//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - Obstacles and shortcuts // Story: Gemini in All Things // by LCranston //------------------------------// Over the course of the next week, Trixie had made remarkable progress. It would always start the same way. Twilight would set up an elementary challenge that a filly or colt in their first year at magic academy would complete. Trixie would rush through it with force and fail. After some berating by Twilight, Trixie would slow down and set it up right the first time. Then she would ace the test. There was even a lesson that Twilight thought to be clever about being careful with the things you manipulate. Trixie called from the kitchen, “Do I really have to do this?” In the main room of the library, Spike tried hard not to chuckle. Twilight rolled her eyes at Trixie’s reluctance. She kind of expected it by now. She called back, “Who’s the teacher here? Just remember the point of the exercise and you’ll do fine!” The reply from the kitchen came back, “Well, okay!” Twilight felt a shift in the energies inside the library tree. Trixie had begun her incantations. Slowly, the sounds of hooves walking towards the kitchen came clearly. Trixie came into view, levitating a dozen eggs all around her head like a necklace. Upon her head were a stack of three thick books. Spike fell over laughing. “Bwa, ha ha! Look at Trixie! Is Rarity having another fashion show? Ha, ha!” The blue unicorn snorted with a frown. She pawed the floor once, saying, “You’re just jealous that I am learning magic from the wise Twilight Sparkle. You could not possibly replicate this feat of legerdemain.” The baby dragon retorted, “The next time I want to set myself up to look like a fool, I will.” Trixie’s anger began to rise. She curled her lip up, baring teeth. The eggs began to wobble in mid-air. Twilight was looking for this. She cautioned, “Focus, Trixie. Your eggs are unstable.” Spike called out, “The eggs aren’t the only things unstable about her! Bwa, ha ha!” The top book upon the blue unicorn’s head shifted slightly. She hotly replied, “When I get out of this, I’ll turn your scales to pudding!” An egg dropped upon the floor. It broke and splattered all over her hoof. Trixie complained, “Look what you made me do!” The purple unicorn warned, “You dropped it yourself. Pay attention to what you’re doing. Now come over here and deliver the books to me.” The blue unicorn stepped forward, slipping in the broken egg. Her posture upset, a book fell to the floor. Spike taunted, “Oh Trixie, that was an egg-cellent performance! It was truly eggs-trordinary!” He began clapping half-heartedly. Trixie’s anger flared powerfully. The eggs began boiling in their shells. Twilight called out sternly, “Stop it! You’re failing the test. Now give me my books before you lose any more.” The blue unicorn was torn. She wanted to punish Spike, but she had to pass the test. She resolved to finish the test now and punish Spike later. She levitated the remaining pair of books upon her head and moved them over to Twilight, who took them in her own energy field. Two of the eggs popped, spilling their half-cooked contents all over Trixie’s face. The baby dragon could not resist. He shouted, “Ah ha ha! Looks like the yolk’s on her! She sure has egg on her face!” Trixie screamed, “I’ll kill you!!!” She charged up her horn with a huge amount of blue energy. Spike yelped in surprise and jumped behind Twilight. The purple unicorn stepped directly in front of Trixie fearlessly. The blue unicorn narrowed her eyes at her rival. They stayed like that for several seconds until Trixie’s face fell. She sighed pathetically and discharged her energy away. She then sobbed once. Twilight spoke sternly, but not unkindly. “Trixie, I told Spike to taunt you. The point of this exercise is to keep your cool and not forget what you are doing. In the real world, you know as well as I do that sometimes your problem won’t just stand still and be nice. Sometimes you’re gonna have to ignore a few worthless taunts and hurtful names in order to keep your concentration.” Trixie stared at Twilight with an expression the purple unicorn had never seen before nor could she identify. Twilight finished by saying, “If you’re upset at being messy, remember that you allowed the eggs to fall. Next time, don’t care what others say. Just finish what you’re doing. That’s the important part. Now since you let the eggs fall, you need to clean this up.” The blue unicorn turned around to head for the kitchen and the cleaning supplies therein. She hung her head in a subdued manner and said, “Yes, ma’am.” ===================== The next day, Twilight was going to set up an experiment for Trixie to do. However, she needed a few glass beakers. Rummaging around in the closet was fruitless. She then went upstairs to the bedroom to see if she left anything on the windowsill overnight to dry out. There she was greeted by the sight of Trixie levitating both beds, Spike’s basket, all of the books on the bookshelves in her shared room, a spare stack of special sweet-smelling firewood for special occasions, and her spare writing stand. She was also magically commanding a feather duster to sweep all of the newly vacated surfaces, gathering the hidden piles of dust into a single bag for the dust bin. Trixie smiled slyly and greeted, “Why, hello ma’am. Spike said he needed to go into town for some supplies, so I took this opportunity to practice my control. Much better, don’t you think?” Twilight openly gaped and smiled, “That’s wonderful! It would strain me to left all of that weight at once, but you’re doing it without even breathing hard. I dare say that soon you might surpass me in skill. A few more spells under your hat and you’ll be ready to represent the princess in a town of your own.” The blue unicorn’s face unguardedly exploded with glee at the thought. Suddenly, the beds and firewood slipped down. Suddenly, Trixie turned around and fiercely asserted herself. The falling objects resumed their previous floating position. Twilight chuckled a little and she said, “As soon as you get that concentration under control, right?” The blue unicorn turned back to the purple unicorn and smiled sheepishly. ===================== That night, Spike sent a letter to Princess Celestia: “Dear Princess Celestia, I’m pleased to report that Trixie seems to be finally getting over her distraction problem. She’s even levitating more objects comfortably than I can unless I exert myself. I really think she has more raw potential than I do. She will make a fine addition to any community she chooses. There’s only one real stumbling block. No matter how hard I try I cannot seem to fix her attitude towards magic and other ponies. She is clearly scared of rejection, I mean who isn’t? But every time she masters a new spell or incantation, she seems to cling fast to her old habits. Her abilities have made her arrogant. The more she learns, the more she is both agreeable and overconfident. I really think that I’ve taught her just about everything I can about magic and friendship. She’ll need a new teacher soon. I’ll talk to her about your generous offer of royal appointment to the School for Gifted Unicorns again. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle”