//------------------------------//
// Chapter VIII - The Frozen North 
// Story: Ballad of the Dawn 
// by Takarashi282 
//------------------------------//

"We're almost there!" Discord yelled over the howling wind. "Come on!"
Trixie huddled into her jacket, her knees shaking with every step in deep snow. She could barely see in front of her through the blizzard, and even Discord disappeared behind its thick sheets. The world spun around her again, and she stumbled. "Discord..."
The draconequus trudged forward, his breath heavy. "Almost!"
The magician's sight turned fuzzy, and she found herself in a dreamlike haze. Whatever feeling was left in her legs was gone. Her breath seemed to resonate inside her own head until it gradually went silent. Her vision tunneled in, the last thing she saw being the white snow below her.





Trixie woke, the wooden ceiling greeting her. She sat up, realizing she was in a log cabin. The room was spacious enough, with multiple beds lining the walls, with a single aisle down the middle. The sheets on the beds where all white and clean, the color standing out from the wooden background. A few torches lined the ceiling on chandeliers, clear cups protecting the feeble flame.
"What the..." she mumbled, looking about. She was alone, none of the beds occupied. She shifted, and a spell of dizziness hit her, making her fall back onto the bed. She groaned groggily when the door to her left closed.
"Oh, thank goodness!" a voice boomed to her left. Trixie's eyes shot to the source: a yak. He had bushy yellow fur, his eyes hidden behind tufts of fur. Broad and colorful horns stretched from each side of his head. "How are you feeling?"
The magician tried to blink the artifacts from her eyes. "Not very well." She brought her blanket closer to her chin, casting her eyes about. "Where's Discord?"
The yak raised an eyebrow, one of his eyes becoming vaguely visible. He crossed his front legs. “He's staying in one of our other guest buildings."
Trixie sighed for relief. She didn't want to see Discord, not right now.
"He carried you here, you know."
She shot a look at the yak. "Huh?"
"It's true." He walked forward, his hooves landing hollowly on the wooden floor. "He came to this trading outpost, with you in his arms. He looked deathly concerned about you." He cast his eyes to the floor. "You were frozen like ice, hypothermic. Any longer out there and you would've died."
The show-pony's eyes fell. "Oh..." She felt a pang of guilt against her chest. All of this time, she was being mean to Discord, and she had felt justified. However, he never gave up on her. He had every right to leave her out in the cold, but he still brought her to safety. Her annoyance at him immediately dissipated, and she knew what she had to do. "Could you bring him here, please?"
The yak nodded. "Definitely." He walked to the door, opening it before hesitating. "Do you need anything? Like water or...?"
She gulped, her throat dry. "Water would be great, thank you."
He nodded again. "Okay. See you in a moment." He closed the door behind him.
Trixie stared at the ceiling, overcome with thought. Discord could be intolerable at some points. He could be selfish, annoying, and too prideful. However, she knew in the back of her mind one single truth: they had more in common than she had originally thought. And that bothered her. He was those things, but worse. It was like she was looking at her old self again, an ugly image she wanted to desperately avoid.
You shouldn't hate just because you were off to a rocky start, Twilight had once said. That's what a I've learned while being around you. Trixie sighed. Was that what she was doing? Was she really angry at Discord, or angry at herself for being relatively unsuccessful?
That was when Discord walked into the room. He shivered off the cold. "Well, well, guess who's awake?" he said, smiling.
"Took a little bit," the show-pony mumbled halfheartedly. "But, Trixie is okay." Her eyes fell to the floor, tensing her legs. "Discord, I'm really sorry."
The draconequus cocked his head. "What for?"
Trixie let out a deep breath. "I didn't even give you a chance when we first set out. I was honestly annoyed.” She wrapped the sheets around her hoof, her heart pounding in her chest. “I didn't want to befriend you because, well, you remind me of me way back when, and I'm trying to get better. Just seeing that displayed right in front of me angered me..."
Discord nodded slowly. "Yeah, I’ve been trying to get rid of that part of me, too. I’m sorry I set you off like that.” He glanced up at Trixie. “So what you're saying is that you'll give me a second chance?"
The magician nodded back. "Yeah... that's what I'm saying. And also, thank you for carrying me here."
The draconequus smiled. "Hey, what are friends for?"





The rest of the day was spent to help Trixie recover. By the afternoon she was able to move around confidently on her own, and by the evening, she was spry and energetic, not feeling the least bit tired.
Due to the newfound restlessness in her legs, she put on her coat and headed outside. The sun was low on the horizon, the wintry breeze blowing at her face. She took a sigh of relief when she saw the clear skies.
The trading outpost was small, only three buildings big. One was the lodge, which she spent most of her time recovering in, the other, the dining hall, and the last was a storage area to keep trading materials safe from the harsh weather. They all aligned in an L-shape pattern, the long edge facing east. In the middle was a fire pit that was dug out recently by Boggs, the yak, to cook on. His food was unfortunately bland, but edible nonetheless.
From what Trixie could gather, Boggs was a nice yak, but still quite the enigma. Nothing about family, nothing about where he came from; he was just a solitary trader. His recent load was due to the Crystal Empire in the next two days. When she asked about helping him, he notified her that it was a small load, that it wouldn't take much to carry across the rest of the way.
After she got some fresh air, she retired to the lodge, even though exhaustion had yet to wash over her. She had gotten a bite to eat from the dining area before, so when the trader offered her some more of his soup, she kindly declined. Discord took a bowl gracefully, eating at the side of his bed.
"That was a little rude," the draconequus said, putting a spoonful of soup in his mouth. He slurped up a stray noodle. "I can tell the guy worked pretty hard."
The show-pony shrugged. "Soup just isn't my thing." She brought the covers up to her chin in a vain attempt to trick her body into tiredness. "But you seem to like it, Discord."
"Heavens, no," he said lowly, as if Boggs could hear him. "The noodles are stale, the broth is chunky..." He sighed. "But, it's better than nothing." His eyebrows knit together, seeming to look through the bowl.
The unicorn cocked her head to the side. “What’s wrong?”
Discord’s eyes widened, snapping out of his daze. He shook his head slightly. “Nothing!” he blurted, putting the bowl to the side. “Just… did you feel anything odd around Boggs?”
She frowned. “No. Why do you ask?”
The draconequus copied the expression. “I don’t know.” He sighed. “Must just be my imagination.”
Confusion stirred in her mind, but she shrugged it off. Silence flooded into the room afterward, amplifying her thoughts to eleven. Here Discord was, travelling through the cold of the Frozen North, eating cruddy food, but why? He wouldn’t have put up with these types of things normally. Unless... "You would go to the ends of the Earth for her, would you?"
Discord looked up from his clasped claws. "For whom?" he said.
She smiled smugly. "Fluttershy. Like last time, you didn't really care for anypony else that was in danger, but as soon as you heard that she was, you practically led the pack."
The draconequus face flushed a bright red. "Well, I..." His voice trailed off to a fry.
Trixie smirked devilishly. "Ah, I see… you did the thing with her!"
One of Discord’s eyebrows soared upward. "What thing?"
"You know... the thing?" She thrust her pelvis off her mattress, and the color in Discord’s cheeks somehow got redder. "With you two spending that much time together, you gotta figure!"
"W-wh-why do you say such things?" Discord yelped, hiding his face behind his paw.
"Just an observation," the show-pony defended with a sigh. "If you're too shy to share, you must know that I have had sex with a couple stallions, myself.” She giggled. "One time I called it 'Making Their Wands Disappear,' and that just drove him cra—"
"Enough!" the draconequus exclaimed, waving both claws frantically. "Too much information!" The silence came back with a vengeance, filling the room with a sheet of awkwardness.
Trixie gave a dramatic sigh, plopping down once again to her bed. She couldn’t deny somewhat of a curiosity of his sex life, but mostly she was just teasing; anyone who was anyone knew that they were getting it on. It was just worth it to see him squirm and scramble a little. 
Discord grunted through the thick silence. "I... I may have done it... once..." he mumbled through his claws.
"Now we're talking!" The show-pony hopped to the side of her bed, her hooves clopping on the hardwood floor. "How did it happen?"
"Nuh-uh-uh," he said, gaining some of his sass back. "That's all I'm telling you! You only asked me if I had sex with her, not the fine details."
"I'm not talking about during, Discord," the magician clarified, although she was curious how it would work. "I mean, how did you get there? Like, were you out helping her picking flowers? Spring cleaning...?"
The draconequus huffed. “I-it happened one night. We were in the kitchen making brownies.”
"Uh-huh."
"... I was mixing batter. Some of it managed to fall… d-down there” 
“Uh-huh…?" Trixie smiled slyly. She knew where this was going. 
"Well, Fluttershy noticed, and she blushed. She looked at it, and back at me. She asked if I needed help with it. And… 
A pause. "Don't stop there, what happened?"
"Well... I was a stuttering mess. Her eyes were lidded, and she was really close… and she… well, ate it off of me.”
Trixie found herself smiling, heat rising to her cheeks. ”Did she get any cream with that batter?” 
"No!” he blurted. “It just felt really good, it continued for a little bit, and well…” It took her a moment to realize how stiff Discord was. His hands were shoved between his clamped legs, his tail pinched between his feet. 
Sensing that she was probing a bit too far, she relented, “... You did the thing.”
“We did the thing.” The unicorn could see his jaw tense. “D-do you ponies commonly talk about these things?” 
“Not to strangers, no,” Trixie replied. “But Starlight and I would talk about our sexual experiences every now and again.”
“Celestia, is nothing sacred between you two?” 
Trixie inhaled to reply, but hesitated. “Not really, no.”
The draconequus grumbled. “Anyways, since I embarrassed myself talking about… that, it’s your turn to embarrass the crap out of yourself! You also tell me about your first time.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Wait, Discord? The embodiment of chaos hasn’t had sex before?”
“Oh, shush,” Discord retorted, his body releasing from its prior tension. “I was a bit too busy making things a little more homely for myself up until now. After all, the embodiment of chaos isn’t the embodiment of erotics.” 
“I guess not,” Trixie replied, but she wasn’t sure if she believed that. After all, sex was more of an eventuality than a probability… right? “Anyways, you wanted to know about my first time?”
“Yes.”
She smirked. “You’re actually committed, huh?” She let out a chortle. “Well, his name was Sergeant Neighbelline.”
The draconequus spat out a fit of laughter. "W-who names their child Neighbelline?"
"Be nice!" The magician wished she'd sounded more stern, but she couldn’t keep back her laughter either. "Anyways, so what he lacked in a masculine name, he made up in his humor and appearance. Nice pecs, toned legs, a neatly kept mane… he was a feast to the eyes. We had a couple drinks, we got protection and..."
… The conversation went farther down the gutter. Even though she went into excruciating detail, Discord stayed engaged, much to her surprise. Comments were split between laughter at what the Sergeant said, and Discord taking note of what he could possibly do if Fluttershy were ever up to it again. 
But throughout the duration, there was a different type of feeling here than there was talking to Starlight about all of this. It was probably the fact that Starlight was still a virgin, but she still talked about the naughty stuff. In fact, she got much dirtier than Discord ever did.
Even then, Trixie couldn't put a hoof on what exactly made this so much different. Perhaps the interaction between different sexes was the key here. After all, Discord was a much different pony than Starlight in more ways than one, and seeing the male insight was kind of interesting to her; it was a perspective that she previously didn’t know. Nonetheless, whatever tension between the two dissipated, and by the end of it, she’d all but forgotten what things she didn’t like about Discord. Instead, she learned that he was a bit of a sweetheart—nevermind the hint of narcissism—kind, and clever. Not to mention that they both had a penchant for juvenile humor.
It was at the end of it that the magician wiped the tears from her eyes, her tummy aching from laughing too hard, that she finally felt a little tired.
Discord floated slightly above his mattress, picking at his claws. His eyebrows knit in thought. "I really hope Fluttershy's okay," he said sincerely.
Trixie stared at the ceiling, and for a split second, she felt something that she only ever felt with two people: her late mother and Starlight. It wasn’t something that she could put an accurate label on, but it was endearing, adoring, and precious. 
She felt a small smile appear on her face. "She will be."
He looked over at her, his claws clasped on his stomach. "How do you know for sure?" he asked, his tone filled with longing.
She shrugged. "I just... know. There's something about her, that I know she won’t go silently into that good night. She will be fine." She glanced at the draconequus. "But we can’t afford to keep thinking about the worst case scenario with her, even if the rumors say it has happened. Same goes with any of our friends.”
Discord unfolded his hands, opening his palms upward. "How should I think, then?"
The show-pony closed her eyes. "Well, I just imagine Starlight's smiling face when I return home. She's out of the hospital, and the castle is rebuilt. She reads up on actual magic when I work on my next trick. Spike and Twilight check in on us every once in a while, the daily mail comes in..." She opened them once more. "I just try to imagine that, after this, everything's back to normal. That everyone I care about is safe. That’s what keeps me going."
The draconequus grunted in acknowledgement, staring up at the ceiling. "If one thing’s for sure, you're much more optimistic than I am." He inhaled sharply through the nose, pulling the sheets over his shoulder. "Goodnight."
The magician did the same. "Goodnight," she echoed.
Even though she was tired, no matter how much sleep called, she couldn't answer. She found it hard to believe that Discord thought her to be an optimist. Although she did those things, it was hard. Every other time she pictured that scene she'd described, she'd remember the hospital room, Starlight unconscious, and the unsurety about her ever waking up. She'd remember Ponyville in ruin, the countless ponies injured and the many lives lost.
She clamped her eyes shut, fending off the sting of tears. It’ll be fine, she thought, it’ll be fine…
And thus came the silent resolve, that she would see this through. She would do everything in her power to prevent a horrid future. 





The door crashed open against the wooden wall, startling both Trixie and Discord awake. Boggs stood at the door, projecting his voice, "Good morning! We set off to the Crystal Empire!" As simple as that, he was back out again, slamming the door shut, the sound of falling icicles following shortly afterward.
The draconequus rubbed his head, flipping his legs over the edge of the bed. "Did he make this sort of entrance yesterday morning?"
The magician pulled the sheets up to her chin, relishing their warmth. "No. Must be because we're behind on schedule."
He stretched, contorting his body in ways that she couldn't possibly have imagined. He finally straightened out, offering his claw. "Here," he said. "Up and at 'em."
She accepted, and he started pulling... and pulling, and pulling. Her hoof kept stretching like putty, starting to fall all over the floor. He had a mock-serious look on his face. "Look, I'm trying, I’m trying!" he snickered, but when he noticed her pout, he let go, and her hoof sucked back to its original size like a slinky.
Trixie helped herself onto her hooves, yawning. "So, same thing as Canterlot?" she asked. She shook, her fur regaining its normal puffiness.
The draconequus grunted. "Unfortunately. Until we hit big, we have to keep trying."
The magician nodded back, remembering what Celestia had said. If you were actively being hunted down, where would you go? It was true that the Crystal Empire was the closest option, but it was too easy. She would've figured that they would have to go to the Eastern Continents before they saw anything.
They gathered up their saddlebags and coats and went outside, where Boggs was waiting for them. He had a carriage covered with a sheet, all for corners strapped down to the sides. "You guys ready to go?" he asked, but not as jovially as he was before.
Shrugging it off, the show-pony nodded. "Ready whenever you are."
Boggs nodded back. "Okay. Let's go!"
They set off into the cold, the sky thankfully clear, but the winds blowing harder than they were during the blizzard. They pushed against the wind for hours at a time, until suddenly the wind came to a whispering halt. They walked in silence for a stretch of time, a strange feeling prodding at Trixie. She pulled Discord back.
"What is it?" he asked.
The magician put a hoof over her lips. "Don't you think it's a little odd? That Boggs hasn't told us where he's from, or why he's a lone trader? I thought yaks traveled in herds."
The draconequus nodded. "They typically do." He knit his eyebrows. "But he said himself it was a small load. Would it make sense to deploy more yaks to cover such a small thing?"
Trixie glanced at the carriage, the tarp covering most of the load. It was definitely flat, but some irregularities in the surface denoted that there were a few more things in there. She nodded slowly. "I guess not, but what if he is attacked? Yaks are strong sure, but it doesn’t take much for one to be overwhelmed."
Discord grunted. "It is odd, I'll tell you that."
Only a couple hours passed before the Crystal Empire peaked over the horizon. The spire of the Castle was the first to appear, the mountain range obscuring the rest of the city. The snow thinned to only a couple inches, the area noticeably warmer. They went through the mountain pass about an hour later, and it took another two to finally make it to the city.
The magician caught her breath in her chest. The Crystal Empire was gigantic; four Ponyvilles could easily fit into its grand radius. The castle towered over crystal houses of a pink and bluish-green color. Twelve main roads passed through a star-shaped center road intersecting all of them.
"Never been to the Crystal Empire before?" Boggs asked, already a few steps ahead of them.
She shook her head. "It's magnificent!"
Discord stopped next to her for a second. "Well, the Empire isn't going to move toward us!" He gestured to the grand city. "Shall we?"
They walked to the city, over and around rolling hills. The city grew around them, and Trixie couldn't help but gawk at the scenery. It was exotic, the way that the sun refracted off the crystalline surfaces causing a rainbow of color to erupt inside the crystal.
"I'm afraid this is where we part ways," Boggs said, nodding to them. "Goodbye." He walked off.
"Wait, Boggs!" The magician called after the yak, but he didn't stop. He disappeared into the crowd.
"Trixie..." Discord bent over, picking up something. "Look…”
She turned around only to see a black box between his talons. “Discord!”
The black box glowed, its sides cracking as light escaped. He yelped, snapping his fingers as the box exploded outward, light flashing in front of them. Trixie flinched, but the explosion was contained in an orb of fire, the air around it starting to shimmer. A vein bulged from Discord's temple as he sent the orb upward before the blast was finally released. The shockwave hit them, bursting windows open, and making their ears pop. Shrapnel from the blast fell down like ash.
"Where's Boggs?" The draconequus asked, his voice barely audible past the ringing in Trixie’s ears and the muted cries in the crowd around them.
The magician gestured to the street running perpendicular to them. "He went over there. Come on!" She galloped over the broken glass in the streets, her head pounding with each hoof fall. She turned to the left sharply, crowds stopped in the middle of the road in shock. She weaved through the crowds, casting her eyes about. One would think a yak would stand out from all of these ponies, she thought.
That was when she found him. The yak had undone his yolk, and was walking speedily away. She pushed her breath out of her lungs, the air tasting like copper, and she pumped her legs faster. The yak looked backward, eyes widening as she gained on him. He galloped away, but he was much slower. Trixie imagined a lasso pulling on his hind legs, but her concentration suddenly broke, sending her mind in spirals. She blinked. No!
Her vision tunneled, all her body turning numb as she closed in on Boggs once more. She jumped to tackle him. Time seemed to slow as his tail slid between her hooves, flicking upward. For a brief second, the air around him shimmered and she flew backward, her back hitting the pavement, knocking the air out of her. She rolled like a barrel on the street before eventually sliding to a stop. She blinked, glancing back to where he was, but Boggs was nowhere to be seen.
"Horsefeathers..." she breathed, her lungs paralyzed, her chest numbing. The tunnel in her vision slowly cleared as Discord appeared right in front of her.
"Trixie!" the draconequus exclaimed, kneeling next to her. "Are you all right?" He offered a claw to her.
She waved a hoof. "Just... need to... catch my breath..." She lay back on the ground, forcing herself to breathe. She hadn’t had the air knocked out of her like this before. It was like an elephant sat on her chest. "He isn't what... we think he is..."
He cocked his head. "Well, yes, he turned out to be a bomber."
"Not what I mean..." She propped herself up on an elbow, her lungs finally returning to normal. She watched as the ponies passed by her, looking confused and concerned. She broke their gazes. "W-we need to head up to the castle," she finally said. "I would imagine that Pri... Princess Cadence would want to know... what happened here. Let's not have them find... us first."
Discord nodded. "Can you stand now?" He offered his claw one more time.
She exhaled. "No tricks this time," she breathed, accepting his help. She pulled herself onto her hooves. "All right, let's go."
He floated slowly next to her as she limped, the pain spread thin throughout her body. It took a moment before she was able to walk semi-regularly, and deter the stares she'd gotten before. 
All the citizens’ looks felt off, yet deadly familiar. She loved being the center of attention... but not in this way. She was supposed to be the entertainer, but she’d only seen stares like this once before. Their eyes were wide in fear, and they were frozen in place trying to make sense of what had happened. Undoubtedly, they thought that she was the enemy.
The castle loomed above them, the Crystal Heart getting ever closer. It spun freely on its pedestal as if nothing had happened. She studied it closely. She wasn't sure if she believed in the legend; that it concentrated the love of the ponies to keep it safe from the blustering winters of the Frozen North. Whatever it was, however, there was some magic at play. The heart could simply be enchanted to only spin on an invisible axis, only a false idol that was being credited for its protection.
She shook her head. I'm starting to sound like Twilight, she thought. Even in my own head. Even though it was only Twilight, whom she was only lukewarm with, her heart sank in longing. It was already over two weeks since they had started their adventure. Was Starlight awake? Had Fluttershy recovered from her injuries yet? Did Rarity or any of the other ponies remember anything before the explosion?
She let out a laugh. Longing. Only a little while ago, she would be cackling at the thought. Besides, the Great and Powerful Trixie hadn't needed anypony else to lean on. She was an infamous road performer. What else could she have possibly wanted?
The answer was staring in her face, though, and she had been too prideful to see it. When she'd made friends with Starlight, that gap had filled, if not all the way, then partially. Now she knew what it was like to have a friend that she could trust in and lean on. Because of this, she didn't envy her previous loneliness.
However, even after two weeks, the feeling that nothing had really changed irked her. She still was at a foal's level when it came to legitimate magic. She couldn't even stop Boggs for even a second before he had sent her flying. What chance did she have, if he was the bomber that day in Ponyville, to bring him into custody? She didn't possess the Elements of Harmony, nor was she Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, or Twilight. What chance…?
A cold feeling settled into her gut, one that she recognized instantly. Fear. The same fear that froze the citizens near ground zero in shock. Fear of what the future had in store. Fear that her journey would end prematurely, unsuccessfully, at the hooves of a coward.
"What brings you two here?" a guard asked. She snapped out of her thought-induced daze, and realized they were at the base of the castle, and the stairs leading within were just in sight..
"We're here on important business," Discord said, his normal swagger returning. He folded his arms. "It's about the explosion that happened near the entrance."
The guard nodded, shifting. "Word like this spreads like wildfire, draconequus," he acknowledged. "Believe me, they already know of the explosion. In fact, they had the best view in the house to see it." He rubbed his nose. "It wasn't necessarily silent, either."
“Tell me about it.” He scratched behind an ear. “My ears are still ringing.”
The guard narrowed his eyes. “But what reason do we have to trust you?” He eyed Trixie with a piercing gaze. “You two are both former enemies of Equestria, and have seemingly violated the travel ban there. Were it in my jurisdiction, I would arrest you two on the spot!”
"Please," Trixie pleaded, softer than she wanted. “We need to talk to Princess Cadence. We have a culprit, and do you think that we’d still be here if we were they?”
The guard held a steely glare. Behind those amber eyes was a hardened soldier. Trixie could tell that this wasn’t his first rodeo. But then his eyes closed, and he dipped his head in a sigh. "Fine." His hoof struck the ground, and he stepped aside. "Let them know inside the intent of your visit. And be sure to keep this one—" He gestured to Discord. "—out of trouble."
A flood of relief filled her chest, her head getting back to sorts. "Don't worry," she said, nudging the draconequus. "If he steps one cloven hoof out of place, the Great and Powerful Trixie will zap him." She managed a mischievous smirk.. That spell, at least, was one she knew she could do.
The guard mimicked the look, satisfied. "Go on in," he said, circling around Discord’s right, his eyes not leaving him. He only backed into place when they ascended the stairs into the castle.
The landing opened up to a grand hallway, taller than even what she'd seen in Twilight's Castle. She gawked at the crystalline structure, its pure white color glowing.
Another guard, female this time, walked to them. "Halt," she said. "What is your business here?"
"We seek an audience with the Princess," Trixie repeated. "If you must know, the guard posted out there wouldn't let us in without a detailed explanation."
Her eyes darted between her and Discord, her eyes narrowing. "Very well," she relented. "Her majesty is busy right now, so you'll have to wait your turn." She gestured to the door behind her, her armor clanking as she did so. "There is a waiting room right there. Please wait until you are officially addressed. Names?"
"Discord and Trixie," the draconequus said before the magician could.
She nodded, knitting her eyebrows. "I don’t know why I had to ask his name, but okay. I will let her know of your presence as soon as possible. Head on in."
The two walked into the waiting room, and while it was much smaller than the hallway, it still echoed the same motifs. There were already five or six other ponies waiting in there, so the two took a seat in silence.
"Zap me?" Discord finally said, an eyebrow cocked. He leaned on the arm of his chair.
Trixie crossed her legs. "I'll do it," she repeated in mock seriousness. "As you probably know, Trixie is a pony of her wo-ord~!" The last turned out a little more musical than she wanted it to be, but she rolled with it.
He rolled his eyes. "Well, 'Trixie' is sounding like she's feeling a little co—ow! What was that for?"
Her mouth formed a dramatic 'o'. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is no cow, how dare you!" She blew off her sizzling horn.
"That wasn't a zap," he said, rubbing his side. He leaned away from her. "That was a miniature explosion!"
She smiled smugly, leaning back into her seat. She needed to mess with him more often.
A few moments later, the same guard they talked to minutes ago walked into the room. "Your appointment has been moved up."
Discord sighed for relief. "Thank heavens!" he said. He stood up and stretched.
"I wouldn't say that's a good thing," she added. "Mostly, they're wondering why a former enemy of Equestria has showed up on their front doorstep. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't hear you out."
He mouthed the word, “Oh,” in realization.
The magician stepped forward, her hoof to her chest. "But we've got to try!" she persisted.
The guard shrugged. "Your funeral." She turned. "Come, let's get this over with."
The castle seemed to be mostly comprised of tall rooms and even taller flights of stairs. The first couple were fine; she hardly broke a sweat. But when it came to the third and fourth, the climbing bore down on her. She was gasping for breath on the top of the fifth, and could barely manage to climb atop the sixth.
However, the sixth flight was the final one, and the audience room doors stood gloriously at the center of the room. She wiped the sweat off her brow, her head swimming with exhaustion. "You couldn't afford to put the audience room at the bottom of all of these steps?" she asked, huffing.
The guard scoffed. "Imagine having to climb these every day.” She eyed the stairway behind her. “But it's also a deterrent for intruders. If they aren't in shape, they're caught in seconds."
"And if they are?"
"They'll... still be caught in seconds." She shrugged. "Anyway, I hear Sunburst's here in the castle too... so expect some loud noises in the floor below you."
She cursed under her breath. Sunburst. Did he even know what happened to Starlight and everypony else? He would be devastated.
"Anyways," the guard said, pointing to the door. "Head on in. I'll keep my timer on me. If you guys last more than two minutes, I'll eat my undershirt." She tapped the stopwatch suspended from her neck.
She took a deep breath. "Right. Let's go, Discord." They walked into the audience chamber, the room much shallower than what she was expecting. It wasn’t too unlike the one in Canterlot. The right side of the room was covered in stained glass, hearkening to the reawakening of the Crystal Empire, and what seemed to be Cadence’s and Shining Armor’s benevolent rule. A kaleidoscope of color dashed across the seemingly perfect tile. A velvet carpet rolled all the way up to the thrones, adorned with crystal-esque imagery. There sat both Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, both tense.
"You'd better explain yourself, fiend," Shining snarled, glaring at Discord. He stepped in front of his wife, taking a wide, defensive stance. "Why are you here?"
The draconequus put a claw on his chest. "My, my, is that how a captain and a prince greets his guests Discord and the Great and Powerful Trixie?”
Cadence squinted. "Wait a second..." she stepped out in front of her husband, his stance slacking in surprise. "You’re Trixie? The one from Twilight’s letters... are you she?"
The magician nodded, taking a bow. "Yes, this is she."
She managed a smile. "Anypony who's friends with Twilight is a friend of mine. Now Shining..."
The stallion raised both eyebrows. “B-but, not only have they committed crimes against Equestria, but they also broke the travel ban—”
“Which is outside of our jurisdiction,” Cadence interrupted with a warning tone. “And forget about the travel ban. I’ve received a letter from Celestia explaining the situation.”
“And you were going to tell me about this when?” 
“I tried, but you were so focused on preparing to train our new recruits that you didn’t listen, so I gave up.” She sat back down on her throne. “Seriously, honey, you do need to learn to listen more.”
Shining Armor gave an unintelligible noise that sounded like a mix between an “eh” and a grunt. Finally, he relented and took his place by his wife, sitting on the edge of his seat.
Cadence smirked in victory. "Now, then," she continued. "What do you need to discuss with us?"
With Discord's help, Trixie explained the situation from the beginning. With every passing word, it seemed like a weight was disappearing off her shoulders. By the end of her recap, she felt like she was floating.
Cadence nodded. "I see... but what has this got to do with the incident in our city?" She cocked her head to the side, her eyes deep with intrigue.
"We believe that a yak by the name of Boggs is behind this attack," Discord answered, stepping forward. He stroked his goatee. "However, we don't know of this single person is behind the attack on Ponyville, or if he's a part of a terrorist group."	 
“Except,” Trixie continued, “I’m not quite sure if he’s actually a yak.”
Discord raised an eyebrow. “What?”
She closed her eyes in recollection, the scene playing out once again in front of her. “When I was chasing him down, I tried tackling him… but as I did, the air around him shimmered, almost as if…”
“... he had a mist screen,” the draconequus replied, nodding to himself. “Now that you mention it, neither of us have had any physical contact with him.”
“So we are dealing with a unicorn here,” Cadence noted. She held a hoof outward. “Did you happen to see through it at all? Even a glimpse?”
The new question stirring in her chest, Trixie tried to remember one last time. “... I don’t think so. Even though I was that close.”
“But Trixie,” Discord interjected. “When we were talking at the outpost, I mentioned how Boggs felt off. Can’t unicorns feel magic auras?”
The unicorn frowned. “Yes…”
Discord stroked his goatee with a claw, pursing his lips. “Then why was I the only one who felt that?”
“I probably wasn’t paying attention,” Trixie said, shifting her weight to the side. “After all, I wasn’t really expecting to feel something like that from him. It’s simple as that.”
"But it's the only explanation," she continued, stepping forward. "If it was a rebel changeling, why would it need a mist screen? Also, if it were partnered with Chrysalis, why on earth would it kill off its food source?  Even Opal admitted that."
"Opal?" Shining asked, stroking his chin. "Isn't she that innkeeper in Canterlot?"
"The very same," Trixie confirmed. "But that's beside the point."
“True,” Shining conceded. "Locating Boggs will be an issue, however. Unless we can still pick up his magic signature, he’d be untrackable. As for her name... I think it's safe to assume that he’s using an alias."
"There should still be fragments of the bomb at ground zero," Discord said, stroking his goatee. "It might've been set off mechanically, but if it was set of magically..."
Shining's eyes brightened. "Then we can find the bomber."
"Bingo."
"In order to find his magic signature in the bomb, it's going to take a lot more than one fragment," Cadence warned. "It's going to take a couple days at least to do this."
Shining shrugged. "Honey, I don't see any other options. If it takes a little while, fine. At least we'll be able to track him down by the end of it."
She hesitated, but then nodded. "Okay. We'll search for the shrapnel. Meanwhile..." She glanced back and forth between Trixie and Discord. “Trixie, Discord, you have our blessing. We will keep you updated on what we find.”
Relief filled Trixie's chest. She could barely keep a smile from appearing on her face as she bowed. "Thank you, Princess." She looked over and was surprised Discord was doing the same.
Cadence nodded. "You are excused."
With a final bow, Trixie turned, walking toward the door. The meeting truly couldn't have went any better. As much of a heavy subject they were dealing with, Trixie once again felt like she was floating. They were finally close to figuring out who the bomber was, and if she was the same pony, they could finally bring her into custody.
Behind the door, the guard stood looking at her stopwatch, frowning. When she saw them, the crowd turned into a smirk. "Wow." She clapped the lid shut. "You were actually able to get a full word in with her. I'm impressed."
Trixie shrugged, walking over to her. "The worst part was getting through Shining Armor. But all in all, it went quite well."
They walked down the corridor, passing through the same stairwells they had entered through. Trixie breathed a sigh of relief as they descended them, not having to worry about the pains of climbing them again. Floors and landings passed as a familiar orange-coated pony with cream socks walked past them.
"Sunburst?"
Sunburst blinked, turning. "T-Trixie!" he exclaimed. He trotted over to them. His appearance was scraggly; his mane was a bird's nest, and his goatee even sagged like the exhausted bags under his eyes. "What're you doing here?" He glanced over her shoulder, pointing. "And isn't that Discord?"
"It's a long story," she dismissed, before he had a chance to answer. "So I assume you've just got done with foalsitting Flurry Heart?"
He shook his head, some of the fire returning to his eyes. "Nope. Only on my thirty. I'm here until seven." He cocked his head. "But why are you here of all places? Shouldn't you be back in Ponyville? There's a lot going on there."
"I said it was a long story."
"I've got time."
"You said you were on your thirty."
"... Not too much time."
Trixie sighed. She was really hoping to avoid this. What'd be Sunburst's reaction when he heard that Starlight was hurt? She didn't want to wrap anypony else into this mess that they've created. However, he seemed to already know the gist of what happened there. Would he be surprised at all? She swallowed the lump in her throat and recapped what happened.
"So you guys just up and went?" Sunburst asked. "Wouldn't that make you fugitives, though?"
Trixie cringed. "Not fugitives, per se... We were able to get in Princess Celestia's good graces... thank heavens."
He nodded and sighed. He swept the floor with a hoof. "I really hope Starlight will be okay... along with the rest of them."
She grunted in agreement. She'd already spent more than enough time worrying about them. "Well, I'll leave you to the rest of your break," she said definitively. "You look like you definitely need it." I definitely need one myself, she thought.





Surprisingly, it didn't take long to find an inn that didn't have painfully high rates. Granted, the inn in which they stayed wasn't exactly five-star, but beggars couldn't be choosers, she figured.
Their room was a small two bed, a little more cramped than what she was used to back in Ponyville, but it would suffice. Somehow, the light colored crystal that made up the walls was pleasant to the eye, and the beds were wonderfully cozy. It was as if her head suddenly grew heavy, and her eyes started to close.
"What about food?" Discord said, stretching his arms high above his head. He sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Trixie expectantly.
She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. She was there to help him capture a miscreant, not to be his mother. "My bit purse has a little money in it. Get something inexpensive." She lit her horn, her purse falling with a sad clank in his paws.
Discord looked at the purse, moving his claw up and down, as if trying to measure it. He looked back and forth between the purse and Trixie. "What about you?"
"I'll get something later," she yawned. She flipped open her covers, slipping into them. She relished their warm embrace. "The Great and..." Another yawn. "Exhausted Trixie needs a nap."
Discord stared down at the purse again. "Okay." He stood up, snapping his claws, the purse disappearing into the nether. "You have a good sleep."
At least, that's what Trixie thought he said. Her mind was covered in a thick fog, and her head fell on her pillow.





"Your magic is like electricity," Starlight explained, a graduation cap on her head. The tassel bobbed up and down in weird, gravity-defying patterns as she paced in front of a huge chalkboard. Ew. Why did it have to be a chalkboard?
"Electricity?" Trixie asked, her hooves up on a desk that was much taller than her, but she managed to do it anyway. "What does magic have to do with something so... mundane?"
Starlight gave her a slight scowl. She walked to the exact center of the gargantuan chalkboard, lighting her horn to lift a stub of chalk. In a flash, a detailed diagram appeared. Trixie blinked. When did that happen?
"It's like this," she continued. "Imagine your mind as a battery. A big, pink, powerful battery." She used a meter stick to tap at a detailed drawing of the equine brain. "Your horn..." She tapped at a drawing of a horn. "... Is like an antenna, and serves as a focal point of the energy you store. It's why your horn always lights before a spell actually occurs."
The information went in one ear and out the other. Trixie was actually a little more interested in how she felt off balance; moving, but completely steady.
"But, like electricity, in order to go anywhere, it needs to have a line. You might recall that when you want to move an object, you imagine something that moves it. You might imagine a crane, a fishing hook, or a piston. All do exactly the same thing."
Trixie squinted. Now that she'd looked at Starlight closer, there was a red mark appearing on her chin. How did she not notice this before?
"However, our magic is limited to pushing and pulling objects. In order to change the physical properties about something, then, you have to know everything about it. Its molecular structure, the way those bonds connect, how far spaced they are... that's the reason why we have scrolls, mostly written in Old Ponish. They help us visualize and understand the objects that we wish to change."
She knit her eyebrows. When did that cast appear on her back leg? When did the bandage appear on her head?
"And even though the structure of magic can be broken down to simple pushes and pulls... you couldn't even save me from that crumbling castle, could you?"
Trixie's heart plummeted. "Starlight...?"
"Of course, it's too complicated to understand for you, isn't it? Perhaps it isn't just because you never pay attention to your friends' needs, or something else?" The hospital bed appeared in front of her, and Starlight’s body slowly twisted and contorted into the exact position she was in when Trixie visited her a couple weeks earlier.
She averted her gaze to the floor. An inky black fluid burst forth from the center of the room, flooding what once was tile to a pitch black void. "I... I was never good at magic."
Even though Starlight’s eyes were closed, her voice echoed around her. "Just face it, Trixie. You're nothing but a fake. A mare with delusions of grandeur, that thinks that she can save her little friends from the threat of this shapeshifter. Well, guess what?" 
Trixie watched in horror as her friend, starting with the hospital bed, crumbled to dust.
“It’s too late to save anypony.”





She awoke, gasping in an icy cold breath. The light had disappeared from the room, save a lamp that stood between her and Discord's bed.
He lay reclined, floating above his bed rather than on it. He yawned. "Sounds like you had a wonderful dream."
Trixie scowled, a drop of sweat falling from her brow. "That wasn't you, was it?" Her throat felt like it was punctured by invisible pins, sending her into a cough.
Discord shook his head, flicking a piece of paper in his talon. It was of a thicker paper, like a photographic film. "Sorry, dear, I don't specialize in the world of dreams. You've got Princess Luna to thank for your nightmare."
She sat up, knitting her eyebrows. That wasn't how it worked, was it?
"Anyways, if you must know..." he snapped, and the photograph dissipated into thin air. He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "I can't affect your psyche without knowing every single thing about you. It was easy with the six when I had the Elements of Harmony. They were embedded with their personalities. It was deliciously in-depth." He shrugged. "But since I haven't used my Touch, I can't quite manipulate you."
He sighed, a cold chill running down Trixie's spine at the last sentence. "Anyway, I got you something for dinner. You've been out for the better part of three hours, so I assumed it would be polite to get you something." He gestured to a small coffee table in the far corner of the room. It was a sandwich in a plastic bag.
She squinted. "How much did you spend?"
"Four bits, two for each sandwich."
She closed her eyes, doing the math in her head before shaking it out. Poor. She was dirt poor. She imagined a fishing line puncturing the plastic bag, reeling it in toward her. However, her horn fizzled and died in the process, and the sandwich bag fell on the floor. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.
Discord raised an eyebrow. "Trixie? Is everything all right?"
She waved a hoof in dismissal. "It's nothing. I'm fine."