//------------------------------// // Ancro, Stigandr, and Scott // Story: The Triumvirate // by Fedora71 //------------------------------// The Triumvirate Somewhere in the Canterlot prison, kept under vigilant guard, a changeling patiently waits for his daily visitor. That visitor is responsible for the magical barrier currently surrounding the changeling, the same barrier that he had used to protect Canterlot during his wedding. He will arrive, make a threat, recharge the barrier, and then leave after the changeling taunts him. The visitor wasn't the greatest friend the changeling had, not by a long shot, but he still counted Shining Armor as a friend. The changeling’s eyes shot open as he felt the familiar presence of his warden, but then another presence appeared. It felt warm and radiant, in contrast to the more restrained feeling of Shining Armor. He tried to piece together who the other presence was as it grew closer, and felt himself being blinded. It’s an odd sensation, seeing something... without seeing something. Even though he had become used to it, his super-powered empathic sense still needed some fine-tuning; though it had served him well against the thirty or so guards he pummeled. The door to his cell, in what he presumed was the Crystal Caverns, was opened. A blinding light shown through, momentarily obscuring his vision. He face-hoofed for not figuring out who his other visitor was sooner. “Your Royal Highness Princess Celestia, however may I be of assistance?” the Changeling said while taking a bow far too deep and gracious for it to be taken as anything but sarcasm, even ignoring his tone. He wasn’t usually like this; only when he had been locked up for a few days, or was hungry, or was just in a mood, was he a sarcastic ass. All Celestia did was look upon him with pity; he was hardly looking at her, but could feel it rolling off her gaze. It was not something he was a fan of having dumped on him. Still, he was intrigued, since he was captured on Luna's shift, why was Celestia the first royal to come visit him? “What is your name?” she said in a commanding voice. He could tell she was in no mood for games or taunts, but that wasn’t going to prevent him from being an ass. It did let him figure out how far he could push her. He glanced to Shining Armor who was standing at attention and not revealing a hint of emotion, what a champ. He pried his eyes off what he was reading and to the princess, which was a difficult task. Even looking at her made him want to squint, and she had her blinding sun thing turned off. Now, more than ever, he was wishing he could turn off his super charged 6th sense. Still, its uses were many. A cocky wise-ass grin crept onto his face. *** Battered and bloodied from a violent crash-landing, a unicorn stallion awakens lost in the Everfree forest. He runs through the preceding events in his mind. They had been running, or... actually flying, and their well thought-out plan had turned into a bust as his one companion had predicted. Granted, that prediction had been delivered with complete sarcasm.They had snuck into the Canterlot library, the part with the restricted books, and had just started tearing into the old tomes when the plan started to unravel. They needed to get out of there fast, so the changeling had stayed behind to give them time to escape. The last he saw of him, his friend had just bucked him out the window. A twig broke behind him. He struggled to stand, but a fall from undetermined heights can have unfortunate repercussions on the pony body, a fact that he had quickly gotten used to on this 'vacation' to Equestria. So far it had been one disaster after another. It was the griffin’s idea to go after that book after the changeling mentioned off-hoofedly that something like that would be in the Canterlot library. The book was to give them an emergency way home, since the griffin had been wanting to leave. The changeling had said it was a necessary precaution. He agreed that at the very least having a way home wouldn't be a bad idea. A twig snapping brought him back to reality, and he heard hoofsteps come up behind him. He was so glad they were hoofsteps and not whatever steps a hydra or manticore make. Unless it was a changeling. Because if it wasn't one specific changeling, he was thoroughly screwed. “Oh, my” the most angelic, softest, tenderest, and kindest voice in the world said from behind him. Upon hearing those words, he felt obligated to pass out from a mixture of broken everything, and joy. He woke up, what he assumed was some time later, in the familiar cottage of Fluttershy's.He was being bandaged up by none other than the yellow and pink pegasus herself. If he wasn’t in absolute agony, he would’ve 'squee'd. “Don’t worry, I sent my bunny friend, Angel, to go get some doctors who are going to take real good care of you” she said in her kind and soft voice. “But, uhhh, if it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me your name? If you don’t mind that is.” Now this was a predicament. When the three of them had first arrived in Equestria, they realized something: they couldn't use their real names. Well, except for the griffin. Whenever they tried to say them, all that resulted was silence and awkward lip movement. Changing his name didn’t bother him. Potentially lying to Fluttershy did. The unicorn took as deep a breath his broken ribs would allow and steeled himself. *** A griffin woke up in a Cloudsdale hospital. At least, he assumed it was a Cloudsdale hospital since it was made out of clouds, he never much cared to learn the geography of Equestria.Then there was a knock on the cloud door. His brain tried to pass the mandatory “knocking on cloud door” sanity check, which he succeeded, something he had been getting better and better at as time went on. It had gotten easier since he had his first breakdown upon trying to figure out how he was capable of walking on clouds. At first he thought they were made of some other magic, but then found out they were made of the same stuff as regular earth clouds. His freak-out had lasted nearly thirty minutes, and he had since subscribed to the popular theory of “Its goddamned magic.” Still, it kept him up at night. “Hello?” He asked groggily while still in pain and trying to piece together what had happened. The mission was to break into pony library, steal pony book, and get it to somepony who can use pony book to get them out of pony land before they endangered the universe with their other universal knowledge. He passed the sanity check for having 'pony' in that thought so many times. He was still coming to grips with the reality of what was going on, since waking up in the middle of some field on a stone altar. His two best friends changed into a unicorn and a pony... bug... parasite... carnivore... thing. He had changed into a griffin, something that he, himself, thought was badass to the max. He was one of the three things with thumbs in the whole known magical world. Well, maybe it didn’t amount to much since the unicorn had telekinesis, and the changeling had telekinesis AND could freaking transform his hooves into hands. The pegasus nurse entered the room with a clipboard under her wing, and a kind smile on her face. The griffin immediately relaxed upon seeing a lack of royal guards, which meant that the changeling’s insane plan to buy time for them to escape had paid off, hopefully. After all, the part of the library they had infiltrated was restricted and guarded with relatively painful alarm spells. He had found that out first-hand... talon... claw? He’d have to ask another griffin to say it so he would know what was right. “Excuse me, but we were in such a hurry to rush you in here we didn’t exactly get your name. We need it for some minor paper work if you don’t mind giving it to us.” The griffin, unlike the other two, merely had an uncommon name in his society, so whatever powers that be enabled him to fly with his birth name. *** “You had but to ask, your highness,” the changeling said with another deep bow and sarcastic tone, gaining a glare from both his visitors “But, I have many names. Which would you prefer I use?” He couldn't actually see the glare from the captain, who was standing at attention, but he could feel it. “The name you prefer to be addressed by.” He felt the steady focus of power, and realized that the princess’s patience was thin to nonexistent. He wondered if that was a general rule for changelings, or if something else was bugging her. It was beyond him. Either way, he decided not to press his luck, and instead go with the name he had forged as a changeling upon his arrival in Equestria. It was, to him at least, something elegant, and a name he defaulted to in fantasy games. “Ancro,” he said, being sincere with his respect now. He was curious now, was willing to try to find out what else might have riled up a princess. He had been in there for a few days now. If she was just pissed at him, she would’ve been there sooner. “Now, how may I be of service?” *** “Ummm...” he was still hesitant, looking into those big soulful eyes, as he was about to lie to the element of kindness. “Stigandr,” he whimpered through the double dose of physical and emotional pain. He took his friend’s advice when it came to naming, and defaulted to his screen name. His actually had a meaning, unlike his friend who had thrown one together for an rpg and re-used the name ever since. His was Norwegian for ‘wanderer’ or ‘drifter’, something he had some experience in. “Oh, that’s…nice,” she said, in the only way Fluttershy could say it. She was so adorable, if he could’ve moved he would’ve hugged her. *** “Meh, the name’s Scott,” the griffin said, popping a mock salute to the pony nurse. “Okay then, mister Scott.” He had, at this point, just stopped caring about how ponies write so accurately with only their mouths. “We just have to finish some paperwork, then you’ll be ready to leave first thing in the morning.” “What about my bill?" “Oh, that. The mare who crashed into you took care of it. Said she felt so bad about it that it was the least she could do.” The nurse left. Scott groaned, he never left a debt unpaid, ESPECIALLY from a stranger. First thing he was going to do, though, was find his friends, then he could resolve this issue. (New Story, give me feedback, this is my first attempt at a humans in Equestria story so please constructive criticism is much appreciated. Cover art also done by Sara, shaya.laperro@gmail.com. Now with improved grammar and better continuity thanks mostly to Stigandr and Tuv)