13 DAYS TO MIDNIGHT
"Huh... I thought it'd be bigger."
"Well, Trixie is glad it's smaller. Makes it easier for us."
"But there's less knowledge."
"Trixie likes a challenge."
"Trixie should go jump off a cliff."
The self-proclaimed Great and Powerful Trixie conversed with Century as the trio reached the castle's library. Spirit, however, chose to be quiet. The magician and the politician made an amusing pair, and she'd hate to ruin it.
Spirit stepped forward to take the sight in. She was no stranger to libraries, which usually weren't all that big, but this was a tad bit disappointing. As Century said, it was less knowledge. Meaning the chances of finding something substantial were lower. But Trixie did add it'd be easier, and she'd hate to spend so much of what little time they have searching for a weapon they weren't even sure they could get their hands on.
"Okay," Spirit began, "Trixie, you'll search the books on the left. Century, the right, and I'll search the middle." She turned around to face them. "Understand that what we're looking for doesn't need to be an all-powerful weapon. Just something that can obliterate Celestia's crown."
"Yes, yes," Trixie replied, "Trixie is no fool. Might not be able to say the same for this stallion over here, though."
"This stallion's going to break your spine," Century retorted.
Trixie giggled, "Trixie would like to see him try."
"Enough," Spirit chimed in. "Let's just get to work. We don't need you two going back and forth right now. You can do that later."
"She's right," Trixie began, "Now is not the time for squabbling. As an expert in friendship, Trixie shall end this conversation and dutifully get to work. Equestria isn't going to save itself."
With that, Trixie approached her side of the library and immediately began with the books on the top shelf. Century rolled his eyes and approached his side of the library. Already telling that this was going to be a hassle. And Trixie would be a massive splinter in his side. Smiling, Spirit approached the middle of the library. Ready to get started.
Century picked the first book he saw off the shelf and read the title. It was white, and in big, bold orange letters, its title read Hippology: The Study of Horses. Out of curiosity, he flipped through the book and landed on a page close to the middle.
It read, "Hundreds of years ago, a discovery was made by one of the earliest, most famous hippologists in history. The stallion's name, Gustav Raushine, a citizen of Baltimare, through a rigorous microscopic experiment, discovered that each and every pony's hoof contained millions of microscopic hairs."
"Compared to other species with movable limbs such as fingers, which allow them to grip things, ponies have these tiny hairs that allow them to pick things up in the same way. Despite their hooves appearing to be soft stumps incapable of gripping anything."
Century dropped the book in disbelief and bafflement, trying to process what he had just read. Little hairs on the bottom of his hooves? What in the world was this book talking about? Why wasn't he taught this when he was younger?
"Uh, Century?" Spirit asked, confused, "Why'd you drop that book? Everything okay over there?"
Century sighed, "Yeah, just... That book did not have what we're looking for. I was going through it and was just... Stunned. Weirded out."
"Trixie agrees," She chimed in. "Trixie just found a book detailing an experiment about taming timber wolves. Such a strange book. Not surprised it's in the Princess of Friendship's library."
"Well, that's great and all," Spirit responded, "But remember what we're looking for. Don't get distracted looking at something entirely different."
"Of course," Trixie replied, "Trixie shall continue her search." Spirit looked over to Century. "Yeah," he added, "I know, I'm not stupid."
Spirit smiled, "Just making sure."
"Hey, Century."
"What, Trixie?"
"Did you know the best way to overload a unicorn or an alicorn's magic ability is bad dad jokes?"
"No Trixie, I did not."
"...Hey, Century."
"...What Trixie?"
"Wanna hear a bad dad joke-"
"No!"
Century shouted, "You've been telling me useless facts from that stupid book for like forty minutes! And what was with that last one, I’m not a unicorn!”
Century and Trixie laid next to each other, staring up at the ceiling. Century with his hooves on his chest and Trixie holding a book. Using her hooves instead of her magic.
Two hours had passed since they arrived at the library, and they'd found nothing capable of destroying Celestia's crown. Sure, they came across ancient artifacts containing immense power, but either they weren't strong enough, or they didn't exist anymore.
While Trixie and Century had pretty much given up, Spirit continued to search. Refusing to throw in the towel just yet. She had never been a quitter. And she wouldn't become one now, especially with what's at stake.
Century called out to the unicorn, standing on a ladder and going through multiple books at once using her magic. "Spirit, this is pointless. We'd have to go to the Canterlot library to find something powerful enough. Heck, maybe even the Royal Castle's library, and I'm pretty sure none of us have access to that."
Spirit scoffed, "So what, we just give up? Let the world be destroyed before we even get started? This is just one library. And if we can't find anything here, we could just sneak into the Royal Castle's library. We can't give up now."
"Well," Trixie sat up, yawning. "You two may continue arguing and searching endlessly for lost knowledge. Trixie is going to get a drink. Hopefully, Twilight has some cider."
Trixie began trotting to the library's exit to head downstairs. "Hey, wait up. I'm thirsty too!" Century cried from behind, standing up and hurriedly following after her.
"Then hurry, or else Trixie will drink all the cider before you." Trixie replied, maliciously cackling afterward.
Spirit sighed as the two left her sight before returning to the bookshelf. She looked at one of the books in her magic grasp. How to Succeed! She then frowned when she read the smaller words below the title. And Knowing When to Give Up.
Trixie sighed, "It is with great sorrow, Century, that Trixie must inform you of this news."
"Don't tell me."
"Yes, Twilight has no cider in this fridge."
"Oh, for Celestia's sake..."
Trixie rummaged through the fridge like she owned it. "However," she started, "The Princess does have some orange juice."
Century sighed, resting his hoof on the table behind the unicorn. "Who the heck drinks orange juice this late at night? That's sick; just hand me some seltzer or something. This day has been utter crap."
Using her magic, Trixie grabbed what she assumed to be seltzer and poured Century a drink. She thought for a moment before shrugging and pouring herself a cup of the seltzer.
She sat next to Century and took a long sip of her drink. She then set it back on the table, somewhat disappointed after tasting it. Century chuckled, "That's not seltzer, is it?"
"Either it isn't," Trixie replied, "Or it used to be. This is merely water. Foul, boring water."
Century took a swig of his drink, "Eh, I can do foul and boring right now."
The two stared at the wall before them. Thinking in deep thought. Their adventure had barely even begun, yet they felt they were already at their lowest. In a world full of all types of magical objects and places, they couldn't find anything capable of destroying Celestia's virtually invulnerable crown.
Perhaps they would just have to sit and wait for the inevitable annihilation of their home. It wasn't like there was anything else they could do. Well, they could go through their bucket list.
"Hey," Trixie started, "Have you ever gone skiing before?"
Century huffed, "No. Why? Thinking of going through your bucket list?"
"You have any better ideas?"
"...I... I don't know. I just wish this wasn't so hard. I feel awful. I wish we could just go find some giant, powerful laser somewhere. It'd be so easy, then..."
"Powerful lasers, you say?"
"AH!"
Trixie and Century turned to the kitchen entrance, where they'd heard a voice call out to them.
Trixie raised a brow, "Uh... Who's the talking cat?"
Standing at the doorway was a tall, bipedal cat with greenish-bluish eyes and peanut-colored fur. The cat wore a crimson trench coat. And despite it appearing to be old, faded, and missing fabric, the cat wore it with pride and style akin to a young prince.
"This talking cat's name is Capper," he replied. "And I do apologize, but I heard some interesting talk about powerful lasers, and I couldn't help but be intrigued."
Trixie glanced at Century. Century glanced at Trixie. "Uh," Century began, "Why are you in Princess Twilight's castle? W-Where did you even come from?"
"He's with me," another voice added from behind the cat. Said cat stepped back to reveal Twilight's closest friend, Spike the dragon. He stepped forward, a smile on his face.
"Hey Trixie," he spoke, and Trixie genuinely waved. He looked to Century, "And you must be Mayor Mare's advisor, right?"
Century nodded, "The one and only Century."
"What're you guys doing here?"
Trixie sighed, "Twilight allowed us to use her library in search of certain knowledge. We've been searching for hours and haven't gotten anything, so we kinda gave up."
"Oh, that's awful. Sorry guys." Spike cocked his head, "Wait, what were you searching for-"
"Hold up Spike," Trixie hopped down from her chair. "Trixie just remembered she was told by Twilight to inform her when you arrived. We'll talk later, but you should go find the Princess."
"Oh! Thanks for letting me know, Trixie. I'll be right back." Spike, as naive as ever, took Trixie's word to heart and hurried off. Leaving the two ponies and the cat alone. Century hopped off his seat and approached Capper suspiciously.
"So..." He started, "How much did you hear?"
Capper grinned, "All I know is that you need some powerful laser, right?"
"...Yeah?"
Capper straightened his jacket, "Well, you're in luck. Because I just so happen to know of a certain powerful laser."
"You do?!" Trixie and Century questioned simultaneously. Capper chuckled, "Yes, my little ponies, I do."
"Wher-... Wait a minute, you want something, don't you?" Century asked, wary.
Capper shrugged, "Relax, it won't cost much. Just a couple of bits, eh?"
Trixie looked at Century, who raised a brow. "What?"
"You're the government official; give him some money," Trixie replied.
"Why me? You're not broke, are you?"
"Trixie lives in a wagon."
"...How much, cat?"
Capper smiled, "Two hundred bits ain't much, is it?"
Century groaned, "Seriously? What a pain... Fine, I'll have it for you at the office tomorrow morning. I promise."
Casper tilted his head, "A politician making promises?"
"Hey, we are not that kind of nation, whiskers! Don't doubt my word!"
Casper giggled, "Fine, fine."
"Besides," Century continued, "How do we know you're not lying?"
"Now, I don't think Princess Twilight would be too happy about me scamming her subjects. So, I won't be trying something like that."
Trixie stepped forward, "Alright, Capper, you've got your payment. Spill it out already." Capper chuckled, "Of course, pleasure doing business with you."
He cleared his throat, "Now, there's a nation very far away from Equestria. My people's native land, to be exact. The nation of Meridio."
Century raised a brow, "Meridio? I've never heard of that place. Where is it?"
"Hold your horses, horse. I'm getting to that."
Century rolled his eyes, and Capper continued. "Now then, Meridio is quite developed compared to you. But it wasn't always like that. Long, long ago, Meridio was a nation in tatters. They had just lost a long, brutal war with the nation of Abyssinia. Their current president, Rorsch Windivear, had become incredibly unpopular as he caused the war with Abyssinia. Invading them for natural resources."
Capper continued, "One day, his constituents had finally had it and forcefully removed him from office. Exiling him into the nearby forest. Windivear wandered the forest for days. Attempting but failing to survive in the wild. Strange for a cat, I know. But just as he seemed to be living his last day, he came upon something magical."
"Surrounded by rocks, Windivear found a small, glowing jewel. He examined it and quickly found out it contained powerful magic inside. Magic that could be controlled. By gripping tightly, a powerful laser emerged from its tip and could cut through anything. Windivear used it to acquire meat and start a fire. He could even use it to boil water. But in his head, the greatest thing of all, was that it could cut straight through rock. Any rock. It was the greatest mining tool of all time. And Meridio needed mining."
"Despite what he was told, he returned to the people and showed them the incredible gem. The people were astonished. Captivated like a wolf in a meat locker. The gem was immediately put to use, and the magic inside it pushed Meridio technologically past all other nations on the planet. Making it the most developed of them all."
"While all this new technology was fantastic, the greatest aspect of the gem, its concentrated beam, was the real prize to the federal Meridio government. It was decided that they would create a massive, and I mean massive, focused energy drill to mine for resources. It was created in the same forest, the very same spot Windivear found the gemstone. Normally, a megastructure of its size would take centuries, Century. But with their technology, it only took a couple of years. Eight, to be exact.”
"The drill would be dubbed the Rorsch-MkII. Dedicated to the cat that found the legendary magic. And the forest he was initially exiled to? It would go on to be known as the Rorsch Woodlands. That drill has been mining resources and powering technology for the Meridians' for centuries, Century. It is quite a powerful laser."
Century glared, "How powerful? Because we've been looking for powerful things all day, and it's all come up short."
"It's said that if the drill was ever turned to full power, the magic of the laser, along with the modifications from the drill itself, would be strong enough to dig a hole straight through the planet! Or, y'know, at least to the core."
Century gawked, changing his attitude almost instantly. "Holy crap! Okay, Trixie, I think we've found our weapon!"
Trixie smiled, "Yes, Century, this laser is incredible and all, but Trixie has two questions. One: You mean to tell us that this Windivear just stumbled upon this rock in a random forest and became a legend? Doesn't that sound just a bit too good to be true?"
Capper shrugged, "Well yeah, everyone thinks that back at Meridio. It's a common conspiracy that something else likely happened in those woods, seeing as only Windivear was there. But everyone's gotten over finding the truth. He died centuries ago."
Trixie nodded, "Okay, question two: why have we never heard of this place? It sounds extravagant."
"Well, after the lost war with Abyssinia, Meridio became a pariah state, and Meridians didn't want much to do with the world afterward anyway. So when they came upon the jewel and constructed all their technology, they used it to isolate themselves from the rest of the world. After the defeat of Storm King's empire, they opened their borders to visitors but still haven't established any real connection or foreign policy with any other nations. Especially Abyssinia."
Century smiled, "Well, this sounds absolutely magnificent. Thank you, Capper, seriously."
Capper beamed with pride, "Thank me? Oh no, thank you for the bits. I was merely doing my job."
"Well, you still have my thanks." Century turned to face Trixie, "Let's go back to Spirit. We may be able to pull this off after all."
"That reminds me," Capper began, "What exactly are you hoping to do with this information? I doubt it's anything malicious, you're merely ponies, but I'm still confused. Even slightly concerned."
Trixie waved him off, "That wasn't part of the deal, whiskers. This is your job, is it not?"
"Oh fine. I just hope I don't end up getting in trouble. Seriously, you did not hear that story from me."
Century grinned, "What story?"
"Oh wait!" Trixie chimed in, "Trixie forgot to ask another thing. You said Meridio was very far away. How far, exactly?"
"Oh," Capper replied, "Of course. Duh. It's on the other side of the world."
"...What?"
"Meridio is on the exact opposite side of the world. If I were to guess how long the trip would be, I'd say at least...Three, no, four months."
Century eyes burst from their sockets, "Four months?! Are you insane?!"
"...No? Why? You in a hurry?"
Trixie replied, screeching, "We need to be there in thirteen days!"
Capper chortled hysterically. Nearly falling on the floor from what he heard. Tears burst from his eyes like a fire hose. Never in his life had he ever heard something so unbelievably ludicrous.
"Thirteen days!?" He replied, barely containing his laughter, "That's the dumbest crap I've ever heard! You've got a higher chance of swimming to the bottom of the sea with no oxygen than reaching Meridio in less than two weeks!"
Century frowned, "Oh, come on Capper, there has to be a way! You just told us about an ultra-powerful laser capable of cutting through the planet. There seriously isn't a way to reach it in time?"
Capper continued to laugh deliriously for a while more before getting control of his voice back. "Okay... Okay... Woo! You guys are a riot. Should start a little comedy duo thingy."
"Capper!"
"Right, right. There is a way, but it's awfully troublesome. You could get us all in serious trouble. Also, it'll cost you fifty bits."
Century groaned, "Dude!?"
"From the unicorn."
Trixie scowled, and Capper merely shrugged, "Business is business."
Century rolled his eyes, "I'll make sure she's got the bits tomorrow morning, I promise. Now please, tell us how we can reach there in time."
Capper sat down on one of the chairs. "Okay, listen. After the Storm King was defeated, Merirdio secretly gifted Equestria four of its advanced cargo ships. Centurion-class hypercarriers, they call them. Granted, they're older models. Meridio is stingy about their tech. But it's lightyears ahead of what you have now."
"There's one in the north, south, west, and of course, the east. Specifically at the port of Manehattan. If you were to commandeer one of them, you could probably reach Meridio in... five days."
Trixie's eyes sparkled, "That's excellent! We'd still have three days left!"
Century frowned, "But if they've been a secret all this time, they won't just let a couple of random ponies use it. Which means-"
"We might have to steal it?"
"Yes, and not only that, but Equestria would likely inform Meridio that one of their ships was stolen. You think when we show up, they won't just arrest us until Celestia comes?"
"Century, this is our best shot! Nopony said it'd be easy! Besides, after stealing two highly valuable things, approaching and getting into the nation will be the easy part."
Capper raised a brow, "Stealing two highly valuable things? So not only are you going to steal a highly advanced, highly valuable hypercarrier, but you're stealing something else before? Is this some sort of heist? Because if so, I've made a terrible mistake."
Century stepped forward, "Capper, I promise you. You've done a great thing. I can't tell you why, but in two weeks' time, I will... Hopefully."
Capper sighed, "That doesn't convince me, but there's nothing I can do now, is there? Well... I'll have to increase that fifty bits to another two hundred now."
Trixie shouted, "For the love of Celestia, why are you so greedy!?"
Capper chuckled, "Greedy? Don't you remember, unicorn? This is my job."
"...Century, you've gotta be kidding me."
"Why would I lie, Spirit? W-Why would he lie? We both gave him a total of four hundred bits!"
"..."
"Okay, not the best thing I could've said, but it's worth a shot!"
Century and Trixie returned to Spirit in the library. Eager to share with her the fantastic news they'd acquired. Unfortunately, and understandably, Spirit wasn't all that convinced.
She sighed, "I just don't see how it could all be true."
Trixie stepped forward, "Spirit, he's not only a friend of Spike and the Elements, but he helped push back Storm King and his forces during the Siege of Canterlot! Ponies as special as those don't make friends with secret con artist cats. And his explanations were so detailed! You think he pulled all of that out of his hind?"
Century agreed, "Yeah, what she said!"
Spirit looked between the two before closing her eyes. Imagining what could happen if Capper seriously lied. She groaned, "Fine, we'll do it." She stated, to the relief of Century and Trixie.
"But," she continued, "If he's wrong, and we end up getting caught in Manehattan, someway, somehow, I'm going to gut the both of you alive."
"Fantastic," Century replied. He breathed deeply and exhaled, "Okay guys, here's what I wanna do. We do need confirmation that the boat is actually there. So Spirit, I want you to head to Manehattan to find it. Scout out the place. So that we'll know what to do when we get there."
He turned to Trixie, "While you're doing that, Trixie and I will get those Grand Galloping Gala tickets from Derpy. We'll use them to get into the Gala and steal Celestia's crown. When we've all done these things, we'll regroup at Spirit's place and plan out the heist. We'll only have three days until the Gala, so we'll need to really put our brains to the test."
The three nodded before setting out of the library and, ultimately, Twilight's Castle. This was it. They didn't have their grand plan just yet, but they knew there was a way. A way to beat the odds. A way to save Equestria. A way to save the world. They just needed those Gala tickets and a survey of the secret ship. It wasn't gonna be easy.
But Warner didn't like easy.