//------------------------------// // Stare Down // Story: M.A.G.I.C. Tournament // by RarityEQM //------------------------------// "See without seeing and it may save your very being," Zecora explained as the two of them sat silently in the clearing. Staring at a tree. Like they'd been doing for the last hour. Trixie, who had first been impressed with Zecora unconventional mystical abilities, was seriously beginning to question if the zebra was a few stripes short of a zebra. Wait...no, that didn't make any sense. Ugh. Her mind did strange things when she was bored. With a gravely annoyed sigh, Trixie shrugged her shoulders. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is bored! It is a dumb tree! Trixie does not see anything!" Trixie huffed, turning to look at the Zebra with an angry snort. Zecora said nothing, simply lifted a hoof to re-orient Trixie's gaze towards the tree. Trixie gave a groan. There was a tree in front of her. She didn't even know what she was supposed to be learning from this, but she knew if she didn't play Zecora's little game, she'd never end up going home. "Trixie sees a tree. Its probably got a bird in it or something. This is BORING!!" Trixie intoned once again. Zecora did not seem to care in the slightest. She just sat there, quietly in her little meditative pose, peering straight ahead. "The history of this tree, what can you tell me?" The Zebra cooed softly. Trixie gave a louder groan. This was getting on her nerves. "Ugh. Enough with the riddles!! Trixie does not know! How is Trixie supposed to know?!! Just tell me what we're looking for! Just TELL me! Trixie came here to learn powerful magic, not waste her time with stupid tree-specific puzzles" Trixie growled. Zecora gave a quiet sigh and drew in a quiet breath. In and out. Calm...caaaaalm... "Listen to me. Look at the tree. Tell me what you think you see," Zecora whispered quietly, standing up and walking towards the tree in question. She pointed towards it's base, directing Trixie's gaze. There was a slight discoloring near the bottom along the trunk, darker than normal. Trixie squinted her eyes thoughtfully. "...The...tree has markings on it...Clearly it was in a fire," Trixie snorted. Slowly Zecora nodded her head and Trixie paused as the wheels began to turn. "Trixie...cannot recall any fires in the Everfree Forest. She would remember reading about it. Big fires always have big stories.... How old is this tree?" Trixie pondered momentarily. Zecora was nodding her head still, as if imploring her to go on. Quietly, Trixie bit her lower lip. "It must be very old. There's a strange sort of charring towards the top. Trixie shall guess it must have been struck by lightning at some point. But there aren't any more burnt markings along the tree itself, so that isn't what caused the fire...There's a huge broken branch...it must have fallen during a storm, but the tree itself is still standing. It is very resistant. If Trixie needed to knock it over, Trixie would need a very strong spell. " Trixie mused quietly. Zecora smiled and dipped her head. "Indeed you see, much of the tree, but still far from impressing me." Zecora said quietly, and Trixie gave a sharp snort. What else was she supposed to say? What else was she looking for? She glared at it and let her eyes scan through the branches. It was a boring old tree. Nothing important, nothing usual about it. What was she looking for? Why couldn't Zecora just tell her what she was supposed to see so they could get on with this pointless training? She sighed and stared at the limbs again, trying to look like she were concentrating, and not falling asleep. Branches. Limbs. Branches. Limbs. Branches. There was a flash of red. For just an instant, but it was there. Something under the leaves and twigs. A cardinal. Cute. Pointless, but cute. But better that staring at nothing. The bird didn't fly away, simply darted a bit left and right along the branches. It seemed particularity occupied with a small knot hole in the side of the tree. From Trixie's vantage, she could guess it had a nest there. Ok. So what? A nest. Eggs perhaps? Eggs...mmm...she'd not eaten since breakfast. Some weird brownish sludge Zecora fed her. Ick. She sighed, noticing a small piece of bark that seemed to peel away from the side of the tree. It looked almost like someone had been scratching at it. Something, at least. Presumably Timber wolves, but Trixie didn't know for sure. The bird shifted. Trixie had been staring at the tree for so long, she caught the tiny flash of movement instantly. When you're bored out of your skull, any movement seemed like a better alternative that staring into space. It had simply hopped to another branch, but to Trixie, it'd been the most exciting part of the afternoon. What was she supposed to be learning from all of this?! And she couldn't just up and call it quits- this crazy Zebra was the only one who knew the way out of the forest. Trixie gave another irritated sigh and squeezed her eyes closed. Ugh. She could still see that stupid tree in her mind. Every inch of it. "You must see everything, if you're to win, anything." Zecora's voice interrupted her thoughts, babbling about strategy or something. Trixie gave another aggravated sigh. Again with the riddles. She groaned and shook her head. She wasn't learning anything. That was it, she was finished. The pony stood up slowly, paused, and than sat back down. No. She couldn't leave. Not yet. Whatever it was that Zecora had done to Trixie at their first meeting haunted her dreams. 'Hypnosis' . Earth pony magic. It was a very curious magic, and one Trixie couldn't seem to duplicate no matter how hard she tried. Which, in and of its own right, was fairly disconcerting. Just finding out that Earth Pony 'magic' wasn't all myths and make-believe had her fixated on studying Zecora, and yet, after all the 'training' they'd been doing, Trixie wasn't any closer to learning that power. A power that would surely lead her to a victory in the M.A.G.I.C. Tourney. She HAD to have the secret! And if that meant sitting here, being bored while the Zebra babbled endlessly about things that rhymed, then Trixie could put up with it. She wouldn't quit! She wouldn't go home!" "Tomorrow meet, one final time, For you I have one last rhyme." Zecora grinned. Trixie blinked and perked her ears, glancing at Zecora in confusion. "Huh? Did you say something? Trixie was thinking about magic." Trixie explained. Zecora gave a groan and let her shoulders drop. Kids. "I said it's time for you to go, if you'd been listening, you would know. Just meet me here, tomorrow noon, this tournament comes far too soon." Zecora groaned. She gestured to Trixie, standing up and heading to the edge of the clearing as she slowly lead Trixie out of the forest. She was mildly tempted to offer Trixie a Poison Joak flower, just as a 'going away present' but thought better of it. "I think in time, you will see, what you've come to learn from me." Zecora grinned quietly. Trixie rolled her eyes. Yeah. Sure. How to be bored out of your mind and get hit in the face with beanbags. "Uh...well, uh...thaaaaanks." Trixie groaned awkwardly and forced a disappointed smile. She didn't learn one scrap of magic while she was here. ugh. "Trixie supposes she should formally invite you to witness her greatness in the M.A.G.I.C Duel, " Trixie chuckled meekly. The zebra raised an eyebrow, and slowly her lips twisted into a warm grin. "Honored I think I'll be, thank you for inviting me." Zecora smiled warmly. Trixie couldn't help but to think the zebra shaman was laughing at her. Train her wrong as a joke just to watch the unicorn fail. Ugh. No. Trixie shook the thoughts free of her head. She had to trust in Twilight, and Twilight's friends. ...Who were also...Her friends? Rarity said this Zebra helped Twilight when it came to magic problems, and Trixie had to trust she wouldn't lead her astray. That's how friendship worked right? Trust? That was one of the elements, wasn't it? No, wait, that's honesty, Those are two different things, sort of. She'd have to ask Applejack. * * * * * Lost in her own thoughts, on her way through town, Trixie nearly slammed into a blue blur that shot by her in a flash. Ugh. She knew that pony. One of Twilight's friends. And her by association. In theory. Sort of. Kind of... "HEY! There you are! We've been lookin' every where for you, Trixie!" came the spirited voice of Rainbow Dash, who slowly lowered down and hovered in front of Trixie. Trixie raised an eyebrow. We? ...Oh. From around the corner bounced Pinkie Pie, who had a large silver chalice bouncing about in the curly pink loops of her mane. Somehow, she managed to do this without spilling a single drop of whatever mysterious substance she was transporting. More weird earth pony magic. That creepy unnatural sense of balance they had... "Well, you've found Trixie. Congratulations. What do you want?" Trixie sighed quietly. She'd just spent the last two days wasting time with a Zebra who was supposed to be teaching her new and impressive magic. Now she only had a day to get to Canterlot, register for the tournament, and figure out exactly how she was going to win. She was not in the greatest of moods. Regardless of her verbal snap, Rainbow Dash was grinning her head off, as if she were extremely proud of herself which, Trixie could guess, wasn't all that far from the truth. "Soooooo we heard you were going to a dueling tournament! First of all, don't you ever sneak off to one of those without letting me know!" Rainbow snapped to Trixie's surprise. The other blue pony leaned in and wrapped an arm around Trixie's shoulder with a sly grin. "Don't let the wing's fool ya, magic duels are freakin' awesome! When I was in Flight School, we used to watch the unicorn teams practice from Cloudsdale after class! I totally got hooked! I'm a huge fan of Silverswirl, but I totally think Razzle Dazzle is takin' the Master's Wand this year." She squawked, much to Trixie's ultimate surprise. So much surprise, in fact, that it spilled over into glittery smile. "You...like dueling? Ha! HAHAHA! Unexpected! The Great and Powerful Trixie believes both of them to be powerless foals in comparison! SilverSwirl is too reliant on her reputation, and Razzle Dazzle is strong, but she's far to careless! And for YOUR information, Dashie, Trixie is to win the Master's Wand this year." She snorted. Rainbow Dash offered her a friendly grin and gestured to Pinkie, who tilted her head, and toppled the glass from her head and directly in front of Trixie's hooves. "I'll believe it when I see it- which is why me and Pinkie whipped up an energy shake for you! Fitness and training are second nature to Pegasai, so I'm sharin' my super secret energy recipe with you. I added some mint leaves and spring tea, cause I hear that helps restore your your concentration pool? Focus Pool? Whatever, when I added that stuff it tasted horrible. So I asked Pinkie to help add some 'not-suck'. now it tastes like a chocolate shake!" Rainbow beamed brightly. Slowly, Trixie raised an eyebrow, peering at the two of them warily. "Why...Why would you go to the trouble of doing this for...T-Trixie is...confused." Trixie stammered, taking a step back. This was weird. Really weird. Rainbow and Pinkie were smiling at her. "Cause you're Twilight's buddy. 'Special buddy'. And Rarity said if Twilight can see the light, and we can't, it just means we need to try harder. I mean, I guess if Egghead likes you, ya can't be all bad. And, we totally have somethin' in common!" Rainbow exclaimed. Trixie couldn't help herself and pulled Rainbow Dash into a gentle hug. Pinkie beamed quietly, watching Trixie and Rainbow. In some alternate dimension somewhere, the two might be sisters. From the hug, she could observe they had the same body structure and shape, not to mention the fierce love of competition. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Trixie twirled around and struck a well practiced pose. If this was what friendship was like, Trixie could get used to this! "Well, Rarity is right! The Great and Powerful Trixie has reformed, and...um...really...appreciates this." She stammered, quietly lifting the glass to her lips, and swallowing the chilled concoction of Rainbow's secret recipe. Ugh. Oh, there was the faint taste of chocolate, but it was over powered by a far worse taste that now swirled around her mouth. She coughed, and choked it down. She had experimented with potion crafting in her early teens, but never got to far with it. Still, all the magazines claimed that energy shakes were the way to go when it came to training, and if it tasted THIS bad, it must have been healthy for her! She forced a shakey grin, and dipped her head towards Rainbow Dash and Pinkie. "Trixie must prepare for tomorrow, ...Thank you very much." Trixie stammered sheepishly. For a flimsy second, she was scared they might not accept her gratitude. That the two of them might mistake it for snark, but they grinned back, and meandered off, leaving Trixie standing there with the shake. And smiling.