The Monument to All Your Sins.

For a moment, all Starlight could see was white, it felt different from the previous time she had traveled, that last time it felt like a small jump, like leaving the ground for an instant and then returning to the ground, but this time it felt like floating indefinitely.

She tried to look around for her companions but found nothing, at most she could make out blurry and distant silhouettes.
Just as she was beginning to feel the air in her lungs leave her and began to think that maybe something in the spell had gone wrong she felt the ground beneath her hooves again.

It was sudden, unexpected, Starlight almost lost her balance and it took her a second to realize that the blinding white had been replaced by a gray and brown landscape.
Before she could properly analyze what was in front of her an unpleasant sound made her turn to the right. There, beside her were all her companions again, Maud and Sunburst seemed to be disoriented but well enough to stand, on the other hand Trixie was on the floor vomiting, the blue unicorn seemed to be expelling all the contents of her stomach creating a greenish puddle with bits of carrot and what looked like cupcake leftovers.

“Trixie are you okay?” asked Starlight approaching her friend and placing a hoof on her back, tapping her lightly to help her with her discomfort.

“Ughhh yes...” began Trixie between retches ‘The great and powerful Trixie is fine, it's just...Blaaaaggghhh!’ she let out a gust of vomit again.

“I'm sorry, I must warn you that the trip might turn out to be a bit unpleasant..” apologized Starlight.

“Ughh no worries...” said Trixie finally seeming to recover ”I guess, I must not have eaten that much at breakfast.”

The unicorn finally managed to get up with Starlight's help even with a bit of nausea, once resolved a new question mark arose from Sunburst.

“Ehhh Starlight? Where are we?”

Starlight finally took a moment to look around, all she could see was an arid dry land, the sky was an amalgam of gray clouds that didn't let you see the sky, a freezing breeze made dust clouds rise constantly and all that could be appreciated in the distance were nothing more than a couple of dead trees and a couple of rocks.

“I...I'm not sure...” began Starlight ”The spell doesn't transport us to another place just another time, so this must be Ponyville...”

“What thing!” asked Trixie in shock.

“Or at least it will be someday” corrected Starlight.

At that moment they all noticed Maud who was flat on her face against the ground, her face against the dirt.

“Ehh Maud are you feeling bad?” Starlight asked confused.

“I really doubt it” said the earth pony dryly.

“What are you talking about?”

“What you said, about Ponyville...” Maud stood up and raised her hoof in which she was holding a piece of dirt from the floor “See this?”

They all looked up in confusion.

“It's...dirt?” Sunburst asked uncomprehendingly.

“Dead earth...” replied Maud ”This is not the result of a simple drought or bad weather, this earth is scorched, rock hard, completely destroyed.”

“Aha and what is your point?” asked Starlight somewhat impatiently.

“Such a land will never be fertile or suitable for crops, no matter how much time passes...”

Everyone shook their heads with a new realization.

“If this is supposed to ever be Ponyville in the future, it's completely impossible for it to melt into a place like this” Maud concluded.

They all looked at each other worriedly not knowing what to say.

“Well, let's not think about that now....” finally said Starlight ”We're here for a reason and I doubt a handful of land is proof enough so now, let's get moving.”

“But where to?” asked Sunburst.

“Yes, everything looks exactly the same” continued Trixie.

Starlight looked around, circling over herself again and again looking for some indicator, some clue that would tell them where she could go, until finally she saw it.

“Look over there!” Starlight pointed and they all looked in the direction.

In the distance, behind a steep opaque hill, a column of smoke could be seen, perfectly distinguishable among the windblown earth.

“Smoke!” exclaimed Trixie.

“Probably from a cabin,” continued Sunburst.

“Coming out of a rock chimney” finished Maud.

They all made their way up the pillar feeling the ground under their hooves, this was so hard it was even painful to walk on it.
It took them a little while to make it all the way up the hill but when they finally made it they came upon, indeed, a small hut with a rock chimney, it appeared to be a small farmhouse surrounded by what looked to be a very small potato patch.

They all approached it going down the hill little by little, the more they did so the more they noticed the deplorable state the house was in, the wood of its walls and roof was rotten and full of holes. old cloth covered the roof in an attempt to cover what surely were leaks, the potato field was in a deplorable state, most of the plants were dead and the few that still remained gave extremely small potatoes.

“Starlight...” caught Trixie's eye ”Look...”

Starlight looked to where her friend pointed and was met with a curious sight.
On the ground in front of the cabin door, playing with the mud absentmindedly, was a small earth pony filly; her coat was a greenish gray and her mane a dull brown, she still didn't have her cutie mark and she was all dirty and unkempt.

The sight intrigued everyone a little, it was certainly a sight that contrasted greatly with the general gloomy panorama, even so they decided to approach with caution.
The foal did not seem to have noticed their presence until they were close enough for her footsteps to reach their ears.

The little girl then spun around with a jump and stood looking at the four friends who stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the frightened expression on the little girl's face.

“Ehh hello!” exclaimed Starlight in a calm voice ”Little girl hey, don't be afraid...” At that moment the unicorn took a step forward which caused the little foal to let out a loud high pitched scream and start crying.

Starlight immediately wanted to apologize when suddenly the door to the cabin burst open and a large stallion jumped in front of the girl getting in Starlight's way.
The stallion had very dark grayish brown fur and a black mane with some gray hair, his stocky, muscular body reflected some scars on his sides and chest and his cutie mark was a wilted potato.

“GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!!!” he shouted furiously.

Everyone immediately turned away in shock at the stallion's sudden aggression, the filly had run to hide behind one of her father's hind legs trembling with fear.

“You said you would come in a month for my payment!” the pony began to shout while adopting a defensive stance ”I still have a week left so scram!”

“I, I think you're confusing us...” began Starlight in the calmest voice she could muster ”We have no idea what you're talking about we're just passing through...”

“Yeah right!” interrupted the stallion ”Do you think I'm stupid and don't know how you guys are doing! I won't let you come to my own house to extort money from me!”

“Sir we assure you, we have no idea what you are talking about” said Sunburst also stepping forward.

“As I told you, we're just passing through” continued Starlight.

The stallion then took a close look at each of the ponies in front of his door and soon came to the conclusion that they were not at all the ponies he expected.
Relaxing a bit, the stallion began to question the group.

“If it's not those bastards what the fuck are they doing on my farm?” she asked bluntly without a glance.

For a second no one knew what to answer until Trixie raised her voice.

“Well kind sir this...the truth is we got lost, yes! We were traveling and lost our way, then we saw the smoke from your lovely cabin and thought well...”

“If you could give us some directions” Starlight concluded.

The stallion frowned slightly at the unicorn's dubious answer, thinking for a moment about how to continue.

“And where were you going?” he finally asked.

Again another long pause, this time interrupted by Starlight.

“We were looking for the army of princesses.”

“Princesses? You mean our queens?” asked the pony somewhat confused.

“Yes!” exclaimed Starlight quickly ‘The queens’ army we were after and we lost it...”

The pony kept his expression suspicious, he was now almost certain that these ponies were lying to him.

“Are you soldiers?” the stallion took a step back as he asked the question.

“No! We are not soldiers we are...” started to say Starlight not knowing what to answer.

“We are scribes” replied Sunburst causing everyone to look at him.

“And what's that?” asked the stallion more confused now than concerned.

“We are charged with recording the wanderings of the royal legions, so that there is a reliable representation for later reviews.”

Silence reigned for a moment, not even Starlight had expected such an elaborate answer.

“I...I really didn't understand anything you said:::” replied the stallion with a calmer tone of voice ”But you are right, they look too weak to be soldiers and too small...”

“Hey what do you mean!” asked Trixie offended ”The great and mighty Trixie is mightier than any earth pony...!”

“What my friend means...” interrupted Starlight letting out a nervous laugh ”Is that she is right, we are not fit to be soldiers, that's why we serve their majesties by fulfilling the tasks for which we are suitable.”

“If that is the case then on my farm you are welcome...” said the stallion ‘Any pony that serves with worthy devotion to our queens deserves my sympathy, but not my trust’ he said the last with a frown.

“So, will you help us?” asked Starlight forcing a smile.

“I'll do what I can, but don't expect much, I'm just a humble farmer...” At that moment a clap of thunder echoed across the sky and soon after a light rain began to fall.

Immediately both Starlight and the others noticed something very strange about the rain.

“What is this?” Starlight extended her hoof into the air letting a couple of drops fall on it, she immediately pulled her hoof away from the pain, it was something most strange, the rain was boiling.

Quickly the rain began to increase in intensity, soaking the ground and beginning to burn the plants in the orchard.

“Quickly!” shouted the stallion pointing to his hut ”Get inside for shelter!”

They all ran inside the house, the little filly had beaten them to it and was already in the safety of the cabin, but Starlight could tell the stallion wasn't following them, she turned quickly to see him desperately trying to cover his crops with huge cloths, suffering burns on his back from the rain that had now turned into a storm.
Starlight didn't hesitate a moment and went out to help the pony, flashing her horn and quickly levitating all the cloths and holding them tightly.

They both quickly returned to the safety of the cabin and the stallion closed the door behind him, letting himself fall to the wooden floor breathing heavily.

“Daddy!” the filly was heard to say as she ran to her father with a blanket dipped in a basin of water.

“Thank you sweetie” said the pony as he took the wet blanket and placed it on her back with one hoof and hugged his daughter with the other.

Starlight appreciated the touching scene before groaning in pain, looking over her shoulder she discovered that a good portion of her back had been stripped of fur due to the rain, leaving exposed red skin marks that burned.

The stallion noticing this gave the mare a concerned look and then turned to his daughter.

“Honey, can you get the unicorn another wet blanket?”

The little girl looked at her father, then turned her head to look at Starlight and then back at her father.

“Yes daddy!” immediately the little girl ran off with the basin of water on her back.

Starlight looked in surprise at the stallion who was still rubbing the blanket over her back trying to ease the pain.

“Thank you” the mare finally said.

“No, thank you” replied the stallion.

The girl returned shortly after with a new blanket which Starlight placed over her back, this caused her to let out a gasp at the renewed pain, one that she quickly stifled.
Finally, after a moment of silence the sound of dripping water caused the stallion to jerk upright.

“Oh no no no no...” the stallion began to search with his gaze upward all over his ceiling in search of the source of the sound.

“It's the one in the kitchen daddy!” exclaimed the little filly.

The pony then ran to a small door at the back of the room followed by Starlight and the others.
As they arrived they saw how, in the center of what appeared to be a small dirty and dusty kitchen a small stream of boiling water was falling, the ceiling had a huge hole covered by a thick cloth which was beginning to drip.

The stallion quickly rummaged through the kitchen, picking up an old, worn out pan and placing it right under the leak, unable to avoid burning his hoove a little as he set it down.

“Ah, damn pegasus!” muttered the pony.

Starlight then raised her eyebrow in intrigue, she didn't understand the correlation between the hostile weather and the pegasus.

“What do you mean?” asked Starlight.

The pony looked at her with some confusion in his gaze before giving way to an expression of understanding.

“Oh right, you must come from the capital and must not be aware...” they all looked at each other confused before the stallion continued ”Ever since the pegasus rebelled against our queens rule they have done their best to ruin life for all of us who live in the kingdom and work the land, they use their control over the weather to send you horrible evils that only poison the soil and block the sunlight...”

The stallion made his way into the main room as he checked to make sure no other leaks were failing.
Starlight and her friends looked at each other in surprise and then looked around the room, it was extremely depressing, there was a small wooden table with a couple of old chairs, a couple of worn out pieces of furniture and a few plowing tools in a corner, at the other end of the room was a small bed filled with old sheets and no mattress.
Starlight then noticed that, on the bed there was something she couldn't identify, she slowly approached it and finally realized that it was some sort of altar, it had a couple of wilted flowers, there was an image of a smiling mare in a small frame right in the center of the altar but it was what she had placed on it that gave the unicorn a shiver.
Just above the image of the mare, on a higher step of the altar were two figures carved in stone, the unicorn didn't have to strain much to know what they represented, both were in the shape of an alicorn, one was carved in black stone and the other in stone of a very light shade of grey the latter was taller than the other statuette and seemed to almost glow.

“Starlight What is it?” asked Sunburst approaching from behind.

“I think if we're in the right place...” replied the unicorn.

Sunburst looked at the altar and was equally surprised.

“Wow...just, wow” he said breathlessly.

“Do you like them?” heard the ponies behind him turning to look at the stallion ”I made them myself, I know they are not as majestic as the ones in the capital but, I think I managed to capture a bit of their magnificence don't you think?”

Starlight and Sunburst looked at each other for a second not knowing what to answer.

“Ehh yeah...sure...” replied Starlight finally.

“Oh I'm sorry...” began the pony ”I forgot for a I'm talking to unicorns, I hope you don't find my home too unpleasant.”

“No no no no...” began Starlight ”Not at all, it's a very...cozy home.”

The stallion let out a chuckle followed by a long sigh.

“Oh you don't have to be so considerate, I know it's a horrible place, but at least it protects us from the rain...”

There was an awkward silence that was even accentuated by a small cough coming from Trixie.

“Hey, you guys want some dinner?” the stallion suddenly asked ”I know I can't offer you the great food you're used to but, it's the least I can do for helping me save my crops..”

They all exchanged glances for a moment, searching Starlight's gaze for approval for this action.

“We would love to” the unicorn finally replied.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

They were all standing by the table, Starlight Sunburst on the right side and Trixie and Maud on the left side, on one of the two chairs placed at the ends of the table was the little foal who was looking at the guests with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

“Wow, I've never seen fur as pretty as yours...” the little girl began to say.

“Oh really?” asked Starlight.

“Yes! How do they keep them so shiny?”

“Well emm...I think it's because we bathe so often” said the unicorn trying not to make her words sound offensive.

“Oh! I bathe too, once a month with my daddy, when we manage to gather enough water” the little girl smiled hugely showing her little yellow teeth.

Starlight now didn't know what to answer, she tried to seek help from one of her friends but they all averted their eyes in embarrassment, just when the silence was about to become uncomfortable the stallion entered the room carrying a small pot on his back.

“Honey, stop bothering our guests with your questions.”

The little girl lowered her head with some embarrassment as she apologized.

“I'm sorry daddy.”

“Please excuse my daughter, she tends to be a bit reckless” the pony said as he placed the pot on the table and began to pass out some plates ”Also excuse me I don't have enough chairs to offer you, if any of you would like you can sit in my chair”

“Oh no, no need to apologize or give us your one chair...” began Starlight.

“Oh you are very kind miss...oh dear!” exclaimed the stallion ‘I just realized I didn't even ask your names, please excuse my lack of manners’ the pony gave a small bow.

“Oh don't apologize please, it was a mistake because of the unusual situation...” began Starlight ”Let's correct that, my name is Starlight Glimmer, this stallion is Sunburst, that's Trixie and this is Maud.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you I'm Dry Tuber and my little girl is Celery Shoot...”

“You can call me Cely!” exclaimed the little one.

“It's a pleasure to meet you” said Starlight ”And thank you so much again for allowing us to be in your home.”

“As I said, any devotee of our queens deserves my sympathy” Dry Tuber began to serve the food on the plates, this was some sort of extremely thick and lumpy potato soup, so much so that it was even hard to make it fall off the ladle, the aroma was almost non-existent but when you got close enough you could denote a slight musty smell.

Everyone started eating with some hesitation, the taste wasn't much better but none of them wanted to be rude.

“Wow this is...great” said Starlight as she tried her best to swallow the thick batter.

“I'm glad you like it, though I reiterate my apologies for not being able to offer you anything better.”

“It has a nice texture” Maud said chewing slowly.

“I really am surprised, I've never known unicorns to allow their servants to sit at table with them.”

Everyone turned to look at the stallion with confused faces, the stallion noticing the eyes on him quickly apologized.

“Oh I'm sorry, it's just, it's good to know that there are still unicorns that respect earth ponies” Dry Tuber nervously turns to Maud to try and deflect the conversation ”And tell me what farm did they take you from?”

“Excuse me?” asked Maud.

“Yes, you know, what farm did your employers go to in order to get your services?”

They all fell silent at the question, they didn't know how to excuse themselves from something like that, the more the stallion asked, the gloomier the picture about this world seemed to them, however Maud's answer came quickly and accurately.

“I'm from a rock farm.”

“Oh wow, a miner, that's amazing, I guess they sought you out for your strength then..” the pony paused to eat a spoonful of soup, clearing his throat and coming back with another question ”And did your family agree to your departure or was it ahem...a settlement?”

“Uh excuse me...” interrupted Starlight ”What do you mean?”

“Oh well, you know, that her farm was liquidated by the crown and she was sold along with her family.”

Starlight swallowed saliva, she could feel her paling and her breathing slowly quicken, this was too much for her, but again Maud quickly replied.

“Nothing of the sort, my family was happy that I could serve the crown closely, they sent me off with jubilation and still to this day they wait for me.”

“Oh that's wonderful, I'm glad you're a free pony and that your employers are so kind and considerate.”

“Ahem yes...” said Sunburst clearing his throat ”Sorry to interrupt you but, we wanted to know if you could already help us with the directions we need.”

“Oh that's right, excuse me, I tend to be very talkative when I get into confidence, could you remind me what it was you needed?”

“We need directions to find the queens army” replied Sunburst.

“Oh well, the truth is that not much fresh news passes through here, the last time I heard about the imperial army I knew they were marching towards the northern lands to repel the dragon advance.”

“The northern lands?” asked Starlight finally.

“Yeah, I really don't understand how they could have strayed so far, they're going in the complete opposite direction.”

“Uh yeah well...I think maybe we got a little carried away with the shortcuts, it's just that we really came out way behind” Starlight said.

“I understand, well I'm glad I could help...”

Suddenly Trixie felt a tug on her hoove, turning she found the little filly looking straight at her.

“Ehh yes? What can the great and powerful Trixie do for you?”

The little girl shrank back a little embarrassed.

“Excuse me miss mighty...it's just that I, I had never in my life seen a unicorn and I wanted to ask you is it true that they can make lights and move things without touching them?”

Trixie looked in awe at the little girl who seemed completely fascinated, after a second pondering her question Trixie raised her voice triumphantly.

“But of course we do little one! All of us unicorns, including the great and powerful Trixie can do great magical feats!”

“Wow! Could you show me?!”

Trixie glanced at Starlight for a second, asking with her eyes if it was wise, upon receiving a formation from her friend Trixie resumed her showmanship voice.

“But of course you are little one! Marvel at the awesome power of the great and mighty Trixie!”

The unicorn flashed her horn, generating a very powerful pink light, for a moment the room was completely illuminated and the next instant a small transparent butterfly materialized in the air.
The foal stood with her mouth open, watching in wonder at the little spectacle.
Trixie was having a hard time maintaining her illusion, even so she did her best to make the butterfly do a couple of laps around the house while the little one chased it laughing and jumping.

When the butterfly finally dissipated into thin air the little girl jumped abruptly onto the table, leaped in front of Trixie and exclaimed.

“You're the best magician in the world!”

“Celery Shoot!” said the stallion somewhat sternly ”What did I tell you about disturbing the guests?”

The filly looked crestfallen for a second and was about to leave the table when she was stopped by Trixie.

“Never, in all my life, has anyone ever said anything wonderful to me...” the mare put one of her hooves on the little girl's shoulder causing her to look up at her ‘I'm really glad you enjoyed the show’ Trixie smiled broadly at the little girl who smiled back before hopping down from the table.

All was silent again, Starlight and her friends were still trying to digest not only the thick mash they ate, but also all the information they had just received, it wasn't until the little filly's yawn was heard that Starlight managed to say.

“Well...it looks like the rain has stopped and your daughter seems a little tired, I think we'd better get going.”

They all turned away from the table and began walking quickly toward the cabin door.

“Oh but wouldn't they want to stay the night?”

They all turned with some concern.

“Oh uh, are you sure? We wouldn't want to take advantage of your hospitality..” started to say Starlight but was interrupted.

“Oh no please, I insist, besides, it's not safe to go out at night, there are too many bandits around these lands, very dangerous ponies that control all the farms in the region.”

They all looked at each other, Trixie leaned closer to Starlight to whisper to her.

“What do you think Starlight?”

“I don't know...” the unicorn began to say, the stallion seemed a little strange but he hadn't been hostile or suspicious, he seemed just nervous about trying to please them, Starlight looked behind the pony and met the foal's gaze, sleepy and pondered ”I think...I think we'll be fine..”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The stallion placed some blankets on the floor, giving them all room to lie down as he placed his daughter on the only bed and covered her nicely.

“Rest sweetie” the stallion gave her a kiss on her forehead as the little girl snuggled in and closed her eyes.

“Thanks again for the help” Starlight whispered as the rest of her friends prepared for sleep.

“Again, you don't have to apologize, in fact I should be thanking you, you made our night, my daughter and I, that's not a very common thing these days...”

Starlight then decided to inquire further, mostly out of sympathy for the pony, she felt he at least deserved some chatter, before falling asleep.

“Hey, if you don't mind me asking, that mare in the portrait is she your wife?”

The stallion looked up somewhat intrigued by the question, for a moment he thought about avoiding it but, these ponies for some reason made him feel more confident than he had ever been able to feel in his entire life, something about them was different, he didn't know what, but it was certainly a good thing.

“Ehhh yes, yes she was my wife...” the stallion cleared his throat lowering his voice so as not to wake his daughter ”She, she died a few years ago...”

Starlight immediately regretted asking, though in hindsight it was a no-brainer, she would have stopped asking but her curiosity and her desire to know kicked in, the same curiosity that had made her decide to go on that trip in the first place.

“And may I know how she died?” Starlight decided to be as polite as possible.

“She fell ill, shortly after giving birth to Cely...” the stallion looked at his already sleeping daughter and couldn't help but feel the pang of sadness before continuing ”The winter didn't help, it was harsh and there wasn't enough food, she just...didn't wake up one day.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't be sorry, it was the will of the queens, had she deserved it they would have saved her...”

“Do you really think so?” asked Starlight somewhat impulsively.

“What do you mean?” the stallion looked at her quizzically.

Starlight quickly corrected herself.

“I mean...because you think she wasn't worthy of being saved?”

“Well, we are earth ponies, our ancestors were the first to rebel against the divine reign centuries ago, that makes us the descendants of that sin, that's why we are the lowliest servants of the queens, by our blood and ancestry we deserve only land and servitude...”

“That's not true!” said Starlight a little louder than she intended.

“What are you talking about?”

“You can't judge all of you for something your ancestors of hundreds of generations ago did, it's absurd...”

“But, so the queens dictate...”

Starlight stopped dead in her tracks, she knew better than to antagonize this pony, she couldn't come in and simply question everything she believed in, she quickly changed her tone to something more solemn and controlled.

“You are absolutely right Dry, that is what queens dictate...but in my eyes and seeing what a great pony you are, I have no doubt that your wife would have been just as good and diligent, therefore, in my eyes, she deserved to be saved.”

The stallion relaxed his expression, not expecting such a sudden show of understanding, nor did he expect the unicorn's strange reaction to the crown's dictates, for a moment thinking that the mare was testing him in some way, though he could not say for sure, truly this unicorn was very strange, before his cascade of thoughts would continue, Starlight, foreseeing some trouble continued with another question.

“Do you miss her?”

The stallion was taken by surprise, it took him a moment to be able to answer.

“Well I...yes, every single day, sometimes, I even wish I had gone with her, but I have Cely and I promised to take care of her, it was the last thing I promised her, so I will do that and maybe, when I die, if the queens wills it, I will be able to see her again.”

“I'm sure you will,” said Starlight.

“You know, I can truly say, without fear of contradiction, that you are the kindest unicorn I have ever met in my entire life.”

“Well, I guess I'll take that as a compliment.”

They both fell silent, now the only thing that could be heard was the sound of the night wind outside.

“Well...” said the stallion ”I guess I'd better go to sleep, I have to start work early tomorrow.”

“Oh yes of course, me and my friends should leave first thing too.”
With nothing more to say they both went to their respective spaces and wrapped themselves in the old blankets.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The sound of screaming was what woke Starlight up, these were fast and furious, it took her a moment to even understand what they were saying.

“Dry Tuber!!! come out you damned wretch we know you're in there!!!!”

By the time Starlight got up in alarm from the floor she saw that all her friends had also been awakened by the caterwaul of screams, she saw Dry Tuber approaching the door cautiously as her daughter stood back under the table.

“What's going on?” asked Starlight in a whisper.

The stallion turned to her.

“It's nothing, please stay inside while I sort it out.”

“But...” started to say Starlight but was interrupted.

“Please” the pony spoke with a serious expression on his face.

They all stood watching as the pony walked out the door and walked in front of the cabin.

They all cautiously approached the front window, trying to figure out what was really going on.

Dry Tuber walked carefully watching his back, a few meters away from his cabin there were three ponies; a mare and two stallions.

The mare was a unicorn, she had a dark red coat and black mane tied in a huge bun, she wore dirty black robes and was missing an eye, you could see the scarred socket with fur covering it, the two stallions were earth ponies, they had no garments, one was greyish blue and the other dull yellow, covered in small scars from top to bottom, both were standing on either side of the mare with serious looks on their faces.

Dry Tuber approached until he was only a few paces away, standing firm and looking defiant, at the sight of him the unicorn couldn't help but let out a scornful laugh and spit a gargle to the ground.

“Wow, until you finally decide to show your face...”

“The month isn't up yet” interrupted the stallion.

“What?” asked the mare feigning confusion.

“You said you'd come for your payment once the month was up, that's a week away.”

“Oh really? how clumsy, I could have sworn it was already the date” the mare made an exaggerated gesture with her hoof feigning embarrassment.

“Well a mistake anyone can make, but don't worry you can come back when...”

“Shut the fuck up!!!” the unicorn abruptly interrupted.

“I come to collect my payment when the fuck I feel like it and you pay me when you see me at the gate of your filthy farm.”

The stallion let out a weary sigh and tried to remain calm.

“Frozen Cereal...you know I don't have the money until the last day, until I finish selling my potatoes.”

“The thing my dear Dry Tuber is that I'm tired of you giving me crumbs every month, you are the farm that gives me the least monetary goods and that's not good for business.”

“Aren't you the lender of all the farms in the region?” asked Dry Tuber more tense ”It seems to me that all your economic stability doesn't depend only on my farm, besides, I seem to remember that your policy indicated that you should always be paid half and only half.”

“And I seem to recall that the last time I came here I told you that the policies were about to change, I decided to set a minimum quota and, believe me when I tell you honey, you don't meet it and truth be told I doubt you ever will.”

“And if you are already sure that I will never have enough to pay you then what are you doing here demanding money that I don't have?”

“Oh because just like all you filthy farmers I'm sure you have a lot more than money...” Frozen Cereal paused as she and her thugs began to move deeper into the farm grounds making Dry Tuber slowly back away “I'm sure you won't mind losing some of your tools or a few potatoes to pay me back for this month, you can even give me something of more value and I'll consider sparing you a couple of full months.”

“You know very well that I have absolutely nothing of value...”

“And what about your little girl...?” Frozen Cereal asked casually, as if it was nothing, leaving Dry Tuber frozen.

“What the fuck did you say!” said the stallion recovering quickly and sounding furious.

“Hey don't get upset calm down...” the two stallions had started to circle Dry Tuber slowly ”I'm just saying that if you'd leave her to me as collateral I could turn a blind eye for a while while while you get my money.”

“You've got to be fucking kidding me...” Dry Tuber kept backing away as the stallions got closer and closer and the unicorn stopped.

“You can refuse if you want, it's not obligatory, but I sincerely doubt that even giving me all your land you can pay for a single month and you know what happens to those who don't pay” at that moment the stallions came together taking firmer steps forward.

Dry Tuber was starting to sweat and breathing heavily, he knew he had been on the ropes this last while but he didn't think Frozen Cereal's retaliation would be so absurd.

“I can give you everything, anything I own, but please...don't hurt me or my daughter.”

“Listen up you filthy earth pony!!!!! You are in no position to bargain with me, you have two choices here, either you give me your daughter and I let you keep your filthy farm or I kill you, destroy your filthy farm and take your daughter anyway!”

“Why the fuck...!” started to ask Dry Tuber but was interrupted by a blow from one of the stallions sending them to the ground.

Dry Tuber coughed trying to recover feeling blood coming out of his nose, turning to look at his attackers he found Frozen Cereal's face only inches away from his face.

“Well first of all I apologize because that punch was unnecessary...” the unicorn began to say as she gave a stern look to the pony who had thrown the punch ‘And even more so because that was an easy question to answer, in fact I think even you with how dumb you are know the answer..’ the unicorn moved closer to Dry Tuber's face giving her a light touch with her hoof on the cheek that received the blow ”And you know how much I love how the little ones squeal.”

Dry Tuber lunged at Frozen Cereal with the intention of punching her but was immediately stopped by the two stallions who held him firmly.

“Wow!” exclaimed the unicorn as she backed away slightly ”Hey easy big guy, I swear you weren't my first choice, but the other farmers don't have pretty daughters to give me anymore!”

“IF YOU TOUCH A SINGLE HAIR ON HER...!!!” A loud punch to the stomach fell Dry Tuber's scream.

“What the fuck are you going to do, huh?!” another punch to the stallion's stomach ‘I'm going to tell you...’ another punch ”You're not going to do shit because this land belongs to me and that means everyone who lives on it does too, that's how the queens decree it right? and what kind of devotee would you be if they didn't respect their most sacred law?”

Dry Tuber kept coughing up blood as the two stallions continued to beat him.

“Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go in and get your daughter, don't worry, she's very pretty I assure you I'll keep her with me for a long time” the unicorn began to walk calmly towards the door of the cabin as Dry Tuber struggled to free himself from the stallions' grip, the mare climbed one by one of the steps with overwhelming slowness, finally reaching the door and knocking gently “Celery Shoot, little one, your daddy sent me to pick you up, he says you have to come with me to a nice place.”

Evidently there was no answer, still the unicorn knocked gently again.

“Hey little girl, I'll tell you a secret, if you don't open this door and come with me now I'm going to murder your daddy, I'm going to gut him like a fucking animal and leave him bleeding to death on the floor, then I'll break down this door and drag you away by the mane” the unicorn stuck to the door as she said it, trying to hear if the little girl was crying.

Finally she could hear footsteps approaching the door, the unicorn stood expectantly listening to what she thought was the little one slowly approaching, finally she heard her stop behind the door and could feel her grab the handle.

The mare was drooling with impatience when the gate finally opened and the next thing she knew she was thrown backwards by a powerful blow.

The blow that hit her straight in the face sent her flying several feet causing her to crash to the hard floor face first, the sound of the impact and the mare's scream caused the two stallions that were still beating Dry Tuber to stop and turn around alerted.

Frozen Cereal stood up dazed, feeling her nose broken and bleeding and spitting out a couple of teeth.

“But what the...crap?” turning in on herself the unicorn could see a gray earth pony standing in the doorway, her hoof raised which was stained with a bit of blood.

“I'd appreciate it if you'd leave” Maud said with a completely unmoving face.

The two stallions let go of Dry Tuber dropping him unconscious to the ground and rushed to help Frozen Cereal up, the latter quickly pushed her bullies away, getting up on her own.
Finally standing she looked up and down at the mare in the doorway, thinking for a second as the pain from the blow subsides.

“Well well, looks like old Dry Tuber hired some muscle” she finally said trying to regain her arrogant tone, the unicorn coughed up blood once more before continuing ”Listen, I don't know how much the pig paid you to do this stupid thing, but whatever I know it was, I can triple it...”

“Sorry, I guess you didn't hear me the first time...” said maud stepping forward which rumbled ”I'd appreciate it if you'd leave.”

Frozen Cereal frowned, her voice changing completely to a more somber tone.

“I don't know who you think you are talking to me like that...maybe you don't know who I am, but never mind, I'll give you one last chance, you get out and we'll leave it here...”

Maud just stared at the unicorn without moving a single step.

“Fine, have it your way” the unicorn made a noise with her hoof and the two stallions pounced on Maud.

Both tried to grab the mare but she deftly took a big turn dodging and knocking the stallions off, as one tried to turn to lunge again he was met by a kick that thundered the pony's jaw and sent him to the ground.
The second stallion rammed Maud from underneath throwing her against the stall, making the wood creak.

The mare tried to recover but a direct blow to her face sent her back to the ground, now it was Maud's nose that broke under the impact.
Just as the stallion was about to deliver another blow Maud let loose a kick right to one of the hind hooves which broke immediately.

The pony let out a cry of pain and backed away allowing Maud to get up, but this did not last long as suddenly the earth pony felt her air being sucked out of her.
Suddenly a rope levitated and coiled around Maud's neck, squeezing tightly and denying her air.

In the distance Frozen Cereal was shining her horn a bright yellow color, tightening the rope more and more and raising it to hang the earth pony.
As the two half-breeds struggled up from the ground and came closer again.

“Damn bitch, if you're strong, what a waste of talent...”

Just as Maud was about to lose consciousness the rope snapped, and both stallions were flung away by a slingshot of magical power

“What the fuck...!” The unicorn couldn't finish as a similar impact threw her forward to the threshold of the hut.

Her nose scraped against the ground again, her bleeding was reborn, it was such a surprise that she couldn't avoid swallowing some dirt.
Coughing heavily trying to catch her breath the unicorn looked up meeting Starlight who had a furious look on her face and a vomit stained chin.

“What the fuck is going on!!!?”

Starlight flashed her horn and Frozen Cerela's head was whipped violently against the stone staircase of the hut, right in front of her.
The unicorn didn't have time to recover from the first impact because immediately after came the second, and the third, and the fourth, and the fifth until finally on the sixth there was a terrifying cracking sound, this one sounded like a very thick hollow branch snapping.

Frozen Cereal didn't know why the unicorn in front of her had stopped hitting her against the ladder, but she could feel her forehead hot, she assumed it was due to the blows, her vision was blurred but she could make out a red stain on the grey stone, she assumed it was her own blood, it took her a moment to finally realize she was looking at her own shattered horn right in front of her.

The red unicorn let out a choked cry of panic at the sight of it she raised her hooves to search for her horn above her head but found only a splintered bone, she began to hyperventilate and sweat profusely, she had indeed lost her horn.

“Look at me...”

She heard the unicorn groggily hover above her head, she tried to do as the voice told her but her body didn't respond properly.

“Raise your damn head and look at me you .... .you deranged, sick monster!”

Frozen Cereal finally managed to look up to meet Starlight's troubled face with tears in her eyes.

The delirious unicorn couldn't help but find the mare's face in front of her amusing, it looked like an innocent face being corrupted for the first time, the kind of face she loved to see.
Frozen Cereal let out a half-hearted chuckle as Starlight tried to find some sort of regret in the unicorn's one eye, but there was nothing there, just a bad joke, and in a moment the unicorn's eye closed and fell onto the staircase.

Starlight then it dawned on her that she was already unconscious and she dropped backwards with her eyes rolling and trembling, meanwhile Trixie and Sunburst came out of the cabin to the aid of Maud who was just coming to and Dry Tuber.

“Maud! Maud! Are you okay?!” asked Trixie as she helped the pony to her feet.

“I'm...Fine” said the pony with a hoarse voice still taking big breaths.

Sunburst approached the stallion on the ground who was squirming weakly trying to get up.

“Are you all right?” asked the unicorn as he checked the pony's condition.

“Yes...” he said weakly ”What...what happened..?”

“Well....” Sunburst began to say as the Dry Tuber stood up and looked at the view.

“What the hell?” he managed to say before his legs gave out from under him and Sunburst had to help him not to fall.

They both walked slowly to the entrance of the hut where Starlight was still standing and Frozen Cereal was lying in front of her.

“She's...?” began Dry.

“Unconscious” replied Starlight absently, she kept her gaze fixed on the newly dehorned unicorn.

Dry Tuber stood for a moment pondering what to do when a crunching sound was heard behind him.

Everyone turned to see the two stallions emerging from the brush, clearly badly injured but still standing, the one with the broken leg was staggering along trying to keep his balance while the other used one of his front hooves to hold his jaw.
Both had a furious look on their faces that intensified when they saw sujefa lying on the ground.

Dry Tuber then pulled out of Sunburst's grip quickly, grabbing Frozen Cereal by the mane with his teeth and starting to drag her in the direction of the stallions, the stallions instantly stood still watching with some concern.

Dry Tuber struggled to stand despite the pain, giving the ponies in front of him a stern look, finally dropping the unicorn to her side and turning to the stallions.

“If you...show up here again...I'm going to kill each and every one of you...understood...?”

Both stallions just nodded effusively and got ready to grab Frozen Cereal from the ground but, in an instant Dry Tuber jumped with all his might and smashed the unicorn's head, scattering her brains on the dry ground, this made the stallions move away in fear and shock while Dry, still on the remains of the unicorn's face and stained with her blood, screamed.

“AND I WILL DO TO YOU EXACTLY WHAT I DID TO HER!!! NOW IF I'M FUCKING CLEAR TO YOU?!!!”

Now the studs nodded with terror evident on their faces and walked away as fast as their bruised bodies would allow.

Everyone's mouths dropped open except Starlight who was still staring blankly, suddenly it seemed that all of Dry Tuber's tenderness and gentleness had been extinguished and now they had another maniac in front of them.

Just as the stallions had completely lost themselves in the distance a cry brought everyone out of their state of shock.

“Daddy!!!”

Little Celery Shoot ran out of the cabin in the direction of her father, who, as he turned around, had the most heartbreaking expression of relief anyone present had ever seen, Dry Tuber couldn't help but start crying and smile at the sight of his daughter, dropping down to hug her tightly.

“It's all right honey, it's all right now...”

They both stood there, hugging and crying silently.

Sunburst regained some of her composure at the image, which made her gather enough strength to approach Starlight who was still looking at the shattered horn on the ladder.

“Starlight...” began Sunburst ”Are you all right?”

Her friend's words sounded distant to her, it was as if she was underwater as her ears were ringing, there was no word she had ever known that described what she was feeling at that moment, if not for the fact that her stomach was now empty she would have vomited again, she wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, but something deep in the back of her mind told her it would be in vain.
Finally, untangling her thoughts, Starlight was able to work out a half-hearted response.

“No .... .I'm not well Sunburst” Starlight flashed her horn and with her magic raised Frozen Cereal's horn and held it in front of her ”But I think...this is a good start...”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next day the four of them stood in front of Dry Tuber's cabin adjusting old traveling cloaks and receiving a bag full of potatoes.

“Are you sure you want to give us some of your harvest?” asked Starlight holding up the bag with her magic.

“It's the least I can do, for all you've done for us...” replied the stallion who was leaning on a makeshift crutch made from some of his tools while stroking the head of his foal ”Besides, I'm not worried about the crop, I'll talk to the rest of the farms, now that Frozen Cereal is gone I think we can stand up to their stallions, and we'll be fine.”

Starlight couldn't help but smile at this, walking up to Dry Tuber and giving him an unexpected hug that almost made the stallion fall over.

“Wow wow wow okay...” the pony said in surprise, as he returned the hug with a few light pats.

“Thank you...” whispered Starlight.

For what?” the pony let out a confused chuckle.

“For teaching me that there is still goodness in this world.”

“Uh... you're welcome?” replied Dry Tuber.

The hug finally ended and they all said their goodbyes, Trixie looked over her shoulder watching the foal say goodbye as they walked away, later speaking to Starlight.

“Do you think they will be okay?”

“I think so Trixie...” said Starlight ”It seems to me that we helped make their lives better.”

“I hope they have a long and good life” said Maud who had a black eye and her voice was still a little hoarse.

“I just hope Dry Tuber makes a full recovery...” spoke Sunburst ”His injuries are somewhat serious.”

“I'm sure he'll be fine, he's a strong pony, seems like they all are in this place...” said Starlight remaining thoughtful.

They all walked until they reached the place where they had arrived, Starlight and Sunburst then started drawing shapes in the dirt, making a circle and starting to write around it.

“Ehh remind me a little what are we going to do now?” asked Trixie confused.

“We are going to travel to the northern lands to find Celestia and Luna's army” replied Starlight as she continued to draw.

“It will be our last stop before we return to our time” continued Sunburst.

“And they think that's a good idea?” Trixie's voice reflected concern.
“Good idea or not, it will give us the ultimate proof we need” Starlight said as she finished writing the runes for the teleportation spell.

They all stepped into the circle and Starlight began to shine her horn, creating a magical bubble around her that gradually glowed brighter and brighter.

“I'm just saying that maybe we should find a better way to get that evidence... or at least a safer one!” exclaimed Trixie as the bubble began to buzz.

“Don't worry Trixie...” began Sunburst ”It'll be a quick thing, we'll be in and out, we won't even get very close.”

Trixie wanted to keep claiming but, if she was honest with herself, she couldn't think of a better way to end this trip conclusively.

One last flash of the bubble and suddenly the four ponies had disappeared, leaving behind the circle drawn on the ground and the sound of the dry wind around them.

To be continued...