//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 - Burning fuse // Story: Gemini in All Things // by LCranston //------------------------------// She burst into the library, huffing and puffing. She fearfully asked, “Spike? Is Twilight back yet?” The baby dragon slid down the rolling ladder from high up on a bookshelf and reported, “Nope, not yet. Did you see those royal guards? They were awesome! I wonder if they’d let dragons join the Canterlot Royal Guard? I bet I’d be amazing, swooping down and saving Rarity…I mean, everypony!” He smiled sheepishly, hoping Trixie wouldn’t catch that last part. The blue unicorn instead ran over to Twilight’s writing stand. She levitated a quill and quickly wrote out a letter, singing it herself. Rolling it up, she walked over to a bookcase and levitated out a book on wild creatures. Flipping the pages, she said, “Spike, take a letter.” The baby dragon placed his hands upon his hips and stated forcefully, “Trixie, just because Twilight is away does not mean I’m your servant.” Trixie smoothly stated, “I know that. But the princess needs to know the situation is taken care of. Otherwise, she’ll think it’s still on-going and keep sending soldiers when she doesn’t have to.” Spike looked dubious at this line of thinking. Trixie cleverly asked, “You were the one who wrote that urgent cry for help, right? Well, did you write back and say the crisis was over?” The baby dragon blinked and said, “Well, no. I was thinking that the guards would have told her, but…well, okay. Just this once, though.” He picked up paper and quill, ready to write out what Trixie dictated. The blue unicorn recited, “My Most Noble Princess Celestia, it is I, Trixie, who write to you after the defeat of the manticore. Ponyville is saved with minor damage and the guard has chased the manticore away…after I softened it up for them. Twilight Sparkle has not yet returned but I felt you would want to know before any more time has passed. Thank you for your quick attention. Your humble servant, Trixie.” The baby dragon added, “P.S. And thanks to Spike for writing this letter.” The blue unicorn snorted impatience and acquiesced, “Oh, very well. If you’re ready, please send it.” Spike rolled up the paper and took a deep breath. He exhaled forcefully, spraying the paper with enchanted green flames. The paper crumbled into powder and flew out through the open window towards Canterlot. He dusted off his hands and declared, “Well, that’s done. I guess it was a good idea.” Trixie rolled up her paper and levitated it to Spike. She replaced the book back on the shelf. She asked sweetly, “Oh, before I forget. Would you please send this one also?” Spike narrowed his eyes in suspicion and asked, “What? Wasn’t the other letter complete or something? Princess Celestia doesn’t like unfinished reports, you know.” Trixie shook her head and said, “Oh, no. This one is from me. She’s expecting it.” The baby dragon took the paper, saying, “I don’t know. Twilight doesn’t approve of me sending other pony’s letters to the Princess this way. It’s a special link just for her.” He started to unroll the paper and look at it. The blue unicorn stomped forward in panic, screaming, “No! Don’t!” Taken aback, Spike fixed his eyes on Trixie and asked, “What?! Twilight always lets me read her letters. What’s so secret about this one?” He narrowed his eyes, clearly not liking this idea. Trixie thought quickly, coming up with something that sounded halfway decent. She said, “It’s a private letter, Spike. From me to her. It’s…kinda personal.” Seeing that Spike didn’t believe her, she went for broke by finishing with, “It’s all about my royal appointment to magic school. She expecting it.” Realizing that this may mean Trixie’s upcoming departure, Spike relaxed and smiled. He said, “Well, why didn’t you say so?” He took the paper in his hands and breathed in fully. He exhaled forcefully, spraying the paper with enchanted green flames. The paper crumbled into powder and flew out through the open window towards Canterlot. Trixie breathed a sigh of relief. She offered gratefully, “C’mon, let me make some snacks this time.” Spike chirped, “All right! Hey, Owlowiscious! Soup’s on! Trixie’s making it!” The owl stretched his wings widely and yawned. He had slept in later than usual since Twilight was not here, but food sounded good to him. ===================== After the meal, the door to the library opened. Not expecting visitors to the library after sunset, Spike walked out to the main area to see Twilight stumble inside. She looked exhausted, but satisfied. There were also various crumbs on her face, evidence that she had eaten before coming home. He gushed, “Twilight, you’re back! You missed all the excitement!” She sat in the rocking chair and replied wearily, “Yes, I know. During the fight with the manticores, one of them left the battle and ran off. I tried to keep track of it, but I nearly got squashed by a pair of them leaping from behind.” Spike checked her over, his eyes wide with concern. “They didn’t maul you, did they? Do you want a doctor?” Twilight gently pushed him off, clearly not wanting to be pawed right then. She explained, “No, I’m all right. Just tired. It turns out the manticores had to leave their home because some adolescent dragon decided to take their cave for himself. The manticores were wandering lost and hungry until they rampaged. We had to subdue them all and then Fluttershy figured out what was driving them crazy. We also had to fight the dragon until it left the Everfree Forest.” Spike offered, “You want some vegetable soup? Trixie made it for a change. By the way, how did you know what happened here? Did the princess respond to the letter Trixie dictated to her?” That last part made Twilight’s mood drop one level. Trixie didn’t have permission to send letters to Princess Celestia yet. The purple unicorn politely refused, “No thank you. We all filled up with leftover cakes and cookies at Sugarcube Corner. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were cleaning up after the big party and had some leftover. They told us about what happened. Would you send Trixie in here, please?” The baby dragon walked into the kitchen. A moment later, Trixie pranced into the main room up to Twilight. She curtsied with a flourish and asked, “You wanted to see me, ma’am?” Twilight rolled her eyes at the display. She asked, “Trixie, why didn’t you tell me that a manticore was rampaging in Ponyville?” Trixie’s eyes went wide. This was not what she was expecting to hear. She answered, “The manticore was rampaging already by the time I heard it. I couldn’t just stand by and let ponies die. I had to fight it.” Twilight chastised, “You could have spent one moment to send a telepathic message to me.” The blue unicorn retorted, “You never taught me that spell.” The purple unicorn replied, “It’s just an inversion of the Gather Information spell. I thought you would have figured that out, being great and powerful.” Trixie choked on her breath. It never occurred to her that spells could be inverted. She defended herself, “I’ve never inverted a spell in my life! I didn’t want to risk a backfire. That would have hurt me.” Twilight mentally rebuked herself for not telling Trixie how to invert a spell. She didn’t say so out loud. She didn’t want to appear incompetent in front of her apprentice. She pointed out, “You could have sent Owlowiscious with a note. He could have found me fairly fast.” Trixie didn’t think of that, either. She just thought Owlowiscious was off-limits during the day. She did not want to appear incompetent in front of her teacher. Instead, she stated, “There wasn’t time! I arrived with only two seconds to spare before an entire family got slaughtered by that manticore. It would take more than two seconds just to wake him up.” Twilight stated, “You could have gotten killed! Think! You’re too valuable to risk losing to a rampaging creature. You’re so close to being ready that I would hate to lose you.” Within Trixie’s heart, two opposing feelings bubbled up. On one side, pure pride swelled at being called valuable by her teacher. On the other side, anger bubbled up strong at the implication of being called weak. The two sides struggled against each other until anger got a familiar foothold in her heart. She blurted back at Twilight, “I am NOT a filly! I can take care of myself! I fought a manticore all by myself and didn’t even get a scratch. Look at you! You look like you need a doctor. How many injuries did you take, anyway?” Twilight’s anger bubbled up. No apprentice should talk to her teacher that way! She wouldn’t dare even think that way about Princess Celestia. She spoke with a low, dangerous tone. “Very nice. One manticore. The group of six of us had to take on twelve. I’d like to see you come out unscathed against two-to-one odds. In fact, there was a moment in the battle when I had to fend off four of them all by myself, while totally surrounded and cut off from the others! You couldn’t keep up the concentration for that!” Trixie replied haughtily, “I could so!” Spike called out from the kitchen, “Girls, girls! Is this worth yelling about? It’s been a long day and I’m nearly ready to pack it in!” Both mares breathed heavily, feeling their fatigue finally creep in. At length, Twilight said, “Very nice work, Trixie. That was a very brave thing you did. Of course, you almost caused as much damage as the manticore with your aim. The fountain in the town square will never look the same.” Her anger dissolved away. Trixie smiled and felt her anger evaporate. She asked, “Hee, hee. I say it’s my take on modern pony art. Perhaps I could have used a little more concentration. Teach me an inversion spell?” Twilight smiled and replied, “Maybe tomorrow. Please clean up the kitchen and send Spike in.” The blue unicorn went into the kitchen and the baby dragon came into the main room. Twilight said, “Spike, take a letter and then go to bed.” The baby dragon grabbed quill and paper, grumbling, “What, again? Oh, all right. Go.” Twilight dictated: “Dear Princess Celestia, I suppose you have heard all of the detail of the manticore attack in Ponyville by Trixie. I’m sorry if she sent a letter unexpectedly, but I suppose she didn’t know what else to do since I hadn’t returned yet. Taking on twelve manticores with only six ponies sure takes it out of us. Secretly, I’m thrilled at her increase in power and control. She still can’t seem to do some basic things like invert a spell, but her ability to keep control under the most grueling loads of simultaneous spells and incantations amazes me. I’m pleased to say that I think her rehabilitation is nearly complete. She is making a great citizen of Ponyville. I daresay that she would make a great addition to any community. Now if I can just teach her to limit the collateral damage everything would be perfect, hee hee. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike rolled up the letter and took a deep breath. He exhaled forcefully, spraying the paper with enchanted green flames. The paper crumbled into powder and flew out through the open window towards Canterlot.