A Family Matter.

by Thait

Evolving Situations

'thoughts
{Mental speak}

000000

Canterlot

Armored hooves cracked against stone as the princess of the night strode down a hallway that she knew only Celestia and herself ever used. Even so the white marble that made up the walls, floor and ceiling was as clean as if the servants had passed through it just that very day. The closer she got to her goal the more worried she got as she had not been in this section of the castle for now over a thousand years. It was true she had returned to the palace almost three years ago but she had struggled to avoid this particular section of the castle, and what it contained. Now she found herself being forced to go down this dark hallway again in search of her sister, whom the servants said had vanished into the restricted area just after sunrise. This meant the entire Solar Court was in an uproar over the fact that the princess had abandoned them without even telling them of the reason for her absence, and thus Luna had been awoken to find out what was going on and rectify the situation if at all possible. She had done so for the Solar Court by telling prince Blueblood to handle the daily petitioners until Celestia could return, after which she had headed down to the only place her sister could go that nopony else could follow.

Stopping before a pair of doors, massive behemoths of marble bearing the emblem of sun and moon she steeled herself for what she was likely to find within and pushed her magic into the locking system. The doors slipped open without even a groan of protest, opening to a room that many might have considered a place of beauty if not for the statues that surrounded the edges. The room, though buried deep in the mountain, was sheathed in the same beautiful white marble as the hallway outside. Four thick obsidian columns rose from the floor to the ceiling surrounding a shallow pool of water in which floated water flowers of a type Luna had never seen before. Set within the center of the pool was a fountain that she remembered had been sent by the griffons long before her fall from grace, not that she or Tia had ever truly liked that fountain, the griffon and dragon forms carved into it were locked in a never-ending battle for dominance and it reminded the sisters of first contact with both races. Neither of those first meetings had gone well and the dragons had held a grudge against Celestia for nearly a thousand years for her killing of Grieve, who had held the lofty titles of Lord of the Winds, Master of the Land and Water, King of all Dragons. The blowhard had thought himself powerful, he had been forced to learn the hard way that King of Dragons didn't stack up well against Solar Princess.

Finally forcing herself to look near the walls she shuddered at the realization of how many more statues were in the room now than had been here when she had been banished. Yet she couldn't stop herself from moving to the nearest statue and looking upon it. She found herself looking on a pegasus, hooves planted as if readying for a charge, head down and teeth bared in a snarl of feral defiance. The statue, appearing to be white marble like the rest of the room, bore a cutie mark of a sealed scroll done in silver on its flank. She forced herself to look at the small gold plaque that was set into a short stone block at the statues hooves. 'Destiny Lulamoon' Luna turned away and found herself walking to another statue, this one a unicorn. This statue was rearing up, front hooves lashing out as if to strike an unseen opponent, her face bore the same feral look as the pegasus statue did. This statues cutie mark was a harp marked in gold that seemed shimmer and glow. The plaque underneath bore the name 'Melody Lulamoon'.

The princess turned slowly and moved among the statues looking from one to another, here a unicorn, there an earth pony, she found herself stopping at another pegasus statue, this one being a truly large specimen of a pony. She was as tall as Luna herself, heavier muscled than the princess though not by much, and bore a set of wings twice as large as they should have been for her size. The wings were thicker than a normal pegasus's wings as well as bearing more feathers than a pegasus would. The thicker fur of the coat, larger ears, and the slightly odd shaped eyes all pointed to one of the pony's parents being a griffon, mostly likely the father as if the griffon had been the mother the offspring would have been a griffon with some pony traits. The pony was wearing metal armor that covered her flank making any view of her cutie mark impossible. The plaque underneath read 'Farstrider Lulamoon'.

The sounds of water cascading down the fountains sides didn't quite hide the soft sounds from behind it and Luna began to walk again, though she froze as she came to a statue she knew all too well. A unicorn, though the expression on the face of this unicorn was not one of feral hatred but of sneering superiority. She stood with head held high looking down upon those who would think to cage her, as if at any moment she could simply walk away whenever she liked. She was a regal unicorn with slim build and long legs bearing a cutie mark of a black star. She would have seemed almost normal if it wasn't for the curved horn that graced her head and the fangs that were visible. The plaque underneath read 'Midnight Lulamoon'.

Shaking her head she strode past the last column, past a statue of a unicorn with a broken horn and a pegasus who had lost her wings, and turned to see Celestia sitting upon a pile of cushions simply staring at the first statue to have ever been placed within the room. One hoof scraping absently at the marble floor tiles and Luna could see a small gouge in the rock making her wonder how many times her sister had sat within this room over the thousand years she had been banished. Striding to Celestia's side Luna looked at the statue her sister was staring at. She had been here when it had been placed so she knew it well. A slim long legged unicorn who bore an expression of desperate concentration, she stood with a regal bearing and bore a cutie mark of a star topped wand. The plaque underneath bore the name 'Lulamoon' and Luna, as she had even before her banishment, found some strange feeling of connection to the statue.

"Tia?" It was all that needed to be said as her sister lowered her head.

"When it began I told myself that it was the best path, the way to save so many and protect all that our little ponies had worked so hard for." Celestia's voice cracked as tears began to flow. "But would they thank me if they knew what cost was paid for Harmony? Or would they damn me for the actions I've taken." She looked to Luna "Is this the future I build? Prosperity for the many on the backs of the suffering few, Is this what mother would have wanted?"

"Do not lay this upon yourself Tia, this was His work not yours." Luna rested a wing on her sisters back.

"But I agreed to it, I didn't stop him." Celestia's eyes scanned the few closest statues "For peace and harmony I agreed, for the millions of lives that have been spared death, disease, and hardship I agreed." Pained eyes turned to look at Luna "And every time I look into their eyes I see how far I have fallen. Sombra was correct in his accusations Luna, every word he spoke."

Luna shivered as Sombra's name seemed to echo within the room and a tiny faint whisper of sound slipped through the air. "Do not speak of that filth, he was a torturer and a tyrant." She looked to the empty spots along the walls. "Is that why you are here? Is it time?"

"The guard operative in Ponyville has sent word that Screw Loose has been found, and the Crystal Empire is calling for action to be taken against the mare Trixie for her actions within their capital. They say two ponies are dead and the Emerald Feather Archives were almost completely burned down by her." Celestia lay upon the pillows resting her head upon her forelegs while looking sadly at the statue before her. Luna settled next to her sister, planning to stay as long as she would.

Two hours later the doors slipped shut in complete silence behind the departing princesses and the crystals set in the ceiling dimmed until the room grew dark.

A soft crack sounded within the darkness.

{Sombra}

The name whispered around the room, bouncing off walls and statues.

{Brother}

A black aura shimmered around a curved horn.

{Find me!}

A second crack sounded and a small tiny flake of stone fell away from the statues eye allowing a green glow to be seen.

HELP ME!

00000000000

Ponyville

"Lulamoon." Twilight frowned while looking at the next journal to be added to the pile. "Why the same name for each mare?" It was an oddity. Most ponies did not have a continual name within the family, instead they named their children in ways that always seemed to be scarily accurate in relation to their eventual cutie mark. But from what Twilight had seen of the journals, of which she had only truly read one and skimmed a couple of others so far, the mares of Trixie's family always seemed to have Lulamoon incorporated into their name somewhere. It was as if it was a name being passed down through the generations in honor of somepony else, something she had heard of happening a few times in the admittedly limited amount of history she had read.

Not that all the journals were from the mares of the same line, there were multiple journals that seemed to have been written by stallions as well. She had even found one journal that seemed to be written by the pony Swift Arrow, the same pony that was mentioned in the journal of Melody Lulamoon. What was odd was that many, if not most, of the journals were damaged in some way or another, as if they're owners had been either very careless in their travels or just very danger prone. Levitating several more journals she added them to the pile near the window and told herself that she shouldn't be looking through them without Trixie or Pokey's permission. These were the writings of their family after all and it wouldn't be nice to pry into such personal matters without...her eyes were drawn to another journal, or at least she thought it was a journal. The cover was a solid black with a silver dragon curled in a circle biting the end of its tail. She struggled with indecision for a second and then finally gave in and opened the book to find...blank pages.

Staring at the book in confusion she turned it this way and that and even flipped to the front cover and looked for the normal writing that proclaimed the author, only to find nothing again. Deciding to try something else she reached out with her magic only to find the book repelling any scanning spells she tried to cast on it. The only thing she managed to learn was that it was heavily enchanted with spells she wasn't familiar with. But that alone gave her an idea and she set the journal down and hurried to a particular bookshelf looking for the spell that she believed would be able to help with the reluctant journal. It didn't take long, though it likely would have been faster with Spike looking, and she hurried back to the journal prepared to cast the spell. Sitting down she lowered her head and closed her eyes while concentrating on channeling the magic into the right form. Eye's closed and horn glowing with magic she didn't see the blackness that spread slowly across the pages of the journal even as it twisted and flowed across the paper, seeping out of the book itself in the form of a black mist. Finishing her spell Twilight opened her eyes in time to see the black mist swirling together in a mass right in front of her before it surged forward, impacting her faster than she could react.

Blackness...it was the only thing she could see in every direction. Shifting her hooves on the floor she could tell she was standing on stone now instead of the wood of her library. Reaching for her magic she attempted to cast a simple light spell only to find no magic to grab onto, she could feel it out there but was simply incapable of grabbing it. Any more thought on the matter stopped as she felt something brush against her causing her to spin around in a circle trying desperately to see anything.

"Is anypony there?" She was proud of the fact she managed to keep any fear out of her voice.

"You are not Beatrix, you do not have permission to examine this journal." The voice that spoke was deep, and sounded as if spoken from all around her. "I believe they call this trespassing." By the end of the sentence the voice sounded amused.

"Who...who are you?" Twilight again attempted to reach her magic, and again found something akin to a wall between her and it.

"I suppose that isn't against the rules." And the darkness peeled back as light blossomed allowing a stallion to step into the view. His coat was a dark grey with a mane and tail of black, crimson eyes matched the color of the curved horn that he bore.

"Sombra!" Twilight stumbled backwards, falling over in her attempt to retreat in fear.

"So you have heard of me." The voice contained mirth and Twilight found herself staring in shock at the tyrant of the crystal empire. "I suppose I should be impressed since it has been a terribly long time since I created this particular journal." The stallion focused crimson eyes on the cowering mare and raised an eyebrow. "I know I am impressive but you certainly don't need to cower from me."

"Y-your dead!" Twilight was trying to reach her magic for the fourth time now and again met nothing but a wall. Her panic was slightly shorted out by the amused laughter of the stallion before her.

"I would assume so considering it's been over a thousand years since I created this book, I am many things but immortal I am not." He smiled genially towards her and extended a hoof to help her up. Twilight stared at the appendage for a moment before extending a shaking hoof and letting herself be pulled upright. Finding herself remembering the dark doorway that Sombra had left behind to show ponies their worst fears she quickly jerked her foreleg free of his grip and backed away, eliciting another raised eyebrow.

"Interesting, you are afraid of me." Frowning he looked up into the darkness "Never had that happen before." He sighed "Be that as it may I am afraid that you will have to leave, you do not have permission to see this journal. If you want to do so you will have to ask Beatrix, or any member of the family for permission. I look forward to seeing you again fair lady." He gave a bow and suddenly blackness surged forward and drowned Twilight in darkness again.

Blinking away spots Twilight found herself sitting back on the floor of her library with the journal sitting open before her. With a panicked yelp she slammed the book shut and tossed it across the room while diving behind a different pile of books, hoping they might shield her from anything bad that could happen. After the first few minutes of a whole lot of nothing happening she peaked out and stared at the book where it lay near the door to the kitchen. She levitated the book slowly to a drawer in her desk and shoved it inside, making sure to lock the drawer afterwards to make sure nopony would find it by accident. And yet now thinking on the Sombra she had seen within the book she remembered the lack of green glowing eyes, and he had seemed almost...amused, at her intrusion into the journal. He also had told her to get permission from Trixie about the journal which raised one very interesting thought. How had Trixie got her hooves on a journal by Sombra? And what kind of spell was on the journal to allow it to create a mental world like that? Twilight had heard of sensory spells that could create a mind linking between ponies, and in cases where it was desired the spell could create a mental world for the ponies to converse in. But this was a journal that had been written by a pony over a thousand years ago, the spell age alone should have degraded any kind of enchantment.

This was something that would require research of...from the corner of her eye she caught the title of a book on top of the pile she was near. It was probably best that nopony was around to see her attention being jerked around so easily but she couldn't help it when it was a book she knew existed but had never seen within the royal library. Without a second thought her mind shifted gears and focused on the book before her as she scrambled into a good reading spot and tried to ignore the nagging feeling she should be doing something about the journal of Sombra.

4 Hours Later

"Twilight I'm...back?" Spike stared around the library at the piles of books and papers that were scattered around the floor filling every nook and cranny the library had. Twilight herself was sitting near the window with her head buried in a book while muttering about 'historical oddities'. "Um...Twilight?" Getting no response told him it was going to be one of those times where he would have to nearly break something to get her to pay attention. Then again, by the looks of the library she hadn't slept at all last night and probably hadn't eaten anything for supper or for breakfast. Abandoning his attempts to get Twilights attention he headed towards the kitchen to make her some food before another attempt to pull her attention from the book she was reading.

Just as he finished making the daisy sandwich's he heard the jingle of the bell on the library door. knowing Twilight, not to mention the library, wasn't in any shape to accept business he hurried out. "We're closed, oh hi Pokey."

The blue unicorn blinked in bemused confusion at the large mess that currently filled the entire library's main floor. It had been late yesterday when he had left the hospital anyway and he had decided to wait till today to deal with Beatrix's worry over her things, though why she was worried now and hadn't been two years ago he couldn't figure out. "Hello Spike, I was just returning these books I checked out last week." He would have said more but Twilight popped up suddenly.

"Oh that's great, let me just get those put back and get your account settled up." The somewhat frazzled mare practically dashed past Spike to get the work done so she could get back to reading. Pokey looked at one of the papers nearby, something that looked to be cross referencing things from three different books, and realized that Twilight was using Trixie's supply of books to create a hypothesis on the changelings. It was something the family had done years ago when looking into old histories dealing with both the Crystal Empire and other ancient countries and kingdoms. Catching sight of the pile of slim books sitting near one of the windows he nearly muttered a curse. The family journals. While the family had a collection of journals that could probably fill a library all by itself he knew that Beatrix had always carried what she considered the most important ones with her. Most concealed information that only a family member could read by using the correct spell but there were others that were dangerous to ponies outside their family without either spells or permission from a member of the family. Not to mention there was quite a bit of information in several of those he did not want getting back to Celestia. Sharp eyes picked out three chests sitting against a bookshelf and after a quick look to make sure nopony was looking he cast a locking activation spell on all three. The spell itself was fairly weak but it activated enchantments on the chests that had been placed there long ago by other unicorns. He wasn't going to delude himself into thinking that it would hold if Twilight Sparkle got truly interested in those chests, she was well known among the magical community for being immensely talented and Pokey knew even more than those ponies did about Twilight's true power pool.

Twilight had just turned back to Pokey when the bell at the door jingled again and a grey pegasus trotted into the library. "Hi Twilight!" Derpy smiled as she tried to weave her way through the mess on the floor, she hadn't made it halfway when she tripped and was sent tumbling into several book piles. With a sigh Derpy pulled herself free of the piles and tried to find the book she had been returning, a nearly lost cause in the amount of books currently piled where she had fallen.

"Don't worry about it Derpy, I'll just check it in." Twilight smiled as the other mare perked up happily. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Oh yes, it was very good." Derpy smiled "But I barely got through it with all my work."

"You should really take a vacation." Spike was futilely trying to find some unoccupied space to place the daisy sandwiches.

"Oh I'd love to take a vacation, but they extended my rounds to cover even more ponies because Letter Opener is out sick." Derpy turned to glance at Pokey and the blue unicorn stiffened as he noticed the look she sent him.

"Lots of new ponies?" His question was innocent enough.

"Lots of new ponies, all outside my normal rounds in Ponyville." She looked back to Twilight who was giving her a concerned look.

"You shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard Derpy, tell the management to hire a temporary worker to help out till Letter Opener gets back." Her obvious worry for the grey mare was enough to make Derpy feel bad for lying to her.

"I'll be okay, thanks again for the book." She turned and trotted back out of the library.

'Damn it. If Derpy says they're out there then they're out there. Probably damned Nova Guard. Why? Why in Tartarus would she send them now, and into Ponyville! She has to know that we won't just surrender mother to them, it will turn into a fight. Or is that the point? If she thinks we won't defend ourselves inside a town of innocent ponies she's got another thing coming.' Pokey's concentration was broken as Twilight tapped him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh, I was just asking if you were okay?" Twilight stepped back when he nodded and looked around the library as if seeing it for the first time. "Wow, this is a mess."

"That's what I said." Spike finally managed to shove a few books aside and set the tray of food down before turning to Twilight.

"Spike! When did you get back?" Twilight got a confused look when the small dragon rolled his eyes and kicked a few pieces of paper out of his way.

"What's with all this stuff?" He picked up one page to see information on something called the Kingdom of Chains.

"It's something I'm working on." Excitement filled Twilights voice and she looked too Pokey "Did you know that Trixie had a copy of A History of the Land of Mists? The royal library has only one copy of that book and nearly half its pages are missing! She also has a book on the origins of the wastelands. I've been trying to bring together all the information from these different books and form a hypothesis on where the changelings come from, and why they feed on love." She smiled as she trotted back to the table she had been using and picked up the book again. "If I can get enough information I could send a letter to the princess on what I've learned. Maybe even submit it to the archives so that it can be written up for reading by the guard and others."

Pokey barely managed to restrain a smile, Twilight was probably more at home among a library and piles of books than she was among other ponies. 'If only we could put that brain to use helping us in our work instead of Celestia getting sole use of it.' He looked out the window realizing that it was likely getting close to noon, which started to beg the question of what to do with Beatrix's things. He couldn't take them to his house with the Nova Guard around and preparing to try for his mother, his house would be one of the first hit and any information from the family there would be grabbed and impounded by the Guard. As much as he didn't want to leave the items here he had to admit that the library was the safest place inside Ponyville for the moment. It wasn't as if he couldn't get them later anyway, he'd just have to contact Derpy and ask her to move them to the rendezvous point. By the looks of Twilight he wasn't going to have to worry much about her digging into the journals right now anyway as she was focusing on the mysteries of the changelings, and that was something that he knew from experience took a long time to truly dig through.

Which of course only left the few journals that could cause injury to those who weren't meant to see them. Finding them in the pile of books they were in was easy enough as to Pokey's eyes they glowed a constant dim grey and seemed to exude a magical presence. If their enchantments had been any stronger Twilight likely would have been able to feel it. Quickly extracting the books from the pile he turned to Twilight. "I'm going to be taking some items to my sister." The distracted response he got back got a snort of mirth from Spike who had once again picked up his tray of food and was trying to make his way through the clutter to Twilights side.

"I'll tell her." It took till he reached Twilights side to realize that he didn't even know Pokey had a sister, and by then Pokey was long gone.

0000000

Below Canterlot

The room appeared to have no entrances or exits and was nothing more than rough hewn stone no wider than a small apartment. Dominating the center of the room was a strange multicolored jewel slightly larger than a pony that seemed to pulse with a pale light. For a moment there was silence in the room, and then a flash of yellow light as a young unicorn teleported into the room.

"Report." The voice sounded old and weak, and emanated directly from the crystal.

"Celestia has dispatched the Nova Guard to Ponyville, one heavy combat squad and one Arcanist squad. How did you get her to agree?" The confusion in the stallions tone was quite pronounced.

"One simply has to know what words to whisper in what ear. Celestia and her sister are more...controllable than you would think." The malicious glee in the voice caused the pony to shiver.

"But the Nova Guard? Just to capture Screw Loose? Is this...necessary?" The young stallion spoke the words warily.

"I'm not letting this one get away again." The voice from the gem spoke with cold anger. "I've waited long enough as it is."

"But it's Ponyville. It's not like trying to force a way into a griffon town." The stallion looked worriedly around the room "This could end in deaths in the town."

"Let me deal with any fallout that comes from that." A dark chuckle escaped the gem. "Is that all you desired to report?"

"N-no. Trixie has been seen in Ponyville."

"What! Your last report put her in the Crystal Mountains." The light from the gem grew brighter, along with the heat in the room.

"That's where she was! Our operatives followed her into the mountains and then lost sight of her. Word is she stumbled half dead into Ponyville yesterday. The Crystal Empire has demanded she be turned over to stand trial for the damages caused by her actions in the city."

"Did she reach the transport Hub?" The words were murmured quietly but still overheard by the operative. "It doesn't matter, there is no way she would be a threat to this operation. And in time she will be joining her mother anyway." For one moment a pair of eyes shimmered into existence within the gem "Now go, before you're missed."

Silence filled the room for a moment before soft laughter came from the gem "You are turning out to be quite interesting Trixie. All the way to the way to the Hub, only Sombra made it that far. And he didn't leave the same pony that he entered." Vicious glee sounded when it said those words. Seconds later the gem darkened until only minor waves of color slipped across its surface.

00000000

Ponyville Hospital

{HELP ME!}

The cry echoed faintly through Trixie's mind and jerked her out of her trance, nearly sending her tumbling from the bed as well as having her looking wildly around the room for a moment to try and find whatever had made the noise. Finding nothing that could have woken her from her trance she shook her head and looked to the floor beside the bed which was filled with the remains of her casts. She slowly flexed her right foreleg finding that the bone was intact once more even if she was getting twinges of pain when she moved it. Slipping from the bed she settled her injured legs onto the floor and clenched her teeth around a slight whimper as pain shot up the appendages. Closing her eyes she began to focus again and the black lines on her body began to shimmer and glow dimly as a cold chill spread from her hooves up her legs. It didn't take long for the pain from her legs began to fade from nearly tear creating to just barely bearable. She knew that it would take the rest of the day to purge the remaining injuries from her body, and that she could only do so thanks to the sleep, food and care the hospital had given her. Even so she was not going to laze around here any longer, she had work to do and it required more than Pokey knew to get it done. One thing or another, it required Twilight Sparkle.

That of course hadn't been her original plan, said original plan had been for her to be triumphant in her attempt to enter the archive and find the information that she was seeking. Now that that was a bust she was going to be working on backup plans, and since foalnapping Twilight and forcing her to do what Trixie wanted was about as likely to work as Trixie was to suddenly become and alicorn she had changed her plans. Which meant she was actually on plan G right now and working from there. Which required either Twilights freely given help or required a very involved spell and some of Twilights blood freely given. Trixie doubted either was going to be easy to get but in the end it was better than plan J. She was willing to do a heck of a lot to save her mother but plan J was one of the few that even she would admit was insane. Any other thoughts on the matter were cut off as the door opened and a grey pegasus with odd eyes wandered in.

"Hi Trixie!" Derpy smiled as she trotted over and produced a letter from her saddlebags to give to the showmare.

"Derpy? Trixie didn't know you were in Ponyville. She also didn't know any pony would send her a letter." Trixie cocked her head to the side at the look Derpy gave her.

"Just for you, says for Trixie only." Derpy's ears twitched and turned as if listening for sounds that shouldn't be nearby.

"Trixie thanks you." Taking the letter Trixie waited till Derpy left and then opened it while making sure that she wasn't in view of the window. Several seconds later she wanted to be cursing out loud but held back from doing so. There would be no way to get mother out of town during the day, and attempting any kinds of moves would be seen by the operatives that the princess very likely had within the town. It left them the narrow window of opportunity that nightfall would give to try and slip out of town. A narrow opportunity that her brother was making worse by deciding to head into the Everfree as their retreat, if only because the guard would be wary of heading into the dangerous forest at night. "And with good reason." Trixie muttered. She didn't remember much of her trek through the forest but she did have a few vague memories that told her she had been lucky to get through the place the first time. Trixie had learned to trust her instincts in the last half year, ever since she had taken the Rite of the Dancing Shadow in the Bison lands she had been more in tune with the world around her. She had been very grateful to the Bison for their aid in her quest to help both her mother and her family. It was her commitment to family that had swayed the Bison to her side, she had true friends among them and hoped to be able to visit again when all of this was finished.

Levitating a small mirror from the stand nearby she almost warily looked into the surface. She hadn't seen herself since her entrance into the Ways and her attempt to access the archive, and the image reflected told her how badly her attempt had cost her. Closing her now pale eyes she shoved the mirror onto the bed and turned to leave the room, it was time to visit her mother and then to get ready for tonight. She didn't care if it was a thousand arcanists, nopony was laying a hoof on her mother.

0000000

Unlike many ponies who set up shop in towns and cities Derpy didn't live above her place of work, which happened to be the mail office, she instead lived above the Ponyville clockwork shop with her husband and two daughters. Pokey was heading there now to give Time Turner the journals and warn him of the possible need for his family to get out of Equestria for awhile. Even as he approached the building he could see the usual signs were not set out and the curtains were already drawn with a sign reading Closed: Return in several weeks, maybe. Pokey didn't bother knocking on the door and simply opened it with his magic, stepping inside to see the amount of clutter that usually covered every workspace of Time Turner's shop was even more pronounced now that it included items that were being packed.

"Pokey, about time you got here." Time Turner rushed into the room carrying what looked to be a large round watch that he threw into the top suitcase. "Derpy already told me to get ready to move out."

"Yes things are likely to get a little dangerous for those who've helped us, at least for a time. Taking her and the children to the Diamond Shores?" Pokey set the journals near the suitcase getting only a cursory glance from Time Turner.

"Everyone goes to the Diamond Shores, probably get trampled in the rush to see those gem whales." Shaking his head as if this was the worst thing in the world Time Turner turned and tossed a travel booklet to Pokey who caught it and looked at the cover.

"You're seriously taking your family to see the Horned Clock Tower? What could possibly be interesting there?" Pokey couldn't help but laugh at Time Turners irritated glare.

"I'll have you know there's supposed to be a ghost rampaging around the place once a week." Pulling a strange clockwork item out from under the counter of his shop the stallion shook his head. "Don't need that, actually I'm not even sure where that came from."

"Just be careful." Pokey smiled as he noticed Dinky and Sparkler come into the building "After all I don't want to have to worry about my favorite little nieces."

"Uncle Pokey!" Dinky dashed over to Pokey while Sparkler followed at a more sedate pace. "Did ya get us anything."

"Now you've got her calling you uncle all the time." Time Turner didn't sound as if it bothered him.

"There is someone outside that has asked to see you uncle." Sparkler's more formal speaking was something Pokey had gotten used to though he still wondered why she was the only one in Derpy's family who used it. "I did not like the looks of him."

"I'll take care of it, just keep them inside till Derpy gets back." Pokey stopped at the door "I'll swing by later before nighttime to give you a list of things I'd like picked up from the library. Do you think you can handle that when everything gets started?"

"Twilight?" By the tone in Time Turner's voice Pokey could tell the stallion wanted nothing to do with anything that might hurt the mare.

"Shouldn't involve her at all. I just need Beatrix's things gotten out and moved to our rendezvous point." Seeing the clock maker nod Pokey headed out the door and towards the pony standing in between the two houses across the street. Stopping some distance away he examined the cloaked stranger, noting the unicorn horn as well as the crimson and gold ring that was placed around the base of said horn. "An arcanist with a power amp. Well I didn't know I was so important as to get this kind of treatment." He smiled as he saw irritation flare in the strangers eyes.

"We're not here for you Pokey, unless you cause trouble." The deep voice sparked a dim memory in Pokey's mind but he couldn't place it. "I'm here on behalf of the princesses, and everypony in this town, to ask you not to make this harder than it has to be."

"Harder than it has to be?" Pokey thanked every self control measure he had ever learned, because they were the only thing that kept him from trying to slam the pony though a wall. Which would have been a futile attempt anyway as the guardspony was a member of the Nova Guard, which put his power pool significantly above Pokey's to begin with and that wasn't even counting the battle spells and power amp. "You are here threatening my mother and sister and you're telling me to make this easy on you?"

"Do you want innocent ponies to get hurt!" The Nova Guard member took a step forward "If we have to come into this town we will."

"Just like Blackwatch then hmm?" Pokey noted a direct deflating of the guards arrogance at those words.

"The guard has changed since then." The pony seemed to hesitate for a moment and then with a sigh pulled off the crimson cloth that shielded most of his face. He looked to Pokey who now bore a look of shock on his face. "I won't let them do something like that again."

"Strong Heart." Pokey was truly surprised his voice hadn't failed him as he stared at a pony he had thought dead for over ten years. "Y-you..." Every plan began falling apart in that one instance.

"Well I expected to garner a bit of surprise but to see you speechless is certainly impressive." Strong Heart tried to inject mirth into that statement but it fell flat. And the more the existence of the pony before him sank in the more Pokey began to put the pieces to together.

"You were always a guard." The soft spoken words only elicited a nod from Strong Heart. "Was that your purpose? Keep an eye on us, wait for our mother to fall and then turn on us?!" A hoof slammed down as power began to gather on Pokey's horn.

"Don't do something you'll regret Pokey." Strong Heart looked sadly at the stallion before him "I won't lie to you and say I was trying to save you all from the guard. My job was simply to keep an eye on your family and make sure we knew when the inevitable happened."

"She trusted you." Banishing the magic from his horn Pokey let his hate for the pony before him show.

"I know. I don't make excuses for my actions, but I'm a member of the guard and it's my duty to watch over Equestria and act on its behalf." Strong Heart gestured proudly to the buildings around them. "Because of the sacrifices of soldiers like me and the rest of the guard the ponies of Equestria can live and work peacefully with no fear."

"The fact you can say that with a straight face is astounding." Pokey sent a withering glare at the pony "Next you'll try to claim it was the Nova Guard who defeated Nightmare Moon, or Sombra, or the Changeling Queen." he snorted and added "Discord. The elements of harmony have done more to protect this land than you ever will."

Silence met the statement for a moment before Strong Heart sighed and backed into the shadows of the buildings. "I'm sorry Pokey. I'm sorry I lied to you, your mother and your sister. I'm sorry that this is the way things have to be. I'm just begging you to think about the ponies who live in this town, don't bring them into your conflict with the guard." He drew the crimson cloth back over his face.

"My conflict with the guard?" Pokey shook his head "You were with us for years and yet you don't understand. This was never our conflict, it was always yours and it always will be. You've invaded innocent towns in order to take members of our family, fighting is the only answer left to us." He watched as the Nova Guard captain teleported away in a flash of red and shook his head "It isn't me you should have come to Strong Heart, and it's not me you should fear in this. It's Beatrix."

00000000

Ponyville, moonrise

"No resistance yet sir." The youngest of the arcanist squad looked towards the hospital that was only two more blocks away.

Strong Heart stared at the street ahead thinking of the reports from their operative and how she had said that Trixie was up and moving around. It should have been impossible but reports said she was healed already, which meant he'd have to deal with her in a fight instead of just picking up a wounded mare. Not that he was to worried, he knew how powerful Trixie was and at most she might be a match for a single low power arcanist. He had a squad of ten all of whom were outfitted with power amps, which meant any fight between Trixie and his forces would be short. Slipping from the shadows between the two buildings the arcanists moved into the street and began to head towards the hospital when the sky darkened and a flash of lightning nearly blinded the ponies.

When the light faded Strong Heart found his squad facing a single pony standing in the center of the road. A pony wearing a purple cape and hat, both of which were covered in gold and blue stars. Any words he might have spoken died when he saw the changes in the pony he had taught some magic to during his time with her family. The spells the Nova Guard bore in their armor allowed them to see at night as well as during the daytime and he could easily see the dark markings on her body, the dull colored coat and pale eyes and mane that seemed to mark her now. He noted she was wearing the boots and leg armor of a frontier ranger, it even bore the enchantments only given by the royal armorsmith.

"Trixie..."

"Did you think that Trixie would just let you pass?" Trixie knew the answer was yes, and it likely would have been allowed if she had listened to Pokey. Her brother had come up with a convoluted plan that would have had them engaging nopony and hopefully escaping with minimal danger. It was the mention of Strong Heart that had changed Trixie's mind about going along with her brothers plan. "Trixie trusted you. She wanted to be like you!"

"I understand you don't like me Trixie, in fact I'm betting you hate me right now." He gestured for his subordinates to back up slightly. "And I understand that you want to protect your mother." By the look on the other unicorns face he had better speed up his words. "But do you really want to fight right here? Do you want to put the innocent ponies of this town in danger? You have to understand I can't back down, I have my orders. This is your decision." He nearly let out a sigh as he noted Trixie's look to the buildings around her, buildings holding sleeping ponies, and the uncertainty that began to show in her face. He was about to speak again when a small flash lit within a window at the hospital followed by a section of the building exploding outward in a thundering boom that actually shook the buildings nearby. Strong Heart could only stare at the burning hospital for a second before anger surged "What in Tartarus does Bulwark think she's doing!" He froze as he felt power beginning to swirl in the street ahead of him and all of it coming from Trixie. "Trixie, we didn't have anything to do with that!"

"You want Trixie to understand you?" The black lines on her body began to shimmer and glow as she tapped the nearby elemental powers. "Trixie doesn't need to understand you..." Arcanists froze and stared in shock. "Because..." Strong Heart's eyes widened in fear as a dark black aura surged up around Trixie's horn and green light filled her eyes. When she spoke next her voice boomed louder than any princess Luna had ever called forth.

"TRIXIE WILL END YOU!"

0000000000000000000

Pokey's Classified info.

Applejack: Element of Honesty

Birthplace: Ponyville

Education: Ponyville Public School

Power Level: Medium. Strength wise she is ahead of all other members of the elements but her skill level is low compared to the other elements. Don't let that fool you, she is strong fighter and quite a bit smarter than many think.
Parents: Apple Blossom and Orchard, currently whereabouts unknown.

Addendum to parents: Starting to get a weird vibe on these ponies Pokey. Apple Blossom and Orchard were never part of any of the military structure but they just so happened to be on the Cloud Breaker when it took its maiden voyage and vanished over the Hornmount. Did you know that every major investigative force that began to look into the mysterious disappearance of a so-called "Invincible" airship were not only all under the authority of the crown but also all amazingly came to the exact same conclusion? Passenger lists are impressively hard to get and I had to bribe six different archivists to get my hooves on the correct one. Applejacks parents tickets showed they boarded from Canterlot instead of Ponyville when the airship stopped there. Reasons were hard to come up with but I did manage to get a break when one of the castle maids told me she remembered the two, if only because they apparently met with princess Celestia privately before they boarded the ship. And may I say that the main reason she even remembered that, considering how long it's been since then, is that she was nearby and says she is almost certain she heard them arguing with the princess which is not something you hear about every day. I'm starting to pick up heat down here Pokey, don't know who it's from but I'm certain that Breaker is missing. These ain't the royal intel agents either, sompony else is getting interested in your little investigation.

Grandmother: Granny Smith

Siblings: Applebloom, Big McIntosh.

Author's Note:

Well that sort of put the death to my 'only between 2 to 4k length chapter' statement. Well I finished this thing at 2 am last night, still think it turned out okay.

If you see any problems just tell me, it'll help me get better at this sort of thing.

Comments

[yayme]

........dude I fucking LOVE this story!

I couldn't even read this chapter all in one go. I had to step away from the puter...Due to yelling helpful things like;
'Twilight, keep your nose outta Trixies things!'
'Celestia you bitch! I always knew Trixie was getting hosed, now I know it all YOUR fault!'
'WHOOP THEIR CANDY-ASSES TRIXIE!!!'

I actually did yell things. And was almost afraid to finish reading it, because of how close the Nova Guard are. Dude, this story, and your writing are great.

Pissed off, high powered Trixie is awesome!
When you do get this done, I can already say, I'll read it over and over again.