They Fight Crime

by Shilic

Issue #2

“...of course, if a sapphire contains even a small amount of chromium, it’s called a ruby, despite the fact that they are, at their core, the same mineral–”

The sound of a bell echoed throughout the lecture hall, signalling that once again, Professor Topaz’’s lecture had run over time. Topaz, a middle aged man with a tweed jacket and bow tie that seemed picked specifically to remind you that he was, in fact, a professor, stopped, looking up at the clock behind him.

“Well, I suppose you all knew that already,” He said with a wave of his hand. “I won’t keep you any longer. A quick reminder that your assignments are due next week, so I hope you’ve been working on them, because I will not be lenient on last minute essays.”

There were one or two quiet grumbles, but the majority of the rather small class of students were mostly silent as they gathered their things and exited the large hall. Among them, and the quietest of them all, was Maud, effortlessly carrying her large back of books and notes in one hand.

She got looks for that, occasionally. She wasn’t tiny, by any means, but she still appeared rather slight for a girl who didn’t bat an eye at weights that made men over twice her size flinch. Her demeanor perhaps didn’t help; her constantly neutral expression kept eyes off of her most of the time, but it only made her casual acts of incredible strength look even more effortless.

She’d never been quite sure where that power had even come from. She’d just been born with it; so had two of her three sisters, though her strength was the greatest among them. She had an inkling that her parents had some idea, but if they did, they’d never told her. As for her third sister… Well, nobody could explain Pinkie.

Their abilities had been useful, though. Work on the isolated quarry that had been her childhood home had been much easier when one could smash rocks with her fists and carry half a tonne with minimal effort. But, while Limestone and Marble had been content to remain on the farm with her parents, she and Pinkie had struck out on their own. Unlike her hyper energetic pink sister, however, Maud’s passion still lay within the earth.

She wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted to do with her geology doctorate once she got it. Mineralogy, volcanology, geophysics… as long as there were rocks involved, she was invested. Not that anyone could ever tell from her expression.

She put her free hand in her pocket, feeling for the familiar shape of Boulder. Perhaps she was a bit old to have a pet rock, but when she curled her fingers around the stone she had dug from the ground as a child, she could almost swear she could feel the pulse of the earth itself, connecting her not just to her family’s quarry, but to the entire planet.

Maud pushed open the doors to the university and walked outside, a chilly gust of late afternoon wind slightly ruffling her hair. All her classes for the day were over, which meant it was time to head home. The apartment she shared with Trixie and Starlight wasn’t too far away, and with the superhuman stamina that came with her strength, the relatively short walk was nothing.

Despite the fact that Fillydelphia wasn’t often the site of blatant crimes committed in broad daylight, Maud kept her eyes peeled on her walk home. Trixie may have been the one obsessed with heroic names, poses and costumes, but that didn’t mean Maud didn’t also care about doing good wherever she could.

Nothing caught her attention, however. It wasn’t something she particularly minded, as much as the lack of action annoyed Trixie to no end. Maud much preferred living in a peaceful city, even if it meant she was less needed. Unlike Canterlot, which needed a team of heroes to fight off the constantly appearing super criminals. Who, for some reason, had only started appearing after heroes capable of fighting them did.

With nothing else to occupy her attention, her mind wandered, wondering how Trixie was doing. She’d actually managed to land a performance gig after weeks of nothing; there wasn’t too much demand for a stage magician, after all, especially not a new and unknown one, despite her talent. The best she could get were small venues, clubs and the like, but Trixie refused to let that stop her. Her determination and confidence were things that Maud loved about her.

One day, Maud was sure Trixie would have her time in the spotlight.

---

“And now,” Trixie announced dramatically, removing her hat and reaching deep into it. “Watch, as the Great and Powerful Trixie… ends the same way she begins.” She pulled out a card from her hat, revealing its face to the audience: The Three of Clubs, with a large ‘T’ drawn on with blue marker, the very same card, picked by the audience, she had burned to ash at the beginning of her performance.

Her audience clapped politely, prompting Trixie into an elaborate bow. “Thank you, thank you, you’re too kind.” She paused. “Not that Trixie wants you to stop. She lives for the attention.” She got a few laughs at that.

“Now then,” Trixie placed her hat back on her head and flicked her cape. “You’ve been a wonderful audience, but Trixie is afraid she must bid you adieu. So, for her final trick, The Great and Powerful Trixie will make herself… disappear!” With that, she was engulfed in a burst of blue smoke, and when it cleared, Trixie was nowhere to be seen.

She appeared backstage, in the small dressing room she had been allocated. With an exhausted sigh, she slumped down on the couch pressed up against the side of the room, her hand sliding down over her face.

As if sensing her presence, the hefty tome sitting on the side table shook to life, floating up into the air and opening at the middle to reveal the illustrated form of Starlight’s avatar. “Hey,” she said, hovering over to Trixie. “How’d it go?”

“Same as it ever was,” Trixie replied, sighing again. “Card tricks, coin tricks… Trixie wishes she could do some real magic for once. It has been too long since she sawed somebody in half.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “You… Know you have real magic, right? All you need to do is take me with yo–”

“That’s not what I mean, Starlight!” Trixie sat up, pushing her hat back up on top of her head, and gave the book in front of her a determined stare. “The point of stage magic is to do things without supernatural aid! It defiles the sacred art of illusions!”

Starlight shook her head. “Humans. You spend thousands of years pretending you can use magic, and when you finally get that power you choose not to use it.” She smiled slyly. “Good thing you’re cute.”

“Trixie is glad you agree.” Trixie replied with a sagelike nod, before sighing again. “It’s just… Trixie has always dreamed of performing on a grand stage, the eyes of the world on her amazing feats of magical brilliance. Her name, spoken far and wide by fans across the globe. And yet, she’s stuck performing common parlor tricks of an audience of a few dozen at best.”

“Don’t let it get you down, Trix,” Starlight gave a reassuring smile. “You’ll get there eventually, I know it.”

“Trixie knows, she just wishes she could get there faster. You sure Trixie can’t sell her soul to a demon or something?”

Starlight snorted. “As if. Any demon offering to exchange your soul for anything is cheating you. Most of the time they don’t even follow through. And, besides,” her avatar’s eyes flashed with magical light. “Your soul already belongs to a demon. Me.”

“I hope you weren’t planning on doing anything with it,” Trixie replied idly. “Trixie is still using it.”

“Don’t worry, I’m a merciful mistress,” Starlight grinned, though it was less malicious and more ‘flirty’.”All I desire is your eternal love and affection.”

Trixie met Starlight’s grin with one of her own. “Well, it’s a good thing Trixie had planned to give you that anyway.”

“Excellent.” Starlight’s grin gave way to a giggle, any factor of intimidation she may have crumbling even further. “You know,” she said, her laughter fading as her expression grew more serious. “I’m really glad you’re the one who found me. It got really lonely, being all by myself for all those centuries.”

“Trixie can imagine.” She clenched her fist. “It boils Trixie’s blood, thinking about the bastard that trapped you in there. You don’t deserve it.”

“I mean…” Starlight shrugged. “I suppose I can’t really blame him. I did cause quite a bit of trouble back then. I’m lucky Starswirl didn’t just kill me outright, if I’m being honest. I got off lightly.”

“Still… we’ll get you out of there someday.”

“I hope so…” Starlight forced a smile. “Still, even if I don’t, it wouldn’t be so bad. At least I have some of my magic back, now that we have a pact. There are certainly worse ways to spend eternity.”

“You don’t have to pay rent, at least.” Trixie pointed out.

“Nah, I can just mooch off you and Maud. Thus is the demon way!” Starlight declared, putting her hands on her hips.

“You know…” Trixie learned in towards Starlight’s avatar, dropping her voice. “I’m beginning to think demons aren’t very nice.”

“Not traditionally, no.”

“Well then,” Trixie tapped the image of Starlight on the nose. “It’s a good thing you’re cute.”

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Oh, this is delightful this far. Looking forward to more.

[Gelatino]

I'm glad Maud got so much attention in this chapter, I love the way you write her. I like seeing what's going on in her head. Looking forward to more of her

[Bicyclette]

great translation of the characters to this setting! Trixie still being really into doing fake magic without using her real magic, Starlight being part of the world's magical mythology by having a past with Starswirl, and Maud being in the context of a mild-mannered geology student with secretly superpowered siblings back home, it all has the feel of superhero tropes in a way that is very neat to see. you've definitely caught on to something real, here!

[daOtterGuy]

I love the flirty banter between Starlight and Trixie here. It's super fun. I also really feel that want of doing something greater, hopefully, Trixie will manage it eventually. Maud is also just the sweetest. I continue to adore the dynamic and characterization you have of all the characters. Good stuff.