The Bonds of Friendship

Chapter 2

The halls of the White Tail manor were glistening with the light of the outside peeking through the large glass windows. Nothing more than the sound of a lone pony walking them.

Gorem trotted down the hall, taking his time to get to his destination. He had just finished cleaning the massive windows. Now he was focused to go to the lodge and get some rest before his next job. Job, he thought. These weren’t jobs they were torture sessions. Gorem knew this ever since he was brought to the Whitetail estates.

He was just a colt back then, now he was a stallion. A great orange pegasus. With a fiery-orange and red mane, and a tail to match. He had one of the largest wing-span a pony had ever seen. He could fly faster than anypony ever thought was possible.

If I wanted to I could escape this place.

Then, why didn’t he? Truth be told, he was kept here all his life. Gorem had no idea what the outside world held. He was taught it was a dangerous place. Full of bandits and monsters just waiting to kill you. His mind was taught to act, not think. When his masters told him to do something, he would do it. No matter how, repulsive, or exhausting the job was. No matter how he felt. If Gorem was asked to do it, he would do it.

This place he lived on, the White Tail Manor, it wasn’t a happy place. The owners had kidnapped him when he was a young colt, he was brought here and taught everything he knows today. He was a slave, just like the other colts they kidnapped. They were all slaves, forced to work on the manor.

No contact with the outside world was ever made by the young colts. Any attempts to make contact would result in discipline. Many had tried in the past, and all failed. When they were caught, the colts were brought into a dark room where no one could see them. They all returned 3 days later, looking as if no harm had been done to them physically. But, mentally Gorem could see it. They were almost emotionless, almost like a machine. They were willing to do any task, even if it was turn in a friend for plotting to escape.

Gorem, and his best friend Cronus had never had these sorts of problems. If anything they were the “good colts” on the manor. But they’ve witnessed plenty of colts become “reformed” as Cronus likes to call it.

Gorem trotted down the hall a little further when he came across his master’s of the mansion. He stopped to bow, but was quickly halted by a voice coming from one of his master’s.

“Gorem!” He yelled loudly, “We’ve been looking all over for you!” They stopped about 5 feet from him and both had massive grins on their faces.

Gorem picked up his head and stood up straight. “M-Me?” He questioned.

“Yes you.” One of them said “We just wanted to congratulate to on all your hard work.”

“You’ve been such a good little colt ever since you were brought here, and you’ve done such tremendous work.” The other stated in an even happier tone.

“For all your service here, we thought we’d throw you a party in honor of you.”

His tail began to wag back and forth behind him, and a smile started to cross his face.

“That, and you do know what day it is coming up,don’t you?” One asked questioning him.

“W-what is it?” He asked.

“Your birthday of course! How could you ever forget the day you were born?”

Of course it wasn’t his real birthday, he had no idea when that was. This was just the day they made up for him, to celebrate how long he had been at this place.

“You’re going to be sixteen this year.” One said happily.

“The day you become an adult!” The other chanted.

“It’s a day of celebration, and we just want to go all out for our favorite colt.” One of them rubbed his forehead in excitement.

“Well, how does that sound? A big party, in honor of you?” The other questioned him again.

“That sounds fantastic!” His voice was louder than expected. His master’s responded by straightening up and returning to their usual form.

“Very well.” One said, in an almost flat tone. “Come tomorrow at sunrise we will have everything set up for your party.”

“But, could you...do us a little favor?” The other questioned him again.

“Yes, of course.” He returned returning back the same tone as his master’s.

“Meet us down in the basement, we have a gift for you down their.”

Gorem’s ears perked as the word “present” left his master’s mouth. This was a once in a lifetime thing. Maybe even a first. He never remembered when his master’s ever gave anycolt a present. He knew this was something only he would more than likely get, so it would be rude to decline. “I will.” he probably could have done better, but it was all that could leave his throat at the time.

“Good, we will see you in the basement at sunrise. You may return back to your normal duties.”

“Thank you, masters.” They all took their leave, heading in opposite directions.

Gorem, looked behind him to make sure his master’s had left his line of sight. When all was clear he took off trotting as fast as he could down the hall toward the lodging cabins. He just had to tell Cronus about this.

When he arrived, all was quiet. He noticed a few colts resting in their beds during their off time. He scanned his cabin for Cronus. He finally found the red pegasus lying in what had to be the most uncomfortable position for a pony on his bed. He quickly ran to Cronus, stopping just in front of his bed. He still questioned how anypony could sleep like that, but the thought quickly left his mind when he remembered just what he was about to tell Cronus.

Gorem cleared his throat to say something, when he noticed Cronus’ eyes opening. Cronus quickly sat up looking almost shocked that he had seen Gorem standing right in front of him.

“Say something next time, will ya?” Cronus said angrily. “Darn near gave me a heart attack from that. What do you like to do, watch me sleep or somethi’?” Cronus said in a mocking tone.

“Now’s not the time, I have something to tell you.” Gorem said hurriedly.

‘Well...spit it out.” Cronus said almost as if he was getting slightly irritated with Gorem.

“The master’s they just told me the best news ever!”

“And that is?”

“Tomorrow, at sunrise, I’m going to have a party thrown in my honor! They also told me that I have to meet them down in the basement, they’re going to give me a present!” Gorem chanted in a happy tone.

This news didn’t excite Cronus though. Gorem noticed his eyes widen and a frown quickly take his expression. Cronus immediately got up and raced to the calendar on the other side of the room, almost knocking beds over in the process.

“Oh no.” He sighed in a worrying tone.

“What?” Gorem was confused, shouldn’t his friend be happy for him? Not panicked for him.

“Oh no, Oh no” Cronus rushed to the next calendar, clear across the cabin.

“Cronus, what is it?” Gorem questioned him again.

Cronus flew across the room, tackling Gorem in the process. “Gorem, how old are you going to be that day?”

“16, why did you tackle me?” Gorem was filled with questions now, but Cronus would never give him the chance to ask any.

“No, No, No” Cronus said, his tone beginning to become increasingly worrisome. “It can’t be that day already, I haven’t had enough time.”

“Enough time for what?” Gorem asked.

Cronus turned to Gorem, looking him straight in the eye. “Look at the calendar!” Cronus exclaimed.

Gorem peaked over Cronus’ shoulder to take a look. The calendar, on that very day, had been marked with a circle with a red cross through it. “What about it?” Gorem asked.

“Gorem, I need you to hear me out okay? Everything I say you need to listen to and understand, got it?”Cronus’ voice turned serious, his tone flattening. Gorem knew he meant business, and he decided to hear Cronus out.

With a nod from Gorem, Cronus continued,”That day, they told you they were going to throw you a birthday, they said meet you in the basement so you can receive your ‘present’. Well Gorem, that present is nothing to be excited about. I’ve watched and observed it for a long time. When a colt turns 16, they say the same thing, they’re going to get a ‘present’, and ‘meet them in the basement’. Well, the thing is...they never return. That ‘present’ isn’t a present, It’s your death sentence Gorem. They’re going to kill you!”

While Cronus was saying this Gorems’ eyes began to widen. Gorem couldn’t believe what he was just told. “They’re going to kill me?” Gorem asked his voice almost cracking. “But, why?”

Cronus responded almost immediately. “Think of it Gorem, they can’t just have hundreds of colts running around this place. Somepony is bound to notice. Too many escape attempts would happen, especially with pegasi and unicorns, and they can’t hire more guards to watch over us that would cost too much. when you’re sixteen, it’s when you become a stallion, so they hype you up as if they were going to reward you for that, but really, they’re going to trap in the basement, and do whatever it is they do to kill all of the other stallions!”

“Cronus, how did you exactly come up with this?” Gorem was even beginning to question Cronus.

“Again, think of it Gorem, how many stallions have we seen around here? Watching them grow up, then become sixteen and then we never see them again? HAve any of them ever come back?” Cronus asked his tone getting louder after each word.

“N-no, I’ve never seen any of them come back.” Gorem had to agree. After all, Cronus was right. They had never seen a single colt come back after their sixteenth birthday. “Why didn’t I see this then.”

Again, Cronus was on the ball with this one. “Because you were so hyped. After years of hard labor, your deeds are finally going to pay off. You’re finally going to get a reward for all your hard work. Something worth while. They hype you up for it, make it sound like a good thing. I mean, what could it be? Freedom? A long lost family member? Anything could be good really. But no! You get death Gorem. That’s why I’m so worried. I needed more time to come up with an escape plan. But, now it looks like we’re going to have to wing it.”

“Wait, you’re planning to escape? Cronus, that’s crazy!” Gorem exclaimed.

“Well, what would you rather do? Stay here and wait for your own death? Or go out knowing we at least tried to escape?”

Gorem couldn’t deny it. Cronus made a good argument. Why just sit here and wait to die. When you could try and escape, and if you’re caught, at least you know you tried. But, winging it? That sounded like suicide already!

“Gorem, look at me.” Gorem looked up straight into the gaze of Cronus. His expression was almost stern and his eyes had a slight shine to them. “I know that you think this couldn’t work, but we have to at least try. I mean, think of the reward if we do get out. We’ll be free, free to live our lives, maybe even find our families. I can’t do this without you Gorem, I need you with me on this, I’m not going to sit here and let my friend die. Got it?”

Gorem was almost in tears, he knew Cronus meant every word. “I couldn’t do it without you either buddy.”

This brought Cronus’ expression to a near smile. “Then are you with me on this buddy?”

“Of course I am, all the way through.” Gorem responded happily.”When do we start?”

“Tonight, it’s our only chance, if we can keep to the shadows, and make it out to the city, we’re home free.” Cronus, responded as if he knew exactly what he was doing, even though gorem knew he was just “winging it”

“But, there’s guards by our doors, how do we get rid of them?” Gorem had a million questions racing through his mind but he knew Cronus could only answer one at a time.

“We need a distraction, something that will keep the guards off of us, that’s why I have these.”Cronus lifted his bed sheets to find hundreds of rocks laying there, all of different shapes and sizes.

“Rocks?” Gorem questioned Cronus’ plan further.

“The doors are sturdy enough for us to crack open just enough so we can throw the rocks. Throw the right one at the right spot and that we get all the guards attention.”

“And if they don’t go to investigate?”

“Then they’ll look up at least. If we crouch, we might be able to get past.”

“Ok, then what?”

“Then comes the wall. It will take some time for us to get over, with flight not being an option and all.”

“Why not flight.”

“Too risky, They’ll see us with spot lights if we find the right point where the guards aren’t looking while making their rounds, one of us can go over at a time. I want you to be the first over.”

“Why me?”

“Because you’ll be the one to die tomorrow. Look if you make it over, just take off without me the most important thing is we get you out of here and into that city asap.”

“I’m not going without you.”

“Celestia yes you are. If i get caught, I’ll just be reformed. If we’re both caught, we’re both goners. “

“I’d rather die with you, than be without you.”

Cronus rolled his eyes at that, he knew Gorem wouldn’t give up without a fight. “Look have it your way, the thing is we need to do this right for it to work ok?”

Gorem was satisfied with that answer “Got it. When do we escape?”

“Early, very early tomorrow. Before sunrise, it’s our only chance. The night guards will be tired enough and won’t be as vigilant, this will aide in our escape.”

“For saying we’re going to wing it, you have this pretty thought through.” Gorem said satisfied with the plan.

“Yeah well, it’s not one-hundred percent. The hardest part is going to be doing it. The best we can do now is sleep. We’ll need our strength.”

Gorem was about to object, when he heard a bell ring from outside, indicating it was bedtime. “How will I know what time to get up?” Gorem asked in a hurry, so they wouldn’t get caught.

“I’ll wake you, try to be quiet getting up ok?” Cronus said as he crawled back into bed.

“Alright, see you then.” Gorem replied as he, himself crawled into bed.

“Happy birthday Gorem.” Cronus said as his eyes shut.

Gorem would have replied “Thanks” but as he opened his mouth, he heard snores from Cronus indicating he was asleep. Gorem did the same, as he laid his head down and slowly shut his eyes, letting the comfort of sleep take him to another place.

“Gorem wake up. Gorem, come on you stubborn stallion it’s time to go”

Gorem’s eyes opened as a whispering voice was heard from his slumber. Cronus, was standing in front of him, his face barely visible in the light.

“You’re awake good, look we need to go now. We don’t have long, please hurry.”

Gorem arose from his bed, trying to be as quiet as possible. He reached to gather his belongings when he was stopped by a hoof. Gorem looked up to see Cronus was the one who stopped him.

“You can’t bring those, too much weight, and too much noise. Look, just take these.” Cronus handed Gorem a bag of rocks Cronus had made up of cloth from his sheets.

Gorem was still too tired to argue with Cronus, so he accepted the rocks and followed Cronus to the door. They stood their for about two minutes as Cronus scanned the cabin for any eavesdroppers.

“The coast is clear. Now look, we’re going to have to do this carefully, we can’t risk anyone waking up got it. Take this.” Cronus immediately handed Gorem a large rock.

Gorem looked up at Cronus, questioning why he would need a rock this big for anything. Cronus replied as if he knew what he was doing.

“I know it’s going to seem cruel but I need you to cover my back. It’s too much of a risk to have anypony up and knowing we’re escaping. So if you see anypony awake, hit them as hard as you can with this rock, straight to the head.” Gorem opened his mouth to say something, but was again stopped by Cronus. “It’s either us or them. What would you rather have.”

Gorem felt the need to argue with Cronus’ logic, but was swayed to keep his mouth shut, and do whatever it was this crazy colt was doing. Gorem turned and trotted quietly to the middle of the room and stood, scanning as hard as his could around the room.

Cronus, in the mean time, quietly cracked open the door. It was as he expected, one guard standing at the foot of the door. Cronus scanned between the guards legs for any spot optimal to throw the rock. After a minute of scanning, he finally decided a tree would be his best option. Close enough, and hard enough to make a noise the guard will pay attention too. He thought,  If I’m lucky, he’ll go around the tree. Cronus, took measures, examining the tree for at least five minutes before finally grabbing a medium sized rock.

Cronus looked back to see Gorem still scanning the room. He smiled and looked back at the tree. He knew now was the time. He had one chance at this. Cronus took the rock into his hoof, and chucked it with force behind it. The rock sailed through the air and hit just at the stump, hitting a solid root of the tree. He was pleased with the sound it made, forcing the guard to jerk up and begin to trot over to the culprit of the noise.

It’s now or never. Cronus knew this and he turned immediately over to gorem and whispered “Gorem we have to go now, throw the rock at somepony.”

Gorem turned and saw Cronus point a hoof at on particular colt. “Are you crazy?” Gorem yelled in a hushed tone.

“Maybe a little, but just do it we need the distraction.” Cronus whispered, his heart racing a thousand miles an hour.

“Won’t somepony see us?” Gorem kept his same tone.

“Not if you throw it, and run out of here like Nightmare Moon was chasing you.”

Gorem knew there wasn’t time to argue, he did as Cronus said and through the rock as fast, and as efficiently as he could.

The rock hit the still young colt right in the head, causing him to wake up and start screaming in pain. This reaction caused a whole massive chain of events. All of which, Cronus, and Gorem were long gone before any guard could see them.

The wall was an easy task, perhaps easier than Cronus had imagined it would be. He played with a pair of two’s and got the four-of-a-kind. They both managed to scale the wall while all the guards were distracted by the commotion. They sprinted as fast as their hooves could toward the city. Once there, they would be home free.

The took a route into an alleyway.The city lights of Las Pegasus engulfing them. Both of them kept running until they reached of of the cities main streets. They stopped gasping for breath, before they noticed the sight before them.

A massive building, standing almost 30 stories high, curved and lit up the street before it. At the top it read The Pegasi Suites and Casino.

Gorem stood there in awe at the sight of such a massive creation. It was something beyond what he had ever seen. Something this massive, this colorful, and this bright.

“We did it Gorem,” A voice said beside him. It took him several moments to figure out that it was Cronus. Who was also in awe at the sight of the bright city. “We’re free, free to do what we want, live our own lives.” Gorem noticed a tear fall from Cronus’ eye. His expression going from awe struck, to almost so happy, he was crying.

Gorem felt the same, his eyes began to water, and his head drooped down. “We did, I can’t believe it.” Gorem felt tears running down his face, as he felt Cronus pull a hoof over his shoulder.

“Hey, no time for tears, there’s a whole world for us to explore. We have to get going in order for us to to see the whole thing.” Gorem looked up and saw that Cronus had the biggest smile he had ever seen on the colts face.

“You’re right, we better get going, or we’ll miss something” For the first time, in ages Gorem unfurled his wings, flapping them as hard as he could, rising off the ground. At first he was slightly unstable. At the mansion, he was only aloud flight once every month, and in a restricted zone. Now, he was free to fly anywhere, as fast as he wanted, when he wanted. He smiled at this, and saw Cronus doing the same.

Cronus looked over at Gorem with the same smile planted on his face. “Let’s go buddy.” Just as the two of them were about to take off, a scream for help rang from down below.

Gorem looked and noticed in a distant alley an old mare was being confronted by a shadowy, hooded figure. Cronus, who was already 10 yards ahead of Gorem, looked back to see Gorem staring at the crime. “Gorem, leave it, it’ll only cause us trouble.”

“But, that mare, she’s going to get hurt.” Gorem said in concern.

“And you could get yourself killed if you get involved. Come on, let the authorities or whoever handle it.” Cronus turned and began to fly away. When he turned back he saw Gorem already flying toward the crime.”Buck me.” Cronus flew after him, trying as hard as he can to catch up to Gorem before he did anything that would get the two of them killed.

It was too late, Gorem had already landed, staring at the back of the criminal. Cronus landed behind him, his expression turning from happy, to worried.

“Stop right there.” Gorem yelled at the cloaked pony.

The figured turned his head, his face still makes by a shadow. Gorem tried to see past the shadow, but was immediately met by two red, glowing eyes, glaring at him. Almost as if looking into his soul.

“G-Gorem, look this pony isn’t anything to mess with, we should go, like now.” Cronus tried to put a hoof on Gorem, but it was shrugged off.

“Don’t hurt that mare any further!” Gorem exclaimed.

His demand was met by a chuckle as the figured turned around to meet Gorem, now both staring face-to-face.

“Something funny?” Gorem questioned angrily.

His question was then met by a deep voice, ringing through the alley. “Foolish pegasus, so naive, turn around and go back to where you came. I have no intention in harming to young colts.” The dark voice exclaimed, mocking Gorem’s age.

“Yet you have the intention to harm an old mare? Doesn’t make much sense to me.” Gorem question, his tone trying to match, the dark voice.

“This mare is only getting the justice she deserves. I am the one to carry that out.” The voice said, almost getting deeper in tone.

“And who are you to judge what she deserves?” Gorem’s tone dropping as well.

“Who am I? Why don’t you take and look and see young one.” The pony threw off his cloak revealing a dark-blue pony, with both a horn, and wings. He was muscular, and his eyes still glowed with the same red from under the cloak. Eventually, the glow wore off, settling to purple eyes, with a purple haze flowing around them.

“An Alicorn?” Gorem had only known of two, Celestia, and Luna now turned Nightmare Moon. How was it possible a third existed, and nopony ever heard of him? Could this just be a ploy? Gorem was confused, yet he kept his stance, and refused to back down.

“Don’t hide your confusion, I can see it in your eyes. How is there a third alicorn. Well, let me ask you this. What do the history books tell you? That there is only two in existence? That’s because “her highness” Celestia, doesn’t want anypony to know that I ever existed. So what happens when the history book is re-written? Ponies only believe what they are told, but can never accept what is true. My name is Armosk, once the Alicorn of Justice. Now corrupted by the same forces that took down The Crystal Empire. Tell me young ones, what is your names?” Armosk smiled at the two of them.

Gorem lowered his body further, becoming even more defensive. Whatever trick this alicorn was up to, he didn’t want a part of it. “My name is Gorem, and this is Cronus. We’re both pegasus of the Whitetail Manor.”

Cronus’ expression changed from worried, too frightened in an instant. The confident pony, who stared death in the face while escaping the manor, now had his role flipped, and was terrified at the sight of death staring him straight in the face. He followed Gorem, lowering himself into a defensive position, scanning for escape routes in case things get out of hoof. “Look, I’m sorry for Gorem’s behavior, we didn’t mean to intrude, he was just worried about that mare behind you. If you let us go, we won’t tell anypony, we swear.”

Gorem didn’t back down, he knew this alicorn could strike at any time, if given the chance.

“I’m afraid it’s too late, you both know too much. It’s time for you to meet your justice.” The alicorn didn’t hesitate, his horn glowed as a purple ball of pure magic formed above him. He threw his head forward firing a beam of magic at the two colts.

Gorem’s as well as Cronus’ eyes widened as they both took immediate action and flew as fast as the could in opposite directions. the beam cleared, but before Gorem could adjust his path up, the alicorn grabbed him by the throat, tossing him into the street.

Cronus also tried to adjust after seeing Gorem get tossed like a pebble into the street. HE tried to help his friend, but was met with a hoof to the gut and a surge of energy flow around his body. He felt nothing after except the surge of energy and a solid wall meet his body. He crashed into the hotel’s wall, as his body slid to the ground, rubble falling around him.

Gorem, who was recovering from his hit, saw this happen right before him. His eyes widen and his heart sank as he saw Cronus’ body lie still in a pile of rubble. Before Gorem moved, he noticed a twitch from Conus’ body, indicating he was still alive. “CRONUS!” Gorem exclaimed, rushing to his friend’s aid. Ignoring all the pain he was feeling Gorem dug through the rubble to retrieve his friend. When he got to Cronus, he noticed his head had been bleeding, and burns all across his body. “Cronus, please, please tell me you’re going to make it.”

Cronus opened his eyes slightly, his hoof trembling as he lifted it to Gorem’s face. “Gorem, I’m not going to make it. Whatever he did, whatever that magic was, I can feel it. I, only have so long now. You have to get out of here. Save yourself. You have so much to live for. This was all for you. Go, be free. Live your life.”

Gorem’s eyes filled with tears as the words left Conus’ mouth. “I’ not leaving without you. We were supposed to do this together. Not on our own.”

“Buck, Gorem I’m not going to make it.” Cronus said, his voice weakening. “Stop thinking about other’s for once in your life. You can’t save me. I’d just be dead weight. Go on your own, be the pony you wanted to be.”

“I’ll avenge you then. I won’t go down without a fight. It’s like you sa-” Gorem was interrupted by a hoof to the face coming from his best friend.

“You can’t fight him.” Cronus said. “Look what he did to me. If you try to fight, the same might happen to you. If not for yourself, then for me. Do it for me, save yourself for me. I...You see the sunrising over there, you can fly towards that, let Celestia’s light guide you. I love you Gorem, you were like a brother to me. Please be safe, find your family. Br great. For me, and for yourself. Thank you for everything my friend. I’ll...always...be with you.” With his last breath Cronus shut his eyes falling into the eternal sleep.

Gorem sat there crying, as Armosk watched over. “How saddenning, he forgot you were going to join him. I’d love to stand here and watch you cry over him, but why don’t I just reunite you two?” Armosk asked in a mocking tone.

“You think this was a joke?” Gorem’s voice darkened as he rose and laid Cronus on the ground.

“Excuse me?” Armosk asked confused.

“Killing my only friend, harming another mare, and now mocking me?” Gorem turned towards Armosk his body trembling from the events he just witnessed.

Armosk froze, something wasn’t right. He looked scanned over Gorem. He felt an increase in magic in the air around him. Armosk immediately closed his eyes to see where it was coming from. That stallion, he thought. Where is this coming from? Just as he opened his eyes he noticed the ground beneath Gorem begin to crack.

Then. a loud boom rang across the city, a rainbow expanded in a circle from the point of take off and followed it’s master. Gorem flew at speeds nopony had ever reached in history. Armosk wasn’t prepared for this, and tried to adjust and dodge, but it was as in Gorem had predicted this move. He took an immediate ninety degree turn hitting Armosk at full force. Then he took another ninety degree turn now head straight for the ground.

Armosk, who was winded from the blow, hit the ground another lund boom rang across the city as the alicorn felt ribs crack from the force of the impact. He lied there winded from both blows. His body shaken, and badly injured. He lifted his head to see the pegasus taking a third ninety degree turn and heading straight for Armosk. The ground breaking beneath the force of the pegasus’ speed. Armosk had little time to think, he charged his horn the best he could. Then casted whatever spell he could come up with right there on the spot.

For a second, the city went silent, before the sound of sirens sounded throughout the city. Armosk laid there still in pain from the two blows he took. Wherever I sent that pony I could care less.  He thought. I don’t have much time, I need to leave before they find me. He stood up as best he could, and before anypony could see, he vanished into the shadows. Continuing his mission. Revenge on Celestia.