Chapter 14
Fogwalker Fetlocks looked at the earth pony laying on the straw filled mattress and didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what could be said, or should be said, or if words were even necessary at all. She watched the rise and fall of his barrel, thinking of the hurtful words he had said to her, knowing why he had said them, hating him just a tiny bit for saying what he had said, and loving him just a teensy bit more for the stupidity and foolishness he had shown.
“They’re going to court martial you,” Fogwalker said, the words just slipping out of her mouth unbidden as she stood there thinking of what to say.
The earth pony did not respond, other than closing his eyes and sighing.
“Are you in much pain?” Sunrise asked, worried about her friend. Her stomach growled fiercely. She had missed a couple of meals now. Her new wings fluttered at her sides.
“You weren’t the only one that was completely crushed Stinky… I wish you would say something… they told me that somepony had purchased your exclusive breeding rights as well… I was hurt, I was heartbroken. I seriously gave thought to giving up all I had… which is what I was doing while I was sequestered. I was going to give over my armor and my walking papers,” Fogwalker said as she sat down upon the stone floor.
“I’m sorry,” Garlic whimpered, his eyes still closed.
“You shouldn’t be sorry,” Sunrise Surprise said in a strong nasal lisp, her anger affecting her speech. “What you did was… was… it was romantic. And it wasn’t your fault.” The chubby little alicorn huffed and fumed, feeling a strange new emotion for the Virtues, and it wasn’t love or respectful reverence.
“What were you thinking Garlic? Charging into the Fetlock compound like that… where you trying to get yourself killed?” Fogwalker asked in a pained voice.
“Yes,” Garlic admitted in a soft utterance of pain.
“You stupid brainless earth pony!” Fogwalker shouted as her breathing began to increase, her barrel heaving as she huffed and puffed, in and out, a strange ringing happening in her ears. Her lip curled back from her teeth and her feathers all fluffed out as she began to feel far too hot.
“Foggy… don’t say or do something you will regret,” Sunrise Surprise interjected.
“I already have! I fell in love with my STUPID foalhood friend. You contemptible ignoramus! You dumb dirt dwelling onion farmer! You-”
“That’s enough Foggy!” Sunrise Surprise snapped, a snort escaping from her nostrils as her emotions made it difficult to breathe. The alicorn reached out and bravely prodded her pegasus friend with a hoof.
“Any foals we have are going to be brain dead little dirt farmers!” Fogwalker snapped.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Sunrise Surprise shouted, finally asserting some dominance.
Turning to look at Sunrise, Fogwalker blinked at her, unable to do anything else to respond. She sat in stunned silence, wondering when Sunrise had developed such a commanding streak. She blinked again, still unable to believe that Sunrise Surprise was even capable of such a demanding, if somewhat nasal and a bit lispy, voice.
“Try to stay calm,” Chert said in a soothing voice. The centaur was standing in the corner of the small room, trying to stay out of the way. He rubbed his hands together, his long thin fingers curled around one another, and his tail swished around his backside, swatting at invisible flies. “We need to stick together. For Garlic’s sake.”
“Oh don’t worry about us sticking together… I am never leaving Garlic’s side. I’m going to spend the rest of my life telling this dimwitted dirt clod just what sort of idiot he is,” Fogwalker groused as her nostrils flared. “You imbecile…”
“Foggy, please, just stop,” Sunrise begged.
“No! You’re not the one who has to worry about having your backside plowed and squirting out little brain damaged versions of him eleven months later!” Fogwalker retorted.
“So I take it you are still considering allowing him to plow your backside?” Sunrise asked, her cheeks igniting with a fiery glow as she spoke. It was one of the most difficult things she had ever said, and her lisp had become almost unbearable halfway through.
“I… you… I… you... shut up… look, I knew you before you were a princess,” Fogwalker said, shaking her head at Sunrise Surprise. The pegasus whipped out a wing and wiped her nose. “Forgive me for saying it so bluntly.”
“Leave that out of this. Keep this in mind... you knew Garlic before he became the stuff of legends,” Sunrise Surprise said to her friend, her voice gentle but insistent. “Earth ponies are the farmers. The wagon pullers. The labourers. One lone earth pony went into a fortified compound and did incalculable damage to the defenders, the pegasi, the sworn defenders and protectors of our kind. Ponies are going to talk about about this and the roles that various tribes have in our society are going to be debated.”
The pegasus mare started to say something, she had even started to interrupt Sunrise Surprise, but had fallen silent, carefully considering her friend’s lispy words. She looked over at Garlic. One earth pony had done an awful lot of damage. It was a lot to take in. She looked over at Garlic. He had a few broken ribs, a number of cuts and contusions, one sprained hind leg, and one nasty self inflicted bite on the inside of his cheek. He was still able to walk.
Her quiet reflections were interrupted when the door opened. Chrysalis and Trixie both crowded into the room, which was already far too small and stuff for the current occupants. Chrysalis looked at Garlic while Trixie eyed Chert.
“Ah, the centaur does not have any candlesticks… Trixie is pleased,” Trixie announced.
“There is a chamber pot,” Chert responded in a low voice, raising one eyebrow at the blue alicorn. “If Sunrise demands that you go, you’d best be gone.”
“We came to check on Garlic,” Chrysalis stated, now looking at Chert with one wary eye.
“We felt worried. This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Trixie said in an sorry sounding voice as as she eased herself into the corner opposite from Chert.
“This is your fault!” Sunrise snapped, the alicorn filly on the verge of marehood sputtering and spitting a bit as she spoke. “You… you and your meddling. You and your tests! You stick your snoots into everybody’s business, you manipulate and you… you… you meddle. You and your need to try and get strong reactions out of ponies caused this to happen! You’re responsible for this! Garlic should not have to be made to suffer for your mistakes. YOUR MISTAKES!”
“We have to test other ponies, we are Virtues, we must safeguard our society and-”
“WHO SAFEGUARDED TWENTY FOUR PONIES ALL HURT BY YOUR MEDDLING!” Sunrise shouted, spraying spittle everywhere as she spoke. “You… all of you should be held accountable for your actions. And that is just the physical injuries. You hurt Foggy! You hurt me! Now Foggy and Stinky are fighting and it is tearing me up on the inside because she keeps calling him a stupid nincompoop!” The alicorn’s wings sprang out, flaring outwards, standing on end as she advanced on Chrysalis and Trixie, taking only three steps before running out of room. “You hurt my friends! Shame on you all.”
“We’re sorry,” Trixie apologised.
“Not yet you’re not!” Sunrise sputtered, her speech impediment reaching a point of critical failure. “GET OUT!”
“But we need to talk-”
“Get out! Chert! Make them leave!” Sunrise Surprise commanded.
Chert lifted the chamberpot and allowed it to slosh slightly.
“I want to hear what they have to say,” Fogwalker said in a small voice that cut through the growing tension. “Chert, please, at least wait until I have had a chance to hear what they’ve had to say.”
The centaur scowled, still holding the chamberpot, he remained ready to do battle with the two Virtues after Sunrise gave him a soft nod, silently telling him to wait.
“They’re going to court martial Garlic. They’re already at work, stripping him of his title of Preserver. He’s going to be tossed out of the Guardians,” Trixie said in a soft apologetic voice.
The big lanky earth pony, now overcome with emotions, began to sob in his bed,
“We are accepting responsibility for what has happened,” Chrysalis said, her face becoming pensive and sad when she heard Garlic weeping. “We’ve already spoken with Flim and Flam. The brothers realise that fairness is more important than any perceived sense of justice here. The Virtues have made a mistake and we plan to issue a public apology.”
“That doesn’t help Garlic,” Fogwalker said in an angry voice, her words almost a whisper. She reached out and prodded Chrysalis with her hoof, dangerously close to violating her own oath as a Ranger. “He needed the money he was making. He made more in one month than his whole family made in one year. That money was going to make sure that his mother, his aunt, and his grandmare were comfortable. He was never doing this for his own glory. Your stupid little stunt killed his chances at having a career and hurt an entire family.”
Sunrise, unable to bear the sounds of the earth pony blubbering, moved to comfort him, sitting down beside his bed and whispering softly into his ear. Strange new emotions flooded through her, and the idea that she was responsible for this pony’s wellbeing sprang into her mind. She felt troubled, overwhelmed, not knowing she was feeling the deeply ingrained sense of responsibility that all alicorns from the other side of the mirror felt for other ponies. She had become a small part of each of them.
“We have made a grave error,” Trixie admitted, still eyeing Chert and his readied chamberpot. “Chrysalis was intrigued. Intertribal relationships are rare, but they do happen. They just do not happen often. We have watched you grow. You and Garlic were so close to one another. Your affection existed outside of tribe, outside of social class. We’ve worked very hard to bring you two together… and Rampart Rusher had a large part in this as well. She has surrendered her armor and requested her walking papers. She feels that she has failed her clan. Reckless love is a hazard to all involved it seems.”
The pegasus mare felt as though she had been slapped. She felt her eyes immediately growing moist, tears springing up almost instantly, and she began to gnaw her lip from the sudden rush of sorrow she felt.
“Don’t cry,” Chrysalis soothed, leaning her head down and getting herself closer to Fogwalker. “We Virtues compensate those we have wronged and reward those who are loyal to us. Trixie and I came to give you our pledge that we will give you back everything you have lost and then some. We will make things right.”
“Does that pay Garlic his soldier’s salary?” Fogwalker said bitterly, glaring at Chrysalis as she spoke. “Does that allow his family to have a little comfort after a lifetime of backbreaking work?” she questioned, her brows furrowed with anger as the mare stared at the former changeling queen.
“We have not yet spoken with Flim and Flam on this issue, but we have spoken to Derpy. We would like to have Garlic become our champion. We feel that the common earth pony would be a good champion for the Virtues. Changes need to take place. Our society needs to grow. We feel that a good first step is sponsoring an earth pony as our champion. Also… there is another matter, one we have discussed with Flim and Flam,” Trixie said, trying to explain everything and knowing there was so much more to explain.
“There is the issue of Baron Big Mac. He was so named for the grip of fear that he kept over his own kind. It was Garlic who brought him to justice. Many of the earth ponies demand some kind of representation, they want their own champion, and we Virtues feel that it is long overdue that the earth ponies have some of kind of actual nobility in their ranks,” Chrysalis said in a low voice, looking down on Fogwalker with worry.
“To this end, we have discussed making Garlic an actual Baron. It is practically a meaningless title, but it is a start. We pushed for something better, but the Clan Council would barely even listen to us as it was. The various clan heads all insist that earth ponies have no concept of rule and serve society best as farmers and labourers,” Trixie explained, still feeling a little jittery about the centaur with the chamber pot.
“A Baron is little more than a landowner with the barest bit of peerage. But we mean to give the earth ponies hope. We want Garlic to be… a figurehead. We’ve even been working on securing him a keep in the outer rim territory. The Pegasi Clan Council has already stated that they would offer no support of such a venture, but we feel that the Clan Council has a lot to fear about the earth ponies becoming political,” Chrysalis said, looking around the room at the four companions, her eyes coming to rest upon the sobbing earth pony last.
“I don’t know what to say,” Fogwalker said, shaking her head.
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Oh good the virtues actually owned up that this was partly their fault too.
This chapter is great. Glad to see that the Virtues can get scolded.
Great insight on the political and social situation of mirror equestria. I was willing to ask in a while: THIS Equestria is the same where Chaseverse´s Celestia found her Sombra lover ?
5378412
No. She's sterile. Remember?
This has no connection to The Chase.
5378414
Right, forgot that ! Thanks.
A great chapter.
It's either a capital 'M' there or you replace the exclamation mark with a comma.
Charging
really like this so far hope you continue with it, had to take a break on the chase but i might start back up on it soon lol