• Published 1st Mar 2019
  • 4,021 Views, 350 Comments

Odyssey of a Thief - Carapace



Every action has consequences, no matter the intent. To clear her slate, Twilight Sparkle will go to any lengths to settle the score with Celestia, even if it means a fool's errand to a land ravaged by chaos.

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Den of Thieves: 1. Off the Map

In all honesty, it was hardly the first time Twilight had awaken in bonds atop the mare with whom she’s just spent a while night.

There was little typical about those nights, though. Oh, certainly, there were those with fancy, candle lit dinners, dancing beneath the moonlight, kisses—chaste, fleeting, sensuous, and everything in between—and sweet nothings whispered in delicate mulberry ears as they slipped away from the crowd to the privacy of her chambers with an eager lover. But for each of those, Twilight had about three more involving mares she didn’t recognize when she awoke. Usually, alcohol, a seedy pub, some raunchy commentary and dance were involved.

And one involving a changeling, but she preferred not to dwell on that little misadventure.

Still, even that had been somewhat enthralling. Those moments shared together at least spurred some note of want to be together and share a bit of cuddling, maybe a little more of what had been the night before or just some affection before they rose to eat or go their separate ways.

This, however, brought anything but tender feelings or a want for repeat performance. On any level.

She had fallen asleep atop Hadkhûna’s belly, warmed by the dragonfire that burned within her monstrous lover. Twilight was quite certain she’d lain herself down, her forehooves wide to embrace the she-dragon, her wings laying lazily to trail along those opulent white scales, and left leg slightly bowed and tail canted just a tad as she was lulled to sleep by Hadkhûna’s loving purr and great claw trailing down her spine in that delightful way she knew.

So when she found her legs and wings pressed tight against her sides, unable to do any more than wriggle them an inch in any direction within the confines of that sticky, spider silk cocoon she was wrapped in up to her shoulders, Twilight was sure none could fault her for letting out a startled shriek.

The great she-dragon beneath—well, “beneath” in the most strictly technical sense of the word—shifted and snorted, jarred from her sleep. Her long tail thudded off the walls of the tiny cave they’d hurried into to escape the storm the previous night.

Twilight wriggled herself about so she could cast a glare off to her left, toward one of the cave walls. Or, at least, she tried. All she could see was Hadkhûna’s wrist. “Damn it, Skittershy! You know I hate it when you cocoon me while I’m sleeping!”

From somewhere above her and to the right, she heard the spider mare squeak, then a rustling and nervous clicking as she shifted back.

Narrowing her eyes, Twilight thrashed about, bouncing her head off her lover’s scaled belly with her every effort to escape. All in vain. She grumbled, channeling a quick burst of magic through her horn, she tried a quick cutting spell, powerful enough to slice through those thick ropes used on bigger sea craft. But, as was the case when Skittershy wrapped her in such a thick cocoon, the spell sputtered, flickered, and died before she could even snake a tendril toward the sticky webbing.

She felt Hadkhûna shifting. Her head lifting and neck pinching as her lover rose just enough to look down upon her and smile. A low, rumbling chuckle sent a ripple through her chest and belly which made Twilight’s head bounce again.

“My, my, darling,” Hadkhûna crooned. “She got you again, I see.”

Twilight blew her bangs out of her eyes and aimed her best glare up at her lover. It didn’t work. It was quite a bit more difficult to put any heat behind it while cocooned and stuck laying her cheek against the she-dragon’s belly. “Yes,” she replied stiffly. “She did. Could you please stop thinking about teasing me and cut me out now?”

“I suppose I could. But I’m curious.” Those brilliant sapphire eyes flitted upward, no doubt finding the hidden spider mare. Hadkhûna’s features were split by a grin full of dangerous, sharp teeth. “Skittershy, dear? Why did you cocoon my little gemstone last night?”

A warbling whimper filtered down from above. A smattering of words, too fast and quick and high in pitch to discern.

Even for Hadkhûna’s senses.

The she-dragon gave an amused rumble. “Darling, you know I can’t understand you when you whimper-whisper like that. Won’t you come down? Here.” Hadkhûna patted a spot on her belly, just to the left of Twilight’s cocooned form. “Come, come, dear. Don’t hide up there all day!”

Another whimper filtered down from above. This time, the tail end was just audible enough to make Twilight’s ears perk and swivel in time to catch Skittershy mumbling, “—‘m sorry! I was just trying to help! Please don’t be mad!”

Please don’t be mad? After she’d woken up cocooned again? Twilight’s nostrils flared. Were she not bound, she’d have unfurled her wings in challenge or stomped a hoof. Skittershy was a good friend, a dear friend—even if she was one found in a strange place and set of circumstances.

Then again, Hadkhûna’s presence and status as Twilight’s lover all but shot that point into the ocean.

But even still. Dear friend or not, strange places and circumstances or not, there were limits.

Twilight certainly felt waking up bound in such a state hit one. She made to vocalize this objection, her face marred by a deep frown, but a small cough stopped her short.

A small cough, that is, for a she-dragon Hadkhûna’s size.

“Patience, darling,” her lover chided. Then, turning her gaze upward again, Hadkhûna patted that spot on her belly once more. “Come down and speak a little louder, dear. At least hang low enough that we can both see you, for heaven’s sake!”

“O-Okay. Um, just … watch your claws, if you don’t mind.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight watched as Skittershy’s shadowed figure descended from above, held up by a single strand of silk she wound from her spinnerets. To most, seeing a spider mare, with her multiple sets of eyes, long legs and powerful forehooves, and those fangs glinting in the light, coming down to land beside their trapped form, it would be something out of their darkest horrors. And to Twilight just a few short days prior, that horror had been all too real. Then, of course, she got to know the real spider mare and found the poor girl just as startled and loving as anypony who awoke to find their foal—or bunny, as circumstances would have it—crying and some strange mare in their home.

Threats to be eaten aside, there wasn’t much difference between the two.

Skittershy touched down just a hoof’s length from where Twilight still lay bound in her cocoon. The mare poked her hooves together, her bottom lip held between her gleaming fangs. She shifted her weight from side to side. A third keening whimper sounded from the back of her throat.

“Well, dear?” Hadkhûna prompted.

“I, well, um, you see.” Whining, Skittershy let her gaze fall to Hadkhûna’s belly. “I couldn’t help but notice during the night that Twilight was huddling up to you throughout the night. Like she was constantly cold, or something. So, I just, um.” She began to fiddle with her hooves. “I just thought if I cocooned her it’d help keep her warm.”

“I was literally sleeping on the belly of a dragon,” Twilight grumbled. “The only way I could’ve been cold would’ve been if you shoveled snow on me!”

Skittershy flinched and seemed to shrink in size. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I was only trying to help.”

Before Twilight could reply, she felt one of Hadkhûna’s great claws touch her head and soothingly run through her mane. Her eyes flitted up to meet her lover’s, those brilliant sapphires bored deep and seemed to chase her very temper away.

“Patience, my dear. She’s trying,” she murmured, before turning to Skittershy once more. “I’m sure you meant well, dear, but we have had this conversation before, have we not?” Hadkhûna chuckled again. “Perhaps in the winter months Twilight might be a bit more open to such help, but I should think perhaps it might be better that she be able to move her limbs so she can get out when she wakes, no?”

“I … suppose that makes sense.” The tiniest of frowns marred her face, Skitteshy raised her head and looked upon Twilight with each of her eight sky blue eyes at last. Contemplating something. After several seconds, she added, “I’ve never bound somepony in webbing loose enough for them to escape on purpose, though.”

It took all of Twilight’s willpower not to retort with some bit of snark. Agitating though it was to wake up three out of four nights bound in spider silk, her new friend was trying to do something nice.

Even if it was utterly creepy waking up in such a state.

Twilight blew her bangs out of her eyes and forced a smile. “It’s fine, Skittershy. Just please don’t do this again. Unless I ask,” she amended. Like that’ll ever happen.

The spider mare’s face lit up. “You mean it?” she asked, a hopeful smile bloomed across her features.

“Yes, I do.” Pausing a moment, Twilight arched a brow and gave a meaningful wiggle. “Now could one of you please cut me out of this thing? I’d like to stretch my legs.”

Hadkhûna’s booming laughter echoed throughout the cave and sent her belly (and Twilight) bouncing like jello. It would be another several moments of imprisonment and heckling by her lover before the great she dragon saw fit to slice her free with but a single claw.

Twilight felt it a testament to her will that she only let out a small flurry of expletives in reply to such prolonged teasing.


After she’d finally heard the last of her lover’s playful quips and endured a long helping of that teasing claw and affectionate licks, Twilight managed to coax Hadkhûna to rise and emerge from their cave to grace the outside world once again with her splendorous form. It was hardly her fault. Hadkhûna, beautiful and affectionate though she was, happened to be a she dragon of high class, one keen to hear her praises sang—especially by Twilight. If anypony else could find a better way to get her moving than such honeyed flattery, Twilight would gladly let them try.

Just as soon as they signed about fifty waivers removing any liability from her when the inevitable holocaust happened.

Hadkhûna didn’t come easily, even still. She would pause every so often and turn her head, fluttering her eyes as she waited for the next flowery compliment or showing off her natural beauty and grace with an almost mesmerizing turn of her hips or lashing of her tail. Even Skittershy squeaked and turned away with heated cheeks, covering Angel’s eyes lest he be given some ideas.

But Twilight had a trump card hidden beneath her cloak—Hadkhûna’s other weakness.

Her utter inability to resist when Twilight stood before her, fluffing those mulberry wings, and turned to bare her cheek for a kiss, just out of reach.

Oooooooh!” Hadkhûna blew a smokey breath through her nose, heated more by the blush coloring her cheeks than the fire in her belly. “You terrible little tease!”

“Says the one who trails a claw along my spine,” Twilight replied with a breathy sigh. She closed her eyes, a knowing smile playing upon her lips.

Checkmate.

A rumbling purr, one part danger and three smoldering approval, heralded a loud thud. Hadkhûna emerged from their cave and swooped down upon her, plucking the little mare up in her massive claws to be held against her chest and licked and kissed until she laughed and squealed and wriggled to try and dot just one upon her snout.

The pair nosed against one another, their shared smiles and flushed faces only growing as Twilight took the opportunity to plant a soft kiss upon the tip of Hadkhûna’s scaled nose. When the self-proclaimed Princess of Thieves drew away, she noticed a flurry of motion just out of the corner of her eye.

Skittershy turned away, though not quite. Her back faced the pair and her head was low, allowing her mane to fall and veil the side of her face even as she turned to cast a glance over her shoulder, her cheeks colored a dusty pink.

Their eyes met. With a squeak and a deepening blush, the spider mare quickly turned away and hid her face. Upon her shoulder, a tiny bunny named Angel glanced between his caretaker and Twilight, and grinned. Then, his beady eyes glinting, the little punk hopped atop Skittershy’s head and chattered something in her ear.

By her reaction, Twilight could imagine it was either quite unpleasant or mortifying. Or both. For whatever he said, Skittershy let out a sound halfway between a squeak and a gasp, and swiftly snatched the little miscreant off her head and covered his mouth with a hoof.

“You hush!” Skittershy cried, casting another glance back over her shoulder. As if she thought Twilight or Hadkhûna might translate whatever he said. Then she leveled him with a stern, matronly glare. “One more word out of you, buster, and I’ll web your mouth shut!”

Angel did as asked, but fixed her with a smirk far too smug for a little bunny.

Then again, Twilight’s last week or so had been a complete aversion of everything she knew, so what even was real anymore?

“So,” Hadkhûna cut in, nosing against her cheek. “Where are we bound next, dear? And, er, preferably something that doesn’t end with you evading someone eating you, if you please.”

Twilight cocked a brow. “Oh, like you don’t think the last two times I’ve nearly gotten eaten haven’t worked out immensely in your favor.”

“Ah! But I never said that! I simply said it because I’d rather not lose my darling gemstone so soon after collecting her.” After a beat, she asked, “Wait a moment, how many times have you nearly been eaten by monsters?”

“Er …” A flurry of images flashed before her eyes. A nervous grin tugged at her lips.

Hadkhûna arched a scaled brow and fixed her with a stern look. “Why do I get the feeling this is habitual?”

“And why do I get the feeling you’re better off wrapped in a cocoon?” Skittershy put in as she moved to join the she dragon. Each of her eight eyes regarded Twilight critically. “At very least, you’d be safer there.”

“It’s not! Just a couple other times—timberwolves are, well, timberwolves, after all!” If Twilight had her way, neither her lover nor her new friend would ever hear the rest of her tales.

Especially not that changeling incident. That one would be taken to the grave.

Clearing her throat, Twilight levitated a neatly folded map from one of her pouches and unfolded it. She raised it up to cover her face, hiding her burning cheeks from their eyes even as she found their location.

In mere seconds, she found it, her ears twitching. “Ah! Here!” Twilight held out the map and placed a hoof over the edge of a vast stretch of green surrounding the Rolling Thunder Mountains. “We’re right at the edge of the Sprawling Forest of Verdane, so we should be just a half a day’s walk from Nomad’s Vale, then another day or so to Port Sommerset.”

“You want to go to Nomad’s Vale?” Hadkhûna wrinkled her snout. Disdain was written plain upon her face.

“You have something against it?”

“Forgive me if it offends, darling. But if that place is anything like what I’ve heard, it’s little more than a collective of thieves, con artists, and backstabbers.”

“In a nutshell,” Skittershy said. A shiver ran down her spine. “Those nasty thieves I ate fifty years ago were headed there. And so many of the creatures who come poking around with their spears and swords looking for hideouts, too. And they’re always so rude!”

Twilight turned to fix her with an amused smirk. “Well, to be fair, I fit right into two out of those three categories. So, I’m right at home there.” She paused, then turned to aim a sheepish smile at Skittershy. “Minus the rude part, I hope.”

Skittershy’s cheeks flushed red again. She hurried to close the distance and swept the smaller mare into a hug. “Oh, no! Not at all! I just mean most of the ones I’ve met.” She blinked twice. “Well, and then eaten. But you’re not like them at all! Thievery aside, I mean.”

Of course. With a chuckle, Twilight leaned up to nuzzle beneath her chin. “I thought so.” She folded the map up and slipped it back into her pouch, then said, “All that aside, I do need to make a trip to the market so I can sell off a few things. So I can pay the fare for the trip to Equestria.” Not to mention, collect my winnings from a certain mouthy minotaur …

The she dragon and spider mare shared bemused looks, the latter tilting her head in silent askance.

Whatever question passed between them, Hadkhûna answered it with a nod before turning to Twilight once more. “Far be it from me to question your, er, plans, Twilight, but … well, you do realize you could just ask me to fly rather than sit on a boat for however long for some trip along the coast, right?”

Along the coast?

Blinking, Twilight aimed a quizzical look at her lover. “Hadkhûna … when was the last time you visited Canterlot?”

“Me? Never.”

“Wait what?” That couldn’t be right. She turned to Skittershy with an expectant look. “Certainly, you’ve been there, right? You mentioned you showed Celestia how to get into your mother’s nest without getting caught so she could burn it all.”

To her surprise, Skittershy shook her head. “I’ve heard stories about its splendor,” she admitted. “But I’ve never seen it myself. I’ve always been too afraid to try, in case some poor pony sees me and gets scared enough the Sisters decide my pact with them is void.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. She glanced between the pair, gaping at each in turn. “Then how did you end up fighting Celestia and Luna all those centuries ago? Or make deals to get them to let you live in peace?”

Hadkhûna aimed a patient smile in her direction—the very sort her mother or the Sisters used to give, which never failed to drive her spare. “Twilight, what have the Sisters told you of their younger days?”

“Er.” She furrowed her brows. Truth be told, not a lot was known about Celestia and Luna’s younger years. Nothing too specific, though, a lot of it only what they were willing to share.

The rest, however, was just a bunch of guesswork and piecing together by scholars throughout the ages.

She shrugged. “Honestly? Hearing you talk about fighting them was a complete surprise. I never knew they’d come out here until you said something.”

“Ah, pity.” Her lover’s smile turned wistful, she turned her gaze off toward the horizon. A far-off look entered those ancient sapphire eyes. “They came here during an age where chaos and disharmony reigned over the land, and tried their damndest to tame it for all—not just their ponies. They did admirably to even get it to this state, but his work was a bit too strong here compared to the tales I heard of Equestria.”

Skittershy shivered. “It was Celestia who burned away my mother’s webs, and Luna who did away with Hadkhûna’s father before he could scorch the lands.” Frowning, she glanced up at Hadkhûna and added, “No offense, but I’m rather glad she did.”

“Oh, none taken. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again—my father was a monster, even by my standards! His short-sighted immolation nonsense would’ve deprived this land of its beauty.” She returned her gaze to Twilight and spoke in a low, rumbling purr, “And me of my gemstone’s.”

Again, Twilight felt that heat rise to color her cheeks. At this rate, she’d go home more purple than mulberry or lavender. With a tiny cough, she decided to steer the conversation back to its proper course. “Well, either way, neither of you two have ever actually been to Canterlot?” They shook their heads. For a second, Twilight felt just the slightest bit smug at knowing something they didn’t.

Then she realized she had to get two powerful creatures who’d nearly eaten her onto a boat.

In fairness, how was she supposed to account for these variables on the way in? And it wasn’t like she had better options even with the knowledge she had to find some way to get two monster mares across the sea!

“I know it’s somewhere east,” Skittershy said, bringing her back to present, “so I figured it would be along the coast, too. That’s where a lot of the older capitol cities are. That or a river port.”

Well, she wasn’t necessarily wrong in that regard. Just in this case.

Twilight licked her lips and retrieved the map from her pouch again. As she did, her magic flickered and washed over the face of the map.

Neither her lover nor her friend noticed the little ripple at the southernmost point. Perfect.

“So, we’re here,” she said, pointing at the spot at the edge of the forest. Slowly, she traced her hoof toward Port Sommerset and Riptide Bay, out into the vast Sea of Arbol until it reached another, larger landmass. “This is Equestria, way over here—or, rather, this is the outermost border of the Badlands. And then …” Her hoof stopped in the very center of that landmass, right beneath Mount Canterhorn and a little depiction of a splendorous marble city clearly labeled “Canterlot.”

Their jaws dropped. “You’re joking,” Skittershy breathed. “You can’t have come all that way by yourself.”

“No joke. And yes, by myself, except for a brief meet up with some diamond dogs and deer.”

“I thought you were lying when you described your journey,” Hadkhûna mumbled. “Playful banter or misdirection so I wouldn’t know what to burn, I figured.”

Twilight had to wince. She wasn’t wrong, not by a long-shot. But there was more than a little truth to her little tale.

Slowly, she shook her head. Time to spin another little tale.“I came across the Sea of Arbol by myself—well, as by myself as buying a ticket on a passenger ship can be.” It was here that the proverbial thunderhead kicked off and hit her in the head with a bolt of lightning. Twilight’s eyes went wide.

How exactly was she to afford a ticket across the sea, not to mention one for Hadkhûna and Skittershy each? Something told her they’d take great offense if she tried to finagle the shipmaster to let her put them down as livestock.

Actually, she was quite certain Hadkhûna would.

The she dragon might just burn half the port to prove a point.

“My word,” Hadkhûna whispered, falling back onto her haunches with a loud crash that sent the nearby trees rustling and birds into a frenzy of indignant squawks. She paid them no mind, bringing a claw up to cup her brow. “I never imagined. I figured maybe southeast of here but that far … and they came this way to fight him and his influence.”

Skittershy shivered and hugged Angel close. “Thankfully so. He was awful! And the things he did to enable our parents!” The spider mare squeezed her eyes shut. A shrill, keening whimper sounded from within her throat. “If not for them, this land would be a disaster!”

Her ears twitching, Twilight glanced between the pair. Again, details being omitted, information hidden she’d never heard of before. Who in the hay was this he or him character?

By their reactions, he was a monster—more so than even they had been cast as—or were, admittedly so in Hadkhûna’s case. A monster the likes of which would drive Celestia and Luna, the most peaceful and benevolent leaders in the known world, to war.

Perhaps something to pry from her lover and friend when they weren’t in such a state.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Well, the two of you will get to enjoy an experience in a land you’ve never seen before then,” she said as she folded her map and put it away once more. Hopefully for the last time. “But for now, we’re bound for Nomad’s Vale so I can sell off a few things and hopefully get the money we need to make the trip. Without threatening immolation,” she added with a stern look up at her lover.

To her credit, Hadkhûna shrugged and smiled at Skittershy. “My gemstone knows me well, doesn’t she?” She gave a rumbling chuckle, then nuzzled Twilight’s cheek. “As you say, to Nomad’s Vale. Until then—” the she dragon plucked Twilight off the ground, earning a squeak and a flail of limbs as she dangled by the back of her cloak before being deposited upon her lover’s back “—you’ll sit right up there where I can keep an eye on you, little troublemaking lover of mine. Skittershy? Would you like a lift?”

“Oh, if you don’t mind!” Skittershy climbed onto a pair of Hadkhûna’s claws and was lifted up and onto a place just beside Twilight. With a smile and nod of thanks, she settled down, one of her surprisingly knobby knees brushed against Twilight’s back. “Oops! Sorry! You don’t mind if I sit here, do you?”

As Twilight made to answer, Angel Bunny hopped from Skittershy’s hooves to land nimbly atop her head. He gave a happy little chatter and sat down, swinging his legs to and fro like a foal in a school chair.

Skittershy beamed. “He says you’re nice so he’s decided he’s going to spend time on your head for a while. If that’s okay with you, I mean. I can get him to come back over to me.”

Twilight glanced up, eying his little paws. “I suppose he can stay there,” she replied with a crooked smile. “As long as he behaves himself.”

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that!” Laughing, Skittershy leaned in close and pulled her into a hug. “He likes you quite a lot. I’d say you’re a close second to me!”

Something about that statement sent a cold shiver down Twilight’s spine.

It was probably nothing important.


In another life, in another universe, Twilight liked to imagine that she was the leader of her own little group of friends.

Somewhere out in the vast multiverse as the legendary Star Swirl the Bearded once hypothesized about, noting the endless possibilities and differences, she liked to pretend there was just the slightest possibilities that she was a real princess rather than one who so needed to steal. Perhaps that Twilight would be a pony others admired and looked up to, a true Princess of Friendship, surrounded by a few smiling friends in a nice little community she helped better. Over the course of the last few days, however, her little flights of fancy had added a new factor she liked to imagine:

That her lover and friend didn’t tease her both with their size and her little penchant for trouble.

It took every fiber of her self-control not to growl. Well, not again. She’d tried that once, all it earned her was a little croon and pinch of her cheeks with massive dragon claws, and a smattering of giggles from a certain spider mare.

“Oh, dear! Look at her little cheeks!” Hadkhûna purred. Her lips tugged into a wicked grin. “Such an adorable shade of red, no? Oh! If I had the patience for artistry, I’d paint the sunset that same color!”

“Hey!” Twilight grumbled.

Skittershy hid a smile behind one of her hooves. “I’d like to see that,” she said. Each of her eyes flashed with a mix of amusement and just a hint of mischief. Casting a look up at Hadkhûna, she asked, “Couldn’t you, though? I mean, you’ve always been better at that little trick than I.”

“True, but I think I’ll hold off on that for now. We can keep it a nice surprise for our little one, no?”

Twilight’s blush spread to cover her face. “Excuse me! I’ll have you know I’m taller than the average pony by at least seven centimeters!” she cried. “And I’m just about as tall as Celestia when she was my age!”

Hadkhûna gave her a pat on the head with one of her massive claws. “Oh, I’m sure you are! But to Skittershy and I, darling, I’m afraid you’re well and truly quite small.”

Another growl rolled about in the back of her throat. Twilight batted her lover’s claw away and fixed her with a glare. “I may be smaller than you but who isn’t? And for the record, I’m still a grown mare!”

“Yes, dear, you are. But that’s not the question on the table, so to speak.” Her eyes glinting, Hadkhûna brought her head nearer to Twilight, gazing into her very soul. “Can you go be trusted to go into town and conduct your business without getting into trouble? Or do Skittershy and I need to accompany you to be certain?”

“I’m quite certain, thank you very much!” What was she? Twelve? It was hardly the first time she’d walked into a den of thieves and con artists. By Celestia’s crown, this wasn’t even the roughest such place!

An arched brow in reply only served to make that burn beneath her skin hotter. With a flick of her tail and stomp of her hoof, Twilight said, “I’m just going in to sell a few things and getting out. Otherwise, I might—might—grab something for the two of you if it catches my eye, but I’ll be doing it legally this time!”

That drew a pair of sidelong looks. Skittershy folded her hooves. “You promise?” she asked.

Her ears twitched. They were seriously treating her like a filly! “I promise,” Twilight replied with a saccharine smile. She raised her hoof in mock imitation of the Filly Scout Corps’ old salute. “On my honor as a Filly Scout Corpsmare, I won’t get into any trouble.”

Even as she said it, Twilight knew there was utterly no way they’d buy it.

“I’m not sure if I’m more surprised by your being in the Filly Scout Corps or confused at what that’s even supposed to mean.” The spider mare tilted her head to one side. “It means something extra on top of the promise, I’m guessing?”

“Similar to the Sisters’ old vow, if I recall their little gesture,” Hadkhûna added thoughtfully.

Twilight had to force herself not to goggle at the pair. That actually worked? Seriously?

By Celestia, there really was a first time for everything.

“Yes. That’s exactly it.” Twilight forced a wooden smile. “So, you’ve got my promise with Filly Scouts’ Honor applied.” Slowly, she backed away from them, edging her way down the path leading into Nomad’s Vale. “I’ll just be on my way then, if you don’t—”

“Actually, there is one thing,” Skittershy interrupted. Before Twilight could think to question, she turned to Angel with a smile. Nuzzling him softly, she said, “Angel, would you mind going with Twilight?”

The little bunny beamed and chattered a quick reply, then, in one great bound, leapt from her shoulder to Twilight’s head. His little paws landed soft and nimbly, he bounced into a seated position and tussled her bangs.

Curious, Twilight arched a brow at Skittershy in silent prompting.

Her friend simply smiled back. “I’ll take your word and honor for it, but you won’t mind spending a little time with Angel, would you? Plus, he’ll be able to vouch for you if you do actually stay out of trouble.”

“But that’s the exact opposite of taking my word for it!”

“Then you’ll be happy to prove me wrong!” Skittershy’s smile turned deceptively sweet. “Think of it as a test to see if you can avoid getting into more trouble than you did with Hadkhûna and me.” She cast a wink. “And you can do me a little favor and show Angel how to behave around other ponies so he doesn’t shoot pebbles at one who isn’t as understanding as you while you’re at it.”

Atop her head, Twilight heard Angel give an excited bout of chattering, like a foal on a trip to the candy store. She sighed and nodded once, defeated.

Still, internally, she fumed. Act like she couldn’t make a quick trip into and out of town without some big dust up, would they?

With all the decorum and maturity of a princess, she blew a raspberry at the pair, then turned on her hoof and trotted down the path. “Come on, Angel,” she grumbled, her ears burning at the sound of their laughter. “Let’s get this taken care of fast so we can get back here and rub it in their smug faces!”

Hopefully, they’d be able to get it done without any creature recognizing her.

Twilight tried to pretend to be optimistic about her prospects.

Author's Note:

What's this? I actually posted the chapter I meant to?

Stunning.

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