//------------------------------// // Showdown // Story: Trixie Searches For Magic // by MagicS //------------------------------// Across the bridge in the last little patches of farmland that constituted East Glade before the land became part of the eastern mountains, Vector and the rest of the strike force assembled. A mere hundred yards away the ashen colored ground started rising up into the foothills and beyond there was the lair of Goliath and the others. It was a dangerous mission they were undertaking but a necessary one to make sure the mayor’s kids were okay and that these violent thugs would never come back to bother East Glade again. Since it had taken some time for everyone to get their things together it was only about an hour until dawn and even now light threatened to break out over the horizon. Daylight Gleam was going to have to work hard to keep her camouflage spell going for however long they needed it, and after a sleepless night like this it would be especially difficult. Vector was going to be the one directing them all since he knew the ground and trails of the eastern mountains the best. Gizzard would be holding onto the Horn of Listening to be on the “listen” out for monsters or members of Goliath’s band. Gizzard’s grandsons (who still unbeknownst to Trixie were named Gullet and Garry) were helping Coil carry his magic bombs and Speckle Wood and Gold Embrace were to function as backup right now in case anyone needed help. Daylight Gleam still had misgivings about including the two novice unicorns on this mission but she couldn’t fault the logic in it. Their opponents knew little and less about magic and even the most minor of spells could work as a good intimidation factor against superstitious people like them. Not to mention that the effectiveness of the teacup threat was already proven. If anything else Speckle Wood and Gold Embrace could also help slightly maintain Daylight’s camouflage spell, just pumping a little extra power into it so she didn’t need to do it all on her own. Truthfully all four of the ones who knew the truth about Trixie had at least some misgivings. Their formerly perfect hero turned out to be a fraud and now they were following a plan by her that was essentially thought up in about five minutes. But in a way knowing she was a fake and that she had still somehow lucked out and saved the village multiple times now by blind chance was reassuring in its own way. And regardless of the danger or lack of thought the fact was that something needed to be done. Vector really wanted to believe in Trixie and if this turned out well he felt that even if he couldn’t go back to that childish adoration he had for her he could at least respect and cheer for her again. He looked out at the other seven with him, things looked just about ready and they had only a little cover of darkness left. “Alright everyone, get ready. We’re heading into the mountains in two minutes.” Daylight Gleam nodded to him and closed her eyes, attempting to meditate a bit and get herself ready for the long term spell she was about to put on. Coil, Gullet, and Garry were each carrying a magic bomb wrapped in cloth on their backs. The others had been a little worried about carrying those with them but Coil assured them that the only way these ones could go off was from his magic activating them. He had made them slightly different from the landmines they attempted to use to stop the Nuckelavee. The night was deathly quiet out here. “I think we’re all as ready as we’ll ever be,” Gizzard said as he walked up beside Vector, holding the Horn of Listening. “Yeah,” Vector agreed. “Daylight?” The white unicorn opened her eyes and nodded to Vector. “I’m ready. Everyone get close.” Upon Daylight and Vector’s orders everyone got in close to the sunrise themed unicorn. They huddled up enough that they were all pretty much grouped in a ball and then Daylight activated her spell, a dome of powder blue magic came down over their heads before shimmering into nothing. It looked like there wasn’t anything around them but Daylight assured them that her spell was up. “Looking from the inside out you can’t tell there’s a spell around us, but if you stepped out of the dome and looked back at us you’d only see the ground and air,” She explained to them. “When I start moving the dome though it’s noticeable that there’s something weird there. The air and everything gets distorted. Luckily at night it’s pretty much impossible to see that. Just keep in mind that since the dome moves with me at the center make sure you all stay close and don’t step outside of it.” After her explanation they began moving, the journey to Goliath’s base might take well into morning depending on if they got waylaid by anything like monsters or sentries. And then they’d still have to wait for whenever Goliath chose to leave. “I don’t think there will be any of them looking out for us at least,” Gizzard said as they approached the foothills. “They’re kind of too dumb and don’t think anyone from East Glade would ever come in and attack them like this.” “Well they would have been right before today,” Gullet muttered, upon which Gizzard smacked him upside the head. Their going was slow just as they had all known it would be. The sky with its slivers of sunlight peaking over the horizon gave them adequate vision and Gizzard had the Horn of Listening tilted up to his ear to hear anything that might be ahead of them. Vector, being the only one who had navigated parts of the mountains by hoof, directed Daylight. “These mountains are a labyrinth and there’s only one path through them that will take us to Goliath’s base,” Vector whispered. “Other paths will take us off to nowhere or into underground caves where the stone worms live. You really don’t want to go there. Luckily I know where to take us.” “Aren’t there all kinds of other monsters living here too?” Coil asked. “Yes, lots. I think I’m the only villager from East Glade who’s been even halfway into these mountains. On hoof at least. Gizzard’s flown above them enough times, he’s the reason why we actually know where Goliath is,” Vector said. “Normally even knowing the right way in here I wouldn’t come but with Daylight’s camouflage spell and the Horn I think we’re pretty safe.” “Can I ask how you did discover Goliath’s base?” Coil now asked Gizzard. The old griffon coughed and nodded. “You can see it from the air, it’s a small plateau they hang out on nestled in the center of the mountains. Only one way to it from the west. Since they can’t fly or anything I was pretty safe in the air. Er, from them at least. Got chased by some giant birds a couple of times.” “Well I hope your memory and mapping of these mountains is faithful,” Coil gulped. “I wouldn’t want to run afoul of the kinds of things that call this place home after a wrong turn.” “Don’t worry about it, we’ll be fine. Perhaps it’s just Trixie rubbing off on me but I’m feeling very confident in our mission,” Vector said. Which was half true, but he wanted to seem strong just like she did. The traveling into, through, and over the eastern mountains in the last hour of darkness before dawn took a quieter turn after that as no one wanted to possibly alert anything dangerous or distract Daylight from her spell. As she had told them the canopy of camouflage was just a visual spell, it wouldn’t do anything to block the noise they made or their scent. The white unicorn was doing her best to not feel fatigued but the lack of rest she had had before doing this would take its toll on her soon enough. She and Trixie hadn’t thought about how drained she would be for any potential fighting after performing this spell for hours. In the end she’d probably have to rely on the other unicorns quite a bit. That’s essentially what Speckle Wood and Gold Embrace were there for but they didn’t have the raw power nor the technical skill to aid in any great way, only enough to alleviate her burden slightly. And now that she thought about it Coil’s magical prowess was something of a mystery, she knew he was a great inventor but didn’t really know his capabilities aside from him telling her he wasn’t much for fighting. By the time dawn broke they were only halfway to their destination and now the distorted air of Daylight’s spell would be easy for any person or creature with a sharp enough eye to see if they were paying attention. But there was nothing they could do about that except forge on and hope for the best. Every now and then Gizzard would raise a talon to signal them to be extra silent and halt their progress for a second. Obviously hearing something around them with the Horn of Listening. But whatever beast he might’ve heard never came close and they were always able to resume walking shortly after. They counted themselves lucky. Walking on the edge of one of the mountains one only needed to look up to see dozens of holes dug into the side of the mountain, clearly unnatural, the villagers and outsiders both had no idea what might call those holes their home and they had no desire to find out. “I’m starting to get a little tired,” Daylight whispered. “Gold? Speckle? Can you two put a little magic into my spell, I need to rest for a second.” They did as instructed and the whole party sat around up on the mountain for a few minutes. They still had hours before Goliath was supposed to get the tied up Trixie at East Glade but they wanted to get closer to his base before he left. Since there was only one path from his place to East Glade they would eventually cross paths, the protectors would just have to lay low while he walked by and sneak in once he was far enough away. Hopefully his sharp ears and nose wouldn’t find them out. Speaking of Trixie, the ones on this mission who had left her behind were wondering just what she had gotten up to when they left. She needed a carpenter for some reason. Daylight wondered if perhaps she was even still asleep right now. She frowned thinking that their fake hero probably got a good night’s rest while they all traversed these dangerous mountains. Well, maybe that was being a bit unfair to Trixie. What she was doing with just throwing herself out there for Goliath was arguably even more dangerous. Eventually Daylight had rested enough where they could keep moving with the camouflage spell on. Vector pointed them downwards in-between two of the mountains and the party made its descent. They had to be careful on this part not to slip or kick any rocks loose, Goliath would be the least of their worries if they made too much noise here. The strangely warped dome of air that signaled where the East Glader’s were to any on the outside hit the bottom of the canyon, the walls of the canyon from here on out got steeper and narrower until finally becoming vertical and leaving only a small opening between the two mountains. The crevice to the east was barely wide enough for a wagon to pass through, with all of them crowded around each other it would be difficult for Daylight to work her camouflage magic in there, it would probably get even more warped by the canyon walls. “That’s it,” Vector whispered, making them all stop. “Through there is the plateau.” “So now we just wait for Goliath?” Speckle Wood asked. “That’s right, we should just sit here and wait for him to go see if East Glade is really giving him Trixie. You should take this time to get a little more rest, Daylight.” Vector said. “I will. Not having to move the thing makes this a lot easier,” The white unicorn responded. “We could be waiting here for hours though,” Gold Embrace said. The mare a little nervous now that they were so close. “Nothing we can do about that,” Gizzard told her. “Just keep calm. I’ll keep using this Horn so I can hear him coming first.” He sat down and did as he said he would, holding the Horn to his ear. “He’ll probably leave a good hour before noon to arrive at East Glade on time,” Coil said. The professor glanced up at the sky. “I don’t think we’ll have too long to wait.” “Good, I’m just… well I’m just nervous if I’m being honest. I wish Miss Trixie was here,” Gold Embrace said. Speckle Wood, Gullet and Garry both nodded along with that sentiment. The others (who were supposed to be the more seasoned defenders of East Glade) didn’t say anything about that since they didn’t want Gold Embrace to think they were worried too. It was better to appear strong and confident. Unfortunately they now had nothing to do but sit there and stew in their own thoughts while Daylight strained to perfectly keep her camouflage dome up. Gizzard was sitting like a statue, his eyes closed so he could focus only on his ears. For a good couple hours he sat like that. His grandsons were trying to not make snide jokes about him looking like he had fallen asleep. But any comments they would’ve liked to have made died when the old griffon’s eyes suddenly snapped open and his talon clenched around the Horn. His pupils darted over to Vector and his beak opened up a fraction of an inch. “He’s coming.” It was all Gizzard needed to say. The rest completely clammed up and went as stock still as he was. The old griffon tucked the Horn beneath one of his wings and they waited until Goliath emerged from the crevice that led to the plateau. For once they didn’t need to wait long as the clacking of sharp talons on rock came to their ears, they could see a shadowy figure walking through that narrow canyon towards them. Large and familiar, the likes of Speckle Wood and Gold Embrace did their best not to sweat or falter now. Soon the fearsome and angry Goliath emerged, his mauled feathers on his head still showing signs of how they had been burnt in his last encounter with Trixie. He seemed to be grinding his teeth and grumbling something to himself with each step. But that didn’t concern the protectors, they just needed to stay still and avoid him as he walked on by. Please don’t let him somehow notice the dome. Daylight thought to herself. Unlike her, Vector’s mind was completely blank, all of his energy was focused on willing things to go right. Goliath shortly did walk right past them as he went into the wider part of the canyon and started climbing up the sloped rock. His sharp eyes and senses may have been able to pick them out if his mind wasn’t occupied with his his current goal but the grungy griffon only had thoughts of what he was going to do to Trixie when he got his talons on her. The others held their breath and waited until he was well out of view after getting up the side of the mountain and disappearing to the west, upon which Gold Embrace let out a loud sigh of relief that probably would’ve given them away if anyone was closer. “Alright, I think we’re good now.” Vector said, a relaxed smile on his face. “Do you think that was the hard part?” Garry asked him. “We still need to do the actual rescuing.” “Believe me, any part that doesn’t include Goliath is the easy part,” Vector answered. “Whatever may happen on that plateau I’m going to make Miss Trixie proud,” Speckle Wood said. “Whether we have to fight them all or can just scare them off like she said, I know we can do it with her believing in us.” Daylight nearly rolled her eyes but didn’t want to break the concentration on her spell. “Either way can we start moving again? I can’t do this forever.” Gibble and Gouge impatiently sat at the foot of the pyramid of rocks that rested in the center of the plateau. Gibble’s beak was twisted at an odd angle thanks to Goliath’s anger and Gouge still had bruises on his face but even with that they would never think of betraying their leader. That would just make things worse for them. Both of them were in a fouler mood than normal, the reason for that was the three annoying children tied up on top of the pyramid of rocks behind them. “Hey! Hey stupid! Yeah I’m talking to you!” The two thug griffons sat there doing their best to ignore whichever one of the mayor’s kids was yelling at them. They had gotten good practice ever since Goliath brought them here. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is gonna beat all of you up!” “You guys should just untie us so she goes easy on you!” Hours they had listened to this and all for the simple problem of them not having any other rope or cloths they could use to gag them. Even when Goliath was still here the kids had dumbly insulted him and everyone else at the plateau, mocking them and warning them of how bad they were gonna get it when their rescuers came. Goliath had told them to shut up but they never stayed quiet for long. Gibble was surprised Goliath wasn’t more… forceful with them but figured he didn’t want to permanently destroy the relationship they had with East Glade. And that would’ve been a good way to do that. So as it was they were stuck babysitting three kids who were too stupid or ignorant to know fear. Meanwhile Gibble and Gouge most definitely knew fear and were not going to disobey Goliath’s orders of not hurting the three. “You’re all a bunch of losers!” Whichever one that was blew a raspberry at the end of his insult too. “Even Goliath ran away scared from Trixie!” That last one stung, cause Goliath had taken his rage out on all of his underlings after that day. All the other minions on the plateau winced when they were reminded of that. Gibble and Gouge too were starting to get too annoyed by these constant remarks to continue ignoring the kids and they could tell that the rest of their comrades were getting antsy as well. Everything had been going downhill since The Great and Powerful Trixie arrived and now all of them were anxious, there was a foreboding atmosphere on the plateau among Goliath’s band. Gouge sighed and did his best to block out any troublesome thoughts, just staring ahead trying to tune out the voices of the mayor’s kids. “This is quite the day, isn’t it?” He said to Gibble. “Hrn,” Gibble grunted. He in particular was still upset that his binoculars were transformed into a teacup. Gouge rolled his eyes and returned to staring off at the canyon that led to the plateau. After about five seconds he raised a single eyebrow, something strange catching his attention. “Hey, Gibble?” He asked his friend. “What?” Gibble grumpily responded. “Rocks aren’t supposed to just move on their own, right?” The bent-beaked griffon scowled at his friend. “What are you talking about?” “Well I’m just looking at the canyon and some of the rocks along the wall are all warped and moving like I’m looking at em through a bubble,” He pointed to where things were off. Gibble followed his talon and saw the same thing, a warped pocket of air moving at the end of the canyon, right to their plateau. A lot of the others saw it now too, it was impossible to miss in broad daylight like this and without anything else obstructing their view on the flat plateau. “What is that?” Gibble wondered. And he continued wondering right up until a powder blue dome of magic shimmered in the air and disappeared, revealing the protectors of East Glade. Gibble and Gouge squawked in surprise and shot up to their talons, the other underlings doing the same as the several dozen that made up Goliath’s forces all gathered in front of the large pyramid of stones. “How did you get here?!” Gouge yelled to the eight invaders. “Well that isn’t very important now, is it?” Vector said to him. “What is important is that Goliath isn’t here right now.” Gizzard stepped forward, staring down his enemies with a piercing gaze. “We’re gonna give you the chance to solve things peacefully. Your boss aint here to make you do something stupid anymore. Give us back the mayor’s kids and you can just go off and do whatever you want, ya here?” “No deal,” Gibble stepped forward too, not backing down from Gizzard. “We aren’t gonna do something suicidal like betray Goliath.” His eyes darted back and forth among the ones who had come to the plateau. “And it seems your hero isn’t here either.” “She’s not the only unicorn who can use powerful magic,” Speckle Wood said, his voice almost cracked but he managed to hold his fear back. “I’ve been training under The Great and Powerful Trixie and she taught me how to turn things into teacups as well. Or if you don’t believe me perhaps you want to see a demonstration?” He threatened. That got a number of the brigands to back up and begin muttering in fear, the ones who had been with Gibble and Gouge on that first excursion. “Don’t be afraid, you cowards!” Gibble yelled to them. “They’re just ordinary unicorns from East Glade, there’s no way they can do the same kind of magic that hero could! Otherwise they would’ve tried defending the village before now!” “You’re forgetting that Coil and I aren’t from East Glade,” Daylight Gleam said. She tried her best to appear not fatigued and was relishing this moment of talking since it allowed her to regain some energy. “We’re outsiders just like Trixie and can perform magic the likes of which you’ve never seen. Like Gizzard said you should just give up, this doesn’t need to turn into a fight.” “Vector! Gizzard!” Gabriel Jr. yelled out from on top of the pyramid before Gibble and Gouge could raise anymore objections. Now Gold Embrace almost ran forward at seeing them up there. “Don’t worry, sweeties! We’ll save you!” “I think you’re all still forgetting how badly you’re outnumbered,” Gouge said. He shot a few glares at the less enthusiastic minions around him to keep them from breaking away. “No matter what there are dozens of us and only eight of you. If you really wanted the kids back you should’ve brought the whole village of cowards.” It seemed the time for talking was over. The dozens of sordid, thuggish, griffons and ponies spread out in a semi-circle in front of the pyramid of rocks. The East Glader’s would have to go through them to rescue Gabriel Jr, Guyaven, and Gower. Which was fine with them. “Coil? Mind starting things off?” Vector asked the blue unicorn. “Gladly,” Coil smiled and used his magic to toss the bomb on his back into the air. It unfurled from its cloth to reveal a metal sphere with a red ring around the center. All eyes were on it as it fell to the ground and bounced off the densely packed dirt in-between the two groups. With a smirk, the normally violet light around Coil’s horn went black for a split second and the red ring flashed as the bomb was detonated. A large explosion tore apart the ground and licks of fire and arcs of red lightning erupted from the blast-zone. The size of the explosion wasn’t enough to reach the brigands but it did startle and terrify them, many yelled and ran away from it as Gibble and Gouge tried to maintain order. “Stop! Stop, you morons!” Gibble yelled. “Just attack them!” Gouge meanwhile simply grabbed two of the wingless pegasi next to him and basically threw them forward, running right behind them into the smoke cloud that was made from the explosion and towards their attackers directly beyond it. As the three made their way through the smoke they ended up confronted by Gizzard, Gullet, and Garry. The two grandsons dropped their bombs and grappled with the pegasi while Gouge ran right between them to tackle Gizzard. But Gizzard was a seasoned fighter himself, he back-stepped out of the way and reached a talon under his wing to grab the Horn of Listening. And swung it full force into Gouge’s face. The heavy thunk knocking the already bruised griffon out cold in one blow. Gizzard even winced. “Better not tell Senax I did that...” While Garry and Gullet continued to grapple with their opponents, a group of raiders had circled around the smoking crater and were coming at Gold Embrace and Speckle Wood. The two unlikely fighters shared a glance and nodded at each other before firing beams of magic at some rocks on the ground in front of the advancing raiders. The thugs stopped in their tracks as the rocks were transformed into an assortment of teacups. They weren’t perfect, some were misshapen, others still clearly rock and not porcelain, and none of them were as pretty or luxurious looking as the ones Trixie had made. But it was enough for these guys. The thugs gasped in shock and backed away from the teacups as if they were venomous cobras. Their eyes fearfully looked at the two apprentice unicorns, worried that they would turn their magic on them next. “You just get out of here unless you want that to be you!” Speckle Wood yelled, pointing his hoof at them. It was a good thing for them that none of these thugs were smart or had any knowledge of magic. Gold Embrace watched them all run away and turned to her fellow student. “Miss Trixie was right, we scared them away good.” At the same time, Vector was fending off enemies from attacking Coil, who had gone to retrieve the other two magic bombs. Only for Vector to be confronted by a very angry Gibble that had gathered a few of the other more courageous brigands to put an end to this attack. Gibble leaped at the orange earth pony and tackled him to the ground, the two rolled over and over with each of them trying to overpower the other until finally Vector’s earth pony strength won out and he pinned Gibble to the ground, punching him right in the beak and twisting it in the opposite direction from which it was already crooked. “Ow!” Gibble yelped. “That tears it!” The griffon contorted his hind-legs up to hook them under Vector’s belly and pushed out with his whole body to knock the pony off of him. Vector fell back with a grunt while Gibble quickly got back up, the injured griffon scurrying back to the pyramid of rocks. Looking around him he saw that Gouge was out while a number of their forces had just run away or were caught in other fights or too scared to move in on the East Glade defenders. The griffon growled deep in his throat as he climbed up the first set of rocks and turned back to look over the battlefield. “Alright, alright!” He shouted to everyone on the plateau. “Enough! You all stop fighting right now or you can say goodbye to these dumb kids!” He pointed back to the top of the pyramid without looking at it. “I don’t care what Goliath says anymore, these kids are through if you don’t get out of here right now!” The assorted citizens of East Glade and its terrorizers stopped briefly, looking at the grandstanding Gibble. The smoke from the explosion had pretty much lifted at this point, only leaving a thin trail in the air from the middle of the burnt crater. Even slowed down it was still a chaotic scene in front of him with how many little fights had broken out in just a couple of minutes. But much to Gibble’s shock and confusion the seven defenders of East Glade just grinned at his words while his own comrades looked worried and were pointing at something behind him. Before Gibble could threaten them some more, Vector yelled at him. “Kids? What kids?” The orange earth pony smirked at the bent-beaked griffon. “Huh?” Gibble dumbly replied before looking behind him and up to the top of the pyramid. Which was devoid of the mayor’s three children. The ropes that had been used to tie them up were lying there in a pile as the only things left. “Looking for us?” Gibble’s head lurched to his right to spy the three kids safely standing on the ground already far away from the pyramid of rocks. “B-But, what?! How?!” The befuddled griffon screeched. A white unicorn then faded into existence behind the kids. Daylight Gleam smirked at Gibble. “I might have had something to do with that.” “Grrr, you…!” Gibble’s talons clenched around the rock he was standing on, sending cracks through it. “This isn’t over by a long shot, we still-” “Actually, it is over,” Vector cut him off. “Coil? Would you care to end things this time?” The blue unicorn adjusted his glasses and winked at the earth pony. “But of course!” He heaved his second bomb into the air with his magic, arcing it well over the heads of everyone else on the plateau until it came down and landed right on top of the rock pyramid. The metal bomb bounced and shook for a few seconds before coming to a stop at the center of the peak. Gibble watched it intently the whole time with a blank expression on his face, too fed up to bother anymore. With another blink of his horn Coil set it off and the pyramid was blown apart in a red explosion. Gibble was launched into the air and coincidentally came down right next to Gouge, both of them now unconscious. This destruction of Goliath’s awkward throne and defeat of their remaining leader was enough to completely break the rest of the brigands. Those not injured too badly or out cold themselves all picked up and fled the plateau. Going any direction deeper into the mountains that wasn’t west. The terrifying magic, the strength of the outsiders and defenders, it was too much for these silly thugs who thought everyone in East Glade aside from the new hero was a coward just yesterday. Vector wasn’t sure what might be happening with Goliath himself right now but unless the gargantuan griffon came back and searched through the eastern mountains for every single individual that just ran off it seemed his strength would be broken for good. “That was awesome!” Gabriel Jr. said as he ran over to the rest of them with his two brothers and Daylight Gleam following along. “Yeah, you totally beat those guys up!” Gower cheered for the defenders. The rest of them all came together too now. The ponies and griffons of East Glade smiling in satisfaction. Gizzard looked around at what they had accomplished. “We did do a pretty good job, didn’t we?” “I’m actually surprised. Surprised but happy,” Gold Embrace said before reaching down and hugging the mayor’s kids. “I’m so glad you’re all okay.” Vector grinned as the three of them squirmed and tried getting out of the unicorn’s embarrassing hug before he looked at Daylight. “How long do you think you’ll need to rest before you can use that camouflage spell again? I don’t fancy being attacked by monsters on our way out of here right after winning.” She absentmindedly rubbed her horn. “A while. And then I’m going to sleep for an entire day when we get back.” “I think we’re all just about running on empty,” Gizzard said. The exhaustion was easier to see in his old face now that the adrenaline of the fight was wearing off. “I wanted us to be able to go back to the village and help Trixie if she needed it. But that’s not happening now.” “I believe in Miss Trixie,” Speckle Wood said. “She won’t need our help.” For obvious reasons some of the others there weren’t sure about that but they kept their mouths shut. Coil decided to break the awkward silence. “Well in good news I still have one magic bomb left in case we ever need it for something.” He grinned and smiled at the dangerous device on his back. “Wait, hold on,” Gabriel Jr. said to grab the others attention. “Trixie isn’t here because she’s fighting Goliath right now all alone? That’s awesome!” “More like scary,” Gold Embrace frowned. Vector silently agreed. All in the know when it came to Trixie’s true self were wondering just what that blue unicorn had planned. Unfortunately they had no idea what was going on at East Glade since they left last night and didn’t have the time to return now. All they could do was hope for the best. Meanwhile The Great and Powerful Trixie was tied to a pole. “This might be the most self-embarrassing plan I’ve come up with in my life.” The sun was shining directly over her head now. Noon. She had been tied up to this pole for well over an hour now just waiting for Goliath to come. Her stage had been set and while Trixie was certain of her impending victory she’d be lying if she said the prospect of facing Goliath again didn’t scare her at least a little bit. But she was currently more hoping that Vector and everyone else’s mission was going well. I’m sure they’re fine. If those jerks could be scared off by a teacup then there’s no way Daylight and Vector and my oh so perfectly trained students can’t handle it. Trixie thought. She shifted against the pole, the rope and her robe rubbing together in a painfully itchy way. “Maybe a chain would’ve been better,” The magician grumbled. From where she was situated facing the carrot patch just on the other side of the bridge and the eastern mountains beyond, Trixie would be able to see Goliath on his approach long before he actually got to her. Unless he jumped over the ravine or something but she doubted even a griffon of his size and strength could do that. And why would he? If he wanted to appear confident and fearless he’d just waltz right in like normal instead of hiding from the village or Trixie. Of course though that meant she’d just be stuck there watching him the whole time and trying not to sweat. Which is what she was doing now after seeing Goliath coming down from the foothills. “Absolutely nothing to worry about,” Trixie told herself. The huge griffon took his time coming to her, probably trying to make her as scared as possible. As he got closer though she could see that his head-feathers were still ragged and had singed ends. She couldn’t help but smirk seeing that. Let him get as angry about it as he wanted. When he made it to the carrot patch she could see the twisted and angry look on his face. It seems just seeing Trixie made him mad even though to his knowledge East Glade had acquiesced to his demands and he now had his prey served to him on a platter. That actually helped ease Trixie’s mind too. She was the one in control, not him. She’d been in worse spots and pulled through. He wasn’t really scary. Dealing with changelings, dealing with Starlight almost hating me… I should’ve realized long ago not to be afraid of Goliath after living through the rest of my life. Trixie tried giving nothing away as the monstrous griffon walked onto the bridge, she glanced at each of his clawed talons as they clacked onto the bridge before returning to staring into his eyes. “Well, looks like the village of cowards was more than willing to give up its hero,” Goliath’s deep voice growled into Trixie’s ears. “Looks that way,” Trixie frowned at him. “So now what? You take me back to your lair and hold me hostage or something?” The griffon grinned evilly at her. “Actually, I was planning on just throwing you into the river all tied up like this to be done with you.” “Oh,” Trixie flatly said. “Well that’s kind of interesting actually.” Goliath’s grin turned into a scowl. He lifted one of his talons up and brought his claws close to Trixie’s face. “And why’s that?” “No reason, no reason,” Trixie nonchalantly avoided the question. “So what are you going to do with the kids after you take care of me?” “I don’t see why you would care,” The villainous griffon said. Looking down at her in disgust. Obviously this creature couldn’t fathom why one would be worried about others. “But I’ll return them… eventually, to make sure that the villagers don’t get any more dumb ideas in their heads or think some hero can come and save them.” He chuckled. “East Glade is good for food and picking on. Why ruin that?” Goliath pointed a single claw at her face. “Not that any of that concerns you. Since you’ll be long gone by then.” To her credit, Trixie did a good job of keeping her cool. She even managed to grin at him. “Thrown into the river, right?” He scowled again at the obnoxiously smug unicorn. Why wasn’t she terrified right now? “That’s right. What’s so funny?” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Well it’s funny because that’s the same exact thing I was planning on doing to you.” The huge griffon paused. His face twisted in a confused and suspicious grimace for a second, Trixie was eyeing his talon pointing right at her face the whole time, before a sadistic smile broke out across his beak and the griffon began laughing. Barking almost. He guffawed on top of the bridge, the little nubs of his wings twitching in excitement. “Gahahaha, I knew… I knew you were insane and stupid… but this is too much,” He rested his claws besides her and leaned down, getting eye to eye with her. “Maybe you’re forgetting who’s the one that’s tied up? Any last words?” Trixie rolled her eyes. “You know, you’re not as scary as I first thought you were. Compared to everyone finding out I was lying to them this is nothing. The Great and Powerful Trixie refuses to be scared by the likes of you anymore.” “Grrr.” Goliath growled, his talons clenching and clawing deep cuts into the wood of the bridge. His bloodshot eyes bulged out of his face and stared deep into Trixie’s. “You’ll regret that. Forget the river, I’m taking my time with you.” “I wouldn’t forget the river if I were you,” Trixie smugly grinned. “Also I wanted to say that you’re not even as smart as you are scary. You really think East Glade would betray their hero? I am The Great and Powerful Trrrixie! My presence fills them with hope, they would never bow to you with me here!” “An empty boast. They’d never risk angering me when I have that fat chicken’s kids.” “Yeah, you said it. Good thing for us the kids are getting rescued as we speak,” Trixie told him. “Lies!” Goliath slammed a balled up fist down beside her, cracking the wood. “They could never get in there and my worthless underlings would stop them if they did!” Trixie raised an eyebrow at him. “You just called your underlings worthless.” “I know-” She cut him off. “Yeah, whatever. My friends are doing that right now while I deal with you. Your band of losers will never trouble East Glade again. All of this was my plan, even making you think East Glade had betrayed me.” His whole body was shaking in anger now. “Even if what you’ve said is true that still leaves you alone here with me. Deal with me? What do you think you can do to me?” Trixie snorted. “I just told you what I was going to do. You really are dumb aren’t you?” That was the final straw. Goliath’s rage hit its breaking point and he raised a talon up to slash Trixie. It was then that Trixie’s horn lit up and she finally put all her planning into motion. Last night the blue unicorn had met with the griffon carpenter of East Glade that Gabriel had recommended and the two of them came out to work on this bridge. She had him cut and weaken the bridge’s supports, not by enough to actually make the bridge collapse with just a few people walking on it but enough where Trixie’s magic could easily snap the last bits of it and cause the whole thing to collapse whenever she wanted it to. The planks and all the other parts of the bridge fell out from under them upon Trixie activating her spell and the hero and villain both began rapidly falling to the rushing river below. “Graaah!” Goliath yelled while Trixie grinned. “You lose, Goliath!” She told him. With a growl he grabbed onto the pole Trixie was tied to, pulling her close to him. “Idiot!” He said right into her face. “You’re still coming with me!” “Hardly,” Trixie wasn’t worried. “You really don’t know anything about me do you? The Great and Powerful Trixie is the greatest escape artist in the world!” She slipped out of the rope with such ease it was like she wasn’t even tied down in the first place. Goliath dumbly looked at her in astonishment and with his shock, Trixie was able to tie the rope around his front legs before he could react, finishing up with a neat little bow. “Y-You?!” Goliath roared, attempting to break his bonds but failing. “I also don’t think you know what the magic of someone as great and powerful as me can do either,” Trixie gave him a last grin. “Teleport spell! Go!” With a pink poof she disappeared in mid-air and Goliath was left to howl in anger until he crashed into the water, the planks of the bridge falling down around him as well and creating a huge splash. The monstrous griffon and the destroyed bridge were carried away underwater by the quick current, speeding towards the ocean. Trixie watched this from the edge of the East Glade side of the ravine, right where the bridge formerly spanned. She tilted up her wizard’s cap and flourished her robe, milking the moment for all it was worth and wishing others could be around to see it. The greatest magician of Equestria, nay, the entire world, smiled heroically in victory. “Heh, arrivederci.”