The Ties that Bind

by the7Saviors

A Tense Situation

It had been a panicky few minutes since Trixie put Flibberty Gibbets to sleep.

According to Sunset, the Deep Sleep spell was indefinite until recast on the sleeper. They had decided to leave the mare where she lay, as she was too heavy to lift both physically and magically -- at least for any longer than a few seconds or so.

With that established, the three fillies took a moment to calm down and discuss the situation rationally. Now they all sat in the middle of the study as they conversed about what the next step should be.

"Okay," Sunset began, "Uncle Scroll likely won't be here until sometime tomorrow, either late in the morning or early in the afternoon, at the earliest," she looked between the other two fillies, "so that means we have to take care of this by ourselves."

"What's to take care of?" Trixie asked with a flip of her mane, "Trixie's already taken care of it. Why not just keep her asleep until Uncle Scroll gets back?"

"Trixie," Twilight answered, frowning at the azure filly, "there's other factors to consider. We have a good idea of what her motive was given how she reacted when she found me, but we still don't know how she got in or what her plans were after she captured me."

"Not to mention she might have accomplices waiting for her -- who's to say her husband's not around too?" Sunset added with a grim frown, "I don't have that feeling that somepony's watching us anymore, but if there is another pony out there, that doesn't mean they're gone."

"Exactly," Twilight agreed pointing a hoof at Sunset, "for all we know, she had a pony, or ponies, that were able to... I don't know, Teleport her inside or something."

"I don't know if that's the case, Twilight," Sunset replied with a shake of her head, "she wasn't in the living room when I first went out there. I was about to head into the bedroom and I heard a hoofstep behind me. When I turned around, there she was standing in front of the fireplace."

"Hmmm..."

Twilight tapped her chin as she thought -- her worry temporarily being quashed by the mystery of Flibberty Gibbets' break-in.

"Trixie doesn't like the idea that there might be other ponies around," Trixie added nervously, "shouldn't we... hide or something?"

Twilight blinked and shook her head before turning to Trixie.

"You're right, Trixie," she replied with a nod, "if there are accomplices, they'll most likely make some kind of move when they realize... what was her name again?"

"Flibberty Gibbets" Sunset answered.

"Thank you," Twilight replied before turning back to Trixie, "anyway, when they realize Flibberty Gibbets failed, whoever she came with might decide to do the job themselves."

"That's a pretty reasonable deduction, Twilight," Sunset commented, "seriously, you're handling this a lot better than you did earlier."

"I read a lot of mystery and suspense novels in my free time back when..." Twilight paused -- a flash of pain crossing her face before she continued, "thinking about those novels is helping me stay calm right now."

"That's great and all," Trixie interjected, "but what do we do?"

They all went silent as they mulled over possible plans of action, until Twilight spoke.

"Trixie may have had the right idea earlier," she said, furrowing her brow as she stared at her hooves, "we do need to hide, but not in the house.... maybe..." she suddenly turned to Sunset, "Sunset, you've been here the longest, do you know if there's any other way out of the house?"

"Not that I know of," Sunset replied with a dubious look, "but even if there was, why would you suggest we go outside? If there's somepony else out there, they'll spot us for sure."

"Not necessarily," Twilight said with a confident grin, "that Shadow Cloaking spell turned out to be far easier to cast than I originally thought, and I have plenty of magic left to cast it on all of us."

"So... what," Trixie said with a bemused frown, "you make us all invisible, we sneak out of the house, and we find a place to hide for the night?"

"Yep," Twilight answered with a simple nod, "it's the only thing I can think of right now."

"Well that sounds like as good a plan as any," Sunset responded with a frown, "but we can't just waltz out the front door, and there's no other exits that I... no, wait a minute..." Sunset tapped her chin with a hoof and looked around the study, "I think..."

Twilight and Trixie watched in confusion as Sunset got up and began searching the bookshelves.

"Um, Sunset?" Twilight asked, "what are you--"

"Uncle Scroll used to be some kind of adventurer, right?" Sunset explained as she continued looking about the room, "from they way he talks about it, you'd think he was some kind of protagonist out of an adventure novel or something."

"Okay..." Trixie replied with a raised brow, "Trixie doesn't understanding where you're going with this, Sunset Shimmer."

The orange filly trotted over behind Ancient Scroll's desk as she spoke. She paused and turned to the back wall with a contemplative frown. On the wall was a large, forest green banner with a golden silhouette of a tree displayed on the front.

The giant banner reached all the way to the ground and Sunset narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she stared at it.

"Well, Uncle Scroll told me awhile back that he and some friends of his from way back when had built this cottage from the ground up." she said, her tone of voice becoming somewhat excited, "so what if he put in some kind of... secret door somewhere for quick escapes?"

"What?" Trixie responded incredulously, "that's ridiculous! Why would Uncle Scroll have a secret door?"

"Trixie's right, Sunset," Twilight agreed, "Uncle Scroll doesn't really seem like the type, and besides, if he had a secret door for emergency escapes, why wouldn't he tell us about it in case there was an actual emergency? Like now?"

The three fillies ears all perked up and they froze as they heard something beyond the door to the study. None of them said a word as they listened for all they were worth. Each of their hearts raced once again as they eyed the door with matching fearful gazes.

There was more shuffling and the unmistakable sound of hooves on hardwood flooring.

Twilight turned back to where Sunset had been standing at the sound of shifting cloth and saw the orange filly pulling back the large banner. The lavender filly wanted to ask what she was doing, but didn't dare speak for fear of whoever was out in the living room overhearing.

She felt a tug on her foreleg and turned to see Trixie jerking her head towards the desk. Twilight nodded and they both quietly made their way behind the desk where Sunset was.

Sunset Shimmer herself was busy searching the wall behind the banner for... something -- anything that would help them escape their plight. She eventually threw the banner back over the wall in frustration -- finding nothing behind it.

That's when they heard somepony trying to turn the door handle.

Trixie nearly cried out, but Twilight shoved a hoof over her muzzle as she gestured for her and Sunset to hide beneath the desk. Sunset took one last looked around the room and followed Twilight under the desk when she heard the intruders banging on the door.

Twilight shivered and looked to her other two friends. Trixie's face showed absolute terror and even Sunset looked scared witless.

More banging.

Twilight's mind raced.

She had never been good in tense situations, and this scenario reminded her too much of the night her parents were murdered. She tried to be strong earlier, tried to lay out a plan, and it seemed like a good one.

But now they were all trapped and at the mercy of whoever had decided to break in.

She couldn't do this -- not again.

Her body shook with the effort not to just break down and cry. Silent tears were already flowing down her cheeks as it was and she couldn't stop shaking. She heard a whimper and turned to see Trixie holding as tight as she could to Sunset who had her own eyes shut and was muttering something incoherently.

And just like that, a moment of clarity hit the lavender filly.

She had friends now, friends who were just as scared as she was.

Friends who become more than just friends -- friends who had become family.

And Twilight wasn't going to lose her family.

Not again.

There was a muffled voice from behind the door and the sound of a horn lighting up, but Twilight ignored that and focused on her own spell. Her horn once again blackened with Dark Magic and she grit her teeth with the effort of casting her Shadow Cloaking spell.

Trixie and Sunset looked at Twilight and their eyes widened in understanding.

All three fillies vanished from sight just as the door slammed open and a loud, deep voice boomed out angrily.

"ALRIGHT YA BASTARDS, HAND OVER THE PUPS OR I SWEAR I'LL BURY YOU SO DEEP INTO THE GROUND YOU'LL FORGET WHAT THE SUN LOOKS LIKE!"

Author's Note:

For those of you who were expecting Twilight to pull some super badass spell out her horn, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but now's not the time.

Not yet...

There were two endings I envisioned for this chapter, one of them would've delayed their journey for I don't know how long so I decided to go with the other ending because I really want to get the ball rolling on this trip and after some more thought, I realized the other ending would've ruined something else I had planned further down the line.

Either way, it seems I've got some explaining to do next chapter don't I?

Comments

[Lanigiro]

"ALRIGHT YA BASTARDS, HAND OVER THE PUPS OR I SWEAR I'LL BURY YOU SO DEEP INTO THE GROUND YOU'LL FORGET WHAT THE SUN LOOKS LIKE!"

Based on the apparent accent of the voice, my guess is that this is Yojimbo.

[Ganein]

8868125
There's a problem with that theory. It distinctly mentions that they heard hooves hitting the hardwood floors.

[Dark Feather]

8868277
So? That be Uncle Scroll

[Ganein]

8868306
No, he doesn't talk like that either, it's probably a pony we haven't been introduced to.

[Reykan]

8868277
Yojimbo would be traveling with Uncle Scroll, and thinking like ponies they would assume any steps are hooves. It may be wrong but I won’t throw away the idea completely.

[Zeprto678]

8868125
That's what I was going to say.

[Dark Feather]

8868334
What this gay said 8868358

[eddiehowell]

"Okay," Sunset began, "Uncle Scroll likely won't be here until sometime tomorrow either late in the morning or early in the afternoon at the earliest," she looked between the other two fillies, "so that means we have to take care of this by ourselves."

At the latest I think

[the7Saviors]

8868980
Nah, I checked. It's at the earliest -- at least in this instance.

[eddiehowell]

8869062
How is that so afternoon isolated than the morning.

Wait I just got it as is was typing this. It's:

tomorrow either, late in the morning or early in the afternoon, at the earliest,"

Not:

tomorrow either late in the morning or, early in the afternoon at the earliest,,"

[The Cynical One]

Okay Mr. Author... two endings eh? Since you’re CLEARLY not going to outright tell us (because spoilers and stuff) I have several theories... but I mean I should just read the story, eh?