//------------------------------// // 005. End of an Era // Story: Spirit of the Arcane // by DuskIsGolden //------------------------------// 005. End of an Era -The Arcane Courts- Silence had befallen the Courts as they heard news of the assassination of Ignatius, and each member eyed the other. In the smoky haze of the room, the hushed silence became deafening as opinions rocketed through the heads of those not willing to speak. Coughs were heard, eyes blinked, blank faces became more blank. No one spoke for a long time until one colt opened his eyes and said loudly, "I say we send our own team of assassins against her! If she is who she really thinks she is, we oughta do it ourselves, right?" one calmly stated in reply, "Mind you, that any assassin is trained to possess the soul of another pony! That's what happened to Ignatius and this... this... TRIXIE mare! He possessed her and darkened her! She'll fall into madness and begin to corrupt others!" the colt glared back and retorted, "Oh, and that hasn't already happened?" he laughed mockingly, "So what are we going to do, huh? What's going to happen if we fail?" "Failure's not an option!" "Failure is ALWAYS an option!" the two ponies were engaged in a heavy argument, the rest still too scared to speak. Their eyes darted nervously between the two and they sat down, still glaring. "If just killing her doesn't work, then why don't we do what we did with Absinthe, her mentor?" the room gasped and everypony stared at the mare who had suggested such a ridiculous request. "You know that rule has been abandoned for several hundred years," the mare scoffed, "And who ever listens to rules?" she daringly eyed the circle, "honestly now... name one time where any of you actually obeyed the rules of the Circle," there was another hushed silence and the mare slipped a silent smirk upon her face. "Exactly," she stated proudly, and the two arguing colts looked at her, a look of enragement upon their faces. One of the colts shook his head, closed his eyes, and when he reopened them he stated quietly, "This circle of ours is so corrupt that we forgot what we're dealing with..." some ponies gave him dumb expressions, others looked at him in interest as he spoke, "... I think that Trixie will fall into madness, yes, but when you look at her, she's just a mare who's dealt with a lot of the circle's attempts to kill her, and out of spite she killed our best assassin and her mentor. I think it's the end of an era, and the Circle needs to find a better way to deal with this mare." some ponies nodded, but the mare who had argued the rules spoke up. "So what? Are we just going to watch Trixie ruin Equestria? Remember, we were meant to protect Equestria, not blow it all to hell for one mare," she growled. The colt shot a dark look up to her and he replied, "Listen! I'm in no favor of saving Trixie's life, but I'm just saying instead of stealing her soul or having an assassin just killing her, we find a better way!" "There is no better way!" the mare screamed, "that lighting arcane circle did the trick for Absinthe!" "It did nothing to her! It made her nearly fall straight into madness! You know that, you were there!" the mare was hushed instantly and she retreated quickly into her silence. It was the truth, after all, and she was there right in view of Absinthe. The lighting process sapped much magical ability away from the arcane unicorn standing in the aurora of the lights, but it strengthened the part of the mind that is used for recall. So Absinthe quickly recalled her grand palace in the sky and relearned all of her spells, only to have it drive her into madness while Ignatius toyed with Trixie, eventually ending up killing him and Trixie's mentor. There was no better way to end Absinthe, but with Trixie still around, and probably one of the last of best arcane unicorns around in Equestria, there were limited options. "I have an idea," a unicorn stood up, her face glowering, "I know a pony who might be able to stop Trixie's madness once and for all. No killing, no soul-stealing or possessing, just straight up ending madness," the mare scoffed, "So what does that mean? Turning her into a vegetable? Effective sounding," the colt rolled his eyes at the mare's statement and turned back to the mare who had first spoken, "And who might that be?" the unicorn's face lit up. "Twilight Sparkle." * * * -Ponyville- Twilight was going through some moderately heavy reading as the others were running their errands of the day to keep themselves off of the news of the Arcane Circle and the news of Trixie's killing spree. Books had always kept Twilight company—no matter what it was, they always had, always would. But that day, Twilight was deep into a book she had started earlier, and a rude poof was heard and she heard a scroll drop behind her. Startled, she slammed her book closed and glared at the interruption. "Spike?" she inquired loudly, "Spike, did you send something to Princess Celestia without me knowing?" Spike bolted from the other room and responded, "No, Twilight, why? You know I don't send anything to the princess without you knowing," Twilight rolled her eyes at the purple dragon's comment and knew it was true. "That's true, but who could have sent this?" she sat on her haunches and opened the scroll, quickly reading through its contents. She set it down, confusion contorting her face. "Well, what does it say, Twilight?" Spike asked excitedly, but his expression was met with a gloom look from Twilight. "It's the Arcane Circle, Spike," her voice had retreated into itself as she spoke. "They want me to help them with retrieving Trixie," Spike shook his head in confusion and inquired again, "What? What's that?" Twilight twitched at the thought of explaining the circle and she responded coldly, "The Arcane Circle, Spike, is a group of ponies from all over Equestria who gather to discuss out-of-line ponies who have studied magic," Spike blinked confusedly and he sat down, saying, "Why would they want you to help hunt Trixie, Twilight?" Twilight thought for a moment as she replied quietly, "Because they think my magic can stop Trixie's Arcane magic from making her grow insane," Spike sat down and thought over the comment and let the silence fill the gap. "Well I don't know, Twilight, I mean, good luck and all," he finally said after the silence had grown to be too much. Twilight glanced back at him, gave him a brief hug, put on her saddlebag and replied, "Thanks Spike," * * *