//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The Third Mask // Story: Daughters of the Purge // by Nebula Star //------------------------------// Chapter 2: The Third Mask *** Ponyville was peaceful as ever. Despite the activity of Twilight’s guard during the night and into the morning, most ponies were just going about their business. A few ponies looked at Spike seeming a little curious. Perhaps about what was going on, but just as likely curious about Spike himself. Most had gotten used to his older appearance, but there were some around Ponyville who still wanted to know how and why it happened. Including one particular unicorn that, to his surprise, was heading his way. “Hey, Spike!” The mint green unicorn greeted with a broad smile. “Hello, Lyra.” Spike said smiling in return. “How have you been? We haven’t really had much chance to talk in a while.” “You know you could just stop by the library some time and say hi to Twilight.” Spike told her with a grin. Lyra shrugged and turned to walk alongside Spike. “I know, but do you think Twilight would even want to see me?” He laughed. “Of course, she would! She may not have appreciated you and the other fillies back in Canterlot like she should have, but you were still her friends. If you remind her of that, I think she’ll want to renew your friendship.” “Really? I just figured she’d moved on.” “You know how focused Twilight gets.” He said shaking his head. “To be honest I don’t think she’s even realized that you live here. And I know she’s never noticed the other fillies the times they’ve come down to visit Ponyville.” Lyra laughed, “Yeah, I guess that does sound like Twilight. But I was asking about you, Spike. How have you been? You’ve certainly grown recently.” “Heh, yeah… had a bit of a growth spurt. Nothing like last time, don’t worry,” he improvised. “Not going giganto and trying to steal everything in town this time?” Lyra asked with a smirk. Spike laughed. “No, it’s just a normal growth spurt for dragons,” he told her. Fortunately ponies still didn’t know too much about dragons so she seemed to accept his word for it. Really it wasn’t far from the truth. Dragons often had growth spurts where they’d grow significantly in a short time, though they usually didn’t grow ten years’ worth in a day. “Huh, guess that makes sense. And you finally got your wings too!” He smiled and stretched them briefly. “Yep. Pretty nice bonus!” Lyra grinned. “You always did follow Twilight in everything. You couldn’t resist getting wings too, huh.” Spike laughed, “Yeah well, I was always going to get wings! Twilight just beat me to it!” “I guess that’s true. So, I noticed you’re walking on all fours now?” “Yeah, that’s from growing up around ponies.” Lyra gave him a curious look. “What do you mean?” “Dragons are highly adaptive. As we grow, our form will often adapt to better match those we’re closest to. Since I’ve grown up with ponies, and all my closest friends are ponies, my form has adapted to be more pony-like.” “Huh, neat. ‘Course if you have another growth spurt, you might get too big for Ponyville, whether you walk like a pony or not.” He smiled. “That’s not a problem, Twilight used an age spell on me that locks me at this age, so I won’t grow anymore.” Lyra looked at him sharply. “Twilight can do age spells now!?” “Yep. After that magic duel incident, Twilight did quite a bit of research on age spells.” Which was entirely true. The particular spell she’d used to lock Spike’s age wasn’t one that she’d researched back then, but she had done a lot of research on them. “Huh, wow. So Twilight can lock somepony at a certain age?” She asked, clearly interested. “Yes, but it’s not safe to use on anyone who’s not immortal or extremely long lived. So, it’s definitely not safe to use on regular ponies, not for any extended amount of time anyway; and Alicorns obviously don’t need it.” “Ah… Why not?” Spike thought for a moment about how to explain. “Well, you know how every living thing has a lifeforce that you can detect with magic?” She nodded. “Well for most races, that life force is finite, it is depleted over time and when it runs out, they die. Well the age locking spell uses extra energy from the person’s life force to keep them from aging. So for regular ponies, it would shorten their life, and not just a little. Twilight estimated that for a regular pony, every day they spent age locked, they’d lose two days from their maximum lifespan.” “Oh…” Lyra looked down a moment thinking. “But what if she just kept making a pony younger?” He figured she might think to ask something like that, fortunately Twilight had explained that one to Spike as well. “That has a similar problem. See mortal races also use their life force slower the older they get, but if you reduce their age, suddenly they’re using their lifeforce faster again. You’d still reduce their total lifespan by about a third. Though I suppose they would be younger for all of it…” “Huh, so it’s a matter if you want the longer lifespan or the youth…” She looked over at Spike. “But wait, doesn’t that mean you’re reducing your lifespan right now?” Spike shook his head. “We recently found out that I’m actually an orinthian dragon. Basically the alicorns of dragons.” “What, really!?” Lyra asked her eyes wide. “Does that mean you’re some kind of dragon prince!?” Spike laughed. “No, no. Dragons are all so long lived, that some of us can technically live forever isn’t really that big of a deal. But it does mean that my life force, like alicorns’ is constantly being replenished by my magic; so being age locked isn’t an issue for me. And honestly, I think I’m already the perfect size right now.” “Yeah, you look pretty good.” She said then glanced around, realizing they were getting past the main part of town now. “So… where were you headed?” “Nowhere really.” She gave him a curious look. “You just out for a walk?” “Pretty much. Did you hear about the commotion this morning?” She nodded. “I heard Twilight’s guards were all over the place.” “Yeah, Apple Bloom ran off last night and apparently spent the night in the Everfree…” “What!? Is she alright!?” “She’s fine,” Spike assured her quickly. “Her magic makes her practically invulnerable.” “Really? I heard rumors she had some pretty powerful magic.” “It is very powerful,” he agreed. “Anyway, you’ll probably hear more about this soon, but while Apple Bloom was out in the forest she met up with Trixie of all ponies and one other, and together they found what turned out to be an ancient prison where two innocent alicorn fillies were imprisoned.” “Alicorn fillies!? Who would imprison innocent fillies!?” Spike sighed. “It’s not well known now, but Celestia told us that long ago, alicorns were hated. The fillies were imprisoned simply for being alicorns.” Lyra looked shocked. “Why would they hate alicorns?” “You heard about Achlys didn’t you?” She winced, likely recalling what Spike knew was the official story that the princesses had released, which left out certain details about himself and Twilgiht. “Yeah.” “She and others like her are why alicorns were hated back then.” He told her. “Anyway, the fillies weren’t exactly comfortable with a dragon around, so I thought it best to give them some space for a bit.” Truly they likely would have been fine with any other dragon, but he couldn’t really say as much. “Ah… so are they going to be staying with Twilight?” She asked curiously. “At least at first. As for the long term… I don’t think Twilight has really thought about it yet.” “Thought about what?” Spike looked over toward the new voice to see a familiar blue pegasus stallion trotting toward them. “Whether the alicorn fillies Apple Bloom found would be staying with Twilight long term or not.” Spike told him, then looked toward Lyra. “Lyra, this is Vele’Rekaj,” he said then looked toward Rekaj. “I’m guessing you already know who Lyra is.” Rekaj simply nodded and turned to Lyra. “Pleased to meet you.” He held out a hoof to her and she gave him a friendly hoof-bump. “Uh, likewise. Vele’Rekaj? That’s an unusual name.” He smirked. “Well, it’s a perfectly normal name where I’m from.” “Oh, yeah? Where are you from?” She asked curiously. “A land called Azuria.” Lyra frowned. “Azuria? I’ve never heard of it.” “Well that makes sense, seeing as it’s not in this world,” he told her sounding amused. Her eyes widened and Spike decided to explain. “Lyra, Rekaj is an interdimensional traveler, and also the one who gave Apple Bloom her magic.” Lyra looked at him then back at Rekaj wide eyed. “Really? How did you give Apple Bloom magic!?” “It’s more that I gave her access to my own magic.” Rekaj clarified. She raised a brow questioningly. “How do you give somepony else access to your magic.” “First of all, this isn’t my actual body,” he told her. “This is an illusion that I’ve given a physical presence through my magic. I am actually a dragon, and my true body is resting on a hill near Sweet Apple Acres.” “You’re a dragon? Wait, that’s an illusion!? It seems so real!” “I’ve had a lot of practice,” He said with a smirk. “But yes, I am a dragon. And in my world dragons are one of the only sources of magic. Our strength and abilities vary, but each of us can give one person of another mortal race what is known as our Sa’Dracori, or dragon soul-link. Doing so gives that person access to our magic. That’s what I did for Apple Bloom; she is now the holder of my Sa’Dracori.” “Could you give anypony else that power?” Lyra asked hopefully. He laughed. “I’m afraid not. Each dragon can only give their Sa’Dracori to one holder at a time.” “Darn, I don’t suppose any other dragons from your world are looking for somepony…” “It would be for the best that no other dragons from my world find out about yours.” He said, shaking his head. She gave an exaggerated sigh. “Oh well, worth a shot.” Spike rolled his eyes, then looked at Rekaj. “Did Apple Bloom head back home with her family.” He nodded. “I thought they’d appreciate some time alone as a family. I canceled all my other illusions as well, since Twilight prefers, I only maintain one under normal circumstances.” “You can make multiple illusions of yourself at once?” “Yes, and then I can switch between them as easily as blinking an eye. But Princess Twilight asked me to only use one illusion most of the time. Mostly because any that I’m not controlling and aren’t in my direct sight, will just stand there completely unresponsive. She said it can be a little unnerving.” “Huh, yeah I can see that. Still pretty cool though.” “Apple Bloom is getting pretty good at those illusions as well,” Spike added. “You should see her and the other crusaders playing their little keep away game to practice. Apple Bloom has herself and two illusions against the other two and you can’t even tell which is the real Apple Bloom, sometimes she’ll have them all moving at once." “She is quite talented,” Rekaj agreed. “Anyway, now that things have calmed down here, I was going to head back home and check on things there. I do have a country to run. Spike, would you let Twilight know? If anybody needs me for anything, they can just go to the hill I usually stay at.” He nodded. “Alright, I guess we’ll see you around.” “Lyra, it was nice meeting you.” “Likewise!” She said happily. He smiled and gave one last wave then simply faded away. “Wow, he really was just an illusion.” Lyra said when he was gone, then turned to Spike. “So, Spike, I know you’ve met Bonbon in passing, but I’ve been meaning to properly introduce you. You are one of my oldest friends after all.” Spike shrugged. “I’m not doing anything at the moment.” “Alright then, to Bonbon’s sweet shop!” Lyra said pointing the way, then marched off, with Spike following alongside. ~~~ Trixie sat in an uncomfortable silence at a small table, trying very hard not to show her nervousness. She was well aware that she was failing. Across from her sat a certain lavender alicorn princess. One she’d known she’d be facing again sooner or later. Especially after she’d heard the news of her one-time rival’s ascension. Princess Twilight was watching her in silence with such a piercing gaze that Trixie felt as if the young alicorn could see right through her to the very core of her being. Maybe she could, Trixie had no clue what kinds of powers becoming an alicorn had given the former unicorn. She’d heard rumors recently that Princess Twilight may be even more powerful that Princess Celestia and Luna now. Not for the first time, Trixie considered running, skipping town, and hoping that Princess Twilight didn’t send the entire royal guard after her. Deep down, she knew it would be futile. So, she stayed put, trying to keep from sweating as she nervously shuffled her fore-hooves. “It’s been a while,” Princess Twilight said, breaking the silence at last. “Yes… Princess,” Trixie replied, not knowing how else to respond. “No need for titles, Trixie,” Twilight said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “I already get far more of that than I’d like.” Again, they fell into an uncomfortable silence. Twilight watched Trixie intently, as if she were some kind of puzzle that she was close to solving. Trixie shifted anxiously, feeling like a specimen under a microscope. “I suppose neither of us know quite were to begin, so let’s get the official business out of the way first.” Twilight mercifully ended the silence once more. “I’m not going to get into your first visit to Ponyville, we both know that you weren’t directly responsible for that ursa and the damage it caused, even if it was your story that inspired those colts to go looking for one. And in fact, it turned out it was really my assistant Spike who accidently gave them the idea to go find one. “However, the last time you were here, Trixie, you caused quite a bit of mayhem; public disturbances, disruption of businesses throughout the entire town, magical assault, and more than a little property damage. You being under the influence of a powerful artifact of dark magic at the time does mitigate some of that, but you are still responsible for using said artifact in the first place. It would be well within their rights for some of the ponies in town to press charges.” Trixie lowered her eyes to the table and simply nodded, she’d suspected as much. That was part of why she’d been avoiding Ponyville since then. “Luckily for you, the ponies of Ponyville are very understanding and forgiving, so no charges have been filed against you. Even so, I think it would go a long way toward improving your standing here if you did some community service around town to make up for the incident.” “Trixie… I… understand.” She said, abandoning her usual way of speaking, knowing it would be considered impolite to talk in third person to royalty. Twilight nodded, satisfied. “I’ll make arrangements with the mayor to provide you with jobs to do as well as a place to stay while you’re here.” “That’s not necessary. I can just stay in my wagon.” Twilight smiled shaking her head. “Trixie, I saw your new wagon; there’s no way you have a sufficient size bed in there. I’m going to arrange a place for you to stay whether you want me to or not, so you might as well accept it and enjoy some comfort while you’re here.” Trixie lowered her eyes to the table once more. “Thank you,” she said softly. “You’re welcome, Trixie.” Twilight smiled sincerely, and Trixie felt more than a little guilty at how she’d behaved toward Twilight in the past. “Anyway, now that we got that out of the way, there was another matter I wanted to discuss with you.” Curious, Trixie looked up to find Twilight once again had her under a very piercing gaze that made her more than a little nervous. She swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. “Yes?” Twilight watched her for a moment before answering. “I realized something after the whole magic duel incident. The alicorn amulet, while it does influence the wearer’s decisions, it does not give them knowledge; it merely amplifies their magical power and manipulates their emotions. So even with the amulet, you have to have had at least a theoretical knowledge of the spells you were casting even if you lacked the power to cast them on your own. There’s not a lot of places where you could have gained such knowledge, especially when it comes to the age spells.” She continued to watch Trixie carefully as she spoke. For her part, Trixie had gone very still. She had a feeling she knew where this was going. “Now age spells aren’t illegal, but that’s mostly because so few unicorns are ever able to cast them; I wasn’t able to because, at the time, I only had a very basic knowledge of the theory behind age spells. Because so few are ever able to manage it, you won’t find them in your common spell book. Like I said, there’s not many places where you could have found such knowledge. “The most obvious, of course, is the Canterlot archives, but even then, the spell books that would cover such advanced magic aren’t available to the public. You’d either have to have permission from one of the arch-magi or the princesses themselves, or be a student at Celestia’s school to gain access to such advanced spell books. Obviously, I was a little curious how you could have known those spells, even on a theoretical basis. So, I did a little research.” Trixie winced slightly, realizing her mistake. “Turns out there was a student that went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns named Trixie Lulamoon, but the date’s she attended the school seemed impossible so I figured the name had to just be a coincidence. Then I found this.” Her horn lit up and a large volume levitated over from one of the shelves to the table, opening in front of Trixie. It was a yearbook, Trixie realized as she saw the pictures; one she knew all too well. Her eyes were immediately drawn to one picture in particular; third from the left in the fourth row down. The picture was her, looking very much the same as she did now, and below the picture was her name in clear black print, along with a depiction of her cutie mark. After letting Trixie gaze at the picture for several long moments, Twilight, shut the yearbook so the cover was clearly visible. Trixie just stared at it in silence, irrefutable evidence of the secret she’d been keeping for more than half her life. The title making it all too clear: Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns: Class of 975 c.e. “Obviously I was surprised to find out you’d graduated from Celestia’s school almost seven years before I was even born. Assuming you graduated at eighteen like most students and didn’t go into any extra studies, that would make you around forty-seven years old.” “Forty-six,” Trixie corrected numbly. “I graduated a year early.” “And yet you don’t look a day over twenty,” Twilight observed softly, letting the words hang in the air. The room fell silent as Trixie stared down at the yearbook. There was no escaping this. Twilight knew. “So what now?” Trixie asked after several long moments. “What do you mean?” “Are you going to lock me up in some lab? Study me? Try to figure out just what kind of freak I am?” She demanded bitterly, keeping her glare fixed on the treacherous yearbook. To her surprise, Twilight just smiled. “Of course not. There’s no need for that; I know exactly what you are.” Trixie looked up sharply. “You do!?” Twilight nodded. “You’re a half-blood unicorn, also known as a wingless alicorn.” Trixie blinked in surprise. A wingless alicorn!? “What does that mean?” “To put it simply, you’re part alicorn. Enough so that you have stronger than normal magic for a unicorn and a very extended lifespan, though you’re not quite immortal,” Twilight explained. “What do you mean ‘very extended?’ how, how long am I going to live?” “It varies a bit, but most wingless alicorns that have lived to old age tend to live between one to two-thousand years.” Twilight said casually. Trixie's eyes went wide. “One to two-thousand years!?” “Usually.” “H-how do you know this? That I’m one of these… these...?” She trailed off too stunned by the revelation of how long she may end up living to go on. “A thousand years…” “Well, I wasn’t sure at first. After all, while it was clear, once I found the yearbook, that you’re not aging like a normal unicorn; you’d never really shown above average magical power. Sure, you’re talented and know a lot of spells, but with the exception of when you were using the alicorn amulet; you never really cast any spells with much power behind them. They were all spells that just about any talented unicorn could cast with enough practice. And with how you acted, boasting so much about your abilities, I figured that what you’d shown was all you were capable of. “But now I realize that that was the whole point of your act, wasn’t it? You knew you weren't aging like a normal unicorn, and you probably realized your magic was far stronger than it should have been as well, and like you just said; you were worried that you’d be labeled a freak or locked up and studied. “So, to hide that you weren’t aging, you became a traveling showmare so that you’d never stay in one place long enough for anypony to notice. And to hide your above average magic, you boasted, claiming to be ‘the most magical mare in all of Equestria,’ all the while never casting more than average level spells. After all, with how much you boasted about your abilities, nopony would ever have suspected that you were holding back.” Twilight finished with a confident smile. Trixie sighed, looking down at the table between them. “You’re very perceptive,” she said softly. “I did hide the true extent of my abilities.” Twilight’s smile turned into a triumphant grin. “I thought so. Anyway, once I realized that was the case, it all made sense.” “But where did you learn about these… wingless alicorns? I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Trixie asked. Twilight shrugged. “Well, they used to be a lot more common, back when true alicorns were also more common. That’s actually where the term half-blood unicorn came from. Because foals with one alicorn parent were the most likely to be born as wingless alicorns. But with each generation down the line, the likelihood of them being born a wingless alicorn, let alone a true alicorn, became less and less. For you to be born as a wingless alicorn now, so many generations down the line.” She gave Trixie a smile. “You’re one in a billion, Trixie.” Trixie blushed, but smiled as well. She’d been dreading anypony finding out her secret for so long, now that it happened, and that it turned out so well, it was such a weight off her withers that she couldn’t help smiling. She felt as if she’d been set free. “I had no idea… all this time, I thought…” She trailed off, not needing to say more. “Now that I know, what do I do?” Twilight shrugged. “That’s up to you. In any case you don’t have to keep this a secret any longer, in fact, it might be a good idea to just let everypony know. I’ll back you myself if anypony doesn’t believe you. You could also settle in one place if you’d like, or keep traveling; the point is, you don’t have to worry about hiding the truth anymore.” Trixie looked down at the yearbook again. She'd been running and hiding for so long, to think that she could finally be free of her secret, she didn't know what to do. Perhaps she would keep traveling, she had enjoyed her life as a traveling showmare, and now that she could show her true abilities without fear. Well, perhaps she would finally earn the title she'd claimed all those years. Perhaps she could truly be the Great and Powerful Trixie. She blinked as something suddenly occurred to her as she looked up at Twilight. “Wait... Like you said, my magic is far stronger than most unicorns, but even when you were still a unicorn, your magic was stronger. Were you a wingless alicorn as well?” Twilight frowned. “Basically... My case was a little different, but for all intents and purposes, I was essentially the same as a wingless alicorn.” “I see...” Trixie looked down at the yearbook again and with a gentle smile opened it up to a random page, recognizing many of the students pictured though she hadn't seen most of them in decades. “It's been so long,” she said softly, running her eyes across the pages. “I've mostly avoided Canterlot through the years. I knew most of my old classmates likely still live there, and if they were to see me now...” Twilight laughed. “Yeah, I was actually rather surprised; you graduated the same year as my mom.” Trixie looked up. “I did?” Twilight nodded. “Yeah, this is actually her yearbook.” “Who is she?” “Well here.” Twilight took the yearbook in her magic and turned to the marked page that had Trixie's photo. “There she is,” Twilight said pointing to a photo in the next row down from Trixie's. Trixie's eyes widened when she saw the picture. “VELVET! You're Twilight Velvet's daughter!” Twilight blinked surprised. “Yes, did you know her?” Grabbing the book again in her own magic, she opened it to the front cover and her eyes found among the various signatures and messages, three long paragraphs written in elegant hornwriting and signed: Your best friend forever: Trixie Lulamoon. Trixie ran her hoof across the writing. “She was my best friend all through our time at Celestia's school. But after graduation, we just kind of lost touch. Then I realized I wasn't exactly normal and... well, after that, you know.” She turned back to the page with Twilight Velvet's picture and looked at it fondly with a smile, Twilight had never seen on her before. “I went to her wedding, and I heard that she'd had a son, but after that...” Twilight smiled understandingly. “It may take a couple days for me to get things set up for your community service. Maybe it's about time you got back in contact with some of your old friends.” Trixie looked up at her surprised at first, then slowly smiled. “Yeah... maybe it is.”