My Most Faithful Mortifer

by hamishwarfare

Chapter. 21 – The Dance with a Devil (Part.2 )

Chapter. 21 – The Dance with a Devil (Part. 2)

The eerie stillness of the Everfree Forest was known to scare ponies by simply being there. No great scares, no hidden menaces, just the stillness of the air as a whole; that has been known to turn expedition parties from their planned adventures.

It is yet another piece of the truly wild magic that is contained within the infamous forest, which pony kind just cannot comprehend. This silent terror, however, can be easily defeated…

The balding under bush of this untamed forest was smashed aside without being noticed; a clear path of destruction can be made out, that travels back all the way to the forests edge. Even beyond the border the trail can still be made out.

The fabled juggernaut that is storming through unhindered in question was a humble pony on a mission. Her violet eyes were focused, the brows down, with the lips set in determination. The azure coat of the pony in question was littered with a few twigs, some clinging leaves, and even a trace or two of white cream.

Her head glowed briefly with the highlighting colour of pale magenta; it wasn’t the most complimentary colour with her very light, almost white, sky blue mane. However the flash of magic whooshed her a meter to the side; her strides still going just as strong as the pistons from a locomotive, while preventing her from running right into a tree twice her width.

All of these actions went almost unnoticed by the unicorn in question; her mind was too focused on saving her friend. She was lost to the memory that was being replayed; the memory of the past few minutes.

---

Everypony around Trixie was acting uniquely around her; Applejack and Rainbow Dash were arguing between themselves about taking on such a deadly foe. Rarity was currently trying her best not to hyperventilate at the realisation of being so close to such a deadly individual.

Pinkie Pie was trying her best to calm down Fluttershy, success appeared to be an optional objective there. The only stallion there, Applejack’s older brother Big Mac, appeared to be the calmest; removing the trailer that was still attached to him, before walking over to Trixie herself.

“What ya gonna do?”

His voice was masculine, his accent was deep, his vocabulary was small; but his eyes understood. There was a far greater intelligence behind them that his build, or speech would suggest.

The voice broke through Trixie’s air of despair. She blinked and stared at him fully, focusing on the jade green eyes that said everything will be ok.

Trixie blinked again, before determination took a hold of her being; Spike was her first friend, and she was not going to abandon him.

“Big Mac, go get the guard. Tell them what’s going on and to start heading to the ruined castle.” He nodded before galloping off as fast as his powerful build allowed.

The big red stallion running off drew the attention of every other mare there. Trixie, however paid them no notice, she was already moving towards the black skeletal trees that separated Sweet Apple Acres from the Everfree Forest.

The girls might have said something, but Trixie was no longer able to make them out; the pounding of her heart was too loud to make anything out. The quiver of her bottom lip reverberated throughout her, being drawn right down her legs and into the supportive earth; her legs started to move on their own accord.

The world was narrowing, a shake of her head did nothing to widen her vision; there was a noise again, but her ears were too pushed back onto her head to make anything out.

Her legs were moving her forward, and their pace was growing at a steady rate; even more noises were heard, but she just flat out ignored them. A blue obstacle appeared in front of her, her speed was not significant enough for such an obstacle to be much of a challenge to go around; she did increase her pace to make up the time wasted.

Trixie was moving at speed now, not quite a full gallop but still an impressive speed. The world around her was blurring past, she thought she saw something white or another thing that was pink; it felt like the two things were trying to stop her.

A sudden jolt from her tail slowed her down, but did not succeed in halting her. The pain was noticeable and growing rapidly with each of her hoofsteps, but Trixie could not stop now. Spike was in danger.

Her only friend was in danger.

Her horn lit up and a spell matrix was worked out within an instant, and she Quick Stepped forward; freeing her tail from the obstacle and allowing her hooves to keep running. Now at a full gallop, Trixie smashed into a bush that separated her from the Everfree Forest; she kept on unopposed, and the bush was badly ruffled.

---

Another Quick Step bypassed the mess of shrubbery that almost bordered an obvious trail; a significantly clearer path that lead deeper still into this wild and predatory forest.

Her pace was unwavering, but Trixie’s mind was working overtime; it had finally realised just how deep into this death trail its body had ran. So it was now having the eyes, ears, and any other sense it could, look out for danger.

Trixie’s breathing was increasing to the point of panting; her brow was sweating more than it had ever done previously. Eyes were trying to search all around her while also keeping track of the trail she found herself on.

Her determination had changed; every shadow was now an enemy in waiting, each rustle was an ambush preparing to strike. The scent of old decaying wood was overwhelming; and all that remained of the previous pony to have ventured this far.

Trixie’s heart was beating even faster now, trying its absolute best to escape out of her chest. Her pace was faltering; the strong sturdy pistons of her legs were shaking themselves apart.

More rustling could be heard, but her eyes couldn’t track it.

The forest was dark, and nothing looked familiar. The wall of brown was looming in every direction, reaching higher and higher into the abyss while at the same time closing in and confining her movements.

Trixie had come to a complete stop; her breathing was erratic and getting worse, her body was hot and sweating but could not fight off the cold no matter how hard it tried. Her eyes swept over everything they could, see all they could but not registering anything.

It was getting darker; she was struggling to see clearly. Wanting some light, any light, Trixie tried to ignite her horn with magic; it was proving very difficult. The small, faint glow that she managed made things look worse; the shadows were deeper now, more defined and prominent.

Gnarled and spidery claws could be made out in the dim pink light; large enough to pick up a pony, long enough that escape was a distant thought. They were reaching, stretching and heading right towards her.

Trixie couldn’t catch her breath, couldn’t get enough oxygen. There was blackness around her vision, and all the magical effort she could muster was the faint glow of her horn. Faces could be made out from the wrinkled walls around her; piercing demented eyes of every shape, crooked and warped snouts detached from the open black voids that wanted to eat her whole.

There was noise now; so many pitches and moans coming from all around her. Getting louder and louder as the horrific monsters came out of the dried blood coloured walls; dried blood on the walls, fresher looking blood on the dry, dusty floor. Trixie could smell the old decayed iron of the blood that was now surrounding her.

Trixie collapsed at long last, using what little strength she had left to make herself as small as possible; she couldn’t breathe, her vision was darkening, she couldn’t even feel her magic any more. The blood covered monsters were right at her vision, twisted, gnarled and with open voids for mouths; ready to devourer pieces of her.

She was going to die, just another pony killed by the Everfree Forest. Trixie could feel a tear escaping her eye; not for her own death, but because she couldn’t save Spike. She couldn’t save her friend.

Her last thought was a wish, a wish that her friend Spike would be rescued.

---

“HEY TRIXIE!”

Trixie’s eyes shot open to find pink eyes staring directly into her own. A blink and cyan fur could be made out, framing the face that was slowly backing away. The pink eyes were still worried, but less so now that Trixie was responding to the pegasus in front of her.

“GUY’S, SHE’S OK!”

The rough voice was angelic to Trixie’s mind as she took steady breaths, calming down her frazzled heart. Her limbs, however, were still not ready to cooperate and felt weak as she tried to sit up.

“Hey, take it easy. You were having a fit or something when I finally reached you.”

The rainbow maned mare helped Trixie into a more comfortable sitting position; and Trixie was finally able to see around her again. Gone were the monsters coming out of the blood soaked walls, gone were the walls. Instead she was surrounded by old trees with crooked branches, and the odd hole in their trunks.

The bloody floor beneath her was just a dirt path, hued in pink light. In fact all around her was hued in pink light. Trixie’s eyes followed one of her hooves as it reached up to touch her horn. Pink light was clearly emitting from the magical appendage and it felt warm to the touch; a sign that it had been used fairly extensively recently.

The surrounding undergrowth was rustling up a storm as several other voices could be heard getting closer fast.

“Yeah it was good thinking on your part to light up your horn like that, or else we might not have been able to find you so quickly. When we saw it light up I flew on ahead thinking you might be in danger; and you kind of were, though not from any of the animals in here. Yet at least. So if you could stop glowing like that, that’d be great.”

Trixie followed the advice given to her and stopped the flow of magic to her horn. Immediately aware that she could feel her magic; a good portion of her wellspring exhausted, but it was clearly still there and fully under her control.

By now the bushes around the path were breached and the source of all the rustling was discovered; four other mares of all three of the tribes had followed the cyan pegasus.

Trixie’s brain shifted out of neutral, she recognised all of these mares; there was the unicorn, Rarity, though her mane was not nearly as pristine as it normally is. The two earth ponies, one pink the other a light orange; Pinkamena Pie and Applejack respectively, both wore expressions of determination and worry on their faces.

The last one, the second pegasus, was the biggest surprise of her being there. Fluttershy, the pinked maned yellow coated mare had nothing but compassion on her face as she walked right up to the still recovering unicorn.

She rested an ear to Trixie’s chest for a few seconds, before bringing up her face and staring intently into her eyes, without blinking. Finally a hoof was brought up to Trixie’s forehead and rested there for a small while; it was all a little unnerving to the still sitting unicorn, but the soft smile on the pegasus’s face was reassuring.

“You were having a panic attack; a very bad one from what Rainbow shouted to us. Take it easy for a little while, you’ll find yourself a little light headed and weak limbed, but you’ll be fine.

Trixie frowned at that; all that she had just went through, the loss of magic, those frightful sights, and the feelings of hopelessness. All of it was because she was simply having a panic attack?

She shook her head. “Thank you Fluttershy; but I can’t take it easy right now. Spike’s still in trouble and it’s my job, as his friend, to rescue him.” Determination was building within her once again.

“We ain’t letting you go on your own again; if nothing else, you need us to get through this here forest unscathed. The forest can’t affect all of us if we stick together.”

That’s right, her host Sunset Shimmer mentioned something about the forest influencing ponies and hindered their use of magic. Trixie let out a small shudder, she was a fool to think so little of the Everfree Forest; not a single dangerous animal in sight and it still managed to bring her down to nothing.

She carefully got onto her hooves fully and looked over all the mares around her; they all held fear in their eyes, or in their posture. But that was overpowered by the determination to help, to rescue Spike; to help their new friend.

“Trix, I mean I’d, very much appreciate your help.” Trixie’s own small smile was mirrored in everypony around her; filling Trixie with a warm feeling that she had only ever felt once before, when Spike became her friend.

Together they set off along the small path that Trixie had discovered; Pinkie Pie starting along it with all the other mares following quickly behind her.

“So Trixie,” Rainbow Dash started, flying at pace to keep up with everypony. Her eyes were focused ahead of her, but there was an edge to the upturn of her lips; something that, when Trixie noticed, she did not like the look of. “Were you about to speak in third person?”

Trixie let out a groan.

---

There it was, after an honestly uneventful journey through the rest of the legendary forest; the six mares came across the abandoned ruins that were clearly a castle once upon a time. It was situated upon a mound that just had to have been a moat in days gone my; however, now it was just a very deep ravine with a single rope bridge as a crossing point.

The area further around it was very rough and uneven, with big stones scattered sporadically, large mounds of dirt and vegetation in between troughs, smaller ravines and even a small lake. All of it was covered with vegetation and trees with exposed root systems; making it rather dangerous terrain to traverse over.

But here they were, having crossed all the difficult terrain, and even passed over the rickety old bridge; standing behind a set of walls that separated the castles central court yard from the rest of the world. A glance round the corner revealed a pair of large wooden doors that were left slightly ajar. It wasn’t much, but the clear gap between the large imposing doors was the closest thing to a welcome matt that they had found so far.

“Ok,” Trixie started whispering to her new friends. “I’ve been keeping an eye out for anything and everything that could possibly be a Divination spell, or a detection ward, and so far nothing. Well nothing that detects us; there are plenty of old wards that are still active around this castle. Nothing offensive or threatening; more likely they’re defensive reinforcing wards, or perhaps anti Divination wards. I can’t tell exactly, they’re too old and obscure.”

Seeing the confused and/or bored looks of the mares around her, Trixie shakes her head. “Anyway, the point is I don’t think he knows we’re here yet, or at the very least that there’s so many of us; which gives me a cunning plan. But first,” with a wave of her hoof followed by it disappearing into the either; Trixie brought out a flashy and matching cloak and pointed hat. Both purple in colour, and covered in stars of all sizes and colours.

With a deft flick of her wrist and the cloak was wrapped around her neck with the matching hat covering her horn. “Ah, feels good to be back in my performing attire.” Her smile faltered slightly as she looked over to her companions. “What? I do all my best work with this on; besides these will be vital for my cunning plan.” No matter how much Trixie praised her attire, the other unicorn of the group had a tinge of green around her gills.

All the girls got close to the strange mare however; to see just now cunning her cunning plan really was.

---

“Ah, Miss Lulamoon; I’m so glad to see you found my invitation. Your pet dragon is just dying to see you again.”

It was clear that the main entrance hall had seen better days; the roof was littered with holes, as well as some of the upper walls. The once bold and vibrant tapestries were a ghost of their former selves; pale and lifeless, with clear signs of light weather damage to them.

Piles of stones were scattered sporadically over the granite floor; some from the crumbling walls, some clearly from the roof, though not as many as would be suggested.

There were scorch marks from very powerful magic everywhere. Clearly a great battle had taken place here; though it was hard to say if it was before or after the castle had deteriorated.

As Trixie walked through the doors and felt a shiver run down her spine; she could have easily understood if the sensation was caused by nerves, the very real prospect of her life being on the line. If she were a pegasus or an earth pony maybe she would not have realised that it was not what she actually felt; but she was a unicorn, more importantly a highly trained one.

What she had just walked through, as she passed through the grand doors, was a wave of dispelling runes. Any and all current magical effects on her, or those she was actively channelling magic to, were disrupted.

She flinched at this realisation; it had taken her years of almost constant work and research to be at the point where Princess Celestia felt she was capable of sustaining a Pocket Dimension…Well a pocket the size of a matchbox in comparison to the fully completed spell.

Trixie was not looking forward to asking the Princess to setup the ritual once again for her.

“I should have known that a talented unicorn such as you would have felt my little addition to the castle’s door. Nothing too drastic, of course; after all this is a historic landmark once full of life. What harm could I do by adding one more life to these walls?”

The voice had an accent to it that did not belong to Equestria; it was soft and could have belonged to mare or stallion.

“A part of me is honestly impressed that you accepted my invitation; and all on your own too. No guards in sight; and believe me, I’d know if there was.”

The voice was echoing over each wall, making it impossible to locate the assassin.

Slowly, carefully, Trixie made her way into the room; avoiding any obvious hiding spot for a trap or a hidden pony. The voice was clearly full of itself, so self-assured that everything was going exactly as it had anticipated.

“But then, you’d never accept help from the guard, would you? You, the Great and Powerful Trixie. So powerful she has bested an Ursa Major; so magically adept the Princess herself is training her to make sure her powers are used responsibly.”

Trixie winced at the comments, though hopefully not noticeably. Those were boasts she used to say years ago. But those days were gone; the Princess herself has spent many years showing that humility is the way forward.

“…However, we both know those are all lies. The closest you’ve come to an Ursa Major is the inked pictures in your books. The Princess chose you as her student because she felt sorry for you; when she stumbled across your pitiful little travelling magic show. Face it, you are not worthy of the position you find yourself in.”

That infuriated her, but she kept focused. It was true that Princess Celestia found her by chance when Trixie was travelling with her act; but it was not out of pity. No Trixie had truly impressed the Princess with her performance, and was shocked to find that a filly of only fourteen years old was all self-taught through trial and error. “An almost instinctual sense of magic.” That was what impressed Princess Celestia; that was what allowed Trixie to become her student.

“I seem to be at a disadvantage. You know so much about me; but all I know of you is your calling card. Why don’t you show yourself, hmm? Show yourself and surrender.”

“HAHAHA. You’ve got spirit; I’ll give you that. You might actually make this fun for me.” There was a whoosh of air from behind her, causing Trixie to dive forward before spinning around to see what had just happened.

There standing right in front of her was a stallion earth pony of all tribes. A deep red almost brown coat covered his body; his mane and tail were quite a bit longer than was typical for a stallion and coloured in a bluish slate grey. There was a pair of black saddle bags that covered his flanks, preventing anypony from seeing his cutie mark.

He was wearing a black jacket, the sight of which made Trixie want to vomit; it was made out of leather. Something that she recognised thanks to the few ancient tomes she had been allowed to read from within the Royal Archive.

Currently he was standing there with his eyes closed as he sniffed the jade green rose held within one of his hooves. His face was a picture of calm with a small smile accenting the image.

“Ah, my beautiful Fleurs Vertes; a particularly difficult rose to grow, but the sight and scent make it all worthwhile.” He opened his eyes revealing sharp piercing green pupils that could look directly into her soul.

“You are among an exclusive club now; to be one of my targets who see their own rose before they die. This is your rose and I shall place it upon your still barrel in but a moment.” His smile never leaving his face as his eyes focused with murderous intent.

A blink and Trixie would have been dead; from out of her opponents mouth a toothpick was launched directly at her neck. She had a spell ready and waiting just for such a cheap shot; she cast it and was sent several meters to the side instantly.

“Ah, you will make things interesting. But that trick won’t work again; I saw how your eyes betrayed you when you used the spell. I noticed the twitch of your leg, the stress in your shoulders; I can read you like a book.”

Trixie blinked and it cost her dearly; he was in front of her in a second, with a blast of wind at his back. Quick as a flash his free hoof was latched onto her now, wrapped around her wind pipe and chocking her. He leaned down to her frantically struggling face, his face calm and uncaring.

“You know, I can kill you right now in eight different ways. Dozens more if I gave it even a second more thought. But where is the sport in that.” He launches her a few meters away. Trixie lands hard onto her side, coughing and sputtering as she desperately chokes on new air.

As quickly as she could, Trixie got back onto her hooves; she was still gasping, still trying to make up for the lack of oxygen earlier. One of her hooves gently rubbed her throat, trying to relieve the sharp pain that still lingered where she was grabbed. All the while her eyes never wavered again; she had pushed her luck once, she would not do so again.

Her assailant though was nonchalantly looking through one of his saddle bags. Gently, carefully, almost lovingly, the green rose was placed in the saddle bag before his hoof lingered a bit longer inside the container; he was now clearly looking for something.

Trixie let loose a set of golden magic chains, trying to end this fight quickly while he was distracted. But the stallion was now a meter to the right, and clear of the chains that broke up into nothing when they impacted the wall. His hoof was no longer in the saddle bag; it was out and wielding an innocent looking garden trowel instead of the flower.

He launched himself at Trixie wielding the trowel in his hoof; she rolled out of the way of the jabbed attack, before diving away with a yelp as a vertical strike came hot on her tail.

“Well done, you’ve passed the first salvo. My, you are entertaining. Let us see how long you can dodge around like a lemur.” Trixie had other ideas though; she threw a pellet at her hooves, engulfing herself in smoke. Her assailant responded by lunging forward and cutting through the smoke horizontally; to no effect.

“A game of cat and mouse? Why not, I am merciful and these are your last moments alive.” His silent hoof steps took him down a corridor where the noise of hooves could be heard travelling down.

---

He dashed around a corner and saw his quarry slamming a door behind her. He smirked at the futile action and dramatically increased his speed; arriving just moments after the portal was closed.

The door led to what had to be a kitchen once upon a time. But the only indications it was such a place, where the several massive chimneys above fire places large enough to hold caldrons.

There were no places for his quarry to hide, and he could still hear her pounding hoof steps on the granite floor; though further along that he would have believed.

Charging through yet another wooden door and he was indeed correct about his quarry, she was quite a bit further down this corridor than he was expecting. “Is this all you’re going to do, little mouse? If so then I am ending things quickly.” What he got in response was a flashed grin, before she turned left at a T-junction.

Rounding the corner in a flash, he blinked when he found a long corridor with no sign of his quarry. He frowned slightly before he caught the sound of hooves echoing from the corridor behind him. “Ah yes, your Quick Step spell from earlier. How could I have forgotten? Well let me show you a trick or two of my own.” He spun round and started down the third and final corridor of the T-junction, charging at a pace far greater than before; almost as if there was a gust of wind at his heels.

Rounding the corner as tightly as possible, he made out the tail of his target disappearing up a flight of stairs. He continued on at his break neck speed; quickly cutting in half the distance between him and the stairs his quarry had just ran up. His focus was as such that he failed to see the obstacle in his path.

His hoof gave way from beneath him and he tumbled head over tail again and again until he crashed into the base of the stairs. A quick shake of his head made the world stop spinning and he got back up onto his hooves; catching himself this time as his hoof, once again, gave out on him.

He looked at his misbehaving hoof, only to stare at it in confusion. Apparently he had slipped on a cupcake; a carrot flavoured one judging by the colour of the sponge and frosting.

“Resorting to using your lunch? My you must be scraping the bottom of your barrel trying to keep yourself alive. Your original, I’ll give you that.” With his hoof now cleaned, he gave his neck one last crack to relieve the pain from the crash; before, with the assistance of a gust of wind, he launched himself up the flight of stairs in a single bound.

This mare was starting to get on his nerves.

---

The world was nothing but blackness as far as the eye could see; it was stuffy and the air felt like water, it was difficult to breathe. Spike felt like he was floating in a sea of darkness, everything was slow to respond to his commands; he should be scared, he should be panicking, but it was hard for him to feel anything right now.

His head felt cloudy and his thoughts were muffled and difficult to reach. He couldn’t remember how he got here; just that he was disappointed that he had missed the stall for Fluttershy. He was heading back to her cottage when nothing but blackness.

He shivered, feeling cold and not all that right. He tried to move his arms, tried to wrap them around himself for a bit of warmth; but they refused to move. His claws barely twitched at his commands, the same happened again with his feet and even his tail. Spike tried to move his head down to look at some part of his body, but the feeling of pins and needles only seemed to grow, slowly encompassing every part of him.

It was getting even harder for him to breathe now, the air taking on an even thicker consistency; coming closer to maple syrup, or even molasses. His heart was slowing, struggling to pump any blood to his body; he could feel it as the numbness gradually covered his body. He should be panicking, should be doing something, anything; but he was so tired. All his strength was being used just to keep breathing, regardless of how shallow each draw of air was.

He couldn’t feel anything now; nothing responded to his commands, every thought was muffled and unfocused. Each shallow breath was taxing, and getting worse.

He felt it, more than he saw it; a spark, an ember, a warmth was coming from somewhere. He found a speck of light, and it was growing larger; his eyelids were heavy and sticky and were refusing to listen, but a crack was managed. A black tunnel like void was all that he found; it was long and narrow, but there was light.

It was warm and inviting, it felt reassuring and that everything would be ok on the other side. He wanted to go, he wanted to reach out and touch it, but he couldn’t; his vision was blurring, darkening and narrowing even more. He couldn’t make it, couldn’t reach for the light.

A wave of purple light washed over him; it came from the light, enticing him, encouraging him, revitalising him. Spike’s vision was not as blurry, the numbness was leaving him; but the tiredness remained.

“It’s all right. Everything’s going to be ok now.”

The quiet voice was coming from the light and clearly belonged to an angel; it was soft, it was sweet and gentle. It was familiar.

A shuddering breath escaped Spike’s lips, each small sip brought life back to him; not from the oxygen, but from a scent. A scent from a time he could not actively remember, but instinct did. His heart beat faster, his breathing quickened further still, and he somehow found the strength to open his eyes just a little more.

The light now had a face to it; the details were obscured, the light was too bright to make out, but there was a horn, there was a lavender outline, and there were kind violet eyes.

His world was blacking out once again; but this time it was warmer, this time it felt safe to fall asleep. But before oblivion claimed him entirely he used the last of his strength to utter a single question.

“…Mum?”

---

This was getting ridiculous, he had been running after Trixie Lulamoon for the better part of an hour and his patience was seriously being tested. All this effort was not worth the payment he had received for this kill; once this is all over he is going to have little talk with his client.

Between her illusions and her Quick Step spell, she was all over the place; and then there were all the obstacles she threw at him as well. First was the cupcake he slipped on, then she must have teleported over to that other balcony; if it wasn’t for his equipment he would have had to go all the way around to get close to her. The look on her face though when she saw him fly, that had cheered him up a bit.

But then, later on, she somehow managed to get a flock of birds to harass him; pecking all over his body and causing not an insignificant number of cuts over him. She hadn’t bothered to wait around while he dealt with her spelled birds; it didn’t taken him long to deal with, a burst of wind knocked them all away and scared them off. But she had gained a lead on him once again by then and all he had to go on were her hoof steps.

Then she goes and literally pulls the rug from under him and tries to wrap it around him, all the while still running away from him. If she had actually stuck around to see her spell through, then it might have been more difficult to get out of.

He had almost caught her at one point, after she disappeared through a trap door and he couldn’t follow. He had to double time it back to the main floor to make sure she didn’t escape; but apparently she had been looking for him, because they quite literally ran into each other. If it wasn’t for her very impressive buck kick sending him quite a distance down the hall, it would have all been over there and then.

He cursed himself silently once again; he thought it’d be easy, he’d done his research and knew her weaknesses as well as strengths. Or at least he thought he had; sure his information was a little old, but that had never affected him this much before. Normally once he is certain of the kill, is the time when he sends out his little love letter. Trixie had been squirreled away for a week after he had sent it, and then it had taken him a bit more time to locate her actual whereabouts. But the extra few days could not have changed things this much.

He was actually tiring out, his supply of stored magic was almost completely depleted, but currently it looked like Trixie had barely finished her warm up. A stark contrast to when she first walked through the castles grand doors. Was it all just a ruse to loll him into a false sense of security? If so then it had worked, but he was so sure of his research; it had never failed him before.

It was almost like she was a different mare altogether now.

But this was it; this was the crescendo in action. He had long ago figured out that she was running for the sake of running; and while she had her jollies he had been subtly spinning his web, and now it was time to strike.

His trips around the ruins had given him a bit of a mental layout of the castle; so for the last few minutes he had been manipulating her to run right into this final corridor. For with this last burst of air causing his prey to divert down the final corridor, her fate was sealed.

His last push of speed made him barge into her as she realised her path was blocked by yet another pair of solid wooden doors. The two ponies smashed through them from the momentum before sliding and tumbling into the room. By the time the two ponies were still once more the stallion was on top of his target bearing down on her with a manic and gleeful smile.

“Nowhere left to run.”

His hoof reached into a saddle bag and brought out another trowel. It was quickly raised to a perfect position to slice and dice, when he faltered at what he saw.

Below him, shivering uncontrollably in terror was Trixie Lulamoon; but something wasn’t right. There was her cyan blue coat, her moon and star cutie mark, even her mane and tail were the right shades of pale blue…that was it. That ridiculous looking cloak was still there, still connected around her neck, but it was her hat that was missing; clearly it had been thrown off during that last tussle. But with it now gone, it revealed something disturbing.

“Wh, where’s your horn?”

But it wasn’t the only thing that was a discrepancy with his target. Looking into her face showed that while her eyes are full of fear, they were not the shade of violet they should have been; they were a bright blue.

Any other thought was interrupted as he got slammed right in his back by something and was sent tumbling once more.

His flight further into the room was interrupted as he, and whatever it was that struck him, landed on the keyboard of a pipe organ judging by the massive volume of noise that was produced.

A swift kick from his hind leg removed his assailant and he was able to see what had actually hit him. There lying almost next to each other were two identical looking Trixie’s; both missing horns, and one had their cape spread wide.

The sound of additional hooves could be heard coming from the entrance to the room, before four other Trixie’s appeared there. Two of them had horns, one had a significantly longer mane and their cape was wrapped around their body quite uncomfortably, almost like they were wings. The last actually looked a little bulkier than any of the others and was currently wearing a frown on her face.

“What? Illusions? But no, they’re not identical; but no, you didn’t have time to recast anything. And my runic work at the door would have destroyed them and any magic that passed through it.”

The horned Trixie to the left smirked at his confusion before moving forward. “Then I guess it’s a good thing they didn’t use the front door.”

By now all six Trixie’s had gathered together; all of them on their feet and no longer had a look of fear about them. Together the differences were more pronounced; height, mane cuts, and the fact that two capes were fluttering about like wings. It was a revelation.

“You got help, but not from the guards. But how, all my information said you had no colleagues, no comrades. NO FRIENDS! THE SELF-ASSURED PAMPERED LITTLE FILLY, WHO GOT TO HER POSITION BECAUSE OF MEDIOCAR TALANT AND A SOB STORY!”

“Yes I got help! My past attitude might have made me bold and arrogant, but the Princess has helped me see that that was wrong. That I am a better pony than what I had aspired to be! I am not studious as the Nobles silver spoon brats, but I excel when it comes to practical work and that is what the Princess see’s in me! I don’t know what snivelling worm of a Noble payed you to have me killed, but it stops now!” Trixie huffed, before lighting her horn and readying a spell.

She looked at all the other versions of herself, other ponies covered in a simple glamour that will end in the next ten minutes or so; and smiled. “And you’re wrong on another thing. I do have comrades, I do have friends. It is new to me, and I’m sure to make mistakes with them. But they helped me when I needed it, and together we’ve had you running about like a headless chicken. Together we have beaten you!”

It was a little unnerving that the perp just stayed still, looking at the six ponies standing in front of him. His eye twitched before a small menacing laugh escaped his firmly set lips.

“No. you have not beaten me. Tricked me, fooled me; but not beaten me. No, what you have done is condemn these five to an early grave!”

He launched himself at the six mares, both of his forehooves each wielding its own trowel; though the shovelled face was now clearly a sickly deep purple in colour.

He did not get any further than half the distance, before he was slammed back by a deep pink transparent slab of pure magic. Both the magic wall and the assassin slammed into the far wall of this cathedral, avoiding the stained glass window as well as the old pipe organ. Upon impact the magic wrapped around the stallion in every way possible, leaving only the tip of his snout free for interrogation.

Following the line of magical energy back to its caster revealed an angry looking white stallion unicorn whose horn was pointing at the perpetrator. Behind him stood a fighting force mixed with both earth ponies and other unicorns, all waiting for commands to intervene.

Moving shapes could be made out from the room’s windows. The shape, the distance from the ground the windows were, and the movements all pointed them to be pegasi solders blocking escape routes.

The large white stallion walked with purposed steps as he entered the room, a flick of his multi-hued blue tail signalled to his men that the additional unicorns were required to help him in securing their target. But there appeared to be no true need; the only things the assassin could move were his lips, even his eyes were forced closed by the all-encompassing shield. The earth ponies started to prepare chains as they followed the unicorns to their captive.

Still the lead unicorn walked directly over to the six mares standing in the room; his face unreadable other than determined. He looked them all over before his eyes settled on the actual Trixie, who gulped nervously from the intense stare she was receiving.

“Umm, Prince Shining Armor; I’m glad Big Mac managed to alert the guard to our predicament. Though I’m surprised to see yourself here, sir.”

The five other Trixie’s all had expressions of shock on their faces; the prince consort Shining Armor himself came to save them. The Trixie with a curly mane looked as if she was about to faint.

“Trixie I’m glad to see you are well; but I want to know where Spike is. Is he safe?”

Her silence on the matter grew his ire; he leaned down and got right into her face. “Where is my nephew?”

Trixie was saved by the bell, as it were, because it was at that very moment that a pegasus stallion came flying into the room with a purple lump on his back and a sack in his hooves.

“Prince Armor we found this sack in the dungeons; it contained Sir Spike. He is ok, but appears to be under heavy sedation. His breathing and pulse are normal, but he is unresponsive.”

Trixie blinked and the face that was filling her whole world was gone and heading right for the pegasus. She let out a breath she hadn’t noticed she was holding onto; not because of how close she was to feeling Shining Armor’s ire, but because Spike was ok.

---

The sun had just passed over the horizon and the sky was fading from the brilliant hues of yellow, red, and purples. The air above the Everfree Forest was filled with pegasi flying in formation around half a dozen large golden chariots, each filled with almost a dozen ponies.

One in particular held the leader of the operation; the white stallion with a blue mane was sitting down and observing his nephew as he slept soundly in an enchanted sleep. The medical examination showed that he had been doused with a powdered and concentrated version of the potion “Deep Sleep;” a relatively mild, if difficult to brew, sleeping potion. This concentration though could be deadly, and there were worrying signs that he had been over dosed.

The other occupants of the chariot were Trixie and her new friends; a vast array of characters, but they all clearly had good hearts and noble intensions. He let out a soft sigh as he saw the six mares talking amongst themselves; all of them clearly relieved, but some a little more enthused by the danger than others.

His cart separated from the formation and dived down towards the small town below; the rest of the flying formation continued on towards Canterlot.

“Ok ladies, here we are back in Ponyville safe and sound.” Shining Armor called out as they levelled out on the road, landing just shy of the town centre. His eyes travelled over the town and consented that there was a rather charming rustic feel to the place; a location to venture to when the hustle and bustle of city life got too much to bear. ‘Perhaps a trip with Cadance is in order?’

All the mares hopped off the chariot and gave thanks for the lift. He couldn’t blame them; flying over the Everfree forest was bad enough, let alone actually travelling through it.

“So you’re taking Spike with you now then. Are you going to pick up the things he brought with him, or do you want me to take them with me tomorrow?”

“If you could bring them tomorrow I would appreciate it Trixie. So you’re returning tomorrow?” Trixie nodded, “yeah we managed to get everything done. The few minor tasks to arrange can be done in the morning before I leave.”

“Well I’ll send a chariot to pick you up after lunch then; as a thank you for bringing Spike items back with you. As for the rest of you all; thank you once again. You have all gone above and beyond the call to duty and the country is a safer place because of it. Heh, boring speeches aside you really do have my thanks. Spike is all, Spike is important to me.”

“Not at all your highness; it is what friends do for each other, after all.” Rarity bowed once again, and managed to get the other four mares of the town to follow suit; though it was clear that some thought it a bother.

Shining chuckled lightly while shaking his head. “Regardless, I am indebted to you all and will think of a way to thank you all proper. But for now I best be off; I have a worried wife waiting for me back at the castle.” He hopped back onto the chariot and it started to gather momentum. Within a few paces the charioteers took off with practiced precision climbing fast and disappearing into the fading light.

“So, friends you all wanna head on over to mine? I recon we could a do with a little something to calm ourselves down a little after all that.” Nods of agreement could be heard, with Pinkie adding the need for cake and balloons.

“Besides,” Rainbow Dash added as she wrapped a hoof around Trixie’s neck. “We’ve got a new friend to get to know.”

---

His chariot had levelled and rose above all the scattered clouds; far ahead of him was Canterlot, waiting for his return. It was emitting a comforting glow that settled his heart and calmed his mind.

“Sir,” he looked to the source of the interruption and found a pegasus stallion flying towards him at speed. “Report from the prisoner escort. Our prisoner, the Violent Rose, has escaped. All parties have already been redirected to search for him. His last known location was over White Tail Wood.”

It took everything he had not to shout his voice hoarse. Instead he looked down at the sleeping form of his nephew and sighed, “Sergeant Cloudy Bell, I want him found. He has no tools, he must be exhausted, he has nothing. I am going on ahead; find him and get him so secure that he can’t urinate without our permission.”

“And what of Trixie Lulamoon; should we send a guard?”

“No, it’ll cut down on the search party. She’s proven she’s resourceful enough to handle herself; especially with her friends. I’ll gather some guards for her when I return to the castle.”

---

The landing was awful, but then emergency teleports are never known to be gentle. The dark red coated assassin spat and coughed up the blood that was flowing from his mouth; the hole his fake tooth resided in was in a world of pain. But he was free; back at that cursed castle, but still free.

“Heh, always have an escape plan. Just in case your own arrogance gets the better of you.”

His head shot up at the sound of hooves walking towards where he lay; the pace was slow but sure.

What he found was a tall mare walking towards him; her body was covered in a black body suit, obscuring her cutie mark entirely as well as most of her coat’s colour. From the neck up and the cannon down he could see purple fur. Her mane was deep purple with a pink stripe running through it.

What scared him, though, were her eyes; the deep violet colour combined with the black iris to make them appear dark and predator like. It sent a shiver down his spine.

He was in no condition to fight; his ace in the hole hurt like nothing there was. He was still bleeding badly from the miniature explosion of magic within his mouth; all his tricks and tools were still under guard, and he still hadn’t regained his stamina from his run around of the castle.

The mare in front of him lit her horn before he felt himself being pulled towards her; her telekinetic grip gentle, but indisputably iron tight. The cool look in her eyes did nothing to calm him down.

“Predator is not happy with what you have been up to.” Her voice was soft, but the words spoken to him may as well have been Death sharpening his scythe.

“They have asked me to dispose of you. Princess Celestia has asked that you are brought to her for interrogation.” He actually felt like thanking Celestia for her kindness; that even he could be spared the wrath of Predator.

What he heard next dashed his hopes. “I shall interrogate you myself. You will tell me everything. You living or dying will be entirely on your will to live.”

The world grew dark and silencing wards were activated; the Everfree forest may not be able to hear the screams, but it felt each and every atom of pain that was being inflicted. If the forest had emotions, even it might feel just a little pity for the Violent Rose.

Comments

[DarknessHusarz]

Sharply
I like this

[Sols Sojurn]

To bad torcher is highly ineffective to gane truthful and accurate information as the victim will say anything they believe will make you stop it. The main reason the confessions from the inquisition was always 100%.

[-Dreamer-]

Will there be any ascension to the alicorn going on here?