//------------------------------// // Dreams and Designs // Story: Luna's Apprentice // by ScientistTrixie //------------------------------// Trixie cantered down the hallway slowly, lost in her own thoughts. Even with Luna’s assurances that Blueblood had more bark than bite, she couldn’t shake the nervousness from her stomach. She slowed to a stop as she came to her doorway, horn flaring as she slung the door open. Peering into her bedroom, she sighed at the lack of furniture. The blue mare crossed the room to throw herself on the bed, jumping as her cape let out a loud jingling sound. She reached into the cape, cocking her head at the small bag of bits she had received from Luna and Celestia. Sighing, she tugged at the rope with a hoof, turning the bag over to pour the bits onto the comforter. Instead of bits, small jewels fell from the bag. Trixie stared in slack jawed amazement, hesitantly picking a single jewel up in her hoof. Two different types of jewels fell from the bag, one a vivid white with a blazing sun in the middle, the other pitch black with a beautiful moon in the center. The jewels seemed to glow faintly, each beautiful in their own right. She brought the moon jewel close to her eye, peering at the glass like surface of the jewel in wonderment. She could make out each and every crater on the moon inside the crystal, its surface a perfect replica of the lunar body. She scooped the jewels back into the bag, gripping it tightly in her mouth as she turned to gallop out of her bedroom and to the nearest jewel merchant. As she crossed her bedroom, she slid to a halt as thoughts of Luna’s assignment crossed her mind. “Trixie could just go out real quick and sell these… and stop for some furniture!” She thought, smiling to herself. “Oh, and some new fabric for my cape! Or maybe just an entirely new cape… No! Trixie need’s to work… For once, she will not let anyone down.” She set the bag on her bed, glancing at it for a moment before slowly nudging it under her pillow. Once her spoils were suitably hidden, Trixie turned away from her bed and trotted into the large open space to the side of her bedroom. She sat down, straightening her back as she took several deep even breaths. She focused on the spell in her mind, imagined picking and pulling at the spell until it was spread apart in a three dimensional blueprint before her. She could feel a tug at her magic as light danced down her horn, forming a fine mist in the air before her. Unlike her first attempt in the library, this mist seemed to take up quite a bit of the room. Arcane symbols formed in the mist, smoky trails of colored light linking everything together. Trixie walked forward, stepping into the middle of the mist with a confused look upon her face. “So… what now?” Trixie said to herself slowly, gazing around with a calculating eye. She stepped closer to the nearest mote of dark blue energy, cocking her head at the foreign entity. She wasn’t sure how she knew it, but she could almost feel the magics intention at work. She stepped forward without thinking, a flare of magic racing down her horn to encircle the twirling mote of magic. The moment her magic surrounded the energy, a cold numbness swept across her body, stopping at her foreleg. She glanced down, careful to keep her horn alight as she studied her hoof. Where her coat had once been cerulean, it now had a pasty white hue to it. She released the spell, panting lightly as the feeling in her hoof came back to her. She lowered herself to her haunches, turning a weary eye on the next mote. She gathered her magic once more, hesitantly reaching out with her magic until she had encircled the next mote. She was able to resist the urge to flinch as magic rushed across her coat, a cold numbness once again spreading across her coat. She looked down in surprise as her foreleg seemed to blur until she had trouble pinpointing where her foreleg ended, and her surroundings started. She released the energy once again, smiling after a moment. Unlike the first time, she wasn’t left panting after releasing her spell. She encircled both of the previous motes, a confused look on her face as her foreleg vanished from view, leaving the rest of her body visible. Trixie’s horn dimmed as she released her magic, allowing it to sputter out. “If these two motes form the invisibility spell… than what are all the other symbols for?” She pondered, studying the mote absentmindedly. She sighed, grumbling to herself as she fetched a piece of parchment, and a quill. It seemed the show mare was in for a busy afternoon. “This. Is. Stupid.” Trixie repeated for the fourth time, cross referencing the pages before her against each other. “No matter how many times Trixie checks this, this spell seems to be… well stupid.” She glanced at the model rotating before her, glaring at the offending construct as she slowly pushed her hooves together. The model shrunk further, before drifting toward the mare. Trixie examined the model closely, referencing the papers before her once more. “From what Trixie can tell…” She said, speaking slowly as she watched the motes spin in her hoof. “This mote binds the entire spell together, making it so that all the different parts cooperate. Meaning…” She trailed off, scratching at her chin with the pencil held in her magical grip. “meaning that everything has to travel through this mote eventually.. which takes considerable power to make sure all the motes get cast. But this one,” She exclaimed, pointing to a mote within the cluster of magic. “Is where the spell starts… so… that means… Ugh.” “This spell is so wasteful. Trixie could design a better spell than this… this stupid spell!” She hesitated, tapping the pen against her hoof as she rethought the spell. “Instead of rendering the entire body invisible, it renders each body part invisible. Trixie cannot seem to bend the magic to work over the entire body instead of in parts… “ She sat up suddenly, a sudden look of comprehension appearing on her face. “Bend.. Bend the magic… Bend light. I could bend the light around myself, and it should make me as invisible as this waste of a spell!” Trixie smiled, drawing power from her horn as she channeled magic around the mote. She poured magic into the mote, frowning as the mote resisted her attempts at change. She broke the connection, gasping for breath as her heart thumped against her chest. She glared at the spell, huffing in frustration. “Fine… If you don’t want to work for Trixie, Trixie will make a new spell!” She said, instinctively condensing her magic into a small ball in front of her. A blazing mote appeared next to the others, strangely colorless compared to the others. Trixie studied her mote for a moment, tossing ideas around in her head. The cerulean mare bit her lip as her horn flared brightly, a bright orb of light appearing in the air before her. She hesitated, studying the orb with her magic. She smiled as she found a chink in the orb, a place she could squeeze magic into. With a grunt, she forced magic into the ball, slowly bending the light until it started to stutter out of her view. She gasped in relief as the orb finally vanished from view entirely, panting as she released her magic. She wrapped the mote in her magic, pushing the urge to hide herself from view and focusing her magic the same way she did a moment ago. Even as she bordered on exhaustion, she smiled at the small orb, which now hummed with magic. Trixie turned away from the orb, idly banishing the model with a flick of her tail. She stumbled toward her bed, eyelids struggling to stay open as she glanced out the large windows. She gave a half smile at the sight of the beautiful silver orb hanging in the sky. The unicorn rubbed at the base of her horn, eyes closing as her head thumped painfully. She then threw herself on the bed, sighing at the soft mattresses cool embrace. She was asleep before her head even hit her pillows. “She’s having another nightmare.” Luna said slowly, her eyes closed in concentration. “That’s one every night so far.” Celestia glanced toward her younger sister, idly scratching away at the stack of degrees, laws and request that sat on her table. “Have you been visiting her in her dreams?” Luna sighed, letting out a low breath as she opened her eyes and lifted her head. “I did the night before she became my student.. but I’ve refrained from doing it again.” “Why?” “I… I’m not sure.” Luna confessed, lowering her head to lay it upon her forelegs. “I don’t want her to become too reliant on me. She needs to be able to face her own fears.” Celestia turned away from her desk, slowly placing down the quill she had been levitating in her grasp. “Help her Luna. I wish I could go back and help you when… when you needed it. But I wanted you to be able to overcome it yourself… and look how that ended. You are her teacher now. It’s your job to help her learn, to ease her along her path to greatness.” Luna turned toward Celestia, staring at her face for a moment before looking toward her tower across the courtyard. She gazed at the darkened window she knew to be Trixie’s bedroom with a sad look upon her muzzle. “Thank you sister. I’m going to go help my student.” Celestia smiled, turning back to her paperwork as Luna moved to her bed, gazing at her sister before resting her head on her forelegs. She closed her eyes and concentrated, a faint smile on her face as shadows danced around her horn. Luna stepped out of her body, glancing to her sister one last time before she set her sights on the far tower. Trixie smiled as she stared out over the audience, soaking in the cheering and screaming crowd before her. Thousands of eyes watched her every move, each pony on the edge of their seats as she thought about her next trick to perform. A bright light centered on her from the back of the auditorium, staying on top of her with the help of her trusty stage hands. She glanced off stage, smiling at her father’s reassuring figure hidden just behind the stage curtains. He smiled back at her, winking reassuredly as he tipped his hat at her in a familiar gesture. She winked back at the blue stallion, giggling quietly to herself as his white mane spilled down his neck. She turned back to her audience, flashing a bright smile at her crowd as she trotted across the stage to a small table, scooping a pack of cards off it’s wooden surface. She twirled around, her cape flipping through the air as she ran a critical eye over the crowd. She stepped forward, spreading the cards before her with a flourish of her magic. A tan mare at the front of the crowd smiled as Trixie leveled the cards before her, facing away from the showmare. “Please madam!” Trixie said, projecting her voice to be heard over the now silent crowd. “Pick a card! Make sure not to show it to me, but make sure the rest of this amazing crowd sees it!” The mare hesitated, her hoof moving slowly over the offered cards. She glanced up to Trixie before grabbing a card and sneakily glancing at its face. She turned around and showed the ponies behind her the face of the card, displaying the face for all to see. The mare replaced the card back into the deck as Trixie smiled at her, before shuffling the cards behind her back. She snatched a black piece of cloth off the table, deftly blindfolding herself as she began flipping and spinning them through the air wildly. She stomped a hoof and a dagger appeared in a puff of smoke above her, falling to the stage before she snatched it out of the air. She spread the deck in the air, facing away from herself as she twisted and threw the dagger at the deck of cards, earning a shriek from the crowd. She recalled the cards to a single stack, holding the card her dagger had pierced out before her. “Is this your card madam?” She said, a large grin on her face. After a moment of utter silence, her smile fell slightly, her ears twitching for any sound of the restless crowd. She lifted the blindfold, staring at the now empty place before her, save for a single mare. Her eyes went wide at the sight of the mare, the deck of cards falling to the ground as she lost control of her magic. The mare stood perfectly still, simply staring at Trixie with her pale violet eyes. Her silver mane set upon her shoulders, hanging down her back much like Trixie’s own mane. A silver star constellation cutie mark sat upon her flank, blending well against her light purple coat. She stared at Trixie unblinkingly, a look of disappointment and sadness on her face. “No…” Trixie muttered, taking an uncertain step back. “Mom… Trixie is…” She trailed off as the mare looked down, slowly shaking her head. Trixie slumped to the ground as the mare made her way down the aisle of seats, before turning and slowly walking out of the auditorium. Trixie stared at her as the mare looked back once before leaving through the large double doors at the end of the auditorium. She turned her head, tears springing to her eyes as she took in the curtains where her father had been standing moments before. Like the others, he too had vanished. She fell to the ground, crying silently as she stared at the empty audience. The sound of hoofsteps filled the empty room, slowly drawing closer to the distressed mare. Trixie lifted her head, slowly taking in the four dark blue legs that now stood before her. She lifted her head, tears glistening on her cheeks as she looked into the kind face of Princess Luna. “I…” Trixie began to speak, growing silent as Luna pressed a wing tip against her lips. “Shhh.” Luna said, smiling down at the mare. “We can talk later.” She turned, sitting down beside the unicorn. Luna hesitated, before extending a wing in an unspoken invitation. Trixie lowered her eyes to the stage before slowly scooting to Luna’s side, tensing up as Luna folded her wing around the upset mare. Trixie relaxed after a moment, slowly leaning against Luna until she had her head buried in the alicorns coat. Luna wrapped a foreleg around the mare, gently patting Trixie on the back. Luna rested her head atop Trixie’s, humming quietly in the back of her throat. She could feel Trixie’s tears soaking into her coat, but she couldn’t help but smile as Trixie slowly quieted, a hiccup escaping the mare’s mouth every few minutes. “Thank you Luna.” Trixie turned, resting her head against Luna’s chest as she looked out at the empty auditorium. Luna glanced down, a smile on her face as she took in Trixie’s tired expression. She leaned down, tapping Trixie’s horn with her own. “Sleep a dreamless sleep Trixie. We shall talk in the morning.” Trixie’s eyes slowly closed, her hearing fading as Luna spoke. Blackness filled her vision as her dream faded away, but even in her state of oblivion she could still feel Luna’s body pressed against hers.