//------------------------------// // Chapter Seven: A poisonous Empress appears // Story: Gleaner Chronicles // by sevenofeleven //------------------------------// Gleaner Chronicles Equestria Near the Shatterleg Wastes After everypony was up, Far briefed them about the next part of the trip. “Drink up, if we get through, we'll get more water later. The Searing Flats are next. Its flat which is good for galloping. Its also hot which is not so good for galloping, but you must keep going. Somehow, the sun in this area is really very intense and hot. Do not stop. If you stop, we will never see you again,” Far said and looked away. He remembered a dear friend that did not make it. Far looked back. A few minutes later, the group started galloping. After an hour of galloping, they could see the bright white edge of the Searing Flats. Margot could not see any details in the brightness. With a gasp of surprise, she entered the area. It felt like running in an oven. Nothing to see, but a blue white haze. Nothing to feel but the hammer blows of heat from the sun. Margot focused her will to keep running. A few minutes later, her breath started to rasp in her overheated lungs. It was getting harder for her to breathe and concentrate. Her mouth felt like it was full of cotton. Just when she thought her body was going to collapse, Margot broke through to cooler air. Everypony else was looking at her. “We were wondering if you were going to make it,” Far said. Sweat dripped off of him while he took a deep breath. The group continued to canter north. In the distance, Margot could see what looked like a city in the clouds. The blue white buildings were tall and pointed at the top. “What is that?” She asked and pointed with her right forehoof. Far’s ears drooped. ”That is Skyshriek Tumult, home of the shriekers, Gleaner-made creatures that could deafen or slash a pony to ribbons. Before the Gleaners, it was a place called Cloudsdale, home of most of Equestria’s pegasi and other flying creatures. I lost a lot of friends when the Shriekers came. The Shrieker King, Slashwing, rules the Tumult now.” “My condolences Far,” Skybreeze said. There was a short pause while Skybreeze and Far gazed at each other. Scootaloo tried to cough discreetly, but it sounded like she was saying “letsgetonwithitalready.” Margot tried not to laugh as Skybreeze and Far looked away from each other with blushes on their faces. Far looked at his friends. “OK, lets keep going.” “Fah, do you know what caused the Searing Flats?”, Apple Bloom said while sweat dripped off her face. Far just shook his head. “Who cares! Let’s go!” Scootaloo said. After a few hours of slow cantering the group walked into a silent forest of trees that looked like they had been torn apart. Jagged stumps thrust from the ground littered with sharp pieces of wood. “Nga'Devro wonders what happened here?” Nga'Devro asked while looking at the devastation. “Slashwing does not like ponies hiding in the forest and spying on his kingdom. He had his minions level the forest here. I heard that from some ponies that used to live nearby. They ended up having to go to Lower Canterlot,” Far replied while avoiding sharp wooden spikes left over from some young trees killed by the shriekers. To Margot, this seemed to be a place of death. There was just mud, no grass on the ground. All of the birds and animals were gone. The amount of destruction and the implied malice bothered her. These were the actions of an enemy that did not fear reprisal. Margot hoped that she would not have to deal with such an enemy alone and without magic. While they trotted through the silent forest, Margot walked up to Skybreeze. “Why do you hate Changelings?” Margot asked. Skybreeze looked to the left for a second,”They killed two friends of mine. One died quick, drained of emotion. The other one died slowly and in great fear. I felt his heart quicken and then slow and stop in my hooves.” “My apologies. I don't know why they attacked my world,” Margot said while looking around. “They probably wanted the emotions from the ponies in your world,” Skybreeze explained. Margot wanted to explain that there were humans in her world, but she decided not to say anything. The ponies trudged through the sticky brown mud while the mournful wind blew through the shredded trees. When they left the forest behind, Far called a rest break. “We are so close, by night we should be in Lower Canterlot,” Far said. That put a weary smile on everypony’s face. After what seemed like too many hours of cantering, Margot could see the outline of Lower Canterlot as well as the dark purple hills of the Unicorn Range. They were getting close. Margot smiled. She knew a food and rest would make her feel better. Hopefully, she could do the Ritual of Synchronization, and get her powers back without being hit. That idea put some bounce in her step. As the ponies moved from a canter to a gallop, Margot could hear sounds of combat and see multi colored flashes of magic. She began to wonder if Lower Canterlot would be there when she arrived. The ponies were galloping when a bright green poisonous portal appeared in front of them. Dust flew from their hooves as they stopped. A dark green Alicorn daintily stepped from the glowing portal. The portal faded away in a blaze of green. Its’ black and green crown had green sparkles inside. The unknown creature’s eyes and mouth were dark voids. The group gaped in surprise at the alicorn in front of them. The group gaped in surprise at the alicorn in front of them. A voice cold as Winter addressed them,”Bow to me, for I am Empress RazorHoof!” Margot gazed at the green creature in front of her, the Empress was not the color of natural growing things. She was the color of poison and things that rot in darkness and despair. The voice as cold as a biting winter wind was familiar to Margot, she had heard it in her dream this morning. Margot's eyes and tail drooped. She had no intention to bow to such a creature, but Margot knew she had no magical power. She needed help to fight the Empress. A green light flickered on Empress Razorhoof’s horn as she whispered quietly, “Your friends are gone.” When Margot looked back at her friends, she got a shock. They were gone! Dismay filled her heart. A quick fearful glance ahead showed that the Empress had a smile colder than the edges of sharp knives. “My enemies think that you and another can stop me. I laugh at their weak attempts to interfere with my reign!” The Empress said. Margot scraped together some courage. It was hard to do. If she had some spells, even low level ones, she could do something better than look determined. Still, she had to make an attempt, maybe the Empress will make a mistake that Margot could take advantage of. “Where are my friends? What did you do to them?” Margot asked while her ears narrowed and ears went back on her head. The Empress gave Margot a condescending smile. “I have such plans for you. It will hurt a bit, well, really it will hurt a lot, but what do I care? I won’t be the one in pain. Come along and lets get this done. You shall help me crush the ponies here and then the humans on Earth.” Margot dug her hooves into the ground and snarled. “Where are my friends?” “Your friends?” The Empress said with a laugh. Her laugh sounded more like glass being cut. No mirth in it at all. Just a painful ear hurting sound. “You consider that rag tag group of miscreants... friends? If I were you, I would be more careful with my choice of companions,” The Empress said. Margot narrowed her eyes. The Empress whispered, “This is the truth.” A green spark flew from her horn and floated between them. Then it expanded into a green tinged image of the area outside the Searing Flats. Margot remembered the area, it was right before she came through the Searing Flats. All of the ponies were there resting. Scootaloo looked around and complained. “How long do we have to wait for that weak pony?” Sweetie Belle shrugged. “Maybe she lost her way and is not coming out?” Scootaloo grimaced. “No way! She owes us for the loss of Golden Harvest.” Far looked up at the sky to check the position of the sun. “We will wait for a few more hours.” “Nga'Devro is surprised at your generosity. If she was in the Hive, she would have been left outside to die already. Useless drones are not needed,” The changeling said and stamped a forehoof for emphasis. “Nah, I will wait a bit longer so its easier to say that I waited. I did the right thing but she did not make it,” Far replied. “Well, I for one will be glad when that sorry excuse of a pink unicorn is out of our manes,” Skybreeze said with her nose in the air. The comments surprised Margot, she thought they liked her or at least tolerated her. Anger started to rise in her heart until she remembered what happened to her when the remnants attacked. Knocking herself out was not the action of a useful pony. Another thought surfaced, maybe this was all just lies from an enemy. Empress RazorHoof did not exactly look very friendly. Margot could not decide if what she saw was real or not. In frustration, she waved her right fore hoof at the image as if to sweep it away. “No, I have more fun things to show you,” The Empress said in a mock serious tone of voice. The scene changed to one with her boyfriend, Brad Turow and another woman in a restaurant. They started a slow passionate kiss that seemed to take hours. Margot remembered times they used to kiss like that. A sense of betrayal went through her. “Do you see it now? Poor Margot, you are alone and powerless. Join with me and I will give you as much power as you desire,” The Empress purred in a voice smooth as a silken noose. Margot was too deep in her thoughts of betrayal and hurt to hear anything. After a few minutes, she looked at the grinning Empress. “No! No! I won’t believe it. Its all lies!” “Go ahead! Run at me in anger. You will get knocked back, and hurt your leg.” In her anger, Margot ran at the Empress, but a green bolt of magic knocked her back. Margot landed badly and her left hind leg snapped like a twig. Pain shot up her leg. “The pain is real, feel it. It hurts so bad! You will fall onto the ground. Oh my, I see that you have hurt yourself,” The Empress said with an air of boredom. The pain was so excruciating, Margot fell onto the ground. She raised her head despite the pain. “I will not surrender to you or your lies!” There was no pity in those dark holes that the Empress had for eyes. “Poor Margot. All alone,” the Empress said and then she vanished in a blaze of greenish black smoke. “Your leg hurts so bad that you can’t get to your supplies.” Margot breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived. Worries about being in the middle of nowhere without supplies began to surface. She pushed the worries back by remembering she had a saddlebag with food on her. All she had to do was to stand up and take the saddlebags off. The pain in her broken leg stopped her from standing up. “You are in the wasteland all alone.” A feeling of isolation crept in. Margot remembered that she had seen approaching creatures and tents in the distance. She looked into the distance. Nothing but long abandoned ruins met her gaze. There were no approaching creatures to help her. Margot began to worry that she would die of thirst but then she remembered that she could do a Synchronization Ritual. “You don't have any magic. You just dreamed that.” Once she had her magic synced to this world, water and food could be conjured up, and her leg would be healed. Margot tried to focus on her magic, but it did not seem to exist. She remembered casting spells but it was so hazy almost dreamlike. Her memories of being a magic using human slowly faded away. “You are Gray Glimmer, a powerless unicorn pony. Accept this. Do not fight. Then you will need my help.” Margot went through her memories, for some reason, they only consisted of her life in Ponyville. She was Gray Glimmer, an unicorn pony that barely had any magic. Even the most low level spells were too hard for her. All of her memories about working for D-core and being human were almost gone. Gray Glimmer awoke on the cold ground, and wondered about the strange dream she had. Somehow she had had been dreaming that she was a human with magical powers. Gray thought this was one of the strangest dreams she had ever had. Humans were just mythical creatures, they did not exist. A voice as warm as a ray of light on a cold day whispered, “See the Truth.” The new voice that entered Margot’s mind was familiar to the Empress. “Stop your futile meddling, this world will be mine!” She stomped a dark green hoof with anger. Margot struggled inside of Gray Glimmer’s mind. It was like trying to climb out of a deep dark pit. She just had to keep fighting against the pull of the pony’s fear and sadness. The feeling of being isolated grew worse. It was like they were a hundred or now a thousand miles away from anyone that could help. She was going to die millions of miles away from anypony that could help. Something about the despair filling Gray Glimmer’s heart did not feel right to Margot. She tried to reach for the Truth the strange warm voice offered. ”You are a dying crippled pony in the wasteland. Call to me and accept my offer of power.” For a few moments, she was a crippled dying unicorn pony out in a cold dark wasteland while shadows crept closer like hungry wolves, but then something flashed. Margot reached for it like a drowning man reaches for a life preserver. Flash, she remembered her first kiss with Brad. Flash, she remembered flying over the Sekar Mountains in dragon form. The warm winds lifting her black leathery wings. Flash, flash, flash. More memories came back to her. Now, she remembered that she did not work alone. There were always a support team even on tough missions. The flashes slowed down as Margot remembered who she was. “Your thoughts are lies!” Certainty filled Margot’s mind. She was not Gray Glimmer, She was Margot Summerholt! Margot gasped as a Vision filled her mind. The Vision flew to the West into a tangled forest full of pain. A yellow pegasus mare with teal colored eyes and pink mane and tail languished inside a cell made of twisted branches harder than iron. It seemed that the pony saw her and smiled a little. Then the Vision flew up from the forest and into a place made of clouds full of screams of fear and anger. A grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane and tail looked at Margot with her crossed golden eyes while she sadly lay in a cell made of clouds. After that, the Vision flew high up into the sky until the whole of Equestria was spread out below her. Waves of pain and defiance streamed from the tortured land. The pain was almost too much to bear but Margot managed to keep her sanity. She resolved to help Equestria any way she could. Margot found herself lying on the ground in front of a pink unicorn with a dirty blonde mane and tail. Its black hate filled eyes gave a clue who she really was. The pink unicorn changed into Empress Razorhoof. Margot faced her enemy bravely. “No more tricks!” The Empress was surprised and took a faltering step back. Margot struggled to her hooves, she was expecting her broken leg to hurt but there was no pain. She galloped toward the Empress filled with righteous anger while spitting words like bullets. “You are an Enchantress. One who messes with other’s minds. NO MORE TRICKS!” Margot screamed when she was right next to the Empress. Everything faded into a fog of poisonous green then the green was swept away by a blue that was bright as a cheerful shout. There she was, standing on the dusty plain, just a short gallop away from Lower Canterlot. It seemed that the battle there was done. Blue and white flags flew bravely from tents. Help in the shape of ponies and other creatures was approaching quickly. Empress Razorhoof looked into Margot’s eyes with fear. Margot broke eye contact to check on her friends. They were right behind her ready for battle. The sound of approaching allies also reached Margot’s ears. She looked back at the Empress. “Nice try but my friends and I will come for you. We will cast you and your works down!” Margot shouted in determination. The Empress recovered her composure with a sneer. “It matters not, I shall have this world and Earth too. Your pitiful attempts to delay the inevitable will amuse me,” The Empress said and faded away in a blaze of green. The group turned and faced the oncoming army. Lower Canterlot was just a short trot away. Margot faced the oncoming ponies with some happiness in her heart. She figured that she would get a lot of questions answered and go home. A doubting thought snaked into her mind. Maybe?