Equestria Was Merely a Setback!

by Thunderscourge


Rest Experience 3: Heart-stone

A/N: Special thanks to Amethyst Blade, GamerGoddessNayru, SilentMech, refferee, nioniosbbbb, heliotrope, Quixotic Enigma, and GriffonSpade for your comments last chapter! They were very nice and supportive, and they helped me put this together even as life continues to go on and drain energy away from these more fun endeavors. Your comments do help offset that though, so please continue letting me know what you think!

I hope you all enjoy, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below!


As Trixie and Kael made their way back to the Saldean farm the former spent the time complaining as she tried to get Nana to do tricks the Wyrm had not been taught yet, and Kael spent it listening to those they passed by. Since hearing some of the poor speak about joining the Defias he was far less trusting of those around them, since the bandits could have a million reasons for coming after him even if it was just by chance. Anybody could be a part of the Defias Brotherhood, and the Defias were quite the threat, so anybody could be a threat.

The long ears belonging to the Elf allowed him to listen in quite well, and two seeming farmers walking the other way gave him some interesting insight despite their hushed whispers.

“What are Elves doing here?”

“Dunno, Furlbrow. I hear a huntin’ party is comin’ through. Lady leadin’ it doesn’t seem very friendly.”

A lady Elf was hunting for something? Kael’s stomach knotted up at that idea, since the coincidence of an Elf looking for something or someone right after they left Silvermoon City where a lady Elf tried capturing them for a bounty was too much to be a coincidence…

“Really? Who could they be hunting?”

“Ehhh, who cares? They’re going around and askin’ people all kinds of stuff, but it ain’t none of our business.”

That was all the conversation gave Kael as the two other men left his hearing range, though it was enough to give the issue further thought.

Trixie was still trying to get Nana to roll over in mid-air.


It took until they returned to the farm for Kael to come to a decision given the information he had. They had found a Mana Wyrm chained up and he had heard about a hunting party going around and looking for them.

“Trixie, we will fulfill our obligation to the Saldeans and then depart tomorrow after we have paid our debt to them.”

The more dominant of the two was surprised for her very passive partner to suddenly speak in a commanding, in-charge way. While they were equals in the partnership, Kael had always seemed happy to let Trixie have her way even if he snarked a little along the way.

So, she spoke with a little confusion as she finished making a spot for Nana on their bed, “What? I’m liking it here. And we only just got here.”

“Call it a hunch, but chances are we are being hunted.”

Trixie laughed haughtily as she made herself comfortable on the modest bed, “Oh please, who could possibly have found us?”

Kael sat down beside her and reached to pet their new companion on the top of its head, “It’s not as if we have the undying loyalty of those two woman who helped us secure passage here. They easily could have let it slip that they let us travel here, and all it would take is someone intent on finding us to hear that…”

“But we took the last Dragonhawk, right?” Trixie reasoned, still wanting to stay.

“It also returned home, not to mention that there must be other Dragonhawks in other settlements nearby Silvermoon.”

That elicited a sigh from Trixie, who couldn’t argue back against the possibility that someone may have found them who was less than friendly, “I hate it when you’re right…”

“Then you must despise me, because I usually am.”

Trixie shoved him playfully on the shoulder, “Hey, I’m the haughty, arrogant one.”

“No, you’re the haughtier, more arrogant one. You just make me seem completely selfless in comparison.”

Her laughter and amused tone made Kael smile, “Flattery will get you everywhere with me.”

He laughed back and brought a hand up to pet her hair, “I’ll keep that in mind, my egotistical friend.”

Trixie squirmed out of his reach to escape the tussling of her hair, “Don’t push it though. I know where you sleep.”

Kael glanced down at Trixie’s curved features and let out a joking sigh, “Uncomfortably beside you, I may say.”

The reason she made him uncomfortable was beyond Trixie’s comprehension, but she still felt a little guilty for the bruise located on Kael’s neck that the shredders didn’t cause.

As such, she went into denial about what she believed he might be referencing when Kael actually had no idea that she had nibbled on his neck the night before, “Hey, it’s not like I elbow you or bite you in my sleep or anything like that. What do you mean uncomfortable?”

A knock on their open door interrupted their playful argument and revealed the presence of two onlookers who were holding some boxes in their arms.

“We heard something about tomorrow. Planning on leaving so soon?” Salma asked the two Elves as they got up to welcome the owners of the house into the room.

Trixie nodded, finally verbally agreeing to Kael’s plan, “Yes, unfortunately.”

Salma nodded understandingly and held out the box in her arms to Kael, “Well then, if that’s the case, here is your outfit we were working on. I just put the finishing touches on it for you.”

Inside of the box was the red mixture of cloth and leather that made up Kael’s light armor. It would protect him far better than his ragged robes given the padding, though it ran opposite to Trixie’s own outfit given how hers had none…not that she needed padding in the way some females would have it. Kael had not been skilled enough to even weave leather into the set of clothing he made for Trixie, and so she was stuck with plainer and less protective gear.

Of course, Kael never intended to let someone lay a hand on her, so perhaps it was best they used what leather they had in his own clothing.

Farmer Saldean withdrew something from the long box he brought upstairs, revealing a worn sword, “And, if you are going to be leaving us in the near future, take this blade with you.”

He placed it into a sheath and held it out to Kael, as it was a bastard sword that Saldean believed too large for a lady like Trixie. None of them knew at the time she still had the strength of her equine form, so they all acted under the incorrect assessment of her physical abilities.

“I know you have your magic, but I would hate for any harm to come to you,” Saldean explained as Kael thanked him with a half bow.

Feeling a little left out in terms of gifts, Trixie decided to make a case for herself not being left defenseless, “May I perhaps have something to protect myself as well? I would hate for Kael to have to do all of the fighting.”

“Don’t worry, dear,” Salma retrieved a blade from the box she held and gave it to Trixie, “This is a dagger we found hidden in the house one day. It probably belongs to someone we’ve housed, but it’s been years so I don’t think they’d mind.”

The blade was broken, as if it was actually once a sword and later refurbished to be usable as a dagger instead. The T shaped handle had a small red gem right below the blade, and the small bulbous end to the handle made it easy to grip for someone as unaccustomed as Trixie since her hand would have a hard time slipping off.

Even now with a weapon of her own Trixie felt guilty at receiving this charity of sorts. Sure, they worked for their keep, but it was all because of the goodwill being shown to them, “I feel kind of bad about all you have given us.”

“Think nothing of it. We like showing our gratitude to those who aid us. You have already done more than anyone else has for us in years,” Salma said with a smile on her face and in her voice. Having a helping hand was nice, especially since the orphans outside of Hope were too young to really do much.

Her husband spoke next, bringing a hand to his chin as he thought back to then, “Yes, and come to think of it we had the pleasure of meeting Elves too. High Elves, much like yourselves, though they came with a few Humans too. Five people with a mission from Stormwind.”

Trixie and Kael looked to one another with the same tenseness to them. Saldean’s voice had sounded a bit fake at the mention of High Elves, as if he was mentally correcting himself about the first word and finishing with the second.

It was Trixie who mustered the courage to admit what they both realized the Saldeans likely had figured out in one way or another, “I…I am afraid we have not been entirely honest with you.”

Salma placed the box in her arms down so she could raise a hand to silence Trixie, a smile still on the kind hostess’s face, “Don’t worry. We know why you kept your identities hidden. We may be a little bit removed from the capital and politics, but we know the name of the Lord of the Blood Elves when we hear it.”

“I suppose we should be more careful with our identities in the future,” Trixie sheepishly replied all the while mentally kicking herself for not coming up with a fake name for Kael, since that was what seemed to have given them away.

Noticing the sudden worry on Kael’s face that came up with the revelation of his identity, Saldean spoke up and placed a reassuring hand on the Elf’s shoulder as he used the other to lean the sword’s box against the wall, “Don’t worry son, we won’t let anybody know. I think you are smart to leave sooner rather than later, since some passerby’s came asking about some uncomfortable things. We didn’t say anything, but that doesn’t mean they won’t return and find out on their own. I think you have bounty hunters looking for you.”

Kael smiled at the man and found himself once again bowing his head.

“Very well. I think we should stay tomorrow and do whatever you would have us do though, as I would feel bad about leaving you all as you are. The situation at Sentinel Hill gave me a true insight into the plight of your people. Anything we can do to help you before our departure shall be done.”

Saldean laughed at the idea of being bowed to by royalty, and even more so at the idea of telling him what to do.

The farmer removed a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it off to Kael, “I actually put together a list for you of people and things you may want to look into, though don’t stay so long as to put yourself at risk, you hear?”

Kael nodded and offered a hand out to shake hands after receiving the list of tasks, “Thank you for everything, Mr. Saldean.”

“And thank you for giving a little hope to this backwards community. You are welcome here anytime, so don’t make yourself a stranger when you are through with your days of hiding.”

The married couple left the couple that argued as if they were married, and after they were alone Kael gave the paper a look along with Trixie.

“Speak to Gryan Stoutmantle, check out Moonbrook, investigate propaganda, learn about the past, find missing Stormwind Captain...”

It sounded like it would be a busy day ahead of them, so some relaxation ought to be in order. They’d need it to get everything done at an early enough hour to leave before their pursuer located them.

Kael was about ready to get ready for bed when another voice piped up.

“Is that a Mana Wyrm?”

Trixie had been about to close the door when suddenly Katz, Letz, and Kikka were in the doorway and being nosy. Katz had been the one to speak up, as he was the tallest and had been able to see the Wyrm the best as his two adopted siblings each looked in with their heads atop one another like a totem pole.

The fact that the child knew what the animal comfortably napping on a blanket was made Trixie quite confused. How could he possibly know something like that? “Why yes, it is. How did you know about that? I did not think them to be local to here.”

Katz shook his head as he and his siblings entered the room to get a better view, “No, they live around magic places I think, but there’s a Hearthstone card for them!”

“Heart-stone?” Kael questioned, unfamiliar with the term.

Letz spoke up next as he pulled out a stack of cards with light blue backs with a blonde border to them, “Yeah, Hearthstone! It’s a card game with all sorts of creatures and monsters we play!”

A game with creatures in it, including cute Mana Wyrms? That piqued the interest of Trixie, who gestured to the table of the room so she could perhaps see a demonstration.

“Can I see this game?”

Kikka grabbed Trixie by her pants and tried to tug her in the direction of the table, “Sure, we can teach you how to play!”

Trixie let herself be led over as Letz and Katz got out a lot of cards they seemingly had stuffed in their pockets, and after a minute they had a few decks of cards arranged on the table.

Katz held out a card as he took a seat across from where Trixie set herself, “Here is the Hearthstone card of the Mana Wyrm.”

Trixie took the card into her own hands and began to read it. There was a crystal on the top left with the number one over it, a small sword with the number one over it, a picture of a small drop of blood on the lower right with the number three, a picture of a Mana Wyrm covered in light purple energy on the top half, and some more text on the bottom half.

“Gains +1 attack when you play a spell…” Trixie, still new to it all, had no idea what that meant, “What constitutes a spell in this game?”

Letz spoke up as he stood to the side of the table in-between Trixie and Katz, “There are three main types of cards: creatures, spells, and…uh…”

“Weapons!” Kikka piped up cheerfully despite the content of her statement.

Katz continued from there, “Yeah, and there are nine classes to play from which all have different cards only they can use. Some cards can be used by any class, but some like Mana Wyrm only can be used by one. My class, Hunter, gets a lot of beasts to use instead!”

Trixie snorted at the mention of Huntards, though she continued to listen because Kikka pulled on the side of her shirt to get her attention.

“Mages get Mana Wyrm, so you should play as the pretty lady!” Kikka sort-of explained as she held out one of the decks to Trixie.

That made Trixie scoff, “I am a pretty lady.”

Once Trixie had a deck in front of her Katz took it as an indication that they could begin playing the game, “Okay, I’ll teach you on the go. Let’s play!”

The game was quite simple to pick up and the rules simplistic, and Trixie found herself getting the hang of it quite quickly. Kael sat to the side with a more bored expression, not really amused by this sort of thing but still happy just because it was a relaxing moment.

Well, that and it was funny to see Trixie get riled up over a card game.

A Mana Wyrm card played by Trixie attacked Katz, but Katz flipped a card over he had played earlier to reveal its effect, “Misdirection! When I get attacked, your creature hits something else randomly!”

Trixie frowned as she looked at the board full of creatures and the two cards used to represent them, a woman mage and an orange skinned being wearing an animal skin, “How do we decide what it’ll hit?”

Letz pulled something from his pocket, “Well, we’ll roll a dice. Just gotta give everything a number, then we roll it. I made some for all sorts of occasions!”

Trixie accepted this method of randomly determining things, and so after they gave everything a number she rolled the dice and hoped for the best.

Katz laughed childishly at the result of the Mana Wyrm’s now redirected attack, “And it hits you directly!”

Trixie turned to the side of the room with the bed and frowned. Kael was sitting on the bed and stroking the malnourished animal that they had fed some scraps after coming inside, “Nana, how could you?”

The animal woke from its brief sleep and looked up at her blankly with glowing eyes, “Naaa?”

“Don’t give me that look. This is all your fault that I’m losing now. You shouldn’t hit your owner like that. Say sorry.”

Kael sighed as Trixie chastised the oblivious animal, “Trixie, you do know it likely doesn’t have a clue what’s going on, right?”

“Quiet Kael, I am playing a children’s card game. This is very serious business.”

There would be no reasoning with her, so Kael just let it be and let her resume her game. After a few more turns of it Trixie drew a new card that she hadn’t read before. Its name was Pyroblast, and its picture was that of a giant fireball.

“Deal ten damage…”

Trixie had a thought. They started with thirty health, which meant that this would take out an entire third of Katz’s health…which might be all he had left.

Remembering how he took some extra damage from a creature he hit with a weapon instead of killing with a minion, Trixie smiled at her opponent, “Katz, how much health do you have?”

“Ten,” he smiled. She only had two, and the Hunter class was allowed to do that much damage each turn by default. He would win when it was his turn.

If he had one more health this wouldn’t work, as Trixie had no creatures left. She let out a relieved sigh as she placed the card down and removed his ten remaining health, “Oh, good, I win. I was worried there for a moment.”

“Wait, what?!” Katz replied in the most shocked voice he could muster. He had thought he was going to win, but instead this complete beginner defeated him.

Trixie thought back to what gave her the opportunity to win. If Katz had just traded one of his many creatures for her own instead of using the weapon card he would have won. Still, despite being proud she won Trixie did not want to make him feel bad about it, “You shouldn’t have hit my creature with that weapon I think. Good game though. It must have been beginner’s luck.”

“Oh come on Katz, you lost to a newb!” Letz laughed at the sight of his brother’s utter humiliation.

Katz tried to save face to little avail, “Hey, I was going easy on her, okay?”

“Loser big-brother!” Kikka chimed in.

“Hey, I beat you every time we play, so what does that make you?”

Kikka and Katz stuck their tongues out at eachother, after which the boy shook his head and decided to avenge his loss.

“Let’s start up another game. Best two out of three!”

Trixie had forgotten about her companion while she was playing, so she turned back to him to offer him a chance at the game, “Kael, are you going to play?”

He smirked, enjoying the act of spectating more than he thought he would playing, “It is more amusing to watch.”

His eyes flickered over the one representing Trixie’s character, the mage…it looked very familiar. Like, Kael felt a pang he couldn’t describe as he continued to look at the woman pictured.

“Though, that card…”

Kikka noticed his gaze and took it off the table to bring to him.

“That’s Jaina! She’s like the strongest mage there is!”

Trixie had been unknowingly studying the woman pictured the whole time, and now that she heard the name she couldn’t help but think about what it meant. That was Jaina? She had silver and blonde hair, as compared to Trixie’s silver and light blue, and her eyes even glowed like an Elf’s despite being a Human.

While not the same, Trixie could see herself being mistaken for the other woman if one wasn’t looking too closely.

“Now that I think about it, she looks quite similar to me…”

Kael once upon a time loved Jaina, even if he didn’t remember it now. Trixie knew that though, and now that she could see the woman…perhaps the reason Kael was so willing to do what she said was because she resembled the woman he loved? That idea unsettled Trixie, who didn’t want to think his friendly affection was secondhand.

She hadn’t noticed Katz start their game, but there wasn’t anything she could do the first turn so she passed it to him, “Ahem. All done. Your turn.”

As Katz began to think about what to do on his turn, Trixie tried to ignore the now quiet Kael and the cause of his discomfort that Kikka since returned to the table, “What classes do you two play as?”

Kikka smiled brightly at Trixie, “I’m a Priest! We heal stuff and have really big minions.”

Letz was less sure about how to explain his class, “I play Warrior. We…uh…hit things.”

Kikka laughed as she thought about the only other player they knew, “Big sister Hope plays Rogue! They’re really tricky to play, but really good right now!”

Katz sighed as he remembered all the times he lost to her. As in every time they ever played, “She always beats us, even when we work together…”

To win so often meant that the teenaged girl must be good at the game. Or that she was simply better at making decisions in it than the younger children. Likely both, “Oh, she must be quite skilled then. What is her favorite card?”

Perhaps learning the girl’s favorite card would give Trixie some insight on what was good to play in the game.

“Deadly poison!” Kikka offered as an answer only for Letz to speak up.

“No, it’s her Defias Ringleader. She’s got a sick turn one combo for it!”

Katz spoke up next to offer his own answer, “Nuh-uh, it’s that rare, golden, enchanted legendary creature, VanCleef! Remember how hard she worked to get that card?”

Wasn’t VanCleef the now deceased leader of the Defias Brotherhood? The last two suggestions made Trixie laugh, as it showed a bit of irony and humor on the part of the teenaged girl.

“Hah, what an ironic girl, winning a game with representations of the local menace.”

Katz didn’t listen as he announced one of his creatures was now attacking.

“Billy, attack!”

Trixie read the card he was attacking with, a monster with a single point of health named Murloc Raider…it looked like a green humanoid frog-thing holding a sword. And he had named it Billy apparently.

Trixie took the small amount of damage “Billy” could do, but she wasn’t worried. While Hunters could do two free damage to the enemy’s life, a mage could do a single damage to anything of their choice.

As such she targeted the Murloc with her ability, a sad smile upon her face as she destroyed the creature, “Sorry, Billy.”

“Billy…” Katz whined softly as his weak creature was felled instantly.

The rest of the game went the same way as the first with the more experienced Katz gaining the upper hand, only for his inability to think two steps ahead to cause him to lose again. Trixie had to admit he seemed smart, at least in competition with the similarly young siblings she had to compare him to, but he was by no means wise.

After winning the second game Trixie decided to shut things down before Katz asked to do three out of five. Trixie needed to go to bed so they could get up early, while the children out to not stay up too late playing around.

“I think that’s enough for one night. Kael and I have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, so how about you three go on and get ready for bed?”

“Okay…” the three children complained, though they all relented. They took their cards and things and began to leave before Katz turned around and handed a card out to Trixie.

“Oh, Katz, what’s this?”

“I have a spare card that I don’t need. You can keep it.”

Trixie looked down at the card, the Murloc Raider from before, and smiled at him for his kindness, “Thank you, Katz.”

“I named it Billy the totem slayer. I figured you could probably make better use of him.”

Katz moved to leave after handing off the card, but he was soon replaced by Kikka standing in front of Trixie while nervously looking down at the ground.

“Aunty Trixie, is it true you’re leaving tomorrow?”

Trixie bent down to be at the young girl’s level. The kids didn’t seem that bad, and they all seemed nice, so Trixie didn’t want them feeling bad about her leaving, “Yes, I am. I have some very important things I need to do, but I’ll come visit when I can, okay?”

“Promise?” Kikka hopefully asked.

“Promise,” Trixie replied with a nod.

Once the kids were gone Trixie closed the door and locked it, letting out a sigh of relief as she did so. It was about time to relax and she didn’t feel like she could do much more in a single day. After all, she had woken up only to then go fight, after which point she was knocked out from an explosion. Her body ached.

After Trixie turned out the lights and got into bed Kael finally spoke, having overcome the strange feeling in his gut, “See? Kids aren’t so bad.”

Trixie had to begrudgingly agree. These ones weren’t bad, but she had a feeling her aversion to children came from experiences with bad ones, “Eh, you’re right, but I think I’m going to start drafting names. Katz and Letz just sound like their parents were lazy and making up words.”

“And Trixie is so much better?”

“Infinitely. I am the Great and Powerful Trixie after all.”

Some time passed by as the two tried to fall asleep, but their aching bodies kept them up a bit longer than they each would have liked. With time though came the final event of their day, for their heard faint footsteps outside the room coming up the stairs. The lightness of them reminded Kael of the stealthiness of the eldest daughter of the house with how she could so swiftly slip by people. Perhaps it was fitting she played a Rogue in that game, which he imagined was some kind of stealthy class.

The footsteps were not all that caught the attention of the two attentive Elves with their large ears. What was more attention grabbing and more disturbing was the soft sobs following it. It wasn’t a sustained sound of crying, but rather like Hope was trying to not cry and was simply unable to keep herself from doing so.

“Hope? What’s the matter, dear?” they could hear Salma ask, though the closing of a door kept Kael or Trixie from hearing the response if there even was one.

“Why’s she crying?” Trixie whispered, now concerned about whatever could have happened to the girl. She hadn’t met her yet, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t able to worry for her.

Kael felt a different feeling seize his gut than the one that had stricken him before, now feeling unease as ideas flooded into his mind, “Something may have happened after I left…”

“How old is she again?” Trixie yawned, her body’s exhaustion finally catching up with her.

“Mid-teens I believe…” Kael was beginning to drift off as well. They could see how Hope was doing the day after. He wouldn’t want to intrude on it though, since it could be private.

“I haven’t even seen her yet. I hope nobody hurt her…hurting kids is bad…”

Trixie drifted off after that and was soon joined by Kael.

It was a quiet night after that point, though perhaps it would have been better if it wasn’t.