//------------------------------// // There Are Those Who Can't Be Trusted // Story: The Mare Who Became Queen // by misskoifishpony //------------------------------// Chapter 6: There Are Those Can't Be Trusted In deep and utter darkness, our narrator presented a fire torch near her face and explains in a mysterious tone, "For many weeks, Hamana has been spying on Moriyah and following in her shadow. The royal advisor could not stop...until she could bring her rival to her knees. One day, she followed the good captain to dungeons deep underneath the palace." The narrator then used her magic to lit all the other torches in the dungeon, giving the chambers an eerie orange glow. The narrator's eyes glowed like pink fire, while her body disappeared like smoke into pitch black. After traveling down the spiraling staircase, Hamana finally arrived at the bottom of the steps...and into the main hallway of the torture chambers. She quietly passed through the hallway, looking desperately for Moriyah. Hamana tried to avoid the attention of the guards and prisoners. Then, she heard the hard echoes of Vashti's laughter at the end of the hallway. "Ah-ha of course! There!" she whispered to herself before softly galloping towards the Chamber of Perpetual Tickling. When she got to the door, she stopped. She carefully cracked the door open and watched the ponies inside. She saw Vashti being spread out wide against the grey stone wall. Her limbs forcefully chained out wide. Her armpits and stomach being tickled by a floating, giant white feather. Her eyes were widened to their fullest capacity. Her cheeks stained by her the tears of her laughter. Her curly mane now frizzy and unrefined. Her pearly white coat now dull and damp by her own sweat. Her Majesty truly was a mess. Then, Hamana saw a cloaked character approaching Vashti and the feather. With the glow of the stranger's horn, the feather stopped tickling the former queen. Vashti slowly stopped giggling and began to finally to gain her normal breathing pattern. The weary white unicorn turned her head to the side and saw the stranger remove its hood. "Moriyah!" Vashti cried out happily. "Your highness! Are you alright?" "Well, I am now. Thanks to you. Forgive me darling for looking so frazzled." "Don't worry, Your Highness. You still look like your beautiful princess self." "Well, I'm not exactly a princess anymore. Or a queen for that matter. Ever since His Royal Highness banished me here." "I can't believe that he did this to you." "Well, tis the price for defying His Majesty's orders." "How did you defy him?" "Simple. I refused to go to his stupid little party and show off. End of story." "That's insane." "Well, that's King Xerxes for you. An insane, power hungry, lunatic. Tell me, did Prince Charming find himself a new queen?" "Unfortunately ,he did. He...he married my cousin." "What?!" Hamana whispered, while leaning her ear in closer to the conversation. "Oh darling," Vashti exclaimed, "that's just...simply awful! Oh, what have I done?! This is all my fault!" "No, it isn't." Moriyah tried to explain. "But it is sweetie. Don't you see? If it weren't for me, your cousin wouldn't be suffering a fate worse than death." "Your Majesty, it isn't your fault. Xerxes made the choice in imprisoning you. He made the choice in marrying my cousin. No matter what we choose, King Xerxes always has a way of twisting our fate. But...don't despair Your Highness, there is hope." "There...there is?" "Yes. As long as there's Celestia...hope will always be there to guide us." Hamana quickly turned away from the door and shut it behind her. "Moriyah...still believes in Celestia." She uttered in disbelief. Her expression of shock...slowly twisted into an evil smile. She darkly chuckled to herself, "Wait until King Xerxes hears about this." Our narrator then reappeared in the royal garden, admiring Queen Esther and King Xerxes from afar. She sweetly narrated the scene, "Meanwhile, over the last several weeks, the royal couple has been spending more and more time together. The more that the young mare got know the tyrant king...the more she saw of his kind yet gentle heart. And Xerxes certainly appreciated her company more and more each day. His blossoming relationship with her created a temporary peace and tranquility in the kingdom." She gave us a wink before jumping into a patch of flowers, and disappearing into their colorful petals. Meanwhile, Esther was showing Xerxes how to feed the turtles by the pond. "So...like this?" Xerxes asked while holding his cupped hands in front of the turtles. "Yeah, that's it." Esther answered while nodding her head. Then, she gently led his cupped hands closer to the small green turtles swimming around in the water. The King watched the shelled creatures with nervous anticipation. Meanwhile, most of the turtles were busy socializing with one another or diving for their own food at the bottom of the pond. However, a one turtle saw the King from the corner of his eye. He saw the food in his hands, and he scurried as fast as he could to get some. Xerxes's eyes widened when he noticed the baby turtle crawling onto shore. Esther sweetly gasped at the sight, and waited anxiously for the turtle to eat out of Xerxes's paws. The baby turtle looked up at the King, with his beady eyes, to see if this serpent-like creature could be trusted. Then, he looked down at the delicious food in the creature's giant claws. This urged the tiny creature to step into Xerxes's palm and nibble on the edible pieces inside. "It...It worked! It actually worked." The King exclaimed. "Oh, I knew that you could do it!" Esther cheered. The draconequus tried to contained his own giggles while the baby turtle's nibbles began to lightly pinch the inside of his palm. "Hey, that tickles." Xerxes's giggles were so contagious that even Esther began to giggle with him. It was strange...the more she looked at him...the warmer her heart was inside her chest. To think...just a couple of weeks ago...Esther would always shiver in his presence. But now...he has strangely taken a place inside her heart. Was it his naive perspective on a world outside of his? His persistent flattery? His constant doting on her? His interest in her passions? Or the way he naturally made her laugh? Or all the above? Either way...Esther was happy to say that she could call the great king her friend. Yet, she wondered if this friendship would ever...turned into love. Esther's thoughts were interrupted by the sound Hamana's galloping hoof steps crunching on the grass in the garden. Xerxes could hear them getting closer and closer. He rolled his eyes and groaned to himself, "Urgh, what now?" Xerxes gently placed the baby turtle back into the water before standing up. He turned his gaze towards the front gates of the garden. Esther followed her friend's gaze and noticed Hamana approaching. "Duty calls." Xerxes mumbled to himself, while slowly dragging his feet towards his royal advisor. "Are you sure that...you don't want me to come with you? I can help." "Believe me my dear, I want you to come. But I'm afraid that your sweetness will distract me from the politics at hand." Esther then laughed lightly, "You're so silly Xerxes." "Only for my dearest. Now, promise me that you won't..." "Move from this spot. Yes Xerxes, I promise." "Cross your heart?" "Hope to fly." "Stick a cupcake..." "In my eye," Esther giggled even more, "Yes, now go." She emphasized her point by kindly shooing him along. Xerxes chuckled warmly to himself, while teleporting himself to Hamana. And when he appeared before the blue unicorn, he scolded her with, "This better be good Hamana! I was just having a wonderful time with my queen!" She gulped nervously at the King. Even though it was risky to interrupt His Royal Highness at this time, but she had to inform him now. Especially if she wanted Moriyah out her mane for god. She panted, while trying to catch her own breath, "Hamana's...deepest...apologies...Your Excellency. But...Hamana has...urgent news." "C'mon, spit out. The urgent news is..." "It's Moriyah! She worships the Sun Goddess Celestia!" "What?!" He uttered in disbelief. "It's true...Your Majesty. The loyal and gracious Hamana heard it with her own ears." "How did you find this out?" "Hamana followed Moriyah into the dungeon chambers. The so called 'good captain of the guard' went into the Chamber of Perpetual Tickling and temporarily relieved Vashti of her punishment." "WHAT?!" He shouted with great anger. "Then, the two traitors discussed how their dear and sweet Celestia will save them from your rule...Your Majesty." She stated with a suspicious smile on her face. The chaotic king growled underneath his breath. He clenched his claws into tight fists, and snarled his sharp fangs for Hamana to see. He lifted his gaze towards the horizon, and revealed the fire in his eyes. "They did, huh?" He darkly commented, "Well, I've got news for those two little ponies. No god or goddess will ever save them from the likes of me. And you know why? Because I am chaos...I am the Lord of this land! And they will obey me! Hamana! I want a edict for Moriyah immediately! I want all the guards in the kingdom to find her. Bring her to me...and once she is within my grasp...I'm going to banish her...and her precious former queen...to the outlands!" "As you command, Your Magnificence." Hamana happily bowed. "May the great Hamana also suggest that we banish Moriyah's family as well? They might revolt against you in the name of Moriyah and their precious Sun Goddess. Not to mention that it might add to Moriyah's sorrow even more." "Very well, we can banish her family too. But bring me Moriyah first. I want the satisfaction in banishing her out into the barren wastelands myself." "Right away, Your Majesty." Xerxes then poofed up a scroll in his paw and handed it to Hamana. With a cunning smirk on her face, she teleported herself out of the garden. Leaving the draconequus standing in one spot...with his head hung low. He thought...just for a moment...that he had a servant who actually cared about him. He thought he had a pony who respected him...and maybe...just maybe...wanted to be his friend. I guess that whole piano incident was just an forced act of duty. He pondered sadly to himself. He sighed out loud, feeling Moriyah's betrayal truly sinking in. He lifted his head with all his might...and turned it to Esther in the distance. She was laughing and smiling with turtles at the pond. The little shell heads were so mesmerized by her that they were climbing all over her, and nuzzling her to no end. Xerxes smiled happily at his lovely wife...seeing the beautiful glow of love radiating off her. Thoughts of Moriyah disappeared and warmth returned to King's damaged heart. Well, at least that I'll always have you...my sweet. He peacefully pondered to himself. Snap! He teleported himself back to Esther's side and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with her. Forgetting to tell her all about edict he just passed. Meanwhile, Hamana poofed herself in the middle of the main town square. This captured the attention of the civilians shopping around the market. With the ponies' attention in mind...and a slimy smile on her face, she walked up to the tall news stand in the center of the square. The citizens crowded around the news stand to see what the royal advisor will post up. Even the royal guards crowded around Hamana to see what the King will declare next. Every pony gasped when they saw which pony's head was on the edict. It was the good guard Moriyah. How could this be? They all gossiped within themselves and didn't noticed Hamana walking away from the edict...confidently. Meanwhile, in the shadows of an alleyway across the street, Moriyah saw the edict. She shuttered at the sight of it. Hamana finally did it. She found a way to end her life completely. Moriyah couldn't breathe. She backed away slowly and stuttered, "Oh no..." There was only one thing to do... "Essie!" She whispered, while running deeper into the alleyway.