//------------------------------// // Finding the Artifacts // Story: I Am Twilight Sparkle // by Mike the Red //------------------------------// We were driven back to our hotel, but I was escorted to an office before being allowed to return to the room. I was being reprimanded for my behavior as the exec who berated me took me before his boss. I was informed that another incident like that would result in forfeiture of my payments and immediate termination, along with attorney's fees. I glared at the veep, wearing a deep frown on my face. "You would do well to correct that attitude, Twilight," he said in a rather menacing tone. "And don't even think of threatening me with the use of your magic. You don't want criminal charges filed against you, do you?" My frown deepened into a scowl as I nearly bared my teeth. "No, sir," I hissed through clenched teeth. "Get out of my sight before you make me even angrier than I already am," he growled at me. I left his office at that point and found the exec, who smirked at my reaction. "Okay, now you get to go back to your room. Your next event with Trixie is three days from now, but you have appearances in Milwaukee and Madison tomorrow and the day after that." "So this next duel is in Minneapolis?" I asked. "Saint Paul, but same difference," he replied. "One of the missing artifacts is in Minneapolis," I mused aloud. "If we have enough time, perhaps I can teleport there and get it." "Are you still on about that? You know Discord isn't real, don't you?" he chided. "No, he IS real, just as much as I am real. Tomorrow is Garfield day -- I don't even know what it's supposed to be! The calendar was never like that before Discord showed up!" I protested. "We've got to stop him and return the calendar back to normal!" "Personally, I like the idea of days named after U.S. Presidents," he mused. "My opinion is that when we get to the day after the one named after Barack Obama, we're gonna be screwed," I postulated. "The calendar shows days named after the fifty States," he responded. "There's a part of me that tells me we don't have that much time to stop Discord and return the calendar back to normal, not to mention all these ponies that people have turned into. I wonder how many more there are -- I also wonder what will happen to me once we find and defeat him," I mused. My expression had turned from doubt into worry as I pondered the future. "I need to talk to the others to continue our strategy. Please let me meet with them." The exec escorted me to the room I was sharing with Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack and informed us we were to get another good night's sleep. I glowered at him in disapproval as I was seriously starting to get extremely annoyed by my current predicament. "Guys, I think our time is running out -- Gwen is losing her battle to maintain some control of her situation -- Trixie is suppressing her and if she succeeds in doing that, Gwen might be lost forever. I believe if we defeat Discord, we should all be returned to our former human bodies," I postulated. "Mike, I sure hope you're right about that!" Nick/Rarity said worriedly. "How much time do you think we have left? Have you heard from the Princess about this?" "The last conversation I had with Celestia was that we need to strengthen our bonds of friendship so the Elements will work when we finally DO face Discord. Until then, my guess is that we have until Barack Obama Day to do so. After that, all bets are off," I replied glumly. "That only gives us 25 days," Applejack stated in dismay. "Do ya think we can get it done by then?" "I don't know, AJ. At the very least, I have this amulet to help me locate the artifacts, and we're headed in the direction of one of them in a couple of days. I am going to need some stationery and pens so I can take some notes. I'm going to find those artifacts and obtain them as expeditiously as possible." "Ya know, ya really ought ta stop usin' those fancy words like that," she muttered. "Yer just like Twi when ya do that." "She's inside me as well, you know. I like being able to converse with her, she's very helpful. She has sensed the location of a few of the other artifacts, but they're scattered around the country. She says there's one in the country called Kyrgyzstan and getting that one's going to be rather tricky," I explained. "Where's that?" asked Jacob/Pinkie. "I've never even heard of that place!" "It's in central Asia -- it borders Kazakhstan," I offered. "Where's that?" he asked again. "It borders the Ukraine," I replied flatly. "Is that, like, Russia?" he asked. "You're close. It's part of the former Soviet Union -- almost all of those countries were at one time satellites of the Soviet Union," I explained. "So how're you supposed to get it?" asked Nick. "Depending on where it is in that country, I may have to do a long-distance teleport -- a very risky proposition at best," I said sullenly. "I have a sinking feeling that that particular artifact might very well be my tiara." "Well, you know we'll do what we can to help you, Twiley," Pinkie Pie grinned. "Thanks, Pinkie or Jake, I appreciate all the help I can get," I smiled in return. --------------------------------------- I had another conference with the other Element Bearers over dinner and related events from earlier in the day. I also informed them of the locations of the various artifacts we'd need in order to defeat Discord, which elicited some cheers from the others. Rainbow asked me how I was able to determine those locations and I pointed to the purple amulet I was wearing and that Twilight helped me with that matter as well. When asked about how much time I thought it might take to acquire all the necessary artifacts, I was at a loss, stating that it might take a couple of weeks -- not the year-long weeks Discord had done to the calendar, but rather a fortnight. I tried to alleviate the concerns of the others as best I could before we finished dinner and concluded the meeting. "Fluttershy, I need to talk to Gwen/Trixie if possible," I said to the pegasus, lightly tapping her on her left shoulder. "Oh, um ... I'll take you to her," she said almost meekly. I followed her to the other room she was sharing with Lyra, Rainbow, and Trixie to see the azure unicorn mare lazily playing with her smart phone, the tell-tale music of Angry Birds emanating softly from it. "Excuse me, but I need to talk to Gwen, if I may?" I asked, somewhat hesitantly. The show-mare glanced up at me and quickly returned to her game, saying nothing in reply. "Trixie? Can I talk to Gwen?" I asked a little more impatiently. "Trixie does not want to let you talk to that weakling," she muttered, never taking her attention away from the game. "Who taught you how to play Angry Birds?" I asked, my patience starting to wear thin. I was glaring at the show-mare, her attitude not helping matters any. "Gwen taught Trixie how to play this silly game," she said, just above a mumble, still rapt in the game. "Trixie, I really need to talk to her! If you suppress her much longer, she will die! I can't let that happen!" I stated in exasperation. "Ask Trixie if she cares," she said nonchalantly. "Trixie doesn't need any weaklings controlling her body." My anger rose in response to her cavalier attitude, wisps of smoke starting to waft from my mane and tail. "Trixie, how can you be so thoughtless and uncaring? That's a real person you're trying to kill!" The show-mare finally acknowledged my presence at this point and rose to her hooves, almost angrily addressing me. "How dare you accuse Trixie of trying to kill somepony! Trixie has told you about how weak Gwen is and that she does not deserve to control Trixie's body! Trixie does not care about Gwen! If she dies, so what? It is no concern of Trixie's!" My anger flared completely at this point as my body burst into flames, the lavender fur giving way to a chalky-white coat, my eyes glowing red and my mane and tail taking on the appearance of living flame. "Trixie! I can't believe you would say such things! If you kill her, I swear! I will not be held responsible for my actions!" I shouted at her. She recoiled in fear from my advance, the distraction allowing Gwen to regain control of the show-mare's body. "Mike, please help me! I don't know how much longer I can hold out! Trixie is so evil! How am I supposed to stop her?" "I don't know, Gwen -- even Twilight doesn't seem to have an answer for this. I think it's Discord's work, and I'm doing everything I can to try to defeat him. I know time is short, but please, try to combat her. Be strong for me, Gwen, you've got to do this! Fight her, do what you can!" "I'll try, Mike, but it's so hard! I need your help!" "Ugh! Sparkle! I'm going to --" "You'll do nothing, Trixie!" I shouted at her, still in my flaming form. "I'm warning you! Don't kill her!" "Fine. Trixie will let her live. For now," the azure mare stated flatly, returning to her game. I cooled off at this point. "Trixie has been told her next duel with Sparkle is in three days. Trixie has some new tricks to show Sparkle!" she exclaimed almost gleefully. "I'm outta here," I stated flatly and returned to the other hotel room. It was getting late, and using that much magic to maintain my elemental form left me feeling rather drained. I fell asleep fairly quickly.