//------------------------------// // Stage 2 // Story: Imperishable Night // by nifboy //------------------------------// "So what was that spell I saw you casting back at Ponyville?" "Oh, that little thing?" Trixie made a show of pondering before she responded, "I suppose it won't do any harm to satisfy your curiosity. It's an illusion." Twilight waited, but Trixie was quite done speaking. Twilight tried again to ask, "Okaaay, what's it an illusion of?" "Ah, now that would be telling." Twilight gave up on conversation, and just stared up through the trees as she walked along the path. The moon hung lazily near the horizon, having barely budged from its initial position. It mocked Twilight, in its oddness. Not only was it a poor excuse for a moon, it apparently wasn’t in any hurry to cross the sky like a proper celestial body. Not looking, she plowed directly into Trixie, who had stopped. Trixie made a shushing motion with her hoof and perked her ears up. Twilight followed suit, and soon she could hear a faint, wordless melody emanating from deep within the forest, away from the path. It took them a while to locate the source of the sound, a small white unicorn sitting up in a tree, singing softly to the night. “Sweetie Belle?” Twilight called out, “What are you doing out here?” The girl in question jumped with a squeak, promptly falling out of the tree and into a bush underneath. She crawled out, shook her mane and tail, and only then noticed the two other unicorns. “Oh, hey Twilight. I’m on a trial of guts!” “A trial of guts?” Trixie echoed. “I think you mean a trial of courage.” Twilight corrected. “No, it’s definitely a trial of guts.” Sweetie Bloom said, “Apple Bloom said something about mushrooms out here in the forest, and Scootaloo wanted to see if we can’t get a mushroom for a cutie mark. And I said, ‘well, mushrooms glow in the dark, right? So we should go out at night.’” Twilight chuckled. “Cutie Mark Crusader Mycologists? That’s certainly a new one.” “Huh? I don’t know anypony named Michael.” Sweetie Belle said. Twilight shook her head. “Never mind. So why is it a trial of guts?” “Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both got sick. Twice. So they went home.” The two older mares exchanged a glance. Twilight leveled a disappointed stare at Sweetie Belle. “Well, I hope you learned a lesson about eating foods you don’t know if they’re safe or not. Come on, you should get back home. Rarity must be worried sick about you by now.” Sweetie Belle stood firm. “Nuh huh! There’s another reason I’m out here! I’m looking for a pet bird!” Twilight sympathised - her own junior assistant Owloysius was a great help around the library, and Fluttershy could lead a choir of birds to sing beautiful songs. She thought about how a bird could fit into Carousel Boutique, and immediately saw a problem. “Um, I hope you aren’t going to bring a pet bird into the same house as Opalescence.” Referring to Rarity’s aloof, moody cat. Sweetie Belle blushed and looked away, frowning. “I - I knew that!” She sniffled. Poor Mister Tweets. They had been together barely a week. Blinking back the tears forming, Sweetie Belle soldiered on. “That’s why I’m looking for a special bird, one Fluttershy was telling me about. A bird that dumb cat wouldn’t dare lay a hoof on!” Sweetie Belle’s eyes twinkled with new resolve as she spoke, “A phoenix! And I know that those glow in the dark!” Twilight remembered that story - Spike had brought his own baby pet phoenix Peewee to the group's pet play dates. The day had ended with Opal needing treatment for burns on the inside of her mouth. Rarity had been distraught, Spike was distraught because Rarity was distraught, and Peewee was the smuggest little bird outside of Canterlot. Trixie rolled her eyes. “Your logic is infallible. Clearly a being born of magical fire would be found hanging out in a forest.” “Hm, I might be able to help you with that,” Twilight said, pulling out one of her astronomy guides, “The phoenix has a southern constellation, so there should be a description in here...” She stopped on a particular page and read aloud, “The phoenix is a rare, elusive bird, with sightings reported all over the world. Normally solitary creatures, groups of phoenixes (referred to as “blazes”) are sometimes seen in the aftermath of large forest fires, or near active volcanoes. It is believed phoenixes will gather there to mate and nest in the ashes, laying eggs and sowing the seeds for a new forest to regrow.” Twilight closed the book and stowed it away. "Spike found his pet Peewee in the forests near an active volcano, but I don't recommend it because of both the dragons and the adult phoenixes in the area. “And no, you are not going to start a forest fire just to get a pet bird.” Trixie said, immediately trying to squash Sweetie Belle’s train of thought. “Aw.” Sweetie Belle pouted. “Where are you going, anyway, Twilight?” “Well, we’re heading to-” “Can I come with you?” Sweetie Belle didn’t wait for an answer. “No.” Twilight took her turn. “Awww, gimme a chance!” Trixie considered this for a moment, and nodded. “Very well. The Great and Powerful Trixie grants you your chance, and challenges you!” She pulled a card from her cape, floating it in front of her. “If you can dodge my spell, you may accompany us on our adventure!” She reared back, flaring her cape as she did so. “If not, you shall return to your home like a good little filly. Do you accept these terms?” Sweetie Belle nodded, and widened her stance. “I am not afraid of you!” Her voice cracked. Trixie returned the gesture. “Very well, you shall receive the strongest spell I have available to me!” Trixie cast from the card in front of her, “Ice Sign: Icicle Fall!” The air temperature dropped as tiny balls of ice began to swirl around Trixie, eventually coalescing into packed balls of snow, orbiting around the three ponies. Sweetie Belle backed up, trying to put some distance between her and Trixie... ...And backed into the path of the snowballs, taking a hit in the side for her efforts. Trixie released her spell, and the other snowballs fell to the ground, melting away almost as soon as they landed. There was a short silence as Sweetie Belle realized what happened. She just brushed the snow off her flank and stared at it for a moment. “I guess I’m not gonna get a Great and Powerful cutie mark, either,” she whimpered. Trixie opened her mouth, but her mind shut down the first three things that came to her mind to say, so she didn’t say them. Celebrating the defeat of a filly was a bit much. Instead, Trixie draped a forehoof over the young girl’s shoulders in a comforting gesture. “Oh, don’t say that. Here.” She pressed the spell card she had just used into Sweetie Belle’s hooves. “It’s much easier to use in the winter time, but if you master it, you can be the queen of snowball fights year-round!” The young unicorn still looked doubtful. “You really think so?” “I know it. Now go, in the name of all that is Grreat and Powerrful!” Trixie trilled her “r”s for added emphasis. Sweetie Belle nodded, smiling. “Thank you, Miss Great and Powerful!” and dashed off. Twilight Sparkle, having watched the entire exchange, raised an eyebrow. “You know her sister is going to have a fit about her casting spells like that inside the house.” “Not my problem.”