//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: Draconic Guardians of Equestria // by Defias //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle and her friends continued through the dark, empty dungeon. With the exception of the days recent events, the Canterlot Dungeons had not seen any use in little over a thousand years. From what little Twilight read about the place, she knew it was used in the past has a temporary holding dungeon for the creatures that were to be sent to Tartarus. The dungeons stopped seeing use a thousand years ago however, because those types of creatures seemed to have simply vanished. Whether it was because they all went into hiding to avoid capture, or because they were all put away, Twilight didn't know. As the group continued, they began to hear the voices from various guards around a corner, though there was one voice that stood out from the rest. Twilight picked up her pace, forcing her friends to do so as well to keep up."Twily!" the recognizable voice called out. "Shining Armor!" Twilight Sparkle called back, breaking off from the group and rushing toward the Unicorn everyone knew as Twilight's brother. She embraced her brother in a tight hug before straitening herself up and asking about the very reason they were there in the first place. "So what exactly is going on? We've barely been told anything, other than that a Changeling was captured." "Unfortunately, that's all we know. We've tried questioning her, but she's proven...difficult to say the least. Not to mention her very colorful vocabulary." Shining Armor answered, muttering the last part to himself. Twilight looked through the small slit in the metal door that separated themselves from their prisoner. She couldn't see much, as the inside of the cell itself was fairly dark, as well as the Changeling itself being a dark color as well. "You said she was difficult. How so?" Twilight asked, looking up at her brother "She just avoids answering simple questions, or insults everypony in the room with her," Shining Armor answered, his irritation made obvious. Twilight looked at Pinkie Pie, then back into the slit of the metal door, grinning as a devious, yet genius idea formed in her head. "Well, I have to go talk to Princess Celestia, and I'm sure the girls don't want to spend their entire time in Canterlot in a dark grimy cell," Twilight said, looking back at Pinkie Pie. Shining Armor was going to protest the idea until she continued. "Pinkie, while we take care of all of that, would you mind getting to know this Changeling a bit?" Pinkie Pie merely stood there for a second, a second that seemed like hours, until her eye twitched and answered. "Ohmygoshohmygosh! I would absolutely, positively LOVE to Twilight! I could throw her a 'Welcome to Equestria without trying to take over Canterlot' party! And I could tell her all abo---" "Thank you, Pinkie," Twilight said, sticking her hoof into Pinkie's mouth to quiet her down. Shining Armor looked towards the cell door, and for a split second had a look of pity for the prisoner. "We'll be back in about an hour, B.B.B.F.F. Just let us know if you need anything, we won't be far," Twilight finished, hugging her brother again. "Will do Twily. See you in an hour," Shining Armor said, letting his sister go. ~~~ "Um, Twi, do you really think it was a good idea letting Pinkie stay in a small, dark cell with a Changeling, alone?" Rainbow Dash asked as the group made their way to the main castle. "Of course. Why do you ask?" Twilight replied. "Well, it's just, isn't there a thing against horribly torturing prisoners?" Rainbow asked, rubbing the back of her head. "Now wait just a darn sec. Ya'll had no problem setting Pinkie loose on me just 'cause I didn't return to Ponyville or answer your questions, but suddenly when it's a Changeling prisoner, it's 'horrible torture'? 'Tis ain't fair!" Applejack said, looking at Rainbow Dash accusingly. "Well, this is different AJ. You like, bailed on us, which wasn't cool. This is like, prisoner of war kind of stuff," Rainbow Dash answered. "'Prisoner of war kind of stuff'? Where'd ya get that word from?" Applejack asked. "Hey, part of joining the Wonderbolts meant having to learn A LOT about the history of the pony tribes for some reason! War being a main thing I guess," Rainbow dash said defensively. "Enough! I am absolutely sure Pinkie Pie is fine. She would never do anything to hurt anypony, and maybe, just maybe, she might spark something in the Changeling to at least tell us her name," Twilight said. In truth, she did realize that she had used a trait from one of her best friends as a sort of interrogation technique, but she had a feeling Pinkie knew that as well. ~~~ "So, 'Trixie', where were taking a train to?" Vakarious asked. The two had remained silent for the majority of the time; Trixie because didn't want to offend the first pony to have done anything nice for her since her stay in Ponyville, and Vakarious because he had no idea what to say, breaking the silence only shortly after the waiter took their order. "The Crystal Empire. After a couple of months searching for show work, Trixie had finally managed to get an offer in the Crystal Empire, probably because nopony there had heard of Trixie yet," Trixie sighed disappointingly, before continuing. "It was a one time offer, first come first serve. Since Trixie missed the train, Trixie has missed the opportunity as well." "Ouch, that sucks. What makes 'not hearing about you' easier about getting a job in show business, or work, or whatever?" Vakarious asked. "Like Trixie told you. She enslaved an entire town, all for petty 'revenge' that wasn't even justified," Trixie answered. "Seems kinda odd that they'd let you go free. Unless this was like, many years ago or something," Vakarious said. "No, it was only about three months ago," Trixie replied. "Damn. Guess this place is pretty big of forgiveness then," Vakarious commented. "Well, it wasn't that simple. Trixie was almost imprisoned and exiled once the Princess had heard what Trixie did. Ironically enough, it was the pony Trixie tried seeking revenge against that talked the Princess out of it, saying 'Trixie had already learned her lesson'," she answered solemnly. "Trixie guess's that using an artifact that corrupts the user helped though, too." "I see. So, what kind of shows do you do? Or did?" Vakarious asked. "Magic shows and story telling, mainly. Trixie was quite talented with gathering an audience until, you know, that whole 'incident'," she answered. Explains why she talks in third person like she does. "So what about you? Where are you from that you haven't heard of 'The Great and Powerful Trixie'?" Vakarious struggled for a bit, having to refrain himself from face palming, or facing hoofing rather, for having not come up with a cover story of where he's from. "Just traveled a lot, really. As for where I was born? That's kind of personal, no offense," Vakarious said, hoping she'd buy his excuse. Luckily, she did, but instead asked something worse. "Trixie understands. Trixie doesn't mean to offend either, but do you mind telling why your wings look like a Night Guard's wings?" Trixie asked. Vakarious was a bit confused at first as to why she only mentioned his wings, until he looked at his tail and noticed it was in fact, a normal pony tail. Guess I'm just getting used to this form. He thought to himself before answering. "Ah, that. When I came from the forest, they were just kind of there. It was odd, but apparently it's only temporary, according to the librarian here," Vakarious said, hoping she'd buy the excuse. "Oh. It sounds to Trixie like you ran into Poison Joke," Vakarious found himself very relieved that not only did she buy his excuse, but that apparently things transforming ponies was a common thing. "Trixie is surprised Twilight Sparkle didn't mention a cure, though." "She probably did, I was just too relived and ecstatic at the time about all of this being temporary to have paid attention," Vakarious said, noting that Trixie knew Twilight. Before the two could think of anything more to say, the waiter had arrived with their order. Trixie ordered a daffodil sandwich, while Vakarious ordered a simple vanilla shake, confusing Trixie with his odd choice early in the morning. It only took the two about five minutes to finish everything they had, with Vakarious stating his final decision to pay. As the two waited for the bill, Vakarious decided to break the silence yet again. "You said you were seeking revenge on someone. Seeing as this 'someone' was able to convince the Princess not to punish you, and seeing as you immediately knew who the librarian was that I referred to, it's obvious it was Twilight Sparkle. What exactly did she do that made you seek revenge on her?" Vakarious asked. Trixie sat in silence for a bit, seeming to contemplate on whether she wanted to tell him, before she decided she did. "It was stupid, really. I came to Ponyville a couple of years ago as a showmare. You know, amazing magic tricks and glamorous stories. I did a very good job with both the stories and magic show, because the same night I had arrived, two young colts took the stories serious," Trixie said, sighing. Vakarious took note of the fact that she was referring to herself in first person, before she continued. "They woke up an Ursa Minor and brought it to Ponyville, just so they could see me perform my 'amazing Ursa Major stopping abilities'," Trixie laughed to herself, at what Vakarious wasn't sure of. "Well, obviously I couldn't do anything against it, so it began to destroy the entire town. That was when everyone saw that I everything I said was all lies, and that's when I was ruined. It was Twilight Sparkle who saved the entire town, as well as myself, and instead of being grateful, I took it as a challenge. When I was ruined everywhere, I began blaming Twilight Sparkle for everything, and started looking for ways to outdo her and out perform her. That's when I came across the Alicorn Amulate, and well, you know the rest," Trixie finished, looking down "It's weird." "What is?" Vakarious asked, though he felt he probably didn't need to. "I've never told anypony that before," Trixie said. "Oh. Well, way I see it, you learned a pretty valuable lesson, and got pretty lucky learning the way you did," Vakarious said, before a thought occurred to him. "I'm assuming you've never actually had anyone ask before, huh?" Trixie just nodded. Well, white rainbow Princess said to make friends, so why not start with this one right? Vakarious thought to himself. "Well, if you ever need a friend, then well, why not?" "Really?" Trixie asked. "Sure. You'd be the first friend I had that wasn't related to me, and it looks like I'd be the first friend you had. Besides, like I said, you seem pretty decent, and having a friend who's good at actual magic tricks would be kinda cool," Vakarious said. remembering the terrible phony human 'magicians" he had seen. Trixie, for her part, looked like she had to refrain from jumping in excitement at the simple gesture before coming up with a response. "Trixie would like that," she said, trying to seem as if she could care less. "You have been kind to Trixie, even go so far as to buy her breakfast. Trixie sees no reason why not to consider you a friend." Before Vakarious could answer, the waiter arrived with the bill. After paying the waiter and leaving a fairly low tip for the slow service, the two left the cafe. "Well, with all of that settled then, I've gotta head to the forest," Vakarious said. "The Everfree forest? Trixie is curious, but why do you need to go there?" she asked. "Simple. On my way here, I lost something important. I would ask others for help, but it's also rather personal," he answered, cutting off any notion of Trixie helping him before she asked. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, merely that he just needed to check in on his home world alone. "Fair enough. Trixie supposes she will see you later, then. Once again, Trixie thanks you for everything," she said. Vakarious nodded, before an idea struck him. "Wait a sec. Later today, at about sundown, come by this house. I've got something I wanna give you," he said, pointing at his house in question that was conveniently in sight. Trixie was confused, but didn't voice it, and instead nodded her goodbye before heading off. Vakarious then headed to the forest edge, intending to send a quick 'call' home. ~~~ An hour later, Twilight Sparkle was walking through the dark dungeons. She couldn't find her friends earlier, but she figured they were either there before her, or were off doing whatever they needed/wanted to do in Canterlot. She made her way through the corridors, finally finding her destination, as well as finding her first assumptions about her friends to be correct. As she neared the door, her friends, brother and guards, she could hear the distinct voice of Pinkie Pie talking, though about what she couldn't hear. "There you twily. Are you ready?" Shining Armor asked, preparing to open the door. "As ready as I can be. Open it," Twilight said, gulping. Shining Armor then opened the door, revealing Pinkie Pie happily bouncing back to her friends, and a female Changeling quivering on the floor, as if she had been through the most traumatizing experience in her life. "Please, I'll do anything! I'll tell you anything! Just please, PLEASE keep the pink one quiet and away from me!" the Changeling said, causing Twilight, her friends and brother to look at each other questioningly.