The Ties that Bind

by the7Saviors

A Sister's Decision

By the time Ancient Scroll and the others finished their business and the old friends had caught up, it was well into the night. The rain had stopped momentarily, but came back later that evening with a vengeance -- bringing a storm with it.

After making sure the Vardo was protected from the storm, Ancient Scroll had taken Apple Core's offer to stay the night at the tavern at a greatly reduced cost. Yojimbo and Rouge had taken their own rooms while Ancient Scroll and the fillies shared a room.

Before they had gone to bed, Ancient Scroll took the opportunity to let the girls know what the situation was in Canterlot.

"I won't lie to you, girls," Ancient Scroll explained, "things may have become more dangerous with both the fact that there may be another killer and the increased alert around the city."

"And that means Celestia and the Royal Guard will be on the lookout for anypony and anything suspicious..." Corona muttered unhappily, "just perfect. As if I wasn't already nervous enough..."

Fia shivered and snuggled deeper into the blanket the three fillies were sharing on the large bed next to Ancient Scroll's.

"Do you think it was the Twins again?" she asked nervously, "I mean, I can't see who else it would be."

Blue Moon went to say something in response to Fia's statement, but stopped herself and frowned, turning to stare at the dark ceiling above with a grim expression.

"I'm not too sure, little filly," Ancient Scroll replied from an armchair near the bedroom window, "it's a possibility, but I'm confused as to why they'd stick around. From what you told us, they hated the city."

"Maybe they were on order's from that rebel group?" Corona suggested, "or maybe it was somepony else from that group? Who else would have a reason to kill a pony... or griffon?"

"Who knows," Ancient Scroll replied with a sigh, "the only thing I do know for sure is that staying in the city undetected by Celestia might be a bit more difficult than we thought -- even with the disguises."

Corona eyed Ancient Scroll for a moment before turning a concerned look towards Fia.

"What do you think?" she asked the black coated filly, "I'm... still afraid of Celestia, and I feel like she'll know who we are as soon as she sees us, but that might just be me being paranoid."

Fia thought about her answer.

She still wanted to find out more about her brother, and Ancient Scroll said Canterlot might be their best bet to get more information. She also hadn't forgotten about her own issues in regards to her magic and had been looking forward to finding out more about what was going on with that.

But was it still worth the risk?

It wasn't just hers and Ancient Scroll's life she was putting in danger, but those of her friends -- ponies she was very much beginning to see as her own sisters. She decided to look at the pros and cons of returning to Canterlot in its current state.

On one hoof, she'd most likely be able to find out more about the strange circumstances surrounding her magic with the many resources available in the city. There was also the fact that she and the other two fillies were completely disguised to the point where even Corona's cutie mark had changed.

Despite Corona's concerns about Celestia, Fia was confident they wouldn't be detected by anypony other than the Princess herself, and as long as they didn't do or say anything overtly suspicious, she was sure they wouldn't be caught.

On the other hoof however, there was another killer -- or possibly the same two killers -- on the loose in the city. Fia wasn't sure she could handle another situation like what happened on that night at her home.

She also had to remember that there was no guarantee she'd find out more about Shining Armor's whereabouts, so for all she knew, their efforts may be wasted on that end. On top of that, Ancient Scroll had mentioned that there was a rumor that Celestia was going to lock down the city until they found the culprits.

But then she remembered something important -- something Rouge had told her when she asked a little while back. She turned back to Ancient Scroll to voice her concern.

"Rouge told me she was going to Canterlot to find somepony," she said to the old stallion, "if we decide not to go, how is she going to get there?"

The other two fillies looked towards Ancient Scroll expectantly, curious to know what he had in mind.

"Well..." Ancient Scroll hesitated, stroking his beard as he looked out the window, "she and I had a little chat about that very thing a bit ago..."

"...And?" Blue Moon pressed, "what happened? What did she say?"

"I don't think I told you girls this," the stallion explained, "but Rouge and I both paid for the Vardo, so it technically belongs to both of us," he turned his gaze away from the rain spattered window to look at the fillies, "she says she still wants to go to Canterlot, so we talked about it, and came up with a solution."

"What are you gonna do, Uncle Scroll?" Fia asked with a tilt of her head, "would we have any other way to get back if she took the Vardo?"

Ancient Scroll looked away with a grimace.

"We wouldn't be going back to the cottage while those rebel ponies are still out looking for you," he continued, "but there's actually a place we could stay up in some mountains nearby."

"The mountains?" Blue Moon asked, raising an eyebrow, "do you have some kind of secret hut up there or something?"

"Yeah, something like that," the old stallion replied with a knowing smirk, "it's definitely a secure location, don't you worry about that," his smirk fell away and was replaced with a frown, "unfortunately getting there would be a bit of a hassle."

"What do you mean?" Corona asked, "would we not be taking the Vardo?"

"Rouge doesn't have any real way of using the Vardo without the Come-to-Life spell," Ancient Scroll answered with a shake of his head, "the only way she'd be able to use it is by hiring out some ponies to pull the caravan, but she'd be hard pressed to find any around here, and she decided looking wouldn't be worth the effort."

"So what's she gonna do then?" Fia asked worriedly, "if we're still taking the Vardo, how is she gonna get to Canterlot?"

"If we decided to split up, Apple Core offered to take her as far as the next town over," the stallion replied, "it isn't too far and he says he knows a pony who can get her the rest of the way to Canterlot."

"Oh," Fia replied letting out a quiet sigh, "well that's a relief."

"That's all well and good," Corona interjected with a frown, "but if we're keeping the Vardo, then how would getting to this secret place of yours be a hassle?"

"The path we'd be taking up the mountain isn't fit for a caravan -- especially one as big as the Vardo," Ancient Scroll explained, "not to mention the trail is rather dangerous."

"Exactly how dangerous are we talking?" Blue Moon asked, narrowing her eyes.

"The first leg of the journey up the mountain wouldn't be too bad," Ancient Scroll replied, "but further up, the paths get narrower with steep drop offs and rockslide hazards. Some of the wildlife there is fairly dangerous as well."

"Oh," Blue Moon responded with a deep frown, "that sounds... pretty dangerous..."

"Indeed it is, little filly," the stallion replied before giving the light blue filly a reassuring smile, "but as long as you all stay close and do what I say to the letter, I can promise you'll all be just fine."

"So... do we just abandon the Vardo then?" Fia asked, "you said we couldn't use it to travel up the mountain so..."

"You let me worry about that, little filly," Ancient Scroll said with a dismissive wave of his hoof, "in the meantime, you three still have a decision to make."

"Oh... right," Fia replied, looking at her hooves, "Canterlot..."

If Fia was being honest, she was rather curious to see this 'secret hut' in the mountains. For a brief moment, she thought about abandoning the trip altogether so they could go see the place.

She quickly pushed the thought aside. They might be safe, sure, but she also knew she wouldn't find the answers to any of her questions if they just gave up and hid in the mountains for the rest of their lives.

She made her decision, but she refused to put her own decision above everypony else's.

"I know what I want to do," Fia finally answered, looking from Blue Moon to Corona, "but before I say, I wanna know what you two want to do first."

"Blue Moon says we go for it," the light blue filly replied almost instantly, "we already made it this far, so we might as well continue, and besides, these disguises are practically perfect."

"Are you sure, little filly?" Ancient Scroll asked with a furrowed brow, "you have the least reason to go out of anypony here."

"Blue Moon has spoken!" Blue Moon exclaimed dramatically, causing the other two to giggle slightly.

Fia then turned to Corona expectantly. Corona fidgeted nervously for a moment before setting her face in a determined frown and looking back to Fia.

"I'm still in," Corona replied, "it's like Blue Moon said, as long as we're careful and avoid Celestia, we should be fine with these disguises," she turned away and a small, wistful smile crossed her muzzle, "and maybe I can get a chance to see Summer Breeze and the other foals at the orphanage one more time."

"Then that settles it," Fia announced with a firm nod before looking to Ancient Scroll, "we all still want to go to Canterlot."

"You're all certain?" Ancient Scroll responded, the warning and worry clear in his voice, "we may not know what we're getting into here."

"I'm sure," Fia replied, "If there's even a chance that we can find anything out about my brother, I want to know. And even setting that aside, I wanna know what's going on with my magic, I haven't really used too many spells lately aside from Telekinesis because I've been afraid of what might happen."

"You used that Shadow Cloaking spell without any problems," Blue Moon pointed out.

"Right," Fia nodded, "but that was an emergency. I don't want to risk something weird or dangerous happening if I try to use too much magic."

"Fair enough," Ancient Scroll replied with a sigh, "so you're all in agreement then?"

The three fillies nodded in affirmation.

"Right then, I'll let Rouge and Yojimbo know," he responded, rising from his chair, "make sure you fillies get a good rest because we're leaving bright and early for the next town over tomorrow."

With a quiet round of 'good night', Ancient Scroll left the room. Fia and Corona settled in and got comfortable, looking forward to the best sleep they'd have in the past few days.

Blue Moon took a bit longer to relax.

She had managed to distract herself well enough earlier, but now that things had settled down, her thoughts wandered back to the mysterious voice she had heard in the caravan.

She wasn't sure where it had come from or why it had already known her name, but the voice sounded confident, regal, powerful. Despite her fear and confusion, Blue Moon couldn't help but be somewhat envious of the voice deep down.

She wondered if she'd hear it again, and what it would tell her if she did. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more her fear lessened and her curiosity grew. She remembered from Corona's story that she had heard a voice in the castle.

Was this the same voice she was talking about?

Somehow Blue Moon doubted it.

Still, she began to think she should tell Fia and Corona about it, even if they didn't believe her. Corona had been right after all, Blue Moon did want to be open and truthful to her friends about her problems, but she found that she still had trouble actually doing so.

She wanted to change that, and she would, starting with this. At the very least, Corona might be able to offer some insight as to what was going on with the voice, and what to expect. It was then that she decided to confront the two about it tomorrow when they were alone.

With that plan in mind, she snuggled deeper into the blanket and closed her eyes, eager to finally get a good night's sleep.

Author's Note:

Not too much to say here, honestly. Just remember that 'hut' in the mountains though, I'll come back to it at some point in the future.

Comments

[Birribi]

Ancient Scroll said Canterlot might their best bet

Missing 'be'

but the voice sound confident

sounded

[Cross Lament]

Chekhov's Hut!

[RegMoDII]

Discord, chrysalis, and NMM or grogar are sponsoring our hero's if I had to guess

[Victor07]

10111595

She wasn't sure where it had come from or why it had already known her name, but the voice sounded confident, regal, powerful . Despite her fear and confusion, Blue Moon couldn't help but be somewhat envious of the voice deep down.

From what she said, my guess would be Nightmare Moon