After the Mirror Crisis, Equestria rebuilds. The Royal Pony Sisters, now a force for good, work to redeem themselves and earn the trust of their subjects, bringing law and order to the land. To help them, the The Four Virtues have pledged their aid. Flim and Flam, the Virtue of Fairness, Trixie, the alicorn that is the Virtue of Humility, Chrysalis, the Virtue of Love, and Derpy, the Virtue of Wisdom.
Serving the Virtues are two orders, the Guardians and the Rangers, ponies dedicated to restoring law and order to the land, hunting down and capturing The Malcontent Six, also known as the Erroneous Equines.
Garlic Van der Grease, a Preserver, the lowest rank of Guardian, and Fogwalker Fetlocks, a Scout, the lowest rank of Ranger, have been brought together to meet with Princess Celestia the Redeemed, to perform some task or another.
Little do they know that their task is to guard Princess Celestia's first ever faithful student, Sunrise Surprise as she goes off on a dangerous mission for her teacher.
On his way to the palace of the Royal Pony sisters, Garlic the earth pony paused to look at the bounty board. The first act of the Royal Pony sisters to redeem themselves was a promise to hunt down and capture the The Malcontent Six, the Erroneous Equines. Applejack had been captured, but the whereabouts about the others was still unknown. Twilight Sparkle, the infamous unicorn witch, had gone off with the once good but now fallen King Sombra to become his dark apprentice, or so the local rumours claimed.
A lot of ponies still did not trust the Royal Pony sisters after the many years of abuse, but the Foreverfree Forest County had become one of the few safe places in Equestria after the redemption of the Royal Pony Sisters by the mirror travelers and their Elements of Harmony. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had done much to make up for the harm they had done, and a few ponies were willing to give them a chance.
There were the usual warnings about timber wolves, a freshly posted notice about a hydra that had been terrorising the farms on the edge of the county, and a slightly yellowed old notice about giant spiders.
Not much had changed.
Except for one piece of paper that concerned Garlic a great deal when he spotted it down the corner, a small scrap of paper with the words “Missing: our hero, Sir Discord, AKA, Captain Goodguy. Reward offered for knowledge of his whereabouts.”
Sighing, Garlic realised that everything truly was being turned upside down in this world since the Mirror Crisis. The world had nearly ended, or so some said, and now the effects seemed to be traveling outwards like ripples in a pond.
Shaking his head, Garlic departed and continued on his way, hurrying towards the palace gates. Near the gates was a recently constructed water fountain with the Magistrates known as Flim and Flam in statue form, the Virtues of Fairness, the brothers who safeguarded the law and had officially forgiven the Royal Pony Sisters in exchange for their solemn promise to atone. Both statues stood on a giant pair of scales, each brother standing on one, keeping the scales balanced between the two of them.
He turned, entered the gates, and came into the palace courtyard, which was filled with ponies going about their day. Chrysalis was here, the Virtue of Love, and it looked as though she was conducting a marriage ceremony. Garlic snorted as she passed. Marriage was for chumps. The ponies who had lived in Sombra’s once great city of Canterlot practiced marriage, but for the rest of the ponies who had survived in the mostly lawless Equestria, marriage had fallen into ill favour, although it seemed to be making a comeback, and Chrysalis, the Virtue of Love, championed its cause.
Clearing the courtyard and passing the second gate, Garlic began to pass the great library hall when he heard a voice calling out to him, shouting out his name in a loud clear voice, begging him to stop.
“Garlic Van der Grease, please, a moment of your time!”
Halting mid stride, Garlic sighed. He had somewhere to be, he had been summoned, and how, it seemed that he was being delayed. He hoped that Princess Celestia would understand. He slowly turned to look at Derpy, the Virtue of Wisdom.
“You need something?” Garlic inquired, raising one eyebrow to look at the bespectacled grey pegasus mare.
“I was hoping to ask you a favour,” Derpy replied sheepishly, an awkward smile upon her face. “I misplaced my book. I just don’t know what went wrong.”
“And you want me to get it?” Garlic questioned. This was never how an adventure started, being sent off on some meaningless quest to fetch some mundane item like a book. Dealing with the absurd was a trying experience. He was a Preserver now, the lowest rank of the Guardians of Virtue, and as such, he was unable to say no if one of the Virtues requested something from him. He had worked very hard to get to his current position and if he had to fetch a book, then he would fetch a book.
“Yes please,” Derpy responded. “I left it in the Cairn Courtyard near the mirror monument I think.”
“I will do as you ask,” Garlic sighed as he turned and headed for the steps that would allow him to walk along the top of the walls along the crenellations, which was the fastest way to get where he was going.
“Thank you Garlic, you’re so very sweet, I’ll make sure to tell your dear mother, Red Onion Pie, just how sweet her little colt has grown up to be,” Derpy called out as Garlic departed.
Garlic almost smiled. At least his father, Gasser Van der Grease, would be happy that Red Onion Pie would have something to be proud about. The Pie family family had fallen on hard times since Pinkamena Pie had soiled the family’s good name with her lawlessness and her cruelty, and Garlic would do anything to restore his mother’s good name of Pie.
Walking along the top of the wall, Garlic watched the hustle and bustle below as he made his way to the Cairns Courtyard where the mirror monument was. There was going to be another Choosing soon, Flim and Flam would announce new Preservers and new Scouts, the lowest ranks of Guardians and Rangers. It took a dedication to do good, selfless acts, and a great deal of hard work to even be considered, and the crowds below were filled with hopefuls and their families, all of whom were trying to garner the favour of the other Magistrates who also had a say in the decision making process.
Garlic had earned his place by capturing Baron Big McIntosh, savagely beating him into submission, then dragging him back to the Foreverfree County Courthouse and leaving the bloodied baron in a messy heap in front of Flim and Flam. Every other attempt to capture the baron had failed, and a fair number of ponies who had tried before Garlic had been killed in their attempt.
Garlic was a big earth pony by any standard. While he wasn’t bulky like Baron Big Mac was, or even heavily muscled, Garlic stood at least a full head taller than Big Mac. Tall, lean, lanky, with long legs, no other pony in the entirety of the Foreverfree County was quite like Garlic. Pale off white in colour, with a mane and tail the colour of autumn and a cutie mark that was a short section of a stone wall, Garlic was a distinctive figure.
He took the stairs leading down to the Cairn Courtyard and saw a familiar figure reading a book. For a moment, he gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. No doubt, this was the book he was sent here to fetch and it was being held by the most annoying pegasus who had ever lived, his personal nemesis, Fogwalker Fetlocks.
“Foggy,” Garlic greeted, trying to be civil.
“Oh… hi there Garlic,” Fogwalker replied, looking up from her book. “Derpy gave me this book to read and said you’d be by to collect it. She told me to ask you to come with you when you went and saw Princess Celestia.”
For a brief moment, Garlic hated his life.
“So what do you say Stinky, mind if I tag along?” Foggy asked, a teasing smile spreading over her lips.
“Scout Fogwalker, I would be honoured if you accompanied me,” Garlic responded in deadpan, his features neutral as he spoke.
“You know, it’s only fun if you react,” Foggy protested, her lower lip protruding in a pout. The pale blue-grey pegasus closed the book and stuffed into her saddlebags. “Come on, let’s go return Derpy’s book and take care of business. If the Virtue of Wisdom says that we should be together for this, we shouldn’t argue.”
“Very well,” Garlic grumbled, his eyebrows lowering downwards as he spoke. “So… do tell, what are you reading?”
Unable to help herself, Fogwalker began to giggle mischieviously at Garlic’s question. “Surefire Ways to Attract a Mate.”
“Oh… like you need to read that!” Garlic grunted as he took the stairs.
“You’re still upset about what I did at your Standing,” Fogwalker said in a now serious voice. “Holding on to this anger isn’t healthy. You need to let go someday.”
“The Standing is sacred and important! You… you made a mockery of it!” Garlic angrily retorted, the volume of his voice rising as he trotted along the top of the battlements. “Garlic Van der Grease, all you have to do is stand here on this spot for twenty four hours with no food, no drink, never moving from this one little spot. This is about stoic endurance. It is important that you do not react to passersby or to laugh when a pony tries to distract you… but they didn’t bloody well count on you showing up, did they?”
“Well, I was distracting,” Fogwalker admitted. “I was worried about you and wanted to make sure you were well tested,” she insisted.
“So you parade yourself around with your tail hiked up making the eyes at me looking back over your shoulder and you made me unsheath in public… you made all those ponies laugh at me!” Garlic snapped in reply, casting an angry glance over his shoulder at the pegasus behind him.
“Some of it was nervous laughter! I don’t think some of those stallions will ever feel adequate after what was seen,” Fogwalker said as she tried to suppress a giggle which kept coming out anyway in the form of randy snorts.
“You humiliated me in front of hundreds of ponies!” Garlic growled, hurrying along the crenellations.
“I didn’t have a choice in the matter,” Fogwalker said, hurrying her pace to keep up with Garlic.
“Yeah right,” Garlic responded in a voice that dripped with acid. “Just like when you pushed my face into my cake at my birthday party when I was younger.”
“No… really, I was under orders,” Fogwalker tried to explain, her ears pinned back against her skull and her tail swishing nervously.
“And just who would give you orders to try and seduce a pony while they were taking their Standing? The same pony you’ve been trying your whole life to to make like you… and failing I might add,” Garlic said icily in reply.
A look of pain passed over Fogwalker’s face that went unseen by Garlic and for a moment her steps faltered. She recovered and hurried after the long legged earth pony that easily outpaced her, just like he outpaced everypony else. “Trixie gave me the order… I could not refuse an order from the Virtue of Humility. She… she gave me an order to do what I did to teach you humility… I actually didn’t want to do it and I even told her so, but I told her that I would do it because she requested it… she just sort of gave me that smile that Trixie has and said it would be a good lesson in humility for both of us… so now you hate me and I ruined your Standing-ooof!”
Garlic stopped suddenly mid stride, causing Fogwalker to bump into his backside. She was much shorter than the tall stallion and her cheek bumped into his stone wall cutie mark. A furious blush overtook her pale blue-grey cheeks and she lowered her head, causing her faded violet mane to fall over her eyes.
“She did what?” Garlic inquired, turning to look at Fogwalker. His eyes blinking slowly, he turned to have himself a look at Fogwalker Fetlocks.
“Trixie, the Virtue of Humility, told me to do what I did to you. I dunno about you, but I felt humiliated and it ruined what little bit of a relationship we had,” Fogwalker muttered, staring down at the stone she was standing on and kicking one front hoof with the other. “When the alicorn that is the Virtue of Humility tells you what to do, you can’t say no. She knows what is best for you.”
“I’m sorry,” Garlic apologised.
“So am I,” Fogwalker said, still unable to meet the tall stallion’s gaze. “I can’t lie, I still want you, but what I did made me feel dirty and ashamed… only thing is, now you hate me and I’ve been left humbled. Ponies talk about me and call me a shameless hussy.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Garlic grumbled.
Moving forward, Fogwalker trotted along the top of the wall, unable to look back at Garlic. “We have a job to do. We’ve taken too much personal time. Let’s just get this over with so we can go our separate ways.”
“Look, I didn’t know,” Garlic blurted out as he followed after Fogwalker, his long loping stride allowing him to easily catch up to her.
“I don’t know why you feel humbled, you have so much to be proud of,” Fogwalker said as she trotted, once again turning to humour to deal with the situation but her tone was bitter.
Biting back an angry retort, Garlic easily pulled up alongside Fogwalker and looked down at her. “You… you’ve teased me my whole life… and I thought you were teasing me still,” Garlic said as she walked beside Fogwalker.
“I might have teased you, but my desire for you is genuine,” Fogwalker admitted with a snort. “I don’t care what other ponies think. A pegasus and an earth pony can be happy together. I don’t care what ponies say about tribes mixing together.”
Taking the stairs down to the smaller courtyard in front of the library, the pair fell silent, walking together but saying nothing as they continued about their task. It wasn’t long until both of them saw a smiling figure, and Garlic began to realise that he had been set up by the Virtue of Wisdom to run a fool’s errand.
The grey mare’s expression was serene, placid, and her large round glasses had slid a ways down her nasal bridge. She gave the pair of ponies who approached an owlish expression of delight as they drew near. “I trust a lesson was learned?”
“Yes, a lesson was learned,” Garlic acknowledged, looking down at his own hooves.
“Ah, but are you wiser?” Derpy mused, looking at the pair who had a keen fascination with studying the ground.
“Only time will tell,” Garlic responded, looking up to glance at Derpy briefly.
“A very wise answer,” Derpy agreed. “And you Miss Fetlocks? Any thoughts?”
“What I have learned I wish to keep private. There has been enough of me on public display,” Fogwalker answered, looking off at the library doors but not at Derpy.
“Very well then, I do believe Princess Celestia is ready to see you now. You may enter the library, she is in there. Might I have my book back now?” Derpy said, her ears splaying out sideways as she spoke and her glasses falling down on her nasal bridge slightly.
Saying nothing, Fogwalker pulled the book out of her saddlebag, held it for a moment in her teeth by the spine, and then she dutifully set it down upon the ground before Derpy. She then backed away, her posture submissive.
“Go on, you have a Princess to see. You’ve completed the first task in what is sure to be an epic quest for the both of you, fetching a book is always a good way to start an adventure. Thankfully, there were no giant rats. At least not yet. Hopefully, both of you have learned the important lesson and will stick together during what lies ahead,” Derpy said in a warm voice.
“What lies ahead?” Garlic asked. “What do you know?”
“I cannot tell you,” Derpy responded, shaking her head. “Your answers are on the other side of that door.”
Gulping, and having ominous thoughts about giant rats, Garlic slowly made his way up the steps and towards the massive double doors of the library hall, Fogwalker walking along right behind him.
Garlic pushed his way through one of the double doors, holding that door open for Fogwalker as he passed through. She ignored the open door and pushed open the second door, and made her own way through, careful to not meet Garlic’s gaze as she entered.
There, in the central library alcove, was Princess Celestia the Redeemed. The big mare smiled when she saw the two ponies enter the library and moved to say hello.
“Greetings Your Majesty,” Garlic said, bowing his head slightly as he spoke.
“Your Majesty is looking well,” Fogwalker greeted, also bowing her head.
“Please, let us spare the formalities,” Celestia said in a low voice. “Trixie is in the library somewhere and we do not wish to draw her attention.”
Lifting his head, Garlic brought himself to his full height. He wasn’t as tall as Celestia, but he was closer than most. Looking down, he saw a short stubby unicorn, a filly on the cusp of marehood. She was bright yellow in colour with a pink mane that had bright orange streaks. She wore glasses that were very much like Derpy’s, but with dark grey frames and thick bifocal lenses.
The unicorn was also surprisingly chubby.
Celestia, noticing that Garlic was looking at her student, smiled at the tall earth pony. “This is my most faithful student, Sunrise Surprise. She is in need of protectors. Sunrise Surprise, this is Garlic Van der Grease and Fogwalker Fetlocks, your companions.”
“Protectors? Companions?” Fogwalker asked.
“I’m going on a mission,” Sunrise Surprise announced in a somewhat nasaly voice.
“And both of you are going to escort her,” Celestia said sheepishly, still looking at Garlic and Fogwalker. The tall mare’s ears splayed out sideways and she smiled, revealing white perfect teeth.
“So what are we doing?” Garlic asked, getting right to the point.
Her nostrils flaring, Celestia let out a nervous whinny while her student Sunrise Surprise let go of a fearful snort, which did nothing to alleviate Garlic’s growing feeling of dreadful apprehension. Cocking his head, he cast a glance at Fogwalker and his eyes narrowed.
“I need Sunrise to go to Canterlot,” Celestia said in a shrill voice.
“Nopony can go to Canterlot!” Fogwalker retorted, her ears pinning back against her skull. “Every pegasus who has tried to pierce the storm covering the city gets dizzy and disoriented and those that force themselves to keep going have never returned… how are we going to get there?”
Taking one step backwards, Celestia’s eyes darted around the room at the various books scattered all around them. “I realise this won’t be easy, but it stands to reason that Sombra lives under the storm he covered Canterhorn Peak with. Or did. I don’t think he’s actually up there anymore. Luna can no longer sense his dreams. I believe he has gone, and I want you three to check. And, if possible, find a clue of his whereabouts.”
“You sent Captain Goodguy on this mission before us, didn’t you?” Garlic inquired, his tone very nearly accusing.
“I did,” Celestia admitted, being honest.
“So that is why he is missing,” Garlic grumbled.
“I don’t suppose you have a plan on how to get to Canterlot? The storm surrounds the whole city and half of the mountain in a mass of black clouds. We can’t fly there, and it is impossible to climb the mountain for the same reason it is impossible to fly there. Not to mention that Sombra destroyed the winding road that lead around the mountain to Canterlot,” Fogwalker said as she took a seat in a chair by a table and eyed Sunrise Surprise.
“I came up with an idea actually,” Sunrise Surprise responded, her mane falling down over her face and one curling strand tickled her nose, causing her to snort loudly.
Reaching a silent conclusion, Garlic realised he hated the sound of Sunrise’s voice. It was rather nasal, she had a lisp, and it went immediately upon his list of things that annoyed him, right up near the top of the list with Fogwalker Fetlocks. “I came upth with an ithea acthually…” He shuddered inwardly at the sound and steeled himself for having to deal with it for an extended amount of time.
“And what is your idea?” Fogwalker inquired, looking bored but sounding curious. The pegasus much prefered action, and action typically did not happen inside of a library.
“Sunrise Surprise is my brilliant pupil,” Celestia boasted, looking proud. “Her idea was cunning and well thought out.”
“So what is it?” Garlic said impatiently. “Less time praising it, more time explaining it,” he demanded in an impatient voice.
“My idea is simple and direct. There are a series of tunnels and mines that run the full length of the mountain from top to bottom. We found an old map… the old mining records are proving useful, and I think we can reach Canterlot,” Sunrise explained, looking rather owlish in her glasses. The lower half of the bifocals caused her eyes to become tremendously magnified and rather silly looking.
Sucking a deep breath sharply, Garlic heaved out a sigh and shook his head. “I don’t even want to think about what we might run into in those caves. There are tree goblins around the Canterhorn, and I can only imagine that there would be cave goblins inside of the Canterhorn. Not to mention the possibilities of ogres.”
“Ogres?” Sunrise Surprise said in a trembling voice.
“Big. Scary. Likes to eat ponies. And they don’t like cooking their food, they eat things alive,” Garlic said in a low voice, looking Sunrise in the eye the entire time he spoke.
“And that is why you will be going along Garlic,” Celestia said in a cheerful voice, trying to reassure her terrified student.
“Your Majesty, while I’ve faced off against my fair share of axe wielding goblins, survived falling into a hidden den that had a vampiric jackalope, and even brought down Baron Big Mac, I don’t know if I could pick a fight with an ogre and win,” Garlic gently argued, shaking head his head as he spoke, his words slow and somewhat hesitant.
“Oh stop being modest,” Celestia said good naturedly in reply, looking at Garlic fondly. “You were selected to be a Preserver because of your exploits.”
“I’m no slouch in a scuffle,” Fogwalker said, sounding a bit miffed.
“When was the last time you faced off with a dozen tree goblins holding axes?” Garlic retorted, looking at Fogwalker with one narrowed eye.
“I was part of the patrol that chased down and battled the giant carnivorous molerat that was terrorising the farmers of the outer barony,” Fogwalker said defensively.
“I chose both of you because of your skills,” Celestia interjected. “Fogwalker, you are an accomplished scout, a good tracker, and you’ve shown that you perform best under pressure, thinking and reacting quickly during a crisis. Garlic, you… you were selected simply because you are you... take that as you will. Your physical size alone is a powerful deterrent for more cowardly creatures.”
“Plus, he can be loaded down and used as a beast of burden,” Sunrise Surprise suggested in a cheerful voice. “Or… not,” she stammered when three ponies all turned to glare at her.
“Earth ponies are more than just simple pack animals,” Celestia said in a disappointed voice to her student. “Garlic might not have wings, he might not be a pegasus, but there is no denying that he can fight.”
“He earned that stone wall cutie mark of his for a reason,” Fogwalker said in an irritated voice. “He is the living wall. Baron Big Mac challenged the wall and lost.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Sunrise said in apologetic tones. “I just meant it in a practical sense. He’s stronger than both of us put together. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it… this isn’t getting us anywhere. So we need to infiltrate Canterlot. I’m the muscle bound goon. I get it. I know my place and I accept it,” Garlic stated in a flat voice, looking at Sunrise and then at Celestia, offering a nod when he looked at the alabaster alicorn.
“So I take it he has the stone wall because he’s an immovable defender. If you don’t mind me asking, Fogwalker, what does your cutie mark mean? I’ve never seen one like it, you have a most curious mark,” Sunrise questioned, peering at Fogwalker with narrowed eyes behind her glasses.
“My flaming oil drip thingies? Those appeared after I battled the giant molerat. I doused him in oil as I flew overhead and then I set him on fire by tossing a torch on him,” Fogwalker responded, offering her explanation with a broad smile.
“That’s horrible!” Sunrise gasped, covering her mouth with her hoof.
Looking rather queasy, Celestia reached out and patted her student, trying to make the small chubby unicorn feel a little better. Celestia was unsure of who would make her feel better. Since her reformation, the casual attitude about violence that most pegasi had disturbed her a great deal. This was something that would have made her old self cackle evilly and would have given her much amusement. Now, the idea of such violence made her feel ill.
“When I go out on patrol I carry several flasks of oil strapped to my armor in easy reach and I have special war shoes that shower off a lot of sparks when struck together. I have a bit of a reputation now,” Fogwalker said proudly with a wide toothy grin.
“Yes… setting one’s enemies on fire and burning them alive does tend to make one rather infamous,” Garlic agreed, his ears pinning back against his head as he spoke. “I must say, that is actually one habit of yours that I do in fact approve of.”
“Why thank you Garlic,” Fogwalker remarked.
“Ugh, both of you are horrible,” Sunrise said, looking disgusted.
“Sunrise, speak kindly to your protectors,” Celestia instructed.
“Yes Princess Celestia,” Sunrise responded, bowing her head as she spoke. “I’m sorry,” she said to both Garlic and Fogwalker.
“No need to be sorry, Fogwalker is a horrible pony,” Garlic replied, grinning sordidly as he did so and casting a sly glance at Fogwalker.
“Sunrise, my faithful student, these ponies are not studious like you are. They are… a little a rough around the edges. Consider this a new lesson. Try to learn what you can about them when you are with them. Now get ready. We’ve wasted enough time. There is a lot to be done and I want you to be ready to go by nightfall, so you can leave under the cover of darkness,” Celestia commanded, looking down at her student.
“The dark?” Sunrise retorted in a nasal whine. “I’m scared of the dark!”
“Well, you are in good company. So is Fogwalker,” Garlic stated, enjoying his chance to get his digs in, which was a rare and treasured opportunity.
Her eyes narrowing, Fogwalker looked up at Garlic. “Whatever you say Stinky.”
“That’s not nice, calling a pony stinky,” Sunrise chided.
“His father’s name is actually Gasser… no kidding! And Garlic has the family gift as well,” Fogwalker said, a soft giggle creeping into her voice.
“When I walk point you’ll be walking in the fog alright,” Garlic grumbled.
“Ugh, I hate you sometimes,” Fogwalker admitted, rolling her eyes at Garlic.
“Celestia, do I have to go with these ponies?” Sunrise asked in a pleading voice.
“These ponies will keep you safe,” Celestia responded in a soft voice to her student. “I cannot go with you, I must stay here and protect my little ponies, which I am sworn to do. I found you good protectors. Now they are rough, but such is the nature of those who are born to be adventurers.”
“These two must be born to be the greatest adventurers ever,” Sunrise stated in a nasal deadpan, looking up at her instructor.
Fogwalker watched with great interest as Garlic was being fitted into makeshift armor, some steel plating as well as bands affixed to heavy oilcloth canvas with rivets and heavy duty saddlebags. Beside her, Sunrise Surprise sat, humming to herself, waiting patiently for the adventure to start.
“So, Sunrise, about your cutie mark. What does it mean?” Fogwalker inquired, looking down at the shorter and far more chubbier filly on the verge of marehood beside her.
“I don’t know,” Sunrise responded, shaking her head. “I never understood it and I don’t remember getting it. It has been there for as long as I remember.”
“Very curious. A question mark with the end of it being a key,” Fogwalker stated.
The chubby unicorn pushed her glasses upwards using her hoof and squashed her snoot in the process. She let out a small grunt of frustration because of her own clumsiness. “He’s big.” Sunrise said in a conversational tone.
“He’s the biggest pony in the Foreverfree County,” Fogwalker remarked. “And he’s big all over,” she quipped in a much lower voice.
“In other places you mean? Like other cities? Is he so tall that he’s famous?” Sunrise inquired, looking at Fogwalker and blinking curiously.
“Um, no, not exactly. Let’s just say he’s a big pony, a very gifted big pony and we’ll leave it at that,” Fogwalker said in reply, barely able to contain the laughter in her voice. “But he is famous… you’ll end up finding out sometime.”
“Look, I’m not a foal anymore,” Sunrise said in an annoyed nasal whine. “You can talk to me like I’m adult.”
“Really, it is probably best that you don’t know about this,” Fogwalker chortled.
“You’re impossible,” Sunrise grumbled.
“That is what every other stallion who sees me says,” Fogwalker giggled.
“What does that mean?” Sunrise questioned, now utterly confused and wishing she could just return to the library.
“It means that I only have eyes for just one pony, and I’m going to get him someday,” Fogwalker said in a wistful voice that was full of longing.
“You like Garlic?” Sunrise asked, now clearly puzzled.
“Oh very much,” Fogwalker admitted.
“But he’s an earth pony,” Sunrise stated.
“So what?” Fogwalker retorted, sounding miffed. “We’re both ponies.”
“I suppose so,” Sunrise acquiesced, her mind quietly telling her that pegasi lived in clouds and earth ponies lived in the dirt. She shook her head and said nothing.
“Ready for an adventure?” Fogwalker asked, cocking her head to get a better look at Garlic, who was being cinched by the armorer.
The Foreverfree County was a section of cleared land at the foot of Canterhorn mountain surrounded on all sides by woods, with a bog called Hoof Swallow Bog along the southern edge. In the middle was the palace of the Royal Pony Sisters, and the sisters fought a never ending battle to keep the ever growing forest from swallowing the land. The woods were dangerous, as was most of Equestria, which was covered in thick forests, endless swamps, pony devouring bogs, and it seemed that every crack and canyon was filled with quarray eels. The woods were filled with all manner of dangerous creatures and even the plants were known to gobble hapless travelers, plants like stranglesnatch, which watered itself with fresh blood after grabbing its prey and slowly tearing them apart.
Above it all was Canterlot, the once beautiful city. Canterlot had been the safe city, sitting high above the rest of wild Equestria. Sombra had made a refuge for ponies to come and live in peace. Canterlot had been a marvelous city, a fantastic city, a city with indoor plumbing and lights everywhere that were powered by magic.
Now, Canterlot was no longer bright, safe, or beautiful. The entire mountain was blanketed in a black swirling storm that endlessly raged, the clouds filled with booming thunder and flashing lightning. Sombra had summoned the storm to keep others out and the loss of Canterlot's shining lights in the night sky was tragic.
Three companions moved north and west from the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters. The first was a tall off white earth pony covered in banded mail barding with two large saddlebags. If he was weighted down by his armor or his load, he did not show it, walking with a surprisingly springy step. Walking just behind him was a bright yellow unicorn with much smaller saddlebags. She huffed and puffed and struggled to keep up, her tongue lolling out as the panted from the effort. Bringing up the rear was a pale blue-grey pegasus and she was also armored, wearing the light plate common to the Rangers.
The night was filled with fireflies as the companions made their way through the outer farms and homesteads, working their way towards the base of Canterhorn mountain.
“You must be quite magically gifted to have become Princess Celestia’s personal student,” Fogwalker said as she trotted, trying to strike up some kind of conversation as they traveled.
“Um, about that,” Sunrise replied as she huffed and puffed from exertion.
Ahead, Garlic snorted but said nothing, shaking his head in disgust as he reached his own conclusion about Sunrise Surprise’s impending answer. This whole trip was a bad idea he thought to himself.
“I’m not the most magical of unicorns,” Sunrise admitted as she struggled to keep up with Garlic, whose long legs set an impossible pace to follow.
“Then how did you become Princess Celestia’s student?” Fogwalker inquired, her nostrils flaring in mild annoyance as she continued forward behind her other two companions.
“Funny story about that… Princess Celestia didn’t want a student. Trixie, the Virtue of Humility… she suggested to Princess Celestia that Princess Celestia take a student as part of her reformation. I, uh, got picked because I posed the most challenge and would give Princess Celestia the best test of her patience, her kindness, and her persistence,” Sunrise Surprise said in a low shameful voice.
Already, Garlic was having serious regrets about this trip, the first and foremost thing he regretted sounded an awful lot like “Pwincesth Thwelesthia” and each time it was repeated Garlic nearly ground his teeth in frustration.
“So… wait, you were picked because you are spectacularly bad?” Fogwalker questioned in disbelief. The pegasus mare felt a rising sense of panic, having not learned these vital details until it was far too late.
“I’m getting better,” Sunrise said defensively. “My light spells no longer set random things on fire and I can make water boil… most of the time,” she explained in a panicked voice as she struggled to keep up with Garlic.
“I cannot help but feel that we’ve been duped,” Fogwalker grumbled as they continued, walking along a road surrounded on both sides by squashes and corn.
“I want to get better!” Sunrise snapped, now angry. “I’m aware of the fact that I am a joke thank you very much. How do you think I feel about all of this? Oh here Princess Celestia, take this total failure of a unicorn and it will make you wise and patient!”
Fogwalker couldn’t help but hear the bitterness in Sunrise’s lispy nasal voice and she felt a pang of guilt for what she had said to the unicorn. She took a deep breath and prepared to say something nice, trying to think of something that might make Sunrise feel better, because everypony had suffered through Trixie’s often painful lessons in humility.
“The thing is, I really do want to prove myself somehow,” Sunrise huffed out in a breathless voice before Fogwalker had a chance to speak. “Princess Celestia initially refused, saying it was insulting to me. I convinced her to take me. I talked her into it. It was Trixie who gave me the opportunity, but it was my words that made this possible,” the unicorn said as she laboured to keep up with Garlic’s steady pace.
“We’ll be at the foot of the mountain soon. The woods are ahead. Be wary and on your guard,” Garlic announced as he peered ahead, his sharp eyes looking for danger in the bright moonlight.
Feeling bad, Fogwalker Fetlocks found herself unable to say anything worthwhile or meaningful, so she remained silent, trying to think of something useful to say.
“Sunrise, never let anypony tell you that you can’t do something,” Garlic stated in a deep rumbling voice. “They told me that I’d never become a Guardian or a Ranger. I don’t have wings. I can’t fly to a place that has trouble and get there quickly. There have been earth ponies in both of those orders, but they are rare and you don’t see them often. I don’t have wings, so I have to work twice as hard to impress everyone and earn my place. Nothing I have done has ever been easy or even very fun to accomplish. But I didn’t let it stop me.”
“Thank you Garlic,” Sunrise panted, her chubby body jiggling somewhat as she moved at a brisk trot. “Ugh I can feel everything already hurting,” she moaned.
“Yeah Sunrise… if Garlic the Grump can become a Preserver, you can become a better spellcaster… you’ll just have to work harder for it,” Fogwalker said, feeling relieved that she finally had a chance to say something worthwhile.
“The cave should be somewhere up ahead,” Garlic said as he peered around in the darkness, barely able to see anything around him. The many trees blocked out much of the moonlight and the woods were very dark. Things lurked in the bushes. The smell of woodsmoke was in the air, which meant that there were camps somewhere nearby, camps of things that were probably unpleasant and dangerous, and Garlic didn’t like dangerous things. Dangerous things disrupted Garlic’s need for placid tranquility, and things that interrupted his tranquility had to be made quiet and serene again. Earth ponies didn’t like being spooked.
“There are supposed to be three trees together in a cluster and one of them is marked with a carved triangle,” Fogwalker said as she also kept a wary eye on the darkness all around them. The pegasus struggled to keep her wings from fluttering nervously as she danced around on her hooves, waiting for trouble.
Sunrise stood between her companions and she was almost frozen with fear. She had never been out in the dark and spooky woods like this before. She had never really left the confines of civilisation, solid walls, a dependable roof, and candles to keep the darkness away.
“My mother is a firekeeper,” Sunrise whispered, trying to keep her teeth from chattering. “She travels from farm to farm to make sure the earth ponies fires stay lit and never go out. She also brings candles to the poor farmers that might not be able to light their sod cottages at night. My family has long done battle with the darkness itself and right now… right now I am about to wet myself,” the unicorn confessed in a quavering nasal whine.
“There was a time when I was young that we couldn’t afford candles… the nights were dark and all we had was the fire,” Fogwalker said. “Our firekeeper was not so generous as your mother. He charged a fair bit of coin for candles.”
“If I fail at being a wizard I guess I’ll take up the family trade… but after being in this darkness… I don’t think I’ll be able to charge money for candles, that seems wrong,” Sunrise whispered in a voice that really wanted to become a little screamy.
Garlic moved cautiously forward, leading the way, his plated banded mail clanking a bit as he walked. He had found every other trail sign along the way and he knew he would find the last one if he was diligent and careful.
“What’s that?” Sunrise asked in a low panicked whine.
“What’s what?” Fogwalker replied, looking around.
“That,” Sunrise responded, her voice little more than a breathy whisper.
Looking over where Sunrise was pointing, Fogwalker saw a glint of white in the darkness. She took a few steps closer, moving cautiously, and then when she reached it she prodded it with her hoof, causing it to roll over.
The empty eye sockets of the pony skull looked up Fogwalker, staring eyelessly at the pegasus. Fogwalker stared down at the skull, having never actually seen a pony’s skull before. She noted that there was a large crack in the skull just above the right eye.
“Something brained him. Or her,” Garlic grunted as he stared down at the skull.
“Where is the rest of his body?” Sunrise whispered in a troubled sounding utterance.
“Well, presumably, after braining him, they chopped off the head to do whatever with it and probably dragged off the body to eat it,” Garlic responded, completely oblivious to the fact that his words were terrifying Sunrise Surprise. “Unless of course they carved off what they wanted to eat first and then chopped off the head later.”
“I feel kinda sick,” Sunrise murmured as she closed her eyes.
Saying nothing, Garlic resumed his search for the marker trees and the cave that would allow them access to the inside of the mountain, leaving poor Sunrise in the care of Fogwalker, who had resumed staring off into the darkness all around them.
“At least it wasn’t an ogre,” Fogwalker quipped. “Ogres swallow the heads with the bodies when they devour a pony whole.”
The cave was dark and the sounds of dripping water could be heard inside. A musty smell wafted out to greet the trio, which was not at all inviting. The advance scouts had left behind a cache of useful items at the marker tree. A few candles, a bit more food, a few gourds full of water, and a note from Celestia telling them good luck.
“What if there are ursa majors in there?” Sunrise said fearfully, looking at the black entrance with her ears pinned back against her skull.
“Nope. The cave is too small,” Garlic stated in a matter of fact voice. “Constellation canis creatures might fit though… never seen a canis major or a canis minor up close. I’ve heard they’re full of stars, just like the ursas.”
“Nice work dimwit, now the unicorn is spooked,” Fogwalker said, rolling her eyes at Garlic as Sunrise Surprise stood beside her trembling in fear. “I swear, if I didn’t know better, I’d say that your skull is full of rocks.”
“What’d I do?” Garlic asked, looking around with a confused expression.
“Must have been your stunning use of alliteration,” Fogwalker grumbled, shaking her head at her companion.
“My what?” Garlic asked with a blank expression upon his face.
“So it was your alliteration… hah!” Fogwalker exclaimed, looking up at Garlic.
“Oh for crying out loud, let’s just go and get this over with. We have a long way to go and we need to find a secure place to get some sleep. Fogwalker, you get to take first watch,” Garlic commanded, punctuating his words with a snort, and feeling annoyed because he didn’t have any idea what was going on.
“So, Sunrise, think you can work up a light spell for us?” Fogwalker inquired, looking at the unicorn hopefully.
“I think so,” Sunrise replied, now more terrified of the dark than ever.
“Good, no more dawdling,” Garlic grunted as he peered into the cave. “Be ready.”
After a brief period of rest, Fogwalker shook Sunrise Surprise awake none too gently. The unicorn whimpered and tried to roll over, but was shaken even harder by the pegasus, who had no sympathy for sleepy unicorns. Nearby, Garlic watched the scene with some mild amusement. The group was tucked away in a small nook off of the main cave path and a single candle burned, which also happened to be the means to tell the time.
“But we’ve barely had any sleep at all,” Sunrise whined.
“Garlic and I both stood watch for two hours each and each of us got two hours of sleep. You got four hours of sleep. We’re not being sent on a mission to sleep, we are being sent out to get results, now move,” Fogwalker demanded, poking and prodding the unicorn on the stone floor.
“Actually, I think you woke me early,” Garlic teased. “There’s no way I got my full two hours,” he quipped, trying to provoke a response from Fogwalker.
Turning around, Fogwalker glared daggers at her friend and her lip curled back into a sneer. “Funny… you shouldn’t provoke the pony who watches you sleep while you are in a cave full of stars know what.”
“But I thought you loved me Foggy,” Garlic said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. “You wouldn’t dare let anything happen to me… you want to have my long legged little foals someday. You want me huffing and puffing and hunched acrossed your back far too much to let something hurt me in my sleep.”
“Something I am right now reconsidering,” Fogwalker grumbled as she glared at Garlic, her ears slowly folding back against her skull as her tail swished in annoyance.
The words coming out of Garlic’s mouth caused poor Sunrise Surprise to experience her first ever full body blush and she felt a rush of heat from her snoot to her dock. Her ears felt as though they would burst into flames at any moment and she thought she might faint as her ears began to ring and tingle.
“I’ve never slept in armor before,” Garlic remarked, ignoring one angry mare and one somewhat flustered filly that was almost a mare. “I really don’t know what ponies complain about, I hear all of this fussing that armor is heavy and uncomfortable. I barely even notice what I’m wearing.”
“You’re wearing almost one hundred pounds of armor you nitwit, how can you say you don’t notice it?” Fogwalker questioned, her anger now forgotten, her ears perking forward as her eyebrow raised.
“I’ve been loaded down with over two hundred pounds of gear to carry to market, mostly onions for my dear sweet mother… and that didn’t slow me down much either,” Garlic responded, shrugging and causing his armor to clink.
“Earth ponies. Harrumph!” Fogwalker exclaimed, her face one of stunned disbelief. “I’m wearing about fifty pounds of light plate and I feel every bit of it.”
“Plus he is carrying most of the supplies,” Sunrise remarked, trying to have some say in her companion’s conversation, wanting very much to have them as friends… and protectors. It was dark and the cave smelled funny.
Garlic shuddered. “Thuppthlies…” Somehow, the nasal lisp was even worse when Sunrise Surprise had just woken up. He looked at his companions and then at the cave path they had to travel. “We should get moving.”
For a while, the cave had gone downhill and they had found old rotten wooden support beams holding up the passage. The path had been partially obstructed by a rockslide, and they had to carefully pick their way over a bunch of loose stones, mindful to not twist a fetlock or cause injury.
Now, the passage was definitely uphill, and steep as well. Garlic didn’t seem slowed down in the slightest, but Fogwalker was grunting occasionally as she made her way up the cave path while poor Sunrise, who was safely secured between Garlic and Fogwalker, panted and heaved with every step she took, and her entire pelt was soaked with sweat, some of which dripped or ran down her legs in rivulets.
A weak light that came from Sunrise’s horn was all the companions had for light, and Garlic held an unspoken admiration for Sunrise. He had only known a few unicorns, but most had trouble keeping any kind of sustained spell going during any sort of physical effort or exertion. Sunrise Surprise was clearly straining, both to keep going up hill and to keep her spell going, the light flickered and threatened to die out with almost every step, but somehow, Sunrise persisted and endured, which was something that Garlic appreciated in another pony.
“There is something up ahead,” Garlic warned in a low whisper, casting a glance backward over his shoulder at his companions as he spoke. “Stay here.”
Fearless, Garlic made his way forward. The cave became very narrow here, the walls, ceiling, and floor all coming to one small opening. They had crawled through several such places already as they made their way up the long path.
Whatever it was, it was hairy and something that looked like a snake was growing out of it. Garlic approached slowly, realising all to well that the passage was too narrow to whip around and kick whatever it was. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to be moving. In the darkness, something squeaked.
“Halloo?”
Freezing in place, Garlic wasn’t sure what to do about the muffled voice.
“Um… I seem to be stuck. I was wondering if you might help me.”
There was a sudden startling realisation that what Garlic was looking was the backside of a giant rat, which was wedged tightly into the narrow passage ahead. A really big giant rat. A really really big giant rat. And it had just spoken to him.
“This is really rather embarrassing really,” the rat said.
“You’re a very big rat,” Garlic announced as he once again turned around to glance at his companions behind him. He turned his head back around to look at the enormous tail once again and the furry backside. “We’re going to need to take one of those side passages we passed earlier and hope it leads somewhere.”
“Wait… no! You can’t just leave me here,” the rat pleaded.
“Any rat of your size probably eats ponies,” Garlic accused in a harsh voice. “And while I’m a lot of things, my mama, Red Onion Pie, she didn’t raise no fool.”
“I would never eat a pony… I eat goblins… just goblins. And the occasional giant cave spider,” the rat replied, his voice pleading.
“Goblins are disgusting horrid little creatures,” Garlic growled, his eyes narrowing.
“But they taste delicious,” the rat answered. “All that snot is salty and quite pleasant really… it is how I got so fat… eating goblins. Look, I give you my word that I will not bring harm to you if you free me… I’ll do anything if you can just shove me through or give me a push. I can’t get my hind feet to get enough traction.”
Gagging, Sunrise Surprise covered her mouth with her hoof when the rat mentioned delicious salty snot. The unicorn was quite horrified, giant rats were awful enough, but giant rats that ate goblins in snot sauce were somehow even worse.
“Are there goblins up ahead?” Garlic asked in a low curious voice.
“There is a whole city up ahead… but if you help me, I will show you a side path that goes around them and leads to the crossroads,” the rat offered.
“The crossroads?” Garlic inquired gruffly.
“The crossroads. The major intersection in these caves. Below is the lower networks and warrens, and above is the spider realm,” the rat answered, trying anything to be helpful.
“What is your name?” Garlic demanded.
“My name is Sog Nasty,” the rat squeaked.
“My name is Garlic. Against my better judgment, I am going to free you. But if you try any funny business, there is a unicorn with me that will kill you in a thousand different horrible ways, all of which are beyond your imagination.”
“Getting a quest from a giant rat… who has heard of such a thing, this whole adventure is becoming quite silly,” Fogwalker grumbled in a petulant voice.
“I’ve never heard of a talking rat,” Sunrise said in a worried voice. “Talking rats aren’t natural and there are no known talking rat species.”
“Funny story that,” Sog replied, unaware that Garlic was studying his backside and trying to figure out what to do. “I have some trouble remembering, but I wasn’t always smart… there was a unicorn… he did something to me. He was grey. That’s all I remember. He made me drink something and then he cast a spell or something. My memory is really hazy. I used to live in a city called… well, something.”
“Canterlot?” Fogwalker suggested.
“I think that’s it,” Sog answered. “I used to live in a big city and the grey unicorn kept me as a pet. I got big and I got smart. I escaped. I went into the tunnels under the city and I kept getting bigger and smarter. Eventually, I made my way down here.”
Placing his front hooves on each side of the rat’s big fuzzy behind, Garlic felt around for the solid hip bones, pressed in, and then braced his hind legs behind him. He dug into a crack in the stone and heaved, pushing forward and hoping not to injure Sog Nasty.
“Oh my!” Sog exclaimed as he felt himself being given a powerful shove forward.
A moment later, the giant rat popped free like a cork, shooting forward into the passage ahead, which was much wider and open. Garlic regained his hoofing before falling on his face and peered ahead, trying to see what the passage was like, and keeping an eye on the rat, who was turning around.
“Many thanks to you my friend… I am at your service,” Sog offered, his face contorting into a very ratty looking smile that showed his buck teeth.
“Think nothing of it,” Garlic said as he watched the rat warily.
“I need to stop eating so much,” Sog sighed wearily. “I’m incredibly fat. But there are so many goblins and so little time.”
Shuddering, Sunrise Surprise had trouble with how the rat spoke so glibly about eating goblins. Sure, goblins were horrid misshapen monsters, but eating them… eating them was unthinkable.
“There is a goblin city?” Fogwalker inquired in a worried voice.
“Yes, yes there is,” Sog replied, nodding his head enthusiastically. “I dunno how many, but there are a lot of them living there. Led by an ogre.”
“We’ll need to tell Princess Celestia about that,” Fogwalker stated in a weary voice.
“We should keep moving,” Garlic commanded, focusing his stare upon the rat.
“A promise is a promise… come, I’ll take you to the crossroads. It isn’t that far. It won’t take long,” the rat said, following through with his promise.
“Are you really thinking about going with him?” Fogwalker asked, looking at Garlic.
“Why not? What’s adventure with out a giant rat being encountered?” Garlic questioned, his sardonic wit evident as he spoke. Garlic grinned and looked at the rat. “Besides. He seems harmless enough.”
“You are very kind… we should be going,” Sog Nasty said as he scurried up the tunnel, carefully stepping over bits of rubble and loose stone, his long pink tail twitching as he scampered away.
“We’re following a giant rodent,” Sunrise Surprise muttered.
“Hey, don’t call Garlic a rodent. I mean, sure, he’s a giant, and he fights dirty, no doubt about that at all, but-”
“Foggy, you’re funny, you know that? But looks ain’t everything,” Garlic said, interrupting Fogwalker mid-sentence.
“Oh ha ha!” Fogwalker sneered, narrowing her eyes at Garlic’s backside as he followed after the giant rat. “Get moving Sunrise, we have a long way to go.”
The crossroads were aptly named. The old map they were trying to follow hadn’t been updated in a long time, and the crossroads, which had more recent excavations, wasn’t even on the map. Five pathways met up in a large egg shaped chamber, which thankfully, was currently unoccupied. Three chambers led downwards, further and deeper into the very heart of the mountain, and two chambers led upwards, which would bring them closer to their destination, but also into the spider’s gallery.
Their guide scurried away down the middle tunnel of the three passages heading downwards, leaving the companions all alone in the crossroads with no idea of which path to take, which was a bit of a worrisome development.
“Right or left?” Fogwalker questioned, looking at both tunnels.
“Might have to take both. We don’t know that either will reach Canterlot,” Garlic mused, shaking his head with annoyance. “Did you hear that?” he asked, his ears perking.
The companions all fell silent and Fogwalker protectively pressed herself up against Sunrise Surprise, whose light spell flickered as fear began to overcome her. Orange light was visible in one of the tunnels leading downward, the far left one. Voices could be heard. Something was shouting at something else.
Garlic began to move, he was surprisingly silent for such a big creature wearing armor. Each movement was careful, cautious, and he tried to keep his armor from clanking. He moved along the wall, to the edge of the of the leftmost passage, hoping to catch whatever it was by surprise and they stepped out. He gave a nod to Fogwalker, and in reply, Fogwalker tossed her head, allowing her slitted visor on her helmet to drop and cover her eyes.
Two goblins stepped into view and Garlic was on them in a moment, launching a surprise attack. He reared up and smashed his front hooves down on the one nearest to him, crushing the creature’s skull and dropping him to the stone. The torch he was holding fell to the stone and clattered, causing the shadows and light to dance crazily in the cavern.
The second goblin pulled out a pickaxe and swung wildly at Garlic, the small hideous creature screaming out in panic and fear. Garlic, surprisingly quick on his feet for a pony his size, sidestepped the wild swing and suffered only a glancing blow on his front shoulder, which smacked off of a steel plate.
Angered, Garlic smashed his own head down on the goblin’s head, pulverising the goblin’s skull. The creature fell down beside his companion and Garlic stepped away from the two corpses, growling ferociously as he did so.
The goblins were horrid little monsters, putrid, feculent, smelly, covered in shiny mucus, and the creatures looked like an odd cross between a dog, a pig, and some kind of monkey. Their arms were longer than their legs, they had big knobby joints, and their limbs were twisted and misshapen.
“You killed them,” Sunrise whispered in a frightened voice. “I’ve never seen anything die before,” she added, her confession emotional and fearful.
“Nice work Garlic,” Fogwalker praised, looking at the hideous creatures. “Ambush attack. Combat Master Cloudflare would approve methinks.”
“Sunrise, grab this torch and hold it in your magic. It should burn for a good long while,” Garlic instructed as he reached up and rubbed his head. He scowled as he rubbed his aching head. “You two did a good job as bait. And thank you Sunrise, for not screaming.”
“I was too scared to scream,” Sunrise murmured fearfully.
“Well good, because a good scream might call down hundreds of these to come and attack us,” Fogwalker stated, gently patting Sunrise with her wing.
Doing as she was told, Sunrise lifted the fallen torch in her magic, holding it aloft. It gave off a soft orange light, lighting the cavern and illuminating the scene of extreme violence that had taken place. Trembling, fearful, Sunrise couldn’t help but notice that the first goblin’s head had cracked open like an egg, and try as she might, she could not stop thinking about what the goblins might have done if they had captured her. Sunrise was all too aware that she was a little chubby, and pudgy ponies were probably tasty and delicious. She had also heard stories of other things goblins did before they ate ponies. She shuddered in revulsion from the thought.
“I don’t want to die a virgin!” Sunrise Surprise blurted out. “But I don’t want it taken from me by goblins either… I’m scared,” she whimpered as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Oh bother,” Fogwalker grumbled, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at Sunrise Surprise’s outburst. “Some of the things that come out of a pony’s mouth when they’re scared.”
“It’s gonna be okay,” Garlic said, trying to reassure the terrified unicorn.
“Yeah, maybe if you ask Garlic real sweetly, he’ll fix that virgin problem for you,” Fogwalker quipped, a smirk spreading over half of her muzzle.
“You know Foggy, last I checked, you’re still untouched,” Garlic said, glowering at Fogwalker.
“Hey! Shut up Stinky!” Fogwalker snapped, her ears splaying out sideways. “I’m saving it for you, you unappreciative sod hauler!”
“You mean I’m not the only virgin?” Sunrise questioned. “Oh that’s a relief,” she huffed as she pushed her glasses up on her nasal bridge with her hoof.
“Nope, just you and Foggy,” Garlic replied, grinning a wicked grin.
“Garlic?” Fogwalker asked, sounding hurt and confused.
“What?” Garlic responded, still grinning.
“Since when have you… you know… done something?” Fogwalker inquired, sounding more than a little disappointed.
“None of your business,” Garlic grumbled, turning away from Fogwalker. “We need to get moving, now. I guess we’ll go right.” The big earth pony, saying nothing else, immediately began to head towards the right passage, his ears perking forward to listen carefully for the sounds of coming danger.
“I thought you’d be mine, Stinky,” Fogwalker breathed in a low whisper as she gave Sunrise a nudge to get the unicorn moving. Glad that her visor was down, her helmet prevented anypony from seeing the tear that slid down her cheek.
As the companions continued up the passage, following the path that looked the most worn in, they came upon a troubling sight. Two dead spiders lay on the tunnel floor up ahead, and Garlic silently moved ahead to investigate while Fogwalker and Sunrise stayed close together a short distance away.
“It’s clear,” Garlic announced after looking around. “And this is worrisome.”
“Aren’t dead spiders a good thing?” Sunrise questioned.
“What killed them?” Fogwalker asked, giving a pointed stare to Sunrise.
The unicorn looked thoughtful for a moment and then her face twisted into a scowl. She pushed her glasses up on her nasal bridge as her ears drooped down against her face. “Whatever killed them could be a threat to us.”
“Very good,” Garlic said in a voice that was shockingly free of sarcasm. “You’re getting better… nice work Sunrise.”
“Gosh, thank you,” Sunrise gushed, looking embarrassed from the sincere praise she had been given. “So… dead spiders.”
“Really big dead spiders,” Garlic agreed, his ears splaying out sideways. “I don’t like it. Not at all. Pony eating spiders.”
“So what killed the spiders?” Sunrise questioned, her eyes glancing at the torch she was levitating in her magic.
“Seeing as how the poison glands and the fangs have been ripped out, I’d say goblins,” Garlic responded, peering up the passage ahead of them.
“Goblins use spider poison?” Sunrise asked in a quavering voice, her eyes now blinking rapidly.
“Yeah. Any sort of poison really. Giant spiders like these, the poison doesn’t kill ya, it paralyses you so the spider can wrap you up in webbing and eat you alive. Later. When it feels peckish,” Fogwalker explained.
“I don’t like this,” Sunrise whimpered in a hard to make out voice.
“Nopony likes this,” Fogwalker stated.
“I was actually kind of enjoying the trip… right up until this point,” Garlic announced, looking first at Fogwalker and then at Sunrise.
“That’s because you’re sick and depraved, and that is exactly why I like you,” Fogwalker replied, grinning a half a grin.
“We should get moving,” Garlic commanded, his gaze falling upon the torch as his thoughts turned towards how much time they had.
“Up there, there is a little cubby up along the side of the cavern. We should rest there for a while, have a bite to eat,” Garlic suggested.
“The spiders can get us there,” Sunrise said in a worried voice.
“But the goblins can’t reach us, and that’s good. I’ll go check it out and then fly each of you up there,” Fogwalker responded, spreading her wings and taking off.
The pegasus looked into the cubby, trying to see in the dim light. Fogwalker peered into the black space, and after a moment of allowing her eyes to adjust, saw faint bits of white. She landed on the edge and clucked her tongue. “Poor bastard,” she whispered to herself, looking at the pegasus skeleton. It was wearing armor, which had been badly damaged. The backplate had been split open and a long gash ran down the length of metal. She could see gouges in the ribs and the vertabrae, indicating the wound had been deep, painful, and ultimately, fatal.
There was still a perfectly good helmet however, a large helmet for a large head. Using her wing, she carefully pulled the helmet free, gave it a shake, and held it up for a better look. It was heavy, a build similar to her own, had a visor, good face protection, and was in remarkably good condition, or so it seemed in the dim light. It was made to look like a wolf, the design was unique, but Fogwalker could not remember any pegasus that had worn a wolf themed helmet.
“There’s a skeleton up here. Pegasus. Found a nice helmet,” Fogwalker announced as she set the helmet down upon the stone. She lept from the cubby, spread her wings, and glided down towards the cavern floor. She swooped, snatched the chubby unicorn first, and with a few flaps of her powerful wings, she lifted Sunrise to the cubby.
Sunrise let out a fearful moan when she saw the bones, but to her credit, she did not scream. She backed against the wall furthest from the bones and fell silent, eyeing the bones and the ruined armor in silence as Fogwalker went down to fetch Garlic.
Fogwalker wrapped her forelegs around Garlic, there was a lot of pony there to grab, heaved, and had trouble lifting the solid earth pony, his armor, and his saddlebags. She huffed, she puffed, she strained, she even farted once from her effort, and with a fierce growl, she finally got him airborne. Her wings aching, she hefted the much larger earth pony up to the cubby and set him down. She landed beside him, took a deep breath, and then focused all of her will on not collapsing.
“You’re a whole lot of pony,” Fogwalker heaved in a raspy voice.
“This helmet is magical,” Sunrise announced.
“It is?” Garlic responded, looking down at the helm on the stone at his hooves.
“No rust,” Sunrise stated. “The rest of the armor is rusted.”
“I wonder if it will fit me,” Garlic said, eyeing the helmet. “Sure is a nice looking bit of armor,” he added, dropping his head down low to get a good look. “My family is too poor to outfit me properly.”
Still breathing hard, Fogwalker lifted the helmet with her wings, shook out more dust, and then placed it upon Garlic’s head. She suffered a peculiar sensation as she did so, for a moment the helmet was clearly too small, but then the helmet seemed larger, or perhaps the world just seemed a little smaller.
“It fits perfectly,” Garlic announced. He lifted the visor away from his eyes with a hoof and then tapped upon the steel wolf’s muzzle. His ears were inside of the pointed wolf’s ears. The helm was snug and rather comfortable. He gave his head a toss, just as he had seen Fogwalker do, and the visor slid down over his eyes.
“Who wants rations?” Fogwalker inquired. “We have hardtack, more hardtack, oats, cracked corn, and hardtack.”
“Hmm, so many options, I feel overwhelmed,” Garlic mused as he lifted the visor from his eyes. “You know, one of my mother’s onion pies sound really good.”
“Onion pie?” Sunrise asked, looking just a little disturbed.
“We’re onion farmers. We grow onions. We didn’t have much, but we always had onions. Onion salad, onion soup, onion gravy over onions, and hot onion pie,” Garlic said in a wistful voice, thinking of home. “It is how my mother lures my father over to stay for a while.”
“They’re not married?” Sunrise asked, her eyes blinking away watery tears as the greasy smoke from the torch drifted into her face.
“Naw,” Garlic replied, shaking his head. “But they are good friends. Which I suppose is good. My father was chosen because of his size and stamina and the matchmaker convinced my grandmother that he would give my mother a big foal.”
“HAH! The matchmaker lied,” Fogwalker said as she sat down and rested.
“I suppose nopony expected a giant,” Garlic admitted. “Anyhow, my father was nice to my mother about the whole thing. He could have just bred with her and moved on, but he didn’t. He was friendly and came around and even spent time with me, telling me all of the things I need to know to be a good colt… and later on, how to be a good stallion.”
“Heck, I know my father, but he never stuck around. He took his money and left. He was angry that I was a female… he wanted a male to carry on his legacy. Still, he’s nice enough but short tempered,” Fogwalker said, looking at her companions.
“I want to be married someday,” Sunrise confessed in a hopeful voice. “I’ve heard so many stories about it, sounds romantic.”
“The Canterlot unicorns did it,” Garlic said, shaking his head. “Seems impractical.”
“How so?” Fogwalker asked as she took off her helmet and got a bit more comfortable.
Shrugging, Garlic did not reply on the issue. “Help me take my helmet off,” he asked.
Using her wings, Fogwalker pulled off Garlic’s new helmet and set it down upon the stone. She wiped some dirt off from his face and smiled, glad for a chance to be close and touch him. She could smell him when she was this close, he smelled like sweat, oilcloth hemp canvas, and steel. Unable to help herself, she leaned closer and inhaled deeply.
“Foggy, what are you doing?” Garlic inquired, looking at the still sniffing mare.
“Getting a whiff of you, Stinky,” Fogwalker replied as she dared to look upwards.
“You two seem like such good friends,” Sunrise observed as she watched the pair.
“We’re close,” Fogwalker admitted as she turned to look at Sunrise.
“Oh, I can’t stand her,” Garlic grumbled, shaking his head.
“I don’t think you’re being honest,” Sunrise stated, looking up at the earth pony.
Garlic snorted but remained silent. Instead of a reply, he bent his head around, pulled open his left saddlebag with his teeth, stuck his head inside, pulled out a biscuit, and then tried to eat it without dropping to much of it. He crunched on the hard iron ration, made a disgusted face, shuddered with revulsion, and then choked down the rest of his meal.
“That bad?” Sunrise asked.
The big earth pony nodded, reached his head around, and grabbed another biscuit to eat. It crunched between his teeth and little biscuit crumbs fell down to the stone he was sitting upon. He heaved a sad sigh and sent more crumbs flying from his lips.
“I’ll take first watch,” Fogwalker announced. “Sunrise, eat and get some shuteye.”
“Foggy?”
Fogwalker, who was almost asleep, opened one eye and looked at up Garlic, who was just starting his watch. He looked apprehensive, worried, fearful even, and she lifted her head in alarm.
“About what was said earlier… you are my friend,” Garlic admitted, unable to look at Fogwalker when he offered his confession. “And, uh, well, uh…”
“Is there something else you want to say?” Fogwalker whispered as she peered up at the big earth pony.
“Never mind,” Garlic said, shaking his head. “Get some sleep.”
Yawning, Garlic stretched himself out a bit, eyed the candle that was burning, looked at Sunrise who was sleeping soundly, wrapped in a blanket from her saddlebags, and then finally, he gazed at Fogwalker. He sighed and thought of his father.
Gasser Van der Grease loved Red Onion Pie in his own way, or so Garlic supposed. He had once asked his dad about marriage and Gasser had patiently explained that there was no good logical reason to ruin a perfectly good friendship with something like marriage. Garlic shook his head, trying to understand his parents. They were friends, they were close, and continued to have romantic relations not at all related to foal making, as Gasser tended to come around when his mother wasn’t in season.
It was a very confusing relationship for Garlic, who did not know what to make of it. Breeding was done by arrangement or consent and then ponies went on with their lives. Gasser and Red Onion Pie’s arrangement seemed an awful like marriage, except for the whole living together part. Gasser was a traveler, a draft pony that pulled wagons and hauled gear for the unicorn merchant’s guild, hauling supplies and goods with the caravans. Red Onion Pie lived on the onion farm with her sister Sweet Onion Pie and their mother, his grandmother, Pearl Onion Pie.
His mother had wanted a filly, somepony to carry on the family name of Pie, but Garlic had come instead. His grandmother had been the one to name him Garlic and he had taken his father’s family name. Garlic might not have been an onion, but he belonged in the dirt with the rest of them. His early years had been spent pulling a plow, harvesting onions, and hauling said onions to market for his family. All those years of hard work had barely returned anything. He had made more money in one month working as a Preserver than his family usually made during a good year with a perfect growing season.
When he had been given his first pay, Garlic had come to the painful realisation that earth ponies, farmers, stayed on the bottom, down in the dirt, pegasi could make a living hiring themselves out as soldiers, and unicorns were in charge. Working in the lowest ranks of the Guardians for one month and making more than his family did in one whole year had been a sobering experience for Garlic, that first sack of coins had defined and illustrated his poverty in a way that nothing else could.
Of course, Garlic kept nothing for himself, he wanted his mother, his aunt, and his grandmother to be comfortable and happy. They had worked hard all of their lives and had nothing to show for it. He stared at the burning candle and thought about the entirety of his life, everything that had brought him to this point, and then he looked at Fogwalker. If he had a foal with her, there was a chance it would be born with wings and be big like he was. Strong. That foal would have a future. There was a chance it might not have wings, but still be big and strong… that foal might also have a future if the right sorts of ponies nudged him or her along and made sure there was plenty of combat training from an early age. If however, the foal was just the common garden variety earth pony, it would be back to the dirt, pulling a plow or a wagon, breaking its back to earn in a year what a soldier made in a month.
Garlic had no illusions though. His family having money depended entirely upon him staying alive and there was no guarantee of that. He could die on this trip or the next one. If he died, they would be dirt poor again, with nothing to show for it, save for the coins his grandmother was no doubt squirreling away.
As much as Fogwalker annoyed him, he was fond of her. She didn’t care about class or tribe, she probably had never once given thought to how their potential foal might turn out, or what sort of wretched future it might have. There was also the fact that her parents and her brothers might just have him killed if he ever took her up on her offer. She was prime breeding stock, she came from a long line of decorated soldiers, and with the way things worked, would probably be bred with somepony more her equal, whether she wanted to be or not. It was much harder on females than males in this situation. Saying no might mean being cast out from her family with nothing. Garlic wondered if Fogwalker would cave to their demands or defy them. He wasn’t sure.
Fogwalker Fetlocks never thought about these sorts of things. She never thought about consequences. She never once slowed down to think about the long term effects from one careless moment. It was what Garlic appreciated about her more than anything, her carefree attitude and the fact that she simply did not care, she lived in the moment, largely unfettered by worry about the future.
Garlic wanted to be with her, he wanted his first time to be with her, but with things being the way they were, it was better to keep pushing her away, better for both of them, better for her future, better for his future, better for everypony involved. It was better to remain friends, comrades, fellow soldiers with one another.
“I wish things were different,” Garlic whispered as he stared at the flickering candle.
Sunrise yawned as her hooves hit the stone and looked over at Garlic, who had been set down first. The big earth pony was eager to get moving, she could hear him sniffing from under his helm, and for whatever reason, the cave seemed a little darker now. She tried to coax more light from her light spell and the circle of ghostly illumination around her grew.
“I’ve been hearing stuff echoing through the tunnels, “ Garlic warned, looking at Sunrise and then at Fogwalker. “Voices. Sound carries down here,” he whispered.
“How far up are we?” Sunrise questioned as Garlic began to move forward, ahead into the dark passage that angled upwards.
“Oh, I doubt we’ve even hit the one quarter mark,” Garlic grumbled, not bothering to look back over his shoulder at the disappointed unicorn that was no doubt deflating from his words. He heard Fogwalker’s armor clink behind him as the pegasus began to move. “We have a long way to go. Double time, let’s get moving,” he commanded as he doubled his pace.
Sunrise, already sweaty and stinky from all of her exertions, was too tired to complain. She fell in place behind Garlic, her short stubby pudgy legs pumping, she practically had to run to keep up with Garlic’s easy loping gait. She didn’t dare say anything, they had rested for another four hours and she had not been asked to take a turn at standing guard. Which was a good thing really, Sunrise knew that at some point, she would fall asleep standing there and doing nothing. Her respect for her companions was growing with each hour spent with them. Not only did Garlic battle goblins, but boredom as well, and so far, her experience with the earth pony contradicted almost everything she had learned from her family about earth ponies, such wise words of wisdom that had been said like earth ponies were poor because they were shiftless and lazy, lacking in dedication and drive to improve their life, and that they were mindless brutes that could barely be trusted to pull a wagon or haul a load to market.
Garlic was far more noble than most of the unicorns that Sunrise knew and somehow, she doubted that he was lazy or was lacking in any sort of drive. Sunrise already had the knowledge that she was, in fact, quite lazy, not to mention fat. This death march into the dark heart of Canterhorn mountain felt like it was going to be her undoing. The muscles in her legs burned, quivered, and she had hitching pains in her sides already, just behind her ribs. Behind her, Fogwalker moved with an easy grace and she envied the fit and nimble pegasus.
Determined to prove herself, and to do so without complaint, Sunrise put one hoof in front of the other and followed after Garlic, trying to ignore what felt like her own death as her body protested this horrible experience.
“We have trouble,” Garlic warned, turning to look back at his companions. “I hear stuff up ahead and see light. Goblins incoming.”
Fearful, Sunrise Surprise let out a whimper and began to prepare for her own death. The unicorn felt her stomach clench when she heard the first sounds of something thudding on stone, the clank of metal, and then the sounds of raucous laughter from up ahead.
The trio began to back up, pushing Sunrise along as they did so, eventually pushing her into a crack in the wall behind them. Garlic and Fogwalker stood shoulder to shoulder, waiting, preparing themselves for conflict as the sound of the goblin troop moved closer.
The first of the goblins came into view, fell silent, and stood there looking stupidly at the ponies. Several more goblins came to join the first, all of them gawking at the giant earth pony in front of them.
“This good day. Kill spiders. Get poison. Now we have slaves and something to screw that is not goblin,” one of them remarked as it pulled its axe free from the sheath.
“The big one could pull mine cart once we geld him,” another goblin commented. “Smash Toe be happy with us if we bring them back mostly in one piece.”
“Feathers for pillows,” one goblin gasped. “Pillows!”
“Shut up Pillow Humper!” one of the goblins shouted.
Fearing for her life, feeling a great deal of stress, and unable to deal with the notion that she might lose her virginity to a goblin of all things was simply too much for Sunrise Surprise to bear. She felt a tingle of magic build up inside of her, a rush of raw magic powered by emotion, she let out a fearful cry as her whole body tensed, and she felt as though she was going to sneeze, only out her horn rather than her nose. Pressure built, becoming painful, and then there was a flash of light.
One of the goblins burst into flames and immediately began screeching.
“Ooooh! Pretty!” Fogwalker gasped, entranced by the flames consuming the goblin, who was now running around in a circle. She watched as the stupid creature set one of his companions on fire. Seeing her opportunity, she launched herself at the nearest goblin, driving herself shoulder first into the creature, catching him from behind, shattering his spine on impact. The feculent snot covered creature collapsed and Fogwalker stomped down upon its skull.
Moving gracefully into the fracas, Fogwalker left Garlic behind to defend Sunrise. The goblins squealed and screamed. They were used to dealing with farmers and common ponies, not well trained soldiers backed by a unicorn with faulty light spells. As a panicked goblin went running past, Fogwalker stuck out a hind leg and tripped him, smashing her greaves into the goblin’s shins. When he went down, Fogwalker lept atop of him, planting all four hooves down upon the goblin’s spine, and a loud crunch could be heard.
Swinging a sword, one goblin rushed Fogwalker, attempting to cut her head off with one clumsy swing. The pegasus ducked her head and the sword landed a glancing blow upon her helmet, sending a shower of sparks spraying from the impact. Kicking out with her front leg, she smashed her metal greaves into the goblin’s groin, sending him to the floor with a high pitched yelp.
“How dare you threaten to geld the future father of my foals!” Fogwalker spat as she reared up on her hind legs, pitched her weight forward, and then came smashing down on the groin clutching goblin on the ground in front of her, one hoof landing mid spine, the other on the goblin’s skull. There was a sickening crunch and Fogwalker turned her attention to the last goblin, who had his mace raised and was backing away.
The mace was spiky and glistened in the faint light. Fogwalker advanced carefully, aware that the weapon was probably poisoned and even a little scratch would be life threatening. The pegasus mare felt confident in her abilities though. She had been trained from her first year for situations just like this one.
“Your move dung breath,” Fogwalker growled at the goblin. “Tell me, any particular way you want to die?” she asked as she glared through her visor slit at the goblin.
Much to the goblin’s surprise, his hair caught on fire, causing him to screech and drop his mace to the stone. Reaching up, he clutched his head, trying to put the flames out, his screech becoming an agonised scream as his skin began to melt away from his skull.
Fogwalker Fetlocks backed away and allowed the flames to do their work. “Nice work,” she praised, never taking her eyes off of the burning goblin. “This went well.”
“Indeed,” Garlic agreed, still standing resolutely in front of Sunrise, who was securely wedged into the crevice behind him.
“I killed something with my magic,” Sunrise gasped as the goblin fell to the stone with a thump, landing on his own spiked mace. “I feel so conflicted… I did something horrible but I feel so proud of it at the same time.”
“Better them than us,” Garlic said as he stepped away and allowed Sunrise to escape from her confinement. “You did good, you kept Fogwalker safe,” he praised.
Sunrise, unsure of what do when she heard Garlic’s sincere words, fell silent and looked up at the big earth pony with unabashed affection, her glasses sitting lopsided upon her face. She looked at Fogwalker, then at Garlic, down at the goblins, and then back up at Garlic again as she adjusted her glasses, leveling out her bifocal line.
“That was invigorating,” Fogwalker said as she stepped over a goblin. “It was over to quickly though, I was enjoying myself.” The pegasus mare shook herself, causing her armor to jingle, jangle, and clank. Reaching out with her wing, she lifted her helmet visor and looked at Garlic. “Not one word about what I said, or so help me, I will figure out a way to lay you low.”
“How did you learn how to move like that?” Sunrise asked as Garlic began to look over the bodies.
“A lady is the epitome of charm and grace,” Fogwalker responded as she flexed her wings and kicked out her legs, checking herself for injuries. “I was schooled from an early age to be a Ranger. I was trained in tracking, woodcraft, lore, law, and there were a few combat lessons.”
“That was amazing,” Sunrise gushed, looking at the pegasus. She turned her gaze to Garlic. “What about you?”
“I was a farmer. I pulled a plow. I’ve had a few combat lessons once I was accepted as a Preserver,” Garlic replied as he rolled a goblin over.
“Garlic is just naturally good at combat and smashing stuff. When we were accepted and going through our basic training, we were supposed to fly over a wooden barrier. Garlic couldn’t fly, so he smashed through it instead. Scared the sergeant something awful, that old pegasus never had anypony crash through the barrier,” Fogwalker remarked as she looked at Garlic fondly.
Drawing in a deep shuddering breath, Sunrise Surprise held it for a few moments, listening to the rushing sound in her ears as she did so, and then let it out slowly.
“This one had a pouch full of lumps of silver, we should take it,” Garlic suggested as he looked over at Sunrise.
Taking the hint, Sunrise levitated the pouch free of the goblin, tried to shake some of of the filth from it, and then stuffed it into her own saddlebags. She looked at the metal weapons, her eyes lingering over each of them, her brain attempting to reach some still unknown conclusion. She eyed the sword laying on the ground. It was short, about two feet in length, sharp, double edged, heavily nicked, and the tip had been broken off, leaving a jagged end of metal. She lifted it in her telekinesis, hefted it, and found that it was quite easy to manipulate in her magic. She stared down at the goblin who had the sword in disgust, and, shivering with revulsion, she began to undo the goblins crude belt and removed the sword sheath. Worried that she might never feel clean again, she secured the sword sheath to her saddlebag straps and then sheathed the sword.
“Wise,” Garlic grunted, nodding in approval.
“Setting stuff on fire is good, so is stabbing something with a length of jagged metal,” Fogwalker announced. She looked down at the torch laying on the stone. “We should take this too, the last one was useful.”
Sunrise nodded and lifted the torch.
“We should get moving, that kind of sound travels through the rock. Others are bound to come and investigate,” Garlic said in a concerned voice. The big earth pony began to walk up the passage, stepping over goblins and avoiding the still burning corpses.
“For some reason, I thought we were gonna die,” Sunrise confessed, her voice still fearful and wavering, but there was also a hint of confidence there now. The unicorn fell into line behind Garlic, her head held high and a new spring in her step.
“It is good to come close to death,” Fogwalker said in a soft voice. “It makes life feel livelier once you’ve spent a some time in fear of losing your own life. Food tastes better, wine tastes sweeter, and I’m pretty sure a kiss might feel pretty good right about now.”
“In your dreams Foggy,” Garlic deadpanned.
“Oh come on Stinky-”
“No,” Garlic interrupted.
“Damn,” Fogwalker grunted.
“I’ve never been kissed,” Sunrise admitted as the group left the goblins behind them.
“Give Foggy a kiss… she’s in the mood,” Garlic suggested, not bothering to look back and see if Fogwalker was glaring at him. He could feel her burning stare and there was no need to look back.
“She’s wearing a helmet,” Sunrise said, her nervousness making her nasal lisp even more pronounced. “And I don’t know how I feel about kissing a mare… that’s kinda icky.”
“Sunrise, if you ever want to attract yourself a stallion, walk up and give a mare a big wet soggy kiss,” Garlic suggested as he peered ahead into the dimly lit passage.
“Pervert,” Fogwalker grumbled.
“Both of you are so dirty,” Sunrise whined in protest. “Would that really work?” she asked in a hesitant voice after falling silent for several moments.
Lowering his head, Garlic studied the body of the dead spider. A few legs had been hacked off, it was missing its fangs, and its bulbous backside had been squished. He let out a whicker and shook his head. The goblins it seemed, were out in force. There were lots of dead spiders in the tunnels, but there was the risk of running into a large goblin hunting party. Or worse, there was the chance of running into a large group of spiders, roused to defend themselves from the goblin invaders.
Raising his head, Garlic looked around. The walls were slick here and the sounds of water dripping could be heard. The air was dank and foul. The torch, was little was left of it, sputtered and flickered, which made Garlic worry that there might not be enough air for the fire to burn, which would mean not enough air for them to breathe effectively.
There was nothing that could be done but continue.
“We’ve passed by this formation of rock at least twice now,” Fogwalker announced, her words bringing Garlic to a halt. She looked around at the various crystal formations and the stone all around them glittered and flickered in Sunrise’s horn light.
“I’m aware of this problem. I guess we’ll go back to the main passage and try to find another offshoot,” Garlic admitted, stomping his hoof in irritation.
“Actually, in a gallery just a ways back, where the passage got wide, I saw a tunnel opening up above us. That might be a way up to the next levels up above,” Sunrise said in an exhausted voice. She felt terrible about her growing fatigue, she had slept more than both of her companions, but she felt as though she was going to drop over at any moment and she had trouble keeping her eyes open.
“Good eye,” Fogwalker said, looking at Sunrise. “I say we go back and have a look.”
“I agree,” Garlic replied, nodding his head.
The passage was dark and difficult to see up into. There were indentations carved into the stone to allow for handholds and footholds, which meant the goblins were able to climb up to the opening and have access to the tunnel as well. The sound of running water or rushing wind could be heard coming out of the tunnel.
With a grunt, Fogwalker lifted Garlic, straining and heaving to lift the massive earth pony and his gear, her wings flapping wildly from her efforts. She stuffed him into the opening and then hovered behind him, waiting. There was very little light and stuffing Garlic into a dark tunnel was dangerous.
“All clear,” Garlic announced. “Go get Sunny.”
“I have a nickname?” Sunrise asked, sounding hopeful. “Is this a sign of me being accepted? Is this a sign of camaraderie?”
“Foggy, Stinky, and Sunny… intrepid adventurers, heroic spelunkers, and quite possibly goblin chow,” Fogwalker quipped as she hefted Sunrise from the floor and lifted the chubby unicorn.
“It is really nice of you to call me ‘Sunny’ you know… most ponies call me ‘Chubby’ or ‘Fatso’ or something really mean,” Sunrise gushed, looking at Garlic in the dim light of her horn. “You’re so nice.”
“I’m not nice,” Garlic protested, shaking his head. “The passage here is really steep. Really really steep. Foggy, toss Sunny on my back.”
“Okay Stinky,” Fogwalker acknowledged, lifting Sunrise and throwing her over Garlic’s broad back. She gave the unicorn a shove to keep her from sliding off and then patted her kindly.
The unicorn grunted, threw her legs around Garlic’s neck, and then let out a pained whimper. “The armor plates are kinda painful.”
“Sorry… but to be honest, I don’t think you’ll be able to walk up this grade. If you slipped and fell, you’d slide back, maybe hit an outcropping rock and get hurt or something. Foggy, you be careful, you’re not stable hoofed either,” Garlic said as he took the first few cautious steps up the passage. It was full of gravel and debris and he had to gingerly test each place he put a hoof down.
Fogwalker slipped and fell right away, slamming into the stone wall beside her with a grunt, her armor clanking loudly. As she scrambled to regain her footing, she stumbled and fell down face first, her helmeted head slamming into the floor.
Garlic stopped, secured his hooves, and carefully shifted his weight to turn and look back at Fogwalker. “We’ve barely even started and already the most graceful pegasus I know is falling down like she was walking on sheet ice.”
“Shut up you big smelly earth pony,” Fogwalker growled as she adjusted her helmet.
“The path is too steep for you,” Garlic stated in a defeated sounding voice.
“I can deal with steep, the path is too slick and treacherous. Everything is wet, there is gravel everywhere, some kind of lichen is all over the stone, and the passage isn’t big enough for me to fly in… I’m a pegasus, what do I know about traveling over treacherous earth?” Fogwalker grumbled. The pegasus gritted her teeth in frustration and kicked a loose stone in anger.
“Get on my back,” Garlic commanded.
“Are you crazy? You have the heaviest saddlebags, the heaviest armor, one somewhat chunky unicorn, no offense Sunny, her saddlebags, and now you want me to climb up there as well? I have gear and about fifty pounds of platemail… have you lost your root vegetable growing mind?” Fogwalker demanded, glaring at Garlic through the slit in her helmet.
“Foggy, shut up and climb on,” Garlic said in a voice of irritation as he braced his legs.
“You might be a giant, but you have limits… Garlic, this is dangerous… if you snap a leg I don’t know that we can get you back to home to safety,” Fogwalker protested in a voice of grave concern.
“The same can be said for you,” Garlic argued impatiently. “Just make sure to put me down. Remember, base of the neck, snap it cleanly, I probably won’t feel anything.”
Hating herself, Fogwalker climbed up onto Garlic’s back behind Sunrise and tried to get comfortable. The armor plates were indeed pinchy… pinchy in delicate places. Pinchy and cold and pressed right into places where pinchy and cold metal should never be pressed. She squirmed, trying to situate herself, and she winced when she heard Garlic grunt.
“I’m sorry Garlic, but the metal plates are trying to claim my virginity before you do,” Fogwalker explained in a pained voice.
“I know the feeling,” Sunrise whimpered.
Saying nothing but snorting in disgust instead, Garlic lifted one front hoof, placed it forward, tested the ground, and then planted it firmly on the floor. He did it again with his other front hoof, then a hind hoof, then the other hind hoof, until finally he began the slow crawl up the dangerous passage.
“Stinky… when were done here… I’m going to be wounded… think you could kiss it and make it better?” Fogwalker inquired in sultry tones.
“Why would anypony kiss another pony… there of all places,” Sunrise questioned, feeling nauseated as she clung to Garlic’s broad neck.
“I’m told it feels good,” Fogwalker responded, giving Sunrise a playful squeeze.
“And who told you that?” Sunrise asked, all to aware that Fogwalker just gave her a flirtatious squeeze.
“Chrysalis, the Virtue of Love,” Fogwalker remarked. “She pulled me aside one day, not too long after Garlic’s Standing, and she gave me a detailed lecture on the merits of oral satisfaction and how it builds love and trust in a relationship.”
“I never did like Chrysalis,” Sunrise grumbled, feeling horrified and sickened by the topic of conversation.
Garlic would never admit it, but he was certainly feeling the weight of his load. The passage was steeper than a flight of stairs, he was encumbered by a great deal of weight, and Fogwalker had picked now of all times to spread Chrysalis’ message of perverted love.
Life just wasn’t fair… not at all, and Garlic felt himself begin to resent life just a little bit as he laboured to take each and every step.
“The lecture really wasn’t all that bad, I found a lot of useful information to be had… but she picked a bad time to lecture me,” Fogwalker said, continuing the idle conversation.
“I would think any time would be inappropriate for… that,” Sunrise Surprise said in a strained voice.
“Oh, she picked the worst possible time… my mother was standing right there. And being the good soldiers that we are, we could not refuse the instruction or commands of a Virtue. My poor mother… she turned a shade of purple I’ve never seen before,” Fogwalker remarked loquaciously.
“Oooh my filly flower hurts,” Sunrise whined, trying to squirm away from a rivet and a sharp metal edge.
“Filly flower?” Fogwalker muttered. “Never heard of that one before.”
“That’s what my mother calls it,” Sunrise squeaked as she squeezed her hind legs together against Garlic’s sides and tried to lift her abused femininity away from the rapacious metal of Garlic’s armor. “She said one day a bee will come along and pollinate it for me.”
Garlic nearly lost his footing when he heard the words coming out of Sunrise’s mouth. He grunted, took a deep breath, snorted, and then continued to make his way up the steep incline, smiling broadly under his helmet, trying not to laugh so he could pay attention to the task at hoof.
“Yes… a very busy little bee… he’ll jab his stinger into your filly flower-”
“Look, I know how everything really works,” Sunrise interrupted, a hot flush flooding over her cheeks. “I found a book.”
“Oh… yes, well, a book should tell you everything you need to know,” Fogwalker stated, her tone not at all serious.
“It did. It told me everything. And it all sounds gross, disgusting, and messy. I don’t know how I feel about it,” Sunrise murmured as she squirmed and tried not to think about Fogwalker pressed up against her back and hugging her. It was almost a little too close to what the book described, with the stallion climbing upon the female’s back and giving her a ‘special hug’ to kick off the biological messiness that was about to happen.
Garlic heaved his body along, pushing himself well past his usual levels of endurance. He was tired and he hadn’t eaten enough. He began to wonder just how far he could push himself, how much more he had left, and a part of his mind welcomed the chance to discover just what he was capable of.
He was an earth pony and he was no stranger to the stone. He could feel it all around him and he drew strength from the earth beneath his hooves. Each step returned his hoof to the ground and securely rooted him into place. He did not slip, trip, or stumble, but remained sure-hoofed as he continued up the steep passage. He ignored the pain in his spine and his legs, the creaking in his shoulders and hips, the throbbing ache in his fetlocks.
“You’re doing good… you can do it Stinky,” Fogwalker said in a soft voice full of concern. “When we make camp next, I’ll take both shifts so you can rest.”
“Thanks,” Garlic grunted, his nostrils flaring. His breath was hot inside of his helmet and made the inside humid. He had no idea how long this passage might be and he hoped that they did not encounter any goblins during their climb.
The pain was gone. Garlic had gone numb quite some time ago. He moved mechanically, slowly, his senses dull. He had kept his footing during the long climb, always steady, always stable, but his progress had slowed. His tongue hung out inside of his helmet, he panted, and he was in desperate need of water, but they could not stop now for a drink.
The air stank of rotten eggs and the sound of water had grown louder.
“I think I see something up ahead… light,” Fogwalker whispered.
Garlic felt a dull sense of panic. Light was bad. Light meant trouble. And he was too tired to fight right now. Not that he could fight in this passage. There was no turning back and forward was potential danger. He heaved a weary sigh and continued, knowing there was no other way.
“Greenish light,” Fogwalker announced as they drew closer to the light source. “It looks like the passage widens out up ahead. The green light is everywhere.”
Suddenly, the passage wasn’t so steep, and Garlic nearly stumbled from the change of incline. He steadied himself and pushed ahead, taking a few more steps, he paused, and then he looked around.
They were in a small grotto lit by glowing cave fungus. There were two passages here, apart from the one they had just traveled to get here, one heading up, the other heading down, and on the far wall there was a trickling stream of water. The cavern was redolent with the reek of sulfur.
Fogwalker slipped from Garlic’s back and then pulled Sunrise down. She patted Garlic, trying to steady him, and then she peered around the chamber. “We’ll rest here. It’s dangerous, but poor Stinky can’t take another step.”
The last of his strength now burned up, Garlic collapsed in a heap, his legs buckling beneath him and his head thudding to the ground. Fogwalker let out a worried whimper as she reached down and pulled off Garlic’s helmet, knowing some air would do him good, and she wished there was a way to remove his armor and gear, but that was too complicated and difficult to manage out in the field. She pulled a gourd from his saddlebags with her teeth, pulled out the stopper with a jerk of her wing, and then jammed the opening into Garlic’s mouth.
The stallion coughed and sputtered, sending water everywhere, recovered slightly, and then began to drink. All too soon, the entire gourd was emptied.
“This is bad, his fetlocks are all swollen,” Sunrise whispered, eyeing Garlic’s front legs. “He never complained,” she murmured, shaking her head with disbelief.
“He’ll be fine. Use your magic and feed him… I don’t think he can do it on his own,” Fogwalker instructed, her voice commanding and full of concern. The pegasus stretched her legs as she pulled a candle from her saddlebags.
With a flick of her magic, Sunrise lit the candle after it was set on top of a stone. She pulled out a rock hard biscuit and a small burlap sack of corn. She broke off pieces of the biscuit and using her telekinesis, she fed Garlic little bites, trying to encourage the exhausted stallion to eat. She watched as Fogwalker prepared herself for a long shift standing guard.
“This is turning out to be much harder than I thought it would be,” Sunrise admitted.
“How did you think this was going to be?” Fogwalker inquired, looking at the exhausted unicorn. She could tell that Sunrise was struggling to even stay awake.
“I don’t know, I thought it would be a long walk… or something,” Sunrise said. The unicorn stifled a yawn as she gave Garlic another mouthful of cracked corn. She listened to the crunching sounds of Garlic chewing and tried to ignore her heavy eyelids.
“Instead, we’ve been slogging through these tunnels, been placed in mortal peril, met a giant rat, avoided an underground city full of goblins, and we’ve had our filly flowers shredded while we rode poor Garlic halfway into his grave,” Fogwalker summarised, shaking her head as she spoke.
Sunrise felt herself being overwhelmed with emotion. She sniffled and then she felt the first tear fall. Garlic wasn’t anything at all like the stories she had heard about earth ponies. She fed him another bite of cracked corn, waited for him to chew and swallow, and then offered him another gourd of water to drink.
“This is why we endure the Standing,” Fogwalker said in a low solemn voice. “We endure deprivation, standing in one spot with no food and no water for one whole day and one whole night. A lot of ponies never make it past the Standing. Garlic did, I did, a few of us do, and we are deemed worthy enough to serve. From that point on, life just gets worse and worse for us, the Standing is only an introduction to a lifetime of misery and sacrifice. It sucks being a soldier.”
“Why was Garlic chosen to be a Guardian and not a Ranger?” Sunrise asked, trying to keep herself awake as she continued to give Garlic food and drink.
“Garlic is poor. Poor in a way that you and I would never understand. He’s been educated, which makes him lucky, but he doesn’t have good social standing, refined social graces, and a strong education like I have. Guardians are grunts. Common soldiers. Rangers uphold the law. I was schooled in law and its application. I spent plenty of time being lectured by Flim and Flam themselves, and I’ve gotten many an earful of the importance of the law, the spirit of the law, the letter of the law, and the times where the law fails and it is more important to be fair than it is to be lawful. Garlic defends and protects… I deliver justice,” Fogwalker explained.
“I suppose I can understand that,” Sunrise replied and then yawned.
“Truth is, Garlic would probably make a great Ranger. But he committed the worst crime of all, so that’s never going to happen,” Fogwalker said bitterly.
“Crime?” Sunrise asked in confusion, looking up at the pegasus .
“He was born poor… never mind the fact that he was born without wings. That’s two serious black marks against him. He’s lucky he even made it into the Guardians. He gets nothing but grief from his fellow soldiers for the most part because he can’t fly away with them. He gets treated terribly, usually left in the barracks to clean, tidy up, and pull supply wagons like a common draft pony. And he never complains. He just takes his pay and keeps plodding along, just like he did when he carried us up that steep treacherous incline,” Fogwalker replied, explaining everything in a cold angry voice.
“That seems terribly unfair,” Sunrise whimpered, her cheeks and her muzzle damp with tears. She shook her head and patted Garlic. The stallion snorted and Sunrise realised that he was asleep.
“Unfair or not, that is how life is,” Fogwalker stated. She watched as Sunrise nodded off and fell over, collapsing beside Garlic. “Yep. Life is unfair… I’m stuck standing guard with no sleep.”
The companions moved through the dark passages, always seeking a way to move upwards. Garlic moved slowly, clearly fatigued even though he had rested, Fogwalker was tired but still surprisingly alert, and Sunrise, even though her body ached in places she wasn’t even aware that she had until just recently, was feeling as though she might drop over dead at any moment.
The air was fetid, dank, and hard to breathe. As they traveled, they found dead spiders, a few dead goblins, and a frustrating number of dead ends. The companions moved in silence, too tired to talk, only doing what was absolutely necessary to keep going.
They had refilled their drinking gourds with the stinky egg water as there really wasn’t much else in the way of options. Supplies had to be conserved because there was still the return trip down through the mountain. And worst of all, there was no guarantee that they would even reach Canterlot this way.
“Door,” Garlic groaned, looking at the door ahead of them in the passage. The tunnels had changed now. They were rectangular. Well shaped. It was a hopeful sign. They had been wandering around for hours now in a dazed state of confusion.
“Yes… door,” Fogwalker agreed.
“Will it open?” Sunrise asked.
“No way to open it from this side,” Garlic replied, looking at the door, which had no latches visible.
“Is Canterlot on the other side?” Sunrise inquired.
“Maybe,” Fogwalker said in reply, looking at Sunrise. “The long passage that Garlic hauled us up… that had to take us well past the halfway point,” the pegasus explained.
“And we’ve been walking up some pretty steep grades, Canterlot might be on the other side of this door,” Garlic mumbled, his half open eyes visible through his raised visor.
Sunrise Surprise stepped forward and began to examine the door. Her magic was clumsy, but still functioned, and she probed the door with telekinesis, looking for a lock or a mechanism. There was none. On the other side of the door though, there was a heavy wooden beam, barring the door and preventing it from being opened. Straining, struggling to lift it, Sunrise Surprise squirmed as she summoned the magic to wiggle the wooden support beam free. There was a clunk from the other side of the door and the unicorn pushed the door open with a proud but exhausted smile.
“Nice work Sunny,” Fogwalker praised, pushing through the door and peering around.
Garlic and Sunrise followed, stepping over the wooden beam. Garlic shut the door and Fogwalker struggled with the beam to secure it back in place, lifting it with her forelegs. Sunrise steadied it with her magic and between the two of them, they locked the door, securing the passage behind them.
The companions continued down the tunnel for a ways and then saw light ahead. Garlic moved forward to investigate, leaving Fogwalker and Sunrise behind, and after advancing forward, he saw that it was a glowing glass orb. It flickered a bit and Garlic realised he was looking at a magic lamp.
With a gesture, he urged his companions forward and they continued down the stone passage. It leveled out, becoming flat, and it wasn’t long until they came to an intersection. There was a sign on the passage wall ahead with two arrows, and Garlic studied it for a moment.
“Left is maintenance and waterworks, right is sewage and drainage,” he announced.
“We want to head upwards,” Sunrise stated in a nasal whine. “So waterworks since that is where the water for the fountains was pumped. The sewers would be in the lowest part of the city.”
“Seems sound,” Garlic agreed, heading left. The passage sloped upwards slightly and had glass globes placed along the way.
The air was fresher and this invigorated the trio, urging them onwards in the hope of reaching their goal. Garlic somehow picked up his pace, the mare and the filly that was almost a mare following his lead.
“When we reach the city, I say we hole up in a house if we can. Find a safe place. Rest. Sleep. Slumber,” Garlic suggested in a weary voice.
“Maybe we’ll find some food,” Sunrise said in a hopeful voice.
“Food would be good, but it will be old stale food that was left behind when Sombra drove the ponies out of his city,” Fogwalker said in a drowsy voice.
Falling silent, the companions moved forward, moving only because they had to, all of them bone weary at this point. They stumbled ahead, Garlic leading the way, and Sunrise gently prodded Fogwalker to keep the pegasus moving.
There had been a circular staircase in the waterworks, which had led upwards to a large room full of metal vats, the stairs continued to another level, another room, this one filled with pipes and gauges, and a door marked “exit.”
When the door was opened, the scent of a thunderstorm greeted them. Above them was the terrifying black storm shield that protected the city, it boomed with thunder and flashed with lightning. The trio stepped out of a stone building and onto a street, trying to take in everything around them with wide but exhausted eyes. The city was abandoned looking, deserted, there was nothing around, no ponies, and a cold wind tore at their manes and tails.
Looking around, Fogwalker saw a pile of bones and the glint of metal. She moved forward slowly, feeling sad, and looked at the pile of bones, some of which were broken. It was a pegasus, one of the many brave ones that had tried to fly through the storm shield. The bones were bleached, the flesh long gone, and the armor was still in pretty good shape. As tired as she was, she could not let an asset be ignored. She began to pick through the pile, picking up the greaves with her wings, they looked like they might fit Garlic well enough. They’d be a little short for his long legs, but some protection was better than no protection. She flipped open her saddlebag and jammed the metal plates and straps into the open bag, not bothering to close it.
Meanwhile, Sunrise was looking around, there were houses a short distance away, stately rowhouses, tall and narrow, made of brick and stone, former homes of the wealthy. She craned her head to look upwards, looking at the abandoned wealth all around her. The street lamps were made of iron covered in fine gold and silver filagree. There were brass knockers on the doors. Silver doorknobs. A wagon was left in the street and a tall wind up clock was still sitting in the wagon bed beside a trunk.
“I say we go inside of one of these houses and go to bed. Lock the doors, secure the room, and we should be okay. I’m willing to risk death and dismemberment for a good snooze,” Garlic said, yawning as he said “snooze.”
Sunrise climbed the steps of the nearest townhouse and using her hoof, pressed down on the door latch. The door swung open and she peered inside. In a moment, Garlic climbed up the stairs behind her, and Fogwalker followed after them both.
The house was dark and deserted. The companions noted the kitchen but were far too tired to investigate it, instead they climbed the stairs and made their way to the first landing. There were several doors, the first door revealed a bathroom, and Garlic got to see indoor plumbing for the very first time, but he was too tired to care. The second door revealed a bedroom with a large bed, and Sunrise immediately entered the room.
“Foggy, it is your lucky day. You finally get to go to bed with me,” Garlic grumbled as he shoved Fogwalker through the door.
“Oh my fondest wish… this so romantic!” Fogwalker replied in a squeaky falsetto as she was shoved through the door. She watched as Garlic shut the door behind them. “Really think this is safe?”
“Safe enough,” Garlic answered, offering a fatigued grin to Fogwalker.
The earth pony and the pegasus looked at one another for a moment, unable to look away. They were sweaty, tired, exhausted to the point of mental fugue, and for one brief moment, Garlic’s reserved nature slipped. His eyes flashed with warmth and feeling as he looked at Fogwalker, and even in her sleep deprived state, the pegasus clearly saw what she had long hoped to see when Garlic looked at her.
On the bed, Sunrise Surprise was already sleeping, sprawled out in one corner. Hating her armor, Fogwalker climbed into bed and tried to get comfortable, and she smiled when she felt Garlic settle in beside her. She kicked out her hind legs, hitched her tail, and then lowered her head to the bed.
Unable to stop themselves, the companions slipped into slumber.
It was impossible to tell what time it might be with the storm raging endlessly outside. It was dark, the sun not visible, and Sunrise Surprise had been the first to wake. She slipped from the bed, trying to not disturb her companions, crept over the creaky wooden floor, and then left the room.
The bathroom was still functional, much to her relief.
She made her way down the stairs and looked around the kitchen. The pantry was filled with dessicated old root vegetables, boxes of food that had to be cooked or baked, and there was a box of old stale crackers. Feeling nosy, she made her way down into the cellar, her horn offering feeble light, and it was in the cellar that she found almost a dozen jars of preserved fruit. She didn’t know what sort of fruit, it was not labeled, some of it was light in colour, other jars were dark, but she didn’t care. It was food, soft sweet food. She levitated everything carefully and made her way up the stairs.
She set out the jars in the kitchen, arranging them on the counter, feeling good about contributing something to this adventure. Upstairs, she heard a loud clunk followed by a thud, and she realised her companions were waking. Not wanting to worry them, she called out to let them know where she was.
“I’m in the kitchen! I’ve found food!” Sunrise Surprise exclaimed.
Setting down the jam jar that was held pinched in his fetlock, Garlic smacked his lips and then licked them. He felt energised, invigorated, from the much needed sleep and the sugary sweet meal. He watched as Fogwalker licked the inside of a jar with her tongue, trying to get the last bits of sweetness, and as he saw her tongue darting in and out, he felt a powerful spike of arousal for the pegasus.
He belched and shifted his weight upon his haunches. “We need to head to the palace I suppose and try to look for answers. I don’t think Sombra is here. This city is empty,” he said, looking first at Fogwalker and then at Sunrise as he spoke.
“I agree,” Sunrise said in her nasal voice. “Sombra is gone. But we should look around and see what we can discover.”
Licking the jam from her snoot, Fogwalker nodded.
“Princess Celestia wants me to look for the storm generator if I can find it. I doubt that I will be able to shut it off. She isn’t sure it even exists. It might, or Sombra might have just cast a very powerful spell to shield the city,” Sunrise said, explaining her task.
“Before we go, we need to get those greaves I found and put them on Stinky,” Fogwalker said, her eyes crossing as she suddenly saw a spot of jam on the edge of her nostril. She stuck out her tongue and with a flick, she cleared away the sticky chunk of fruit.
“Even though we are probably safe, we need to stick together. We don’t know what else might be lurking in the city. If we are here, other things might also be here,” Garlic said, looking at his female companions.
The city of Canterlot was eerie and deserted. There was no sun, no moon, no stars, it was impossible to tell if it was night or day, and a strange ghostly glow shone upon the city from the raging storm overhead. The air smelled strongly of ozone and emptiness. There were bones in the street and a few dessicated corpses that hadn’t turned to bones just yet.
Sombra, grieving for his lost love, had driven them all out. Princess Celestia, who had been reformed, had taken them all in and offered shelter as well as safety. The unicorns of Canterlot were loathe to trust Princess Celestia, but safety and shelter were in short supply. Those who braved the wilds faced mortal peril and those that went to the other cities faced a lack of civilisation.
Everywhere the companions went, there were statues of her. It was obvious that it was not this world’s Celestia, every statue of Sombra’s love stood near a mirror, some statues stepping through a mirror, evidence of his obsession was everywhere. Becoming the embodiment of evil had done nothing to quell his feelings of love, if anything, it had fanned the flames of his desire, causing an outright maniacal obsession with his lost love, lost beyond the mirror, forever out of his reach, and now, it seemed that Sombra was determined to mourn her and spend an eternity in misery.
As Garlic passed by statue after statue of Sombra’s beloved Princess Celestia, his thoughts and feelings about Fogwalker grew more and more confusing, he did not know how to deal with her fixation with him. As he walked along the cobblestone streets, his hooves clopping and thudding upon the stones, he stole careful glances at Fogwalker, watching her graceful movement, the way she watched everything around them, and the way her eyes twinkled when she caught him looking at her.
The palace lay ahead, it was at the end of a long boulevard with dead trees planted in the center. The companions moved forward swiftly, invigorated now, in a hurry to find out something, anything, it was obvious that the city was deserted and Sombra was not home.
A large pile of bones was ahead and Fogwalker stopped to have a look. She poked at them with her hoof, jerked back her head, and then began to back away. “Garlic, get over here!” she cried, a look of horror upon her face.
Moving swiftly, Garlic came to her side, Sunrise just behind him, and he looked down at the pile of bones. They were all mismatched. An odd shaped skull. A horn. An antler. Mismatched wing bones. It was a jumbled collection of bones.
“Discord,” Sunrise Surprise said in a sad voice. “Do you think it is really him?”
“Who else could it be?” Garlic said as he stood over the bones and looked down. “Only a draconequus could be this random. There can be little doubt.”
Fogwalker took off her helmet, held it under her wing, and then she stood solemnly over the bones, her lips moving, a faint murmur could be heard but no words could be made out by her companions. She fell silent, her lips no longer moving, and then she bowed her head. “He deserved better.”
“Should we do something with the bones?” Sunrise asked, the chubby unicorn now sniffling a bit and her eyes were misty with tears.
“No,” Garlic said. “We should leave them. We can’t carry them with us and we have a mission to finish. As sorry as it makes me to say this, there is nothing more we can do here.”
“Stinky is right,” Fogwalker agreed, shaking her head sadly.
“The palace is just ahead. I guess we should keep going,” Sunrise Surprise whimpered, struggling to hold back tears. “He was my hero as a foal. For a while, I wanted to grow up and be just like him.”
“I did grow up to be just like him,” Fogwalker stated, slamming her helmet back down upon her head, her pale violet mane vanishing under the bright shiny steel.
There were no guards. The doors opened easily. Nothing held the companions back. They entered through the massive double doors and stood in the entrance hall, looking stupefied as they took in the splendour all around them. Statues stood along the walls and globes of light burned brightly. Massive gold and silver chandeliers still hung overhead.
Just one chandelier would allow Garlic to live like a king for the rest of his natural life.
The companions made their way down the hall, their hooves making muffled sounds on the fine rug they trotted upon. Under the rug were black and white marble tiles. The jangle of armor and metal echoed in the long hall, a spooky sound that was somewhat unnerving.
Garlic led the way through a set of double doors and into the throne room. The throne was empty of course, there was no Sombra there to greet them, but it seems they had been expected. A note was secured to the throne and Garlic cautiously approached, leaving Fogwalker and Sunrise behind. He craned his head and climbed the stairs to the raised dais, trying to get a good look at the note. Finally, he reached the throne and was able to see the small fine script.
“Read it,” Fogwalker requested, looking hopeful.
“This is the key to the kingdom. Please take it. Look around. I have left other notes, instructions, they will allow you to get rid of the storm shield over the city. I would like to say that I am sorry, but my grief knows no bounds. I have left, as you have no doubt discovered. Do not come looking for me,” Garlic read in a loud clear voice. “He signed it Emperor Sombra.”
“There’s a key?” Sunrise asked.
Garlic looked down and then he saw it, a small silver key sitting on the throne. “Yes,” he replied. “Really funny looking key… something isn’t right here, I’ve seen this key before but I don’t know where.”
“Really?” Fogwalker asked.
“Let me see,” Sunrise Surprise said as she climbed the stairs and approached the throne. She huffed a bit from exertion, rolled her eyes with self disgust, and then levitated the key up off of the throne. She looked it over and as she did so, her blood ran cold.
It was a question mark key, identical to the key that was her cutie mark. Sunrise let out a shrill nervous shriek and dropped the key. It bounced and clattered down the stairs. Panicking, Sunrise Surprise let out another ear piercing wail and stared down at the key that was now at the bottom of the stairs.
Picking it up in her wing, Fogwalker immediately made the connection and she looked at Sunrise Surprise curiously. “You dropped this,” she said in a low soothing voice.
Looking first at Fogwalker, then the key, then at Sunrise Surprise, Garlic slowly made the connection. His eyes fell on Sunrise’s cutie mark. “You… you’re the key to this kingdom,” Garlic stated, his earth pony brain now labouring to make sense of what was sure to be a complex issue.
Shivering, Sunrise went down the stairs, nearly stumbling, and slowly approached Fogwalker. Licking her lips, she took the key and held it once again in her magic. She lifted it close, holding it almost to her snoot, and she peered at it through the lower half of her bifocals. It was question mark shaped and had the usual key shaped bits coming off of one end. Fear flowed through her body and she felt her guts turn to ice.
“I strongly suspect that Princess Celestia has withheld information from us,” Garlic announced in a flat monotone. “This makes me feel somewhat peeved.”
“I’m sure she had her reasons,” Fogwalker responded, unable to take her eyes off the key. “Stinky, if you want a long career as a soldier, be real careful about this subject when we go home.”
Off to the left, a door slowly swung open. A small door, leading off to an unknown place. Nothing could be seen opening the door, and the trio all felt a chill. The small key that Sunrise Surprise held in her magic glowed faintly.
“It seems we are expected,” Garlic grumbled. “I don’t like this. I really don’t like this.”
“Oh stop being an earth pony. A little magic probably won’t hurt you, you big foal,” Fogwalker said, her gaze turning to a worried looking Garlic. The big earth pony looked a little spooked. She could see his eyes, his visor was raised, and while Garlic wasn’t afraid, not yet, he was clearly a little spooked. “I say we go through the door,” Fogwalker suggested.
“Seems like answers have been provided. Or a trap,” Garlic grumbled, looking nervously at the door. “I really don’t like this.”
“I don’t like it either,” Sunrise Surprise whispered. “I’m about to pee on myself.”
“Anypony know where the privy is?” Fogwalker inquired, now smirking slightly.
“I still can’t believe you made me pee in that old flowerpot,” Sunrise Surprise whispered as the walked down the hallway.
“Garlic turned around, I don’t see what the big deal is,” Fogwalker said dismissively.
“I peed in a flowerpot!” Sunrise replied in a nasal hiss.
“In all those books about adventurers, you never hear about them needing to stop and have a piss,” Fogwalker remarked. “Those adventurers, they must have heroic bladders.”
Garlic ignored them both and kept his eyes on the hallway ahead. It opened into a large alcove, round, with many doors leading off into different directions. In the middle of the room was sitting area and a statue of Celestia. Garlic crossed the room and began to look at little brass signs upon the doors. The first one read “library” and Garlic pressed his lips together. He read a few more and then paused when he came to one that caught his attention.
“Laboratory and holding cells,” Garlic read aloud.
“Well, that seems like a good place to find answers as any,” Fogwalker announced as she sprang forward. She pushed the door open, revealing a hallway and a flight of stairs at the end. Feeling bold, she led the way this time, walking fearlessly down the well lit hallway. She hit the stairs and began to go down, and she heard her companions moving to keep up with her.
The stairs led to another alcove on the level just below the main floor. Fogwalker looked around at the signs. Holding cells, mirror laboratory, research archives, and containment laboratory.
Feeling curious, Fogwalker stepped through the archway into the mirror laboratory. The room was massive, there were more stairs leading downwards past an entryway, and throughout the massive expanse, there were mirrors. So many mirrors. Mirrors of all shapes and sizes. Some were broken, some were intact, and the entire room thrummed with odd energy.
“Don’t you dare go down there,” Garlic growled, staring at Fogwalker. “Some of those mirrors might be active. If you fell through, it might be a one way trip. This is a bad idea.”
Fogwalker nodded and remained at the top of the landing, staring out into the room. She could see strange lights flickering on some distant mirror, and then she heard a crackling sound that made all of her back hairs stand on end.
“I’m feeling queasy. The energy here… it does not agree with me,” Sunrise whined.
“Come on, let’s get you out of here,” Garlic said in a soft voice, leading Sunrise away from the mirror room. He gently pushed her along, and the filly on the verge of marehood was having honest difficulty walking.
Fogwalker went after them, glad to leave the room behind. The entire room felt wrong somehow, off, unpleasant. There was something unnatural there. Somehow, a cadre of unicorns needed to come here and shut everything in the room down.
Garlic gently pushed Sunrise down into a chair in the alcove and then he looked around. Curious, he went through the archway marked “holding cells” and began to trot down the hallway. The hall was short and ended in a ‘T’ junction, with a row of heavy doors leading each way.
“Anypony in here?” Garlic bellowed, figuring it couldn’t hurt to double check.
“Hello? Is somepony finally out there?” a reply came.
Garlic panicked and immediately moved towards the sound, unable to comprehend just leaving something or somebody locked up in a cell to die, which is exactly what Sombra had done. Garlic shuddered with revulsion.
Pausing to think about his actions, but only for a moment, Garlic reflected upon the rash action of releasing whatever was being contained in the holding cells. He shook his head. This wasn’t a dungeon, this was a laboratory, whatever was behind held here was probably experimented upon and then left to die.
“Hello?” Garlic called out, standing at the door.
“Please let me out, I’ve been so alone for so long… I don’t know how long. He left weeks ago,” the voice answered.
“Foggy, I need that key!” Garlic shouted as he looked down at the door. There was a keyhole and he suspected that the key would work.
“He came to me one day, he apologised, he said my mirror broke and he couldn’t send me home… he told me he was leaving… oh it feels so good to hear another voice again. He moved a bunch of stuff into my cell, food and water, he told me to make it last, he said there would be visitors coming… I don’t know how he knew, but he was right… oh it feels so good to talk again and have something answer. I’ve been talking to myself.”
Fogwalker came around the corner with Sunrise just behind her.
“Are you sure this is wise?” Fogwalker questioned.
“He was abandoned in this cell, I’m letting him out,” Garlic replied, his voice stern, the sort of voice that one did not argue with.
Watching, waiting, feeling somewhat tense, Garlic stood ready as Sunrise Surprise inserted the key the door, turned it, and the door slowly opened.
Fogwalker took a step backwards and Sunrise gasped. What was in the cell was not a pony, at least not entirely. It was half of a pony, but where the neck and head should have been, the torso, arms, and head of what almost looked like a goblin existed. Garlic stared. The figure was thin, bony, his steps unsteady and unsure. The upper half wasn’t twisted and distorted like a goblin. The pony half was dappled, white with splashes of brown, red, and gold. He had tall pointed ears coming up off his head. His hair was golden and stuck out in all different directions.
“What are you?” Sunrise asked in a fearful whisper, pressing tightly against Fogwalker as she spoke.
“We call ourselves the forest folk, we are part of the fae, but the horse wizard that captured me, he kept calling me a centaur,” the strange looking creature said. “My name is Chert.”
“I’ve never heard of a centaur and I’ve read a lot of books about fantastical creatures,” Sunrise stated, her eyes blinking owlishly through her glasses. “My name is Sunrise Surprise, it is very nice to meet you.”
Lowering his head, Garlic studied the centaur, never taking his eyes off of it. “My name is Garlic Van der Grease,” he said, introducing himself.
“And I’m Fogwalker Fetlocks,” Fogwalker said in guarded voice.
“Chert is a type of common stone,” Sunrise announced in her droning nasal voice.
“I use it to make arrowheads and tools,” Chert replied, looking around himself as he spoke, his expression still fearful. “The horse wizard appeared in a bright flash of light. There was more light. I found myself here. There were others he took. He studied me. I’ve been here a very long time. He taught me how to read, to write, and wanted to see how smart I was.”
“You poor thing,” Sunrise said, her eyes going wide.
“You said he left?” Fogwalker asked.
“He left. I don’t know how long it was ago. Weeks ago. Maybe longer. He put food in my cell and water and told me to be patient. There was another horse wizard with him. Purple. She was cruel. He tried to be nice, but he had moments where he… he… he changed. He had strange glowing eyes,” Chert replied, looking very confused.
“And he told you we were coming?” Garlic asked, trying to figure out what was going on, his mind slowly coming to bear upon the problem.
“He talked about it all the time. He said there would be visitors soon, it was nearly time, his time here was over, he was making plans to leave. He told me to wait,” Chert answered, looking overwhelmed and afraid.
“I say we take him back to Princess Celestia,” Fogwalker said, her voice becoming confident and self assured. “She might be able to get some answers. Are you willing to come with us?”
“I will follow you anywhere if you will talk to me,” Chert said, his mouth curling into a smile, his fingers flexing and wiggling.
“Stay close with us,” Garlic commanded as he continued to study the strange looking centaur. He didn’t know what the top half was. It was goblin shaped, but didn’t look like a pig, a dog, or anything else. The arms were slender, delicate, and the fingers were long and thin. Chert almost looked like a minotaur, but didn’t have horns.
“You have a cutie mark,” Sunrise Surprise announced as she stared at Chert’s backside, tilting her head so she could see through the lower half of her bifocals.
“A what?” Chert replied, looking confused. He turned around and looked at Sunrise, and then his expression changed as realisation dawned upon him. “Oh, my fate guide,” he stated, his face shifting into an expression unknown to his new companions.
“Fate guide?” Sunrise inquired, now looking studiously interested.
“The forest folk get marks that tell us what we do and what we are good at. Mine is an arrowhead. I make stone tools, bows, and arrows,” Chert explained. “Others make medicine, some study stars to read the seasons, some lead our tribes, each guide is personal.”
“We have marks too… cutie marks,” Sunrise Surprise said, lifting her front hoof and pointing at her backside. “Mine is a question mark key, which is causing us some trouble at the moment,” she explained in a dry nasal lisp. “Garlic and Fogwalker have them too, but their marks are covered by armor.”
“The horse wizard never questioned me about my fate guide,” Chert said in a low voice, looking troubled and sad. His face might have been different than his companions, but certain expressions were universal.
“We need to keep moving,” Garlic commanded. “We can talk later. Are you capable of walking?” he asked.
“I’ve been locked in a small cell… I’ve been wanting to walk,” Chert replied as he stretched his legs out. “I can help you… I know my way around this strange place.”
“Good,” Fogwalker remarked as she stared at Chert.
In the distance, a bell rang, which caused the centaur to become strangely blank. He began to move, his body jerky and uncoordinated, moving almost like a poorly controlled puppet.
“We must go,” Chert said in a strange voice. “The Master beckons,” he added, his voice a strange sounding monotone.
The companions moved after him, Sunrise Surprise in particular looking fearful and concerned. Garlic cast a final glance at Chert’s cell, looking at the crates of food being left behind. Fogwalker gave Garlic a hard shove to get him moving, not liking that one of their group was currently ensorceled by strange magic.
Chert moved along unsteadily, stumbling up the stairs, down a hallway, through an alcove, and finally, the companions arrived in a large library that was strangely emptied of books. The shelves were all emptied, there was nothing left in the library but a large globe and a sheet of paper left upon a broad wooden table. Chert stood near the table, unmoving, his eyes oddly blank.
“Sunrise, this note has your name on it,” Garlic said, looking down at the paper, his brow furrowed under his helmet. He gently prodded Chert, who did not reply.
Lifting the note in her magic, Sunrise unfolded it and then looked at it through the bottom half of her bifocals. She cleared her throat, sniffled nervously, and began to read.
“My beloved Sunrise Surprise, I hope that you will find it in your heart to forgive me one day for what I have done. I have tried to keep the madness away, to restore myself, to find some sort of sanity in during the war that rages within my mind,” Sunrise read, a lump forming in her throat which made her sound squeaky.
“Keep going,” Fogwalker said gently, brushing up against Sunrise and placing a wing over the unicorn’s back. Sunrise was trembling fearfully, and Fogwalker felt deep concern for her friend.
“I had to keep you safe, even from me. You are all I had left… of her…”
Garlic’s heart sank as Sunrise Surprise’s voice faltered and faded out. He closed his eyes, feeling a pain he had never known. There were no words, no means to express what he was feeling, and he couldn’t imagine what Sunrise must be feeling at this moment.
“...of her. You are all I had left of her,” Sunrise continued, struggling to keep reading. “Your mother loved you a great deal, but due to a number of complications, she left you here with me. Not long after, the rift happened. Celestia believed that the rift was because of our forbidden love… because of you. Eventually, things spiraled out of control. I took a great evil upon myself to restore the balance. You were sent away with the Virtues, still a foal. I do not know what they have told you, but I loved you then, I love you still, and I have left your legacy within these walls,” Sunrise said, her voice hitching and tears streaming down her cheeks. She fell silent, took off her glasses, and rubbed her eyes.
Fogwalker gently rubbed Sunrise with her wing, her own teary eyes visible through the opening in her helmet. She looked over at Garlic, wishing she could go to him for comfort, and for a moment, she was certain that Garlic would hold her and not send her away or turn from her.
Sliding her glasses back on, Sunrise coughed and then focused once more upon the paper. “I never meant for things to end this way. I thought I could find myself, I believed that I could fix what was wrong. I truly believed that good always found a way. Instead, the shadow has grown. I cannot stop what I am becoming. Dark times are ahead. I am still trying to fix things and I have gone away. I have left Chert to be your faithful companion, as your father, I would trust your life to him. All you must do is look him in the eye, touch him, and tell him “I am the key.” He is a good creature, mindful, obedient, kind, dutiful, he will watch over you and protect you. Beyond this library is the storm orb. Insert the key and claim your legacy. I love you, and your mother loved you so very much… your father, Sombra,” Sunrise read, finishing the note.
Still sniffling, still weeping, her emotions raw, still holding the sheet of paper, Sunrise Surprise turned to look at Chert. She looked up at him, wondering what Sombra had done, overwhelmed by everything she had learned. Perhaps Chert had answers. She raised her hoof, wobbling on three legs, touched Chert on his foreleg, looked the centaur in the eye, and took a deep breath.
“I am the key,” she said in a wheezing exhale.
Blinking, Chert looked around. He rubbed his eyes with his hands, ran his fingers through his hair, and then looked at Sunrise Surprise. “Did you say something?”
Baffled, Sunrise realised there was no answers to be had from Chert. At least not yet. Maybe not ever. She trembled when she felt one of Chert’s strange hands touch her neck and try to comfort her.
“Funny, I feel like I have known you all of my life,” Chert said, looking down at the unicorn. “We’ve only just met though. I feel strange,” he announced, his long golden haired tail swishing.
“This is strange sorcery, I don’t like it,” Garlic said, shaking his head.
“I know things are emotional and difficult, but we need to find answers. We’re close now, I can feel it. We should check out what this storm orb is,” Fogwalker said in a gentle but urgent voice, looking at her companions. She watched as Sunrise Surprise carefully folded the note and placed it within her saddlebag. “There will be time to sort this all out later, when we are at home and we are safe.”
“I agree, we need to find out what is going on… this is a lot to take in. Princess, are you okay?” Garlic asked, looking down at Sunrise.
“What did you call me?” Sunrise asked, backing away from Garlic.
“Oh fleas! We’re not qualified to guard her,” Fogwalker swore, shaking her head as she spoke. “Garlic, we’re dealing with a royal!”
“Princess Celestia trusted us to look after her. She had to have known. Calm down Foggy,” Garlic said in a solid and reassuring voice.
“We stick with what we know,” Garlic said in a commanding voice. “We follow our mission. Nothing has changed. We’re still guarding the same unicorn… except for maybe now she is our friend. Let’s end this, find this orb, and maybe we can turn off the storm, restore Canterlot, and a nice group of pegasi will see the storm is gone. We might get lucky and get a ride home or something.”
“You’re right Garlic. As always, your thinking is sound,” Fogwalker agreed, taking a deep breath of relief. She turned and stared at the only other door out of the library.
The storm orb was a large glass orb mounted upon a giant brass stand. It was filled with lightning and swirling black clouds. The room was filled with a strange magical energy that made the sinuses burn and the eyes water. But the orb, for all of splendor, was not the central focus in the room.
The walls were covered in hundreds of paper notes. Sunrise moved around the room, looking at the notes. Some were love letters, sweet words written to a lost love, others were notes that said “I’m sorry” over and over hundreds of times. Some of those notes were written to her, she could see her name written upon them, some where written in beautiful clear script, others were the manic almost unreadable scribblings of a madpony.
“This is very disturbing,” Garlic announced, looking around at the evidence of madness all around him. “Nature is being corrupted here. Something is wrong. We need to do as Sombra instructed and deactivate this orb.”
Lifting her key in her magic, Sunrise Surprise stared at the small bit of precious metal and then her eyes glanced at the keyhole in the brass stand under the massive glass orb. “So if I stick this in there, the storm over Canterlot will end?”
Nodding, Fogwalker gave Sunrise a nudge. “I think so.”
“There is a book here,” Chert said, pointing to a thick book on a wooden table near where he was standing.
“Grab it, maybe Sombra left it,” Garlic said, feeling somewhat spooked. Something in this room offended his earth pony sense. The feeling was growing stronger the longer he stood in here. His head was beginning to ache.
Fearful, full of dread, Sunrise Surprise walked towards the keyhole, the key held out in front of her in her magic. She could feel the madness in this room. It made her horn ache, a strange feeling she had never felt before. Her legs felt stiff and she had some trouble moving them as she drew closer. She felt her friends draw near, she felt a comforting wing across her back. She looked up at the storm orb and licked her dry lips, her orange tongue to dry to do anything to help.
Whimpering with a fear she did not understand, Sunrise Surprise pushed the key into the keyhole. There was a whirring sound, a low mechanical sounding whine, followed by a deep thrum. The orb flashed with strange energy.
“Sunrise Surprise,” a voice called out, a deep resonant voice that seemed to come out of the very stone walls. “Do not be afraid. I love you, and I will always love you, just as I will always love her,” the voice promised. The voice was mournful, sad, there was a funeralistic tone to the voice. “For all of my faults, let it be known that your father loves you!”
The orb radiated a flash of light and a powerful wave of energy surged out, striking the companions. There were screams, panicked cries, a fearful grunt, and then quite suddenly, the companions were gone.
Garlic found himself falling several feet and then landing in the grass, his companions landing all around him. He felt sick, nauseous, his ears rang, and he was dazzled by the sudden appearance of the sun. He lifted his head, trying to gain his bearings. He looked up, saw the Canterhorn before him, and he craned his head back to get a look at Canterlot, built high upon a shelf near Canterhorn Peak. The storm shield was gone, the city was visible, and Garlic felt an overwhelming feeling of relief.
And then, Canterlot exploded. A massive explosion blossomed high overhead, a pillar of fire stretching up into the sky, the sound was almost deafening. Smoke billowed from the mountain. A wash of hot air reached the companions. Garlic realised that Canterlot was lost, gone forever, swallowed up in fire.He struggled to his hooves and then he turned to look at his companions, hoping to find some reassurance from them.
His eyes fell upon Sunrise Surprise and he immediately saw right away that something was wrong. The chubby unicorn was sprawled in the grass, her glasses were a few feet away, and much to Garlic’s shock and surprise, Sunrise Surprise had wings.
Sunrise Surprise was no longer a unicorn, but something else entirely.
“Is everypony okay?” Garlic asked, his eyes locked on Sunrise Surprise’s wings. He felt a growing sense of concern for the unicorn filly, she was laying on the ground staring at one extended wing, her expression was one of befuddled horror. “I need to hear voices.”
“My head hurts, but I’m good,” Fogwalker said as she kicked her helmet off with a front hoof. It fell onto the grass with a soft thump and rolled over.
Chert wobbled up onto his hooves, his arms and hands out to his side for balance. “What happened?” He raised up one hand to rub the side of his face and he clutched his stomach with the other.
“Sunrise?” Garlic asked as he staggered over to the unicorn’s side.
The yellow unicorn looked up at the big armor plated earth pony, her eyes wide, her lower lip trembling, her nostrils flared as her breath heaved in and out of her lungs. The first tears began to fall as Garlic stood there, looking stupidly at Sunrise Surprise.
There was a loud “CLUNK!” as Garlic dropped down and kneeled beside Sunrise, and then he went down to his belly completely. A moment later, the sobbing unicorn had her forelegs around his armored neck and had collapsed against him, seeking comfort from the pony that was now her trusted friend.
Watching all of this, Fogwalker Fetlocks suddenly experienced a powerful feeling of love, a fierce overwhelming feeling of intense amorous affection for Garlic, this was the pony that had was her fellow solider, her companion, and her foalhood friend. This was the pony that she had regularly endured getting in trouble for, even feeling the lash a few times, sneaking out as a foal so she could go slumming with the earth pony that she called her friend. For a moment, something in her heart blazed so ferociously that she worried that she might combust. She actually felt her loins blazing with desirous fires and her breath caught in her throat.
All Fogwalker could do was stand there and watch Garlic comfort the pony that Fogwalker now called ‘friend.’ The friend who now had wings and was clearly suffering from everything that had happened. Fogwalker felt her own emotions threatening to overwhelm her and she quickly began to reassert her self control. She picked up her helmet from the grass and stuffed it down upon her own head.
“We need to head home,” Garlic said in a soft voice as Sunrise clung to him. “We need to figure out where we are and which way home is. We need to get home before dark if we can. We can have an alicorn princess to keep safe.”
“Don’t say that,” Sunrise sobbed, finally saying something. “I’m fat, ugly, and worthless, alicorns are supposed to be beautiful, graceful, and wise.”
Picking up Sunrise’s glasses from the grass with her wing, Fogwalker walked towards the sobbing unicorn and held Sunrise’s glasses out to her. “You shouldn’t say those things.”
“But they’re true,” Sunrise whined, shaking her head as she sobbed.
“Before her reformation, Princess Celestia was awfully ugly on the inside. She was cruel, heartless, and just about universally hated,” Garlic said in a hushed whisper.
Using his ever so helpful hands, Chert gently lifted Sunrise to her feet, grabbed her glasses from Fogwalker, and then gently placed the spectacles over Sunrise’s face. He had no idea what they were or how they worked, only that they belonged here. He then wrapped his arms around the strange pony’s neck and gave her a hug.
“It is so nice seeing the sun,” Chert said, in a confused voice, overcome by everything that had taken place. He held on to Sunrise, steadying her, one of his hands stroking her back.
With a groan, Garlic stood up, his armor plating clattering and clanking loudly. He stretched and kicked out his legs, arched his back, and flexed his neck. “I’ll be glad to get this off and take a bath.”
“I’m going skyward. I’m going to get our bearings and see which way home is,” Fogwalker said as she spread her wings. She took off at a run, kicked out with her hind legs, and then she launched herself skyward.
Circling, rising with each flap of her powerful wings, catching a few helpful updrafts as she gained altitude, Fogwalker looked around. The group was in a small meadow, all around them was forest, and it didn’t take long to realise that they were on the west side of what was left of Canterhorn mountain. Canterlot was gone, there was no city, the Canterhorn Peak was no more, the entire top of the mountain had been completely blown to bits. All that was left was rubble. Unable to stop herself, Fogwalker realised an enterprising pegasus might be able to pick through the rubble and find shiny treasure. Gold and silver were common in Canterlot, certainly some of it was left somewhere.
Home lied to the south and the east. Fogwalker believed they could make it home if they got started now. It wouldn’t be an easy walk, Garlic was still limping somewhat, the long climb up the gravel strewn incline had nearly been his undoing. She doubted that any other earth pony could have done what he did.
She began to circle downwards, heading back down to her companions, and as she drew nearer she began to feel a stunned sense of disbelief that Sunrise Surprise had wings now. This entire time, Fogwalker had been guarding treasure of a different sort. Yellow gold indeed, she thought to herself as she neared the ground and braced her legs.
“We need to head south and then east. If we hurry, we’ll hit the outskirts of the county before sundown,” Fogwalker said, looking at each one of her companions. “I know all of you are tired, Sunrise, I know that you are confused and hurt right now, but we need be practical and keep moving. So hard march, no stopping, we’ll eat on the hoof or we won’t eat at all, is that clear?”
“Sounds sensible,” Garlic said, setting off in a general southern direction, to make his way around the base of Canterhorn mountain. The big earth pony easily fell into pace, his long legs settling into a comfortable stride for himself.
For his companions, it meant moving double time to keep up with the big earth pony.
The world around Chert fascinated him. The sun was warm, the shade offered by the trees was cool and inviting, the birds were singing, there were butterflies in the air. He had companions. Most importantly, he had Sunrise Surprise. If she moved too far away from him, he felt nervous and weird, which caused him to pick up his pace and move towards her. He couldn’t explain why he liked her, but there was something appealing about her. She was a pretty pony, she was soft, and she was a most pleasing shade of yellow.
It felt odd to be in the woods and not have his bow. These were not the woods of his home, but these were the woods, and he felt a kinship with them, even though the trees were strange and spoke oddly. He couldn’t quite make out their strange dialect, but he knew that he would figure it out in time. The bird song was strange as well, one he did not know, and as he trotted along, he carefully listened and tried to pick apart the various tunes he was hearing to decipher their meaning.
“I know a little bit about the fae… we have them here. Dryads and nymphs and a few strange creatures,” Fogwalker said to Chert as she trotted, trying to strike up a conversation with the centaur. “But I’ve never heard of your kind. You’re unlike anything I’ve seen before.”
“We don’t know where we come from, we forest folk. We weren’t always like this. We once had two legs, not four, but something changed. Something changed our world. We have found old cities, old ruins, very old ruins, and we’ve found images of beings that look like we do in the ruins, but they have two legs. We don’t know what happened, how we ended up as half equine and whatever we are. We don’t know what destroyed our cities. We have lost our memories. Sombra was very curious about my kind and he spent a lot of time looking through a mirror, looking over the ruins of my world. He said we were similar to something he called a ‘human’ but we were also very different with our pointed ears, small bodies, and slender builds. He said that many worlds have stories about the Fae and all of the different creatures that make up the Fae. He called us the ‘travelers’ and was very curious about us,” Chert said, babbling on about all of the little details that he knew and hoping he knew enough to make sense. He reached up and scratched at one of his long pointed ears as he mentioned them and continued to watch the woods all around him for signs of trouble.
As she walked, Sunrise Surprise’s wings fluttered and flapped at her sides. She walked with her head low, looking dejected and miserable, her crooked glasses somehow making everything look even worse. She kicked at every rock she passed by, every protruding root, and even kicked at sticks.
Unable to watch her friend suffer, Fogwalker tried to strike another conversation. “You know Stinky, I could totally see you becoming a Virtue,” she blabbered to the big earth pony in the lead. “We already have an alicorn in our group.”
“Virtue of what?” Garlic asked in a subdued voice, not sure that he liked what he was hearing at all. Being a Virtue came with a long list of responsibilities, social obligations, and duties that one could not ignore. It was like being an alicorn. Or in the case of Trixie, an alicorn that was also a Virtue.
“You would be the Virtue of Stoicism,” Fogwalker announced as she trotted along.
“What’s stoicism?” Chert asked.
Shaking his head at Fogwalker’s words, Garlic snorted loudly and refused to reply.
“Garlic is the definition of stoicism. If stoicism had a picture to define it, Garlic would be in that picture along with a big lump of rock. And the picture would have a caption that said ‘one of these things is a stoic’ and a smart pony would look at the picture and know that the stone was not the stoic in the picture,” Fogwalker explained. She heard Sunrise Surprise giggle-snorting softly and she felt a little better.
“I still don’t know what stoicism is,” Chert said, looking confused.
“Garlic… he endures, he continues to plod forward and no known force in the universe can stop him or make him quit. He is the very best sort of friend you could ask for. He’s too stubborn to go out and make friends, he’s the sort of friend you have to go looking for and hope that you find. When I was a little filly, I used to sneak out of my family’s fortress compound and go on adventures around the countryside. One day I found Garlic,” Fogwalker explained, smiling under her helmet.
“And she has pestered me every day since,” Garlic grumbled, shaking his head and snorting yet again, his tail swishing from side to side as he trotted along between the trees.
“I was a curious little filly and I wanted to see how the peasants lived. It was better than being beaten up by my brothers and cousins. One day, I met Garlic. Garlic was pulling a wagon along for his mother, Red Onion Pie, and taking onions to market. He was huge, even as a colt. And he was pulling a wagon that would have took two full grown stallions to pull. Being the curious little pegasus I was, I landed on top of his wagon to watch,” Fogwalker said, now struggling to hold back a giggle.
“I told her to shoo,” Garlic grumbled, rolling his eyes as he spoke.
“He did. He told me to shoo and to get off his wagon. His mother cuffed him and told him not to talk to his betters like that and that if one of the fillies of the pegasi protectors wanted a ride on the wagon than Garlic had better just shut up and pull,” Fogwalker said, now tittering slightly as she spoke.
“What did he do then?” Sunrise Surprise asked, now distracted from her depression.
“He stopped pulling the wagon, turned his head around to look at me, and in a very loud voice, he bellowed ‘SHOO!’ at me. He then called me a winged nuisance and told me to bugger off while his mother stood there smacking the stuffing out of him,” Fogwalker answered, a broad smile upon her face.
“What happened after that?” Chert questioned, looking off to his left and his right as he spoke, watchful of the woods around him.
“I hopped off of the wagon and walked beside him, trying to talk with him. I bugged him every step of the way to town. We bumped into one of my aunts… she was about to slap me silly for slipping off and ignoring my drills… Garlic placed himself between me and her,” Fogwalker said, now frowning as she spoke.
“Your aunt hits like a sissy,” Garlic growled, shaking his head at the memory.
“She hit him?” Sunrise asked.
“My aunt told him to know his place and she smacked him a good one while his poor mother watched and could do nothing. Garlic got up and placed himself in between my aunt and me again… so she knocked him down. And of course, he got up and did it again. This happened a few more times, and my aunt started getting upset. Red Onion Pie was crying, and I was about to bawl myself, I stood there stupidly not knowing what to do and not understanding why this was happening,” Fogwalker said, her wings fluttering from the memory of what had happened.
“So how did this end?” Sunrise asked, turning her head and blinking through her glasses at Fogwalker, an owlish expression upon her face.
“My aunt, Rampart Rusher Fetlocks, she finally stopped smacking Garlic and just stared at him instead. She reached out, wiped the blood from his nose, brushed his mane out of his eyes, and told him he was a damn fool, but he was courageous,” Fogwalker answered.
“That’s not all I did,” Garlic grumbled.
“No… he did something pretty stupid,” Fogwalker stated, shaking her head as she walked, her tail swinging from side to side.
“Well?” Chert questioned, his tone making it clear that he really wanted to know.
“Garlic hit her. He hit her hard enough to completely knock her over. He thumped her a good one. The guard came… I thought they were going to take Garlic away and put him in the stocks. They were beating him down. I was crying my eyes out at this point. My aunt, she picked herself up off of the ground and she tore into the guard, savagely beating quite a few of them, and then used her rank to give orders for them to disperse and leave Garlic alone. The guards beat up Garlic pretty good… My aunt stayed with Red Onion Pie while she sold onions and then Rampart Rusher hooked me up to the wagon when the day was done and made me haul it back back to the farm, half full of onions, with Garlic laying inside of it. She told him that he had earned her respect. She is the only pony in my family that tolerates Garlic and doesn’t say a bad word about him,” Fogwalker said to her companions.
“I like Rampart Rusher. She taught me how to drop-buck an enemy and the proper way to deliver a body check,” Garlic said in a voice that was soft with affection.
“And Rampart likes you… she trusts you, you know… I overheard her talking to my mother about me and you, my mother was all kinds of worried about me sneaking off to play with you, and the dangers of little colts and fillies playing together. My aunt slapped my mother, her sister, absolutely silly for suggesting that you might do something untowards with me. My mother was spitting blood for a half an hour and screeching at her sister, my aunt. I had to bite my hoof to keep from laughing and giving away my hiding place,” Fogwalker said, turning her eyes skyward and noticing how much the sun had moved.
“I think if we hurry, we’ll make it before sundown,” Garlic announced as they continued towards home.
As the four companions were headed homewards, they were found by a watchful patrol of Guardians and Rangers who had gone searching for them after the explosion that had destroyed Canterlot. Now, under heavy guard, surrounded on all sides, the companions were headed back to the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters.
Sunrise Surprise hoped that there would be answers, that she would finally learn the truth, but having the answers and knowing the truth scared her. She plodded along, Fogwalker on one side of her and Chert on the other, a part of her not wanting to return home at all.
“You there, Preserver Garlic Van der Grease… you’ve done well,” one of the Guardians said as he walked alongside Garlic.
“Thank you, sir,” Garlic responded.
“I am Protector Ferrum Stout… I’ve been keeping an eye on you,” the pegasus admitted, looking over at Garlic.
“I am barely worth your notice, sir,” Garlic said in a subdued voice.
“I disagree… I’d like to sponsor you,” Ferrum stated in a firm voice.
“Sponsor me?” Garlic said in disbelief, slowly turning to look at the pegasus beside him. Garlic could scarcely believe what he had just heard.
“We will talk later… the Shields of clan Stout are always looking for steadfast defenders. You will hear from me and mine later,” Ferrum said, smiling under his helmet.
“Thank you, sir,” Garlic said as he trotted along. “Wait, sir, forgive me for asking, but what are you getting out of this?” the big earth pony inquired.
“Clan Stout wants a royal guard within our ranks…”
Crossing the drawbridge and entering into the gatehouse, Sunrise Surprise felt her breath catch in her throat. There was a large crowd of ponies there to greet her. She saw Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Flim and Flam were there, so was Derpy, Chrysalis, and Trixie. The roar of the crowd was painful to her ears. She stumbled, falling into Fogwalker, who gently nudged her along.
“Welcome back,” Princess Celestia said, a soft smile upon her muzzle.
Standing beside Princess Celestia, Princess Luna stepped forward. “It pleases me that you have returned and you are safe.”
“Huzzah, our humble heroes have returned,” Trixie crowed, her wings fluttering with barely contained excitement.
A dreadful fear overcame Sunrise Surprise. She froze, unable to move, her eyes going wide with fear as she looked all around her. It was too much to take in, too much to deal with all at once, too much to handle. Her mouth opened as she began to protest everything that was going on… but no words came out.
Unable to deal with the shock, Sunrise Surprise fainted dead away.
Finally free of his armor and his saddlebags, and now in a private bath fit for royalty, Garlic heaved a weary sigh. He eyed the large stone basin in the middle of the room, it was filled with steaming water and fragrant oils. He was the sort to occasionally bathe in the nearest watering hole, stream, or the river if he happened to be out that way. He sniffed, not knowing what it was that he was smelling, He stuck in one hoof, felt the soothing heat, and then he dropped in both front hooves.
With a grunt, Garlic eased himself into the large stone bath, moved to the center, and sat down. Only part of his neck and head stuck up out of the water. He suspected that most ponies would be completely submerged. He took a deep breath, pressed his lips together, and dunked himself beneath the water, slumping down and bending his front legs.
When Garlic emerged a moment later, he saw Fogwalker looking at him curiously from the edge of the stone basin. He felt strangely naked and vulnerable as the mare splashed into the tub with him. They had swam together, even bathed together before, but this was somehow different, and Garlic knew it. He dropped his head down low into the water, leaving only his nostrils and his eyes above the water.
Fogwalker’s blue-grey pelt darkened as she became wet, the dampness creeping upwards as her pelt soaked up the water. She hissed when the hot water hit delicate flesh that hadn’t been bathed in a while. She kicked her hind legs out wide and stood there for a moment, letting the hot water soak in, a cross eyed look of bliss upon her face. After a few moments of standing there stupidly, she sat down in a shallower spot and watched Garlic carefully.
“Do you really find me unbearable?” Fogwalker asked as she looked at her companion.
Garlic felt his tail twitch in the water, the different hairs swirling around from the sudden motion. He thought about saying something rather mean spirited, but then he changed his mind. He eyed Fogwalker, noticing her beauty, and he felt a powerful feeling of what could only be arousal creeping though his belly.
“No Foggy… I don’t know what to say. It’s complicated,” Garlic admitted in a low voice as he kept his eyes on Fogwalker. It was about to be a lot more complicated if he couldn’t keep himself under control.
“You changed… you started treating me differently,” Fogwalker said, looking at her oldest friend. “You really hurt me you know… one day, you were my foalhood friend and then you started treating me weird. You pushed me away. You changed… why?”
“We grew up,” Garlic said bluntly. “You’re a pegasus and you are practically a noble. I’m a dirt poor earth pony. You kept throwing yourself at me and that’s bad for both of us. Our tribes don’t mix. If we had a foal, if it was an earth pony, what future would it have within your clan? What respect would it get? It’d be nothing more than the common wagon puller most likely, do you want to see that happen? It’d be poor like me… is that what you want?
“It might have wings… either way, I don’t care. I wanted to be with you. This is our last chance to be together,” Fogwalker said in a pained voice, more hurt from Garlic’s words than she cared to admit.
“Last chance?” Garlic asked, shaking his soaked head in confusion.
“I’m not in season… and I still really wanted my first time to be with you… when we reported back… I had a scroll waiting for me… they’re breeding papers. Somepony has secured a contract with me. Somepony has purchased the rights to an exclusive breeding contract,” Fogwalker explained in a hurt voice as she allowed herself to sink into the water.
“Can’t you just say no and be done with it?” Garlic questioned, feeling a strange pain in his own heart. He looked at Fogwalker and felt a strange ache. She was beautiful, especially now that she was soaked and her mane was clinging to her face and neck. He began to feel an almost painful feeling of need.
“I could. But I would lose my financial backing. I would lose my clan. I could become a vagabond mercenary I suppose… I would bring shame to my whole family. Anyhow… well, they want to breed me young so I can focus on my career later when I am in my prime,” Fogwalker said in a voice that was little more than a whisper.
“I’m sorry… I had no idea… I don’t know what to say,” Garlic said, his eyes stinging. He could feel it, that horrible sensation that he hated more than anything else in the whole wide world, that feeling that came with the need to cry. “Foggy, you are my best friend… that never changed. Growing up, you made my life so much better. I don’t know what I would have done without you. All I had to look forward to was dirt, mud, and onions. You… you were the best friend a foal could ask for. You brought me cakes on my birthday. You gave me candy on the solstices. Almost every nice thing I had as a foal was because of you.”
“Thanks Stinky,” Fogwalker responded, her ears drooping down.
“But we’re not foals. We had to grow up sometime. I… I want…I lo-” Garlic said, his voice faltering. “You know what, it doesn’t matter what I want or what you want. Things are the way they are. You have a breeding contract. You’re somepony else’s prize. What you have was never mine to take. And it would be wrong of me to take it now.” As Garlic spoke, he felt a stabbing pain through his heart as he saw the pained look on Fogwalker’s face. He was breaking her heart and he knew it. It was better this way.
“It was just stupid foalhood dreams Foggy… it wasn’t like it meant anything anyway,” Garlic finished, scarcely able to believe the words coming out of his mouth. He watched as Fogwalker fled out of the basin, the mare was bawling, she was sobbing and grief stricken, and he knew that he had broken her heart. He watched her go, water streaming from her pelt, wanting to go after her and apologise for the terrible words he had said, but he knew it was better this way. At least this way she kept her position, her honour, her place in her clan, and her financial backing. A good soldier had to have armor, lots of food, blacksmiths, a soldier was only as good as the resources they had access to. And Fogwalker had everything. Garlic had dirt and onions.
Garlic had done what was best for Fogwalker at the terrible expense of hurting both of them in the process. Try as he might, the stoic earth pony could not stop the tears when they finally came.
Her head aching, Sunrise Surprise looked up at Princess Celestia, unsure of what to say. She was in a comfortable bed and a cool damp cloth was placed over her forehead. She felt clean, she had been bathed while she was passed out, and she smelled strongly of roses.
“My parents aren’t actually my parents,” Sunrise Surprise stated in a soft voice.
“No Sunrise, they are not. But they do love you,” Celestia said in a gentle voice.
“So you knew this whole time… but you still made me beg to become your student,” Sunrise said in a puzzled voice. “Why?”
“The Virtues wanted to make sure that nothing was ever just given to you. They wanted for you to feel that you had earned everything you had,” Celestia explained. “How is your head?” she asked.
“It hurts,” Sunrise murmured in reply. “I don’t understand any of this.”
“Not long after you were born, the world nearly ended. Sombra took the evil that was within me upon himself, everything became balanced out, and he gave you to the Virtues to protect you. He… he… he was still himself, mostly, he was resisting. He wanted what was best for you. He loved you so much. You were all he had of her. The other Celestia that he loved. I was offered a chance to redeem myself. The Virtues all had their reasons. It would humble me to look after the foal of my former enemy. It would be fair of me to provide for the foal of my fallen rival. It would behoove me to learn to love the foal of my enemy. And learning all of this would make me wise. They all had their reasons. So I found the very best parents I could find, the Virtues all worked them over to make sure they were trustworthy, and then we all watched you as you grew up. We all protected you,” Celestia explained, looking at the young mare laying in the bed. “And finally, we all realised that the time had come, you were grown up enough… and all of us working together found for you the most steadfast companions that could ever hope to be found. We wanted you to have friends that you could trust. You will find that trusted companions are a luxury in our position.”
“Where are my friends?” Sunrise inquired, kicking out her hind legs and stretching in the bed as she spoke.
“Chert is in the next room. He is worried sick about you. I do believe it is the geas he is under. He is guarding the door and refuses to budge. Garlic is off bathing because he was truly living up to his nickname of ‘Stinky’ and I do not know where Fogwalker has slipped off to,” Princess Celestia responded in a soft voice.
“Stinky is the nicest pony I’ve ever met. He let me cry on his neck. He carried me up the mountain on his back. He carried Foggy too,” Sunrise said in strong nasal lisp.
“Garlic is the sort of earth pony they will write legends about one day. His strength and endurance is the stuff of myth. He caught the attention of the Virtues at a young age and they’ve all been working very hard to make sure that he becomes the pony they hope he can be,” Celestia replied, her large eyes blinking as she spoke to Sunrise Surprise.
“Is that why he was sent with me?” Sunrise asked.
“Yes Sunrise, you could not ask for a better protector,” Celestia answered.
“Why me?” Sunrise questioned.
“Sunrise, you were born an alicorn. Your father, your mother, and all of the Virtues found a way to protect you. It was decided to have you grow up to be as normal as possible. Now, you have reclaimed your heritage and it is time for you to learn how to rule. The Virtues believe that you can help to heal this land. There is also the matter of dealing with Sombra, but that will come later,” Celestia patiently explained.
“What about you?” Sunrise asked.
“What about me?” Celestia inquired.
“Aren’t you worried about me taking away your kingdom?” Sunrise questioned.
Celestia burst out laughing and it took her several moments before she could answer. “Equestria is a large place. A wild place. A very dangerous place. Truth be told, Luna and I need the help. I do not see you as a rival, but as an equal. And now it is time for you to take your rightful place. Are you ready to begin?”
“No,” Sunrise whimpered, closing her eyes and pulling the blanket up over her head.
After a long miserable night with no sleep, Garlic Van der Grease stood in the pale light that existed in the hour just after dawn. He looked miserable. His eyes were red and bloodshot. His mane was a mess. His tail had not been groomed. He had bald patches on his pelt where wearing armor for too long had rubbed away the hair.
She was gone. Fogwalker Fetlocks was gone. Taken away from him forever. She had been issued an exclusive breeding contract, which meant that for the rest of her life, only one pony had the rights to rut her. Violating the contract carried with it harsh penalties.
Clans needed money, funding, resources to keep fighting and keep soldiers in the field. Males and females both could be secured for breeding rights. There was always the option of saying no, but it was never a good option. Somepony had paid a lot of money to secure exclusive breeding rights to Fogwalker Fetlocks.
Moaning, Garlic felt a dull painful ache in between his ears.
Prodding at his food, Chert didn’t feel like eating. Sunrise Surprise was miserable. Her friends were gone and she was feeling gloomy. And this made Chert feel gloomy right along with her. He looked over at Sunrise, who was not wearing her glasses, they were beside her plate on the table, and then he looked at Princess Celestia, who was chewing quietly while reading over a scroll.
“Why can’t I see Garlic and Fogwalker?” Sunrise asked.
“Fogwalker has been sequestered,” Celestia said, explaining nothing.
“Why?” Sunrise demanded, feeling irritated and out of sorts.
“Reasons which will be made clear later. I am sorry. Do try to eat your breakfast. Poor Chert, I do not think he will eat until you do,” Celestia said as she continued to read the scroll. “Chert, do try to eat. You are no good to her if you are weak with hunger.”
“I’m not eating until I can see my friends,” Sunrise Surprise stated, pushing her plate away with her hoof. “I wouldn’t even be what I am right now without them. I demand to see them.”
“Sunrise, please, be patient. There are things that need to happen,” Celestia said in a patient voice. “I ask that you trust me, as hard as it might seem right now.”
“I’m a fat little unicorn… I can skip a few meals,” Sunrise said as she glared petulantly at Princess Celestia.
“Suit yourself,” Princess Celestia sighed as she set the scroll down. “Today is going to be a long and trying day for so many ponies.”
The unicorn armorer looked up at Garlic, giving him the stinkeye after the earth pony had delivered a request for armor. “Look, you are under orders for rest and relaxation. No armor. You’re not being deployed.” The armorer had been told that Garlic might drop by…
“I need my armor. I… I plan to do drills in full armor until I am exhausted and pass out. I can’t sleep,” Garlic said, trying to think of anything that might help him get his armor back. He needed it for what he was planning.
Nodding, the unicorn gave Garlic a glance of understanding. “I think I understand. Maybe a good run in full armor will do you some good. Your plated barding held up well, better than I expected. The greaves are good quality, those were a good find, and that helmet… you lucked out with that helmet. Magical. Will protect your brains if you use your head as a weapon. Should be able to slam your head into most anything and be okay.”
“Wonderful. That sounds really useful,” Garlic responded as he shifted his body into a better position to have his armor put on. He watched as the unicorn armorer vanished into the storeroom and then returned a moment later with a large bundle of oilcloth canvas and metal.
“Still stinks. Needs to be aired out. You’re gonna smell rancid,” the unicorn warned.
“I don’t care,” Garlic said dismissively. And the truth was, he didn’t care. About anything. Not any longer. Nothing mattered any more. There was no reason to care about anything. Not with what he was planning.
Garlic grunted as he felt the full weight of the plated coat being thrown over his back and the skirts fell into place. He felt the straps and buckles being cinched up and tightened. The collar was secured around his neck. His greaves were being secured to his legs, a helpful layer of padding now between the metal and his shin bones.
“We did some calculations… a suit of partial plate mail on a body your size… would be around one hundred and fifty pounds. Full plate would clear two hundred. I have twenty silvers on the fact that you could wear full heavy plate and barely even notice it,” the unicorn armorer said as he secured everything into place.
“I’ll never have armor that good,” Garlic grumbled as the last of his greaves were secured into place.
“I dunno, anything can happen. Not many ponies can wear full plate mail of any sort. But you, you’re special,” the unicorn said amiably. Finally, he stuffed Garlic’s new helmet over the earth pony’s head. He stood back and looked at the massive armored earth pony.
“Thank you,” Garlic said politely as he immediately began to trot out of the barracks armory and storage. He gave a flip of his head and his visor dropped into place.
The armorer watched Garlic go, knowing full well what was about to take place, and he silently wished the giant earth pony luck. “There goes the bravest pony I know,” he muttered quietly to himself after Garlic was gone.
“I don’t understand why I can’t see Garlic and Fogwalker,” Sunrise said, rapidly approaching a pout. She remained curled up in her chair, a miserable tightly wound ball.
Standing near Sunrise, Chert stood looking out the window, his face alternating between being miserable for Sunrise and being happy to have a window to look out of. He was clean, well groomed, and his upper half had been dressed in a fine tunic and vest, done in a pattern intended to fit minotaurs, only smaller for Chert’s slight build. His dappled coat gleamed after being carefully tended to with a curry comb.
“Garlic is being tested,” Trixie admitted, looking pensive. “For him to become great and powerful, he must first learn how it feels to lose everything he values. A lot of what happens is up to him and the choices he makes. He has already made the first choice. Only time and hindsight will tell if he chose poorly or wisely.”
“Is Garlic going to be hurt?” Sunrise asked.
“That is hard to say. He might. He has already chosen the difficult path I believe,” Trixie answered, looking sad. “He could have chosen the path of gentle inquiry, but being the juggernaut of destruction that he is on the inside, he chose something else.”
“He is very powerful,” Sunrise admitted. “He takes a very practical approach to problems… it is what I like about him. I do hope he will be okay.” The alicorn in the chair rubbed her eyes and then wiped her nose with a foreleg, trying once more to stop sniffling.
“Garlic must learn to use more than his physical strength if he is to become the pony we hope for him to be,” Trixie stated as she eased herself over and then reclined upon her side, settling into the sofa.
“Stinky is kinda dumb… he’s off getting into trouble… he needs his friends… I mean, he’s a big dumdum and he needs Foggy to keep him straightened out and he doesn’t have Foggy… that means he’s gonna make bad decisions,” Sunrise said, her nasal lisp becoming more pronounced in her panic. She popped up out of her chair.
“What are you doing?” Trixie asked, raising her eyebrow at Sunrise.
“Going after my friend before he does something Garlicky,” Sunrise replied as she slipped on her glasses. “Chert, I hate to ask you this, but if Trixie tries to stop us, I need for you to try and take her out.”
“Is this wise?” Trixie inquired, looking mildly concerned as the centaur turned to stare at her.
“As a Virtue, you are sworn to defend the innocent. Chert is an innocent. He… he is my guard and he is following orders. If you hurt him, I’ll spend the rest of my life telling ponies what you did!” Sunrise shouted, moving towards the door. “Protect me Chert!”
“Anything for you,” Chert promised as he moved closer towards Sunrise.
Trixie rose off of the couch and began to move towards Sunrise and Chert, her horn glowing. “Please, sit down. Allow Garlic to face his test and make his own mistakes.”
Snatching a vase, Chert lobbed it at Trixie. It soared over her head and smashed into the wall, shattering into tiny pieces. “I don’t have to miss you know,” he said as he snatched up a candlestick in one hand and made a fist with the other. “If you try to harm Sunrise, just guess where this candlestick will go.”
Heaving a sigh of resignation, Trixie stared at Chert and Sunrise. “Very well. Go then. I shall not stop you. Trixie does not want candlesticks crammed into places where light does not naturally shine.”
“Come Chert… thank you for not hurting her,” Sunrise said in a soft fearful voice. She watched as Chert set down the candlestick and moved closer to her.
Watching the pair slipping out of the door, Trixie slowly smiled, her features becoming hopeful. “Finally. She shows a spine. There is hope for her yet. Trixie is pleased with this development.” The blue alicorn looked around the room, her gaze falling upon the vase. Using her magic, she quietly put it back together and then placed it back upon the table where it belonged.
Looking at the Fetlock compound, Garlic snorted. It was a large wooden fortress, surrounded by a wall of sharpened wooden logs. The fortress was of motte and bailey construction, with the main hall built on top of a mound in the middle. It was all uphill. Not a problem for flying pegasi, but more of an issue for an earth pony like himself. The fortress was built to protect the local peasants and be an island of strength. The Fetlocks controlled this particular wedge of the county, which was arranged like pie slices around the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters in the middle. Each of the outer fortresses served to protect the middle. The pegasi clans served as a living wall to keep the farmers in the middle of the circle protected from all outside threats.
Standing still and bowing his head for a moment, Garlic prepared himself for what he planned. Suicide by invasion. At some point during the night, he had reached the conclusion that life without Fogwalker was not a life worth living. She was his foalhood friend. His boon companion. She was clearly the brains of the outfit, and she was certainly not here now to tell him he was being stupid and beg him not to do this. He had left a note for his family, pleading for forgiveness, a stream of written words begging them to understand.
He lowered his visor, took a deep breath, and then, Garlic Van der Grease charged.
His hooves thudding, thundering against the earth, Garlic charged the open gate. There were cries of alarm. Several pegasi began to swoop in, trying to assess the situation. A guard moved to block the gate. A terrible mistake on the guard’s part.
There was no stopping Garlic.
The armored earth pony slammed into the guard shoulder first, causing the guard’s armor to crumple. Bones shattered in the smaller pegasus from the impact. Garlic’s momentum kept him going and he trampled the guard beneath his hooves. Garlic, enraged, felt nothing. He kept going and collided with the next pony foolish enough to get in his way and try to stop him.
The impact was terrific. This was a much larger pegasus than the first, but still not as large as Garlic. Nothing was as large as Garlic. There was a screech of metal as finely made armor crimped from the force of Garlic’s collision. As Garlic was smashing into the pegasus, a flying pegasus body checked him, hitting Garlic from the side and slamming into Garlic’s ribs. Garlic still had momentum, and as he continued forward, he whipped his body around, causing the pegasus slamming into his side to fall down, and then Garlic brought both hind hooves down upon the pegasus on the ground with a sickening crunch of broken bone.
There were already three pegasi downed and out of the fight, and Garlic wasn’t even breathing hard. He stood defiant, snorting, standing amidst the the three bodies of the fallen. He let out a bellow of challenge. Consumed by his berserker fury, Garlic prepared to give a good accounting of himself as an organised flock of pegasi charged.
They came from all sides, all angles, kicking and pummeling. Garlic mostly ignored them, kicking out with his hind legs and slamming his body around to try and hurt them. Rearing up, he managed to hook one foreleg around one of the pegasi, and using his whole body, hurled the hapless pegasus into the wooden stakes that formed the other wall. He headbutted another one, all around him broken bodies began to pile up.
Much to Garlic’s surprise, he was winning. One lone earth pony against an army of pegasi. He tasted his own blood in his mouth. Perhaps he had bit down on his own lip at some point. He didn’t know. He didn’t care. The scent of blood was thick in his nostrils. He was the stone wall. The tireless defender. He was the immovable object.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!”
But it wasn’t enough. Garlic was lost in his terrible fury. He kept going, smashing, kicking, headbutting, bodychecking, he had come here to get himself killed, and he was failing. He heard more pegasi coming and he felt hopeful. At least he would die well. This would be a beautiful death.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!”
Garlic suddenly found himself paralysed, lifted into the air and forcibly held still. His body ached. Blood trickled from too many places to count. He was still alive, which wasn’t how he wanted this to end. He struggled against his invisible bonds, trying to kick and wiggle free.
“Garlic, please, be still,” a gentle voice said, a voice that cut through his pain and fury. The big earth pony let out a shrill equine scream of rage and tried to break free, trying to break the spell he could feel overtaking him on the inside now.
“We all expected you to do something, but nopony expected this.”
Whirling midair, Garlic felt himself being turned around. In his blurry vision, he saw two figures. One was tall and black… the other seemed familiar. He was having a hard time seeing. There was still a blood red haze in his vision.
“He’s mad with battle fury.”
“I know Virtue Chrysalis.”
“Garlic, we need for you to calm down,” a soothing voice said. Garlic knew this voice. It was Chrysalis. He continued to kick and struggle against the magic holding him.
“Garlic, it’s me… Rampart Rusher. Your friend… can you hear me?”
A faint whimper came out of the frenzied earth pony, but no words were said. Rampart took a deep breath and surveyed the carnage. She had never expected… this. There were broken bodies all around. One single earth pony had done this to her clan. She knew that Garlic was stubborn, she knew that he was tough, she knew that he was the sort to never give up, but she had not expected a suicidal charge.
“Where is she?” Garlic gurgled in strangled voice.
“She is alone in her quarters,” Rampart Rusher replied. As she spoke, she watched a stallion roll over while clutching his guts. One of his hind legs was crooked, a clear sign of a broken bone.
“Kill me… it wasn’t supposed to end like this,” Garlic begged as he continued to struggle, his whole body contorting. “Please kill me… if you have any affection for me at all, please end me.”
“No,” Rampart Rusher retorted, her tone somewhat angry. She watched a steady stream of blood trickling down from Garlic’s leg.
“Garlic Van der Grease, why did you do this?” Chrysalis asked, her words gentle as she drew close to the earth pony she held in her magic.
“I love her,” Garlic admitted in a pained raspy voice.
“We know,” Rampart Rusher said, still stunned over the shocking carnage done to her clan. “Garlic… I purchased Fogwalker’s exclusive breeding rights. Chrysalis helped me. We wanted to see what you would do for her… but we did not expect this.”
“I don’t understand,” Garlic whimpered, his voice cracking into a pained squeak.
“I wanted to test you, to see if you were worthy of her love. Trixie was the first to test you, Derpy gave you a simple task… fetch a book... alas, I do believe you will be seeing Flim and Flam for very different reasons than we had intended. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” Chrysalis said in a stunned voice.
“Twenty three injured,” a guard reported. “Nopony died thankfully.”
“Twenty four,” Rampart Rusher corrected, looking at Garlic.
“I love her,” Garlic wheezed. He could hear blood dripping inside of his helmet.
“See that his wounds are looked after. He will have to pay for what he has done, but I want him in the royal infirmary for now. If any further harm comes to him it will mean your head,” Chrysalis commanded, looking out over the crowd.
A yellow alicorn came through the gate, the guard parting as she entered. Heads were bowed. She was covered in mud from running, she was winded, panting, and struggling to draw breath. At her side was the strange looking centaur.
She moved through the crowd, panting heavily, trying to take in everything she was seeing. A look of horror slowly overtook her face. The centaur gently placed a hand upon the alicorn’s back to comfort her.
“Garlic... what did… you do?” Sunrise panted, her barrel heaving.
“What we have seen here today was reckless love. The sort of love that can change the world. Make it a better place. Or destroy it,” Chrysalis said in a loud clarion voice to the crowd. Her thoughts turned to the very love that had brought Sunrise Surprise about and she looked at the alicorn with a thoughtful expression.
“Tell her I love her,” Garlic begged as the pain in his body began to manifest.
“Tell her yourself,” Rampart Rusher said to Garlic. “I’ll have her come to you later.”
“Garlic, what did you do?” Sunrise whimpered, still unable to believe what she was seeing. “I want him treated well… I’m ordering you to treat him well.... I will oversee his care myself,” she announced, glaring at the ponies around her that were openly hostile towards Garlic. “I will be listened to!”
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.
“Princess Luna, may I ask you a question?” Sunrise Surprise questioned in her usual nasal lisp as she looked at the blue alicorn.
“You just did,” Princess Luna replied, a wide grinning spreading over her face. “But go ahead, ask your question, I like your questions Sunrise.”
Her new wings twitching, Sunrise took a deep breath. “Why did you go along with your sister when she did such awful things? By all accounts, you were never particularly evil. Sombra even liked you… there were times he had you as his guest. Your sister even hurt you. So why did you stay so loyal to her?”
Luna’s smile never wavered. “She’s my sister.”
“And that makes everything okay?” Sunrise asked, looking painfully confused.
“Well no, but I have forgiven her. She is my sister and I love her. She’s done wrong, she’s admitted to having done wrong, and I have also done wrong. I did plenty of bad things on my own without my sister bullying me into doing them,” Princess Luna answered, still smiling, her eyes twinkling like stars. The alicorn leaned down and came eye to eye with Sunrise. “Your friends are going to make mistakes. You are going to make mistakes. Be patient if you can, walk with them through their mistakes, and everything will be okay in the end.”
“How can you know this?” Sunrise inquired, looking even more confused. The smaller chubby alicorn looked up at the larger, her face full of hurt and doubt.
Laughing softly, Princess Luna bumped snoots with Sunrise Surprise. “Because… I have my sister and she has been redeemed. We both have. It all worked out for the best.” Suddenly turning serious, Princess Luna gazed into Sunrise Surprise’s eyes. “You have very good friends. You are going to need them. The stars have started to speak to me once more after being silent for so long.”
“What do they say?” Sunrise questioned, looking at Princess Luna suspiciously.
“They say a sunny yellow alicorn is going to make a lot of mistakes as she learns to rule, but it will be her friends that see her through,” Princess Luna replied, her smile returning.
“Your stars are silly,” Sunrise Surprise stated.
“But they are always right,” Princess Luna replied, now laughing.
Muttering under her breath, Fogwalker folded in her wings and entered into the infirmary wing of the palace. Some of the Rangers and Guardians in there looked at her, some with angry looks, others with expressions of respect. The past few days had been trying, difficult even, and she had endured some very ugly slurs because of her now all too well known love of an earth pony. If this kept up, she might face her own court martial. Her anger was rapidly approaching a boiling point.
Garlic was now being kept under guard after several threats had been made to kill the ‘filthy dirt farming upstart’ and put an end to this nonsense.
Love between tribes, while rare, did happen, but nothing had ever appeared in the public eye quite like this had. This was tearing apart the Foreverfree County. This was making neighbors fight with one another. Old blood feuds between the pegasi clans had once again reared their ugly heads. Enclaves of unicorns began to bicker and debate with one another.
And Fogwalker was trapped in the middle of it all because she loved an earth pony.
The pegasus rounded the corner and made her way down the short hall to Garlic’s room. She stood at the door, waited for a moment, took a deep breath, smoothed out her feathers, and then she entered.
“Foggy.”
“Stinky.”
The earth pony smiled a sad weak smile. “They are going to release me today. The bad news is, they don’t know where to put me.”
Slumping, her spine drooping, Fogwalker didn’t know what to say. She stared at Garlic with wide sad eyes. She stood there in front of the door, silent, feeling troubled and unsure about everything.
“Any word?” asked Garlic in a soft voice.
“I think it is going to be a court martial and a discharge from service. The other penalties are not going to be implemented. They’re keeping your plated barding, but I was able to get your greaves and your helmet from the armorer. He wanted a bribe, I offered to walk away with the gear we salvaged and leave his neck unbroken. He said it was suitable payment,” Fogwalker answered, a wry smile escaping and showing itself on her lips.
“So what do we do about us?” Garlic questioned as he closed his eyes and lay back on his bed. He took a deep breath. “I’ve caused so much trouble.”
“I’ve decided to maybe forgive you for the awful things you said. In a few years if you’ve been sweet to me, I’ll stop nagging you about it on a daily basis and go to a weekly basis instead. And as compensation for all of the trouble and the hurt you’ve caused, I want to be married,” Fogwalker said to the earth pony in the bed.
“WHAT?” Garlic asked, his eyes flying open. “Wait, can’t we just be friends?”
“NO!” Fogwalker shouted, spitting out the words and some saliva to go with them.
“Ooh hoo hoo Foggy you sound angry,” Garlic whimpered.
“I AM!” Fogwalker hollered.
“This kind of lecturing does not sell me on the idea of marriage,” grumbled Garlic.
Her mouth dropping open in shock, Fogwalker glowered at the earth pony. Her nasal bridge wrinkled as her face contorted with extreme irritation. “I don’t know why I love you sometimes Stinky.”
“There is the fact that I am hung like a horse,” Garlic said, closing his eyes and looking just a tiny bit smug as he spoke.
“There is that,” Fogwalker admitted, blinking a few times as she gave serious thought to Garlic’s words. “Garlic, when we, uh, get around to that, be gentle… that’s an awful lot for any mare to take in all at once.” She watched as Garlic turned a previously unknown colour that exists between red and purple and couldn’t help but to giggle just a tiny bit. “A mare could get her eye poked out by that… from the inside.”
The previously unknown colour that exists between red and purple darkened. A bead of sweat trickled down from Garlic’s autumn coloured mane as he stared wide eyed at Fogwalker. “I’ll be real careful,” he promised in a nervous high pitched squeak.
Drawing back the string, Chert took careful aim with the bow he had been given. He didn’t know where it had came from, and he didn’t ask, he was just grateful for a weapon that he knew well and understood. He exhaled and then let fly his arrow.
-THWIP!-
The arrow hit its mark with a satisfying sound of impact. Several of the watching pegasi nodded in approval. Chert ignored them, there was only one opinion he really cared about, and she was a short distance away speaking with some big blue horse wizard that was very much like she was.
Knocking another arrow, Chert pulled back and took aim. Closing his eyes, he turned himself around in a circle, lifted his bow, exhaled softly, and loosed his arrow. He opened his eyes. The second arrow was sticking out of the straw bale just a few inches away from the first one. He frowned. He was out of practice. This much of an error might cause him to miss a shot, which was unthinkable. The forest folk did not miss.
The pegasi that were standing around and milling about were now staring opened mouthed at Chert, realising the half equine, who looked rather fragile, was actually quite dangerous, even with his eyes closed.
As Chert prepared to draw another arrow, he noticed an older unicorn approaching him, something floating along side of him in the odd faint purple glow of magic. He slung his bow over his shoulder and folded his arms over his chest, watching as the unicorn approached.
“I have something for you. Princess Celestia had me dig it out of storage. I believe you could get some use of this. It is a handaxe. I believe it once belonged to a minotaur mercenary if I recall. It is small, not much of a weapon, but terribly practical in more common situations for creatures like you that have hands,” the unicorn said, offering the handaxe to Chert.
“Thank you,” Chert said, taking the axe gratefully.
“I have been informed that you are Princess Sunrise Surprise’s personal bodyguard. If there is anything you need, let somepony know. We will do what we can to outfit you,” the unicorn said in a polite cultured voice as he studied the centaur.
“My friends would be nice. I can’t do this all alone. I need help if I am to keep her safe,” Chert said, being blunt with his request.
“I am not supposed to say anything, but much is being done to make sure that the pony known as Garlic Van der Grease will continue to escort and protect Princess Sunrise Surprise,” the unicorn responded in a low voice. “He has proven himself trustworthy.”
“Thank you,” Chert said, bowing his head slightly.
The two alicorns watched the centaur practiced his archery as they paced around the training yard. As Sunrise walked, she kept pushing her glasses up as they slipped down her nasal bridge. Luna, watching as the young alicorn adjusted her glasses, wondered why Sunrise did not use her magic to simply hold them in place.
“I still don’t understand how they hid my wings,” Sunrise Surprise said as she walked by Princess Luna’s side, looking troubled.
“I don’t fully understand the process myself,” Princess Luna admitted. “Powerful alteration magic. Discord was involved. It is a shame that you found his bones in Canterlot.”
“There is another hero that needs rescue,” Sunrise Surprise stated, her head held low as she trotted by Princess Luna’s side. She shook her head sadly and began to blink back tears. “Garlic is a good pony.”
“I agree. Sunrise, I promise you we are doing all that we can to remedy his situation. He will get back everything he has lost. At least now he has Fogwalker. Chrysalis insists that our kingdom needs their love… and I find myself agreeing with her. We face many threats. Griffons amass in the south. They’ve invaded Saddle Arabia and are conquering the various empires of the south. Dragons prowl the north. The western coast of Equestria is all but broken away. Each winter keeps getting colder than the last. Things have gone horribly wrong since our world was nearly ripped apart and destroyed,” Princess Luna said, explaining the peril that Equestria was in. She reached out and gently patted Sunrise with her wing.
“Princess Luna, I was curious, why did they send you to talk to me?” Sunrise Surprise questioned, a curious expression upon her face as she looked at the much larger mare. Much to Sunrise’s surprise, Princess Luna threw back her head and laughed. “What’s so funny?”
Chucking for several moments before she had regained herself enough to speak, Princess Luna wiped her eyes with her wings. She continued to titter and chortle, having a good laugh about what Sunrise had said. Finally, she looked down at the smaller alicorn and smiled. “I have plenty of experience being ignored. Of not being taken seriously. Of being the princess that nopony listens to or cares about. Being the princess whose opinions do not matter. I have had to fight tooth and hoof to even gain a modicum of respect. I have always lived in my sister’s shadow. I have always been ignored by the various councils. Nopony values my input very much at all. So one might say that I have a lot of wisdom to share. Derpy certainly seems to think so. So does Trixie… because I’ve been humiliated all my life.”
Sunrise Surprise gulped loudly as her legs froze. She stood there, unmoving, suddenly realising her position and how little her wings mattered. Alicorn princess? Yes. Respected monarch? No. The chubby little alicorn took a deep breath and felt a tear slip down her cheek as the weight of the world settled upon her shoulders.
“All of this talk of marriage scares us!” an earth pony mare shouted.
“This is going to be our end!” another cried.
“There are more mares than stallions! What is a mare to do when all of the stallions are claimed through marriage?” one questioned in a loud voice.
Flim raised an eyebrow and looked at his brother Flam, feeling a distinct feeling of fear as the crowd began to turn hostile. The former con artists knew a bad crowd when they saw one, and this one was shaping up to be ugly.
“Exclusive breeding contracts are wrong! We should have a right to have access to good breeding stock so we can continue make better ponies!” a stallion shouted.
“The Virtues are destroying our society!” another stallion hollered out over the roar of the crowd, “Look what their talk of marriage and exclusive breeding did to Clan Fetlock!”
“A society’s right to survive is more important than any so called individual reproductive rights!” a unicorn shouted, leaping up onto a marketplace table. “The freedom of any individual can and should be sacrificed for the greater good! If we follow you down this path of destruction, fewer and fewer viable stock foals will be born! The strongest should only breed with the strong! The fastest should only breed with the fastest! The most magical should only breed with the most magical! We must breed weakness from our society if we are to endure! The biggest, the strongest, the fastest, the most magical, these should not be individuals, but public resources available for the taking!”
“Pegasi must keep breeding with pegasi!” a pegasus shouted.
“Yeah! What if an earth pony breeds with a pegasus and they produce more earth ponies? The pegasi will be bred out of existence and who will protect you then?” another big pegasus stallion shouted.
“It will mean the end of us!” an earth pony mare shouted.
“Yes!” the long winded unicorn shouted. “Like must breed with like or it will mean the end of us all! Do the Virtues really want to destroy us? What lesson would be learned from that?”
Unable to respond, unable to reply, knowing that there was nothing they could say to calm the crowd at this point, Flim and Flam looked at one another knowingly and then retreated into the courthouse, fleeing into their private offices and locking the doors behind them.
“A full blown riot broke out when Flim and Flam fled the scene. I had to send in guards to restore order. The guards were not happy about this. Some of them agreed with the crowd. A few even joined the crowd while a couple of others refused to intervene,” Princess Celestia said to Chrysalis, sounding worried. “I had to step in myself… which worries me. I am always afraid that they will see me how I was when I really am trying to do what is best for them. I already know that this is going to come back and hurt me.”
“Princess Celestia, if I may be open,” Chrysalis began, looking pensive, her butterfly wings fluttering nervously. “Reckless love may have brought us to this. Reckless love might have almost ended the world… but it was also reckless love that gave Sombra the strength to save the world. He restored balance and order through the force of his love. He held back his evil long enough to do what was right for Sunrise Surprise,” she finished.
Pacing, the alicorn did not know what to say. She moved back and forth through the room, her hooves making muffled thuds upon the thick carpet, and her wings twitched nervously as she carefully considered Chrysalis’ words.
“At least the four companions are back together and are safe,” Chrysalis said, looking somewhat relieved.
“The ponies are angry and feel cheated by the Virtues. Garlic was dismissed from his duties with no other consequences. Members of Clan Fetlock are still calling for his head and a few have threatened to come and claim it if it will not be delivered. I’ve had to post guards out at the Pie family farm because some of the members of Clan Fetlock actually threatened Garlic’s family to try and draw him out, which very nearly worked… Garlic did what he did because Fogwalker was taken from him, or so he thought. Can you imagine what he might do if his mother was hurt? His aunt? His grandmare? I knew that Garlic had it in him to be the sort of champion we need, but his rage scares me. Twenty three well trained, well armored, hardened warriors brought down during one of his berserk states,” Celestia said, shaking her head with worry, her eyes blinking, and her ears twitching to various positions as she spoke.
“Imagine what he would do to an army of goblins. Or minotaurs. Or griffons… or anything else that threatened his home. It is his love that makes him great. This is a powerful asset to our society. We are losing ground Princess Celestia. Our nation is coming apart. Have you read the reports from the city of Bridge?” Chrysalis responded, looking at Celestia with a curious stare.
“Yes, I have read those reports!” Celestia snapped. “I am well aware of the danger. If the city of Bridge falls we are in big trouble. Our main source of iron will be lost to us.”
“One unicorn with a talent for mind control has seized control of an army of goblins and snatches more ponies each day to force them into labour in the mines. The city of Bridge lives in terror of the next raid,” Chrysalis said, her voice calm and each word carefully spoken.
“Wait, you want me to send Sunrise Surprise and her friends… you want me to place them in harm’s way… do you actually think this is wise?” Princess Celestia asked.
“Historically, berserkers have shown themselves immune to mind control… look, all that can be done with berserkers is make them more angry. Garlic is gifted with rage. There can be no doubt about that. And that rage can be contained and controlled with love. I was able to reach him and calm him down… and I know for certain that a few sweet words from Fogwalker would calm and soothe his fevered brain when he goes off,” Chrysalis replied, now looking a little pensive as she spoke.
“I am not even sure if it would be safe to send them out,” Celestia stated, shaking her head with doubt. “I fear they might not even reach the edge of the county without trouble happening upon them.”
The four companions were together in a room that was now Sunrise Surprise’s quarters. It was comfortably furnished, well lit, and nicer than anything the four of them had ever experienced. The entire room was larger than the Pie family cottage that Garlic had grown up in.
“Everything has changed,” Sunrise said, looking around the room.
Chert was juggling fruit, a skill that Sunrise liked to watch. His quick hands moved almost in a blur, keeping the fruit airborne. Garlic was laying on a couch, his long lanky body taking up all of the available space. Somehow, Fogwalker had squeezed herself on the couch and was now cuddling with the extremely uncomfortable looking earth pony that she loved.
“Even my parents treat me funny now… one day I was their daughter… now I am their princess. I hate it. Everypony wants to kill Garlic… Chert is seen as a freak and a weirdo… sorry Chert, but I like you… and Fogwalker is now a social pariah for loving an earth pony… which I’ll admit bothered me a little at first but I’ve since straightened myself out,” Sunrise Surprise continued, her glasses slowly sliding down her nasal bridge as she spoke, the movement from her words causing them to slip.
“All we have is each other,” Fogwalker said, her voice somewhat bittersweet. “Clan Fetlock wants to disown me. I’ve been told that my position in the Rangers is still in good standing, but I don’t know that I trust those words. I’m still thinking about turning in my armor and requesting my walking papers.”
“Don’t!” Sunrise Surprise lisped.
“Don’t?” Fogwalker questioned, rubbing her hoof along Garlic’s neck.
“We have to fight and hold on to the positions we still have. We shouldn’t throw away everything we’ve worked hard for. Things are changing… we just have to endure somehow. If you stay a Ranger through this, you’ll be a better Ranger later. Princess Luna told me that this is a test. She said to give nothing willingly, make ponies fight for everything they want to take from us,” Sunrise Surprise answered, her words filled with interspersed snorting as her anger manifested.
“Like Garlic fought to keep Fogwalker,” Chert said, ceasing his juggling and carefully setting the apples he was tossing down upon the table.
“Oh I don’t want to keep Fogwalker… I just don’t want anypony else having her,” Garlic grumbled sulkily, which earned him an ear nip from Fogwalker. “Ow… my ears are tender.”
“Oh hush you big foal, that was just a playful ear tug,” Fogwalker said, admonishing Garlic for being foalish. “You know, I just realised, but Stinky’s neck is as long as most average ponies bodies.”
“I’ve really screwed up. The public hates me because I’ve spoken out in defense of my friends. Just like everything else I’ve messed up in my life, I’ve made a mess out of being an alicorn,” Sunrise Surprise said dejectedly. Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what I’m doing, everypony is already angry at me… some ponies hate me… clan Fetlock is swearing that they’ll never acknowledge my rule or provide me with legitimacy, whatever that means.”
“Clan Fetlock is busy talking as tough as they can right now to try and re-establish some of the hard edge they lost after being invaded by a lone earth pony and then having to be rescued by Chrysalis before the carnage became too much to bear,” Fogwalker said as she gently laid her head down upon Garlic’s own head and protectively wrapped a foreleg around his neck.
“Was that a run on sentence?” Chert inquired.
“Yes Chert,” Sunrise replied, looking briefly at the centaur, who sometimes asked weird questions as he tried to learn about everything around him.
“How much longer must we wait in this room? I have seen enough of walls and ceilings. I wish to be out of doors,” Chert said, carefully trying to emulate the speech he had heard around the palace. Sunrise deserved a well spoken protector, and Chert was determined to fulfill her needs in any way he could.
“I don’t know. It feels like we are prisoners,” Sunrise Surprise answered, her wings fluttering softly as she fidgeted about.
“We’re all prisoners in some way,” Garlic announced in a defeated voice.
“Stinky?” Fogwalker curiously questioned.
“I’m an earth pony. I will always be trapped in the expectations of being an earth pony. The lowest of the low in society. I have overstepped my bounds, I had aspirations, I had dreams… I dared to love… I was no longer content with being a prisoner. Foggy, you are bound by honour, your clan, clan values, your oath as a Ranger, and your wings are really just shackles. Because you can fly, you owe society protection and a lifetime of service. You are not your own pony. Because of those wings, others will make demands of you and if you fail to answer them, you will be seen as something even lower than I am. Chert… I don’t even know where to get started with you. We let you out of your cell and freed you, but Trixie says that you have some sort of powerful unbreakable spell that makes you serve Sunny… and you Sunny… we all know what being a princess is like for you. How are you enjoying this gilded cage we are all laying around in right now?” Garlic said, being as blunt and direct as possible, and sparing his friends nothing of the truth.
“Stinky… just when I think I have you figured out,” Fogwalker grumbled.
“I refuse to be a good little birdie. I say we rattle the bars of our cage and make a little noise,” Sunrise Surprise said in a low angry voice, her lisp becoming terrible as her emotions took over.
“Mama,” said Garlic in a soft subdued voice that sounded as though it was filled with awkward embarrassment. He looked down at Red Onion Pie and his eyes became more than a little misty. He offered his mother a weak wavering smile.
Sweet Onion Pie and Pearl Onion Pie both looked up at Garlic, then at Fogwalker, than at Sunrise Surprise, and finally, they spent some time starting at Chert. Meanwhile, Red Onion Pie only had eyes for one pony in the room.
“Get down here,” Red Onion Pie commanded, her brows furrowing.
Obediently, Garlic dropped his head down low. He winced as his mother spat upon her folded fetlock and then began scrubbing away invisible dirt from his face, applying a lot of pressure, which caused the skin of his face to stretch around and make comical expressions.
“How could you embarrass me so? In front of a princess… your face is filthy!” Red murmured in a flustered voice as she scrubbed away.
“I’m sorry mama,” Garlic said apologetically, feeling his cheeks burn when he saw Fogwalker and Sunrise exchange a glance and begin to giggle at him.
“And hold still! Stop moving!” Red Onion Pie demanded of her son, who was not moving at all while she scrubbed at the non-existent dirt upon his face.
“Red, be a good girl and stop embarrassing your poor colt in front of the princess,” Pearl Onion Pie said to her daughter in voice that was thoroughly filled with amusement.
“He hasn’t been a colt for a long time,” Sweet Onion Pie said to her mother Pearl Onion Pie. “He’s grown up to become a fine stallion.”
“Because he had three good mares to raise him gently and brought him up as a good pony, the kind of pony that can be trusted with a princess,” Sunrise Surprise said, her nasal lisp causing her to sputter at a few points.
Hearing these words, Red Onion Pie began to silently cry and she backed away from Garlic. She did nothing to hide the tears flowing down her cheeks. She stood there sniffling, looking up at her tall son, and began to bask in the feeling of pride that a mother that knows she has done well feels.
“There is such a big todo over everything that has taken place,” Sweet Onion said in a worried voice. “We wanted you to know, Garlic, we approve of your coming marriage to Fogwalker.”
“Um…” Garlic hummed, looking just a bit apprehensive as he did so.
“You two were always so sweet together when you were little. You played soldier and you went off following after her, obeying her orders, trying to march in step with her stubby little legs, and you were always so adorable when you took naps together in some sunny patch of grass,” Pearl Onion Pie said, closing her eyes and reminiscing as she spoke.
Garlic wickered and rolled his eyes, looking painfully embarrassed. His eyes closed a moment later and his lips pressed into a straight thin line.
“Garlic grew up in a stone cottage with a sod roof and a dirt floor… now look at him,” Sweet Onion Pie said, looking at her sister and then at her mother. “We don’t care that you’ve been court martialed or whatever it was. You’ve been asked to guard a princess. We’re very proud of you.”
“He was found on the edge of the county, along the far western edge. He’s been raving a bit, he doesn’t seem well. We don’t know what has been done to him,” the unicorn physician explained in a low voice to Princess Celestia.
“But Discord is alive,” Princess Celestia said in a voice filled with relief.
“Very much so, but he seems near death,” the physician responded, looking very worried.
Pushing past the unicorn, Princess Celestia opened the door to Discord’s room and entered. Standing in the doorway, she looked upon her former rival, her former foe, her former enemy, and she felt pity. One eye was swollen shut, the other was only opened in a mere slit. His face was lumpy and malformed. Patches of hair were gone and his griffon leg was wrapped entirely in bandages.
“Captain Goodguy?” Princess Celestia breathed, her mouth falling open.
“He stole my magic… my power… the magic that I swore that I’d use for random acts of kindness, good deeds, and saving fluffy kittens… he took it… almost all of it,” Discord said in a pained raspy voice as he looked up at Celestia.
“Sombra?” Princess Celestia asked.
“YES!” Discord shouted fearfully.
“How?” Princess Celestia questioned as she stepped closer to the bed.
“He’s mad… he’s evil… he monologued at me,” Discord whispered in a fear-filled utterance, the one eye he had open now closing.
“Discord… please, try to tell me what happened,” Princess Celestia begged, now becoming more than a little afraid.
The swollen eye opened, just a slit, and Discord peered up at Princess Celestia, his breathing ragged. “Sombra has been peering into other worlds. He has seen the fate of many, including himself. He’s gone completely mad. He peered into another realm and saw a centaur creature named Tirek… Sombra learned that magic can be stolen. He captured me when I took off after him after he fled Canterlot. He tortured me, he tried to figure out how to steal magic… I watched him murder Twilight Sparkle! She said something about how foolish it was to abandon Canterlot… he went mad with rage… he killed her by sucking all of the magic out of her and then slamming her repeatedly into a wall,” Discord said, each word coming out slow and pained.
“Oh my,” Princess Celestia said fearfully, shaking her head.
“Not long after, he sucked me almost dry. Then he gave me a message and tossed me out, telling me to come and bring a message to you,” Discord said, his lip quivering as he looked up at Celestia.
“What is the message?” Princess Celestia inquired.
“Surrender the sun. Give me the moon. Give them willingly or I shall take them forcefully,” Discord recited, speaking the message he had been given.
Feeling her blood go cold, Princess Celestia found she could say nothing. Even during her most evil of moments, she never used her power over the sun as a weapon, knowing how important it was to life overall. She shook her head, not walking to believe what she had just heard from Discord.
“Do you know where Sombra has gone?” Princess Celestia inquired, lowering her head closer to Discord. “Can you tell me anything?”
“Sombra told me he was going to Tartarus… he didn’t say why… he kept muttering that two must become one and that he needed powerful magic,” Discord answered, lifting up his battered and scabbed over lion paw. He touched Celestia’s cheek. “I’m sorry we fought… are we friends now?” he feebly asked.
“Yes… of course. We are friends,” Celestia replied, feeling strangely comforted by the paw upon her cheek. “Rest now. You are safe… you will be looked after.”
In a small chapel created where one might ponder the many virtues, the Virtues themselves were gathered together, discussing the fate of one of the other ponies present in the room. Before them was Garlic Van der Grease, his mother, Red Onion Pie, his aunt, Sweet Onion Pie, and his grandmare, Pearl Onion Pie. Also present was Fogwalker Fetlocks, Rampart Rusher Fetlocks, Princess Sunrise Surprise, and Chert.
“All of us come from humble beginnings,” Flam stated, looking around the chapel at the stained glass windows that showed the various Virtues.
“Some of us were even criminal,” Flim added, looking at his brother. “Bad sorts… grifters! Shysters, hucksters, smooth confidence artists.”
“Some of us were public annoyances,” Trixie said, a soft smile upon her lips and a merry twinkle in her eye as she gave a wink to Garlic.
“Some of us are bookworms that have transcended into living legends for whatever odd reason,” Derpy announced, looking at her companions with an affectionate smile.
“But all of us were lifted to our position by the good king Sombra, who saw in us our potential for good in society. Alas, Sombra is no longer here. A new hero is needed for these times,” Chrysalis said in a melodic voice as she addressed the whole of the chapel, taking a moment to look at each and every occupant.
“With no more good King Sombra to raise up new Virtues,” Flim said, looking directly at Garlic as he spoke.
“We are forced to do this task ourselves,” Flam stated, nodding his head.
“With the help of his daughter of course,” Chrysalis added, offering a sheepish glance at Sunrise Surprise.
“And so it is with great joy that we, the Virtues, do proclaim Garlic Van der Grease our champion. Our soldier. We claim this humble earth pony as our initiate,” Trixie said, smiling at Garlic.
“With the idea that one day, he will earn the title ‘The Virtue of Steadfastness’ and join our ranks,” Derpy said, bowing her head slightly at Garlic.
“Oooh! Go on!” Red Onion Pie cried, prodding her son. “Tell the nice ponies and the bug pony that you accept! Tell them! My sweet little colt is going to be a Virtue!” she said excitedly, bouncing around as she continued to prod Garlic, trying to get some kind of response out of him.
Blinking away a few tears, Garlic looked around the room. Sweet Onion Pie was weeping, his grandmare was doing much the same, his mother was still bouncing around beside him, poking him in the ribs, all of his friends and companions were looking at him, except for Fogwalker, who approached him slowly.
“Stinky… er, um, Garlic… I’d like to take this chance to be the one to say that I was the first to see your potential. I became your friend at an early age. I really did see something in you even then. I stood by you because the older I got and the more I understood about the world, the more I saw something in you. You’re my best friend,” Fogwalker said as she stood before Garlic. Lifting her head high and stretching her neck, the pegasus mare kissed the earth pony on the corner of his mouth, her wings fluttering as she gave him a brief sweet peck.
“I accept,” Garlic said, a part of him wishing that the kiss had lasted a little longer.
“Very good,” Flim said, looking very pleased.
“We already have your first task,” Flam announced.
“We need for you to rescue the city of Bridge,” Trixie stated, now beaming.
“Do what we ask, and you will be our champion. We will also give you a keep, make you a landowner with the title of ‘Baron’ and you will have our support as well as our backing,” Derpy offered, her highly polished glasses glinting in the sunlight that was streaming through the windows.
“There is also one more thing we ask of you,” Chrysalis said as Fogwalker quickly took her place at Garlic’s side, a knowing grin upon her face. “We feel that you would embody your attribute of steadfastness if you were married.”
“Would it show more if I resisted and kept saying no?” Garlic objected, now looking more than a little fearful.
“Not in this instance, no,” Trixie responded.
“Is it really so bad? You almost lost her once. Do you want to lose her again?” Chrysalis inquired as she looked at the tall lanky earth pony.
“You listen to your mother! You do what is needed of you! We earth ponies need a champion!” Red Onion Pie commanded, giving her son a stern look. She raised one front hoof and shook it at her son angrily.
Looking at Fogwalker, Garlic dropped his head close to her ear. “It isn’t going to be easy,” he whispered into Fogwalker’s flickering ear.
“I don’t care,” Fogwalker spat and then craned her head around to look at Garlic. “We’ll face this together. With our friends. We have Sunrise and Chert to help us out. Now shut up Stinky and make your mother proud. She deserves it. Do you know the sort of trouble she had birthing you?”
Squeezing his eyes shut, Garlic lifted his head away and shook it. “Ponies keep saying that to make me feel guilty or something. That wasn’t my fault!”
“You came out the size of a yearling,” Sweet Onion said sweetly, fluttering her eyelids.
“You know Foggy, I hope our foal is about that same size,” Garlic said, opening his eyes and grinning wickedly.
“I’m a tough plucky little pegasus. I’m ready. I am not afraid… much,” Fogwalker retorted, sounding almost defiant.
“You say that now,” Red Onion Pie remarked in a deadpan. “Even as a foal, he was steadfast. He steadfastly refused to come out of my womb for days.”
“Foggy, I thought I lost you once… I wanted to die because of that. I’ve learned my lesson. I submit,” Garlic said, bowing his head and cutting his mother off before she could be worked up into a full blown rant about earth pony birthing powers.
“Marriage is a pledge to one another. A special type of oath of service. A promise that you will remain together to face all of life’s troubles as a couple. Do you understand?” Chrysalis asked, looking through her glasses at Garlic and then at Fogwalker.
“Yes,” Garlic replied. “I understand all of that. No more browbeating required. I’ve submitted,” he added in a soft subdued voice.
Leaning over just a little bit, Fogwalker rested her head against Garlic.
“Do you have any promises to make to one another? Any pledges?” Chrysalis inquired.
Clearing her throat, Fogwalker lifted her head. “I am a pegasus. We are proud creatures driven to duty. Duty, devotion, and dedication, these are the virtues that a pegasus tries to live by. I give myself to you completely, holding nothing back. I will be your mate, yours and yours alone, I offer you my service. I will do all that I can be a good mate that is dutiful, devoted, and dedicated,” Fogwalker swore, looking up at Garlic with misty eyes.
Garlic, feeling his breath catch in his throat, looked down at Fogwalker. “I will never send you away ever again. I made that mistake once. Just once, and it was enough for me. I’m never letting you go. I will go where you go, I follow you as your companion, and I uh, will love you steadfastly now and forever,” Garlic promised in a soft scratchy raspy voice.
“Those are the sorts of vows I long to hear,” Chrysalis said as she closed her eyes. She held them closed for a moment, smiling, and then she opened them slowly. “This is the part where you two kiss to seal this spoken contract.”
Leaning his head down, Garlic clumsily pressed his lips against Fogwalker, who turned her head slightly and then pressed back. He could feel her hot breath blowing inside of his mouth. For a brief moment, he could feel the rough texture of her tongue trailing over his lips. He parted his teeth and then felt her curious tongue trailing over the roof of his mouth. He felt his body grow hot, suddenly feeling unbearably warm, and he pulled away suddenly with a wet slobbery slurp sound that sent drool spattering everywhere.
“Oooh I’m gonna be a great grandmare!” Pearl Onion Pie exclaimed.
“That was some kiss!” Sweet Onion Pie shouted.
Fanning herself with her wing, Fogwalker nodded. “Sure was… oh my, it feels warm in here all of a sudden!”
“The city of Bridge is a giant wooden bridge that is also a city. It is considered a wonder, a curiousity, and a deathtrap. The massive wooden structure started off as a bridge crossing a vast ravine, but over time, ponies built structures upon the top of it. Over more time, ponies made homes and dwellings in the support structures beneath it. Mostly pegasi who can fly. There are a large of community of pegasi there, a few earth ponies, and a group of unicorns who use their magic to keep the bridge from collapsing,” Princess Luna explained as she pointed to a diagram using her horn.
“I learned about those unicorns, they’re called woodkeepers, kind of like other unicorns are known as firekeepers. They work in shifts, tirelessly making little adjustments in their magic to keep the bridge safe. When the wind starts blowing, they panic,” Sunrise Surprise stated, bringing her book smarts into play.
“You will never meet a more nervous group of ponies,” Princess Luna agreed.
“So what do we know about this rogue unicorn?” Garlic asked as he stared at the crude drawing of the city of Bridge.
“Not much. We know that they have a knack for mind control spells and a love of gemstones. The rogue unicorn in question has seized control of a small army of goblins and diamond dogs. They roam the countryside, snatching up miners from the iron mines and stealing them away to be used as labour in the gem mines. The diamond dogs are poachers and they hide behind trees,” Princess Luna replied.
“So… we go to Bridge… we search the surrounding countryside, try not to get ambushed and captured, find the place where this unicorn is hiding, we go in, subdue or kill the unicorn, free the captured slaves, and come out as heros. This doesn’t seem hard at all,” Fogwalker summarised as she made a gesture with her hoof.
“There is four of us going against what is sure to be an army,” Chert said, giving voice to his concern. “I understand that Garlic is a powerful fighter, but he no longer has armor. He’s going to be vulnerable this trip.”
“So we keep him safe,” Fogwalker said as she looked at the pony that was now her mate and the one thing in the world that she loved more than anything else. “We do this my way. Stealthy. We pick off groups as we find them. Chert, you put arrows in their eyes and I’ll set them on fire.”
Stroking his chin with his hand, Chert nodded. “I can do that, but I can only carry so many arrows. I’ll have to make more in between fights if I can’t scavenge the ones I loose into enemies. Arrows break. Heads become lodged inside of a body and don’t always want to come out.”
“So we do this slowly and we take our time,” Sunrise Surprise stated as she pushed her glasses up on her nasal ridge. “We play it smart. The three of us hole up someplace where we are safe and we allow Fogwalker to do what she does best, which is perform as a scout. She flies overhead where the goblins and diamond dogs can’t reach her and when she spots activity, we move in and engage the enemy. We keep out of reach of the enemy and only engage them when it is advantageous for us to do so.”
Turning to look at Sunrise Surprise, Garlic nodded. “I think when you got those wings you also got a new sense of combat tactics,” he remarked as a faint smile spread across his face.
Blushing, Sunrise Surprise fluttered her wings and bashfully turned away from Garlic. “I’ve been listening to the lectures that Princess Luna has been giving to Chert. I take notes.”
“Well this is good news,” Princess Luna quipped as her face split into an enormous grin.
Nervously pacing, Princess Celestia moved around the room, her head alternating between being held high and held low, her wings fluttering at her sides as her agitation got the better of her. The other occupants in the room watched as she paced, some of them fidgeting nervously themselves.
Reclining upon a chaise lounge, Trixie’s eyes followed Celestia as she moved back and forth, to and fro, the big white alicorn was wearing a bald patch into the carpet with all of the pacing that Princess Celestia had been doing lately. “Majesty… if it eases your mind at all, Rampart Rusher is pleased to be earning her pay protecting Garlic’s family upon the farm. She told me that she feels honourable again after her part in all that took place.”
Princess Celestia did not reply but did give a nod in Trixie’s direction as she continued.
“Your loyal subjects are no longer so loyal. They are fearful about the changes taking place in our society. They want some kind of meaningful answer about useful breeding arrangements and fear what marriage will do to society as a whole,” Flim reported as he stirred his tea. He shot an apologetic glance at Chrysalis and offered the changeling queen a sheepish smile.
“Clan Fetlock continues to set themselves against you. It seems the clan itself is divided. Some of them realise the folly of trying to move against you and know it is a fight they cannot win so almost half of the clan is pressuring the other half to just pack up and leave the territory,” Flam said in a low voice. “They speak treason openly now and make no effort to hide it. An arrest was made of one prominent member of Clan Fetlock after he arranged for payment to those who would bring him Garlic Van der Grease alive or dead… and threats have been made against Fogwalker Fetlocks and Sunrise Surprise as well. The arrests that have been made only continue to make the situation worse,” Flam continued, speaking in a subdued voice as he eyed the tea cakes sitting on the stand.
Sputtering with rage, Celestia turned on Flim and Flam. After a few moments of spitting angrily, the big white alicorn regained her composure enough to be able to speak again. “I want a public statement issued… if one hair or feather on Sunrise Surprise’s body is harmed, if Garlic is hurt, if Fogwalker or Chert are made to suffer in any way, then I will incinerate the entirety of Clan Fetlock into cinders and my sister will wipe them from memory so none shall mourn their passing… I am sick of being nice about this!”
“I concur… the application of force has become necessary,” Derpy agreed as she closed her book. “We do not wish for you to be seen as an evil tyrant, but neither do we wish for you to be seen as spineless. Clan Fetlock forgets their place and it is time that the public is reminded that you are in charge. I suggest that all of them be stripped of rank and be given walking papers. End their service-”
“We cannot lose that many defenders!” Trixie interrupted in a fearful voice.
“We have already lost them,” Derpy retorted, offering Trixie a polite snort of indifference to punctuate her words when she was done speaking.
“She’s right you know,” Flam stated as he gave a worried look to Derpy.
“If a threat came right now they might ignore it completely in order to further undermine your authority,” Flim said, picking up on his brother’s thoughts.
“We should force their hoof. Since they want to leave, I say we make them leave,” Flam suggested, nodding his head vigorously as he spoke.
With a pained expression, Princess Celestia raised her hoof and made pointed it at Flim and then Flam. “Begin stripping them of everything at once. Their lands, their titles, their funding, all of their feudal holdings. I was content to let them grumble but threats against Sunrise Surprise and her companions are going to far. This ends.”
“This is going to weaken us,” Trixie mumbled.
Blinking at Trixie through her glasses, Derpy’s muzzle crinkled. “We have already been weakened. Now we are cutting away the weak flesh so that we might heal the body and be strong once more.”
“Things are going to get rough until this body gets better,” Trixie grumbled sulkily.
“Love will sustain us,” Chrysalis said in a reassuring voice that brought no reassurance.
Surrounded by guards, the companions marched for the edge of the county. Sunrise Surprise felt fearful, the guards could only escort them so far and then they would be on their own. Chert felt concerned, but also confident in his abilities to keep his friends safe. Fogwalker felt angry and protective, her pegasus sensibilities had been thoroughly offended. Pegasi were suppose to be loyal, and Clan Fetlock were now being called treasonous cowards. Guilt and shame made her cheeks burn with inner fire and she hated even having the clan name Fetlock. Garlic simply focused upon placing one hoof in front of the other and marching.
“I don’t know what is going to happen with me,” Fogwalker said to Garlic as she marched. “If my clan is banished, what becomes of me? My armor? My own stake in the clan wealth?”
“I don’t know,” Garlic replied in a voice that was as steady as his gait. “But you are mine now. I didn’t marry you for your wealth or your holdings. Welcome to poverty.”
“Poverty isn’t so bad if you are with the ones you love,” Fogwalker remarked, sounding as though she was trying to convince herself of this as she spoke.
“I get a royal stipend… both of you will be looked after, I promise,” Sunrise Surprise said to both of her friends. “I don’t get much, but we can share. I’m looking after Chert too… I haven’t actually bought anything for myself yet now that I think about it.”
Ahead, on the sides of the road, a crowd of earth ponies and a few pegasi had gathered. The guards, already nervous, tightened ranks around the four companions and nervous commands were already being given. On one side of the road, the crowd parted, and a small dark green earth pony filly stepped out into to the road with a small white flower held in her mouth. She looked up hopefully at the marching soldiers and waved.
“We mean no harm,” an older looking earth pony stallion said.
“We just wanted to thank Garlic for agreeing to be our champion,” a mare stated.
“We’re all stuck down here in drudgery, working day in and day out, and we birth our foals into the same misery that we ourselves were born into. It gets bleak down here at the bottom… But Garlic has broke free… maybe our foals can one day do the same,” an old wrinkled mare said as she moved beside the small dark green filly holding the white flower.
The guards ceased marching and came to a halt. Garlic immediately began to shove his way forward through them, trying to reach the group of well wishers. He emerged from the shelter of the guards, who eyed him nervously, and he stood looking down at the filly who was busy looking up at him.
“Chert, please, could you help me take off my helmet?” Garlic asked.
Coming forward, the centaur came to where Garlic was standing, reached up, and helpfully removed Garlic’s helmet. He held it in his arms as Garlic stepped away towards the filly.
Lowering his head and kneeling down his front legs, Garlic allowed the tiny filly to slide the flower behind his ear. He stood snoot to snoot with her, the filly foal was only about the size of Garlic’s head.
“Good luck,” the filly said in a tiny squeaky voice.
“Thank you,” Garlic replied.
“Will you keep our new princess safe?” the filly asked.
Garlic gave a little nod. “I’ll do my best.”
Pushing her way out of the phalanx of guards, Sunrise Surprise came forward with Fogwalker just behind her. Nearly tripping over her own front hooves, Sunrise let out a startled cry and then regained her footing. She blinked at the crowd and offered a sheepish grin.
“I’m clumsy too,” an earth pony announced from the back of the crowd.
“It was very kind of you to come out and greet us,” Sunrise Surprise said in a strong nasal lisp, her nervousness nearly overcoming her ability to speak. “It is nice to see we have supporters and well wishers.”
“You’re big,” the filly stated in a voice filled with awe.
“I know,” Garlic responded as he slowly lifted his head and straightened out his legs.
“One day you’re going to be the Virtue of Steadfastness,” a mare announced.
Garlic shrugged. “Maybe. But I’ll still be me.”
“Good luck doing whatever it is that you are doing… come home safely,” the old mare by the filly said in a raspy dry voice. “Please keep our new princess safe.”
The day was slightly cloudy, the sky was a slightly darkened shade of blue, and the companions had just put the small town of Ponyburg behind them. Ponyburg existed outside of the Foreverfree County, it was a small town founded at the base of Canterhorn mountain, and existed in the shadow of Canterlot, which was now in ruins. Ponyburg’s claim to fame was its pear orchards, and the town had been founded by a family of earth ponies known as the Pear clan.
The entire town was shocked, shocked that actual adventurers and an alicorn would visit them, and to show their appreciation, they had loaded the companions down with as many pears and pear goods as they could hold. Pear cider, dried pears, fresh pears, a batch of pear muffins, pear pasties, and a few bottles of pearjack.
The residents also seemed quite shocked that an earth pony and a pegasus found love.
Garlic had left behind an entire town now devoted to his cause.
“It’ll be another day before we reach Bridge. Need to be careful though. We’re approaching the Skunk Tail Woods,” Fogwalker announced as the group rounded a bend in the road.
“Are the skunks dangerous?” Sunrise Surprise asked in concern.
“Not really, no… but the timberwolves certainly are,” Fogwalker replied as she stretched a wing. “They’re vulnerable to fire and I like burning them. Makes them howl.”
“We’ll be fine. Just keep a guard posted while the others sleep,” Garlic said as he watched Fogwalker stretch one wing and then the other. She was pretty when she stretched, there was something about her body and how everything rippled, the way her skin pulled taut over finely corded muscles, the shapely curve of her…
“Garlic can’t stop staring at you,” Sunrise Surprise observed and then nearly tripped over her own front hooves. She recovered less than gracefully, mostly due to Chert grabbing her and keeping her from pitching over.
“I know,” Fogwalker replied nonchalantly. “I’m his pretty little pegasus mare and I like being looked at, makes me feel good.”
Sighing, Sunrise thought about saying something, but remained silent. Sunrise wasn’t pretty as she knew it. The glasses, the lisp, her chubbiness, the snorting, her clumsiness… she was never going to have a pony staring at her the way that Garlic was staring at Fogwalker.
“I hear water up ahead. Might be nice to stop and take a dip,” Chert suggested. “I can help you remove your armor Fogwalker.”
“I know… those nice hands of yours are wonderful,” Fogwalker responded as she gave Chert a warm smile. The pegasus picked up her pace and perked her ears forward inside of her helmet. “This is different… walking to a destination instead of flying. We’re seeing a lot more of the countryside. We’ve met some ponies. We’re traveling through towns instead of over them.”
“I suppose walking does give you a different view of the world. I wonder what it would be like to fly,” Garlic remarked as he pondered Fogwalker’s words. “Pegasi take a trip and think only of the destination. They spread their wings and go. An earth pony or a unicorn takes a trip, and it becomes a journey. There is a whole wide world be found along the way. Things along the road cannot be ignored.”
“I think you’re right Stinky,” Fogwalker replied as she stopped to look at the big earth pony. “I suppose we only see the problems we are dispatched to and probably never hear about how bad things are in the flyover places.”
The companions came to a shallow brook and a small stone arch bridge spanned the water. Ahead of them was more prairie, and off in the distance the Skunk Tail Woods could be seen. Beyond the Skunk Tail woods was their destination, the Ghostly Gap and the city of Bridge.
The water was cold but refreshing. Garlic stood mid-stream with the water only one third of the way up his legs. It was a lot deeper for everypony else, nearly reaching their bellies. Fogwalker had her face shoved down into the water, Sunrise was standing in one spot while trying to preen her new wings, a difficult task for her, and Chert was busy trying to find useful rocks that could be knapped into arrowheads.
His head held high, Garlic stood watch so the others could relax in safety.
Lifting her head and gasping, Fogwalker shook the water from her face, her wet mane whipping about and slapping her cheeks. She did a full body shake and her wet tail slapped against her hind legs. For one brief moment, Garlic looked at her and was distracted by what he saw. Shaking his head while taking a deep breath, he resumed his vigil.
“All of this walking is good for me. I keep telling myself that. I’ve been walking more and now I no longer wheeze when I walk up the sixteen steps that lead to the second floor of the library,” Sunrise Surprise said to her companions in her usual nasal lisp. She no longer felt so self conscious about speaking around them now and the words were easier to say.
Whistling a tune, Chert tossed a rock ashore where it landed with a thump near the group’s supplies and he resumed his searching for more suitable stones.
“Am I a pretty pony?” Sunrise Surprise asked in a bashful, worried sounding voice. “Because I don’t feel pretty. Nopony looks at me. I’m almost completely grown up now and nopony has ever shown any interest in me.”
Garlic coughed and then stared intently at something that seemed to be very interesting off in the distance.
Fogwalker’s ears fell back, shot forward, and then splayed out sideways as she went through several emotions all at once. She turned her head to look at her friend and took a deep breath. She then turned to look at Chert and saw that he was busy looking at her with a pleading expression upon his face.
“Oh dear, this silence is painful,” Sunrise whispered and then let out a nervous snort.
“Sunrise, no matter what you think you look like, there is somepony that thinks that you are pretty… just look at Foggy… she frets and fusses that her wings are too stubby, her legs aren’t long enough, that her neck is too thick, and I know that the fact that one ear is longer than the other bugs her to no end. I find every inch of her beautiful,” Garlic said in a raspy low voice as he stared intently off at the woods in the distance. “Especially her mismatched ears. I find them endearing,” he added.
“Thank you Garlic,” Sunrise replied as she blinked back tears. Stumbling through the water, she made her way to Garlic, ran into him because she didn’t have her glasses on, and then after she reared up, she placed her forelegs around his neck to give him a hug.
Watching Sunrise hug Garlic, Fogwalker smiled. “My ears drive me to distraction. I always think other ponies are staring at them,” she admitted.
Letting go of Garlic, Sunrise dropped down to all fours and carefully backed away, not wanting to twist a fetlock on the slippery stones that made up the bed of the stream.
“My grandmare, Pearl Onion Pie, she said that there is pretty and that there is practical. She told me that whomever I found practical, I’d also find pretty. I think she was trying to tell me that how you feel about somepony determines how you see them,” Garlic said as he turned to look at Sunrise Surprise briefly. He resumed his watchful vigil, looking for trouble as the group relaxed.
“Every now and then, Garlic surprises me,” Fogwalker admitted to Sunrise Surprise.
“He has horse sense,” Sunrise Surprise replied as she looked up at the long lanky earth pony.
The Skunk Tail woods were dark, the air was cool, and the scent of pine tingled the nostrils. The trees were mostly deciduous, but there were a few pine trees that stood out among the many maples, oaks, and yews. A wide road meandered through the trees, a road with deep ruts left from thousands of wagons that had transported goods from one end of this road to another.
“The skunk tail hanging moss,” Sunrise Surprise observed as she craned her head upwards and looked at the dark grey moss hanging down. “So named for being fluffy and smelling kinda bad. It has many medicinal uses, is useful for fighting infections, can be chewed on for a toothache, and the main side effect is a purgative effect in equines, which can be helpful even if it might be a little disgusting.”
“Quiet… there are no birds singing,” Chert warned as he pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow. His eyes narrowed and his tail swished.
“Arrows won’t do much good against timberwolves,” Garlic cautioned as he moved closer to Sunrise Surprise. “We’ll need to smash them and set them on fire.”
Taking to the air, Fogwalker shot skyward through the trees to have a look around. She circled overhead, looking downwards with her sharp eyes, trying to spot anything moving in the trees that might be dangerous. Off of the road, she saw the trees and shrubs moving. Something was moving towards the road.
“Off to your left! Incoming! Dunno what!” Fogwalker shouted in warning as she dropped downwards like a stone through the trees to rejoin her companions.
“OH SNOT!” Garlic swore as he saw their attackers. “Felis minors!”
The first of the constellation cats came crashing through the underbrush, it was as large as a bear, glowed faintly even in the daylight, and radiant stars were visible upon its pelt.
Chert responded first, releasing three arrows in rapid succession. The first struck the creature in one eye, the second arrow struck the creature in the other eye, and the third arrow went down the constellation creature’s gullet, lodging into the back of the monster’s throat. The centaur nocked another arrow and then saw a second and a third constellation cat burst out of the woods that lined the road.
The big cat dropped dead, choking on the arrow in its craw.
The second felis minor pounced, airborne, it headed right for Sunrise Surprise, who screamed in terror as she stood frozen, her eyes wide, and her mouth hung open.
A moment later, Garlic collided with the creature mid air, and he smashed his helmeted head into the giant cat’s mouth, shattering its teeth. The two large powerful creatures crashed to the ground and the cat raked its claws over Garlic’s unprotected chest.
Yanking an oil flask free from her harness, Fogwalker doused the third cat in oil, drenching its head in flammable liquid. She darted in, her wings buzzing, and moving too close for comfort, she smacked her two front war shoes together, which produced a shower of sparks. As she passed, an arrow passed beneath her and struck the big cat in the eye.
The oil ignited with a “WHOOSH!” and the big cat was suddenly ablaze. It yowled pitifully as it fell over and writhed on the ground, trying to make the burning stop, clawing at its own head and eye to make the pain go away.
Seeing that Garlic was in trouble, Fogwalker rushed over to save him.
The big cat had clawed him several times and Garlic knew he was in some trouble. The cat was as large as a bear, powerful, and without teeth after the savage headbut. The cat wasn’t hunting now, this wasn’t about food, the cat was fighting for its own survival after having severely misjudged its prey. Lashing out with a hoof, Garlic clipped the cat on the ear as he tried to get away from the creature. Claws sank into his withers and ripped downwards, opening his flesh and sending rivulets of blood trickling down his shoulder.
Slamming his head forwards, Garlic banged his helmet against the cat’s skull several times, once, twice, thrice, and on the forth impact, something gave way as the cat’s skull shattered. Rearing his head back, Garlic brought it down hard one last time, smashing his helmeted head into the cat with a loud wet meaty sounding squelch. Getting up on his hooves, he broke away from his attacker, kicked it in the face as the creature lay twitching on the ground, and then watched as Chert approached with his axe drawn.
The centaur brought his axe down upon the felis minor’s neck, going halfway through, and the creature’s struggles ended. With a jerk, Chert pulled his axe free and then immediately went to Garlic’s side.
“This looks bad,” Chert stated in a strangely calm voice.
Dropping to her hooves, Fogwalker landed and rushed to Garlic’s side. She hissed when she saw the open lacerations and her face contorted from feeling sympathy pain for her mate.
“Garlic,” Sunrise whimpered in fear.
“This is looks worse than it is. The ones on the front are bleeding, but they will close. The others on his legs aren’t deep. The one right here on his back though, the one in the middle is deep,” Chert said as he carefully examined his friend. “I can sew this shut.”
“You can?” Sunrise asked.
“I have a great deal of twine given to me so I could make arrows… I can fix this,” Chert said in a reassuring voice. “Make camp. Right here on the road. I’ll need a fire.”
“I’ll gather wood,” Fogwalker announced as she took off, looking one final time at Garlic as she began to gather wood from the side of the road.
“We should move away from the bodies,” Garlic suggested as he craned his head back to look at his own withers.
“Stop moving… you’re stretching the skin and making it worse,” Chert commanded.
“I can’t believe we survived that,” Sunrise Surprise panted as she tried to control her heavy breathing. “Thank you Garlic… for saving me… that’s twice in one day.”
“You must hold still,” Chert said as he pushed the long metal needle through two flaps of skin and then drew the thread through them. Reaching out with one hand, he placed it upon Garlic’s back and tried to reassure the twitching earth pony.
“I think he still has combat nerves,” Fogwalker said as she stood guard near the crackling fire they had started. She glanced around, taking note of the quiet, and watched as Sunrise Surprise added another piece of dead wood to the fire.
“The other wounds have stopped bleeding and have scabbed over just as I said they would,” Chert said as he once more pushed the needle through. Chert heard Garlic hiss as he pulled the thread through the flaps of skin he was sewing together.
By the fire, seated upon the forest loam, Sunrise Surprise adjusted her glasses and then looked at Fogwalker. She took a deep breath, started to say something, failed, and then cleared her throat. After a small whine escaped, she said, “I completely froze up back there. I was terrified.”
Fogwalker snorted and tossed her head back. “That’s what civilians do. You haven’t had extensive combat training. Your response was normal. In time, you’ll learn to react. Meanwhile, you have us to protect you.”
Grunting, Garlic’s ears perked as he jerked his head around to look off towards the woods to his left. “Be… mindful… of… timberwolves.” He turned his head and looked into the woods on his right. Letting out a whinny, Garlic turned his head to look at Chert. “That was some kind of shooting. How did you get so good?”
Chert minded his careful stitching. He paused his work for a moment, looked up at Garlic, and then he said, “My tribe had to defend themselves from large predatory birds called rocs. They are swift flyers, they have thick hides, and stiff feathers. They have weak spots, the eyes, under their wings, a small downy place where their hind legs protrude, and these weak spots are hard to hit. You either learn to shoot or you die. I was young when I killed my first roc.”
“How did you kill it?” Garlic asked.
As Chert continued his stitching, he replied, “With a sling. My first shot missed. My second shot struck it in the eye.”
Throwing another log onto the fire with her magic, Sunrise Surprise looked over at Chert. “It sounds as though your species evolved natural aim.”
Pausing his work once more, Chert shrugged for a moment. “I have no idea what that means.”
Sighing, Sunrise Surprise fluttered her wings. “Never mind. It isn’t important now. I’ll give you a book about it later. Just keep stitching.” The alicorn stared down at the now roaring fire, unaware that it was reflected on the lenses of her glasses and giving her a somewhat ominous appearance.
“Almost done,” Chert said as he secured one more stitch.
Overhead was a million stars and for a brief moment, Sunrise Surprise felt a sense of worry that she might fall off of the earth and tumble into the endless expanse of stars. It took a moment, but the feeling of vertigo passed. To her right, the fire crackled and popped, it was warm on her hide. On her left, the cool night air settled into her pelt. She turned her head to look at her wings, a small soft sigh escaping as she did so.
She could fly. It was possible. With time perhaps. The very idea was terrifying however. To be up there with the clouds in the endless expanse of sky. Right now, just going up too many stairs was enough to cause problems, but wings held the promise of flight.
“You should be getting some sleep.”
Chert’s voice was full of worry. Whipping her head around, Sunrise’s glasses almost slid off her nasal bridge. Chert was standing guard a short distance away, taking first watch now that the sun was down.
“Princess, really, you should be getting some sleep,” Chert insisted.
Knowing that she could talk to Chert about almost anything, Sunrise allowed herself to speak her mind to her companion. “I can’t stop thinking about what happened today. How can I be a princess if I just freeze up at the first sign of trouble? What if I had to protect my subjects?”
Chert’s expression changed, but Sunrise didn’t know what he was feeling or how to read his face in its current contorted state. Sunrise huffed, scooted a little closer to the fire, and felt her muscles all twitch when she heard what was sure to be an owl in the distance.
A tightness in Sunrise’s barrel appeared, the first sign that tears might be coming. She took a deep breath. “I’m so afraid Chert. Garlic got hurt… I feel like it might be my fault. If I had used my magic, I might have protected him somehow. But I am terrible at magic.”
Nearby, Garlic snorted. Fogwalker was using his neck as a pillow and the pair were pressed together. Looking at them made Sunrise feel an aching feeling of longing, the sense that something was missing in her own life.
“Sunrise… you are being too hard upon your self. Garlic’s job is to prevent you from getting hurt and today, he did his job. In time—”
Unable to help herself, Sunrise interrupted Chert, feeling rather guilty about it as she did so. “Don’t speak to me about time. What if there isn’t time? What if Garlic had been killed today while I stood there trying not to widdle myself? We’re not promised time. I may not have time to get myself together and learn as I go.”
Her companion’s expression changed once more. Anger? Sunrise wasn’t sure. His face was… different from her own. She saw Chert raise his hand and point his finger at her.
“Look, I cannot allow you to do anything foolish. If you get the bright idea to go charging off into battle and you get yourself hurt, I will be most upset with you. When trouble happens it is your place to stand near my side where I can cut down our foes before they reach you,” Chert said.
“Chert, that is the problem! You three have to defend me. You three have to protect me. I can’t seem to do anything for myself… I just get to stand there and watch as you three scramble to save me because I am useless.” As the first tear fell, she took off her glasses and Sunrise swiped at her face with her wing, the feathers that brushed over her nose almost causing her to sneeze as she did so.
Watching as Chert approached, Sunrise Surprise saw him kneel down and lay upon the ground with her. She felt a gentle tug upon one ear and then a hand with long slender fingers was placed beneath her chin. She felt her head lifted and she looked into Chert’s eyes. They were green with little flecks of gold them and they glittered in the firelight. She saw Chert’s fingers in her vision, and then felt her mane being lifted away from her face.
“What are you doing Chert?” she asked.
There was no reply. Just two arms around her neck and then she felt her head being cradled against Chert’s chest. One of Chert’s hands was stroking her neck. Very much against her will, Sunrise Surprise felt herself calming down. She drew in one deep shuddering breath and then released it a few tiny huffs at a time, some of them slipping out as little squeaks.
With her ear against Chert’s chest, Sunrise could hear his heart beating. She relaxed a little, allowing her head to rest in Chert’s attentive embrace, and then tried to think of something to say. The silence was too uncomfortable to allow to continue.
The night no longer felt so scary. The hooting of owls and the sounds of critters in the trees no longer seemed so frightening. Sunrise Surprise felt a strange new feeling that she couldn’t identify. The silence no longer seemed so bad. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
As the stars twinkled overhead and the moon continued its endless trek across the night sky, Sunrise Surprise slipped off into slumber.
The road through the Skunk Tail Woods was dry and dusty. The morning was cloudy, the sky dark. The weather here was wild and uncontrolled. Fogwalker led the way with Garlic half a length behind her. Chert and Sunrise walked side by side. It had been a quiet uneventful morning so far. The only excitement worth nothing had been a family of skunks that had crossed the road.
As the companions continued, they saw many things. Webbing in the trees; evidence of giant spiders that lived in the woods. The birds flitted about; a good sign that there was no trouble lurking. As nice as the day appeared to be, nopony let their guard down. Idyllic moments had a way of lulling one into a false sense of security, both Garlic and Fogwalker had been trained to be extra wary during such times.
Silent, saying nothing, Sunrise Surprise thought of little else but her failure as she walked.
It was the middle of the afternoon when the rain began to fall. It started with a pleasant sprinkle. After a while, it turned into driving rain. About an hour of slogging through the mud, the rain turned into a torrential downpour.
It became difficult to even see, much less continue forward. The road became a bog that threatened to swallow them. It was easy to sink down to a half a leg deep and difficult to pull out. Chert was having to pull and tug on Sunrise to keep her from becoming stuck.
The pleasant trip had become a miserable experience.
“We need to take shelter from the storm. I have a feeling it is going to get worse,” Fogwalker said. As if to emphasise her words, lightning flashed and then thunder crackled.
“Where do we go?” Garlic asked.
Her eyes completely covered by her sopping mane, Fogwalker replied, “I have no idea.”
Knowing that Sunrise was going to be angry with him, Chert decided it was time to say something about her struggle. “Sunrise isn’t strong enough to keep going to through the mud.”
“Put her on my back,” Garlic said.
Mortified, Sunrise tried to glare at her companions, but found that she could not see them through her water covered glasses. “No! I’m muddy!”
Speaking with a patient voice, Garlic said, “The rain will wash the mud away.”
“No!” Sunrise was soaked, miserable, and exhausted, but she had her pride. The sting of being completely useless in a crisis was now compounded by completely useless in bad weather. Unable to stop it, a whimper escaped her lips.
“Wait, stay right here… I see something just off the road, I’m going to see what it is,” Fogwalker said. When she was done speaking, she spread her wings, flapped a few times, kicked her way free of the mud, and took to the air.
Sunrise watched as Fogwalker flew overhead and then a short distance away, weaving in and out between the trees. “She stayed in the mud with us. She could have flown overhead and saved herself from the horrid muck.”
Always a stoic, Garlic stood in the drenching rain and looked at Sunrise. He stuck out his lower lip, allowed it to fill with water, and then had himself a cold refreshing drink. He snorted water from his nostrils and then shook his head. “Pegasi are loyal.” He paused, thought about his own words, gave himself another shake, and then said, “I have a loyal wife.”
“I can see Fogwalker… sort of. There is some kind of dark shape in the little clearing off of the road in between the trees,” Chert said as he peered over at Fogwalker. “It looks as though a tree fell over on it on something, whatever it is.”
As Chert was watching, Fogwalker came streaking back to the group.
“I found a travel wagon! One wheel is broken, and the roof is damaged from a tree that fell upon it, but if Sunrise can use her magic to fix it, we’ll have a place to take shelter,” Fogwalker reported.
Lifting her head high, Sunrise Surprise realised she had a chance to redeem herself by helping her companions. “I can try!”
Standing in the rain, Sunrise Surprise studied the wagon. It was a Vardo, one of the caravan wagons of the wandering gypsy ponies. The roof was cracked and a wheel had broken. The fallen tree was still resting atop it. She pulled open the door in the rear and water trickled out, running down the steps. The inside was wet. She peered inside, her horn igniting for light. Anything and everything that had been useful was gone. She could see places, shelves, where beds had been. Water poured through the ceiling. The only thing left inside that could have been of any value was the cast iron, wood burning, pot bellied stove. The metal chimney was still in good shape. She backed away from the door and then returned to be with her friends.
“So… somepony’s wheel breaks, they park a wagon, maybe hoping to fix it somehow, and then a tree falls on it. After that, it is abandoned,” Garlic said to Fogwalker.
“The wanderers live by funny rules… anything that is no longer of any use is abandoned,” Fogwalker replied. She extended a wing and held it over Sunrise’s head, an almost useless gesture of affection. “Think you can fix it?”
“If I can fix it, is Garlic going to pull it? It feels wrong somehow… he is my protector and my friend… using him as a common pony of burden to haul a wagon around feels wrong.” Sunrise looked at Garlic, a confused expression upon her face.
“I like pulling wagons. And this is a nice wagon. It just needs a little fixing and maybe a few beds. It wouldn’t slow me down to pull it as we traveled. Nothing changes the fact that I am an earth pony and I am the most suited for pulling a wagon or dealing with heavy loads. It isn’t like Chert could pull it and while Foggy is strong, she isn’t that strong. So the task falls to me as a practical matter.” Garlic, having expressed his opinion on the issue, fell silent.
“So… practical matter… it falls to me to fix it.” Sunrise had seen Celestia and Luna both use a mend spell. Mend repaired wood, cloth, and even stone, but the harder a material was the more difficult it was to mend.
Sighing, Sunrise turned from her friends, mounted the steps of the wagon, and made her way inside. She would fix the roof first, if she could. It seemed a simpler fix than the wheel. Just a simple split in the wood. If she could fix it, the water would stop pouring in, and her friends could have a place to stay that was out of the rain. It would need to dry out in here. A spell and maybe the wood burning stove might fix that.
Sticking her head out the door, she looked at Chert. “Find firewood. There is a stove in here. The wood will be wet, but we can get it to burn.”
Without protest, Chert departed, off to look for wood in the immediate area.
Clearing out her mind, or at least attempting to, Sunrise thought back to her lessons. Celestia had tried to teach her a mend spell. Sunrise Surprise closed her eyes. The trick was to think of water. Flowing water. Water didn’t bump together, it flowed together.
What if water was in the form of ice cubes? Ice cubes bump together. Blinking, Sunrise’s eyes opened as she had the distracting thought. Closing her eyes once more, she tried to push ice cubes from her mind. Two cubes of ice will stick together if you get them wet and press them together… her brain said to her in a teasing inner dialogue.
“Wow, it worked.”
Sunrise’s eyes fluttered open and she looked at Fogwalker, who was standing in the doorway. Fogwalker gestured upwards using her wing. Looking up, Sunrise had trouble believing what she was seeing. The crack in the roof, the broken planks, was now gone. “How did I…”
“Never mind how you did it, you did it.” Fogwalker looked at Sunrise and then at the ceiling. “Be content that you pulled it off. You did good.”
Somehow, even though she was drenched with freezing water, Sunrise felt warm. She beamed, a sunny smile, and felt as though she wanted to laugh, or maybe dance. It felt good to have done something right, even if she wasn’t sure how she had done it. Perhaps knowing how she did it did not matter.
“We can worry about the wheel later. Think you can dry this place out?” Fogwalker asked as she studied the ceiling. “We’ll need to get the tree off of the roof as well.”
The rosy glow of the fire filled the inside of the wagon with warmth and light. Inside of the wagon, space was cramped, but a more optimistic pony might call it ‘cozy.’ The inside was filled with nooks and crannies, spaces to store items, gear, supplies, everything that might be needed for life on the road. There were three shelves for beds, intended to hold mattresses stuffed with hay or straw, two on either side and one at the front of the wagon. Each of these shelves folded into the walls to allow for more room. The wood stove was in the rear, tucked into the corner by the door.
Sunrise and Chert both had their own bunks. Fogwalker and Garlic had to share.
The vardo, though empty, held promise. Supplies kept in here would remain dry in inclement weather. More food could be carried. For the adventurers, the wagon was a home on the road.
“How is your back? And the rest of you?” Fogwalker’s words were soft whispers. She did not want to wake her companions.
“I’m fine,” Garlic replied.
“You’re a lousy liar.” Fogwalker looked at her husband, her face stern. “I’m worried about you pulling this thing with your injuries.”
Garlic, rolling his eyes, shook his head in exasperation. He stared at the fire, watching the embers shimmer. The air was still damp and he was glad to have Fogwalker beside him. For a moment, he felt bad for Sunrise and Chert. They were alone in their bunks, with nopony beside them to keep them warm. It was uncomfortable laying on bare wood, but being with Fogwalker made it bearable.
“It scared me today… seeing you hurt. I’m a soldier… I’m supposed to fight and be fearless… it always bothered me to watch you go into danger, I was never comfortable with it. But you're my husband now… things have changed. I can’t stop thinking about how it could have all gone wrong earlier today and I’d be a widow now.”
Turning his head, Garlic looked at Fogwalker after hearing her confession.
“We could die at any moment.” Fogwalker’s head darted towards Garlic and she gave him a swift peck on the cheek. “I don’t want to die. I want to be with you. I’d like to have a foal.”
Garlic listened to the sounds of the rain on the wooden roof, thinking about the feeling of Fogwalker’s lips upon his cheek. It would be awful to die now, after everything that had happened. Could he walk away from all of this? What would happen if he tried? Could he go back to being a farmer? Would Fogwalker resent him? Could a pegasus be happy with a life spent in the dirt? Garlic wasn’t sure if he could be happy with a life spent in the dirt.
“What are you thinking about?” Fogwalker asked.
“Nothing,” Garlic replied.
“Avoiding death, fighting side by side, these things will bring us closer together.” Fogwalker lowered her head and laid it down upon her folded forelegs. Her barrel heaved and she let out a half whinny half sigh that was unique to equines. “Going into battle, always knowing that you have my back and I have yours. It’s romantic.”
Thinking of his previous thoughts, Garlic felt ashamed. A life spent in the dirt lost all appeal. A life spent on a farm, raising little fat foals, trodding through the dirt all day, Garlic realised that it was not a life that Fogwalker would be happy with. She wanted adventure, she wanted action, she wanted… romance.
“Come on… Garlic, what are you thinking about?” Fogwalker asked.
“Nothing Foggy,” Garlic replied.
“Are all earth ponies this empty headed or just you?” Fogwalker’s lips puckered into a pout. “Do you just not think about stuff? How do you make it through a long watch into the night? If I don’t think about stuff I fall asleep.”
“I dunno… I manage somehow.” The fire popped and Garlic’s ears pivoted forwards.
“This is like living a dream. We have each other… I finally have you. You’ve finally admitted to loving me. We’re on the road, we’re making our little part of the world a better place, we have steadfast friends with us, we have this funny little wagon to stay dry in, the fire is warm… and… I have you.” Fogwalker glanced at Chert and then Sunrise. After a moment of silence, she asked in a low whisper, “Do I smell bad? I smell like wet stinky pony, don’t I?”
Garlic considered his answer before speaking. When at last he felt confident that he was saying the right thing, he replied, “I think we all do.”
“Good answer. You’re still in trouble for making me cry and breaking my heart.” A half smile appeared in Fogwalker’s muzzle.
“I thought as much.” The corner of Garlic’s mouth twitched as he fought to hold back his own smile. A life like this wouldn’t be so bad. For all of the dangerous moments, there would also be moments like this one.
“Stinky, you do think… I’m shocked.” Fogwalker lifted her head and bumped her cheek up against Garlic’s broad jaw. “I’ve been thinking too… about our first time.”
Uh oh. Garlic felt the first stirrings of panic deep within him.
“No pressure, no rush, but we’ve been married for a little while now. I’m willing to wait till just the right moment, but there is no way I am going to wait forever. I’m not in season so we can just go at it whenever the, uh, need arises.” Fogwalker let out a quiet titter and looked at Sunrise, noting the alicorn’s ears twitching in her sleep.
“I was thinking about that myself actually,” Garlic said, knowing that his words were going to cost him. He accepted the loss.
“I bet you were.”
It was too warm in the wagon. Garlic felt like he was about to start sweating. Fogwalker’s voice was husky with seduction. “No… the practical concerns. I am much taller than you are. You can stand beneath me. I’m worried about reach… fitting together.”
“There are ways… your mother gave me some helpful advice.”
“Ugh… no… just no… please, never say those words again.” Garlic squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head in disgust. “Why would my mother give you helpful advice?”
“Your grandmother too—”
“No…”
“Oh yes, both of them want you to be happy… they want us to be happy. And they gave me all kinds of helpful advice and earth pony wisdom.” Fogwalker felt Garlic tremble, the feeling of him trembling against her gave her chills, and she took a deep breath. “I want you to be happy with me.”
“Mares put too much stock in that. Believe me, it isn’t hard to keep a stallion happy.”
“Any mare can catch a stallion’s attention for a few minutes, but it is far more difficult to keep him coming back. Just look at your mother and your father… Gasser and your mother are friends. She’s doing something to keep him coming back,” Fogwalker said in a low whisper.
“I’d rather not talk about that.” Garlic shoved certain thoughts out of his mind and hoped they would not return. The rain upon the roof was soothing, but Garlic did not allow himself to feel drowsy. “Get some sleep. In a little while, I’ll wake up Chert. We have a long day tomorrow.”
“Chert’s fingers are becoming increasingly useful.”
Sunrise Surprise nodded at Fogwalker and watched as Chert secured the makeshift harness around Garlic. Sunrise, feeling good about herself, had repaired the wagon. The roof, now mended, did not leak. The wheel, now in one piece, seemed sturdy enough to do its job.
Life was already easier because they did not have to wear heavy packs or saddlebags, but Sunrise did feel a lingering sense of concern over having Garlic hauling the entire load. Feeling warm sun upon her back, Sunrise spread her wings and allowed the sun’s golden warmth to seep into her joints.
“You need to spend more time preening your feathers,” Fogwalker said, taking note of the general state of disarray.
“I’m still learning.” Sunrise looked at her friend, knowing that Fogwalker meant no harm, but still felt hurt anyway.
“It isn’t something you can hurry through… your feathers are clumped, which means you are taking in several at a time to rush through the job rather than one at a time—”
“But one at a time takes forever!”
“Maybe so, but that is just how it is. You get used to it.” Fogwalker gave Sunrise an encouraging nudge.
“You were born with wings… I wasn’t—” Sunrise stopped and pressed her lips together into a flat line as she self corrected. “Okay, I was born with wings, but I didn’t grow up with wings. It takes forever to keep these annoying things cleaned and preened and looking tidy.”
“The trick is, keep them clean and tidy to begin with and then do touch up as needed. Stay on top of stray feathers. If you see one, tidy it up right away. If one feather is out of sorts, it tends to make others around it messy. They all rub wrong if one is out of place.”
Sunrise Surprise scowled. “I don’t see why you can’t do more to help me.”
“Sunrise, I told you… preening is… preening is something intimate between pegasi. You preen your own wings once you are old enough. As adults, it is something that couples do. It would be very awkward to help you. Because you grew up as a unicorn, you just see it as grooming. I was raised with a very different standard. I’m sorry. I’ve helped you and it just feels really weird. And wrong.”
“It isn’t fair. You’re pretty, you have perfect wings, and you have a pony that loves you.” Sunrise turned away from her friend and settled into a sulk. “I’m fat, I’m ugly, and with the way my wings look, nopony will ever look at me the way that Garlic looks at you.”
Fogwalker took a deep breath, held it in her puffed out cheeks, and there was a faint flatulent sound as air leaked out of her pressed tight together lips. It wasn’t much as far as coping mechanisms go, but it had gotten Fogwalker through life so far.
“Even when you make faces like that you’re still pretty. Garlic would still want you even if your face stayed that way.” Sunrise blinked behind her glasses, saw the world was becoming blurry because of tears, and realised her morning was ruined.
Saying nothing else, she took off, climbing up into the wagon, and closed the door behind her.
“I wish I knew what to say to make her feel better,” Fogwalker said as she looked at the wagon. Her eyes moved towards Garlic. “You don’t mind pulling one pouty alicorn princess along with the rest of the load, do you?”
“No.”
“That’s what I thought. We should get moving. Thank you, Chert, for being so helpful with those wiggly little fingers of yours. It was nice not wearing my armor to bed.” Fogwalker smiled at both Garlic and Chert.
Chert, silent, said nothing, but nodded his head. He moved, his hooves making little sound as he took off, and he took his bow in hand as he began to scout ahead.
Fogwalker watched the centaur go.
Grunting, Garlic leaned into the harness, there was a creak of wood, the jangle of a chain, and the wagon began to move. In no time at all, the strong earth pony had the wagon on the road and was pulling it along muddy ruts with surprising speed.
“Mmm, mmm, mmm, what a pony!” Fogwalker said as she watched her husband pull the wagon with what seemed like effortless ease. Her armor clanked and jangled as she took off after Garlic and the wagon, bringing up the rear and guarding Garlic’s blind spot.
Chert kept to the middle of the muddy road, the high place between the ruts. Around him, the forest was cool, damp, the smell of rain lingered in the air and Chert was glad to breath it into his lungs.
Knowing it was dangerous not to keep his bow ready, Chert continued to his work, pulling nuts off of a downed tree branch he had picked up in the road. He dropped the nuts into his saddlebag, not knowing what they were, but knowing that they were food.
He moved with an easy grace, his eyes darting everywhere that there was a sound, and Chert remained alert to any indication of danger.
When the last nut was stripped off of the branch, Chert dropped the branch and took his bow in hand once more.
There was a wooden sign on the side of the road, faded, a faint hint of pink was still visible. Chert paused to look at the sign, which at one point must have been quite a sight.
“Princess Cadance’s Carnal Castle,” Garlic said as he approached, reading the sign. He snorted.
“Who is Princess Cadance?” Chert asked.
“The alicorn of lust. She ran a brothel from what I heard. Not much of a castle at all. Celestia and Luna chased her off after their reformation,” Garlic replied.
“Is she dangerous?” Chert asked.
Garlic nodded. “Lust isn’t like love at all. At its very worst, it cannot be satisfied. Indulging in it only makes it worse… A stallion or a mare would pine away for even more of Cadance’s perfect sex… she’d bleed them of their money, their valuables, and when they had nothing left, she would leave them broken and begging for more.”
“How do you know about her?” Chert asked.
“One day, out of the blue, my granmare, Pearl Onion Pie, my aunt, Sweet Onion Pie, and my mother, Red Onion Pie, they ambushed me. Started slapping me around and giving me a good talking to. Told me that they’d kill me if I ever so much thought about going off to pay Cadance a visit. Left some lumps on my head and gave me some wise words of wisdom.”
“Lumps?” Chert looked up at the tall gangly earth pony.
“Sometimes, love is a hug… or a kiss… or maybe even a pie. At other times, love is a lump on your skull… I remember every word said in warning about Cadance and her foul magic because I remember the lumps. They hurt.”
“Hmm.” Reaching up, Chert scratched his neck with his free hand.
“We should get moving,” Garlic said, offering up a suggestion about what to do.
Saying nothing else, Chert cast one final glance at the faded sign, sighed, and then took off down the road, his bow in hand and his eyes opened to danger.
“How is your back? Your wounds?” Sunrise trotted in the mud beside Garlic, her hooves making squishing sounds with every step.
“Fine.” Garlic paid the dull pain in his chest and his withers very little attention.
Sunrise avoided a big flooded mud puddle of water that filled up a deep rut in the road. Sidestepping it, she stilled cringed when she saw how much mud was already on her legs. Looking at Garlic, she saw that he was caked with mud up to his hocks.
“Foggy says we are making good time, even with the wagon. The mud and the wagon has slowed us down though, she thinks it will be two days to reach our destination instead of just one,” Sunrise said, trying to start up some sort of conversation.
“No matter. We’ll get there when we get there.” Garlic, who enjoyed pulling the wagon, didn’t mind the idea that it might take a little longer.
Much to her embarrassment, Sunrise felt herself becoming winded. Trotting though the mud was different than trotting over dry ground. Each step took effort. Climbing back into the wagon was now a bad idea, as she would track mud everywhere inside.
Realising that conversation just wasn’t going to happen, that each step was going to get harder and harder as more and more fatigue set in, and that she was now stuck slogging through the mud, Sunrise dropped her head down and focused on moving forward. Looking back at her self, she realised that mud had spattered her wings.
Wings that she had to preen.
With her mouth.
Her barrel hitching, Sunrise tried to hold back her tears and failed. Crying wasn’t making breathing any easier. Unable to see where she was stepping, her hoof slipped and she almost fell down into the mud, regaining her balance at the last horrible second when she was certain she was about to get a mudbath.
“You’re not having a good day.”
So startled that she almost stumbled again, Sunrise struggled to stay up on her hooves. “No I’m not.”
Leaning into the harness, Garlic had to give a little extra effort to pull the wagon though a thicker, clingier patch of mud. “Chert looks out of sorts too. If you want to feel better, you should talk to him.”
“Why would that make me feel better?” Sunrise asked.
“If you make him feel better, you might feel better,” Garlic replied.
“Really?” Sunrise blinked away her tears and looked up at Garlic.
“I dunno… it might help you out, Sunny.”
“If I’m Sunny, you’re Stinky, and Fogwalker is Foggy, what is Chert?” Sunrise asked.
“Fingers.”
“Fingers?”
“Yes. Fingers.”
“Chert is Fingers?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Sunrise turned her head and looked at the road ahead of her. Chert was up front. Peering, squinting her eyes, Sunrise noticed that the centaur had very little mud on him at all. “How does he do that?”
“Do what?” Garlic asked.
Sunrise blinked, trying to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her. “There is hardly any mud on him at all.”
“He’s just careful, that’s all.” Garlic allowed himself to enjoy a smooth section of pulling where the wagon seemed to slice though the mud with no real effort.
“When the road was dry and we were walking and talking and having a nice time, the adventure seemed nice… but now, we’re stuck in the mud, there doesn’t seem to be much talking because we are spaced out, and this adventure has become a boring march.” Sunrise stepped into what she thought was just a little bit of mud and sunk in up past her hocks. “Oh… oh… oh… oh dung!” She struggled to pull her front legs out, the mud slurped around her hooves, and even more tears threatened to fall.
“Princess Potty Mouth—”
“I sunk down in the mud!” Sunrise couldn’t believe that Garlic was teasing her now of all times, even when he knew that she was having a bad day.
“They should make you the Virtue of Vulgarity—”
“Stinky, I’ve had about enough of your comments!”
“The Monarch of Mud, the Princess of Puddles.”
“Oh that’s it, I’ve had just about enough of your teasing! What has gotten into you?” Yanking a hoof free, Sunrise shook it at Garlic, slinging mud at him, spattering his sides with frothy brown muck.
“Do you feel better?” Garlic asked.
Sunrise, still struggling to get her other hoof free, took a moment to think about Garlic’s words. I do feel better, she thought to herself. Flinging the mud had been cathartic.
“I don’t mind the mud. Just a bit of dirt and water. The whole world is made of it.” Garlic plodded onwards, unconcerned about the mud now spattered along his side.
“Stinky… I hope you don’t mind, but I think I’m going to go and talk with Chert,” Sunrise said, a smile breaking on her face like sunlight shining through the clouds.
“Maybe get a little mud on him. Ain’t natural how he stays so clean…”
