Author's Note

I know it is implicit in the classifications of history, but it seems appropriate to warn.

This chapter takes a step up a notch when it comes to issues of violence and abuse, if you are not comfortable with these issues please refrain from reading.

Discussions with the reader are encouraged.

Chapter 15: Everything Tastes Different.

In the great dining room of the castle of the crystal empire, the friends were sitting at the table enjoying a very prominent breakfast, Cadance and Shining Armor, sitting at the far end of the table, were struggling to feed Flurry Heart, who did nothing but laugh and throw food everywhere, Pinkie was the closest to this little show, catching with her tongue the pieces of hotcake and scrambled eggs that the baby catapulted with her magic, on the other hand Rarity was the one who had decided to sit the farthest away from what, as she predicted, would be a very cute but dirty battle between parents and daughter, finally Rainbow and Applejack were halfway between both extremes, sitting side by side while holding each other's hooves, Twilight and Bek were nowhere to be seen.

“I see Flurry Heart has already become more skilled with the use of her magic...” began Rarity as she dodged a piece of dough that flew to her side of the table.

“Yes, she's getting sharper every day, but that's a good sign, according to what Sunburst had told us that means, when she grows up she won't have trouble learning elaborate spells” replied Cadance as she levitated a napkin to wipe off the food that was staining her face.

“Yep, she's our talented little wizard...” exclaimed Shining as she took the baby in her arms and sat her on her lap ”Though honestly, as smart as she is you'd think she'd notice how much we struggled during breakfast.”

They all laughed in unison, after everything that had happened so far, it was great to share a quiet moment, but that didn't last long, once the laughter had died down, everyone fell back on the heavy resolution that, Sunburst, would never be there to advise Flurry when she grew up, he would no longer be able to fulfill her job as a crystallizer, to break the silence Applejack decided to clarify the doubt that had been gnawing at her since the beginning of the breakfast.

“And...Twilight won't be joining us?”

Everyone shared nervous glances before Cadence cleared her throat to answer.

“Well ahem...I invited her but she said she had to keep analyzing the memories of the...well of the horns...”

“She's been locked up for days with those horns hasn't she?” asked Rainbow with a concerned tone.

“Indeed, she hasn't left the castle library, not even to use the powder room” continued Rarity.

“She hasn't let us in either, she insists she won't show us anything until she's sure what's inside...” Shining finished crestfallen.

Suddenly the atmosphere became somber, even little Flurry stopped laughing as she noticed how sad her parents seemed to be, this time it was Pinkie who broke the silence.

“What about Bek? Did someone invite her to breakfast?” she exclaimed with a mouth full of food.

The question surprised everyone, Pinkie innocently looked at everyone's faces denoting embarrassment on their faces, deducing what was most obvious.

“Wait...no one did?!”

“I..I figured one of you would warn him..” admitted Applejack.

“Oh I would have done it no doubt dear but...well..” Rarity started but didn't know how to excuse herself.

“Well, the thing is, none of us know where she is...” finished Rainbow curtly.

At that moment Shining Armor cleared her throat and spoke.

“Ahem well, that's not entirely true, the guards informed me that he took up residence in the gardens of the royal quarters, he's been there since he arrived...”

They all shared nervous glances again with the exception of Pinkie.

“Well then, why don't we invite her?” asked the pink pony again.

Everyone went quiet again, at least until Cadance spoke up.

“Well Pinkie Pie, not that I mind her presence or anything, but she seems to be determined not to enter the castle unless absolutely necessary.”

“And, if we're really going to be honest here sugar cube...” began Applejack ”I don't think inviting her would have been a good idea.”

“But why not? She doesn't seem like the kind of pony that has bad table manners” Pinkie asked now very confused.

“Well dear, I don't think that's the problem, it's just that, well she's something....” said Rarity.

“That pony is super weird” exclaimed Rainbow.

“But what's wrong with that? I'm weird...”

“She's not weird like you Pinkie Pie, your weirdness is fun, hers is kind of...depressing” said Rarity heavily.

Pinkie didn't understand, she thought Bek and her best friends were already best friends, after all they had gone through three months of trekking to get to the empire safe and sound, but she found herself surprised to learn that her presence seemed to be off-putting to everyone present.

“But, she doesn't do it on purpose...” began Pinkie ”We all know perfectly well that it's not her fault she's like that...”

“Pinkie is right...” began Cadance ”I understand that her presence may be somewhat uncomfortable for us but that is no reason to exclude her, after all she comes from a much less kind time than ours, it seems to me the least we can do is to show her how much the world has changed for the better in her absence.”

“You may be right...” replied Applejack ” I'm sure the least she'd want to do is inconvenience us.”

“Not to mention, without her we would be completely helpless in the face of our current situation” continued Rarity.

“Great!” exclaimed Candance ”Why don't you guys go and offer her something to eat...I'll go check on Twilight...she might be hungry too.”

“I...I'll go talk to the guards...” began Shining ”Some of them are extremely nervous and have been keeping an eye on Bek the whole time...”

Breakfast continued with some haste, the conversation became more relaxed and in the end everyone went their separate ways.
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The four mares were walking around the outskirts of the castle, surrounding it in the direction of the barracks where the empire's royal guard rested and trained every day, as they advanced between the large elongated buildings they could see guards marching in formation wearing their elegant armor made of shining crystal, they all noticed that, strangely, there were some pegasus and unicorns standing out among the large amount of earth ponies.

“How strange...” said Rainbow ”I thought all the crystal ponies were earth ponies...”

“Well my dear...” replied Rarity ”Being part of the royal guard of the crystal empire is a most glamorous honor, since the empire became so prosperous many ponies from Equestria move north in search of better opportunities, a good portion of them enlist in the imperial army as it is an accessible position and guarantees a good livelihood.”

“You'd think that being such a small kingdom it wouldn't have such a large royal guard...” said Applejack somewhat thoughtfully.

“Well, their job goes beyond just being soldiers my dear, they are public servants as well, they help the citizens with any problem they might come across from a fire to a kitten stuck in a tree...”

“But there are no trees or kittens here!” exclaimed Pinkie as she pranced around.

“That's just a saying Pinkie.”

Finally the mares reached the courtyards behind the buildings, surprised to find a considerable crowd of guards crowded at one end of the field.
They approached curiously, realizing that, all the guards were looking curiously and somewhat impressed at Bek in the distance, the unicorn was almost at the edge of the training field, holding her sword with her magic and doing what seemed to be a training routine, she was slashing and moving gracefully from side to side, she seemed to have been there for a while as her body was sweaty and she was breathing heavily.
The four friends stood in awe for a moment, watching the mare's hypnotic and measured movements as they heard some of the guards mutter under their breath.

“I've never seen such perfect swordplay” spoke one stallion with his mouth open.

“And you saw those wounds...I'm sure she's put those skills to use” said another pony beside him as he gave him a little shove on the shoulder.

“Now I understand the sergeant when she makes us train late without our armor on, she's so sexy!” exclaimed a pegasus with her wings outstretched.

Applejack then noticed Bek's face, she looked extremely uncomfortable, trying her best to ignore the, not at all disguised, stares on her, at one point during a wide sweep with the sword Bek seemed to experience a twinge of pain that made her lose her balance and collapse to the ground, the blade of her sword immediately went out and the hilt fell to the ground with a thud.
At that moment all the guards present began whispering amongst themselves asking a myriad of questions although none even showed any intention of approaching to help the unicorn.

At that moment Applejack's patience ran out, standing firmly in front of the guards and exclaiming.

“All right that's enough, show's over!”

At the mare's annoyed look all the guards looked to the ground in embarrassment and slowly retreated.
Bek was still on the ground, holding in pain and with her eyes closed one of her sides, she could feel the twinges of pain coming from the large wound that made a perfect curve from her back to her chest, She opened her eyes when she heard multiple footsteps approaching her and tried to get up believing that they were the guards that had not stopped watching her since she started training this morning, luckily for her she relaxed a little when she saw that they were Twilight's friends, who were approaching her cautiously and with worried looks on their faces.

Applejack walked until she was right in front of Bek and held out her hoof to help her up, the unicorn hesitated for a second before finally deciding to reciprocate the gesture, grabbing the farm girl's firm hoof and surprising herself a little when she felt the strength of her grip.
The mare was able to barely stand up, still feeling the pain in her side, even so she did her best to look calm, stepping a bit away from the mares and walking over to a small mound where she had placed her bag along with her cloak and hat.

“Emmm Bek....” Applejack finally began ”We hope we're not disturbing you in your activities tomorrow but... well...”

“We wanted to know if you wanted breakfast, technically it would be lunch by now but since you weren't there for you it would still be breakfast because it would be your first meal of the day...” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly.

Bek was somewhat taken aback at the proposal, she paused for a second trying to deduce if it was some kind of joke or something but the mares faces denoted nothing of the sort, she quickly shook her head and began to put on her cloak, covering her body as she nervously responded.

“Oh...uh, well...I...I appreciate it but I, in fact, already ate something...”

“Oh, really?” asked Rarity quizzically ”Well that's...wonderful! It's good to see you have good eating habits. What did you eat?”

Bek then pointed to the freshly mowed grass of the training field as she put on his hat, covering his face, they all shared quizzical looks.

“You umm...ate grass?”

“Yes, fresh grass is the best thing to recover energy quickly and stop feeling hungry for the rest of the day, although this one is kind of short and has a strange taste, honestly I would prefer the one that grows in that forest next to your little town...”

They were all silent not knowing what to say and Bek began to feel uncomfortable, she knew that her way of doing things bothered most of the ponies of this new time, that was the reason why she had decided not to stay in the castle, well because of that and also because no way she would stay in a huge closed place of which she didn't know the possible exits, she had thought about going further away from the castle to find a place that would give her more privacy for her daily routine but she came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be a good idea if at some point they require her help, the unicorn finally cleared her throat and spoke nervously.

“Well yes...as I said I appreciate you wanting to share your food with me but, truth be told, it doesn't sound appetizing to me...”

“Wait...really?!” asked Pinkie in surprise ”How can you not find a freshly baked apple pie, or a tray of chocolate chip cookies, or a fluffy, crunchy muffin appetizing?”

“The truth is, I tried trying new food during my trip back to Equestria and the truth is...I found them extremely unpalatable, I don't know why, but those new flavors just don't appeal to me.”

“Is that why you didn't accept any of my cupcakes during the trip on the way here?”

“Yes, especially that colorful food, I find it unappetizing...”

Pinkie let out a gasp, deeply dismayed by Bek's opinion towards the sweets, causing Bek to shrug her shoulder in embarrassment, believing she had offended the pink pony.

“I...I'm sorry, it's just...it's all too different, and I'm not sure I could ever get used to how you guys do things, at least not in the near future...”

“Is that why you didn't want to stay at the castle?” asked Applejack.

“One of the reasons...” the unicorn answered half-heartedly.

“Well, we don't have to go there if you don't want to, however, as far as food goes, I'm sure we can find something that will be to your liking, not everything in this time is all sugar, as Pinkie Pie may have you believe” said the farm girl.

“Hey! Sweet is the best food of all!”

“Maybe for you dear, but it seems to me that our companion here prefers the more...sober flavors” Rarity spoke while the unpleasant thought of eating grass still crossed her mind.

“So what do you say, you want us to help you find something to eat?” Applejack gave Bek a gentle smile.

The unicorn wasn't sure, she didn't quite understand why all of a sudden these ponies seemed to hang out with her, there was no reason, no logical or necessary reason for that.

“Emm I...” she paused as she looked down ”I don't know, I wouldn't want to interrupt your daily activities...”

“Oh, we don't have anything to do...” interrupted Applejack ”As long as Twilight finishes analyzing the evidence Starlight sent her, we'll have a couple of quiet days...” Applejack wasn't sure about that last part, the way things were going, she doubted that “Quiet” would even come close to what would surely end up being days full of angst, still she kept her smile and friendly tone “And we'll be glad to show you some of the good things this new world has to offer right girls?”

They all nodded in unison, some more animated than others, Bek could notice how both the blue pegasus and the white unicorn seemed to be nodding more out of obligation than out of a genuine feeling of solidarity, still she decided to stop making excuses, after all she had nothing else to do either.

“That's fine, though I doubt we'll find something I like...”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cadance was walking in the direction of the castle library at a slow pace, she was carrying a tray with some cucumber sandwiches on it, she was trying to delay her arrival as long as possible, she didn't want to have to deal with obsessive Twilight right now, it had been bad enough dealing with her own royal guard, they all doubted the veracity of Twilight's story, even when Cadance herself had confirmed it to them they remained skeptical, she hoped that soon Twilight would finish examining the memories of the horns so that she could show them to the populace and there would no longer be room for doubt.

Finally before her was the large door to the library, no noise could be heard coming from inside so Cadance assumed Twilight would be asleep or something, she decided to enter quietly, so as not to wake her in case she was right.
She shone her horn, pushed the door carefully, just enough to be able to half enter the room, to her surprise Twilight was awake, in fact she was more than awake, sitting in the middle of the huge room using her magic to levitate the dark red horn.

Twilight's horn glowed with a purple hue had, a thread of magic came out of this glow and connected directly with the plucked horn in front of her, Cadance was cautious realizing that her friend had her eyes closed and didn't seem to notice her presence, she could see her dirty fur and unkempt mane, obvious result of having been locked up and sleeping badly for days, the alicorn was even more surprised when she got close enough to notice, Cadance was surprised because, considering the amount of tears, Twilight in theory should have been sobbing uncontrollably, but no, her face remained peaceful and completely concentrated, not even her breathing seemed agitated, she wondered what kind of things she was experiencing.

She was really curious about it, after so many days when Twilight had refused to share the contents of the horns, this was her chance to finally know, but did she really want to know? she already knew that the orange horn was Sunburst's, who, according to what Twilight had told them, had tragically died to ensure that these tests and her friends managed to escape their time travel, that meant that the other horn must be from a pony from the past, from the time that Bek was supposed to have come from, she didn't know what kind of things would have been stored in the memories of whoever the original owner was but, if she was really honest with herself, she couldn't deny that she was really dying to see.

It was, more than simple curiosity, a morbid desire to see first hand the horrible and impossible things that Bek and Twilight claimed were true, finally and against all hints of common sense, Cadance carefully placed the tray of food on the floor, walked to stand in front of Twilight on the other side of the horn, and began to concentrate on connecting to the mind-reading spell.

It didn't take her long, though it wasn't a spell she would normally use, it wasn't a very complicated one, in fact it was one of the first taught in higher magical education, listed as a historical spell, used by the unicorns of old to establish honest bonds between merchants and marriages, it guaranteed complete sincerity and transparency since, unless the receiving unicorn was dead, the spell would not work without the explicit permission of both parties.

She took a deep breath, feeling the thread of magical energy coming from her own horn and being inevitably drawn to the spell in process, closed her eyes and let herself be carried away by the flood of memories.

At first it was like when she did it with Twilight, an endless stream of blurry images moving at high speed as if it were a tunnel, little by little Cadance felt dragged by the magical trail that Twilight was leaving in her path, stopping in the same memories in which Twilight had been.
The first thing she saw was darkness, a completely black memory, at first she thought it was a glitch in the spell but quickly lights and shadows began to move in the memory, finally an image became clear, it looked like a very crumbling wooden ceiling of a room, Cadance saw how some hooves approached her, taking her in their arms and hugging her sweetly, she saw how the face of a dark green mare, which looked haggard and extremely tired, smiled at her with an inordinate happiness.

“Hello...” spoke the mare faintly ‘Hello little one, it's your mommy, don't cry anymore...’ the vision darkened again as the mare pulled her baby close to her chest, hugging her even tighter as she cried with joy ”My Sweet Cherry, my beautiful treasure...”

Cadence site the tug again, pulled into another memory that contrasted greatly with the first one she had seen, she heard again the high pitched cry from before but now it was accompanied by many more cries, all was dark for a moment until, before her, a village covered in flames was revealed, ponies ran from one side to the other in panic while huge shadows flew over the pitch black sky, suddenly it seemed to move forward at great speed, the view turned and she could see the face of the same mare as before, which had a face full of ashes, with tears in her eyes and making her way through the fire.

“Don't worry little one...” the mare spoke in a panic, ”We'll just find a place to hide and everything will be.... “Just at that moment something seemed to tear the mare from the ground, releasing the baby who fell abruptly to the ground, screaming and crying from the pain and fear, the only thing that could be seen was how a huge scaly tail rose at great speed and was lost in the distance while the screams of agony of the mare disappeared little by little, accompanied by a bestial roar.

A new pull and a new memory was projected before Cadance, it was the same image of the previous memory, only this time it was daytime and you could see the remains of the houses made ashes, the baby was still crying weakly, apparently she was under some debris, suddenly you could hear footsteps approaching little by little, until out of nowhere something removed the debris over the baby, something grabbed her and lifted her up abruptly, when she turned he saw the face of a stallion, he had a huge scar from the base of his chin to the top of his head, his face was deformed in a sinister grimace, the stallion looked at the baby for a long moment, thoughtful until a voice behind him interrupted him.

“Hey, did you find something!?”

Behind the stallion's face was a mare with a shorn mane, dressed in very dirty black and brown robes, she stopped as she noticed what the pony was holding.

“No shit! a baby...what a lucky little one, who knew she would be the only survivor of something like this...too bad we have her going to starve to death.”

“I think I want to keep her...” said the stallion without turning to look at his companion.

“Really?! Come on don't fuck Rotten Trunk what the fuck are you going to do with a baby?”

The stallion didn't answer, he just smiled hugely without taking his eyes off the little girl he was holding, at that moment the mare behind him grimaced unpleasantly and exclaimed.

“Seriously Rotten Trunk, sometimes you seriously disgust me...”

Another tug and Cadance was now in front of what appeared to be a huge tree, small red hooves held a huge axe intended to hit the trunk as best she could, failing miserably, suddenly a loud scream made the filly jump.

“What the fuck are you doing Frozen Cereal, I told you to chop down that tree!!!”

The little girl turned around to see the huge scar pony coming quickly towards her.

“I'm...I'm sorry daddy it's just that I...I can't carry the axe...”

“Then what the fuck good are you to me!” the stallion threw a powerful blow that sent the filly to the ground, whipping her head around ”This is how you thank me for rescuing you, feeding you and raising you!”

The little girl cried still on the floor, holding her sore cheek from the blow.

“I'm...I'm...I'm...I'm so sorry daddy...” she said between sobs fighting for her voice not to break.

“Oh you're going to be sorry, you're really going to be sorry you useless little girl, I think I'm going to have to punish you today too...”

“No! No please daddy don't...!”

The filly's pleas fell on deaf ears, the stallion grabbed her by the mane forcefully, dragging her along the ground as the little girl screamed and struggled, the little girl was thrown inside what appeared to be a small tent, falling face first against the ground and turning quickly to see the stallion who held a whip in his mouth.

“NO!!! DADDY NO!!! I WILL BE GOOD I PROMISE!!!” the filly screamed in desperation but to no avail.

The stallion hit hard one woe again the little one who let out screams that seemed to tear her little throat, Cadance could see how the foal's body was filled with deep bleeding wounds that were deeply marked on her skin, finally the blows stopped and the little one stopped screaming, shaking uncontrollably on the ground as tears still welled up in her eyes, a noise was heard behind her and the next thing to be seen was the stallion hugging the little girl from behind, stroking her head gently and giving her a small kiss.

“Shhh shhh shhh that's it little one that's it, remember I'm doing this because I love you...” just as the filly was about to lose consciousness from the pain the stallion whispered something else ”Besides, don't forget, daddy likes how little girls squeal...”

Another tug and now in front of Cadence was a small mirror, reflected in it was the face of an adolescent mare, her black mane was in complete disarray and her red coat stained, showed huge black circles under her yellow eyes and she was lying in what appeared to be the same tent.
On her neck was a thick welded iron collar to which was attached a very thick chain and, at the base of her horn, was a ring of magical suppression, the mare let out a torturous sigh and got up from the ground, it could be seen how, next to her was asleep the same stallion with the scar, surrounded by bottles of wine and leftover food, the mare walked to the other side of the tent while behind her back the chain could be heard clinking and the stallion snoring, little by little she began to clean up the mess and dirt, making sure to do it as quietly as possible so as not to wake her jailer, in a moment her sight went to where the exit of the tent was located, there, leaning just on the edge, there was a sword stored in its bloody scabbard, the mare then stopped in her tracks, she seemed to stand still for a long moment, as if considering something, finally she began to walk towards the sword, little by little until suddenly she stopped abruptly, she looked behind her and noticed how the chain had stretched all the way out, attached to a huge nail buried in the ground, the mare screeched in frustration, the sword was only a meter away from her, she looked from side to side again and again before realizing that trying was useless, silent tears spilled from her eyes as she looked at the ground in defeat, but suddenly her eyes were fixed, hidden under a pile of old clothes, barely visible, was a small knife.

The next memory came immediately after, the mare was thrown violently against the tent floor, coughing violently and struggling to get up.

“AHHHHHH!!! you bitch, you fucking bitch!!!” the stallion staggered back and forth while covering his face with his hooves, despite this a huge amount of blood was perfectly visible, screaming profusely and staining his coat.

The stallion pulled the knife out of his eye, looking furiously at the mare and pouncing on her, she struggled with all her might but the stallion subdued her by putting all his weight on her and looking her in the face.

“You're a fucking cunt!!!! after all I did for you!!! THIS IS HOW YOU PAY YOUR FATHER?!!!!”

“You are not my father!!!” the mare screamed at the top of her lungs as she spat in the stallion's face ”You are my fucking nightmare and I will never be your plaything ever again!!!”

The stallion couldn't help but let out a laugh at this, despite his, now empty socket, bleeding uncontrollably, as he grinned hugely at having the mare under him, in a moment the stallion looked at the knife lying on the ground and his grin grew even bigger.

“Well, I respect your slutty attitude, I must admit it even warms me up a bit...” the stallion took the knife and held it in front of the mare's face ”But, unfortunately, you stabbed my fucking eye and you know what queens say...”

The stallion stabbed the right eye of the mare who screamed horribly and jerked violently, the memory then seemed to be cut in half as the eye was completely shattered by the knife.

“An offense must be repaid in kind!”

The stallion laughed loudly while the mare felt like she was going to faint, in the midst of her desperation she finally came up with an idea, she shook her head in a sudden movement throwing the stallion off balance and, in less than a second, the mare used her own horn to stab the stallion's other eye, stabbing him so deep that even an unpleasant hollow sound was heard.
The inert body of the pony fell on the mare who was breathing heavily and still screaming from the pain, tears came out non-stop and mixed with the blood that now covered her face, the mare turned her head to meet the same small mirror as before, she saw her mutilated face and the reflection of the corpse of the pony who had dedicated his whole life to break her and torture her, finally she let out a sigh of pain and said gritting her teeth.

“Never again...”

The next memory was no better, in front of the mare were three new corpses, two stallions and a mare that, Cadance recognized, was that she had talked to the stallion when they found the baby, they all had their eyes gouged out and ropes around their necks broken, then the mare looked up to see a rather large group of ponies of all kinds, all dressed in black and brown clothes and with guns on their backs, suddenly the mare exclaimed, they all seemed to be in the middle of a large camp in the middle of the forest.

“So whores!!! IS THERE ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO CHALLENGE ME!!!”

There was no response, everyone present exchanged glances and whispered amongst themselves for a moment, finally a mare without one of her front legs came up and stood in front of everyone.

“We don't give a shit who our leader is, as long as he shows us strength and guarantees us wealth and fun, if you can give us that...then we will follow you!”

Then everyone present shouted with jubilation, celebrating and laughing at their new leader.

What followed was a series of memories that passed in quick succession, she saw the mare ordering her people to plunder villages and farms, she saw how they murdered most stallions and stole the foals and mares, she saw obscene celebrations filled with alcohol, violence and abuse, she saw how the mare whipped with the same whip that the stallion used on her little foals that only cried and screamed in agony, and finally she saw how, finally, the mare began to extort farmers to pay her with crops or money so that she could give herself and her groups an ever more and more luxurious life.

Finally before her she saw the reflection of an adult mare, dressed in nothing more than a simple black turtleneck sweater, she watched as the mare removed it with her magic and all the scars marked on her body were visible, including the huge scar that the iron necklace had left on her neck, She looked thoughtful and melancholic for a moment, in her eyes was reflected a deep sadness and loneliness, but suddenly she shook her head, seeming to push those thoughts out of her mind, a huge smile was drawn on her face and from her mouth only two words came out.

“Never again...”

In that instant Cadance felt another tug, but this time she felt it pull her back, much stronger than anything she had felt so far and, in less than a second, she was back in the castle library.
It took a moment for her vision to return to normal, but as soon as she could finally get a good look she found Twilight's angry face in front of hers.

“Cadance, what the hell were you thinking!”

Cadance didn't answer, she couldn't, she could feel the lump in her throat and the tears falling uncontrollably down her eyes, in fact, she wasn't even sure she was breathing, she could barely feel her breath coming in and out, seeing this Twilight relaxed her expression and approached her friend, speaking this time in a low, calm tone.

“Cadance?...” she paused before asking if she was okay, at this point it was a stupid question ”Look, I know you're not okay...this was the reason I didn't want to say anything...I...I was hoping everything would be less bad than it seemed but...no, it's hell...”

Cadance could see Twilight lower her head in grief, her haggard face reflecting the suffering of having spent sleepless nights engrossed in those horrible memories.

“I thought I had overcome my denial in the face of this matter...” continued Twilight ”I thought nothing would make me want to wake up from this non-existent nightmare anymore, but, now, all I want is for all this to be a lie...”

“Twilight...” Cadance tried to say, but was interrupted.

“Because, if that poor mare, being a random pony, insignificant to the empire created by Celestia and Luna, had such a horrible and violent life...what kind of life will Bek have had?”

Twilight looked straight into Cadance's eyes, trying to find some kind of comfort, but there was nothing, she only had to look for a second to know, there was nothing either of them could say, they simply both remained silent, sitting on the cold floor while the red horn was still levitating in the center of the room, still glowing slightly from the magic used just a short while ago.
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Bek walked in the company of the four mares, the streets of the empire were full because of the busy midday life in the empire, some ponies that saw them passing by, recognized some of the mane six and approached to say hello and chat a little.
The unicorn felt self-conscious, more than once she thought about turning around and going back to the castle but the idea of having to go through all that martyrdom unaccompanied kept her close to Twilight's friends, finally they all stopped in front of a small restaurant that was just on the corner of one of the main streets.

“And here it is!” exclaimed Rarity excitedly ”The most famous restaurant in the crystal empire, with the best service and the finest dishes!”

Bek took a closer look at the place, it looked extremely clean, cleaner than any palace she had ever seen in her time, the ponies inside were dressed strangely and the food served to them was small, adorned with a lot of little shiny things that Bek couldn't identify, but they certainly looked very strange.

“Well what are you waiting for? Let's go in!”

“Rarity...” began Applejack ”I honestly don't think this is a good place for Bek to eat something decent...”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean this place looks too fancy, and the food seems to be too extravagant, I would think Bek would much more appreciate something with less presentation and more taste.”

Rarity was offended for a second, responding with some annoyance in her voice.

“Well, I'm sure Bek wants to try each and every option we have to offer her, who knows maybe this, being the fancy stuff, will give her palate an amazing experience Won't it Bek?”

Rarity turned to look at the unicorn and was surprised to notice that she was hyperventilating, her body twitching in little spasms and sweat was beginning to cover what little of her face her hat let on.

“Hey dear...are you all right?”

Bek turned quickly to Rarity coming out of her trance and answered her absentmindedly.

“Uh..what...ah yes yes I'm fine, it's just...”

“Just what dear? Tell us, if there's something bothering you you can tell us.”

“It's just that, well...there are a lot of ponies in there...”

At that moment Rarity understood what she was referring to and felt embarrassed for not considering the aversion Bek seemed to have to crowds.

“Oh how I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable...” Rarity paused thinking of some solution “We can, if you like, sit at one of the tables outside.”

Bek seemed to calm down at the idea, regaining control of her breathing and feeling less pressured.

“Yes I...I think that would be fine...”

They all chose a table which was the furthest away from the main entrance of the restaurant and sat down one by one, once all four friends were seated it was Bek's turn who in trying to sit down was prevented by the voluptuous layer of straw she was wearing.

“Err, dear, I think it would be better if you took off your cloak...” Rarity regretted it when she saw the look Bek gave her, it wasn't hostile or aggressive, but it clearly said no to that suggestion “Oh...you can leave it on, never mind, although, I think if you need to take your hat off to eat...”

Bek finally managed to find a comfortable position in the chair and, reluctantly, ended up removing her hat, though she tried to keep her head down the huge scar on her face inevitably attracted a few stares, some from passersby and some from ponies seated at other outside tables.
They all noticed this and, to distract the mare, tried to start a conversation while the food arrived.

“And...Bek, as I understand it you were some sort of soldier...” began Rarity somewhat nervously.

“Yes” she replied dryly.

“Emmm and well, I guess you served with a lot of other ponies like yourself...”

“Yeah.”

Rarity gulped.

“Errr, what I really wanted to know is...emm...when you weren't fighting what did you guys do to pass the time?”

The question caught Bek off guard, it really was a curious questioning that distracted her from how uncomfortable she felt, pondering deeply, searching through her memories.

“Well...” she finally started to say ”Most of the time we just talked to each other, telling stories about battles and things we saw on our travels...”

They all paid attention, suddenly curiosity had invaded them and they listened expectantly about the times of old.

“Other times we get to drink, we usually did it after a big victory and when there were no higher ups around...”

“Uuuh a drinking party, the best parties if one is of the right age!” exclaimed Pinkie.

“Oh and we used to fuck a lot too...” said the mare nonchalantly making the others freeze.

She had said it so matter-of-factly that it was impossible that it was with bad intentions, still they all blushed and exchanged looks of disbelief, even some of the ponies sitting closest spat out their drinks as they eavesdropped on the conversation.
The silence was getting too long so quickly Rarity cleared her throat and spoke.

“Oh hehehe wow, and emm...you...you guys...ahem..really?”

“Yes, it was always the best way to release stress, plus it helped us to have a stronger bond during battle..”

“And why is that?” asked Rainbow Dash still blushing.

“You always fight better when you fight side by side with ponies you've shared a bed with..” Bek seemed to grow nostalgic as she said this, delving deeper and deeper into her memories as a slight smile appeared on her face.

Applejack cleared her throat as the waiter returned with five plates of salad.

“Well, it sounds like you and your former comrades were very...close.”

“Yes, we were brothers and sisters, bound together by blood and duty, with an oath to move forward together no matter the harshness of battle or the bravery of our enemy...”

The smile on Bek's face faded, suddenly the mood she had begun to show fell apart, the waiter looked quizzically at the situation, setting the plates down as Applejack handed him a couple of coins and he walked away.
Bek looked at the plate before her, the salad was perfectly garnished, with some raisins, cheese and hearty dressing, the unicorn didn't know what to think of that dish, she didn't understand how on earth a salad could look this shiny, she moved closer to smell it and the aroma made her recoil grimacing in distaste.

“I know it may not be the most humble presentation...” said Rarity noticing the mare's displeasure ”But I assure you it's made with the best ingredients in all of Equestria.”

Bek hesitated, it didn't convince her at all, but on the other hoove, the mares had been extremely kind, even if their kindness came from guilt, she thought it would be rude to refuse when they had tried so hard to make her feel comfortable.
Closing her eyes and holding her breath Bek took a quick bite of the salad, chewing hard.

They all stood in expectant silence, watching the mare chew still with her eyes closed, for a moment it looked like Bek relaxed her jaw and began to open her eyes but this was interrupted, Bek spat the bite onto the rest of the salad, coughing in disgust and trying to avoid vomiting.
The mares startled, turning away to avoid smearing themselves with the freshly chewed food, rushing back to the unicorn's aid.

Applejack positioned herself on Bek's back tapping her lightly to help her breathe while Rarity magicked a glass of water closer, handing it to her as the mare quickly drank it down.

“I...cough cough...sorry...cough cough...I just...cough cough...”

“Please don't apologize dear” Rarity exclaimed in shock ”It's my fault, I should have asked you for something simpler.”

“No no no...” said Bek finally controlling her cough and finishing drinking the glass of water ”I'm sorry, it's just...I can feel the lettuce and cheese and that weird sweet stuff...the combination sticks in my mouth...it doesn't feel good....”

They all fell silent, they didn't know how to react to this, they realized that after the little incident everyone inside and outside the restaurant was staring at them, the ponies exchanged worried glances and some were muttering to each other with unpleasant expressions, finally and after a moment Applejack finally spoke quietly.

“I think we should go...”

The five mares walked through the streets again, this time with their spirits less prominent, Bek walked to the back of the group with her head down, the embarrassment she felt now was due to the bad time she gave the others.

“I...I'm really sorry...” she started to say ”I didn't mean to cause trouble...”

Applejack turned around quickly.

“You don't have to apologize sugar cube, that food was too elaborate, it's normal that you found it unpleasant...”

“Rude...” whispered Rarity before turning to Bek ”But...Applejack is right, if anyone needs to apologize it's me...”

“Yes I...I think I've had enough for today, maybe I should go back to the castle...” replied Bek dejectedly.

“But, we still haven't found a flavor you like!” said Pinkie in exasperation.

“Yeah, don't be discouraged yet!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash in an invigorating mood ”I'm sure we'll find something that does taste good to you...!”

“Uh I...I don't know...” Bek wasn't feeling well, too much attention on her had exhausted her and she could already feel her eyelids heavy.

At that moment Applejack approached her placing a hoof on her shoulder.

“Listen, I understand if you've had enough, but I'm sure, if you give us a chance, we can find something you like, because if I'm honest, you really need something better to eat than just grass..”

Bek looked at the farmer's face, the smile on her face patria to be genuine and with no hint of ulterior motives, even after the embarrassment she had put them through at the restaurant, these mares seemed genuinely interested in something as banal as their food, she couldn't help but feel a strange warm feeling in her stomach and a somewhat enthusiastic mood, finally and after much thought she answered her.

“Well...I think, I can try, at least a couple more times...”

The next stop was a small bean burger stand, Rainbow Dash insisted that, if anything could really please everyone, it was the burgers, however Bek ended up spitting out the bite again, saying that the wet feeling of the beans, with the combination with the dry bread and the coldness of the vegetables bothered her, the next stop was an ice cream shop where Pinkie pie gave her a simple chocolate ice cream which Bek rejected after the first lick, she really didn't like sugar, finally, by dusk, Applejack managed to spot a small establishment almost on the outskirts of town, adorned with varnished wood and a sign that read “Food and open bar until midnight”.

“How about this place?” she gestured effusively with her hoof, at this point all her other friends were slumped over, staring blankly at the floor and Bek looked even more uncomfortable than before, now with a prominent stomach ache.

“That place?” asked Rarity in surprise ”But that place looks so dirty dear, it looks like a sleazy bar...”

“Well, it's the only place that doesn't seem to be crowded or closed at this hour What do you say Bek?”

Bek looked at the facade of the place, it wasn't flashy at all, but it did contrast a bit with the rest of the beautifully polished and ornate buildings around, she was about to say no but, at that moment, a light, musky scent filled her nose, and for the first time, since she woke up in that fira cavern, she could smell something familiar.

“I think...I think it's okay...”

They all entered the establishment which was almost empty, just a couple of ponies sitting at lonely tables, clearly very drunk, and a couple of musicians playing a quiet tune on a small stage, Bek walked across the room following the smell, they all looked at her quizzically walking away until she came to some huge barrels hanging from the ceiling on chains behind a very long bar, these had a tap attached to their bottom lids dripping a coppery clear liquid, the unicorn bent down to take a closer sniff of the liquid, mesmerized until a stallion dressed as a bartender approached her.

“Uh excuse me miss...can I help you?”

“Yes!” exclaimed Bek suddenly, standing up and looking at the pony ”Please tell me, what do you have in these barrels?”

Bek's sudden excitement caught the attention of not only the stallion but also Applejack and the others, who looked intrigued at the curious scene.

“It's....licor grain miss, the best, grown here in the north.”

“Do you think you could...” began to say Bek starting to feel her mouth water ”Drink a jar?”

“Uh...yeah sure, just, pick a table and in a moment he'll take it away...”

It didn't take Bek a second to sit down on the other side of the bar making a bit of noise due to the clothes she was bringing.

“Uh another thing...” began the stallion ”We have a strict dress code here, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to remove that cape and hat otherwise I won't be able to serve you.”

Bek thought about protesting, but the smell kept invading her senses, she didn't want to miss the opportunity, with some shyness she started by taking off her hat, the bartender was a little shocked to see the mare's scarred face but it doesn't compare at all to the surprise he felt when he saw the body completely full of wounds, the pony stood with his mouth open for a second, his gaze lost in the bruised, though beefy, body of the unicorn.

“Ahem...” Bek cleared her throat profusely, disenchanting the stallion who looked at her in embarrassment “I'd like a jug...please...”

Looking at the annoyance in the mare's eyes the stallion hurried to serve her whispering a very terse “I'm sorry.”

Applejack and the others approached, also sitting at the bar on Bek's sides.

“Wow what a surprise!” Applejack exclaimed “I think that's the first time I've seen you this excited all day...”

Bek blushed slightly before replying.

“Oh yeah...sorry, it's just, the smell, it's very similar to what we had back in my day...”

“Wow really?” the cowgirl asked in surprise ”There was grain liquor over three and a half thousand years ago?”

“Grain crops thrived in the difficult terrain, it was the only thing we had to eat on long journeys, my ancestors learned to make everything from grain and shared them with future generations...”

“When you say your ancestors you mean...?” started to ask Rainbow Dash.

“The soldiers who served before I was born.”

The stallion returned with a large wooden jug filled with the contents of the barrels and as he handed it to Bek he noticed the other mares present.

“Hey, can I get you ladies anything?”

“Yes!” Applejack exclaimed “Can we have the same as her please?”

The stallion looked at the colorful little group before replying.

“Sure...”

They all began to drink enthusiastically, both Applejack and Rainbow were impressed by the speed with which Bek was finishing pitcher after pitcher while Pinkie Pie was already prancing and dancing on stage with the musicians and Rarity was barely finishing her first pitcher.

“Wow agh...” said Rariity feeling the liquor burning her throat ”I didn't expect this drink to be so...potent...”

“Yeah!” replied Bek with slightly red cheeks ”I'm surprised, it tastes almost the same as it did back in my day, just a little more...sweet...”

“Well with what happened today I must say, I now realize that everything in Equestria has gotten sweeter since you left...” said Rainbow Dash letting out a small hiccup and finishing her fourth pitcher.

“I don't dislike it at all...” said Bek taking another sip ”It reminds me of the nights we spent away from the battlefront, those days seemed endless and we kept to the letter of our convention...”

“What convention are you talking about?” asked Applejack curious and finishing her fifth pitcher.

“Well...we weren't naive, we knew our lives aspired to be very short, I mean, you guys can't imagine it but back then I'm sure, no matter where you were, you were always within a mile of something that could kill you, whether it was a monster, a plant, the weather...” Bek paused “Sorry, I digress, our oath was, that whenever we had a moment to enjoy either our company or the more instinctive pleasures like eating or sex, we were to enjoy them to the fullest, as there was no guarantee that, the next day, you could enjoy them again...” Bek put on a wistful look again before taking another sip from her mug.

“I...I'm so sorry...” said Applejack suddenly in a tone that sounded sad.

“You don't have to apologize, I already told you, none of you are to blame...”

“No but, I mean, you lived in a cruel world full of death and we lived all our lives in ignorance without even knowing those things happened, it must be hard to see so many ponies living as...happy...”

“I'm a little offended that you think we weren't happy, yes it may have been a violent and very short life but for us it was everything, we really believed that we were guaranteeing the future of the empire, that our sacrifice as...animals for war, will guarantee the peace of the real ponies of tomorrow...” Bek paused, it felt strange to talk about it as if it had happened only a short time ago “So, don't apologize, I don't resent any of you or anything, I take comfort in the thought that, at least to some extent, your world is a result of the sacrifice of my companions...”

At that moment Bek tried to settle into the chair but groaned as she felt a twinge of pain coming from her hip, something that made her jump slightly.

“Are you all right dear?” asked Rarity concerned though disoriented from drinking.

“Yes yes, it's nothing...” Bek held her left flank tightly trying to ease the pain.

"Are you sure?” asked Rainbow ”It doesn't seem to be anything..”

Once the pain calmed down enough Bek let out a sigh, resigned she thought it wasn't worth hiding it, after all and at this point what did it matter.

“Well remember the medicine I told you about that your friend Zecora prepared for me?”

Rainbow and Applejack nodded while Rarity was already starting to fall asleep on the bar.

“Well it's a treatment designed to ease the pain of my wounds...”

“But, those wounds are from a long time ago aren't they? Why would they hurt now?”

“Didn't you see them...no normal pony would survive a single one of them much less live long enough for it to heal properly...” Bek let out another sigh as he took another sip from his mug “But, you're not entirely wrong...before these things didn't hurt...”

“And what changed now?” asked Rainbow.

“Well, in order to exercise our work properly, once we finished our arduous training to be accepted into the legions, the queens would come in people to each farm to perform a very'powerful ritual, in which they would use their incredible power to create a magical connection with our bodies, giving us part of their power and granting us abilities that matched us with the most skilled unicorn and the strongest earth pony, also in that ritual was carried out the selection to know to which legion you belonged, if to the solar or the lunar and, once you were selected you were given a mark that would bind you forever to your queen.... ”

Applejack then looked down and found the mark burned into the unicorn's skin, the figure of the moon depicted suddenly felt more prominent.

“The mark was the queens' safeguard, if a soldier refused to obey their direct orders the queens could use this mark to cause a horrible death to whoever the traitor was, who would die from the unimaginable pain caused by the mark...”

Rainbow Dash gulped.

“There were never many traitors since the first legions, the bigger they got the less the queens could be present everywhere, usually if a comrade refused to obey the generals or battalion high command executed him quickly, I think it was a more merciful fate than dying by the mark...”

“I understand...” began Applejack ”But what does that have to do with the pain of your old wounds?”

“Well, it would seem that, after so long, the connection I shared with Queen Nightmare Moon was weakening, now the power of her passing through me is minimal and therefore, the repercussions on my body that weren't a problem then are doing so now, if the connection continues to weaken, there is no guarantee that my body will withstand the recoil from hundreds of lethal wounds...”

There was silence, it was an ominous revelation and Bek had said it like it was anything, like someone losing their pair of wool socks, noticing this Bek let out a chuckle before taking another sip from her mug and exclaiming.

“Wow, we came here to drink and I'm just depressing you girls, I think I'll go out and stretch my legs for a second Hey handsome!” she said referring to the bartender ‘Put a couple more in my place, I'm going to come back really thirsty’ and without further ado, she jumped off the stool and walked staggering out of the establishment.

Rainbow and Applejack didn't say anything for several minutes, both of them had their gazes lost and fixed on their drinks, finally Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“She's...definitely someone very interesting...”

“Yep...” replied Applejack.

“Do you think it's true...what she said about her body...”

“I don't know Rainbow, it all sounds too strange and I barely understand the things she says...” Applejack took a big sip of her drink “But, if anything has been proven since this all started, it's that she knows more than any of us, it would be absurd to question what she's telling us now...”

“So, she's going to...”

Applejack let out a sigh.

“I don't know, I really hope not, Cadance was right, she's not a bad pony, she's just confused and very hurt...”

They stood in silence for another minute before the doors creaked open and Bek stepped back inside.

“Really this city is much more welcoming at night, and all the torches on the street glow so pretty...” Bek stopped at the sight of the two drooping mares “Oh what's the matter with you, don't tell me you were talking about me...”

“No, it's not that!“ exclaimed Pinkie from the stage, she was sitting on the lap of one of the musicians who was blushing and had tousled hair and a silly grin on his face "They're just having their classic ’Moment of Reflection” happens to them a lot when they drink, although it usually happens to them after a bit of kissing”

Pinkie then turned to the young stallion who was still holding his guitar in one of his hooves.

“And speaking of kissing cutie, how about you and I don't give a few?”

“No Pinkie!” Applejack suddenly exclaimed jumping out of her chair “Get down from there!”

“Awwww! What? But we're partying....!”

“No we're not, we just drank a little, it's late and we have to get back to the castle.”

“Awww but this one is really cute...”

“I said get off, now!”

Pinkie pouted and finally jumped off the stallion and off the stage, stumbling down being stopped by Applejack from falling.

“Rainbow help Rarity, we're leaving.”

The pegasus let out an annoyed sigh, walking over to the sleeping unicorn and placing her on her back as Applejack pulled out a small bag of coins and placed it on the bar.

“Here you go, and a little extra for your trouble...”

The bartender took the bag and smiled at the cowgirl calmly.

“Don't worry miss, it's good you came here today, not many ponies like grain liquor, come back anytime.”

They all left and made their way back to the center of town, Applejack walked smoothly beside Rainbow who could hear Rarity's unintelligible whispers half asleep on her back, meanwhile Bek walked quietly, now without her cape and hat, carrying them on her back, and Pinkie pranced erratically around her as she laughed and burped.

“Pinkie, be quiet, you're going to wake the neighbors...” Applejack claimed to a Pinkie who seemed to ignore her warning and just kept jumping around.

“She's...kind of energetic...” Bek began to say as she laughed a little as she watched the little spectacle.

“Ahhh you have no idea...” Sighed Applejack.

“And that she's quiet now, you should see her when she really gets into party mode” Rainbow said in a joking tone.

“Really?” asked the unicorn in surprise.

“I'll just tell you that it's not for nothing that she has to have medical checkups to rule out any possible crap...”

“Rainbow!” scolded the farmer ”Don't be indiscreet!”

“I, I don't know what you mean by that but I guess I'll take your word for it...”

Pinkie stepped forward, losing herself in the distance, so silence fell again, a quiet, warm silence that Applejack finally broke with a question that gnawed at her mind.

“So...Zecora's medicine isn't helping you anymore?”

“Eh? No, quite the opposite in fact, it's done an excellent job of relieving the pain but, well, I recently ran out of it...”

“What?!” asked Applejack worriedly ”You're out of it?!”

“I tried rationing it as much as possible but the more I reduced the dosage the faster the pain returned and the faster the pain returned the more I had to increase the dosage and...well, you see the dilemma...” Bek gave a smile as he scratched the back of his neck.

“And Zecora didn't give you anything for when you ran out?”

“She gave me the recipe to make more medicine, but I looked and didn't find any of the plants she mentions growing around here naturally, I guess they sell them in one of the stores around here but...well, I don't have any money...”

“Why didn't you tell us before?” asked Applejack with concern ”We could have helped you.”

“Well, I didn't want to inconvenience you, I figured I'd just get used to the constant pain...”

“Nonsense! We'll go get all the ingredients tomorrow itself, we won't let you go around in pain!”

Bek tried to reproach, but by this point she had already accepted that these mares only wanted to offer her sincere help, if she still lived in her time she would have immediately become suspicious, thinking horrible things about the ulterior motives behind this thoughtful help, but the more time passed the more she came to the idea that he lived in a very different place than the one she had left behind, a place where everything, even the ponies, tasted a little sweeter, finally he didn't want to make herself beg anymore and simply answered.

“Okay, thank you very much...”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The five finally arrived at the castle, walking in silence and circling around to meet the main entrance.

“Today was a nice day...” said Bek walking alongside Applejack and Rainbow.

“Well I hope you're ready because, from now on, every day for the rest of your life will be like this” replied the farm girl smiling at her.

Bek isn't sure about that, but she didn't want to break the illusion.

“Sure...” she paused before stopping abruptly ”Well, I'd better get back to the barracks yard...”

“Oh, are you sure you don't want to sleep in the castle...Princess Cadance prepared a room for you near one of the exits...” said Applejack, pausing to look at the unicorn.

“Uh I...I don't think I'm ready for that yet...”

“Well, don't worry, anyway anything you need, let us know, we'll help you no matter what it is.”

“Thanks...”

Just before Bek turned around to walk away Rainbow Dash spoke in a worried tone, catching the attention of both mares.

“Applejack...”

Turning around they were surprised to see, not only Twilight, but Cadance as well, standing on the steps to the entrance, serious looks on their faces.
They all approached cautiously, nervous of why they seemed to be waiting for them, once they were close enough Applejack spoke.

“Hi! How are you girls? umm...is something wrong?”

“I'm being...” began Twilight ”We didn't want to interrupt you on your walk, but we had to inform you about our decision as soon as possible...”

“What decision?” asked Bek now worried.

Both princesses exchanged glances seriously, as if debating whether to go ahead or not, the silence went on for a long minute, finally both alicorns nodded and looked forward again, Cadance was the one who spoke.

“Well, Twilight and I, we have decided that the time has come...”

They all looked at each other confused, after a moment,again Applejack asked.

“The time for what?”

The suspense was making everyone nervous, they didn't understand what they were referring to and some were already starting to think the worst, but luckily all their fear was partially reduced when Twilight finished the sentence.

“Time to tell everyone...”