It was nearly two hours that Axle was left in his cell without explanation, without food or water, or a single visitor, or even a guard.
Finally, he heard hooves on the stone steps. Two ponies approached his cell and each stood to one side of the door, looking straight forward, not at him. They did not wear the armor, as the guards did, but rather each had a silk sash over his shoulder and across his chest. They each had a spear but held them upright, not threateningly pointed at him. Although neither looked at him or said a word, he at least felt his treatment by these two would be better than that of the armored guards.
A few steps behind the guards walked a female pony in royal garb. Axle stood from the solitary cot and bowed low. He instinctively knew this was the Queen. But why would she visit him? His answer soon came.
"So," the Queen said flatly, "You steal apples from your Queen's very mouth?" Axle looked up at her confused, but he knew better than to question royalty. Fortunately, the Queen noticed his confusion. "I suppose you did not know that orchard was royal property?"
"No, your highness," Axle acknowledged.
"That orchard has been tended by the royal gardeners for generations. Its food supply serves myself, my family, royal visitors, and in times of hardship, this very Kingdom." She paused and squinted at him. "And yet you steal from all of us." Axle hung his head low; she had a way of making him feel impossibly guilty for his act. The Queen continued, "Had you come to me poor and hungry as you are, I would have found you work, and given you food..."
"Your Majesty, I had money to pay..." The Queen stiffened at his interruption, and Axle immediately knew he'd made a mistake in speaking out of turn. There was a long pause before she spoke again.
"On the other hand," the Queen went on with distaste in her voice, "Perhaps you did know it was a royal garden, and leniency will not facilitate my authority in this Kingdom. You will be fed well tonight, before your execution tomorrow." She whispered a command to one of her guards and continued, "You will be hanged for theft and treason outside in the square at ten-o-clock." With that, she turned and left.
Axle was left speechless. His head swam, and he didn't know how much time had passed before one of the guards brought back a full meal to him. The plate was pushed under the steel door loaded with every gourmet food a pony could think of. On top, were two bright red apples.
Axle stared at the plate and his heart sank at the irony of it. He turned and laid on his cot, not hungry in the least. He didn't know what to think or where to begin. He laid his head down on the stiff pillow, which was little more than a mat, but was still uncomfortable due to his sack underneath. It had been given back to him, less the money of course, after it had been searched to reveal he was unarmed.
He took the sack from under the pillow and irritatedly tossed it to the floor. He sighed and laid his head back down, but something metal caught his eye. He walked over the sack, and pulled out the flute. He turned it over in his hoof for a moment, contemplating it. He glanced outside the cell to ensure there were no guards around.
He took the whistle to his lips, hesitated a moment, and then blew. He was immediately disappointed as it did not make a sound. He sighed, tossed the whistle back in the bag and flopped on the cot facing the wall. A moment later the room illuminated, drawing his attention. He turned over to see Powder materialize from nowhere.
Axle was stunned, and his jaw hung slack. Powder, on the other hand, lit up as soon as she saw him.
"Axle" she exclaimed and trotted a few steps toward him.
"How... how did you..."
"What are you doing in this place?" Powder interrupted worriedly. Her smiling face fell serious as soon as she noticed her surroundings.
Axle forgot his questions in her obvious concern. He quickly explained what he had done and his impending sentence, leaving out much of the brutality he'd faced.
When he had finished, Powder was quiet and hung her head. It seemed like such a severe punishment for such a small infraction.
Axle was quiet too. Why had he brought her here? He knew he had three wishes to use, but he didn't even know what to wish for in this circumstance. He glanced at the steel bars on the windows and door, reminding him of his earlier question.
"Powder, how did you get in here?"
"The whistle summoned me."
"Well, I gathered that. But how did you get inside here?"
"I winked." Axle raised an eyebrow; he obviously still didn't understand winking. Powder took a deep breath; knowing she would have to explain it in full this time. "It's a unicorn power. Basically, you just picture yourself in another place, and next thing you know, you're there. Watch..."
Powder closed her eyes and her horn lit up, illuminating the room. She suddenly disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the bars. "I just pictured myself outside and my horn did the rest," she explained.
Axle's eyes lit up as he had an idea. "Can you do that to me?" he asked excitedly.
"No," she sighed. "Unicorns can only wink themselves." She quickly winked herself back inside the jail cell to be with him.
Axle continued to think for a moment. "Can you move objects?"
"Yes I can, and I think I know where you're going with that question. You want me to open the door or pull apart the bars so you can squeeze through?" Axle nodded. "Unfortunately, I can't," Powder continued. "I can only move objects that I can move in real life. Take you bag for example." She went over to his knapsack and lifted it up and down with one hoof, then set it back on the floor. "It's lightweight; I can lift it by myself. With that object I can do the same with my horn, but just from across the room." Her horn lit up as she demonstrated lifting the bag.
"These bars are steel," she continued. "I could never pull them apart with my bare hooves, so my horn won't be able to do it either," she explained.
Axle sighed; it was obvious she couldn't do anything to help him. It wasn't her fault though; he'd just gotten false hopes up. He looked at Powder. Her face was sad and disappointed. He knew she was feeling the same as him.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "You said the hanging was to be outside, right?" Axle nodded. "I'll schedule a diversion," and without another word, she closed her eyes and her horn lit up.
It stayed lit longer than it had for winking, and when she was done she opened her eyes. They were no longer dancing with excitement, but seemed tired. Shortly afterward, started shivering.
Axle took a step towards her and his concern was evident, "Are you ok?" He looked around. He knew the dungeon was a bit dank, but she hadn't seemed cold earlier; certainly not to the point of shivering.
"Yes," she nodded, "I just need to rest for a moment." She sounded exhausted. Axle immediately helped her to the bed and covered her with the few thin blankets he was provided.
After a few minutes, she stopped shivering, but still seemed to cold to remove the blankets. She gave him a weak smile to let him know she would be alright.
"What happened?" he asked gently.
"Unicorn magic depletes your physical energy, and that includes your body heat. What I did just now made me cold and weak, but I'll feel better in a few minutes."
"What exactly did you do?" Axle looked around him and saw no changes, nor did he feel any different himself.
She smiled, "I told you a scheduled a diversion. My speciality is snow; that's how I got my symbol and my name." Axle nodded and though he still didn't understand, he didn't ask any more about it. It seemed she preferred to be cryptic. He thought of another question instead.
"Why didn't that happen when you winked or when you moved the bag?"
"Because neither of those takes much energy at all. If I winked over and over and over, then eventually I would get cold and weak like this, but generally there's no need to wink that many times. You just do it once and you're where you want to be."
"So, how come you didn't wink out of the forest when you were being chased by the mountain lion?"
"Two reasons, I didn't know where I was, so I didn't know how to get back home. One wink at a very long distance will take the same energy as several winks at short distances. The second reason is that I was already out of physical energy just from running. I was out of breath, and I wouldn't have been able to make it."
"So how did you get there in the first place?"
"I don't know. I think I must have been asleep, dreaming of a forest, and next thing I knew, I was there. I'm still young, and I don't have as much control over my magic as some of the elders."
They both laughed, and although Powder was now feeling better, she remained with Axle for the rest of the night, talking to him about herself and unicorn powers.