Stunt Doubles
A thorn poked Thorn. It was not very effective. Thorn used drain. Wild thorn withered. Thorn gained sustenance.
Sparkle's errands for Thornecovitar were never games. Spike got chores; he got quests. Generally speaking, lives tended to be on the line. For instance, the books in the Everfree castle could contain life-saving information in Sparkle's hooves, or threatening information in the hooves of another.
He didn't care about any of that though. Thorn loved working for Sparkle, as Spike loved working for Twilight. And he loved his mother as Spike loved his mother-figure.
Unlike Spike, who only once ever confessed his anxiety, Thorn never feared being abandoned by Sparkle. They were too connected for that. There was another reason for his confidence, though.
The egg that had contained the dragon that they had come from was unfertilized, with only half the essence needed to produce a whole dragon. Spike had his essence duplicated, and the light spell forced masculine gender on the dragon, which normally would have been decided by his nest's temperature. Thorn, on the other claw, had a portion of Sparkle's essence*, both spiritual and physical, mixed with his own, and while his essence dominated completely, the drake was technically part pony and certainly Sparkle's son.
Sparkle was his life, in more ways than one. She had his complete, undying loyalty, but it was in part due to the fact that she kept him alive in spite of his heart not beating, that he could live indefinitely on Sparkle's magic alone, or that he could survive the loss of otherwise fatal amounts of flesh. She empowered him at all times, and what she wanted of him didn't matter to Thorn; the fact that he lived meant he was loved, and that he had purpose.
On her word, he would happily trek through Tartarus for her. The Everfree, he decided, was a good bit more pleasant than that, and so he found himself happily prowling over brambles and under branches.
All to burn books.
Not exactly. There was the whole dragon-fire-transportation thing to consider; Sparkle would probably have a conniption fit if he actually, permanently destroyed a book.
The thought of her murderous expression came to him just as he entered the clearing surrounding the castle ruins. It also occurred precisely at the moment his left foreleg was descending over a loose rock. Had he been focused on walking, everything would have been fine.
As it was, the sound of giggles and hissing only poured salt on the wound to his pride.
Thorn stood, greeted by the sight of a few specters drifting just overheard. "Cheeky little fellows, aren't you?"
More giggles. "Hello, Master Thorn."
"What are you doing here? I thought... Clever mare," Thorn proclaimed. "You said you'd take care of the zombies, not the specters. Clever, clever mare. So," he addressed the pony-like, ink-like clouds while walking towards the castle, "what have you lot been up to?"
"Cleaning."
"Sorting."
"Organizing."
"Making zombies!"
"Fixing."
"Getting that ghost to leave."
"More cleaning."
Thorn nodded in understanding. "And the condition of the Library?"
"That I can answer, Master Thorn," a voice said, bearing that indescribable acoustic quality possessed only by reanimated skeletons. The dracolich turned his burning gaze upon on the dead unicorn trotting into the entry hall. "Dusty Books, head librarian during the years A.N.M. 320 to A.N.M. 342. I became the anatomical display skeleton for the archive after my death and have been there ever since."
"Nice to meet you," Thorn replied, holding out a claw in greeting. Dusty Books reciprocated the gesture with his hoof. "The books, how are they?"
Moving into the library proper, Dusty replied, "Amazingly fine condition given they had only minimal protection from the elements for several hundred years." The inky false-flesh enveloping his skull warped into a delighted grin. "Everything is stacked by subject and title, ready for you to send to her." The librarian scowled. "Don't you dare hurt them." His smile returned as fast as it had come. "I even took the liberty of removing all the hidden books from their nooks and crannies and added them to the stacks."
Thorn was intrigued. He inquired for more. The librarian's grin faded. "Inspiration Manifestation, for one. Nasty business, that one. Had a bit of trouble with that spell myself. It's quite addicting, and gets out of hoof way to fast. Still, it's an interesting spell regardless."
Thorn nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Now, help me get this stuff to Sparkle's place."
"Right away, sir," the unicorn skeleton said with a salute.
"Come on, Snips," an unusually lanky unicorn colt called. "I heard there's this amazingly powerful unicorn in town!"
"Oh, so cool. Where is she, Snails? Where?" his pudgy friend asked.
"Down by the town hall!" Snails replied.
"Alright! Let's go!" Snips cheered.
Over to the side, Twilight and Spike had overheard the conversation between the two excited colts. She perked up with interest.
There weren't that many unicorns that would count as powerhouses; perhaps 8% of the population. Because unicorns of that caliber often needed access to appropriate literature, they tended to congregate in big, predominantly unicorn cities like Manehattan or Canterlot. Tiny earth pony villages like Ponyville may have two hundred unicorns at any given time, averaging ten or so with the interest and ability to pursue advanced magics.
It was curiosity that drove Twilight to the center of town, intent on meeting this 'powerful' unicorn. What kind of things did he or she know? Would s/he be willing to trade notes? These questions and more filled Twilight's mind by the time she arrived at the town hall.
There was a wagon there. As if on cue, it unfurled itself into a stage, releasing magical fireworks all the while.
Beatrix Lulamoon stepped out on stage, wearing the same silly hat as her doppelganger. "Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"
The audience ooh'd in amazement.
Twilight and Spike couldn't help it, they really couldn't. They tried, sure, but it was in vain. Against their best efforts, they laughed.
Trixie, ever the show mare, took it in stride. "Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie reduces a mare to tears of laughter with her entertaining prowess! Be entranced as Trixie dazzles you with amazing feats of magic beyond your wildest dreams."
"Such boasting," Rarity chimed in as she walked up to Twilight and Spike.
"It's entirely possible that she has the power to back it up," Twilight commented.
"I don't know. It sounds like she's spouting hot air, darling," the white mare replied.
"No, hot air is Prince Blueblood's thing. Being an insufferable know-it-all that actually does know-it-all is the archmage's thing. This," she waved towards the blue performer, "is somewhere in between that."
Meanwhile, AJ and Dash had started confronting Trixie, calling her out on the same thing Rarity had been complaining about. Their well thought -out, carefully-delivered arguments were successfully rebuked by Trixie and, in a stunning show of debate skill, Trixie completely turned their arguments against them.
Not really. They tried to show up Trixie on her own stage and got their asses handed to them. It was their fault, really; you don't try to out perform the performer, lest you get humiliated.
And then Rarity had to try, because, in her words, a unicorn needed more grace than what Trixie was showing.
Some ponies never learn.
Some when far in the future, an elderly stallion will tell his grandkids, "Remember to learn from your friends' failures, or else you mane will be turned green!"
Or maybe they do, not that it did Rarity any good.
Failures that were funny to all but the victims aside, Twilight's friends were looking to her to beat Trixie. "Come on, Twi'. Ya gotta take her down a peg," Applejack said.
"Please, I'm not that good. I'm just an ordinary unicorn," Twilight said.
Spike just gave her a look.
It was super effective.
The light mage relented. "Fine, I'm worried that ponies will think I'm a show off like her. You saw how the crowd reacted."
"That's easy," Spike replied straight away. "Just do whatever Sparkle would do."
Twilight gave Spike THE LOOK, the look to end all looks. Not to be confused with the stare, which was another thing altogether, Twilight looked at Spike as if he had just summed up all that was wrong with the universe in a single sentence.
"OK, so maybe not everything Sparkle would do," Spike retracted. "But you've got to go big enough that nopony would care that you were showing off in the first place."
"I guess you're right, Spike. Alright. But-"
Spike interrupted. "And if you don't do this, I'm telling Sparkle and Thorn that you couldn't beat Beatrix Lulamoon, the one who wasn't Princess Celestia's student."
"Fine." She turned towards the stage. "Trixie, I challenge you!"
"Ah, the mare who laughed at the Great and Powerful Trixie thinks she can beat me? You're welcome to try~" the performer said in singsong.
Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated, the glow of her horn slowly growing in intensity. An apple floated off the nearby tree and down to her level. The lavender mare opened her eyes, revealing to Trixie that the irises had turned nearly solid gold, and that the whites of her eyes glowed with pure, ethereal power.
White magic was awesome like that.
"Trixie, could you please try your best to beat this?" The apple in Twilight's magical grip started writhing, so she chucked the still-glowing fruit over her head. It landed in an open, grassy area of the town square, and sank into the ground without slowing at all.
For a silent moment, nothing happened outside of the continuous hum of Twilight's horn, then the ground shook. Four separate shoots erupted from the ground around the hole the apple made on impact. Branches shot out of the thickening shoots — trunks now — and began to interweave themselves. More and more they grew until a definite shape had taken form: that of a three story tall alicorn.
Then it moved. The four leg trunks, one by one, uprooted themselves and stood on the balled-up roots like hooves. The whole thing bent down and offered Twilight an apple from its leafy mane, which Twilight accepted. When it stood back up, it said, in a near perfect imitation of the original voice, "I am Princess Celestreea, ruler of the garden of Treequestria. I would enjoy seeing what amazing magical abilities you possess, Great and Powerful Trixie."
Twilight ever so slowly bit into the apple, the noises of the crisp skin breaking clearly audible to those in the silent square. Only then did Twilight's horn cease glowing, her eyes simultaneously resuming their original color. "Well?"
"I fold."
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minor quip:
Can you hurt an object? Probably should be damage instead.
At least somepony listened to Kenny Rogers.
Though this is significantly better for her career than the Ursa was.
Beef?
5544107 Harm would work just as well, and preserve the monosyllabic nature of the sentence. Also, a quip is usually a snappy comeback. I believe you meant quibble.
Twilight here just provided an awesome example of GO BIG OR GO HOME.
Hah, Celestreea!
I wonder if Twilight will try and befriend Trixie after this. If cannon is broken, anything can happen!
I'm also curious about what if anything Twilight told her Celestia about all the time shenanigans.
Ouch, thats out of her league, yet, for all the display. There was a humble askance. Even a please too.
5544107
When someone gets a bit too possessive of certain objects, they can start to see them as living beings even though they are nothing of the sort.
Like the Companion Cube in Portal. You never want to hurt it. Its your best friend in all of Aperture.
>A thorn poked Thorn. It was not very effective. Thorn used drain. Wild thorn withered. Thorn gained sustenance.
kek
>There weren't that many unicorns that would count as powerhouses, perhaps 8% of the population
I suggest using a semicolon instead of a comma
>Their well thought out, carefully delivered arguments were successfully rebuked by Trixie and, in a stunning show of debate skill, had their arguments completely turned on them.
1. gotta use dem hyphens
2. not sure what that last bit is; perhaps you left out 'they' before 'had'?
>a unicorn needed more grace then what Trixie was showing
*than
>Ok, so maybe not everything Sparkle would do
This should say 'Okay' or 'OK'
>And if you don't do this, I'm telling Sparkle and Thorn that you couldn't beat Beatrix Lulamoon, the one who wasn't Princess Celestia's student.
I suggest emphasizing "wasn't"
also dat comma seems odd; perhaps it needs my favorite punctuator: the semicolon! :DDD (butt I ain't sure about that ;_;)
>Branches shot out of the thickening shoots - trunks now - and began to interweave themselves
Use le em dash and a comma:
>Branches shot out of the thickening shoots—trunks, now—and began to interweave themselves
Le link for more information
>More and more they grew until a definite shape had taken form, that of a three story tall alicorn
How aboot:
>More and more they grew, until a definite shape had taken form: that of a three-story tall alicorn
Is this OK [y/d/N]: █
>and stood on the balled up roots like hooves
*balled-up
>I am Princess Celestreea, ruler of the garden of Treequestria
KEK
5544307 *canon
This chapter... gotta catch 'em all I guess. Twilight used Celestreea! It's super effective! The Great and Powerful Trixie fainted!
5544107 Books are people too!
Liked how you handled Trixie here.
Bwhahahahaha! That was glorious, it's nice to see Twilight get a chance to show off her skills after we've seen so much about Sparkle's.
honestly would have been funnier if celetreeia had said 'sup?'
5548200 Why?
Isn't And more appropriate here?
Loving the puns here, they're leafing me thoroughly trunked.
Mein gods, yes. Just all of the yes. How I wish this was Canon.
5546918
Actually in a case that shows that internet slang predated the internet by over a century OK was the abbreviation of the deliberately misspelled 'Oll Korrect'[1] and Okay as a spelling is not OK.
It appears to be the end a chain of dependent and independent clauses,[2] thus does not need an additional pronoun.
[1] It was printers jargon, no more needs be said.
[2] Any more clauses and it would be a Santa convention.
'species'
So did Twilight's friends completely forget about the Sparkle-verse version of Trixie they saw after Nightmare's defeat? Surprised no one mentioned that.
>2 years later
"Witness the power of the Great and Powerful Trixie who defeated the evil pretender Celestreea and brought peace to all of Equestria!"
6247925 More like the next town over
I couldn't stop laughing! It just seemed out of place and hilarious!
6770451
True dat.
5907581 "The director said 'here; take this apple, and instead of eating it, throw it on the ground and make an apple tree golem, and then eat an apple, just so you look like all kinds of asshole.'" <ding>
Please, oh please do the same to Mare-Do-Well!!
I love that episode from a story-telling perspective, but absolutely hate how Dashie was treated.
That made my day.
Wait, never mind.
Night.
Wait,
Morning.
Mmm... Writing is a little slipshod and quickly paced, the grammar is futzy in a lot of places. It reads more like the pre-first-draft than an actual story, with not nearly enough time spent on developing anything brought up before it's shuffled off for the next "funny" or "awesome" thing.
The idea itself is good, and your conceptualization solid, it just bears further refinement and expansion of the prose to really Sparkle