Twilight Sparkle wasn’t too big on simile. Mainly because she had only just learned what a simile was from the Fillygaro Castle library. However, given the chance, she would have described the atmosphere within the Neighshe elder’s room to be as cold as the Neighshe plains on a Winter’s night.
Furthermore, given the choice, she would have prefered the plains than this room. At least it wouldn’t have been as awkward.
“I understand the issues, Bill,” said the Neighshe elder, a stallion with a green coat and brown mane streaked with grey. “But what you’re saying is that we encourage further bloodshed.”
Bill Neigh wilted under the elder’s stern gaze. “I didn’t say it like that...”
“Close enough.”
Mayor Mare stepped up and laid a hoof gently over Bill’s back. “I’m afraid that’s unavoidable now. Emperor Blueblood has set his sights on the esper found here and will not stop until he gets it. If left unchecked, his increased use of magitek power will lead to global destruction.”
“It almost sounds like you have a vendetta against him,” the elder said with a shake of his head. “You’re going to get us all killed with an attitude like that.”
“I’m prepared. I’ve dedicated my life to making sure the War of the Magi never repeats itself.”
A gasp of air escaped from the Neighshe Marshal, standing at attention next to the elder. “You can’t be serious. I can’t believe it has gotten that far.”
“Just over a week ago, you had three magitek suits walk right down your street. How can it be any more obvious?”
The Marshal sputtered and looked away, a dark scowl on his face.
“The War of the Magi...” the elder muttered. “The war that set ponykind back a thousand years. Has it really come to this?”
A silence descended upon the room, the elder’s words hanging in the air. Twilight shuffled her hooves and looked at each face present. Everypony had their heads held low and with their eyes closed, as if each were imagining the war that had ravaged the world so long ago. She opened her mouth to speak, thought better of it, and quietly closed it. What could she say that would help the situation? She actually sided with the elder on this. Helping the Returners would drag Neighshe into the conflict and more ponies would die.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the door opening and a familiar voice calling out, “Finally! We made it!” Everypony looked up and saw a line of chocobos march into the room. On the back of a silver chocobo, a little purple dragon happily waved a claw.
“Spike!” Twilight rushed up and drew Spike into a great hug. “Oh Spike, I’m so glad to see you again.”
Spike returned the hug without a fuss. “Hey, it was nothing. How’s my little pupil?”
A red chocobo stepped past the reunited duo and bowed to the rest of the room. “It was a trek, but we made it,” Razzledown said.
“Great to see you all okay,” Mayor Mare replied. “And not a moment too soon. You can tell the ponies here why we need to mobilize as fast as possible.”
“You got chocobos involved in this too?” the elder asked, his brow furrowing.
“You bet your hooves, we’re involved. The Empire tricked several clans into going to the capital, only to be rounded up and used for slave labor. This chick here—” Razzledown wrapped a wing around Stardust and pulled him forward—”can tell you all about it.”
Stardust glared at the other chocobo, his feathers ruffling up. “I’m not a chick! I’m only a year away from getting my merchant license, for crying out loud.” He grumbled as he turned back towards the rest of the room’s occupants and cringed as several pairs of eyes looked back. “Um... yeah, what he said is true. I um... got caught but managed to escape. I’ve been kinda on the run since.”
The elder shook his head and quietly muttered, “Barbaric...”
“Don’t you see?” Mayor Mare said. “The Empire is more than willing to take whatever they want.”
“But... it won’t be that way with us. We’re ponies. Surely they won’t go to the same lengths with us.”
Razzledown let out a snort. “You keep telling yourself that until you’re stuck on the pointy end of a sword.”
The Neighshe Marshal growled and stomped up to the chocobo. “You mind that tongue of yours, birdie! Show some respect or you’re out of here.”
“Everyone, please!” Mayor Mare rushed between the two and pushed them away from each other. “We have enough problems as it is. We don’t need tempers to get any higher.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Trixie wouldn’t mind a good cockfight.”
All heads turned to the new voice, a light blue unicorn mare draped in a white cloak. She walked into the room as though she owned the place and moved to the center of those gathered. “Though you will have to schedule it later. You have bigger concerns now.”
“Trixie!”
That was the only warning before the roof exploded in a splinter of wood and plaster. A flash of wings and multicolored hair heralded the arrival of a blue pegasus as she crashed onto the floor, followed by a downpour of debris and snow. Rainbow Dash’s head popped up out of the powdery white pile and fixed a glare at the ex-Imperial. “I told you not to go in without me!”
“Hmph, not Trixie’s fault that you got held up by the guards,” said Trixie with a flip of her mane. “I do give you points for the entrance though.”
“Yeah? And who convinced the guards that I was some no-good thief, huh?!”
“Rainbow Dash!”
“What? What?” Rainbow Dash found herself being pulled out of the snow pile and placed in front of Mayor Mare. “Hey there! Made it!”
“Ugh, what am I going to do with you?” Mayor Mare said with a shake of her head. “But nevermind that. What happened in South Fillygaro? Who’s this?”
“Heh, mission accomplished, just like I promised,” Rainbow Dash answered with a quick salute. “As for her, she’s General Trixie and she—”
A shriek of pure terror drowned out Rainbow Dash’s voice. Stardust leapt back as though he had been touched by a red-hot poker and put as many ponies and chocobos as he could between himself and the new unicorn. He huddled into a corner and covered his head with his wings, his whole body shaking uncontrollably. “K-Keep her away!”
“The hay is his problem?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Sh-she’s T-Trixie the Terrible! She made me and all the other chocobo slaves burn Mareanda! Kill her!”
Weapons were drawn even before Stardust finished talking. Ponies and chocobos alike pointed their instrument of choice at Trixie and slowly advanced. Trixie, normally very appreciative of having everyone's attention, gulped at all the hostile glares directed her way.
“Whoa! Hold up! Time out!”
Rainbow Dash zipped to Trixie’s side and rapidly waved her forelegs in the air. “Take it easy! She’s on our side now!”
“Rainbow Dash, are you out of your mind?” Mayor Mare’s voice came from behind the pack of Returners ready to strike. “How could you bring an Imperial like her here?!”
“Like I said, she’s working for us. I know it’s totally crazy, but Trixie helped me get here. You gotta believe me!”
The line of Returners parted and Mayor Mare stepped through to walk up to Rainbow Dash. The Returner leader gave a hard stare at the pegasus, to the point where Rainbow Dash had to look away and began shuffling her hooves. “I believe you just fine, Rainbow Dash. It’s her I’m worried about.”
Rainbow Dash lifted her head and met Mayor Mare’s look with one of her own. “Then I take full responsibility for whatever she does.”
“You say that now, but what happens when—”
“You’re wasting valuable time,” Trixie said. She pointed a hoof back towards the door. “You have maybe a few hours before this whole place is overrun by Gilda’s forces. She plans on storming in and reducing this town to rubble to get that esper. Trixie suggests you stop arguing and get yourselves ready.”
“And how can I believe you?” Mayor Mare retorted. “What do you get by helping us?”
“Trixie gets the pleasure of seeing the Empire fail. I hate them far more than you can ever know. As for believing Trixie? Well, you can’t, but who else can you rely on? Her?”
Mayor Mare blinked and followed the hoof Trixie was pointing, towards the other unicorn in the room. Twilight Sparkle “eeped!” and tried to hide behind Spike’s minuscule form. The little dragon smacked a claw against his forehead.
“I don’t understand,” Mayor Mare said. “Twilight has been a big help to us and is going to wake up that esper so that it will fight for us.”
“Hmph. I suppose she never told you about her little ‘accident’. The reason why Gilda put a slave crown on her in the first place.”
“Simple. It was to make her easier to control.”
Trixie held a hoof to her mouth and let out a haughty laugh. “You’re only half right! You see—”
Just then, the outside door burst open and a Neighshe guard ran into the room. He gasped for breath, even as he struggled to say, “Th-the Empire! They’re c-c-coming!”
.o.O.o.
“Everything checks out, General Gilda.”
Gilda looked up from inspecting her claws, the razor sharp digits gleaming in the sun’s rays. She turned to regard the soldier giving her the news. “Awesome. Start the invasion. Don’t stop until that esper’s ours.”
“Understood,” the soldier said, saluting smartly. “What about the civilians?”
“What about ‘em?”
“Um... well... shouldn’t we avoid them?”
“Only if it means that we get that esper faster. Got it, bud?”
The soldier saluted again. “Yes, ma’am!” He ran off to relay the orders.
Left alone, Gilda’s gaze turned to the icy mountains rising in the distance. Soon, that esper would be hers and this wretched corner of the world would no longer be a concern. She cracked her knuckles and smiled.
.o.O.o.
Inside the Neighshe elder’s house, Twilight Sparkle made a mental note that this Trixie unicorn was not a very nice pony.
“Do you see now?” Trixie was saying. “Either you fight or you all die! Trixie can lead you all to victory if you just let her.”
“Over my dead body,” Mayor Mare retorted.
“Trixie can arrange that!”
A pair of blue hooves clamped down on Trixie’s mouth, silencing her from further threats. “Ah, geez, now you’ve got her all riled up,” Rainbow Dash said. She tightened her hold around Trixie when the unicorn began to struggle in her grip. “What she meant to say was that she would be grateful to offer her help. Right, Trix?”
Trixie’s struggling only grew more intense.
The elder stomped a hoof to the floor, drawing everypony’s attention. “If the Empire is bringing that many troops, then we really have no choice,” he said. He found Mayor Mare’s eyes and nodded. “You have our full support. Do what you have to do to protect my town and the esper.”
Mayor Mare gave a small smile. “Thank you. We’ll see to it that the Empire won’t have its way. Where’s the esper?”
“Still in the mines. Nopony’s willing to go even near that thing.”
“Nopony... except her.”
Twilight cringed, knowing exactly who Mayor Mare was referring to. She looked up and gulped as her fears were realized as Mayor Mare walked up to her and laid a hoof over her shoulder.
“You only have to do this one thing, Twilight,” Mayor Mare said. “Then you’re all done, just like we agreed. Okay?”
Twilight looked down with a frown. She remained silent for several moments, then lifted her head and sighed. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
She felt an impact on her back, followed by a claw patting her on the head.
“Don’t worry,” Spike said from his position atop of Twilight. “I’ll go with her. I know the mines pretty well. And I can even tell the other dragons while I’m there to help out. This mountain is our home too.”
Twilight smiled, reached up and nuzzled him. “Thanks Spike.”
“Glad we got that sorted out,” Mayor Mare said. “As for the rest of us, we’ve got to get this place as fortified as possible.” Her eyes fell on Trixie, who looked bored. “As for you, I hope we can count on your knowledge of the Empire to help us through this?”
“Ha! The Great and Powerful Trixie has more up her sleeve than just intel.” The entire room blinked as ice started creeping up Trixie’s horn, until a solid icicle lance three hooves long stood out from her forehead. She swung her magical weapon and cut through a grandfather clock as though it were paper mache. The lance dissipated into the air as the clock crashed against the floor. Trixie swept her head back and beamed. “I am also a Magitek Knight. Just you watch and be amazed!”
“Oh yeah,” Rainbow Dash said as she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “I forgot to mention she can use magic like Twilight can.”
“And cause unwanted property damage,” Mayor Mare commented dryly.
Twilight’s eyes widened and her ears perked up. “I... I felt that...”
“Alright, everypony!” Mayor Mare announced. “Listen up. We have a lot of preparing to do. Elder, if you could get all the townsfolk together, we can start planning. Meet us in the center of town?”
“That sounds about right,” the elder replied.
“Good. Let’s head out!”
Slowly, ponies and chocobos alike herded out of the room. Just as it was Twilight’s turn, a light blue hoof blocked her path.
“Once this is over—” Trixie said to her fellow former Imperial “—you and I have some unfinished business.”
“What?” Twilight shied away from the look of contempt on the other unicorn’s face. “I-I’m sorry, but... I don’t remember you. The slave crown really messed me up.”
Trixie scowled and marched out the door. “That doesn't change anything.”
“But I hope we can still be friends!” Twilight called after her. However, Trixie moved on as though she hadn’t heard her.
“That lady’s bad news,” Spike stated. “Forget about her. We got to get to the mines.”
“Y-yeah...” Sighing, Twilight exited the house.
Behind her, the elder looked over his ruined clock. He shook his head and made to follow the others when a gleam caught his eye. He reached down into the remains of the clock face and pulled out a clear bottle filled with green liquid.
“Oh! Silly me. That’s where I left it!”
.o.O.o.
The mines were as cold and uninviting as Twilight remembered them. She kept casting glances above her and over her back, looking for any signs of movement. Her ears were perked forward, listening for anything that could be a threat.
“Geez, Twilight, relax,” Spike said. He held a torch in one claw, alight with green flame that cast an eerie glow on the cave walls. “I’m right here with ya. And there’s nothing in this mine that can hurt you.”
“But plenty that can scare me...”
Spike sighed and patted the unicorn on her head. “Twilight, think about all the stuff you had to face just to get here. Can you really say that a few rats and bats are scarier than giant machines?”
“I’m sorry, Spike,” Twilight said and hung her head. “You must think that I’m an awful student—Ow! Hey!”
Spike removed a pointy claw from where he had poked Twilight in the rear. “I don’t want to hear any of that kind of talk. And what I just did is about the worse you can get from anything in these caves. Got it?”
“Yes. I’ve got it.”
“Great! Now take a left here and we’ll be almost there.”
Twilight did as she was told and stopped. Before her was a dead end of nothing but cave wall. “Um, now what?”
“Just watch.” Spike hopped off from Twilight’s back and ran up to the wall of rock. He reached up and pressed on a stone whose coloring was a lighter shade than the ones around it. A rumbling could be heard, followed by the wall moving aside like a sliding panel. A rush of hot air swept past, contrasting sharply with the cool air of the cave and causing goosebumps to form all over Twilight’s body. Once the wall finished opening up completely, a new tunnel was revealed. Spike turned and waved his claw. “Come on! I can’t wait for you to meet everybody!”
Twilight peered down the tunnel, lined on both sides by torches lit by different colored flames. “Is this... safe?”
“Of course it is. Now come on!” Spike ran down, a wide smile on his face. Twilight followed at a slower pace, trotting just fast enough to keep Spike in sight.
The tunnel continued on for only a few hooves, then abruptly opened up into a huge cavern. Twilight gasped and her eyes shown at all the treasure laid before her. Everywhere she looked, gold, gems, exotic weapons, and jewelry were piled up, some almost reaching the ceiling. Surrounding all the valuables were dozens of dragons, most Spike’s size. Where they differed was in the color, with some sporting ruby red scales while others were emerald green. Upon seeing Twilight, they all began to cover up as much treasure as their small bodies could allow and hissed up at her.
“Now don’t be like that,” Spike said to the horde. “Don’t you all remember Twilight? We helped her out when she was being chased.”
“Spike!”
A white and purple dragoness ran up and threw her tiny arms around Spike’s neck. “Where have you been? It’s been so long since you left.”
“Heh, sorry Pearl,” Spike said and returned the hug. “Things kinda got crazy.”
“What’s going on? Are you here to stay?”
“Well, not really.” Spike released his hold and twiddled his claws. “I’ve actually got a favor to ask all of you. And I don’t have much time to explain. Basically, the ponies above need our help.”
.o.O.o.
Even as Spike gave his plea to his fellow dragons, the Neighshean elder was doing the same to the townsfolk.
“We are joining the Returners in their cause against Blueblood’s Empire,” the elder’s voice carried over the gathered ponies in the center of the mining town. “His army is on its way now to take the esper found in the mines. I wish I could say that we could avoid fighting, but sadly I cannot. The Empire has already invaded once and they are coming to finish the job.”
“Then just give them the stupid thing!” somepony in the crowd shouted. “Nothing’s gone right since that monster was found!”
“I’m afraid even that won’t be enough,” the elder said and heaved a deep sigh. “Blueblood won’t be satisfied with just the esper. He’ll be back to conquer us, just like he’s conquered South Fillygaro.”
“Not to mention what they did to Domare.” The elder moved aside, allowing Trixie to take his place. She stood up on her hind legs and swept back her cape in a dramatic fashion. “I am former General Trixie, now the Great and Powerful Trixie! Domare was taken over and they didn’t even have an esper! The Empire doesn’t care about you, only what they can take from you. Trixie knows this personally and she’s here to make sure that doesn’t happen with you. Trixie will be giving out orders that will keep this town safe and add her own glorious magic to the battle!”
Big Macintosh, standing off to the side of the platform Trixie stood upon with his fellow Returners, leaned over and nudged Rainbow Dash in the side. “Somethin’ tells me that there lady should have gotten into showbiz than the army.”
“Tell me about it,” Rainbow Dash said with a roll of her eyes.
“So, my associates and I have come up with a strategy to fight back,” Trixie continued as she postured and pranced around the platform with every statement. “This will be the moment of truth for all of you! Show Trixie what you’re made of and destroy—”
A tan hoof thrust itself into Trixie’s mouth, abruptly silencing the pontifying pony. “I think they get the idea, general,” Mayor Mare said through gritted teeth. “Why don’t we start hoofing out instructions.”
Trixie shoved Mayor Mare’s hoof away and her horn flashed. “That’s the Great and Po—!” Another hoof wrapped around her mouth and dragged her to the end of the platform.
“Give the great and powerful stuff a rest, will ya?” Rainbow Dash said and dumped Trixie next to the others. Trixie began to rise but fell down again with a whoosh of air when the pegasus sat on her back, pinning her down. Rainbow Dash motioned for Mayor Mare to continue while grinding her elbow into Trixie’s forehead.
Mayor Mare nodded and turned to the crowd, ignoring Trixie’s sputtered cries to be let go. “Now then, we can’t face the Empire head on. I don’t want to see any pony or any chocobo hurt unnecessarily. So, this is what we have in mind.”
.o.O.o.
“We’re here, ma’am.”
Gilda looked down at the pony piloting a magitek armor, one of a dozen, from her perch on the giant machine’s back. “We should have been here an hour ago,” she growled.
The soldier cringed in his seat and pushed the accelerator pedal a little harder. “Sorry, ma’am. But the cold and snow have been harder on the magitek than we thought they would be.”
“Spare me the excuses. Just get me that esper.”
“Right, ma’am!”
Gilda grunted and flexed her claws, scraping them against the metal of the magitek armor. A piercing screech filled the air, the soldiers around her flattening their ears against their helmets but not daring to slow down.
“Be prepared, my little ponies. Gilda is coming to collect.”
The walker stomped forward and took its first step into the town of Neighshe.