Chapter 10: The Stand

“Welcome to historic Saddleback,” the Great and Powerful Trixie read aloud. “So this is Saddleback. Hmph. It’s dustier than Trixie prefers, but that matters little so long as Trixie solves the riddle.”

“Riddles?” Sun Cloak appeared and his message began to play. “I love riddles! A good puzzle always seems to brighten up my day.”

“Oh hush! Trixie said puzzle! Not riddle! Puzzle! Urgh!” Trixie frowned at her diamond until the message stopped.

A few townsfolk who were about looked at the newcomer but, when Trixie looked back at them, they quickly set about their daily business. They had seen enough strangers and weird happenings in the past few days to last a lifetime. Trixie began to walk down the large dirt road leading through the center of Saddleback.

“The quarry should be somewhere close by,” she talked to herself while walking. “You!” she pointed toward a young filly. “Tell the Great and Powerful Trixie, where is your quarry?”

The filly cocked her head sideways and gazed curiously at the blue unicorn, decked in a shimmering blue cape, and simply pointed down the road without saying a word. Trixie harrumphed her thanks and continued her trek down the dusty road.

It was nearing noonday when a large shadow suddenly flew over the unicorn’s head. A large mass crashed behind Trixie and the ground trembled for the briefest of moments. A few villagers who were outside screamed, grabbed their young, and fled into their homes. The unicorn was in the process of turning around when an orange flame bellowed towards her. A yellow shield burst to life around Trixie. Even so, the boastful unicorn stood trembling before the onslaught as Sun Cloak’s warning echoed through the town: “My magic will protect the seven teams until the end of the hunt. Let this be a warning to you!”

Trixie stopped trembling when she realized that Sun Cloak had provided a protective barrier against any threats aimed her way. She then grew confident and unswervingly glared at her attacker; it was a black dragon with a scar running down his right eye. Still, she took this fact in stride and mockingly answered his attack with pointed words.

“Ha! Is that all? The Great and Powerful Trixie cannot be hurt so easily.”

“I do not need to hurt you to warn you,” the dragon threatened. “Stay away from the treasure. It is mine.”

“Yours? Trixie thinks not! The treasure is as good as mine. In fact, somepony should teach you some manners and the Great and Powerful Trixie would be more than happy to do it.”

“Teach me some manners?” the beast chuckled and let a small stream of vapor puff out of his nostrils. “Well go ahead. Fire away…pony.”

Trixie snarled and then concentrated. Her horn began to glow and a small thundercloud materialized behind the black dragon.

“I’m waiting. Oh Great and Powerful Trixie,” mocked the dragon, not realizing the threat behind him.

Suddenly, a lighting bolt burst from the grey cloud and launched a sneak attack on the dragon. But, the bolt was stopped short by a powerful yellow barrier and Sun Cloak’s angry voice shot back in Trixie’s face the same warning issued to the dragon. Trixie was stunned at this turn of events, but quickly managed to regain her composure.

“Well,” the boastful mare snorted, “I certainly don’t need to harm you to teach you a lesson. I used to run from beasts such as yourself, but I have learned much since then.”

“You would not be so bold if you were not protected by strong magics,” countered the dragon.

Not paying attention to the beast’s words, Trixie raised her hooves into the air and dropped them solidly upon the ground. A bright flash and a cloud of smoke appeared from where the unicorn had been standing. When it cleared, she was nowhere to be seen.

“Teleportation will do you no good unicorn!” roared the dragon angrily. “Come and face me like a true warrior if you really want a fight!”

But Trixie did not appear; instead an unnatural smoke began to rise around the black creature’s feet. The smoke was tinted a light shade of blue and began to grow until it had enveloped the dragon’s body. It covered his claws, feet, torso, nose, mouth, and even his eyes so that he was blinded. He roared in anger and an intense purple flame began to intermingle itself with the blue mist. The purple fire slowly wrapped around the dragon’s body. The more purple fire wrapped around his body, the more the smoke dissipated. Soon the black creature was free of the clinging mist.

“I know the cleansing flame, unicorn,” whispered the dragon threateningly. “Your tricks, all your smoke and mirrors are useless. Come! Show yourself!”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie may hate to admit it,” came a haughty voice from behind the dragon, “but it seems that we are evenly matched.”

The dragon turned around to face his foe.

“So just be on your way,” Trixie waved him off without a second thought, “but this time YOU be warned, if you ever run into Trixie again she will show you a thing or two about ‘strong magics’.”

The beast fumed and hatred burned in his green eyes.

“I am Grallix of the Frostbluff Peak and you have already been a hindrance to me!” shouted the dragon. “I shall finish you now and put an end to your boasting!”

With these words Grallix flung himself toward Trixie, with wings outspread, and crashed solidly into a yellow barrier. Sun Cloak’s warning played again, but Grallix ignored it.

The dragon began to claw and scrape the shield, raising up a terrible screeching noise but doing no damage to the bubble. Trixie gasped and took a small step backward. Finding that he was doing nothing to the shield, Grallix instead began to pound upon it from the top.

“Since you will not listen to reason I am forced to put my warning into action,” Sun Cloak’s voice stated a new message. The bubble instantly began to hum with energy. Yellow sparks leaped from the shield and onto Grallix’s grizzled claws. He roared in agony, smoke pouring forth freely from his nostrils, and a tear born of pain rolled down his cheek. But still, the determined creature would not stop pounding on the yellow barrier. He smashed it harder and harder, but the shield held fast. However, the ground beneath the shield did not. Suddenly, Trixie found herself falling into a small crater made by the pressure placed upon the circular barrier.

The yellow bubble slid further and further into the earth until dirt and gravel poured onto even the very top of the shield. Grallix continued to push upon the painful sphere until Trixie could no longer see sunlight. The dragon finally released his hold upon the yellow shield and roared his finally farewell to the buried unicorn.

“I may not be able to harm you, but when your shield finally goes down you will be trapped beneath rubble! I will never have to deal with you again. So long, Trixie the Weak and Pathetic!”

He then breathed purple fire onto his painfully singed claws. He breathed a quick sigh of contentment and then unfurled his great wings. He propelled himself into the sky and proceeded to speed toward the quarry. When he landed on the grey stone, he sniffed the air.

“I smell ponies,” he whispered to himself.

Following the scent lead him to the stone entrance with Sun Cloak’s tunnel system.

“I can almost taste his strong magics,” breathed Grallix excitedly.

He quickly took his purple gemstone and shoved it into the carved slot. The stone door lifted itself out of the ground and rolled away from the square hole. Grallix plucked his jewel from the door and smashed himself into the opening. It was too tight for the large beast to fit, but through sheer willpower alone he managed to claw his way into the wider space at the bottom and landed next to the tunnel system. The tunnels were larger than the entrance and Grallix could snuggly squeeze his body through them. He clawed down the dim passages with hunger in his eyes.

* * * * * * * * *

Trixie stood trapped beneath dirt and debris that could come crashing down upon her at any moment. It all depended on whenever her shield decided to shut itself off.

“I can’t teleport if I can’t see where I’m teleporting to,” she whispered shakily.

Her horn was already aglow and producing light, but all she could see were stones waiting to crush her. She was scared as she ran around looking for any kind of escape from the dragon’s trap. Suddenly, her face lit up as an idea struck. She refocused her magic to take hold of a large stone. She flung the stone away. Smaller rocks and dirt began to fill in the open space, but it had created an opening just large enough to allow sunlight into the crater. Now that she could see outside, Trixie used her magic and teleported herself back out onto the dirt road.

The crater behind her collapsed further into the ground now that her shield was no longer present to hold it up. She shakily stood upright, catching her breath and regaining her composure from adrenalin and from the sheer exertion of magic she had performed.

“Grallix,” Trixie snarled under her breath, “Trixie is not out of the hunt yet and you will be sorry that you ever doubted her.”

She then took a deep breath, let out an angry snort, and charged toward the old quarry.

Next Chapter: Chapter 11: The Puzzle Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 58 Minutes