//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Complete Understanding // Story: An Unexpected Surprise // by Salnalus //------------------------------// Trixie couldn't see anything. Nay, she couldn't even feel anything. All was dark around her, as if she was in nothing but an empty space. Just what happened? She tried to collect her thoughts as she attempted to remember what had happened immediately before. She was standing in the middle of a field outside the city, and there with her was the hyper white Earth pony she called her assistant. They were practicing silly magic tricks from one of the books, in which the first was successful, although leaving a regrettable mark. Then the second trick from the other book, which had a supernatural sense somewhere within. Either way, it was a chance to be the best in magic, so she took it. A complex section in the back was all it took for the next thing to occur, and a rather surprising thing at that. Trixie could remember casting the spell... that was all she could remember. That, and a sharp pain coming from the scratches where Surprise had scratched her earlier with her cat claws. She couldn't focus hard enough on the spell because of the massive pain in her chest, and the last thing she felt was an overcharge of magic in her horn before she blacked out. Hey, I think she's waking up! Wait... what was that voice? Trixie could remember that voice. It was like a tone she knew for only a few hours, but remembered all the same. Trixie? Can you hear me? If you can hear me, say something! Or at least, wake up! There couldn't be a voice calling out to her in her mind. Trixie was a pony who kept to herself. However, it wasn't until recently when she accepted another pony, and the image was getting clear. Then she felt a forceful slap across her muzzle, and it was enough to wake her up. “Let us not do that again, lest I have somepony remove you from the room.” said a pink unicorn nurse with a long, two-tone light green mane dangling down from her head. “Sorry, but she looked like she was having trouble waking up. I saw her eyes moving a bit, and I heard a little sound coming from her mouth, so I thought she could be slapped awake.” Another voice was heard, but this sounded like the one from earlier. When Trixie moved her head up, she could see the voice belonged to Surprise, the pony she spent the past few hours of the day with. “Surprise? Ooh...” Trixie rubbed her left cheek with her hoof, having a slight stinging feeling. “Why does Trixie's face hurt?” “Well,” the nurse started, “this mare decided it would be a good idea to slap you awake, even though it looked like you were finally waking up yourself just fine.” She made a sharp glare at the white pegasus, who just laughed nervously while rubbing the back of her head. The nurse rolled her eyes and turned back to Trixie. “I should've suspected...” The blue unicorn took notice of her surroundings. It wasn't what she was used to. From what she saw, she was laying down on a bed covered with a thin, white blanket with her torso wrapped in what looked like bandages. “What happened? Where is Trixie?” She tried to sit up, but felt a sudden pain around her chest. The nurse pushed her back down gently as Trixie grunted. “You're in Manehattan Care Hospital. This mare here brought you in here one day. Truth be told, if she hadn't, Celestia knows what could've happened to you.” Trixie looked back at Surprise, who simply waved back with a wide smile, just glad that the injured mare was perfectly fine. She then turned back to the nurse with a raised brow at something she didn't notice until a few seconds after it was said. “Wait, you said, 'one day.' Exactly how long has Trixie been in here?” “Two days...” Surprised answered in a melancholy voice. “I was so worried. I thought you would never wake up.” “Trixie is fine now,” she shot back with disdain for Surprise's tone. “But what happened to cause my injury? All I can remember is being in that field practicing magic with Surprise. And then... nothing. The next thing I know, I'm sitting in this bed with stinging in my cheek and pain in my chest.” “You may want to rest for a bit,” the nurse suggested before lifting up a clipboard with her magic, a blue glow surrounding it. “By the way, you can call me Nurse Ember. I'll be your nurse for the duration of your stay here. Just stay put while I go for a bit. For now, just relax here with your friend.” Before Trixie could respond, Ember left the room, leaving her by herself in the room with Surprise. The pegasus smiled calmly at Trixie while she placed a hoof over her abdominal area. “This hurts Trixie a lot... and Trixie can imagine why. Your scratches did this, Surprise. If you had stayed still while we were out practicing those spells, I wouldn't be feeling this!” “But Trixie, that's nothing compared to what really happened to you. You were knocked unconscious! Just look at that bandage on your head.” Surprise pointed a hoof forward toward Trixie's horn, which the unicorn looked up at. She placed one of her own hooves on her head, and sure enough, she felt bandages wrapped around it as well. “Was... was it that spell that Trixie performed? Feels like it took a big toll.” She rubbed her head to try and ease the soreness. “Yeah, about that spell...” Surprise turned her head to the side toward one of the chairs. Laying on it were the two spell books they were using, with Advanced Magical Theories on top of Illusory Compositions. “What? What is it? Are you hiding something? Tell Trixie!” she said as she narrowed her eyes at the pegasus, who only lowered her ears in response. She picked up the book on top and walked over to Trixie. “Trixie, there was something in that section of the book you totally skipped. You went straight for the spells, but you missed something.” She opened up the book as she stood next to Trixie, turning to the back section where the spell Trixie used was written. “There was a warning in the first page of this section about these spells. Let me read it to you.” Before she started, she cleared her throat. Once she was ready, she started to read the text. “It says, 'WARNING: These spells are a highly arcane set of spells, and as such, are extremely powerful spells no mere unicorn can perform. Only the highest levels of unicorns have the abilities to wield these spells. They are extremely dangerous, and a high understanding of physics, an understanding of the special properties of spells, and a deep focus are necessary to conjure them. If a unicorn does not possess any of these, they may cause great harm not only to themselves, but to those around them.'” Surprise stood silent. It was right then and there that she realized why Trixie injured herself with that spell. Seconds had passed before she looked back at the injured unicorn, who was now looking down at the blanket with a look of shock. “I think I know now why, after I did that spell, I could feel a great pain in my head. That book said the unicorn needed a deep focus. However...” Trixie closed her eyes as the memory came back to her in a flashback. “When I was performing the spell, I felt a great pain in my chest where those scratches were. I was unable to focus on the spell, and I focused more on the pain overcoming me that it was too overbearing. And what did Trixie do? Shrug it off and continued with the spell.” She reopened her eyes as the flashback ended with the bright flash. “And now look at Trixie.” Surprise waited a few more seconds before turning to the next page of the book. “Yeah, there's more about this, and it was pretty much what you said.” She looked back down at the page before reading it again. “Let's see... 'When performing these spell, the unicorn must know that it will try to absorb the stamina and magical power of him or her. As such, one of these spells must not be performed under any circumstance where he or she is harmed in any way by an injury, even a miniscule one as small as a scratch. When doing so, the spell will channel the stamina and magical power directly into the horn and release it in the form of the magic, then all of the stamina and magical power shall immediately flow back into the body if the deep focus stays. As such, it is extremely important that focus is maintained, and no distractions occur while the spell is performed.'” After hearing that, Trixie blinked her eyes. “Does this mean...” She had to try. She closed her eyes as she focused on releasing magic from her horn, even a tiny bit. It did glow, but only faintly. A tiny bit of light emanated from it, and it didn't take long for the aura to fade away. She winced and bared her teeth as the pain from her headache came back once more. Surprise knew this was her fault. If she hadn't messed around immaturely, Trixie wouldn't be in this mess. Her hooves shuddered under the weight of the book, and she simply closed it. She couldn't bear reading anymore of that, so she set it back down on top of the other book. “This is all my fault... I was so obsessed with having fun with you, I almost lost you. I did... that to you, and this happens. I never meant to do this. I should've never gotten excited over spending time with you and seeing you do those spells.” After Trixie recovered from her little spell trouble, she stared at the white pegasus, and she couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was certainly not what she was expecting out of a mere clone of a hyperactive pony. It was as if she changed somehow. Not just in appearance, but in personality as well. It was as if this copy actually became her own pony self, nothing like the thing it was once like. “I hurt my greatest friend. I can't forgive myself for that. I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to see me again.” Right after she said that, she hung her head sadly, and her mane and tail straightened themselves out. It was something Trixie had never witnessed before, and it was quite an unexpected surprise, almost depressing to look at. She could feel something welling up inside her, a feeling like she should do something. She knew what that feeling was, but it was something she thought she would never exhibit to another pony. But what harm could it do? She sighed as she gave into the feeling and faced Surprise. “Surprise, come here,” Trixie said calmly. “No, I don't really have to. I don't want to hurt you any more than I already have,” she replied as she looked away. “Just come here.” Surprise sighed and faced her again. After walking to her bedside, she was surprised with a hug from the blue mare. “Huh? I-I'm confused. I thought you didn't like something like this.” And it was true. Normally, somepony like Trixie wouldn't dare show feelings like this in front of another pony, and Surprise learned that pretty quickly. But over the amount of time they spent with each other, Surprise had shown just how caring and mature she could be through her outside immature and hyperactive appearance. No matter what Trixie thought, she could see that, and realized it wasn't actually a bad thing. The most notable experience happened earlier in the library, when she was called a friend. It was new to Trixie, because throughout her life, she had never been called a friend by anypony. If anything, it was her boastful and arrogant attitude that prevented anypony from even attempting to get along with her. She was astounded to see that Surprise saw past all of that and tried to genuinely befriend the showpony anyway. If anything, it gave Trixie somewhat of a new outlook. “Surprise, Trixie knows you scratched her chest, and the pain from it while performing the spell caused this to happen. But I have to be honest.” She pulled away to look at Surprise directly in the eyes. “Had I read that warning in the first place, I wouldn't be in this hospital bed. If anything, I would find that you were a deep nuisance to Trixie. But, Trixie is not afraid to admit that she had her doubts about you. No matter what, you have tried to comfort me, make me feel happy and welcome, and all I did was brush you off. Even after that, you still wanted to be my friend. I just can't comprehend that...” Surprise's sad face slowly turned into a soft smile as Trixie was speaking. After she was done, she smiled a bit more pleasantly. “Why should it matter? You looked like somepony who definitely needed a friend, and if I was to be your assistant, then why not be your friend too?” Slowly, but surely, Trixie's expression raised into a smile. “Surprise, Trixie is obliged to call you a friend. For all that you have done, Trixie is glad to accept it.” As if an involuntary force bonded them together, they hugged once more, but slightly tighter. Trixie winced in pain a bit from the injuries she still had, but ignored them as she held onto Surprise, whose mane and tail bounced back into their puffy selves. As the touching moment carried on, Nurse Ember walked back into the room, seeing the beautiful sight. A smile appeared on her face as she said, “D'aww...”