Trixie stood in a dark and cold stone hallway. Her horn’s magical light fought hard to push back the shadows that danced around her. To either side of the hall stood misshapen crystal statues. Whoever the statues were supposed to depict, their bodies and faces were warped beyond recognition.
One end of the hall stretched to a large gilded door at the edge of the darkness, while the other end opened out to a dark sky above a snowy landscape. The land outside was unfamiliar, but Trixie swore that she had seen this hall once before in a dream. Perhaps she was dreaming now?
She slowly crept towards the large door. Her hooves shook slightly with fear as she approached. The shadows continued to dance behind the warped statues she passed, but the door remained distant. Trixie picked up her pace. She felt her heart thumping faster as she tried to reach the door, but the hallway appeared to stretch before her. She broke into a gallop; her hooves thundered upon the stone floor as she raced past the silent statues that mocked her vain attempt to reach that gilded door.
Her pace slowed down for a minute and then she came to a halt. Her warm breath was visible in the cold air. The door remained as far as it ever was. Trixie was frustrated with this place, and with herself. Tears welled up in her eyes. Doubt became an ugly beast in her mind.
Trixie felt something sneak up behind her and she spun around. She was startled to be face to face with Princess Luna. The regal alicorn sat down beside her and studied the warped crystal statues.
“Princess, I…” Trixie stuttered. She couldn’t speak up. The words choked in her throat.
Princess Luna nodded, but didn’t take her eyes off the statues. “You and your friends have been captured, I know,” she said bluntly, “But for the moment you are safe.”
“How… how did you know I was captured?” Trixie finally asked with effort.
“I have been watching you,” the princess answered. “I have eyes everywhere.” She finally turned to look directly at Trixie.
Her expression appeared slightly curious to Trixie, as if the princess was studying her now. Trixie hoped there was no disappointment under that. “By eyes... you mean Minuit?” Trixie probed. “Is she one of your spies?”
Luna furled her bow. “I spy on my enemies. I watch over my citizens. Minuit is no more than my agent to assist you in accomplishing our goals. Isn't she helpful to you?”
Trixie nodded in the affirmative. “Oh, well yes, Minuit is very helpful. She’s quite strong. It’s just… I feel that I’m a bit out of my league here. Debon has the Alicorn Amulet and Golden has a marilith working for her. All I’ve acquired are injuries and possibly the ill will of Ponyville once they see their ‘remodeled’ clock tower.”
“Are you not The Great and Powerful Trixie?” Luna asked. “Have you not destroyed artifacts and slain monsters before?”
Trixie sat on the cold stone floor and stared down at her hooves. “Yeah… I have. I’ve managed to succeed against some spectacular odds before, but… I feel that it will take more than guile and a few stage tricks to win this time.”
“Your wit is a weapon that cannot be taken from you,” Luna remarked sternly. “You have friends that cannot be discouraged and you have my backing which does not waver. I argue that it is you that has the unfair advantage in this fight. The Great and Powerful Trixie fears no cheap piece of jewelry or garden variety snake! Cast off those doubts and live up to your expectations!”
She wasn’t sure if Luna meant any humor by her statement, but Trixie found that a smile had crept upon her own face. Her confidence began to return. “You’re right,” she replied sheepishly. “With you and my friends, I shouldn’t be afraid. The amulet by itself can’t harm me, and neither can that marilith.”
“Well, the marilith could,” Luna corrected.
“Whatever,” Trixie dismissed. She tried to focus on positive thoughts. “Debon captured Phoebe when he took us, so she’s out of the way for now. I just have to convince that stallion to let my friends and I go. We are both after Golden, so maybe I can get him to agree on a truce.”
Luna nodded. “See? The odds of success are easier than you think. I shall continue to monitor the situation from my end. Once you recover the stolen journal, we shall see about bringing Golden to justice.” She continued to study the warped statues silently.
Trixie took a closer look at the nearest statue. She saw a warped reflection of herself in it, but there was something else there in the image. There was the reflection of a shadow behind her. Trixie gently touched the crystal and it felt cold like ice. She turned back to Luna.
“What is this place supposed to be?” Trixie asked the princess.
Luna only shrugged. “I do not know. It is, after all, your dream.” She pointed to the landscape outside.
The sun began to rise and fill the hallway with a bright morning light. It continued to grow steadily until the shadows were consumed and the radiance enveloped Trixie in a blinding flash. She woke up from her dream.
~ ~ ~
Trixie’s face burned from the daylight that poured in through a small circular window. She moved her head out of the glare. Her body was sore from her wounds and a single iron shackle clenched her left hind leg. Trixie noticed that her belongings were gone, as well as the personal effects of her friends. Even Ellie’s mechanical left wing was confiscated.
Zeeps, Cheryl, and Minuit were fast asleep and shackled to an adjacent wall. Ellie sat nearby and was not only wide awake, but she had assembled a collection of junk into a makeshift pair of lock picks. Unfortunately she was unskilled at picking her shackle’s lock.
Trixie scooted over to the pegasus. “Allow me,” she said as her horn’s magic levitated the tools out of Ellie’s hooves. With graceful proficiency, Trixie worked the lock on the pegasus’ shackle. “What time is it?”
“I’m not sure. Afternoon is what I reckon,” Ellie answered. "No one has been here to check on us that I know of. I wonder if Debon ever planned on even feeding us?"
“Oh, I have plans to feed him something,” Trixie grumbled. She unlocked her friend from the shackle in less than thirty seconds. Another half-minute later she freed herself and stood up.
Ellie rubbed her leg. “So why aren’t you a famous escape artist like Hoofdini?” Ellie asked.
“Because Hoofdini sues copycats,” Trixie replied with a smile.
They trotted over to wake up the others. Minuit and Cheryl were quick to get up, ready to escape despite all the cuts and bruises upon their bodies. Zeeps let out a wide yawn. Trixie worked on their shackles and had them freed in rapid succession. As the last shackle was unlocked, the door to their room swung open.
Victor stood in the doorway with a furled brow. “What’s coming off in here?” he demanded.
“Our fetters, that’s what!” Cheryl stated brazenly.
Victor took a step back from the apparent jailbreak in progress. “Is there ever a moment you all are not causing trouble?” he asked openly.
“Your boss put us in here,” Trixie countered as she stepped forward. “Blame him for holding the wolf by the ear.”
“You’re more like a siren, Trixie,” Victor muttered to her. “Look, Debon asked me to fetch for you. He wishes to speak in private about your intentions against Golden.”
Trixie used her magic to shut the door in his face. “No,” she stated firmly.
“Please don’t be difficult with me,” Victor pleaded.
“Trixie said NO!” she bravely shouted. “If Debon wishes to speak to The Great and Powerful Trixie, then he will do so on her terms! First and foremost, he shall release Team Trixie and treat them as his guests. Otherwise he can kiss a changeling’s tail.”
“And we can most certainly arrange that,” Minuit added happily with a nod to Zeeps.
Victor kicked the door hard. He growled something incoherently before he opened the door again. “Fine… come along. All of you.” He motioned for the group to follow him.
“Thank you,” Trixie said politely as she limped out of the room.
They followed Victor up to the main deck. The airship cut through the clouds effortlessly as it zipped through the air. Trixie wondered where Debon was in a hurry to get to, though she had her suspicions that it may be near Mount Reindeer where his resources were being gathered. The crew kept their distance from Trixie and her friends, especially Zeeps who was not in her usual disguise.
Victor shuffled them all into the captain’s room and then shut the door after he entered. Debon sat on a plush chair behind a large wooden desk. His room was bare, save for a bed, a hope chest, few books on a shelf, and three additional chairs. He stood up as the ponies spread out in his room and sat down wherever there was space. The large window behind his desk was covered by heavy velvet curtains to keep the room dark.
“Let me guess,” Debon said to Trixie. “You insisted that your friends be present just in case I had intentions to harm you?”
The azure unicorn sat down on a chair and folded her forelegs. “Trixie was already hurt when you slapped her and took her friends as prisoners on this ship. Now you seem to be interested in what we know, yet you sent a useless lawyer to fetch for us? Trixie believes you owe us an apology first.”
“Ever the difficult pony,” the dapper stallion stated with disdain. “Miss Lulamoon, I only need to pick your brains.”
“Debon wants to eat your brains?” Zeeps asked Trixie.
“Shut up, you wretched little insect!” Debon snapped at the changeling. “I have no patience with your kind, you in particular after how you played upon my feelings for Trixie. So if you aren’t going to pay attention, then remain silent!”
Zeeps growled angrily, but Minuit raised a hoof to hold the changeling back. Debon appeared unfazed and opened a drawer in his desk. He threw the contents out for everyone to see. Trixie recognized the items as the journal she stole from Debon and the letters she snatched from Historia.
“I’ll make this quick,” Debon said as he pointed to the letters. “Who’s your benefactor in tracking down King Sombra’s journal? Is it one of the princesses? I am certain it was by no coincidence that you found my hideout in Cloudsdale. Someone gave you my address!” He pointed to the slip of paper that bore his Cloudsdale residence.
“Why is that important?” Trixie asked. “The priority here is that we track down Golden and stop her from getting the rest of that journal. Historia’s letters make it obvious that a translation is up for grabs in Seaddle.”
“This is the priority!” Debon boomed. “My order has been compromised, by you of all ponies! I want to know who is feeding you this information because I intend to end their little spy game!”
Trixie glanced at her friends. Although they sat quietly by her side, she could tell that they were on edge. She was nervous as well. Debon’s anger was boiling over and Trixie needed to get him to see merit in working together. She slowly stood up and brushed her mane to one side.
“Debon, there is no game here,” Trixie calmly explained. “We were after the pony that stole Sombra’s journal. We… I thought at first that it was you, but now I know I was wrong. Golden is who we’re after and it’s clear that she is a common enemy.”
“Stop right there, Trixie!” Debon interrupted as he held up a hoof. “Don’t ask me to work with you because I flat out refuse. The Horizon Walkers will stop Golden. The only thing you have proven the capacity for is instigating disasters!”
Cheryl darted over the desk and her fore-hoof smashed Debon’s snout. The stallion hit the back wall hard and slumped down to the floor. The others bolted to their hooves. Victor ran for the exit. Zeeps fired a green blast of magic at the lawyer and struck him in the back. Stunned, Victor was unable to resist Minuit who pinned him hard against the wall. Ellie rushed to the door and locked it with a turn of the key. Every pony acted so fast that Trixie was only able to stand there and dither.
Cheryl rubbed the hoof she struck Debon with. “At least Trixie has tried to fix her mistakes,” she muttered angrily.
Blood slowly oozed out of Debon’s nostrils. He remained seated and pinched his nose to stop the bleeding. Everyone looked to Trixie for guidance, but she wasn’t sure what to do. Their chances of taking the airship were slim, but the idea of surrendering was only a slightly better prospect since they just assaulted the crew’s leader.
There was a knock at the door. “Hey boss, everything alright in there?” asked one of the crew. The door knob jiggled several times.
Trixie heard the airship crew gathering outside the door. She hurried over to Victor and whispered into his ear. “Tell them we’ve come to a truce,” she commanded.
“What?” Victor inquired with disbelief. “Do you think you can take on the entire crew?”
There was a louder pounding on the door. “Hey, answer us or we’ll bust this door in!” shouted another crewmember. The sound of unsheathing steel was unmistakable in Trixie’s ears.
“No, we can't take them all,” Trixie softly replied, “But I believe you’re smart enough to let us leave this ship alive. We’re after Golden as much as you are. If we’re a detriment, you can at least see value in making us Golden’s detriment.”
The crew smashed the door open and piled into the room. Minuit let her captive go and backed away. The crew was quick to surround Trixie and her friends. Swords were held up to them, but Team Trixie didn’t resist.
Victor waved at the crew. “Stay your hooves,” he said firmly. “We’ve come to an understanding. Trixie is after Golden, not us. We will drop her and her friends off at a suitable town and then continue on our way. Until then, put them back in irons downstairs.”
“Excuse me?” Trixie surprisingly stated. “I didn’t agree to remain a prisoner.”
“The agreement was to let you leave unharmed,” Victor countered. “However, you failed to negotiate the terms of your stay until you are released. Therefore, until we arrive at Seaddle, you shall remain locked up as you were upon capture. I am not the ‘useless lawyer’ you think I am.”
Trixie wanted to kick him for outsmarting her. “If you were ten years younger, I’d kiss you again,” she said with a smirk.
“If I were ten years younger,” Victor rebuked, “I’d still know better than to let you.” He motioned for Trixie to be taken away.
The crew moved to drag her away, but Debon barked out a command. “Stop!” He pulled himself up against the desk, his nose still pinched under a hoof. “Not their room. Throw them in with the marilith!”
“Sir?” Victor questioned. “Isn’t that action a bit extreme for us?”
“You will join them if you question me!” Debon snapped back.
The crew obeyed their leader’s orders. Trixie and her friends were seized and brought down below deck. They passed their original room and went farther down into the darker bowels of the airship. They reached a wooden door reinforced with a pair of metal slats. One of the crewmembers opened it as the others shoved Trixie inside. The room was completely dark and filled with hanging chains. Her friends were soon pushed into the room and the door was slammed shut behind them.
“I think we’re pretty screwed at this point,” Cheryl whispered.
“It doesn’t seem that bad,” Minuit replied softly. “Marco!”
Trixie lit her magical horn. The light reflected clearly upon Phoebe’s smiling face. Everyone jumped back against the door with a startle. The marilith hung from the ceiling, bound by a web of heavy iron chains.
“…Polo,” Minuit whispered nervously.
Phoebe licked her lips. “Hello little nuggets,” she teased. The tip of her tail began to rattle softly. “Didn’t Debon warn you not to feed the marilith?”
“He didn’t give us anything to feed you with,” Zeeps replied.
Cheryl slapped the changeling. “You’re slower than molasses in January.”
“Enough, both of you,” Ellie sternly warned. She pulled them apart. “Phoebe can’t hurt us as long as we keep our distance and just ignore her.”
“Yes, you keep thinking that,” Phoebe said with a sinister grin.
Minuit shook a hoof at the marilith. “No one asked you,” she threatened.
“Everyone shut up for a minute!” Trixie shouted. The light on her horn flared up for an instant. The room got quiet as the attention fell upon the unicorn. She recomposed herself. “We need to stick together here. Has anyone else noticed that Debon is growing a bit unhinged?”
Minuit tugged on one of the iron chains. “Yeah, this has gone beyond eccentrics,” she replied. “Why would he keep Phoebe locked up alive when he could just turn her into a pair of boots?”
“Because you can’t interrogate a pair of boots,” Ellie answered.
“Debon can also use her as bait,” Cheryl said. “Assuming Golden even cares to rescue her.”
Phoebe began to giggle. This made the ponies uneasy, Cheryl in particular. The earth pony kicked Phoebe’s tail out of spite. “What’s so funny?” Cheryl demanded. “Do you know something we don’t about Debon?”
The marilith shook her head. “I’m simply amused that you all regard a pawn with such value in this little game,” Phoebe explained, “When the king is open for capture.”
Trixie let out a frustrating snort. “Great, even you are calling it a game. What game are we all playing now, chess? All I can see are two ponies racing each other to collect the most… chess pieces...” Trixie’s words trailed as she had a realization what the ‘king’ piece in this game was.
Minuit’s expression showed that she caught on as well. “Wait, Princess Twilight buried the Alicorn Amulet and very few ponies knew where it was. How did Phoebe know where to dig it up?”
“I reckon the same way Golden will know that it’s somewhere on this airship,” Ellie piped in.
“We need to leave,” Trixie stated worriedly as she pulled out the lock picks hidden in her mane. Her thumping heartbeat made it difficult to concentrate on the reinforced door’s lock.
“We ain’t got time for being stealthy!” Cheryl cried out. She pushed Trixie away from the door and gave it a solid kick with her hooves. The door splintered, but held due to the metal slats that reinforced it. Cheryl backed up to give herself a running start, but Minuit stopped her.
“Together,” the bat-pony instructed. They lined up side by side in front of the door. “One, two, three!”
They slammed into the door hard and broke off the bolt. The door swung open and Minuit tumbled out into the hall. Cheryl looked around for guards, but there was no one around. She helped Minuit back up and waved for the others to follow. There were sounds of shouting and running above them on the main deck.
Trixie looked back at the marilith. “I’m curious to know,” she asked. “Why are you working for Golden? What do you get out of all this?”
“I get to be myself,” Phoebe replied. “What else would I need in a world where I’m just a hunted monster?”
“Oh, good answer,” Zeeps applauded.
“Don’t give her compliments,” Trixie muttered as she left the room. “She’ll only eat you last, if anything.”
The airship shook with the sound of cannonballs hitting the sides. Steam pipes hissed loudly as the ship’s own cannons were pressurized and fired back at its opponent. Trixie hobbled along with her friends up the stairs. They reached the chaos that ensued on the main deck. Golden’s black airship hovered right beside Debon’s ship. The Black Wing pegasi had boarded and were battling Debon’s crew.
“Great, they all seem distracted enough,” Cheryl asked her friends. “What’s the plan?”
Ellie studied the damaged gasbag above them. “We won’t stay afloat for long. We need to get off this ship.”
“No, we need to recover the Alicorn Amulet,” Minuit countered.
“There are five of us and only two of us can fly!” Ellie argued as she showed off the stub of her left wing. “Unless you think you can carry two ponies?”
“I can most certainly try!” Minuit stated loudly.
“I’m all for leaving,” Zeeps added. “This really isn’t our fight, is it?”
“It rather is, bug butt,” Cheryl corrected. “Both sides are off their nut fighting over dangerous magic I don’t reckon either side should have. Come on Trixie, you know I’m right.”
The unicorn levitated a nearby barrel lid. “We can at least try to recover the amulet. Minuit and Cheryl, you two lead us to Debon’s cabin. The amulet is likely in there.”
“What about you?” Ellie asked worriedly. “You can barely manage a canter with those injured legs.”
“I am The Great and Powerful Trixie,” she said boastfully. “If I cannot dodge bullets, then I will command them to stop. Now move it, you little hayseeds!”
Cheryl broke into a full gallop across the deck with Minuit flying adjacent to her. They shoved several of Debon’s crew out of their way to clear a path for the others. Ellie and Zeeps raced behind them and Trixie attempted to keep up. The unicorn levitated the wooden lid around like a shield.
Slingshot bullets grazed Trixie’s mane. She brought her wooden shield up and deflected several steel spheres. The pegasus named Thrust threw his knife at her from across the deck. Trixie ducked as the blade impaled the wooden shield.
Skywarp dropped from his perch and tackled Minuit from above. The two ponies tumbled across the deck and knocked over several barrels. Minuit spun back up to her hooves and swung at Skywarp’s face. She connected with the side of his head and followed up with a solid strike to his chest. Skywarp grabbed Minuit by her foreleg as he stumbled backwards. He used his momentum to pull her off her balance and then swing her into a barrel. The container smashed upon impact and splashed water in all directions.
Cheryl jumped on Skywarp’s back and held him in a chokehold. Her opponent bucked and flapped his wings to throw her off, but Cheryl held him tight until he collapsed on the deck. She let Skywarp go and pulled Minuit away from the fight. The pegasus coughed and gasped for air.
“Kill that unicorn!” Golden bellowed from the deck of her own ship.
Trixie turned and saw Golden’s furious face. The sorceress’ rear end was marred by patches of hairless burned skin and the extremely short frayed remains of a tail. It took Trixie a lot of willpower not to laugh.
Golden was anything but pleasant however. She fired off a bolt of black lightning at Trixie. The spell sailed over the deck toward her and she threw the improvised shield at the bolt. Sparks and splinters exploded as the spell hit the wood.
Debon threw the door to his room open and stepped out. He transformed into a black cloud of smoke and rushed over to fight Golden. The sorceress fired an electrical bolt at him, but the spell passed through his smoke body.
Zeeps cheered. “We get to see Golden taken down!”
“I’m pretty sure Golden will kill Debon first,” Ellie countered.
“Well that’s almost as good!” the changeling stated happily.
Trixie rushed over to Zeeps and Ellie as fast as she could move. “I’ve changed my mind!” she shouted over the cacophony of the battle. “Let’s go with your plan and get out of here!” She pushed her friends to the edge of the airship. The gray clouds below obscured most of the ground save for a few protruding mountain tops.
Ramjet landed beside Trixie and grabbed her by the neck. Zeeps jumped at the pegasus and butted her head against his. Ramjet let go and staggered back. The changeling didn’t let up on her attack. Zeeps dove forward, slammed into his gut, and shoved Ramjet over the side of the airship. He disappeared into the clouds below.
Trixie let out several coughs as Ellie walked her away from the railing. The unicorn paused to hold up a hoof. “I’m alright,” she hoarsely stated. She saw two of Debon’s crewmembers approach. Trixie fired a burst of magical fireworks into the face of the nearest one to blind him.
The other stallion attempted to grab Ellie. She blocked his advances, but struggled to keep him away. Cheryl came up from behind and seized the stallion around the shoulder. She rushed him to the railing and slammed his head against the hard wood. The stallion dropped to the deck unconscious.
Minuit limped over to the group with a dejected expression on her face. “I’m sorry Trixie. I don’t think I could carry two ponies right now.” Her right wing twitched with pain.
“It’s alright, I’ll think of something,” Trixie assured her. She scanned the deck quickly for an idea on how to get one more pony to fly.
Debon regained his solid pony form and dropped to the deck of Golden's ship. His body was covered in burn marks and he appeared labored for breath. Golden kicked him aside and prepared another magical bolt, this one aimed at Trixie’s friends. She let out a roar as the magical energy left her hooves and arced across the airships toward its target.
Trixie jumped in front of her friends. She put her fore-hooves up to block the spell with her own magic. She wasn’t even sure which spell to cast, but she hastily threw whatever spells she knew together. The lightning hit a magical barrier in front of Trixie and stopped. It sparked and crackled in the air like a snake wiggling to break out of a net. Unable to push through, the spell exploded.
The blast scattered the ponies back toward the railing. Trixie slipped overboard. Zeeps and Cheryl dove and caught her before she fell.
“Don’t let go!” Zeeps shouted.
“Why would I?!” Trixie yelled back. She tried to pull herself up, but her legs were too weak to lift herself.
Skywarp returned with Dirge and they landed on opposite sides of Team Trixie. Dirge kicked Cheryl in the back. The earth pony’s grip loosened and Zeeps now held the majority of Trixie’s weight. Minuit rushed forward and took Dirge’s second kick to the chest. Skywarp advanced on Zeeps with the same intention of harm, but Ellie blocked his path.
“Minuit, Zeeps,” Ellie shouted, “Just get the others out of here!”
“What about you?” Minuit asked hesitantly.
Dirge shoved Minuit against the railing. They collided with Cheryl and in turn, Cheryl lost her faltering grip on Trixie. Zeeps couldn’t hold the unicorn by herself and fell over the railing with Trixie.
Ellie threw herself on Skywarp to hold him back. “Get out of here you two!” she pleaded.
Minuit and Cheryl held each other as they jumped off the airship. Dirge grabbed onto Minuit as they went over the side of the airship. The extra weight pained Minuit's injured wing. The bat-pony struggled to get Dirge off her back.
“Don’t you varmints ever quit?!” Cheryl shouted. She grabbed onto Dirge and struck him in the head.
Zeeps carried Trixie closer to their falling friends. “Shoot him, Trixie!”
The unicorn couldn’t see an opening to fire a spell off without harming her friends. “Get me closer!” she shouted to Zeeps. The changeling swung Trixie like a flail. “Not like this!” the unicorn shouted.
Trixie collided with Cheryl and they both tumbled into the air. Dirge pushed himself off of Minuit and struck Zeeps in the head with both fore-hooves. The changeling was knocked out in an instant and Dirge grabbed his prize before he flew upwards.
Minuit dove down and caught the two tumbling ponies, but her injured wing couldn’t support all three of them. They continued to fall through the gray clouds. “One of you needs to lose a lot of weight real quick!” Minuit warned them.
Trixie surrounded herself with levitation magic in an effort to lower her weight, but they were still falling. The ground came into view and Cheryl scanned the landscape for something softer than rocky hills. She spotted a small body of water below them.
“Think you can hit that lake?” Cheryl asked.
“I’ll be hitting something for sure!” Minuit replied.
The lake was quick to meet up with them. Trixie shot a burst of magic at the water’s surface just before they hit. The three ponies splashed hard and completely submerged down into the murky cold water.
The freezing shock to her body caused Trixie to exhale her breath too soon. Water entered her lungs and the painful drowning sensation gripped her. She paddled with all her might up to the surface. Her nose met the crisp air above and she gasped loudly for air. Trixie splashed and fought to stay above water, stunned while her lungs tried to expel the water in them. A hoof pushed her toward the shore.
One by one the three friends climbed out of the lake and flopped down along the shore. They gasped to catch their breath and their bodies shivered to keep warm. The land around them appeared ashen and dead. The sun was obscured by the clouds and the ground was desolate of most vegetation.
Minuit patted Cheryl and Trixie to each side of her. “Good job. Let’s… never do that again.”
“Agreed,” Trixie said weakly.
Cheryl nodded. “Yeah, I’m getting mighty tired of all this falling. That stupid useless changeling of ours…”
Cheryl’s words trailed as a group of changelings surrounded them from the hills. Trixie sat up and took a quick head count. There were five of them, and she was too exhausted to even cast a simple light spell.
“We’re sorry,” Trixie apologized, “Is this your spot? We can find another beach. The water here is too brisk anyway.”
The changelings hissed and bared their teeth. One of them appeared to communicate to the others with a series of hard consonants and clicks. Trixie wondered if they even understood her language.
“Luna damn it,” Cheryl muttered. “Can we get just five minutes before we’re eaten?”
“Watch your language,” Minuit whispered sternly.
The talkative changeling made several gestures to them and then pointed to the hill that they were hiding behind. Trixie had a suspicion that she wasn’t about to become dinner just yet.
“I think they’re taking us prisoner,” Minuit said quietly.
Trixie nodded in agreement. “I believe that is their intention. Don’t fight them. Let’s just see where they want to take us.”
“Like back to their hive where they’ll feed us to their young?” Cheryl asked sarcastically.
“Yeah, something like that,” Minuit responded.
Trixie sighed. “Well, I wasn’t planning to do anything else today.”
The changelings seized the three ponies and lifted them up to their hooves. Trixie and her friends were guided up the hills toward a cave. Trixie noticed that everything along the landscape was covered in a thin blanket of ash and dust.
“Does anyone know where we are?” Cheryl asked quietly. “This place doesn’t look right.”
They were stopped at cave entrance. One changeling flew inside while the other four guarded the ponies. Trixie looked to the north as the dark clouds on the horizon lazily revealed a towering object. It was Mount Reindeer, but a large chunk of the mountain was missing from one side. Now she understood why the landscape appeared so desolate. She pointed out the mountain to her friends.
“Well I’ll be,” Cheryl muttered. “Ain’t that the mountain that mysteriously exploded a few weeks back?”
“That it is,” Minuit said. “Mount Reindeer, the former home to a hive of changelings. No pony knows the cause behind its destruction, but I have an intuitive guess as to the cause.”
A shiver went down Trixie’s spine. She had a fairly good guess as well.