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).