Trixie got up the next morning, still a bit overwhelmed by the revelation that was dropped on them yesterday. She decided to have a bit of breakfast to calm herself. When she got to the table however, she saw her father reading a newspaper. He then looked up. He seemed to glare at her with his untempered green eyes, a look of disapproval on his face. “I heard about the incident at school. It says here that you caused quite the panic yesterday. Care to explain, missy?”
Trixie gulped. “Look dad, Trixie really regret what she did. The principal has already called, and Trixie agreed to help clean up the school a bit. She’ll be helping out starting Monday.”
Mr. Evenlor sighed. “I hope this doesn’t happen again, missy. I’d really appreciate a bit of normalcy from now on, but that’s a bit much to ask ever since you… changed.”
Trixie knew that her dad was still struggling to come to terms with the anthrofication. He’d sometimes slip up here and there, but Trixie knew he tried. And if her mother had known… well, she’d probably not take it well. Trixie sighed as she sat down with her cereal. “Trixie promises it won’t happen again, dad.” They then ate in awkward silence. When Trixie finished, she went back to her room, and turned on her computer. She opened up her e-mail, just to check up on things. She blinked when she saw an e-mail from the Analysts. Those are the guys that are trying to protect the world or whatever, right? So why would they e-mail Trixie? She opened the e-mail, and started to read it.
Dear Trixie,
It has come to our attention that you have been contacted by the forces that oppose us. However, thanks to our contact Excalibur, we know that you side with us now. We would very much like to have your help in the upcoming events, so we will give you a task. We have hidden an artifact in the basement of your school. We believe that this artifact may help you, in more ways than one, so this is a mutually beneficial task. We have hope that you will succeed.
Wish you luck,
The Analysts
Trixie digested a bit of this new info. An artifact that they wanted her to have? Could this be true? Trixie was a bit unsure about this, as she’d been burned by mysterious people wanting to “help,” but she remembered that the Analysts were the good guys of this whole debacle, so she supposed that she could give them the benefit of the doubt. She got dressed, and thought to herself Maybe if Trixie does this now, She might get a bit of a head start with what the principal asked Trixie to do. She then headed off to school. On the way there, she came across Maestro with two anthros near him, both of them girls. One of them looked older than Maestro and Chessmaster, and the other looked younger than Maestro by a few years.
They came closer, and Maestro spoke. “Hi Trixie. I’m guessing you’re wondering who these two are, huh? Well, I’ll let them introduce themselves.”
The one with yellow fur spoke first. “I am Servo Star, the eldest. I once was known as Laranda.”
The one with blue fur giggled a bit. “Please forgive our half-sister. She’s always been a bit distant to those outside the family.” She then grinned. “I’m Janice Dazzle Star, the youngest! Maestro may have mentioned me before as Reina!”
Trixie then looked to Maestro. “So these are your…?”
Maestro chuckled slightly. “Half-sisters. They mean well.”
Trixie was a bit astonished. “So all of you are half siblings to each other?”
Maestro nodded. “We had one common parent between the four of us, and that was dad.”
Trixie noticed the past tense, but didn’t want to overstep her bounds. She changed the subject. “Well Trixie’s gotta go help clean up the school as restitution. She’ll be seeing you.”
Maestro grabbed her arm as she was leaving, causing her to look back. He spoke plainly. “Not even the principal will be at school today. What’s really going on, Trixie?”
Trixie seemed to notice a slight pang of discomfort in Maestro as he let go, but decided not to comment on it. She sighed. “Trixie was e-mailed by the Analysts. They said that they’d put an artifact there that they wanted Trixie to have. They said it was in the basement.”
Maestro’s eyes widened. “The basement?!?” He grabbed Trixie by the arm again, and she noticed him try and push down discomfort. He then led her to the school, talking on the way. “I know exactly where it is down there. I found it when I was wandering around the school during an alumni tour two years back. Good thing too, seeing as it might’ve taken you awhile to find it otherwise.”
Maestro unlocked the school with a key as his half-sisters caught up. Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Why do you have that?”
Maestro sighed. “Back in school, I was a bit of a prankster, so I’d swiped the keys to the place and made a copy of them so I could set up my shenanigans. Never got caught, but I’d simmered out of it by Junior year. Never disposed of the keys, and I’m glad the locks haven’t changed.” They went inside and found the stairs down to the basement. They went down and saw that the basement was cluttered, as if nobody had touched the place in years. They went near the center, and Maestro rummaged through the pile methodically until he grabbed something and pulled it out. He grinned. “Just where I left it.” He then handed it to Trixie.
It was a strange box of sorts, although there seemed to be no way to open it. She looked at Maestro. “This is the artifact? No offense, but it doesn’t look like much.”
Maestro hummed in thought for a while, and then snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it! Try using a bit of your magic to open it. I never opened it because I’d felt that I wasn’t the one meant to open it.”
Trixie’s horn glowed pink, and she enveloped her hands in the glow. And with a swift tug, opened the box without problem. She blinked at what was inside. “What is this?”
Maestro took a look inside at the artifact. He took in the look of it, and noticed that it was something he’d thought he’d never see. He audibly gasped.
Servo and Janice looked at it, but only seemed confused. Janice spoke up. “So what is it?”
Maestro spoke as Trixie pulled it out of the box. “It’s the Illusion Dynamo, one of Mage Meadowbrook’s eight enchanted items. Should come in handy for you, Trixie.” The object in question looked like a spherical hourglass.
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “How do you know that?”
Maestro chuckled. “Well, when I met Discord personally, he told me many things about the artifacts of Equestria.”
Servo sighed. “Let’s just get out of here. The air’s far too stale in here.” They all nodded in agreement, and left the school.