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The Three Sisters: Extended Family

by Wanderer D

Chapter 10: Chapter 9

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Phasmi trotted into the barracks and stopped, staring in shock. “Oh, no… she couldn’t have! I-I have to warn Acari and Arachne… there’s—”

“You’re not doing anything like that, Princess,” one of the guards behind her said.

She almost managed to turn around completely before she was tackled to the floor by her guards. One of them transformed into a bear and put all his weight on top of her, stopping her from moving.

“Don’t even try using your magic,” the other one said, noticing her gathering energies. “We’ll snap your horn if we need to.”

Phasmi stopped struggling and looked at the few guards around her. “Is not one of you going to help?”

She received no reply, only the blank, uncaring stares of the guards. She could not see into their minds, or even feel any empathy coming from them.

“Why are you doing this?” She turned from guard to guard, eyes pleading. “What did I do to you?”

A changeling, bigger than the others, stepped forth and glared down at the princess. “Not you alone. You and your sisters will be held responsible and be held in house arrest until the situation has been decided by the Queen.”

“Responsible?!” Phasmi gasped. “For what?”

“Murder.”

o.0.o

“Oh no,” Acari whispered, pulling away from the edge of the barrack’s entrance. “I’m too late! They’ve got Phasmi! What should I do?!”

She turned to look at Rarity and Luna. “She’s trapped… I don’t know what will happen to her! It completely depends on who gave the order to capture us!” She shivered. “I never expected… wait, wasn’t there three of you bef—”

Acari never completed her sentence. Before the startled eyes of Luna and Rarity, she collapsed unconscious at the hooves of Hidden Tale, who still had the hoof he had used to chop down on her raised.

“What the—” Luna snapped. “Hidden! Why did you—how…” her mouth opened and closed silently while she tried to formulate a response to his sudden attack on the changeling princess.

“How could you?” Rarity gasped, kneeling next to Acari and breathing in relief when she noticed her niece breathing. “Why did you do such a thing?!” she asked, glaring at him.

Hidden Tale opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by another voice from behind them.

“Well done, citizens!” A guard said gravely, trotting up to the unconscious princess. “While we had everything under control, we appreciate your duty to your queen! Please resume your normal duties for now, and we will report your bravery to the queen as soon as possible.”

Luna’s mouth snapped shut and Rarity slowly stood up, stepping away while watching the guard levitate her niece off the ground and onto his back. They watched in silence as the guard took Acari away, not even glancing their way, before both females rounded up on Hidden Tale.

“She was losing control, and I noticed the guard approaching,” Hidden Tale said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I decided that it would be easier to be seen as allies than battling all the guards in the area.”

Luna sighed and nodded while Rarity shook her head, aghast. “But you just let them carry away my niece!”

“Rarity,” Luna spoke up, placing a hoof on her fellow royal’s shoulder, “She is our enemy for now, until we sort things out by finding Twilight Sparkle and your sisters.”

Rarity hesitated, seeming to prepare another outburst before deflating a little. “I suppose, there’s no helping her right now. I hope they don’t do anything to them.”

“I doubt it.” Hidden Tale walked past them, beckoning them to follow. “They’re taking them prisoner, I’m sure they have questions for the princesses. That will give us some time to find little Sweetie Belle, Chrysalis and Twilight Sparkle.”

o.0.o

Sweetie Belle stared at the plate of cooked fruit bats in front of her. Her eyes slowly drifted up to the hopeful-looking cook that had presented her with the plate, before focusing down on the contents.

“Well?”

Sweetie glared at Chrysalis, who threw another one into her open maw and chewed loudly. The Queen’s eyes closed as the flavors enveloped her tastebuds and she shivered in pleasure, before glancing at her sister. “Aren’t you going to try the fruit bats? They cooked them special, just for you, you know.”

“I’m a pony,” Sweetie Belle stated.

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“Ponies don’t eat meat. Except those cultists in ‘Daring Do and the Cannibal Obelix’.” Sweetie sniffed the fruit bats. “And they were the bad guys.”

“They were enlightened,” Chrysalis corrected. “Besides, they’re Fruit Bats. They’re just like timber wolves. You know. Plants. Only these fly and eat more fruits, and timber wolves are just nasty creatures.”

Sweetie looked down at the plate again, and her stomach grumbled. She looked at Chrysalis dubiously. “Are you sure—”

“Yeah, yeah, they’re fruit! Seriously!”

Sweetie raised one up to her nose and smelled it briefly. “Okay then…” she took the tiniest bite.

Sweetie’s eyes widened; her hoof trembled… her mouth salivated. “T-this is… delicious!”

Chrysalis’ smile widened when Sweetie chomped down on the whole red fruit bat, and got started on the purple one. “They taste amazing, don’t they?”

Sweetie, mouth full, could only nod.

“Wait until you try bacon.”

Sweetie’s mouth stopped mid chew.

“Bacon is…” Chrysalis grinned. “A… vegetable. You put it on a grill an—”

Sweetie swallowed and slowly put down the fruit bat. “I know what bacon is. And it’s not a plant.”

There was utter silence in the kitchen.

“Wait, it’s not?” A changeling in the back asked.

“Shut up! You forgot already?!”

The pair were escorted out by another, irritated-looking chef.

Sweetie turned to glare at Chrysalis. “You lied! You told me they were made of fruit!”

Chrysalis’ grin didn’t fade, but she did shrug.

“And I believed you!” Sweetie said, “Why did I believe you?”

“Because you’re gullible?” Chrysalis offered. “Besides, little sister, this is your older sisters’ favorite dish.”

Sweetie’s glare didn’t fade until she took another bite.

Chrysalis blinked. “I guess we really are related.”

“Your highness!” A member of the kitchen staff walked in. “Princess Arachne is waking up!”

“Good, good,” Chrysalis’ smile became vicious. “It’s time for my dear daughter to learn her lesson. Are you ready, Sweetie Belle?”

“Mmm?” Sweetie gulped down the last of her fruit bat. “Oh, yeah, sure!”

o.0.o

“Oooh,” Arachne groaned, slowly massaging her temples. “I’m never drinking out of mom’s cabinet again… what the hay is ‘Triple Fermented Moonshine’ anyway?”

The sound of someone sniffing made her turn in place, and she gasped.

Twilight Sparkle kneeled next to the unmoving body of Sweetie Belle.

“Y-you’re free?!”

Twilight turned, glaring at her with so much anger that Arachne had to scramble back in panic. Slowly energy gathered around the unicorn and her coat began smoking, while her eyes turned a blinding white.

“You killed my best friend’s little sister!” Twilight Sparkle roared.

“I-I didn’t I promise!”

“Why should I believe you, changeling?! You captured me and her both and brought us here!” Twilight declared, her words echoing with unearthly power. Each step the mare took towards the terrified princess made the ground crackle with energy.

Arachne pressed her back against the wall. “I-I didn’t! I swear! It must have been my mother!”

Twilight Sparkle shook her head. “I will have to destroy you and the Hive anyway. Your mother is dead, Arachne, you and your sisters managed to kill her as you had planned!”

Arachne’s irises became really, really small. “M-mother is dead?! But-but that was not the plan!”

Twilight Sparkle hesitated. “It wasn’t?”

*burp!*

“N-no! I—” Arachne stopped when she noticed something. Sweetie Belle had burped. “Hey! The dead don’t burp!”

“Yes, they do!” Twilight said.

“No, they don’t!”

“Yes, they do!”

“No, they don’t!”

“Actually,” Sweetie Belle offered from her prone position on the floor, making the arguing pair stop and turn to her. “The dead do burp, pass gas and… other. It has to do with muscles relaxing! Cutie Mark Crusaders: Grave Diggers, yay!” She waved her hoof in half-hearted cheer before letting it simply fall to the side.

The pair looked at her in silence for a moment.

“I told you they did!” Twilight cackled. “And now, you pay for killing Sweetie!”

“B-but I really didn-hold on.” Arachne pushed herself off the wall and glared at the smoking Twilight Sparkle. “Okay, I might have been mistaken about the dead burping… but I’m very sure clarification of whether they do or not is not the result of an involuntary muscle contraction!”

*burp*

“Could you stop that?” Arachne snapped. “I’m trying to prove to Twilight here that I didn’t kill you!”

“Sorry… too many fruit bats…” Sweetie groaned, lying down on the floor.

“Good, now, as I was saying I did-mphmm!” Arachne was interrupted by Twilight’s hoof in her mouth.

“By the gods, you really are a bubble-head,” Twilight muttered, her coat flashing into green flames and revealing Queen Chrysalis.

Arachne’s face was a mixture of surprise, terror, and indignation. “Y-you pranked me!” she accused, pushing her mother’s hoof off her mouth. “You’re free!”

“She seems to be very good at stating the obvious.” Sweetie Belle didn’t even bother standing up.

“That she does.” Chrysalis nodded. “Now,” her eyelids lowered and she smiled, showing off her fangs to her nervous daughter. “Tell me what the plan really was.”

Author's Notes:

As usual, just random burst of inspiration. Do I still need to say this wasn't edited?

Next Chapter: Chapter 10 Estimated time remaining: 28 Minutes
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