STARLIGHT
I poked my head into the doorway knowing very well who I'd find.
Trixie Lulamoon was reclining back in a quaint wooden chair, mindlessly shuffling cards with her magic. They were being shuffled so fast that I almost couldn't catch the changes, but then again, that was what made her such a phenomenal stage magician. Trixie may have been in the process of learning more extensive unicorn spells under me, but she had an extreme knack for illusory spells. To be honest, I don't think there is anything in that subset of magic I could teach her.
"Hey, Trix!" I said as I walked into the room. She was still focusing hard on her cards, but she smiled when she heard my voice. I sat down across from her and watched her, allowing myself to be mesmerized by the rhythm. "New magic trick?"
"Yes, actually, but Trixie...I can't show it off quite yet. This may be my best card trick." Trixie smiled sheepishly as she put the cards back into the messenger back she had at her side before looking back up to me. Trixie and I have been working on the first person, as it used to only come out when she was emotionally stressed or embarrassed. I felt like we were making good progress, as that particular instance was the first one in a while.
"I hope not. You had me in the damn fetal position with that mane trick," I said with a grin. We both started laughing at that one, reminiscing back to the times of our initial friendship when Trixie showed me every last trick in her playbook. As the laughter died down, I took a deep breath and looked around the room.
"This is crazy, isn't it? I mean, all of this. I never thought I'd see Griffonia in my life. I guess the circumstances are kinda crazy, but..." Trixie chuckled and nodded, though there was that element of nervousness that found its way into it, much in the same way that my laughs probably sounded by now.
"Yeah, its...its something," she began. "I don't know, I just feel kind of...nervous, you know? Twilight is an incredible pony, but I've just only now realized that. And she's being nice to me, but I feel like I still have a ways to go, you know? And Sunset...Sunset doesn't really talk to me. Which is okay, I guess. But I just get this feeling that she doesn't like me." I leaned back at that, and for the second time that night, gave off a sigh.
"Shimmy is a really cool pony," I began. "She's been there with us, you know? Back when we were total jerks." That got a laugh from Trixie, and I couldn't help but laugh with her. "And she lived in a different dimension for a long time. I mean, she's lived in Equestria for a majority of her life, but she's still getting used to things. We all are." Trixie nodded.
"That is true." She looked back down to her bag, and I saw it as the chance to reach over and touch my hoof to hers. She looked over in surprise, but a warm smile eventually crept across her face.
"I have a feeling Shimmy will come around soon," I said. Suddenly my mind jolted, reminding me of the reason why I came to say hello to Trixie in the first place.
"Oh yeah!" I said, withdrawing my hoof. "Twilight was looking over that map in the other room. We talked about it for a while, and she said she wanted to take a quick look by herself before she made a decision. It'll be soon." Trixie nodded before looking at me quizzically.
"What do you think about this whole axe thing? Guto's axe...to be honest, you guys are always off on a bunch of adventures. I've never actually really done this before." With that, we both laughed, though I quickly rose my hoof in the air in defense.
"Hey, I don't think any of us have done this before," I said. "Pinkie and Rainbow went to Griffinstone, but they speak Equestrian there for Celestia's sake. This...this is different. And under the circumstances, I don't think we're gonna be teaching any friendship lessons here." Trixie giggled.
"No, we won't," she said. "But you know, that's okay. Going on an adventure with my best friend is good enough for me." She held out her hoof for a fist bump, to which I obliged with a grin. When she recoiled, though, there was a look on her face: it was the look Trixie always had when she had something on her mind, a sort of empty stare at anything other than the person she was talking to.
"What's up, Trix? I know you're thinking about something." Trixie looked up at me with a sheepish smile steadily growing on her face for what had to be the thousandth time tonight.
"I was looking at all the ponies and griffons here when we walked in," she began. "This sudden declaration has them nervous, scared, stiff. Trix--I'm nervous and scared too, of course, and I know we have important stuff to do here and all, but...I want to do a show here. I don't have my wagon, or my cape and hat, but I feel like these ponies could use a little magic. Not the regular kind of magic, but the magic that captivated me as a filly. The magic that made me so happy...the magic that inspired me." She quickly turned her head to the side, clearly embarrassed and in belief that her words were nonsensical. "Maybe I won't do that for anyone here. But I want to try."
I just stared at her. And then I think I felt a small tear.
"Trix..." I half whispered, a smile growing on my face. An embarrassed, sheepish smile quickly grew upon her face as she was trying to figure out what I'd say next. "That's wonderful. I know we have a lot to do, but...I know everypony and griffon would love that, and I think we need a little bit of it too." With those words, Trixie began to chuckle nervously before looking back up at me with a relieved glance.
"That's good. I'll see when I can fit it in," she said. "Well, we should probably go see what Twilight is up to. She's likely made her decision." As if almost on cue, a familiar voice rang out through what appeared to be the entire building, its echo reverberating across the walls.
"GIRLS! I NEED YOUR HELP!"
With that, we both started laughing, and the pleasant chorus didn't stop for quite some time. I didn't know how long, and it really, wasn't even that funny, but I was grateful for it nonetheless; I was nervous. Trixie was nervous, Twilight was nervous, Sunset was nervous. We were all on edge merely by being here, and aside from a chuckle or two, I hadn't done a lot of laughing all that recently. As I continued to feel that feeling in my chest, I started to remember how it all felt. Not to stop a crazy, warmongering King. Just to laugh.
It was nice.
It died down, eventually, as it always did. There was a wipe away of our tears before we began to make our way to Twilight's quarters where she'd be so adamantly studying a map of Griffonia. It wasn't a long walk there, being just across the hall, but that didn't stop Trixie from beginning a new conversation in a hushed voice.
"Do you ever wonder what it's like to be Twilight?" she asked. I chucked a bit at that question before nodding my head.
"Very often. One time I was sitting on the couch drinking wine and I just starting thinking about her. Like, everything she has to do, you know? Be a princess, solve every problem. She's so talented and so awesome and so sweet...it broke her down a while ago, you know. It isn't easy being Twilight, but there isn't a better pony for the job." The last line was supposed to be a joke, but Trixie did not laugh. She merely stared forward thoughtfully as we rounded the corner right into Twilight's corners.
Twilight had set the map on a wooden table she'd moved from the corner of the room. Our quarters weren't huge, of course, but due to this change her room looked barren, with the dark brown wooden walls immediately taking over my vision as soon as I entered. Twilight was lost in thought, and was muttering under her breath as her eyes darted across the map at a feverish speed.
"It doesn't make any sense..." she muttered, looking back to the corner of the map. As we entered, she heard the clang of our hooves, causing her head to snap up and meet us immediately. Her face slowly flushed with red as she gave a sheepish grin that rivaled Trixie's from earlier.
"Hey girls! You scared me," she said, looking away. I merely rolled my eyes to the ceiling and looked back at her with a sly grin.
"Doesn't take much. Surprising, really." Twilight rolled her eyes in annoyance before looking back down at the map.
"So what exactly is it that doesn't make any sense?" Trixie asked. Twilight nodded thoughtfully, scanning over the map rapidly with her eyes before responding.
"Well, I'm gonna tell you guys, but I'll wait for Sunny and the Skywalkers. There's something that's been racking my brain lately." I nodded and quickly ran to the front door, opening it steadily. I heard a bit of Sunset and Lotus talking when I rounded the hall to get to Twilight's quarters, and sure enough, I could hear them continuing a conversation on the porch. Sunset appeared to be talking to Lotus about the group's past deeds, and even better, was in a discussion about my own exploits.
"You guys badmouthing me?" I exclaimed. Sunset began to chuckle, knowing I was joking, though Lotus had her eyebrows raised in what appeared to be an unsure glance.
"Always, Starry. What's up?" she asked. I merely smiled wider, as this was a moment I knew many of us had been eagerly anticipating.
"It's Twi. She's come to a decision," I explained. The two ponies looked at each other before nodding at me and getting up from their chairs. I left the door open and allowed them to follow me back to Twilight's quarters, where it appeared Blaze had already tucked himself in the back corner. We all managed to squish ourselves in, ending up with Sunset, Trixie and I in the front and the Skywalkers close behind us. Noting that everyone had arrived with a last-second scan around the room, Twilight quickly sighed and looked back at her map.
"Okay, so if the legend of the axe is true, then that would place it in the Mountains of Fire, which are at the corner of Griffonia," she began. "That would be a trip. It'd probably take us about a month to travel there via wagon, and then we'd have to search for the damn thing. If this is indeed what Sanguis is looking for, then we can assume that he already knows where it is, but that just doesn't matter. If we were to leave tomorrow, we could get there first and prevent him from ever touching it." Sunset quickly spoke up.
"Then you wouldn't be going to the negotiations in Auster," she said, a hint of confusion in her voice. Twilight beamed at those words as she looked up at her. She had that look on her face that clearly showcased the gears in her head were moving a thousand miles a minute.
"That's true, and he threatened to attack with his army if I didn't show up. But as we know, if he were to do that, he'd be done for. The combined powers of the Princesses, the Elements, AND Discord, along with our allies? He'd kill many ponies, but his army would be vaporized. So what we're looking at is--"
"--a lose/lose for Sanguis," I said. Twilight delivered her next line with a devious grin.
"--which doesn't make any sense." Sunset looked to the ceiling in thought before nodding knowingly, having pondered the scenario in her head.
"Well that's true," began Blaze from the back of the room. Sunset and I parted a little bit to make him more visible to Twilight. "But why would you assume that Sanguis knows that we know he's after the axe, even if it exists? Not doubting you sis, but in the event it's real and he's after it, how would he know we're the wiser?" Twilight nodded before speaking, clearly prepared for the question.
"Now that's the thing, isn't it?" she began. "I've met Sanguis many times. He's cold, he's calculated, and he's VERY intelligent. The first thing he did was let us keep Cydonia, which was just another massively boneheaded move on his part to add on to the pile. I may be reaching here, but...this can't be a coincidence. He knows Cydonia. He knows Blaze and Lotus live here, and knows the culture, and he knows me well. Everything we see here has us winning tremendously, and that can only mean--"
"--he's accounting for everything, and he's planning something huge," Sunset finished. Twilight looked on at the group as a wave of relief washed over her, and for the billionth time that night she gave off a sigh.
"So I'm not crazy," she said, seemingly convincing herself. "Celestia is right. There's something more, but I just don't know what it is. Sanguis isn't stupid, and he wouldn't act like it if he wasn't sitting on a massive time bomb." The room stood stagnant, processing the information. After what seemed like an eternity, it was Lotus Skywalker that spoke next.
"So what do you suggest we do about this?" asked Lotus. It was the question on everypony's mind in the simplest of words, which I suppose was what Lotus was so good at. Twilight leaned back in her chair and began to gaze at the ceiling.
"Quite obviously, if I go to Auster, they're going to try and capture me. In fact, I'd prefer it, because if they didn't, that would only shoot my nerves further through the roof," said Twilight. "But there are griffons in Auster that have to know what's happening. And if there are griffons in Auster that know what is happening, there are griffons in Auster that aren't okay with it. So I have to go and find them." Trixie, who had stayed silent the entire time, blurted out immediately.
"You can't! They'll capture you. At least let us come with." The rest of the group nodded to agree, but to my surprise, Twilight immediately shook her head in the negative.
"We're integral to shutting down whatever it is Sanguis is plotting. If all of us get captured, it's game over. The rest of you need to go after that axe, and then I can join up with you afterward." a rare sly grin, which was becoming increasingly common for Twilight tonight, appeared on her face. "I've been captured before." Everypony seemed to understand where she was going, but when I looked towards Sunset, I saw her digging her hoof into the floor; she was gonna say something.
"There's one more problem I have," she said, almost like clockwork. "If we assume--which I am still having a problem with--that he knows we know about the axe, wouldn't he expect us to go after it? On top of the fact he likely knows where it is, why wouldn't he just put a super powerful guard regiment there or something? We could be walking straight into an ambush." Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but I put up a hoof, signaling I could handle it. She nodded and, with an outstretched hoof, gave me the floor.
"To begin, I agree with Sunset," I said. "This is, well, conjecture, You have to assume that Sanguis has everything covered, but he really could just be a dumbass." The room laughed at that one, and I could feel my smirk of pride grow as their laughter continued. When it slowly began to die, I wiped the grin off my face and continued.
"But we have to be prepared for the worst. So I agree with Twilight in that we not only have to have her go to Auster, but that we have to go after the axe as well. Even if he does have some sort of garrison there, they aren't used to fighting unicorns with magic. Shimmy and I are highly skilled, and Trixie is coming along very nicely under my tutelage, if I dare say so myself. Lotus can use magic too, and Blaze can help with the air. Be it ten of them or fifty, they'll be in for a shock."
Sunset held out a hoof towards me for a hoof bump, which I gladly accepted. To my surprise, she then held out her right hoof to Trixie, who stared at it for a second almost in shock before she smiled and returned the gesture as well. I looked back to Twilight, who had a beaming smile on her face. It wasn't a sly or coy smile, but she just seemed genuinely happy, and it proved to be infectious as I could feel my face mirror it.
"Well alright then," she began. "Looks like it's settled. We don't have a ton of time, so I'll depart for Auster in a day or two. You girls--and Blaze, of course--should leave as soon as you can, too. You'll pass through a lot of stuff along the way, so make sure to document everything for me! I'll likely meet up with all of you during the course of the trip, too. Sound good?"
"Sounds good to me," I said, looking around. Everyone else nodded in agreement, and with that, we began to break up and leave. I walked over to Trixie, but right when we were about to head out, we heard Sunset speak up.
"Hey, Twi. Uh, if it's okay with you, could we, uh, go do that thing we talked about?" she said. We turned back, and Sunset displayed a clearly embarrassed visage as she looked to the Princess. Twilight chuckled for only a second before returning a warm smile.
"Of course, Sunny. Let's go." she quickly turned to us, noticing we were watching.
"Sunset and I are going to go out in the town for a bit. We'll be back soon!" With that, the two mares exited, leaving only Trixie and I alone in Twilight's room. We both gave each other an odd glance at almost the exact same time before looking back towards the doorway where the two had exited.
"What was that about?" asked Trixie, looking back at me. I was still looking at the doorway, attempting to come up with an explanation, before shrugging and turning back to her.
"No idea. You wanna play blackjack again?"
"Do you want to lose again?"