//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 – Truths to be Self-Evident // Story: Outlaw Mares 3: The Good, the Bad, and the Boastful // by Digodragon //------------------------------// Trixie and Luna were shoved into chairs and tied up with lengths of iron chain. Their prison was a dark, windowless room with cracked masonry stone walls and dusty wooden floor boards. Cobwebs hung quietly from the ceiling’s wooden beams. Cots stacked in the far corner and a few empty trunks and paper trash was scattered about the floor. A gentle fire glowed from within the fireplace, but Trixie’s handlers were anything but gentle to her. Cervantes ran a hoof through Trixie’s hair to check for anything hidden underneath the unicorn’s mane. Sombra was unceremoniously dropped on the ground by the fireplace. Ramjet and Thundercracker then tied Sombra’s legs together with rope. Satisfied that the prisoners were secured, the former butler led the other Zenith Dawn members out of the room. They were intercepted at the doorway by the yellow unicorn Roc Tumbler. “I thought the butler was tasked to dispose of the trash, not drag it in,” Roc joked. Cervantes said nothing in reply as he shoved his way past Roc into the hall. Trixie, however, was muttering something incoherent through her gag. Roc stepped into the room after the other ZD members passed through. “What do you want?” Thundercracker asked tersely. Roc shrugged nonchalantly. “I was merely curious to know who our newest guests were.” He glanced over to the three new prisoners and immediately recognized Prince Luna. “Is that…? How did you manage to capture her?” “We have skills,” Thundercracker stated proudly. “More than an archeologist such as yourself could do.” “No, it must have taken a barrel of luck to capture one of the Canterlot princesses!” Roc countered. “Luck is one of our skills,” Thundercracker wryly stated as he left the room. The yellow unicorn narrowed his eyes at the boasting pegasus. He then untied the strap around Luna’s muzzle. “Hello, your highness,” Roc greeted, “I believe we’ve not had the pleasure?” “No, and do not expect any,” Luna growled. Ramjet cleared his throat loudly as he began to leave the room. “Don’t get too chatty with them,” the pegasus warned, “That blue unicorn in particular has a bit of a sly tongue on her.” “Believe me, I know that tidbit first-hoof,” Roc stated. He walked over to the gagged Trixie and smiled. “Trixie has caused me a good bit of pain in the past. I look forward to returning the favor.” He ran a hoof through the back of Trixie’s mane. Trixie growled as she recoiled from the stallion. “Don’t be too eager to satisfy your grudge,” Ramjet warned from outside the room. “I’m pretty sure when Golden arrives, she’s going to have Trixie ground down into paste.” Roc snorted at the statement before he turned and left the room. The door was slammed shut and barred from the outside. Trixie’s eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the fireplace. She began an effort to remove her gag, but she also felt something prickly in her hair, just behind her neck. The unicorn’s discovery was interrupted by the voice of a fourth prisoner in the room. He had sat silently in the shadows until this moment and his sour speech was clearly familiar to Trixie. “Princess Luna? They have you as well?” Victor asked in a defeated tone. “Please don’t tell me that Trixie had an involvement with your capture. You are a curse, Trixie! Ever since the day we’ve met.” “You two have a history?” Luna asked the stallion. “Victor Justice, property lawyer,” he introduced, “And yes, I’ve had the displeasure of meeting Trixie on several occasions.” Trixie worked her gag loose and spat it out. “Please, Trixie is no less the victim than you are,” she countered, “And she is tired of being blamed for everyone’s stupid luck.” “My involvement here is of my own free will,” Luna explained. “There is no need to pass judgment on anyone.” “That’s right, and she was assisting us to bring Golden down,” Trixie added. “We could have captured the marilith in Ponyville if you and Debon hadn’t shown up to the party.” “Well maybe if you hadn’t meddled in Debon’s affairs like I told you,” Victor said sternly, “Then you wouldn’t be here. Do you know how hard you’ve made my job to keep Debon’s activities a secret?” Trixie let out a scoff. “Fat lot of good it is to keep your stuff private when all of your friends have betrayed you. Just count yourself lucky that Cervantes didn’t go for a literal backstabbing.” “Oh, the attempt was made, believe me,” Victor said angrily, “But maybe if you weren’t such a distraction we could have done our job of stopping Golden before she caught on to our plans!” “Well Debon is now dead, so have fun looking for new employment!” Trixie snapped back. She was nearly in tears after shouting those words. “Oh joy,” Princess Luna muttered, “I’m being held captive in daycare with two foals.” Victor visibly bit his tongue. He sat there stunned at Trixie’s news of Debon’s death, unable to utter another word. He glanced at the princess, but was still silent. Sombra chuckled from his spot by the hearth. The dark gray stallion had sat up and was trying to burn his bindings against the small flame of the fireplace. “Well, I see that somepony is amused by this sour squabble,” Luna said. “Would you like to add anything to our petty argument?” “No,” Sombra answered as he glanced at Luna with his good eye. “The two unicorns have added all that the argument will hold.” “Shut up,” Trixie growled. She shifted in her seat to loosen the mysterious object in her hair. Victor finally spoke once more. “Who is this stallion?” he asked the princess. “I’m not sure what he is,” Luna answered, “But he has the appearance of the late King Sombra. He was created when Golden sacrificed Debon in some kind of blood ritual involving the Alicorn Amulet. Would you happen to know anything about that?” “No, sorry,” Victor replied weakly. “I know nothing about the amulet.” “I could teach you a thing or two about it,” Trixie interrupted. The object in her mane fell out and landed between her hooves. She could feel that it was some kind of key. Perhaps it was the key to undo the lock from her chains… wait, did Roc actually give her this key on purpose? “Huh, maybe you still have a friend around these parts,” Trixie stated. “What are you talking about?” Victor inquired. Sombra suddenly jerked back as the rope binding caught fire. “Ow!” the stallion shouted loudly. He pulled his hooves out from the burning rope and tossed the pieces away. The hot embers kissed the lid of a nearby wooden trunk. The container burst into flames abruptly. “Are you mad?!” Victor shouted. “We are now going to die in a fire!” “I keep telling my sister,” Luna calmly grumbled, “That these modern lacquer finishes are just too dangerous around an open flame, but does she listen to me?” “Are we really arguing about fire codes right now?” Trixie interrupted. She worked the key into the chain’s lock and freed herself. The unicorn quickly jumped out of her chair and freed both Luna and Victor from their restraints. Sombra limped over to the pile of cots and began to push them aside. His weakened state left him unable to move the beds very quickly. The flames began to spread across the floor to other containers around him. Princess Luna hurried to the door and kicked against it with her good leg. “If the three of us work together, we should be able to kick this door down.” Victor tugged on the door’s handle. “I don’t know. This door seems to be reinforced really well.” “It will not hurt to try,” Luna stated. She had Trixie and Victor flank her facing away from the door. “Together on three. One, two, three!” The ponies kicked hard against the door. The wooden structure made a resounding bang, but they only succeeded in cracking the door partially down the middle. “Oww,” Victor cried as he hobbled away. “It does hurt to try!” “What about King Vitamin over there?” Trixie asked as she pointed to Sombra. “What about him?” Luna retorted. “Somb- that creature is too weak to be of any use. It will just perish in the first battle we face escaping this fort.” She began to cough from the thickening smoke in the room. “I may be physically feeble,” Sombra growled, “But I can certainly think like a titan.” He pointed to the direction the smoke was moving. As it rose, it blew away from the cots. Trixie cantered over to the cots. She lowered her head to the ground and felt a light breeze over the floor. “There’s a draft behind the cots! Rolling just over the floor here!” Victor let out a cough before he spoke. “How did Sombra know about that?” “Because he was the only one sitting on the floor and not up on a chair,” Luna remarked. “Well, maybe he’s not entirely useless.” Luna and Victor joined Trixie to push the cots out of the way as the fire grew more intense by the minute. The ponies tapped on the walls and floor around the corner for the source of the draft. A hidden trap door dropped open to the room below. It looked like the fort’s larder, although much of the foodstuffs was previously ransacked. Trixie climbed down into the room and then helped the others descend. Sombra’s shaky balanced caused him to tumble to the larder room’s floor noisily. It elicited a ‘Shhh!’ from the princess. “Smooth,” Trixie commented. “So is this a hidden escape hatch or just a shortcut for late-night snacking?” “Not now,” Luna scolded. “That fire will spread down here in moments.” The princess moved quickly towards the only door in the room and peeked through the keyhole. “Kitchen?” Victor whispered. “Yes,” Luna confirmed quietly. “I see two earth ponies. They do not appear to be combatants, but they are drawing knives out of the drawer. They may have heard us. I’ll rush the one on the left and strike him with my wings.” “Humph, there is no need to fight them,” Sombra stated. He threw the door open and stepped out. The two chefs nearly dropped their knives from the startle. Sombra walked toward the chefs and they backed away, cutlery held in self-defense. “D-Don’t come any closer!” one of the chefs stated fearfully. Sombra scoffed at them and pointed at the larder room. He opened his swollen red eye and stared them down. “There is a fire in the barracks. Get out now if you don't wish to burn!” he commanded. The two ponies dropped their knives and galloped out of the kitchen. They shouted ‘Fire!’ as they ran down the halls. “That was easy,” Trixie remarked. “Ponies are adorably stupid creatures,” Sombra stated matter-of-factly. “Prone to panic, confusion, and are easily suggestible with just a little motivation.” Victor nodded slowly. “Yes, that does seem to describe a number of my former associates.” “Don’t agree with him!” Luna snapped. “Trixie can you get these magic locks off our horns?” The azure unicorn rummaged the kitchen drawers for small utensils. She worked quickly on Luna’s lock, but nothing in the kitchen served as a useful lock pick. She tossed the various utensils aside in frustration. “This would be easier if I could levitate the tools instead of manually handling them,” Trixie grumbled. The princess grabbed Trixie’s horn lock and yanked on it. The device did not budge and only caused the unicorn a great deal of pain. “Ow!” Trixie said reflexively. She rubbed her sore horn. “Don’t do that! If the magic locks were that easy to remove, I’d have done so already!” A section of the larder’s ceiling collapsed in flames, lighting the remaining foodstuffs ablaze. Everyone jumped at the cacophony and instinctively backed away. They looked out into the hallway, an intersection with three paths to take. “The chefs ran left,” Victor pointed out, “So perhaps if we go right?” “The left path is surely the exit,” Sombra countered. “Why would the chefs run further into the castle to escape the fire?” Luna pointed at the center hallway. “There are stairs in that direction. It would likely lead us to the ground floor.” Several Zenith Dawn members were heard shouting from the left hallway. Hoof-steps were heard galloping across the wooden floor toward them, along with the clanging of tin buckets. Princess Luna led the way down the center hall, the limp in her canter still noticeable. Victor and Trixie followed, but Sombra was much slower than the others. Trixie turned back and lifted Sombra to help him down the hall. The weak stallion leaned heavily against her. “My full strength… not yet returned,” Sombra wheezed. “I would not… blame you for leaving me.” Luna hissed in Trixie’s direction. “You heard him, leave the creature behind and let’s go!” “But he helped us out of the fire,” Trixie countered. “Yes, that he started,” Victor pointed out. The Zenith Dawn hurried into the kitchen to put out the fire. Buckets of water were hastily passed back and forth, but it appeared that they were ill-equipped to control the blaze. As the brigade backed out of the kitchen they saw the escapees on the far side of the hall. “How did they get out?!” Thundercracker shouted. “Forget the fire, catch those ponies!” The pegasus led the group in a chase to apprehend their prisoners. Trixie stopped running and stood her ground. “Get ready to fight.” “May I offer a second choice?” asked a familiar voice from farther down the hall. The escapees turned to see Roc Tumbler waving from a nearby door. The yellow unicorn beckoned them to follow. “Come inside, I think I can help you escape.” “Can we trust him?” Luna asked Victor. The lawyer nodded. “Roc did give Trixie a key for our chains. I trust him.” He gave his fellow unicorn a quick hug. “I am ever so grateful you’re still on my side!” Roc nodded. “We could do better without the baggage following you,” he said with a glance to Trixie, “But no pony is perfect.” Trixie shot Roc an angry glare as she entered the room with Luna and Sombra. The small chamber was a simple bathroom with no other exits. Trixie shut the door and pushed the small deadbolt into the locked position. “This is an interesting place to be trapped in,” Luna muttered. She raised an eyebrow as the Zenith Dawn pounded and pulled on the bathroom door to get inside. Roc approached the far wall and placed his fore-hooves against it. The wall began to crack and shift. The stones warped, cracked, and pulled open like the yawn of a mouth. Dozens of stone shards flaked off the crumbling moving wall and revealed a narrow passage into another room. The princess was left astonished. Sombra looked more inquisitive than surprised. “What a curious ability you have.” Victor was the first through the new opening. “Roc, this is genius! Where does this go?” “The north hallway I think, but I’m not certain,” Roc admitted. “It’ll buy you a couple minutes in any case. Just head for the nearest staircase and you’ll find an exit.” “Wait, what about you?” Victor asked. Thundercracker and the other ponies crashed against the door before Roc could answer. Cracks formed in the hinges as the collective ramming intensified. Trixie shoved Victor through the small passage and then dragged Sombra along. “Enough questions, get moving!” she commanded. Luna squeezed through the little hole and pushed Sombra along. The next strike sheered the hinges off and the door fell to the ground. Roc grabbed the edges of the hole and pulled them back together with his magic. “Don’t help them!” Ramjet shouted. The pegasus tackled Roc to the ground, but the passage was now too narrow to squeeze through. He struck the yellow unicorn several times in the face. “Go around! Go around!” Thundercracker angrily commanded the other minions as they haphazardly piled into the tiny bathroom. The pegasus found himself pressed up against a corner. “Ramjet, stop tenderizing Roc’s face and help me!!” ~ ~ ~ The hoof-drawn arrows in the cave’s dirt floor led Ellie to an exit adjacent to a large, partly damaged fort. The fort’s perimeter walls were breached in several spots and a column of smoke rose out from one of the upper-floor windows. Cheryl, Zeeps, and Skywarp noticed the fire once they caught up. Debon’s captured airship sat quietly in the courtyard below the fire. Three sentries patrolled the grounds outside the outer walls, but they appeared to be distracted by the rising smoke from the fort. Zeeps was apprehensively beating her wings. “Calm down, bug-butt,” Chery warned. “That fire just means Trixie is alive and kicking somewhere inside that place.” “The unicorn you mean?” Skywarp asked. “She has the devil’s luck, but is she that much trouble?” Cheryl let out a snort. “Partner, she’s a walking natural disaster.” “I knew I was underpaid for this job,” Skywarp muttered. Ellie let out a ‘shush!’ and waved everyone to get down. One of the earth pony sentries walked over toward their location. The stallion looked around for movement, but appeared not to notice Ellie and her friends. He then removed a small flask from his saddlebag and took a deep gulp of its contents. Cheryl took advantage of the sentry’s momentary distraction and jumped out of the cave entrance. She grabbed the guard from behind and with a swift motion slammed his head into the ground. The sentry went limp into unconsciousness. His flask lay on the ground, slowly dripping its contents. “Hmm, drinking on the job,” Cheryl remarked as she sniffed the flask’s odorous contents. The earth pony picked it up and took a swig. “Not a bad brand of whiskey either.” The group lifted the unconscious sentry and pulled him back into the cave. Ellie rummaged through his things and procured a bow, quiver, some rope, and a whistle. She handed the bow and quiver to Cheryl. “I have an idea,” Ellie stated. “We could tie the rope to the arrow and then shoot it over the wall. We then climb into the courtyard and capture the airship. Cheryl, how well can you use a bow?” “I can’t even nock an arrow,” Cheryl replied. “Can’t nock an arrow?” Ellie questioned. “That’s the easy part. I just need your strength to get the arrow over the wall. You don’t need precise aim for that.” “Chicken wings, I cannot nock an arrow for anything!” “Not nock?” Ellie said confused. “Who’s there?” Zeeps interrupted. Ellie shot the changeling a dirty look. “Not now, Zeeps.” “Not now Zeeps who?” the changeling asked curiously. “ZEEPS!” everyone shouted. Cheryl grabbed the changeling by the shoulders and placed her in front of the unconscious sentry. “Okay, simpler plan. Zeeps, make yourself look like this guard. You’ll take me over to the other two guards and pretend I was captured. When the two guards come over, we’ll jump them. Good plan? Good plan.” “What about me?” Skywarp asked. He nodded toward the rope that bound his wings. The earth pony picked up a rock and struck Skywarp between the eyes, knocking him down with a grunt. Cheryl tossed the rock aside. “Done. Any questions?” The others shook their heads slowly and remained silent. Skywarp groaned in pain. Zeeps transformed into a copy of the unconscious sentry and walked out of the cave with Cheryl. Ellie gathered the saddlebag, rope, and whistle off the guard, but she left the flask of whiskey for Skywarp. “Sorry about that,” she said politely. “Cheryl can be a bit forward. Just stay here out of sight, okay?” Ellie gave Skywarp a quick pat on the head and then quietly followed behind her friends. Zeeps and Cheryl approached one of the two remaining sentries, a unicorn with an oversized iron helmet. The guard looked between Cheryl and the disguised Zeeps with confusion. The changeling cleared her throat, but realized she didn’t know what the pony she was impersonating sounded like. Zeeps then opted to just jump the unicorn and feed on his emotions. The unicorn yelled out for help. The last sentry took notice and blew a whistle around his neck. Cheryl grabbed the unicorn’s helmet and pitched it at the whistle-blowing pony. The sentry tried to get away, but tripped over the helmet as it bounced on the ground and rolled between his legs. “Yes, a perfect shot!” Cheryl congratulated herself. Three more guards from the Zenith Dawn appeared from atop the wall. They drew slingshots trained on the earth pony. “Oh crap!” Cheryl said as she ran. Zeeps took the cue to drop her disguise and flee. The guards fired their bullets at the intruders. Two of the shots grazed Cheryl’s mane. The earth pony dove behind a large stone block as another shot impacted near her. “Confound you, Zeeps!” Cheryl cursed. “I’m sorry!” the changeling apologized as she caught up. “I choked up under the pressure!” Ellie caught up with her friends and hunkered down behind the stone. Another round of bullets whizzed by her from the sentries. “I reckon we need a new plan?” she asked. “Reckon so,” Cheryl answered. “Anyone got any ideas?” One of the three sentries on the wall turned and kicked the other two off the wall. They fell and hit the ground hard. Two changelings jumped up from their hidden spot by the mountain and flew over to disarm the injured ponies. The remaining sentry dropped his disguise to reveal that he was a changeling as well. Zeeps stood up from behind the large stone. “I think the queen already has a plan going.” The changeling on the wall waved to Zeeps and pointed to the fort. Zeeps nodded and pulled her two friends up. “Come on, they’re helping us get inside!” “That’ll work,” Cheryl grunted. She led the way past one of the larger breaches in the outer wall. As the three moved into the courtyard, Ellie turned toward Debon’s airship. “The airship seems to be in good condition,” the pegasus said confidently. “It even has cannons we could use!” Cheryl followed along, but frowned. “Alright, but this time don’t set it on fire.” “It was just that one time!” Ellie shouted defensively. A large group of Zenith Dawn members galloped out of the burning fort. They were not armed like the sentries, but instead carried tools and supplies. The group headed toward Debon’s airship and noticed the intruders immediately. “Hey, get those mares!” one of the ZD ponies shouted. The three changelings over the outer wall swooped down to attack the relatively unarmed ponies. Behind them a larger swarm of a dozen more flew over the wall, led by Queen Andrenida. “Finally, the cavalry arrived!” Cheryl cheered. Zeeps let out a squeak of glee. “This is so much fun! Just like old times.” “Bug-butt, you have a funny definition of fun,” Cheryl stated. Ellie tugged on her two friends and they continued to close in on the airship. Many of the changelings had transformed to appear as Zenith Dawn members. Cheryl was confused by the duplicates of different ponies fighting one another. She was so distracted that she failed to notice Phoebe above her on the airship. The marilith leaped down and pounced Cheryl with a heavy thud. The earth pony let out a barely audible yelp of pain. “That’s what I love about ponies,” Phoebe said as her tail wrapped around her victim. “Crunchy on the inside.” “No eating my friend!” Zeeps shouted. She jumped up and struck the marilith from behind. The blow loosened the grip on Cheryl, but the earth pony could only roll away a short distance. Phoebe lashed out at Zeeps and connected with a hoof. Her blow bounced the changeling off the hull of the airship. Ellie pulled out the rope she acquired earlier and made a lasso knot. She threw it over the marilith, but failed to snag her target. Phoebe grabbed the lasso and began pulling the pegasus closer. “I’m going to rip out your other wing!” the marilith threatened. A bright green blast of magic knocked Phoebe to the ground. She quickly coiled up like a rattler and looked up. Queen Andrenida landed in front of Cheryl protectively. “Pick on a monster your own size,” the queen commanded. “That’s too much work,” Phoebe replied. “However, you are still shorter than me!” She lashed out at the queen with her teeth bared. Andrenida ducked down and struck upwards into Phoebe’s shoulder with her jagged horn. The marilith recoiled quickly. Blood had been drawn. She turned and swatted the queen’s legs with her tail. Andrenida stumbled as she flapped her wings to stop her fall. Phoebe struck down on the queen’s head with two hooves. The changeling hit the stone ground with a grunt. Andrenida flashed a bright light from her horn as the marilith closed in for a second strike. “Arg!!” Phoebe wailed as her eyes stung. Her tail seized the queen by a hind-leg. “You stupid bug!” Several magic beams struck Phoebe in the chest and she was thrown backwards, her tentative grip on Andrenida lost. The hive came to the aid of their queen and formed a row around her. The marilith growled in pain as she slithered away toward the fort. “A queen bug,” Andrenida corrected, “With loyal subjects.” Ellie ran to Cheryl’s side while Zeeps and several other changelings helped their queen stand up. Andrenida turned down their help. “I am alright. Zeeps, how is your friend?” “Not eaten, thanks to you!” Zeeps replied. Cheryl grunted from the pain in her chest. “Yeah, though what happened to not affording two rescues?” “I never said this was your rescue,” the queen corrected with a smile. “You just happened to be in my path of liberation.” Ellie helped Cheryl stand up. The earth pony grimaced more from the pain, but was able to stand upright. “Might have cracked… a rib or something,” she muttered. “Maybe we should get you back to safety?” Ellie proposed. “Why? We’re already here,” Cheryl countered with a wave to the airship. She looked around and noticed that the changelings had taken out the Zenith Dawn ponies. “’Sides… there doesn’t seem to be a lot of opposition out here. I reckon that means Trixie is doing something pretty nasty that has their other fighters occupied.” “Like what?” Zeeps asked. “Well like I said before, the fort is burning down,” Cheryl answered. “Knowing Trixie, that means someone is about to die.” Andrenida nodded. “Yes, but I do not wish your princess to be slain by Trixie’s mischievous antics,” she said worriedly. “We need a plan of locating and extracting her and Trixie quickly.” Ellie climbed up the airship’s anchor rope. “Let’s get on board. This ship has cannons, right? We could circle the fort with this ride and then blast a hole in the wall once we find our friends.” Zeeps carried Cheryl up to the deck of the airship and the other changelings followed. The Earth Pony grunted from the pain in her chest. “Well the plan ain’t bad,” she pointed out, “Except for the little detail that I reckon none of you know how to actually fly an airship.” When they arrived on deck, the group saw several of Debon’s airship crew bound and gagged to the central mast. Ellie beamed with joy as she turned to Cheryl. “I think we got our answer to that too!” ~ ~ ~ The halls were rife with shouts and screams. The out of control blaze continued to consume the fort implacably. Trixie opened a door that led into a long hallway. Her group had passed through three rooms already and they were quite lost. She could hear the Zenith Dawn shouting incoherent statements to one another from several directions, but she couldn’t make out how far they were. Trixie noticed the slit windows in the hallways before her and assumed they had reached the north wall. Down the left path was a spiraling staircase that led down. “The windows are too small to fit through,” Trixie told the others, “But I see stairs at the end of the hall. Let’s make a dash for it.” “The others are going catch us,” Victor said dejectedly. “I think escape is a lost cause.” “If you do not attempt escape,” Sombra pointed out, “Then you will burn. The difference between our pursuers and the fire is that the latter cannot be outwitted.” Princess Luna nodded. “For once I agree,” she said. “If we are to perish, then we shall fight to the last breath.” “If only I were so bold,” Victor said defeated. He pulled out a small locket on a silver chain from his vest pocket and held it to his chest for comfort. “I’m just a property lawyer in way over his head. I don’t even know why Debon held me in such close confidence.” Trixie snatched the familiar locket away and opened it. The little photo of her mother was still inside. “Well you can stop being so close to other ponies’ things!” Victor scowled. “Excuse you,” he barked. “That happens to be my locket!” “And this happens to be a photo of my mother!” Trixie snapped back. “How did you even get a hold of her photo? Did you know her?” “Wait, Jessenia is your…?” Victor questioned. “No. You’re just pulling my tail. You’re just saying that to try and raise my bristles!” Trixie slapped the stallion across the face. “I am not joking!” she shouted. “There is no reason to shout,” Luna said calmly as she peeked out into the hallway. “There’s plenty of reason to shout!” Trixie yelled. She pointed a hoof accusingly at Victor. “Answer the question, you two-bit pencil-pusher! Did you know my mother or not?!” “Yes! In the name of Celestia, yes, I knew her!” Victor confessed. “We dated for a short time, had a fling or whatever it is your generation calls it, but what does that have to do with anything?” The azure unicorn took a step back. “For the love of Luna’s left hoof…” Luna snorted. “I’m amused that the names of both my sister and I are being used so colorfully while I’m here in your presence,” she said flatly. Sombra quietly nodded to her with a smirk. The princess threw him a dirty glance. “Not a word out of you, false king.” “Sorry,” Trixie apologized to Luna, “I’m just having a personal problem believing this stallion could be my father!” “The feeling is mutual,” Victor added. “Surely your mother has had other stallions in her life?” “The name is Trixie, not Shirley,” she corrected, “And no, she only ever mentioned the one city slicker that stole her heart. The one stallion that left her for whatever reason I never understood!” “Hey, don’t think for a minute that I abandoned her!” Victor countered angrily. “She let me go! We came from two different worlds. It wouldn’t have worked out!” Luna stepped in between the two bickering unicorns and pushed them apart. “I hate to break up this potential heartwarming family reunion, but I need to remind you both that we’re being chased by Golden’s henchponies.” “I wondered how long these two would keep going at each other’s throats until that fact occurred to them,” Sombra commented. Trixie growled and walked into the hallway. “Fine, I’ll table this argument, but we are not done!” she stated. “Let’s go.” The group of ponies sprinted down the hallway, past several tiny slit windows and cobwebs that hung from the wooden ceiling beams. The staircase ahead of them spiraled both up and downwards to other floors. Trixie looked back and noticed that Sombra was moving at his usual much slower pace. “You need to hustle that royal tush!” Trixie shouted behind her. Luna gave the unicorn an angry glare. “Watch your tongue!” “Not you,” Trixie corrected. “I was talking to the honorary earth pony holding us up.” She turned around and headed back for the slow stallion. “I’m fascinated that you refuse to give up on me,” Sombra said. “If I really am the late King Sombra, how do you know I wouldn’t turn on you later?” “I don’t know,” Trixie answered. “Maybe you aren’t Sombra.” “Maybe I’m something worse?” he asked brazenly. The question gave the unicorn pause, but before she could answer the worst possible occupant of the fort arrived from the opposite end of the hall. Golden, three Zenith Dawn members, and a diamond dog in a lab coat turned the corner to stop the escapees. Trixie dove on top of Sombra. “Get down!!” she shouted. Golden fired a bolt of black lightning at them. Trixie and Sombra hit the floor hard as the bolt flew over their heads. The spell whizzed right by Luna and Victor who threw themselves against opposite walls to avoid it. The lightning sparked and popped against the stairwell walls. The sorceress marched toward the escapees. “Why did I believe,” Golden began to rant, “That I could trust my minions to kill one lousy unicorn on sight?” “Actually, you told them to capture Trixie,” Rico corrected. Golden fired a second bolt of lightning at the diamond dog. Rico and the Zenith Dawn trio dove out of the spell’s path. The bolt hit the wall and showered them with sparks and embers. “Don’t correct me, Rico,” she scolded. Hooves stomped up from the stairwell by Luna’s side of the hallway. Thundercracker and Ramjet led more members of Zenith Dawn to intercept the escapees. They drew weapons as they reached the landing. Roc was unceremoniously thrown down on the staircase, both his forelegs broken. “Roc!” Victor shouted. He pushed past the ZD ponies to lift his friend off the cold stairs. “Hang in there!” “Not sure if there’s much of a point now,” Roc replied with labored breaths. Golden flicked her tail. Magical lightning began to arc and spark off her legs. “Time to put you cows out to pasture. Start with the princess. Trixie is mine!” Thundercracker walked confidently over to Luna and stroked her chin with a wing. “Any last words before you’re gutted, princess?” he asked. Luna smashed her hoof against the stallion’s teeth. “Kiss the royal left hoof!” she shouted. The pegasus recoiled and toppled over backwards against the other ponies behind him. Ramjet darted forward to strike the princess, but Luna grabbed him around the barrel and slammed him into the wall behind her. The Zenith Dawn charged forward. Trixie got up and faced off against Golden. Her own magic was still locked from the device on her horn, but she still had her wits and speed. “Alright Golden, which of your freaks wants to tangle with Trixie first?” she said confidently. “I bet I could take them all out without my fancy spells!” Golden nodded to Rico. The diamond dog took a deep breath and then stretched out his arms and legs to absurd proportions. His body expanded into a larger feral form. His teeth elongated and Rico bared them with a menacing growl. Saliva from his mouth dripped slowly to the stone floor. “Eww,” Trixie muttered. Rico leaped at the unicorn with his sharp claws aimed for her throat. Sombra reached up and grabbed Rico by the hind-legs. The monstrous diamond dog stopped short in his lunge and hit the floor awkwardly. Golden nodded to the three minions beside her and they charged forward to grab the unicorn. Trixie kicked the first stallion away from her, but the other two managed to seize her by the shoulders. Sombra tried to get up and help, but Rico yanked the former king back down to the floor. Golden let out a chortle of amusement. The Zenith Dawn that poured out of the stairs crashed against Luna like an ocean wave. The princess tried to force her magic through the horn lock, but the device inflicted pain upon her skull. She pushed her arcane power harder against the lock, more so than against the half-dozen ponies that had her pinned against the wall. “Princess Luna, you’re going to hurt yourself!” Victor shouted. He grabbed one of the Dawn members and pulled him off the alicorn. “Stop trying to fight the lock!” The magical device strained and cracked under the pressure of Luna’s power. It shattered in a volley of tiny pieces, followed by a burst of built-up magic that blasted the Zenith Dawn off her. Ponies slammed against the walls and ceiling as Luna got up. She turned her attention to Thunderctacker. Her eyes were a pure white glow. “This is going to hurt,” the pegasus muttered. Luna seized him with her telekinesis spell and slammed him against the ceiling, the floor, both hallway walls, and then pitched him down the stairwell. He bounced off the steps several times before disappearing from view. The other ZD members scrambled to get back up and away from the mad princess. Golden focused her dark magical energy. “Come at me, princess! Let’s see what you’re made of!” she taunted. The lightning in her hooves came together into a ball of dark electrical current. “Duel acknowledged,” Luna answered as she charged her own bolt of raw magic. The two ponies fired simultaneously at one another and both magical beams of energy collided with a deafening thunderclap. Sparks of hot arcane energy ruptured in all direction. The wood in the ceiling burst into flames. Trixie shoved one of the stallions on her into the magic beam’s path. The stallion screamed in agony as he caught fire. She struck the other pony in the eye and crawled away from him. Trixie grabbed Sombra and yanked him out of Rico’s clawed grasp. Victor grabbed Roc and dragged his friend into the hall. The magical combat was so blinding in the hallway that he couldn’t see Trixie or Sombra on the far end. Princess Luna and Golden both began to breathe heavily. Their strength waned in the magical duel, but neither let up their attack. Sweat dripped down the princess’ snout. A loud whistle rang toward the hall from the exterior windows. The walls then shattered in several areas and turned into a crushing shower of stone shrapnel. The opposing spells were disrupted by the blast, blowing both participants off their hooves. Bits of stone and wood flew everywhere. The smoke from the fires wafted away from the breaches as a gust of wind flowed into the fort. Debon’s airship coasted up to one of the large openings, the steam cannons hissing from the volley they just fired. Zeeps jumped from the railing to the edge of the hallway. “Trixie!” the changeling exclaimed. “We’re here to rescue you!” “Zeeps?!” the unicorn replied with surprise. “Princess Luna!” Ellie added gleefully from the airship railing. Several changelings waved at the princess from behind the pegasus. “Queen Andrenida is with you?!” Luna replied. The changeling queen approached the railing. “That I am,” she said happily. “Shall we egress?” “Well, a port in any storm!” Victor said with joy. He lifted Roc upon his back and made for the airship. “Somepony help Roc, his legs are broken!” Golden got up, her breath labored from the fight. “Why must… everyone interrupt me when… I want some pony dead?!” She pointed a hoof at the princess, but her magic did little more than weakly spark. Rico grabbed Trixie off the floor and held her in place. Sombra rolled on his back and kicked the feral diamond dog behind the knee. Rico dropped to the floor with a yelp. Trixie pulled herself free from Rico and mashed his face in with both fore-hooves. She and Sombra scrambled to a standing position and limped quickly to the airship. Several members of the Zenith Dawn regrouped and attempted to grab Luna. The princess wrestled with them as she retreated to the airship. She levitated several stones and struck her opponents with them. Luna broke free of the fight and reached the nearest breach. She grabbed Roc off Victor’s back and with a mighty heave, she threw him to the airship crew on deck. Ellie loaded another iron ball into one of the cannons. “Hurry up!” The flames ate through the ceiling supports and it began to crash down around everyone in the hallway. Golden retreated back around the corner she came and the Zenith Dawn raced down stairs to escape the collapsing fort. The changelings grabbed Victor, Trixie, and Sombra and lifted them back to the ship. Luna spread her wings and flew behind the changelings. Rico charged toward the breach and leaped to the airship. He latched onto Luna and held on tight. The princess fell out of the air and hit the deck’s railing. She tried to climb on board, but Rico attempted to pull her off the airship. The airship crew ran to the railing and grabbed the princess before she fell off. “Let me go!” Luna angrily commanded the creature. “Bad dog! Heel! Sit! Drop dead!” Rico climbed up the princess to swipe at the airship crew. He raked one across the face and scratched another on the legs. Queen Andrenida dove at Rico. “You shall not have her!!” she shouted with a blast of magic at the diamond dog. Rico jumped away from the queen and grabbed onto Ellie’s cannon. His grip slipped and the diamond dog slid down the length of the barrel. He caught the edge and stopped, but found himself looking into the business end of a large and armed cannon. Cheryl waved and then pulled the firing trigger on the cannon. The air pressure exploded forward with a thundering ferocity. The iron ball shot out and slammed into Rico’s face. Every bone in his head and neck was pulverized by the force of the blow. What was left of him fell three stories and landed in the courtyard below. Andrenida pulled Luna onto the airship deck. “Princess Luna, it is a pleasure to finally meet you.” “Forgive me if I remain in shock,” Luna responded. “This is a most interesting rescue.” Victor addressed the airship crew. “Take us to Seaddle, as fast as ponily possible,” he commanded. The airship’s two prop-driven engines roared to life and pushed the ship away from the destroyed fort. Several more ponies from the Zenith Dawn fled the area below on hoof. No one attempted to chase after Trxie and her crew. As the fort shrank into the distance, Victor turned to Trixie. “Come with me to the cabin and we can take these damned horn locks off,” he said to her. “Then, we can talk about your mother.” “Yes, please,” Trixie replied. She was more than happy to have her magic back and settle her dispute.