Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or any of its characters. They are the property of Lauren Faust and Hasbro.
The chill of the night drew goose bumps along the spine of the mare, even with her cloak pulled tight against her and hat covering her head. She cared not; her ambitions were of higher importance than momentary solace from the cold. Head held high, she trotted at an even pace past the trees that surrounded her, occasionally jumping over the high grown roots to keep time. Her clothes snagged on low hanging branches, but she pressed on. There was not a moment to spare; the Want It Need It Spell made those affected by it relentless.
Months back, she never would have considered doing what she was planning to tonight. Had she the power to talk to her past self, the past Trixie would have reeled back in disgust and pride. Disgust because the act itself was heinous as it was. Pride, due to the reasoning behind it.
Since the Ursa Minor incident, Trixie had been forced to reevaluate herself and where she stood in the way of talent. Her analysis had been poor, her reaction to the epiphany even poorer. In hindsight, throwing a tantrum and a pity party for about three days did little to soothe the pain. So Trixie had decided to apply herself.
Checking into a hotel in the next town over, the stage mare had rushed to the library and checked out a small mountain of tomes and scrolls, from simple instructions of telekinesis to transformation spells and weather control. Then, she set to work.
Barring the occasional show to pay for her room, food, toiletries and such, Trixie had studied nonstop to strengthen herself and her magic.
Day after day she had woken at the crack of dawn, traveled with saddlebags bursting with books to a secluded field a far ways away from the town and trained. It had been difficult at first; she was essentially shattering her own magical foundation, and for what? To improve upon perfection? But then her mind flashed to the night of the Ursa attack and she silenced her pride, at least for the meantime. She was loathe to admit it, but the act remained that Twilight Sparkle had shown her up. It wasn't simply due to figuring out what to do, oh no. Trixie herself was... underpowered. It stung, but she resolved to remedy that problem.
She had started from scratch, starting with basic telekinesis and working her way to more complicated spells. As time passed, Trixie came to the realization that she had limited herself. Her forte was illusions and spellbinding sights and flash, but she was capable of so much more. To her delight, she came to see that she had a talent for weather control. This sort of magic was usually a type of power that only pegasi could harness, though a few unicorns had the inherent skill as well. This realization spurned her on, pushed her to study more. Eventually her hooves passed over into literature that showcased the higher, and often darker magicks and she lapped at the knowledge greedily...
Two spells in particular caught her eye.
Want It Need It and Assimilation...
Bursts of hot breath poured from the mare's nostrils as she pressed into a full gallop. The dense branches overhead choked the moonlight from above as the forest became denser. With a thought, her horn flickered to life, illuminating her path as she passed through, her cloak fluttering like wings. With agility that would have surprised most, the unicorn dodged and flitted through with the ease of an earth pony.
A haughty smirk stretched across her face as she broke through the tree line and into the meadow before her. Trixie's training has served her well. And her strength shall only grow before the night is finished.
Trixie slowed into a trot before finally stopping in the middle of the meadow. Her heart pounded, not from physical exertion, but excitement. Closing her eyes, Trixie concentrated, and her still glowing horn began to pulse with energy as she gathered her power for a scrying spell.
The diamond clasp of her cloak pulled free and hovered before her, dropping the cloth to the grass in a heap. With the spell charged, Trixie touched her horn to the jewel and held her concentration as images began to flicker across its surface. She smiled. A large group of ponies of all kinds were converging on the meadow, just as she had planned. All she need do was draw them near.
Cancelling the scrying spell, Trixie dropped the crystal and began to enchant her vocal chords. Her throat glowed and she growled as her vocal chords vibrated with power. With a quick shake of her head, her hat was tossed to the side. She reared back on her hind legs, threw out her forelegs into the air and called out for the mass of pony folk to hear.
"Hear me denizens! The Great and Powerful Trixie lies before you! Come, that you may share in her excellence and bask in her glory!" Inhaling deeply, Trixie expelled the air as a mighty neigh, the sound akin to the soul curdling note of a wolf's howl. Taking in air again, she repeated the cry.
Come to me…
As if to answer her command, the sound of hooves thundering against the ground rose like a cry as the earth ponies and unicorns hastened to answer. Likewise, the beat of feathered wings against the night air signaled the oncoming of pegasi.
Gifted with flight, the pegasi reached her first, cresting over the treetops, neighing as they circled above Trixie on the wind. The lights from unicorn horns grew larger and brighter, hoof beats making the earth beneath the magician's legs quake as the earth ponies and unicorn finally burst from the forest like a flood, circling Trixie, driven to her.
Trixie neighed and stamped her hooves with childish glee. Tossing her silvery mane to and fro she neighed again and again, driving the crowd into a stomping, galloping frenzy.
"Pegasi! Wash away the clouds! Bare the moon to your mistress! Earth ponies! Stomp! Run! Sing! Unicorns! Bare your magic! Give it to me!"
Immediately, the clouds were torn from the sky, moonlight glaring down on the crowd of maddened ponies. Shouts and undulations tore from the throats of earth ponies as the unicorns ran with them, blasting off streams of magic into the air.
Through it all, Trixie's horn glowed brightest. The power within her built, mounting with every second, every scream, cementing her hold over the crowd. As all the ponies circled her, her eyes began to glow a powerful blue. As the screams became higher, her power seemed to bleed into the ponies assembled around and above her, filling their eyes with the same blue glow.
The commotion reaching a fevered pitch, Trixie, with terrible, haunting power, commanded, "Give yourselves to me!"
Trixie magically twirled her cloak about her and secured it, at the same time brushing herself. She cooed as the bristles combed through her now lengthened mane, a river of silver that rode down to her flank. Her strengthened, slightly larger body thrummed with vitality as she deftly skipped over the bodies of ponies that lay sprawled in the meadow, lifeless. Her Cutie Mark glowed in the moonlight with enhanced power. Her mind thrummed with the knowledge that she had taken; memories, spells, thoughts, feelings... It was glorious. She felt so... full.
Satisfied with her grooming, Trixie poofed the brush away and turned slowly at the center of the meadow. She eyed the corpses of her audience and with a flourish of her cape and a lengthy bow said, "The Great and Powerful Trixie is most overjoyed with your reception. Your applause is most welcome and deserved." A wicked grin split the mare's face.
"Perhaps Trixie shall visit again… In ten or twenty years when the area is repopulated by somepony else!"
With a cackle, Trixie teleported away, the blue light of her power illuminating her now silent audience.
