//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Princess Trixie of Transylmaneia // by AlexTFish //------------------------------// Trixie took a deep breath. “Owch. Ethereal Requiem said that?” “Yes, she did,” replied Twilight tightly. “Would you care to explain?” “Do I have to?” Twilight glared daggers until Trixie relented. “Ugh. Fine. Yes, I’m not actually a princess. But I really do think Transylmaneia would be better off with me in charge.” Twilight exhaled slowly, pacing around the bare room. “How? How did you fool the verity crystal? You explained to me all about your birth and how the queen let Jack Pot take you away. Did you get Starlight to sabotage the crystal?” “Oh come on,” Trixie complained. “You’re really going to force a magician to explain how she did her tricks?” Seeing no softening in Twilight’s eyes, Trixie grumbled, but spoke. “The answer is misdirection, the same as it always is. Everything I told you was true, I just… left out some details. My dad really was lovers with Queen Heartslash, but he wasn’t the only one. And she did have a foal. It just wasn’t me. She still didn’t have time to look after a foal, and it would still have raised questions of legitimacy — she’s never married — so she wanted the foal to be taken away. But that was nothing to do with Jack Pot. When I was born a couple of years later — nowhere near Transylmaneia — he did take me travelling with him. He eventually fell out of favour with the Queen, and stopped touring the capital, only going to the outlying areas. “And it’s true that I’ve never known a mother, and I… I would like to have someone I could call that.” Trixie looked pensive for a moment, before brightly adding, “And if she were a queen, so much the better!” “But… you said you were always destined to become a princess of Transylmaneia!” “Oh, definitely!” Trixie smiled. “Destiny is what we make of it, of course. But inasmuch as destiny is a thing? Yes, absolutely: as soon as the idea occurred to me I felt I was destined to persuade the Queen I was her long-lost filly, and become Princess.” Twilight grimaced. “...I see. Well… thank you for explaining to me now, though… I really would have preferred it if you hadn’t tried to mislead me.” She paused, and then added, “Are there any more ‘details’ you ‘left out’?” Looking away, Trixie didn’t answer immediately. “Trixie…” “Okay, you win,” said Trixie in resignation. “There’s one more event that you should know about. I…” She glanced at the verity crystal. “I really don’t know how to stop the Penumbra. I promise. But I do know why it started spreading. Partly, at least. It all came from that party last week in Nightcrag Castle... So yes, as the oh-so-helpful Ethereal Requiem told you, I did go exploring the secret corridor that Starlight had found. And I did get caught. By gargoyles. Did she tell you that bit? Yeah. Her ‘agents’ are gargoyles. Oh, I’m sure she has plenty of flesh and blood ponies working for her too. But she can order the gargoyles and make them do what she asks. She’s the one who had them search for us. And she’s the one who set the gargoyles watching the secret corridors and told them to catch me. Incidentally, have you ever tried fighting something made out of stone? It’s really hard. After Ethereal Requiem had her little chat with me, she was planning to keep me locked up for I don’t know how long. So you can imagine my relief when less than an hour after she left, Starlight —popped— in right next to me. She took one look at the hoofcuffs and gargoyles and exclaimed, “Are you all right?” “I’m fine. Just stuck. And if you try to do anything about it I imagine these ugly rocks will have an opinion on that.” I love it when Starlight does her determined expression. “And do you really think Starlight Glimmer will let some ugly rocks keep her friend trapped?” I couldn’t help but grin at that. Starlight made short work of the stone guards and even shorter of the cuffs. “Come on, we should get you out of here. Whoever controls the gargoyles will most likely know that these three are… no longer in service,” she said, stepping over a fragmented arm and claws. “I’m pretty sure it’s Ethereal Requiem,” I said. “And I’m not sure, but I think it might be from inside the secret room.” “You wanna go see if we can get in?” I frowned. “That’s what I was trying when I got caught. I couldn’t get through the door. It didn’t have a handle, just some Transylmaneian symbols on.” Starlight pondered, then said, “Sounds like we should get your friends to take a look.” So we gathered up Tatterdrop and Drifting Melody and headed back to the secret corridor. I explained how I couldn’t work out how to open it, and Melody said, “Ooh! I like puzzles. Let me have a look.” Starlight and me put our heads together to start to make plans. Starlight had just started asking me what I know about the nobility and their various quirks, when Drifting Melody called out, “I’ve got it!” “That was quick,” Starlight said in surprise. I just told her, “Good job! Now let’s see what’s in there.” Care to make a guess what we saw when we opened the door? Yeah, no prizes for guessing that. A dark, creepy room, with Ethereal Requiem and a bunch of gargoyles. Our favourite bat princess was standing by some kind of altar with what looked like toys on it, though I was pretty sure she wasn’t playing. The rest of the room was the usual Transylmaneian aesthetic: flickering candles, cobwebs, red drapes with ravens on. It was satisfying to see how shocked she was to see us. “Trixie Lulamoon! You were under guard… and you should not be able to open the blood door!” “Too bad for you I have friends with the right set of skills to get me here,” I told her. The four of us converged on her altar at the back of the room. She reached a hoof to slide some of the toys around. “Protectors, defend me,” she commanded. The four gargoyles fanned out to block our way. We… didn’t have any clever strategy planned for this part. We just charged at Ethereal Requiem, ignoring the ugly statues blocking us. “Out of the way!” somepony shouted, and the gargoyles just moved aside. She yelled, “Cowardly rubble!” She pressed at the table again as we surrounded her, and suddenly a load more gargoyles started to come in through the door. Tatterdrop figured it out first. “That altar! It’s how she’s controlling the gargoyles!” Ethereal Requiem hissed at her when she said that. So what were we going to do? Our enemy in front of us, pushing buttons to summon endless minions? We had to stop the pony herself, obviously. Starlight started firing off blasts of magic. Tatterdrop and Drifting Melody were warily inching around the altar. I just jumped on top of it. This, I concede, may have been a mistake. So what I realise now is that the altar top was not, in fact, stone. It was a table containing a couple of magical maps, one of Nightcrag, and one of all of Equestria, centred on Transylmaneia. The Nightcrag map had little tokens on it for where the gargoyles are, and you could move them around to give the gargoyles orders when they’re too far away to hear. The map of Transylmaneia I think is how the original makers of the Penumbra set its boundaries. As the province borders changed over the decades, the queen would use the map to keep the Penumbra matching. Ethereal Requiem wasn’t doing much mucking around with that. But this is all somewhat academic now. Because I, ah… managed to smash the table by leaping onto it. And I think that when I did that, that’s what started the Penumbra expanding across the land. Twilight Sparkle was staring open-jawed at Trixie. “You… smashed an ancient magical artifact. That was keeping the Penumbra in check. By jumping onto it in a fight.” “That’s… pretty much the size of it, yeah,” said Trixie. She had the decency to look embarrassed. Twilight was getting tired of rubbing her forehead with a hoof from listening to Trixie. She did it again anyway. She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and asked, “Does Ethereal Requiem know any way to stop the expansion of the Penumbra?” “How should I know? She was pretty apoplectic... started raging at us about demolishing Transylmaneian heritage, then flew out of the corridor. We realised that more and more of the gargoyles were piling into the room so we should probably get out of there. It was getting so dark it was hard to see. Fortunately it seems they’re really obedient to anypony who gives them a direct instruction: Drifting Melody just told them to let us out and they got out of the way.” “Focus, Trixie!” Twilight exclaimed. “We need to stop the Penumbra! Out of all the Transylmaneians you know, who’s most likely to know how to do that?” “…Ethereal Requiem, definitely.” Twilight set her jaw. “Then we’ll get her into a room with us and ask her.” In retrospect, Twilight decided, it had been a mistake to get Ethereal Requiem in the same room as Trixie. She was glad she was sitting between Rarity and Starlight, the far side of the Castle of Friendship’s throne room from the two candidate princesses, otherwise she’d have been tempted to slap one of them. “Upstart! Not content with destroying our ancestors’ heirlooms, you are the one who caused me to be summoned away from the nation at this vital time?” “Don’t act all high-and-mighty to me! You stuck-up nobles don’t care about anypony except your own cronies!” “You are without a doubt the most intolerably thoughtless lowlander I have ever had the displeasure of —” “Enough!” The argument ceased, if only because Twilight Sparkle had seized both royal aspirants and was holding their jaws in her magic. “Ethereal Requiem. While you argue, the Penumbra is spreading constantly wider, not only endangering ponies and businesses across Equestria, but also terrifying them. Making them fear and hate batponies. Making them worry you’re no longer content to be part of Equestria, but wanting to expand beyond your borders in conquest. Getting ponies agitated and afraid. Rumours are stirring. Transylmaneia’s very existence is threatened. So it behooves you to cooperate with us to find a way to reverse the Penumbra’s course as quickly as possible.” She released the two of them and set them down in their seats at opposite ends of the chamber. The batpony protested haughtily, “It is not my fault your unicorn friend ruined the only means at my disposal to control the Penumbra. The blame does not fall on me.” Twilight glared at her and stated, “I do not care about blame. I need solutions. Is that true, that the altar was the only way you know to affect the Penumbra?” She kept one eye on the verity crystal. “It is.” “…Blast it. Okay. And Trixie, you already told me you don’t know any way to control it now?” “That’s right. I promise I would tell you if I did.” Rarity interjected diplomatically, “Perhaps we can try to establish everything we do know about the Penumbra? Ethereal Requiem — can you tell us what it’s for?” Ethereal Requiem frowned. “I was always taught its purpose was twofold. Primarily, to keep the sky dark as batponies prefer. Secondarily, to provide the magical cover required by gargoyles in order to fly.” “And how did you control it previously?” “Its geography did not need frequent adjustment. It was controlled from the Distribution Dais before Trixie Lulamoon so carelessly destroyed it.” Starlight was looking thoughtful. “Could anypony control it with the Dais?” “No. Only those of royal descent.” Twilight interjected, “If it didn’t need frequent adjustment, what were you doing in the secret room?” Ethereal Requiem narrowed her eyes. “What you are asking verges on state secrets, Princess. I am a trusted member of the royal family. I decline to answer.” “Ugh, we know,” said Trixie in exasperation. “You keep going on about your royal blood like it’s the only thing that matters.” “It is obvious that royal blood is the most important qualification for monarchy! I am the designated heir of Queen Heartslash. You should never have come to Transylmaneia!” “So you keep saying. I say it’s the results that matter,” Trixie said smugly. “What does it matter who you are or aren’t related to?” Twilight shot her a warning glance. “Trixie…” “The Queen is my aunt!” exclaimed Ethereal Requiem. “And I insist that you —” Suddenly there was a hush across the throne room. Once again Twilight had seized Ethereal Requiem in her magic, but this time her eyes were fixed on the verity crystal. Its angry red glow shone across the five ponies’ shocked faces. “…Say that again, Princess?” Twilight asked casually. The batpony composed herself and declared, “It is a matter of public record that the Queen is my aunt. Now I —” “No. Say the exact phrase ‘The Queen is my aunt’,” Twilight insisted. “This is irrelevant to your concern about the Penumbra —” “Say it.” “Internal Transylmaneian affairs are none of your —” “Say it!” Ethereal Requiem took a deep breath and steeled herself. Staring intently at the verity crystal as if to will it to remain green, she stated, “The Queen is my aunt.” Once again the red light shone out. She scowled in fury. “Whether or not the Queen is my aunt is irrelevant. I am of royal blood and I am the designated heir of Queen Heartslash. Our exact relation matters not.” The green glow from the verity crystal failed to reassure anypony. A hush fell across the table. Trixie was the first to speak up. “…Fascinated as I am by this revelation, she was actually right about one thing. What we need to sort out right now is the Penumbra. Matters of royal succession can be… returned to later.” “That’s… actually a good point, Trixie,” said Twilight in surprise. She shook her head, trying to focus. “Um. Right. So what were we…?” Starlight Glimmer said, “We were trying to find out how the Distribution Dais works. Ethereal Requiem, if you would be so kind?” The batpony glared at the ponies around her, but her composure was broken. She hissed in defeat. “The Distribution Dais is the place from whence we royals can issue commands to the gargoyles. We can also hold a hoof to the Dais and concentrate in order to see through the eyes of any gargoyle in the realm.” Starlight whistled. Trixie nodded and said softly, “That’s how you were the first pony to greet me at the gates of Nightcrag. And that’s why you went to the secret room when you saw me leave the party, and had the gargoyles catch me. And the gargoyles wouldn’t stop when I told them to because…” “Because you are neither of royal blood, nor were you within the inner sanctum,” sneered Ethereal Requiem. Trixie was still pondering. “...And what about the door? That locked door to the secret corridor?” “The same enchantment is meant to be in force upon that door — a blood lock. But I suspect you or your friends have weakened it somehow.” Ethereal Requiem glared daggers at Trixie. But Twilight noticed that Trixie seemed not only completely unbothered by Ethereal Requiem’s ire, but practically unaware of it. The magician was staring hard into the middle distance instead. Suddenly Trixie turned to Twilight and asked her abruptly, “Have the gargoyles been attacking anypony?” “Uh… not to my knowledge, no. Just circling an ever-expanding area.” Trixie nodded, then stood up straight. “I have an idea. Starlight, can you teleport me to Glory Hunter’s place?” “Wait!” Twilight cried. “You can’t just disappear in the middle of —” “Twilight, if I’m right, this will solve the Penumbra problem in a stroke. In fact, I suggest you head to some village affected by the Penumbra and watch for changes. Starlight, can we go?” Starlight exchanged glances with the others. Rarity coughed and said, “I shall remain here with Ethereal Requiem while you go and do… whatever Trixie’s thought of.” “Okay…” said Starlight Glimmer. “Trixie, whatever this is, I hope you’re right.” She grabbed Trixie and the two disappeared with a —pop—.