//------------------------------// // Chapter One Hundred and Three: King of the Woods // Story: Trixie and Maud: Heart of Stone // by TheCrimsonDM //------------------------------// HEART OF STONE Chapter One Hundred and Three: King of the Woods Written by TheCrimsonDM The day flew by. Maud took Valiant Heart on a play date, as Trixie made her way about town. friendly smiles, and joyful greetings all went to make this day even better. The dark days of her past seemed far behind her now. That was until a familiar yellow unicorn with her long red mane walked up to Trixie. “Trixie, I’d like your help with something.” “What is it, Red?” Trixie asked wearily. It felt like nothing that Red was involved in ended up being a good thing. Red Velvet was quiet for a moment as she studied Trixie. Finally she smiled. “I like what you’ve done with your mane. It really suites you.” Trixie brushed her braided ponytail with a hoof. “Well uh… yeah it is nice isn’t it?” “Yes it is. I fear that I must ask for your help again though. There is a task with which I could use some assistance. A small cottage out in the Everfree stands alone and long abandoned. If you join me, whatever you wish to keep from it you may… except for a certain group of scrolls,” Red Velvet said. “Why is this place so important?” Trixie asked. “Up until a few years ago it belonged Starswirl the Bearded,” Red Velvet said. Trixie did a double take. “What? But… what?” “He was the one who rescued me from the Tartarus prison. He also set Tirek free to mask our escape. Until then he had been living in the Everfree, but that changed after my release. I fear that I might have helped him relocate after his insistent badgering for my aid,” Red Velvet said. “How ignorant I was. He just wanted the alicorns to be set free, and I had refused to trust him. For all I know he has died.” “How was he alive all this time? Is he an alicorn as well?” Trixie asked. Red Velvet actually gave a short laugh. “No, he is simply one of the ponies who has found their way to immortality. There are others like him, Sombra, Hope, Ink Pots, and even a renowned scientist have all discovered their ways to immortality.” “Wow, and here I thought that only alicorns could be immortal…” Trixie said more to herself than to Red Velvet. “So you just want me to follow you? Why would you need me to do that?” “The place is guarded by wards keeping out all but alicorns. After that there are guardians, and I need back up to take care of them. I trust that your magic has continued to increase after your transformation?” Red Velvet said. “Well, yeah it has… but that’s not the point. I’m just a pseudo alicorn, don’t you think the wards will keep me out too?” Trixie asked. “Did I say that?” Red Velvet asked. “I remember telling you that you were a dark alicorn, but after thinking more about it, I’ve realized that just because it was dark magic which made you ascend doesn’t mean that you are not a true alicorn. Twilight was changed by her friends vaporizing her with the elements of harmony, Celestia and Luna as far as I can tell were truly born as alicorns. Cadence… did some love thing… I think. That one wasn’t not clear after I looked into it. “All alicorns share a simple trait. They must die in order to ascend. You did die for a few seconds while I was turning you. So as far as I think any wards are concerned you are the real deal,” Red Velvet said. Trixie quickly looked around. Nopony was in hearing distance, so she hoped that she hadn’t just spoiled her alicorn secret with this far too open discussion. When she felt safe that nopony was indeed listening she gave a sigh and whispered, “But my wings don’t even work.” “Have you tried to use them?” Red Velvet asked. “No.” Red Velvet gave Trixie a tired smile. “Then you may want to try. But for now can I count on your assistance? I promise all but the scrolls to you.” Thoughts of Twilight and how badly hurt her fellow alicorn had been in the rescue of Valiant Heart. If there was one thing that Twilight loved in this world more than friendship, that would have to have been anything relating to Starswirl the Bearded. Besides, that old unicorn had to have something interesting or useful. Trixie could afford to go on a little adventure with Red, so long as Maud knew about it first. “Yes, I’ll go. I need to let Maud know that I’ll be gone but I’ll help you,” Trixie said. “Please do hurry. I fear that time may not be on my side here,” Red Velvet said. Trixie trotted away. “Oh you’ve waited this long, you can wait a few more minutes. Meet me at the forest entrance.” Red Velvet nodded, and light shimmered around her. The tall pony vanished from sight, leaving Trixie standing in the cold snow all alone. For a moment she stood there, paralyzed by the sudden disappearance, but as snow began to fall all around her she snapped out of it. Trixie turned on her fetlocks and left. After all, she had things to do today. After splitting up with Red Velvet, Trixie quickly made her way over to Rarity’s. If she was fast enough, she could meet up with Maud and Valiant before they left. It took a few minutes but soon enough Trixie arrived at her destination and barged in through the front doors. Inside, she saw Maud and Rarity enjoying glasses of red wine while giving worried expressions to Trixie. Trixie walked in, sat down by Maud and gave a kind smile to Rarity. “Hi, Rarity. So… you having fun?” “Oh, um, yes. We were just talking about dra- um romance, nothing to personal,” Rarity said, her cheeks going a little pink. “That’s nice. I’m guessing everypony’s favorite dragon was a part of this conversation as well?” Trixie asked with a raise of her eyebrow. Rarity’s face went a little more flush, and she said nothing. Maud looked around carefully, eyed up the stairs, and then returned to focusing on the group. “We were talking about dragons as compared to stallions. Specifically, their penises,” Maud said flatly. Rarity’s face went cherry red, and Trixie buried her face into her hooves trying to hide from everypony. Trixie’s cheeks could probably make toast out of bread with how hot they were. After a momentary silence Trixie peeked up at Maud, only to see a sly smile on her face. That’s when Trixie saw two little round heads poking in from the top of the stairs. Sweetie had her mouth covered and her face was even redder than her sister’s. Valiant just stared blankly. “D-darling, you don’t have to be so direct about it,” Rarity said. “I don’t want to lie to Lulu,” Maud said. Trixie looked away and instead tried to focus on why she had come here in the first place. With Maud’s blunt explanation of the previous conversation, it was hard for her to remember what it was about. “Ahem, anyway. Trixie, did you hear that Twilight finally woke up?” Rarity asked. “What? Really?” “Yes, and the first thing she asked about was whether you and the filly were alright. She looked so relieved to know that everything was okay. Sadly, she confirmed the fact that your school reunion was being canceled before she went back to sleep. The doctor says that she’ll be in the hospital until she’s a little better,” Rarity explained. Hearing that Twilight took a great weight off of Trixie’s shoulders. She leaned back and let out a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad that she’s doing okay.” She made a mental note to get something really cool from Starswirl’s house for Twilight. Oh yeah… that’s why I’m here. Trixie stood up. “Honey, I’m about to go and help a friend do something. I’ll be gone for awhile. Do you have everything under control?” “Valiant’s playing with Sweetie Belle up stairs. Sweetie Belle has a lot of dolls,” Maud replied. Trixie turned to leave, but Maud caught her off guard by asking, “Will it be dangerous?” That weight returned to Trixie’s shoulders as she looked back at Maud. Her first instinct was to lie, and tell Maud that everything would be okay, that she would be safe and no harm would come to her. The idea of lying to Maud, breaking her promise again, was somehow worse than the idea of arguing with Maud about putting herself in danger. “It could be,” Trixie said. “My friend and me are really strong with magic, but that doesn’t mean it will be one hundred percent safe.” Maud gave her a stern look. “We have a filly to think of now.” “I’m doing this to help Twilight. I’ll come home in one piece,” Trixie promised. Maud looked away, and took a drink of her wine. “You better.” *** Just as Trixie had been promised, Red Velvet stood at the edge of the forest with a hood drawn over her face. Trixie looked down at her side, the cloak she was wearing perfectly hid her father’s blade beneath it. Upon Trixie’s approach, Red Velvet turned and began walking into the forest, her only words being, “Let’s go.” For a long while they walked together in silence. walking beside the tall alicorn, who was barely masquerading as a unicorn, along with the nearly complete silence was all too familiar to her. Vague and blurred memories of walking through towns, and through the frozen snow appeared briefly in her mind, but every time Trixie tried to focus on any one of them her mind would go blank. This left her with a lot of questions, but no answers. “What exactly did we do after my transformation?” Trixie asked. “We completed a few tasks, met with several ponies and stopped a great evil. I’m not sure whether I should be worried or happy about you not remembering most of it,” Red Velvet explained. “How come I don’t remember?” Trixie asked. “You did not want to,” Red Velvet said. She paused long enough to climb over a fallen tree, after which she aided Trixie over it with her hooves. “The transformation changed you, and for awhile there I was afraid that you were not even the same pony. After everything was said and done, you asked us to bury those memories.” “Us?” Trixie asked. Red Velvet didn’t look back at Trixie as she took the lead again, but Trixie saw the frown she was wearing. “Did I say that?” “Yes you did,” Trixie stated. “Who else was there?” “A friend,” Red Velvet said flatly. “That’s all you can be allowed to know right now. If you do remember who it was, please do yourself a favor and forget it.” Silence reigned supreme again for awhile. Finally the two reached a large glade. Soft snow lightly covered the area, and a cottage rested in the middle. Several mounds of snow littered the area, there were too many to easily count from her position. Red Velvet regarded the mounds carefully. “We don’t know what exactly is waiting for us, it could be any number of Starswirl’s guardians. Remember, Trixie; be careful,” Red Velvet said as she walked ahead. The air shimmered around Red Velvet for a moment and a dark gray ripple was sent out like a wave. The ripple of energy went all around the clearing, and up to a domed top. It was almost like seeing a giant bubble resting upon the earth. The ripple and the shimmering effect disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Trixie realized that this must be the ward keeping out all but alicorns. Red Velvet stopped and looked back at Trixie. “Your turn.” Trixie gulped, and carefully walked forward. With each step she grew increasingly worried. A strange warmth passed through her as she took her place next to Red Velvet. The rippling effect once again revealed the magic bubble to her eyes. “Looks like you are an alicorn after all,” Red Velvet said almost mockingly. Trixie opened her mouth to protest, but stopped when she saw a pair of green glowing eyes staring at her from beneath the snow. For a moment her mind froze in absolute terror, but Red Velvet caught onto her look and spun around to face the snow. The snow exploded outward as a wolf of white wood leapt out. It landed a few feet away from them, its sharp wooden teeth and green eyes stared intently at the two. The other piles of snow began exploding outward as well. Until at least a dozen of the wolf like creatures stood facing them. “T-timberwolves?” Trixie asked fearfully. She remembered the last time she had encountered such a beast. That was also the first time that she had ever met Red Velvet. “These are not Timberwolves, these are birchwolves,” Red Velvet explained. “Perfect camouflage for winter. It would seem that I made the right choice in getting your assistance.” The lead wolf took a step forward, the snow crunching underneath it’s weight. “What do we do?” Trixie asked. Red Velvet’s face was stricken by a manic grin. “We kill them all!” Before Trixie was even sure what was going on, Red Velvet had unleashed a bolt of red energy from her horn striking the lead wolf in the face. Where the beam struck the wood disintegrated, the rest of it fell back into a pile of disassembled pieces. Red Velvet’s two large wings spread and she leapt into the air leaving Trixie on the ground, and surrounded by the wolves. Panic raced down Trixie’s spine as the wolves surrounding her leapt. At least five wolves were already in the air, facing her and about to land. Instinct kicked into gear as her horn lit up and her body melted away into the shadows beneath the snow. The world became a blur as she moved forward, it was a lot less like running, and felt more like swimming. She popped back up out of the snow just in time to see the wolves dog pile the ground she had just vacated. Now standing twenty feet or so from the wolves, Trixie pulled her father’s blade free from its sheath and channeled more magic into her horn. Adrenaline ran hot through her veins as the magic pulled up in her horn, and a bolt of lightning shot forth striking the dog pile. Thunder cracked and the wolves exploded into flaming bits of wood and splinters rained down around her. Trixie’s fear quickly gave way to something much more primal, and much more vicious. She snarled and turned toward the next nearest wolf which happened to be a lot closer than she had hoped. It swiped at her with a claw, and Trixie ducked underneath it. blood pumped hot and a deep rooted anger took hold as she moved under the wolf, and rammed her head into it’s chest. Magic poured into her horn and with a flash of light, another bolt of lightning shot out of the creatures back! The wolf exploded around her. Bits of wood slamming into her, cutting her forelegs and cheek. Trixie looked at the flaming bits of wood surrounding her, and a cruel smile grew across her lips. Red beams rained down from the sky, assaulting three more of the wolves. Trixie spun around and faced the other two who were busy charging her. The first one was too close for magic, the second one was just behind it. With excitement running hot, Trixie swung her father’s blade toward the first one’s head, chopping the wooden spine in half. At the same time she channeled more magic into her horn and as the first one’s body collapsed Trixie unleashed one final bolt into the second’s chest. The bolt hit, and the body exploded! Her lungs burned as she breathed in the cold air. Sweat ran down her brow as she examined the area. All the wolves were down, and all of them were now nothing more than a bunch of firewood. Red Velvet landed next to her with a smirk. “You did very well this time,” Red Velvet said. “That… was…” Trixie said in between breaths. “Amazing!” “Have you already gotten a love for battle?” Red Velvet asked, though her tone was a little sarcastic. With the adrenaline still pumping high, Trixie couldn’t properly consider the question at that moment. She knew that she was feeling great, like she had just done something amazing, something that nopony believed she was capable of. With sword and sorcery, she defeated her opponents. It was almost like her old school days. The only problem, if Trixie could indeed call it such, was the fact that her horn was a little sore from all the lightning bolts. “You’re bleeding,” Red Velvet said. “I am?” Trixie said as she looked down at her legs. There were cuts all throughout her coat’s sleeves, small lines of red had been drawn across her legs, they were only scratches. “It’s not bad.” “your face,” Red Velvet said. Trixie put a hoof to her cheek and it came back red. “Oh… is it bad?” “No, but we should get it taken care of as soon as we get inside,” Red Velvet replied. “Yeah, that sounds smart,” Trixie agreed. A rattling sound made Trixie’s ears fold back. She looked around, there was nothing to see. Another rattling sound made Trixie’s neck hair stand on edge. “What is that?” Red Velvet turned around, and her eyes went wide. She stepped back. “That’s not good.” When she followed Red Velvet’s gaze, Trixie realized exactly what was making the sound. The bits of wood from the fallen birchwolves rolled over the ground as though possessed, bumping into each other and colliding into a giant pile. Her heart froze in terror as she watched the mound grow, larger than the cottage, and take the shape of a giant birch wolf. Its huge green eyes stared down with malicious intent. “What is that!” Trixie exclaimed. “A Birchwolf king. You see when an alpha is killed they can sometimes take a temporary new body in a last stand effort. This is pretty much why the Timberwolves were never hunted to extinction, those who tried suffered too many casualties,” Red Velvet replied. The birchwolf king snarled, and glowing green saliva fell to the ground with a splash. Trixie backed up, along with Red Velvet. There was not a whole awful lot that Trixie could think of to do here. After all, the only time she had actually faced such a beast was with the ursa major, but even if that was a much larger monster, seeing this thing in front of her right then made that a mute point. One large paw lifted into the air, and Red Velvet dashed to the right. Trixie went left. The paw came down, smashing into the show just behind Trixie. her heart raced as she continued running around the creature. The beast simply turned to follow her, ignoring the other alicorn completely. Another paw raised into the air, but this time it swiped horizontally, sailing over the snow and right towards Trixie. She galloped as fast as her legs would take her through the snow. Just as she felt something touch her tail, she focused on her only escape plan and melted into the shadows. The paw sailed right over her. Trixie popped right back out, this time her coat was left behind. At least her sword was still with her. The birchwolf king looked down at her, anger clear in its eyes. As the beast reoriented itself, Trixie aimed her horn towards its giant head, and channeled magic into her horn. The exertion stung her horn a little, but when the lightning bolt crackled she grinned. The bolt flew true, hitting the creature in the left eye. It reeled back in pain and loosed a mighty roar. It twisted its body in agony, and only too late did Trixie notice the paw coming right at her. She was hit by a train like force, her body screamed in pain as she rocketed over the snow. She slammed into the snow, bounced, and then landed again before sliding a few feet carving a trench behind her. As the pain throbbed through her body, she whimpered. She hurt bad. Sure it wasn’t the worst pain she’d ever felt, but it still hurt. If it wasn’t for the one eyed monstrosity now taking huge strides toward her, she’d have preferred to stay down for a moment. As it stood though, that thing was coming right for her. Slowly Trixie pushed herself upright. Her left foreleg screamed for her to stop putting weight on it. She ignored its cries and stood her ground. Warm liquid ran down the side of her face, matting her fur to her skin. To top it all off she felt a bit dizzy, but what was she to do… “Dorchadas,” Scath purred into her mind. Pain, she latched onto that as a starting point. Thoughts of Fluttershy, and how she ruined their friendship, and of what happened to Valiant Heart in Manehattan all came flooding into her head. She focused on them, on the bitter anger, the rage, and loneliness of it all. Something chilling crawled up her spine, made her mane itch, and energy rippled from her chest all the way to the end of her tail. Trixie opened her eyes, and felt the power inside her surge. A deep purple glow surrounded the edges of vision, and her horn lit up with an even darker aura. The shadows all called to her, their voices full of the power she now felt rising inside of her. The Birchwolf King stopped, and sniffed the air. Its ears folded back, and Trixie felt a sick smile grow over her lips. Her wings spread wide as huge shadowy tendrils sprouted out from the darkest shadows from under the snow, and wrapped themselves around the birchwolf king’s legs and neck. It tried to pull back, to move, and only managed a weak struggle against the magic. Power, painful and deep, focused in Trixie’s horn. She aimed one last time at the monster before her, and let out a cry of pain as magic exploded from her horn. A dark beam shot forth, and hit the birchwolf’s chest. The beam went clear through it! A second later the birchwolf king’s entire body began shaking violently. It shook its head, and Trixie moved the continuous beam upwards, watching in glee as it cut cleanly through its wooden chest, neck and finally its head. The birchwolf king exploded! The magic left Trixie as quickly as it had came, and she collapsed. Her body was drained of energy, her mind was fuzzy, and all she could do was watch as chunks of wood as large as her came hurtling towards her with ill intent. If it wasn’t for the red bubble that appeared in front of her, the wood would have surely killed her. instead it bounced off the magic bubble and landed harmlessly next to it. Red Velvet landed next to Trixie, and gave her a soft smile. The red bubble vanished, and Red Velvet stared at Trixie silently. “What… what?” Trixie asked weakly. Her mind was cloudy, and her body ached. “You used the shadows to defend yourself. For a moment I feared I might have to step in, but you did well,” Red Velvet said. Trixie gave her a sour look. “You… should have helped.” “You will be facing much worse soon enough. The windigo are coming, and when they do, you will need to be able to fend them off. If you cannot handle a birchwolf king, than you won’t be able to protect your family when the times comes,” Red Velvet said. “I won’t be here to protect you forever you know.” Trixie rolled over onto her back. “I… want to sleep.” “You can rest inside, I think you’ve earned it,” Red Velvet replied. It took a lot more effort than she had wanted it to, but she managed to roll over, push herself up off the ground, and limp toward the cottage. Even though she was in pain, and exhausted, there was something satisfying about this. She walked past the remains of the birchwolf king, and spat a crimson glob at it. She’d fought, and she won. “Stupid mutt,” Trixie muttered. “I’m the Great and Powerful Trixie, you can’t hope to win against me.”