The changelings had attacked Canterlot once more, though not by force like their last attempt.
They had instead manufactured a poisonous gas, one of the most horiffic chemical weapons ever conceived in Equestria. Exposure to it could result in long coughing fits, suffocation, fatigue, and even death. The gas would often seep into the blood stream via open wounds, which caused horiffic, second degree burns on the victim, which then formed terrible blisters filled with stinking, grey pus.
The changelings had then left open canisters of the gas in various, near impossible to find locations within various settlements, effectively turning them into ghost towns full of dead, decaying bodies.
And once everypony was too busy helping the ponies who were exposed, the real nightmare had began.
They descended upon the cities, setting buildings and nearby forests on fire, mass murdering the fleeing citizens for sport. The Royal Guard was of no help whatsoever, as many of the soldiers had been exposed to the gas before what had come to be known as "The Nebula".
As Twilight ran through all these events once more in her scarred mind, one particular event stood out. The evacuation.
Running until her legs felt like they would snap in half and her heart felt like it would bust out of her chest...her brother dying in her hooves right before they made it out of the cloud of gas...not being able to say one last goodbye to any of the dead and dying...
Much of Equestria had gone through the same fate as Twilight's as families were mercilessly torn apart. Parents, children, spouses, and siblings were ripped to pieces by the onslaught of the Changelings as the rest of the family was burned and suffocated by the gas. Those who dared to put up a fight against the Changelings would only do so in small groups, as organization during a panicked evacuation was next to none. The only pieces of the warbands ever recovered were severed extremedies placed upon pikes in the non-affected areas.
Twilight raised a hoof to her face and swiped away the tears as she kept walking. They had left camp a while back, maybe a half-hour ago, and were now making their way to the small lake Rainbow Dash had told Twilight about. Her and Spike were at the head of the pack. It might have been her imagination, but they all seemed more motivated when she mentioned the lake.
As they made it to the top of the mountain, a real smile graced Twilight's features.
An extensive valley was laid out below them, with a lake in the center. A bit of vegetation grew near the edges as well, promising future crops and making her stomach rumble. There was enough space to build homes, and a few meager trees to build them with. It was, for all intents and purposes, perfect for a brand new home.
Then, of course, everything had to go wrong.
A few ponies started to point up with one hoof, speaking worriedly. Twilight looked up as well, and what she saw terrified her.
Three adult dragons were flying in lazy circles above their supposed perfect home, all of them easily bigger than her library in Ponyville. They were of the reddest scales Twilight had ever seen, a fiery blood-red that pierced through the souls of all who gazed upon them. Their mighty roars echoed around, spreading fear through the group's hearts. Twilight slowly backed up.
"Um...um, okay, everypony just calm down and they'll go away...hopefully..."
Spike looked down towards Twilight, shaking his head as he and the librarian looked up once again to see the three Wyrms circling downwards with their eyes as black as the void shooting malicious stares towards the ponies below. One shared a glance with the others, as if to say 'Watch this' and began to prepare a breath of scorching, bright green fire.
Spike moved in front of Twilight, spreading his own rather weak wings defiantly. The dragons were unimpressed, and the one let loose its fire. The ball of flames came careening towards the group as everypony but Twilight scattered. The fireball erupted with a mighty force, blasting bright green flames in all directions, ruining the ground and turning it into a scorched black mess.
Twilight remained unscathed. Spike had covered his best friend with one of his wings, shielding her from the blast. Dragons were fireproof, apparently, since he didn't wince nor groan in pain.
Suddenly, the dragon stopped and whipped its tail around. A single glowing arrow had struck the sensitive body part. All three of the fearsome reptiles turned to see a small blue figure standing atop the mountain behind them.
She wore dark blue battle armor that covered her chest, shoulders, flanks, and hooves, with her mane now in a ponytail. A magical, ethereal bow, a new arrow ready to fire, hovered beside her. Twilight recognized the figure as a new, rather badass Trixie Lulamoon.
Her first thought was She looks kind of hot in that armor.
Trixie fired another arrow, this time catching the dragon's side, presumably where the heart would lie. The beast roared in agony as the arrow burned through it's scales in a seemingly holy flame, ripping open a wound the size of an arrowhead in the dragon's torso. The dragon wobbled in the air for a few seconds before landing to the ground with a hard thud, roaring with pure rage.One could see that blood immediately spurted from the wound, forming small pool of it's own blood around the downed wyrm.
The other two dragons had flown off in fear, presumably to warn others of their kind. Trixie ran down to the dragon's corpse, giving it a poke. It didn't move. She looked impressed.
Twilight and Spike rushed towards the armored pony.
"I downed it in one go. I'll have to tell Kiba about this!" The reformed magician happily spouted and looked up at Twilight and company.
"Twilight Sparkle. We meet again." Trixie nodded to the other ponies who'd followed her down. "And you brought some friends."
"Trixie...what...I..." Twilight could barely speak. She just saw a single pony take down a dragon. And that pony was Trixie, who was somehow here...
Trixie caught sight of Twilight's utterly confused expression. "Here, why don't you set up camp here. I highly doubt those bozos will be coming back, and I'll take you with me to Sharpened Beak."
------
Twilight and the other Elements took Trixie up on her offer, and they headed up the mountain Trixie had appeared from. "Sharpened Beak is down at the bottom of this slope here. A griffon settlement." Trixie explained as she began to hop down the rocks.
They followed, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flying at parts, until they reached the ground. Another short trek and they made it. It was still tiring, considering their situation.
It was a surprisingly nice little town for such a warlike species. Griffons walked and flew around the city, some greeting Trixie as she and the guests passed.
The city itself was what some would call a mass of caves. The vibrantly alive city was carved into a scorched valley, bordered on each side by a forest of crispy, black trees. Shops, stalls, and signs were built in front of each cave, which served as a humble abode for each individual citizen. The entrances were painted in different patterns based on what its owner liked, so nopony could ever enter somegriffon else's home thinking it was their own.
Eventually Trixie stopped them at the entrance of what looked like a bar, "The Cracked Boulder". Trixie ushered them inside, entering last. It wasn't terribly crowded, and the bartender looked rather bored.
"Ciders and rabbit for all of us, I'm paying." Trixie told the bartender, who quickly set about fulfilling her request.
Applejack leaned over the bar and got the bartender's attention.
"I want an Appletini and the girliest drink in the house for my friend Rarity." She requested in a monotone voice.
"Two Appletinis then." The griffon behind the counter snorted.
Fluttershy poked Trixie. "Um...did you say...rabbit?"
Trixie turned to Fluttershy. "Oh, right, forgot you've never had meat before."
"What do you mean 'before'? We don't eat meat." Rainbow Dash corrected Trixie.
"Let's just say what happens in dragon territory, stays in dragon territory." The armored mare quietly shooed the question away.
Once everypony was settled with their drinks and their food, Trixie began to speak. "I guess now would be a proper time to explain a couple things. Namely, how I got here and how I learned that sort of magic." Trixie cleared her throat and began to tell her story.
"After the whole 'Alicorn Amulet' thing, I was exiled to the lovely Dragon Territory by the ever-loving princesses. You don't survive here long without picking up a few new skills, and so I began to teach myself combat and healing magic, as well as a few basic barrier spells. Of course, later I joined the Dragon Patrols down here, and those became even more useful."
Twilight peered at the mare through her glass of cider as she was telling her story, admiring her in her mind. As Trixie began to talk about her experiences as a patrol pony, the lavender unicorn sitting across from her gave her the once-over...twelve times. She only could think of one thing as she was looking at the magician:
'Not bad.'