It was a bright day coming to the lands of pony-kind, as the streets were slowly, yet brightly filled and illuminated by the light of the sun, that only the deity Celestia herself could rise, in the city of Pearis, a remote, yet very grand and religious town in the lands of Prance. Now, the town in question in the city of Pearis that our story begins is a town by the name of Notre Mare. Not many knew of this town, other than the massive, spectacular cathedral built in the very heart of the town, and its massive golden bells echoed loud enough for the whole of Pearis to hear. In this very town, a massive spectacle occurred, not only a few days back. And it all began on one night, when a pony met a monster…
The town of Notre Mare slowly awoke as the bells tolled to and fro, echoing all over the sleeping city of Pearis as the villagers awoke one after another, and set out on their daily chores. A small group of fillies and colts, however, were galloping right towards the market squares in front of the cathedral as they knew who would be there. Who, do you ask? Why, none other than the Spectacular Jester and Magician, Trixie, of course! She and her carriage had finally decided to settle down here in Notre Mare, only a few days before the Festival of Fools, where all of Pearis would literally be turned upside-down. She could not wait to get it started! After all, she was the head jester of it all. Still, as the foals reached her carriage, she smiled brightly as she welcomed them all.
“Come one, and come all, brave little pony-folk!” she cheered her juvenile crowd on. “Behold, the great and marvelous stories of Trixie, the Magician! Whom, or what, should we enlighten you with today, hmm?” she asked, and one of the colts chimed up;
“Oh, oh! Please Trixie, tell us more about the cathedral!” he asked her. Trixie grinned with joy at the question.
“Very well, I shall!” she declared, and held a hoof to her ear, smiling softly. “Listen. They’re wonderful, no?” the foals all looked a bit confused, but the bells were still ringing loudly. “The bells, my children, the bells! Can’t you hear them? So many colors of sound, so many changing moods!” she leaned over the ledge of the open carriage window. “Because you know, they don’t ring all by themselves.” A sock puppet was suddenly floating beside her while her horn glowed brightly, and began to move its ‘lips’ while Trixie spoke in a very squeaky tone; “They don’t?” and she just shook her head and chuckled. “No, you silly filly!” she unveiled a curtain that would let her look right up at the bell towers. “Up there, high, high in the dark bell tower, lives the mysterious…” a breath of pause was taken, as if she tried to shock her young on-lookers. “Bell ringer.” The foals did indeed gasp quietly, interested of who... or what it could be.
“Who is this creature?” Trixie continued, and the sock puppet repeated;
“Who?”
“What is he?”
“What?”
“How did he come to be there?”
“How?” finally, Trixie batted its head with a stick, as it groaned a squeaky, “Agh…”
“Hush.” Trixie demanded, and the foals all giggled a bit as Trixie continued, smirking a bit to her crowd. “And Trixie will tell you now, another story of how it came to be there… it is a tale of a pony… and a monster.”
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"But.. But Celestia, what do you mean I can't keep him?!" Twilight Sparkle demanded as she was in Canterlot, the violet unicorn standing in front of her Alicorn teacher with a small baby's cot in front of her, where a baby dragon was resting, its scales being purple and green as it was suckling its tail. "I hatched him, princess! What do you mean by-"
"I'm not saying that you are not allowed to keep him as its mother, Twilight Sparkle." Celestia finally spoke with a sigh, looking over the cot again where the dragon baby was just drooling happily over his tail tip. "I am just saying that Canterlot can not hold him for the time being... not with what happened just a few days ago..." Twilight cringed a bit. She remembered what had happened, that she had turned the dragon into a rampaging giant, but it was averted thanks to Celestia. "The court of Canterlot has judged both you and me guilty of the damages made, and even if they are all repaired now, we can not afford to keep him."
"B-But I..." Twilight muttered, sighing a bit. "It's not fair. Why can't I keep him when he's just been hatched... it's just not fair." she looked up at Celestia. "Is there not some kind of loop-hole in the Equestrian laws that says I can keep him? Even after what happened? There has to be!" Celestia had a look of hurt on her face, equally as much pain was going through her body as Twilight's body. She thought for awhile, in silence, before she spoke up.
"Well..." she declared, and Twilight looked up with hope gleaming in her purple eyes.
"Yes, yes?" she said excitedly.
"There is one way to keep him safe... but you still have to let go of him." the Alicorn declared, making Twilight frown again. "But do not worry, as long as you play your cards right, then you are allowed to meet him every once and again. It is very risky though, Twilight. You have to promise me not to be detected, and stay underneath suspicion as much as you can. Understand?" Twilight was a bit shocked at hearing the princess' plan. What was she thinking of doing? Not something... dangerous, right? She was Celestia, for bucking out loud! She would not put her favorite student into danger's path! ... Would she?
"You have to bring him to the city of Notre Mare..." she spoke up again, making Twilight snap back to reality as Celestia pointed out on a map where it was. "It is in the country of Prance, a small town in the city of Pearis... but I warn you. The residents of Notre Mare are led by one of my older sisters.... Queen Chrysalis. She is very... spiteful of us Canterlot ponies, especially because we banished her due to the dark magics she practiced. It was necessary, though. Now, I have a friend in Notre Mare, who would be able to take care of Spike. If she is still hidden from Chrysalis and her Changeling Guards, she'll live in the cathedral of Notre Mare. Take the dragon there, if you want him to be safe. I am sorry, but there is not much else I can offer." Twilight understood, however. To keep her "son" safe, she had to let him go for now. But she would be able to visit him, if she just kept her head low. She smiled, however. It was narrow, yet good odds. She nuzzled her teacher affectionately, and nodded to her.
"I understand, Celestia... I will be careful." she assured her, before she began to levitate the cot next to her, and walked out to begin packing for the long journey that was ahead of her now. Celestia smiled as she watched her walk out, and she just nodded, returning to her duties.
"Stay safe, Twilight... for both our sakes."
-.-.-.-.-3 Weeks Later-.-.-.-.-
It was a dark, cold winter night, and a boat was seen with a boatspony leading the narrow wooden carriage through the rivers of Notre Mare, underneath the docks, and towards an unused port area of the docks. The four ponies onboard were three stallions, and one mare, who was cradling a small blanket cloth near her chest, the content of said blanket wailing and crying as its mother tried to hush it down. Her coat was bright purple, and her mane and tail were dark purple with a streak of pink down her mane. Twilight Sparkle hugged the clothed child closer to her, trying to calm it down.
“Shut him up, will you?!” one of the stallions demanded, having a dark brown coat of fur with a blonde mane and tail, and another, having a blue fur coat with dark blue mane and tail, followed suit; “We’ll be spotted!” Twilight Sparkle nodded as she tried her best to hush the child in her arms, giving it soft nuzzles and kisses.
“Hush little one…” she begged of the child, praying that they would not be found. She knew far too well of the city’s reputation and disliking of Canterlot ponies like themselves, having been taught by her teacher Celestia before she left. But now she felt it was a lost cause. She had been traveling for weeks now, and she just felt, in the back of her head, that something was to go horribly wrong... When the boat finally came to a halt, they all quickly stepped off, the blanket and its precious cargo being carried on a small, comfortable weaved basket on the mare’s back, and the boatspony held out his hoof.
“Four gold Bits for safe passage into Pearis.” He demanded, and as the oldest stallion of the three in the company, a light brown one with black mane and tail, prepared to pay the generous stallion for helping them into the town… an arrow shot right into the butt of the boatspony’s oar, and several armored stallions appeared, wearing the armor of the Changeling Guards and armed with pole-axes and crossbows as they all rushed up to surround and trap the ponies.
"Canterlot ponies!" the captain declared. "You are all under arrest by order of Queen Chrysalis herself, under the restriction of trespassing onto Notre Mare without permit!"
"Without permi- Are you insane?!" the leader colt demanded as he'd push and struggle to get the pole-axes away from them. "That ugly mare would not let us in even if we had a thousand permits! We are just simply passing through, let us go!"
"Do not dare to dirt-talk our Queen, outlander!" the captain bellowed as he'd smack the butt of his lance into the colt's chest, making him groan and fall onto his front hooves, gasping for air. "Now then, you are all to be taken into custody and interrogated for possible intent of overthrowing the Queen! Any more words uttered, and your sentence will be two-folded!"
"Y-You damn... monsters..." the colt groaned as the other two tried helping him up. "You're all nothing but a bunch of rotten-"
"Yes, you ungrateful brute? What are we?"
No... that cold voice... the sheer amount of void emotions, and bitterness that was in it... it could not be...
“Queen Chrysalis…”
The moment the leader colt uttered that name, all four of them froze in instant fear as the foul, dark-coated mare was seen standing before them in her towering posture, her crooked horn radiating an aura of dominance and power, her deformed, hollow hooves trampling into the snow and dust as she walked up towards them, glaring down at each of them as they were all chained up, except for the mare. All of them silent by now.
Twilight was shaking with indescribable fear by now. So this was Chrysalis? The queen who was banished from Canterlot, and now hated them all to the core... the sole ruler as Queen of Notre Mare... she was frightened. Unable to move as her fear almost froze her to the snow of the ground, but she just looked on as the dark-coated mare strode up to them.
"Canterlot ponies... you are all the same." she jeered at them, before spitting one of the colts in the face. "Judgmental, cold-hearted, and cruel. You'd serve better off in your country than coming to mock our beloved town. You can go right back to Celestia, and kiss her royal flank while telling her to-" Just then, the being in the violet mare’s cradled cloth whined anew, and it brought up the attention of one of the guards that grabbed at the cloth.
“You there, what're you hiding?!” he demanded and almost ripped the cloth off, but Twilight resisted as she pushed the guard off of her.
“Let it be!” she begged, almost demanding the guard, frowning upon them, but instantly cowered as now, even Chrysalis was intrigued of what it could be. But she already knew what was in it…
“Stolen goods, no doubt…” she declared, leaning up towards the mare with a grin. She had heard the whine clearly enough, and knew it was no gold or treasures, but a child. And while she was to act as a leader for her town, she was not below seeing other ponies suffer, and to see a mother being separated from her child was such a delight.
“Take them from her.”
Cornered, and with no other thought running through her mind than to protect her child, the violet mare made the only decision she could do at the moment.
She ran.
Barging right through the guards in a sudden charge, Twilight tightly held onto the cloth before she was able to strap a few leather leashes around it on her basket as she then ran in full gallop, but hearing the trampling of hollow hooves behind her suggested Chrysalis was hot on her heels. She ran through alley-ways, over fences, and even ran straight across a garden, trampling down the frost-coated flowers laid there, but Chrysalis did not give up her chase on the mare trying to avoid her sentence. Finally, the violet pony found a slim entrance too big for the blackened mare chasing her to follow her through, and she slipped right through, as Chrysalis neighed in annoyance, and took an alternate route.
Finally, the mare thought, as she reached the vast, empty marketplace in front of the towering stone parapets of the cathedral of Notre Mare, rushing right across the cathedral square, her cloth bundle still strapped to her back as the crying of an infant was still heard loudly in the night. Finally, she would be able to secure her child, if they only could open up to her! She finally reached the reinforced doors, tears of pure fear and desperation welling up in her eyes and her heart beating like thunder, rapping her hooves against the iron doors, clutching onto the great brass rings and banging it against the cold steel of the door as well.
“Sanctuary! Please, give us sanctuary!” she cried out, begging the higher powers that anypony who would be present would hear her pleas of mercy. However, the thundering hooves were heard anew, and with a gasp and whimper of fear, she saw Chrysalis storming for her anew, finally catching up with her little escapee as she have had it with her games. Justice was inevitable. She sunk her sharp, predatory teeth into the cloth and dragged it, trying to rip it from the violet mare, but she resisted, pulling it back as she tried defending her child, and even rammed her shoulder into Chrysalis’ side to get her off her back. But this instant, she left her neck exposed, as in that moment, Chrysalis swung her sharp, crooked horn towards her, and a streak of crimson later stained the pearl-white snow upon the steps of the cathedral, as the violet pony sunk into the cold, grim ground, defeated in her struggle, and with the pool of vermillion red staining the snow even further. Twilight's life was depleting from her body ever-so quickly, and she merely looked up at Chrysalis with a weak look.
Letting a self-satisfied grin cover her face, the Judge finally went up and snapped the restraints off the crying bundle of cloth, as she’d lift it with her magic, looking over it. “Now, let’s see why she was so protective of her-…!” when she unfolded the cloth with her hoof, even she gasped, and folded it up as quickly as she had undone it. “A monster!” she exclaimed, looking frantically around for a way to dispose of such a behemoth. Finally, her cold, ice-blue eyes locked upon the only thing in her current power that could destroy such a fiend; A well. Trudging up to it, she saw that it was only half-frozen, and the thin veil of ice below would surely break if he tossed the demon down there. Dangling it over the open mouth to its abyss of death, she was about to let it drop and fall down to its certain death…
"Wait..." Twilight called out weakly. Whilst Chrysalis would not bother about her calls or pleas, she did look back at her with a slight frown, but as she realized how she could take advantage of this situation, she smirked.
"Yes?" she said in a sugary-sweet, venomous tone as she walked back to her, stamping a hollow hoof in front of her now pale face. "What is the matter, my sweet little mare? You want your child to die alongside you? Did you really think that Celestia's sweet little friend would be here to receive it? Well, too bad, she's not... she is just as dead as you will be, soon enough." Twilight have had a scenario like this before; She had been found out, and executed for being a Canterlot pony. Sighing, she just sunk her head back, and Chrysalis took it as a sign of defeat. "Very well then... just die quicker, and let me dispose of this monster..." she scowled, looking back at the child in its cloth cradle. But as she looked again... she saw a window of opportunity open up for her. If this creature was to be sent to be raisied by a Canterlot pony... then maybe, just maybe...
"Well... seems like you are not to die today, young being..." she said, a venom-filled grin filling her lips as she held the child and went towards the cathedral. Twilight's body was now numb and life-less, her blood finally having been drained to the point that the chilly night alone had killed her, and her eyes were closed. Her body would be gone by morning, however, as the citizen ponies usually buried bodies who were found on the streets in the graveyard. It was something normal they had learned to live with... being under Chrysalis' rule.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Coming back to Trixie and her now spell-charmed fillies and colts, she smirked as she saw them being very, VERY intrigued of the story she was giving them of the bell ringer, seeing him as a most mysterious being. “And Chrysalis gave the child a cruel, savage name…” she said, as a small shadow play was turned on for the children, using a paper figure of Chrysalis holding the cradled baby and walking up the stairs of the bell tower, with a small, lizard-like being following her steps. “A name, not one of us ponies would ever wield with pride or honor… she named him… Spike.” As the shadow play progressed, the paper figure of this ‘Spike’ was swapped to a slightly older-looking version of him, finally ending with him reaching the top of a tower, pulling a small rope as a little bell began to chime.
As the story came to an end, inside the bell tower, a strong, bigger-than-average-pony sized being clothed in shadows was pulling and tugging a thick, strong rope, as all the bells were ringing and echoing all around him, but he dutifully carried out his job, whilst finally letting himself be dragged upwards along the rope’s recoil, and swung back and forth between the swinging, thundering bells, the wooden support beams, and numerous ropes hanging around them, and finally landing with a sound ‘thud’ on the wooden floor of his living place. A new day had begun for Notre Mare.
