To Be Great and Powerful

by A bag of plums

Chapter 2 - A Helping Hand

Trixie looked at the Kirin, her brow furrowed.

“Last free knight?” she repeated slowly. She hadn’t even known that the Kirin people had knights. Although, truth be told, she didn’t know much about the Kirin people at all.

Winter Frost pushed himself back up into a standing position. “Yeah. We should get away from here. More of the Miasme will come looking for these ones.” He gestured to the three downed mages that they had just defeated. He held his wooden box up and grimaced as he saw the crack in the wood. “Damn. No hiding it from them now.”

“Wha- Miasme?” Trixie asked, feeling more and more out of her depth. The smell of burning flesh filled the schoolgirl’s nose and she remembered that this Kirin was injured. “Look, we have to get you medical attention. Can you walk?”

Winter Frost grimaced and rocked backward onto his feet unsteadily. “I think I can manage a short walk. Lead the way.”

The Kirin made it a few steps before his legs gave out and he stumbled, reaching out with one hand to catch himself and keeping the other arm curled tightly around his cargo. “Ah… it seems those heretics got me harder than I thought,” he said through gritted teeth. “I don’t suppose…?”

Without another word, Trixie lifted up the Kirin and gave him her shoulder to lean on. The black furred collar of his cloak tickled her cheek. “I’ve never met a Kirin before,” she said as a way to distract herself from the task at hand. “Aren’t the Murian Isles way over by the Celestial Seas?”

Winter Frost nodded but said nothing. They walked on and left the orange orchard, pausing only to let Trixie re-lock the gate. By now night had fallen and the Kingdom of Canterlot was lit up with pale yellow flameless lanterns on tall metal poles. The city looked quite pretty from a distance, Trixie thought.

“So… that’s Canterlot…” Winter Frost croaked from the side with a weak laugh. “I almost didn't realise I had travelled so far.”

“Why were you coming here, and who were those hooded people who attacked you?” Trixie asked.

“Not here,” the Kirin whispered. “Just know that they were after what’s in the chest, and I can’t let them have it.”

As they walked up to Canterlot’s front gates, the Kirin waved his free hand and the pair of them suddenly became invisible. Trixie yelped at the sudden wash of magic over her body and almost dropped Winter Frost. An invisibility spell was meant to be one of the higher tiers of magic that she had not yet even come close to mastering. She could still see herself and Winter Frost, but they were surrounded by a cocoon of magic that prevented anyone from seeing them.

“What was that?” She hissed, stopping. “Why do we have to be invisible?”

The Kirin coughed. “The fewer people know I’m here, the better.”

“Why is that?”

“Not now. In fact, it’s probably better… that we don’t go to a hospital. News about a Kirin being treated there will spread fast.”

“Why is it so important that nobody knows you’re here?” Trixie complained. She was growing tired of the Kirin’s cryptic remarks.

Winter Frost suddenly gripped Trixie’s collar, pulling her face uncomfortably close to his own. “Because more of the Miasme will come looking for me,” he said through clenched teeth. “If they manage to get what I’m holding, destruction and ruin will follow. Nobody will be safe! That’s why the fewer people know I’m here, the better…” he finished with a pained groan and slid halfway to the ground before Trixie pulled him back up again.

Close to exasperation, Trixie asked, “Who are these Mias- you know what, tell me later. If not a hospital, where else am I supposed to take you? You have literal holes in your back, for Celestia’s sake!”

Winter Frost eyed Trixie up and down. “Celestia. You’re a student at Celestia’s magic school?”

Trixie looked down at her uniform. On her breast was the crest of the school, a complicated sigil that incorporated both Headmistress Celestia and Vice-Headmistress Luna’s own royal emblems.

“Yes…” the schoolgirl confirmed.

“Then take me there. You must have a clinic on campus,” the Kirin’s voice sounded even more strained now, and Trixie didn’t want to argue with him, as it was clearly taking a lot out of him just to speak.

The invisible pair, with Trixie leading, walked right past the gate guards and into Canterlot’s city streets.

There were a moderate amount of people on the streets and Trixie had to remind herself that they wouldn’t get out of the way, courtesy of Winter Frost’s invisibility spell. But they managed to navigate the crowds well enough until they came within sight of Trixie’s school.

The structure was hewn and built into the side of the mountain, and was made of the same shimmering, pinkish-white stone that all the early buildings in Canterlot were constructed from. The magic academy had been here ever since the founding of Canterlot, in order to teach and raise mages for the defense of the kingdom. Eventually Canterlot’s influence had spread, and aspiring magicians from all across Celestia and Luna’s domain came to learn sorcery from the finest.

Trixie felt her stomach do a small lurch as she looked at the academy. There were still some lights on, but all the students would have gone home for the day, either to their dormitories or apartments. That meant she wouldn’t run into anyone who might know about her magical ineptitude. Not that it mattered anyway, she reminded herself. She was invisible.

Thankfully, the gates weren’t locked, and Trixie knew for a fact that some of the staff practically lived on campus. She and her Kirin passenger entered the school grounds, keeping to the footpaths to avoid leaving prints on the grass. They had just crossed the front lawn when the invisibility spell that Winter Frost had cast began to flicker in and out.

“Please hurry…” the Kirin whispered. Sweat beaded his face from the effort of keeping his enchantment active.

The infirmary of the academy wasn’t hard to find. It was tucked away in the eastern wing of the campus, and was marked by a white circle with an ornately designed red cross within it. Trixie pushed open the door and steered herself and Winter Frost inside, just as the invisibility spell failed completely.

“Nurse Redheart!” Trixie called out into the infirmary. “Anyone?”

A woman with pink hair in a bun and wearing a white doctor’s outfit stepped out from behind a shelf of tonics and potions. She saw Trixie and Winter Frost and immediately snapped into action.

“Oh! Miss Lulamoon?” Redheart dropped her clipboard and hurried over to help support Winter Frost’s limp body. “What happened? Who is this? Is that a…?” The nurse saw the blast marks in the Kirin’s back and motioned for Trixie to lay him onto one of the beds.

“Kirin, yes,” Trixie confirmed. “And he’s hurt pretty badly. Can you help him?”

Nurse Redheart got to work unfastening the Kirin’s cloak, then his jacket and undershirt while Trixie stood by, watching. It was a struggle to get the clothing off, due to the fact that Winter Frost maintained a death grip on his wooden chest, even though he was bordering on unconsciousness.

“I can’t treat him like this,” Redheart said exasperatedly, trying to tug the container out of the Kirin’s arms so that he could lie flat.

Trixie knelt down to Winter Frost’s head and spoke gently.

“We made it to the infirmary. Everything’s going to be okay, but we can’t help you while you’re holding that chest. I know it’s important to you, but you have to let go of it. Just for a little while.”

The Kirin turned his head to look at Trixie. His face was gaunt and colorless, but he managed to answer. “I can’t. Someone… has to keep it safe…”

Trixie reached out and tentatively put her hand on Winter Frost’s shoulder. She admired the Kirin’s tenacity, though she did not know why.

“It’s okay, you’re in a safe place,” Trixie crooned soothingly. “You’re hurt. Let us help you.”

Winter Frost looked at Trixie blearily. “But… the chest…”

“I’ll watch it for you,” Trixie offered. “I won’t even take it out of this room. You can watch me hold it, right here,” Trixie patted her thighs. “I promise I won’t run off with it.”

Winter Frost seemed to consider the idea. “Promise?” he asked.

“I promise,” Trixie held out her arms.

With great reluctance, the Kirin’s grip on the wooden chest slowly eased and the container slid into Trixie’s hands. It was surprisingly light, and she gave it a slight shake, but there wasn’t anything rattling around within. She sat down on the next bed over, placing the box in her lap. This seemed to be the final straw for the Kirin’s defiance. He collapsed face down on his bed and Nurse Redheart was able to get his jacket and undershirt off.

“Ooh…” Redheart winced as she beheld the injuries. There were more than Trixie had first seen; smaller cuts and half-healed lacerations, burns and bruises, and the most recent wounds, the blast wounds in his back. The holes slowly oozed with blood and the flesh around them was tinged a nasty purple color.

The nurse promptly got to work, pulling jars of ointments, salves, and potions down from the shelves. She began with a pinkish-red potion that she poured into a cloth to dab onto the Kirin’s more serious injuries. Once that was done, Redheart closed her eyes and waved her hands in a complicated formation. Several rolls of linen and gauze flew out from one of the shelves and wrapped themselves neatly around Winter Frost’s torso. Then she began to apply cream and ointment to the smaller cuts and bruises.

“The burns and lacerations I can heal with no problem,” Nurse Redheart told Trixie as she worked, since she couldn’t possibly be talking to the unconscious Kirin. “It’s the more serious wounds that will take time to mend. They’ve been inflicted by dark magic, so ordinary methods won’t work on them.”

“But you can heal him, can’t you?” Trixie asked anxiously.

“I’ll try my best,” Nurse Redheart said as she went back to applying smaller bandages.

Feeling somewhat like a third wheel, Trixie looked down at Winter Frost’s discarded raiment, now able to look at them properly. There was his cloak, dark and worn at the hem and trimmed around the collar with black fur. A black, long-sleeved jacket-like garment that was trimmed with gold thread. There were holes in the back of the jacket where the spells had burrowed through. Finally there was the grey undershirt, which seemed unremarkable except for a symbol of a horse-like creature with a curved horn embroidered on the front. They were obviously expensive and well-made, though the outfit had clearly seen better days.

Nurse Redheart busied herself with her healing arts and magics in the meantime, and by the time she stepped away, more than an hour had passed.

“I’ve done what I can for him,” the nurse told Trixie as she wiped her hands with a sterilized cloth. “But a Kirin, this far away from the Murian Isles? I’ve only seen a Kirin twice in my life, and those were at international health conferences all the way in Manehattan. He should be stable for now, but like I said, the wounds caused by dark magic will take time to heal. Where did you find him?”

Trixie shifted uncomfortably, unsure of how much she should tell Nurse Redheart. Winter Frost hadn’t wanted people to know he was here, for some rather ominous reason. But she saw no harm in telling the nurse where she had found him.

“I found him out in the orchards, while taking a walk,” Trixie said awkwardly. She was very aware of the weight of the chest in her lap. There must have been some kind of magical item inside, for through the crack in the wood she could feel the mana seeping out. She wondered what it could be that this Kirin would guard it so jealously. “He was hurt, so I brought him here.”

“Why not a hospital?” Nurse Redheart asked.

“He didn’t want me to take him to one,” Trixie explained. “In fact, it’s probably best if we kept his presence here a secret.”

Redheart looked confused. “What? Why?”

“Because it will place you in danger if people know you helped me,” Winter Frost’s faint voice came, making both Redheart and Trixie jump. The Kirin slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position in the bed. “My thanks to you, doctor. I do not think I would have survived without your help.”

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Redheart said modestly. “But would it not be better to transfer you to a place with more resources and staff? You might recover quicker.”

But the Kirin shook his head. “It’s already a risk that you know I’m here. For the sake of my people and yourselves, I have to ask that you keep my presence here a secret. The both of you.”

“Now look here, master…”

“Winter Frost,” Trixie supplied.

“Winter Frost,” Nurse Redheart continued. “If you intend to stay here, I can’t keep your presence a secret. This clinic is open to the whole school; students come in here every day! I can’t hide you in here.”

“I see, that is an issue…” Winter Frost sighed and winced at the motion. “And I am in no condition to find a place of my own to hide in. Unless…?” He turned to Trixie.

A sudden spark of an idea rushed through Trixie, and before she knew it she had opened her mouth to speak without really thinking.

“I could hide you,” the schoolgirl offered. “I live in an academy-sponsored apartment a short way from the school. My roommate graduated last year, so I’m all alone now. Still got her bed and everything.”

Winter Frost blinked. “Do you get a lot of visitors?”

“I- no, not really,” Trixie admitted, more than a little embarrassed. “I don’t, um, have a lot of friends. Or any, really,” she finished with a mumble.

“That sounds like it could work,” Nurse Redheart nodded. “And I could come by regularly to see about treating your injuries. It’ll be a while before you’re fully recovered, and as a healer, it’s my duty to ease a patient’s pain as much as I can on their road to recovery.”

Winter Frost looked taken aback at the sudden display of generosity. Then he inclined his head gratefully. “Thank you. The both of you.”

“But I have one condition,” Trixie added. She placed a hand on the box that was still on her lap. “I want you to tell me what’s going on with you and this chest.”

“Knowing the truth will put you in even greater danger,” Winter Frost warned.

“I’ll already be sheltering you in my house, don’t you think that also puts me in danger?” Trixie countered.

“...Fair enough,” the Kirin conceded after a pause. “It’s not like I have much of a choice in the matter.” He slowly slid his legs out of bed and onto the floor, then buttoned his jacket around his person. “All right, once I’m settled in, I’ll tell you. How far is your apartment?”

---

Comments

[RTStephens]

So far I'm interested in where this is going. The world and setup is nothing I haven't seen before, but I'm not too picky about that as long as the plot is engaging. So far, it is, mainly because Trixie is my main mare.

I don't see any issues with the writing itself, so keep it up!

[Crimson Bolt]

Good job helping a dude in need Trixie.