A Demon In Equestria

by Dorath

Interlude: Training, Learning, Performing

“Levnim Kaegro,” a beam of golden light shot from Trixie’s outstretched hand to splash against the training dummy, while the mare gave a slight grunt as the rapier in her other hand lanced forward to gouge another notch in the wood.

Across the cave, HellCaller didn’t even look up from where she was prepping some meat for smoking, “Again.”

Light blasted and wood chips flew.

“Again.”

“Can Trixie at least use another spell?” the unicorn groaned, “The Studious and Obedient Trixie has been doing these exercises for weeks and she could probably cast this invocation in her sleep now.”

“That is point, my Apprentice,” the demoness replied, finally bothering to look at Trixie, “Disrupt Undead is a very veak spell, but it is also only completely reliable spell against undead that a magus has, and once you are properly trained, you vill be able to cast it unlimited number of times in a day. It also doesn’t damage training dummy, so ve von’t have to replace it as often,” ‘Caller smirked at her student, “Besides, I thought you said positive energy bolt vas ‘pretty’.”

The illusionist sighed and turned back to her exercises, while 'Caller continued with her own tasks, until, a few hours later, she began to collect her tools, “Go in and vash up,” she told a sweating Trixie, “Ve’ll continue your studies tonight, for now ve’ll head into town. I’m sure you’ll find something to do, and I need to arrange for some armor for your training, anyway,” 'Caller grinned as the showmare gave a theatrical shudder.

---

Trixie groaned in relief as she flexed her stiff shoulders, getting measured, and a basic fitting, for a boiled leather cuirass, vambraces and greaves took more time and effort than she had thought, ‘Trixie is surprised that Ponyville even has a leatherworker who does armor,’ the illusionist mused, as she popped her spine, “Now, what should Trixie do?” her mentor had given her the rest of the afternoon off, but she didn’t really know what do with it, “Maybe … Trixie could go to the library? Only to find a book, of course.”

Heading towards Golden Oak, the showmare was nearly trampled when a herd of foals, freshly released from school, came swarming out of an alley, “Hey, look! Its Trixie!”

“Are you doing shows yet, Miss Trixie?”

“Trixie is sorry …,” the illusionist replied, blinking at the sense of deja vu, before the disappointment on the foals’ faces struck a chord inside of her, ‘Trixie has no supplies or equipment … but Trixie started her career with nothing more than her talent and drive!’ “Yes, yes Trixie will put on a show! Trixie will be at the park gazebo in fifteen minutes, and Trixie expects to see you all there!”

---

A sudden explosion of smoke heralded Trixie’s appearance in the gazebo and return to the stage; what followed was over an hour of sleight of hand, minor illusions, and misdirection. The showmare even spontaneously adapted some of the minor invocations she had learned from HellCaller to entertainment purposes by chilling her audience’s drinks and exposing some of the spectators to the warm, tingling, feeling Disrupt Undead caused a living subject. And she managed to do it without once mocking any of her audience or issuing a challenge to anypony, despite some urges to return to her old, antagonistic, style.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie thanks you all,” Trixie bowed extravagantly as the foals, and several adults who had wandered in, clapped wildly, “Trixie will have new shows as her training permits, tell your friends!” and, with that, the she disappeared in another cloud of smoke.

---

Trixie leaned back gratefully into the armchair, hiding a grimace as her sore muscles twinged – she was a showmare, something of an academic, and well accustomed to life on the road, but now she was training to also be a magical warrior, and that instruction put new and painful demands on her body.

The physical exertion, and its attendant aches, aside, Trixie was more engaged than she had been in years; she had put on a successful performance, and she was learning a whole new form of magic, one completely unknown not just in Equestria, but in the whole of Equis, and her teacher had decided that the illusionist's training was progressing well enough to earn her a small reward; one evening of questions, truthfully answered, as long as her mentor believed that Trixie could handle those answers.

Said mentor was currently sitting across from Trixie, her spell-wrought blade casually slung over her chair’s back, “So, vhat shall ve discuss, my student?” the demon asked, flashing her apprentice a fanged grin, “History? Politics? Tactics? Tales from my Realm you might turn into part of your show?”

“Trixie will take you up on the last one later, but for now, Trixie wishes to ask you about Names.”

“That … can be a dangerous question, Apprentice,” ‘Caller replied softly.

“Trixie is not so foolish as to ask after her teacher’s Name,” the unicorn sniffed, “But the Magus Corps must already deal with demons and the fae, and Trixie suspects she will need to be able to as well, and Names are an integral part of it.”

'Caller nodded her head, “Very vell, overview of Names it shall be, then. First thing you should know are that there are Names and then there are names, and then there are names, and no, I am not just talking in circles,” she smirked at Trixie before continuing, “For fae, as vell as greater beings from infernal, celestial, and elemental planes, vhat I know as ‘Outsiders’, a Name is not just a designation, it is a reflection, expression, of entity’s nature, in some ways it helps define that entity’s nature. Knowing a fae or outsider’s Name can give you power over it, vith right spells and enough strength of vill, you can use a Name to harm, hinder, bind, aid, or even kill, if you’re powerful enough. That is vhy fae and outsiders guard their Names so jealously, and more powerful among them are usually referred to by titles,” 'Caller took a draught from her mug before continuing, “Any summoner or diabolist vorth his salt knows a list of Names, and is always, always, looking to learn more, but, using Names is a dangerous business, invoking a Name too often or too casually vill rouse ire of one Named, and none can hold a grudge like immortal.”

“Next there are names, commonplace names people use without a though every day.”

Trixie frowned in confusion, ‘What do normal pony names have to do with the fae and demons?’

“For most folk it doesn’t matter too much,” ‘Caller went on, not noticing the unicorn's puzzlement, “But for anyone vho needs to deal vith Named it is vital to know that if one of Named knows your full, true, name, then they can use it to affect you just as invoking their Name can be used against them. And it’s not just Named you must be aware of,” she added, “Any caster can use knowledge of someone’s true name to strength rituals and curses, just like a lock of hair or bit of blood, so keep your true name a closely guarded secret, my Apprentice, and only give it to those you trust absolutely.”

“Finally, you have use-names and pseudonyms, like Deadhand, Mender, Limper, FarTraveller, Bride, or maybe something with a bit more style, like HellCaller,” the demon preened slightly as Kragor laughed, “For most part, such names provided excellent protection against anyone trying to use your name against you.”

“The Astute and Observant Trixie suspects that there is a ‘but’ coming.”

‘Caller nodded, “Longer a use-name is carried, and more renown or infamy that gets attached to it, more … let’s call it ‘veight’ … that name has in veave of Creation, after enough time, maybe being passed from person to person, and enough notable actions, a use-name becomes so representative of its bearer that it can serve as a second true name for rituals and other magic.”

Trixie frowned, “You are several centuries old, does that mean that you are still Named, even though you go by a use-name?”

“In normal course of things, yes, it vould,” the demoness agreed, “But there are ancient rituals that can sever a person’s connection to their name, sacrificing their name, or Name, for greater arcane power, those rites also prevent your new use-name from gaining enough ‘veight’ for it to replace vhat you forfeited.”

“The why does not every pony use these rituals?” Trixie inquired, “It sounds like it would offer much to anypony with magical talents.”

“It does, but there are drawbacks; most religions consider sacrificing your name to be some sort of sin, a rejection of your parents, ancestors and gods, so rituals are often treated as ‘black magic’. Then, there is fact that forfeiting your name makes it anathema to you, anyone vho knows it gains power over you, as much or ever more than power granted by knowing Name of a fae or an outsider. Finally, rituals are extremely difficult to perform and almost nothing is recorded about them, so each caster must re-discover rites themselves, and doing them even slightly vrong is quite fatal,” HellCaller got up, stretched, and went to refill her mug, “I think that is enough on that for tonight,” she said, turning back to face the showmare, “You have your studies, and another show to prepare for, I’d vager, so I vill let you get back to them," seeing Trixie's pout, she wagged her finger at the mare, "I promised you overview, and that is vhat you got. Think about vhat you have learned and come up vith more questions."

"Fine," the illusionist sighed, "But Trixie expects to hear stories from your Realm next time!"

"I'll try to remember some of better ones," 'Caller promised, chuckling.

Comments

[Asolem2]

“Maybe … Trixie could go to the library? Only to find a book, of course.”

Of course

[ChakatFirepaw]

10272362
Oh, there was a simple reason, it just didn't work for players who mindlessly looked at the rules and didn't consider setting-based restrictions: Gating in reinforcements meant that the demon/devil/etc. was generally either calling in or racking up favours. This meant that they generally didn't want to do it and wouldn't if they didn't need to.

It's also important to note that the dretch was the only one with the ever-expanding army effect. Almost every other such gate ability¹ would either get, on average, less than one being of equal power or beings of lesser power, (sometimes with a choice between the two). Demon/devil/etc. gate trees were not even the biggest 'if we only look at the rules' world-ender and note that there wasn't any such fix for incorporeal, spawn-creating, undead.

The main reason for the "no gate trees" change was making assigning CRs easier.

1: The main exception being the small chance of a succubus calling in her balrog boyfriend/master.

[Fireeaters]

Nice

[Dorath]

10273547 Oh yeah, wraiths and spectres were (and still are) far more of a world-ender than even the ever-expanding dretch horde of old editions. Only a few higher-tier spells can keep them out, the general populace (along with the bulk of common military) are absolutely helpless against them (low-level adventures will have a few viable attacks, depending on their class), and the spectre kills the average townsman (or low-level adventurer) in only 2 hits (or 4-5 hits for a wraith). The appearance of even one wraith (or worse, spectre) who is actually using their intelligence should result in the murder and conversion of entire cities in a single night, with the only delay being how long it takes the (ever-increasing) swarm to reach new victims.

As for the setting-based restrictions, while that worked for most demons, for a dretch, getting to a Prime Material plane was such a benefit that, IMHO, most would jump at the chance.

[ChakatFirepaw]

10274018
Dretches were actually easy: The only made gate attempts when they got into a fight. This is a combination of them not wanting to share and them simply being stupid and not really capable of thinking ahead in that way.

[Jonny Bench]

True name magic is always a fun topic. I have an old d&d book (I think 2e) that goes over the concept of it so you could make a character that uses true name magic. It’s a bit complex but also fun once you get the hang of it.

[Von Voctavia]

I've been using my OC's name sing 1991. My OC/online persona has evolved over time so much even my OC has an OC :D

Good luck Fae, even if you find my name that's not my name!