The Ties that Bind

by the7Saviors

A Search Gone Awry

Corona watched Trixie pace back and forth with a mix of both worry and annoyance.

The azure filly continued to mutter to herself angrily as she trotted about their room. Corona wanted to say something—wanted to tell Trixie to knock it off, and that it wasn't helping matters at all—but honestly, the maroon filly couldn't blame her.

"I can't believe she'd just... disappear like that!" Trixie finally shouted in indignation, "I thought she was supposed to be the smart one, but no! She just goes galloping off to who-knows-where to do who-knows-what when nopony's looking! It's... I can't... aagh!"

She snorted angrily and suddenly rounded on Corona, jabbing an accusatory hoof in her direction.

"And I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one?" she growled, "why didn't you stop her from leaving?"

"Wha—seriously?" Corona responded, taking an incredulous step back, "you're gonna blame me? That's not fair, Trixie!" she stomped a hoof, her own indignation rising, "I might be older and more responsible sure, but that doesn't mean I can keep an eye on you two every second of every day! And I wouldn't even have to if you two just listened to me!"

"Oh, don't even try to turn this around on me!" Trixie replied, marching right up to Corona so that they were mere inches apart, "all you ever do is rely on Uncle Scroll to solve everything for you! The only time you look out for us is when Uncle Scroll's not around! Every other time it's 'oh, Uncle Scroll will take care of it!' or 'let's see what Uncle Scroll has to say'!"

"That's horseapples!" Corona cried angrily, "and even if it were true, why shouldn't I let Uncle Scroll handle things? He's the adult here, and one of the only responsible adults I know! Is it so wrong that I finally have another adult in my life that I can actually trust for once?"

Trixie's glare faltered for a moment, her retort dying in her throat. Corona took the opportunity to continue her rant, albeit in a somewhat more controlled tone.

"We've been through a lot—we're still going through a lot... but in the end, we're still just foals, Trixie," Corona said, giving the other filly a level stare, "if it weren't for Uncle Scroll, where do you think we'd be right now?" her hard gaze softened into a melancholy expression, "where would you be right now, Trixie?"

Trixie winced and turned away with a shudder. If it hadn't been for the old stallion, she knew exactly where she'd be—what would've happened to her had she not wound up on Ancient Scroll's doorstep that morning.

"Exactly," Corona continued, as if reading Trixie's mind, "we owe a lot to Uncle Scroll, and yes, I might rely on him a bit too much sometimes, but it's only because I know he'll do everything he can to look out for us. I know that he'll know what to do when we don't."

"And what about when he's gone, Sunset Shimmer?"

That stopped the maroon filly cold and, for a moment, all she could do was stare at Trixie with an uncomprehending expression. Trixie simply stared back, waiting for her answer with an expectant frown.

"Uncle Scroll can't take care of us forever," Trixie continued, "when he's gone, what will you do then? my parents are dead, Twilight's parents are dead, and you were already an orphan, so where does that leave us?" she took a step forward, causing Corona to lean back slightly, "Will you step up and take care of me and Twilight on your own?"

Trixie watched as Corona fumbled for an answer, and found that she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. She knew it wasn't fair to put all the responsibility on Corona's shoulders like that just because she was older, but something about the way she was talking about Ancient Scroll sparked something in the azure filly.

An adult she could finally trust.

It had been those words, that had set Trixie off. She knew Corona had lived in an orphanage before, and the way she talked about it, Trixie could only assume that she had lived a relatively decent life despite having no parents.

She had at least had the caretaker of that orphanage.

Trixie never once had an adult she could trust, not until Hoofdini came to Hoofington. Even then, she had only known the stallion for a brief period of time. Not nearly enough time for any sort of meaningful bond of trust to form between the filly and the showpony.

This should've just driven Corona's point home for Trixie—should've been cause to make her agree with what Corona was saying—but instead she found herself feeling... bitter. She didn't know why she felt this way, but the resentment had caused her to lash out and say the one thing she knew would hurt the maroon filly standing before her.

Seeing Corona's lost and anxious expression had made Trixie regret her words almost instantly, but they had been said, and she couldn't take them back. But then something unexpected happened—the other filly reacted in a way Trixie hadn't seen coming... she smiled.

It was a slightly wavering smile, but still held a confidence and conviction that caught the azure filly off guard.

"If... when Uncle Scroll," her smiled dropped slightly before rising again a second later, "when he's gone... I'll find some way to take care of you... both of you. I have at least a little experience traveling, and the FlimFlam Brothers were actually pretty good at roughing it when they needed to, so I picked up a few things from them."

Trixie tried to find the words to speak. She wanted to apologize, but the words wouldn't come for some reason.

"Sunset... I—"

"No, you're right, Trixie," Corona replied, cutting Trixie off with a shake of her head, "he might still be around for a long while, but Uncle Scroll isn't gonna be there for us forever, and we don't really have anypony else to rely on, except maybe Yojimbo or Rouge, but there's no guarantee they'll take care of us. Even if they were willing to, we're still gonna have to learn to take care of ourselves sooner or later."

"Sunset..." Trixie eyed the other filly for a moment more before hanging her head, "I'm sorry, I just... I don't know."

"It's fine, Trixie," Corona replied in a reassuring tone, "we're both probably just upset about Twilight going missing," she then looked over to the closed bedroom door with a troubled frown, "I know we got way off topic, but shouldn't we have heard something from Rouge or Uncle Scroll by now?"

"Trixie doesn't know," Trixie replied, perking up at the change in subject, "do you think we should go out and take a look?"

Before Corona could answer, the door to the bedroom opened and Ancient Scroll stepped inside, his face both stern and full of worry. In an instant the two fillies were in front of him, asking questions about Fia and what was going on outside.

"Calm down, you two," Ancient Scroll said, raising a hoof, "I'll tell you what happened in a moment, but first I need you both to listen carefully and follow my lead, alright?"

The two fillies looked at each other in bemusement before turning back to the older stallion with simultaneous nods. At this Ancient Scroll gave a nod of his own and sighed heavily before straightening up and looking between the two with a frown.

"Alright, here's what I need you two to do..."

---

Yojimbo growled deep in his throat—a bad habit when he was on edge.

He prowled the forest as quickly and quietly as his large bulk would allow him to, thankful that it was getting too dark to see. As the Sunlight waned and dusk approached, he opted to use his powerful nose to sniff out the filly he was looking for.

The problem had been that there were too many scents covering Fia's own.

The smell of ponies and metal were all over the place and Yojimbo wondered how in Tartarus they had all managed to avoid all the Guards for as long as they did. Chalking it up to pure luck, he continued to prowl about, trying to pinpoint the filly's scent.

After about an hour of searching and dodging around passing patrols, he was beginning to think Rouge might've been a better choice for the job. This was compounded by the fact that he could see even less than the average pony could due to his visual handicap of only having one working eye.

If it got any later, he'd have to turn around and head back, something he really didn't want to do.

It was as he was struggling with whether or not to return to the Vardo that he spotted it.

A flash of magenta light bright enough to see in the far distance through the thicket of trees. Wasting no time, he attempted to make a beeling straight for the source of the light, but he soon found out he hadn't been the only one who'd seen the light.

"Hey, did you see that?"

"Yeah, I did... alright you two, on me, let's check it out... and for Celestia's sake, Heavy Hitter, keep a lid on it this time."

"Yes sir!"

"Ugh... just... move out, recruit. Why do I always get the rookies..."

Yojimbo's ears perked up as he listened to the Guards. By the sound of it, there had been a total of three, and they were close... too close. Yojimbo growled again, silently cursing his luck as he thought about what to do.

At this rate, he wasn't going to make it to Fia in time—at least, not without alerting the Guard. He could distract the soldiers instead, lead them away from the filly, but then where would that leave Fia?

If only he had—

Yoji, what's your status? Any change in the situation?

The husky let out an involuntary grunt of surprise before shaking his head and grimacing as he slowly made his way forward.

Got some good news and some bad news, Scroll. Good news is that I found the pup, bad news is that three of the Guards spotted her as soon as I did. Kinda in a bind here, old buddy.

There was a pause before the voice of Ancient Scroll spoke again.

Do you still have the caravan's scent?

"Yeah, but it's faint. These Guards are makin' it real difficult to sniff anything out other than... well... Guard.

Alright... keep the Guards away from Twilight and lead them back here to the caravan. I've got a plan, but it's risky.

Yojimbo's grimace deepened.

This situation was beginning to feel a bit too familiar to the old adventure worn husky. While he would've normally embraced the rush of nostalgia with a smile, this wasn't the time nor the place.

What do ya got in mind, Scroll? And what about the pup?

Just focus on getting those Guards away from Twilight, I'll get in contact with the filly in a moment. I've already informed Fell Wind of the plan, and she's trying to distract as many of the Guards as she can. I'll send her over to your location once—

...Scroll?

No response came.

Scroll? Ancient Scroll! Can you hear me?

Nothing but silence answered the husky.

"Ah... damn it all!" Yojimbo growled before lunging forward after the Guards, "you better not have screwed up already, you old fool!"

Oh yeah, this is beginning to feel a lot like the old days...

Author's Note:

I thought this was gonna turn into an emotional character development chapter, and it kinda did for the most part, but I was able to rein it in at the end and get back on track. Next chapter should conclude the flashbacks and then we can get back to the present.

Comments

[badninja]

I hope that this old fool will be able to provide a good enough distraction for Twilight so she can make her escape.

[Zeprto678]

I bet Twilight will accidentally leave the book behind. Then, the guards bring it to princess Celestia, who then figures out that Twilight is practicing Dark Magic, which would make her a wanted pony. Or maybe before they get their hooves on it, Twilight burns the book.

[Birribi]

and they way she talked about it

the

As the Sunlight waned and dusk approached

sunlight doesn't need to be capitalized

Just focus on, getting those Guards away

unnecessary comma

[Birribi]

9143035

Or maybe before they get their hooves on it, Twilight burns the book.

Twilight burning a book? Heresy

[the7Saviors]

9154074
There was a reason I capitized Sun, and I had a debate with myself as to whether or not I should capitalize sunlight as well. In the end I decided to just go for it.

[Victor07]

"And what about when he's gone, Sunset Shimmer?"

This one hit close to home, as I almost lost my dad today