Ursae Majoris: Eternal Knight

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 1
Chapter 6
Chapter 23

Chapter 2

Chapter 2
******

Trixie sat on an elaborate throne made of moonstone and obsidian. Jade statues and marble pillars stood in rows before her. At her sides stood Celestia and Luna, garbed for battle. She herself stood taller than both of them, with a long, pointed horn and glorious azure wings. Her ethereal silver mane sparkled with black stars that shined darkly, producing an eerie effect. Before her throne stood a legion of happy, tear-filled faces, cheering her name. She was overcome with happiness.

She turned and looked behind her throne and gasped. A large window revealed a limitless, black expanse. All that was visible was a small patch of stars in the middle, arranged in bands that spiraled out from the center. The smallness of the patch and the surrounding void made Trixie feel very, very small for some reason. Somehow, she knew that what she was seeing was the entirety of the universe as she knew it. Everything she ever knew, and she couldn't even make out Celestia's Sun...

"By Luna's Toothbrush!" Trixie shouted, suddenly awakening to find herself drenched in water. She blinked a few times and scowled, looking for the source of her discomfort. A dark blue unicorn stallion with a white mane stood nearby, levitating an overturned bucket. He had a decorative sword for a cutie mark.

"Rise and shine, princess. We have training to do." He trotted over to the campfire and started preparing breakfast for the both of them.

Trixie just glared at him. "I thought I told you that I consider my apprenticeship complete!" She started drying herself with her blankets.

"And I thought I told you that you aren't done with me until you master a magic sword." He paused for a moment, tapping a hoof to his chin. "Well, master might be expecting a bit much in your case. But you at least need to actually summon one and be able to swing it without looking like a fool."

"And why, pray tell, do I need to learn something so crude to be a performer?"

"Crude? CRUDE!? Listen here, miss, magic swords are the most elegant weapons in existence. Why else do you think the the Alicorns use nothing but? As for why you need to learn it, I should hope I've taught you better than that. Use that organ at the stump of your horn. You're such a creative swearer, I would think you could puzzle this out easily. No? I'm beginning to suspect you don't think very well when grumpy. How are you going to deal with hecklers if you can't think while grumpy?"

"Easy, my performance shall be so great that none would dare to heckle me!"

He laughed. "Keep dreaming, miss."

Trixie glared at him. "You doubt my abilities?"

"I doubt your crowds. Hecklers are a statistical guarantee. Anyway, you need to learn the magic sword to help you perform action scenes. You can describe a riveting battle with as many metaphors and vivid descriptions as you like, but it won't hold a candle to actually acting the scene out. Crowds love magic sword fights. So swallow whatever strange compulsion you have against using the spell, wait a few hours, leave it in a ditch, and bury it before it attracts flies. Besides, you never know when you might accidentally find yourself in a situation where you actually need to fight. Or slice some bread. Now eat your breakfast." He dropped a bowl of boiled apples in front of her. She begrudgingly started eating.

******

"So, can you summon a blade? Or do I have to start with the basics?"

"Don't patronize me. Of course I can." Trixie quickly summoned a rectangular, blue blade.

The stallion sighed. "If that isn't the most piss-poor excuse for a sword I've ever seen, then my name isn't Rapier Wit. How in Celestia's name are you going to wow audiences with that?"

"It's functional."

"It's ugly! Do it again, and actually use your Moon-sent creativity for something other than finding new ways to piss me off!"

Trixie stuck her tongue out and banished her blade. She cast the spell again and was soon levitating a blue sword that strongly resembled Rapier's cutie mark. "Happy, Rapier Wittle?"

Rapier scowled. "At least it looks like a real sword this time, so it will be good enough for some basic practice. Once your done goofing off with this, find your own preferred design, even if it takes you weeks to find it. Now, since you don't seem to care about practical sword usage, let's start with stage fighting. First, swing it like this..."

******

Both ponies sat by the fire, panting from their exertions. Rapier chuckled. "By the way, "By Luna's Toothbrush"? I think you'll have to explain that one to me."

Trixie blushed. "W-Well, uh, Luna was in exile for a thousand years, so that means she might have had a used toothbrush that is over a thousand years old." Rapier burst into laughter. Trixie tried to change the subject: "How did I do with the sword?" Rapier's laughter took a while to subside. Eventually, he calmed down.

"Well, Trixie, I must admit, for all your trust and attitude problems, you are a pretty good student when you actually focus." Trixie let the insult/compliment slide, except for one part:

"trust problems?" She glanced at Rapier quizzically.

"Come now, Trixie, I taught you how to read ponies; I should be able to read my own student. I'm not sure why you feel the need to push others away, but it's pretty obvious. You're even afraid of developing any sort of relationship with me, your teacher."

"Congratulations, you have surpassed your status of crotchety old stallion and reached creepy, crotchety old stallion."

"Hey, I'm not old! Besides, that's not what I meant and you know it. Why don't you tell me what happened before-"

"The past is the past, it's none of your concern, Mr. Wit. Good night." Trixie retreated to her blankets and lay facing away from the fire. Rapier thought he saw what could have been sobbing. He quickly dismissed the idea, though; Trixie was better at bottling up her emotions that that. In fact, she hadn't cried at all since he had first met her, a couple of years ago...

******

Begin flashback!

Rapier was on his way to Manehattan. Ever since retiring as a Royal Guard, he had traveled Equestria, performing shows and teaching swordplay. He had heard of a mock sword fight being performed in Manehattan and wanted to see if he could learn some tricks, or offer some advice of his own. He might even manage to take part if he was lucky. While travelling through Whitetail Woods, however, he encountered something that instantly brought him up short.

A young filly, just entering adulthood by the look of it, sat sobbing just off the path. Her silver mane was disheveled, and she had nothing with her except for a couple saddlebags with some purple cloth sticking out of the top. Rapier suddenly felt empty, and decided he couldn't stand leaving the distraught filly in such a situation.

"Excuse me, miss." The filly stopped gasped and looked up. She quickly started wiping her tears away with her hoof.

"I...*sob* I'm sorry... it's... it's *sob* nothing. I-"

"What's your name, miss?"

Trixie stopped crying as she looked into his eyes. They weren't judging or pitying her. A small smile formed on her lips. "T-Trixie. My name is Trixie."

End flashback!

******

Trixie had told him that she was an aspiring performer. She hadn't directly said so until pressed, but Rapier learned that she also had nowhere to go. He had offered her an apprenticeship, and she had accepted enthusiastically. Since then, however, she hadn't opened up to him at all. She loved talking about herself, but was stoic regarding her past. Seeing as he would have to go yet another night without learning anything, he decided to sleep as well.

The morning found Trixie waking under her own volition. Rapier was sat by the fire, pensive. "What, no water today?"

"Nope. As far as I'm concerned, your apprenticeship is complete. Once we reach Hoofington, I'll head to Stalliongrad. You're free to choose your own path." He secretly hoped she would be inclined to join him; he still worried about her.

A grin broke out across her face. "Truly? This is fantastic! Finally, I can start my own career!" Rapier Wit mirrored her expression.

"I've taught you everything I think you need to know to succeed. As long as you don't screw yourself over, you should be fine."

"Don't worry! It won't be long before ponies everywhere know of The Great and Powerful Trixie!" She struck a dramatic pose as Rapier chuckled.

"Congratulations, Oh Great and Powerful Trixie. Your future awaits."

Chapter 3

Chapter 3
******

The great sphere known as Mother filled the sky, colored bands of clouds swirling and churning. It was night, but there was enough light from Mother for any creature with eyes to see without much difficulty. In a few hours, it would be the young day, and the tribes would start hunting sleeping loners.

A winged shadow crouched high among the trees. She couldn't stand the tribes. They thought that by getting one thing right, they were infallible in all other regards. Hunting during either day was ludicrous. Hunting their own kind was insane. They didn't even eat them! They "converted" them. A tribe was an abomination.

And yet, this repulsive super-organism was what had inspired her in the first place. Why not forge a greater being out of the many? But where the tribes were disgusting and imperfect, she would create a wondrous entity: perfectly attuned, subtle, elegant, and efficient. And she would purge the tribes that did not join her, rather than humiliate them with mind-murdering "conversions" or insulting battles of words. She would be as a force of nature, and others would either yield or be inexorably crushed. She would lead a great exodus as foremost of the children of the stars, and the flame of life would spread from its nest and consume the night sky, rivaling even Father's distant blaze! She need only take the initial leap.

'And there he is now.' Night raised her head as another shadow alighted on a nearby branch.

"Fellow hunter, Night. I considered your proposal, and I think that I agree. Much will have to change, however..." He flexed his wings, trying to bleed off nervous energy. "Heavens, I think should fit."

"That was a given, Heavens. But you are adaptable. You've already adopted a name. I hadn't thought it would be so quick. But if we want to forge a coherent entity from the scattered hunters, then we will need to do more than adopt names. I know..." Night turned to face a distant campfire. "I know... you dislike tribal practices."

"And you know why! They-"

Night snarled at him. He hissed and ducked his head. "I believe I have the most cause for grievance over that. Do not presume to put your loss near mine."

"But it is! I am bound to you! If you can no longer-"

"It is all the more insulting when dressed in flattery, but perhaps more forgivable as well." Night chuckled. "Besides. I suppose it's not strictly true that I will have no legacy. A poetic view of this endeavor might have us as parents of a new generation."

Heavens sighed. "Reality cares not for metaphors. Nor do the tribes. Why should we have anything to do with those... unnatural brutes?"

"You are quick to denounce unnatural behavior, given your fixation on me. The tribes are a hindrance, have no doubt. But some of their practices are actually necessary for us to work together at all. A social construct requires social behaviors and rules. The insane can sometimes be insightful, despite their insanity. Or sometimes because of it."

Heavens fell silent for a few minutes, then spoke again: "The tribes won't be happy when you start succeeding, Night." She felt a surge of warmth when he said 'when', not 'if'. "They might even join together if they see you as a threat. What are we going to do about them?"

Night let out another chuckle. "Nothing, for now. We will gather in the skies of Mother. They used to say the gods lived there: we shall give truth to those claims. Once we are strong enough, we will banish Death to the crushing depths, and take our place among the true gods with Father. We will soar with the stars, and leave these treetops behind, And then, the hunt will continue."

Heavens fidgeted. "The hunt? You like your word games so; I am not sure what you mean."

Night let out a contented sigh. "Yes. The hunt. The hunt for what may lay beyond. The hunt for the unknown, to make it known, and to use it to better ourselves. The hunt for our future. The greatest possible hunt of all, and the prey cannot escape us if we persevere. Heavens, I am glad that you have agreed to join me. I request your assistance then to help me realize this goal. We need to bring more to our cause. I am wary of the tribes, but it may be that they are more... pliable. They may see creating a true society as more than mad ravings. What think you? Should we attempt to bring the tribes into our fold, or focus on the loners?"

Heavens was silent. After nearly an hour of thought, he responded. "Neither. We need more than just you and I, but not many, I think. We should find several more loners, I think. Ones willing for change, ones willing to bring our species to its full potential. We can then create our own followers. Not like that!" Night was chuckling again. "Deathborn's experiments. He showed it to be possible. His tribe is not like the others. We could convince them to help us in creating followers and in reaching Mother in the first place."

"Deathborn is insane, scampering about on Death like a crawler."

"He's also correct, more often than not. The insane can sometimes be insightful, if you recall."

It was Night's turn to pause. "Very well. It is worth an attempt, given the circumstances. Come, Heavens, our future awaits us!" They both jumped from the tree and began gliding south, to where Deathborn and his tribe resided.

******

Thousands of years in the future...

Night, or, as she was now known, Nyx, walked along a gleaming hallway. Behind her walked Heavens, now known as Aether. To her left, a vast field of stars twinkled , against which a few dark shapes could be seen from time to time: her personal fleet, the most feared force in the galaxy. 'If only I had gone myself, The Terran Empire wouldn't be the thorn it is today.' Such thoughts were becoming more frequent of late. She would have to deal with the Empire in due time. 'Thanatos has been useless lately. I cannot keep relying on him for solutions to every problem, anyway. It was bad enough putting our lives in his hands back on Death. Perhaps I can...' Her thoughts trailed off as she passed on open doorway and saw Syn and Tyr conversing in hushed voices.

Nyx did not particularly like Syn. She was a fellow member of the High Instruction, the governing body of The Stars' Escape. Generally, all High Instructors tended to agree on any given decision fairly quickly and without much fuss. Syn, however, always seemed to oppose her on decisions regarding other species. Just recently she had tried, unsuccessfully, to convince the other Instructors to ignore the Terran Empire, when they should instead be figuring out how to neutralize this threat.

Tyr, on the other hand, was a personal favorite of Nyx's. A first-generation artificial, He was always very efficient and clean with his missions. That aside, he had an interesting coloration defect: rather than Deep, nearly black violet, he was pure white. Somehow, he managed to look exotic rather than freakish. As they passed, Aether followed Nyx's gaze and bared his teeth. Once they were out of earshot, he growled. "Why did not Thanatos correct that blasted coloration of his?"

"Of what need is there? Jealosy should be beyond you, Aether. The null-generation does not require conditioning, so do not give others a reason to think we do. Come, we must decide on a plan for dealing with the Empire."

Aether growled again. "Of course, Nyx."

Nyx's thoughts turned back to Tyr. He had been one of those assigned to banish Death, along with the squabbling tribes and what loners remained. He had been very unhappy, and honest about it, but impressive in his dedication regardless. Nyx had almost recommended reconditioning afterwards, given his emotional state, but Syn had intervened. A short while later, Tyr was once again a most efficient agent. Despite their rivalry, Nyx had to admit that Syn was valuable.

Later, He had aided in putting down an uprising among the Omegas, the loners that had joined the Escape after its founding. The High Instruction deemed the Omegas secondary citizens after that, granting them a colony ship to run as their own, barring navigational decisions. This precedent would later be followed by any client civilizations the Escape assimilated. In its modern form, the Escape comprised a large nomadic fleet traveling outward in all directions, mostly military ships with colony vessels housing various client races. Not a single significant obstacle had been encountered in their expansion.

At least, not until the humans. They had underestimated them, and if there was one thing humans were good at, it seemed to be exploiting an enemy's overconfidence. They now had a large and capable empire standing in their way, ready to strike against them at any sign of provocation, and perhaps even without provocation, considering their history.

"Perhaps..." Nyx turned to face Aether as he started speaking. "Perhaps, we can exploit their fear."

Nyx barked sharply, laughing at the idea. "They do not fear us much, Aether. We are long past the deepnight; we are no longer hidden in impenetrable shadow, an unknown foe." Aether chuckled at her metaphors. It had been thousands of years since the last deepnight, and day and night were meaningless concepts in deep space. Even so, she would still sometimes slip into language reminiscent of ancient times. "The point still stands. They do not fear us."

"No, but they fear themselves."

Nyx was silent for a moment, then began to chuckle. "You have my interest, Aether. Continue."

******

Thanatos sat in one of his labs, listening to the data scroll past. Without eyes, Starborn had little use for text. All communication was done through sound, with long lists of data being more like a song than anything else. The tune played flawlessly; check after check returning all clear. Strictly speaking, it wasn't his job to monitor the growth of each generation, but ever since Nyx got her fleet he was exceptionally bored. Nyx didn't appreciate science, not the way that he did. She spoke of reaching their potential, but it was all just words. 'Hypocrite'

Syn had come by earlier that day to tell him that Tyr had left on his assignment. He hoped it was a success. Working with Syn was dangerous, and he didn't want to have taken the risk and end up empty handed. Or worse. 'I hope to the Five Hatchlings that she doesn't attract the attention of-'

"Thanatos!" Aether came striding into the lab, obviously agitated. He stopped short when he realized what Thanatos was doing. "Why haven't you automated that yet?"

"I have automated it. I just enjoy listening to things work without error. I suppose I can listen to you instead, though, if you need me."

Aether growled and flared his wings. "Have you made any progress?"

Thanatos sighed. "I cannot repair her. I have told you this several times before."

"I ordered you to continue."

"You do not have power over me!"

Aether chuckled. "Nyx has power over you, though. This could work toward removing your debt."

"Do not invent debts for me. Do not seek to deal with me on the behalf of others. You do not want me to view you as an enemy."

"Will you send your little invention to kill me?" Cold flooded Thanatos's body. "We should be allies. We are allies. Continue serving the Escape, Thanatos, and we will succeed. Remember that." Aether spun on his heels and left.

Thanatos leaned back in his chair. 'Does he know? Or is he grasping? There's something not right about that one. I wonder why Nyx keeps him around.' Thanatos chuckled and shook his head. Everyone knew why she kept him around. 'Why she keeps him in power, rather. He seems like an unacceptable risk to me. Maybe I should propose a review of his behavior.'

Chapter 4

Chapter 4
******

Trixie found herself in Whitetail Woods once more. She had run as far as she could, until she could run no more. Her ability to run was completely exhausted. She was an ex-runner. Running was something that was no longer in her repertoire of skills in any capacity, for the time being. One could not make her run for anything. Basically, she was tired.

She looked around, and felt she recognized the place: it could not be very far from where Rapier Wit had originally found her. Something inside her broke at this.

'Run Trixie, run! It's all she ever seems to be able to do! Here she is, a few years later, right back where she started! Worse, even! She doesn't even have her silly hat and cape!' She felt tears welling up in her eyes. 'No! Trixie will not cry! Even in utter failure, she has more than enough grace for that.' She quickly wiped her eyes and tried to calm down. She analyzed her options. With nothing to her name, they weren't many. She tried to list the positives.

'Well, I still have my looks. My showstopping talent. Rapier Wit's training.' She smiled to herself. That was something she didn't have last time. 'I can recover from this! I am The Great and Powerful Trixie, after all! I'll show them all that they can't keep me down!' Trixie began pacing back and forth, brimming with excitement. She suddenly stopped. 'I still don't know what to do next, though...'

She thought about going to Rapier Wit for help, but quickly dismissed the idea. 'That old stallion doesn't need another reason to pity me. Let him play in his pretend sword fights in Stalliongrad or wherever he was headed. The Great and Powerful Trixie ill needs him!'

******

Begin flashback!

Rapier Wit slowed to a halt at the edge of town. "Well, this is Hoofington. This is where we part ways, I suppose."

"indeed. I'll probably be here for a while myself: even with my talents, I won't be able to make many bits until I can afford my own stage and props." Trixie sighed.

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about. You're free to join me, if you want. I wouldn't be your mentor anymore, but we could still work together." Rapier looked at her hopefully. "It wouldn't feel right, leaving you here with nothing."

"Ha! The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't need your charity!" She turned her nose up at him. Rapier wondered why he tried so hard.

He took out a bag with a large number of bits inside and threw it at her feet. "Yes you do, even if you won't admit it. Good luck, then. Maybe I'll see you around sometime." He left before she could refuse the bits. She sat there, staring at the bits with a practiced neutrality...

End flashback!

******

Trixie was pacing again. Remembering Rapier had made her angry, so she channeled the energy into solving her problems. 'I must identify what went wrong in Ponyville so I don't make the same mistakes again. Those two colts bringing an Ursa into town had something to do with it. If that purple unicorn hadn't helped me defeat it, the whole town could have been destroyed.' Trixie brought a hoof to her chin.

'Step 1: don't brag about being able to defeat massive monsters that reside nearby. Well, there goes that entire act. I guess I'll have to focus on traditional storytelling and taking challengers. Those are usually the more popular acts anyway.' She thought for a while, and started heading back the way she had come.

'I need more material. Aside from a couple of stories from Rapier, I don't have anything that would wow audiences. Ponyville's library should have plenty of history, fiction, and legends for me to add to my repertoire. Plus, I might run into that purple unicorn again. Maybe I could convince her to teach me a few spells!' Armed with confidence and a goal once more, Trixie felt indestructible.

******

'Maybe I should have thought this out more...'

Trixie was currently on the outskirts of Ponyville. It had been a few days since she decided to return. She had opted to camp out for a few days to let the worst of the incident blow over and to recover her energy in case she needed to run again. A few transformation spells gave her enough comforts, even without her caravan. It also gave her time to plan.

She hadn't planned on how to actually enter, though. 'I wasn't exactly run out of town, but I didn't leave on the best terms, either. They can't really stop me from entering, but I don't want to start some sort of spectacle.' She smirked. 'At least, a spectacle that isn't one of my shows.' Trixie was too preoccupied with her thoughts to notice the pony approaching from behind. 'I suppose it's conceivable that the ponies might not recognize me...'

"Well, if it ain't that loudmouth braggart, Trixie. What do you think you're doin' back in Ponyville?" Trixie jumped at the sudden voice behind her. She turned to see an orange earth pony pulling a cart of apples. She recognized her as the same earth pony that had challenged her during her last performance.

"Unless I'm mistaken, I have every right to enter Ponyville, little hayseed." Trixie figured there was no point in over-thinking it and started walking into town. Applejack started following her.

"What, not "Great and Powerful" and third-pony nonsense?"

"Ha! Do you honestly believe that my stage persona is how I actually act? You have a lot to learn about the show business, miss."

Applejack muttered under her breath: "I don't see too much difference right now..." She huffed and drew level with Trixie. "I'd still like to know what you're up to. Tryin' to stir up trouble again?"

""Stirring up trouble" was never Trixie's intention. If you must know, I'm seeking the library. You could reduce the amount of time that I'm tainting your fair city by directing me there, if you even know what a library is." Applejack rolled her eyes.

"It's inside the big ol' tree near the center of town, over that way." She pointed her hoof.

Trixie grinned at her. "Cute and knowledgeable? Be still my beating heart!"

Applejack gave her a quizzical look. "Beg pardon? Are you makin' fun of me?"

Trixie laughed "Not at all, my dear." Applejack glared at her. "Well, only a little. If you want, you can try to prove how knowledgeable you really are to me later. But for now, I have research to do. Adieu, little hayseed." Trixie winked and headed towards to library, leaving Applejack to wonder what she had meant. She shook her head and headed towards the market. 'Unicorns...'

As Trixie neared the large tree, she wondered whether she would bump into the purple unicorn again. 'That cute farmer seemed to know her last time. Maybe I can ask her.' She entered the library and spotted a purple unicorn and baby dragon sorting some books. The unicorn looked up.

"Trixie?" Twilight looked shocked.

'Well, that was fast.'

Trixie and Twilight stared at each other for a few moments. Trixie had hoped to plan out their meeting beforehand. 'I guess there's no avoiding it now'. "Ah, yes, hello. I, uh... do you know where the librarian is?" 'Stupid! I just had to chicken out and change the subject!'

Twilight blinked. "Oh, that would be me, I guess. I'm in charge of the library. Can I, er, help you with something?" She smiled nervously.

'She's the librarian? I was bested by a librarian? Never mind that she's barely even a mare.' Trixie thought about it for second. 'Actually... this means she would be well suited to helping me after all.' Twilight was still staring at her, expecting a reply. "Oh, uh, yes, indeed! I wanted to do some research. History, legends, famous tales and the like."

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Uh-huh... well, I was about to head into town, but I'm sure Spike would be happy to help find any books you need!" She preemptively zippered Spike's mouth with a spell, cutting off whatever protest he was about to make. "Just be sure to return the books to their shelves when you're finished! Now I really must be going." She quickly walked to the front door. "Good bye!" The shelves shook as she slammed the door. Spike approached Trixie with his arms crossed.

Trixie sighed and undid the zipper spell. "That was... odd, yes?"

"I guess. Whatever, Twilight told me to help you, so I guess that's what I'm doing now. What kind of books did you want, again?" Spike's tone made it clear that he didn't want much to do with Trixie.

"Well, I wanted material for my performances. What do you have on ancient legends?"

******

"C'mon Twilight! Stop being a grouchy sad-pants! Trixie hasn't even done anything yet!" Pinkie Pie, utilizing her favorite method of locomotion, bounced behind Twilight.

"I know, Pinkie, but I'm not sure why she's here. She seemed a lot different than she was a few days ago. Applejack said something about her acting flirty, of all things."

"Well, it's not like you even got to know her, really! *GASP* That's right! I didn't even throw her a "Welcome To Ponyville" party yet!"

"Pinkie! It's late! Please stop shouting!" A nearby window opened. A pony stuck their head out and shushed Twilight, slamming the window closed shortly after. Twilight continued in a more subdued voice. "I don't even know how long she's staying in Ponyville. She was rather quick to leave last night, after all. You might not have time to throw her a party."

Pinkie just giggled. "Silly Twilight, there's always time for a party!"

Twilight just sighed. She noticed they were nearing the library. "She might have already left for all we know." 'Maybe I shouldn't have just left her with Spike. I can't imagine spending a whole day with her though. It's kind of odd that she was so interested in history and legends. If I didn't know any better, I would say she's trying to fake common ground with me. Maybe she's trying to get "revenge" in some weird, roundabout way.' Twilight and Pinkie entered to library to see Trixie deep within an ancient tome, surrounded by piles of books and scrolls. She looked up at the intruders.

"Ah, purple is back. Oh!" She caught sight of Pinkie as she bounced into the room. "Who's your friend?" Pinkie giggled.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! I'd like to throw you a "Welcome To Ponyville" party, since I didn't get to last time you were here! I mean, you did run away super fast, before I even knew you were in town! But now you're back, also super fast, I mean it hasn't even been a full week! You must be super talented if you finished whatever you were doing already! Anyway the party will be tons of fun! There'll be cake and balloons and punch and little umbrellas! Also, her name isn't purple, it's Twilight Sparkle!"

Trixie grinned. "I'll keep that in mind. My name is Trixie, and I'd be delighted to attend one of your parties." She winked at Pinkie. Twilight didn't know what she had expected if she were to ever meet Trixie again, but this probably wasn't it.

Pinkie grinned like a maniac. "Hurray! I'll go begin preparations. Here's your invitation!" She produced a card from somewhere and handed it to Trixie, then bounced out of the library.

Twilight stood shocked. "Are... you... did... did you just flirt with Pinkie?" Trixie shrugged.

"It's not my fault earth pony mares are so cute. I suppose I should try to accommodate you." Trixie drew herself up. "The Great and Powerful Trixie had not realized how late it has gotten. Trixie requires lodgings for the night, and likely several nights to come. She would be most appreciative if you could advise her in this matter." Twilight just stared.

"I... uh..."

"What? Trixie would hope you could deal with Trixie more easily if she assumed a familiar persona. Come on then, speak, purple. Trixie needs a bed for the night, unless you want her to sleep on your floor." Trixie smirked and drew close to Twilight and continued in a whisper. "At night. With nopony around. Helpless. Anything could happen. No one would believe me over you." Twilight blushed as Trixie brushed her neck with her tail and walked away, looking over the bookshelves with disinterest. "As if Trixie would ever grace a unicorn like you with her affection, anyway."

She returned to her usual volume. "Staying here would certainly be convenient. Spike mentioned that you had a spare bed. I don't have the bits for boarding, but I assume I could help you with one of your research projects that Spike was talking about in exchange. Of course, I could always find a park bench otherwise." She looked at Twilight with an expression of feigned indifference.

Twilight had no idea what had just happened. She didn't know what Trixie was up to, but she had managed to utterly disarm Twilight and leave her bewildered. She was about to ask Trixie to leave when she spoke up again. "Oh, thank you for helping me with the Ursa Minor, by the way. It would have been absolutely horrible if the town had been destroyed. I might not have even made it out of that situation alive." Twilight felt some of her anger defuse. It was late, and Trixie had nowhere to go. It wouldn't hurt to let her stay at least one night. Maybe she could finish her research and leave faster this way.

Twilight sighed. "Okay, Trixie, you can stay, at least for tonight. Spike! go set up the spare bed." Trixie grinned.

"Thank you, purple. I look forward to helping you with your research!"

"I never said-"

"Oh, come now. I have to pay for my bed somehow, and I don't have the bits. A free assistant is nothing to turn down, purple. Besides, if you agree, I'll stop calling you purple."

"Ugh, fine." 'Maybe Trixie's special talent is manipulating others to get her own way. She certainly seems pretty good at it.' Twilight watched as Trixie set about marking her place in several books.

'I just hope I don't end up regretting this.'

Chapter 5

Chapter 5
******

Tyr stalked from shadow to shadow, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible in the urban environment. Syn had given him his instructions: he was to find a certain drone, a fifth-generation security-caste that fled her post, and kill her. He was then to frame one of the extremist groups in the system. He had no intention of following these orders, but he still wanted to find the drone. He could use an ally, and if he was lucky, the drone would help him in return for sparing her life.

He jumped to a nearby roof to survey the area. He was glad that the gravity of Earth's moon was so low: the Empire hadn't gotten the artificial gravity to 1g quite yet, and it was currently stuck at around 0.6g. It was much easier to acclimate to. He scanned his surroundings.

A sprawling city lay before him, one of the first to be built off-world by humanity. The structures were much sturdier than they needed to be, built with the end goal of 1g in mind. The city, creatively name "Moon City", consisted mostly of industrial facilities and secondary structures for the starport that sat in its center. Residential areas were added as an afterthought, since very few people wished to stay here for an extended period of time.

He sensed that his targets were making their way toward the starport now. 'Finally.' He dropped back to street level, keeping once more to the shadows, and followed.

******

"Dammit, Kelly! Wake up!" Kelly was startled by their security guard's sudden shouting. He was a young mage, only 26, and he had been daydreaming again.

"If it's cutting into your busy social life too much, you could always just go back to the Academy. There are dozens of neophytes jumping at this opportunity, you won't be missed." An older mage of 81, Kuthrine, stood scowling at him. She was growing annoyed at Kelly's lack of deference.

Kelly bristled. "My apologies, Kuthrine, but I joined this expedition to study exobiology, not weigh mundane items at a starport terminal. Where is our drone? Shouldn't they be handling this?" Kelly quickly glanced around the lobby, seeing various robotic carts scurrying around.

Before Kuthrine could reply, the third member of their group, an old man of 134 called Anderson, an amagus serving as a security guard, spoke up: "Well, speak of the devil. Lizard took its sweet time." The other two followed his gaze and spotted the drone walking towards them. The Dras, or Hunters when translated, provided the Empire with drones to supplement their workforce, as a sign of goodwill. It was essentially slave labor without the ethical concerns of using sentient creatures, since drones were basically automatons. For some reason, this drone was an atypical white color and somewhat short, standing only 7 feet tall.

Aside from the obvious mental differences, drones were essentially identical to regular Dras: they had the same magical abilities, the same (relatively) small wings, the same triangular head, the same odd, double-knee legs. They wore the same cape and masked-hood and the same odd sleeves that started at their elbows and second knees and terminated a few inches past their hands and feet. The only obvious difference was a white, metal collar around the neck.

The drone stopped before them and spoke: "I have been assigned to assist your expedition. A second drone has been gifted as well due to the delay." The androgynous, metallic voice came from a six-pointed star-shaped jewel attached to the base of its neck. Any Dras or drones that planned to communicate with other species used these for translation purposes, as well as to shield others from their rather... uncomfortable natural voices. Kelly rolled his eyes as he realized what he was doing. 'Random Dras trivia dispenser! One of the many exciting career opportunities provided by the Imperial Mages' Academy. Thanks IMA!' Since the drone was here, he wouldn't have to help his taskmaster Kuthrine any more, so he went back to staring out the window. He wondered how his parents were doing. He hadn't seen them since recruitment.

'Recruitment. Ha. More like Conscription.' The recruiter had made the Imperial Mage's Academy sound fantastic: a place to develop his arcane abilities in safety, huge libraries of information, degrees in any subject imaginable, guaranteed employment, a multitude of research opportunities, and so much more. Of course, Kelly had expected these to be exaggerations, but even so it sounded like a great opportunity. Only once he was made a neophyte had he learned that "guaranteed employment" meant he would probably end up forced into the military and that refusal to join hadn't been much of a real choice anyway.

'The Empire can't risk loose mages, I guess. Especially not with the Dras hanging over them like vultures.' If he had learned one thing at the Academy, it was that there was an abundance of conspiracy theories regarding the Dras among mages, and that for all intents and purposes most of them should be assumed true for safety's sake. Kelly chuckled and shook his head. 'Here all I wanted was to get a decent education and learn the arcane in safety. Instead I find myself conscripted into a shadow war with an alien race. I guess living to see my second century is unlikely at this rate.'

Kelly looked over to Anderson. "Anderson." Nothing happened. "Hey, Anderson." Anderson looked up from his magazine.

"Dammit Kelly! What?"

"Do you think I'll live to 100?"

"You mages and your crazy ideas. You ain't gonna die young unless you make yourself sick from worrying too much. Seems like every one a ya thinks a war is about to break out. That's the problem with putting civies in the military."

Kelly scowled. "I'm not a civilian."

"You mages are practically civilians. Scholars that can kill with thought, basically. That's the only reason the Empire even cares: they ain't gotta pay for ammunition for you."

"Well obviously since an old-timer security guard said it, it must be true."

"Call me old again and I'll report you for inciting treason. Don't forget who writes the reports on this expedition you two mages are running here."

"You know, I might be more frightened if you hadn't threatened me with that a hundred times already."

Kuthrine smacked Kelly on the back of the head. "Quiet you. And Anderson, don't forget that I can easily report you for abuse of power. I may be retired but I still have fairly good standing with the Academy. Both of you quit antagonizing each other: that's my job. Now get off your asses and help move our stuff to the shuttle. Our ship is scheduled to depart in a half hour. Move it!" They both grumbled and started packing the shuttle.

"Hey Anderson."

"What is it now?"

"What's your first name?"

Anderson sighed. "Shut up, Kelly."

Kelly snickered. "Your name is Shut Up Anderson?"

"Dammit Kelly..."

******

"So, are you finally going to tell us where we are going?" Kelly sat in the ship's common room impatiently tapping the built in touchscreen. Kuthrine slapped his hand away.

"Yes. While our pilot prepares, I'll go over our destination in excruciating detail so that your boundless enthusiasm and curiosity do not go unrewarded. Anderson, feel free to doze off; I don't consider you important anyway." Anderson looked up from his seat and blinked wearily. Before he could retort, Kuthrine continued. "Our destination is best explained by starting with some recent history. Have you heard of the new star discovered?"

Kelly thought for a moment. "You mean the wobbly one found by the Jovian Observatory??" Kuthrine rolled her eyes.

Anderson snorted. "New star? Wow. Stop the presses! Breaking news! Star number 5 gazillion 32 found!"

Kuthrine scowled. "It's significant for two reasons. First, despite its apparent luminosity, it is actually quite close, which means it is also quite small; smaller than a star has any right being. Second, it is has a variable transit speed. Can either of you tell me what that means?"

Anderson snorted again. Kelly decided to guess: "It's being gravitationally affected by something?"

Kuthrine actually smiled. "Good to know you have some brains, neophyte. Yes. However, This isn't extraordinary on its own. There are plenty of binary star systems. The problem is, this star doesn't have any other stars with it. It could be a brown dwarf, but they have actually found something else." She activated the touchscreen and brought up a diagram of a star system. "The ecliptic for the other object lines up with our point of view. If it were a brown dwarf, it would most likely eclipse the star, given how small it is. Instead, the amount of light blocked seems to indicate a rocky planet, roughly Earth-sized. Now, the really odd thing, given the "wobble" of the star, is that it appears that this planet is not orbiting the star, but is in fact orbited by this star."

"So... we are headed to this planet? How far is it?"

"To the first, yes. Analysis indicates prime conditions for life, which is great in and of itself for research. Considering the strangeness of the system, I jumped at the opportunity. There might be something arcane about it. To the second, it is actually less than a light-year away. It only recently became close enough to notice, and given its unusual speed and trajectory it has only gotten closer, and therefore easier to study. That's also why these findings were possible: it's so close that we can't just attribute this strange behavior to measurement error."

"Well, at least it won't be a very long trip."

The pilot suddenly spoke over the intercom. "You guys might wanna get ready. Launch in 5 minutes."

Chapter 7

Chapter 7
******

Tiamat was thinking. She was remembering. She was Feeling. 'But... how...' She remembered a white collar. She remembered that white collars like that shut down higher cognitive functions. 'Why was there a white collar?' She thought back, trying to remember from the beginning.

She remembered waking up for the first time. She had been given the label G5-N(S). 'What had that label meant?' There was a vague memory of lengthy training and conditioning. Eventually, she had taken the name Tiamat, after a human chaos goddess, and had been assigned to the omega colony ship. She was to help maintain control of the navigation systems against any potential rebellion. But she wasn't on the omega colony ship anymore. 'Why is that?'

She remembered being ambushed. An omega had accosted her, intent on violence, knocking them both into a disposal chute. She killed the omega without a second thought. Murder was unforgivable under any circumstances under Escape law, and killing to prevent murder was acceptable in dire circumstances. Unfortunately, murder was also unforgivable under omega tradition. Several other omegas had found and rescued her, only to then hold her responsible for murder herself.

She had spent the next several years being hunted throughout the habitat section of the ship. They had cut off any ability to contact the navigation team, let alone another ship. She was effectively on her own, being hunted by a group that had a multitude of reasons to hate The Escape.

******

Begin flashback!

'Why did I let them chase me in here?' She looked around at the surrounding forest in dismay. The habitat section of the ship was an attempt at replicating the forests of Death. Tiamat assumed it was fairly accurate; she had been born long after "The Banishing of Death". Extremely tall, purple-leafed trees filled that landscape. One could make an argument that the true masters of Death had been, not the starborn, but the trees. The starborn may have revered the stars above all else, but the trees would have been a close second. Known collectively as "The Spring", the trees of Death were considered a sanctuary to the ancient starborn, providing shelter from the ground and shade from their own star.

At the moment, however, they only served as a reminder that Tiamat was not where she was supposed to be. She hadn't been in a forest before, and had no experience navigating one. Her top priority upon entering had been fleeing her pursuers rather than mapping her surroundings, which didn't help her current situation. 'At least I can avoid capture more easily in here...'

The land curved up in every direction. The habitat was held within a large ring that rotated around the main hull, which housed the ship's black hole drive; colony ships were not outfitted with warp drives, since they were never assigned missions, and thus had no requirement for such speedy travel or induced gravity.

Tiamat decided to head in a single direction until she could find something to orient herself. If she could reach one of the edges, she might find an easy way to exit.

End flashback!

******

Tiamat had eventually found an exit. It had been guarded by the omegas. She had found another. And another. And another. Eventually, the passage of time became blurred. Several times, she would find herself ambushed, and several times she would escape without killing her pursuers: she didn't want to provoke another full-scale conflict. She found it odd that the Escape had not sent rescue. Perhaps they did not want to provoke the omegas, either. Tiamat wasn't very important. Not yet. She hadn't even completed a single assignment, and her current one had led to a client race seeking her death, so she couldn't blame the Escape.

After several years, she had come across an unguarded escape pod. It was probably a trap of some sort, but Tiamat was desperate, and anything seemed better than living as a fugitive for eternity.

Unfortunately, the escape pod had been preset to send her to a nearby human colony. She remembered being arrested for spying. 'That's right... they pulled me from the burning wreckage of that pod, treated me, and then slapped a collar on me. Then why am I able to think now?' She finally appraised her surroundings critically.

She sensed she was inside a human spacecraft, probably a research vessel. The room she was in was empty aside from a large table and a few chairs. There were four humans on board, three seated around the table. There was also a fellow starborn standing next to her, holding a collar. 'What?! Why is he here? And why are the humans not reacting to him?' She realized he was wearing a fake collar.

Two of the humans began shouting at each other. Apparently one or both of them had been throwing around age-based insults. The other starborn took the opportunity to speak. "You are free again. I am taking your service as payment. We are near a planet. Once we land, we will-" Tiamat cut him off by summoning a magic sword and stabbing at him. He dodged and summoned his own magic sword, preparing to block any further attacks. Tiamat charged at him.

******

"134 ain't that old, boy! Besides at least I AIN'T SOME WHELP THAT CAN'T EVEN-"

*ZZZSSWISH*

*CLANG*

All three humans jumped at the sudden noise. Kelly and Anderson dropped their jaws at the sight of the two drones suddenly dueling. Kuthrine just stared, blinking dumbly. The dark drone accidentally drove both of their blades through a nearby wall. If the sudden blaring siren was any indication, they had hit some critical system. The intercom voiced its concern. "Entry sequence interrupted! I can't abort! You folks might want to strap in! This won't be pretty!"

Both Dras turned their heads to face the intercom. They quickly disengaged and started strapping into their harnesses. After a few more moments of stunned silence, Kelly, Anderson, and Kuthrine followed suit.

"What the fuck was that!" Kuthrine was livid. "Why did you-" She noticed the dark drone wasn't wearing its collar anymore. "What? Where's your collar!? Why doesn't that drone have its collar? Answer me, dammit!"

The white drone spoke up: "You'll have you explanations soon enough. Perhaps we should wait until we aren't plummeting into a planet?"

"But-you-I-but-argh-fine!" She crossed her arms. "But you better have a damned good reason, or I'm having Anderson terminate you!"

The drone(?) just bared its teeth. It looked like a wicked smile, but Kuthrine remembered that bare teeth meant anger, aggression, or distaste to a Dras. Or so she had heard. She'd have to ask Kelly.

"Indeed." 'This isn't good.'

Chapter 8

Chapter 8
******

It was raining. Mud puddles were quickly forming all around Ponyville. What few ponies that remained outside moved quickly, shielding themselves with whatever was at hoof. Twilight had neglected to mention the storm scheduled for today. It was a nice surprise, though: it hid tears very effectively.

Trixie lay on a bench in one of Ponyville's parks, pretending that the water running down her cheeks was entirely the fault of the rain.

'So, this is it. You were doing so well. You had come up with a glorious plan after the ursa incident. Why didn't it work? What's the matter, Trixie? The world isn't fair? Or maybe it is! Maybe you are getting what you deserve! Maybe if you weren't so selfish!' Trixie let out a choked sob.

'Yes, such a terrible life you've had, Trixie. Leave home, find a mentor, learn how to pursue your dream, suffer a minor financial loss with almost no other consequences. WOE IS YOU, TRIXIE! WHY, NO WONDER YOU'RE BREAKING DOWN INTO TEARS! POOR, MISERABLE LITTLE TRIXIE COULDN'T QUITE DEFEAT AN URSA MINOR AND LOST A COUPLE HUNDRED BITS! AND SHE ONLY MANAGED TO GET A FREE HOME AND AN EASY JOB! HOW CAN ANYPONY BE EXPECTED TO ENDURE SUCH HARDSHIP!'

She had covered her face with her hooves at this point. Her face felt like the wettest part of her, despite being shielded form the rain. 'Why do I have to beat myself up like this? It's not like things are even that bad! EXACTLY! I'M A HORRIBLE, BROKEN, SELFISH BRAT! I'M SITTING HERE BEATING MYSELF UP AND WALLOWING IN MISERY WHEN THERE ARE THOSE FAR WORSE OFF THAN ME!' Another choked sob.

'Go flirt with random ponies to boost my confidence, drown some of my doubts in alcohol, get chewed out by a purple prick, and break into tears the next day. That's the worst day of your life? Pathetic. suck it up. suck it up! SUCK IT UP!' By this point she had no more tears left to shed, which surprised her. She figured she would have had more saved up over the years.

After a few more (relatively) dry sobs, Trixie started recovering. She wiped her eyes, which was fairly useless given the weather, and sighed. She occasionally would start beating herself up, but this was the first time in years that she had cried. She was glad that the rain had given her privacy.

From an outside perspective, it was fairly arbitrary. She herself would rarely, if ever, admit to herself what she was truly upset about. She had done so once, and it had taken the arrival of a friendly unicorn to pull her out a guilt spiral that made her most recent bout of self-depreciation seem trivial. 'Maybe because it is trivial...' Trixie shook her head violently. It wouldn't do to go back down that road, not after she had just recovered her dignity. 'What little of it there is, anyway.'

Even though nopony had been around to see it, Trixie's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. 'The Great and Powerful Trixie should have more poise and composure than that! I need to be better at controlling myself. Thoughts about... such thoughts are not helpful. The past is the past. Whatever mistakes I've made are irrelevant. The future is mine to mold, and I shall do so without flaw! Nothing can stop me if I keep my wits. I have skill and talent. I do. It is not up for debate. I just need to direct myself with grace and have a clear purpose.'

Trixie looked at the list Twilight had given her. Trixie was annoyed to see that it was waterproofed. 'That unicorn knew it was going to rain!' She got off the bench and headed towards the Everfree forest. 'I need bits to get back to performing at a suitable level. I may be able to negotiate with Twilight for payment beyond covering my rent. I should ask her if anything survived the wreckage of my caravan. I didn't want to appear desperate, but since I've already ruined my reputation in regards to her, screw that. I can be back on my hooves in a week or two, and be a star again in no time!' Her confidence once again shored up sufficiently, she felt a smile form. Even if she suffered a breakdown from time to time, her life wasn't over. She could still live her dream. She could still be the best unicorn in Equestria! 'Pffft, as if it's hard to be the best of such a group. I just have to convince everyone else, is all.'

******

Despite a tendency for xenophobia and feelings of racial superiority in regards to other hoofed creatures, Modern Equestria was almost entirely devoid of racism between the three tribes. Or maybe the correct phrase is 'because of'. It was not nonexistent, however. Usually, the few who held distaste for the other types of ponies were politically wise enough to keep such feelings well hidden. Trixie was anomalous, however, even if she wasn't unique; she was in a position of viewing her own tribe as inferior, while considering herself exempt. Understanding why requires understanding Trixie's past.

Trixie was born while her parents were vacationing in Trottingham. The town's population was decidedly skewed in favor of non-unicorns. Now, this was no simple two week vacation. Trixie's parents were rich enough to afford a 3 year vacation in honor of their foal. The business her mother owned rarely required her direct input, anyway. These 3 years were the happiest of Trixie's life.

Being an outsider and a unicorn, Trixie found herself the center of attention more often than not, especially upon discovering her talent at a very young age. Her parents, being on vacation, were able to shower her with attention almost constantly. Life was good.

However, when she was nearing her third birthday, she and her parents returned to Canterlot. Leaving behind most of her earth pony and pegasus friends and entering a society of rich, snobby unicorns was not Trixie's idea of an improvement. Trixie's parents began coaching her in Canterlot customs, etiquette, and speech, which she tackled halfheartedly. Her time spent in Trottingham and Canterlot ending up giving her a strange accent that wasn't from pretty much anywhere.

The culture shock of moving from Trottingham to Canterlot also resulted in a distaste for unicorns in general and the upper class in particular. The only unicorns she had any love for were her parents and the Royal Sisters, who Trixie saw as essentially ascendant unicorns. The only advantage to Canterlot was its vast libraries, where a young Trixie found many tales of adventure and glory, and its sponsorship of the arts, particularly those of the performing variety. It didn't help her budding racism that most of the best artists (at least in Trixie's opinion) seemed to be earth ponies that happened to have many unicorn critics.

And so Trixie's dream began to take shape: to be an adventuring bard, traveling the land and entertaining those she met, spreading tales of valor. Perhaps, she might even show how amazing a unicorn could be, and be an example to others to counter the deficiency of good unicorns that she perceived.

Her parents had scoffed at the idea, however. Why not stay in Canterlot? She wanted not for money, and if she wanted fame, there was plenty to be had by joining the rest of the nobility at their various events and parties. This was the last straw for Trixie, however. Ever since leaving Trottingham, she had felt more and more ignored by her parents. And now, here they were, dismissing her dreams. She grabbed her saddlebags, the hat and cape her father had given her for her last birthday, and an atlas, and ran away that very night. By the time she had reached Whitetail Woods, she had been consumed by guilt, and had broken down crying.

******

Trixie frowned as she recalled running away from home. She had left a note saying that she was leaving to become a traveling performer. That was the last thing she had ever said to her parents, directly or indirectly.

She had (apparently) told Twilight that her parents had died, but the truth felt so much worse. How could anypony respect a spoiled filly that ran away from her rich, loving parents to play adventure? The worst part was that she wasn't even being hunted. There was something honorable in the stereotypical story of the child of nobility fleeing unjust parents, who would then hunt them down to drag them back to an unwanted life.

But no, Trixie didn't even have that. Her parents had mailed her a response to the note she had left, saying that they would not force Trixie to do anything that she didn't want to, and that she was free to live her life as she saw fit. They expressed disappointment that she had run away like that, but were always ready to welcome her back. How could she face them again after something like that? How could anyone feel anything but contempt for her if they knew the truth of her situation? She could hear the jibes now: "What? You have a rich family in Canterlot ready to take you in at a moments notice, and you're sitting here complaining about your career?" And they would be right. There was absolutely no reason for her to be unhappy whatsoever. And yet she wasn't very happy. But that would soon change. She had had a setback, but she was primed to recover from it.

BOOM!

"By Celestia's second horn!" Trixie, startled from her introspection, noticed she was at the edge of the Everfree Forest. The sound had come from deep within the forest. She went to a nearby hill, away from the forest, in an attempt to see over the tops of the trees. She saw birds flying away from a particular spot, where smoke was rising. She momentarily worried about a forest fire, but then remembered reading that trees in the Everfree seemed resistant to fire. It was a matter of speculation as to whether it was a general magical effect, the result of some creature or other, or a innate property of the trees themselves.

Trixie looked back down at Twilight's list, then back at the smoke. 'Well, it is in the Everfree Forest, so I might find these plants along the way. Besides, this is more important than whatever that fussy purple unicorn wants, I'm sure.' She cast a quick directional spell to help her keep her bearings, and plunged into the dark forest.

Chapter 9

Notes: In the universe of this story, I have the events of Luna Eclipsed occurring before the events of Boast Busters. I know of no concrete contradictions caused by this, and a few minor details can be easily reinterpreted to allow this. This allows Twilight to personally know Princess Luna, and for Luna to have a better grasp of modern Equestrian language.

Chapter 9
******

Luna yawned, trying to shake off her fatigue. She should have been resting for several hours still. And yet, here she was, awake at noon, trying to save Equestria. She wondered how Celestia never appeared tired.

She had been woken by a sudden... sensation? 'As good a word as any, I suppose.' Luna and Celestia were both connected to an aura of magical energies that engulfed the planet. It was this aura that they used to control the Sun and the Moon. Something had entered it within the past hour. She could sense a strange distortion, in the general area of the Everfree Forest. It was not a creature of immense magical power. Or at least, it was not just that. Detecting unique, magical entities such as an alicorn was easy.

This distortion was different, however. It was less a source of magic and more of a mirror; the difference between a lightning bug and a piece of glitter. As such, she could not tell anything about the entity, beyond that it was capable of... reflecting? absorbing? 'A thousand years and still Celestia's pet scholars leave us wanting for appropriate magical terminology. We should allocate more funding to magic research, I think.'

The point remained: there was a new, unknown entity or entities in Equestria, with the dangerous property of being difficult to detect by magic. The only reason she even felt it was by the indirect distortions it created, which didn't provide much in the way of useful information. She had just spent the past hour desperately attempting every spell and trick at her disposal to identify the new entity remotely, each of them failing predictably.

There was something about the distortion that felt familiar. It was vague, like a distant dream or a forgotten memory. Luna frowned as she recalled the terrible price she had paid for her actions a thousand years ago. 'It could be that I had some critical information that could help me! Is this because of my transformation? Did the elements do this? Is it simply the consequence of a thousand year exile? By the stars, I wish I could remember...' The worst part of losing so many memories was that she couldn't always tell if what she could remember was real or not.

Luna finally opened her eyes. An outside observer might have assumed she had only just woken up, if they had been watching her. Ignoring the hypothetical stalkers crowding her room, Luna donned her regalia and prepared to visit the library. There was no way she could get back to sleep today, so she might as well learn what should could about aura anomalies. She should probably inform Celestia: given the fact that she obviously did not know yet, the entity was obviously tied to the night in a some way.

But... if it was a creature of the night, didn't that make it her responsibility? Shouldn't she be the one to handle it? She was just as capable as Celestia, after all. As co-ruler... er... that is to say, co-steward of Equestria, she had every right and responsibility to solve this issue herself. She decided she wouldn't worry Celestia, at least not yet. 'It would not do to startle our citizens unnecessarily. If our efforts prove futile, or the problem reveals itself to be a great threat, Celestia shall be the first to be informed.'

Her posture one of resolve, Luna began the trek from her room to the library.

******

"Aether, do you seek to insult me?" Nyx removed her blade from his neck and tossed it aside. Aether struggled to regain his footing while dismissing his magic sword.

"I seek to prevent insult."

"Then why do you constantly surrender the advantage when we spar?"

"I could not bear to let you suffer the humiliation of defeat." Nyx bared her teeth.

"Your condescending actions are a humiliation of their own." She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the arena with her. No longer protected by the soundproofed walls, and surrounded by other officials, Aether wisely kept his words to himself. A tall female wearing the robes of a High Instructor intercepted them before they could leave the commons that surrounded the arena.

"Well fought Nyx. Your skill at manipulating the field is sure to lead the Escape to the glory it deserves."

Nyx hissed at her. "Your words are you greatest weapon, Syn. I'd advise you keep them sheathed for our true enemies."

"Your advice is, as always, welcome. I sometimes wonder if we should not declare you the sole High Instructor."

Nyx was getting tired of dealing with her veiled insults. "Where's your pet?"

"Isn't he yours? I recall you were fond of calling him "Night's Knight". You always did love your word games."

"If you would rather withhold information regarding critical agents-"

"Peace. He is on assignment, as you well know. Why would I have any reason to instruct him otherwise?"

"You wouldn't, if you valued our cause. Don't. I know what you are going to say. You accuse me of word games, yet you mask criticisms behind compliments. I don't trust you fully. There is no need for subtlety on this point. Prove yourself by continuing to aid the Escape, don't waste your effort trying to influence my opinion of you. Leave us now."

To her credit, Syn dipped her head and retreated. Nyx dragged Aether after her, leaving the commons. Aether beat her to speaking first. "You come so close to mistakes. You skirt the edge of failure so closely that I fear you may fall over it without warning. I couldn't endure such an occurrence, Nyx."

"Giving ammunition to Syn by letting me win our duels seems an odd display of loyalty. It is difficult enough dealing with the null-generation without your input."

Aether bristled. "If working to maintain your perfection is counter to your aims, then I am opposed to them. I will not allow your image to be tarnished, at any cost. While politically... crude... I agree with Syn's implication that you are the ultimate leader of the Escape. I appreciate your efforts to maintain fairness, but I feel I must maintain your level of influence. This includes maintaining your image as perfect. I cannot allow another, even myself, to appear more capable than you. It would be a hindrance to our goals, which we have worked towards for thousands of years."

"... I suppose my own pride is secondary, then? Fine. At the least, try to throw a duel less obviously, next time." Nyx looked at a nearby clock. She had to meet with Thanatos soon. She let go of Aether's arm and turned to face him. "We will continue this discussion later. Perhaps a... private duel, is in order. I'll meet you in your quarters in 6 hours. Remember, Syn is a skilled rival. I don't want you providing any ammunition to her, so avoid her whenever you can without being obvious about it. I trust your abilities in this matter." She turned and left.

Aether watched her disappear down a side corridor. 'At any cost...'

Chapter 10

Chapter 10
******

The Everfree Forest was an anomaly. Equestria was notorious outside it's borders for for it's iron-shod hold over everything within, which extended to the forces of nature themselves. Ancient Equestrian treaties even cited ownership of the Sun and the Moon for the fact that they affected Equestria. Aside from that, there were few enough creatures that could reasonably expect to control them anyway.

But this forest was different. Everfree was unequivocally Equestrian territory, and also unequivocally not under equine control. Theories abound both within and without the nation, but few knew with any real certainty why. Maybe the princesses wanted to keep certain dark secrets hidden. Foul magic could be at play, keeping the forest wild. Perhaps it was simply too risky; there were certainly enough monstrous creatures residing within: a fact that Trixie was trying to ignore as she made her way through the twisted trees.

The forest was dark even in the middle of the day, but there was enough light to see fairly easily. Any dangerous creatures would be hard-pressed to catch her unawares. Thankfully, she was also no longer being rained upon: Ponyville's weather pegasi were reluctant to let storms find their way in or out of the forest. A rustling noise caused Trixie to freeze. When nothing happened for several seconds, she continued her trek in the direction of the mysterious explosion, albeit more nervously than before. She decided to think about Twilight to distract herself from her fear.

'Stupid unicorn, I probably shouldn't have told her my parents were dead. Scratch that, I probably shouldn't have gotten drunk. Oh well, I'll inform her I lied, she can pretend to be shocked, and I'll refuse to elaborate, and she can get annoyed at me. Win-win.' She ducked under a low branch, scanning menacing bushes and rocks that could be hiding cockatrices or worse. The sooner she was out of this forest, the better. 'I wonder why she pretends to care about my family anyway? Oh, right, she wanted an excuse to not host me.' She frowned slightly. 'Wait, why am I feeling bad? That was the goal: make sure she leaves me alone once I'm done here. I shouldn't want her to want to have anything to do with me. Why should I care about her opinion beyond that?'

She stepped through some foliage and felt her breath catch in her throat. Before her, in a charred clearing, stood a large metal structure, twisted at an odd angle. A large gash in the earth trailed behind it, splintered trees resting to either side. 'This must be the source of that noise. It must be some sort of vessel, but I've never heard of a metal airship before...' Smoke no longer trailed from the clearing. It was eerily silent. Trixie saw what appeared to be an entryway near ground level.

She cautiously approached it and stuck her head inside. It was nearly pitch dark, and the air smelled static and old. Trixie sat back on her haunches and contemplated the situation. 'This is what I wanted, wasn't it? Adventure? Mystery?' She looked around the clearing and saw that it was still empty. 'There doesn't appear to be any danger...' She quickly summoned a magic sword in her favorite style: an oddly curved blade with a single wave and a hook near the end.

She remembered being impressed by one of Rapier Wit's sabres from Stalliongrad. She had taken the style, inverted and increased the curve, and inverted the curve once again on only the middle half to create the wave effect. She had added the hook after reading about eastern hooked blades. The shape, when combined with a few extra details to make it look more ornate, reminded her vaguely of a dragon.

Obviously, she was nowhere near skilled enough to actually fight effectively with such an exotic blade. If she ever needed to actually fight something, she preferred using an estoc-style blade when she couldn't just get the job done with clever telekinesis or weather manipulation. No, the reason she summoned a blade at all was to provide light within the dark vessel. She could just use a light spell, but she wanted to have a semblance of protection.

Taking a breath and gathering her courage, Trixie jumped into the entryway. Looking around, she appeared to be in a vestibule or some sort with only one other doorway. Moving on, she found herself in a hallway with several more doorways. She decided to be methodical, and entered the one furthest on the right first. Casting her sword around, she saw several panels fills with strange controls and several large screens outputting incomprehensible red text. This was obviously not Equestrian technology. In fact, it didn't look like anything that belonged to any nation she knew of.

"Do you value your life?"

Trixie froze. The cool, metallic voice had come from the doorway behind her, but hadn't sounded threatening. She slowly turned around and failed to scream as she beheld a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth. It took her several seconds to realize there was a head attached to this mouth. It was vaguely triangular, and dominated by a large, oval depression lined with... spines? Teeth? Spikes? She saw no eyes, but it felt like the creature was staring at her.

"Is that a no?" Once again, the voice did not sound threatening, merely curious.

Trixie shuddered and took a breath before responding. "Obviously Trixie values her life: She only keeps things of value."

The strange creature chuckled. Or at least, Trixie assumed that was what that rumbling cough was. "An interesting answer. I shall avoid taking it while that remains true. Theft of valuable property is very unethical, after all."

Trixie wasn't quite sure what the creature was trying to hint at, but it made her feel uneasy. She then realized that she wasn't very terrified for some reason, which unsettled her. "What do you wa-"

"To overlook your trespass, if possible. I'm not very hungry at the moment, so I've thought of another use for you. I could use a native to teach me about this planet. You may take what time you wish to consider this and prepare: I am in no hurry, relatively speaking. I would recommend eight nights, or near. If you accept, you need not guard your life for some time to come. If you threaten my plans, however, I will defend them with force. I suggest you leave, now."

"But what-"

"If you seek information, I will trade with you when you return."

Trixie bit her lip, hesitating. 'I have a free pass to leave unhurt. I can think later!' She bolted down the hall and out the entryway, running as fast as she could towards Ponyville. The terror she had expected to feel earlier suddenly gripped her, driving out all other thoughts and emotions. It wasn't until she was leaning against the library, panting for breath, that her thoughts caught up with her. She realized the storm had ended recently.

'Probably shouldn't tell Twilight. I don't need that unicorn messing things up, not yet. I should- ugh! By Luna's Moon, I forgot about the ingredients!' Trixie heaved a sigh and pushed open the library door. 'Might as well get this over with.'

Twilight was engrossed in some tome or other. She looked up when she heard the door open.

"Ah! There youAUGGH!" Twilight jumped nearly a foot into the air before landing on her rear and scrambling backwards, her eyes wide. Trixie just stared uncomprehendingly.

"What?"

"Y-you... why do you have a huge curved knife?"

Trixie looked to her left and saw that she was still sustaining her blade. She blushed. 'Oops.' With a forced cough and a flick of her head, she dismissed the cerulean sword. A scrap of cloth, which had evidently gotten caught on the hook, floated to the ground. 'Huh.' Still embarrassed, Trixie returned her attention to the other unicorn. "H-Honestly, Twilight. I would hope you could recognize the difference between a sword and a knife, even, no, especially one as unique as mine!" Twilight was still breathing heavily, but managed a glare.

"Are you sure your special talent isn't avoiding questions?"

Trixie laughed. "Why, jealous? It is a good skill to have, after all."

"It would be wonderful if you could avoid flaunting that particular skill at the moment, and try storytelling instead. What was with the sword?" Twilight looked Trixie over. "And where are the plants I sent you to collect?" Twilight did a double-take. "Is that... Trixie! How did you hurt yourself like that?!"

Trixie looked herself over. She had a collection of minor scrapes and a few bruises on her legs. 'Huh, I didn't notice getting those. Still, why would a few cuts freak-' "AH!" Trixie suddenly felt liquid trailing down her face, stinging her left eye. She suddenly became aware of acute pain on her forehead. "W-What-"

"D-Don't panic, Trixie! I'll help you! SPIKE!!!"

******

"Twilight, if you don't stop fussing over me I'll start swearing again!" Twilight blanched. She had quickly become familiar with Trixie's... creativity while tending to her wounds, and didn't want a repeat of that particular performance. She was still trying to get those images of Celestia out of her mind. She wisely decided to back off and let Trixie be for the moment. She could start interrogating her instead.

"Fine. Now, mind telling me what happened? I'm assuming you got into a fight of some sort." It certainly looked that way. At the moment, the bottom half of Trixie's legs were covered in small bandages while the base of her horn was tightly wrapped with cloth, a red stain slowly spreading from the center. An ice pack had been taped to her horn.

Trixie turned her nose up and looked away. She didn't want to admit that all her injuries were inflicted by sprinting through the forest like a coward. 'I don't need this unicorn dragging down my reputation more than she already has.'

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I could always get the guards involved. Assault is no laughing matter, Trixie."

Trixie sighed dramatically. "Fiiiiiiiine. Trixie had just entered the forest when she heard a loud noise. Naturally, she decided to investigate. She came across a large monster unlike anything she had seen before!" Trixie was very animate by this point. Telling stories dramatically, fact or fiction, was a hard habit for her to break. "It's mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth, and in place of eyes it had what looked to be even more teeth! As it lunged for Trixie, She quickly summoned my blade. I won't go into the details yet: I plan on making a show out of this, and you can pay to see the battle in full then." Twilight just rolled her eyes again. "A couple short but intense minutes later, and Trixie stood victorious, the beast slain by her hoof! And, uh, that's when I came back here." Trixie finished rather lamely.

"And... your wounds?"

"Oh, right. I honestly don't know how I got those. It must have been during the fight. As skilled as Trixie is, she wasn't flawless." Trixie lowered her head bashfully. "It's embarrassing to admit that it landed any hits on me."

"I wonder why I find it hard to believe you."

Trixie bristled. "It's not like I'm claiming to have beaten an Ursa Major, here!" (If only she knew the irony of this statement, Trixie might have chosen another creature for an example.) "Maybe I'm not as powerful as I claimed to be last time, but I'm not helpless! I can take care of a random Everfree monster! It wasn't even that big!"

"Alright, I'm sorry. You do have talent, I admit it. Still, can you blame me, considering your previous claims?"

"Yes, I can and will!"

Twilight rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Okay, you said you heard a noise. When was this?"

"Noon." Trixie clapped a hoof over her mouth. Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"You left just after nine. How did it take you three hours to reach the forest."

"Er..." 'To stone with her, why does she have to be so clever! Think Trixie! Okay, I can tell the truth and that will make her less likely to doubt me! I'll just use my other lie' "Alright, you caught me! I was in the park, crying like a foal for a couple hours. I somewhat lied when I told you my parents were dead, but I was drunk and I wanted you off my back. That doesn't mean my family situation isn't tragic, so I'd appreciate just leaving it at that! I have a reputation to maintain! Er, rebuild... so don't spread this around, okay? Can you do even that one thing for me?" Trixie didn't have to fake the emotion in her voice entirely, she just had to stop holding it back.

Twilight's expression softened. She ignored the implication that she hadn't done anything for Trixie yet. "Alright Trixie. I won't press the issue, and I won't tell anypony else. Thanks for coming clean about your parents, by the way. I had planned on confronting you about it, but maybe I shouldn't have anyway. I also want to apologize." Trixie cocked her head at this. Twilight looked a bit embarrassed. This was unexpected. "I'm under no obligation to be even half as nice to you as I have been, but I still feel a bit guilty for being less hospitable than I could be. Given your situation, I could probably stand to cut you more slack. Also, sending you to collect poisonous plants while its raining without explicitly warning you about either beforehand probably won't help the situation."

Trixie was stunned. 'I... I guess she's not as vengeful as I thought. Well, if she's going to get off my back, who am I to complain? Wait...' Trixie's eyes widened "P-Poisonous? You were trying to poison Trixie?!"

Twilight jumped. "What? No! Well, technically! No, listen, it wasn't a dangerous poison!" She took a deep breath. "I wrote a warning on the list, but hoped you'd be too arrogant to actually read it. One of the items was poison joke, which isn't that harmful and is easily cured. It basically just plays a prank on anyone that touches it."

Trixie started to calm down. 'Well... at least she told me about it. I guess I can be gracious and forgive her for it.' "Al-Alright. Trixie will forgive you this once, Sparkle. But you better not betray my trust again! I'm watching you!"

Twilight rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "Trixie, I'm trying to avoid confrontations with you! I don't want to have to pull all the weight here, so can you please try to act the least bit agreeable?" Trixie blushed at her tone, feeling a bit like a foal being scolded.

"Bluh, alright, I'm sorry Twilight. I'll try not to let your antics get to me so much."

Twilight smirked. "I guess that's close enough for now. As long as your willing to try."

Trixie forced a smile. 'Great, that's Twilight out of the way.' She suppressed a shudder as her thoughts returned to the creature that was decidedly not slain. 'Ugh, what am I going to do about that?!'

Chapter 11

Chapter 11
******

The forest around him felt alien. A cursory look reminded him of the forests of Earth, but as time passed, it seemed less and less... normal. Strange shadows lurked in the trees, and twisted mockeries of Earth flora could be seen here and there. Kelly was no expert mage, but even he could feel strange magical energies involved. The fauna were even worse by their absence. The only signs of animals at all were strange tracks and distant noises. He thought nothing could be worse than the eerie silence that had first greeted them, but he was quickly being proven wrong.

Kuthrine seemed to be trying to keep herself composed and falling short, and even Anderson looked nervous. Whether the forest or their "caretaker" was the cause, he didn't know. 'Speaking of her, I wonder why she seems so agitated. I thought Dras were forest dwellers. Shouldn't this feel like home to her?'

The Dras in question was looking... er... in fact, for convenience's sake, Kelly decided to describe the primary sense of the Dras in terms of sight, since it seemed to work similarly enough. The Dras in question was looking from side to side in quick, jerking movements as they walked. Alien body language was difficult to read in the best of circumstances, but Kelly got the distinct impression that she was afraid of something. Since they were stuck here for a while, he decided being conversational with the enemy might not be so bad.

"Hey, what's your name?" The Dras snapped her attention to him, straightening her sword: she probably wanted to remind him of his position.

"I was not informed that drones were given names."

"But you're not a drone." The alien laughed, in the weird, barking growl kind of way that they did. Kelly felt his spine shiver.

"You humans love to ignore obvious facts in favor of your own delusions. It's a wonder the initial invasion failed so spectacularly."

Anderson picked his head up at that. "What? Why should you care? You overthrew the tyrants that did that."

"I would repeat myself, but that is a less obvious fact. I'll tell you this, because you won't be able to inform anyone else, and I feel no particular duty to keep this secret: the "revolution" you are referring to was fake. It was a ploy to regain humanity's trust. Ask the mage-female."

Kelly had heard rumors of this in the Academy, especially in his exopolitical classes. He was more curious about her response to his drone comment, though. "Shush Anderson. What were you saying before, that you actually are a drone?"

"Legally, yes. I prefer ex-drone, now, however. That's another little secret: drones are captured Dras. The Empire gets free labor without the public backlash associated with slavery, and the Escape gets to pretend it isn't infiltrating the Empire when its agents get caught." Kelly opened his mouth to speak, but the... ex-drone cut him off. "I'm not interested in discussing ethics with a human. Save your breath. You can grunt and moan at your fellow apes later. To answer your question, I go by the title of Tiamat. TYR! I have your escaped pets!"

Kelly returned his attention to his surroundings and noticed that they were back at the landing site. The other Dras, evidently named Tyr, came out of the ship with a body in his arms. "Fellow hunter, Tiamat. I feared for your safety."

Tiamat seemed to puff up and her wings extended slightly. "I am not a hatchling."

"Then allow me to beg your advice. What do you think we should do with this?" Tyr dumped the corpse of the ship's pilot on the ground. Anderson swore and looked away. Kuthrine looked like she was trying to ignore the situation. Kelly just stared. 'Guy tries his best to save us, and here he is; the only one of us to die. So far, at least.' They still has no idea what the Dras wanted with them, only that they were apparently enemies.

Tiamat circled the corpse. "It wasn't a mage, and even if it was, it'll be stale soon. You could have one of the mages try and preserve it, for emergencies. I doubt it will be delicious, but I don't know what else you could do with it." Tiamat crouched and removed her hood. Tyr looked away, but Kelly hadn't seen a live Dras's face before. As expected, there was no eyes, just a large, spine-ringed depression that served as a sensory organ, using a magic aura to sense the world around them. The mouth shocked him, however. The cadavers and images he had seen hadn't prepared him for how expressive their face could be, or how easy it was to read.

Tiamat looked very curious at the moment, gently prodding the corpse. She glanced at Kelly and noticed him watching her. An expression that probably translated to a devilish grin crossed her face, and just as quickly disappeared. She raised her hand, and quickly pulled the sleeve back to reveal 4 digits, tipped with curved, black claws that were almost an inch in length. Still staring at Kelly, she jabbed one of her claws into the pilot's neck and pulled it back out. Kelly shuddered, but wasn't able to look away. Tiamat turned her head to examine her bloody claw, eventually giving it an experimental taste.

Shaking her head, she stood and replaced her sleeve. Tyr turned to face her again. "If you are finished behaving like an Omega-"

"It's yours. I have no desire for it. I'll hunt something else."

"Of course. As an Agent, I advise you to avoid killing anything civilized. Avoid the horned equine-like creatures, at the very least. I plan to use at least one of them."

Tiamat shrank a bit. "Yes, Tyr."

Kelly had trouble following Dras conversations, even with his studies, but figured there had been a hidden reprimand in there. Dras seemed to like being blunt in a cryptic way. He liked to call it anti-sarcasm, but he wasn't sure if that was actually a good term for it. "Uh..." Both Dras turned to face him. "Sorry, I was, uh, curious as to what an Omega is." Kelly shrugged self-consciously.

Tiamat took the liberty of answering first. "Wild Starborn. Vicious creatures. We exiled them."

Tyr shook his head. "An Omega is one who was hatched outside the Escape. Currently, all Omegas are exiled due to rebellion. Those are the facts."

Well, that just sunk several popular theories at the Academy. 'I guess that's what we get for thinking we knew so much about them. I didn't even know they were capable of internal conflict of that level.' The idea of "wild" Dras was also shocking, in the same sense that a "wild" human was. Human's don't generally think of themselves as tamed, but maybe Dras were different. 'Or maybe alien psychology is alien and difficult to understand. Yeah, let's go with that'

"Wait... what was that about horned equines?"

Chapter 12

Chapter 12
******

"Why are you so worried, Twilight? It's not like she can do anything to you! You're tons more powerful than she is!"

Twilight was pacing anxiously around her loft, looking at books without really seeing them. Sometimes she absentmindedly picked a book up only to put it back in the same spot. "That's not it, Spike! I know she's annoying, but that's even more reason to try and make things peaceable! And I can't very well do that if she feels she's been slighted in some way! What if she's mad about the rain? Or maybe she touched the poison joke and is hiding! I shouldn't have been so petty and just warned her about it whether she wanted to listen to me or not! It's not like she'd actually learn anything from it anyway. She'll get upset and even more annoying and then I'll have to deal with her!"

"Sheesh, Twilight, she's only been gone a few hours. Maybe she just ran into something in the forest that slowed her down?" Spike was trying to calm her down, but Twilight only seemed to get more agitated.

"Oh no, I didn't even think of that! What if she ran across a cockatrice, or a manticore, or a golem, or-!"

"Twilight! Snap out of it! Why are you so worried about her? She's just an annoying showoff that forced you to hire her!"

"I-" Twilight stopped pacing. 'Why do I care? I mean, I would worry about anypony, but...' Twilight shook her head and growled, heading downstairs. Spike just watched her go, apparently content that she was no longer pacing uselessly.

Twilight had just started looking for a psychology book when she heard the library door enter. Glancing up, she saw that it was Trixie...

"Ah! There youAUGGH!"

...levitating a blue, wicked looking blade.

******

"Bluh, alright, I'm sorry Twilight. I'll try not to let your antics get to me so much."

Twilight smirked. "I guess that's close enough for now. As long as your willing to try." Trixie smiled, although it didn't look very genuine. Still, it was better than nothing. 'If we can at least learn to tolerate each other, this won't have to be so bad for either of us.'

Trixie excused herself, claiming she needed some rest after her ordeal. Twilight decided to go gather the ingredients herself, she Trixie was in no state to venture into the forest again. She grabbed her saddlebags and, after notifying Spike, made her way towards the forest. As she walked, her thoughts turned back towards her new... employee, would probably be accurate. She didn't know how much of her story to trust, but running into a strange creature in the Everfree Forest wasn't exactly farfetched, and she was injured. Obviously, Trixie had prevailed, one way or another, or else she wouldn't be here right now. 'Thank Harmony.' Twilight stopped momentarily. There it was again. That care. Why did she care?

Trixie was in a bad situation, with no home, money, friends or family. 'Or at least, that's how she feels.' Despite, or perhaps even because of, her arrogant attitude and demanding personality, Twilight felt sorry for her. There were also hints that behind that mask, Trixie was very lonely and scared. 'Maybe... maybe she could use somepony to worry about her. Friends might be a bit optimistic, but she needs help. And. rival or not, I can't just abandon somepony in need. Maybe I can help her turn her life around.

******

With Twilight gone, Trixie finally had the library to herself. Well, except for that dragon, but he didn't count anyway. She quickly went about levitating any book on rare monsters that she could find to what she had claimed as "The Great and Powerful Trixie's Study Corner, no snobbish unicorns allowed!". Twilight had warned against using magic due to her injury, but it seemed like she worried about everything, so whatever. 'As if The Great and Powerful Trixie would be laid low by a simple cut!'

She looked over the scrap of cloth she had dropped earlier. In all of the confusion earlier, Twilight hadn't asked her about it. In fact, she probably hadn't even noticed it. Trixie marveled at it. It looked to be pure white cloth, but when it moved it caught the light in a most peculiar way, sparkling with what looked like black stars, almost like an inverted night sky. 'It must have come from either the ship or that creature. I guess my sword snagged it when I ran aw... made a tactical retreat. It's very pretty, though. It would make a nice... yeesss, this would be a perfect look for a new cape and hat!' Trixie rubbed her hooves together, a large grin plastered on her face. She could easily enchant some white cloth to produce an effect like this. 'Yes, it will be perfect! Ah, I should research that creature first.'

She didn't know why she was actually considering it's request. It had casually talked about eating her, for Luna's sake! Still, what it had said had raised a lot of questions, and Trixie's curiosity and lust for adventure were hard to ignore. Besides, it had been fairly friendly, as far as bloodthirsty monstrosities in the Everfree Forest went, and it had let her go free. 'Either way, I need to know more. Hopefully one of these books has something.'

Several hours and one purple unicorn's return later, and Trixie was still no closer to learning anything about her mysterious acquaintance. She was currently flipping through a compilation of unconfirmed monster sightings when she came across an entry, labelled "Star Dragon", that caught her attention. It described a long-limbed creature with two legs, two arms, two wings, and no eyes. Trixie's heart-rate jumped when she saw that the creature apparently had a tooth-ringed oval that dominated its face. 'This is it!' There was only one source provided: an journal entry from almost a thousand years ago. The journal apparently belonged to one of the ponies from Luna's court.

~~~

I met a strange creature today. I was... well, how I met them isn't entirely important. After I got over its odd appearance (and by Luna, is it strange. It stood on two legs, with long arms and strange wings, and had a ring of teeth in place of a face. Luna would have liked to meet it; it fit very much with her style. In fact, now that I think about it, I wonder if it might have had something to do with ###### enough rambling, where was I), we had a most engaging conversation. The creature claimed to be from the stars, said she was hunting an "Eternal". I asked her what that was. She said I shouldn't worry about it. She said it was something for gods to worry about. I flippantly asked if she should let Celestia and Luna know. She looked confused and asked what I meant. I said "Surely, you know of the bearers of the Sun and the Moon?". She said "They are gods, then?". I told her that wouldn't be very inaccurate (she talked like that, often.) She laughed, or I assumed it was laughter. She said that explained the sun. (I thought it was odd that she said that because it seems like an obvious thing to say, and she seemed to prefer more cryptic responses earlier.) I told her that they had ascended by using the Elements of Harmony. Told her they used them beat that tyrant, Discord, may he guard shrubbery for all time. She looked very thoughtful at this. She asked me to clarify: "They were not gods before using the elements?". I told her that none but the princesses know exactly how it happened, only that the elements were involved somehow.

She changed the subject soon after. She talked about where she was from. Apparently, her world, if you can believe it, has two days and two nights a "day". I'm not sure how to explain it, and she didn't tell me much beyond that. She talked about something called "The Spring" very fondly. She told me that she couldn't fly on our world, because on her world things fall more slowly. She said many other things that made little sense to me. I'll have to see if I can find a scholar to meet with her tomorrow.
~~~

The notes said that later entries complained that the creature had mysteriously left. There was some speculation about connection to the Nightmare Moon Incident, but Trixie glossed over that. The incident had so little public information that everything was speculated to be connected in one way or another.

Trixie sighed and slammed the book shut. 'That wasn't helpful at all!' This wasn't going anywhere. The entry didn't tell her anything important. Besides, Vessel Theorists like the journal's author weren't very reliable sources anyway, in Trixie opinion. Especially not ones from a thousand years ago. 'Honestly, the Princesses acting as bearers of their domain. Ridiculous.' How anyone could refuse to embrace Essence Theory eluded Trixie.

Trixie felt no closer to a decision regarding the strange creature. On the one hoof, it seemed incredibly dangerous, and she didn't know how easy it would be to return to the forest without Twilight noticing. On the other hoof, Trixie was bored and curious. She looked at the scrap of cloth again, staring at it for a few minutes, admiring it.

'That's it!' She could create her new hate and cape! A solution to her boredom, and a key step on rebuilding her life! She could even use it as a trophy, physical proof of her "conquest" in the forest. A new look and already a new story to jump-start her career. Why should she bother risking her life in the forest? She was soon to have everything she needed.

"Hey Trixie." Trixie's self-congratulating was interrupted by a purple unicorn levitating a letter. Trixie's eyes widened when she noted that the letter bore Luna's royal seal. "I just received a letter from Princess Luna. She says that she sensed an entity of some sort in the Everfree Forest, around noon. Shortly after that, it disappeared. She says she wishes me "to report on any strange happenings within or around the forest" Twilight rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Wha- You-"

"It seems to match with your description of finding and defeating some strange creature, so I guess that actually did happen, huh? Hehe..." Twilight looked a bit guilty. Apparently she hadn't quite believed Trixie's tale.

"You... you know Princess Luna? Personally?" Trixie was shocked.

"Well, uh, yeah. We are professionally acquainted, and I have interacted with her in a social capacity before." Trixie just stared. "Uh, I don't like to make a big deal out of my connections..."

Trixie shook her head, snapping herself out of... whatever it was she was in. "Er, right. Speaking of the incident..." Trixie cleared her throat. "In regards to her injuries, Trixie requests she be allowed to take leave of her responsibilities for tomorrow. She needs to recover, and there is something that she needs to do while waiting."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well, you haven't really done anything yet besides serve as first aid training, but go ahead. I don't want you endangering either of us with that horn injury anyway. Just... promise not to do anything too strenuous, alright?"

Trixie turned her nose up. "Please. Trixie shall not endanger herself. She will be the epitome of caution."

Chapter 13

Chapter 13
******

Twilight found Trixie being dragged out of the local police station against her will. "This is insulting! Trixie won't stand for this! Discord would show greater civility! The Great and Powerful Trixie demands fair treatment! How dare you refuse her demands! Lock me up, damn it!" Trixie stop shouting as she was dropped on her back. Her two escorts bid her good day and returned inside.

"Trixie? What's going on? I tell you not to strain yourself and you get yourself arrested?"

Trixie huffed and picked herself up. "If only..." She started dusting herself off.

"Huh? What was that bit about "lock me up" anyway?" Trixie started, only just realizing who she was talking to.

"Oh! Twilight! Uh, nothing." Trixie started walking, headed for the library. Twilight fell in line next to her and opened her mouth. Trixie cut her off. "To answer your first question, Trixie was detained for assault and vandalism."

"Assault!?"

Trixie winced. "Well, it was technically assault. I wasn't really attacking her. She didn't even care until the vandalism bit, anyway. Oh, there was also theft, but that was an accident and I already corrected that." She patted one of her saddlebags.

"Why did you attack somepony?"

"Because she insulted my-!" Trixie glanced at Twilight. "My fashion sense. She also mocked my injury. Insinuated I was clumsy. Said I was a shame to unicorns. I threw a dress form at her. She kicked me out after that, and I broke one of her windows with a rock. That's when she dragged me to the police station."

Twilight grumbled and facehoofed. "Please. Please tell me that this pony isn't who I think it is."

"Well, er, does the name "Carousel Boutique" mean anything to you?" Trixie smiled sheepishly.

"Celestia, help me." Twilight sighed again and turned a glare on Trixie. "I'm going to go talk to Rarity. We'll talk about this later." Twilight turned and left for Carousel Boutique. Trixie felt tears threatening, but held them back. Hearing the mayor mention her parents and pardon her for her connection to them had stung. She didn't like being reminded of her past. She hoped Twilight wouldn't ask why they had let her off without charges.

Trixie finally reached the library and entered, her head down. After closing the door, she looked up to find the creature from the forest lounging against the wall. "Eeep..."

"Aaaaaah... Tyr's pet. What is your name?" Trixie realized that this was actually a different creature. The one she had met before was white, while this one was very dark.

"T-Trixie."

"You may call me... Epona."

"You're a Star Dragon, yes?"

The creature made a chuckling sound. "Is that what you call us? Very well. The one you met before is called Tyr. If you meet him again, pretend you don't know that yet. I'm here to request that you accept whatever offer he has made. I do not know the details, but I do know that he promised you safety. I can attest to his sincerity, if you are having doubts."

Trixie gulped. "And if I still refuse?"

Epona bared her teeth in a soundless snarl. "Then you become a liability. You also become free prey, and I haven't come across anything quite as tempting as one of you before." Epona pushed past her and exited the library. Trixie shuddered. 'Perfect.'

******

Twilight returned later in the day. She didn't say anything about a strange creature being sighted, so Epona must have escaped notice. Somehow. Instead, she cut right to the chase. "I heard that you apologized to Applejack and Rainbow Dash."

"Of course. Our contest wasn't anything personal. My goal was to please the crowd, not to hurt them."

"I also heard that instead of apologizing to Rarity, you called her derogatory names. You neglected to mention that when you said she insulted you."

"Why should Trixie apologize to her? It wasn't even a contest with her. Just some eunuch h-" Twilight shot her a warning glare. "... Just some unicorn full of hot air. All Trixie did was shoo the disturbance offstage and turn it into a crowd-pleaser. Unicorns need to learn their place."

Twilight gave her a flat stare. "Trixie-"

"I'm different... better, and, painful though it may be to admit, you are too, and you know it. We aren't pompous fat-asses sitting on cushions all day, ordering around the "less fortunate classes" for our own gain!"

Twilight bristled before letting out a shaky sigh. "You're coming close to insulting my family, Trixie. You're own family is full of high-class unicorns, no doubt."

Trixie's blood went cold. She growled.

Twilight just shook her head. "Rarity said that you attacked when she questioned your parents' ability to raise a child. You also neglected to mention that."

"And that is important for what reason?"

"Apparently your parents are fairly important here. I mean, having charges dropped because of your relation to your mother is-"

"Disgusting? A breach of justice? Unfair? I agree. Too bad I can't do anything about it."

Twilight just stared. This was not the reaction she expected. "So, I'm guessing your parents were distant snobs that threw money at a problem to fix it?"

Trixie was visibly struggling to contain herself. After a minute she was able to speak. "Don't. You. DARE. Insult. My. PARENTS!"

Twilight's ears fell flat against her head. 'That was a bad move!' "I-I'm sure they loved you very much! It was a hasty guess and I was obviously wrong! I'm sure they missed you when you left!" Twilight winced. 'Oh Celestia that was stupid. Why did I say that!?'

Trixie froze. "Twilight."

"I'm sorry! I'm not handling this-"

"Twilight. I'm just going to assume idiocy on your part, rather than maliciousness. You don't know what you're talking about, so I won't hold these mistakes against you. Just. Just drop the subject."

"A-Alright, Trixie. I'm sorry." Trixie remained silent. "I..." Twilight sighed. "I have to go get Spike from Sugarcube Corner."

Twilight made to leave, turning back once she was at the threshold. "If... if you need, you can have tomorrow free as well. I don't think today has been very restful for you."

"...Thanks."

******

Tiamat sat in the library's branches, waiting for nightfall. She sensed a particularly bright unicorn enter and leave a short while later. Unfortunately, it was off limits if it was at all important to Trixie. 'Of course all the bright ones are off-limits.' Finally, night fell, and Tiamat was free to return to camp in peace.

She ignored the humans sitting around a fire and went straight to Tyr, who was sitting on the nose of the crashed research vessel. "What did you do with the pilot, anyway?"

Tyr stirred. "Bait." Tiamat shrugged a sack off her back and dumped it next to him.

"Here's your paper bricks. You can ask the humans to read them yourself. I also spied on your other pet. She seemed to be preparing to another trip to the forest, from what I could sense."

"I didn't authorize that."

"You aren't my superior in this."

"...Indeed."

"Tyr, why aren't we infiltrating their capital?" Tyr tensed.

"Patience. Do you remember Earth?"

"I was created after that."

"This... evasiveness regarding the truth is not-"

"We are both revolutionaries here. Equals in power. Don't lecture me. I will forge my own path. As should you." With that, Tiamat went to hunt his bait. She felt foolish for not recognizing such a use for the human corpse before, and wanted to see if it had worked.

Tyr grabbed the sack of books plundered from the library and made his way toward the humans, who were staring in anticipation. He dumped the books out of the sack in front of them.

"I have found a research opportunity for you. Find out what you can about their civilization and report to me. I will have someone to corroborate your reports later, so try to be truthful, if you can." He left quickly, presumably hunting down Tiamat. Again.

Kelly turned to the others. "Well, at least he's getting more talkative."

Chapter 14

Chapter 14
******

Anderson threw the book he was holding down in disgust. "Screw this! I ain't gonna sit here perusin' alien texts all day for some other alien!" Kelly looked up with a grin.

"Did you... man." Kelly was struggling to keep a straight face. "How long have you held onto that word just waiting for the most ambiguous place to use it? I seriously can't tell if you intended the actual or the colloquial meaning of "peruse"! I mean, are you really still on about me correcting your English?" At this he burst out laughing. Kuthrine rolled her eyes and returned to her book. After a few moments she stopped and looked into the distance, her eyes unfocused.

Anderson decided he had had enough of scholarly company for the time being, and decided to patrol the forest. As he was leaving, he heard Kuthrine exclaim "Wait a second! These are alien texts! How in the- How are we reading them?" If Kelly had a response, Anderson didn't hear it.

The forest felt even stranger now. By chance, he had read a book concerning the weather and nature of this planet. Apparently, this forest was an anomaly, if the author was to be trusted. Which wasn't a sure bet, honestly. One section had laid out a theory involving mad gods running loose, which was a fairly incredible claim. On the other hoof - er hand ('Damn, these silly words are rubbing off on me!') - there was a lot about this planet that was incredible already, so maybe it wasn't so farfetched.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. He turned and readied his rifle: Tyr seemed to trust that they wouldn't kill him or Tiamat for no reason. He saw something reptilian disappear into the bushes. After half a minute, he heard a screech of some sort, almost like a bird getting attacked. He cautiously made his way forward until he spotted Tyr crouching in a tree. He stopped at the base and glanced at his face.

Tyr seemed to be staring at something. Anderson followed his "gaze" and blinked when he saw Tiamat in a clearing a few dozen feet from them, far enough that she wouldn't be able to hear them: Dras hearing wasn't known for being particularly sharp. She was hunched over something. "She's feeding on it. They have some magical ability apparently. Fairly dangerous, if you have eyes." Anderson looked back up at Tyr. "You abandoned your reading."

"I ain't gonna pore over some books all day. Kelly and Kuthrine are the scholars anyway. They'll probably be better over separatin' fact from fiction at any rate. Thanks for the random Hodge-podge, by the way." Tyr turned his attention on him. Anderson felt like he was being glared at, insofar that a Dras could glare. "Kuthrine figured something out, too. Why's it in English?"

Tyr started chuckling at that. "She doesn't know? I had assumed she was better than that. Perhaps those focusers are more powerful than I thought." Tyr returned to staring at Tiamat. "No. I doubt those books are in English. The organism I spoke to earlier certainly did not speak it. In fact, I haven't spoken English at all just now."

"What are you talking about, I understood every word comin' outta your mouth. Um, jewel-thing."

"Exactly. Part of the arcanfield of this planet is involved in translating intended meaning across species, to an extent. The weave of the magic is such that another human speaking another of your human languages would not translate to you, but would to me. I also think that code or other methods of obfuscation would not be rendered useless. It's a strange magic."

Anderson narrowed his eyes. "How do you know all this anyway?"

Tyr laughed sharply. "I am a Starborn. We sense magic. It's how we "see" anything. We detect the true structure of the reality around us, without the intermediary of bouncing photons or sound waves. I can feel what this magic is doing to my perceptions." He fell silent, continuing to stare at Tiamat.

Anderson shuffled his feet for a bit before asking. "Why are you stalking Tiamat anyway? Seems a bit creepy, at least by human standards."

Tyr growled. "I'm observing a Starborn hunting and feeding. This is an academic activity."

"Academic?"

"I wish to learn more about my species. Perhaps I can make better decisions, then."

"And you are confiding in me because...?"

"I wish to learn more about your species. Social interaction seems to be a good method."

Anderson just stared at him. "Man, I don't know much about aliens, but something sure seems to be eating you. That's an idiom, by the way."

"Assumptions. You humans seem to thrive on assumptions. They are usually always wrong."

"You said yourself you were assuming stuff about Kuthrine."

"It was a turn of phrase."

"Oh really?"

"Ye-" Tyr cut himself off. "Huh." It was the first time Anderson has seen a Dras nonplussed.

"Well, have fun with your thoughts. I'm gonna go drink my worries away. Maybe you should try it sometime."

Tyr watched him go before turning his attention back to Tiamat. By now, she had drained the cockatrice of magic and blood, and was cleaning herself up.

"Huh."

******

Twilight was currently enjoying tea with Fluttershy just outside her cottage, admiring the sunny afternoon. Or at least, she wanted to be enjoying tea and admiring the day. Instead, she found herself venting about the azure and silver problems in her life.

"I don't know, Fluttershy. It just seems like we can't interact without some problems happening. I mean, I managed to get her to agree to be more cooperative. But still. I guess it doesn't really help that I kind of shot myself in the hoof a few times yesterday. Ugh..." Twilight let her head fall to the table. Angel steadied his bowl and shot Twilight a glare before hopping off to someplace with fewer unicorn-head-induced quakes.

"Oh, well, um, it sounds like she doesn't hold it against you. Um. Too much. She did say she wouldn't."

"Yeah, that's great. She doesn't hate me, she just doesn't trust me or have any reason to like me at all. Problem solved."

"Oh..."

Twilight glanced up at Fluttershy's stricken face. "Oh no, I'm sorry Fluttershy. I didn't-" Fluttershy cut her off with a wave of her hoof.

"No no, I know you, um, didn't mean anything by it. You're just upset right now. It's alright, really."

"Ugh! What am I going to do? I want to help her but she won't open up to me!"

Fluttershy fidgeted. "Well, um, I don't really want to imply that you, uh, aren't a good friend, because you are! You're a great friend! One of the best friends I know! But, uh, even so, and I mean no one is perfect, not to imply that you are far from perfect! Far from it! Which is, er, far from far from perfect, which is to say that you are actually pretty close to-"

Twilight facehoofed. "Fluttershy. Please just say it."

"Oh, right. Um, sorry. Well, it's just, I don't think you have actually been trying very hard to, uh, befriend her." Fluttershy hid behind her hair and squeaked.

Twilight blinked. "Huh? What do you mean? I've tried talking to her about her problems several times. I've given her work and a place to stay, even if she somewhat forced me into it. How am I not being friendly?"

"Well, if you really want to know..." Fluttershy took a deep breath. Twilight braced herself for one of her rants. "You've been running away from her." Twilight blinked again. 'That was short.'

"Running away?"

"Well, yes. When she showed up, Pinkie says you left right away and didn't come back until you needed to. Applejack said you spent most of the next day with her until the party, only interacting with Trixie to drag her home. The day after that you apparently sent her out at the earliest opportunity, and after she returned and you patched her up you left to finish her job. The day after that, I heard from Rarity that you left her to wander Ponyville on her own, and once you had an excuse you left to talk to Rarity as well. After that, you spent the rest of the day at Sugarcube Corner, leaving her alone in the library. And today, you came to talk to me and left Trixie alone again."

Twilight gaped. She tried opening and closing her mouth several times, but nothing happened. Had she really done all that? Apparently, she had. She thought of several excuses: Trixie would have turned down company. She needed to recover from her injuries. She was busy reading some tome or other. Twilight needed to talk to her friends. Still, the fact remained: she had been avoiding Trixie a lot the past four days, intentionally or not.

"But... but..."

"I'm... I'm not saying you did the wrong thing, or that you didn't have reasons, but, uh, it isn't that hard to see why Trixie, maybe wouldn't see you as a friend, given the circumstances?"

Twilight sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right Fluttershy. Thanks. I suppose I needed somepony to point that out to me."

"Don't feel bad, Twilight. You can still be friends with Trixie, I think. You just have to try spending more time with her."

"Hmph. Easier said than done. So doesn't seem very keen on socializing with me. Or anyone, for that matter. Unless it's a performance."

"Well, maybe you could try being nicer." Twilight raised an eyebrow. Fluttershy's smile was quickly replaced with horror. "Oh! I didn't mean to imply that you, um, weren't nice in the first place. I just meant, well, um, since she still doesn't trust you, that you might try even more, or, uh, keep trying. Maybe offer to help her with something, or, um, just having a nice conversation, or something." She trailed off with a quiet squeak.

Twilight rubbed her temples with her hooves. "Alright Fluttershy. Maybe you're right. I still wonder why I'm trying to be friends with her sometimes, but then I remember that-" Twilight suddenly froze. "Uh, never mind. I was just rambling! Haha! Thanks for the advice Fluttershy, and for listening to me rant. I suppose I should start right away with Trixie. Maybe I can help her with her research or something. I'll see you later." Twilight got up to leave.

"Bye Twilight Sparkle! I hope if all works out for you. And, uh, if you ever need my help, feel free to stop by!"

"I will. Thanks for the tea. Goodbye!"

Twilight started down the path back to Ponyville. Fluttershy had given her a lot to think about. She hadn't realized how she may have been treating Trixie. 'I hope this hasn't bothered her too much.' Still, it was a nice sunny day, and Twilight was now better equipped to handle Trixie, so it wasn't hard to feel a little optimistic. 'I'm sure everything will turn out fine.'

Chapter 15

Notes: It probably becomes the most noticeable in this chapter, so I'm taking this opportunity to explain my take on Trixie's third-pony thing. First of all, she doesn't speak exclusively in the third-pony even in Boast Busters, so it doesn't make sense for her to do so elsewhere. My interpretation is that she is telling the story of her stage persona or alter ego. The Great and Powerful Trixie is a separate character to Trixie, so she speaks in the first-pony when talking about regular Trixie, and speaks in the third-pony when on stage or otherwise speaking about her image or stage persona. She also sometimes slips into the third-pony in stressful situations in order to convince herself that she is in control, or when her "Great and Powerful" character can handle the situation when regular Trixie can't.

Chapter 15
******

Luna read the letter again. She had received it two nights previous from Twilight Sparkle in response to her own missive. Something just didn't add up, however.

Twilight said that she thought the disturbance had been neutralized by a unicorn that had been in the forest at the time. The unicorn had reported a loud noise and an encounter with a strange creature. The description provided didn't match anything that Luna had ever heard of. Then again, she had been gone a thousand years. Twilight didn't have an explanation either, however. Either way, it was apparently slain, which wasn't a problem in and of itself.

No, the problem came from the fact that there were several other disturbances. As she had focused her attention on the forest that day, she had become aware of a second disturbance, much like the first. This disturbance had vanished at the same time as the first, but the unicorn had reported slaying only a single creature. As if that wasn't enough, she had also sensed the presence of four spellcasters afterward. Two felt almost like unicorns, while the remaining two vaguely reminded her of griffin weavers. These faded quickly as they and the surrounding magic adapted to each other.

Something wasn't right. Twilight Sparkle considered the matter closed, and Luna couldn't risk forcing the issue. 'The last thing I need is to lose what little respect I've already reclaimed by appearing paranoid.' She had no other options at this point, however. Except...

She could interrogate this other unicorn directly. Twilight had mentioned that she was housing her. She could make a show of congratulating the unicorn for her service. Once she was alone with her, she could see if the unicorn had left out any crucial details. 'Yes, this will most certainly work. It's our only lead.'

Luna left her desk and went to inform her escort: they would be making a trip to Ponyville, tonight.

******

Trixie stood in the middle of Ponyville's library, admiring herself in the several reflective planes she had summoned. 'Would it kill that purple unicorn to have more mirrors?' She had just finished her new attire, and wanted to ensure that the illusion spell she had imbued it with worked correctly from every angle.

She had decided to try something new, forgoing a pointed hat and instead opting for a pointed, feathered cap (She had "borrowed" one of Twilight's many quills until she could get something better, like a phoenix feather.) She kept the cape the same as before, however, with a high, pointed collar and a gemstone clasp. She felt that the overall effect was quite dashing. 'If only I had a saber to strap to my side.'

The color worked even better than she had expected, especially with her turquoise gem. Trixie frowned as she recalled recovering it. She had found it in Rarity's shop, and it had been one of the sparks involved in igniting the subsequent debacle. Rarity might have been a stuck-up, snobbish unicorn, but at least she had given her the gem back for free, along with the white cloth she had wanted, even if it was after she had already "stolen" them.

Okay, so she had dropped the theft charges after learning that Trixie had a grand total of zero bits to her name, but it was close enough, and Trixie felt like viewing the exchange generously.

Either way, Trixie was once again "The Great and Powerful", and she was ready to perform. Apparently, the cute, pink baker was throwing another party tonight in Trixie's honor, part "Welcome to Ponyville Take Two", part "Wow, You Defeated a Dangerous Monster! Hooray!". It would be a perfect opportunity to tell of how she defeated the creature.

Trixie blinked. 'Turn me into a lawn ornament, Luna. I forgot to script and rehearse the fight!' She swore under her breath. Perfect opportunity, wasted. She didn't have enough time to create and practice a worthy fight scene before the party. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like a bad idea anyway. 'My last performance was filled with me boasting about my skill. Even though Twilight would probably back me up... maybe back me up... it probably wouldn't go over so well. Even if it's part of why the party is being held in the first place.'

Trixie decided that playing modest was the best bet. It would win her some points with the town, allow her to avoid describing the fight in detail, and would allow her to relax at the party. As much as she hated to admit it, she was still injured, though she was healing quickly, all things considered.

She examined her head injury in one of her conjured mirrors. She had a rather large, unfortunate scab at the base of her horn. Thankfully, her new hat would cover it for the party. She still didn't know how she had gotten the injury. She would have noticed hitting a tree branch with her head, especially hard enough to cause a gash like that. Considering the size, she was also confused as to why it had only started bleeding when she had reached the library. Twilight had said something about having a spell active or not, but she had seemed equally perplexed.

It was at that moment that said unicorn entered the library and gasped. Trixie dismissed her mirrors and turned to face her.

"Well, Sparkle?"

Twilight blinked. "W-Wow. I guess that's what you've been working on. It certainly is... extravagant?"

"Trixie was thinking more along the lines of dashing, but that works too. It should be perfect for tonight's party."

Twilight started. "Huh?! What party?"

Trixie raised an eyebrow. "The pink pony's party? She's throwing another since you ruined the last one, and to recognize Trixie's heroic deeds. I assumed you were in the loop, considering how often you run off into the town." Twilight cringed at this.

"Right... about that..." She sighed. "I realized that I've been avoiding you a fair amount over the past few days. It wasn't entirely a conscious decision on my part, and I hope that I haven't offended you in some way."

It was Trixie's turn to blink in surprise. 'Why is she so concerned about my opinion of her?' "I hadn't even considered that. You will have to try harder than that if you wish to offend Trixie. Don't worry about it." Trixie waved a hoof dismissively. "Anyway, The party apparently starts in a few hours, and Trixie needs to prepare. I'll be commandeering your bathroom until then."

******

Kelly awoke to Kuthrine shaking his shoulder. He groggily peeled his face off the book he had fallen asleep on and looked around. He spotted Tiamat standing nearby, staring at him.

"There is an opportunity for you to learn more. The nearby town is preoccupied with a celebration of some sort. We will be able to enter the town unnoticed and acquire more books." Kelly perked up at that. Sure, he was technically currently hostage to a pair of aliens from an aggressive species which considered him prey, but learning about an alien culture was fascinating stuff!

"What are we waiting for? Let's go Kat!"

Kuthrine scowled. "That's not my name. You can count me out of this. I don't feel like skulking around some alien town at night. We need to finish reading what books we have anyway. I'm sure you and your girlfriend will be enough for this."

"Alright. More fun for me without you breathing down my neck anyway. Let's go Tai."

Kuthrine watched them go. Anderson was currently hunting for food, and Tyr was predictably hidden away somewhere, leaving her with only a large pile of books for company. The sun was setting, making reading difficult. Kuthrine cast a simple light spell through her focuser and opened another tome. It was going to be a long night.

Chapter 16

Chapter 16
******

"Hey, Kuthrine." Kuthrine looked up from a book detailing the history of something called "The Griffin War" to see Anderson taking a seat by the campfire. "I can't figure these aliens out. First they all but enslave us. Then they treat us nice, or at least as nice as aliens can be, all things considered. Then they leave us with nothing but a lighter for a fire and sleeping bags? Why don't they let us use the emergency supplies in the ship?"

Kuthrine went back to her book. "You'd be better off asking Kelly about their motives, to be honest. He's the one studying them. As for the supplies thing, they probably don't want us signalling for rescue."

"Where is the kid anyway?"

"Tiamat took him into a nearby village to steal more books."

"Hmph. At least that Tiamat makes some sense. I can't figure out Tyr's angle, though." Kuthrine raised an eyebrow at him. "He talked to me a bit when I caught him stalking Tiamat. He seemed to be going through some existential crap. No idea how that started."

Kuthrine thought for a moment. "Hmmm. Kelly said something earlier. Remember Tiamat's quip that she wouldn't talk ethics with a human?" Anderson nodded. "Well, apparently that didn't last long. She and Kelly got into some discussion while we were hunting the other day. Kelly said that she said something about beginning to sympathize with Autonomous, so maybe she's got Tyr questioning himself too."

Anderson gave her a blank look. "Autono-what?"

"Apparently that was the name of the rebel faction in the Escape a thousand years or however long ago. Which reminds me!" Kuthrine's eyes lit up. "Guess what other little nugget of information Tiamat apparently leaked to our young scholar?"

"What, that she's in love with him?"

Kuthrine rolled her eyes. "I mean besides that. She's already made it clear she wants him for "provision". No, Tyr is apparently working as a part of a coup. She said something about Tyr enlisting her help to "repair the High Instruction", which is clearly Dras double-speak if I've ever heard it."

"So... what?"

"So, we have a chance to seriously impact a high-stakes situation here. How this coup plays out will seriously effect The Escape and, by extension, The Empire. We need to find out more about Tyr's plans. Since he seems willing to talk to you, you should try to find out more. Try to be subtle about it? I don't want Tyr to think you've become a liability."

"Don't patronize me. I'm more subtle than you'll hopefully ever know."

******

'No one ever mentions how uncomfortable bushes are.' Kelly extricated himself from the offending shrub via a poorly timed tripping maneuver. After peeling his face off the street, he looked around to see if any small horses had noticed him. 'Smooth as ice and cool as sheet metal.'

The streets were practically empty at this hour. A building that looked like candy a few blocks away looked pretty busy. 'Must be the party that Tiamat mentioned. I wonder where the h-' Kelly winced, and then berated himself for being too well-trained. He saw the tree that Tiamat said was a library, and cautiously made his way to it.

'I'm sneaking around a village populated by small, colorful horses on an alien planet in order to steal books to assist a coup against another alien civilization that I'm essentially at war with. This is seriously fucked up.'

He noticed that the library's lights were out. There probably wasn't anyone inside. 'Although, Tiamat had said it was doubling as a home, so someone could be asleep inside.' He slowly opened the door, wincing as it creaked. He didn't hear any movement, and slipped inside.

He closed the door and realized that it was almost pitch dark inside. 'If only I had a flashlight or a candle or some-... duh...' A quick light spell revealed walls covered with bookcases. He gave a low whistle. 'Gotta say, this civilization must be something if even a small town like this has a library of this size.' Caution and common sense abandoned, Kelly began browsing the various shelves. The section labels and titles were all in English, or at least appeared English, if Kuthrine was right about this planet.

A sudden knocking at the door reminded him that he was trespassing. "Shit!" He ran upstairs and entered what appeared to be a personal study and bedroom. He grabbed a few of the books laying around and ran to the window before realizing that his light spell would give him away. "Shit!" He quickly cancelled it and peeked outside. A Gothic looking carriage harnessed to two small, bat-winged horses in dark armor was parked in front of the library. A relatively large, midnight blue winged-unicorn stood in front of the door. It knocked again.

"Twilight Sparkle, are thou home?"

This wasn't good. This horse looked important. And powerful. And big. And that sharp, pointy horn looked a tad bit dangerous. Nope, the situation was about as far from good as such a situation could be. As far as adjectives go, good is very far from the top of the list. he was in trouble.

He decided to hide under one of the beds, on the off chance that it might increase his odds of survival.

"Twilight Sparkle, if thou are home, We are coming inside now."

'Shit!'

******

"You know, Trixie, I didn't really expect you to be that subdued. I mean, I didn't even know that subdued was something you were capable of."

"Quiet, you. I'm still recovering, after all. Besides, given recent events, it was probably for the best."

"Trixie being self-aware? That's new."

"I'm a showmare. What do you expect? And since when have you been so snarky?"

"If I'm being honest, I guess since I don't feel like I'm treading on eggshells around you."

Trixie was about to retort when she noticed the carriage and guards outside of Twilight's library. Luna's carriage and guards. Trixie's train of thought went a little something like the following:

'Luna's here?! Why? The creature! She wants to know about the creature star dragon connection to Nightmare Moon incident it's not dead Luna still senses it they are waiting for me to return this is risky I have everything on me this is risky gotta leave gotta run dangerous that creature will find me Luna will find me the creature offered safety the forest!'

Twilight was about to ask Trixie why she had stopped when she was suddenly blinded by smoke. After clearing the air and coughing a few times, Twilight looked around. Trixie was nowhere to be seen, but she finally noticed Luna's carriage. 'Is that why she ran? Weird. Well, I can't leave Princess Luna waiting. Trixie will just have to handle herself, I guess.'

Meanwhile, Trixie was currently galloping at full speed towards the Everfree Forest with little besides "run away!" going through her mind. Panic was not conducive to effective decision-making. At the edge of town, Trixie came across a cart filled with various foods. The sight brought her to a halt. 'What.'

"If you're going to meet Tyr, bring that along with you." Trixie jumped and turned to see Epona. "We could use the supplies. I would bring it, but I must rescue one of his pets."

Trixie glared. "I'm not a pack mule!"

Epona just tilted her head. "As the only herbivore in our group, you're going to be needing it the most."

"Hmph. Fine. Is... Tyr still by that metal airship in the forest?"

"There or near. It is where we are staged." With that, Tiamat took off in the direction that Trixie had just come from.

Trixie paced back and forth. 'Crap crap crap this is bad! Luna help me! Actually, Luna ignore me! By Discord's magic fingers what am I doing?' She shook her head and slipped into the cart's harness, and resumed her journey to the forest. 'By the stars of Luna's mane, both figurative and literal, let me live through all this!'

******

Twilight entered the library to see Luna sitting patiently at her table. Luna greeted her with a wide smile. "Ah! Twilight Sparkle! I apologize for entering without your permission, but it seemed more prudent than waiting outside."

"Hello Princess Luna! It's alright, my home is always open to the Princesses of Equestria. Um, if I might ask, why are you here? I don't recall you announcing a visit."

Luna got up and began walking about. She was a fairly animate speaker. "I wanted to meet with thou and the unicorn that defeated the disturbance in Everfree. Where is she?"

"Um, well, funny you should mention that. I was actually returning from a party with her, but once she saw your carriage, she ran off. I'm not sure where she went."

Luna's face became serious. "Hmm. This is most troubling. I had wanted to ask her more about the encounter, since I think there is more to this threat than the single creature. That she has fled makes me think that she does have something to hide."

Twilight looked shocked. "What? But, Trixie... I'm pretty sure she wouldn't... I mean, why would she do something like..."

"It is an unpleasant idea, and one that may be incorrect. This "Trixie" is not helping the situation by running away, in either case. Dost thou - sorry - do you have any idea why she might have fled?"

"Hmm. I'm not really sure. I do know... well I assumed, really, that she is part of the Night Clan. She might be nervous about meeting you. When she found out that I knew you personally, she also seemed... shocked? It pains me to admit it, but you could also be right about her not wanting to reveal something about what happened in the forest. But I honestly think you are mistaken.

"Explain thine self."

"Well, for all her flaws, Trixie actually seems pretty shrewd when she needs to be. Like you said, it doesn't paint her in a very positive light. I don't think she was thinking in those terms. She might not have even thought that you would want to talk to her. She probably assumed you were here to speak with me alone. Besides, let's say it is that she is hiding something. I really don't think it's something malicious. Anything she left out would only be things that would make her look bad. If there actually were multiple creatures, she would have lied by saying that she defeated more of them, not only one."

"You seem eager to defend this unicorn, Twilight Sparkle."

"What? No I d-" Twilight put a hoof to her chin. "Maybe I am. I'm sorry, Princess Luna. My relationship with Trixie is... complicated. I'm afraid I might be biased when it comes to explaining her motives. Still, we can't assume the worst without finding and talking to Trixie. I'm sure when we make it clear to her how important the situation is, she'll help us."

"Very well. Do you know where she might have gone?"

"Well... no. It's hard when we don't know why she ran off. Let's assume she's fleeing because she doesn't want to be questioned, since the other scenarios I can think of will involve her coming back on her own. So, fleeing to hide. Hmm...

Twilight started pacing. "I don't really know all that much about her. I know that she has parents - powerful parents - in Canterlot. I think the mayor here knows who they are. But, I don't think she would want to involve them at all. I think she ran away from them. They might have some ideas, though. She could be anywhere, though. Oh! When she first came to town, she mentioned something about saving Hoofington, for what it's worth. The saving part was a lie, but she might have some connection there."

"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, but... I don't think these leads will help me. My investigation is meant to be very low-key, and if I was able to actively start investigating any of these towns, I'd be able to just send a team into the forest directly."

Twilight looked at her, concern etched on her face. "What do you mean? What's wrong?"

Luna winced. She didn't want to tell her too much, but at this point it was probably best to tell her everything and plead for her cooperation. "I haven't informed Celestia of what has happened yet."

"What?! Why not?"

"Because I am an alicorn too, Princess of the Moon and Ruler of the Night! These are creatures of my domain, and I alone hold responsibility! I'll not hide behind Celestia like a foal, nor shall I let her take over my duties while I am capable of performing them myself!"

Luna closed her eyes and exhaled. When she opened them, she saw Twilight cowering on the floor.

"I-"

Luna sighed. "I cry your pardon, Twilight Sparkle. 'Tis a sore subject for me. I wish to handle this situation on my own, and prove that Equestria is right to place its trust in me. If I can-" Luna was interrupted by a loud bump from upstairs. "What was that?"

"Huh? Oh, that was probably just Spike."

"Spike? The young dragon that Celestia assigned to you as an assistant? The library was empty before you arrived."

"Oh, right, Spike stayed behind to help Pinkie clean up the party. But then... I don't know what that could have been."

Luna and Twilight exchanged glances and began creeping upstairs. When Twilight reached her bedroom door, she threw it open and jumped inside. "Trixie!? You in here?"

The room was empty, though she did notice that the window was open. She ran over to it and looked outside, but saw nothing. "Whoever it was, they must have escaped."

******

Tiamat wished that humans weren't so heavy. This one had knocked itself out when she had grabbed its arm. Dragging it out the window was hard enough, and now she had to carry it all the way back to the camp. 'Why can't they have hollow bones, or less muscle. For creatures so small, they are exceedingly bulky. They make Tyr seem frail in comparison.'

The human moaned as she dragged it over some uneven ground. 'You had better thank me later, Kelly.'

Chapter 17

Chapter 17
******

300 years ago...

Tyr stood in one of the many gardens aboard the Myopic. Nyx's flagship was odd like that. It was the smallest ship in the fleet, with two large, decorative wings; utterly useless. Tyr understood the aesthetic appeal, but he felt pragmatism had to be respected at some point. Fitted with gardens, arenas, and other recreational facilities. It didn't even have any weapons aside from a relatively low-powered laser. Even a simple kinetic weapon would be more useful, but Nyx apparently favored its "elegance".

So much about Nyx made so little sense. So much of it was what made him love and respect her. Unfortunately, the same was what made it abundantly clear that Aegis was right about her. She was not suited to leading the Escape, unofficial as it was.

Tyr looked down at his hands, flexing his claws. This was his fifth set. They hadn't even had to grind them down to fit him this time, having found a younger omega for the job. They had decided to replace a couple of his organs early, while they were at it. Maintenance was always a nuisance: he couldn't even leave the ship for a month so that Thanatos's team could be sure everything was in working order.

"Congratulations on the new claws. Very sharp."

Tyr quickly clenched his fists and turned to face the intruder, growling. "This is indec-" He stopped as he saw Aegis standing behind him. "...cent. Your mission was a success, then?"

"Exposed claws between the trusted is hardly indecent, Tyr. Do you trust me?" Tyr slowly unclenched his fists.

"...Yes. I trust you."

"Indeed. To answer your second query, no. My mission failed spectacularly, in the best way possible."

"I can see why Nyx hates you. Give me a straight response."

"You do not give orders to a High Instructor, Agent."

"I was under the impression that we were speaking of matters outside the Escape's... jurisdiction."

Aegis smiled and dipped her head. "Ah, I though I had been more subtle than that. It's a good thing you are on my side, then. The eternal was gone. Maybe if Nyx had captured warp drive technology before I departed, I would have caught him, and returned several hundred years earlier. But..." She turned and walked to a nearby alcove, beckoning Tyr to follow. She continued in a whisper. "I did find two others. One of them seems to have control over a star."

"But you didn't capture them?"

"No. They weren't always eternals, apparently. There is some method on their world to transform a being into one. We could use this. We wouldn't have to undergo maintenance anymore, ignoring any other power we might receive. This could be the key to saving the Escape!"

Tyr was stunned. This "revolution" was happening much sooner and much faster than he had expected. "When?"

"Not yet. We must be discreet. You will need another excuse to depart. It may yet take some time. Besides, apparently we are at war with a new species already. Humans, was it? Did you take part in the initial assault?"

Tyr hung his head. "No. I was removed from such tasks due to "excessive casualties"."

Aegis laughed. "I assumed as much. They would have been more successful otherwise."

"Nyx was fascinated enough by many of their gods that all, including those not in the invasion, were encouraged to adopt new names. Nyx personally assigned me the name "Tyr"."

"I like that one. I've already been informed, and have taken "Syn". Nyx and her naming obsession... I suppose it's best to play along. What does "Myopic" mean anyway? It is an odd name for a ship."

"It's a human word. Supposedly means "short-sighted". I understand the appeal, but I'm not sure if it is supposed to be a dual adjective or mean something else entirely. I guess she couldn't find a word meaning "Beautiful Vision"."

Syn chuckled. "I think she may be referring to her favorite agent. She is the only one that's less hulking than you are, and unlike her you still view the world around you."

Tyr sighed. "I know you love to dress insults as compliments, but must you also insist on the reverse? Besides, I'm not that... compact of size."

"You deserve more arrogance and less modesty, Agent. You are not Nyx's favored agent for naught. I'll leave you to your recovery. I shall inform you when our next move is ready."

******

300 years in the future...

'Void welcome this planet. Void welcome Tyr. Void welcome this heavy human! I don't care what species you are, someone this small should not weigh this much. If Tyr was worried about me pursuing a human, he need not any longer. They could easily fight me off, ignoring how unattractive this... massiveness is.' Panting, Tiamat stopped dragging Kelly and slumped against a tree.

Up until this point, both starborn had tried to avoid physical exertion. The Planet was uncomfortable enough as it was. Now however, Tiamat was truly feeling the full extent of the planets torment. 'The void would be refreshing after this. No sweltering heat. No crushing gravity. No viscous atmosphere. Just empty, eternal, peace.' Tiamat was soon asleep.

******

Trixie finally broke into the clearing, panting. The cart wasn't that heavy, but dragging through the forest hadn't been very easy. "Ta *pant* Tyr?! Where *pant* are you?" Looking around the clearing, she noticed a campfire near the metal airship. A campfire with two strange looking bipeds sitting next to it, staring are her. "Oh, uh... excuse me... whatever you are. Trixie must be in the wrong place. Silly me! Uh, no need to attack me, I'll just leave my cart here and go!"

"Wait! You're here to meet that lizard?" Trixie was a little surprised that it could speak.

"Uh... well, I suppose you could say meet."

The other one spoke this time. It sounded female. "So, you are his... contact, here?"

"Well, we've been in contact, I mean I'm not necessarily an ally of his..."

The female looked to the other one, then back at her. "Oh, wait, I get it. Don't worry. If you're with Tyr, then we're allies of yours, I suppose."

Trixie calmed down immediately. "Oh, haha! Yes, of course! Trixie should have guessed the he would have others with him. Ahem. Allow Trixie to properly introduce herself. I-" She struck a pose with her hoof to her chest. "-am The Great and Powerful Trixie!" She flared her cape dramatically. "Soon to be renowned traveling showmare and expert magician! Latest prodigy of the Night Clan! Vanquisher of the dread Star Dragon!"

The two creatures glanced at each other. "Star Dragon?"

Trixie's ears fell flat against her head. "Oh, uh, right. Never you mind that one. Anyway, I'm not really sure what you two are. You like like some sort of hairless ape."

The female started laughing, but the male looked a bit annoyed. "Well... I guess that's about right. We're called humans. And what are you, a small horse with a horn on its head?"

Trixie gasped. "How dare you! Hmph!"

"I think you may have offended it, Anderson. Hey, Trixie, we genuinely don't really know what you are. Ignore Anderson, he's not really a master of tact."

"Hmph. Fine. If you must know, I am a pony, a member of the unicorn tribe. "Horse", for your information, is a rather rude thing to call a modern pony. It's a bit complicated to explain if you don't already know. Just read some donkey history, if you can stomach it."

"So, there's multiple tribes then? I'm only aware of a single government."

"Well, yes, there's multiple tribes. But there's only one government. The unification of the tribes is ancient history, mostly myth by this point. Maybe I should tell some of what actually happened for a Hearth's Warming Eve special..." Trixie put a hoof to her chin.

The female coughed, bringing her attention back. "So, am I right that there are three tribes, then? Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth?"

"Yes..." Trixie narrowed her eyes. "How do you know that?"

"Well, Tiamat brought us these books you see here, and Tyr ordered us to study them. The hard part was actually discerning fact from fiction. Usually it was obvious, but with a planet like this, well... you never know."

Trixie was barely paying attention at this point. She looked over the books, eyes wide. "W-Where did you get these from?"

The male, apparently named Anderson, spoke up. "Hell if I know. Tiamat just dumped them here."

"She and Kelly were actually going to get more tonight. I wonder why they aren't back yet."

Trixie was starting to panic. "No! Nonononononono! This is terrible! These are from Twilight's library! And Luna is with Twilight! And Twilight will noticed these are missing! And she will think I took them! And she will use a spell to track them down! And then they will find me and Luna will banish me and I'll be kicked out of the Night Clan and I'll never show those unicorns and my parents will stop loving me and Twilight will fire me and they'll probably kill or imprison all of you and then there won't be a grand adventure and my life will be ruuuuuined!" Trixie collapsed with her hooves over her head.

"...Wow, she actually threw in some concern for us."

"Don't be stupid, Anderson. She said only cares about us as some sort of "adventure".

"Well, what do we do now. We've got a wreck of a unicorn sitting here and no Tyr."

"Maybe we should go look for Kelly and Tiamat"

"How's that help the unicorn?"

"Who said anything about helping the unicorn?"

Before Anderson could respond, they heard movement just outside the camp. Turning, they saw Kelly half-carrying a wobbly-legged Tiamat into camp. "Hey guys. Can you help me out with Tiamat? I think I've spent enough time under her for one day."

Kuthrine started cracking up. Anderson just gaped. "What the hell happened?"

"She wore herself out. Too much physical exertion or something. Seriously, what's with the looks here?"

Kuthrine was trying to catch her breath. "Y-You! I can't, believe, I-I mean, all that joking around! And then, you come up, with her draped over your shoulders, and you say- bwahahahaha!"

Kelly blushed. "W-What? No! What?"

Tiamat looked up. "What... what is the female mage talking about."

"She's implying that we... you know... uh..."

"Just say it! "Reproduced"! Hahaha!"

Tiamat jerked he head. "What? Is he bleeding?"

"What? No, I'm not bleeding! How is that even relevant?"

"I don't know how... one could come... to such a conclusion then." Everyone just stared.

"That's..."

"Kinky?"

"I was gonna say disturbing, Kuthrine."

"Why would I need to be bleeding?"

"Well... obviously the incision to extract-"

"Never mind! I really do not want to know! The point is, she wore herself out dragging my unconscious body halfway through the forest. Thanks for that, by the way. I may not be bleeding but I'll probably find tons of bruises in the morning."

"Well... next time... don't react that way... when I touch you."

While Kuthrine was busy trying to contain herself, Anderson grabbed Tiamat's other arm and helped Kelly lead her over to the fire. She promptly hissed at them.

"Not... to the fire... too hot... as it is." They decided to lean her against the hull of the ship instead. "i see... the unicorn... brought the supplies."

"Yeah, and then she flipped out over the books and is currently a quivering mess. Said something about someone tracking her down through 'em."

"It is Tyr's problem... let him deal with it."

"Indeed." Tyr walked past them and crouched next to Trixie, who removed her hooves from her face upon hearing his voice. "Hello, Trixie. I am known as Tyr. I'm glad you could join us."

Chapter 18

Chapter 18
******

Luna sat in the Hall of Harmony. Stained glass windows depicted key events from Equestria's past, although the dead of night lent them an eerie look. Luna liked the effect. Her gaze shifted from window to window. There was the Usurpation. And the Reign of Chaos. The Unification was not present in full: it had its own wing. There was the Griffin War and the Great Storm, both of which taxed the Pegasus tribe disproportionately. At last, she looked upon the Nightmare's End.

That night, she had been rescued from herself. Freed from her anger, only to be drowned by her shame. It was probably worth it, if it meant Equestria was safe. This window wasn't why she was here, though. Painful as it was, the window next to it demanded her attention. Part of her wanted to leave; she knew well enough what that window portrayed. Casting her gaze upon it again would do no good. Part of her wanted to remind herself of her mistake, to ensure that she did not make it again.

With a deep breath, she snapped her gaze to the Night's Sealing. She would have accused Celestia of making light of the event with a pun, had Luna not known how horrific the experience had been for her. In that moment, a thousand years ago, Luna had turned her sword, literally and figuratively, on her charge. And it had been so easy. So fast. So simple.

Sure, she wasn't in complete control of herself at the time. But who was to blame for the dark magic she had unwittingly unleashed upon herself? Unleashing havoc on the world is no less criminal when done unintentionally. All because she had wanted power...

Upon her return, she had sworn an oath to herself: she would not seek power for her own gain ever again, and devote herself entirely to her role as the Shield of Dark. Celestia was better suited to being the Sword of Light, anyway.

Celestia would guide.
Luna would restrain.

Celestia would lead the charge.
Luna would guard the retreat.

Celestia would strike.
Luna would block.

The sun would stand alone and center stage, a central figure to rally to.
The night would cover the world, a blanket of protection and peace.

'Am I doing it again? is this latest scheme really for the good of Equestria?' It was getting hard for her to justify keeping these events to herself. At this rate, even if she was successful, it wouldn't look good for her to have kept her activities secret for this long. And that right there was the problem. This wasn't supposed to be about her clout: this was supposed to be about protecting Equestria. But power and influence were important too! They could help her protect Equestria in the future!

'Perhaps I am being unfair to Celestia. Surely, if I voice my concerns to her, she will understand. Can We serve as Equestria's guardian without trust?' She shook her head. Trixie was still missing, and it would be best to go to Celestia with all the information she could. Luna stood and headed for the archives. While she waited for Twilight Sparkle's correspondence, she would see what she might find regarding the secondhand description that Twilight provided of the creature. Celestia's counsel could wait a little longer.

******

Trixie stood at the edge of the Everfree Forest, looking at the stars fading in the early morning light. She hoped they would give her courage, but given recent events they did little more than remind her of why she was nervous in the first place. She decided to double check the contents of her cart instead. 'Good. It looks like I haven't lost any books.' Harnessing herself once more, and taking a deep breath, she started toward Ponyville.

She decided that she really didn't have cause to be nervous. This plan was genius. It even retroactively explained her sudden departure. She would have to thank Tyr for helping her come up with it. He wasn't such a bad gangly, tooth-filled alien-monster-of-the-night after all.

She'd still have to figure out what to do about Princess Luna, but she needed to find out what she wanted first. Thankfully, she should have left by now: she couldn't sit in some random small-town library all night, after all. She was a princess, and no doubt had a lot to do. She hoped.

She was nearly to the library when Twilight Sparkle burst out into the street, a spell being readied. She noticed Trixie and turned to face her, the spell dying on her horn. "Trixie?! I was just about to come looking for you! I noticed we're missing quite a few books and... is that..." Twilight's eye twitched for a moment. "You... but I... how...Trixie I really have to know what happened!"

"Oh, did Trixie surprise you by solving your problem before you even knew it existed? Be careful, Twilight! The title of Greatest Unicorn in Equestria may yet find its way back to me!"

"Trixie..."

"Oh, shush. I'll tell you what happened. Let's get these books inside while I start." Trixie grabbed a pile of books with her magic. "Alright. So, the story starts with Trixie noticing a skulking figure with a sack walking away from the library. After I had escaped from you-"

"Why did you do that again?"

"Hmph. I didn't have time to stop and explain to you, and if I just took off, you would have followed me and given me away to the figure. Now let me finish. Ahem. Anyway, after I had escaped from you, I followed it discreetly-"

"In your bright, sparkly, highly visible costume."

Trixie glared at her. "As I was saying..."

******

Tyr and Trixie sat at the campfire, across from each other. Tyr had managed to calm her down, and now they were about to have their first exchange of information. Tyr was allowing Trixie to go first.

"The Nightmare Moon incident... you know, a thousand years ago. I read about a creature that matched your description, called a Star Dragon, that apparently appeared around that time. Did you... your country... have anything to do with that?"

Tyr was thoughtful for a few seconds. "I think I know what you are referring to. As for your question..." Tyr looked away. "The correct answer would be yes. However, our involvement was not what you might think. I do not know the details, though."

"So... you didn't, you know, transform Luna into Nightmare Moon or anything?"

Tyr locked eyes - well, eyes/magic sensory organ - with her. "No."

Trixie relaxed. "Okay. Good. Next question. Where are you from?"

Tyr pointed downward at a seemingly random angle. "An inconceivable distance in that direction. We called our sun Father, but that is also meaningless to you. The humans called it 47 Ursae Majoris. If you look at the constellation they call Ursa Major, our star would be below one of its paws. The world upon which I took my first breath was the second moon of Mother, that humans, in their wonderful creativity, called 47 Ursae Majoris b. That world is no more, now."

Trixie had difficulty processing everything he said, but she did catch that his home was apparently gone. She lowered her head. "I'm sorry."

"Don't concern yourself with it. We destroyed it intentionally, to save our race."

Trixie was perplexed. "How did destroying your home save you?"

"It is a long and complicated history, and I do not wish to speak of it."

"Alright... next question. Why did Tiamat introduce herself to me as "Epona"?"

Tyr chuckled. "Epona is the name of a mythical human god that rules over horses. She was jokingly insinuating dominance over your species. She needs to alleviate stress somehow."

"That's... creepy, but okay. What about those sleeves? They seem odd."

Tyr lifted one of his arms and looked at it. "It's a part of our culture. We cover our claws as a symbol of peace. It is considered obscene or offensive to display claws to those that are not intimates. It is a threatening behavior. We also often wear hoods over our heads, but that is more of a... "formal/informal" distinction, to use human concepts. From what I understand, your people and humans are very similar, culturally. I know Kelly has expressed an interest in talking to you about that."

"Okay. Final Question." Trixie took a deep breath. "What do you want with me?"

Tyr grinned. "What indeed?" Trixie shifted uncomfortably. "I will be blunt. I wish to help my people. Our leader is unfit to rule, and I will stop her. I have heard of a creature called Discord that once ruled your people. The comparison is an interesting one."

"So, you want my help stopping your leader? The same way Celestia and Luna stopped Discord? I... I don't know. I mean, I'm a very powerful unicorn, of course, but this seems to be out of my league!"

"Yes, I want your help, but not directly. I have heard of something called the Elements of Harmony. They were supposedly important in stopping this Discord entity. I want you to help me find them, and study them. I might learn something that can help me."

"I-" Trixie bit her lip. "Look, the Elements of Harmony are powerful artifacts! It sounds like you have noble intentions, but..."

"Trixie, you are looking for a reason to embrace cowardice."

"What!? The Great and Powerful Trixie is no coward! You dare question my abilities!"

"Then help me save my people. Besides, if our leader, Nyx, were to find out about your world, she would destroy Equestria. You can help prevent that."

"Hmph. Equestria! What do I owe Equestria?"

This was problematic. The default appeal to typical human attitudes was not working. Either these ponies were not as similar to humans as Tyr originally thought, or Trixie was not a typical pony. Still, she showed certain signs... perhaps if he appealed to something else...

"Trixie. This is a chance to do something significant. You can prove yourself, and show Equestria what you really are. Does being known as the savior of at least three civilizations hold no appeal to you? The humans are currently under siege by Nyx. You would be saving them, my people, and Equestria, all at once. Just help me learn about the Elements of Harmony."

Trixie sat silently for a moment. She looked up at Tyr. "Alright. I'll save everypony. No one will believe me after this is over, though. Not on my own. In return for my help, you will help me convince everypony that I am not a liar. I don't want my first honest heroic deed mistaken for another lie. I'm done with lies! I don't want to pretend anymore! I'll be a real hero! And you'll help me!"

Tyr felt a strange emotion stirring within him. It was... sympathy? Pride? So what if she had just declared herself opposed to lies. She wasn't a starborn. Why should it matter? Why should he feel anything at all? Maybe Tiamat was right. Maybe there was similarity enough between the Starborn and their cousins.

'I will have to think further on this.'

Chapter 19

Chapter 19
******

Kuthrine watched Tyr and Trixie converse quietly by the fire. The rest of them sat near Tiamat, enjoying some of the food that Trixie had brought. They could hunt easily enough, especially with two dras, but it had been so long since Kuthrine had last had a legitimate cupcake. She felt a little bad about the theft, but she had learned long ago that the universe was an unfair, uncaring place, and was at least glad to be on the better side of injustice for once.

Kuthrine hadn't taken Tyr to be capable of consoling others, but he was managing to calm the unicorn down one way or another. "Do you think one of these unicorns can actually pull off a spell like that?"

Kelly looked up from his pie. "Like what?"

"A locator spell to find these books."

Kelly shrugged. "How should I know? We don't know what they are capable of. I mean, it could be some mythical ability attributed to their god-leaders, but we don't know how powerful they actually are. She said that she's a talented mage. She might actually be qualified to know whether or not such a spell is actually possible, so maybe we should trust her. But, still, I have no idea how such a spell would be created."

Kelly wiped his hands on his pants and started counting something on his fingers. "You'd have to mark or somehow identify the object to be located, and that alone sounds complicated to me. Might be doable though. Maybe there's a way to do it without modifying the item beforehand. You'd have to retrieve that information somehow. Classically to do that in any system you have to bounce something off it and catch it on the rebound, and extrapolate from that. Maybe there's some weird quantum thing you could exploit, but I would think you would have to know where to aim in the first place."

"So blind... with your distorting... focusing... lenses. Human brains apparently work... just like your eyes. How did you even stumble into magic?"

Kuthrine laughed. "The way we do most things: accidentally and with way more casualties than necessary. What, I suppose the Dras are so perfect? Last I checked, your government sounded pretty dystopian. What was it like being a slave?"

Tiamat smiled and dipped her head. Kuthrine had learned that this was more of an actual smile, and not an aggressive response. "I assume you mean to The Escape. I think you already know what it is like under The Empire."

"Touche."

"Oh boy. It's "let's badmouth the people protecting us" time again. I swear, you mages complain about everything."

"Shut up Anderson. This discussion is for second-class citizens only."

"Bah. What about you Kelly? You buy into the whole "The Empire is evil and enslaving us mages!" bullshit?"

Kelly rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, well, slavery isn't really an accurate term for the situation... oh!" Kelly pointed toward the campfire. "Looks like Tyr is done with the unicorn!"

Tyr walked up to the group and face Tiamat. "Epona, load the books into the cart and find the name you dropped. It should be in the camp."

"It is obvious enough. Humor is the only explanation you require. I couldn't accomplish it alone, as you know."

"I'm glad you realize this."

Tiamat struggled to her feet and started gathering the loose books. Kelly glanced at the others. "Well that was cryptic..." Tyr turned his attention on him.

"From your reports, you've all learned enough of Equestria for our purposes, taking into account our possession of Trixie. You have all served your purpose well."

They all looked at each other, worried. Kuthrine decided to speak first. "So, I imagine that we will be disposed of now that we are nothing but a drain on resources?"

"Don't give 'em ideas!"

"No. You are a resource yourselves, and keeping you alive isn't a difficult task. It wouldn't be prudent to remove you when you may yet serve some purpose."

"Like what? Bait?"

Tiamat stopped working to lean against the cart. "You could distract Nyx when the Myopic arrives!"

Tyr looked at her, incredulous. "What?!"

Tiamat just shrugged. "She might find out."

Kelly interrupted before they could start fighting. As interesting as actually seeing one of their conflicts might be, he had more pressing questions. "We don't even know what you're planning to do yet."

Tyr looked over at Trixie, who was busy straightening out her outfit. Tyr lowered his voice. "What do you know about eternals?"

******

"So, after chasing it off, I harnessed myself to the cart and brought it back here." Trixie placed the last book on the shelf.

"So it's still alive?" Twilight looked anxious.

"Maybe. I didn't leave it in very good condition, and the Everfree Forest is a dangerous place. Why?"

"Well, while Luna was here, she said that she sensed several strange creatures. She assumed the one you fought earlier was one of the them. And now you found a second one, which is still alive. There could be more of these things! Princess Luna seemed pretty worried about them!"

Trixie thought quickly. 'Alright, so Luna wanted to know more about these things. I guess I made the right call earlier. She knows there's more Star Dragons. Or aliens, or whatever. I already have the books I need hidden nearby, so I can leave immediately. I just need some story to tell Twilight...'

Trixie's eyes lit up. "Oh, Princess Luna is trouble by these creatures? As a loyal servant of the night, I, Neophyte Trixie, shall dispatch these foes!"

"Okay, first, if you actually take this night clan stuff so seriously, why are you still a neophyte at your age?"

"Shut up!"

"I guess that translates as "I just wanted to be more dramatic!". And secondly, are you crazy?! This is a dangerous situation! You can't just run off and-"

"Trixie easily dispatched one before, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember the serious head injury that still hasn't healed. Are you sure you didn't suffer any brain damage?"

"Shut up! Stop doubting my abilities! I am The Great and Powerful Trixie! It's me!" Tears were welling up in her eyes. "I can be a hero! I don't always have to be a fraud! And this isn't Trixie being an idiot and taking on something greater than she can handle! I can do this, and not you, or any other snobby unicorn, or the Princesses, or even Discord himself will keep me from proving myself!"

She stomped her front hooves and filled the library with smoke. After quickly exiting the library, she ran down a nearby alley, where she had hidden some books that she figured she might need. One was The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide. The rest were a various spellbooks and Twilight's accompanying notes. She didn't know if she could pull off half of them, but she could try, and they could prove useful.

She didn't think Twilight could use a spell to track these, since that spell was in one of these books. Still, just to be safe, she searched for any magical "tags" on the books, and was pleased to see that there weren't any. Twilight must have assumed she wouldn't lose these. After securing them in a pair of saddlebags that she had also stolen from Twilight, she made her way back to Tyr's camp.

A couple hours and one dawn later, she found the camp empty, save for Epon- no, Tiamat and the human called Kelly, talking to each other. She remembered Tyr mentioning that Kelly wanted to talk to her, and headed over.

"-kinda like vampires then? Alien, parasitic, vampire lizard-bats?"

"I don't imagine that that's a very flattering comparison, Kelly."

"Yeah, okay, but I don't know how else to shorten "beings that retrieve magical energy and genetic information in the form of parasitic eggs via biting in order to reproduce." What's with the parasite thing anyway?"

"Thanatos is our expert on biology. He could explain it better. But it is a defense mechanism. If a starborn was at risk of being eaten, they could trigger the release of... Kahssk, is the closest phonetically that humans are capable of... they would then grow to eggs inside the creature that ate the starborn. It doesn't take a lot to disrupt vital life processes. This was also a risk for female starborn that are collecting eggs. There can be complications for the same reason, if they are not fully prepared. Modern-"

Trixie had no idea what they were talking about. They still hadn't noticed her approach, so she cleared her throat. Kelly jumped, while Tiamat turned calmly to face her. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we are no longer in danger of being discovered, thanks to me! Tyr said something about you wanting to talk to me... Kelly, yes?"

Kelly looked down and rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, alright. I've got some advice for you." He looked over at Tiamat. "Do you mind if I speak to her alone?"

Tiamat grinned. "Yes, I do. I will remain to offer insight into whatever biases you might display. Talk freely, though. I will refrain from informing Tyr of anything you say, and I won't attempt to silence you myself."

"How reassuring."

"You are the one that called me "friend". The word has more meaning to you than me. Should you not be reassured?"

"Ugh..." Kelly buried his face in his hands. He could tell this conversation was going to give him a headache.

Chapter 20

Notes: These next two chapters have been painful for me to write. I know what I want to happen and I can't decide the right way for it to happen. These have a lot of exposition and not a lot of pony. The following chapters should have more action and more pony. I might end up drastically changing these chapters once I realize that I think they are terrible. Hopefully that won't happen, though.

Chapter 20
******

"So, what's the real story?" Tyr froze. "I won't tell the horse." He turned. Kuthrine stood behind him, arms crossed.

"Are dras politics really important to you at this juncture?" Tyr resumed walking. Kuthrine followed.

"I dunno. Are they? That's what I'm trying to find out, obviously."

"Informing you might increase your willingness to aid me... the war with the Empire."

"Ah."

"Not per se. It was the grain that broke the quadruped's back."

"Cute. You dras seem to love our language, if nothing else."

"You gave the impression that wordplay would be appreciated."

"You are assuming I appreciate my behavior being reciprocated. Just exposit already."

Tyr grinned. "I acquiesce. Nyx has and has had a policy of subjugation regarding alien civilizations. To describe it from a human perspective, she liberated our planet from the various sectarian warlords that struggled for control."

Kuthrine rolled her eyes. "And instated herself, conveniently."

"Her motives are of a remarkably altruistic nature."

"Remarkable for humans or for dras?"

"Yes. She decided, after their destruction, that while slavery is crueler than death, death could not be the most efficient solution for dealing with dissidents. So, any civilization we come across now is assimilated. They are given a colony ship to live on, and are provided security in exchange for knowledge."

Kuthrine laughed. "No slavery? That sounds pretty close to me, just a bit more subtle. Besides, what about using them as soldiers? I know you guys tried that during the invasion."

"We merely requested assistance from any humans willing, and some of them joined us. It is standard procedure."

"Right, and I'm sure that masquerading as gods had nothing to do with it."

Tyr growled. "As I said before, this latest conflict is at the core of the issue. Syn believes that a war with the Empire is undesirable. I agree. We should cut our losses and leave. Nyx will not, though. She wishes to assimilate humanity at any cost. She also wants your golem and focuser technology. All your other technology is stolen from us."

Kuthrine frowned. "So it's not that you have any moral outrage for the subjugation of my entire species, it's just that it's too expensive? Feeling really sympathetic to your cause, over here."

"Is your "Umbra" organization not dedicated to the betterment of mages? Surely, ensuring that your people are not "enslaved" would be the right decision." Tyr looked back to Kuthrine, who was frozen several paces behind him.

"How do you know about that?"

"I can see through walls."

"You bastard. Why should I trust you when you are working with Opaque? I didn't know they even had dras on their payroll."

"Believe what you want, but I don't particularly care for the intricacies of human politics. That was my original point. I don't oppose Umbra, and I don't oppose Opaque. I would prefer to not oppose the Empire as a whole. Help me get the Elements, and I will answer any questions you have and leave you to your plots."

Kuthrine stood silently, arms crossed an head bowed. After a few moments, she looked up and met his gaze. "Fine. Where are you going, anyway? I'd like to be kept in the loop if I'm going to help you." They resumed walking.

"Two hours ago, an Empire reclamation unit arrived in system."

Kuthrine stumbled. "What!?"

"Trixie has also informed me that a god-like being known as "Luna" is searching for us. Stealing some of Trixie's energy has hindered her investigation, but enough suspicion remains that I do not think it will be long before Equestria fields its own investigation. We are no longer secure, so I am going to Canterlot to begin the search for the elements. The others will join us if possible."

"You couldn't have told us earlier!? We could all be heading there together instead of leaving two thirds of our team in the dark!"

"Time is at a premium. Tiamat will guard Trixie and Kelly."

"What about Anderson?"

"He is not important now. He is a liability in more ways that one. He also has survival skills of his own..." Tyr drifted off as he sensed something nearby. A flying golem of some kind had entered the area.

Kuthrine shook her head. "I don't like this-"

Tyr cut her off, his voice urgent. "Umbra advanced reclamation protection?"

"What?"

"Yes or no!"

"Yes! Why?"

Tyr relaxed. And then he was blind. Pain shot through his nervous system, and then faded. He collapsed to the ground and waited for his senses to return. He heard Kuthrine nearby, swearing and groaning. After a few minutes, he could sense the world around him again. Kuthrine was leaning against a tree, rubbing her temples. "Fuck! Why would they do that?"

Tyr staggered to his feet. "Is Kelly part of Umbra? I understand that replacing a vowel with the letter "u" is required, but I want to be sure."

"Ugh... what? No, of course... not..." Realization dawned on her face. She looked like she was going to be sick.

"Vital personnel: zero casualties. The plan remains unchanged. Let's go."

"Fuck..."

******

"So, Umbra's working with the Escape now? And you wanted to off them so it doesn't get out? I'd like to point out that I'd rather not die, that I'm on your side, and that it would be hard to cover up."

"Shut up, Reynolds. Just watch over your bots like a good little amagus. Besides, I haven o connection to Umbra."

"Sure you don't, Urika. It's not like Urika is a weird name to have. Easy to explain that odd spelling without Umbra's silly quirk."

"My earlier threat is still in effect."

"Which one was that?"

"The one I made two years ago when I first met you."

"Ouch. Right, shutting up. Anyway, we still have to take out those dras, and "recover resources" and all that. I'd say we use the railgun, but there's a class 0b or 0c civilization down there. A bit of a mess, yeah?"

Urika sighed. "Leave if the mage to carry the op. Typical. It's a wonder that we aren't stored next to the robots during transport. Alright, land us next to the wreck and bring 5, 6, and 8. I don't trust 7 due to that last op. It'll fall apart at the worst possible time."

"Whoa, bring, as in, with me? Can't I just stay in the ship?"

"If I'm risking my ass so are you. Maybe you can finally fix that 0% accuracy rating you have."

"It's not my fault that 0/0 is translated to 0% and not, like, infinite%. Fine, I'll be your meat shield. Wouldn't want to lady to break a nail."

"Anti-personnel rounds. I don't need to explain why you wasted armor-piercing like last time."

"Sure thing, mom."

******

Twilight groaned and held her hooves over her head. Minutes after entering the Everfree Forest, she had felt something like a magical shock wave hit her. She was only just now recovering. 'I hope Trixie is alright. If she was in the middle of fighting something when that hit...' She didn't want to think of the possibility that the shock wave was caused by something happening to Trixie. She had a feeling that things were going to deteriorate quickly, and she didn't even know what was going on. 'Maybe I shouldn't have panicked and run here without the others...'

She shook her head. Now was really not the time to start doubting herself. She needed to keep together! She went over her plan again. Step 1: find Trixie. This shouldn't be too hard, since she just had to find a unicorn's energy in the forest. Step 2: bring Trixie to Luna. This was decidedly harder, but she had just finished preparing a spell that would teleport her and anypony nearby to Canterlot.

'Alright, step 1 first... obviously...' Twilight made several sweeps with her horn, trying to detect unicorn magic. On her fourth sweep, she sensed a unicorn a ways to her left. Smiling, she quickly teleported to the general location. Opening her eyes, she saw two surprised looking creatures. Well, they seemed surprised, at any rate. "What-"

"Grab her." Twilight panicked and cast the first spell that came to mind. The world shifted around her, and she found herself laying in the Canterlot gardens. 'Great! I cast the mass teleport spell by mistake! And my aim was thrown off!' She looked around, hoping that she was both right and wrong in equal amounts. Seeing nopony else, she sighed in relief at her own safety and in frustration that she couldn't capture the strange creatures now. 'Maybe the spell didn't work on them. Or maybe they got dumped off target like I did.'

Either way, her plan was now ruined. Trixie was still in the Everfree Forest, and two dangerous mosters were now possibly loose in Canterlot. She had to find one of the Princesses and tell them! Princess Luna didn't want Celestia to know yet, and Twilight didn't want to betray her trust, but at this point they were running out of options. 'I'll try to find Luna first, but I can't keep her secret if it's going to endanger Equestria.' She teleported away to begin her search.

******

Tyr peeled his face off the cold, hard floor and examined his surroundings. Unicorns were evidently quite powerful. Starborn had magical senses and could shape energy to an extent, and humans could do little that wasn't a derivative of manipulating heat, but this unicorn had just teleported twice in a row. Trixie had demonstrated telekinesis for him, but he had doubted the other abilities she claimed. Now he wasn't so sure. 'And the elements are even more powerful.' He grinned.

He stood and walked over to a nearby stained-glass window. He could see that he was on a mountain, presumably in the Canterlot Royal Palace. He looked down the hallway and saw a large ornate door that matched the description Trixie had given him of the vault. His grin widened. 'Excellent.'

Chapter 21

Chapter 21
******

"Alright, Trixie." Kelly looked the azure unicorn in the eye. "I don't really know you, and you don't really know me. In fact, this conversation right here is probably the first real pony/human interaction of any sort. I suppose I don't have any real vested interest in your well-being, aside from the fact that we are fellow captives."

Trixie looked at him quizzically. "What are you talking about? I agreed to help Tyr of my own free will! No one owns Trixie but Trixie herself!"

"And I suppose you weren't threatened or coerced whatsoever?" Tiamat sniggered. Trixie glanced at her, then lowered her gaze. "At any rate, that's not the point. The point is, is that for whatever reason, I don't feel comfortable letting you go into this blind. I want you to know what you are getting yourself into in regards to dealing with a dras."

Kelly shifted his weight to get more comfortable. "From what I understand, your culture isn't too different from ours. You seem to be a bit more cooperative and peaceful than us, but specific cultural details aside, we are both social species. We can understand each other on a fairly fundamental level."

"Dras are different. It's dangerous to deal with a creature that you don't understand, and that's especially true for them. Luckily, since Tiamat elected to stay, she can help us."

Tiamat chuckled. "I suppose I can disillusion her about her obsession."

Trixie tilted her head. "What are you referring to?"

Tiamat gestured at her costume. "I see you found inspiration from Tyr. You might not want to follow him blindly, even if you love his style of clothing."

Trixie blushed. "Trixie is no gullible idiot. She doesn't trust others without cause. That goes for you two as well, though. Tyr cautioned me against listening to you, and you warn me to be careful around Tyr. I'm not about to blindly trust either of you. You may continue your warning, however."

Kelly raised an eyebrow and glanced at Tiamat. "Tyr doesn't trust you? Aren't you friends, though?"

This time she let out a sharp laugh. "You think our relationship is friendship? I hesitate to consider what you would think of Tyr and Syn. We are tools, accessories to each other."

"Alright then." He turned back to Trixie. "Brief history then. I'll let Tiamat tell the Escape's version first, then I'll tell ours."

Tiamat grinned. "Basically, we were without government for most of our time as an intelligent species. We are loners by nature, and society by its very nature was a strange concept. That didn't stop small tribes from forming out of more... aberrant attitudes. I was informed that Nyx founded the Escape after her crippling, but I do not know the details. She gathered several others and created the High Instruction. They became known as the null-generation, dras who were hatched normally. They destroyed our home world, Death, and stripped the neighboring worlds, Tooth, Claw, Wing, and Mind, for materials. A nomadic fleet was formed, and we have assimilated any other civilizations we have come across, excluding the latest, humanity.

"We invaded Earth, but underestimated humanity. They managed to drive our forces away, killing several. It was one of the largest losses that we have ever suffered. They also acquired our warp drives from the exchange. They created the Empire in response, and a state of cold war has existed since."

Kelly sighed. "I can't really offer an opposing view of anything before the invasion, but past that point she's pretty much got it right, as far as brief summaries go. As for why we are here in the first place, we saw that your star was behaving erratically for a regular star and came to investigate. Tyr hijacked our expedition and freed Tiamat here, but I don't really know what he's after. He just said something or other about learning more about what he calls eternals."

"But, what about before now? Tyr said that his people had been here before! They were involved with the Nightmare Moon incident a thousand years ago!"

Tiamat spoke up. "He told me the story he told you. I feel no obligation to not point this out. He had said that "yes" was the correct answer to the question "were you involved?". He didn't say it was the truth."

Kelly sighed. "Which brings us to the next part of this discussion. Dras allegedly don't lie, or at least don't like to, but they are not above being misleading and letting others misinterpret them. Telling you that they are involved with major historical events is a bit of a bad habit for dras. There's something about them that I've grown to understand: they are cowards."

Tiamat hissed. "When I said I would not silence you, I did not anticipate petty insults!"

Kelly glared at her. "Oh don't you deny it. Think about it, Trixie. They aren't especially physically strong. They steal their technology from others. They aren't exactly skilled at interacting with other species socially. They are exceptionally weak, really, considering how much power they have. You wouldn't even know these weaknesses except that I just told you, and that is their strength. The appearance of power gives them real power. Tyr said that his answer was the correct answer because it was the answer that the Escape would want him to give. By appearing to be entangled in major historical events, the dras would appear to be powerful, and you would be less likely to resist them. They are parasitic bullies. Literally parasitic too, as a matter of fact."

"You act as though we are wrong to be this way. We survive, don't we? Your glorification of bravery and sacrifice isn't as noble as you seem to think." Tiamat summoned her blade. Kelly just looked at her coolly.

"Doesn't make your race less cowardly. In fact, I'm impressed you haven't run away yet."

She snarled. "Are you fond of generalization and gross simplification?"

"I'm a human, aren't I?"

Tiamat snarled again, and opened and closed her mouth a few times. After a few moments, she shot to her feet and ran off. Trixie watched the exchange with wide eyes. "What... was that about?"

Kelly sighed. "I implied that she was a hypocrite. It's fairly insulting for a dras. More than it is for a human, at least. They despise being inaccurate, so questioning their understanding of something really gets to them. Their preferred response to difficult situations is either acting threatening or running away. Usually they manage to pull off both."

Trixie glanced back at the ship, remembering her first encounter with Tyr. "They don't seem all that cowardly to me..."

"Well, yeah. They don't consider very many things a threat. That's usually because they tend to underestimate anything they come across. If you do manage to scare one, though, watch out."

"How do you know?"

"Personal experience. Same incident that led me to my "friendship" with Tiamat, in fact. Man, talk about a rocky relationship, though..."

Trixie thought about Twilight, and how she had last left her. Thinking back on it, she felt a little guilty. She had initially felt that Twilight was doubting her abilities and trying to hold her back. In retrospect, it was obvious that Twilight was only concerned for her safety, considering her perspective on the situation. And Trixie had responded by shouting her down, stealing form her, and running away. 'I really wish this situation didn't sound so familiar.' She couldn't afford to think about why. Not here. Not now.

"How... how did you and Tiamat become "friends"?" Kelly raised an eyebrow. She quickly amended her statement. "It might help me understand these star dragons a bit better, at least."

"Heh, alright, alright. I get it. Disinterested facade, right? Gotta keep up appearances and all that." Trixie blushed. "Well, it was a few days ago..."

******

Begin flashback!

Kelly was pretty bored. He almost wished Tyr would finally use them for what he wanted and then kill them. Waiting around for it with nothing to do was torture. At the moment, he was busying himself with observing the various flora that grew in the forest. He was examining an oddly colored flower when he heard a gasp. He stood and looked around. He heard it again, and managed to pinpoint where it was coming from.

A few dozen feet to his left, he found Tiamat in a tree, curled up and clinging to a branch. She was gasping strangely, as if she were having difficulty breathing. 'Do dras even breath?' It might have been crying but for the lack of tears. 'Duh, Kelly. They don't have tear ducts, or even eyes at all.'

"Hey." Tiamat's head shot up. "Are you alright?"

"Are you very unobservant, or is this meaningless banter?" Her translator's speech didn't convey very much emotion. He wondered if it even could.

"What's wrong?"

"We are flying. We are flying and Tyr wants to ground us. But Tyr says we are flying toward doom, and we must change course. So I am afraid. I am afraid that it will overtake us."

"What is it?"

"You have no word for it. Chaos, entropy, death, void, order, harmony, collapse. All of these and none of these would describe it. The Inevitability, where it consumes the universe and we are ended. I am terrified and there is nothing I can do. Inaction will change nothing, and action hastens our demise. So we choose action, in the hope that we might succeed. But there is nothing. It was always futile. I don't want to die, human. I don't want to die. I want to live and I understand now that you want to live and that nothing wants to die. We are not so separate, cousin. And it scares me. I think my mental faculties may be suffering. And that scares me, as well."

By this point Kelly had climbed the tree and sat on a branch next to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder. She tensed and flared her wings, but then relaxed, recognizing the intent of the gesture. "I didn't even know dras could have mental breakdowns. It seems like you're mostly upset about mortality. No one lives forever, though."

Tiamat flinched. "I am afraid you are correct. Nyx promises the immortality of the starborn, but we are still killed sometimes. Maybe it is impossible for us to live forever."

"Wait, you mean you guys don't die of old age?"

"Out bodies do age. We harvest replacements from omegas." Kelly blanched. "How do humans live with death?"

"Er, uh, well odd phrasing aside, there's not really one, singular method that I'm aware of. Personally? I think most of us just try to leave some sort of mark on the world, influencing future generations. Some of us consider that a form of immortality."

"...Yes. A mark. Thank you. Don't inform the others of my "breakdown". Especially not Tyr."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

"Are we friends?"

Kelly smiled. "Well, why not?"

Tiamat smiled back.

End flashback!

******

"It seems that, philosophically, they have an obsession with immortality and some weird hang up about the second law of thermodynamics or something. Which makes sense, I guess, in regards to the immortality thing. Their nation's long-term goals seem to boil down to "running from fate", basically. Keep that in mind when dealing with them."

"Immortality... huh. I just thought of something. I wonder if the goddesses know about these other worlds."

Kelly blinked. "You know, you are taking the whole "intelligent life from another world" thing pretty well, especially considering the level of tech this world seems to have."

"Well, you are different, of course, but I've dealt with other intelligent creatures before. It's not like you're a dragon or anything."

"Oh, right, I suppose living with other sentient species would make it easier to understand." He glanced behind him. Trixie followed his gaze and saw that Tiamat was returning. She didn't look happy. "Anyway, I'm not saying that you shouldn't help Tyr. It's your decision. Don't give him more power than you need to though, and be careful. I honestly shouldn't even be in this situation. My only goal is to survive this whole-"

Trixie felt a wave of pain hit her and collapsed. It felt like her horn was on fire. She saw Kelly slump over with a blank look on his face and his strange helmet giving off sparks. Her last thought before darkness took her was of her parents.

Chapter 22

Notes: Hopefully the format of this chapter doesn't get screwed up...

Chapter 22
******

The hall shook as as the vaults doors fell to the ground. Tyr dismissed his blade and quickly stepped inside. Stealth, cunning, and patience were valuable traits, but Tyr knew that he had to sieze this opportunity while he could. He saw a chest placed upon an ornate pedestal. He carefully placed his hands on either side and took a deep breath.

Opening it revealed five amulets and a star topped crown. The tome had shown them as stone spheres, or so Trixie had said, but he knew that these had to be the elements. He reached a tentative claw forward and tapped the star-shaped jewel.

He felt a shock and his senses dropped away. He was in and of and around and outside a void. A strange sensation gripped him and he felt indistinct blobs of something that he could only decide to call color, even though the word had no meaning to him.

Orange Pink Blue Green Red Purple

Alien Ooooh! Monster

Outsider...

Stranger! Quite different

!

...
His brain
cannot Surely it
understand matters not?
our message Can he grasp
in full any of it?

Hehehe!

^^%^&?

But where's

the fun in that? At least give...

him? I... suppose...
Yes it's It would be
a him... Thank you... fair.

It would give him that

be kinder

-=/-^(

The "colors" faded and his other senses returned. He sensed 6 orbs surrounding him, each giving off a different energy. He recognized each one and decided to use the "color" they had been before as a name.

Orange spoke first: I have decided to accommodate your senses
Red: Though I question my courtesy...
Green: It has been granted nonetheless
Pink: I'm sorry for disorienting you with my earlier gift
Red: I couldn't have expected that you wouldn't be able to handle it
Orange: Enough idle banter. What are you?

Tyr could not feel his body. It seemed as though he was trapped mentally. He didn't know how he was supposed to answer.

Blue: Don't be silly! You are trapped physically and magically! Your mind is free to wander!
Pink: I can read your answer from your mind. I am limited, however, so fear not
Purple: *eeeeeeeeeyipipipip*
Green: You have no horn, and thus cannot fully understand me
Blue: Most unfortunate, really
Orange: Which brings me back to what you are

'I am a starborn.' Tyr though briefly of what his species was, mentally browsing his traits and attributes.

Blue: Oooh! A most interesting creature!
Red: Loyal, in a sense
Green: Do they even have a word for generousity?
Red: Perhaps something cliche
Blue: Like "What do you call a generous starborn? Dead!"
Green: This one is remarkably selfless, though
Pink: If only because he cares not for himself, and only slightly more for others
Orange: Such dishonest truthfulness is sickening, though.
Purple: *zrrrrrrrk*
Orange: Knowledge; understanding the world around him more clearly
Green: I think this would help him greatly
Orange: He is not honest with himself, though
Red: Shall I help him?
Pink: I might hurt him by doing so...
Blue: But what a hilarious tragedy! Doomed to succeed!
Purple: *krkryp*

Tyr wanted the elements to give him the power to stop Nyx. But their words made him nervous. He didn't want to accidentally destroy her.

Pink: Would it not be the kinder fate?
Orange: Worry not, though; you will not kill her
Green: You will sacrifice much
Red: You will fight for your people; yes, even those you call "cousins"
Blue: Ironically, you may not be very happy, though.
Purple: What do you want me to do?

Tyr was unnerved by the purple one suddenly speaking. He noticed that the others seemed slightly odd as well. He wondered how he was supposed to use these to make him a god.

Purple: Another? Well, your kind are outnumbered by the alicorns. What would you do for us, though?

'Wait, would this be a singular thing? What about the others? What about Nyx or Syn or-'

Purple: Yes. Only one for now. I think it will be you. You can substitute another, if you wish *sui afatetetete*
Green: The victimitatenergyoustole comes I cannot give more time
Pink: My courtesy is withdrawn
Orange: You've been here quite long enough
Red: Harmony is threatened. Stand firm
Blue: And have fun!

******

Trixie ran down the Hall of Harmony, hoping against hope that she wasn't being followed. She saw the doors to the vault laying on the ground. Tyr was within, hunched over something and surrounded by a bubble of silver energy. Two royal unicorn guards stood on either side, attempting to break the spell. Trixie galloped up to them.

"What are you two doing!? We're under attack!"

The guards jerked their heads up, just now noticing her. "But Princess Luna said-"

"Yeah? Well she said just now that all guards should gather in the throne room!" She gestured at Tyr. "I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon, anyway!"

The guards exchanged glances. "Very well. I'm deputizing you, then. Watch over this creature and stay out of danger. If things get too hot, you can abandon your post and join the other civilians in the tunnels."

Trixie bit back a retort and merely smiled. "Of course, sir! He wont leave my sight!" The two guards saluted her and ran back toward the throne room. Once they were out of sight, Trixie zapped the bubble with a spark of magic. Tyr jerked and crumpled to the ground.

"I don't know what you're doing or what your plan was or whether I should be feeling betrayed or not, but you said you would help me save Equestria from your stupid Escape and now I'm holding you to it."

Tyr groaned. "How long was I here?" He climbed to his feet.

Trixie scoffed. "How should I know?" She summoned a glowing, blue longsword, not bother with details. "Get a weapon and follow me. I'm not about to let a bunch of snobbish unicorns show me up!"

Tyr looked back at the elements. "Right..." He summoned his own blade. "Lead the way, then."

Chapter 24

Chapter 24
******

My dear unicorn

Trixie groaned. The voice(s?) in her head sounded strange and powerful. Hearing them seemed to bring order to her thoughts.

An interloper under your fair guise accosts me

What did that mean?

He bears your aura

What was this voice? Where was she?

Everfree forest, and I am the six elements of harmony, irrespectively, heehee!

Huh.

Shall we aid he who passes as you? Ah, so those are your thoughts and feelings on the matter

What?

Be careful, Trixie

Wake up

Trixie suddenly jolted awake. After taking a few shuddering breaths, she took in her surroundings. She was inside an unfamiliar castle. It looked like it had seen better days. She saw a cracked pedestal in the center. It looked like it was designed to hold six spheres, but it was bare. 'This must be that ancient castle. Where the Elements were found.'

"You're awake." Trixie swung around to see Kuthrine leaning against the wall. "Tiamat will want to know." She kicked off the wall and exited through the main entrance. Trixie noted that it was now evening. A few moments later, Tiamat entered. She strode over and stood directly in front if Trixie.

"Your life has little value to me right now, aside from nourishment. Don't test me. That said, I'm not in a hurry to kill you. A measure of civility in the following discussion is all I request."

'So I should just follow your own example, then?' She remembered that these star dragons hated being accused of hypocrisy, though, and kept her retort to herself. Instead, she smiled. "Of course, Epona."

Tiamat flinched and flapped her wings a couple times. "I intend no harm. My only goal is to restore harmony as best as I am able."

Trixie stood and straightened out her cape. She noticed her hat laying and the ground and levitated it to her head. "Very well. An admirable goal, to be sure. Trixie wishes you the very best." She started trotting towards the exit. Tiamat just stared, inasmuch as a sightless creature could stare.

"Void..."

"I'm truly sorry, but The Great and Powerful Trixie must be off. I have a debt to repay and a career to rebuild, after all." Trixie turned to give a goodbye wave, but Tiamat was already walking out of the room in the other direction. She slowly lowered her hoof and frowned before exiting herself.

The Everfree forest was as dark and oppressive as ever. A thick fog lurked in the trees. A nearby rope bridge spanned a dark, fog-filled chasm. 'The most inviting thing I've seen today.' She would take a monster-filled forest of evil and death over insane aliens any day of the week.

She took a step forward. "You aren't actually going to walk through that at night, are you?" She jumped and looked to her right. Kuthrine was sitting near the entrance, looking at her.

Trixie looked back at the forest. "So what if Trixie is? She can handle herself!"

Kuthrine sighed. "Not that I want to keep you here against your will, but if you want to get perforated, go ahead. Aside from the usual monsters, there's also an Empire reclamation team out there. I'd wait until dawn, at least."

"And why should here be any safer?"

"It's defensible and you have to other people to serve as a distraction if you need to escape. Besides, you just woke up from getting hit by some powerful magic. You should take it easy."

"...Fine." She trotted over to Kuthrine and sat next to her.

Neither spoke for a few minutes. The forest seemed to press in around them. While neither of them wanted to talk, they wanted the eerie silence even less. Kuthrine broke first.

"You know, I'm a little surprised that you're leaving now."

Trixie gave a hollow laugh. "Given the current situation?"

Kuthrine frowned. "You were unconscious. What do you even know about the current situation?"

"I have suspicions. Go ahead and dispel them, if you want."

Kuthrine sighed. "Kelly's dead, Anderson is missing, Tyr teleported away with some other unicorn that showed up."

'Other unicorn... could it be- no!' Trixie shook her head. She didn't care what Twilight was doing. If she was getting further involved, that was her problem now. Trixie was done with this. "Do you know why Tyr needed my help? Yeah, I got those books for him and told him a few things that anypony could have told him. Why didn't he just part ways with me after-" Trixie let out a breath. "Huh... right..." She decided to examine the ground. Blades of grass hid an amazing amount of detail within their small stature.

"I'd be a bit more sympathetic to your disillusionment regarding your hero, but for the life of me I can't understand your infatuation in the first place. You had, what, two conversations with him? And you didn't even say anything meaningful to each other until the second one, if that?"

"I'M NOT INFATUATED WITH HIM!" Trixie took a deep breath. "I was just... I hoped... he... I mean I..." She sighed. "It's a bit of a long story. I might as well tell you, because it's not like I have much of a reputation to protect from you. Maybe talking about it will help me feel better."

"So, what, I'm just the nearest eligible shoulder for you to cry on?"

Trixie smirked at her. "Pretty much. You're lucky I'm such a tolerant and gracious unicorn! Most probably wouldn't even deign to look at you. You should be honored to even be worthy of notice by The Great and Powerful Trixie!"

Kuthrine just gave her a sidelong stare.

Trixie coughed into her hoof. "Uh, yes, anyway... I guess I always wanted to do something important with my life. Something big. I didn't want to be Miss Trixie, famous for being somepony's daughter. I wanted to make my own fame! I wanted to be a hero, spreading joy through the tales of my heroic deeds! It never really matter if I actually accomplished any of those deeds, as long as the crowd loved the stories. Recent events, though... have made me reevaluate myself. Recent as in before you showed up. And then this dangerous creature corners me in a wrecked airship, and lets me go while requesting my help?" Trixie stood and walked away from the wall. She stopped and looked up at the stars.

"Then what?"

"I.. he wanted my help. He wanted my help. Tiamat also made some compelling... arguments. And then Princess Luna showed up and I had lied about defeating Tyr and she would find out and I ran and Tiamat bumped into me and told me to bring those supplies and then Tyr..." She looked down at the ground.

"He was there again. He offered me an adventure. A chance to be a real hero. I could fix everything, just like that! I just had to help him find the Elements of Harmony, which everpony knows are in Canterlot. With my talent and grace I could have convinced the Princesses, and we could work together with Tyr to save his people, and stop the war with yours, and protect Equestria from invasion! I would be there, a key figure in the next chapter of Equestria, when we discovered civilizations from other worlds, and achieved harmony with them! It wouldn't be like what happened with the griffins, or the dragons, or the diamond dogs! I would be a real hero! Not some fake that hides being lies and fake stories!"

Trixie wiped her eyes. She was crying, now. "I was such an idiot! As if there hadn't been ponies before that had wanted peace and tried to smooth things over! It seems like conflict is inevitable in these situations, and if the Princesses couldn't fix everything, what hope do I have now? Tyr was just using me, anyway. I don't even know if he was telling me the truth, since Kelly told me they're basically liars! They can go get caught by the royal guards and imprisoned or whatever Celestia or Luna will do and Luna can send her scientists to study your crashed ship and they can petition the dragons and the griffins for help in mustering an army and I'll go hide in a corner and hope nopony decides to blame me somehow for all this and I can go back to being a small-time no-name showpony that ran away from home thinking she could be somepony important!"

She choked back a sob and then laughed. "Who was I kidding?! What business do I have trying to save the world? Twilight Sparkle would make a better hero than me! I'm just a sad little unicorn that didn't want to admit she wasn't anypony special. Heh, I'm almost a microcosm of the unicorn tribe."

Kuthrine didn't follow most of that, but it's not like the details were that important anyway. That last bit caught her attention though. "What do you mean?"

Trixie glanced back at her. She seemed to have forgotten that Kuthrine was there. "Before the rule of the Royal Pony Sisters, before the Unification, the unicorn tribe control the sun and the heavens. They were responsible for night and day. The pegasus tribe controlled the weather, and the earth tribe was in charge of agriculture. The pegasi are still in charge of the weather today, and earth ponies are still our best farmers. When Celestia and Luna took charge of the heavens, the unicorns were left with nothing. They weren't useful anymore, aside from their magic, and magic is really needed to survive."

She sighed and half turned toward Kuthrine. "And yet for some reason we are still selfishly clinging to the lofty, noble positions that we held before the Unification. Some ponies talk about "politics this" and "organization that", but I think our only legitimate strength is in our magic, and most unicorns these days seem to ignore it! Oh sure, they'll levitate their cups of tea to show off, but they don't pursue any real mastery of it! The academic ones do, but they're generally about as snobby as the others, in their own way! The unicorn tribe thinks its the best but it's just hiding behind its old glory and a snobby attitude!"

Kuthrine chuckled. "Microcosm, indeed."

Trixie's ears folded back and she looked away. "As much as I wish I was, I'm not perfect. I want to show what a unicorn is really capable of, to prove that the other unicorns are all lazy snobs and that they should be doing better than they are!"

"I doubt all unicorns are actually that bad. You seem to be generalizing a lot."

"I-" She hoofed the ground a few times. "Maybe. I've met a couple exceptions. Maybe its not unicorns, maybe it's just the royals. Maybe it's not even all of them. I mean, the Princesses are royals, too, so they obviously can't all be bad..."

"Are your parents nobles?"

"...yeah, I guess they were. Now that I think about it, I... I was upset because they didn't pay as much attention to me as I wanted them to. They seemed to become aloof like the other royals when we went to Canterlot. But... I don't know. Was it really that bad? Was I just being selfish, expecting and demanding too much?"

"I don't have answers for you. Even if this wasn't an entirely different culture, I couldn't help you with that."

"Yeah... I guess I don't have very good reasons for not helping Equestria. Except for my epiphany regarding my uselessness."

"Well, for what it's worth, you do seem to have some influence over Tyr. Not that I begrudge you walking away from this mess. Believe me, I wish I could! Still, don't sell yourself short just because your feeling mopey. You're also a h- ugh, a hell of a lot more powerful than any human mage I've heard of. What can you do with magic, anyway?"

"Well, there's basic telekinesis that all unicorns have. Most unicorns can use a simple light spell, as well. Since "magic related to the performing arts" isn't very narrow, my talent isn't as restricted as some unicorns. I've studied some weather manipulation, illusions, pyrotechnics, and some combat related spells for acting out scenes on stage."

"Heat, light, and advanced kinetics." Kuthrine whistled. "Human mages can't do much that isn't related to heat. I'm impressed."

Trixie blushed. "Well, aside from the technical details of the pyrotechnics, only weather manipulation and advanced illusions count. Pyrotechnics and simple combat spells aren't too hard for most unicorns to learn, and with a little creativity any unicorn can make a simple illusion." She looked to see if Kuthrine was following along, and noticed her eyes drooping. "Hmph. I suppose that if I'm boring you, I can stop."

Kuthrine shook her head. "No no no! It's fascinating, it really is. I'm just exhausted." She stifled a yawn. "Running from the Empire while carrying you wore me out. No offense. Seeing a dead colleague isn't exactly an invigorating experience, either."

Trixie dropped her gaze. "Oh, right. Uh, I'm sorry about Kelly. I didn't really know him, but he seemed nice enough."

"Appreciated." She stifled another yawn.

"You can go ahead an sleep. I'll keep watch. I'm not leaving until morning anyway, apparently." Kelly gave her a thumbs up an shifted to lie on her side. "And... thanks for listening."

"No problem."

Chapter 25

Chapter 25
******

Dras interior design is a strange beast. If a human, by some chance, found themselves aboard the Myopic, for example, they would see nothing. If they had a source of illumination, they would see unadorned, pitch-black surfaces everywhere, excepting the gardens. If they could listen the way dras do, however, they would "see" one of the greatest works of art in dras history. The walls, floor,s and ceilings of the ship were shaped just so, the composition of each square foot calibrated to just the right density, to create a chorus of sound and echoes. The ship was decorated with the music of activity.

Unfortunately, Syn couldn't hear it over her own fuming at the moment. She loped through the corridors toward Nyx's chamber. 'First she continues the campaign against the Empire despite my sabotage! Then she recalls all High Instructors to the flagship! Then she changes course without telling any of us! So why did she tell me now!?'

Near Nyx's chamber, she found Aether curled up against a wall, bleeding profusely. She drew to a stop and stared down at him. "You can't even cover yourself up? Embarrassing. I don't even know why you're a High Instructor. Nyx's other toys don't get such prestigious positions, at least not without cause."

Aether snarled. "Talk... while you... can... Nyx is... waiting." 'Fool.'

Syn grinned. "Don't worry. I know we won't have many more opportunities to converse." Snickering, she entered Nyx's chamber. 'Fool.'

Nyx was seated behind her personal terminal. Her disability at least did not impair her ability to operate most devices. "Yes?"

"High Instructor Syn."

Nyx smiled. "Thank you for coming, Syn. What is the problem, then?"

"You called me."

"I did, because you were going to take issue with my message. I decided to expedite the process."

"Where are we going?"

"I told you before. We go to recover a lost agent."

"Where!?"

Nyx laughed. "You know where. I have a question for you. What kind of planet did you find?"

Syn shifted. "I've found many planets."

Nyx growled. "You know what I am talking about. What. Kind. Of. Planet."

Syn shifted and flapped her wings. "Rogue."

"Hmmm."

Syn snapped her teeth. "Is this relevant?"

"Thanatos was very informative."

Syn's blood ran cold. "What?"

"Apparently, he was quite upset that you stole away his little experiment. He ranted at length about how Tyr wasn't meant to be some pawn in a petty politics. He might have let slip something about "freeing the Starborn from their chains." He claimed that you betrayed his trust by using Tyr for your own ends. Of course, I was distraught to learn that two of my most trusted allies were traitors."

Syn growled. "You are trusting a proved traitor's words over mine?"

"It's quite tragic. You weren't even able to refute his claims before he took action. I received a report just before you arrived. Apparently, Thanatos killed you in a fit of rage. After realizing what he had done, he took his own life." Nyx cocked her head at the sound of the door opening. "I told you not to get blood on my floor."

Syn spun on her heels to see Aether standing behind her. She bared her teeth. "You freaks wi-" She was cut off by the blade suddenly puncturing her throat. She quickly clawed at Aether's throat, barely managing to grab him before crumpling to the ground.

"Where's your voice Syn? No cutting words anymore?"

Nyx sighed. "More blood. Aether, bring her to the medical bay for harvest. The get back here and clean this place up. And stop bleeding, it's unseemly."

Aether stood rooted the the spot, shaking. "You seem unfazed by cold-blooded murder, Nyx."

"She was already dead when she betrayed our people, Aether."

He took a deep breath, calming himself. "I know it was necessary. I don't have to enjoy it, though."

"Good. Now follow my orders."

"Yes, High Instructor."

******

Trixie watched the moon slowly crossing the sky. Kuthrine had slept fitfully, waking up every now and then. She had just woken up again five minute ago, and was currently sitting with her head on her knees.

"Hey.. Kuthrine."

"Yeah?"

"Why... How did you get involved in this?"

"Careful, your facade of indifference is slipping." Trixie huffed. "Tyr basically hijacked our ship. Me and Kelly came here to study this planet, with Anderson as security."

"Why are you hiding from the Empire team? Aren't you part of the Empire?"

"it's... complicated. I'm technically part of a rebel organization known as Umbra. Its a mage advocacy group that tries to subvert the Empire. Honestly, it doesn't seem much better than the Empire to me. I'll say that I joined out of necessity, and leave it at that."

"What's so bad about the Empire anyway?"

"Umbra would have you believe that it's an oppressive police state. It's not really that bad, though. Yeah, it kinda is oppressive, but it's a government in the middle of preparing for a war, so what do you expect? Umbra is mostly concerned with its treatment of mages, but to be honest it really isn't as bad as it could be, especially compared to how mages were treated before they made the Academy. Compulsory attendance and military service in exchange for protection from the anti-mage nuts on Earth. Not that it's okay that we're treated like second-class citizens, but I don't think taking down the Empire is going to accomplish much. Especially not when we're wearing these" She tapped her helmet.

"What are those, anyway?"

"Focusing helmets. We usually just call them focusers. They limit our magical power and make it easier for us to use it in the first place. They can also be used to control us, as Kelly demonstrated." Trixie lit her horn and waved it over the device. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Hmph. Trixie expected more. The enchantment on this helmet is really quite simple. Poorly defended, too. For some reason some idiot decided to connect all these helmets in a web, too. I could break the entire network with a single spell. This is just embarrassing." Kuthrine stared at her, dumbstruck. "What?"

"...What?! You can free every single mage, just like that?!"

Trixie grinned. "Of course, I'm not incompetent! Would you like me to do it right now?"

Kuthrine blinked a few times, then slowly shook her head, sighing. "No. The threat of war with the Escape is too important to ignore. Besides, even without that looming over us, I don't know if potentially sparking a revolution is the best solution. Don't tell anyone else about it, though. Umbra would kidnap you and the Empire would probably kill you on the spot. Maybe I'll ask you later, if I'm still alive."

"I could teach you how to do it. It's pretty simple."

Kuthrine thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

******

The sun finally peeked over the horizon. Unfortunately, the horizon was blocked by trees. Nevertheless, Trixie recognized that it was dawn, and that she should get moving. "I suppose this is when I take my leave."

"Right. I'd ask to come with, but I have to help Tyr."

"Hmph. Tyr." Trixie rounded on her. "Why? He obviously doesn't need help!"

"I'm sorry that you feel betrayed by him, but to be honest, he didn't exactly leave voluntarily. I mean, he said he was going to, but that unicorn teleported him against his will, I think."

"Well, that makes it all better, doesn't it!"

"I don't think he didn't care about you, for what it's worth. He told me that he expected Tiamat to guard you and bring you to him. I'm pretty sure he still wants your help."

Trixie choked back a cry of joy. 'Get a hold of yourself, Trixie!' "So? Are you trying to convince me to stay?"

Kuthrine shook her head emphatically. "No! Definitely not! This is dangerous, after all. You are better off leaving this all behind. I just thought you might want to know that you did matter to Tyr, to some extent. Considering his disposition, that's probably a decent accomplishment."

"He felt sympathy for you." They both jumped and looked up to see Tiamat leaning out a second-story window. "I think you helped him realize that there isn't so much difference between starborn and other sentient lifeforms. He's always been swayed very easily by others, especially females, for whatever reason. Of course, he made the mistake of elevating the rest of you to the same level as starborn. I realized that the starborn are no better than the rest of you. It's a key distinction."

Trixie narrowed her eyes. "Trixie doesn't appreciate mockery, Epona."

"I'm speaking the truth, and plainly at that. But go. Go and live your life, while you can. Show some real intelligence and don't sacrifice yourself in some meaningless gesture like a human would." She ducked back inside.

"Fine! The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't need to stand for this! Farewell!" Trixie turned and galloped across the bridge.

Kuthrine watched her go. "Good luck, Trixie."

Chapter 26

Chapter 26
******

By the time Trixie was out of the forest, it was noon. She had progressed slowly and cautiously; she didn't want to attract attention from the empire if they were nearby. Fortunately, she hadn't come across a single sign of any other humans.

There was a fork in the road just ahead. One path lead back to Ponyville. The other veered away from the town, toward Whitetail Woods. 'I could always just leave entirely. Maybe head to Manehattan.' She sighed and shook her head. In the past, Trixie would have fled entirely. But whether she liked it or not, she had gained a measure of respect for the purple unicorn that had tried to help her. Calling her a friend seemed a bit premature, but the potential was there. Gritting her teeth, she started down the path toward Ponyville.

The town seemed deserted when she arrived. She could see a couple ponies dashing about, and she heard what sounded like windows being slammed shut at odd intervals. 'What's going on? Did they find out about the aliens?'

"Hey! Everypony is supposed to get- YOU!" Trixie suddenly found herself being tackled from the side. After rolling to a stop, she looked up to see that her aggressor was Rainbow Dash. "Where's Twilight!?"

Trixie shoved Rainbow Dash off of her an set to work straightening out her cape and hat. "How should Trixie know? Maybe she's off kissing Luna's hooves some more!" Trixie didn't actually care much about Twilight's relationship with royalty, but ponyfeathers if she wasn't going to find something to complain about after getting tackled like that!

"She went running after you dummy!"

"Really? Ugh, I had hoped to ignore that possibility. Now I'll have to feel vaguely guilty about it."

"That's all you have to say?!"

"Hey! Rainbow Dash!" Trixie and Dash turned to see Spike running toward them. He skidded to a halt right in front of them and put his hands on his knees. "I finally caught up to you! Twilight sent a message from Canterlot. I tried to tell you but you flew off too fast. She says they found the monster! It's trapped in the vault that the elements are kept in."

Hearing that Twilight was relatively safe, Trixie resumed her trek to the library. Rainbow Dash noticed her leaving and zipped overhead. "Where do you think you're going?"

"The library. It's where I'm currently living, if you didn't know."

"What, you're not gonna go help Twilight beat the big bad monster? Finally recognized that you aren't the most powerful unicorn in Equestria?"

"Pretty much."

"You- wait, what?" Rainbow Dash seemed taken aback by her answer.

"I'm not a hero. I'm a little sick of pretending to be one. Let the real heroes save to world or whatever. I'm not gonna get myself killed for some jerk."

"Hey, Twilight's not-!"

"I wasn't talking about Twilight, okay!? Just... nevermind. Twilight can be the hero again. I'll just... organize her bookshelves or something. Maybe she'll give me some bits for it and I can save toward a new caravan."

"She won't be paying you anything if she doesn't make it back! I don't know what's going on exactly, but I know that it's big! Look, I may have belittled you before, but you actually do have some talent, alright? I'm pretty sure Twilight could use your help! Especially since she risked her flank chasing you into the Everfree Forest just to keep you from getting yourself killed! I don't know why she cares so much about you, but she does, and you're gonna repay that by just ignoring everything! If I heard correctly, didn't you have something to do with this monster in the first place?"

"What's it matter? I don't want to go fight monsters anymore. Sue me."

"Why you- you can't just- I mean- I can't believe I never realized how much of a coward you are!

"Oh! So that's how it is, is it?" Trixie spun around and looked straight up at Dash. "Trixie is nothing but a fraud and a charlatan when she's trying to make an honest living as a performer. She's a manipulative trickster when she guilts a pony into helping her when she's destitute! But, oh! What's this? The second something big is happening, Trixie is suddenly supposed to be the big hero? Come on Trixie! Where's that bluster and showmanship now? You wouldn't want that meddler getting hurt because of you, would you! Who cares if you're just some poor unicorn pony trying to live the life she wants! You're expected to save Equestria now! Don't worry! We'll go right back to calling you a phony the minute you fail! And if you refuse, we'll do it anyway, you big coward!"

Rainbow Dash stared at her with wide eyes. "Trixie, I-"

"If you think Twilight needs help being the hero, then let her friends do something about it instead of hiding in their houses! I don't understand where you have the gall to accuse me of being a coward when you're hiding here, patrolling a town that is not in any danger whatsoever!" Trixie felt a sudden buildup of pressure in her horn. She felt her fear and anger spike even more for a moment and felt reality twist around her.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was sitting in the middle of the library. 'Guess I learned how to teleport...' She wanted to feel more excited, but she was too busy seething with anger and trying to ignore her guilt. She figured she might as well actually organize some books. She pulled the books she had stolen from Twilight out of her saddlebags and turned to place them on Twilight's desk when something caught her eye. Something purple.

She focused on it and dropped the books in shock, jaw dropping. In the corner was Trixie's original hat and cape, Neatly folded and in perfect condition. A note was placed on top of it.

Trixie levitated the note over to her and began reading.

My most sincerest apologies for the delay, Twilight. Trixie showing up and throwing my dress forms about didn't exactly speed things up. It's a little hard to work on a gift for somepony when they do something like that. Nevertheless, here are her cape and hat, restored to pristine condition. Do not worry about payment: I never intended to charge you for this. Good luck with helping Trixie turn over a new leaf.

With love, Rarity.

p.s. Spike just told me as I was dropping this off that you are currently in Canterlot. I don't know the full story, but we've received your letter and I'm off to inform the mayor. I'm leaving this here for your return.

Trixie let the note fall to the ground and looked back at her old attire. Maybe she did owe it to Twilight to go help her. She knew some details about the aliens that could help keep Equestria safe. And maybe she could mediate between Tyr and the others. She could still do some good without being a hero.

Besides, what kind of member of the Night Clan would she be if she abandoned serving Princess Luna in a situation like this? Sure, she had already done that, but she could go make things right by helping her now.

Tossing her current outfit aside, Trixie donned her old cape and hat. If she was going to redeem herself, she wanted to redeem herself as the original Great and Powerful Trixie! Now she just had to get to Canterlot...

She looked back at Twilight's desk and noticed a jumble of notes. Upon closer inspection, they seemed to detail a long-range teleportation spell. There were also modifications to allow the caster to bring others along with them. 'What, did the universe just conspire to make it easy for me to give into my guilt?'

She sighed and started building up power. She had only just learned how to teleport, and by accident at that, but the mechanics detailed in Twilight's notes didn't seem much different. The spell only required parts of a few other minor spells in order to work, and did not required much more energy. It was genius in its elegance, really.

She once again felt pressure building up in her horn and the fabric of reality twisting around her. It lasted a moment longer this time, and when she opened her eyes she found herself in an extravagant bedroom. The starry motif and predominance of the color blue led Trixie to believe that she was in Luna's chambers. Turning around, she had her suspicions confirmed.

Standing before her, apparently in the middle of a conversation before Trixie had appeared, were Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna. "Trixie?"

'Uh-oh...'

Chapter 27

Chapter 27
******

Twilight sat before her, dumbfounded and staring. Princess Luna was beside her, eying Trixie warily. "Pray tell, how did thou manage to teleport here?"

Trixie tried to find her voice. 'I guess my aim was off.' "P-Pri-" Trixie swallowed. "Princess Luna! Trixie offers her most humble apologies! She did not mean to intrude!"

"Trixie! What happened? How did you teleport? Wh-" Twilight froze for a second. "When did you get your old cape and hat back?"

"Uh, apparently Rarity left it at the library. And I found your teleport spell there and decided to come help you! I heard that the creature is here?" Trixie glanced back and forth between Twilight and Luna.

The princess gave a heavy sigh. "Trixie, We hope thou realizes that thou are under heavy suspicion as well. Twilight tells me that you did not flee from me in Ponyville, but rather were chasing another of these creatures. Dost thou have anything to say regarding this?"

Trixie swallowed again. Lying wasn't very hard for her, but this was Princess Luna! Besides, if she wanted to help them, she would have to reveal that she knew a lot more than she should. She took a deep breath. "Yes. I was running from you. I thought that if you questioned me about defeating one of these creatures, you would find out that I was lying. I did encounter one of them, though. The same one that's with the elements right now. He said he wanted my help, and I ran away, terrified. I didn't want to look like a coward so I made up the story that I had defeated him. After I ran from you that one night, I found him again.

"He told me he wanted me to teach him what I could about the Elements of Harmony, because he wanted to use them to free his people. It seemed like a noble goal at the time, and I couldn't see the harm in telling him about them. I thought that if I stayed with him, I could make sure that he and his allies didn't hurt anypony. I don't know how much of what he told me was lies, but I think I can help you reason with him. That's why I came here!"

Princess Luna stared at her for a long minute. "Very well. You've admitted to being an ally of that monster, but we believe we can trust you. For now. We will be watching you, though. You confirmed there was more than one, though. Where are the others."

"Oh, right. There were five of them. There was another one like Tyr, uh the creature here now. I've been calling them star dragons after something I read about in the lirbrary. The rest were something called "humans". One of them was dead before I left. One was with the second star dragon in the ruins of that old castle in the Everfree Forest. I don't know where they are now. I don't know what happened to the last one. Also, they told me something about more humans showing up. These other humans are hunting them or something. I really don't know much more than that, except that they have some weapon that can shoot pulses of magical energy. It knocked me out when it hit me."

"So that's what that was? I had no idea what had happened, just that it felt like something slamming into my head."

"Thou hast been most informative, Trixie. We appreciate your honesty, if honesty it be, and loyalty to Equestria. You and Twilight shall be our agents, then. We trust Twilight Sparkle fully, and know that she will keep an eye on you. We wish we did not have to cast doubts on your intentions, Trixie, but this is a dangerous time. Continue to prove your loyalty, and we shall reward you when all is said and done."

Trixie quickly bowed. "T-Trixie is honored, Princess Luna!" Things weren't turning out as bad as she had hoped. She looked up to see Luna turning to leave her room. She got up and quickly followed behind Twilight. "What do you need me to do?"

Twilight gave her a quick glance. "Us, you mean."

"Yes, yes, of course. Us."

"We need to interrogate this "Tyr" that broke into the vault. You shall attempt to break him from whatever spell holds him, and then... "convince" him to speak."

Trixie scrunched her face in confusion. "What do you mean "break whatever spell"? Why is he trapped in a way that you can't release him?"

"My sister had placed a spell on the vault to alert us to any intrusion. When I arrived, the intruder was still there, trapped in a bubble of magic. I do not know the spell that Celestia used for it, and so I do not know how to break it."

"And why can't Celestia just break it?" Princess Luna huffed and increased her pace. Twilight shot Trixie a glance before levitating a scroll over to her. Trixie recognized Celestia's seal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Princess Luna Revenio

It has come to my attention that you desire more autonomy and control. I can certainly sympathize with your desires. Therefore, I have decided to take a short vacation, in order to give you the opportunity to test and prove yourself. I have the utmost confidence that your performance will meet my expectations.

Perhaps when I return, we can discuss your feelings on the matter.

Princess Celestia Invictus

p.s. remind me upon my return to replace all the vault locks. The current enchantments are weak to certain unicorn frequencies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trixie handed the scroll back to Twilight. "Well that's odd."

Luna huffed again, loudly. "She found out that I've been hiding information from her! And what does she do? She plays her little games to try and guilt trip me! Okay, hiding information was not the best way to phrase it, but she should have confronted us directly! Even if it ended up undermining our authority, we would be better prepared to deal with current events!" Luna stopped and spun around to face them. "We must inform the guard of this new threat that thou hast brought to our attention. We-"

"Princess!" All three turned to face the new voice. A messenger was galloping toward them at top speed. He slid to a stop just in front of Luna. "There's a large group of some strange creatures in front of the palace! They say they want to speak with whoever is in charge! They have several guards held hostage!"

Luna turned and summoned two small, magical necklaces. Each had a small crescent moon attached. "Wear these. The guards will recognize you as trusted agents of ours. The last thing I want is you two being arrested if we get separated. This way!"

The three of them made their way toward the throne room while the messenger went to inform anyone else he could find. The halls became more crowded with guards and panicking nobles as the neared the throne room.

"All civilians, please evacuate the palace! The tunnel system under the palace will lead you to hidden barracks. The royal guard will come inform you when safety has been restored! All royal guards, to the throne room! We-"

A sudden explosion sounded from outside. Ponies began panicking even more. In the chaos, Trixie managed to slip away from Twilight and Luna and made her way to the Hall of Harmony. She had a feeling that Tyr would be useful for dealing with whoever was attacking them.

******

Tyr felt the colors fade away and suddenly sensed Trixie standing next to him.

Tyr groaned. "How long was I here?" He climbed to his feet.

Trixie scoffed. "How should I know?" She summoned a glowing, blue longsword, not bother with details. "Get a weapon and follow me. I'm not about to let a bunch of snobbish unicorns show me up!"

Tyr looked back at the elements. "Right..." He summoned his own blade. "Lead the way, then."

Trixie began running back toward the throne room. Tyr took one step and collapsed to the ground. Trixie skidded to a halt and turned to face him, a concerned look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I... colors... so much energy... I'm too light. Too light can't move wings death eternity stretches before me and I know nothing of the future."

"What? You're acting like you're drunk or something."

Tyr struggled to his feet again and took several stumbling steps forward. "I must have spent far too long in that room. My body is very imbalanced right now. It will pass, hopefully quickly."

"Hmph. Whatever. Just hurry up.

They eventually reached the throne room through a side entrance. Luna was seated on the throne, with Twilight by her side. She shot a quick glare at Trixie, which widened into surprise when she spotted Tyr. Guards lined the room. Before the throne stood two starborn. Both of them wore elegant steel armor. One of them carried a physical blade and wore a strange helmet with two apertures on the front. This one turned their head toward Tyr and smiled.

"Hello, my knight."

Tyr growled. "Nyx."

Chapter 28

Chapter 28
******

Reynolds threw his arms in the air and loosed a stream of curses. "Those lizards took down Reepicheep!"

Anderson looked up from the Rubik's Cube that Reynolds had lent him. "You named your UAV Reepicheep? That doesn't even make any sense."

"Shut up! Reepicheep is the best name for a flying robot and you know it! Damn, how are we gonna take them out now? All our UGV's are still scouring the forest with U."

"Frankly, I think it's best that we don't lob any more bombs into heavily populated cities."

Reynolds returned to hammering at his console. "Bah, what's a few alien lives. We've got to worry about ourselves first."

Anderson shook his head. "Oh, the irony."

"Huh? Oh hey, we got Kuthrine. I'm half tempted to just kill both the mages. I mean, there's the whole return trip we gotta think about, and spending it with those two-" Reynolds was cut off by a bullet ventilating his head.

Anderson lowered his gun and wearily got to his feet. "Damned terrorists..." He dragged the body away from the console and took control of the UGV nearest to Urika. "Sorry, I need Kuthrine alive."

******

Trixie glanced back and forth between the two star dragons nervously. Tyr had told her that Nyx was the de facto leader of The Escape. 'What is she doing here? I hope Tyr doesn't do anything stupid! We need Luna on our side for this!'

Tyr took a step forward. "I am curious as to how you knew it was me."

Nyx's grin widened. She tapped her helmet. "A gift from the late Thanatos. He managed to translate photons for me. It's crude, but it is a vast improvement over being blind." Nyx turned her attention back to Luna. "It would appear that I have been preempted. I sought audience with your highness to retrieve my wayward knight here. Though he was acting outside of my authority, I shall still take responsibility for any and all problems he has caused you."

Luna narrowed her eyes. "We wonder why thou would confess so readily. Thou- you have not arrived under ideal conditions."

"Precisely. Though I seek your friendship, I shall not distort the truth to achieve it. And if honesty requires I taint our first meeting, then it shall be so. I imagine that you are yet suspicious of me. Yes, you heard right: I seek friendship with your nation. You have knowledge that we could only dream of. Believe me when I say that you have us at your power at the moment."

Tyr flared his wings. "Nyx! What are you doing!?"

"What I've always done, my little traitor. I'm working towards a better future. Aether, go secure him." Aether nodded and summoned a blade.

"Hold! We shall not allow violence in our court! If you truly wish to establish relations between our nations, I advise you to follow our rules while you remain our guests!" Aether stopped in his tracks. Nyx nodded at him and he fell back behind her. Luna turned to Twilight. "If thou would?" Twilight nodded and started casting a spell. A moment later, Trixie and Tyr were teleported next to the throne, and a bubble surrounded the four of them. "We needs must interrogate this creature now. I don't know when you slipped off and retrieved him, Trixie, but you did so against my wishes. Nevertheless, it would appear to have been the right decision. You, creature, give us your name and any information we can use in these proceedings."

Tyr tilted his head. "Surely you can't trust anything I tell you?"

"Obviously. Your answers would be appreciated either way. Lies can be just as helpful as truths in the art of diplomacy."

"Fine. My name is Tyr. As you know, the one with the helmet is Nyx, and the is Aether. Nyx is the leader of my people. Her intention is to... "annex" your nation into ours. You would probably consider it more akin to conquest. She's never been so openly... diplomatic about it before, though. My goal was to overthrow her, which is why she calls me traitor. I do not know how she discovered this."

Luna nodded. "Very well. Twilight?" The shield lowered.

"I trust my wayward knight has incriminated me to gain favor with you?"

"He has. But as you imply, We have no reason to trust him. What is your plan for our... friendship?"

"Simple, your highness. The Escape has the power and resources to defend Equestria from outside forces. Do you recall the explosions earlier? A human golem attacked your city. We destroyed it for our mutual protection. In exchange, we would very much appreciate your collaboration in advancing our knowledge of the arcane."

"You presume that we cannot defend ourselves, and putting our lives in your hands does not seem like a wise decision, ignoring the fact that you are already under suspicion."

Nyx sighed. "I fear you would be unreasonable, though I had hoped otherwise, your highness." Shell pulled a small object from her waist and held it up. "I have here a device that will level this entire city. Tyr, take me to what you had hoped to find on this planet. I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself."

Twilight's and Trixie's eyes widened in panic. They glanced nervously at Luna, whose face remained impassive. "I believe I can be of more help. The Elements of Harmony, yes? I would rather not surrender them to you, but if this means peace for our nation, so be it." She looked around the room , addressing the guards. "Do not follow us. Remain here and ensure that no others enter the palace."

Nyx smiled again. "Excellent. Lead on, your highness."

In a few minutes, the six of them stood before the vault. Luna carefully approached the elements. "We are still unsure as to how you defeated the lock so easily, Tyr. Twilight Sparkle, inform Shining Armor of what has transpired. He shall know what to do. Stay in Canterlot and assist him. Trixie, be ready to teleport 20 feet straight down."

"Princess, what do you-"

"Wait, there's not a floor beneath-"

"Are you calling off our truce your high-"

Luna shot a spark of energy through the Elements and a flash of light filled the hall. When Twilight opened her eyes, she saw that everypony else was gone. "Princess?!" She looked around, but saw nothing. Remembering Luna's orders, she ran off to find her brother. "I hope she knows what she's doing!"

******

Kuthrine looked down at Urika's body. She had watched one of the UGV's turn on her before shutting down not long ago. She had a feeling that the operator was going to show up soon and... well, what would happen after that was less clear. "Hey." She looked up to see Anderson approaching. "I'm under the impression here that you ain't really pleased with Umbra. I don't think appealing to your sense of honor or duty would help much, but personally I'm working towards improving the Empire. Opaque is gonna make a lot of changes in response to what we learned on this trip. I think we can work together to make sure that mages benefit from it somehow."

Kuthrine laughed. "Oh really? How?"

"That horse showed you how to deactivate the focusing helmets right?" Kuthrine tensed. "I'm a spy, don't act so surprised that I bugged you. I'll give you a chance to disable to focusers. If you play by Opaques rules. We don't want bloodshed over this."

"... I guess I really don't have much choice. Fine. We gonna steal their ship then?" She gestured at Urika's body.

"Well, there is that Dras ship in orbit. We're gonna have to-" A sudden flash of light in the distance interrupted him. "What was that?"

"I think it came from that castle we were in. I have a feeling that the dras are involved somehow."

Anderson shouldered his rifle. "Let's go check it out then.

******

Trixie stumbled as reality once again became solid. She felt a wing drape over her and looked up to see Luna. "Teleport now Trixie!" She shook her head and blind teleported downward 20 feet. Blind teleporting was an incredibly dangerous thing to attempt, but if she trusted anyone, if was the Princesses. She built up power in her horn and felt another pop. She opened her eyes and found herself in a dark, empty room. She lit her horn and began looking for an exit.

A moment later, Luna appeared next to her, along with the Elements of Harmony. She quickly dropped them on the ground. "We apologize for this, Trixie. We are willing to place our trust in you at this point. Keep the Elements safe. We are going to deal with Nyx." Luna promptly teleported away again.

"Wait- argh! By all of Celestia's illegitimate children!" Trixie stomped in place a few times. "Fine! I guess this is the closest I'm going to get to playing hero, anyway." She levitated the Elements and resumed her search for the exit. ''Might as well return to Ponyville if I can. Better than waiting to be found by one of those star dragons.

******

Nyx mentally recalibrated her helmet to its low-light setting and looked around. She was inside an ancient stone structure that had not seen use for a long time. "Hello? Are you there? Does this means you want to do things the old-fashioned way, where I take your nation by force?"

"Not quite." Nyx spun around to see a midnight black alicorn dressed in blue armor. She was levitating a magic sword in the form of a scimitar at her side. "This means that I take up my role as the Shield of Equestria. I would rather not slay thee, but I will if I needs must."

"Good. I do not enjoy playing emissary to lesser species." She raised her own blade. "Testing myself against a god, however, is an opportunity I do not wish to waste."

"Indeed. Thou shall not have a second chance." Sparks flew as their blades met.

Notes: Trixie's little oath is a reference to Cadence, fyi. Headcanon: Cadence and any other "alicorns" (I think there should be more so that Cadence is less unique and important.) are not godlike beings like Celestia and Luna. I count them as mutants that end up being both unicorn and pegasus. (This, coincidentally, allows for pegasus/earth and unicorn/earth mutants as well. Maybe Fluttershy is actually pegasus/earth?) Maybe "alicorns" like this aren't necessarily recognized as just being mutants, so they might find it easy to get pushed into royalty. Alternatively (or maybe additionally), and as implied by Trixie, the other alicorns are a result of Celestia or Luna (cmon it would obviously be Celestia) being a little free occasionally, if you know what I mean. They still don't have god powers though. Just unicorns with wings.

Chapter 29

Chapter 29
******

Tyr picked himself up off the ground. That last teleportation had set him off again, and he was feeling the effects of too much magic saturating his system. He spun around when he heard a magic sword being summoned. "Aether."

Aether approached him with his sword at the ready. "Hello, mutant. Nyx wanted to give you a chance to live, but I'm not going to take chances at this point."

"Oh? What would the other High Instructors say?"

"Your creator and your shield are dead. The others are dead or subservient to Nyx."

Tyr stumbled as he summoned his own blade. 'Syn and Thanatos are dead? That would explain Nyx knowing.' "Murder is a vile thing, Aether."

"They were no longer tools of the Escape. Their right to life was forfeit. As is yours."

"Hey!" They both turned to see Tiamat run into the room. "Where's Nyx?!" Tyr and Aether exchanged looks before shaking their heads. "Void!" Tiamat turned and ran from the room.

"Um..."

"Right. Back to killing you." They both entered fighting stances and charged.

******

Nyx ran for her life. Things were not supposed to be this way! The whole point of founding the Escape was to avoid having to fear for her life! And yet, here she was, alone on an alien planet, save for Aether, who didn't really count anyway, running from an enraged goddess. 'Blasted overconfidence... why did I think a cripple like me could take her on!'

She had managed to hold her own for a few minutes, but then the alicorn had started flinging spells around and teleporting. She had taken that as the sign to switch to tactical retreat mode. The hallway she was running down ended at another hallway. She could see forest through a window placed at the intersection. 'An outside wall. Maybe there's an exit nearby.' She turned left and saw Luna advancing. 'How did she get over there? I though she was behind me!'

"I advise that you surrender! As I said I would rather not be forced to slay you!"

Nyx sighed. "And what will you do to me if I do surrender?"

"That is yet to be determine. However-" Nyx didn't hear anything else that the alicorn might have said. Said alicorn was likely standing in shock, having witnessed another figure crash into Nyx, flinging both of them out the third story window.

Nyx herself reacted to this development by flaring her wings and attempting to position the assailant beneath her. A moment later she was met with a loud, unnatural cracking and pain shooting up her legs. She looked down at her assailant, a female starborn. She coughed. "Void..."

"One of Tyr's allies, I assume?"

"You... tyrant. I'm...Tiamat. Ack... alone." Nyx examined her injuries and found that she had landed on her back beneath Nyx's feet. Considering the higher gravity of this planet and the distance they had fallen, Nyx was surprised that she was still alive.

"You threw away your life for nothing? On your own initiative? I would regret your death, but I'm beginning to question your usefulness to the Escape."

Tiamat switched to using her translator. She was evidently having trouble articulating through her pain. "You don't need my life story. A friend taught me what it means to die for something, instead of nothing. Humans are idiots, but sometimes they have good ideas."

Nyx tried to stand but fell to her hands when pain shot through her legs again. They were most likely cracked from the fall. She braced herself and stood anyway. She ripped off her chestplate to reduce her weight and started walking, slowly but surely. "I... would stay... and help, but... I have... to find Aether. May void... welcome you."

"May the Escape burn!"

******

Trixie found herself once again in the entry chamber to the castle. 'Why do important things keep happening here?' She heard footsteps and watched as Kuthrine and Anderson entered the castle. Trixie sighed in relief. "Oh good. I was worried for a moment!"

Kuthrine froze upon hearing her voice. "Trixie? What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story. Right now I need to keep these away from Nyx. Also from Tyr, I think."

Anderson readied his weapon. "Nyx is here?"

"Yes! That's what I said!" Trixie checked the other entrances to the room. "She's trying to take over Equestria. Maybe you two can..." She trailed off when she noticed that she was alone again. She looked out the main entrance to see the two humans sprinting off into the forest. "Hmph. Fine! Abandon me! See if I care! It's not as if I was planning to stay here anyway."

Trixie saw Nyx approaching out of the corner of her eye and ducked back inside. "Oh no oh no oh no!" She backed into a darkened corner and hid the elements behind her, looking for a better place to hide. She heard sword fighting approaching and pressed further into the corner.

A moment later she saw Tyr tumble down a straircase built into one side of the room. Aether jumped down a moment later and swept Tyr's sword out of his hand. Judging by Tyr's cry of pain and the way he held himself, he had taken part of his right arm along with it.

"Void welcome you, mutant."

"Aether, stop!" they turned to see Nyx limping inside. "Always overeager to kill. And stop calling him mutant. Now that I can actually see his "discoloration" it's hardly far from pleasing."

She handed Aether her sword. He backed away and allowed Nyx to stand in front of Tyr. Tyr growled. "What, then, Nyx, if not death?"

She opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Try stabbed her through the back with her sword. Trixie muffled a gasp. "Aetherrr... you glorrrrious... idiot! Bwahahaha...ha...haha...ah." Aether released the sword and let her fall to the floor.

"Fear not, Nyx. Your name will live on, untarnished, as I lead our Escape. I couldn't let you ruin everything, including your record. Void welcome you." Tyr just sat there, shocked into silence. Aether raised his own blade.

Trixie looked around. She didn't want to let Tyr die like this. A shock to her rear made her jump. She spun around and noticed that the elements were sparking. A spark touched her horn and the world fell away, revealing six pony-shaped beings of pure color: orange, pink, blue, green, red, and purple. The purple "pony" spoke

"Hello, Trixie. I am Harmony."

Notes: Only one more chapter, I think. This story shall finally be complete!

Chapter 30

Chapter 30
******

Trixie blinked a few times. This... was not what she had expected. "You... your the spirits of the Elements of Harmony?"

Harmony shook its head. "That is not the most accurate way of phrasing it. Technically, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie are the current spirits of the Elements of Harmony."

"What!? They're the spirits of Harmony? I mean, I heard the stories, but I didn't know it was them..."

"Yes. They are. I am Harmony. Forgive the pronoun, I know there are six of me. But then again, odd methods of speech aren't exactly foreign to you, are they?"

"Are you mocking Trixie?" Laughter erupted from the blue one.

If Harmony had a face, Trixie was sure it would be smiling. "Yes. Don't be so angry."

"Equestria is in trouble! Tyr is about to be killed and you interrupt things to make fun of me?"

"Your essencethiefriend is alive. If you like, consider time stopped for the moment. It's true enough from your perspective. As I was saying before, I am Harmony. The Elements of Harmony are my tools. One for each of me, representing my favored trait. If you want to know more, you might hazard asking Celestia or Luna. They know much more of my history than I do. I do not know how much they wish to hide or distort, however."

The orange one spoke up. "I would like to believe that they wouldn't. But it is not in my power to prevent them."

The red one seemed to become agitated. "I trust them to forgo honesty when appropriate. The safety and happiness of their people are not without intrinsic value."

The blue one giggled again. "I shouldn't argue in front of my guest! Her confusion won't be very fun at this rate!"

Harmony, or rather the purple Harmony, since apparently all of them were Harmony, coughed. "Indeed. I will remain the speaker. Before we go any further, do you have any questions, Trixie?"

"Um... right. Yes, what did you mean by "essence thief friend"? I assume you are referring to Tyr?"

"When Tyr touched my tools, he was wearing your energy. I assume he stole some of your magic when he first met you. Luna spoke with us just recently. She confirmed that his essence seemed different, around the time when you apparently met him. Do you not recall anything happening?"

"No, I... well, I did have a gash below my horn after I first met him... but Trixie just assumed I had gotten it while running through the forest. Is that relevant?"

Harmony was silent for a moment. "Perhaps. These creatures seem to operate on the basic of blood to a great extent. I have never encountered anything like them before. Any other questions?"

Trixie took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "What do you need me to do?"

Blue erupted into laughter once more, while Orange seemed to deflate slightly, as if disappointed. Harmony turned away and began circling Trixie. "Celestia has not been very informative as to my nature, then. So many ponies seem to think that I am some sort of ruler or judge. I have no desire to command any of you. I seek to enhance my aspects where I can. If loyalty, kindness, honesty, generosity, laughter, or magic can be increased, preferably without sacrificing any of the others, I will act."

Blue snorted, but managed to keep from laughing. "It helps if it's fun, too! Which is why I have an idea! I'm going to give you a choice!"

Pink spoke, noticeably quieter than the others. "Which is not to imply that you would not have had a choice otherwise. You could always refuse. What I mean is this:"

Green lowered her head. "My gift to you will be one of several options. Refusal is still always an option, as i said. The options I present are based on the assumption that you seek to save Equestria."

Red's agitation seemed to grow. "I certainly hope that I am correct. Luna has infused our tools with energy by sparking us with her magic. This was how she teleported all of us to this castle. We will give you some of this energy. The first option is this: you can imprison Aether in stone. Or use another spell, of course. Such a spell requires a large amount of energy, however, especially if we assist you in casting it before Tyr is killed."

Green raised its head again. "The second option is so: you can ascend. A third true-alicorn. Your domain would be tricky to decide. You are one of the few that are skilled in the school of weather manipulation, so perhaps storms? The pegasi would then be free to pursue other careers. Perhaps aerospace engineering. I understand we have recently acquired alien spacecraft to study."

Trixie gaped. "W-What? Just like that? You would make me a goddess? Why?"

Purple coughed again. "Perhaps you think you are not "worthy"? I'll admit you do not display all the aspects of the Elements, perfectly, but you are fairly loyal when you attach yourself to something. You are not exactly honest, but there is a kind of honor that you try to uphold. Kindness isn't hard for you, but you don't exactly pursue it. Generosity... well your desired career is based on a desire to share with your audience, but at the same time you are fairly selfish. Laughter is a weakness of yours. Magic is inherent in your talent, and is one of your passions, but you are far from perfect."

Trixie glared. She didn't like this thing criticizing her. She wasn't a bad pony!

"No, you are far from perfect, but you are not a bad pony. What pony is perfect? At any rate, I think you are improving, and I see potential for you. Besides, Luna and Celestia obviously do not embody the nature of the Elements perfectly, and yet remain "goddesses" as you call them. Frankly, the reason I would make you an alicorn is because I think it would improve the aspect of magic, if not the others."

Pink spoke up. "If you accept, we will expend our excess energy. You will be able to easily deal with Aether, but not before He cuts down Tyr. He may prove useful in protecting Equestria, one way or another, so you might wish to take the other option. However, you could easily assume control of The Escape yourself. They are leaderless, and the majority are trained for unquestioning loyalty, as far as I know."

"You... are suggesting I become a dictator?"

Orange sighed. "If you want to use that word, I can't stop you. Celestia and Luna clearly enjoy their positions of power. Anyway, it's not a suggestion, it's an option. Besides, I am not inherently a force for good, I am a force for harmony, or, more specifically, I am a force for Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and/or Magic. Anyway, those are the options."

Trixie looked at the ground. Becoming a goddess was nothing to sneer at. But did she really want that? Almost unlimited power, ponies waiting on her day and night, potentially her own army of loyal aliens even. She would enter the royalty on her own merits, instead of her parents, and she would be a leader instead of a follower. She could even reunite with her parents! It would still be awkward, but how could she feel ashamed returning as a god?

She sighed. 'No, I don't think I want to be an alicorn. I want to show the world what unicorns are capable of, and that only really works if I'm a unicorn. And what kind of heroic story would this be if I suddenly became a god just in time to fix everything? Sure, the audience would eat it up anyway, but I want higher standards for my future shows! Besides... I don't want to let Tyr die. We aren't really friends, but I don't want him dead.'

She looked back at Harmony. "Help me stop Aether."

Purple sighed. "Very well, if you are sure of your decision."

Blue seemed to sink a bit. "Awww, that's not as fun!"

Green started prancing about. "I hope you wont regret this. I think you won't!"

Trixie felt the colors fade away as she returned to her own body.

As Trixie disappeared, Pink turned to face Red. "I'm almost fearful that she will partly succeed."

Orange looked at her. "Oh?"

Red shrugged. "Well yeah. So far it seems like many of those involved are achieving their goals, or part of them, to the letter in the worst possible way, at least from their own perspective."

Purple shook its head. "Enough. Let's prepare to cast the spell."

******

Trixie opened her eyes to see Aether still standing above Tyr, sword descending. A split second later, she felt power surge through her. 'Stone spell stone spell stone spell!' A bolt of energy flew from her horn and struck Aether in the back of the head. He froze and then crumpled to the ground.

Trixie felt a voice in her head. 'The spell was less powerful than what a full usage of the Elements would have been. I am afraid that we merely destroyed his brain. Luna shall be arriving shortly. I will do no more.' The Elements stopped sparking and Trixie felt drained. She slowly walked over to Tyr. "I turned down immortality to save your life. Sort of. Okay it wasn't all about you but Trixie still demands that you appreciate her sacrifice! You're going to help us deal with your invading nation."

"You... I... thank you? Yes, with Nyx gone I think I can work to stop The Escape from harming you. I had thought Syn would be reorganizing things, but I suppose that falls to me. Where's Tiamat?"

At the moment Luna entered the room. "I assume that you refer to the remaining member of your kind? She's dead. Nyx landed on her when she knocked her out of a third story window. Your kind seems fairly fragile."

Tyr slumped against the wall. "I see. I had hoped she might be able to help me with the humans." A beep came from Nyx's body. Tyr reached over and pulled her helmet off. He ripped the communication device off and held it to his ear. "Yes?"

A burst of static came through, followed by Anderson's voice. "Hey, which lizard are you? I can't tell your voices apart."

"This is Tyr."

"Ah! Great! I assume you're still arguably on our side? We've got this dras cruiser up here in orbit, and we aren't really sure how to fly it. I'm assuming Nyx is dead? Why don't you grab Nyx's shuttle and meet us up here. You can help us end this stupid war before it get warmed up."

Tyr sighed. "Yes. You should return first." He glanced at Luna. "There is some politicking to be done before we depart."

******

Later...

Trixie sat in Twilight's library, levitating a medal and staring at it. Twilight came down the stairs leading to her room. "Still staring at the medal Trixie? Are you upset that you didn't get anything bigger?"

"Trixie is wondering why she received even this."

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks. "What? Trixie being humble? When did this happen?"

"I'm not a hero, Twilight. I may like to pretend to be one, but I'm not. That's what the Great and Powerful Trixie is: a way for me to try and become a hero, even if it's only on stage. I didn't even do anything. I just shot an alien in the back of the head. And that was while I was channeling some ancient, powerful artifacts, so it wasn't even as though I did it myself."

Twilight shook her head. "At the risk of feeding your ego, you did do a lot of important things! You found the aliens in the first place, even if you didn't tell us the truth at first. You learned a lot about them, and managed to get Tyr on our side, one way or another. Without Tyr, the dras would have no one on their side working for peace."

Trixie continued examining the medal, tilting it from side to side. "What did they decide on anyway?"

Twilight sighed. "Princess Celestia wouldn't give me the details. I think she was still preoccupied with her... whatever it is that she and Princess Luna are doing right now. I mean, she didn't seem mad while I was there, but Luna seemed to be taking every little thing she said way too seriously, and I saw Celestia frown a few times! Frown! I just hope that they can resolve things soon.

"Anyway, She did tell me that Tyr, Kuthrine, and Anderson were all leaving for Earth. Tyr sent out a message for all dras to cease hostilities, and the three of them were going to end the war and get rid of the police state the humans have fallen into. Somehow. Apparently Anderson is part of some secret organization that will handle it. Like I said, I didn't get any details, but I did hear something about Kuthrine using a spell that you taught her to help a lot of people." Twilight shot her a sly grin.

Trixie slammed the medal down on the table and glared at her. "Okay! Trixie admits it. She is a powerful, heroic unicorn that saved Equestria from certain doom! Are you happy now? What about Equestria, since I saved it and everything?"

"Well, after they fix everything, they're going to leave Equestria alone. Princess Luna didn't want them bothering us, and Princess Celestia didn't really object. Celestia told me that she set up some way to remain in contact, though, just in case."

"Mmmm..."

Twilight tilted her head. "Trixie? Is something wrong?"

"Well... Trixie was wondering... you haven't exactly... fired her. Does this mean that she is still allowed to reside and work here?"

Twilight chuckled. "Of course, or Great and Powerful Trixie. I'm not about to turn you out when you just helped save Equestria. Maybe we can try actually becoming friends this time?"

Trixie lowered her gaze. Maybe she could allow herself to be friends with Twilight. She hadn't betrayed her yet, even given ample opportunity and reason to do so.

She glanced back at Twilight and smiled. "Yes. Trixie can accept that."

******

Bonus ending:

Tyr listened to the Empire news feed detailing the end of the recently reignited Dras War. All drones were released when the citizens of the Empire learned that they were actually slaves. Umbra had been rooted out and shut down after the mages were freed from compulsory service. The U.N. was apparently still arguing over mages rights, but progress was being made. They were also working toward demilitarizing space again.

Tyr heard a door slide open as Kuthrine entered the common room. "Looks like team "peace and prosperity" is winning. I'm still foggy as to why your helping us. I thought you just wanted nothing to do with humanity."

"I learned to look at things differently. Tiamat helped me realize that, as children of the stars, we are all cousins. Trixie helped me realize that there is a benefit to us working together. Something like Nyx's ideals, but embracing the reality of our shared existence."

"Wow. Trust a dras to get all philosophical at the slightest provocation. What are you going to do about the Escape?"

"I do not know yet. Our nomadic lifestyle necessitates conflict from time to time, but I have no desire to see more... do you think the Empire would mind sparing some of its Jovian satellites?"

"I don't know? We don't really use most of them, but gifting land to foreigners for nothing isn't exactly a time-honored human tradition. Do you want to settle them?"

"It is a possibility. I will petition your United Nations. If they refuse, we can always find somewhere else. There are also our clients. They will have to be handled on a case by case basis. I think humanity should be included in determining their fate: some of them may not be friendly toward your people, and I would not want to set them loose on you unannounced."

"Right. Opaque is gonna have a field day with that. What about Equestria?"

"Time will tell, I believe is the idiom. Time will tell."

Chapter 1

Chapter 1
******

The Strategist waits in the shadows, watching the others leave the clearing. They pay him no heed. They leave behind a victim, tied to the ground. She has been broken. Unobstructed by The Spring's purple foliage and bereft of her magic, she will surely die. She hisses at the pain. The scene is sickening. This cannot be allowed to happen ever again. The Strategist steps forward.

******

The Tyrant stands above the world known as Death. It will have to go. It is as simple as that. Her cohort advises enslaving the tribes. His strategies are brilliant, of that there is no doubt. But no. She may hate those that stand against her glorious Escape, but she is no monster. If they do not join her in improving their race, then she will offer them the dignity of embracing the void over forced servitude. The Tyrant gives the order.

******

The Knight cowers from his actions. He led the operation. It was what he was ordered to do. She would not lead him ill. Would she? His mentor finds him. She advises treason. The founder is not following reason. She will destroy the Escape. Destroy herself. They must stop her. The doctor is already with her. They will rescue the Escape. Rescue her. His mentor leaves him to his thoughts. The knights waits.

******

The Traitor double checks the sensors. They were right the first time. A star that orbits its planet. And this is where the trail leads. Interesting. There are powerful energies radiating from the planet. Perhaps a method of ascension can be found here. The Traitor grins.

******

The Princess senses something. Another creature of the night. It is magical, but in a strange way. How exciting! She must tell her sister at once! She runs to her co-ruler at once. A heated discussion follows. Her mind fills with anger. Dangerous? Are fear and terror all her domain entails? Does her own authority not even extend to handling the issue? Her sister is already the more beloved of the two, and now she seeks to take even more power! Well, something must be done about that! The Princess laughs.

******

The Sentinel watches the sky, watching the invaders retreat. He is only a child, one of the youngest to witness this critical moment. They are not alone, and their neighbors are dangerous. Some of their own, mages, have also revealed themselves to be a risk. Something must be done to protect humanity from these dangers. Maybe he could do his part. Even if it is a small part, maybe he could help his fellows. The sentinel nods to himself.

******

The Scholar slams her head into a wall. She slides to the floor, crying, scratching at the focuser on her head. This wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want to be a slave in all but name, a trained dog on her master's leash. And those fools, calling themselves Umbra. They said they offered freedom, but it's just the leash changing hands. Still, it might be her best choice, if she wants to avoid conscription. She could stick to academia. The Scholar wipes her eyes.

******

The Rogue exits the shuttle. G5-N(S), that was her designation. Generation-V, Navigation, Security Caste. She must report to the bridge for assignment. The "clients" of this particular ship could prove dangerous. A magic sword is suddenly at her neck. It's owner demands that she take her to the High Instructors so that she can kill them. Negligible threat to The Escape. Minimal threat to High Instructors. Heightened threat to self. The attacker seems to be expecting her to resist. The Rogue obliges.

******

The Mage looks to his parents, then back at the recruiter. This could give him a future. He could learn to control his power. He wouldn't have to fear being ostracized. He was practically having a career presented on a silver platter. Safe and educated with a solid career. The recruiters passes him a document. The Mage signs.

******

The Student opens her eyes and gets to her hooves. Everypony else is waking up as well. She notices that they all wear a physical manifestation of their element, a necklace with their cutie mark. She herself has a big crown thingy. She is reunited with her teacher, and witnesses the return of Equestria's second Princess. She did it. She helped Nightmare Moon. Helping others. She could make a habit of that. The Student smiles.

******

The Bard casts one final look over her shoulder before looking ahead once more. The past can't help her. Can't harm her. It'll have to go. It's as simple as that. The future is all that matters. Her dream is foolish, given her situation. Her dream can help her. Can... harm her. But that is the risk of pursuing greatness. The Bard trots forward.

******
Notes: You may have noticed this is a new first chapter. I've been restructuring the story a little bit.
Changes are noted in the second intermission, if you don't want to reread the whole story.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6
******

"Trixie! Wake up! It's time for breakfast!" Twilight stood at the foot of her stairs, tapping her hoof. It was technically closer to lunch, but Trixie still hadn't gotten out of bed. Twilight had half a mind to just ignore her, but she had decided that morning to be a good host, just to spite Trixie: she obviously didn't expect any kindness from Twilight, and Twilight wanted to prove her wrong. Maybe she could get through to the azure unicorn and get her to shape up in the process.

Trixie, meanwhile, wasn't asleep, but curled up under her sheets, thinking. 'Come on, Trixie. Get up. You've just been sitting here, cowering. It's a new day, time to face it. Imagine if Rapier saw you like this, hiding in bed like a filly.' She frowned. 'Hmph. What should I care what Rapier would think. I don't need his approval. I'm The Great and Powerful Trixie! I make my own decisions! SO WHY CAN'T I JUST GET UP!' She snorted and kicked her sheets off, forcing herself to her feet. 'Finally...'

She made her way downstairs to see an impatient purple unicorn waiting for her. "Trixie is awake. I suppose you've taken it upon yourself to feed her? Trying to make up for your pitiful hospitality yesterday, I assume." Twilight's face flushed with anger. Trixie seemed to turn everything into a way to attack her character. By the time Twilight could think up a reply, Trixie was already at the table, helping herself to a daisy sandwich. Twilight sighed and joined her.

"I don't suppose you could try not making this harder than it has to be, Trixie?" Trixie looked confused.

"Make what harder, Twilight?"

Twilight brought a hoof to her face. "Ugh. You know what I'm talking about. Us. Our interactions. You've made yourself my assistant, somehow, so we are going to have to deal with each other."

Trixie smirked. "Twilight doesn't have to ability to maintain a professional attitude in the face of ponies she doesn't like? My, I had figured you were more capable than this."

"Ugh, why are you even here? Don't you have a home you could go back to? You know, pick up your life somewhere other than my library?"

"Hmph. Tactless. Last I recall, my home was underneath a rather large, celestial, blue paw."

Twilight's ears fell back as she lowered her gaze. "Oh. Right. Wait, you mean that was all you had? What about your family?"

Trixie blushed. 'That's an odd reaction.' "Trixie fails to see how Trixie's family is any of your concern!"

"It's my concern when Trixie is sitting in my house, homeless and without any bits."

Trixie sputtered at this. "Wh-why you! ARGH! Fine." Trixie composed herself. "To answer your question, Trixie has no family that could assist her right now. I hope your curiosity has been sated." Trixie pushed her half eaten sandwich away. "Now, I have a welcome party to prepare for. I may as well go assist that bouncing pink pony. Good day, Twilight Sparkle." Trixie left the library, slamming the door behind her.

'I can't help but feel that that could have gone better...' Twilight sighed.

******

Twilight and Applejack made their way to Sugarcube Corner. It was late in the evening, and fireflies danced in the air. A cool breeze made its way through the town. The streets were mostly empty at this hour.

"I'll still don't see why we gotta go to this party."

"I told you. It would be rude to Trixie to not show up."

"Still don't see it."

"Ugh. Because it would be rude to Pinkie Pie too, okay?"

"Hmmm... well, okay then. As long as Trixie don't cause any trouble."

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her. With any luck, Pinkie Pie will have worn her out already. She said she was gonna help her set up to party, so I doubt she has the energy to cause any trouble."

"What? Why'd she want to set up her own party? That don't make any sense."

"I don't know, alright!" Applejack took a step back. Twilight lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, Applejack. I'm just having trouble understanding Trixie. You know how I get when I don't understand something."

"Aw, no big whoop, sugarcube. I don't have much patience for that mare either."

"Anyway, I think she might have just wanted to see Pinkie. She was flirting with her the other day."

"Who was flirting with me?" A pink head suddenly popped up in front of them.

"Ah! Pinkie! Don't do that!" She just giggled and started bouncing around. Twilight just shook her head. "How was Trixie, anyway? She said she was going to see you this morning."

"GASP! She did? That's funny because I haven't seen her all day. Well, not really, but I guess really since it was night time when I did see her. She just arrived at the party a little while ago, and wow is she a party animal! Last I saw she and Berry Punch were dancing!"

"Wait, she only just arrived?" Twilight glanced at Applejack. "Then what was she doing to whole day?" At this point in the narrative, the reader might be interested to learn that Trixie had in fact spent the day at the Ponyville's spa on Twilight's Tab. It would be some time before Twilight realized this.

"Maybe we should ask her, Twi. Then again, she'll probably just lie again." By now they had reached Sugarcube Corner. "Well, let's get this over with."

As Twilight entered, she was assaulted by color, sound, and smell. Streamers and balloons filled the store, music drowned out the ponies conversing left and right, and sweets and drinks were neatly arranged on several tables. Twilight searched for Trixie, wanting to make sure she didn't get into trouble. Her jaw dropped when she saw her in the corner, apparently passionately making out with Berry Punch. They both looked fairly drunk.

As Twilight made her way over to Trixie, she suddenly threw Berry to the floor and stood on her back legs. "An thas how tha Gree-ayt an Powerrrr... uh... Powwwwerful Trixie defeated tha... uh... somethin..." She looked around blearily, noticing that no one was paying her much attention. "Whateverrr, you all make me sick any-away. Oh, purpal, there you be! Ye would not believe it, us-u-ally, mares kissing gets way loads lot more attenshyon. Hey, why you got a horn, purrrpal?" Trixie giggled as Twilight dragged her towards the kitchen.

Berry sat up. "Nooo! Trixie! I -hic- love you!"

Trixie winked back at her. "I know, Ber-Ber."

Twilight was incredulous. "I can't believe Berry brought liquor to this party. And I can't believe you went and got drunk with her. What's the matter with you, Trixie?"

"Pffft, go away, MOM! I dun need an-an... uh... aneyapony like you tellin me what I canancansha... er... -hic- by Discord's seventh nipple lemme go!"

"What?"

"I dun need no help from stinkin eunuch horns! You make me -hic- sick!" Twilight gasped and nearly dropped Trixie on the floor. The slur was fairly old, practically archaic. Racism between tribes was taboo in modern times. What made it really awkward was that Trixie was a unicorn herself. A few nearby ponies glared at her. Others pointedly pretended not to hear what she had said.

"Trixie! Pull yourself together! You're making a fool-"

"Shut up, Mom! Whyda you care anyway? You never payed any attention before! I'll run away again if you dun buzz off! Canch you just lemme lone?" Trixie now had tears in her eyes. Twilight had no idea what she was supposed to do in this situation. She eventually got her into the kitchen, away from everypony else. 'Where did all this come from? Did something happen with her mom?'

"Trixie! Listen, calm down. Why don't you tell me what happened with your family?"

Trixie just collapsed on the floor. "Nooooooooooooo! -hic- You'll jus laugh at meeeeeeeeeeee!" Trixie was inconsolable. "If ponies knew Ima shelfis brat they wouln respec meeeee!"

Twilight rolled her eyes and retorted without thinking. "Trixie, ponies already think you're a selfish bra-." Twilight bit her tongue, hoping she hadn't made things worse. Trixie didn't appear to have heard or cared, anyway. "Look, just tell me what happened."

Trixie had managed to get her emotions back under control a little. Twilight was somewhat impressed that she hadn't actually cried, given how distraught she seemed. Trixie smiled for a moment, apparently thinking of something amusing, then frowned and turned her head towards Twilight. "Fine, oh magnan-hic-nanimous purple eunuch horn." Twilight winced. "Trixie's parent's died when she was very young. Trixie felt guilty at first, but got over it. Satisfied, purple?"

Trixie's shift in tone and nonchalant attitude towards her parents' deaths threw Twilight off. 'I wish she wasn't so difficult to deal with.' "Not really, but I'm sorry for your loss. That still doesn't excuse your behavior. Come on, we're getting you to bed. I need you sober and rested for tomorrow." Twilight dragged Trixie out of the kitchen and made her way to the exit.

"Hey, where are you going? The party isn't over yet!" Pinkie had intercepted them at the door.

"Sorry, Pinkie, but Trixie is too drunk to party right now. I'm taking her home." Pinkie waggled her eyebrows at Twilight. "What? Ugh, no Pinkie. Just, no."

"Indee, tha GreashanPowrflu Trishy woul never let a purple like purpal have s-"

"Shut up, Trixie. You too, Pinkie. I don't have to patience for this right now. Goodbye."

"Bye, cutie! I'm busszy getting foalnapped!" Trixie winked at Pinkie, who just giggled.

"Okay, bye Twilight! Bye Trixie! Sorry you couldn't stay longer!" The two left. The party was noticeably quieter after Trixie's little outburst, but everypony seemed to be back to having fun. "I guess I'll just have to throw her another party to make up for it!"

******

"Ugh, my head..." Trixie was currently in Twilight's spare bed, trying very hard to be unconscious again.'Ber-Ber didn't tell me that stuff was' that strong. See if I ever even grace her with a glance ever again. Trixie rolled over on her stomach, holding a pillow over her head. 'What did I even tell Twilight last night? What was that one phrase I used? Discord's seventh nipple? That's a good one. I should remember that one. Hehehe! Ow...' Trixie heard somepony moving things downstairs. Twilight had said something about finally putting Trixie to work like she had wanted. 'Maybe I should have just gone with performing tricks on street corners. Heh, tricks, hehehe ow.' She pulled the pillow tighter. 'Maybe that Celestia-damned unicorn has an hangover curing spell. But then she'll hold that over my head. And if she doesn't, she'll still hold it over my head. Well buck her, I don't need her help!'

Trixie grumbled and climbed out of bed. A nearby clock reported a few hours until noon. Trixie made her way downstairs and saw a large amount of glass-work laying around. Apparently, Twilight was preparing for some chemistry experiments. "Twilight, ugh, where are you?"

Twilight ascended from the basement with more glass. "Oh, good morning Trixie. Since you conducted yourself so spectacularly at the party last night, I decided to give you your first assignment as my assistant. Also, in case your were too... preoccupied to remember last night, I'm sorry about the loss of your parents."

"Huh? Oh, right, of course." Trixie suddenly glared at her. "Wait, I mean no! Don't you dare pity Trixie! She has no need for it!"

Twilight seemed taken aback. "Um... okay? Anyway, I need you to go collect some plants from the Everfree forest. I have a list here, but the most important one to bring back is a flower with a large blue bulb. I need several of them for my experiments. Good luck!"

"Hmph. I didn't volunteer to be a pack mule to be sent on fetch quests. This is far beneath my talents."

"You volunteered, no, insisted on being my assistant. Unless you are comfortable with accepting your bed as charity?" Twilight smirked. If there was one thing she could understand and exploit about Trixie, it was her pride.

Trixie seethed. "Fine! I'll retrieve your Luna-forsaken plants!" Trixie stormed out of the library in a huff.

Twilight just rolled her eyes. Evidently, Trixie was of the night clan, unicorns who accept Luna as their patron. Twilight herself was of the day clan by heritage, but didn't consider herself as a strict member, despite her adoration of Princess Celestia. Still, it figured that Trixie would be in the opposite clan. Fate, if there was such a thing, seemed determined to set up Twilight and Trixie as rivals.

She went back to setting up her equipment with a smirk. 'I hope she reads the directions on that checklist. It would truly be a tragedy if she exposed herself to poison joke because of her arrogance.'

Chapter 23

Chapter 23
******

Meanwhile, an unspecified amount of time in the past...

Tiamat did not decide to rebel against the Escape in a single night. No, it was a gradual process. At first she was as loyal and dedicated as any other. But being abandoned to being hunted by omegas, even if it was the logical choice, did little to strengthen her loyalty. Twenty years of slavery, living under the effects of a mind-blanking collar, eroded much of her conditioning. Still, even then outright opposition to the escape seemed ludicrous.

To learn that her freedom was incidental to some political ploy, and that absolute loyalty to the escape from all members would have ensured her death? Rusted though they may be, her chains held fast. It took a clever observation by her human "friend", Kelly, to push her over the edge.

"It's so weird. You dras are all about individualism and self-interest. Practically to the point where you don't even recognize the rights of other sentient lifeforms. And here you are, dedicating every breath and drop of blood to your precious leaders with no concern for your own desires. I stand by my assertion that your race is a walking paradox."

And just like that, something clicked into place. Tiamat realized that, as far as she was concerned, the "super-organism" that is the Escape, Nyx's dream of perfection, was a failure. She was already an outcast, no matter how she approached the issue. Why should she dedicate herself to helping another creature? The whole point of working for the Escape was that she was one with it. Now that she wasn't, it was simply another rival.

She now had a new goal. She would use Tyr, allowing him to weaken the Escape with his political games. Then, she would either eliminate it as a competitor, or use it to her own ends. If she was lucky, she might find a way to instate herself as a High Instructor.

And then he had died. Well, the total number of living organisms that she felt any connection to was now zero. She tried to think of a reason for why she couldn't just obliterate every living thing.

She failed.

Why let them waste resources that she could use? She could reshape the universe, given enough time. Maximize efficiency, minimize entropy. Order and stability and the good kind of harmony, where everything isn't equal and balanced by virtue of heat death. Maybe she could get power from the elements, too. That would probably expedite things.

'There's that unicorn. Still alive, too. The female mage is still nearby as well. Intriguing.' She scooped up the unconscious unicorn in her arms and abandoned the camp. 'Void welcome high-gravity worlds and all their inhabitants! At least these creatures are small.' The Empire's little soldiers in orbit would soon be coming down for damage control, and it wouldn't be wise to stay nearby.

******

Kuthrine swore as the purple unicorn and Tyr disappeared in a flash of light. She had just realized the Kelly was no doubt dead. Her status as a member of "Umbra" had saved her the trouble of getting her brain fried from the effects of overloading an unmodified focusing helmet. This meant that the ship in orbit was being piloted by Umbra operatives. They had just killed all non-Umbra mages in order to make it easier to rescue her.

Kuthrine really hated Umbra, sometimes. Okay, it was most of the time. Alright, all of the time. But it was only sometimes that she hated it more than the Empire or "Opaque". She also hated whatever morons came up with these names. 'Ooh! Let's think up silly little names laden with poorly attempted symbolism! It's what secret organizations are supposed to do, donchya know!'

Making her way back to the camp, she stumbled upon Tiamat, struggling to carry an unconscious Trixie. "Have you seen Kelly?" Might as well confirm his fate.

"Dead." She grunted and fell to her knees... some of her knees... whatever. "Help me carry her!"

"Right, I'll be right back..." She sprinted off toward the camp.

"Time is an issue, human!"

Upon entering the camp, she was horrified to see that Kelly, or rather his body, was on fire, having fallen haphazardly into the campfire. 'G-! No, screw protocol! God dammit! Tiamat couldn't even be assed to drag him off?' She quickly focused her thoughts through her focuser and put the fire out through a simple redistribution of heat.

She rolled him onto his back and examined the damage. Several second degree and a couple third degree burns covered his right shoulder and the right side of his face. 'Good thing these aren't lethal to the dead.' His focusing helmet hadn't suffered any obvious heat damage, but it was clearly fried beyond repair. 'Useless...'

No doubt about it now. The ship in orbit had fired a "magic" pulse at the forest. Essentially a compressed wave of arcane energy, the pulse was only really threatening to magic-based or magic-integrated devices. The focusing helmet (sans illegal modifications) was designed to overload the wearer's mind in the event of a pulse. The overload renders the wearer unconscious, comatose, or dead, depending on the energy level of the pulse.

'So long, Kelly. At least you missed out on most of the indignities. Maybe I'll start a revolution in your honor or something.' She stood and returned to Tiamat, who was currently struggling to lift a small mammal.

"You know, once you strip away your haughty, graceful demeanor and implied power, you dras are rather pathetic, aren't you?"

"Help me carry her!" Kuthrine obliged, picking up Trixie without much difficulty.

"So, where are we headed?"

"There's some ruins nearby. We shall hide there."

"Sounds good to me."

******

"Reynolds, secure the area."

"Right-o." He sent his three UGV's to scout the nearby woods. His current UAV was still patrolling the skies above.

Kuthrine signaled him to ready his weapon "Come out with your hands up!"

A figure emerged from the wrecked spacecraft, his hands empty and raised above his head. "Yeah, yeah, I'm comin' alright?"

"Identify yourself!"

"Anderson, security officer, assigned to protect Professor Kuthrine and Neophyte Kelly." He nodded at Reynolds "He shady?"

Reynolds lowered his weapon. "The hell is this, U?"

Anderson rolled his eyes. "I guess that's a yes. I didn't know you guys would snap me up and then pull a stunt like this. Coulda just told me if you wanted Kelly dead. Coulda told your Kuthrine girl too, really."

Urika glared at him. "How do you know we're Umbra?"

"You guys snagged me, remember? Besides, damned obvious when you fire off a kill pulse. So, are you gonna help us with the dras, or not?"

"Where's Kuthrine?"

"I dunno. She ran off with one of the dras a while ago. I stayed behind: figured I might as well greet our rescuers."

Reynolds threw his rifle to the ground. "Dammit! Why don't they tell us these things, U? We just torched some kid for nothing!"

Urika sighed and rubbed her temples. "He was probably an enemy anyway. Process of elimination says that he was the one that sent that signal, which marks him as Opaque. I have no idea what Kuthrine is up to. She's too rebellious for her own good. Let's track her down."

"If it's all the same to you, I'll wait here."

"Fine. Reynolds, guard him. I'll search with the bots."

"Oh, now I get to stay behind! Make up your mind!"

"..."

"Right, shutting up. Rules of engagement?"

"Kill the dras on sight, kill Kuthrine if she resists rescue and/or capture, kill hostile local fauna/flora if they attack. SOP for anything else."