Helen Juwel

by Kawat3ngusan

Das kloster

Das kloster

The monastery

During the journey there were dangers, but fortunately Axel knew how to avoid them, in the case of the Wechselbalg however, Axel had no difficulty in defeating them all.

One evening they camped under an oak tree, Axel and Helen ate, while Stachel instead set about looking for stones which he ate.

-“Stachel, don't eat stones they hurt you“-

-“Actually, rock dragons have no problem eating stones, they are like gems to them“-

-“Are you sure Axel?”-

-"Trust me, in the monastery we have many rock dragons who live with us and sometimes help us, there are many of them, we offer them hospitality, and they in return defend us from intruders and help us, there are many of medium size, and a big one, but he's lazy, but he throws certain flare-ups"-

-“So then you know rock dragons well?”-

-“Ja, I lived there for a long time, I think Stachel will like being with them, so you can keep him“-

-"But I don't understand how he fired that flame at that assassin, he's still small"-

-"He did it when you hugged him, he evidently saw you in danger and he wanted to save you"-

-"In fact, I can't get him to do it again"-

-“You have to wait for the right moment, rather can you defend yourself? You didn't seem very prepared against that unicorn, compared to when you faced the Wechselbalg“-

-"I…never fought stronger enemies, Grandpa Hunk once told me that if I had the chance I could become a good member of the Red Woodpecker, but I still don't know how to fight well"-

-“So Hunk said this?“-.

Axel stopped for a moment to think, Helen didn't understand why that silence, but she didn't have to wait long because Axel asked her

-“Helen? Would you like to be part of the Red Woodpecker?” –

-"Why? Do you think me capable enough? Besides, I don't think my mother would approve of me becoming a thief."

-"but you will be a thief who will do good, we fight the Black Feather and steal from the selfish and the undeserving, and give everything to the needy poor, Hunk and Father Arthur were among the best, and now…now I'm here together to many other unicorns and pegasi, in the monastery occasionally members of the Red Woodpecker from various parts of Germaneighy come to visit us, but for the moment there are only three of us in the monastery, and that is me and two of my friends, a unicorn and a Pegasus, I'll teach you everything, you told me you've already dealt with your fast hoof“-

-“Ja, I took Grandpa Hunk's dagger without him noticing“-

-“Although old he still had good reflexes, so this is already a plus point for you, when we get to Eichel monastery, I'll try to teach you how to use daggers, and improve your thieving techniques, and maybe they'll teach you, also Tom and Astrid“-

-"Who are they?"-

-"They are a brother and a sister, they are my friends thieves, he is good with the sword, she is good with the bow, currently...it's true I didn't tell you, now I am the boss of the Red Woodpecker"-

-"It's you?"-

-"It was Father Arthur himself who made me boss, and my motto is don't leave any of my companions behind, if you are in danger I will save you, after all your mother wanted you to be strong"-

-“I wish I could be strong, so I would stand up for myself, and one day I will kill that assassin“-

-“The first part is good, but the second part is bad, you don't have to train for revenge, it may happen that a bad guy deserves to die if he's going to kill you, but it's worth killing monsters more than ponies, believe me, I'm not telling you , but Father Rufus would tell you, and I know him well, after all he has been my father all these years, you have to trust him“-

-“ When will we get to the monastery?“-

-“Tomorrow, we just have to cross a couple of lands and we arrived at Eichel, and then straight to the monastery, now try to sleep, I will keep watch“-.

Helen fell asleep on the wagon, and Stachel sat next to her, who knows what it would have been like for her to go and live in the monastery.

When dawn came, Axel resumed his journey with Helen still asleep, and he too was eager to get a good night's sleep once he returned to the monastery.

Here they came to Eichel, it was a pretty big town, much bigger than Kieselstein, with a big castle, and taverns and lots of nice houses, and on the right side a big monastery surrounded by walls, you could see the building as it was large and nearby was a beautiful church, Axel thought of waking Helen to show her the monastery, and she was immediately surprised at how big it was.

Axel tried to get to the monastery immediately to see what he called his family, and when he reached the door he opened it with magic, entered, then rang a bell near the door, then turned to Helen.

-“ Wait for me here, I'll go talk to them, so I'll prepare them for the surprise“-

-"All right"-.

Axel approached the building

-“Hey people, it's me, Axel Jewel, I'm back“-.

The door to the building opened and three ponies came out and were happy to see Axel.

The first was a big dark brown pony, without a mane, he was a friar and wore a brown habit, he approached Axel and hugged him,

-“ oooh Axel, finally, praise the Merciful One, my prayers have been heard, my son, how long I have waited for you“-

-“Father Rufus, I will never be old to refuse his big hugs“-, then a dark blue unicorn arrived, with a light green mane, he had a goatee and was wearing a shirt with a brown cape, and he too hugged Axel,

-“Willkommen zurück Axel(Welcome back Axel), it's good to see you again“-

-“It's good to see you too, Tom“-, the third pony was a light green pegasus, with a dark blue mane, her tail was partly green and partly blue, she had freckles on her forehead, and she wore a shirt with yellow maths.

-“How was the trip Axel? “-

-"It went well Astrid, actually I should tell you about something, first of all now we have a cart"-,

The friar saw the cart,

-“Axel? Who did you steal that cart from?”

-"I didn't steal it, it belonged to Hunk"-

-“Ah, and how is your grandfather?“-,

Helen managed to hear that sentence and was surprised, then the friar saw it and asked Axel,

-"but sorry Axel, who is that filly? Don't tell me you kidnapped a filly?”

-“Was? Nein, I haven't kidnapped anyone, she is….well, it's a very long story, and I wanted to ask dear father if it is possible to keep her with us“-

-“Was? Do you want to keep a filly here?”-

-"Why not? Don't we host poor families here?”-

-"Ja, but…. She is alone, where are her parents?"-

-“They died, as did her grandfather, who was also my grandfather, Hunk took care of her, but he was killed by the Black Feather in a fire“-

-“Oh poor Hunk, just when you decided to visit him, he died“-

-"Father Rufus, if you are really pure of heart, you cannot deny hospitality to that filly, if you knew her story as I do"-, Astrid intervened,

-“Nein, Axel, a monastery is not a suitable place for a filly, and I don't want any foals around here“-

-“Come on Astrid, don't be like that, I'm sure if you met Helen you'd like her, she's so sweet“-

-“In my opinion you should take her to an orphanage, so she will be adopted“-

-"I can't… .the poor thing is in danger, the Black Feather is looking for her, she saw the cutie mark of one of the members who killed her father, Hunk, and Dr. Hans"-,

Father Rufus was frightened,

-“Dr. Hans was killed?“-

-"Believe me Father Rufus, I did everything possible, but I didn't make it, poor Helen's mother was also poisoned"-

-“Oh poor baby“-, then spoke Tom,

-"Poor thing, if she saw her family die then we should keep her with us, and protect her from the Black Feather, it never entered here anyway"-,

But Astrid was against it,

-“not at all, I don't want colts or fillies in here“-

Axel interrupted her,

-“Stop it Astrid, we know very well that you hate foals“-

-"ja, and in fact I don't want her here"-

-“I can't take her anywhere else, if the Black Feather finds her, she's dead, you want to have her on your conscience, and then… .I promised her to become a member of the Red Woodpecker“-,

all three ponies were surprised especially Astrid who replied,

- "Are you crazy? Did you promise her to become our member?”-

-"And she' managed to steal or rather sneak a dagger from Hunk, and only I could do it to such a degree"-

-“Father Rufus? Don’t you say anything?”

-“We cannot say no to a poor little sheep who is desperately looking for a flock, the Merciful says: Knock and it will be opened to you“-

-“But are you sincere? Do you really want that filly to become a thief like us?”

-"I don't want it, but it will be up to her to choose, and then I remind you dear Astrid, that I welcomed three little foals here at the monastery who needed help, and what did I do?"-

-“Umpf, you took them in and raised them as your own children“-

-“And who are these lucky ponies?”-

-“It's me, Tom and Axel“-,

Father Rufus turned to Axel

-“Go and get that filly, she must be hungry after such a journey“-.

Axel approached the cart,

-“Hey, Helen, I convinced Father Rufus……“-

-"Why didn’t you tell me? “-

-“Was?”-

-“Why didn't you tell me that Hunk was your grandfather? He said he hadn't seen his grandchildren for a long time, so you abandoned him?”

-“nein, I hadn't abandoned him, but every now and then I visited him, but without him seeing me, and now that he's dead…listen, I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you that he was my grandfather, I know, I'm a terrible nephew, say what you want, but now come with me and I'll introduce you to my family“-.

Helen looked around and saw two rock dragons as described by Axel, it was medium sized, there was also a female and a large one that looked like a giant tortoise with a shell made of rocks, Helen told Stachel to go and see the dragons, then she followed Axel.

Axel brought her close to Father Rufus, who looked at her,

-"Hello baby, what's your name?"-

-“He….Helen Pflanze“-

-“Helen? A really nice name, come with me, you will surely be hungry“-,

Father Rufus accompanied Helen to the dining hall, while Astrid instead spoke to Axel,

-"Look, I understand why you're doing it, it's because of your sister"-

-"Don't mention my sister"-

-“But it's the truth, right? It's to stop feeling guilty about what you've done in the past."

-"Well, maybe yes, but that little filly needs help, and I want to help her, come inside and I'll tell you her story, come you too, Tom"-

-"I’m here"-.

So all five found themselves in the monastery canteen, Father Rufus gave some good bread, cheese and a cup of milk to Helen, who, being very hungry, immediately drank from her cup.

And while she was eating Axel told them clearly everything that Helen had told him about her, about her arrival in Kieselstein, about Hunk, about her childhood and unfortunately about all the misfortunes she had gone through.

Tom was moved,

-"It's a very sad story, she had given new life to poor Hunk, who had welcomed her as a new niece, she had a new family, and instead the Black Feather took everything from her"-,

Father Rufus was also moved,

-"We can't abandon her, the Black Feather has never come here, so she's safe, we could use a couple more hooves"-, Astrid was always against

-“Father Rufus, aren't you really going to let her stay here?”-

-“And where? In the orphanage? Axel is right if in case they find her she would be safer here with us than anywhere else"-

-"But where do we put her?"-

-“We have a lot of free rooms, both for the friars who come to visit us and for hosting poor families, but I suggest not to leave her alone, so I think it would be better for her if she stays in the room with you“-

-“IN THE ROOM WITH ME? But Father have you perhaps gone mad? Should I share my room with her?”-

-"Why not? You have two beds“-

-"Ja, but I use one for my friends who come to visit me"-

-“But no other member of the Woodpecker has stopped to sleep here for months, so it's a great place for Helen and then you're a mare, a female, so you could develop a bond with her, you could be like an older sister for her"-

-"I won't develop anything with her"-

-“That's enough, Astrid, you have to stop, always thinking about the past will get you nowhere, Helen will sleep with you, I said so and so it will be, I'm still the one in command after Father Arthur, so what I say goes done, got it?”

Astrid kept silent, never in her life had Father Rufus yelled at her, so she had to accept Father's conditions.

-“ Okay, Vater, Helen bleibt bei mir im Zimmer (Okay Father, Helen will stay in the room with me)“-

-“And I want you to stop acting like this, you have suffered in the past, but Helen is not responsible for what you suffered“-,

Axel interrupted Father Rufus,

-"Father? But…does you also do it to eliminate feelings of guilt?”-

-“Was?“-, in that moment Astrid understood,

-“Wait a moment, you too Father? Now I understand why you’re already attached to Helen" -

-“ Of course, the poor thing is defenseless and without a family“-

-"Remember that you really can't tell lies, you are doing the same thing as Axel, you want to protect that filly for the mistakes you made in the past, especially because her name is Helen"-

-“Astrid, I won't allow you to raise your voice“-

-"But it's the truth, you only do it for a selfish reason, you want to stop feeling guilty about the mistake you made, and therefore trying to help this filly try to forgive yourself"-

-“Ok, you're right, but it's also true that the little one needs protection, would you like to deny it? Have you forgotten all that I have done for you? And your brother?"-,

Tom answered and sat Astrid down again,

-“Nein Vater, we have never forgotten that, that is why we have never abandoned you“-,

Father Rufus calmed down too,

-“You are free to go whenever you want, you have no debts to me“-

-"but we are a family, that's why this place is not just our base but also our home, we could never abandon you Father, you raised us like a real father"-

-“Do you see Astrid? Your brother Tom is wiser than you“-, Astrid snorted,

-“I was the smart one among the three of us once“-, Axel stopped everyone because he noticed something,

-"Stop everyone, what happened to Helen?"-,

Indeed as busy as they were arguing no one noticed that Helen was missing, Axel was worried,

-“Where could she have ended up? I don't want Astrid's speeches to have frightened or demoralized her." So all four of them started looking for her outside the canteen and called her.

At one point Father Rufus noticed something in his pockets that was missing,

-“Hey Axel? Did you by any chance take my set of keys?”

-“Why should I Father? Those are the keys to the library"-

-“Then maybe it was Astrid“-

-“But what does Father say? If I need the keys to the library, I'll ask for them"-

-“ But once you stole them“-

-“But I was a filly and I liked books, well, I still like them“-, then Father Rufus reflected,

-“Now that I think about it…..Axel said that Helen likes books“-.

So the friar went to see the door that was near the canteen and saw that it was open, he went in and in fact he found Helen inside, who was seeing all those beautiful shelves of books as far as the eye could see, she was doing nothing, she was just looking at those books, he approached her.

-“Hallo Helen (Hello Helen)“-,

Helen wasn't surprised, she had heard the friar coming, so she just turned to him, then she went back to looking at the books,

-“ Oh, hallo Vater Rufus (Oh, hello Father Rufus)“-

-"What are you doing here?"-

-“I don't know, when Axel brought me here and I noticed that door and wondered what was inside“-

-“And tell me the truth, did you steal my keys?”-

-“Ja, you can take them back“-, Helen took the bunch of keys and handed it to the friar, and he took it back,

-“When did you take them from me?“-

-“When you argued with that nasty pegasus“-

-“And how did you know that these keys belonged to this place?”-

-“I didn't know, I just noticed those keys and thought that one of them might be the right one“-

-“ Only Astrid managed to steal my library keys without me noticing“-

-“What is a library?”-

-“It is this place, a place where many and many books are collected, I often buy them in the city or in other cities, while others are written by other friars, are you disappointed? Were you hoping to find something else in it?”

-“Nein, to tell the truth, I'm happy, I had never seen so many books, to be able to read, to read again“-

-“Axel told me that you like to read, and he told me that your mother wanted an education for you, and that old Hunk would have liked to bring you here“-, Helen hugged the friar and cried,

-"Why? Why are they dead? Why didn't the Merciful Pony help us?“-

-“Don't say that Helen, the Merciful Pony is always watching over us, it's not his fault your family died, it's all the Black Feather's fault, but you see the Big Merciful Pony allowed you to come here, he sent Axel who stood up for you and brought you here, otherwise you would have already died, now listen, do you really like books so much?”-

-“Ja“-

-"And would you like to get an education, so you will please your mother who is in Ponyparadise?"-

-“Ja“-

-“So let's do one thing, the other friars and I will be your teachers, I'll teach you everything I can, you won't have to spend a penny, you'll study together with the other city colts who come here to study, and you'll also help me with the chores monastery, we also have a farm here, you will help me with the cows, the sheep, the hens, and also the vegetable garden, here we also take care of the rock dragons who protect us from various intruders, and on other occasions you will also help me keep the church clean, and once a day I will take you to church with me, you will eat with us at the canteen, and you can read all the books you want , I will also teach you some languages and since you need to defend yourself, Axel will train you“-

Helen stopped crying, and she was happy,

-“Does this…does this mean I can stay here, even though Astrid hates me?”-

-"It's not true that she hates you, she's just a little jealous because she was the only filly in the monastery, she likes books too, she's just a little jealous of you, because now she thinks I won't love her anymore now that there you are"-

-“Danke, Father Rufus“-,

-“I have always been like a father to Axel, Tom and Astrid, I raised them more than the other friars, that's why they respect and love me like a father, and maybe I could be a father to you too“-.

Father Rufus took Helen out of the library and outside there were Axel and Tom who saw them, Axel congratulated the friar,

-“Sehr gut Pater Rufus, er hat sie wiedergefunden (Very good Father Rufus, you found her)“-

-" She was just curious to see what was behind that door simple curiosity, and I have already made a promise to her, I will make her do the same things I did with you to raise you"-

-“Ach, won't you turn her into a perfect church filly?”-

-“Not really, but in a perfect studious and intelligent filly“-, Tom replied,

-“I'm happy, so we'll have another Astrid“-, Axel wasn't happy,

-"I hope not, it's already too much to have one of her like her"-, Tom approached Helen,

-“Hey Helen, Axel told me that he wants to train you with the dagger“-

-"It is true"-

-"I'm much better with the sword, I teach the colts of rich families, I could teach you too, so you'll be safe from the Wechselbalg and other monsters you might encounter, trust me, if you'll be my student you'll become strong in no time" -

-“Ich hoffe es, aber ich habe kein Schwert (I hope so, but I don't have a sword)“-

-“We'll start with wooden swords, then one day I'll make you a sword just for you, if you're already good enough“-

-“Danke Tom“-.

Just then a bang was heard from part of the monastery, Father Rufus knew what it was,

-“Nein, it's Father Sylvester again with his experiments“-, all four went to check the back of the monastery, and they saw a big shack from which smoke was coming out, they entered it, and inside there was an old friar pony with gray fur, a white beard and glasses, Rufus spoke to him,

-“Sylvester? How many times have I told you that you mustn't do these things because you would put someone in danger? “-

-“Dear Rufus, this is science, without science it cannot go on, I have a lot of things to experiment“-

-“ Aber wie oft muss ich dir sagen, dass du vorsichtig sein sollst? (But how many times do I have to tell you to be careful?)“-

-“I'm paying attention, but I have to do new experiments“-.

Helen looked around, it was full of stills, test tubes and glass containers that she had never seen, there were various tables, and she saw small crystals of different colors, and then she saw a book, many pages were written, the one that she saw were experiments written in various details, other pages were blank, Sylvester approached her,

-"Be careful baby, I wrote this book, it's my science notes"-

-“Did you write it? What is it about?”

-“Don't you know science? By the way who are you? I may be old but my memory isn't bad yet“-, Rufus introduced her,

-“She is Helen Pflanze, she is an orphan who will stay with us from today, and she is a filly who loves books“-

-"Interesting, so you don't know what science is?"-

-“Nein“-

-"See, now I'll explain what I do here after morning mass and meals, here I experiment"-

-“ Und diese Kristalle? (And these crystals?)“-

-“ Rock dragons give them to me, sometimes magic crystals grow from their scales, they are the descendants of crystal dragons, but they are not evil and they only know how to use the power of the rock, usually they eat those crystals…. “-

-“Disgusting, it's like I eat my feather“-

-“Yes, indeed it is a bit disgusting, but these crystals are magical, and if used with other crystals you can obtain different magical effects“-,

Helen seemed quite interested in what the old pony was saying, so Rufus, Axel and Tom walked away slowly,

-“I always thought that Sylvester didn't have his head and that none of us would go near him“-

-"And instead Father Rufus was wrong, he found someone to talk about science with, indeed given how interested Helen seemed maybe she could take her as an assistant like he tried to do with Astrid"-

-“Oh Eternal Pony, if it happens I hope Helen doesn't get hurt“-

-“I'm sure Helen will pay more attention than Father Sylvester“-.

At one point Tom noticed Astrid calling to him.

So he came over to her

-“Oh Astrid, dear little sister, we found her“-

-"I understood this, and I also heard that you offered to teach her how to use a sword, why such generosity?"-

-“ Vielleicht hast du es nicht verstanden (Maybe you don't understand), she stole the dagger from Hunk, and she stole the library keys from Father Rufus, like you did, maybe that filly has some talent, she can be a new member of the Red Woodpecker, and I want to help her, I'll help her use the sword, and then…..you could help her shoot the bow“-

-“Forget it, I won't do anything like that, she will never be a member of ours and she won't be a student of mine, it's already been a long time since I'll have to sleep with her“-

-“ Why are you so mean? Why do you hate foals?“-

-"Leave me alone"-.

Helen spent part of the day observing the monastery, and she would have liked to see it all, but then it was evening, and it was time to go to sleep, Father Rufus ordered Astrid to accompany her to her room.

And the green pegasus obeyed, she took her to a large room with a table and several candles, a mirror on the wall and a wooden cross and two large beds.

Helen went to the bed indicated to her by Astrid,

-“Wow, it's soft, how nice, it's been such a beautiful day I met all of you, and now I'm looking forward to learning a lot of things, and……I would like to meet you too Astrid“-,

but the great pegasus with disgust answered her,

-"I don't have much to tell you, I'm just the best archer of the Woodpecker, and I warn you, don't hope to become a member of our gang, because you're too young, how old are you?"-

-"Seven, but in a couple of months I'll be eight"-

-“Look, just because I have to obey Father Rufus, doesn't mean you have to be my friend, leave me alone and maybe I won't hit you“-

-"But why are you acting like this with me?"-

-“None of your business, and now, good night“-

-“ But I wanted to be your friend“-

-“ Ich sagte GUTE NACHT (I said GOODNIGHT) “-

-“ In Ordnung, gute Nacht (All right, good night)“-.

Despite Astrid's bad behavior, Helen was happy to have met the others, Father Rufus seemed like a good hearted pony and Tom too, Father Sylvester was a little crazy, but very intelligent, and who knows how many things she would have learned in that monastery.

To be continued…….

My Little Pony by Lauren Faust & Hasbro