//------------------------------// // Lord Reginald // Story: Friendship is Forever // by fabrosi //------------------------------// Chapter 6: Lord Reginald After looking over their map, the ponies-disguised-as-pigs decided that their best course of action would be to cut through one corner of a nearby forest and make a beeline for Truffledorf. They struggled up a steep, dusty incline into the ferns that accompanied the tree-line, and delved into the enclosed safety of the branches and undergrowth. "Wait," said Pinkie Pie as they were circumnavigating a briar patch. "What are we going to do when we actually find Lord Reginald?" "Simple," replied Rainbow Dash, crushing the dried, thorny plants blocking their way with her hoof. "We kidnap him, make him tell us why he tried to have Celestia assassinated, and then… I dunno, take him back to Equestria or something." "Right," said Twilight. "It's only fair for Princess Celestia to decide what to do with him." Their progress was greatly slowed—both by their unfamiliar bodies, and by the dense brush, which snagged at their coats, tugging them about and turning them around in a dizzying sort of way that made it difficult to move in a straight line, or even to know how far off-course they were getting. It seemed as though they might not make it to Truffledorf before nightfall. Still, there was no way of knowing if the pigs of Sustria ever traveled through these woods, so they kept their disguises. Every so often, they would push towards a patch of light, thinking with mounting relief that the plains lay on the other side—but it would only be a fern-filled clearing, surrounded by more trees. By the time they finally did emerge from the forest, somewhat worse for wear and covered with tiny scratches and unidentifiable bug bites, it was past noon. Because of their high vantage point and the flatness of the muddy plains, they could see the city of Truffledorf in the distance, and the vast expanse of flood plains beyond, with distant hills and ridges framing the skyline. Above their heads, irregular swaths of clouds drifted by at an unreasonable altitude. As they drew steadily closer to it, the ponies saw that unlike Canterlot, the pigs' capital had no natural features serving to protect it, and so its inhabitants had built intimidating stone walls around the entire city, accompanied by strategically placed towers. Barely visible over the top of the wall were what appeared to be houses and shops, all built around a towering stone castle in the center. They realized they might look suspicious approaching the city from the forest, so they veered to their left, towards the road—which, to their annoyance, turned out to lead conveniently through and out of the woods. A tusked guard watched the seven of them pass through the city's open gates, but said nothing. Up close, the city was much more impressive; the buildings were taller than those they'd seen in most pony cities, made primarily of brick and concrete, and the entire place gave off an impression of strength and resilience. There were guards everywhere—pigs armored from head to toe, wearing spiked helmets and studded shoulder plates. Scanning the crowds, the ponies saw no noblepigs—only soldiers, common pigs with little or no clothing, and a few miscellaneous creatures: goats, sheep, llamas, and cows. As they tried to enter the castle, they were stopped at its gate by two guards. "You do not have permission to enter the emperor's castle," snarled one of them. It seemed like suicide to protest, so they meekly mumbled a collective apology, and backed away. As they left the city, Rarity said "It's getting dark. If we're going to find Lord Reginald, we'd better do it soon." "Why not wait till nightfall?" asked Spike. "If we're going to kidnap him, we're probably better off not doing it in broad daylight." And so they camped out behind a grassy ridge with their backs to the forest, watching the sun set as they worked out the details of their most dangerous plan yet. By the time it was dark enough, they were as ready as they were ever going to be. No longer worried about being spotted, Twilight returned everyone to their normal forms. Rainbow Dash took to the skies and flew around the castle, looking for a way in from above. The pigs had spaced torches out along the wall near the ground, but not high up, so in the darkness, it was simple for her to avoid detection. She noticed light coming from an arched window, so she hovered just beneath it, careful to position herself in such a way that no one inside could see her. She strained her ears and heard muffled voices inside, but the words were too quiet for her to discern over the sound of her own soft wing-beats. Carefully, slowly, she chanced a peek through the window, and was relieved to see that none of the pigs inside seemed to be looking in her direction. The room was lit more or less ambiently, and a meticulously set table awaited what would surely be a meal worthy of royalty. Two of the pigs present were wearing top hats and capes, but neither had a bow tie or a mole. There was also a third individual—a lady pig, wearing a dress and a necklace. Rainbow Dash moved on. In the same fashion, she checked window after window, and saw noblepigs of all kinds throughout the castle, but none of them was Lord Reginald. Just as she was about to circle around once again, she was startled by a voice from a balcony nearby. "Yes, I heard about Hogdenville." She whirled around, and saw where the speaker was standing just in time to zip out of sight, underneath the balcony. "Just because there was no official announcement doesn't mean the news hasn't spread like wildfire." "Perhaps," replied another voice from the balcony, "but have the details?" "And which details might those be, Lord Reginald?" Rainbow Dash felt a jolt run through her. This was it—she had finally found him. "As I understand it, those famous pegasi were there… what are they called? The Wonderbolts, wasn't it?" The first jolt was blindsided by a second. The Wonderbolts had come to Hogdenville! But what could they possibly have been doing there of all places? "Yes I think—wait. Do you hear something?" Panic rushed through her. In her distracted state, had been flapping her wings a bit too quickly. She dove downwards, careful to take a path that wouldn't put her in their view. She deftly spiraled back down to the place where her friends were hiding, prompting them to bombard her with whispered questions. "Did you find him?" "Where is he?" "Did anyone see you?" Wasting no time, she told them roughly where she had found Lord Reginald. This was Fluttershy's cue, and the two of them took off, heading back towards the balcony. When they got there, Lord Reginald and his companion had evidently gone inside, for though the doors were open and light shone from within, the balcony was empty. "Alright, Fluttershy," whispered Rainbow Dash, getting as close to her ear as she could while they were both flying. "We'll probably only get one shot at this, so we have to get it right. Remember, the most important part is to make sure we don't get caught." Fluttershy nodded, and the two landed softly on the balcony. On the other side of the open double doors, they could see a bed, a cabinet, and some other small pieces of furniture, all as ostentatious as they'd have expected. They stood perfectly still, waiting for any sign of movement, and slowly, silently began to inch forward. When they saw Lord Reginald, they immediately knew they were in luck, for he was alone. He was putting out the candles sitting throughout the room, preparing to go to sleep. As he noticed Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, he opened his mouth to scream, but with a sharp swoosh, Rainbow sprang upon him, covering his mouth with her hoof. Carrying a struggling pig while flying and stifling his speech was more difficult than they had anticipated, but they outnumbered him and were equal to the task. As they lifted him off the balcony, he squirmed mightily, causing them to jerk from side to side somewhat. However, as he looked below him and saw how high off the ground he was, he immediately went limp, deciding that breaking free from his captors wouldn't do him much good if he fell to his death immediately after. By the time the other ponies saw the three of them coming, they were prepared with rope, and, as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash landed, Applejack bound Lord Reginald while everyone else helped restrain him. Once he was fully bound and gagged, they formed a circle around him. Twilight shone a dim light upon his face, studying him closely. The cape, the mole and the bow tie were all there, though the top hat had fallen off while he was in the air. He was quaking and his eyes flicked around in fear as he looked at his captors from the ground. There was something vaguely revolting in his aspect that had been invisible in Twilight's vision; behind those watery, fearful, beady eyes seemed to lurk a conniving, quivering intelligence, devoid of empathy—a mind that spoke only the language of fight or flight, power or helplessness, life or death. "That's him, alright," whispered Twilight. She felt anger rise up inside her—before her was the very pig who had tried to have Celestia killed that fateful night at the Gala, to take the life of Equestria's great and benevolent princess. "We should take him into the woods, so no one'll find us," whispered Applejack. She attached another length of rope to the one that bound Lord Reginald, and fashioned a makeshift harness for herself in order to drag him across the ground. As they entered the forest, Lord Reginald began to struggle once again, letting out muffled screams against the piece of cloth the ponies had used to gag him. Applejack's ropes held fast, however, and soon they were securely amongst the trees without incident. Figuring that some kind of formalities were in order, Applejack wriggled out of the harness, and turned to look once more at the pitiful creature before her. Twilight was the first to speak, ripping the cloth from Lord Reginald's mouth as she snarled "Why did you try to have Princess Celestia murdered?" The pig's voice echoed through the darkness as he answered: "Please! Please, it wasn't my idea! I was convinced… bribed, even, and back then I had no money, so of course I"— "You're lying," Twilight stated coldly, and she spat in his face. "No!" he cried. "It's true, I swear! It was…" his eyes widened, catching the moonlight, giving him the appearance of someone mad. "…It was a pony who did it! A betrayer, one of your own!" Twilight thought to herself that she had never in her life seen a spectacle so utterly disgusting as this cowardly, pleading, lying pig. She averted her gaze. "We should probably set up camp," she said tonelessly. They tied Lord Reginald to a tree and set up their bedding in a circle around him, so that they would wake up if he managed to get himself untied during the night. They all slept uneasily, but Lord Reginald made no move to escape. … The little alicorn kept her eyes shut tight and pressed herself hard against the grass, forcing the scent of the earth into her nostrils, pretending to be asleep as the older ones argued. Twilight tried to console her, offering to help, but she shook her head to indicate that this would only make things worse. One of the grown alicorns was shocked and disgusted by something the other had said, and their voices grew louder and louder. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and the little one tried to be brave, tried not to cry as she realized her brother was viciously attacking her sister… Twilight stepped forward to intervene, but tripped and fell through the ground, her stomach lurching as she descended through blackness, down, down into the underworld. Swirls of electric blue passed her by as an intense cold surged through her entire being, and she knew then that there was nothing in the world she wouldn't give to get back up, to escape what lay at the bottom of the pit… … Twilight snapped awake, surprised to see that morning had already come, filtering through the dense canopy in bright rays that struck the vegetation at awkward angles. After everypony had eaten, Rainbow Dash tried her hoof at interrogating Lord Reginald, who was crumpled awkwardly right where they had left him. "Are you ready to tell us why you sent that zebra after the princess?" "I told you," he replied, emphatically and somewhat hoarsely, "I was paid to do it by a pony." Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "So… you were paid to assassinate Princess Celestia, and you paid someone else to do it?" By now, everyone else was watching them intently. "She covered the cost of the assassin and then some," he added quickly. "I think she really wanted your princess dead, that pony. Anyway, she was hiding out in Sustria, and"— "What did she look like?" interrupted Rainbow Dash. "Purple. Now, as I was saying, she was living near the castle in secret when she contacted me. She said something about wanting 'justice'—not that I could imagine what she meant by that—and, after we worked out the deal and she paid me, she disappeared. I think she went back to Equestria, but it's hard to say for sure." None of them believed him, but he seemed intent on sticking to his story, so they gave up and resumed their journey back towards Equestria. Once again, Applejack dragged him along as they made their way back through the forest, but she noticed that it would be impossible to get him through some of the denser patches of brush, so she tied the knots in such a way that he could walk stiffly, but not run. No one spoke. A burst of sunlight disoriented them as they made it out of the forest and into the plains, noticing only once they'd stepped out just how much filth they'd brought with them on their coats. Twilight considered disguising them again, but she secretly hoped they would be attacked by pigs, so that she would have an excuse to fight them. Perhaps the others felt the same way, for none of them asked to be shape-shifted. As they were trudging through a large swath of mud, Fluttershy suddenly froze. "What's wrong?" asked Rarity nervously, trying to follow her gaze. "There's someone over there," she replied, pointing, and everypony tensed, scanning the landscape intently. Sure enough, Twilight could just barely make out the figures of someone (several someones, in fact) cresting a hill in the distance. However… "Are those ponies?" said Pinkie Pie. As they cautiously drew closer, they saw that they were, in fact ponies. Without warning, Lord Reginald began squealing and struggling, and Applejack had to dig her hooves into the ground to keep him from pulling her over with the rope. "No!" he cried, sounding terrified. "They must be the devils who destroyed Hogdenville! They'll kill me, I know it! Don't let them see me! Please, I beg of you!" Applejack tugged hard on the rope, causing him to fall over. "You have no right to beg for nothin'!" she spat. "After what you did, t'aint no punishment bad enough for you!" She looked at Twilight, waiting for her to agree. However, the unicorn wasn't even looking at him, but at the town of Hogdenville, partially obscured by the hill, and the ponies walking towards it. "Something's wrong," she said quietly. "The buildings… they're… gone." A few buildings were left standing, but for the most part, she was right. As they dragged Lord Reginald kicking and screaming out of the mud and across the grassy plain, they saw that the ponies in the distance weren't walking towards a town, but towards a massive field of rubble and ashes. "It was those pegasi!" snarled the pig, sounding more desperate than ever to get away. "Those famous fliers, the"— "The Wonderbolts," finished Rainbow Dash, prompting everypony to look at her. "I overheard him saying something about them earlier, on the balcony," she explained, "but I forgot about it 'till just now." "Yes," Lord Reginald went on to say, "those Wonderbolts destroyed the town, and now they've sent those ponies to claim it for Equestria! Oh, how you ponies disgust me, with your sorcery and your flank marks and your weather control…" "The Wonderbolts would never do a thing like this," said Rainbow Dash, glaring at him. "Well, then, would you care to tell me he who did?" he exclaimed wildly. Distracted by the conversation, he was becoming less resistant to Applejack's tugging, and they accelerated a little. "Hey, guys?" said Spike nervously. "Even if Reginald is lying, maybe we should be careful. I mean, we don't know those ponies over there, and whoever they are, they might've had something to do with destroying the town." There wasn't much cover, but they managed to remain unnoticed by crouching through patches of tall grass and sneaking behind large rocks. As they came closer, they saw that the ponies were clearing the rubble (mostly with magic, for many of them were unicorns) and cleaning up… "…bodies?" whimpered Rarity. And they were: scattered amongst the rubble were countless corpses of pigs, crushed by falling debris or lying bleeding on the road. They saw a unicorn approach one and unflinchingly set fire to it with magic, quickly reducing it to ashes. Everypony hiding in the brush went pale in an instant. Silently, they began to creep away from the grisly sight. Even after they had made it around the town, they maintained their caution—for they were even more afraid of being spotted by these ponies than they had been of the pigs. After what felt like hours, they found a gully that looked just like the one they had slept in when they had first come to Sustria. Desperate for a place to hide from anypony who might be passing through, they clambered down. "You see?" hissed Lord Reginald once they were safely inside. "You see the atrocities your kind commits? It's no wonder that pony wanted your Princess dead!" Twilight glared at him. As much as she had come to hate him in the short time she had known him, it now seemed that ponies—some ponies, anyway—were no more trustworthy than pigs. If only there was a way to test whether he was telling the truth, she thought… and then, it came to her. "You said you had no money when that pony paid you," she said intently, her heart pounding as she wondered where her idea would lead. "Well, none on hoof," the pig replied. "I serve close to the Emperor, and he provides his nobles with food and housing, but… why are you bringing this up, anyway?" Everypony watched Twilight, confused, as she rifled through her saddlebag. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie let out an "Ohh!" and her eyes widened in understanding. "Found it!" Twilight exclaimed, and she plucked out the copper coin. No one blinked as she set it on the ground and once again entered a magical trance. The same images as before flashed through her mind: Twilight herself, Pinkie Pie, the zebra assassin, Lord Reginald, and— Her eyes shot open as she snapped forcibly out of the trace and gasped. There was a flurry of confused voices around her, asking who she had seen. "It was…" she took a deep breath. "…It was Cheerilee."