When consciousness once more returned to Twilight, she opened her eyes, surprised to find herself comfortably tucked into bed. Gazing around the darkness of the room, she still felt groggy. “I’m in my room?” she mumbled to herself. “Then was all that just a bad dream I was having?”
Finding a bit of strength to sit up, Twilight turned to her end table where a candle rested, waiting to be lit. With a bit of magic, she ignited a flame upon it to help her see the room better and immediately she made a startling discovery. “This isn’t my room,” she told herself as she spotted some more candles to light and brighten up the room further.
With enough of the darkness lifted to gain a proper view of her surroundings, Twilight just stared in awe while her muzzle dropped at the discovery of where she was. No matter where she turned her head, to Twilight’s greatest delight, she was surrounded by books, hundreds upon hundreds of the literary treasures squeezed together, cover to cover on tons of bookshelves that reached up to where she was resting upon the second floor of the buildings he was in. Looking down to the lower floor, she could make out several tables covered with a number of books as well. Taking in a deep breath, she inhaled the scent of literature that reminded her of the library back in Canterlot. Unable to fight the urge to crack open a book with so much temptation all around her, Twilight sought out the closest book, one that was resting beside her, on the nightstand beside the bed.
Picking it up, Twilight spotted a bookmark about halfway through it. “Tarzan,” she read the title and smiled, knowing the classic tale very well. “Been a while since I read this one and I haven’t read anything since before the Summer Sun Celebration.” Opening the book up to the first page, Twilight felt her usual giddiness that came whenever she was about to start a book. She was just about to get started reading, but then she remembered the events that led to her ending up here and she placed the book down on her lap.
“What am I doing?” she thought to herself. “Celestia is in trouble. All of Equestria is in trouble. I can’t waste time sitting in bed reading. I have to do something.”
“Hi there,” greeted a voice that caught Twilight’s attention. Turning to look, she expected to see a pony, but, instead, standing before her on two feet with light purple scales over most of his body and pale, yellow ones on his muzzle, chest, and belly. Covering over his chest, belly and legs, he had on a simple, white apron.
The creature also had green, smooth-tipped spikes starting almost a foot tall from the one atop his head and getting smaller with each one that went around to the back of his head, down his neck and back and along the top of his long, lizard tail that ended in a spade-shaped point. He also had two pale green ears on the side of his head the resembled fish fin. Taking all this in, Twilight knew without a doubt that the creature standing before her was, without a doubt, a dragon.
“You can read that book if you’d like,” he told her, seeing her holding Tarzan open to the first page.
“Um, thank you,” replied Twilight, not sure what else to say.
The dragon then lifted up his arms, showing that, in his scaly hands, he was holding a piping hot bowl of soup. “Just make sure you don’t lose my place, okay? Oh, and I made you some soup in care you’re hungry.” Carefully, he placed it down on the table beside the bed.
“Uh, thank you,” replied Twilight again, still attempting to wrap her head around the fact that she was having a conversation with a dragon.
“Let me guess. This is your first time meeting a dragon,” he observed. “Well, it’s also the first time a non-Pegasus Pony has ever crashed into my home.”
“You live here?” asked Twilight curiously. “With all these books?”
“Uh huh,” he nodded. “I guess I’m sort of the Ponyville librarian of the Golden Oaks Library. The name’s Spike, by the way. And you are?”
“My name is Twilight Sparkle,” she introduced herself. “I can’t believe I made it all the way to Ponyville. I was just in Canterlot a short while ago.”
“That is pretty far,” Spike agreed. “You made pretty good time getting here without any wings.”
“I kinda floated down in a bubble,” she admitted managing to joke a bit. “I can’t say I cared much for being at the mercy of the breeze.”
“Maybe next time take the train,” Spike suggested with some light-hearted humor of his own.
Twilight chuckled, feeling a bit more relaxed now. “So, what are you doing in Ponyville being a librarian? Don’t most dragons live overseas in the Dragonlands?”
“They do,” Spike nodded. “But for long as I can remember I’ve lived among Ponies.”
“By yourself? What about your parents?” Twilight questioned her new scaly acquaintance.
“No idea,” he admitted. “I was either lost or abandoned when I was just an egg. I guess some Ponies found me after that and, one way or another, I ended up in the care of Princess Celestia, if you can believe it.”
“You were raised by Princess Celestia?” gasped Twilight with surprise. “She never told me that.”
“You know the princess too?” asked Spike the one surprised for a change.
“Yes, I am one of her students,” Twilight informed him.
“Wait a minute,” pondered Spike, scratching a claw on his chin. “Celestia did tell me about one of her students when I was still living with her. She was a purple pony that really loves books. That wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?”
“It sounds like me,” nodded Twilight. “What else did she say about me?” As she said this, Twilight once more recollected all that had happened prior to her arrival to Ponyville. “Celestia!” Twilight cried, frantically getting out of bed, almost knocking her soup off the table in her haste. Spike was quick to catch it before it became a mess for him to clean up. “Oh, it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t have had to save me and now Equestria’s doomed.”
“Whoa!” Spike told Twilight, attempting to help her calm down. “What’s your fault and why is Equestria doomed?”
“Because Nightmare Moon has returned,” she explained. “Celestia was going to defeat her… but she lost in order to protect me.” Twilight approached the window and took a look outside to see the night was still there and dawn was nowhere in sight. “And now, it’ll be nighttime eternal.”
“You can’t be serious,” Spike replied, skeptical that such a thing could actually happen. Checking out the alarm clock by the bed, his eyes widened when he saw it was already past eight. “Holy guacamole, it’s this far into the morning and the sun still isn’t up. I guess you are serious.”
“You didn’t notice the sun never came up this?” she questioned the dragon.
“Well, typically the sun is up long before I am,” he admitted. “But after you crashed into my home and woke me up, I put you in my bed to rest while I’ve been keeping an eye on you to make sure you were okay.”
“Oh, sorry about that,” she apologized.
“It’s fine,” he smiled. “Is this what it’s like when friends have sleepovers?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Twilight told the dragon. “I’ve never really had friends, unless you were to count my brother, Cadance and Princess Celestia.”
“That’d be two more friends than I could say I have,” replied Spike. “Besides the princess, I didn’t have anyone else in Canterlot to talk to. Pony parents were too scared to let me near their kids. Apparently, claws to them is like perpetually running around with scissors, so I was never able to make friends on my own. And when I was with Celestia everyone would just think I was just her pet. In the end, I decided to move away to get a fresh start and ended up in Ponyville.”
“How has it been over here?” wondered Twilight.
“It’s been better,” answered Spike as he sat down on the bed and Twilight took a seat beside him. “I mean, at first the Ponies here weren’t sure what to make of a dragon in town, but it’s been almost a year now and most of the Ponies around here have been getting more comfortable with me. Still, other than Princess Celestia, I haven’t been able to open up to anypony else. Actually, I can probably count you now.”
“At least in your case it what was getting in your way of making friends wasn’t yourself,” admitted Twilight with a sigh. “I’ve had plenty of chances to make friends, but I’ve never taken any. No, it’d be more accurate to say that stubbornly refused to even try by keeping myself preoccupied with studying everything I could. I never gave myself any time to get to know anypony, not even my classmates. I guess I always thought that so long as I had my brother, Cadence, and Celestia, there wasn’t a need for anypony else. Now, Celestia is captured and I can only hope my brother and Cadence got out of the castle safely. Still, that leaves me all alone, in a place from from home, and, after all that happened last night, I could really use the comfort of a friend right now.”
“Well, if you got an opening for a friend,” offered Spike scooching closer to hug the purple Pony. “And you don’t mind them being, scaly, spikey and fire breathy, I’d like to apply.”
“Well, I don’t know,” she said in a teasing tone. “I was considering a manticore and a hydra for the position of my friend. Do you have an additional assets that I should take into account?”
“I live in a library,” he reminded her.
“You’re hired!” declared Twilight raising her arms up excitedly. The two then started to snort and snicker before they fell back on the bed and had one of the best laughs either ever remembered having.
Taking a moment to catch their breath after all those chortles, the two looked at one another. “Friends?” asked Spike, offering his claws to Twilight.
“Friends,” nodded Twilight extending her hoof in friendship and they both shook before Twilight pulled him in for a hug. “You know, I’m feeling a lot better now.” Her stomach started to grumble.
“I bet you having some soup will help you feel better too,” added Spike. “After everything you must have gone through, you are probably starving.”
“Yeah,” she nodded, floating the bowl onto her lap and then stirred the soup with the spoon resting in it.
“If it’s gotten too cool, I could warm it up for you,” offered Spike.
“It’s still plenty warm,” she answered him.
“Well, how about I read to you while you eat,” he offered, grabbing Tarzan from the table. “Tarzan, a fantasy story about a baby Pony being raised by dragons and growing up to be their king. It’s kind of like my situation, except reversed and I doubt I’ll grow up to be king of the Ponies.”
“You never know,” chuckled Twilight before she sipped some of her soup. “Mmm, this is good.” She then watched as Spike turned to the first page and pressed a claw the first word to begin reading. “You don’t have to start the whole book over for me,” she told him. “I’ve read the book before, twice, actually.”
“That’s okay,” Spike told her with a smile. “I don’t mind and this way, we can start together, Twilight.”
“Sounds good to me, Spike,” she agreed and smiled back at him.
“The end,” finished Spike, a couple hours later after having read the entire Tarzan book, cover to cover. Twilight had long since finished her soup and just sat quietly as she listened to Spike’s narration.
“Nothing like a good book to invigorate you,” sighed Twilight with delight. “And, I’d say that I’m back to a hundred percent. Now, I can get started.”
“Started on what?” asked Spike as he shut the book and sat it on his lap.
“My mission to rescue Princess Celestia from Nightmare Moon, of course,” she answered.
“Oh, is that all?” he asked nervously. “And, how do you intend to do that?”
“With the same way that Celestia beat Nightmare Moon last time,” she explained. “With the Elements of Harmony. During the battle, Celestia mentioned that they were still in her old castle.”
“I had no idea Celestia even had an old castle,” commented Spike. “So, where is it?”
“Uh… she didn’t say,” admitted Twilight. “But if it was Celestia’s castle then it has to be a building of great historical significance and anything like that has to be written about in a book. Good thing we’ve got a library to search through.” With a blissful smile, Twilight couldn’t help gaze over at all the books they had to go through. “A whole library to research to my heart’s content. Oh, if this wasn’t a matter of national security, this would be the best day of my life.”
“Celestia wasn’t kidding when she said how much you love books,” chuckled Spike. “Well, I know the layout of this place pretty well by now, so I’ll give you a claw in looking. Let me just reshelf Tarzan first.”
Twilight watched as the young, purple dragon held up the book. She expected him to get up and head to the lower floor to return it to its proper place, but instead, she watched in horror as he inhaled and released a breath of green flames upon it. Her eyes bugged out as the pages burn as his dragon fire engulfed it.
“What are you doing?!?” Twilight cried, almost diving onto him to rescue what remained of the classic novel. “That poor, innocent book!”
“Careful!” warned Spike, as he kept the book out of her reach. “You’ll burn yourself.”
“But the book!” she wailed, doing her best to reach for its charred remains.
“It’ll be fine,” he assured her. “Just watch.”
Though hesitant to believe such a thing could be true, she continued to look on as the pages were soon burnt black by the flames and then the cover soon after. Burning even further, soon nothing remained of the book, save for wisps of smoke that started to swirl around them. At first, Twilight still believed that the book was really gone forever, but then she realized that despite its size, no ashes were left behind, just a bunch of smoke that suddenly made its way downstairs, as if moving by wind, despite there being no open windows to allow a breeze. Watching the smoke flow through the library, it found an empty slot on the bookshelf and suddenly burst into flames in reverse, restoring the book to its original form before sliding into place.
“What in Equestria,” she said as she hurried down the stairs to check on the book. Opening it, the whole thing was in just as good condition as before it was burned. “How did you do that?”
“It was a little spell that Princess Celestia tutored me in before I left Canterlot,” he explained. “She taught me it so I could send scrolls directly to her. After a while, I found out I could also use it to even help me reshelve all the books here. I can even store things in smoke and summon them back later.”
Spike demonstrated this by making a fist and thumping his chest, causing him to belch out a flame that formed into a short piece of scroll paper. Twilight looked it over and saw it read “Grocery List” on top and listed a few things like apples, quills, and bubble bath. “This is incredible,” she told him.
“It’s just my shopping list,” replied Spike.
“No, don’t you see,” she told him excitedly. “You can send messages to Princess Celestia. We have a direct line to her, so I can tell her not to fear because I’m going to do all I can to stop Nightmare Moon, save her, and get redeemed for letting her down! Spike, take a letter!”
“Did I just get promoted to delivery dragon?” he asked her as he approached a writing desk and took out some ink bottles and quills.
“How about my Number One Assistant,” she offered him. “And I can promise you that it’ll involve a lot more than just sending letters. We’ve got plenty of books to read through too.”
“I don’t know if I want the job,” he told her, failing to suppress how happy he was to have somepony rely on him like this. “But I’ll give it a try at least.”
“Dear Princess Celestia,” dictated Twilight, pacing back and forth and Spike put her words to ink on some scroll paper.
“Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” finished Twilight about ten minutes later.
“Twiii… light… Sparrr… kle…” repeated Spike slowly as he wrote the last of the letter. Then he added a bit more. “Also, your faithful dragon, Spike the Dragon.” Placing the quill down, he showed the letter to Twilight. “How’s that look?”
Leaning in a bit, she read through the letter and chuckled. After finishing, she looked down at Spike, smiled and rubbed a hoof atop his head, finding his spikes were actually soft and flexible enough to press them flat against his head. “I see you added a few things to the letter yourself,” she commented in an amused tone.
“Uh, heh, yeah,” he blushed, feeling a bit guilty about doing that.
“Question,” Twilight added. “What do you need emeralds for?”
“A snack,” he admitted. “I like how they taste the most out of any gemstones.”
“I wasn’t aware that dragons had such strong teeth to be able to grind up gems, let alone be able to ingest them like food,” she commented, very intrigued by this new trivia. “But that’s one expensive diet.”
“Well, I don’t eat gems very often,” he replied. “Also, if you don’t want my additions, I can rewrite the letter exactly as you intended it to be.”
“Nah, it’s perfect just the way it is and I’d also like to add that you’ve got some nice quillmanship for not being able to write with a horn.”
“Well, I do have these,” replied Spike, showing his pointy digits to Twilight. “I never could figure out how ponies could write down anything that was actually legible without magic or fingers.”
“Not very easily,” admitted Twilight. “Even writing with magic is tough when I’ve gotta write a lot. Well, is the scroll ready to be sent?”
“Let me just put a wax seal on it and then I’ll send it off,” answered Spike as he picked up a pink candle that had been providing them some illumination. He tilted it to carefully drip some of wax onto the scroll paper to keep it from uncurling. While it was still soft enough, Spike took his pointer claw and scratched a simple six-pointed star into it. “And now I send it.” Taking in a deep breath, Spike exhaled more of his green flames, igniting the scroll. In seconds, it was completely consumed by the flames and the gray smoke that was left behind danced around the two of them before it slipped through the front door of the library and headed for its intended destination.”
“How will it know to go to Celestia?” wondered Twilight.
“I just have to know the name and face of the pony to be able to send it to them,” answered Spike. “Or the shelf location, in the case of a book. Distance affects how long it’ll take, but I’d say it should make it to her in a few hours and, provided she is able to write back, it should take that long for a letter to get back to me.”
“So, even if you know my brother’s name,” figured Twilight. “You won’t be able to write to him if you don’t know his face.”
“That’s how it works,” Spike nodded. “Sorry, Twilight.”
“It’s fine,” she assured him. “I would have liked to let him know I’m safe and he doesn’t have to worry about me, but, for now, I’ve got to get to work.” Twilight turned to the dozens of shelves on one corner of the library alone. She had books reflected in her eyes as a purely joyful smile spread across her face. “Time for research, even if we have to go through every one of these books to find out the location of Celestia’s old castle.”
“The section on famous buildings and structures is over here,” Spike pointed out. “If there is anything about a castle that Princess Celestia lived in before her current one, it’d have to be in here. But, I’m a little surprised. She never mentioned it to me.”
“Me neither,” added Twilight. “I wouldn’t have even known if she hadn’t brought it up during the fight. Maybe she didn’t want to bring it up to hide the fact that Nightmare Moon wasn’t just a legend.”
“I can’t believe the princess would keep something like that from everypony,” admitted Spike sadly. “That’s like lying to all of Equestria.”
“Celestia wouldn’t lie,” she said to assure Spike and herself. “If anything, she didn’t want anypony to worry. How freaked out do you think everypony will be if they knew that their dreams could be invaded be an evil Alicorn who could make them experience their worst nightmares?”
“When you put it that way,” gulped Spike nervously. “I might not ever be able to sleep again.”
“Zzzzzzzzz,” snored Spike, after several hours of flipping through books to no avail. He was on the ground, with a book on his face and smoke billowing out of his nostrils as he exhaled. Meanwhile, Twilight was still going at it, flipping through several books at once as she searched for anything in regards to Celestia’s old castle. Her mane had become frazzled and she was grinding her teeth as her patience was running thin. Finally, as she reached the back cover of them all, she couldn’t restrain her frustration.
“Are you kidding me?!?” she cried out, stirring Spike from his sleep. “I’ve gone through every single book here and I still can’t find any mention of the castle! This is Celestia we’re talking about. How could something like that not be in a book?”
“I don’t know,” yawned Spike as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. “We’ve been at this all morning…” He looked out the window and saw that it was still pitch black outside with the full moon shining in the sky overhead. “Or all night.”
“It’ll be all night forever if Nightmare Moon isn’t stopped,” Twilight told him. “But we can’t do that without the Elements of Harmony and we can’t find them without finding Celestia’s old castle and we can’t find that if there isn’t a single book that can tell us where that castle is.”
“And there won’t be a book if nopony in all of Equestria even knows that such a place even exists to write about it,” commented Spike, still in a bit of a daze. “Nobody except Celestia. Maybe we should just send her another note asking where it is.”
“That’s it!” realized Twilight. “Celestia would know. Spike, can you do a check on all books by author names?”
“Uh, sure,” he replied. “But, what does that have to do with Celestia. I don’t recall her being an author.”
“Check for any books written by the author ‘C.L.S. Tia,” instructed Twilight as she watched Spike open up a cabinet to check on the library’s available books by authors.
“Seriously?” asked Spike rolling his eyes. “Was she trying not to be subtle or did she think she was being clever?”
“We can ask her that next later,” Twilight said, feeling hopeful that they were finally onto a big break.
“Looks like we do have a few books here written by a ‘C.L.S. Tia,” Spike informed Twilight.
“Any that might be about castles?” she asked hopingly.
“I doesn’t look like it,” he admitted skimming through a bunch of titles. “Well, there is this one, but it’s a children’s book called, “Oh, the Places You Will Trot To.”
“Celestia hid her defeat of Nightmare Moon in a book most ponies would have thought was a work of fiction,” commented Twilight. “So, that might be the case with this one too. Anyway, it’s the first big break we’ve been found, so we have to at least check it out.”
“Fair point,” he agreed and proceeded to where it belonged on the shelf. However, when he got there, the spot it belonged was vacant. “Looks like somepony checked it out.”
“Oh, I hate when the book I want to read is already taken,” pouted Twilight.
“Well, if we just need to borrow it for a minute,” suggested Spike as he opened up another cabinet to look through the list of which ponies checked out which books. “I’m sure the filly or colt who checked it out won’t mind.” Finding the card for the book, Spike looked at who signed it out last. When he did, his eyes narrowed as an expression of annoyance spread across his face as he leered a symbol of a star-tipped wand with some swirls of magic cascading off of it. “Oh, for Scorpan’s sake, why did she of all ponies have to check out this book?”
“You know who has the book?” asked Twilight worried after seeing the look on Spike’s face. “Is she that bad?”
“More obnoxious than bad,” he explained. “Her name is ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie,” or at least that’s how she always refers to herself… signs all her autographs… and even personally added to her Birth Certificate when she was asked if that was her real name. Anyway, she’s a traveling magician that brought her show to Ponyville just a few days ago. Admittedly, her magic act is not too shabby, but did you ever know anypony that loved nothing more than to talk themselves up for half their own show? I’m not a critic, but more substance and less monologuing would be a definite improvement to her act.”
“You can tell her all that when we find her,” Twilight told her scaly assistant. “Do you know which hotel in Ponyville she’s staying at?”
“There’s only one hotel in town,” Spike informed her. “But she’s not staying there. She has a caravan she uses has a home and a stage. If we find it, we’ll find her.”
“Then we just ask to peek at the book and we’ll be well on our way to finding the castle and the Elements of Harmony. Easy peasy.”
“I hope you’re right about this being easy peasy,” commented Spike, having his doubts.
As the duo left the Golden Oaks Library and ventured into the perpetual night, they saw that they weren’t the only Ponies out and about. A number of the townsfolk had found the courage to venture outside in an attempt to figure out just why the sun failed to rise several hours ago. The more fearful and cautious Ponies remained in their homes, gazing out their windows.
“I’ve never seen the whole town so tense,” commented Spike. “But I’ve never seen the afternoon this dark either.”
“It’s not just happening here, Spike,” Twilight reminded him. “Everywhere in Equestria is also experiencing this eternal night. Canterlot is probably in the worst panic of all since the castle was uprooted and floating in the sky. And, by now, they’ve probably learned what happened to Celestia which will make things a million times worse. We have to be extra careful not to let anypony else know or things will only go from cautious fear to chaotic rioting.”
“Hopefully they are still calm enough to talk to us and let us know if they’ve seen Trixie,” replied Spike seeing the Ponies keeping a safe distance from one another.
“One way to find out,” replied Twilight as she saw a nearby Pony just standing around who appeared quite calm compared to all the other ponies looking around so tensely. She had bright pink hair on her body and a long, messy, curly pink mane and tail. Her eyes were blue and her Cutie Mark was of three balloons, two blue and one yellow.
“Hi there,” Twilight approached her as friendly as she could be. “My name is Twilight Sparkle and I-” Before she could utter another word, the pink Pony just gasped and then ran off. “Well, that was… interesting.”
Celestia awoke in her room still hugging her pillow atop her bed. Her injuries from her battle with Nightmare Moon were all almost gone, but the soreness still lingered and made her body ache.
“How long have I been asleep?” she wondered, getting out of bed and looking outside to see the night hadn’t departed. “Surely long enough for the sun to arise, or, rather, when it should have. It seems Nightmare Moon didn’t waste any time in making good on her word to bring about eternal night.” Focusing her magic, Celestia attempting to counter this by raising the sun, however, she discovered she was still unable to use more than a fragment of her total magic. “And Nightmare Moon is still sealing away most of my power. To do all that while levitating this castle and maintaining a barrier around it must be incredibly taxing on her. Even for myself I would be exhausted attempting all that at once.”
“Greetings, my fellow Equestrians,” announced Nightmare Moon from another part of the castle. Despite the distance, her voice still managed to reach all the way to Celstia’s room, loud and clear. “You may not recognize me, but I know you’ve heard of me. It is I, the one who lurks in your dreams as you rest peacefully in your beds, the one who can grant you your greatest dream or deliver upon you your worst nightmare, and the one who is the Queen of the Night. Yes, it is I, the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon! Now, rejoice for the return of your new, great ruler!”
“If she is feeling the burden of using so much magic at once, she is definitely hiding it well,” noted Celestia as she listened to the dark Alicorn pontificate with such vigor and volume. She then sighed, unable to ignore her ranting. “And she always did love to use her royal voice… at every given opportunity.”
As Celestia listened and waited for Nightmare Moon to finish her speech, she saw a trail of smoke at the door to her balcony. It slipped in through any narrow gaps it could find to make its way inside and over to the tall, white mare sitting upon her bed. It then transformed into green flames that in turn reformed into a rolled up scroll.
“Those flames, this magic,” Celestia realized as she managed to still use her limited magic to levitate something as small and light as that. A calm smile came to her face, happy for something like this to lift her spirits. “It has been quite some time since Spike has written to me.” Turning the scroll to see the wax seal on it, she spotted the six point star mark upon it. “Could it be? Twilight?”
Heart racing, Celestia couldn’t restrain her eagerness to read the letter as she broke the seal and unrolled the scroll. Right away, she saw, “Dear Celestia,” at the top, confirming it was a letter to her and that prompted her to check the bottom to see who sent it. Seeing the name of her faithful student, Twilight Sparkle and the young dragon she helped take care of both there, she found a great comfort in this message before she even read what it said.
“I was so worried,” Celestia teared up. “All I was able to do to keep you safe was to float you away from the castle in a bubble. I had no idea where you were going to end up or if you would be okay. I am relieved that fate has been kind to you this day.” Wiping the emotional relief away from her face, Celestia started to read the letter.
Dear Princess Celestia,
This is your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle writing. First, let me first tell you how very sorry I am. If it wasn’t for me getting in the way, you would have had no trouble dealing with Nightmare Moon and Equestria wouldn’t be in the trouble that it is currently in. I can only hope that when you receive this letter that you are doing as well as you can in whatever situation you might find yourself in.
At the very least, I can put your mind at ease by telling you that I am okay. Thanks to you, I was able to safely escape from Nightmare Moon and have found my way to the small town of Ponyville. By incredible good fortune, I was welcomed into the book-filled tree home of another friend of yours, the baby dragon, Spike. And let me just say that he is growing to be quite a noble and handsome gentledragon. Also, his birthday is coming up and he tells me that he’s out of his favorite gems, emeralds, to snack on.
Anyway, after he helped me to recover my strength, after that ordeal, I recalled what you told me before Nightmare Moon arrived, that no matter what would happen, I would decide what I would do next. Well, I’ve made my decision. I want to fix this problem that I’ve caused. I’m going to seek out the Elements of Harmony and use them to stop Nightmare Moon from taking over Equestria and free you.
I don’t know how successful I will be in locating them, or even if I will be able to use their powers, but that’s what I’ve chosen to do. I will see it through to the end, no matter what it takes. Just, please wish me luck and hope that next time we meet it will be under much more favorable circumstances.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
Also, your faithful dragon,
Spike the Dragon
Celestia took a breath relieved to know Twilight was doing well and she giggled a bit amused by the bits she was certain Spike added in, but she also felt a bit of sadness as she reread the first part again, sensing just how much guilt Twilight must have felt due to her defeat at Nightmare Moon’s hooves. “Twilight,” she sighed. “None of this is your fault. If anything, the one who should be held responsible for Nightmare Moon and all that she has and will do is me. I should also be apologizing for the heavy burden you are prepared to place upon yourself.”
“That pink pony was very odd to just run away from me like that,” commented Twilight as they made their way across town, after finding another Pony who was willing to help point them in the right direction. “But, at least, we were able to find out where Trixie’s caravan is.”
“Yeah,” agreed Spike. “That pink one, Pinkie Pie, can be very… interesting, but she’s typically very friendly and likely to overdosed on sugar. Half the time, you never know what wacky thing she’s gonna do next, though usually it involves throwing a party or being super excited over anything. This is the first time I’ve seen her gasp and run at the sight of somepony.”
“I guess even somepony that’s supposed to be super friendly would be on edge to a stranger when something as ominous as a nighttime sky in the middle of the day is looming overhead,” suggested Twilight. “Well, nothing we can do about that right now. Let’s just go see Trixie so we can see that book.”
As they approached the caravan, they saw a small crowd of ponies had gathered around one side of it where a stage had been set up. Standing atop it was an azure pony with a pale grayish blue mane and tail. She had on a purple, pointed magician’s cap and afixed around her neck, with a blue gemstone stone brooch, was a cape. Both had stars speckled on them as well as tons of silver glitter.
“And now,” she announced to the ponies watching her show as she levitated three large metal rings that were linked together in the air over her head. “The Great and Powerful Trixie gives you the Rings of Inseparability!” Manipulating them with her magic, she attempted to pull them apart, but as one would expect, they couldn’t be removed from one another. “As you can see, the rings are linked together and cannot be pulled apart. It is impossible. However…” With her magic, she brought the rings together into one and then moved them apart again. This time, however, as she did, they were each unattached from one another. “Doing the impossible is what the Great and Powerful Trixie does best!”
The audience clapped their hooves together and gave her a decent-sized cheer for the size of an audience she had. “Thank you! Thank you!” she said giving them a few bows before continuing. “Now, for my next trick…”
“Seems familiar,” pondered Twilight as she rubbed her chin.
“Did you also read, ‘Magical Illusions: How They’re Done,’ too?” asked Spike. “It was neat to see the secrets to how these tricks work, but when you know how it makes stage magicians a lot less impressive to watch. Well, that and the fact that we live in a world where real magic can be performed, including by her. I mean, if she was an Earth Pony or a Pegasus performing these kinds of tricks, I might still be a bit impressed by her delivery and slight of hand.”
“Well, I did read that book too,” admitted Twilight. “But that’s not what I mean. I think I’ve seen Trixie before. I think back in my first year in magic school. She might have been a Pony in my class, but I guess she might have dropped out at some time that year.”
“You don’t remember?” questioned Spike as he turned to watch as Trixie proceeded to reach into her hat and into a cloth bag of the same color so it blended in. This made it appear that she was pulling a white rabbit out of thin air, when in reality it had been hidden in there the whole time.
“Behold! The Great and Powerful Trixie has conjured up a rabbit from out of nowhere!” she boasted. Finally free of its confinement, the rabbit did not look happy to have been cooped up in her hat since before the show had started and was even less amused at being forcibly used in this spectacle. Angrily, it hopped off the stage as soon as the opportunity presented itself, muttering something that just came out as squeaks.
“She’s kind of a hard Pony to forget,” he finished.
“I may have had my nose in a book, studying most of the time,” Twilight admitted. “But I do recall that there was one Pony who was usually very noisy, making it hard not to look over to her. I remember she was always eager to perform spells, however she was a bit too eager to put them to practice without fully learning the mechanics behind them. The end result was typically a big mess and a lecture from the teacher.”
“What happened to her?” asked Spike.
“I don’t remember, but after the first semester I don’t recall being disrupted from my reading anymore,” she answered. “You don’t think Trixie was that Pony, do you?”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie now requires a volunteer,” Trixie announced as she looked upon the audience and saw several hooves rise up. Smirking and rubbing her chin, she scanned the audience as she tried to decide who to pick. Looking towards the back, she then spotted Twilight and Spike watching and then narrowed her eyes as she focused her gaze. “Is that really…? Yes, it is! Hey, you in the back!”
“Me?” asked Twilight pointed a hoof at herself.
“Yes, you,” called out Trixie. “The Great and Powerful Trixie requests you upon her stage.”
“I guess she does know you,” commented Spike as the two made their way over. “This might actually make things easier for us to get the book.”
“I suppose,” blushed Twilight, feeling a bit embarrassed to suddenly have everypony staring at her as she made her way around them and then up the stairs to the top of the stage. “H-Hi, Trixie,” she greeted her.
“Twinkle Sprinkle,” Trixie welcomed her back. “It’s been ages. What brings you all the way here from Canterlot? Did you graduate early too?”
“Uh, it’s Twilight Sparkle,” she corrected her. “And it was sort of an unplanned trip down here. As for graduating, early, no I’m still a student, but you didn’t graduate early either. Didn’t you drop out or something?”
“Ohohoh,” she laughed it off. “Hardly. It was nothing like that. My talents were just too big to be contained in a mere classroom so I embarked on a journey of personalized study and practice and here I am today. Jealous?”
“Not really,” Twilight admitted. “But there’s something I need. It’s about that book you checked out from the library.”
“Well, it’ll have to wait till after the show,” she told her. “Right now, I need a pony to assist me in my next trick, sawing a Pony in half. With her magic, she floated over a large box, big enough for a pony to fit their body in, and a hole for their head to poke out through. “Just get in there and relax.” She then whispered into Twilight’s ear. “And unless you want a shorter tail, I’d suggest curling it up.” Lifting up the sharp-toothed saw and a log with magic, she held it out for the audience to see her cut the wood in half to prove that it was very real. “Now who is ready to see a pony split in half by magic!?!”
The crowd cheered with excitement, but Twilight, not so much. All the buried memories she had of this Pony’s escapades at school began to resurface and filled her with worry. She recalled her making simple mistakes like forgetting to keep focusing while she was levitating heavy and fragile objects, causing them to crash to the ground. Twilight then started to recall her far larger blunders like when she turned the classroom hamster into a giant three-headed, fire-breathing monster that went on a rampage throughout the classroom. Twilight still had the notebook one of the heads chewed up while she crawled under her table for cover with the rest of the class.
“We weren’t even studying aniomorphic magic that day,” thought Twilight as she started to sweat. Looking at Trixie levitating a saw, she knew the last thing she wanted was to be put in a box while she pretended to cut her in half.
“Uh, thanks, but no thanks,” declined Twilight. “I like my bottom half where it is connected to my top half.”
“Oh, don’t worry, wink,” replied Trixie as she winked at Twilight as she said the word “wink.” “You’ll be just fine, wink. I’ll sew you up after the show is done, wink.”
“That’s quite alright,” Twilight assured her, all that winking only making her more nervous. “I’m sure there’s another Pony in the audience with a deathwish, uh, I mean, more eager for a chance to be your volunteer.”
“I suppose I could,” she remarked. “And I suppose I don’t have to lend you a hoof with whatever you need either.”
“It’ll be fine, Twilight,” Spike tried to comfort her. “I don’t know what kind of half-baked magic student she was in school, but she, at least, seems to be able to handle fake magic fairly well.”
“Hmm,” grumbled a less than amused Trixie as she overheard that unintentional jab at her abilities. “On second thought, you’ll do.”
“Wait? What?” questioned Spike as he was lifted up with magic and put into the box in Twilight’s place. His head poked out and now he was wearing a nervous look on his face.
“You’re a lot shorter than my regular volunteers,” Trixie realized. “Guess I should cut from a bit higher up.”
“It’ll be okay,” thought Spike as he watched the saw over top of him. Despite knowing the secrets behind the trick, being the one on this side of the box did make it feel a lot more anxiety-inducing. “I’m all scrunched up in this end. The saw won’t even touch me. I’ll be just fine.”
“And now, declared Trixie. “To saw this Pon- uh, dragon in half!”
With her magic, she was set to begin cutting when a loud booming voice from up in the sky ste everyone’s attention. It was an image of Nightmare Moon, that was not just visible to the Ponies in Ponyville, but everyone all across Equestria. “Greetings, my fellow Equestrians,” announced Nightmare Moon transmitting this magically from Canterlot Castle. “You may not recognize me, but I’m certain you’ve heard of me. It is I, the one who lurks in your dreams as you rest peacefully in your beds, the one who can grant you your greatest dream or deliver upon you your worst nightmare, and the one who is the Queen of the Night. Yes, it is I, the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon! Now, rejoice for the return of your new, great ruler!”
The dark Alicorn captured everyone’s attention, everyone that is, save for Spike who was too busy focused on the saw, being manipulated by magic, as it started to cut through the box much too close to the middle of his chest for him to compress his body and get out of the way. “Uh, you’re cutting too high up,” warned Spike, but his words fell on deaf ears. “Trixie? Um, a little help here, Twilight? Please!”
“Who in Equestria is that?” asked Trixie as she stared in awe at the villainous princess. She then started to pout, growing annoyed at this interruption. “And who does she think she is preempting the performance of the Great and Powerful Trixie’s show?”
“I think you are seriously missing the point,” Twilight replied as she listened along with everypony else to what Nightmare Moon had to say.
“Your beloved Princess Celestia has been bested by me,” Nightmare Moon went on. “Her castle is now under my control and soon shall all of Equestria. But you need not fear me, for I promise to rule strictly, but fairly. Do as I say and you will have nothing to worry about in this moonlit kingdom of mine. In fact, as a show of good will towards you all, I will promise untold riches to any who desire it. Merely go to sleep and I will impart to you the location of a vast wealth of gems ripe for the picking. Pretty good, right? I’m certain Celestia never offered you such generous gifts such as that in all her years as your ruler. Well, that is all I have to say for now. Look forward to more announcements in the future, because I feel quite certain that my rule will be as eternal as the beautiful night overhead.”
As Nightmare Moon faded from the sky, all the Ponies in the area started to gab with one another, concerned at what they had just witnessed. Twilight was silent, but she was the most worried of all. “This is a disaster,” she panicked. “Now all of Equestria knows what happened in Canterlot. If everypony wasn’t freaking out already, they are going to now. And worse, what if Ponies decide to go along with this promise of gemstones she just brought up. She could cause Equestria to be divided right down the middle. Down the middle…” Thinking that, Twilight remembered about the predicament Spike was in before Nightmare Moon’s untimely announcement. “Oh, no, Spike!”
“HELP!!!” wailed the pure and green dragon as the saw was about to reach his body. He flailed about in the box, but it was no good. There was no time for Twilight to help him. As she could do was watch as the saw’s teeth slid back into the box. However, as the saw came at Spike, the blade’s teeth cracked and chipped apart against his tough, scaly hide.
“Spike!” Twilight cried again, quickly helping him out of the box and checked his body, relieved to see that he didn’t have a scratch on him. She then hugged him tight. “I was so scared.”
“Me too,” he breathed a sigh of relief. “I forgot I’ve got thick scales. A cheap saw like that wouldn’t be able to hurt me.”
“Well, you owe me a new saw,” Trixie interrupted their hug as she looked at her damaged magical prop and just tossed it to the side. “But it seems my magic show must be put on hold because destiny is calling and it is telling the Great and Powerful Trixie that she must save Equestria from the threat of Nightmare Moon!”
“Uh, it is?” asked Spike. “Are you sure it wasn’t a wrong number?”
“Who else would destiny call in this hour of need?” she replied proudly. “After all, there is no other Pony in all of Equestria that could hope the challenge such a villain and defeat her. No. Only one as great and powerful as the Great and Powerful Trixie is great and powerful enough for such a great and powerful battle as that.”
“You might want to consider investing in a thesaurus,” suggested Spike. “Also, if anyone is going to defeat Nightmare Moon, it’s going to be Twilight.”
“Is that so,” scoffed Trixie. “Do you really believe that you are more powerful than Nightmare Moon and the Great and Powerful Trixie?”
“No,” confessed Twilight. “I don’t think that anypony, save Princess Celestia is powerful enough to stop Nightmare Moon. However, there is something that I know is powerful enough to stop her, the Elements of Harmony. They are in Celestia’s old castle and if I can get them then I will have the power to put a stop to Nightmare Moon once and for all. That’s why I need the library book you borrowed. With it, I can find out where that castle is.”
“Is that so?” replied Trixie as she retreated into her caravan and soon returned with the book, “Oh, the Places You Will Trot.” “So, this book contains the secret location of magical treasures known as the Elements of Harmony. The fact that it was this book that I chose to prop up my table is further proof that it is my destiny to obtain them and defeat Nightmare Moon.”
“You borrowed a book from the library, because your table legs were uneven?” questioned Spike.
“I was short on bits and borrowing library books is free,” she explained. “Thanks to this book I was able to enjoy a balanced breakfast and now it’ll help me to become the greatest and most powerful hero Equestria has ever known! Even Princess Celestia will have to admit how great and powerful the Great and Powerful Trixie is that she will begin grooming me to one day be an Alicorn Princess too. She will then send me to...”
While Trixie went on monologuing and imagining her defeat of Nightmare Moon, Twilight and Spike huddled together to figure out their next move. “If Trixie’s table damaged that book’s cover,” commented Spike. “She is so fined.”
“I’m disgusted at such flagrant disrespect for library property too,” agreed Twilight. “But we’ve got to get that book from her so we can figure out where the castle is. There’s no way we can let Trixie do this, but how can we convince her?”
“Logic and reason don’t seem to get penetrate that barrier of an ego she has,” figured Spike. “I think you’re going to just have to prove to her that you are greater and more powerful than she is. Either that, or convince her to join you.”
“If that’s what it is going to take,” sighed Twilight. “Then I’ve got no other choice.”
“I’ll be rooting for you, Twilight,” Spike said swinging his arms. “Go out there and kick her flank!”
“I mean I’m going to try and befriend her,” Twilight specified. “And two Ponies are better than one.”
“...and in about six years later, after earning my Alicorn wings, Princess Celestia will finally feel the time is right to stand down from her throne and make the Great and Powerful Trixie the great and powerful new ruler of Equestria,” she continued to drone on.
“Trixie,” spoke Twilight.
“Yes,” spoke Trixie with a look of triumph on her face despite having not yet done anything yet. “How can the Great and Powerful and soon to be ruler of Equestria, in about nine years, help you?”
“It sounds like you’re really eager to go on this mission to save Equestria,” Twilight told her, attempting to tolerate her ego that had only swollen even larger. “Well, so am I, so, I was thinking that, maybe, we could do it… together.”
“I could use a companion,” she contemplated. “Someone to aid me in this most important of quests. Yes, Twilight, I think you have something there.”
“Then we can go on this adventure to save Equestria as friends,” Twilight told her.
“Save Equestria as friends?” questioned Trixie. “I had assumed you wanted to join me to document my great and powerfulness for generations to come. Oh, wait, that was a joke, wasn’t it? I get it. Like the Great and Powerful would need any actual help. Yes, that was quite amusing.”
“I’m being serious, Trixie,” Twilight told her. “I’m going to help save Equestria no matter what.”
“That will be quite difficult if you don’t know where to go,” pointed out Trixie. “I am the one with the book, after all.”
“But, can you even figure out the clue in the book?” pointed out Twilight.
“Certainly, the Great and Powerful Trixie can figure out a simple clue hidden in a children’s storybook,” she replied as she opened it and flipped through the pages. “Oh, the places you will trot… blah blah blah… high and low… near and far… blah blah blah. Uh, no castle anywhere on any of the pages.”
“It might take a little looking around,” commented Twilight. “But it shouldn’t be too hard to find another copy of that book. So, to save time, why don’t we do this. We’ll have a magical duel, right here, right now. If I win, then you give me the book. If you win, then I’ll help you figure out where the castle is.”
“Fine,” she decided, not realizing she was falling for Twilight’s use of misdirection. “But you’d best be prepared for a great and powerful defeat, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Nice going, Twilight,” Spike praised her quietly. “No matter what you do, you’ll win.”
“Yeah,” Twilight nodded. “But if I’m going to defeat Nightmare Moon, I’m going to need to be ready. This duel should be good practice.”
“Ladies, and gentleponies,” announced Trixie to all the Ponies still gathered around the stage. “As you have just heard, the Great and Powerful Trixie was just challenged to a magical duel. Be prepared to witness the most amazing magical feats ever performed by yours truly. The battle will begin in one hour, so tell your friends, tell your family, and tell everyone else as well to come for the show of a lifetime. I guarantee that you will not want to miss this.”
Hearing Trixie’s promise of such a spectacular show, the Ponies were quick to disperse and spread the word for the big battle to come. In a matter of minutes, only Spike, Twilight, and Trixie remained. “Is a bigger crowd really necessary?” asked Twilight.
“The bigger the better,” she retorted with confidence. “All my moments of glory should be accompanied by as many Ponies as possible.”
“But what if you lose?” pointed out Twilight.
“Me lose?” she laughed off the notion. “How utterly absurd. While I might enchant my audience with a few clever tricks and illusions, they will be absolutely astounded when they get the chance to see the true magical capabilities of the Great and Powerful Trixie. After today, all of Ponyville will know who the Pony who they can put their faith in to save Equestria from Nightmare Moon.”
“I hadn’t even considered that,” worried Twilight, not looking at all eager for this now, unlike Trixie.
“Are you okay, Twilight?” asked Spike. “You don’t have stage fright, do you?”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” she admitted as she took a seat and took a deep breath. “I’m fine with a crowd, but I don’t want to get everypony’s hopes up and believe that I can, without a doubt, stop Nightmare Moon. If I fail then what hope will they have left?”
“Just relax,” Spike told her. “It won’t be anything like that and anyway, how big of a crowd do you think there will be when half the town is too afraid to even leave their homes?”
Within an hour’s time, every single Pony in Ponyville had gathered around Trixie’s caravan for the magical duel. Not only that, but food vendors had been set up to sell things like hay burgers, carrot dogs, and cotton candy. Some ponies were even giving out commemorative t-shirts for the event. There was even a cheer squad currently performing to help pump up the audience for the personal duel that had quickly evolved into a town-sized spectacle.
Seeing all this, Trixie couldn’t help but beam with delight at the biggest turnout for anything she had ever done before. She had already planned out a victory speech for once she won this challenge, but now she was reworking it to make it even more self-gratifying for her.
Twilight, on the other hoof, was nervously staring at the crowd that was almost maxed out in anticipation for the battle that was mere minutes away. “I thought you said that we did have to worry about a huge turn out,” she whispered to Spike.
“I guess this town’s love of celebrations and events greatly outweighs any fear the townsfolk might feel for Nightmare Moon,” replied Spike as sat beside Twilight with a Team Twi shirt on. “There’s practically a celebration or a party or something about every other day here, if you can believe it.”
“I can’t believe that somepony was able to sew together a whole bunch of commemorative t-shirts this fast,” she commented and looked down at the one Spike was wearing. “They even had one in your size?”
“Well, I do know the Pony who makes them,” blushed Spike as he told this to Twilight as he rubbed the back of his head. “I help her out at her boutique from time to time so she often makes me custom-fitted outfits in return. “She’s just the best.”
“I’ll bet she is, casanova,” chuckled Twilight.
“W-What’s that supposed to mean?!?” cried Spike looking even redder with embarrassment.
“Nothing,” she replied as she playfully teased Spike. This reminded her of how she often did the same with her brother with his own love interest.
“Okay, the hour’s up and looks like the audience is ready for us,” Trixie told Twilight. “It’s time to get started.” Chuckling a bit, Trixie brought out a megaphone. “And with an audience this big, I finally get to put this to use.”
“I’ll be taking that,” said Spike, swiping it from Trixie’s hooves.
“Return the Great and Powerful Trixie’s loud and booming megaphone!” she demanded.
“You’re going to need an impartial third party to be your MC,” pointed out Spike. “And I’ve always wanted to give one of these a try too,” he added more quiet.
“Fine,” Trixie gave in surprisingly easily. “But you better hype me up as well as I know I would.”
“Just leave everything to me,” he assured her. “Just let me do the talking.”
The audience was noisily chatting between one another, wondering which of the two Ponies about to fight would be the victor and whether or not they would truly be able to defeat that frightening Alicorn that they had all seen appear in the sky only a short hour prior. As Spike turned on the megaphone, it screeched loudly, drawing everypony’s attention to the stage and silenced them.
Taking a few small breaths, that were picked up on the megaphone, Spike then cleared his throat a little and gripped the sound amplifier tighter in his claws before he started to speak. “Ladies and gentleponies,” he called out, his voice booming loud enough for every Pony in the area to hear him. “Tonight… uh, today… well, whatever time of the day it is, we have a very special event for you. Two mighty and magical Unicorns are about to put forth their skills in a magical duel, where the winner will go forth to defeat the dreaded Nightmare Moon and rescue our beloved land of Equestria. Which one of these two will prove the more masterful magician?”
Holding the megaphone in his left hand, Spike swung his right hand to his side as he introduced Trixie. “On my right, is a Pony that has boastfully spoken her name so many times already that she hardly needs any introduction at all. She’s a master at the art of sleight of hand and all manner of illusions, though her greatest trick is undoubtedly how she can fit all her ego onto such a small stage. Of course, I’m referring to the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
“From the most dazzling magician to ever grace your town with her presence, to all of Equestria’s savior,” Trixie spoke as egotistical as ever. “How else could one describe the Great and Powerful Trixie?”
“So full of yourself that you could be mistaken for a pinata,” Spike said out of reach of the megaphone as he rolled his eyes. Trixie bowed as the Ponies in the audience cheered for her. Once they quieted down, Spike got ready to introduce Twilight.
“And, in the other corner,” Spike continued as he did a quick spin, to add some flair. “Is the challenger. She hails from the capital city of Equestria, Canterlot and is a top student at Celestia’s School of Magic. And not only that, her hard work and dedication has also made her Princess Celestia’s personal protege. She’s got a love of literature and all things books, but can she put theory to practice? Guess we’ll find out soon enough. Now, I’d like to introduce to Ponyville the one and only Twilight Sparkle!”
“H-Hello, everyone,” Twilight spoke to them, never imagining before today that she’d have ended up in an unusual situation like this. As she waved a bit to the audience, the Ponies erupted in applause for her. She smiled and felt herself become more at ease that they were cheering and chanting her name of booing at her. “I’ll do my best,” she promised them and waved some more before moving to her side of the stage for the battle to begin.
“The rules are simple,” explained Spike. “Both Ponies are allowed to use whatever magical means they wish to battle against the other to knock them off the stage or make them surrender. First to accomplish this will be chosen to embark on this quest to save Equestria. Now, on my count the battle will begin! One! Two! Three! Go!!!”
Spike jumped off the stage as he started the match, allowing the two Ponies to be able to go all out without anyone else getting caught in the crossfire. Without wasting a second, Trixie was quick to grab some smoke bombs hidden under her cape.
Tossing them at Twilight, the fragile spheres burst open and clouds of glittery, blue smoke gushed out all around her, limiting her range of sight. Quickly afterwards, Trixie focused her magic into her horn and fired a pink beam into the smoke where Twilight had been. “Far too easy,” she gloated. “Maybe I should have held back a little so this wouldn’t have ended this easily.”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Twilight assured her as the smoke cleared away and Twilight stepped out of it unharmed. “I won’t be defeated by a cheap a move as that.”
“How can you still be standing?” she asked.
“Try again and find out,” Twilight told her. “Don’t worry about using those smoke bombs to distract me. I’ll stand perfectly still.”
“Fine, but only because you insist!” she snapped and unleashed an even stronger blast of magic upon her fellow Unicorn. Twilight stood her ground against it and just as the magic was about to strike, she focused magic into her horn to create a partial barrier in front of her. When Trixie’s magic collided against it, the magic bounced off into sparks that faded like embers from a campfire.
“If this is really the best you can manage,” warned Twilight. “Then you should give up now. I’ve faced off against Nightmare Moon and she is incredibly powerful. At my best, she barely even had to try to overpower me and I’ve been studying under Celestia for years. Do you really think that someone who dropped out in the first semester would have any chance, especially on her own?”
“Silence!” shouted Trixie as she let out the biggest blast of pink magical energy she could at Twilight. In response, Twilight focused her magic more, expanding her shield and strengthening it, to handle the attack. The cluster of Trixie’s magic crashed into it, attempting to break through, however, just as before, it failed to breach Twilight’s defenses.
Then, with a blast of her own power, Twilight attacked through her barrier, at Trixie’s magic, turning it into confetti that rained down around her. The Ponies all watching this applauded for Twilight as she stepped towards Trixie. “You should see by now the difference in our abilities.”
“Then let’s see you get past my defenses,” Trixie dared her as she formed a protective barrier to encircle her entire body. “How about this? I can create a barrier to shield me from every direction. That’s much better than the silly little shield you created.”
“That’s because the bigger the barrier the weaker it is overall,” Twilight explained. “And to maintain it for a long time requires a lot of focus and magic. It also isn’t recommended to put up a barrier before you’ve even been attacked or your opponent could just wait for your magic to become exhausted. Of course, with how thin your barrier is, I probably could break through it easily enough.”
“Oh, is that all?” scoffed Trixie, already straining a bit to maintain her magical barrier while conversing.
“Actually, there is one more thing,” added Twilight.
“Well, please enlighten me,” she told her.
“I don’t have to wait for your barrier to fall or need to break through it to attack you,” she added as she aimed aimed a decent-sized blast of magic from her horn at Trixie. She fired it and while it seemed to simply fly right at her barrier, it suddenly curved down, burning a hole through to the underside of the stage. Trixie watched in awe at this, not noticing as the magic came back up beneath her and connected, sending her skyward and crashing through her own barrier.
The force of the attack, knocked her wizard’s hat off her head and sent her tumbling to the ground. She ended up flat on her back with her hat dropping down over her face as she moaned wearily. That bit of slapstick earned her the laughter of the audience, injuring Trixie’s pride far more than Twilight’s attack harmed her physically.
“This has to be a mistake,” complained Trixie. “That or you are cheating because nopony should be a match for the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
“This is no mistake,” Twilight assured her. “Between the two of us, my magic is stronger. It should be clear to everypony at this point.”
“No!” snapped Trixie. “This is not how things are supposed to happen on my stage! The only one who should be great and powerful is the Great and Powerful Trixie!” With all the magic she could muster, she fired another beam at Twilight.
“This isn’t just another one of your performances,” Twilight lecturer as she fired her own beam or purple magic to meet Trixie’s pink one. The two attacks pushed back and forth at one another both Ponies attempted to overtake one another.
“The fate of Equestria is at stake,” Twilight continued to speak as her magic began to overtake Trixie’s as the blue Unicorn felt herself at her limit. “And if this is the best you can then it’s not enough!”
Trixie cried out as Twilight’s magic pushed Trixie’s all the way back and struck the Pony. “Impossible!” she cried out dramatically. She kept her eyes shut, unwilling to watch her own demise. “Who could have ever imagined in even a hundred thousand years that the Great and Powerful Trixie could be defeated?!?”
As Trixie collapsed to the ground, expecting to hear wails of sorrow at the sight of her defeat, however, the only thing she heard was snickering that quickly erupted into laughter. Hearing such amusement at her expense brought Trixie back to her feet in a rage. “What in Equestria is wrong with you Ponies to laugh at the demise of the Great and Powerful…” The Ponies continued to laugh, angering Trixie to shout even louder at them. “What is so funny?!?”
“Hahah,” laughed Spike along with everyone else in the audience. “Your mustache.”
“My what? My moustache?” questioned Trixie as she narrowed her gaze to her muzzle and saw the large curly mustache over her upper lip in the same shade of white as her mane. Just seeing the ridiculous thing left Trixie speechless and her mouth agape. Witnessing such a reaction, the audience started to crack up anew.
“Sorry,” apologized Twilight, doing her best to restrain snickering. “I didn’t want to hit you with a spell that could harm you, but I may have put a bit too much oomph in it and made you look more ridiculous than I intended.”
“We were having a magical duel and, rather than fight me seriously, you chose to make me a fool and a laughingstock in front of everypony here?” accused Trixie.
“The only thing I want is to find the Elements of Harmony and stop Nightmare Moon,” answered Twilight. “You were the one who had to make this into the biggest spectacle possible. If you want to know who to blame for you any embarrassment you might be feeling, then you should look in a mirror.”
“I’ll look in one when I go to shave off this stupid thing!” snapped Trixie bitterly before tossing the book to Twilight. “And you can have this stupid thing too. I think it’s been made abundantly clear that you are clearly the stronger of the two of us. I’d just be even more foolish if I chose to continue.”
“Then, do you realize now,” Twilight told her. “The difference in power between you and me is how I felt against Nightmare Moon. Without the Elements of Harmony, nopony can stand a chance and even then, that still might not be enough. So, maybe, we can return back to my original offer and go on this adventure together… as friends.”
“As friends,” replied Trixie the look on her face showing signs that she was mulling over the idea and truly considering taking Twilight up on it. However, her meek look quickly turned angry as she considered her wounded pride. “Don’t make me laugh!” she shouted at Twilight, speaking with her full swagger. “The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need to rely on these Elements of Harmony of yours to save Equestria. She doesn’t need friends to do so either, most of all a Unicorn like you, Twilight Sparkle. I’ll defeat Nightmare Moon with my own power, but, before that, I’ll get my revenge and pay you back for the humiliation you’ve caused me this night.”
“Technically, it’s still the middle of the day,” Spike chimed in, attempting to keep some sense of time.
“Whatever,” scoffed Trixie. “Mark my words!”
“But Trixie,” cried Twilight, never intending to upset her into making a vow of vengeance against her. She attempted to apologize, but Trixie was quick to grab another of her smoke bombs and throw it down at her feet, making it burst and conceal her within a cloud of bluish purple.
“You have not seen the last of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” the amateur magician vowed loudly before going completely silent. When the smoke dissipated, Trixie was nowhere in sight.
“In my opinion,” commented Spike as he applauded with the rest of the audience. “That was her best trick all night.”
“Oh, and see that you return that library book for me,” called Trixie, lifting up the trap door in the stage she had escaped to. “The Great and Powerful Trixie cannot afford to pay any late fees.” She then ducked back under the stage and continued to make her escape.
“You were amazing Twilight,” congratulated Spike. “You beat Trixie and finally got the book.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t want things to end this way with Trixie,” she sighed. “I know I have to do whatever it takes to save Equestria from Nightmare Moon, but I had hoped I could have become friends with her as easily as the two of us did.”
“You tried your best and offered her every chance to join you,” Spike told her. “She chose not to accept, so that’s her loss.”
“Still, maybe if I had read some books on friendship, I would have been able to do things better,” she admitted. “I mean, I’ve read a book all on facial hair magic, but I’ve never even cracked one open on making friends.”
“I’m not sure if a book like that exists,” commented Spike. “But, speaking of that mustache spell, do you think you could try that one out on me. Maybe something more manly though.”
“Heheh,” chuckled Twilight, happy to have her dragon buddy around to cheer her up. “Maybe later, Spike.”
“Bravo! Bravo!” applauded a tan Pony with a gray mane and tail as she walked on stage to approach Twilight. She had a pair of gold framed spectacles over her blue eyes and her Cutie Mark was over a scroll tied with a blue ribbon. Around her neck she had a white collar with a green cravat on it. “That was quite the show you all pulled off.”
“Show?” questioned Twilight. “And who are you?”
“Oh, let me introduce myself,” she said, shaking Twilight’s hoof with her own. “My name is Mayor Mare, the mayor of Ponyville and are you really one of Princess Celestia’s students?”
“I am,” nodded Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle, it’s a pleasure.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” smiled Mayor Mare. “I must say, when Trixie came here to perform, I had no idea she planned for such a spectacle as epic as this. I mean darkening the sky might have been a bit much, but that duel and the towering Nightmare Moon in the sky overhead was truly inspired. Will you be continuing the performance tomorrow?”
“You think this was all a performance?” she replied, seeing all the Ponies standing before the stage were cheering for more. “No, this wasn’t.”
“Excuse me?” replied the mayor. “What wasn’t?”
“This,” Twilight explained as she picked up the megaphone and spoke to everypony standing before her. “I know you all came here for a show, but you all must know the truth. The image of the dark Alicorn you saw in the sky, this eternal night and even the duel I just had with Trixie, it was all real. Nightmare Moon has returned after being banished by Celestia a thousand moons ago. She has indeed defeated Princess Celestia and now plans to rule Equestria in a nocturnal state. I just fought against Trixie in order to find the means to defeat Nightmare Moon and now I plan to venture forth to acquire that means, the Elements of Harmony, to put an end to this waking Nightmare that we have been put into.”
“This is all real?” repeated Mayor Mare in disbelief. A worried chatter filled the audience too as they struggled to decide whether or not Twilight was speaking the truth.
“I wish it wasn’t,” sighed Twilight. “But I was there in Canterlot Castle when Nightmare Moon appeared. I saw as she battled against Celestia and defeated her because…” Twilight paused, feeling reluctance to admit it was to protect her that Celestia was defeated. “...because Nightmare Moon proved more powerful than Celestia expected her to be. Now Celestia is captured, but she helped me to escape because she believed I would be able to find the Elements and stop her. That was the mission she entrusted to me and I want you all to know that you need not fear the dark because… Twilight is here!”
With a nervous smile, she awaited a response from the crowd, her heart pounding in her throat as she wondered if they’d cheer her once more or go into a full panic now that she had revealed the truth to them. Slowly, some clapping caught her attention. Turning to it, she saw it was Spike giving her some applause, followed by Mayor Mare. After that, the rest of the Ponies in the audience started to join in a few at a time till the town was once more filled with cheers for Twilight.
“If Princess Celestia has faith in you to save all of Equestria from that villain, then you can count on all of Ponyville to have your back,” promised the mayor. “Anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you very much, mayor,” Twilight told her with a very relieved look on her face. She held up the book she acquired from Trixie as she continued to speak. “For now, I have everything I need. I am going to head back to the library to look into this clue to see where I need to go to find the Elements. If everyone here can just endure this night for just a little bit longer than I promise you that dawn will not be too far away.”
“You can count on us to do our best,” assured Mayor Mare with a nod. “We’ll even send word across Equestria to let every Pony know that in our greatest time of need, a hero has appeared to save us all, Twilight Sparkle.”
“G-Great,” Twilight told her with an awkward smile as she lifted Spike onto her back with a levitation spell. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’d best get going. So much to do and so little time.”
Hurrying off, Twilight Sparkle dashed back to the Golden Oaks Library. She had to endure the continued cheering of the crowd as she left, their hopes of a brighter tomorrow resting solely in her hooves now. She didn’t stop running till they got back inside the library. Twilight then shut the door behind them as she sat down and started to hyperventilate from all that accumulating stress in her system.
“Wow, I’ve heard of putting your hoof in your mouth,” commented Spike. “But you put your whole leg in with that one, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t want to,” worried Twilight. “But I couldn’t just let the whole town think this was all some elaborate show. I couldn’t lie to them about that.” Tearing up a bit, she continued to talk more somberly. “But I could about how Princess Celestia was defeated to protect me and that she chose me to save all of Equestria.”
“But isn’t that why she you?” pointed out Spike. “You are her greatest student after all.”
“Maybe, but if I can’t then my interference with her fight could be what brings an end to Equestria as we know it,” sniffled Twilight. ”There might not be anything I could do to stop Nightmare Moon and I’vejust set everypony up for even greater disappointment. So, tell me, Spike, what am I supposed to do now?”
The small dragon was silent for a moment, just as unsure as she was about any of this. Eventually, he looked up at her with a calm smile on his face as he spoke in earnest to her. “I don’t know if this helps,” Spike he conceded, taking a seat beside her. “But, when I decided to leave Canterlot, Celestia said that whatever I wanted to do, it would be my choice and mine alone. If I wanted to, I could have stayed with her in the castle, safe and protected, with all the gemstones I could eat. Heh, I could have been like Tarzan, except instead of being king of the Dragonlands I’d have been king in a castle.”
“But you didn’t choose that,” Twilight reminded Spike. “You chose to leave and come here.”
“I did,” he nodded. “I could have stayed in the back in Canterlot and nothing would have changed, but, in truth, I didn’t want that. There was something I was missing and though I didn’t know exactly what it was, I knew that if I wasn’t getting it over there then I had to search for it elsewhere. True, I gave up a lot to come here and things haven’t always been easy, but if I hadn’t left Canterlot, we might have never met one another and I probably would have ended up being trapped in the castle after Nightmare Moon took over.”
“Sitting here, beside you now,” Spike continued, hugging Twilight’s side. “I am certain that I made the right choice.”
“Well, I’m certainly glad you made this choice too,” she smiled, glad she had a scaly shoulder to lean on in times like these.
“What I’m trying to say is,” he added. “Maybe it doesn’t matter what Celestia wants you to do or even expects of you. Didn’t you do all this because it’s what you decided on? Because you wanted to do what you believed was best for Equestria?”
“Yeah,” nodded Twilight. “It is. That’s all I’ve been trying to do since this all began. I can’t say everything I’ve done has been the right choice, but it’s what I believed in and I’m not the type of Pony that likes to leave a job unfinished. So, enough tears and self-doubt. I’ve got a clue to figure out.” Opening up the book, Twilight started to look through the pages for whatever clue Celestia had hidden within it.
“And I’ll be rooting for ya,” smiled Spike.
“By my side, I hope,” she told him, petting his spikes flat against his head.
“I’m coming too?” asked Spike a bit surprised.m
“It’s what I’d like,” she explained. “Where would I be without my Number One Assistant? But that’s entirely up to you to decide if you want to come.”
“Of course I’m coming,” answered Spike. “So long as we’re friends, I’ll always be there when you need me.”
“Glad to hear that,” Twilight beamed with joy. “And, while we’re searching for the clue…” Twilight’s horn glowed slightly and Spike felt a tingle below his snout before a suave, black mustache sprouted upon it magically.
With a couple claws, Spike ran them across one side of his stache. “Sweeeeet,” he said in a delighted voice.
“I’m really glad I bothered to learn that spell after all,” chuckled Twilight as she continued her research.