Found Guilty

by Basil Lecher

Chapter 5

"I grew up in a very bad situation. When I was very young I was sold into slavery to a very unkind Unicorn." Court began, but immediately Pinkie interrupted him.

"Slavery, that's illegal."

"Not back then, but this is just a little background for my story."

"Fine." Pinkie said with a haughty sniff. "It's not good yet so do better."

"Yes Miss Pie." Court answered as he continued. "I grew up under my master's control as he practiced his magics. They were strange things that allowed him to make creatures appear from nothing, creatures like you have never seen drawn out from the pits of Tartaurus. His goal was to control them but it took him a lot of time to learn how to manipulate them. When his experiments went out of control he had me kill the creature."

"What?" Pinkie said with amazement.

"Yes, I was his personal exterminator, cleaning up his messes. I didn't know any other way to live. Then, one day, he brought a creature like no other. It was like a dog with the head of a bird of prey. It fought viciously and overcame my master before I could bring it down. It was then that I realized I was free from the pressure that the master had placed upon my mind. I stabbed him with a ceremonial dagger he kept with him. Then I ran. I ran for weeks and started a new life as a traveling mercenary.

Back in the reign of Discord, very few ponies traveled at all, many would spend their entire lives without going more than a few miles from their home so ponies who traveled were not trusted. This was, in part, due to Discord having spies who walked among the ponies, looking for those who would rise up against him. Life was difficult for me but I survived best I could with the odd escort job. My time had made me strong , more so than most Earth ponies, so I was a useful asset to those who needed somepony to protect them from bandits and thieves on the trail. It was after a guard job for a shipment of grain that I found myself in a small town waiting for something new to come along when I first encountered Celestia and Luna.

There were reports about a pair of alicorns in most towns, if they were seen they were to be reported to the law. Discord was nervous and though many people didn't like him, they were loyal out of fear. It was because of this that the two of them kept their horns hidden in their manes. I suppose it was easier than hiding their wings. I didn't think anything of them, just two more ponies in the town and I couldn't have told them from any of the folks who were native to the town. However the regular townfolk were more suspicious. Two young mares traveling on their own was bound to raise some notice and a report went out to the local guard. The capture was planned and executed as they were buying food at a small bread shop. By a stroke of luck, I was also there waiting for my own order.”

“What were you ordering?” Pinkie asked suddenly.

“What?”

“What did you order?” She asked, tilting her head. As she did her hair started curling at the edge. Court took this as a good sign.

“They were fruit cakes.”

“Eeyuch.” Pinkie made a face.

“They keep for a long time and I'm rather partial to them.” Court said with a small smile. “I say it was lucky, but not for the guards. They were prepared for the two alicorns but not for a pony like me.”

Twilight and her friends were at a crossroads. Applejack wanted to go back to Ponyville immediately but Twilight said they had to make sure they had checked everything before they left. She had caught sight of a hole in a tree that seemed to lead to a cave. “Come on girls, maybe Pinkie is down there unconscious or something. We have to check.”

“I'm not going down there.” Rarity said vehemently.

“I'd rather not go underground if it's all the same to you guys.” Added Rainbow Dash. “Us pegasi are better in the air than in a cave.”

“Just leave them Twilight, if they're too chicken to go down there then we'll just have to do it ourselves.” Applejack said with a glare at the two ponies resisting.

“Alright Applejack.” Twilight said, “I'll go first and light the way with my horn.” The two of them looked down the hole down into the dark of the cave with a lack of enthusiasm. Twilight took a deep breath and started walking down, her horn beginning to glow brighter as she descended into the darkness.

The guards burst into the shop with their weapons drawn. Celestia and Luna were unprepared but they tried to do something. I'm not a unicorn but whatever Celestia used failed. Luna levitated and threw several bits of furniture. This was slightly more effective but not by very much. One guard went down to her barrage and two more fell as I bucked a table through the front door of the shop. “Run!” I shouted to them and they galloped for the backdoor, hoping that there would be one and it would be unguarded.

“Why'd you help them? I mean, I totally get why you did cause the Princess is super nice, well Celestia is and Luna is too though Luna was really mean for awhile when we called her Nightmare Moon but we called her Nightmare Moon because she was evil and-”

“The law back then was a bit corrupt. It wasn't for hunting murderers and thieves, mostly it was for collecting taxes and imprisoning ponies who spoke out against Discord. I had issues with them in the past and so I fought.”

I don't know if there was a back door or if they just made one, I was too busy fighting with the guards to check. Back then, I always fought to kill and, though I regret my actions now, I killed five guards. The remaining ponies fled rather than continue fighting me and I ran into the forest, hoping to meet up with the Celestia and Luna.

The stairway down was thick with dust and the stairs were covered in overgrown roots and weeds. Twilight's horn illuminated a door down at the bottom of the stairs, it was hanging off its hinges and the dirt around it had been recently stirred.

I didn't know where the two alicorns had gone, I didn't realize they had hidden themselves in the sky with their magic and so I wandered the forest paths for hours. Then, out of the woods in front of me stepped a small filly. I asked her where she came from and she just stared at me. We watched each other for a few moments and then she asked for cake. I hadn't planned on sharing and I told her so. She started demanding cake. That was when I realized that I had heard stories from other caravans. Young fillies appearing on the roads, demanding sweets. The other travelers said to always appease them because these were the souls of young ponies who had gotten lost and died in the woods. If you didn't give them cake, they would turn into horrifying plant-like monsters, as twice as big as a full grown alicorn, and slaughter everyone in the caravan.

“That's horrible.” Pinkie said, covering her mouth.

I gave the filly a slice of my cake and three more stepped out from the forest. I shared with them too. That is how I first met my girls.

“Hey Twilight. There's a lantern by that door.” Applejack said as they approached the broken door. “Reckon we should use it?”

“No Applejack, some of these roots might be dry and we don't want to start a fire in a tree we're inside of.”

There were actually about nineteen of them in all, I discovered over time. Even after I started traveling with the Princesses I would still be sure to send packages to them of sweets and odd foods that I discovered. I tried to teach them when I could, to behave, to be more civilized. I was not good at it having not been taught much of that myself. However I finally managed to create a system where travelers would leave them gifts and my girls would patrol the road and kill any threats. This was many years later, of course.

Carefully, Twilight pushed the door open and her light shined bright, illuminating the room. “Oh Celestia.” She whispered.

You saw the entrance to their home earlier, that cave leads to their underground lair. I lived their for awhile and it was a safe retreat for when the Princesses' rebel band needed a place to lay low. We often did. Celestia didn't like my girls, she saw them as monsters but Luna tried to get to know them. She even gave them names, though they always traded the names with each other. I wish you could have seen it though, in its prime. It was like a small castle. In the main room was a large table.

In the center of the cave was a table, broken and rotted through in places.

There were standards handing from the wall and silver candle stands to light everything up.

Filthy bits of cloth hung from the walls, those that hadn't been eaten by bugs were too dirty to be recognized. Twilight kicked a broken metal thing as she stepped further in so Applejack could see as well. It was a broken pole made of silver that had long since tarnished.

And when you entered you would be greeted by all of my girls who weren't out in the woods patrolling the paths.

Skeletal remains lay around the room. They looked like the timberwolves Twilight had read about but these were shaped like ponies, large ones too. Many still had weapons sticking out of them. “This don't look good, Twilight.” Applejack said nervously.

“It's ok, Applejack. Judging by the buildup of dirt and the state of our surroundings I'd say this happened a long time ago.”

“Ah don't know.”

“Trust me. Its obvious what happened. Pinkie was running to hide from the evil stallion and the snake who were fighting and hid down here. Then she went back to town when they left. We didn't see her because we were following a direct line towards his armor and she was avoiding him. Her danger sense probably kept her nice and safe.”

“Maybe we should check the rest of this place first.”

“You're right, then we can go back and find Pinkie.”

“They were my only family. The Princesses and the other rebels were friendly enough, but they weren't family. I should have never left them like I did.” Court frowned.

“What happened?”

“I don't know, I thought they'd be taken care of while I was away.” Court shook his head. “I intend to find out.”

“Then what will you do?”

“I don't know, revenge? It's been over a thousand years, whoever did it is long dead.” He stood up. “I hope you are feeling better, Miss Pie.”

“I guess so.” Pinkie said. “Now I kinda feel sad for you. I mean, you're like Luna when she came back from the moon but at least she had her sister. Wait, the Princesses. They'll know you, you should go talk to them.”

“Perhaps someday soon, but I am not ready to see them now.”

“Well then I'll be your friend and help you get used to all the cool things we've got in the future. It's going to blow your mind, it totally blows my mind sometimes.”

“Sounds like fun, Miss Pie.”

“Oh come on, call me Pinkie.”

Back in the forest, Twilight and Applejack came up from the caves. “So, what did you find?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Was it treasure? I bet it was treasure, I should have gone down there.” Rarity said.

“Dead creatures, looks like they invaded some nobility's hide out and were exterminated. Pinkie's not down there. We should get back to the town and check.”

Comments

[-Brutus]

Ohh things getting interesting!

[Thule]

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