Chapter 5 – Actions That Delineate
The air was thick with dust. Zeeps fought a coughing fit to cast a light spell. The eerie green light pulsed slowly with her labored breaths for air. She sat beside a mound of rubble, beyond it was likely the chamber she had just escaped moments ago. The changeling stumbled away, unsure of where her friends were. The dust stung her large icy-blue eyes.
“Hello, anyone?” Zeeps called out with a cough. She saw lights up ahead and the air was clearer in that direction. She hobbled over as hope swelled in her chest.
Three ponies bearing the Zenith Dawn patch on their sleeves came into view. They put their lanterns down and seized the surprised changing.
“Hello? Anyone else?!” Zeeps called out as she weakly struggled to get away. She gave up quickly, her strength not nearly enough to break free of their grasp. She was pushed along the tunnel’s path until it exited into a large cavern.
The cavern was so enormous that it had nearly two dozen other passages converged here. Scattered around the chamber were several members of the Zenith Dawn. They had regrouped to tend to their wounds and search for other survivors. They also had two other prisoners, Cheryl and Ellie.
Zeeps had her wings and legs bound together by a burly earth pony. She was then shoved against her friends. “Ow! Are you trying to hurt me?” the changeling complained.
“Feh, yeah,” the burly pony responded as he walked away.
“Zeeps, you’re alive!” Ellie cheered softly. “I’m glad you’re okay. I hope Trixie and Princess Luna made it out too.”
“Trixie got hit by Golden’s lightning in the fight,” Cheryl said flatly. “Luna went after her, but I don’t reckon her luck is that good.”
“Don’t say that!” Ellie scolded.
Zeeps looked at all the surviving members of the Zenith Dawn here. She was relieved that neither Golden nor Phoebe were among the ponies here, and their absence may have been the only reason she and her friends were still alive. The three Black Wings, Skywarp, Dirge, and Thrust, appeared to have taken charge of the group.
“Two minutes and then we’re moving back to camp,” Dirge commanded the group.
Thrust cleared his throat. “Not going to search for the princess?” he asked.
“Nuts to that,” Skywarp replied tersely. “I’m not wasting my time chasing a mare who can teleport.”
“I agree,” Dirge added. “We should head back to the fort and join the charge against what’s left of Debon’s group. Finish off the Horizon Walkers for good.”
“Don’t you mean, for bad?” Thrust asked coyly.
The three pegasi shared a laugh among the crowd. Zeeps growled at them, but her noise went unheard. Ellie looked around at the cavern’s plethora of tunnels with wonderment.
“I wonder what this place was used for?” the Pegasus muttered.
“Common room,” Zeeps replied. “Where the hive would generally hang out when they’re not working.”
Ellie gave Zeeps a look of surprise, though Cheryl didn’t seem to visibly respond. The Pegasus leaned in closer. “How do you know? Is this…?”
“This was my home, once,” Zeeps said affirmatively.
Cheryl let out a snort. “How did I know you were part of Hive Mephera,” she said with disbelief. “Guess I could of asked that Andrenida lass.”
“You met my queen?” Zeeps said with renewed enthusiasm. “Is she doing well? How are my hive siblings?”
Cheryl scrunched her face at the questions. “Well, I reckon about as well as anyone who had their home blown up. I mean, Andrenida seems like an alright monarch. Your… siblings weren’t too fond of us though.”
“Pipe down, gang,” Ellie abruptly hissed. She pointed to something that came out from one of the tunnels.
A green magical bolt of fireworks streaked out of the tunnel and hit Dirge in the butt. The bright burst of scintillating colors stunned the Black Wings and sent Dirge to the ground face first. Skywarp jumped forward to check on Dirge’s injuries, but the crowd turned towards the source of the blast. It came from an all too familiar ornery azure unicorn-Trixie! She smirked at the crowd and then ran back into the tunnel she had appeared from.
“I’ll gladly take her down a peg,” Thrust growled. “Get that unicorn!”
The minions began to gallop after Trixie. Just as they entered the passage a burst of fireworks showered them from above. Manes caught fire and prompted several shouts of panic to put them out. Trixie waved from the elevated tunnel.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie cannot be caught!” the unicorn exclaimed as she retreated into the passage.
The pegasi members of the Zenith Dawn took to the air and gave chase. A few earth ponies continued down the original passage. Dirge sat up and rubbed his bleeding nose. He looked around at the other tunnels and saw that three more Trixies had stepped out of hiding. The pegasus pointed them out.
“There!” Dirge blurted out. “There’s… more of her?!”
“Trixie is a master of illusion!” the three identical unicorns exclaimed. They were followed by another two Trixies from an adjacent tunnel and three more from a tunnel behind the remaining crowd. Seconds later the ponies that had ran into the tunnels to give chase found themselves retreating back from the sudden army of azure unicorns.
“Curse your illusions!” Thrust shouted. “Somepony find the real Trixie!”
The crowd was disjointed and confused. The plethora of Trixies all laughed in unison, their voices echoing eerily in the colossal cavern.
“Do you foals think you can figure out which one of us is the real Trixie? Well guess what,” they all boasted together, “We’re all real!” The surrounding Trixie army fired bolts of fireworks into the crowd. Ponies were burned and thrown flat on their backs from the rain of magical shots. Everyone scattered in fits of screams and panic.
Skywarp took a direct blast of magic to the head. He hit a large rock on the ground and was knocked out. Dirge charged the closest Trixie. Fireworks exploded all around him with deafening bangs, but he flew over the Trixie and escaped into the tunnel. Thrust spread his wings to follow, but two Trixie behind him blasted the pegasus with their magic. Thrust skidded across the ground several feet, his wings burned. The pegasus bit back the pain and scrambled back up to resume his escape on hoof into the maze of tunnels.
“Whoa, that ain’t really…?” Cheryl muttered.
“No, it isn’t Trixie,” Zeeps interrupted. Her voice buzzed happily. “It’s my hive!”
The Zenith Dawn fled into the tunnels, but many members were captured before they could escape. One by one the Trixies dropped their disguises with a sickly green light to reveal that they all were indeed changelings.
“Effective, that’s for sure,” Ellie commented.
Cheryl nodded as she freed herself from the ropes around her legs. “Yeah, frighteningly so,” she added. “Though I am a bit disappointed that our blue bunko wasn’t actually among them.”
Queen Andrenida stepped into the chamber. She walked around the captured ponies that were strewn about before approaching Cheryl. Zeeps hid behind Ellie for protection.
“Where are Trixie and Minuit?” the queen asked. “Have they been captured elsewhere by these ponies?”
“Sort of,” Cheryl explained. “We rescued our friends, but the cavern collapsed in a big fight. Trixie and Minuit are lost somewhere down there, so we got to dig them out.”
“I am risking too much to linger this close to Golden’s minions,” the queen countered. “Do not take this as indifference to your friends, but I must preserve the greater needs of my children over two ponies.”
Cheryl smirked as she freed Ellie and Zeeps from their binds. “How about if one of those two ponies is a princess?” the earth pony inquired, “'Cause you’ll be swanned to know that Minuit is actually Princess Luna in disguise.”
Andrenida’s jaw nearly hit the ground. “Is that so?” she asked. “She’s as crafty as a changeling. I’m impressed, and that bit of news does hold weight against my decision. Very well, my children will dig a path into the collapsed section so that you may search for your friends. However, my hive must return to our sanctuary before Golden regroups her forces for a counterattack.”
“Fair enough,” Cheryl agreed. “I reckon you could show us around here in short order.”
The queen turned to her subjects and began speaking to them in an odd language of their own. After addressing them, the changelings began to gather and bind the captured ponies. She returned her attention to Cheryl. “Now then, do you and your friends need their wounds tended to?” Andrenida asked.
Cheryl pointed to the little changeling that poorly hid behind Ellie. “I reckon they’re both alright. The pegasus with one wing is Ellie and that there cowering behind her is Zeeps. I just put two and two together here that she’s one of your subjects.”
The queen stretched out her hoof at the little changeling. “Come forward my child,” the queen beckoned. “Today a great many things will change.”
Zeeps stopped cowering and slowly approached the queen. When she bowed, Ellie reflexively bowed as well. The queen lifted Zeep’s chin to meet eye to eye.
“In the past, any changeling who would embrace the concept of independence was to be banished from the hive,” the queen stated. “However, we can no longer maintain the old ways of thinking and survive in this developing world, least we become relics of its past. I decree that on this day, Hive Mephera will accept the concept of individualism as the first step toward the goal of peace between us and ponykind.”
Zeeps stared blankly into the queen’s eyes.
“That means,” Andrenida explained, “Welcome home, my child.” She gave Zeeps a gentle hug.
The hive began to beat their wings happily at Zeeps. The little changeling gasped with delight and flew over to join her family. They began chattering profusely in their own language and exchanged several friendly slaps. Ellie glanced from Cheryl to the queen and back to Cheryl again.
“Um, so is this a good thing?” the pegasus asked.
“I reckon so,” Cheryl replied.
“Zeeps was one of my spies,” Andrenida said. “She infiltrated Equestrian towns and other hives to report on their actions. After several months spying on Queen Chrysalis, she disappeared. I presumed that Zeeps either was killed or had become in individual within a pony town somewhere.”
Cheryl stroked her chin. “This is the favor that Trixie asked for, ain’t it? She asked you to let Zeeps come home?”
“She did,” Andrenida replied. “Trixie considers Zeeps a good friend, and such a bond is exactly what I’d like to foster between our species. I would have welcomed Zeeps back regardless, but such a request gave me hope that we could live in harmony someday.” The queen glanced down the tunnel the ponies had come from.
“Now then, I do believe that I am owed a princess.”
~ ~ ~
“Achoo!”
Trixie awoke to the sound of a hefty sneeze nearby. She slowly sat up and rubbed the painful blister on her back. There was just no getting used to being struck by magical lightning. Unable to see anything, she cast a light spell. Soreness pricked at her horn as well, but the cavern still lit up with a soft yellow-white light. She gathered her thoughts and remembered that she had the Alicorn Amulet. Had… Trixie looked around for the cursed piece of jewelry.
She spotted it on the ground about twenty paces away, next to Princess Luna. The alicorn was battered from the fallen rocks and her right hind leg was bent in an awkward direction. Trixie grimaced, but made her way over to the princess.
“How badly are you hurt?” Trixie asked as she looked over the bent leg.
“My leg,” Luna hoarsely replied. “Too much pain... to cast a spell.”
“Let me see what I can do,” Trixie said. The unicorn thought back to the bits of rudimentary first aid she picked up in her travels. The odd position of the princess’ leg gave her the idea that maybe it was pulled out of its socket. Well, it was a hefty ‘maybe’ as she was no doctor. Still, that was also how one set a broken bone, right?
“Um… this will probably hurt. A lot,” Trixie said apprehensively.
Luna removed one of her shoes and clamped her teeth down on it. “Ready,” she mumbled with a nodded.
Trixie braced a hind-hoof against Luna’s flank. She grabbed the bent leg tightly and yanked it hard. There was an audible ‘pop’ in Luna’s hip. The princess screamed into her shoe, but her leg was now pointed in the proper direction. Luna spat her shoe out and caught her breath. She was able to move her hind-leg again, albeit with limited motion. The princess worked her weakened magic to dull the ache and restore some strength to her limb.
“Nurse Trixie saves another patent!” the unicorn said proudly to herself.
“Uhhh, Trixie?” moaned a weak, male voice from a dark corner.
The unicorn nearly jumped out of her fur. She pointed her light in the direction of the voice. Her eyes met with Debon. He was sprawled on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Trixie slowly approached him. The stallion’s throat was also covered in grotesque scabs and tumors that were still bleeding. Trixie guessed that that the stallion tried to heal himself with a spell and he failed badly.
“Trix…” Debon muttered.
Trixie sat as close as she could without touching the caking blood. She held out a hoof and Debon seized it. The stallion felt cold and clammy.
“You… were right…” he said hoarsely. “I guess… you can gloat…”
“No, not like this,” Trixie replied. “I mean, yes you were wrong about trying to tame these stupid artifacts, but you at least had Equestria’s best interests. I just… I don’t know how I expected this to end.”
“He’s slipping,” came another voice, notably deeper.
Trixie turned her head and saw a battered gray stallion laying not far away on the ground. Despite one eye swollen shut, his remaining dull red eye still managed to pierce Trixie with an otherworldly gaze. She was staring at Sombra.
“Great, what are we supposed to do with you?” Trixie muttered.
Debon moaned in pain. “So… cold…” he weakly whispered.
“I-I don’t think I can help you,” Trixie said sadly.
“I do not believe any of us could,” Luna added as she limped over. The princess had the Alicorn Amulet tucked under her right wing. “He’s lost too much blood and I'm too weak to heal that wound. I can try-”
“No, save... your strength, for you,” Debon interrupted.
“There is nothing,” Sombra said with a hiss, “Nothing either of you could do for him now. I can see death standing beside him. A bony hoof rests on his shoulders.”
“Kindly shut up,” Luna snapped at the stallion.
Debon pulled Trixie closer. She stepped into the caked blood and a chill ran up her spine from the sticky, cold splatter. The dying stallion stared at Trixie without blinking.
“Please… stop Golden. At least… grant me that…” Debon wheezed. His grip loosed and went limp on the ground. After another three short breaths his chest stopped moving at all.
Trixie stepped back in horror. Luna comforted her with a wing around her back. The two stood there silently for several seconds until Sombra broke the silence with his raspy voice.
“Now, what of the late king?” he said ominously. “Shall he go as well?”
“Luna said to shut up,” Trixie muttered angrily, tears in her eyes. “You’re more than welcome to just… oh!” She had only now noticed that where Sombra’s horn should have been was instead a shallow protrusion of chipped bone. Caked blood covered the edges where the bone met his torn skin.
The thought of a unicorn without their horn left Trixie stunned. She stammered and paced a bit on what she should do. This was the former King Sombra, right? She was fairly sure it was, except that the evil unicorn tyrant from a thousand years ago was now reduced to a half-dead blithering earth pony.
“We should take him with us,” Luna stated clearly.
Trixie stopped in her tracks. “What?”
The princess used her levitation magic to gather pieces of wood and rope together from broken crates. “Let us build a sled and take him with us. I do not believe he is the same tyrant from ages past, but we should not let him out of our sight as a precaution.”
“Well, he does look like Sombra,” Trixie said as she wiped her bloodied hoof on a rock.
“One pony does look like another… at a fair distance,” Sombra whispered enigmatically.
“I have never heard of magic that could bring a pony back from the dead,” Luna said. “Therefore, whoever… or whatever this pony is, I do not believe it is the same Sombra.”
Trixie helped tie the boards together into a simple sled to pull Sombra. She sighed heavily upon its completion. “Are you sure about this? You’re hurt too, and Debon’s body…”
“I’ve fought Discord, Sombra, and my own sister,” Luna stated defiantly. “A lame leg… is nothing to me. As for Debon, there is nothing more we can do here.” She hobbled over to the wounded stallion and lifted him onto the sled.
“Well, you did lose that last fight,” Trixie muttered to herself.
“What did you say?” Luna asked.
Trixie patted Sombra on the back. “Nothing, just telling the king here that he used to cause quite a fright,” she fibbed. The unicorn picked up the rope and pulled the sled toward the only tunnel they could see.
The two ponies slowly made their way to the tunnel and looked around. It appeared to be intact, so Luna limped into the passage first.
“This path slopes upwards,” the princess stated. “With luck we will find a way out.”
Trixie pulled the sled into the tunnel and followed along. She was still in shock after witnessing Debon’s death. After all their encounters she felt bad that their rivalry came to end so sudden. The tunnel’s upward slope distracted Trixie’s mind. She began to regain hope that they were moving toward the surface, but the silence around her was smothering.
“So, is this Sombra look-alike a prisoner?” Trixie asked the princess idly as they hobbled along.
“For now,” Luna replied. “If he does not expire within the next few hours, we can interrogate him to learn what he actually is and if he poses a threat to us.”
“The real threat… lies ahead,” Sombra hissed.
“I’m going to kick you,” Trixie stated plainly to the stallion. There was a long pause as she decided what to ask the princess next. “So… Minuit, huh? Now that whole story about being back-stabbed by your sister over ‘art’ has an interesting context. Did you come up with that disguise recently?”
Luna glanced at Trixie with what might have been a smirk. “Yes, it is a recent nom de plume. My sister has, on rare occasions, snuck out of the castle disguised as a white unicorn or pegasus. I merely copied her disguise for my own needs.”
“Really?” Trixie said with interest. “Why would Celestia sneak out? Is it to avoid the media?”
“I am not entirely sure,” the princess admitted. “However, you would be wise to be courteous around any pony named Sunny Skies.”
The two mares reached a fork in the tunnel. Both branches sloped upward and appeared identical. There were no clues as to which path would get them closer to an exit. Trixie shone her light into both tunnels, but gleaned no further information.
“I guess we can flip a coin,” Trixie mused aloud, “Except that I don’t have one.”
“Ugh,” Sombra muttered from behind them. “We are just stumbling in the dark like blind rats in a feline's gut.”
Luna snorted. “If you have a better idea, do tell me.”
Trixie wondered if there was something else missing in his head besides the horn. She leaned over to the princess. “You've fought him once ages ago, right? Was he like this, or is the stallion just some look-alike suffering from being… ‘mostly’ resurrected?”
“You are asking me to recall something from a thousand years ago?” Luna replied uncomfortably. “Well, my memory is a bit hazy of our encounter, but he was a tyrant of no fear and few words.”
“And?” Trixie questioned.
“Well, this creature does not appear to fear death. However, it seems more curious than the Sombra I remember.”
The unicorn sighed. “I just really want to know if this stallion is the real deal.”
“Doubtful. According to Twilight, when the empire's Crystal Heart was recovered it caused him to… well, explode. I would say such an end is final to any being. This is precisely why I do not believe that this animate thing is the same late king.”
Trixie began to wonder what it was that she dragged along on the sled. “I see. Well, I’m not sure you’re going to learn much from him if he isn't Sombra.”
“I will not need to speak to him long to get what I want,” Luna corrected.
The marching sound of hooves interrupted their conversation. Light began to seep down the right passage as a group approached. The two pegasi, Thundercracker and Ramjet, led three earth ponies down the tunnel with lanterns strapped to mining helmets. The ponies drew bladed weapons upon noticing Trixie’s magical light.
“Left tunnel it is,” the unicorn declared. She left Sombra behind as she pushed Luna down the other passage. Her retreat was cut short when the servant Cervantes and two more armed unicorns came up from the left tunnel. The enemy unicorns each levitated daggers that gave a soft white glow.
“Okay, Trixie can see that there’s a demand for her greatness and power,” Trixie stated to both parties as she tried to compose herself.
“Excuse me,” Luna remarked, “Beautiful alicorn princess in your presence? Did you forget about that?”
“Hush, Trixie is trying to weasel out of this,” the unicorn whispered back. She returned to addressing both groups. “Since both the Horizon Walkers and the Zenith Dawn wish me captured, we shall resolve this situation as civilized ponies. You both shall fight to the death and Princess Luna here will judge you on form and skill. The team with the most points wins.”
“Wouldn’t one team be dead after fighting to the death?” Luna remarked flatly.
“Fine, we’ll skip the judging part,” Trixie corrected.
Thundercracker stepped forward. “Don’t bother brandishing your superfluous looks and sly tongue,” he stated. “Cervantes has pledged his allegiance to Golden, so he’s actually on my side.”
“Wha… whose looks are you calling superfluous?!” Trixie angrily shouted. “Why, I could blind you all right now on my charm alone!”
The two unicorns behind Cervantes pulled out what looked like water balloons from their saddlebags. They lobbed the objects over to Trixie and the balloons burst upon hitting the ground. A clear liquid inside vaporized immediately into a noxious gas. Thundercracker and Ramjet flapped their wings to push the gas toward their opponents.
Trixie and Luna began to cough violently. They backed away from the gas cloud as fast as they could. Luna fired several bolts of magic at her opponents. Two of the earth ponies were struck and knocked down by her attack. The other ponies charged to overwhelm the princess with their numbers.
“Back off!” Trixie warned. Her eyes were watery from the gas, but she saw several shapes converge on her. She fired several magical fireworks blindly ahead of her and the shapes yelped loudly in response. Trixie aimed to shoot again. Someone’s hoof came down and struck her in the head. The unicorn stumbled backwards and tripped over Sombra. She hit the ground, followed by a hoof pressed against her chest and a blade against her throat. Trixie froze in place.
Princess Luna fired a magical bolt point-blank at Cervantes. The magical blast sent the clawed pony backwards against the hard tunnel wall. The two pegasi dove on top of Luna to bring her down. She faltered and pressed too much weight on her bad leg. The pain paralyzed her backside and the princess fell to her knees. The amulet tucked under her wing clattered on the ground.
“We don’t technically need you alive,” Thundercracker threatened as he put his hooves around Luna’s neck, “So why don’t you be a good lass and just give up on this tomfoolery?”
Luna pushed against Thundercracker, but Ramjet seized her hind-legs. Luna was pinned down tight. One of the earth ponies hurried over with a conical metal device. He clasped it around Luna’s horn with a sharp snapping sound. The metal object squeezed painfully and rendered Luna unable to cast her magic.
The remaining ponies held Trixie down as an identical device was clasped to her horn. Trixie recognized the device as something that was used on her in the San Anponio prison. One of the earth ponies gagged Trixie’s mouth with a rag.
Luna ceased her struggles, but spat on the ground. “When I get free of your grasp, Thundercracker,” she threatened, “You will be the first to taste the royal hoof!”
“Yeah, that’s not happening,” the pegasus leader replied. He clenched Luna’s jaw shut as one of the unicorns tied a leather strap around her muzzle. Once Luna’s jaw was secured, Thundercracker swiped her tiara. “This ought to fetch some decent coin on the black market.”
Ramjet picked up the Alicorn Amulet and examined it. “I wonder if this thing works on pegasi?”
“It’ll corrupt you just the same,” Cervantes stated flatly as he stood up.
“Eh, it isn’t worth the trouble,” Ramjet stated. He placed it in a pouch just before he poked the barely conscious Sombra. “Should we take this guy too? He doesn’t seem particularly useful.”
“Yes, bring him along as well,” Thundercracker replied. “It’ll give Golden’s pet marilith a snack so that she doesn’t eat one of us.” The pegasus leader pushed his prisoners to walk ahead of the group.
Trixie walked quietly alongside Luna. She glanced back at her captors, but they remained focused on locating the exit. However, she had noticed that Ramjet pulled the sled with Sombra still on it. That in itself wasn’t interesting, but Sombra was quietly drawing arrows in the dirty ground with a hoof. It seemed the stallion had some wit left in him after all.
All Trixie needed now was her friends to find the trail and follow it.
~ ~ ~
The changelings dug tirelessly through the collapsed tunnel. They worked methodically from the top down, careful to avoid further collapse of the rubble. Cheryl wiped the sweat that rolled off her brow as she helped pull away the large chunks of rock.
Ellie interrupted to offer Cheryl a drink of water from a canteen. “Hey, don’t hurt yourself, okay?”
“Bah, this is easy work,” Cheryl countered as she took a sip. “The only reason I’m sweating like this is because it’s hotter than a bed-house on nickel night.”
“I’m not asking how you know that,” Ellie muttered with a blush. “Well, the prisoners won’t tell us anything useful. Not too surprising considering only a hoof-full of changelings speak a common tongue and none of them were the ones doing the interrogation.”
“Where’s Zeeps then?” Cheryl asked.
Ellie’s eyebrows slowly raised. “She’s right there,” the Pegasus said with a point to the nearest changeling. “Honestly, do they all look alike to you?”
“Eh, I reckon so,” Cheryl said indifferently.
Queen Andrenida approached with a grim expression. She commanded the changelings in her own language and they ceased digging. The queen addressed the two ponies. “I’m afraid the cavern you last saw Trixie had utterly collapsed. Digging it out is a fruitless task.”
“What about Princess Luna?” Ellie stated. “She was with Trixie and if you want your princess, you got to keep digging!”
“There is a better way,” the queen countered. “One of my scouts has sighted Golden’s minions searching these tunnels for survivors. We shall infiltrate their ranks and see if they have rescued the princess for us.”
“Well that might work for y’all,” Cheryl began, “But what should us non-changelings do? Sitting on the side-lines ain’t my thing when I’ve got a friend needing to be saved.”
“If the princess and Trixie have been captured by Golden’s minions, then they will be taken to the surface,” Andrenida answered. “Golden has utilized a captured fort previously used by your royal guards. She keeps her prisoners there.”
Cheryl wiped her brow. “Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s just cut to the chase and assault that place!”
“Patience, little pony,” the queen stated. “I must first secure our prisoners for the hive and infiltrate Golden’s ranks. Changelings are not straight-up warriors like you may be. We rely on stealthy attacks. However, if you wish to attack Golden’s fort, then I will not stop you. I only suggest you do so carefully and with guile. I’m sure Zeeps will be happy to accompany you.”
“Come on, bug-butt,” Cheryl said to the nearest changeling she saw. The earth pony felt a tap on her back from behind.
“I’m over here,” Zeeps corrected.
“Confound it,” the earth pony muttered angrily. “Whatever, let’s just get going.”
Ellie stepped forward. “Your highness, I would like to take one of the prisoners with us.”
“Why?” Cheryl asked. “Not as collateral I hope. You know Golden would just as readily blast her own mooks along with the rest of us.”
“That pretty much makes us all the other kind of collateral,” Zeeps added.
Andrenida nodded her head. “Indeed, Golden cares little about the value of her servants.”
“He’ll be useful in pointing out the easiest way into the fort,” Ellie explained. “I’m sure we can persuade him with a little force.”
Queen Andrenida was silent for a moment before she nodded in approval. “Very well, you may take one prisoner,” the queen said. “Do be careful out there. I am in no position to attempt two rescue efforts.”
The three friends walked down the tunnels back to the spacious cavern. The prisoners were aligned in two tidy rows, guarded by four changelings. The prisoner legs were all bound together with a green hardened gel-like substance. Ellie picked up a length of rope and walked over to Skywarp. She pulled him up on his hooves.
“I want you coming with us,” Ellie stated bravely. “You will show us where Golden’s hideout is and how to get inside.”
Skywarp smirked at the little pegasus. “What’s my incentive?”
“I won’t hurt you if you help,” Ellie replied.
“Ha, you?” Skywarp countered. “Young mare, I’m a Black Wing. My tolerance for pain is quite deep. A broken flower such as yourself could barely leave a bruise upon my cheek.”
Cheryl head-butted the pegasus in the jaw. Skywarp was knocked over backwards like a bowling pin and landed askew upon the other prisoners. Everyone leaned away as Cheryl walked up and lifted the stallion off the ground. Skywarp spat blood on the ground and smirked.
“Your friend, on the other hoof, is quite persuasive,” the stallion commented, “And quite pretty.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Cheryl said as she put him back down. “Zeeps, tell your friends that we’re taking him with us.”
Zeeps spoke to the other changelings in their own language. The guards nodded, but said nothing in return. Cheryl broke the hardened gel off Skywarp’s legs to allow him to walk, but she left the gel holding his wings shut.
The stallion turned to Ellie with a smile. “Not that you aren’t cute yourself,” he then added. Skywarp stretched his legs and began walking toward one of the tunnels. “Follow me, and do keep pace. I’d hate to see you fall behind and killed by a member of the Zenith Dawn.”
“Yeah, I bet you would,” Cheryl muttered under her breath.
Ellie tied a loose knot around Skywarp’s neck with the rope. The stallion led the three mares through the winding tunnels. He was quick on his hooves and he only stopped to read carvings that the Zenith Dawn had left to navigate the maze-like passages. No one spoke, though Cheryl grunted occasionally when Skywarp stopped abruptly.
On the stallion’s latest halt, Ellie tripped on his hind-leg, dropped the end of the rope, and fell forward. She reached out to stop her fall and grabbed the hardened gel on his wings, tearing the binding off.
“Oh no!” Ellie shouted without reaching for the rope. “He’s free!”
Cheryl and Zeeps immediately jumped forward and latched onto Skywarp. The stallion stood there nonplussed. He didn’t make an effort to escape nor did he fight back from the grapple of the mares.
Ellie got up and frowned at him. “You had a chance to escape!” she shouted.
“So?” Skywarp asked indifferently.
“Well don’t you want to get away from us?” Ellie inquired. “Shouldn’t you escape, leaving us lost in these tunnels so you can rejoin Golden?”
Skywarp smirked. “Let me guess, your plan was to free me so that I could fly off to Golden’s hideout and inadvertently lead you to the sorceress so that you can assassinate her?”
“Well, yeah,” Ellie admitted.
“It doesn’t work that way,” Skywarp said.
“Kid’s got half a brain in that noggin of his,” Cheryl said to Zeeps. She let Skywarp go and took a step back.
The stallion remained standing where he was. “First and foremost, we Black Wings are mercenaries. Our allegiance to Golden only goes as far as what she pays us, and that is a very short walk. Secondly, I don’t foresee you three accomplishing anything beyond getting yourselves captured by the Zenith Dawn. I’m only leading you to them because I would be heading in that direction regardless to get paid for my services before I leave.”
Ellie dug at the ground a bit. “So all those times you tried to kill us were…?”
“Business,” Skywarp stated proudly. “Granted a few of my associates take more pleasure in the job than I, but I strictly work for the money. There are no ideals or causes behind what we do.”
“Can I hit him again?” Cheryl asked her friends. “Just one good strike between those smug eyes of his.”
“Let me get in a good swing too,” Zeeps added angrily.
Ellie waved her friends down. “Oh stop it!” she barked. “He’s just playing us, okay? We keep walking until we find the way out. Then you two can do whatever.” She removed the knot around Skywarp’s neck and instead tried it around his barrel to keep the stallion’s wings shut.
Skywarp only shrugged and pointed at the ground. “I noticed someone had drawn several arrows in the dirt here. They are not the same as the markings Golden's group left so perhaps they are from your missing friends. Shall we?”
Ellie grunted with annoyance, but she followed the arrows. Skywarp and the others walked behind her down the tunnel. The stallion quckened his pace to get alongside Ellie.
“Now, if you folks have some money,” Skywarm said, “I could be persuaded to help out in a more supportive capacity.”
“We’re dead broke partner,” Cheryl stated.
“Then forget it,” Skywarp replied. “Charity only leads to trouble.”
“Who’s Charity?” Zeeps asked. She was promptly slapped in the back of the head by Cheryl.
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Keep it up. Although this story does have more of a bodycount thus far than the others, it's still enjoyable.
Loving it and need More!
...though part of me thinks the CMC will pop up at some point. Just feel like they snuck aboard the airship somehow....
Great to see this one back! Ah, Debon... no sorrow for him. Glad he's dead.
Well, looks like Debon's tale finally comes to an end here. Golden Jubilee had better worry though, because this is the genre where in a big-bad duumvirate, the second villain dies shortly after the first.
The changelings get their moment to be the big damn heroes by saving most of Trixie's crew and capturing part of Golden Jubilee's remaining forces. I don't know who the false King Sombra is, but I'm certain he'll probably be important somehow in the next few chapters, even beyond creating the arrows to indicate which direction they're being pulled in.
Zeeps finally gets her home back
Kinda of a dick but it's better than Tyrant.