//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Academy of Magic // Story: Trixie Lulamoon, the Multiversal Explorer! // by Gol D Colt //------------------------------// It was a peaceful and starry night in the cold snowy grounds near Auraria Academy of Magic. The place was dimly lit by the various lamps scattered throughout the castle grounds, along with the pale glow of the moon and the colourful light from the Aurora Borealis. The coniferous forest next the grounds was as dark and quiet as any forests during the night, the quiet broken only with the sounds of owls hooting. But the real attraction of the place was the castle itself. Built by a reindeer jarl centuries ago as a second home, it was a grand castle full of towers and turrets, pointy gothic-styled windows filled every wall of the castle in which showed life inside with warm light glowing from inside the castle. This grand castle, was none other than Auraria Academy of Magic, the greatest school of magic in history. And it was on the pathway to that castle that a bright spark appeared, and Trixie Lulamoon the Multiversal Explorer appeared in the spark's place. Trixie suddenly shivered due to the cold surrounding her. Quickly, she conjured her robe and wore it. Trixie felt warm just after she wrapped her robe around her. Good thing I had that cloak enchanted to keep me warm during the cold when I was travelling, Trixie thought, feeling relieved at the warmth coming from her cloak. She looked around her, noticing the frosty environment of her surroundings. When Trixie looked in front of her, she saw the magnificent castle. Intimidated at first by the castle's size she was, but decided to steel herself and walked determinedly to the castle. Surely the ruler of this place can't be as intimidating, Trixie thought and she felt calmer afterwards. As she walked, Trixie marveled at the beautiful sky above, the colours from the Northern Lights giving her ideas for her illusions. Her eyebrow raised in surprise when she could see no guards guarding the front door of the castle. She shrugged and pushed the doors with all her strength. Trixie frowned at that and tried pushing the doors again, but they wouldn't budge. Trixie growled and tried to kick them open. That only resulted in sharp pain on both her hind hooves. Gritting her teeth and nose flaring in fury, Trixie pounded the door. “Why can't you open, you stupid door!” she yelled furiously. Trixie searched the floor for anything that looked heavy to throw at the door. Eyeing a rock the size of her head, she smiled maniacally and levitated the rock. Once she started aiming to throw, the door suddenly opened, revealing an aged griffon hen. Trixie had to force herself to stop before she threw her rock at the griffon by accident. The griffon raised her eyebrow at the sheepish unicorn, who was currently putting the rock down and kicking it away. “Heh, sorry about that. Trixie wasn't going to throw a rock at you, she was trying to throw it at the door,” Trixie said. The griffon looked skeptical, the square rimmed glasses she wore making her look like a disappointed headmistress. “I see,” she said in a slight Equestrian Highlands accent, “Whatever were your intentions, the headmistress will still speak with you. Follow me.” Trixie followed the griffon past the doors and jumped when the doors shut themselves without the aid of anypony, or griffon. Trixie looked around her. The entrance hall was stunning. A large hall with many doors, a large staircase, reindeer suits of armour and banners depicting various crests such as a black sword-wielding griffon, a tree with a horse-shoe above it, a unicorn horn with three stars surrounding it, a winged cloud, a zebra art depicting the sun, a black horn with gossamer wings, and a reindeer head. The griffon coughed, reminding Trixie that she had to follow her to wherever the griffon is taking her. They walked for a few minutes, climbing long staircases up to five floors and Trixie getting startled from a suit of armour turning its head at her, until they reached an ornate door with a label saying that it led to the headmistress’ office. “You should wait in the the office now. The headmistress will be in there shortly,” the griffon said and she left Trixie alone in front of the office door. Feeling like a school filly in trouble, she opened the door and entered the office. The office inside was far more interesting than what she thought it would be like. It was a large room full of trinkets and devices that seemed to work on their own, many portraits of past headmasters and mistresses covered the walls inside. She noticed there were more portraits depicting reindeers than other races. A beep sounded under her cloak and Trixie got her communicator out. After pressing the button, an image of Princess Twilight appeared on the screen. “Trixie, is everything okay on your end? You didn’t speak with us. Over,” Twilight said with a concerned frown. Trixie waved her off, while giving the princess a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Princess. Trixie is only waiting in a headmistress’ office in some large school. Is all. Over” Twilight, though, looked far from reassured. “Headmistress off– Trixie, you do realise this means that you are in big trouble! Over.” “Pfft, come on. What would she do to Trixie? Trixie is not her student. Over,” Trixie said. Twilight looked worried and looked at her explorer with firm eyes. “I hope that you’re right. Now I expect you to get out of this situation as trouble free as possible. Otherwise, there will be problems in the future. Over and out,” Twilight said sternly and her face disappeared from the little screen. Trixie put the communicator back under her cloak and waited a while longer. She heard the office door open and turned around to see a lavender alicorn with a striped dark blue mane. Trixie was astonished to see Twilight Sparkle in a headmistress’ office, though she doesn’t look like the Twilight Sparkle she knows. She was physically larger than her universe’s Twilight, her mane and tail were ethereal and flowing, she did not wear any regalia and she wore a half moon rimmed glasses. And she didn’t look happy. In fact, she looked out right furious. “So, my deputy came by to tell me that a certain intruder entered the school grounds with no legal permission and decided it would be fun to try to vandalise the castle. And that certain intruder was none other than a blue unicorn with a silvery mane wearing a purple cloak. What do you have to say for yourself?” Twilight scornfully told Trixie. Trixie was taken aback on how intimidated she was feeling right now. “Uhh…” she lamely replied, but the headmistress had none of it. “One hundred and five years as headmistress of Auraria Academy of Magic and there was never any trespassing and attempted vandalism on this highly prestigious school until now. I am sorry to tell you this, but I have no choice but to transport you back to whichever country you came from and let your authorities punish you,” Twilight said angrily. Trixie thought of something quickly to avoid being punished in this universe’s version of Equestria. “Wait! Trixie was here by–” “Hold on,” Twilight interrupted, “The way you are speaking right now reminds of a certain mare, but she passed on more than a century ago. And you cannot be her descendant as all of them are students of this school. Who are you and why are you here?” Trixie was peeved at Twilight’s interruption but she explained nonetheless. “As Trixie was saying, Trixie was here by accident and she did not attempt any sort of vandalism on purpose. Well, okay, it was on purpose. But it was only to try to open that very stubborn front door!” she quickly added when she saw Twilight’s disapproving frown. “You only had to knock the door so a school staff member will open it for you as it will remain closed to anyone outside at night. But that doesn’t explain how you got here,” Twilight said. Trixie took a deep breath and sighed. “Okay, this is where it all starts to feel weird. Just don’t laugh.” Trixie explained that she was from another universe and she was a Multiversal Explorer working for Princess Twilight Sparkle of Everfree Valley and that she was travelling through multiple parallel and alternate universes and taking notes on the world of every different universes. She also explained about her home universe, mentioning that the region surrounding Ponyville and the Everfree Forest became an independent principality ruled by Princess Twilight Sparkle and her Knights of Friendship and Harmony. As she finished her explanation, she watched Twilight’s face for any reaction. Her reaction was not what Trixie expected. “Oh Celestia, is this really true?! A real, honest to Celestia multiversal travelling?! Oh, I always wanted to study different universes! How many did you explore?” Twilight asked Trixie excitedly with a slight squeal. Trixie strongly reminded herself that even though this was a more than a century old Twilight Sparkle, she was still a Twilight Sparkle. “Apart from this universe, just one. And it had Prince Blueblood having a herd with you and your circle of friends,” Trixie said. Twilight looked thoughtful. “Hmm, interesting. Although I did marry Bluey and had a foal with him, thinking that there is a universe where he, my first friends and I are a herd makes me think of how today, a century and a half later, would look like,” she said. Then she looked excited again, “Oh, if only we could discover at least a multiverse viewing spell, this would surely revolutionise magic! Multiversal magic was only accessible by Starswirl the Bearded himself!” Trixie nodded and gave off a large yawn. “Aaaaaauuuugh! That’s strange. It was only afternoon when Trixie arrived in this universe. She shouldn’t be sleepy,” she grumbled tiredly. Twilight looked at her clock on the wall. It read nine past twenty in the evening. “Well, it could be the effects of a different universe time on your biological clock, so that means you could never get any jet lag while multiversing. Tell you what, how about I show you a room you could stay for the night. Then tomorrow, I will show you around the school and tell you everything of my past hundred years,” Twilight offered. Trixie thought about it and nodded, as she felt like some spirit sprinkled sand on her eyes. Twilight walked past her, opened her office door and beckoned Trixie to follow her. They walked for a few minutes and stopped in front of a long disused looking door. Twilight opened the door, revealing an unoccupied office. She beckoned Trixie to follow her again and they reached another door inside the empty office. Twilight opened it and it revealed a small bedroom. “This is where you will stay for a night. It is not much, but I hope you will still be comfortable here. I will see you in the morning. Good night,” Twilight said and she closed the door. Trixie cast a warming spell inside the room and she took off her cloak. She levitated her communicator and turned it on. “Lulamoon to Princess Twilight. Trixie is feeling very sleepy right now and the headmistress offered her a room to sleep for a night. Over,” she spoke to the communicator. Her universe’s Twilight’s face appeared on the little screen of the communicator. “Feeling sleepy already? It has barely been more than an hour!” Twilight said to Trixie surprisedly. “The headmistress said something about the alternate universe’s daytime pattern affecting my biological clock, or something,” Trixie mumbled sleepily. Twilight looked thoughtful at that. “Hmm, that is something new. Though we have to be careful. With the multiverse’s daytime patterns affecting your biological clock that easily, it could be very dangerous,” Twilight said. Trixie yawned. “We’ll continue talking tomorrow. Trixie needs her... her... Aaaaauuuugh.... sleep now.” Twilight nodded. “Of course. Good night, Trixie,” she said with a smile and the communicator turned off. Trixie yawned again and climbed on her temporary bed. She dozed off and dreamed she was a travelling showmare again. That brought a smile and a tear on the Multiversal Explorer. *** The next day arrived with the sun rising above the horizon, although too low to be considered adequate for Trixie to awake. That didn’t stop Headmistress Twilight Sparkle to shake her awake. Trixie tried to push Twilight’s firm hoof away, mumbling what sounded like ‘five more minutes’ while turning her sleeping body in a more comfortable and warming position. Twilight frowned at that and decided to use a more effective waking up method. Her horn lit up and cooled a spot of air to condensation level. The spot she chose condensed into a cool ball of water moved it above Trixie’s head and let go. She bit her tongue to force herself not to laugh at Trixie’s startled jump and spluttering from the water falling on her. She scowled at the headmistress and grumbled, “Trixie sees that your joking character has not diminished after a hundred years.” Trixie looked at the bedside window and groaned. “It’s too early for Trixie to awake.” Twilight shook her head. “It is not early, Trixie. It is actually half past nine in the morning. The sun is very low here because this place has a tundra climate,” she explained. “You should start getting ready now. After your breakfast, I will give you a tour around the school.” The headmistress left Trixie alone in her temporary room while Trixie started to call upon her world. “Lulamoon to Princess Sparkle. Do you copy?” Trixie said to the communicator. The communicator took a while to respond. Trixie waited and whistled a bit for a minute until the communicator’s screen finally turned on. On the screen was a very sleepy looking Princess Twilight. “Trixie, it is two o'clock in the morning, you just woke me up and I was in the middle of a very nice dream about a seven-star book beach resort. What do you want this time?” Twilight grumbled very grouchily. Trixie scrunched her muzzle to stop herself from laughing at Twilight’s expense. “Sucks to be you, Princess,” she teased. Twilight gave her a look that told Trixie that she could and might give her a fate worse than death if she dares continue to tease. “The headmistress is going to give me a tour of the castle and tells me about her world.” Twilight yawned and said, “That’s fine, Trixie. Do whatever you will. And please, do not call me for the next four hours or so unless in the case of real emergencies. Goodbye.” The communicator screen turned off and Trixie is left alone again. *** After taking her breakfast, Trixie followed the headmistress out of the Great Hall and started showing her around the castle. Trixie noticed that the school’s teachers and students are racially mixed. They first stopped at a classroom on the first floor. The class had older looking students attempting to carve runes on books, giving them life of their own. There were three books which started to bite the students and the reindeer teacher in a frenzy. “This is the Enchantments class,” said Twilight as the teacher finally managed to disenchant the troublemaking books, “the students here learn how to make magic runes on everyday objects such as books, brooms, wooden boards, clothing, et cetera to give them more properties or to enhance them.” “So, it is like how Trixie’s cloak is enchanted to keep her warm at all times?” Trixie asked. “Yes, except that yours is unicorn enchantment. They work the same as enchantments with reindeer runes, but are weaker and more temporary than them. You usually recharge your enchantment after some time, don’t you?” asked the headmistress. Trixie felt a little miffed at Twilight’s suggestion that her enchantment was inferior. “Yes, Trixie recharges her enchantment every month,” she grumbled. Twilight proudly replied, “The rune enchantments are usually permanent. This school tries to teach students of all race every kind of magic which before was unavailable to them. Come on, let us go outside in the school grounds. There is another class that I like you to see.” Outside, they walked inside the nearby coniferous forest and reached a stone circle in a forest clearing where a robed Earth pony mare was teaching a class about Earth magic. “Is that a druidess?” Trixie whispered. Twilight nodded. “This is Harmony Bloom, a very respected priestess of a very ancient Earth pony religion and a master in Earth Magic. She teaches students of all race, be they unicorn, pegasus, Earth pony, zebra, changeling, griffon or reindeer, on how to create and use Earth Magic. Oh, look. She is about to show a pegasus how to use the magic,” she said and pointed at the class. Harmony Bloom showed the pegasus filly a small marked patch on the ground, she held the filly’s hoof over the patch, she whispered things to the filly, the filly nodded, closed her eyes in concentration and the spot her little hoof was touching glowed a faint green colour. The pegasus filly opened her eyes with a start, moved her hoof away and saw that a tropical looking flower bloomed on the marked spot. Trixie was astonished. “That flower shouldn’t have grown in this climate!” she exclaimed. Twilight giggled at Trixie’s astonishment. “That is the beauty of Earth Magic, everything can even grow in harsh conditions, provided you give it enough Earth Magic of course. Now come along, we have a tour to continue.” *** After their tour, Trixie and Headmistress Twilight stopped in the headmistress’ office. Trixie slumped on the pillow provided, tired of today’s events. If there was one thing that she had learned in this tour, it was that every kind of magic can be learned by anypony such as a unicorn learning Earth Magic, albeit less effective than if cast by an Earth pony and vice versa. Twilight sat on her pillow behind her desk and looked at Trixie bemusedly. “Trixie would like to go home now,” Trixie groaned tiredly. Twilight stood up. “Hold on for a moment, I will give you some gifts that you might find useful in your adventures,” she told Trixie and went upstairs to her room. After a few minutes, Twilight went back downstairs with many thick looking books levitated next to her. Trixie groaned at the sight of so many books. “Oh, cheer up, Trixie. These books are all about the magics that Auraria teaches and they could help you on your adventures. Or even your everyday life,” the headmistress said. Trixie looked at the heavy pile of books as if they had insulted her at some point. “Aren’t there the Beginners’ Guide for all of them?” she asked. Twilight’s brow was raised. “These are the Beginners’ Guide. And the Intermediate. And the Advanced. And you also have the Masters’ level books,” she replied deadpanned. Trixie gapped at her, shook her head and decided that they were all going to be given to Princess Twilight as souvenirs. Trixie gave a farewell salute to Headmistress Twilight, pressed the ‘return home’ code on the world-hopping device and she and the books disappeared with a flash. Twilight kept staring at the spot where Trixie was. She stood up and walked to the office window. The sun was just above the horizon by the time their tour ended, even if it was only three o’clock in the afternoon. The headmistress looked at the sunlit horizon and muttered under her breath, “Multiversal travelling. Now that is a magic I would love to study and try one day.”