//------------------------------// // Hypocrites // Story: Princestians // by Buob //------------------------------// Windy stayed in the room as all the other ponies left. She had a lot to process through. Block and Stump were active in this? She almost couldn’t--no, she couldn’t believe it. At all. She didn’t know a lot of the other ponies, but Block and Stump were...well, there was no way that they lived what the leader was preaching. She got up off of her chair and walked over to the leader. “Hi there; what’s up?” “What exactly is this?” “What do you mean?” “What is this religion? And seriously....a unicorn with a dragon. You realize how silly that sounds, don’t you? I mean, dragons aren’t pets, you can’t just keep them in your house....” The leader was silent, thinking. “You’re right, it does sound kind of silly.” He chuckled. “But you have one thing wrong. The dragon was the unicorn’s assistant, not pet.” “That sounds even less believable.” “Well, believe what you want to believe.” “Well, I’ll believe that Block and Stump are hypocrites.” “Oh?” “They’ve always been mean to me. And then, I never noticed a difference when they apparently "changed." I wouldn’t have known if they were part of this or not by the way they acted.” Again, the speaker was silent for a minute. “Windy, I’m sorry that the two boys have been unbearable, and they really shouldn’t be that way. Princestianity requires the changing of your ways, and it seems like they haven’t listened to that demand. I wish I could tell you that not many Princestians are that way, but the sad truth is that it is. I saw many Princestians at the meetings, and they were two different people at the meetings compared to their normal, everyday life. In the big cities, I think they feel it’s an obligation, rather than a choice. Everyone has a choice. It’s just deciding if you’re going to believe or not.” That sort of made sense. “You know, the unicorn I met looked a little like you. Maybe you’re related?” Windy shrugged. ”Mom never told me about my relatives.” “Ah, that’s too bad. Maybe you should find that out.” “Maybe. Well, I’m gonna go back home. I have a lot to think about. Thanks for the brain food.” “You’re welcome. Feel free to drop by at any time if you have anymore questions or concerns. Windy walked out the door into the bright sun. She squinted as her eyes got used to the brightness. Lots of things to think about...it was almost too much. Man, this just seems so....fake. Of course, I can only reference Block and Stump, but still... The whole “religion” thing seemed really fake to her. Windy was so deep in thought, she almost didn’t notice the two troublemakers in front of her. Thankfully, she stopped in time. “What do you want?” “We’re just here to say that we’re glad you came to the meeting today. We thought it may help you.” “And to what do I owe this act of kindness from you guys?” “Windy, we’ve changed! Honest! Don’t worry, you’ll see.” “Yeah, we’ll see alright.” The two ran off in the opposite direction. Was it true? Were Block and Stump actually nice now? Windy wasn’t sure. She didn’t know if she could believe them. In fact, she had no right to believe them. Then again, the leader of the group had said something about forgiving people and giving them second chances. It was hard, but she had the feeling that she would have to forgive them. She’d deal with that later, though; right now, she had to finish her daily chores. She trotted over to the open aired market and bought a few food items for lunch and dinner. When she was done with that, she cantered over to her mom’s place again. When she walked inside, she felt lonely. The place that held so much warmth now felt cold to her. She shivered as she looked over all of her mother’s prized possessions. They were mostly pictures, but there were a few vases and an antique table. What was she going to do with those? She slowly trotted to her mother’s room, where she found a book. There was a note on the cover that said “To Windy, Love Mom.” She bit the inside of her cheek, then opened it. Inside was a list of all living relatives in the area. On the bottom it said “Find one of these relatives and stay with them. The unicorn from Ponyville is about your age, I think you’ll have fun with her.” Windy skimmed the page, searching for the Ponyville-abiding relative. There it was...”Twilight Sparkle.” Wait. Did it say “unicorn?” Was that the unicorn the leader of the group was talking about? Assuming it was, she decided to go to the next relative; an aunt living in a place called Canterlot. That seemed good. Windy decided to keep that in mind, just in case something happened. She grabbed the book and put it in the bag with the food items, then left for home. On her way, she saw one of the mares from the group. She was talking with a friend of hers, and Windy overheard their talk. “There’s this new mare in the group. Ooh, she is so unkempt! Her mane looks like the wind blew it around, and....ooh boy, she kinda smelled like she hadn’t taken a bath in ages. It was one of the worst meetings I’ve ever been to!” The heck? She was talking about her! Windy listened closer. “The leader was talking about “inclusion,” but a mare like that is just....too hard to include, you know. And her name....I think it was Windy, or something like that, what kind of name is that?! That’s not a name, it’s an adjective!” The other mare laughed at that. Windy ran back to her house, a tear slipping from her eye. Hypocrites. The whole bunch of them....they’re all hypocrites! It was like they were asking her not to trust her. Block and Stump had never acted the part, and that one lady gossiping and proclaiming she wasn’t going to follow the leader’s teaching. It was just ridiculous! “I’m not trusting another Princestian again,” she vowed, right then and there. “I need to get out of here, where was that relative situated again?” She checked the book, but in the jolting of her running, the pages had gotten food all over them. She had to guess where she saw that one relative. “Grr, was it Canterlot....or was it Cloudsdale? Ponyville?!” Something rang in Windy’s mind as she said Ponyville. Assuming that’s what it was, she grabbed the bag full of food and headed for the door on her way to Ponyville. Sorry it took me a while, I was finishing another fic of mine...one that's been going since last year. I finally finished it, and can now work harder on this one. Thanks for the patience!