//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Trixie's Wrath // Story: An Alien in Need, is a Friend Indeed // by Word Worthy //------------------------------// Trixie smiled confidently as she made her way into her humble caravan, levitating a small pouch of goods with her that she'd purchased in Canterlot earlier that morning. As she expected, Lighter Than Some was present, occupying himself with something in the corner. The Huragok had his back to her, delicately tinkering with an object Trixie couldn't make out from her angle. “Lighter Than Some, Trixie has returned,” the unicorn greeted, her haughty smile broadening. Lighter Than Some turned around quickly, blinking his beady black eyes and glowing bright blue. “Good morrow, Great and Powerful,” he replied in an normal but excited speaking voice. “Trixie now has all she needs and more to finally exact revenge on Twilight Sparkle for making the great mistake of humiliating her!” Trixie registered the change. “And she sees you’ve finally perfected your voice contraption.” “Yes, a voice synthesizer! This one is most excited to be able to speak words with you.” Lighter Than Some’s cheerful glow grew even brighter. “The elation is almost enough to make my gas sacs swell.” Trixie caught a glimpse of something metal on the wooden tabletop, and her brow rose in curiosity. “What is that you’re working on, now?” Lighter Than Some drifted to the right and revealed his new creation. “A gravity staff.” He had meticulously disassembled the deceased Jiralhanae captain’s hammer Trixie had given to him piece by piece, and then reassembled it into an entirely new object that now bared the resemblance of a wizard’s staff. The tungsten alloy blade had been discarded entirely, and the head of the hammer containing the gravity drive had been filed down to consist of only the exposed drive itself, a flickering blue sphere of energy contained in a narrow metal frame of nanolaminate alloy. “From savage weapon to practical levitation instrument in a mere thirty seconds,” Lighter Than Some explained. “Levitation, you say?” Trixie replied, dropping her sack on the ground and taking out some of its contents: potions for fortifying one’s concentration while charging a spell. She cracked one open and took a sip, finding it oddly tasting like bananas. Trixie’s second drink was involuntarily spit out with a squeak as she felt her body suddenly lift into the air, as if it weighed no more than a feather. “Most marvelous directed levitation,” Lighter Than Some enthused. He whistled with astonishment as he waved the staff about with one of his tentacles, tugging the unicorn gently through the air before setting her back down when she began flailing her legs in protest. “This gravity drive possesses a higher energy propagation when not encumbered by the weight of a Jiralhanae hammer’s head.” Trixie dusted herself off with a displeased grunt and picked the potion back up. She was surprised the Huragok had not yet attempted to disassemble her very caravan into some newfangled creation. “Enough mischief. Our time to strike draws near!” Energy crackled slightly as Lighter Than Some deactivated the gravity drive’s on the staff and set it upon the table. “Great and Powerful one?” Trixie paused and frowned as she was preparing to drink more of the potions. “Speak. Quickly.” “This one has constructed the machine as requested, so if I may…” Lighter Than Some ventured, slightly curling away in reaction to her severe expression. “You’re not leaving Trixie’s service and rejoining your Covenant friends, engineer. Ever. Put such idle fancies from your many gas bladders.” Trixie downed the last of the potions, peered towards her sinister-looking machine, and then returned her narrowed, violet eyes to the Huragok. “Trixie nearly caused an extraterrestrial invasion of our world, destroyed an alien beast, almost attracted the attention of the Princesses, and stole from the Spirit of Chaos himself just to gain access to your unique capabilities. So you’re mine, understand? All mine, nopony else’s! “Actually, I was simply going ask you the specifics of your revenge.” The entirely neutral statement was met by surprised blinking from Trixie, whose mouth hung awkwardly open like a mailbox left ajar. She blinked again and recovered. “Oh. Uhh…I…Trixie, supposes she will take your questions. Again, speak quickly.” Lighter Than Some inclined his slender head and whistled. “Since you used the siphon to absorb the Jiralhanae’s esoteric energies and claim them as your own, and in turn possess a powerful artifact, the Alicorn Amulet, how do you intend to utilize this combined might against the one called Twilight Sparkle? Remember that I do not fight; I help. I build. That is the way of Huragok.” Trixie huffed and removed the Alicorn Amulet from her machine, clasping it around her neck with an audible click. “Simple. You and Trixie shall deposit the mana siphon in a strategic location in Ponyville. The energy it has provided along with that of the Alicorn Amulet makes Trixie unstoppable!” The amulet glowed red, sparking a similar effect in the wearer’s eyes. “While you personally see to the device’s maintenance, Trixie shall use her newfound power to best Twilight Sparkle in a battle of magic. At first, a magical duel seemed sufficient, but absorbing the alien’s energy has unlocked potential for something even greater! When the Great and Powerful is victorious, the siphon will activate, and Sparkle’s magic shall be hers!” “Oh my. I fear this could end badly for you,” Lighter Than Some remarked with a note of concern. His prior excitement and child-like enthusiasm had fled. This left Trixie most agitated. “You dare to underestimate the Great and Powerful Trixie?” “You have spoken much about Twilight Sparkle and her group of friends. Dadab and the Shipmistress of the Rapid Conversion have joined with them. If I am discovered, they will likely go to great lengths to remove me from your service.” “The little Unggoy and the bird-dragon girl? They can try, but they will fail.” “How can you be sure of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, however?” An eyebrow raised on Trixie’s frowning face. “What of them?” “Your descriptions portray an individual who possesses profound and growing mastery of the esoteric forces unique to your planet,” Lighter Than Some explained. “Factoring in the variable of friends with such firm convictions and loyalty as hers, I humbly declare out of concern for the safety of the Great and Powerful that provoking the wrath of such a potent adversary would likely be disastrous.” Defiance draped itself like a cloak of black across Trixie’s features. “Wrath?” she said in a low, hostile voice. “The latter could be said for them in kind, Lighter Than Some. Your concern is flattering, but such fears are unfounded.” “Great and Powerful Trixie…” Trixie shook her head and levitated the empty potion bottles into a rubbish bin, and then promptly pointed a leg at the mana siphon device. “Enough talk! Ready the siphon, we go to Ponyville!” Disappointed, the Huragok complied. He equipped his gravity staff and levitated the siphon out after his mistress, following in her wake through the clearing and into the forest. Belligerent, misguided, and haughty though the unicorn might be, Lighter Than Some could not help but feel some degree of allegiance towards Trixie. Removed from Harvest via immense arcane forces reminiscent of the Forerunners’ own creators, and teleported to Equis just before a pack of Yanme’e drones could tear him asunder, Trixie Lulamoon had immediately gifted the Covenant Engineer with purpose and haven on this unfamiliar planet. She had provided things to build, repair, improve. In fact, while lugging Trixie’s instrument of revenge through the verdant undergrowth, he began to ponder if she herself may require ‘repairs’ of some kind. His musings prevented his noticing of the small group of beings that had been watching him and Trixie from the tangle of bushes. “It’s the missing Huragok, with that native! You see, you see?” a grunt declared frantically. “We should alert the Ultra!” another added. “The floating guy would come in handy if the native bug devils attack again. Those ones must have big coordinated battle plan, so big trouble!” “Me tough warrior, I’m not dying on some alien planet!” The entire group of Unggoy whispered in agreement before breaking into an urgent run deeper into the forest, carefully scanning for signs of Changelings as they went. It was high morning in Ponyville, and the town’s streets were busy with the daily hustle and bustle of residents going about their business. Twilight Sparkle had left home earlier to run some errands, so the Golden Oak library was left in the hands of Spike and Dadab, and the watchful eyes of Owlowicious. The latter was perched near a window, watching passersby, and the former were situated in the middle of the front reading room. Spike was busy thumbing through shelves and sorting books, and Dadab was scouring the floor for offensive dust and debris to clean up. The six-inch hole he had burned through to the cellar below had been covered with a small oak board, marked with a crude white paint triangle depicting a red exclamation point. Spike sighed with boredom and paused in his work. “Hey, Dadab.” Painstakingly working a pile of dust bunnies into a dust pan with his broom, Dadab peered up at the young dragon curiously. “Yeah Spike?” “You aren’t still uneasy about that ‘disturbance’ you mentioned last night, are you?” Spike asked. Dadab smiled underneath his mask. “I’m mostly over it. Scary Everfree is only so scary after a while.” “What do you suppose it was that you sensed? Twilight says ponies have shunned that forest for generations because of superstition and the dangerous beasts.” “Big battle, something fighting something else, lots of ferocity and fear. It was probably just a nightmare, though,” Dadab mused. “Lots of big things happening lately.” Spike’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “You know, Princess Luna is said to be able to enter dreams. If you ever start having nightmare troubles, she’d be the best pony to talk to about it besides Twilight.” “Enter dreams?” Were it not for meeting Celestia in person yesterday, who had seemed entirely benevolent, the prospect of one of the powerful alicorn equinoid aliens entering into his dreams without warning or permission would have highly unnerved Dadab. “Yeah,” Spike replied. He waved Dadab over to the living room and the two took a seat. The Unggoy sat awkwardly in the oak chair, its frame poorly accommodating the methane pack strapped to his armor. “I have no idea how it works, technically speaking, but apparently whenever a pony is most in need, Luna appears in their dream sequence and subtly reveals what they need to know to solve a problem.” It was now Dadab’s turn to look thoughtful. His stubby little fingers rapped lightly against the tabletop at his musings. Spike could scarcely hide his astonishment at how quickly the little digits, about the size of his own, were able to move. “Hmm, perhaps meeting your other Princess would be good for me. Celestia reminds me of the much loved High Prophetess of Obligation…if Obligation actually got things done like your Princess back when Her Holiness was in charge. If Luna’s like Celestia, she'll surely be nice to Unggoy.” Curious, Spike nodded and was just about inquire about Obligation, when an urgent hooting from Owlowiscious caught he and Dadab by surprise. The owl was looking down at them, flapping his wings ever few seconds to catch their attention. “Trouble?” Dadab inquired. “I dunno,” Spike answered, glancing worriedly between Dadab and Owlowiscious. “Must be something outside. Let’s check it out!” Both of them got up and dashed to the door. Owlowiscious hooted affirmatively and returned his sharply-focused eyes to the window. The dragon and the grunt were met with quite an alarming sight. A crowd had gathered just down the street, and after parting their way to the front, the duo beheld Twilight and another unicorn glaring at one another. Spike folded his arms anxiously, and Dadab felt his hand instinctively reach for his plasma pistol. Judging by the body language and glowing red eyes of the azure, amulet-wearing unicorn in front of Twilight, she was not there to simply exchange pleasantries. “Trixie!” Twilight said in a dangerous voice, her brow furrowed. “What are you doing here in Ponyville? What are you up to now?” Trixie smiled malevolently. “Oh come now, Twilight Sparkle. Are you not clever enough to realize the obvious? One does not simply disgrace and humiliate the Great and Powerful Trixie and not expect retribution. Trixie hereby calls you to a battle of magic! Destruction magic!” The crowd gasped and then widened their distance from the two by at least three meters. Twilight narrowed her eyes. “You really want to do this? You seriously think vengeance will solve your problems, Trixie?” Her would-be opponent snorted at her through her nostrils. “Of course Trixie does.” “I can say with absolute confidence, that you are beyond mistaken.” “We shall see.” “Why don’t you and I handle this civilly?” Spike and Dadab watched almost helplessly, unsure if they should intervene. Pinkie Pie and Rarity appeared beside them, equally grasped by worry. “Heavens! Trixie isn’t about to pull herself and Twilight into such a fit of barbarism as hurling combat spells at one another, surely?” Rarity said with much distress. The distress had mounted enough that Dadab now had his pistol readied just in case. The readout reported that his battery was now at just sixty-four percent after their dangerous skirmish with the blundering Jiralhanae. “I don’t know, Rarity. Trixie looks super furious!” Pinkie Pie pointed out. “When did Trixie show up?” Spike asked. The mares turned to him and Dadab. “Mere minutes ago, Spike,” Rarity answered. “Should we intervene? Help the Boss?” Dadab inquired. Rarity saw his drawn weapon, and pursed her lips in distress, putting a hoof to her chin. “I highly doubt we’ll have to go that far. Twilight should be able to deal with her, prim and proper.” Dadab nodded, and stowed his plasma pistol. “But, if Twilight even so much as hints at losing ground, we shall do what we must to end the fight!” Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Dadab nodded affirmatively, then fixed their eyes on the fracas that was about to unfold. “…enough talk! Trixie cares not for what honeyed words you have prepared to offer in a vain attempt to placate her!” the azure unicorn declared, charging her horn. As the crowd gasped from afar, Twilight’s eyes narrowed and she dug her hoof into the ground. Trixie’s imminent spell reached full charge, and Twilight’s nostrils flared with a defiant snort. The initial barrage met with much fanfare. What Dadab took for a stream of pure plasma or an equivalent arced outward from Trixie’s horn, and her eyes glowed a sinister red in tandem with her red-black amulet and the shouts of the startled crowd. The red-scarlet beam impacted Twilight just as she summoned a protective violet shield in seemingly less than the span of a heartbeat. The opposing energies clashed, and the crowd gave the two combatants even more space. Trixie’s beam relented. Dust and magical residue parted, revealing Twilight to be no less worse for wear. Only her neat mane had sustained damage, and her expression conveyed more displeasure than nervousness at her apparent nemesis’ greatly increased magical power compared to their first, previous unfriendly meeting. “Very well. You leave me no choice, Trixie!” Twilight declared. Trixie only growled, already preparing another spell. She summoned something this time: the shadowy silhouette of a ghostly Brute wielding a war hammer manifested in a cloud of violet and green eldritch smoke. The alien roared, bringing their weapon to bear and charging towards Twilight. The librarian summoned another shield spell around herself, grunting as she maintained it under a succession of hammer strikes. On the fourth, Twilight absorbed its momentum in the shield and reflected it, causing the protective barrier to collapse and rebound its energy back at the Jiralhanae specter. Roaring, the Brute broke down into a cloud of harmless energy. “I tried to be civil,” Twilight remarked, ignited her horn once again. Trixie reeled back as her opponent finally struck her with a bolt of offensive magic. The lightning struck its mark in Trixie’s chest, singeing the fur and causing her nerves to scream in fury. “A lucky hit! But not nearly enough.” the stage magician taunted venomously, licking her lips and taking a deep breath. Trixie prepared a new counterattack, and their battle continued on. By now, Rarity was beginning to teeter on the edge of action. Dadab and Pinkie Pie reciprocated, but Spike remained unsure of what he could do personally to help. Dadab was beginning to notice peculiar changes in the unicorn that was attempting to best Twilight. Her teeth seemed to be subtly growing sharper, and the sclera of her glowing eyes was turning green. Chance, as it would have it, found a way for Spike to help out. The young dragon noticed a creature floating slowly around the corner of a nearby house, interacting with something poorly concealed by the property’s small side garden. “Hey guys, I think I see another alien!” Spike declared. The other three followed his pointing talon. “A whaaat?” Pinkie Pie said, perplexed. “Where do you space guys keep coming from?” “An alien it is, then!” Rarity affirmed. “Why, I wonder if that one is somehow involved in this brutish affair with Trixie.” Her suspicions were mounting. “See there! He’s tending to something…something rectangular. A box!” “Looks like some kind of contraption to me,” Spike said. Twilight and Trixie grunted, growled, and huffed as they continued to launch spells at one another, making a mess of the cobblestone, grass, and benches around them. The machine the new alien was interacting with pulsed luminously every time one of the combatants’ spells were cast. “Lighter Than Some?” Dadab hesitated with disbelief, before he noticed the same magical light surrounding the machine and Trixie, putting two and two together. “That devil machine is powering the enemy! We gotta stop it and help the Boss!” he hollered. “After it, then!” Rarity urged them, needing to hear no more. The four broke into a run towards the Huragok in the garden. Lighter Than Some noticed them quickly, and curled up into himself, drifting away as quickly as he could. His gravity staff clattered on the ground. Rarity’s telekinesis stopped him in his tracks, and he whistled with alarm as she tugged him over to face them. “Stop right there minion, whatever you are!” “I mean you know harm, I do only the Great and Powerful’s bidding!” Lighter exclaimed with a shaky voice, his nervousness threatening to overtax his voice synthesizer. He struggled to make eye contact with Dadab, as he had not yet prepared himself for another meeting with his old comrade. The Unggoy’s gaze was a mural of pure confusion. “Why are you helping Trixie against Twilight?” Spike retorted, eyes narrowed. “She enlisted my aid in vengeance against Twilight Sparkle. I tried to tell Trixie that pursuing this endeavor could end badly for her,” Lighter Than Some answered. “She refused to see reason, but build I must.” He made a tugging motion with one of his feelers in a show of mild protest, and Rarity released him from her telekinetic field. “Be that as it may,” Rarity interjected, igniting her horn. “I’m afraid we must put a stop to this barbarism. Somepony could end up getting hurt. Dadab, if you will, please?” “I’m helping!” he replied, aiming his plasma pistol at the magic siphon. Lighter Than Some drifted over next to Pinkie Pie, who still gazed upon him with a look of puzzlement. Rarity and Dadab fired bolts of energy at the machine, intent on destroying or at least disabling it. A type of magical shield seemed to shrug the attacks off. Dadab followed up with a charged shot of plasma, but to no avail. “Darn it, why isn’t this thing breaking! The ground should look like someone messed up making a glass vase by now,” Spike said, pitching in by trying to scorch the small object with his breath. “I got it,” Pinkie Pie declared lightheartedly, pulling out a sledgehammer and approaching the siphon. She skipped past the others and gave the device a good smack. Its polished silver top caved in, and the glowing runes scrawled across its surface began to flicker and die out. Lighter Than Some was shocked at his creation’s sudden destruction, and the others gawked. “We have much to discuss,” Dadab said to Lighter Than Some, shaking off his surprise at the success of Pinkie Pie’s simplistic solution. The Huragok produced a sound effect with his synthesizer mimicking a nervous gulp. Nearby, his partner in crime had heard the sound of crumpling metal all too well. Trixie’s access to the dead Jiralhanae’s power cut off with the siphon’s destruction just as she was preparing to summon a counter to Twilight’s incoming attack. Her shield flickered weakly even despite the Alicorn Amulet’s attempt to channel more power to her, and Twilight’s spell looked like it was going to be a big one. "No!” she shouted at Pinkie Pie, her voice sounding almost like a snarl. “Stop! Trixie commands you!” Pinkie Pie seemed to ignore Trixie, and raised the hammer again with gusto. “Whatever you’re doing, Pinkie, keep it up!” Twilight shouted, not taking her eyes off her opponent. “Okie dokie!” The magic siphon crumbled in on itself from the blow, and gave out its last gleams of light before finally breaking in a shower of magical sparks. Twilight’s spell reached full charge at the same time, and she unleashed it. Another beam of pure plasma, more than enough to fatally wound a non-magical opponent, impacted Trixie’s faltering shield. The protective barrier absorbed most of the damage before collapsing, but the resulting entropic energy that was produced, drained what available energy Trixie had left for spell casting. She fell prone, panting as smoke rose up from the damaged ground surrounding her. Energy crackled around the Alicorn Amulet as Twilight slowly approached her sternly. Trixie met her gaze with weary eyes. “Finally,” Rarity said with relief. “Now Twilight can get to the bottom of this madness.” “Don’t let Lighter Than Some loose, he can probably tell us more!” Dadab added. Rarity nodded and entrapped the Huragok in her telekinesis again, much to the latter’s displeasure. Twilight noticed Spike, Dadab, and the others, and waved them over. They quickly joined her. “Thanks for the help guys.” She smiled lightly, then turned stoically back to Trixie. “Explain yourself, Trixie!” “Trixie…Trixie let her anger get the better of her,” she replied simply. “The – the amulet…” Trixie looked down at the Alicorn Amulet around her neck with newfound abhorrence. The stage magician unclasped the talisman and chucked it away from her as if it were a repulsive insect that has had just crept onto her neck. At once, her eyes returned to their normal dark violet, and her teeth lost their uncharacteristic sharpness. “Well?” Twilight pressed, picking up the amulet and studying it warily. “It’s pure evil!” Trixie grimaced at the sight of the amulet. Her own tendency to utilize the third person faltered for the moment. “My intent was to prove my talent superior to yours, to absorb your power and become the greatest sorcerer since Star Swirl! But that amulet has other ideas: destruction, death, chaos. Nothing but pure dark magic!” The expressions on Twilight and Rarity’s faces darkened. “Dark magic.” They said in unison. “It’s no wonder she started looking like King Sombra!” Spike remarked. “That amulet was controlling her!” “Not…exactly,” Trixie confessed. She gestured at Lighter Than Some. “Trixie was still partly aware of what she was doing. This engineer helped advance Trixie’s plans, she enlisted his aid. He only really helped because…” “Huragok were made to build,” Lighter Than Some interposed. “The siphon machine that the pink one destroyed was meant to absorb your power. It had already absorbed the power of another vanquished one, previously.” Pinkie Pie gasped dramatically. Twilight recollected the alien shade Trixie had summoned moments earlier. “The Jiralhanae. Well we know he’s gone for good, then. Rainbow and the others will be relieved to hear that when they get out the hospital.” “The Great and Powerful Trixie is sorry for attacking you, Twilight. Truly!” Trixie said timidly. “She’ll have to learn to get a better grip on her thoughts next time.” The other unicorn’s face shifted between conflicting anger, displeasure, wariness, and a growing idea to give the magician the benefit of the doubt. Twilight looked around her. Nobody in the now murmuring crowd seemed injured; only the ground and both of their coats and manes had really paid the price in their magical skirmish, fortunately. With a sigh, Twilight came to a conclusion. “Well, as devious as this whole affair was, Trixie,” Trixie sheepishly curled in towards herself, almost mimicking Lighter Than Some’s response in times of fright. “I accept your apology. You didn’t hurt anypony, and I’m willing to admit that Covenant brute kind of had it coming to him.” Dadab chuckled. “ ‘Had it coming?’ Me and Shipmistress must be a corrupting influence, here.” Spike elbowed him playfully. “Humph! Please, you should have seen the way we took down King Sombra. You may have blown that Brute up with explosives, but Sombra was shattered, shattered like glass with the Crystal Heart!” “Thanks in no small part to you, Spike!” Rarity threw in affectionately. Blinking curiously and returning his attention to Trixie and Twilight, Dadab made a mental note to ask Twilight about that particular story the next time they’re not being attacked by something. Trixie nodded at Twilight gratefully, and managed to get back to her hooves. Twilight summoned a small bubble around the Alicorn Amulet, glaring at the evil but somewhat fashionable talisman. While she did so, Pinkie Pie addressed the question that now hung in the air. “So, now what?” “I’m not sure, but I need to converse with Lighter Than Some soon; have some catching up to do!” Dadab stated. “About that,” Twilight began, catching everyone’s attention. “Trixie, why don’t you and Lighter Than Some move your caravan into town and out from wherever you have it. Stay awhile.” “Come again?” Trixie replied, flabbergasted. “I’ll be sending this amulet to Zecora for safekeeping, but you and Lighter Than Some are what really have my attention. How is he linked to Dadab and Chur’R-Yar’s appearance here on this planet?” Lighter Than Some floated to Trixie’s side, and the two started whispering to one another. Twilight raised an eyebrow at them as they turned back to answer. “Trixie found knowledge of him from…stumbling…upon one of Discord’s journals recounting his occasional forays through time and space." She shuddered. "Ugh, that ghastly penmanship of his. Everything he wrote about the Covenant Empire, Huragok like yours truly, and aliens like this Unggoy and the Shipmistress Chur, Trixie was able to uncover. Discord’s mention of monstrous terrors called the ‘Flood’ was almost enough to make her consider abandoning trying to retrieve Lighter Than Some for her plans altogether. But still she persisted, and eventually, she managed to summon him to Equis, inadvertently bringing Dadab and the other one along for the ride. Everything else that transpires, stems from that.” “So, the Covenant coming here in the first place was your responsibility?” Twilight asked. Trixie now seemed to shrink to one third her normal size. “By extent, yes.”