Magic Talents

by Zocarik

Ch Three: Capture

Timberwolf breath smells horrible. Such was the only thought in Trixie’s mind as the timberwolf bounded ever nearer. As it took one last bound that would have it pouncing on Trixie, she finally acted. Now!

Surging to the side, she evaded its first lunge. Before the wolf could react, she cast a small spell at it. The bolt of lightning from her horn did nothing more than scorch its leg, but that and enraging the beast were Trixie’s goals. She succeeded.

Turning around, the wolf lunged at Trixie again. This time, she did not move to evade it. Its front paws landed squarely on her. When it lifted a paw to look for a pony-smear, the beast found nothing.

“Submit to my will you beast, as you are no match for the skill of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

Turning around, the timberwolf beheld a dozen copies of Trixie. Swatting one, it felt nothing beneath its paw.

Trixie giggled from her concealed position. This is almost too easy. These beasts are always so predictable.

Conjuring a few storm clouds, she shocked the wolf again. With each jolt, it went further into a rage.

Pouncing on the illusion-Trixies, it tried to kill them. Upon being swatted or crushed, their illusion bodies, and scents vanished, replaced with various pungent smells, ranging from rotting garbage to hydra breath. On the surface, each smell only served to confuse its nose. Underneath the wolf’s raging exterior, it was starting to feel fear. The unseen mare kept up her barrage of lightening while further ‘blinding’ the wolf’s nose. The mare clearly had an advantage. One that she did not press. Her spells continued to only sting and distract, not harm.

Unseen by the wolf, Trixie carved lines into the ground a score of yards away. The brief flashes of magic went unnoticed it the illusion vs. wolf battle. Finally, when the ring of runes had been completed, Trixie emerged from her hiding place. Directing all of the illusions in the opposite direction, she drew the wolf away as she ran to the circle. As she reached the ring of runes, she started dispelling the illusions.

One by one, the fake Trixies vanished even as the remainder started running behind the wolf. Keeping its eyes on the doubles, it turned around. Just as the last illusion faded, the wolf spotted the real Trixie standing still.

Trixie watched as the now cautious wolf approached her. Instead of pouncing on her, it carefully padded closer to her. Come on. Come on. I’ve got you right where I want you.

At this point, the wolf felt fear. This mare had proven more troublesome, and more painful, to hunt than any other creature it had ever hunted. Its nose had been heavily bombarded with unpleasant smells, removing one of its chief senses. The little pony stared straight into the wolf’s eyes, an ocular battle of dominance; a battle that the wolf was quickly loosing.

The wolf wined deep in its throat. It felt the need to attack the mare, but she was fighting in ways it had never seen before. She was an unknown thing, and unknown things were the most terrifying things a wolf could face as they sometimes brought an unwary wolf to the Great Unknown, the end of life.

Trixie quietly laughed. Everything has gone according to plan. The wolf is terrified and weakened… Three more steps on its part had the wolf right inside Trixie’s circle. …and weakened and terrified minds are so much easier to control.

A surge of magic flashed from Trixie’s horn to the runes. They, in turn, lit up as brightly as Hearths Warming Eve decorations. Even as the wolf tried to jump back from the sudden light, the spell took hold. From the wolf’s perspective, everything changed. The light faded and the wolf beheld its home in the forest. Suddenly drowsy, it settled down on its haunches and prepared for a nap.

Trixie watched as the wolf settled down for a nap in the middle of her circle. Once again, illusion and cunning trumps power and ferocity.

Clearing her throat, Trixie exclaimed, “It’s alright. You can all come out now. The Great and Powerful Trixie has subdued the beast.”

At the sound of her voice, the ponies started emerging from their homes and hiding places. One pony ran to town hall and rang a signal alerting the ponies of the end of the crisis.

As the ponies gathered around (at a safe distance), murmuring started. Citizens of Ponyville openly stared at the wolf and the mare who had subdued it.

Murmurs of confusion, awe, and curiosity emerged from the crowd. One pony was more outspoken than the rest.

“What did you do to it?”

Trixie responded honestly. “I scared it until I could put an effective illusion spell on it. On that note, stay away from the circle of runes. They are the only things keeping the beast in check.”

Ponies started resuming their daily routines, albeit at a much reduced volume, so as to not disturb the wolf. Trixie turned to one of the stragglers and issued orders.

“Go get Twilight. Tell her that the timberwolf had been subdued, but Trixie needs her assistance to truly get rid of it.”

As one pony ran to carry out Trixie’s orders, a mint green unicorn approached and offered a suggestion.

“Why not just burn it? It is made of wood.”

Trixie eyed the unicorn like she was mad. “Two reasons. One: this is a living creature. Burning it alive would be cruel. I, the no longer corrupted Trixie, am only cruel when under the corruptive influence of the Alicorn Amulet. Two: there is a chance that a fire would not kill the wolf. Burning it could turn it into an ifrit, a fire spirit. That would be much harder to contain than a mere timberwolf.”

The scathing and logical retort made the green unicorn back off. Trixie sat down and waited for Twilight.

---

By the time word of the timberwolf attack reached Twilight, she had sunk deep into a studious trance. Nothing existed except the blood sample she had taken from Trixie, a blood sample from herself, and the spell forms she crafted to find a connection. Needless to say, being awoken from the haze of research to news of a timberwolf startled her. Fortunately, Bon Bon managed to calm Twilight down before she panicked.

“Whoa Twilight, wait. That Trixie mare managed to stop it. She just needs your help to get rid of it.”

Nodding to confirm that the message was understood, Twilight closed her eyes and focused. If she has subdued it, we will have to either kill it or send it back to the Everfree. The question is, do we kill, or is this wolf safe to send back. If it has a taste for ponies, it must be destroyed. Now, who could identify if this is a pony killer? Ah! Zecora!

“Sorry that Trixie and I keep using you as a messenger, but could you go tell Pinkie or Rainbow to retrieve Zecora? I will go to help Trixie.”

Word was deed, and Twilight soon arrived at Trixie’s circle. Inspecting the ring, Twilight studied the runes that Trixie used.

“A Neighponese lock rune coupled with a Northern Day Sleep rune. Trixie, you and I are going to have a discussion of runes later. I mean, how did you get those two runes to mesh together without causing a small criticality that would have set Ponyville on fire?”

Trixie laughed. “After the first ten times a timberwolf pack has attacked my trailer, I figured it out. We have a problem. I don’t know if we should kill this one or not. Now, I normally can spot a pony killer from a hundred yards, but this wolf is different. It does not look like a killer, but it behaved like one.”

“Timberwolves that hunt ponies have a ‘look’?” Twilight was fascinated.

“Yes. Their bark starts looking like fur. This one looks like bark, but it behaved like a killer.”

“Do they take on the ‘fur’ look before or after they have already killed a pony?”

“Before.”

“Okay… so it definitely is a good thing that I contacted Zecora for advice on dealing with subdued timberwolves.”

Settling down to wait for the zebra, Trixie turned to discussing Pinkie.

“How did Pinkie get into the pantry?”

Twilight chuckled as she said “I don’t know. I gave up trying to research her months ago. The only thing I know is that she somehow has the ability to fold the fabric of space.”

“She bends space? Without negative effects or a horn?” Trixie sounded almost ready to pass out.

“Yes. I know that feeling you’re getting. Frankly, she scares me sometimes. Currently, the leading hypothesizes are that she is either partially composed of solidified magic, she comes from another dimension, or she is Discord’s granddaughter. The scary part is that the last one seems most realistic if I allow for time travel.”

“You think she is Discord’s granddaughter?” Pausing to think for a moment, Trixie contemplated the things she had seen the pink mare do. “You know what, that is actually plausible.”

Before the two could get lost in their discussion of the impossibilities of Pinkie, the party mare showed up carrying Zecora on her back.

“One Zecora, with a side of knowledge, as ordered,” Pinkie rattled off, as if she was delivering an order at a restaurant. Setting the zebra down, turned and bounced toward the wolf. The instant she stepped into the ring, she passed out.

After staring at the unconscious mare for a few seconds, Zecora spoke up.

“Pinkie’s arrival gave me quite a fright.
What mysteries surround this beast, Twilight?”

Trixie explained the strange behavior of the wolf when compared to its appearance. Zecora’s countenance gradually turned from one of amusement to one of intrigue.

“Interesting. Thirst for blood without change in bark.
Could disease have left its mark?” Zecora walked toward the wolf; a brief glow in her eyes signaled that she was using her own magic to guard against the rune circle.

She poked at the wolf for a few moments. Then she started chanting some unknown words under her breath. Motes of light swirled around the wolf in time with her chanting.

Watching Zecora work filled Twilight with the familiar thrill of observing unknown magic. She spent nearly a minute simply ogling the spell.

From right next to her, Trixie let out a sigh. “Wow. I never realized that zebra magic was so pretty. I mean, look at those spell forms. So intricate.” Trixie sounded almost enthralled it the display. Like a mare sighing over a handsome stallion.

“What spell are you using to view the forms?” Twilight responded.

“Believe it or not, I’m not using a spell.”

That got Twilight to look away from the display.

“How are you viewing the spell forms? They should be invisible to an unassisted unicorn without a special talent in-”

“Magic. Like you, Twilight, my talent is magic itself. The only difference in magic between us is that I did not spend years studying under the princess and I have a smaller font.” Even if Twilight was not looking at Trixie, she could have heard the smirk in her voice.

“Wait. Your talent is magic? I thought it was stage performance.” Twilight started seeing Trixie in a new light. If her talent is magic, that would make her one of the only five ponies in the world with the same talent as me.

“I simply choose to use my skill for stage performance.”

“Well, that’s as good a use for a talent in magic as any use I could come up with,” Twilight comented.

Before another word could be said, Zecora turned around.

“I found the cause of this wolf’s plight.
Spells and potions of great might.

This wolf was taken from its home
And sent to Ponyville to roam.

Something forced this wolf to fight
A simple spell will set its mind right.”

Twilight processed the Zebra’s statements. “Wait. Are you saying that something sent the wolf here as a deliberate attack on Ponyville?”

Author's Note:

I am sorry that this was late. School got in the way. (That, and I found a couple of stories on this site to read like this awesome story. Seriously, go read it.)

Comment on my weaknesses. If you tell me where I am weak in my writing, I can work to correct it.

Comments

[The Computer Pony]

Good chapter, and good story. I'm amazed you haven't gotten more views.

[Zocarik]

2417069 I may not have gotten as many views as I desire, but there is a trend that brings a smile to my face. The view count, Favorites count, and Thumbs up have all been increasing. In time, this story will be made ever more popular. I have patience. I will lure in more readers over successive chapters.

Thanks for the support.

[Mayhem Darkshadow]

A bit disappointed that this isn't a ship fic () but to be honest this is still really good and extremely well written. Consider it approved for Twilight's Library

[Zocarik]

2772437 This is not a ship fic. And even if I do add shipping later, it will not be Twixie. Like I said both in the story and in the comments, the bond between Twilight and Trixie is stronger than romance or sibling affection. It is Something Mysterious.

Long lost siblings? Star Wars did that and so did a large number of FimFic writers. Romance, if it develops, will not have Twilight be the one in love.

[Mayhem Darkshadow]

2772999

Oh sorry i meant isnt. Typo

[Lexomancer]

Very nice. Well done. One possible typo, in Chapter 1 The Great and Powerful Trixie says,
“Do be gentile with that. I don’t want my horn damaged than necessary.”

Shouldn't there be a more, or some equivalent word somewhere in that sentence? ie
“Do be gentile with that. I don’t want my horn damaged more than necessary.”
or
“Do be gentile with that. I don’t want my horn more damaged than necessary.”
Or was the that a style choice made on purpose?

[Mooncalf]

This is a very interesting story and I like it. Trixie and Twilight working together on something is always entertaining, as is seeing Trixie be actually good at magic for once. It avoids the cliche pitfalls of having her be inept at magic, as well as the idea of the whole town unanimously hating her outright (you'd expect at least a few to be willing to forgive, especially seeing how the protagonists cause a lot of trouble on their own).

I'm looking forward to seeing more of their unique bond and how this develops, so please write more.