Helen Juwel

by Kawat3ngusan

Ein guter Großvater

Ein guter Großvater

A good grandfather

It had already been a year since the death of Braune Pflanze, and Helen was already seven years old, but Helen missed her father, but her mother always told her that her father was watching her from Pony Paradise and that he always loved her, her grandfather Hunk consoled her too, however Helen was always busy, she helped her mother with both the housework and the cooking, and then sometimes she helped her grandfather with the garden, the cows, and the stall in the village, and despite these commitments she always managed to read something, sometimes there were friars who came to the village to sell books, and Hunk bought them especially for his niece.

One day Hunk was talking to Gelbes while Helen was tending the garden.

-"I still think about Braune's words, when he described to me his killer"-

-“Bitte, denk nicht wieder an diesen Schlingel (Please don't think about that scoundrel again), I don't want Helen to hear us again about that unicorn that killed her father“-

-“But if I find him, I will kill him, and then in this way I would eliminate a member of the Black Feather“-

-“Please, Hunk, don't do it, we need you, and then if you kill one, the others will come to kill you“-

-“But I have to find him, he killed your husband, and my new son“-

-“But what happens if a group of those thieves surround you and kill you? What are Helen and I going to do without you?”-

-“What did you think? Could I live forever? Sooner or later I would have died of old age“-

-“When that day comes, Helen and I will see what to do, but you're here now, and that's what's important“-

-“The biggest problem is that I wouldn't want to leave you alone, and you will also be defenceless“-

-“That's true, we can't fight, but if something should happen, we can always turn to the royal guards“-

-“They are all corrupted ponies or unicorns, they don't help poor people, unless they have friendships among the poor, and unfortunately I don't have any, since there is still someone who judges me for my past as a thief”-

-“They're just idiots, they don't know your heart, anyway I'm going back inside to cook some more“-

-“Ich stimme zu (I agree) I think I will help Helen with the cows“-

-"Sometimes I wish you didn't go so far from home, I'd rather be able to see my Helen, but the thought of you protecting her makes me feel good"-

-“Good, see you later then“-.

Hunk took his three cows and brought Helen with him, as was her custom, they drove the cows into the fields around the city to graze them, they did it in the morning or in the afternoon.

But what Gelbes Mehl didn't know is that Hunk had been teaching Helen for a few months how to use the dagger, they kept it hidden from Gelbes, because she didn't want Helen to use weapons, however, Hunk didn't teach Helen to use the dagger to avenge her father's death, he trained her to defend herself against the dangers outside the walls.

The two of them always went to a field with various trees, where Helen learned fighting stances, just like Hunk did in his youth, at first Helen was not happy either learning to fight or lying to her mother, but one day when she and Hunk were taking the cows to pasture, Helen saw a huge spider in a tree, she took Hunk's dagger and killed him, first she stabbed him in the abdomen, then with a quick movement she managed to cut him in two.

From that moment Hunk understood that Helen had talent in using the dagger, but she had to train her secretly, as her mother would not accept such a thing, but Hunk absolutely wanted to train Helen to fight in case of danger.

He also noticed that Helen was quick to run and fly so he would train her to run around the fields, sometimes Hunk would ask the other farmers to release their pigs, calves and chickens so Helen would train grabbing fast animals, and by doing so she would increase her strength and speed, because this was how Hunk trained as a young pony, and with this method she could fight smart and fast thieves and he could also fight Wechselbalg (Changelings) and other creatures whom he killed together with his companions.

Hunk sat by his cows carving wood while Helen practiced hitting trees with the dagger.

-“That's fine Helen, a little faster“-

-“Ja, it's okay, grandpa“-,

After the first few times Helen didn't mind that training, because in this way she would have protected her mother and grandfather, also because thanks to him and the books she read she was educated about the monsters that roamed Germaneighy, the mountains, the woods, in the plains and sometimes even at night in the cities.

Sometimes Hunk also told her that he had fought against ferocious creatures such as Trolls and Wechselbalg, and if she would one day be alone he advised her to use not only strength but also brain, while he might have been able to hold his own against a Wechselbalg, he sure as Pony hell couldn't fight a big Troll.

-“If you had to run don't think you're a coward, but smart, because the Trolls are big and you wouldn't make it alone, you're still a filly“-

-“Ich bin kein kleines Stutfohlen mehr, jetzt bin ich 7 Jahre alt, (I am no longer a filly, now I am 7 years old)“-

-"You mustn't think you are already strong, first you must be strong in your brain, then in your muscles, your advantage is being a pegasus and therefore you are very fast, moreover you can fly, use your brain often, because you are an intelligent filly and I am sure you will use your brain well in your life“-

-“And how could I use my brain in combat?”-

-"Simple, first you study your enemy, sometimes you have to be quick in making decisions and check the enemy's weak points, then you work out a strategy, I did it too when I was young, for example the Trolls are big and slow, so they can't run fast, so you who are fast have the advantage“-

-“So I should use my brain more than my muscles?”-

-"You have to decide when to use your brain and when your muscles, because to win you have to use both, and not just one of the two"-

-“Okay, then I have to use both“-.

At one point a farmer pony called Hunk to tell him there was a problem, there was an invasion of wolpertingers in the field, Helen asked Hunk what was going on.

-“There are wolpertingers around here, Helen, do you know what they are?”-

-“Ja, they are carnivorous rodent species and they attack ponies as well as cows and chickens“-

-“Then stay here they are dangerous“-

-“But I also want to help, they are just animals, now I'm ready to fight“-

-"I trained you, and I decide when you are ready, you killed two dangerous spiders, but wolpertingers are fast, they scratch and bite, they are not poisonous but you could get some bad wounds, especially if they attack you in group"-

-“But I also want to give a hoof“-,

Hunk tried to explain to Helen that she could be in bad danger, but the pegasus didn't want to hear the reason, so he took the dagger back and left her where she was.

But Helen was stubborn so she followed her grandfather, and saw him and the other farmer pony using daggers and an old sword in the middle of the fields, Helen got closer, but as she got closer to the two ponies something caught her attention , there was a sound of footsteps in the tall grass, Helen turned slowly towards the noise and saw that it was a wolpertinger, just like she had seen in the books, it was a large hybrid animal of various animals, the head was that of a rabbit, the body was that of a squirrel, the legs and wings those of a pheasant, and it also had small deer antlers on its head.

Helen was scared and ran away, but the animal followed her, Helen ran, but then she found herself in front of two other wolpertingers, so she decided to fly, but those beasts also flew, and one of them clawed Helen's hind leg, so she lost her balance and fell on the grass, after that splash, other wolpertingers rushed at her, Hunk realized what was happening and went to help his granddaughter, but Helen got up, pulled another dagger from her pocket and kicked and stabbed around her to hit those beasts, and she succeeded, she hit each of those creatures very fast, first with the dagger then with the kicks, after a while around her there were the bodies of seven wolpertingers .

Hunk was amazed at how fast Helen had moved, and also how strong she was to take down those wolpertingers they were fast and biting, no doubt, she had taught her niece well how to use the dagger, but one question had to do to her.

-“Helen? Where did you get this dagger? What I gave you I took back” – the pegasus was a little hesitant, but she didn't want to lie to her grandfather,

-"I have, I took it from your pocket"-,

Hunk checked his pockets and besides the dagger he had in his hoof he had two in his right pocket, but after Helen's words he saw that there was only one dagger, just the one Helen had in her hoof,

-“And when did you get it?”-

-"Before you left, I saw your pocket and took it"-

-"And how come I didn't notice it?"-

-“You said that I'm fast“-,

Hunk couldn't believe it, as had Helen, a filly so young to have taken his dagger without him noticing? To him, an old pony but still an expert thief.

-“Where did you learn to make such quick gestures? Who taught you?"-

-“Nobody, I taught myself collecting the eggs from the chickens, and the fruit from the trees“-

-“Did you teach yourself just with eggs and fruit?”-

-“The hens always pecked at my hoof when I was collecting eggs, so I always tried to be faster with both hooves, they don't peck me anymore I'm so fast that I take the eggs while they sleep“-

-"I understand, usually I collect the eggs, the hens know me, your mother instead puts the food outside to let them out and your father did it too, instead you used your own method"-

-"I was wrong?"-

-“Listen to me Helen, have you ever taken something that doesn't belong to you without asking someone's permission? Let's say, as if I wanted to steal it“-

-"Nein, I only did it with fruit, eggs, and now with your dagger"-

-"Because you were so fast that I didn't notice, I may be old, but I'm still an experienced thief, instead you took my dagger so fast that if you didn't tell me I wouldn't have known, you must promise me that you will not use this technique to steal"-

-“I know that stealing is wrong, so I won't do it, so I promise you“-

-"I did it to do good, maybe if I still knew someone from the Roter Specht(Red Woodpecker) you would have been an excellent thief, but I don't want your mother to know it"-

-"Seriously? Would I have been a good thief?”

-"Ja, but you needed a little more training, but you would have stolen from the Black Feather and the bad ponies, to donate to the poor ponies, but that's between you and me"-

-"All right"-

-“Now let's go home, take the cows and see if we can put some herbal cream on your wound“-.

So grandpa and grandaughter went home with the cows, Gelbes was glad they were okay, then she saw Hunk putting medicinal cream on Helen's leg.

-“Oh mein Gott (Oh my God) But what happened to Helen?“-, Helen wanted to tell her mother the truth, but Hunk motioned her to shut up and so he spoke,

-"Nothing serious, Helen just fell into a bramble bush and she cut herself, now I'm treating her with this cream that Dr. Hans gave me, you don't have to worry"-

-"Thank goodness, I thought it was worse, it looked like a scratch"-

-“Nein, it's a scratch, but caused by brambles, you don't have to be scared“-.

Gelbes then set the table and food for everyone, but Helen thought about the fact that she was lying to her mother, and she didn't like it, but if she told the truth, her mother would have taken it out on Hunk, and Helen didn't want that, so she preferred to keep quiet.

She only thought about eating the soup, also because they would have eaten cheese afterwards and she liked cheese very much.

The next day, Helen took the cows alone for a walk, but this time she had a dagger, which Hunk had given her, Helen was getting faster with training, she just had to get stronger, she knew that one day her mother would have asked her how she got stronger, but that day wasn't today, she still used that dagger to do other things like pruning branches and carving wood, in fact one of the things she had learned by herself was to look at Hunk like he was carving wood, it was enough for her to look and she memorized and learned, it seemed that her intelligence increased with everything she learned, at that moment she was carving a cow from a branch.

At the end of the work Helen created a small wooden cow, sometimes she thought how nice it would be to get out of the city and walk around, but her mother told her it wasn't worth it, because there were dangers both in the forests and in the plains , and you had to be well armed to survive, but Helen wanted to see what the world was like outside the city, the only way to learn new things was to read the books she had, she read them and reread them, and then she bought some new ones.

Then from a distance she saw some hooded ponies that were going to one of the farms near theirs, Helen thought they were thieves, but she wasn't ready to face bigger ponies than her, so she stayed there, because she didn't want to get in trouble, she thought that it was better to stay there and look after the cows.

So she just watched the cows and continued to carve wood.

Some time passed and Helen saw her grandfather calling her from afar, called the cows together and returned to the farm.

When she got home she saw that Hunk was upset, she wanted to know what happened,

-“What's going on, grandpa?”-

-"I saw it Helen, I saw it"-

-"Who?"-

-“The blue unicorn, with the cutie mark of the dagger and the snake, the one who killed your father“-

-"Seriously? Was it one of the hooded ponies?”

-"Ja, it was really him, I tried to kill him, but he was faster, and he went away, I'm sure he will come back, it's a matter of time, I'm sure he will come back now that I know who he is"-

-“Oh nein, what should we do?”-

-"We have to close the doors and windows properly, that unicorn will come back, and I'll be ready, don't do anything hasty, I'll be the one to kill him"-

-"But it's dangerous, grandpa"-

-“Ja, I know, but I still have to make him pay for what he did to your father, and then I'll eliminate a member of the Black Feather“-.

Gelbes Mehl was not happy with the speech that Hunk did to Helen, she didn't want revenge, and she was worried about what happened, so she sent Helen into the bedroom and talked to Hunk.

-“You can't be crazy Hunk, what kind of example do you want to give to Helen?“-

-"I just wanted to avenge her father, make the Black Feather pay, I've always fought against them, and now that I'm old I have the chance to fight again"-

-"You can't make this gesture of pride, what would happen to you if you lost?"-

-"The document for the ownership of the house is in my room anyway, if something happened to me the house would belong to you"-

-"But I don't want you to die"-

-"You have to go on even without me, but you'll see that no one will hurt my family, I won't lose you two too"-

Gelbes Mehl was even more worried, so she closed the doors and windows tightly to prevent anyone from entering, it would have been worse if there had been more thieves, she wanted no one to get hurt so she started praying.

-“Oh Mighty Merciful Pony, don't let anything happen to this family, I can't lose Hunk, after my husband's death I already wouldn't know what to do, and also protect my sweet Helen“-.

It was getting late, and so while Hunk was on watch in her room, Gelbes and Helen went to sleep, but the big pegasus couldn't sleep with the thought that some ponies would come into the house during the night.

Suddenly while she was trying to sleep she felt a bad smell, she went downstairs and went to check, she heard the cows mooing in fear, and Gelbes saw a bad thing, the house was on fire.

She ran to quickly wake Helen up to tell her to run out of her room and then she called Hunk.

-“Hunk? Komm schon, das Haus brennt (Hunk? Hurry, the house is on fire)“-

-“Was? How can it be? “-

-“Don't think and let's run outside, Helen has already run out“-,

So Gelbes and Hunk ran outside,

Gelbes ran to hug Helen and all three saw their poor house on fire,

-“How could this have happened?”- asked Gelbes,

but Hunk already knew the answer

-"I know, it was that blue unicorn of the Black Feather, to get us out of the way he set fire to our house"-

-“ We could have died, thank goodness I couldn't sleep and I smelled the smoke“-

-“One moment“-, Hunk remembered one thing,

-“What's up, Hunk?”-

-"My document where I leave the farm, I left it next to my bed, without that document the farm could be sold, I have to go and get it back"-

-"You're crazy? You will burn yourself“-

-"It will mean that I will throw myself into the well as soon as I run out, but that document is needed, I have to go immediately"-

-“HUNK, NEIN“-, but Hunk ran inside the house to his room he had to retrieve that document, Gelbes and Helen were worried, so the mother took a bucket of water from the well as soon as she would see Hunk come out.

But after almost a minute Hunk still hadn't come out, but then a scream was heard inside the house, it was Hunk's voice,

Helen got scared,

-“Grandpa? Grandpa where are you? "-, The filly wanted to enter the house, but her mother stopped her,

-“Don't move Helen, it's dangerous“-

-“Aber Großvater ist in Gefahr, ich muss ihm helfen (But grandfather is in danger, I have to help him“-

-“HELEN“-,

Helen managed to escape her mother's grasp and ran inside the house, she saw that Hunk was not in the kitchen, nor on the stairs, then she ran into the room where he had gone and what she saw shocked her.

Hunk was lying on the floor with blood, and next to him was a blue unicorn with a cape, he had Hunk's document in his hoof and burned it with the flames of the bed.

-“Du ... du ... du hast meinen Großvater getötet, MÖRDER (You....you...you killed my grandfather, MURDERER)“-

Helen went at him with the dagger that Hunk gave him, but the unicorn dodged her, however, Helen hit him hard on the hoof making a wound, then she tried to rip off his long cloak and saw his cutie mark, a dagger and a snake, it was he who killed her father, the unicorn spoke to her,

-“You saw me, and you saw my cutie mark, I just killed Hunk, but I'll come back to kill you“-, having said that, the unicorn ran away from the window.

Helen was trying to bring Hunk to life, but he didn't say a word, he wasn't even breathing and it was too heavy for her to carry him down, so she ran out of the room and back to her mom.

Poor Helen cried as she explained what had happened upstairs, and Gelbes hugged her tightly to keep her calm.

Later some pegasi guards arrived who used a cloud to put out the fire, the animals were fine, but unfortunately Hunk was already dead, even if Gelbes called Doctor Hans, he said there was nothing to do, Hunk had been hit in a vital spot, and the worst of it was that the killer wanted to kill Helen.

Gelbes didn't know if it was wise to stay there, even though the farmhouse was damaged by the fire, and sadly some guards said they could not stay there, as Hunk had died and the papers to inherit the farm had been burned they could no longer live there, Gelbes considered going to the notary to get a copy of the papers, but sadly discovered that the office of the notary had burned down and that many documents had been lost.

Gelbes didn't know what to do, they had lost everything, the only thing left to do was bury poor Hunk, Doctor Hans was also present at the funeral, Helen cried a lot.

-“Weine nicht Helen, Großvater ist jetzt im PonyHimmel (Don't cry Helen, now grandpa is in Ponyparadise)“-

-“Und was machen wir jetzt, Mama? Wo werden wir wohnen?(And now what do we do mom? Where will we live?)“-

-“I don't know, Helen, we'll think of something“-.

To be Continued….

My Little Pony by Lauren Faust & Hasbro