//------------------------------// // The Preparations // Story: GBOYHVerse: Magic Duel // by Godzillawolf //------------------------------// The Preparations “This is not good, not good…” muttered Trixie trotting back and forth in her room as Sally just watched her. “How could Trixie forget Twilight is the Princess’ personal student?! Trixie is going to be crushed! And then…” Trixie’s mind was filled with memories of being ponies laughing, ponies insulting. Being pelted off stage by rotten tomatoes. The showmare shivered at the memory. “No, not again…I-I can’t be a laughing stock again!” she muttered, pinning her ears back in fear. “I’ll get demolished! And in front of P-Princess C-Celestia!” Trixie exclaimed, her mind filled with a mental image of Celestia laughing at her humiliation. “The first I will ever perform in front of Princess Celestia and I’ll be humiliated! I’ll have to flee town in shame and live as a hobo…again! I might even have to work on a rock farm! Imagine me! On a rock farm!” she exclaimed, almost hyperventilating. “Well…there is one thing I could try but…I’m not sure…” she stated out loud, desperation in her tone. “I haven’t considered getting that since…” She blinked, feeling something tapping her leg. She looked down and saw her pet skunk looking up at her. “…Yes Sally?” The skunk gave some chattering, pointing to a picture nearby with her tail. Trixie followed the white stripe to a picture of a certain white unicorn stallion. “Stage Hoof?” The skunk nodded. “You’re suggesting Trixie talk to Stage Hoof about this situation?” The skunk gave a nod with a smile. “A-Alright, Trixie doesn’t think Trixie has anything to lose by doing so and most of Trixie‘s mental images don‘t include him laughing at her…she hopes…” Twilight paced back and forth, mane becoming disheveled. “Oh this is not good, this is not good!” Spike walked down from the upper floor of the library and blinked, watching Twilight’s antics. “Uh…Twilight, what’s going on?” Twilight jumped slightly. “Spike, it’s horrible!” Spike sighed. “Did you forget to schedule time to schedule next month’s schedule…again?” “No! Worse!” Spike blinked. “Wow…this must be bad…” the little dragon said, walking down to the floor. “What is it?” “It’s my magic duel with Trixie!” she said, pulling her copies of the friendship lessons off their shelf via telekinesis. “…Yeah? It’s happening, what about it?” the dragon chick asked, raising an eyebrow. “Carrot Top came in and pointed out one BIG flaw in it! A REALLY big flaw!” the lavender unicorn exclaimed, feverishly looking through her Friendship Reports. “And that would be?” “I’m me!” Spike faceclawed “And how is that a problem?” “Because I’m Celestia’s personal student! You said it yourself! I’m the strongest unicorn in Equestria! Trixie isn’t! I’m going to crush her! She’ll be humiliated! And I’ll be a horrible friend for doing it in front of the Princess! When I’m supposed to be studying friendship! I…I don‘t want to hurt my friend…Trixie is my friend! I will not hurt her!” Twilight said, a pile of read through friendship reports forming beside her. Spike blinked. “That…is actually a problem…” “Of course it’s a problem! Why would I be panicking if it wasn’t?!” Spike gave a flat look. “Because you’re Twilight.” “Put it in the schedule for me to glare at you for that later! I need to figure out what to do!” “Couldn’t you just, you know, hold back?” the little dragon asked simply. “No! It’s in front of Princess Celestia! I can’t hold back! She’ll know I held back! Or think that I’m falling behind on my studies! Or-AHH!” Spike looked up at the now drenched unicorn, holding a metal bucket. “Twilight, calm down.” Twilight took a breath pulling a hoof to her chest and extended it while breathing out. “Thanks. I needed that…” “Twilight, you really think the Princess would be mad at you for holding back so you don’t hurt a friend?” the baby dragon asked, putting the bucket down. “Remember when she rewarded you for letting me and Cadence stop King Sombra instead of you?” he asked, a bit smugly as he mentioned helping defeat the Crystal Empire tyrant. Twilight nodded, but her worry didn’t seem to subside. “You’re right but…that’s not the only problem.” Spike sighed. “What else?” “Trixie won’t LET me do that.” “Uh…why?” “Because her pride won’t let her accept me taking it easy on her!” exclaimed the unicorn, placing another friendship letter into the pile. “Then why not give her a talking to? Like you did with Applejack back in Apple Buck Season?” “Because that might hurt her worse!” Twilight replied. “Can you imagine how she’d feel if I told her ‘you’re too weak to stand a chance against me?!’ Hearing stuff like that hurt her enough coming from Checker! It’d crush her coming from her friend!” Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, you’re right. It’d destroy her. Totally crush her, completely devas…I’m not helping, am I?” Twilight gave a cry of anguish and slammed her head into the floor. “Sorry…” “And none of my friendship reports have the answer! We haven’t had a friendship problem like this before!” Twilight exclaimed, putting the last one into the pile. “What about ‘when you try to please everypony you’ll end up pleasing nopony, especially yourself’?” Spike asked, looking at the report in question. “I thought about that, but I don’t want to hurt my friend! No pony involved wants Trixie to get hurt! Her getting hurt would please nopony!” “Oh…yeah, good point…“ Spike scratched his chin, thinking about it. “Hey, why not ask one of the others? I know one of our lessons has been about that.” Twilight’s face brightened up. “That’s right! They’re my friends! One of them is bound to have the answer! Thanks Spike!” The baby dragon chuckled and gave a smirk. “What would you do without me?” Twilight hugged Spike. “I never want to know.” “…so I’m going to be humiliated! I’ll have to run out of town in shame and become a hobo again!” “Trixie-” “Do you think rock farms are as dull and boring as they say?!” “Um…Trixie?” “I don’t want to work on a rock farm!” Sally leapt up on the table and hissed, lifting her tail in Trixie’s direction, causing the started unicorn to cover her muzzle with her hooves in preparation of being sprayed. The skunk simply lowered her tail and smiled to Stage Hoof. “Thank you, Sally,” the stallion replied. They were sitting in his apartment in Ponyville. The walls were decked out with theatre posters and other memorabilia. In fact, it seemed the entire room was themed after theatre, including the curtains resembling those found on a stage. A basket set near the window, Stage Hoof’s pet fox Violet curled up asleep inside. The skunk gave a nod and jumped off the table, allowing her owner to recover from the surprise and uncover her snout. “You could’ve told Trixie a little louder.” “I know…sorry…” said Stage Hoof, somewhat timidly. Trixie rubbed her head. While Stage Hoof had gotten a lot better, he had still spent his entire life under somepony’s hoof, whether it was his father or Checker Monarch. It was little wonder he had some issues with asserting himself. “But be that as it may…Why couldn’t you simply back out?” asked Stage Hoof. “Twilight wouldn’t think less of you.” “No…she wouldn’t…but Trixie would think less of herself. And so would the town,” Trixie said, looking down at her hooves. “Trixie would be a coward…again…” Her ears pinned back as the mocking echoed in her head once more. Stage Hoof gave a sympathetic look. “Well…what about…you know…asking Twilight to pull her punches?” “No! Trixie is NOT going to ask Twilight to hold back!” Trixie replied, suddenly serious. “Trixie still has her pride, she is not going to beg anypony to go easy on her!” she continued…before her confidence seemed to just vanish and be replaced by vulnerability. “Besides…I made such a show of challenging Twilight that there’s no way I’d be able to live down backing out or asking her to go easy on me...” Stage Hoof frowned. “Well…perhaps you could try and train?” “What’s the point?” “Well that way maybe you could perhaps manage to at least make a good show out of it? Maybe that way you won‘t do badly and you can at least come out smelling like a rose?” Trixie blinked, looking up. “I…Trixie supposes that could be a good idea…but…who? Grandmother isn’t going to be here until the duel itself.” Stage Hoof rubbed his chin. “Hmm…what about Zecora? You did learn from a Zebra when you were a filly and from what Twilight said, she is a very wise mare.” Trixie gave a small smile, though not a confident one. “That…might just work…it most certainly couldn‘t hurt…” “My Twilight, that is quite the situation,” said Rarity, rubbing her chin as they set in her boutique, Spike eating the leftover gems she had provided him with. “But why come to me right away? This feels more like a problem Applejack could help with.” Twilight sighed. “Applejack is a good, honest, dependable pony, but she’s a terrible liar. And Trixie knows all her tells like the front of her hoof. All it’d take would be for Trixie to ask the right question and she’d know something’s wrong.” “Well, Applejack is the Element of Honesty for a reason,” Rarity replied. “But as for what I think you should do…perhaps you could make the subject of this magic duel her forte? Stage magic?” Twilight shook her head. “Then Trixie will feel like I’m giving her a handicap, and so will the town. That might hurt her worse than me holding back.” “Hmm…I suppose you’re right…“ Rarity stated, putting a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “Then why not make it something that negates both your advantages? Be fair to you both?” the fashionista suggested. “That way you won’t be able to humiliate her?” Twilight sighed. “That sounds good, but think! My special talent is magic and it’s a magic duel! There’s nothing we could do that I wouldn’t be at least decent at while Trixie’s special talent is stage magic: if I take that away from her she’ll do even worse!” “I do suppose that is a problem…” Opal suddenly gave a meow, pointing to a dress with her tail. “Oh! Thanks for reminding me, Opal! Sorry Twilight: I have an order I need to get to,” the white unicorn explained, then looked concerned. “…But I could tell the client I need an extension if you really need my help darling,” she added, remembering the Smartypants Incident and the lesson learned from it. Twilight sighed and shook her head. “No, Rarity, it’s fine, I’ll be okay, I‘ve still got four friends I can get advice from…” she replied. Even if defeating Checker Monarch had gotten a dangerous criminal locked up and helped Trixie and Stage Hoof finally have lives of their own, Checker was one of Rarity’s high profile customers. While losing her business hadn’t crippled Rarity by any means, Twilight didn’t want to risk her friend losing another customer on her part. “Alright, but if you need me, darling, don’t hesitate to ask.” “So you see, Zecora…Trixie needs to get better…” the showmare said, her and Stage Hoof sitting across from the zebra, tea in her telekinesis. “And you’re the only one Trixie…I thought could teach me…” she said, humbly…well, as humbly as Trixie ever got. The Zebra listened attentively the Trixie before setting down her tea cup, which she balanced on one hoof. “I hear your plight my friend, and I understand why you want it to end. Thanks to the Ursa Incident you have suffered much humiliation, you have a right to fear more tribulations. You finally broke free from your sister’s chains, but that incident still causes you much pain. And you are my friend, Trixie dear, so of my abandonment you need not fear.” Trixie gave a relieved smile. “Oh thank you, Zecora. This means a lot to Trixie.” Zecora gave a nod, then stood up and trotted over to her shelves. “A magic duel is a complex thing. Into one no potions may you bring. However, your special talent permits illusion, is that correct or a delusion?” Trixie nodded. “Illusions are one of Trixie’s specialties! And her grandmother Helena has taught her well!” she announced, her characteristic pride finally showing itself a bit. Zecora gave a smile. “Then I think I know a thing or two, the might just be of much help to you.” “Oh my…” said Fluttershy with a frown, sitting with Twilight in her cottage, Angel and Spike sitting close by glaring at each other. “It does sound really…uncomfortable…” Twilight nodded. “It is, I honestly don’t know what to do! It feels like everything I’m trying just won’t work! And if Trixie gets hurt, it‘s all my fault!” “Um…what about calling it off?” asked the timid pegasus. “If that’s okay…if it’s causing you so much trouble, I mean…” Twilight sighed. “I can’t, somepony has to entertain the Princess and the Saddle Arabian delegates. And besides, there’s no way Trixie would accept this being taken away from her. It’s her big chance to finally put the Ursa behind her once and for all. She needs this.” Fluttershy nodded slowly. “Well…maybe…if you think it’s a good idea, you could let her do something on her own?” Twilight looked down thoughtfully. “I…I wouldn’t be able to perform in front of Celestia…she’s counting on me too…” “Um…s-sorry if I’m overstepping but…didn’t she put you in charge of entertainment?…You…uh…never said anything about having to perform personally…Um, sorry if I’m not understanding right…” Twilight blinked. “That’s right…so as long as the delegates are entertained, I guess I won’t let her down…” Spike looked concerned. “Twilight, you think Trixie could do it on her own?” he asked, before Angel hit him in the head with a carrot, prompting him to glare at the snickering rabbit. Twilight gave it some thought, then nodded with a smile. “I know I can trust Trixie to put on a good show, she’s come a long way since we met her, she’s learned a lot. Even if she’s not strong enough to match me in a magic duel, I know she’s good enough to entertain the princess…” Twilight’s confidence suddenly took a dive. “But…how do I convince Trixie to do that? She won’t accept me just backing out. Especially if she knows I’m afraid of humiliating her.” “Well…maybe you could pretend you’re sick?” asked the cream colored pegasus softly. “If you think it’s a good idea…” Twilight blinked. “Pretend I’m sick?” “Um…yes…I did it once to try and get out of something with Rainbow…” Spike smirked. “That’s a good idea! We’ve even got that book on Pony Illnesses! And we could borrow some make up from Rarity!” “Um…it didn’t-” Twilight nodded uncertainly. “I suppose we could…I don’t like lying to Trixie but…it seems like the only way…” “When I tried it-” “Thanks Fluttershy, you’re a life saver!” said Twilight, hugging her friend. “We’ll see you later, I need to hurry!” Fluttershy blinked as Twilight and Spike left. The pegasus sighed. “…it didn’t work…”