“This meeting is officially concluded, then. Dismissed.”
Shining’s image faded from view and left Trojan and I alone. The stiff silence between us didn’t last long as Trojan faced me, eyes full of cold focus.
“Change of plans,” Trojan announced. That low and even tone carried a foreboding vibe that filled me with dread. That feeling doubled when she dropped the concealing magic over her forehooves, revealing eight black sheathes carrying daggers.
I gulped. Definitely not liking where this was going.
“Oh, uh, okay. What are we doing?” I asked.
Trojan ignored my question and went for the latches that secured her daggers, unlocking three of the straps, and placing them on the floor before me as if she was laying a foal to rest. I was reminded of some sort of traditional ritual similar to a Royal Guard being knighted.
“These are Niekinis blades,” Trojan said. “They are crafted out of Niekinian alloy, which are impervious to the touch of magic. They will shatter shields, dispel illusions, and in some cases, grant resistance from a variety of mental spells as long as these are sheathed on your person.”
“They’re that powerful?!” I gasped, only to swallow hard at the thought of those lethal blades being pointed at Twilight.
“Correct. These daggers are extremely rare, so protect them with your life. Nopony can know that you have these. Is that clear?” When her eyes went to meet mine, the sharp stare chilled my spine. I nodded. “Good. Now put these on and get ready for weapons training.”
Her speech came off clipped, coupled with underlying hostility. The gleam of the serrated blades reminded me of the conversation we had concerning killing. I frowned.
“Why are you giving me these? I mean, I know times are dangerous, but I couldn’t use these against anypony. You’re better off keeping them.”
Anger flashed in her gaze before she blinked them away. She settled for a frosty look. “You may be forced to make a choice. Perhaps it is your own life at stake. Perhaps somepony else’s life. But one day, especially knowing now that Elytra is involved, you may very well have to choose who lives and who dies. This isn’t about which you choose. This is about making sure you are ready and able to choose.”
I wanted to argue the point, only to catch the dip of tone when she spoke of Elytra. Had Trojan not made me practice picking up on such minute clues, I would’ve missed the melancholy in her voice.
I relented for now and nodded, my disdain for those weapons clear on my face. Trojan stopped channeling and opened her eyes, a focused gaze honed into my own. “Strap them where they will be easiest for you to draw them.”
A faint glow of green magic burned off the sheathes like magic vapor. After brief hesitation, contemplating if I should even touch them, I bent down and grasped one of the daggers. Warmth shot through my hand, a sharp tingle of electricity coursed through my body. Once the magic subsided, the dagger handle, sheath and strap faded into a ghostly transparency.
“Whoa…!” When I placed the dagger back on the ground, it was opaque again.
“I’ve enchanted them so the spell will only take effect when their owner, now you, is in contact. While you are touching the daggers, only you can see them. Now put them on.”
Though I’ve never used daggers before, I’ve read enough comic books about cool-looking assassins to get an idea. Two of them I strapped to my waist, a dagger on each side of my hips. The final one I decided to strap on the edge of my tail for easy access.
“Say, why did you give me three?” I asked. Trojan smiled.
“Two more daggers than your enemies will suspect.”
She changed disguises to look exactly like me. The grim look on her face never left as she stood across from me. It made my skin crawl to see my own face look like that.
“Move like I do,” she instructed.
Trojan drew a dagger from her hip sheath and held the blade upside down. Once I mimicked the action, her posture changed to a boxer’s combat stance, fist raised to guard the chin and balanced on the balls of her feet. I recalled a similar pose from Flash when he was giving me the basics for hoof-to-hoof combat.
“This stance maximizes your mobility and defenses while allowing swift attacks. Observe.”
Trojan performed quick and simple strikes while shifting her movements to either create or close distance, rotating to the side to strike and cut down her invisible opponents.
“Weapons are merely an extension of your body. Your movements must flow like water.”
When she punched, she followed up with a cutting or stabbing strike.
“Don’t always rely on your weapon. Keep your targets guessing.”
She struck with her blade, it followed into a strike with her fist.
“Commit to every movement. Adapt. Strike. Deflect. Your weapon is only as sharp as your wit and technique.”
Each knife and fist strike weaved in and out of each other seamlessly, quick enough to show efficiency but slow enough to let me absorb it. Over the next minute, her pace sped faster and faster, to the point I could hear the blade whistle as it slashed the air.
This Trojan struck me as a contrast to the Changeling I had known for weeks, who was graceful and smooth when she showed me a combat maneuver. Here she moved as if she was cutting down an actual opponent. I couldn't help but imagine that blade sweeping and cutting through somepony or a changeling like Thorax. I didn’t let myself dwell too much on that fact.
Once Trojan finished the demonstration, she returned to her combat stance. “For today, we will stick to mastering your stances and basic strikes. Stay focused, or I will cut you.”
I gulped. Definitely wasn’t looking forward to this kind of training.
“Fix your stance.”
“Position your claws like this. Hold it properly.”
“Pay attention! The last thing I need is for you to cut yourself! Now, again!”
This was the majority of our interactions for the next few hours.
Mind-numbing repetition of the same attacks over and over again. Learning to maneuver on the battlefield. Weaving knife strikes with hand strikes. Once in awhile we built up to more advanced combat maneuvers such as the riposte and parry for defense. Outside whenever I asked a question or a maneuver required explanation, Trojan didn’t speak much except to reprimand me.
“Gah!” I stumbled back to dodge a swift attack.
“Pay attention, you fool!” Trojan pointed her dagger at me, eyes narrowed in disapproval.
“S-sorry!”
“Weapon combat is serious business. If you’re not focused, you will get hurt, or worse! Now, parry rotation!”
Trojan stepped forward and lunged at a careful speed. This gave me ample time to step back and deflect the blade with my own. In turn, I stepped forward and struck like she did. Trojan mimicked my block and struck back with a riposte. Step. Block. Step. Strike. Step. Block. Rinse and repeat.
Whether it was due to so much training by this point or my ability to learn quickly, I was able to pick up on the basics with ease. Every parry and riposte felt natural to my muscle memory. Blade strokes felt as versatile as my punches and kicks. I was nowhere near Trojan’s level, yet I found myself capable of adapting her style.
I hated every second of it.
Once the pace of our exchanges slowed down, I decided to finally tackle the elephant in the room: Flash Sentry.
His outburst stuck out in the back of my mind and refused to get out. Part of me was disgusted with his blatant racism towards Trojan. It was only after Shining Armor told us about his past that I understood where he was coming from. Though it was brief, I did catch a concern look from Trojan after Flash stormed out.
This whole thing is a mess. I have to do something to fix this.
“We need to talk to Flash and get everything sorted out,” I suggested.
“I’ll pass.” Trojan’s blade stroke hesitated for an instant, her expression static. I’d bet my hoard that she was worried about him, yet is either too angry or too proud to admit it. Perhaps both.
“I know he said some hurtful things, and I don’t agree with how he went about everything, but I really think he had good intentions with his reasoning. You can’t blame him for feeling like he did.”
“The road to Tartarus is paved with good intentions.” Trojan’s movements sped up. “He’s just a pig-headed bigot. He can sulk until he turns blue for all I care.” Her blade pushed against mine with increased force.
“That’s pretty unfair. You haven’t exactly helped the issue, either.” I pressed against her attacks with my own riposte. A growl escaped her lips.
“I did what I had to in order to protect our hive. Why should I risk the safety of my entire race for the sake of playing nice with ponies?”
Huh. Why does that sound like something Flash would say?
Upon reflection, I found several similarities between Trojan and Flash. Both could not bring themselves to trust the other and enacted security measures to protect themselves. Though the methods varied, those two resembled each other far more than they would dare admit.
“Trojan, don’t you understand that Flash feels the same way you do?”
I must have surprised her, because her guard was laxed enough for me to push her back. Doubt flickered in her eyes.
“After everything you’ve heard about his past and how you’ve been treating everypony until now, do you seriously think you’re the only one who’s scared to death of making a mistake that can cost the lives of those you care about?”
Her attacks dwindled in strength, face contorted in discomfort. I decided to press the advantage while I had her attention.
“Every single one of us is trying to help in our own special way. If your reaction earlier was any indication, you must have realized this when Shining Armor protected you from Flash. I understand that you’re trying to save your—”
“You understand nothing!” Her blade strokes spiked in power. “You’re just a special case who happened to have a perfect life with ponies! You never had to worry about the fate of your entire race riding on every choice you make! You—”
“That! That right there is exactly the problem!” My blade clashed against hers hard enough to make her stumble. “Again, you are forgetting that you’re not the only one who is feeling that way. You’re getting so wrapped up in your own issues that you can’t see how Flash’s feelings are no different from your own. If you could just communicate a little more instead of always assuming the worst of us, we could understand you better, and I bet the others would even trust you more.”
“You’re as dumb as Flash if you believe it’s that simple.” Trojan’s tempo increased. “I’ve had to put up with you all for the last few weeks, and in that time, I have searched every corner for comrades that I may have to kill because my mission takes precedence. I didn’t ask for this, but those ponies left me with no other choice. I can’t trust ponies as far as I could throw them, and the bucking slave collar on my throat is proof that they will never trust me, either. They can turn on me anytime they want and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it! None of you soft prey could handle a day in my hooves, especially a naive upstart like you, so shove it!”
We would have been in a screaming match had we held this conversation with the old me. However, the bitter and hateful tone in her voice triggered part of the ‘Noble Heart’ foundation she ingrained in me. Her body language, speech, tone, expression, everything pointed to her emotions unraveling themselves.
Somewhere in there is her true feelings, screaming to get out. How long did she have to force herself to keep this all in? To suffer in silence?
A light switched on in my head. From how she asked about my position within pony culture, talked about the weight on her shoulders, to her concerns with the collar on her neck. She faked her death to slip away from her friends and family. Thorax was probably the only Changeling that knew she was alive.
It’s so obvious now. All this time, she must have felt so terrified. Alone.
Even worse, I don’t think a pony could help her with this, and Thorax isn't available. I’m… I’m probably the only one in all of Equestria who can help her right now. I'm the only one who could help her find some sense of peace in her lonely world. In the time I knew her, she never showed this much emotion to anypony else.
If I had to guess, this is her way of showing her trust in me. Maybe it's just like when Twilight tried to reunite with Moondancer back then. I think Twilight said it was catharsis that helped Moondancer release all of that pent up stress and anger. Knowing Trojan, she won't do it on her own. I'm going to have to drag it out of her.
Thank you for showing me this, Trojan. I won’t let your trust in me go to waste.
“That collar probably wouldn’t be around your neck if you stopped throwing stones in your glass house and realize that you’re just as much of a stubborn, hypocritical bigot as Flash,” I barked. Trojan reeled back for a moment, the surprise on her face soon overtaken by aggravation.
“You insolent brat! I’m nothing like Flash!” Her blade crashed hard against my own, nearly knocking me back. I steeled myself and clashed back just as fiercely.
“Judging someone because of their species? Treating their partner unfairly? Trust issues? Gee, I can’t see the resemblance!”
“Shut up!”
“You may act tough and always in control, but you’re just as vulnerable and fallible as Flash! If you opened your eyes and stopped acting all high and mighty, you would see it as clear as day!”
“I said shut up!”
“You’re not fooling anypony! Admit it: your problem with ponies is just an excuse to cover up the fact that you’re just as scared and distrusting as Flash because you think you’re all alone and—!”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
Greenish flames erupted around her as she emerged in her default form. The change happened so fast, I couldn’t react to her lunge. She grasped my throat and choke-slammed me into the floor.
Her fangs were in full display as she snarled, eyes boring holes into my head. Trojan’s blade moved close enough to my face that I could see my own, terrified expression in it’s reflection.
Maybe I should have thought this one through a bit more.
“You’ve got some nerve spewing all of that nonsense in my face! You know nothing of what I’ve been through!” The jagged blade bit into my neck, a twitch away from drawing blood. “I could’ve ignored all of this! I didn’t have to risk everything I knew! When I was sent on my mission to infiltrate the Crystal Empire, I had every intention of carrying out my orders to kill Flurry Heart! I didn’t have to put myself through all of this horseshit!”
Shock rippled through me. I never did think to ask how she met Shining Armor and got wrapped up into this. So she originally went to the Crystal Empire to assassinate Flurry before switching sides? What changed?
Trojan’s brow furrowed, slowly shifting from anger to despair.
“Just before I could slit Flurry Heart’s throat in her sleep, my mother’s voice rang out to me. She left me a single message before our communication was silenced: Find Twilight Sparkle. I hadn’t heard mother sound so desperate since her decision to invade Canterlot.”
This made me think back to something Trojan said that I found odd, but never thought to question:
“The tundra of the north is practically a loveless zone. Were it not for Mother... that is, Chrysalis, we would have died long ago.”
And then when I confronted her about it…
“Do all changelings call Chrysalis ‘Mother?’”
“I could answer that question for you…”
Now that I think about it, she does look sort of similar to… no. Way.
How did it take me this long to put all those clues together?
This confirmed the one suspicion I had whenever Trojan talked about her mother; this entire time she had been talking about Chrysalis. If what little I knew about insects played a role here, Chrysalis was both mother and queen to every changeling… or wasn't she?
My revelation was short-lived as I noticed tears spring in Trojan’s eyes. “I could’ve ignored that message for the time being and focused on accomplishing my mission. I knew I could get away with it, and she would have probably approved of it.
“But knowing that I would put two parents through the same pain my own mother had gone through for our sake made me… soft. I couldn’t bring myself to go through with it. This forced me to make several terrible decisions to both evade the one who gave us pathos and not make my brethren suffer for my mistakes; I had to fake my death and disappear from the hive mind network while finding a way to reach Twilight.”
The pressure on my neck lessened as she pulled back. She rested her hooves on my chest as her gaze fell. “Hatching probably the stupidest plan of all time, I allowed myself to be detected, pretending to fumble about like a newborn grub. Cadance wanted to lock me up forever. Shining Armor wanted me executed. Had Flurry Heart not secreted her way to me and found their soft spot, you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Trojan. I had no idea.” I muttered, breathless.
Her body shook as she shut her eyes, unable to fight back the flow of tears. “If I screw up again, it will be over for us. It would be all my fault! I don’t care what happens to me, but if anything happens to them because of me, I… I-I just....I couldn't bear it."
The next few moments were filled with silence, interrupted by Trojan’s occasional hiccups and shudders. There was a ton of information worth sorting out. Revelations and questions that turned everything I thought I knew on its head. Chrysalis being her mother. Her true objective in Ponyville.
I couldn’t care less.
I lifted myself up to meet her eye to eye. My hands moved on their own to cup her cheeks, thumbs brushing away the tears. Her reddened eyes finally opened to meet mine. Our gaze lingered for a few seconds before I moved forward and embraced her.
Trojan tensed up as she gasped. She sat frozen for a solid minute until her hooves wrapped around me. Her face burrowed into the crook of my neck as she cried softly.
I couldn’t find the words to express how sorry I was about all of this. Instead, I opted to simply stroke her back lightly with my claws, hoping that did something to soothe her. She hummed as my claw softly raked across her back, gossamer wings fluttered with each stroke. Her heart pound against my chest as she pulled me in with all her might, causing my own heart to accelerate.
Minutes. Hours. I lost track of how long we stayed like this. It was all I could do to show her that even if the world around her was falling apart, she would always have someone who cared about her.
“I just can’t bring myself to face Elytra, Spike,” she whispered, “she’s a good girl. She doesn’t deserve any of this.”
“We’ll find a way to resolve this. I swear it,” I muttered. Her grip around me tightened.
“But what if we can’t? If my own daughter forces me to kill her, I don’t think I could do it.”
“....What?” I asked, the reality of what she said dawning on me.
It must have happened to Trojan at the same time, as she suddenly pushed me back, eyes wide with panic.
“Get out.”
“What?! Elytra is seriously your–"
“Get the fuck out!”
It wasn’t until her hoof cracked my jaw that I was broken out of my stupor and got the message. I hurriedly sheathed the knife I dropped when she knocked me over earlier and exited her home, making sure nopony could peek inside as I closed the door behind me.
Once I was outside, I slumped against the door and stared into space in a haze. My mind raced a mile a minute, unable to fully come to grips with what I just learned.
Elytra, the Overlord we had to face to protect Twilight and Ponyville, was Trojan’s daughter.
“...Holy shit.”