My Little Sphinx
A Ranma ½ - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Crossover Insertion
By Tangent
*O o O o O*
CHAPTER ONE: Karma is a…
Where was Ranma?
Admittedly, this question was at the top of many lists among members of a certain population in Nerima. The boy had been missing for the better part of four days now, which might have been taken for a training trip, as he had taken several of similar duration since he first move in with the Tendo family with his father.
The only problem with that assumption was that he usually left a note and at least tried to take his camping gear if he could. Granted, sometimes if there was a big fight or an adventure, he wouldn’t have time, but such events seldom affected Ranma in isolation to anyone else, and nobody else had heard of anything else going on.
The Amazon contingent didn’t have Ranma, or they would have been long gone, as he was the only one tying the three to Nerima in the first place. Not that suspicion didn’t fall on them anyway, but there was plenty of suspicion to go around, what with the other rivals for Ranma’s affections and general animosity among those objecting to those goals.
There was one person did have a rough idea what had happened to the boy. Largely because he was the cause of Ranma’s disappearance, but he had honestly thought that the boy would have made it back by now if it were possible to return. Then again, Happosai never had told Ranma where he was sending him.
Or that he was sending Ranma anywhere at all…
But really, catching the boy napping peacefully on a random rooftop had been such a stroke of luck that Happosai simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity! And it wasn’t as if he hadn’t tucked the instructions on how to get back in one of the lad’s pockets. The boy should have found and read the note by now, especially since it was folded in such a way as to make it noticeably bulky, just like that piece of litter over there…
…
Happosai took note of where he was, and grew agitated when he realized that he was in the alley next to the building he had found Ranma on. Picking up the folded notepaper, he opened it up and realized that, yes, it was the same note he had tried to send with Ranma.
Oh, Hells. The poor boy probably had no idea what had happened to him during his nap. Given the description Happosai had found on the strange set of scrolls he had… liberated… during one of his excursions, the boy most likely believed he had died and ascended to a happy afterlife!
Dammit! How was Happosai supposed to find out if the spell he had found that would send someone to the Everfree, a mystical land where clothing was entirely optional, was a trap or not if Ranma didn’t know how to come back? He knew that Ranma would at least try to come back to Nerima (which was the primary reason Happosai had chosen him to test the spell in the first place). The boy was too stupidly tied to his commitments in Nerima to stay away.
If only Happosai could remember exactly where he had liberated the scrolls from in the first place. Then it would be a simple matter of going back and either finding additional records for a more complete picture, or terrorizing the original owner until he had enough information to work with. The main problem with this solution was that he was pretty sure that he had picked it up sometime during the time he had spent overseas after the oni incident.
The American authorities were far less tolerant of his leisure activities, far more willing to share information about him among different jurisdictions, and far too ready to express their displeasure with him at gunpoint. And, as it turned out, all too happy to dump their problem with him on the F.B.I. once he had jumped state borders.
So, no, Happosai wasn’t quite desperate enough to try sneaking back into a foreign country that willing to put a stop to an old man’s harmless fun. Which was why he had used Ranma to test the portal spell in the first place. That, and he thought that the boy could use a brief vacation from the poisonous relationships he had with his so-called friends and family in Nerima.
Perhaps Happosai should leave the boy in the land of the Everfree? He’s likely live longer that way, or at least pick up a proper appreciation for the pretty ladies…
Dammit, no! Happosai was not about to let Genma’s stubborn whelp get what should rightfully be his reward! At least, not without confirming that the pretty ladies were actually there in the first place, and that they actually considered clothing to be optional.
Besides, while Ranma might be too much of a stick in the mud for his tastes, he was actually the best option for an heir that Happosai currently had for the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. He was getting too old to want to wait for his idiot students to train up another one to worthwhile levels.
Especially since Genma’s success with Ranma had to be a fluke! Really, a ten year training trip away from a doting wife, or any chance for his son to actually get to know Soun’s daughters? Sure, training trips were important, but ten years? Away from civilization, pretty ladies, and public bathhouses?
At least Soun had the sense to stay home, even if he had done a half-assed job training his youngest daughter. Genma had moved Ranma around so much that the poor boy hadn’t even known that the only friend he had managed to make during the trip had been a girl! And even worse, had failed to pick up on the fact that Ukyo was a girl when she found him as a teenager? How had Ranma become the martial arts prodigy he was without being able to pick up on important things like that? Chest binding only hid so much after all, no matter how familiar Ukyo was with the role. Mid to late teens was pushing the limits of her ability to successfully pull off her ‘boy’ act without specialized training. Ranma should have been able to pick up on any number of little clues, such as how Ukyo had to suppress the sway of her hips when she moved, or the lower center of balance revealed in her combat stance.
How could Ranma read combat intent well enough to avoid attacks as well as the lad could without picking up more about the rest of how body language worked?
Okay, maybe the boy did deserve a bit of a vacation in order to get away from his idiot father. Hopefully, four days in the land of barely clad Pretty Ladies would be enough to loosen him up some. And even if it wasn’t, Happosai had no intention of leaving his only viable heir behind when he left this world.
Genma?
Perhaps, but Happosai have to make sure that the man knew not to turn this into another sorry excuse for a training trip. Happosai had no desire to wait around ten more years for that to happen.
Ultimately, Happosai just needed someone who would stay focused on actually bringing his heir back to Nerima. Actual skill in the art was secondary, or perhaps even unnecessary as the Everfree sounded pretty much like an iconic example of a peaceful paradise without any significant dangers. After all, why else would the whole realm consider clothing to be entirely optional unless their were no dangers, and thus no violence?
Great, now Happosai had to think of someone who would choose to send his heir back, even if they ultimately decided to stay themselves. That shortened the list considerably, but he still had some candidates in mind.
Maybe?
Yes… Yes, Happosai had just the person in mind for the mission…
*O o O o O*
During the brief time it took Happosai to locate and approach the candidate he had decided on, Rainbow Dash and Wild Apple had recovered enough from their respective injuries that an appropriate time was scheduled for their public award ceremony, to be held at Ponyville's Town Hall.
*O o O o O*
“So let me get this straight,” Nabiki spoke as she glanced over the page Happosai had given her. “You sent Ranma to some place called ‘The Everfree’ something or other, a mystical land where clothing is supposedly entirely optional, which may or may not be in another world, and he lost the instructions on how to return. Even though you sent him over there while he was sleeping, without bothering to tell either him or anyone else what you were doing.”
“Okay, okay,” the diminutive old man grumbled. “When you say it like that, I guess I can’t really blame Ranma too much for being irresponsible enough to lose the instructions.”
“That you so thoughtfully tucked loosely into his pocket without waking him up,” Nabiki commented as she neatly folded and refolded the paper until it was roughly the size of an index card.
“Exactly! He’s the irresponsible one for losing it in the first place!”
“The mind boggles…” Nabiki pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration as she used her other hand to discretely tuck the note down the front of her sleeveless blouse and into something she normally considered to be just a bit more secure than a pocket. “And now you want to send me after him. By myself. Unprotected.”
“How dangerous can the place be if they don’t wear clothes all that often?” Happosai countered.
“Oh, I don’t know. Ranma hasn’t returned, or even contacted us, after four days. Sounds plenty iffy to me.”
“Take your camera! I bet you’ll make tons of money from the pictures you’d be able to sell!”
“Well, there is that,” Nabiki admitted, pulling her camera out of her desk drawer and checking the film counter before setting it and a couple of extra rolls of film on top of her desk. “I still want a bodyguard or some way to defend myself before I agree to be sent over. I am out of practice after all.”
“Okay, fine,” Happosai grumbled as he reached into his shirt and pulled something out, tossing it to Nabiki.
The skeptical girl caught the object easily and started examining it. Whatever it was, it was made of stone, attached to a leather cord, and was mostly feline shaped. “It’s a cat. With boobs. And a sort of human face.” The eyes of which appeared to be made from some sort of green gems. Not that Nabiki said anything about those. “What’s this supposed to do?” Nabiki asked dubiously. “Trigger Kitty-Boy’s Nekoken?”
“Of course not!” Happosai huffed in irritation. “It’s an Amulet of the Guardian. Hold it tight whenever you’re in trouble and a sphinx is supposed to appear to guide you away from danger. I‘ve never been in enough danger to be able to trigger the darn thing myself of course,” he grumbled. “I’m just too damn good at defending myself to ever really need it. Ranma would also probably have some difficulty activating it, as skilled as he is. But it should be just the thing for someone like you.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so. How about you get out of my room and find another patsy?” Nabiki waved a hand towards the door in a shooing motion, not bothering to hand back the talisman. Happosai had probably stolen the thing, and there might be a reward for returning it. Or it could prove valuable in its own right. Just how valuable depended on whether or not it was fake or authentic, and if it actually was enchanted.
“Who said anything about your having any choice?” Happosai narrowed his eyes dangerously as he nudged the door shut. “Like it or not, you, Nabiki Tendo, are my best shot at either getting my heir back, or at least confirming what’s on the other side. So I’m sending you over now, before you cause any trouble!” The light in Nabiki’s room somehow got dimmer even though neither of them had touched the switch, and Nabiki could swear that she could just barely perceive a sort of negative aura seeming to boil off of the tiny old man.
“Wait, what? You can’t!” Nabiki made a dash for her door, only to end up being poked in a few seemingly random spots as she attempted to dodge past him. “What… did… you… do?” she gasped weakly as the old man casually redirected her momentum so that she fell limply across her own bed.
“Oh, nothing too serious,” Hopposai commented as he nonchalantly twirled the bra and panties he had just acquired for a moment, before tucking them into his shirt and pulling out a scroll. “Not even enough to trigger the talisman I gave you. Just a few pressure points to keep you complacent enough while I read the incantation. It’ll wear off shortly, but by that time, you’ll already be there.”
“You’ll… never… get… away… with… this…” Nabiki struggled to get her body to do more than twitch here and there as Happosai read words aloud that she could only hear and promptly forget. Just barely, her left hand managed to close completely around the tiny stone sphinx as her room began to fade out of view.
The last words she heard from Happosai before he and the world around him disappeared into formless mist was: “I already have, Nabiki. I already have…”
*O o O o O*
And in just that brief conversation had been enough time for the award ceremony honoring Rainbow Dash and Wild Apple to be over and done with. In fact, Twilight Sparkle had just witnessed Wild Apple's accidental transformation right as Nabiki completely faded from her room back in the Tendo compound.
*O o O o O*
Hapossai shrugged as he turned and left Nabiki’s room. While it had sounded cool, last minute gloating just wasn’t as fun if you weren’t sure the other person even heard you gloating.
He idly wondered if Nabiki would manage to trigger the talisman to summon the cat-lady guardian spirit he had found out about shortly before deciding to… liberate… it into his possession all those years ago. As he had told the girl, he was just too damn good at defending himself to be able to trigger the darn thing himself under most circumstances, and the few times when it might have worked despite his being a martial arts grandmaster, he hadn’t had it with him.
He never did notice the folded up sheet of paper, about the size of an index card, that had fallen to the floor as he had stolen Nabiki’s undergarments.
In fact, it wouldn’t be until several hours later before the eldest Tendo sister, Kasumi, found it still laying there as she entered the room to put away Nabiki’s laundry.
“Oh? What’s this?” she wondered out loud as she picked it up and unfolded it. If it was one of Nabiki’s homework assignments, she’d tuck it into the appropriate book. If it was something she felt that Nabiki was better off not getting into, she’d simply dispose of it discretely. Seeing that the paper was covered in Happosai’s illegible chicken-scratch handwriting, her decision was easy. “Into the burn pile with you!”
Shortly thereafter, the paper met it’s fate in one of Soun Tendo’s ashtrays.
Nabiki herself wasn’t missed by anyone until she failed to show up for dinner that evening.
*O o O o O*
Nabiki ran for all her worth, ignoring both the bitter cold of the deep snow and the effects of branches and thorns on her poor abused bare skin as she bobbed and weaved through the narrowest gaps she could find between the rocks and trees of this monstrous forest Happosai had sent her to. All the while barely staying ahead of the biggest, meanest, and ugliest lion-thing she had ever seen(1).
She knew that she had been right in second-guessing his proposition. Just go through the portal with the instructions on how to return, fetch Ranma, and take as many pictures of the pretty pretty barely clad locals as she wanted, to either sell or blackmail Ranma with. It had seemed way too good to be true, and her gut feeling had been to try to back out of the deal, but the old pervert had sent her through anyway! He even stole her bra and panties in the process while he was at it.
The very first thing that had gone wrong upon arrival (other than the fact that she had effectively been banished to wherever this was in the first place) was finding out that it was apparently in the middle of winter wherever she had ended up. As in snow up to her knees deep(2). And the only clothes she had on were the entirely insufficient short shorts and a sleeveless blouse. Checking for the note so she could send herself right back to her nice warm room proved to be fruitless, as it was missing. Not that it wouldn’t have taken Nabiki a good long while to read Happosai’s chicken-scratch handwriting anyway, but as far as she knew, it had been her only ticket home. And then some badly scarred lion-thing with bat wings and a scorpion tail had started chasing her through the deep snow and the occasionally thorny underbrush it hid.
Fortunately, its injuries were slowing it down enough to allow Nabiki to stay ahead of it, if only just barely.
Unfortunately, the threat was more than sufficient to trigger the amulet that Happosai had given her for her protection. This was bad because said protection took the form of turning her into a wingless sphinx, which really did a number on the remaining tatters of her meager clothes, already a mass of loosely connected rags and tatters from squeezing between nearly too tight spaces and entirely too close for comfort near misses from Mr. Kitty. On the other hand, she was no longer freezing and she was much faster now.
A bit clumsy, perhaps, but definitely faster as she loped forward in an awkward series of four legged bounds. Annoyingly enough, on top of everything else, her now bare boobs jiggled and bounced painfully between her forelegs, brushing against the deep snow and the occasionally thorny underbrush that it lay hidden beneath its cold, powdery surface.
“Dammit!” Nabiki cursed as she burst out of the underbrush(3) and into an open field overlooking rolling hills and no further cover to be seen, the sounds of the monster crashing through the same underbrush no where near far enough behind her. “Dammitdammitdammitdammit!”
She sprinted across the field and down the hill for all she was worth, hoping to gain a little distance between her and the beast before it broke out of the forest as well.
She ran…
She tripped and tumbled down the hill…
She rolled over in a panic, expecting her very last sight to be the gaping jaws of the beast closing over her head.
Except that never happened.
Instead, the heavily scarred manticore paced back and forth at the edge of the tree line, pacing back and forth at it looked about, but refusing to come out of the forest. Every now and then it would look at her in confusion, but never for very long. Eventually, it apparently gave up and wandered back into the forest.
Nabiki was safe(4)…
And she finally collapsed, physically and emotionally exhausted…
*O o O o O*
Meanwhile, the object of Nabiki's fetch quest, one Ranma Saotome (now going by the name Wild Apple after becoming an honorary member of the Apple family), was boarding the Friendship Express, bound for Canterlot. She (as the pony, Wild Apple) was rather bemused by the familiar way that what was supposed to be a small trip involving just her, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and Sweetie Belle, had somehow expanded to include several other ponies as well. Most notable being Fluttershy, Big Mac, Granny Smith, Applebloom, Pinkie Pie, Ditzy Doo and her daughters, Sparkler and Dinky Doo.
Oh, and Ponyville's mayor was also coming along for some reason.
Doctor Stable tried to come as well, but was kicked off the train several times by various ponies.
*O o O o O*
The hungry sphinx plodded forward, trying to ignore the weight of her bare boobs as they rubbed and bumped together between her forelegs with every shaky step. Seriously, after who knew how long she had been away from civilization as a strange cat-girl thing with pathetic survival skills, she was starving to death. The last thing she remembered eating, more days ago than she could clearly remember, was an uncharacteristically aggressive white bunny - and the only reason she had even caught it was that it had tried to fight her instead of hopping away. Damn thing nearly won, too, which was embarrassing.
The point being, while the weather had eventually warmed up, the sphinx had gradually wasted away with the melting snow. Her scraggly and matted fur now covered loose skin draped over too thin muscles. She could easily feel individual ribs whenever she rubbed a paw against them under her obnoxiously firm breasts that never seemed to shrink or get lighter.
In fact, the sphinx was fairly certain that her magically buxom bosom was the only reason she had lived even this long, as her body apparently drew some sort of miniscule nourishment from it’s ever replenishing fat reserves.
Not enough to keep her from starving though. Just enough to keep her from wasting away completely.
The sphinx found herself imagining herself as a shriveled bag of mummified skin and boned with perfect boobs being found centuries later by some fossil hunter. They would end up in some laboratory as scientists poked, prodded, and dissected them, trying to unravel the secret of why they were still firm and voluptuous. And she would inexplicably feel every single bit of it from beyond the grave…
The sphinx whimpered to herself and shook the vision from her head. Some variation of that imagine spot had haunted her ever since she had noticed the peculiarities involving her bosom remaining healthy while the rest of her was withering away. She was pretty sure she was becoming delirious from both the hunger and sleep deprivation because her nightmares were even worse than her waking hallucinations.
It was getting harder and harder to think clearly…
She barely even remembered her own name… Nab… Nabby something? Nibbles?
Whatever. It didn’t matter any more. She cast it away with all the other irrelevant things in her head. As she wanted to cast aside her irritatingly heavy and sensitive boobs that just wouldn’t let her forget about them!
A concerned voice drew her attention. Some blue horse thing with a horn on its head and a white mane and tail. She had vague recollections of hearing the language before, but in her hunger-maddened state she didn’t care.
The nearly mindless creature that used to be Nabiki Tendo pounced!
Only to collapse as a rope coiled itself around her body. She lost consciousness as her head hit the ground…
*O o O o O*
"Oh good, you're awake,"
The sphinx heard a somewhat arrogant voice speak as she shifted weakly on the hard wooden floor of... wherever she was. She was still a cat-thing, as far as she could tell, and still painfully hungry albeit nowhere nearly as badly as before. Her paws were wrapped in some sort of thick material her claws couldn't cut through, there was a muzzle around her mouth, and a thick rope connected a collar around her neck to a metal ring in the floor. A floor which her bare boobs were pressed uncomfortably against, even under the meager weight of her starvation emaciated body. Seriously, everything else seemed to have wasted away, so why hadn't her breasts? "...water..."
"And you seem to have regained some level of rationality this time. Trixie was beginning to wonder," the blue unicorn stated calmly as she wrapped her bowl of thin warm broth (made from some sort of bird) in her aura and floated it over. "Slowly now. Trixie already spent a lot of time nursing you back to health, and Trixie does not want Trixie's efforts to be wasted. Especially after Trixie subdued you when you attacked Trixie in your hunger madness."
"...sorry..." the sphinx rasped out a reply as she held her head unsteadily over the wooden bowl and slowly lapped up the thin broth.
It was plain, unseasoned, and overcooked, but at that moment she thought that it was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted...
Annotations from the Journal of Nabiki the Sphinx:
(1): I would not find this out until much much later, but this was probably the very same manticore that Wild Apple had fought off in Ponyville a few weeks before. Apparently it survived the experience.
(2): The snow actually varied in depth quite a bit. On average, it was mostly knee deep, with occasional sections where it was up to my thighs or only ankle deep. And almost all of it was hiding some form of underbrush. I'm probably lucky that most of the hidden underbrush didn't actually have thorns, although the patches I stumbled through that did were painful enough.
(3): I don't remember exactly when the last few remaining shreds of my clothes gave up the ghost, but I was pretty much completely naked by this point, and had been for a while.
(4): For a given definition of "safe" anyway. Turns out that I had just crossed almost all the way across the regular ambush lane of a hibernating hydra. I am damn lucky that it didn't wake up. Mr. Kitty proved he was smarter than I was by deciding to stay out of it.
Author's Note
DISCLAIMER: ‘Ranma ½’ and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Video. ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’ and all characters therein belong to Hasbro. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!).
My Name is Nabiki... Something...
Trixie patiently watched as the emaciated feline shakily lapped up the thin broth she had made from some bird(1). The sphinx was oddly wingless, but there was no sign of scarring to indicate that they had been lost due to injuries. That, and the obviously healthy mammae that seemed so out of place hanging from a barrel so shriveled that Trixie could easily count the ribs just by sight alone, were both pretty good indications that she was looking at the possible victim of a transformation spell of some sort. Sure, the poor thing may have simply been a pampered socialite that never bothered learning how to hunt, but it was just as possible that she had once been a member of a less predatory species.
“So, Boobs,” the blue unicorn began once the bowl was empty, “care to tell Trixie the Sympathetic and Intrigued what brought you to such a sorry state?”
“Boobs?” the sphinx wasn’t sure how to take her new nickname. She vaguely remembered the unicorn calling her that during the previous times she had been awake under her care.
“Trixie named you ‘Boobs’ for lack of anything else to call you.”
“…Fine. Whatever.”
“You don’t remember your name, do you,” the unicorn stated bluntly.
“Of course I do! It’s… it’s…” the sphinx growled in frustration. “Nabiki. I'm pretty sure that my name is Nabiki... something. I think there may have been more to it, but that's all I can remember right now."
“Beaks then,” Trixie nodded.
“Don’t call me that,” the irritated sphinx requested dourly.
“You tried to eat Trixie. Repeatedly. You should be happy Trixie the Justly Affronted is calling you something as nice as Beaks. Trixie could go back to referring to you by your obviously enchanted mammae!”
"My what?" Nabiki asked.
"Your udders. Trixie believes they they are called breasts or boobs when they are shaped like yours are."
“I'd really rather that you called me by Nabiki."
“Trixie thinks… not. Trixie tried to help an obviously down on her luck fellow traveler, only to get attacked when you decided to try to eat Trixie. Which you tried again when Trixie tried to feed you after you woke up the first time. And again every time afterwards for the past three days until just now. There is a reason Trixie the Cautious and Wary wrapped your paws, muzzled you, and tethered you to the floor, and it wasn’t because Trixie was feeling kinky! So Trixie will most likely continue referring to you by whatever Trixie feels like calling you at the moment.”
“Okay! Okay! I get it! I screwed up and now I have to put up with dumb nicknames because of it,” Nabiki sullenly gave in. “Can you at least untie me? I promise not to try to eat you anymore.”
“Trixie would like to, but no. We’re not far from the Village of Brand, so Trixie is taking you there so a vet can look you over.”
“That seems reasonab- Hey! I’m not some animal! Why are you taking me to a vet!?”
“For one thing, a small town doctor isn’t very likely to know what to do with somepony who isn’t a pony. Veterinarians at least know how to care for other species besides ponies.”
“And the other reason?” Nabiki asked grudgingly.
“You. Went. Feral.” Trixie leaned forward and emphasized each word by poking one of the sphinx’s breasts with a hoof. Quite frankly, they were the only part of Nabiki's body that looked healthy enough to be prodded like that without potentially causing her further harm. “Which is bad enough, really, but on top of that you tried to eat Trixie. Several times! It would be irresponsible of Trixie to just let you go without making sure that it was safe to do so! You might try to eat some other pony unlucky enough to come across you!”
“Alright! Alright! I’ll see the vet!” Nabiki gave in completely, knowing that she wasn’t going to win this argument.
After a few moments, Trixie got up and headed for the door of the tiny room. “Trixie is going to get back to hauling your sorry hide to the vet now.” And as the blue unicorn opened the door of what Nabiki now presumed to be some sort of wagon or cart, she let out one more remark before hopping outside and shutting the door. “Besides, vets are much cheaper than doctors. Trixie isn’t made of bits, you know…”
Nabiki groaned and put a paw to her face as she rolled over onto her side to rest…
*O o O o O*
Annotations from the Journal of Nabiki the Sphinx:
(1): Being a unicorn apparently means not having to actually learn how to hunt or fish if you feel like having a little meat. Which is wasted on a species that hardly ever eats meat.
*O o O o O*
Nabiki was lying curled up in a holding cage in the veterinarian’s kennel in Brand. While she wasn't exactly uncomfortable in this position, she was glad that her current body came fully equipped with stereotypical feline flexibility, because this was apparently the largest cage they had available. While she wouldn't say that she could barely fit inside of it, as it was actually larger than the first cage she had been assigned to (in which she had no wriggle room at all), she still couldn't stand or stretch out. Fortunately, Gingersnaps, Doctor Rosemary's assistant, always made sure to take her outside to a fenced in run attached to the clinic three times a day so she could exercise, eat, and be bathed. Always under guard, frequently tethered by a heavy chain, and all too often subjected to the heckles and jeers of the local children (or whatever young ponies were called), but at least she could stretch out, which was more than she could say for the cage. Dr. Rosemary also gave Nabiki regular examinations and frequent tests to see how much she had recovered from when she had been feral. This pretty much described the daily life of Nabiki the Sphinx for the past two months since she was brought to the Village of Brand.
She could sort of remember bits and pieces of her old life from before the incident with the manticore. She was positive that she used to be some sort of furless female biped with hands and brown hair that she liked to keep short. She was also fairly certain she had left behind two sisters and a father, and had a somewhat hazy idea of what they looked like. And there were several other others who may have been either friends or acquaintances, but her memories of what they may have looked like were vague.
“Trixie sees that the locals haven’t made you into a fireplace rug yet(2),” the blue unicorn said as she entered the kennel and approached the cage Nabiki was in. All the other cages were currently empty, as they had remained during most of the time the sphinx had been at the clinic. “Trixie hopes that the circuit judge gets here soon, or the matter may be out of Trixie’s hooves.”
“Well, if somepony hadn’t mentioned that I had tried to eat them while telling the vet about my situation, maybe I wouldn’t have to worry about whether or not the locals are going to lynch me the moment I'm kicked out of here!”
“Trixie the Contrite and Repentant is sorry, okay? Trixie didn’t mean to be so dramatic in the retelling of how Trixie found you and nursed you back to sanity while bringing you to a vet who could take care of you better than Trixie could!”
“I’m sorry,” Nabiki sighed. “It’s just that I’m kind of on a time limit now. Even with you paying my fees to help defray the costs of keeping me here, it’s not going to be enough. I’m tying up space and none of their regular clients are willing to either make or keep appointments while I’m here unless it's an emergency. Even then, Gingersnaps has to shove me into a small metal box that I can barely be squeezed into, and then secured with the heaviest padlock they have. On top of this, their client insisted that the damn box be bolted to a heavy stone base so that I couldn't jostle it around by throwing my weight against the sides. Which, with no space to even shift about, I couldn't possibly do anyway. Apparently the locals are convinced that I'll eat their puppies and parakeets if given even the slightest chance.”
The Box
"Trixie would like to have been able to visit more often than Trixie had."
"Yeah, well, I don't blame you for that. You have to be able to make a living. I'm just glad you come to visit when you can. It really makes my day, even if I tend to be a bit of a grouch at first."
“Um… About that…" the mare's voice cracked as tears welled up in her eyes. "Trixie makes Trixie’s living as a traveling performer. Trixie has been changing up Trixie’s act to try to keep things fresh, but fewer and fewer ponies have been coming to see Trixie’s show each day. Trixie hasn't had an audience for two days now, and Trixie’s funds are running really low. When Trixie came in today, Trixie didn't have enough bits to pay for your upkeep for even one more day. The staff is going to have you released as far out into the wild as the local pegasi can carry your cage tomorrow, even though you still don't know how to fend for yourself. And Trixie has already overheard talk of putting you down for your own good, even if it was just a couple of ponies discussing that option.”
“So… that’s it then," Nabiki stated, her voice bleak with despair. While she didn't particularly like being kept in a cage most of the time, at least they had given her food and something to drink. Without knowing how to hunt, being released into the wild wasn't a kindness - it was a sentence to a slow and painful death by starvation far away from where it would bother anypony.
“Trixie the Sorrowful is sorry. Trixie should have tried to take you to either Dodge City or Ponyville. Trixie hears both places are more tolerant of non-ponies. You would have at least been permitted to work off your fees.”
“I don’t suppose you could do me one last favor the next time you see me?”
“If Trixie can.”
“If I'm still alive, could you take me somewhere where I can at least try to make a living?”
“If Trixie can find, then Trixie shall. Trixie could even take you on as Trixie's Lovely and Exotic assistant.”
"Yeah... I'd like that. I never was stage shy," Nabiki replied. "Hey! I just remembered that I've been on stage! At least a few times, anyway..."
"That's wonderful! Trixie can see it now: The Great and Powerful Trixie and her Lovely and Exotic assistant, Boobs the Sphinx!"
"We're not calling me that!"
"Why not? Trixie thinks that it is a wonderful stage name. It suits you!"
“I find it both poignant and disturbing that the recovering feral speaks Equish more eloquently than you do, Miss Lulamoon,” A voice said from the door. The sphinx and the unicorn turned to see a hard-eyed tan earth pony with a grey mane and tail wearing a lapel collar and tie. “Judge High Tree, at your service," he introduced himself. "I just got off the train this morning and was reviewing the local cases. I almost didn’t get yours, Miss Nabiki. Apparently somepony had you filed under wild animal recovery.”
"Why am I not surprised," Nabiki commented drily.
"I'm sure I don't know, Miss Nabiki," Judge High Tree replied. "Might have something to do with the fact that you went feral. Or it could be that none of the locals have ever seen a sphinx before. Not too many of your kind in Equestria."
"So... What's going to happen to me?" Nabiki asked.
"Well now, that depends. According to the records I've read so far, you have yet to properly remember who your kinfolk are, so there is nopony... Excuse me... nokitty to contact to come take care of you or pay for your care. Or to prove that you are, in fact, a citizen of Equestria for that matter. Which, according to your own statements, you are not."
"Whatever happened to doctor/patient privileges?" Nabiki grumbled.
"You went feral. That kind of eliminates those right there until you are confirmed recovered."
"I'm talking to you right now, aren't I?"
"It's only been two months, Miss Nabiki. You need at least one year of regular therapy, which you cannot afford and the locals are not willing to pay for, or somepony willing to be your minder and act as a character witness for the next five years."
"Trixie can do that," the showmare offered. "Trixie and Nabiki were just discussing that possibility before you came in the door."
"I was aware of that, yes, and it's a right kind thing for you to do and I'm sure it speaks well of you as a pony."
"I'm sensing a 'but' here," Nabiki observed dourly.
"You're darn right you're sensing a 'but!' You. Went. Feral! On top of that, all hyperbole from Miss Lulamoon's first few stage performances in this town aside, they were still based on the basic fact that you had attacked a pony with the intent of eating her! You admitted it yourself when you confirmed what Miss Lulamoon told the vet when she brought you in here! A simple parole and mind your minder ain't going to cut it by half! I've half a mind to go out and tell those ponies to find a rope and a high branch, but as much as they don't like you, none of them want to see you dead for something you didn't actually do!"
"That's... Good to know, actually," Nabiki admitted.
"That doesn't mean that they want you anywhere near their town once you're put out though, and I can't blame them for that, even though that dang fool plan of theirs is almost guaranteed to send you right back into a feral pony-eating state."
"So, what happens to me then? They won't let me stay here, I can't survive on my own, and you won't let Trixie be my minder..."
"I never said that," Judge High Tree interrupted the caged sphinx.
"You kind of just did," Nabiki couldn't help but point out.
"What I said was it wasn't going to be that easy. I want some assurances that you aren't going to attack Miss Lulamoon or go your separate ways once you're out of sight."
"And how am I supposed to do that?" Nabiki asked.
"I want your word."
"What? That's it?"
"Miss Nabiki, just because neither Miss Lulamoon nor the locals seem to know what it means to be a wingless sphinx with no sign of amputation injuries, does not mean that I'm a blind fool! Somekitty somewhere has already judged you to have a sufficiently low moral character that they deemed fit to punish you by taking away your wings! Amputations are cheaper and easier, so if anykitty is going to bother doing it by magic, they're most likely to have gone all out, and Ægyptian magi have certain traditions they like to uphold in these situations."
"I'm not Egyptian."
"Don't you try to pull a fast one on me, Missy! By your eyes and those udders between your forelegs, you sure as Tartarus ain't no Purrsian sphinx. Purrsian udders are hardly noticeable under their fur, and only Ægyptian sphinxes have eyes lined in black like your are."
"Trixie believes that those are called either boobs or breasts," the unicorn pointed out.
"Duly noted," Judge High Tree nodded towards the showmare before turning his attention back to the sphinx. "Anyways, I want your word, as an Aegyptian sphinx, that you will do your best to protect Trixie Lulamoon and serve her interests, as long as it breaks no laws, until such time as you have earned your wings back!"
"Alright, alright! I promise to guard Trixie and work for her, yadda yadda..."
"Say. It. Proper. Sphinx!" Judge High Tree all but screamed in Nabiki's face. "Say it proper, or so help me, I'll hang you myself!"
"I, Nabiki," she began shakily, only for her voice to gain a strange echoing tone as she continued, "s̶ẃe̶a͢r̷ on ̵my ̀hon͝or̀ as a͏n̷ Ę̀҉g͜͝y̛͢͝ṕ̢t͏̴i͏̢͝a̡̧̕n͞͡ sph̛i͟nx ͠to͜ p̴͕̦̄͗̂ͪ̏ͧr̨̜͕̖̦̍͊̄͘oͪ̏ͣ̇̾̑͏͔̖͖̦̖ͅt͖̬͋̾ͤ̋̀͡e̍̅́͏̛͚̬̫̞́c̸̵̦̰̱̻̲̊̾̊̊̉ͭt͙͆̆ͫ͂̓̓ an͠d҉ s̱̪͚͔͚͚ͨ̔̽̓ͭ̀e͔̻̣ͮ̐͗̂̐ͅr̐̈́ͮ̄̀v̡͉e̞̖̟̎͑͊̃ͧ̾ B̶e͘at͢ri͢x͡ ̛L̢u͡la͏moon, ҉wḩo ̕s̵t̷and͞s b̕e͏for̛e͡ ̴m͏e,̸ ̸i̷n̷ ͏al͜ĺ ͢w͟ays as ̧loņg̀ às it͝ b̛r̨eąk͢s͢ no҉ ͏la͜w͘s̡,͜ ̶un̶t̴i̶l ͡s͞uch ti͏m҉e͟ ͞a͢s I hav҉e p͘rovèn ͞m̷y͞s͢e̴l̛f wort͞h͞y͘ of gái̸nin̕g ̛my̴ win̢gs! S̨҉̷o̵͝ ͟I̸̵ ̧́s̶w̛͠e̷a̷r̷̡͠,̸ ̵̧̕a̢҉͡nd͜҉̛ s̡̡o̷̢ m͘͟ǫ̕t̨́e̷͢ ̡͟i̢̛ţ ̢b̷̧̧e̸!"
"Damn..." Judge High Tree whistled. "I heard tales about it, but it's another thing altogether to see it directly. Glowing eyes and everything, just like the stories say."
"What just happened?"
"Trixie wants to know too."
"Congratulations, Miss Lulamoon. You just got yourself a free bondservant."
"What."
"Trixie does not understand. What is the difference between a bondservant and a regular servant?"
"Well," Judge High Tree chuckled, "For one thing, you don't have to pay a bondservant."
"You made me a slave," Nabiki stated calmly.
"Bondservant. There's a difference. A small one, granted, but it's there."
"You. Made. Me. A. Slave," Nabiki's presence seemed to fill the room more and more with each word, even though she had not actually increased in size in any way.
"Mind your tone, Missy! I was just seeing to the safety of Miss Lulamoon here!"
"You. Made. Me. A.SLAVE!" And this time, with each word, Nabiki grew larger and larger until the metal bars of her cage groaned and squealed under the strained of containing her fury.
"Miss Lulamoon! Tell your bondservant to calm down!"
"Trixie thinks not. Trixie thinks that Judge High Tree has unlawfully exploited a vulnerability, that Nabiki did not know she had, to impose a punishment that has less to do with justice and more to do with prejudice! The locals may not have wanted to let Nabiki go anywhere near their village, but they were going to let her go! They did not want to take away her ability to choose!"
"That beast is a dangerous animal, and..." the judge started to yell at Trixie, only for the showmare to interrupt him.
"That sphinx is a sapient being!"
"Mind your tone, Missy, or so help me..." In his anger, Judge High Tree moved to strike Trixie, only for his hoof to be stopped cold when a paw caught it. A rather large paw, belonging to an even larger sphinx that was no longer trapped in what remained of her former cage.
"TH̡̀͠O͘͡U҉ ̶̕SH͏Ą̢͘L̢T ̶͢N̷̢͡O̵̶T̛͢ ͏̢͘H̢̢͠A͟͡͝R̕͠M͟ ̵M҉̴̕I̡̕NE̶͘͢ ̴͏̛S͞͏A̴C̛R̕͡E̢D ͏͡C̢HAR̨͘G̛͜Ȩ͝!̡!̷͘͠!͘҉ Nabiki roared into his face.
That was the last thing Judge High Tree remembered for several hours...
*O o O o O*
"Trixie thinks that was harsh, but fair," the showmare stated as the sphinx reverted to her normal size.
"I didn't even know I could do that," Nabiki commented as she finished stuffing the unconscious judge into the all too familiar smallish metal box and closed the door.
"Trixie doubts that Judge High Tree knew you could do that either. Trixie is glad that you stopped that poor excuse for a judge from striking Trixie though. Trixie has never been a 'Sacred Chage' before. Do you think it would be good for our act?"
"What act?" Nabiki asked as she found the padlock that the staff usually used whenever she had been the one in the box.
"Come now, until you earn your wings, you are the Great and Powerful Trixie's Lovely and Exotic assistant, Boobs the Sphinx!"
"Stop calling me that!"
"Trixie says that your name shall hence forth be Birdy the Busty!"
"I'm not going by that name either!"
"Trixie commands that you will refer to yourself forevermore as Robin Big Bosom!"
"What part of 'NO!' do you not understand! My name is Nabiki!"
"There, see! You're still capable of defying Trixie," the showmare stated calmly, all teasing gone from her voice.
"Huh," Nabiki blinked. "I guess you're right."
"Of course Trixie is right. Trixie is clever and wise."
"Trixie is full of herself," the sphinx commented as she remembered the padlock she was holding. Thinking better of actually using it to lock the box Judge High Tree was in, Nabiki instead selected a random case of veterinary supplies from one of the shelves to hide it in, then returned it to its place on the shelf.
"Trixie must ask, why did you hide the padlock?"
"I'm pretty sure that it was the only one they had that was the right size for that box."
"Trixie had thought that you wanted to use it for that purpose, so why hide it instead?"
"I had thought about it, but actually locking him in there wouldn't be worth the extra trouble it would cause. As it is, he'll be able to get out of there on his own once he wakes up. It'll just take him a while since he's not as flexible as I am."
"Trixie's wagon is in the village square," the showmare informed the sphinx as she looked at the clinic door cautiously.
"That's a bit of a walk from here," Nabiki noted. "About two thirds of the way across the village if I remember correctly. What's the plan?"
"Trixie has a most clever idea," the unicorn stated as she trotted behind the counter and rifled through the small selection of pet supplies that the clinic sold as a side business. "Ah, This one... Here, hold this..." Trixie prompted absently passing a green pet collar over to Nabiki with her aura as she kept looking.
"You have got to be kidding," Nabiki stated in distaste.
"Trixie couldn't be more serious," the unicorn replied as she continued her search. "Presentation is everything."
"I'm not putting this on!"
"You will wear it, and you'll wear it proudly! Especially with this!" Trixie held up a large, shiny, brass cat bell.
"What am I supposed to be? Your pet?"
"Exactly!"
"How shall I put this..." Nabiki tapped a paw to the side of her head as she pretended to think. "No."
"Oh, we don't have time for this!" Trixie stated in annoyance. "The staff of the clinic will be back any moment now, no doubt with at least half of the villagers gathered into a mob behind them. Put those on right now and wear them with pride!" With that, the showmare went to the counter and started writing a couple of receipts. One she kept for herself and the other she placed on the counter with some coins to weight it down.
"What are you doing?" Nabiki asked as she finished putting on the collar and bauble.
"Trixie is many things, but one thing Trixie is not is a thief."
"And what do you call what we're doing right now?"
"Aggressive shopping. You look nice. Now let's go."
Feeling pleased at the compliment, the sphinx followed the showmare out of the front door, proudly wearing her new collar...
*O o O o O*
Trixie and Nabiki left the veterinary clinic only to find a gathering crowd of locals moving to block their progress. Their expressions and demeanor were varied, with anger, fear, caution, worry, and concern being scattered throughout the crowd. As the two stopped, some of the other clusters moved to surround them in a loose circle, albeit from what most of them seemed to consider a safe distance away from the 'dangerous beast.'
"Now see here, what seems to be the problem here?" the mayor of Brand demanded as he forced his way through the gathering crowd, stopping abruptly when he finally spotted the sphinx. Who was rather obviously not wearing any sort of restraints or otherwise visibly secured in any way shape or form. "What is that doing out of its cage? It's dangerous! Where's Sheriff Silver?"
"Right here," a light grey earth pony wearing a white Stetson and a black vest with a tin star pinned to it stated. He was approaching from the other side, accompanied by the veterinarian and her assistant.
"Good, you're here. Now escort that thing back to the clinic and put it back in its cage."
"No."
"Good, now that that's settled... What do you mean, 'no?' That beast is a danger to everypony around it!"
"That Lady is standing right there, right peaceful-like, not even attacking Miss Trixie."
"Just look at it! It's tensed up, just biding its time before pouncing on somepony!"
"You'd be tense too if'n you were surrounded by a crowd of hostile ponies!"
"Now see here!" the mayor shouted in outrage.
"No, you see here!" the sheriff countered. "I put up with this nonsense because it was obvious that Miss Nabiki here needed help, and the best way to let her have that help peacefully was to let her be kept at the vet's. I'd have been happy enough to let her stay at the jailhouse real cozy like I wanted, but she went and walked right out of the holding cell because somepony won't let me get the damn locks fixed! Those locks haven't ever worked right ever since the cells were put up in the first place!"
"We've never needed them fixed!" the mayor yelled. "Brand is a quiet, peaceful community where the most exciting thing to ever happen besides holidays is when there's a bakeoff! All we ever needed the jailhouse for before was as a place for ponies to sleep it off instead of accidentally wandering into other ponies' homes!"
"You still should have let me get the locks fixed! What if a bandit wanders through?"
"What are the odds of that ever happening?"
"I don't rightly know - what are the odds that some traveler would encounter a half-starved feral along the road and bring her to the nearest town to receive help?"
"Um, Mayor? Sheriff?" the vet interrupted, gesturing towards where the sphinx and the showmare were waiting. Trixie had gotten a bag of popcorn from somewhere and was casually eating it one kernel at a time while Nabiki just sat next to her with an amused expression on her face.
"Oh. Right. Thanks, Rosemary," Shariff Silver nodded. "Anyway, before I escort Miss Nabiki anywhere, I need to ask what happened with Judge High Tree. Rosemary and Gingersnaps said that things got a might heated in there and the judge coerced Miss Nabiki into making some sort of magical oath that made her a slave?"
The crown gasped in shock as both Trixie and Nabiki nodded.
"And where is Judge High Tree right now?" Sheriff Silver asked politely.
"I put him in the box Rosemary and Gingersnaps had to cram me into whenever somepony actually brought their pets here," Nabiki stated bluntly.
"Rosemary, if you would kindly check on the judge for me?" the sheriff asked.
The vet went into her clinic, and came back out a short while later. "Judge High Tree is fine. He may be a little stiff once he wakes up though."
"Alright then," Sheriff Silver nodded. "Then how about the two of you tell us what happened in there between you three. I already know some of it from what Rosemary and Gingersnaps told me after galloping all the way to the jailhouse to get me, but I think it's best if everypony heard your side of things."
And so Trixie and Nabiki began their tale.
And when they stopped, a many of the ponies gathered around them were either hanging their heads in shame or glaring at the clinic in outrage.
"Yeah, that seems to match up with what Rosemary and Gingersnaps already told me," Sheriff Silver acknowledged them with a nod. "I'll get a report flown over to Bridleton. They have a Pegasus Express courier office that can relay it all the way to Canterlot, and they'll send someone to come pick up High Tree."
"Judge High Tree," the mayor corrected.
"Mayor, after the damn fool stunt he just pulled, I doubt 'Judge' High Tree will be keeping that title much longer."
"Even so, until he's actually removed from his position, he is still a respected member of the judiciary and should be addressed as such."
"He's a low down dirty snake is what he is, and I'll give him all the respect he deserves," Sheriff Silver stated with a snort as he glared at the mayor.
"Very well then. Just so we're clear on that. Anyway, Miss... Nabiki, I feel that I must apologize on the behalf of the Village of Brand. A great injustice has been performed against you in our little community, Ma'am, and we... Well, we just want to say we're sorry for treating you unfairly. If we had just listened to Rosemary and Gingersnaps instead of our fears and overactive imaginations, none of this would have happened. We should have known that Miss Trixie was embellishing the story of your encounter with her for dramatic purposes. You were in no condition to have done even half the things she had claimed in that tale."
"Are you going somewhere with this?"
"Well, we... The ponies of Brand that is... We'd like to hold a quick collection. It's short notice and all, but I'm sure we can gather enough to cover expenses. You know, for supplies and such."
"Trixie does not accept charity."
"Trixie damn well should accept charity!" Nabiki insisted. "Or does Trixie think she's going to hunt for me everyday? Because I still don't know anything about surviving on my own!"
"Trixie caught rabbits and birds for you while bringing you to Brand, and Trixie can do it again. You will be fine."
"Not to interrupt or anything," the mayor interrupted, "But perhaps instead of charity, how about if we paid for a show? A sort of farewell performance as it were?"
"Trixie can do that. This evening then? To give us time to set up an act?"
"That'd be fine, Ma'am," the mayor nodded.
"Then tonight, for one night only, the Great and Powerful Trixie shall put on a farewell performance for the villagers of Brand with her Lovely and Exotic assistant, Birdy the Mighty!"
"That is not my name!"
"We'll uh... We'll just leave you two alone to sort that out." With that, the mayor turned to address the crowd. "Come along, everypony, let's give them some space and let them be about their business so we can get back to ours. Move along! Move along!" In short order, the two were left alone by the clinic's entrance.
"Trixie just wants to know one thing," the showmare stated as a thought occurred to her.
"And what is that?" Nabiki asked as the two began walking in the general direction of the village square.
"Trixie wants to know how you knew Trixie's full name."
"The judge used it.'
"The judge referred to Trixie as Trixie Lulamoon! Nopony but Trixie's parents ever called Trixie by Beatrix since Trixie was a filly! So how did you know Trixie's full name was Beatrix Lulamoon when you swore that oath of yours?"
"I... Don't know. It just came to me right then. How could that happen?"
"That's what Trixie asked!"
"I don't know!"
"Neither does Trixie! That's why Trixie asked!"
"How can I answer a question that I don't know the answer to?"
"Why is the sky blue?"
"Because of the way light refracts through the atmosphere under most conditions," Nabiki replied promptly. Then blinked.
"Trixie did not know this."
"I did... But that's kind of an obscure fact. It should have taken me a moment to remember it."
"Then perhaps you can tell Trixie the rest of your name?"
"I... I don't remem... Wait. It's Tendo. My name is Nabiki Tendo." Tears of gratitude welled up in Nabiki's eyes. "Thank you, Trixie. I remember my full name now."
"You are welcome. Now come help Trixie set up Trixie's wagon for tonight's show. And Trixie still has to come up with a suitable part for Trixie's Lovely and Exotic assistant, Buxom Beaky!"
"Oh come on! You just helped me remember my whole name!"
*O o O o O*
Annotations from the Journal of Nabiki the Sphinx:
(2): This (the possibility of being made into a fireside rug) was not actually a serious concern. While 'ferals' and those who had recently regressed into a feral state are considered to be highly dangerous, they are rarely outright killed except in self-defense, and even then subduing or driving off the feral tends to be the preferred course of action. However, the ponies in Brand really don't like ferals that are known to have attacked ponies. Which Trixie not only told them about in great detail, she had also embellished the retelling for dramatic purposes. The main reasons I was being kept at a veterinary clinic were that they barely considered me to be anything better than a highly dangerous animal, and it was actually more secure than the town jail.
Seriously, I've seen the inside of their jail. The holding cells were built without locks and are more of a polite suggestion for inebriated locals to stay put until they are sober enough to realize that they can walk themselves home. I was able to walk right out the front door while I could still barely walk. They sent me back to the vet after that stunt.
(3): I think I can be excused for occasionally giving them trouble whenever it came time to shoving me in the damn thing...
"Somepony forgot a step in this process, didn't they?"
Author's Note
As this chapter, as it previously existed, was taking a far darker turn than originally intended, I have rewritten it extensively. So some of the previous comments made about this chapter no longer apply.
For one thing, one of the reasons I had decided on for selecting a sphinx as Nabiki's new form in Equestria was that her name sounds like it could be Egyptian, and she has several cat-like qualities anyway.
For another, the residents of Brand were coming off as so against Nabiki that they were turning into an unwanted story element because there was no way that they weren't going to hunt down Trixie and her sphinx if they really wanted the to make Nabiki into either a fireside rug or a stuffed and mounted trophy.
