Upon the Wings of Freedom: Dodge Junction
Iceheart had spent over five years in the frozen wastes, even not counting the stasis. She had made one fatal miscalculation in finally leaving.
Wiping a sheen of sweat off her forehead, she took an envious look at her two travelling companions, neither of who seemed bothered by the heat.
"I'm not surprised, honestly. You've been living up there for so long, of course you won't be used to the warmer climates. Don't worry, the Badlands are hot, but they are more a dry hot," Noire commented.
"Are you sure you cannot use a cooling spell on me? Either of you?" Iceheart groused.
Trixie said, "Neigh, sorry. Your body acclimates far slower if you were to use a cooling spell. We will spend a few days in Dodge Junction. While it is supposed to take up to two weeks, most of the acclimatisation should be done before we set out into the Badlands proper."
Iceheart sighed, and she said, "Very well."
The three ponies were sitting in their own private compartment of the Friendship Express, travelling from one extreme of Equestria to another. By the time night fell on the first day of their three-day trip, the outdoor temperatures had already begun to appreciably warm up, filtering in to the cabins. Iceheart had been thoroughly unprepared for it, and had ended up making use of the on-board shower once already.
"You know, I'm curious," Noire said. "Your coat is crystallised as a result of the Crystal Heart, and not its own inherent thing. I've heard it takes a few months for the sheen to go away for ponies who lived in the Empire once they leave."
"I have never been gone away from home or the castle that long," Iceheart said as she took a sip of tea, never really having thought about it. She wondered what her purple coat would be like if or when it ever lost its sheen, having never seen it not crystallised. "I do not know how long it will be for me. There was one case of a pony whose coat took two years to lose its luster. I doubt I will be one of the outliers, but one never knows."
While there was lots of scenery for Iceheart to look at, as the white faded away into greens, blues and browns, there was little else for her to do on the train. What few stops the train made were to pick up and drop off ponies and goods or to change trains, with only enough time to get out and stretch her limbs. As a result, she had ended up trading small stories with Noire and Trixie. Iceheart had consented to mild emotional leeching once Trixie and Noire had revealed some more about their status as magical hybrids, and how they had been run dry in destroying the ice block.
Then Noire decided to drop the bomb.
"So you're a runaway Royal Guard?" Was all Iceheart had to ask upon Noire making the revelation of what she had done before arriving in Whinnychester.
"You're not going to turn me in or anything, or even scold me?" Noire asked, perplexed.
Iceheart shrugged, and she said, "Why should I? As far as I was, am still concerned, Equestria and the Crystal Empire are separate entities with their own separate guards. That had been the case for all of the Empire's history before the Witch King, and an Equestrian pony who claims to be a descendant of the former Princess Amore and decreeing us a vassal state of Equestria does not change it in my mind. The desertion of a guard from a foreign nation does not concern me."
"But you'll take full advantage of being able to travel across Equestria without a visa now, right?" Trixie asked cheekily.
"That is true," Iceheart said, conceding the point. "Of course, it is just like how you took advantage to be able to travel up to our fort, was it not?"
"Yes, and with lots of food, because we all know the best way to a pony's heart is through her stomach," Noire said, and the three shared a small laugh.
And so it was that the band of two became three.
By the dawn of the third day, all three ponies were getting itchy hooves, and Trixie had the oddest desire for an ocarina. Fortunately, it would only be a few hours before the train rolled into Dodge Junction. There had been a lull from the monotony as they passed Canterlot. Iceheart had never seen Canterlot before, and seeing the city on the mountain had been an impressive sight for her. Unfortunately, the floating city of Cloudsdale was on the other end of Equestria at the time, so Iceheart had not been able to see it.
The lakes, rivers, mountains, forests and the cities of Equestria had since given way to endless plains as the train continued moving into the sparsely-populated southern provinces of Equestria. After making one last train change to avoid heading south to the frontier town of Appleloosa, the three mares were on the last stretch, and the outdoors were beginning to become warm enough that even Trixie gave up on acclimating and started to use a cooling spell on their entire cabin.
The number of passengers onboard each subsequent train had leveled off as they split paths to other terminal points of the Equestrian railway, or simply got off at a community partway along the line. As a result, there was no crowd of ponies to push through when Trixie, Noire and Iceheart went to the front cabin, where there was a viewing station for ponies to see ahead of the line. While Dodge Junction had few multi-story buildings, the town could already be seen in the distance, getting closer with every second as the train chugged along.
"So that is Dodge Junction?" Iceheart asked rhetorically. "I can't imagine how ponies can stand to live here in this heat."
Noire said, "You get used to it, trust me. I've lived in towns like this for months on end and I always was able to settle in quickly. Dodge Junction, if I recall, has a lot of cherry farms, while Appleloosa to the southwest has a massive apple orchard and trade with the buffalo. Both communities are hotspots for rodeo competitions, too."
"Well, if they sell right off the trees, I would much like to pick up a basket as soon as we get off," said Iceheart. "Well, I suppose after we secure a room for a couple of nights first."
"Sure," Trixie said. "Come, let's return to the cabin, I need to put my saddlebags back together before we get off."
"Welcome to DOOOOOOOODGE JUNCTION!"
Noire had been the first to exit the train, and as soon as a stallion popped up into her face yelling out loud, her wings immediately opened up in surprise and she yelped, jumping backwards. In the process, she managed to knock over both Trixie and Iceheart.
"Dear, we're not in Appleloosa. Can you please tone it down?"
Noire managed to close her wings back in after a few seconds, and climbed back up to her feet. Looking up to her feet, she looked over to see who had accosted her. Standing on the platform was a stallion with fur the colour of golden straw, and a darker brown mane and tail. He wore a vest and a wide-rimmed hat that Noire didn't know the name of off-hoof.
He was also quick to spot Iceheart, and he excitedly gushed, "Oh, a Crystal pony! We haven't seen one of your kind in quite a while! How do you do? I hope it isn't too warm for you here in Dodge Junction! You should go try some of the cherries they ha-"
"Braeburn!" The stallion's companion hissed.
Noire turned her attention to the female, and did a double take. While the stallion, Braeburn was his name if her assumption was correct, was as equine as an Earth pony could be, the brown-furred buffalo standing behind him was most definitely not. Noire quickly sized up the buffalo, noting that she looked a little bit young, and wasn't wearing any markings to point out her tribe. No, wait, buffalo have a high degree of sexual dimorphism. It's the males who grow to be large. She could be an adult for all I know. She probably IS an adult.
"Oh, sorry ma'am. I get enthusiastic at times, don't mind me. Um..."
"Please, forgive Braeburn. He can be a little, you know, excited at times."
Noire could all too easily read what the female buffalo would have said if not for common courtesy. 'Braeburn can be a little bit of an idiot at times'.
"That is alright," Iceheart said as she picked herself up with grace, finally exiting out onto the platform, wearing her saddlebags. "I can understand ponies and buffalo this far south may not have ever seen a Crystal pony. I am Iceheart. May I have the pleasure of knowing your names?"
"Ah!" Braeburn said, and he smiled. With a brief flutter, Noire could see how he got away with being so loud all the time. "I'm Braeburn, and this here is my, er, companion, Strongheart, of the Thunderhooves tribe."
"The Thunderhooves tribe? Forgive my ignorance if I'm wrong, but I thought your tribe was based further to the west," Noire said.
"We are," The buffalo, Strongheart said. "Me and Braeburn aren't from Dodge Junction, we're from Appleloosa. We're just here for business. Appleloosa grows apples, my tribe has some of its own products, and Dodge Junction grows cherries, so we came to barter for something other than more apples."
"But, apples!" Braeburn protested, until he got a side glance from Strongheart. "Yes, I suppose most of us want more than apples, so that's what we came for, some cherries! So, what brings you folks down on this mighty fine day to good ol' Doooodge Junction?" He asked, significantly toning down his greeting from before.
Noire looked at the two, bemused. While they appeared to be telling the truth, there was a feeling of deceit and guile from Strongheart, especially when she mentioned it being 'just a business trip'. When the two shared glances, there was a brief stir of emotion, almost as if-
Oh! Noire thought to herself. Well, she was fine with that, just a little bit surprised. She would be hypocritical if she didn't like it, considering her own mother and father.
"As you may know, my people, the Crystal ponies, were locked in stasis for a thousand years due to a spell cast by our former mad king," said Iceheart, completely unaware of the behind-the-scenes context to Braeburn and Strongheart's quick looks at one another. "Before he took over, there were many other species that came to our Empire. Some of them were changelings."
"Oh. Oh," was all that Braeburn had to say, looking as if he had just taken a bite out of an extremely sour apple.
"While most went in disguise, a few of them went out openly, and I made friends with one of them. While I am fairly certain she is not alive anymore, I remembered her hive markings, and I wished to make a pilgrimage to the hive she hailed from," Iceheart finished. That had been the cover story the three had devised and rehearsed for when they came south if anypony asked why they were going into the Badlands to find the Changeling hive. It was an open secret that Dodge Junction was the closest town to a major hive, so there would be no way to avoid notice if they walked south from Dodge Junction. "I met these two mares who were travelling, and they offered to join me coming down to Dodge Junction and give me solidarity in numbers."
"Ah Celestia, whew," Braeburn inhaled, then exhaled. Despite being full of wild energy before, the straw-coloured stallion had sagged upon hearing Iceheart's words. Noire could easily taste worry coming off both stallion and cow. "So that's how it is. Um, you might not know this, but a few years ago, Equestria's army and Royal Guard went around to all the towns and cities using a new spell to find changelings who were disguising themselves as ponies."
Both Noire and Trixie's ears flickered at that. Each of them were well-acquainted with the spell Braeburn was talking about. While Noire's father had managed to get around it, Trixie's father had not, to fatal consequences.
"Except here," Strongheart said in turn. "Everybody knows there are changelings here in Dodge Junction, but nobody knows just how many. It was possible that enough ponies here aren't that any scan of the population could have caused a riot. The mayor here asked the Guard not to come, and they didn't."
"You've been here at least a few times then to know all this," said Trixie.
"Well, yes," Braeburn admitted. "The cherry orchards are usually in bloom earlier than our apple orchards are, so plenty of Appleloosans come here for the cherry harvest and then ponies from here come to Appleloosa for the apple harvest. It's, um, I figure at least a few of the ponies I know here are changelings. I just don't want to know who they are, even as I work with them. You don't know, and that makes ponies here uneasy sometimes. But not knowing has been the best answer they've come up with."
"As long as they're cordial and pleasant to work with, the people here will get along with their neighbors regardless, though there are numerous spot inspections to make sure nobody has actually been kidnapped and replaced by a changeling, as opposed to one creating an identity from scratch," Strongheart added. "I get off a little easy, since changelings don't usually take the form of buffalo."
"So what does that mean for us, then?" Iceheart asked. "I was hoping to find someone locally who is acquainted with the Badlands and could guide us out there to the Changeling hive. It seems that if we do find somepony, others will suspect her or him of being a changeling in turn, or at least, more than they did before."
Braeburn let out a soft 'hum', sitting down on his haunches and crossing his front limbs over his barrel, striking a rather thoughtful pose. "Well, there are a few ponies who do offer guide services into the Badlands. I don't know specifically about going to the Changeling hives, but some of the guides and changelings do occasionally meet and trade information and goods in the Badlands. You could probably find one in the Salt Lick Saloon. Sorry, but I can't recommend any of the guides to you, I've only talked to them and never had cause to use their services."
"No, that's alright," said Noire. "You've already given us plenty of information about the town. We'll have to be careful about what we say, then."
"Well, they'll probably give you, erm, Iceheart was it? Ah, yes, they'll probably give you some lenience. Even my tribe has heard of the Crystal Ponies and their history. If you explain your circumstances then likely several of the guides would take you out."
"I see. Thank you for the advice," Iceheart said, giving Strongheart and Braeburn a nod.
"Shucks, that's not a problem. Sorry, but we can't stay around too long now, we've gotta be getting back to Appleloosa and this is our train," Braeburn said, returning Iceheart's nod with a quick flick of his hat. Without further adieu, the stallion and buffalo walked onto the train, leaving the three mares behind.
There wasn't much for choice for hotels in Dodge Junction, but the lack of choice also made the process quicker. In no time, the three had booked a room and dropped off their saddlebags, and went down to the local bar, the Salt Lick Saloon.
Trixie took point as she had had the most experience with actually negotiating with others, whereas Iceheart was a pony who had mostly commanded. Trotting in front, Trixie opened the saloon doors, walking inside.
Her first impression was a good one. Unlike many of the bars Trixie had seen around Equestria, this one was actually well-lit, with a natural skylight of all things. Though the large room could be said to be rustic, being constructed of wood and ventilation open to the outside air, it was also fairly clean. The atmosphere was pleasant, with ponies and the odd other creature, such as a Diamond Dog here, and a buffalo there, sitting around the tables and bar. While there were hints of mild unease and fear here and there, the dominant mood of the room was camaraderie.
"Greetings, what can I get for you!" The bartender said as he saw the three mares who had come in. He was a white-coated unicorn, who was currently using his magic to clean several glasses at once with a squirt of water followed by a washcloth. "Oh, a Crystal pony! You're a long ways from home. You're only the second one down here I've seen since the Empire reappeared."
"We'll each take drinks and a meal. We just got off the train, so we're all a little bit peckish," Trixie said, hopping onto one of the bar stools. "What is the special today?"
"My chef has got chilled cherry soup in the back, along with a beets salad and cherry chimichangas," said the bartender.
Trading looks with Iceheart and Noire to confirm that they were alright with it, Trixie turned back towards the bartender and said, "In that event, we'll get a meal each. Just water for now, please."
The bartender put his glasses down, walking through a door into the back area, returning seconds later, "OK, that'll be a few minutes. Anything else I can get you ladies? Are you here for vacation, business, visiting family?" Many of the ponies at the table turned their attention to the three mares who had just come in, also curious.
"Not quite any of those," said Iceheart. "We're here to go to the Badlands. A thousand years ago I met a changeling. Though she is undoubtedly dead by now, I would like to at least see the hive she hailed from, and I need a guide who can take us."
Conversation around the bar table halted almost immediately, and while the ponies out in the commons were still chatting, a few of them had also overheard Iceheart and turned to stare.
Trixie almost wanted to smack her head with hoof, as she felt the suspicion that had suddenly permeated the bar. She didn't want attention like this!
"I'll do it."
"Hmm?" Trixie asked, and she looked towards the end of the bar where the speaker was.
That day in Dodge Junction was the first time that Trixie laid eyes on the red pegasus.
The first thing that she noticed was his coat and mane. It wasn’t quite rare for ponies to have similar colours of body and head and tail hair, but it wasn’t common either. The pony who had rudely spoken up, however, was a uniformly brilliant bright sheen of red all over, with only the most keen eye capable of telling where hair ended and coat began. Even his eyes were a vibrant red, though at the time they were more malicious than mirthful. Only the pupil and whites of his eyes and his Cutie Mark, a pair of dark red wings overlaid a picture of the globe, detracted from the uniform colour of red.
The second thing Trixie noticed was that he had only one wing, with the left one missing.
"The name's Red," said the one-winged pegasus, hopping out of his stool and making his way down to where the three mares were. "If you want to go out into the Badlands, I've been out on several expeditions so far, and I've been to the hive twice before. I know how to deal with the changelings. They're paranoid buggers, but so long as you're willing to put up with the security precautions they have, it's possible to speak with them." His voice was on the deeper side for a stallion, with a slight scratchy quality to it.
There was a flash of deceit when he introduced himself, Trixie thought. Red probably wasn't his real name, but did that mean he was a changeling? It was impossible for her to tell if somepony was truly a pony or a changeling just by reading their emotions. "And how do we know you're not a changeling yourself, then?" Trixie asked.
Red laughed, and many of the ponies cringed at hearing it. It wasn't a nice laugh. Instead, it came out more as a mad bark, but Trixie could easily feel the amusement underneath, combined with just a little bit of pain. What was with this pegasus?
"Me, a Changeling? Hah! What Changeling would want to take my form?"
There were multiple nods from other ponies, and Trixie had to concede the point. The changeling transformation was a full, physical transformation. It would take an incredible commitment to living full-time as a crippled pony to stay in a pony town, when the changeling could all too easily have both wings and be able to fly at will, or perhaps a horn instead.
"Any other pony in town, they could be a changeling. Me, there's no way. If I were a Changeling there's no way I'd continue living with one wing," Red said.
"That may be true," Noire said from aside Trixie, "But we still do not know you. Is anypony else here willing to vouch for Red?"
"Red is one of our best guides, even with only one wing," said the bartender from behind her, setting their drinks down on the table. "He may have just washed in one day, but he's as good as any hometown pony here."
"Very well then. Is there anyone else here qualified to take us out?" Trixie asked, hoping for a second option to barter for a lower guide fee. She looked around, and grimaced as there didn't seem to be any other guides willing to volunteer. Negotiation would be a pain in the flanks, then.
"Unlikely," Red said. "Most of them are helping to set up for the cherry-growing season. Obviously I can't bring in clouds, or else I'd be out there, too."
Trixie winced. Red was so nonchalant about his injury, but every time he mentioned it there was a tightly wound coil of pain underneath. No pegasus could help but to grieve over the loss of flight, and Red was one of those who was able to put on a brave face, but was still hurting. Trixie would have to try to be sensitive about it.
"Very well, let's talk. Bartender, we'll take that table, please," Trixie said, pointing to an empty table before she lifted their glasses of water up, moving them over to the table. As she saw other ponies follow her, she cleared her throat loudly. Embarrassed faces turned aside, and the room buzzed with conversation again.
"Five hundred bits a pony, plus cost of supplies. If you end up staying at the hive, an extra two hundred bits a day that I act as your guide."
"Two hundred fifty a pony, you give us a list and we'll buy what's required. Iceheart is a former military pony who's had experience with hostile conditions and Noire and I have both travelled lots through rugged terrain, so we don't need a babysitter, just a guide. One hundred bits per day extra."
"Don't make me laugh, two hundred fifty bits? Hmm, you all look like you're in good physical condition, I'll make it four hundred each and one seventy-five per day extra. If I let you go to the shop you'll buy the cheapest things there, that's no good. If you go out into the Badlands you need quality."
After introducing one another more in-depth, Trixie and Red bargained hard over the price of their expedition into the Badlands, with the occasional interjection from Iceheart and Noire. Their food came, giving Trixie a break as she went through the food. While the beets and chimichanga weren't great, they were reasonable. The chilled cherry soup, however, was very good, and Trixie resolved to come back here another day if it went on special again for the soup alone.
They also talked about the conditions of the Badlands, and the security of the changelings. "We may have to walk around a bit before we catch their attention, I can't guarantee they'll be expedient in noticing we're out there, even when I create a signal. If they let us in, they'll put sleeping spells on all of us and take us to the hive so we can't find it on our own. You'll be asked to pay a toll of emotional energy before they accept us. Once inside, you'll each have at least two guards on you at all times."
"Two days? I see, Iceheart, is it? Drink lots of water, make sure to get lots of salt, don't use a cooling spell or your room AC at all, your body will adapt faster. Go for a light walk tonight and a longer walk tomorrow, but no more than a few hours."
"If none of you have a hat, get one. Sunstroke is a terrible thing to have happen out in the Badlands."
"No, I don't care if you can make a cloud, Trixie. Clouds require moisture and there isn't much in the Badlands. Then you need to push it with you everywhere you go. Too much work."
Being able to sense emotions was usually a boon for Trixie in making deals, but Red was as tough as nails. It was entirely possible he had forged his negotiating skills through multiple bargaining sessions with changelings in disguise, but there was something more to it. Red lacked guile when actually negotiating, seeming to have no interest other than yielding as much profit as possible. It was tough to stay looking at him vis-a-vis: his red eyes burned with a passionate fire that would have scared Trixie were she not certain that it reflected her own in certain brave moments of her past.
That, and if Trixie were to let her eyes wander, she knew they would eventually settle on the stub on Red Wing's left side. Not only would it be rude, it was also something she didn't want to think about, so she stayed focused and kept her eyes right ahead.
At last, the two sat back, having bumped hooves on a formal deal, and Trixie had to actually wipe a thin sheen of sweat off her brow. While it had been exhausting, it had also been exhilarating. Trixie could feel tinges of admiration from both Noire and Iceheart directed at her.
"So two days from now, we'll set out at dawn. If our stay in the hive is brief that should be enough time to get back before night time," Red said. He was using his lone wing to hold a pen as he wrote details down on paper. "I'll collect half tomorrow afternoon, so be certain to visit the branch and be ready with the bits when I visit, I need some of that money for supplies anyways."
"Agreed."
"In that case, I'll be off," Red said, rising up from his seat. Rolling up the paper, he tucked it and his pen into his mane before striding out of the bar.
"Whew," Trixie said as she fell from her position sitting on her haunches down onto all fours.
"Yes, Red has that effect on others," the bartender said as he came by, filling up their glasses with more water. "He was like that even when he first arrived in Dodge Junction. Yes, both the attitude and the missing wing. I can only guess that one led to the other."
"In what order?" Iceheart asked.
The bartender shrugged, as he wrote up a receipt for their bill, "Either, really. He could have lost that wing from circumstances caused by his personality, or maybe he lost a wing and took a turn for the worst. Well, he may be a bit cruel at times, but he's not a bad pony."
"You've drank with him?" Iceheart continued to ask him questions.
"Oh yes, not often, but on occasion. He's not an angry drunk, fortunately, but he does get a bit sulky. He knows his job, though. He's never had any issue with the changelings, and I believe it when he says he's not a changeling." The bartender chuckled, then added, "Changelings absorb energy from positive emotions, right? It's very rare for Red to evoke positive emotions in others."
Trixie shared his chuckle, but swallowed nervously as well, her throat suddenly dry. While it didn't happen very often, Red's emotions had occasionally slipped when something related to his missing wing came up. It was like a firestorm, a mixture of anger, depression, and sorrow. The bartender was practically singing Red's praises, but she hoped that the ticking bomb didn't go off while they were out in the Badlands.
The remainder of that day and the next flew by quick, as Trixie only briefly saw Red again to give him half his fee upfront. Iceheart managed to slowly tolerate the heat, but it was a work in progress. They bought wide-rimmed hats to protect from the sun.
Noire, meanwhile, sat on the chair next to the hotel room's window, looking out in the Badlands. She wondered what it would be like to lose a wing and never be able to fly again.
It was a tough prospect. Every time her mind wandered to it, she physically recoiled. Noire loved the sky, from the first time she had been carried into the air by her father, to when she had finally been able to fly on her own. As a hybrid, she had an option with magic that most pegasi didn't if she were to lose a wing. Even still, the very idea left her nauseous.
Noire shook off the thought when it did occur. Sadly, the project for prosthetic wings that the academics in Canterlot had mooted was making incredibly slow progress. As very few pegasi lost a wing, there just wasn't much demand for it. Noire didn't expect it would come to fruition in her lifetime, and so Red would be forever confined to the ground.
She exhaled, going through breathing exercises to calm her state of mind. Tomorrow, they would go into the Badlands. There, hopefully, they would meet a queen of the Changelings, reveal the destruction of the ice, reminiscence about her and Trixie's lost fathers, and find out what information the hive had about the magically-hybrid pony offspring of pony-changeling couples. It would be a big meeting, one that would require many delicate words.
Every second that ticked on the hotel room's clock was one second closer to that confrontation.
Early the next morning, Trixie, Noire and Iceheart found themselves in a corner of the hotel's lobby, along with Red. There, they were putting together supply kits and saddlebags for each one of them.
"Let's see, you each have four bottles of water, check. Each of you have a half dozen salt cubes, check. Rope of sufficient length, good," Red muttered as he continued to count off items. The red stallion was single-minded in his work. Trixie couldn't sense a drop of fear from Red, even though he was soon to go out into a territory inhabited by the changelings, a race that had years ago invaded Canterlot and was still ponysa non grata with the rest of equinekind.
At last, he rose up, and said, "Everything is in order. Now, this is your last chance if you want to back out. Remember, I cannot promise that you will not come to harm. Changelings are the enemies of ponies, after all. If you do, however, the upfront fee is still non-refundable."
Trixie smirked. If only he knew that two of the three mares he was to escort had had changelings for a parent, Red might not have been so grating. Alas, he did seem talented and experienced and came recommended, so they had to make do with what they had. He would be the one to take them to Queen Chrysalis. "We didn't come this far just to scamper off with our tails tucked in between our flanks."
Red cracked a grin in return, and he said, "I like you, I really like you, that's a good attitude. In that case, we're off to the Badlands!"
Stats
Page generated in 0.053 seconds
Total duration
1,043 users online
194,947 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Yay! All of the stories I'm reading are updating at the same time. It's a conspiracy I tells ya.
Anyway just wanted to say that your story is intriguing and the way you portray magic is very different but nice all the same. And I definitely like red as a character. He has a depth to him that you can feel without us having been around him for long. Welp, thats all I have for you today. Thank you for giving me something interesting to read.
Okay I wonder how they will be received by the chancelings.
7252637 Yes, it's been an idea I kicked around for a bit. As world-building lore it's plausible in a world of magic and as an obstacle it worked out fairly well.
7253642 Shining Armor is most likely bogged down by paperwork, and other duties as Prince. As The Crystalling shows (though I had this story plotted out before Season 6 aired), it's not like the Empire even has a plausible evacuation plan.
7344733 The in media res device is something I talked over with two people about. I refrain from mentioning too much, though you'll obviously recognise bits and pieces if you reread the first chapter after going through the rest of the story. As an earlier comment states and my author note in the second chapter states, (most of) the rest of the story is building up to what turned Trixie into her incarnation in the beginning chapter.
7350995 Good to hear your thoughts about Red, since he's obviously going to be in the next chapter.
No! NO! Deadpool get back in your comic book! No chimichangas for you! Goddammit I said NO!!!
Headed for the Spirit Temple I suppose....
A generally enjoyable chapter with a good bit of plot development, apart from that, not much to say except: TO THE HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!
Red pegasus is interesting, as is your take on changelings infiltrating, but not in a sinister way, Dodge Junction. I don't think Red's a changeling, but we'll see. Noire's choice to reveal her past was interesting, but perhaps foolhardy. It makes sense given that Iceheart already knew about them, but still.
I did find what I can only assume was some bad text from a re-write... "Noire managed to close her wings back in after a few seconds, and climbed back up to her feet. Looking up to her feet, she looked over to see who had accosted her." FYI
Good portrayal of the heat down south. Us Texans down here know a thing or two about that, and you nailed that. I'm looking forward to the next exciting chapter!