Twilight levitated her quill pen into the air, and lowered it down onto the two Clow Cards on the table. “Tell me again, why do I have to do this?” she asked as she wrote her name on the bottoms of both cards.
Kero looked down at the two new cards that Twilight had found lying around the town. They were Wood and Jump. According to Kero, Wood is a gentle card, like Windy, and so wouldn’t have caused any mayhem no matter how long they had left it there. Jump, on the other hoof, was a rascal that liked to pull pranks, and they were lucky to catch it in its dormant state.
“Like I said, even if you have the cards, they still won’t listen to you unless you sign your name. It then marks you as their owner, and lets you borrow their power whenever you wish,” Kero explained, floating over to the other two Clow Cards sitting on the table. “So far, we have four…Four cards and it’s only your second day. Not too shabby, but we still have a long way to go.”
Twilight placed a hoof to her face as finished signing the cards with her name, and sighed heavily. “I already said that I don’t want anything to do with this…”
“But still,” Kero said, ignoring Twilight. “It’s strange that no news of any odd happenings have spread yet. The way I remember it, news spread quickly throughout Equestria.”
“When was that, exactly?” Twilight asked, curious as to how old Kero actually was.
“Well, back then, there was certainly no “Ponyville”, that’s for sure.”
“So a long time ago,” Twilight concluded. She looked over to her calendar, and let out a loud gasp. “Oh no! I was supposed to meet with Rarity today! I asked her to repair one of my dresses, and she told me to pick it up today!”
Twilight ran around the room in a panic, before finally being calmed down by Kero. She made her way to the front door and began to leave. “I’ll be back soon. Just stay here, ok?”
“Ok,” Kero responded. As soon as Twilight was out of the library, Kero floated over to the kitchen. “Now then, let’s see what kinda snacks she has…”
Twilight entered Rarity’s shop, and took a seat whilst Rarity went off to fetch her dress. When Rarity returned, Twilight examined her fixed up dress, and gave an approving nod. “Brilliant work, as always, Rarity.”
“Why thank you, darling. You know I always want my friends to look their best,” she said. “Incidentally, I was taking a stroll outside last night, to clear my head. It usually helps when I’m struggling on a new fashion design, you see.”
“Oh? And did you think of anything?”
“Well, actually, yes…Maybe you’d like to come and have a look?” Rarity offered. Twilight agreed, and followed Rarity into the back of the shop, leaving her dress on one of the ponnequins in the front of the store. “Here it is, darling. So, what do you think?”
Twilight stood with wide eyes at Rarity’s new ensemble. It was a black skin suit that covered the entire ponnequine from hooves to half way up its face. Draped around it was a long, flowing white cape, with a hood up around the ponnequin’s head.
“I call it, the Shadow,” Rarity said, causing Twilight to spin around and look at her in shock. “I must thank you for the inspiration, Twilight.”
“R-Rarity…So, you saw me?” Twilight asked nervously.
“I sure did. And I must say, you simply dashing. Although, I couldn’t help but feel you would have looked more splendid if you were more properly dressed…”
“Um, listen, I don’t suppose you could keep this our little secret, could you?”
Rarity’s eyes lit up, and she moved closer to Twilight, a reassuring smile on her face. “Don’t you worry, Twilight. I think I can keep this a secret between the two of us.” Twilight sighed, but it was short-lived. “In return, I want you to do a favour for me.”
Later that day, news spread to Ponyville of unusual weather in Manehatten. Apparently, freak thunderstorms had been occurring out of nowhere. Kero suggested it may be a Clow Card, and that if it wasn’t stopped soon, it may seriously harm some ponies.
Twilight and Kero made their way to Manehatten, along with Rarity, who insisted on coming along with Twilight on her hunt for these cards, after hearing the full story from Twilight. Rarity’s condition for keeping Twilight’s secret was that Twilight do some modelling for Rarity, but after hearing the full story from Twilight, she had a better idea. She wanted to follow Twilight whenever she goes after a Clow Card, in the hopes that seeing more of them would help inspire her.
Of course, she still wanted Twilight to model for her. As such, she prepared a new dress for Twilight that was suited for a trip to Manehatten; it was classy and highlighted her intelligence. Rarity made some modifications to the dress, primarily changing the material to rubber, to protect her from lightning strikes. She had also made herself a dress, too.
“It’s nice to meet you, Kero. Twilight’s told me about you,” Rarity said, introducing herself to the small orange creature on Twilight’s head.
“Oh, really?” Kero asked, striking a cool pose. “What did she say about me?”
“Hmmm…That you’re annoying, and try too hard to be cool. And that you eat too many sweets, and she’s surprised you’re not fat with the kind of appetite that you have.”
Kero glared down at Twilight, who was laughing nervously. “I tell ya, Guardian Beasts get no respect these days…”
One the three arrived at Manehatten, they made their way over to an empty alleyway, and used the Wood card to lift themselves up to the top of one of the nearby buildings. The streets were empty, due to the severe thunderstorm currently taking place.
“Well? Is it a Clow Card?” Twilight asked Kero, who was meditating in the air, trying to pick up the presence of a Clow Card.
“Hmmm…Yes,” Kero responded, opening his eyes and turning to face the Manehatten Tower. “This is defiantly the work of the Thunder card. And it’s coming from over there.”
Twilight nodded, and levitated the Jump card from her saddlebag. “Rarity, stay here. I’ll handle this.”
Rarity shook her head, and grabbed onto Twilight’s tail. “No, Twilight. I want to see this card too. Besides, you’re my friend. I can hardly leave you to go into such a dangerous situation all alone, now can I?”
“But-”
“It won’t matter,” a voice from behind them said. The group turned around to see who was there. “Since it will be none other than Trixie who will capture the Thunder card.”
Twilight and Rarity stared wide-eyed at the blue Unicorn standing before them, clad in the trademark hat and cloak that they had seen her wear in Ponyville some time ago. What drew Kero’s attention was the object she was holding with her magic.
“That compass…”
Trixie turned to the small creature with a grin on her face. “Yes. This compass will direct Trixie to the Clow Car-” She flinched when the compass suddenly lit up, and then noticed a bolt of lightning approaching the group. “Look out!”
The group turned around to see a bolt of lightning making its way towards them, but they were unable to react in time. “Shield!” A small barrier formed around the group, deflecting the lightning bolt away from them. The bolt of lightning turned into a wolf, made of electricity. Twilight assumed that this was Thunder’s true form.
Kero was more interested in the blue Unicorn behind them, though. He turned around, and saw her holding a staff that resembled Twilight’s, except the end was a different shape; instead of a pointed tip with wings, it resembled a butterfly. The colour was different, too. It was dark blue, instead of bright pink.
“Kero, what now?” Twilight asked, bringing out her Clow Cards. “Do I do the same as before?”
Kero shook his head. “No. You can’t hold Thunder down with Windy or Shadow. Wood’s no good, either. Too gentle.”
“Then what!?” Twilight asked frantically.
“Like Trixie said, Trixie will handle it,” Trixie said, attracting the group’s attention once again. “Watch and learn, as the Great and Powerful Trixie shows you what being a Cardcaptor is truly all about!”
Before anyone could say anything, Trixie took out a card, threw it up into the air, and hit it with her staff. “Time!”
A sphere extended from the card, enveloping an area around the group. The group watched as time around them seemed to have frozen completely, including Thunder, who was now stationary. “Return to the guise you were meant to be in…” Twilight turned to face Trixie, who had raised her staff into the air. “Clow Card!” Trixie shouted as she slammed down her staff, drawing Thunder towards her and trapping it in card form.
The sphere disappeared, and time returned back to normal. The thunderstorm continued for a second, before suddenly ceasing. With Thunder trapped, the weather quickly turned back to the bright, warm weather that it was supposed to be.
Trixie picked up her newly acquired Clow Card, and faced Twilight with a cocky grin on her face. “That makes three now. And soon, Trixie will have them all.”