Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Chapter 2

Trixie passed by the purple unicorn without even looking at her.

Not that she felt uncomfortable with Twilight in particular, no – she just wasn’t too fond of anypony’s companionship right now. Of course, she was aware that her mission will require working with others. Just… not right now.

In fact, she was in good relations with Twilight – or at least much better than in the past – since the Everfree Fire…

Trixie went out of the Conclave Tower the same way she always did – through the arcane tunnel connecting the ancient unicorn statues on the top and the bottom of the tower. She cast a violet rain-repelling shield and headed towards the Canterlot Prison, but not the one at the Royal Guard outpost, one with comfortable holding cells for petty criminals. Instead, she went to the set of cold and dark caves carved in the mountain the city was build on, where enemies of the state were held.

The Everfree Fire. That’s when it all began.

What had started as a simple task turned out to be a prelude to the recent events. If only she had tossed away that cursed emerald fragment the moment she had found it in her bag! But no, she had to bring it to Canterlot instead, only to witness it being stolen by the cultist and… apparently another cultist, Moonwarden. The traitor.

And now Trixie had to find him, get the gem back and uncover the cult’s agenda. There were so many questions, and it was high time to get some answers. The only lead she had was an imprisoned cult member. Better that than nothing, Trixie thought, as she arrived at the rusty metal door attached to the mountain wall.

‘Halt! This area is off limits!’, the earth pony said, crossing his halberd with another guard.

‘Let me in.’, the azure mare answered. ‘I have the permission.’

She tossed the scroll to the guard. He read it, nodded and opened the door.

As Trixie was walking deeper inside the cave, she overheard the two guards’ conversation, as their voices were amplified by the stone corridor.

‘Hey, don’t you think she kind of looked like that Trixie mare, one who saved Princess Celestia about a week ago?’

Recognition? Great!

‘No way! Guys at the castle said that Trixie was a beauty, and this one looked like a homeless pony to me!’

Not.

Well, she definitely needed to pull herself together before speaking to Twilight and Sunseeker again. If not for anything else, than for the sake of avoiding their comments filled with compassion and caring. She didn’t need pity to find Moonwarden.

Trixie looked inside the cell. She barely saw anything, as one torch in the corridor was not enough to illuminate the room behind the metal bars. The would-be assassin was lying on the wooden bench, probably sleeping. The mare entered the cell, casting a wave of violet magic that covered walls, floor and ceiling for a while, then disappeared.

‘Who sent you after Princess Celestia?’, she said to the stallion, waking him up.

‘And good morning to you.’, the disregarding answer was heard. The stallion sat on the bench. ‘Or is it good afternoon? Forgive me, it’s a little difficult to say… no windows and stuff, you know.’

‘What is the cult’s goal?’, Trixie asked, deciding not to play the prisoner’s game.

‘I wonder why you’re here.’, he answered, as if he didn’t pay attention to what the azure mare said. ‘There were already some guards here and went out with nothing, why bother…?’

‘Where does the cult gather?’

‘Or maybe you’re here to replace me? You look like a first class prisoner yourself… have all mirrors been shattered while I was inside?’

‘I’m going to ask one more time: who sent you?’

The stallion stood up and approached her face to face.

‘Buck. Off.’

‘Answer me, or else…’, Trixie began.

‘Or else what?’, the prisoner interrupted and laughed, turning back at her. ‘You’ll do nothing. You have no power here. Look at yourself - you’re just a broken filly posing as a law enforcer!’

Enough was enough.

Twilight Sparkle went through the ivory doors.

As Princess Celestia’s protégé, she had heard many stories about institutions and organizations in Equestria, some being more secretive than the others. She was also smart enough to keep that knowledge for herself. But now, being part of these stories – this was exciting!

The purple mare always had a hard time adapting to a new situation, so she was glad to see the familiar faces of Trixie and Sunseeker. It all made sense now – Trixie’s appearance in Ponyville during the fire in the Everfree Forest, travelling with the white stallion across the land – it was not accidental.

‘Hello, Trixie…’, Twilight said, but the azure mare passed by without a word, leaving the unicorn confused. Sunseeker trotted to her side. ‘Did I say something wrong?’, she asked.

‘No, of course not. I’ll explain later.’, he assured, then smiled widely. ‘Good to see you, Twilight. Enjoying your first day as the member of the Conclave?’

‘Sure, I guess…’, she answered. ‘But I’ve got an awful lot of questions and…’

‘Come with me, I’d love to give you a tour!’, Sunseeker said, turning towards the councilors. ‘I’ll take it from here.’, he added, then walked out of the room. The purple mare followed.

‘Is it me, or agent Trixie’s carefree attitude has an impact on ponies around her?’, Councilor Stormcoat asked after the two ponies had disappeared behind the ivory doors.

‘At least we weren’t completely ignored, Stormcoat.’, Councilor Icemane replied. ‘Trixie might be brash, but who knows? Given time, she might even end up as a councilor of the Conclave.’

‘I hope to be retired before that doomsday comes.’

In the meantime, Twilight and Sunseeker sat on the comfortable sofa in the chamber below, which was filled with bookstands, workstations and pre-Equestrian art of various kinds. The purple mare was, obviously, more thrilled with the books than paintings and sculptures around – which reminded her that she was trying to find this organization in her books, after she had received an invitation few days ago. And because she found nothing it made a great question to begin with.

‘What exactly is the Conclave?’, Twilight asked.

‘A long time ago, there was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable unicorns, so they could take care of all kind of magical hazards in Equestria.’, Sunseeker answered. ‘It all started with one guy, Star Swirl the Bearded. Ever heard of him?’

‘Of course! Star Swirl the Bearded, who taught Clover the Clever, who taught Coconut the Curious…’

‘Right, anyway,’, the white stallion interrupted her and continued with his story. ‘Star Swirl and his fellow unicorns decided that extraordinary spell casting must be controlled. They did it because some bad things almost had happened back then. And that’s how the Conclave was made! We protect ponies from magic and vice versa.’, he ended with a proud smile.

Twilight nodded.

‘Like Trixie did in the Everfree Forest back then.’, she said to herself. ‘But what I’m supposed to do here? I’m not trained in combat magic…’

‘In brief, you’re supposed to help Trixie and me fight the cult of ponies that became a threat to Equestria when they tried to kill Princess Celestia.’, he said on a single breath. ‘And stole a magical emerald from the Royal Vault.’

‘There was a coup against the princess!? Is she alright!?’, Twilight exploded when she fully understood what she heard. ‘Why do I find out the last!? Should I visit her? Yes, I probably should visit her…’

‘She’s okay, Twilight.’, Sunseeker said with a soft voice, which made the mare calm down. ‘But I think there might be another pony that needs your help…’, he added, lowering his head. His usual smile faded away.

The purple unicorn literally felt the concern in the air.

‘What do you mean?’, she asked silently.

The white stallion stood up and looked through the window, as if he was trying to spot something in the distance.

‘I told you about what happened during the last Nightmare Night.’, Sunseeker said, looking at the streams of water coming down on the other side of the glass. ‘It was an inside job by Moonwarden, somepony Trixie though she knew well. Ever since, she became withdrawn and closed.’

Twilight said nothing. It turned out that she was going to be in the fight not involving combat magic at all. The fight she had almost lost when Discord appeared.

Sunseeker turned away from the window.

‘I mean, she had learned so much about trust and respecting others’ needs from you and your friends in Ponyville.’, he said and looked directly at Twilight. ‘I’m just afraid she’s on a brink of losing it.’

Trixie punched the prisoner again.

‘TALK TO ME!’, she shouted angrily at him. ‘Where do you gather!?’

The stallion dashed forward, subsiding at the metal bars.

‘Help! Guards, help!’, he cried, but was immediately pulled back by the telekinetic grip and slammed against the floor.

‘They can’t hear you, foal! I dampened the cell, nopony will come to save you!’, the azure mare said. Her horn was glowing as she immobilized the prisoner. ‘Let’s see how cooperative you can be… you are now crushed under the force two times stronger that the regular air pressure. When it reaches five, your bones will break. TALK!’

‘No way, you sick…’

‘Three times stronger!’, she shouted, increasing the force of the spell.

‘Nnnoo…’

‘FOUR times!’

‘Aaaallrighttt I’ll talk, just stop, please just stop!’

‘Wise.’

Trixie ended her atmosphere altering spell and sat on the bench, while the prisoner was helplessly crawling on the floor, grunting painfully.

‘Why don’t you tell me about the red, scarred stallion?’

The stallion rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling, panting and chugging. After a while he turned his face towards the azure mare.

‘His name is Zaeer. He is the main recruiter for our congregation.’, he said.

‘Recruiter? Is it a rank you give to your leader?’

‘He’s… he is not our leader.’

‘Who is your leader then?’

‘Feldora the Pegasus, liberator of the oppressed!’, he said proudly, trying to get up, but it turned out to be too painful. ‘You see, we believe that earth ponies and pegasi had been living under the tyranny of the unicorns for too long…’

‘Tyranny?’, Trixie was surprised. ‘What the hay are you talking about? There is a place for everypony in Equestria!’

The stallion tried to laugh, but that too turned out to be too exerting.

‘We’re in Canterlot, right? City built by unicorns. For unicorns! Just look out how many unicorns are there among the nobles. And how many earth ponies? None! We still work at places such as orchards and rock farms, like slaves! And it is because of your cursed magic!’

Trixie was amazed about how exaggerated this claim was.

‘But, when I think about it,’, the stallion continued. ‘It’s really not your fault. You were born unicorn, I was born an earth pony and there is nothing we can do… or at least we couldn’t do until Feldora and her friend Star Swirl the Bearded promised us to bring the balance. No longer shall the unicorns exploit the weak.’

Trixie got a sudden headache.

‘Wait, what did you just say?’

‘That no longer the unicorns…’

‘No, before that.’

The stallion looked into the azure mare’s eyes.

‘I said that Star Swirl the Bearded is back. Feldora will end inequality with his help. And then we shall have… peace.’, he said, then turned his head away. ‘You can kill me now, because that’s all I know, nothing more.’

‘It’ll have to do.’

The azure mare stood up, removed the sound dampening spell and went out of the dark cell.

‘One more thing. It seems I had underestimated you, lady.’, she heard the prisoner’s voice from behind. His muzzle was sticking out through the metal bars.

‘You’re not trying to enforce the law… you’re vigilante. You do not respect others’ needs, you make your own law…’

Trixie couldn’t stand listening to it. She knew it was so true, but she also felt it was so wrong.

She galloped towards the exit. This whole interrogation was a mistake. She shouldn’t let her emotions took over. And what was that gibberish about Star Swirl the Bearded? He’s been dead for over a thousand years. Sunseeker was wrong. She wasn’t a little distracted. She was totally lost. It’s all Moonwarden’s fault!

Distracted, betrayed, broken.

What happened to the Great and Powerful Trixie? What happened to the azure mare that always hold her head high and bravely faced every challenge? What happened to her that she couldn’t even keep her mane and hooves tidy for a few days?

Trixie needed help. Desperately.

As she was walking out of the Canterlot Prison, she heard the two guards talking.

‘Here she comes!’

‘And…?’

‘Oh, come on, just ask her or you’ll never find out!’

‘Quiet!’

Trixie went out of the stone corridor back to the surface. It was still raining, but this time she didn’t bother to cast the force field.

‘Excuse me, miss.’, said the guard. ‘Are you, by any chance, the Great and Powerful Trixie that saved Princess Celestia a week ago?’

It was a good question. The answer was obvious but it was difficult for Trixie to utter it. She put her cloak’s hood on and looked at the stormy sky. Her tears were well hidden in the rain falling on her face.

‘I once was.’, she answered, then shambled away.