//------------------------------//
// A Great And Powerful Disciple! 
// Story: sPxHoLEic ~ A Great And Powerful Friendship ~ 
// by MythrilMoth 
//------------------------------//

Trixie hummed lightly to herself as she stepped off the train. She took several steps onto the bustling platform, looked around at the milling crowd, drew herself up, and proclaimed:

"FINALLY! THE GRRRREAT! AND POWERFUL! TRRRRRRRRIXIE! HAS RETURNED TO PONYVILLE!!"

A group of teenage mares burst into snickers.

A foal tugged at his mother's tail and pointed at her.

An old donkey stared at her, rolled his eyes, and shook his head.

The conductor coughed. "Move along, miss," he said gruffly.

Trixie sniffed daintily. "Trixie will move when Trixie is good and ready to move! Trixie will have you know she has important business with Twilight Sparkle!"

"Uh-huh."

Trixie tossed her mane disdainfully and trotted off the platform. "Just you wait, Princess Twilight Sparkle," she said. "Trixie will have the secrets of becoming an alicorn, or Trixie will die trying!" Several steps later, she paused. "Trixie wonders if Twilight Sparkle's caustic pet dragon is still upset about that whole shrinking spell business..."

Four months ago, Trixie had moved into the Golden Oak Library with Princess Twilight Sparkle and her dragon assistant, Spike. During that brief stay at the library, Trixie had realized just how much she still had to learn about magic. The fact that Twilight Sparkle was now an alicorn had been jarring enough, but witnessing, on an hourly basis, the sheer power of Twilight's magic had been a wake-up call for Trixie.

It wasn't the first time Twilight's power had shaken Trixie to her core, of course. Still, Trixie believed herself capable of anything Twilight Sparkle could do. After all, she wanted it with every fiber of her being. She wanted the power, the praise, the glory...

The friends...

Trixie shook herself and ambled up the road. It would be nice, she mused, to see the old library tree again. After an unfortunate mishap with an unintentional shrinking spell and a sequence of humiliating events which culminated in Trixie spending half an afternoon with a shrunken baby dragon stuffed up her foal hole, Trixie had decided to take a break from her studies and go back on the road. She'd been performing her old routine, minus the old boasting, for packed crowds in Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Hoofston, Las Pegasus, and even Unicornassus, but the thought of returning to Ponyville to study under Twilight Sparkle was never far from her mind.

As humiliating as it was to think of herself as a student to that prissy purple upstart, Trixie couldn't deny that she'd need Twilight's help if she were ever going to have all the power and glory she desired.

Besides, the Golden Oak Library was the closest thing Trixie had had to a home since she was a filly...

She came to an abrupt stop when she realized that she was standing in front of the Golden Oak Library...and yet there was no Golden Oak Library. Just a charred, broken, burned-out stump of a hollow tree sticking up out of the ground, roped off, with 'KEEP OUT' signs posted around it. "What...?" Trixie reached out with her magic and grabbed the nearest passing pony. "What happened to Twilight Sparkle's library?"

The pony, a mint green unicorn, glared at her; her own horn lit up, and she broke free of Trixie's magic. "You're that nutcase that enslaved Ponyville that one time," she said.

"Yes, Trixie enslaved Ponyville, Trixie is very sorry about that, but more importantly, what happened to the library?! Where is Twilight Sparkle?!"

The mint green unicorn frowned and pointed behind her. "The library burned down weeks ago. Princess Twilight lives over there now."

Trixie's eyes followed the mint green hoof...and widened in surprise, even as her jaw scraped the ground. "Where did THAT come from?"

"Yeah...it kinda just showed up one day," the other unicorn said with a shrug. "You get used to it." She headed off down the road, leaving Trixie to gape at the enormous crystal castle which sparkled in the sun.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Trixie cantered up the long, dusty road to the edge of town, her eyes never leaving the sparkling spires of Twilight Sparkle's castle.


* * * * *


"Aaaand let's put the updated enchanted globe of the Moon over...there," Twilight said.

Spike groaned and picked up the heavy globe, which had a solid brass stand and was made of an actual piece of the Moon, and carried it from the corner of the new library where it had been stashed away, clear to the other side of the cavernous crystal room. "You know, Twilight," he grunted, "this kind of thing...you should really be using...your magic for..." He set the globe down with a loud THUNK and plopped down, panting.

"But I'm busy!" Twilight protested.

Spike looked over to see Twilight with her face buried in a copy of the Ponyville Gazette. He arched an eyebrow. "Twilight...you're doing the crossword puzzle."

Twilight looked up. "Well...it's...!" She cast about for a good excuse, then let out a frustrated groan. "Fine! I'll move the next stupidly heavy thing Celestia sends us from Canterlot, okay?"

"But...that was the last stupidly heavy thing," Spike said.

The castle reverberated with the sound of the magical crystal gong which rang out every time somepony approached the front gates. "Maybe that's some more stupidly heavy things now!" Twilight said cheerfully. "Why don't you go see who that is?"

Spike glared at her. "Seriously?"

"Spiiiiike," Twilight said.

Spike sighed. "Fine." He got up and toddled off in the direction of the front gates, thankful that the library was on one of the lower levels of the castle.

Seven minutes later, an exhausted Spike stood before the great crystal doors. With effort, he opened them. As soon as he saw who was on the other side, he slammed them shut again.

The doors glowed and opened. "How DARE you keep a mare waiting?" Trixie snapped, sweeping her cape around her with a flourish as she pushed past Spike and into the foyer. She looked around, critically examining the lower tier of the crystal tree castle. "Twilight Sparkle's obsession with trees continues to confound Trixie," she said. "The library was quaint, even comfortable...Trixie rather liked it. Why has Twilight Sparkle abandoned it in favor of this...this..." She trailed off. "This is strange even by Ponyville's standards."

"If you don't like it, feel free to leave," Spike said, crossing his arms.

"And hello to you too, Spork," Trixie said.

"Spike. It's Spike."

"Yes, of course it is." She turned to face him. "Well? Where IS Her Royal Highness?"

"Upstairs in the library," Spike said. He walked off toward the great spiral stairs; Trixie followed him.

"Trixie has only been away for a few months," Trixie said. "How is it possible for such a massive, strange castle to have been constructed in such a short time?"

"It wasn't built so much as grown out of the ground," Spike said. "It's a long story."

"And what happened to the old library?" Trixie asked.

Spike paused on the stairs. "It...it got blown up," he said quietly. "Tirek blew it up."

"Tirek?" Trixie tilted her head. "That horrid centaur that went all over Equestria stealing magic?"

"Yeah."

Trixie's brow furrowed. "Did...did Twilight Sparkle vanquish that evil beast?"

"Not by herself," Spike said. "Her friends helped. And then they got this castle." He turned to face Trixie. "Listen...don't ask Twilight about Tirek or the library, okay? It's...it's kind of a sensitive subject. We...lost everything we owned when the library blew up."

Trixie's ears wilted. "I...I believe I know how that feels," she said quietly. "I've...I've had everything I owned destroyed...more than once." She swallowed. "Very well. I won't ask about the library." She frowned, looking around. "Still...it does rather seem to Trixie as though Twilight Sparkle came out ahead. As usual."

"What are you even doing back here?" Spike wondered as he started up the steps again. "After that whole...thing that happened last time," he said with a shudder, "we just assumed you were gone for good."

"Trixie did say she would be returning after a brief tour of Equestria!" Trixie said. "Trixie left a note and everything!"

"Huh. Never saw it." Spike shrugged.

"In any event, Trixie has returned to resume her studies with Twilight Sparkle," Trixie said. "It is still Trixie's intention to learn the secrets of Twilight Sparkle's power and surpass her."

Spike snorted. "Yeah. You do that."

"I see you have not lost that sharp tongue in Trixie's absence."

Spike rolled his eyes, turned left at the next landing, and walked through an open door. "Hey Twilight, look who's back. It's the Great and Pitiful Dripsie."

Twilight looked up from her crossword. "Oh, hey Trixie. Welcome back. Like the new castle?"

"It is...very large and very...crystally." Trixie looked around. "It does not suit you, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight sighed. "Yeah...I've been thinking the same thing. I miss my library..." She shook her head. "Anyway...I take it you're back to study magic with me again?"

"Trixie has returned to further research the secrets of your power, that she may surpass you," Trixie said, tilting her nose up.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just...try not to shove Spike up your filly flute this time, okay?"

Trixie's cheeks turned red. "Trixie has no intention of allowing that scaly scalawag anywhere NEAR her...intimate areas!"

"Thank Celestia for that," Spike muttered. "Twilight? Can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

"Sure, Spike." Twilight floated a book seemingly at random off a shelf and offered it to Trixie. "Here, settle in and read while we talk." With that, Twilight teleported herself and Spike to her own bedroom.

"SHE CAN'T STAY!" Spike shouted as soon as they were alone. "She's completely loco in the coco! Four fruit bats shy of a rainbow! Her brains are as scrambled as the eggs we had for breakfast!"

Twilight laughed softly and paced back and forth. "Look, Spike...I know Trixie is...eccentric..."

"Pinkie Pie is eccentric. Trixie is screwed up."

"Spike," Twilight said, "she's really not that bad. I mean, she's changed a lot since the first time she was in Ponyville. And the second."

"She hasn't changed that much," Spike muttered.

Twilight sat down. "You're just mad because the last two times Trixie's been in Ponyville, she's caused trouble for you."

Spike snorted. "Gee, you think?"

"Well get over it, because I'm making Trixie my new project!" Twilight declared. "AND yours."

"How's that now?"

Twilight stood up and began pacing again. "I'm a Princess now, Spike. I'm still learning what that means, but...Celestia took me in as her student. Maybe...maybe if I take Trixie on as my student, I'll learn more about my own role in Equestria as the Princess of Friendship, and Trixie will learn things she didn't expect to learn." Twilight smiled. "Trixie can be my first official student of the magic of friendship!"

Spike snorted. "Good luck with that."

"And you," Twilight said, "are going to help me." She smirked. "After all, what's a friendship student without a friend?"

Spike spluttered. "Friend?! Are you wacked?! I can barely stand to be in the same room with that nut!"

Twilight arched an eyebrow. "Then you need a friendship lesson too."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Like I haven't learned every friendship lesson you've learned," he muttered. "Including that some ponies just can't be friends."

Twilight sighed. "Doesn't Trixie deserve a chance? Besides, she's harmless. She's just...goofy." She shook her head. "And she really does have potential. I was impressed by some of her spells...I think with a little practice and a lot of tutoring, she could be a great unicorn."

"I wouldn't hold my breath."

Twilight sat down. "There's...another reason I'd like to teach Trixie," she said quietly.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Spike asked.

Twilight looked troubled. "Starlight Glimmer is still out there. She's still dangerous. It'd be good to have another versatile, talented unicorn I can depend on. I don't think Celestia's Royal Guard are enough to handle her, but maybe with a few unicorns who are her equal, she can be brought down."

Spike frowned. "Yeah, I still can't believe she just got away from you girls."

"She caught us all by surprise," Twilight admitted. "And...honestly? She's sick. It's like she's a walking embodiment of...of anti-friendship." She sighed. "So...do me this favor? Help me out with Trixie?"

Spike sighed. "Yeah, alright." He gave Twilight an aside glance. "But you know, this whole Starlight Glimmer problem would be a lot easier to solve if you just brought Sunset Shimmer back to Equestria. The two of you? You'd have her in the dungeons in Canterlot in a day."

"The thought had crossed my mind," Twilight said. "And I'm not ruling out the possibility of asking for her help. But let's give Trixie a chance first. What's the worst that could happen?"

And with that, they teleported back to the library...

...and found themselves face to face with a rampaging book golem.