//------------------------------// // The Damsel // Story: Three Days in Two Years // by Frost Bear //------------------------------// Rarity sipped some warm tea. The residents of this town seemed to have collected into one tiny house. Space was a luxury. Although the coughs, sneezes, and wheezing disgusted her, Rarity kept her posture as elegant as always. The earned her strange looks from the residents, all of which seemed to be unicorn. Across from her seat was the filly and her parents. The filly smiled brightly while the parents scowled. A long scar stroke across the mare’s face. The stallion seemed to have burns on his hooves. It was only now that Rarity saw bruises around the filly’s neck. She couldn’t stay silent once she set her tea down, “I would like to know everything about this town.” “The princess and her brothers own this town. Everything that goes through here goes through them,” the stallion stated with a stern look. “Are you a princess?” the filly asked innocently. “No,” Rarity answered with a giggle. “You sure are pretty like one… and you have gemstones for a cutie mark!” “Ah, I earned that by finding gems for costumes I made.” “You’re a seamstress,” the mare growled. “Yes… Is that a problem?” “Only if you plan on being one of the prince’s wives.” “Wives? As in more than one?” The stallion whispered something to the filly. She ran off upstairs. “Every month…” he started, “A member of the royal family comes here to collect taxes,” the emphasis on the word taxes left an impression of extortion, “If we can’t pay enough they take ponies to their castle where they live the rest of their lives as slaves.” Rarity gasped, “That’s barbaric!” “It gets worse,” the mare waved a hoof, “Anytime they feel ‘bored’ of their slave, they kick them out of the castle with a hot iron rod.” Rarity looked at the mare with empathy, “I’m so sorry… That must have be a horrendous experience.” The mare merely glared at her. “Yes, we rather not discuss that,” the stallion mumbled, “More importantly we’ll have to hide you. The collectors are coming today. If they find you… they won’t care about our bits.” “You flatter me.” Sirens blared from outside. The ponies inside perked up with grim expressions. The stallion gestured upstairs. Rarity obeyed the subtle command. Upstairs, the filly held several drawings in her aura. Rarity mentioned for her to go downstairs. The filly obeyed with tears, leaving the drawings. Rarity glanced over the drawings. There were beautiful displays of many different places. Places she was familiar with, places she wished to go, even places that seemed to be seen in fiction. A palace at the bottom of the sea? Such thoughts made her wish fantasy was reality. A loud bang echoed. “We don’t have anything left!” a voice cried. “You took everything! Our money, our food, even our dignity! What more can you take?” Rarity peeked out the window. Lines of guards presented a tiny colt no bigger than Sweetie Belle. Only difference was he was plump as a turkey and had features that belonged to a rat more than a pony. His pink snout twitched as he sneezed. Snot hanging from the tips of his whiskers. Yellow eyes judging the ponies before him matched his bucked teeth. He was repulsion made flesh. Rarity did her best to hold the contents of her stomach. The repulsive colt scurried by the ponies. He eyed all the mares, stopping at a young filly. “Yes… you’ll make a lovely wife,” he hissed, “Take her!” The stallion pushed him, “You will NOT take my daughter!” The colt growled with a hiss, “EXECUTE HIM!” The guards readied their spears. Before they had time to react, Rarity leaped out of the window. She wore an angry face that would intimidate the demons of Tartarus. The guards shivered at her sight. The colt drooled. “Ooh, pretty mare,” he turned to the guards, “Take her as well!” Rarity slapped him. The crowd gasped. The colt turned with mad eyes, “That’s not how a wife is suppose to behave,” with his magic he forced Rarity on her knees, “You need to learn your place!” Rarity lit her own magic and pushed him off balance. The colt stumbled over his own blubber and fell in an ice cold bucket or snow. The guards readied themselves. Rarity gazed at the guards with fiery eyes. “Shall we start?” The guards looked at each other and charged for the civilians. “Barbarian!” Rarity cried before her assault. The first guards was the most fortunate. Rarity grabbed his spear, shoved it into his leg, and tossed him into the others. The next guards staggered and found Rarity’s muzzle in his face. She planted his face in the snow and jumped off his back. In the air she took out two guards with a graceful telekinetic twirl. Those two should’ve held onto their jackets better. They twisted and roughly landed on the guard buried in snow. Three more charged her. Rarity ducked so the three would bash into each other. “Stop!” the colt shouted, “That’s it! I’m telling my dad!” He levitated a piece of parchment and a quill. The letter he wrote was fast (possible barley legible) and sent via green flames. “Now you’re in for it! My dad’s going to bulldoze this entire back water shGAK” Rarity refused to let him finish. The town folks trembled. They knew what was coming, Rarity did not. She looked at the guards and saw them panic from her sight. She may have caused ruin to the lives of all these ponies. She questioned if it was worth it. “Miss,” the filly chirped, “You’re going to save us from the king, right?” Rarity started at the filly in the eyes. Her sad pupils filled with hope and despair. The same look was in the eyes of all ponies there. She noticed the pudgy colt with red marks on his face. She already saved the filly from slavery and her father from death. Why couldn’t she at least try to save the town? “Fillies and gentle colts,” she called, “You do not know me nor do I know you. My name is Rarity. Element of Generosity, proud friend of Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Several murmurs danced around the folks. “I do not know how or why I am here but I can see you all are in desperate need of help,” she used her magic to tie the colt in a tight bind, “We will use this repulsive creature as a negotiation tool. We will promise no further harm to him in exchange for our voices heard. We will promise to return him to his father in exchange for independence. One way or another, this town will be freed!” There was a mild applause from the town ponies. Much to Rarity dissatisfaction, she at least understood this was a tall order and a rousing speech isn’t going to win the town that easily. An idea struck her head. She would have to make a plan with the other town ponies. She walked to the shivering guards with a warm smile. Few Hours Later The king’s small army carried him on a cushioned throne. He wore thick robes to keep warm. A shiny crown glistened on his rodent like head. The scent of aged cheddar and wine lingered around him. He was the size of a small building and just as heavy. It took the entire army he had with him to lift his lard. Rarity saw the slow paced stallions creep closer. Feeling like ages before they finally came close. The king stepped down from his throne. The earth shook slightly with each step. One could swear they saw his belly jiggle when he took a breath. His yellow eyes narrowed on Rarity. “Where’s my son?” his voice was high pitched and squeaky. Rarity waved a hoof at some guards. The king laughed, “You handle my guards very well. If I had someone like you to train them they could handle a delicate mare like you,” he looked at the guards that had his son, “Release my colt and arrest this mare!” The guards ignored his command. “Did you not hear me? I said arrest that mare! That’s an order!” The wind blew echoed in the brief silence. One of the guards coughed. Irritated, the king turned to Rarity, “What did you do?” “She made a deal,” one of the guards said, “We agreed.” The other guards perked up. They leaned in with interest, eyeing Rarity. The king was steaming with rage. “I order you to tell me!” Rarity scoffed, “Order? Such barbarism is unexpected from a unicorn,” she glanced at the king, “Although… I’m not entirely sure you would even be considered a pony.” The king growled. “I’ve been on plenty of adventures and town shenanigans to know how to make things work properly. Our negotiation was civil and polite… given the reputation they had with the town folks.” “But in no time we earned their trust,” a guard interrupted, whispering ‘sorry’ to Rarity. “Indeed. I showed them a filly’s drawings. I promised to bring beauty like that to this place.” “Ha! Beauty? You promised beauty?” the king snorted, “Beauty isn’t going to go far in this land. All that matters are the peasants getting their work done so I can have a hot meal.” The towns folks sneered at him. Guards backed away. Rarity sighed with pity. “I suppose you never heard of Snowdrop, did you?” “Who?” “Snowdrop, the mother of winter. She was a pegasus from Cloudsdale, Equestria.” The king peeked interest in the story. A snowflake gently landed on Rarity’s hoof. She examined it. A smile cracked her face and she held the little snowflake closer. “She was blind yet she managed to see beauty in ice. When she first developed what we call snowflakes, the other pegsi laughed at her. It was only the princesses that saw her meaning. Thanks to her we-“ “Blah blah blah, snow is snow. nothing special about it,” the king scooped a pile of snow, “See? It’s just ice.” He chucked it at Rarity. She took the ball to the face, not caring about any damage it may have done. She wiped it off and turned her back. “Negotiations have fail,” she sighed as she sauntered off. The king had a confused look before he noticed the angry town ponies with pitchforks, spears, and torches. “Where did you get those?” he panicked. “You ordered us to keep them in a barn,” a guard replied, “When we sided with Rarity we opened the barn to everyone… How’d you think we earned their trust so fast?” The king’s guards pondered for a moment. They saw an opportunity and wondered if they should take it. “You wouldn’t dare!” the king cried. The guards grinned maliciously. As the town ponies, the guards and the royal guards closed in, the king sweat a lake. With bulky movements and slow rolling, the king held on to his son. His horn began glowing canary yellow. In a flash the two rat ponies disappeared. “Teleportation,” a guard observed. Rarity leaned on a fence. She took in the scenery. A wonderful sunset over a frozen ocean. Glaciers bobbed up and down the waters. Pelicans swooped down to catch fish. Abandoned ships littering the harbor, none of them appeared functional. “It is pretty.” “Pardon?” “This place… I never noticed how it looks. Guess I never knew what beauty was until you showed up.” the guard chuckled. “Yes… tragic.” “Something wrong?” “Just thinking about my friends… hope Ponyville’s ok…” “Oh! That reminds me of today’s news,” he searched his jacket and pulled out a piece of paper, “Here you go.” Rarity took it in her magic and read. Her expressions changed quickly and dramatically. When she finished she kept her posture straight. She neatly folded the paper and gave it to the guard. “So…” “So?” “The king’s still around.” “Yeah… He owns all the lands in the unicorn kingdom. Heard they invaded Earth pony lands too. This is defiantly the only place that rebelled against the king.” “Hmm… odds are not in our favor.” “Nope.” “Do you think if you learned how to make friends you’d stand a chance?” “Absolutely!” “Then let’s make a deal. I teach you how to make friends and you teach me how to fight.” “You don’t know how to fight?” “Not as well as a professional.” “I think some of the other guards have more experience.” “Don’t worry, I can spare time for everypony. In fact… I have two years to spare.”