Canterlot Academy Trials

“Where’s the captain?” Marrow called out.

“Oh you’re gonna flip shit at this…” Gloomtail, sighed as he watched Pollux sneak out of the cellar, having reclaimed her sword, and grabbed her by her neck and threw her onto the ground outside, “Your captain’s an absolute phony.”

“NO PLEASE--!!”

“What?!” Marrow yelped and pointed his bow at the dragon, “Say that again, I dare ya!”

Blue glared at Gloomtail, and noted how the purple dragon didn’t seem to be hostile nor did he prepare himself to fight. Given Pollux’s reaction to Gloomtail’s statement, he was curious at the very least.

“...hang on,” Blue called out, “He doesn’t seem to be looking for trouble. Let’s hear what he has to say.”

“...if you’re sure,” Nebula commented, then glared up at the dragon, “Speak.”

One explanation later…

“...and that’s the long and short of it,” Gloomtail glanced over at the pitiful-looking mouse woman, “She’s a complete hack that never cared about you, rodent boy.”

Marrow glared up at Pollux with tears welling up in his eyes. “...ma’am…is that true?”

“...that’s why you hate music?!” Nebula yelled aloud, “Are you…you fucking insane, woman?!”

“I did what I had to do to survive!” Pollux screeched back at him, “Ye wouldn’t understand! All of ye ponyfolk are born into the cushiest of lifestyles by comparison! Ye never knew what it’s like to be under someone else’s thumb and serve them! I only did it so I wouldn’t--”

“Oooh I’m about to hurt this bitch--” Nebula tapped his hoof on the ground as he muttered obscenities under his breath. “You what I think? You’re--”

“...tell me something,” Marrow interrupted everyone with a heartbroken voice as he glared down the ground. “...and be honest with me, Pollux. Did you ever care about me, Eastman, or any of our crewmates at all?”

By now, Eastman had broken free, and crawled out of the cellar to join the group, silently awaiting Pollux’s answer like everyone else. “...go on. I’m listening.”

“...” Pollux glanced between the badger man and the rat man, unable to come up with an answer as she avoided eye contact as much as possible. The problem was, she’d be lying if she outright said she never grew to care for them even a little bit. However… “...I…I never wanted it to be like this--”

CRACK!

Marrow grabbed Pollux by her neck, slamming her into the side of the shack with a sense of anguish mixed with hatred in his eyes as he stared her down. “YOU’RE FULLA SHIT!” he yelled with a sob in his voice as tears fell from his eyes. “I thought…I thought I could trust you, Paula. I thought…I thought…I thought you brought us here for a reason!” he muttered through a broken voice as he held her there, “...but you just used us for your side hustle?! Were we just bags of money to you?! Tell me: If I died tomorrow, would you be sad because you lost a crew member or because you lost another bit of gold to line your pockets with?!”

“...”

Pollux fell silent and bit her lip. That question had pierced her down to her soul. A question that she had never thought she’d be faced with in her life.

“...Do you hate me, Marrow?”

“ANSWER THE QUESTION!”

“...At first I didn’t care about you, I’ll be honest. But…over time, I started to think more and more about you, trusting you all.”

Eastman then chimed in, “Is that why you never told us about any of this? You say you trust us now, yet you never bothered to try and explain how you felt. Is it because you were scared of how we’d react, or because you wanted to keep everything to yourself?”

“...That’s…” Pollux looked off to the side, then sighed, “I’m sorry…I should’ve spoken up sooner. Please forgive me, Marrow. I-I’ll do what I can to--hrrk!”

Marrow grabbed her jaw in his hand, “Quit it with yer shit! Yous only sorry cuz we caught yo lyin’ ass redhanded!”

Which was also true. Now that Pollux had been caught, she had run out of excuses. With no other options, she slowly reached for the sword at her hip….

Blue was the first to notice, “LOOK OUT--”

BLAM!

Before she could even grasp her blade, Marrow decked Pollux in the face with a swift punch. Once, twice, three times, while letting out angry squeals. “I trusted you! And you treated us like this?!”

“Argh! Grrgh…” she hissed as she spat out one of her teeth, “...ye’ll never be as good a captain as me. On the open waters…you do what you have to do to survive, boy.”

“Fuck you…you’re the worst…I hate you,” Marrow simply punched her one last time, and grabbed her by the arms with Eastman following close behind, “...you’re gonna tell this to everyone. Then they’ll decide what to do with you.”

“...N-no! Please!” she begged helplessly as she was dragged off, “D-don’t do that! I-I need them!”

As Marrow dragged her off, Nebula’s entire group stared at the ensuing chaos alongside Gloomtail.

“...poor kid,” Blue commented, “His whole life has been a lie…”

“Yeah…” Mei added, “I can’t imagine what he’s feeling right now.”

“At the moment, we need to make a decision,” Rose commented as she looked at Gloomtail, “...we still need to kinda take you in. Along with your gang.”

Gloomtail scratched the top of his head as he glanced at all of his defeated assistance. With nothing left, he opted to not make the situation worse for himself. “...you know what? I’ll come along quietly. If only so I can see the outcome of that rodent chick getting what she deserves.”

“I’ve checked the entire area,” Mei spoke up as she levitated some documents over to Nebula, “All I’ve found were plans to sell off more of his blood. Nothing really crazy. He hasn’t done much else besides that.”

“Weird, then why hire mercenaries for something so minor?” Blue asked. “Couldn’t Smolder just send her own guards?”

Nebula then glanced at Gaea’s unconscious body. That’s when it hit him. “...or maybe she wanted us to take down someone else.”

“Yeah I don’t follow,” Blue commented.

“Me neither, admittedly,” Grimrose added, “What are you thinking, Atomic?”

Nebula put his brain to work and started to rationalize what had taken place not too long ago as well as their purpose for coming here. After a bit of thought, he chuckled to himself as he glanced at Grimrose. “...I’ve already thought three steps ahead, Rosie. Follow me. Gloomtail, you’re coming with us.”

“Alright. Like I said, not like I got much better to do,” Gloomtail then looked at Blue, “...and hey I’m not sure how Hooktail’s been treating you, but I wanna apologize on her behalf. She’s…a bit of a bitch sometimes.”

Blue flicked his tail, eyes shot open. That was the last thing he expected to hear from Gloomtail. “Er…thanks, I guess. But what about your eldest brother, Bonetail?”

“Pfft. Yeah, he’s crazy too. Might wanna deal with him soon.”

“Alright, everyone,” Nebula started to dole out orders as he used his magic to levitate the various dragon and griffon bodies into a pile, “On me.”