Chapter 5
Twilight and Trixie found Canterlot decked out in full festive designs. Banners and posters proudly proclaimed that the second wedding of the century was occurring that day. The Noblecolt Fancy Pants was to marry his long term girlfriend Fleur-de-lis in a ceremony that looked as if it would be able to rival the Royal Wedding for grandeur and majesty. Not a single expense had been spared from the decorations through to the catering.
In a move that had stunned the rest of Canterlot, Fancy Pants had opened his wedding to anypony who wanted to attend, regardless of social rank. Anypony from the highest socialite through to the lowest of the blue collar could attend this event. While not technically required, Princess Cadance had agreed to officiate the ceremony as a show of support for the soon to be wed couple. Celestia and Luna agreed to come along as well.
While she was busy preparing for her appearance, Celestia had been more than happy to grant Twilight and her friend an audience. Within moments she had invited the pair to the wedding as her special guests, and had them follow her to a private dressing room so that they may be fitted for formal attire. Once they were alone, not counting a few attendants who were presenting dresses for them all to wear, Twilight and Trixie launched into their story.
Celestia listened attentively, not interrupting at any point, but clearly taking down mental notes to ask them later.
“And that’s what happened Princess. We came to you in the hope that you might know something more.” Twilight said and an attendant finished clasping a bejewelled necklace around her neck, the amethysts matching her eyes and coat perfectly. Trixie had opted for a ruby broach to contrast her blue coat.
Celestia smiled down at Twilight, a maternal expression creasing her face. “Your story is certainly an interesting one my dear student. I have no doubt that you are telling the truth as you understand it. Trixie, your mention of Ixion is a matter for concern. During his life he was one of the most powerful unicorns alive, easily the equal of Twilight. If he had really found a way to endure after death then we will need to act. But for the moment, I want you both to enjoy the festivities. Equestria can wait for one afternoon.”
“Are you sure Princess? If it is important should it wait?” Twilight was still concerned.
“Twilight relax and enjoy yourself. Attend the wedding with me and tonight we will discuss this matter in greater detail. I will admit to being very interested in your abilities to turn yourselves to fire or ice. I’ve never heard of that in all my many years. Once this is over, you will need to show me how you do it.”
Trixie quickly became bored with the academic talk that passed between Twilight and Celestia. She was far more interested in the entertainment that Fancy Pants had arranged. All over the palace and in the streets of Canterlot, he had provided a carnival style atmosphere. Jugglers and acrobats plied their trades in the streets and parks. Trixie saw a number of other magicians trying to impress the crowds with simple tricks or slight of hoof. Within a moment Trixie had worked out how one particularly untalented unicorn was trying to do a simple vanishing trick. His actions were stiff and his disguising of his magical aura was poor at best. A seasoned performer like Trixie was could see through his trick in a moment.
She decided that she could not stand by while such sub par talent was allowed to perform.
“Twilight, Trixie is going for a walk until the wedding starts. She wants to look at the performers.” Trixie said as she levitated off her gown and jewels, replacing them with her well travelled cloak and hat.
Twilight barely noticed as Trixie left, she was so absorbed in being able to talk to Celestia again.
Trixie walked out of the castle and out into the streets, looking for the amateur performer again. Eventually she found him again, still trying to amaze the crowd with a trick a child could do. Trixie considered it her civic duty to save the citizens from such a weak act.
Looking around she found a simple hand cart that was left unattended. Taking a quick look around, Trixie mounted it and took stock of her available list of spells and tricks that she could perform on such short notice and with minimal props.
Her hat had been enchanted to act as a pocket dimension and contained a small stock of fireworks but not much in the way of actual props. Still Trixie prided herself on being able to make something out of nothing.
Preparing herself to start her impromptu show, Trixie began to cast an augment on her voice.
It was time for the Great and Powerful Trixie to make her glorious return, and Trixie knew just how to do it: With a bang
“COME ONE, COME ALL AND WITNESS THE AMAZING MAGIC OF TRIXIE”
Two of her fireworks went off around her, blasting out in multi-hued explosions and attracting the attention of all around her. Trixie drank in the attention, her cape fluttering in her personal wind.
“Welcome masses, witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie, making her grand return to the stage.”
All eyes fell upon Trixie as she reared up, another of her fireworks detonating directly above her head.
“Trixie had travelled far and done much. She has learned of magic’s far beyond that of any other unicorn and she is going to share that magic with all of you. BEHOLD.”
Trixie decided to start small, turning an observers top hat into a jesters crown, earning both laughter from the crowd and an ‘I say’ from the sap.
Trixie began to shift through her repertoire of tricks and spells, selecting the flashiest ones she could do without many props.
Simple tricks like conjuring a bouquet of flowers was simple fare but never failed to please the mares in the audience. A collective gasp of appreciation, Oooohs and Aaaahs rose from the crowd as Trixie summoned a small batch of ruby red roses.
Following the flowers, Trixie moved onto her selection of weather spells, her horn blazing as it hadn’t since she was last on stage. A small number of dark storm clouds appeared at her command, whizzing around the crowd setting off small bolts of lightning. Trixie ensured that none of the bolts hit the crowd, that would be a sure way to lose anything she had gained in the last few moments.
“Watch in awe as Trixie harnesses the power of the elements themselves.” Trixie cried out, calling back her clouds with magic and combining them into a single larger thunderhead.
As it formed, the cloud rumbled ominously and sever members of the crowd near the front began to take a step back. Trixie didn’t blame them, if she wasn’t as talented as she was, then she might also fear her ability to do this next trick.
Up in the palace, Twilight finally noticed that Trixie had been silent for some time, and with Trixie that was generally a bad sign.
“Trixie, what’s on your min-.” She asked turning around and finding Trixie not there anymore.
“Where did Trixie go?” She exclaimed.
“She let some time ago, didn’t you notice Twilight? She told you that she was going to look at the performers outside. I think that by now she has decided to join in rather than just watch.” Celestia said, conjuring up an image of the performance area of Canterlot, her horn and eyes flaring up with the power of the sun. In the space before Twilight, the image resolved into a shot of mare standing on her hind legs on a wagon of some kind.
Twilight recognised the cape and hat instantly, Trixie had found herself a performance and was holding the attention of a fair size crowd before her. A number of pyrotechnics appeared to be stockpiled behind her and Twilight wondered how Trixie had managed to get her hooves on them at such short notice.
In the image, Trixie appeared to be keeping her boasting and audience participation down to a minimum, a fact that Twilight approved of. Maybe Trixie had turned over a new leaf and would just leave it at a simple magic show. Most of the ponies in the audience looked like they were enjoying themselves from the smiles and claps they were giving Trixie.
‘Maybe this won’t turn out like the last time. Maybe she really has learned her lesson this time’
Twilight saw Trixie form a large thunderhead cloud before her, using her magic to raise it up into the sky above her. Several ponies gasped as the cloud rumbled and flashed before unleashing a massive bolt of electricity from its core. Trixie’s horn flashed once as she rose to her back hooves, allowing the bolt to hit her horn on the tip, voltage arcing from the thunderhead into her body.
Twilight realised what Trixie was doing quickly. Shining Armour had described to her how Trixie had once used a lightning strike to augment her magical power through the use of an elemental absorption spell, something that Twilight had never gotten around to studying yet. Such a spell was regarded as a cheap way to boost magical power and could never take the place of focused practice and experience. It seemed that Trixie had no such qualms about using the spell in conjunction with her weather magic.
Trixie’s horn flashed as multiple strikes hit it, each one causing her body to glow slightly. As the last strike from the cloud hit her, the cloud dissipated and Trixie lowered herself back onto all four hooves. Twilight saw that her eyes were a solid mass of white, similar to how her own eyes looked when she was casting her highest level magic’s.
In the image, Trixie focused her new power through her horn, a pencil thin beam of magic erupting from it and blasting out into the sky. The audience followed the beam and saw the shape of an adult dragon forming above them, appearing to be made from Trixie’s crackling magical discharge.
Even formed from ethereal energy, the dragon was a menacing sight. Once it was fully formed, it snarled at the crowd and plunged down towards them, wisps of energy trailing behind it as it bared a mouth full of fangs. Several mares in the audience fainted as they were overcome by terror.
Twilight looked at the image of Trixie. She had a smug smile on her face as she controlled the dragon. She was clearly up to something and Twilight just hoped that she knew what she was doing.
Trixie’s plan was revealed a moment before the conjured dragon was going to crash into the crowd. With a resounding crack, the dragon disintegrated, devolving into a burst of snowflakes and confetti which rained down over the assembled crowd in a shower of white and various coloured dots.
It took the audience a few moments to process what had happened before they realised that was they had just seen was an illusion. First one stallion started to stamp his hooves on the ground in appreciation followed by a second and finally the rest of the crowd followed suit, cheering out Trixie’s name and praising her magical abilities.
Twilight sank back in relief as she saw Trixie manage to keep a lid of her magic. Her illusion had the potential to go horribly wrong, but she had managed to maintain control over it long enough to entertain the audience without harming anything. Maybe Trixie really had learned a new respect for others and her own magic. Maybe this time her shows would be different.
Twilights hopes were dashed as she saw another unicorn appear in the image. This one, a colt looked like he was about to launch himself at Trixie simply for being there.
Through the projection she heard the colt speak to Trixie.
“I remember you. The Great and Powerful Trixie, you nearly destroyed my hometown the last time you came through there. You are nothing by a fraud and I challenge you to a magical showdown.”
In the image, Trixie bristled at his barbs. Twilight prayed that she would not snap and revert to her old ways. The new Trixie had such potential in her, the old one would simply return to being hated.
Through the image, Twilight heard the words she had feared.
“Trixie is no fraud. Anything you can do, Trixie can do better.”
Outside the castle, Trixie stared down her new opponent. A sea green unicorn, he was standing up to her defiantly, head down and snorting. Every inch of his posture screamed that he was ready for a physical fight and that he expected Trixie to refuse his challenge outright, which would give him cause to attack.
Trixie had no issue in taking his challenge. She knew that she was easily in the top 3 most magically gifted unicorns in Equestria, having to grudgingly accept that Twilight Sparkle may be fractionally more gifted than she was. Dispatching this stallion should be easy for a mare of her skills.
“Trixie accepts you challenge. Anything you can do, she can do better.”
The stallion didn’t waste any time in getting to the point, igniting his horn and sending a barrage of magical pulses towards Trixie. Two of the pulses shot by Trixie’s head close enough for her to feel the energy bleed off them. If one of the bolts hit her square on, it may not kill her but it certainly would hurt her badly. It was only the fact that the other unicorn had not bothered to take proper aim that had prevented her from being knocked out with the first blast.
Trixie quickly raised up a shield around herself, the magenta barrier appearing around her body and deflecting a new wave of energy bolts. Some simple smashed into the shield and dissipated, others would bounce away and shoot off in a new direction. A couple angled themselves toward the crowd, pinging off the ground near the outer edges.
Much of the crowd took that as a signal to get out of the way and quickly the area around the two combatants was emptied of all ponies with the exception of a few not quick or smart enough to realise the potential danger they could be in.
Behind her shield, Trixie ran through a list of combat spells she could use to counter this other unicorns magic. His magic was not exceptionally powerful, but each hit drained her reserves and weakened her shield. Compounding that was the fact that she had just expended a large chunk of her magic controlling the dragon. Still she could hold her shield out for a decent amount of time, more than enough for a bystander to attract a royal guard if it came down to that. Trixie had no intention of simply letting that happen however, she was going to prove to this upstart that she truly was great and powerful.
Timing she shot for in between two waves of bolts, Trixie dropped her shield and called forth a telekinetic shove, a wave of raw magical energy pushing the other unicorn off balance and allowing Trixie to take the upper hoof. Mimicking his own spell, Trixie sent forth a barrage of energy bursts, each one the power of a hard slap, enough to be annoying and painful but not leave any lasting damage.
The stallion, still reeling from Trixie’s magical shove, didn’t react fast enough and was clipped directly on the chest by two of the bursts, one knocking the wind out of him, the second forcing him off his hooves.
For a moment he lay on the ground, trying to recover his breath. This gave Trixie all the time she needed to prepare a finishing move and she knew just what to use.
The stallion eventually recovered enough to try to scramble to his hooves only to find Trixie’s horn pointed directly at his forehead. Steam evaporated off the horn as the stallion felt a wave of extreme cold emerge from Trixie. Small icicles began to appear over her coat and horn, but Trixie herself didn’t appear affected.
“Yield.” Was all she said.
The stallion ignored the comment and charged forward, attempting to gore Trixie with a quick lunge. As he struck, he found his horn deflected off her body as if Trixie was formed not of flesh, but of stone or metal. She was solid as a block of ice, and he quickly realised that she was as cold as one as well.
He fell back again, his horn throbbing from the contact with the frigid mare and watched in awe as all the ice covering Trixie melted and disappeared, not leaving even a puddle to suggest that it had even existed to begin with.
“And once again Trixie has proven herself the most powerful unicorn in Equestria. She is not a fraud as you so claim.” Trixie proudly said to her vanquished opponent.
The stallion was not placated with having lost however. He got up in a huff and turned tail to leave. As he reached a bend in the paths, he turned around to a parting shot. “If you really were that powerful, why did you run away when we needed you?”
With that he was gone and Trixie found herself alone once again. Well almost alone, as out of the corner of her eye Trixie saw Twilight watching from the edge of the combat zone, panting slightly as if she had just been running hard for a few moments.
“Did you like what you saw Twilight?” she asked the new arrival.
Twilight was pleased that Trixie had managed to win her duel, and even did so fairly from what she had seen. Maybe there was hope for the blue mare yet.
She ran over and gave Trixie a quick hug, proudly exclaiming “You did great Trixie, where did you learn how to summon that illusion dragon?”
Both mares seemed to realise that they were still locked in a hug, and Twilight quickly released Trixie, both mares blushing slightly from the unexpected closeness and contact.
Behind the pair, Celestia was also watching from a further distance. She came over and interrupted the two mares, reminding them that they still had to finish getting ready. She had brought Trixie’s dress with her and levitated it onto her body, replacing the cape and hat for a tiara and ruby broach.
“A most impressive display of magic my dear Trixie Lulamoon, I understand now how you were able to save everypony during that Chimera attack. I just hope that you don’t allow such power to go to your head. But now, we have a wedding to attend. By now, Cadance should just about be ready to start the ceremony.”
The princess and her two guests walked towards the building that Fancy Pants had rented for the wedding ceremony. The only place that was big enough to house the expected crowd was the Canterlot town hall, and even then it had to have several modifications made to the internal structure. Fancy Pants had paid for all the renovations and reconstruction as part of the wedding. When he was asked where he got all his money from, he shrugged and simply said that money never had nor would it ever be an issue for him. The Canterlot bank had once said that Fancy Pants had an unlimited line of credit with both them and most of the other major financial institutions of Equestria, though they had never quite explained as to why a single pony would need multiple lines of unlimited credit. It was eventually chalked up as one of the eccentricities of the pony and left alone.
The town hall itself had been decked out for the occasion. Flower garlands covered the walls and carpets of a deep royal red lined the floors. Streamers and confetti covered every exposed exterior surface.
Celestia led Twilight and Trixie inside the town hall. Despite the fact that it was fully packed by every variety of pony, the congregation seemed to have no issue parting to make room for their princess and her personal guests. Four seats were quickly freed up near the front of the hall, two for Twilight and Trixie and another two for Celestia, her significantly larger Alicorn frame requiring more room on the bench rows than a normal pony would.
At the front of the hall, Princess Cadance stood with Fancy Pants, the latter dressed in a perfectly fitting tuxedo. At the sight of Celestia arriving, Cadance took the opportunity to begin the ceremony, nodding to a small four piece ensemble set up in one corner to begin the wedding march.
At the sound of the music, the door to the hall opened and in walked Fleur-de-lis, her wedding gown and train gleaming in the sun.
As Fleur walked down the aisle, Twilights thoughts turned to the events of her own brothers wedding and the attempted changeling invasion. Surely this one would go off without a hitch. There had been no activity from the changeling hives for some time now and certainly Chrysalis or another queen wouldn’t be so stupid as to try the same thing twice.
“Don’t you just love weddings?” She whispered to Trixie and Fleur walked past them to approach the dais. Trixie did not respond, she was focused on something else. One of the unicorns at the edge of her row seemed very familiar to her, but she could not place where. His light blue coat and unremarkable features rang a bell in her mind, but such a colouration was common enough. Still the unicorn seemed to be trying to get the attention of either her or Fancy Pants without appearing as if that was his goal.
Trixie dismissed the unicorn from her mind, whatever he wanted could wait until the ceremony was over.
Up on the stage, Fleur had reached the dais and Fancy Pants had taken her hoof in his own. Cadance was preparing to begin the rites to bond the two. Her powerful voice rang out across the hall.
“Guests of the beloved couple, we are gathered here today to bond these two ponies in rites of marriage. I was there when Fancy Pants here proposed for Fleur and it was one of the most ‘loving’ things I had ever witnessed. We should be honoured to witness their union now and I wish the happy couple the best of fortune.”
Cadance paused for a second, appearing to gather herself, perhaps flashing back to her own wedding and how different this one was going to be from that one. After a moment she was ready to go again.
“If the couple will join hooves, I will perform the rites and join these two in matrimony. Fancy, do you?”
The stallion nodded. “I do.”
“Fleur, do you?”
Fleur nodded back, not taking her eyes off fancy. “I do.”
“Then by the power vested in me by our lord and protector, Princess Celestia, I pronounce you Mare and Colt.” A pair of simple golden horn rings were floated up and levitated over Fancy and Fleur’s horns to thunderous applause from the crowds.
While the attention of the assembled ponies was on the now happy married couple, Twilight turned her attention to Cadance who was standing behind them, seemingly waiting to the applause to die down. In a heart wrenching moment, Twilight saw Cadance’s eyes flash green for a second and the blood in her veins turned to ice.
“Oh no” she muttered.
Cadance arched her wings, drawing all attention back towards her and causing all the noise in the hall to stop.
“And now, ladies and gentlecolts, we move onto the main event, so to speak. I hope you have all enjoyed yourselves today but for now, CHANGELINGS GO!!”
All around the hall, on the end of each row and dispersed within the crowds, washes of green fire erupted as seemingly normal ponies revealed themselves to be changeling infiltrators. All over the hall, ponies screamed and attempted to surge out of the hall, only to find that every exit was full guarded by groups of changelings. From a rough count, there may have been more changelings present than actual ponies.
A number of changelings instantly surrounded Celestia with their black curved horns glittering, ready to fire off a spell if it looked like she was trying anything other than simply sitting there.
Up on the stage, Cadance also was consumed in a jet of fire, to be replaced by the black shelled form of Chrysalis, holes appearing in her legs and hair as she took on her normal form once again.
“Surprise.” She said, laughing as she surveyed the scene before her. In one swoop she had captured Celestia and much of the ranking members of Canterlot. And this time she had made sure that the real Cadance and Shining Armour would be unable to assist. They were currently dispatched to the other side of Equestria, courtesy of some orders from ‘Princess Celestia’ and it would take days for them to return even if they heard about this right now.
One of the changelings, the one that had been in the form of the light blue unicorn if Trixie remembered its position right approached Celestia. Looking up to her, it spoke.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about this, but I cannot defy my queen.”
Celestia looked down at the changeling, comprehension dawning on her face.
“Drone?”