I'm Still Great and Powerful

by Cobalt Swirls

Blindside Blitz

Time was of the essence.

Rarity had chosen to bring Trixie to the hospital herself rather than wait for help to arrive. The building itself wasn’t very far away, but by the time somepony had arrived, she would be long dead. Even now, Rarity was anything but certain that the mare would survive.

She didn’t dare touch the protruding piece of wood in Trixie’s stomach. It was undoubtedly stopping her from bleeding to death, but just barely. The blue mare’s icy hair swayed back and forth as Rarity’s magical aura kept her evenly off of the ground. She was beginning to look pale from blood loss; the light blue in her coat was being replaced by a faded ghostly white hue. It wouldn’t be long now.

The weight of Trixie’s body was beginning to take its toll. The aura surrounding the frail form was starting to gradually fade, causing the bloodied mare to slowly descend to the ground. A massive headache set on, urging Rarity to drop Trixie in favor of a brief moment of rest. Sweat trickled down the fur on her face, providing her with a cooling sensation that did little to alleviate that growing pain in her head.

I could just leave her, right here on the road. What has she ever do- no NO! She needs my help! She may not be the greatest mare in Equestria, not by a long shot, but she doesn’t deserve to die like this. I’m the Element of Generosity, and I’d better start acting like it!

With newfound strength, Rarity hoisted Trixie back into the air, and quickened her pace. She rounded the next corner where the hospital finally came into view. From where she was, it was a straight shot to the building.

And then it hit her, hard; in the back of the head to be precise.

Rarity could feel herself tumble forward as her face came in quick, hard contact with the ground. The concentrated magic keeping Trixie suspended in the air was broken, leaving her at the mercy of gravity. Before she could crash land into the pavement, a swift pair of hooves stole her from the air’s grasp. The white mare could only watch as her vision melded and twisted in on itself; strands her thick mane drooped uselessly in front of her eyes, only serving to further obscure the assailant. She could barely make out two figures; one of them held Trixie in outstretched hooves, the other took her in a magical embrace, which allowed the first to drop down on all fours. With a free range of motion, the pony extended a pair wings, silhouetted by the sun. The pegasus was first to speak.

“Do you think she’ll be okay?”

“She’s suffered a lot of blood loss, but she’ll make it.”

“I wasn’t talking about her.”

She heard the unicorn scoff before looking up at the sky. A large oval shaped shadow blanketed the area, shrouding them in a translucent darkness. She could faintly hear an engine above, but her consciousness was slowly slipping away. Her eyes fluttered shut; emptiness encased her mind.

---

Rarity opened her eyes and found herself in a large and comfortable burgundy bed. She ran her hoof across the silk bed sheets, slowly gliding it across before it hid itself within the fine folded fabric. She threw her hooves out to her sides and stretched out the sore mess in her back. With sleepy eyes she began to quickly scan the lavish room where her eyes spotted a form under the covers next to her. She pulled the blanket back slightly to reveal Trixie face sleeping soundly. Upon a push from Rarity, she stirred, lazily opened her eyes, and smiled sweetly at the mare.

“Hello, love.” Her half lidded eyes matched her sultry voice as she planted a small kiss on Rarity’s forehead. She could feel the heat rise in her cheeks. The look of shock remained imprinted on her face.

She…kissed me? Why would she ki- love? Did she call me l- where in the hell am I?!

Her head started to throb. Too much was happening and she hadn’t been given enough time to comprehend it all. She let her head fall back down to the pillow. Her coat was crawling. She didn’t need any measure of Pinkie Sense to tell that something was very wrong. Despite the various pieces of furniture that added to the overall luxurious feel of the room, there was a horrid smell lingering in the air. As the rancid stench became too much to bear, Rarity threw a hoof over her nose to prevent herself from puking. Her eyes went wide, and she was beginning to believe that she might collapse at any given moment.

“What’s wrong dear?” Trixie cooed; a twisted smile spread across her face.” You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Trixie wrenched the covers from her body, revealing a decaying hole in her chest, complimented by the same wooden board that Rarity had refused to remove. The aforementioned stench had increased tenfold, and the sight of the wound had prompted Rarity’s eyes to flutter on the border of consciousness. Trixie grabbed the sides of the white mare’s head and emitted a sinisterly low growl from deep within her bloodied diaphragm.

“LOOK AT ME WHEN YOU’RE KILLING ME!”

But Rarity’s mind was having none of it. It turned in on itself in an attempt to be sheltered from the grizzly scene. Her head fell back and sunk into the silk pillows.

---

“No! Goddess no! Please!” Rarity tossed her hooves relentlessly back and forth, only to meet resistance from a thin sheet that had been laid around her body. She could hear voices surrounding her, but they were drowned out by a high pitched ringing that echoed relentlessly in her ears. She felt distant from the world, ensnared by her blurry white vision and slightly constricted movements. It wasn’t until she fully came to that she realized that she was in no true danger.

“Nugh... Twilight?”

“Rarity!” she exclaimed, “Thank goodness you’re okay! For a second there I thought you were going to clobber Applejack on the head.”

“And she almost did,” Applejack said as she straightened the stetson that casually rested atop her head. “For a fashion pony you sure do have some quick hooves.”

“Come now dear Applejack, you should know by now that simply because one is a lady that-” she quickly silenced herself and scanned lounge room of the library intensely. Her scan quickly became a panicked search as she realized that the injured blue mare was no longer in sight.

“Where is she?! Where’s Trixie?!”

“Trixie? Ya mean that rotten pony from a few years back? We haven’t seen her in ages sugarcube. Now as fortunate as that is, ah think you might have hit your head harder than ya think. You should lay back and rest,” she prodded.

“No no! She needs medical assistance! She’s dying!” Without waiting for an invitation, she quickly threw the sheet off of her and began to make her way to the front door, only to be stopped by the throbbing pain in her skull.

“Whoa whoa, easy now,” Twilight was quick in running over to Rarity and offering her body as support. “Come back over to the couch. If Trixie really is in trouble, then she is going to need able bodied ponies to get her to safety, and you’re in no condition to go out right now.”

Deciding that she wasn’t going to win this argument, Rarity leaned on the librarian for support and let herself be carried back to the couch. Once she was comfortable, the two other mares once again encircled her.

“Alright sugarcube, where did you say Trixie was? If she’s hurt, Twilight and ah will get her to the hospital A.S.A.P.”

Rarity only shook her head and gave the mares a confused look. “She- she was with me? Did you not see her on the ground with a wooden plank jetting from her abdomen?”

“Rare, ah found you alone when ah got off the train from Appaloosa. Well, minus the crowd of ponies surrounding your unconscious body, but alone as in no Trixie.”

Rarity was silent for a moment, before something clicked in the back of her aching mind.

“The kidnappers.”

“Kidnappers? Trixie was kidnapped?” Twilight was becoming increasingly worried for the mare’s well being. Trixie wasn’t her favorite pony in the world but to say that she deserved to die or be kidnapped for what she did was just sick and twisted.

“Yes, they knocked me unconscious and left with her. I would have stopped them but, given the circumstances, I guess I should be counting myself lucky,” she shrugged.

Twilight shifted her weight uneasily, “Is there anything else at all that you can remember? Anything that might give us a clue as to where she might be?”

Rarity slid her hoof under her chin and thought momentarily. “I remember seeing a large shadow passing overhead right before I lost consciousness. I’m pretty sure I heard an engine too. Perhaps they left on an airship?”

“Well, that doesn’t do us much good. There are thousands of airships all over Equestria. How’re we supposed to pick out just one?” asked Applejack.

The girls went silent. Nopony wanted to admit it, but Applejack was correct. Ponyville and Canterlot were both traffic centers for airships and picking one out of the many would be a nearly impossible feat. But there had to be something missing. Something they could use to weed out the suspect ship from the dummies.

“What about the Infraction Achieves?” Twilight offered.

Rarity hesitated. “Forgive me Twilight, but I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“I remember Rainbow Dash telling me about a giant database used to track any infractions committed on a specific aircraft. Maybe we can use this to our advantage.”

“You think they’d have Trixie’s kidnapping on file?”

Twilight shook her head. “I doubt it, but there are very strict limitations on the altitude at which airships can travel around Ponyville, a height of 500 ponylengths above the tallest building except in landing zones. If Rarity was able to hear the engine-”

“It might have been close enough to the ground to warrant an infraction.”

“Bingo.”

Applejack sprung up and smiled with newfound glory, “Well what’re we waitin’ on then? Let’s get down there! Erm, where…is it exactly?”

Twilight took a moment to rub her temple with her hoof. She looked exhausted, even more so than Rarity. “If memory serves, it’s in the Virtuoso District, near the Constable’s Station. It’s a public office so we shouldn’t have any trouble getting in.”

Rarity walked over to the door and kept it held open with her flank. She turned back to her two friends and gave a weak smile. The outside breeze was nice but it did little to remedy the pain swimming around in her head. She pushed on regardless.

“Well ladies, shall we?”

---

The Virtuoso was, by far, the single wealthiest district in Ponyville. Containing nearly all of the government buildings, it held quite a bit of historical significance, including the site of Ponyville’s original town hall. The building had since been dismantled, and in its place stood the Gubernatorial House, which in turn would report directly to the Senate located in the heart Canterlot. As the three mares walked deeper into the district, the buildings became increasing more impressive. Intricate designs and murals decorated the outsides of offices and higher society residential homes. The Scholar District could be seen from across the main roadway toward the east, and the Apothecary District to the west.

The Constable’s Station, the girls’ landmark of choice, was positioned toward the northern most end of the Virtuoso. It wasn’t a particularly grand establishment, but it was significant enough to be identified, and therefore, provided a means to locate the Infraction Archives, an even smaller and less impressive building. Rarity took the lead, eager to begin the search for the attackers’ ship, and unlike many other places in the elite district, they were not stopped for identification upon entering the building.

The inside of the Archives closely resembled a library, with its walls being lined floor to ceiling with shelves packed with important folders and documents. The space was divided off into sections based off of the distinct classes of the airships. Trafficking ships were typically the ones with the heaviest amount of infractions due to illegal smuggling operations run by underground groups and organizations webbed throughout Canterlot and its subordinate cities. There were the common instances of the smuggling of fuel and occasionally live animals, but Rarity had bone chilling rumor of ponies moving weapons, cadavers, and slaves as well.

Applejack sighed. “Where do we even begin looking for this thing? There must be billions of files here.”

“The records are actually kept in a system separate from these files, which are just for public viewing. There should be a center in the middle of the Archives that will help us limit the search,” Twilight concluded.

The three strolled up to a large, circular station in the middle of the room. A single mare was seated within, entranced by the reading material in front of her. Her light golden mane swooped to one side, hiding half of her face. She only raised her eyes to glance at the visitors, and even then her attention was quickly diverted back to the book.

“Welcome to the Ponyville’s Senatorial Infraction Archives. How can I assist you today?” The mare’s voice was monotone and scripted, but Twilight answered anyway.

“We were wondering if any ships within this area have any altitude infractions within the past 24 hours. It’s of vital importance that we know.”

The mare glanced up once again from her book, and this time, set it aside to pay attention to the girls. “Sure, but may I ask why?”

Twilight sighed, not entirely sure how to approach the question. She decided on blatant honesty. “We have reason to believe this ship was involved with a kidnapping in that time period.”

The mare’s face drooped. She didn’t look angry or saddened, but nervous rather. She shifted her weight in her seat and smiled weakly, trying to nonchalantly to brush her mane out of her face.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but nothing of the sort comes to mind. No ships have reported for any altitude related instances. Now if you’ll kindly show yourselves to the exit-”

“Please!” Rarity stepped forward. “It is essential that we find out who did this. The mare they took, she was dying. She could be dead already!”

The mare scanned the office, pretending not to hear a word of Rarity’s argument. It wasn’t long before she stole a glance at the fashionista. Her head sunk into her lap and she remained in a silence meditative state for several seconds. She eventually raised her head and grabbed a pen and paper with her magic and quickly scribbled something down. Once she was finished, she passed the note down to Rarity, who glanced at it, only to wrinkle her brow in confusion. Three words had been written:

Seascape

Periwinkle

Farid

“I’m sorry ma’am, but how exactly does this help?”

“The airship you are looking for is the Seascape. It operates in and out of Canterlot on an irregular basis. Periwinkle is my name; you won’t be able to talk to the Family without it.”

“The…Family?”

"Talk to the Saddle Arabian, Farid. You’ll find him in Canterlot’s Base Ring, in Freedom Plaza.”

“Wait!” Applejack interjected. “How do you know the name of the ship and so much about it?! Are you with the kidnappers?” Her voice dropped to a threatening tone, Periwinkle’s however, was extremely businesslike.

“Everything will be explained in Canterlot. I have given you all of the information that I am permitted to.”

With so many curious questions flowing through her mind, Twilight sought to get something answered. “And who is it that is permitting you to give us this information?”

Periwinkle closed her eyes and smiled.

“The Red Queen.”

Comments

[Biker_Dash]

Yeah... this took an abrupt turn lol

[StormyVenture]

1945019
I agree, like 90 degrees maybe. It went from Rarity being exceedingly generous to some kind of whacko criminal kidnapping nonsense.

[Cobalt Swirls]

1946123

As confusing as it is now this will eventually tie together. I intentionally kept the story vague to avoid giving everything away at once.

[bjorn2345]

I'd like to see more of this

[Jphyper]

1947310 Well, you overdid it with the vagueness. Big time. People came here to read a story about Rarity caring for Trixie. Not an epic rescue adventure, or whatever this is. I'm not saying an epic rescue adventure is a bad thing, but it needs to match the description. Your current summary is misleading, which is actually against the rules. It also sounds like there's a bit of adventure here, so we can add incorrect tags to the list of infractions. The Red Queen? Sounds like an OC. Need to adjust the character tags as well.

Your vagueness has caused this fic to violate three of this site's rules.

[Cobalt Swirls]

1994532
I see your point but at this point, I'm not sure that just clearing the second chapter and ditching that entire idea is what I want to do, because I do like the general concept. However you make it sound as if I'm intentionally being misleading, which is not the case. Should I choose to continue on this route, Rarity taking care of Trixie WILL be a major part of it, though I can see how you are saying my vagueness could be an issue. As for the adventure tag, I just don't see going to Canterlot as much of "adventure" seeing as how the girls can take a train there in less than a day, but I guess it could be, so for the sake of doing so, I'll add it.

[Jphyper]

2005254 I didn't meant to make it sound like it was deliberate. At least I don't think I did... I don't really remember. Either way, just chalk it up to my inner Rarity stating things in an overly dramatic way again. I end up doing that a lot online.

[Beatrix Lulamoon]

The red queen ? Is that some kind of reference to Alice in Wonderland ?

[josue]

1947310 this story is amazing you gotta finish it

[horses are fuckin weird]

6688292
something tells me this will never happen