Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Epilogue

Poof!

The sound of a resolving teleportation spell was heard and Trixie appeared inside a pink cloud of smoke, just to fall on her face. She stood up hastily, ready to fight the attackers.

But there were none.

In fact, she was no longer anywhere near that destructive twister. She wasn’t even in the forest.

Trixie was standing in a grassy field with cold, whipping wind as the only companion. It seemed that she had landed on the plains north from the forest embracing Hollow Shades, judging by a high, solitary Canterlot mountain to the west. She realized what just happened only after the initial shock had worn off.

She actually used magic to teleport! That was a reason to celebrate! Just wait until Twilight hears…

Trixie froze. Twilight Sparkle was nowhere near, but if Trixie was able to teleport away, surely the other mare could, too. She’ll surely materialize any moment now. Any second…

She didn’t.

‘No, no, NO!’, Trixie protested, looking up at her horn. ‘Stupid, unpredictable unicorn magic!’

She felt as if she had abandoned a friend, and since there were only a few ponies in Equestria Trixie considered to be her friends, not being out there for one of them in the time of need was utterly devastating.

‘I’m not leaving you out there!’, she shouted, dashing towards a distant line of trees, but stopping shortly after. ‘But I can’t take all those… magicalized ponies by myself! What to do, what to do?’, she started trotting in circles. ‘Think, Trixie, THINK!’

She was trying to come up with some bold plan to save the day, but instead found herself walking into a statue of griffon that suddenly – from her point of view – appeared in the field. She stepped around it, mumbling an excuse.

Wait, what?

That was no statue – it was a living being. Trixie approached him with caution. He had a silver coat and was much larger than the average griffon, not to mention he was quite muscular. Standing still and staring blankly into the distance, he really look… statuesque. What was he doing here, anyway? He couldn’t possibly live here, he had to…

Oh.

The Amber Aerie was missing one griffon when Garrote gave her report to Gilda the other night. One that could supposedly fly all the way from the Kingdoms to Equestria without breaking a sweat. What was his name, again?

‘Are you Gabriel of the Amber Aerie?’, Trixie asked and move closer, but immediately jumped out upon seeing that his eyes were veiled with silvery mist.

She had seen that look before.

‘Long time no see, agent.’, a well-known voice from behind said.

Trixie, now pale a sheet, slowly turned around. For a brief moment she had actually believed she saw a ghost. A ghost who looked exactly as she remembered him from that memorable Nightmare Night gala in Canterlot, minus the cape, which was revealing his moon and shield cutie mark. He stood still, keeping a straight face and not revealing any emotions, as usual.

‘You…’

Without further delay, Trixie charged at Moonwarden, sparkling up her horn.