//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Ursae Majoris: Eternal Knight // by Draconaes //------------------------------// Chapter 13 ****** Twilight found Trixie being dragged out of the local police station against her will. "This is insulting! Trixie won't stand for this! Discord would show greater civility! The Great and Powerful Trixie demands fair treatment! How dare you refuse her demands! Lock me up, damn it!" Trixie stop shouting as she was dropped on her back. Her two escorts bid her good day and returned inside. "Trixie? What's going on? I tell you not to strain yourself and you get yourself arrested?" Trixie huffed and picked herself up. "If only..." She started dusting herself off. "Huh? What was that bit about "lock me up" anyway?" Trixie started, only just realizing who she was talking to. "Oh! Twilight! Uh, nothing." Trixie started walking, headed for the library. Twilight fell in line next to her and opened her mouth. Trixie cut her off. "To answer your first question, Trixie was detained for assault and vandalism." "Assault!?" Trixie winced. "Well, it was technically assault. I wasn't really attacking her. She didn't even care until the vandalism bit, anyway. Oh, there was also theft, but that was an accident and I already corrected that." She patted one of her saddlebags. "Why did you attack somepony?" "Because she insulted my-!" Trixie glanced at Twilight. "My fashion sense. She also mocked my injury. Insinuated I was clumsy. Said I was a shame to unicorns. I threw a dress form at her. She kicked me out after that, and I broke one of her windows with a rock. That's when she dragged me to the police station." Twilight grumbled and facehoofed. "Please. Please tell me that this pony isn't who I think it is." "Well, er, does the name "Carousel Boutique" mean anything to you?" Trixie smiled sheepishly. "Celestia, help me." Twilight sighed again and turned a glare on Trixie. "I'm going to go talk to Rarity. We'll talk about this later." Twilight turned and left for Carousel Boutique. Trixie felt tears threatening, but held them back. Hearing the mayor mention her parents and pardon her for her connection to them had stung. She didn't like being reminded of her past. She hoped Twilight wouldn't ask why they had let her off without charges. Trixie finally reached the library and entered, her head down. After closing the door, she looked up to find the creature from the forest lounging against the wall. "Eeep..." "Aaaaaah... Tyr's pet. What is your name?" Trixie realized that this was actually a different creature. The one she had met before was white, while this one was very dark. "T-Trixie." "You may call me... Epona." "You're a Star Dragon, yes?" The creature made a chuckling sound. "Is that what you call us? Very well. The one you met before is called Tyr. If you meet him again, pretend you don't know that yet. I'm here to request that you accept whatever offer he has made. I do not know the details, but I do know that he promised you safety. I can attest to his sincerity, if you are having doubts." Trixie gulped. "And if I still refuse?" Epona bared her teeth in a soundless snarl. "Then you become a liability. You also become free prey, and I haven't come across anything quite as tempting as one of you before." Epona pushed past her and exited the library. Trixie shuddered. 'Perfect.' ****** Twilight returned later in the day. She didn't say anything about a strange creature being sighted, so Epona must have escaped notice. Somehow. Instead, she cut right to the chase. "I heard that you apologized to Applejack and Rainbow Dash." "Of course. Our contest wasn't anything personal. My goal was to please the crowd, not to hurt them." "I also heard that instead of apologizing to Rarity, you called her derogatory names. You neglected to mention that when you said she insulted you." "Why should Trixie apologize to her? It wasn't even a contest with her. Just some eunuch h-" Twilight shot her a warning glare. "... Just some unicorn full of hot air. All Trixie did was shoo the disturbance offstage and turn it into a crowd-pleaser. Unicorns need to learn their place." Twilight gave her a flat stare. "Trixie-" "I'm different... better, and, painful though it may be to admit, you are too, and you know it. We aren't pompous fat-asses sitting on cushions all day, ordering around the "less fortunate classes" for our own gain!" Twilight bristled before letting out a shaky sigh. "You're coming close to insulting my family, Trixie. You're own family is full of high-class unicorns, no doubt." Trixie's blood went cold. She growled. Twilight just shook her head. "Rarity said that you attacked when she questioned your parents' ability to raise a child. You also neglected to mention that." "And that is important for what reason?" "Apparently your parents are fairly important here. I mean, having charges dropped because of your relation to your mother is-" "Disgusting? A breach of justice? Unfair? I agree. Too bad I can't do anything about it." Twilight just stared. This was not the reaction she expected. "So, I'm guessing your parents were distant snobs that threw money at a problem to fix it?" Trixie was visibly struggling to contain herself. After a minute she was able to speak. "Don't. You. DARE. Insult. My. PARENTS!" Twilight's ears fell flat against her head. 'That was a bad move!' "I-I'm sure they loved you very much! It was a hasty guess and I was obviously wrong! I'm sure they missed you when you left!" Twilight winced. 'Oh Celestia that was stupid. Why did I say that!?' Trixie froze. "Twilight." "I'm sorry! I'm not handling this-" "Twilight. I'm just going to assume idiocy on your part, rather than maliciousness. You don't know what you're talking about, so I won't hold these mistakes against you. Just. Just drop the subject." "A-Alright, Trixie. I'm sorry." Trixie remained silent. "I..." Twilight sighed. "I have to go get Spike from Sugarcube Corner." Twilight made to leave, turning back once she was at the threshold. "If... if you need, you can have tomorrow free as well. I don't think today has been very restful for you." "...Thanks." ****** Tiamat sat in the library's branches, waiting for nightfall. She sensed a particularly bright unicorn enter and leave a short while later. Unfortunately, it was off limits if it was at all important to Trixie. 'Of course all the bright ones are off-limits.' Finally, night fell, and Tiamat was free to return to camp in peace. She ignored the humans sitting around a fire and went straight to Tyr, who was sitting on the nose of the crashed research vessel. "What did you do with the pilot, anyway?" Tyr stirred. "Bait." Tiamat shrugged a sack off her back and dumped it next to him. "Here's your paper bricks. You can ask the humans to read them yourself. I also spied on your other pet. She seemed to be preparing to another trip to the forest, from what I could sense." "I didn't authorize that." "You aren't my superior in this." "...Indeed." "Tyr, why aren't we infiltrating their capital?" Tyr tensed. "Patience. Do you remember Earth?" "I was created after that." "This... evasiveness regarding the truth is not-" "We are both revolutionaries here. Equals in power. Don't lecture me. I will forge my own path. As should you." With that, Tiamat went to hunt his bait. She felt foolish for not recognizing such a use for the human corpse before, and wanted to see if it had worked. Tyr grabbed the sack of books plundered from the library and made his way toward the humans, who were staring in anticipation. He dumped the books out of the sack in front of them. "I have found a research opportunity for you. Find out what you can about their civilization and report to me. I will have someone to corroborate your reports later, so try to be truthful, if you can." He left quickly, presumably hunting down Tiamat. Again. Kelly turned to the others. "Well, at least he's getting more talkative."