A pony in a black hooded cloak sprinted toward Canterlot Castle, attempting to minimize the sound of hoof-steps in the dead of the night. As the castle became visible it became clear there was an alarming amount of royal guards present on ramparts and at gates. The unicorn’s horn began to glow, and with a shadowy burst of energy the pony cleared the castle fence in one jump. Not stopping for a moment the pony raced toward the closest ground window, nearby guards completely unaware of the intruder. The unicorn’s horn began to glow once again, and as soon as the floor inside the window became clear, a flash of light teleported the pony inside. The hooded figure finally stopped, noticing the invisibility spell begin to wear off. The pony quickly glanced around to see if any guards were present, and gave a sigh of relief to find there were none. At that moment a green tinted pony came stumbling around the corner carrying a large stack of books, barely able to see where he was walking. The intruder quickly grabbed the pony by the neck and shoved him up against the wall, his stack of books taking a heavy tumble to the ground. In a hushed voice the hooded one spoke.
“How can one get to the Canterlot Archives from here?” The green pony fumbled with his glasses before stuttering, still in shock and fear of his assailant.
“I-I-I’m just a librarian here. The archives a-are just down that h-hall and to the left, at the far end of the li-library, p-please don’t h—“ ZZZSSSsss!!!
The librarian fell unconscious as the horn’s magical glow began to fade. “Pathetic.” Without a moment’s notice the hooded one took off swiftly down the hallway toward the archives. The pony found the door to the library had been left open by the unconscious librarian. With most of the other librarians already gone for the night, the intruder saw no need to worry about sneaking around and raced toward the rear of the library.
It's time to move quickly, someone could discover that unconscious foal within minutes… still, this is all too easy. The pony began scanning the shelves for the desired section.
Q… R… S… Aha! The pony stopped and began searching up and down the shelves, pulling out parchments and glancing over them before throwing them on the ground.
Telepathy, no… Teleporting, no… Time alterations… YES! Now let’s see. Time-travel, no…Time-stop, no… Time-lock… …perfect.
The hooded figure put the parchment in a pouch concealed beneath the cloak and raced back toward the hallway.
As the pony rounded the corner a guard at the end of the hall caught sight.
“HEY YOU! HALT!”
The guard charged forward, but a flash of light caught his surprise. When he noticed the figure was gone, he glanced out the window to see the pony racing across the castle grounds.
“GUARDS! INTRUDER: BLACK CLOAK AND HOOD IN REAR CASTLE GROUNDS! SEARCH AND CAPTURE!”
Echoes of screaming guards could be heard as the news of the hooded figure spread through the castle. Guards in the gardens rushed to the rear castle ground as the head of the royal guard, Shining Armor, rushed onto the rampart to see what the commotion was about. As he peered below he caught a quick glimpse of a figure disappearing over the castle fence.
“SEND A SQUAD INTO THE FOREST, no... SEND TEN SQUADS INTO THE FOREST! SEARCH THE PERIMETER AND LOCKDOWN THE CASTLE!” Shining Armor’s second in command stepped next to him.
“A librarian was found unconscious and the door to the archives was found open. Shall I inform the Princess, sir?”
~<>~
--THE FOLLOWING DAY –
“LEMME GO! I DON’T NEED YOU GUYS!”
Rainbow Dash yelled as she huffed and struggled to escape the ropes restraining her. Pinkie-Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack were all pulling tightly on the ropes as Twilight Sparkle approached her. The purple mare’s horn began to emit a pink glow as she touched it to Rainbow’s forehead, and magic began flowing into the thrashing pony. In that instant, the pony calmed, memories of her friends came rushing back to her and her coat and mane returned from a dull grey to its bright, natural color.
“What happened?” Rainbow mumbled as she rubbed her head in a daze. Suddenly she jumped up.
“HOW’S PONYVILLE!? WHERE ARE THE ELEMENTS!? DID WE STOP DISCORD!?”
The five friends grabbed her into a big group hug. They giggled as they embraced their friend, now her normal self again. Twilight glanced around, realizing chaos was still about, and they hadn’t stopped Discord just yet.
“Maybe it’s a little early for a group hug.” The six sat together for a moment, until finally pinkie stood up. She looked at the others… her eyes suddenly filled with a chilling fear. She began furiously motioning to her mouth and chest.
“What’s a’ matter hun’?”
“Pinkie, ya alright?”
“Tell us what is wrong, dear.” The group’s faces became more and more worried as Pinkie’s motions became more and more frantic.
…”She can’t breathe.” Twilight spoke in realization. “SHE CAN’T BREATHE!” Applejack ran over and grabbed Pinkie around the waste, giving a strong heave. Suddenly Pinkie gasped as she took in a huge breath and collapsed to the ground.
“Oh my goodness! Are you alright Pinkie?” Fluttershy spoke softly,
“Were ya chokin’ on sumthin’? Applejack gave a puzzled look. “But we weren’t eatin’ anythin’.”
“Wowie.” Pinkie finally whimpered, still breathing heavy. She looked up at everyone, her face a pale pink contrasting its usual bright color. “It was my pinkie sense. It was even more of a doosie than the doosie.”
Twilight glared at Pinkie in shock, never a fan of the pinkie sense. “Are you sure it was your pinkie sense? Could it have been something else? You’ve never lost breath before.”
“It was definitely my pinkie sense. I felt all tingly the whole time, and I felt a lot of pressure. So much I couldn’t breathe in at all.” She looked directly into Twilight’s eyes, her face more stern than the purple mare could ever recall.
“Something is very, VERY wrong Twilight.”
…
“You can say that again.”
A silence befell the six ponies as a familiar voice rang out from behind them. They all turned to see a black hooded pony glaring in their direction. With the flick of a hoof, the hood flipped back to reveal a smiling blue mare with a light blue mane.
“EEP!” Fluttershy let out as she cowered behind the group.
“TRIXIE? What are you doing here?” Twilight’s expression of surprise quickly turned to confusion. Could this be what Pinkie’s sense was going crazy about?
“Actually… the Great and Powerful Trixie is here for you, Twilight Sparkle.” Trixie spat out the name in disgust, as if the very words had tainted her lips.
“BACK FOR MORE EH?” Rainbow jumped up and put her hooves up, throwing a few punches in the air. “Twilight took you on before and she can do it again!”
“Oh, don’t be so sure of yourself this time. Twilight ruined the Great and Powerful Trixie. Now she’s finally here to return the favor.”
“You are nothing but a boasting coward.” Rarity huffed as she stuck her nose snootily in the air.
“Yeah, all talk ‘n no bite.” Applejack chimed in.
“We don’t have time for this!” Twilight interjected. “Have we all forgotten something? We still have to stop Discord! Princess Celestia, Ponyville and all of Equestria are DEPENDING ON US.”
“Enough of this! Trixie doesn’t care what you’re doing, she’s getting her revenge and she’s getting it NOW!” Trixie’s horn began to glow intensely as a blue ring formed around Twilight’s hooves. A column of light shot up into the air, encasing the purple mare in blue light.
“What’s this!?” Twilight tried to step back, but was stopped by the energy engulfing her.
“STOP HER!” Rainbow shouted, flying toward Trixie near top speed.
-BZZZT!!!!-
Rainbow hit something and flew back, recoiling hard against the ground.
“What the hay?” Rainbow rubbed her head in a daze.
“HAHAHAHAHA! I’m impressed! Even the most basic shield spell can repel you pathetic ponies. Now for the finale!”
“I CAN’T MOVE!” Twilight tried to struggle, the energy keeping her still as a bright light began to shine around her and Trixie.
“TWILIGHT!” Fluttershy gazed in horror as Trixie’s maniacal laughter flooded the hearing of the five ponies.
“Wait! NOOOOOOOO—“
Twilight’s scream was cut off as her and Trixie disappeared in a blinding flash, leaving the other five elements of harmony broken in a deadening silence.
…
--SEVERAL MONTHS BEFORE--
“Curse that Twilight Sparkle!” Trixie muttered to herself as she galloped. She was racing down a dirt path with Ponyville quickly fading into the distance behind her. She knew she had been beaten, and she HATED the thought of it. I am the GREAT and POWERFUL TRIXIE! No one should be able to best Trixie in magic... NO ONE. It's her special talent! She gave her cutie mark a quick glance, letting out a huff of aggravation as she continued onward. She wanted to be sure she couldn't be spotted in the distance from Ponyville, mostly due to fear that the hard-headed rainbow pegasus might not let her get away so easily. At last when she felt she had traveled far enough, she plopped down in the grass for a breather. What can Trixie do? Word of the Great and Powerful Trixie's defeat will spread to other towns quickly. Soon she'll be the laughing stock of all of Equestria! Her cheeks lit up in embarrassment for the first time in years, and it felt strange. She was used to embarrassing other ponies, not the other way around. Despite her being alone she felt the need to hide her face in her hooves, as if the whole world was laughing and pointing at her. She dwelt on her self-pity for what seemed like hours in the silence of the night. Twilight. Twilight. Twilight. TWILIGHT. RRRRR TWILIGHT SPARKLE! She accented the T and S of Twilight Sparkle with disgust in her mind, loathing the name more and more with each thought. Finally her mind stopped buzzing as she came to a conclusion.
I don't care how long it takes. I will RUIN Twilight Sparkle.