I'll be waiting...

by Zweiterversuch

The town of Märisch

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After a long recuperation in the town's hospital. I was able for the first time to carry out my duties as the one in charge of the sanctuary dedicated to the princesses.
Despite the feelings I might have had when hearing for the first time I'd be in charge of the small institution, after a couple of days I had become completely annoyed by it. It was something in the building's structure, in its decoration, in the way the ponies that came there acted, or maybe even all that together that simply irritated me.

The first couple of days it was easy to act according to the rituals and traditions I had been taught by others, but when the first week turned into the second I was completely sick of it all.
I decided to continue doing only what I believed didn't go against what I had learned in the caves beneath the sealed mountain.
It was so that I stopped completely gathering offerings for the sanctuary and decided instead to concentrate only on the story-telling that fomented important values and the schooling of little foals in the arts, the arithmetic sciences, music and singing, putting aside every aspect that could lead them to a submissive thinking towards and established social order that was completely wrong.

Right after I had made my decision I had seen myself in deep troubles. Without gatherings there was no way to pay for any maintenance to the sanctuary and I myself had nothing to eat. Luckily my lessons and my stories interested my students so much that every now and then, one or the other would bring me a couple of apples or a piece of bread so I didn't had to turn to bed with an empty stomach.
I still had Spike's gems and coins, but not even by gathering all the riches in town they'd have enough to pay for the smallest of the gems.
I also found a cheap way to fix the church by simply doing it myself. I asked the father of one of my students to teach me how to use certain tools properly. He wasn't willing to do it for free, but he gave himself content with several expensive bottles of wine the former cleric of the town kept hidden under the altar, and which I had no use for.

My days passed by one exactly like the other. I started the day by cleaning the parts of the sanctuary I cared about the most, leaving unattended others such as the altar for Prince Blueblood and the other lying rich vultures. After that I prepared the tables and chairs for the fillies to come to school that day and once they were all seated and with their eyes set on the blackboard, I began my lessons.
Afterwards I usually preached to the adults, trying to put more emphasis on the values the princesses and the elements stood for and less on the ones that forced them to give me their hard earned bits.
In the night I shared a couple of drinks in the pub with the stallions and mares that came back from the fields. I drank water or milk most of the time, something the other stallions found laughable. I laughed along those that did nothing but laugh, and hit hard those that decided to hit me for something as trivial as the contents of my glass.
I guess the only thing that did change every now and then were the contents of the letters Wild Rose left during the night at the sanctuary's door.

I had never seen the mare again after she left me in the hospital. But she seemed to watch me at every single moment of my day.
Many of the letters she left contained her comments on my actions during the day, on my lessons for the children, on my fights in the pub. But none mentioned the reward I still owed her.
Several times I left a reply at the sanctuary's door before turning to bed, hoping she'd take it when leaving behind another of her letters. But I simply found my letter unopened right next to the one she had left.
She was a strange mare indeed. And the way of expressing herself even more so.

"Read this letter with grace and pride, for it is the Wild Rose who writes it..."

I did my best to read it as instructed, but I ,more than honored, felt confused.

It took a couple of months before my strange behavior upset the higher-ups in the holy sect. No money had been coming from Märisch to the vaults of the principal seat, and that was a crime they could not let slide, for it was a crime against the princesses themselves, according to them.
Luckily the Cardinal knew first hoof about my work in Müllhound, where I had the chance to help him during his preaches to the masses for several months, and had decided to look into this matter himself, as a favor from a friend to another.

When the cardinal arrived that afternoon, a sign hung from the main door of the sanctuary clearly stating that today there would not be any preaches or lessons and that under no circumstances I should be bothered. It was not necessary to mention that the cardinal was an exception to the rule.
After I opened the door we greeted each other with a respectful bow, mine of course deeper than the cardinal's, and then when we were alone with a warm hug, the kind those who share a vocation share.

"I am truly glad to see you again, Tome. I just wish better news were the reason for my visit."

Theodore d´hampir, that was the cardinal's name. He had been born as the only son of a devote family that descended directly from Blueblood's lineage. His factions were clearly aristocratic and he possessed a strange beauty that even captivated stallions from time to time. His eyes were blue like sapphires, his fur was a light-grayish yellowish brown, and his short mane and his beard were black like tar. His way of talking was many things but crude and abrupt.

"Cadinal, it is an honor to have you here. Although your visit might not be for the best reasons, I feel overjoyed by your presence."

We both laughed after the formalities were done. When alone we were more accustomed to be less formal.

"Life seems to treat you well, Tome. It was not too long ago that you were a mere helper and now you are in charge of your own sanctuary.
It won't be long before I should worry about you being a competitor for the seat of the leader of the sect.
And yet I hear that despite the love and respect the inhabitants of this town show for you and your work, your achievements for the holy sect are not as plentiful. There are even rumors of a rebellious attitude from your side.

I understand, Tome, that your start was not an easy one. As I heard you were robbed by local thieves on your way here, and were unable to perform your duties to the sect for some time, but months have passed since then, and honestly there is no excuse."

I didn't know how to reply to Theodore's statement. Had it been the me from before, I'd have surely replied promptly with promises of improvement and even more gatherings for the holy sect, but the me now didn't want to give a single bit to an organization that was founded by rats that had cemented their fortunes by taking advantage of the desolated hearts of those left behind after the loss of Canterlot.
Still, even if Theordore was Blueblood's descendant I considered him of a different sort. I had worked with him and I knew that his love for the princesses weighted more, than the gold coins in his or his friends pockets.

I proceeded to lock the door of the room where we were, the door and every single window I saw open.
Theodore questioned my odd behavior and my lack for an answer, but I replied simply that as soon as the door and the windows were closed I'd talk.

"Theodore, there is something you must know.
This, all of this is nothing but a lie."

At first Theodore didn't know what I was talking about. So I elaborated on my story. I don't know why I believed telling him was a good idea.
I guess it was because I believed him my friend. He and I had shared many things during the months he spent in Müllhound. He had told me about his insecurities, about the changes he'd do if he were ever to be the leader of the sect, about dreams he had to sacrifice in order to become a servant of the princesses.
Like they say I spilled the beans to Theodore.

"The princesses are alive, Theodore!"

Theodore, like the cleric pony he was, twisted my words trying to make them sound reasonable to his ears.

"Of course they are alive, Tome. They live as long as we uphold the teachings passed down to us.
It is our sacred duty to keep their words throughout eternity."

I tried to explain to him that I meant they were alive less in an spiritual sense and more in the sense in which they were....well, alive. But for Theodore it seemed impossible to understand it that way.
It looked like he needed proof, and so I showed him the cloth that had helped me escape the cave.

"Look at this Theodore and tell me what you see."

I placed it carefully in Theodore's hooves. The cloth was dusty and some spots were ripped, but its beauty still remained.
Theodore examined it in silence for a couple of seconds, doing it rather in order to amuse me. But after a while his expression changed and he muttered just a couple of broken sentences.

"T-this is Ca-Canterlotian cloth.
Tome, where...where did you get this!?"

I told him then about my early departure and my plans to go over the sealed mountain. I told him about my religious experience and my travel to the depths just afterwards. I didn't mention Spike though. It wasn't necessary to do it in my opinion. All I wanted to let Theodore know was that the princess lived and that it wouldn't take long for them to return and reclaim what was rightly theirs.

"So...So they are alive, Tome?
The princesses and the elements, even the castle still remains down below the sealed mountain?"

I simply nodded. Theodore almost fainted though. He seemed to be elated by the news, even more than I was.
I only went to fetch him a glass of water, it took me surely less than a minute, but by the time I returned something in Theodore had changed.

"We have to get them out of there.
The princesses...they surely need my help!"

Theodore seemed to be possessed by the idea of going to the princesses aide. To tear down the mountain by force and bring back the lost kingdom to the surface. In vain I tried to calm him down and to explain to him, that the princesses would take care of the mountain on their own. It might take a while, but at the end, like in our the teachings, they would prevail.

"The princesses are sure to win the battle against evil, Theodore. There is nothing we can do to help them in that fight. But we can change back this corrupt system that has been founded using their name into something that resembles more what they wanted at the beginning and less what the greedy ponies of the past made of it."

My words didn't seem to have any effect anymore in Theodore's mind. He just kept hugging the cloth I showed him as if it were his most beloved possession.

"Cowards, bastards, betrayers, all of them!
How could they dare to leave the princesses on their own when they needed them?
Surely they needed somepony to stand by their side. Surely they wanted somepony to come to their rescue.
Curse the blood the flows through this veins, the blood of the coward Blueblood!

Tome! It is time for us to act! Your meeting with the princesses was surely a way for them to let me know they need my help.
And unlike my cowardly ancestor, I won't doubt if asked to throw away my life for the divine rulers of this land.
This time the reinforcements won't be late, but first in the sacred battle against the unnamed evil!!"

Like a sword Theodore swung his scepter around the room, resolved to use all the power invested on him to bring down the sealed mountain. I realized my mistake then. I should have kept quiet about what I saw. Unfortunately it was already too late. Things that I couldn't stop anymore had been set in motion by my careless actions.

"Theodore, wait! I told you that isn't the kind of help we can offer the princesses! What we can do is..."

"Silence!!
I believed you shared my love for the princesses, my respect and loyalty to their teachings.
But now I see you are not willing to march to battle with me for them.

You ask of me to wait, while they suffer trapped underground, captives of that unnamed evil.
Wait for another time when there might be nopony to help them?
How can you expect me to do that, Tome!? Me, their greatest champion and spreader of their word!

Many things I could forgive and overlook for a friend, but this is not one of them!

Guards!!"

Little resistance offered the locks of door and windows before the massive bodies of the Cardinal's guards. They broke in before I could even react. The tips of their spears directed at the base of my throat.

"Take him to the jail. Tell the pony in charge he has been arrested under direct order of the holy sect, accused of the highest treason to ponykind."

"Theodore, you don't know what you are doing!! You will be of no help for the princesses if you march towards the mountain. You might even destroy everything they have worked for!"

He did not reply with words to mine, but with a kick to my face.

"Take him away already. And bring me feather, ink and parchment."

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Comments

[adros1TheArachnaPony]

good intentions go awry, as fools move forward to peril blinded by petty glory.

[TheWorstDiscord]

I had the impression that tome was a girl? Did it ever say before that she was a he?