About an hour later, we stood on one of the hills outside of town, a toad facing away from us a fair distance away.
“Now, of course, Explosion is no small feat to cast, even for a magician as great and powerful as I! In the event another toad shows up while I’m casting, you two can, of course, handle it, yes?”
Celestia and I shared an uneasy glance and said nothing. I took a quick glance around just in case we had a toad that was already on our case, but the area behind us revealed nothing but more hills, and the town walls beyond.
Staring at the toad, Trixie’s hat had a faint, red glow begin beneath. A wind began to stir about her, causing her cape to flutter in the growing breeze.
“Explosive forces of forbidden power,
Cover Trixie’s foe in a fiery tower! “
The wind grew stronger, and Trixie’s eyes seemed to shine a brighter shade of red than they had been as dark tendrils of magic converged towards her hat.
“The time of doom has arrived for the pitiful excuse of a frog laid before us, and no string of fate may yet save it! No, the greatest and powerfulest magic ever known to exist to all ponykind will continue its destructive reign!”
By now, the toad had taken notice of the fairly obvious swirl of magic surrounding us, and had begun to hop closer, presumably hoping for its next meal. And yet, Trixie maintained her stance, continuing her chant.
Just how long DOES this thing take to cast?
“The reckoning of the weight of the world- no, the UNIVERSE!- shall descend upon you in a fit of unstoppable destruction!
And with this final chant of the hour,
Deliver upon us a fiery shower!
EXPLOSION!!”
For a moment, the dark power seemingly vanished, as the snaking strands of magic that had been streaking around us faded and the swirling air returned to an unassuming standstill.
And then suddenly, a blinding flash, accompanied a moment later by a deafening thunderclap. As I adjusted to the sudden glare, I could see the pillar of fire relentlessly pounded on where the toad had been not a moment ago, as the heat radiated off in a sudden wave.
Just moments later, the explosion faded, leaving a rippled crater that looked like it could have been left by an entire meteor, with the aforementioned toad seemingly blown to atoms, nowhere in sight. The grass of the field surrounding the crater was either scorched, still burning, or so obliterated that the ground was barren as smoke billowed away above.
Is this the sheer power that this world’s magic can hold? With just one spell causing this much destruction, these frogs won’t stand a chance!
Before I could properly congratulate Trixie, however, I felt the ground rumbling beneath. Could the explosion have triggered some sort of seismic aftershock??
A glimpse of yellow to my side caught my eye. When I turned to look, I could see another toad crawling out of the dirt of a hillside, evidently awoken by the massive shock of the explosion. Whether or not it intended to avenge its fallen friend or make us its next meal, I wasn’t too worried. With the power of explosive magic, the efforts would be in vain!
Probably would be a good idea to get out of the blast radius first, though.
“Nice work, Trixie! Let’s retrea–”
As I looked back to Trixie, I saw her lying on the ground, all legs sprawled to the side, with her hat tipped over her face as she slowly slid down the hill.
“Eh?”
Without removing her face from the ground, Trixie said, “The great and powerful spell has a… great and powerful mana cost. I’ve used up more than all my mana casting it, but… I’m sure you two can handle it from here.”
Seriously?!
“Ah, if she used up all her mana on such a large spell, overdrawing from mana will take life force instead! I’ve seen it happen before,” said Celestia, looking down at Trixie as she still slowly slid, “but usually it’s something saved for a bit more dangerous of situations…”
As the frog hopped closer, its bulging eyes surveyed the group. As I drew my sword, it made its choice of which of us to go for, and with a flick of its tongue, Trixies legs now stuck out of its mouth, dangling limply.
“Well, at least they don’t tend to move too much while they’re trying to eat so this should be–”
A deep croak sounded off behind us.
Turning around, I saw a toad close enough to cast a shadow on us. It didn’t, because we were north of it, but THAT’S NOT EXACTLY IMPORTANT!
A moment later, after two screams echoed across the plains, I found myself quaking, but notably not in the belly of the amphibious interloper. The familiar sight of Celestia’s kicking hindlegs were instead peeking out of the toad’s mouth.
After quickly defeating the two toads, Trixie lay down, still exhausted from her display. Both her and Celestia sat shivering slightly from the dreadful slime of the toad’s mouth, and frankly, smelled horrible.
Turning to me, Celestia asked, “Twilight? How many more do we need to take out?”
“Just one! It shouldn’t be too hard to get it tomorrow.”
Celestia stood up and looked across the plains, eyes scanning the terrain as her face set in a serious look.
“Twilight, I’ve been eaten by these frogs twice now. I haven’t actually attacked any of them first, however. My strength stat is high enough that I should be able to take them on regardless. Now watch this!”
And with that, she ran off at full gallop. Was she going to try to punch the toad?? She didn’t have any other weapon, and last I checked her card, she only had the starting Solar Arch Priestess spells, which don’t use strength to cast. At least, I wouldn’t THINK they would.
I thought back to this morning’s reading session.
Toads possess a large amount of fat. Although this trait is its biggest weakness, being the main cause for its low mobility in combat, it can also be its greatest boon. The thick fat allows toads to almost entirely resist temperature status effects such as freeze, in addition to allowing force to largely dissipate in the fat if struck by a blunt weapon.
“You foul frogs have swallowed me for the last time! I shall make you rue the day you ever decided to make a meal of me!” Celestia’s voice echoed across the plains.
“Hey, Celestia! Stop!” Although I was chasing after her, I doubt she could hear me.
By now, she was already upon the toad. With quite a fair bit of force, she lept in the air and dove directly at the toad’s stomach with a hoof outstretched…
And immediately bounced off, and flopped down in front of it.
“Did… Did it work?”
A mouth opened to answer Celestia’s question. Unfortunately, it wasn’t mine.
While Celestia had been in tears after the first encounter, and enraged just minutes ago by the second, this time she simply seemed to be dejected after freeing her from what, thankfully, was the last toad.
While I did my best to explain that she had tried to do the one attack the toad was strong against, it did little to pick up her mood. While it may not have had much technique, she clearly had put her all into the punch.
As we came back to the first set of downed toads, Trixie still lay on the ground, lazily poking a hoof at the dirt.
“The… Great and Powerful Trixie could use some help getting back to town. Could you lend me a hoof?”
She extended a forehoof to get some help off the ground. It glistened in the sun from slime.
No thank you!
Celestia helped her up and allowed Trixie to clamor onto her back, and we began the walk back to town.
“If I never see the inside of one of those horrid creatures again, it would be too soon!” exclaimed Trixie.
“You know, once you get used to it, it’s actually sort of warm in the toad’s mouth. It takes some getting used to, but it’s not the worst feeling. I wish I didn’t learn it, regardless, though.” said Celestia with a still deadpan tone.
I couldn’t help but think about how easy the quest could have been if Trixie had led with a more… practical spell? It doesn’t make much sense to use such a huge area of effect spell on a single enemy, much less one that totally incapacitates you! It doesn’t even take someone who one-hundred-percented Crypt Seeker 11 to tell you THAT!
“Hey, Trixie? Should you have led with a different spell? I know you only have a few, but if your best one does that, maybe next time you should save it for a better moment?”
The mare instantly shot me an indignant look from her draped position. “I only know Explosion.”
“But your card had other spells listed?”
“Ah, those? …Well, you see…” - She nervously tapped her hooves together -”Those are for the magic show and special effects. They aren’t exactly attacks.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Would the Great and Powerful Trixie dare tell a lie?”
“If you’re claiming to be useful and only have ONE spell, yes, I guess so. How long does it take to recover from casting Explosion, anyways?”
“It varies.”
“From?”
“Half a day or more to cast it again at minimum.”
While I couldn’t deny the power of her Explosion spell, it was hard to imagine being able to use her powers outside of fights where we attacked a single group of enemies or a single huge enemy in an entire day.
“Shouldn’t you get other spells?” asked Celestia. “Last I knew, Explosion was the ultimate ability in the Detonation class of magic. If you can use Explosion, you surely must understand the others?”
The blue mare shook her head with a proud look on her face. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has no need for LESSER detonation magicks! Only the most brazen, most earthshaking, and most POWERFUL of them all could possibly do! Otherwise, what’s the point?”
I put my hoof on my forehead. “Okay, Trixie, what do you do if a wolf attacks you?”
“Explode it.”
“The Explosion has brought more wolves. What would you do then?”
“Explode the wolves.”
“You just exploded the other wolf. You can’t cast Explosion again.”
“I’ve never even exploded a wolf. I just exploded a toad, in case you forgot, Twilight.”
“No I mean… Ugh. What would you do IF you needed to cast two spells to save yourself.”
“I understood the question, Twilight. You believe that knowing a variety of spells, with different strengths, to counter every enemy’s weakness, specifically, is the most efficient way to battle.”
“I… wow. Yes! Exactly! So you’re willing to?” I replied eagerly. I was hoping to change her mind, but it seems like she already had!
Trixie began to snicker, before breaking into an all-out laugh. “Do you think you have been the first to try to dissuade Trixie from her destiny? No, every display of magic I give is only the most powerful spell in the world! Other wizards can keep their pitiful, small spells. To even use them as a stepping stone would betray my love of only the most powerful spell!”
By now, Celestia was looking back and smiling at her passenger. “You know, I can admire your sense of dedication, even if it is not the most practical on the battlefield. You’re doing your best to stay true to yourself, no matter what anypony says!”
Don’t ENCOURAGE her, Celestia!
I've got to put a stop to this, fast.
“Well, Trixie, I can see that it will be a hard path for you, and I wish you the best of luck moving forward. When we get back to town, you’ll get your share of the quest reward, and maybe we’ll cross paths again later.” I did my best to force a smile.
Trixie’s confident smile faltered. “H-hey! My one wish is to grace the world with my magic, so… quest rewards aren’t so important! Yes! The Affordable and Cheap Trixie can be at your side for just the price of her rent and meals! You get the mighty boon of an Archmagician at your side who knows the most powerful spell, for less than what one would even pay a swordspony. Surely such a splendid offer couldn’t be rejected!”
“Well, if it’s such a good deal, I’m sure nopony at the guild could refuse! Besides, your advanced class would SURELY be wasted on two totally new adventurers anyways.”
"While it may be true that I am an advanced class, I am still only level six! With time, I will get Greater and Powerfuller, and won't collapse after casting! By getting me now, while other parties are foolish enough to turn me down, you’ll have the last laugh eventually!”
“So you HAVE been turned down by other parties?”
“... A magician never reveals her secrets.”
“Right... I think we’ll just give you your cut. One spell a day is just a liability, and if we're in a cave or dungeon, you can't even cast it.”
"Please reconsider! This is the closest I've gotten to being in a party in months! I'll carry your bags in dungeons if need be! Just don't toss me aside!"
By now, we had entered the main gate, and Trixie's hysterics were earning us all odd stares from the townsfolk. That or the stench of toad guts were.
"You know, Twilight," said Celestia, "She does have a point about her being an investment. Even if her name is strange, she clearly at least knows one very powerful spell. As long as she isn't a liability, we could at least give her another chance."
I suppressed a groan. How does someone with as high a magic stat as Celestia see a one-spell-wonder as a good addition?! But against my better judgment…
"Now, I won't say this is permanent, but–"
"You won't regret your decision! With the GREAT and POWERFUL TRIXIE by your side, this team will be UNSTOPPABLE!"
"You didn't let me finish."
"Were you not going to extend an invitation to your party?"
"It's not so much an invitation, more of a free trial."
"Trixie can overcome ANY trial!"
And with that, our party gained a new member. Temporarily, of course.
After taking Trixie’s adventurer card, (disdainfully, since it was still soggy,) I headed back to the guild to receive our reward for completion, while Celestia carried Trixie off to the bathhouse for them both to wash up.
I made my way to Maud’s desk and placed my card on the counter, keeping Trixie’s in my hoof.
“Yeah, that’s five toads. Please don’t drip that gunk on the counter, though.”
It’s a good thing these cards are so good at keeping track of monsters slain, since I’m pretty sure the one Trixie blew up got completely vaporized.
After stamping the quest sheet, now proudly displaying 5/5, Maud’s head disappeared under the counter, and she came back up a few seconds later with a coin bag in her mouth. “Here’s the 200 for the toads and 1000 bits for completion. Congratulations.” Maud said expressionlessly.
Divided equally, that's 400 bits per pony, which doesn't seem that bad, aside from the obvious danger of the whole thing… I mean, what would we have done if another toad showed up? Would we have been wiped out? At least I would have had my sword, so I probably could have figured something out, given how much they apparently hate the taste of anything metallic. For the sake of my tracksuit, I am glad it didn't come to that, though.
A few minutes after taking a seat and aimlessly poking coins around the table, somepony cleared their throat behind me.
Turning around, I was surprised to see not Celestia or Trixie, but somepony I'd never seen before.
The mare was wearing a suit of white armor with gold trim, with some brown clothing underneath, and had an aura of coolness about her. That, and she was wearing sunglasses. I didn't even know this world had any, but if the tinted lenses were any indication, I guess they must. The mare’s neutral expression did little to inform me of what her current temperament was. Could this be somepony from the town guard here to scold our party for something? She certainly had a serious look about her but I can’t imagine what we could have- Oh, right, we caused a huge explosion just outside of town. Probably not appreciated.
The mare shifted somewhat, her mouth moving slightly to a frown, and I realized I hadn’t actually greeted her. “Was there something you needed, miss?” I asked nervously.
“Are you Twilight Sparkle?”
"Yes, I'm Twilight. Is something the matter?"
The mare stuck her face in the saddlebag perched behind her wings, and set a familiar paper on the table. "You posted this recruitment paper, right? I was wondering if you still had an opening."
I breathed a sigh of relief. No jail for us today! I guess we forgot to take the flyer down after we recruited Trixie. "We did already find a third party member, but I can't see any harm in letting you join as well. What are your qualifications?"
The mare smiled. "I'm a level 5 Crusader, which is an advanced class!" she stated proudly.
Perhaps if this happened earlier today, I’d be more inclined to let that speak for itself. Given Trixie’s show of stubbornness though, it’d probably be better to recruit somepony more cooperative.
“Do you have experience with other adventurers?”
"Well, I've been in a few parties before…"
"You DO mean adventuring parties, right?"
"Of course?" the mare replied nervously.
"Any particular hangups, like-" what would make a knight useless, anyways? "-oh, I don't know, a total refusal to fight back?"
"N-no? I will absolutely fight back to the best of my abilities!" the mare replied, not seeming offended but very confused.
Okay, so this mare is clearly somepony of actual importance. Which means she probably totally outclasses us.
"We still have an opening, but I'm not sure it'd be a good fit for you."
"Oh." She looked at the ground, evidently disappointed by the suggestion. "Did you need a wizard?"
"NO! I mean, we already have an Archmagician, so we're fine on that front."
"So you would need a crusader? Trust me, I won't let you down! Please?"
I'm sure she was trying to give doll eyes at me, an effect completely blocked by the sunglasses. She was definitely getting too close to my face though.
"I'm serious, I'm just an adventurer starting out, and it's been rough for us so far."
"But if you have an Archmagician AND an Arch Priestess, surely you'd need extra protection!"
I sighed. So far, everything about this mare pointed to her being FAR too competent for the group, and my gut reaction would be to turn her down, if only to save myself from the inevitable embarrassment of her leaving after one battle. But, if she's this insistent…
"I'll see about letting you meet the group tomorrow. They got, uh, swallowed by toads, so they’re occupied with cleanup at the moment.”
The mare had a look of disgust for a moment. “Well, as a knight of the kingdom, I’d do my best to defend them if you had me on the team! After all-” she tapped a gray hoof to her armor, “-everypony knows toads hate the taste of metal! I look forward to meeting the party tomorrow!”
With that, the blonde-maned mare happily trotted off to another part of the hall, with her head held high... And immediately bumped into a waitress, sending both of them and somepony’s dinner onto the floor.