//------------------------------//
// Act Three Chapter Six 
// Story: Burnt Offerings 
// by Spike the Scribe 
//------------------------------//

Sandpoint, 3 of Rova (Presumably 26 of October 1000 SR), Afternoon

"You sure took your sweet time getting here. You took a detour through Absalom or something? Do you think I have nothing better to do than spend all day in a basement and wait until you two princesses graciously decide to bless us with your presence?" I'm starting to get the impression this was going to be a thing, that with everyp everyone greeting us this way. Seriously, it was starting to get real old real fast.

The delightful individual that gave us that oh so warm welcome just so happened to be the one person Twilight did not want to be on the bad side of. Ilsoari Gandethus, the one responsible for creating and running the Turandarok Academy, Sandpoint's resident scholar and specialist when it came to all things arcane, and at that moment a very angry man. Grumbling and pacing before we arrived and giving us a piece of his mind since the second we stepped down into his domain, Mr. Gandethus was teeming with poorly (if at all) concealed annoyance.

He was a man easily reaching his sixties, or at least I concluded he was, judging by his heavily bleached scalp. Mr. Gandethus' hair seemed to be more salt than pepper, and the short, neatly trimmed goatee he wore was telling the same story. Curiously enough, the man's face was surprisingly devoid of wrinkles, as if belonging to someone a decade or so younger. It didn't mean it was devoid of any blemish, however the ones that I was able to spot were something that from my experience shouldn't find itself on a scholar's face. His left cheek was marked with a jagged scar running almost all the way to his left ear, and a portion of his forehead above the right eye seemed to have suffered from a chemical burn at some point, ridding him of his eyebrow. Those marks, a sign of a past of violence were all the more prominent as the man who wore them was glaring at us, giving his visage a predatory look.

"The only reason I even bothered waiting for you is because that uneducated brute Hemlock claimed you were in contact with the subjects while they still functioned and know a little bit about the Art." Our 'gracious' host continued his rant, turning away from the sheepish form of Twilight and annoyed one of Trixie, his long lab coat billowing behind him like a cape. The piece of garment seemed strangely out of place when compared to what other locals usually wore, like if something taken from a different timeframe and dumped in a less advanced society, and it didn't help that Mr. Gandethus was keeping his coat open, allowing us to see his more casual garment beneath it. It still seemed quite extravagant when compared to what say Rynshinn or Father Zantus wore; a blue doublet with golden highlights and a matching pair of pants seemed more at place on a noble than a scholar, but hey, what do I know, right?

"Do you two even have any credentials? Looking at you I really doubt it; you look like you spent the last fifty years earning money belly dancing…" Mr. Gandethus went on, out of the blue going off on a tangent about how the two former unicorns looked and clearly meaning it as an insult. He most probably would've continued until he ran out of steam (or Trixie didn't decide to smack him, which looking at her expression she was close to doing), but a timely intervention from the keeper of good mood known as Pinkie distracted him from it.

"Permission to speak, sir!" The seriousness in which she uttered those words clashed with the sound of Pinkie's voice, and it truly sounded as silly as Pinks looked in her getup. Being the third magicless one in our midst Sheriff Hemlock hired her too, which in my personal opinion was a show of utter lack of imagination on his part. Either way, belonging to the local law enforcement forces Pinkie was decked in a similar, if not scaled down getup as Rainbow Dash and Applejack, minus the chain shirt. Instead of that Pinkie wore a padded jack (not to be confused with our resident farmer), off white in color and slightly too big for her. My guess was that the guard force just didn't have anything her size and went with the closest fit until proper defensive garment could be made or otherwise acquired. Still she looked hilarious puffing out her chest proudly and trying to maintain a serious and professional expression.

Mr. Gandethus paused hearing Pinkie, an exasperated expression on his face. I feel this wasn't the first time that happened. "Permission granted." He muttered in defeat.

"Sir, scolding my friends as you are right now serves nothing but to lose even more time. It's counterproductive. Also as a side note, you're being an awful mean meanie-pants, sir!"

"You're trying to tell me that attempting to educate those two about the virtues of punctuality is a waste of time? Is that what you're saying?" The old man ignored the last bit.

Pinkie shook her head. "Sir, no, sir! All I'm trying to say is that Twilight usually isn't tardy *snort*, so whatever kept her had to be important. Also, Trixie was here a long time before Twilight was and just waited for her so that you didn't have to bring her up to speed if you decided to start without her. It's unfair to have pretensions towards her because of her tardiness *snort*. Also, their absence gave us ample time to piece together the quote unquote 'subjects', sir!"

"She does have you there, Mr. Gandethus." Guard Titus, who apparently was dispatched with the girls and probably was responsible for showing them the ropes pointed out. The cheeky grin on his face spoke volumes of how much he was enjoying himself. "The hip bone connected to the back bone~♪…"

"Please, for the love of Nethys, stop with that infernal song!" Something tells me Mr. Gandethus here had a fun-filled forenoon courtesy of Pinkie Pie. The tugging at the corner of her lips only reinforced that idea.

Titus didn't seem to have heard the wizard's plea and continued cheerfully with the song, which resulted in a loud groan from the older man. After a minute or two of loud complaints of this being on the level of nursery rhymes and being anatomically incorrect to begin with Mr. Gandethus had finally caved in let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, I get it! If that'll make you stop I'll let those two slide this time. Just… stop, please."

And just like that guard Titus stopped, a satisfied smirk on his lips. He strode past the old man and passed the girls and me, addressing Twilight and Trixie with a quick 'all yours, ladies' before he took his position at the feet of the staircase and adopting a relaxed stance right beside a tense-looking Rainbow.

"…bloody guards, bane of my existence…" I looked back at our host, the man muttering obscenities under his breath and glaring at guard Titus. Taking a deep breath and letting out a prolonged sigh while pinching the bridge of his nose, Mr. Gandethus managed to reign in his irritation and looked at Twilight and Trixie with far less hostility than before. "Let's finally get this started, shall we? Prepare whatever you think you'll need and put on some gloves. If you don't have any I lied a few spare pairs on a table, so feel free to take them."

Hearing the professional tone with which Mr. Gandethus spoke Twilight quickly nodded and started flipping through the contents of her book, Trixie following suit, albeit with less fervor and still giving the local scholar the stink eye. In the meantime the specialist crossed the basement and approached two benches on which undoubtedly rested the 'subjects' we were supposed to examine, both covered by cloth for the time being.

Figuring I had a moment before Twilight needed me to take any notes I allowed myself a better look around the basement we were in. It was a spacious chamber, devoid of any partition walls and encompassing the whole foundations of the Academy. The ceiling was supported here and there by pillars, making sure the large structure didn't collapse on itself like a house of cards, and lighting was provided by several strange, clearly magical torches. Unlike normal torches these didn't really burn but produced a steady, non-flickering illumination not unlike light bulbs. All those features however paled in comparison to what the basement was actually filled with.

Seeing that the girls were to help conduct an investigation into matters of magic down here it was safe to assume that the basement at least partially served the role of an arcane laboratory. With several pieces of equipment the purpose of which I couldn't even begin to guess littering benches and shelves it wasn't really that hard to come to that conclusion. Still, the better part of the actual basement was more a strange collection of unspecified valuables, strange baubles, and odd trophies, like some sort of weird private museum or trophy room. Several pieces of exotic-looking weapons were clearly on display, some in better condition than others; similarly there were several pieces of damaged armor and shields lining the walls. There were also several fetishes and pieces of jewelry in locked display cases, several old-looking maps depicting completely unknown to me lands, at least two dozen bookshelves filled with what I assume were rare treaties and books (that one seemed to distract Twilight quite a bit, for obvious reasons), and at least four large stuffed… creatures is the best way to describe them. I mean come on: a large bear crossed with a gigantic owl? Or a completely eyeless two-legged reptile the size of a grown human with an oversized, tubular mouth? Those things were both strange and creepy, and it made the fact all this was stuffed in the basement of what acted in Sandpoint as a school-slash-orphanage only made it creepier.

"Trixie is ready to begin." I turned my attention back to the two mares I was accompanying. True to her word, Trixie seemed to finish what to her were her preparations and gave Mr. Gandethus a sharp, clearly still annoyed nod. Twilight in the meantime was busy figuring out how to put the protective gloves on (so that's how that's called; I'll have to inform Rarity about that). Finally managing to do just that she gave a nod of her own and looked at me, her intentions clearly broadcasted.

As in most cases Twilight wanted me to keep track of what was going on and making notes while she was busy examining what she had to examine. It was like that since I've became her assistant, and only a few times, when she was working with possibly volatile substances had she insisted on me not participating in her work. I didn't really mind; after all I was her number one assistant, and after a time I've kinda-sorta grew to enjoy the work, even if some things just went over my head. It didn't stop me from complaining from time to time, but I still rather liked being useful. And today seemed like I was going to be useful once more.

Along with Twilight and Trixie I approached what was going to be our workspace, a length of parchment and quill in claw hand. Mr. Gandethus looked us over and nodded his approval before he motioned for the teenager from before to come as well, the guy also having writing materials at the ready. It seems that he wasn't just a doorkeeper but served as an assistant to the older man as well, maybe even as some sort of protégé. Whichever was the case, the teen showed a complete lack of professionalism by keeping his eyes not on his parchment but on Twilight's hindquarters (does it even work like that for humanoids?).

"Alright then, let's begin." Mr. Gandethus said, pulling off the cover from one of the benches and revealing the skeleton beneath it. A whimper-like groan could be heard from the stairs, courtesy of Rainbow Dash, and my teen counterpart seemed to finally snap to attention, his eyes widening at the site of human remains. "Subject: male, 54, human, Varisian descent, identified as Father Heron Keelstrong. Year of death: 4667 AR. Raised as undead skeleton an unspecified amount of time ago. Year of destruction: 4707 AR."

Even though this wasn't Twilight speaking I reasoned she'd want a 'transcript' of this, so I started dotting down everything Mr. Gandethus said. Fortunately for me, over the years I managed to pick up shorthoof (shortclaw? shorthand?) while noting Twi's rapid fire observations, so this wasn't anything too hard to follow. My local counterpart however was visibly having difficulties keeping up with his master, which only served to stroke my ego. Who's the better assistant now, huh?

Mr. Gandethus mentioned for Twilight and Trixie to come nearer, he himself leaning over the once animated skeleton and appraising it critically. "The method with which the skeleton was ultimately laid to rest consisted of physically rendering it unable to contain its structural integrity, is that correct?" He asked.

"No, not exactly…" Twilight shook her head slowly. "For whatever reason the magic that held it together kept repairing all the damage inflicted to it."

"Curious… I take it then it required a more sophisticated method of dealing with it than bashing it's joints until it stopped moving?"

"You'd have to ask Priest Naffer for details Mr. Gandethus. It was him that ultimately laid them to rest."

"Ah, so it required the direct use of positive energy, interesting." He nodded at his aid, the youth understanding the sign and underlining something in his notes. I figured positive energy was the key factor here, so I did so as well. "I was informed that the skeletons were also magically altered in another way. Something about them emitting heat?"

"They were literally on fire." This time it was Trixie who answered, pushing back whatever animosity she felt towards the wizard and adopting a more professional mindset. It still feels weird using the words 'Trixie' and 'professional' in the same sentence. "In fact, Trixie recalls the flames adopting the role of muscle mass and sinew that formed a sort of body in which the bones were encased."

"That would certainly explain the burn marks on some of the bones." Another nod and another part highlighted. That is until Twilight shook her head.

"While they were encased in flames the bones didn't seem to suffer any adverse effects of being on fire. That would include any and all burn marks." That tidbit of information seemed to pique the wizard's interest. He looked at what I assumed was one of the scorched bones and furrowed his brows.

"I see…" He muttered, stroking his goatee. "This may require further investigation. Boy, add investigating the burn marks to the list of tests to run."

"Sure thing boss… I-I mean yes sir, Mr. Gandethus, sir!" The teen assistant lost all of his arrogance once leveled with a glare from the wizard and hurried off to add an entry to what my experienced eyes recognized as a checklist. It seems some things are universal.

In the meantime Trixie took a better look at the singed bones and frowned. Her pupil-dominated eyes traced the soot marking the skeleton as her face took on an expression of concentration, as if she tried to remember something. After a moment she glanced at me for some reason, her eyes narrowing, before she was struck with sudden realization.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie believes she knows the actual origins of some of those marks." She proclaimed, gaining the attention of both Twilight and Mr. Gandethus. I was half expecting her to smirk smugly, but no, her expression was still mostly neutral. Inclining her head in my direction, she spoke: "The concentric mark on the ribcage coincides with the point in which an offensive spell cast by… Spike, was it? In which a spell cast by him hit the skeleton." Well that's a first. Haven't heard her say my name since… Wait, I did that?

"Now that I think about it, I think I did see Spike cast something at it." Twilight confirmed, looking at me with pride, a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes. It took me a moment but I eventually realized they were right -those green, flaming bolts I threw.

"Heh, forgot for a moment I could do that." I admitted, chuckling yet still scribbling diligently on my piece of parchment. "I'm still getting used to the whole magic thing."

"Oh, so you're a fellow practitioner of the Arts?" And suddenly I was the center of attention. Mr. Gandethus was studying me with interest, his assistant was giving me a surprised and a bit frightened look (didn't help I glared at him earlier for openly ogling Twilight), and Trixie… well, she glared. Guess she's still sore that I didn't 'spill the beans' about how I came to use magic. "Pray tell, what's your area of expertise?"

"My what now?" I asked before I could bite my tongue. This was starting to look like I didn't have a clue what was going on, which truth be told I didn't.

Mr. Gandethus' eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Your area of expertise. Most wizards specialize in one of the eight general schools of magic thought, concentrating their studies on subjects such as transmutation, abjuration, or necromancy to name a few. Unless of course you're a universalist." Okay, transmutation I understand and necromancy I guess had to do with rising dead, but what were the two other? What was I supposed to say?

"I… guess I don't really have an area of expertise." I started slowly, weighing my words. I had the impression if I said something wrong this could have repercussions later on. "Magic just… comes to me, I guess. I didn't even study it that extensively, just enough to help out Twilight…"

Mr. Gandethus furrowed his brow, suddenly losing most of his interest in me. "I see. So you're commanding sorcerous powers. I should have realized…" Turning his attention completely from me and focusing on the skeleton once more I couldn't help but feel this was some sort of veiled insult on the wizard's side. The way he said 'sorcerous powers', I could feel he uttered those words with contempt, or at least in a patronizing manner. Wonder what's his problem.

I was prevented from dwelling on this problem when the wizard seemed to notice something on the human remains. "Several burn patterns on the bones seem to form a script. I can't recognize the formulae, the pattern is unique and too heavily damaged to identify. Any of you have any idea what this is?" He asked the girls.

"Yes, Trixie does." I did a double take. Was she holding up on us or something? "The patterns were previously painted onto the bones with some sort of red, fire-resistant substance. They seemed to be tied to the regenerative properties the skeletons possessed, however the exact nature of them eludes Trixie."

"I see. And the language itself?" Trixie shook her head.

"Unfortunately, the language is not something Trixie has ever seen." Oh, that explains it. For a moment there I though she somehow ended up with yet another additional language she spoke, like some of us did. That'd be weird, but not unusual all things considered.

"So the patterns were previously red and supplemented the skeletons with regenerative powers, possibly through manipulation of negative energy." Another nod and his assistant underlined negative energy. Wondering what the deal was with the whole positive-negative energy thing I too highlighted that in my notes. "The best method of making sure as to their actual function would be either recreating the pattern on a undamaged skeleton, or finding an undamaged fragment of the pattern on either of the subjects. Boy, add searching for undamaged portions of the script to the checklist, make it high priority."

"Yes sir!"

"Hey! Not to rush ya or anything but can we get a move on? This is kinda boring." I almost forgot we weren't alone down here. Turning towards the staircase I saw Rainbow looking at us with anxiety written on her face.

"She does have a point. How long do y'all reckon this'll gonna take?" Added AJ. In contrast to Dash she looked more bored than anxious and was trying to keep herself entertained by walking around the basement and examining the odds and ends kept on display like if she was in some sort of museum.

"If you're so bored then why don't you wait outside? It's not like your presence here is any help, featherbrain." Trixie sneered in Rainbow's direction, completely ignoring Applejack in favor of insulting Dash. Should've known she wouldn't be able to keep up her 'professional' facade that long.

RD was about to shoot back at Trixie, but was prevented from it by the timely intervention of guard Titus. "No can do; Belor gave us precise orders and we're not supposed to leave the vicinity of the evidence until we bring it back to the garrison. Letting the three of you wait outside was already a breach in protocol, and if Belor ever finds out we'll be in a pile of shit so deep we'll need shovels to dig ourselves out. I'm not taking any more chances with that."

While these news elicited a disappointed groan from Rainbow, it had an opposite effect on Trixie. The magician smiled nastily, a malignant glint in her eye as she figured this was grade A blackmail material right here and was determined to use it. Ignorant of her scheming, Twilight added a little bit from herself.

"I'm sorry girls, but this may take a little while. Laboratory work has to be conducted with the utmost care if we want to get conclusive results, so you'll just have to be patient."

An even louder groan came from Rainbow, but she nodded none the less. I just wonder how long it'll take for Dash to start climbing up the walls out of boredom.





Two hours twenty three minutes. That's how long it took.

I'll admit, I was genuinely impressed by Rainbow's resilience, especially in light of how mind-numbingly boring and repetitive the last hour was. Mr. Gandethus seemed to be the kind of person that was meticulous to the point of being pedantic, especially when it came to conducting research. He insisted the girls and he inspect each and every bone of the skeleton in search of any clues. And do you know precisely how many bones a human body has? Two hundred and six. So yeah, this was a tedious and time-consuming task, and the sheer number of names of bones and their features I had to dot down made me wish I was anywhere but there. Thankfully, this wasn't a complete waste of time.

First and foremost, Mr. Gandethus took some samples of the sooth covering the bones for further analysis. Scraping the residue off with a silvery dagger he kept on himself onto two Petri dishes, he put them away for the time being, deciding that the experiments could wait until we finished our examination. He also noted that 'the neurocranium is empty' while examining the skull. For a moment there I had a strong urge to say 'duh'; what, did he expect to find a brain there or something? The thing was dead for over forty years now, any nervous tissue was long gone, along with muscles, skin, and other organs. Only after seeing Trixie giving him a questioning look had he elaborated.

"The process of rising an undead, be it a zombie or skeleton, requires the use of an onyx gemstone as a material component, allowing the negative energy needed to fuel the corpse to pierce the planar barrier. Onyx, especially black onyx has a planar resonance naturally in tune with the Negative Energy Plane, and as such is the best conduit for the substance of that dimension to seep into our world. Also, the best and most secure location to place this type of energy source on a skeleton is inside the neurocranium. It is possible that the skeleton here has been raised without the use of onyx in its creation, but that would be very difficult and would suggest that whoever was behind this had more control over the arcane than most practitioners. A better possibility is that the gem just fell out of the skull while being laid to rest, or had fallen out while being transported. Probably nothing to be alarmed, but worth noting."

That did make sense I suppose, though I still didn't know what he meant by negative energy. And the bit with a Plane of Negative Energy? What's up with that? Even Twilight seemed intrigued by that tidbit, giving me a meaningful nod once that was mentioned, so I highlighted that portion as hard as I could.

"Okay, that's all we'll find out from just looking at bones." Mr. Gandethus concluded after a couple of moments, placing the cover back on the skeleton. "Before we move to our second subject let's prepare to do a couple of tests on the samples I took. Does any of you have any experience in alchemy?" He asked, turning to the two mares.

Twilight mouthed the word slowly, as if tasting it, and then frowned. Seems like she didn't like it that much. "I've conducted some research in the field of chemistry. I suppose that qualifies, right?"

"Chemistry you say? Fascinating. Not many specialize in the far more mundane art of physical science, especially those that have touched the esoteric, which is a shame, really. Not many realize how much potential that branch of science possesses." That seemed to take Twi aback. I realized quite quickly that she understood the word 'alchemy' as the ancient ancestor of modern chemistry, chasing after impossibilities and having less to do with hard facts and more with old pony tales. Mr. Gandethus' obviously positive reaction must have contradicted what she expected to hear. Before she had time to come to grips with this unexpected development however the wizard continued. "Nonetheless, you should do perfectly fine. I'll need you to prepare four doses of Heiquen's Multipurpose Philter."

"The who’s what now?" Yeah, what Twi said!

"The list of reagents is on the alchemical table, as well as instructions. The boy here was supposed to learn how to prepare the philter himself, but has proved to be knowledge-resistant." Mr. Gandethus explained calmly, shooting his protégé a quick, frustrated glare. Sighing, he turned back to Twilight. "Either way, with your experience in chemistry you should be able to follow the instructions without much difficulty."

"Alright, I'll try." Twilight nodded and approached the chemical set in the corner of the lab area. Meanwhile Mr. Gandethus uncovered the second skeleton and mentioned Trixie to join him.

"In the meantime let's start with the examination of the second one. Subject: female, 103, half-elf, Kellid descent, identified as Mother Nuriel Star Sapphire. Year of death: 4674 AR. Raised as undead skeleton an unspecified amount of time ago. Year of destruction: 4707 AR."

"So Trixie guesses she died of old age?" The magician muttered, looking over the skeleton critically.

"Hardly. Mother Star Sapphire from what I remember was old, yes, but still in great physical condition, and 103 is hardly that old for a half-elf." Mr. Gandethus revealed with a shake of his head and a faraway look in his eyes. "I remember her when I was still a young adventurer. She hardly could sit in one place; she had to walk, had to explore. She loved hiking, though that's nothing new for a Desnan priestess. Unfortunately, she died during one of her escapades, attacked by a giant spider near Egan's Wood."

"Wait, one hundred and three is not old?" Trixie asked in surprise at the revelation. I could save her the trouble and explain that this was probably because half-elves shared their longevity with full elves (at least that was my reasoning), but then again where would be the fun in doing that, right?

Mr. Gandethus gave her a funny look, as if he was expecting her to be pulling his leg, but answered nonetheless. "For a half-elf it isn't really. Half-elves tend to live over one hundred and fifty if they're careful. Still nothing as long as you can I imagine, but longer than any human."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Confusion gave place to annoyance as Trixie glared accusingly at the old wizard. "You calling Trixie old?"

"Older than I am at least." He replied simply, looking at her in confusion. This little revelation stunned the stage magician into silence, her mouth working but unable to produce even the simplest of sounds. Ignorant to her plight and completely unaware of my (and Rainbow's) growing grins the man continued. "Judging from looks alone I'd wager you're nearing what, your first century? Maybe your nineties, but that'd still be nearly twice my age."

"Pff… Bwahaha! Oh, that's just too rich!" As I mentioned before, Rainbow Dash was grinning from the moment Mr. Gandethus mentioned Trixie being older than he was, and now burst out into uproarious laughter at the expense of the magician. Ignoring the glare she was being sent and Trixie's gritting teeth Rainbow continued. "Guess we'll have to call you 'old timer' from now on, huh? You need us to make you some gruel? Or to fetch you your glasses?"

"Shut your mouth featherbrain, or I swear I'll…"

"Throw your dentures at me? Or maybe beat me up with your cane? Pff…"

"Rainbow Dash!"

"What is it Twilight?" Rainbow wiped a tear from her eye, looking at Twi with amusement. Twilight didn't say a word, only giving her friend a long, pointed look. After a minute or two, and after Twi brushed a bit of her straight hair behind her long, pointy ear the mirth from RD's eyes started to disappear, the speedster putting two and two together. "Oh… yeah, sorry 'bout that." Twilight only narrowed her eyes and turned back to her work, leaving a sheepish Rainbow Dash behind.

"I have the impression I stumbled into something I don't want to be a part of." Mr. Gandethus muttered to himself, shaking his head in exasperation. "Let's continue, alright? I'm not getting any younger here."

Not sure if intentional mischievousness or poor choice of words. Either way the look on Trixie's face was priceless.

All jokes were quickly put aside and Mr. Gandethus continued his examination of the skeleton. He had been interrupted by Twilight a couple of times, my longtime friend asking questions pertaining to her work with the philter, but aside from those distractions the work seemed to go along quite nicely. The second skeleton didn't much deviate from the first one, aside from a slightly leaner structure and obvious anatomical differences deriving from gender and species of course. The biggest find up to date was the discovery of a small piece of onyx that fell with a clatter from the skull once the wizard started to examine it in his hands. Apparently his theory that the onyx shard from the first skeleton just fell out was actually correct.

By the time something started to happen almost everyone participating in this examination, including yours truly, was bored to tears. Applejack started to chat with guard Titus some time ago on Celestia knows what, Rainbow was restlessly wandering around the basement and keeping herself as far away from the two skeletons as possible, and my teenage counterpart was slowly starting to revert to his old habit of ogling Twilight's backside, alternatively Trixie's chest. Hm… I'm starting to wonder if that part of a human body has any significance… Only Mr. Gandethus seemed to be enjoying himself, he and Twilight, and I dare say even Trixie seemed not to be bored or otherwise weary. Well, there was also Pinkie, but…

She was slowly starting to creep me out. It was absolutely unnatural for her to just stand in one place and do nothing, yet she was doing that for the better part of the last three hours. From the moment we descended the stairs to the basement Pinkie was standing near the lab section and keeping her eyes on the skellies. She did of course comment from time to time in her usual cheerful, oblivious manner, and at one point she got into a fierce discussion with Rainbow Dash over the superiority of whoopee cushions over exploding cigars (let's just say that one does not simply win a debate with Pinkie Pie), but it was still just so… so… unnatural to see her so still. Maybe she was just taking her new job like anything Pinkie: in a strongly over-exaggerated manner, but at the same time I couldn't help but feel that there was something off with her. Couldn't put a claw on it though.

"Mr. Gandethus, I think the philters are ready." declared Twilight after several minutes of work. She was beaming proudly at her accomplishment and eagerly looking for further instructions.

"Splendid. Did you split them into doses Miss Sparkle?" Now that he had a chance to see the two of them act as professional as he did the wizard warmed up to them slightly, actually referring to them by name (more or less). After getting a nod from Twilight he continued. "Take two doses and follow me please. Miss Trixie, I trust you can continue for a moment without me?"

"This is but child's play for someone of Trixie's caliber." She replied haughtily, her voice confident. Taking this as a good sign Mr. Gandethus turned to a separate table where the two samples he took earlier rested, motioning for Twilight to join him. Deciding that inspecting bones was going to be rather boring for the time being I followed as well.

"I'll need to draw some arcane diagrams before we can start. Why don't you go on ahead and pour the philter into the dishes." The wizard mentioned to the two sooth-filled Petri dishes while reaching for a piece of strange, sparkly chalk. "Just make sure you stir it enough for the entire samples to mix with the concoction. It's paramount that the entirety of the samples come into contact with Heiquen's Multipurpose Philter, otherwise what I'm about to do may yield incomplete results."

"I understand." Twilight nodded in earnest and set out to work, careful to do exactly as she was told to, smiling all the way. She seemed so happy doing this, I couldn't help but share her enthusiasm.

"Hey, Twilight." I tried to get her attention. Although begrudgingly, she tore her attention from her task and looked at my grinning face. "How's it feel being the assistant for a change?" I couldn't help but ask.

Twilight grinned at me. "You have no idea how much fun this is! I haven't had a chance to help somepony more experienced with an experiment since I graduated Princess Celestia's School. Heck, I rarely had a chance to do something like this with the princess! And don't get me started on the completely new methodology or the fact we're working to uncover the mechanics of a completely new branch of magic! Well, at least new for pony kind. This is heaven."

Looking at the excited blush on her face I had no doubt it was, at least to her.

"Alright, all set." Mr. Gandethus proclaimed after a moment, dusting his glove-covered hands from chalk particles. "Miss Sparkle, are you finished?"

"Of course." Twi nodded eagerly, bringing the two Petri dishes carefully to the older wizard. Our research partner nodded approvingly.

"Now I'll need you to carefully place the samples in the middle of the diagrams. It's important that you don't disrupt their pattern, as well as refrain from using magic to place the dishes on them. Both can interfere with the results, or possibly even cause a more… violent side effect." He warned.

Twilight didn't seem to surrender to the pressure and confidently strolled towards the working place, Petri dishes at the ready. Seizing the opportunity I took a better look at what Mr. Gandethus called 'diagrams', confused by his earlier notion of disrupting them and wanting to see for myself what was up with them.

The table was covered by four fairly large, circular symbols written with chalk. The special kind of chalk used in their creation sparkled brightly in the artificial light of the fireless torches, creating a surreal sight. The symbols were far more however than simple circles on wood. Each and every one of them was crisscrossed by several straight or curved lines, carefully written and forming star-like shapes. The outer rim of the circles also had several symbols written on them, their meaning completely alien to me yet seemingly familiar for some strange reason. All in all, those 'diagrams' looked nothing like what I imagined and at that moment were as much a mystery to me as the magics used to animate dead.

Twilight carefully placed the samples in the very middle of two of the four diagrams Mr. Gandethus had prepared, taking extra care not to disrupt their delicate composition. Backing away from table she gave a nod to the wizard, who nodded right back and reached under his lab coat for what I knew was the silver-like dagger he used before. True to my predictions, the man pulled out the short weapon, the blade shining in the dim light like a star, and he twirled it between his fingers with practiced ease. Just as I was starting to wonder if everyone around here that knew magic also knew how to do tricks with daggers, the weapon glowed radiantly and a shower of sparks erupted from its tip, as if it was a magic wand. The stream of sparks rained on the two closest, Petri dish-holding diagrams, and to my growing surprise initiated a rather sudden and unexpected reaction from the shimmering chalk.

The carefully written symbols came to life, glowing brightly in brilliant viridian sending thin beams of light straight at the ceiling. The multiple lines the diagram was composed of seemed to catch on fire of a similar color, illuminating nothing and burning nothing yet vivid as much as any other flame would be. The phantom-fire did produce a sparkly mist however, as if wisps of supernatural smoke, guided by some invisible force into creating a protective dome around each of the diagrams, its magical nature not obscuring but illuminating the test samples within.

Turning his eyes from the magic he made, Mr. Gandethus looked at the fascinated and flushed with excitement face of Twilight and flabbergasted expression of my own. His eyes, until now dark and analytic now shone with an unnatural light, matching the viridian glow of his magical creation. "It'll take me some time to analyze everything and fish out the important stuff. Why don't you get back to checking for anything unusual on the bones while I work, hm?"

Although she did it with no small amount of demurral, Twilight did as she was asked and joined up with Trixie, followed closely by my humble self. She didn't have any intention to get to work right off the bat though, her eyes still glued to the magical light show. Not that I blamed her; since we first learned that humans here could use magic it continued to surprise us with just how different it looked from the simple unicorn variety we all learned to expect. Even somepony as uninterested in magic as Rainbow Dash seemed impressed; I think I heard her say something along the lines of 'who would've thought that some lame analysis spell-thingy would look so cool'.

"I really wish I knew how to do that." Twilight commented to no pony in particular. "Think of the possibilities! Think of what information it actually provides! This alone could expedite magical research, not to mention open up new vistas for magical theory altogether!"

"Tell me about it. The sheer scope of theoretical applications a spell like that would provide could push magical knowledge forward by several decades." Hold on a second. Did Trixie just… "Not to mention it would most probably encourage several times more unicorns into further studying their magical talents. After all flashy spells sell better to the populace than subtle, unassuming ones." Yeah, that's about right. She would say something like that, wouldn't she? Still…

"Research isn't supposed to be flashy." Twilight commented.

"True, but if it was it'd prompt far more to consider a career in academic fields, and…" Trixie started, but quickly fell silent once she realized what she was doing. Up until now she was mostly looking at Mr. Gandethus' work with a hungry, jealous glint in her eyes, though she also seemed to be enjoying herself with the conversations she was in if the small tugging at her lips was any indication. The moment she realized she was talking with Twilight though she immediately scowled and turned her attention from the wizard and his work to shoot her a quick glare. "Why is Trixie even talking to you, Sparkle?"

"Huh?" Yeah, not gonna lie: Twilight kinda gets airheaded like that when she's drooling over magic. Like I said, eloquence for the win.

Trixie huffed and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Can't believe somepony the likes of you got to be Princess Celestia's student. She took pity on you or something?" Oh that smug… "Concentrate on the work, will you? Or do you want Trixie to do all the work, and get all the recognition, because she'll gladly take it." Yeah, like you didn't act the same exact way just moments ago, right?

"Oh, right, the skeleton." Well of course Twilight didn't even notice she's been insulted, why should she? It's not like she couldn't wipe that smug smirk from the magician's lips or something. Ugh… Sometimes I really wish she'd be a little more like Rainbow Dash in that department.

As frustrating and annoying as they were, Trixie's methods did work and Twilight finally managed to snap out of her stupor and concentrate. And let me tell you, once she really gotten into her work she managed to accomplish something that the others involved didn't throughout all this time.

She actually found something.

"Hey, what's this?" That simple phrase immediately caught the interest of everypony everyone present. Ignorant of the fact all eyes were on her, Twilight leaned over the skeletons left… ulna and radius I'm pretty sure the bones were called. She bent over them to take a better look, a small frown appearing on her face.

"What is it Twilight?" I asked, suddenly feeling on edge. Something wasn't right.

I didn't get an answer right away. Twilight, focused on whatever it was she was seeing was silent for a few seconds, analyzing her find and boldly poking the bones with her hoof finger. Only after she did that had she replied, though still indirectly.

"Mr. Gandethus? I have a quick question." The wizard grunted, prompting her to continue while keeping up his own work. "Had by any chance some of the bones seemed to 'stick' to one another while they were being sat down?"

"Of course not, that would imply there still is some magic supporting the remains." The wizard replied easily, after which he realized what Twilight was going at. He immediately turned to face her, a worried expression on his face. "What did you find?"

"Well…" Was all Twilight managed to fit in before all hay broke loose.

A quick, sharp, glaring flash of red light shone from the bones, blinding everypony and everyone looking at it. Before I had to close my eyes I managed to catch a glimpse of Twilight, who in desperation tried to grab the bones and detach them from the rest of the skeleton. After that there was a crash, several shouts of pain, and a slew of curses in a language I didn't know from Mr. Gandethus. By the time I could see again I realized I wouldn't be saying this whole endeavor was boring anymore.

The first thing I noticed was that most of the skeleton ended up on the floor, some of them broken, all thanks to Twilight's quick reaction. She herself, as well as Trixie and most of the others were rubbing their eyes, trying to clear their vision from the sharp glare from before. That however became unimportant once the real danger made itself known.

Trixie, who still was trying to get rid of the spots from her eyes suddenly stumbled back, letting out a surprised and pained scream, quickly turning into a choking gurgle. She flailed her arms in panic, trying desperately to grab at something around her neck, but seemed to be failing to do so. Only after she turned, her eyes wide and scared had I noticed what happened, and it sent a chill down my spine.

There, clinging to her throat like an icy vice and digging its bony claws into her flesh was the severed skeleton arm. Without a connection to the rest of its body it seemed to develop a mind of its own and act like a rabid monster straight from Tartarus. The bones of the hand itself, its sharpened phalanges easily drawing Trixie's blood were connected to the two bones of the forearm, both of them acting in a way they wouldn't be able to if they were still covered in flesh. They flailed wildly, independently from one another, and made sure to painfully slam the magician's hands away if they came too close. Most noticeably however it was covered in crimson writing, not unlike what covered it when it was still a part of the whole skeleton, only far more condensed, like if it the script was attempting to recreate itself on a far smaller surface, and the multiple small bones forming the wrist area had a strange, stylized eye inscribed on them.

By the time we realized what was going on Trixie was on the verge of losing it from fear. Her eyes, now wide as saucers weren't haughty or condescending anymore, but literally begged for help, and for good reason. The vice-like grip of the bones was both cutting deeper and deeper into her neck and as well as preventing her from taking even the smallest of breaths, literally squeezing the life out of her. She was starting to sway on her hooves feet, her flailing getting weaker by the second, but most notably her face was starting to turn pale from lack of oxygen. She had no illusions: if nopony would help her, she would die.

Just as she was starting to sway dangerously and feebly supporting herself against the table Trixie finally got some help. Twilight, who was both the closest and first to finally get a grip of herself sprang into action, letting her instincts guide her. She attempted, much like Trixie had earlier, to grab at the severed appendage and force it open. Of course, the two longer bones immediately tried to prevent her from doing that, flailing and trying to smack her with all their might. Unfortunately for them, Twi was in a far better position to deal with this. Allowing one of them to hit her at her wrist she managed to clamp her hand around the bone and held on to it. Thinking quickly, she positioned it so that she could hold it between her arm and her side, immobilizing it. The second bone of course wasn't going to allow her to keep its brethren trapped and began to persistently clobber at her, but Twilight wasn't going to let up. Using both her hands she managed to grab at the bony fingers strangling the magician and with a grunt of effort started to pull them apart.

The skeleton hand, despite being fueled by some sort of evil magic didn't have enough brute force to resist Twilight and soon enough had been pulled from Trixie's neck. The magician immediately gasped for air, gulping down mouthfuls of oxygen and panting heavily, falling to her knees in the process. She was bleeding from the points where the sharpened phalanges pierced her skin, but the wounds didn’t seem to be too deep and otherwise it didn't seem she'd need too much medical attention. Twilight however found herself in a difficult situation, holding onto a violent, disembodied skeletal hand that desperately tried to free itself from her grasp.

It didn't take long for it to find a way out.

While Twilight was trying her best to hold onto it, the hand saw (don't ask me how that's possible; I blame the painted-on eye) an opportunity to escape. With a surprising burst of speed and strength the bone fingers clamped around one of Twilight's hooves hands, trying to drive its wickedly sharp tips into her flesh. Although the protective gloves she wore took most of the damage, Twi still felt the sting of bone piercing her skin and more surprised than hurt she flung the diminutive monster on the now vacant table.

Although free, the little monster didn't have time to celebrate. By the time it freed herself from Twilight's grasp most of everyone was well aware of their surroundings, and more importantly -of the undead thing that was moments away from strangling one of us. Everypony and everyone was keeping their eyes on the small abomination, waiting for it to move even an inch and preparing to respond. There was practically only two weak links in our lines: Trixie, who was still trying to get a grip of herself, and Mr. Gandethus' assistant, who I'm quite sure let out a girly scream the moment he noticed the hand was alive. Obviously, it was him that the undead chose.

Using four of its five fingers as legs the disembodied hand charged on the table, straight at the nervous teen. Seeing this the guy panicked and shrieked at the top of his lungs, jumping away as quickly as he could. That was apparently the plan, as the skeleton fragment didn't break its stride and managed to fling itself into the air, using its two long bones to spring itself into the air. It was determined to use the self-created opening and flee, and I'd be damned if I’d allowed it to.

Having no time to prepare I did the first thing I could think of. Willing that transparent energy shield of mine into existence, I leapt where the appendage was going to land, trying to knock it off course and hopefully towards somepony that was more prepared than I. My little gambit did pay off, even if only partially; as the hand slammed into my shield spell with a dull thunk it flew through the air towards Mr. Gandethus. It didn't have the momentum to sail within his immediate reach unfortunately, and so it clattered onto the stone floor, quickly righting itself and trying to scurry away.

That's when our host showed that he wasn't just an old wizard with academic background and had earned his scars through hardships and violence, not through laboratory mishaps. Far more experienced in combat against skeletal undead than we, he knew exactly how to proceed. With a quick move of his wrist several of the weapons on display around his basement, primarily those designed to deal bludgeoning damage flew into the air and started to circle the mage. With another move, half of those implements of war flew at high speeds at the scurrying hand, impacting the floor with the clatter of wood and metal on stone. Unfortunately, holding in the air and moving all those weapons took a toll on the man's accuracy, and the quick, erratic movements the hand was capable of made hitting it extremely difficult. By the time most of the weapons already smacked the floor at least once the hand was still intact, and seeing as Gandethus gather them with his magic back for another volley it made a decision only a thing with a working brain could come up with.

It grabbed onto a heavy looking metal mace and hitched a ride towards the wizard.

By the time Mr. Gandethus noticed what was going on it was a little bit too late. The hand, clinging to the mace like if it was wielding it was already within reach of the man, and with a powerful jerk it managed to somehow break his hold on the weapon. Even more surprisingly the undead managed to orient the mace in such a way that it almost seemed it was swinging the weapon at the wizard's head. Having almost no time to react the old man summoned his silvery dagger into his hand and shouted out something I didn't understand, most probably some sort of spell.

There was a bright flash and a dull clang, but no sound of a skull being split open like a melon. Once the light dimmed it was apparent why. Mr. Gandethus, in a feat of extremely quick spellwork managed to encase himself in a transparent, skin-tight field of protective magic, saving himself from the brunt of the blow. It wasn't enough to stop it completely; the wizard had a dazed look on his face and was stumbling a bit, but otherwise was okay. Unfortunately, he lost his magic hold on the levitating weapons, which started to fall to the floor like a rain of iron and steel and proved to be an additional danger. And the hand remained unscathed.

Scurrying to its 'feet' the hand discarded the mace, making a run for it. Its intentions were clear: it wanted to escape the basement, and the only way to do so was by using the stairs. To do that however it had to somehow get past guard Titus, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. Forming a line and with weapons at the ready, the guards, both new and old, prepared to intercept the undead, even if they were ill equipped to stop a skeletal hand. The hand itself seemed to recognize them as a threat, and slowed down as it approached, stopping just outside of their reach.

Applejack was the first to act. She stepped forward with resolve, rising her sword-bearing hand for a strike, and quickly brought it down on the skeleton fragment. The undead dodged however, and launched itself onto its two long bones, using them as makeshift stilts and allowing the fingers to work without any impediments. It didn't make Applejack wait for itself long and quickly snapped into motion, the phalanges working a blur and forming anatomically impossible shapes with its fingers. A portion of the writing on the fingers glowed ominously, the same exact glow replicating itself between the fore and middle fingers, and only thanks to Rainbow's quick thinking had Applejack avoided another visit in the cathedral.

Rainbow Dash, in a stroke of clairvoyance figured out what was going to happen. With a loud "Get down!" she leapt at AJ, knocking her to the ground in the process. It was a good thing too, for in that exact moment the hand finished its spell, and a thirty hoof cone of blazing fire shot out of its skeletal palm, nearly immolating all that was in front of it. Applejack and Rainbow managed to avoid it almost completely, only the ends of their orange mantles smoking a bit, and guard Titus got out of the way safely as well. Only problem is, the stairway was open for the hand to use, and use it it did.

"Stop it! Stop it before it gets out!" Mr. Gandethus shouted, having overcome his stunned state. "If it gets out it can hurt the children!"

School, laboratory, and orphanage. This is the most idiotic arrangement I've ever heard about.

We've started to scramble towards the stairs, everypony one trying to prevent the hand from scaling the steps. Unfortunately, it was as if it heard what Mr. Gandethus said and using its ulna and radius it leaped over the two tangled mares and avoided Titus' swing, landing on the third step and hurrying up into the darkness. And just as we were starting to realize we weren't going to stop it before it was too late something completely out of left field happened.

"Wheee!" A high-pitched squeal came from the top of the stairs, followed by the sound of something (or rather somepony) tumbling down the stone steps, laughing all the way. Several seconds later Pinkie of all ponies emerged from the darkness, landing on her rump with a sizable *splat* and wiggling as if trying to make herself comfortable. In her hooves hands there were the two bones forming the hand's lower arm, held in a firm grip as they tried to get her off of the palm.

"Pinkie?" That was about as much as Dash was able to get out, finally untangling herself from AJ's limbs. The pink party pony hearing her name looked up and shot her a wide (too wide), toothy grin.

"Hiya Dashie! What's up?" Okay, either Pinkie didn't realize she single-hoofedly (handedly?) stopped a dangerous undead by sitting on it, or she just didn't care. I'm not sure which version I prefer.

"But you were… and we didn't saw… and… how?!" Yeah, not gonna lie, I'd probably be as tongue-tied as Rainbow if I were to ask her that. Fortunately, Pinkie was apt at speaking flabbergasted and answered the question without pause.

"How I did it, huh? Well that was easy peasy! When I saw Mr. Hand here was alive I figured he wanted out, so while you were busy trying to catch him I sneaked my way up the stairs and waited. It was starting to get really boring and I was thinking about breaking out my knucklebone set when there was this cool fireburst, and I realized it was time. So I waited some more, and the moment Mr. Hand showed up I grabbed him and… well, the rest you know." She smiled brightly, wiggling her rump some more.

I really don't know what was scarier: a severed skeletal hand coming to life, or Pinkie Pie making sense.

During her explanation Mr. Gandethus managed to make his way towards Pinkie, even though he walked a bit unsteadily. It seemed that he still suffered a bit from that blow to the head earlier, but he was determined not to let something like that slow him down.

"You stopped it? Good. Now hold it down." He ordered once close enough, his silvery dagger still in hand and a Petri dish in his other.

"Wait, you seriously want to take samples off of that!?" I couldn't help but ask, finding the man's priorities skewed. Mr. Gandethus in response shrugged like if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Considering the hand came to life seemingly on its own while down in my laboratory, when it shouldn't be possible for it to do such a thing in the first place: yes, I do want to take samples. There is something really sinister brewing if the dead don't stay dead, and this" here he gestured at Pinkie and the bones "may shed some light on who or what is causing this." Having made his point he turned to Pinkie, who seemed to be treating the trashing ulna and radius like a toy excavator's controls and was making funny noises. After a brief pause to take in the admittedly unusual site Mr. Gandethus continued. "Could you stop moving the subject for a moment? I need to…"

"Take some samples, I heard ya." She replied, immediately freezing. The bones still tried to snap out of her hold, but weren't making any headway. "Scrub away!"

It took a second for Mr. Gandethus to realize what she meant by that, but ultimately the wizard figured it out. Kneeling in front of Pinkie and her captive he was about to take his sample, but a surprised and quite frankly unusually sounding squeal from the mare made him pause.

Pinkie momentarily wiped her usual smile from her face, replacing it with an angry scowl. Without any warning she bounced on her rump, making sure to land extra hard, and in doing so managed to produce a satisfying crunching sound that could belong only to a multitude of phalanges being snapped at the same time.

"Hey, buster! Hands off the merchandise!" She warned the small undead, glaring at the spasming long bones. After a second though her glare lessened, she blinked a couple of times, and then smiled brightly. "Hey, that was a good one. Spike! Make sure to underline that part!" And I have no idea what she meant by… Oh, wait…

Dammit Pinkie Pie!

Having that brief episode out of the way Mr. Gandethus finally managed to get his sample, mainly some of the red scripture covering the bones. Having that accomplished he flicked his dagger once more, muttering a soft spell under his breath, and pointed the weapon's tip at the ensnared skeleton fragment. Air seemed to shimmer in a thin ray all the way from the dagger to the bones, and once it impacted the undead it ceased to move altogether. The scripture, until now radiant crimson in color started to dim, until it was barely even noticeable, and after a second or two the bones clattered to the ground, lacking the fell powers to support them.

"Bring the bones to the table and make sure to sprinkle them with holy water." The wizard ordered after he got back on his feet. "I have a flask or two somewhere in the lab. My assistant, the goddamn coward that he is, knows where it is." He added, glaring at the teenager, who was trying his best to merge with a wall.

Figuring the situation was finally under control I decided to check on Twilight. She hadn't joined Mr. Gandethus when he was securing a sample for further studies, and she wasn't present when he cast a new spell, both of which was highly unusual for her. Furthermore, I didn't see her anywhere, as if she just vanished. Starting to worry, I made my way toward the examining tables in hopes of finding her there. And find her I did, though in a situation I wasn't quite expecting.

I found Twilight kneeling on the ground, just enough to hide behind the tables, and was doing her best to calm down Trixie. The magician, even though some time had passed since she was attacked still seemed to be shell shocked, hyperventilating and staring with wide eyes into the air. At some point she must have started to shiver, the shakes rocking her body with surprising force, and she seemed completely unresponsive. That was apparent by Twilight's continuous attempts at speaking to her, or rather at her. Every attempt she made at soothing her fear fell on deaf ears, or at the very most elicited a strangled 'no' from Trixie.

I found the whole thing… weird to be honest. I mean sure, finding oneself being strangled by a disembodied hand was no laughing matter and had to leave some sort of impact, but this was well beyond the scope of a simple near-death experience. Okay, I'm no specialist when it comes to this type of things, I'm not after all a psychiatrist nor do I have much in regards of experiencing such traumatizing events, but this still felt odd. It was almost like that one time Twilight lost her way in Canterlot Zoo and ended up spending an hour paralyzed with fear in the middle of the reptile house. Her ophidiophobia (you try growing up with a total brainiac mortally afraid of snakes and not pick up the name of the phobia) had her acting in the same exact way for hours after her parents took her from there. Was the same true for Trixie, just relating to the act of being strangled?

"Spike?" I was brought out of my ponderings by Twilight. At some point she noticed I was there and decided to make use of me. "Spike, I want you to do something for me."

"What is it Twi?" I asked, though at some level I suspected I knew what she was going to ask of me.

Twilight looked at Trixie for a moment, the magician letting out another choked out 'no' before she answered. "I want you to take Trixie away from here and take her to the cathedral. Find Father Zantus and ask him for help. Hopefully he'll know what to do."

I nodded, figuring this was no time to hold petty grudges, though I quickly noticed a flaw in Twilight's plan. "How am I to do that? I'm not exactly your size, and she doesn't exactly look like she's capable of walking on her own."

"Right." Seems like she only just realized that. taking a quick look around she stopped at Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "Applejack? Could you help Spike with something?"

I've immediately felt like a weight was lifted from my chest. Out of the two, Applejack was more likely to go through with this without making a hissy fit about having to help Trixie. As loyal as Dash was, she'd undoubtedly make a scene if we were to ask her that.

Twilight didn't lose any time and quickly told AJ what she needed her to do. As expected, Applejack didn't seem to really mind, or be better at hiding her dislike towards the magician then I gave her credit for. She did however seem a tad bit reluctant to leave Twilight, especially in lieu of what happened not five minutes ago.

"Ya sure ya'll be alright Sugarcube?" She asked even as she wrapped her arm around Trixie and hoisted her up to her feet.

Twilight smiled at her reassuringly. "I'll be fine, don't worry. I don't really think anything else is going to happen after this whole mess." AJ seemed unconvinced, but decided against pressing the matter. Nodding, she turn her attention to the unresponsive magician.

"Alright missy, let's get goin'. Spike, get the door." I didn't have to be told twice and bound up the stairs, opening the door to the ground level and waiting for the two mares. I just hoped everything really was going to be fine, for the sake of us all.