“Let’s stop here and rest.”
The flock of chocobos, Big Macintosh, and Sunset Shimmer halted as Trixie set her belongings down next to an upturned boulder. Water streaks and indents of fossilized crustaceans marked the large rock as having come from the bottom of the ocean. It was another example of the changes Discord had wrought upon the world.
Stardust looked up at the sky, scratching the back of his head with a wing. “Why? There’s plenty of light still. We could get a dozen more miles in.”
“Trixie is aware. But there’s a nice open spot over there. I’ll be needing it to train Sunset.”
Sunset blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” Wearing her cape and sword, Trixie trotted over to a flat rocky area only a few hooves away. “Come on, or the real sunset will get here before you do.”
Flabbergasted, Sunset looked to the others but only got blank stares or shrugs in return. Scowling, Sunset threw down her saddlebags, drew Flame Sabre, and rushed to where Trixie was waiting. The blue unicorn wore a smirk equal to Sunset’s frown. “Okay, what is your deal?”
“Firstly, it’s the Great and Powerful Trixie to you,” Trixie said, casually inspecting a hoof. “Secondly, your performance against Tirek left much to be desired. I will not drag you around to the ends of the earth or save your hide every time there’s a fight. If you want to help, then you need to pull your own weight.”
“Oh, so you don’t think I can fight, do you?” Sunset leveled Trixie with a confident look, setting into a stance. “You know, Twilight’s not here to defend you anymore. I’m going to enjoy cutting you down a peg or two.”
Trixie snorted and flicked her mane back. “Please, leave the impossible to Discord.”
“Oh, that is it!” With a feral cry, Sunset raised Flame Sabre and charged. When she came within reach, her sword streaked down like a fireball towards Trixie’s neck.
A flash of steel, a clang of blades, and one disarmed unicorn stood trembling with a sword tip pointed at her throat.
“It’s even worse than Trixie thought,” Trixie growsed. She lowered Save the Queen from Sunset’s neck, instead pointing it at Flame Sabre laying nearby. “C’mon, enough wasting time. Pick it up and try again.”
Sunset shot a look at Trixie that promised unending pain, levitated her sword back up, and swung at Trixie’s unprotected backside. The blade struck with strength to cleave a buffalax in half. It bounced off Trixie’s cape as though it had struck rock, a few ice particles following in its wake.
“Points for trying,” Trixie said, her gaze never leaving Sunset’s. “My turn.” Save the Queen rose, its blade gleaming in the sunlight. Trixie took a swing, forcing Sunset to recall Flame Sabre in time to intercept the attack. “Good reflexes.” With the preliminaries over, Trixie launched into a flurry of strikes and swipes, keeping Sunset on the defensive.
Sunset’s entire world revolved around keeping Trixie’s assault from touching her. The blue unicorn’s sword was everywhere at once, forcing Sunset to keep alert or get skewered. Flame Sabre held up to the task of keeping her safe, but did little else. All it would take was one mistake for her to lose.
That mistake came seconds later as Sunset went for a high block, only for Trixie to reverse her sword and go low. Sunset watched in shock as Save the Queen came in, point first. Her shock grew as Save the Queen swerved again, missing her nose by a hair and struck the pommel of Flame Sabre instead. The force of the blow knocked her concentration off, sending Flame Sabre flying away to land in the dirt. Save the Queen once again pressed against her neck.
Trixie chuckled, recalling her sword and sheathing it. “We’ll have to work on that later. You can’t win if all you do is block. Now, let’s see how you handle this.” Her horn lit up, and seconds later an ice ball rocketed towards the fiery unicorn.
The incoming spell knocked Sunset out of her stupor. She roared her defiance and launched a fireball of matching size. The two spells collided, exploding on impact and sending a shockwave that pushed the unicorns back. Trixie recovered first, a hint of appreciation in her eyes. “Well, looks like I’ve got something to work with after all.”
“There’s more where that came from,” Sunset promised as she readied for the next round.
.o.O.o.
Stardust watched as the impromptu duel between the ponies raged, a second explosion rippling the landscape and ruffling his feathers. “Uh, should we stop them before they get hurt?”
Next to him, Big Macintosh raised a hoof to cover his face from flying pebbles flung from another explosion. Once the rain of debris had ended, the stallion swiftly turned and headed for his tool pack. “Nope.”
Stardust watched him go, feeling a wave of cold nip at his feathers. Taking the hint, Stardust sighed and headed for his own pack. They were going to be needing a lot of potions.
.o.O.o.
Trixie and Sunset stood opposite each other, both ponies breathing heavily. One of Sunset’s legs was encased in ice while half of Trixie’s cape had been seared away. Their horns flicked as they summoned what magic they had left for one final attack.
“Trixie thinks… you have the talent… for barbecue pits… and nothing more,” the general panted, fighting the urge to wipe sweat from her eyes.
“And you… have enough hot air… to float an airship,” Sunset countered, her body shivering.
“Well then, no sense… toying with you further.” Trixie reared back, her horn glowing brightly with magic. Across from her, Sunset grit her teeth and did the same.
At once, the two unicorns lurched forward and unleashed the last of their power at each other, ice and fire hurtling towards their opponent.
A tiny icicle and a glob of flame sputtered out and landed a hoof away from their owners. The icicle quickly melted while the fire was snuffed out by a gentle wind.
Trixie and Sunset stared at where their final attacks landed, neither making a move.
“Horseapples,” Trixie muttered before falling forward, face first into the dirt.
“Ha… beat you…” Sunset said, then followed Trixie to dreamland.
.o.O.o.
Trixie awoke an hour later to a splitting headache. Her moans of pain alerted Stardust, who immediately brought over a phial of red liquid. Lifting Trixie’s head and tilting her neck, he carefully poured the tincture down her throat. Trixie’s groaning and squirming gradually settled down and she blearily opened her eyes.
“You do know that these things are a real pain to make?” Stardust said as he set down the empty phial. “I can only get the ingredients from certain places.”
“Noted,” Trixie slurred. With Stardust’s help, she rose to a sitting position and rubbed her horn. “Where’s Shimmer?”
Stardust pointed a wing over to where the unicorn in question lay. “Still asleep. She’s going to be just as drained as you were when she wakes up.”
“Pheh, as if this little migraine is enough to keep Trixie down,” she said, even as she bit her inner cheek to keep from moaning further.
“So are you going to tell me what that was all about? It looked like you were trying to kill each other.”
Trixie waved him off. “It’s called sparring. Trixie can assure you that she was holding back the entire time.”
“Right…”
“Anyway, our training has given me a picture of what Shimmer is capable of and what needs work. It will be a simple matter to iron out her deficiencies.”
Stardust resisted rolling his eyes. “Whatever. You still owe me for this.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie has you covered. Go over to my bag. There’s a sack of gil in there. You’ll have plenty to buy more stuff.”
Eyeing Trixie dubiously, Stardust headed over to where Trixie’s saddlebags lay and reached for the first sack he saw. It didn’t jingle like gil should, instead feeling like a solid rock. Untying the string, he dumped the contents of the sack onto an outstretched wing.
The revealed magicite glowed upon contact.
The bright flash from the center of the camp gained the attention of all present. It even brought Sunset out of her sleep, sputtering incoherently. However, everypony and chocobo looked away from the blinding white light. The light soon receded, revealing a catatonic Starburst staring off into the distance. His outstretched wing now lay empty, the magicite having disappeared.
One of the chocobos recovered and ran up to Stardust, shaking him by the shoulders. “Stardust! Are you okay? Say something!”
Stardust nearly fell over from the chocobo’s shaking, but recovered in time to catch himself. Blinking repeatedly, he gulped and said, “I had no idea that could happen.”
“What could happen? What are you talking about?”
Trixie stepped in between them, pushing them away and gaining their attention. “What he means is that plucky over here just bonded with an esper.”
It took a moment for the group to let that sink in. One of the chocobos stepped up and raised a wing. “Uh, but I thought only you ponies could do that.”
“Not necessarily. Gilda managed to gain the powers of one, though Trixie heard that it didn’t go very smoothly. We only knew how to drain them at the time and didn’t learn about bonding until much later.” Trixie turned and poked Stardust in the chest. “So, do you know which one it was?”
“He said his name was Palidor,” Stardust said, his voice distant as though in a daze. “He was one of the espers that died in Themaresa when Gilda attacked.”
Trixie nodded, her mind’s eye replaying that day. “I see.” Lips forming a crooked smile, Trixie continued, “Well, then that means you get to work with Sunset and I. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be joining us.”
That brought Stardust’s attention back to the real world. “Wait, what?”
“You heard Trixie. We’ll have to figure out what spells you can cast and if they’ll be of any use.” Trixie turned away, heading back to her sleeping area. “Get plenty of rest, birdie. You’ll be needing it.”
“Wait! I didn’t ask for any of this!”
Trixie stopped and looked over her shoulder. “None of us did.” Saying no more, Trixie settled into her blankets, falling asleep minutes later.
Left behind, Stardust gave an imploring look to his fellow chocobos. “You don’t think she means it, right?”
The others shrugged and quickly found something to occupy themselves with, leaving Stardust to wander back to his bed in a stupor. Sleep that night did not come easy for him.
.o.O.o.
For a chocobo, running was a way of life. Mere days after hatching, a chocobo could run circles around the fastest of ground monsters. Their land speed was so great that even in the age following the War of the Magi, where machines began to flourish, chocobos were still relied upon to traverse the land to deliver critical packages. To live was to run and few ever questioned their purpose.
Today, Stardust counted himself among those few.
His body ached in ways he never thought possible. His breath came out in shallow puffs of air. His talons pounded the dirt, growing more sore with every step. Stardust couldn’t remember a time he felt so tired after only twenty miles of constant sprinting, laughable to even the most out of shape of chocobos.
Then again, he’d never had a taskmaster like Trixie before.
“C’mon, feather duster, pick it up!” she yelled from her perch on his back. “We’re falling behind again!”
“Hate… you…” Stardust gasped. A short distance ahead, the other chocobos and ponies began to recede as Stardust’s strides grew shorter.
“Good. That means Trixie’s methods are working. Now quit talking and get running!”
Stardust longed to buck Trixie off, but the unicorn had anticipated that and had tied herself down. Any other violent movements earned him a sting of cold to his rear end, just beneath the tail feathers. He was stuck with her, both literally and figuratively.
“This is all worth it, trust Trixie.” Trixie’s horn glowed and reapplied a thin sheen of ice around Stardust’s legs. The cold tightened up his muscles, making it harder to run. “You chocobos use your legs a lot so it stands to reason your magic will flow there. Magic calls to magic in Trixie’s experience, so this is the quickest way to bring yours out.”
Stardust doubted that, but arguing hadn’t gotten him anywhere. Big Macintosh hadn’t been much help either, though the stallion did manage to convince Trixie to leave weapons out of it. Hooray for small favors.
A few miles later, Stardust managed to catch up with the others, though it was due to the group stopping rather than the chocobo getting a second wind. He flopped down, uncaring that he looked like a fledgling stumbling out of the nest for the first time. Trixie untied herself and hopped off, relieving him of further burden.
“Why are we stopping?” Trixie asked as she trotted up to the others.
“Well, besides giving that poor guy a rest,” Sunset said, eyeing Stardust with sympathy, “I felt a jolt of some kind coming from that group of mountains over there.” She pointed a hoof towards said mountains, less than a mile away.
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “And?”
Letting out an annoyed huff, Sunset said, “Shouldn’t we go and check it out? One of your Returner friends could be over there.”
Trixie pursed her lips and brought out her map. “For once, you make a good point. Let’s see what this says…”
“There’s nothing over there,” a chocobo called out. “Just a group of mountains.”
Trixie raised up her map, giving the chocobo a smirk. “Not according to this, there isn’t. It’s actually a ring of mountains with an opening in the center. Looks like there’s some sort of building in there called Fanatic’s Tower.”
Sunset gave a dubious look. “Why would anyone build a tower in the middle of nowhere? And where did you even get that map?”
“Discord.”
“No!”
“You called?”
That was the only warning before Discord popped into existence above them, laying on his side. The chocobos squawked and quickly huddled together. Big Macintosh gulped and draped a camouflage blanket over himself. Sunset froze, her face alternating between fear and panic.
Trixie turned to Discord and gave him a hard look. “Well, since you’re here, you can explain something.”
Discord smiled and clapped his mismatched hands together. “Really? Oh, this is new! Usually, I don’t get any questions. Just begging and pleading. And a little groveling, from time to time.”
Holding up the map for Discord to see, Trixie said, “What’s this tower doing there? Something you did?”
Discord came close, squinting at the spot Trixie indicated. “Oh, that. Not much to it, really. Just some ponies and other assorted creatures that spend all day moping about and worshiping me.”
Trixie’s features hardened more. “What?”
“It’s kind of flattering, really,” Discord said, waving it off. “They think I’m some sort of all-powerful god that will bring them divine attention or something. I usually leave them be because, well, they’re not wrong.”
“Trixie finds it hard to believe that anypony would waste time fawning over you.”
Putting his lion paw over his chest in mock hurt, Discord said, “Don’t believe me? Well, perhaps you just need a closer look.” With a toothy grin, Discord snapped his fingers.
He, Trixie, and Sunset disappeared.
.o.O.o.
The first thing Trixie experienced as she popped back into existence was a cool breeze over her coat.
The next was the sensation of falling.
Head pointed downward, Trixie let out a scream as the ground below, well over a mile down, began to get closer.
“Hey, pay attention or you’re going to miss it!”
Trixie whipped her head, catching sight of Discord falling down besides her. “You fool! Put me back!”
Before Discord could respond, a yelp of terror caused her to turn her head to the other side. Sunset also tumbled through the air, her frantic movements doing nothing to slow her descent.
“You two are really missing out,” Discord’s voice swept past them. “Just look at how high they made it!”
Trixie looked down, both in panic and a touch of curiosity, to see what Discord was rambling on about. Sure enough, a structure rose in the very center of an open clearing inside the circle of mountains. The tower was too far away to make out any details, not to mention falling to her death to care about studying it more, so Trixie ripped her gaze away and back to Discord. “I’ve seen it! Now get us down! Safely!”
“Well, with that attitude, I don’t think that I want to.” Crossing his arms and pouting, Discord turned away. “After all the effort they went into making it, too. Tsk.”
“You can’t be—” Too late, as Discord disappeared in a flash of light.
With nothing else better to do, Trixie went back to screaming.
The seconds ticked down, Trixie and Sunset’s forms falling closer and closer to the ground. Sunset covered her eyes while Trixie’s horn shot off spell after spell in the vain hope that something would slow her down. With only moments before impact, Trixie gave up and followed Sunset’s lead, praying that it would be over quick.
With their eyes tightly shut, they missed the silver glow surrounding their bodies. The rush of air against their coats slackened and the sensation of falling slowly receded. After a few seconds of relative calm, Sunset dared to uncover her eyes first. They bulged out upon seeing exposed rocks only several hooves away. She attempted to move, but all her body did was bob up and down in midair. “Trixie, did you do this?!”
Trixie peeked out from behind her hooves, seeing what Sunset was seeing. “Um… as much as Trixie would like to claim she did…”
Sounds of something running up to them gained their attention. They swiveled their heads enough to see Stardust approaching them. The chocobo stopped just below where they were floating and fell in a heap. “Made… it…”
Moments later, the rest of the chocobos and Big Macintosh came into view, swiftly rushing up to them. Two chocobos went to check on Stardust while the others looked up at the two air locked ponies with cocked heads. “Wow, he actually managed to do it,” one of them stated.
“Not that we’re ungrateful that we’re still alive,” Sunset said from her upside down position, “but what is going on?!”
The chocobo pointed at the still recovering Stardust. “Ask him, he’s the one with the magic.”
“Ha! Trixie’s methods prove effective yet again!” the unicorn crowed. “Where was his magic concentrated in? His legs? It was his legs, wasn’t it?”
“Actually, I’m pretty sure his wings started to glow just before he took off.”
“Phooey!”
A flash of light heralded the return of Discord, who clapped his hands in appreciation. “Bravo! Bravo, I say!”
Trixie grunted as she twisted her floating body around to face the master of chaos. “You have a lot of nerve showing up after what you pulled!”
“Oh, don’t be like that. You all made it out okay, right?”
“And if we hadn’t? If we’d just been splattered all over the ground? You wouldn’t have had your ‘oh so’ epic fight with us, would you?”
Discord scoffed and waved her off. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. What, you thought I was going to make your quest easy on you? I can pop in and out any time I want and do whatever I want. Better remember that going forward, Trixie.”
Even from her awkward position in the air, Trixie still managed to tag him with a death glare. “Don’t think you’re invincible. You may have a lot of magic now, but ours is getting stronger all the time. Ours will beat yours soon enough, so enjoy what you can until then.”
“Oh, it’s that defiance that makes me like you so much, Trix!” Discord said, demurely looking away with a light blush to his cheeks. “Keep it up and I might start falling for you.”
“Buck off!”
Discord gave a hearty laugh and disappeared in a flash.
A tense silence followed, many of the chocobos snapping their heads to and fro in search of any sign that Discord was still around. A light moan from Stardust interrupted them as the silver chocobo slowly stood up. “I can’t believe I’m… saying this… but I’m sick of running.”
A round of chuckles passed through the flock, dispelling any leftover tension. The pair helping Stardust led him over to the still floating ponies. Stardust grimaced and raised his wings, putting them over the unicorn’s horns. “I’m… not sure this will work, but…” A soft glow passed from Stardust’s wings and over the ponies. Trixie and Sunset’s bodies drifted lightly to the ground.
Once she was certain she wouldn’t float away, Sunset nodded at Stardust. “Thank you for the rescue. And as for you…” she whirled on Trixie. “What are you thinking talking to him like that?! You just saw what he could do to us and you go and mouth off on him!”
Trixie brushed non-existent dust from her fetlock, giving it more attention than to Sunset. “If you’re going to be so afraid of him, why did you bother coming with us? He’s our end goal, or weren’t you aware?”
“Yes, but—”
Trixie loudly stomped her hoof. “We can beat him, Sunset. Not right now, but soon. My magic, your magic, and even Big Macintosh and Stardust are all growing stronger. If there’s anything I’ve learned in my life, it’s that nothing is invincible. Not the Empire, not the Ultima Weapon, and not even Discord.
“He was foolish to give me this task, because it will be the end of him. He thinks we’re all going to come together and then dance like puppets on his strings. Well, he’ll learn just like Blueblood learned that you should never cross me.” Her eyes grew hard as she stared ahead, seeing images that only she could see.
The ponies and chocobos gulped and stepped back.
Shaking her head, Trixie came out of her stupor. “Anyway, we’ve wasted enough time. We’ll wait for Stardust to catch his breath and then we head out.” She trotted up to the chocobo of the hour and nudged him with a hoof. “Hey, Trixie doesn’t say this often, so listen up.
“… Thanks.”
Stardust blinked up at the unicorn, convinced that exhaustion was making him hear things. A green glow washed over him, a number of his aches and pains leaving his body. He managed to catch sight of Trixie’s glowing horn a second before she turned away and began galloping off.
“C’mon, let’s go already!”
The group looked to each other, uncertainty and a bit of confusion littering their faces. It was Big Macintosh that moved first, a small smile on his muzzle as he raced after Trixie. As one, the rest shrugged, picked up their things, and followed the ponies.
Sunset Shimmer brought up the rear, her mind echoing one thing over and over again.
“What have I gotten myself into?”
.o.O.o.
Two days passed as the group continued to head north. Trixie continued to urge the magic users to practice, even going so far as to use surprise attacks. It proved to be a long few days. When Nikhay came into view on the third day, the chocobos were delighted to have an excuse to finally be rid of the strange and frightening general. They quickly separated to head for the market, leaving Stardust the lone chocobo left with the ponies.
“I hope you’re happy,” Stardust grumbled as he and the ponies made their way to the docks. “I had a good thing going with them, but now I have to hang around with you again.”
Big Macintosh spoke up before Trixie could. “We’ve been over this, Stardust. You haven’t seen feather or beak of Moonlight for months. It’s time to look somewhere else. Or have you given up finding him?”
“No! It’s just…” Stardust looked away, beak clenched.
“If it helps, it’s the same for me. I’ve been up and down the trench more times than I can count, but no sign of Applejack or Apple Bloom. It’s high time I move on too.”
Sunset trotted up to the chocobo next, rapping him lightly with a hoof. “Hey, it’s going to be alright. You’ve got some magic now which might be the thing you need to find him.” She gave what she hoped to be a bright and encouraging smile.
Giving a grunt, Stardust lifted his head and walked a little straighter. “I know, I know. It’s just hard to walk away from a flock when it’s such a sure thing.”
“Nothing is a sure thing,” Trixie said, cutting into the conversation. “Not with Discord around.” Her voice carried, making all ponies and chocobos in earshot snap their heads up and give her a shocked glare. Trixie ignored them. “Now, let’s see if we can get a ship. South Fillygaro is our next stop.”
As it turned out, mentioning Discord’s name spread quickly through the shipyard. At each available ship they checked they were turned down. No crew or captain wanted to bring a pony along that could summon a being that could turn their voyage into an obstacle course. Or simply blink them out of existence. By the end of the day, the Returners sat at a pub, nursing drinks and cursing their misfortune.
Or rather, one pony cursing out another.
“You just had to go and open your big mouth, didn’t you?!” Sunset exclaimed for what must have been the twentieth time. “You know how others get when he’s talked about and you still do it!”
Trixie turned away, scowling. She took another swig of her ale to hide a grimace.
“Hey, I’m yelling at you! What, got nothing to say now? Too late now, as we’ve got no way to cross the sea unless you want to try swimming.”
“We could wait for new boats to come in,” Big Macintosh offered, seemingly unperturbed by Sunset’s outburst. A large mug of cider sat next to him, half drained after only one gulp.
Stardust put down a cup of pomegranate juice. “I don’t think that will help. Any boats coming in will be told as soon as they dock. Too bad we don’t have an airship anymore…”
Sunset threw up her hooves, nearly knocking over her tea. “So what now? If we’re going to be stuck here, I’ll just head back to the zebra village.”
“Trixie will think of something,” the unicorn finally said. She pounded down the rest of her drink and slapped the empty bottle on the table. “We have gil. We can bribe someone to take us. Trixie will build another raft if she has to.”
Sunset was about to start lacing into her again, but a figure trotted up to their table, stopping her. The figure was a mare, with a dark grey coat and a mane and tail just a few shades lighter. Her mane hung loose around her shoulders, which were slight and delicate. She raised a hoof and waved, giving a big smile. “Hello, there! Sorry for listening in on your conversation, but I take it you want to get to Fillygaro?"
“Yes, that’s right,” Sunset said, a little more tersely than she intended.
The mare didn’t seem to notice. “That’s great! I’ve been looking to hire a few ponies to help me and you look capable. If you agree to help, I’ve got a ship already waiting to take us there.”
Trixie scrutinized the pony before her with narrowed eyes. “This is all rather sudden, don’t you think? What’s your name and what exactly do you want us to do?”
The mare gave a courteous bow. “My name’s Gilgamesh. I want you to help me break into Fillygaro Castle.”