• Published 18th Oct 2012
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Trixie - Saviour of all Equestria. What, you don't believe Trixie? - Fimbulvinter



Trixie realises her destiny as the most powerful unicorn in Equestria

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Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Twilight, Trixie and Rarity galloped through the catacombs that were the lower levels of the prison, frantically searching for any sign of the princess or even of any drones. Twilight led the way, her horn glowing as she threw a bright purple light over their path. Rarity took the middle position, her own horn adding a much weaker white light to the mix. Trixie ran hard along the back, holding her magic back in case they were attacked.

Dimly, she recollected that this was almost exactly how her last group adventure had turned out; her and a bunch of others running down a long dark tunnel, searching for a group of changelings.

“Any idea where… they would have taken… the princess?” Rarity called out from the middle, her breathing becoming laboured as they ran. While physically fit, Rarity had never been one for much outdoor activity, and she was beginning to struggle now. Under the glow of her magic, a fine sheen of sweat could be seen forming on her brow.

“No, no idea at all. We just have to keep searching... until we find her,” Twilight yelled back, not slowing her pace as she glanced into a pair of derelict cells. Both were empty, devoid of any sign of activity.

Trixie pulled up along Twilight, leaving Rarity to cover their back, not that anything was chasing them at the moment. “Trixie has an idea. Horn locked or no, the princess would have left a distinct magical trail behind her. Everypony does.”

Twilight came to a dead halt at Trixie’s idea, Rarity having to turn out to the side in order to not crash into the halted mare, tripping over and sprawling to the ground in a ball of splayed limbs and dust. The light that her horn was emitting stopping abrubtly as she lost all concentration. Twilight looked directly at Trixie. “Trixie, that’s brilliant. Why didn’t I think of that? I know the princesses magical signature better than anypony. Give me a moment.”

Twilight’s horn ceased glowing, and the tunnel was plunged into darkness. Trixie quickly picked up the slack, her horn emitting a similar purple light over the walls. It showed Twilight deep in concentration as a number of thin webs and strands of purple magic coalesced around her body. Arcs of purple arcane energy crackled around her horn before blasting forward ahead into the tunnel. A thin trail of violet mist remained, clearly leading off towards one side of the tunnel before turning down a corridor that looked exactly the same as all the others. It only lasted for a moment before vanishing to all but Twilight's eyes.

“This way,” Twilight called out as she followed the glow of her magic down the corridor. Trixie took a moment to check behind them before following.

Rarity however remained still, trying to fix up her mane and tail which had become tangled and messy in her tumble. “Twilight wait, can’t we have a moment to fix our manes? And I think I am getting sweaty. Twilight?” Seeing that she wasn’t going to get a response, Rarity took off after the others, every step adding a new scratch or chip into her hooves. In the back of her mind she was adding up the running bill of spa treatments she was going to have to have done the moment she got home.

“Later Rarity, we have to focus on finding the princess now. Your spa appointment will have to wait,” was Twilight’s reply from down the tunnel.

Up at the front of the group, Twilight was following the trail of violet mist through the corridors and cross tunnels of the prison. She didn’t know where it was leading her, but she was sure that it was the way that the changelings had led Celestia earlier. With her eyes narrowed with resolve, she picked up the pace, her hoof steps clopping over the hard stone ground and drumming in her ears. If their quarry was listening, then they would know that she was coming far before she actually arrived.

“Are you…sure that…this is the…right way?” Trixie spoke from just behind her, her words coming out in short gasps between breaths. She couldn’t actually see the trail that Twilight was following, as much like Rarity’s gem finder spell, it could only be seen by the caster.

To Twilight the trail was becoming stronger, a clear sign that they were getting closer. Soon the mist had become almost a solid fog covering the tunnel and Twilight knew that they were just a few moment behind the other group and very near to Celestia. She cut out the spell and signalled for a halt. Rarity took the moment to nearly collapse on the ground, her chest heaving as she sucked in the stale and musty air.

For her own part, Twilight was also breathing heavily. Like Rarity she didn’t participate in regular physical activity often, generally choosing to remain in her library and study. It was only after her second running of the leaves, when she had placed third to last that she had realised just how out of shape she was becoming. She had had Rainbow Dash and Applejack put her on a training regimen after that, with reasonable success, though she was still far from being fully fit.

Trixie was also panting but she didn’t collapse, her body dripping sweat onto the ground. Twilight attributed this to her lifestyle of being on the road – she did pull her own wagon most of the time. She seemed to suck oxygen in deeper and had more even breaths than the others and sure enough she was the first one to settle down into a regular breathing pattern.

From up ahead, Trixie could just begin to make out some noises that were not themselves being reflected back at them. It sounded like the fluttering of wings and the occasional chirping of an insect, such as a cicada but it had far more body to it. From the way that Twilight tensed up it was clear that she could hear it as well. It was a very good bet that the changelings that had taken the princess were up in this last hall.

“Wait here. Trixie is going to take a look,” She hissed to Twilight and Rarity, keeping her voice low enough so it wouldn’t carry far down the hallway.

“Be careful Trixie. I don’t want to loose you as well,” Twilight replied, taking one of Trixie’s hooves in her own. It was a gesture that was not lost on Rarity, who looked at the two mares with more than a little interest as her laboured breathing slowly returned to normal.

Trixie nodded. “I promise to be careful,” she said, breaking from her normal third person speech. “If I’m not back in 5 minutes, just wait longer.”

Flashing Twilight a final cocky grin, Trixie began to inch her way down the tunnel towards the sounds of the drones, her body pressed up against the side of the tunnel walls to muffle the sound of her approach and close off one avenue of flanking.


Twilight watched her go until she was lost around one of the corners. While there was nothing stopping her from simply following Trixie, she knew that one mare would have a far better chance of getting a look at what was ahead undetected than three would.

Without warning, Rarity spoke up behind her.

“You like her, don’t you Twilight?”

Twilight tore her gaze away from where Trixie had been and refocused on Rarity, a confused look on her face. “What do you mean, of course I like her. She has shown me so much about magic these last few days, not to mention she saved my brothers life once.”

Rarity shook her head. “I don’t mean like that darling. I mean you LIKE her,” she said, putting enough emphasis on the word like to smash through a plate glass window.

It seemed that it was just enough to penetrate Twilight’s mind and for a moment the purple mare was still as she tried to process what Rarity had said. As soon as she did process it, she began blushing fiercely, her cheeks glowing until they almost began to give off light themselves.

“No, it’s not like that. I just like her as a friend.”

Rarity was unconvinced. “Please Twilight. You can trust me. I saw the way you looked at her just now, the way you held her hoof, not to mention the way you hugged her when she got you out of that prison cell. You love her, don’t you?”

The word love seemed to smash through the remaining guards that Twilight had in place. It resonated deep in her soul and she somehow knew it to be true. She did love Trixie. To some degree she always had. She found her confidence attractive, her brash personality quirky, and her potential for magic was easily about equal to Twilight’s own. All Trixie needed to truly become the greatest unicorn in all Equestria was a chance to study with Twilight. Through Rarity’s words, Twilight was finally able to admit to herself the truth: She loved Trixie Lulamoon. Assuming that they both survived this day, she was going to get her mare, no matter the cost.


Emerging out into the blazing sun of the noon day sky, Fleur-de-lis shielded her eyes with a hoof as she blinked several times, trying to get her eyes to adjust quickly to the intense light.

As her vision returned, she looked around at the deserted yard surrounding the jail. No a single soul could be seen in any direction, nor could any drones. She took that as a good sign, as whatever enchantments that had been upon her to make the changelings recognise her as one of them would have almost certainly been dispelled when she broke free from Chrysalis’s control.

Now that she was out of the prison, Fleur took a moment to examine the two gifts that had been bestowed upon her – the swords that had been wielded by her ancestor that had now passed on to her. Pulling out the blade from her left side sheath, Fleur examined the silvery blade. The sword, Gram was a true work of art, a perfect blend of artistic flair with the lethal simplicity of a weapon that was to be used for the ending of another’s life. The edge was honed to a razor sharp point. Even just running it along the bottom of Fleur’s hoof was enough to cause the blade to bite down, leaving a deep score in her hoof. The hilt of the weapon was done up in gold and embedded with rubies that matched the fiery burning heat that had been Freize’s right eye. Etched into the metal of the blade was an inscription in what looked like old Equestrian. Fleur translated it in her head.

Take me up’

The blade was slightly curved and was as light as a feather in Fleur’s magical grasp. The balance was exquisite and it twirled and spun upon her slightest command, but never for a moment did if feel as if she could not control it.

Putting it away, Fleur drew up the other sword that Freize had bestowed upon her. This one, Hrunting was longer and heavier than Gram, but still retained its balance and beautiful design. Elegant wave patterns adorned the blades surface on one side, while the other was also enscribed in the same flowing runic script that had marked Gram. This one Fleur was able to translate as ‘Cast me away’. Unlike Gram, Hrunting was adorned with Sapphires that mimicked Freize’s icy blue left eye.

Taken together, the swords made up the legacy that had been told of in her families history for centuries. Fleur had always been told that the blades would come to only the pony who was destined to carry on Freize’s legacy and bring honour to the bloodline once again. It was one of the reasons that so many of her cousins had joined the royal guards through out the years, they all wanted to prove themselves the worthy successor to their ancestor.

But it seemed that Freize had chosen her, the swords would not have come to her for any other reason. She had been chosen to take on the mantle of her family and defend Equestria from this terrible scourge that had befallen it. For the good of her friends, her family and her country, Fleur would wield these swords in defence of all that was good in this world.

Sheathing both blades, Fleur made towards the palace. Before she could go and save Equestria, she had to go and save her husband…


Trixie made her way through the warrens inside the Canterlot mountain, following the noises of her quarry. They were not hard to find, and none of the changelings seemed to think that there was any chance of them being discovered this deep underground. Edging around one last bend, Trixie saw that they had set up in what was a medium sized cavern. In the middle of this cavern was a large cocoon of green slime, hanging from the ceiling. Several small glowing orbs cast a weak light over the room, orbs which Trixie recognised from her time within the changeling outpost inside the gem mine. The cocoon also emitted a dim glow which pulsed in a regular rhythm. As Trixie focused on it, she saw that it was occupied by the princess, who appeared to be asleep inside it. Celestia wasn’t moving much, but her eyelids were twitching endlessly as if she was having a bad dream.

Arrayed around the cocoon were four drones. Three of them were clustered together and were secreting green strands of goo which they were arranging into barricades and low walls behind which they could take cover. The last one appeared to be patrolling around the edges and searching into each of the nooks and crannies, checking for any possible concealed traps or guards. Aside from the one entryway that Trixie was looking from, there was no other way into the cavern. As Trixie watched, the patrolling drone began chittering loudly when it looked into a nook on the other side of the room. Two of the other drones rushed over to take a look and investigate what was found while the last one remained setting up its barricade.

Trixie had a choice. She could either try to take out the four drones by herself while they were distracted, but with the space between the cluster and the solitary drone it was unlikely that she would be able to take them all out by herself. On the other hoof she could go back and get Twilight and the pair of them could easily handle this small group but going back to get her would give the drones more time to prepare for intruders.

Eventually she decided that she could need Twilight and she fled back down the tunnel after taking one last look at Celestia’s trapped form.

The flash of movement that her leaving caused caught the attention of the solitary drone. It looked up at the tunnel entrance and spotted a single glance of a streak of blue retreating back into the darkness. Narrowing its eyes, the drone glanced over to its companions who were now searching fixatedly around the nook, a mouse skittering around at their feet. The drone shook its head and returned to its work, shoring up the barricade. It had a good idea as to who the flash of blue had belonged to and it knew that alerting its companions would only result in a greater mess.


Trixie rushed down the tunnel and rejoined Twilight and Rarity. Rarity had recovered her breath and both were looking eager to hear what Trixie had found out.

Trixie got up close to them, leaning in so that she could whisper easily to them.

“Trixie has found the princess,” she said, noting the effect that news had on Twilight. Her face became even more serious and she almost charged off down the tunnel until both Trixie and Rarity put a hoof on her to restrain her. “Don’t be a fool Twilight Sparkle. The princess has been trapped inside some kind of cocoon and is being guarded by four drones. Together we should be able to easily deal with the drones and release Celestia, but rushing in a rage will only get you killed.”

Twilight took a breath and her body relaxed. “You’re right Trixie. Okay ponies, we need a plan.”

Rarity coughed lightly, attracting Twilight’s attention. “I have an idea,” she said softly.

“Okay Rarity. Let’s hear it,” Twilight replied.

Rarity turned to Trixie. “Trixie, what other ice powers to you get? Can you create a cone or beam of cold or ice?”

Trixie nodded. “Trixie is a master of the ice. What do you have in mind?”

“The changelings are basically insects yes?” Rarity asked.

Twilight nodded. She had read all the reports that had been gathered from Celestia’s interview of the changeling Drone. He had mentioned that the changeling hives had a very rigid caste system, just like an insect hive. “That’s right. And insects hate the cold. Some of them go into hibernation during the winter and literally freeze over. Rarity, you’re a genius.”

Rarity tried to play it down, waving a hoof dismissively. “Oh it was nothing dear. Anypony could have thought of it,” she said. Trixie thought that her tone was clearly asking for more praise, but she had better things to do than pander to Rarity’s vain desires right now. Maybe later, after they had finished what they came here to do in the first place.

Having finished congratulating Rarity for a good plan, Twilight was already hard at work coming up with a plan on how to tackle the drones and free the princess. Her horn glowed brightly as she levitated a small rock around on the ground, using it to score marks in the rock floor, clearly trying to position each of them so as to be able to handle the drones in any situation.

Trixie looked on in interest as Twilight planed out their rescue effort until she realised that Twilight had moved on from the realms of likely strategies and was now trying to plan out if the drones had somehow managed to create an army of self aware robotic attack walkers, each one armed with stasis beams and magical counter refractive shielding. The chance of that happening was so slight that Trixie decided she was just going to go with her original plan – storm the place and hope for the best.

Quietly she got up and moved back down the hallway, Rarity following her just as silently. Twilight didn’t seem to notice that both of her audience members had gone, her mind having slipped quite by accident into her deep focused study mode from which nothing short of messing around with her books or equipment could bring her out. Trixie had to use her magic to yank away the rock that she had been using as her quill just to get Twilights attention.

Twilight noticed the others already on the march and quickly trotted over to join them.

“Now remember everypony, we don’t want to hurt them. If we can convince them to release the princess and let us go then we take that option. If not then Trixie hits them all with an ice spell while Rarity and I work to release the princess,” Twilight said, trying to recap on her earlier plans that didn’t involve hordes of robotic attack drones.

“Are you all ready?” she asked.

Rarity didn’t look ready. She looked pale, even for her normal white complexion. “Oh, I do so dislike battle. My coiffure is going to get even more ruined than it is now, not to mention the damage to my hooves,” she whined.

Trixie had had enough of her whining and decided just to get it over with. With a piercing yell that bounced off the enclosed walls of the tunnel, she charged straight at the cavern that was just out of sight around the corner. Twilight looked at her in shock for a moment before regaining her senses and charged in after her; Rarity once again taking the back position.

Trixie burst into the main chamber to find all of the drones huddled around the cocoon, their faces showing surpise as far as a hard exoskeleton could allow. Each one was beginning to charge up a different kind of spell. One looked like it was going for a shield while another was levitating something else – a rock by the looks of it. Trixie didn’t even stop for a moment, calling up her magical reserves and lowering her horn.

From the tip of her horn an expanding tornado of jagged ice crystals and frost burst forward, enveloping three of the drone’s cleanly inside. Their black armoured carapaces were quickly covered in ice and in a moment they were trapped with solid blocks of ice, mirrored expressions of surprise and shock plastered on their faces as they fell down to the ground. The remaining drone was faster than the others and managed to jump out of the way just in time to avoid the initial blast of cold. It vanished behind on of the barricades for a moment, its body vanishing in a wash of green fire as it shifted into the form of a light blue unicorn, the same one that Trixie had seen at the wedding.

While it hadn’t spoken once, she had a fairly good idea as to who this particular drone was.

Twilight caught up behind her and spared one glace at the three drone ice feature that now formed the centre piece of the room. “So much for plan A then?” she remarked.

“Trixie had a more efficient solution,” She said before turning her attention to the one remaining drone. “Drone, come out of there now. Surrender and Trixie may show you mercy.”

Drone looked from his frozen comrades and then peeked out at the three unicorns all holding spells at the ready. He could either go down fighting a useless battle or he could surrender and at least hope they would be merciful. Equestria was famed for its treatment of its prisoners, one of the reasons that Chrysalis had chosen it for conquest to begin with – she viewed mercy towards prisoners of war as a weakness.

He made his choice. “Alright, I am coming out and am unarmed. Do not attack.”

Twilight and Trixie watched as Drone, in his pony disguise slowly climbed out of his cover and walked out into the open. His milky blue eyes held no malice as he looked at Trixie. “I’m glad you were able escape from the cells, Trixie Lulamoon. I figured that if anypony would be able to resist out advances it would be you.”

Twilight turned from Drone and began investigating the cocoon that was encapsulating Celestia. The Princess was still held in a state of forced sleep.

Horror crept into her voice as she stared into the pulsating green mass, “What are you doing to her? How do we get her out of there?”

“Celestia is not being harmed. Even Chrysalis knows that the fastest way to cause an uprising would be to kill of your leaders. No, she is doing something far more insidious. Left unchecked, Celestia will be programmed to act as a puppet leader. She will be a willing thrall to the changeling nation, eager to allow the queens free access to all of Equestria. But she will not know that, she will think that she is acting on her own accord.”

Horror gave way to pure anger. “You low down filthy scum. How do we get her out of there? NOW.”

Rarity and Trixie both took a slight step backwards as they noticed Twilight begin to smoke again. Rarity had only seen her do this once before but even so, she could feel a wave of heat begin to blast forward from Twilight’s body. Off to the side, Trixie could see that the block of changesicles was starting to melt; cracks were forming in the side and Trixie knew it wouldn’t be long before it shattered totally. Taking cover behind one of the barriers scattered around the room, she focused on maintaining and reinforcing her ice spell.

Drone also appeared to be cowed by her display of power. While he had seen Twilight’s display of power before, this was new to him. Underneath his disguise, his carapace was able to absorb much of the heat that was building up around him but even that wouldn’t protect him from a direct burst of flame if it was as powerful as the burst of ice that had felled his comrades.

With the option between becoming a roast drone and maybe managing to live long enough to actually salvage this situation, he made the only choice he could. Even drones have a self preservation instinct, though it only kicked in during situations where absolutely nothing was to be gained by throwing ones life away.

“Alright,” he admitted. “I’ll tell you. It isn't an easy process however, and it may take some time."

Twilight began to calm down slightly at the mention of a way to get her mentor out of the cocoon. Gently her body began to cease its smoking and the ambient heat of the cavern began to drop rapidly as the natural cool of the mountain reasserted itself.

Rarity spoke up as she noticed Twilight return to her normal self, cutting off Drone’s explanation of how they could extract the princess. “I have a better idea,” she said as she levitated a long and fairly smooth piece of rock from the ground. Everypony watched as she ground it along the floor, wearing one of the edges down to a sharp point. Once she was satisfied that it was sharp enough, Rarity lifted it up to the top of the cocoon. Connecting the cocoon to the roof was a single thick strand of gelatinous goo.

“Trixie, can you freeze that strand for me, or even the whole thing?” She asked. Trixie nodded and turned her attention from maintaining the frozen drones and instead focused on applying the same magic to the cocoon containing the princess.

As Trixie worked her magic upon it, the cocoon froze over, the goo hardening into a very rigid, but also quite brittle solid. Drone looked on in mixed horror and fascination as he realised just what the two unicorns had planned.

Once she felt that it was hard enough, Rarity swung her makeshift sword and struck it against the hardened strand. Chips of the goo flaked off with every strike and with each one, Twilight could hear the sounds of ice cracking.

“Rarity, that’s a great idea. Wow, two in a row,” She said, congratulating the dressmaker for her ability to think under pressure.

“Oh, it’s nothing dear. Anypony could have thought of it,” Rarity replied.

With one final swing, Rarity managed to cut through enough of the strand for it to break free and fall directly towards the floor where it would no doubt shatter into thousands of smaller shards and hopefully release the princess without causing too much damage to her.

As the cocoon hit the floor, it shattered into a wave of jagged fragments of ice, each one shooting off like a minature arrow head. Twilight recognised the danger they represented at once and cast up a bubble shield around herself, expanding it to encompass Rarity, Trixie and Drone. She winced as the blocks of ice began to ping off her shield, putting more power into the spell as some of the larger blocks landed around them.

Once she was sure that the cascade of ice had ceased, Twilight banished her shield and the group was able to get a good look at the princess. Celestia was covered from head to hoof with green slime and melting ice crystals. She was breathing, though it was shallow and rapid. Her eyes still moved as if she was fighting off invisible demons in her dreams. Her entire body was shivering as well, clearly suffering from having been trapped inside an ice cube for a short while.

Despite the chill of the ice cutting into her hooves, Twilight rushed over to her mentor and cradled her head gently. Twilight’s eyes began to water over as she looked at the pitiful state that Celestia had been reduced to. Rarity and Trixie followed her over but Drone kept his distance behind them. After all, his usefulness to them had just expired and he didn’t want to end up like his fellow drones – trapped inside an ice block until it had melted away, which could be a very long time down here inside an already cool mountain.

Twilight began to channel her fire magic through her hooves again, this time actively tempering it so that it came out as a healing warmth, just enough to melt the ice but not to harm Celestia. Normally Twilight would not have worried about burning her mentor - Celestia was the regent of the sun. But in her weakened state, Twilight wasn’t sure that Celestia would be able to handle the kind of heat that she could pump out.

The ice covering Celestia’s body melted rapidly and the princess ceased her shivering. Slowly she opened her eyes, blinking rapidly as she tried to clear her eyes of the gunk that clung to her coat. Coughing and spluttering her tried to get to her hooves, lifting her head out of Twilight’s hooves and looking all around. She was clearly looking for kind of attacker, but she finally focused on the outline of her student.

Recognition flooded across her eyes as she realised that she was looking at Twilight, with Trixie and Rarity standing behind her. Further back from them was a light blue pony that she vaguely recognised.

“Twilight, Trixie. How did you escape? How did you free me?” Relief was clear in her voice as she spoke, only to be cut of as she began coughing again, a hacking deep chested cough that spat out a quantity of the changeling’s green ooze. Twilight moved around back behind Celestia and began to whack her on the back, causing Celestia to spit up even more of the green phlegm.

It took a good 30 seconds for Celestia to cease her coughing fit and begin breathing normally. When she was recovered she turned to Twilight, expectation on her face as she waited for her answer. “Well Twilight?”

Twilight looked over to Trixie and Rarity, a beaming smile at having rescued her mentor lighting up her face. “It was mostly them princess. Trixie got us out of the cages by having me melt her ice form into water and she ran out between the bars and reformed. Rarity came up with a brilliant plan for beating the drones that were guarding you and for how to get you out of there. They deserve most of the credit. I didn’t do anything.”

Celestia turned to look at both of them again. “Rarity, Trixie. It seems that Equestria owes you both a debt again. I regret that it has to be under these circumstances.” Celestia turned to look at the remaining pony. “And what about you, Drone? What side are you on.”

The blue unicorn was engulfed in green fire for a moment, and when it cleared Drone stood there, his solid aqua eyes looking directly at the princess. “My loyalties still are, and always will be with my queen. That will never change.”

Celestia’s face fell as she realised that Drone would not be willing to help her, but she still had to try. She could never condon the killing of a sentient creature, or any creature for that matter unless it was an immediate danger to the lives of others, but she knew that she would have to silence Drone if he proved to be resistant to helping them. She didn’t want to have to do this, but if she had to harm one changeling drone in order to save the entirety of Equestria from being subjected to the cruel whims of Chrysalis she would do it. But she had to give him one last chance.


“Help us Drone. I can tell that you don’t want to be doing this anymore that we do. Help us put a stop to this attack and I promise you asylum with our people for as long as you like. Whatever you want, it is yours.”

Drone shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry Princess Celestia, I can’t. I can never betray my queen. I have sworn my eternal fealty and unwavering loyalty to her and her cause. I would never abandon my people, not now when they need me.”

Celestia’s face fell further as she realised that Drone would not be willing to assist them against Chrysalis no matter what she said. She was just about to indicate to Twilight to cast a stasis spell on him when he held up a hoof, forestalling her judgement. “But I can wait for five minutes before reporting in that you have escaped. Go princess, go and save your people.”

Celestia gave Drone a long look, one filled with all her years of wisdom. “Thank you Drone. I won’t forget this,” She said before gathering Twilight, Trixie and Rarity together with her. Closing her eyes she focused her magic and all four ponies vanished in a burst of golden magic.

Drone just watched the point where they had left for a moment, musing on what he was going to tell his queen when he reported in after a few moments had passed.

God speed Celestia. You are going to need it.