//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Trix Best Served Cold // by Laura_Raptor //------------------------------// "Help!" Twilight Sparkle screamed from her mirrored cage. Trixie sat in her control room behind the mirror and laughed. Silly Twilight, she'd never be able to break those mirrors. They were reinforced with magic, and if Twilight tried to use a spell the Magic Trap would take her magic! Trixie laughed at the thought of it. Twilight stomped around and tried to break the mirror with kicks, but it wasn't going to work. Trixie quickly grew tired of her game. She needed Twilight's magic and she needed it now. Using as much of her power as she could she created an illusion of Twilight's baby dragon Spike and revealed him to Twilight from behind the glass. "Help me, Twilight Sparkle!" The illusion cried and Twilight cried out when she saw him. "Spike!" Twilight cried. "I'll get you out of there!" Twilight paced back and forth. She couldn't break down the mirrors by force, but if she used magic then Trixie would use it to hurt Spike. Maybe if she tried to overload the Magic Trap it would burst! Twilight drew all her power together and shot it right at the Magic Trap! The room exploded in light and magic and Twilight shielded her eyes from the blast. When she finally opened them she looked up and her face sunk. The Magic Trap had grown to the size of Twilight's head! "I can't believe you thought that would work," Trixie laughed. "That looks like more than enough magic for my greatest trick!" Trixie disappeared once more behind the mirror and Twilight collapsed on the floor in exhaustion. She watched, helpless as Trixie opened a mirrored panel on the ceiling and emptied the Magic Trap. "Just in case, I'm going to leave you there with the trap. Don't need you to ruin my big day tomorrow!" Trixie laughed from behind the mirror. "Oh don't worry, Twilight Sparkle, I'm sure someone will be along to find you. Maybe!" Trixie laughed to herself and Twilight was left alone in the mirrored room, trapped and unable to help Spike, the Princess, or even herself. Outside, Rarity and Spike were looking at the manor from behind the hedges that outlined the property. "Don't you think this place looks a little," Rarity paused, trying to think of a polite way to say repulsive. "Don't you think it looks a little unsightly?" Spike shrugged. "You think we should go in?" he asked. He was happy doing whatever Rarity wanted to do. Before she could answer Rarity saw a figure coming out of the manor and put a hoof on Spike's head, hiding them both behind the bushes. "Hey!" Spike protested, but Rarity shushed him. The Great and Powerful Trixie trotted right by, not even noticing them. "Well that can't be right," Rarity said with a flip of her mane. "How was she invited and not me?" "If she was invited why did she just run away?" Spike asked, slightly distracted by the fact that he was out of muffins. "You're right, Spikey-wikey. Something certainly smells rotten and we need to get to the bottom of it." Rarity slowly made her way up the cracked pathway towards the manor, Spike following close behind her. When she got to the door she didn't bother knocking, instead she stuck her nose in and said a very polite "hello?" "I doesn't look like anyone's here," Spike said, scared by the dark interior of the manor. He grabbed on to the tip of Rarity's tail for support and she was about to tell him to stop, but he looked too cute and too scared to stop him so she let him stay. "Hello?" Rarity called out, a little louder. "I don't mean to impose but we're looking for our friend. Is anyone here? Hello?" Upstairs Twilight could hear very faint sounds from the world around her. She wasn't quite sure, but it almost sounded like Rarity's very recognisable voice. She didn't have the time to wonder, she yelled "help!" as loud as she could. "Someone help me!" she yelled again. "That was Twilight!" Spike realized when he and Rarity heard the cries for help. "It sounded like it was coming from upstairs!" Without waiting for Rarity, Spike was running as fast as he could up the old staircase. "We're coming, Twilight!" he yelled as he ran towards he voice. "Help!" Twilight cried as she could hear the voices getting closer. "At the end of the hall!" Rarity and Spike raced down the dark and dingy hallway until they reached the very last door. To their disappointment the door was locked and wouldn't budge. "Twilight, you have to unlock the door!" Rarity yelled to her friend. "I can't!" Twilight yelled back. "It's locked by magic!" Twilight tried to think what to do and then yelled out, "Go into the room on your left, there might be something in there!" Rarity did as Twilight said and went in the door, finding what almost looked like a control set up and a window into the room Twilight was trapped in. "Twilight?" Rarity yelled through the glass. "Can you see us?" "No, just me," Twilight said as she stared at her own reflection. "Use your magic and break free!" Rarity told her. "I can't!" Twilight whimpered. "It gets stuck in a Magic Trap and I'm just getting weaker and weaker! You need to break it from outside!" "But how?" Rarity asked. "It's locked with magic." "Use your magic, Rarity!" Twilight said. "You can do it, I know you can." Rarity paced inside the room, unsure what to do. She knew she could do it deep down, but nagging doubt pulled at her with its ugly claws. What if she failed? What if she wasn't a good enough unicorn? Rarity looked down at her little Spikey-wikey with his encouraging smile. "Okay!" she said. "I can do this!" With all her might she searched deep down inside her, pulling all her magic up and getting ready to fire it right at the glass in front of her. When she felt as strong as she could she fired all her magic straight at it and… Nothing. The glass didn't move one bit. Rarity's heart sank. If the roles were reversed she knew Twilight would have been able to shatter the glass with her magic. Rarity felt positively worthless by comparison. "Rarity, it's okay," Twilight said. She could sense that Rarity felt defeated and she didn't want her friend to feel like a failure. "I could feel how strong that blast was, it should have worked." "But it didn't!" Rarity whined. "I shouldn't even be called a unicorn." Spike looked up at Rarity, who looked like she was about to cry. He felt tears welling up in his own eyes, the last thing he wanted was for the beautiful, stunning, and amazing Rarity to feel less than perfect. "Maybe it's not breakable with brute strength," he said, trying to cheer her up. "He's right," Twilight yelled from behind the glass. "Rarity, close your eyes and feel the magic around you. There may be another way!" Rarity did as she was told, but her mind was cluttered with thoughts of failure and doubt. "It's not working," she whined. "Believe in yourself," Twilight said. "You can do it, just trust yourself and you'll do fine." "Twilight's right," Spike said, looking up at the beautiful Rarity. "You're amazing, Rarity. You just forgot that for a second." "Oh Spikey-wikey," Rarity said, barely above a whisper. She could see he really meant it by the look of love in his eyes and it filled her with confidence. She nuzzled his purple cheek with her nose as a thank you and the little dragon just about fainted. Rarity then closed her eyes and let the magic in the room flow through her. At first there was too much magic, it almost overwhelmed her. Then she saw it, a little flicker of red in the sweeping magic. She felt her horn grow warm and concentrated on the red light. The more she stared at it in her mind's eye, the deeper it glowed. She focused so hard on it, concentrating her entire will on that one spot until finally it moved just a little. As it came into focus she saw it wasn't just a flicker of light, but that it took the shape of a lock. Rarity pushed her magic as far as she could, forming the shape of a key and slowly she turn it in the lock until POP, the lock sprung open and the mirrors around Twilight faded away. "You did it, Rarity!" Spike cheered. "I knew you could do it!" Twilight said as she excited the room which had become just like the others, furniture covered in dusty sheets. "I couldn't have done it without you two," Rarity said. "Thank you for believing in me." "What do we do with that?" Spike asked, pointing at the Magic Trap. "I know a certain unicorn who may need a taste of her own medicine," Twilight said. "And I know just where to find her. Come on guys, let's go stop Trixie!"