Butterscotch and the Fae

Butterscotch lay in bed, unable to process what had just happened. Her brain had shut down as her lips touched Athens'  and had only just started to function again. A couple thoughts lingered in her mind even though most had simply drifted away. She seemed to wonder again if she was really awake. Every time she glanced out the small window in her room out to the stars, she wondered if any of this was true or if she was going to open her eyes and find herself back at home in bed, horseshoes kicked off on the floor and muddy tracks throughout her home.

Every minute she spent wondering was a minute she could be sleeping, the team was developing a plan to get both her and Athens past Fae security and into the kingdom's city. Butterscotch's thoughts were invaded by the thoughts of this magical city that she was just beginning to know again in ruin. Tom and his team assured her the city was not in total ruin even though it was in total misery.

Deep within the Everfree were loved ones that she knew and loved, and of course she would save them if she could. That wasn't the part in question; But what would happen if she did succeed in overthrowing Prince Soul? She couldn't just leave Ponyville forever. Ponyville had been her home ever since she was dethroned, she had friends and a job and a home; Her home.

She remembered what Athens had told her about the seed. "This seed, when planted, is going to bring power back to our kingdom. Our people are growing weaker and if we don't get that seed, all of us will turn into earth ponies." It seemed to echo through her mind, reminding her what she was fighting for. She got up out of bed and trotted down the hall to Athens' room.

"Athens?" she knocked on the door. The light was on under the door already, but another light turned on as she heard hoofsteps approaching the door. The fiery eyed stallion opened the door and seemed surprised to see her.

"Scotch, what are you doing up?" he opened the door wider and motioned her in. She trotted inside and sat down in a comfy tan-leather lounge chair across from his bed. The inside of his room was a lot like her own, aside from the different decorations. A small room with a bed, a bookshelf, a comfy lounge chair, and a few lights. The resistance had done astonishingly well in decorating their base. Completely ignoring his question she was a little confused about the whereabouts of her Fae friends.

"Where are the others? Don't they have rooms as well?" She asked as Athens closed the door so they wouldn't wake anypony up. He hopped up onto his bed built for one and turned to her.

"They all have beds in the bunker set up behind the base." he looked a little surprised she didn't know, but dismissed that as Butterscotch leaned back in the chair. She looked back up at Athens as he spoke.

"That can't be all you came to ask. What's on your mind?" she turned to look out his bedroom window at the stars. She built up the courage and looked him in the eye.

"What will happen afterwards if we overthrow Prince Soul?" He paused for a moment and practically floated over there with his wings. He sat down next to her in the large chair and put his arm around her.

"I guess that's up to you, Scotch. It may not feel like it right now, but you're in charge of your fate; It's up to you how you spend your days. Honestly though, I thought you were going to rule the Fae, y'know, take over the throne and all." She looked up at him and placed her hoof on his.

"Really?" she leaned on him and closed her eyes. She could hear his heart beat, it sped up a little as she held his hoof in hers.

"Really." he said as they lay there together, the moonlight casting a pale light on them. She closed her eyes and drifted into a much needed slumber.

The early light of dawn was peeking in through the window, giving a warm glow to the air around her. She could feel the sheets of the bed they had supplied her with wrapped around her; Somepony had tucked her in... She couldn't remember the last time she had had somepony to care for her. It was pleasant, having somepony who is there for you when you need them; And somepony who is with you when you don't.

Butterscotch looked at her new wings, they were odd and hard to get used to. They didn't create a shadow but rather an array of colors. Her wings may have only been one color, but they showed many more when the sun hit them just right.

She finally sat up and got to her hooves; Staying in bed all day and reading would have been nice, but she had a job to do. The thought of postponing rescuing an entire civilization, her people, was despicable. She was mad she had even thought about it.

Butterscotch grabbed her bag and trotted out of her bedroom and down the stairs to the living room. Athens and the rest of the resistance were downstairs, eating breakfast together. Athens looked up from his cream cheese bagel and smiled at her, motioning for her to sit down next to him.

She sat down and stole half of his bagel, claiming it as her own. The group continued their discussion about the ways to get past the force field that blocked their way in and out. Tom smiled and nodded along with their ideas, but Butterscotch didn't catch a word of it.

"So, what is our plan to get in?" she interrupted the group's heavy chatter and sat up straight to look like a figure of authority. NightSky, a dark blue mare with a white, startlingly bright, mane addressed her now.

"As you are the princess, you are a wanted pony. We intend to turn you in with a key to the jail cell so you can free everypony." NightSky gave her a reassuring smile.

"Darling, we are going to redo your mane a bit and then hide a key in those fabulous locks of yours..." A fabulous red pony by the name of RazzleDazzle admired the mane, looking at it in anticipation. Butterscotch nodded, a little unnerved by the pony gazing at her mane.

"The hair of.. royalty.." she sighed with a giggle, showing Butterscotch that this pony was a fashionista.

"I see... But once I unlock all of the cells, how do we get out?" she turned to look at Athens. Surely the place was well guarded otherwise her sister and father would most likely have escaped, somehow, and there were so many ponies in there Prince Soul would have to be insane not to guard it well.

"Simple, with great numbers surely you can take down all the guards with ease. I mean, there are at least 200 Fae in there." Butterscotch was a little surprised to hear this.

"Surely there can't be that many, I mean, why would he lock so many up?" Athens looked down at his hooves and closed his eyes, as if to relive the horror of the overcrowded prisons of the ponies trapped inside.

"Most of them are innocents.. mere bystanders.. But riots and protests had broken out through the city when Soul first took over. They gassed the masses and took away whole blocks of the city. I watched from above as those that tried to flee or resist were beaten down with night watchmen's sticks." he cringed in unison with Butterscotch and shook it off.

"I was once in those ponies' line of duty, but during those horrors I refused to take a child down. The young filly.. A little light blue filly that had just watched her mother get hauled into a wagon and driven away kicking and screaming for her child, stared up at me with those frightened and innocent eyes and I couldn't do it."

"I grabbed her and flew her out of there, unnoticed in the chaos going down." Athens closed his eyes, trying to tough through the story.

"I took her to a couple I knew, on the outskirts of the city. I couldn't explain to the filly what had happened, and to her, I was the enemy; And I didn't blame her." he pressed his hooves together in frustration.

"I left the filly with the couple, knowing her mother would not be there to care for her for.. a long time,  and left the force the following day. I couldn't live with being an enforcer of an unjustly law." He shook his head and looked up into Butterscotch's eyes.

"Those prisons are filled with innocents. Not a one broke a justly law in those cells, I can assure you." he growled.

Butterscotch felt herself tearing up, but turned that energy into determination. "We are going to save them. All of them, or die trying."

Her eyes seemed to catch fire. RazzleDazzle was thrilled with this look and went down into the bunker to get her salon equipment. It was time to prepare for her departure, the sooner the better.

Butterscotch's mane had been thoroughly fluffed and they managed to slip the key into her tail, fastening it in and making sure she knew how to undo the ties. She was ready to go out and save her people; Mainly to take down Prince Soul.

Athens had told her they had some resistance ponies in there who had tattooed a small pink Fae wing onto their neck, hard to notice if you didn't know what to look for.

Butterscotch took a last look into the mirror and hugged Athens close. "Stay safe." she murmured before she pulled herself away. A light gray pony accompanied her to the gates of the security silently. He had tied a rope around her neck to make it seem as if they were actually in charge of her and began their journey through the forest.

Birds around the area gave lighthearted coos to each other, but that didn't drown out the other sounds. Butterscotch's hooves bent the grass underneath her, making a soft rustle. The trees whispered with the wind in unison, making sweet music that blended well with the trickle of the stream that ran not far away.

Even though she was marching to a prison, the world already seemed brighter. She was going to do something good, she was going to save her people, and nature sounded like it knew it just as well as she did.

As they walked farther into the forest, everything grew more quiet and still. This worried Butterscotch; Surely the land around the force field wouldn't have suffered at Souls hooves, but that was untrue. The Fae were beings of nature, they guarded and cared for it. Even if they do nothing, a certain life force, a happiness, spreads to the land near them.

These trees.. The Fae hadn't been able to tend to them she realized; They most likely hadn't seen their dear companions in many moons. I have to free these ponies, nature itself grows still from their absence... She could almost feel that the trees missed their friends.

Trees were not much for conversation, but they knew some basic speech. A problem though was they lacked mouths; They did have some trouble voicing their opinions aloud.

Over the years through much study however, Fae found a way to communicate with their magic. Trees could only manage small words, and not very many at that, but it was still something.

Butterscotch pressed her hooves to one of the trees. We save friends she focused her thought and passed it onto the tree. Believe it or not, the leaves of the tree grew greener before her eyes as it responded Happy.

Surely it would pass on the message. Within a matter of hours all of the surrounding forest would know and present a lighter happiness.

The group continued on through the forests, deciding it would be faster to fly. They flapped their wings and whizzed through the air, winding around the trees and stopping a little ways  away from the entrance.

The gray pony, who now revealed himself to be Cinder Block, held the rope in his mouth and told Butterscotch to do her best to act like she had been caught and would spend her life in a prison. In other words, she was to act depressed and broken down.

Butterscotch thought of the little filly and put on a grim expression and hung her head low. They approached the security guards and Cinder showed them a valid ID. The Fae wearing gray uniforms looked shocked, but Butterscotch was shocked as well. These ponies had been her friends, her personal guards, but they wiped the expressions off their face and let them through.

SpringFlower and ClearStream... My gosh, how did they get themselves into this? Inside, she was wounded. She had seen a look on SpringFlower's face, a look of pain to see her again. She dipped her head low and let Cinder lead her through the streets.

The city was gloomy; Wooden planks blocked every window, untrusting eyes stared at her as she walked down the empty streets. These ponies' eyes, untrusting, showed true fear. They were motivated by it, by the thought of being sent to the overcrowded prisons beneath the castle.

Some eyes held a small spark of hope, others pity. She knew these ponies, and after such a long time, she knew some had probably forgotten her. A tear of pain slid down her cheek and hit the cold asphalt under her hooves, she had abandoned these ponies. She had abandoned her kingdom.

If she had been here and married Prince Soul, she maybe could have stopped him, or at least spared her sister the unwanted wedding.

She snapped herself out of it, it didn't matter what she had done in her past; It mattered what she was going to do now.

Cinder led her to the main castle entrance, showing them ID and passing through the gates. The castle was as beautiful as she had remembered it; Green walls of leaves and vine hung down from frames, grass of bright and vibrant shades covered the ground, and especially the castle grounds caught her eye.

Large mushrooms taller than she grew from the green grass; Even taller trees of gold and silver danced with the winds. Surely Soul had taken care of the castles, but at what cost did he do so? She growled at the prince, even though he wasn't there to respond.

"Remember, subservient." he gave her a look and proceeded to open the castle's door.

Butterscotch was let through room by room and they slowly made their way to the throne room. Each floor and hallway sparkled and shined, each piece of furniture was dusted carefully, this place was spotless from top to bottom.

They finally approached the throne room. Two large doors were the only thing in between them and the pony who was to blame for all the wretchedness of this place. She took a breath and Cinder Block opened the doors.

Inside the courtroom a long red carpet led up to her father's throne; they had removed the other two thrones. The throne was a black and red pattern that was an eyesore. Honestly, what pony would use that?

Sitting in the chair was a unicorn stallion as black as night; He seemed to match the throne, an ugly eyesore. Butterscotch looked to the ground and tried to hide her anger with a mask of defeat.

"My king, I had captured the mare Butterscotch." He pushed Butterscotch hard enough to send her forward a few steps.

"Lady Butterscotch.. a 'pleasure' to see you once again..." he growled. Butterscotch cringed and took a step back, her eyes never leaving the floor for fear if she looked at him she couldn't stop herself from killing him.

"Tell me, did you really think you could escape and abandon your family without consequences? Honestly, you were right that I didn't have your precious seed, but running away was so dramatic." He gave her a wicked smile.

"Would marrying me have been so horrible? I can see now why your sister hates you, I mean, when something was too horrible for you, you pushed it on her. That certainly is saying something about your relationship isn't it?" She snapped her head up to look at him.

S-she.. hates me? He had found her weak point, it was all over her face. How could I do that to my sister.. leave her to be bonded to this..

she looked away from him as tears welled up in her eyes.

Soul grinned and ordered the guards to take her down to the dungeons. They walked through the labyrinth and she almost sulked the whole way until she saw something. On the neck of the guard to her right, a small pink butterfly wing was tattooed just under her pony tail of a mane. The guard saw her look at the tattoo and gave her a quick nod and a grin of acknowledgement as her partner unlocked the door to the dungeons.

They descended the dark and damp stairs for many flights of stairs until they relied on the torch light for the ability to see. Rock walls were covered in soot and this place was obviously carved out at the beginning of soul's reign.

Before he had come along, there were no such large quantities of ponies that they needed to have a place to keep them. The most major of crimes here was theft and the ponies who performed those crimes could be sorted out at their police station.

The sounds of cries of sadness rather than pain arose from the bottom levels of these stairs. Fillies, colts, mares, stallions; All of them were locked in here, regardless of age, regardless of innocence. It was terrible, Butterscotch felt terrible, and these ponies felt terrible. All of it was horrid; Filth and death, this should not be.

The guards led her past cell after cell, but some of her subjects recognized her and grimaced as they saw her walking  by. After a few minutes they reached one of the cells at the end. One of the guards opened the door and threw her inside. Butterscotch caught herself with her forelegs, but another hoof reached out to help her up.

"Dad?" she looked up into the eyes of the former king of all Fae.