//------------------------------// // The Watery // Story: Cardcaptor Twilight // by Yukito //------------------------------// “And over here we have our Equestria famous dolphin tank,” the tour guide said as he led the group to said tank. Twilight and Pinkie excitedly watched a group of dolphins playing around as the tour guide talked about dolphins. The other four mares were visibly less amused, but still took interest in the information being fed to them, with the exception of Rainbow Dash, who was just pure bored out of her skull. “Wow! They’re amazing, aren’t they girls?” Twilight asked as she pressed her face against the tank. The rest of the group were amused at her enthusiasm. Earlier that week, they all decided to go somewhere together, since they all had the day off, and decided where to go using rock, paper, scissors. Twilight won, and chose to visit the Manehatten aquarium. “Twilight, the tour’s movin’ on,” Applejack said, snapping Twilight back to reality. Twilight turned to Applejack, and then back to the dolphin tank. “Why don’t you guys go on ahead? I kind of want to stay here for a little bit.” Applejack checked the nearby wall clock, and saw a small café nearby. “Hey, why don’t we sit down and get some ice-cream? Then we can move ahead together, and at our own pace.” Rainbow Dash’s head shot up at the sound of ice-cream. It had been a pretty boring day so far, and right now, anything could sound exciting to her. “Yeah! Let’s go!” she shouted, dashing off towards the café. The rest of the group, with the exception of Rarity and Twilight, followed Rainbow Dash. “Oh good. Trixie didn’t miss the dolphins being fed,” Trixie said, walking up to the tank next to Twilight. Twilight and Rarity both jumped at the sound of Trixie’s voice, and turned around to face the blue Unicorn. “Trixie!?” Twilight shouted, being shushed by nearby ponies shortly after. Trixie turned around to face Twilight, her eyes widening at the sight of the purple Unicorn. “Well well, Sparkle. So, you like the aquarium, too,” she said, trying to be civil, so as to not get thrown out. “Uh, yeah,” Twilight said nervously. “F-fancy meeting you here. Small world, huh?” “Certainly quite a coincidence,” Rarity said. “There is no such thing as coincidence,” Kero started, popping up from Twilight mane. Kero was about to finish, but Trixie finished for him. “There is only inevitability.” Kero looked at her with a surprised look, and she explained: “That’s what Yuko told Trixie when she visited her shop.” Kero’s face turned into a frown as he crossed his arms. “Man, she totally ripped off Clow’s phrase.” Trixie was about to ask what he meant, when she suddenly realised that the dolphin feeding was over. “Oh no!” she shouted, causing the ponies around to shush the group once more. “Great! Now Trixie’s missed the dolphins being fed!” “Why did you want to see them being fed so badly?” Rarity asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “Trixie is currently studying the habits of various sea animals,” Trixie explained, levitating a notepad and a quill from her saddlebag. “Great. Now Trixie will have to come back tomorrow…” “You know,” Twilight started. “If you want, I have a lot of books you could borrow.” “Really?” Trixie asked, her face suddenly lit up. She then caught herself, and returned her face back to its neutral expression, clearing her throat before continuing. “Well, Trixie might take you up on that offer.” “Speakin’ of dolphins,” Kero said. “Did ya know they shed their skins, like snakes?” “Really!?” Twilight and Trixie asked in unison, their eyes wide with surprise. “Yeah. It’s not very well known, because they only do it at 3000m below sea level.” Twilight put a hoof to her chin, whilst Trixie made sure to write this information down on her notepad. “Wow…I never knew that,” Twilight said. “None of my books ever told me that.” “Trixie had no idea either.” Rarity’s giggling caused them both to turn to her. “Oh, girls, that’s not really true,” she said. “He’s just pulling your legs.” Twilight and Trixie stared at Rarity for a second, and then averted their gazes to Kero, glaring at him together. “Man, you guys are easy to fool, huh?” “Hey, guys!” Kero ducked down into Twilight’s mane and Rainbow Dash approached the group. “You guys coming, or…Trixie!?” Rainbow lowered her head and entered an attacking stance, ready to charge forward into Trixie. “Oh, hello, you,” Trixie said, glaring it Rainbow Dash, who glared back at her with equal ferocity. Twilight saw the two of them ready to break out into a fight, and tried to calm them down. “Uh, Rainbow Dash, shall we go have that ice-cream now?” Rainbow turned her attention to Twilight, and then, after a deep breath, stood up straight. “Yeah, c’mon, let’s go,” she said, giving Trixie one last glare. Twilight and Rarity followed Rainbow Dash towards the café, and an idea passed through Twilight’s head. “Hey, Trixie, would you like to join us?” she asked, turning to face Trixie. “What?” Trixie and Rainbow Dash asked in unison. “You can’t be serious, Twi!” Rainbow said, walking up to Twilight. “Why would Trixie want to eat with you?” Trixie asked. “There, see!? She doesn’t want to eat with us!” Rainbow Dash and Trixie resumed glaring at each other, and for a moment, Twilight could swear she saw sparks between their eyes. Before anything bad could happen, a gentle voice could be heard from behind Twilight and her friends. “Um, girls?” Everypony turned to the source of the voice, and saw Fluttershy approaching the group. “W-what’s going on? Is everything ok?” Trixie’s eyes widened, and her heart skipped a beat. She felt her legs shaking beneath her, and sweat dripping down her forehead. “F-Fluttershy?” Fluttershy saw Trixie, and quickly walked over to the blue Unicorn. “Oh, Trixie. You’re ok. Oh, thank Celestia. When you suddenly left like that, I was so worried. But I’m so glad to see that you’re ok!” Trixie’s nerves did not settle down at this. Her face started to turn red and the yellow Pegasus moved closer to her, and her mind was in complete chaos. ‘S-she was worried about Trixie? And she’s glad to see Trixie's ok?’ Rarity noticed the nervousness running through Trixie, and quickly caught on. A sly grin crossed her face as she approached Fluttershy. “Come on now, Fluttershy. Let’s not keep Applejack and Pinkie Pie waiting.” “Oh, um, ok…” Fluttershy followed Rarity towards the café, along with Twilight and Rainbow Dash. “W-wait!” Trixie called out, causing the group to stop and face her. “Um, well, T-Trixie…Can spare some of her time…For ice-cream…” ‘Thought so,’ Rarity thought, holding back the laughter building up inside of her. “Oh, you’re joining us, Trixie?” Fluttershy asked, a gentle smile on her face. Trixie’s face became even redder at this, and she could do was simply nod, before following the group with a series of robotic movements. “Great!” Twilight shouted, clapping her forehooves together. “The more the merrier, right?” she asked, facing her three friends. Rainbow Dash simply turned away and walked towards the café, obviously annoyed. Rarity and Fluttershy both agreed with Twilight, and the four ponies followed Rainbow Dash towards the café. Trixie made sure to take her seat right next to Fluttershy. Applejack was confused by Trixie being here, but when Twilight said that she invited her, she didn’t complain. She figured that if Twilight trusted her, then she was ok. Rainbow Dash was noticeably less trusting of the blue showmare, sitting opposite her and glaring daggers the entire time. Trixie returned Rainbow Dash glares whenever she wasn’t shifting her eyes nervously between Fluttershy and her ice-cream. Rarity simply sat back and watched the situation unfold, while Twilight and Pinkie Pie tried to break the unpleasant mood between Trixie and Rainbow Dash. “So, Dripsy,” Rainbow Dash started. “Learned any magic recently? Y’know, besides the hacky stuff you already knew before?” “Actually,” Trixie said, fixing a glare on Rainbow Dash. “Trixie had learned a wide variety of powerful spells recently.” Her horn started to light up. “For example, this!” she shouted, her horn shooting a beam of light at Rainbow’s wing, causing her to yelp and jump out of her seat. “W-what was that!?” she shouted, landing on the ground and trying to check her wing. “Hey…It won’t extend!” “Of course not,” Trixie said, grinning at the blue Pegasus. “Trixie disabled the nerves inside your wing. You won’t be flying for the next two hours.” Rainbow Dash resumed glaring at Trixie, who just smiled back smugly. “Trixie, that wasn’t very nice,” Fluttershy said, causing Trixie to turn her head to the yellow Pegasus. She had a stern look on her face, which caused Trixie’s entire body to shiver in a similar way to before. “You should apologize.” Rainbow stuck her tongue out at Trixie, but pulled it back when Fluttershy turned to face her. “And you, Rainbow Dash. You shouldn’t call other ponies names. It’s very rude.” Rainbow Dash tried to protest. “But…She…” “Indeed,” Rarity said, levitating her cup of tea and taking a sip. “After all, you don’t like it when somepony calls you Rainbow Crash, right?” Rainbow turned her head towards Rarity, and then to Fluttershy, and finally to Trixie. She grunted loudly, and then turned to walk away. “I’m going to the restroom!” she shouted, walking away from the group. Before anypony could call out to her, a loud crashing noise was heard from deeper within the aquarium, along with the sounds of many screaming and running ponies. “Everypony run!” “H-heeeelp!” “Quick! Call an ambulance!” The aquarium’s PA system alerted everypony that some of the animal tanks had broken, and the aquarium was being flooded. Everypony in the aquarium was asked to leave so that they could close it down to investigate the matter. Twilight and Trixie were upset at this, but had no choice but to comply. “Hey, is it true that somepony died in there!?” a random passerby asked their friend. “No, just injured,” their friend answered. “But isn’t it strange? It was like the water was moving on its own!” “Really? I wasn’t paying much attention.” Twilight and Rarity were walking side-by-side, behind the rest of their friends. Rarity leaned over to whisper into Twilight’s ear: “Hey, do you think it’s a Clow Card?” Twilight shrugged her shoulders, not entirely sure. “It is,” Trixie answered, walking just behind the two, holding her compass, which was glowing. “It’s somewhere in this aquarium.” “Then, shouldn’t we go and capture it?” Rarity asked, turning back to face Trixie. “Not yet,” Twilight said. “There are too many ponies around. We’ll have to come back tonight.” Later that day, Twilight and Rarity took a late train from Ponyville back to Manehatten, and hung around some of the shops until nightfall. When it was dark outside, the two mares, along with Kero, made their way to the aquarium. At the back entrance, they ran into Trixie. At this point, they were accustomed to running into the showmare, and were in fact expecting it. All three mares were dressed in black skin suits, which acted to both hide them in the dark, and also hide their identities in the event that any security cameras caught them. “Sparkle,” Trixie greeted casually, tipping her hat. “Rarity.” “Trixie,” the two mares greeted back. Twilight made her way to the door and placed her staff down, using her magic to try and unlock it without setting off the alarm. She had read a few books on the subject, and so she had a good idea on how it worked, but the consequences of failure would be severe, so she took extra caution. “And the plush toy’s here, too,” Trixie observed, turning to Kero, who was sitting on Rarity’s head. “Little kids should be at home in bed,” Kero responded, turning his head away from Trixie. “Oh? You dare to call somepony little?” “For your information, my true form is much bigger, and much, MUCH cooler than this!” “Trixie doubts it.” “Why you-” “Guys,” Twilight said, breaking up the argument. “We have a problem. The lock has an anti-magic element to it.” Trixie laughed and pushed Twilight aside. “Once again, it’s up to the Great and Powerful to save the day.” Trixie walked up to the security door, not noticing Kero pulling faces at her, and then examined the door with an analytical spell. Once she was sure no improvements had been made to the lock, she opened up the panel by the door, and pressed a few buttons. A satisfying click was heard, and the door opened. “Nothing to it,” she said smugly, her nose pointing up. “You were…A little too good at that,” Rarity said, raising an eyebrow. “Of course. Such a simple lock is foal’s play for Trixie. Quite literally.” “What’s that mean?” Twilight asked. “It means that Trixie had this lock beat when she was just a foal,” Trixie said, pride beaming on her face as she entered. “What!?” Twilight shouted. Trixie turned back to shush, and Twilight placed her hooves to her mouth, before following Trixie inside, Rarity not too far behind. “Um, you mean, you’ve broken in here before?” “Yes,” Trixie said. “When Trixie was young, she was too poor to afford the entrance fee, so she had to sneak in through the back door.” “Were you ever caught?” Rarity asked, a nervous look on her face. “No, but back then, Trixie snuck in during the day, and blended in with the tour groups. Any security personnel wouldn’t have given Trixie a second look.” The three ponies stopped as they reached a four way intersection, and Trixie checked around the corners. “So, which way?” Twilight asked Kero, who was meditating on top of Rarity’s head. “Hmmm…I think…Yes, it’s defiantly to the right,” Kero said, opening his eyes and pointing down the right-hoof corridor. “Perfect,” Trixie said sarcastically. “That’s where security’s the tightest. We’ll have a hard time sneaking past them.” ““We”?” Rarity asked, a smirk forming on her face. Trixie’s face turn slightly red, and she quickly corrected herself. “I-Trixie means “Trixie will have a hard time”,” she said, trying to keep her voice as low as possible, despite her flustering. “Obviously, Trixie doesn’t care if you get caught. In fact, it would just make things easier for her.” “Oh, really?” Trixie turned to face Rarity, who was grinning at the blue mare. “If we get caught, what’s to stop us from telling them about you?” Trixie glared at Rarity, who just simple grinned back at Trixie. “Also, if we get arrested, that would cause so much trouble for Fluttershy.” Trixie’s eyes widened, and she almost let out a loud “WHAT!?”, but managed to hold it in, by pinning her hooves to her mouth. “W-what do you mean?” Trixie asked. “Well, the poor dear likes to worry so much, and if we got arrested, she probably wouldn’t be able to sleep for days.” Trixie’s face suddenly took on a concerned look as she ran the scenario through her head. She could see images of Fluttershy searching around her small cottage for any bits that she could find, trying to raise the money for the two mares’ bail fees, all the while losing weight from not eating properly. “Um, Trixie?” Twilight asked, waving a hoof in front of Trixie, who was simply staring straight ahead of her. “Hello? Equestria to Trixie.” This seemed to wake Trixie up, and Trixie cleared her throat as she pushed the images aside. “Um, are you ok?” “Never better,” Trixie lied, peeking around the corners again. “…Stay close. Trixie has an idea.” Rarity let out a quiet giggle, whilst Kero simply leaned against his paw in annoyance. ‘She’s so easy,’ Rarity thought. ‘She’s so stupid,’ Kero thought. Trixie pulled out a Clow Card from her bag, and whispered: “Create an image of a fleeing thief. Illusion.” After tapping her staff against it, the Clow Card began to light up, and soon enough, a shadow figure began to take shape in front of them. “Hey! Who’s there!?” one of the security ponies shouted. The image ran off down one of the corridors, and was soon chased by many security ponies. There were two security ponies left guarding the right-hoof corridor, something which Twilight was prepared to handle. “Shadow,” she whispered, tapping her staff against the Shadow card. “Ok, let’s go!” she shouted, running ahead of the group and down the corridor. “Ah, wait!” Trixie shouted, chasing after Twilight. Rarity followed Trixie, and the three mares were quickly spotted by the two security ponies in front of them. To Trixie’s surprise, Twilight was able to just simply run past them. “Oh, Trixie sees what she did…” Trixie observed the shadows of the two security ponies, and noticed that they were tied down by the Shadow. Trixie passed the two frightened guards, quickly followed by Rarity, who actually stopped for a moment to apologize to them. “Um, Twilight darling,” Rarity shouted to the pony at the front of the group. “Won’t they just, you know, call for back up?” Twilight slowed down for a second, but then sped back up to her previous speed. “I…Hadn’t thought of that.” “Well, it’s too late now!” Kero shouted, jumping off of Rarity’s head and flying up to Twilight. “Watery’s close by!” “Watery?” Twilight asked. “Yeah. It’s one of the four elemental cards in Clow Reed’s deck,” he explained. “There are six main cards, and of those, four are known as the elemental cards: the Windy, the Watery, the Fiery, and the Earthy. The other main cards are the Light and the Dark.” “So what makes those cards so special?” Trixie asked as she managed to catch up to Twilight. “Well, every other card is aligned under one of these six main cards. In other words, if it were like a business, these cards would be the board of directors.” Kero motioned for Twilight to take a left turn at the next fork, and continued his explanation. “Basically, these cards are the most powerful, and they can’t be capture by cards aligned under them.” “So which cards would that be in this case?” Twilight asked. Kero thought for a moment, trying to recall which cards they had which were aligned under Watery. “Out of what we have, Rain and Wood can’t be used,” he said, before turning to Twilight. “Additionally, you can’t hold down Watery with Windy, sine Watery’s main body is a liquid, meaning it’d just split apart if you tried.” The group finally reached the room where Kero could sense Watery. It was a backstage room, with a few water tanks, where sick animals were cared for. They approached the tanks cautiously. “Watery has ta be here somewhere…Keep you guard up.” Rarity heard a noise behind her, and turned to see that one of the tanks had a crack in it. “What the?” She stumbled back a bit when the crack grew, and let out a loud scream when the water burst out of the tank, beginning to flood the room. “Everypony! Get to high ground!” Kero shouted, floating up to a catwalk above them. “Fly!” Trixie shouted as she activated her Fly card, using it to ascend to the same catwalk. “Jump!” Twilight shouted, and then, after grabbing a hold of Rarity, jumped to the rest of the group. Below them, the four could see more tanks leaking and bursting, and the water level quickly rising. “We should be safe up here,” Kero said, looking around. “Where’s Watery?” Everyone else also scanned the room, and eventually, Rarity caught sight of a blue mermaid-like creature, which seemed to be made of water. “There!” she shouted, turning the group’s attention to it. Watery held its hands together, drawing water into them in a swirling pattern, ready to fire it at the seemingly defenceless group. “What do we do!?” Twilight asked, turning to Kero. “I dunno…If we had Freeze…No, that’s under Watery, too…Agh!” “Freeze?” Trixie asked. An idea hit Trixie, and she searched through her bag. “Of course!” she shouted, throwing a Clow Card up into the air and striking her staff against it. “Time!” Watery was about to unleash its attack, when suddenly, it froze in place, along with the water rushing towards it from below. “Return to the guise you were meant to be in, Clow Card!” Trixie shouted as she swung her staff down onto Watery, sealing it away in card form. The card floated towards Trixie, who smiled triumphantly. “No way!” Kero shouted, completely shocked that Trixie actually managed to capture one of the main cards. “Hmph, a simple feat for the Great and Powerful Tri-” Trixie’s gloating was cut off by the sounds of incoming security ponies. “Uh, perhaps we should get out of here…” Twilight nodded in agreement, and the group looked around for another way out, since the room was too flooded to exit the way they came in. “There!” Rarity shouted, pointing a hoof at the ceiling, where there was an opening in the glass dome. “I don’t think I can jump that high,” Twilight said. Trixie let out a sigh, and then brought out her Fly card. “No choice, then. Trixie will have to take you one at a time,” she said, tapping her staff against the card. “Fly.” Once the group was safely out of the aquarium, and had covered some distance, they took a moment to catch their breaths. Except for Kero, who was bragging about how Guardian Beasts don’t get worn out. Twilight then pointed out that he got worn out during morning exercises. Trixie was about to leave the group, when Twilight called out to her. “Hey, Trixie. Tomorrow, Ponyville’s going to have a party to celebrate the return of everything that went missing because of Erase.” “Is that so?” Trixie asked, clearly not interested. “And?” “Well, I mean, since it was thanks to you that I was able to seal it away, I was thinking…Maybe you’d like to join us?” Trixie raised an eyebrow at the purple Unicorn, and then shook her head. “Trixie will have to decline. She has no intention of mingling with such low-class ponies at their low-class party.” Twilight looked disappointed. A problem that Rarity decided to fix. “Are you sure, darling?” she asked, gaining Trixie’s attention. “Everypony will be there, and I’m sure that Fluttershy would be just delighted to see you there.” Trixie’s eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed red. She took a moment to clear her throat, and then turned around. “W-well…Maybe Trixie…Can make an appearance…” Rarity smiled at Trixie’s acceptance of their invitation. “Splendid. We’ll be expecting you, then.” Trixie nodded, and then silently walked off towards her trailer. Twilight stared at Trixie with a confused look, and then directed said look towards Rarity. “Am I missing something?” she asked. Rarity rolled her eyes, and then leaned over to whisper into Twilight’s ear. Twilight’s eyes widened as she turned back to where Trixie was just moments ago. “S-seriously!? Trixie and…Fluttershy?” The Everfree forest was as dark and quiet as usual, even during the day. Reldo, a dragon who took up residence within the depths of the forest, was out searching for his next meal, when suddenly, he felt a chill down his scales. He entered a forest clearing, and his eyes widened at the sight of the air being ripped apart, a black void replacing what used to be there. From within the void, a creature that Reldo hadn’t seen in many thousands of years stepped out: a human. A short, male human, with short brown hair, wearing black clothes with a strange red emblem. The rip behind him closed up, and the dragon licked its lips before approaching the strange creature. “Well well, it’s been a while since I’ve tasted a human,” the dragon said, grinning at the young boy. The boy didn’t respond; he simply stood there, staring at the dragon with his one brown eye and one blue eye. “I think I’ll fatten you up a bit, and then save you for a special occasion. Although the thought of enjoying you now is appealing, too.” The dragon raised its claw, ready to swing it towards the boy. However, before he could, he felt a sharp pain spreading throughout his body. He looked down, and saw a trail of fire across his stomach. He then turned back to the boy, and saw him holding out a katana that he didn’t notice before, fire blazing around its blade. The dragon spat up some blood, before collapsing to the ground, blood starting to pour from the wound across its stomach. The boy ignored the dying dragon’s weak pleas for help, and simply moved on through the forest. “The feather…”