CHAPTER NINE
THE GATHERING STORM
Breakfast.
Celestia lay on her bed, her sheets thrown to one side. She was surrounded by a plethora a magical detection equipment, and there, somewhere within it all was Starswirl. The wizard stood stared into one of the devices, stroking his beard with one hoof and helping himself to her haybacon sandwiches with the other. Celestia didn’t care, nothing she’d eaten recently had contained any flavour anyway, and even less appeal. All she felt was worry for Rush and it had become her sole focus. If anything had happened to him…if…if he’d…
“You not eating?” Starswirl asked, licking a stray crumb from his lip.
Celestia shook her head, “No…no, you go right ahead.” She sat up and felt the room spin around her suddenly, before being caught by the grey stallion,
“I said not to sit up until I’d fully completed my analysis!” the wizard admonished, “How am I supposed to do anything if you can’t stay still for more than five minutes.”
The Princess closed her eyes as a wave of pain and nausea surged through her. She wasn’t in the mood for Starswirl’s snippy remarks, despite his well meaning. Still, despite her desire to leave the palace and join the search for Rush, throwing up and collapsing in a heap wasn’t going to help anypony, least of all herself. Good Gods, how many days had it been now? How many empty and agonisingly long days had she been confined to her chambers drifting in and out of this cursed fever while leaving her home in the care of the Chancellor and the search to her royal guard? What was really worrying though was that they hadn’t seemed particularly concerned, as though Rush meant nothing to them and…and that they’d all be better off if he…if he didn’t…come back. Celestia brushed a tear from her eye, hoping that the sandwich devouring menace behind her hadn’t noticed.
He hadn’t.
“Mmm!” Starswirl mumbled, lifting a hoof and nodding emphatically, “I thought so.”
“What?” Tia asked, turning to face him, “What is it?”
The wizard scrunched up his face, “Definitely lacking something.”
“Lacking something?” Celestia asked.
Starswirl nodded, staring into his sandwich, “Tomato sauce. Can’t have haybacon without it, you know. I’ll have to have a word with the chef.”
The Princess rolled her eyes, “Please, Master Starwirl, can you keep focussed on…”
“-Got it!” he announced suddenly, and turned the large glowing bowl to show her, “You see these lines and the way they’re all squiggly?” He blew toast crumbs off the lens and waved a hoof excitedly, “You can see quite clearly how the imbalance in your magic is seeping into your physical being and even your spirit - that’s the pale purple line there, see?”
Celestia nodded, a little unsure as to what all the flowing colours meant, but then Starswirl was the expert here when it came to anything relating to magical theory and investigation,
“What is causing this?” she asked.
Starswirl narrowed his eyes, “That’s the real question here isn’t it?” He suddenly began pacing back and forth, staring at the floor, “I was worried at first in case it had something to do with our new arrival; whether he’d brought some sort of malady with him from the human world…”
Celestia’s eyes went wide, but Starswirl shook his head with a smile,
“Don’t worry, we can discount that; the portals cleanse the body of anything, um…’nasty’ from the traveller as part of the spell matrix” He paused, “Actually you know, that could have some very real medical benefits…” he picked up his notepad and scribbled something with his quill, “I’ll keep that under my hat for later.” The grey wizard nodded, “Now then, what we really need to do is concentrate on locating the root cause of this affliction.”
Starswirl’s smile made the Princess feel a little unnerved, “What?”
“Do you have any thoughts?” he asked.
Celestia rolled her eyes, “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be asking for help, would I?!” she said irritably.
Starswirl shrugged, “True…true…” He tapped the large bowl like apparatus with a hoof, “But this is no mere physical malady, although the symptoms aren’t uncommon: the sickness, the headaches and dizziness, but the cause of it ‘appears’ at least, to be in your magic. However…” Starswirl lifted up a glowing white crystal, “I believe this is a ‘false positive’ and the true cause, the very root of it, is in your spirit itself. Something is unsettling you and causing this disruption - I believe we both suspect the cause?”
“My spirit?” The Princess’s eyes went wide, “I don’t understand. Is this serious?”
“I don’t know.” Starswirl replied honestly, “You’re an alicorn, and alicorns don’t exactly grow on trees you know.” He held up a hoof, “Now before you say anything, I want you to hold this.”
“A crystal?” The Princess lifted it up in her hoof and stared at it. It was a fairly innocent looking clear crystal which occasionally flickered with a pale white inner light. Starswirl nodded happily beside her,
“It needs a few tweaks, but I should have it ready for field trials in the next few days.” He clopped his hooves together, “And then we should really get some results! Of course, I’ll need some, um…data collecting, if you follow me?” He waggled his eyebrows dramatically.
Celestia shook her head in befuddlement, “Would you please explain, Master Starswirl. I have no idea what you’re talking about! What is this?”
The wizard smiled broadly, staring at the crystal with an intensity that spoke of his pride in his own achievement, “I have worked on this for many, many years. It is a thing of dreams and true wonderment; it was what helped me find the ruins of Askendere, the portals of Berath and…” He cleared his throat at Celestia’s blank stare, “I call it, simply, ‘the beacon’. It was a project begun by Melon Ball the Magnificent, but one he never quite finished. I found it as a young colt when I began looking into the works of the great Melon Ball and simply picked up where he left off. I’ll have to adjust it a little of course, to allow, erm, ‘others’ to use it, as currently it’s only attuned to myself, but that shouldn’t be too big of a challenge I think.”
“But what does it do?” The Princess asked quietly.
Starswirl, ever delighted by a captive audience, lifted the crystal in his hoof and slowly rotated it in the glow of his magic,
“It points the way to the hearts desire.” He said softly.
Celestia watched the crystal turning and gasped as the potential of what the wizard had created dawned on her, “It could find Rush?”
Starswirl nodded, “If he is your hearts desire, then yes, yes it could.”
“Then I must have it!” Celestia said urgently, “I need to…” She coughed suddenly and lunged forward, grabbing the bucket beside the bed.
Starswirl shook his head, “Not like that you’re not.” He patted the Princess on the shoulder, “Keep taking the medicine I gave you and you should be up and about in a couple of days. By then, I’ll have the crystal retuned and you’ll be good to go!”
Celestia wiped her muzzle and dabbed the sweat from her brow. Gods above, she’d never been as sick as this before: not since she was a foal and had contracted some magical virus that was doing the rounds. Father had restricted her to her bedroom until she was better. It wasn’t that surprising really, not after several of the court been turned into purple sprouting broccoli, and Tia hated broccoli…
“Starswirl,” she said breathlessly, “this medicine…you are sure it will work?”
The grey stallion nodded, “Of course, I made it myself.”
“But it tastes like…”
Starswirl coughed loudly, “I wouldn’t worry about the taste if I were you.” He began assembling his belongings with a rather worrying amount of haste, “And don’t concern yourself about the ingredients either; it’s the end result that’s important and getting yourself back on your hooves so you can go and find Rush.”
“But…”
“-Finding Rush, remember?” Starswirl said raising a hoof.
“Er…yes…”
“Good-o!” The wizard grabbed the last of his things, throwing his panniers over his back and trotted towards the door, “See you in a couple of days!”
And with a flourish of bells, hat and cloak, the eccentric stallion swept through the door and was gone. Celestia sighed and lay back on her pillow, fighting down the oncoming hot flushes that kept overwhelming her, together with the attendant room spinning nausea. Gods, how she wanted Rush here… She prayed he’d be alright, but whether anypony was listening…who could say?
Two days, eh? Two long, long, days…
***********************
Grove was soaked, covered in mud and was probably coming down with something too by the uncomfortably hot feeling in his chest. He was shaking like a leaf and felt distinctly woozy too; a fact not missed by the mare standing beside him,
“You don’t look well,” she said, “we’re going to the medic’s office.”
“Bugger that.” Grove muttered, “I have to report in.”
“The Princess will understand.” Mind replied reasonably, “She’s not that callous, and…”
“What? Good Goddesses, Mind, are you completely bonkers?” Grove rounded on his friend and gave himself a hard shake, “You didn’t see the look in her face when I told her I didn’t know where Rush was. Bloody hell, I thought she was going to blast me into dust like she did at-”
“Shut up about that!” Mind cut in angrily, “We all did things we weren’t proud of, Grove, and you bringing it up all the time isn’t helping, is it? Luna’s arse, will you bloody well leave the past where it belongs?”
“Oh, yeah, just like that, eh?” Grove hissed, “Just switch everything off, just ‘forget everything’. You know what happened as much as I did, and you remember what Air Stream said about the ‘incident’ in the mountains, right?”
Mind rolled her eyes, “And of course we ‘always’ believe what one of those feathered freaks say, don’t we? Damn it all, Grove, you can’t believe a word that lot say.”
“I know that!” Grove muttered, “But I’m not taking the chance. I saw the burning beams of light and the ash as much as you did Mind, and if you think I’m going to risk that happening to me you’ve got another thing coming!” He held up a hoof, forestalling Mind’s protest, “I’m going to report in, get a hot bath, some hot food and drink, and then I’m going out again. Rush is my friend, and I’ll be damned if I abandon him because of a touch of fever.”
“A touch of fever?” Mind shook her head, “You’re shaking like a bloody leaf! Look at state of you! If you go out like that, we’ll end up having to send search parties out looking for you too, you idiot!”
Grove groaned, “Fine…I’ll go see the boss, and then I’ll stop by the quacks once I’ve had a bath, okay?”
“Since you never listen to a word I say, I suppose it’s the best I’m going to get isn’t it?” Mind grumbled.
The orange stallion smirked, “Aye, but don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you when I get our lost foal back.”
“You’d better.” Mind huffed, “Or I’ll tan your behind and that brown idiot friend of yours’ too when I see.” She shrugged, “In fact, I may do it anyway - the guys a damned liability.”
“Oh, he’s not that bad.” Grove said brushing the worst of the mud off his gear, “He’s a pretty cool guy when you get to know him. Besides, how many aliens do you know?”
Mind shook her head in dismay, “Aliens…”
“Jealousy will get you nowhere, my dear Mind.” Grove held up his forelegs and twirled around, “Do I pass muster?”
Mind reached out and adjusted Grove’s cloak, “You look a mess, but you’ll do.” She smiled, “I’d give you a kiss but I don’t want orange fever.”
Grove grinned broadly, “All the girls get orange fever when face with the Grovester.”
“Yes, I’m sure they do!” Mind clucked her tongue, but chuckled at the ridiculous smirk on her friend’s face, “Go on, get this over with and I’ll come join you in the bath house.”
With a final wink, Grove turned and trotted out of the barracks and up to the palace. Reaching the throne room doors, one of the guards stopped him,
“Grove? Buck me mate, look at the state of you! You can’t go in there looking like that, the Princess will go off it!”
The orange stallion shrugged, “No choice, Early, this is about you-know-who.”
“Oh.” The guard shook his head, giving Grove a sympathetic look, “I suppose you’d better go then.” He paused before adding, “Good luck.”
Inside, the throne room was crammed with ponies. The long carpet leading to the raised dais where the Princess was speaking to a number of her subjects was covered in muddy hoof prints. Grove secretly breathed a sigh of relief – at least he wouldn’t be getting a roasting for that! Thank the Goddesses for small mercies. He held his head high and headed up to the thrones, ignoring the indignant stares of the assembled equines around him. Judging by the elaborate robes and ridiculous hats, they were nobles…Bloody posers, the lot of them. One of them glanced at Grove as he walked past, lifting his hoof to his muzzle as if suddenly getting a whiff of a blocked sewer or some other foul stench. Grove ignored him and kept his head high: he was one of the royal guard, a hoof picked soldier of the Princess, not some over-stuffed and rich soft arse like this lot. Where were they when Nightmare Moon and the Legion were stealing their home? Signing the bloody surrender to protect their precious coffers, that’s where! He gritted his teeth and forced his way through, much to the distress of several ponies who notice too late the muddy soldier in their midst.
“I say!” One of the squeaked, “H…How dare you!”
“Make way for the Royal Guard!” Grove barked, secretly delighted at the nobles flustered attempt to jump out of the way. Still, he had a job to do, and the Princess had commanded that he inform her of any news at the earliest opportunity – no matter how bleak.
Princess Celestia was deep in conversation with one of her ministers when Grove reached the foot of the steps to the thrones and waited for her to notice him. He recognised Purse String, the palace treasurer and forced the grin from his face; he’d never liked the mare and her stiff attitude at all. Mind had said it had something to do with dealing with numbers all day, and… he shrugged, she was probably right. Mind was right about most things, just… a bit of a know-it-all sometimes.
“…the quarterly budget forecast has not factored in the…”
Grove groaned inwardly; this was probably going to take ages!
“-I do NOT care about forecast’s and budgets, Minister String, you will release the funds and arrange for the repairs to the dam and the surrounding properties or you will be released from my service. Do I make myself clear?” Celestia’s voice brooked no dissent.
“I…” Purse String gasped in surprise, adjusting her spectacles and nearly dropping her ledgers, “But Your Majesty, the budget simply doesn’t…”
“Be QUIET!” Celestia roared, “Do as I say or you will be replaced, Minister, it is a simple enough choice. Now get out of my sight before I really lose my temper!” The Princess pointed a hoof at the door and the frightened minister quickly gathered her belongings, as well as herself, and bustled out of the door at an impressively high speed. All of a sudden, Grove found himself alone in an ever expanding space devoid of ponies as the Princess’s attention turned to him,
“Well?”
Grove took a breath and bowed, “Your Majesty, I wish to report on the progress of the search teams.”
Celestia’s wings fluttered suddenly, her eyes flashing, “And?”
“We’ve spoken to some of the locals and it would appear the Royal Consort was last seen at a logging camp on the banks of the Haunch River. The camp was completely destroyed by the flood, however we found the survivors being cared for at the local hospital and had them transferred to the palace medical wing as per your orders. I’ve spoken to the team who were working at the camp and they confirmed Rush’s presence before the flood waters overtook them.” He took a breath, dreading the next words, “Rush and one other member of the logging team have not been seen since.”
Celestia stared down at the guardstallion. Her expression never changed, her eyes simply staring into his as though trying to read words printed on the back of his skull. Grove knew better than to flinch or cower as others did beneath her gaze; she was his Princess, his ruler, and employer. As much as they may make jokes about her behind her back, they loved her as a mother figure, and feared her as the Goddess of the Sun. He waited for her words, which would come as surely as the sun broaches the horizon.
“Have our other patrols…found anything?” she asked.
Grove’s heart skipped a beat at the Princess’s words. She was obviously thinking what he was…what they all were. He shook his head,
“Nothing yet, Your Majesty.”
The Princess hung her head, “I will meet with these survivors of the logging camp. Lead me to them Guardstallion Grove.”
He bowed, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Suddenly a pale blue stallion appeared beside the Princess, his face full of concern, “Your Majesty, please, I urge you to leave this matter until you have had more rest.”
Celestia took a deep breath and tried to keep her suddenly flaring temper under control,
“Doctor, I can assure you that I am quite capable of walking down a corridor and talking to somepony without needing a gaggle of squawking, honking, doctors and nurses swarming around me like some overzealous geese at feeding time.”
The doctor huffed and advanced on the Princess, nodding his head to emphasise his words even as the others, quickly recognising the danger, backed out of harms way; some even taking cover behind the throne room’s pillars.
“Princess Celestia, as your physician, I must insist that you take some time to recuperate! It has only been two days since you collapsed and it’s quite obvious that you are not acting like...”
The doctor shrieked as he was hoisted into the air in a burst of golden magic that had everypony in the throne room shrinking back in fear. Celestia’s horn glowed like the centre of the sun, her eyes burning like white hot coals as she advanced on the doctor,
“I…said…I…AM…FINE!” The Princess’s words boomed through the expansive room, shaking the very windows and fluttering the tapestries on the walls, “I am the Princess of Equestria, not some damned invalid! Now get out of my sight!”
The magic winked out and the doctor found himself unceremoniously dumped onto a large hoof stool by the buffet table. Grove couldn’t help but smirk, despite feeling somewhat sorry for the hapless stallion as he followed his Princess out of the door. On the way out he couldn’t help but notice the stares and frightened glances of the nobles: now that was something he would savour, particularly when he regaled the rest in the barracks with his tale later that evening…although, the looks on the faces of the staff had been…troubling. Still, he thought to himself with a shrug and toss of his mane, she was the boss and the boss had her own concerns that were way above that of a mere guardspony like him, what with all the puffed up nobs to deal with, the trade deals, international whatchamacallit, and such like. Sometimes just being the guy who did his job had its advantages.
The two walked on in silence until reaching the medical wing, walking straight in past the guards and up to the doctors who were checking on their latest patients. There had been mercifully few casualties of the flooding, and in fact, other than a few workers who’d received bumps and bruises from working on trying to save the dam, these three were the only ones who’d they’d discovered caught by the raging waters. For that matter, hadn’t the pegasi checked the length of the river to clear anypony out? Grove frowned in thought: they had…yes! They definitely had! Dear Goddesses, that cock, Yule, had been in charge, hadn’t he? He’d always known that pegasus was useless and now here was the result! But if what the loggers had said was true, then Rush could really be…gone. Grove didn’t want to think about what that meant; the brown stallion was a bit of an oddball, sure, but he was still his friend wasn’t he? Oh, no…in all the excitement, the bone weary tiredness of the searching and simply ‘doing his job’, he’d somehow overlooked the simplest part of this: his friend was missing, maybe even…dead. Of course, he hadn’t really believed it at first, after all, why would Rush even be at the river? He’d convinced himself the daft sod had just got lost and Celestia was freaking out over nothing more than a lovers tiff, a spat that would end up with him coming home with his ears down and a teary reunion. But now, after seeing the Princess’s eyes, the words of the logging crew…
A sudden hot flush of anger burned through Grove and he could feel his teeth grating, while beside him, the Princess of the sun looked down upon the beaten, bruised, and bandaged form of a purple earth pony tucked into the bed. The two others, in similar condition, were watching them curiously.
“You are the leader?” Celestia asked the stallion.
The bedraggled form nodded slightly, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Celestia took a breath, “What is your name, sir?”
“Straw Cut, Your Majesty.”
The Princess nodded to herself as if affirming something, “I believe you had an earth pony with you recently, a stallion?”
Straw Cut nodded, “Yes, his name was Rush.”
Celestia paused. Closing her eyes, her voice dropped, “What did he look like?”
“Brown coat, cream mane…” Straw replied.
“-And blue eyes.” The mare in the next bed added to the conversation, “He said he’d had a fall out with his marefriend and had gone for a run. The silly bugger was half blown when we found him. We thought he was a goner too.”
The Princess’s eyes went wide and she lifted a hoof to her mouth momentarily before recomposing herself, “Did he…” she cleared her throat, “Do you know what happened to him?”
The mare in the bed shook her head, “I’m sorry…”
“We were just getting ready for bed when the water hit us.” Straw explained, “It came out of nowhere. Somehow Rock, Pop, and I were swept uphill and able to pull ourselves out of the worst of it until help came. As for Queen’s Court and Rush…” he shook his head, “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, everything was so dark and it happened so fast, all I could hear was shouting and the roar of water.”
Grove looked up and saw the Princess with her hoof over her muzzle, her eyes wide and full of horror. His heart went out to her…and his friend…damn that bloody Yule…damn him!
“Excuse me a moment.” Celestia walked away into a side room and waved surreptitiously to Grove, who followed her in obediently. Inside, the Princess leaned on the windowsill and stared out at the land beyond. Her voice sounded strangely calm, “You spoke to the pegasi guard commander, didn’t you?” she asked.
Grove stood up straight, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Celestia nodded slightly, “Bring him here.” She gritted her teeth, “Bring him here…now.”
“At once, Your Majesty.”
Without waiting for another word, Grove dashed from the room with no small amount of relief. As he trotted down corridor after corridor, waves of emotion hit him: his worry for Rush, his anxiety for the Princess, and his rising fury at Yule for failing to locate his friend. He’d never seen Celestia so angry before! But worst of all was the barely hidden fear that he saw in her eyes – she was hoping for the best, but seemed to be expecting the worst…maybe, maybe Rush really was gone. He’d seen the devastation the once beautiful and peaceful river had cut through the land. It had gone through like a knife through butter, churning everything into a muddy morass of smashed trees, rocks and goodness knows what else. He took a breath and pushed his way into the mass of ponies who were milling around at the entrance to the pegasus barracks. Yule was in the middle of it all, drinking…DRINKING!
“YULE!” Grove bellowed, “Get your mangy arse out of that chair and come with me, the Princess wants to see you.”
The hubbub drained away like water down a grate, replaced by an ominous silence as the assembled ponies focussed their attention on the newcomer. Yule rubbed his eyes and stared up at him,
“Orange Grove?” he snorted, “Aren’t you supposed to be out looking for your coltfriend?”
Grove slammed his hoof on the table, “I have been, unlike you, you stinking rat! We’ve got ponies missing and you’re here boozing your bloody head off!”
Yule looked up at him from over his mug of ale, “Yeah? What the hell do you know?” He took a swig and looked Grove up and down, “You look like you’ve been rolling in dung. And you stink too.”
Grove leaned forward, his teeth bared, “That’s because I’ve been doing my bloody JOB!” he snarled, “Listen, Celestia wants to see you, so get your ragged arse in gear and move it!”
“Goddesses sake…” Yule finished off his mug and slammed it down, “Give me a minute will you.” He picked himself up and took the cloak hoofed to him by one of his ponies who shot Grove a look that said all he needed to know about just how welcome he was there.
A green pegasus with a yellow and blue mane appeared in Grove’s vision, her pale grey eyes making him take a step back in surprise, “What the hell’s this all about?” she snapped, “Just who do you think you are, barging in here and making demands you damned mud scuttler?”
A rousing agreement and general muttering from the ponies around them made Grove’s hackles go up, “Because the Princess, your Princess, wants to see him, big mouth.”
The mare’s wings flared, her teeth bared in an angry snarl, “You little worm! Do you have any idea how long we’ve been out there looking for Celestia’s bedroom toy? We’re half dead on our wings and you act if we’ve sitting around on our fat arses! You bloody mud ponies are all the same…”
“I’ll pass on your kind words to the Princess then.” Grove replied tartly, “I’m sure she will simply love discussing with you just how hard you’ve all been worked to find her ‘bedroom toy’, yes?”
The mare glared at him, backing down when Yule lifted a hoof, “Creel, leave it, please…for me?” Reluctantly, the mare relented, her head lowering and the others backing away. “I’ll be back soon.” Yule assured her and turned to Grove, “Come on then, let’s get this over with.”
Grove said nothing more. He couldn’t stand Yule, nor the pretentiousness that seemed to be inherent with pegasi. They constantly strutted around the palace like they were the bee’s knees - the only ‘real’ ponies that mattered. To them, ‘Mud Ponies’ like him were nothing: they were worthless, beneath contempt, and only ‘tolerated’ because the alicorn Princess’s of Equestria embodied elements of all three: unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi. As far as Grove was concerned, the physical strength of an earth pony was more than equal to some light weight flying nags like pegasi and their pompous airs and graces. He’d love nothing more than to see Yule in a hoof fight with an earth pony who knew how to fight back. Poor Rush hadn’t stood a chance; the daft bugger could barely find his hairy arse with both hooves, let alone defend himself. He nodded to himself; he’d have to train Rush up more in self defence. Come to think of it, he did seem to be a lot more co-ordinated lately than he had been. He came out of his reverie with a start - they were here.
“Come in.”
The Princess’s voice called through the door before Grove had a chance to knock. He cast a glance at the resigned looking pegasus before him and raised an eyebrow. Yule said nothing, and waited until Grove had opened the door.
“Your Majesty, Guard Command Yule, as you requested.” Grove announced.
“Thank you, Guardstallion, you may leave us.”
Gratefully, Grove bowed and backed out of the small room, closing the door behind him. As tempting as it was to go and speak more to the logging crew about his friend, he had to admit: what more could they tell him? After all, search parties were still out there, but it had been days now and still no sign of him. Horrifyingly, one of the guards had told him that they’d discovered the remains of animals buried in the mud that had accompanied the flood waters. They didn’t have to elaborate further - it was entirely possible, as much as he hated to admit it, that Rush could be somewhere under all that and maybe…maybe they’d never find him. He stopped and gave himself a shake before leaning against the cold, hard stone wall of the corridor; sometimes the world really was a cruel and unforgiving place. Since the war, some of his friends had commented on how ‘boring’ life had become, as if killing each other and losing loved ones was somehow an ‘exciting’ alternative. Of course, they probably didn’t really mean it that way, they most likely meant that the pace of life had gone from being hectic and terrifying to little more than standing outside Celestia’s bedroom keeping royalty obsessed youngsters from pestering her for autographs. In some ways, he could see their point, but when something like this happened, and a friend of his vanished without trace, then this…this was the sort of ‘excitement’ he could do without. In Grove’s book, boring was definitely the way forward.
*********************
“You said you had searched this area, Commander Yule?” Celestia’s voice was oddly calm, and her demeanour completely neutral. She rested her chin on her hooves as she sat behind the desk, watching Yule’s every move and taking in every word. He swallowed,
“We did, Your Majesty.”
“You did…” The alicorn closed her eyes and took a breath, looking down at the map, “And yet it was our earth pony patrols that found the logging team - the same team that was working on the banks of the river on the night of the flood.”
“Apparently so, Your Majesty.” Yule replied.
“Apparently so…” Celestia took a breath and looked up at him from under her brows, her large purple eyes like whirlpools sucking Yule’s soul down into their depths, “Your eyesight is considerably better than an earth pony’s, is it not?” she asked quietly.
Yule nodded, “I believe so, Your Majesty.”
“Of course you do.” she replied, “Because it is true. What I find inexplicable, Commander, and maybe you can help me to understand this, is why it was reported to me that the river had been thoroughly checked and that there was nopony in the way of the flood water.” She tossed her mane, “Correct?”
“Your Majesty…” Yule’s throat suddenly felt extraordinarily dry.
“CORRECT?”
Yule nodded.
“So how do you explain this failure?” Celestia asked. “Well?”
The Guard Commander gritted his teeth, trying keep himself together. He wasn’t afraid of the Princess, but more of…of failure. Had he failed? Had he really let her down?
“Answer me!” the Princess shouted.
“I can’t explain it, Your Majesty.” Yule confessed, hanging his head, “Our patrols have been out since the first warning that the dam was in danger of giving way. We searched the river for miles. Anypony in the area was moved on out of its path and we felt we had the area secure.”
“And yet you failed to notice a logging camp.” Celestia said with a sigh, “We nearly lost five ponies, Commander Yule, and two are still unaccounted for.”
Yule nodded, “One of the logging team crew and the…other one.”
Celestia’s eyes flashed, “I am well aware of your attitude towards the Consort, Commander, and it concerns me greatly that you saw fit to pick a fight with a pony who you knew was incapable of fighting back.” Her wings rustled, making the lamp on the table flicker, “I had hoped that as a people we had put such behaviour behind us and the prejudices of old had been left in the past where they belong.”
Yule felt his hackles go up as the memory of that night came back to him. That…that arrogant damned creature! Those eyes, those same blue eyes as the traitorous scum that had nearly destroyed their nation by allowing a thief, a THIEF! To escape the castle with the very thing they need to bring this…
“-You have something to say?” Celestia prompted.
Yule took a breath and lifted his head, “Yes. Yes, I have something to say.” Celestia raised an eyebrow and lifted her hoof. Yule nodded, “I do not approve of your pairing with that…’thing’ from another world.” Celestia eyes went wide in surprise, but Yule continued, “Others will not tell you what is in their hearts, Your Majesty, because they are all too frightened to tell you the truth, but we have all heard the story about how this ‘alien’, this ‘pink monkey’ from another world appeared out of nowhere and turned your head like some prissy school foal.” Part of Yule’s mind was screaming at him to stop, to keep his damned mouth shut, but his words were like the flood waters from the broken dam: inexorable, and utterly unstoppable, “You dismissed your personal maid because of him, you risked creating an international incident with the Llamalian Empire because of your obsession with him, and now you are running your own guards into the ground on some fruitless fools errand to find a pony we all know is probably buried under a ton of mud!” Yule stomped a hoof angrily, “And you know what? I’m glad he’s dead, glad! Our Princess is worth far more than some bitless, imbecilic mud pony stallion who can’t even use a damned bathroom without help!”
Celestia watched him in silence, looking deeply into Yule’s eyes, so full of conviction, so stoic in his belief of what he’d said and believed in. She closed her eyes and shook her head sadly,
“You saw him and left him there, hoping the flood would take him away, didn’t you.”
“Not I.” Yule replied with a snort, “But I would have if I had. Equestria is far more important than the life of one insignificant pony.”
Celestia rose from the table and walked to the window, looking out at the lights in the distance. Perhaps…perhaps Rush was still out there, maybe he was beside one of those lights even now: lost…waiting. She closed her eyes and turned to Yule,
“I trusted you. I believed in you. And now…you betray me…” She hung her head, “Like this.”
Yule could feel his body shaking. He felt as if he were on fire, his words condemning him, his heart raging at the conflicting emotions surging through him. He raised his head once more,
“I have not betrayed you, Your Majesty, I only wish to stop you betraying us.”
Silence fell in the room, with neither of its occupants speaking nor moving until the Princess broke the stalemate,
“Guard Commander Yule, you are under arrest. You will report to the barracks and surrender your weapons and armour.”
“On what charge?” he asked.
Celestia stared at the desk, her horn glowing, and opened the door to admit the soldiers from the corridor outside,
“Treason.”
******************************
Now this was the life! A good shower, a good scrub, and a nice hot bath; Goddesses above, this was like a little slice of heaven. The eternal herd could wait; this…this was the best feeling ever!
“Did nopony ever tell you your face could stick like that?” Mind asked, walking slowly down the steps into the water, “Honestly, Grovey, you look like all your Heathswarming presents have come at once.”
Grove sighed, stretching out his legs and letting his body float up, “Yeah…yeah I suppose they have…a little.”
“So what is it, then?” the mare asked.
Grove chuckled, “Yule’s in for it. I left him with the boss and she looked seriously pissed off. He’s really going to cop it this time, I reckon.”
“Couldn’t happen to a nicer pony” Mind laughed, “So, what was it for? Can’t have been for bashing the new boy, because that was ages ago.”
Grove shrugged, “I think it’s for the cardinal sin of being bone idle and crap at your job if you ask me.” he replied, “Bone idle sod was getting aled up when I found him in the barracks and gave me some cock and bull story about his mob of layabouts being out looking for Rush non stop.” He huffed, clearing some water from his nostrils, “If I was a gambling stallion, I’d put money on him being sat on his rump while we were flogging ourselves up to our naffs in mud and crap.”
“Yeah. Poor Rush…” Mind groaned as she sank into the water, “I kinda liked him, you know? He had a certain innocence about him.”
“Huh! You mares are all the same.” Grove snorted, “You go all gaga over some ‘lost foal’ type like Rush who’s just as old as I am! Bloody hell, Mind, you didn’t see him in the bathroom that time! What sort of pony manages to get his arse wedged in the bloody toilet?!”
Mind clucked her tongue, “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Nope” Grove replied, “And I don’t want to either. As far as I’m concerned I like my mares like my baths.”
“Oh?” she asked.
“Mmhmm…” Grove winked at her, “Hot and steamy.”
Mind laughed, “Says the stallion floating his with legs sticking up in the air like that!”
Grove squeaked as Mind grabbed his tail and pulled hard, unsettling him and sending the hapless stallion sputtering and flailing back to the guard rail,
“Hey! You bloody idiot, you nearly drowned me!”
“Nearly, but not quite” Mind chuckled, advancing on him, “But it looks like I might need to give you a little mouth to mouth…just to be sure.”
Grove rubbed his eyes and stared into Mind’s as she reached for him, “You know…I think I may need a little…attention…”
“YOU…YOU BASTARD!”
The door to the bathing area flew open and slammed into the wall, allowing in a furious looking mare, “It’s all your fault! You and that damned monkey freak!”
Grove jumped in surprise only to bang his head against the guardrail, his cry of pain instantly morphing into a loud coughing and gagging that drew no sympathy whatsoever from neither the furious newcomer nor the indignant Mind. The pink mare rose from the water like some demonic spirit of the lake, steam and hot water sluicing off her as she locked onto the source of the yelling,
“Who the hell are you?!” she bellowed, her voice echoing around the tile room.
The newcomer, a red coated pegasus mare, wearing an off duty tunic, tossed her silvery white mane and focussed green eyes like emeralds on the pink mare, “I’m not talking to you, so butt-out.” With a huff, the mare turned her attention back to Grove, “Yule’s been arrested, and it’s because of you and your damned big mouth, you scum bag!”
“Whoa, hey!” Grove pushed himself to the steps and began hauling himself out, but kept a wary distance from the furious pegasus, “Can we pretend for a minute I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about?”
She didn’t seem impressed, “Don’t you lie to me, mud pony, we all saw you. You walked into our barracks like you bloody well owned the place and ordered Yule around like he was nothing! How could you? How could you do something like that?”
“Listen, whatever your name is, I…”
“It’s Lieutenant Fiddle.”
“Lieutenant Fiddle…” Grove sighed, “Look, I just told him Celestia wanted to see him, okay? That was all! No big mystery, no” he held his hooves up for emphasis, “conspiracy, understand?” He shook some of the water from his coat, “Whatever he’s done, he’s done to himself.”
The junior officer snorted, “That’s it, is it? That’s your defence?”
“My defence?” Grove asked incredulously, “Listen, girl, I have nothing to be defensive about. I just told you-”
“I am NOT your girl!” Fiddle shrieked, “And you’re hedging around the real issue here, and we all know what it is! Can’t you even admit that?”
“Admit what?” Grove yelled, “Are you mental or something? What the hell is your problem?!”
“You! You are the problem!” Fiddle snarled, advancing on him, “Your little coltfriend, the one you’ve been all cozy with lately, is the wellspring from which all of the misery in Canterlot has been spewing. Since he came there’s been nothing but trouble, and now this!”
“What a load of bollocks!” Mind snapped, rubbing her mane with a towel, “Your lot are bloody useless, that’s why it took real ponies, earth ponies to find the logging crew. You feathered freaks of nature ought to bugger off back up to the clouds and stay there where you belong.”
Fiddles eyes went wide, her cheeks flushing ruby red, “You…You mud grubbing BITCH!”
With a cry of outrage, the young pegasus’ hoof shot out like a snake’s strike and impacted with Mind’s jaw. Grove flinched in sympathy from the sickening crack of the blow, perhaps even more horrified to find his marefriend had barely moved and simply wiped the blood away from her muzzle with a slow grin spreading across her face. She took a breath and licked her lips,
“Oh, it’s on now…”
The two mares launched themselves at each other with complete abandon, as hooves, teeth, and even a mop bucket somehow became a weapon. Grove’s attempt at intervention rapidly ended in him finding himself bucked full in the backside and pitched head first into the bath water. Having his ears full of water was probably something of a mercy, blurring out the yells and shrieks of the combatants and then, all too predictably, the whistles of the RIP’s. Grove slunk away to the far end of the pool, his hearing still awkward and backside stinging from the thump he’d received. Above him, he could hear the shouting and yelling as the two mares were separated and then eventually lead away. Grove gave a sigh of relief,
“Thanks be!” he muttered, and began swimming back to the far end.
Where he came face to face with the last pony he wanted to meet, “Hello, Orange Grove, fancy meeting you here.”
“S…Sir!” Grove choked.
The white coated pony in full armour, stared at him with a confusing mixture of bemusement and irritation, “I suppose you had nothing to do with this little fracas now, did you?”
“Well, you see sir, it’s like this…” Grove began, but his words seemed to die under the withering blue eyed gaze.
Colonel Hinter’s lip curled upward, “Do go on, Guardspony, or would you prefer to dry off first?”
“I’d like to dry off, please sir, if it’s alright?”
“Of course, of course…” Hinter said politely, waving a hoof, “take all the time you need.” He turned to walk away, “You can explain everything to me in my office. You have ten minutes.”
“Yes sir!” Grove saluted hurriedly, but the officer was already walking away, “Luna’s cursed arse!” he muttered, “That stupid bloody mare!” Which one he meant, he wasn’t exactly sure of himself - be it the impetuous Mind or that firebrand Fiddle, the manic pegasus. ‘Come to think of it’, he thought to himself stuffing the corner of the towel into his ear, both of them were completely bonkers. No wonder Mind and he had never settled down - who would want to live with a nut case like that? Mum would have…well…maybe she would have approved, despite Mind’s nutty behaviour. Goddesses, he could see her now; ‘She’s a strong mare’, she’d have said, ‘She’ll keep you right, that one’, and other bloody nonsense that only females seemed to understand. Bloody killjoy is what she’d be - sucking the very life from him like some big pink vampire, “FFFfffff.” He waved his hoof as he emulated the sound and chuckled to himself. Goddesses protect him from mares and officers – and stupid bloody pink monkey ponies too! This was all bloody Rush’s fault anyway. When he finally found the brown coated idiot he was going to boot him up the arse so hard he’d be too sore to sit down for a week. Grove winced, rubbing his own rump; come to think of it, his own posterior was going to cause him trouble enough – damn those two!