Chapter 12
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"Why are you so worried, Twilight? It's not like she can do anything to you! You're tons more powerful than she is!"
Twilight was pacing anxiously around her loft, looking at books without really seeing them. Sometimes she absentmindedly picked a book up only to put it back in the same spot. "That's not it, Spike! I know she's annoying, but that's even more reason to try and make things peaceable! And I can't very well do that if she feels she's been slighted in some way! What if she's mad about the rain? Or maybe she touched the poison joke and is hiding! I shouldn't have been so petty and just warned her about it whether she wanted to listen to me or not! It's not like she'd actually learn anything from it anyway. She'll get upset and even more annoying and then I'll have to deal with her!"
"Sheesh, Twilight, she's only been gone a few hours. Maybe she just ran into something in the forest that slowed her down?" Spike was trying to calm her down, but Twilight only seemed to get more agitated.
"Oh no, I didn't even think of that! What if she ran across a cockatrice, or a manticore, or a golem, or-!"
"Twilight! Snap out of it! Why are you so worried about her? She's just an annoying showoff that forced you to hire her!"
"I-" Twilight stopped pacing. 'Why do I care? I mean, I would worry about anypony, but...' Twilight shook her head and growled, heading downstairs. Spike just watched her go, apparently content that she was no longer pacing uselessly.
Twilight had just started looking for a psychology book when she heard the library door enter. Glancing up, she saw that it was Trixie...
"Ah! There youAUGGH!"
...levitating a blue, wicked looking blade.
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"Bluh, alright, I'm sorry Twilight. I'll try not to let your antics get to me so much."
Twilight smirked. "I guess that's close enough for now. As long as your willing to try." Trixie smiled, although it didn't look very genuine. Still, it was better than nothing. 'If we can at least learn to tolerate each other, this won't have to be so bad for either of us.'
Trixie excused herself, claiming she needed some rest after her ordeal. Twilight decided to go gather the ingredients herself, she Trixie was in no state to venture into the forest again. She grabbed her saddlebags and, after notifying Spike, made her way towards the forest. As she walked, her thoughts turned back towards her new... employee, would probably be accurate. She didn't know how much of her story to trust, but running into a strange creature in the Everfree Forest wasn't exactly farfetched, and she was injured. Obviously, Trixie had prevailed, one way or another, or else she wouldn't be here right now. 'Thank Harmony.' Twilight stopped momentarily. There it was again. That care. Why did she care?
Trixie was in a bad situation, with no home, money, friends or family. 'Or at least, that's how she feels.' Despite, or perhaps even because of, her arrogant attitude and demanding personality, Twilight felt sorry for her. There were also hints that behind that mask, Trixie was very lonely and scared. 'Maybe... maybe she could use somepony to worry about her. Friends might be a bit optimistic, but she needs help. And. rival or not, I can't just abandon somepony in need. Maybe I can help her turn her life around.
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With Twilight gone, Trixie finally had the library to herself. Well, except for that dragon, but he didn't count anyway. She quickly went about levitating any book on rare monsters that she could find to what she had claimed as "The Great and Powerful Trixie's Study Corner, no snobbish unicorns allowed!". Twilight had warned against using magic due to her injury, but it seemed like she worried about everything, so whatever. 'As if The Great and Powerful Trixie would be laid low by a simple cut!'
She looked over the scrap of cloth she had dropped earlier. In all of the confusion earlier, Twilight hadn't asked her about it. In fact, she probably hadn't even noticed it. Trixie marveled at it. It looked to be pure white cloth, but when it moved it caught the light in a most peculiar way, sparkling with what looked like black stars, almost like an inverted night sky. 'It must have come from either the ship or that creature. I guess my sword snagged it when I ran aw... made a tactical retreat. It's very pretty, though. It would make a nice... yeesss, this would be a perfect look for a new cape and hat!' Trixie rubbed her hooves together, a large grin plastered on her face. She could easily enchant some white cloth to produce an effect like this. 'Yes, it will be perfect! Ah, I should research that creature first.'
She didn't know why she was actually considering it's request. It had casually talked about eating her, for Luna's sake! Still, what it had said had raised a lot of questions, and Trixie's curiosity and lust for adventure were hard to ignore. Besides, it had been fairly friendly, as far as bloodthirsty monstrosities in the Everfree Forest went, and it had let her go free. 'Either way, I need to know more. Hopefully one of these books has something.'
Several hours and one purple unicorn's return later, and Trixie was still no closer to learning anything about her mysterious acquaintance. She was currently flipping through a compilation of unconfirmed monster sightings when she came across an entry, labelled "Star Dragon", that caught her attention. It described a long-limbed creature with two legs, two arms, two wings, and no eyes. Trixie's heart-rate jumped when she saw that the creature apparently had a tooth-ringed oval that dominated its face. 'This is it!' There was only one source provided: an journal entry from almost a thousand years ago. The journal apparently belonged to one of the ponies from Luna's court.
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I met a strange creature today. I was... well, how I met them isn't entirely important. After I got over its odd appearance (and by Luna, is it strange. It stood on two legs, with long arms and strange wings, and had a ring of teeth in place of a face. Luna would have liked to meet it; it fit very much with her style. In fact, now that I think about it, I wonder if it might have had something to do with ###### enough rambling, where was I), we had a most engaging conversation. The creature claimed to be from the stars, said she was hunting an "Eternal". I asked her what that was. She said I shouldn't worry about it. She said it was something for gods to worry about. I flippantly asked if she should let Celestia and Luna know. She looked confused and asked what I meant. I said "Surely, you know of the bearers of the Sun and the Moon?". She said "They are gods, then?". I told her that wouldn't be very inaccurate (she talked like that, often.) She laughed, or I assumed it was laughter. She said that explained the sun. (I thought it was odd that she said that because it seems like an obvious thing to say, and she seemed to prefer more cryptic responses earlier.) I told her that they had ascended by using the Elements of Harmony. Told her they used them beat that tyrant, Discord, may he guard shrubbery for all time. She looked very thoughtful at this. She asked me to clarify: "They were not gods before using the elements?". I told her that none but the princesses know exactly how it happened, only that the elements were involved somehow.
She changed the subject soon after. She talked about where she was from. Apparently, her world, if you can believe it, has two days and two nights a "day". I'm not sure how to explain it, and she didn't tell me much beyond that. She talked about something called "The Spring" very fondly. She told me that she couldn't fly on our world, because on her world things fall more slowly. She said many other things that made little sense to me. I'll have to see if I can find a scholar to meet with her tomorrow.
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The notes said that later entries complained that the creature had mysteriously left. There was some speculation about connection to the Nightmare Moon Incident, but Trixie glossed over that. The incident had so little public information that everything was speculated to be connected in one way or another.
Trixie sighed and slammed the book shut. 'That wasn't helpful at all!' This wasn't going anywhere. The entry didn't tell her anything important. Besides, Vessel Theorists like the journal's author weren't very reliable sources anyway, in Trixie opinion. Especially not ones from a thousand years ago. 'Honestly, the Princesses acting as bearers of their domain. Ridiculous.' How anyone could refuse to embrace Essence Theory eluded Trixie.
Trixie felt no closer to a decision regarding the strange creature. On the one hoof, it seemed incredibly dangerous, and she didn't know how easy it would be to return to the forest without Twilight noticing. On the other hoof, Trixie was bored and curious. She looked at the scrap of cloth again, staring at it for a few minutes, admiring it.
'That's it!' She could create her new hate and cape! A solution to her boredom, and a key step on rebuilding her life! She could even use it as a trophy, physical proof of her "conquest" in the forest. A new look and already a new story to jump-start her career. Why should she bother risking her life in the forest? She was soon to have everything she needed.
"Hey Trixie." Trixie's self-congratulating was interrupted by a purple unicorn levitating a letter. Trixie's eyes widened when she noted that the letter bore Luna's royal seal. "I just received a letter from Princess Luna. She says that she sensed an entity of some sort in the Everfree Forest, around noon. Shortly after that, it disappeared. She says she wishes me "to report on any strange happenings within or around the forest" Twilight rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.
"Wha- You-"
"It seems to match with your description of finding and defeating some strange creature, so I guess that actually did happen, huh? Hehe..." Twilight looked a bit guilty. Apparently she hadn't quite believed Trixie's tale.
"You... you know Princess Luna? Personally?" Trixie was shocked.
"Well, uh, yeah. We are professionally acquainted, and I have interacted with her in a social capacity before." Trixie just stared. "Uh, I don't like to make a big deal out of my connections..."
Trixie shook her head, snapping herself out of... whatever it was she was in. "Er, right. Speaking of the incident..." Trixie cleared her throat. "In regards to her injuries, Trixie requests she be allowed to take leave of her responsibilities for tomorrow. She needs to recover, and there is something that she needs to do while waiting."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well, you haven't really done anything yet besides serve as first aid training, but go ahead. I don't want you endangering either of us with that horn injury anyway. Just... promise not to do anything too strenuous, alright?"
Trixie turned her nose up. "Please. Trixie shall not endanger herself. She will be the epitome of caution."