//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Spiraling // Story: Was There Ever Any Doubt? // by PhibbyRizo //------------------------------// ~~~~Twilight~~~~ I got up early the next morning to make a lesson plan. Now that I was a teacher, I had to ensure I did a good job. Any hesitation I had felt when Trixie first came had completely evaporated; watching my student learn something was the best feeling I had ever felt! The plan had to be perfect; I had to do this right. I crumpled up draft number 78 and tossed in into a rather full waste bin. It had to be perfect. “Twilight? How long have you been up?” Spike had finally come downstairs. “A couple hours. Glad you’re awake; I need some more parchment.” My stack was nearly depleted and draft 79 wasn’t looking much better. He obediently fetched several rolls, but he had on one of his looks. “So are you working this hard because you like teaching or because you like making lists?” I laughed. “Can’t it be both?” I was in a very good mood, even if my lesson plan wasn’t panning out. Trixie had so much potential; I just had to figure out how to unlock it. If that magical barrier was any indication of her true strength, then I just might need to get a few pointers from her before this is all over. I couldn’t wait for her to wake up so we could begin. “So how come she can’t do teleportation anyway?” Spike asked as he watched me work. “I mean, you got that right away.” “Trixie just isn’t at that level of magic yet.” “But she can do other spells that are even harder! You know, like that invisibility thing. It even took you a while to get that.” He raised a good point. “You may be onto something. It seems like certain magic just comes a lot easier to Trixie but it makes learning the rest harder and…hmm.” I was starting to get a better idea on how to teach her. I began draft 80. “Hmm? What ‘hmm’?” “Nothing. I just want to try something…if she ever wakes up.” My impatience might have been showing. “Twilight, it isn’t even 8 a.m. yet.” “Isn’t it? Oh…well, I’m going to go check on her anyway. See if she happens to have woken up early.” “Maybe Trixie could teach you patience,” he said as I trotted out the door into the cool morning air. I crossed the few feet to her trailer. It was handy having her stay so close; what if I invited her to stay at the library? We had plenty of room and her small carriage couldn’t have been the most comfortable living arrangement. I filed the thought away for later review and gave a soft magical knock at her door. The unlatched door slowly swung open. While I knew I shouldn't have just gone in…again…but I couldn’t help myself. “Trixie? Are you up?” I called in a voice that rivaled a Fluttershy whisper. It was very dim inside; if I hadn’t been here once before, I probably would have collided with the myriad of shelves and prop tables she had scattered around. “Trixie?” I ventured further in and nearly tripped over her. She was laying asleep on a small futon in the middle of the carriage. She was cuddling with a stuffed ursa minor doll and muttering in her sleep. I had to admit it; she was pretty cute when she wasn’t bragging up a storm. After deciding that she looked too peaceful to disturb, I turned to leave. Half a step later I was forced to a halt; Trixie’s hoof had shot out and had seized my leg. I almost had a heart attack. “Please don’t leave me, Twilight….Trixie needs you…” She was still asleep and must have been dreaming about something. “Not alone…” I froze completely, trying not to disturb her. I probably could have easily slipped away, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. After a moment, I slowly sat down near her, and she snuggled up close. I’m not sure how long I sat there watching her. She didn’t want to be alone, and I didn’t want to leave her alone. Finally she stirred, relinquishing her grasp on me. I slipped out of her carriage; I was too embarrassed to stay there. Upon my re-entry into the library, Spike gave me an odd look. “What took you so long? Is she up?” “Oh, I think she’ll be up and about soon.” I shifted awkwardly. “Are you blushing, Twilight?” He eyed me warily. I thankfully never got the chance to respond, as Trixie walked in at that moment. She still looked half-asleep as she eyed both of us. “Good morning. So, when’s the lesson?” she asked through a yawn. ~~~Trixie~~~ I dreamt that night. A real dream, not another nightmare. I was on stage, performing to the sound of cheering and applause. As I readied my next trick, someone in the audience caught my eye; Twilight Sparkle had come to my show. The dream skipped ahead as dreams sometimes do, and she was meeting me after the show. We were going to hang out; we were friends, and that's what friends do, right? We met with her friends, but they were all my friends too. Applejack, Fluttershy, the pink one, the fancy one, and the one they don’t call ‘Rainbow and Dash’ for nothing. Everypony liked me. As the day came to a close, everypony was going home. Twilight was about to leave, but I didn’t want her to. I held her close and asked her to stay. I didn’t want to be alone. She stayed and I was so happy. Then I awoke, still feeling the warmth of dream-Twilight next to me. I yawned; it was still rather early for me. I considered going back to sleep, but the part of me that wanted to see my friend overrode that impulse. As I stood up and tucked my futon away, I noticed something. There were a few dark strands of hair near my bed. I knew who they belonged to, but I wasn’t sure how they had gotten there. I probably just had brushed against Twilight’s tail yesterday; that had to be it. I dismissed the thought and ventured into the home of my friend. She and Spike were talking about something or other as I entered, but I didn’t catch any of it. It was still too early for me; I just yawned. “Good morning. So, when’s the lesson?” “We can begin immediate…” Twilight started, smiling brightly. “After you both eat breakfast.” Spike interrupted, placing plates on the table. “You both take so much looking after.” He has no idea just how much. Twilight laughed and I smiled. I had no idea where that dragon learned to cook, but my girlish figure is in danger. A magician needs to look her best, and Spike’s delicious foods were a threat to that. As we ate, we discussed the upcoming lesson. “So, am I doing more teleportation practice today?” “Actually, I was thinking of switching it up a bit. While I still want you practicing in your free time, I thought we’d experiment with your strengths today.” She beamed as she pulled out a paper titled ‘Lesson Plan #80’. Did she just give me homework? What strengths? “My ‘strengths’ aren’t really all that strong. I told you yesterday, I just pretend I have strengths.” “That’s just it, though! Your ‘pretending’ is still magic, and you're very good at it. The spells you use to misdirect, disguise and trick people are all rather well-developed. I think that your cutie mark means you are skilled in a particular type of magic rather than just magic in general. Trixie, you are a very skilled illusionist!” She seemed happy, but I couldn’t see how this was such a good thing. She is just sugar-coating it. “My true talent is faking it?” She got up from the table as Spike cleared the dishes. “Not exactly. Let me try putting this another way; How long can you make something invisible for?” “I’m not really sure; I haven’t tested that,” I said as I followed her to the door. “About ten minutes is the longest I can recall.” Twilight walked outside; apparently we were practicing out here. “Exactly. The longest I can manage is only about five minutes or so. I may be able to do a greater variety of tricks, but your skills are focused. So your illusions are stronger, while your other magic is a tad stunted.” “You mean I’m actually better than you at something?” She laughed. “Yes, Trixie, you are. I can probably catch up to you with some effort, but I think you could catch up to me too. Today I want to see the extent of your current powers; we can try blending your spells in some new ways. Show me exactly what you can do with your invisibility, your smoke tricks…oh! I also want to see that barrier spell too.” “Um, ok then.” I felt a bit better about my talents. I wasn’t sure what she meant by barrier spell though. Never mind that. It isn’t important. “Invisibility first?” She nodded, and I began casting my spells. I got increasingly showy as the day wore on, but Twilight didn’t seem to mind. It turned out that I could make something disappear for about fifteen minutes, and my control of magic smoke was even better than I knew. I was getting new ideas for some stage tricks to really blow the crowd away. “Well, Miss Sparkle, have you ever considered being in show business?” I was quite taken with her creative ideas. “You’d make an excellent Lovely Assistant.” “Cut it out Trixie, you’ll make me blush.” She laughed. She actually did blush too; it was most adorable. “Now, it may not be an illusion spell, but that barrier of yours was amazing. I want to see it again; let’s figure out how it ties in with your other abilities.” “Uh…sure?” I still wasn’t sure what she was talking about. I didn’t recall making a barrier while in town. Heck, I almost never used defensive spells in general. Don’t disappoint her now. You don’t want to let her down, do you? I concentrated hard, putting all I had into this spell. A shimmering magenta shell surrounded me. Let’s see if she can break this. I swallowed hard. “All right, Trixie is ready for your best shot.” She nodded. “I’m going to start with a few easily deflected blasts, then build up the power slowly so I don’t accidentally hurt you. Then again, if the barrier is anywhere near as good as the other night, I doubt I can pierce it at all.” What was she talking about? Who knows, who cares? I didn’t think this was a good idea. Don’t disappoint your friend, let her go all out. I wasn’t sure what to do as Twilight charged energy in her horn. I braced myself for impact and concentrated harder on my spell. Show Twilight Sparkle you are worth her time. “I think my barrier is strong enough. Just go all out on Trixie!” Twilight looked concerned, but her horn’s raspberry glow brightened. She fired a blast of magical energy toward me. I could hear the crackle of power as it flew near me. I could smell a tinge of something that reminded me of burning wood as the spell neared my barrier. I could see it clearly…as it passed my barrier as if the force-field didn’t exist. I tasted a bit of blood as the spell knocked me off my hooves and into the dirt. I felt the ground as I smacked into it. You felt ashamed of your weakness too. “Trixie! Trixie, are you all right?!” Twilight was at my side in a second, but I didn’t feel like I could face her. “Trixie please say something!” “I’m okay.” I lied. My voice was muffled since I was still face down in the dirt, but I didn’t want her to see my tears. Failed again. A barrier isn’t something you can fake. “Here, let me help you up.” She extended a hoof. I would have rather remained face down, but I took it anyway. “I’m glad that you're all…Trixie, you’re crying! Did it hurt that bad? I am so so sorry!” “I said I was fine. I just…” I wasn’t sure what to say. Did I really want to lie to her? It is all you know how to do. No, there was no point now. “I’m sorry I let you down.” “Let me down? Trixie, what are you talking about? You gave it your best shot; there is nothing to be let down about.” She did something I wasn’t expecting: she hugged me close. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I pressed you into something that you weren’t ready for, and you got hurt. Can you ever forgive me?” Forgive her? Wasn't I the one who needed forgiving? I didn’t understand. I simply hugged her back. “Of course…friends, right?” She let go of me and looked me right in the eye. “Friends for sure.” I smiled and took a moment to dust myself off. “So, what now?” “I’m still trying to figure out exactly what went wrong there; the barrier the other day was so strong…” She stared at me curiously. “Could you make that barrier again?” I did as I was asked, but I wasn’t in a hurry to be zapped again. “I’m gonna level with you, Twilight; I don’t know what you're talking about.” She approached my shining, useless shield. She waved her hoof at it…and it passed right through. “Trixie, I think this barrier is an illusion. I think you instinctively used your gifts to…wait, what don’t you know?” “I don’t know what you keep going on about. I haven’t done any Great and Powerful barrier that you keep mentioning.” “It was the night before last, after you came back from Fluttershy’s.” She looked even more curious now. “When you were crying and…” “You…saw that, did you?” Well, that was embarrassing. How many times was I going to cry in front of her? “I didn’t make any barrier. I didn’t cast any spells. I was just…well, you saw.” “That’s funny. When I tried to go in to talk to you, I…” Twilight started, but a call from an orange mare cut her short. “Howdy ya’ll. How goes the lesson, Twilight?” Applejack walked toward us. Twilight walked up to greet her while I took a step or two back. I'd forgotten that she was coming by today. I was not at all prepared for this! I didn’t even look professional; my hat and cape were in my trailer! “Hey AJ, it’s going pretty well.” Twilight cast a glance at me as I was trying to slip away. “Although I may have overdone it on an experiment…” She should have killed me with that blast; it would have more merciful. Such melodrama, just run away. I wanted to, but… “Just give me and Trixie a second to finish up. Mind waiting inside?” A reassuring glance from Twilight made me stay. “Sure thing, ah’ll let you fillies finish up. Just fetch me when yer ready there.” Applejack made her way into the library, and I finally was able to breathe. “Are you all right, Trixie? You look kind of freaked out.” Twilight walked over to me and put a sympathetic hoof on my shoulder. Great, she knew how nervous (pathetic) I was feeling. I was humiliating myself in front of my friend and nothing had even happened yet. I took a deep breath to muster some of my stage-courage; I was going to need it. “Trixie is just fine. She was just surprised, nothing more.” “You sure? You’re doing that thing again.” She wasn’t buying it. “Trixie just feels calmer this way, that’s all.” “I understand, and I know AJ can be a little daunting, but I think you guys will get along great.” Twilight’s voice was reassuring. “But I wouldn’t use the stage voice; I don’t think she’d go for it.” I sighed. “Fine, I’ll…I’ll try.” I felt as if I were walking to the gallows as we approached the library door. My desire to not disappoint Twilight kept me going. Also, as much as she made me nervous, I really did want Applejack to like me. We crossed the threshold and I went to face my fate. There was palpable silence…until Twilight left me to fend for myself. “We’re all finished. I’ll be upstairs if anyone needs me.” She hurried up the steps, but turned back and mouthed something to me. I believe it was ‘good luck’. Applejack and I were left to stare at each other awkwardly. She shifted on her hooves while I tried to hide in my hat…which wasn’t even there. We broke the silence in unison. "Sorry about…" we both started. The silence fell again, but Applejack took a breath and pressed on. “Ahem. Sorry ‘bout yesterday. Ah suppose ah might have overreacted to yer little scene there.” She spoke slowly and deliberately; she sounded about as nervous about this as I did. “Yeah, well, I was in the middle of overreacting myself. Forget about it,” I started, trying to keep the words flowing. “Um, sorry about the whole ‘rope trick’ last year…” “Apology accepted. Ah was thinkin’ we could take a walk; ah never got the chance to talk proper to ya. Heck, we ain't even had a proper introduction. I’m Applejack.” She extended her hoof to me. “And you have clearly heard of the Great and Power…” I froze; I was doing it again. I quickly changed my tone. “Sorry, force of habit. I’m, um, Trixie.” I closed my eyes as I shook her hoof, still embarrassed over my verbal relapse. She, however, seemed to find it more amusing today than she did yesterday; she laughed. “Darn glad ta meet ya. Shall we?” Following her out the door, I began to relax a little. She didn't seem to be holding a grudge. Was I getting better at this or was it all just Twilight’s influence? I wasn’t sure it really mattered; the important thing was I had a chance to make a friend and I had better not screw it up. We talked idly as we wandered; we were both still unsure of what to speak of. She told me of her farm while I spoke of my shows. It turned out that a certain over-eager fan I met in Appleloosa was her cousin; seems like it’s a small world. I recommended limiting his caffeine intake. Just as I was starting to feel comfortable talking to her, my calm went up in multi-colored smoke. In a flash, a rainbow pegasus descended and landed defiantly between me and the apple farmer. “AJ! What the hay are you doing with the magical loudmouth?” She was as loud as she was colorful. “Did she hypnotize you? She hypnotized you; I knew it. Don’t worry, AJ, I’ll…” “Whoa there filly, just take a breather.” Applejack shot me an apologetic look. “Ain't nopony been hypnotized.” “That’s just what a hypnotized pony would say.” Miss ‘Rainbow and Dash’ had a glare that felt as if it would set me on fire. I suppose she was still sore about last time. Who wouldn’t be? You were terrible. I took matters into my own hooves; after all, Twilight couldn’t do all the work for me. “Um, nice to see you again, Miss Dash?” Her look shifted to one of pure confusion. Sounding like a complete fool; good job. She looked at Applejack, then back at me. She raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “‘Sup?” I simply shrugged in response, to which she replied with a nod. ‘Rainbow and Dash’ then turned back to AJ. This time, she at least sounded calmer. “What the hay is going on?” “Well, I was about to offer Trix here a tour of mah farm, ifin’ you’d like ta tag along.” Applejack adjusted her hat, then turned back to me. “Sound good ta you, Trix?” “Yeah, sounds good.” Things seemed to be going well. This sounds boooring. Augh. No, I really did want to see it. “Since when were you two so buddy-buddy?” Rainbow seemed to be coming along. “We’re not really…” I began. “Well, we’re getting’ there,” AJ finished, giving me a wink. We began our trek to the farm. As we approached, I finally worked up the nerve to speak to the colorful mare. “So, um, Trixie is sorry about last time. It was wrong of her to do what she did to you.” “Did you hit your head or something?” was her only reply. I could only hope that was her way of accepting the apology. AJ began acting as tour guide; it was clear she had done this many times before. She seemed to have all her lines well rehearsed. This is boring. Actually it was more interesting than I expected it to be. Time for something more fun to happen… The lengthy tour was just concluding with Applejack waking up Rainbow; the pegasus had dozed off around the middle. I had really enjoyed myself and things were looking pretty good on the ‘new friend’ scale…until the wolves showed up. With a howl, a pack of seven wolf-like creatures made of wood appeared at the edge of the farm. Now this will be interesting. The pack was headed right for the farm house where AJ’s little sister had just gone into. “What in tarnation are they doin’ here at this time of day?!” Applejack looked perplexed. “Timberwolves never come out before dark.” “Who cares? It’s go time.” Rainbow seemed more excited than anything else. “You ready for this, Show Pony?” Here is your chance. Impress them, show them how great you really are. “Of course I’m ready. Trixie can handle this.” “All right then. Rainbow, you cut them off and keep ‘em from gettin’ in the house. Trixie, use that fancy razzle-dazzle of yours to keep ‘em off kilter. I’ll kick their keisters back into the forest.” We charged in. I did my best to distract the wolves; I kept them off balance with illusory ponies and smokescreens. I was able to use an energy blast, but it wasn't anywhere near as strong as Twilight’s. Rainbow relied on a hit and run style while Applejack was using the old ‘kick-‘em-in-the-head’ strategy. We were getting spread out, but we'd knocked most of the wolves out cold. More power! Show them just how Great and Powerful you really are. I didn’t know how to prove myself here…until I saw Applejack being surrounded. Better do something. Don’t be useless. She was too far away for me to run to, and I still couldn’t teleport. Just blast them all away. Let them know just who they’re dealing with. I felt my horn charge with more energy than I have ever felt pass through it. I wasn’t sure where the energy was coming from, but I didn’t care; I could use it. I lobbed a magic blast toward the timberwolves near AJ…but I never expected that explosion. ~~~~Twilight~~~~ Today was shaping up to be a pretty good day so far. While the magic lesson had been a little inconclusive, I thought we'd made legitimate progress. Trixie was shaping up to be a fine student and, considering what I'd overheard while AJ was here, a fine friend. She had left with Applejack a few hours ago; I took the length of their walk to be a good sign. I was happy for her, but I was getting a little impatient for her return. Left to my own devices, I had little to do but read, yet I couldn’t focus on my books. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. There were still so many things that I had wanted to discuss with her over lunch—well, dinner now, since she still wasn’t back. I wanted to ask her about moving into the library, about tips for invisibility, about that strange barrier, about… My thoughts scattered when I heard an explosion in the distance. I jumped to my hooves and ran outside. I couldn’t see anything from where I was standing, but a feeling of dread had fallen over me. From what I could tell, the explosion had come from the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. I was just about to start running there when a flash of magical energy stopped me in my tracks, and Trixie suddenly appeared in front of me. She had teleported! My excitement was short-lived after I saw the state that she was in. She looked a little disheveled…and she had been crying again. “Twilight?” She sounded confused, her voice as quiet as…well, Fluttershy. “Trixie! What happened? Are you all right? Where’s AJ?” “I…wolves…I…I think I killed her…” Trixie was still sounding like she was in shock. I didn’t say anything despite how disturbing her statement was. Instead, I led her into my house and called for Spike to make some tea. I sat down near her and waited for her to relax a little. After she got a bit of tea in her, she stopped shaking enough to tell me what happened. “Applejack, Rainbow and Dash and Trixie had just got to her farm…” she began in between sips. I decided not to call her on reverting to the third pony; if she needed that to keep her calm, I wasn’t going to stop her. “Dash was there?” I asked, not commenting on the odd way Trixie referred to her. “Did she cause a fight or…” Trixie shook her head. “No, she helped us with one. These wolf-things came out of the woods. Trixie tried to help fight them…to show that I could still be Great and Powerful sometimes.” “Wolf-things?” I wasn’t sure what she meant. There were several wolf-like creatures in the Everfree Forest, although almost all of them were nocturnal. “Wooden wolves.” She took a breath and continued. “Applejack was in trouble so I tried to help…Twilight, I really tried! I’m not sure what spell I used; it just kind of came out. Then all of a sudden there was an explosion, and Applejack was caught in it.” She paused and stared at me as if awaiting judgment. I didn’t say anything, but offered a weak smile and a nod; urging her to continue her story. “I froze after that until Rainbow tackled me. A wolf was behind me and she knocked of the way! She saved me after I hurt AJ!” Trixie was hyperventilating, growing almost hysterical. “The wolf bit Rainbow’s leg, but she still knocked it out.” “What happened to Applejack after that?” “I don’t know. Rainbow and Dash yelled at me about watching what I was doing and about aiming better. Then I started to panic and the next thing I knew I had teleported.” She was crying in earnest now and I put a hoof around her to comfort her. “I’m sorry…I don’t know why I screwed up so bad I just…” The doorbell interrupted her. Spike went to get it while we just sat in silence. A few moments later, he walked in, followed by Apple Bloom. “Hey y’all. Ah just was lookin’ fer um…fer her.” She pointed to Trixie. “Sorry, I don’t know yer name. Ah just thought ah should say thanks fer helpin’ save me and that mah sister just woke up. She’s a bit groggy but she’ll be fine.” Trixie dropped her teacup but she at least looked a bit relieved. “She’s okay?” “Mmhmm.” Apple Bloom nodded. “She’s just a touch shook up.” “Thank you, Apple Bloom,” I said, feeling relieved myself. “I’ll be by in a little while to check on her.” “All right. I’ll let her know yer comin’. You should come on back too, miss,” she said to Trixie as she turned and ran down the stairs. “See y’all there.” “See? No real harm done.” I gave Trixie a reassuring hug. “Think you’re up to coming with me?” She shook her head. “I doubt she wants to see me. I’m just gonna go straight to bed.” “What about dinner? We could…” “I’m not hungry.” Trixie may have sounded better than when she came in, but she still sounded depressed. “I was going to ask, would you like to move your stuff inside the library? We have an extra bed and it will probably be more comfortable. It’ll be like a slumber party!” Maybe changing the subject would get her mind off things. She smiled, but it faded quickly. She averted her eyes from me. “Thanks, but I'd better not. Go check on your real friend.” With that, she hurried out of the library, and I heard her trailer door slam shut. I glanced at Spike, but he seemed to be at just as much of a loss as I was. I wanted to go check on Trixie, but Applejack’s condition was something that I couldn’t ignore. Trixie would be okay; AJ I wasn’t sure about. I hurried off to the farm. ~~~~Trixie~~~~ I spilled the whole terrible story of my actions to Twilight. I knew she would hate me for what I had done. Of course she would. You killed her friend. Twilight didn’t seem angry with me, at least not yet. I knew it was only a matter of time; this was probably my last night in Ponyville. Then suddenly the doorbell rang and a small girl entered. It was one of the three blank-flanks that had given me directions. I had no idea she was Applejack’s sister. She told us the AJ was going to be okay. I was relieved, but it didn’t excuse my actions. It still counts as attempted murder. She left after asking us to come to the farm. Twilight clearly wanted to leave to check on her friend. I couldn’t blame her; Applejack was more important to Twilight than I was. Yet for some reason, she kept talking to me instead of leaving. “See? No real harm done.” She hugged me; she was so warm. I didn’t want her to leave me. “Think you’re up to coming with me?” I couldn’t show my face there. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both probably hate you, so why bother? “I doubt she wants to see me. I’m just gonna go straight to bed.” “What about dinner? We could…” “I’m not hungry.” As much as I didn’t want her to leave, I wanted to be alone. I just didn’t know what to feel. “I was going to ask, would you like to move your stuff inside the library? We have an extra bed and it will probably be more comfortable. It’ll be like a slumber party!” I smiled. I really would like that. Maybe Twilight didn’t hate me yet, maybe I still had hope. If Twilight wanted me closer… “Thanks, but I had better not. Go check on your real friend.” I wasn’t sure why I said that. You don’t deserve her, that’s why. I hadn't wanted to say that. I didn’t know what to do, so I fled to my trailer. The tears wouldn’t stop.