//------------------------------// // Chapter Five: The Pitfall // Story: Marble Magic // by TheCrimsonDM //------------------------------// Marble Magic Chapter Five: The Pitfall Written by TheCrimsonDM With Guile gone, an evil magical artifact released upon the world, and no idea on how to fix this, Trixie did the only thing she could think of; she went galloping to her employer for help. It wasn’t a long trip, she could gallop really fast when she wanted too, it was a hard learned skill. She knew it was against the rules to contact her employer in the open like this, but she had hit the point where her ability to solve problems ended. She galloped into the crystalline castle, through the long empty halls and into the map room where as predicted she found Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship studying the map. Twilight didn’t even glance at her as she galloped up to the map, and came to a slide before stopping next to it. Trixie stood on her hind legs threw her hooves onto the map table and attempted to catch her breath. “Yes Pi-“ Twilight looked up and blinked. “Oh… you’re not who I expected. Usually it’s Pinkie Pie that comes charging in here without warning. Uh… are you looking for Starlight?” Trixie had planned this, she had mentally practiced her speech about how terrifying the evil stave was, how horrible it was to see her friend’s personality wiped out, and worse of all to know that she was powerless to fix any of it. Trixie sucked in a huge breath.  “Fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it-” Twilight’s horn lit up with a pink light and Trixie found her mouth still moving but with no words coming out. A small smile grew over Twilight’s lips. “Now, in very slow, calm words, tell me what’s wrong.” Her horn stopped glowing and Trixie took another giant breath. This time she managed, just barely, to control herself. “Evil magic thing, Guile turned into a girl named Baast, he’s gone, evil thing is gone, I’m scared, now fix it!” Twilight frowned. “Trixie isn’t it your job to solve issues dealing with cursed items and dark artifacts? Isn’t that what a particular princess pays you for?” “I can’t, it’s too powerful and Guile is gone! Please, Twilight, I wouldn’t ask you to help me if I could do something, in fact I’d avoid you like the plague if I could, but I, but,” Trixie begged. She lowered her head. hot tears ran down her face. “Guile is gone…” “Okay, okay, I’m dealing with some problems with dragons and ponies fighting for ownership of a cave, but if you can’t do this on your own... Tell me, in exact detail, what happened and if I can’t deal with it I’ll get my pupil too,” Twilight said. She offered a false smile to Trixie. Trixie sat down on her rump. “Are you mad at me?” “Trixie, you’ve dealt with enough dark magic to know when you can’t handle something on your own.” Twilight’s face. “I’m proud of you for coming to me for help when things are overwhelming. Yes I am terribly busy right now, and this was supposed to be your job, but I’ll help. Guile might be a talking cat, but he’s still a citizen of Equestria and it’s my job to keep him safe.” Trixie sniffled and wiped a hoof at her eyes. “Okay, I… Trixie will tell you the whole story. Thank you, Twilight.” “Don’t mention it.” *** Marble lay on her belly with her legs sprawled out over Pinkie’s bed. A pencil in her mouth and a sketch book underneath her. She had taken to one of her favorite past times; drawing saucy ponies. She was already nearly done with the drawing she was working on which had Trixie and Fluttershy in a very compromising position. She had no illusions that the drawing would come to life, it was mostly just fun and the end result was always rewarding… even if she had to either hide or destroy most of her drawings in order to keep them secret. “I’m sorry, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said from the floor above her. “I am dealing with too much right now. Between all the usual friendship and princess problems, dragons and ponies fighting over a cave, and a magic cat gone missing, my schedule is full. As soon as I get some free time I will take a look into your sister’s condition.” “Aw shucks, that’s no fun. My sister was really looking forward to your help too, she wants to touch ponies,” Pinkie Pie said. “W-what?” “You know because she can’t.” “Oh, right, empath. I forgot already, see what I mean. I think I’ll need to send Starlight and Spike out to go and deal with the dragons already,” Twilight said. “Send Starlight out on her own? To deal with dragons? What if she just decides to kill them all?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Then the dragons are dealt with, honestly that was the entire reason I was going to take her along anyway. I can’t fight a dragon, but Starlight could vaporize one in ten seconds flat.” “That’s Rainbow’s line.” “Yeah, well if she’s going to vandalize the town I’m going to steal her catchphrases.” “Sounds fair.” “Anyway, I got a magic cat to find. I was still on the fence about her, but if she’s willing to ask for help when she really needs it… maybe she’s really changed.” “Who?” “A… friend of mine. She’s never once asked for help from me before, and I trust her judgment when it comes to this kind of stuff… the sad part is I think that cat of hers is one of the only friends she has.” “Should I make a cake?” Pinkie asked, Marble glanced up and saw the concern on her sister’s face. “No, that would be… a bad move at the moment,” Twilight said. She turned to the balcony door and stepped out. “Oh and Pinkie, I like your new shampoo. Ice cream Sundae really suits you.” Pinkie Pie nearly laughed. “Really?” “Yeah, usually you smell like frosting and that brings some… interesting images to mind, but this scent is brand new, and I like it. Of course if I were to wear it, I would be afraid Celestia might try to eat my mane when I wasn’t looking,” Twilight joked. “Ha, it’s not as bad as if you were wearing cake scented shampoo!” “Then I’d be a dead mare.” Twilight spread her wings and took off into the darkened sky. For a moment Pinkie Pie simply sat there watching her friend leave before spinning around, jumping off the floor above and landing on the bed below. The bed bounced and Marble, along with her pencil and sketchbook went flying. Pinkie Pie grinned down at her sister. “Oops… sorry.” Marble glared at her. You did that on purpose. A few hours later, after Pinkie Pie was fast asleep, Marble snuck out of her sister’s embrace, got her saddlebag packed, including her Confidence Marbles and began her descent down the stairs. Once she was outside she took a deep breath of the late night air, looked around to make sure the coast was clear and trotted over to Trixie’s house. She had the location memorized thanks to Pinkie’s notes, although she hadn’t gotten to read anymore of the file on Trixie past the address, convincing her sister to bring that file out was surprisingly difficult. The night was Marble’s personal playground. The reason the day time scared her was because of how many ponies were out there, so many ponies with so many feelings. At night though she was virtually alone, free to run and frolic and play to her heart’s content without ever worrying about bumping into somepony. Of course, she always kept an eye out for monsters, because it was at night that they too decided to come out and play. Ponyville however was completely different than home. There were no monsters, just quiet peaceful bliss. She could get used to living here. *** It was near midnight, Trixie was exhausted, mentally and emotionally. Everywhere she looked around the house she expected to see Guile leap out at her and make some manner of snarky comment. He didn’t, and it left the place feeling as empty as it was quiet. It was a cold night, so she stoked her fireplace with what little bit of wood she had left after the winter and drank some tea. There was only one upside to this night, she wasn’t going to be alone for long. When she heard the knocking at the door her heart skipped a beat and she trotted over to it. The door was thrown open with excitement and the gray earth pony staring at her with that one beautiful purple eye made Trixie’s heart soar. Marble smiled. “Good evening, Marble,” Trixie said. “Mmhmm,” Marble agreed. Marble reached out with a foreleg and Trixie quickly stepped away. “No, not tonight. I… I had a really bad day and I don’t want it rubbing off on you.” Marble gave her a frown and walked into the house, she wrapped a leg around Trixie’s neck and pulled her close. For a moment she held Trixie tight. After Marble shuddered she eased up a little. Trixie hated to give negative feelings to Marble, she knew about the Marble Sense, and she knew that through bad luck the two of them had grown closer than anypony should have any right to be. Marble was literally the only pony that Trixie trusted with everything, and it wasn’t because she had wanted to, it was because when Marble saw Trixie for who she really was, Marble only got closer to her. Trixie’s horn lit up and the door shut. “I’m sorry to trouble you like this. You came all the way out here just for me, and I can’t even properly host for you.” Marble shook her head. “I… can Trixie get you a cup of tea?” Trixie asked, trying to pick herself up off the floor. Marble nodded. Trixie went ahead and got to work on the tea while Marble explored the house. It only took a few minutes before Trixie was done and then she set the cup down next to hers on the coffee table before taking a seat on the couch. Marble joined her not soon after. Neither of them spoke with words, instead Marble simply let Trixie lay her head down against her shoulder and wrapped a leg around her. The act spoke more to Trixie’s heart than any amount of words could have. “Twilight promised me that she would save him.” “Mmm.” “She can do it, I trust her to be a better hero than I ever could. I just wish that there was something I could do, trying to be strong, putting on the Trixie persona so that others respect me… it’s all… just so tiring.” Trixie let out a sigh. “You are the only one I can let my guard down around, and you mean so very much to me.” Marble nuzzled the top of Trixie’s head. “Mmhmm.” “You feel the same way?” “Mmhmm.” “I wish we could just runaway together. Elope and get married and by the time we come back, your sister couldn’t say anything about it,” Trixie said as she nuzzled into Marble’s shoulder. “I tried to make friends with her today, and she was so mean to me. She hurt my feelings.” “Mmm.” “You don’t have to apologize for her actions, she’s the one that choose to treat me like dirt, not you. You treat me with love and respect, more so than anypony and that means so very much to me… I would love it if we could be like this in public.” “Mm-mmm.” “I know, I know, Pinkie Pie would flip out and ruin everything. Sneaking around like this might be fun, but it also kinda sucks. I just want to spend every waking moment with you. Trixie and Marble, together forever,” Trixie said as she stretched out her forelegs. Her eyes grew steadily heavy and a yawn escaped her lips. “S-sorry, Trixie is tired.” Marble kissed the top of Trixie’s head. “Aw, thank you.” Trixie closed her eyes. I just need to shut my eyes for a few minutes. *** Trixie stood in the middle of nowhere, the small cottage off in the distance was the only building visible for miles. There was some forest behind her, but most of the land was dead and gray, serving only to remind her of how much of a failure her life had become. From great and powerful to lowly rock farmer; there wasn’t anything she could do about it now though. The pit Trixie stared down into was about seven feet deep and the flat walls only made it look like some kind of trap. There was however a lot of gems dug from this one spot, and Trixie was quite pleased with her work today. Finding such a great resource for the farm had come with its own sort of prestige. The rumbling dark sky above put a damper over her pride parade. The pitter patter of fresh rain told her it was going to be another one of ‘those’ days. Trixie looked at the three rocks she still had left to take apart and search for gems in, and after that she would have to put the rocks into  a wheelbarrow and take it across to the other side of the farm and dump them into a pile. All day was spent pushing rocks from one end of the farm to the other, it was hard and boring work. Lightning flashed, and not a moment later thunder roared over the farm so loud that it shook her to the bones. It wasn’t just her though. She saw the shy mare dart across the landscape like scared cattle, she had her eye closed and was galloping straight toward Trixie. Trixie looked down at the pit that lay between them. “Wait, Marble, stop!” Trixie cried. It was too late as the mare fell headfirst into the pit. Trixie’s horn lit up and she lashed out to grab the mare, she wasn’t strong enough to lift a full grown pony in her telekinesis but she was strong enough to slow the mare’s descent. Gently dropping the mare onto the bottom of the pit. Trixie looked down and felt sorry for her, the pit was small, and the mare had hardly any room to move around in at all. That bright purple eye stared up at her, wet mane stuck to her gray fur and plastered the rest of her down like a mangy pup, Trixie didn’t look much better. Trixie laid down flat on her belly and reached out with a hoof. “Trixie can drag you back up if she uses her hooves in conjunction with her magic. Give Trixie your hoof,” Trixie said. The mare shook her head. “Come on, Trixie can’t let you rot down there and nopony is here, they won’t be back for a few hours. If your family got caught in this storm they may have very well decided to stay in town until it calms down.” Marble shook her head once more. The mud was running underneath Trixie and into the pit below. “Darn it, let Trixie help you.” The mare looked up with her sad eye before rising on her rear legs. She wasn’t nearly tall enough to reach the rim of the pit, but she could grab Trixie’s outstretched leg. A sudden look of pain covered the mare’s face but Trixie refused to let go. A purple aura surrounded Marble and Trixie began to pull back, slowly the mare was lifted off the ground as her weight was decreased dramatically by Trixie’s spell. For a moment it looked like everything was going just fine. The ground beneath Trixie slid forward. She went along for the ride. It was one absolutely horrible moment of falling, followed by a flash of pain as Trixie landed head first onto the bottom of the pit. A few more seconds passed by before she realized that the warm body pressed against her was shivering and that half of her was covered in mud. Trixie tried to move, but she was almost entirely unable to move save for a few miserable inches. Marble was pressed against her tightly, her head was lying between Trixie’s rear legs and her eyes were shut tight. Every few seconds she would jerk and Trixie, who was now using Marble’s flank as a pillow would get an uncomfortable bump to the side of her head. For a while they simply laid like that, letting the rain water wash over them cleaning the mud off and not much else. “Okay, Trixie is sick of this,” She looked at the soft flank beneath her head and felt a warm feeling stir inside of her. “This is not an appropriate position for a magician of Trixie’s caliber to be in. We need to do something about it.” Marble whined. “Trixie doesn’t know what to do… yet, give her time.” Trixie returned to looking at the rump underneath her and tried her very best not to think dirty thoughts. She failed completely but she tried. Marble whined again, only louder. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Trixie asked. “Mm-mmm,” Marble replied. “Then what is it?” Trixie looked at the mare whose head was stuck between her legs. “Oh… this is an embarrassing situation for you isn’t it?” “Mmhmm!” More dirty thoughts. “Trixie apologizes.” Marble whined, put two hooves against Trixie’s stomach and pushed. The air was knocked out of Trixie as she was pushed back into the wall of the pit, which was not very far. Marble tried to sit up but there still wasn’t enough room to move properly. After a moment she gave up, and whimpered. “Trixie really is sorry,” Trixie apologized, her thoughts now going from hot and sexy to how she had screwed up yet again. First there was Ponyville where her dream of becoming a real magician was shattered, then there was the fact that her wagon was destroyed along with everything she owned. She remembered trying to go home, but none of her sisters wanted her around, even if her mom did try to bridge peace between them. Trixie couldn’t blame her sisters, Nixie, Pixie and Dixie. Trixie knew that she was a weak and talentless unicorn, who would want that in their home? Trixie’s lower lip trembled and she felt her heart shattering piece by piece. Her entire life had fallen apart and there was nothing she could do about it. Nothing at all. She had gotten so broke that desperate that she was found starving to death on the borders of Equestria and given a job by one of the most generous stallions she ever met. Now she was lying in a pit because she couldn’t be good enough to save one of his daughters, and worse yet it was the daughter that Trixie thought looked hot and really wanted to kiss… and then some. “UGH!” Trixie cried as she tried to keep herself together. It wasn’t working, she felt herself breaking down at the seams and nothing could stop it. “Trixie is sorry, so sorry. If only she was good enough she could have saved you.” A hoof gently padded Trixie’s rump and she nearly jumped at the touch. When Trixie looked down she saw that Marble had managed to her head on top of Trixie’s flank and was staring at her with a sad look in her eye. “Trixie didn’t mean to be such a failure,” Trixie said. “Mm-mmm.” Marble smiled softly. “What do you mean?” Marble simply closed her eyes and snuggled into Trixie’s flank. “I don’t know what that means. Are you mad at me?” “Mm-mmm.” “So you don’t hold this against Trixie?” “Mm-mmm.” “Thank you.” The rain finally let up and Trixie looked up at the cloudy sky. “We should have just gone in after the rain started…” “Mmhmm.” “Well at least we can agree on something.” Trixie remembered something that Limestone had told her earlier, soon after she moved in. “Can Trixie ask you something important?” “Mmhmm.” “Can you really read the minds of ponies you touch?” “Mmhmm…” “So… like mine?” “…Mmhmm.” “H-have you been doing that?” “…Mmhmm.” There was something apologetic about the tone of her voice. “Is it something you can control?” “Mm-mmm.” “So… while I’ve been trying to keep myself together, you’ve been what, feeling me up?” “MMM!” “Like emotionally, knowing what I was thinking and feeling?” Marble looked at Trixie with that sad eye. “Mmhmm.” Trixie nuzzled into her soft, squishy pillow which brought a squeak out of Marble. “It’s going to be awhile before anypony comes to save us… do you mind if I… if I just talk to you? You don’t have to say anything, just listen.” “Mmhmm,” Marble smiled at Trixie, and it set her heart at ease. “You know, when I got my cutie mark I thought I was going to be the best unicorn ever. I got into the same school as my sisters, and was gifted in illusion magic. It really did seem like everything would be wonderful for me,” Trixie said. “Then one day I met the perfect student, the one that made me feel like I was nothing more than a little fish in a large ocean. I met Twilight Sparkle. You ever meet her?” “Mm-mmm.” Marble snuggled into Trixie’s flank and relaxed. Suddenly the pit didn’t feel so tight or constrained, it just felt cozy. Trixie grinned. “Well let Trixie tell you all about little miss ‘I don’t make friends with anypony because magic is so much better than you.’ It all started when I was struggling with a new spell, one that I had to learn in order to pass a test. I thought that maybe she could help me, so I had Minuette introduce me to her and boy was she just the worst tutor ever…”