Open Ballot

by RamboZelda

Test of Loyalty

Once again, the town of Ponyville was aflame over the words of one light blue unicorn. Trixie's speech had genuinely pleased some ponies. Overall, though, it was indisputable that many were still skeptical. She had said that her promise was servitude, but they would believe that when they saw it.

Trixie, however, was quite pleased with the way her speech turned out. She wasn't naive, though, and knew that she had only swayed very few towards her. But it was a step in the right direction.

That night, Trixie met at the library with Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. The four of them all tried to get Rainbow Dash to come, but to no avail. The stubborn pegasus still refused to talk to Trixie.

"I think you did a great job, Trixie," Fluttershy was saying. "I think some of them are definitely starting to consider you an able candidate."

"I agree," Rarity said. "You kept your head high in the face of adversity."

"Ooh, I'm just so excited for you!" Pinkie declared enthusiastically. She even gave Trixie a quick hug, without her permission, of course.

"Thanks, Pinkie," Trixie grumbled, straightening her mane.

"Well, Ah think it was a strong start," Applejack said. "Keep that up and ponies 'round here'll be flockin' to ya like bees to a honeycomb."

"That's what I hope for," Trixie said. "So, what's next on the agenda?"

"The dinner party," Rarity told her. "But it's not for a few days. We will have plenty of time to prepare for it."

Pinkie gave Trixie a large wink. "And we have a plan for it, too!" she said.

"Details will come later on, though," Rarity said quickly. She shot at glare at Pinkie.

Applejack quickly intervened, leaving Trixie looking bewildered. "Well, it's been a long day, so Ah'm gonna get on home. Night, y'all!" As she got up to walk out, the others agreed that it was time to say good night. They filed out of the library one by one, and Trixie even thanked each of them for stopping by to see her.

Fluttershy was the last one to start leaving, but Trixie noticed that she was stalling. "Is there something you want to say, Fluttershy?" Trixie asked her.

Immediately Fluttershy became flustered. "Oh, well, I, uh, was just, you know, wondering, if I could ask you a big favor?"

"And what would that be?" Trixie asked.

"Do you remember that bird I mentioned to you? The really rare one that went missing?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"Early today, I found what I think is the bird's tracks. A couple feathers here and there and its prints. But they led into the Everfree Forest, and I really don't feel comfortable going in there on my own."

Trixie gave Fluttershy a look. "You want me to help you track a bird in the Everfree Forest?" she asked flatly.

"Um, yes. If you don't mind." Fluttershy smiled up at her meekly.

Trixie was quickly learning that Fluttershy was hardly one of those ponies that one could say no to. Even Trixie herself found herself swayed. "Alright, fine. I will help you. Should I meet you tomorrow morning?"

"Yes!" Fluttershy cheerfully said with a squee. "Thank you so much!"

"Don't mention it," Trixie said. She flipped her mane as shrugged off the statement as if it was no big deal.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, then!" Fluttershy exclaimed. She flitted her wings excitedly and gently floated out the door.

Trixie smiled roguishly to herself. "Trixie, you are such a charmer!"

The next morning, Trixie packed a small saddlebag with water and bread to take into the Everfree Forest. She knew better than most ponies how large the vast expanse of trees was, and if they were going to be searching for one little bird in it then they would be there for a while.

When Trixie met Fluttershy at her cottage, the primrose pegasus had already packed the essentials as well. They bid each other good morning and began towards the part of the woods that Fluttershy had found the tracks in.

It was at the edge of the forest that Fluttershy glanced over at Trixie nervously and said, "Oh, by the way, I've invited somepony else to help us."

"And who would that be?" Trixie asked suspiciously. She had a feeling who that somepony was.

And within seconds, a rainbow blur landed in front of them with startling speed. The cyan pony that it transformed into did not look pleased.

Rainbow Dash glared at Trixie and immediately turned the look over to Fluttershy. "What gives, Shy?" she asked angrily. "You never told me you were dragging Trixie along!"

Fluttershy adopted a mischievous countenance that was rare for a pony like her. "I never said I wasn't bringing her!"

Rainbow did not look amused.

Fluttershy began her defense. "Look Dashie, you may not like it, but both of you are my friends, and I can't stand to see two of my friends fighting."

"Still, asking permission would have been nice!" Rainbow scolded.

"You would have said no," Fluttershy said simply. She looked over at Trixie, who had up untill this point been silent. "Now, Trixie, you have something to say, don't you?"

Trixie grumbled to herself. She wanted to let her new friends help her, but admitting she was wrong was something that would take a long time getting used to. She sighed, but got the deed over with. "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash," Trixie said, though it sounded as if it took effort to get the words out. "I shouldn't have assumed that it was you who put my name on the ballot."

Fluttershy nodded her head happily. "See, this is progress!" she said. "Now Rainbow Dash, what do you have to say?"

Rainbow looked over at Trixie with an impassive expression. "I accept you apology for what you did to me, but I still need more time with what you did to all of us a year ago."

Fluttershy frowned. It was not the response she had been looking for.

Trixie was surprised at the hurt she felt deep inside herself. She had never been so concerned with what one pony thought of her, and the feeling was alien. All she knew was that she wanted Rainbow to know how sorry she was. "Is... is there anything I can do to change you mind?" she asked hopefully.

"Look, Trixie, try to understand," Rainbow said. "I was picked as the Element of Loyalty for a reason. I couldn't care less what you do to me. But you hurt my friends, and even though I know you're sorry, that's something I have a tough time swallowing."

Fluttershy pursed her lips. "Rainbow Dash, you just have to..."

Rainbow cut her off. "Let's just go, Fluttershy," she said, and she stepped into the forest without waiting for either of them.

Fluttershy took a couple steps, but Trixie stood in place, unsure if she was still welcome on their excursion. But Fluttershy waved her hoof, indicating that Trixie could follow. "I invited you in the first place," Fluttershy said, "and if Rainbow Dash wants to be stubborn then that's her problem.

So the two of them caught up with the irritated Rainbow and ventured into the trees with her. The Everfree Forest was not a place to take lightly. It was a strange place that was totally self-sufficient; the weather regulated itself, the plants required no care, within its borders the seasons changed on their own. But beyond its peculiarity, it was also dangerous. The forest was filled with countless types of beasts and monsters, and there were plants that could deliver a number of different effects, from poison to paralysis.

But once one got past the innumerable dangers, the Everfree Forest was filled with beauty. The trees were thick, green and lush. Even the most dangerous flora were bright and colorful. Even to those who visited often, the forest never failed to deliver awestruck wonder.

Trixie and Rainbow Dash let Fluttershy take the lead. Immediately she went to work with tracking the bird. It was incredibly how detailed and thorough she was in her search. She would stop and stare at one spot on the ground for minutes at a time, making sure that she was not mixing up the tracks of different birds. She found feathers, claw marks, droppings, anything that could point towards her quarry. Along the way, she would sing out a few notes to try and attract it. Fluttershy's companions, however, stayed quiet to allow her to focus on her task. They weren't particularly in the mood to talk anyway.

The going was slow. It had been three hours and they had only walked about two and a half miles. That included a couple short snack and water breaks. A few times Fluttershy became flustered over losing the trail, but she always picked it up again. She even spent a lot of time up in the air studying the tree branches and leaves.

After what seemed like an eternity (that's what the impatient Rainbow Dash claimed), Fluttershy finally told them that they were getting close. It wasn't until a couple steps later that Rainbow pointed over behind a bush and said, "Hey, Shy, I think I see some silver over there!"

Fluttershy gasped and whizzed past her on her wings. The bird was lying on the forest floor motionless. Immediately Fluttershy pressed her ear to the bird's breast. After a moment, she closed her eyes and laid down next it. Tears forced their way out of her eyes through soft sobs. "It's dead," Fluttershy managed to choke out.

Rainbow's features softened. She put a hoof on her friend's shoulder and said gently, "I'm so sorry, Fluttershy."

"It's a beautiful bird," Trixie added tentatively, and that was her honest truth. The silver-tipped wings glinted faintly in the sunlight that managed to stream through the trees. It was also much larger than she had anticipated; the bird must have been as tall as one of her legs. The rest of its feathers were a solid and sleek black, which only made the silver wings stand out even more. "Is there anything we can do?" Trixie added.

Fluttershy sniffed and wiped her eyes. "No," she replied, her voice barely audible. She looked over at the bird once more. "But there's something I don't understand."

"What?" Trixie and Rainbow said in unison. They gave each other an annoyed look, but were far from wanting to start in argument in their friend's time of need.

"From what I can see, there's no apparent cause of death," Fluttershy explained. "It's not wounded, its eyes don't suggest kind of poisoning from a plant, and it's certainly not an old bird. It looks completely fine."

Nearby Trixie noticed a large feather that was an iridescent dark blue and acid green. She picked it up with a levitation spell and showed it to Fluttershy. "Could this have anything to do with it?" she asked.

Fluttershy squinted her eyes and peered closely at the feather. She gently grabbed it from the air and examined it. "I don't know," she replied distractedly. "I've never seen a feather like this. It's enormous! And the shaft looks really odd, too."

"What do you mean?" asked Rainbow.

Fluttershy extended one of her wings and winced as she plucked one of her own feathers with her teeth. "Look at a regular feather's shaft," Fluttershy instructed, indicating her own yellow feather, "and look at this shaft. My feather's is smooth, but this one has strange barbs on it."

"That's really weird," Rainbow admitted. She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, you're the nature pony, so if you don't know something then I probably don't have a clue."

Fluttershy didn't seem to hear her. Her attention had redirected itself it the ground. She took to the air began to study it closely. Trixie started to walk over towards her, but without losing track of her search she held up a hoof to stop her and said, "Don't step over here."

Just to get on Trixie's nerves, Rainbow's wings became active and carried her over to her friend. Trixie blew a lock of her mane out of her face and scrunched her muzzle. Pegasi, she thought to herself huffily.

"These are the strange tracks I was telling you about a while ago, Trixie," Fluttershy finally said.

"The ones you mentioned when you first found me in that field?" Trixie asked.

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes. These tracks look exactly the same."

"But what could have made them?" Rainbow asked, scratching her head.

"I don't know that either," Fluttershy answered. "These tracks are not made by paws or anything like that. They almost look like an indentation from a fallen tree, but these are sort of windy." She replicated the odd pattern with her hooves.

"Then maybe we better get out if here," Rainbow said nervously. "I really don't like what's going on around here."

"RAINBOW DASH!" Trixie suddenly cried. At the moment Rainbow finished speaking, something indistinguishable soared through the air towards her. With reflexes that even Rainbow herself would have been jealous of, Trixie cast a force field spell in front of her. The green projectile splashed onto the force field. It dribbled down and dripped onto the grass, immediately eating through it like acid.

Rainbow looked over at Trixie, her eyes wide and her mouth agape with shock. "Trixie?" she breathed.

Trixie expanded the force field as another burst of the mysterious liquid shot with blazing speed towards Fluttershy. Trixie realized that it was coming from a clump of bushes and trees that obscured their attacker. Fluttershy cried out, but as petrified as she was she did not leave.

Trixie launched a searing bolt of red light from her horn into the bushes. The spell burned its way through the greenery soared beyond it. The result came quickly; a shrill roar, if such a thing existed, rent the air and pierced their ears drums.

"Run!" Trixie commanded. "I'll hold it off!"

"No way you're doing that on your own!" argued Rainbow Dash. She held her ground.

Another blur of green came their way and hit Trixie's shield spell. "I'll be right behind you! Go!"

Rainbow grimaced, but she soared through the trees on her wings with Fluttershy following close behind. Trixie fired another spell towards whatever beast was antagonizing them. Without waiting to see if it hit, she began galloping at full speed behind Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

More shots came for them at alarming speeds, but Trixie held up the shield spell valiantly. However, the more her shield was hit, the more effort it took to keep it active. She was becoming weaker. Trixie dared to turn around briefly to see if they were actually being pursued. Through the light-distorting lens of her force field, in the distance, she saw a pair of horrible red eyes glaring through the trees at her. But they only filled her vision for a moment; the instant she saw them, everything went black.

Comments

[silvadel]

Gaze weapons -- always bad.

[Mooncalf]

Here's hoping that the author continues this story. It's a really interesting premise.

[Noctis Prism]

Impressive work here and I am eager to see it continue.