Saphire Systrine

Luna's face hardened for a moment in frustration, then softened. "We apologize for our behavior," she said, her entire demeanor changing to that of a kinder, more loving ruler, "Saphire Systrine is a diligent, resourceful enemy, and while she will sometimes be kind like she did to you, you must understand that under that shell of a body she is a violent killing machine, and she only intends to use you." The princesses' words were laced with a sense of genuine concern, if not a hint of frustration, but maybe not towards Tinker. "While we may have her in our custody now," Luna continued, "she is fully capable of escape at any time. But…" Luna thought for a short time then said, "You may be able to help us stop her… your magic resists our anti-magic technology, similar to hers. If you would let us study you, maybe we can develop a method that can truly stop her." The Princess of the Night smiled kindly at Tinker, "Will you?"

@Skylight Scintillate Just so its clear, you can transform right now, you aren't lacking magic to do that You can basically do whatever here, its up to you on how to handle this situation, feel free to be creative

"You said 'like' one hundred and twenty-eight times," Luna responded without a beat, "Are you so inept that you don't know any other transitionary words? Not to mention what you said was quite useless. We already know everything you spoke of. It seems you are only as useful as your... abilities," she said, looking the quivering changeling up and down. The way she said that did not seem like he was about to be enlisted in service to the Princess of the Night. No, with the context of 'copying magic', maybe this meant something much worse.

"Really now," said the princess in a cold tone, her eyes still unsettlingly emotionless, "You have thirty seconds to begin talking, or I will… encourage you to talk." Tinker didnt have many options here. He could say what he knows, which wasnt much, something she probably wouldnt like, or say nothing. As his instincts begin to kick in, he can feel that he has the ability to transform. Maybe that is an option as well.

"Names Ramfin, though I used to just be called Fin before I got my title," he said, introducing himself, "Nice to meet you Tinker, wish it was in better circumstances." "I believe so, you're the first I ever saw brought in. Maybe its because those changelings really know how to defend their hive. You didnt come straight from the hive did you?" The mention of the hive being defensive brought some interesting yet startling implications. It was already established that the creatures here had been kidnapped, but to try and make blatant moves like attacking the hive? That doesn't sound very Equestrian. Tinker never heard any news about this, then again, news from the hive doesnt exactly travel to the small town of Ponyville very fast. "If you ask me I don't trust a single one of these thugs, not even the Princesses. Not after how I saw them treat the others, treating their own ponies like prey." Ramfin tried to keep up with Tinker's bombardment of questions the best he could. "I got not idea what you're talkin about bud." "I dont know, they dont say anything." "If by meals you mean some weird synthesized snot then sure. Keeps us alive but thats about it. And no, I've not seen Celestia much, mostly Luna. When did you see Celestia?" "Uhh..." Ramfin didnt know what he was talking about. Seems he was not familiar with Equestria's leaders, so he may have been taken straight from his homeland. If so, does that confirm they were trying to capture changelings from the hive as well? Soon the torrent of questions had become overwhelming for Ramfin, so he shushed Tinker. Right as Tinker stopped a door could be heard opening, and the sound of metallic hooves reverberated through the hallway. Within a minute or so, a guard was looking into Tinker's cell. "Get up and get out here," the guard barked as the door opened. The guard prodded Tinker with his spear down the hall. Beyond a door with absolutely no window was another maze of hallways, just like the ones Tinker had seen when he was with his group. Just as with the cell, he was unceremoniously shoved into a surprisingly empty, dark room. Suddenly the room was blindingly bright before Tinker's eyes could adjust. In the center of the room was just a drain, the concrete around it stained a slightly red hue. "So tell me," came the low voice of a dark-blue alicorn he hadn't noticed standing in the corner, "What do you know about Saphire Systrine?" The alicorn, who must have been Luna, slowly walked forward. Her gaze was unrecognizable. Cold maybe? Either way, it was unsettling, utterly lacking the warmth Celestia had.

"Honestly not much. Kidnapped, taken here. For the first day I was passed out and woke up with all these wounds all over my body, but then they never came back," The hippogriff started to explain in a low voice, "They do for the others though. Those three ponies have had it rough, they get taken almost every day. I try to talk to them but they're just too weak, only get a word or so out of them. Something about copying magic or something..." Aside from their voices, the only other sounds were the whimpering ponies in the cell next to Tinker.

"Come to the door crack, we can talk better through there," came a voice from outside his cell. Across the hall was a hippogriff. He pointed down towards the air flow space under the door, then squatted down, vanishing from the window, "You'll need to hurry, the guards to rounds every 3 minutes, which is overkill if you ask me."

The large metal door shut with a loud reverberation, and just as it did @Skylight Scintillate Tinker felt the poke of a spear behind his head. "Move, bug," the guard demanded rudely. The guard led Tinker further into the facility, and eventually to what looked like a set of holding cells. Each cell contained some kind of magical creature, everything ranging from cockatrice to manticore, all locked behind thick steel doors with thick viewing windows. Deeper into the hall of cells, though, he noticed other fellow races. Dragons, hippogriffs, griffons, and even a set of the three pony races. The ponies in particular looked like they were in horrible shape, but Tinker didn't get enough time to fully inspect them before he was shoved into the cell next to them. This development didn't bode well at all. Was the two-faced treatment going to reveal itself upon his friends? "The Princess will see you soon, keep your mouth shut and you may get a meal tonight," the lead guard gruffly said as the door was slammed shut. Four cinder block walls and a steel door encased Tinker. Attached to one of the walls was a steel sink with a floor toilet below, the rest of the floor was solid dark concrete. Above was a bright light made of a technology he had not seen before, and next to it was an intake vent and output vent, fastened securely. It had pea-sized holes to pass air rather than the slats usually used on such vents. His friends could be in danger.

@Skylight ScintillateYou okay? I dont want to leave you behind. You're about to go on a side quest 👀