The Nemesis
"Mmmmmm, you've really outdone yourself, Trixie," Starlight commented as she took her sip of tea.
Trixie, smiling to her closest friend, took a sip of her own as she sat in her new office. "Quite. Let it never be said that the Great and Powerful Counsellor Trixie can't accommodate a guest from time to time."
Starlight sighed. "Still hard to think this won't be my office anymore."
Trixie chuckled. "Well, since you have a much better office now, I'd say you'll get used to it." The two laughed together, then took further simultaneous sips, after which Trixie sighed with contentment. "I spent a lot of time on the road, so I had a lot of free time to think of new teas to make. You'd be amazed at just how much you can brew for yourself while travelling."
Starlight rolled her eyes. "If what Twilight has taught me about Zecora's exploits are anything to go by, I think I can believe it." Then a smile came to her. "Oh! I should invite her over for a visit some time! Get her in on this tea party one day!" Then hesitation came to her. "Um, that is once she actually has a free day."
Trixie smirked. "Oh, I imagine her new role will keep her pretty busy. Ruling a whole country probably won't leave much time for breaks."
A sigh escaped the new Head-Mare of the school. "Except for her closest friends of course."
Trixie smiled to her, reaching over and giving her a quick pat on the hoof. "Don't forget, Twilight does consider you one of her closest friends."
Starlight smiled back, clearly grateful for the attempt to cheer her up. "Thanks for saying so. But honestly, I'm not sure how much time I'll be having. I mean, I knew Twilight had a lot of work running this place, but I guess I just didn't know how much."
A quick chortle from Trixie. "You're telling me. First day I took this job I had a flood of kids coming in for help. Still, nice to know Trixie is somepony they think they can confide in. There was a time I'd have never thought of myself like that."
Starlight grimaced. "Preaching to the choir on that one, Trix. Go back a few years and I'd be the last person you'd want going near any children."
A silence fell over the both of them as memories of their past poor actions began to settle on their minds. It gave a dour feeling to the tea break, no question, but it thankfully ended as Trixie once more broke out into a smile. "Well, here's to self-improvement," she remarked, holding up her cup.
Starlight, seeing that, smiled back, holding up her own cup and gently clinking it against Trixie's, after which they both gulped down what remained of their tea. After that, Starlight exhaled deeply. "Honestly, sometimes I think it's nothing short of a miracle that Twilight ever took me in like she did. All the things I did, and I still wound up as a friend to her."
Trixie nodded. "Well, I guess if you're gonna be the ruler of all Equestria, it helps if you're something of a Saint." A dry chuckle on her part. "Even if it does mean you end up befriending your deadliest nemesis."
Starlight almost seemed amused by her statement. "Huh, never been called that before. Not that you're wrong of course."
In response, Trixie seemed rather annoyed all of a sudden. "Um...pardon Trixie for saying so, Starlight...but I was referring to myself."
A pause, after which Starlight cocked an eyebrow. "...You?"
Trixie frowned. "Yes! Me! I'm Twilight's deadliest nemesis!"
Starlight couldn't stop herself any longer, and actually laughed at that, though she tried to cover her mouth while she did so. After a while, the laughter died down, but Trixie's look of annoyance remained, prompting an apologetic tone on Starlight's part. "I'm sorry, Trixie, but you're not Twilight's nemesis. I don't know if you've noticed, but she's had waaaaaaaay bigger problems to deal with than you in her life."
Trixie waved her off. "Yes, yes, big and apocalyptic monsters or national threats and all the rest of it. But I'm talking nemeses here, Starlight. Those you oppose, or are opposed by or personal reasons. And as far as that category is concerned, nopony tops the Great and Powerful Trixie."
Starlight tapped her chin. "Hmmm...you sure? Because I don't want to sound like I'm bragging or anything, but I like to think I held my own in the nemesis department."
This time, it was Trixie's turn to look amused. "Oh yeah? Trixie used an ancient artefact of dark magic to become all-powerful and force her out of her home, after which I enslaved said home and became a tyrannical dictator." She leaned on her desk, smirking to Starlight. "Top that!"
Starlight matched her smirk, leaning forward in a similar way. "Well I trapped her and her friends in my creepy cult, stole their cutie marks, then enacted a vengeance plot that almost brought about the destruction of the whole world!"
Trixie imitated a yawn. "Oh yes, very nice. But my crimes stung her far worse!"
Starlight looked aghast at such a declaration. I...but...how...how could you possibly think that taking over one single village can compare to nearly ending all life in the world?!"
A quick laugh from Trixie. "I had forced Twilight to live in a swamp to wallow in feelings of helplessness while her friends were subject to my every whim."
Brushing aside a stray strand of mane that had fallen in front of her face, Starlight remained unconvinced. "Well I had her feeling helpless when her friends were in a bad way too! Every timeline I sent her to had her friends in more and more peril!"
Slowly, Trixie clapped, but in that way somepony only did when they were clearly not impressed with what they'd seen or heard. "Oh yes, that's definitely good," she said sarcastically, then starting to look mischievous again. "But you only opposed Twilight twice. I got to her three times."
Here, Starlight looked confused. "Three?"
Folding her forehooves, Trixie had a look on her face that suggested she'd already won this conversation. "Yep. There was my initial humiliation of her during my first performance, there was my stint as a super-villain of course, and finally we had that time I tried to get under her skin by convincing you to come to my show instead of her dinner?" But then Trixie, seeing Starlight's irritated face, began to backtrack. "Um, not that I'd gloat about that last one, obviously, since it's a sore point in our long and very pleasant history as friends?"
Starlight, shaking her head, did her best to ignore the sting of that past memory. "Even if I were to count that last one, it's no good to put quantity over quality. My time as a villain was far more devastating than yours, which makes me the bigger threat. Plus, I had that whole 'powerful unicorn who had no friends' thing? You know, like some perversion of Twilight herself?"
Trixie leaned back into her chair, groaning with obvious annoyance. "Uuuuuuuuugh! Seriously? You're going for the dark reflection angle? That's so done and tired!"
"It's a classic!" Starlight retorted. "Besides, it's better than wanting revenge against somepony who didn't even wrong you to begin with!"
Trixie looked almost insulted by that. "I'll have you know that Twilight absolutely did wrong me! She drove me out of Ponyville and humiliated me!"
Starlight arched an eyebrow. "Really? Because the way I heard it you just willingly ran out of town before anypony actually did anything."
Trixie's eyes darted left and right for a moment. "Well...yes, okay, that was how things went down. But they would have turned on me eventually! My story of fighting an ursa major was proved false, so Ponyville and Twilight would have driven me out!"
Starlight stared at her, utterly baffled. "But...why? If anything they'd be mad at Snips and Snails for letting the thing loose in the town. All you did was make up a story about it. Nopony was forcing them to find a dangerous creature."
Trixie shrugged. "Hey, when has 'making sense' ever stopped anypony from doing anything in this place?"
Starlight slid down into her chair. "Well, can't argue with that one." Then, she started thinking. "Actually, now that I think on, it, Twilight seemed far less happy to see you than she was to see me back when you and I first met. I mean, I'd nearly wiped out all life in the world, yet she treated me as a close friend. But one look at you and all of a sudden it's like her worst enemy had arrived."
Naturally, Trixie looked to her friend smugly. "Told ya. Top nemesis right here."
Rather than try to counter that, Starlight scratched the back of her head. "Well...yeah, Twilight certainly acted that way."
Seeing her friend look somewhat disheartened, Trixie leaned over and patted her on the hoof. "Oh, don't let it bother you. It's actually not all that uncommon for those mares to be kinda weird with their priorities like that."
Confusion came to Starlight. "What?"
Trixie grinned. "Oh yes. Remember, Applejack is perfectly willing to be good friends with a guy like Discord who, like, betrayed them about a dozen times, but she has this total blood feud against a couple of lowly con-stallions like Flim and Flam. Bottom line, it's the small things that get under these mares' skins, not the big and dangerous stuff."
Starlight blinked a couple of times as she considered that. "You know, I actually can't deny that."
Then, much to the surprise of both of them, the door of the office opened, causing them to turn to look to see who it was that now arrived onto the scene. To the shock of them both, it was none other than the topic of conversation, Twilight Sparkle herself. And as she entered, she greeted them both with a smile, all while levitating a pile of papers alongside her. "Sorry to interrupt, but I suddenly remembered that I took these with me during my big move to Canterlot. They were supposed to stay here." A blush came to her. "Sorry if you were having trouble finding them."
As was typical with her, Trixie looked totally unconcerned with Twilight's worry. "Oh yes, we've been completely pulling our manes out looking for it," she said sarcastically.
Twilight, picking up on her tone, looked to her with a deadpan expression, then headed over to a nearby filing cabinet to drop off the papers, and Starlight, looking to her, soon stood from her chair and pointed to her. "Um...Twilight?"
The Princess looked back to her friend. "Yes?"
Hesitation was the order of the day for Starlight, but after a moment of debating whether or not to ask, she finally bit the bullet and did so. "Who...who would you say is your nemesis?"
Both Trixie and Twilight were taken aback that she'd be so forward about it, but after a while the latter began to think on the question more seriously. "Well, now that you mention it...there is one I consider to be my greatest enemy."
Instantly, Trixie looked interested, looking to her with undivided attention. "There is?! Oooooh! Do tell!"
Twilight frowned as she looked to the side. "It is one that has plagued me my whole life. One whose arrival marks great shame and trouble for me. One I wish I could be truly rid of, yet find myself having to deal with time and time again. A foe that, in the end, I may never overcome."
Both of the other mares were getting hyped now, and stepped forward together. "Yes...who is it?" Starlight asked.
Twilight, in contrast to how she'd been moments earlier, actually started to giggle, then patted the aforementioned filing cabinet and the papers she'd put there. "Oh, it's my moments of forgetfulness. You wouldn't believe how embarrassing it is for me to suddenly remember I've put something in the wrong place like this."
A long silence, after which Trixie and Starlight looked to each other with pure disappointment, with the former speaking for the both of them. "You know...what were we expecting?"
I love the trope of "who's the better friend" in fiction, but I think the "who's the better arch-nemesis" might actually be more entertaining to me 
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In all seriousness though, Starlight wins this by a LARGE margain. Yes, Trixie was a pain. But that first time? Twilight probably wasn't even mad at her. Maybe annoyed a little, but that's it.
Heck, she saved Trixie's life if you pay attention.
And as anyone with a brain knows, all Trixie ever had going for her Round Two was the Alicorn Amulet, and that was all. Twilight even forgave her for it.
Starlight went genocidal maniac, all because she was butthurt. And dueled Twilight to a stand still. On her own, and with no power ups.
So, yes. Glim Glam wins this easily.
10299721
Pish tosh. A nemesis brings one low, and Trixie can bust Twilight's chops with a venom Starlight simply doesn't have. That said, neither has anything on Discord, who has utterly destroyed Twilight emotionally acting both in opposition to and in support of her.
10299834
Oooh! Seconding this! Can we get a sequel with Discord claiming the Nemesis crown?
I can’t say that with the description I didn’t think it was quesadillas but moments of forgetfulness? Didn’t see that one coming.
Weren't ladybugs Twilight's greatest nemesis?
Ponyville (heck, all of Equestria) in a nutshell.
made me wanted to watch this again
10299834
Discord is more a force of nature, being angry at him is like being angry at an earthquake.
Trixie IMO work better as a nemesis because is a better foil, not just for twilight but for all the mane 6.
If I had to make a comparison.
Trixie= Joker
Starlight=Bane
Discord=Bat-mite
i half expected Sunset Shimmer to walk in at the end and say Hello girls with a huge smirk on her face
I guess it comes down to how you define a nemesis. One that can go hoof-to-hoof with you in battle? One that opposes you philosophically?
Or one that just gets under your skin like a splinter you just can't pull out?
This was humorous and a good way to start the day. Nice!
Trixie is Best Nemesis Pony.
Very fun little slice of life. It's funny how Twilight collects enough frenemies that they can actually compare notes.
10299834
Going to add my support Discord. All the power of Starlight and all the irritation of Trixie wrapped up in one noodly package. Plus there's the ideological opposition of order vs. chaos.
An evil horn measuring contest? Creative. I swear you were gonna go with quesadillas, but you totally one upped it.
Congrats on being featured
Weirdly enough, I thought Trixie takes this one, by virtue of striking earlier and actually getting one over on twilight for a short spell (lol) in Magic Duel Twilight was just beginning in this part of the storyline, and in both instances, it's her own issues that cause her downfall in an otherwise positive tide in her campaign against Twilight. Starlight, however, was lacking in any sort of a direct victory against Twilight.
Again, I know its weird.
Also this ficlet is delightfully weird.
honestly, I was expecting quesadillas.
Also, on a completely unrelated note.
10300694
My brain as soon as I read the title.
This was fun reading. Especially for the way it all wrapped up. XD
10300394
That is not hard. The quesadilla gag was low-effort, Johnny Test-tier trash from the moment He Who Shall Not Be Named came up with it.
10300109
Oh, agreed. Sunset pulled out all the stops against Twilight. Deeply personal taunting. Theft of her crown, the very symbol of her achievements. Framing her. Threatening to permanently exile her from Equestria. Straight up attempted murder. And she was the first and far better dark reflection than Starlight anyway. With a more interesting reformation arc as well, because her actions have consequences for her. Starlight basically got off with a stern finger wag for all the psychological torture and time warping, whereas Sunset has to actually face her past catching up with her.
Of course, none of the three of them were really a persistent enough problem to rise to the level of nemesis, in my opinion, so I think the author's resolution probably wins anyway.
Missing quote marks.
I was expecting, perhaps around here, Trixie to say something like "Yes but that wasn't what you were TRYING to do, whereas I fully intended to humiliate Twilight and ruin her life!"
"That's what I was trying to do! And it worked better than intended!"
That's also my response to those that call Starlight genocidal. She wasn't trying to end life, just to humiliate Twilight and make her sad. The rest was an unfortunate and, at first, unrealized side effect.
Regardless I do like this. Trixie has a point about AJ. There any other examples of recurring nemeses being the petty ones?
10301294
Lightning Dust with RD?
Suri with Rarity, if she ever counted as a nemesis?
Fluttershy with Demon Bunny, Angel's mirror world clone who always acts sweet but has the worst of intentions and a bad goatee?
Man, you made this a masterpiece in and of itself! Tis not every day that you hear about a story telling tales of who the best villian is! Or at least, I don't hear them commonly enough! Gosh, this whole fic is such an enjoyable treat to read and enjoy! Hope you don't mind, but I made a lil' reading on this greatness of yours!
Audio Linkoo!: https://youtu.be/-BJvv438iYg
(I don't mean to offend anyone with this comment!)
10301589
Lightning Dust is a good one.
I guess Suri counts, though I'm not sure she ever showed up again?
...Is this last one purely a joke or did that happen at some point? :P
10301917
The last one was a joke. Though it could have been glorious if it had actually happened. :-P
To fight boredom, and as practice in scriptwriting, I adapted this short story into a screenplay. Based on the pages, it would be about 11 or 12 minutes long if performed, just the right length for a half-episode on television. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qNksmM18c43gx70YibMumDBlgX8uFJpe/view?usp=sharing
There were a few spelling or grammar/punctuation mistakes I corrected, if you can find them. Thanks for the great slice of life!
10303122
Hey! that's pretty cool!
10303185
Much appreciated.
This is Sunset Shimmer erasure and I won't stand for it.
10304964
Sunset got against her just the once. If there had been a second battle, she would have been the nemesis hands down.
Possible typo: you said "it helps in you're something of a Saint," but I think you meant to write "it helps if you're something of a Saint."
10372092 Thanks
10372747
I can't believe I didn't notice until now that in the screenplay I wrote, I said:
In your text, you have it as:
I hope this isn't a major issue. Please let me know ASAP if it is.
Edit:
Also, shouldn't "was proved false" be "was proven false"?
10301294
Yeah I mean she didn’t want those horrible futures to happen, but thankfully those horrible futures were gone by the end of the episode.
Trixie: I banished her from Ponyville.
Starlight: That's pathetic I tried to ruin her friendships.
Trixie: You're pathetic-er.
Discord: You're both losers.
10372747
For anyone reading this story in the future, I made an adaptation of it with voice acting, sounds, music, and art.
I thought she was gonna say Quesadillas were her nemesis
Well, that answer was anticlimactic... And expected! Nice punchline!
Honestly
Discord on virtue of Harmony vs Chaos.