Author's Note

Been slacking on writing this one, but then one night I just started and didn't stop. This was kinda fun. Glad I got to this bit finally. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 52. The Hunger

Props?

Check.

Extra deck of cards?

Check.

Trixie went down a mental list of her inventory as she sat stuff out for her next performance. The ominous looking jewelry still hung from her neck. Maybe it was just a little extra, and not dangerous at all? Not unlike the magician herself.

She shrugged. ‘With Sunset still out of town…the others wouldn't know anything anyway.’ She turned to look into the mirror, realizing she was without her hat. “Ah! I knew it was something!” She began to turn away…catching the slightest flash of red in her eyes. She froze. “Was…that real?” She asked herself. “Whatever. Practice.” She huffed, feeling a little paranoid.

She grabbed her hat and left her rv, hopping out to the empty field she chose for her practice fields today.

She closed her eyes, reaching down to try and feel for the magic she'd accessed before. There was a faint wisp of lavender reaching out toward her. Her inner magic was answering her call. A gentle pull became a violent tug and she felt herself access the stored power. Trixie grit her teeth, popping out of existence and reappearing several feet from her rv.

“Yes!” She grinned. “Trixie will master this in no time!” Her eyes flashed red momentarily, but returned to their natural color. “Wow, I wonder if you get some kind of newfound energy when you get magic. I feel great!” She looked down at her hands.

Her brow twitched, an alluring aura flowed from the city. ‘What is that..?’ She asked herself with a swelling sense beginning to fill her. A faint pain filled her stomach. Was it…hunger?

‘What is this..? Do the others feel this?’ She asked herself. ‘Pinkie eats a lot…but that's just Pinkie…’ Her stomach grumbled. “Oww…” She held her side. “Yeah…that's not normal. What the hell's going on..?” She asked, doubling over as she felt her magic reaching out to it. “It…has to be mine…” She muttered, standing straighter. Her eyes flashed a brilliant crimson before she teleported from the open field.

“Y'know, I know we've been here before…but it feels different when it's just the two of us.” Rainbow said as she walked, a little unsteady. Sunset rolled her eyes with a small grin.

“You think so? Last time you came here was accidental.” She noted.

“Well yeah but also…”

“We weren't dating yet?” Sunset asked with a knowing smirk.

“That.”

“Well, I had planned to ask if you wanted to visit, but I had to find a good time. Opening the portal itself isn't something I'd like to abuse…but,” She looked over with a smile. “I would have liked to show you my world sometime. It's a shame that we have business, I would have loved to introduce you to Princess Celestia.”

“Meeting the parents?” Rainbow asked with a small grin, the tease was there…but she seemed happier at the idea.

“Well, I've already met yours.” She chuckled.

“You think we'll run into her while we're here?”

“It's…unlikely. I mean, she could leave meetings whenever she'd like, but she has an image to keep-” She stopped in her tracks, looking ahead with a slack jaw. “Uhh…”

“Hm?” Rainbow followed her line of sight to find the School of Friendship. “Whoa…that place looks packed.”

“Twilight said she'd been taking in a bunch of different races to the school she'd founded, but I didn't imagine it was this big. She definitely doesn't do things by half measures. Look at the scale of the place!” She said, looking up at the large building.

“...How did we not see this when we left the castle?” Rainbow asked.

“Sunset Shimmer!” Starlight called, running over to greet her. “Long time no see.”

“Starlight! How have you been?” She asked, giving her a hug.

“Oh, you know how it goes…” She waved her hoof.

“Nothing ever going as planned and chaos erupting whenever you don't need it to?”

Starlight sighed tiredly. “Yuuup.”

“I heard chaos?” Another voice spoke up, the serpentine body of chaos floated idly beside Starlight.

“D-Discord?!” Sunset asked, pushing herself between him and Rainbow, lowering her head, her horn glowing a soft red that turned darker as she channeled magic.

“Easy! He's a good guy now.” Starlight assured her, teleporting between the two.

“Sorry…I never…” She stepped back. “I only know the stories.”

“This guy supposed to be dangerous or something?” Rainbow asked.

The draconequus lifted an eyebrow. “I'm insulted that you would forget just who I am…” His tone was icey as he leaned forward. “First I'm threatened by Celestia's cast off and next Rainbow Dash acts like she's too cool to know who I am?” He huffed, crossing his arms. “From what Twilight reports, you should be above dark magic, Shimmer.”

The Celestia comment shook her but…dark magic?

“ENOUGH!” Starlight shouted, causing both of them to recoil. “Discord if you're going to be a jerk, do it somewhere else!” She said.

“How am I the bad guy here?!” He whined.

“You were trying to be harsh towards her! You know exactly why you're being mean!”

Rainbow blinked in confusion, gently shaking Sunset. “You okay, Shim?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah…sorry. That's Discord…basically a god of chaos magic.” She said, “But…what he said about dark magic…”

Discord appeared beside the couple, leaving Starlight with an annoyed sigh, turning to face them.

Discord stared at Rainbow for a moment. “You're the human Rainbow. That makes more sense.” He leaned back, floating again. “Who could ever forget me?”

“Dude's a weirdo.” Rainbow said simply.

Discord gasped, offended. “How easily you dismiss someone who could help you.”

“Discord, what did you mean about dark magic?” Sunset asked.

“Your magic was altered.” He shrugged. “It's not much, but you still have some darkness in there.” He poked her horn. “Seems you just need the right emotion to tap into it.”

“I'm…really not past it?” She asked, looking down, a sense of shame washed over her.

Discord put a finger under chin, lifting her head to face him. “No one is without darkness, Sunset Shimmer. Those who can tap into it and use it to their benefit is a sign of strength.” He said simply. “The fact you can tap into it to protect rather than harm speaks volumes for who you are as a person today.”

She blinked. “Uh…th-thanks…that actually makes me feel a lot better.”

“Don't thank me.” He shrugged. “I made you feel bad, so I had to balance it out. It doesn't make my statement any less true, just saves you a few weeks of self loathing and introspection before you regained some of the confidence I shattered. Sorry about that.”

“Having him around seems really tiring.” Rainbow said.

“You have no idea…” Starlight sighed. “Sometimes he's like that and others…he's making cotton candy clouds raining chocolate milk. But enough about him…what brought you two to this side of the mirror?”

Sunset shook her head. “Right! We came to get some gems that could store excess magic.”

“Twilight mentioned something about another set of element bearers…does this have to do with them?”

“Multiple bearers on the other side?” Discord asked. “How? You don't have full elements to pull from.” He cupped his chin. “Fascinating.”

“We don't know either…we're kinda flying by the seat of our pants here.” Sunset said with a sigh. “I'm the de facto expert.”

Discord guffawed before seeing her unamused expression. “Oh, you were serious?” He asked before laughing harder.

“Thank you, Discord.” She said through gritted teeth.

“See? It doesn't take long before he annoys you into being snippy with him.” Starlight noted. “Anyway, let's meet up with Twilight. She should be back from…whatever she was doing today. I swear that pony doesn't sit still…” Starlight rolled her eyes before leading them back toward the castle, Discord idly following them.

Trixie appeared on the campus of Crystal Prep. The hunger drove her steps, it was nearby…but wasn't distinct enough to pinpoint. There were multiple sources dividing her attention. ‘It's not the Shadowbolts is it?’ She asked herself, the pain in her stomach racked through her entire body. ‘No! Leave them alone!’ She stopped herself, raising a hand to her temple, the pain was unbearable…she was forcing herself to not take another step.

She pushed back against it, feeling her strength start to fail. ‘Stop it!’

“Trixie?” A voice asked, she turned to face the bespectacled girl, Sugarcoat looked confused by her presence.

“H…e…lp…” Trixie slipped before the white of her eyes began filling with black, Sugarcoat's eyes widened as Trixie held out her hand, struggling to take a step toward her.

“What is going on..?” She asked, a slight twinge of concern on her expression, but confusion and unease mostly held her in place.

“W-Wa…it…” She gripped both sides of her head. “R…u…n!” She warned before she threw her head back as a jolt of black electricity crackled around her. Sugarcoat backed away before taking the advice, turning to run.

Trixie appeared in front of her.

“Wha-?!”

A pale blue colored hand grabbed Sugarcoat by the throat, lifting her off the ground. She gasped, clutching at her neck, trying to pry the hand off, meeting eyes with her assailant.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, one eye looking horrified at what she was doing, the other had a black and red wisp coming from it, along with her red eye and black sclera. She watched as the other filled with black, her skin tone darkening to a navy blue

“I'm…sah…ree…” She croaked out as Sugarcoat felt a painful pull at the magic she had only just started to understand… It was as if her vitality was being ripped out of her, her eyes began to droop as she felt her arms drop to her side.

‘Is this…how it ends?’ She asked herself, feeling unconsciousness call to her.

“-way from her!” She heard before a sudden impact knocked her loose from the grasp, she gasped as she hit the ground, coughing and inhaling as much air as her injured throat would allow.

Through blurry eyes she looked up to see Indigo standing over her. “The fuck's your problem, Tixie?!” She shouted. Sugarcoat coughed, reaching out to weakly grasp Indigo's leg.

“Huh?” She glanced down.

“Something…making her…” She coughed out, holding her neck.

“What does that mean..?” She asked before her eyes widened, almost as if instinctively catching Trixie's wrist, turning her away from Sugarcoat and pushing her back. ‘On the upside, she doesn't know how to fight…’ Indigo thought. ‘How do I take her down without hurting her..?’ She took a stance, seeing Trixie moving at a slower speed than usual, unaware that her magic was slowing time for her. Trixie had no chance of outspeeding her or catching her off guard…until…

Trixie disappeared.

“Oh fuck…” Indigo looked around, still trying to hold attention, letting Sugarcoat catch her breath.

“Behind!” Sugarcoat hacked, struggling to move to help.

Indigo felt a weight attach itself to her back, a hand covering her mouth. Her shouts were muffled as she struggled to fight her off, the same feeling Sugarcoat just endured began to drain at Indigo, her strength just started to wane, dropping her to a knee as Trixie gained more control in the hold.

Indigo grumbled before opening her mouth, biting down onto the hand hard enough to draw blood.

“AH! YOU LITTLE SHIT!” She shouted out, before Indigo caught her arm.

“You're not getting away.” She said as electricity crackled around her. She held her in place as she felt the girl convulse, electricity channeling through her into the attacker. Trixie cried out in pain before teleporting away, leaving Indigo to drop forward, catching herself on all fours.

“What was that..?” Indigo asked, panting.

“She tried to warn me…” Sugarcoat said, tiredly moving to help her stand. “Are you okay?”

“I should ask you that…” Indigo sighed, taking her hand to stand, both stumbled slightly. “Did she steal our magic?” She asked.

“It appears she was trying to. Thanks for the save.”

“Anytime.”

“We need to warn the others…”

“Fuck! All of them are here today.”

“Call Sunny, I'll try to get Lemon.” Sugarcoat said, taking out her phone.

Lemon's ringtone blared, the rocker quickly tapping the answer button. “Yo?”

“Lemon, listen carefully. Is Sour with you?” Sugarcoat asked. Lemon glanced down at the dozing girl resting her head on her lap.

“Yeah, why?”

“I don't have time to explain. Trixie attacked us and tried to steal our magic. If Indigo had not shown up… Just, get to us quickly we need to regroup! Courtyard, now!” She said, hanging up the call.

“Wha…” She gently shook Sour. “Sour, we gotta go.”

Sour shot up, ready to pretend like she wasn't just sleeping on another girl's lap. “Wha? Who…”

“Emergency.” Lemon fixed her hair. “We gotta meet up with everyone. C'mon, sleeping beauty.”

Sour stretched, standing up slowly. “What kind of emergenshee?” She asked through a yawn.

Lemon froze. “Guessing it has to do with that…” She said, quickly putting herself in front of Sour.

Trixie floated above them, glaring down at the two new sources of magic. “Don't look so upset.” She spoke. “Your powers will soon be part of something much greater. Something…more powerful.” She chuckled darkly.

“Sour, run!” Lemon pushed her back, turning to follow. Trixie's eyes followed them as they darted from the room before she vanished, appearing before them, one hand on each girl's foreheads.

The duo cried out in pain as other students screamed. The sight of a flying demonic looking girl attacking two students was enough to incite a panic. Indigo and Sugarcoat caught sight of the students fleeing from the halls.

“Shit!” Indigo tiredly pushed to stand and began dragging her exhausted body forward, Sugarcoat struggling to follow as well.

As the magic filled her, Trixie's form began changing more…a red, wispy spectral horn formed on her forehead and wings tore from her back, black at the top, gradienting into a lighter blue and then back into a darker blue at the bottom. They began idly flapping as she hovered above the girls.

A hand grabbed her leg and Trixie was pulled away. “Hands off the bolts!” The girl shouted. Sour's vision had begun to fade, but she saw the face of Royal Authority. She brought the attacker to face her and was summarily blown away, down the hall and through the double doors.

Royal landed hard on the ground in front of Indigo, groaning as she approached. “Royal? What happened?” She asked.

“Some glowing bitch had your friends…” She grumbled, sitting up. “Blew me clear out the hallway. What the fuck is that?”

“I don't know…but you should get somewhere safe.” She said, straightening herself to run ahead.

Trixie's lips curled into a grin, seeing Indigo step through the doors before vanishing again. “Wait-!” She panted. “Sour, Lemon, you okay?” She asked, seeing them starting to stir.

“Not really…” Lemon groaned. “Where'd she go..?”

Indigo's heart dropped, her eyes widened. “Sunny!” She gasped, taking out her phone. “C'mon, Sunny…” She ran down the hall, her body ached with a familiar pain…but she had to push through it again. She made her way toward the theater, knowing that was where Sunny would be.

Screaming students met her as they ran toward her. A good sign, all things aside… She slammed into the door to open it, catching Trixie staring down Sunny, who stood in front of Autumn, who was laid out on the stage.

“Get away from her!”

Trixie's head turned to face her and they locked eyes again.

“Sunny, run!”

Sunny took the momentary distraction as an opportunity, she felt the heat building within her…she held out her hands and felt it burst forth. Streams of fire slammed into Trixie, but a translucent orb encircled her…blocking the magic…

Sunny felt the heat slowly fading from her body, Trixie's horn glowed brightly as the flames petered out, Sunny dropping to her knees, an exhausted wave hitting her.

“That's all the magic here.” Trixie said, crossing her arms. “Trixie thanks you all for your lovely contributions to her power growing!” She floated forward, lifting her arms to the sky. “But it is time for us to part!” She bowed. “Thank you and good-” A new sense of power. More magic?

Trixie's eyes scanned the room, seeing the other bolts had joined Indigo in the doorway. The new source stood, slack jawed, “T-Trixie..?” Starlight asked, mouth agape in horror.

“Star-” She grabbed both sides of her head before vanishing.