Revolutionary

“Now, let me make sure I’m understanding this correctly. . .” Says the princess from atop her throne. She ponders in her golden chair, staring me down from behind the shadows that are cast over her. There isn’t enough sunlight making it in this room to illuminate her, thus making this meeting even more ominous than I had pictured it. She has two guards armed with spears nearby, glaring at me through their golden helmets stoic and emotionless. The air is even colder than outside, but my heart is racing so fast that it almost doesn’t seem to matter. “You took it upon yourself to draw your weapon, and interrupt another officer’s warranted arrest.”

“Well . . .” I hesitate to retort. “I-I wouldn’t say it was completely warranted.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“W-We’re talking about a citizen who’s never been late before on his tax, and all because he’s late one time, he needs to be taken in to custody?”

“I must be failing to understand where the disconnect is between us, Officer Bough.”

“Well . . . it’s a bit unfair, don’t you think. . ? Your Majesty?”

“Not quite. Any pony that’s unable to pay the required tax, must be taken in to custody and judged.”

“But—”

“Now, say I ‘were’ to let him get by just this once. That, Officer Bough, is unfair to the rest of Equestria. For many have been taken in and imprisoned, but you feel it would be fair to give this one stallion a second chance. I’m sorry Officer, but I don’t think you understand what fairness truly is.” I clench my teeth with fury, but I know better. I must contain my outburst, as I look on without showing any sign of anger or aggravation.

“You’re right, Your Majesty,” I painfully force myself to say.

“Moving on to you, Officer, you drew your weapon and ‘threatened’ your fellow officer. That concerns me a great deal, you understand?”

“I am thankful that Officer Rain came to his rescue. Who knows what could have happened if he didn’t?”

“Your Majesty, I would never—” The princess spreads her wings, and swoops down from her throne. She lands before me hunched over, and slowly stands herself upright with a furious glare in her eyes. Hopelessly, I look up to her as she stares down at me.

“Before you finish, Officer. . .” She takes a step towards me, causing me to fearfully take a step back. “Allow me to inform you that what you’ve committed is, in fact, a crime. . .” She takes another step. “Disgraceful. . .” She takes yet another step, continuing to back me towards the back of the room. “And not to mention. . .” The fear inside me is boiling to a point to where I almost feel the need to break down. I've never felt a fear like this ever before, I can only imagine what she’ll do to me. Instantaneously, I see flashes of my parents in my head, hearing their voices. I should’ve listened to what they said, I shouldn’t have done what I’ve done. “What you’ve committed is treachery!” Her voice echoes throughout the room and rings in my ears. I fall to my stomach, and she looms over me with her gazed locked and without a blink. She steps out through the shadows, revealing her golden, shimmering dress. The sunlight gleams over the large, star-shaped jewel embedded into her crown. Her purple coat of fur, and her long violet mane; she almost looks exactly as she did when she was first declared the new princess of Equestria. However, that piercing look in her eyes has completely transformed her into an ominous, silhouette of who she used to be.

“Princess Twilight, please—”

“And now you’re going to beg? Did the officer beg when you held your sword to his throat?”

“No! No, he didn’t!”

“Perhaps you’re unstable. Perhaps you’re being ravaged by murderous tendencies you cannot control?”

“That’s not true!”

“What would your parents say if they knew their daughter nearly murdered one of her own?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know!”

“Well, I can tell you it wouldn’t be pleasant. They just might even turn their backs on you.”

“They’d never! They know what kind of pony I am!”

“So did I. Clearly, there’s a side to you that none of us knew about.” Feeling utterly defeated, and with my eyes tearing up, I choose to stay silent. “Speaking of your parents, it’s been a while since you’ve seen them, hasn’t it?”

“. . . I-It has.”

“Tell me, where do you think they are at this very moment?”

“Home. . . At our cottage, just where they’ve always lived.”

“My, you’ve truly been away from them for far too long. How times have changed.”

“What do you mean by that? I demand to know where they are!”

“You are the last pony to making demands around here, Officer!” She shouts directly to my face. “However, because I am feeling kind this day, I will take you to them.” I impatiently follow her through the halls of the castle. The shoes on our hooves clack on the cracked, dusty white tiles that make up the floor. There’s these beautiful, stained-glass windows that depict Princess Twilight in her years before her coronation, back when she was just a unicorn. Depicted in the glass are her, along with the other five Elements of Harmony. It's something that still puzzles me to this day. When she first decreed as princess, the other elements were always by her side. Then all of a sudden, one day, they just vanished. Nopony else questioned it, and Princess Twilight seemed to act like they never existed. With the lack of sunlight to light up the halls, tall candleholders have been placed up and down the halls. Hardened, melted wax is hanging down from where the new candles rest. It makes me wonder when was the last time somepony decided to clean it up a bit. Within moments, I recognize the route she’s taking me, and my heart instantly fills with dread.

We come to an old, wooden door; and Princess Twilight’s large horn glows with a deep, violet hue. The filthy, metal door handle glows with the same hue, then pulls the door open with an unsettling creaking noise to reveal nothing but pitch-blackness. “This way, Officer. I’m sure they’ll be delighted to see you,” says Princess Twilight in a tone and with a smile that rattles me to my core. I follow her inside, and the door suddenly slams shut behind me. I gasp and tremble as it all of a sudden becomes harder to breathe.

“P-Princess. . ?” I call out into the darkness. “Are you there. . ?” One after another, the torches hanging along the wall burst with flames, allowing me to finally see what’s around me: nothing but old, stone walls and cobwebs in every crevice. Princess Twilight is looking back at me with that unsettling smile of hers.

“I do apologize, I didn’t mean to frighten you. It’s just this way.” I follow her as her long, golden dress drags behind her as we descend down a spiraling stairway downward. I can feel the air getting even colder, so cold that I’m starting to see my own breath. I start to shiver, but Princess Twilight doesn’t seem phased in the slightest by the drastic shift in the temperature. We reach a hallway lined with cells made up of rusty iron bars. “They’re just a couple of cells down. Go on, take your time.” I helplessly glance to Princess Twilight, then to the dreary hallway of cells. Slowly, I walk by each one, peering inside to see any familiar faces. However, most of them appear to be completely empty. Until I hear the faint sound of chains rattling, and I hurriedly rush to the cell I believe the noises are coming from. Sure enough, I find them, cuddled up with each other in the corner of their cells. Large, iron cuffs are clamped around their waists, with chains leading to the wall to bind them. I recognize my Mother’s brick-red mane, it’s exactly the same as mine. Just like how I’ve also inherited my Father’s beige coat of fur along with his ocean-blue eyes. They quiver in fear as they reveal their faces, and are instantly swept with shock once their eyes meet mine.

“Maple?” They both ask.

“Mom. . . Dad. . .”

“Maple!” My Mother rushes over to the iron bars separating us, and happily looks up at me. “My little foal, we’ve missed you so much.”

“We were worried we weren’t going to get a chance to see you again,” says my Father as he joins my Mother.

“I-I don’t understand,” I say. “How did this happen to you? All this time I thought the both of you were safe at home. It’s not like you two weren’t able to pay the tax, I should already have that covered.”

“It wasn’t that, dear. We. . .” My Mother looks to my Father, and he then looks to me.

“Maple, you remember when we told you to keep all your ‘ideas’ and ‘words’ about . . . you know, you yourself?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Well, your Mother and I spent a lot of time thinking about it, and we realized something.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We realized that you were right.”

“W-What—? Me?”

“Maple,” My Mother begins. “You were able to keep us safe from the new tax law and just about everything else that’s been happening to Equestria, but nopony else was as fortunate as us. We watched so many of our neighbors get taken away to who knows where, never to be seen again.”

“Them, their parents, their children. . .” My Father adds. “They were taking them all away no matter how much they pleaded and cried.”

“And every passing day,” My Mother continues. “We only thought of you and that . . . ‘want’ inside of you for change. So, we decided to do something about it.”

“W-What did you do?” I ask.

“Well, when the Royal Officers made their next visit to town, we watched and waited to see if they would take anypony as prisoner. They did. They were taking away two children, and were about to leave their Mother be. The way those fillies kicked and screamed, it . . . it made us furious. So, we went after them. We fought and struggled with them for as long as we could so that those fillies could escape.”

“You. . .” I instantly forget about what I was about to say as I notice the dirt, cuts and bruises all over my parents’ bodies. It looks like their injuries were never tended to, leading me to picture them being tossed into this cell immediately after the incident.

“We did everything we could. . .” My Mother’s eyes start to water with tears. “We saved those kids. . . They took us in instead.” I can see the scene play out in my head as if it were a memory. I can see my parents being brutally battered by Officers of my own brigade. Simply imagining them being hurt is enough to bring my blood to a boil as I clench my teeth out of anger. Seeing those images in my head, and knowing that I was never there to protect makes me want to cry and weep out of pure shame for myself. My fury almost overpowers my sorrow, but it isn’t enough to completely hold it back.

“I . . . I should’ve been there. I could’ve protected both of you.”

“Honey. . .”

“I should’ve just gone to visit despite what Princess Twilight said. . . I would’ve known about this earlier.”

“Maple.” My Mother reaches through the iron bars, and rests her hoof on my cheek. “Don’t beat yourself over this. We don’t think anything less of you, and never will. You’ll always be that strong, brave, courageous girl we brought up. Just looking at you makes me so proud to see the mare you’ve turned into.” Her words bring a quivering smile across my woeful face.

“Maple,” says my Father. “We won’t ever stop being proud of you, because we know you’ll always do the right thing.”

“Thanks, Dad.” I wipe away the tears from my eyes.

“Darling, we understand how you feel, and we don’t want you to ever lose that ‘desire’ to bring Equestria back to the way it used to be; but please, whatever you do, don’t make the same mistake we did. We were careless, and didn’t think it through all the way.”

“Don’t worry, Dad,” I whisper. “I’m going to get both of you out of here.”

“Maple, honey, please. . .” says my Mother. “Listen to your Father, don’t be careless. Otherwise you’re going to end up in here like us.”

“Mom, there’s nothing for you to be worried about. I’ll be careful, I promise.” I grab hold of my Mother’s hoof to reassure her. “All three of us are going to escape this place, and figure something out together.”

“I’m afraid your time is up, Officer!” Princess Twilight calls from down the hall.

“I’ll be back soon, and we’ll be free from this wretch of a princess and her Royal Guard.” I get up, ready to leave, until my Father draws me back.

“Maple, darling. . .” says my Father. “No matter what happens. If you’re able to set us free or not, know that we will always love you. Always.”

“I won’t fail. We ‘are’ getting out of here, I promise.” They smile at me, and my heart flutters with joy to see them smile again. “Mom. . . Dad. . . I love you.”

“We love you too, Maple,” says My Mother. I turn and approach Princess Twilight, and just looking at her fills my heart with hate.

“Did you enjoy your visit?” She asks. However, I stay silent and walk right passed her without so much as an acknowledging glance. “Come now, what good will an attitude like that do for you now, Officer?” Continuing to ignore her question, I walk all the way back up the stairway and to the wooden door to leave. As soon as I open the door, I am stunned to see Princess Twilight on the other side. “You’re already in a great deal of trouble, and you choose to ignore me when I’m speaking to you? I’m almost ready to reconsider your punishment.”

“What punishment?” I ask.

“Well, considering you’re a danger to everypony in Canterlot, I’m placing you under close watch until I say otherwise.”

“Close watch?”

“That’s right, Officer. You shall remain in your room with a couple members of The Royal Guard left to observe you. . . Unless you’d prefer my other method of disposing traitors such as yourself?”

“W-What other method?”

She smirks devilishly. “Perhaps I’ll keep it a secret for now. Just be thankful I believe there’s still good in you, Maple. I can’t understand what could’ve caused you to act the way you did, but I’m positive there’s a way to help you.” I’m not sure what her definition of ‘good’ is in her twisted mind, but with this punishment it’s going to be even harder for me to set my parents free. I shouldn’t argue with her, as I feel it’ll only make this whole thing worse. I have to find some way around this, for my parents’ sake.