Revolutionary

The three, cloaked figures approach as they whisper to themselves. Cold and afraid, I gaze into their shadowy hoods as it’s impossible to make out their faces. One of them kneels down, and tilts his or her head in curiosity. “It’s you,” says the cloaked figure. I confusedly raise an eyebrow as the figure lifts back the hood to reveal the face of a species that I haven’t seen around here in Equestria. I’ve only heard about them, and that they live somewhere far beyond here. She’s a doe, with her brown coat of fur and mane. Her eyes are emerald-green, and almost mystical to gaze into. Around her neck is a pale-red bandana, along with many necklaces formed with a wide assortment of beads. She turns to the other two figures with glee. “It’s her! It’s the officer we saw back in the village!”

“Well, what a coincidence!” One of the figures cheers as he lowers his hood to reveal a peculiar-looking stallion. His mane is black, and flairs up in an odd fashion. He has a gray coat of fur, but the oddest thing about him is the single, glass lens that is strapped around his head and covers his right eye. “I guess it’s a good thing we took a detour into this place! You there, Miss Officer Filly, would have been toast.” The stallion takes a look around the hall, nodding his head. “You know, they’ve got fantastic living conditions here. You think they’d let us rent a room? I hope the chains are included in the bill.”

“Now is not the time for jokes.” The doe then turns back to me. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Uh . . . no, I-I’m fine,” I stutter.

“Hmm. . .” The doe reaches her muzzle into her cloak, and pulls out a somewhat big, green seed in her teeth. She sets it down onto the stone floor before me, and I glance from her to the seed in confusion. “Eat this. It will numb your pain for a short while.”

“I. . . I don’t. . .” I’m weary about doing as she says. I don’t know anything about her intentions, and for all I know this seed could do me more harm than good.

“Sister, I hear guards,” says the tall figure.

“W-Who is that?” I ask with my attention fixed on the oddly-shaped figure.

“Come, Brother,” says the doe as she also beckons the figure. “She is suspicious of us. Please, reveal yourself to her, so that she knows that we have nothing to hide.”

“But. . .” The figure nervously refrains.

“Please.” Reluctantly, the figure steps forward into the moonlight to reveal it is standing on two, thin legs that are clothed in crude, brown pants, and dark shoes in a shape unlike any sort of shoes I’m familiar with. It reaches up to grab the edges of its hood, and I can see it has hairless hands. As it pulls back its hood, I am perplexed by its face. It has no muzzle, snout or anything of the sort, and its eyes are considerably smaller compared to any of ours. The only hair I can see it has are at the top of its head in an unkempt mess, and the eyebrows that show its discomfited expression. I reel back in fear from seeing such a bizarre creature as my mind continues to try and process what this thing is. “Officer, please.” The doe holds out her little hoof in an attempt to calm me down. “You must trust me when I say this creature will do you no harm.”

“Uh, I don’t want to interrupt this little therapy session,” says the stallion as he’s peeking his head around the corner at the end of the hall. “But you might have to reschedule your appointment, because there’s one too many guards headed this way.”

“Officer, I saw what you did back at the village. All three of us did. Your act of heroism filled me with a hope that I thought I’d never feel in this lifetime. I can tell you that have the same desire burning inside of you just as we do.” Suddenly, the sounds of stallions’ voices and clanking armor become apparent.

“They’re getting closer! A little bit too close!”

“Officer, I desperately need your trust. Please, come with us. I promise to explain everything as soon as we are clear of this dreadful place.” I’m conflicted and reluctant, but yet there is something about these three that drives me to want to join them. After everything she’s said, it feels impossible for me to refuse. I reach down and grab the seed with my teeth. As soon as I crunch the seed, I can feel a gel-like substance ooze from inside it. At first, the texture feels revolting to have in my mouth, but I quickly find the taste to be very similar to honey. I swallow it all down, and I can instantly feel a rush of relief overwhelm me. The pain in my chest has vanished, as well as my fatigue from my scuffle with Commander Liaison.

“That was . . . incredible!” I say in complete awe as I get to my hooves.

“So, you will come with us? Do I have your word?” The doe asks with a hopeful look in her eyes. I bend down to pick up my sword, and slide it back into its sheathe that’s strapped to my waist.

“You have my word,” I say with confidence.

“Wonderful!” She cheers and hops with joy, then stops to take a bow. “We are forever grateful for this, Officer!”

“I realize this calls for a celebration and all,” says the stallion as he steps in. “And really, welcome to the team—but we’re gonna need another way out of here, because that way is a no go!” He turns his attention to me. “You know this place better than us, don’t ya? Please tell me there’s another way out.”

“Umm, well . . . it’s a dead end at the bottom of the dungeon.”

“So, we’re dead. You could’ve just said that.”

“Not necessarily. We could escape through this window.” I peer through the barred window as the rain pelts my face, but I can see that there’s a possible way to escape just below.

“Plummeting to my doom is not the way I pictured what my death would be like.”

“No, there’s a ledge just below the window. It looks wide enough for all of us to move across. If only there was a way to get through these bars.”

“Step aside, Officer! For ‘this’ is when I make the magic happen.” I step aside so that the stallion can walk over Commander Liaison’s unconscious body towards the window. He whisks away his cloak to reveal a big satchel strapped around his waist. He reaches his muzzle inside, and pulls out these brick-shaped objects wrapped in cloth. He strings them all together with a copper wire, and carefully places them all along the windowsill.

“We’re running out of time!” The doe urges. I look back to the doe as she worryingly watches the end of the hall. The creature steps forward, and holds what looks to be a simple, wooden slingshot in his hand. He arms it with something that resembles a walnut, and pulls back the pocket as the strings tied to the arms of the slingshot strain. I can hear the guards getting closer, and I troublingly glance to the stallion as he continues to work on the window. Fearing whatever he’s doing may take too long, I trot over to the doe and the creature, staying closer to the doe as I can’t help but feel extremely uncomfortable near that ‘thing’. I stand, ready to draw my blade as soon as the first guard turns that corner.

“And . . . done!” The stallion exclaims. “Everypony stand back! This’ll be a little noisy!” I watch the stallion as she hops backward from the window with some kind of device in his mouth, and a copper wire running from it all the way to one of the objects he set on the windowsill. With the click of a button, the window in engulfed in an explosion of flames and smoke. Bits and pieces of stone fly through the air as we all try to shield ourselves from the debris. All of us cough and hack as we try to whisk the smoke away, and as the dust settles, I see that the window has been completely blown apart. “Woohoo! That’s my favorite part! Come on! Let’s ditch this place!” The stallion climbs through the gaping hole in the wall, and chuckles from fear. “You know, will all this excitement, I forgot to mention I’m not the biggest fan of heights.”

“Well, we don’t have very many options,” says the doe.

“Right. . . Well, here goes.” The stallion climbs down from the hole, and the creature urges the doe to follow.

“Go. I won’t be too far behind,” the creature assures.

“Be careful,” says the doe as she puts away her weapon. She climbs down from the hole, leaving me and the creature as the last ones to leave, but the guards are already here. I draw my sword, ready for the fight that awaits me. However, as soon as the first guard emerges from around the corner, the creature fires off his slingshot. The large nut is shot at the guard’s hooves, and bursts with a loud snap as a cloud of glimmering, brown dust surrounds the guard. With the guard disoriented, I turn to the creature with a bewildered look on my face.

“Officer, you must go first. I will keep them distracted,” it says as it preps another nut for its slingshot. Not ready to ask questions, I put away my sword and hurry to the big hole in the wall. Carefully, I climb down and hang by my two, front hooves. I look down, and instantly feel my stomach churn as I see how far down the forest is below. My vision blurs, and the weight of my armor is pulling me down. The harsh wind and rain blow my mane in my face, and the water in my eyes makes it difficult to aim for the ledge below. With my grip loosening, I let myself go. My hooves crash against the stone ledge, sending a wave of pain up my legs.

“Officer! Are you alright?!” The doe tries to shout over the sounds of the storm.

“Yes!” I quickly respond. “I’m fine!” Both she and the stallion have already moved a bit along the ledge as to make room for the creature and I. Careful to balance myself and keep my attention away from the long fall below, I work my way along the ledge and join up with the doe and stallion. I look back up at the hole we came from, and hear the sounds of guards yelling. I watch as the creature stands at the very edge as it fires its slingshot one last time before preparing to climb down. It hangs from its hands as its body dangles below the edge. I see a guard pop his head out from the hole, and has a golden spear in his mouth, ready to strike the creature from above. “Drop! Now!” I scream. The creature releases its grip, and falls just as the guard lunges his spear, missing his target. The creature lands painfully, but is able to stand and shake off the sting of the fall.

“Thank you, Officer!” The creature shouts. “I am in your debt!”

“As am I,” the doe adds. “Thank you for looking out for my friend.”

“Sure,” I say.

“There they are! Their scaling the wall!” The guard shouts to his comrades behind him. “Move! Move! We need to cut them off!”

“So, where to now?” The stallion asks.

“Keep moving this way!” I shout to him. “We should come to another window we can climb through soon!” We all proceed to scale the wall, carefully and cautiously as to not lose our balance.

“Whatever you say, Miss Officer. . ! What is your name anyway?!”

“Maple! Maple Bough!”

“My, what a splendid name,” says the doe. “My name is Harra, and that brilliant stallion over there is Scrap.”

“Nice to make your acquaintance, Miss Maple Syrup!” Scrap shouts.

“I-It’s Bough! And it’s a pleasure to meet the both of you, but what is uh . . . that . . . peculiar creature’s name?”

“We call him Orin. It’s what my tribe call this particular species. He was never given a proper name like you and I.”

“Oh. . . And, what exactly is it? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“The last of his kind, Officer Maple. My family found him when we were both very young. I’ve known him all my life.”

“So, what happened to rest of them?”

“Of that, we are not sure. My family went venturing into the forests that make up the orin’s home, and they found him: abandoned.” Upon hearing this, I don’t feel the same amount of fear and anxiety when I glance back at the creature. Although, I still see it as a bizarre and odd-looking being, but I feel that perhaps I judged it a bit too quickly. I think back to the moment it insisted everypony else, including me, escape through the hole before it could; and the moment it appeared ashamed to reveal its face to me. It seems to feel emotions just like any average pony would, unlike any other animal. However, it doesn’t shake this uneasy feeling I get from looking at it.

“A-ha! I found our ticket out of here!” Scrap shouts as he waves to us. He pushes open the window’s shutters, and climbs inside with a loud grunt and thud. “Careful! It’s a little slippery!” I have so many more questions clouding my head, but I suppose they’ll have to wait for later. The rest of us escape the storm and regroup with Scrap. It feels good to finally be free from the chaos outside, but I quickly remember that those guards from before are more than likely still hunting for us. “Let’s ditch these rags, they’re just getting in the way. It’s not like we need them anyway, they know what we look like now.” Scrap tears off the dark cloak, and drops it to the ground with a sloshing sound from it being soaked in rain. Without the cloak, I can now see the massive, brown satchel strapped around his waist by a thick belt. Not only that, but he also has an array of metal cogs and other strange objects adorned around his neck and dangling from his satchel. Once Harra removes her cloak, she also reveals a little, cloth bag tied around her waist by a thin rope as well as her long, wooden, staff. Coupled with it, is a dingy, metal canteen used for storing fluids. I can now see her small, fluffy tail and the white fur of her underbelly. My eyes are then drawn to the assortment of necklaces and bands tied around her thin legs. All of them are stitched with some sort of eye-catching pattern and colors. One of her hind legs is bandaged, peeking my curiosity as to how she may have gotten injured. However, I feel this may not be the time or place. The creature then removes its cloak, and reveals a pure-white garment with two long sleeves that hide its arms along with a big, beige belt that wraps around its waist. I also see its slingshot, as well as some sort of short, wooden pole similar in design to Harra’s. I take a look around the room to see if I recognize it, and there’s a set of two, big, double doors ahead of us. To our left and right, are two smaller doors. As I try to recall exactly where we are in the castle, Scrap immediately approaches the big, double doors. “Ah, now if this doesn’t scream: the way out of here, then I don’t know what will!”

Scrap gleefully yanks open the doors by their large, golden handles, and we all watch in horror as we find out what’s behind them. Standing in the middle of the room beyond these doors, is Princess Twilight staring right back at us with that devilish smile of hers. “My, what a surprise!” She says. “I have guests.” Her horn quickly glows with a blinding, violet light that forces us to shield our eyes.

“Never mind!” Scrap screams as he slams the doors shut, relieving my eyes of the harsh light. “That has ‘death’ written all over it!”

“There must be another way out!” Harra panics.

“Umm. . .” I nervously ponder as my eyes bounce back and forth between the other two doors. “The door on the right! That should be it!”

“Say no more! Let’s go!” Scrap advises as he bursts through the door with the rest of us not falling too far behind. The three of us race down a seemingly endless hallway with candles along the walls lighting our way. I listen as the doors behind us burst open, and a haunting, violet glow emerges from behind me. I glance back to see Princess Twilight soaring down the hall straight for us at impeccable speed, her face still holding that disturbing smile.

“She’s getting close!” I shout.

“Not to worry!” Harra shouts. “Hopefully these slow her down!” She reaches her snout into her little bag, and grabs a mouthful of something. She spits them ahead of us, then bites down onto her canteen. With one good swing, it sends out a fair amount of water that lands on the seeds scattered along the floor. We pass over them, and I look to Harra completely dumbfounded.

“What is ‘that’ going to do?!” I shout.

“You’ll soon see!” Harra looks back at me with a smile. I glance back the seeds, and watch in awe as roots instantly sprout from each seed. They grow to enormous size in such a short amount of time; and they block the entire section of the hall as the roots dig into the walls, floor and ceiling, trapping Princess Twilight on the other side.

“W-Where do you get these things from?!”

“Nature, Officer Maple! Nature grants us wonderful gifts such as these!”

“I don’t remember things like ‘that’ growing in nature!”

“That is because nature is not comfortable in Equestria during times like these!” Her talk of nature immediately throws me off. She speaks of nature as though it’s some sort of being. I glance back to make sure the princess is still trapped, and it seems like she is.

“I guess she’s not that powerful after all, huh?!” Scrap taunts as he bursts through the door at the end of the hall. Exhausted and out of breath, we enter the main hall of the castle. The creature slams the door behind us, and rests its back against it. I fall to my knees as my heart attempts to settle, and give my legs a break from how hard I pushed myself. After all my years of serving the princess, not once have I seen her quite like that. “And would you look at that! Maple Syrup, please tell me that’s the way out.”

“Yes, that’s the entrance,” I say whilst trying to catch my breath.

“Perfect. Now let’s get out of here for real this time.” Scrap and Harra walk down the long, red-carpeted stairway towards the main doors. I glance back at the creature who has its ear up to the door, and nods its head to me. He leaves the door, and I stand myself straight so that we may follow the other two down the stairs. Once we reach the bottom of the stairway, a strong gust of wind pushes against us. Without a single door or window open to allow such a breeze inside, it’s impossible to understand where it could be coming from. Scrap turns around, and his jaw drops as his eyes widen. “Guys . . . this just got bad.” The rest of us turn back to the stairwell, and we watch hopelessly as a rays of violet light gleam from the top of the stairs. A black mass of fluid bubbles and broils at the top of the stairs. It continues to pool as a small amount of it slithers down the stairs and crawls up the main doors, coating it in a black, web-like barrier. “Okay, now it’s getting worse.” Rising up from the pool of boiling fluid as the rays of violet light intensify, Princess Twilight emerges from the floor. “And there it is, this is the worst it’s gonna get.”

“I must say,” Princess Twilight begins. “You four have made quite a noble effort to escape. It’s a shame that your ambition can only get you so far.” Two doors at the top of the stairway behind Princess Twilight burst open, revealing the guards that have been trying to catch up to us, as well as some new additions to the mob.

“Orin!” I hear Harra call as I turn to see what’s going on. She tosses a couple of seeds that are already doused in water, and the creature catches them in its hands. In one swift motion, it pulls out its slingshot and fires off one seed at a time towards the guards. I watch the seeds fly through the air and burst into a mass of roots. They land before the doors, and the roots quickly form a massive wall that blocks off the guards from getting any further into the main hall. Princess Twilight looks back at the mass of roots, then back to us with a look of pity.

“Alright!” Scrap cheers. “That’s one problem taken care of, now what do we do about ‘that’ up there?!” He switches from joy to a panic.

“That’s a shame,” Princess Twilight sighs. “I guess I’ll have to dispose of you four myself. I will not have you ingrates ruin this perfect world I’ve created.”