MLP: Technology is Magic

“The Great and Powerful Trixie thanks you for the new caravan, mayor. Your town is truly one of the most hospitable ones she…I have ever known. How can…I be able to repay you?” Trixie struggled to use first person talk, even though it made her uncomfortable to use it.

“Don’t you worry about that, miss Trixie. You helped save our town by carrying that Ursa Major back to its cave,” Mayor Mare responded.

“Actually that was an Ursa Minor, a baby,” Twilight corrected. “Still, I didn’t know that ponies could be capable of psychic powers without using their horn.”

“I wasn’t sure about that either until I met Trixie when she came into town,” Sophia admitted. “It’s possible that there are more ponies out there who could become psychics one day.”

“But that doesn’t answer how she awakened to that power in the first place.”

“I think it’s because for some reason magic and psychic energy tend to compete against each other and magic usually ends up suppressing the psychic power. It may be that Trixie’s magic was average or it could be that her psychic power was exceptional to begin with when I detected signs of it within her. I can’t say for certain.”

“Still, Trixie thanks you for helping her to bring out that power. Perhaps Trixie can truly become great and powerful one day.”

“You’re free to come to Tosh, Nova and myself if you wish to train your power. If you ever feel the need to step up to protect Equestria with that power then we can help you to become a terror on a battlefield,” Sophia offered.

“Trixie will consider it. For now, Trixie needs to return to the road. Most of Trixie’s stage supplies were salvaged from the wreckage but will need to put on a few more shows to recoup her losses. Farewell everypony, Trixie shall make her return someday.”

With that Trixie hitched herself up to her new caravan and proceeded down the road out of town.

It was a week after Trixie left that Fluttershy somehow found herself ignoring her usual anxieties while patching up a large dragon atop a mountain. Sophia could tell that she was running on adrenaline and her motherly mentality was active.

Earlier Twilight received a missive from Celestia that explained a cloud of smoke covering Equestria was coming from a dragon and they had a mission to convince them to take their nap somewhere else.

The trek up the mountain was a difficult one, partially because Fluttershy was completely frozen up and adamant about not wanting to meet the dragon. Because of this Sophia had to telekinetically carry her up the mountain against her will.

Once they reached the peak where the dragon was sleeping, Twilight and her friends each tried their own ways of getting the dragon to acknowledge them but the creature couldn’t see them as anything less than pests buzzing around his lair.

When Rainbow decided to try the violent approach the dragon reacted in kind and nearly burnt the ponies to a crisp with his fire breath. Sophia intervened and prevented the dragon from breathing which ended up with the two getting into a fight. The dragon was surprised that a creature smaller than a pony could be strong enough to slam him against a wall, let alone fly without wings. The dragon tried swiping at her with his claws but Sophia was too small and too fast for him to make any effective hits and she continued to dodge him.

Fluttershy pleaded for the two to stop fighting but her timid, soft voice was heard by no creature, not even her friends. Rainbow was cheering for Sophia to tear his scales up which left her timid friend feeling disturbed that her friend would think of such a violent act. She began to feel bad for the dragon who was getting utterly thrashed by the bunny. Pinkie was calling for Sophia to use her sharp, pointy teeth.

After another minute of watching the one-sided fight, Fluttershy had enough and ignored her fears and flew between the two while holding her hooves toward them and screaming for them to stop with everything her voice could put out. This surprised everyone around her since this was the first time she had ever raised her voice to such a level.

Even when all eyes were on her, Fluttershy seemed to forget to care at that moment. She then proceeded to scold the dragon for being a jerk to her friends and then proceeded to scold Sophia for being mean to the dragon. Not wanting to let the mare lose her nerve at this time, Sophia pretended to look mollified.

In reality, Sophia had no intention of causing any real harm to the dragon but she saw this as an opportunity to bring out Fluttershy’s courageous side. She actually wanted the mare to intervene with their fight. The dragon provided an opportunity for the exercise in self-confidence. Dragons were made of tougher stuff than most creatures in this world so she knew he could take a few light hits.

Once they were sure the dragon was not going to cause trouble for anypony, Sophia had Twilight and the others, except Fluttershy, leave the mountain while giving them every assurance that their friend was safe with her around and given the fight they saw, the others believed her.

Fluttershy was tending to the damaged scales and bruised areas on the dragon when Sophia walked up to the pegasus with a smile on her face. The mare heard her approaching and gave a sidelong glance. “What is it?” she asked in a gentle tone.

“I simply want to point out that what you did was a very courageous act. You faced your fears of large dragons and now you are trying to mend him as if you don’t care what he is.”

Fluttershy remained silent for a moment while she thought about how to respond to that. However, Sophia’s comment did leave her feeling abashed. “I…I couldn’t just let you beat the poor dragon to death.”

“He wasn’t in any danger,” Sophia assured. “Dragons can take a beating and I held back. I wanted to show you that you are capable of facing your fears. The fact that you are here taking care of his injuries shows that you have taken a big step toward overcoming your fears.”

“That or she realized that there was something scarier than me,” the dragon chuckled, though winced when he felt his bruised ribs. “You held back against me? Just how strong are you?”

Sophia shrugged, “Let’s just say that if I fought you seriously things would have gotten ugly for you.”

“Does this mean you and this dragon…?” Fluttershy questioned but was quickly cut off by Sophia.

“Oh no, the dragon coming here was just a coincidence. I simply saw a teaching opportunity for you and took it.”

“It’s true,” the dragon agreed. “I came here of my own accord. Although now that I think about it I do remember a rabbit a few years ago beating up a few dragons and impressing the Dragon Lord. Lord Torch said that we should stay away from wherever the rabbit declared her territory. If you are that rabbit then please accept my humble apologies. I will be out of here once this kind pony is done playing doctor.” He chuckled and got a blush from Fluttershy.

More time passed as life in Ponyville continued. At one point there was a large storm scheduled since the weather pegasi accidentally skipped a scheduled shower the previous week, possibly because of the smoke cloud from the dragon.

Applejack and Rarity proceeded to prune a few trees that were too close to houses with the farm mare being impressed with the engineering mare’s ingenuity as she was able to craft a chainsaw that was powered by her magic and cut down any branches that would pose a threat to property.

However, while they managed to complete their task the two weren’t able to finish before the rain arrived. Twilight was nearby to offer them shelter which the two gratefully accepted. Since the storm wasn’t going to let up for a while and Twilight was going to be otherwise lonely since Spike and Starlight were in Canterlot on business, the three decided to have a slumber party. The three made some good memories together.

A few weeks after the storm, Tosh decided to take a walk around Ponyville where he soon discovered Apple Bloom speaking with a zebra mare who was wearing a brown cloak. Using his ability to cloak himself without his cloaking device thanks to Sophia’s tutelage, he moved close enough to hear the two.

“This has been quite the experience. The friendly nature of you ponies has given my herb hunting a positive expedience,” the zebra beamed.

“Glad we could help, Zecora,” Apple Bloom replied. “Ever since Tosh moved into town the folks have warmed up to you zebras.”

“Another zebra you say? Perhaps I will have an opportunity to meet him someday.”

“Maybe, are ya sure Sophia is alright? Those blue flowers you mentioned seemed to have really messed with her head.”

Hearing the filly’s words, Tosh decided to drop the observation and approach them while deactivating his invisibility. “What’s this about something happening to Sophia?” The two females were startled by his entrance.

“Tosh? What’re ya doin’ here?” Apple Bloom asked.

“The reports didn’t mention another zebra living in this part of the world. You must either be an explorer or an exile.”

Zecora gave a wary look at the zebra stallion. “My exile is self-imposed. What about you? Why are you here?”

“Zecora? Ya didn’t rhyme that time?” Apple Bloom asked.

Zecora’s gaze softened as she glanced at the filly, “My rhymes are a friendly evoke meant only for you pony folk.”

Tosh chuckled at the zebra’s antics. “I mean you no hostility, Miss Zecora. I simply wish to know what happened to my commanding officer, Sophia.”

Zecora gave the stallion a confused look. She had never imagined that a rabbit would be commanding a zebra. However she decided to leave it be and answered his inquiry. “If you are referring to the rabbit, then she is at my hut being treated after she was exposed to a plant in the Everfree.”

“Yeah, it made her behave really weird like she was three ponies all wrapped into one,” Apple Bloom described. “One was actin’ like a Royal Guard officer, one was constantly talkin’ into our heads and another was sayin’ some real scary things.”

“There is no need to worry, young Bloom, your friend will be better soon,” Zecora assured.

Zecora then escorted Apple Bloom and Tosh to her hut in the forest. Tosh quickly felt a spiritual presence in a way that felt familiar to him. It felt like the spirits were warding off any danger on the path. “The protective spirits on this path, is this your doing?”

“You can sense them as well? Even among my own kind it is rare to meet a zebra in tune to the spirit world,” Zecora noted.

Tosh’s hoof reached for the doll around his neck as he looked at it. “I learned about the spirit world a long time ago from my grandmother. She gave a part of her spirit to this doll so that it would protect me until the end of my days.”

“That’s why ya go around wearin’ that thing…” Apple Bloom realized.

The three continued talking until they arrived at Zecora’s hut. Tosh never expected to be hit by a wave of nostalgia when he saw the masks decorating the hut as they reminded him of his grandmother when she kept a collection of masks she had made herself. He held a lot of respect for his grandmother who did her best to remind others of the old ways that were once thought abandoned after their ancestors were exiled from Earth.

Once inside the hut, Tosh spotted Sophia in a small tub, which was more like a bucket, of water that had a fragrant smell to it. His commanding officer had a grumpy look on her face. “Seems like you had an exciting day,” he joked.

“Tosh…” Sophia began, trying to keep herself from violently expressing how embarrassed she felt from her ordeal, “When we get back, we need to make sure we gather all data on the flora of this forest before setting paw or hoof here again. I do not want to get blindsided by plants again.”

Tosh gave a mock salute, “We shall see it done, ma’am,” he chuckled. He then looked at the filly and wondered why she followed them here. “So what’s the little filly doing here anyway?”

“Zecora’s been teachin’ me how to make potions. Mah parents know but Applejack and Mac don’t. Ah’d rather not have sis gettin’ overprotective.”

Tosh and Sophia, who was now cured of the effects of the flower that she came to know as Poison Joke, stayed in Zecora’s hut for a while until the zebra mare finished today’s lesson with the filly who seemed to follow instructions well. Afterward, they escorted the filly back to Ponyville while making sure her siblings were none the wiser about where she had been.

Alan Schezar observed the planet impatiently as he waited for his crew to finish analyzing the planet. Since they were pirates who were on the run from the Federation, it was difficult to obtain anything close to cutting edge technology, even from the black market. Because of this the analysis of the planet took weeks to finish.

“So you’re saying that there’s some powerful psionic signatures on the surface?”

“Yes sir, three of them. One of them is off the scale.”

“So, either this is where Kerrigan made her new home or the leader of the Starcraft Federation is checking the planet out too,” Schezar noted. Though if he were a betting man, it was probably the latter. “No matter, she’s still one person. She can’t be everywhere on this world. I am not giving up this treasure trove of minerals and energy to her.”

“What are your orders, sir?”

“We need to establish ourselves on this planet. But first we need to have our pets ready to go. We still have that Cerebrate, right? Have it set itself up on the planet’s moon. And be careful that it doesn’t get harmed. Last I checked it’s the last of its kind. As for a landing zone, we will need a place far from the psionic signatures so we can establish a base of operations without much trouble. The continent southeast of the target continent will have to do. Once we are established we can begin planning our attack on the target continent. Now, let’s get started.”

“Aye aye, sir!” the crew called out in unison.