//------------------------------// // Chapter Seven: Study Buddies // Story: Marble Magic // by TheCrimsonDM //------------------------------// Marble Magic Chapter Seven: Study Buddies Written by TheCrimsonDM Trixie stared at the wall, studying the intricate lines in the crystal. Once she was sure that Pinkie Pie was gone she sat down and wiped the tears out of her eyes. She refused to allow that pink monster to see her cry. “I am so sorry about her behavior,” Twilight said. “Honestly I’ve never seen her so angry before… well not for any long periods of time. It’s almost like you broke a Pinkie Promise.” Trixie shook her head. “Trixie doesn’t know why Pinkie hates her so much.” There was an awkward pause. A purple wing wrapped around Trixie’s shoulder. “You wanna get to work researching Baast?” Trixie nodded. Once she turned around to face the books again she saw another pink pony enter the room. This one she liked. Starlight offered her a weak smile. Twilight turned around and frowned. “Did you hear all of that?” “Yeah… I did. Does anypony want to tell me what that was about?” Starlight asked. Trixie took a seat at the table. “Pinkie Pie has a problem with me. It’s not fair, and she’s really mean.” “I got that much, but what I meant was why.” “I don’t know,” Trixie let out a sigh. She did know and it was wrong to keep it from her best friend. Even with that said she didn’t want to go on at length about why Pinkie hated her so much. So instead she decided to change the subject. “This castle is too big, I got lost trying to find the library.” “I know, just the other day I caught Starlight teleporting herself outside to use the restroom in the garden because she couldn’t find a bathroom,” Twilight said. She laughed a little. “You were right next to one too.” “I was looking for one for an hour, it’s not my fault. My house was only two stories tall and had four rooms.” “Your house was also the nicest in the town.” “No it wasn’t, it was exactly like everypony else’s house… well except for the new ponies. They got the guest house until a new home could be built for them,” Starlight said. A frown came over her face. “I don’t like to think about it too much, it all started out really good… then I became a monster.” That got Trixie’s attention. “Again we are a perfect match for each other.” “Yeah.” Trixie nodded. “Trixie tried to do some good things in the past, good intentions and all that, and then she slowly became a monster. That’s probably why Pinkie Pie hate’s Trixie so much. Trixie locked everypony up in town for a few days until Twilight challenged Trixie to a second magic duel. Twilight cheated.” “I didn’t cheat!” Twilight defended. Trixie’s horn took on a purple glow and a book flew off the shelf and opened up to a certain page. She showed it to Twilight while recalling the words on the page, in more or less accurate order. “A magic duel is between two ponies, no outside help is allowed. This includes but is not limited to, switching ponies out underneath a veil to make it appear as though you had transformed a pony, having a pony perform the magic tricks for you, and-“ “Okay, okay, I get it,” Twilight said. “I did cheat.” Trixie smiled. “It is alright, Twilight. Trixie was being horrible and your plan was the only way that Trixie could be stopped, but please don’t pretend like that second duel was at all fair.” “The first one wasn’t very fair,” Twilight said. “It was in fact well within the rules to use a magical implement to empower one’s self. Trixie never broke the rules, and if she hadn’t used the Alicorn Amulet she never would have won. You do not seem to understand how much more powerful than Trixie you a- er Trixie means you misunderstand the power you have and it can make certain ponies feel bad about themselves,” Trixie said. “You’re still better at illusions than I am,” Twilight said. “That’s because Trixie is a better liar than you are,” Trixie said with a wink. Starlight sat down, “Wait, Twilight cheated? She never cheats, on anything.” Trixie allowed herself a small smirk. “Well apparently that’s not true.” “What else has Twilight cheated on?” Starlight asked. She leaned in as if to listen to more. Twilight huffed. “Why don’t you two get a room?” Trixie smiled. “Trixie would love to stay the night with such a cute unicorn mare.” Starlight’s cheeks managed to turn even pinker. “I uh… you’re cute too…” A cruel laugh escaped Trixie’s lips. “Thank you for saying so, but Trixie is afraid that she is taken. Perhaps you’ll find another unicorn mare, they might even be blue, but you shall never find one that is as great, or as powerful as Trixie.” “I think I’ll manage somehow,” Starlight said. Under her breath Trixie caught her saying, “I prefer the quiet ones anyway.” Trixie smiled. “Try Fluttershy than, but stay far away from Pinkie’s sister.” Starlight looked at her, and seemed to catch what Trixie was implying. “Oh, oh I uh, I see. I’ll go ask Fluttershy out sometime… maybe.” Twilight was looking rather uncomfortable. “So uh, Starlight, when are you going to go look into that dragon problem?” Starlight’s eyes shot wide. “Oh crap! I’m supposed to be at the train station.” Her horn began glowing and Trixie had to look away from the bright light. “I’ll be back soon, Twilight. I promise.” The air seemed to tighten, just before there was an audible pop, and Starlight was gone. Trixie would normally feel jealous of a pony with such power, but when it came to Starlight she was just happy for the mare. Now it was just Trixie and Twilight. “Hey, Trixie,” Twilight said. “Where do we start in our little project?” Trixie blinked a few times, and then she nodded over at the copy of A Saddle Arabia History. “Trixie can’t read that one, it’s not in equish.” Twilight smiled. “That’s because it’s in Catonese. Don’t worry, I’ll read that and when we’re done we can compare notes and see where this leaves us. It’ll be just like our old school days!” “Yes,” Trixie said. She didn’t have the heart to remind Twilight about how rude the princess used to be during their old school days and how even when she did help study with other ponies her arrogance was dominating. Even Trixie’s personality was crushed under Twilight’s. Of course that was all long before Twilight came to Ponyville, and the mare had been raising a child by herself so… Trixie couldn’t blame Twilight too much. If Celestia had dumped a baby on her lap at the age of eight, a dragon baby no less, than she would have simply buckled under the pressure. Twilight somehow managed to both survive and thrive under it. It was actually something Trixie admired greatly about the princess. Several hours of intense research later, Trixie and Twilight sat down to compile notes. Unfortunately all they found was that Baast had worked in a team of six cats to defeat the dog-god Anubis, and several other dangerous threats. Discord had apparently aided the group in their heroic actions, to which Twilight refused to believe, and that after a particular threat Baast found herself alone. Some time seemed to have passed between the final battle and the sealing of Baast, in which Baast was viewed as being evil. The information they found didn’t answer so many questions as it had asked. “So what do we do now?” Trixie asked. “These books didn’t tell us how to find her.” “I’m not sure, perhaps I can inquire about some books in Canterlot, but until then I suspect we will be on our own. I’ll send word to Celestia right away.” Twilight looked out the window. “The real problem is with her race. Guile was possibly the last of his kind, the majority of which were killed by Queen Chrysalis a few years ago… I let an entire race of intelligent beings get eaten and murdered because I was too busy arguing with my friends and too nice to destroy Chrysalis when I had the chance.” “He never told me,” Trixie said as she looked down at the floor. “I knew he was lonely but… not that he was actually alone.” “Well when Baast figures this out we’re going to have problems,” Twilight said. She rose to her full height and spread her wings out. “If she is as dangerous as history says she is, I may need to drag in the rest of the Elements of Harmony to deal with her.” “But if you do that, I… I don’t think I’ll be able to help you,” Trixie said. “At least three of your friends hate me.” “They don’t ha-“ “You saw Pinkie Pie.” “… yeah… I did. Why did she try to attack you anyway? I mean sure forcing her to watch you eating cupcakes when she had no mouth was certainly mean, but does it really require such… anger?” Trixie stood up and shook herself. Her legs were numb from sitting down for so long. “I don’t know.” “Really the only thing I can think of is if you had said something about her sisters,” Twilight pondered. “Trixie had never once said anything bad about Pinkie’s sisters… at least where Pinkie could hear. Only Minuette, Lyra, and Bonbon know about how Trixie feels about some of Pinkie’s family.” “Uh… you mean three of the ponies that Pinkie Pie is friends with?” Twilight asked. “Yes of course… oh… you don’t suppose that any of them may have let said anything, do you?” “Minuette is really bad at lying, she’s kinda blatantly honest,” Twilight said. “What exactly did you say about them?” “That Maud is a sociopathic pony that just so happens to hold the title for most boring pony in Equestria, and that Limestone is a bi-“ Trixie said. “Wow, okay, you don’t need to finish that… yeah if Pinkie Pie ever found out you said those things she would probably hate you forever, she’s sort of obsessed with her sisters.” “And that’s coming from the mare who had a crush on her older brother,” Trixie replied. “WHAT?” Twilight’s eyes shot wide open. “I do not, did not, have not, nor shall not. He is my brother, my flesh and blood, and besides he’s married to Cadence.” “I don’t see what the last one ha-“ “Because even if I had had any sort of emotions toward him I wouldn’t betray my sister in law just to reenact some kind of demented fantasy… not that I have any mind you.” Trixie smiled evilly. “Oh surely not, especially not of Shining Armor sneaking into your bedroom which is adjacent to Cadence’s one night while you’re sleeping in the Crystal Empire. He walks up to your bed, and climbs in. You’d wake up only enough to see him, smell his scent as he leaned over and just before his lips could meet with your own-“ “TRIXIE!” Twilight shouted, her horn lit up brightly. “I will not tolerate such obscene thoughts in my castle!” the world turned pink. “Come back when you are willing to apologize.” The cool wind blew over Trixie’s side and she blinked several times to get the pink out of her vision. She found herself standing outside of the castle, and staring at one of the houses in Ponyville, the sky was as clear as ever and Trixie had to sit down. She had just been booted from Twilight’s castle, which meant that she may have gone too far in teasing Twilight about those rumors circling the Canterlot gossip groups. Too bad Filli Vanilli doesn’t run anymore. They would have a field day with that one… probably for the best though. Trixie pushed herself up and began walking. She made a mental note to apologize to Twilight later, but for now she felt like she couldn’t simply wait around forever. It felt like it was time to visit some of her old friends; they may prove to be a useful distraction. It was time to visit Snips and Snails. It only took a few minutes to walk to their house. She had never considered how close they lived to the castle before. If she didn’t resent the idea of meeting with the Mane Six so much, she would actually find this impressive. As it was, she had a hard time not worrying about another encounter with the trio of terror. She knocked on the door and almost immediately the door was thrown open to reveal a blue unicorn mare with dark purple hair. She looked ragged and exhausted. She took one look at Trixie and smiled. “You’re just in time.” “Miss Shears,” Trixie nodded. Miss Shears looked back, her face gained deep lines as she screamed, “BOYS TRIXIE IS HERE TO PLAY!” There was a loud crash from inside and the mare didn’t even flinch. Seconds later two young colts came galloping down the stairs and up to the door. Trixie had her magic up and ready just as they leapt in the air towards her. She easily diverted them to either side of her and they landed in the dirt. They stood up right and grinned at her. “What did Trixie tell you two about jumping on her? Trixie doesn’t want her back thrown out again,” Trixie said. “She can’t afford the hospital bills.” They both smiled wider. Snips fluttered his eyes at her. “Oh Miss Trixie, the Great and Powerful, we didn’t mean it.” “Yeah,” Snails added. “We just wanted to say hi.” Miss Shears smiled at Trixie. “You two be good for Trixie, and be home by six or your grounded… again.” She then slammed the door shut and locked it. Trixie let out a sigh. “Okay, she’s just a little more upset than usual. What did you two do this time?” “We’re trying to learn carpentry,” Snips said. “But we couldn’t put the chairs back together,” Snails added. Sweet merciful Celestia these two are a mess… and I willingly subjected myself to them. Trixie looked over the horizon. “You two want to help me run a magic show?” “Sounds like fun,” Snips said. “Yeah, just leave it to your faithful stallions,” Snails added. “We’ll have an audience before you can blink.” Trixie smiled at them. “Good, then I’ll be running one in a half hour, and I’ll need you two as my assistants. Miss Direction and Peppers Ghost are still on vacation.” “Of course oh wonderful Trixie,” Snips said. “Anything for a mare as beautiful as you,” Snails added. They might have been walking train wrecks waiting to happen, but they sure were cute. She smiled and nodded for them to be off. Once they were on their way, proudly proclaiming that the Great and Powerful Trixie was about to run another show, she went back home to get her stage wagon. She could set it up in under ten minutes and since she wasn’t going overboard this time she already had everything she would need to run the perfect performance. In fact she had a new spell that she wanted to try out, and those two were the perfect guinea pigs to do so. *** Marble stood inside of the Carousel Boutique. There were so many fancy dresses around, the likes of which her family could never afford. For a good few minutes she stumbled about the room examining each dress like a new toy. She imagined herself wearing some of them, while Trixie wore the others and how cute they would be together. Perhaps they could even go to some sort of dance together, if the Marble Sense wasn’t a problem she would love to do that. Rarity walked down the stairs and took one look at Marble and smiled down at her. “Where’s your sister, darling?” Marble shrugged. Pinkie Pie kinda left me here and told me not to go anywhere until she got back. Marble remembered the note that Pinkie Pie wrote and pointed a hoof to the mirror it was stuck on. Rarity walked over, read the note and then smiled. “It would seem that your sister is taking care of some work right now. I am to be in charge of you until then, and if you are interested I am to offer you a job… hmm… I don’t exactly know what I would have you do- OH I KNOW!” Rarity galloped over to a dressing screen and walked back out with several dresses held aloft in her magic aura. “You are just the right size to model for my adolescent line of dress designs. There aren’t many teenagers in Ponyville after all. We have to send them to the next town over for high school. Sooo, will you model for me? I promise that nopony else will ever have to see.” Marble looked at the dresses, too small for most adult mares and too big for foals. For her though they looked just right. With a single nod, Rarity let out a shriek of pure joy. Marble couldn’t help but to smile at the dresses, they looked cute. She was positive that this was going to be lots of fun. *** Trixie stood on her stage and watched as the crowd dispersed leaving her with a feeling of accomplishment. Her spirits were raised and both Snips and Snails were packing things up back into the wagon. For a brief moment Trixie felt like nothing could ruin this moment. The air flashed with Pink light before her, and Twilight Sparkle appeared on her stage. “Trixie, we need to talk.” A sigh escaped Trixie’s lips and she sat down. Her horn lit up and she conjured forth a bouquet of flowers. They levitated over to Twilight, who grabbed them with a confused look in her eyes. Trixie tried to smile, but felt her recent victory in running a successful show could not wipe out the mistake she had made. “Twilight, Trixie is so sorry about what she said to you. It was just supposed to be a joke, and Trixie had no intention of hurting you. If words were enough to make up for Trixie’s actions she would say them all, but she knows that she cannot so easily make up for this. What can Trixie do to help you forgive her?” Trixie asked. “Oh… right you said something about my brother, it slipped my mind already. Um, you're forgiven, honestly Rainbow Dash does worse things to me on a daily basis and when Discord’s around… yeah, at least you don’t mean to be rude… most of the time,” Twilight said with a smile. “I’m forgiven, just like that?” Trixie asked taken aback. “Discord turned my mane into snakes once, so yeah, I can forgive you for a few upsetting words.” “How is Discord still free?” “Because Fluttershy used to beg me not to turn him to stone… she hasn’t done that in a while.” Twilight looked around. “Was it a good show?” “Oh yes, Trixie’s performance today was superb and all the foals went home with bellies full of laughter and heart full of cheer.” “That’s good, because I just found out that Canterlot has no relevant information. Only one scholar had the research we needed on creatures like Baast, and it’s going to be difficult finding any of his notes now.” Trixie met Twilight’s eyes and saw worry in them. “What do you mean?” “We’re going to have to find out if there are any more books left by Golden Oak, the previous owner of my old library.”