Cardcaptor Twilight

by Yukito

The Maze

Trixie stared into her mirror as she ran her brush through her mane. She had just finished bathing at the Neighagara Resort’s spa, and was now in her room, painfully bored, and desperate to find something to do.

She began to brush her mane in the hopes of taking her mind off of things, but as it turned out, it only made things worse. As soon as she saw her reflection, or more specifically, her eye in her reflection, she was reminded of just how close she had come to death not too long ago… and how she had given up half of her magic, to save Twilight.

“That was a stupid thing to do,” she told herself. “That Twilight Sparkle humiliated me in front of an entire town, rubbed salt on the wound when she told everypony I had lost to an infant, and to make matters worse, she had previously claimed to be just a ‘regular old Unicorn’, making my defeat at her hooves even more embarrassing!

“Not to mention, she’s now my rival at capturing the Clow Cards. At ht every least, I should have taken her cards from her when she had the chance.” Trixie continued brushing for a few seconds, and then sighed, and lowered her brush down onto her table.

“… But, she saved my life, didn’t she? Not only that, but her life was in danger because of me. Even so, to give up half of my magic, for somepony I barely even know? Sure, we’ve spent a lot of time together recently, but still… Why did I do something so stupid?”

Unable to find an answer in her own mind, Trixie decided to turn in for the night. “I suppose Fluttershy would have been upset if Twilight had died… Yeah, that must be why I saved her. No other possible explanation…”

---

Trixie awoke in a vast field at night, where there was no sign of life, save for the cherry blossom trees around her and the grass beneath her hooves, anywhere in sight. She found that, despite being outside without her cape, she still felt pleasantly warm. In fact, she noticed that there actually wasn’t any breeze at all.

She looked up, to see Luna’s beautiful night sky above her. It was a full moon that presented itself to Trixie, but last she remembered, tonight was the night of the new moon. “Where am I?”

“You’re in a dream,” a voice behind her said. She quickly spun around, to find a pink pony sitting on a rock, her mane white, with a pink stripe running down it. “Hi there. What’s your name?”

Trixie was too shocked at what she saw to notice the subtle differences. “T-Twilight Sparkle?”

The mysterious pony giggled. “Close. Twilight Twinkle. But tell me, how is it that you know my granddaughter? Are you friends with her?”

‘Granddaughter? Friends?’ Trixie harrumphed, and turned her head away. “Hardly. That pony’s been a pain in my flank ever since the day I first met her.”

“Oh?” Twinkle moved aside, and patted the space on the rock beside her. “Come, sit. I’d love to hear more about how my granddaughter is doing.”

“… Trixie will talk, if you tell her what she is doing here. Wherever ‘here’ even is.”

“So, Trixie’s your name,” Twinkle said with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Trixie. And as I said, you’re in a dream.” The sitting pony put a hoof to her chin. “If I’m able to meet you in a dream like this… it must mean that you and my granddaughter share a special bond together.”

Trixie practically gagged at the mere thought of sharing a bond with that Unicorn. “Well, Trixie has kicked her flank on numerous occasions, if that counts.”

Twinkle simply giggled at that. “I see. So you don’t get along? I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Can’t stand her. She’s nothing but a spoiled brat, who doesn’t even appreciate what she’s got. She pretends she’s not as snobbish as all those other Canterlot nobles, but that just makes her even worse.”

“… My Sparkle? Are you sure you’ve got the right pony?”

“She’s stupid, unattractive, always getting in the way, always kissing the Princess’ flank, and the way she claims to be nothing special just drives Trixie crazy!”

“Okay, okay. Settle down.” Trixie cleared her throat, and composed herself. “You know, not everypony is as good or as bad as you may think. The fact that you’re here is proof that you two are, at the very least, connected by some common fate.” Something caught Twinkle’s attention. “Your eye…”

“Oh, that… Trixie supposes, that if she and Twilight were to share something in common, it would be this.” Trixie explained the story of how she saved Twilight’s life by offering half of her magic, omitting details of her own life almost being taken, and adding details to make Twilight seem even weaker than she actually was.

“I see… My, my granddaughter sure leads an interesting life.” Twinkle sighed. “My daughter likes to write adventure novels, and my granddaughter likes to live them. I hope my great-granddaughter doesn’t go seeking them, or something.”

“Trixie would still like an answer. How is it that we are here, in this dream together? And why, for that matter.”

“Well, dreams are sort of random. Completely beyond our control. Us meeting here is simply coincidence, that’s all.”

“… Somepony, or someone, rather, once told Trixie that there’s no such thing as coincidence, only inevitability.”

Twinkle mused that for a second. “Then, maybe I’m here to thank you. For saving my granddaughter’s life.” Twinkle’s horn glowed pink for a second, and beside her, a teapot and two porcelain cups appeared from out of nowhere. “Would you like a drink? I used to make the finest brew in all of Equestria, when I was alive.”

Trixie’s eyes widened. “You mean… you’re dead?”

Twinkle nodded. “Yes. I am.” She put a hoof to her lips. “But, no questions about the afterlife. I don’t like to give away spoilers.”

“… Well, Trixie supposes she had nothing else planned for tonight. Besides, drinking tea with a dead mare is certainly something that nopony else can brag that they’ve done before.”

Twinkle laughed as she poured tea into the two cups, and waited for Trixie to be seated beside her, before giving her one of the cups. “I wouldn’t go bragging about this, if I were you. Ponies might think you’re crazy.”

Trixie shrugged. “Ponies can think whatever they want.” Trixie examined the mare sitting beside her for a bit. “… How old are you?”

Twinkle almost gagged on her tea. “My my. I guess things have changed since I’ve been gone, but in my day, it was considered rude to ask a lady her age.”

“Trixie cares not for social etiquette, when she is merely engaged in conversation with a single nopony.”

“Honesty is indeed a virtue, but so is self-restraint,” Twinkle said, though her smile never faded. “And if you mean what age I died at, I was sixty-eight.”

“Impossible! You look no older than Trixie!”

“Why thank you,” Twinkle said. “To tell you the truth, when I was alive, I used magic to stop my appearance from aging.”

“You can do that? But, the books say-”

“The books written by Celestia?” Twinkle leaned in closer to Trixie, to whisper into her ear. “Tell nopony I said this, but a lot of the spells that Celestia decreed as ‘dangerous’, are actually completely harmless. It’s just a countermeasure, to prevent her subjects from abusing powerful spells like that.”

“… Trixie would hardly consider a spell that keeps your skin young to be dangerous if misused.”

“Ah, but consider this: if you use a spell to stop your physical age from progressing, it is just that much easier to lie about your age. Even if it seems relatively harmless, if used intelligently, false information regarding one’s identity can be dangerous. Especially on a spiritual level.

“Also, there was one incident where a fugitive managed to hide from the Royal Guard, after an unsuccessful attempt to take the Princess’ life. He then prevented his appearance from aging, to throw off his pursuers years later, who would, by then, be looking for an old stallion.”

Trixie nodded. “Trixie has heard that story. But, she thought it was just an old pony tale.”

“A lot of ‘pony tales’ are based off of true happenings. Mare in the Moon, the Elemental Geodes, Tirek… Ponies are happier when the darker sides of their history are wrapped up as mere works of fiction.”

Trixie hummed, and sipped at her tea. It tasted good. “This is good.”

“Thanks. Though I can’t really take credit for it… In a dream, if you focus hard enough, you can control practically everything around you.”

Trixie saw a light flicker in front of her, and saw her vision beginning to blue. “What’s happening?”

“You’re waking up… A shame, too. I was enjoying the company.”

Trixie yawned, and then placed her cup down… Or tried to, but the cup was already gone. “What?”

---

Trixie woke up in her room, in her bed, or on it. Her covers had been thrown off at some point in her sleep. She groaned as she used her magic to lift the covers back up. She hadn’t done that since she was a foal…

She looked outside of the window, and saw that it was still night outside. That made her wonder why she had woken up so early, until she caught sight of something shining behind her. Turning around, she found that her compass was going off. A Clow Card was nearby.

---

Once Trixie was a good distance away from the inn, she used her magic to activate her compass. A beam of light shot up into the air for a moment, but then vanished. In its place, a small dome of blight shone in the centre of the compass.

“What the? That’s never happened before…” Trixie pulled a sheet of paper out of her cape, and scanned across it. “Let’s see… These instructions should tell Trixie what the deal is…”

In the event that the light is merely a sphere in the centre of the compass, that means that you are in the Clow Card itself.

“What does that mean?”

It means that the Clow Card affects a large field, and that you are trapped within it. A fine example would be Loop, which creates an infinite special loop to trap its target.

“So I’m trapped in the card? What the heck do I do?”

Simple. Find out what card it is, and then escape it, either forcefully, or by playing its game.

Trixie blinked a few times after reading that last line. She then looked around cautiously, before turning back to the sheet of paper.

No, I’m not watching you. Stop being so paranoid.

“W-What the hay?!” Trixie shouted, pulling her head back and giving the paper a strange look.

Quiet down, or somepony may stumble upon you. Also, be careful. You make that face too much, and it’ll stick.

“Screw you!” Trixie shouted as she used her magic to burn the paper to ashes. It then occurred to her that she had just burned what could have held many hints for capturing future cards, and that that was her only copy. “… Oops.”

Suddenly, the ground began to shake beneath Trixie’s hooves. She looked around the area to try to see what was causing it, when she was startled by large stone walls shooting out of the ground, and the area around her morphing from the forest that it once was, into a cold stone labyrinth.

“W-What the? Is this the Clow Card?” Looking up, Trixie could see that the walls went up very high… but there was no roof. She grinned, and pulled out her key.

“The key that hides that power of dimensions, show your true form before me. I, Trixie, command you under out contract: Release!” Hey key expanded, eventually forming her Staff of Sealing. “Fly!”

Making use of the Fly card, Trixie attempted to beat this Clow Card by simply flying over the walls of the maze… “Hm?” As she neared the top, she noticed that the walls began to grow once more. “Oh no you don’t!” Trixie picked up the pace, flying even faster, but it was no use; the walls also grew faster as she did.

Finally, she decided to call it quits, and simply flew back down to the floor. “Well, that didn’t work out…”

“Of course not,” a voice said. Trixie turned around, and found a cloaked approaching her. “You can’t beat the Maze card in that way.”

“‘Maze card’? Is that what this is?”

“Indeed it is. And if you want to capture it, you’ll first have to escape it, without such tricks.”

“And what do you know about all of this? Who are you, anyway?”

The mysterious pony turned around, and levitated something in front of her. It was a small, crystal bell, held in a golden aura. “You have the Watery card, do you not? Please use it to ring this crystal, and it shall guide us out of this labyrinth.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie asked you who you are!”

“I cannot reveal that,” the pony said. “For now, just trust me.”

“Hmph! Trixie’s trust cannot be gained so easily!” Trixie turned around, and placed her left hoof a nearby wall. “If Trixie does this, she’ll eventually find her way out, all on her own!”

“That won’t-”

“Good day, sir or ma’am!” Trixie honestly couldn’t tell the gender of this pony. Not from their voice alone. It sounded feminine, but it could just as easily belong to a guy.

Trixie began to march through the maze, keeping her left hoof on the wall at all times. Eventually, she found herself crossing paths with the mysterious pony once more. “Ugh, you again?! Go take a different path!”

“I have not moved from this spot once.” Trixie give the pony a disbelieving look. “It’s true. The Maze won’t allow you to leave that easily. I did try to warn you, Miss Lulamoon.”

Trixie growled, but then stopped when she realised that this card was going to be a bigger problem than she first thought. “… Fine. Hold out your stupid bell.” The cloaked pony complied, and Trixie pulled out her Watery card. “What does Trixie do, just fired a torrent of water at it?”

“Just a light sprinkling should do,” the pony said.

Trixie nodded, and touched her staff to the card. “Water, do… whatever it is you do to activate that bell. Watery!”

A light sprinkling of water appeared over the bell, and moments later, it began to ring, and distort the air around it.

“This way,” the cloaked pony said, leading the way out of the maze. Trixie watched her the entire time, occasionally using the Watery card whenever she was asked to. “We’re almost out. Get ready.”

“Look, the Great and Powerful Trixie really must insist that you-” Before Trixie could finish, the two had rounded one final corner, and were now out of the maze. “… I-It worked…”

“Now, Miss Lulamoon!” the cloaked pony shouted. “Seal Maze away, before it engulfs us once more!”

“W-What?!” Trixie looked up at Maze, and found that it was distorting around them. Her eyes narrowed, and she held up her staff. “Return to the guise you were meant to be in! Clow Card!”

The Maze was drawn into a small, concentrated space in the air above Trixie, and eventually, returned to card form. The area around the two ponies returned to the forest that it once was, and the card began to float down towards the cloaked pony.

“I’ll be taking this, then,” the pony said. “Since it was my bell that got us out of there, the card is rightfully mine.”

Trixie turned towards the pony, and glared daggers at them. “Hand that over. Now.”

The pony remained un-intimidated, and simply turned away from the angry mare. “Well, it was nice to finally meet you, Miss Lulamoon. Our paths shall cross again, but in the meantime, I wish you a pleasant night, and sweet dreams.”

Trixie was about to use a spell to hold the pony down, but before she could, the mysterious pony was engulfed in a golden light, and then vanished into the night.

“A teleportation spell…” Trixie kicked the ground angrily. “You’ve got to be kidding me. So even after all of that, I still didn’t get the card… We’ll meet again, you say?” Suddenly, Trixie’s frown turned into a grin. “Very well, then. The Great and Powerful Trixie accepts your challenge. And next time, she won’t lose. Not to you, or to that inferior whelp Twilight Sparkle!”

Comments

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Ah, smoke should be pouring out of Trixie's ears by now.

[nightmaster0]

Great chapter. Who was that mysterious pony? Will we learn what the deal was with the boy and the feather later in the story?

[Trixie Treats]

This fic deserves at least 30x the amount of views and likes it has! I'm lovin it!

[Yukito]

2335777

The boy was Syaoran from Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles. This fic is a crossover of multiple CLAMP works and MLP:FiM.