//------------------------------// // ~Is Power // Story: For I Have no Friends, and Must Scream // by Richardson //------------------------------// Hoof pokes in. Hoof pokes out. Hoof pokes in. Hoof pokes out. Hoof pokes in. Hoof pokes out. "Trixie, if you don't stop poking your non-existent hoof into my eye, I'm going to stop helping you and revoke your interaction privileges for a week." Twilight Sparkle barely looked up from Starswirl's journal as she sniped at her head-guest. Notes had been scattered all around Zecora's hut, to the zebra's eternal frustration. Trixie jerked her illusionary body back, quickly dashing to the other side of the room, lest she annoy Twilight further. "Trixie is sorry. Please don't banish Trixie back into-" "I'm not going to cut off the senses you're borrowing from me, that's just cruel. " Twilight rubbed a hoof against her mane in frustration. What Starswirl had been working on, it... well, was beyond anything she had ever heard of. Multiple concepts that were still theoretical in modern studies were completely fleshed out in his work, and partially discarded as he had devised the most insane spell she had ever seen. "I never thought that the only reason I'm seeing Starswirl the Bearded's magnum opus would be because one of my friends got herself turned to stone." "Trixie would hardly call herself your friend. Maybe your inferior, or acquaintance, but she doesn't deserv-" Twilight's glare stopped Trixie's dismissive hoof-wave mid-swing. "I might not like all that much about you and your habits, and we might not be very good friends, but we're still friends. I respect you, and the work you put in to keep yourself going. And you have some of the best illusions I've ever seen under that hat of yours." Trixie blinked in surprise, the unexpected compliment having blindsided her. "Umm, Trixie thanks you?" "You're welcome. When I fix you, you wouldn't mind teaching me a few of your tricks? I've got a thing or two I can show you that might spice up your act." Twilight turned back to the book, taking a new glace at it with her refreshed mind. A part of her realized that it would take months before she could properly cast it, and she hoped Trixie could wait that long. Starswirl's journal entries had begun to become erratic after a few months in his own studies. "Trixie supposes she could. She would rather not, they were Trixie's mother's, and their uniqueness is the one thing she has left of her." Trixie worked her illusionary body, it's features wriggling for a little while as she struggled to show her sadness with it. Being a disembodied spirit looking through another's eyes while trying to maintain a consistent illusion of her presence at a distance from her borrowed perspective was irritating and almost painfully difficult. Still, it was better than being trapped in the void again, with nothing to see but ponies's souls. She didn't want to feel that crushing darkness clutching at her again. "It's alright Trixie. I shouldn't have asked." The hut's door opened, Zecora wreathed in rare plants of the Everfree as she struggled to gently push it shut. "Lovebirds I see? Or a special drink that should have been saved for me?" Twilight and Trixie both spluttered at Zecora's inneudo, tripping over each other's words trying to refute it. The zebra shamaness laughed politely as she let them splutter, looking at the still incomplete spell notes scattered across her formerly neat home. "Be at ease as I only meant a joke. Such hostile embarrassment I did not mean to provoke." Twilight phew'd in relief, turning back to the book as Trixie tried to follow the shamaness. "Trixie does not perform that form of trick. Just for future reference." Zecora nodded, having only been teasing. Now that she had been talking to her for a while, Trixie seemed remarkably humble when not upon a stage. Certainly a far cry from the tales told by Pinkie Pie. Though perhaps the part where staying on your savior's good side being the only way to stay saved might have had something to do with it. Zecora set her bundle in the large alchemical alcove to one side and deeply breathed in relief from the weight that had been upon her. The sound of Twilight grunting in frustration and dropping her head against the pile of notes before her caught Zecora's attention, drawing her back to her kitchen table. Trixie's illusionary avatar joined her as they looked over the massive spread in confusion. It was as if Twilight had run around and around mentally, trying to catch some hidden facet of the spell. But the latest notes were different. Six points repeated over and over again in the notes, scribbled around and circled whenever they appeared. "So tell us; have you made sense of this fuss? Or have you hit a stump, and now find yourself on your rump?" Twilight's mane sprang into madness at the inquiry, looking as if she had not combed it in decades. Her eyes had shrunk to manic points of obsessive focus, the stress of the spell slowly unraveling her nerves. "Hit a stump? Yes! A stump! A big stupid ugly STUMPED!" Twilight threw her hooves in the air, magic sparking from them as it almost seemed like her mane was smoking. Trixie could feel the growing madness of failure driving the unicorn, consuming her. Which was just wonderful, since having a mad host was likely not going to end well for her. "Trixie wonders why exactly Twilight is taking this so personally? Did not even Starswirl have problems just coming up with the spell?" The ghostly image of the showpony jumped back as Twilight rushed up to her, Twilight pointing at her rump with fury and indignation. "See this? I'm supposed to have a special talent in magic itself! I should know this instantly! Or at least I should general know how this stupid kludge works!" Zecora reached beneath her table, her hoof emerging with a cup filled with a calming elixir. She understood why Twilight was becoming slightly unhinged. She dealt with a spell that defied her. The shamaness was ashamed to admit it, but more than one potion had similarly consumed her. "Perhaps you have grown too self-reflective. May I suggest a new perspective?" Twilight closed her eyes in thought as she greedily snatched the cup from Zecora and slammed its contents down her throat in a single gulp. Her spluttering from the burn that it dragged down her esophagus took a moment; leaving her panting as her frayed nerves slowly relaxed, and as her muscles untensed themselves. As she opened them again, only a super-equine show of will kept her from facehoofing as Zecora rapidly pointed between herself and Trixie. Now she just felt stupid for forgetting that they could have been of help. "Oh. I'm sorry. I forgot that I had friends who at least hear me out and help me get this off my chest." Twilight took deep breaths as her mane slowly relaxed and fell into a more natural disheveled state. The dim lighting in the kitchen served to assist her as she closed her eyes and used her old standby of thinking that Celestia was right behind her and encouraging her to stay undiscouraged. "Right. Well, I'm so worked up because of how complex this spell is. it has six originating nodes! Six! Simultaneously!" Trixie's eyes grew wide as she realized how crazy that was. An originating node was the pony or object that cast a spell, the foundation on which a spell was based. Usually, if there was more than one node, they either cast the exact same spell, or staggered their initiation in order to prevent horrific interactions. Casting two spells as part of a single spell from two sources at once was rare and a dangerous feat. But six? The ponies would be lucky if they merely turned inside out and exploded. Twice maybe if they were extra lucky. More likely they would die screaming as their bodies slowly evaporated when their spells turned upon them. "So six the spell does name... but are not your Elements of Harmony the same?" Zecora shivered as she walked through Trixie, reaching up to the recessed bookshelf on her hut's wall to pull out a reference guide to Equestrian artifacts. Trixie and Twilight both jerkingly turned towards Zecora, mouths agape. It couldn't be, could it? Twilight's mouth worked like a gasping fish as she realized how blindingly obvious the solution had been. Trixie's hoof hesitantly jerked up and down as she tried to find a way to politely interject herself into the conversation again. "I- I... why am I made of stupid?! Of course!" Twilight rapidly sorted her massive array of notes in the air until she found one of the sources of her frustration. Trixie tried to make sense of the terrifyingly complex diagrams and equations. "See! The originating nodes connected into a larger effect! Only one of the elements has to cast this specific spell, and the elements complete the rest of the spell!" "This is a good thing for Trixie, yes?" Twilight nodded rapidly, skipping through the field of notes to hug Zecora tight enough to squeeze the breath out of her. "Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Oh, Zecora, you're a lifesaver." Trixie projected the sound of her throat clearing, hoping that Twilight would pay attention. "Oh, right. Literally a life saver." Trixie rolled her illusionary eyes, pointing a hoof to the extending shadows in the room as the sun set upon the Everfree Forest. Twilight's gaze snapped to the window hidden in the mouth of one of Zecora's tribal masks, yelping slightly in worry as she noticed the sunset outside. "Oh gosh! Sorry for leaving the place a mess! I'll get it all cleaned up tomorrow, I really have to go!" Zecora nodded bemusedly, wondering how Twilight hadn't learned to budget some time to clean up after a week of coming out to study Starswirl's text. The ghostly cold of Trixie's illusionary body passing through her illicited a hop to one side to make way for the illusionary mare being dragged away as her anchor ran off into the forest. "Until we next meet! I would suggest getting ready, Twilight is getting fast on her feet." "Remind Trixie about iiit!" Trixie's galloping illusion fought against the tug, sliding across the floor and straight through a wall as the disembodied mare was yanked across the forest to her host. Zecora walked over, shutting the door that Twilight had left open yet again while humming a tune of her people under her breath. She wondered why Twilight always left her hut in a mess, no matter what the occasion for the visit. Parasprites, a ghost performer, enough notes to write a thesis paper on, pony-statues... Surely they didn't leave each other's homes in such messes. Now where did she leave that broom? -------------------------------------------------------- Darkness lurked all about them once more. Not a metaphysical one, but instead a literal one as the stars rose upon the Everfree Forest. Trixie shivered in the comforting pinkish glow of Twilight's soul, having banished her body of illusion, watching out in her spiritual vision for dangers to her host. The constellation of lights watched over them, each a life of it's own. The darkness that had lurked about them on their first journey together into the Everfree had not returned yet; something that worried Trixie. 'Trixie was wondering, she noticed that you feel relatively confident about the Elements of Harmony. Why? Trixie understands that they are her best chance, but they haven't been seen in a thousand years.' 'Uh, about four months in a few days actually. Maybe a day or two, depending on when Princess Celestia last checked their vault.' 'Um, Trixie is not entirely certain she understands what you mean.' Twilight sighed, wondering how somepony had missed Princess Luna's return. The deep woodlands of the Everfree Forest were fading, the light scrub and grass of the fields around Ponyville coming to surround them as the stars glittered high above. She stopped, looking up into them and hoping that maybe, maybe Trixie would soon be safe. 'You do remember the big commotion regarding the return of Princess Luna, right?' 'No. Trixie doesn't remember a- wait. Is that why all of Trixie's performances were canceled for a week several months ago?' 'Yes. Princess Luna was Nightmare Moon, and she's Princess Celestia's little sister. I think.' Twilight stepped off, feeling Trixie anxious for them to get out of the open and into someplace where she could manifest and feel like something more than a passenger. 'About four months ago during the Summer Sun festival, the thousand year prison that Princess Celestia put her in failed, and she came to Ponyville after putting Princess Celestia in the sun. It got kind of crazy after that, but me and my friends defeated her and became the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.' 'Oh.' Trixie looked out across the void of her senses, seeing the faintest lights of souls clustered around what she presumed to be Ponyville. The little rainbow from a thundercloud, the ever glittering diamonds, the tumbling trio of apples... wait. 'Oh no. Would three of your friends happen to be the hecklers that Trixie took care of?' 'Yes, but I don't see how that- Oh no.' Twilight's eyebrow twitched as she walked down the tree-lined road leading into town. Trixie had a right to be worried after all, would the Elements even work if the bearers weren't all in agreement? What would Rarity, or Rainbow Dash say? They had been so humiliated by Trixie when they had bothered her and called her out on her boasting. Trixie curled in on herself, compressing into a point in the glow as she realized that she had personally insulted three mares with the ear of Princess Celestia. Hay, if she hadn't been turned to stone, in a few weeks she would have been ruined in the backlash. Her life was over... 'Trixie? Trixie! Calm down. My friends will forgive you. It might take some work, but they will. You're still okay, this is just going to be more complicated than I had thought. Okay?' Twilight trotted a little faster as she saw her home on the Ponyville skyline, knowing that in an hour or so she'd have the Elements on-hoof to save Trixie. After all, as one of their bearers, Princess Celestia was bound to let her have them if she needed them! ----------------------------------------------------- Spike yelped high in the air as Twilight slammed the front door of the library open. The baby dragon struggled to keep the mighty ladder that he was on from tipping over and disrupting the painstaking work he had put into reshelving many of the books Twilight had been carelessly searching through in her project. Vertigo swallowed him, consuming each of his senses as he tangled in the air from his precarious perch ten paces off the ground; his legs kicking with protest from the unpleasant sensations. Magenta magic snatched him from the ladder, safely conveying him to the wondrous stability of the ground on what felt like the softest bed imaginable. Heartbeats raced in his hearing from the close call he had suffered, a clawed paw clutched across his chest to calm his raging heartbeat from the Pinkie-time tempo it had been keeping. Opening his eyes once more from their scared clench nearly sent his heart back into overdrive as Twilight's eyes stared into his own from far closer than he ever wanted to see them. "YEEAAA-AUGH!" Spike flopped from her grip to the floor, tail stiff and both paws clutching his chest from the shock. Twilight picked him up by his tailtip, shaking him lightly to snap him out of it as she levitated over a fresh quill and a sheet of paper. "No time for theatrics, Spike! I have an urgent letter for Princess Celestia!" She shook him again once more, pressing the writing implements into his paws for him to grab. "What is it? What's wrong? The Parasprites are back? A giant timberwolf has come to eat the town? No, wait! Don't tell me Trixie came back to seek her revenge for being humiliated by you!" Spike waved his arms at the last idea, yelping as Twilight dropped him softly onto the cushion in front of her writing desk. 'Ha-Ha, Trixie would never- well, yes she might have. If she got broke enough and could never find work again...' "Ready for the letter, Spike?" Twilight looked to him for a moment, seeing his nod of readiness as she paced around the table in the center of the lobby. "Dear Princess Celestia, I am writing to you today on a matter of utmost importance. A friend of mine suffered a most terrible mishap, incapacitating her. As a part of my investigation into curing her, I discovered a full and intact copy of Starswirl the Bearded's journal, which included the exact spell I was looking for. But, it can only be cast by the Elements of Harmony due to it's complexity. I urgently request to have access to them for several days so that I can help my friend. The Elements are her only hope. Signed, your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle." Spike scratched his head as he tried to spell out some of the words Twilight had used in his head. He already had most of the letter down, other than a few little teensy problems. "Uh, how do you spell in-ca-watsinating?" "Trapping her, Spike." "Got it!" Spike waddled over to the window, sending his precious missive onwards to Celestia in a gout of green fire. Puzzlement etched into his face as he thought of something he forgot to ask. The night lighting of Ponyville glittered out before him from the low balcony he stood on, each reminding him of somepony he had met in the small town since their unexpected move. Funny, he couldn't remember anypony going missing... "Say Twilight?" "Yes, Spike?" Twilight didn't look up as she slowly paced around the room, her head nodding and shaking every once in a while, as if holding a personal conversation in her head. "Who went missing? I can't remember anypony getting lost." Spike walked to the center of the room, turning in place to keep Twilight in view as a frown creased the set of thick scales that somewhat served as his eyebrows. "You- you've already met her. Kind of a brief meeting, and she'll probably want to talk to you later when we free her." Twilight looked over to the window, anxious to see if Celestia would respond right away. The faster, the better. Spike fretted at the way Twilight hesitated. Like she thought he would disapprove of whoever Twilight was helping. But anypony who was one of Twilight's friends had to be a good pony, so he wasn't too worried about it. "So, Twilight?" "Hmm?" "What happened to her? I mean, it has to be pretty bad if you're breaking out the Elements of Harmony and all." "Spike... she was cursed by a cockatrice." Twilight stopped pacing, and walked over to Spike to hug him with all of her might, shivering as she embraced him. He hugged her back, concernedly glancing across their shoulders to where she laid her head against his back. "Uh, I thought you didn't believe in curses." "I didn't, until I saw what a cockatrice does to somepony. It's horrible, turning it's victim to stone, and then sealing them with a spell that rips their soul apart if removed. Nopony has ever been saved, only... only given Celestia's Mercy or placed in a place of honor in the palace so they won't be so lonely. And- and the cockatrice is always hunting for it's victim, because it wants to eat their soul." Twilight struggled to keep an even tone as she spoke, choking up as she once again thought over the horrific consequences that awaited if she failed. Spike recoiled from Twilight, tripping over himself in shock as her words sank in. The realization that every one of the statues in the castle could be a frozen and inwardly screaming pony sent shivers of ice down his spine, and put a twisting knot into his gut. No, wait... that wasn't fear, that was a- BUUUUUURRRRRRP! Celestia's reply rudely erupted from Spike's maw in a firey burst of light, plopping to the ground between them like a Sword of Camelcleas. They both hesitantly reached for it, bumping their heads together in the confusion. Rubbing his scalp, Spike reached down again before Twilight could, preparing to break it open to read it to her. But something stopped him. This was Twilight's friend, her plight to recover from. "Twilight, here. You read it. It wouldn't be right for me to read it." Spike stretched out his arm, holding the rolled up document for Twilight to take ahold of. She nodded to him with ever so slightly tearful eyes, taking the missive from him and breaking it's seal. "To my Dear and Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle: I am sorry, but I cannot grant your request to use the Elements of Harmony, no matter how charitable the cause. There are older, and fouler things than Nightmare Moon that stalk our world, and I need them ready and where I can find them should the worst come to pass. I am terribly sorry about your friend, but I cannot risk the nation's safety for anypony. I am confident that you can find another way, Twilight. I believe in you." Twilight swallowed back the horror and disbelief, feeling Trixie all but ready to wail in sorrow in the back of her mind. "Now what?"