Gusty the Great book 2- The crusades

Chapters

Chapter 2: Fighting against an ophiotaurus
Chapter 3: Making ammends
Chapter 4: Discovering secrets
Chapter 5: A lesson on magic
Chapter 6: Whac-A-Dog
Chapter 7: A team
Chapter 8: A paranormal encounter
Chapter 9: The weeping roar
Chapter 10: A dangerous lunch
Chapter 11: A deal
Chapter 12: Spirits
Chapter 13: Attack at Catnada´s wall
Chapter 14: An exorcism of light
Chapter 15: Katrina´s wrath
Chapter 16: The battle against the cat who sold her soul pt. 1
Chapter 17: The battle against the cat who sold her soul pt.2
Chapter 18: Have you heard the rumours?
Chapter 19: Way down Trottingham
Chapter 20: Rescue mission begins
Chapter 21: Furius Carrus
Chapter 23: Awaking the beast
Chapter 24: Heart of stone pt.1
Chapter 25: Heart of stone pt.2
Chapter 26: Eat your young
Chapter 27: Conspirations and machinations:
Chapter 1: Leaving for adventure
Chapter 22: A sheep in wolf´s clothing

Chapter 2: Fighting against an ophiotaurus

The ophiotaurus roared once again before creeping towards Majesty.

“Protect the queen!” Lancer ordered the soldiers after it roared.

Not a second had passed and the soldiers had already drawn their swords. From the nerves, Gusty accidentally dropped her sword but quickly grabbed it, exhaling in relief. Some of the soldiers formed a protective circle around Majesty.

“What on earth is that?” Buttons asked terrified.

“An ophiotaurus.” Glory replied equally as scared.

“A what?” Fizzy asked confused.

“An ophiotaurus. Half snake, half bull. Part of Grogar´s great bestiary.”

Gusty turned her head to the creature, checking it from top to bottom.

“Makes sense.” she thought aloud, knowing that Grogar´s monsters were usually made of various creatures, even though she didn´t see all of them. “Is it poisonous?”

“Judging from the fangs and eyes… Pretty likely.”

The ophiotaurus´ ear twitched when it heard the unicorns´ conversation. It turned its head and widened its eyes when it spotted Gusty. It frowned and turned left to go for Gusty instead, leaving everypony confused.

“What the? Where is it going?” Lancer raised his eyebrow.

“Um… Is it me or is it coming for us instead?” Fizzy asked

As everypony else, Gusty was estranged by that sudden change of target but when she remembered that this creature was one of Grogar´s many creations, she understood everything.

“It´s not coming for all of us. It´s coming for me!” she exclaimed horrified.

The creature lowered its head to attack Gusty. The unicorn quickly conjured up a force field which, stopped it just when it was about to reach her. While after months of practicing she had already mastered that spell, this was the first time she used it against an enemy, let alone a huge, heavy and strong creature. So, it wasn´t surprising that her force field would start to shake and break in a matter of seconds after the ophiotaurus´ few attempts to break it.

She fell to the ground and yelled scared when she saw the ophiotaurus´ head approaching, however Glory, Buttons and Fizzy joined forces and created a force field together. Gusty got up as fast as she could to add her magic to the force field.

Meanwhile, the unicorns closer to Majesty observed the scene.

“Of course. Grogar must have sent his creatures for Gusty.” Majesty deduced.

“Wow. Is he really that scared of her that he sends his monsters to kill her instead of you?” Lancer asked shocked.

“It appears.”

Lancer looked intrigued at Gusty while raising an eyebrow.

“And that´s why we need her alive.” Majesty said as she plucked a sword. In response, the soldiers copied her.

The unicorns ran to the ophiotaurus to aid Gusty and her friends, who were struggling to keep the force field.

“Why don´t you pick at somepony of your own size and leave us alone?!” Fizzy yelled at the creature, taking a pause everytime it hit their forcefield.

“Ugh, I don´t think I can hold on for much longer…” Buttons panted in exhaustion.

After the creature hit the force field once again, Buttons fainted from exhaustion.

“Ay! Buttons!” Fizzy exclaimed.

In reaction to her friend´s faint, she accidentally stopped using her horn. Glory and Gusty stared at her surprised, the latter glaring at her.

“Uh oh.” Fizzy muttered when she realized her mistake.

Her little mishap allowed the ophiotaurus to finally break the force field. The three standing unicorns fell to the ground, being completely vulnerable to the monster´s attack. Luckily, it didn´t have time to attack, as a sword landed on its tail. The unicorns turned their heads right and saw Majesty smirk.

“Wow. Now that´s a great aim.” Gusty commented.

“Charge!” the queen yelled.

After her scream, she and her soldiers ran to the creature while yelling. They surrounded it and started to attack either by magic or by the sword. At the same time, Buttons opened her eyes.

“Hm… What happened?” she said as she massaged her temple.

“You ok!” Fizzy hugged Buttons.

“Our force field broke but Majesty threw a sword from a long distance and landed on the creature´s tail!”

“Wow.” Buttons said in awe.

“Yes, but it´s not enough to defeat it.” Glory warned her. “Grogar´s monsters are known for having quite a stamina.”

Some unicorns flying away due to being hit by the ophiotaurus´ tail despite being hurt proved Glory´s point. They both clenched their teeth and closed their eyes when the unicorns landed.

“Yeah, I can see that.” Gusty said in response.

“Keep fighting!” Majesty yelled to the other soldiers, ignoring Gusty´s question in the process. “Fight until the creature yields!”

Though confused and shocked about Majesty´s demand, Gusty decided to focus on attacking the creature to weaken it.

The unicorns tried to immobilize the ophiotaurus by creating magical bonds, but the task was almost imposible, as it tried biting them several times. Noticing this, Glory talked to Lancer.

“I think we should cut its fangs. Otherwise, some of us will end up poisoned.”

“On it!” Lancer raised his hoof to his forehead. “But I will need this from you.” he said as he took Glory´s shield. Then, he whistled with his hoof to call the ophiotaurus´ attention. “Hey you snake!”

The ophiotaurus turned its head to Lancer and Glory, only to be hit on the face with a rock that he threw, angering it in result.

“Put behind me!” he ordered Glory.

Angrily, the ophiotaurus showed its teeth and charged against them. Lancer quickly put both shields in front of them. When the ophitaurus was close enough, its teeth surpassed the shields, making Lancer and Glory jump backwards.

“Now!” Lancer told Glory.

She took her sword and cut the ophiotaurus´ fangs.

“My queen! We just cut the creature´s fangs! We won´t have to worry about being poisoned anymore.” Glory told Majesty.

“Nicely done, Glory.” Majesty congratulated her and Lancer.

“Yeah, well done!” Gusty added.

However, she would soon realize that victory wasn´t theirs yet. Glory and Lancer might have taken its fangs away but its snake behaviour still prevailed, as the ophiotaurus enrolled her tail around her and other soldiers and levitated them from the ground. She started zapping at its face, though with great difficulty due to being squished so hard.

“A little help here…” she asked for help. “I think it´s very hungry.”

“Or maybe he just needs some water.” Fizzy said cockily as she opened her bottle.

However, her attitude changed when she couldn´t pick up any water. She shook the bottle downwards to see if it was truly empty. Indeed, not a single drop of water fell.

“Where did all the water go?”

“Um… to your tummy?” Buttons raised an eyebrow. “We went to pick up water this morning and you finished all in a few minutes.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“Use your sword and shield like we´ve been learning all these months?”

“Yeah, that´s a good plan. Or… I could borrow some canteens!”

Fizzy opened Buttons´ canteen, making her complain.

“Hey, that´s mine!”

Despite the complaints, Fizzy didn´t listen. She opened the canteens and picked up the water inside to slap the creature, making it fall to the ground, releasing Gusty in the process.

“You ok?” Buttons asked as she aided her to get up.

“Yeah.” Gusty replied as she gasped for some air.

Fizzy bonded the ophiotaurus against the ground with water.

“Ha!” she laughed victoriously. “What are you going to do now?”

Unfortunately, since it was made of water, the creature surpassed the bondage.

“Maybe you shouldn´t use water to tie your enemy next time.” Buttons said to Fizzy.

“Agreed.” Fizzy said in response.

Then, the ophitaurus picked them up as it did with Gusty before. The unicorn gasped and zapped at the creature to release them, but it was too fast and dodged all of her attacks, which was the same problem that all the unicorns had. Slowly, less and less unicorns were standing. Either they were injured or enrolled in the ophioturus´ tail.

While observing Gusty, Lancer noticed something very curious, which made him raise his eyebrow confused.

“Why don´t you use your wind?!” he called out to her.

Gusty bit her lip.

“I don´t think I can pull it off…”

“You can´t pull it off?!” Lancer replied angrily. “You´re supposed to be Wind Warrior, are you not?! You threw Grogar against the wall for goodness´ sake!”

“Yeah, but one thing is Grogar and another is an ophiotaurus!”

“I think Grogar is far worse!”

“Yeah, but he´s not that big! I don´t think that I have that much strength to push it away! It´s like I asked you to levitate it!”

“I think she makes a good point…” Glory agreed with Gusty.

“But when you get very nervous, your magic gets all freaky. Shouldn´t be that enough to move the ophiotaurus?”

The word `freaky´ made Gusty very upset, as it was a word the foals used when they described her magic.

“You want wind magic? Fine, I´ll give you wind magic!”

She threw a wind against Lancer, pushing him against a tree.

“Hey!” he complained.

He lit his horn to fight back but luckily, Majesty stood between them.

“ENOUGH!” she yelled. “Both of you! We´re at the brink of being eaten by an ophiotaurus and the last thing we need is you two arguing like brats! What we need to do now is to get rid of that creature.”

“But how? It´s too agitated to stop it!” Glory asked worried.

“Agitated…” Gusty muttered. She gasped. “That´s it!” she said with a smile. “Well, Lancer, the moment has finally come. I´m going to use my magic.”

“But you said that-”

“I know I said that before, but now I´ve come up with an idea. Just this: when I say now, you hold the creature against the ground, alright?”

The other unicorns shared confused looks, but they nodded. Gusty closed her eyes and lit her horn to conjure up winds. Every unicorn widened their eyes in expectation of something truly powerful and magical. However, Gusty´s winds didn´t turn stronger. Instead, they were soft and rhythmic. They understood what Gusty planned to do when the wind started playing a peaceful melody.

“Snake charming? Seriously?” Lancer thought aloud.

“More like ophiotaurus charming.” Fizzy added while trying to hold her laughter.

Glory nudged them and pointed at the ophiotaurus, to show them that it was falling asleep.

The ophiotaurus´ ears perked up. As the music progressed, the ophiotaurus´ muscles untensed, releasing all the soldiers it had on its tail. The ones on the ground picked them up with magic.

The ophiotaurus yawned, closed its eyes and slowly enrolled its body and laid its head on it to sleep. Once she made sure that it was completely asleep, she stopped playing music.

“How did you do that?” Glory asked her.

“Well… When I was little and got so nervous that my wind went out of control, magaga suggested that I played a melody to see if I felt better. And it always made me feel more relaxed and also served me as a reminder that not everything I do is a failure. So I figured that if it helped me maybe, it could help the ophiotaurus too. And apparently it did.” she smiled at the sleeping ophiotaurus.

“So does that mean that we can go now?” Buttons asked Majesty.

“Not yet. I think we should kill it first.”

“But it´s already unconscious. We can go now.” Gusty replicated.

“Yes, but we don´t know if it will come for you again when it wakes up.”

“Yeah, I guess that´s true.”

“Want to do the honours?”

“Oh! I thought you were going to do it.”

“Well, I wouldn´t want to steal your first slay, Wind Warrior.”

“Oh. Right.”

Gusty walked to the creature. She inhaled and exhaled. She elevated the sword to tear the ohiotaurus´ flesh. But before she could lower the sword, the ophiotaurus disappeared for a second and was replaced instead by a troggle wielding a sword in front of a scared pegasus. A pegasus she knew very well.

In the background, a female voice full of pain begged for mercy.

“NO PLEASE NO!”

When that image came to her mind Gusty paralyzed. Luckily it stopped before the worst part came. But the image played over, and over again in her mind.

This caused Gusty to conceal from the real world, where the other unicorns stared at her estranged.

“What´s taking her so long?” some soldiers whispered to themselves.

“Gusty! Why did you stop?” Majesty called her.

But Gusty did not answer. She was still focused on that image in her mind. So much, that she didn´t keep track of her breath, and most importantly her wind.

“Uh oh…” Fizzy mumbled when she noticed the breezes.

“Gusty, sweetie… It´s a bit windy here…” Buttons told her.

“Gusty! Answer me!” Majesty insisted.

As always, the winds slowly turned stronger and stronger to the point that the ponies floated around her. The ophiotaurus awakened, but luckily did no harm, as the tornado Gusty formed scared it, making it creep away.

Not so far away from them, a whole appeared on the ground, and out of it, there were three dogs.

“Do you see anything?” one of them asked.

“Nope, nothing!” another of them replied.

“Ugh, this is pointless!” the third one yelled frustrated. “We´ve been days looking over the outskirts and we haven´t seen any sign of Majesty and her soldiers!”

“Don´t forget the one!” the second dog reminded him.

“Which one?”

“You know, the one! The one´s that´s so important because I don´t remember the reason.”

“You mean the one who has wind?”

“Yes! What was her name?”

“The Wind Saviour!”

“You idiots!” the first one kicked their heads with his fists. “Her name is the Wind Warrior, and she is of interest because Crunch wants her so he can give her to Grogar!”

“Aaah…” the second and third dog said in chorus.

“And do you remember how she looks like?” the second one asked.

“Of course! She was uh…”

“You don´t remember, don´t you?” the dog raised her eyebrow.

“Of course I do! It´s just I have so many things to do that sometimes it´s difficult to remember, but I do remember!”

“Yeah right.”

As the two dogs were arguing, the third one saw something in the distance that caught his attention.

“Hey, what´s that?” he pointed at the horizon.

The two dogs frowned to get a better view. The second took a spyglass.

“Looks like a tornado. But it´s not coming towards us. And it looks like there are ponies around!” she turned her head to her friends as she smirked.

“You know what this means, right?” the first dog asked.

The three dogs giggled maliciously.

“Looks like our search has finally born its fruits. Cavall, spread the news.”

“Yes, Gaueko.” Cavall lifted his paw.

The three dogs immersed underground again.

“Gusty! Stop! You´re pushing us around!” Majesty commanded.

“Oh, I think I´m gonna be sick!” Buttons covered her mouth.

“I´d hold your hair back but I´ll have to hold mine first!” Fizzy replied.

“She can´t hear us!” Glory said.

“No, but I know how we can make her notice us.” Lancer said before lighting her horn.

“Lancer, what are you doing?!” Glory said scared.

“Payback.” he replied.

Lancer zapped at Gusty, which made her come back to reality. After her horn stopped glowing, the winds stopped abruptly, making everypony fall. Gusty panted heavily.

“What happened?” Majesty asked her.

Gusty shook her head.

“I couldn´t… I couldn´t. I was reliving it all over again.”

“What were you reliving all over?”

“My husband´s death…”

Majesty closed her eyes as she exhaled.

“Look, I understand that-” Lancer said.

“No, you don´t understand!” Gusty yelled at him. “You weren´t there when it happened!” her eyes filled with tears. “I saw it with my own eyes, not you! Ever since I got here you´ve only been disdaining me for something I had no control over, so don´t you ever tell me that you understand!”

Lancer had seen Gusty sad and nervous. But this was the first time he saw her angry. He saw her as a mare with repressed rage and pain. He bit his lip in regret.

“You know what? I think we had had enough for the day.” Glory said to break the tension. “I think we should camp in the forest and continue tomorrow. Maybe you could go to look for some water, Gusty. Maybe it helps to clear your mind.”

Gusty nodded. Fizzy patted her back before the two left with the rest.

Behind them, the same three dogs that had seen them before poked their heads out of a hole. They giggled evilly as they observed them.

Chapter 3: Making ammends

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 4: Discovering secrets

Gusty lowered the cloak to see the unicorn´s face better. His fur was grey and his mane dark blue. Though not very big, he had a bushy beard.

“How could we have confused a unicorn with those things?!” Gusty yelled angry at herself before covering her face with her hooves.

“I have no idea.” Fizzy replied. “What were those things anyway?” she asked Glory.

“Diamond dogs. They are Crunch´s servants. I knew it was not a diamond dog because otherwise he would have gone underground.” Glory said. “But a unicorn was the last creature to come to my mind.”

Gusty gently shook him to see if he could wake him. Seeing no response, she looked worried at Fizzy.

“Is he…” Fizzy asked Gusty.

“I´m not so sure. But he doesn´t respond.”

“Let´s not jump into conclusions.” said Glory. “First, we need to check if he´s breathing. Leave it to my hooves.” she stretched her forelegs.

She opened the unconscious unicorn´s mouth holding his forehead and chin and got her ear closer.

“Oh geeze… Maybe we shouldn´t have used the shield, Fizzy.” she said.

“Well… It could have been far worse. We could have used a sword!” Fizzy laughed nervously. “Besides, I´m pretty sure he survived that. Right?” she asked insecure.

Glory shushed them both. After some seconds, she moved her head away.

“Good news, he´s breathing.”

Gusty and Fizzy sighed in relief.

“And when will he wake up?” asked Fizzy.

“Depends on how hard the blow was.” Glory replied after she checked if the unicorn´s pupil reacted to the light from her horn. “In my opinion, he´ll be up in less than one day. He might have amnesia for a day and difficulties to pay attention, I believe his head will be a bit cloudy. It´s possible that he has balance or walking problems as well.”

“Wow, how do you know all that?”

“Before I was a spy, I used to be one of the army´s nurses.” Glory smiled.

“In that case, we´ll have to nurse him when he wakes up.” Gusty said.

“I don´t know…” Lancer shook his head. “Maybe this is a good thing. We still don´t know why he was watching us. Who knows, maybe he could have hurt us or who knows, maybe he works for Grogar or one of his allies!”

“Why would a unicorn work for Grogar or his allies?” Fizzy asked confused.

“I don´t know, some ponies must be brainwashed, or maybe Grogar threatened to hurt his family? Look, I´m just trying to make you two feel better! Why do you have to make it so difficult?!”

Fizzy raised her hooves on defence whereas Gusty rolled her eyes while shaking her head.

“I don´t see that possibility too far-fetched.” Buttons agreed with Lancer. “If he´s innocent, why did he run away?”

“That´s actually a good question…” Fizzy thought aloud.

“Thank you!” Lancer exclaimed.

“One thing´s for sure, he´s not with the diamond dogs.” Gusty assumed. “Otherwise, he would have attacked us with them.”

“Maybe not the diamond dogs, but he might be with Katrina.” Lancer said in response to Gusty´s theory. “Her territories are around Trottingham after all.”

“He could be a spy.” Glory supported Lancer´s opinion.

“But if I was a tyrant desperate to capture my enemy, I would have sent soldiers as well.

"Who´s to say he´s alone?” Fizzy asked. “Maybe his plan was for us to follow him and lead us to Katrina´s soldiers.”

“Hm… To me it seemed like he didn´t want us to see him. I didn´t see his face but I could tell he was frozen in fear.”

“But what if the reason he ran away was to warn the other soldiers?” Buttons asked.

“He would have been yelling if that was the case, wouldn´t he?” Gusty raised her eyebrow.

“So you´re saying we should trust him?” Lancer asked.

“Not really. You make good points, but I also see some inconsistences so I´ll give him the benefit of a doubt. Nonetheless, I still think we need to take precautions.”

“What Majesty would do is tie him up and interrogate him.” Glory replied. “I suggest we did the same.”

Everypony nodded their heads. Gusty picked him with her forelegs

“Do any of you have rope?” Buttons asked.

Glory looked on her bag.

“I´m afraid not.” she lamented.

“Me neither.” Lancer clicked his tongue

“Nope. And after the ophiotaurus, I learned I can´t use water.” Fizzy put her hoof on her chest. “So, I can´t help you.”

As they were talking, her ear perked up when she heard groans. She gasped when she saw him frowning.

“He´s waking up!”

Immediately, everypony turned their heads to the unicorn. Slowly, he opened his blue eyes. He grunted as his blurry vision turned into a vivid image of Gusty staring him. He gasped slightly when his eyes met Gusty´s.

“Who are you?” he asked confused. “A spirit of light? Am I dead?”

Gusty widened her eyes. Fizzy and Buttons held their laughter. Glory blinked surprised and turned her head to Gusty to see ger reaction.

“Seriously?” Lancer thought aloud as he raised his eyebrow.

Gusty laughed nervously.

“Nope. I am just regular unicorn. Just like you.”

Once he listened to Gusty´s words, he quickly recovered conscience. He blushed in embarrassment.

“Oh!” he cleared his throat. “Glad to know.” he looked around to avoid eye contact with Gusty. “What is this place?”

“You are at the Sherhoof forest.” Glory replied.

Carefully, the unicorn moved his head from right to left to take notice of Glory, Buttons, Lancer and Fizzy.

“Yeah… I think this is the same spot I saw before something hit me in the head and everything turned black.” he massaged his temple. “I don´t remember what I was doing.”

“You were looking at us. And you ran away when I saw you.” Gusty explained. “Do you remember now?”

The unicorn raised his eyebrows as he gasped slightly.

“Aaah, you´re the ones who weren´t captured by the diamond dogs! And then you exclaimed `there´s one of them!´ and you chased me until I lost conscience. I suppose you must have thrown something at my head.”

“A shield to be precise!” Fizzy showed him her shield. “Mine and Gusty´s doing.”

Buttons gasped. She covered her mouth with her hoof.

“Fizzy, don´t tell him our names! We don´t know if we can trust him.”

“You just told him my name.”

Buttons blinked.

“Dang it.” she frowned.

“Wait, wait.” Gusty raised her hoof to quiet them. “You mean you saw everything?” she asked the unicorn.

He nodded.

“I was just picking up some fruits for tea when suddenly I heard screams. That´s when I saw your camping and ponies fighting the diamond dogs. But they all failed. And then I saw you.”

“Did you see a pony with a crown?”

“I saw a mare with something shiny on her head, but I´m not sure if it was a crown.”

“Did you see if they killed her?” Lancer asked worried.

The unicorn shook his head.

“No, I only saw her being dragged down but she seemed conscious.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” Glory put her hoof on her chest.

“So, that thing on her head was really a crown?”

“Yes, it was.”

“But only monarchs wear crowns and right now, Grogar is the only ruler here.” he widened his eyes. “Unless….” he turned to Gusty. “You don´t have the crown by any chance, do you?”

“Yes.”

Gusty took out the crown of her bag and showed it to the unicorn. Glory and Lancer gasped horrified. Fizzy and Buttons simply widened their eyes, surprised that Gusty would do such thing.

“What are you doing?!” Lancer asked scared.

“That´s Majesty´s crown! You can´t show it just like that!” Glory gently reprimanded her.

“Trust me guys. I know what I´m doing.” Gusty reassured them.

Glory and Lancer shared worried looks. Gusty looked intrigued at the unicorn as he examined the crown.

“This design… It looks like the one from the kingdom of Maragon!”

The unicorns gasped surprised.

“He knows about Maragon.” Lancer said to Glory.

“But how? I thought we were the only ones who knew.” said Buttons. “I mean, none of us knew about the kingdom until we joined.”

“You know about Maragon?” Gusty asked him.

“It was the kingdom of unicorns before Grogar came. However, if I understood history well, Grogar dethroned the royal family and killed them all, establishing the capital of Tambelon in Maragon´s capital.”

“The kingdom is history. But not everypony in the royal family died. There were some survivors. And they have been fighting to restore it. That mare with the crown you saw is Majesty. She´s the last descendant of the royal family. And we´re helping her.”

“So… You´re warriors?”

“Aha.” Gusty nodded.

The unicorn sighed in relief.

“For a moment I thought you were bandits.”

Fizzy scoffed.

“Why would you think we were bandits?”

“To be honest, you followed me and hit me with a shield.” he said angry.

Fizzy and Gusty scratched the backs of their heads.

“Yeah… We apologize for that.”

“And also because the diamond dogs were capturing you and all the camping. But now that we clarified this misunderstanding, I know you are no harm. And I´ve learnt something that means a lot to me.” he smiled sadly. “I´ve been lacking hope of things getting better lately but discovering that there are unicorns fighting against Grogar gives me some.”

Those words resonated in Gusty´s head. She may have heard time and time again that she was in something extraordinary ever since she joined Majesty´s rebellion, but this was the first time she heard it from a stranger. That phrase took a whole different meaning after knowing she was helping a pony in need.

“I´m glad it does.” Gusty smiled tenderly at him. “And those words mean a lot to us as well.”

The unicorn didn´t expect Gusty smiling t him, so he felt his heart pounding a little faster.

“I… I´m glad they do.”

“I´m sorry to interrupt the conversation, but we need to get going.” Lancer intervened nervous. “We have to save our leader after all, otherwise we´re doomed.”

“And it will be all our fault!” Glory chuckled nervously.

Fizzy and Buttons bit their lip.

“Yeah, you´re right.” Gusty agreed with Lancer and Glory. “Well, it was nice meeting you. But now we must resume our journey. She laid her hoof on his shoulder, making him freeze in surprise. “Hope we meet again one day.”

“Wait! I want-”

Since they were busy talking, they didn´t notice the clouds covering the whole sky until a thunder roared. Afterwards, it started to rain.

“Seriously?!” Lancer yelled.

“It´s ok.” Gusty said to calm everypony down. “We can take refuge in the camping.”

“You realized it´s destroyed, don´t you?” Buttons pointed out.

Gusty checked the surroundings to find that Buttons as right. The tents were either torn apart or down.

“Huh. I didn´t notice.”

“You didn´t notice. Really?”

“It´s ok. I can offer you refuge.” the unicorn offered.

Everypony, except Fizzy who was distracted playing with the rain, turned their heads to him.

“You would?” Glory asked.

“Yeah! Besides, I need to show you something. I think it would be of your aid.”

They looked at each other, unsure to trust him. However, they needed a refuge too. They nodded.

“Ok. Take us there.” Gusty told him.

“Right this way.” the unicorn led them.

They waited until there was some distance between him and them to talk.

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Lancer asked everypony.

“Not really but what other choice do we have?” Buttons replied.

“Don´t worry.” Gusty reassured them. “I don´t think that he will harm us, but we´ll have to be aware of our surroundings and be ready for anything. And try to act normal, ok?”

Glory shrugged.

“If that´s the only way…”

“Fizzy?” Gusty asked.

“Huh, did you call me?” she asked.

They stared at her upset.

“What? I was experimenting with my magic! And with a good reason. Look!”

She pointed at her creation, which enabled her not to get wetter by the rain.

“Huh. That´s actually a good idea.” Lancer commented.

“Are you coming?” the unicorn called them.

“Yes, we were just waiting for her.” Gusty replied.

The unicorn sneezed.

“Don´t worry.” he sniffed. “Take your time.” he smiled.

Gusty stared at the unicorn with worry and sympathy.

“What´s your name?”

“Starswirl.”

“Starswirl, you can come under this…” Gusty stared at Fizzy´s creation, wondering how to call it. “`watery umbrella´.” she smiled a bit embarrassed.

Starswirl chuckled.

“Thank you.”

Underground, there were ponies pulling carts full of gems or digging, accompanied by foredogs and collector diamond dog.

“Faster!” the foredogs yelled as they lashed the ponies´ backs.

Most of the ponies were unicorns but there were exceptions. Such as a yellow earth pony with two long pink braids with hanging colourful decorations.

“I think there are some here.” she said before she took the shovel to dig..

When she was done, the foredog pointed at the hole so the collectors identified the gems.

“So?” the foredog asked after some time.

“Jade.” one of the guards poked his head, leaving the many jade stones he carried in his forelegs. “Again.”

The foredog groaned.

“Isn´t there another gem that you can´t find?!” she yelled at the earth pony.

“Before I came here, I never searched for gems in my life.” the earth pony replied calmly. “However, my father collected jade stones, that´s why I know how to find them. Where are came from, they were more valid than gold. So no, I don´t know how to find other gems.”

“Then why on earth would Katrina offer you to us?!” she yelled frustrated.

“Crunch won´t do a meeting with her unless she offers him a slave. But don´t worry, it´s just for one day.”

“But we don´t want to dig only jades for a whole day!” one of the collectors said.

“Look on the bright side.” the earth pony smiled. “Jades have a beautiful color. They can make beautiful accessories. Besides, it can treat caries.”

“We don´t need treatment for caries!” the other collector showed his deteriorated teeth. “Our teeth are totally fine.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“Out of my way! Out of my way!” Gaueko yelled.

Every pony and diamond dog stepped aside. They stared at the enchained unicorns. Despite having been captured, Majesty held her head tight and walked dignified. However, whenever she saw a unicorn staring at her, she felt shame she tried not to show. The diamond dogs whereas the earth pony stared curiously.

“It can´t be! Is that Majesty?” one of the diamond guards around the earth pony asked.

“Welcome back to your kingdom!” Gaueko said to Majesty.

Majesty frowned at the dog, hurt by that comment. She held her head high. Gaueko and his minions laughed at her.

“Her kingdom?” the earth pony said confused. “I thought it was Crunch´s.”

“Nah, nothing important.” the foredog flapped her paw. “Majesty´s just a unicorn who believes that she will free unicorns by overthrowing Grogar reconquering the cities, including this one.”

“She intends to overthrow Grogar and Crunch?”

“Why are you that surprised? From what I´ve heard earth ponies are trying to overthrow Katrina.”

“Yes, but one thing is overthrowing Katrina, and another is overthrowing Grogar. But now that I think of it, if Grogar was overthrown, what would happen to Katrina?”

“Nothing. Only unicorns would be saved. Majesty only cares about the unicorns, not about earth ponies like you. If Katrina does not intervene, then she´ll still keep her kingdom and have you enslaved.”

“But she´ll have to intervene one way or another. Majesty will have to confront all the allies in order to get to Grogar, right?”

The foredog shrugged.

“Don´t get your hopes up. Crunch will probably bring Majesty to Grogar before that ever happens.”

The earth pony raised an eyebrow.

“That sounds like you care about me.”

The dog raised her ears.

“No, I don´t! I´m just pointing out the reality to crush your dreams. Because that´s what we do! Right guys?”

The two collectors barked in agreement.

Suddenly, a group of injured diamond dogs arrived, receiving lots of stares.

“Gaueko! Gaueko!” one of them yelled. “Where is Gaueko?”

The foredog and the diggers ran to them.

“He´s on his way to the throne room to talk to Crunch. What is it?” the foredog explained.

“I need to talk to him. We didn´t get five of Majesty´s soldiers. One of them could be the Wind Warrior!”

The foredog gasped dramatically.

“We need to get to him quickly!”

The diamond dogs ran away. The earth pony was left alone, with the cart attached to her back. She sighed.

“I guess I´ll have to keep finding jades. Now I´ll never know how the story ends.”

“Which story?” a feminine voice asked.

The earth pony gasped and turned around to find Katrina.

“Master... I didn´t know you were finished with your reunion with Crunch.”

“Oh Posey…” she started caressing her mane. “You know dogs and cats are natural enemies, so I try to spend the least time around that violent stoned dog. But now I might want to stay a little longer before coming back home after hearing what you said. So dearie, I know that you are exhausted from collecting gems but I need you to do me a last favour…” she smirked.

Posey´s ears dropped.

“Crunch! Crunch!” Gaueko yelled as he opened the gates letting his workmates, Cavall and Gwyllgi enter. “Guess what?”

“WHAT DO YOU WANT? DON´T YOU SEE I´M BUSY?!” Crunch asked upset.

The three diamond dogs widened their eyes afraid. Gaueko clapped his paws together.

“We interrupt because we bring news.”

“What news? They´d better be good because I´m not in the best mood.”

“You´re never in a good mood.” Gwyllgi mumbled.

“What did you say?!”

“Nothing!” she faked a smile.

“Is it because of Katrina, sir?” Cavall asked.

Crunch grunted.

“I hate that cat…” he massaged his temple. “We made a deal to help each other catch Majesty and her warriors but I bet in the minute she sees a chance, she´ll betray me and take them all for herself!” he stomped his paw.

Gwyllgi and Cavall took a step backwards.

“Actually, this has to do with the news we´re bringing. We captured Majesty and all her warriors!”

Crunch´s ears perked up.

“You did?” he asked surprised.

Gaueko nodded with pride.

“Including the Wind Warrior?”

“Including the Wind Warrior.”

“Bring them to me!”

“Right away!”

Gaueko and Cavall opened the gates. The guards entered Majesty and the captured unicorns.

“Well, well.” Crunch said as he went downstairs to walk to Majesty. “Looks like luck is not on your side anymore, your Majesty.” he chuckled.

Majesty frowned determined.

“We shall see Crunch. Because your soldiers haven´t caught us all.”

Crunch, Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall widened their eyes.

“What?!” Crunch asked angry.

“Your soldier forgot the most important soldier.” Majesty smirked. “One that could change everything.”

“We caught the Wind Warrior, right?” Gaueko whispered to his comrades.

“We took everypony in the camp. One of them must be her!” Gwyllgi replied.

“Don´t believe me?” Majesty asked Crunch. “Go on! Check among all of us and compare it to the picture Grogar gave you.”

Crunch took a quick glance of all the captured unicorns and then looked at the wanted poster. He groaned as he clenched his teeth in fury.

“Oh no…” Cavall mumbled while hugging his comrades in fear.

“You liars!” he yelled the three diamond dogs. “You told me you captured all of them!”

“We did, sir.” Gaueko said in defence of himself and his workmates. “We captured all of them!”

“Then how come she is not here!” Crunch pointed at the picture of Gusty.

“Aaaah, so that´s how she looked like!” Gwyllgi thought aloud.

She covered her mouth. Gaueko and Cavall stared at her angrily.

“YOU DIDN´T EVEN REMEMBER HOW SHE LOOKED LIKE?!”

“They didn´t remember, I did!” Gaueko said.

“No you didn´t.” Cavall told him.

“But there was no unicorn that looked like that in the camp sir!” Gwyllgi replicated. “If she was, we would have captured her!”

“Yeah.” Cavall agreed. “We captured all of them super quickly. None of us were injured in the process!”

Just after he said that an injured door passed through the corridor.

“Gaueko?” he asked for his name.

The three diamond dogs froze when they saw the injured dogs. They covered their mouths when they realized that they had forgotten a small detail.

“The unicorn that ran away…” Gaueko murmured. “They were the ones that followed her. I completely forgot about them.”

When the injured dog realized he was in front of the throne room, he stared at Crunch in shock. He tried to run away but Crunch stopped him.

“YOU AND WHOEVER IS WITH YOU! COME HERE!”

The injured dog had no choice but to obey. With the help of the foredog and her two collectors, they all entered to the throne room. Once the gates were closed and the corridor was empty, Posey, who was hiding behind a wall, ran to the gates and spied through the whole the two gates left.

“What happened?” Crunch asked clenching his teeth.

“There was a unicorn that ran away, and we followed her. There were five remaining but then one unicorn attacked us.” the injured dog explained.

“She was incredibly fast! By the time we prepared for the attack, she already punched us!” another of the injured dogs added.

“Did she use wind?”

“No but I think I saw one levitating herself and her friends.”

Crunch scowled at Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall. They laughed nervously.

“You are a trio of idiots!” he said to the three diamond dogs. He turned to the injured diamond dogs “And you are weaklings! Being defeated by a unicorn just like that. Look at you! You can barely move.” he stood up from the throne. “Which means that you are no longer of use to me.”

Every dog in the room gasped. Even the unicorns were terrified for the diamond dogs. Posey gasped softly. Crunch walked towards them.

“No!” the foredog put herself between Crunch and the injured dogs. She spread her forelegs to protect them. “Please, sir. They have risked their lives to accomplish their mission.”

“Out of my way Sarama!” Crunch pushed her away.

Sarama watched in fear as Crunch approached the injured dogs. Once he was in front of them, he closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were full of a white light. Slowly, the injured dogs turned to stone, much to all the witnesses´ horror, even though they covered their e. Once they were completely petrified, Crunch crashed the statues to pieces. He turned to Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall.

“If you do not wish to have the same fate, bring me the wind warrior before Katrina finds her!” he ordered them.

The three diamond dogs gulped as they nodded.

“Right away sir!” Gaueko replied.

The three dogs ran away. Posey hid before the diamond dogs opened the gates. Once she made sure she was unseen, she left the castle to meet with Katrina, who awaited inside a carriage.

“So?” Katrina asked Posey.

“Apparently, Crunch has captured Majesty and her warriors.”

“And?”

Posey doubted before continuing.

“But they didn´t capture all the warriors. The Wind Warrior is still free.”

A smile drew in Katrina´s lips.

“Interesting… Looks like I´m going to get the bigger lot.”

She chuckled evilly.

Chapter 5: A lesson on magic

There was almost no conversation between Starswirl and the soldiers during the trip to his place. Instead, there was a quiet tension between them. He noticed how hypervigilant they were of their surroundings. Lancer and Glory were preparing to draw their sword from time to time, and Buttons and Fizzy threw him threatening looks, the latter being less dissimulated about it. Buttons nudged her when she made a `I´m watching you´ gesture exaggeratedly. The only one who didn´t seem to be mistrusting was Gusty, though Starswirl could tell she was a bit nervous as well.

“Your friends seem…. uncomfortable.” he whispered at her.

Gusty pressed her lips.

“Well… Bear in mind that we´ve just been attacked. And you appearing out of nowhere after spying us is suspicious to be honest.”

“Then why did you decide to come with me?” Starswirl raised his eyebrow confused.

“We don´t have much of a choice, do we?” Gusty looked up to point the rain.

“So… How is the situation going for you?” Starswirl asked after a brief silence between them. “Is Grogar winning or…” he put his hoof on his chin. “Hmm… Majesty, was the name?”

Gusty nodded.

“As I was told when I entered the rebellion, it´s a pretty matched chess game. Majesty has conquered some towns, but Grogar puts up a huge fight that complicates eveything. From what I´ve heard, reconquering one city took her years. Now, she only has three cities left.”

“I suppose one of them is Trottingham. Otherwise, you wouldn´t be around here. And the other one is Canterlot, now Tambelon´s capital.”

“Correct.”

“And which is the other one?”

“Coltlogne.”

“Oh ok.”

“How do you know so much about Maragon if you had no relation to the rebellion?”

“Elder knowledge.” Starswirl smiled nostalgically.

Gusty blinked.

“You don´t seem that old to me…”

“No no!” he laughed. “I don´t mean it like that. I mean my elders´ knowledge.”

“And how did your elders know?”

“You are not the only ones doing things behind Grogar´s backs…” he winked an eye.

“I see…” Gusty said intrigued.

“I told you my name, but you haven´t told me yours. So what´s your name?”

“Gusty.”

“Gusty… Beautiful name.” he widened his eyes when he realized what he just said. “I mean! I like it.” And what is it like being in battle?”

“What?”

“You´re soldiers. You´ve been in battles.”

“I actually haven´t been in one.”

Starswirl widened his eyes in surprise.

“I´m a very new addition, you know? And I´m not the only one. See those two mares?” she pointed at Fizzy and Buttons. “They joined at the same time I did.”

“And how did you end up here?”

“It´s a very very long story.” Gusty giggled nervously.

Finally, between the trees, a cottage could be seen.

“We´re here.” he informed to all the unicorns.

“Wait!” Lancer stopped him before Starswirl could take another step.

He nodded at Gusty. She conjured a wind to float herself and her friends to the cottage´s door.

“Whoah!” Starswirl exclaimed surprised. “Didn´t know you had wind magic.”

He held to Gusty to get his balance back. He blushed when she turned her head to him.

“Are you ok?” she asked concerned.

“Yeah, yeah!” he replied, trying to conceal his nerves. “It´s just I don´t want to fly away in the tornado.”

“Yeah right…” Buttons raised her eyebrows playfully.

“Don´t worry. This might be a tornado but it´s small enough not to shake us up.” she reassured him.

“So, this is your own way of doing a self-levitation spell.” Starswirl stopped holding Gusty.

“Yup!” Gusty closed her eyes in pride but opened them when she processed Starswirl´s message completely. “Wait, there´s a spell for that?”

“You have no idea… But why levitating and not walking?”

“Diamond dogs won´t be able to catch us that quickly if we are on air. Besides, they won´t know we´re there as they won´t feel our steps underground.” Glory explained.

“That´s a wise idea. We shouldn´t discard the possibility that they might be under my garden.”

“Open the door.” Lancer ordered Starswirl once they were in front of the door.

As Starswirl carried on Lancer´s order, everypony took out their swords or ignited their horns, getting ready to fight.

“Yyya!” everypony yelled once the door was completely open.

However, to their surprise, there was no army waiting for them inside the cottage. Instead, there was just a table and chairs in front of a stove and a fireplace. Starswirl gasped when he noticed the cauldron in the fireplace.

“Oh, I forgot I was making porridge!” he exclaimed.

He was going to run but quickly remembered that he was being held by Gusty.

“Could you put me down please?” he asked her politely.

Slowly, Gusty landed herself and everypony. Seeing that Starswirl was too distracted checking the porridge, they saw a great chance to investigate the house. Lancer pointed to the left and made a gesture to Glory to come with him. Then, he pointed at Fizzy and Buttons to the right. Lastly, he pointed at Starswirl while looking at Gusty. Everypony nodded quietly. They walked away as quietly as possible. Meanwhile, Gusty sat down in one of the kitchen´s chairs, fidgeting her hooves as she looked around.

The cottage was like everpony else´s home. Old, a bit dusty and without much light. But what Gusty felt different in this cottage was the silence. Gusty had always lived with somepony. Firstly, her family. Then, she lived with her master, her husband and shortly with her daughters. Lastly, she and her daughters shared a home with Ms Prickly. As a result, she was used to having some noise in her house, especially since she gave birth to Celestia and Luna. As annoying as it could be at times, it also relieved her having somepony around. The silence in Starswirl´s cottage overwhelmed her. She wondered how he could deal with much of it.

“Oh it´s not burnt thank goodness.” Starswirl sighed in relief. “Hey, do you want tea?” he asked everypony.

Starswirl´s voice made Gusty come back to reality.

“Huh? Oh yeah, please.” she replied.

“I usually have it with milk. Any special requirements in your tea?”

“Nope. Well actually, could you add salt and butter to mine?”

“I´m afraid I don´t have them…”

“That´s ok. I like tea both ways.”

“Salty tea, that´s a curious request…”

“That´s how we had it back home.”

“Oh ok. Where are you from?”

“The Himarelayas. I was born there but with my family moved to Tambelon´s capital due to famine.”

“Wow, that´s pretty far away. And when did you come here?”

“When I was a filly.”

As they talked, Gusty checked on Lancer and Glory. The two of them shook their heads, saying that they didn´t find anything. Gusty invited them to come with her hoof, but Lancer shook his head and pointed at his eyes and then at Gusty, telling her that they´ll check one more time. Then, Gusty turned to Buttons and Fizzy. Buttons shrugged. She implored Gusty to keep talking to Starswirl.

“What about you? Have you always been living here?” Gusty asked Starswirl.

“No. I was born Trottingham, and I lived my whole childhood there. But for safety reasons I moved to this cottage in the forest some years ago.”

“Safety reasons?”

“Like I said before, you´re not the only one who does things behind the emperor´s back.”

Gusty raised her eyebrow curiously. Those words indicated that he was not going to give them to Grogar, as he himself might have been part of another rebellion. She couldn´t help but wonder how many rebellions there were that she hadn´t heard of.

As she and Starswirl were talking, Buttons and Fizzy kept searching in Starswirl´s bedroom. Seeing that their search was being fruitless, Buttons sighed.

“Maybe we are being a bit paranoid.” she told Fizzy. “We haven´t found anything on this guy.”

“You suggest that we stop now?” she asked Buttons.

“Unless you want to keep searching…”

Fizzy looked up while she thought on what to answer.

“Nah, I´m good.”

However, just when they were about to join Gusty and Starswirl, Fizzy realized that she didn´t look under the rug. After making sure that Starswirl wasn´t looking, she slowly moved the rug away with her hoof. She gasped softly when she saw a hatch.

“Tch! Tch! Buttons!” she called her friend.

Buttons turned around.

“Look!” Fizzy whispered as she pointed at the hatch.

Buttons gasped. She walked to the hatch.

“Do you think they could be down there?” she asked Fizzy.

“There´s one way to find out….”

Fizzy picked the hatch´s ring to open the door but Buttons stopped her.

“Wait. Let me handle this. I don´t want you to cause any mess.”

“Well that´s a great way to show that you trust your best friend.” Fizzy crossed her forelegs.

Buttons rolled her eyes. She picked the ring and pushed as hard as she could, as it was stuck. Suddenly, she managed to open the hatch´s door in a blow, making a noise loud enough for everypony to hear. Buttons covered her mouth.

“Way to avoid messing things up.”

“Shut up Fizzy.”

Everypony turned their heads around. Gusty and Glory had terrified faces, whereas Starswirl was confused. Lancer threw them a death glare. Fizzy and Buttons laughed nervously.

“It was her.” Fizzy pointed at Buttons.

“You traitor!”

Starswirl sighed.

“I see you discovered the hatch… I wanted to give you food and tea first but seeing you mistrust me that much I guess I´ll have to rearrange things…” he said somewhat upset. “Come.”

Everypony followed Starswirl to the hatch´s door.

“Be careful with the stairs.” he said before going downstairs. “Ignite your horns everypony. Last one closes the door.”

After doing as told, they started going downstairs one by one, Fizzy being last. Like Buttons, she struggled to move the door, closing it in a blow.

“Gah!” she yelped after the blow.

She looked ahead to see if anypony heard her yelp, but they didn´t seem to have heard. Either that, or they didn´t mind. Then, she tried to get away from the door as possible.

After some stairs, they finally felt flat ground. They couldn´t tell where they were exactly, as there was not a single light in the room. Once he made sure every guest had arrived, Starswirl lit a chandelier, finally giving vision to the mysterious room they just entered. Everypony was left open-mouthed.

Underneath of what seem to be a normal cottage was a small library and study. There were tall bookshelves full of books, piles of books on the floor as well as boxes of rolls. There was a table full of chemistry materials such as flasks, beakers, test tubes, inter alia. There were also posters hanging from the wall featuring sketches or notes. In the middle, near the chemistry material, there was a cauldron.

“What is this place?” Glory asked amazed.

“My small study.” Starswirl replied with pride.

They paced around as they investigated.

“This is amazing.” Gusty said in admiration.

Starswirl smiled and looked away shyly when he heard Gusty.

“All these books you see are books of magic. They include spells, history of magic, potion-making, and many more.” he continued explaining.

Gusty picked one of the books and glanced through its pages. She was not the best reader in the world, but she could understand the content thanks to the usage of pictures.

“What about this?” Fizzy pointed at the chemistry materials.

“This is chemistry material. I usually make potions there. Hooves off.” he said upset while hitting gently Fizzy´s hoof, who was trying to touch the material.

“Potions? But why would we need potions if we can already do magic?” Buttons asked Starswirl.

“Well, the potions I mainly study are medicinal. You never know when you might need them.”

“Back when I was a nurse, sometimes I used potions to lower fever or pain.” Glory added.

“Do you know what kind of potion Katrina has?” Gusty asked Starswirl.

“One to grant power.”

“Black magic, that´s for sure.” Lancer commented.

“Black magic?” Fizzy asked curiously.

“There are many types of magic. Black magic is the one used to harm or control others. Or one that grants too much power.”

“Grogar must be a black magic expert then.” Gusty assumed.

“Wow, that´s a genius assumption.” Lancer said sarcastically.

“Hey, unlike you and Glory, we knew absolutely nothing of magic.” Gusty replied back in self-defence. “We´re still discovering the amazing world of magic, I beg your pardon.”

Lancer clicked his tongue.

“Touché.”

“Grogar is basically the master of black magic.” Starswirl explained. “Of course there was black magic before him, but nopony had ever studied it as closely and as much as Grogar did. Nor they became as powerful.”

“And what other types of magic are there?” Lancer asked curiously.

“It´s not as simple as white and black magic. Every unicorn can do the same spells but at the same time we have a unique talent that others don´t have. It depends on our cutie marks. But I´d categorize Gusty´s magic as elemental magic, the type of magic derived of nature´s elements such as water, earth, fire and in her case, wind.”

Fizzy gasped excited.

“Does that mean I have elemental magic too?!”

“She can control water.” Gusty explained to Starswirl.

The unicorn nodded.

“That´s so cool!”

“And what´s yours?” Glory asked him.

“I… still haven´t figured it out. I guess some of us find out sooner and others later in life. Though I´d love to know.”

“Me too…” Glory muttered under her breath.

“What about prophecy magic? Does that exist?” Gusty asked.

“You mean divination?”

“Yes, but also casting a prophecy.”

“Well, in order to cast a prophecy, you need to look into the future first, which is all what divination is about.”

“So if somepony with divination magic says something will happen, does that truly mean it will happen?”

“Not necessarily. I usually compare soothsayers to doctors. If you have an unhealthy habit the doctor will tell you that you´ll get sick if you keep on with that habit. The soothsayer is similar in that aspect. They will tell you you´ll get fortune or misfortune should you go down a path.”

“I see…”

“And what are these notes?” Buttons pointed at them.

Starswirl chuckled nervously.

“I like experimenting. So sometimes I combine spells to create new ones.”

“You can do that?!” Lancer asked shocked.

“Of course! How else do you think our ancestors learned to do magic? I bet sometimes some of you experiment unconsciously.”

“Does playing with water and wind count?” Fizzy asked curiously.

“To me that sounds like testing your magic.”

“HA! In your face Lancer. Who´s the expert in magic now, huh? Gusty and I were ahead of all of you all along.” She put her foreleg around Gusty.

Lancer rolled his eyes.

“How did Majesty not tell us about this?” Glory thought aloud.

“Even royals have limited knowledge of magic, especially after having been under Grogar´s reign. In order to obtain a wide knowledge about magic you need a very detailed study. And royals don´t have the time for that. That´s why I wanted you to come. To explain everything I knew so it could aid in your quest. Or at least I hope it does.”

“It does Starswirl.” Gusty smiled tenderly at him. “Thank you so much.”

Starswirl blushed.

“Um… You´re welcome.”

“I can´t help but wonder though, where did you get all this stuff? And how do you know so much about-”

Suddenly, they heard knocks on the door.

“Were you expecting somepony?” Fizzy asked scared.

Starswirl shook his head. Again, the door was knocked, this time stronger than before.

“We know somepony is here! This is the Trottingham Guard so if you don´t want any trouble you´d better open the door RIGHT NOW!” Gaueko yelled.

Everypony gasped panicked.

“What do we do now?” Buttons asked.

“Stay here.” Starswirl ordered them. “I´ll deal with them.”

“But what if they attack?” Gusty asked worried. “Will you be able to defend yourself?”

“It doesn´t happen what happens to me. Right now, you and your friends are what matter. You are our kind´s only hope.”

Gusty was going to replicate but Glory held her shoulder and shook her head. Gusty caught the message and sighed defeated.

“Ok. Be careful.”

“Didn´t you hear me?! OPEN THE DOOR!” Gaueko yelled once again.

“Turn off the lights and don´t do any noise.” Starswirl instructed them before closing the hatch´s door.

Once it was closed, Gusty lit her horn to go upstairs. She stopped once she was close enough to the door. The other unicorns followed her. Once they were near her, she unlit her horn.

“I´m going to count to three. If you don´t open the door in that time, I´ll tear the door down! ONE! TWO!”

Before he could reach three, Starswirl opened the door already.

“Finally!” Gaueko exclaimed. He sighed. “Long live Crunch!” he smiled fakely. “Allow me to introduce myself, I´m Gaueko, this is Gwyllgi and this little guy here is Cavall. We are the three captains of the Trottingham Guard. May we come in?”

Starswirl nodded.

“Thank you so much. Long live Crunch.” Gaueko said as he entered.

“Long live Crunch.” Starswirl said in response.

“Long live Crunch.” Gwyllgi repeated.

“Long live Crunch.” Starswirl replied.

“Long live Crunch!” Cavall exclaimed excitedly.

“Long live Crunch.” Starswirl said, tired of having to repeat that sentence.

Once the three dogs were inside, Starswirl closed the door.

“So… What brings you here captains?” he asked as they inspected his house.

“Nothing, you know, just a routine inspection.” Gaueko replied.

Starswirl bit his lip.

“May I ask why?”

“I am afraid we can´t tell you that. All I can say is that there are five fugitives in the run. You know, bandits.”

“I see…”

“And we want to make sure that they aren´t hiding inside anypony´s house. Hope you don´t mind, although if you are not hiding something from us then there´s nothing to worry about, right?”

“Right.”

Gaueko noticed the porridge and tea.

“Ah, dinnertime I suppose.”

“Yeah…”

“Could I have a cup of tea?”

“Sure…”

As he prepared the tea for Gaueko, Starswirl observed Gwyllgi and Cavall, hoping that they would not find the hatch.

“Careful or it will spill.”

Gaueko´s voice redirected his attention to the tea.

“Here you have your tea, mr Gaueko.”

“Why, thank you. You can sit in front of me.”

Starswirl did as told. He fidgeted his hooves.

“Do you like your tea, sir?”

“Exquisite. You seem somewhat nervous, mr…”

“Herbs. Mr Herbs.” Starswirl lied.

“May I ask why?”

“Well… I just want to satisfy you with my tea.”

He felt his heart stop when he noticed Gwyllgi near the rug. The unicorns were as well, their heart pounding faster each time they heard the diamond dogs´ steps. Cavall looked under the bed and saw nothing. He and Gwyllgi nodded.

“We haven´t found anything sir.” Cavall said

“Good. I think it´s time that we leave.” Gaueko said as he got up.

Starswirl exhaled air from his nose in relief. However, it wouldn´t last long, as Gwyllgi noticed the rug.

“What a beautiful rug you have there, mr Herbs!” she said said with a smirk.

Starswirl widened his eyes.

“Definitely.” he laughed nervously.

“Can we see it more closely?” Cavall asked cunning.

“Of course…”

Gusty gasped softly. She was going to use her magic but Buttons stopped her and suggested using hooves instead. Together, they held the door´s ring.

Gwyllgi and Cavall dragged the rug away picked up the rug, making the hatch´s door visible.

“Well, mr Herbs. It seems like you have some secret door!” Gaueko exclaimed. “I wonder what´s down there. A hideout? Let´s find out.”

Starswirk bit his hoof nervous as Cavall picked the ring to open the door. However, it was going to be more difficult than he thought. He pushed as hard as he could, but still he wasn´t able to open the door, as the ponies were pushing the door towards themselves. Gwyllgi scoffed.

“What´s taking you so long?” she asked upset.

“I can´t.” he grunted. “I think it´s stuck.”

“Give me that!” she pushed Cavall aside.

Gwyllgi tried to open the door but was uncapable as well.

“What the-”

“Are you two seriously that weak?!” Gaueko asked impatiently.

“Well, you try it!” Gwyllgi clapped back.

“Fine!”

Gaueko gave up in the first try.

“Ok, we´re gonna have to do this the hard way.”

He hit the hatch until it broke in half. Before he could do anything, Gusty threw him against the wall with a gust of wind.

“Let´s go!” Gusty exclaimed to everypony.

Gwyllgi and Cavall gasped.

“There she is!” Gwyllgi pointed at Gusty

“Get her!” Cavall exclaimed.

“Oh you are in so much trouble…” Gaueko said maliciously before howling.

Glory stopped running after she heard Gaueko howling.

“Oh no.” she mumbled.

“What?” Gusty asked.

She understood Glory´s terror when she saw dozens of dogs popping from the ground.

“Uh oh…”

Chapter 6: Whac-A-Dog

The dogs had a smug face as the ponies they walked backwards, unsure of what to do. They were surrounded outside and inside Starswirl´s house.

“What are you going to do now?” Gaueko asked him as he and his companions giggled victoriously.

Fizzy took a glance of Starswirl´s teapot.

“Would you like some tea?” she asked innocently as she took the teapot.

The three diamond dogs burst out laughing.

“Seriously?” Gwyllgi asked as she wiped her tear. “You seriously think that you´ll dispose of us with a tea party?”

“Hilarious!” Cavall exclaimed in laughter.

“I´ll take that you´d like some. Though you´re going to need ice because it´s HOT!”

Fizzy took all the tea and used it to hit the three dogs at the same time against the wall. Afterwards, she spilt the tea on them, giving herself and her friends the chance to run to a window at the back of the house. The three dogs yelled in pain.

“Wow! You weren´t kidding when you said that she could manipulate water.” Starswirl said to Gusty.

“Who´s laughing now, chuchos de mie-” Fizzy bragged.

“Come on.” Buttons took her hoof so she could catch up with them.

“It burns! It burns! IT BURNS!” Cavall cried.

“Stupid pony!” Gwyllgi wiped her face.

Gaueko growled in fury as a rabid dog.

“You know what? I wanted to bring that darn pony alive to Crunch. But now I want to bring her DEAD!”

He took his arch and an arrow. He pointed it towards Gusty, who was the last one to go through the window. She gasped surprised.

“Watch out!” Lancer took her hooves and pushed her down.

The bow landed in front of the ponies. Gusty sighed.

“Thank you.” she said to Lancer.

“You´ll thank me later.” he replied. “Right now, what we need to do is get away from here as fast as we can. It won´t be long until a diamond dog ca-”

Everypony yelped alarmed when a paw got Lancer´s leg and dragged him down. Glory and Gusty grabbed his hooves. Fizzy and Glory held them to protect them from being dragged down. Buttons kicked the diamond dog´s head. The dog whimpered and let Lancer go. With Glory´s and Gusty´s help, he got out of the hole.

“Get us from the ground! Quick!” Glory ordered Gusty.

“Right away!” the unicorn nodded.

As she lifted them and herself from the ground, Gaueko threw more arrows to them. Glory and Lancer took out their shields. Gaueko signed Gwyllgi and Cavall to the left and to the right respectively. They threw bows.

“Ay ay ay!” Fizzy exclaimed panicked as she and Buttons took out her shields.

To make matters worse, there were dogs that jumped to get them. Seeing they were very overwhelmed, Starswirl summoned a magical forcefield so they could think more clearly.

“We can´t only defend ourselves!” Glory pointed out. “We need to attack!”

“But how?” Buttons asked.

“If we take the shield out, even if it´s for one moment, we´ll end up with a bow on our heads!” Fizzy pointed out.

“Well, we trained for something all these months, didn´t we?” Lancer said sarcastically.

“It´s true, but none of us are as skillful with the sword as you are mister!”

As Glory and Buttons talked, Gusty assessed the situation. She looked at the diamond dogs and then at the Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall. Lastly, she looked at Fizzy, Buttons, Lancer and Glory. She noticed each of them, had a talent. Fizzy´s was controlling the water, Buttons was physical self-defence, Lancer was an expert in the battlefield, and Glory knew everything about every creature. Maybe all of those talents could serve

“I think I know how.” she said.

Everypony turned her head to her.

“You think?” Fizzy asked shocked.

Gusty nodded.

“So, our only chance of survival is listening to Gusty.” Lancer thought aloud. “Oh dear…”

“I know I´m not the best strategist, but if you listen to my idea, maybe you can give me suggestions to improve and concoct a plan together. Does that sound good?”

Everypony looked at Lancer. He sighed.

“Fine. What´s your plan?”

Gusty smirked as she raised her eyebrow.

Meanwhile, Cavall tried to destroy Starswirl´s forcefield by throwing arrows at it, his attempts failing every time. However, the diamond dog stubbornly kept trying.

“Grr!” Gwyllgi growled frustrated. “Will you stop it? You´re going to waste all of your arrows!”

“That´s because you´re not helping me!” Cavall clapped back. “Maybe if we worked together…”

“You idiot! Don´t you realize that even if we did, it´d still not break?! Do you seriously think that three arrows will destroy that thing?!”

“Well, do you have a better idea?”

As they argued, Gaueko didn´t take his eye out of the forcefield. Suddenly, he noticed it lowering.

“Guys! Guys!” he shook his paw to quiet them. “It´s coming down.”

Gwyllgi and Cavall turned around. As soon as they noticed the forcefield lowering, they prepared their arches and arrows.

“You fools…” Gaueko said to the unicorns, even though they couldn´t hear him. “Coming back to the ground is a stupid idea that will cost you your lives…”

Gaueko prepared to shoot an arrow, waiting anxiously for the forcefield to break. However, when it happened, it went faster than he imagined. In just a blink, the forcefield broke, four of the unicorns disappeared and one of them reappeared in front of him, most specifically Lancer.

“Heeeey…” Lancer greeted him with a cunning smirk before kicking him to the ground and starting a sword duel against him.

Buttons reappeared in front of Gwyllgi. Before the dog could react, the unicorn kicked her head.

“Oh, you´re so going to regret that…” Gwyllgi threatened Buttons as she took her sword out.

Buttons kicked her to the ground and took her sword as well, combining kicks and blows with sword movements.

Lastly, Glory reappeared in front of Cavall. She knew that despite his small size, the dog was known for being extremely agile. Before you could attack, he attacked you already. So, Glory decided to play the same way. She disappeared and reappeared as fast as Cavall moved, attacking when he least expected it.

Gusty and Fizzy were back to back, frowning at the diamond dogs in both sides.

“You ready?” Gusty asked Fizzy with a smirk as she passed her canteen to her.

Fizzy giggled as she opened both her canteen and Gusty´s.

“Oh yeah.”

Gusty inhaled and exhaled.

“I can do this.” she muttered to herself.

After closing her eyes, she ignited her horn. She got on two legs and when she put them on the ground, she created a wind that sent them flying away.

“Did it work?” she said while opening her eye slowly.

“Check it yourself.” Fizzy replied with a playful smirk.

Gusty smiled when she saw the results of her idea. The diamond dogs were groaning in pain, massaging his backs. Then, she looked at Fizzy, who smiled back at her until she noticed some dogs coming towards them. She them with water and hit them against the ground. Gusty levitated herself and Fizzy before some dog underground could captured them.

“Hold on!” she said to Fizzy as she held her hoof.

She created a tornado. The diamond dogs tried to run away as fast as they could or dug to take cover. Others held on to what they cold such as grass or rocks. Though they were abundant, Gusty´s tornado managed to get some dogs. She made the tornado go faster to make them feel dizzier. Then she sent them away one by one. Some of the dogs landed over others and others against Starswirl´s house´s walls. One of them landed Starswirl. The unicorn teleported himself to the side to avoid the dog crashing against him.

“What a mare!” he said fascinated.

“Oh, that gives me an idea!” Fizzy exclaimed excited.

Fizzy captured a dog and rolled it towards other dogs. They fell backwards as if they were bowls.

“Strike!” she exclaimed before high hoofing Gusty.

Despite feeling exhausted by the battle, the more Gusty fought, the better she felt. She had never felt so much freedom to experiment with her magic until now, let alone seeing the domain she could get if she let the wind flow. Words couldn´t describe the euphoria she felt whenever a new idea came into her mind, which was racing in possibilities.

Despite fighting Cavall, Glory was able to take at times glimpses of how Gusty and Fizzy battled, which was pure chaos. She observed that they were so focused on coming up with ideas, that they didn´t realize that a diamond dog shot an arrow on fire towards them.

“Girls, behind ye!” she warned them.

The two unicorns turned around. Gusty´s first instinct was to send the arrow away and Fizzy´s was to extinguish the fire. So, the two sent wind and water to the arrow at the same time respectively. The water extinguished the fire, and the wind cooled the water, leaving a frozen arrow as a result. Both the unicorns and diamond dog observed the arrow intrigued. Gusty and Fizzy shared glances and then looked at the diamond dog.

“Uh oh…” the dog muttered under her breath.

She tried to run away but was trapped by Gusty and Fizzy in less than a second. The same would happen to the dogs around.

“Glory, look!” Fizzy shook her hoof energetically like a filly that wanted to show something to her parents.

Glory sighed in relief and smiled. Despite thinking that they were disorganized in their battling style, she had never seen that much passion in soldiers, probably because they were fighting in their own way. Majesty was too erratic in her teaching, thinking everypony´s fighting style should be the same, though she couldn´t blame her, as she didn´t have the same knowledge of magic Stasrwirl had. Glory also liked to stick with what she knew, but after seeing Gusty and Fizzy, she realized that maybe being more flexible with those whose fighting styles couldn´t fit Majesty´s could be useful. Besides, it was rare seeing somepony smile in the battlefield. Normally, Lancer described soldiers´ faces in battles as full of despair and exhaustion, and most importantly, hopelessness. Seeing Gusty and Fizzy smiling truly raised her spirit, most importantly, it brought her hope. And the reason why they were smiling was Gusty.

Surprised, Gaueko turned his head to Gusty, who smirked smugly. He clenched his teeth while growling frustrated.

“Everypony step aside!” Gusty said to Lancer, Buttons and Glory.

Knowing what she was about to do, Gaueko looked around in panic, hoping there was something that could help him. He noticed Starswirl standing in the side, watching how the unicorns fought, which gave him an idea. Lancer noticed how he looked at Starswirl with a mischievous smile.

“Don´t you dare!” he yelled at him.

Gaueko made Lancer lose his balance. He ran to Starswirl and put the sword around his neck. The poor unicorn didn´t have the chance to defend himself, since Gaueko put a ring around his horn.

“STOP FIGHTING!”

After his yell, both the diamond dogs and the unicorns stopped fighting. The latter gasped horrified, especially Gusty, due the resemblance of that scene to that fateful day she became a widow. Her eaction peaked Gaueko´s interest.

“Whoah, whoah. Easy.” Glory tried to calm him down.

“You´d better do what I say or I´ll slit his throat! Understood?”

The unicorns unlit their horns and lifted their hooves as a sign of surrender, the first and the quickest being Gusty, making Gaueko smirk. Seeing she was starting to hyperventilate, Fizzy held her hoof to remind her that she wasn´t alone.

“Good. I want the Wind Warrior to come to me.”

“Wind Warrior?” Starswirl thought aloud, confused about that name.

Slowly, Gusty landed herself and Fizzy.

“Let go.” she told her. “Please.”

Fizzy nodded her head. As everypony else, she observed terrified how Gusty walked to Gaueko. The scared unicorn breathed in and out slowly to prevent a panic attack.

“What do you want?” Gusty asked the diamond dog once she was right in front of him.

“I want you to throw your sword or any weapon you have to defend yourself.”

Gusty undrew her sword and dropped it, as well as her shield.

“Good, now stay very still.” he smirked as he walked towards her, making sure everypony could see his sword.

Everypony gasped. They tried to run to her but were held back by the diamond dogs.

“Gusty!” Buttons called her name.

“Don´t do it!” Lancer begged her.

“Save yourself!” Glory asked her.

“Don´t worry! I´ll help you.” Fizzy grunted as she struggled to free herself. “Let me go, you rascal!” she yelled at her captor.

“If you try to fight, he´ll pay the consequences.” Gaueko pointed his eyes at Gwyllgi, who was preparing to shoot Starswirl.

Gusty looked at Starswirl. From that fateful day, Gusty promised herself if something similar happened again, she´d do anything to save that pony, even if that meant death. However, she knew she was too needed as to die. Her daughters needed their mother. Her friends and Majesty trusted her to defeat Grogar. The fate of unicorns like Starswirl depended on her. She had to take charge in another way of the situation. She held her necklace and frowned at Gaueko.

“Shoot on the count of three.” Gaeko ordered Gwyllgi. “One… Two…”

“Don´t sacrifice for me.” Starswirl begged her. “Please.”

Gusty shook her head.

“Don´t worry. I won´t.”

She ignited her horn and hit Gaueko´s left eye before he could reach three. Everypony and diamond dog widened their eyes or gasped in shock. Gwyllgi dropped her bow and arrow. Cavall was mouth agape.

Gaueko dropped his sword and released Starswirl to cover his eye in pain. The unicorn ran away from him an took the ring out of his horn. Though he couldn´t see his face, he knew Gusty had make a scratch in his eye due to seeing some blood in his fingers after touching his wound. He chuckled menacingly as he turned around to confront Gusty.

“Oh, you´re so going to pay that.” he threatened her before he growled.

He jumped over her and put a ring around her horn. Afterwards, he scratched her neck, untying her husband´s necklace. Starswirl gasped horrified.

“Gusty!” Fizzy exclaimed as she kept fighting the diamond dog that restrained her.

He laughed maniacally as she saw Gusty trying to free herself from his grasp.

“You shouldn´t have angered me. Otherwise, I would have brought you to Crunch alive.” he said as he took his shield and raised it to hit her head.

Gusty closed her eyes. Starswirl gasped and scowled.

“NO!” he exclaimed.

Without realizing it, he blasted Gaueko and threw him away from Gusty, leaving every witness in shock once again.

“Huh?” Gusty opened her eyes confused.

Gaueko´s groan perked her ears up. By turning her head to the left she saw the diamond dog laying on the ground. She widened her eyes and turned to the right, where Starswirl covered his mouth with his hooves, astonished by what he just did.

“Did you just see what I saw?” Glory asked Lancer.

“Uh huh.” was all Lancer could articulate.

“What did you do?” Gusty asked Starswirl.

“I… I don´t know.” he replied as puzzled as Gusty was. “It just… came out of me.”

“Who…” Gaueko grunted as he got up. “DID THIS?” he walked to Buttons, Lancer, Glory and Fizzy. “Which one of you magic freaks did this?!”

“I hate to advocate for them, but they didn´t do this, sir.” the diamond dog holding Lancer said. “They all have rings in their horns.” he pointed at Lancer´s horns and then at Lancer´s and Glory´s. “See?”

“Even this one, who´s putting up a fight, didn´t do it!” said the diamond do holding Fizzy.

“Then that means…” Gaueko thought aloud.

Starswirl froze when his gaze met Gaueko´s.

“Well, well, well.” he clapped his paws together. “It seems like you can fight after all, mr Herbs! But from what I saw before, it seems like you haven´t got enough experience...”

He started to walk towards Starswirl, inviting Gwyllgi and Cavall to follow him. The unicorn walked backwards to get away from them, but he was rounded.

“So, let me and my companions teach you, shall we?” Gaueko continued as he and his companions prepared their fists and weapons.

Fortunately, before they could lay a paw on Starswirl, Gusty took the ring out of his horn and pushed them away with a gust of wind.

“I´ll distract them, you free the others!” Gusty told Starswirl.

Despite being a bit insecure if he was able to attack again, he nodded. All he had to figure out which spells were the most adequate for battle and use them. He transported himself behind the diamond dogs that were holding Gusty´s friends captive and struck their tails. The dogs whimpered as they accidentally released the unicorns. He ascended himself and blasted all the dogs he could to give Fizzy, Buttons, Lancer and Glory time to free themselves of those anti-magic rings. As Gaueko stated, Starswirl didn´t have much experience fighting so he was very anxious.

“Ok, ok!” he panted. “Somehow, I am surviving.”

However, he didn´t noticed a diamond dog pointing his bow at him behind his back. He yelped when heard an arrow releasing.

“Where is it coming from, where is it coming from?!” he turned his head from the left to the right.

He felt something around his body that pulled him down, which avoided the arrow hurting him. Once he was on the ground, he checked that what pulled him down was Fizzy´s water.

“You´re welcome!” Fizzy smiled at him.

“Fizzy, I need you!” Gusty called her.

“Right! On the count to three?”

“Yes!”

“Ok. One. Two. Three!”

At three, they threw water and wind at the same time, trapping Gaeuko, Gwyllgi and Cavall in a block of ice.

“Let´s go!” Gusty said to everypony.

Fizzy raspberried at the three diamond dogs before running away.

“Wait!” Gwyllgi shouted. “You can´t go! This isn´t over yet! Grr! I hate unicorns.”

“How long do you think we´ll be here?” a diamond dog asked her friend.

“The sun seems to be beating down today so hopefully, we won´t be very long. Nonetheless, it will take time.” the friend answered.

“Guys, you realize that we failed our mission?” another diamond dog pointed out scared.

The diamond dogs bit their lips. Cavall gasped.

“It is true! What are we going to do now, Gaueko?” Cavall asked his superior fearful. “Crunch is going to kill us!”

To his and Gwyllgi´s surprise, Gaueko wasn´t yelling at them. Instead, he was grinning at something.

“Not yet.” he replied. “You!” he called an injured dog next to him.

“Sir?”

“You see a shiny, amber-coloured thing there?”

The dog narrowed his eyes and raised his paw at the level of his forehead to get a better view, despite aching terribly. Despite the amount of grass, he was able to see a small sparkle.

“I think so.”

“Bring it to me.”

The diamond dog nodded. Slowly, he managed to get up. Limping, he took the object and brought it to Gaueko. He chuckled when he saw the phoenix feather on a rope.

“There it is.”

“What is that?” Gwyllgi raised her eyebrow confused.

“That, Gwyllgi, is the Wind Warrior´s necklace. I noticed how she held it when I threatened her friend.”

“And what do you plan to do with it?” Cavall asked.

“Keep track of her with it, of course!”

Gwyllgi and Cavall looked at each other.

“And how exactly?” Gwyllgi asked.

“By scent, you idiots! We are dogs, remember?”

“Aaah!” Gwyllgi and Cavall said in unison.

“Pfft, that´s super obvious, I never doubted that!” Gwyllgi lied. “I just wanted to make sure you had the same idea as I.”

“Same here!” Cavall exclaimed.

Gaueko narrowed his eyes at them.

“Yeah right.”

“You want me to smell it, sir?” the diamond dog holding the necklace asked.

Gaueko nodded. The diamond dog closed his eyes and sniffed carefully. He grunted as he knelt carefully and sniffed the ground as well.

“You perceive her smell?” Gaeuko asked.

The diamond go opened his eyes once he was finished sniffing. He turned his head back and nodded with a triumphant smile.

“I got you mare.” Gaueko mumbled.

Chapter 7: A team

The unicorns ran in the depths of the forest, getting away from the diamond dogs as much as possible, taking advantage of the fact that they were trapped. After running for a long time, they laid on their backs on a circle, panting in a mixture of exhaustion and panic.

“Did we lose them?” Gusty asked.

“We must have!” Lancer deduced. “We´ve been running for like half an hour!”

“I think it is safe to deduce we did.” Glory opined. “And even if we weren´t far enough, most of the diamond dogs are either injured or stuck in ice, which means they will need time to recover. So, at least for noo, we´re free from danger.”

“Does that mean that we can stop? Please tell me so because I´m feeling super dizzy.” Fizzy massaged her temples.

“I think so.” Glory replied.

“Ah, thank you.” Fizzy covered her mouth and turned to the right.

“Wow. If Fizzy of all ponies, is feeling dizzy, then that means we really did a sprint!” Buttons commented, making everypony smile.

“Yeah. And survived an army of diamond dogs.” Gusty added.

“Not only that. We actually defeated them.” Glory pointed out.

The unicorns widened their eyes in realization.

“Yeah. We did.” Gusty said in shock after processing Lancer´s words.

“Th-that was real, right? It was not a dream.” Buttons asked to reassure herself.

“Well, there must be a reason I ran so much to the point of feeling like this, isn´t there?” Fizzy said.

“So me attacking the captain and soldiers really did happen?” Starswirl covered his face. “Oh dear…”

“And what´s more surprising… We did this without Majesty.” said Lancer.

“You never fought in a battle without Majesty?” Gusty asked him.

“I did, but Majesty´s the one that does all the planning and leads us. Without her, all of us feel kind of lost.”

“Especially the ones who are new at military, such as me.” Glory commented. “And even when I was a spy, she guided us.”

“Wish I could say the same.” Gusty muttered under her breath, somewhat resentful of her due to her experience in Grogar´s castle.

“Wait. You two were spying at Grogar? In his castle?!” Starswirl asked shocked.

“It´s a very long story.” Gusty smiled nervously.

“So, fighting without her guidance was kind of a frightening experience.” Glory continued.

“Yet here you are standing with us alive.”

“Unless all of us are dead and we don´t know it.” said Lancer.

“We are alive. You guys did it. Without Majesty. And you will do so if the case ever comes again.”

“Maybe this was pure luck.” Glory fidgeted with her hooves. “What guarantees us the next time will be ok?”

“There´s a chance that it won´t be ok but there´s also a chance it could be. Who says it won´t be ok again?”

Lancer and Glory shared worried looks.

“No offense, but I think you two depend too much on her.” Fizzy said to them.

“How could we not?! We owe her our lives!” Lancer answered upset.

“I know that. I´m not saying what you do is wrong, but what if for some reason Majesty is unable to guide you for some time again? What will you do then?”

“I… didn´t think about that.” Glory replied.

“Ok, you´re right, fine. But I believe is better having Majesty around.”

“I agree with that.”

“To be honest, I kind of felt relieved she wasn´t around.” Buttons confessed a bit ashamed.

“What?!” Lancer and Glory asked in unison somewhat upset.

“It´s just I am not as good with a sword as you are Lancer. And I sometimes feel like she somewhat disdains me for that. As if she thinks I´m going to die soon or something.”

“You dying?!” Gusty scoffed. “Buttons, you literally defeated a group of diamond dogs with only your moves!”

“But that´s not what she taught us…”

“Well, she didn´t teach me to fight with water and yet I fight with it all the time. And Gusty always fights with her wind as well. Maybe you could prove her wrong by doing what you did today.” Fizzy winked an eye.

“Maybe.” she turned to Lancer and Glory. “How do you think she would react?”

“She´s very methodical, but if she sees it works, I believe she´ll accept it.” Glory replied. “As Fizzy said, if she and Gusty can fight their way, why can´t you?”

Buttons smiles.

“I can see why she likes you two. You are amazing fighting!”

“Years of experience!” Lancer said proudly.

“I do have a close relationship with Majesty, but I still have to improve my fighting.”

“Seriously?” Lancer turned to Glory. “Did you see how you were fighting Cavall?! How were you so fast?”

“It´s just a matter of knowing your enemy´s pattern.”

“And how did you know it?”

“Long talks with Majesty.”

“I´m sorry to interrupt, but does any of you have water?” Fizzy asked. “I spent all of mine fighting the diamond dogs.”

“Of course, chérie.” Buttons passed hers to her. “You deserve it after holding our back.” she patted Fizzy´s shoulder. She widened her eyes when she observed how fast Fizzy was dirnking “Slowly.” she lowered her canteen. “Otherwise, your tummy will hurt.”

Fizzy sighed after drinking.

“Sorry.” Fizzy apologized.

“I never had the chance to tell you this but the way you manipulate the water is amazing!” Glory told her.

“You really think that?” Fizzy asked excited.

“Even though I got the impression you wouldn´t make it through one second in battle, you certainly showed me otherwise today.” Lancer admitted.

After listening to him, Fizzy´s dizziness went away, allowing her to spring to Lancer and hug him. Gusty, Buttons and Glory held their laughter.

“I knew that deep down you liked me!” Fizzy exclaimed excited.

“What? No! I don´t like you.” he replied as he struggled to undo her hug.

“Yes, you do!”

“Ok, I am starting to tolerate you, but if you don´t let me go right now, I might change my mind.”

“Ok. Ok.” Fizzy raised her hooves calmly. Seeing she was making him grumpy, she kept on smirking teasingly.

“It was amazing fighting alongside you Fizzy.” Gusty said as she and the rest incorporated to sit down. “Who knew that we could do so much by combining our magic?”

“Same here! But it´s mostly thanks to you. If it wasn´t for your plan, this wouldn´t have been possible.”

“Oh, don´t say that.” she stroked her own mane nervously. “Any of you could have come up with that.”

“Well, apparently none of us did.” Buttons said in reply.

“You still have a lot to improve in your planning, but you did great.” Lancer said. “At least you´re not Fizzy.”

“Hey!” Fizzy complained.

Gusty giggled.

“And Starswirl.” she turned to him. “Thanks for saving my life.”

“Huh?” the unicorn said in response, as he was too focused on his thoughts.

“I said thank you for saving my life. It was very brave of you to do that, considering that you´ve never fought before.” Gusty smiled honestly.

Starswirl blinked surprised. He felt his heart pounding faster, which caused him to take some time to answer.

“Oh.” he scoffed nervous. “I- It´s the least I could do. You risked your life for me as well. I had to return the favour somehow.” he returned the smile to Gusty.

“I´m sorry for the interruption guys, but it´s getting dark.” Lancer looked at the sky so everypony did the same. “I suggest we gather some food and make a fire.”

“Yeah, maybe we should.” Gusty smiled nervous.

“Wohoo! Dinner time together!” Fizzy jumped excited.

“We always have dinner together, Fizzy.” Buttons told her.

“But I love having dinner with all of you, no matter how many times!” she replicated.

Buttons shook her head as she rolled her eyes playfully.

“Ah finally we eat something.” Fizzy sat down next to Buttons. “I´ve been starving all day!”

“If we hadn´t been attacked, we would have had more food at the camping, but I think this will be enough to survive the night.” Glory said as she served everypony some berries.

“Speaking of that, does anypony know how to go to Trottingham from here?” Gusty asked.

“Well, I haven´t been this far in the forest but I know Trottingam is that way,” Starswirl pointed at the left. “and Catnada the other way.” he pointed at the north.

“Catnada?”

“That´s Katrina´s domains, in other words, the previous earth pony kingdom.” Glory explained.

“If Katrina gets involved, will we have to go there?” Buttons asked her.

“I don’t think it will be necessary. Katrina will send her soldiers to Trottingham for help. Plus, I´m pretty sure earth ponies won´t take kindly that we step into their territories, let alone, fight in them.”

“And it´s further than Trottingham.” Starswirl added.

“Either way, I wouldn´t mind paying a visit.” Fizzy gave her opinion after eating some berries. “I love seeing new places, even if the inhabitants aren´t unicorns.”

“Yeah? Let´s see if you still think that once you interact with the earth ponies.” Lancer said in reply.

“And what is Trottingham like?” Gusty asked Starswirl.

“Like every empire´s city. There´s not much of difference except in its sight.”

“Yeah, of course. We are talking about Tambelon, after all.” Gusty said sarcastically, making Starswirl chuckle.

“You´ve been in Trottingham?” Buttons asked surprised.

“I´m actually from there.”

“Really?”

Starswirl nodded.

“I was born and lived there for some time. But then I had to run away and take refuge in the forest.”

“For owing books about magic, am I right?” Lancer deduced. “Which makes me wonder, how on earth did you get those?”

“Let´s just say Majesty´s rebellion wasn´t the only one that existed.”

Everypony widened their eyes.

“You were part of a rebellion?!” Fizzy asked dramatically.

“Kind of, yes. But it wasn´t like yours that intended to dethrone Grogar. This was more of a fight for knowledge. To discover what we were capable of. Like in every other kingdom, Maragon´s scholars were clerics, since they were the ones tasked with studying magic to teach everypony how to use it correctly so that they took good care of the spirits and followed their teachings. Grogar attacked many monasteries to wipe those books from everypony´s memory. However, the clerics made a deal with him: they would teach him everything they knew about magic in exchange of keeping their books and lives.”

“But what could Grogar not have known about magic by then?”

“He already knew a lot, that´s true. But he didn´t know about pony magic. Knowing everything about your enemy, whether their strengths and weaknesses, their family or anything, always gives you an upper hoof.”

Those words struck Gusty´s mind. She told Grogar about her family. What could he do to them? Despite her thoughts, she still payed attention to Starswirl.

“But clerics were not willing to sacrifice their knowledge to Grogar. They always had copies of the books, so even if they had to give all their books to Grogar, they´d still have all the information they needed to keep on studying and teaching it.”

“And since clerics live isolated, he wouldn´t realize anything was going on.” Gusty concluded.

“Not really. Grogar was always smart enough to send guards to check there was no `illegal´ activity in there.” Starswirl made an air quote. “However, clerics kept their secret very well-hidden.”

“And what did they do to cover it up?” Buttons ate some berries.

“They pretended to do what everypony did. Farming, blacksmithing…”

“So, I guess your family was part of that clergy, am I right?” Lancer presumed.

“No. Clerics seldom had children. They were so dedicated to the study of magic that they didn´t dedicate time to forming a family, even though, there´s not a rule anywhere that forbids it, then again it depends on the head of the monastery. However, that didn´t mean that they couldn´t adopt orphans to form them.”

“Wait. Ye´re an orphan?” Glory asked him.

“Hmm.” Starswirl nodded. “My parents were very sick, and if you couldn´t find anypony to take care of your children, you could write a scroll to the monastery and asked them if they could, so that´s what they did with me. I was lucky, because not everypony could afford to do that.”

“I see. At what age?”

“I think I was nine years old. What about you? I presume you asked me this because you are too.”

“Younger, six years old, I believe.”

“And what happened to them? How did you end up alone in the forest?” Gusty asked fearful, already guessing the end of the story.

Starswirl looked down.

“There are two ways a rebellion can end: either you are the winner, or you are loser. You take all you wanted, or you lose it all. Some are lucky and prevail while other don´t. My case was one of the unlucky ones.” he sighed sadly at the same time he shook his head. “Unfortunately, Grogar caught us out off guard and discovered our disobedience. And as punishment, he burnt our home. The survivors of the fire were captured and executed.”

“So… You were the only one to live.” Said Gusty.

Starswirl closed his eyes in pain.

“And how were not caught?” Lancer asked in disbelief.

“Because it took me longer to get out of the castle. I was trapped at the library but managed to get out. By that time, I watched how Grogar´s soldiers took them away. The worst thing is that I didn´t do anything.” his eyes filled with tears. “I just ran away and hid. Like a coward.” he whimpered.

Everypony showed sympathy in their faces as Starswirl told his story. They stayed silent, trying to process all that they heard, another reason being not knowing what to say. Gusty felt every word he said. Starswirl looked at her.

“So, when I saw you were about to be attacked, I couldn´t stay still, not like before. I had to do something. But then you had to risk yourself to defend me.”

Gusty frowned. She got up and ran to hug him. Everypony was left astonished by her reaction, especially Starswirl, whose cheeks turned redder each second it passed.

“It´s ok. It wasn´t your fault.” she softly said to him.

“Um… Thank you, I guess.” he tried to return the hug but could barely move from the surprise.

“No, I mean it.” Gusty put her hooves on his shoulders. “I´ve gone through something similar and I know the pain and guilt than brings.”

“And how did you stop feeling like that?”

“I didn´t. I never did. However, there were ponies who needed me, so I helped them. It might never go away fully but it will minimize if you do what they would have liked you to do. And you´re doing so already. That´s a first step.”

Starswirl gave her a small smile.

“Wow. How is it the only ones that don´t have a sad backstory?” Fizzy asked Buttons.

“If you look backwards, neither your life nor mine was a walk of roses. However, we did have each other.” she held her hoof. “I guess that´s what made it easier.”

“I´ve been wondering, how long have you known each other?” Gusty walked back to her seat.

“In one of her shows, actually.” Buttons replied.

“Shows?” Lancer raised an eyebrow.

“My family were musical entertainers. And we travelled from Puerto Caballo to Tambelon´s capital! We all sang songs, played music and did tricks.”

“I suppose yours involved water.” Glory grinned playfully.

“Por supuesto!Wanna see me do one?”

Fizzy took air. She closed her eyes and held her breath to make bubbles in Buttons´ canteen.

“Fizzy!” Buttons scolded her.

“Sorry.” Fizzy shrugged. “Had to do a demonstration. Besides, who doesn´t like bubbles?”

Buttons rolled her eyes.

“Anyway, my family used to watch her shows faithfully.” she continued explaining.

“She was the one who gave us the most money!” Fizzy hugged her.

“She always thanked me for that. Slowly, we began to know each other and became the best of friends. Especially when both of us were captured as slaves.”

“That´s how you ended in Grogar´s castle.” Gusty finished the sentence.

“Exactly.”

“I´m sorry, but I think I never got to know your names.” Starswirl said to everypony. “Except you, Gusty.”

“I am Fizzy.”

“I am Buttons.”

“You´re from Prance, right? I say it because of the accent.”

“Oui.”

“I am Glory, the other orphan.” Glory chuckled. “I´m from Trotland.”

“And finally, I´m Lancer. My birthplace? Same as Majesty´s.”

“The monastery?!” Gusty and Buttons asked in unison.

“You have Majesty´s age? I didn´t think you were that old.” Fizzy scratched her head.

“Hey, Majesty´s a mature unicorn but she´s not that old. And neither I am. I´m almost two decades younger than her, for your information. My family formed part of the nobility that served Majesty´s family, and they were residing with her parents.” he shook her. “You idiot.”

“Call me everything you want, but previously, you gave me proof that you tolerated me.”

Lancer groaned, making everypony laughed.

“You know what? I enjoyed knowing more of you.” Gusty told everypony once she was done laughing. “It´s a great way to strengthen our bonds as a team.”

Everypony stared at Gusty.

“A team?” Lancer asked.

“Yeah, we are a team, aren´t we? Because I believe we make a good one.”

“Aye, it´s true.” Glory said in realization. “We make a good team!”

Buttons and Fizzy nodded in agreement.

“Well, it´s not that bad working with you.” Lancer admitted.

Though Starswirl happy for the unicorns, another part of him was sad, causing him to give them a bittersweet smile. Gusty noticed that detail. But just when she was about to ask him about what was troubling him, Fizzy yawned.

“I´d love to keep talking with you guys, but I´m feeling a bit sleepy, aren´t you?”

“Aye. I think it´s time we slept.” Glory agreed with Fizzy. “Besides, tomorrow we have a long journey ahead of us.”

“Yeah, of course.” said Gusty, before taking a worried glance at Starswirl.

Of all the ponies, Gusty was the only one awake. She couldn´t stop replaying in her mind the stressful events that had happened earlier. Especially the part were Gaueko held a sword at Starswirl´s throat, which would lead to flashbacks of her husband. Gusty touched her neck to hold her necklace, only to realize that she wasn´t wearing it. She gasped horrified.

“Min.” she muttered. “No, no, it can´t be.”

Feeling that she was hyperventilating, she got up and walked away to a distance safe enough for everypony in case she couldn´t control her anxiety, and thus her magic.

“Min, min, min.” she kept repeating to herself.

Naturally, a slight wind started to form. The wind caressed Starswirl´s cheek, waking him up. He gasped softy when she noticed the wind around Gusty. He got up and walked to her, struggling to advance though the wind.

“Hey, are you ok?”

“Huh?” the wind stopped abruptly. Gusty turned back. “Oh. Well… Not really. I lost my necklace. Gaueko must have untied it when he scratched my neck.”

“You think he has it?”

“Likely. I know this will sound stupid, since I´m pretty sure he´ll use it to track us down, I hope he does. Because that means that I might have a chance to take it back.” she sighed. “That necklace is not just a necklace. A very special pony gave it to me.”

“Who was that pony?”

“My husband.”

“Oh!” Starswirl said somewhat disappointed. “Uh… You have a husband?”

“Used to.”

“What happened to him?”

“He was murdered.”

Starswirl widened his eyes.

“Oh… I am so sorry.” he said shocked and concerned. “No wonder why you said those words to me before. And probably why you were so frightened when Gaueko trapped me. When did that happen?”

“Three years ago.”

“And how have you been doing ever since?”

“Well, in the beginning was hard but like I said, some ponies needed me, and that kind of serves me as a escape.”

“Is that why you became the Wind Warrior?”

Gusty turned his head to him.

“I noticed Gaueko called you that. Though it estranged me, since you told me that you joined Majesty recently.

“Oh!” Gusty chuckled. “Well, that´s connected to the reason I joined Majesty but not the main reason. It was for somepony else.”

Starswirl widened his eyes.

“You have foals?”

Gusty nodded.

“Two beautiful fillies. I was fired from my previous job so one of Majesty´s unicorns found me and took me to her, that´s when she offered me food and money in exchange of spying on Grogar´s castle.”

“You mentioned it earlier, yes.”

“Unfortunately, I got caught by him, but we managed to run away. Majesty was super willing to kick me out, but then she discovered that I was part of a prophecy that said that a wind warrior would defeat Grogar.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“Well, that must have been a lot to digest.”

“Definitely. But you know what? When you said to me that we brought you hope, it made me feel needed. My husband always loved to help others, so I guess he must be proud that I´m helping other ponies.”

“Yeah. Who knows, maybe they are feeling the same today.”

“How did you deal with it? You were on your own for so many years! I could have never done it if I was alone.”

“Well… You get used to it.”

“And don´t you feel lonely?”

Starswirl clicked his tongue.

“Sometimes.”

Gusty looked at the sleeping unicorns and then at Starswirl. She smiled.

“You know, when I said to everypony that we make a good team, I was talking about all of us.”

“Yeah, I know.” Starswirl said relaxed at first, though his attitude changed when he understood what Gusty meant. “Wait. You mean me too?”

Gusty nodded.

“You want me to be part of your team?” he put his hooves on his chest.

“I do.”

“But. I have no training. How do you expect me to go in a battle? You saw what happened today, how panicked I was, I-” Starswirl talked in a fast pace.

“Sure, you need polishing. But you proved to us today what you are capable of. Besides, an expert in magic would come in handy.”

“You are saying it because you don´t want me to be alone. It´s ok, I´m fine, really. I´ll only slow you down. Besides, it´s not only up to you.” Starswirl pointed at the others.

“But if you don´t come with us, what will you do?”

Starswirl couldn´t find an answer to that question. The diamond dogs knew where he lived, so it would be unwise to come back.

“I´ll… I´ll figure out.”

Gusty exhaled air from her nose.

“It´s ok, take all the time you need. But remember to sleep too!” she winked an eye.

Starswirl chuckled nervously.

“I´m going back to sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day.” she said as she and Starswirl went back to where they were sleeping.

“Whatever I choose, I wish you the best. And I´m pretty sure that you´ll take back your necklace.”

Gusty smiled tenderly.

“Good night.”

Gusty fell asleep faster than Starswirl. The stallion took some time to think Gusty´s offer. Once he made up his mind, he slept peacefully, like everypony else. However, that didn´t mean they were free form danger.

Some hours later, Fizzy woke up abruptly after she heard a deep, loud roar, as if a beast was just next to her. She panted while she checked around.

“Maybe it was just a dream.” she thought aloud, since she didn´t see anything.

However, she heard the roar again. She looked at the bushes to see if they were moving, but it was too dark to see a thing. After gulping, she ignited her horn and approached the bushes. After getting a close view, she saw nothing. She walked around and still found nothing.

“I don´t see a beast anywhere, why is it so loud?” she asked frustrated while spinning around.

Gradually, the roar turned softer, and softer, to the point of almost being inaudible. Fizzy sighed relieved.

“It´s away now.”

Poor Fizzy couldn´t be more mistaken. After taking some steps back she noticed something furry. Slowly, she looked up, finding a pair of narrowing, glowing amber eyes with narrow pupils staring at her. She roared at her.

“Miércoles.” Fizzy mumbled.

Her yell awakened everypony.

“Fizzy?” Buttons asked half-asleep.

Everypony gasped horrified when they realized she had disappeared.

“Oh no.” Gusty said horrified.

Chapter 8: A paranormal encounter

Buttons got up in a second and ran around while calling Fizzy.

“Fizzy?! Fizzy?! Where are you?!” she panickily sprang from place to place.

“Did she seriously disappear while we were sleeping?!” Lancer yelled angry.

Gusty gasped when she saw some hoofsteps.

“Look!” she yelled as she pointed at the trail.

“Oh dear! Oh dear!” Buttons exclaimed as she ran behind Gusty.

The ponies went through the same bushes as Fizzy. When the fire couldn´t illuminate their path anymore, Gusty conjured up some light. They carefully observed their surroundings and had their weapons prepared as they followed her trail. The forest was dark, with not a soul around. The only sound that they could hear were their voices calling for their lost friend, an owl hooting or a wolf howling.

“Ooh… What if an animal hunted her? What if she was captured by diamond dogs? Or what if one of Grogar´s beasts caught her?” Buttons bit her hoof.

“Maybe it´s not that bad.” Lancer said to reassure her after he pressed his lips. “Maybe she discovered something and she cried from the surprise. I think what you need to do is to calm down a little so we-”

“DON´T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!” Buttons grabbed his cheeks. “Fizzy is like a sister to me! How would you feel if your sibling got lost and I told you to calm down?! Huh?”

“I´m just saying that you should calm down so in case we have to fight you are in conditions to fight…” Lancer finished.

“HOW CAN I BE CALM?!”

“Ok, maybe ye need to be a little far from each other until ye no longer feel the urge to kill him…” Glory pushed Buttons and Lancer away.

“Agreed.” Lancer took a few hoofsteps back. “Geeze, I think I prefer Gusty being anxious.” he muttered.

Noticing that she was hyperventilating, Gusty walked backwards to her side.

“Light the way, Starswirl.” she ordered him.

The unicorn nodded.

“Oh my, I can´t breathe.” Buttons held her chest.

“That´s because you´re anxious Buttons.” Gusty explained her as she offered her a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “That happens to me often. It´s a very ugly sensation but you can make it go away.”

“How?!”

Gusty took air and exhaled it through her mouth slowly. Buttons took example and did the same. Little by little, she recovered her breath and didn´t feel a lack of air anymore.

“Feeling better?” Gusty asked her.

“Somewhat. I am still very nervous but at least I can breathe now. How do you deal with it every day?”

“Well, it´s not every day.”

Buttons raised her eyebrow.

“Ok, maybe every day.” she smiled nervously. “However, now it´s not all the time. Some months after my husband´s death, every little thing made me remember that moment. No matter where I was, I always felt very anxious.”

“Must have been very hard.”

“It was. Especially because I couldn´t use my wind magic and that made it worse. When I got back home, I had to go to the basement because I exploded when I arrived home everytime. It was perfect because I would never get in trouble, since there was not a single object in there to break. And,” Gusty hesitated before continuing. “it was a good way to ensure my daughters weren´t around.”

“Were you afraid that you would hurt them if they were around?”

“Not only that. Imagine seeing the pony that is supposed to protect you breaking down. As a mother, you are supposed to make your children see that everything will be ok. No child should see their mother like that.”

Buttons exhaled air from her nose. This time, she was the one to offer a comforting hoof.

“You were and still are in a very difficult situation. Honestly, if I found myself in your shoes, I would be feeling far worse.”

Gusty gave out a small chuckle.

“No, no, I´m serious. Did you just see me? I would just start with coming up with the worst scenarios and whine non-stop! I can´t blame you for breaking down. The one to blame is Grogar and Grogar alone. He´s the one that makes this world difficult for families! But that will change once this is all over.”

“You think so?”

“Not really. But a part of me does.”

Gusty smiled tenderly at Buttons.

“But now let´s focus on finding Fizzy.” Buttons sighed. “I´m very very worried.”

“I am too. Fizzy was the first one to be friendly to me back in the castle. Not only that, but she was also the first one to be kind to me in a long time. I wouldn´t forgive myself if something happened to her.”

“If you wouldn´t forgive yourself if something happened to Fizzy, imagine me! That would be my downfall, really.”

“Um… I don´t want to interrupt you but I don´t see any more hoofprints.” Starswirl said to them.

“WHAT?!” Buttons asked shocked.

She and Gusty ran to Starswirl. He was right, there were no more hoofprints! However, it was very strange. The hoofprints didn´t lead to a cave or a river, nor there were prints from other animals, especially carnivorous ones. Instead, Fizzy´s hoofprints stopped abruptly. Though, there were hoofprints on top of others from the end of the trail to where Gusty and Buttons were standing.

“Eeeh… Hello? Can somepony explain this?” Lancer asked confused.

“It seems that she got to this point and then walked backwards.” Starswirl deduced. He shook his head. “This is very strange, it´s like she vanished afterwards.”

“Maybe she teleported?” Gusty suggested.

“No, we would have heard or seen a flash if she did.” Glory replied.

“Maybe a giant eagle took her!” Buttons put her hoofs on her cheeks. “Does that exist, Glory?”

“There are rocs, which are giant predatory birds. But they are not on this zone. Also, I´m pretty sure we would have seen a giant bird flying.”

“Then maybe the ophiotaurus from before?”

“There would be tracks of it, if that was the case.”

“THEN WHAT ON EARTH COULD HAVE HAPPENED?!” Buttons shouted full-throated while pulling her mane.

Her shout was so strong that everypony had to cover their ears. When she realized what she had done, she covered her mouth.

“I know you´re worried, and for a good reason, but quiet down, will you?” Lancer told her gently. “We could attract wolves or something.”

“Sorry.” she apologized.

Suddenly, they felt a chill wind running on their spines. Lancer sighed frustrated.

“What is it now, Gusty?”

“What do you mean?”

“You are panicking about something. I felt a wind.”

“Um… That wasn´t me…” Gusty denied.

“Look, I know that I haven´t dealt with your feelings accordingly to the past but-”

“No, no. I am worried about Fizzy, but I´m not panicking.”

“I am the one that´s panicking.” Buttons laid her hoof on her chest.

“You are right, you are not hyperventilating. But if it wasn´t you, then who-”

Afterwards, they heard a loud roar. The ponies formed a defensive circle.

“There´s a predator near!” Glory exclaimed quietly. “It could be a manticore.”

Starswirl widened his eyes.

“That´s no manticore…”

Everypony turned their heads to him. What they saw next froze their blood. Not so far away, there was a figure approaching. They couldn´t tell what it was due to the darkness, but they knew it was no common creature. This creature was shining, meaning it could be a spirit. Before it could notice them, Starswirl cast a disappearing spell. Ironically, the nearer the creature was, the quieter its roar became. The unicorns shivered in fear when they saw the creature´s face. In its dark coat, there were spots as bright as the stars. Its eyes were perhaps the most terrifying feature. From those shiny feline eyes, there were permanent tears running down its cheeks. The expression it bore was full of anger. However, that was not what scared the unicorns the most.

Buttons covered her mouth in shock when she saw what the feline creature had on her mouth. It was Fizzy! She looked unconscious, as if she was sleeping, and thankfully there wasn´t any blood on her body, which meant that the creature didn´t devour her. The creature approached her head to sniff, causing the ponies to hug as tight as they could. Fortunately, it turned around and ran away, fading away in the meadow of the forest.

Once it wasn´t around, the unicorns stopped holding their breaths as Starswirl undid the disappearing spell.

“What on earth was that?” Lancer couldn´t stop shivering.

“I think it was a spirit.” Glory held her chest. “But not of the good ones that´s for sure.”

“So you´re saying we had a paranormal encounter?” Gusty asked Glory.

“Very likely.” Glory answered.

“She had Fizzy! She had Fizzy in her mouth!” Buttons hyperventilated. Noting it, Gusty patted her shoulder.

“I had hoped that I´d never see her again.” Starswirl laid his head on his hoof.

“You saw her before?!” everypony exclaimed at the same time.

Starswirl nodded.

“Hm. On a day looking for supplies.”

“Why is it that whenever you go for supplies something happens?” Lancer asked frustrated.

“I know, right?” Starswirl chuckled.

“And what do you know about that spirit?” Buttons ran to him. “How many times have you seen her? Does she eat ponies? Do you think Fizzy is in great danger?”

“Ok, ok. One question at a time.” he told her, feeling a bit overwhelmed by her constant questions. “Firstly, I don´t know much about her since I only saw her once. But from my experience, if her roar is quiet, it means she´s near, whereas if it´s far, it´s louder. As for eating ponies, she´s a spirit. Spirits don´t need food to survive, so don´t worry about Fizzy being eaten. And the last question… I can´t tell, sorry.” he lamented.

Buttons sighed worried. Glory patted her back.

“What happened the day you found her?” Gusty asked Starswirl.

“On that day, I noticed some earth ponies hiding. I offered my help, but they were too scared already to think clearly, that and the fact that it was the first time they ever saw an unicorn. Suddenly, I heard a small roar. From that sound I knew there was a predator around, but I didn´t imagine she was right behind us. And she wasn´t just any predator, she was a spirit. I tried to defend myself and the earth ponies, but against a spirit, there´s little that you can do. The earth ponies stopped moving and fell to the ground. Anyway, once they were not moving, she took them away, carrying them on her mouth.”

“Just like she was doing with Fizzy….” Glory thought aloud.

“Do you know where she lives?” Buttons asked him.

“Unfortunately, I can´t answer that question. However, I noticed that she was following the path to Bridlengton that time. And she did this time as well”

“Are you suggesting that the spirit brings Katrina ponies?” Gusty supposed.

“It could be…”

“But how on earth did Katrina manage to have a spirit working for her?” Lancer asked estranged.

“I don´t know if black magic can deal with the spiritual world, but there could be a possibility Katrina corrupted that spirit with black magic. However, I imagine that must be almost unachievable. This is a higher power we´re talking about. One mistake and you die. Then again, I´m no expert at dark magic because I haven´t studied it.”

“And what do you think the spirits does to the ponies? Does she…” Buttons took a pause, not wanting to verbalize that possibility. “kill them?”

“I don´t know…” Starswirl shook his head. “But I guess Katrina sent the spirit to capture us so she could deliver us to Grogar. And he probably wants to see Gusty die or kill her himself.”

Gusty shivered.

“As for us… He might want to make an example of us too.” Starswirl continued.

“So what you´re saying is that Fizzy´s not dead?” said Buttons.

Starswirl clenched his teeth.

“There is a chance for both.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let´s go!”

“Let´s go where?” Lancer asked her.

“To Bridlengton.”

“Whoah, whoah.” Lancer blocked her way. “You want to go to an earth pony city alone?!”

“If that means saving my friend, then I´ll gladly do so.”

“But in doing so you´re risking your life! Earth ponies don´t like unicorns. It is not a good idea!”

“Well, I´ve been risking my life from the moment I befriended Gusty.”

Gusty bit her lip.

“Don´t worry. I wouldn´t have it any other way.” Buttons winked an eye at her, making smile shyly. She turned to Lancer. “If none of you want to accompany me, I´ll go alone.”

“You can´t go alone! It is one of the rules of the army: never separate from the group! We stick together.”

“Then if we stick together, we need to rescue Fizzy. I can´t leave her at Katrina´s mercy. Besides, you see how efficient she is in battle! Why would you want to leave her behind?”

“Who said I want to leave her behind?”

“Well, you don´t want me to go to Bridlengton.”

“I don´t want you to go alone.”

Buttons widened her eyes.

“Wait. So you want to go to rescue Fizzy?”

“Obviously!” Gusty replied.

“We are all we have, we can´t leave each other alone.” Glory added.

“No, no, I knew you two would be in the ride.” Buttons told them. “But Lancer?” she turned to him.

“Well, d´uh! She might be very annoying, but she´s amazing in the battlefield. I never thought I´d say this but she makes things easier. We can´t keep going on without her.”

Buttons hugged Lancer tightly.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“No need to thank me.” Lancer tried to free himself for her hug.

“But we can´t go to Bridlengton just like that.” Glory looked at her armour. “We´ll need disguises.”

“But where do we do get them from? Do we steal them from the first cottage we see only for those ponies to report us and complicate things more?” Lancer said.

As they were talking, Gusty noticed some rocks, which gave her an idea.

“Maybe we don´t need to.”

The unicorns stared at Gusty.

“Look, we have plenty of material here.” she pointed at the rocks.

After looking at the rocks, the unicorns started to wonder if Gusty was crazy.

“You´re not seriously thinking that we can make disguises with rocks, are you?” Buttons asked confused.

“Of course we can! Don´t you remember what we learned at training?”

After mentioning the training, all the unicorns, except Starswirl, understood what she meant.

“Aaah…” they said in unison.

“I´m sorry, but I don´t quite understand what you mean.” Starswirl said ashamed.

“Yes, you do. You must have studied that spell!”

Starswirl widened his eyes.

“Of course, turning objects into other objects. That´s genius!”

“Oh, it´s nothing.” Gusty blushed flattered.

Every time they had interacted, Starswirl was the one to blush. And this time, Gusty was the one to blush. Starswirl felt butterflies in his stomach when he saw her cheeks turning red. She was adorable when she did that. He stared dreamily at her.

“Hello…” Lancer waved his hoof in front of Starswirl. “We have a soldier to save. We can´t lose time.”

“Oh!” Starswirl snapped off his thoughts. “Yeah, sorry.”

Each pony picked up the quantity of rocks they felt they´d need. They turned the rocks into dresses, shirts and cloaks. They put them over their armours.

“Oh, we´re going to be so hot in this…” Buttons wiped the sweat off her forehead.

“Yeah, but it´s either that or getting caught. You choose.” Lancer told her.

“There´s still one problem though.” Glory said after she put on her cloak. “The cloaks don´t cover our horns.”

“I can fix that!” Starswirl suggested.

After he ignited his horn, the unicorns´ horns were no more. Afraid of having lost them, they started to touch their foreheads. Starswirl chuckled.

“Don´t worry, they are still there. It´s just an invisibility spell but instead of covering the whole body, it just covers the horn.” he explained.

“That´s a great idea!” Gusty commented.

Whenever Gusty complimented him, Starswirl would feel great joy inside. He smiled.

“There´s a catch though.” his smile vanished. “You cannot use your magic. If you do, the spell will be broken.”

“Well, it´s not like we are going to use our horns anyway.” Lancer shrugged. “I mean if we did, we would pretty much give away that we are unicorns.”

“So, are we ready to go?” Gusty asked everypony.

“I think so.” Glory replied.

“Me too.” Lancer answered.

Starswirl nodded.

“Then, let´s not waste more time!” Buttons exclaimed. “Fizzy, I´m coming for you!”

Determined, Buttons ran into adventure, leaving everypony staring at her.

“Um… It´s the other way.” Starswirl corrected her with a nervous smile.

Buttons slowed down abruptly.

“Oh right! Sorry…” she apologized before quickly changing direction.

Even though she sprinted, Glory caught her on time before she was far enough not to catch up with her.

“Why don´t we let Starswirl take the lead in this one?” she suggested. “Since he´s the one that knows the path.”

“Very well. But you better be quick!” she told Starswirl.

She glared at Starswirl as he took the lead. He looked a bit worried at Gusty. The mare just smiled, shrugged and laughed it off, making him laugh as well.

Author's Note

Huzzah everypony! Hope you´re doing ok. God, I cannot believe we are september, can you?

Anyway, I haven´t uploaded for some time. And there´s a good explanation for that. The reason? I got covid 🙃.

The story is that this year is the first time we celebrated our local festivities in my town since 2019, so it´s natural that I wanted to do something, even though I spent most of the festivities at home. But on the last day, my sister and I met with our cousin to go to the street market and the funfair, and at the street market when I was buying a fanny pack, the guy that attended me was coughing. Anyway, five days later just when we went to the flat where my sister was residing to do her master´s degree to pick everything up, I started having a sore throat and on the evening, I started having low-grade fever. A day later, I did a pcr and I was positive. Such a pity, because my sister and I had plans to go to the beach and do tourism! And days later, my sister and dad were positive as well.

But don´t worry, I didn´t get very sick since I have three shots, even though I had fever (the power of vacccines, always get your shots!). The one who got the sickest is my sister, since she only got two shots. Even so, I wasn´t in the mood to write, my mind just couldn´t focus.

The important thing is that we´re now ok and I´m able to write. One last thing, does any of you have any experience with children between 0 and 5? It´s because I want to write a story for an organization that teaches bilingual children to read and they are accepting suggestions. However, I don´t know what to write about, so if you have any ideas, that would be appreaciated.

Anyway, sorry for the long note. Thanks for your patience and hope you enjoyed this chapter! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 9: The weeping roar

“Aaah…” Fizzy groaned as she opened her eyes slowly. “Where am I?”

Her answer came once her vision cleared. She found herself in a dark and quiet room. The walls were made of an ugly-grey stone. At her right, there were black bars, which made her realize where she was. She gasped horrified.

“Oh no. No, no, no, no.” she said to herself in denial as she touched her bars.

She tried to run to the left, but something made her trip. She realized that her hoof was chained. She snarled. Scared, she walked backwards until she touched the wall, taking a glance of her surroundings in hopes of finding somepony familiar.

“Buttons? Gusty? Glory? Lancer?” she asked scared. “Where are you?”

Unfortunately, none of them replied to her. Her breath started to accelerate. Fizzy was not the type of pony that got easily scared, but she was not immune to fear. Cells terrified her. They were such small spaces, there´s barely light in them, you hear the heart-wrenching screams of tortured prisoners begging for mercy. But mostly, it was the loneliness that terrified her the most. Throughout her life, she was always accompanied, whether it was her family or Buttons. She never experienced what it was like being alone until she came to Grogar´s castle. Fizzy got distracted very easily or had problems doing chores, added to her upbeat and free-spirited attitude, which caused her to be punished in a dungeon. And those moments were terrifying because nopony was around her. After Gusty´s incident, she had hoped to never be in a dungeon again. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the door opening. Fizzy widened her eyes when she saw a cat-lady dressed in smart red garbs, with purple fur at both top and bottom and the end of the sleeves. Next to her, there was another brown cat dressed in a dark green shirt and wearing a pointy hat. Fizzy softly sighed in relief, as she was expecting Grogar. Nonetheless, this cat lady didn´t seem to be much better though. The cat smiled at her as she approached the bars.

“Well, well.” she said. “Look who we have-”

The smugness faded away once she checked the unicorn in detail, giving Fizzy the sensation that she was not the unicorn she was expecting.

“You´re not the Wind Warrior!” she spat angry. She turned to the other cat and grabbed him by the shirt. “You told me that we had the Wind Warrior!”

“No…” the cat answered shyly, trying to hide his blush. “I said that we had one of the Wind Warrior´s soldiers.” he rectified.

“Oh.” Katrina replied, surprised at her mistake. “But that was not for I asked for! I asked for the Wind Warrior, not one of her pathetic little soldiers!”

“Says the one who´s yelling at her henchcat instead of admitting her mistake…” Fizzy muttered under her breath.

Katrina´s ear twitched.

“What did you say?” she asked Fizzy.

“Nothing!” Fizzy answered innocently.

“That stupid jaguar… Thanks to her, Crunch´s soldiers might take the Wind Warrior first!” Katrina said as she let go of her henchcat´s shirt, making him fall on his back.

As soon as she heard the word `jaguar´, Fizzy remembered what had happened. She had found an enormous and glowing feline creature. She got so scared that she lost conscience. This jaguar must have brought her to this dungeon to the cat lady. Speaking of which, she seemed to be working for Grogar, since she wanted to bring Gusty to Grogar herself so bad. She immediately knew who she was when she noticed the potion hanging from her neck, which made her recall the conversation they had with Starswirl about black magic.

“You´re Katrina!” she exclaimed as she pointed at the potion.

The two cats turned their heads to her. Katrina smiled.

“Aah… So you know about me. Of course, Majesty must have told you.” Katrina moved her mane smugly. “Well, you might not be as valuable as your little friend, but you could still be a good asset to get to her. So tell me.” she cornered Fizzy against the wall. Where is she?”

“Ha! What makes you think that I will speak to a meanie who wants to hurt my friend and impede our chance to get freedom, huh?” Fizzy clicked her tongue. “You´re the villain. You are the one supposed to know this.”

“Oh don´t worry. I was counting on that.” Katrina snapped her fingers.

“Which one you want me to use mam?” the cat asked to Katrina as he took out various torture tools. Fizzy´s ears dropped in both fear and surprise. “Spear, lash, cat´s paw, a breast ripper, a mask, an axe, or-”

“Whatever you want!” Katrina replied impatient.

“I choose a spear!” the cat picked it up from the floor.

“Ay ay ay.” Fizzy whispered.

She gulped as the cat walked to her.

“Ok, ok!” Fizzy exclaimed. “I´ll speak. I´ll speak.”

“Aw, I wanted to use it so bad!” the cat complained.

Katrina rolled her eyes.

“I´ll ask again. Where is she?” she asked threateningly to Fizzy.

“Uh…” Fizzy whimpered as she fidgeted with her hooves. “Well… I don´t know where she´s not.”

Katrina blinked, both confused and surprised by the answer.

“You´re telling me you don´t know where the Wind Warrior is?”

“It wouldn´t be accurate to assume that I couldn´t exactly not say that it is or isn´t almost partially incorrect.”

“So you do know where she is!”

“On the contrary! I´m possibly more or less not definitely rejecting the idea that in no way was any amount of uncertainty that I undeniably…”

The more Fizzy spoke, the more confused the cats got, which made Katrina more impatient.

“Stop it!” she ordered in hopes of shutting her up, but the unicorn kept on speaking.

“…do or do not know where she shouldn´t probably be, if that indeed wasn´t where she isn´t. Even if she wasn´t at where I knew where she was, that´d mean I´d really have to know where she wasn´t.”

Katrina smacked her forehead. Frustrated, her henchcat covered his ears. Furious, she walked to a wall and scratched it with her claws to make her stop talking. Fizzy covered her ears with aversion. She gave our a nervous chuckle.

“Rep! Rip her apart!” Katrina ordered him.

“With pleasure!”

Fizzy gasped terrified. Luckily, before the spear could reach her, a soft voice started singing a melancholic melody, puzzling the unicorn and the two cats.

“I hear you every night at the castle, weeping roar

Even in my sleep I hear you

I hear you every night at the castle, weeping roar

Even in my sleep I hear you…”

“Wow. And I thought I sang beautifully.” Fizzy thought to herself.

Unlike Fizzy, the two cats didn´t listen with pleasure. Instead, they complained.

“Seriously?!” said Katrina as she lifted her paws to the air.

She got up and exited Fizzy´s cell.

“A mournful painful cry you give me, weeping roar

It feels like your soul fle.

A mournful painful cry you give me, weeping roar

It feels like your soul flew.”

However, it stopped singing abruptly and whimpered instead. When Katrina came back, she was grabbing an earth pony by her foreleg, much to Fizzy´s surprise.

“Posey! Whatever are you doing here? Aren´t you supposed to be doing your duties?!” Katrina asked her angrily.

“Well, I wanted to tell you something but seeing that you were super busy, I wanted to wait. And in the meantime, I sang.” Posey smiled apologetic.

Fizzy stared at the earth pony. This was the first time she had ever seen an earth pony. She wasn´t much different from unicorns, except for the fact that she didn´t have a horn on her forehead. Nonetheless, it was one of the prettiest mares she had ever seen. Her long decorated pink braids, her green eyes, the brown coloured spot in her muzzle, her colourful dress… She looked away when she felt the earth pony´s gaze upon her.

“What is it that you have to tell me?” Katrina asked her impatiently.

“The guards require your presence. They need to tell you something.” Posey replied.

Katrina growled. Rep simply complained.

“Aw, I wanted to show off my abilities to Katrina.” he blushed when he realized what he just said. “I mean, wanted to do my job.”

“You and I are not over.” Katrina put her claw on Fizzy´s nose. “Come on, Rep.”

“Yes, mam.” he said pleased, almost as if he was lovestruck.

“Gee. Looks like some creature has an awful taste.” Fizzy said once she was sure that Katrina and Rep were out of sight.

“I know right?” Posey replied.

“GAH!” Fizzy jumped backwards when she noted that Posey was still there. “Didn´t you go away?”

“Nope I didn´t.” Posey smiled back. “From what I´ve heard, you are part of the unicorn rebellion, right?”

“Um… Why do you want to know that?” Fizzy gasped excited as she widened her eyes. “Oh! I know, you are part of the revolution of earth ponies!”

Panicked, Posey shushed her.

“The walls have ears. Katrina is a cat, and cats have excellent hearing. Not to mention, cats are known for being sneaky. Not to mention,” she grabbed Fizzy´s foreleg and tilted her head. “the guards can hear us.”

“But I don´t see any guards…”

“They are not here, but like I said, the walls have ears. Even if I´m in another room, I can hear everything. And they can too…”

Fizzy looked from side to side. Usually, she was the one to be called eccentric, and she couldn´t blame the ponies around her, since she always had her head on the clouds or arrived at random conclusions. But this mare… This mare was a whole new level of being eccentric.

“Oops.” Fizzy chuckled apologetic. “Sorry.”

“How do you know about the earth pony rebellion?”

“Oh, Gusty told everypony in front of Grogar.” she shook her hoof.

“What? What? Who´s Gusty? And did she do that?” Posey asked shocked.

“Gusty is the Wind Warrior. Have you heard about that?”

“Yeah, I heard everything from Katrina. Is it true, is she really going to defeat Grogar?”

“That´s what the prophecy says…”

“So, if you defeat Grogar, that means, earth ponies will be free as well, right?” Posey asked hopeful.

“Well… I suppose so because sooner or later we would have to go through Katrina. And that moment might be sooner than we thought, considering that I´ve been ponynapped, but I´m not so sure if my friends will rescue me or Majesty first.”

“Who´s Majesty?”

“Our leader.”

“But I thought the Wind Warrior was your leader…”

“Honestly… I have felt more lead by Gusty than by Majesty, but the second is the queen, so basically, she is our leader. What about you, who´s the leader in your rebellion?”

Just when Posey was about to answer, they heard mournful sobs and cries. But it was not a normal crying. It was an echoing, almost phantasmagorical crying roar. Overwhelmed with fear, Fizzy pressed her body against the wall. Posey was right, you could hear everything through those walls. Speaking of her, on contrary to Fizzy, Posey was surprisingly calm.

“What is that?” Fizzy asked panicked.

“The weeping roar.”

“The weeping roar?”

Posey nodded.

“It´s always the same. Every night at the castle, at approximately this time of the night, you can hear those bone-chilling ghostly cries. At first, I thought I was the only one that heard them, since every time I told Katrina she called me crazy. But after talking to other slaves, I realized that there was indeed a voice crying.”

“Does that mean there are ghosts in this castle?” Fizzy started to shiver in fear. “Is that voice from one of the miserable souls of prisoners who died here?”

“I have no idea. But during my time in the castle, I discovered that it calms down when you sing to it.”

“Oh, so that´s why you were singing!” Fizzy widened her eyes. “Wait. You sing to a ghost?”

Posey giggled at Fizzy´s disbelief.

“I know it sounds crazy, but it truly works. Watch.” Posey told her.

Calmly, she closed her eyes and placed her hoof on her chest.

“I hear you every night at the castle, weeping roar.

Even in my sleep I hear you.

I hear you every night at the castle, weeping roar.

Even in my sleep I hear you…

A mournful painful cry you give me, weeping roar,

It feels like your soul flew

A mournful painful cry you give me, weeping roar

It feels like your soul flew”

Fizzy widened her eyes in disbelief. Posey´s soft voice did truly influence the mysterious cries. The more she sang, the softer the sobs became.

“I´m with you weeping roar, weeping roar, weeping roar

in this lonely night.

I´m with you weeping roar, weeping roar, weeping roar

in this lonely night.

No matter how dark it is now, weeping roar,

I will be your bright light.

No matter how dark it is now, weeping roar,

I will be your bright light.”

After hearing the lyrics, Fizzy understood the mysterious voice stopped crying. It was comforting, reassuring her that she wasn´t alone. Nevertheless, from what Posey told her, this happened every time. What could have happened to that ghost for her to cry every night?

“I don´t know what´s troubling you weeping roar

That makes you cry in so much pain

I don´t know what´s troubling you weeping roar

That makes you cry in so much pain

I wish you could give me an answer weeping roar

So I could free you from that chain

I wish you could give me an answer weeping roar

So I could free you from that chain

I´m with you weeping roar, weeping roar, weeping roar

Your sadness can stop

I´m with you weeping roar, weeping roar, weeping roar

Your sadness can stop

I will cover you with my shawl weeping roar

Because I can feel that you´re cold

I will cover you with my shawl weeping roar

Because I can feel that you´re cold”

Once Posey finished her song, the ghostly cries were heard no more. Fizzy sighed in relief.

“How can you be so calm when this happens?” she asked Posey shocked as she held her chest.

“The first time is scary, but if you´ve been living here since you were a filly, you get used to it.”

“You´ve been serving Katrina since you were a filly? Oh my…”

“Yeah. I would have honestly preferred to have drowned in that river.”

“What?”

“On my last day home, I climbed a tree near the river at night like I used to. It wasn´t wise in the slightest, considering the number of dangerous creatures that live in the rainforest´s trees, but it felt so peaceful there, away from everypony´s affairs. Unfortunately, I would soon realize the consequences when I noticed a snake going up that tree. In efforts of walking away, the branch I was on broke and I fell to the river. And just when I was losing conscience, I felt something pick me up. I couldn´t tell who, though, the only thing I could see was a blurred bright light, nor I couldn´t hear a thing, as my ears were full of water. Must have been somepony in a boat, I don´t know. And when I opened my eyes, I was in a completely different place: the castle!” Posey expanded her forelegs.

Fizzy blinked surprised.

“You´re kind of a strange pony.”

“Says the one who has a horn in her forehead!” Posey said playfully.

Fizzy looked up at her horn.

“I guess if you are used to living without one, it sure can seem strange.” she touched her horn.

The two mares shared a laugh. Who would have thought? A unicorn and an earth pony sharing and enjoying a peculiar but interesting chat. Like every other unicorn, Fizzy had been told that the two species didn´t seem eye to eye, so they didn´t interact much. In fact, if it wasn´t for Grogar, they would have never interacted at all! Yet right now, an earth pony was standing in front of her, offering her a smile and treating her as an equal. Posey might be odd but Fizzy was odd too. They might have not interacted much but Fizzy could tell that she could learn many things from this special pony.

Unfortunately, reality hit back when they heard Katrina´s voice.

“Posey! Posey! Where are you?!” she called her.

Posey gasped horrified.

“I have to go.” she told Fizzy.

“What? Can´t you tell me how to escape at least?”

“I would, but right now I can´t. Both of us will get in trouble if I don´t tend her now. But don´t worry,” she held her hooves. “I´ll find a way to help you, I promise.”

“POSEY!” Katrina yelled once again.

“I´m coming!” Posey replied to Katrina. She turned back to Fizzy. “I must go.”

“Wait!” Fizzy stretched her hoof. “What´s your name?”

“My name´s Posey, and yours?”

“Fizzy.”

“Ok, Fizzy. I´ll see you again soon.” Posey winked an eye on her.

In just a few seconds, she ran upstairs, leaving Fizzy alone once again. Or maybe not completely alone, since there seemed to be a weeping ghost on the dungeons, which ironically made her feel more uneasy than being completely on her own. She didn´t know if this mysterious entity was either a soul in torment, or a soul that came back for revenge. She hugged her knees scared.

“Weeping roar, if you can hear me, please don´t hurt me. I´m not here to cause any harm on you.” she begged scared. She looked at her dungeon´s window. “Oh guys, I don´t care if you go to Majesty first, but at least be quick. Without you, I´m as terrified as a little filly.”

Unknown to Fizzy, beneath her, there was a chained ghost-like jaguar hearing her words. She lowered her head in lament, tears silently and constantly running down her face.

Author's Note

Huzzah everypony! Wow, so many things have happened since I last updated. But perhaps the most important one is that last week I began my last year of college, which means that this year I´ll have to do my thesis! Oh boy...

And the start has been less than ideal to say the least. I don´t know how they did it, but out of five subjects, they only got teachers for two. Only two. Fortunately, they managed to get two more but there´s one lacking and it´s possible that we might have to wait for a long time again (yes this happened last year as well and we had to wait one semester to begin that subject). Plus, they are also having trouble finding teachers to tutor students in their thesis.

Basically me and my classmates reaction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y6TBl0IhVM&ab_channel=BubbleKing

But don´t worry. This year might be stressful but I know it will be alright in the end.

Anyway, coming back to the story, the song that Posey sings is a parody of La Llorona, a popular Mexican song, which you might have heard in Coco. You can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5z99EYHY4I&ab_channel=AngelaAguilarOficial

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!

Chapter 10: A dangerous lunch

Author's Note

Huzzah everypony! So glad to see you again after these two months. And there´s an explanation to why I didn´t update.

You don´t know this but I suffer from an anxiety disorder, most specifically OCD. I´ve been diagnosed with this disorder since I was 13 years old, so I´ve learnt to live with it. However, there are times, where there are external stressors, that causes me to have episodes. And I´ve been in a really rough one since ends of august, which got at its worse on october. That´s why I haven´t uploaded for some time, because I couldn´t focus or it was too painful to write. However, I´ve been going to therapy, and though I have to fight thoughts all day, I can function. In fact, I´m retaking this story, which I missed writing so much. All in all, thank you for your patience.

Now without much further ado, let´s go to this chapter, and prepare because this is a long one!

Chapter 10: A dangerous lunch

Buttons fidgeted with her hooves nervously while looking at the night sky, wondering why the sun didn´t come out yet. Despite being so confident and insistent on rescuing Fizzy, she realized that neither she nor her companions had enough energy to walk through the night anymore. So, she had no choice but to accept Glory´s advice and sleep. But right now, sleep was such an impossible task for her. Her mind couldn´t stop racing on Fizzy. Was she ok? Was she hurt? Or worse, was she dead? How could she sleep without an answer to those questions?

Then, she remembered what Gusty did when tracking down Fizzy´s hoofprint trail. How she felt somewhat better after taking some time to breathe slowly. Maybe it could work again. So, she closed her eyes, laid her hooves on her chest and started to inhale some air and exhaling it slowly after holding it for a few seconds. She repeated the same process again, and again until she felt no tension on her muscles.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself surrounded by the mares she used to work at Grogar´s castle. In fact, she was at Grogar´s castle! She looked at her clothes. She wasn´t wearing her armour anymore, instead, she was wearing her old blue dress. In front of her, there was a white shirt. Though she mainly sewed the same clothes, she remembered each detail that made each garment different, and she could even remember what had happened in the day she fixed it. And the shirt she had in front of her was very familiar.

“Wait. Is this-” she thought aloud.

“Done!” a familiar voice exclaimed.

Buttons turned her head to the right and saw Fizzy holding her garment. Though it was pretty badly sewn, Fizzy seemed very proud of her work. As a matter of fact, she was showing it to some faceless troggles.

“What in tarnation is that?!” one of them asked disgusted.

“It´s a shirt! But I added some personal touch. Instead of being like every other shirt, now it has some embroidery. And not just any embroidery, it´s the embroidery of the emperor!” she said with a huge smile on her face.

Buttons giggled.

“She did some embroidery.” she joined her hooves together, grinning in pride.

The troggle ruthlessly tore the shirt and threw it to the floor.

“Can´t you do a normal shirt?!”

“What are you? An idiot?!” the other troggle asked her.

With every word they spoke, Fizzy´s ears dropped and looked down ashamed.

“Hey, at least she has some creativity unlike others!” Buttons yelled to the troggles, outraged by how they were treating her.

Suddenly, she was on a different location. This time, she was in the kitchen. She gasped when she noticed Fizzy surrounded by mares. Like the troggles, they were faceless..

“Fizzy! We told you to watch over the bread!” one mare yelled at Fizzy while showing her a burnt bread.

“Well, I was watching over the bread, but since I saw that all of you were nervous about not getting bread to the emperor in time, I thought that if I added more coal, it would get done faster…”

Buttons shook her head, smiling at Fizzy´s silliness.

“Same old Fizzy…” she said.

“Seriously? You couldn´t think of something better?” another mare asked her.

“Why do you always do everything wrong?!” other asked her.

“Whoa, whoa. She might not be the best at cooking, but that doesn´t mean she never does things right.” Buttons walked to the circle of mares.

“Yeah, because you are around to help her.”

“If it wasn´t for you, I´m pretty sure Grogar would have disposed her.”

Buttons gasped offended.

“You just did not say that!”

Once again, her surroundings changed. Now, she wasn´t in the castle since she could see the sky. However, Buttons couldn´t tell the exact location, due to the many unicorns around her. Nonetheless, she got some clues of what was happening from what the ponies were whispering.

“Poor mare. She didn´t stand a chance.” a male unicorn said.

“Where are the friends she pledged loyalty to?” the unicorn next to him said.

Suddenly, a loud voice started speaking.

“The prisoner has been found guilty of the crime of treason. She is a traitor to the emperor, to the empire. To all of us! The sentence is death!”

Buttons´ ears dropped in fear.

“Oh no.”

She made her way through the crowd, not caring if she upset some ponies in the process. She finally reached a spot where she could see what was happening. She gasped horrified when she saw Fizzy tied to the wooden post standing on a pyre. Buttons´ eyes filled with tears when she saw how terrified and alone she looked.

“Fizzy!” she cried her name.

No matter how loud she screamed, Fizzy didn´t hear. She was too focused on seeing how the torch went down to light the wood under her.

“NOOOO!”

“Buttons?” a familiar voice asked her just before the torch reached the wood.

Buttons gasped as she opened her eyes. She grabbed her chest as she panted heavily.

“Are you ok?” Gusty asked her as she offered her a comforting hoof.

Buttons took some time to reply. She was wondering where everypony had gone, why she was laying on the ground, and why she was surrounded by trees and not buildings. Then, she realized that she was only dreaming. She left out a sigh full of relief when she saw Gusty, Glory, Lancer and Starswirl instead of the indifferent ponies in her dream.

“Yeah. I am.” she took Gusty´s hoof and got up. “It´s just I had a nightmare.”

“Don´t worry. We figured.” said Lancer.

“Was it about Fizzy?” Glory asked her.

Buttons nodded her head.

“Don´t worry. We´re closer to getting her.” Gusty reassured her. “Starswirl, how long do you think it will take to get there?”

“I´m not sure. I know this is the way, but I´ve never taken it myself. However, I´ve heard it takes one day approximately.”

Buttons sighed. Gusty patted her back.

“Then let´s waste no time!” she said confidently.

Several hours passed. Judging from how much the sun was beating down, the unicorns deduced that it was afternoon. They panted as they struggled to walk with so much heath in their body. They felt how the sweat fell down their face.

“How are you all doing?” Gusty asked like she did from time to time.

“Can we get some shade please?” Glory panted heavily. “I don´t think I can take the sun anymore. Not with cloak and clothes over an armour!”

“Is that ok with you Buttons?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

After they spotted a tree with a shade big enough for the five ponies, they sat underneath it, sighing in relief.

“My hooves are killing me!” Starswirl complained.

“Mine not really, honestly.” Lancer shrugged. “Though that´s because I´m used to walking for long periods of time. But I must admit that with clothes over the armour, I´m finding it more difficult.”

“I hope we don´t have much path left…” Buttons fidgeted with her hooves.

“Yeah, me too.” Gusty replied. “But if we keep up with this rhythm and there´s no interruptions, maybe we´ll get there soon!”

Suddenly, her stomach growled.

“Oops, sorry about that. I´m a little hungry.”

Then, Buttons´ did as well.

“Apparently, me too.”

Lancer´s, Starswirl´s, and Glory´s did at the same time.

“I think we all are hungry.” Glory smiled.

“Doesn´t surprise me.” Lancer looked up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the sunlight with his hoof. “If you pay attention, you´ll see that the sun is brighter, which means it´s lunchtime.”

“Then I guess it´s time for berries!” Gusty said as she took out her bag of berries. “Again…” she sighed. “I don´t mean to be whiny, Lancer, but I wish we had more food.”

“None taken. In the army, we usually had enough food, but there were times where we ran out of supplies due to attacks. And believe me, none of us liked it.” he shook his head.

Starswirl stroked his short beard as he thought of possible ways to solve a problem, turning his head around in hopes to find clues. Fortunately, he did, his eyes shining in joy.

“Maybe we could go to an inn!”

Starswirl pointed at a sign. The unicorns approached it.

“The.. Dus…ty´s.” Gusty read. “Sounds like a great place to eat. And look, I think it says it´s a few inches away. What do you think about it?”

“Well, I guess in order to get to Fizzy, I must have enough fuel.” Buttons commented.

“I don´t know…” Glory said insecure.

“Oh!” Gusty exclaimed surprised. “Is something wrong, Glory?”

“Not really..” Glory took a few steps back. “It´s just… Um…”

The more she talked, the more self-conscious she got. To comfort her, Lancer put his foreleg around her.

“She isn´t comfortable around strangers.” he finished for her. “Especially in places where she could be the centre of attention. And right now, we are a very easy target of attention. Not only that, but we are also unicorns around earth ponies!”

“Well, but they won´t notice we are unicorns, because we are in disguise, right?”

“I know, what if something happens and they discover we are unicorns? I don´t think they´ll take that lightly.”

“The key is not to use magic.” Starswirl intervened. “The spell doesn´t have a time limit. It only breaks if you make use of magic. And I trust that you are wise enough to follow my advice, so there´s nothing to worry about.”

Lancer and Glory shared glances. They smiled at each other, telling each other that everything was going to be fine with only their eyes. Then, they turned their gaze back to Starswirl and Gusty.

“Well, I suppose being around earth ponies in disguise can´t be as bad as not having food.” Lancer scratched his nape.

“It´s just a few minutes. Maybe I´ll have everypony staring at me a few seconds, but I don´t think they´ll be constantly staring at me. Unless I do anything stupid.” Glory bit her lip nervously.

“So, I guess that everypony agrees.” Buttons concluded. “Très bien. Now,” she walked behind everypony´s backs and started to push them. “let´s not waste more time and let´s go to that place. The sooner we get there, the sooner we´ll save Fizzy!”

“I don´t mean to offend, but wouldn´t we be quicker if you didn´t push us and let us walk?” Starswirl asked politely.

“Oh. Right.” Buttons blushed and giggled embarrassed. “I guess it´s the nerves.”

Everypony shook their heads or rolled their eyes playfully.

“You know what? Aside from Lulu, who definitely inherited he mother´s shyness, I thought I was the only pony that got nervous around strangers.” Gusty told Glory in their way to the inn.

“Well, you´re not. I hate being around strangers. Especially if they are looking at you. You never know what they´re thinking.”

“Really? Because when we first met, you were quite natural.”

“Actually, I was feeling very nervous deep down that time, I always was when Majesty sent somepony to the castle! I just hid it well. I sometimes felt ashamed of it. But then I told myself that these ponies and Majesty were counting on me and that there was nothing to worry about. Plus, I have the theory that maybe that is why Majesty chose me as the leaders´ spy since I never talk to strangers.”

“Could be. I don´t think it´s far-fetched.”

The two unicorns giggled. Gusty smiled as she stared at Glory. Just when she thought she had completely known everypony around her, there was always something more to discover. And no matter what the discovery was, it always reassured her that she was not that different from everypony else.

Finally, after some time, they arrived at their destination. It was a very old building that seemed to be falling to pieces at any moment. The window under the roof had a piece hanging, the facade was full of cracks, and there were several roof tiles lacking. In fact, one of them slipped and fell off, breaking in front of the unicorns. The unicorns blinked emotionless and shared glances. No word was said between them, but they could tell they were all regretting the decision they made.

“Well… On the bright side, at least they have food.” Gusty giggled nervously.

“That is if we can enter.” Lancer replicated. “Because I feel that by simply by rubbing that door, it´s going to turn to dust and bring the whole building down.”

“Either that or a tile falls upon us.” Glory added.

“Maybe my idea was not a good idea after all.” Starswirl paced back.

“Non, non, non.” Buttons said as she walked through everypony. “We are not turning back!” she stomped her hoof. “I won´t let this waste of time that could have been used to walk to Bridlengton be in vain. We are entering and you won´t change my mind!”

She raised her hoof violently as she hissed. Everypony closed their eyes, expecting Buttons to fail somehow, whether by breaking the door or getting harmed herself. However, to everypony´s surprise, she simply knocked the door with a confident smile and eyes closed. Seeing nothing was happening, she blinked, and raised her eyebrow confused. She knocked again.

“Huh. They should have answered by now.” she turned to her companions, who quickly changed their expression of relief. “Hello is anypony there?”

“Yeah! Right away!” a voice from inside replied. “Just one mom- AAH!”

After the voice´s yell, the sound of dishes breaking, and casseroles rolling was heard. The unicorns closed their eyes in pain, feeling concern for whoever was inside. Seconds later, the pony opened the door. She was a pink earth pony with a straw, blonde mane, and blue eyes. She panted heavily, as she was carrying many casseroles. When she looked at the ponies, she blushed embarrassed and laughed nervously.

“Um… Uh… Hi! Uh… What can I do for you?”

“Could you provide us with some food?” Buttons said as she signed at herself and the other unicorns.

“Of course! Of course! Please, come in.” she welcomed them with a gesture as she walked away to let them pass.

Much to Glory´s horror, the inn´s main entrance was quite crowdy. Many earth ponies were sitting around the rustic tables the inn had to offer. They were either drinking, eating, chatting, or laughing.

“Oh…” Glory stepped back. “This is worse than imagined.”

“Oh my… After being alone for so much time a crowd of ponies this big feels very overwhelming.” Starswirl laid his hoof on his mouth.

“Don´t worry. We have another lunchroom.” the earth pony reassured them. “And it´s empty, so you won´t have to worry about crowds.”

Glory and Starswirl sighed in relief.

“Thank goodness…” Glory muttered under her breath.

“Hey! Where´s our beer?” a pony yelled.

“One moment please!” the earth pony replied to them. “I´d accompany you but I have so much in my plate right now. It´s on that door to the left.” the pony signed.

“MARE!”

“Coming!” the earth pony answered somewhat upset. She picked both the broomstick and dustpan with her tail hanging from the inn´s stone wall. “My, I wish ponies were more patient.” she muttered as she walked away.

The unicorns looked at each other, shrugged and started walking to the door the earth pony signed them. As they did, some ponies threw them suspicious glances. Glory covered her head with her hood and kept her eyes on what was in front of her. Lancer stared with fear and ears dropped. Starswirl moved his eyes away, and slowly turned his head around to avoid eye contact with the piercing gazes. While intimated, Gusty simply raised her eyebrow in confusion, wondering why they had that look on their faces. Buttons was the only one to challenge them.

“What are you looking at?” she said with her head raised.

Immediately, the ponies stopped staring at them. Buttons smirked and scoffed triumphantly.

“Peureux.” she mumbled.

They entered the room and gazed in awe. They couldn´t explain why, but it gave them such a feeling of comfort. Perhaps it was the wooden furniture, or the little paintings in the wall of a family of earth ponies. It was very tidy, every plate, cutlery, and glass had their own space. There was also a window with wonderful view of the trees, the road they had crossed, and the wheat fields.

“Definitely much better than the other room, right?” Gusty turned to everypony.

Everpony nodded in agreement. Right after, the earth pony that had attended them, came back panting.

“Ok….” she widened her eyes when she noticed the ponies were still standing. “Oh! You still haven´t sat down. Ugh, you didn´t need to wait for me to say so.” she smiled sweetly.

“Oh, we know that.” Gusty replied. “It´s just we were hypnotized by this place. It´s just so cozy.”

The pony widened her eyes and gasped in surprise.

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

The earth pony smiled with a blush. She noticed a tear forming in her eye, so she wiped it before anypony could see.

“Oh well… That´s how just it´s always been here. Our motto is: Make everypony feel like they are home. I´m glad I´m living up to that. Speaking of which, what do you want for lunch?” she asked them as they sat down in the chairs.

“What do you have?” Buttons asked her.

“Many things! I have brews, soups, porridge… Oh! The last one is the specialty of the house.” she said excitedly.

“Then serve us 6 porridges!” Buttons asked.

“With wine, beer or water?”

“Water, please.” Gusty answered.

“And if you could give us some for the trip, we would be very grateful.” Glory said softly.

“Of course. Your porridges will be made as soon as possible, although I´m afraid it won´t be quick. I have so many clients to attend and cook their foods, and clean the dishes…”

“And you do it all on your own?” Buttons asked shocked.

“Yes, but recently. I used to have a friend that worked me but… let´s just say that she was fired for rumors… Don´t ask.”

“Oh my goodness!” Buttons exclaimed horrified. “Don´t worry, I´ll help you.”

Lancer widened his eyes and threw an angry glance at Buttons.

“Oh no no.” the earth pony shook her head. “I am the one who is supposed to serve you, not the other way around.”

“Chérie. Before you opened the door, we heard some dishes break. And from what we´ve seen, it´s very possible that happened because of work overload. Let me help you.”

As Buttons spoke, Lancer started shaking both his hooves and head to shush her, but the mare didn´t notice.

“Well… I suppose help would come in handy.” the earth pony shook her nape. “On one condition, you eat first. I´ll make your porridges right away.” she said as she left.

“Très bien!” Buttons exclaimed.

“What are you doing?!” Lancer asked Buttons angry once the earth pony was no longer around them.

“Helping her. Isn´t that evident?”

“But why would you do that? She´s an earth pony!”

“An earth pony who is clearly very stressed and takes care of us.”

“But that´s because she doesn´t know you are a unicorn. What if she discovers you are a unicorn?!”

“Starswirl has said it before, as long as we don´t use magic, there´s nothing to worry about.”

“In that case, how good are you at working with your hooves?!”

“Don´t worry, I´ll simply attend the ponies. You don´t need your hooves for that.”

“And what about Fizzy, hey? You were so insistent in saving her as soon as possible!”

“I´ll help her while you eat. Then, once you´re finished, we´ll go. You just have to get up and tell me.”

Lancer sighed as he stroked his forehead.

“This will end in disaster.”

“Alright! There you have your porridges. Enjoy!” the earth pony entered and served all the dishes. She looked at Buttons. “As for you, take all the time you need to-”

“Finished!” Buttons licked her lips. “It was delicious.”

Everypony blinked in shock.

“How did you eat that fast?” the earth pony asked confused.

Buttons laughed.

“In my previous job, I had to eat very fast. I´m used to it.”

“But what about your tummy?”

Buttons started pushing the earth pony to the door.

“A tummy-ache won´t stop me from helping you. Stop worrying and accept my help!”

“Ok! Ok!” the earth pony accepted begrudgingly.

Starswirl, Gusty and Glory shook their heads and smiled at Buttons. On the contrary, Lancer kept stroking his forehead.

“Oh, we´re doomed.”

“Ok, so I was thinking I could attend the ponies and clean while you cook and wash the dishes. Sounds good?” Buttons told Shady.

“Actually yes. The recipes are family treasures, and I want them prepared the same exact way.”

“Ok. What´s your name sweetie?”

“Shady.”

“Mine´s Buttons. Ok, Shady, As much as I´d love to say here forever, my friends and I have a very important matter in our hooves and have to leave as soon as possible, so whenever a friend warns me, I´ll have to go. Is that alright with you?”

“Of course. No problem.”

“Very well!”

Buttons walked to a table of four earth ponies with empty dishes and glasses.

“Hello dears. Did you enjoy your lunch?”

A stallion raised his eyebrow confused.

“Where´s Shady?”

“She´s in the kitchen. I volunteered myself to help her, since the poor mare is so busy. I assume you know her.”

“Oh yeah. All Catnada knows her. But for the wrong reasons.” another stallion replied.

“What do you mean by `for the wrong reasons´?”

“Well, she didn´t do anything wrong. It is her witch friend.”

“Witch friend?”

“Yeah! Nopony has seen doing that, but everypony believes that she uses potions to do spells, going against her nature as an earth pony and trying to be a unicorn instead.” the first stallion said.

“That poor mare doesn´t know what she´s into. Some ponies were seduced by this whole witchcraft thing and provoked illnesses! I hope she finds the light, repents her ways, and leaves all that world behind. Doesn´t she know that unicorns are dangerous sorcerers who made a deal with evil spirits to be granted their magic?”

Buttons stayed silent, amazed and confused at how little earth ponies knew of unicorns.

“Where did you learn that?” she asked them.

“Well, that´s what we´ve always been told! How come you don´t know it?” the first stallion asked suspicious.

“Are you a witch too?” the second stallion accused her.

“What? No, I am not a witch. It´s simply that where I come from, there never have been ponies who worked with potions.”

“Well, you are lucky. But in case you see that mare doing witchcraft, tell us. We are witchhunters. We are the ones who investigate the rumours of witchcraft and decide whether they are guilty or not.” the first stallion explained.

“And what do you do with the witches?”

“We burn them inside their houses.”

Buttons widened her eyes, realizing that this place was more dangerous than she and her friends previously thought. She started laughing nervously.

“That seems a bit extreme, doesn´t it?”

“To protect our kind, we must do what is necessary.”

“Well, it was nice meeting you. I hope you have a nice day.” Buttons said as she quickly picked everything up and took it to the kitchen.

“Is it me or does she look suspicious?” the second stallion whispered to his companion.

The first stallion narrowed his eyes.

“We´ll keep an eye on her.”

“Oh, I must check them. Lancer was right, it´s not safe for us to be here.” Buttons said to herself as she ran to the other room.

“Do you have much left?” Lancer asked everypony.

“Not really. Just a little more scoops.” Starswirl replied as he tasted the porridge.

“A little more spoons? You just ate half of the porridge!” Lancer pointed at his bowl.

“I´m sorry, it´s just so delicious and I like tasting my food slowly.” Starswirl apologized with a nervous smile.

“How about you two?” Lancer looked at Gusty and Glory.

“Half finished.” Glory answered.

Glory nodded her head in agreement.

“Good. The sooner we finish, the sooner we´ll be safe.”

“How fun.” Gusty giggled. “Now I can say I met an earth pony. I always wanted to meet one.”

“Why would you want that?” Lancer raised his eyebrow.

“I don´t know. I had married a pegasus so why not meet an earth pony?”

“How can you not be scared of ponies that are not unicorns?” Glory asked curiously. “You married a pegasus after all.”

“I suppose it´s because I´m just curious about them. We are different but at the same time we are ponies. So I suppose there´s nothing to be afraid of.”

“That makes sense.” Lancer commented. “However, all the interactions recorded between earth ponies and unicorns have resulted in being thrown stones.”

“But why? There must be a reason they are afraid of us. We haven´t listened to their point of view.”

“If you think about it, the only contact they had ever had with magic was with Grogar and Katrina. As a result, they must think magic as a bad thing. And unicorns are the only ponies that can use magic.” Starswirl suggested.

“When you put it like that, I´d also be afraid of anypony with magic if I was an earth pony.” said Lancer.

“I wish we could show them the beauty of magic. If we did that, they wouldn´t be afraid of us. And we wouldn´t be afraid of them.” said Gusty

“That sounds sweet, but I don´t think they would trust us that easily. We can´t erase years of history just like that, you know that right?” Glory reminded her.

“I know, but I wish I could do that. Personally, the only thing we should fear is Grogar not ponies different to us.”

Glory and Lancer widened their eyes.

“Or maybe Katrina in this moment.”

She pointed at the window. Gusty and Starswirl turned around and took a quick view. They saw silhouettes of cats approaching.

“Oh no…” Gusty muttered.

“Seriously. Can´t we have a moment without being chased?!” Lancer thought aloud frustrated. “What else could go wrong now?”

“We have a problem!” Buttons exclaimed.

“Me and my mouth.” Lancer muttered to himself.

“We also noticed another problem.” Gusty said as she approached Buttons. “We have company.”

“What do you mean by company?”

“Katrina´s soldiers. They are coming.”

“Curse every soldier and security force in the empire!” Buttons whispered very angry. “They couldn´t have come at another moment, no… They had to come right when there are witch hunters around us!”

“Witch hunters?” Glory asked confused.

“It´s a long story. All you need to know is that if they knew we were unicorns, they´d kill us.”

“I told you this was a dangerous idea!” Lancer reproached everypony.

“Buttons? Is everything alright?” Shady entered the room without anypony noticing. She gasped. “Oh! I see you have finished. That was quick.”

“Yeah! And we need to go right now. But there are soldiers approaching.”

“What? Why?” Shady asked panicked.

“Doesn´t matter. The thing is that soldiers terrify us, and we don´t want to bump into them when getting out so just talk to them at the main door and we´ll get out through the window, is that ok with you?”

Shady´s ears dropped. Only a pony that had committed a crime would want to run away from soldiers. But at the same time, she knew that most of the times that soldiers captured a pony was trying to revolt against Katrina or for stealing. Katrina wouldn´t care about a murderer that killed her subjects, so they couldn´t be murderers. As for stealers, it couldn´t be either, because they weren´t carrying a bag. So, they had to be rebels.

“Hey, it´s ok. I´ll give you protection.”

Everypony widened their eyes.

“Ah, Thank you, thank you.” Buttons answered distracted. “Wait. You- You would?”

“Of course. I know who you are, you are rebels. You are working so hard to dethrone Katrina. And it´s a cause that many of us support.”

The unicorns looked at each other. She wasn´t far from the truth. If they dethroned Grogar, they would dethrone Katrina. Gusty realized she could be a pony they could trust. Somepony they could tell the truth.

“Not exactly.” she started to speak “We are working for something bigger. We are aiming to-”

“There she is!” one of the ponies Buttons talked to said to the soldiers. He pointed at Gusty. “That´s the pony you´re looking for.”

“Of course, she had to be the worst kind of witch: a unicorn. And so are you and your friends, huh?” the second stallion said to Buttons, who glared at him.

“You´re unicorns?” Shady looked at Buttons confused.

“I…” Buttons tried to explain her but couldn´t find the exact words.

“Get them!” the captain of the soldiers ordered his subordinates.

Immediately, Gusty lit her horn and conjured up a gust of wind that sent every soldier against the other room´s wall, leaving every earth pony in shock.

“Let´s go!” she signed everypony to jump through the window.

Shady looked astonished at how all the unicorns left. Suddenly, one of the witch hunters grabbed her by the foreleg.

“You brat. You can´t stop befriending witches, can you?”

“Let me go!” she begged him.

“We know your friend is a witch too. Lead us to her or we´ll burn your inn with you inside!” the other witch hunter threatened her.

“Never.”

He raised his hoof to hit her, but Buttons kicked them both because they could a laid a hoof on her.

“Don´t you dare touch her!” she yelled at them.

Immediately she grabbed her hoof and teleported her and herself outside. When they reappeared, Shady held her chest, trying to understand what just happened.

“Follow us! You´ll be safe.” Buttons told her as she ran away.

Shady took a glance of her inn. Something told her that maybe this was the last time she´d be able to look at it. Her life was about to change. Even though, she wasn´t fond of that idea, it was her only chance of survival. So, she decided to follow Buttons.

Chapter 11: A deal

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Chapter 12: Spirits

No matter how hard she tried, Fizzy could not sleep. There were several possible factors that played in her insomnia. Firstly, the cold chains rubbed her coat constantly, a very unpleasant sensation. Though she couldn´t see it, Fizzy knew that she already had marks on her hooves. Secondly, she was laying on a floor made of stone. She had never slept in a comfortable bed. In fact, in the last days she slept on the ground! But she had never felt as uncomfortable as she did at that moment. Lastly and most importantly, the sound difficulted her sleep. Ever since Posey left, the mysterious voice had been crying all night. No matter how hard she tried to block the sound by covering her ears, she couldn´t stop hearing it. It haunted her every second.

Fizzy had tried anything to relax herself. From fidgeting her hooves to rocking herself. However, there came a moment when she snapped.

“UUUGH!” she incorporated to sit down while putting her hooves on the air. “I can´t take it anymore! I need to get out from here!”

Quickly, she covered her mouth. Not so far from her, the guard was sitting. Much to Fizzy´s luck, yet also annoyance and envy, he was still asleep. He simply groaned, stretched and return to his deep sleep. Fizzy wept the sweat from her forehead as she sighed in relief.

“How can everypony sleep in the castle with all this noise?” she wondered angrily. However, after glancing with more detail, she realized the guard was wearing ear plugs, which caused Fizzy to narrow her eyes.

As she glared at the guard, she noticed something. Her eye caught sight of keys hanging from his belt. She bit her lip. With her magic and body restrained, there was no way she could reach the keys. It had to be another way. She rubbed her chin as she tried to come up with ideas on how to escape without the keys.

“Hm… Perhaps if I get nervous, I can conjure water like Gusty does with wind?” she wondered aloud. “Nah, that can´t be. I´ve been feeling uneasy all this time!”

No matter how hard she tried to think, she always arrived to the same conclusion. She was trapped. She couldn´t get out. As she lamented her reality, Fizzy listened to the ghostly crying. Though she was tired and scared of it, she started to identify with the ghost. Deep down, that´s what she wanted to do. Crying and letting everything out. But what use would that bring? She wouldn´t scare the guards, instead, they´d be mocking at her. Like every pony who wasn´t close to her did. Perhaps it was because she was in her lowest, familiar voices started talking to her. But their words were not comforting. No, their words were sharp, mean, and insulting. What´s worse, they were voices she did not want to hear. Voices she thought she had buried forever.

“Fizzy does everything bad!” said some foals that appeared in front of her, laughing at the expense of her.

“That´s not true!” she denied as she shook the foals away.

“Why can´t you pay attention for once? What are you, stupid? You always make things worse!” one of the maids at the castle accused her.

“I try but it´s difficult!” she replicated.

“Seriously, you can´t learn anything that easy? You useless. You should be rotting in the streets!” A troggle said to her.

“I am useful.” Fizzy was in the brink of tears.

She felt something turning her around. To her horror, it was a teary Buttons

“You have to be more careful!” she scolded her. “What would happen if one day I´m not with you, huh?”

“No, I don´t want you to think I´m a burden!” she laid her hooves on her shoulders, but when she did, Buttons vanished.

“What will be of her?” a female voice called from her back.

Fizzy´s blood froze. Slowly, she turned around, only to find a stallion and a mare talking to each other. What broke her heart the most were their worried faces.

“Papá? Mamá?” she asked scared.

“Will Fizzy be able to provide Galaxy?” Fizzy´s mother asked her husband after coughing.“You know how much her head is in the clouds. What if something happens to her?”

“I´m not so sure, mi vida.” Fizzy´s father replied as he hugged his wife, equally as worried and sick. “She has wonderful abilities, but I don´t think everypony appreciates them. In order to survive, she´ll have to adapt, and knowing her, I don´t know how much she will be able to do that.”

Afflicted, Fizzy grabbed her chest. Suddenly, all the voices sounded in her head at the same time, calling her useless, idiot, or telling her she couldn´t do things on her own. Fizzy tried to cover her ears and closed her eyes.

“STOOP!” she left out a heartrending scream.

Afterwards, she dropped her body to the floor and left herself cry. Her worst fears had come true. She became a burden everypony else had to take care of and she couldn´t solve problems on her own. Thanks to her, Majesty could get executed should her friends decide to spend their time rescuing her. At that moment, she just wanted to rot.

Since she was busy crying, Fizzy didn´t notice that the ghostly crying had stopped. Finally, she had the silence and peace she was desperately looking for. Then, something incredible happened.

“Unicorn, why are you crying?” an echoing voice asked her.

Fizzy sniffed.

“Because I only give problems to everpony.” she answered as she dried her tears. Her expression quickly changed when she realized that somepony had just talked to her, yet was completely alone, except for the guard, who was asleep. “Wait, who said that?”

“The one you call Weeping Roar.”

Fizzy blinked.

“Oh dear…” she mumbled fearfully. “I´m sorry to have disturbed you. Please don´t take my soul.”

The voice sighed tiredly yet frustrated too.

“I am not going to take your soul.”

“You aren´t?”

“No! Where does anypony that ends up here get that idea from?”

“Legends about ghosts? My grandmother used to tell me lots!”

“I am not a ghost. I am a spirit.” the voice explained calmly. “A guardian and guiding spirit, or at least that´s what I used to be. I´m sure you heard of those, right?”

“Oh yes, of course! Back home, we have tones of those. Spirits of lakes, nature, agriculture … But I thought they were invisible and you couldn´t talk to them. Not because it´s forbidden or anything, it´s just not possible.”

“Actually, we can be visible and can communicate face to face with you, but we don´t usually do that.”

“Then, why are you talking to me?”

“Because you are crying, just like me. Besides, at this point I´m used to everpony seeing and hearing me.”

“And how do you look like?”

The spirit stayed silent for some time.

“What? What is it?” Fizzy asked, wondering why the spirit wouldn´t talk to her. However, she understood why in a matter of seconds. “No, no. You are the jaguar that brought me here?!”

“Yeah… Sorry about that.”

“But you told me that you were a guardian and guiding spirit! Since when those kinds of spirits kidnap ponies and work for evil cats?!”

“I know, I lost my way, and I repent for that. But I can´t come back home nor be who I used to be.”

“I was wondering that, actually. From what I know jaguars come from rainforests, meaning that you must be some sort of guardian of a rainforest, am I right?”

“Mhm.” she nodded.

“But right now, you are in a territory of forests, although rainforests are technically forests, if you think about it, yet not the same because from what I´ve heard rainforests are hot and it rains more than in common forests, which is why they are called rainforests!” realizing she was getting off topic, she shook her head. “Sorry, I know you must be looking weird at me right now, that is if you can see me. Anyway, you are where you are not supposed to be. How did you end up here?”

Once again, the spirit stayed silent. Fizzy lowered her ears. Perhaps she has gotten in a touchy subject. After all, she did say she couldn´t go back home. Did she do something that bad to have been expelled other spirits? Did she have a fight with them? Was she mistreated by other spirits? Whatever the cause was, it must have affected the spirit somehow. Maybe that was the cause why she was crying so much!

“It´s ok if you don´t want talk about it. But talking about it can help, you know?”

The spirit didn´t answer. Fizzy raised her eyebrow confused.

“Spirit? Spirit, are you there?” she asked.

While looking at the walls, Fizzy remembered what Posey said: The walls had ears. Everything they said could be heard by the guards or Katrina. So, she approached her head to the wall and rested her ear. She heard nothing peculiar, just the water flowing or the echo. She thought of the possibility that the spirit was on the other wall, but due to being chained, she couldn´t try that option. She looked at the floor and came up with an idea. The walls had ears, but perhaps the floor too. She laid on the floor and put one ear on it. Her heart skipped a bit when she heard Katrina´s voice.

“I told you to bring me the Wind Warrior, not one of her stupid fellows! What´s worst, you brought me the dumbest!”

Fizzy sighed, unsurprised that Katrina would think that, yet also tired of the same old story.

“I´m sorry, that´s all I could find.” the spirit apologized. “She was alone and wore one of Majesty´s armours. But this mistake could also be a way to lure the Wind Warrior. You always say to be patient.”

“Is that why she captured me?” thought Fizzy.

“Ugh! Don´t you understand that we are in race against time? I´m competing against three idiots to be the first to bring her to Grogar! I can´t afford to wait that much.”

“Geeze. At this point, Grogar will have to step in and capture us by himself.”

“Maybe you don´t have to. Perhaps they are already coming.”

“Or maybe they are rescuing Majesty first!” Katrina groaned. “You idiot. If you fail me again, why don´t I do us both a favour and open a portal to drag you back to the spirit realm?”

“You know I can´t go back because of you.” the spirit said bitterly.

Fizzy widened her eyes. This was getting very interesting.

“Oh, really? Tell me, who was the one to lose her own cubs in a river, huh? Who was the one to offer herself to help me in exchange of tracking her cubs? Whose fault is it that her home is endangered by dark spirits? Who was the one who decided to neglect and go against her nature and now is afraid to face the consequences?”

Fizzy covered her mouth. Though she didn´t want foals of her own, she always loved taking care of them and playing with them. If she loved them, she couldn´t imagine how much bigger that love would be if she was a mother. Especially now that she knows Gusty, who was willing to do anything for her fillies. She found despicable that Katrina took advantage of her pain to use her and trap her on eternal servitude.

“Exactly. It was all you.” Katrina continued after the spirit stayed silent.

“You still need me though.” said the spirit, maintaining her posture, besides feeling hurt by Katrina´s harsh yet true words.

“You are right. But perhaps I can disregard you and look for another broken spirit to help me after I finish with the Wind Warrior business if you fail me again. You have been warned, Anima. You had better do things right this time.”

“Anima. So that´s the spirit´s name.”

Fizzy heard some steps and a door slam. Afterwards, Anima began crying again.

“Wak´wala´!” the poor spirit yelled.

Fizzy grabbed her chest, lamenting quietly the spirit´s pain.

“Anima. Anima, can you hear me?”

Anima sniffed.

“Yes.”

“Is that how you ended up here? Searching for your cubs?”

“Yes.”

“May I ask what happened?”

“It´s not easy to talk about it. I´m still not over it.”

“I understand, but talking about it can help, you know?”

Anima sighed.

“Ok.” the spirit agreed. “Back home, I wasn´t the only guardian spirit. There were also my cubs. Together, we would take care of the fauna, the animals, and the pony inhabitants. One day, we were nearby the river, because we had to help the spirit that inhabited it. I told them to be careful and paid them all the attention I could, because even though we´re spirits, we can still be affected by forces of nature and others. Unfortunately, a dark spirit came nearby. I immediately fought it but in doing so, I didn´t realize that from the scare my cubs had fallen into the river. I only realized when they started calling me. I couldn´t help them because I had to fight the dark spirit. When I was finished, I lost complete sight of them. I couldn´t ask the river spirit to stop or change the flow but I could ask if they managed to get out the river.”

“But why? The spirit controls the river, right?”

“Yes, but even we can´t go against nature. If we did, everything could go out of balance and have serious consequences for every creature in the ecosystem.”

“I see.”

“The spirit told me in which spot of the river they stopped sensing their presence, but he didn´t know about their current whereabouts, although I could ask other spirits. And so I did. All of them saw them pass but they didn´t know where they were then. Countless years went by, and I still didn´t find my cubs. I can certainly say that I had travelled around the entire world, except the earth pony kingdom, which I would soon discover due to sensing dark spirits. I followed them, which led me to a young Katrina, who had made a pact with dark spirits to gain magic.”

“Is that how one gets dark magic from, dark spirits?”

“It is one via, but not the only one. But if you do gain access to dark magic from dark spirits, you basically sell your soul. Because if things go wrong, they´ll turn against you. And even if you didn´t obtain dark magic by dealing with dark spirits, you still lose out. You basically condemned your soul to eternal suffering.”

Fizzy tapped her chin.

“Katrina always wears a potion as a necklace. Was that potion gifted to her by dark spirits?”

“I suppose so, yes. Anyway, I tried to break the potion completely and warned her of what she had just done. But if Katrina is good at something, that would be persuasion. She told me that the dark spirits had gifted her with any power, including the one to track spirits. So, she offered me a deal. If I helped her conquer territories to build her kingdom and did chores for her, she would track my cubs. Blinded by desperation, I accepted. But in doing so, I let my dark side take over me for a long time. Fortunately, I regained consciousness when I came back home for one of my missions. I saw a filly on a river. She reminded so much of my cubs that the light inside me took over again and made me save her.”

“Posey!” Fizzy thought.

“That situation was a calling out of reality. After I got in touch with my inner self, I realized what had become of my home. The rainforest wasn´t as lively as it was before, the ponies´ crops weren´t fruitful, and there was only suffering. So, I decided to confront Katrina about it and to do her part of the deal. But she told me what would happen if I came back home back to my cubs. She told me that my cubs wouldn´t love me after what had done. Noy only that, if I came back home, who knows what the spirits would do to me? That´s when I realized I had condemned myself to never see my cubs again and be in peace.”

Anima started sobbing again. Fizzy reflected very carefully on what to do or say to comfort the tormented spirit.

“Excuse me if I´m wrong but… One of the values we learnt from spirits is to forgive one another. If they taught us that, it must be because you practice it, right?”

“I guess so, but I haven´t heard of a spirit that made the same mistake I did and what happened afterwards.”

“Well, everypony makes mistakes. But what´s important is learning from them and make things right again. I believe one can always redeem themselves if they truly want to.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah! And I´m pretty sure and I´m not the only one.”

“What about the other spirits?”

“I can´t tell for certain, but they should. After all, they are wiser than us, right?”

“And how can I redeem myself?” Anima asked after thinking about what Fizzy said.

“Well… There are many ways. For example, when I made somepony mad I always tried to do something meaningful for them, fix your mistake, say you´re sorry, though I wouldn´t recommend doing solely that one…” Fizzy widened her eyes and shook her head afterwards. “Look, the point is that demonstrating that you´ve changed. But I think you made a first step by saving that filly, who in fact, is the one that sings to you.”

“Really?”

“Yup! Good actions always pay off, I guess.”

Anima sniffed.

“Are you ok?”

“Yes. These aren´t tears of sadness. It´s just… I´ve been so hopeless for a long time, that I never thought I would feel it again. Thank you. If you were a spirit, you´d be a great guiding one.”

Fizzy yawned. Though she felt calm, she was very exhausted from everything. However, she still wanted to help Anima.

“You´re welcome.”

“By the way, unicorn, I never asked your name. What is it that they call you?”

Anima got soft snores for an answer. She didn´t mind, as the poor mare had been helping her for some time. Instead, she chuckled.

“Good night, good mare.”

Like Fizzy, Posey couldn´t sleep either. She was thinking about how to free her, the Wind Warrior, the earth pony rebellion, and its fate…. So many things were running on her mind. Not being able to sleep, she decided to get up and stroll around the hallways until she got sleepy.

She expected to run into some guards, so she walked with the least noise as possible. So far, she was relieved that she didn´t run into any. However, she ran into a far worse cat: Katrina herself. Quickly, she hid behind a pilar. She held her breath until Katrina passed. Fortunately, she didn´t seem to have seen nor heard her. Posey observed that Katrina seemed to be nervous about something. Throughout all her time serving her, Posey had never seen Katrina fearful. That indicated that something was going on. Obeying her curious nature, Posey decided to follow Katrina.

The earth pony managed not to be noticed by Katrina throughout her stroll to the garden. Once she was in front in a wide spot, she started drawing a pentagon inside a circle and started to recite something in a language Posey couldn´t understand. As Katrina´s eyes turned white, everything turned darker, and spectres of demonic creatures started coming towards her Posey observed in fear. She respected spirits but never feared them, no matter what others said. Right now, however, she was hiding in bushes so they didn´t see her. For these were dark spirits.

Once they were in front of her, Katrina started talking to them.

“Friends! I know I´m in honk to you pretty deep already, but it seems like our little Wind Warrior isn´t where she is supposed to be. And I need your assistance to get her right on track.”

The dark spirits frowned at her, making her laugh somewhat nervously.

“I hear you. Now, what´s in it for all of you? Well, as soon as I get her to Grogar, I´ll have a lot to offer. Firstly, do you remember the four jaguar cubs I gifted you when you gave me their potion?”

“Jaguar cubs?” Posey wondered aloud.

“And the Great Seedling too, right?”

“The Great Seedling?” Posey asked more surprised.

“Yes, you do. Well, they belonged to a spirit that serves me. And that spirit is in so much pain because she misses her cubs. So, I was thinking I could give her to you.”

Posey gasped horrified.

“The weeping roar!” she muttered.

“And there´s more. I´ll give you something I never offered you before: mortal souls. I´m not so sure if Grogar will want the Wind Warrior´s friends, but if he did, I could negotiate with him so you could take them.”

Posey gasped again.

“Fizzy!”

“And perhaps some of the earth pony revels if they attack after the Wind Warrior business.”

“Aj itz´.” Posey clenched her teeth as she called her a witch in her mother tongue.

As Katrina was making her offer, she conjured up the figures of the souls she was offering and blew them to the dark spirits, smiling maliciously as they smelled them.

“You love that, don´t you?” Katrina laughed. “So…” Katrina rubbed her hands. “We got ourselves a deal?”

The spirits grinned at each other before transferring shadows into Katrina´s potion. She laughed maniacally.

“Now we´re talking! We´re going to have so much fun! You may go now.”

The dark spirits surrounded themselves in a circle and disappeared in a flash.

“Well, well, let´s see where you are…” she said before drinking the potion. Her eyes turned white. She smiled when she found Gusty. “There you are. And it seems like you are with… earth ponies?” she said estranged. Yet she was still confident. “Oh, I´m afraid they won´t be of much help when you´re dealing with magic.”

Taking advantage of her being distracted, Posey started walking backwards. Accidentally, she stepped on a stick, making Katrina´s ear twitched.

“Who goes there?!” she asked aggressively.

After looking at some bushes, she decided to walk to them. To Posey´s misfortune, she walked right to the one she was hiding at. The earth pony covered her mouth to lessen the sound of her fast-paced breathing. Just when she near enough to take a look inside the bush, Rep called her.

“Ma´am? Ma´am?”

“GAH!” Katrina put her claw on her chest. “Don´t you ever scare me like that again!”

“I´m sorry, it´s just I couldn´t find you. What are you doing in the garden so late in the night?”

“It´s none of your business! Besides, I was coming back now.” she started to walk back to the castle. “Because tomorrow, we have important things to discuss.”

“Oh really?” Rep asked excited. “What is it?”

“Oh, I don´t want to ruin the surprise. But all I can say, it´s like a diabolical miracle.” Katrina said with a huge grin in her face.

“Oh, that rhymed!” Rep pointed out.

Posey got out of the bush, once Katrina was inside the castle. She took a huge inhale of air, as if she had been underwater. She panted as she tried to take in everything that she just witnessed. Everypony that was fighting for a better and free life was in grave danger.

“I have to warn the Weeping Roar and Fizzy.” she said to herself as she bit her hoof, very worried about what was coming next.

Author's Note

God, this chapter was hard to write...

Hope you began the year in a very good way!

Chapter 13: Attack at Catnada´s wall

Author's Note

Me randomly coming back to this story after having neglected it for almost four months.

I´m back everypony! Sorry for being absent for so long, but this is the first time since January that I´ve had a proper break. Seriously, February and March have been INTENSE. My hands have been so full with classes, exams and group projects in just one month! Heck, they even taught us a WHOLE subject in just one month! At least I finished exams and classes mid march and began with my last practices, which made me a bit more relaxed but I was still very tired. Luckily, we have the whole Easter week off, so I finally had the chance to rest.

Anyway, here you have a long chapter to compensate my absence. Hope you´re having a wonderful Easter, Passover, Ramadan or at least just some nice weeks! Thank you so much for your patience and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 13: Attack at Catnada´s wall

“Is everypony ready?” Moochick asked once he came out of Magic Star´s home.

His soldiers exited next. After them, followed Gusty, Buttons, Lancer, Glory and lastly, Starswirl, who was having some trouble moving in the armour he was given by the earth ponies.

“Yes, sir!” the earth ponies raised their hooves in front of their foreheads.

“We are as well.” Gusty answered after checking her comrades.

“Are you sure you have everything you need?” Shady asked Magic Star, as the latter crossed the door.

Magic Star chuckled.

“Don´t ask me! You´re the one who packed for me.” she replied teasingly.

“I know, but maybe I forgot to pack something important. I don´t want you to find an army or Katrina herself and lacking supplies because of me.”

“Knowing you, you probably didn´t forget anything.” Magic Star reassured her.

She opened her bag and checked it to show Shady that she had nothing to worry about. She mumbled to herself all the objects she saw in her bag.

“Yes, everything I need is in here!”

Shady smiled, slightly calmer after hearing those words.

Though they didn´t mean to interfere in a private conversation, the unicorns couldn´t help but overhearing their conversation.

“Oh, ye´re not coming?” Glory asked Shady surprised.

“Oh no, no!” Shady shook her hoof. “I couldn´t possibly fight against soldiers or Katrina. I mean.” she scoffed. “Look at me! I´m not built for fighting and I have zero combat experience.”

“Well, neither do I.” Buttons said in reply.

“Technically, you do.” Lancer pointed out. “You have fought against an ophiotaurus, an army of diamond dogs, and two witch-hunters.”

“Oh, that counts as combat experience?”

“Mhm.” Lancer nodded his head.

“Huh.” Buttons raised her eyebrow, both surprised and intrigued by that fact.

“I´d love to come with all of you, but I would only make things more difficult for you.” Shady continued speaking. “I wouldn´t want you to fail because you had to protect a weak and helpless pony.”

“Don´t say that, Shady.” Magic Star surrounded her friend with her foreleg.

“But it´s true.”

Gusty´s heart wrenched. She was familiar with that feeling of uselessness and making things worse for everpony. When those thoughts appeared in her mind, she felt pain. But after hearing Shady saying those words, she discovered a new and worse kind of pain: seeing others going through the same as her. Because she knew how ugly that felt, she couldn´t stand that suffering in others. Frowning in determination, Gusty knew it was her turn to speak.

“No, it´s not.” she told her firmly. “I haven´t known you for a long time, but I know that you are a strong pony and a fighter. Otherwise, you wouldn´t be standing here.” she said as she walked towards her. “I used to think I wasn´t strong too, and to be honest, I´m still not sure! But I do feel a bit stronger, and I guess that´s because I´m doing this for somepony else. Perhaps that´s what you need to realize how strong you are.”

Shady stayed quiet, reflecting on Gusty´s words.

“Wow. Thank you for those words, they´re so kind. But I still think that staying here is a better idea. Besides, somepony needs to look after Magic Star´s house and herbs.”

“Don´t worry, we understand. I just wanted to make you see that you´re stronger than you think.”

Moochick´s throat clearing redirected everpony´s attention to him.

“Sorry for interrupting the conversations and the farewells, but there´s an attack we need to do.”

“Of course! Sorry for the delay.” Gusty scratched her scalp apologetically.

“We have to go.” Magic Star said to Shady before they hugged each other. “Stay safe.”

“You as well.”

They waved their hooves at each other as she ventured with her comrades into the forest. Once everypony vanished in the distance, Shady´s expression changed from a smile to worry. She worried about what awaited Magic Star and the unicorns, especially Buttons and Gusty. They might be of a different breed and not have known for a long time like Magic Star´s case, but they earned Shady´s trust when they saved her from the witch-hunters.

Though she loved tending to everypony´s needs, making them feel comfortable, and carrying on with her parents´ business, there were rough moments as well. From rude customers who liked making fun of her to customers who took it too far in their entertainment at the expense of her. Though she had got better at it over the years, Shady still had problems to assert herself, so she was always grateful when somepony helped her or stood up for her, such as Magic Star. Her departure from the inn pained her a lot, since she was the one who defended her. When Buttons helped her and fought the witch-hunters for her, she was reminded that she wasn´t alone. And Gusty´s words… Could they be true? They just sounded so genuine. No matter the answer, Shady had one thing clear: She could trust her. She radiated such warmth, as if she was a benevolent spirit telling you that everything will be ok.

She looked at Magic Star´s dried herbs, hoping that a miracle would happen.

“May the Great Seedling protect you.” she prayed.

Afterwards, she observed the silver thistles hanging from the rooftops. She raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Though they had been upset about the sun before, the unicorns were now missing the sun. Ever since they left Magic Star´s cottage, dark clouds had been blocking the sunlight. There was not a single moment when they let the sunlight escape, even when they reunited with Moochick´s other troops. Lancer looked at the clouds in fear.

“Is everything ok?” Glory asked worried after noticing his expression.

“Hm? Oh! I´m fine, don´t worry. It´s just I´m a bit tense.”

“Well, I suppose that even after having years of experience, one can´t help but feeling tense in these situations. I also got very nervous when I had to heal grave wounds.”

“Of course. But this is a bit different. I mean, it´s very superstitious.” he scoffed. “Says the most logical pony ever.”

“What do ye mean?”

Lancer sighed.

“Perhaps it´s just a coincidence, but whenever we battled on cloudy days, something bad happened. Whether it was a death, a surprise attack, or something none of us expected.”

“So, you´re having some kind of bad omen?”

“It´s silly, I know.”

“Well, I wouldn´t say so.” Starswirl intervened “We are fighting Katrina after all, and she uses dark magic. I wouldn´t be surprised if she cast a dark spell on us.”

“What are you unicorns talking about?” Moochick asked suspiciously.

“Nothing!” Lancer lied, worried about what they would think.

“Look, just because we let you go along with us doesn´t mean that we trust you. You´d better not be conspiring against us, because earth ponies are known for not being merciful to their enemies. Consider this as a warning.”

“No worries, Moochick. I´ve heard their conversation.” Magic Star spoke in their favour. “They´re not talking about that. They´re just worried about what´s coming next.”

Moochick´s hard expression softened after he heard Magic Star. She was a wise sage after all. Plus, she was also an earth pony. He threw one last suspicious glance at Lancer, Glory and Starswirl before turning around. The unicorns shared uncomfortable glances.

The whole journey had been full of this tense energy between the earth ponies and the unicorns. Except for Magic Star, none of them said a word to them. Some earth ponies looked at them with disdain, others in fear, and others in curiosity, as in Knightshade´s and Alonzo´s case, who quickly turned their gaze away whenever the unicorns noticed they were being watched by them.

Gusty took a quick look at the earth ponies before talking to her comrades.

“Perhaps you should tell them what you just told us.” Gusty suggested to Lancer.

“Oh yeah, great idea!” he said sarcastically. “Let´s make them think worse of us by telling them that a creature with magic is having a bad feeling about something and scaring them off. What could go wrong?”

“Wait, you can do that?” Magic Star asked shocked.

“On the contrary.” Gusty continued, ignoring Magic Star. “If I were them, I would appreciate if you told me that you were sensing something was wrong.”

“Yeah, I would very much appreciate that!” Magic Star repeated.

“Well, that´s because you´re you Gusty.” Lancer continued talking to Gusty, ignoring the earth pony once again. “Not everything you feel or think applies to everypony. Besides, I´m not Lucena. I can´t see the future or sense that something´s wrong. This is just me being superstitious.”

“So, you have no paranormal magic?” Magic Star asked him, but once again she was ignored.

“Starswirl, I know ye didn´t study black magic, but can ye detect its presence when it´s not so obvious? Glory asked Starswirl.

Starswirl shook his head.

“I´m afraid is not that easy. It´s a well-known fact that evil is not always that obvious. The same applies to dark magic until it´s late. But I think we should be prepared for anything.”

Starswirl´s words left Gusty reflecting. She looked at Moochick and decided to walk to him.

“I´ll be back in a second.” she said as she made her way through some earth ponies, politely excusing herself if she hit them.

“But didn´t Moochick say that you were forbidden to-” Magic Star started to ask but was interrupted by Lancer.

“Don´t try to change her mind because it´s impossible.” Buttons advised her.

“Normally, I would stop her, but I am with her in this one.” said Lancer.

Despite some bad looks and complaints from the earth ponies, Gusty managed to get to Moochick.

“Um… Sir Moochick? Can I talk to you for a second?” she addressed the elder leader politely.

Moochick, Alonzo and Knightshade, who weren´t aware of Gusty´s presence, turned around and looked at her in an expression of surprise. Moochick´s showed slight anger as well since she had defied his orders.

“What are you doing unicorn? Don´t you know you´re supposed to be in the back?” he asked her upset.

“Firstly, you can address me by my name.” she said, tired of being called by her species name. “And secondly, I know what you said but this is important. It´s about Katrina´s magic is. I have a companion that knows about the dangers of black magic, and perhaps he can tell us how to fight it if he has enough information.”

Moochick looked at Alonzo and Knightshade. The two earth ponies nodded their heads.

“Alright.” Moochick accepted her request. “What do you want to know?”

“All I know is that she wears a potion, but what spells can she do?”

“Firstly, tell me the unicorns can do.” he commanded, looking at her with some suspicion.

“Oh my, I hope to remember all of them…” Gusty muttered under her breath before clearing her throat. “Well, there´s elevation, illumination, teleporting, transforming objects into others or altering their properties… and some more. Some of us have magic connected to some kind of force. For example, mine is connected to wind.”

“In that case, there´s not much mystery to it for you, unicorn. They´re very similar.” Moochick bluntly replied.

“In some way, but Katrina´s magic is black magic. This is a type of magic that unicorns are not familiar with, mostly because we haven´t been educated about magic at all, but also because it´s something very dangerous to get involved in. The only reference of black magic I have is Grogar and I´m not sure if his and Katrina´s magic are-”

The earth ponies turned their heads to her, staring in shock.

“Wait. What do you mean with not being educated about magic?” Knightshade interrupted Gusty.

“Well, all I know about magic is thanks to Majesty and my companion Starswirl. Before I joined the rebellion, the only spell I knew was elevating objects because that´s all we are allowed to do. Grogar forbid unicorns from using other spells and kept any information about history of unicorns and magic very well hidden from us.”

“So, you´re not Grogar´s pets?” Alonzo asked.

Gusty raised her eyebrow confused.

“What?”

“We all believed that Grogar was more benign with unicorns for their magical abilities.” Moochick explained. “You see, legend says that when he conquered Bridlengton, he gave earth ponies the hardest of jobs, treating us like beasts of burden. Many ponies died of suffocation, dehydration, fatigue, or wounds from lashes.”

“That´s terrible.” said a shocked Gusty, covering her mouth with one hoof.

“Our ancestors related some encounters with unicorns when they were transported to some places to work. They said that they had lighter jobs, mostly servitude. They contributed that to the fact that you had magic, and being the opportunistic tyrant he is, he decided to make use of that magic for himself. So, they thought that he taught you spells and gave you an education as long as you worked for them.”

“Well, compared to your jobs, ours are lighter, even though we can also work on agriculture, but that´s not very common. However, make no mistake. Grogar also mistreated us. We would also get flogged and harsh work conditions, we were stripped of our knowledge of magic, and sometimes from our magic as well. I remember being very scared when I was taken a slave as a filly because I thought that I was going to be taken to Grogar so he could take my magic and grow more powerful.”

“Wow, I suppose that´s like taking your whole essence from you. Sounds terrible.” said Alonzo.

“Hmph.” Gusty nodded.

“Then we can assume that you don´t know how to cast spells to hurt others, right?” Moochick asked her.

“Exactly.” Gusty answered calm, until she realized that Moochick mentioned dark spirits. “Wait, what do you mean with summoning dark spirits?”

Despite her question, the earth ponies didn´t answer. Instead, they stopped walking to admire the horizon. High above, on top of a promontory, there laid a castle. Although she was too far to appreciate it in detail, Gusty could tell that it had a simpler appearance compared to Grogar´s castle. Nonetheless, it was still an imposing building. Bellow the castle, there were several houses. Nearer the castle, there were the tallest houses, with roots formed of tiles, which probably belonged to Katrina´s servants. And at the bottom, there were the simplest houses, shorter and strawed roofs, meaning that they belonged to ponies. It was clear this was a city, and a big one too. It was clear they had arrived to their destination: Bridlengton.

“Well… This is going to be more difficult than I thought…” Buttons bit her lips nervous as she looked to the castle.

“Which one, getting into the castle or into the city?” Magic Star asked her.

Buttons winked perplexed.

“What do you mean?”

“While the castle is the first thing in the city that catches the eye of any wonderer, the moat surrounding it should not be an exception.” Knightshade answered in reply.

“A moat?” Starswirl asked confused.

“You see that big ditch?” Alonzo pointed at the moat. “That is a moat. It is used as a defence mechanism for cities or castles so that is more difficult to intrude.”

“Huh, that explains why underneath the capital´s gates there´s water.” Gusty muttered to herself.

“And how did ye manage to conquer cities before with obstacles like this?!” Glory asked scared.

“With lots of patience and faith, my friend. Lots of patience and faith.” Lancer surrounded his hooves around Glory and patted him. “Don´t worry. You´ll get used to it.”

“Indeed.” Moochick nodded. “But now that I think about it, maybe we can facilitate things a little bit…” he smirked as he looked at Gusty.

Everypony except Gusty seemed to have understood the message, since they all had some sort of expression in their faces. Just like their leader, the earth ponies stared at Gusty with a wide smug grin in their faces, with the exception of Magic Star who pressed her lips nervously. On the other hoof, the unicorns´ reactions were the complete opposite. Glory and Starswirl covered their mouths as they looked at each other, whereas Lancer and Buttons seemed to be very upset about what was going on the earth ponies´ minds.

“Um…” she looked around everypony. “Why is everypony looking at me?”

“You know what? I´m starting to think that maybe trusting these ponies wasn´t a good idea after all…” Lancer said to his companions, as they were being dragged like captured criminals.

The earth ponies tied the unicorns by the neck in a line, Gusty being the first in line. There was rope around their horns as well.

“Don´t worry. As much as they want to get rid of you, deep down they know that this alliance will be fruitful one way or another, even if they don´t understand your magic.” Magic Star reassured them. “Or at least I hope so…”

“It´d better be. Otherwise, I´ll show them that unicorns are good at physical fighting as well.” Buttons threatened.

“Sh! We´re getting there.” Glory shushed everypony.

“Halt!” Moochick said to everypony once they were in front of the walls.

Everypony looked at each other confused by the lack of soldiers at the keep. Even Gusty, Buttons, Glory, Starswirl and Magic Star, who had no knowledge of warfare knew that it was a must to have somepony watching over the horizon to prevent attacks or warn their ruler. But to those who did have warfare experience this could mean two things. One: Katrina´s soldiers were very incompetent or so dissatisfied with their jobs to the point of not caring. And two: they managed to spot them very far away, or spirits forbid knew they would attack today, and they are preparing a surprise attack.

Moochick turned to his subjects and nodded his head at a mare that was carrying a trumpet. She took a deep breath, hoping to deliver a beautiful sound, but instead, the sound coming out of the trumpet was anything but graceful. Everypony stared at her, which made her smile apologetically.

“Sorry. Must be full of saliva.” she said as she cleaned its inside. Fortunately, the second try was successful. “Now, we´re talking!”

“Is that some kind of rebellion theme?” Gusty asked Knightshade.

Although he was uncomfortable by the fact that a unicorn´s head was close to his, he couldn´t help but smile at Gusty´s enthusiasm.

“Hm.” he nodded his head.

Even after the trumpet, there was still no sight of a guard.

“Hello?” Moochick yelled.

Again, no response. The ponies stared at the wall, expecting something to happen.

“Hello?!” Moochick repeated, in a louder voice.

“Hallo! Who is this?” a grey cat replied.

“It is Moochick, leader of the earth-” Moochick widened his eyes in realization. “Wait a minute, you already know who I am! Why do you ask?”

“Of course, I know who you are, I was just teasing you! You know, so you have a laugh after your death!” he prepared his bow to shoot an arrow at him.

Immediately, every soldier prepared their shields and ran in front of him to defend him. Moochick, however, was unfazed. He rose his hoof as a signal not to attack yet.

“We have not come here to attack. Not if you listen to our proposal of negotiation.”

“Negotiation?”

“It has come to our ears that there´s a dangerous criminal unicorn named Gusty alias Wind Warrior walking free in the empire. We´ve also heard that our great emperor Grogar will give a great reward to the ruler that brings her to him, isn´t that right?”

“How did you get that information?!”

“I´m afraid that rumours spread fast. In any case, we believe we have her.”

“Well, I´m afraid that it´s too late! Uh… We already have her, you see?”

Everypony frowned confused.

“What?!” Moochick asked.

“He says they already have her!” Alonzo said to his leader.

“They must have confused Fizzy with you.” Starswirl said to Gusty.

“I don´t think so.” she shook her head. “Katrina saw me when I was serving Grogar. She must have told her soldiers how I look like.”

“Are you sure you already have her?” Moochick raised his eyebrow skeptically.

“Oh yes! She´s very nice. I almost feel bad for her!”

Just as the ponies suspected, the cat wasn´t alone. In the keep he was in, there were two more cats hiding behind the wall.

“I told them we already have her.” the grey cat whispered to his companions, making them cover their mouths in laughter.

“Well, I think there must have been a confusion. Because the pony we captured matches the description better. Show her!” Moochick ordered the soldier that carried the unicorns.

“Move!” the earth pony yelled at the unicorns as she pulled the rope around Gusty´s neck.

The other earth ponies moved aside to make way for the prisoners. The grey cat widened his eyes surprised.

“They do have her!” he thought aloud.

“Really?” a black female cat poked her head to watch but the grey cat pushed it down.

“So, can we negotiate now?” Moochick asked.

The grey cat stretched his lips and looked up while thinking his answer.

“Ok. What is it that you want?”

“Let us pass and take us to Katrina so she can listen to my proposal: In exchange of the criminal, she must stop persecuting and mistreating all earth ponies, giving them the right to keep a larger part of their crops! If she does, we will no longer rebel.”

“What about the other unicorns?” the black cat poked her head out again.

“Will you stop doing that?!” the grey cat pushed her down again. “Let me take a look. Hm… The only one that is familiar is the Gusty one and the blue one. Lancer, one of Majesty´s most loyal soldiers. As for the other ones… I´ve never seen them but I don´t think they´ll give us a good reward for them, since they look… unimportant.”

The cat laughed hysterically. On contrast, Glory, Buttons and Starswirl frowned upset.

“Excuse me, but they are more important than you´ll ever be!” Gusty said in their defence.

“Oh! She´s feisty. I like it.” the cat smiled in admiration.

“So, will you let us pass or not?” Moochick asked persistent.

“Wait!” the grey cat reached out his paws before ducking down.

The cat left the ponies waiting for some time. They looked at the keep anxiously, wondering if this was a trap or if the cat truly believed them. Some minutes later, the grey cat showed himself along his companions: the previously seen black cat and an orange cat.

“Ok! My good friend will send Katrina the message. In the meantime, we´ll keep an eye on you.”

He and the black cat made a `I´m watching you gesture´. After patting his back, the orange cat nodded and ran off. Though so far their plan seemed to go smoothly, they were also aware that it could take a turn at any time, so they were still tense. Yet they also felt some relief. Unfortunately, that relief didn´t last, as the orange cat came back too soon.

“Wait a minute. Didn´t Katrina say they were working together?” he asked confused.

Everypony widened their eyes.

“Is there a chance that Katrina´s potion gives her the power to spy us?” Gusty asked Starswirl.

“Very likely.” he responded, just as nervous.

“Dude! You ruined the surprise attack.” the grey cat scolded the orange cat.

“Well, I guess this isn´t necessary anymore.” said Lancer.

Every unicorn lightened their horn to free themselves off the ropes, leaving the earth ponies both surprised and scared of what they were capable of doing. They took their swords and shields and prepared for attack.

“CHARGE!” Moochick yelled as he rose his sword.

Some earth ponies took their bows and arrows and prepared to shoot the cats, but the latter were faster and managed to shoot first.

“INCOMING!” yelled Alonzo.

“FORMATION!” Moochick yelled.

Every earth pony formed groups and covered themselves with their shields, putting it over their heads or in front of their chests. Of the unicorns, Lancer was the only one who used his shield. The rest didn´t have time to react, so they used their magic to form a force field instead, which thankfully was also effective. Both the earth ponies and the unicorns stared at each other, shocked by their tactics.

“Huh, that´s actually a smart move!” Lancer said in honest admiration.

“You lucky fools… That is one great advantage!” Knightshade said in reply, observing the unicorns.

“Can they hear us?” an earth pony asked curiously.

“Aye, I can!” Glory replied.

“Magic Star.” Moochick turned his head to her.

“On it!” she exclaimed as she opened her bag, protected by her comrades.

She took out a sling and a potion. She laid the potion on the pocket, tied the sling around her hoof, swung it and thew it towards the keep she was the closest to. When it got to the top of the keep, the potion left out a green smoke, which made the garrison cough.

“Nice shot!” Buttons said shocked.

“What potion did you throw?” Starswirl asked curiously.

Magic Star didn´t need to reply. Soon after, the smoke cleared out. The cats that received the potion seemed to be dizzy.

“What happened?” one of them asked while looking at his companion.

The other cat started laughing.

“What? What´s funny?”

“Your fur is purple. He he he!”

Scared the cat looked at his paw. Truth to be told, his fur was still in its original colour: brown. However, just like his companion, he saw his fur purple. He started laughing as well.

“Oh, you´re right! HA HA!”

The other cats on the keep started laughing as well.

“Why are we laughing?” one of them asked.

Starswirl covered his mouth at realization. He slowly turned his head to Magic Star, who was smirking in pride at how her plan worked perfectly. Then, she picked up some stones and more potions and ran to another keep.

“Now, unicorns!” Moochick ordered them.

Lancer, Buttons, Glory and Starswirl took a deep breath before blasting the cats with their magic and throwing them off the keep. As they attacked, Moochick made signs to groups of earth ponies, guiding them where to go. The ponies that stayed with him went to the gates. Meanwhile, the cats in the other keep stared scared at the unicorns. Then, they looked at their boss, the grey cat, asking him what to do with their terrified eyes.

“Ok now I get why they say unicorns are dangerous.” the black cat bit her lip.

“Don´t stop attacking you fools! Throw arrows, stones, anything!” the grey cat ordered his surrogates. “You!” he said to the orange cat. “Go warn Katrina.”

The orange cat widened his eyes.

“Are you sure? Because you know what will happen.” he replicated.

“You know that sooner or later we´ll have to…” the black cat reminded him, even though she was just as uncomfortable with the idea as he was.

The orange cat sighed.

“Ok.”

The grey cat patted his back before he left. Then, he turned around abruptly when he heard yells. He saw soldiers flying around a tornado and sent far away. He and the black cat stared shocked at Gusty, just like the earth ponies.

“Sorry!” Gusty apologized to the cats she hurt. “What?” she asked to the earth ponies after noticing their stares.

Taking advantage of the fact that she was distracted, the grey cat took his arrow and bow and threw an arrow on her direction. Starswirl was the first one to react.

“Gusty!” he yelled as he jumped to push her away.

Gusty whimpered as Starswirl landed on her back. They observed at how the arrow landed on the spot she was in. Gusty held her chest.

“Oh my! Thank you.” she smiled at him.

Starswirl blushed and smiled in embarrassment. Just before he could say you´re welcome, a stone was thrown in their direction. Luckily, Gusty paid enough attention to stop the attack with the shield. She smiled back at him once they were safe.

“You know you can throw it back at them, right?” Knightshade said to them. “Like this.” he smiled as he saw a stone coming.

He turned around and stood in his two forelegs to hold the shield with the forelegs. When the stone reached the shield, he pushed it back to the keep, hitting a cat in the head. Starswirl and Gusty widened their eyes, as that stone seemed to be very heavy. He raised his eyebrow playfully.

Meanwhile, Moochick and some of his troops ran to the gates. They turned around and stood in two legs.

“On my signal!” the earth pony yelled.

“Whoah, whoah. You´re seriously planning to break the gates just like that?!” Lancer asked. “Even Majesty who´s the most powerful unicorn I´ve ever known needs a battering ram to do that. No matter how strong our magic is, we still can´t-”

“Kick!” Moochick ordered his surrogates, completely ignoring Lancer´s rant.

The earth ponies kicked the gates, making them tremble. The vibration was felt by the cats in the keep and the ponies near the gates. Lancer´s head shook so hard that once the shaking stopped, he fell and his eyes went sideways. After throwing one attack, she went to assist Lancer why stopping some arrows with her shield.

“You were saying?” Alonzo raised his eyebrow.

“Now, that´s a barry strength ye have!” Glory complimented the earth ponies as she helped Lancer get up.

“Of course! Why do you think Grogar used us as burden beasts?” he replied back. “Now keep on defending us before we end up killed!”

Lancer shook his head. Afterwards, he raised his hoof to his forehead, with an expression of humility and embarrassment. Glory playfully smiled at him as he left. As she looked to the main keep, she realized something. Originally, there were three cats standing in the front. And now, there were only two. She saw the orange one leaving but he hasn´t come back in a time.

“Where did you go, kitty?” she wondered to herself.

Although it was a cloudy day, at the first trace of light, Fizzy woke up. The first thought in her mind was finding a way to get out of the dungeon so she could help Amina, the friendly spirit she talked to last night. Although she woke up very confident in getting out soon and easily, the reality was way more different. Hours passed, and she still found herself pacing around frustrated with an idea block.

“Come on, think, think.” she softly hit her forehead. “There has to be something you haven´t thought of!”

“That´s not true.” the guard told her. “You have thought of everything! In case your tiny brain hasn´t registered it yet, you ain´t coming out!”

Fizzy rolled her eyes. She had been dealing with that guard as soon as she woke up. She stared at the chain attached to the wall, which gave her an idea, though not a very good one. Fizzy was known for coming up with the wackiest of ideas, but even she knew when an idea was way off reality or it wouldn´t work, and this one was the case. However, what else she could do? She sighed.

“Here goes nothing…” she said after picking up the chain.

She inhaled deeply and expired slowly before pulling the chain with all her strength. As expected, it didn´t work, but maybe after many attempts, it would come off the wall. And with a little bit of luck, maybe she could use it to break the door lock. However, judging by how many pauses she had to take to breathe, this would take a long time. There even came a moment when she fell to the floor on her back. She whimpered from exhaustion, pain and frustration. The guard laughed at her attempt. What´s worse, things were not going to get easier.

“Good morning dearie…” the last voice she wanted to hear greeted her.

Her eyes widened. Afterwards, she clenched her teeth and pulled her eyelids down.

“Ay no…” she muttered.

She sat down and looked at Katrina´s victorious smirk indifferently.

“Hey. Nice to see you.” she greeted back sarcastically.

“Laugh all you want, although I´m afraid now it´s not the best moment.” Katrina giggled. “You see, I´ve located your precious friends.”

“You what?!” Fizzy held the bars.

“I said I located your friends. And no matter how many alliances they do, they won´t be able to go against what I have in store.” she grinned as she looked at her potion. “Pretty soon, your so called Wind Warrior will be in my paws and brought to Grogar. As for you… Well, if I were you I´d be enjoying what´s left of your pitiful life, because you´re bound to lose it soon enough.” she scratched her chin with her claw. In response, Fizzy hit it, but Katrina didn´t seem to affect by it.

“Not if I can help it!” Fizzy roared.

“And how, huh? You can´t use your magic nor you seem physically strong.” she teased her.

Contrary to what she and every cat, pony or any creature thought, Fizzy was smart. She looked at her potion and realized how close Katrina was to her, which made her come up with the best idea she could ever have had in her life. Faster than a cat, she picked the potion and started to pull towards her. Katrina gasped and wrestled against Fizzy for the potion. Seeing how determined the pony was into getting her potion, she pulled out her claws and scratched her cheek, making her let go of the potion. Once her paws were free, she conjured a ray to hit Fizzy. The poor unicorn flew against the wall.

“DON´T YOU EVER DARE TO DO THAT AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME?!” she yelled at her.

Fizzy´s ears lowered in fear. Up until now, she thought that Katrina was just an arrogant powerful cat. Although she knew she was capable of hurting her friends, she never imagined how scary she could be when she got angry. Just like Grogar, she was not a force to be played with, which is the reason why he kept her around.

Some dungeons above Fizzy´s, Posey observed everything. Just like Katrina, she was planning to visit Fizzy, however the cat arrived before her. After witnessing how she hurt Fizzy, Posey decided it was time she took action. But she ran into an obstacle.

“Posey? What are you doing here?” a masculine voice said.

Her ears perked up. She turned her head around and saw Apricot, one of Katrina´s soldier. Posey took out a knife and laid it near his throat, making him raise his paws. Posey put her other hoof over her lips, telling him to be quiet.

Unfortunately, Katrina´s sharp cat hearing perceived Apricot´s voice, despite being soft-spoken. She looked upstairs and frowned. Slowly, she walked upstairs and caught the pony and the cat off. They gasped horrified.

“Yeah, that´s what I would like to know about, Posey.” she hissed. She looked at Apricot. “Aside from why you´re pointing your knife at Apricot. You´re not betraying me in any way, are you?” she walked to her menacingly. Posey walked backwards in response.

“No, no. I just-”

“She simply got scared!” Apricot said to Katrina.

Katrina raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Confused, Posey arched an eyebrow at Apricot.

“There are cats who like to scare her and she doesn´t like that, so she carries a knife around to scare us of. I know because I´ve seen it. I think she was just looking for you and we crossed paths.” he smiled nervously.

“And why are you here and not in the fortress?” Katrina asked in return, now advancing towards Apricot.

“I uh… Bring news…”

“What news?”

“The-the-”

“The what?!”

“The city´s fortress is under attack!” Apricot spat out. “They are here!”

A smile drew in Katrina´s face. She chuckled.

“Good.” she turned backwards to speak to the guard and Fizzy, especially the latter. “Now if you excuse me, I must go.”

Fizzy crept to the bars.

“You evil witch! You won´t get with yours!”

“Oh. I´m afraid I already have” she turned to the guard. “Have as much fun with her as you want.” she said to him before leaving.

“Gladly.” the guard replied after chuckling. “Now, I think I haven´t tortured you enough. How about we fix that?” he said as he pointed his spear at her.

Luckily, before he could do anything, Posey kicked his head, leaving him unconscious. She took the keys and opened the dungeon. Fizzy hugged her, surprising her.

“Ah, I´m so glad to see you!” Fizzy said to her.

“Um… Same…” answered Posey, not so sure how to react to a unicorn hugging her, though a part of her said there was nothing to worry about, since that unicorn was her friend. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. A little hurt from Katrina´s attack but,” Fizzy shrugged. “I´ve dealt with worse. Anyway, I have something very important to tell you!”

“Me too! But you go first.”

“I know who the Weeping Roar is! It´s a spirit named Anima. And she´s not evil she´s just broken! She lost her cubs and she misses them and she´s with Katrina because she believes she´ll help her retrieve her cubs.”

“Amina? What a beautiful name that means soul.” Posey commented. Seeing that she was getting off topic she shook her head. “Anyway, I do know about Amina´s story. But here´s where things get worse. Katrina found her cubs and offered them to the dark spirits so she could get the potion.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, and now she´s planning to offer her to them so they can grant her more power. And not only her, she´s planning to offer your friends and the earth pony rebels!”

“And probably us too.” Apricot added.

The mares turned their heads to him. He rubbed his crossed arms.

“Katrina is planning to send the dark spirits to attack at the fortress. I know that she didn´t offer us but dark spirits take more than they give. They´ll probably take some of my comrades too.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let´s stop her!” Fizzy stomped her hoof against the floor. “Do you have any idea of where she could be now?” she asked Posey.

“I do. Follow me!”

Katrina opened the gates of her bedroom balcony. From there, she could catch sight of the battle at the fortress. She looked at the potion before closing her eyes and reciting these words:

“Shadows, take the light. Make them run in fright. Make their eyes turn white. And bring me what is mine. What is mine.”

Once she was done reciting her chant, she smiled wickedly as she watched the horizon.

“Run, run little warrior.” she mocked Gusty.

Suddenly, every cat and pony fighting at the wall started hearing a haunting melody. Both sides stopped fighting to figure out where that sound came from.

“Wha-What is that melody?” Glory asked scared.

Magic Star and Starswirl froze in fear. They shared looks and nodded at each other, confirming their worries. Knowing that they were the experts at magic, Gusty knew that this was Katrina´s doing. Another thing that caught her attention were the cats´ reaction. Just like them, they were full of fear, hiding their tails between their legs or embracing each other, preparing for what was about to come.

“Quick everypony! Form a circle and light your horns!” Starswirl ordered his companoons.

“But why?” Buttons asked frightened.

“Just do it! I don´t have time to explain.”

“Starswirl, what´s going on?” Lancer asked upset.

“He knows what he´s doing. Trust him.” Gusty supported Starswirl.

Though confused, the unicorn did as told.

“I knew something bad was going to happen.” said Lancer.

“You know what, if I were you, I would form a turtle with these on.” Magic Star adviced the earth ponies as she passed them silver thistles.

Some had time to do as Magic Star commanded but others didn´t. In the blink of an eye, something took some earth ponies away. Afterwards, they weren´t seen.

“What was that?” an earth pony asked.

Everypony got their spirit when what took the earth ponies away made themselves visible to the ponies. They were black phantasmagorical creatures of different forms whose movement were like the flames of a fire. They roared at the ponies.

“Dark spirits.” Magic Star said as she fearfully stared at them.

Chapter 14: An exorcism of light

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 15: Katrina´s wrath

Author's Note

It´s official everypony, I´ve finished college! And my thesis has been considered outstanding by the people I presented the thesis too. After this year, I can finally rest.

Anyway, here you have an intense chapter to compensate my absence. Enjoy!

Chapter 15: Katrina´s wrath

Nervously, Katrina paced around the garden, most specifically in front of the pond. Despite being arrogant and confident all the time, she was still a creature, so even she wasn´t immune to the sting of anxiety and doubt. If dark spirits took time to bring Gusty to her, that meant that she was not a force to be messed with. But she couldn´t have the power of a spirit, could she? She was just a mortal! Just like the cat. She was aware of that more than ever. Offers to the dark spirits were running out and each time she asked for their help, she got deeper and deeper in debt. Katrina had never been ignorant of the dangers that dealing with dark spirits could bring, yet she still made a deal with them, as unwise as that might be. Everything needed to go according to plan, no matter what.

“Aaargh! What´s taking them so long?!”

She was so focused on waiting that she didn´t notice Fizzy, Posey and Apricot running around the cloister. Apricot was the first to notice her, so he stopped Posey and Fizzy by holding the latter´s foreleg and pointed at Katrina. Fizzy was grateful that she was behind Posey, otherwise, she wouldn´t have noticed Apricot´s warning due to both the stress of the situation and the amazing architecture. It had some elements in common with Grogar´s castle, such as the pointy arches, but with some differences too. For example, Fizzy noticed that inside the arches, there tinier arches and geometric drawings. The garden was impressive as well. Instead of the thorns found in Grogar´s garden, there were orange trees and bushes.

The two ponies and cat hid behind a column.

“Is this where she meets the dark spirits?” Fizzy asked Posey.

The earth pony nodded energetically.

“Yes. I saw her right in the same spot the other day.” she replied.

“Oh my…” Apricot bit his claw while observing Katrina. “I´ve never seen her so worried…”

“Well, she should be. Gusty doesn´t mess around when it comes to her friends. Pretty soon, her reign will be over.” Fizzy was about to smack her hooves, but Posey put her hoof between hers to stop her. The unicorn smiled embarrassed. “Why are you worried about her, anyway?” she asked confused to Apricot. “I thought you didn´t like her.”

“I never did, but it´s just I´m scared of what will happen if I don´t evacuate every cat at time. What if by helping you I bring doom to my kind? I mean, we´ve mistreated you for a really long time! It seems reasonable that afterwards earth ponies want us to be your slaves or executed.”

“To be honest, you had no choice.” Posey said to him. “We both know you are as much of slaves as we are. I mean, most of you were forcefully taken from Abyssinia.”

“Wait, what?” Fizzy turned to Apricot.

“How do you know that?” Apricot asked in shock to Posey.

“Walls have ears.” she shrugged.

“Is Abyssinia where cats come from?” Fizzy asked Apricot.

Apricot nodded.

“Then, how is it that Katrina ended up here?”

The orange cat sighed.

“Pride mostly. You see, Katrina was the second daughter of the queen and king of Abyssinia. As you can guess, she was the second heir to the throne, the first being Seraphina, her older sister. Katrina desired the throne more than anything in the world, which led her to hurt her subjects and her sister. Angered by her behaviour, she was vanished. As demoralizing that event might be for some, it didn´t stop Katrina from wanting to become queen. If she couldn´t inherit her family´s kingdom, she would create hers.”

“And that´s when she made the deal with the dark spirits, right?” Fizzy interrupted Apricot. “Because I assume she was completely on her own when she was vanished.”

“That does explain why she can control them.” Apricot caressed his chin. “I thought it was because of her potion, but it would make sense dark spirits gave her that potion. None of us ever knew how Katrina managed to get dark spirits on her side, you know.” he explained.

“And I suppose she must have used the dark spirits to take cats from Abyssinia. Or even Amina as well.” Posey added.

“I don´t know who is this Amina you´re talking about, but I´ll assume so.”

Suddenly, as they were talking, they were blinded by the sunlight, causing them to cover their eyes.

“Sunlight?” Katrina wondered estranged. Then, she heard the sound of bells, realizing what that meant. “No. No, no, no, NO!” she growled frustrated.

“Your highness!” Rep ran to her. “The Wind Warrior, her comrades and the rebels have entered the city. We believe she´s charging to the castle.”

Without him expecting it, Katrina grabbed Rep by his shirt.

“Did she do that?”

“Do what?”

“THAT!” she said while shaking him. Afterwards, she pointed at the clear sky. “Did she move the clouds?”

Rep gulped, knowing what was coming for him.

“Yes…”

Katrina widened her eyes. She released Rep. The tomcat stared worried at his mistress, since she said no word. Instead, she turned around and walked. She stopped to take a breath while looking at the floor.

“You want me to be a bad kitty? Fine, now I´m a bad kitty.” she said in a gloomy tone and a murderous look.

Rep´s, Apricot´s and Posey´s hearts started beating. Fizzy didn´t know Katrina as well as they did, but from their reactions, she could tell that she was going to be at her most dangerous. All this time she was only playing around. Now, she was serious.

“Capture all the earth pony rebels.” she ordered Rep. “And the Wind Warrior´s companions, if that´s possible.”

“And the Wind Warrior?”

“I´ll deal with her myself!” Katrina replied with a sharp attitude. “Now go!”

Rep fearfully raised his paw to his forehead before running away. Katrina took some time before her next move, leaving Fizzy, Posey and Apricot expecting impatiently. At last, after some tense minutes Katrina sighed.

“I´ll have to use her help. And she had better do well this time. Otherwise, her time here will be less.” she thought aloud as she took out a key from her robes.

This was the sign they waited for. Fizzy turned to Posey and Apricot and nodded.

“I´m afraid that won´t possible.” she said while she left her hideout.

Katrina turned around. She arched her eyebrow, surprised and estranged by the fact she was in her garden and not in behind bars. Fizzy took advantage of that moment of disbelief to take water from the pond, making her lose balance, fall and drop the key. Once she was on the ground, Fizzy tried to get the key with her magic, but Katrina was faster and threw a magical beam at her. Her first instinct was to jump to the right. She thanked herself for trusting her instincts, otherwise she would have been blasted, something she could tell by the mark Katrina left on a column. However, by letting her guard down, she gave Katrina the chance to grab her. She brought her to her face.

“Well well… Look who escaped.” she smiled as she observed how Fizzy was struggling to escape her grasp. “I must say I´m impressed. You´re not as dumb as I thought.”

“I never was.” Fizzy clapped back in determination.

Katrina clicked her tongue.

“Oh, sorry but I disagree. You just gave yourself to me. And this time your destination isn´t a dungeon. It´s the gallows.”

“Oh, but you can´t send me to the gallows directly. You could anger Grogar.” Fizzy pointed out.

Katrina cackled.

“HAHA! Do you really think that Grogar cares about what happens to you? The only thing he wants is the Wind Warrior. He doesn´t care about the rest of you.”

“But knowing him, he´ll want to make an example of us. What would happen if you did it instead of him?”

She grabbed her neck. She squeezed it as hard as she could.

“I´m afraid that sometimes there are some casualties.”

Just when Katrina thought Fizzy wouldn´t laugh anymore, the unicorn draws a cocky smirk on her face. The cat widened her eyes, confused as to why she would be smiling when she was being choked. Noticing the direction of her eyes, she looked at where she had dropped the key, only to find it wasn´t there anymore.

“What the-”

When she looked up, she saw Apricot talking to somepony behind a column.

“I got it. Now run!” he said to Posey.

The earth pony nodded before she and Apricot parted ways, running as fast as they could. Unfortunately, they were noticed before they could get far. Katrina released Fizzy´s neck from the shock. Fizzy coughed and gasped from some air.

“YOU!” she yelled angrily at Apricot and Posey.

She bound the two together. Since it happened so fast, they didn´t realize they could move anymore until they saw a magic tight holding them. They looked in horror as Katrina´s shadow covered them.

“Oh dear… I guess it´s true what they say. It´s always from the ones you least expect.” she snarled and showed her teeth at them, terrifying them more.

Fizzy´s ears dropped, worried about Posey. Luckily, she noticed she was next to the pond.

Katrina sighed in false pity, becoming calm too abruptly. Next, she started conjuring up some magic.

“Apricot, I always knew you were a softie but not to the point of being a coward.”

The orange cat was hurt by the comment, but he still gave her a defiant look. Katrina approached her face to Posey.

“As for you my sweet Posey. she shook her head. “Such a pity. You were very useful to me.”

“I hope you tell that to Amina too.”

In just a flash, Katrina wounded Posey´s eye with her claws. Afterwards, she finished her magic spell, which was creating a magical sword. She grabbed it and without any warning, she directed the sword towards Posey´s and Apricot´s necks. Before the blade could touch their skin, Fizzy picked Katrina with water and threw her to the other side of the garden. The impact against an arch made Katrina to release Apricot and Posey.

“GO GO GO!” she told them.

“You want me to come with you?” Apricot asked Posey, seeing the state of her eye.

“Don´t worry. I can handle.” she reassured him.

The orange cat nodded before parting ways.

Katrina grunted as she tried to get up. She snarled with hatred at Fizzy, who was giving her a challenging smirk. The cat stretched her paws before throwing two magical beams at her. Fizzy managed to disappear before they hit her. She ran towards Katrina, but the cat swiftly stepped aside and tripped her, making her fall into the pond. Katrina smirked. Fizzy took her head out of the water. She drew her sword and created a water stream to hold it and approach it to Katrina. Very quickly, the cat conjured up a sword and used it to defend against Fizzy´s attacks. The unicorn´s attacks were so fast that she almost hit Katrina, had she not had her feline reflexes. She took advantage of the cat´s shock to reappear right in front of her. She tried to grab the potion, though for the unicorn´s misfortune, Katrina conjured a forcefield, sending her away.

“My goodness, you´re quite the fighter.” Katrina teased her. “Unfortunately, not the best of the two of us.”

Fizzy huffed, puffed and clenched her teeth. As serious as she may have looked, her next move didn´t seem as much. She created a water octopus. Katrina snorted.

“An octopus, really?”

“Yes, really.”

She used the water tentacles to immobilize Katrina. No matter how hard she tried to free herself, she couldn´t get out of the tentacles. Luckily for her, Rep appeared in the perfect moment. He shot arrow that broke all the octopus´ tentacles. Katrina smiled at him with pride.

“Get away from her!” he yelled at her.

He started shooting arrows at her at the same time that Katrina threw her magical beams. Fizzy was already stressed by her fight against Katrina, but she started panicking the moment Rep entered. He wasn´t as intimidation as Katrina but his presence imposed a menace to her, considering that he was protecting his beloved. Plus, she was outnumbered and had to defend herself from two enemies at the same time. There came a moment when she couldn´t defend herself from one of Katrina´s beams, which pushed her backwards, causing her to strike against a column on her head. As a result, she lost consciousness.

Since Katrina didn´t have time to check if Fizzy was dead, she picked up some of Rep´s arrows Fizzy and put them above Fizzy. She smiled before letting them go. However, her smile would quickly vanish thanks to Rep.

“My dear, are you ok?” he asked concerned.

His voice put her of her stride, causing the arrows to land around Fizzy and not on her, as Katrina originally intended. She growled furious.

“YOU IDIOT! DON´T YOU REALIZE THAT SHE COULD NOT BE DEAD?!” she shouted at him.

“Sorry…” Rep shook in fear.

Katrina sighed.

“It doesn´t matter. That blow will probably affect her magic. I don´t think she´ll have enough strength to destroy her trap.” she turned to Rep. “Have they reached the castle?”

“Not yet, your highness.” he shyly responded.

“Then make sure they don´t. And if you can´t restrain the Wind Warrior, weaken her as much as you can! And capture Posey and Apricot, they´re around the castle.”

“Those two as well? But why?

“DON´T ASK WHY, JUST DO IT!”

Rep ran away terrified. Katrina clenched her teeth as she looked at the clouds.

“Is it me or is the castle farther than before?” asked Buttons.

Everypony looked up only to find that she was correct. The castle did look smaller. Shady sighed.

“It is.” she confirmed in a tone of repentance.

The unicorns grunted. Getting to the castle was mission impossible. They had been spinning around for who knows how much time, but it felt like ages, only to end up in the same spot or further from the castle. To make matters worse, all the streets looked the same. Narrow, brown stone attached houses, and passages with round arches. Something that caught Gusty´s attention was that there were no signs at the houses´ doors. Back in the capital, her and her neighbours´ houses had a sign that indicated which species the pony inhabiting the building was. Her dear and wise magaga explained that this phenomenon was due to the three pony species were present in the capital and lived segregated, so the signs were to recognize who the neighbourhood belonged to.

“I´m so sorry.” Shady apologized as she buried her face in her hooves. “I´m only making things worse.”

“It´s ok, you´re trying your best.” Lancer reassured her, in spite of the frustration he was feeling inside. “At least we dealt with the cats.”

“Yeah. Besides, it´s not like the inhabitants are of much help.” Gusty added, noticing some earth ponies closing the windows in fear of the unicorns.

“Well, at least this time they didn´t throw anything at us.” Glory pointed out sarcastically.

Starswirl looked at Bandit.

“We might not have had luck asking before, but maybe he could be our stroke of luck.” he pointed at him.

Everypony stared at the cat. They were aware of their presence, but they didn´t trust him to guide them to the castle. Plus, he didn´t seem to be awakened by anything, which meant that waking him up would be a tedious and slow task. But right now, they had no other choice.

Gusty sighed before clicking her tongue.

“Tsk tsk kitty kitty.” she called him as she rubbed his nose.

The cat simply frowned and twitched his whiskers. But he didn´t open his eyes. Gusty turned her head to the others and shook his head.

“Well, this can´t get any worse!” Lancer yelled sarcastically.

For their misfortune it could. Not so far from their location, there found the headquarters from the self-proclaimed witch-hunters that the unicorns previously encountered at the inn. After the bell rang, the news of the earth-pony coup spread throughout the whole city like a disease. Some citizens were in their homes, watching from the windows to see if something happened near them or how the events folded out. The witch-hunters were no exception.

“Any news?” the boss asked his partners.

The two other stallions shook their heads. The mare differed, however.

“Guys! Guys!” she shook her hoof rapidly, hitting one of her companions.

“What?” the stallion she was accidentally hitting asked upset.

“Look! The witches!” she pointed at the unicorns. “And the inn´s witch´s friend!”

The boss walked to the window to take a look. He gasped when he noticed them.

“They´ve come to sabotage the rebellion! But we won´t let them.” he said as he left the window. His partners followed him.

Meanwhile, Gusty kept on trying to wake him up, despite the previous failures. Shady and the other unicorns watched closely in expectation.

“Come on little kitty wake up…” Gusty tapped Bandit´s head.

The cat smiled in satisfaction as Gusty tapped his head. In fact, he started purring! She grunted.

“No matter what I do, I seem to relax him more!”

“Of course, because you´re a witch!” a familiar voice reproached her.

Everypony widened their eyes and turned their heads in the direction of the voice. They rolled their eyes or grunted they recognized the witch-hunters.

“Not them again.” Shady massaged her temple.

“Don´t you know cats like witches?” the boss continued speaking.

“We are not witches!” Gusty stomped her hoof against the ground to emphasize her point. “Katrina is!”

“Witchcraft is defined by the usage of black magic. You´re just prejudiced against magic.” Starswirl said in their defence.

“How could we not?” the stallion at the boss´s left replicated. “Magic has only brought us problems. And now that we have the chance to liberate ourselves from it, you come to impede that.”

“Wait, what?” Buttons asked confused.

“Don´t you play fool with us, you´re here because Katrina has recruited you to stop the rebellion.” the witch-hunter mare accused them.

The unicorns and Shady shared glances. Lancer scoffed.

“I´m sorry but I think there´s been a misunderstanding here. We are allies of the earth pony rebels.” Lancer clarified.

“What?” the stallion next to the witch-hunter mare asked.

“Yeah. We have entered the city with them.” claimed Glory.

The witch-hunters raised their eyebrows in a mixture of confusion and estrangement.

“Aaah… I see what´s going on here.” the boss smiled confident. “You´ve brainwashed them with your magic mind tricks to convince them you´re helping, but in reality, you´re using our rebellion to steal the throne from Katrina for yourselves!”

“No, no, that´s not it.” Gusty shook her head.

“Shut up witch!” the boss pushed her backwards.

Gusty fell on Bandit, finally waking him up. The cat meowed in pain.

“Oh geeze, sorry.” she apologized. Despite being enemies and having slept on her back without her permission, she felt like he didn´t deserve to be awakened like that. Plus, he never did anything against her.

Gusty wasn´t sure if it was her imagination, but she could swear that the cat smiled at her. She turned to the soldiers. She frowned angrily and brought the boss closer to her with a strong gust of wind. When he was near enough, he grabbed his shirt collar. She stared at him.

“Don’t you ever do that again. Understand?”

The other three earth ponies tried to intervene, but were stopped by Starswirl, Buttons and Lancer. Glory noticed that the cat was free from Gusty. Surprisingly, he wasn´t running away or doing anything to warn his comrades, but she decided to check on him in case he did.

“Ok, ok. We´re sorry. Please don´t hurt us!” the boss begged Gusty for mercy.

“We won´t hurt you if you help us get to the castle.” Gusty told him. “How do we get to the castle?”

“So, you can take over us?”

“How do we get to the castle?” Gusty repeated firmly, raising her voice.

“She´s asking you a question.” Shady supported.

“Shady…” the boss laughed nervously. “I know we haven´t had the best of encounters, but after meeting real witches, we admit that we were wrong about your friend, and we forgive her. If you help us, we´ll tell the whole city that she´s innocent”

“Hm…” Shady looked up in thought. “No.”

“Come on, Shady. Don´t you care about your fellow earth ponies´ safety?”

“Sir, let me make this very easy for you: I could give a horseshoe about your safety! How do we get to the castle?!”

“Ok ok! We´ll take you!” the boss finally agreed.

The unicorns let go of the earth ponies. However, they still needed to have them under control, as they could have lied, so they pointed their swords at their backs.

“Could you a least sheathe your swords?”

“No!” Gusty replied.

Bandit jumped on Gusty´s back and remained seated on there.

After a while, they successfully reached the castle. It had a less terrifying aspect, but it imposed power as well. There were six keep towers connected by walls with pointy arches, except for the one that had the principal door, which a rounded arch; and four passages with rounded arches.

“There it is. The castle. Now let us go, please.” the boss begged scared.

“Thank you.” Gusty said as she and the other unicorns sheathed their swords. “And one more thing. It had better not come to my ears that you burnt somepony inside their house or accuse them of being a witch. Is that clear?” she threatened them with a passive aggressive smile.

The witch-hunters nodded while whimpering in fright.

“Good. You can go now.”

The four earth ponies ran away as fast as they could.

“Wow. I didn´t know you could be that imposing.” Lancer said impressed.

“Need I to remind you that she confronted Grogar alone?” Buttons playfully nudged him. “But you weren´t present there, so I understand your reaction.”

“It kind of comes with being a mother.” said Gusty. She chuckled. “But I never thought I´d see adults more scared of me than my own fillies.”

Everypony giggled. Up in the walls, there were some earth ponies watching over tied up cats. Between them, there were Knightshade and Alonzo. The first was panting anxiously and the latter was panting his back.

“Don´ worry, Knightshade. Now it comes the easiest part.”

“But it´s still not over. The unicorns and Magic Star are yet to come. Do you think they got captured? Or worse, have the cats killed them?”

Alonzo bit his lip, not so sure to respond. But he calmed down when he looked down.

“Let´s not go over-”

“Because in that case, we are doomed!”

“Knightshade.”

“In that case, I´ll tell you that I love you so much, we don´t say that often enough.”

“Knightshade! Look.” he pointed at the unicorns.

Knightshade looked down and saw the unicorns, who waved hello at him. He laughed joyfully.

“There you are! Moochick has already entered the castle.”

“That´s wonderful! But how did you know you were going to invade the castle that fast?” Lancer asked surprised.

“Remember the cats chasing us? Well, we used them as hostages. Turns out that they care more about each other than we thought.”

“That´s clever.” Lancer muttered under his breath.

“Do you know if he has reached the golden room?” Gusty asked him.

“We´re not sure. It´s a big castle, with lots of staircases. Reaching any room would take a lot of time.” answered Alonzo.

“Go, quick! Things could change in seconds.” Knightshade ordered anxious.

“Wait. Is Magic Star with them?” Shady asked them.

“We haven´t see her entering.”

“Then I´ll stay with them and wait for them.” she told the unicorns.

They nodded and ran through the gates.

Posey ran through the marble aisles as fast as she could. She was feeling so many things, no matter how contradictory. She was scared that Katrina would get her but at the same time, she was full of hope, as she had noticed the troops of earth ponies entering the castle. Though she never met the rebels, Posey supported them to death, but kept it a secret from her master.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hoofsteps. She widened her eyes when she saw who were making that noise: five unicorns.

“Gusty!” Posey called the unicorn after gasping.

Gusty´s ears perked up. She heard her name, but it wasn´t Fizzy. But who else could know her name?

“Gusty!” Posey called her again while running downstairs.

“How do you know my name?” she asked Posey.

“Fizzy told me.” Posey replied.

Buttons gasped dramatically.

“Fizzy! Is she ok?”

“I´m not sure. She stayed fighting with Katrina in the garden.”

“Aah!” she exclaimed horrified. “Why did you leave her alone?!” she shook her.

“Because I need to liberate a spirit! She´s in danger.” Posey said in her defence.

“A spirit?” Starswirl asked intrigued.

“It´s kind of a long story.”

“If you are dealing with a spirit, then let me come with you.” offered Starswirl. “I have studied magic and spirits. Maybe I could help you. If that is ok with you.” he asked his comrades for permission.

“I think it would be safer for you.” Gusty patted his shoulder.

“Yeah, and he could help you with the blind field of vision.” Glory pointed at her eye.

“That could come in handy.” Posey accepted.

Bandit meowed at Posey.

“Bandit! You´re with them?” she asked surprised.

Bandit meowed once again.

“Apricot? Well, he´s with us too. We parted ways but he went to the right.”

Bandit thanked her by meowing. Before getting separated from everypony, he rubbed himself on Gusty´s forelegs.

“Good luck to you as well, I guess.” she waved goodbye at him. She turned to her comrades. “Why didn´t he do anything to us?”

“Who cares? We´ll think of it later!” Buttons redirected the conversation. “Right now, we have to get Fizzy! Where´s the garden?”

“All to the right.”

“Thank you!” she said while parting ways.

“Katrina!” Rep called his master while opening the throne room. “They have entered the castle!”

“What?! I told you that only the Wind Warrior could do that!” she scolded him.

“But they were threatening our partners.” Rep replicated. “We never leave each other´s side.”

“You fools!” she electrocuted Rep. “Your number one priority should be me! ME!”

She was so furious that she didn´t realize that she was applying too much potential. Rep ended up motionless. He was whimpering, struggling to breathe. Katrina walked to him. Rep stared at her, hurt and confused by her betrayal.

“But… I loved you…” he told her.

She electrocuted him again, finishing the job without any remorse.

“It´s clear that if you want things well done you have to do them yourself.”

Her ear twitched when he heard pawsteps. She leaned her head out and saw Apricot helping his fellow soldiers to get out from the window.

“Remember to land on the trees!” he reminded them.

After getting the last cat out, he started climbing the window but was stopped by a blade submerging into the flesh near his heart. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Katrina looked at him in disdain while removing the blade.

“Pathetic.” she scornfully clenched her teeth before disappearing.

Bandit was nearby. He gasped when he saw Apricot. He ran to him and put him face up.

“Bandit….” he smiled at him. “Glad to see you, my friend.”

Bandit stared terrified at Apricot´s wound.

“She..” he grunted. “She stabbed me.” he looked around. “Where are the others?”

Bandit didn´t meow. He was too busy pressing his wound to avoid more blood coming out.

“Hey hey.” he stroked his cheek. “Don´t worry about me. Just warn the others, ok?”

Bandit shook his head. He tore the cloth from his uniform and tied around Apricot´s wound. He pushed him up but Apricot quickly felt. Bandit started pushing him, which slowed him down.

“Bandit.” he called the siamese cat.

Bandit turned to him in tears.

“It´s okay.” he reassured him.

Bandit sniffed. He pointed at his own shoulder.

“Don´t worry, I´ll press the wound. I can handle it on my own.”

Bamdit hugged Apricot very tightly before going away. Apricot weakly smiled at him while he observed him vanish.

“Hold on, hold on. She offered spirits to the dark spirits?” Starswirl asked, recapping everything that Posey told him while going downstairs in a dark alley.

“Hmh.” Posey confirmed.

“So that´s why the spirits disappeared. And you´re certain your friend down here?”

“She must be. Her crying sounds like it comes from underground. I suppose she´s at the lowest level.”

“And what makes you think she´s trapped?”

“Katrina mentioned that she serves her. She forbids me to get out of the castle and only lets me in official visits to spy for her. I suppose it must be the same for Amina.”

Due to her limited sight caused by Katrina´s scratch in the eye, Posey didn´t notice some steps, so she placed her hoof wrongly and almost fell. Thankfully, Starswirl grabbed her before she got hurt. She thanked him with a smile.

“If that is the case, then she must have used some sort of an anti-spirit spell in the door.” Starswirl continued their conversation.

“Which one you think?”

“There´s only one way to find out.”

Since they were busy talking to each other, they weren´t aware that there were no more stairs. They found two big gates.

“Amina?” Posey called the spirit.

Behind the gates, Amina was pacing around. Normally, she would be lying around all day, whether looking down or crying. But after Fizzy talked to her, she developed a desire to get out so she could make amends, but she was still figuring out how. It sounded stupid, but a part of her would miss the castle. Not because of Katrina of course, but because of a singing voice that calmed her down during the night. Speaking of which, she thought she had heard it just now. Despite the fact it was talking and not singing, it sounded exactly the same.

She widened her eyes and lifted her head.

“Singing voice?” she replied .

Starswirl raised his eyebrow confused. Posey, on the contrary, smiled in joy. She was finally having a conversation with the mysterious voice that cried.

“Yes, yes, it´s me. The singing voice. I´m a friend of Fizzy. I came here with one of her friends to liberate you.”

“Liberate me?” Amina asked confused.

“Yeah! You´re in grave danger. Katrina wants to offer you to the dark spirits. I know you are guardian spirit and thus, you fight against them, but I´m afraid that she might weaken you so the dark spirits can take you.”

There was a moment of silence. Posey bit her lip, fearing that whatever Katrina must have ordered her to do damaged her self-esteem that she wouldn´t care what happened to her, or even felt that she deserved it. Starswirl was nervous as well.

“Ok, thank you.” Amina finally responded.

Posey and Starswirl sighed in relief.

“Is there any magic surrounding the gates that impede you from getting out?” Starswirl asked her.

“Yes, every time that I tried to escape, something pulls me backwards.” Amina replied. “She must have asked the dark spirits to grant her a spell to keep me in.”

Suddenly, Posey´s and Amina´s ear twitched. They widened their eyes and froze in fear due to the sound they heard.

“What? What is it?” Starswirl asked her, scared of her reaction.

“Me.” Katrina responded behind their bacs.

Before they could react, Katrina held them both and opened the gates to throw them with Amina. The spirit growled and pounced her.

“Leave them alone, Katrina! It´s over.”

“Easy, easy.” Katrina said somewhat scared. “Otherwise, I won´t help you find your cubs.”

“Oh, you´ll tell me right now. Where are they?!”

“Well, let´s just say I made a little gift to the dark spirits.”

Amina widened her eyes.

“What?” she asked shocked.

From the shock, she loosed her grip on Katrina, allowing her to push her backwards with a zap. Then, she created dark magic tentacles that grasped Amina´s entire body from the ground, taking the light out of her.

“Amina!” Posey cried worried.

Afterwards, Katrina picked her up.

“Give me the keys, you traitor!”

Posey struggled to release from her grasp.

“Let her go!” Starswirl ordered as he lit his horn.

“Oh no sir!” Katrina zapped at him, throwing him against a wall, giving herself enough time to get the keys. Afterwards, she dropped Posey and walked to the door.

“NO, NO!” Posey yelled at her as she ran towards the door.

By the time she got to the door, it was too late. Katrina had already locked the door.

“YOU CAN´T DO THIS! LET US GO!” Posey yelled as she knocked violently on the door.

“You can feast now. Just dispose of them forever.” Katrina talked to the dark spirits via the potion.

“KATRINA! KATRINA!” Posey screamed desperate.

The unicorns arrived at the garden. They gasped when they saw Fizzy surrounded by arrows.

“Fizzy!” Buttons yelled as she and the others run.

Between everypony, they removed the arrows around Fizzy. Buttons held her body.

“Fizzy! Fizzy!” she called her name. “Oh, she doesn´t respond.” she said worried.

“Don´t worry. Maybe with a few agitations she wakes up.” Glory suggested.

Lancer started clapping in front of her face.

“Time to wake up, ok?” he tapped Fizzy´s shoulder. “Hello? Can you hear me? Wake up Fizzyyyy…” he started shaking her violently, entering more in panic. “Fizzy wake uuuuup! I don´t like this, Fizzy wake uuuup!”

Lancer´s violent shake-ups were successful. Fizzy opened her eyes. They were darting everywhere.

“Whoah, whoah! Lancer, you´re making me feel dizzy!” she complained, as if she had been with Lancer the whole time. Then realization hit. She yelled excited. “Guys! I knew you´d come for me!”

They all gave her a big hug.

“You´re alive!” Gusty cried tears of joy.

“Are you ok? Did she hurt you?” Buttons asked her.

“Just a scratch. Nothing grave.” Fizzy caressed her cheek. “Where´s Starswirl?”

“He went with a yellow earth pony.” Glory explained. “She said that she needed to free a spirit.”

“Yeah! Katrina wants to offer her to dark spirits in exchange of their help. I hope she got there safely. Same for Apricot.”

“Apricot?” Lancer raised an eyebrow.

“An orange cat. He´s on our side.”

“Another one!” Gusty exclaimed. “You know, a siamese cat has been sleeping on my back this entire time. I wonder why they are supporting us.”

“Apricot explained that most of them were brought here by force by Katrina, so they don´t like her that much. However, they are also afraid of what the earth ponies might do to them if Katrina is defeated. They think their best chance is aiding us, so they´re merciful, or running away.”

“Oh dear, I didn´t think that…” Gusty put her hoof on her temple. “Well, hopefully, we can appeal Moochick to be merciful.”

“Be merciful for what?” Moochick asked curiously from underneath some arches with his troops.

“Sir Moochick!” Gusty exclaimed surprised. Gusty, Buttons, Lancer and Glory bowed. Fizzy imitated them despite her shock.

“You came along the earth pony rebels?” she murmured to Buttons. “How did you get them on your side?”

“You have no idea what we´ve gone through to get to you.” Buttons murmured back.

“I don´t mean to be rude, but didn´t you say to meet at the golden room?” Lancer asked him.

“This is the golden room.” Moochick looked up the ceiling.

The unicorns helped Fizzy to get up before going back with Moochick and the earth ponies. When they approached him, they got a quick glimpse of the room, understanding why it was called the golden room. Gold was the material the entire room was made of! It was even decorating the arches. As much as he wanted to admire all the details, Lancer knew they had an evil cat sorceress to fight.

“Where´s our next stop?” he asked Moochick.

“The throne room. I think it´s upstairs.”

“It is but going up there won´t be necessary.”

Everypony widened their eyes. They turned to the direction of the voice that had just joined the conversation. They saw a pair of green eyes shining in the shadows. Everypony quickly realized who they belonged to. The earth ponies drew their swords and put them and their swords in defence position. Gusty frowned determined.

“Katrina.” she called the eyes.

Chapter 16: The battle against the cat who sold her soul pt. 1

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 17: The battle against the cat who sold her soul pt.2

Katrina conjured up a magical wave that sent everypony, with the exception of Gusty, away. The ponies landed everywhere in the room, some of them crushing against the cats, such as Buttons and Fizzy. Once she was isolated from others, Katrina started impulsively throwing several deathly beams at her, laughing maniacally. Gusty created a forcefield, both to defend herself and think her next move of action. She looked at her sword, which gave her an idea. She inhaled and exhaled before undoing the forcefield. After undoing it, she picked up her sword with her hooves. Katrina chuckled.

“Now, that was a stupid decision!” she teased her.

She put her paws next to each other to create a stronger beam. When she calculated it was near enough, she swinged her sword, combining it with a wind swipe, changing the beam´s direction to Katrina as a result. She jumped to the right to dodge it. She scowled when she saw how Gusty was smirking at her. The battle was far from over, but at least Gusty was now more matched to Katrina.

The ponies affected by the blow had their lives in danger as well, since they noticed that swords, which belonged to them and to the cats, were being thrown at their direction.

“Everypony duck!” Moochick warned everypony.

Luckily, no pony, nor cat was harmed. But they weren´t safe yet. The swords unhooked from the walls by themselves as if they had a mind of their own. The earth ponies covered themselves with the shields, whereas the unicorns zapped at the swords. However, there were too many swords for only five unicorns to handle.

“How can we help them?” Alonzo asked the earth ponies near him.

As he did, a sword that was safe from the unicorns´ magic, took the chance to attack that earth pony group. Knightshade, who was at a different spot of the room than his lover, noticed it.

“Honey, watch out!”

Alonzo widened his eyes when he saw the sword coming. Shady, who was next to him, gasped scared. She borrowed his shield without permission and used it to hit the sword, swinging from the left to the right and vice versa. Surprisingly, her method worked. The sword got dizzier with each blow it received to the point it fell to the floor, returning to its original inanimate state. The ponies and cats stared surprised. Shady didn´t witness the results of her idea, since she had head turned to the left and her eyes closed. Alonzo put her hoof on her shoulder to stop her from mindlessly swinging the shield.

“Hey, hey, it´s done, you did it.” he reassured her.

Shady opened one eye, finding out that Alonzo was right.

“Huh. It worked!” she said surprised.

Magic Star laughed.

“That´s my Shady! Always accidentally finding out the solution to everything.” she commented.

“Now, if I could have my shield back.” Alonzo put his hooves on his shield.

“Oh.” Shady removed her hooves from the shield. “Sorry.” she smiled apologetically.

“You know what to do. Let´s move!” Moochick elevated his shield.

Everypony yelled as they ran to the swords and started hitting them with their shields. Some of them fought individually and others worked in small groups. The unicorns felt relief, as they didn´t have to put much effort like before.

Not every earth pony dealt with the swords. The only thing Magic Star had to fight the swords was her bag, in which there were glass bottles that contained the potion liquids, so using it to fight wasn´t a good idea. It was better to use the potions against Katrina. On the other side, Shady and Posey were unarmed. Luckily, just when they were about to be attacked, the cats jumped in to save the day. Posey raised an eyebrow and smirked playfully.

“We´re doing this because these are our swords, not to protect you!” the captain clarified.

“Hm… They quite look like pony swords to me.” Posey teased them.

“SHUT UP!” Odile yelled at them.

Though Shady was somewhat taken aback by her reaction, Posey rolled her eyes with a smile.

“Shady!” Magic Star called her. “Um… The other pony that´s not Shady!” she called Posey, since she didn´t know her name. “Come with me! We have work to do!”

The two earth pony mares nodded their heads and ran to her. Meanwhile, Katrina and Gusty were continuing in their fight. No matter how much she attacked her, Gusty still resisted. Perhaps that´s how she survived the abuse in Grogar´s castle and why he didn´t underestimate, or even farther, feared her. Despite that, there had to be a way to defeat her, and in order to get there she had to think in a place completely free from distractions. She tried to teleport to another place, but something pulled her back in.

“What the-” she thought aloud.

“Sorry. Magical barrier.” Starswirl replied from a hidden corner of the room. He was sweating due to the effort, yet he still had a defying smile. “I learnt it from you.”

Katrina scowled. When she turned around, Gusty was no more.

“WHERE´S THE WIND WARRIOR?!” she asked Posey and Shady.

“Oh, just having a little break.” a different voice to Gusty´s. After turning around, she discovered that it was Magic Star speaking. “In order to get to her, you´ll have to go through me!” Magic Star explained while showing off two potion bottles.

Katrina snorted.

“Seriously? With potions? Fine, let´s just get this AH!”

Before Katrina could start fighting, Magic Star threw a potion that made an explosion. It wasn´t magic per say, but it had the same effect. The cat growled furiously and started zapping at Magic Star, though she evaded them either by jumping aside or with a fennel bottle, replicating the same effect of a force field. She wasn´t at the same level as Gusty, but she was definitely a rough match. At one point, Magic Star threw a potion in front of Katrina that left out some smoke. The sorceress coughed, desperately searching for Magic Star through the smoke.

“Where are you amateur?!” she yelled.

When the smoke cleared, she realized she was right in front of her, holding her potion. They looked at each other with widened eyes. Magic Star chuckled nervously as she slowly let go. Before she could run, Katrina pounced on them. She laughed while she tried to free herself from her grasp.

“Did you really you could take my potion? Wrong! Now, you will spend the rest of your existence in ashes!”

She raised her arm, expecting a gigantic magic beam coming out of her paw. But shockingly, nothing happened.

“What the-” she asked panicked.

She turned to the earth pony, who was smirking in victory.

“What did you do?!”

“Oh, just the old potion swap.” Magic Star answered.

“Where is it?!”

“Right here.” Posey replied while showing the potion on her hoof. Next to her was Gusty.

Katrina widened her eyes.

“Don´t you dare!”

She tried to run to them but was stopped by Shady, Moochick, Knightshade and Alonzo, who jumped on her.

“Your reign ends here Katrina!” Moochick told her.

“This is for Amina, her cubs, the spirits, Apricot and every earth pony or cat you hurt!” Posey exclaimed before throwing the potion to the air, making Katrina gasp in both fear and shock.

When it was in the air, Gusty zapped at it with her magic, destroying the potion in small pieces. In just barely seconds, the ambient turned darker and ominous voices were heard. Every earth pony got away from Katrina as much as possible. Now free, the cat ran to the broken pieces.

“No! NO!” she whimpered while holding the pieces. “How am I ever going to pay my back my debt?” she asked panicked.

As soon as shadows and dark spirits appeared, the unicorns prepared to form a protective circle for the earth ponies, but Starswirl stopped them. He pointed at Katrina, indicating that they were only coming for her.

“Frieends!” Katrina greeted them panicked.

The dark spirits and shadows advanced towards her, wearing wicked smiles on their faces, forcing Katrina to walk backwards.

“This is just a minor incident, nothing I can´t fix!” she yelled when a portal opened behind her. “If you help me, we´ll be back in business! Look around you, there are all the mortal souls I promised you!”

The ponies and cats watched in horror how the dark spirits took enjoyment in Katrina´s vulnerability and terror. The earth ponies and the cats knew perfectly well that Katrina was very very arrogant but not enough to believe she could evade the dark spirits´ wrath and have them at her service forever. The unicorns had the same thoughts in their minds, except for Starswirl, who knew she was doomed from the day she made a deal with them.

“I just need some time and your help!” Katrina yelled as she felt something around her ankles, which were tentacles similar to what almost took Starswirl and Posey. “No, no, please, no!” she whimpered as she was dragged towards the portal. She tried to hold to the floor with her claws, but it was no use. “Just a little more time! I promise I´ll pay you back! I PROMISE!”

But no matter how much she begged, she submerged into the portal while screaming in terror. When the portal closed, there was a ray of colours that exploded like fireworks, leaving small lights floating everywhere. The earth ponies at their homes, opened the windows to find out what made such noise, although somewhat scared, they liked the spectacles. In Katrina´s castle, everypony admired with curiosity.

“What are those?” Shady asked intrigued.

“They look like…” Starswirl touched a light. “magic.”

Magic Star gasped.

“You mean like, spirit magic?” she asked shocked.

“Check the garden, quick!” Moochick ordered everypony.

The earth ponies closest to the window immediately poked their heads through it. Starswirl ran to the window as well. The other unicorns looked at each other, wondering why Moochick would order such thing and Starswirl had that reaction. They shrugged and decided to join Starswirl. What they saw through the window was something they had never seen before and truly extraordinary. The oranges were no longer hanging from the trees. Now, they were forming a big symbol, as if it was a track. The earth ponies screamed in joy and celebrated with hugs or kisses, such as Knightshade´s and Alonzo´s case.

“It´s back! It´s back!” Knightshade exclaimed while shaking Alonzo, who was feeling somewhat dizzy.

Although they were happy for them, the unicorns didn´t share their enthusiasm. In fact, they were confused. Well, except for Starswirl, who was just smiling.

“Why is everypony so excited? It´s just a weird drawing with oranges.” Fizzy wondered aloud. Everypony widened their eyes at their phrase, which made her rethink her words. “That came off very rude.” she regretted.

“Those drawings, my unicorn ally, are tracks left by The Great Seedling.” Magic Star explained to her. “He always leaves them to indicate he was there.”

“Aaah…” Fizzy gasped. “So that means that every spirit is back?”

Magic Star nodded.

“Wow, that´s so good!” Fizzy gladly exclaimed. “I hope Amina can return home too.” she said a bit sadly.

“Why wouldn´t she? She did free the spirits and possibly the souls of the abducted innocents.” Buttons reminded her.

“I know, but maybe she sacrificed herself in exchange of her cubs, the spirits and the souls or maybe the Great Spirits aren´t as merciful with her as I thought.” she sighed. “In any case, I wish I could have said goodbye.”

“Don´t worry. Maybe you see her again someday.” Posey reassured her. “I may not know what happened to her, but I want to believe that she´ll come back to who she was or transform into a better spirit and that we´ll meet again somehow.”

“This might sound strange, but I´d like to know her better.” said Gusty. “I´m pretty sure she´s a great spirit.”

“Oh, she is.” Fizzy confirmed as she nodded. “She calmed me down when I was crying alone in a cell. If everything goes well, she might help you and meet properly one day.”

Gusty smiled. While the ponies were observing captivated the spirits´ comeback, the cats tried to sneak out, but not everypony was distracted. Two earth ponies blocked their way. The pony multitude opened to let Moochick pass through. He stopped walking in front of the cats, looking at them with wrath.

“You have committed many crimes against us. Some of them caused losses, injuries and sorrows. Many of us will never forgive you, and I think we all agree that you should be punished.”

The cats started sweating in fear. Moochick was as scary as Katrina when mad, which meant that he was capable of extreme punishments as well. The ponies who knew the cats´ stories were also worried but none of them dared to intervene. None but one.

“Um… Sir.” Gusty bowed to him. “If I may, I´d like to say something relevant to the punishment.” she smiled nervously, confusing both the cats and ponies.

“Go on…” Moochick raised his eyebrow.

“Some of these cats have been helpful to us.” she said. “They could have turned against us at any moment, but they never did.”

“Yeah, and most of them were taken from their homes and forced to work for her.” Posey stated. “I know they´re not lying because I´ve lived around them long enough to know it´s true.”

“What they did was definitely not ok.” Fizzy shook her head. “But if you think about it, they were almost in the same condition as you!”

Her words angered some of the earth ponies. They gave her deadly glares.

“Ok, that sounded worse than I intended.” Fizzy muttered.

Luckily, Shady intervened, knowing that she didn´t mean to be condescending and that they would listen one of their own.

“What she means is that just like us they were forced to do things they didn´t want. Granted, we were more brutalized, but they were just trying to survive.”

“I agree they should make amends for their crimes somehow, but perhaps you should consider their circumstances before deciding their punishment.” Gusty summed up.

Moochick looked at the other earth ponies to see if they agreed. To his surprise, most of them seemed to be rooting for a softer punishment, either because they witnessed their grieving or because they knew their background already. Moochick sighed.

“Very well… I´ll spare your lives. But you´ll never set a paw here until the end of times. You´ll never interact with an earth pony ever again. Understood?”

The cats nodded with a lowered head.

“Now go!” Moochick ordered them aggressively.

The cats walked with their heads lowered, processing everything that had happened, the deaths of their comrades; and surprised by the fact they had been spared. But not before stopping around Gusty, Fizzy, Shady and Posey.

“Why? You could have let him torture us, execute us or we could be your slaves now, yet you advocated for us. Why?” he asked them.

“Well, you defended us against the swords.” Shady answered. “I know you turned against Katrina for yourselves, but if you don´t care about us, why did you do that then?”

The cats looked down.

“Yeah, and after meeting Apricot, I couldn´t take you as evil anymore.” Fizzy replied.

“Because they have never been in the first place.” said Posey. “I heard you all talking about your story one night when I was younger.”

“Walls do have ears, huh?” the cat captain chuckled sadly.

“Besides, you were kind to me from time to time, despite all the teasing and scaring.” Posey added.

“And as for me, because I know what is like to lose somepony due to those who are supposed to rule us.” Gusty responded. “Luckily, I´ve never been pushed to the same edge as you, but I would do anything for my family.”

“Who did you lose?” Odile asked her.

“My husband.” Gusty replied.

“I´m so sorry. You know, Apricot and I were more like siblings, but I loved him a lot. I can´t imagine what is like to lose the love of your life.”

“It´s ok, thank you.” the cat and unicorn gave each other sad smiles. “Out of curiosity, where are you going to go now?”

“Back to our real home.” the cat captain affirmed. “Our elders secretly told us the way there.”

“May you get there, then.” Gusty nodded in respect.

The cats gave her a smile. Bandit rubbed against her forelegs.

“Oh! Uh… It was nice meeting you too.” she told him.

Bandit grinned. Afterwards, the cats left the room. Gusty reflected in this encounter. Just like earth ponies and pegasi, creatures that weren´t ponies were very similar to the unicorns. They had feelings and cared about each other. She remembered Drog, the only troggle that had been kind to her during her stay in Grogar´s castle. Seeing the troggles as misunderstood was going to be harder, since she had been directly harmed by them but maybe they were like the cats. Drog mentioned that they depended on Grogar for their survival after all. They ended up with a tyrant in a different manner, yet they were equally as mistreated. But would she be able to forgive them?

Moochick´s voice brought her back to reality.

“We thank you all for your assistance.” he bowed and so did the other earth ponies, making the unicorns blush in embarassment. “Now, we understand better how magic works and have been able to defeat Katrina because of that. I understand you must now rescue your leader, but in order to do so you must rest. It has been a long day.”

Glory and Lancer sighed. They didn´t like the idea of making Majesty wait more but Moochick was right. They had another journey and battle ahead of them.

“I don´t think we have another choice, do we?” said Lancer.

“Don´t worry. Majesty´s tough. I´m pretty sure she´s still hanging there.” Glory reassured him. “I hope.” she muttered under her breath.

“She was ponynapped by Crunch´s henchdogs, am I right?” Alonzo asked them.

“That´s right.” Fizzy nodded.

“Perhaps we could help you!” Knightshade suggested excited.

Alonzo nodded in agreement, but Moochick didn´t seem to like the idea. In fact, he gave him a frown for saying that.

“Yeah, maybe some potions could come to your aid.” Magic Star offered herself.

“I have been many times in Trottingham. I could come useful as a guide for you.” Posey joined the plan.

“Did I almost die? Yes. Did I discover that maintaining my family´s inn wasn´t what I truly wanted and found out what fulfils me thanks to this? Also true. Do I prefer to avoid death and danger and stay safe and warm at home? I certainly do. Is serving in an inn is more stressing to me than fighting a tyrant and dark spirits? Yes, you should know that. What I mean is that I don´t like being this reckless but I´d love to have an adventure along my friends like this one again.” Shady huffed and puffed. “I need a blanket.”

“Well, if I have learnt something today is that the more the better.” Buttons shrugged.

“And in exchange we could give you protection if Grogar decides to-” Gusty tried to suggest but was interrupted by Moochick.

“That won´t be necessary.” Moochick raised his hoof. “Knowing how he is, he´ll probably only send his troggles for the job and will focus most of his energies on finding you. He won´t probably come here. We needed your help this time, but we can defend ourselves without the need of magic. We are not helpless, you know?”

Though she respected his opinion, Gusty thought that he was too sharp with her. It hurt her that after going through all the fighting and teamwork, he still mistrusted unicorns. Maybe not them exactly, but perhaps he was weary of Majesty and the others. A part of her even believed that he may be scared of unicorns. It was understandable, nonetheless. They had been under the rule of a tyrant who was an user of magic. Trust takes time.

“I´m sorry, I didn´t mean to be condescending.” she apologized. “You´re right, you´re very strong and capable too. We wouldn´t have survived the walls if it wasn´t for you all.”

“Thank you.” Moochick simply said. “You may accompany them if you wish.” he said to Alonzo and Knightshade. “After all, one of our biggest values as earth ponies is repaying our debts. Now if you excuse me, I must spread the news of Katrina´s defeat.” he nodded before leaving.

“What is wrong with him?” asked Lancer, upset by the treatment he gave Gusty.

Gusty stared at Moochick with worry as he left.

The cats left the town using the right gates of the city´s wall. They had many emotions inside, both negative, due to how some earth ponies disrespected them as they walked through the city, and positive. But there was one that surpassed them all: the feeling of freedom and going back home.

But their path would be disrupted for some time. Next to some cats, a hole in the ground started appearing. From the hole got out Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall, panting in exhaustion and coughing out the dust.

“We´ve been scavenging for days! Are you sure she´s here?” Gwyllgi asked Gaueko.

“She is! The track smells like her necklace.” Gaueko replicated as he pointed at Gusty´s necklace.

“Who, the Wind Warrior?” a female tuxedo cat asked them.

The three dogs´ ears perked up. They slowly turned to the tuxedo cat.

“Yes!” Cavall exclaimed. “Do you know anything about her?”

“Ha! Better than any creature else.” she looked at the other cats, making the dogs notice all of the other cats.

“What is this? A seasonal migration?” Gaueko asked rudely.

“More like an exile.”

“You´ve been exiled by Katrina?!” Gwyllgi asked shocked. “All of you?!”

“No, by Moochick. The earth ponies took over town thanks to the Wind Warrior and her soldiers.”

“And Katrina? What happened to her?” Cavall asked.

“She received what was coming for her for a long time. The Wind Warrior managed to break her potion and the dark spirits finally came for her.”

“So she´s…” Gaueko crossed his finger across his neck,

The tuxedo cat nodded. The three dogs stared at each other in shock.

“What do we do now, Gaueko?” Cavall asked him panicked.

“Well, better for us!” Gaueko shook his head before replying. “Now there´s less competence. This is the definite response that Crunch is better than Katrina.” he closed his eyes in pride. “That wouldn´t happen to Crunch.”

“Oh, I wouldn´t get that confident… She along her soldiers are very capable. But she´s very kind and understanding too. In fact, she´s the reason why we´re going back home and not dead, tortured nor enslaved.” The cat smiled while remembering how she wished them a good journey. “Though, you dogs support Crunch and see him as a hero more than we did with Katrina.”

“Well, do you have any problem with that?” Gwyllgi defied her.

“Not really. But she might not be that forgiving with you as she was with us. So, if I were you, I would ask for extra help.” the tuxedo cat advised them before catching up with the cat group.

“Should we tell Grogar?” Cavall suggested.

“Well, if we tell him directly, he´ll call Crunch a coward.” said Gaueko. “But if we spread the word around, maybe the emperor will decide to give him more resources…”

“Aah, that´s clever.” Gwyllgi nodded her head. “But how are we going to make the information arrive to the emperor?”

At the distance, they saw the tuxedo cat they talked to before, which gave Gaueko an idea.

“I think I know how.”

Chapter 18: Have you heard the rumours?

Life back at Grogar´s castle was just as exhausting and stressful as what Gusty and company were going through. Emperor Grogar tortured unicorns to get new information about Gusty, which always ended up in failure. He also forced the pegasi and earth pony slaves to work harder, as well as the troggles. The troggles most loyal to Grogar didn´t complain, since they thought they were honouring their saviour. The ones who secretly opposed him, however, were not that happy about it.

One of those troggles, most specifically Drog, was way more sleep-deprived than before, so he leveraged the times he was alone sleep. Right now, he found himself resting against a column in the garden.

Near where Drog was sleeping, the diamond dogs dug a hole to snuck out their heads and noticed the troggle sleeping.

“Hey wake up!” Cavall exclaimed, but his attempt didn´t work. The dogs shared glances.

“Hey! Wakey wakey, it´s working time!” Gwyllgi clapped, but once again, there were no results.

Frustrated, Gaueko scrubbed his paw throughout his face.

“HEEY!” he yelled.

“GAH!” Drog woke up in a jump. “I´m awake! I´m awake.” he exclaimed while looking around around.

“Finally! Come over here!” Gaueko ordered him.

Drog blinked confused.

“Are you diamond dogs? Whatever are you doing here?” he asked while standing up and walked to them.

“We need you to do us a favour.” answered Gaueko. He and his accomplices picked up a tied and muzzled female tuxedo cat and threw it to Drog, who caught on time before she fell to the ground.

“What the?” he wondered aloud after gasping while looking at the cat.

“We need you to tell Grogar that this kitty cat was sent by the earth ponies to send him a message.” Cavall ordered him.

The cat shook her head to Drog.

“If you tell him we had something to do with this, I´ll make sure you get taken care of, ok?!” Gwyllgi threatened him. “We have plenty of friends bigger and strong than any of you!”

“Ok, ok! But why would you want me to say that? Or better question, why did you bring us a captured cat?!” Drog asked confused.

“Just bring her to Grogar!” Cavall commanded him in response. “Besides, she carries a note that explains everything.”

“Diamond dogs, out!” Gaueko exclaimed while they crossed the arms. Afterwards, they went back underground and closed the hole.

Drog winked perplexed. The cat´s muzzled cries brought him back to reality. He put her on the ground to untie the handkerchief around her mouth.

“Please, don’t say anything! You´ll bring us death!” the cat begged him.

“Whoah, whoah! What are you talking about? What happened?”

“Read the letter.”

Drog noticed a paper hanging from the ropes. He picked it up and opened it to read it. The letter said:

With the help of Wind Warrior, we have overthrown Katrina.

Our land is back on the hooves of earth ponies.

You and your other allies are next!

Drog stared at the letter in shock.

“Is this true?” he asked the cat in disbelief. “Or is it a scam designed by the diamond dogs because they want something from Grogar?” he raised his eyebrow in suspicion.

“No, no it really happened. Katrina captured one of Majesty´s knights so she and other four unicorns went to Coltlogne to retrieve her and in doing so they must have encountered the earth ponies on the way, and I don´t know how, but they formed a coalition and they burst in the town despite confronting dark spirits at the wall! Then, they invaded the caste and defeated Katrina.”

“And what happened to her? Did they… You know…” Drog fidgeted his fingers.

“Well, not directly per say, but the Wind Warrior broke her potion and well,” the cat shrugged. “we saw what happens when you can´t satisfy a dark spirits´ deal!”

The emotion the cat put in the story seem to be genuine, but Drog was still convinced that the diamond dogs forced her to say that.

“It´s ok. The diamond dogs aren´t around no longer. You can tell me the truth now.”

“I am telling you the truth.” the cat remarked upset, frustrated that the troggle wouldn´t believe her. Luckily, an idea came to her mind. “Look at my bag and you´ll see the proof!”

Drog raised his eyebrow in intrigue but looked inside the bag anyways. What he found left him astonished: it was none other than Katrina´s favourite goblet! Golden with several embedded jewels in it, such as sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and pearls.

“You did not seriously think that I would be alive right now after taking such precious treasure from Katrina, who always smells and hears a thief miles away and never forgives such crimes!”

She was right. Something must have gone wrong with Katrina if this cat was still alive.

“And what happened to you? Were you punished?” Drog asked while putting the goblet back to the bag.

“Not really. Even though exile is the worst punishment for some, for us it was actually a liberation and a mercy. Most of us were taken from home by force so this was a chance to go back again.”

“The earth ponies forgave you?”

“Well, mostly thanks to the Wind Warrior. She was the first one to intervene, encouraging other ponies to beg Moochick to lesser our punishment. Which is why you mustn´t tell Grogar. If he found out we got out alive, he would send soldiers to kill us.”

Drog gave out a small chuckle in hope. As much as he would like to imagine the future ahead for him and his kind, right now, he had a cat to help.

“Don´t worry, I won´t say a word. And I´ll also help you to get back to your clowder.”

“How?”

“I happen to know who can help us…”

Back in the castle, in a dark and almost empty room, there were six troggles. One was sitting against a corner while singing soulfully.

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality…” she sang sad and tired.

The other five troggles wore the same expression of exhaustion on their faces. The youngest one was sleeping over the laps of his parents. Another one, who seemed to be in his teen years was playing with a stone, throwing it against the wall and making it bounce. And the last one was Yrsa, Drog´s best friend. She was rhythmically moving her fingers against her arms.

“Oh, Thalia, would you stop it please?” a troggle asked her. “If you´re going to sing, sing something with a little mh… bounce in it!”

Thalia narrowed her eyes.

“I can buy myself floweeeers!!” she sang begrudgingly.

The troggles complained by whimpering or covering their eyes.

“No, no! Anything but that!”

Thalia stayed silent to think of a song. She widened her eyes when she found the most adequate.

“I´ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts! Didididi…” she moved her fingers on beat. “There they are standing in a row. Small ones, big ones, some as big as your head!”

Satisfied, the other troggle started singing along. On the contrary, Yrsa wasn´t having it.

“Will you shush it?! If they discover you like this, you´ll get in big trouble!” she warned them.

“Sorry Yrsa. I was just expressing my pain…” Thalia looked down. “Until Enki forced me to hide my emotions!” she threw an angry look at him.

“And I need something to cheerme up! A depressive song won´t do.” Enki said in his defence.

“Listen to your sister, Enki.” a female troggle ordered Enki as she stroked the sleeping troggle´s hair.

“Ugh, she´s not my sister, she´s adopted!” Enki protested. Yrsa rolled her eyes.

“Hey! She is your sister, do as she says!” the other troggle, in whose legs the young troggle was laying on, pointed at him. In doing so, he made the young troggle jump a little.

“Careful Acher, you´re going to wake Oak up.” his wife put her hand on his shoulder.

“Oh! You´re right Isis, sorry honey.” he apologized with a smile.

“I know these are rougher times, but we cannot afford any slip ups. Don´t you see how intolerant Grogar is just for a tiny mistake?” Yrsa stated.

Thalia and Enki looked at each other, shivering while realizing their mistake.

“Yeah you´re have a point…” Thalia admitted.

“But in a certain way, that´s good, right? If Grogar´s taking so much time to get the Wind Warrior, that must mean that the idea of her defeating Grogar doesn´t sound so stupid.” Enki opined.

Yrsa snorted as she crossed her arms.

“Or maybe Majesty killed her for spilling her secret.”

“I´m just trying to be positive!”

“For what? To crash against the ground when Grogar kills her? I prefer to stay realistic.”

“Yeah, I see it´s doing wonders for you.”.

“Huh! What do you think that will happen? That the Wind Warrior will do a miracle all of the sudden?”

“Guys! The Wind Warrior has defeated Katrina!” Drog exclaimed, opening the door with a loud blow of the door, catching all of the troggles off guard. Isis and Acher literally jumped from the surprise, waking up Oak as a result.

“Wait. WHAT?!” Thalia screamed as she stood up.

The cat covered his mouth while shushing him.

“Not that loud! What if they hear you?”

“Sorry it´s just I´m too excited.” Drog apologized.

Oak rubbed his eye.

“Oh… What´s all the commotion in here?”

“That´s what I would like to know” Yrsa crossed her arms. “What do you mean with that the Wind Warrior has defeated Katrina?”

“It´s better if she explains…” Drog pushed the cat forward.

Every troggle but Yrsa gasped when they saw the cat.

“Is that a cat? I love cats.” Oak ran towards the cat to hug her. Not knowing how to react, she simply cleared her throat.

“Oak, I don´t think it´s a good idea to be near her.” Yrsa advised him as he gently separated him from the cat. “Where did you get this cat from?” Yrsa asked Drog.

“Just let her tell you everything and you´ll know.” Drog replied.

After pondering it carefully, Yrsa finally accepted his request. So, the cat told them the whole story, leaving no detail out.

“…Which is why you cannot tell a word to the emperor, because if you do we will never go back home.” the cat begged them.

When she finished, the troggles weren´t so sure how to react. They were so confused that they could simply wink with expressionless faces. Yrsa was the first one to speak.

“Are you sure you didn´t hit your head and all of this was just a dream or something?” Yrsa suspiciously interrogated her.

“I said the truth and the whole truth.” the cat put a paw on her chest and raised the other.

“Oh, really? Where´s the proof then?”

The cat showed the goblet in response, leaving the troggles breathless in astonishment.

“Is that Katrina´s goblet?” Isis asked as she signed at it.

“In the flesh.” the cat reiterated. “Or should I say in the metal.” she smiled nervously at her pun.

“Oh mommy, Lucena was right, she will defeat Grogar!” Oak jumped in joy while holding her mother´s hands.

“And not only that, we might actually rebuild our lives as well!” Drog added.

Though it seemed to be enough proof for Enki, Acher, Isis and Oak; Yrsa still had her reservations to believe her.

“Well, that cannot be enough proof! Maybe this time her feline instincts failed, especially being now super busy trying to catch the Wind Warrior.”

“Oh… I beg to differ.” the cat replied. “Trust me, we´ve been in busier situations and she never misses one stealing attempt.”

As much as she wanted to refute, she was well aware that the cat knew Katrina better than she did. But for Yrsa that event didn´t mean that the prophecy was true..

“But it could have been just a stroke of luck!”

“Or not!” Thalia refuted.

“Don´t worry we won´t say a word.” Acher swore.

“Eh?” Yrsa asked shocked.

“And we will escort outside of the castle safely.” Isis added.

“What?” Yrsa turned her head abruptly to Isis.

“Yeah! Drog knows every secret gallery underneath the castle and they are very useful to get out of the castle!” Enki reassured the cat.

“No! No! Could you all stop for a second and think straight for a moment please?!” Yrsa said upset.

Noticing Drog´s, her parents´ and brothers´ expressions of hurt, Yrsa joined her palms and took a deep breath through her nose.

“I´m sorry, it´s just I don´t want you to get hurt.” she apologized. “But even if by some miracle Gusty managed to defeat every tyrant including Grogar, we don´t know if we benefit from this. Yeah, she forgave the cats, but that´s because they didn´t do anything that she took great offense like we did. Don´t you remember our kind killed her husband? Do you really think she will forgive us just like that?”

After listening to her, the troggles´ joy turned into anxiety and uncertainty.

“And let´s not forget that most of the cats hated Katrina, but every other troggle supports Grogar to death! I don´t think she´ll really slide that.” Yrsa added.

“You have some good points Yrsa, but wouldn´t you really prefer to live peacefully in a village inside a forest where you didn´t have to hurt anypony and could do your own thing?” Drog enquired her.

“Of course I would, but we have to be careful not to get carried away by idealism. It could be our downfall.”

“Well…” the cat joined in the conversation after a brief silence. “Once the Wind Warrior knew our story, she stood by us because she understood our circumstances and saw the good in us. I´m pretty sure she will do the same with you.”

Judging from her eyes, Yrsa could tell she was very moved by the Wind Warrior. Then, she looked at how her family and friends were smiling. Ever since Gusty´s incident happened, they were on constant work, which made them stressed, depressed, and unable to smile most of the time, so seeing them smiling moved her deeply. Perhaps protection and caution weren´t what they needed for their welfare but hope.

Yrsa sighed.

“I can´t believe I´m doing this…” she muttered to herself. “Ok, fine we won´t tell Grogar and we´ll help you go back to your cat friends.” she begrudgingly accepted.

“Thank you!” the cat surrounded her with her arms.

“Hey, that doesn´t mean you can´t hug me!” Yrsa struggled to undo her hug.

“I´m glad you took the right decision.” Acher tapped her shoulder, making Yrsa smile.

“Take Oak with you.” Isis told Drog. “I think that´s the closet he´ll get to play in these days.”

“Right this way missy!” Oak took the cat´s paw excitedly as they followed Drog.

“Enki, Thalia! You´re needed!” a voice from above called them.

“Gotta go. Duty calls.” Thalia pointed at the ceiling.

“Good luck!” Enki waved his hand as they left.

“Be careful! And don´t you slip a word about this!” Yrsa told them as they left.

“Don´t worry, we won´t, Yrsa!” Enki reassured her, although Thalia wasn´t as sure.

Though, Yrsa wasn´t as confident as Thalia on her not slipping anything out.

“Ugh, please don´t make me repent this…” Yrsa covered her forehead on her hand.

A troggle impatiently hit the floor repeatedly with his foot, turning his head around in hopes of seeing Thalia and Enki running towards him. Finally, that moment came.

“What took you so long?!” he angrily demanded explanations.

Enki and Thalia stopped running once they were running in front of him and leveraged to catch their breaths.

“Ok, ok. We´re sorry to be late.” Enki apologized. “Where do we have to go?”

“To Grogar´s library.”

“To Grogar´s library?!” Thalia asked scared.

“As you heard.” the troggle replied relaxed at first, though after seeing Thalia´s reaction, he became distrustful. “Why the nerves?”

“Uh… She´s just excited!” Enki improvised a lie. He tapped Thalia´s shoulder to calm her down. “That the emperor would trust us so much to guard his so precious library in these times of turmoil! But she wants to do it well, thus the nerves!”

“You´re certainly right to be nervous, because if you mess up, it´s off with your head!” the mean troggle crossed a finger through his neck. “Understood?!”

The two troggles nodded.

“Good. NOW GET TO WORK!”

Enki and Thalia quickly ran to Grogar´s library´s door to get away from the mean troggle as soon as possible. Once they made sure he wasn´t seeing them, they exhaled all the air they were holding in and panted very hard.

“What was that, Thalia?” Enki quietly scolded Thalia so they wouldn´t be heard.

“I´m sorry, it´s just I realized that from now on we´ll have to stand near Grogar while keeping secrets from him, which is practically impossible because I´ll be so nervous!” Thalia shivered in fear. “Oooh, I know his bells will ignite and he will find out we´re hiding something and I´ll slip that the Wind Warrior has defeated Katrina and that the prophecy´s true!”

“But you already knew the risks and never expressed any worries about that. Why do you so now?”

“I don´t know. Maybe because a part of me thought that this would never happen! And now that it´s happening, reality hits!”

“Hey!” Enki held her shoulders. “Like Drog says, if you think that will happen, that´s exactly what will happen. You just have to think that Katrina´s defeat won´t come out of your mouth, and no one will know. We just have to act normal. No one will ever know.”

Suddenly, they heard porcelain breaking. Enki and Thalia widened their eyes and slowly turned their heads to the right. Turns out that while they were talking a slave was walking around, and consequently, heard them, discovering everything. The poor earth pony was just as scared as the troggles. Without saying a word, she ran away.

Although they knew well that they had to stop the pony, they were too much in shock and paralyzed by the mistake they had made.

“We blew everything, didn´t we?” Thalia whispered.

“Yup…” Enki confirmed her suspicions.

The earth pony closed the kitchen´s doors once she arrived. Seeing their friend hyperventilating, the other slaves at the kitchen came near her.

“What´s wrong? Is any of those disgusting troggles chasing you?” one of them asked them.

“You won´t believe what I´ve just heard…” the earth pony replied. She signed them to form a circle around her. After making sure no troggle nor Bray, nor Grogar was around; she whispered the secret to her friends. Their reactions varied from gasps to covering their own mouths with their hooves.

“…But most importantly, you didn´t hear this from me.” those were the last words the earth pony spoke before a female troggle saw them not working.

Naturally, these friends would whisper the secret to their friends. And those friends would whisper the same to their friends and so on. Soon enough a unicorn or a pegasi would hear the information and tell their kind. It didn´t matter if they were different species, they´d all end by saying:

“But you didn´t hear this from me.”

Without any exaggeration, one could say that in a matter of one hour almost everypony already knew what had happened. But that was not the case for the non-ponies. Hadn´t it been for them being busy, the news wouldn´t have spread as fast. However, a certain butterfly with a band on its wing would hear the information while resting on the ledge of the gallery beneath the courtyard. After listening carefully, it flew to the highest tower in the castle.

Young Discord took advantage of Bray sleeping to turn everything upside down, literally. He had put everything on the ceiling, furniture, books, even Bray and himself! On top of that, Discord decided to do a house of cards whose tip would be over Bray´s nose. To do so, he adopted the position of a bat, tying his tail around the chandelier and extending his body to the full, shortening it by pulling his goat horn the closer the house got to Bray.

His ears perked up when he heard a small knock in the window. He smiled when he saw a pink butterfly waving hello outside. He returned the wave and stretched his body to the window to open it.

“Hey little butterfly!” he greeted it while joining his paw and claw to allow the insect some rest. “Want me to scare you again? Oh ho ho, are you sure? I am bigger this time!” Discord covered a giggle. “Actually, I´m not.” he whispered to the butterfly as if he was telling him a secret. “I´m stretched.”

After grabbing his neck and stretching it, his body shortened abruptly, bouncing for some time before turning to its normal state, just like a spring.

“See?” said Discord once he wasn´t feeling dizziness.

After giggling, the butterfly stared at the house of cards.

“This? Well, this is a prank on Bray. I do that every time he falls asleep, isn´t that great?” Discord chuckled. “Well, not the house of cards exactly, this is new, since doodles in the face got old. He got so used to it that he simply stopped getting mad and just wiped it out calmly! So, I´m just trying new ways to tick on his nerves.”

The butterfly observed Bray. It arched an eyebrow at Discord.

“Oh, he hasn´t always done that!” Discord raised his paw and claw. “But he´s been behaving differently lately. One day, all of the sudden, he started being scared all the time! At first, I was excited because I thought I was finally scary! But then he told me off for not being scary enough.” Discord´s smile banished after saying the last sentence.

The butterfly could tell Bray´s words hurt him. It placed itself on Discord´s shoulder, not minding being upside down.

“And then the falling asleep happened.” Discord continued speaking. “At first it was fun, but it seems like he´s getting used to everything I do that nothing surprises him anymore! I don´t like being scolded but not having any reaction from him… I don´t know why but somehow it´s less fun...” he fidgeted with his fingers.

The butterfly pointed at its wing.

“What about father? He´s grumpier than usual.” Discord shivered. “Trust me, you don´t want to see him again.” he looked at the butterfly. “Why do you think they´re acting like that?”

The butterfly shrugged.

“I do have some theories myself.” Discord said in reply while tapping his chin. “Maybe they´re training me because they´re considering on letting me out to scare ponies!” he exclaimed excitedly. “Or they are scared of me deep inside and don´t want to admit it! What do you think?”

While listening to Discord, the butterfly remembered why it came to Discord. It jumped and fluttered its wings energetically.

“A secret?” Discord raised his eyebrow confused. “What do you mean?”

The butterfly looked at Bray, making sure he was still asleep. Then, the insect signed Discord to raise its ear. The young draconequus listened attentively to what the butterfly had to say.

“The ponies found out that some Wind Warrior defeated Katrina?” Discord recapitulated. “And you think that´s father´s and Bray´s secret?”

The butterfly nodded.

“And who are they? Are they writing a book or something? Cause to be honest I don´t seem them doing that. But the fun thing about chaos it´s that it´s unpredictable, right? Father and Bray writing a book in secret. How chaotic!” he rubbed his paw and claw together while laughing mischievously. “And I´m sure we´ll soon find out…” Discord smirked when he noticed there were two cards left to finish the house. “Go hide so they don´t find you.” he said to the butterfly.

The butterfly nodded and hid behind a book on the bookshelf. When Discord put the last two cards, Bray wrinkled his nose, feeling the need to sneeze.

“A-a-a-AAACHOOO!”

When the donkey sneezed the house of cards fell over Bray´s face. He shook his head when he noticed something above it.

“What the?” he thought aloud when he found himself surrounded by cards and hanging in the ceiling. He yelled scared. He quickly understood who was responsible of this when he heard Discord laughing. “DISCORD!”

“Rise and shine!” Discord teased him.

“Put everything back to normal this instant!”

“As you wish!”

Discord snapped his fingers but instead of following Bray´s command, he filled the room with water. Realizing what he had done, he snapped his fingers again, and turned his room into the space. Bray looked estranged and shocked at his surroundings. Discord attempted one more time, but it ended up in failure once again. This time, his room was surrounded by trees, and in the centre, there was a pink table with dancing teapots playing a melody. Discord smiled excitedly but stopped when he noticed Bray frowning at him.

“Think before you snap, think before you snap!” Bray scolded him. “And break it into small steps, how many times do I have to tell you?!”

“Wait! Let me try again.” Discord put his fingers on his temples. He held his breath as he thought but sighed defeated. “I don´t know where to begin.”

Bray grunted frustrated.

“The table wouldn´t be a bad start. Just saying!”

Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, turning the table into normal.

“Good, now the chairs.”

After Discord´s snap, the chairs turned back to how they were.

“And lastly, get rid of the trees and the teapots.” Bray covered his ears. “Oh, the last ones are making my head hurt!”

“But I like them!” Discord complained. “They add some good background sound.”

“More like noise. Get rid of them!”

“Fine…” Discord begrudgingly accepted.

With the last snap, the room was back in its normal state.

“Now, where were we?” Bray said while opening the book he laid his head on to sleep.

“Nowhere. We didn´t even begin and you fell asleep already!”

Bray winked, both surprised and estranged.

“I did?”

“Yeah! Even you know how boring it is to read that!”

“I differ. History is very interesting! It´s just I´ve been 24 hours on call, serving your father in everything he needs. And apparently my body finds this time as the perfect chance to sleep. But I must fight that urge! And, that doesn´t mean you´re slacking off from work mister!”

Discord snickered.

“Yeah. On call.”

“What do you mean with that?” Bray asked, both upset and confused.

“Come on, I know your secret…” Discord teased him.

“What secret?”

“You know… the book thing!”

Bray tried to repress his laugh at first, but the ended up releasing a cackle.

“A book? Where did you get such stupid idea?”

“Well, it´s just I…” Discord took a pause to think his response, since he didn´t want to get the butterfly in trouble. “… I´m seeing ponies whispering to each other about something.”

“Just dumb gossip, nothing important…”

“Oh, so Katrina and the Wind Warrior are slaves then.” Discord thought aloud.

Bray perked his ears up and widened his eyes.

“Wait what?”

“Since I saw the ponies whispering to each other, I decided to lend an ear. So, I took a glass.” Discord snapped his fingers to summon a glass. “Put it on the window and listened to what they had to say!” Discord mimicked the actions he narrated.

“And what did they say about them?” Bray asked anxiously.

“That the Wind Warrior defeated Katrina. If they exist, then I suppose they are famous troublemakers who always get into a fight, and the one who always loses finally won.”

Bray felt the adrenaline flowing through his body. This couldn´t be happening, he thought. It could be just a rumour. But if it was, how far did it get and how many ponies had heard it? Or worse, was Grogar aware of this?

“You know what, I think I´m going to give a free day because I have something very important to do right now!” Bray rushed to the door.

“You´re leaving now?” Discord asked disappointed. “But we are not over yet!”

“Yes, we are!” Bray replied before closing the door in a blow.

Discord winked, trying to process everything.

“Huh. Maybe they were writing a book.” he thought aloud.

“Please let it be a rumour, please let it be a rumour, please let it be a rumour!” Bray repeated to himself as he ran down the stairs.

His heart would go off the roof when he found the last creature he wanted to see right then: Grogar himself. He braked to avoid crashing into him.

“My emperor!” he bowed down. He laughed nervously. “Wha-wha-wha whatever are you doing here?”

“I was taking a walk to refresh my mind. Plus, soon it´s my turn to see Discord. But I have q better question, why did you leave before time?” Grogar asked suspiciously.

“Because something very important came up. And I don´t have time to explain because if I don´t act right now, it will get worse!” he ran off.

“Bray, what´s going on? Bray!” Grogar called him but the donkey didn´t obey, causing him to ignite his horns in anger.

But before blowing him off, the ram took time to think. If Bray´ was acting weird, it was surely due to emergency coming up. Bray was prone to get very nervous in these types of situations, although that allowed him to take action quickly. But how would he know something was going on if he was with Discord?

That last thought led him to the key to the situation. He looked up the stairs and narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“Did you see that?” Discord asked the butterfly after laughing. “He got so scared! Perhaps my next pranks should be like that.”

“What pranks?” Grogar asked.

Discord´s ears fell in fear. His body paralyzed, but he managed to turn his body to his father.

“F-Father! I-I wasn´t sure you were going to come too soon.” Discord nervously greeted Grogar as he closed the door.

“I´m never too busy not to get early for our weekly visit dear boy.” he smirked when he realized his bells were igniting. “Is there something troubling you?” he asked in sarcastic worry.

“Hm… No.”

“Oh, but there is. I know there is.” Grogar walked towards Discord, making him walk backwards.

Discord knew he couldn´t hide anything from his father once his bells were growing. So, he confessed.

“Ok, you´re right. I suppose Bray told you already.”

“Tell me what?”

“About the book…”

Grogar raised his eyebrow. Although at first glance, it sounded stupid, he knew there was more to that.

“Expand please.” he calmly but coldly ordered him.

“It´s just that I found out that you were writing a book because I´ve heard some ponies talking about the ending.”

“How did you hear them?” Grogar´s eyes shone in anger.

“With a glass on the window?” he laughed nervously as he showed Grogar the glass.

“Well, you´d better not do that again.” he took the glass from Discord. “Because if you do,” he broke the glass with his hoof, making Discord release a small whimper. He smirked in pleasure while feeding off his fear. “there will be consequences. But that´s not what´s important now. What I need to know is what you heard. What did those ponies say?”

“That a wind warrior defeated Katrina…”

Grogar´s smirk dropped in an instant.

“What?”

“That´s what I heard….”

Grogar took some time to answer. He seemed to look at nowhere for some moments and his breath fastened. Discord started to get more anxious. Was his father…. Scared? Grogar usually had everything under control, so Discord didn´t know what this meant.

“Father?”

Grogar closed his eyes and frowned as he retrieved his composure, as he knew his next step of action.

“Were mares saying those things?”

“I suppose…” Discord lied. Only the butterfly knew that, but Discord thought that Grogar wanted to teach him something, so he answered what he thought his father wanted to hear.

“Then let me tell you something, my son: never trust females. Of any species but especially mares. Mares might seem like they are inoffensive or sweet or innocent, but they´ll stab you in the back when you least expect it.” Grogar widened his eyes. “Don´t tell me you look at mares from the window.”

“Sometimes I like watching ponies from the window, I can´t tell if they´re mares or stallions, they´re just so little to know!”

“Don´t lie to me!” he grabbed Discord by his shoulders and shook him. “Do you get any feelings from watching those mares?!”

“Feelings? What feelings? I don´t understand!” Discord replied scared.

Judging from his confused reaction, Grogar saw that he wasn´t in that phase yet and sighed in relief. Discord was still too young for that, after all. Still, he decided to give him an early warning.

“I have talked to you about sirens and witches before, have I?”

Discord nodded.

“What do you remember about them?”

“Sirens had voices that hypnotized others into their bidding. And witches cast spells on others.”

“Exactly. Well, females can be sirens or witches in a sense. They primarily use their beauty, but they can also use other charms such as personality or intelligence to get you into their spell or fool you. And be careful, my boy, because once you feel drawn to them,” Grogar took a small pause. “you fall into their trap!” he cornered Discord and smacked his hoof against the wall. “Because they´ll use you for their own purposes, which can include destroying you! And if you´re lucky enough to stay alive, they´ll dispose you once you´re of no more use to them.”

“That, that doesn´t seem fun…” Discord said so Grogar could release him.

“It totally isn´t. That´s why I was worried about you. Because I wouldn´t want such thing happening to you. Remember Discord, I am the only one capable of loving you.” Grogar caressed Discord´s cheek, although it didn´t give Discord reassurance. On the contrary, it made him very uncomfortable. “No other creature, especially mares, will ever be able to see through your appearance. They´ll probably think you look ugly or idiotic.”

Discord looked down.

“I think I´ve given you an important lesson today. I must leave now.”

“Wait, you´re not going to explain wha-”

“Explain what?!” Grogar asked threateningly.

“Nothing…” Discord preferred not to ask after seeing his father´s reaction.

“Good.” Grogar said before closing the door.

Once he was out of Discord´s sight he angrily snorted and went downstairs as fast as he could. Meanwhile, Discord simply sat down, both feeling bad and confused about his father´s words. The butterly, who observed everything, frowned and got out of its hiding place and flew to Discord´s shoulder, tapping on it and then patting its leg on its chest.

“Oh no, don´t worry I don´t care if you are a female.” he reassured the butterfly. “In fact, I already knew it because of your big wings and their patterns. I read it on a book about fauna, you know?”

The butterfly swept off her sweat.

“It´s weird because you never used me for any purposes, like Grogar says females do. Maybe he´s wrong and doesn´t know it. But one thing´s clear: he´s hiding something from me.”

Discord and the butterfly stared with worry at the door.

Meanwhile, at the canteen, the ponies felt uncomfortable by Bray´s intense stares with no blinking. Even if he was doing something else, he still had his eyes on the ponies. That was until Isis and Acher distracted his attention.

“Bray, is everything ok?” Acher asked, blocking his vision from the ponies.

“AH!” Bray exclaimed scared that he lost sight for a moment. “Get away!” he pushed him aside.

Much a pony leveraged the moment to whisper something to another, making him cough. However, he took the pony whispering before she could finish.

“Sorry sweetie, it´s just that we thought you were anxious about something, since you´re not blinking.” Isis apologized while she picked her husband up before he could fall to the ground.

Since Isis also interposed in his area of vision, Bray couldn´t see the ponies again, but he knew that the secret had been passed, since he heard somepony spitting water. By two ponies´ reactions, Bray knew that they were talking about Katrina´s defeat, which meant that almost everypony already knew the news. Ok, the damage was done, but maybe he could find out who was responsible of, hopefully, such rumour.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Bray said to Isis as he walked towards the ponies. “Hey, hey, hey!” he greeted the ponies with a forced smile. “There is quite an atmosphere today, huh?” Bray leaned on the table.

“Heeey….” a pony waved hello awkwardly at him.

“There sure is….” another nodded with a nervous smile.

“Yes, indeed.” Bray plaid fool by nodding with fake concern. “Is it possible that this has something to do with ponies whispering to each other secrets?”

Acher and Isis slightly approached Bray to find out the roots of Bray´s concern. They looked at each other estranged. What could the ponies whisper to each other about?

Soon, they would discover it. In another table, which was in the opposite direction of Bray´s area of vision, a pegasus stallion whispered something to a pegasus mare whose mouth was hanging quite open while staring at Isis and Acher. Another pegasus next to the mare looked estranged at her friend, but she would understand why she reacted like that when she was told the secret. Her reaction was less dramatic, but she demonstrated shock while throwing glances at the troggles along her friend.

Now, it was Acher´s and Isis´ turn to get worried.

“Oh dear… You don´t suppose they know about that?” Isis asked her husband after gasping and joining her palms together.

Acher widened his eyes.

“You think? Enki and Thalia aren´t the brightest, but I don´t think they could be that reckless, could they?”

Bray couldn´t understand what the troggles were saying, but he heard their voices. He turned around and noticed their expressions of concern. He widened his eyes in realization.

“Bingo!” the donkey quietly exclaimed.

“Is everything going alright back there?” Drog asked to Oak and the cat while they were creeping through a narrow tunnel.

“I sure am!” Oak replied.

“You´re asking the master of sneaking through small spaces if she´s doing fine?” the cat raised an eyebrow playfully. “Although I will say, I´m a bit tired. I don´t mean to complain but I feel like we´ve been going in circles and circles.”

“That´s kind of the point.” Oak gladly stated.

“In this castle, you must make detours if you don´t want to get caught. As more prisoners tried to escape, Grogar set more and more deadly traps at the secret passages.” explained Drog.

“But luckily, Grogar needed secret passages in case he needed to escape or if he wanted to do something secret, so he built more but in the form of a labyrinth.” Oak finished the explanation.

“Wow… You really are risking your lives for me, guys. Considering you´re so few…”

Drog clicked his tongue.

“Well, Grogar kind of did a favour to our kind. He `helped´ us in our time of need. That´s why troggles appreciate him greatly. Although I consider he just wanted us to be dependent on him.”

“But that doesn´t mean that no more troggles will join!” said Oak optimistically. “We hope to recruit more.”

“There we are!” Drog exclaimed when he saw stairs.

Carefully, they went down the stairs. Drog ordered Oak and the cat to wait, since he needed to check if any creature was around. He moved the rock blocking the passage and looked attentively at both sides.

“It´s safe.” he signed them to pass through.

“Safe from what?”

The troggles and cat widened their eyes. Bray came out from the shadows, followed by Acher, Isis, Enki, Thalia, who were covering their eyes in shame; and lastly Yrsa, who clenched her fist against her mouth in fear.

Noticing that Oak was behind the cat, Drog had an idea. He took out his spear and pointed it towards the cat. Oak quickly understood his intentions, so he imitated him the best as he could, since the spear was too heavy for a troggle his age.

“Safe from treacherous cats!” Drog acted. “The diamond dogs brought her to us. She had a silly note saying Katrina was defeated but I think it´s just a deploy. Nonetheless, her feline friends must be searching for her, so I think the sooner we free her the better.”

The cat subtly puffed. For a moment, she thought Drog had betrayed her. Both she and the troggles admired how smoothly he reacted.

“A silly note? A silly note?!” Bray asked upset. “That note has triggered a rumour that has run through every slaves´ ear!”

“Wait what?” Drog asked in shock.

“That´s a great question I have, how did the slaves get that rumour?!”

“Because Thalia and I accidentally slipped that information in front of a slave.” Enki confessed.

Every creature stared at the two troggles in shock.

“After retrieving the cat, Enki and I were called to duty. And while we guarding an empty, an empty corridor, we discussed the events, and out of nowhere, a pony materialized.”

“Did she materialize or was she there already and you didn´t realize?”

“She materialized!”

“Did you at least try to stop her?” Bray asked them.

Thalia and Enki hesitated to speak.

“Did you try to stop her yes or not?” Bray insisted.

“No.” Enki answered softly.

“And why, if I may ask?”

“We were too shocked to move.”

All the other troggles massaged their foreheads, both mad at Thalia and Enki, but also terrified for their lives.

“I actually don´t understand how that rumour spread.” Thalia smiled nervously. “Maybe it was because the words were rhythmic or they sounded funny…”

“No, it wasn´t that, it was because the story´s super juicy.” Bray plainly stated.

“The story´s juicy, yes…” Thalia admitted.

“You really got yourselves in a very big mess for not taking her to the emperor in the first place.” Bray pointed at the cat. “However, we cannot know whether the diamond dogs´ declarations are true because if she´s been blackmailed, she might be saying what they told her to say in interrogation. So hopefully, we can confirm this was just a rumour.”

“I wouldn´t call it just a rumour yet…” Grogar said behind their backs.

After noticing his presence, Bray and the troggles made way for him and vowed towards him. The cat´s ears dropped in fear as Grogar got closer and closer to her.

“Drop everything you have.” he ordered her.

“I… I´m sorry my emperor but I´m not carrying anything.” the cat lied, hoping to sneak off a search.

“If that´s the case, you wouldn´t mind me looking at your bag, right?” Grogar pulled out her bag so fast that the cat didn´t have time to react.

He shook the bag downwards, dropping Katrina´s goblet in the process. Bray´s jaw dropped where as the troggles clenched their teeth.

“Well, well. How did you manage to get this in your paws if it´s a well-known fact that it´s impossible to steal from Katrina?” Grogar raised an eyebrow.

The cat panted in horror. She was so terrified that she couldn´t speak. The troggles held their breaths by covering their mouths.

“You have four days to leave the empire. It´s a slow death sentence, considering most of your comrades have been wiped out thanks to your incompetence.” he walked towards her. “If by the fourth day word comes to me that you any of my territories, I´ll order for your arrest and torture you until your death.” he calmly threatened her. “Is that clear?”

The cat felt relief inside. What he asked her was impossible to achieve, as the empire was enormous. But all she wanted was no harm to her comrades.

“Yes sir.”

“Escort her out of the castle slowly.” Grogar ordered Drog and Oak, seeing that they were nearest her.

Drog and Oak raised their hands to their foreheads and pointed their spears at the cat´s back. Grogar turned to the rest of the troggles.

“Get every troggle in the castle to the training place immediately.”

The troggles nodded and left as fast as they could. Bray was about to leave with them but Grogar put his hoof on his way.

“Not you Bray. We need to talk.” Grogar told him.

Bray´s ears dropped.

“I´m sorry I didn´t realize sooner but by the time-” he apologized before hoof.

“It´s not about that. We both found out too late and that´s not our fault. However, there is something important that you have neglected.”

“What is it?”

“Discord, Bray. Discord! He´s growing more curious each day that passes and he´s starting to use his powers to get in touch with the exterior world. He´s the reason why we discovered all this scandal!”

“Oh dear, you´re right…” Bray bit his hoof. “And before this happened, he started asking me about going outside. My emperor, I don´t know what we can do about this. There comes a time when you can´t hide anything from a wondering mind. You yourself did this in your younger days!”

“THAT´S BECAUSE THEY DIDN´T DEAL WITH IT WHEN THEY SHOULD HAVE, JUST LIKE YOU RIGHT NOW!” Grogar yelled at Bray after stomping his hoof. “Discord will never be able to serve me as a serious threat to ponies. He´s just a creation of mine that failed, and the only reason I keep him around is to avoid him messing everything I created! Make sure he doesn´t undo any spells I´ll cast on his room. Until he becomes into a cold and serious beast, he mustn´t have any contact with the exterior! Understood?!”

Bray looked down sadly. He never liked when the emperor yelled at him, especially at times he was expressing concern about him. However, showing hurt branded him as weak, so he simply held his head and frowned.

“Yes, my emperor.”

“Go join the troggles. I´ll be there soon.”

“Do you need anything?”

“No, just time alone.” Grogar turned his back on Bray.

Bray nodded and left the ram alone but not before taking a glance of him with worry. Once he was completely alone, Grogar left out all the rage he had in by striking a wall with his magic, leaving a whole on it. He cursed both on Lucena and Gusty, but mostly the unicorn. Why? Why didn´t he suspect of her as more than just an incompetent spy? He already knew she wasn´t as innocent as she seemed, but he did not imagine her shadows would be that large. What´s worse, there was a warm and wise aura to her that drew others towards her. Even he found the contradiction between her emotions and intelligence very interesting, which might be one of the reasons why she fooled him. At least he was smart enough not to let her manipulate him, but he also knew others could be more vulnerable to her tricks.

But perhaps the most frustrating thing of all was that in his heart there was the same feeling he drew his powers from others: fear. It was illogical, she was nowhere as powerful as him, but her personality was dangerous, very dangerous.

Grogar noticed a breeze from the window moving his mane. He frowned at it and started walking towards the window.

“I´m afraid when you´re out there

Sharing your smile with others

Because I can clearly see

How you fool them all with your care

And of your emotional heart

For you making you rebellious

And of your appearance

Because it is so devious

Of every time I see you thinking

Planning carefully your next move

Even of you staring at me

Strongly desiring me to lose

I think of your eyes of your eyes

They´re like daggers on my chest

I think of your eyes of your eyes

They´re like daggers on my chest

I think of your eyes of your eyes

They´re like daggers on my chest

I think of your eyes

I´m afraid when you´re out there

Sharing your smile with others

Because I can clearly see

How you fool them all with your care

I´m afraid when you´re out there

Sharing your smile with others

Because I can clearly see

How you fool them all with your care

So innocent that you threaten

Your silence terrifies me

Calculative like a siren

I´m sure both of us can agree

So I´ll watch all your steps

Preparing every assault

Because if I´m am not cunning

My doom will be all of my fault

I think of your eyes of your eyes

They´re like daggers on my chest

I think of your eyes of your eyes

They´re like daggers on my chest

I think of your eyes of your eyes

They´re like daggers on my chest

I think of your eyes

I´m afraid when you´re out there

Sharing your smile with others

Because I can clearly see

How you fool them all with your care

I´m afraid when you´re out there

Sharing your smile with others

Because I can clearly see

How you fool them all with your care.”

Realizing he was making the Bray and the troggles wait, Grogar decided to go back to his responsibilities. He gave the breeze entering a distrustful look as he left.

Author's Note

Happy Halloween everypony🎃👻! To celebrate I bring you a long chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!

P.D: the song is based on Pienso en tu mirá from Rosalía.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ragu30xKMB0

Chapter 19: Way down Trottingham

Author's Note

Happy 2024 everypony! Wow, time sure flies. Let´s see if this year is kinder to me. 2023 has knocked me out between my mental health and last year of college, but it´s also been a time of growth for me, as well as 2024 will be, I´m sure! That´s why last year I wasn´t able to write as often as I used to, but hopefully, this year I can update more.

Also, on 1st January it was the fourth anniverssary of The confrontation! But I believe it was today when it was authorized for everybody to see. So happy birthday The conforntation!

(Me celebrating the annivessary of a fanfic I wrote about the fight between a ghost and an evil goat in a world of colourful ponies. Also I need someone to animate Spike or Discord dancing like this).

So I give you this chapter as a celebration of the anniversary and a pre-epiphany gift! (we give each other gifts in my country in on this day)

One last thing before I go, I realized that in last chapter I got the name of Katrina´s city wrong, and I also decided to rename it to Catnada as a pun of Granada, since I took inspiration from there for the architecture.

So, without much further ado enjoy the first chapter of the year!

Chapter 19: Way down Trottingham

At that same night, Gusty couldn´t sleep. It wasn´t only due to the fact she shared the castle´s library with everypony to sleep, but there was simply too much to process as well. On the span of days, she managed to join forces with earth ponies, face dark spirits, and what´s more surprising, defeat a tyrant. Never in a million years would Gusty ever imagine this would happen to her. And all because she was nice to a sheep. After today, perhaps the idea of defeating Grogar didn´t seem that insane. But she still had three other tyrants to face before getting to the emperor. Even so, she felt hopeful that things could go better for her and her daughters.

If only they were by her side to tell them these amazing adventures that had happened… Leaving Grogar´s castle gave her the chance to see them again but since she had to flee to survive, she didn´t have time to get their handkerchiefs, which were her own way to communicate with them. However, after noticing a scroll, she thought there was perhaps another way to communicate.

Carefully, Gusty got up and passed through everypony without stepping on them and controlling the sound of her hoofsteps. Then, she took a paper and a fountain pen and walked to the balcony. While doing so, she took a moment to glance at Starswirl and the earth ponies and smiled at them, thankful for having met such wonderful ponies. Once she sat down, she strolled the scroll and started to write. She felt her heart filling with warmth and joy with each word she wrote down, even chuckling at some sentences that she wrote.

When she finished the letter, she hugged it tightly and closed her eyes, imagining herself with her daughters.

“Everything´s going to be ok. I promise.” she told her daughters.

“Are you sure you want to go?” Moochick asked Knightshade and Alonzo as they packed to accompany the unicorns in their quest to save their leader. “There must be another way we can repay our debts.”

“I appreciate your concern, sir Moochick, but we believe the sooner we return the favour, the more likely unicorns will help us in times of need.” Alonzo replied politely.

“You never know when Grogar could attack!” Knightshade added while revising they had everything they needed. “Ah, I´m forgetting the food!” he quickly ran to grab it.

“There will most probably be an attack, yes.” Moochick admitted. “But I doubt Grogar himself will be present there.”

“Yeah, but knowing Grogar, he will probably send some powerful magical creature to destroy us. And I don´t think Magic Star will be able to create enough talismans for everypony for protection!” Knightshade pointed out anxiously.

“I understand that unicorns´ magic can seem dangerous and difficult to understand, but from what I´ve seen, these unicorns use their magic wisely and not to hurt others. Unless it´s in self-defence of course.” Alonzo reassured him.

“I know, I´m just being prudent. Every time we have interacted with a creature capable of magic, it´s always ended up in harm for us. They prey on us because they believe we are weak for not having their abilities, and some could even believe we shouldn´t exist.” Moochick argumented.

“Well.. Katrina never tried to exterminate us all. She needed our work. Every tyrant does.”

“Because we were lucky with Katrina. But we don´t know the unicorns´ leader.”

“But we know six of her followers. And I believe they see us as their equals. Do you trust them at least?”

Moochick looked down through the window, observing the unicorns talking to each other. Lancer and Glory seemed to be worried about something, so Gusty put her hoof on her chest, as if she was promising something. Then, Fizzy swang over Lancer, causing both of them to fall. The other unicorns giggled while watching Fizzy shrugging with a nervous smile at a frowning Lancer. Moochick slightly chuckled, since he was reminded of his youth and the companionship between earth ponies. They were not that different from them. Perhaps these six unicorns were trustworthy.

“You´re right.” the elder leader finally agreed. “It´d be wise to return the favour as soon as possible to maintain them by our side, should their leader turn out to be hostile against us.”

Alonzo smiled.

“Well said sir!” Knightshade congratulated him from the other side of the room. “I´m glad you´re starting to use logic and reason!”

Alonzo and Moochick narrowed their eyes at Knightshade, making him realize his wrong choice of words.

“I think I´ve just called you irrational and undermined your whole mental capacity.” Knightshade took a brief pause before continuing. “I should probably get out of your sight now.”

He bowed to Moochick and ran out the room. Alonzo rolled his eyes.

“Take care, Alonzo.” Moochick laud a hoof on his shoulder. “I can´t lose two of my best warriors.”

Alonzo nodded with a confident smirk.

Meanwhile, the unicorns, Magic Star, Shady and Posey waited at the castle´s gates. They stared at Knightshade, surprised that he came alone.

“Where´s Alonzo?” Gusty raised her eyebrow.

“Coming.” Knightshade replied after panting for some seconds. “He´s talking with Moochick about something.”

“Wouldn´t it make more sense if he talked to ye both?” asked Glory. “Ye´re part of the rescue mission too.”

“Is it because you blurted out something out loud that upset sir Moochick?” Magic Star asked Knightshade teasingly.

Knightshade clicked his tongue.

“Yup.” he admitted.

“Don´t worry.” Fizzy put her foreleg around him. “You´re not the only one who does that.” She reassured him.

Speaking of Alonzo, everypony perked their ears up when they heard his hoofsteps. They turned around and saw him accompanied by Moochick.

“I believe we´re already ready, right?” Lancer asked everypony.

“When it comes to packing, I am very detailed and I´ve also revised Fizzy´s packing, so for me, we´re all ready.” Butons answered.

“The same goes for me.” Shady showed all kinds of tools, weapons and food she carried on her bag.

“Don´t you think that´s too much?” Posey asked her.

“For me, it´s never too much. Anything could happen.”

“Thank you! Finally somepony who agrees!” Knightshade exclaimed.

“Then, let ourselves begin our journey. There´s no time to lose!” Lancer ordered. “Starswirl, Posey, lead the way.”

The two ponies nodded their heads.

“Why Starswirl?” Shady whispered in Buttons´ ear.

“He´s from there.” Buttons whispered back.

“Oh…”

Before everpony marched, they bowed to Moochick.

“We thank you all for your help in the rescuing of our leader.” Gusty said to Moochick.

The earth pony nodded as a sign of respect. He entered the castle to go to the balcony in order to watch them depart, getting a clear view of Bridlengton and its inhabitants. The earth ponies praised Knightshade and Alonzo as they passed through the town, although they were also captivated by the unicorns. The stares made them uncomfortable at first, but soon they would realize those stares weren´t hostile. Instead, they were stares of gratitude and intrigue. In addition, they could hear some of their dialogues.

“Look mom! That´s the unicorn that moved the clouds! She and her unicorns helped the rebellion to free ourselves!” a colt said to her mother.

“Good luck in your journey! Hope you get to rescue your leader!” a family with their foals waved at the unicorns, at Gusty. The latter waved back.

“I´ve heard rumours that the white one was the one Katrina was after. Apparently because they say she´s going to overthrow Grogar.” a stallion whispered to a mare.

“What? That seems too far-fetched.” the mare disagreed. “But one thing´s clear: she seems not to be messed with.”

Though she knew they were admiring all the unicorns, she also noticed that she was the spotlight in their eyes. Most of the times in which she was the centre of attention were of disdain and anger for something she did, even though in her eyes she was doing the right thing. Naturally, Gusty ended up being afraid of stares. She tried to return the smiles, but there came a point, in which she had to avoid eye contact. A familiar ugly sensation in the chest returned, and both her heartbeat and breath fastened. Noticing breezes moving his mane, Starswirl noticed Gusty´s anxiety, so he put a recomforting hoof on her shoulder.

“Looks like they admire you.” he teased her.

Gusty chuckled and blushed embarassed. They still had to cross the city, but after hearing Starswirl´s words, she felt she was supported and accompanied. And so, while the breezes were still around, they didn´t turn into a hurricane like they usually did.

Moochick noticed the earth ponies looking at the unicorns, mostly Gusty. He couldn´t see their faces, but he knew they were admiring her. He decided to trust her and her comrades, but part of him was still afraid. What if by putting his trust in them he brings demise to his kind? What if they are blind followers? So many questions were running wild in his mind.

“Don´t fail me. Don´t make me regret my decision.” Moochick thought to himself.

Sarama paced around the throne room nervously, waiting for Crunch to come back from his reunion with Grogar while also wondering why the emperor would convene at night. Whatever the reason was, it couldn´t be good. What´s worse, it was morning and Crunch hadn´t arrived yet. The journey to Tambelon´s capital from Trottingham was long, but considering how urgently the emperor needed him, anything could have happened.

A knock on the gates got her back to reality.

“Come in.” she said to the dog behind gates.

Turns out that there were three dogs waiting behind gates. They were Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall.

“Hey Sarama!” Gaueko cockily greeted her. “Just came here to inform you that the nocturnal search has been quite fruitful. With the strength of our lashes, there was nopony who resisted to work!”

“Good, good.” Sarama said in reply.

Sarama´s emotion didn´t match with her words. She seemed to be worried about something.

“Is everything alright, Sarama?” Gwyllgi asked her. “You seem tense.”

“How couldn´t I be? Grogar called our leader late in the night. That´s weird even for him. Something big must have happened, I just know it.”

“Relax! If anything, it´s an advantage to us, I can tell you that.” said Cavall with a sly smirk.

Noticing how relaxed the three diamond dogs were, Sarama started suspecting of them.

“You know something, do you?” she narrowed her eyes.

“Maybe.” answered Gaueko while looking at his claws. “Let´s just say that I was able to track the Wind Warrior and found out about some important news that could cause the emperor to give our dear and greatest leader more support and resources.”

“Such as?”

They were interrupted by an abrupt blow of the gates. Crunch was responsible of all the noise.

“URGENT MEETING!” he cried.

“My king!” Sarama exclaimed before vowing. “I´m so glad to see you´re o-”

“Get every soldier to the courtyard, Sarama!” Crunch interrupted her.

Though somewhat hurt by his coldness, Sarama nodded her head and obeyed. Meanwhile, Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall approached him.

“So… How was your meeting?” Gaueko asked him.

“You three too! Get the soldiers! GO! GO!”

Crunch yelled so loud and strongly, that his breath pushed the three diamond dog´s ears backwards, as if it was one of Gusty´s winds, only with a bad breath included.

“We would. We would. But what if I told you we are responsible of Grogar´s sudden decision to call you?”

Crunch´s ears perked up.

“What do you mean?” the stone dog raised his eyebrow intrigued.

“Well… I managed to get something of value from the Wind Warrior.” Gaueko showed Crunch the phoenix feather necklace. “Apart from being an excellent asset to blackmail her, it also served as a great tracker, which led me to Coltlogne.”

Crunch leaned towards the necklace intrigued.

“Hm…” the dog king scratched his chin.

“And then I thought, if we tell you and you transmit this information to Grogar directly, he´s probably accuse you of being incompetent, and we know that you´re the least incompetent creature to roam this land. But perhaps he would take this more seriously if the source of information came from gossip…”

Crunch´s grin of satisfaction grew more with each word Gaueko spoke.

“Very well thought Gaueko. That´s why I have you three as my main henchdogs. You will be rewarded once the Wind Warrior business is over.”

The three diamond dogs bowed to him, Gaueko adapting the most extravagant posture.

“NOW GO!” Crunch ordered with an angry yell.

The three dogs lifted their shoulders as a response to the yell. Most of the time, Crunch was angry, and the moments where he wasn´t angry were very very brief. Creatures in his environment were used to his mood swings, still, they´re never prepared for the shouting.

“Geeze… Ok, ok!” Gwyllgi mumbled to herself while leaving the room.

Meanwhile, the soldier dogs waited in the courtyard asking so many questions, whether between themselves or to Sarama.

“Is everything alright, Sarama?”

“Did something happen?”

“Is this code red?”

“Should we adapt the code red protocol?”

Despite all the chaos, Sarama tried to ease the crowd.

“Ok, ok!” Sarama raised her paws up. “We do not know what has happened yet, but we must not panic and take any precipitate decisions. We must wait for Crunch´s explanations and orders. In the meantime, it´s important that we remain calm.” she explained as serene as she could while moving her paws up and down. “And no spreading of speculations!” she pointed at a dog who she noticed was whispering to his comrade´s ear. The dog quickly stopped, hid his hands behind his back and smiled apologetically.

Suddenly, the trumpets began to play.

“The king of Trottingham, first in his name, Crunch!” Cavall announced.

Every dog bowed while Crunch entered the courtyard and went up the platform.

“Subjects! I bring you important news. The Wind Warrior has put an end to Katrina´s reign!” he smacked his foot.

Every diamond dog gasped shocked. Sarama covered her mouth with her paws.

“The prophecy´s true?” thought Sarama.

“That brings good and bad news.” Crunch continued his announcement. “The good news is that this shows that dogs are superior to cats!” he put his fist to the air.

The dogs barked and applauded in cheer. Sarama and some dogs in the crowd had their reservations, however. How can that be proved if they haven´t faced the Wind Warrior yet?

“But that also brings us bad news. That means that the Wind Warrior is a real threat. So, you need to listen attentively to my plan and unleash the wolf inside you! Is that clear?”

“Woof!” the soldiers barked as a sign of agreement.

“The journey to here from Catnada is three days approximately. If you part right now, it´s more likely a surprise attack is successful.”

“But sir.” a dog raised her hand. “Last time we ambushed them, they ended up frozen for a whole day!”

“This time will be different. Because we´ll be blackmailing her with this.” Crunch showed them the phoenix feather necklace.

“Ooo…” the dogs said in intrigue.

“What is that? A talisman?” a male dog asked.

“Not exactly.” Gaueko replied.

“But it´s an object of value.” Gwyllgi clarified.

“We notice she held it in a vulnerable moment.” Cavall pointed out. “Even if it doesn´t have any power, she does clearly have some sort of appreciation to it. If we threaten to destroy it, we could get distract her and catch her.”

“Not everything of value has magic, you idiot.” Crunch insulted the dog that asked. “Especially for a punny pony.”

“Sorry sir…” the dog apologized, hurt by Crunch´s words.

“Is everything clear?”

“Yes sir! Only one thing, what about the dogs that don´t form part in the castle? Do we prepare for battle or set a defence?” a female dog asked.

“Those dogs will continue with their daily tasks.” Crunch answered.

“Whoah, even the slave raptors?” a hesitant Sarama asked.

“Yes, even the slave raptors!”

“Don´t you think that´s a bit risky?”

Crunch widened his eyes surprised. The rest of the dogs looked at their leader with horrified faces, as they knew what was going to happen.

“Excuse me?” he asked back estranged.

“Well, you know, those five unicorns might plan to infiltrate by disguising as potential targets for enslavers.”

Crunch knew Sarama was certainly right. But that didn´t mean he liked it.

“Also, I think the idea of having an urgency plan is appropriate. I understand we must follow with our tasks, but it´s also important to be prepared, should anything go wrong.” Sarama continued stating her opinion, despite Crunch´s frown.

“Well, that was implicit in the plan, Sarama. Do you consider your comrades stupid perhaps?”

Sarama raised her eyebrow.

“I never said that.” she shook her head to emphasize her point.

“Is that so? Ask them how they feel.” Crunch signed at the crowd.

The crowd raised their eyebrows confused and looked at each other, not sure what to do next.

“B-but sir.” the last dog that asked stuttered. “I think Sarama has-”

“Are you mad or are you not mad?!” Crunch interrupted her.

This was not the angriest the dogs had seen their leader, but they could feel the fury building on him.

“Yeah! We´re not stupid Sarama!” a dog cried, although from the tone of his voice, Sarama could tell he was doing it so Crunch wouldn´t harm any dog. “Am I right?”

The other dogs quickly understood what to do next. They barked in agreement and started `yelling´ at Sarama.

“See Sarama? That´s why you should stay silent if I don´t ask you to speak.” Crunch smirked at her.

Getting irritated by the noise, he raised his paw.

“Alright! Alright! ENOUGH!” he smacked the floor, quieting every dog. “We´ll do as I said. Is everything clear?!”

The dogs barked and raised their paws to the level of their foreheads. Sarama was going to leave like the rest but was stopped by Crunch grabbing and squeezing her foreleg.

“Don´t you ever humiliate me in front of my subjects again.” he whispered menacingly in her ear.

Sarama closed her eyes, supressing a whimper of pain, from Crunch´s squeeze.

“I didn´t humiliate you.” she replied after inhaling and expiring. “I just corrected you.”

“Oh, you didn´t?” Crunch clapped back once they were alone. “Then why didn´t you do it in private, huh?!”

He pressed Sarama´s foreleg. She was starting to feel the sharp edges of his stone fingers penetrating her skin.

“I thought we were planning together.”

“Yeah right, as if I would believe that! Don´t you know I know what you´re planning? Making me look stupid so the other dogs look up to you and prefer you, a mere subject, to me, their king?!

After hearing those words, Sarama felt a rush of adrenaline through her body that allowed her to free herself from Crunch´s grasp.

“Not just any subject, your foredog and most important advisor.” she stated sharply. “Who´s the one that came up with all the defences on battles? Who´s the one behind all the military strategies? Who helped you to take decisions? Who-”

“I AM THE ONE WHO´S IN CHARGE HERE!” he exclaimed while hitting the wall, leaving a hole on it.

Sarama gasped and panted in fear and shock. Unconsciously, she took a few steps back from Crunch.

“You´re scared now, aren´t you?” said Crunch. “Good, as it should be. You might think you have power because I chose you as my foredog but never forget that was because I didn´t want to keep fulfilling our parents´ deal. Keep advising me all you want but never correct me in front of others. Remember what your place is, and you and your family will be ok. But if you don´t, there will be consequences.” he said before leaving Sarama alone and closing the courtyard´s gates.

Once she was alone, Sarama threw herself on her knees. She sadly looked at the golden ring around her finger and fidgeted with it.

“So, to sum up, just when Katrina was about to shoot a sword at you, out of nowhere, you conjured up a crystal?” Starswirl recapped what Glory told him as they travelled to Trottingham.

Glory nodded. They weren´t the only ones participating in the conversation. Gusty, Fizzy, Buttons and Lancer were as well.

“I swear, I´ve never seen her do such thing. It came out of nowhere!” Lancer raised his foreleg.

“Do ye think that could be my talent?” Glory asked Starswirl.

“You never knew your special talent?” Starswirl asked genuinely surprised.

Glory and Lancer looked at each other while pressing their lips. Feeling they were about to reveal something, Gusty, Fizzy and Buttons raised their eyebrows in intrigue.

“No… Ye see....” Glory disassembled the rear parts of her armour, showing Starswirl her flank. “I never got a cutie mark.”

With the exception of Lancer, all unicorns widened their eyes in surprise.

“You never got a cutie mark?!” Fizzy asked in shock.

Glory shook her head.

“But, how can that be?” Gusty shook her head confused.

“Honestly, I believe the question should be reversed.” Lancer opined. “Knowing how many limitations Grogar puts to our magic, it´s a miracle some of us got a cutie mark.”

“From what Majesty and unicorns have told me, they got their cutie mark by accident while playing.” said Glory.

“Exactly, that´s something ingrained in our species.” affirmed Starswirl. “As much as Grogar wants to keep us under control, he can´t stop cutie marks and special talents, thus why he forbids using them to the point that some forget them.”

“That makes sense.” Buttons thought aloud.

“Yes, but I didn´t have that chance. Ponies who can´t afford a roof to live under are in so much risk of being punished, executed or enslaved, so my parents never allowed me to play with magic. I thought I´d get one when I became a nurse at Majesty´s army, alas it never happened.”

“You´re not alone. In my time at the monastery, I´ve met unicorns your age who didn´t have a cutie mark but they eventually earned once we gave them space to explore. So if you keep on experimenting with crystals, you might end up getting one.”

Glory smiled at Starswirl.

“It´s funny. I´ve been many years studying magic and there are still many things I still don´t understand. Like why crystals of all the talents in your case if you haven´t got any connection to crystals.”

“Well… I do have some connection… Although my father and I were born in Strotland, my mother wasn´t born there. She came from a land far, far in the north, in which she told me there were many, many crystals. And she told me before she was captured and brought to the capital, she and her family worked with crystals, although neither of them could do the things I know I can do now.”

“Huh. That gives me more evidence that crystal manipulation is your talent.”

Glory blushed while smiling.

Meanwhile, the earth ponies stayed silent. They tried not to interfere, since this was an intimate conversation, as well as they didn´t understand unicorn affairs. That didn´t mean they weren´t listening though, which Gusty noticed, judging by the stares.

“You can join in the conversation, you know?” she invited them playfully. “From my understanding, cutie marks also involve earth ponies.”

The earth ponies looked away embarassed.

“Yeah… Sorry about that.” Alonzo scratched the back of his head. “But I´ll say it´s curious how this issue is prevalent among unicorns. One would think that the magical creatures would have no flaws or issues.”

Buttons clicked.

“That´s where you get it wrong.”

“I never thought we´d have a privilege over unicorns. Never being able to find your purpose nor being able to engage in it sounds awful.” Knightshade reflected.

“And if you do, you´re in danger.” stated Magic Star, having lived that in flesh. “Funny how an earth pony shares that experience with unicorns.” she smiled at Gusty, who returned the gesture.

“The same goes for me.” Starswirl said to her. “I never imagined that I would identify with an earth pony on fleeing your home for maintaining a tradition alive.”

“Is that why you flew Trottingham?” Shady asked him.

Starswirl nodded.

“For studying magic, yes.”

“Speaking of Trottingham, are we there yet?” Fizzy asked.

Glory, Gusty, Buttons and Lancer grunted.

“Fizzy, don´t begin, eh? Please!” Lancer begged her.

“Hey, this is the first time I asked that! And I wasn´t planning on asking that much either like last time.”

“What happened last time?” Shady asked curiously.

“You don´t want to know, trust me.” Buttons answered her.

“Just in case that happens again, I happen to know the recipe for a tranquilizer potion.” Magic Star winked an eye.

“That seems a little extreme, doesn´t it?” Gusty asked a bit concerned.

“To me it doesn´t. In fact, I see it as extremely necessary.” Lancer disagreed.

“Could you prepare one for me, Magic Star?” Knightshade asked her. “I think I might need one, because I´m very nervous.”

“You always say that, and it always turns out to be fine.” Alonzo patted Knightshade´s back.

“But that was because we knew Katrina. We don´t know anything about Crunch! He could be way worse. I bet he´s the type of guy that has foals for breakfast.”

“Ok, you have a point in there.” Alonzo clenched his teeth anxiously.

“I haven´t spent much time around him, but from what Katrina told me, Crunch´s always led by his anger.” Posey explained. “Although that might not seem a wise way to lead, his wrath has gained him fear among his subjects and slaves. I´ve heard that if provoked, he turns creatures into stone and crushes them in pieces. That´s why he´s known as The Destroyer.”

Lancer, Glory and Starswirl nodded in agreement. The rest shared worried glances. Some, like Knightshade and Shady even gulped. Suddenly, the earth ponies widened their eyes and put themselves on guard.

“Something´s coming.” said Magic Star.

“What? How do you know that?” Gusty asked them, wondering how they got to such conclusion.

“The vibrations from the earth! Don´t you feel them?” answered Knightshade, as if it was something obvious.

“Um… No…” Lancer raised his eyebrow, asking for explanations indirectly.

“Earth pony thing, I guess.” Alonzo muttered to himself.

“And where are they coming from?” asked Fizzy after glancing around.

“Underground.” Shady stated.

The unicorns quickly understood who was coming. They gasped scared.

“Diamond dogs!” Gusty exclaimed. “Fizzy, Buttons! You and I will grab the earth ponies. The rest teleport yourselves to a safe place. We´ll see you there!” she ordered the unicorns.

Glory, Lancer and Starswirl nodded before disappearing. Since Posey and Magic Star were the nearest to her, Gusty conjured up a wind to lift them and herself to a tree branch. The two earth ponies whimpered uncomfortably at the sensation of floating. Fizzy took some water from her canteen to grab Alonzo and Knightshade and put them between some tree branches. Due to the nerves and the urgence of the situation, Fizzy didn´t do it carefully with grace, but quick and somewhat violent instead, so much that Knightshade would have fallen from the tree if it hadn´t been for Alonzo grabbing him.

“Sorry!” Fizzy apologized once she teleported by their side.

“With your permission, mademoiselle.” Buttons hugged Shady before igniting her horn so they could teleport next to Gusty. Shady took a deep breath and panted anxiously once they were safe.

“Don´t ever do that again without warning me!” Shady scolded Buttons.

Buttons shushed her and pointed downwards, where a hole was opening on the ground. Some dogs came to the surface, but they weren´t Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall. Instead, there were a dalmatian, a golden retriever, a fair brown and white papillon dog and a bulldog. The unicorns didn´t remember seeing any of them at the battle at Starswirl´s house, which was a huge relief. That didn´t mean it was safe though.

“Any sign of anypony?” the golden retriever asked.

“Nope!” the dalmatian replied after glancing around carefully. “There´s no helpless pony to capture!”

Gusty raised her eyebrows. Crunch might seem Majesty and her army as inferior, but `helpless´ is certainly not a word neither he nor his minions would apply to them, considering they had reconquered territories. They had to be talking of somepony else. She tilted her head and raised her ear to listen carefully to every word they said.

“Aaaargh! Why is it getting more and more difficult to get slaves for the mines?!” the bulldog dragged his ears down in frustration.

“Maybe it´s because we´ve been capturing ponies for so much time that nopony dares to travel to Trottingham because word of what happens to wondering travellers spread around, and the ponies living in surrounding villages left in sought of refuge?” the papillon suggested as an explanation.

His comrades stared at him in confusion as to how and why that reflection came to be.

“It´s true though.” the papillon said in his defence.

“Well, that could be in the unicorns´ case but now that Katrina´s not around anymore, we could go to Marenada and go for earth ponies instead.” the golden retriever suggested.

Gusty, Fizzy, Buttons and Shady widened their eyes.

“They know already?” they all shared the same thought despite not reading each other’s mind.

The rest of ponies weren´t that surprised, as they knew how quickly important information like Katrina´s defeat travelled around kingdoms. Meanwhile, the dogs continued their conversation carefreely.

“Yeah! They might be more efficient in finding precious stones than unicorns, due to their connection to the earth.” the bulldog agreed.

“I digress, unicorns could be far more efficient if they knew a spell to track precious stones. Alas, Grogar´s against that for some reason!” the dalmatian raised his paws to the air.

“Because if they do, they could use that to their advantage.” the papillon informed.

“Ok, will you shut up? You don´t have to inform us of everything all the time!” the golden retriever scolded him after punching his head.

A tear formed in the papillon´s face and whimpered, both hurt by the hit and those harsh words. Even the ponies felt their sting.

“Well, enough with preferences and let´s keep searching instead.” the papillon tried to redirect the conversation as he quickly wiped that tear. “Otherwise, Crunch crunches us. Ha! See what I did there?”

“Do you want to get hit again or what?” the dalmatian warned him, as they came back underground again.

The ponies waited for the dogs to leave so they could get down the trees. Magic Star climbed down the tree trunk and put her hooves slowly on the ground. The unicorns imitated her, but Magic Star told them to stop by raising her hoof. She waited some seconds to speak again.

“They´re far enough. It´s safe now, everypony.”

“Oh dear. They know about Katrina. This will make things more difficult for us since it´s likely they´ll be expecting us.” Buttons commented worried.

“Not only that, but those three dogs and their legion are searching for us for sure…” Lancer added.

“And another teensy detail, we´re a much smaller group now, so it´s not like we can burst up the gates to the city and the castle like last time.” Knightshade pointed out.

“There is another way, though.” said Posey.

The ponies turned back to her and saw her staring at the hole the dogs left and forgot to close, due to the rush they were in. They all walked to it and looked down with some hesitation.

“Oh… I don´t know.” Shady´s ears dropped. “I´m a bit weary of closed and dark spaces.”

“About the darkness I wouldn´t worry, since we have light sources.” Buttons pointed at her horn. “But the idea of being in such a tiny space does make me uncomfortable.”

“None of us do, but what option do we have?” asked Alonzo.

“Tsk, you have a point…” Shady lamented.

“It doesn´t seem a bad plan, since we could diverse the diamond dogs easily.” Starswirl scratched his beard.

“Yes, but would any of you manage to find your way around underground? Because I certainly wouldn´t.” said Fizzy.

“Maybe we can follow them.” Gusty suggested.

Everypony stared at Gusty.

“And how? We don´t know which way they went.” Magic Star raised an eyebrow estranged.

“If you had been paying attention, those dogs were looking for ponies to capture. What if one of us let themselves be captured so the rest can follow the dogs?”

Glory widened her eyes and smiled.

“Of course! Plus, the pony that volunteers could also infiltrate to free Majesty.”

After taking a moment to think, everypony ended up nodding their heads in agreement.

“So, which one of us volunteers?”

Glory immediately knew the answer when she noticed all the stares.

“Oh…”

After a while, the dogs resurfaced again and examined their surroundings. In the meantime, the ponies were hiding behind a bush.

“Are ye sure about this?” Glory asked everypony nervously. “I don´t know if I´m the most indicated pony for this.”

“You are, Glory.” Posey replied firmly. “Diamond dogs are having lots of trouble in finding gemstones and crystals lately. And not everypony gets to be a slave. Once you are captured, you´d better useful, otherwise they´ll end you.” she put her fists together to emphasize her point.

“But what happened at Catnada was an accident. What if I can´t do it again? Or what if I end up messing everything up? I still have to find out the hang of this crystal thing I can do.”

“You´re telling this to me, who had to endure and escape Grogar´s castle with no knowledge of how my winds work, except that they get out and strong if I´m very nervous.; and almost destroyed Majesty´s life mission.” Gusty smirked playfully. “But we´re still alive, aren´t we? And now you´re more trained in magic, so if the crystal talent fails you, you still have an ace up the sleeve.”

“Huh.” Glory said in realization. “I didn´t think of it that way.”

Gusty grabbed Glory´s hooves.

“Ok, let´s try something. Close your eyes and take a deep breath.”

Glory imitated Gusty´s gestures. Gusty opened her eyes once Glory´s were closed.

“Very well. Now, I want you to keep on breathing while imagining the water flowing on a crystalline river.” Gusty instructed her.

“I don´t think we have time for that, Gusty.” Lancer said to her.

“We do, it´s very short, trust me.” Gusty noticed Glory opened one eye, so she closed it for her. “Ok, in every river there are rocks, right?”

“Hm.” Glory nodded.

“And no matter how hard the water hits them or pushes through, they´re still there, aren´t they?”

“Aye.”

“Well, when you´re out there, I want to think yourself as that rock. Steady and enduring despite the water. The water being the diamond dogs in this case, of course.”

“Ok.”

Gusty grabbed Glory by the shoulder, causing her to open her eyes.

“We believe in you Glory. You can do this.” Gusty nodded.

Glory frowned determined and nodded back to Gusty before getting out of the bush. Since the diamond dogs were some steps away from them, they didn´t notice her presence. Although she had accomplished the first part of the plan, she was hesitant to take the next step. She bit her lip and turned her head back at her comrades, who encouraged her with smiles or gestures. After smiling at them, she looked back at the dogs, took a deep breath, and stretched her forelegs.

“Aaaah! What a beautiful and braw morning to take a walk!” she said loud enough so the dogs could hear her.

As planned, the dogs noted her presence. They quickly hid in the hole, leaving only the forehead the eyes out to observe Glory.

“And of course, to get some crystals!” Glory continued speaking, acting ignorant of the dogs near her.

She ignited her horn, closing her eyes to focus better. But no matter how much she had prepared or how much effort she was putting, she didn´t achieve the desired outcome. She stopped when she felt her breath running out, but quickly attempted again. And again, and again… And still no result. Naturally, the situation affected Glory, but her comrades were just as nervous, especially Lancer. The dogs were simply staring estranged, although they also found the situation humorous. After several attempts, Glory ended up losing her cool.

“Aaargh! Come out, ye daft crystal!” she yelled before stomping.

Suddenly, success. She managed to conjure up a big structure of crystal. At first, Glory jumped on her back, appalled by her abrupt creation.

“Oh, finally!” she exclaimed satisfied.

The dogs rubbed their eyes, not sure if what they have just witnessed was part of their imagination or real.

“Is that-” the dalmatian barely could talk.

“Diamond!” the papillon exclaimed.

“And of very good quality too!” the bulldog added.

“Then, what are we getting for? Let´s get her!” the golden retriever commanded.

Immediately, the dogs came back underground, digging their way to Glory. The unicorn closed her eyes, preparing herself to be pulled violently to the underground. However, the dogs took longer than expected, which was odd from their part, since they were usually very quick about it. Glory turned to her comrades to shrug and shake her head.

“Did it work or are they setting us a trap?” Fizzy asked confused.

“Could be.” answered Lancer. “Which is why we need to-”

Just as he was talking, a hole and four paws appeared bellow Glory, which dragged her down before she could scream. Everypony was caught of guard, but only the earth ponies were left in shock, since this was their first experience with diamond dogs.

“No, they bit the bait.” Buttons corrected Lancer.

Gusty lifted herself up the bush with a small tornado and flew towards the hole, stopping at a point close enough to observe down the hole, but far enough not to be averted by the dogs.

“Who are ye? What do ye want? What´s going on?!” Glory asked in fake fear, although her screams seemed to be of pure horror. So much that Gusty began to wonder if the plan was too much for Glory. But Glory confirmed her she had everything in control by winking with a brief smile.

The papillon was about to answer but the dalmatian covered his mouth.

“Shut up! You´re our property now, and you´ll do as we say!” the golden retriever replied rudely.

“You had better obey, otherwise you´ll be punished!” the bulldog advised her threateningly.

“And forget your old life behind, because you´re never coming back.” the dalmatian added.

“NOOOO!” Glory screamed exaggeratedly as the dogs laughed.

Gusty waited for Glory and the dogs to be out of sight to put her hooves back on the ground. She sighed for everypony to come out the bushes.

“My goodness. How didn´t she get a cutie mark for acting? Because that scream was surely convincing.” said Buttons while she and Starswirl lifted the bush, opening the way for the rest of the ponies.

“I wonder that too.” Starswirl agreed with her.

“So… How do we get down there?” asked Alonzo once everypony was out of the pushes.

Posey was the first one to take action. She opened her bag and took out a rope. She threw it to her fellow earth ponies.

“Take this.” she ordered them.

“Whoah, whoah, we didn´t say who would go first.” Knightshade replicated as he and the other earth ponies caught it in the air.

Posey tied and secured the rope around her torso.

“I don´t mean to throw myself flowers, but I seem a logical choice. I´ve been around diamond dogs many times and I know how they travel underground. It´s a matter following their pattern, trust me.”

After hearing her arguments, the ponies changed their minds. They frowned determined and nodded at Posey, who smiled back confidently.

“Ok. I´ll jump on the count to three. One, two, three!”

She spread her legs while jumping down. Her leap somewhat dragged the earth ponies towards the hole, so the unicorns held them back with magical beams, or a stream of water in Fizzy´s case.

“Is everypony alright?” Gusty asked the earth ponies.

“Yeah, thanks for asking.” Magic Star answered after sighing in relief.

“You good, Posey?” Shady asked in whispers to Posey, since she was the pony closest to her.

Posey nodded. She slightly pulled the rope two times, indicating the ponies to let go the rope a little so she could go down. After a while, she pulled one time so they could grab the rope firmly again. time. From there, she began to dig a hole on the left wall until it was big enough for one more pony. As they agreed, after finishing and untying the rope around herself, she waved to the pony behind.

“Got it.” Shady winked an eye at Posey. “She´s finished.” she communicated to her teammates. “We need a unicorn now!”

“On it!” Fizzy offered herself.

She teleported herself to the brink of the hole. After tying the rope to her torso, she jumped to the hole, exclaiming cheerfully.

“Weee!”

She smiled at Posey once she was in front of her. She helped her to get on to the hole and untie the rope. While Posey was digging to make space for one more pony, Fizzy waved to indicate the next pony to come down.

“Ok, I´m going down!” Shady told Fizzy.

Despite her statement, she started having second thoughts after looking down, realizing how tall the hole was.

“Can´t we change sides?” she asked Magic Star, since she was behind her.

Magic Star raised an eyebrow at her.

“Ok, ok, I´ll go.” Shady reluctantly obeyed.

Magic Star smiled while offering her a band for her eyes. After she tied it to her own eyes while Magic Star tied the rope around her torso, Shady disposed herself to go down the hole.

“Ok. Find the courage.” she said to herself while walking to the brinks of the hole. “Do this for your FRIENDS!”

Unfortunately, Shady didn´t calculate her steps correctly and kept walking when she should have stopped. Quickly, Magic Star grabbed the rope firmly, preventing Shady from crashing down. When she felt herself hanging, Shady huffed and puffed violently from her nose. She was about to yell after noticing the band on her face moving, but something covered her mouth before she could. Luckily, she was safe. Fizzy was the one untying the band whereas Posey had her hoof on her mouth, shushing her silently. Shady sighed and smiled in relief. Fizzy and Posey aided her to get inside the hole.

Meanwhile, Magic Star observed everything from the surface.

“Huh. Guess the band wasn´t a good idea after all.” she thought aloud. She shrugged. “Well, I guess I´ll take this into account for future situations. Anyway, I´m going down!”

And so, she went down by holding the rope with her front hooves. Once she was in front of Posey, Fizzy and Shady, the first dug for more space. The same process was repeated six more times. The remaining ponies arrived in different manners. Some arrived gracefully, such as Buttons, Lancer and Alonzo, while others not so. For example, Knightshade had some trouble making knots on the rope before going down, so when he arrived, he was upside down with his four hooves tied. Alonzo smirked playfully while looking at him. The only ones that didn´t use the rope were Starswirl and Gusty. Starwirl because he feared the rope breaking after holding so much weight, so he decided to use a levitation spell as he went down, holding his breath until Knightshade and Alonzo offered him their hooves. Gusty, on the other hoof, because she didn´t have any other choice, since there was nopony to hold her. However, even if she could use the rope, she preferred to use her trusted tornado trick.

Once Gusty had reached everypony, Fizzy ignited her horn to light the way Posey was going to make.

“Ok. Is everypony ready?” Posey asked in whispers.

“Hm.” everpony nodded confidently.

“I do have one question though, are you sure you can dig all the way out yourself?” Alonzo asked to Posey concerned. “It´s just I don´t feel comfortable leaving all the work to you.”

“Don´t worry. I had to dig many times for hours in search of jewels and precious stones while infiltrating for Katrina. I´m used to this.” she reassured her.

“I just hope they didn´t change their way while we were going underground.” Lancer said worried.

“Nope, they´re still in the same direction!” Magic Star replied. “Ha ha! It´s so clear they haven´t been around earth ponies.”

“Um… Hate to be that pony, but how long do you calculate we´ll be here? It´s just I´m starting to get overwhelmed.” Shady looked up in fear.

“Not so long. I´m a fast digger.” Posey winked an eye at her.

“Even so, the way to Trottingham is long.” Starswirl commented. “I haven´t stepped on this part of the forest in years, and much less underground, but I seem to remember it took me days to-”

Starswirl decided to keep quiet when he noticed how much Posey was contradicting his words. After a tiny stretch of her hooves, Posey was at least fifty inches away from everypony. Her hooves dug faster than even the best pick would. The ponies blinked in shock at first, but they quickly advance forward to catch up with her. Starswirl, however, was still too shocked to move.

“Does every earth pony do that?” he turned to Gusty.

Gusty rolled her eyes playfully.

“Just move forward, mister snail.” Gusty pushed him softly with her hoof to make some space between them so she could also move.

“Hey, I´m not slow!” he replicated to her while catching up with Posey.

“Whatever you say.” Gusty teased him.

Starswirl frowned upset as Gusty giggled.

Chapter 20: Rescue mission begins

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 21: Furius Carrus

Back at the mines, on their way to the top, Glory marked the spot at which she found diamonds with her stick. To her surprise, Sarama wasn´t hypnotized by it like the other dogs were, giving Glory more reason to be cautious around her.

Once an x was formed on the ground, Sarama signed the dogs to dig. While waiting for them to finish, she eyed suspiciously at Glory from time to time. Though she had the evidence, Sarama was still skeptical of her abilities to find good quality crystals and diamonds. Perhaps the unicorn only had a stroke of luck. But after seeing the large quantity of crystal gems and other diamonds the dogs had found, she began to doubt her theory.

“Alright!” the bulldog said while laying them carefully on the cart attached to Glory. “That´s 20 more pieces for our great leader Crunch!”

“Hm…” Sarama tapped her chin in thought. “That was impressive, I admit that.” she said to Glory. “But you´ll have to get the same number or even more to make me believe you have a special talent.”

“Yes ma´am…” Glory said somewhat overwhelmed, as she wasn´t sure how many more times she would be able to pull out this trick successfully. In addition, time was against her.

And so, the same procedure was repeated many times on the way. Fortunately, Glory was able to find a good number of diamonds or crystal gems every time, although there were times she needed more effort, did mistakes or took less diamonds. Nonetheless, she impressed Sarama, but also left her concerned. While certainly an advantage for raw material extraction, there was also something alarming about this fact. Due to Grogar´s prohibition on unicorns of using their magic and learning spells unless it´s for the purpose of holding and manipulating objects; no unicorn she had ever supervised before knew how to use their special talent. Some even had no idea they had one! That was not Glory´s case. She had more knowledge about her special talent than the average unicorn. Somepony must have taught her. And as far as Sarama was concerned, there was only one unicorn who knew more about magic than Grogar allows…

“My, you´re quite the detector…” Sarama said to Glory in `admiration´ while walking to another tunnel. “How did you get so good at it?”

Glory felt her heartbeat speeding up. Knowing Sarama, this was not a question of genuine curiosity but of suspicion. The stories were right, there was not a single detail that escaped from her. Though lying to Sarama wasn´t the best option, staying silent was a stronger give away. So, she quickly came up with the most logical explanation.

“My mother taught me. She came from a family that worked with crystals. They used the same spells I´m using right now.”

“And how is it that your parents knew these spells? You know better than me how Emperor Grogar feels about using non object manipulation magic…”

“Well, this spell was taught throughout generations. And they used it to quicken work. Granted, that´s what got them executed.”

“And yet, you use that spell?” Sarama raised an eyebrow.

“Well, the results are more effective, aren´t they?”

Sarama frowned in response, intimidating Glory. But to her surprise and relief, the dog chuckled.

“Ha! I like your way of thinking. But don´t get too comfortable around me, so watch out on how you talk to me and on what you tell me. Are we clear?”

Glory nodded. Once she wasn´t looking at her, she stared estranged at Sarama. Obviously, her last words were a warning, and perhaps deep down she already knew she was infiltrating but was waiting for her to reveal herself. Nevertheless, her reaction to her insolence was quite striking. Grogar would have laughed too, but what he would find amusing was that pony bringing their own doom. Sarama´s statement, however, slightly sounded like an agreement. Glory couldn´t help but wonder if she shared some of the sentiments other unicorns in the mine had.

Finally, they had reached the highest tunnel, which meant that the next step of the plan would soon take place. She had been on high alert from the moment she let herself be captured by the diamond dogs, but right now Glory could feel the adrenaline slowly taking over her body and flowing through her veins while observing the rails ahead of her.

“And twenty more to the kart!” the dalmatian exclaimed enthusiastically while writing the number down. “which in total makes… eighty pieces!”

“That´s not bad for your first kart. But if you want to survive you´ll have to make more than that” Sarama stated firmly.

“Thank you, ma´am. I´ll try harder the next time.” answered Glory. “So now that my kart is full, I suppose I must change it, right?”

“Well, d´uh!” the golden retriever replied disrespetfully. “I know your pony brains are small and don´t allow much room for intellect, but even then, that´s such a stupid question!”

“Actually,” Argus shyly spoke. “what matters is the number of connections between neurons not the size of the-”

Poor Argus couldn´t finish his sentence as the golden retriever grabbed him by the shirt.

“SHUT UP YOU -”

His attitude changed fast when he saw Sarama´s threatening frown.

“I mean…” the golden retriever giggled nervously while putting Argus back on the ground. “I appreciate you want to inform us about stuff but don´t correct me in front of the slaves.” he said with clenched teeth and a forced smile while dusting off his shirt.

“Sure…” Argus said somewhat fearful.

Afterwards, he tipped his helmet to Sarama as a sign of gratitude. Sarama nodded and gave him a small but warm smile in return. Glory raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Unlike the cats, there was no sense of camaraderie nor respect for every dog. So seeing a high figure under Crunch´s rule, who was known for encouraging that kind of behaviour, not tolerating any kind of bullying towards a meeker and smaller dog was quite admirable. If she had such different ideas to Crunch´s, how did she end up as his foredog?

“Answering to your question, you´re correct.” Sarama said to Glory. “There are places for piece collection and kart change.”

“I see. And I suppose it must be that way, right?” Glory tried to walk towards the other tunnel, but Sarama quickly stepped on her way.

“Actually, we´re going to take another stop.” Sarama informed her calmly, but with menacing subtones.

Glory widened her eyes. The dogs looked at each other in confusion.

“Oh… And where are we going?”

“You´ll see. Follow me.”

Glory bit her lip nervously. This had all the earmarks of her being lured to a trap. She had to warn everypony. Seeing that Sarama and the dogs were backwards, she quickly ignited her horn.

Meanwhile, a few levels high above Glory, her comrades were tensely waiting to see Glory appear on the rails bellow them. They didn´t know whether it was due to anxiety or Glory was truly taking some time, but they felt like they had been waiting for ages. If it was the latter, there were two explanations: One, she wasn´t caught but is going through some obstacles; and two, she was caught. Either way, they hoped it was just psychological. All they knew was that time was running out.

Slowly and weakly, the crystals around them flickered, but their light was bright enough for the unicorns to see and leave stunned.

“Um… wasn´t the signal her getting out the tunnel?” Fizzy asked everypony. “Or she was supposed to do that and I misunderstood?”

“No chérie, you understood right.” answered Buttons. “However, she said that she would make the crystals to flicker twice if she was in trouble…” she widened her eyes in realization. “SACRE BLEUE, SHE NEEDS OUR HELP! WHAT DO WE DO NOW?!” she shook Gusty violently in panic.

Starswirl shushed her, reminding her they were not alone.

“Oh, sorry, my bad.” Buttons apologized.

“Why, tell the earth ponies to change to plan B, of course!” said Lancer.

“On it!” Buttons raised her hoof to her forehead while teleporting.

“No, no, no!” Starswirl shook his hooves. “Don´t use magic, they could hear us.”

“Dang it, I always forget!” Buttons hit her forehead. “Very well, earth pony method it is! I´ll probably take some time but I´ll go as fast as I can.”

Gusty and Lancer sighed.

“Now way, no how…” Gusty shrugged.

“Alright, I´ll see you in no time!” Buttons began to dig. “At least I can light the way…” she said while going down the hole she was making. The four unicorns that were left observed how she was going down.

“Hang on a little more, Glory! You´re doing great!” Lancer encouraged her, even though she couldn´t hear him.

As Glory´s message reached her comrades, the dogs noticed Glory wasn´t following them and was igniting her horn instead. As discreetly as she could, Sarama put her paws around the handles of her weapons, preparing to defend herself should the case require it.

“What are you doing?” she asked Glory.

Glory gasped softly while lighting off her horn.

“Oh, sorry ma´am. The thing is that I just I remembered seeing more crystals around this area and was checking to see if I was correct. Turns out I was right.”

“So? We can come back here later.” Sarama replied.

“Yeah, but… I don´t know where we´re going now, and if it´s very far, don´t you think it would be easier to do it now, so we save some time and energy on going back here again? I don´t say it for myself of course, I´m saying it for ye.” she smiled nervously.

Sarama narrowed her eyes.

“I appreciate your…” she looked away while thinking the next word. “Concern. But your kart is full, where would you put the new crystals?” she walked towards Glory. The closer she got, the more Glory´s ears dropped and pushed herself against the kart.

“I… I could do a product with them!”

Sarama raised her eyebrow.

“Wait, let me just show ye…” said Glory while taking a ruby.

She laid the crystal gems on the ground, took a deep breath and puffed, and ignited her horn. At first nothing happened, it was just Glory igniting her horn with closed eyes and sweating very hard. The golden retriever, the dalmatian and the bulldog held their laughter, thinking how pathetic the attempt was. Sarama and Argus on the other hoof (or should we say paw in this case), stared estranged, although the first was more skeptical and the second genuinely curious.

“Alright that´s en-”

But suddenly, the ruby slowly opened in sleeves, taking the shape of diamond. On the back of the ruby, she levitated two thin wires of the calcite and bent them, forming the fibula. The dogs observed the whole process in awe. When she was finished Glory fell to the ground, panting in exhaustion.

“Tadaa…” she smiled weakly. “It´s a brooch. And not just any brooch, a ruby brooch. Rubys are said to bring protection to its bearer, so it´s good for a leader.” she explained while pinning the brooch on Sarama´s chest´s left side. “What do ye think?”

Sarama grabbed her cape to observe Glory´s brooch in more detail.

“Hm… It´s good. Not a gift suitable for our great leader Crunch though-”

“Actually, it was for ye.”

“For me? Why would you give this to me as a gift?”

“I already explained it.”

Sarama winked stunned.

“Ooh, what a brown-nosing slave…” the dalmatian whispered to her workmates.

“Okay, are you flattering me?” Sarama asked Glory angrily. “Because flattery won´t make me favour you. In fact, it achieves the contrary!”

“No, no! That wasn´t my intention. I gave it to you because you were the one asking. And technically, you´re a leader, right?” she smiled nervously.

Sarama´s face indicated Glory that her last words resonated in her mind. Sarama stared at the brooch again. Despite its imperfections, there was something beautiful about it. It was very simple and barely had any decorations, but her reflection on it was clearer than crystalline water. Sarama dropped her ears while staring at herself, which Glory took notice.

“Are ye alright, ma´am?” she asked estranged.

“Huh?” Sarama asked in a whimper. “Oh!” She shook her head to return to her usual stoic and detached attitude. “Yes, I was just examining for imperfections, which has many. For example, the faces are asymmetrical, and the edges are too sharp.” she approached the brooch to Glory so she would appreciate the mistakes better.

“Ye´re right! Maybe if ye just let me fix-” Glory tried to take the brooch out of Sarama, but she put her paw backwards.

“You will, but later. Right now, we must go.”

“But what about the other crystals, Sarama?” the dalmatian asked confused.

“I hate to say it, but I agree with the slave. It´s easier that she does products so we can carry them now and not come back later, don´t you think?” the bulldog commented.

“I appreciate your input, but we are leaving. We cannot stay here.”

“Sarama´s right guys, perhaps-” Argus tried to support his superior, since he understood she was pretending. But as always, he was interrupted by his workmates.

“Sarama, what´s going on?” the golden retriever crossed his arms. “You´re always talking about efficiency, but right now you want to take the time-wasting way?”

“Like I said, we have to move.” she said firmly, yet also desperate to make them understand there was a danger. “There´s no time to explain.”

“Geeze, how dramatic are these dimondians…”

Sarama growled furiously while approaching the golden retriever, making him put his paws up on defence.

“Do not insult my land nor my family!”

“I´m sorry. It was a joke, I wasn´t serious…” he laughed nervously.

“Dimondians?” Glory whispered to herself in wonder.

Suddenly, some soil fell on her nose, causing her to sneeze. She frowned estranged, wondering where that soil came from. After noticing more soil falling, she looked up and saw a small hole forming on the ceiling. She widened her eyes in horror when she realized what was causing that hole.

“No, no, no. Stop! Stop!” she implored quietly.

Though still small, the hole got big enough to allow Glory to see who was coming down. At first, she only saw two blue eyes in the darkness, which after approaching to the light, they were revealed to belong to Buttons.

“Glory?” Buttons said a bit confused, but also happy to see her safe. “Don´t worry, I´m warning the earth ponies, but apparently I must have gotten the wrong-”

Glory put her hoof on her mouth own mouth to silence Buttons. Then, she pointed at the dogs. Buttons bit her lip anxiously and in relief at the same time. Miraculously, none of the dogs became aware of her presence. Not even Sarama, which was the most welcomed surprise. Instead, they were involved in what seemed to be a heated argument.

“You think she´s dangerous, is that it?” the dalmatian asked Sarama. “I´m sorry, but she doesn´t seem that dangerous to me.”

“You don´t understand, there´s been recent news…” Sarama said frustrated, both because they were not listening to her and because she had to deliver the news with Glory around, which she tried to avoid at all costs. However, there wasn´t other way to make them obey.

“What news?” the bulldog asked.

Sarama took a deep breath.

“The Wind Warrior has defeated Katrina. And it´s likely she´s coming here for Majesty.”

Buttons slipped from the tunnel. Thankfully, Glory had a quick reflex on creating a crystal for her to hold on to, leaving Buttons hanging in the air instead of crashing and probably breaking some bones. With Glory´s help, she tried to crawl back to the tunnel.

“Aaah… So everything is about that.” the golden retriever nodded his head.

Sarama widened her eyes surprised.

“Wait, you knew? How?”

“We bumped into some colleagues that had just captured a cat and told us everything.”

“Wait what? When did that happen?” Argus asked shocked. “Because I don´t remember that.”

“Yeah, well…” the dalmatian scratched the back of her neck. “We sent you to look for some sticks, so you left us alone when that happened…”

“And none of you informed me of this?!” Argus asked angry.

“Hey, we didn´t tell you for a good reason. If we did, you would have been freaking out the whole way.” the bulldog justified for himself and his friends.

“Well, he would have had a good reason!” Sarama sided with Argus. “Didn´t you stop to think for a moment that the Wind Warrior could use you to get to Crunch?”

The golden retriever, the dalmatian and the bulldog widened their eyes in realization. In spite of still listening carefully to the conversation, Argus was also aware of his surroundings, especially after Sarama delivered the news. Consequently, he was the only one to realize what was happening in the background.

“Um… Guys…” he shyly called them.

But once again, he was ignored. His workmates were still thinking on an answer for Sarama.

“Well, uh…” the golden retriever nervously grabbed the collar of his shirt. “But that hasn´t been the case, has it?” he retorted with a challenging yet still scaredy tone. “Look, you might be our superior, but at the end of the day, Crunch is the one who gives orders, not you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Sarama´s anger grew further, causing the golden retriever to shrink in fear.

“Guys…” Argus called them again, getting a bit more desperate.

“What I mean is that you act like you´re the boss here when in reality Crunch is.”

“I act like I´m the boss because Crunch named me his foredog, what do you expect?! That I´d sit around doing nothing?!”

“Guys…” Argus became upset.

“Pff! Please. Don´t act like you don´t know what I´m talking about. We all know that you secretly disobey Crunch´s orders and use your own criteria instead. You could even say that you manipulate him to do your own bidding! And let´s be real, the only reason he made you foredog is because you two were arranged to-”

“GUYS!” Argus exploded in rage, finally getting everydog´s attention.

Once they were looking at him, he pointed at the unicorns. Glory and Buttons widened their eyes in horror when their eyes met with the dogs´. In a matter of seconds, the dogs drew their weapons and circled them while Sarama ran to the rails to warn all the dogs.

“ALERT, ALERT, EVERYDOG! INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS! SEARCH THE WHOLE MINES! AND MAKE SURE NO SLAVE IS HIDING THEM!”

Panickily, every dog in the mines abandoned their usual tasks. Some ran in formations to look for the ponies in every corner of the mines while others inspected the slaves by inspecting their carts or interrogating them violently. Naturally, both the unicorns and earth ponies witnessed horrified the chaos that was unfolding. In fact, in the earth ponies´ case, a dog was trying to get information of an innocent unicorn by grabbing her by the tail and shaking her just beneath them.

“Where are they?! Did you know about this?!” the dog asked livid.

“No! I´m just as surprised as you, I swear! I´ve done nothing wrong!” the unicorn exclaimed helpless.

“Don´t lie to me!” the dog shook her.

The earth ponies watched the event, feeling very sorry for the pony in spite of not being the same species as them.

“It may not be what we agreed on, but I think that´s our cue.” Shady broke the silence.

“Darn right it is!” Magic Star said in agreement as she took a potion in each hoof. The other earth ponies prepared for combat as well.

“Let me go, please!” the unicorn begged the dog.

“Not until you tell me!”

Suddenly, the unicorn noticed a pair of bright yellow and brown hooves and another one of completely brown ones grabbing the dogs´ feet and pulling them backwards, causing him to fall and consequently, letting of the unicorn, who ran away terrified.

“What the?” the dog asked confused.

Suddenly, a hole opened on the floor and from it, came out three earth ponies, most specifically Alonzo, Knightshade and Magic Star.

“EARTH PONIES SHALL CONQUER ALL!” Knightshade screamed excitedly, but his enthusiasm somewhat subsided when he saw his fellow earth ponies´ confused expressions. “What? The plan was to pose as skirmishers, right?” he softly asked, both confused and ashamed.

Though appalled at first, the dog roared in laughter once he had processed the situation.

“So,” he wiped off a tear. “Insignificant earth pony skirmishers? Ha ha ha!” he said while getting up. This shall be easy then.” he drew his sword. “CHAAARGE!” he called the dogs nearest him to battle.

Magic Star threw a potion that caused an explosion and a brief blue smoke. The dogs coughed or rubbed their irritated eyes. Once the smoke cleared, they observed that each earth pony had spread into three distant spots. In response, the dogs divided into three groups to fight them. Despite being outnumbered, the three earth ponies managed to fight masterfully with their respective weapons; swords in Alonzo´s and Knightshade´s case and potions in Magic Star´s. Although, they also had help from Shady and Posey, who created holes in which the dogs could fell in groups and each dog on top of other. The two earth ponies bumped hoofs with a smile after witnessing their work.

Sarama observed the riot from above with an arched eyebrow. She couldn´t appreciate the characteristics of these new combatants, but from what she heard from one of them screaming, they were earth ponies. Though still possible, it was too much of a coincidence that they appeared just when they busted two unicorns.

“It can´t be. They´re allies?” she wondered aloud. Then, she gasped in realization. “Of course! They had to get in Marenada somehow.”

She noticed at the other side of the rails a pair of dogs paralyzed in confusion and fear.

“Get back up for your fellow soldiers bellow! And search for more rebels!” Sarama ordered them in a firm yet also comforting tone.

Seeing they were still too scared to move, Sarama closed her eyes, inflated and deflated her chest. Receiving her message, the dogs did the same. Sarama accompanied them in their breaths until their body allowed them to move. Sarama nodded and smiled slightly as she watched them go. Then, she continued supervising.

Meanwhile, Glory and Buttons were still kept on a circle. The dogs advanced towards them until Buttons´ and Glory´s backs clashed against each other in an attempt to get away from the spears as much as possible. The golden retriever laughed at their struggle.

“What are you going to do now, little unicorns?” he tauntingly asked them.

In looking at Buttons, Glory saw the stick she carried, giving her an idea. She smirked back at the dogs to puzzle them. Then, she throw the stick far away from herself and Buttons. As expected, every dog, with the exception of Sarama, happily chased it. Sarama´s ears perked up when she heard their barks.

“Hey! What are you doing?! Come back!” Sarama called them out.

But none of the dogs listened, causing her to growl in frustration. To make matters worse, just when she redirected her sight on to the unicorns, they had already teleported away. She sighed upset before running to her subordinates.

In reality, Glory and Buttons were still in the same place. They were against a wall, using an invisibility spell, having threw themselves some soil beforehoof so Sarama wouldn´t smell them. Once her steps sounded farther, they opened their eyes and observed how she tried to get the stick away from the dogs.

“Let go!” she said while pulling the stick out of the bulldog´s mouth.

Judging from the sight, Glory and Buttons were certain Sarama would take some time to get the dogs back to reality. After turning their head back to the rails, they noticed a scared unicorn hiding under a cart. They looked at each other and nodded. Slowly and carefully, they crawled to the cart and got on it, scaring the unicorn even more with the noise.

“Eh? Huh? What was that?”

“Hey.” Buttons peeped her head out in front of the unicorn.

“GAH!” yelled the unicorn.

Inmediately, Buttons covered his mouth and shushed him.

“Please, don´t be scared, we´re here to free you.”

“With the earth ponies?” the unicorn asked mistrustful.

“Yes, yes! We helped them before and now they are helping us.”

The unicorn´s nerves started going down. He frowned in curiosity and confusion.

“Who are you?”

“It´s a very long story… But on short, we´re rebels.”

“Listen.” Glory joined Buttons. “Our leader has been captured and we know Crunch is planning on delivering her to Grogar. Can you lend us your cart?”

The unicorn looked away in thought. He nodded with a slight smile. Glory and Buttons returned the smile.

“Thank you.” Glory said to him.

Buttons looked up and made a signal to Lancer, Gusty, Fizzy and Starswirl, who watched in stress the situation. When they saw Buttons, they sighed in relief. Afterwards, they ignited their horns.

“It´s easy to get to the dungeons. If you follow the rails, you´ll get to a gate in which there are stairs, and those stairs lead to many parts of the castle, including the dungeons. The door to the dungeons is very recognizable, you´ll see.” the unicorn instructed Glory as she took off the harness off the unicorn and put it on her back.

“Understood, thank you so much.” Glory nodded. “Is everypony there?”

“Positive!” answered Fizzy while they appeared right next to Buttons.

For their misfortune, just when they were about to leave, Sarama had already made the last dog, Argus, recover his conscience with a few soft slaps; which allowed her to finally go back to observing the rails. She gasped when she noticed Gusty.

“The Wind Warrior! Don´t let them get away!”

Gusty noticed the dogs running towards them.

“Oh no, they noticed us!”

“Move Glory, move, move!” Lancer hit the cart.

Glory whimpered and immediately started running away.

“Thanks for letting us your cart!” Fizzy waved to the unicorn with a grateful smile.

The unicorn smiled in return, but some growls quickly erased that smile from his face.

“Uh oh…” he said after looking up and seeing the dogs.

Lancer lit his horn the moment they entered the tunnel. The first thing they saw were bats in front of them. They yelled in terror while ducking to avoid getting hit on the face by the bats.

“These ponies have to work in caves filled with bats?” asked an indignant Buttons.

“Uuuh, I don´t think bats are what we should be worried about…” Starswirl said horrified before pointing at the pack of dogs running towards them at the horizon.

Anxiously, the ponies clenched their teeth. And as if that weren´t enough, right behind them were following Sarama and the dogs that `captured´ Glory with a malicious smile. Apparently, they forced the unicorn that helped them before to chase the unicorns.

“Sorry!” he apologized.

Every unicorn, with the exception of Glory since she had her eyes on the rails, stared at Gusty, who raised an eyebrow confused.

“Why are you all staring at me?” she asked.

“Well, you´re the one who comes up with all the ideas in these situations…” Glory explained.

“Huh, I didn´t think about it before, but now that you say it, maybe you´re right!” Gusty answered in realization. She scratched her cheek while thinking up an idea. The perfect idea popped up in her mind when she saw Fizzy´s canteen. She smirked mischievously. “Hey, feeling for a round two of whac-a-dog? she asked Fizzy.

Fizzy gasped and widened her eyes. Then, she laughed maliciously.

“You said it!” she replied while lifting her canteen up.

The pack of dogs stopped yelling for war, when some of their combatants were crashed against the wall due a stream of water that trapped them.

“What the?” one of them asked.

Suddenly, the rest were lifted up by a tornado, making way for the unicorns´ cart.

“With your permissiooon!” Gusty teased them, despite struggling to keep a heavy load afloat and sweating.

Once they passed through, Gusty dropped the dogs in front of the dogs´ cart. Sarama widened her eyes and gasped.

“Stop!” she ordered the unicorn.

The unicorn slowed down just before he could get to the dogs. Sarama got off the cart to check and aid the injured dogs.

“Are you all okay?” she asked them.

“Well… We´ve been better.” one of them replied.

“Haw haw!” Fizzy laughed in a taunting melody when Sarama raised her eyes.

Sarama growled but quickly shifted her focus back on helping the dogs. The four dogs accompanying her had other ideas, though.

“What are you doing?!” the golden retriever yelled at her. “They´re getting away!”

“We´ll soon get back to them.” responded Sarama. “But first, we must get your fellow guards out of the way to avoid casualties. Besides, what just happened made me think of a better way to-”

“See our point?!” the dalmatian pointed an accusatory claw at Sarama. “You only obey to your own wishes and not Crunch´s. Crunch would much rather have us continuing the chase!”

“Well, I really prefer Sarama´s option over yours and Crunch´s!” one of the injured dogs replied.

“Of course you do, because you´re a coward!” the bulldog accused the injured dog. “A true soldier doesn´t mind giving their life for Crunch. Compared to him, our lives are irrelevant. The only way we can get any value is by submitting ourselves to Crunch´s will.” he clenched his fist with as much passion as the speech he was giving had.

The golden retriever and the dalmatian nodded their heads, very moved by their comrade´s speech. Sarama, the injured dogs and Argus, however, blinked their eyes puzzled.

“Let´s all be honest, the reason why you don´t understand is because you´re all Dimondians and favour Sarama blindly, just like the dogs in the military!” said the golden retriever.

“Mate, half of us in this group are Caninians like you!” another injured dog responded back angrily.

“I´m also Caninian and I agree with Sarama here…” Argus said in support of the dog.

“Shut up, Argus!” the dalmatian shouted at him. “No dog asked.”

“Okay.” Sarama said calmly, despite being on the verge of losing her nerves. “I know we have our differences, but if we just put aside our biases and negotiate-”

“There´s no time for negotiating, Sarama! In fact, we even have less thanks to you and your altruism.” the golden retriever said the last word in spite and mockery. “But we´re gonna make the most of it.” he put his sword on the unicorn´s neck. “If you don’t start running right now I´m going to cut your throat and then your family´s!”

The poor unicorn whimpered and obeyed. Not wanting to take part on that reckless plan, Argus jumped off the waggon. Between Sarama and the dogs that were already at the side of the rails, they managed to get every remaining dog to safety.

“LONG LIVE CRUUUUNCH!” the bulldog cried as their cart disappeared into the void.

“Geeze, what´s wrong with them?!” a dog asked upset after massaging his forehead.

“That´s what I´ve been asking myself ever since I was assigned with them…” said Argus plainly.

“Is everydog ok?” Sarama asked concerned.

“Unfortunately, no.” a dog nodded. “Some of us have broken bones but there are others that can help.”

“Perfect. Then listen carefully, I think I have a pretty good idea of where they are going…”

Between the property damage caused by dogs crashing the mine´s walls and other materials in the mines due to the unicorns´ magical defences; the dozens of formations of dogs pursuing and attacking from every side of the cart; the thrown sticks, jewels and crystals flying away as a form of distraction; and the slaves running away to avoid getting hurt, the six unicorns were causing quite a stir everywhere they went.

“I´m so sorry to ask this, but are we there yet?” Fizzy asked, anxious and exhausted at the same time.

“For once, non taken.” Lancer said before throwing some gems away. “I´d really like to know the answer to that question as well.”

“I would gladly check but I can´t if I have to drive the cart.” Glory lamented. “That spell would require me lots of concentration, which I can´t do if I have to keep an eye on the way.”

“Maybe I could be of some help?” Starswirl suggested somewhat insecure but genuinely wanting to help. “It´s been very long since I last pulled one of these but perhaps I have some muscle memory.”

“You sure you want to?” Gusty asked him. “I know you want to help, but we wouldn´t want you to have a hard time reliving a bad experience.”

“Honestly, that´s bellow on my list of priorities right now. I don´t mind, really.”

“Fine by me. But you better be fast running because we´re getting some company back…” Buttons said worried.

She pointed at the coming cart of dogs. They laughed menacingly the closer they got to them. With a smirk, the dalmatian threw an arrow at them. Buttons and Starswirl whimpered, since they were the ones at the back of the cart. Without the need of speaking, Glory and Starswirl synchronized in exchanging places. In the meantime, Buttons stopped the arrow thanks to her shield.

“AAAGH PLEASE BE NEAR, PLEASE BE NEAR!” Fizzy cried upset.

Glory closed her eyes before igniting her horn. Slowly, she was getting more control over her magic, but she still needed time to do these new spells. In the meantime, the unicorns kept with their assigned tasks. Whenever they could, Lancer and Buttons shot magical beams at the dogs, but they were good at avoiding them. Although they still managed to do so, Gusty and Fizzy were starting to get tired, so their attacks were less effective. However, that didn´t mean they were less impressing for Starswirl, particularly Gusty´s. From time to time, he glimpsed at Gusty after she threw some dogs away. He knew he had to have his eyes on the front but there were times it was irresistible not to gaze at Gusty for some time. Eventually, he had his reality check.

“HEY HEY! WAKE UP!” Fizzy waved her hoof in front of him. “PONIES AT THE FRONT! PONIES AT THE FRONT!”

Starswirl turned his head back to the front. He braked when he noticed he was too near to ponies who still had to move. As an instinct, he braked down. Thankfully, they were able to get out safe and sound.

“Sorry!” Starswirl apologized to those two ponies while going back to running.

“I know you like staring at Gusty, but I don´t think now´s the moment to do that.”

Starswirl frowned, upset that Fizzy would say that out loud; and blushed embarrassed, hoping Gusty didn´t hear that. Fortunately for him, she was far too busy to do so. However, she turned to them just a few seconds afterwards. She widened her eyes surprised when she saw him blushing.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, causing Starswirl to open his eyes wide open like plates.

“Yeah yeah! It´s just that the effort is causing my cheeks to turn red.” he laughed nervously. “Which brings me a very important question, how is Glory doing back there?” he asked to change the subject and remove the focus of attention from himself.

“I´m done.” Glory answered. “I´ve noticed that the farther I am, the more difficult for me is to detect a gem in there. And this time it was easier for me, which means we can´t be that far.”

“That makes two of us!” the golden retriever exclaimed triumphantly.

Every unicorn widened their eyes horrified at how some of the previously defeated dogs were helping to push the cart and thus, make it go faster. The poor unicorn forced to push the cart was now hanging on the cart.

“HELP MEEE!” he begged them.

“Girls, cover me!” Lancer told Glory and Buttons.

The unicorns took their shields and put them over Lancer. Meanwhile, the stallion used his sword to cut the chain, picked the unicorn up, and took the harness off his back. Once he was free, the unicorn gave Lancer a tight hug as a sign of gratitude. Though taken off guard, Lancer patted his back.

“Now this will be just a second!” he told the unicorn while lighting his horn.

The unicorn didn´t even have time to arch his eyebrow before reappearing in a different place.

“AH! What the?” he said while holding his chest.

“We´ll explain one day, I promise!” Lancer answered him.

“Um… Starswirl… They´re getting closer…” Buttons nervously informed Starswirl.

“I´m going as fast as I can, I swear!” he said anxious.

“But that´s not fair!” Fizzy complained. “We´re five and they´re like twenty or more! It´s clearly not playing in our advantage.”

Gusty looked at her horn and then frowned determined.

“Perhaps I can remedy that…”

Every unicorn glanced at Gusty.

Meanwhile, the dogs were getting closer to the unicorns´ cart.

“I got you now…” the golden retriever smirked. He opened his canteen to drink some water and then turned to his comrades. “Witness meee!” he cried boastingly.

“Witness!” the dalmatian yelled in response.

“Witnesses!” said the bulldog.

The golden retriever got on the front edge of the minecart, calculating the distance between the two carts. When he felt he was near enough, he jumped on the unicorns. But since he was too focused on his grandiosity, he didn´t notice Gusty appearing bellow him. Supported by a wind, she pushed their cart combined with a strong wind to create a shockwave. As expected, the cart shot off, leaving both the dogs and the enslaved unicorns shocked.

“Did you all see that?” the unicorn Lancer rescued asked his workmates.

“Buh bye!” Gusty waved goodbye at the dogs teasingly before teleporting back to the cart, making them growl frustrated.

Every unicorn hung on tight the cart due to the high speed it was going at. Even Starswirl had his back against the front of the cart.

“Sorry everpony. It was the only idea I had in my mind.” Gusty apologized when she came back.

“Noooo prooobleeem!” said Starswirl to comfort her.

“Good job, Gusty! That was impressive.” Fizzy offered her hoof slightly so Gusty would strike it with hers.

Buttons sighed.

“Despite going at the speed of light, I hope we won´t have more problems for the rest of the-”

“Who said you got rid of me?!” the golden retriever peaked his head.

Buttons, Glory and Lancer teleported back from the shock, giving the golden retriever the opportunity to get into the cart. Apparently, he managed to hold on the cart despite Gusty´s trick.

“Okay, so it´s not over yet…” Buttons stretched her forelegs. “You guys keep on holding tight. I´ll deal with him.”

Lancer and Glory widened their eyes. The golden retriever burst out laughing.

“You against me?!” the golden retriever asked teasingly. “Ha! I´d like to see that!”

“Buttons.” Glory concernedly placed her hoof over her shoulder. “Are ye su-”

Just before Glory could finish her phrase, Buttons began fighting the golden retriever physically without the need of any weapon. Even the golden retriever was caught off guard.

“Nevermind.” said Glory.

“Look! I see a big gate in there!” Starswirl informed the others.

“That must be it!” exclaimed Gusty.

“Hang on Buttons, we´re almost there!” Fizzy cheered her.

“No problem!” Buttons said in response while battling the golden retriever.

“Is that all you´ve got? Cause it feels like I´m fighting a puny stupid fluffy clown!” the golden retriever teased her.

“Well, this clown is about to bring the thunder!” Buttons pushed down the rear edge of the cart while holding the golden retriever by the back of his shirt, leveraging the presence of metal signs to hit the back of his head.

“Ooh! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! OW!” the golden retriever yelled in pain. However, when he had the chance, he used his tail to move Buttons towards him so he could grab her. “Your turn!” he raised her to the height of the signs.

“AH!” Buttons widened her eyes. Now she was the one being hit by the signs, but in the face and not in the back of the head. “Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!”

The golden retriever laughed in revenge.

“Why. Are. There. So. Many. Signs?!” Buttons asked angrily.

She shouted in terror when she saw an arch, but luckily, Fizzy pulled her tail down before she could get hit. Also, the fact that they were now going down an incline helped too. Since the rails were a little bit bumpy, the cart was jumping up and down repeatedly. Though uncomfortable, it played an advantage for Buttons, as the dog was jumping back and forth. She took Lancer´s shield and let physics do the rest of the work.

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!” the dog cried in pain while repeatedly crushing against the shield.

When they were going up the rails, Gusty noticed that the dogs were arriving to the incline. Inspired by Buttons´ trick, she took her shield.

“Say hello to your friends on my behalf!” she said before hitting the golden retriever with the shield and a gust of wind.

The golden retriever yelled while flying away. The other dogs joined in his screaming when they realized their comrade was coming towards them. He caused their cart to go away backwards when he crashed against them.

“CUUURSE YOUU WIND WARRIOOOOOR!” the dogs shouted in chorus.

The unicorns laughed victoriously. Starswirl gasped when he saw a fence getting closer to him.

“Hang on tight!” he said before disappearing.

Unlike Starswirl, the rest of the unicorns didn´t have enough time to respond. The cart had already crashed against the fence, sending them flying away. They grunted when they hit the rocky floor. Starswirl ran to aid them.

“Are you all okay?” he asked concerned while offering a hoof to everypony.

“Yeah.” Gusty responded when she grabbed his hoof. “Although, I should be the one asking you that. If it wasn´t for the harness, you would have ended up like those dogs or worse!” she giggled nervously.

“It´s not worth worrying about that, really.” he reassured her.

“He´s right. We have more important issues than that.” Glory pointed at the gate.

Lancer sighed in relief.

“Uh, finally!” he exclaimed while he and every unicorn ran to the gate. “With everything we´ve been going through, I never thought-”

He was interrupted by an arrow that almost hit him from behind. Luckily, it ended up nailed against the wall and not any part of his body. Afterwards, many dogs surrounded them with their spears. Among them was Argus, the papillon dog. Then, through the gates came Sarama.

“Tsk, tsk.” she shook her head cockily. “You didn´t think you would take me out of the equation that easily, did you?”

The unicorns dropped their ears and clenched their teeth in fear.

Author's Note

Geeze, maybe it´s due to writer´s block, but this took longer than I thought it would. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter or that this brightened up your day! And I hope everybody reading is safe and doing well!

Chapter 23: Awaking the beast

Without any warning, the unicorns blew the trapdoor away, hitting some guards in the process. They all divided in groups to deal with the remaining and the soon to come guards, since they couldn´t stop a dog from howling for help.

As they hadn´t seen each other in a while, Majesty and her soldiers were impressed with the improvements Gusty, Fizzy, Buttons had had in their battle skills since they last saw each other. The first two were able to do new and more elaborated fight tricks with their special gifts, whereas Buttons surprised them with her physical fight moves.

“Nice, isn´t it?” Buttons asked playfully to a soldier that was staring at her.

Majesty managed to take the sword of one of the guards and put it against his neck.

“Where is the library?!” she asked aggressively.

Despite the risky situation she was in, the guard snorted.

“As if I was going to tell you.”

“Oh, yes you will.” differed Magic Star, who out of nowhere appeared in front of the dog and Majesty.

Immediately, she blew a potion on the dog´s face releasing a yellow smoke that made her cough. Due to the strange smell, it had, Majesty covered her nose and closed her eyes slightly.

“What did you do, earth pony?” she asked confused.

“Just you wait.” Magic Star responded. “So, what were you saying about how to get to the library?” she asked exaggeratedly polite as a form of mockery to the dog.

“You have to pass three corridors, all straight, and at a few columns ahead you´ll see a grid door that is the entrance of the library.” the dog said, with a lifeless gaze and wide-open eyes, as if she was hypnotized by something. She pointed her index finger at the right corridor.

Majesty widened her eyes in surprise, something Magic Star took notice of. She smiled cockily.

“Just the classic truth serum bomb.” she showed Majesty another pomegranate. “You´re welcome. You can let her go, she won´t do anything. She´ll be like that for half an hour approximately.”

Slowly, Majesty removed the sword from the guard´s neck. As helpful as that gesture was for her, Majesty looked at Magic Star with some mistrust, of which the earth pony took notice.

“Lancer, Glory, Wind Warrior and company!” Majesty called for the five unicorns. “Accompany the earth ponies to the library as a form of protection and to distract the guards so they retrieve the other two of their kind and the unicorn you recruited.”

“Yes, my queen!” said Lancer as he and the five unicorns raised their hooves to their foreheads. “How do we get there?”

“Follow me!” Magic Star started running, everypony following behind.

As they got away, Magic Star took short glances of Majesty. For her surprise, she wasn´t staring at her with hatred, but that was because she was busy fighting guards.

Sarama finally managed to unlock the mine´s door, breaking the bolt in half. Hearing turmoil from way upstairs, she ran to a spot in which she could have a good view of the whole staircase. She didn´t see any figures, but a light at the top revealed the ponies´ whereabouts.

“They got to the top didn´t they?” Argus asked biting his claw.

“I´m afraid so, yes.” Sarama replied.

“Then, let´s not waste more time!” a chihuahua. prepared to run.

“Wait!” Sarama gently stepped on her tail. “If we get on this path, we´ll find ourselves obstructed, which is not of our interest, since it´s very likely for the Wind Warrior to have reached the library already.”

“So you´re suggesting to take another exit?” a much friendlier golden retriever than the one who trapped Glory asked. He puffed worried. “But the other exit is very far from here, we won´t make it in time!”

“I assume you haven´t been to the mines that much because….” Sarama pushed against the wall, causing it to move, revealing to be an actual doorway. “There are exits and passages where you least expect them…”

Every dog smiled confidently or observed in awe.

“Is everything okay?” Glory asked Magic Star since she seemed worried about something as they ran through corridors.

“Not really.” Magic Star replied to her. “She really doesn´t like any of us. After I gave a truth serum to a guard, she looked at me with a face…”

“Well, that´s classic Majesty for you.” Gusty told her. “She really didn´t like me either when we first met.”

“Same for us!” Fizzy added at the same time Buttons nodded.

“And does she like you now?” Knightshade raised his eyebrow.

The brief silence and shared looks between the three unicorns were enough to answer their question.

“Well… I think she likes us a little bit more.” Buttons smiled nervously. “But mostly Gusty.”

“Um… Everypony, we have incoming.” Alonzo warned everypony, staring scared at the crowd of the dogs coming towards them.

They all widened their eyes surprise. As the unicorns drew their swords and ventured to battle, Magic Star noticed a door that matched to the description the dog she hypnotized gave.

“Look!” she pointed with her hoof. “There it is!”

Gusty heard Magic Star´s words. She noticed a big husky raising his sword to the right behind the earth ponies. Sensing the dog´s intentions, she quickly teleported back to them and hugged them three so she could teleport them and herself inside the library. When they reappeared, the earth ponies took a deep breath.

“What was that?!” Knightshade asked panicked.

“Sorry for not warning but you had a huge dog behind you about to behead you, so I needed to do that.” said Gusty in her defence.

The three earth ponies shivered while gently touching their own necks.

“That was a close one, thanks Gusty.” Alonzo smiled grateful at the unicorn.

“You´re welcome.” she smiled back.

“Now, I still haven´t looked at it in detail but I imagine this is a big library.” said Knightshade. “So we might take some time to-”

He stopped talking once he realized her words were contradictory to reality. The three ponies were either running around or throwing books and scrolls away, all while grunting in frustration or yelling in panic with messy manes.

“Oh geez, this is way worse than I remembered.” Starswirl said anxiously while opening and glanced through a book. Seeing it wasn´t of any help, he whimpered in the brink of tears and gently left the book aside.

“I don´t understand anythiiiing!” Shady pulled her ears down after opening a scroll.

“Why´s there so much repeated stuff in here?!” Posey asked frustrated. “I swear I´ve seen the exact same document five times at least!”

The three earth ponies and unicorn pressed their lips and looked at each other in worry.

“Um…” Gusty broke the silence. “Would you like more hooves on this?” she smiled nervously.

Shady, Starswirl and Posey turned around and sighed in relief when they saw their faces.

“Oh yes please!” Shady ran to Magic Star, knelt in front of her and grabbed her hoof. “Please, please do so!” she begged very desperate.

“We´re so happy you are able to help us because this like trying to find a needle in a haystack.” Said Posey while getting off a ladder.

“I get the impression you haven´t found anything…” Alonzo said disappointed but understanding as well.

Starswirl shook his head in regret.

“I´m afraid that´s the case. I know it´s very difficult to find a resource in such short time realistically, but a part of me hoped to find something in time to make things easier for you…” he looked down in shame.

Although his last phrase was directed to all, the earth ponies felt it was mostly for Gusty, since he was specifically staring at her.

“Well, that´s okay.” Gusty comforted him. “I appreciate the idea and the plan but given the situation we´re in, I´d understand if you can´t.”

Starswirl smiled at her.

“But I really do want some information, so what books haven´t you still checked?” Gusty smiled nervously.

Exhausted, Starswirl snorted softly. He then signed the four ponies to follow him by moving his hoof back and forth.

Since they were too focused on their search, everypony overlooked a tiny yet important detail: the library´s windows. They faced the courtyard and were uncovered, which meant any dog on the courtyard could see them. And right at that moment, Gaueko, Gwylgi and Cavall were strolling around.

Their relaxed ears and faces tensed up when they noticed ponies moving inside the library. They widened their eyes in surprise.

“Holy mighty and great Crunch, am I seeing who I think I´m seeing?” Cavall put his paw above his eyes.

“Hm…” Gwyllgi raised her eyebrow confused. “To be honest I don´t recognize any of them.”

“What are you talking about? It´s the Wind Warrior and the cottage unicorn, don´t you recognize them?!”

“Wait what?! I was talking about the earth ponies.”

“Earth ponies?!”

The two dogs scanned the library more carefully, gasping in realization.

“You´re right, she´s in there! With the cottage guy!” said Gwillgi.

“With earth pony vermin no less!” added Cavall.

Gaueko frowned and growled full of hatred while observing the unicorns. He wanted revenge for what they did to him. Gusty because she scratched his eye and humiliated him and Starswirl because he took his chance of killing her away from him and thus, was the catalyst for their defeat. He clenched his fist in anger. In the meantime, Cavall and Gwyllgi kept exchanging words.

“How did she get in here?!” Gwillgi asked upset. “How did she even get earth ponies on her side?!”

“Who cares? I´m dealing with this RIGHT NOW!” said Cavall while reaching for his sword.

“Wait.” Gaueko raised his paw. “Let´s not use brute force yet. I think I have a plan…”

Up a sliding ladder leaning into one of the bookshelves on the same wall as the windows, Magic Star searched for a book with the picture of a stone, stars, or both elements on its back cover. Like her friend Shady, she didn´t know how to read so she used the same method as her. Thanks to her location, she was able to notice a window opening. Since nopony had stopped to examine on the windows, she didn´t know if they were half open, so it could have been simply the air moving them, but for some reason, it still felt off. Her suspicions got confirmed when a bow appeared through the window.

“Everypony, watch out!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Everypony turned their heads back and widened their eyes when they saw the three dogs with the bow. Gusty gasped and narrowed her eyes as soon as she recognized them. She threw an expansion wave of wind to push them back. Once they were far enough from the window, Gusty appeared in front of them to restrain them from getting up.

“Well, well, well… Look who decided to drop by.” Gaueko said in a mocking tone. “I was dying to see you again, Wind Warrior.”

“I´m afraid the feeling isn´t mutual.” Gusty replied plainly.

“Is that so? But you came from miles away to here, knowing perfectly I would be here! Surely you must have missed me somehow. Because I did miss you a lot…” he stroked Gusty´s chin with his claw.

Gusty slapped his paw so hard that she left a mark over it. Gaueko shook his hand while puffing due to the burning sensation.

“Get your filthy claws out of me!” Gusty demanded angrily.

Despite the pain, Gaueko kept a victorious smirk in his face. At first, Gusty overlooked that, since Gaueko was never in his right mind, but after paying attention, she noticed Cavall was missing.

“Whe- What just happened?” she wondered aloud.

After hearing a laugh, she looked up and saw Cavall with a war hammer on his paws.

“Dang it.” Gusty muttered under her breath, feeling stupid for her mistake.

Subsequently, Cavall hit her with the hammer, laughing mockingly as Gusty groaned, flying away through the window and crashing against a bookshelf, causing the books on the top to fall on her. Feeling her head was going miles per hour, Gusty massaged her temples after getting the books off.

“Oh, and she is down!” Magic Star exclaimed worried. “Shady, pull me!”

Immediately, Shady got on two hooves and used her hind legs to kick the sliding ladder with all the strength that she could.

“Ha ha ha! Have fun with my buddies, little pony!” Cavall said before turning backwards.

“One´s running away!” Alonzo pointed at him.

By the time Magic Star arrived next to the window, Cavall was far enough from her reach, but she was near enough to chase him.

“Oh, you´re not telling anypony under my watch!” she said while sliding through the window. “I´ll deal with this, no worries!” she reassured everypony. ·Come here you ruffian!” she said to Cavall.

Gaueko and Gwyllgi cackled tauntingly as they entered the library through the window, causing Gusty to frown angrily.

“I´ve been waiting for this moment ever since you scratched my eye!” Gaueko´s mood rapidly changed to anger but just as fast, he came back to be his snarky self. “Didn´t think I´d let that slide, did you?”

“No, and I don´t think this one either.”

Taking advantage of the books around her, Gusty took one and tossed it to Gaueko´s scratched eye.

“OW!” he covered his eye. “SERIOUSLY?! IN THE SAME SPOT?!”

Now that he was not on defence, Gusty took out his sword and threw it away. When he least expected it, she threw herself on top of him, trying to get the rope out of his belt to tie the dogs up. But naturally, Gaueko resisted, thus starting a fight, both physical and with weapons, and magic as well in Gusty´s case. As they battled, Gwyllgi picked up his sword, chuckling mischievously.

“This is gonna be easy peasy.” she said to herself.

“I´m afraid not.” Alonzo said behind her.

He grabbed her uniform and pulled her down. Involuntarily, Gwyllgi released the sword. Alonzo jumped over her to get the sword. Before he could reach it though, Gwyllgi pulled his tail towards her.

“Uh uh, no you´re not, sir.” she said to him.

And just when Gwyllgi thought she had won, Alonzo once again prevented her from doing so, this time by tripping her. Gwyllgi did the same to him in return. And so, they started fighting each other for that sword.

“Need any hoof, deary?” asked Knightshade, concerned by how violent Gwyllgi was.

“No, no, no!” Alonzo shook a hoof. “Keep your eye on the books, darling.” he told him while driving away Gwillgi´s biting jaws as far from him as possible. They need your help.”

“Yeah, because we lost like three assistants, so we´re back at the starting point, which is not good for either of us!” Shady said in agreement.

“Don´t worry, he´ll manage. She might attack like a dog with rabies but just like them she´s brainless at those moments.” Posey said to comfort him.

“What?! Who said that?!” Gwyllgi asked furious. Luckily, before she could do anything, Alonzo managed to bring her down.

Knightshade sighed.

“Let´s see if we find anything before Crunch gets to us…”

“Yeah, good luck with that…” Posey muttered under her breath.

“Or even better, let´s hope Magic Star reaches Cavall in time…” said Starswirl.

Cavall smirked confidently while running away through the castle hallways. Although everything was going according to plan, victory wasn´t just yet and more obstacles needed to be dealt with, something he realized when he heard a voice behind him.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!”

Turned out one of those earth ponies was smart enough to follow him, probably suspecting his intentions to tell Crunch. Not only that, but she was also fast as well. The distance between her and him was getting shorter and shorter in just a matter of seconds. What´s worse she was catching up to him. But maybe he could use that to his advantage.

When she was close enough, Magic Star prepared to jump on his back, but Cavall led her to a change of direction. Seeing a wall in front of her, Magic Star braked, but since she was going too fast, she ended up crashing against it.

“Ouch!” she grunted.

“Ha ha! Nice try, downgraded pony!” Cavall taunted her.

“Downgraded?!” Magic Star scoffed offended. “Your face is a downgrade! And I´ll make it even worse once I catch you!” she threatened while getting up.

She chased Cavall until he entered to a hall full of guards, leaving Magic Star no choice but to hide by leaning into a wall. Since she couldn´t follow him anymore, she couldn´t stop him from warning his fellow dogs, so she had better run back to everypony before they get to them, but her hoofsteps would avert them of her presence, so she had to wait. She slightly poked her head a little to get a view of the hall.

The walls were made of fair limestones, though they appeared darker due to the lack of light. Unlike Grogar´s and Katrina´s castle, the windows were not made of glass and were tinier, with the shape of keyholes. Rather, they were made of alabaster, and they were decorated with carved columns. The ceiling formed a barrel vault, supported by round arches. The hall was decorated with armours, flags and carpets, and some bricks contained carvings of Crunch. In fact, Magic Star was supporting her hoof on one of them now. On the middle, there were two big gates Cavall opened, which Magic Star assumed led to the throne room. And that wasn´t a good sign.

“Oh geez…” she thought while laying her hoof next to her mouth.

“My king!” Cavall ran to his throne. “The Wind Warrior has come!”

Crunch widened his eyes at first but then he smirked. Slowly, he got up from the throne.

“Finally. Finally, she´ll be mine.” he said. “And then I´ll be rewarded…” he tapped his fingers together. “In your face, Katrina! Ha ha ha!”

“Yes, yes, of course. But there´s a teensy eensy tiny problem….” Cavall made a tiny gesture, smiling nervously.

Crunch´s smile dropped in less than a second.

“What is it?” he asked calmly, but any dog in the room could tell anger was starting to build up inside.

“Sheeee´s already inside.” Cavall said quickly.

“WHAT?! HOW?!” Crunch shouted with so much strength that the sound waves pushed Cavall backwards. They even reached Magic Star´s mane, causing it to move.

“We´re not sure, but if we found about this now, that means she must have entered through the mines.” Cavall nervously explained.

Crunch grabbed him by the throat.

“WHERE IS SHE?!”

“At the library…” Cavall struggled to breathe.

Crunch growled and yelled in fury as he threw Cavall against the wall. Once on the ground, Cavall coughed due to back pain. As he got up slowly, Crunch broke the throne room´s gate in half with just one punch.

Hearing all the racket and steps, Magic Star started walking away slowly and leant against the wall, trying to make the least noise possible. Her breath stopped when she saw many dogs running on the same corridor she was in. Thankfully, they had their eyes on what was ahead of them, so they didn´t notice her. She closed her eyes, sighed in relief and kept on walking away.

“YOU FOOL, YOU HAD ONE JOB!” Crunch scolded Cavall as he caught up to his master. “DON´T YOU KNOW IF SHE´S AT THE LIBRARY SHE MUST HAVE FREED MAJESTY FIRST?!”

“I´m sorry, my king, but neither me nor my partners were assigned to the mines…” Cavall massaged his neck and back.

“THEN WHO WAS?!”

As if he recited the words of a spell to invoke somepony, the golden retriever, his friends, and other dogs at the mines ran into them. Judging by their ruler´s screams, words, tone and face; it was too late to deliver the news. The golden retriever laughed timidly and apologetically.

“So… You already know, huh?” he muttered.

Crunch shouted furiously. He took the dog nearest to him by the neck, turned her into stone and then dropped it to the floor to tear its body to pieces and then stepped on said pieces. Every dog watched terrified. They weren´t the only witnesses though. A few steps ahead, on the corridor to the right, Magic Star had witnessed everything as well.

Crunch grabbed the golden retriever´s shirt´s collar.

“Majesty and her soldiers must be nearby, CAPTURE THEM AND BRING THEM TO ME!”

“Yes sir!” the golden retriever rushed off. For Magic Star´s fortune, he took a different corridor than the one she was in.

“You! Go with him!” he said to a group of dogs. “And the rest stay with me!”

The dogs assigned with the golden retriever simply raised their paws to their forehead and said no word before leaving.

Magic Star bit her hoof nervously. Being a ruler, and an ally to Grogar no less, were enough facts for her to know that Crunch was not to be messed with and was a dangerous creature. But she didn´t know how much until she saw what he was capable of. She had to warn everypony before they could get to them, so there was no point on being stealthy anymore. So, she took a deep breath and started running away.

As expected her hoofsteps were noticed by every dog.

“Look! There´s one of them!” a dog screamed.

“GET HER!” Crunch raised his sword.

And so, Magic Star entered into the biggest race of her life. Despite being fast, it wasn´t enough to run out of an angry pack of dogs, especially one whose flesh was stone and whose heavy steps shook the floor, making it the more difficult to run. They were on her tail. Seeing nothing around of help, she had no choice but to throw mindlessly her most prized weapons: her potions.

“They´re not gonna be over, they´re not gonna be over. You´ll still have some of them and you´ll make more.” she said to herself while looking at a bottle she took out of her bag.

She kissed it before taking the cork out with her mouth. She spitted to the face of the dog nearest her.

“Behold! The power of potioooooons!” she cried while throwing everything she had.

The potions caused explosions, smokes, coughs and some faintings. However, not every dog was affected since they covered their noses or their mouths. Except for Crunch, as he was not affected in the slightest, which Magic Star took notice of. He was still standing, without any tear nor cough. And what´s worse, with an angrier face than before.

“Oh crumbs!” Magic Star exclaimed while quickly withdrawing eye contact with him.

Lancer, Glory, Fizzy and Buttons managed to knock out the last standing dog. Though still an intense and challenging fight, it was actually one of the easiest and fastest they had had for a long time. And this was thanks to the presence of Majesty and the rest of her army, since they fought the other dogs to prevent more from coming towards them. Exhausted, they sat against the wall and sighed in relief.

“It´s so nice not to be outnumbered for once!” Buttons exclaimed.

“Definitely!” Lancer agreed. “Oh, how I missed having more soldiers around!”

“I swear, when I saw that the number of opponents was the same as us I almost cried.” Fizzy confessed. “Now that I think of it, I didn´t realize how huge Majesty´s army was! I don´t think the earth ponies were as numerous.”

“Must be because they live in shorter clans and not kingdoms like our ancestors.” assumed Glory.

“Speaking of being few, looks like they could use more hooves.” Lancer pointed at the library´s door.

From what they saw, the rest of their friends weren´t as lucky. They had two big challenges to deal with. First of all, Gaueko and Gwyllgi, who despite being few, they knew well how to put up a fight and tire their enemy. And secondly, a huge entire collection of books to revise, which seemed very very tedious.

The four unicorns bit their lips.

“We should probably help them.” Buttons suggested.

“Agreed yeah.” Fizzy said as they all stood up.

At that moment, Gusty and Gaueko found themselves in a swordfight. As a consequence of being some time apart, Gaueko forgot how good and stubborn Gusty was at resisting but he didn´t forget how easy was to debilitate her when other´s life was on the line. Seeing Starswirl, Posey, Shady and Knightshade near each other, he decided to charge against them, tripping Gusty in order to do so.

“Guys, look out!” she warned them.

Luckily a few seconds after Gaueko came up with that idea, Lancer appeared out of nowhere and pounced on him. With the help of his magic, he tackled him against the ground.

“Buttons, try to hold Gwyllgi!” he ordered her.

“Yes, sir!” Buttons nodded.

“Gusty! Glory! Help them in their search!”

“On it!” Glory ran to a bookshelf.

“Thanks for the help!” Gusty said to Lancer before following Glory.

“What about me?” asked Fizzy, very eager to help.

“Um…” Lancer needed some time to give an assignment to Fizzy. After spending more time with her, he came to admit that Fizzy was a very smart and creative unicorn, but paying close attention was still not her forte. Consequently, putting her in a task in which she needed that level of attention wasn´t perhaps the best choice. “Youu can guard the door and warn us if somepony is coming!”

“Okay!” she cheerfully ran to the library´s door.

“Let me out! LET ME OUT RIGHT NOW!” Gaueko demanded Lancer while kicking.

The unicorn ignored the dog´s hissy fit, rolling his eyes in disdain.

Buttons kicked Gwyllgi in the stomach, sending her against the corner of a bookshelf. The dog moaned in pain while massaging the back of her head. Buttons joining the fight allowed Alonzo to catch his breath. And also to notice something off…. It was very subtle, but he could swear that he felt the floor shake a little. Steps caused vibrations on the floor, yes, but neither hundreds of soldiers could move the earth so violently. It couldn´t be an earthquake either, since it was intermittent and not constant.

“Um… Does any of you feel the floor shaking?” he asked the other earth ponies.

The three earth ponies widened their eyes. Though Posey and Knightshade were not on the floor exactly, they felt its sensations through the sliding stairs.

“Yeah…” they confirmed in fear.

“Uh… What´s that supposed to mean?” as she spoke, Gusty got progressively more scared.

“EVERYPONY, CRUNCH IS COMIIIIIING!!!” Magic Star yelled at the top of her lungs from far away. “HOWEVER YOU´RE ALL DOING GOWN THERE HURRY UUUUUUUP!!!!”

“Everypony to the library! Go! Go!” Majesty ordered her soldiers.

Unfortunately, it was too late. A new group of dogs behind them and way too near them to use any magic. On the distance she saw the figures of Magic Star, of the dogs, and Crunch, probably on their way to the library.

“CRUUUUUNCH!” Majesty yelled angrily.

Seeing her distracted, a dog tried to attack her, but she was able to stop his sword from coming to her head. As she was pushing his sword backwards, Majesty glanced again on the spot he saw Crunch, but he wasn´t there anymore. She groaned frustrated before engaging on a fight with the dog.

Meanwhile, Fizzy, who was at the door with her ear up on the air, whimpered anxiously and ran to her friends.

“She says you need to hurry!” she informed them.

“YEAH NO KIDDIIIING!!!” Knightshade said both sarcastically and terrified.

“We´re trying but we cannot find anything!” said Posey.

“Seriously, what is all this stuff?!” Shady held lots of strolls on her hooves.

“What have you found so far?” Starswirl swiftly sat by her side.

“Uh…. Kinds of stones? Dog body parts? The stars? Castles?” she explained at high speed while opening the scrolls. “Rubbish, it´s all rubbish!”

Starswirl aggressively took the scroll Shady had on her hooves away.

“THIS. ISN´T. RUBBIIIIISH!!” he yelled passionately and angry at the same time.

Taking advantage of the ponies´ terror, Gaueko and Gwyllgi managed to get the upper hoof against their respective opponents, getting Lancer out of him in Gaueko´s case and kicking Alonzo on his stomach in Gwyllgi´s.

They chuckled tauntingly.

“Goodness, you are all so gone!” Gwyllgi roared the last word.

“But perhaps I can do you a favour and ask Crunch to let me give you a quick and painless death instead of leaving you at Crunch´s or Grogar´s mercy.” Gaueko walked towards Gusty and pulled her tail down to bring her to his level. He put one of her forelegs behind her back and pressed against the other with her arm at the same time he laid a small blade against her neck. “Ignite your horn and say goobye to your neck!”

“And if any of you try to stop him, your precious saviour will have the same fate!” Gwyllgi said to the other ponies.

The ponies bit their lips nervously, not knowing how to get her friend out of that devilish black dog´s arms. But perhaps it wasn´t up to them.

“Don´t touch her Gaueko!” Sarama ordered him.

She and the other dogs entered through an entrance hidden under a rug.

“Do all libraries come with hidden passages or what?” Gusty wondered aloud, remembering her experience at Grogar´s library.

They surrendered the ponies, Gaueko and Gwyllgi and pointed at them with their spears.

“Saramaaaa!” Gaueko received her. “So glad to see you. I was wondering if you lost your sense or smell or something, since you know: The Wind Warrior is here!”

“Release her, Gaueko. Only Crunch can decide what to do with her, not you.”

“Don´t worry, I wasn´t going to do anything yet. I was just saying I could implore Crunch for me to kill her. You know as a small kindness! Since Crunch is very ruthless when it comes to killing his enemies.”

“But Grogar wants her alive. He left it perfectly clear. Don´t tempt Crunch into needless blood.”

“But if we kill her, the job´s already done! We´re actually doing Grogar a favour.”

“And do you know what happens to Crunch if he disobeys his orders?” Sarama replicated.

Gaueko widened his ears in realization. Immediately after, he grunted.

“Fiiine… I won´t kill her nor tempt Crunch into killing her.” he begrudgingly agreed. “But I´m keeping her until Crunch gets here.”

Gusty stared confused at Sarama. After the conversation she had with her, Sarama seemed to be somewhat protective of her, even more respectful towards her. However, she didn´t seem to be that convinced before Gusty locked them at the mines. She was merciful with her, sure, but she was still very willing to destroy her. Still, a tiny part of her hoped she was trying to help her. Otherwise, why was she trying to keep her alive when just a while before she was willing to kill her?

Gusty´s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of bars rattling. It also got the attention of the other ponies.

“Magic Star!” Shady exclaimed.

“Guuys! Ruuuun!” Magic Star yelled from behind the library´s door. “He´s-”

Crunch grabbed her by the back of her shirt.

“Here…” he finished the phrase for her with a devilish smile on his face.

Afterwards, with just a punch, he brought the library´s door down, making way for himself and the other dogs, in which between was Cavall. Everypony formed a group to feel safer, with Lancer at the front. Crunch walked towards Gaueko, Gusty and Sarama, the last kneeling to him. Although she took a short glimpse of him in full detail. He was bigger and more muscular than she remembered, not to mention meaner-looking and with horrifying looks, more grotesque than a gargoyle. The floor shook more violently with each step he took.

“Congratulations Gaueko. You managed to hold the Wind Warrior with a knife.” Crunch said satisfied. “But now I´m going to need you to release her.”

“You´re so welcome, my king.” Gaueko said before dropping Gusty towards Crunch. Once his paws were free, he bumped fists with Gwyllgi and Cavall, who walked to his side in the meantime.

“Well, well, we meet again. Who would have thought something so insignificant could cause so much trouble…” he said to Gusty.

“If I caused such a fuss, perhaps I´m not that insignificant.” she said in return.

“Ha ha! Good one, Gusty!” Fizzy cheered her.

“Oh, I see you´ve grown a nerve during this time.” Crunch said amused. “But I hope not too much…” he grinned evilly while staring at Magic Star. The earth pony shrinked in fear.

As an impulse, Gusty zapped at his paw to free Magic Star. Due to the surprise, Crunch ended up releasing her, and once she was on the floor, she ran to the rest of the ponies. However, Crunch didn´t seem to be that affected by the small zap. His paw slightly burnt, but hedidn´t show any signs of pain. That didn´t mean he didn´t get mad, though.

“YOU FOOLISH BRAT!” his eyes turned white as he stomped the floor with so much strength.

When she felt the violence with which he hit the floor, Gusty whimpered scared. His anger reminded her of Grogar´s when he found her at his study, though his was more calculated and precise, whereas Crunch was more impulsive, explosive and reckless. Nevertheless, it was still very dangerous, since he was the more unpredictable and more likely to kill without a chance to defend oneself. Expecting him to unleash his wrath on her, she put her forelegs up and closed her eyes. Surprisingly, nothing happened. Instead, his eyes turned back to normal and his expression changed into one of realization. Then, he smirked, which unsettled everypony.

“You know what? It´s a pity, I was willing to give this back to you.” He said while reaching for something in his pocket.

Gusty gasped shocked when she saw the shiny object Crunch took out. Her eyes turned glazed.

“My necklace….”

Author's Note

Ugh... The research struggle is real. Well, at least they don´t have to write and cite in APA format....

Huzza everypony! I know I´m a bit late to the party, but considering that last week the Olympic Games ended, I wanted to ask, did any of you watched the opening and closing ceremonies or any of the competitions? I myself watched the entire opening ceremony and well... The idea was good but poorly executed in my opinion. However, it did have its highlights when showing the cultural and historical references to Paris and France in general.

My personal favourite moments were Gojira´s and Celine´s performances. As for Gojira, performing at the same building where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned and sentenced to death, the use of heavy metal to represent the anger during the French revolution, and having Marie Antoinette herself sing an anthem talking about killing aristocrats is such a hardcore and epic move. And as for Celine, so beautiful. I got so emotional when I found out she had a neurodegenerative disorder that prevented her from singing, but she sang regardless! In the Eiffel Tower no less, since singing there was one of her dreams. During internship, I´ve seen a lot of people with neurodegenerative disorders and they´re very rough, so seeing Celine fulfilling her dream and fighting will be very inspiring and hopeful for these people. And as for the sports themselves, I didn´t see many of them, but I did watch artistic gymnastics, breakdance and skateboard.

Anyway, I know it´s a bit random but I really wanted to talk about it. But most importantly, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!

Chapter 24: Heart of stone pt.1

“But-How did you-”

“That?” Gaueko asked her in return. “Oh! Just something you left us as a souvenir in our first rendezvous.”

“And we thank you for it!” Gwyllgi added. “Because if it weren´t for your precious amulet, now we wouldn´t be able to blackmail you!”

“It´s sad really. Because I know this object is really special to you.” `regretted´ Crunch. “But thanks to that little stunt of yours, I´m afraid you´ll have to pay for that somehow….”

Crunch clenched the fist with which he was holding the necklace, progressively increasing his strength. He smiled cruelly when he saw pain in Gusty´s face.

“Nooo! Please!” she begged, almost in tears.

The earth ponies didn´t know about the backstory behind that necklace, but judging by Gusty´s reaction, they deduced it was more than that to her. On the contrary, the unicorns felt disgusted and angry, especially Starswirl. He was so livid that he ignited his horn without realizing it, which Crunch noted.

“Move one muscle and you´ll be stone!” he threatened him.

Despite Crunch´s words, Starswirl kept his head high while igniting his horn with less intensity, implying he wasn´t going to attack yet but was prepared to do so should the case require it. Crunch rolled his eyes at him before turning back to Gusty.

“But to be fair, the final price you´ll pay is death.” he chuckled. “But perhaps I can make it less bad by leaving the necklace intact so you have it by your side when you die. So, surrender to me or say goodbye to your necklace!”

Gusty knew this was some sort of trap. Knowing Grogar, he most likely wanted to see her die by his hooves, so she was certain he wanted her alive. However, she didn´t overlook that one of Crunch´s paws was behind his back. She knew what to do, though it was going to hurt her soul deeply. Yes, the necklace represented her husband still being with her, but as cold as it sounded; the fates of the ponies around her was way more important than an old necklace. So, Gusty was going to let Crunch break it, tears already streaming down her faces and sniffing before replying. However, Sarama got ahead of her.

“Wait!” she held his arm. “My king.”

“What is it, Sarama?” he asked coldly without looking at her.

“Grogar wants her alive.”

Those words confirmed Gusty´s suspicions. Crunch was hiding a deadly weapon behind his back.

“And?”

“J-Just a reminder. I don´t know how Grogar would react if you killed her beforepaw.” she advised while eyeing Crunch´s sword.

Crunch snorted while shaking his head in denial.

“I-” Sarama felt like she wasn´t able to breath, so she took a pause to do so. “I just don´t want you to get hurt, my king.”

“Yes, yes.” he said sarcastically. “You don´t want me to get hurt by revealing my plans!!! You stupid mutt!!” he raised his paw at her, making her shrink. “Keep that mouth shut until I´ve finished my business, understand?!” Crunch ordered Sarama as he turned back to Gusty.

Once his back was facing her, Sarama frowned at him. The more she looked at him and the more she processed what Crunch had just done to her, the angrier she got. How was it that the pony trying to bring her leader down was far more merciful, understanding and respectful towards her than him? And what´s more, she even told her she would let her, and her followers go if she collaborated! And how was it that one of her friends acknowledged her role as a foredog and not him? This was not the first time he had humiliated her in public or threatened her with physical violence but after interacting with those two ponies, that was the last straw. No, they were not her enemy, Crunch was.

“You know what? You keep your mouth shut.” she clapped black.

Both dogs and ponies were left with their mouths hanging wide open. Crunch scoffed in disbelief.

“What did you say?”

“I said you keep your mouth shut!” she raised her voice and vocalized her words more precisely so Crunch would hear. “I´m tired of having to stand your behaviour towards me. Crunch, if you´re not happy with the fact I handle things better than you and the way do things around here, I will leave.” she asserted.

“Careful with how you speak….” Crunch clenched his fists.

“Sarama, why? I don´t, I´m asking-” Gaueko said with fake friendliness but also confused and nervous.

“You know what? Don´t even speak to me. Don´t even speak to me!” Sarama said to him.

“Ah!” Gwillgi and Cavall exclaimed offended.

“Oh, why can´t I speak to you?” Gaueko asked upset.

“Cause I don´t wanna speak to any of you. This is between me and Crunch.” she stressed.

The three dogs raised their paws defensively. Sarama turned back to Crunch.

“You and I made a bow. In which we promised to take care of each other and grow together. I thought we were in this together. But you were insecure about being a weak king for being more emotional than I and got jealous of me because I was a beloved queen.”

“THAT´S NOT TRUE, YOU WERE ALWAYS PATHETIC!” Crunch said to her. “I WAS THE BELOVED ONE, YOU FOOL!”

Sarama ignored his words.

“So what did you do? You resorted to a spell to turn your heart into stone in order to not to feel anymore! Without thinking on how that would impact me.” Sarama´s eyes filled with tears. “And then you took the title of co ruler and reduced me to a foredog instead!”

Sarama was so overwhelmed by emotions that she had difficulty to speak due to all the sobs.

“You may now have the looks or the strength, but you were a monster way before that happened.” she sniffed. “SIowly, you turned colder and more distant towards me because you thought me as a threat to your ego because I was more like your father.”

“SILENCE!” Crunch yelled at her.

Nonetheless, Sarama continued

“And you resented me for it. But guess what, I never thought you were weak for once!” at this point tears were running down Sarama´s face. “Ever!” she sobbed again. “If so, I loved your sensitivity. That´s why I fell in love with you even if our marriage was an arranged one!”

The ponies gasped.

“Wait. You´re married to him?!” Buttons asked shocked. “You´ve literally married Bluebeard!”

“Who?” Fizzy asked her.

“I´ll tell you later.”

“How many times do I have to say this?!” Crunch yelled at Sarama. We´re not married anymore! We never were!”

“Then why do you want me to wear our wedding ring?”

“Because now it´s an emblem of your status, you idiot!”

Sarama sniffed and rubbed her swollen red eyes from crying. She took a breath in and a breath out and looked at her wedding ring.

“For a while I considered it as a sign of our love.” she said more calmed, almost emotionless. “But after doing all the labour in this relationship so that you never lift a claw, I decided to stay loyal just for all the pack so they would be well taken care of. But after those two ponies reminded me of my true role, now I see the best thing for them is to leave with me.”

“See, I told you she was not to be trusted! She´s a Dimondian!” the golden retriever from the mines said. “And a traitor no less.”

“Well, at least she´s way better than Crunch.” Argus clapped back.

“WHAAAT?!”

And so, all the dogs started arguing between themselves about their allegiance to Crunch or Sarama.

“Well, looks like you two have inadvertently started a civil war, girls.” Magic Star said to Glory but addressing Gusty as well.

“Not really. This must have been around for a really long time and now exploded.” Glory replied to her, remembering the clash between Sarama and Argus and the dogs that captured her.

“SILENCE!” Crunch stomped his paw to the floor, shaking the floor like an earthquake would. “You wouldn´t dare.” he whispered hatefully to Sarama.

Sarama took the ring out of her finger and threw it away. It was subtle, but every creature in the room was sure to have heard Crunch gasped a little. He gazed up back to Sarama, who was inhaling air through her nose. Surprisingly, his face showed some pain, and his eyes got even watery. But he shook his head quickly, rubbed his eyes and changed his expression to one of fury. By throwing that ring away, she had betrayed him, and that could not go unpunished. So, he slapped one of her cheeks, throwing her to the floor. Everypony and dog gasped in shock. Afterwards, Crunch grabbed her by the neck.

“You fool! YOU WILL RATHER DIE THAN LEAVING ME!” he yelled at her.

Despite being at the risk of death and struggling to breathe, Sarama still held her high and showed no fear.

“SARAMA!” Argus cried.

He and other dogs tried to intervene, but Crunch turned their stare at them, turning them partially to stone; since his main focus was in killing Sarama. Others were stopped by the dogs still loyal to Crunch.

“I´ll cut your little heart out cause you made me cry!” he muttered at her ear while reaching out for his sword.

“No. I´ll cut your little heart out cause you made me cry!” Sarama replied back with a muffled voice yet loud in dignity.

The dogs looked helplessly and horrified at how they were losing their true leader without being able to do anything. But a miracle for those dogs happened. Watching the scenery, Gusty was reminded of her run-in with Grogar, since he attempted to do the same to her. It was almost as if she was reliving the same experience again. She could feel the same pressure, pain and her airways closing and almost see Grogar´s angry face in front of her. Sarama may want to stab her in the back all she wanted, but she couldn´t stand watching her going through the same she went through; it was too distressing.

“STOP!” Gusty conjured up the biggest wind expansion wave she could.

Crunch was way too heavy to throw him away, so naturally it didn´t do much to him, but at least it was enough to make him drop Sarama due to the surprise he felt. She took some time to cough and gasp for air before crawling away. Then, she was aided by dogs whose legs were not stone nor were surrounded by other dogs.

“Oh… So you wanna fight, huh? Very well…” he cracked his knuckles. “WE´LL FIGHT THEN!” he shouted as his eyes turned white and turning into lasers.

Gusty quickly jumped away to avoid getting hit. Angry for having missed his target, he growled furious and chased her away, dropping her necklace.

“I think that´s our sign.” said Buttons.

“I totally agree.” said Lancer.

They all ran towards her, but Starswirl stopped in the midway when he noticed Gusty´s necklace on the floor. Seeing no dog around him, he ran to it to retrieve it but unfortunately, Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall noticed him before he could get away.

“Well look who´s there!” Gaueko exclaimed while they were walking towards him with a sinister smile on his face. “Hope you didn´t think I forgot about you.”

Starswirl gasped when he heard his voice. He kept the necklace inside his robe and got up as quickly as he could and ran away. Despite the possibility of getting him out of their sight, the dogs kept on walking slowly and calmly.

“Where are you going?! I thought you wanted to see me since you approached us!” Gaueko kept on speaking. “Oh, silly me, you were retrieving your crush´s necklace, weren´t you?”

Starswirl was blocked by four dogs to his left, so he turned to his right.

“You want to be her hero, don´t you? You want to give that necklace back to her so you get a kiss or something?” Gaueko teased him.

Starswirl´s right and front were also blocked. What´s worse, they were walking towards him to bring him closer to Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall. He ignited his horn to teleport, but Gaueko pounced on him and tackled him to the floor with the help of his friends. Fortunately, Posey and Shady realized he wasn´t with them and were able to spot him.

“Where are you going knight in shining armour? Where are you-”

“HI YA!” Shady kicked him in the face, on the side of his hurt eye.

Once Gaueko was off him, Posey offered Starswirl a hoof to help him up. Gwyllgi and Cavall ran to his friend´s side to aid him, but he didn´t need any help, as he quickly incorporated himself.

“WILL YOU ALL STOP GOING FOR THE BAD EYE FOR ONCE?!” Gaueko yelled angrily while covering his hurt eye.

“I am so over this!” Cavall said while preparing to swing his hammer, but Posey stopped the strike with a board of a broken bookshelf.

“Wait a minute, I know you!” Gwyllgi pointed at her. “You´re Katrina´s little hench! Of course you´d be involved in this!”

Both Gwyllgi and Cavall swang their weapons to hit Posey, but she duck before they could reach her, resulting in both dogs hitting each other´s heads. Luckily, the part they hit was protected by their helmets, so they didn´t cause grave injuries, but it was enough to temporarily have their eyes running in circles and stars moving around their heads. While they recovered, Posey crawled away to Starswirl and Shady.

“You idiots!” Gaueko insulted them.

Starswirl saw Gaueko being distracted as a great chance to attack him, but the dog´s quick instinct allowed him to move aside before he could get zapped. As Starswirl fought Gaueko, Shady and Posey dealt with other dogs around. Seeing all the dogs on Crunch´s side were busy fighting the three ponies and none of them was available to stop them, Sarama and her followers saw a chance to escape the castle.

At another courtyard of the castle, Gusty jumped forward to avoid being struck by Crunch, since she didn´t have time to teleport. When her hooves were on the floor, she rolled forward to get farther from the explosion happening on her back.

“If I were you, I would stand still to make it less painful!” Crunch taunted her as he conjured up another laser.

Gusty´s instinct was to protect herself with a force field, but he managed to break it. Fortunately, the force field undid the effects of Crunch´s magic and the impact between the two simply made Gusty fall on her back some inches away. Crunch grunted frustrated and started throwing several attacks at her but Gusty was unaffected, as she hid behind a column. She covered her head with her hooves to protect it.

“Oh… are you scared?” Crunch asked with fake concern, since he could her pants. He screamed as he attempted to zap her once again.

However, before he could attack her again, he got slapped by a stream of water.

“Hey! There are more opponents at play, you know!” Fizzy shook her hooves, trying to divert his attention to her.

Since he was nearer to Fizzy, Crunch jumped towards her, almost getting her on his paw; but the unicorn was faster, so she teleported away while leaving out a scream of fear of the same pitch as a filly. Suddenly, a crystal started circling him. It was fast, but he caught a glimpse of the unicorn responsible for it: Glory. She was skating on the crystals she was creating the closest to Crunch to immobilize him temporarily. She got off the crystals once she finished the circle and ran away but just then, Crunch broke the barrier and disappeared in less than a blink. Glory gave a little gasp out and when she heard heavy steps behind her and immediately ran away, Crunch following her. Since he was catching up to her, Glory had to use the same tactic to trap him to get away. And still, he was on her heels. For being a dog of stone, he moved really fast.

Luckily for her, Gusty was observing everything from the column she was behind. She had an idea when she saw stones around. She picked them up and created a horizontal tornado in direction towards Crunch, then she introduced the stones one by one. Noticing stones on his back, Crunch turned around and saw Gusty, charging towards her now. At the moment he saw her, she immediately teleported away to the farthest spot from him in the courtyard. After quickly scanning around, she noticed the castle´s keeps, giving her an idea. In the meantime, Glory managed to get to the wall all ponies were hiding behind with. Lancer lent her a hoof and pushed her forward. She grunted as she laid on the ground.

“You good?” Lancer asked concerned, since he saw her panting.

“I´m fine, I´m fine.” Glory said between pants.

“Well, this is fantastic!” Knightshade exclaimed sarcastically. “We´re supposed to defeat that without knowing what his weak spot is?! ”

“Can´t you weaken him with any of your potions?” Buttons asked Magic Star.

“Don´t you think I´ve tried?!” she replied agitated. “He´s made of stone! His organs are not like ours! “Besides, I don´t have many left.” she opened her bag to show its inside to Buttons, who bit her lip when she saw how empty it was compared to before. “And I don’t to waste them in vain.”

“Well… now that I think about it, stone can melt, right?” said Fizzy. “So maybe with the heat of our magic, he could melt right?”

“But I don´t think that would kill him.” Alonzo disagreed with her. “If so, he would just change form and now he would be furious lava willing to burn us. And as far as I´m concerned, lava can´t be destroyed.”

“Hm… You´re right.” Fizzy lamented.

“Okay, okay.” Glory shook her hooves. “I know it´s important, but overthinking won´t lead us to nowhere. What we should focus right now is in reuniting with Gusty. If ye´re with me say aye.”

“Aye!”

Seconds after, they heard a poof on the distance. They turned their heads towards the direction of the sound and saw Gusty on the highest and furthest keep of the castle. They waved their hooves widely to catch her attention. Gusty grabbed the spyglass to get a closer view of the horizon. After moving it a little to the left, she spotted her friends. At first, she smiled content to see them safe, but after taking a better glance, she noticed Starswirl, Posey, and Shady were missing.

“Wait. Where are they?” she mumbled to herself.

She pulled the spyglass lower to the courtyard and then to the right, which is where the broken library window could be found. She didn´t have a good view on the insides but she could see flashes of a familiar and warm white magic. She gasped concerned. She searched around the backyard for Crunch but couldn´t find him, meaning he was already on his way to the keep she was in, but she couldn´t say if she was nearest to the courtyard or the keep. So, she thought it would be safer if her friends teleported to where she was in. She stood on two legs, raised her forelegs the highest she could and moved them back and forth. Lancer, who had his hoof over his forehead, quickly understood the message. He hugged Kinighshade to indicate the other unicorns it was time for teleporting. They nodded and Buttons hugged over Alonzo and Fizzy over Magic Star. Once they were all ready, they teleported next to Gusty.

“We have a problem.” Gusty told them. “Starswirl, Posey, and Shady are fighting Gaueko, Gwyllgi and Cavall alone.”

“More like three problems, if you count not knowing Majesty´s whereabouts nor how to weaken Crunch.” Lancer corrected her. “But one problem at a time, I guess.” he said afterwards, remembering Glory´s words.

“What if we divide in three groups?” Buttons suggested. “One group searches for Majesty, another goes for Starswirl, Posey and Shady; and another distracts Crunch in the meantime. And then we could meet at a certain place together.”

“That´s a good plan!” Alonzo said in agreement. “And once we´re ready we could send a sign with your magic.”

“Like a magical firework! If you can do that….” Knightshade smiled nervously.

The unicorns looked at each other. By their smiles and head nodding, the earth ponies could tell they were in.

“Sure thing!” Fizzy confirmed.

“Okay, then how about you three go retrieve Starswirl, Shady and Posey,” Gusty pointed at Buttons, Fizzy and Magic Star. “you three go for Majesty,” she pointed at Lancer, Knightshade and Alonzo. “and we distract Crunch!” she said to Glory.

Everypony nodded.

“Speaking of the devil, where is he now?” Magic Star asked.

Suddenly, the trapdoor that led to the top of the keep opened, allowing a fist of stone to come out. Fizzy and Buttons yelled while walking backwards. Gusty stepped on the door and applied magic to hold it close as long as possible. Glory ran to her and united her magic to hers.

“Go! Now!” Gusty ordered the rest of the ponies.

“Good luck everypony!” Buttons said before teleporting herself, Fizzy, and Magic Star away.

“You too!” Lancer replied while doing the same to himself, Alonzo, and Knightshade.

Crunch grunted in frustration for not being able to open the door. He decided to use his petrifying eye lasers instead to get rid of Gusty.

“AAAAH!” Gusty shouted while taking a huge leap backwards.

Since Glory was behind her, Gusty accidentally pushed her back, causing her to slip off the keep tower. Glory yelled terrified while falling off but fortunately she was able to hold on to an embrasure.

“Gustyyy!” she cried.

Immediately, Gusty rushed to her aid. Due to the fright of almost being hit by Crunch´s laser, she lit off her horn involuntarily, allowing Crunch to get in, something that only Glory was able to notice, since Gusty´s eyes were on her.

“Gusty! Crunch!” she warned her.

After turning her head back, she widened her eyes in horror when they met with Crunch´s, which were filled with bloodthirst, accompanied by a triumphant smile. As soon as he saw his paw raising up, Gusty got on defence.

“Don´t you dare!” she said while summoning a force field.

The impact of his fist against the forcefield pushed him backwards, almost to the point of falling off like Glory, but he was too big to fit through the embrasures. After hitting the merlons, he frowned furiously at Gusty and charged to attack again, but this time Glory was the one responsible to keep him off since Gusty was focused on pulling her up. She created a crystal block and pushed it against Crunch. At first, he didn´t seem to be intimated in the slightest, since with one touch on the crystal, she could enter in contact with her magic and turn her to stone. However, after touching the crystal, nothing happened to it. Instead, it ended up tackling him against the merlons, something that, despite being focused on keeping Crunch, Glory took notice of. For the unicorns´ misfortune though, Crunch opposed by pushing the crystal on the opposite direction. And unfortunately, he was stronger than Glory. Although with some effort, he was managing to slowly get that crystal away from him.

Usually, when using magic, both an entire unicorn´s mental and physical energy was put into it. So it was normal that after a while their muscles would start weakening or they fainted from exhaustion, which was what was happening to Glory. Slowly, her magic was losing power and her muscles stopped working to the point of letting go Gusty´s hooves. Fortunately, she was able to grab one of her hooves in time. Glory smiled grateful at her.

“We need to get away.” said Glory to Gusty. “He´s stronger than me and he´s going to crash that crystal against us any time soon.”

“Yeah. Not to mention this is a place too small to fight in.” Gusty added.

“Maybe we can get down here?” Glory suggested while looking down.

Not so far away, Gusty noticed some dogs running away. At first glance, one would say they were getting ready to attack but they didn´t have their weapons on. Moreover, from their body language, she could tell they were scared and instead of a predator ready to pounce on their prey, they looked like the prey running away for its life. This indicated Gusty who these dogs were, and among them there was the piece they needed to solve the puzzle of Crunch´s power.

“I think I have a better idea.” she said before igniting her horn.

At that moment, Crunch finally pushed away the crystal towards Gusty and Glory but they poofed away before it could hit them.

“NOOO!” he yelled angry.

He heard another poof before he could get to the spot the two unicorns were at. He searched around but didn´t see anything. He grunted in frustration and went back the trapdoor. Somewhere near the place Gusty saw the dogs at, she and Glory were still as a statue while using an invisibility spell. Once Crunch was out of sight, they undid the spell and ran away.

“Go, go!” Gusty told Glory.

Back at the library, many dogs were laying on the floor unconscious. Miraculously, Starswirl, Shady and Posey managed to remain standing and to knock out a considerable number of opponents. Well, except for Gaueko, Gwyllgi, and Cavall. As the saying goes, a bad penny turns up after all. That didn´t mean they weren´t struggling, though. They were starting to lose their patience, specially Gaueko.

“Bloody bones!” Gaueko exclaimed while rolling up his sleeves. “How is it that none of you freaks have yielded yet?!”

“I could ask you three the same question.” Starswirl answered back.

“It makes sense for us because we´re soldiers!” Gwyllgi refuted him. “But you three are nobodies. You are just a random unicorn that has no idea what he´s doing but got into this because you got smitten by the Wind Warrior!” she said to Starswirl while pointing at him. “You are just a weird pony that Katrina used to spy on us, but without her you´re nothing!” she pointed at Posey. “And you!” she said to Shady. “You´re a pathetic pony who´s trying too hard to be brave but you will always be a coward!”

“That might be true, but this pathetic pony has a lot of bottled-up anger yet to release!” Shady said as a threaten, bumping one hoof against another. “And as your little friends have seen, I am very dangerous when I´m angry!”

“You´re nothing compared to Crunch!” Cavall pressed her muzzle with one claw.

The word Crunch reminded Gaueko of a very important detail. A detail that determined their victory over the ponies. He widened his eyes in realization and chuckled teasingly.

“It doesn´t matter if we don´t win this fight.” he walked towards the three ponies. “Because at the end of the day, you still have no idea on how to defeat our leader! He´s made of stone, nothing can´t hurt him! No weapon nor magical attacks affect him! He´s invincible!”

“We know he has a weak spot in his body.” Posey replicated in a soft-spoken yet firm voice.

“Really? And where did you hear that, miss braids, hm?” Gaueko asked her while playing with one of her braids. “From silly cat rumours? I thought you were smarter than to trust those fish-breath spitting-hair balls creatures.” he released the braid he was holding to her face.

“She heard that from me.” said Starswirl. “And this is how I found out.”

He pulled the collar of his old blue, full of patches, knee-length tunic, revealing a collar full of small sleigh bells, except for the one at the centre. Shady and Posey were surprised that he was wearing that all that time, but it was nothing compared to Gwyllgi´s and Cavall´s reaction. The two dogs gasped dramatically in chorus.

“Oh, you filthy hermit!” Cavall insulted him. “Of course you were part of them!”

Cavall and Gwyllgi were ready to attack but Gaueko raised his paw.

“Yes, I remember. Your little friends were responsible for the many book thefts around the kingdom.” Gaueko walked towards Starswirl. “Unfortunately, they all died before they could get too far in their research. And until we got to your pathetic little cottage, I don´t remember seeing you lurking around here. Which brings me to the conclusion that you didn´t get to know our great leader´s weak spot. So, it doesn´t matter if you´re still standing, because sooner or later, Crunch is going to crash you all!”

The three ponies looked at each other worried. Noticing this, he signed Cavall and Gwyllgi with his eyes to do something. As much as they hated to admit it, he was right. They weren´t able to find anything of help, and the rest of the ponies were probably busy in trying to run away from Crunch. Nevertheless, Starswirl knew Gaueko´s words were intended to bring them down, so they had to have their heads high.

“We will find a way.” he said.

Shady and Posey frowned at Gaueko as he circled them.

“You mean she will find a way.” Gaueko corrected him. “Which she won´t!” he chuckled. “But since your vision of her is so rose tinted, you believe she´s this beautiful angel that´s gonna save you all! And the craziest thing is that you think she´s going to fall in love with you! When you´re so bellow her. And haven´t you thought of the possibility she already has feelings for a more handsome unicorn? What makes you think she´s going to reciprocate your feelings?”

Starswirl´s felt his chest shrinking after hearing those words. Gaueko had been taunting him about his feelings for Gusty all along, yes, but he didn´t expect him to go that low. The worst part was that he probably was right. Ever since he found out she had a deceased husband; her having feelings only for him was something that concerned him, but he preferred to avoid thinking about it. At the end of the day, what mattered was that he depended on him and liked being around him. Plus, it was understandable if she didn´t reciprocate, the poor mare lost the love of her life and the father of their daughters in the most horrible way, and the last thing he wanted was taking advantage of her. However, it also hurt deeply not to be loved by her in the way he wanted. It wasn´t certain yet, but he probably had to consider that possibility, no matter how painful. He looked down sadly.

Gaueko grinned victouriously, seeing he was obtaining his goal. Luckily for Starswirl, Posey and Shady were there to make him snap out of it.

“Okay, enough with sinking him that way, Gaueko.” Posey stood up to him while Shady was patting Starswirl shoulder and smiling at him to comfort him. “Besides, you´re the last creature to talk. Because during one of my spy missions, it came to my ears that you really like Sarama.”

Gaueko widened his eyes and blushed embarassed.

“Shut up braids!!” he yelled at her.

His breath moved her braids backwards and some drops of saliva landing on her face. She wiped them out while frowning at him. Despite being mad, he recovered his composure quickly.

“But don´t worry. None of you will get to feel the pain nor the consequences of your defeat.” Gaueko `reassured´ them.

Behind their backs, Gwyllgi and Cavall were ready to strike their swords on their necks. All the talk Gaueko was doing was to get them distracted and attack at a vulnerable moment. For their misfortune, despite the fact the plan was working, outside forces would jinx it. A big blast sent them away against a bookshelf. Like Gusty, books fell on them, but they were more and heavier.

After hearing the blast, the ponies turned their heads back, finally seeing Majesty in the flesh. Gaueko´s ears dropped in fear as her forces surrounded the three dogs.

“It´ s over, Gaueko!” she told him. “If you don´t let them go and surrender, my soldiers and I will blast you and your cronies at the same time!” she ignited her horn to emphasize her threat.

Seeing he couldn´t do anything against that many unicorns, he had no choice but to obey. He rolled his eyes while pushing the three ponies towards her.”

“Lock every window and door, including every trap door you see.” she ordered her soldiers as she received Starswirl, Shady and Posey.

Starswirl stared amazed at Majesty. After hearing so much about her, she was standing right in front of him. It felt like a dream.

“My queen.” he immediately bowed, Shady and Posey imitating him.

“You must be Starswirl, the unicorn that got recruited by the holdovers. The Wind Warrior has talked wonders about you.”

“She did?” he asked somewhat excited.

“Of course she did, you dummy!” Shady said to him.

Majesty laid eyes on the two earth ponies. They both dropped their ears, intimidated by her suspicious gaze.

“You must be the other two earth ponies the Wind Warrior mentioned. I don´t know which one is Posey and which one is Shady, but right now that´s not important.” she looked around, noticing there were some ponies missing. “Where are the others?”

Right then, Buttons, Fizzy and Magic Star materialized out of nowhere.

“Don´t worry guys, help´s coming!” Fizzy said as they all prepared to fight.

Unlike what they were expecting, the environment wasn´t that unfavourable. Many dogs were unconscious, Gwyllgi and Cavall were hurt, and there were many unicorn soldiers. The three ponies understood everything when they saw Majesty.

“Majesty!” Buttons bowed to greet her. “Didn´t expect to see you here.”

“Why wouldn´t you?”

“Majesty?! Majesty!!!!” Lancer yelled desperate from afar, catching Majesty´s attention.

“Let´s just say we thought you were stuck with the dog army and had to split up to look for you and help them.” Magic Star explained to her.

“That explains it. But where are Glory and Gusty?”

“Distracting Crunch at a keep tower. But we don´t know if they´re still there.” Fizzy answered.

“Then let´s reunite with Lancer and search for them. We´re leaving!” Majesty said to every soldier.

They all nodded and followed her.

“This isn´t the end, your majesty!” Gaueko screamed as all the ponies left. “You still have to defeat Crunch, and you neither any of your minions know how!” he said before Majesty locked the library´s main door.

“Wait, we got locked?” one of the unconscious dogs finally came around.

Gaueko groaned while rubbing his paw through his entire face.

Sarama was supervising that every dog entered through a secret hallway that could only be revealed if one pulled the sword of an armour display, which in reality was a lever that lifted a stone and thus made the hallway accessible.

“Move, come on! Hurry!” she shook her paw back and forth quickly.

Once she didn´t see more dogs incoming, she turned to the dogs and started counting them, either with her her claw or by her sense of smell. Since the majority of dogs in Crunch´s military troops are Dimondian, they already favoured her from the beginning, but the Caninians that weren´t much patriotic or simply didn´t like Crunch, such as Argus, preferred Sarama. Likewise with the slaves, Sarama didn´t know the names or the faces of every dog in the castle but she remembered the smell of every dog that at one point supported her or depended on her more than on Crunch.

“Okay, I think that we´re all here!”

“Sarama!” Gusty called her.

Sarama´s ears perked up. She sighed when she saw Gusty and Glory running towards her.

“Wind Warior.” she addressed Gusty while joining her paws in front of her face. “Just because I´m not on Crunch´s side anymore, doesn´t mean that I am on your side.” she clarified. “I am on the side of my subjects, which means I have to ensure their safety and mine. So I am not helping you against him.”

She was about to cross the door, but Glory held her paw.

“This is not about ye helping us.” she stated firmly. ·It´s about Crunch not being a threat anymore, which as a leader, ye should ken this concerns all of ye.”

Sarama closed her eyes while softly exhaling air through her nose. She turned around and put her paws behind her back.

“What is it?” she begrudgingly accepted to help them.

“Do you know what Crunch´s weak spot is?” Gusty asked her. “We just need you to answer that question, you don´t need to fight with us or anything of the sort.” she reassured her. “After what I´ve seen, I wouldn´t want you to put in such position.”

The seriousness in Sarama´s face slowly faded away, and for the first time, she showed tenderness towards the ponies. She didn´t love or consider them her friends by any means, but she couldn´t deny that the empathy they had with her was very sweet.

“Why do you care so much about me if I´m not your ally?” she asked them with a childlike curiosity.

“Well, I saw the ring you were wearing.” Gusty replied first.

“Hm…” Sarama tilted her head.

“And before knowing who your husband actually is, I didn´t want to cause him pain. Because I know what it feels like. As well as being strangulated by somepony way more powerful and stronger than you.” she looked down while scratching a foreleg.

“And because I know a good leader when I see one.” Glory continued. “Too often those who are no true leaders feel threatened by the real ones because deep down they ken they themselves are not apt to rule. Consequently, they´ll put them down in any way they can until they forget who they truly are.”

Sarama looked away and smiled subtly.

“No wonder you jumped out like that. Thank you.” Sarama said with sincere gratefulness.

The two unicorns smiled back. But it didn´t last long.

“WIND WARRIOOOR!” Crunch yelled from afar.

Gusty clenched her teeth nervously.

“Quick, tell us his weak spot.”

Sarama breathed in and out.

“Unfortunately, I don´t have an official answer. But I think I have an idea where it could be. Let me ask you, what does having a heart of stone mean?”

“Hm… Somepony unkind and cruel.” Glory replied. “Or somepony who has no feelings.”

“Would you say Crunch is emotionless?”

Sarama´s words triggered an important memory in Gusty. She remembered the conversation she had with Grogar when he visited her at the dungeons, most specifically the words she said to Grogar when he said feelings are a sign of weakness.

“Well… Actually, I don´t see it like that. If you had achieved your empire, it must have been because you were pushed by something. Call it motivation, call it desire, but those are feelings.”

Both unicorns widened her eyes in realization.

“Of course, that´s it!” she thought aloud.

Sarama smiled at their intelligence, but it wiped out when she sniffed a familiar but not comforting smell around.

“He´s nearby. We need to go.” she finally entered the door, but before pulling the lever inside the hallway she turned one last time to Gusty. “What´s your real name, wind warrior?”

“Gusty.”

“Well then. Good luck, Gusty.” she then turned to Glory. “And Glory.” she said while holding the brooch she made for her.

Gusty smiled while Glory put her hoof on her forehead and swung it forth. Finally, Sarama pulled the lever and closed the door. From inside she heard the unicorns running away.

“We´re moving!” Sarama gave the order to every dog.

The dogs nodded their head and started walking away, trying to make the least noise possible. Although she took the lead, she couldn´t help but look back sometimes. She had the feeling the ponies were going to need her help. As she said before, she was not going to do it for them, even if she took a liking of Gusty and Glory. But she felt like she had the responsibility of making sure Crunch was not going to harm her subjects and herself anymore. There even came a moment when Sarama simply stopped walking and stood still staring at the passage door.

“Is everything ok, Sarama?” Argus asked her.

Sarama gave no answer.

Author's Note

If you didn´t get the Bluebeard reference, look it up. There´s a reason Disney hasn´t touched that tale... Here´s a hilarious recap of the story, if you´re interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf_57mIFwxo&ab_channel=PascuyRodri

It´s in Spanish but I think there are English subditles, but if not you can ask me to translate.

Also what Crunch and Sarama say to each other is a reference to the song Girl with One Eye by Florence+The Machine. Check it out, it´s so good!

And lastly, I had to divide this chapter in two because it was getting too long. I´m almost ending it so soon enough you´ll be getting another chapter, yaaay!

Chapter 25: Heart of stone pt.2

After passing some corridors, Gusty and Glory finally encountered Crunch. They slowed down and immediately hid behind a wall. Glory took her head out a little to scan their surroundings and assess the best course of action to take. At the end of the corridor, Glory noticed a door that led to a courtyard they hadn´t been at before.

“Look.” she quietly indicated Gusty with her hoof. “We need to get there to send the signal. How do ye think we could do it?”

Gusty put her hoof on her chin in thought. After a few seconds, she scowled determined. Instead of giving Glory a verbal response, like she expected, Gusty directly jumped to action.

“Wait!” Glory tried to grab her tail, but it slipped from her hooves like butter. Funnily enough, Gusty pulled hers seconds afterwards.

“Heeey, you big ugly ball of stone!” Gusty cried out to Crunch while shaking her hooves. I´m right here!”

Crunch´s ears perked up before turning around.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!” he said with fiery eyes.

Like a bull, he pawed with his right foreleg and went straight towards the two unicorns. Gusty waited until he was pouncing on them to teleport herself and Glory forward, using Crunch´s crash against to their advantage to both gain time and get farther from him.

“What was that?!” Glory asked upset as they ran away as fast as they could from Crunch.

“I´m sorry, it was the only way we could pass him.” Gusty apologized.

While they were speaking, Crunch got up and went back to chase them. Gusty and Glory finally arrived at the courtyard. The most peculiar aspect, and perhaps the most dangerous as well, was that it was elevated from the ground, being sustained by a short tower. Despite of not being such a tall fall, a pony could get seriously injured if they slipped from the edges. That was why Glory advised Gusty to slow down.

“Careful, careful...” she whispered to her.

Seconds later, Crunch broke the door that led to the courtyard. Gusty put herself between Crunch and Glory.

“Give the signal, hurry!” she ordered her.

Glory nodded. She ignited her horn and threw a magical ray to the sky for everpony to see and hear. When it exploded, it produced a bright ball of light, as well as a huge bang. When it faded, Glory repeated the same process all times necessary.

Meanwhile, at the corridors of the castle, Posey stopped running abruptly as soon as she heard a loud noise. She ran to the nearest window and looked through it, seeing the beautiful light spectacle.

“The signal!” she warned everypony, causing them to stop and for Majesty and Lancer to turn around. “They´re in that small tower!” she pointed at the window when Majesty and Lancer arrived at her side.

“Everypony get ready to teleport!” Majesty commanded.

In the meantime, Gusty and Crunch glared at each other.

“Don´t you touch her!” Gusty ignited her horn harder.

“Nah, let her call all your little friends.” Crunch replied smugly. “As if that would have any effect on me! But I´ll say, it was due time you faced up to me, you coward.” he teased her.

“Don´t flatter yourself. I was just biding my time.”

Crunch laughed amused.

“You think you´re so snarky, aren´t you? If you really are, why don´t you start the fight already?!” he kicked his chest with both paws at the same time. “Or you´re foolishly trying not to escalate the situation? Because it´s already too late!” he stomped his paw as hard as he could, shaking the ground a little and making Gusty shiver in fear a little. Nevertheless, she still stood with her head high.

“Funny you tease me for that, because look at what happened between you and Sarama for not being able to control your anger!”

Crunch clenched his teeth enraged. Without any warning he went to punch Gusty. The unicorn conjured up a force field for herself and Glory, closed her eyes, and braced herself for impact, thinking he would break through it like he did before. Strangely, she didn´t notice anything. She opened her eyes and widened them when she realized that Starswirl held his paw with magic, as if it was a rope. At the same time, he was being held by the earth ponies, who at the same time were being held by Lancer, Fizzy, Buttons, Majesty along some of her soldiers. Crunch tried to get that magical rope off.

“Let. GO!” he hit the ponies with his free paw, swiping them all off as if they were flies.

The ponies hit the floor or the wall. Angry that he hurt her friends and taking advantage that his chest was uncovered, Gusty took aim at the centre. Unfortunately, Crunch quickly noticed her intentions so when Gusty zapped, he grabbed his sword and used it to divert the attack to Glory, who jumped away to avoid getting hit.

“DON´T YOU DO THAT AGAIN!” he screamed at Gusty.

He was about to punch her, but she teleported away before he could touch her. A few seconds later, he felt something rubbing his skin of stone. He looked up and saw many unicorns zapping at him. Growling like a tremendously angry wolf, he picked up big rocks around him and threw them against them, but luckily they were able to break them before it could hit any of them. Leveraging that distraction, Gusty and Glory rushed to attend everypony.

“What on earth were you intending to do back there?!” Majesty scolded Gusty for her imprudence as she helped her up.

“The heart! It´s the heart!” Gusty answered.

“Wha- What do you mean?” Majesty raised her eyebrow confused.

“His weak spot, my queen.” Glory explained. “It is the heart.”

“You figured it out?!” Starswirl asked enthusiastically surprised. “How?”

“Sarama told us.”

“She did?!” Lancer, Buttons, Fizzy and all the earth ponies, except for Posey, asked in chorus.

“Ha! I knew she had a heart.” Posey exclaimed cockily.

“After their showdown, I´m not surprised she ended up doing that.” Majesty confessed. “If I had that wild beast as a husband and the opportunity came to dump him and let him get himself killed, I would too. That doesn´t mean she´s on our side, though. But we´ll deal with that later.”

“So… What´s your plan exactly?” Buttons asked Gusty.

“And how does it involve us?” Alonzo took the opportunity to ask about the earth ponies´ role in the plan. “I don´t know if we can do much against him but we´ll support you in any way we can.” he raised his hoof to his forehead, along the other earth ponies.

Gusty smiled at him. Then she turned to Starswirl.

“That spell you did back there, is it hard to learn?”

“Hm… Not at all…” Starswirl responded with a smirk, knowing what she was planning to do.

Crunch turned around a moment to look for another stone to throw at the unicorns at the tower. He observed the Wind Warrior and company were distracted, which provided the perfect chance to attack them. Fortunately, Shady was able to notice Crunch picking up a big rock. Quickly, she ran towards him, picked up a stone with her tail and span it as if it was a sling, taking aim at one of the eyes. She grunted as she threw the stone, hitting exactly at the target. Crunch´s moan alerted everypony of what was going on.

“Run!” she exclaimed, seeing that he had released the stone and was too busy squirming in pain.

Unfortunately, seconds after saying that, Crunch responded to the offence. He frowned and trapped Shady in one of her paws. The earth pony whimpered, causing Magic Star to stop running and turn around.

“SHADY!!!” Magic Star yelled terrified for her friend.

Crunch pressed his fist as hard as he could, flexed his elbow, and then advanced it towards the ground with all the strength he could. The impact of his fist on the ground was such that he produced a bang and a hole equivalent to a meteorite.

“NOOOOOO!” each of Shady´s friends yelled.

Majesty and the rest of the unicorns widened their eyes surprised.

“That will serve you a lesson.” Crunch said while opening his fist before walking towards the unicorns, revealing a bruised, weakened and struggling to breathe Shady.

The sight of her friend left all of her friends terrified, especially Magic Star.

“No no! SHADYYY!” she exclaimed in tears as she ran to her.

Once she was in her friend´s forelegs, Shady opened her eyes and smiled at her when she saw her face.

“Did you see that?” she struggled to articulate. “I threw a stone to his eye.” she weakly laughed. “I was very brave there…”

Magic Star wanted nothing else than yell and scold her. But the only thing she could do was smiling at her in return.

“Yes. You are the bravest and most daredevil pony I´ve ever met.” she agreed.

Shady weakly chuckled in return.

Crunch´s heavy steps reminded the two earth ponies they still were on battlefield. They turned their heads to him. They saw how the unicorns walked backwards the more he approached them. He went on to catch Gusty, but Glory pushed her aside, letting herself get taken instead.

“GLORY!” Majesty and Lancer screamed in chorus.

Crunch cackled as he saw Glory struggling to get out from his paw.

“I´m afraid you´re not going anywhere.” he said to her. Then, he turned to Gusty. “If you don´t yield this instant, I´ll do exactly as I did to your friend or turn her slowly to stone!”

The word stone reminded Glory of what she saw noticed back when they were at keep tower. That´s when she came up with an idea that perhaps was impossible or could backfire, but she had to try. So, before Gusty could give an answer, or even think of one, Glory activated her horn and closed her eyes. The sound, as well as the light of her magic, caught Crunch´s and the unicorns´ attention. The stone dog laughed at how Glory was struggling to cast a spell, whereas the unicorns were expectant.

“Nice try! But I don´t think magic will save you from your fate!” he said while beginning the petrifying spell.

But seconds later, Glory´s eyes turned white, which immediately dispelled the smile in Crunch´s face. Afterwards, a big flash blinded every creature around. Once it faded, Glory´s appearance was different, leaving everypony amazed. All her body was transparent and sparkling, but Crunch´s paw didn´t go through her body, meaning she wasn´t a ghost. Only one explanation was left.

“Did she-” Knightshade began speaking.

“Turn herself into crystal?!” Fizzy ended the phrase.

Glory opened her eyes and gasped when she stared at her hooves. Though still the same colour, Glory´s eyes changed as well. Her dots were not circular as usual but had other geometrical shapes instead, just like the rest of her body. Having proven her hypothesis right, she smiled cockily at Crunch, who was in shock.

“Don´t you smirk yet you missy!” he yelled at her. “This doesn´t change things for you!”

Crunch closed his fist to turn her to stone, but nothing happened. He widened his eyes.

“Wha- Not again!!!” he shouted frustrated.

He tried again and again, but the result was still the same: Glory still remained moving and glowing.

“Why isn´t it working?!” he asked panicked.

“Oh, ye didn´t study the properties of stone for the spell?” she asked back teasingly. “Because stone is basically formed by various crystals of minerals. Ye can´t crystal into crystal!”

Everypony smiled with pride at Glory, especially Lancer and Majesty, since they have been the closest to her the longest. Though she was the most trustworthy, responsible, and thoughtful pony ever, Glory often thought herself as inferior when it came to being an unicorn for not having accomplished a cutie mark yet at her age. They tried to help her in any way they could, but their knowledge in magic as well as time and resources, were very limited, so they´ve never been able to deepen on the subject as much as they wanted. Nevertheless, they always knew she had a special talent that didn´t show itself yet. Everypony had one, so why would she be any different? They felt so delighted that she finally discovered her special talent and was making the most of it.

Crunch clenched his teeth while growling.

“But crystal can still break, can it?!”

As soon as she felt growing pressure on her body, Glory prepared to teleport away, but it wasn´t going to be necessary, for Lancer zapped at his paw. Having seen this trick before with Gusty when she was trying to protect Magic Star, he tried to resist more time but the burning sensation in his skin of stone was too much to bear, so he ended up releasing Glory. Aware she was more fragile than ever, Gusty picked her up with a small tornado, gently bringing her back to the ground. Once her hooves were touching the ground, all her friends went to her.

“Wooow!” Fizzy´s eyes shone like Glory´s crystal body. “You look so pretty!!” she pressed her own cheeks while admiring her beauty.

“I want to have a crystal body too!” Buttons exclaimed.

Glory looked away flattered.

“How did you know that stones were made of crystals?” Gusty asked her, full of curiosity.

“Well… Once I knew how to read, I read every book that Majesty had available. And one of those books was about the different elements in nature.”

“This is fascinating!” Starswirl exclaimed very enthusiastic. “The only thing is… How long does the spell last?”

And just like that, Glory´s body returned to normal, as if by saying those words Starswirl recited a spell to undo Glory´s. Glory pressed her lips.

“Hm. Not so much.” she lamented. “Maybe it´s because I´m new at this.”

“You´re new at this, but you did things out of an unicornis ex machina!” Knightshade exclaimed.

Everypony stared at him estranged.

“What? Earth ponies know pony latin too.” Knightshade shrugged. “It´s called pony latin for a reason, you know?”

“Um… A little help here!” Lancer called them out, since he, Majesty and her army were busy dealing with Crunch.

“Oh right!” Gusty gently hit her forehead. She took some time to think before continuing speaking. “Hm… Okay. Glory, do you think you could do the same spell for others?”

“I don´t see any reason as to why not, but it might take me a lot of energy.” Glory replied. “And as ye´ve seen, it doesn´t last much.”

“Is this related to the beam rope spell?” Starswirl asked her.

Without the need of words, Gusty´s smirk cleared up his question. But it would fade away when she noticed Magic Star holding the weak and injured Shady in her forelegs.

“How are you doing?” she asked Shady in concern once everypony approached her and Magic Star.

“Staying alive…” she lifted her hoof very slightly. Afterwards, she rested her head on Magic Star´s foreleg while sighing.

“I can´t leave her alone.” Magic Star shook her head. “She needs me to heal her. I´m sorry but I´m afraid I can´t help you this time.” she lamented.

“Oh, no need to apologise.” Posey hugged her, along Knightshade and Alonzo.

“It´s okay, you´ve done a lot for us already.” Buttons laid her hoof on her shoulder. “Shady should be your top priority now.” she turned to everypony. “If you all don´t mind, I´ll stay with them too. Crunch might go to them, so they´ll need somepony to defend them.” Buttons winked at the two earth ponies, making them smile.

“By all means! Please do so! We all got this.” Fizzy reassured her. At the same time, everypony nodded in agreement.

“I know this is not the best moment to say it, but Lancer, Majesty and everypony need us.” Glory interjected, looking at Shady with regret, but the earth pony gave her an understanding smile. “So could ye tell us what´s your whole plan?”

Gusty nodded determined.

During the time they were speaking, Lancer, Majesty and the rest of the unicorns fought to keep Crunch at bay, distracting him as much time as possible until they had a plan. Although that time hadn´t been long, for those unicorns it felt eternal, as they feared they would run out of energy for the most important step. On a brighter side, Crunch was feeling the exhaustion too. Progressively and slowly, his blows were becoming less damaging and impactful, but he was still dangerous, as he resorting more to his petrification abilities.

“WHY. WON´T. YOU. HOLD. STILL?!!!” Crunch yelled as he struggled to turn Majesty to stone, since she was constantly teleporting to different spots.

There came a moment Majesty had to take a pause. Using her horn several times, in addition to the stress of having been imprisoned for days and having fought for a long time this day, caused her to have a severe migraine. Crunch saw an opportunity to attack when he realized she stopped to massage her forehead. For her fortune, Lancer jumped in front of her and stopped his petrifying eye lasers with a magical beam. The two beams met and clashed against each other, both struggling to advance forward.

“Thank you, Lancer.” she sighed tired. “Please tell me they all have figured out a plan already, so the nightmare´s over. My head´s killing me.”

“SO DO I!!” Lancer cried terrified, noticing how Crunch was winning the beam wrestling.

Luckily, it wasn´t over for him and Majesty yet, for Posey had come to the rescue. In the riskiest way, that is. Taking advantage of Crunch´s stern focus on turning Majesty and Lancer to stone, the earth pony climbed his body. Confused by their action, his eyes came back to normal.

“Hey, you soulless pathetic stone!” Posey yelled at him while hanging from his ear. “I didn´t know you´d make a great playground sculpture!”

Crunch growled offended.

“GET OFF!” he demanded with glowing furious eyes.

He noticed another thing climbing his front leg. Looking down, he saw Alonzo, who was trying to get on his loin. And seconds afterwards, he felt his tail being pulled. After turning his head back, he found Knightshade was the cause. He giggled nervously when his gaze met Crunch´s.

“I´M GONNA TURN YOU INTO-”

However, he immediately shut his eyes after a bomb full of a red liquid exploded in his face, courtesy from Posey. He yelled in pain as tears streamed down his cheeks and mucus came out from his nose while coughing. The earth ponies leveraged the distraction to get away safely, getting with Lancer and Majesty. What Posey didn´t notice was that some of the other bombs she had fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, every unicorn around stared in shock, almost feeling empathy for Crunch, as he seemed to be in great pain.

“Um… Posey, what did you throw at him?” Lancer asked her.

“Hm… I think it was something made of pepper.” Posey replied, somewhat unsure. “Shady gave it to me.” she pointed at her.

Both Lancer and Majesty arched an eyebrow at her. She replied after drinking with difficulty a potion that Magic Star gave her. She coughed a little before speaking.

“You have no idea how useful pepper is when it comes getting rid of weirdos…” she chuckled slightly. “I call it, pepper spray.”

“How come you didn´t use it until now?” Magic Star asked her playfully.

“I always carry it around but between everything that happened, I forgot I had it on me.”

“Hmph!” Buttons shrugged. “Fair enough.”

Suddenly, Gusty materialized out of nowhere next to Lancer.

“GUYS!” she exclaimed.

“GAH!” Lancer sprang backwards. He held his chest while panting. “Don´t scare me like that!” he scolded her.

“Sorry.” Gusty dropped her ears. “But we need you now, quick every unicorn!”

All the unicorns disappeared together. They reappeared next to Fizzy, forming a crowd in front of Starswirl and Glory, who were standing at a rock.

“Listen everypony!” said Glory. “Crunch might be debilitated by the pepper in his eyes, but we must remember they´re not his weak spot, so its effect won´t last for long. For that, ye must pay close attention to what we are about to say.”

“In groups we are going to hold each of his paws with a beam rope, like I did before.” Starswirl continued the explanation. “It´s very easy to do, all you have to do is imagine it in your mind, cast it and then combine it with others. Like this.”

He tied up the rock he was on with his magic to give an example. After he smiled at them, everypony tried to do the same. Some got it quickly, while others needed to do more attempts to get it right, but at the end, they all managed to do it. They all smiled at Starswirl, proud of what they had accomplished, and the unicorn felt joy as well.

“Don´t worry if you fear that Crunch will petrify you with laser beams. To prevent that, I will try to turn you all into crystal.” Glory informed them. “But the effect fades quickly so I might have to hold the spell, but I don´t know for how long I will be able to do so. In other words, be fast!”

“You heard them, let´s organize in groups!” Majesty commanded.

“We can all do this!” Gusty said to motivate them.

Everypony nodded confidently.

Meanwhile, Alonzo, Posey, Knightshade and Buttons stood at the front, protecting Magic Star and Shady whenever Crunch stood up again. And unfortunately, that moment came sooner than expected. He wiped the tears off his swollen eyes and the mucus from his nose.

“OK, WHAT WAS THAT?!” he demanded an explanation quickly. “IT FELT LIKE A THOUSAND BLADES IN MY EYES!”

“That? That was self-defence and the consequences of your own actions, mon ami.” answered Buttons.

Unfortunately, Crunch noticed the pepper bombs that Posey had dropped accidentally before. He grinned maliciously.

“Oh, in that case this applies to all of you too!” he said before throwing one of them at the ponies.

The bomb landed on Knightshade´s face. The ponies covered in mouths. At first, Knightshade showed no reaction, probably due to shock, but seconds after he started crying and coughing like crazy.

“Oh, it burns! It burns! It buuuuurns!” he yelled as he shrank.

“Oh my…” Alonzo muttered as he tried to help his love.

Crunch was laughing at his pain.

“Now you know how it feels. But don´t worry. I can make the pain go away faster!”

He was about to hit the ponies to turn them to stone, but something prevented his fist from advancing. Not only that, seconds after, the same thing dragged him to the ground. This gave him the opportunity to discover what was the cause. He saw several magical tentacles holding him. Then, he noticed how more tentacles were tying around his other forelegs. He frowned when he saw the unicorns responsible for restraining were smirking at him but also widened his eyes in fear when he noticed their bodies were crystal. He understood how this was possible when he saw Glory keeping her horn activated as much time as possible. The only defence he had left were his hind legs but just about when he was going to use them, these got tied up as well. Glory had explained that the petrification had no effect on crystal but perhaps there was a small possibility it only happened when he touched physically and not on his eye lasers. He tried his hypothesis on a group of unicorns, but these were unaffected. He couldn´t believe it. He was losing.

“No… No, it can´t be!!” he exclaimed, feeling how panic was building inside him.

Then, Majesty and Gusty appeared in front of him.

“Oh, it is.” Gusty bluntly stated.

“I told you, Crunch. Sooner or later, I was going to take back what´s rightfully of my family!” Majesty said to him. Afterwards, she turned to Gusty. “Ready?”

Gusty gave her a confident grin. The two unicorns ignited their horns at the same time and zapped at Crunch´s heart.

“NOOOOOOOOO!” he screamed.

Slowly, the beams cracked Crunch´s stone chest, penetrating Crunch´s heart. When they reached it, a big ball of magic appeared, turning into an expansive wave afterwards that sent everypony on their backs. Once they didn´t feel air on their skin nor heard any sound of magic, they opened their eyes and got up. On the spot Crunch was standing there laid a big hole. Lancer, Starswirl, Fizzy, Buttons, and Posey circled it and looked down. Now, instead of a big muscular dog of stone, there was an unconscious bruised brown bulldog of a smaller size.

“So that is how he actually looks like…” Buttons commented.

“Who would have thought such big beast is just this?” wondered Posey.

“If you take out all the macho stuff, he´s kind of an adorable doggie. I can see why Sarama fell for him.” said Fizzy.

“It doesn´t matter how he looks like.” said Lancer. “What matters is if he´s dead or not.”

“Well… All we know is that the heart is his vulnerable spot. That could mean that either you weaken him or destroy by aiming there.” said Starswirl.

They walked back to Majesty, Glory and Gusty, who were busy with aiding the other ponies. Majesty helped her soldiers up, Glory tended Shady, and Gusty offered a handkerchief to Knightshade, who was still runny and crying due to the pepper. He smiled as a sign of gratitude after loudly blowing his nose. They gasped when she saw them.

“So?” Majesty asked anxiously.

“We don´t know whether he´s dead or he´s just passed out. But I´m pretty sure he can´t do anything against us anymore.” Lancer smiled warmly.

Gusty closed her eyes and sighed in relief while putting a hoof on her chest.

“Thuche. Thank goodness.” mumbled Gusty.

Majesty sighed puzzled while sitting down. She held her chest, almost struggling to breathe.

“Ye made it, my queen. Ye took Trottingham back.” Glory grabbed her shoulders, crying in joy like Majesty.

Majesty started laughing.

“I can´t believe it. After all this time.”

Glory joined in her laughter as she hugged Majesty. Gusty got teary as she observed the scene. As soon as she saw Gusty, Majesty gave her a smile full of emotion. Then unexpectedly, she hugged her.

“Thank you, Gusty.”

Gusty couldn´t believe what she was seeing. It was such a huge contrast to when she thanked her for letting her save her daughters. She came from undoing a hug to starting the hug herself. Plus, this was the most emotional she had ever seen her. Majesty may be all the serious and steady she wants to be, but after all she´s a pony with feelings.

“You´re welcome.” she muttered to Majesty.

“Thank you all for standing with me. This wouldn´t have been possible without any of you.”

Every unicorn joined the hug. The earth ponies, while moved by her joy, they felt uncomfortable, as they weren´t sure she wanted them in. Unexpectedly, Majesty looked at them with warmth.

“Including you.” she said.

They all were left with mouths hanging wide open, especially Knightshade. Nevertheless, they quickly regained their composure and joined them. Magic Star and Shady couldn´t accompany them for obvious reasons, but they shared their happiness for her from afar. Magic Star put her hoof on her heart and then direct towards Majesty, whereas Shady simply smiled.

Suddenly, a tiny yet noticeable flash inside the hug appeared, forcing everypony to undo the hug to find out where it came from. The answer was unexpected but a pleasant surprise, nonetheless.

“Glory! Your flank!” Fizzy pointed out after gasping.

Glory widened her eyes scared and confused at the light on her flank. However, when the flash faded, she noticed traces of purple on her flank, even if it was mostly covered by her armour. Suspecting what it was, she quickly took out that piece of armour. She was breathless when she saw that indeed she had just got her cutie mark. It was a purple crystalline shooting star with two brighter purple tails. A huge gasp came out from Lancer´s mouth.

“I can´t believe it, you got your cutie mark! Congratulations, girl!” he said while hugging and lifting her from the ground.

“I hope you like it, because it´s really beautiful!” said Buttons.

“It is…” Glory said in tears.

However, soon everypony would realize it wasn´t time for celebrations yet. The sounds of grunts, coughs and soil and small stones would alert a certain dog had recovered conscience.

“Oh, he´s alive!” Knightshade said before preparing to reach for his sword, but Majesty pushed it down.

“No, no need to.” she told him

Then, she walked to the hole to talk to the weakened dog face to face. The dog showed his teeth while growling at her and barked aggressively and loudly. But Majesty wasn´t intimidated by him at the slightest. Instead, she calmly shook her head.

“And to think that just minutes ago you were a threat.” she coldly said to him. “But now you´re dog whose bark is worse than his bite. Well, to be honest, you always have been. You always pretended to be this big tough alpha dog that nothing can hurt him, when in reality you´re just a coward.” she turned around. “Arrest him.” she ordered her soldiers.

“No!” spoke Crunch. “You don´t get to end this!” he panted. “I am Crunch! I´m The Destroyer!” he yelled while climbing up the hole. “And you´re just a pretender playing kings and queens! I made Trottingham a powerful city and built a powerful kingdom! Grogar even considered me a powerful ally!”

Though he tried to make a mighty speech, what the ponies were hearing was a toddler tantrum. Majesty looked at him with disdain. Her soldiers were shaking her heads or rolling their eyes. Gusty, Starswirl and Glory and Magic Star were frowning angrily at him. Posey was also frowning but more due to confusion and disbelief. Alonzo and Knightshade looked at each other with the same emotions. Fizzy, Buttons and Lancer raised an eyebrow unamused. Shady was too weak to form an expression but her face was clearly one of boredom.

“You should all be fearing me! You pathetic, idiotic, weakling po-GAAAAH!”

Crunch couldn´t finish his phrase, since all of the sudden a blade got through his chest, thus his yell of pain. Naturally, everypony was left in shock.

“ÉPALE!” exclaimed Fizzy.

Shady on the other hoof, was amazed by the sight.

“Whoah!” she softly exclaimed.

“Um… You have something sticking out from your chest, mate.” Lancer said to him, trying to process what was in his eyes.

When Crunch fell on his head, the perpetrator was revealed. Sarama puffed as she gripped her sickle firmly. Behind her, there were Argus and a beagle.

“I told you I´d cut your heart out for making me cry.” Sarama said bitterly. Afterwards, she drew her sickle.

“Sarama?!” Majesty asked surprised.

“The one and only.”

“I don´t understand, I thought you´d be gone by now.” Gusty said confused. “I thought you didn´t want to fight him.”

“I didn´t, but I had to make sure that Crunch was gone for good.” she looked at Crunch´s body. “And now he is.” she turned to Gusty. “Since you´re fighting Grogar, remember that every time you succeed, he´s there seething. Don´t be afraid to do what´s necessary, even if it´s out of spite for something he´s done against you. Spite´s as good a reason to take his power.”

Gusty nodded determined.

“That´s cold! But in a good way!” Posey exclaimed.

Sarama chuckled at her. Shady smiled at everypony, feeling very peaceful. So much that she started closing her eyes. However, everypony was too busy, preparing for what could come.

“Ok, but I have won the battle.” said Majesty. “You´re not attacking me nor any of my subjects nor you´re taking the castle!”

Sarama raised her paws, seeing Majesty preparing to attack her with magic.

“Whoah! Whoah! I have no desire of taking over Trottingham. All I want is for me and subjects to go to Dimondia so I can rule there like I was supposed to. And hopefully amend things in Caninia as well.”

Though still not so trusting of her, Majesty had to admit that Sarama´s plans for the future sounded too logical and real to be a lie. She stopped lighting her horn.

“Fine. But if any of you step a foot in here to harm us, I won´t be merciful.”

“Fair enough. None of us want trouble by coming back.”

“YOUUUU!!!” an undesired voice shouted from afar.

The ponies faces fell long when they saw Gaueko, Gwyllgi, Cavall and the dogs that captured Glory entering through the door that led to the courtyard they found themselves in.

“Well. Almost all of us.” Sarama corrected herself.

“Oh…. Nooo! Not them again!” Gusty buried her face on a hoof. “Just when I thought this was over!”

“Nah. At this point, they´re nothing to worry about.” Starswirl reassured her.

“Oh!” Gwyllgi exclaimed offended. “I beg to di-”

Along every dog, she gasped when she saw Crunch´s corpse.

“CRUNCH, NOOOO!” Cavall yelled in tears.

“You will pay for this!” the golden retriever yelled as he drew his sword.

“Ah ah ah!” Glory stood in his way, accompanied by Lancer, Buttons and Fizzy. The four unicorns had their unicorns activated. “Put that sword back in.”

“Listen to the lady.” Alonzo said after he an Knightshade took out their swords.

The dogs assessed the situation. They might have been able to attack them all before, but seeing how they all managed to weaken Crunch, if they attacked right now, they were very capable of disintegrate them in an instant. However, after realizing Sarama was there, perhaps they could still do something.

“YOU!” the golden retriever walked towards her. “You let this happen! You traitor!”

“Careful! You´re speaking to your queen!” the beagle pointed his sword at him.

“Queen?” the dalmatian asked confused. Then, she gasped in realization. “You did that, didn´t you?!” she pointed at Crunch´s wound on his back.

“I knew it! I knew you wanted to kill him!” the bulldog accused.

“You know? As a matter of fact, you´re right.” Sarama straight out admitted. “But I wouldn´t have gotten to that point if he hadn´t done all those crimes against me and my subjects and wasn´t willing to kill me and his subjects for standing up against him if he stayed alive and escaped by any chance. But I´m willing to give you a choice: accept me as your queen or be forever banished.”

Argus giggled.

“Hehehe! Who´s laughing now, you featherbrains?!” he laughed maniacally in revenge to how they treated him.

“Fine, I don´t need you, you heart-breaker!” exclaimed Gaueko.

Every pony and dog stared estranged at him. Posey, on the other hoof, smirked and raised an eyebrow at him.

“…What?” Sarama muttered under her breath disgusted.

“I mean…” he blushed embarrassed. He cleared his throat before continuing. “We don´t need you. We can avenge him on our own!” he said while staring hatefully at the ponies.

“Yeah, try to do so! And find out what happens if any of you dare to lay a hoof on anypony.” Gusty implored him, igniting her horn the most she could.

Gaueko took a step backwards, clenching his teeth in impotence.

“Take your little friends AND GET OUT!!” Majesty commanded aggressively. But then she quickly shifted her frown to a faux friendly smile. “Please.” she said politely, as a mockery of his behaviour.

Gaueko looked down in frustration at Crunch´s collar, picking it up and staining it with Crunch´s blood.

“Retreat! Every dog abandon the building right now!” he said before passing through the door.

And so, every dog left them alone, with serious expressions on their faces and thirst for a revenge they could not accomplish.

“I suppose you have to go as well.” Gusty said to Sarama, offering her hoof to shake as a sign of gratitude.

Sarama nodded and whistled at Argus and the beagle to tie a rope to get down the tower. Then, she grabbed Gusty´s hoof to shake it firmly.

“Good luck, Gusty.” she told her calmly. “Rule your kingdom, queen Majesty.” she told Majesty while turning around. “Rule it well.”

She gave a few steps before turning back to Majesty.

“I hope one day we can discuss matters that could benefit both kingdoms.” she told her.

“Not now. But perhaps one day.” Majesty told her.

Sarama gave her a tiny smile before joining Argus and the beagle down the rope The ponies stared at how they ran away once they were on the ground.

“Wow.” Knightshade said after sniffing his nose. “That was unexpected.”

“I know!” Magic Star exclaimed in agreement. “That was crazy. Right, Shady?”

However, the earth pony gave no answer. Instead, she laid on her forelegs with closed eyes and a serene expression on her face. Magic Star felt her heart stopping the moment she laid eyes on her friend. Knowing what this meant, everypony held their chest or covered their mouths.

“Shady?” Magic Star asked in shock.

A few days after Crunch´s defeat and Majesty´s reconquer or Trottingham, Gaueko, accompanied by Gwyllgi and Cavill, arrived at a glade at night. Nothing could be seen, except for a bornfire that revealed the silhouettes of two figures, one skinny and other large. Gaueko frowned as he got out from the hole.

“A word.” he said after approaching the figures.

The two figures, whose eyes were shining in the dark turned around. The large was the one to get up and walk to him. Once they were standing face to face, he laid Crunch´s collar on the ground.

“Crunch´s dead. It is my understanding that your mother is on her way to Grogar´s castle for a reunion.” he explained to her. “The Wind Warrior is a menace out of control.” he pointed at the silhouette to emphasize his insructions. “So, you´re going to his castle too and give this to Grogar himself. And if he really cares about his empire, he´s going out there and destroying that treacherous snake! Do you understand me, Reeka?"

The black haired troggle covered her mouth with both hands, watching in horror the blood on Crunch´s collar.

Author's Note

Hope you´re not too let down by the last scene with the ponies...

To brighten up the mood, I´ll tell you a little anecdote. So there´s a scene from the series Euphoria that´s trending and it made me rewatch that scene again. And then I realized that the dialogue between 0:13 and

Chapter 26: Eat your young

Reeka fidgeted with her fingers continuously as she and her sister were travelling in a carriage. Unlike Reeka, who was a bundle of nerves, the other troggle wasn´t appalled in the slightest, looking bored through the window. The red haired-troggle was already in a bad mood, but her sister´s constant finger drumming made it worse.

“Will you stop it?!” she exclaimed angrily.

“AAAH!” Reeka sprang from her seat scared. Once she was back on her seat she grabbed her chest. “Ugh! Don´t scare me like that, Draggle!”

“Geeze, calm down, Reeka! You´ve been like this the whole trip!”

“How can I calm down?! Crunch has literally been murdered by that Wind Warrior and you expect me to be calm?! You know we´re next, right?!” she grabbed her sister´s pink blouse.

“Ok, ok, ok! I get it!” Draggle pushed her sister away. “But your endless complaining doesn´t make it better!”

“What else would you have me do?!”

“I don´t know. Shutting up, for example?”

“Ah!” Reeka put her arms on her hips offended.

“Look, you´re not the only one who´s nervous about delivering the news, but you don´t see me saying nonsense! Besides, I´m actually doing something productive.”

“Oh!” Reeka perked her ears up. “You have a plan?”

“I´m thinking on how we could kill the Wind Warrior.” Draggle smiled evilly.

“Oh! You mean setting a bait inside a nasty trap and wait till she comes sniffing and then snap the trap? Or popping her in a boiling pot and when she´s done we butter her up? Or blowing her up with a cannon?” Reeka asked excited.

“No, you idiot!” Draggle kicked the back of her head. “I was talking about the ritual.”

“Oh…. Yeah that makes it better.” Reeka massaged the spot Draggle hit. "But you´re gonna have to work on your awful magic skills.”

“And you´re gonna have to work on your intelligence!”

“Oh you-”

The two sisters started slapping each other or pull each other´s hair. They stopped once they noticed the coach troggle staring estranged and disgusted at them after he opened the door. The two sisters rapidly came back to their normal sitting position.

“What?!” Draggle asked aggressively.

The coach troggle shook his head and cleared his throat.

“We´re at Grogar´s castle.” he informed.

“We´re coming down in an instant.” Reeka said in response.

The coach troggle bowed his head and left. Reeka looked at Draggle while closing her own fists together.

“So… who do we tell?” she asked.

Draggle rubbed her chin in thought.

“If we tell Grogar, chances are that he´ll have us killed.” she argumented.

“But if we tell mother, she´ll give us the talk for making her take the heat.” Reeka pointed out.

The two sisters shared glances in realization. In just a few seconds, they nodded their heads, having reached an agreement by reading each other´s minds.

“Grogar it is.” Draggle confirmed as she and her sister got out the carriage.

“Halt! Who goes there?” one of the troggles at a keep of the main castle´s wall asked.

“It´s Draggle and Reeka, Hydia´s daughters!” Reeka responded. “We bring important news to the emperor!”

“Hydia´s daughters?” the troggle asked confused. “Your highnesses!” he and his fellow soldiers bowed to them. “What news do you two bring?”

“Um… It´s better if we tell you inside.”

Another troggle on the keep gasped.

“You don´t suppose it´s related to Crunch, do you?”

“Let us hope not…” the troggle in charge muttered under his breath. “Open the gates!” he ordered. “The emperor is in reunion right now, so you´ll have to wait.” he informed them as his fellow guards prepared to open the gates and the two sisters went back into the carriage. “But don´t worry, you´ll be escorted.”

He turned around and looked down, looking for a troggle that could escort the two sisters. The first he laid his eyes on was no other than Thalia.

“Thalia!”

“Sir?” she greeted him.

“Escort Draggle and Reeka to the waiting room.”

“Draggle and Reeka? What are they doing here?” she asked confused.

“They say they bring news.”

Thalia widened her eyes.

“Well this shall be interesting…” she thought aloud.

Once the gates were open, the carriage passed to the castle´s entrance courtyard. Thalia walked towards it to bow to the two sisters.

“Hon Draggle. Hon Reeka.” she took out her helmet. “I will escort you to the waiting room.”

“Thanks Thalia.” said Draggle as they followed her. “But take all the time in the world, we have nooo rush.” she said half sarcastic half sincerely.

“Heh heh. Very funny.” Thalia laughed equally as sarcastic. “But if you saw the emperor right now you´d really take all the time in the world. The ram´s going to explode at any instant.”

Both sisters widened their eyes, fearing the task was going to be worse than they initially thought.

“Why do you say that?” Reeka asked, panic building inside her.

“Because Crunch is really late! And he´s not usually late. Unless something happens to him…” Thalia turned her head to the sisters. “You wouldn´t know anything about it, would you?”

The two troggles avoided eye contact at all costs. Reeka smiled nervously.

“Mm… Maybe…”

Draggle nudged her sister painfully.

“Ouch! I mean… You´ll just have to wait and see.” Reeka corrected herself. Then she nudged her with the same intensity as her sister in vengeance. In response, Draggle repeated the act, making it more painful than before. Thus, they started a competition on who could nudge the hardest.

Thalia in the meantime covered her mouth, afraid but also excited about the gossip the two sisters were about to bring to the table and its ramifications.

At the steps of the meeting room, Drog fidgeted with his spear, slightly tapping it against the floor constantly as he waited for Crunch to appear. But by the looks of it, it wasn´t going to happen.

“Drog! Drog!” Thalia called him, signing him to get closer.

At first, Drog was unsure to do so, since Grogar could open the door at any moment and punish him for not being there. However, Thalia seemed nervous, which meant she had important information. So, he decided to go to her.

“Thalia! What is it?”

“Hydia´s daughters are here. I think they bring information about Crunch.”

Drog covered his mouth.

“Dang! Why do you think that?”

“I told them about the situation and Reeka seemed nervous about the situation. I know she´s always expecting the worst to happen all the time but Draggle seemed anxious too.”

“Oh boy… You think it has to do with Gusty as well?”

“Most likely.”

Drog sighed.

“I guess we´ll have to tell him… But on the bright side, this could be a sign that we´re getting closer to be free from him, is it?”

“If we survive him, but I guess you could say so. Plus, you know I´m bad at keeping secrets so I don´t want to cause a fuss like last time.”

Drog nodded at her. The two troggles stared at the door, gulping nervously.

Meanwhile, Grogar paced back and forth impatiently. Sylenius and Hydia shared glances from time to time, not knowing what to say or do. If Grogar wasn´t around, they would be theorizing the different possibilities that could have happened to Crunch, and as much as they wanted, they also liked being alive.

But the tensest creature in the room was probably Bray. He knew that Grogar wasn´t restless because he was angry, but because he was nervous, even if he wasn´t showing it and denied it. But between Katrina being defeated by Gusty and now Crunch not appearing… This couldn´t be just a coincidence.

Every creature in the room raised their ears when Drog opened the door. Grogar laid his hooves on the table expectant.

“Um… My emperor… Sorry to interrupt-”

“Interrupt?!” Sylenius asked upset. “We haven´t begun anything! Where on earth is Crunch?”

Grogar raised his hoof to shush him.

“Continue.” he ordered Drog.

“Hydia´s daughters are here.”

“What?!” Hydia rose from her seat. “Why are they here?!” she asked upset.

“Apparently they want to speak to the emperor.”

“About what?” Grogar asked angrily.

“About nothing, my emperor!” Hydia answered. “Those two brats are only here just to ridicule me. Nothing intelligent ever comes out from their mouths.”

“Geeze, aren´t they your daughters Hydia?” Sylenius asked surprised at how she was talking about her children.

“Oh! So now you care about family?”

“No, I feel the same about them as you do, but I thought that you would go mama bear on me if I said it.”

“You have nothing to worry about, my emperor.” Hydia said to Grogar. “My daughters are just going to say something stupid to you.”

Very subtly, Drog frowned at Hydia. Although he didn´t have children, Isis and Acher did, and while it was true that they complained about Oak being too much from time to time, they never put him down or made fun of him, unlike Hydia. Gusty was also different to her in that aspect. The way she talked about her daughters indicated that she was a loving mom, which was another reason Drog liked her.

Grogar´s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“While I agree with your assessment of your daughters´ intelligence, this time I do want to hear what they have to say.”

“No, no, no. I´m not letting my daughters ridicule me in front of you. Send your donkey instead!”

“I have a name, ma´am.” Bray asserted.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“Go fetch them, Bray.” Grogar ordered him, ignoring Hydia. “Don´t take long.”

Bray nodded before turning around.

“But ask them what they want to tell him first, eh?” Hydia said to the donkey. “Cause if it´s something stupid, they´re not stepping in this room, you got me? And like Grogar said, be fast, I want to get rid of them as fast as possible.”

“At your service, your honour.” Bray mockingly put his hoof on his forehead, getting tired of Hydia´s commands.

“Hey, don´t mock me. Don´t mock me!”

“I´m not mocking you, I´m treating you the way you deserve. You might have a nobility title but I´m equally as important or even more because I´m the most competent vassal here. Careful.” Bray defended himself angrily.

“Bray!” Grogar scolded him for not moving.

“Yeah, let´s go.” Drog gently grabbed Bray´s foreleg, wanting to get him out of trouble with Grogar.

“Leave me alone, please.” Bray said to Drog as they left.

“Does he really think he´s better than us? Ha! He wishes.” Sylenius commented, offended by Bray´s remark.

“Where did you get that donkey from, my emperor?” Hydia asked disgusted.

Grogar gave no response. Something inside him told him that they had bad news. He knew Bray wasn´t going to listen to Hydia, but given the situation they were in, the emperor had to know as soon as possible, should that be the case. So, he got up from his seat and proceeded to leave the room and follow Bray, much to Hydia´s horror.

“What are you doing?!” she grabbed her hair. “Don´t go to them!” she ran behind Grogar.

Sylenius laughed at her panic.

“This shall be fun.” he thought aloud while following her.

At the waiting room, the two sisters, accompanied by Thalia, nervously fidgeted with their hands as they prayed for the emperor to appear as soon as possible. Finally, they heard the door opening. Though it was not exactly who they were expecting, it was a better option than Grogar.

Reeka sighed in relief.

“It´s just you, Bray.”

“Well, tell me quickly what´s the matter.” said Bray. “And it better be important, because I´m not here for nonsense.”

“Oh, you don´t need to worry about nonsense…” Draggle muttered her breath. She cleared her throat. “Ok, listen to me. We bring news about a problem. It´s a little grave, but that´s we´re here for, to solve it.”

“What do you mean with problem and grave?” Bray asked, preparing himself for the worst.

“We´ll tell you, but first I need to ask you all a question.” said Reeka.

“Ok, go ahead.” Drog implored her.

“Ok.” Reeka put her palms together in front of her nose. “Hm… Guys? Do any of you have blood phobia or anything of the sort?”

“But Reeka, what kind of question is that?” Bray asked impatient. “Please, we torture and kill ponies every day!”

“Why do you ask that?” Drog asked fearful.

“Gaueko, Crunch´s minion…. Hm? Came to us a few nights ago and gave us Crunch´s collar, eh? And it was stained with blood, but big stains of blood!”

“What?” Bray asked shocked.

“Are you sure it´s his collar?” Drog asked in disbelief.

Reeka took out the collar from her bag and showed it to Bray and Drog.

“Oh Crunch, you idiot…” Bray put a hoof on his temple.

“It´s Crunch´s, isn´t it? Otherwise, I don´t think Gaueko would have given this to us and asked to bring it to Grogar.” reasoned Reeka.

“Put it back!” Bray ordered panicked.

“Yeah, yeah, it must be his.” Drog covered his mouth tense.

“But put it back! Keep it out!” Put it back! Put it back! Put it back!” Bray shook his hoof rapidly.

“Ok, ok!” Reeka said upset while keeping the collar on her bag.

“I´m sorry to say this but that idiot had it coming.” said Draggle. “He thought he could do whatever he wanted and didn´t think before acting. I´m not surprised, I´m not surprised.” she shook her head.

As Draggle spoke, Bray started feeling dizzy due to stress. He panted heavily as he put his hoof back on his temple, closing his eyes and dropping his ears at the same time. Feeling that he would drop at any moment, he held on to the wall, but it didn´t prevent him from falling on his rear legs. Luckily, Drog and Thalia were there to prevent him from getting hurt.

“No, no, no, Bray, don´t, don´t, don´t! Get up, get up!” Thalia begged him worried while he and Drog were holding his front legs.

“I know it´s really bad news but we couldn´t keep something like this from the emperor.” Reeka said apologetically as Drog and Thalia helped him up.

“No, no, no! You did great!” Bray said with an insane smile. “Now we know we have to take action now if we don´t want to have violent deaths!”

“Ok, ok.” Drog raised his hands. “Fair enough. But do we know if Gusty did this?”

While Drog was asking that question, Grogar was getting nearer. He stopped when he felt the bells around his collar igniting. Though he couldn´t hear what they were saying yet, he knew it had to do with Crunch and for the misfortune of all, Gusty herself.

“What do you mean with that?! Of course she did!” Bray responded aggressively due to the intense anxiety he was feeling.

“I´m not sure. I mean, she definitely undid the spell that kept Crunch stone but she doesn´t strike me as the type that would stab him to death. If so, I see Majesty doing that.”

Bray forced a smile while joining his hooves together.

“Drog. SHE LITERALLY IS DESTINED TO KILL OUR LEADER!”

“Technically, to defeat our leader.” Thalia corrected him. “It´s not the same.”

However, she decided that staying quiet was the best option after noticing Bray´s glare at her.

“I don´t know….” Drog was still unconvinced, despite having been yelled at seconds ago. “It just doesn´t fit her. From my interactions with her, she didn´t seem bloodthirsty enough to do that.”

“That´s because that treacherous snake fooled you!” Grogar exclaimed to him.

Bray and the troggles turned around and bowed as soon as they saw Grogar´s eyes shining in the dark.

“Oh my…” Bray rubbed his entire face with his hoof.

“Yeah, those are the exact words Gaueko used to describe her!” Reeka remembered.

“Gaueko?” Grogar asked while going downstairs. Once he was on the floor, the light revealed his face.

Reeka and Draggle looked at each other nervously. They gulped and opened their mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by their mother.

“Giiirls!” Hydia greeted with a forced smile. “Whatever are you doing here?” she asked in a fake sweet tone.

“To deliver important news, ma´am.” Thalia explained.

“News? And what kind of news? Because if it´s something trivial like failing another practice, that doesn´t count.”

Getting irritated by the delay of potential important information, Grogar clenched his teeth. Without being conscious about it, he lit his horns.

“SILENCE!” he stomped his hoof.

The magic harnessed in his horns transferred to that hoof, creating a glance accompanied by a loud boom as soon as it touched the floor. Thus, every creature became silent. Then, Grogar walked to the two sisters.

“What is it about Gaueko?” he asked impatiently.

Reeka gulped, shivering in fear along her sister.

“He… He gave us this. A-And told us to bring it to you” she looked for the collar and showed it to Grogar.

“C-Crunch´s d-dead sir….” Draggle lamented. “At the Wind Warrior´s hooves most likely….”

The ram picked up the collar and examined it. To every creature´s surprise, he wasn´t exploding in anger. That didn´t make the situation less uneasy, however.

“See what I told you?” he said to Drog. “The Wind Warrior is like a siren. Innocent and inoffensive at first glance, yet the most calculative and deadliest creature.” he turned to Hydia and Sylenius, who were shocked at the sight.

Grogar made a signal to Bray, Drog and Thalia to follow him. The three creatures nodded and did as told. The two troggles opened the door for him and Bray.

“You two had better team up and start scheming on how to get her to me.” he said to Sylenius and Hydia. “And if you are smart enough, both of you will work together for that! This meeting´s over.”

“Wait!” said Draggle. “There´s something else we-”

However, by the time she began her sentence, Grogar had already closed the door in a loud blow. Every creature stared stunned at the door.

“Welp!” Sylenius broke the silence. “Looks like we have catching up to do.” he said to Hydia. “Any ideas?”

“Oh!” Reeka exclaimed excited. “Draggle and I were talking about that on our way here and-”

“Yes, yes, darling. I´m sure you have great ideas, but let the adults talk, will you?” Hydia said `affably´ while patting her head condescendingly.

“Oh. Ok…” Reeka said disappointed.

Draggle simply rolled her eyes unmotivated. Meanwhile, Hydia rubbed her fingers around her chin.

“I think the strategy should be separating the Wind Warrior from her little friends.” she smiled evilly. “Yes, she´s powerful and everything, but let´s be realistic. She wouldn´t have achieved any of that without help.”

“Ooh… I like that.” Sylenius drew a huge grin on his face. “I happen to have the perfect way to get rid of them…”

“That´s great and all, but who is going to capture the Wind Warrior?” Draggle pointed out.

Hydia and Sylenius widened their eyes. The first left out a nervous chuckle.

“Sweetie… What kind of question is that? Your mother, of course.”

Sylenius tried to hold his laughter, but he ended up roaring.

“You? With potion making? HA! Nah… Just let the ringmaster handle it.”

“So you admit it… You made a circus out of your territories.” Hydia shrugged. “Knowing that fact, I don´t think it would be safe letting the Wind Warrior at your hands.”

“You harpy!”

“I´m a witch, what do you expect?”

Hydia´s daughters stared at each other. Tired of seeing them wasting time with petty bickering, Draggle decided to take matters into her own hands. She stretched her fingers and arms before speaking.

“Since we can´t decide on who will take the Wind Warrior captive, how about we discuss about how to separate her allies instead? There´s one that is of particular interest. Two in fact.”

“Majesty and that Lancer soldier of hers. Yeah, we know, darling.” Hydia tried to shush her.

“Not exactly…” Reeka muttered.

“No.” Draggle continued. “They´re-”

“My dearies. Why don´t you go outside to take some air? The journey to here must have left your legs numb. Maybe you should help them regain consciousness.” Hydia pushed the two towards the door.

“Sure, but-” Reeka tried to reason with her mother but once again she was interrupted by her.

“Great! Glad to see we agree!”

Draggle clenched her teeth.

“Mom!” she scolded her.

“Draggle, the best way to address me is mother, how many times have I told you that?”

“Can you just listen to what we have to say? It´s important.”

Hydia stayed quiet for a moment. Then, she turned to Sylenius.

“Give me one moment.” she asked him. “You know, kids being unruly.”

“As long as you get rid of your brats, take all the time in the world.” Sylenius told her.

“Thank you.” she closed the doors.

She leant on the door and took a deep breath before turning to her daughters.

“Draggle, Draggle, Draggle. Why are you trying to participate on the conversation as an equal when you still don´t get your spells right?” she said in a passive aggressive tone.

Draggle looked away.

“I´m just trying to help.” she justified herself.

“Sweetie.” she grabbed her hands. “Until you learn your spells right you are of no help to me. The only way to help me right now is by standing out of my way.”

Those words stroke a nerve on Draggle. She looked down in shame, which Reeka noticed.

“But she does have a point though…” Reeka tried to support her. “We should organize with Sylenius to isolate the Wind Warrior.”

“But you say that because of your little mind, sweetie.” she put her finger on her forehead. “Don´t worry, I know you´re doing your best, but you still need to improve your thinking skills.”

Reeka stared disillusioned at her mother. Draggle glared at her when she started laughing.

“Oh darlings, I´m just teasing.” she said amused.

Reeka laughed nervously. Draggle, on the contrary, rolled her eyes.

“Oh Draggle, stop taking everything so seriously, when will you learn to take a joke?”

“So does that mean that we can intervene in the reunion?” Draggle raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

“Oh! Well, on that matter, I´ll say that is better if you stay out. It´s not personal really, but you´re still too young and unexperienced to say anything on the matter. Trust me, if we followed anything you said we´d end up in a really big jam. And you don´t want anything to happen to your mother because of you, right?” she said the last word in a more serious tone.

Both sisters sighed and looked down in shame.

“No mother.” they said on chorus.

“Perfect! See the bright side, you get to move your legs a little after being sat for such a long trip.” Hydia said with a smile before closing the door.

Reeka sighed tired. She looked worried at Draggle, since she seemed to be very upset by their mother´s words.

“Are you alright?” she tried to reach for her shoulder but Draggle slapped it away.

“I told you this was a bad idea! Why are you so stupid?” she asked angrily before walking away.

Though they frequently insulted each other, Reeka felt pretty hurt by those words. She leant against the wall and sighed while sitting down and hugging her knees.

Escolted by Drog and Thalia, Grogar and Bray returned to the reunion room.

“Leave us alone.” Grogar ordered the two troggles.

Drog and Thalia bowed their heads before leaving and closing the doors.

“I don´t understand.” Bray spoke once the two were alone. “How did she figure how to reverse Crunch´s spell? Not even Majesty knew how!”

Grogar closed his eyes.

“What are we going to do?” Bray asked concerned.

Grogar breathed though his nose before opening his eyes.

“I think the time has come to me to intervene.”

“You don´t trust Hydia and Sylenius, do you?”

“Those two are as pathetic and useless as Katrina and Crunch! There´s no way they will get her. But at least they´ll be able to hold her for me to make my move.”

“Which is….”

“Attack her where it hurts the most…”

Bray widened his eyes.

“A-Are you sure about that? That is a pretty big offense…. You yourself say it. She seems inoffensive but at the moment you least expect it, she backstabs you. I mean, look what happened to Crunch!”

“HA! Do you really think she stabbed Crunch? She did manage to reverse the spell that kept him stone, yes, but Drog was right on her not being that violent. If so, Majesty did that, or even Sarama. That dog was conspiring against him from the minute he became more powerful than her. In fact, I´m pretty sure she told Gusty his weak spot so she could get rid of him.”

“That makes sense, I guess…” Bray said somewhat insecure.

“Besides, I won´t take that step yet. But I will take them away from her, just like she took two territories away from me. An eye for an eye. But territories can be given back, or even better, she can give herself up in exchange. So, if she´s willing to collaborate, then I won´t have to take such measure. But if she doesn´t, I have no problem to do so. And if that happens, I´ll be guiltless. She chose that path, and she shall face the consequences. We both reached for the sword.”

“Yeah… Maybe she should have eaten them or something before going against you.” Bray reasoned with himself. “Quicker and easier!”

“No. She ate them the moment she brought them to this world. But by going against me, she´s devoured them.”

Bray widened his eyes when he heard the word `young´.

“Speaking of which, today´s Monday sir.”

Grogar sighed. If he was going to be away, he wouldn´t be able to see Discord. And most surely, he would wonder why. Today was going to be hard session.

“I´ll go now to Discord.”

Bray nodded his head and turned around to leave.

“Bray!” Grogar called him, making him stop and turn his head to him. “One more thing. Watch Drog and his friends closely. I don´t like how he thinks of Gusty…”

“Yes sir.” Bray said before leaving.

Although he couldn´t see his face, the fact that Grogar´s eyes and bells were glowing pretty much gave away Bray was feeling uneasy. He snorted in frustration. But as much as he tried to deny, deep deep down in his heart, he was afraid too. Ever since he discovered Gusty was the Wind Warrior, he constantly felt threatened and paranoid about a big punishment coming.

Back when he was cleric, he was constantly warned about the dangers of using black magic and guiding oneself by their dark desires. Grogar had committed many atrocities in order to get to the throne and keep it, but to him it was necessary. After all, he believed he was destined to make his kingdom the great force it once was and be the greatest emperor and sorcerer that had ever existed. And to be fair, with every demonstration of power, no matter how brutal or ruthless, there came satisfaction.

Nevertheless, sometimes those warnings roamed his mind and terrified him. Lately, for example, at night or when he receives news about Gusty defeating one of his allies, like right now, an image of himself surrounded by faceless red cloaked clerics came to his mind, as if he was taunted by Lucena and all the congregation for what happened to them those fateful days and all the ponies he has harmed and killed.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa, they would repeatedly chant.

Nonetheless, he would always remind himself he was the most powerful creature to ever have roamed the world. He had everything under his control, everything he created was a perfect war machine, and he was immune to every trick, even the most deceitful, which usually came from females, something that Lucena´s betrayal taught him so, and Gusty entering his life reinforced that belief.

Feeling the red cloaks appearing in his mind, Grogar shook his head and decided to focus on more immediate matters at hoof. Such as visiting Discord.

He stared at the ceiling, took a few breaths, and frowned determined before leaving.

Right now, Discord´s room was in black and white, with suave jazz music playing on the background. It looked like a detective´s room, with blinds pulled down, a desk, a lamp, and an investigation board; all floating along other furniture not characteristic of a detective´s room, that is. Discord and Butterfly wore fedoras and jackets with badges. The two stared at the board after Discord doodled it with a red marker.

“Okay, detective Butterfly. Tell me what you think about my awesome and smart theory.” Discord said to her.

The butterfly got out from his shoulder and flew around the board to examine it. Once she was finished, she turned her head to Discord and shook it while shrugging.

“What do you mean with you don´t understand anything?” he asked surprised and somewhat offended. “It´s really obvious! See, when I told dad about the Wind Warrior defeating Katrina, he kind of panicked, so I figured that the Wind Warrior is something he´s scared of.” Discord explained. “And all these red arrows represent the different things the Wind Warrior could be.” Discord separated his fingers to follow the different red marker trails. “Which is a warrior made of wind that can turn into a tornado, a hurricane, or a blizzard! But that´s when I realized that wind makes noise, so it could also be any instruments. Or a whistler! Or a teapot! Or perhaps a creature that uses wind!”

If Discord had a third witness, they wouldn´t blame Butterfly for not understanding. The position of the pictures wasn´t clear enough, aside from the trails just being scratches that were everywhere and led nowhere. Butterfly shrugged again.

“Katrina? Well, I´m not so sure who she is, but it looks like she was valuable to dad. Otherwise, he wouldn´t have reacted like that and act weird ever since. Nor he would have bothered to cover the windows or make the walls soundproof permanently.” he crossed his arms.

Butterfly nodded in agreement. Of all the things he said, this was perhaps the most factual.

“But thanks to you spying out, we got some info! Still, there are many questions that remain… Who really is the Wind Warrior? What do they want? And how do we get rid of them?”

Discord took a pipe and blew it, causing brown bubbles to appear. Butterfly took out a tiny straw to absorb the bubble. After tasting and swallowing it, she licked her lips with a smile.

“Exactly! It´s chocolate milk, your favourite and mine.” Discord winked an eye at her. “Okay, buddy! I think, that´s enough for today!” pulled down the blinds and let it go, so it could absorb the detective room and turn his room back to normal. “We still have a long way to go, but we´ve made lots of progress! Now it´s time to play! What do you want to do?” Discord wagged his tail expectant.

Butterfly took out a schedule and tapped at the first square. Since it was of really small size, Discord summoned a magnifying glass to read it closely.

“Oh right, today´s Monday…” Discord gasped in realization. “Which means that dad could appear at any moment! Good thing we´re over with investigation time. Quick, hide where you can!”

Butterfly flew to a board and closed its door. Discord snapped his fingers and summoned lots of flying books and a pair of glasses.

“Now, what was exactly the lesson he assigned me to read?” he wondered aloud as he put the glasses on.

Suddenly, he heard the door opening, as if he had summoned his father with those words.

“Leaving everything to the last minute like always, huh?” Grogar raised an eyebrow.

Discord took all the books and the glasses and hid them behind his back. Then, he laughed apologetically.

“Don´t worry. Lucky for you, we´re not discussing that today.” Grogar informed him while walking towards him.

“Oh!” Discord exclaimed excited, hoping he was finally going to take him out. “What is it about?” he flew to the height of Grogar´s face, but after seeing his glare, he realized it wasn´t a good idea. “I mean…” he snapped his fingers and came back to the floor, wearing a golden armour with blue sleeves, a blue cape and brown gloves. He cleared his throat. “Reporting for duty as ordered, sir.” he put his paw and claw behind his back.

“Huh, I like that knight-like attitude and obedience.” Grogar smiled.

Discord was about to smile back, but he quickly had his illusions demolished before he could.

“But you´re way too far from being a knight and will always be if you keep on being an idiot. Stop goofing around and take off that outfit, will you?”

Discord´s smile dropped.

“Sorry…” Discord apologizing before snapping his fingers, looking away hurt.

“My boy, I know you´re dying to be a monstrous soldier for me, but you don´t have what it takes. What the empire needs is a firm hoof to prevent the weak-minded from being so easily misled.”

“Misled?” Discord asked confused.

“Look, Discord. When you´re at the top, there´s always creatures that want to bring you down. They´re rebels. The rebels live outside the normal order, and while going against me is giving oneself a death sentence, it´s exhausting having to deal with them. But they have a way of inflaming others´ lowest instincts, so they must be stopped.”

“But if you always win and they can´t do anything against you, why is it a problem?”

Grogar noticed some ants at the windowsill, giving him a perfect metaphor to make Discord understand.

“Come here.” he ordered Discord to follow him to the windowsill. “For many years I´ve been taking care of the rebels.” seeing three ants, he stepped a hoof on them one on one. “One. By. One. And yet, for all my success, they still thrive.” he lifted the stone the ants were in, revealing a colony of ants living underneath. “So many ants are disturbing, aren´t they?”

“Well, not really.” Discord replied innocently, not getting the point Grogar was trying to convey. “In fact, the more, the more chaotic! Plus, company never hurts. Oh! Maybe I could also show them tricks or give them cooler features like you do, I´m pretty sure they would like it!” he blurted out excited.

But his smile vanished when he noticed Grogar´s glare at him.

“You want to be a weapon for me yet when you see ants, your first thought is befriending them?” he said coldly.

“Uh… they would be like allies! An army of giant ants!”

Despite the suggestion, Grogar was still glaring at him. Discord gasped in realization.

“Oh…. We´re not talking about the ants, are we?”

“Of course not.” Grogar said with his teeth clenched. “I´m using the ants as a metaphor for the rebels, since they are vermin. I should not have to explain you that! I thought you were smarter than that.”

Discord looked down in shame.

“Yeah, you´re right… So…” he lifted his head back. “What should we do about it, then?”

Grogar smirked before putting the stone on the ants, combining the magic and the strength of his hooves so the impact would be harder, causing Discord to widen his eyes. To make sure the ants were dead for sure, he moved it a little.

“Need me to explain it to you?” Grogar asked sarcastically while arching an eyebrow.

“No, I think you made your point quite vividly.” Discord said with some fear.

“Ah… Now, you´re getting it.” Grogar said with a satisfied smirk, putting a hoof on Discord´s shoulder. “You´re such a fast learner.”

Although supposed to be comforting, physical contact from his father made Discord shiver every time. He pushed his back a little from him.

“Which is why you must train hard now, boy. Very soon I´ll be leaving to deal with the rebels-”

“I´ll go with you!” Discord exclaimed excitedly.

“NO!” Grogar yelled at him.

Discord stepped backwards, scared and surprised by that scold.

“No.” Grogar repeated more calmly, shaking his head at the same time as Discord. “You still have a long way to go to be my masterpiece weapon, boy. I wouldn´t want you to embarrass me by being captured or messing up my plans.”

Worry rose in Discord after hearing those words.

“Am I that of a weakling?” he asked.

“Discord, right now you´re not living up to your potential. You´re just making a clown of yourself. Of course you´re a weakling.”

“Really?”

“Oh yes. Lucky your father´s there to fix it, eh?” he smirked while surrounding him with his hoof.

“Yeah. That´s good.” as much as Discord wanted to smile, those words hurt too much to do so.

“Very well, that´s the attitude.” Grogar said while taking out his foreleg from him. “Worry not, these exercises are going to be really fun.”

Discord´s eyes lit up when he heard the word `fun´.

“What´s the first one about?”

“I want you to zap a living creature.” Grogar commanded him with a grin on his face.

Discord´s ears fell flat. The only living creature apart from him and his father was Butterfly. Did he know she was still there?

“Um… Yes, as you wish! But we don´t have a living creature here.”

No matter how hard he was trying to hide his fear, Grogar´s fear detection never failed. He gulped when the ram´s eyes shone.

“I´m not so sure about that.” Grogar responded coldly.

He scanned all the room while also paying attention to Discord´s facial expressions and fear levels. They were at their peak the moment he was looking at the board. He frowned determined before walking towards it. Panicked, Discord tried to stop him.

“No, don´t! There´s nothing there, I promise!” he put himself in front of the board, spreading his arms and wings as much as he could.

“Out of my way, child!” Grogar pushed him off with his hoof, tossing him to the floor.

Discord grunted when he hit the floor. He gasped horrified when he saw Grogar opening the door and discovering Butterfly, who looked at the ram with fear.

“No, get away from her!” Discord quickly flew back there. “Dad, no!”

He was so keen on protecting Butterfly that he lost control of his body. Instead, his fight response took over him, causing him to scratch Grogar with his lion paw, getting out a gasp from Butterfly and a moan from Grogar.

Discord´s adrenaline went down as fast as it peaked. He covered his mouth when he realized what he had done. Grogar massaged his cheek and saw blood on his hoof. Then, he stared at Discord in a mixture of anger and surprise. Discord dropped his ears and lowered his tail when his eyes met Grogar´s, gasping in fear. Grogar´s eyes shone harder, but Discord didn´t know if it was due to satisfaction due to gaining power or due to anger.

After staring at him for some time, Grogar smirked at him and chuckled.

“Looks like you do have that beastly instinct. I like that. I want to see that more.” he complimented him. But his smirk quickly changed into an expression of rage building inside. “But not against your creator. You´ve just made a terrible MISTAKE!”

Seeing Grogar´s horns glowing, Discord prepared to flee but Grogar held his tail with his magic. Still, Discord kept on trying to escape.

“No! No! No, let me go! Dad!” he begged.

“Father for you. And if you really like being around that louse, why don´t you go with it?!” Grogar while struggling to push him backwards.

“Bray! Help! Bray! Help!” Discord shouted, hoping he could help, although it the chances were zero.

“QUIET!” Grogar shouted as he tossed him to the board, hitting Butterfly with Discord.

The young draconequus tried to get out but Grogar closed the door and locked it with his magic.

“Scream and kick all you want! You´ll stay there as long as I think adequate.” Grogar told him before leaving and closing the door in a blow.

“Let me go! Let me out! FATHEER!” Discord begged from inside the board.

While going downstairs, Grogar bumped into Bray, who was panting in exhaustion from running upstairs.

“Sir, I heard screams. Is everything okay?” Bray clicked his tongue when he noticed the scratch on Grogar´s cheek. “Ooh… tougher day than usual, huh?”

“Yes, but an improvement, nonetheless.” Grogar smiled satisfied. “Because this.” he pointed at the scratch. “This shows he has potential to be a weapon. A menacing weapon. This means I didn´t fail, Bray!”

“Then why did you punish him? I thought he was screaming because a pony or a troggle discovered him, but after seeing that, it must be because you punished him.”

“Because he targeted the wrong creature. His creator, no less. I could be a good ally to him, but I can also be a terrible enemy. You know that better than any creature, Bray.”

Bray quickly turned quiet and looked down in shame. Having served and known Grogar for so long, Bray knew that no matter how loyal and close he was to him, Grogar still had power over him and could turn against him at any minute, even if it was due to asking questions to understand his actions. Although his role as confidant meant advising, disagreeing and making questions, Bray always knew when not to say anything or step back.

“Yes, of course…” he quietly agreed.

“Leave him. I´ll free him when I feel it´s adequate.”

“Yes sir.” Bray bowed his head while observing Grogar going downstairs. Then, he sighed. “When will you realize that you didn´t fail sir? He created himself, you just gave him the tools to do so, thus the result.”

He looked back at Discord´s door, feeling shivers when hearing Discord´s desperate pleas. Bray might not enjoy taking care of him, but he was just a kid at the end of the day. Unlike adults, kids didn´t understand the consequences of their actions nor were really aware of what they were doing. And as many times he provoked him, Discord was no exception. So, he always felt some sympathy for him and disagreed with Grogar´s methods. But rules had to be obeyed.

Bray sighed.

“It really is quicker and easier to eat your young.” he lamented before going downstairs, trying to shake the remorse away.

Author's Note

Hope you didn´t get scared by the title :twilightblush: . It´s just a reference to Hozier´s Eat Your Young (really chilling song, by the way). Thought it was fitting for this chapter, and we´re near Halloween so why not?

Speaking of which, I wanted to celebrate Halloween with you guys by making an analysis of a villain! I still don´t know which one, but if you guys suggest me one I´ll gladly do so! :twilightsmile:

Anyway, hope you enjoyed today´s chapter!

Chapter 27: Conspirations and machinations:

Despite having had some success with Discord´s training, that achievement couldn´t outweigh all the stress Grogar had gone through today. From Crunch´s death news to now having his work on capturing Gusty doubled due to having to rely on Hydia and Sylenius. Hopefully, now that it was the end of the day, he could take a moment to stroll on the gardens and clear up his mind, and if possible, carefully plan on the matter with Gusty´s daughters in peace. Alas, apparently it was not to be…

Walking around, he noticed a bored Draggle continuously pacing around the corridors, hands in her pockets and stooped over.

“What are you doing here?” he asked upset.

“Aaah!” Draggle jumped a little. “Emperor Grogar, your highness.” she bowed, stretching her dress´s skirt out.

“Save the formalities. Why are you strolling around instead of thinking of a plan to get the Wind Warrior with your mother? What do you think, that this doesn´t involve you?”

“Oh, I perfectly know that. I would be doing so, my emperor, if mother didn´t kick me and my sister out.”

“And you just let her do so?”

“What was I to do?”

“I don´t know, fight back? This is no time to cower, lass!” he scolded her while pushing her out of the way.

After scowling at Grogar, Draggle went on to join him but Bray interrupted.

“Draggle! Why are you here and not with your mother?” he reprimanded her.

Draggle simply rolled her eyes before massaging her forehead.

“I´m far more qualified to capture the Wind Warrior!” Hydia affirmed fiercely. “I have my army and Grogar´s army at my disposition to do the job. Plus, I´m a sorceress!”

“Part of Grogar´s amy, remember?” Silenius corrected her, lifting his index finger. “How is it that I know the deals between you two better than you?”

“And how is it that I seem to be the one to remember that you don´t have any established realm, huh? You´re not even a landlord, for goodness’s sake! You´re just an exiled knight who turned into a slaver mercenary for Grogar so you could take over the kingdom you once tried to take, which you still haven´t put a hoof on!”

“Okay, okay.” Silenius shook his hands to silence them. “First of all, yes, the territories that Grogar assigned me aren´t exactly mine, but I still rule over them in a way. Sure, I don´t have a palace in an enormous city like Katrina, Crunch and you, but I watch over those plains and hills. Besides, that´s because many pegasi weren´t settled in villages like unicorns and earth ponies, and the ones who were didn´t have big villages or near each other! Secondly, don´t underestimate me! With the help of Grogar´s monsters and my followers, I´ve managed to be a quite powerful enslaver. And lastly, I haven´t come back to Midnight Kingdom because of the pegasi problem! If Grogar didn´t have the brilliant idea to wipe out all the pegasi he could, they wouldn´t be taking refuge at the sky!”

“Maybe it´s due to your incompetence that´s happening, just saying!” raised her hands.

“Says the one who can´t get her daughters to be competent.”

“Take that back!”

“No, I won´t!”

Their screams were loud enough for Reeka to hear. She was seating next to the waiting room´s frame, leaning her head against her left hand while blinking, frustrated and bored of that useless bittering. She grunted.

She quickly stood up the moment she saw Grogar, accompanied by Bray and her sister. She was going to bow but Grogar interrupted her by raising his hoof.

“No need to, this is urgent. How is their reunion?”

Reeka didn´t need to answer. He mother´s and Silenius´ screams spoke for herself.

“As well as you can imagine…” Reeka rolled her eyes.

Though normally Grogar detested being answered to with indifference, Reeka´s attitude in this instance was more than justified. So, he simply let her be.

“Tsk, it´s clear if you want things done efficiently you have to do them yourself!” Grogar yelled angry.

The whole building trembled when Grogar violently opened the door, leaving every creature around him in shock.

As soon as they noticed Grogar, Hydia and Silenius stood up and put their hands behind their back.

“My emperor.” they bowed to greet him.

“If you truly respected me, you would have already ideated a plan to capture the Wind Warrior. Which you haven´t!” Grogar called them out.

Hydia redirected her attention on her daughters. The only way Grogar could have known about their situation was him being informed by some creature outside who knew what was going on inside that room. Bray was with Grogar, which left only two suspects remaining.

Hydia´s piercing frown troubled Draggle and Reeka. The first looked away while the second smiled nervously.

Noticing that glance, Grogar stood between mother and daughters to get Hydia´s attention back.

“You can scold them later all you want but this is an urgency. Come, let´s settle this in the meeting room.” Grogar ordered.

While following Grogar, Silenius rubbed his left arm, his face looking like the one a child makes when they´ve done something they shouldn´t have. Meanwhile, Hydia pointed at her two eyes and then at her daughters´.

“Oh boy, what awaits us at the trip back home…” Reeka muttered before biting her nails.

“Mhm.” Draggle nodded.

“Very well. So, what are your ideas?” Grogar asked his vassals once the meeting room´s doors were closed.

The two creatures opened their mouths and raised their index fingers to speak but Grogar started talking before they could articulate a sound.

“I´m not asking for your opinions regarding which one of you should capture the Wind Warrior. I just want to know how you plan it. Silenius, you go first.”

“Well, my emperor, I´m so glad you asked. As you know, my lackeys roam around the land to capture pegasi. Her lands are near mine so I could instruct them to be vigilant of the Wind Warrior and ask them to bring her to me. Plus, with the help of your monsters, that shouldn´t be a problem.”

“Don´t underestimate her, Silenius. She´s a sly mare, so it´s likely she and Majesty will come up with a way to get pass your lackeys and my children. You have the tools, but you need to reflect on the best way to use them.”

“That pretty little thing…” Silenius muttered under his breath in frustration. “Well, it´s a draft. We can work from there.”

Though he rolled his eyes, Grogar was at least glad that he was willing to work on it.

“What about you, Hydia?” Grogar turned to Hydia.

Hydia smugly put her hair backwards.

“Right.” she joined her palms together after clearing her throat. “First of all, it´s most likely that the Wind Warrior´s next destiny´s my kingdom. I calculate that either she´s left Trottingham already or will do so soon. So, my plan is to send troops on the way to Trottingham, but before doing so I was hoping that my dear fellow Silenius could capture Majesty, her army and the Wind Warrior´s gang so we could separate her, and then capture her. I believe the reason she has prevailed it´s because she was accompanied.”

Although Grogar didn´t have much faith on Hydia succeeding, he had to admit that her observation was quite clever. He may not trust females, but the emperor was wise enough to recognize skills that could be of use to him. And as the saying goes, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. If left unchecked, that potential could turn against him at any moment, which is exactly what happened with Gusty. That was why he kept Katrina and Hydia. With the help of dark spirits and the potion gifted to her, she used to be good at keeping the ponies under submission, whereas Hydia, who despite having more limited powers, was incredibly intelligent and cunning.

“That´s indeed correct.” Grogar agreed with her. “As powerful as she is, she was never alone on those victories. She had support from some of Majesty´s soldiers, as well as the earth ponies. And now they´re back with Majesty and the rest of her army. Something must be done about that.”

Draggle leveraged the talk about Gusty´s allies to tell him about Starswirl.

“Not only Majesty´s soldiers and the earth ponies.” she voiced.

Every creature in the room turned to her.

“Draggle!” Hydia scolded her in a mumble. “Quiet!” she ordered her while making a zip gesture.

“No, let her speak.” Grogar commanded her. “What do you mean by that, lass?”

“Remember those hermits that stole and kept from you books on unicorn magic? Apparently, one of them survived. And from Gaueko told us, he was with Gusty and her group.”

Grogar widened his eyes in surprise.

“What?” he said emotionless due to the shock.

“What you heard. And apparently, he´s not going anywhere. Gaueko mentioned that the Wind Warrior has him head over heels.”

Grogar snorted like an angry bull. It never failed, just when he thought Gusty couldn´t make things worse for him, she always somehow found a new way to do so. And on top of that, she had joined forces with a new serious threat. Those idiots! How could they have missed him?! Meanwhile, Bray slid his hooves through his face.

“I hate this mare so much…” the donkey muttered in frustration.

“Wow!” Silenius exclaimed in a nervous chuckle. “Pretty little thing sure knows how to make strategic alliances, huh!”

“STOP CALLING HER THAT!” Grogar shouted at him, causing Silenius to flinch back.

“Don´t worry, sire.” he raised his palms in the air in defence. “I´m just being sarcastic. Plus, one can appreciate other´s beauty without being completely captivated.”

“What should we do about him, my emperor?” Reeka asked.

“Well, destroy him! Isn´t that obvious?!” the emperor replied upset.

“Yes, Reeka. What a stupid question.” Hydia remarked snidely.

“I just wanted to divert his attention back to the plan!” Reeka replicated. “It wasn´t a literal question! Haven´t any of you heard about-”

“SILENCE!” Grogar stomped his hoof on the floor, and then the two hooves on the table. “This is what you´re going to do. Hydia, you´re assigned with capturing Gusty.”

“HA!” Hydia cackled victoriously while smacking the table pointing a taunting finger at Silenius.

“What?! Why her?” Silenius complained.

“Because one, she has a clear plan. Two, she has more resources. Three, you have captured pegasi rebels and slaves and let´s not forget Gusty´s husband was a pegasus. Making an alliance with them will be easier for her than with the earth ponies. However, although my main concern is the Wind Warrior, that doesn´t mean the other agents involved are of less importance, especially now that we have one that knows too much. That´s when you come in. I assign you to get rid of that cleric and the soldiers closest to her. And have Majesty watch before bringing her to me. However, you may not do it as you please. I know you love making a show out of the torture and killing ponies, but this time you´ll have to kill them in the spot.”

“So you´re telling me I´m not getting the Wind Warrior and you´re not letting me have fun with her followers? How is this any fair?!” Silenius complained, but quickly changed his attitude when he saw Grogar scowling at him. “I mean.” he cleared his throat. “Yes, sire.” he elevated his hand to his forehead.

“As for you, Hydia, you can torture the Wind Warrior all you want to weaken her but do not under any means kill her. That is my business.”

“No problem, my emperor.”

“And keep your daughters under control by any means. I don´t want them to mess up such important manners.”

Both Grogar and Hydia threw the two troggles a menacing frown, causing a chill to run through their backs.

“I´ll do my best, my emperor.”

“I don´t want you to do your best, I want you to just do your job as a mother.”

“With all due respect, sire, it´s clearly noticeable that you haven´t gone through the hardships of raising children, even if you´re the Father of Monsters. You just mix animals and create a monster that does everything you say, and you let it roam free. I, on the other hand, am stuck with these two good-for-nothings.” she pointed at her daughters, who crossed their arms offended. “I´d like you try have them as your daughters, I bet you wouldn´t even last a second. They´re the most difficult children of existence!”

Grogar and Bray shared unimpressed glances. Draggle and Reeka may not be the smartest creatures in the world, and their bickering was definitely pestering. But they were nothing compared to a child with limitless and so strange magic that even the emperor himself couldn´t comprehend, combined with such a disordered mind and much younger age. Hydia would not even last a nanosecond with Discord.

“Oh, believe me, I would.” Grogar replied back. “How else do you think I´ve put up with you four for so long?”

Hydia widened her eyes, realizing her mistake. She grabbed her hands and looked down, clearing her throat. Silenius, the other subject that insult was directed to, pressed his lips. Even Draggle and Reeka felt the sting of those words. Bray repressed a laugh by covering his mouth.

“Forget I said anything, my emperor.” Hydia rectified.

“That´s better. Meeting´s over but remember: Fail and you´ll pay the consequences. If not by the Wind Warrior´s hoof, then by mine.”

“Yes, my emperor, we won´t let you down.” Silenius bowed down while crossing his fingers behind his back, gesture which Reeka noticed.

“What a scoundrel!” she muttered full of despise after gasping.

“Now, go. Time is against us.” said Grogar.

“Your majesty.” Hydia bowed along her daughters. “Move you idiots!” she smacked the back of their heads, since they were still bowing by the time she had started walking away.

Draggle and Reeka frowned at each other while massaging the spot they were hit at.

“This is your fault.” Draggle accused her sister.

“My fault?!” Reeka asked defensively.

“You were nearest mom; how did you not realize?” Draggle contended while following their mother.

“What kind of argument is that?!”

Much for Grogar´s and Bray´s luck, the sound of closing gates muted the two sisters´ arguments. And once they were the only creatures inside, the room was filled with peace and quiet.

“They´re going to fight each other, aren´t they?” Bray asked Grogar, untrusting of the lord and lady.

Grogar nodded quietly.

“It´s a pity because if they were willing to collaborate with each other, you could save a lot of work.” opined Bray.

“They´re too self-absorbed to do so.” Grogar said in response while getting up from his seat. “They´re always fighting to gain more territories or power over the other and spying on each other. We both could tell a thousand miles away this was going to happen. So, why not use that to our advantage?”

Bray turned his head to the window, walking towards it afterwards.

“Let´s hope them fighting each other to get Gusty gives you enough time to execute your backup plan.” he said to Grogar, who joined him by his side.

“Trust me. Knowing them for a long time has allowed me to know their thought and strategy patterns. And Gusty loves making things difficult. There will be plenty of time. Plus, there are monsters working to get her for me, as well. Hydia and Silenius might find a way to outsmart them, but they shall keep them busy for a while.”

“What do you think they´ll be scheming on their way home?” Bray arched an eyebrow in curiosity

Grogar smirked at his closest assistant before responding.

“This is outrageous!” Silenius yelled indignant. “How could Grogar leave the Wind Warrior in hands of an old potion-making hag!”

He threw a cup against the wall, forcing his two companions to duck. It was a miracle none of them were hit, since the basterna was a small space. Only a few drops of wine spilled over their bodies.

Unlike Silenius, they weren´t satyrs. Instead, they were part of a species named imps. These creatures had horns at both sides, a feature shared with satyrs, but that was where the similarities ended. Firstly, imps were notably shorter than satyrs, and the average observer would say uglier even, with faces that seemed to be masks for a horror carnival festival. Instead of fur, they had scales. Their tails´ tip was of a stabbing triangular shape. And often times, they had wings. These two were no exception.

“Well, you know how Grogar is, sir.” the indigo imp told him. “He favours magic users.”

“What magic? Without any spell, I´ve been able to capture and enslave thousands of pegasi and keep them at bay. Why wouldn´t I be able to do so with the Wind Warrior?!”

“To be fair, the Wind Warrior is a unicorn, not a pegasus.” said the dark red imp. “And we all know magic can only be defeated by magic. So maybe that´s why-”

“Don´t you think I know that?!” Silenius asked aggressively. “Of course I wasn´t going to her empty handed. Do you think I´m stupid by any chance?!”

The two imps shared nervous glances before answering.

“No…”

“Good, because believe it or not, I know what I´m doing.” he threw them a scroll.

The imps picked up the scroll and examined it.

“These are Grogar´s monsters.” the indigo imp stated while pointing at the drawings of various monsters.

“You don´t say…” Silenius replied sarcastically.

“But do they have the same magical abilities as unicorns and Grogar?” the dark red imp asked confused. “Because I don´t remember them doing anything of that with the pegasi.”

“NO, YOU IDIOTS!” Silenius yelled at them. “They can´t do the same spells and even if they had the ability, the lack the intelligence. However, that doesn´t mean they´re not useful against unicorns. A manticore, for example, has a venomous tail, which could be useful to kill the unicorns.” he put a finger over the drawing of the manticore, doing the same for every monster on the paper. “So can the bugbear. A cockatrice can turn them to stone. And the hydra can perfectly eat them! So what would happen if you put them all against them?”

“Uuuh…. Now that´s a brilliant plan!” the indigo imp exclaimed.

“Of course it is, Aeneas.” Silenius said to him.

“And where would you attack them?” the other imp asked him.

“Excellent question, Midas.” Silenius took out a map. “Right now, the Wind Warrior and company find themselves at Trottingham, right?” he pointed at Trottingham at the map. “And our domains are right here.” he put his finger on a land that according to the map was named Faunus Lustrum. “Now, as you can see our kingdoms are apart, but monsters spread quickly throughout the empire like the plague. So, the sooner we get home, the sooner the monsters can spread and get the Wind Warrior before Hydia does.” Silenius widened his eyes in realization. “Speaking of which…”

He peeked his head from the window and yelled at the driver of the basterna, who was a purple male pegasus.

“Why is this thing going so slow?!”

The pegasus´ face fell flat while sighing.

“We´re going as fast as we can sir. You must understand that weight slows a pegasi flight considerably, so we cannot go at a higher speed, with all due respect.” he stated.

“Please! As if that was an excuse!”

“It actually kind of is.” the pegasus muttered under his breath.

Silenius gasped at the comment.

“Do you realize how you´re speaking to your superior?”

“Honestly, I don´t get paid enough to care.”

“You´re not supposed to get paid, you fool! You´re a slave! What´s happening is that you´re not up for the task! Maybe a little discipline will remind you so.” he smiled maliciously while taking out a whip.

The pegasus closed his eyes, waiting with horror for a burning sensation on his back. Surprisingly, and much for his fortune, the sensation didn´t come.

“Yeah! Let´s make the pegasus fly faster by inducing pain in his back and his wings! Such a great idea.” a female raspy voice said sarcastically from behind.

Silenius turned his head back and snarled at the back driver of the basterna, who was responsible of delivering such remark. She was a blue maned pink pegasus, and just like her partner in the front, she wasn´t happy in the slightest.

“Ha, ha. Very funny, sweetheart.” he replied with the same level of sarcasm. “Need I to remind you that you are our prisoner? Your dear rebel friends aren´t here to protect you! And you should be grateful to me for not having cut your head in the spot. But that doesn´t mean I have decided that you will live. So, if you appreciate your life, you should shut your mouth.”

The pink pegasus snorted defiantly.

“Don´t look at me like that! You´re the one who decided to sacrifice herself to free the back driver on the way to the capital and gave herself so her friends could escape!”

“Yes, exactly!” Midas agreed.

“Face the consequences!” Aeneas added.

“Okay, okay. No need to overdo it.” Silenius pushed them back inside by their heads.

The pink pegasus chuckled.

“You are a fool if you think I value my life so little to care about your opinion.”

“Well said!” the purple pegasus encouraged her.

“Shut up slave!” Silenius ordered him before turning back to the female pegasus. “Fine, have it your way. But I´ll warn you, I´ll kill your beloved friends before I kill you so you see the consequences of your own actions.”

“Whatever you say…” she mumbled.

“Keep laughing. We´ll see who laughs when your sentence comes.” Silenius said before getting back inside.

The purple pegasus stared estranged at the pink pegasus´, wondering how she could have such relaxed attitude. The mare winked an eye at him and showed him the stones she was hiding at her tail. She smirked when she saw his surprised expression.

Suddenly, Silenius and his servants heard metal clashing, coming from behind, but before they could react, the back of the basterna fell down, impacting on Silenius´ lower back. Aeneas and Midas gasped horrified.

“Are you alright, sir?” Aeneas asked him.

“What was that?” Midas wondered aloud.

Seconds after, the metal clashing sound could be heard again, although this time it came from the front. Seconds later, the front of the basterna fell, causing the two imps to bounce off their seats, and have their horns pinned to the ceiling. Immediately, they struggled to get unstuck.

Due to the intense sharp pain on his lower back, Silenius was unable to move for some time, However, he was able to see what was happening outside the basterna. As suspected, the pink pegasus somehow managed to free herself from the harness and then free the other pegasus.

“NO!” he exclaimed frustrated.

For his misfortune, by the time he could move again, the pegasi were already soaring in the sky, or at least only the pink one, since she seemed to be grabbing the other´s hoof.

“Get them you idiots!” Silenius grabbed his servants with a firm grasped and pulled them down, freeing them from the ceiling. After wards, he tossed them to the air.

“Yes, sir!” Aeneas exclaimed.

They flapped their wings with all their strength and at maximum speed, but they were only able to lift themselves a few inches from the ground and at the pace of a turtle.

“Urgh…. Give us a minute…” Midas said to Silenius as he and Aeneas were panting, grunting and sweating.

Naturally, they were not able to catch up to them. Not a minute had they passed aloft, and they already dropped back to the ground in exhaustion.

“Water… Please…” Aeneas plead with a muffled voice.

Silenius walked to them with a scowl on his face.

“Oh right. Sometimes I forget that despite having wings, YOU´RE USELESS FOR FLYING!” he yelled at them. “Seriously, why do you even have these?!” he grabbed Midas´ wing and shook him hard. “AND WHY ARE THEY SO SMALL FOR YOUR BODIES?!”

“I don´t know sir, we didn´t choose them to be like these!” Midas replied dizzy.

“Well, no matter.” Silenius carelessly dropped Midas. “We still have other means of transportation. And also for capturing criminals.” he said while searching for something in his pocket.

He took out a whistle with the shape of what appear to be a creature half-bear half-bee. He took a deep breath and blew it twice. Just like its looks, the sound the whistle emitted was also the combination of a bear and bee. A few seconds after blowing the whistle, two figures approached from the distance. Aeneas and Midas put their hands above their eyebrows to appreciate the figures with more detail. Quickly, they realized they were coming towards them. Yelling, they jump out of the creature´s way just before they could crash against them.

“Exactly, bugbears!” Silenius exclaimed excitedly. Seeing they had their stingers stuck on the ground, he pushed them forwards so they could get on fours. Then, in pride he leant on one of them.

“Excellent idea, sir! But uh… If we can use them for transport, how come we use the basterna and pegasi?”

“Because Grogar doesn´t like me using his beasts as transport. He might not feel an ounce of love for any creature, but he does feel a lot of pride for his creations.”

“Could that also be why he never rides them?” Midas speculated.

“No, it´s not. Bray accidentally slipped that he has vertigo when floating.”

“Really? Well, certainly not an advantage for being raised in the mountains.”

“Oh no, it´s no because of the heights, he just doesn´t like having his hooves floating for long, which it´s pretty instinctive. Think about it, in the mountains, floating for too much time means death! But he does like the heights of the mountains and has no problem jumping from a taller place to a lower one or climbing vertical walls.”

“That does make sense.”

“Ahem!” Silenius cleared his throat to bring his servants back to earth so they could help him up the bugbear.

“Oh! Right, sorry.” Aeneas apologized in his name and his friend´s.

They put their hands together and in front of each other’s so Silenius could step on them to get on the bugbear. Once he was up, he picked the two imps with his tail and sat them behind him.

“Okay, let´s see if this thing´s faster than those pegasi.” Silenius muttered under his breath. “Move, you beast!” he ordered the bugbear while slapping the back of its neck.

Naturally, but to the surprise of Silenius, the beast growled and stood on two legs, causing the satyr and the imps to fall. They groaned in pain and rubbed their backs.

“Ah right… I forgot this one is roaming free, and ergo undomesticated.” Silenius massaged the space between his eyebrows. “This is going to take longer than I thought.”

“Oh no, that´s bad!” Midas exclaimed panicked. “The less time for us, the more advantage to Hydia. What if she gets to her first?”

“That hag? HA! Please, she has a longer trip than us by a lot. Plus, I don´t think she suspected a thing.”

“Of course I know he´s planning to take the Wind Warrior from me! Do you think I´m stupid?!” Hydia asked offended to Reeka.

“No, no!” Reeka shook her hands. “It´s just I was the only one to notice him crossing his fingers behind his back.”

“One does not need him to do that to know he was lying the entire time, genius.” Draggle said to her sister.

“Oh, well excuuuuse me Miss Smarty Pants.” Reeka said sarcastically in response.

“QUIET!” Hydia yelled, causing her daughters to freeze in fear. “Haven´t you two ridiculed me enough today?!”

The two troggles looked down in shame.

“Sorry mother.” they said in chorus.

“Right now, you can´t afford to being stupid or messing things up. You heard what Grogar said, she´s a serious threat. One slip and she destroys us! That´s why when we get home you´ll train all day long with no rest until you get all the spells and formulas right. It´s due time you showed me giving you birth wasn´t a mistake.”

Reeka and Draggle looked at each other nervously.

“Um… While very important, of course,” Reeka put her palms together as she looked away in thought. “There´s still something else that worries me.”

Draggle raised her eyebrow confused, unsure of what her sister meant.

“What is it?” Hydia asked threateningly and dryly.

Her mother´s glare caused Reeka to contract her chest and to clench her teeth. Even Draggle felt intimidated, despite not being the recipient of that death stare. Reeka chuckled weakly.

“Well… I-It´s just that Silenius is closer to his domains than we are, since y-you know: Faunus Lustrum is nearer the capital than Coltlogne is. Meaning he could reach Gusty sooner.”

She smiled nervously at Draggle, who subtly smiled and winked at her in approval.

“Hm… That´s not a problem, child.” Hydia smirked confidently.

Draggle and Reeka stared surprised at her mother.

“B-But we still need to get home to send soldiers.” said Draggle confused.

“Darling, don´t you think I´ve done that already?”

“I don´t understand.” said Reeka.

“Of course you don´t, you never do.”

“Okay, so what you´re saying is that you sent troops to search for her throughout the entire empire?” theorized Draggle. “But we need them around the castle so we can defend ourselves should the Wind Warrior attack, right? Also, wouldn´t that be too obvious for Silenius, Crunch and Katrina?”

“I know the rules of the game, Draggle.” Hydia raised her hand. “I know that´s not a good idea, which is I haven´t done that. But luckily, I have a friend who lives in an intersection between the four kingdoms, so he knows what´s happening in each of them. So, I asked him to go for her when possible.”

“Huh. Very well thought.” Reeka said in admiration.

“Yes, but there´s still a possibility that he could come across Silenius.” Draggle pointed out. “I´m not worried about him and his soldiers, troggles can perfectly deal with them, but what about Grogar´s monsters?”

“I counted on that too. Firstly, let´s just say that Silenius is not the only one to have studied monsters deeply and know their weaknesses.”

Hydia took out a bag, opened it and showed the inside to her daughters. The bag contained a series of plants and magical chemicals.

“Let´s revise girls, what magical properties do these materials have?” Hydia asked them with a smirk.

“Ooof…” Draggle puffed, putting her hand on her forehead, struggling to remember her notes.

Contrarily, Reeka didn´t seem to find the task difficult.

“Oh, oh! I remember those, I could practically name all of them! But to make things shorter, some of these are powerful explosive and many of these are powerful tranquilizers, even poisonous if the dosage is too high….” Reeka said the last sentence in realization. “Wow, you´ve really thought of everything.”

Hydia nodded.

“Okay, but have you given those to them?”

“Not yet, sweetie.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Besides, who is this friend you speak of?”

Suddenly, the carriage they were on stopped. Puzzled, Draggle and Reeka looked through the windows, trying to understand what was happening. They prepared to defend themselves when they saw a hooded creature in the distance, but Hydia calmly raised her hand. When the mysterious comer was close enough, he knelt.

“Good to see you, Crimson.”

“The honour is mine, ma´am.” the creature named Crimson said in return.

He pulled down his hood, allowing Draggle and Reeka to observe his features. Like them, he was a troggle. His coat was of dark red, giving him his name, and had his hair and bushy beard were greyish.

“Girls, I´d like to meet you Crimson. He´s a baron that apart from living near the other three kingdoms, he also happens to be the best weapon against the Wind Warrior.”

Crimson snorted.

“Little Gusty never stopped being trouble. To the point that now she´s persecuted by the state and has been given an alias.”

“Wait, you know her name?” Reeka said surprised.

“How come?” Draggle arched an eyebrow curious.

“Let´s say I have history with her.” he replied while searching for something in his pocket. “Plenty, in fact.”

He took out and showed to the three troggles an old, worn and broken dark blue feather. Draggle and Reeka gasped in shock, whereas Hydia observed the feather with a smirk.

“Hold up, hold up. You´re telling me that the Wind Warrior killed Crunch?!” Enki asked shocked to Drog and Thalia.

The two troggles nodded energetically.

“Exactly as you heard.” Thalia confirmed.

Acher and Yrsa stared shocked at the two troggles. Isis´ jaw hung wide open while covering Oak´s ears, since she felt that the story had got too violent for her little son to hear. Though also surprised, he was also staring angrily at his mother for depriving him of what could possibly be juicy details about the story.

“Oh, my goodness…” Acher said in a mixture of admiration and fear while rubbing his hand from his temple to his cheek.

“Well, more like defeated. I don´t think she´s the one stabbed Crunch. I suspect it was either Majesty or Sarama.” said Drog nervously.

“You cannot be sure about that, Drog.” Yrsa said panicked.

“But she took a moment to listen to cats and diamond dogs and was merciful.” Drog replicated.

“And like I said before, she didn´t have history with history with them. It´s not the same, Drog.”

Drog looked down. Although he had tremendous faith in Gusty and wanted nothing more than for her to succeed so his kind could stop hurting ponies and not depend on Grogar anymore, he also didn´t want to bring doom to his whole species. He slowly got on his knees while sighing.

“You´re right, Yrsa. Maybe we´re doomed no matter what.”

Seeing Drog sad motivated Oak to brainstorm ideas.

“What if we do something for her?” he suggested innocently. “Maybe that way she realizes that not all troggles are bad and doesn´t exterminate all our kind.”

Every troggle stared at him. Then, they looked at each other.

“Well, it´s not that bad of an idea.” said Thalia. “Risky, but it could work.”

“I agree, but in order to pull that off, we would need to be a big number of troggles against Grogar. And as far as I´m concerned, we´re only seven.” Acher pointed out.

“To be fair, it´s probably because we´ve never really tried to blend in with the other troggles. Well, with the exception of Yrsa.” said Isis.

“But that´s because they won´t let us in!” Enki complained. “Every time, I try to approach another troggle they laugh at me because I´m not as tough as them.”

Yrsa sighed.

“No, it´s all my fault. Unlike you, I can influence them, but it´s too dangerous because I´m in Grogar´s sights. He would notice everything.”

Oak tapped his index fingers together.

“Well... Maybe we have it easier now. Although I cannot blend in, I am a good listener and while there are many, many, many troggles that support Grogar, there are also many that are complaining about work conditions.”

“He´s right.” said Yrsa. “I have had many guards complain to me for that.”

Acher and Isis looked proudly at their son. The latter picked him up in a hug and the other rubbed his hair.

“Oh, you little genius!” Isis said while squeezing her son, almost causing to dart his eyes out.

“Ah, there´s our chance to convince troggles to join us!” Drog got up in excitement. He jumped with his palms together. “But we´ll have to be very careful with who we talk to. We must be on our five senses to know who to trust and detect danger. Got it?”

Every troggle nodded.

“Well, we have half of a plan!” Drog exclaimed excited. “Now, what favour could be so big for her that we earn her trust?”

Suddenly, they heard the door opening in a big bang. Naturally, it came from none other than Bray.

“Well, well. What´s keeping you so interested that you´re cooped up here isolated?” he asked with a subtle accusation tone. “Oh! You two are not giving your friends a preview of the gossip, are you?” he asked Drog and Thalia.

“Nooo! Why would you ever think that?” Thalia tried to play dumb, but her delivery was too obvious.

Bray raised an eyebrow unconvinced and unimpressed.

“You really should get some acting classes.” Enki uttered to her.

“Oh yes, indeed.” Bray straight out agreed with him, he cleared his throat. “But before I scold you, I need you to answer me a question” he pointed at Isis.

“Me?” she asked surprised. “Well…. Okay.”

“Isis, if any creature captured your dear child, how would you react? I mean, obviously you´d be angry and rightfully so, but would it be yelling anger or would it be beastly rage to the point that you would kill that creature?”

“The second, definitely! No creature messes with my child.” she caressed Oak´s cheek.

“Oh boy…” Bray bit his lip.

“What´s going on, Bray?” asked Yrsa.

Bray chuckled nervously.

“Let´s just say that Grogar is intending on using Gusty´s daughters as hostages…”

The troggles widened their eyes and opened their mouths, not emitting a single sound. Thalia´s nervous laughter broke the silence.

“Wh- What-What-What? What-What are you talking about?” Thalia managed to ask.

“I´m talking about ponynapping, Thalia.”

Drog and Yrsa covered their mouths. The other troggles looked at each other.

“Now, now, alright, I know that sounds bad.”

“Bray, tha-that is really bad.” said Enki.

“B-But she´s not like Majesty.” Bray laughed nervously. “It´s like Drog said before, she´s not bloodthirsty.” he looked at Drog, asking him for support.

“Bray, didn´t you hear what I just said?” Isis said firmly. “Mothers will go rogue when it comes to their kids. And this case is worse than Majesty´s, because Gusty does have a chance to save her babies.”

“But… Maybe it works and gives herself up?”

“There´s a chance, but you know how temperamental Gusty is…” Yrsa reminded him.

Bray sighed defeated.

“Who am I kidding? This plan is just-”

“Insane?” Drog finished his sentence.

Bray gasped.

“RIGHT!” he exclaimed, smacking the floor so hard that the troggles jumped backwards scared. “I knew you´d feel the same, that´s why I came to you. You´re the only ones that don´t blindly agree everything to what Grogar says.”

The troggles widened their eyes, afraid that they had just been discovered.

“What do you mean with that?” Acher asked, but Bray ignored his question.

“It´s just this plan has all the potential to go so wrong.” the donkey continued speaking. “I think Grogar could even get really hurt by her. And Isis is right, he´s underestimating the danger of maternal instinct. Oh, we´re so doomed.” Bray put his hoof on his temple.

All the troggles looked at each other in fear. This plan raised things to a whole new level. While Bray was right in the possibility of her submitting or freezing due to her anxious nature, one could not ignore the internal rage she had inside after years of mistreatment. What´s worse, she had already lost somepony dear due to murder, she was not going to let it happen again, no matter what it took. However, for Drog, this also meant a chance. He widened his eyes and smiled when an idea appeared in his mind.

“What if we warned her?”

Every creature turned to him, staring at him like he was crazy.

“Excuse me. WHAT?!” Bray asked anxiously and angrily.

Angry, Yrsa started shaking her head at the same time she passed her hand through her neck, begging him to stop. However, Drog kept on explaining his idea.

“Well, maybe I didn´t use the right verb. More like threaten her. Like an ultimatum! Perhaps we could send her a messenger. If she knows beforehoof instead of once it´s done, maybe she´ll be more willing to cooperate and be more merciful with the emperor.”

After listening to Drog, Yrsa and the other troggles understood what he was really saying. Saving Gusty´s daughters was an excellent way to win her forgiveness.

“Yes! After all, mothers are also willing to sacrifice themselves for their little ones.” Isis said in agreement to reinforce Drog´s argument.

Bray scratched his chin in though.

“Hm… Well… That could work.” he said unsure.

Naturally, he didn´t trust them. Firstly, they were the odd ones out and were always separated from the other troggles. And secondly, like Grogar said they sympathised with Gusty. This was surely a decoy to help her. But at the same time, it was a good idea to either tell Gusty on time or to keep Gusty´s daughters away from Grogar. Unlike Grogar, Gusty wasn´t ruthless but there are limits you don´t want to cross.

“Okay fine. But it must be done once Grogar´s left, alright? Now, which one of you freaks volunteers?”

Bray´s question was hypothetical since he already intuited the answer. He and all the troggles were staring at the troggle that perhaps Gusty was the most familiar with: Drog.

“Oh boy…” he said nervously.

As much as he wanted to, Discord could barely kick, as he was squeezed in such a tiny and dark space. Although he was confined in his room and wanted to go out there, that need was a matter of life and death inside that board. Discord´s breathed so fast that he felt like he was running out of air. What´s worse, he couldn´t find Butterfly, which meant he was alone trapped in an extremely oppressing cage.

“I can´t breathe…” Discord panted while holding his chest. “Butterfly! Butterfly, where are you?” he called his friend. “Please, I need you!”

But no matter how much he yelled he had no answer. Calling for help was not effective either, no creature had responded to his pleas before. Discord had no way to know how much time he had spent trapped but even if it he had been inside the board just for a few seconds, to him each second felt like an entire eon. In fact, he started thinking he would spend the rest of his life there. Alone.

The hopelessness and suffocating environment caused Discord to break down in tears and freeze. He pulled down his ears.

“Make it stop. Please make it stop…” he begged.

But luckily, a miracle happened. A door finally opened, but Discord was too overwhelmed to notice so.

“Discord…” a gruff familiar voice called him.

Discord looked up and saw Grogar, who had a serene yet cold gaze.

“You can get out now. Your punishment is over.”

Discord quickly dried his tears and got out as fast as he could. He sat down in front of his creator.

“I-I´m sorry, it was an accident, I-I didn´t meant to happen-” Discord tried to apologize but Grogar interrupted him by raising his hoof.

“No need to. What´s done it´s done. And you made up for it.” Grogar told him.

Discord thought he was over crying but after hearing his father forgiving him, a new flow of tears hit him, and it was too strong to overcome. He threw himself to Grogar´s leg and hugged it.

“Please, don´t put me back there again! I´ll do anything, but please not the board again!” he begged in tears.

The hug caught Grogar by surprise. Yes, this was not the first time Discord tried to show affection to him by attempting to hug him, but he managed to stop it in time. This time, though happened too fast for him to react. Strangely, the hug felt really warm and cozy, two sensations he hadn´t felt for a long time. Come to think of it, he realized he hadn´t received a hug in years. And an unconscious instinct buried very deep within him wanted to return the hug.

However, panic built inside him really quick. Discord was making him have a moment of weakness. And perhaps that´s what he hated the most about him. Discord was a constant reminder for Grogar that he was fallible, like every other creature. No matter how much power he had or how great of a conqueror he was, he could still make mistakes. And with this hug, he discovered a more painful fact: he could still feel love for others and even remorse for hurting them.

No, he couldn´t let himself feel like that. Discord was fortunately and unfortunately at the same time just an innocent child, but if he could invoke in him those feelings and almost couldn´t resist them, imagine what a beautiful siren could accomplish.

“Of course, of course, I would stop using the board.” he told him with fake concern while patting his back. “But I´m afraid it is necessary, my boy.”

Discord looked at Grogar.

“This is what rebels do to a creature who´s different. And you know what´s worse? That it would be your fault for provoking them.”

Discord looked down sadly.

“I´m just preparing you for how the world is. Sooner or later, you´ll have to accept it.”

Grogar turned around to leave but Discord stopped him with a question.

“Father?”

“Hm?” Grogar turned his head to his son.

“Could you tell me more about the rebels? Like, do you know their names or how they work?”

Grogar looked away in thought, considering whether to answer him or not.

“I´m afraid she´ll be dealt with before you´re ready to serve me. So you don´t need to know that information.”

“Can you at least tell me when you´re leaving?”

“What´s with all the questions?!” Grogar lashed out, scowling in suspicion.

Discord stepped away from him. He lowered his ears.

“Sorry. It´s just you´re going to be away for a while and I just want to be more time with you before you go.”

Grogar sighed.

“You need to learn how to stop feeling affection for others, it´s only stopping you from getting to your potential. But to answer your question, I´ll be leaving the day after tomorrow at dawn.”

“Ok. Thank you.”

Grogar nodded.

“Goodbye, Discord.” he said before closing the door.

Once Grogar was gone, the young draconequus sighed and hugged his knees. In the meantime, Butterfly recovered conscience at the board. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Discord with a scroll. She flew to him and landed on his shoulder. Discord gasped when he saw his friend in good state.

“Butterfly! Oh, I thought you abandoned me! Why didn´t you answer me?!”

The butterfly raised an eyebrow confused.

“Wait you didn´t hear me? How couldn´t you, I was screaming!” he gasped in realization. “Oooh! You were unconscious…” Discord said with remorse, feeling bad for having yelled at her. “Sorry, I just have a lot in my plate right now.”

The butterfly shrugged.

“It´s just that I want to help my father, but I´m always doing it wrong! And because of that I can´t know what´s going on, but I can´t help but feel it´s very important for my father. He talked about rebels, but what else is there?!” he exclaimed frustrated. “I really wish I could be in the reunion room so I could know what gets discussed and know how to play the game my father´s playing. It´s the room where it all happens, and I got to be there.”

The butterfly tapped at her chin.

“What pieces of the puzzle do I have? Well… Like I said he talked about the rebels, and he panicked when I mentioned the Wind Warrior defeating Katrina.” he gasped in realization. “What if that Wind Warrior is a rebel my father´s worried about? It would explain all his behaviours and everything he´s been telling me.”

The butterfly nodded.

“Argh, and what if he comes back frustrated or tired and gets mad at me for not getting spells right and puts me back on the board?” Discord hugged his knees and swang nervously. “I wouldn´t want that!”

The butterfly looked sad at Discord and then shook her head indignant. She didn´t like how Grogar mistreated him and made him feel bad about himself. She might have known him for a short time, but she knew he deserved way better. She looked at the window, which gave her an idea. A tiny lightbulb appeared on her head, which Discord noticed. Butterfly darted her eyes at the window.

“Escape the castle? What´s the matter with you? What if he sees me outside the castle? Nah, I´d have to bring him the Wind Warrior for him to forgive him.”

Now, it was Discord who had a lightbulb on his head, gasping in realization.

“Wait a minute. That´s it! I´ll capture the Wind Warrior, bring it to him and he´ll finally see I´m worthy to fight for him and let me roam freely outside!” he hit his hand. “That´s the master plan! You´re a genius, girl. Now, let´s get prepared.” he said before running off.

Seeing he was getting too carried away, Butterfly stopped in front of him.

“Oh, right!” Discord laughed while massaging his forehead. “We have to wait until he leaves. Sorry, I´m just dying to go outside.” he closed his fists and shook them in excitement. “You´re coming too, right?”

Butterfly nodded before taking out a small scroll.

“Oh, you want to know the plan! Well, I still haven´t a certain one but I have thousands of ideas. Oh! We should also pack for our trip!”

As fast as a cheetah, Discord ran off once again. Butterfly shook her head playfully while watching Discord running from side to side looking for possible things to pack, as well as jumping from action to action. Getting Discord to focus and plan accordingly was going to be difficult but she knew it was going to be all worth it. She stared worriedly through the window when she noticed the Father of Monsters sitting the garden.

“Celestia and Luna, was it?” he thought aloud. “Your mother´s always talking wonders about you. I believe it´s due time I meet you both.” he cackled menacingly.

Author's Note

Grogar, sweetie... Go to therapy please.

Well, looks like the stakes are getting higher! I loved writing this chapter, I think it turned around pretty interesting. Also Grogar´s going be more present in the story from now on, which is going to make things more difficult and challenging for Gusty (and more fun to write for me, hehe).

Also last chapter of the year! I wanted to upload this either on Christmas Eve or Christmas day but I haven´t had time to finish it on those dates. It´s still tuqui-tuqui season though. So Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate and Happy New Year Everypony!

(Seriously, I can´t believe 2024 is almost over. How has your year been? Mine´s been about growth, I´ve made a lot of milestones and it´s been less stressing than last year. Let´s hope 2025 is nice to me too and lets me get a good job).

Chapter 1: Leaving for adventure

Author's Note

Huzzah everypony! Dianabel´s here to explain, I realize that this story is taking longer than I expected, so I decided to divide in smaller stories so it´s not too long. As always, I want to thank everyone who´s putting their time to read this story and their patience on the updating, which has been irregular lately. Your comments and ecouragement mean so much to me. That being said, enjoy the second part :twilightsmile:

Happy Easter and Passover by the way!

Chapter 1: Leaving for adventure

Very early in the morning as usual, Majesty lit candles for her husband and son. She breathed in a faster pace than usual, staring blankly at Lucky´s personal objects.

“Sorry for not talking much today.” she apologized. “It´s just…” she sighed. “Today is an important day because we´re leaving to resume the conquests. After all this time.” she chuckled slightly. “It´s going to be very difficult to step into another battle due to what happened in that fateful day.” she looked away and closed her eyes, whimpering at the memories. “But I must do it so your death is not in vain, my child.” she stroked the toy carefully. “And I also must fulfil the promise I made to my family: I´ll take back what´s ours and nothing will tear it down, no matter what I must sacrifice in the way.” she said as she got up.

Majesty looked at her parent´s portrait, most specifically at her father. Her ears dropped and her eyes were those of a foal with longing.

“Majesty!” a feminine and tender voice called her.

She widened her eyes and perked her ears up in surprise. She turned her head and saw a small filly giggling while running through the corridors, her mother following behind.

“Majesty, slow down.” the mare ordered to the filly.

“Sorry, mother.” the filly apologized. “But I can´t help it! I´m so full of energy and looking forward to play.”

“You´ll play with your dolls later.”

“I don´t want to play with the dolls. I want to run around.”

“I took you with me for a walk not for a run.”

Majesty walked to the door and peeked her head to keep sight of them.

“Stop it, you´re going to bump into somepony.”

Despite her mother´s warnings, the filly didn´t listen and ended up doing what her mother had predicted. Ashamed, she looked up at the pony she juts bumped her head against, who was none other than her huge and bearded father.

“Oh! Sorry father.”

“Hm!” the stallion rolled her eyes before he continued his walk.

The young Majesty´s stared disillusioned at her father. She looked down with a sigh.

“See? I told you you´d bump into somepony.” her mother scolded her as she checked she didn´t have any bumps. “Come on, let´s get you back to your room.”

“Why doesn´t father like me?” Majesty her mother.

The unicorn mare widened her eyes, shocked by the question.

“What?”

“Why doesn´t father like me?”

Majesty´s mother scoffed.

“Wha- Why would you say that?”

“I don´t know, he barely smiles or talks to me, or spends time with me. Have I done something to offend him?”

“Well, right now you just bumped into him to be fair. But as for other times, he´s just stressed due to Grogar, you know? But don´t worry, I´ll talk to him.” her mother kissed her cheek before she closed the bedroom´s door.

As it would happen to any other foal, curiosity got the best of young Majesty, so she opened her bedroom´s door and went to the corridor. Following her parents´ voice, she walked to the door they were behind and eavesdropped their conversation.

“I understand that she´s not the kind of child that you wanted. But she´s still your daughter. Show her some love.” her mother said to Majesty´s father.

“It´s not that simple, love.” the stallion replied. “Our dynasty is in danger of disappearing and we can´t afford to have a child that can´t inherit the throne.”

“I know, but she can still make an heir when she´s old enough.”

“But what if she can´t?”

“In that case, you´ll have to do an exception.”

The stallion scoffed.

“Really? You think she would be a suitable ruler?”

The mare pressed her lips.

“I know that due to our emotional nature we are not suitable rulers. But if we have no option left, I believe we should give her a chance.”

“She won´t grow into a strong colt! I am not making her my heir!”

“I´m sure we´ll find a solution in case she can´t bring foals to this world but let´s assume she does. She can still have a purpose.”

“She´s a filly. A filly! She won´t be of no use to me. So why bother?”

Young Majesty gasped hurt at those words. She ran to her room, holding her tears. Majesty looked at the filly with sympathy.

“Queen Majesty?” a voice asked.

The voice brought Majesty back to the present.

“Lancer! I didn´t see you.”

“Are you ok?” Lancer asked concerned.

“Yes, sorry it´s just I was lighting a candle for my husband and son as always, I remembered something and I lost track of time.”

“It´s ok. But I´ll inform you that we are ready to leave.”

“Good, tell them I´ll be there in a few minutes.”

Lancer raised a hoof in obedience and left. Majesty entered again to the room to pick up her son´s toy. She kissed it and she looked up to the sky.

“Well.” she sighed. “This is it. There is not turning back.”

She breathed in and out before joining the soldiers.

“Do you really have to leave? Again?” Luna asked Gusty.

Gusty sighed.

“I´m afraid so.”

“But you´ll come back, right?” Celestia asked in reply.

Gusty stayed silent. The truth was that she didn´t know. There was a high chance that she wouldn’t come back, and this would be the last time she saw her daughters. But saying that would be very hard for her daughters to digest. But lying didn´t feel ok either.

Seeing that there was no answer, Celestia sighed frustrated.

“Look, you knew this would happen. I don´t want to do this either but I have no choice.”

“I know but whenever we are together you have to leave again for a long time!” said Luna. “And worse, this time you might not come back for real.” her eyes filled with tears. “I don´t want to lose you too.” she hugged her.

“Me neither nye tikpe dawa. My small moon.” Gusty hugged Luna as she cried.

Celestia joined the hug as well, tears also in her face.

“And little light. Tang tikpe batti.” she stroked Celestia´s mane.

“Will you remember us?” Celestia asked Gusty.

“Of course! You´ll be in my head all the time. Why would you question that?”

“With all the fighting and everything, I don´t think you´ll have time to think about us. Besides, we cannot communicate because you won´t be able to visit.”

“Yeah, that´s a big problem.” Gusty agreed.

Glory, who was passing by, overheard the conversation.

“You can always write each other letters, you know?” she suggested.

“That´s a great idea! But we don´t know how to read or write that much…”

“I can help you!” Glory offered.

“You would?”

“Yeah! We´re going to be away for so long, you and your bonny lassies shouldn´t be deprived of communication.”

“But what about us?” Luna enquired.

“The unicorns that will take care of you are experts in reading and writing. They can help you with that.” she noticed Clover passing by with Galaxy. “Especially him.” she pointed at him.

Clover noticed Glory pointing at him.

“Why are you pointing at me?” he asked curiously.

“I was telling them that you were the best to teach them to read and write.”

“Of course!” he said with great pride. “Wait. Are you calling me a nerd?”

Glory held her laughter.

“You can also communicate with pictures, you know?” Galaxy suggested.

“That´s actually a pretty good idea!” Celestia commented.

“Thank you. Fizzy used to draw while telling me stories.”

“Of course I did!” Fizzy sprung out of nowhere, scaring Clover.

“Where did she come from?”

“Don´t question it, just get used to it.” Galaxy adviced him.

Fizzy hugged her sister very tightly. Though a bit uncomfortable by it, Galaxy smiled and hugged her sister back.

“I´m going to miss you so much! Take care ok?”

“You too! Don´t do anything stupid and pay attention to what´s happening, ok?” Galaxy said worried.

“Yes sister.” Fizzy gave her a huge kiss. “I love you cosa linda!”

“Me too hermana.” Galaxy held the urge to cry.

“Fizzy! Fizzy! Where are you?” Buttons looked for her.

“Here!” Fizzy raised her hoof so Buttons could see her.

Buttons sighed relief.

“Thank goodness! I thought you left on your own.”

“Why would you think that?” Fizzy asked naively.

Both Buttons and Galaxy raised their eyebrows at her.

“Ok, you´re right.”

Celestia and Luna looked at their mother. Gusty shrugged and started laughing, the fillies joining in her laughter.

Meanwhile, Lancer left the building. He stomped his hoof to get everypony´s attention.

“Attention everypony!” he called to everypony. “Queen Majesty will join us in brief moments. Is everypony ready?”

“Yes sir!” everypony replied as they raised their hooves.

Lancer nodded his head. Few moments later, Majesty joined Lancer. She looked at him and nodded.

“We´re leaving now.” she annunciated.

Everypony followed behind her. Gusty gave Celestia and Luna a tight hug and two big kisses.

“Take care. We´ll be fine.” she told them. “I´ll try to stay alive to come back in some months.”

Slowly, she let go of their hooves. Like everypony else, they waved hooves at each other as they separated. Clover watched with a proud smile how they left, only to change expression when he noticed Galaxy´s, Celestia´s and Luna´s worried and sad faces. He raised his eyebrow intrigued.

Gusty looked sad at the ground. As well as Luna said, she was reunited with her daughters only to be separated once again with a higher risk than last time. Very often she felt guilty for what was happening. She always loved hearing her magaga´s tales and imagined herself living the adventures she told her, breaking free from her boring hard life for a while, sometimes even wishing to live it in the real life. Oh, how naïve she was. Her younger self would have never imagined in a thousand years that she would be facing Grogar as an adult.

Noticing her feelings, Buttons put a comforting foreleg around her.

“Don´t worry. They´ll be ok.” she reassured her with a smile.

“I know they will. But what about us?”

“For that I have no answer. But in case we die, which I think it won´t happen even though it´s very likely but let´s stay positive, they´ll be in good hooves.”

“Yeah, that´s true. Unless Grogar takes them.”

“He won´t take them. He doesn´t even know where they are.”

“But what if he eventually knows and I´m not there to protect them?”

“Uh…”

“He could feed them to his monsters, he could torture them, oh I can´t even imagine what he would be capable of doing to them!” she held her temples.

As Gusty spoke, breezes were forming around her.

“Ooh!” Buttons exclaimed horrified when she noticed them. “Ok, ok, that´s enough. You´re starting to form wind.”

But Gusty didn´t listen to her.

“Why did I follow Clover? Why?!”

“Gusty!” Buttons raised her voice, this time getting her attention and stopping the breezes. “We´re going to breath in and out, ok?”

Imitating Buttons, Gusty breathed slowly, the breezes slowly disappearing.

“Feeling better?”

“Sort of.”

“Good. Now let´s take your mind out of it.”

“How?”

“Girls.” Fizzy interrupted the conversation. “Do you remember where we´re going now exactly?” she covered her mouth. “And whisper it so Lancer and Majesty don´t hear.”

Much for her misfortune, the two unicorns she didn´t want to hear her, heard her. They both sighed frustrated.

“Seriously? You´re on the way to war and you don´t know where you´re going?” Lancer angrily asked her.

Fizzy looked away. Gusty held her laughter. One important difference between spying and battling against Grogar, was that she wasn´t alone anymore. She didn´t have to hold secrets to protect others, as they were also in the same business who supported her and gave her some liveliness to the situation by comedic situations, mainly her absent-minded Fizzy.

“Ok, there are three main cities to reconquer to get Majesty´s kingdom back.” Glory explained to Fizzy in Lancer´s and Majesty´s places. One of them is Trottingham, which is now ruled by Crunch.”

“Who´s Crunch?”

“Crunch is an enormous dog made of stone. You have to be careful with him, otherwise he´ll petrify you. Gusty, I saw you entered once to Grogar´s reunion, did you see him?”

Gusty replayed the image in her mind. She remembered many different creatures, the clearest in her memory were Silenius and Katrina, as they interacted with her. Nonetheless, she remembered a creature that matched Glory´s description.

“Yeah, I think I saw him. But I didn´t interact with him.”

“Ok. Next one is Coltlogne, which is ruled by Hydia, a troggle that does spells with potions that she concocts in a cauldron.”

“That´s an advantage isn´t it? In attack we´ll be faster as she will be busy preparing potions.” Fizzy supposed.

“Don´t underestimate her, she´s very fast and powerful. But with a coordination between our actions, we might defeat her. Coming back to subject, the last one is the capital, Canterlot, which is ruled by Grogar.”

“Wait? Majesty´s kingdom´s capital is Tambelon´s capital?”

Glory and Gusty nodded.

“You knew this?” Fizzy asked Gusty.

“Yup. She told me while we were waiting for you.”

“And what was Majesty´s kingdom name?” Buttons asked curiously.

“Maragon.” Majesty answered with pride.

“Hm…” the three unicorns said in chorus, intrigued by Glory´s information.

“And right now, where are we heading?” Fizzy asked.

“Our first stop is Trottingham.” Glory replied.

Lancer stared at Glory, he smirked at her.

“What?” Glory asked Lancer.

“You know? I´m starting to realize that you´re kind like the walking encyclopaedia and mother hen of the soldiers.”

“And you´re kind of a tyrant.” Glory clapped back.

“But unlike Grogar, I have honour.”

“And is Trottingham very far?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Lancer replied.

“Oof…” Fizzy, Buttons and Gusty shared anxious looks.

“Don´t worry. We´ll tell you when we´re there.” Glory reassured them. “But you´ll need to be patient.”

“Don´t worry. I have lots of it!” Fizzy said with pride.

“Five minutes, and she´ll start asking if we´re there yet.” Buttons whispered in Gusty´s ear. Gusty held her laughter.

Just as she predicted, Fizzy started asking if they were near.

“Are we there yet?”

“No.” Lancer replied.

Fizzy repeated the same questions throughout many days of travel.

“Are we there yet?” Fizzy asked in a rainy day.

“Not yet.” Glory answered.

“Hey, are we there yet?” Fizzy asked in a snowy day.

“No…” Glory answered again, a bit frustrated but patient at the same time.

“Are we there yet?”

“No!” Majesty replied angry.

Although Buttons nor Gusty replied, they grew increasingly tired of Fizzy´s persistence in asking. The same could be said for the other soldiers.

“Are we there yet?”

“Yes.” Lancer replied.

“Really?”

“NO!”

“Are we there yet?”

“No!” Glory replied somewhat angry.

“Are we there yet?”

“No, we´re not!” Majesty replied fast-paced.

“Are we there yet?”

“NOOOOO!” Majesty, Lancer, Glory, Buttons and Gusty yelled at the same time.

“Are we there-”

“Fizzy, if you ask one of us are we there yet one more time, I will put you in your final destination.” Lancer warned her.

“WILL ANY OF YOU SHUT UP?!” Majesty stomped one of her hooves. “For who knows many days I´ve been putting up with your useless annoying blathering and we still have days of travel ahead of us! So for the love of all the kings and queens, STAY QUIET!”

Everypony stared at her scared. Gusty was both scared and surprised, as she thought that the angriest that Majesty had been in her life was when she messed up the spying mission.

“This can´t get any worse.” Majesty muttered.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, an ophiotaurus crept through some bushes and roared at them.

“I´m afraid it can.” Gusty said worried.

Chapter 22: A sheep in wolf´s clothing

“Guess no creature told you, you mess with the dog you get the pack.” Sarama told them while approaching them.

“Oh yeah?” Fizzy asked her in a challenging tone. “Well let me tell you something miss smart doggie; we also have a pack of our own! Wait, that´s not the word in our case, is it?” she wondered aloud. “But I remember papá calling us a manada, and manada is the same as pack. But I never heard ponies refer ourselves as a pack, they used another word!” she hit her forehead repeteadly as she tried to remember the word. “Aaaah, what was it?!”

Every dog, including Sarama raised their eyebrow confused as they heard her reasoning. Seeing her friend was entering in one of her rabbit holes, though she would rather call it tree branches since she usually ended up in a very different topic from the initial one but still connected according to her, Buttons decided to intercede for her friend.

“What she means is that we still have powerful friends with us and-”

“Oh, you don´t need to tell me.” Sarama interrupted her. “I already know that.”

With a smirk Sarama pointed at her right to make the ponies turn their heads that way. The other dogs made way for some more who coincidentally enough were bringing the captured earth ponies. The unicorns´ jaws hung wide open in horror. Knightshade and Magic Star laughed nervously, while the rest were looking down in embarrassment.

“Hi… It´s good to see you…” said Knightshade while slightly waving his hoof.

The unicorns turned back to Sarama with different expressions on their faces. Glory, Buttons and Starswirl stared at her with worry, whereas Gusty, Lancer and Fizzy were frowning at her.

“Right now, you have two options: Either you give yourselves to us without any fight or resisting. But I warn you, it´s not a good idea to fight having spears so near you, because the moment you move a muscle or ignite your horn the spear will have entered your body already.” said Sarama.

Both unicorns and earth ponies stared at each other, not knowing what to do next. But perhaps Gusty had the answer.

“What about a duel?”

Every pony and dog widened her eyes at her.

“Excuse me?” asked Lancer.

Sarama raised her eyebrow intrigued.

“I won´t use any magic, I promise.” Gusty continued to convince her. “I know it´s an advantage for me over you and it wouldn´t be fair to you. I´ll only use my sword.”

Sarama was genuinely surprised at those words. In spite of being her opponent and surely wanting to win, she still had consideration for her. Theoretically, those were the rules for war, but the moment any creature had the chance, they would break them. That showed her how naive she was. Either that or she was just trying to distract her. Even so, it was not a good idea to listen. Seeing she was still silent, Gusty kept on insisting.

“It is me who you want, right? Well, here´s the good part: either if I win or lose you´ll get me at the end of the day. But if I win, you´ll let my friends go.”

The ponies gasped shocked.

“What is she doing?!” Alonzo asked scared.

Glory reflected to herself. She knew Gusty was really creative in solving problems and getting out of jams, so perhaps this was just a distraction to make them go away and joining afterwards. But she was also willing to put herself in danger for others, which, as noble as it sounded, was not a good idea, considering she was key in defeating Grogar. Either way, she decided to carefully scan her surroundings to know what to do next, should the case require it. Curiously enough, she felt the presence of something underneath them.

Meanwhile, Sarama shook her head.

“The idea is very tempting, I must confess. But it would be a waste of time, especially in a situation so dire as this one.”

“If it was so dire, I don´t think King Crunch would have sent his main lapdog to stop it.”

“Ooooh!” Knightshade Magic Star, Fizzy and Buttons exclaimed quietly.

At the same time, Posey, Shady and Starswirl along some other dogs covered their mouths. The rest of ponies and dogs had their mouths hanging wide open. From the shock, the dogs softened their grip, something Glory noticed. Sarama, in the meantime, widened her eyes in shock. As a foredog, she had heard many insults, both from ponies and dogs alike. But Gusty did touch a fibre there.

“You don´t mean it…” she growled.

Taking advantage of the bigger distance between the spears and her and the dogs´ bewilderment, Gusty teleported right in front of Sarama.

“Oh, I do.” she frowned challengingly.

But her confidence would drop once Sarama trapped her horn between two sickles at great speed.

“Gusty!” Starswirl exclaimed worried.

Sarama chuckled satisfied when she saw Gusty´s expression. She knew she had trapped her at an impasse, because if she tried to resist anyhow, even if it was by magic, Sarama might dig the sickle blade deeper. But luckily, she had weapons by her side. As fast as Sarama had trapped her, Gusty caught her shield with her tail to hit her chest. As a result, she pushed her arms back, releasing Gusty and giving her enough time to get away. However, Sarama didn´t seem fazed. Instead, she masterfully moved her sickles in circles and frowned when grabbing them. That was her way of communicating Gusty she was not to be messed with. Nonetheless, Gusty was still determined to fight her. As a response, she caught her sword and pointed it to her. Sarama giggled.

“This is gonna be fun.” she said with a smirk, making her sickles spin in circles once again.

They both ran to each other and jumped when their swords clashed, swapping their positions. Then, Gusty fought Sarama with her sword. Noticing the dogs were about to join the fight, Glory raised some tall crystals to create a barrier between Gusty and Sarama and the rest of dogs and ponies. Then, she summoned a force field around herself and the rest of the unicorns.

“Oh. A protective magical field. Would have really appreciated to have been invited.” said Magic Star with irony.

Since so much had happened in such a short period of time, the dogs that weren´t circling the earth ponies stayed still, not so sure what to do next. Luckily for them, Argus had an idea. He ran to the crystals and started breaking them with his spears.

“Come on, Sarama needs us!” Argus spurred them on.

Though confused at first, they ended up joining him. Meanwhile inside Glory´s force field, the unicorns stared at her work in surprise and awe as she panted heavily. Except Starswirl, whose priority right then was Gusty.

“Wai-Bu- What about Gusty?” Starswirl asked concerned and confused.

“Don´t worry, we´ll aid her immediately but we need to coordinate well.” Glory answered to him.

“Hm… Not to undermine your work or anything but the dogs are destroying it.” Buttons pointed out. “So whatever your plan is you´d better say it quickly.”

“Some of us need to teleport away to get Majesty and the rest need to stay here to keep the dogs away from Gusty.”

“Right!” Lancer put his hoof in front of his forehead. “You and Starswirl come with me. Buttons, Fizzy you stay here with Alonzo, Knightshade and Magic Star to deal with the dogs.”

“Aye!” Buttons and Fizzy imitated his gesture in response.

“Wait, me?” Starswirl asked confused. “But why?”

“Because you´re the only one that can read any language.” Lancer explained. “I mean, the documents you reviewed back at the monastery can´t have all been in pony latin.”

“Well, that´s true, but…” Starswirl turned his eyes to Gusty.

“The best way you can help her is by infiltrating in the library to see if there´s anything about Crunch´s vulnerable spot. You´ll save her a lot of work.”

After listening Lancer´s words, Starswirl changed his mind. Gusty needed to have some mental energy left for Crunch, and she was investing it in fighting Sarama. He nodded to Lancer, who nodded back with a confident smirk.

“On the count to three…” said Glory as the three unicorns prepared to cast the teleporting spell. “One…”

“Two…” Starwirl followed the count after puffing nervously.

“THREE!” Lancer exclaimed before the unicorns disappeared at the same time.

Lancer and Glory reappeared at the stairs, making them growl in frustration. The height of the crystals complicated aiming at them with arrows, not because they couldn´t trespass it but because they risked hurting Sarama. The earth ponies stared impressed.

“You know what? I´m fine with being an earth pony, but at times like this, I really wish I could do what they can do.” Shady said to Posey, who nodded in agreement.

Just after she said that Starswirl appeared right next to them.

“GAH!” Shady hugged Posey.

“I need you to come with me!” he exclaimed fast paced.

Before any of them could ask, Starswirl had already teleported them and himself to the stairs to avoid being attacked by the dogs. Then, they started to run upstairs like Lancer and Glory.

“What the?” the dogs stayed puzzled.

Alonzo, Knightshade and Magic Star took advantage of their shock to attack.

“EN GUARDE!” exclaimed Alonzo.

Sarama noticed them running away while fighting Gusty. Her ears perked up.

“Oh, you´re not going anywhere…” she frowned.

Gusty teleported to her front.

“First you´ll have to go through me.”

Sarama clenched her teeth and came back to combat. Though Gusty had the advantage of magic, she felt like her combat abilities were being put to the test. Sarama struck her sword with such speed that Gusty didn´t even have time to blink nor think. Normally, the main weapon she relied on was her wind and magic but at times like these she was grateful to Majesty and Lancer for having taught her on how to use a sword, since sometimes it was the quickest protection.

“Please, inform us when you do that next time.” Shady said with clenched teeth to Starswirl as they ran upstairs.

Starswirl smiled apologetically.

“I´m so sorry, but it´s urgent. You see I need you to accompany in search of some information about Crunch´s weak spot.”

“So you wanna sneak into the library…” Posey raised her eyebrow playfully. “Good thing that you leant on a castle sneaking expert.”

“You want us to accompany you to the library? But we don´t know how to read!” Shady noted.

“Well, I can a little.” Posey clarified. “Being a spy for your master has its learnings, you know?”

“Okay, but that doesn´t change the fact that I don´t know how to read. How will I help you then?”

“Well, books are often accompanied by pictures.” Starswirl informed her. “You can guide by those to know what it´s about.”

“Really? That´s great! But now that I think about it, if it comes to it, we could capture some guardians and interrogate them!” proposed Shady.

“Geeze, somepony has so much repressed anger.” Lancer joined the conversation.

“You have no idea…” Shady said in return.

He gave her a playful smile. Meanwhile, Glory had her horn ignited, searching for any sign of the guardian dog at the dungeon´s necklace. She gasped when her light shone brighter.

“We´re close!” she informed Lancer.

“Oh, that´s so good to hear!” Lancer exclaimed relief.

“Yeah, but I´m afraid we might have some company…” Posey lamented worriedly before biting her lip.

Everypony widened their eyes and braked when they saw a pair diamond dogs. Apparently, they were just as surprised as the ponies were, which meant they were on land the entire time and had no clue of what was happening down at the mines. Unluckily, these dogs had good reflexes, so one of them drew her sword and attacked immediately and the other howled for more help before joining. Lancer and Glory jumped to the defence. Starswirl covered Shady and Posey and walked away. However, the situation wasn´t as dangerous as it seemed.

First of all, the staircase was the spiral kind, which meant that the space between the walls was very narrow. In fact, that was the reasons the ponies advanced one behind the other. Thus, swinging a sword on such tiny space was not an easy task. So, when the dog swang her sword she accidentally nailed on the wall. Realizing the mistake she had done, she covered his mouth, but she immediately started pulling out. Granted, it was a sword on a brick of stone…

“Grr! Why- Argh! Are these stairs- ugh! So narrow?!” she wondered aloud frustration in her struggle of getting out the sword.

Quickly, the ponies leveraged the mishap to pass them by teleporting. To make sure they couldn´t pursue them, or at least be on advantage, Glory conjured up a crystal to block their way up.

“You idiot!” the other dog insulted his fellow soldier as he broke the crystal with his sword.

“Help me out brother!” his sister implored him.

The brother sighed after rolling his eyes.

“Just so you know, if you weren´t my sister I would have left you right there. But I´ll admit I had to debate it.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

“Huh! This might be easier than I thought.” said Shady.

“I wouldn´t sing victory just yet…” Posey advised her while pointing upstairs.

In just a matter of seconds, many dogs running downstairs and blocked their way.

“What do we do now?” Shady asked Starswirl.

Starswirl winked while thinking on a solution.

“Okay, time for a magic spell!” he said while hugging both Shady and Posey before making them and himself disappear.

Starswirl reappeared several times between dogs due to both the high number of them and the tiny space between the walls. Luckily, Starswirl was able to teleport away before they could get struck by a sword. They made it to the end of the line safe and sound. Afterwards, they ran as fast as they could.

“Couldn´t you have done it on one time?” Posey asked both upset and curious.

“I wish. But I can only teleport to places I know and have seen.” Starswirl explained.

To prevent the dogs to advance towards them, Glory reappeared in front of them and blocked their way towards her friends with a crystal like before.

“I suppose you fight at the top and me at the bottom?” Lancer asked her.

Glory nodded.

“Okay, then let´s waste no time!” he exclaimed before clashing his sword against the dog´s.

The sounds of grunts, steps and clashing of weapons resounded throughout all the stairs and the doors connected to it, including the dungeons´. Naturally, every creature present in there became aware of a commotion taking place.

“Do you all hear that?” one guard raised his ear up.

In response, every guard did the same.

“Yeah, boss…” they said fearfully.

“Oh my goodness!” the boss guard got up from his seat. “Okay, it´s happening. Everydog stay calm!” the first guard started panicking. “Stay calm!”

“Boss, we are calm, just a little-” a guard tried to talk to him, seeing how agitated he was.

“STAY CALM!”

“But you´re the one-”

“EVERYDOG CALM DOWN!”

“Okay, okay, okay…”

The doberman twins rolled their eyes. The red collared one cleared his throat.

“Okay, that´s enough! Do you all remember the procedure?”

The panicked boss turned around.

“Oh yeah! The procedure, good one, good one! Uh…. You! You all of you to the prison doors!” he pointed at a group of dogs. “And you in the middle!” he ordered another group of dogs. “Go, go, go!”

Every dog moved to the required position, except for the dobermans, who stared at them with a skeptical raised eyebrow.

“We stay here, don´t we?” the blue coloured one asked his brother.

“Of course, this door is the most important!”

Behind said door, the unicorns were listening to every word. Could it be real? They were getting rescued? It sounded too optimistic but judging by all the information they have, perhaps it wasn´t much of a stretch.

Back at the mines, Alonzo, Knightshade and Magic Star fought the dogs to keep them from Gusty and Sarama. A dog tripped Alonzo up, making him fall on his back, and thus dropping his sword. Before he could get it, the dog got ahead of him, laughing maliciously at him when she saw his expression of horror and fear. Luckily, she didn´t get to do anything to him, as a stream of water picked her up, put her upside down and shook her until she dropped both his and her sword. Afterwards, it sent her away. Puzzled, Alonzo turned his head to the left and saw Fizzy holding the stream of water.

“That shall teach you something!” she exclaimed before stuck out her tongue and raspberried. Then, she continued fighting other dogs.

In the meantime, Buttons offered him his hoof.

“Good that you have us for support, huh?” said Butttons while raising an eyebrow.

“Indeed it is.” Alonzo gave her his hoof so she could help him up. “Indeed it is.” he repeated while taking his sword back.

“Alonzooooo!” Knightshade cried while running to him, hugging him very tightly when he got to him. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” he asked as he checked him. “I saw you on the ground but I didn´t see what happened.”

“I´m fine, I´m fine.” Alonzo smiled while gently pulling his lover off him. “I´ll tell you afterwards.”

Knightshade widened his eyes surprised when he saw Buttons was holding two swords.

“I didn´t know you had two swords.”

“I don´t. It´s from the dog Fizzy sent flying away. I doubt she´s coming back anytime soon, so I figured that I´d keep it for her.”

“Yeah that´s probably for the best.” Knightshade agreed. Alonzo also concurred by nodding his head.

The sound of clashing weapons caused them to turn their heads back. They got concerned when they saw Sarama pinning Gusty against the ground. Fortunately, Gust managed to kick it back with her rear legs and pick up her sword with her mouth fast to create a wind impact to push Sarama away. Sarama landed on her paws by backflipping.

“Hmm. You´re good at this.” she said before cleaning some blood from her nose. “I think it´s time to raise the level in this, don´t you?”

She spanned her sickles and joined them together, creating a longer weapon, scaring Gusty by showing it off.

“Uh oh.” Gusty mumbled under her breath.

She didn´t even blink and Sarama was already in front of her. Sarama´s new weapon hit Gusty´s sword so hard that pushed her back against Glory´s crystal. Hadn´t it been for her quick reflexes, Sarama would have stabbed a sickle on her head. Luckily, she jumped aside, using a gust of wind to propel herself away further. Once she was far enough from Sarama, she leveraged to take some breath, only to realize she had forgotten to take her sword. Now, Sarama had it. She smirked maliciously. Knowing she was going to get rid of it somehow,

“Incoming.” Sarama told her subordinates as she threw it at the other side of the crystal wall, making Gusty gasp.

The sword landed on foot between Magic Star and a dog.

“AH!” she yelled. “What the?”

Gusty looked horrified at Sarama.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Pretty basic mistake, don´t you think?” Sarama cruelly teased her while walking towards her.

Everypony entered in panic when Sarama directed the sickle towards the weaponless Gusty. That didn´t mean she had no defences anymore, however. She still had her shield, whose lateral served her to stop Sarama´s strike. Like before, she used her tail to hold the shield. Sarama´s blow broke it somewhat but it didn´t matter since the blade got stuck on it. Gusty propelled herself with a perpendicular gust of wind, making her spin in a circle. This was so she could have enough time to think her next move. After observing Sarama´s weapon, she realized what she needed to do. She teleported herself away from Sarama backwards. By the time she reappeared, Sarama had already taken the blade out of the shield.

“What are you going to do now, huh? You said you would use no magic.” Sarama teased her.

Not so much time had passed before she would regret those words. Gusty threw a wind at her, but this wasn´t like any other wind. This one felt was sharp and cutting like a sword. She could tell because it touched her cheek. Feeling a sting on there, she put a paw on her cheek and checked it afterwards. Yes, there was blood on her paw. Her suspicions were right, Gusty did leave a scratch on her cheek. She stared estranged at her.

“I said no magic because you would be disadvantaged against me. But now I am disadvantaged.”

Sarama widened her eyes surprised. Perhaps that unicorn was more cunning than she had thought.

“Say hello to my wind blade!” she said before throwing the same attack at her.

Sarama jumped aside to avoid being struck again. Then, Gusty used magical blasts as a substitute for her sword. Sarama drove them away with her weapon as if she was hitting stones. Sarama tried to strike her but now that Gusty decided to use magic, she was teleporting herself constantly and very quickly, so by the time she was going to attack, Gusty was gone from that place already. But teleporting was no mere avoidance of getting hurt, Gusty was also being strategic. She did to make Sarama nail her weapon to the ground and cut it back to two sickles with a wind blade.

“Huh?” Sarama muttered surprised while looking at her parted weapon.

Then, Gusty ran towards her igniting her horn. Sarama put her two sickles together to protect herself. But it was no use. Gusty´s attack now was a wind shockwave, which pushed her backwards until she hit Glory´s crystal wall. Due to Gusty´s blow, she let go of her sickles involuntarily. Every dog and pony stopped fighting when they heard Sarama´s blow against the crystal wall. The dogs gasped terrified.

“Sarama!” they exclaimed.

Sarama coughed from the pain and struggled to breathe. Gusty took her sickles and walked to her and pointed them at her. Sarama frowned when her eyes met Gusty´s.

“Tell me how to defeat him.”

Sarama stayed silent.

“I know he has a spot not covered by stone in his body. Tell me where it is.”

As much as she tried to hide it, Sarama´s eyes showed fear. She was having difficulties to breath due to pain in her back and was weak to fight now. There was no way she could defend herself, less alone her soldiers, which was her main concern. If she didn´t say anything, Gusty could kill her on the spot, but if she did, she´d also end up dead either by Gusty or Crunch for betraying him and the dogs would be in danger regardless. Noticing how she was looking at the dogs, Gusty softened her frown. She recognized what she was thinking and feeling. She herself had given her daughters that look when things were getting dangerous. That´s when she realized she was no monster. Like the cats´ case, she was looking for her pack. Gusty breathed out through her nose while closing her eyes.

“If you collaborate, I promise I won´t hurt them.”

“Yeah?” Sarama grunted after asking. “Then what? You´re going tell Majesty to let us go? After what we´ve done?!”

“I-”

“You almost killed me with that blow! For a moment I thought I wouldn´t be able to breathe anymore! And now you´re telling me you won´t hurt them?!”

Gusty looked down in repentance. Her intention was simply knocking her down, not to kill her. She had come a long way when it came to her magic but there were times she forgot how strong it could be for others. Surely that was and advantage when it came to self-defence but this time it was a matter of winning a duel that didn´t need to be deadly, at least from her part. She got too carried away. The remorse felt worse when she noticed the golden ring around her finger.

“I´m sorry… I didn´t mean to hit you that hard. I still learning how to manage my magic, you know?”

Sarama widened her eyes surprised. Normally, an opponent would not care on the slightest whether they killed the other. Gusty, on the other paw, did worry. Of course that could be only because she needed information but she seemed too repented for that. Almost as if she empathized with her somehow…

Sarama wasn´t the only one surprised. The dogs glanced at each other in confusion and so did the ponies.

“Why is she apologizing? She literally almost killed her and she´s the one apologizing?!” Magic Star whispered to everypony. “What´s wrong with her?”

Alonzo shushed her. He understood Magic Star´s concern but he had the feeling that that wasn´t what she was doing.

“You don´t seem to be like Crunch. You do have a heart. I can see you care about the other dogs. So we care about each other. And as such, we have to aid the unicorns of Trottingham.”

Sarama closed her eyes.

“I really wish you no harm. I´m pretty sure you´re just trying to survive by following orders and don´t really hate us. If you help me, I could explain Majesty your case and ask her to lessen your punishment. But if you don´t collaborate, there´s nothing I can do.”

The dogs looked at Sarama, who looked down in thought. The offer seemed pretty good but there two problems. One, there was no guarantee that Majesty would listen to Gusty on being merciful with them, and two, if Crunch managed to win, he would call them traitors and execute them. So, the best option was still standing with Crunch. But that´s when problem three came. If the ponies managed to free Majesty and her army and reunite with Gusty and the other ponies, the chances of winning were not that elevated. Whether this was just a distraction or not, Gusty really put Sarama in a dilemma.

After a few seconds of silence, Sarama finally decided to speak.

“You have one minute to run away.” she muttered under her breath.

“What?”

“I said you have one minute to run away before we start chasing you again.”

Everypony looked at Gusty, wondering if to do next. Gusty nodded.

“Okay.”

Fizzy and Buttons surrounded Magic Star, Alonzo and Knightshade to teleport to the stairs along Gusty. Before hoof, Fizzy grabbed a spear from one of the dogs. When they arrived to the stairs, they started closing the doors.

“Wait!” Sarama commanded.

She got up and ran to them before they closed altogether but it was too late. What´s worse, they had already locked the door. Angrily, she punched it.

“How did they lock it without any keys?” she wondered aloud frustrated.

“Gee, I didn´t know you used manepins to lock doors, Buttons!” Fizzy said to her friend in admiration while they ran upstairs.

“How did you think I acceded rooms when I didn´t feel like asking Bray for keys to the rooms?” Buttons raised her eyebrows smugly.

“Yeah but let´s not pretend like that will work for long. I bet Sarama will open the doors with those sickles of her.” opined Alonzo.

“That´s true but she also has to free the other dogs so that will take her for a while.” Knightshade said on a more positive tone.

“Eh, enough time about my offer.” said Gusty.

“Is that why you didn´t let me throw a sleeping potion?” Magic Star asked her. “Because you wanted her to think?!”

Gusty looked away a bit embarassed.

“Well…”

“You do realize we could get captured because of that, don´t you?” Knightshade asked upset.

“I know, but it´s more complicated…”

“What´s complicated? We´re simply keeping ourselves safe and increasing our chances of winning!” Magic Star refuted.

“Yeah but-”

“But what?”

“She´s married, Magic Star!” Gusty exclaimed. “I saw a ring on her finger, and that´s something I see ponies who love each other wear, even if it´s made of wood and not fancy jewels.”

Magic Star and Knightshade softened their looks after hearing that and seeing Gusty get sad.

“I cannot in good conscience take her away from her spouse, and children if she has any, when there might be other options. I know I´ll have no choice if she decides to remain on Crunch´s side but I want to avoid that if I can.”

Magic Star thought back to her masters who got unjustifiably killed for `witchcraft´. They may not have been her biological family, but they were family regardless. Knightshade looked at Alonzo. Every time they were on a mission or went into battle, he suffered tremendous anxiety of having him taken away from him or vice versa. He dreaded to think of the pain of losing your lover. Gusty was right, if possible, maybe there are better options than killing straight away.

“Yeah… we understand.” Knightshade agreed apologetically.

Coincidentally enough, Sarama was also hearing her. All that time she had her ear on the gates to listen to their plans thanks to her good hearing. She looked down in remorse. Like Glory and Posey, she had kindness for her and saw the good in her despite being in opposite sides. When one´s forced to mistreat another, they start believing they will never earn forgiveness. Sarama certainly has believed that she and her followers were irremediable numerous times, even if she was doing it to protect the well-being of the other dogs or tried to be the least cruel and have some level of respect for the ponies. So hearing and seeing a creature not thinking that was very meaningful for her. She looked at her ring and played a little with it, almost as if she wanted to take it off but was afraid to. She decided to focus instead on breaking the lock door with her sickle and help the dogs break the crystal wall.

Higher up the stairs, at the top, everything was more in order compared to the mines, where it was pure chaos. However, there was some tension in the air. For example, there were four guards around the trapdoor, watching over it as well as their surroundings. That´s what Starswirl noticed from slightly opening the trapdoor with his head. One of the dogs twitched their ear and turned his head back but the trapdoor was closed. Seeing nothing, the dog shrugged and returned to their business.

“So… How´s the coast?” Posey asked him.

“Not clear…” Starswirl regretted. “They know something´s going on…”

“Including Crunch?” Shady asked fearfully.

“We should consider that chance, yes.”

Both Shady and Posey pressed their lips while sharing worried glances.

“Nevertheless, our main concern should not be whether Crunch knows or not, but to get to the library.”

“You´re right, but how are we going to ditch them?” Posey asked him.

Starswirl pressed his lips while looking away.

“I have an idea, but you might not like it …”

Posey and Shady stared at Starswirl estranged.

The dogs perked their ears up when they heard a strange sound.

“What was that? What was that?” they wondered aloud while pointing their spears at the trapdoor.

Surprisingly, nothing came off from there. That could mean either two things: it was nothing important or an ambush was about to come. One thing was clear though: opening the door was not a good idea, because whatever was in there, it couldn´t be good. So, they decided to wait for some time. Seeing nothing was happening, they decided to go back their surroundings. When they weren´t looking, the trapdoor opened slightly. Nothing could be seen but a small pair blue of eyes. Trying to make the least noise possible, the eyes came to the light, belonging to a grey rat. And there wasn´t just one rat. The grey rat was holding the trapdoor to make way for two other rats, one yellow and the other pink. Once they were out, they closed the trapdoor very carefully. They slowly walked away on tiptoes. Everything seemed to be going very smoothly. None of the guards had started sniffing their noses nor move their ears. Well, none of the guards guarding around the trapdoor.

“AAAAH!” a dog gave out a really high-pitched scream. “RAAAATS!”

Straight away, the dog took out his spear and tried to stab it at the rats. Thankfully, the dog didn´t have a good aim, so the rats were unharmed, although there was a moment one of the rats, most concretely the pink one, almost got her tail caught.

“EEEE!” the rat screeched anxiously.

After that incident, the yellow rat took the paw of her friend to her tail to grab it and simultaneously grabbed the tail of the grey rat.

“What´s going on here?!” another dog passing by asked, upset by all the noise.

Ironically enough, the dog got just as panicked as his mate.

“OH SHOOT!”

The new dog tried to step on the rats, but the rodents ran in circles to hinder the task. So instead of killing the rats, the dog ended up doing a tap dance. Seeing his friend failing, the first dog to see the rats decided to take business on his own paws once again.

“Argh, move away you idiot!” he said while preparing his bow.

He shot an arrow that almost landed on his friend´s feet, had it not been for her to jump before it could reach her. Since the rats were constantly running on zigzag, the dog simply shot arrows all around the corridor so mindlessly, that his friend had to hide for protection. After a while, the dog´s bow rope broke.

“Dang it! Not right now!” the dog yelled angrily.

His friend peeked out of a column he was hiding behind. And sighed in relief. And he wasn´t the only one to do so. A few columns ahead of the dog´s, the rats were hiding behind one to catch some breath. Hearing those words, brought them relief and a perfect chance to escape without being seen. And the best of all, the library wasn´t far either, as they could see through a grid door lots of what appeared to be bookshelves a few steps ahead. Leveraging the distraction. Slowly and on tip toes, they headed towards the library as the dog changed the bow´s rope. Once he did, he stretched the rope with an arrow to check if it worked properly. Well, or at least he tried to, since the rope was too stiff.

“Uugh, what´s wrong with this thing?” he said frustrated while repeatedly attempting again.

“I don´t-”

Out of nowhere, the arrow shot off right away, passing through the dog´s ears and almost landing on the rats, driving into a wall instead.

Once inside the library, the rats leant against a wall and panted heavily.

“Tha- That was the worst experience of my life!” the pink rat exclaimed. “The dark spirits don´t even come close!”

“I told you you wouldn´t like it, but that was the only thing I could come up at the moment.” the grey rat justified himself.

“None taken. At least this wasn´t at the cat castle.” the yellow rat laughed nervously to lighten up the mood.

“Can we go back to our original shapes, please? Everything is way larger than I am, and I don´t like it!” the pink rat begged the grey rat.

“Sure, just let me…” he noticed a heraldic flag on the floor. “Let´s get under there.”

“Why?” the yellow rat asked as she and the pink rat followed the grey rat.

“So, the sound of my magic doesn´t resonate and there´s no noticeable strange light.” the grey rat explained while sliding under the flag.

“That does make sense, I guess.” the yellow rat said while holding the flag for the pink rat. Once she passed, she followed behind.

In an instant, the small lumps formed by the rats turned bigger and higher. The now ponies struggled to get the flag off themselves.

“Geeze, this thing´s so heavy!” Shady complained.

“And dusty too.” Posey added before coughing.

Finally, the ponies had the chance to observe the library with more detail. To their surprise, while it had gorgeous architecture with round arches and columns decorated at the top, as well as carved figures of dogs on both sides of the bookshelves; the library itself looked like it had been abandoned a long time ago. There was dust everywhere, spider webs hanging at every corner, and lots of torn and dirty books and manuscripts on the ground.

“Outrageous!” Starswirl exclaimed bothered. “This is a crime against the preservation of knowledge and cultural heritage! How dare he keep this sacred place like that?!” he complained while dusting off a book.

Shady and Posey reprimanded their giggles. Apart from his friends, but mainly Gusty, getting hurt, they could swear this was the angriest they had ever seen him.

“Um... Starswirl, I hate to break it to you, but we´re not here to do a restauration job.” Posey gently reminded him.

Starswirl realized he was getting off subject and left the book in an instant, though very carefully. He sighed sadly.

“Sorry, it´s just us monks have dedicated and some even gave up our lives to conserve as many documents as possible. Our place wasn´t the cleanest, but we did as much as we could to have them in the best conditions. So much of what we don´t know or forgot about our history, knowledge and abilities lie in here, you know? There could even be books about the history and customs of the diamond dogs even! And seeing all these treasures treated like that hurts me so much.”

He closed his eyes and took some breaths. As much as he was grieving that fact, he knew there was no time to stand still and lamenting.

“But if we defeat Crunch, perhaps we can do this place justice.” he said while standing up. “Let us begin our research.”

Shady widened her eyes.

“You plan to revise all of this in little time? But it´s so much, how are you going to do that?”

“I´m not going to lie, it´s a laborious task, but there are strategies that can help us make the job faster.”

“Such as?”

“Well, for starters we are looking for notes, which are kind of like a diary of things you learn. Usually, those are scrolls, so we should focus on those. Another thing that is useful are keywords. Granted, you´re going to revise every document but at least you´ll just have to read it slightly and not on detail to classify it as useful or not useful. In our case, our keywords would be stone, magic and body parts. A scroll that contains those three words could be what we need.”

The more he spoke, the more enthusiastic he caught. Unfortunately, as much as they´d like, Shady and Posey couldn´t share the sentiment. What he was saying was so foreign to them that it felt like he was speaking a whole different language. The two earth ponies slowly met glances, asking non-verbally whether one of them understood what he was saying. Judging by their expression, the answer from both was no.

“We´re so gonna get caught.” Shady buried her face on her hooves.

“I know it seems impossible first hoof, but I promise it´s just a matter of putting yourself into it. Come on, let us waste no time! Our friends need us!” Starswirl said motivated.

“Alright then…” Shady said uncofidently.

“Well… Maybe it´s not that bad…” Posey said to relief both Shady and herself.

“Yeaaaah! It can´t be that hard, right?”

The two laughed nervously.

“Let´s hope so…” Posey muttered with a forced smile.

“Do you think it´s them?” the youngest soldier asked Majesty.

“Who else could it be?” she enquired back.

“I don´t know, the cats maybe? They did imprison one of them after all.”

“Ah, I wish!” the tuxedo cat next to them commented, despite not being wanted in the conversation. Some unicorns frowned annoyed.

“Without their leader? Seems unlikely.” Majesty opined. “Cats are very intelligent and calculative creatures, surely they know better than to challenge a stone dog without any magic.”

“Never say never…”

Suddenly, the unicorns heard a familiar sound, one that is specific of their species, since they are the only ones that can do it: the sound of magical flash. Every unicorn widened their eyes. The unicorns that were able reached the cleft for trays and water to observe what was going outside. They gasped when they saw Lancer and Glory entering through the dungeons by blasting off the door to the dungeons with a zap. The door landed on the dogs that were on the front, so they taken some adversaries out.

“Oh, thank goodness!” one said. “My queen you were right, it is them!”

The unicorns got in four from the surprise. Majesty smirked satisfied and with pride.

“What in the world?!” the boss guard asked both astonished and angry. “Go get them!” he ordered the remaining dogs.

Lancer and Glory frowned when they saw the coming enemies. Afterwards, they entered the fight. Lancer stopped every sword attack directed towards him and walked backwards while defending himself so he could lead the dogs towards the stairs and push or trip them to make them roll downstairs. He even picked them up with his magic and dragged them away when he had the chance. Every prisoner inside the cells, being the majority unicorns, cheered for him.

While Lancer dealt with the dogs at the entrance, Glory went to Majesty´s cell but not without obstacles.

“Where do you think you´re-”

The boss guard couldn´t finish his sentence because Glory restrained him by trapping him between a crystal and the wall.

“Oh come on!” the guard dog complained.

The unicorns opened their mouths wide.

“Glory can summon crystals now?!” they asked in unison.

“What?” Majesty asked confused and fascinated at the same time.

“Ha! See? I told you they weren´t to be messed with!” the tuxedo cat said to the dobermans.

“Roscoe! Desoto! Don´t show any mercy with her!” the guard dog commanded them.

The two dobermans growled furiously while drawing their swords. The two of them threw themselves at her at the same time. Luckily, the crystal magic was not the only surprise she had. She had improved with her sword skills and combined it with her knowledge of her enemies, something they could see by how she constantly teleported to different spots around them, since dobermans were really fast she had to be faster and confuse them. However, there were moments in which the unicorns were terrified, such as when the red-collar doberman restrained her against a cell´s door. Luckily, it was an advantage for her, since she managed to take the keys from his brother. She showed them with a cocky smile before opening the door, making herself and the red dog fall inside the cell, but she teleported away before he could fall on her. She reappeared behind his brother and pushed him inside by dragging a crystal in his direction. Once the dogs were inside, she closed and locked the door.

“What the?! You useless idiots!” the boss dog insulted the dobermans. “She´s literally a mare! You lost to a ma-”

While walking to Majesty´s cell, Lancer punched him in the face so strongly that he saw birds flying around his head before falling unconscious.

The unicorns cheered for Glory as she unlocked the door and the chains holding them.

“Oh my queen! I´m so glad to see ye´re okay.” Glory said to Majesty as she and Lancer hugged her tightly.

Majesty wasn´t the kind of pony who loved hugs, since it was not proper for a leader to show such level of affection. This time however, she made an exception. Lancer and Glory literally just saved her and her soldiers´ lives and she had known them for a long time. In the affectionate sense, Majesty wouldn´t say she was close to anypony, but Lancer and Glory were one of the ponies she trusted the most.

“So am I.” Majesty patted their backs.

“How did you make it into the castle?” the eldest soldier asked.

“Glory let herself get captured as a slave from the mines. And we followed her.” Lancer explained.

“Now that you mention Glory, since when were you able to do all of those crystal spells?!” a hornless unicorn asked Glory.

“I don´t know, I recently discovered I could do all that.” Glory fidgeted nervously with her hooves.

“You recently discovered that?!” another unicorn soldier asked shocked.

“As much as I´m surprised with this new talent and want to know the story behind it, there are more important businesses to attend to.” Majesty reminded her soldiers. “Where are the Wind Warrior and her friends?”

“They stayed at the mines, fighting Sarama and the dogs at the mines so we could come to you.” answered Lancer.

“Then we must reunite with her. Let´s go!” she ordered every soldier.

“Yes, and once we have, we need to go up to the library.”

“You mean to get information about Crunch´s spell? It´s a good idea but I don´t know if we´ll have time to do so.”

“Yes, but we have backup there that are doing so…” Glory informed her.

Majesty narrowed her eyes confused.

“Backup?”

“Let´s just say we got some help on the way….”

“You managed to recruit more unicorns?”

Lancer and Glory looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.

“Hm…” Lancer smiled nervously along Glory. “Kind of?” he moved his hoof from side to side.

Everypony raised their eyebrows confused.

As they left, every prisoner behind cells gave them words of encouragement, including the tuxedo cat.

“Yeaaaah!” she clapped. “Yeah, go get them and free everypony!” she exclaimed and laughed joyful but also bittersweet. “Aaah... I´m gonna be locked up here forever, aren´t I?”

“Almost there…” the dog siblings said in chorus as they were doing one last push to get the sword out of the wall.

Finally, after minutes and minutes of trying, the sword came out unexpectedly. The sister fell on her brother. They both laughed victoriously and somewhat manically while observing the sword on their paws.

“I can´t believe it, it´s over!” the brother cried tears of joy.

For their misfortune, though, just when their ordeal had just finished it would restart again in a matter of seconds. A few seconds after taking back the sword, Gusty, Fizzy, Buttons, Magic Star, Alonzo and Knightshade came across with them. The dogs quickly got up and charged for the attack but Fizzy took out both the sister´s and the brother´s swords and put them on the same spot the sister accidentally put it on. While staring with jaws wide open, the unicorns took advantage to teleport themselves and the earth ponies behind the crystal Glory conjured up to block their way.

“SERIOUSLY?!” the sister dog shouted frustrated.

The ponies ignored her yelling, although they slightly sympathized with her, since they had been through it too. Whether in training or in battle, that mishap was never fun, not to mention quick and easy to fix.

Some upstairs ahead, they started hearing steps ahead of them. At first, they prepared their weapons, but after listening the steps with more attention, they realized they sounded like hooves.

“Those three got information already?” Knightshade asked everypony.

“Three? Sounds like there are more to me.” Magic Star raised her ear.

“It seems so…” said Alonzo when he saw who was in front of them.

Gusty, Fizzy and Buttons widened their eyes. Lancer and Glory managed to free Majesty and the rest of her army. Although some had more severe wounds, like a lack of horn, everpony was standing with strength and energy. Most importantly, Majesty was in a pretty good health state despite what she had gone through.

“Queen Majesty!” the three unicorns ran upstairs to reunite with her.

They bowed when they were a few steps near her.

“It´s so good to see you!” Gusty said relieved to see her leader alive.

“I could say the same about you, Wind Warrior. Apparently, in my absence you and your fellow soldiers managed to do extraordinary things.”

The three unicorns scratched the backs of their heads while blushing.

“Yeah well, we didn´t do it alone, you know.” Gusty said while looking at the earth ponies, who smiled in gratitude.

Majesty was so focused on Gusty, that she didn´t realize there were more three ponies accompanying her and her friends. She drew her sword, the rest of the soldiers imitating her afterwards. The three earth ponies raised their forelegs scared.

“Who are they?” Majesty asked distrustful.

“Whoah, whoah! It´s okay, my queen.” Lancer lowered her sword.

“Remember the backup we were talking about earlier? These are.” Glory explained.

In surprise and confusion Majesty widened her eyes and then narrowed them. She stared at the earth ponies and then back to Lancer and Glory.

“Those earth ponies are your backup?” she pointed the sword towards the earth ponies and then to the unicorns.

“As you hear, your majesty.” Alonzo bowed politely.

“My queen, let me introduce you to Alonzo, Knightshade and Magic Star.” Gusty introduced the earth ponies to Majesty. “They took part on Katrina´s defeat.”

“But- How?”

“Let´s just say we had a bit of an incident that forced us to make a stop on Marenada at first…” Fizzy smiled nervously.

“And like Gusty told you before, unicorns are not the only ones rebelling. So seeing that we had similar interests regards Katrina, we made an alliance.” Buttons finished the explanation.

“Hmph. Well, I´m not so sure what your abilities are, but if you got to this point, that means you´re useful allies. And from what Glory told me, I suppose there´s more of you up in the library.”

“Two to be precise.” Magic Star concreted.

“And also another unicorn.” Knightshade added.

“So you did recruit unicorns.” Majesty said to Lancer and Glory.

“Only one, but that´s correct my queen.” confirmed Lancer.

“Are they a good fighter?”

“He needs improvement, but he knows quite a lot about magic and has taught us so many things we didn´t know.” claimed Gusty. “He´ll pretty pleased to meet you.”

“Well, you´ll tell me more about him once we´re finished with Crunch. Right now, let´s focus on the task at hoof. We´re moving!” Majesty ordered everypony.

After her order, everypony started running upstairs.

“So, um… how are we supposed to call you?” Knightshade asked Majesty.

“Just focus on getting to the library, earth pony.” the queen plainly replied, leaving the earth ponies astonished.

“Gee… If she wasn´t a unicorn, she and Moochick would get along pretty well…” Magic Star muttered to Knightshade, who nodded in agreement.