//------------------------------// // 76. Forked Destiny - Part Four // Story: Letters From a Little Princess Monster // by Georg //------------------------------// Letters From a Little Princess Monster Forked Destiny - Part Four ~ ~ ✶ ~ ~ Trixie always liked Celestia’s private library. It was the next-to-last place anypony would look for her, with last place reserved for a certain statue’s weed-covered storage corner. The library was always cool and comfortable, a pleasant place to avoid responsibility while browsing through the near-erotica an immortal princess collected on the back shelves. Nothing really obscene, of course. Trixie had once thought the Princess of the Sun was devoid of coarse mortal passions, bored with the interplay of base flesh after centuries of life. In hindsight, her stoic behavior had been needed for survival. The bond between sisters had been so intense, so strong that the only way Celestia had survived her sister being entombed in the moon was to entomb her own heart. During Trixie’s studenthood, she could not help but notice the constant struggle by Cadence to bring her ‘aunt’ out into the light, a light and airy flow of bubbling water trying to cut channels into unyielding granite. It vexed the Princess of Love, far more than her constant attempts to steer Trixie’s heart to some other love than peanut butter and onion sandwiches on toast with a shot of bourbon. Well, sometimes a whole bottle of bourbon. Cadence did not have to be subtle with her gift of bringing love, and Trixie had always worried about her getting frustrated and zapping Celestia’s reluctant student instead of the true target of her ire. It was probably best that Celestia had not yielded over the centuries to the temptations of romance, forced or voluntary. She would have been distracted at a time when her concentration was needed the most, much like Trixie’s absent husband plagued her dreams on cold, lonely nights in the library tree. Celestia’s library, or more correctly now, the Royal Sisters’ den, was much like the princesses’ own immense shielded hearts, being a quiet place where an alicorn could retreat from the bothers of life and immerse herself in books or other activities that did not fit well with her official life. It was a Mare Cave in more than just words, where the winding of constant pressure could unwind for a time without the troublesome sproing of violently unstressed gears and cogs. Today, the den was sweltering hot, making Trixie a little jittery. The rest of the students would be along shortly, and she wanted to get everything ready for them first. Most of Trixie’s other friends, which was a phrase she was still getting adjusted to, had gone off to prepare for the rest of the tour, arrange snacks, and other such tasks. This left Trixie as the token responsible adult, gently chivvying the young students through hallways and rooms which Trixie had gotten so bored with that the students’ displayed fascination seemed distant to her. Trixie had knocked before entering the den, which was a first for her, followed by a quiet, respectful walk around the bookshelves, also a first for her. There were always books that caught her eye, worthy of a few minutes or hours of examination. This time she resisted her urge to browse or even spend a few minutes at the huge puzzle of an orange tree in full fruit. Besides, the pieces never fit anyway without percussive⁽*⁾ encouragement. (*) WHAM! WHAM WHAM! There, I told you it would fit. Instead, she moved over to the window where Philomena had made her nest of glittering yellow sunstones, thankful that Spike was off with Pinkie Pie for after-tour snack production. Philomena hated Spike, and Trixie had always thought she viewed Trixie as some sort of fuzzy blue dragon too. This afternoon, the phoenix hissed and pecked, much like a dragon herself, remaining slouched over her egg and unwilling to show it to anypony. Even the young unicorn mare in a chair next to the window well had scooted out of pecking range, and was holding her clipboard more as a defensive shield than a research tool. “Hello, Lady Lulamoon,” said the mare, standing up and giving Trixie a short bow. “I’m honored to finally meet my new sister, and Celestia’s favorite student.” “Another sister?” asked Trixie, blinking in reflexive surprise. “Have you told my mother?” “No,” said the mare with a brief giggle. “I’m Greenie’s little sister. Remember? Your husband? We haven’t heard a peep from him since he went to Ponyville and we saw the wedding announcement, so the two of you must be quite busy.” “Oh!” Trixie had absolutely no idea who the young mare really was, but she played along, putting on an expression of overwhelming joy and moving forward to give her a hug. “How could I have forgotten?” The pale white mare gave a tentative hug in return, much as if she were out of practice, and returned to her chair rather quickly to pick up her pencil and take another peek at the sulking phoenix. Philomena’s nest took up all of the window well, built out of knick-knacks, baubles, and at least a dozen glowing sunstones, which put out more heat than a pot-bellied stove stuffed full of coal. “Celestia says she’s trying to prematurely moult in order to hatch her egg, and I’m supposed to send for her immediately if she bursts into flames.” “Celestia or Philomena?” asked Trixie by reflex while she was wracking her brain, trying to remember Green Grass’ sister’s name. “Philomena, of course,” said the young mare with another giggle. “I can see why Greenie fell for you, Lady Lulamoon. You’ve got his sense of humor.” The papery rasp of a box shuffling through the library kept Trixie from having to come up with a snappy comeback, but she did speak up before Twilight Sparkle came turtling up to the two of them. “Miss, how much has Celestia told you about… my student?” “Just that she’s very shy, and that she has the same name as— Oh, hello there.” The young mare nodded at the cardboard Hayburger box that just came around the corner. “You must be Twilight. Princess Celestia told me that you’re a very special student, and that I should assist you in every possible way, so if you want to come out from under your box, I can introduce you to Philomena before the rest of your class shows up. You just should be careful. She’s a teensy bit peckish since she’s sitting on her egg.” The mare’s look of wide-eyed innocence was too much for Trixie. “Green Grass left Ponyville for some griffon aerie the day after the wedding,” Trixie admitted. “He writes every day or two in order to send material for his thesis, but he hasn’t said a word about you, or your family, or anything other than dull griffon history. So I don’t know your name, either. Oh, and Twilight is really Twilight Sparkle. Yes, that one. She’s an alicorn now, but she’s the sweetest, kindest, nicest little pony with a big heart and enough magic to blow Canterlot clear off the mountain. I probably shouldn’t have said that last part, right Twilight?” The front of the box nodded up and down along with the rounded filly horn poking out above the eyeholes. “Anyway,” continued Trixie with a sharp frustrated huff of breath, “your father certainly knows about my student here. And so do all of her little friends. They chased after her into the Everfree Forest, helped her save Princess Luna from Nightmare Moon, and have been bigger heroes than I ever dreamed about becoming before most of them got their cutie marks. So, my newest sister, welcome to the family.” The young mare seemed frozen in place with her mouth stuck in an ‘oh’ of realization. Trixie would have been worried except the mare was still breathing and even blinking on occasion. Twilight took the opportunity to shuffle her box away, returning in a few moments with the rustling of turning pages coming from the illuminated interior of her cardboard shield. “Frost,” said the box, “of House Chrys… Chiris…” “Chrysanthemum,” said Trixie. “Go on.” “Single. Enrolled at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, Advanced Studies. Honors society, all years running. Scholarship student. White coat with blue-white mane. Cutie mark snowflake. Special talent, heat and cooling spells.” There was a brief pause, and it was a testament to Trixie’s growing insanity that she immediately lifted the pencil away from Frost and floated it over to one of the holes in the box, where it vanished inside. “She found a copy of Twerps Peerage⁽¹⁾,” said Trixie to the frozen young mare over the sound of scratching from inside the box. “She’s correcting Greenie’s entry.” (1) Celestia had filed it under ‘T’ for ‘Twits.’ * * * By the time the rest of the students arrived, Frost had calmed down enough to be only mildly jumpy and Twilight had emerged enough from under her box to get a good look at Philomena’s nest. Trixie gathered them around the warm window well, far enough back to prevent any phoenix pecks, then turned the presentation over to the reluctant docent. Frost’s first problem was that she did not speak up quickly enough. Sweetie Belle looked up from the clipboard full of phoenix observations, fixing Frost with mournful eyes. “You don’t think Princess Celestia is going to have me hatch a phoenix egg for my admittance test into her school, do you?” “Don’t be silly,” scoffed Trixie, looking around at the small pile of colorful books scattered next to the rocky nest. “From the looks of it, Celestia plans on helping hatch the egg herself.” She picked up a gold-edged book engraved with a realistic flaming bird on the cover and leafed through it, admiring the sketches of phoenix in various stages of their life and a relatively few lines of actual facts on the elusive species. “Actually, she said that won’t work,” said Frost cautiously after the rest of the students had all nabbed a book for their own inspection, and she had almost gotten pushed back far enough for Philomena to bite her on the rump. “I guess alicorn magic isn’t compatible.” “Phoenix eggth aren’t like dragon eggth,” said Twist, who was sharing a book with Apple Bloom. “They go bad in a few weekth if not hatched.” Scootaloo pushed her book forward and showed a chart. “Here it says one of the reasons phoenixes… phonexises…” “Phoenix,” said Trixie. “Plural, singular, doesn’t matter.” “Right. It says if a phoenix life cycle doesn’t match with her egg laying pattern, they can go for decades without hatching a chick.” Twilight peered over Sweetie Belle’s shoulder and pointed at the clipboard. “Moulted early. When she laid the egg.” “Just before, if the times are recorded right,” said Trixie with a squint at Frost’s crimped hornwriting. “Phoenix don’t moult more than once every decade or so. I don’t think she ever moulted while I was a student. I guess this is just going to be one of those non-viable eggs the book talked about.” She paused with her brow furrowed in thought. “I wonder where she found a male phoenix?” Philomena fluffed up her crest and hissed as if she preferred there not to be any inquiries into her sex life. “She’s trying,” said Twilight Sparkle, reaching out with one trembling forehoof. “She’s trying so hard. Familiar. Fire. Cold.” The phoenix did not peck at Twilight’s inquisitive leg. Instead, she drew herself up slightly so the eggshell was just barely visible, a smooth flow of brilliant yellows and oranges that looked like flames frozen in motion. Twilight continued to reach forward until the very tip of her hoof touched against the unyielding shell, and there she remained, almost motionless except for her breathing. “I wish Spike was here,” said Sweetie Belle. “He could use his fire—” “Dragonfire,” said Trixie. “It’s not the same. Dragons have a magic to their fire that destroys and transforms, while phoenix fire heals and rejuvenates. They both still burn things to ashes, but they’re totally different things. All Spike could do is destroy the egg.” “Like I do whenever I make oatmeal,” said Sweetie almost under her breath. “I thought I was getting better, but all I’m leaving behind is ash now.” Trixie got an idea. Then after a moment’s thought, she put it behind herself. After all, it was a dumb idea. Then again, it could work. Or, it could destroy the egg and a goodly chunk of Celestia’s library. With Trixie’s luck, the idea would melt the whole library right off the side of the castle and incinerate every book inside. Trixie had used up an extraordinary amount of luck lately, so it was due to run out at any minute. Anything she suggested now was doomed to end in fire. Then again, fire was needed… “Are you sure you don’t want to hatch Philomena’s egg?” she heard her voice ask. It was a very disobedient voice, and Trixie was about to chastise it for speaking up out of turn when Sweetie Belle whispered. “Yes. I mean, Philomena needs help, and all I can do with eggs is burn them.” Sweetie Belle took a deep breath and asked the most terrifying question in the world. “Miss Trixie, what should I do?” * * * Planning was overrated. Still, planning was needed, and Trixie had no intention of winding up in any of the situations she had found herself in since meeting Twilight. Again. So she worked with Frost to make sure the other students would be able to hold Philomena during the experiment, and more importantly, that Philomena was willing to be held, then made sure Twilight could cast a barrier around the nest that would let Sweetie’s magic in without letting the fire out to burn up the books. Trixie was fairly sure that portion of the plan would go perfectly. With Twilight’s power and love of books, none of Celestia’s precious library would probably even get warm, let alone catch on fire. Then came the difficulty Trixie had expected. No two unicorns had exactly the same magic. Their spells always had a mix of different magics that stabilized into a consistent whole once they got old enough to practice and bring the specific elements into balance. For example, Lyra had tonal magic that went along with her string-plucking, while Firelock had the most pure, straight, inferno fire to her spells, which would have been fine if they wanted to set the whole castle on fire, but not that useful for egg-hatching. Trixie had never focused on fire until she had to put fire suppression spells all around the oak library, and her own fire spells showed that inattention with a churning mix of the dozen or so fire variants. It helped making spells to prevent fires, but she would not be able to assist Sweetie with any phoenix egg hatching. Even Frost, who had a lot of experience with fire spells, could not focus her magic into a single variant without some cooling and frost-based bits sneaking in. When Trixie set up the enchanted parchment test for Frost, she was able to set it on fire easily enough, but her instincts automatically muted the flames so they would not damage the surroundings. Sweetie Belle’s fire spell testing was different. She had a lot of phoenix fire in her spells, although she could not make it pure no matter how much she concentrated. The best she could do was a straight mix of dragonfire and phoenix fire, which devoured the test parchment like Spike went through breakfast. No wonder when Sweetie burns something, it stays burnt. “It was a good attempt, Sweetie, but it’s not going to work.” Trixie stomped out the burning piece of parchment she had used as a testbed and regarded the ashes remaining, as well as the charred pits in the granite floor under it. “Your magic fire spell has more phoenix fire in it than anypony else in your class, but it also has a lot of dragon fire in it. The phoenix egg would soak up part of your fire spell, but the residual dragon fire in your spell will overwhelm it in a few seconds and destroy it. I suppose Twilight could—” Trixie cut off abruptly at the look in Twilight Sparkle’s eyes, as if starting the fire was not the problem. After all, the last time she had been in Canterlot and tried to hatch an egg... “I suppose that means I won’t be able to hatch my dragon egg either,” said Sweetie. She floated the little bit purse out from under her mane and opened it up to reveal the dull grey egg she had been carrying around for the last few weeks. It barely glinted, looking much like a simple rock just slightly larger than a plain goose egg, although the pygmy tree dragon hatched from it would have sparkled in the sunshine like rainbows while gliding from tree to tree. “That’s a pygmy tree dragon’s egg!” breathed Frost. “So cool.” Trixie nodded. “The phoenix fire in Sweetie’s spell would destroy it the same way. That must be why dragons and phoenix are such enemies. Each of their magics are the antithesis of each other.” “So why not hatch them both at the same time?” said Apple Bloom. “That way these thesises would work against each other.” “It doesn’t work that way,” said Trixie, then paused and looked at Frost. “It doesn’t work that way, does it?” “I don’t know.” The young mare ran a hoof through her blue-white mane, looking almost like a pale mirror-image of Trixie for a moment. “This is so far outside of my training.” “There’s one way to find out,” said Scootaloo, punching a hoof up into the air. “Science!” In this case, science involved several tables pushed over next to the window and turned on their sides to provide cover in case the fire spell got out of control, as well as a request to the castle staff for a number of buckets of ice water, just in case. Just because Trixie was rubbing off on the Cutie Mark Catastrophes, did not mean she was going to be careless. Well, more careless than usual. Then again, she was letting Sweetie Belle hatch a fire-breathing dragon’s egg and a self-immolating phoenix egg in Celestia’s flammable library… “Ready,” said Featherweight, checking his camera one last time. “We’re ready too,” said Twist and the rest of ‘Team Philomena’ from behind a table. Twilight Sparkle did not say anything, but the area between the window well and the rest of the room lit up with a faintly pink magical shield, and the temperature of the room dropped fractionally when Frost added her magic to the spell. “Awk?” said Philomena, in what was probably a worried tone for a bird. Trixie had tried to explain things to the phoenix while Sweetie Belle was setting up the two eggs on top of the pile of hot rocks, but even though the bird was smarter than it pretended, she was not quite sure if it understood her. It was only fair. Trixie really did not understand what they were doing either. “Operation Poached Eggs is a go,” said Featherweight, popping up from behind the table for long enough to take a photo. “Ladies and gentlecolts, start your toasting.” Objectively, Trixie had never just stood and watched while Sweetie Belle used her magic. There had always been something else to distract Trixie, like trying to find cover. Even to her inexperienced eye, the young unicorn had improved her spellcasting markedly over the last few months, which Trixie should probably take credit for, provided nothing exploded today. The young unicorn was standing with her legs spraddled out just like Twilight when she was using magic, only the green light that filled the library was diffused instead of making razor-edged shadows on the wall. The light continued to grow brighter while the reddish-orange of fire engulfed the two eggs until they vanished against the glare. Twilight said one word. “More.” “That’s all I can do, Twilight.” The greenish light of her fire spell flickered like a poor candle and the shimmering eggs appeared behind the fading glow. “I can’t get it any hotter. My magic won’t push any more.” “I did,” said Trixie out of impulse, “when I was trying to save your friend. I thought I was too weak, but you and all of your friends stood by my side and supported me when I was at my worst. If I could do it then, you can do it now.” “I’ll… try.” The light coming from the eggs brightened as the voices of Sweetie Belle’s friends shouted encouragement from behind the table, then brightened more when Trixie put a hoof on her back. “I believe in you.” It was supposed to be a lie, but Trixie found herself actually believing for a moment, and the moment was not over as she continued, “We believe. All of your friends are here to help. You were the one who found the dragon egg, Sweetie, and you were the first one to think of hatching the phoenix. The lives of both of them are depending on you, just like Spike needed Twilight’s magic to hatch him.” “It… hurts,” moaned Sweetie, which made Trixie quickly check out her magical aura for any signs of instability. The glare of green magic was rock-solid, even as Sweetie Belle braced her hind legs and pressed her horn even harder against the spell. Trixie could feel the heat leaching through Twilight’s shield, and to her shock, the glass in the window had begun to bow and stretch like taffy. “That’s—” started Trixie in shock, only to have Sweetie Belle give out an anguished cry and shove more magic into her spell than Trixie had ever dreamed a little filly could control. The light was too bright to look at now, but streaming rivulets of molten sunstones were running down the window sill and the drapes caught fire in one rapid whoosh of flames that left only ashes swept up to the ceiling in the heat. “Sweetie!” she commanded. “You need to—” Something sounded through the room, the chords of a thousand crystal bells all chiming at once with a chorus of heavenly voices all compressed into a single note of pure beauty. A burst of smoke erupted from the glare, a small phoenix with wings of fire who burned into ash in moments as it rose. Sweetie Belle was shocked by the noise and stopped her fire spell, but the window well was still a blazing source of white light while it cooled, first to stark shades of white, then to reveal the puddle of molten lava that the stone shelf had turned into. There was a tiny grey lizard of sorts paddling around its new pool, with stubby little legs and a wide membrane that connected front to back legs so it could glide down from trees onto its prey. The lizard looked happy. It was also thankfully looking at Sweetie Belle instead of Trixie, because Trixie was not quite sure she could survive raising another dragon without the assistance of the castle servants. Trixie busied herself by having Frost float the phoenix eggshell over to the shallow end of the lava pool, as well as the downey phoenix chick inside it, giving Sweetie a chance to look at the lizardly results of her scienceing. Philomena seemed relieved that her chick was alive and in good health, and even appeared to give Trixie a tiny fragment of the credit by only pecking her on the leg once, without even drawing blood like normal. Mother and daughter… or son, it was difficult to tell with a bird, chirped and trilled together, with the chick stumbling over Frost’s fetlock with flapping fuzzy wings and big eyes trying to look everywhere at once. “She’s beautiful, Trixie.” Celestia’s soft voice touched on the back of Trixie’s neck, giving her a warm shiver up her spine. It was followed by her princessly head, moving down to Trixie’s side with a warm smile for her pet, although Trixie was unsure if that pet was a bird or a unicorn. “So is the dragon. He’s much smaller than Spike was. And with much less property damage,” added Celestia softly to Twilight, who looked a mixture of pleased, proud, and relieved, and had not ducked under her box yet. “Come here,” coaxed Sweetie Belle, holding her hoof as close to the lava as she could. “Come on. The lava is cooling and you don’t want to get stuck.” “It’s not as pretty as the phoenix chick,” said Featherweight, who had moved up to get better pictures. “Looks a lot like a rock.” “On the top,” said Twilight. With a little encouragement and a chip of ruby that Twist had been carrying around for a Spike snack, they coaxed the little dragon out to sit on Sweetie Belle’s hoof, where it gnawed at the tiny gem like a squirrel on a tough nut. A little petting and stroking later, the tiny dragon was happy enough to sit up and beg for a second gem fragment. “Oooh,” gasped all of the little ponies. The belly of the tiny lizard was a glittering collection of pinpoint sparkles in all colors of the rainbow, making shifting patterns as it wriggled its forelegs and made a little whining noise in the hopes of getting fed. There was no danger of it falling off Sweetie’s hoof because the dragon had a tail several times his own length. That slim, muscular tail remained securely wrapped around Sweetie’s fetlock to the point where she could turn it upside-down and watch all of the dragonling’s legs wriggle around for traction, flapping its thin webbed skin in the process. “Sorry,” whispered Sweetie Belle as she turned her hoof back rightside-up and let the little lizard settle down with a chip of gemstone as a reward for being so forgiving. “You’re going to be a strong little dragon, aren’t you?” “All dragons are strong, Sweetie Belle.” Celestia lowered her head to look the tiny dragon in the eyes, then winked at it. “He’s not going to grow nearly as much, either. Someday Spike is going to be as big as a building, but pygmy tree dragons only get as large as a pony.” The tiny dragon gave a burp and a curl of smoke came out of its nostrils, then with a final bite to finish off the gemstone chip it had been gnawing on, the dragon curled up on Sweetie Belle’s hoof and fell sound asleep, complete with a teeny, tiny snore. “It’s a colt dragon?” asked Sweetie Belle, looking up at Celestia with much the same adoring gaze as the dragon had for her. “How can you tell? I mean you didn’t lift up its tail or anything. And he’s got a lot of tail.” “He has just the right amount of tail for the kind of dragon he is,” chided Celestia gently while floating a book out of a nearby shelf. “When your friends told me about your dragon egg, I did a little research. Trixie’s dragon-friend stuck in the Ponyville library door is not the only source of books about dragons, after all. Since he seems to have bonded to you, have you given any thought to a name?” “Inferno,” prompted Firelock. “Rainbow,” said Scootaloo. “From those scales on her belly.” “Naa, Zap’s a better name for those colors,” said Apple Bloom. “Tutti-frutti,” suggested Twist. “Because thee thparkles pretty.” “Thragnor the Mighty!” said Featherweight. “Actually, I was thinking about calling him Bookwyrm, since I found him at a library,” said Sweetie Belle with a growing pout. “Will I be able to bring him with me when I go to your school, Princess Celestia.” “Bookwyrm,” said Trixie. “Really?” Ignoring her older student for the moment, Celestia lowered her head again and placed the book she was carrying in her magic into Trixie’s saddlebag. “You have at least a year, Sweetie Belle, and your magic has progressed so well with your teacher. Make that teachers,” she added with a gentle brush along Twilight’s cheek. “You all have been learning so much from each other that I would be foolish to separate you. And besides,” she added, looking at Sweetie’s plastic ‘Real Elements of Harmony’ necklace, which was a little discolored and warped from the heat, “you all are very special friends in Ponyville.” “Keeps the world from being destroyed,” said Twilight. “And makes awesome group photos,” added Featherweight. “Now, we even have a fire-breathing dragon of our own!” “Bookwyrm,” said Trixie a little more forcefully. “Isn’t that too punny?” “I wonder if he liketh pepperminth,” said Twist while digging in her saddlebag. “Thpike likes pepperminth.” After each of the little students had their turn petting the tiny sleeping dragon, there was a click at Celestia’s private library door, and Cheerilee called out. “Class! Is Trixie done giving you the tour of the—” Her voice cut out abruptly when the teacher came around the corner of the bookshelf and saw the gaping hole melted in the stone wall, as well as the quiet students gathered around what appeared to be a small stone that Sweetie Belle was holding. “Oh,” she added. Then after a period of time looking at the shimmers of heat around the enlarged window, it looked as if she wanted to add another word. “Now, children,” said Celestia while standing up. “Please go with your teacher up to the infirmary and tell Doctor Horsenpfeffer to give both of our new arrivals a full checkup while I talk with Trixie. Go on,” she added with an encouraging brush of the wings to both the small Ponyville students and the larger Frost, who was carrying the baby phoenix on the flat of her hoof. Philomena made herself comfortable in Frost’s blue-white mane, presiding over the whole parade much like a proud mother over her herd of odd fledgelings. The whole school group was barely out of the room before Celestia turned, not to Trixie as expected, but to look at the staircase in the back of the room which went up to the Royal Sisters’ bedroom chambers. “Luna,” chided Celestia gently, “shouldn’t you be in bed, sleeping?” The Princess of the Night proceeded down the rest of the staircase and walked over to where they were standing, giving Celestia’s cooling window well a dry look which tracked the long, liquid marks of molten sunstones that had spilled down the inside edge of the window and the open space scattered with drips of colorful glass where there had once been a window. And a sill. And part of a wall. She did not say anything. She did not have to. “Point taken,” admitted Celestia. “The outpouring of magic surprised me too.” “It doth indeed appear that young Twilight Sparkle hath moderated her power,” said Luna with a yawn, giving the expanded window one last look before turning her cool glance onto Trixie. “It is good that your teachings are falling upon fertile soil. She hath grown much under your tender care.” “Actually…” Trixie squirmed, because explaining to Celestia how things had melted or exploded was old hat to her, but explaining the same to her sister was inexplicably different. “Sweetie Belle melted the window and hatched both Philomena’s egg as well as a dragon’s egg she’s been carrying around for the last few weeks.” Luna cocked one eyebrow just a fraction higher. “Interesting. Explain.” The conversation was headed downhill, so Trixie naturally sped up. “Well, Fluttershy told me Sweetie found the egg by your old castle library where a pygmy tree dragon had made its nest before getting killed, so there’s no mother dragon and she had this wild idea that she needed to hatch a dragon’s egg in order to get into Celestia’s school so she stole it or I suppose kept it from being broken by some predator so it’s not really stealing and I thought she wanted to have Spike breathe on it to hatch it but she just kept carrying it around and Apple Bloom thought using both eggs together would split Sweetie’s magic between the dragon and phoenix types and hatch them both which it did and—” Trixie stopped to take a breath before she passed out. “I mean Bookwyrm? Really?” Celestia shook her head very slowly and exchanged a look with her sister. “I believe Luna was wondering how Sweetie Belle managed to use so much magic in her spell.” “Oh. That.” Trixie took another look at the cooling granite and the curious pegasus guards who were hovering at a cautious distance outside the tower, then shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe Twilight is rubbing off on her. They grow up so fast. One day they can barely make sparks with their horn, and next thing you know, they’re hatching dragons and giving them screwy names. I mean Bookwyrm, really? That poor dragon is going to have to grow up with that name hanging off him. The other male dragons will pick on him terribly.” “It sounds like a perfectly good name for a dragon,” countered Celestia. “So what do you plan on naming your child when you have one?” “I…” Trixie considered giving her teacher a derogatory hoof gesture. “I haven’t even slept with Green Grass yet!” Luna gave Trixie a short frown. “For shame. Thou art bonded now, so there is no reason not to release your restrained passions. Unless you need rings to go with your bonding,” she added. “Besides, he is a warm and considerate lover, talented in his caresses and well worth the awkward stumbling that the young go through before consummating—” “Luna,” chided Celestia. “Please go back to bed before you embarrass Trixie any more. She does not need to hear of your exploits with her husband.” “They are not exploits,” protested Luna even while Trixie was trying to figure out some way to melt into the ground. “Passing on the knowledge of our kind is a sacred trust, allowing clumsy and inexperienced stallions the wisdom to become better lovers to their blushing young brides. And sometimes we learn new things also,” she added with a contemplative look and a small smile. “Seriously, young Trixie, why have you not tapped that fine flank yet?” “Luna.” Celestia pointed at the guards outside the window, who had gotten close enough to all peek inside the gaping molten hole. All of them had guarded curious expressions, or at least until they saw the pointing hoof and scattered like terrified birds. ~ ~ ✶ ~ ~ “So if it is all right with all of you,” said Trixie, trying not to look at the rest of the adults in the group, all of whom had real jobs they were going to miss out on, “after the rest of Cheerilee’s class goes back to Ponyville, I think the rest of the Elements would like to stay overnight in the castle. That way they can have some time with Princess Luna after she’s gotten some rest—” “Sorry,” said Sweetie Belle, who did not look sorry at all about waking the Princess of the Night in the middle of the day, but rather still enraptured by the dull rock that was apparently sitting on top of her head, giving off a tiny snore. “Yes, we know.” Trixie blew out a breath that floated a strand of her mane out of her eyes. It was starting to come back in tufts and bits with her natural blue-white making a long stripe down her neck under the orange dye. Winter was coming, and with it, her thick blue coat would once again surface from under the wave of great and powerful orange. For some odd reason, she was going to miss the color of her present coat. Or in all odds, it would wind up getting dyed yet another astonishing color if things continued as they were. “Where was I?” “A sleepover,” said Rarity with a flat glance. “Really? After such a trying day, I was looking forward to taking Sweetie Belle to the spa. I mean she looks positively exhausted.” “The Royal Baths in the castle are better than any old spa,” said Spike. “They have a volcano!” “It’s only a little volcano in a cavern under the castle,” said Trixie. “It heats the water from the falls while the ice glacier at the other end chills it, so each one of the pools is at a different temperature, including the mud baths, the sulfur soaking—” “Dragons only,” said Spike with his chest puffed out. “—and the thingie that we use to dry off,” finished Trixie. “It doesn’t really have a name, just a place where the wind blowing down from the falls and up from the volcano mix, so you have to watch your mane when you use it to dry or it gets all twisted.” “That sounds—” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure you’re not doing this to get back at me for that time at my house when we weren’t kissing?” “Need the time,” said Twilight abruptly and without hesitation. “Friends need to be together. Be friends while we talk to Luna.” Her tail swished back and forth, an unconscious twitch that all of the older ponies followed with their eyes, including Trixie. Most of the hair had grown out on it by now, making it lilac purple and blue and pink with occasional glints of sparkles whenever the little alicorn was in a good mood. Her tail was very dark now. “You need a bath. All of you, particularly your little photographic rapscallion,” insisted Rarity. She reached up with her magic and pulled Featherweight back down to eye level before brushing some sticky leaves out of his ruffled mane. “If you six are to meet with Princess Luna, I would prefer that she does not need to hold her nose in your presence. It should not be too much trouble to get you scrubbed up first, and the rest of us can linger for some well-deserved relaxation.” “And I can teach Bookwyrm to swim in the volcano!” volunteered Spike. Rarity paused, then looked over at Trixie. “Darling, there’s no danger of that volcano erupting, is there?” ~ ~ ✶ ~ ~ Still slightly damp but clean and conditioned, six little ponies and one newborn dragonling made their reluctant way back to the guest suites where they were staying, escorted by one older pony who knew something was up. “Menace, can I talk with you for a moment?” The rest of the little ponies stampeded into the suite, determined to reverse Rarity’s determined brushing with some pillow fighting and friendly wrestling while waiting for Luna. Twilight Sparkle remained outside the door with Trixie, although there were two guards lurking nearby until Trixie jerked her head in the direction of the hallway and said, “Get lost for a couple. Mare talk.” The Royal Guards vanished faster than a leftover cider around Rainbow Dash. “Good lie,” said Twilight, although her tail was still giving occasional twitches. “Yeah, I’ve had practice.” Trixie took an extra moment to look both directions, then to check inside the door to make sure small ears were not listening. “Look, Menace. Something’s going on, and I know, you know something. So spill it.” A slow tremor swept through Twilight’s mane, although she took a deep breath afterward and looked up at Trixie. “Stuck. Discord.” “Yeah, I forgot about him.” Trixie scratched the back of one ear from where it was pressed against her new hat, done in shades of what she could not help but think of as blood-red. “A little creepy to think he’s been out there all the time I’ve been a student. I’ve probably had my rump on his stone face a hundred times while looking down at the forest. Then you go and tell me he can see out of that statue.” It was Trixie’s turn to shudder, and she tucked her tail tightly against her rear. “Sees. Hears. Knows.” Twilight heaved a sigh and rubbed up against Trixie’s cloak so hard she knocked her own yellow cloak off one wing and bumped her plastic Element of Magic to one side. “Will be friends eventually. Not now. Get out. Have to fight. Know how to fight. Think I know how to fight. Can’t talk about with friends. He’ll hear.” It made sense. Elemental god of chaos, trapped in stone. If he could actually see around him, there would be no way for Trixie to plan with her friends on how to fight… Wait. Trixie would have to fight him? And everything Trixie discussed with her friends, or strategy she discussed with Celestia, would have a mismatched draconequus peering around the corner, listening to every word. Then again, Twilight seemed confident in her ability to stomp Discord. All she needed was… A distraction. “Don’t worry,” said Trixie, clapping one hoof around the little alicorn’s back and making a gesture with the other forehoof. “Trixie can handle a single overstuffed, ugly, stupid draconequus with one hoof in a bucket. All I need is—” Trixie gestured, and produced a golden bit out of Twilight’s ear “—a bit of help from my friends. It’s the First Rule of Magic, after all, isn’t it?” Twilight Sparkle’s mouth opened, but after a moment, she closed it and nodded. There was even a tiny bit of a smile lurking in the corners of her cheeks, and that dark tail quit twitching. “So you go play games with your friends,” said Trixie, opening the suite door and giving the small alicorn a nudge, “and Trixie will go plan for Discord’s return with my friends. If he does pop out, we’ll have him back on his pedestal collecting pigeon droppings before he knows it. Goodnight!” Trixie put a smile on her face and a skip in her step as she trotted back down to the Royal Baths cavern, trying not to look like a nervous unicorn in way over her head. And ten minutes later when Rainbow Dash gave Trixie an unexpected boost into one of the Royal Bath’s deeper pools, a particularly cold one, she found herself literally in over her head. ~ ~ ✶ ~ ~ The Night failed to bring its usual peace to Luna as she stood with her sister and raised her beloved moon. Although Celestia was still bubbling with happiness from her busy day (and the baby phoenix chick), she stumbled and yawned enough not to argue when her little sister nudged her in the direction of bed for the evening. It left Luna with a short list of tasks for the evening, and it took little time for her to decorate the lower hallway with lavender blooms, check the Dreamscape for unwelcome nightmares, and level the table in their den with a folded piece of paper stuck under one leg. She delayed her last task remaining by contemplating the bubbled granite and dripping stone icicles of Philomena’s melted nest, which still provided a little warmth for the den in the chill of night. Sweetie’s actual expenditure of magic had not awoken Luna, but there had been an unexpected sharp twinge from the Elements of Magic locked in their secure vault several stories below that had driven a spike of fear into her pleasant dream of spending time with her new friends. Friendship had always been a weakness among her generation, from the start when they had taken over leadership from the Three Tribes, to Starswirl’s squabbling group of mighty heroes who had vanished without a trace, all the way to her own constant clashes with Celestia. Perhaps this was indeed a golden age of Harmony, where even the Elements would forgive her transgressions and welcome the touch of alicorns again. They had put her into the moon, but she had an urge to see them again, just to apologize. Celestia had trusted her with the code to open the vault, and Luna felt an irrational urge to test that trust by going to the vault, sliding her horn into the keyhole and uttering the infernal phrase that Celestia held to so tightly. “Trust in Harmony.” She turned from her musings and strode down the empty corridors of the castle, taking a relatively short time to reach the guest suites and the vigorous play of the little ponies within. Even Twilight Sparkle was caught unawares when Luna opened the door. The little alicorn was holding three pillows in her magic after just catching one and aiming a retaliatory strike at the lone hovering colt above her. “Luna!” she squeaked, opening her dark eyes wide enough that there was no way the Princess of the Night could admonish the little alicorn for the slightest of infractions. “Twilight Sparkle,” replied Luna with a nod. “Girls.” “Hey!” objected a giggling Featherweight right before a lunar-driven pillow knocked him out of the air and onto a nearby bed. Still giggling, he popped right back up and fired a pillow back at Luna. He did not have a chance. Several minutes later, Luna gathered the little fillies around herself and settled down on the rug. The sole colt in the group was buried under every pillow from the room, plus a number from nearby rooms, but he was successfully tunneling toward the conversation so she felt no great need to help unearth him. It took every possible effort to avoid grinning like a fool, because she had not felt this young in centuries, even before she was banished to— The thought of Nightmare Moon made it much easier to keep from grinning. “Good eve, girls. My sister says you had something to tell me privately. Does it relate to Discord, perhaps?” Twilight Sparkle nodded once, but her eyes never left Luna. Her friends were much more forthcoming. “We cleaned up his patch of grass out in the hedge maze,” said Scootaloo proudly. “It was all full of thorns and thistle, but Twilight wouldn’t let us clean all of them out.” “I got pictures with my new camera,” said Featherweight from under the last pillow. He pushed out several photos of the little ponies, chopping down vines, rooting up weeds, and crawling all over the statue of Discord with scrub brushes and soap. The photos really were not anything Luna was expecting. The nightmare of having to fight Discord bothered her at odd times, and she still could not drink chocolate milk without a sour taste in her mouth. “I think it’th cruel,” said Twist with her forelegs crossed. Twilight flinched as if she had been poked with a pin, but Apple Bloom patted her on the shoulders. “It ain’t all that bad. He’s up on that little hill so he can see all of the valley and Ponyville. If he can see like you said, that should give him lots of chaos to watch so he’s not bored.” “Do you want to pet Bookwyrm?” asked Sweetie Belle. The little dragon was somehow still managing to sleep on top of her head with that impossibly long tail wrapped multiple times around her horn, but he still just looked like a plain rock covered in a few loose feathers from a leaking pillow. He even felt like a rock to her hesitant hoof, although Bookwyrm was warm and giving off a tiny snore. “Discord,” said Twilight very quietly. “Need you to talk to him. Tonight. Now.” “Now?” Luna froze with her hoof mid-stroke. The tiny dragon objected to her abrupt lack of attention and opened one eye to hiss quietly. Twilight nodded, although her eyes were hooded, as if she were concealing something. “Very important.”