Antecedent 2
#2 of Antecedent
Sentinel spat out another line of blood as he trudged back towards the gravesite. The entire left side of his face was aching, and a black eye was blooming spectacularly under his armour. A blood vessel in his nose had burst, and blood was slowly dripping down from his right nostril. He hadn't had such a thorough beating since the first few weeks of guard training, when he was but a cheeky colt.
The pegasus rubbed a hoof against his cheek as he walked, wrinkling his nose and spitting out another splat of mingled saliva and blood. He could taste the metallic overtones of blood in the back of his mouth, and it was making him nauseous.
How could Celestia have thought he would stand to escort a changeling? Maybe she had been testing his ability to sense the changelings? But then, that left the question of what the changeling was doing going along with the princess. It made no sense at all. And her adamancy that she wasn't a changeling was amusing. He could sense the changeling blood in her. It was strange; he had never used his ability before, but he could just sense what lurked inside her. It was like a glow of green inside her eyes, or her aura, or something. He didn't understand it, but he knew.
Sentinel decided that it was a test. If there was some reason for him to not to harm her, then Celestia would have said so.
Deciding that his head was clear, and concussion-free enough to fly, the young pegasus took to the air, launching himself upwards and spreading his wings.
Cool air stinged against his wounds, burning, reminding him of the damage and cooling the blood. He needed to get clean before anything else. The golden glow of the setting sun bounced a reflection up off the winding form of a river, and the pegasus headed for it.
As he splashed down in a shallow bend of the river and began to discard his armour, he scrubbed a hoof up over his face to try and clean some of it, wincing as he touched at the wounds the changeling had given him. She had a pretty strong hoof, that one. Mentally, he berated himself for thinking of it as a female. It was a changeling. They didn't have a set gender. They were it's.
The guard swilled his armour in the shallow stream, before sliding it all back on, once more shiny and no longer sticky with droplets of his blood. He bounded a few metres along the shore and then took to the air again, heading back for the gravesite.
After a few minutes, the pegasus dropped neatly to a stop in front of the grave site, moving over to his supplies and sitting down, beginning to shed his armour. He placed his chest piece against a rock and used it as a mirror, admiring his new look in the distorted, blurry reflection. Even with the imperfect reflection, his black eye was quite visible. Scowling to himself, he picked up the helmet and slid it over his head, squinting at the reflection again. At least, beneath his helmet, it wasn't so obvious.
The pegasus shook his head and took his helmet off, digging around in his backpack, and coming up with a packet of novelty peanuts to snack on. They were all different colours, denoting the different flavours they'd been soaked in. He had just gotten the top open when a shadow fell over his form. At first, he thought it might be Spike, and he turned to look up at the figure, his eyes slowly widening.
"Why hello there, little pegasus. Fancy meeting you all the way out here...alone," the creature said with a warm smile, leaning closer. "Tell me, little pegasus, do you like chaos?"
Sentinel swallowed hard, and rolled backwards, snatching up his helmet and jamming it on his head, squaring his stance to face the Draconequus, head lowering in readiness as he hissed, "Discord!"
"Discord plus three," he said with a smile, waving an arm in a presenting fashion to reference the three Diamond Dogs behind him, who stepped out of his shadow casually, their eyes narrowing.
Raindrop took a long, long time to calm down. Her hooves hurt both from both smacking the stupid guard and from grinding them into the rock beneath her. Her insides burned with the injustice of it all. She couldn't help what she was, but that guard had made his mind up about her instantly. She was a changeling, she wasn't to be trusted.
It was unfair and made the inferno of her rage burn hotter and brighter. And it took her a long time to calm down. But when she did, she was ready, fortified. She would find the Elements of Harmony, and then all of this would be fixed. All of this would be just a bad memory.
She stared out over the dark savannah as the sun set, and gave it another half hour for Sentinel to have gone to sleep, before she went back to get her stuff. Spike was the only lead to the Elements of Harmony. Possibly. But Celestia would have other leads. Raindrop didn't need to wait at the gravesite for a dragon who might, or might not even be coming.
Rustling her wings with a huff, she bounded a few steps and then threw herself into the air, squinting against the darkness and the rushing wind as she coasted low and fast towards the grave site. Hopefully, Sentinel would be sleeping, and she could get her stuff and be gone before he even knew she was there.
Raindrop landed quietly, creeping a few steps across the rock, before pausing. Something wasn't right. Sentinel wasn't there. But all of his gear was.
The pegasus scowled faintly. Hopefully, the stupid guard had gotten lost finding his way back, and would end up wandering the savannah for a few days, lost.
It was as she was gathering up her supplies, however, that she caught a reflection of moonlight glancing off something shiny an metallic. She strode over to the edge of the rock, and peered down at the object, reaching out with a hoof and picking it up, her brow furrowing deeply. It was a helmet, a guard helmet.
Sentinel's helmet.
Frowning deeply, she placed the helmet down, and then cast a glance over at the guards supplies. Now that she looked closely, they looked disturbed, like they'd been kicked...or like somepony had been thrown against them with considerable force.
And oddly enough, there were a few strange-coloured peanuts scattered around. Raindrop blinked at them, picking one up and sniffing at it curiously, before tossing it aside. Sentinel had obvious run into actual, tangible trouble.
She cast her gaze about, and then spied a yellow peanut sitting at the end of the rock. She crept down off the rock and walked a few metres towards the direction the peanut was in, and found a red one. A trail.
Raindrop scowled for a moment, before moving over to her gear and packing it up. She bundled it all into her packs' and slipped it onto her back, taking wing again, heading away from the gravesite. She settled instead on a hilltop a good distance from the gravesite, far enough away that she wouldn't be seen by anyone at the gravesite itself.
She fully intended to follow the trail of peanuts to see whom had taken her 'valiant defender'. Maybe she would shake their hoof when she found them. But it was a strong possibility that whoever took Sentinel had a good reason to. A reason related to the Elements of Harmony. It was a slim lead, but it beat heading back to Canterlot and asking for further information from the princess.
It was too dark for her to find peanuts, even if there was a trail and not just one or two that were thrown free. Either way, she wasn't going to lift a hoof to help Sentinel. Not that night. Maybe not even if she found him.
She would show him what a changeling was like.
Sunlight awoke Raindrop, and she yawned softly, stretching. Her blanket was warm, but the air was not. The first weak rays of morning light were touching the hilltops, highlighting them in liquid gold.
Shuddering at the cool morning air, the young pegasus rose and slipped off the blankets, tucking them into her bags and straightening up, looking out towards the grave site. In the morning light, it looked peaceful and calm. The small bundles of Sentinel's things were still visible.
Raindrop leapt from the hilltop, and glided over the long savannah grass to the gravesite, backwinging to a halt in front of the split stone and looking around. Everything was just as she'd seen the previous night. His gear was slightly spread out as though it had been disturbed during a scuffle, and there were several multicoloured peanuts, as well as Sentinel's helmet sitting in the centre of the rock where she'd left it.
The pegasus stepped over to Sentinel's packs, tipping up the flap of one of them and peeking inside. Within the pack was a collection of long-lasting food, a spare set of straps for his armour, a small hoof-dagger, and a thick book. Raindrop hummed to herself as she pulled out the book, peering at it. It was a thick, leather-bound thing She flipped the pages open with mild curiosity, seeing a few pages of hoofwriting about some magical fantasy place across the seas.
A picture tumbled from the book, and flapped onto the ground. Raindrop stooped to pick up the picture, peering at it for a moment. It was an old, grey picture of a pair of ponies. One male, one female, in the hospital, smiling for the camera. The female was heavily pregnant, ready to give birth.
Raindrop peered at the photo for a moment, considered tossing it aside, and then shrugged and tucked it into her pack, placing the book aside and rummaging in the second bag. This bag was filled with food, again, a travel blanket, pillow, and a strange red gem that pulsed faintly with a strange inner light. It was as large as her hoof, and seemed warm to the touch.
Giving a thoughtful hum, Raindrop pocketed the large gem, took a food pack, and then closed the lid of the back, turning her back on it and then stalking to the edge of the rock, peering down at the edge. There were signs of a scuffle in the grass, and then nothing. But a little bit further on, she spied a hint of green among the swaying brown of the grass.
Raindrop took to the air, sweeping her wings slowly to maintain a low altitude as she swept across the grass, keeping an eye out for the little coloured specks that were the peanuts.
It took her an entire hour just to get out of the grasslands, and she was sure that she had missed several peanuts along the way, but they were all strewn in a straight line, heading for a mountain range in the distance.
So instead, Raindrop headed for the mountain, seeking out the odd speck of strange colour. It was easier the closer she got to the mountains, as the grass grew shorter and sparser, until it was rocky ground strewn with stretches of sand. And then the peanuts disappeared altogether. In their place, she found pieces of armour instead, as well as scuff marks. It seemed that Sentinel had still been struggling.
Raindrop moved quietly here, keeping low to the ground, coasting between mountain valleys on silent wings. After a time, the armour pieces seemed to stop appearing as well, but Raindrop found one partly hidden underneath a rock. Sentinel's little trail had been found, it seemed, and his captors had started hiding the armour pieces.
Giving up on following the trail, Raindrop flitted up to the mountaintops to look for a likely place.
Perching upon a peak, the young pegasus cast her gaze down the other side of the mountain, frowning as she observed and odd sight.
A flat valley lay between her mountain and the next, and there, the ground was perforated. A series of large holes lay in the earth, with mounds of dirt besides them. They seemed as though giant mole hills. Each of them had a circumference wide enough for Raindrop to fly inside with her wings open without fear of touching the side.
Raindrop knew what these were. They were Diamond Dog holes. They were holes created when Diamond Dogs dug for the precious stones that Equestria was so famous for.
A glimmer of light near the entrance of one of the holes alerted Raindrop to the presence of a piece of Sentinel's armour. It was his chestpiece and backplate, the largest pieces of his armour. Likely the last pieces he had been wearing.
As far as Raindrop could ascertain, Sentinel had been dragged down into the tunnels by Diamond Dogs. So the Diamond Dogs maybe had a clue what had happened to the Elements of Harmony. It wasn't a whole lot to go on.
At that point, Raindrop could have just gone home. Could have just turned around and gone back to Celestia, told her what she had found out. Pretended that Sentinel had wandered off and gotten 'lost'.
Instead, Raindrop sighed and leapt from her mountain top, coasting down the face of the mountain and then backwinging to a stop at the holes. She stepped over to the one that had Sentinel's armour at the entrance, and kicked aside the heavy metal plates, peering down into the darkness. She frowned slightly, and then reached back with a hoof into her pack, digging out the red gem she had 'borrowed' from Sentinel's pack, and held it above the hole. The glow from inside the gem was sufficient to light up the tunnel to the edges, but not much further.
Raindrop sighed and shook her head at what she was about to do, taking a few steps back from the tunnel entrance, sloughing her packs, and then holding aloft the red gem as she dropped down into the tunnel.
Raindrop entered a new world. It was dark down here, and quiet. There was a clammy feel to the air, cool and moist. A faint current of air was carried from deeper inside the network of caves. The tunnel she was standing in was smooth around the edges, patted down by the passage of many paws and hooves. The marks of something being dragged, though, were visible, as were scuff marks. Sentinel seemed to have been struggling the entire way.
The young cloud chaser lowered her head slightly, and transferred the gem to her mouth, to leave her hooves free, beginning to head down the tunnel, keeping her hoofsteps light, so they didn't make any noise.
It was only a hundred or so metres of downward-angled tunnel before it terminated in what seemed to be an antechamber. A pair of flaming torches lit up the large circular room, which had tunnel entrances set going off of it from all angles. Looking around at all the tunnels, Raindrop turned and beat her hoof against the wall several times to leave a mark she would recognize on the way back through, to mark her tunnel.
The obvious way to proceed was a single tunnel set in between the two flaming torches. The pegasus stepped down the tunnel warily, keeping her eye out for any Diamond Dogs that might be around. But the tunnels were all quiet. Creepily quiet. It was scary how little habitation the tunnels saw.
It was a good two hundred metres before Raindrop found out why. The tunnel leveled out, and then opened up into a wide chamber. Torches here were scattered everywhere, and even though there was no sound, Raindrop could sense that there were creatures in the chamber. She slipped the gem from her mouth, to her wing, hiding it among the pinions there to keep its glow from being seen, and crept to the end of the tunnel.
The tunnel widened out into a massive chamber, and like the smaller one preceding it, the outside of it was perforated by dozens of tunnel entrances, and it was filled with Diamond Dogs. A simple wooden stage sat in the centre of the chamber, surrounded by the Dogs. They milled about here and there, in groups of three or four. Large, small, all shapes and sizes. It looked like an army.
"Come, my children!" a voice was calling across the crowd.
It was coming from the wooden stage, where Discord stood, reared up on his hindlegs, mismatched paws spread wide, presenting the Royal Guard strung up in chains on the pedestal. His hooves were tied to a brace that crossed over the back of his neck, in what looked to be an extremely uncomfortable position. It was Sentinel, of course, devoid of his armour.
Raindrop saw that he looked like he'd been beaten up, but she noted with pride that the most damage done to him seemed to have come from her own hooves.
The diamond dogs stood to attention as Discord spoke, and Raindrop peered over at the stage for a moment as the god of chaos began his spiel. He was talking about Celestia, and taking over Equestria, and other evil things. Raindrop didn't really pay attention. Somehow, for the god of chaos, Discord wasn't so impressive to her. No magic, no lightning, no random events of chaos happening all around. Maybe he was trying his paw at subterfuge for a change?
And then his triumphant monologue about taking over Equestria was done, and the Diamond Dogs began to disperse. Raindrop withdrew into the shadows, sheltering behind a boulder. The chamber was massive, and keeping it all lit was impossible. The few torches provided light enough to see shapes, but not much else. At least, not out on the edges of the chamber.
And then, it was quiet. Everyone was gone.
Raindrop peeked out around the boulder, at the centre stage. Discord was gone, as were the Diamond Dogs, seemingly to do their daily evil business. Taking candy from foals, stepping on flowers. Or whatever it was they did during the day.
The young pegasus grimaced slightly, peering over at Sentinel. She could have turned around then, and made her way out of the tunnels. But no, here she was, playing the hero.
Setting her shoulders, Raindrop stepped out from behind the boulder, and bounced her way over to the centre stage, looking about furtively and then pulling herself up onto it, sliding over to the Royal Guard. He looked exhausted and out of it. He was bound in heavy chains, and a pair of padlocks secured him to the post. She stepped closer, and immediately, his eyes opened, and his head lifted, his eyes narrowing on her.
"You're one of them," he hissed.
"Yeah yeah, we established I'm a changeling already, idiot," she hissed, having no patience for this conversation.
"No. You're in league with Discord!" he accused.
Raindrop slipped over to him and clasped a hoof over his mouth, staring into his eyes, glaring. "You are going to be quiet or so help me Celestia, I will knock you unconscious and drag you out of here by your tail. The only thing I want to hear come out of that stupid mouth is where the keys are to your locks."
The young pegasus removed her hoof, glowering at the guard, and he scowledback at her for a moment, before jerking his head towards the tunnel behind the stage. "One of the Diamond Dogs has the keys, changeling."
"Welp, I'm off to play the hero, then. Don't go anywhere, honey," Raindrop said, gently tapping the guard on the cheek with her hoof and then slipping past him to begin creeping down the tunnel he had indicated.
Time to play the hero.
Raindrop crept down the tunnel, keeping to one side, and keeping her new gem tucked neatly in the feathers of her wing to keep the glow from revealing her. She could hear movement all around; Diamond Dogs going about their daily business, whatever it was they did. She heard the sounds of digging to the right, the kind of rapid scratching associated with any canine's digging efforts. To her left, she heard the sound of footsteps, muffled through the wall.
It was surreal, creeping down a tunnel, with nothing but a glowing red gem for company, walking towards Discord himself, with the intent of stealing a key from a guard to release a guard from his shackles that she would quite happily watch suffer.
And when she summed it up like that, Raindrop actually paused, turned around, and began to head back down the tunnel the way she had come. Why was she even trying to save the stupid guard? He could just rot down here with the Diamond Dogs as far as she was concerned.
And then she caught sight of him again, strung up like that on the cross. And she smiled.
It filled Raindrop's heart with an odd satisfaction to know that the guard was completely at her mercy. Without her, he was done. He was utterly powerless, and she held all the cards right in her hoof. She controlled what happened with his very life from that instant onwards.
And that scared her.
Raindrop took a deep, shuddering breath, and then turned around, bounding a few steps back down the tunnel, her head held low, her breathing a little faster than normal. What was wrong with her? Why did she feel like this?
Never one for cruelty, Raindrop was more known for acts of random kindness than acts of malicious intent. She was the kind of pony who would pay for a strangers drink if she saw they didn't have enough for it themselves. She was the kind of pony who would go out of their way to help someone, and then leave before they had a chance to offer something in the way of thanks. It was how she was wired.
And here she was, delighting in Sentinel's suffering. She actually wanted to prolong his pain!
The sheer knowledge of it disgusted her.
Shuddering in disgust at her own emotions, the young pegasus stepped back down the tunnel, lightening her hoofsteps as she did so, keeping to one side of the tunnel, where the shadows could keep her hidden. Every now and again, she would splay her wings a little so that the glow of the red gem would light up her path, making sure she wasn't going to trip over something.
Up ahead, she could hear snoring, and the glow of torches were visible around a bend in the tunnel. Muffled voices murmured from the room around the bend, and Raindrop crept right up to the corner, not daring to peek around it, listening with bated breath.
"Come, Spike," A smooth, feminine voice was saying. Raindrop's ears perked; Spike was the dragon she had been sent to find! "I need you to activate it again."
There was the scrabble of claws on stone, and then a low, soft humming. The light of the torches was suddenly overshadowed by a much brighter light, red in colour, pulsing in a firm rhythm.
Raindrop blinked once and turned to look at her wing, her brows furrowing. The stone clasped in her pinions was growing hot!
Even as she watched, the stone was beginning to glow and pulse in time with the one around the bend, brightening so much that it actually became visible through the thick layer of her feathers covering it.
Quickly, the pegasus threw her other wing over it and held it to her chest, gasping breathlessly at how hot it was against her, gritting her teeth and riding out the burning heat until it began to dissipate.
Raindrop gasped once as she released the gem, baring her teeth and rubbing at her chest with a hoof, wrinkling her nose at the scent of singed fur in the air.
"Good, my little Spikey-Wikey. I think you've earned yourself a reward," the feminine voice purred, and it was followed by the smack of a kiss.
"Yesss...." a male voice hissed in return, vapid and eager.
Obviously, Spike was fraternising with the enemy.
Raindrop entertained the idea, for a moment, of a dragon and a Diamond Dog together, until the mental image made her stomach churn and she forced it from her mind. She sincerely hoped it wasn't a female Diamond Dog that the dragon had become entangled with. Maybe...maybe it was Discord himself? Or herself as it were? Raindrop had heard that Discord could do that kind of thing. And as the god of Chaos, it was perhaps not such a giant leap of faith to think he could do so.
Hearing footsteps leading away from the tunnel, and deeper into the earth, Raindrop risked a peek around the corner. There was a rather bare room ahead, and a glowing red gem on it, like the one in her wing. Except this one was somehow better. It was more lustrous, brighter, and infinitely more beautiful.
Raindrop crept forwards into the room, and cast her gaze about. She blinked once in surprise and balked as she caught sight of a Diamond Dog sitting in a chair by a tunnel entrance ahead. A loud snore made her sigh in relief, and she relaxed visibly.
Carefully, the young pegasus eased forwards, and looked the guard over. He was larger than the others, and looked to be rather, well...stupid.
Biting her bottom lip, Raindrop reached down with a hoof and began to, very gently, and very carefully, disentangle a keyring from the guards hip.
The keys jangled once, and the guard snorted, sitting up a little bit straighter.
Raindrop held her breath, eyes clenching closed, standing stock-still. The guard lapsed back into sleep, and Raindrop heaved out the breath she had been holding. Her hoof shook violently as she slipped the keyring off its hook, and then turned around, walking with steps that seemed light and weightless to her after the massive surge of adrenaline.
On instinct, she made her way over to the glowing gem. It was sitting on a black three-pronged, twisted holder of some kind that actually looked kind of cool. Trust the bad guys to get the good furniture.
A hoof reached out to gently touch the gem, and then snatched back as the gem went dark. Mist seemed to coalesce inside the gem, and then explode outwards until it reached the surface of the gem, turning it to stone.
Raindrop frowned, looking left, and then right, and then snatching the now-stone gem, placing it in her other wing. Casting one more glance about, she turned and then began to quickly, but quietly, make her way back to Sentinel.
Sentinel was still hoisted up in his restraints when Raindrop returned, and she entertained the idea, for a few moments, of placing the keys on the stage in front of him, just out of reach.
Raindrop then swallowed down the dark impulse, and made her way over to him.
She didn't know why she was being so mean all of a sudden? Maybe it was the Changeling blood resurfacing inside her. Maybe it was just stress? Would the changeling traits even change her personality? Goddess knew she was a much more short-tempered pegasus since all of this had started happening. Sentinel's face told her that.
"I'm here," she whispered gently as she slipped up behind the guard. "Can you walk?"
"I don't know," Sentinel spat in response, scowling slightly. "I haven't exactly had a chance to test it, have I?"
Raindrop's eyes narrowed slowly. Leaving the key on the stage in front of him was seeming like a better idea with every second. "A simple 'I don't know" would have sufficed."
"Whatever," Sentinel responded with a short huff. "Just get me out of these damn things."
Raindrop stared up at him for a long moment, before drawing away. "No...actually, I think I'll leave you there."
Sentinel watched with narrowed eyes as the young pegasus laid the key to his manacles on the stage in front of him, just out of reach of his hooves.
"Don't go anywhere honey, you make a nice wall ornament," she stated flatly, as she turned and began to stride away calmly.
The tunnels were an entirely new place when the Diamond Dogs inhabited them. The very same tunnels that Raindrop had gone down earlier were now completely cut off by Diamond Dogs digging or lazing in them. It seemed that everywhere she turned, there was another Diamond Dog lurking under a torch to block her escape. It was beginning to fray her nerves, being surrounded by so many of them, and she was almost stunned that she hadn't been discovered yet.
And all while she looked for an escape route, Sentinel's words echoed in her mind.
"Get back here!" he had hissed after her as she walked away from him. He had been angry; subdued and quiet, but angry. "Get back here and get me out of this you besotted changeling!"
And each one of his words had made her angrier. She wanted to go back, take the key, and literally shove it down his throat with her hoof. It was as if there was a violent creature waiting inside her, waiting to attack at the tiniest provocation. And while she was angry, she had no control over it.
Or maybe Sentinel was just a massive dick.
Raindrop consoled herself with the fact that the guard wouldn't be a problem much longer. They'd find her theft of the stone soon enough, and the key right in front of the pegasus there on the stage. And then they'd raise the alarm and that would be that. Raindrop intended to be long gone by that time, though.
The young pegasus had to cut right down a new tunnel, as the one she'd previously used to enter the system of tunnels was now filled with Diamond Dogs. This tunnel was lined with dull blue crystals, too dark to be used in decorating, and thus, pretty much useless. She crept down the length of the tunnel, frowning to herself as it started to slope gently downwards. She needed to go up, not down. The tunnel evened out after a little while, and terminated in a large room heaped high with gems and treasures. There were fat rubies the size of her hoof, sapphires, and even a few clear diamonds.
At the front of the pile of gems, sitting on a pedestal, were the Elements of Harmony. Glittering and shiny, they each had their own pedestal, six in a row. Each of them were shaped as she remembered, from when she had first collected them. But somehow, Raindrop knew these weren't the real Elements. They didn't feel right. Somehow, she thought the Elements of Harmony would feel..magical. These just felt inert. They were fakes, like the ones she had brought back to Celestia.
Frowning, Raindrop turned around and headed back up the tunnel she had come from. Her wings were growing sore from carrying the weight of Sentinel's gem, and the strange stone she had taken on impulse. Something told her that it was important.
Raindrop slunk back into the large chamber where Sentinel was strung up. The guard was trying vainly to reach the key with a hoof, panting for breath. He looked rather...pathetic like that, strung up and straining against his bonds to reach the key sitting so close to him, and yet so hard to attain that it might as well have been at the bottom of the ocean.
And somehow, it filled her with joy to know that she had placed him in that position. That she had this power over a strong male. That she could exert her strength in such a way.
Raindrop shuddered as she realised that she was enjoying putting another pony in pain, and she rushed over to him, bounding a few steps and picking up the key, slotting it into the shackle at his ankle and unlocking it, swapping the key to the next padlock and unlocking it as well.
Sentinel stared down at her, frowning slightly, apparently wanting to say something. Wisely though, he kept his mouth shut.
Raindrop stood up next to him, to where his hooves were bound, supporting his weight on her shoulders to cause the chains to go slack so she could unlock the padlocks, and let them drop to the ground.
The guard slumped as he was freed, and then pushed away from her, dropping down onto his hindlegs first, and then his forelegs, the limbs shaking and then giving out instantly, sending him sprawling out on his chest with a grunt of pain.
"Get up!" Raindrop hissed, moving to his side and nudging him upright. "We have to go."
"Really?" Sentinel hissed in response, baring his teeth in pain and trying to rise, before saying in a slightly panicked tone, "I...I can't move my forehooves!"
"Useless!" Raindrop hissed, gripping his mane in her teeth and dragging him off the stage bodily, moving to rest his chest on her back. She moved towards the tunnels again, already regretting her decision to set the guard free, "Now walk!"
Sentinel harrumphed, but gave a few staggered steps as Raindrop had instructed, his upper body supported on her back as she bore him towards the tunnels. The female pegasus nudged him upwards and slipped out from under him, letting him collapse to the ground, snorting at him.
"Gonna hit me again?" The guard asked with a grimace, as he tentatively tried to support his weight with his forepaws.
Raindrop scowled, and then turned away, before thinking better of it and turning back towards him, giving him a ringing blow to the side of the head with a hoof.
Sentinel winced and closed his eye on that side, shaking his head. "Forget I asked..."
The female pegasus scowled at him, her tone dangerous, "I should have left you in the damn chains."
"But then who would you beat up?" Sentinel asked dryly, as he managed to lift himself to his hooves.
Raindrop paused in her looking about to aim another heavy blow at the side of his head.
Sentinel caught her hoof in mid-air, and then smiled at her.
"I can walk now," he stated, and then seemed to pause, looking thoughtful, before jabbing her, hard, in the nose, with a rather heavy blow from his own hoof. "And defend myself."
Raindrop recoiled from the stunning suddenness of the blow, blinking slowly and lifting a hoof to rub her nose.
"That is for leaving me in the chains," he stated flatly, eyes narrowing at her, taking a step backwards before she could recover enough to retaliate.
The young pegasus took a deep breath, gritting her teeth, turning to face him, biting her words off as she said quietly, "Let's wait until we get out of here to continue this."
"Agreed," Sentinel stated, flexing his forehooves to regain mobility in them.
Raindrop scowled at him, touching her nose with a hoof and looking down at the blood there with a thoughtful expression, before stating, "I might have deserved that."
"You did," Sentinel concured, walking past her and starting down the tunnel. "You forgot to change your eyes back, by the way."
Raindrop blinked once at that, mystified as to what he had said, before trailing after him as he moved down the tunnel. "There are Diamond Dogs near the entrance. We can't just walk past them."
"...Tell me, Raindrop. Do you have wings?" Sentinel asked flatly, peering at her over his shoulder.
The pegasus flushed faintly, her ears splaying back in embarrassment. "Uh...yeah."
"Use them," he stated, pointing a hoof forwards. "You fly out of here, distract the guards, I'll walk out afterwards."
"You fly out first!" she hissed in response, brows furrowing.
"I don't even know if I can fly right now. We can't walk out. So either fly out, or we both stay here skulking in the tunnels until they discover you set me free and find us. Then we can exchange barbed words in chainsm" Sentinel stated coolly.
"Fine," Raindrop hissed, shaking her head and then dropping the stone and the gem from her wings, directly onto the guards forehooves.
Sentinel bared his teeth, growling faintly at her, before looking down at the two objects, and then looking up at her with a scowl. "The Seeker Stone...You stole that!"
Raindrop shrugged, but didn't say anything, stretching her wings.to get them ready for flight.
"And this..." he added, lifting a hoof to rest on the stone, his eyes widening. "The Element of Loyalty!"
Raindrop paused at that, turning to look at the guard, and then down at the stone, snorting once, and then pointing out, "The Element of Loyalty is a red crystal on a gold necklace, shaped like a lightning bolt."
"The Seeker Stone glowed and throbbed when it got close to this, yes?" he asked, nudging the red gem.
"...Yeah?" Raindrop admitted, not understanding.
"Then this is the Element," he said, picking up the dull grey orb and slipping it under his wing for safekeeping. "We have to get this out of here. Were there any others nearby?"
Raindrop shook her head. "Just the one."
Sentinel frowned, wrinkling his nose slightly. "That's not good...they must have been split up..."
"That's your problem now. Toodles," Raindrop said, taking several bounding steps down the tunnel and then leaping into the air, spreading her wings.
There was barely enough room for her to flap her wings without hitting the sides of the tunnel, angling her wings to gain speed, coasting above the bottom of the tunnel, leaving the guard to watch her until she slipped out of sight around the bend in the tunnel.
A cry of alarm rose from a Diamond Dog as Raindrop flew overhead, her hooves almost clipping his head as she moved. The tunnel widened out into the entrance chamber, where a pair of dogs were digging for gems, and they both looked up at the cry of alarm.
Raindrop's eyes widened and she cried out in dismay as she saw a net thrown in front of her. Her reaction was a little too slow and she collided with the leading edge of the heavy netting, halting her escape almost instantly. She came down hard on the ground, tangled in the netting, struggling feebly for a moment.
Diamond Dogs converged on her, three in total, standing on the edges of the net to keep her in place, so she couldn't struggle out from under the netting.
Raindrop struggle anyway, planting her hooves and trying her hardest to straighten her hooves and force her body upwards, quivering and shaking for a moment before she collapsed. Growling, she looked around, and saw Sentinel standing in the tunnel, half in darkness, uncertainly watching as the guards held her down.
"We got another pony!" one of them cawed with a grin, prodding her with a claw.
"Let me go," Raindrop hissed, her tone vehement.
"Oh sure pony. We're sorry, we'll just let you go since you said so," the dog said calmly, crossing his arms and staring down at her with a patronising expression.
"This one is female!" one of the dogs said from behind her, a wide grin evident on his face, his tone elated. "We could have fun with this one before taking her to the others!"
"I warned you!" Raindrop snarled, her body twisting as she rose suddenly to her hooves. Muscles rippled under her hide visibly as she straightened her hooves, causing the three dogs to become unbalanced by the sudden shift in weight. With a snarl, the pegasus reared up on her hindlegs, ripping the net from under the Diamond Dog in front of her, and allowing her to toss it off.
The dog tried to tackle her, throwing himself at her form, arms outstretched.
Raindrop bared her teeth, and smashed her hoof into his face and stopping him in his tracks. Turning, she aimed a double kick with her hindlegs into the chest of another of the dogs, and hit him square, centre-mass.
The poor diamond dog was sent literally off his feet, hitting the third and last diamond dog with a force far above what Raindrop should have been able to produce, sending them both tumbling away until they came to rest against the wall of the chamber, unmoving.
Raindrop stood in the centre of the chamber, limbs splayed, breathing hard, her muscles still rippling under her hide. Her eyes were fully green now, demonic and wild. Her teeth were clenched hard, and she seemed to be trying her hardest to keep her muscles from clenching. Her back arched, and her wings snapped out wide, tensing and quivering as her head locked into place. She arched and shuddered, biting down until she tasted blood, jaws locked, unable to control her own body.
Her muscles rippled again, and she gave a stifled cry, feeling as though all the bones in her body were about to break. The strain was incredible.
Sentinel moved towards her cautiously, nudging the Diamond Dogs to ensure they were properly unconscious as he moved over towards her, pausing a few steps from her. His tone was more curious than concerned as he asked, "Are you...okay?"
"H-help m-me.." Raindrop managed to whimper from between her unyielding jaws. Her body was no longer under her control, and each ripple of her muscles hurt, like her bones were trying to rearrange themselves.
The guard looked her over for a moment, his brows furrowing. Rather calmly, he stepped over to one of the guards, drew a club from besides his body, and then moved back over to Raindrop, smacking her over the head with the club.
Instantly, Raindrop slumped to the ground. Her muscles relaxed, her entire form dropped, and she went completely limp. Sentinel lifted one of her eyelids, and checked her eyes; they were still green and slit-pupilled. And the young pegasus was unconscious, her eyes glassy and unmoving.
Harrumphing, Sentinel considered leaving the pegasus there, before sighing faintly and shaking his head, gripping Raindrop's hoof and throwing it over his shoulders, starting to drag her from the tunnel system.
Raindrop groaned and stirred fitfully, weakly shifting a hoof to try and touch her head, where a throbbing epicentre of ache was demanding her attention.
"Don't try to move, Raindrop," A soothing feminine voice said. She recognized the voice, but it took a few moments for it to click over in her mind that it was Princess Celestia.
One of her eyes opened and she groaned again at her complete inability to move. Moving hurt. Breathing hurt. It was as though she'd managed to pull every single muscle in her body at once.
As soon as her eyes opened, she realised she was in the dungeon. The bars of a cell rose in front of her, and Celestia was standing in the open doorway, frowning down at her.
"Hurts..." Raindrop managed to whimper from behind her uncooperative lips.
"I know, Raindrop, I know. From what Sentinel told me, you attempted to change. Your body wasn't designed for it, Raindrop. It almost killed you," Celestia explained, leaning down to be more on her level. "I need to know you're still Raindrop before I can let you out of here."
Raindrop winced slightly as she tried to lift her head, and snorted at the Princess for a moment, before just splaying out again.
"Give it a day or so, you've been through a lot," Celestia said, withdrawing and motioning for a guard, who stepped over to the cell door and closed it, sealing her inside.
Raindrop didn't even react. She just closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
Consciousness returned slowly to Raindrop, and she groaned again. Her muscles all hurt. It was as though she overused every muscle in her body and none of them wanted to work. She felt weak and utterly powerless. It took her a few moments to realise that it had been a visitor that brought her back to consciousness, and she opened an eye weakly to figure out who it was. She was expecting Celestia, but instead, saw the receding flank of a royal guard in full dress, walking away from her.
She tried to phrase a question but was too weak, and just closed her eye again. She opened it again and squinted at the source of a scent of an oddly sweet fire. A small cake was sitting in front of her, with a candle burning atop it slowly. The guard must have left it there for her, she surmised. But why would a guard leave her a cake? That was the oddest meal to serve a prisoner.
Pushing the thought out of her mind, Raindrop returned to unconsciousness.
Ravenous.
Raindrop was absolutely ravenous when she woke up next. She devoured the cake in front of her without a second thought. It was now old, stale, and cold, but she barely tasted it. Vanilla icing atop chocolate cake. She almost ended up eating the candle as well.
The sugary goodness slid down her throat and helped a little bit, but it was only moments before she was at the bars of her cell, rapping her hoof of them, calling, "Uh...hello? I want food!"
One of the guards wandered down the stairs at the end of the hall, and ambled towards her, raising a brow. "You're awake?"
"No. Sleepwalking. Food. Now." Raindrop stated, rapping her hoof on the bars again.
The guard rolled his eyes, and then squinted at her for a moment, staring into her eyes.
Raindrop kept his gaze for a few moments, before beginning to feel uncomfortable, looking down at her hooves.
"...I'll get you some food," the guard said after a moment, turning away and returning back upstairs.
The pegasus sat down on her haunches in front of the bars impatiently, tail twitching back and forth in agitation as she waited.
A salad sandwich, a hoofful of sugarcubes, and a cup of water. It was simple fare, but it was the best meal Raindrop had ever had. Her protesting muscles didn't even stop her from scoffing down the food as fast as she could, washing down the unyielding chunks of bits with mouthfuls of water.
She was just finishing up the sandwich when Celestia came to the door, opening it with a touch of her horn, and stepping into the smal cell.
"Careful, Dangerous changeling in here somewhere. Could be any of us. Even me," Raindrop stated, as she finished off the cup of water and then wiped her mouth daintily with a hoof, peering up at the princess.
"Then cell is merely a precaution, Raindrop," Celestia chided, shaking her head.
"It's a cell nonetheless," Raindrop pointed out, moving over to the cot stiffly and pulling herself onto it. She winced as she crossed her forepaws and laid her chin on them, "...Any idea why I hurt so much?"
"You tried to change, Raindrop," Celestia reiterated, shaking her head for a moment.
Raindrop wrinkled her nose, scratching behind her ear with a hoof. "You said that...but...changing? I'm not...How could I even do that?"
Celestia sat down, giving Raindrop a look up and down, before shrugging helplessly. "I...Honestly don't know. A case such as yours has never existed. It is possible that you are developing changeling powers. Your experiences with Shine are indicative that you are draining love energy from your partner in the same manner as a changeling. That energy has to be going somewhere."
The pegasus nodded at that, thinking back. "I...don't remember a whole lot. But my muscles were being stupid. I couldn't move them. And it hurt."
"Likely the changeling magic trying to change your form. Your body isn't designed for it. What was happening was probably the latent magic in your blood trying to turn you into something...larger?" Celestia offered as an explanation.
"I did get a pretty big boost to my strength before the blinding agony hit," Raindrop pointed out thoughtfully.
"Sentinel tells me you were quite angry at the time," Celestia added.
"I have anger issues," she stated in reply, in an off-hand way.
"You didn't used to," Celestia pointed out, raising a brow.
"I...how do you know that?" Raindrop asked, frowning deeply.
"I've watched you and your family, Raindrop, remember?" the princess asked, raising a brow at her and smiling faintly.
"I...I have been getting angrier easily recently. I'm sure Sentinel could tell you how easy," she admitted, looking down at her hooves.
"I didn't need to ask him, it's written on his face," Celestia pointed out dryly.
Raindrop winced at that, ears splaying backwards. She huffed, grinding her hoofs into the cot, "He started it. Kept calling me and changeling and acting like I murdered his whole family."
"And you didn't clarify that you were born a pony but that your grandmother was Chrysalis," Celestia added.
"But...well...I guess I didn't," Raindrop admitted with a frown. "Still. He deserved it."
"Sentinel's mother was but a filly when Chrysalis and her army attacked Canterlot. She was injured in the attack, not a fatal injury. But it complicated her first birth; and she died," Celestia explained, her voice sad. "His father tried to raise him for a few years by himself, but eventually turned to hard cider. A week before most foals start school, he gave his son the choice of an orphanage or the Royal Guard. He handed him a train ticket to Ponyville with a connection to Canterlot, fifty bits, and never saw him again."
Raindrop blinked, her ears splaying backwards. "That's....kind of harsh..."
"His father fell from a cloud over Cloudsdale one day. It was perhaps a drunken accident, but most likely suicide. He was holding a picture of Sentinel's mother." Celestia said with a sad shake of her head. "And all of this is due to changelings. He has great reason to hate them. It was unwise of me to send you with him without explaining what you are. Likely, he sensed the changeling within you and got the wrong impression. I corrected those impressions. He will no longer trouble you."
"But...but...who will I hit now?" Raindrop asked with a frown, looking down at her hooves.
"I believe he hit you, as well? How is your head?" Celestia inquired.
"Oh, this?" Raindrop asked, raising a hoof to her head and rubbing it about. "Can't even feel it now. Like it never happened."
"It's been a few days," the princess explained. "Probably why you were so hungry, too."
Raindrop winced a little. "A few days? What happened with the Element of Harmony?"
"We recovered the Element of Loyalty. But Sentinel had to abandon the Seeker Stone to carry you back here," Celestia said, shaking her head for a moment. "A wise trade off."
"The Seeker Stone? Was that that red gem?" Raindrop inquired, raising a brow.
"Indeed. I created one for each of the Elements. I intended them to act as a kind of compass...but I never managed to get the magic to that level. Instead, they react by proximity. Perhaps within a mile or so and they start to react. Especially more so when the Element is active. At present, the Elements are dormant, stone. So the Seeker Stones need to be literally next to them to react." Celestia explained, looking Raindrop over carefully.
"Not true," the pegasus responded with a shake of her head. "When I came across the Element, it was glowing and red, like the stone Sentinel was carrying. It only turned to stone when I touched it."
Celestia frowned deeply at that, looking down at her hooves for a moment, seeming confused. "But...Then how?"
"Don't ask me. I just went looking for the Elements. Got one of them." Raindrop said with a smile.
"No, you don't understand. As soon as someone touches an unguarded Element, they revert to stone. The only people able to even handle them were the former bearers. After Luna became Nightmare Moon, the Elements all reverted to stone until the former bearers activated them," Celestia explained, still frowning deeply.
"Well...they found a way to move them around and activate them?" Raindrop offered helplessly, shrugging her shoulders.
"Indeed...now to figure out how," Celestia said, rising to her hooves properly and turning towards the cell door. "I deem you fit to be released, but...you might want to get a pair of sunglasses. Come see me when you're ready. We'll discuss the next steps."
Raindrop frowned at princess's tone, and rose to her hooves as well, stepping stiffly off the coat and hobbling towards the door, stepping out of it and moving over to the guard. She lifted her hoof, making a motion with it. "Turn your head to the side."
The guard complied, and Celestia gave her a sympathetic glance as she walked past. Raindrop leaned in to the polished armour and peered into the reflection, her eyes widening and her heart beating against her throat as she caught sight of her reflection. Her natural pink eyes were gone, and in their place, were a pair of vibrant green, demonic changeling eyes.
Whimpering faintly, she rubbed at her eyes with her hooves, as though she could maybe rub the change out of them, shuddering.
The young pegasus stared at her reflection for a long moment, and then slumped a little bit, head hanging low as she started up the stairs and out of the dungeon.
They only had one Element, and already, her changeling blood had almost killed her. They still needed the other five elements, and the new bearers, just to have a chance to heal her. She sighed softly to herself.
Why could it never be easy?