrysalis.”
“Garlic, we need for you to calm down,” a soothing voice said. Garlic knew this voice. It was Chrysalis. He continued to kick and struggle against the magic holding him.
“Garlic, it’s me… Rampart Rusher. Your friend… can you hear me?”
A faint whimper came out of the frenzied earth pony, but no words were said. Rampart took a deep breath and surveyed the carnage. She had never expected… this. There were broken bodies all around. One single earth pony had done this to her clan. She knew that Garlic was stubborn, she knew that he was tough, she knew that he was the sort to never give up, but she had not expected a suicidal charge.
“Where is she?” Garlic gurgled in strangled voice.
“She is alone in her quarters,” Rampart Rusher replied. As she spoke, she watched a stallion roll over while clutching his guts. One of his hind legs was crooked, a clear sign of a broken bone.
“Kill me… it wasn’t supposed to end like this,” Garlic begged as he continued to struggle, his whole body contorting. “Please kill me… if you have any affection for me at all, please end me.”
“No,” Rampart Rusher retorted, her tone somewhat angry. She watched a steady stream of blood trickling down from Garlic’s leg.
“Garlic Van der Grease, why did you do this?” Chrysalis asked, her words gentle as she drew close to the earth pony she held in her magic.
“I love her,” Garlic admitted in a pained raspy voice.
“We know,” Rampart Rusher said, still stunned over the shocking carnage done to her clan. “Garlic… I purchased Fogwalker’s exclusive breeding rights. Chrysalis helped me. We wanted to see what you would do for her… but we did not expect this.”
“I don’t understand,” Garlic whimpered, his voice cracking into a pained squeak.
“I wanted to test you, to see if you were worthy of her love. Trixie was the first to test you, Derpy gave you a simple task… fetch a book... alas, I do believe you will be seeing Flim and Flam for very different reasons than we had intended. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” Chrysalis said in a stunned voice.
“Twenty three injured,” a guard reported. “Nopony died thankfully.”
“Twenty four,” Rampart Rusher corrected, looking at Garlic.
“I love her,” Garlic wheezed. He could hear blood dripping inside of his helmet.
“See that his wounds are looked after. He will have to pay for what he has done, but I want him in the royal infirmary for now. If any further harm comes to him it will mean your head,” Chrysalis commanded, looking out over the crowd.
A yellow alicorn came through the gate, the guard parting as she entered. Heads were bowed. She was covered in mud from running, she was winded, panting, and struggling to draw breath. At her side was the strange looking centaur.
She moved through the crowd, panting heavily, trying to take in everything she was seeing. A look of horror slowly overtook her face. The centaur gently placed a hand upon the alicorn’s back to comfort her.
“Garlic... what did… you do?” Sunrise panted, her barrel heaving.
“What we have seen here today was reckless love. The sort of love that can change the world. Make it a better place. Or destroy it,” Chrysalis said in a loud clarion voice to the crowd. Her thoughts turned to the very love that had brought Sunrise Surprise about and she looked at the alicorn with a thoughtful expression.
“Tell her I love her,” Garlic begged as the pain in his body began to manifest.
“Tell her yourself,” Rampart Rusher said to Garlic. “I’ll have her come to you later.”
“Garlic, what did you do?” Sunrise whimpered, still unable to believe what she was seeing. “I want him treated well… I’m ordering you to treat him well.... I will oversee his care myself,” she announced, glaring at the ponies around her that were openly hostile towards Garlic. “I will be listened to!”