“So, tell me about this ‘Great and Powerful’ pony.” Spite said as they trotted away from the train station. Spite had offered to use her peculiar teleportation ability to get them instantly from Canterlot to Ponyville but, remembering the exceedingly creepy way she’d healed herself, they’d all politely declined. Leaving the two Princesses to hold court and discuss their course of action, they’d boarded a train back home. Spite had proven to be pleasant enough company, although she still seemed reluctant to talk very much about herself, a reluctance Twilight attributed to her comment to Dawn that she was more than capable of being a monster. “Is ‘Great and Powerful’ a title she earned for some great feat?”
“Actually, it’s a stage name,” Twilight replied. “She works as a traveling stage magician using the title ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’. Her given name is Trixie Lulamoon.”
“Trixie Lulamoon,” Spite repeated thoughtfully. “Her last name sounds to be on the exotic side, like from somewhere outside the main pony cities I’ve heard of.”
“I think her family’s originally from a city called Neigh Orleans.”
“Really?” Rarity perked her ears. “Neigh Orleans?”
“Yes…”
“The crescent moon city? Eclectic mix of Prench and middle sea culture?” The fashionista’s eyes were beginning to shine.
“Down girl!” Spite grinned. “Besides, I thought you were obsessed with the fashions of Manehattan and Canterlot, not this Neigh Orleans place.”
“A proper lady keeps herself aware of any new developments in the realm of fashion,” Rarity sniffed, smiling. “Besides, I don’t care about the fashions—they’re hideously gaudy and totally inappropriate to the establishments that a lady should frequent—but the culture, oh the culture!”
“All the culture I’ll ever need, I can find within a short walk from home,” Spite chuckled.
“Oh?” The white unicorn swiveled her ears with clear interest. “Are there many art museums and theaters near your home?”
“Kabuki theater, perhaps.”
“Kabuki?”
“A style of storytelling using dance and extremely elaborate makeup and costuming,” Spite told her. “The kitsune copied it from a mortal realm, and the Ten Families picked it up from there. It’s a very popular form of entertainment where I come from, although the kabuki wasn’t quite what I was referring to when I spoke of culture within a short walk.”
“What then?”
“Everything.” Spite smiled nostalgically. “The refuge gardens the Ten Families maintain in their estates. The universities that are as large as cities, with towering libraries and cathedrals. Vast bazaars where you can find literally anything that exists, or someone who can get it for you. The cavern-foundries of the gremlin clans, gargantuan engineering marvels that can create manufacture by the thousand-fold. The magisteriums where you can hear moraeu and erinye scholars host week-long philosophical contemplations. My queen’s kingdom is a haven of learning, artisanship, and culture unlike any other Helle.”
All the ponies stopped and looked at her in awe. “Yer not jus’ bragging, are ya?”
“Nope.” Spite smiled happily. “I love my home, from its skies to its waters to its very soil to all the peoples that inhabit it. Your Equestria reminds me very strongly of it, with its simple beauties, lush flora and fauna, and a people that are industrious and warm. That’s why it’s so important to me that I do all I can for you and yours: Sol Selune is far too wonderful a place to suffer the spoliation that would accompany the Evil’s success. I just hope this Trixie is up to the task of shielding Equestria from further machinations.”
“Well, she’ll certainly tell you that she can do it,” Rainbow grinned. “There’s self-confidence, there’s arrogance, there’s boasting… and then, there’s Trixie.”
“Be nice, Rainbow!” Twilight admonished. “She hasn’t been that mare for months now.”
“An’ besides, she treats Big Mac like a prince most times,” Applejack added. “Ah’ll put even bits that I’ll have a new sister in law by this time next year.”
“Yeah, yeah, she’s cool now,” Rainbow acknowledged. “So you’ve seen her since the thing with the Guardian, Twi… what’s up with her?”
“Still doing her act,” Twilight replied as they entered Ponyville’s main square in front of both city hall and the library. Parked at the far end, near the market stalls, was a large wooden wagon painted light blue with a lavender roof decorated liberally with stars. On the side, forward of the door, was painted ‘The Great and Powerful Twixie: Mare of Mystery, Enchantment, and Awe-Inspiring Magical Mysticism’. Spite stopped in her tracks at this and looked over at Twilight.
“OK, so, remind me again: this Trixie can do the job, right?” She asked apprehensively. “She’s not just a traveling showmare with enough magic and skill to delight little foals, but lacking the ability to defend herself? Because I don’t want to waste my time or hers discussing this with her if her idea of a defense is a fireworks display.”
“That might have been the case once, and might have been the case if the Guardian had never shown up,” Twilight acknowledged, feeling a twinge of emotional pain that she was sure showed on her face. “But yes, she’s capable of what we’re planning to ask. More than capable; her magical font isn’t even a fraction of mine, but she can do more with less than I can.”
Spite noticed the expression. “That pains you, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.” Twilight slumped a little as they neared the wagon, remembering Trixie being particularly subdued the day she finally mastered the ability to call and use magical fire as a weapon. “Teaching a harmless entertainer, whose profession is making little foals laugh happily, how to do violence is very painful.”
“I think it’d be much more painful to her to be ‘Great and Powerful’ but have to stand by and watch someone she cares about be hurt.” Spite reached over and patted her on the shoulder, her hand striking Twilight as being oddly soft for being an appendage the dragoness walked on. “It may be painful for you both, but I imagine she feels secretly better when she can look over at Big Mac and know that if the moment comes when doing violence can save his life, she’ll be capable of it.”
Twilight nodded, giving Spite a brief smile, before walking up to the door of the wagon and knocking on it.
“Jus’ a sec.” Came a handsomely basso voice from inside before the door opened, and Twilight found herself face-to-face with what was easily the largest stallion she’d ever met. She politely stepped aside so he could step out of the mobile home.
“Afternoon, y’all.” He rumbled. “Afternoon, ‘Jack.”
“Hey Big Mac.” Applejack grinned as she came forward, throwing her hooves around him. Despite the difference in size, they were clearly brother and sister: their similarities in build, in accent, and face were just too similar for it to be anything else.
Big Mac smiled a little as he embraced his sister in return. “What brings y’all here?”
“We need to talk to Trixie, Big Macintosh,” Twilight told him, putting up a façade of brightness to hide the discomfort she felt at their errand. “Is she inside?”
“Eenope. Went fer carrots.” He looked over at Spite then at Rainbow and then back at Twilight. “Somethin’s wrong, innit?”
Twilight sighed, reminding herself once again that despite being plain and simple pony folk, the Apples were nopony’s fools, and the stoic Big Mac was no exception. “Yes.”
The big stallion grimaced. “Ah hope this dun have anythin’ t’ do with mah Trixie. Ah jus’ lost ‘er six months prior, Miz Sparkle, and Ah’m not fixin’ t’ do it again.”
“Trixie was killed by the Guardian?” Spite blinked.
“Eeyup.”
“But she’s not still dead.”
“Eenope.”
Spite snorted. “Naturally. Everyone else is in on the party, why not Phyrrus too?”
“There’s a party?” Spite found herself face-to-face with the pink party pony and Twilight watched her expression strain briefly as she embarked on the perpetually futile exercise of figuring how Pinkie Pie could be Pinkie Pie. “And I wasn’t invited?”
“Oh, you were invited, Pinkie,” Rarity stepped in, gently pulling Pinkie back to a more less-invasive-of-personal-space distance. “And you showed up fashionably late.”
Pinkie giggled. “Silly Rarity, that wasn’t a party. That was a fight.”
“Which is what I meant by ‘party’,” Spite chuckled. “At any rate, I regret to admit that this does have something to do with your Trixie, Big Macintosh. I’m told she’s a great and powerful pony, and Equestria may need one of those.”
“Did somepony mention the Great and Powerful Trixie?” Came a youthful voice with more than a hint of Rarity’s high society accent. Twilight looked over the heads of her friends to see a familiar blue unicorn with a long-cut white mane levitating a basket of plump carrots as she trotted towards the wagon. Trixie wore her cap and cape, both lavender, both liberally decorated with stars, although both articles showed all the hallmarks of having been professionally-made and made of much finer materials than her original clothing had been. Twilight looked sideways at Rarity and caught the expected flash of work-pride, causing Twilight herself to smile a little at the latest example of her fastidiously fashionable friend’s generous nature.
“Hey Trixie,” Twilight said, turning the smile up a notch for the other unicorn.
“Twilight Sparkle.” Trixie smiled warmly in return as she trotted passed her, pausing to kiss Big Mac. “I’ll be right with you, just need to put these away.”
Big Mac didn’t say anything but the subdued, somewhat silly, smile on his face loudly broadcasted his opinion that he was the luckiest stallion in Equestria.
Trixie emerged and immediately embraced Twilight. “It’s been months, Twilight!”
Twilight beamed as she wrapped forelegs and wings over the smaller unicorn. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that Trixie. There’s been… lots to do. But I caught a couple of your shows when you were in Canterlot a few weeks ago. You looked as Great and Powerful as I’ve ever seen you.”
“You’re kind to say so, Twiligjht.” Trixie released her and looked over the crowd. “…Trixie, er, I see you brought all your friends. Is it a special occasion, or are you all just that happy to see me?”
“A special occasion,” Twilight admitted. “We need your help, Trixie.”
Trixie responded by staring, open-mouthed. “S…say that again..?” She managed weakly.
“We need your help, Trixie,” Twilight repeated, leaning down to meet Trixie’s astonished eyes. “It’s not a joke and you’re not imagining this; we really and truly need you.”
“But…” Trixie was actually looking faint. “…you… you truly need me? The… the Elements of Harmony… need me?”
Twilight felt the other Elements staring at the ordinarily confident-just-short-of-arrogant showmare in open astonishment, silent for several moments before Rainbow trotted forward, took a surprised Trixie’s face in her hooves, and turned the unicorn’s face so they were eye to eye. “Who are you, and what’d you do with Trixie?”
“And just what does that mean?” Trixie demanded sharply, trying to pull her head away.
Rainbow let her go. “Ya stopped being a jerk but since when have you ever been doubtful that you were far better than everypony else?”
“Since I watched some… thing tearing apart Canterlot, killing ponies I knew, threatening my family, killing your friend, and I could do nothing about it,” Trixie retorted sharply, her amazement at what Twilight said dissipating under the intensity of her words. “The Great and Powerful Trixie couldn’t do anything about that… whatever it was, that Guardian beast. It was like watching Twilight take care of then Ursa Minor that those colts, inspired by my bragging unleashed on Ponyville but much worse.”
“Are you better now?”
“Excuse me?” Trixie looked at Spite.
“I asked, are you better now?” Spite repeated. “Are you still that helpless mare who had to watch a beast hurting ponies while could do nothing, or can you now do something?”
Trixie looked at Twilight, who gave her a smile and an encouraging nod, before looking back at Spite. “I’m… not as helpless as I once was…” She replied cautiously.
“Will you show me?”
Trixie looked aghast. “Show you? As in, hurt somepony for your amusement?”
“Actually, I had in mind you attempting to hurt me,” Spite grinned toothily. “Putting emphasis on the ‘attempting’.”
Trixie looked steadily at her. “So you wish me to attack somepony who isn’t threatening me, has no intention of hurting me, and seems to be a guest, or at least friendly acquaintance, of one of my very few friends?”
Spite sighed. “Yes. Keep in mind, I’d be in no danger from you; in the inconceivably unlikely event that you accidentally hurt me, I’m practically impossible to kill and can recover instantaneously from injury. Ask any of these seven: Applejack accidentally broke my jaw when I startled her, and it only took me a few seconds to be as good as new.”
Trixie turned, got a silent and slightly embarrassed nod from Applejack, then turned back. “Why wouldn’t demonstrating on a rock do just as well?”
“Because even though I’m confident you can’t harm me, you attempting to do so will allow me to assess what you can do,” the dragoness told her. “For me, given my nature, being able to accurately assess what kinds of magic a potential enemy can use and how effectively they can use it, is the most basic and important of survival skills. With my longevity, an instinctive assessment is now fully in my control, and I can objectively analyze the nature and potential of the magic being used in my vicinity, especially if it’s used directly against me.”
“Really now…” Twilight looked intensely interested. “How does that work?”
“All magical energy being put to practical use is essentially a conversion from pure aethir to the form of the magic being used,” Spite replied. “As the aethir typically requires a transitional mechanism, such as focus-words or the horn of a unicorn, it acquires certain amplitudinal variances as well as transitional frequency reiterations that a creature of inherent magical alignment, such as a typical dragon, can intrinsically sense.”
Twilight caught Dawn nodding out of the corner of her eye and felt a small surge of pride in her sister before she noticed everypony else staring blankly at Spite. “Does that come translated from egghead to normal?” Dash asked.
Spite grinned at her. “Maaaaaaybe.”
“Unicorns have different-colored magic from each other,” Dawn told the pegasus.
“Next time you’re having fun, remind me to ruin it for you,” Spite glared.
“You must only use the power of Egghead for good, young grasshopper,” Dawn replied with a cheeky grin.
Spite rolled her eyes, grinning a little in return, before turning back to Trixie. “The long and the short of all that, Miss Lulamoon, is that being magically attacked by you will allow me to discern whether the request we plan to make would be fair to you, or if we’d be putting an unfair burden on a pony who has no ability to bear it.”
Trixie looked at her before looking at Twilight in silent inquiry. Twilight gave her a reassuring nod and a smile, and Trixie returned her gaze to the expectant dragoness. “Very well. But only if we move someplace where nopony else could get hurt, even accidentally.”
“I was planning to suggest the Everfree Forest anyway,” Spite nodded. “Just give me a few minutes to find the local timberwolf pack so they know to stay clear and perhaps keep the other animals away as well.”
“I can help with that,” Fluttershy offered with a shy smile although, notably, not in her nervous almost-whisper.
Spite smiled back warmly. “Then I welcome your company, soft-kind wingpony.”
Fluttershy blushed and ducked her head under her wing, replying in an inaudible whisper, causing Spite to laugh and start towards the Everfree, the butter-colored pegasus following a moment later.
Twilight watched them go and then turned back to Trixie. “You don’t have to do this,
Trixie. You’ve already proven yourself as far as everypony here is concerned.”
Trixie smiled. “You’re kind to say so, Twilight Sparkle, but Trixie doesn’t call herself the ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’ for nothing. And you say that you need my help, and friends help.”
“Man, you’re really gotten awesome since ya first rolled into Ponyville,” Dash laughed. “First, ya come back from the dead, and then ya snag the big guy here, and now you’re all set to go off and help us save Equestria.”
“Save Equestria?” Trixie repeated.
Twilight threw Dash a dirty look. “Yes,” she confirmed. “While Spite and Fluttershy are making the Everfree ready, I think you need to know what’s going on.
><><
“I wish you’d told me you were coming, Spite. I’d have done my spring cleaning early.”
Spite smiled pleasantly at the nearest draconic head. “By which you mean, you’d have hidden the shallow graves better?”
“Ah, someone who understands me,” Trilychi sighed happily as each of his heads assumed a different expression of happiness. “You, Amarra, the High Lord, Kaiya… so few entities in whose company I can derive pleasure.”
“To be fair, My Lord, few entities feel entirely comfortable surrounded by the heads of dragons,” she told him, still keeping her light and pleasant tone. Finding the wolf pack and giving them the message had taken a very short time so Spite had taken the opportunity to slip away, leaving Fluttershy to enjoy the highly affectionate company of the pack, and found a safe perch so she could project a part of herself to speak with the Eighth.
It was always an interesting experience to speak to the actual Prime instead of to one of his millions of minions through whom he’d project his consciousness. Interesting, because the sea hydrus was utterly unique. He was the only one of his kind, a three-headed creature of immense size that was entirely confined to sea water yet had a reach and power that rivaled any Prime or Archangel. It was also interesting because he was a single mind with multiple heads, and exercised such exquisite detailed control that he could pretend all kinds of things: three heads with three separate minds, that he was in a constant state of argument with himself, that the visitor could conspire with one head against the others, and dozens more similar fictions. But for her, and a few others that he respected, the heads spoke and acted as one.
Usually, anyway, since at the moment he was speaking using just the center head while the other two nodded and gave him worshipful looks. “Granted, which explains why my favorite void-dragon has absolutely no fear of me. But you’re not projecting your consciousness to me so we can enjoy word games. What do you need, Handmaiden of the Sixth?”
“Trixie Lulamoon.”
“I’m afraid that if you’re looking to seduce some nice piece of tail, Heccate can give you much better advice than I can,” he grinned toothily.
Spite kept her face passive, earning a flash of visible irritation from the three-headed Prime as she denied him the reaction he was looking for. “I don’t need to seduce her… I need to know more about her so I can recruit her to the cause.”
All three heads quirked the same brow simultaneously. “So you’ve involved a seventh pony in this affair.”
“Actually four others,” Spite grinned. “A twin sister of Twilight Sparkle’s that I wasn’t aware of, this Trixie Lulamoon, and both Princesses.”
“You, my dear, are delightfully irrepressible; I can see why Amarra has you wander around showing her flag and making her look good. However, Twilight Sparkle has a brother, not a sister.” His eyes narrowed. “Although… wait… no… oh, yes, yes, it… no…”
Spite sat back on her haunches and waited politely. Most of Trilychi’s power was related to his immense store of knowledge and information, both of which were relentlessly gathered by doppelganger agents that seemed to be omnipresent based on how well-informed their master was. Part of having that knowledge, however, was making proper use of it and it was the use of information that made Trilychi fully as dangerous as a Prime that could move freely wherever he wished. As such, his mind was a very organized place and audibly talking to himself was how the massive Prime accessed and made sense of his agents’ memories.
“Ah, yes, Twilight Sparkle’s twin sister.” He smirked threefold. “A magical creation, actually, based on a somewhat… indisposed Celestia’s memories of her dear student, recently found to be her daughter. Disagreeable personality combined with Sparkle’s incisive intellect. Nyphomaniacal, although she’s actually worse than sea nymphs; they’re depressingly uptight for such aesthetically-pleasing anthropomorphizations of…”
“Trixie Lulamoon, m’lord,” Spite reminded him.
One thing Spite had never been sure about was what Trilychi looked like beneath the surface; a massive draconic paw with webbing between the fingers, emerging from the water and shaking one of those fingers at her in a scolding fashion answered the question nicely. “Don’t interrupt your elders, whelp.”
“If I had the time, Lord Trilychi, I’d have gradually worked around to the subject in the interest of teasing as much information from you as I could,” Spite replied. “I do not. I need to know of this mare before I examine her magical potential in detail.”
He regarded her thoughtfully, drawing the paw back down to his side under the water. “Yes… you would be taking your time if you had the time to take. Very well. Trixie Lulamoon is a traveling showmare with a high degree of talent in illusion and conjuration, although there’re credible indications that she’s been well-instructed in invocations, ‘well-instructed’ meaning that Twilight Sparkle has tutored her. As such, you can expect unusually refined magic of esoteric patterns in keeping with Sparkle’s tendencies towards highly orthodox literature-driven spell development combined with top-level weave theoretical application. For a long time, Trixie Lulamoon was distinct for her arrogant, highly boastful, highly disagreeable personality that she couldn’t justify through discernible merit. To be frank, Spite, I paid her very little attention because she lacked the personality and personal connections to constitute a consequential force in Equestria. I have reams of information that will tell you everything and give you nothing useful, but that would waste my time to tell you and your time to listen.”
Spite nodded. “Is there anything else?”
“On Trixie Lulamoon, very little. I’m certain that you’ve already discovered that she’s pursuing a relationship with the Element of Honesty’s elder brother, and that connection is the only other consequential information I can offer you. On more important matters, I can tell you much more of much greater consequence.”
“What would you have in exchange?”
He looked at her with three variations on curious. “Why would I have anything from Amarra’s sister and handmaiden in exchange for information? All that I give you is free because you’re Amarra’s strong right hand.”
“Then I thank you for whatever you’re willing to provide.”
He smirked. “With respect to your time constraints, I have four things to say to you on important matters. The first is that the challenger is the black minister Fronck-Kais.”
“Quezelzege’s toady?” Spite snorted. “What am I not surprised?”
“Because you’re too old to be surprised by the easily predicted.” He cleared three throats. “The second thing is that you are to be reinforced with invocations at least comparable to your own power. The third is that Twilight Sparkle must go east to set events in motion that will lead to the acquisition of one of the strongest reinforcements Kaiya Aon can provide.”
“It’ll be nice to shift the burden a little.” Spite smiled, “What’s the fourth thing?”
His expressions became solemn and deadly serious. “Kaiya turned one of her trump cards face up of late. The invocation she threatens to use is the Inquisition.”
Spite gaped openly at him. “How’d she gain that? I mean, I know the Inquisition was partly her creation…”
“Wait, wait…” He stared at her. “She partly created it?”
“Counterpart to the Order in Auric,” Spite nodded. “Except that unlike the Order, she made every attempt to be subtle, for reasons only she knows. I know because my sister knows, and she knows because it was conveyed to her by High Lord Daemoni.”
“…who was told by his personal friend, likely out of a sense of pride in her accomplishment.” He grinned fiercely. “Oh dear me, I knew I liked that vixen. But yes, she gained it and when she turned it face-up, I could tell that it wasn’t a bluff.”
Spite nodded. “Well, things are slightly better than I thought they were. Fronck-Kais though… very interesting. What’s his prize?”
“I haven’t yet asked, mostly because I can’t see how it matters.” He grinned. “Shortly, that miserable Evil will join Rijii and Rejnu as a decoration. Beautiful work, by the way.”
“Thank you, m’lord.” She gave him a smile and a bow. “I’d prefer to linger, if only to learn the latest news about the Helles and Heavens, but I need to return to my task.”
He inclined his heads politely. “Success to you then, Spite Drae’thul. I’ll be watching.”
“Of course he’ll be watching…” She sighed as the projection dissipated, leaving her lounging securely on a high tree branch. Stretching a bit, she slipped to the ground and started towards where she planned to meet the Elements and Equestria’s possible defender. “Well, on to Miss Lulamoon.”
><><
“Just a bit more… a bit more… a little… there.” Spite smiled at the blue unicorn as the mare slowly lit her horn with her face scrunched in concentration. “That’s quite an impressive level of precision control, Trixie.”
“Well, the Great and Powerful Trixie is, after all, great and powerful,” Trixie smiled back as she let the glow lapse. Spite had returned from the forest with the slightest bounce in her step; naturally, this meant that Dawn felt an obligation to needle her before Twilight politely (or at least, as politely as she could, considering) clamped her sister’s muzzle closed with a touch of telekinesis before inquiring. Spite had dismissed the question with a wave of a hand and a “later” before starting her testing. For the test, they’d elected to leave the other elements (and a worried Big Mac) behind so the four of them could concentrate on Spite’s examination of the showmare.
“Powerful is yet to be seen, but I’ll concede the ‘great’ part,” Spite chuckled as she started towards the other side of the small clearing. “Now, let’s get you primed a bit. Hit me with whatever comes to your head first. Don’t take time to worry about it being inappropriate, just belt it out.”
Trixie gave Twilight a glance, receiving an encouraging nod from the alicorn, then her horn sprang to life and out popped streams of sound, light, and color. Twilight slapped her hooves over her ears at the cacophony, not pausing to see how her sister was reacting to the stunning display. Only when the flashes of light had ceased to burn through her eyelids did she dare to look, finding Spite’s end of the clearing singed but the dragoness apparently unaffected.
“You know, I feel the need to state the obvious: that… was possibly the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” Spite grinned. “I mean, damn… that was the first thing that came to your head, Trixie?”
Trixie grinned back and pointed at herself with a hoof. “Showmare?”
“…Good point.” Spite looked over at Twilight. “Just so I have some idea of what to expect, what path did you take in tutoring her?”
Twilight blinked. “Um… covered some primary theory followed by focus drills and practical instruction. How’d you know?”
“One of my sister’s colleagues acts as her lord’s spymaster, and he has an obsessive lust for knowledge and, for some reason, acts as if he owes my sister a debt of honor,” she explained. “This means that he forgoes the normal round of negotiating a price before giving me any information I want.” She looked down the field at Trixie. “Alright, Miss Lulamoon, I’ve seen what manner of spell is topmost in your mind. Now, I wish to test your reflexive spell. Remember, you can’t hurt me and I will not hurt you.”
“Uh, quick question, miss spooky dragoness,” Dawn interrupted. “How much does this spymaster of yours know?”
“No one knows, but he seems to know everything about everyone.” She sighed. “And boy, does he make sure you know it. Nor do I know how he collects the information; naturally, as a spymaster, he keeps that a secret.”
“Joy,” Dawn groaned. “There’s a creepy thing follow me and everypony else around.”
“Dawn, I’m reasonably confident that you have nothing to worry about,” Spite grinned at her.
Dawn glared at her, earning a chuckle as the dragoness turned back to the matter at hoof.
Twilight saw Spite lower her stance marginally and realized what the dragoness had in mind. “Spite, I didn’t…” Either she didn’t hear or she ignored her because with a sharp crack-crack, the black-scaled female blinked forward, instantly going from one side of the clearing to just inches away from Trixie. And then there was a deafening boom and as quickly as Spite had arrived, she was suddenly sprawled on her back on the grass, looking mildly stunned. Trixie stared at her, her eyes wide and her horn still glowing as she panted from the surge of fear and adrenaline that the dragoness’ test had provoked.
“…alrighty then.” Spite commented in the sort of casual tone that one used to comment on the weather, remaining sprawled on the ground. “That was… not quite what I expected.”
“Hah! Little miss magician totally knocked you on your plot, oh ye high and mighty dragoness,” Dawn laughed.
“Ah’m… awful sorry… miz dragoness… Ah… I mean, Myrilandel,” Trixie panted. “You just… startled me…”
“That was sort of the point, miss Lulamoon,” Spite smiled as she climbed to her feet, making a point of ignoring Dawn. “I’m impressed; on nothing but instinct, you planted my plot but good. How the hay did you learn how to do a magical flechette blast?”
“F… flechette?”
“Yes, a cone of eldritch darts that would blast a hole as big as your head through most bodies. Fortunately…” Spite rapped on her chest, producing a hollow metallic clang “…I was prepared for the kind of raw magical power that I thought only Lady Sparkle or another alicorn could wield.”
“You were wearing armor?” Twilight asked, trotting over curiously.
“In the end, Twilight, I’m a soldier and no soldier goes about entirely disarmed.” She smiled broadly. “You can examine the magical sigils that keep it hidden and silent later, if you’d like, but the important thing is that Trixie passed the second of my tests with flying colors.” She glanced at the blue mare, still trembling, and walked over, laying a wing over her shoulders in a gentle embrace. “I’m still not sure how, though.”
“I… might have some idea,” Twilight admitted. “I’ll explain later, though. Do you need to test her anymore?”
“Two more things, a bit less… stressful than the last two.” She hugged Trixie with the wing she’d draped over her. “Are you OK, Trixie?”
“Yes,” the mare replied with a shiver. “What do you need me to do next?”
“I want to see you create a bubble shield,” Spite replied, letting her go and taking a step backwards. “Or at least a semihemispherical shield.”
“A what?”
“A shield that resembles a fragment of a sphere’s surface,” Dawn offered. “You know, in case you can’t do full coverage.”
“That was what I was trying to do when I, um, hit her with the flechette,” Trixie admitted with a slight coloring.
Spite looked genuinely taken-aback. “So the flechette was a complete accident?”
“Yes.”
Spite nodded at this. “Hmm. Well, this means that the shield test will be more important than I thought. Can you create a shield of some sort, Trixie?”
Trixie gave her a genuinely affronted look. “Of course I can!” Her horn glowed and a thin thread of magic streamed out of it, striking a point in midair and spreading out like an umbrella until a solid wall of blue-tinted power stood between Trixie and an interested-looking Spite.
“I begin to see how you accidentally produced the flechette,” Spite commented as she walked forward and very carefully placed an open hand on the energy wall. “Could I trouble you to lower and raise it a few times? There’s something… interesting in your method.”
Trixie beamed at the observation and did as the dragoness requested, letting the shield drop and then restoring it until Spite gave her a nod to indicate that she’d gotten what she was after.
”Thank you,” she said, giving the mare a brief smile. “I need to ask something of Twilight Sparkle right now but I’ll return shortly; there’s just one more thing to examine, although I think all my questions have been answered.”
Twilight gave Trixie a smile of her own before Spite gently pushed her to an edge of the clearing and moved around so she could look Twilight in the eye. She raised a hand with her fingers spread, crackling bolts of magic jumping between her claw tips in a very orderly, very controlled pattern. “So, you were going to explain to me how Trixie is able to use magic that far outstrips her personal aethir reserves.”
“Well, there’s lots of technical details but what it comes down to is that her personal magical talent tilts towards extreme efficiency instead of immense magical reserves,” Twilight replied. “She can do much more with a dribble than most unicorns, including me in fact, can do with a torrent. Trixie didn’t look like much more than a boastful and mean celebrity when she first came to Ponyville, enough so that none of us knew how much she could actually do with her magic. Based on what she showed, we thought she was a minor talent at best. We were wrong; Trixie has so much ability that she resonates noticeably with the Element of Magic.”
“Which is why you thought of her immediately, and are so confident that she can carry out the heavy task we’re putting to her.” Spite nodded, thoughtful. “I know we’ve already hashed this out, but are you certain that an extra protector is necessary? There’s an old saying that sending the untrained to war is little better than murdering them, and no matter how powerful Trixie is, she has no formal training. At least the Elements have engaged in earnest combat in the past; she doesn’t even really have that.”
“She was part of the battle against the Guardian’s four alicorn… minions,” Twilight mentioned. “Granted, her ability to fight them was limited but she was still part of the fight.”
“The Guardian enlisted alicorns to his cause?” Spite’s brow furrowed. “Which ones?”
“Mom called them ‘Summer’, ‘Spring’, ‘Fall’, and ‘Winter’,” Twilight replied. “I guess they used to represent the four yearly seasons before being corrupted by the Guardian, forcing the others of their kind to kill them.”
The brow furrowed more. “So this Guardian resurrected four long-dead alicorns and twisted them into his own minions?”
“Yes.”
“And Trixie was among those that fought them off?”
“She was.”
The dragoness contemplated this and nodded. “Well, she’s not dead and she’s not a gibbering pile of neurosis, so I take it she weathered the experience rather well.”
“As well as you can when you have the experience of feeling totally helpless in the face of powerful ponies that want to kill you,” Dawn said. “She came to sis for tutoring practically the day after things settled down a bit. Something about seeing Dash’s griffin main squeeze get herself killed right there sorta threw her for a loop.”
“Griffin main squeeze?”
“Yup.” Dawn nodded. “Didn’t get to see much of her, damn shame, but she had a beak on her and a attitude that makes Rainbow look all humble. Took one of the more psycho alicorns with her.”
“Interesting.” Spite looked over at Twilight. “Well, this tells me something highly positive about Trixie: smart enough to know when she’s out of her league, and smart enough to ask somepony for help who can give her a leg up for next time.”
“I think she was hoping there wouldn’t be a next time… but she thought it best to prepare anyway.”
“Smart girl.” Spite gave Twilight a nod before padding back over to Trixie. “Now for one last little thing: maximum output. Hit me as hard as you can for as long as you can. You won’t be able to hurt me, partly because of the armor, partly because I’ll be actively defending against it, so don’t hold back out of fear of harming me.”
“I think we sort of settled that when I blew you off your feet without hurting you,” Trixie grinned, turning to trot to her end of the clearing. “Now, watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie unleashes her full power on the hapless dragon challenger.”
“Just make sure you bring the power, Trixie, and I don’t mind being hapless,” Spite chuckled as she blinked to the other side of the clearing and reared up on her haunches, extending one palm towards Trixie while the other faced the ground. “Begin.”
Trixie braced herself, lowering her head to point her horn straight at Spite, then lit her horn. Motes of light sparked into existence around the extended appendage, seeming to tremble in midair, growing larger and brighter, before one streaked forward and rocketed towards the target, splashing with a flash against a barrier that flickered into place but disappeared just as quickly. It was followed by another, with the same result, and another and then two and three and within moments, motes of magical energy were bombarding Spite so thick and fast that the black female was totally obscured behind a wall of blinding, writhing light.
Twilight couldn’t help but stare in awe, ignoring the way the intense light was causing her eyes to ache. She’d never seen Trixie just unleash her magic like this, without caution or reserve, and it brought home to her just how powerful the seemingly low-powered showmare actually was. She could tell that Trixie had nothing near her reserves, as she was already starting to slow and tire after only a minute of the staggering assault, but the fact that Trixie was able to do this at all was a testament to how incredibly efficient she was with the lower amount that she did have.
Trixie lasted another full minute before her horn blinked out and she slumped to the ground, panting. Twilight looked at her sister and, to her surprise, Dawn didn’t even need to be asked, trotting over to make sure Trixie was alright as Twilight turned to Spite. The end of the clearing that Trixie had been aiming her attack at was completely obliterated, the ground scorched and gouged, the plant life blasted like it’d been hit by a tornado, and even small fires smoldering on the remaining grass. Except for a small island where a very shaky-looking dragoness was standing.
“Your friend has some serious firepower, Lady Sparkle,” she informed her, taking a hesitant step off her sanctuary and into the pitted earth around her. “Even better than that, however…” She smiled and held up the palm that had been positioned facing the ground. Twilight saw blue-tinged motes of light dancing between the dragoness’ claws, flowing and arcing with an almost biological pulse. “…her magical structure is exquisite.”
Twilight stepped closer and looked curiously at the display. “You… captured some of it?”
“Just enough to sample its weave,” Spite replied as she closed her palm over the magic, extinguishing it. “Alpha and epsilon amplitudes have a wave-like fallout, with the gamma ninety degrees and the omega one hundred eighty degrees out of phase. It’s an elegant solution to the problem of initiating and sustaining efficient magical flow, elegant enough that it has to be inborn.”
“Like I said… Element of Magic resonates with her.” Twilight smiled as the two of them joined Trixie and Dawn.
“Is… not Trixie… Great… and… Powerful?” The showmare inquired with a faint roguish grin.
“Very,” Spite agreed. “Enough so that I think it’s fair to say that we have our defender.” She strode close enough to enfold a slightly surprised Trixie in a light embrace. “Welcome to our little fellowship, Trixie Lulamoon.”