The Betrayal Trixie’s Surprise
When they finally arrived at the city, it was Daring’s turn to be exhausted.
“How about we go back to my wagon and leave this city while you rest on the hammock?” Trixie offered.
Daring fanned herself with her hat. “That’s really tempting, but I can’t just leave without making sure Luddic doesn’t have the artifact.”
Trixie let out a grunt. “For all we know, a parasprite ate it and flew away just to then get eaten by a falcon.”
Daring raised an eyebrow. “That’s kind of specific.”
“Trixie lost a hat that way," the magician answered and quickly continued. "The point is, we don’t even know if it’s in the city. It may have never been in the temple to begin with! The place is open to the public after all, somepony could have found it before and sold it in some black market.”
“Maybe.” Daring sighed. “Getting away from Luddic’s cult while I'm exhausted may be the best option. We already had a close encounter with them.”
“Very well, let me get the wagon.” Trixie took off towards the parking spot while Daring took a moment to look for a fountain or something that could heal her dry throat.
She found a little stand selling coconut drinks, and thought ‘close enough’ before walking to it. After ordering an extra drink for Trixie, she pulled out her pouch of bits, but then saw the scared look of the vendor.
Daring ducked her head, and the Khopesh blade just managed to cut the tip of her hat. After that, she quickly bucked her assailant in the chest and took off running, not bothering to see how many were following her. Thanks to her quick reflexes, she managed to dodge an arrow meant for her head and doubled her sprint until she saw Trixie pulling her wagon.
Daring’s eyes filled with dread as she saw two pegasus cultists armed with lances walking towards her with murderous intent.
“Trixie! Behind you!” she screamed, giving the magician the time necessary to see her attackers and blast them away before they could use their weapons.
Trixie saw at least half a dozen cultists running behind Daring and turned her head to the two earth pony bodyguards that protected her wagon, but they both had disappeared when they saw what was happening.
“Where're the guards in this city?”
“There’s no time for that, follow me.” Daring opened her wings and took flight with Trixie levitating close behind her.
Luddic’s cultists watched them fly away and prepared to follow, but a stern voice gave them new orders. “Search the wagon, the artifact must be in there.”
The cultist approached the vehicle, but was stopped when Trixie landed hard on top of the one closest to her wagon. “Oh no, you won’t.”
The two pegasi from before tried to attack her, but she picked them up in her magic and threw them against two other cultists. The unicorn archers shot two arrows at her, but she shielded them easily.
Then, a cloaked figure approached, and when she tried to blast him back, it used a weird bracelet to catch the blast and threw it back at her.
Trixie grunted as she dodged the blast and threw the body of the cultist she was standing on towards the new enemy, but she only managed to pull his cloak back, revealing a dark brown earth pony with black short mane and a slightly long goatee.
Trixie looked at the red, stern eyes of the stallion, and smiled. “You must be Luddic.”
“Trixie! What are you doing?!” Daring exclaimed flying close to her.
“Trixie will defend her wagon with her life if she needs to!” the magician declared.
Daring was about to object, but she was hit by a bola that pinned her wings and made her plummet to the ground. She tried to break free, but a familiar Khopesh sword got very close to her neck.
Luddic pointed his bracelet at Trixie. “Give us the artifact, and your friend won’t be harmed.”
“We don’t have the artifact. Trixie doesn’t even know what the damn thing looks like!”
“It’s true Luddic, she doesn’t know anything about this. Let her go!” Daring screamed from the ground.
Luddic looked at Daring without moving his bracelet away from Trixie. “Are you expecting me to believe that you reached the mirror’s chamber and found nothing?”
“Wait, you are looking for a mirror?” Trixie asked, confused.
Luddic looked at her in disbelief. “Do you really don’t know anything about The Golden Mirror of the forgotten tribes?”
“Wait…” Trixie opened the window of her wagon and pulled a gift-wrapped box with a purple ribbon. She ripped it open, revealing a mirror of pure gold with intricate carvings along the frame. “You mean this thing?”
Daring looked at her in disbelief. “You had the mirror all this time? From what kind of crypt did you even get it from?!”
“Trixie bought it from a merchant yesterday for twenty bits.”
Everypony besides Trixie had their jaws close to the floor.
Luddic was the first to somewhat recover from the shock. “You- you bought an invaluable artifact of power… for twenty bits?”
“Well, it was being sold for forty, but Trixie managed to haggle it to half price,” Trixie said with a smirk.
Luddic returned to shock while muttering the last two words he heard.
Daring was the next one who managed to speak. “Trixie, why in the name of everything holy would you buy an ancient ritualistic artifact?”
“Trixie didn’t know it had magical power! She thought it would be a nice gift for Starlight.”
Luddic finally managed to snap back to his senses and regained his posture as the evil villain. “Give us the mirror. Now!”
“How about Trixie using it to teleport you to Tartarus? Or maybe you prefer the moon?” Trixie offered.
Luddic gave a short laugh. “You don’t know how to use such a powerful artifact.”
Trixie put on a smug smile as she concentrated her magic on the mirror, its reflecting surface starting to shine as the carvings took the color of her aura.
Luddic’s followers took a few steps back in fear. “H-how?”
“Trixie has experience with cursed relics, and this one is quite tamer than the one she used to enslave Ponyville.”
“You did WHAT?!” Daring screamed, fighting to get free.
Suddenly, Luddic threw away his cloak, revealing a fit body full of different golden, silver and stone artifacts and amulets; they all beamed with power as he took a battle stance. “You may have the power of the mirror, but my own collection will surpass your capabilities.”
Trixie took her performance stance. “Trixie guesses we will find out.”
Daring continued to struggle against her bonds. “Trixie, wait, if you two fight you may destroy the city!”
“Sacrifices must be made!”
“That includes your wagon.”
Trixie’s determination faded. “Oh… crap.”
Luddic smiled. “If you give me the mirror, no harm will be bestowed upon you or your wagon.”
“How can Trixie know that you will keep your word?” the magician questioned.
“I am a stallion of my word. Ask Daring if you want.”
Trixie took a moment to think, and then deactivated the mirror. “Okay.”
Daring entered a panic. “No, wait! You can’t give it to him!”
“You said Trixie can’t fight him without destroying the city!”
“Forget about it! Go nuts and kick his ass!”
“But my wagon!”
“Trixie. The mirror is the last artifact that Luddic needs to complete a ritual that will make him one of the most powerful magic wielders in Equestrian history. And for that ritual to work, he needs to use the entire population of a city as sacrifice.”
Trixie looked at the ground in thought. “How many ponies are we talking about?”
“Are you seriously considering it?!”
“Just answer my question!”
Daring made some quick calculations in her head. “Around 780,000.”
“Not worth it.” Trixie gave the mirror to Luddic.
“Noooooo,” Daring shouted from the ground, doing her best to snap the ropes holding her body.
Luddic looked at the mirror with an almost sadistic smile. “Pleasure doing business with you… Trixie?”
“Whatever.” Trixie turned around and started to climb into her wagon.
“Wait, what about me?!” Daring screamed, still bound and with a sword over her neck.
Luddic smiled. “The deal didn’t include you.”
“Trixie!”
Trixie looked at Daring with an apologetic face. “Whoops. I kind of forgot. But you will be fine; you have a lot of experience getting captured.”
“Luddic won’t use some elaborate death trap!” Daring screamed, but Trixie was already inside the wagon.
“You are right. Executions are more my style,” Luddic said with a smile.
“Go choke on a spike.”
Luddic laughed as he looked at the mirror. “To think that a showpony would gift me both the last relic, and one of my most bothersome rivals.”
Daring paused. “One? There are others?”
“Yes; you will meet some of them soon.” The Khopesh was raised up, ready to fall on Daring’s neck, but the slam of a window interrupted the execution.
They all looked at the wagon, seeing a large firework pointed at them - its fuse quickly burning out.
There was a whistle followed by a small explosion that dispersed Luddic and his followers. The Khopesh was grabbed in a magical aura and cut Daring’s restraints, allowing her to buck one of the cultists before going for the mirror, but Trixie's aura had already taken it; so she just ran to the wagon instead.
“Pull the wagon into the jungle!” Trixie screamed while lighting another firework.
“What?!”
Trixie pointed the gunpowder-filled rocket towards her for a moment. “NOW!”
Daring obeyed, getting the strap around her body before starting to sprint towards the jungle, with Trixie firing another explosive towards their enemies.
Luddic screamed in rage and used one of his artifacts to summon a flying carpet and use it to give chase. The pegasus followed close behind, and the rest had no option but to run on hoof.
Trixie took a specific rocket and fired in front of the pegasus. The firework blew up, starting a shower of small explosions that disoriented the pegasus and made them stop for some seconds.
Luddic put a hoof over an amulet on his neck, charging some sort of red energy before throwing it at the wagon.
Trixie watched as the small ball of red energy quickly transformed into a large fireball speeding towards them. In a panic, she threw one of her boxes of firecrackers into it, making it detonate before it reached the wagon.
As they managed to enter the road in the jungle, Daring started to breathe hard, showing clear signs of exhaustion. “Trixie, I need to remind you that I’m still tired from carrying you through the jungle. We won’t outrun them.”
Trixie looked around them, desperately thinking for a solution. “Wait. Daring, how important is the mirror?”
“I already told you about the lives at risk!”
“No, I mean, do we need to protect it? It’s a necessary piece for some sort of “good” ritual or something? Does it belong to a museum or something like that?”
“Look, right now, I only care about Luddic not having it!”
“Okay… keep going until I tell you to stop!”
“Stop?!” Daring shouted as a lighting bolt nearly hit her head.
Luddic was quickly gaining on them with his carpet, followed by his grounded followers, and the pegasus close behind them.
Suddenly, Trixie threw a barrel towards the crowd before firing a magic blast at it when it was close enough.
The impact ignited the gunpowder packed inside, creating a large explosion that sent all the cultists flying - minus Luddic, who used another of his artifacts to form a blue shield around him.
“Stop the wagon!” Trixie ordered Daring.
“Why?!”
“NOW!”
Daring made an abrupt stop and looked back as Trixie jumped out of the wagon, carrying with her magic a rocket twice the size of a pony, with the mirror strongly attached to it.
Trixie wasted no time and nailed the firework in the ground before lighting the fuse.
Luddic's eyes widened in panic and tried to destroy the rocket, but it managed to fire into the sky before he could launch an attack.
Everypony watched as the rocket sailed high into the dawn sky before a huge explosion filled it with light.
“Where is it?! Where did it fall?!” Luddic screamed, but the constant explosions made it impossible to distinguish what was happening in the sky.
Daring looked in awe as the face of the magician was plastered in light just as the real version whispered to her. “Get on the wagon.” She nodded and Trixie got the strap of the wagon on her before pulling it away from Luddic and his distracted followers.
They ran for almost an hour, not feeling safe until they had exited the jungle and made sure Luddic hadn't followed them.
“Trixie thinks she has had enough adventure for the next week or two,” she exclaimed, and collapsed on the ground.
Daring walked to her and lifted her up. “I must say, this was one of my most interesting adventures.” She carefully put Trixie on the wagon’s hammock so she could rest. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Well, you could pay Trixie for the thousand bits worth of fireworks she had to use in our daring escape.”
Daring froze, remembering that her pouch of bits was now forgotten in the city they just fled. “How about I give you that mention in my book that you wanted?” she asked with a nervous smile.
“The one that Trixie said she didn’t care anymore and that you have to censor every part that involves Luddic?”
“Crap. Can I mail it to you in a couple days?”
Trixie raised an eyebrow and pointed at her traveling wagon.
Daring tsked. “Right, you don’t exactly have an address.”
“Well, Trixie can forget the debt if you let her keep the mirror,” the magician said a with pout and innocent eyes
“Let you what now?”
Trixie lit her horn, and the golden mirror levitated out of some boxes in the back of the wagon.
Daring blinked twice. “What?! But- What did you throw into the sky then?”
“Just an old metal tray.” Trixie’s smug smile was legendary. “Fooling a bunch of cultists and a veteran explorer with a simple illusion is child’s play for The Great and Powerful Trixie!”
Daring had her jaw on the floor. She couldn’t recall how many times it had happened that day. “You… I… give me that!” Daring snatched the mirror from Trixie’s magic. “You are no doubt the craziest unicorn I have ever met, and I thank Celestia that none of my major enemies are unicorns.”
“Trixie appreciates the compliment.”
Daring looked at the mirror, and then back at Trixie. “But seriously, is there any way I can thank you for everything you have done?”
“Well, Trixie now lacks a gift for her friend.”
Daring smiled. “Does it need to be capable of destroying an entire city?”
Starlight smiled as she saw Trixie arriving at Ponyville with her wagon. “Trixie! How did the trip go?” she asked, giving her friend a big hug.
“Oh, it was a particularly exciting one. Some would say too exciting, but you know me.” Starlight rolled her eyes with a smile. “However, after the excitement faded, and I had a long talk with a new friend, I have been deep in thought about the future. And now…” Trixie levitated a little black box out of her wagon and opened it, showing a ring with a big golden jewel that had deep purple carvings in the shape of Starlight’s cutie mark. “I have an important question to ask.”