Whoever Said 'In Distress'?!
After some hours, the commotion among Canterlot settled down at least long enough for Pyro to infiltrate the city. Even in his disguise, it was quite difficult. Passions were high; everypony was tense about the attack in Cloudsdale, which had ended even more mysteriously than how it had fiercely begun… and the fact that the moon showed no signs of lowering, despite the fact that several hours had passed since moonset. There were rumors everywhere about the princesses, and panic was not far behind at all./span/span
The hybrid swooped down from his high spot in the shadows. He still remained undetected, for the most part. The majority of the ponies that could have noticed him were too busy panicking and demanding explanations from the guards, so the coast was clear so far. He even snickered quietly at the ignorance of the ponies, and how easy it was to utterly fool them. Soon it would be just as easy to destroy them all.
He glanced down at his necklace and watched it glow as it summoned its magic power to give him the guise of a royal guard. He even wore the armor and weaponry required, and decided not to speak much while he traveled through the frantic mess that the streets had become.
It took much effort and patience, but he finally got through the mob of stunned, yet hysterical citizens that overcrowded the palace, and busied the guard beyond its staff capacity, considering they already had enough problems to deal with that were not the petty, cowardly citizens.
How pathetic indeed… It's a good thing I'll be rid of them soon enough-I'm doing them a favor. He growled a bit while he sneaked through the palace, supervising the advance of his army from the windows. With satisfaction, he saw that they began to patrol the skies of Equestria more constantly, and would soon soar over Canterlot freely, even with the barriers that were cast around the city.
He smirked when he entered an empty room, and watched the trapdoor of the floor open. Two medium-sized dragons emerged from the secret passageway, carrying a chest that contained a few duplicates of the dark collar that he had placed on Luna and the Southern alicorn princess. "Bring them over. Make sure to hide them well; the last thing we need is the wrong target finding them."
He walked over to the window once the dragons disappeared with the chest-not inside the passageway, but out of the room, somewhere around the palace. As he looked out the window, he chuckled and blew some smoke, contemplating the ponies that would eventually be killed-during the full-scale invasion, or during their meals, once they all decided they were no good as slaves. It was always entertaining to watch them-
Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared behind him. He had not heard one single noise as she walked into the room; not even from the heavy door that she must have opened to walk in. "Hi, guard! How's it going?" She startled him with her loud, cheerful voice, but that was not all she did, much to his chagrin and annoyance.
She rushed in front of him when he tried to walk around her. "No, don't go! Where are you going? I just wanna chat! Have you been here long? What were you doing in here? Nopony's in the room! Well, except you and me, of course. You know, you really should go out there and help the other royal guard ponies. I'm sure all of your friends are getting ready to fix the city, and patrol it! You know, now that the dragons are flying over our heads, bumping the barriers and all. Everypony's so worried, you know. They're afraid, because the night's not ending! There's even talk that Nightmare Moon is back! But that's silly, isn't it? It couldn't be true-Princess Luna's still safe and sound, all herself, and nice! But still, it's scary how it's still night even though it's supposed to be afternoon. But I think it won't be any good to worry so much-nothing will get done! You agree, right? I'm sure you'd know all about that, since you guys work so hard."
Pyro groaned and gritted his teeth, glaring at Pinkie Pie silently while he tried to get away from her, but she kept bouncing back to him, right beside him. Doesn't she ever shut up?! The Element of Laughter… For all sakes, I've got to make sure she's destroyed as soon as possible!/i
Pinkie Pie smiled at him after she leaned a bit closer, and watched him scoot back. "So, what're you doing here, all on your own? Doesn't it get boring? Or lonely? I get lonely at times. Are you playing a game? Ooh-ooh! I wanna play-I wanna play! I'll play with you. That way it'll be more fun! I love more fun. Fun for everypony! Let's go, then!" Just then, she noticed the trapdoor that Pyro had tried to cover up with an old rug. "Oooh, what's in there? Is it a secret basement, or a secret room for surprise parties? I love surprise parties! I'm so glad you do, too! We've got a lot in common. You know what?! We should throw a surprise party for the other guards! That'll cheer them up-and the citizens, too! Canterlot needs to be picked up after this scare. But… I doubt they'd get into the spirit of it, unfortunately… Things aren't so good and all-"
Pyro couldn't take it anymore; she talked faster than any other creature he'd ever encountered. He'd gladly rid Canterlot of its first pony, and the most insufferable, at that. Without thinking twice about it, or even trying to appear very subtle or casual, he threw open the window and started pointing outside, with an urgent expression on his face. "Oh-goodness, what is that?! I can't believe it! I-I do believe it's Princess Luna out there! A-and she's raising the moon! Oh, bless Her Grace, we're saved!"
Pinkie Pie gasped as he turned back to glance at her. "What?! But, that's not possible! Last I heard she couldn't use her magic! Twilight told us that she'd been trapped in-" She rushed to the window to see the sky, and look around the city, while the impostor guard watched her. "Hmm… Huh? Hey, what's up? I don't see the moon at all! It's all dark like inky black soup, and there's no sign of Princess Lun-"
Pyro stood behind the pink mare and shoved her out of the window. "That should be all I hear from you!" He growled a bit, then shut the window closed before storming out of the room.
Pinkie Pie screamed and waved her legs about while she fell, then grunted once she landed inside some bushes, somewhere in the palace gardens. She popped her head out of the shrubs and glared up at the window from where she had dropped. She knew the guard was most likely not there anymore, but it didn't stop her from screaming almost at the top of her lungs. "Hey! That was not nice at all, mister!"
Applejack cringed while she heard Pinkie scream, as she approached her. She let out a sigh and dug into the bushes to try to grab her hooves. "Pinkie, just what in tarnation are you doin' in there? Ah sure hope you're not playin' some kind of game. We're supposed to help 'round the city, fixin' stuff and whatnot."
Pinkie groaned a bit while Applejack shut her eyes closed and pulled her out with little to no effort. She shook the leaves and branches off her body, glowered at Applejack, then huffed and pointed her hoof up at the shut window. "I was fixing stuff! Up there, in the palace! I found a broken old door that was open and-then there was this big meanie guard hiding some other door or something like that, you know, and so I asked him what he was doing, if there was some place we could play, and he lied to me to get me to the window, saying all like, 'ooh, Princess Luna's raising the moon! Come watch!' And I did, 'cause I didn't think he was lying, and then he threw me out the window, and I landed down here, and it hurt!"
Applejack stared at her ranting friend, blinking a few times. She shook her head, then held it while she gave Pinkie a puzzled look. "Uh… Y'all might wanna start over with that."
"Okay, sure! So I was up there, at the palace, and I found a broken…"
The Apple earth pony rolled her eyes while Pinkie Pie continued to talk. She walked forward, making sure that Pinkie followed her. "Alright, sugarcube. Ah think the stress of keeping the city safe is just gettin' to everypony. Includin' you…/sub Ahem, er, but y'know… Ah'm mighty sure he darn didn't mean to throw y'all off the pretty window, now. Maybe it was all just an ugly accident."
"An 'accident'?! I would've sensed it if it was an accident! He did it on purpose! What else could it have meant, that he threw me off?! He meant it! 'Cause there sure as cupcakes is no 'Throw Pinkie Pie Off the Balcony' game! I'd know it, you know! No way! He was mean!"
Applejack sighed and smiled a little while she watched Pinkie. She steered her clear of a crowd of rushing ponies, making sure she didn't get any of them on their fancy dressing while they tried to get away. "Alright, then, have it your way. He was mean as a diamond dog, that one. No helpin' it-you'll have to love and tolerate for now, with that sort. Now, c'mon. Much to do!"
Miseria watched them leave, with Discord quietly floating beside her. She looked down as she tried to focus again. "See… Brother, I told you there was something ugly around here. That guy! He's up to something."
"Well, you didn't precisely say-"
"Oh, of course I did! I told you it was that guy, and the only place he'd be was here! I can't believe you still don't get it… He's going to try to do that! You know, what I told you about? What I think he's up to, anyway. It's bad vibe, what feels around here. The Laughter pinkie gets it! It's totally not-"
"Um, might I remind you that you're not making any sense, dear?"
"Duh! Totally am! You're the one not making sense-but that's good! 'Cause you're so cute when you don't make any sense, you know. You're the best at it!" She giggled and hugged Discord, who had blushed a bit.
He cleared his throat and gently nudged her aside while he moved on. "Miseria, you really just can't get serious, can you? It seems to be required, given the circumstances."
She giggled again, then laughed and squirmed a bit while he picked her up. "But that's against our nature!"
"So it seems to be."
Once he was sure that nopony had followed him, Pyro changed his disguise again, since he did not see many guards in that area of the hall. He turned into a maid mare, wearing the uniform neatly. Once the disguise was done, he snatched a bucket and some rags to start cleaning the mirrors, once some of the servants gave him looks. It couldn't have come up with a better disguise, could it…? Hopefully it won't catch as much attention. I thought guards were unnoticed, dull brutes.
While he grumbled to himself, his ears twitched at the sound of hoofsteps. He groaned silently when he saw two guards passing by. Oh, just my luck… And here I was just thinking they wouldn't actually-
One of them looked at the maid that worked silently behind them, and smirked at his friend before he approached her. "Well, hello, there… You know what?" He tapped the mirror that the maid was cleaning with his hoof. "I think they're clean enough. Why don't you come with us and help us out there with something else? You're mighty needed, I'm sure." He raised an eyebrow and winked at 'her'.
The other guard sighed impatiently. "C'mon, drop it! We have other things to do!" He nudged the other and nodded towards the door. "Let's go already!"
Pyro blushed deeply and growled on the inside while he stared at the guard that flirted with him. Dammit, this was NOT how it was supposed to work… "Ehm… I don't think so. I-I have other things to tend to…" He nodded slightly at the young guard before trying to walk away. "Um, p-please excuse me, sirs."
He berated himself for speaking quietly, even in that feigned female voice; he obviously did not possess a shy personality… But the embarrassing situation had presented itself to him quiteunexpectedly, while he expected to sneak further down the palace unnoticed.
The flirt did not give up, even after Pyro rejected his advances. "Aww, c'mon, you deserve a break. I'm sure nopony will miss either of us for a little bit, right? We can just hang out somewhere out of the city. We'll bring you back quickly… Most of it is fixed now, there's no danger. Let's go, sweet thing. You'll have fun."
"I-I… Well, I don't…" Pyro backed against the wall, suppressing the urge to violently bring both of the guards down. At least I'm in the palace, and so are the collars… They're so pathetic…!
"Ooh, pretty shy, aren't you? It won't take a second, dear. Come with us! We're very nice. It's our treat. Well, my treat, anyway. Where do you like to go eat? I'll take you."
Shining Armor cleared his throat while he stood behind the guards. He glared at the one flirting with Pyro. "What exactly are you two doing here? I thought you'd been stationed outside by the captain."
"P-Prince Shining Armor!" Both of the guards jumped and started to stammer out excuses. The second guard tried to explain why he and his companions were goofing off inside the palace. "W-we were just… We thought there were some tasks in here that needed to… Um…"
"Just… Y-yeah, we just wanted to make sure it was… Uh…"
Shining Armor stepped closer to them. "I hope you do realize that there is no such thing as an end of shifts at the moment-things are just too urgent and dire to have a break. Everypony must work at the fast pace that is required, and perform more than their best to ensure the wellbeing of the city. This, of course, includes you two, guards. I suggest you quit fooling around with the domestic service and get to work like the guards that you are, gentlecolts. That is, if you don't want me to report you to your superior!"
"Y-yes, sir! Of course, sir!" The guards saluted him, then promptly rushed out of sight.
Shining used his magic to close the doors that led outside, once the guards left. He looked at Pyro, who was still wearing his disguise. "You'd best get back to work as well. The princesses need as much help, everywhere, as they can get. Maybe not with the routine service, but your help could be used with the doctors and such. Go on, the Princess awaits you." He nodded at the maid while she cast her gaze down.
Pyro bowed to him and watched him leave. "Oh, she most definitely does not, I assure you… This will be a surprise indeed." He growled, then stopped pacing around the bathroom that he had entered. He looked in the mirror and grunted when he found that he was still blushing. "Those damn fools… I'll make sure the others have their innards ripped out of them while still alive."
Nothing had changed much back at the Southern Kingdom. Other than it was rather quiet without the hundreds of dragons that crowded the city, it was still desolated and ruined, with no sign of recovering any time soon. Even the hope of escaping now that most of the dragons had left was feeble, for there were still strong and powerful guards sulking around the castle. They waited for the slightest chance to devour anypony that they could find doing anything that could provoke their temper.
The cells in the dungeons had also grown colder, for there were less dragons to guard the area, and they had huddled together to pass the time in card games, keeping their foul warmth to themselves.
Talia had supervised her imprisoned subjects, and taken care of Modest as best as she could, but she knew that their poor conditions would not allow her to do much for long. She had never felt so helpless and enraged in her life… It made her think that the cause of such a horrible sensation would be the recipient to the worst of her wrath… For she did not like to feel helpless, above all and anything else.
She leaned closer to Modest, who was still fast asleep, to whisper in his ear. "...Prince Modest? Hey, Prince Modest. Príncipe Modest, ya despierta. Can you hear me, prince?" When he did not so much as wince, she nudged him gently, cringing when he groaned.
She had done her best to ease the pain of his broken horn, and the headache that it caused, and had done well, considering that she had no magic, medicine, or medical tools available to her. However, she also realized that in order to perhaps think of any way to escape and save everypony, both she and the prince needed to be wide awake and alert, even if Modest had to bear the headache.
Modest gradually woke up after her attempts. He actually felt a bit better, after getting some of the much needed rest. His inner clock was beginning to be thrown off, though, but that was absolutely normal, and common, considering the condition of the sky, that they were in a dungeon, and that he'd been unconscious for a while. "Hmm… Wh-what…?" He slowly moved his hooves up to rub his eyes, and frowned when the events that had passed suddenly came back to him.
"Prince Modest?" Talia watched him anxiously while she helped him sit up.
He sighed after he touched his broken horn, still giving her no answer. It wasn't a nightmare, after all… Of course… "H-huh? Oh, princess… I-I'm…"
She leaned a bit closer to him. "Are you feeling better?" She smiled and touched his forehead with her hoof, careful not to press too hard. "Still no fever; seems gone for the count."
"I am feeling better… Thank you, Princess Talia. I am much obliged." He scratched his head while he looked around their dim cell, trying to figure out how much time had past since he'd been fully conscious. It felt unreliable whenever he thought about it. "Um… How long was I… you know, gone? I was… asleep…"
"You were, and quite soundly! Heh, I'd say… I'm not sure, actually. Time is hard to track at the moment, as you may have noticed. But I do know it was a while, and unfortunately, it did not seem like you actually enjoyed most of it. You still seem rather tired… and pale. I'm-"
"Please don't apologize; I rested quite well. Thanks to your treatment, I seem to be getting better. I wish I'd find you resting at least some time whenever I came around. It hardly seems fair."
Talia chuckled and shook her head. "I'm alright for now. There's been plenty of time to rest. It's been hours, after all, and they've been longer than ever. Horas más lentas no había experimentado en mi vida."
Modest sighed while Talia continued to chat. He glanced up at the small space in the wall that served for a very narrow window. He almost grieved once he saw the abyss that the sky had turned into, knowing how much it weighed in the heart of sompony most connected to its missing moon. Princess Luna… I am so very sorry about this… So much time has passed and still no change…
He blinked when he heard Talia again, after she muttered about him probably sleeping half a day or something. "H-half a day? O-oh, dear, that's… Princess, please do forgive-"
Talia laughed and touched his shoulder. "It's just a speculation! Don't apologize for resting, there's absolutely no need! I think it's better that you were unavailable for just some hours, but will be fully rested afterwards. Better than having you exhausted all the time."
Once he managed to stand up, Modest moved slowly around the cell, since he was not chained like Talia was. Talia could practically see the gears turning in his head. "I can guess, but which way were they headed, princess? I know some of them have left, there's less now. And there's much less noise. By the way things feel and smell, it seems like a great deal of them left. That can't be good…"
"I suppose your suspicions would be right, because you're not dumb. They prepared everything and everyone while you were sleeping; they hardly had to exchange words with one another, even though there were so many of them that had to leave. They all were gone surprisingly quickly, too. It's just… a wonder, how Pyromedes has managed to control so many dragons like that. It's frightening."
"Well… Which way did they go, then?"
"We both know it's Equestria, but I'm not sure where. The guards keeping watch over us here were all sure more ignorant than the stones that surround us. I never could learn which part of Equestria they would attack. But… A major part of the army has left to assist in their assault; they actually left Lakandon nearly deserted, if you can believe that. In any case, I'd say that gives us good odds; we have to start thinking of our situation, in here."
Modest nodded, and looked down at the ground while he pondered. He didn't notice that Talia had stood up and made her way to the wooden table in which the leftovers that the dragons served them were poured.
She grunted a bit as she pushed and shoved the heavy wooden table between the bars of their cell. She had to strain her hooves the closer she got to the bars, since the shackles pulled her back, but she did not seem to mind the discomfort or extra effort.
"Um… Princess Talia… What are you doing?"
She would break the annoying shackles soon, with the right amount of pressure put onto them. However, the cell bars were more important. She grunted and pushed the table in deeper, making sure it was placed firmly in between the iron, so it would not slip. "Good, there it is. With the city low in guard, compared to how it started out after the attack, all we need to do to begin our action is break out of here… and as soon as possible, if you don't mind."
"B-but that's impossible! If we had any magic, then maybe, but now-"
"Oh, I'm sure we can handle everything from iron bars to a few dragons, even without magic, Mr. Modest. After all… Unlike the Solar and Lunar princesses…" Talia began to push one end of the wood down, and helped herself with the long chain that held back her hind legs. She put pressure down on points of the bars that she had previously located and calculated. "I wasn't… born a princess…!"
"W-wait! Princess Talia, they'll-" He winced while he watched her grunt from the effort. He stepped forward to help her, but had no idea what she was up to, just by pressing on the bars with a heavy wooden table. He could only stare at her in amazement while she showed about as much endurance and strength with the heavy labor as he had seen in construction crew members.
Talia pressed her hooves on the ground while she pulled and pushed, alternating the force and direction of the effort. After about a minute, she smirked when her work paid off, and the bars that held them in the cell burst open, falling aside with a clatter. "Heh, heh… Phew! I was born into a family of fine, renowned blacksmiths, to boot. Best in the trade!" She flapped her wings and held them up while she stretched, revealing on her flank a cutie mark of a most intriguing design: a swirl of faint, jade green smoke floating out of the Southern Kingdom crest, seemingly lingering around the iron-colored emblem.
Modest could only stare at her in shock, with his eyes and mouth wide open. "P-Princess, you… H-how… Those bars… H-hundreds-centuries… They-you… Did you…"
"Oh, yes… Daddy liked seeing his little filly hold down the pressure irons of the Southern steel crafts. Kept me entertained, and helping him, while he worked."
She walked over to the base of the chains embedded to the wall. A good kick from her hind legs busted it, and made Modest cringe. "Eso es... Heh, heh. I guess by now you figured that the 'sweet, tame' act was just to make sure that they would keep us together, within the same cell. I needed to keep an eye on you."
Modest still seemed surprise, staring at her in utter silence. Only occasionally did he stammer out some things, but he still did not move, while she walked out of the cell and looked around the dungeons.
"C'mon, Mr. Modest. We have a lot to do! No time to waste!"
"Y-yes! You're right." He shook his head, and discarded the feeling of helplessness that had suddenly crept up on him. It was no time to be having thoughts as useless as that. There was something he could still do, he was sure of it. He just had to help Princess Talia find out what needed to be done.
With most of the guards gone, what remained had to divide their duties. That turned out to be more of a challenge for them than the royals had expected. Without Pyromedes to direct them, they were actually as incompetent as Modest had first assumed they would be. That gave them advantage, for all they had to do was measure their steps, make sure their scents were not detected, navigate through paths that the dragons had already searched and patrolled through.
The large creatures, in any case, were only waiting for the call from their master, eagerly awaiting their chance to take part in the assault of Equestria. Their attention wasn't so much on their prisoners anymore, as on any messengers that would arrive to recruit them any second now.
Talia smiled a little after she met with Modest, once their scouting trips were over. "It's pretty much clear now. I've even found safe routes for us to escape! I can't believe we would have been able to outsmart these dragons. All we needed was for them to separate, of course. We can get away from this lot. All we need to do now, Modest, is find all of my subjects and free them from their prisons. It'll be risky, I understand, but I'm not leaving without them." She smirked and nudged Modest a bit. "I know you're not, either. Right, prince?"
"Of course not, Princess Talia. If we're free, then we might as well do our best to make sure that everypony is able to come with us." Modest looked back at the ruined castle. "It would be horrible to leave even just one to take the wrath of the dragons, once they find out we've escaped."
Talia smiled and continued her walk while she looked around. "I know the structure of the cells in the dungeons and the castle-I know them very well. If I can break them so they can escape, we can actually let them lead themselves out. We'd just have to keep watch for them. That would be much easier than escorting them out in small groups. They can handle themselves, so I trust them to get themselves to safety, away from the main city."
Modest nodded. "Very well-if you trust them, we can move right on to breaking them out and keeping the dragons away from them. In that case, it will be… sort of easier."
Talia jumped into a deserted hall once Modest helped her sneak back in. She pulled him inside through the opening in the wall, and grunted when they fell down to the carpeted floor. She dusted herself and stood up from the burnt carpet. "Alright, here's the plan. I'll go down, back to the dungeon, and get right to business, no time to waste. We already realized that most of the dragons are in this upper parts of the castle-they got cocky and decided to spend their time up here. We can take care of the dragons below, and I can work as fast as possible to free the ponies."
"Alright, sounds good. Those dragons are as good as handled."
"Mr. Modest, please make sure that none of the dragons down there make a fuss and distractions while I work. With no interruptions, I should be ready and out with the ponies in around… fifteen minutes. Yeah, fifteen minutes should do it. That's all I need. I understand it's quite a lot of time to ask for, but-"
"If that's what you need, princess, you will have it. One way or another. I'll make sure the dragons are cared for. You focus on getting everypony out! Hurry, we don't have much time!" He narrowed his eyes at the dragons when they started to move and stir from their sleep. "Alright, then, it's showtime."
Talia cringed at the sudden flashes of magic light, and ran over to the cells, beginning to work on the hard labor of breaking and busting the cell bars. She smiled at her subjects and shushed them when they called out to her. "Easy, easy! Calm down, everypony! No se preocupen-vamos a estar bien. Solo tengo que sacarlos… Permítanme romper estas barras, ¡y listo! Estaremos fuera en menos de lo que canta un gallo. Pero tienen que guardar silencio…" She took a deep breath, then put the required pressure on the bars.
With a satisfying metallic noise, they gave out, and Talia helped the ponies get out of the broken cells, while Modest kept the dragons entertained without exposing himself too much. Talia knew he would be clever enough to keep those brutes off their tail, and he was doing a most excellent job.
"C'mon, everypony." She was talking to an elder, who helped lead everypony out after they were free from the dungeons. "At this rate, we'll all be safe. Make sure that the dragons up there don't see you! Make it as far as you can, don't worry about us." She smiled at her subjects, then continued to lead the others out.
Discord and Miseria had just finished intercepting a couple of dragons that had tried to attack Canterlot. They walked away from the fallen creatures and teleported back inside the palace, where Celestia was waiting for them, instructing servants and royal guards alike.
Discord bowed his head and smiled at her. "We have plenty of reports to deliver. Things are getting rather… exciting, here as well. It looks like they didn't have enough with Cloudsdale, of course."
Celestia gave the mare maid near her a stack of letters and notes of authorization. "How is everypony up there? I tried to stay a little more, but there was so much to do here…"
Miseria waved her hoof. "They're just fine! Twilight and the others stayed longer and helped put everything back in order! We helped, too! I mean, we've been taking care of the dragons that manage to get past your guards. That's something, right?"
Discord patted her head. "After the attack stopped back in Cloudsdale, no more dragons arrived to try to ambush it again, and even if they had tried, they would have been prepared for them. We got everything back in order in no time, right? It was all thanks to Miseria's help."
Celestia smiled and looked at Miseria. "So you saved Cloudsdale, then? You're its heroine."
Discord cleared his throat and leaned closer to whisper to her. "Well…" He cleared his throat when Miseria raised her eyebrow and gave him a frown. "She really did try her best… I'm afraid Rainbow Dash and some of the other pegasi didn't take it so well, though."
Celestia shook her head. "Well, you really can't blame them… But don't worry, Miseria. I really appreciate what you did for Cloudsdale, and I'm sure everypony else does as well. It was very brave of you."
Miseria blushed a bit and looked aside. "So… Anyway… Can I go yet, brother? I'm sure there's a lot of better things to do than hang around here chatting."
He chuckled and nodded at her. "Of course, go ahead. You help the Royal Guard keep everything well, alright? I know you're not comfortable around others yet, but it won't be any use if you hide and don't do anything. Everypony will thank you later, for what you did in Cloudsdale. I know I already do."
"Hee-hee! Well, thank you! I will, brother! Just you wait, I'll save everypony that those dragons want to eat!"
"...I'm glad she's adjusting well to her new lifestyle. If only to you and what you teach her, at least." Celestia sighed and nuzzled Discord a bit. "You make sure to teach him all the good things that this world has to offer, Discord. I don't want her to miss the slightest bit of it."
"Of course, dear. I don't want her to, either. There's so much that we can discover…" He looked out the window at the dragons that roared when the spells of the Royal Guard drove them away. "Especially in these difficult times. They'll be harder challenges, and give us better chances to understand things."
Miseria dove into the walls, watching Discord and Celestia walk out of the palace again. She rolled her eyes and raised an eyebrow again. Yeah, you go, big brother. Go take a walk with the pretty princess, and show her all that's happened! She'll be able to make her pretty, bossy decisions then, and everypony will just love her for that… She let out a frustrated sigh after she realized that she was thinking irksome things about Celestia again. Ohh… I just don't get it-why do I hold it so badly against her?!
It certainly was not because she was jealous-that was for sure. But she couldn't find another reason, then. So she huffed and frowned with her eyes closed, and her front legs folded, while she reassured herself of her lack of interest in Celestia-or anything she did or said-with that last statement.
Now, c'mon, there's plenty to do… Everypony's so busy that they're missing the main point, but I can feel it! It's around here somewhere, isn't it? That… Yeah, it's got to be here somewhere!
Just as she finished thinking, she blinked and looked around, for she had just detected that wicked presence again. It was as faint as it had been back in Cloudsdale, but it was definitely there, around Canterlot that time. Her ears perked up while she sniffed the ground and the air, floating around the ponies that busily crowded the streets, heading everywhere, in all directions.
Hey… Yes! I knew it-the tasteless bad guy's here! Right here in Canterlot! Somehow he got past the barriers-that's why the dragons have been attacking the city so much! She smirked and looked back at the palace, where she could see Discord and Celestia talking with concern. She made sure they were still wrapped up in whatever it was they needed to do before she began to slip away from the palace.
The guards did not notice her, either, or if they did, then they said nothing. She focused on following the scent of whoever was responsible for the attack in Cloudsdale. It was so peculiar, she couldn't quite put her hoof on it. I'll just catch him myself! I don't need Brother or that princess to help-I can do it! Let's see her face then. Heh, heh, when I solve in minutes the problem that she and her sister couldn't solve in days!
With that, the mischievous spirit of Madness and Destruction slithered away from the front entrance of the palace, and sniffed around to pinpoint the location of that peculiar-scented wicked creature that she had detected earlier. She was determined not to let him get away that time.
Author's Comments:
Wow, unbelievable! I actually finished this chapter before break was over, too! And, to bid 2013 farewell, and greet 2014. I am so happy and grateful to have started this story, which has a bit over a year or something. Thank you for all of your support. For your favorites, comments, feedback, attention, etc. It means the world to me. It's thanks to you that I have worked myself so hard to make this story grow, to entertain you amazing people.
I'm so happy… And I hope you guys like it! It seems a bit simple-just more interaction before things get down to business.
Loving the exchange between scenes, I don't know if you do, too. I like how we're in Canterlot, then we switch back to the Southern Kingdom, then back again! I couldn't just make it just one place, of course. Exciting things are going on in both locations!
Finally Modest and Talia break out! I think this is the most epic and awesome we've seen of Talia yet! She's awesome, I like her so much! She's my second favorite OC. And… For those of you that want to criticize her… attitude, and tomboyish ways… Well, you might as well criticize Daring Do, huh. And I did NOT base Princess Talia's character off Daring Do, by the way. I created her character way before 'Daring Don't' came out. And I like her so much! She is such an awesome princess! AND SHE WASN'T BORN AN ALICORN! I'm gonna faint… That's right-she earned the privilege of becoming an alicorn! Like Twilight did! And Cadance, in my headcanon.
Anyway… Um… I also want to apologize for Modest's… lack of… stallionness. Not much he can do with Talia there taking action for herself. But I think he's still awesome, too! He's very clever himself. I really am grateful that I edited his dialogue from what my partner and I had originally put. I mean, you should've read the rough draft! He was so wimpy! Heh, I think I toughened him up a bit.
And then, there's the awesome things happening back in Equestria. That scene with Pinkie Pie was so funny! I think I got her… Though… I might also have been stereotypical, with her talking so much… My favorite to interpret was Applejack, as always. I do love that pony, after Fluttershy.
I welcome your comments and feedback big time! Thank you for reading, as always, and you know what? Have a great, awesome, super special new year!