The Ties that Bind

by the7Saviors

An Exciting Annoucement

It had now been five days since the three fillies had begun their studies anew. Spring was officially here and the days were slowly getting warmer and warmer. Patches of dirt, grass, and some of the newly blooming flowers could be seen amidst the still melting snow.

Ancient Scroll had decided it was time to see where each of the fillies strengths and interests lie within each branch of magic they were learning. To this end, he called all three of them into his study after breakfast to discuss the matter.

"I take it you've already decided on what you want to focus your studies on, Trixie?" Ancient Scroll guessed, noting the self-satisfied smirk on the blue filly's face.

"As a matter of fact, Trixie has!" she answered proudly. The filly stood up on her hind legs and waved her hooves dramatically, "Trixie will become the greatest practitioner of Illusory Magic Equestria has ever seen!" she pointed a hoof at Ancient Scroll as Sunset rolled her eyes and Twilight facehoofed, "and she will start by perfecting the difficult and complex art of the Decoy spell!"

"Wait, that's what you ran off to learn?" Twilight cried incredulously, "Trixie, the amount of mana required to maintain even an imperfect decoy for more than a minute would tax an average adult unicorn!"

"Perhaps," Trixie replied with a sniff, "but perhaps Trixie isn't just your average unicorn."

"The strain would knock you out for days if not outright kill you!" Twilight argued with a stomp of her hoof, "this is exactly what I was talking about before! Your mana wellspring isn't developed enough for complex spells like that yet!"

"And just how do you know that, Twilight Sparkle?" Trixie shot back, getting in the lavender filly's face, "have you personally done a thorough examination of my mana level?"

"Well... no," Twilight conceded reluctantly, "but, still-"

"Would you two knock it off?" Sunset cried in exasperation, "it doesn't matter if Trixie has the capability to pull off a Decoy spell or not, you'd still have to get the okay to even try it from Uncle - er - Professor Scroll!"

"You can drop the Professor bit, Sunset," Ancient Scroll said with an amused chuckle, "it's not catching on like I hoped it would anyway," he turned to the other two fillies to find them glaring daggers at each other, "as for you two..."

Twilight and Trixie yelped in surprise as they were suddenly lifted up in a green aura and placed directly in front of a stern faced Ancient Scroll.

"That'll be enough of that," he set them back down in front of the desk as he spoke, "Trixie raises an interesting point about a magical examination."

"She does?" they both asked simultaneously with equal surprise.

Ancient Scroll nodded.

"Up until now, I've relied on my keen sense of judgement when it comes to gauging a pony's magical potential, and it hasn't steered me wrong yet," he leaned back in his chair and eyed the two fillies thoughtfully, "but I think an actual examination of your magic might yield some interesting results - and it'll give me the chance to use something I picked up awhile back."

"What is it?" Sunset asked curiously.

"I'll tell you later," Ancient Scroll said with a dismissive wave of his hoof, "but it'll be neat, trust me on that. Anyway," he turned his attention back to Twilight and Trixie, "from what I can gauge, Trixie might just have what it takes to pull off a Decoy spell despite her age, so I'll allow it."

"What? Seriously?" Twilight cried, looking from Ancient Scroll to a smug looking Trixie, "but I... but she..."

The lavender filly's mouth flapped uselessly for a few moments before she sighed in resignation.

"Well, if Uncle Scroll says you're ready then I won't argue anymore," she narrowed her eyes at Trixie, "but don't overdo it, Trixie," she warned, jabbing a hoof into Trixie's chest, "If it feels like you're about to pass out, stop the spell."

"Trixie will be perfectly fine," the blue filly replied confidently as she batted Twilight's hoof away, "when it comes time to show her skills, Trixie will blow you away with the most spectacular performance you've ever laid eyes on!"

Twilight gave another sigh an shook her head while Ancient Scroll let an amused smile play across his face. He turned to Sunset with a slight frown.

"And what about you, Sunset?" he asked, "have you decided what you enjoy about Elemental Magic or is there anything in particular you want to focus on?"

Sunset bit her lip as she thought about what to say.

"Well..." she began tentatively, "from my own examinations, I found out that I actually do have a talent for Fire Magic specifically... but..."

"But you want to distance yourself from it for now," Ancient Scroll finished solemnly. When Sunset gave a small nod, he shook his head, "that's fine for now, Sunset, but you're going to have to face your fears sooner or later."

"I know, Uncle Scroll," Sunset replied, staring at her hooves, "I know that, but... I just... need some time right now, that's all."

"I understand," Ancient Scroll said with a sigh, "is there anything else that's caught your interest in the meantime?"

"Well, actually," Sunset said perking up a bit, "I've been reading about Earth Magic in-depth and I'm interested in a lot of the spells I've seen. I think I'd like to try some more of them next."

"Anything in particular?" Scroll asked. Sunset shook her head.

"Not yet, but I'll let you know when I find something, Uncle Scroll."

"Fair enough," Ancient Scroll turned to the lavender filly who began speaking before he had the chance.

"I want to learn more about Shadow Magic."

Scroll's eyes widened in surprise.

"Really now?"

Twilight nodded resolutely.

"Out of all the Dark Magic I've read about, Shadow Magic is one of the least corruptive sub branches and my books actually recommend it as a good practice for beginners," she smiled as she though about what she had read, "not only that, but there's actually several Shadow Magic spells that provide a much more mana cost-effective alternative to some Soul Magic spells."

"Like what?" Trixie asked curiously.

"Well, like Shadow Step versus Teleportation for example," Twilight explained, "while you can only move from shadow to shadow with Shadow Step, it's just as fast as Teleportation and costs way less mana to use."

Trixie gave an intrigued nod.

"It may cost less mana to use," Ancient Scroll added, "but it still seems a bit out of your league at the moment, little filly."

"Oh, I know," Twilight replied, "but I'll be learning that the first chance I get. For now though I think I'll focus on Light Absorption and Shadow Cloaking."

Ancient Scroll worked his jaw silently for a moment before giving a slow, reluctant nod of approval.

"I'll allow it, but you need to make sure not to overdo it, little filly," he warned, "I'm sure you've read about what happens to those who use nothing but Dark Magic for too long."

"Yeah, I... I'll be careful, Uncle Scroll," Twilight said, grimacing at the memory of the rather nasty side effects of prolonged Dark Magic use she had read about.

Ancient Scroll nodded in satisfaction and stood up from his desk.

"Alright then, girls, now I've got some exciting news for ya," he said, clopping his hooves together. Each of the fillies perked their ears up in curiosity and he continued with a smirk, "I think it's about time we all had a... well let's call it a 'family outing' shall we?"

Twilight's excited reaction and Sunset's curious expression were what he was expecting, but he raised an eyebrow at Trixie's nervous frown. He made note of it as he continued his explanation.

"Spring's here and Faranda Way Village is having their annual Spring Festival to celebrate," he said, planting his hooves on the table, "and I thought, since we never ended up celebrating Hearth's Warming, we could all go to the festival instead."

He looked around at each filly, "Since the town's so close to the Equestrian border, they've integrated various food, drink, and games that different races outside of Equestria have brought over the years, so it's as much a cultural exchange as it is a celebration of changing seasons."

Twilight clopped her hooves together in excitement at the chance to learn about different cultures. Sunset looked off to the side as she thought about the various foods she would get to try, and Trixie...

"You okay, little filly?"

Trixie jumped slightly and looked over to a concerned looking Ancient Scroll.

"Oh, yeah... Trixie can't wait..." she muttered half-heartedly, "sounds like fun."

Twilight and Sunset picked up on the hesitation in Trixie's voice and glanced at each other worriedly.

"Trixie..." Sunset began, "if you don't wanna go-"

"No-no," Trixie said, shaking her head and giving them a weak smile, "Trixie is fine with it. We haven't had a trip like this since... well, I don't think we've ever had a trip like this," she gave a chuckle that sounded just as half-hearted, "it'll be something Trixie can look forward to doing with all of you."

The others all looked at each other again with frowns of worry and concern.

"Alright, little filly," Ancient Scroll finally said, "if you're okay with it, the festival starts in two days, so we'll be leaving for Faranda Way Village then."

Trixie nodded and turned to leave the study.

"Well, Trixie's tired so she'll be taking her leave now if that's everything."

"But it's still-"

Trixie trotted out of the room and slammed the door shut behind her.

"...morning," Twilight finished with a frown.

"Uncle Scroll, is she gonna be okay?" Sunset asked the old stallion, "she obviously doesn't wanna go."

"I have a hunch..." Ancient Scroll said slowly as he started at the door, "and if my hunch is correct, we need to keep a close eye on that filly."

"Why?" Twilight asked, "is she going to do something bad?"

Ancient Scroll shook his head.

"I'm not too sure, little filly..."

He looked down at the two worried fillies with a grimace of his own.

"...but my gut says something bad is going to happen if we're not paying attention."

Author's Note:

Come one, come all!

Fun times at the annual Spring Festival are guaranteed!

...Or are they?

On another note, I accidentally cancelled out of the tab without saving and deleted all my progress. Practically had to start again from the beginning so that's why this is going up later than usual, sorry bout that.

Comments

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Hmm... Let's hope Trixie doesn't try and do anything rash...

[ungulateman]

Faranda Way village? Beautiful. I'm legitimately impressed at how bad-it's-good that pun is.

[Biker_Dash]

I accidentally cancelled out of the tab without saving and deleted all my progress. Practically had to start again from the beginning

That is one of the advantages of using Gdocs. Instant autosaving.

[dvdspires]

and I though, since we never ended up celebrating

Thought.

[Prince Leviathan]

Faranda Way
Not to be confused with Closean Neir