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// In their element 
// Story: Day of Coronation 
// by CeresBane 
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Willing them into existence, Trixie summoned crystalline balls of ice that glowed a wan blue light, like stars in the night sky. In reaction Twilight summoned tiny orbs of her own that burned fiery flares like miniature suns. Trixie could do anything with these things, Twilight knew, those orbs were stored up magical energy that a unicorn could simply will into any spell they wanted. But the worse part was, Trixie was much better at summoning them.

With each moment more and more orbs of power came into existence around Trixie. They were surrounding her in their tens and then thousands and then a million came to be, while Twilight struggled to make only ten. Fear and astonishment marked the old mare's features. How in Celestia was she going to survive this? A cold sweat went down her back and she felt the beginnings of her hoof quivering. As if sensing her fear Trixie formed a sadistic grin.

No! I can do this, admonished Twilight. She was not going to be beaten by an upstart of a filly! Twilight's horn began to glow with power and the ground ignited into flame. Rapidly, the flames began snaking their way to their victim. Trixie made no move against it as she continued to gather more orbs.

At the very last second several of Trixie's orb smashed into the ground and into the path of the snaking flames, effectively distinguishing them. Whatever Twilight intended with them was not going to occur so easily.

Twilight watched as her spell became dispelled by Trixie's orb. Her probing had failed, there simply seemed to be no rhyme or rhythm as to how each orb moved. They all seemed to move at blistering speed at such an extent that any one of them could reach their objective as quickly as one closer to the target. But, every tactic had a weakness, a means of which to avoid. As every army needed an order, these orbs needed a command. In the instant of instances Trixie used the orbs Twilight noticed Trixie's eyes and head tilt to command her spell. It was useless to guess which orb would react first. But what Twilight realised was that she needed to focus on Trixie. If there was going to be any indication to look for, it would be into the eyes of that filly.

Twilight saw a twitch in Trixie's eye as she commanded one of the orbs. It moved as quick as lightning as the energy converted into a bolt of electricity. Twilight barely blocked the attack with one of her orbs. And then relentlessly a dozen more came. Five of them surrounded the mare as each connected to each other with lines of crackling energy effectively caging her in place. The blue glow of each began to build from a weak blue light to that of a shining white star. And with a great crackling sound they fizzled into an explosive lightning storm. It was only through Twilight's desperation that she managed to teleport out of the blast in time.

More came for Twilight, endlessly barraging her with javelins of ice spearing towards her from the front and lightning coming down from above. It was exhausting to dodge and weave and jump to avoid each spell, wholly reluctant to rely on her brother's protection or use one of her own previous orbs. Until, of course, the time was right. But somehow it had been possible, for every entrapment there was always a way out, a tiny window of time to dodge out of the way.I guess with all that power, it was impossible to control them with any real precision.

And then it happened, beset on all sides by lightning and ice, Twilight Sparkle exploded into flames. For a good two mile radius around her, the land burned furious into a merciless inferno. With Trixie blind to the old's mare's whereabouts she could do nothing but shout her jeers.

Trixie shouted over the din of the sound of burning, profanities that Twilight couldn't hear. She was simply too enthralled by the power that coursed through her, as the goddess's blessing burned through her veins. Aimlessly Trixie attacked the burning land with relentless barrages of ice, amazingly doing very little to the ensuing life-like inferno.

"Come out you coward!" Twilight could at least make out. As her reply, Twilight set off another one of her orbs. The world flashed an endless white. When Trixie's vision clear Twilight revealed onto her, a vision of wonder. Twilight had been transformed into a white unicorn with a burning mane. Trixie made to attack the burning mare, but was blinded by another flash of light. They came over and over, forcing Trixie to miss her mark again and again. With each glimpse she got Twilight came closer and closer with one orb less than before. Until finally she had one left with Twilight coming to a halt at the edge of the day. Taking great care not to intrude into the shadow of eternal night that even her flaming mane couldn't light.

"Come into the darkness. I dare you. Or do you fear it as I've been told." Trixie, now brimming some degree of confidence,  wore a smugness that couldn't be mistaken by anypony but the old Trixie charm. Arrogant and boastful she jeered, but Twilight having lost her patience to such games looked on indifferently. This filly was more powerful than she anticipated. No more games. This child has to die. Taking Twilight's furrowed brow of determination as a reaction to her words, Trixie spoke knowingly, as if she had caught out the old mare.

"That's right. I know your secret. I know how the light of the sun hides your true, old and haggard self." Twilight wanted to leer at that fact, but there was no denying it. She cannot step out of the light. Within the rays of the sun was the goddess's blessing and that keeps her body in check, lest the darkness force her to age and die. A lot of ponies speak this fact, Twilight knew, but very few actually knew it was true. As ever this could come to my advantage. Twilight bitterly thought.

"Is that the lie your little queen tells you?" Taking her stride in this exchange Twilight made a broad smile that threw Trixie's confidence into doubt. Twilight's godlike ethereal voice giving way to even more doubt.

"Slander, mere slander to my name." Twilight's flaming mane began to flicker to life.

"I fear no darkness foal..." The flames in Twilight's mane flared up high into the sky like serpents rearing up to strike.

"Because I am Twilight."

With those words the world became that of light as everything became bathed in the vision of white and raging with the sound of the crackling fires of an incoming inferno.