[Everfree Forest] - Can go nowhere but up [Concluded]

[brianblackberry]

Trixie at first thought about dismissing the whole affair with this "Doctor Hooves" and moving on, ignoring the griffin's eagerness to test his absurd contraption.  What an exceedingly rude Earth Pony, having the gall to refer to her as "Rikki", even after she informed him of her real and beautiful name!

The Great and Powerful Trixie could handle local showoffs or hecklers in the crowd with aplomb.  She could handle challenges without fear.  She could show-up local unicorn toughs without breaking a sweat.  Hardship was nothing, she always bounced back stronger and more showy than ever.

But if there was one thing she simply could not bear, it was to be ignored and dismissed.

And besides, she had to admit a tiny little tidbit of curiosity ... what if this so-called Doctor really did have some way to detect magic?

So be it.  If he needed a display of magic to test his ridiculous little toy, then he was going to get the most spectacular display of magic ever!  He WOULD acknowledge the awe and majesty of the GREAT and POWERFUL TRIXIE!

Trixie just smiled at Lola, "My dear student, I, The Great and Powerful Lady Trixie, would be happy to exhibit her magnificent skill for the testing of this device!" Trixie looked about and quickly noted an open grass field full of flowers near the forest canopy, plenty of room to put on a large display. "Not the stage I am used to using, but I believe that will be barely adequate for my needs!" she stated rather proudly while pointing to the field with her forehoof.  "I will perform for you from over yonder!  We will finally see if this "Doctor" is telling the truth or is just another crackpot earth pony who only pretends to understand the mysterious nature of magic!  Be prepared to be in awe!"

Trixie made her way quickly over to the center of the field, barely visible to her audience, but it didn't matter, her show will a big enough display. Her horn began to glow its soft purple color.  She lowered her head, focusing upon her magic like she hadn't in years.  Yes, this was perhaps what had happened... she was so used to being so wonderful, so powerful, of having everything so easy, that she'd become lazy.  That wretched purple show-off had given it her all, but Trixie herself had been coasting by on her own incredible talent.  Perhaps it was time to really study and improve once again.  The energy flowing through her filled her with life.  The purple glow from her horn swelled in size and brightness as the power swelled within her.

If there was one thing that Trixie prized as much as her magic, it was her showmanship.  A crowd needed a big showy start to get their attention ... but a work of art, for an attentive audience, that was something else again.  She started small, just gathering her power, sending a soft wind across the grass around her, bending it away from her, and the taller grass and flowers as well, until a strong wind was bending everything away from her, Trixie herself standing at the epicenter with her cloak billowing around her.

Then, from the glow of her horn - soft purple petals started to appear, as if from nowhere, carried on this wind to create a delicate display, swirling in patterns throughout the air, natural patterns that shifted and changed, wind currents drawn out by the soft petals.

Suddenly the wind ceased, and died, the petals floating downwards, touching over everything, for several long moments... Suddenly the wind started up again, but this time in the opposite direction.  The plants which had all been pulling away from her were now drawn to her by the wind that built in intensity, pulling the petals in towards her, all spiraling in to the tip of her horn, drawing in all the power she'd just expelled, and more besides.  Gathering to deliver the show, till her horn was glowing more fiercely than ever!  And as water came flying in, drawn by the pull of her horn, it splashed around her to form a rainbow above her.

Once again the wind subsided, but Trixie did not rest.  The glow suffused her horn, casting a purple light upon everything nearby, the long grasses surrounding her bobbing in the sudden stillness.  No, not bobbing - rocking back and forth, dancing.  Tall blossoms appeared, with long leaves like arms that waved in a sinuous dance Trixie had seen ponies dancing once in the tropical islands.  Notes appeared, sliding across the rainbow scale, throbbing as the notes played a phantom music.  It started slow, gentle, quavering, but it started to build as if something huge was coming.  Something dramatic!

Little bunnies, now glowing purple from her magic, danced out of the long grasses, their legs lifting high as the music started to incorporate elements of a cha-cha she'd heard in another far-off city at the other end of Equestria.  Butterflies swirled around her, also glowing with the purple of her magic, making living aerial displays above the dancing bunnies, the swarms bursting and then coming back together with the large drum-beats of the music.

And then massive six-foot-tall flowers erupted from the ground behind her, as Trixie tossed her head dramatically, the massive daisies rocking and bobbing and swaying in an energetic dance!  And before one could even register that, another two erupted, and another two!  Till there was an entire row of giant flowers dancing behind Trixie, and whole flights of butterflies decorating the air!

Light and sound and scent erupted, and everywhere something different to look at!  Leaves pirouetting, squirrels doing a tapdance, even the ground itself *shivering* as if the very dirt was a massive drum!  Action and music and dancing and movement!  A GRAND CLIMAX!

And then Trixie sagged, lowered her head, though her horn stayed glowing just as brightly.  The dancers all ceased, all turned towards Trixie, raising paws and leaves towards her in supplication.  Two long seconds of utter silence and stillness...

From Trixie's horn, great gouts of flame - gold, red, green, of every color imaginable - rocketed towards the sky, exploding in giant blooms of fireworks, lighting everything with fantastic colors and thudding booms so loud it rocked you back on hooves, claws, or paws.  For half a minute her horn spit out the massive fireworks, with every last ounce of magic she could muster!  And for a true GRAND FINALE!  She let loose with blue and purple into the sky, constant streams of spark and flame from her horn, to create the image of her beautiful, wonderful face, thirty feet tall in the sky!

Finally, she collapsed, panting desperately, worn to the absolute limit by the spectacular performance.  Trying desperately to suck in a little air to sooth her burning lungs, she half-opened her eyes with a broad grin, ready to receive the accolades for her talent.  All the bunnies and squirrels and butterflies had fled during the fireworks display, all the new flowers disappeared as if they had never been, leaving only Trixie there, the sole target of any adulation and praise.

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves stared up wide-eyed at the display, his jaw dropped. The blue lights faded from the skies, the face dissappearing into sparkles and ragged remnants, and then even those faded away. He dropped his gaze to look to Trixie herself, looking all flushed and worn out and proud of herself.

He grinned. "Well, now. Now *that* is a filly that knows how to put on a show!" he said in an aside to the griffin, eyes shining happily, and an impressed note to his voice. "all we needed was a bit of magic to test the manavane, but she really went all-" Then he stopped, and gaped. "AH! The manavane!" he cried, turning quickly to look at it. In the majestic performance, he'd completely forgotten about it!

The contraption was settled into the ground, rocking violently back and forth as it spun wildly around as if trying to lift itself free. "No, no, no, no, NO!" Doctor Whooves cried, his eyes wide, frantic, looking over to Lola. "Did you see what it did? What was it doing while she was magicing? Was it always spinning?! It's not supposed to spin! ARGH! I missed it!"

[Tempest Rime]

Lola gawked at the display of magic. This unicorn truly was leagues above the rare few Unicorns she had met on her visits to Rockwington.

"Bravo! My goodness I've never seen anything like that before! With power like that, why, I'm having trouble conceiving of what limits you would have, especially if you were to apply it properly. You know, electricity alone can be used to power all sorts of things. With the proper equipment, you could probably widen the scope of your abilities even further."

Lola pulled a business card from her bag. "Here, take my card. If you're ever in Rockwington or Talonopolis for any reason, one of our business offices will be able to point you in my direction. I would love to test what sorts of things we can do if we combine your incredible magic with my company's cutting-edge technology."

[brianblackberry]

Still panting heavily, sprawled in the tall, cool grass, Trixie looked upwards. She gave it her all, a most astonishing show of awe and splendor. Never had she put so much of her energy into a performance before, never had she put so much effort into using magic ... except once.

Shaking any painful thoughts of her past from her mind, she mustered her will and forced herself to stand up on all four hooves. She wasn't physically exhausted, after all ... just mentally exhausted. Besides, an audience was an audience, even if just an audience of two. She controlled her face, and her breath, so she wasn't heaving like a common laborer, pulling her head high and proud. Truly, the Great and Powerful Lady Trixie had to impress after that...

Much to her delight, that unkempt brown earth pony was truly in awe, staring at her in astonishment. If his words lacked in elegance, his expression certainly made up for it. He was clearly overwhelmed with her magnificence. Her griffin companion filled in the words of praise and adulation they both surely felt. What was that about expanding her abilities?

Trixie slowly trotted forward, surprised that she even ached a bit physically, after that bout of magic. She was now doubly curious, her griffin companion was speaking of a way to increase her magic, and that had Trixie's attention in itself. Her horn sputtered a moment before the card floated up and towards her, keeping her face calm even though it was taking most of her focus to keep the simple bit of paper aloft. Really? A way through griffin technology to increase a unicorn's magic? She regarded it solemnly as she considered - her first impulse was to scoff at the very concept, but the possibility was too great to pass up ... After all, what if it could be done? Somehow, maybe she could even exceed that purple unicorn that so humiliated her in this accursed place? "Hmm ... Lady Trixie is indeed intrigued by your humble offer to assist her in reaching new heights in the research and advancement of the fine art and glorious spender that is the arcane sciences!"

The strange earth pony was already checking out his device - or more specifically, was panicking about his device, which was spinning wildly. All he did is run around it yelling "no, no, no!" Did her magic do that? She really doubted he had anything there at all, "I am afraid your "magic detecting" toy has been overwhelmed by the astonishing magnificence of The Great and Powerful Lady Trixie's magic! Perhaps you should leave the study of magic to us few who have the natural endowment to understand the arcane!" Trixie was enjoying the moment - after all, it was this doctor who had dismissed her just a few moments ago, and now the table was turned. His device had completely failed to deliver - he didn't know what he was doing. Could there be any other explanation?

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves grinned, unfazed by Trixie's condemnation of his device, and his abilities. "Oh, I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out," he said, the telescope-like piece of the manavane now in half, and the pony tinkering inside it with a screwdriver in his mouth, talking around it. "I'm told I'm rather a bit clever..."

He glanced up at Lola as she declared her interests. "Really? I hadn't known Griffin technology had reached that level! Then again, it has been a few years since I was in Talonopolis... might be time to visit again. Though after what happened last time ... hooooo ... but I'm sure they rebuilt the shipyards, and have forgotten allll about it..."

He went back to tinkering in his device, shifting the alignment of the variously colored crystals. "So, my dear unicorn," he said casually, almost absentmindedly, "With a display of power, ability, and control like that... why do you find the need to *tell* people that you're great and powerful?"

[Tempest Rime]

Lola smiled. "Of course, I will be in Canterlot for the next month or two continuing my research here, but anytime after that feel free to call on me. Rockwington is probably the more preferable place to do so, Talonopolis is... not the most friendly of places to ponies, though with your abilities I'm sure you could take care of yourself."

She gave the Doctor a smug smile. "I wouldn't precisely say that griffin technology has reached that level, but I'm hardly an average griffin. My company has been pushing our technology forward without rest for years, and I am personally one of its biggest driving forces. Anything we might develop would be the vanguard of a bran new era of progress! Why, we could change the whole world! Reshape it into magitechnological paradise! Tame the Everfree! Turn the desert into a lush grassland! Perhaps even reach up and bend the heavens themselves to our will!!"

As Lola spoke her excitement grew until she was nearly shouting.

[brianblackberry]

Trixie was glad to take the griffin's card, but in no way she was going to let on that perhaps her magic did need improving - at least not to these two. Showing weakness now that she finally had both in awe of her skills? Perish the thought! Once this ... annoyance with her books was solved, perhaps she would travel to this land of griffons. "Have no fear my lovely student! The Great and Powerful Trixie can most certain deal with any challenges or obstacles thrown her way in her travels to your exotic kingdom when she comes to grace you all with her presence!"

Turning back to the Doctor, Trixie couldn't help but let out a snicker of derision when she heard the eccentric, brown, earth pony claim that he was clever. His mane wasn't the only thing that was messed up, obviously his mind was too! "Really now, ye of little skill. You almost manage to burn down your own home and your silly…toy here only managed to spin like a top and it didn't even do that well!" She smiled condescendingly. After all, he had given her such grief, but now her magic had not only amazed and awed him, but also shown his device to be a mere toy. "Clever indeed, how can you know possibly know of the spenders of magic?"

He didn't seem to pay her barbs any real mind as he went back to tinkering with his strange device. She was about to say more, annoyed with his ability to shrug off her verbal quips so easily, when he asked such a biting question! Why would she call herself "Great and Powerful?" Why wouldn't she?! Because ... because, her mother told her she was ... Those brief, painful memories of her mother's last days, when she told Trixie she could do anything, briefly bit at Trixie, a sad expression flicking across her face before she regained her confident composure. "Its part of my performance of course! Part of the showmanship!" She threw her forehooves into the air as if she was taking applause. "A great magician, a great performer of the mystical arts, needs a title worthy of her skill so the unenlightened can and shall always remember who you are and not just what you have done!" She smiled coyly, confidently. That was all the reason she needed to share with the likes of him. 'What about you? Why do they call you a Doctor? You don't seem like any sort of scientist to me!'

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves considered Lola's exuberance, and the expanse of her dreams, pausing in his work on the Manavane. Certainly he understood the desire for knowledge. He, himself, was completely driven by such a desire. And he understood, of a certainty, the envy of the Unicorn's spellcasting - what he wouldn't give to be able to just lower his horn, let off a soft blue glow, and have some annoying door unlock before his whim. But the extent of that speech showed more than just a desire for knowledge or magic. Rather, it was the sort of speech that led to ... unnerving events. Events such as those that destroyed the docks in Talonopolis a few years back ...

"Well," he said, softly, "Those are grand dreams... but of course, one must remember that, as a whole, we do control the heavens. We tell the sun when to rise, when it is night and when it is day ... we make the rain fall, the grass grow, the wind blow...

"But it is not magical power which limits the breadth of our influence on the world. It is balance. You don't just turn a desert into a lush jungle. That has ... far-reaching effects, beyond that of just the area of the local change. A desert is a desert for a reason... not every Saturday can be bright and shining... When we do not balance the natural forces as we do, there are repercussions that cannot be foreseen. Sometimes they're far in the future... and sometimes, the results are more immediate, as massive energies tear through the shipyards and cause terrible destruction. Be careful you fully understand not just the powers you wield, but why they must be wielded."

He looked over to Trixie. "Which is why if one is powerful ... it is very important to also be great, and not just pretend to be great on stage. Greatness has nothing to do with power, or how much you are known. One of the greatest ponies I know ... of ... know of ... lived over a hundred years ago. Olive Branch, was her name. She was a diplomat that stopped a war with a few carefully chosen words. She's almost completely unknown, except to history buffs."

[Tempest Rime]

"Kaaw!" Lola squawked, disdainful of such arguments. "I've heard that sort of rubbish before. A defeatist attitude in the face of science. Had everyone throughout history been so cowardly in their outlook, we'd be lucky if we'd discovered fire by now. Being paralyzed by the specter of what could possibly happen is no way to advance the sciences. Science is like the hunt. When your prey strikes back at you, you don't let it go. You seize it by the throat until it stops kicking, or else you go hungry."

Lola paused, realizing too late that the hunting metaphor would probably not go over as well with ponies as it usually did among her own kind. "Ahem, anyway my point is that disasters may very well happen in the course of progress, but our mistakes often teach us far more than our successes, and abandoning an entire course of research simply because a few hundred individuals perished in one little explosion does nothing more than cause those deaths to have been in vain."

[brianblackberry]

Trixie was growing annoyed once again. This strange earth pony, whom mere minutes ago she had dazzled with her magic, not to mention having saved his home and life, was once again critiquing everything about her. Who was this pony who felt the need to nitpick and challenge everything about Trixie?! "Really, now! I don't *pretend* to be great on stage! For my admirers, I AM great! My stage is just to show how great I am! No unicorn can challeng-", Trixie stopped in mid-sentence, remembering where she was and the undeniable realization that her magic was made to appear as nothing more than parlor tricks by that one lavender unicorn. Quickly regaining her composure and giving the earth pony a look of haughtily dismissal, she declared, "I don't have to explain it to you. My magic has already more then demonstrated why! Besides, how can this "Olive Branch" be great if no one remembers her name?"

She was about to say more but as strong as Trixie's reaction was to this earth pony doling out little anecdotal stories and self-styled pearls of wisdom, Lola's appeared to be even more incensed. Trixie really didn't understand all her proud boasting about the progress of science, but she was visibly taken aback by the imagery of science being like hunting of prey. She took several steps away from the griffin, recoiling with a worried, fearful look. Flashes of being hunted through the wilds of the Everfree Forest by ... 'things' ... went through her mind. She wasn't even sure what they were, only that they hunted...

She shook that thought away and proudly took control of herself once more, catching only the tail end of the griffon's more carefully worded explanation. She understood that you have to do what it takes for success, and she had done so - when it came to magic and separating ponies from their bits. But to let others die? Is that what the griffon was suggesting?? Did all griffins usually think like this? Maybe it was time for Trixie to make her exit, after all. She had a mission to complete, and she had fulfilled her promise to the griffon, showing her the way to ... ugh. Ponyville.

Trixie didn't like the idea of just taking her leave though, having this earth pony lecture about greatness and how she should conduct herself. Just leaving with his words ringing in her ears felt like some sort of defeat. Then it dawned on her - before his exhortations about greatness, he called himself clever while hopelessly attempting to fix his "magic detecting" toy. "I'll tell you what, clever Doctor - if you can get that little toy to work properly, I'll be happy to listen to all your meandering nonsense and answer all your silly. Little. Questions!" She tossed her head haughtily with that, and stepped away, knowing for certain that he would never be able to do so, and she could now leave with her head held high.

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves hrmmmed at both the others' words. "Being great's not about how many blokes you help ... it's about how many you make sure don't get hurt." He finished tinkering with his screwdriver inside the manavane and gave a satisfied nod as he looked over it one last time. "You can't pay off a death toll of even one innocent death, not even if you help a thousand others. Even if that means you only make a step in the right direction, and let others complete the journey..." With a negligent flick of his nose, he closed the lid, and fastened the latch. "Because Greatness isn't about how many remember you, or how they remember you, it's not about how powerful you are, or how much you can do. It's about doing just the right thing, as just the right time - with understanding, even the smallest nudge can have a huge effect. It's about whether or not you do something worth being remembered, and understand exactly what you're doing."

With a light tap of his hoof, he sent the manavane to spinning slowly around. The slow spin came slowly to a halt... reversed... went back the other way ... slowed sooner, then went the first direction again, till it finally came to a rest pointing directly at Trixie.

He smiled up at the pony gently. "Think of someone important to you. Would she say that the things you'd done were great?" He glanced back at Lola. "Are the heroes of science ever those who didn't care about the price? When building something, you know that if you use the wrong materials, or take shortcuts in the process, the final product is flawed. The same goes for the big picture - if you do things for the wrong reasons, in the wrong ways ... it taints the final product."

[Tempest Rime]

"How preposterous. Leadership requires the ability to make sacrifices for the greater good. Besides, I'm not saying I'd intentionally throw lives away, that would be abominable, but rejecting potential advances simply because a few people died in the process is nothing more than a waste of valuable information. Implying that the knowledge itself can be somehow 'tainted' is superstitious twaddle. Science doesn't care for morality, it is simply the undiluted objective truth that it seeks as best it can, and even a flawed scientific theory can lead to greater insights through analyzing its failings."

Lola sighed. "I wonder if it isn't your reliance on unicorn magic that has lead to such a primitive outlook on science in these lands. I actually had the good fortune to meet a pony scientist hiding out in the forest with some quite phenomenal ideas. And rather than be supported by society, he was driven out to work in secrecy. It's shameful, I tell you. One way or another progress will come here, and you'd do well to support it."

[brianblackberry]

Trixie watched with a condescending smirk at first as the eccentric earth pony tinkered with his manavane, convinced it wasn't going to work.  Well maybe it did work, but her magnificent magic overwhelmed it! Either way, it was a mere toy now, no more attuned to magic than its creator.

Then it started to whirl once again, coming around to point directly at her, as if was accusing her of smug arrogance.  Trixie just snapped her tail and snorted, Simple coincidence! Or ... or he is playing with me?  Well I'll show him such a simple parlor trick cannot work on The Great and Powerful Trixie!  She quickly moved to the left, only to watch as the manavane followed her and once again centered on her.  Looking a little surprised and worried, she quickly moved to the right and as it moved to follow, switched direction, but the device precisely followed her every move.

Pony apples!  Somehow the device was *actually* working!  Ughh, now she'd have to keep her end of the "agreement".  How annoying.  Listening to his next question though, her visible annoyance suddenly disappeared under the painful memories revisited of the first pony she thought of, her mother...  What would she think of all that Trixie had done with her life?  Fighting back any possible tears, she just mumbled, "I ... I don't know," not wanting to think about it anymore, and certainly not to talk about it, at least not now.

Fortunately, the focus on her and those thoughts were quickly eclipsed by the pink-feathered griffin's exhortations on the virtues of their science and technology over magic.  Mentioning something about a pony science in the forest?  She never remembered seeing any other pony out there, "Pony scientist?  What pony scientist?"  She turned to face the griffin head  looking indignant, "and what is wrong with unicorn magic?!  If I recall, you were just as astonished by my display as this messy colt!  Toys and tricks are all well and good, but with magic, anything can be accomplished!  And in the end, all you're trying to do is figure out how to copycat us!  How do you expect to surpass us with such grandeur if all you're doing is providing a meager duplication of what we do so naturally?"

She sniffed, and lifted her nose.  "I thought science was supposed to be about doing something new, not just meekly following along on what has come before!"

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves sighed sadly... he knew when talking just wouldn't be enough. "Well," he said, "I hope your rush for progress won't cause us to have to come in conflict with each other. I hardly rely on Unicorn magic, and am a great believer of science... but all things have a unique power, whether magic, or science, or muscle, or just words. But I'll hardly convince you, my dear, I'm quite afraid. I wish you the absolute best."

Then he turned to Trixie. "And I'll have to beg my leave of you as well. Now that this is working, I have quite a few things to do. There's this wagon full of books and magical tricks that was wrecked in the town square lately, by an ursa minor, and since no one else was taking responsibility, I took the initiative to retrieve everything so that I could fix what I could and store the rest for when that unicorn mare comes back. Wouldn't want such an impressive collection getting absorbed into the library."

He ducked his head, picked up his bags and the manavane, and turned to head into his rickety little house, pausing to peer at several of the devices littering the yard as he went by.

[Tempest Rime]

"Ah, my dear Lady Trixie, your naïveté in regards to science is endearing. Scientific progress is never done in a vacuum. All great advances have been done by those working on the designs of those who came before them. And the research is not done simply out of curiousity, nay, the cliché that necessity is the father of invention is quite a truism." She paused to take a deep breath.

"Your own magical potency is a prime example of why unicorn magic defeats the need for scientific advances. Why would any pony build a machine to levitate objects when any unicorn can accomplish such a feat without such a machine? To us griffins however, such a device would open up a host of new possibilities. As such the mere presence of unicorn magics has drastically reduced your society's dependence upon technology, at the price of innovation within said field."

"Of course, your society may lack the technological progress, but you do have your own advances, most of which are based on those who came before you, just as ours are. The difference is that your initial advances were in the field of the magical arts. Thus while you may lag behind us in our area of expertise, you have your own area of expertise we have no inroads upon. What I therefore seek to do is to merge our separate, entirely different ways of thinking, and should I succeed we will all benefit from an unprecedented amount of new possibilities."

She turned to redress the Doctor's final words, but found that he had already gone inside while she had pontificated to Trixie. "Oh he's gone. I didn't get a chance to find out the theory behind his little magic detector. Well, I'm certain I can figure out something similar, he did mention the material he used. If I can use that device to find a naturally occurring source of magic, I'll be halfway to merging the disciplines of magic and technology. Ah well, I'd best get looking for my missing associates, I do hope they didn't get eaten in the forest. Replacing my equipment out this far from Talonopolis would be nearly impossible."

She gave Trixie a polite nod of her head. "Thank you once more for the guidance into town, and for the titillating conversation. Fare thee well." With a smug smile, Lola walked off toward the center of town.

[brianblackberry]

Trixie listened to the griffin's exposition on the virtues of technology. Although much or it went in one ear and out the other, Lola was right about one thing though in Trixie's mind - why spend all that effort building clumsy machines when the elegance of unicorn magic could do the exact same task more easily and, more importantly, with more flare! "Well, my lovely companion on this adventure, I can understand why you who do not have the wondrous privilege of magic would need such devices to imitate our natural talents. Have no fear, for I, Trixie will not hold it against those not blessed with the fortune of magic!" Trixie smiled - not with her usual haughtiness, but with simple confidence in what she was. "Perhaps I, Lady Trixie, may someday grace your quaint lands and offer my hoof in your endeavors!"

Upon listening to Lola's contemplation of the eccentric earth pony's device, she felt a slight shiver up her own spine. After all, Trixie was at a complete loss to how such a object could work. It made the pink-feathered griffin's word ring more true. what if there were ways for magic to be mimicked or, dare she even think it, controlled, by "technology". Sure, the pegasus ponies did so with their weather machines, but it seemed so much just an extension of who they were - something to help them control weather through the magic of their own hard work. These two seemed to take the idea much further, though - and the idea made Trixie rather uneasy, although she wasn't going to show that.

Nodding in acknowledgement as she listened to Lola's confident parting words, Trixie couldn't help but feel a little envious. There was someone who had all her pride and fortitude intact - something Trixie herself had lost even if she could never allow anyone to see her fear and her uncertainty about her magic and herself. She had a plan though, to rebuild her fortune, and it would start by finding any of her remaining books from her destroyed carriage.

Waitaminute ... What was it the brown earth pony said?

There's this wagon full of books and magical tricks that was wrecked in the town square lately, by an ursa minor, and since no one else was taking responsibility, I took the initiative to retrieve everything so that I could fix what I could and store the rest for when that unicorn mare comes back

Trixie's eyes suddenly widened, pupils dilating, as it suddenly dawned upon her. She swung her head around to face the rickety shack with a shock of realization on her face, He ... he has them! Her initial astonishment was suddenly replace by a new determination, and I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, will soon have them back in my possession, whatever it takes!

[Bramble Rose]

The inside of the cottage was different, more spacious, than the shabby outside would suggest. The first room was large, two stories tall, and seemed almost to be bigger on the inside than the outside, cluttered as it was with brick-a-brack of every description. With a glimpse of movement in the opening between two bookshelves, however, Trixie saw herself standing there, the 'bigger on the inside' illusion created by a large collection of mirrors hidden amongst the junk. Books were the major theme - new books, ancient books, tomes of magic in ancient Royal Script, and engineering books written in the sharp-edged characters of Griffon writing. They lined the walls, lined the staircase up to the second floor. in the center of the room was a round table, covered with levers and gems, buttons and switches, and a crystal standing tall in the center. It was connected to long cables that ran out - some through windows, some through the door Trixie had just entered, to the various contraptions outside.

The Doctor was nowhere to be seen, but several doors hung open. And everywhere, the constant ticking of clocks big and small.

Upstairs, the book theme was replaced by clothes. Enough clothes for a clothing shop! Most of the clothes were well-fit for this Doctor Whooves, jacket and coats, ties by the score, shelves of hats of every description. Several racks of clothes, though, were obviously not for him - massive suit jackets for massive Clydesdale ponies, or petite, delicate dresses for fillies.

Tick tock tick tock. Doors everywhere. This door led to a small room which had one wall dominated by a huge black box, with a huge circle in the center. It had a dial marked 1 to 11, and a small lyre sat in the middle of the otherwise empty room. Tick tock. Another door led to a laboratory, filled with vials and beakers, liquids and solids, strange ingredients filling the shelves. Tick tock. Another door led to a mechanical shop, with wrenches and screwdrivers and hammers scattered about all over, a forge set up in one corner, and half-finished devices piled up on every available surface. Tick tock. The next door opened onto a hallway.

At the end of the hallway, there was a flicker of movement changing the light streaming through a half-open door, and the soft hum of off-key music drifted out. "Now you see, Iron," came Doctor Whooves' far-off voice, over the constant tick-tock of clocks, "This wreckage shows ... oh, right. You disappeared. *sigh* No one to talk to anymore..."

[brianblackberry]

Trixie looked about the preposterous menagerie in front of her. Every conceivable oddity from the corners of Equestria and beyond were stacked from floor to ceiling in some chaotic, haphazard way that only the incredibly gifted, or the incredibly mad, could find any purpose in. Somewhere in this seeming chaos that messed with one's very senses was her precious magic books, those that survived the destruction of her carriage by that Ursa Minor...

But where? Even with her magic it could took take hours, even days to search this endless, eclectic maze. She slowly, and quietly, walked about, careful not to step on the various smaller objects strung about the floor. She helplessly moved a book around with her horn here and there to see if they offered any clues ... not a one offered any hope. "Horse apples! I'll never find them and get out of here at this rate. There has to be -"

There. Her name, bright and in gilt letters. Her old caravan sign - or at least, part of it. nd Powerful Trixie The broken and splintered and faded remains of her sign seemed to accuse her. She just slumped to the floor on her hind quarters, staring. Perhaps that earth pony was right; perhaps she wasn't great after all. No! I can do this, I can show them I am great! I am powerful! She leaped back up, a bit more determined now, but still ... what to do about the books? It appeared they were nowhere near the sign. Just then she heard the strange earth pony's voice.

Trixie paused for a moment to plan her approach. He must know where they were, but how to get them back from him? Charm? He seemed nonplussed by her personality thus far. Seduction? Well as beautiful as Trixie knew she was, somehow she knew he would be even less likely to fall for that - and besides, he wasn't her type at all. No, no, too fake. Too forced. Force? She could use her magic to hold him until he confessed; it would be easy enough to do, provided she had enough time to get her mental strength back. That light show was draining. Trixie was about to go forward with that plan when the question that Doctor Whooves had earlier asked echoed through her mind. "Think of someone important to you. Would she say that the things you'd done were great?"

Trixie was again frozen in her tracks, unsure what now to do. But her books were right there! They had to be! The momentary uncertainty gone, She followed the sound of Doctor Whooves talking to himself, and stepped through the door determinedly. "All right, where are my books and what do I have to do to get them back?"

[Bramble Rose]

Trixie found herself making her proud declaration to a stairwell, lined with clocks and trinkets. Here, behind glass - an ancient, time-weathered painting. There, in a case, were several shards of pottery from thousands of years ago. A sheet of paper bearing a copy of two thirds of a map with recognizable terrain .. but without the cities in that area. Instead, it showed cities that trixie knew weren't there.

The bottom of the stairs took a sharp left, and here, Trixie found it. Cool air, and stone walls, made up the basement of the small house - a much larger basement than the house above. The tick-tock-tick-tock of clocks was omnipresent down here, too. Here, Trixie saw a ramp up to a set of slanted doors at the top, and down here Trixie saw the wreckage of her wagon. The remnants of the ceiling were suspended from the roof, the broken base was lifted off the floor on supports. One of the wheels was propped up against a nearby wall, and a second was nearby, clamped into a vice, half-repaired.

To the other side of this area, were her belongings. Only half of a bookshelf had any use left to it, and it held piles of her books. Other books were tucked away into boxes, among the piles of scrap wood, pots and pans, some spare cloaks and hats. Amazingly, one of her fireworks launchers was still intact, and there was a barrel of fireworks to go with it.

"Well, Miss 'I don't know' Trixie," Doctor Whooves said, taking the fixed wheel and sliding it onto the axle. "If they're yours, all you have to do is ask for them. Good thing you showed up, though - I was getting all ready to leave on another trip. Finally figured out where the Ancient Royal Library got buried three thousand years ago. Off Southwest by the Buckingshore Beach. I think. I have to take some readings, first ... thus the manavane. But you'd not be interested in that. You have your books... and... whatever's left of your wagon. I'm sure you can fix that with your magic. You must be glad to get back to ... whatever it was you were doing."

[brianblackberry]

Trixie wasn't prepared for the scene before her. In her mind, this "Doctor" had simply buried her books somewhere in his maze of rubbish, oddities, and curiosities from all over Equestria, the mere earth pony ignorant of their true value. Here, in this room she took to be a basement workshop, were all her remaining belongings. There was even the remnants of her wagon, preserved and being repaired. In stunned believe she looked to the eccentric earth pony, and a faint mutter of awe came from her. "Why? Why are you doing this?"

Falling back on her haunches, Trixie simply could not believe what she was seeing. In her mind, even recovering a few of her books was going to be a challenge, a trial to go to the ponies that had seen her so ignominiously shown up, scratching together some remnant of who she had once been. Instead, here before her was her entire life, or what was left of it - preserved by the very pony she had so rudely dismissed.

He was babbling incessantly, as he seemed unable to stop doing - but it flowed past her without interest until she caught on his mention of a legendary ancient royal library. She'd heard tales of the place - rumored to contain arcane knowledge lost to ponykind, never known to any unicorn. She had heard the tales of that place, and others like it, but had never thought about searching to see if any were true.

But when Whooves dismissed her with an offhoof "But you'd not be interested in that," Trixie had finally, finally had enough. she hopped right back to all fours, raising her right eyebrow as she cocked her head. Her tattered, soiled hat and robe cast themselves to the side, and she magically drew a new set from the pile he had recovered. It was amazing how much better she felt, simply by clasping it about her neck with her beautiful sapphire broach. She felt like herself again! She tossed her hair, and strode up proudly to look this Doctor Whooves in the face, "The Great and Powerful Trixie, magician extraordinaire, well be happy to guide you to this ancient library of wonder!" Her eyes narrowed as she smiled even wider - a genuine smile that she'd not felt in ages. "Let's go!"

Continued In The Lost Library - The Search is On!