“What do you meant the dragon’s still alive!?” Twilight shouted as the group ran down the tunnel. “It was dead! I saw it with my own eyes!”
“It was an illusion!” Trixie shouted back, using her magic to keep her legs from tiring out as she ran with the rest of the group. “There were also devices set up above the dragon, designed to wake and rile it up!”
“So it was a trap!?” Applejack asked, “Paradox set it up so that it’d come after us when we moved down this tunnel!?”
“That would seem to be the case, yes!” Celestia answered, using her magic to tear up Alicorn charms left and right as they moved quickly but cautiously through the tunnel. “Where are the others?”
“Trixie told Rarity to get them away from the cave, but Trixie doubts it would go after them anyway!”
“Why’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Dragons have a keen sense of smell,” Twilight answered, “And dragons, like any creature, would sooner chase other creatures currently inside its home than creatures that have already left!”
The group came to a sudden stop when they reached a huge cavern, with three tunnels on the other end of the room. Unfortunately, blocking their path was a rather big crevice. For Twilight, Celestia, and Rainbow Dash, this wasn’t much of a problem; Twilight could teleport to the opposite side, Rainbow Dash could fly over, and Celestia could do either of those.
However, Applejack was an Earth Pony, and even as athletic as she was, she couldn’t make such a huge jump. The guard and Trixie were both Unicorns, but the guard was only proficient in combat magic, and Trixie’s teleportation was limited enough as it was, so there was no way she could teleport across the huge gap while she was exhausted as she was.
Twilight could try to teleport multiple ponies with her, but that would decrease the chances of successfully making it safely to the other side. Celestia could have also teleported multiple ponies, but she was also tired out from constantly scanning for Alicorn Charms and removing them.
As for flying the others over, both Rainbow Dash and Celestia could only carry one pony each. Celestia was strong enough to carry more than one, sure, but she had to consider their sizes; there was no way she could fit two fully grown ponies on her back.
Noticing their predicament, the guard offered to stay behind whilst the others crossed over first. “It’s my duty, as a member of Princess Celestia’s Royal Guard, to put the safety of the citizens of Equestria before my own.”
Applejack offered to stay in his stead, but he would have none of it, and had Rainbow Dash carry her forcibly to the other side. Trixie had no complaints, and climbed onto the Princess’ back.
Celestia stared the guard in the eyes. “I’ll be back for you soon,” she said, receiving a nod and a salute from her loyal guard. “By the way, I don’t believe I got your name.”
“Morning Star, ma’am.”
Celestia nodded, and lifted off the ground with Trixie on her back. She watched Twilight teleport over to the other side, and began to fly across to meet the three ponies waiting for them.
“Morning Star! What are you doing!?” Twilight shouted. Celestia turned her head to see what was going on, and saw Morning Star moving towards the passageway that they had come from.
“I’m gonna buy you all some time!” he shouted back, “That dragon’s nearly caught up to us, even I can tell that!” He drew his spear and shield with his magic, and with one last salute, sped off down the passageway.
“NO!” Celestia shouted, but before she could turn around to give chase, a flash of orange magic shot out from the passageway, and the entryway was blocked off by a sudden cave-in. The ponies still in the cavern watched in horror for a few moments, before the sounds of a ponies screaming from the other side of the cave-in brought Celestia back to reality. “Morning Star…You didn’t have to do that,” she said, before turning back to the other three ponies, and flying towards them. “But I’ll definitely see to it that you are remembered for your brave sacrifice.”
Rarity and Pinkie Pie poked their heads out of the bush that they were hiding behind, watching the cave’s entrance cautiously. “Hey, I just had a thought,” Pinkie Pie said, turning to face Rarity, “Couldn’t Fluttershy just use ‘The Stare’ if that dragon comes out?”
“Um…”
“Hm, good point,” Rarity said.
“Actually…”
“What’s ‘The Stare’?” the guard asked.
“It’s something that Fluttershy uses one out-of-control animals,” Rarity explained, “She once defeated a dragon with it, so theoretically, she should be able to do it again.”
“I didn’t defeat it,” Fluttershy said, finally gaining the group’s attention. “Um, ‘The Stare’ is what I use to help out-of-control animals see the error of their ways…It’s not something I can use on an animal acting on primal instincts, like trying to protect its home.”
“Well that sucks,” the guard said, pulling out a bottle and attempting taking a drink, before realising that the bottle was empty. “Oh, right…I drank it already,” he said with a sigh, as he tossed the empty bottle into the bushes behind him.
The group jumped when they heard a growl coming from said bushes, and immediately turned to face them. The bushes began to rustle, and before the group could say or do anything, a strange creature popped out. A strange, snake-like creature, with a big, bulky, scaly body, which stared at the group of ponies and began hissing furiously.
“Uh-oh…” the guard said meekly as he slowly stood up, drawing his spear with his magic, and moving over to stand in front of the three mares from Ponyville. “Girls, run towards the cave. Hurry.”
The three ponies began slowly backing away, but were unsure about the order they were just given. “The cave? But what about the dragon?”
“Better a dragon than a Basilisk,” he said, also backing away as a few more of these creatures emerged from behind the bushes in front of him. “The presence of the dragon there should scare them away. We’ll just have to hide and hope the dragon doesn’t notice us.”
Fluttershy whimpered as the Basilisks started to slowly approach the group, and yelped when she saw them charging at them. The guard swung his spear to intimidate them, causing them to momentarily back off.
“GO, NOW!” he shouted, and almost immediately, the three mares ran towards the cave. The Basilisks began to charge forward once more, but the guard was not going to let them pass. He erected a small barrier with magic, preventing them from chasing the mares. “Don’t think so! You want them, you gotta get past me, first!”
Celestia’s group, after taking a moment of silence for Morning Star’s sacrifice, continued to move through the cave quickly. The atmosphere between them was grim. Nopony besides Trixie dared to say anything to break the silence. Trixie tried to lift the mood by telling a few jokes and anecdotes, but it wasn’t going over so well with the rest of the group.
“And so of course Trixie had to show him what for. So Trixie used her magic to-”
“Trixie,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, “Can you please just shut it for a few minutes? You’re annoying.”
Trixie glared at Rainbow Dash, and quickly noticed that the Pegasus was glaring right back at her. “Forgive Trixie for trying to lighten the mood here. If Trixie is forced to tag along with you ponies on this crusade, she’d rather not do it in such an uncomfortable manner.”
“And stop talking in third-pony, too! Seriously, it’s just so-”
“On guard, everypony,” Celestia said, interrupting the two before the argument could escalate any further. “Paradox is heading this way.”
Rainbow Dash and Trixie immediately stopped their arguing, and, along with Twilight and Applejack, braced themselves for the encounter. The group stopped suddenly, and just ahead of them, the figure of a pony could be seen approaching them.
“It’s him!” Twilight shouted, the light in her horn intensifying greatly.
Celestia furrowed her brow as Paradox’s came into view. “So, are you ready to talk now, Paradox?”
“Sorry, Celestia, but I really don’t have the time,” Paradox said, still nearing the group. “Got a busy, busy schedule. Destroying the world isn’t an easy task, y’know?”
Celestia wasn’t sure if Paradox was being serious, or just mocking her. “Destroying the world? Is that a metaphor, and exaggeration…” Celestia braced herself before she asked her next question, “Or does this have something to do Ancient Tomb?”
Paradox stopped dead in his tracks, his cocky smirk from earlier fading away. “How do you know about that?”
“The Alicorns sent me a report. They told me that various items had gone missing…Alicorn Charms, the Concealing Cloak, and the Key of the Ancient Tomb.” Celestia watched as Paradox pulled out the key from his cloak. “Paradox, you’ve really crossed the line, haven’t you? What in Equestria are you planning? And how did you even acquire those things?”
“There’s no need for me to explain that, Celestia,” Paradox said, before turning his attention towards the smaller mares behind her. “Now, which of these lovely young fillies was responsible for breaking my illusion?”
Trixie took a step forward, a proud grin on her face as she held her head up high. “That would be the Great and Powerful Trixie, of course. Who else in all of Equestria would be able to accomplish such a feat?”
Twilight facehooved, and quickly moved herself between Trixie and Paradox. “Idiot! Don’t antagonize him!”
“Trixie was simply answering his question.”
“We’re the ones who are supposed to be asking the questions here, not him!”
Paradox took a few more steps towards the group, his smile returning. “So, we now have two Unicorns with great magical power, huh? Interesting…” Paradox stopped when Celestia fired a warning shot from her horn, but his gaze remained on Trixie. “Trixie, how would you like to join me? I can pay you well. Whatever you desire, it shall be yours.”
Trixie scoffed, and her own horn lit up as she charged her magic into it. “Yeah, Trixie’s sure you can. But quite frankly, Trixie has no intention of going up against the most powerful being in all of Equestria. Trixie is no idiot, you know?”
“It’s not a lie, Trixie. When my plan comes to fruition, you only need to will it, and anything you desire shall be yours.”
“And what plan is that?” Celestia asked.
“I told you, I’m in a hurry,” Paradox answered, before turning back to Trixie. “Well? Yes, or no?”
Trixie lowered her head and fired a beam of magical energy at Paradox’s forehooves, which he easily dodged. “No,” Trixie answered flatly.
Paradox sighed, before taking out a few Alicorn charms from his cloak. “Alrighty, forget I asked. I’ll just have to find somepony else.”
“Wait!” Celestia shouted, charging towards Paradox. However, before she could reach him, the charms in his hooves lit up, and the ground beneath them started to shake. Paradox shot a beam from his horn at the cave’s ceiling between him and Celestia’s group, causing a cave-in to block their path. “Paradox, stop!”
But it was too late. Celestia could hear Paradox retreating further into the cave, and they could not go any further now.
“What do we do now?” Applejack asked, “We can’t go any further, and the way we came is blocked, too!”
“There were three tunnels in that large cavern earlier!” Trixie pointed out, before dodging a falling stalactite. “One of them may lead to a new way out!”
Celestia nodded. Even if it was only a small chance, it was really their only chance at this point. “Let’s go! Follow me, everypony!”
Celestia led the way as the other four mares followed her back the way they came. Once they reached the cavern the group had two possible paths to take, and not much time to make their decision, as the entire cave was starting to cave-in.
“Which way!?” Trixie shouted, combining her magic with Twilight’s to slow down the collapsing ceiling. “I can’t hold this for long!”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack both split up to examine each entrance. Unfortunately, both were just as dark as each other, and seemed to go deeper into the cave, so the decision wasn’t made any easier. That is, until a shriek from Rainbow Dash attracted the group’s attention.
The group saw a colony of bats flying out of the tunnel that she was examining. “That way!” Celestia shouted, running towards the tunnel, with Applejack and Trixie soon following. Twilight followed last, wanting to use her magic to buy as much time as possible.
“We’re goin’ in there?” Applejack asked, “But what about the bats?”
“That’s why we’re going in,” Celestia replied, “Bats usually stay close to cave entrances, so this tunnel is our best bet right now.”
Celestia’s horn lit up brightly, lighting the darkness in the tunnel ahead of the group. The five ponies quickly made their way through, ignoring the bats still lingering about, and relying on Twilight and Trixie’s combined magic efforts to shield them from falling stalactites.
Rarity dared to poke her head out from behind the rock that she and her friends were hiding behind. Lying before her very eyes was the dragon from earlier, sleeping peacefully, despite the spear stuck in its paw. The spear that Rarity had recognised as one of the Royal Guard’s spears.
She then turned her attention towards the cave’s entrance, and wondered how the other guard was doing. Her question was answered as said guard quickly limped into the cave, collapsing just as he entered. Rarity gasped, and quickly trotted over to him, slowing down as she remembered the dragon that was still present.
Rarity saw a group of Basilisks outside, starting into the cave, and she almost felt herself freeze up in fear. However, the Basilisks soon turned around, and ran off back into the forest. She breathed a sigh of relief, and then continued her quick but quiet trot towards the guard lying on the floor.
“Are you ok?” she whispered once she was close enough. She received no response, other than his heavy, irregular breathing, and so she moved closer to examine his body. She discovered a bite mark on his left hind leg, and decided it would be best to move him out of the way, in case the dragon suddenly woke up.
“Wait!” Fluttershy shouted behind her. Rarity would have shushed Fluttershy, but her shout was still only at the level of a whisper, so there wasn’t really a risk of her accidentally awakening the dragon. “We can’t move him. From what I’ve heard, Basilisk bites are venomous.”
Rarity turned her attention back towards the bite mark, and noticed the veins in the guard’s leg were starting to turn green. The guard started screaming in pain, and flailing about. Rarity quickly used her magic to hold him down, and Pinkie Pie, who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, quickly placed her right foreleg into the guard’s mouth, to muffle his screams.
The three mares turned to the dragon, and saw that it still wasn’t awake. They each took a sigh out of relief, before Pinkie Pie felt a sharp pain in her arm, and Rarity had to jam her own hoof into Pinkie’s mouth to stop her from screaming out. Pinkie looked down, tears running down her face, and saw the guard biting into Pinkie’s leg, his expression showing that he was in great pain.
“Fluttershy, what do you think we should do?” Rarity asked, wincing as she tried to drown out the guard’s muffled screaming by flattening her ears against her head. “How bad do you think the poison is?”
“Very bad,” Fluttershy answered, lowering her head to examine the guard’s leg, “But so far, it’s only really concentrated in his leg. It’ll take some time before it spreads throughout his whole body. We have to get the poison out before then.”
“And how do you suggest we do that?”
“Well, um…” Fluttershy hung her head low, allowing her mane to conceal her face, unable to come up with an answer. “I don’t know…”
Rarity felt something sharp poking her flank, and turned her attention to whatever it was. It was a spear, and attached the other end of that spear, was the guard’s right forehoof. He was still squirming and screaming, but he seemed to calmed down a little bit, and was now trying to tell Rarity something.
Rarity nodded to Pinkie Pie to tell her to remove her leg, which Pinkie was more than happy to do. Once the guard was able to speak properly again, he said: “T-Take…Leg…Take my…Leg…”
Rarity saw him lose his grip on his spear, and her eyes widened as she realised what he was asking of her. “Darling…You can’t mean that…”
Another loud scream from the guard caused Pinkie to immediately replace her hoof, and much to Rarity’s surprise, the dragon still hadn’t woken up. Rarity looked at the guard, who was in agonising pain, and then to the spear on ground next to him. She picked it up with her magic, and then turned to Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy, go wait behind those rocks over there,” Rarity said, forcing a smile as she addressed her friend. “And while you’re there, I need you to retrieve our medical supplies. But whatever you do, don’t come out until I call you over.”
Fluttershy looked at Rarity in horror, knowing exactly what Rarity was planning. She wanted to argue, to insist on staying by her side, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to help even if she did stay, and she certainly didn’t want to witness what she knew was coming.
With a reluctant nod, Fluttershy quietly crept over to the rocks where she and her friends were hiding earlier.
Rarity and Pinkie Pie shared a quick glance. Pinkie Pie’s appearance suddenly changed, her mane and tail deflating, and her expression becoming completely serious, and she shut her eyes and replaced the foreleg currently in the guard’s mouth with her other one. She braced herself, knowing that this was going to hurt.
Rarity levitated the spear to the guard’s leg, just a little above where the greenness of the veins ended, and with a slow nod from the guard, she swallowed hard, and lowered the tip of the spear down.
Rarity felt Pinkie biting into her hoof, attempting to cancel out the pain from the guard biting and screaming into her leg. Soon, Pinkie’s own muffled screams joined the guard’s, and Rarity was only just able to stop herself from screaming, too. She had her ears pressed firmly against the sides of her head, but it wasn’t enough. It also didn’t help that she was unable to draw her attention away from the guard’s limb being cut off, since she was the one doing it. She had to concentrate, to avoid cutting somewhere else by mistake.
Rarity had to intensify her magic to keep the guard from moving around too much, and eventually, she found that she wouldn’t be able to hold him down completely, so she simply concentrated on his leg, instead, making sure that, at the very least, she could amputate without accidently cutting the wrong place.
Finally, the guard's leg was off, and Rarity was able to throw the spear away and call over to Fluttershy, almost throwing up as she finally diverted her attention from the guard.
Fluttershy, who had been curled up behind the rocks, poked her head out, and saw Rarity motioning her over. She quickly stepped out of her hiding, carrying a bag in her mouth, and made her way to the group and quickly, but as quietly, as she could.
“Here, Rari- Oh, my…” Fluttershy had to quickly turn her head away as she finally reached the group. The guard’s leg had been completely cut off, and he had bitten into Pinkie Pie’s leg so hard that it was now bleeding.
Rarity removed her hoof from Pinkie’s mouth, and reached over towards the bag. After opening it, Rarity levitated out the medical supplies inside. She wasn’t highly knowledgeable in the field of first aid, but she at least knew that they had to stop the bleeding quickly. And so, she levitated out the bandages, and began wrapping it around the guard’s wound. Fluttershy wanted to help, but the sight was too much for her, so she instead sat back and let Rarity take care of it.
“Whoa!” a voice shouted from the cave’s entrance, “What happened here!?”
The three mares turned to see Rainbow Dash walking into the cave, and immediately shushed her. Rainbow Dash noticed the dragon, and was quick to lower her voice to a whisper. “Guys, what’s going on? What happened to all of you?”
Rarity finished wrapping the bandage around the guard’s leg, and walked over to Rainbow Dash. “A long story. Are the others with you?”
“Yeah, they’re outside, looking for you guys.”
“We have to hurry! He needs proper treatment right away!”
Rainbow Dash nodded, and ran outside with Rarity to alert the others. A few moments later, Princess Celestia re-entered the cave, and gently lifted the guard onto her back. “Well, at least one survived…” she mumbled as she slowly began to leave the cave, together with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.
“Trixie had better be very, very well rewarded for this!” Trixie shouted as soon as the group was out of the forest. “Trixie agreed to be your guide, not to almost die in some cave!”
“Simmer down, Trixie,” Applejack said, turning and narrowing her eyes at Trixie, “We all almost died there…And one pony did die. Show a lil’ respect, y’hear?”
“Hmph, Trixie doesn’t allow herself to cry over what’s happened,” Trixie said, earning a cold glare from Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “Crying won’t bring him back. Trixie would just rather get her life back on track.”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were trying their very best not to yell at Trixie for her cold behaviour, and Twilight was only being stopped by the Princess. Rarity increased her speed so that she was walking next to Trixie. “Did you learn that the hard way, then?” she asked, causing Trixie’s eyes to widen. “I thought so. It’s actually easy to read you, you know?”
“W-What do you mean?”
“Whenever you talk about yourself, you’re either making stuff up, or, at the very least, exaggerating, or you’re speaking from personal experience. In either case, the way you talk is…Slightly different.”
Celestia nodded her head, and turned to face the two Unicorns walking together. “It’s subtle, but definitely there. Trixie, it seems you’re no stranger to ponies dying. You remind me of myself, over 600 years ago.” The group fell silent as they listened to Celestia’s story. “I had seen so many deaths, that eventually, I was tired of crying over them. I was tired of being sad, and seeing others be sad, and so…Whenever another death happened, I shrugged it off, as if it never happened…”
Trixie simply let out a small chuckle. “A fascinating story, Princess. But Trixie’s afraid that you’re wrong.” Twilight’s eye twitched when she heard Trixie say that Celestia was ‘wrong’. “Trixie’s psyche is simply on a higher plain than other ponies. That’s why she is unfazed by death. It has nothing to do with Trixie fighting back her tears.”
“…Is that so?” Celestia asked, turning her head back to face in front of her. “Very well, if that’s what you say…” Another uncomfortable silence passed, but was soon broken by Celestia. “Trixie, I know that this is probably the last thing you want to hear…But I want to place you into the Witness Protection Programme.”
“…What?”