M.A.G.I.C. Tournament

by RarityEQM

Meet the Master

Lost, was an adequate way to describe the current location of her whereabouts. Of course, it is not the term Trixie would have preferred, or sought out for herself, but it's the term that worked the best, if she were to be completely honest with herself.

So she lied.

She was fine, even if the Everfree forest was vast. Overwhelming, in fact, and the stories Trixie had heard about this place did not paint a comforting light on the unfolding situation. Trixie figured it couldn't be that hard to track down some recluse mage in the woods. Especially for a pony whom was talented in sensing magical auras- like Trixie.

So after an hour of convincing herself she was following magical auras that were not there, and dark, shadowy paths that looked increasingly similar, Trixie had to admit to herself, that she may have gotten a teensie bit turned around. In nigh uncharted woods, that were also filled with terrible creatures hungry for pony meat. Trixie began to pick up her pace. She didn't quite know where she was going, but hopefully it was away from the creeping thoughts of dangerous creatures. Her relief was immeasurable when the large, solitary hut came into view, and Trixie found herself barreling towards it faster than she'd meant to. She burst into the hut with a gasp- as if drawing in life giving air from drowning in the ocean and looked around.

The interior was like some strange and unsettling explosion of culture that could have held its own against a museum. Tribal masks and jewelry dotted the higher interior of the room, whilst bottles, jars and plants of all kinds were crowded into various corners of the overstuffed little hut. A nose tickling incense smoldered somewhere deep inside the hut; it's scent only just masked by the humongous cauldron sitting in the middle of the room. Trixie frowned quietly, gazing over the various knick-knacks and tribal decorations she now found surrounding her.

Rarity had said something about this pony being a skilled herbalist, so this definitely fit that bill. Some sort of potion brewer. Magic through the use of science. Trixie could see why Twilight would get along with this mystery mage if this was the case. Still, the hut appeared to be empty, which meant Trixie was nowhere closer to finding this pony to help her win the competition.

"Hello?" She called out tentatively, perking an ear at the responding silence. Well, great. She'd wandered into the forest, gotten lost, come all this way, and for what?! Grumbling, Trixie turned to leave and frowned, ears splaying against the sides of her head. Oh, right. The lost part.

"Well...I...I guess I could stay until t-they come back. Just to ask for directions..." Trixie murmured quietly to herself, and nearly jumped out of her fur when someone gently cleared their voice behind her.

"WHOZA-WHAZZITS?!" Trixie squealed, twisting about on her hooves, and wildly flailing her hat around in front of her for defense. After a moment of frightened spasms, Trixie opened an eye and peered around the room. The place was exactly the same, only now, instead of the cauldron in the middle of the room, sat a statue-like zebra mare with her legs crossed and eyes closed. Trixie's mouth dropped open. Wait, had she always been there, and Trixie just didn't notice her? No, that was crazy, so how'd...how had she...

"If it's directions, that you need, I know these woods, quite well indeed," Came a voice. It didn't seem like it was coming from the zebra, but more from the hut itself. Trixie groaned and shook her head. It felt like something were wrong. Like the room itself was somehow muted. Or at least one of her senses were muted. It was strange...like if she realized she couldn't hear, she'd suddenly be focused on her hearing, only to realize she couldn't see instead. The moment her vision came back, was the moment she thought about it, and the moment she thought about her vision, was the moment she realized she'd stopped smelling the incense in the room, but all of that dissolved into nothing when the Zebra spoke again, and Trixie found herself drawn to the haunting rhythm of her voice.

"But, if you're here to cause me trouble, you'll regret it on the double, " The zebra explained, calmly. Quickly, Trixie shook her head, and drew her cape slightly tighter around her, before taking a deep breath. First impressions. First impressions. You need her help. Make this count...

"You're a zebra!" words Trixie were certainly thinking. Words that crept from her mouth and hung suspended in the air, bright with social awkwardness and destroying any potential first impressions Trixie might have been hoping to achieve. Words, when viewed in retrospect, could be considered quite rude. The zebra mare in question opened a single eye and cast upon Trixie a devil's glare; that was almost instantly repelled with a smooth flash of a smile.

"Trixie apologizes. Trixie was not prepared to meet a zebra today. From Trixie's past, she is aware one must be prepared to take in the utter magnificence of their stripes. Your coat is breathtaking." Explained the blue mage, displaying her widest, charming smile. *squee* She nailed that, and she knew it. From her vantage point, Trixie could swear she caught the hint of a smile tugging at the zebra's lips, but it was gone in an instant.

"Hollow words, I think you flaunt, but tell me pony, what do you want?" The zebra asked, still frozen like a statue, and still peering into the distance behind closed eyes. Trixie bit at her lower lip. She'd not enamored her new encounter, but she'd not driven them away, either. She shrugged. Could have gone worse.

"Very well! I, am the Great and Powerful Trixie! And The Great and Powerful Trixie was told there is a powerful mage in these woods, ...which...would be you?" Trixie squeaked lamely. She coughed. Well, this was awkward...Sure, the Zebra could have been a powerful magic user, but she wasn't a mage. Mages used their horns and magic for combative purposes, like dueling. This mare wasn't even a unicorn. Sure, there were rumors of Earth ponies being able to use magic. Hypnosis, and psychic powers ( not that there were any claims with substantiated evidence). And scientists, of course. This pony in front of her was perhaps, a powerful earth pony scientist, but she was no mage. Which meant she wasn't a duelist. Which meant Trixie was wasting her time.

"W-Well...Trixie is a friend of Twilight's and w-was told that there was a mage in these woods who could help her train for an upcoming magic duel, but Trixie can see that you're busy..." Trixie sputtered taking a step back. The Zebra, who Trixie was now convinced was Zecora, broke into a gentle smile.

"To hear her called 'just A friend' might bring about a hostile end." Zecora grinned quietly, while Trixie's face burst into a full bloom of rosy embarrassment. The blue witch wildly shook her head and held up her hooves. Another fight was the last thing she wanted from Twilight right now. The zebra drew in a slow breath, and then gestured in front of her for Trixie to take a seat. Trixie winced. Well...it...couldn't hurt to see what she had to say, just for a little while, at least. Just to be polite. After all, she'd come awfully far see this Zebra. And so, quietly, Trixie drew in a deep breath and sat down in front of the meditating mare.

"If it's training, that you seek, I can help hone your technique." The Zebra said quietly. Trixie drew a frown though and again shook her head. Cultural differences didn't stir up often, but when they did, it was often due to the rule of unicorns centuries and centuries ago. Magic was the end all rule of power, which meant Unicorns were on the top of society. They were often at odds with the Pegasus ponies, but both of them agreed that Earth ponies, with all their strength, still had no true magic to boast of. (This would of course later be addressed and ultimately changed to include Earth pony strength as a kind of magic, but Trixie was sick that week in school.) After several wars had been fought, and protests and sit ins, Earth ponies were generally accepted to have magic, and telling a pony they had the wrong 'type' of magic for something (especially an Earth pony) was a gravely cultural faux pas. One Trixie was trying her hardest to avoid as she gave Zecora a sheepish smile. What could an Earth pony possibly teach her about magic dueling?

"N-no no. That's alright. T-Trixie would...hate to...hurt you. And dueling isn't widely known for its.......Earth Pony participants." Trixie stammered sheepishly and shot Zecora a sympathetic grin. Zecora simply closed her eyes and smiled thinly, giving a quiet chuckle in agreement with her guest.

"Judge me by my stripes, do you? I am a zebra, this is true. Your ignorance I find most tragic, Heh. Please. Show me what you know of magic. " Zecora chuckled dryly opening an eye to peer at the stunned little unicorn sitting in front of her.

Quietly Trixie sighed. If this Zebra insisted she get her pretty stripes rearranged, who was Trixie to argue? A quick burst of a spell and she'd be on her way back to training for the competition. She stood up and shook herself off, slowly pointing her horn at the quiet zebra, and it began to charge with a purple glow.

"For what it's worth. Trixie thinks you are very brave to challenge her." Trixie exclaimed. Zecora didn't answer, only simply started to hum. Trixie frowned. Whatever tribal beat Zecroa seemed to be humming was warm and rhythmic, but gave nothing in the way of tactical defense from magic. HI-YA! Trixie fired the mighty shot of magic she was charging from her horn. At least, she thought she fired a shot. She should have fired a shot. A shot should have been fired, but instead, all Trixie had was the strangest sense that she'd forgotten something. Like she'd stepped into the other room to fetch something, only to have forgotten what it was the moment she got there. Instead of fetching something, though, it felt like she'd just lost her train of thought while she was preparing to fire her stunning shot. She frowned. The Zebra hadn't moved.

"Sometime this year, I'm waiting, it's clear." Zecroa grumbled. Trixie took a step back, narrowing her eyes at the- wait, where she go? The Zebra was gone- vanished from sight, right in front of her! Thats when Trixie realized she was humming- the same tune Zecora was humming before. A song that weaved itself into her head and seemed to suck up all of her concentration.

"Over here, my dear." Whispered Zecroa from somewhere behind Trixie. The blue mage gave a squeal, and whirled around, glaring daggers at the zebra calming standing behind her. How was she doing this? What sort of card did she hold? Impossible! Trixie turned around, narrowing her eyes and preparing for a full frontal blast of magic, but her target wasn't there, and Trixie found herself humming again.

"Your focus is all but for pretend, I think this farce it's time to end," Zecora explained, directly from Trixie's left, sitting calmly, once again in her meditative stature. Trixie frowned. The Zebra's voice was so calm, so soothing. Almost hypnotic in the rhythmic way she spoke. It was the bass. She had such a beautiful, bassy voice deep and resonating. Almost like a lullabye. No, not like a lullabye, more like at chant of some kind. What kind of chant was that? Trixie frowned. She was lost in thought. In the middle of a duel. And she caught herself humming Zecora's hum again. Trixie's eyes widened. That was it! The hum! Her voice! It was some spell that had to do with her voice! She was speaking th-

The world spun around and Trixie landed on her back with a mighty thud. She groaned, peering up at the image of Zecora, that slowly came into view over head.

"...How...how did you do that?" Trixie whimpered. Zecora shook her head quietly.

"It would take a very long time to learn. A skill with practice, you might earn. " Zecora explained. Zecora the zebra explained. Zecora the earth pony who had no magic aura Trixie could sense in the slightest. Zecora the earth pony who just beat Trixie without firing a single burst of magic. An earth pony. First impressions indeed...

"I'll be back at eight tomorrow. "squeaked Trixie. Zecora smiled.

Author's Note:

I finished writing this one on the plane! I don't have time to edit it though (Cause I'm horrible at editing and need an editor), and I don't know if this'll go through or not!

Comments

[Mooncalf]

"Judge me by my stripes, do you?"

Because the Yoda parallels weren't obvious the first time.

Very interesting take on Zecora. less flash, more control.

It reminds me of the last time I played Baldur's Gate a while back. On that playthrough, I realized for the first time that fireballs and magic missiles were a waste of power as an overall strategy - what you want is magic that lets you dominate the field and incapacitate opponents.

Zecora's got the same thinking, it seems. Cool.

[Cross Lament]

solidarity hut

'Solitary', I think? Though, I'm sure Zecora's hut is very loyal.

still had no true magic to boost of.

'Boast of'... or 'boost off' I guess, if the earth pony in question is studying rocketry.

Sneaky magic is, of course, the best magic.

[TheTownCrier]

I do some editing.

[Dipti]

i think Trixie Should be glad Zecora is a Shaman instead of a Wicthdocter.