//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-Four : Harbinger of Freedom // Story: CoH (Book One) : Of Magic and Masquerades // by Diespitris //------------------------------// Something happened. Trixie was too busy struggling to breathe again to contemplate it, yet her understanding extended to the fact that her rage-fueled attempt to throttle Pinkie Pie was foiled. And, according to the lack of air in her lungs, it felt like it was foiled by the impact of a speeding locomotive. On wobbly legs, she stood with a groan. She looked towards the party pony and, even with blurred vision, saw she was being aided by a mare dressed in gold. “You... Y-you,” she gasped. “How...?” The mystery mare glared at her and, much to the magician's ire, showed her no attention to finish helping Pinkie onto her hooves. “Don't ignore you Queen,” she hissed. “She asked you a question!” When no answer came, she stomped her hoof as her horn crackled with building magic. “Answer me!” “How dare you?” the mare growled. “How dare you?! What right do you have to treat ponies so horribly?” Trixie's mouth fell open. “How...? How dare I?! Trixie is the Queen of the Crystal Empire! Everypony will do as she commands, or suffer the consequences!” Her horn illuminated. “Now, step aside!” Tossing her mask away, the opposing pony took her stand in front of Pinkie Pie. “Make me,” she retorted. And the young matriarch tried to do just that, only to have her spell fizzle out like a snuffed candle. “No, impossible!” she exclaimed. Panic flooded her senses as, for a moment, she thought something was wrong with her magnificent amulet; it did feel bizarrely cold, even against her gown and coat. Yet, when she looked down she saw only a few scrapes and smudges. No, the problem was with her unruly subject. “Who are you?” she demanded. The crystal pony's eyes narrowed. “Somepony who's going to stop your reign of terror.” Without warning, she began to glow. Then, a brilliant flash of light filled the room—reflecting off every crystalline surface until it was nearly blinding. Trixie had to shield her eyes with a foreleg, though it faded soon enough. As soon as she was able to see again, what awaited her vision had her rubbing them to make sure they properly worked. “You!” she hissed. “No! How are you here?! The Great and Powerful Queen Trixie enchanted the Crystal Empire's barrier to keep you out! She took your horn away, for Celestia's sake!” The charade now over, Twilight Sparkle tore the golden dress off and threw it away. “Did you really think a shield and a flimsy horn-removal spell would be enough to keep me from my friends and family?” Pinkie Pie wrapped her forelegs around her friend's neck. “Ohmygosh, Twilight!” she squealed. “You're here!” A small band of hopeful, familiar faces emerged from the crowd. “Oh, could it really be true?” questioned Rarity. As soon as she laid eyes on the lavender-colored unicorn, her excitement surged alongside her relief. “It is Twilight!” she exclaimed. Quickly, she joined Pinkie in hugging her—followed by Spike, Rainbow Dash, and then the sluggish Applejack. And, ever so slightly, a hesitant Fluttershy crept through the sea of masked ponies to get to them. Her magic-muddled mind knew not what to do, yet her heart soared. All she knew then and there were her friends. She nearly fumbled over her own hooves as she ran. “Girls!” she cried. She leaped into the pile of embraces, which accepted her with open hooves. Twilight, unfortunately, didn't have forelegs long enough to hug them all at once. “I'm so happy you're all right,” she said. “I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner.” Eye twitching, Trixie pointed a hoof at them. “Stop that at once! Queen Trixie didn't give any of you permission to have a cheesy, tearful reunion!” She began to channel her magic. “In fact, Queen Trixie didn't even invite some of you!” The resulting magical blast, however, was nullified against Twilight's conjured shield. “Leave them alone, Trixie!” she snapped. “This is between you and me!” “So, you want a rematch, eh?” She reached out and enveloped the ballroom's doors in her magic. They slammed shut, jostling the chandelier hanging above them all. “Very well, let everypony in this room witness yet another one of your humiliating defeats!” Twilight looked over her shoulder at her friends. “Keep your distance, everypony,” she warned. Then, cautiously, she stepped forward. “Let's duel!” Her eyes widened as the other unicorn immediately tried to blast her with a fireball. A large fireball. She rolled out of its path, cringing when the flames scorched the floor. “What are you doing?” she yelped. “Issuing your challenge! Keep up with Queen Trixie, or forfeit!” She shielded herself from a bolt of lightning from the stage-mare's horn, then she retaliated with a simple laser. This wasn't good. This was beyond good, in fact. She couldn't take Trixie on like this, with so many possible casualties around them. And, although she had no other choice, she didn't trust weaving own dark magic around her friends. As her mind reeled, she remained frozen in place. A nullifying shield kept Trixie's every spell at bay as she simultaneously imitated them to keep in line with the challenge. “What's wrong, Sparkle?” yelled the false matriarch. “Are you too mesmerized by the Great and Powerful Queen Trixie's abilities to give her a proper fight?” Smiling manically, she looked to her subjects. “Give your beloved Queen a roaring applause!” At her command, the crowd's silence was shattered by what she demanded. Twilight fought the urge to cover her ears. Her determination ever so slightly waned. “They're not really rooting against you,” she told herself in a whisper. “It's just Trixie's magic.” It was Trixie's anger and arrogance-fueled magic, at that, and she momentarily hoped the magician would eventually wear herself out. No, she quickly corrected herself. Don't forget about the Alicorn Amulet. As long as she's wearing it, she'll never let up! If calming Trixie was out of the question, then... Then, perhaps the opposite would be just as effective. Grinning, Twilight stuck her nose in the air. “Mesmerized?” she sneered. “How can I be mesmerized when none of your silly tricks have gotten through my simple shield?” The crowd gasped, and Trixie seethed. “What?!” “The challenge was for me to keep up with you, but you haven't even begun to catch up to me!” She looked the other unicorn right in the eyes. “What did you think I was doing out there in the wastes? I was preparing for this little showdown, while you were growing soft up here in the palace!” She tried so hard not to appear daunted by the blast that nearly tore through her barrier. Baring her teeth, Trixie reared back onto her hind legs. “Soft?! The Great and Powerful Queen Trixie will show you soft, Sparkle!” “We'll see about that!” Without warning, she dropped her shield and ran like Tartarus. Trixie predictably sent a wave of swirling, fire-hot magic after her, and it was right on her tail—so close she felt the heat singe the tip of her tail. She pushed ponies out of her and its path, until she reached the end of the line. The line, of course, were the ballroom doors. She blinked out of the line of fire, and the spell shattered the doors into tiny crystal splinters. Then, at the bat of an eye, she appeared before her friends. “Quick, I need all of you to get everypony out of here!” she exclaimed. “Hurry, before someone gets hurt!” Pinkie Pie saluted. “You got it, Twi! One shattered chandelier coming up!” “Great, now—wait, what?!” Party cannon materializing out of thin air, Pinkie stuffed herself inside and, before anypony could stop her, she fired herself at the masquerade's centerpiece: the prismatic crystal chandelier. “Everypony watch out!” she screamed, pulling a pair of scissors from her mane. “It's gonna get really, really messy in here!” With that, she severed the chandelier's tethers, and the enormous decoration fell from the ceiling. Herd mentality kicked in, and the revelers began to scream and run in mass hysterics as the delicate, hoof-made ornament shattered into a million pieces. Twilight reached out with her magic to keep them contained within a containment field. “Everypony, go!” she yelled—hoping her voice carried over the chaos. “I'll handle everything from here!” Applejack stomped a hoof. “We ain't leavin' you, Twi! It ain't right!” “Yeah!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “We can take Trixie on together!” Twilight shook her head. “Not while she's wearing the Alicorn Amulet!” She wished she could've told them about it sooner. “It's an artifact of dark magic, made by Starswirl the Bearded himself!” Spike hugged himself. “You mean, that super-important old guy you dressed up as for Nightmare Night?” “Yes! I'm sorry, but you have to trust me to face Trixie by myself! I know how to destroy the amulet!” She motioned to the panicking ponies stampeding around them. “The crystal ponies need your help more than I do! You need to lead them as far away from the palace as you can!” Spike and the mares glanced at each other in uncertainty. Unfortunately, there was no time to argue, and they had no choice but to silently agree. Then, they joined together in another hug, before they parted. “Alright, y'all!” snapped Applejack. “Let's get these ponies outta here!” Meanwhile, as the party-goers were basically funneled out of the ballroom, Trixie struggled with gathering her bearings. It felt as though everything had gone to trash in the blink of an eye, and it shook her to her very core. Once again, they had ruined everything. The Alicorn Amulet shimmered. “Are you going to stand by and let them do this to you again?” it whispered. The question was a flint, sparking a burning anger to life in her chest. She gritted her teeth. “No,” she growled. The word was deep and low in her throat. “Not again. Never again...” “Then, wait...” The relic hummed. “Once it's just you and Twilight Sparkle, you can do with her as you wish. The others won't get very far.” Oh, how she hated the idea, yet the unicorn remained fixed in place—her acrimony festering as everything around her plummeted into shambles. When the dust finally settled, there Twilight Sparkle stood. Her grip released what remained of the chandelier. The splinters, in their grand pile, slumped and spread. However, it hardly mattered. “It's over, Trixie!” she declared. “There's nopony here to worship or be impressed by you! It's time to stop!” The other unicorn's gaze dropped to the floor. “And why should Trixie stop? Eh, Sparkle?” “Don't you see how far you've taken this?” Frowning, she stepped forward. “Brainwashing the crystal ponies, usurping the Crystal Empire's throne? Imprisoning the Princesses?! All of this, because of that incident back in Ponyville?” Trixie's head rose like a stiff board. “Incident?” she murmured. Her voice immediately raised into a shout. “Incident?! You make it sound like what you did to me was nothing! The only mistake Trixie ever made was setting hoof in that backwater town! It was only another stop—another show! How was she to know Equestria's precious Elements of Harmony would completely ruin her life?!” Twilight was taken aback when the magician suddenly teleported in front of her. “You and your stupid friends humiliated and defamed me! Even when I left your stupid town behind, what you did—what you said—spread to every town, every village in which I dared show my face! Everywhere I went I was treated like some scoundrel!” Her eyes turned to crimson as she loomed over Twilight like a malevolent storm cloud. “Do you know what happens when nopony wants anything to do with someone in Trixie's line of work? That someone goes broke! Goes hungry! Trixie had to get a backbreaking job at a Celestia-forsaken rock farm, had to sell everything she possessed, just so she wouldn't starve!” Twilight blinked a safe distance away when Trixie took a swing at her. “Trixie, I don't know what to—” “Don't you say it!” She bared her teeth. “Don't you dare try to sell me an apology! Nothing that comes out of your mouth will ever make what I went through all right! I have the Alicorn Amulet and my Crystal Empire, and I'm done playing games, Sparkle! When I'm through with you, through with your pathetic little friends, you'll wish you'd frozen in the wastes!” The mad-mare charged once more, startling Twilight. She raised her head to block Trixie's horn with her own. Malice radiated off her opponent in blood-chilling currents. As such, she dared not look into those crimson eyes. The only silver lining she discerned, however, was her close proximity to the relic behind all of it. Discreetly, she peeked at it. A gasp almost escaped her throat. There was a crack, tiny and barely noticeable, in the necklace's diamond. A reason behind the crack eluded her, but she had a chance and it was now. She propelled forward, and she forced Trixie onto her hind legs. Then, in one calculated move, she speared the miniscule break—the tip of her horn flooding the diamond with dark magic. Hopefully, it was enough to nullify the amulet's power. It was certainly enough to give her an uncomfortable shock as cracks spread inside and outside the sinister gem. In spite of the damage, however, the relic quickly rid its host of the intruder, and Twilight dug her hooves into the floor as she was sent sliding backwards by an unseen force. “No!” screeched Trixie. “What have you done?!” Horrified, she raised a hoof to the necklace. The crimson diamond was webbed with jagged fissures. “You... You broke it! You broke Trixie's magnificent amulet!” “I-I did.” Bit by bit, a smile spread across Twilight's face. I actually did it! She jumped in joy. “Yes!” Thank you, Sombra! “It's over! It's—!” Something struck the side of her head, causing her to see stars. A strange sensation beneath her hooves joined the damp, warm sensation on the side of her head, derailing her train of speech. She gasped. Not only had her opponent struck her, but the floor had melted beneath her. She was trapped and disoriented, blindsided by a tag-team of spells she never saw coming. Trixie appeared just as surprised. Of course, in her eyes, it was nothing short of a miracle, and she cackled in delight. “Nice try, Sparkle, but it still works!” Her horn blazed with an eerie red aura. “Such is the fantastic, superior magic of the Alicorn Amulet! And, now, Queen Trixie has you exactly where she wants you!” Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw the remnants of the chandelier levitate into the air. She struggled against her bonds. Her pulse throbbed in unison with the ache in her head; it was difficult to focus her magic. She was a sitting duck. “At long last,” continued the magician. “Trixie will have her—agh!” She clutched a hoof to her chest as a sharp pain rattled her concentration. The sharp, menacing shards fell from her arcane grasp, though she tried to lift them once more. Again, the same startling pain distracted her from her spell. Terror made her heart race as she looked down at her beloved relic. The Alicorn Amulet still blazed with power, but something was wrong. The fragments of diamond had blossomed from their inset—claiming more of the necklace. The outermost edges, jagged and cold, dug into her coat. Wiggling one of her hooves free, Twilight stared at the item with a mix of fear and intrigue. “What's happening?” she questioned under her breath. The other mare tried to cast another spell, but the sting around her neck returned full-force. Her desire to finally put an end to Twilight Sparkle, however, outweighed her want to avoid physical discomfort. She pushed past the pain, and the floor began to shake. Sharpened crystal poles arose from the floor in random spots, and Twilight saw the Alicorn Amulet spread a little bit more across Trixie's neck. Suddenly, her simple mental malady didn't seem so awful. She blasted the crystal from her remaining hooves and she blinked to dodge being speared. “Trixie, something's wrong with the amulet!” she shouted. “Quiet!” the other mare retaliated. “As long as it still works, the Great and Powerful Queen Trixie doesn't give a flying feather what else it does!” Twilight slowly retreated as Trixie ascended off the floor. The air around them grew heavy and electrified. She didn't know what the magician was doing, but it felt disturbingly powerful. Her magic readied a barrier, yet nothing could have prepared her for the storm to come. With an outraged scream, Trixie cast a shock-wave in all directions. The windows were blown out in an instant, revealing outside a darkened sky. The air picked up at a rapid speed then, stirring the scraps of the chandelier and whatever wasn't fastened to the floor. The sharp and bludgeoning whirlwind raged within the confines of the ballroom—ripping and ramming Twilight's protective bubble, but leaving its master untouched. “This is it, Sparkle!” boomed the magician. “Soon, you'll be nothing more than ribbons!” Her heart thundering in her chest, Twilight struggled to keep up her own spell. The crystal shards, however, tore at the barrier faster than she was able to replenish it, and everything else slammed against it like a myriad of battering rams. It was failing. She was failing. “What's wrong, Twilight Sparkle? Are you having trouble wrapping your head around such superior magic?” A bitter chill settled at her core, and she was struck by an idea. Careful to keep her barrier going, she jumped into the air. Levitation kept her there as she prepared the next step of her spell. Though her head felt as though it would split in twain, she overcame the pain as she isolated a gravitational field around herself. Then, she reversed it, and she landed on the rounded ceiling. Despite the stray bit of debris here and there, it was a significantly better spot. She looked “up” at Trixie, who glared right back. Then, without hesitation, the false matriarch tore the crystal poles from the floor and hurled them at her opponent. Twilight teleported out of their paths with ease, grimacing as they tore through the ceiling like tissue paper. “Open your eyes, Sparkle. I influenced both the guards and the crystal ponies to see through your lies. You're outnumbered. Do you really want to see how much more chaos the Great and Powerful Trixie can cause for you?” She snatched one of the pillars out of the air and threw it right back. The magician yelped and dodged. Then, channeling every bit of willpower at her disposal, Trixie poured her magic into the ceiling above. Twilight was thrown off balance as it began to quake. She then watched in disbelief as red, ominous lines divided it into various segments. Gradually, those segments broke apart. Twilight soon found herself surrounded by said pieces as she clung to her own hunk of the palace. They gleamed with desaturated hues against the blizzard raging beyond the Crystal Empire's protective barrier. Against her better judgment, she peered over the edge. Her vision swam. The entire top of the palace's main tower, to her dismay, was completely gone—throne room and all. Oh, Celestia... Before she had the chance to plan her next move, Trixie flew into her vision with a ferocious roar. Twilight gasped, for the entirety of the show-mare’s neck and left foreleg were encased in diamond. It continued to spread before her eyes, albeit at a crawl. She deflected the blue mare's horn with her own, before she leaped to another platform. Trixie gave chase, and the game of cat-and-mouse began. Twilight possessed no plan other than running circles around the magician. She cast a few lasers here and there, yet all were either dodged or deflected. Trixie, in addition, made numerous attempts to knock her off into a fall. Of course, Twilight was adept at teleportation. Then, she made the mistake of looking down. The palace was surrounded by crystal ponies and, even from her height, she made out the distinct shapes and colors of her family and friends. They were huddled together, their eyes turned to the sky. The sight made her view swim once more, and she stood still for far too long. A hunk of crystal barreled into her side. Her vision blanched white with pain and she screamed as she rag-dolled towards a treacherous edge. Groaning, she glared at Trixie, who approached with an unnaturally-stiff gait. “Should've kept your attention on me, Sparkle,” she hissed. As she neared, Twilight saw her eyes glaze over with crimson film. There was also an outlandish, static-like trait to her voice, she noticed. “Time to finish you off, once and for all.” “Who would've guessed that Princess Celestia's prized pupil was so inferior?” “No,” whispered Twilight. She angled her head to gaze down at all the lives who counted on her. She wasn't done, not by a long-shot. Though she stumbled, she was able to stand and she lunged at Trixie with a shout. They crossed horns for a third time. “You want my attention, Trixie?” she questioned through clenched teeth. “Well, now you have it!” Her eyes ignited into shades of green and red, and they trailed purple smoke as she pushed Trixie away. The show-mare gasped, but immediately attacked with a grand magical beam. When Twilight launched her own, the spells collided with such force the unicorn duo had to hold their ground to keep from being thrown off the floating lot. Trixie was stunned to feel her magic disintegrate against her rival's. She failed to grasp, in her blind furor, the toll on her body due to the rapid succession of spells she cast. The Alicorn Amulet already claimed her hind legs, she realized. Her ability to move was minimal. At any minute now, she wouldn't be able to move at all. Her fate was sealed, but that didn't mean Twilight was going to win. Her laser petered out into the wind. Then, in one final deflection, she protected herself against the opposing spell. Silence fell as she hung her head. A little more magic was all she needed. Only a little more—a tidbit. Her opponent was tired, too, for Twilight was panting as she stood across from her. “Well, well, well,” she said. Her voice was low. “Guess you must be pretty proud of yourself right now, eh, Sparkle?” Twilight didn't answer. “Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia, bearer of the Element of Magic, hero to the entirety of Equestria.” She chuckled. “No doubt you're mentally adding 'savior of the Crystal Empire' to your list as we stand here.” Slowly, her face contorted into a nefarious sneer. To her rival's shock, her horn successfully channeled magic. “Well, good luck enjoying your fame and fortune from Tartarus!” Ripples of arcane power poured off her, and Twilight shielded her eyes when the mad-mare suddenly vanished in an eruption of blinding light. The solid mass of crystal under her buckled, and then tumbled into a free-fall. The dreadful realization Trixie had cast a fail-safe spell came immediately. In one final move, she had condemned them both to a fatal plunge. Panic didn't even come close to what she felt as she plummeted, surrounded by colliding and collapsing debris. There was nothing left in her. What scraps of energy she possessed went into levitating herself out of the deadly masses' path, and even those moves were strictly instinctual. Her vision blurred with tears. No, no, no! The bottom half of the palace came into view. I'm sorry, everypony! I'm so sorry! She saw some of the wreckage hit the ground. Mom! Dad! Shining! Cadance! Spike! Her blood roared in her ears—the only sound she heard upon squeezing her eyes closed. Applejack! Fluttershy! Rainbow! Rarity! Pinkie! S—! Her eyes snapped open. “Sombra!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Hearing her voice, a winding cloud of dark smoke cut through the remaining rubble like a bolt of lightning—enveloping her in a protective embrace. Somewhere, she thought she heard the stallion's voice, but the clamor of the chaos drowned him out. Even though their fall continued, it was significantly slower and Sombra's mere presence cleared the fog of distress from her mind. At least, until he gracelessly dropped her onto the ballroom floor. She rolled onto her side, her chest heaving. Her vision was tinged with spots and darkened edges. She didn't know what happened to make him let her go, but the discomfort of the air being knocked out of her lungs made her too disoriented for anger. She closed her eyes to focus on catching her breath. Then, a soft voice whispered, “Twilight.” She flinched. “... Huh?” “It's time to get up, Twilight. You did it.” Groggily, she peeked. Somepony stood over her—blurry, basked in white light, with a fiery mane of red and gold. “Who...?” she whispered. There came a gentle laugh as her only reply, for as suddenly as the entity appeared, it evaporated, and Twilight found herself looking up at the exhausted, concerned face of Princess Luna. The Moon Princess's wings were outstretched to shield her sister's student. “Twilight? Oh, my friend, are you all right?” She continued to fire off one question after the other. Twilight didn't hear them. The ballroom, and perhaps the rest of the palace, was in ruin. The fact it remained standing was a miracle, and she wished she had the strength to feel some form of satisfaction. Unfortunately, she was unable to take her watering eyes off the statue imbedded in the floor nearby. Solid and unbroken, it was an effigy born of red diamond, brought into existence as the transparent prison for the once Great and Powerful Trixie.