"So..." Unable to finish the thought, as there was none, Sweetie Belle giggled nervously. After the spectacular conclusion to the previous match, both Applebloom and Scootaloo had one in pursuit of their respective heroes, leaving her alone with 'Him'. For the past ten minutes she'd been trying to think up something, anything, to talk about, but every time he tried her tongue got tied after the first word. For his part, the offensively cute purple boy had barely noticed anything, much to her combined relief and chagrin.
"I wonder if..." Spike mused out loud.
"Yes?!" Sweetie Belle jumped on the indirect point with cat-like speed. Spike continued contemplating as Sweetie's eyes got steadily wider in anticipation.
"Maybe..."
"Yes?!?!"
"...nah, wouldn't work." The sides of Sweetie's mouth dropped like stones and she fought back a frustrated scream. Still completely oblivious to her, Spike returned to his personal wonderings. "How can I get Rarity to notice me?" Missing the rhetoric, Sweetie Belle answered.
"Well, generally when guys want my sister to notice them they..." Spike's ears perked up the word 'sister'.
"Rarity's your sister?"
"umm, yeah, she is and..." Spike all but tackled the poor girl in excitement, a torrent of questions at his lips.
"What does she like? What's her favorite music. Favorite food? Is she single, or interested in anyone?" As the never ending tide of questions continued, Sweetie Belle turned an ever deepening shade of red due to the lack of personal space. Once again her tongue was tied, flatly refusing to obey her.
"That beard was meant to be funny, why does it make him look so damn cute?!" Unable to answer, or even move, the young Transcendent silently wished for the floor to swallow her up.
"Twilight vs The Great and Powerful Trixie!" Hearing his friend's name interrupted Spike's train of thought, making him turn back to the stadium. A gratefully freed Sweetie Belle took the second to catch her breath, and quickly followed him.
"Heh, Twilight's gonna win this for sure!" Spike said. Sweetie Belle took note of how easily his attention shifted for later use. "No one else has anything like her magical power."
Twilight did not share her ward's peerless confidence. After watching Applejack and Rainbow Dash's display of brutal combat prowess, she had lost all confidence in her own fighting abilities. She was a scholar, a student, not a fighter. Her legs quiver as she tried to rise, preventing movement. Besides her, Pinkie Pie laid a hand of her shoulder, comforting her. "Cheer up. You'll do fine, smarty pants." Her giant grin comforted Twilight, allowing her to rise and walk towards her master, in the centre of the arena. Pinkie called out after her."After all, the worst thing that can happen is you end up battered and beaten like Applejack. Or dead. But I don't think anyone's died in ages."
That didn't help. The quivers returned, and as she neared the battlefield they only intensified, for now she saw her opponent. Cheers went up through all the crowd as she walked out, in all her majesty. Her cape shone like the stars, rolling with bright and wondrous colours. An enchantment in her hat played through some great battle between Trixie and some massive creature that Twilight recognized as an Ursa Major. Shw had fought an Ursa Major and survived?! As she took her final steps, Trixie raised her arms to the adoring public and shot them a dazzling smile from her flawless face.
"Thank you. The Great and Powerful Trixie thanks you all for your support of her inevitable success." Twilight, now barely able to keep her balance from nerves, finally reached centre stage and drew her horn quiveringly. With Trixie still distracted, Celestia walked over and whispered in her student's ear.
"You'll be fine, just do your best," she encouraged. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"Death and dismemberment," Twilight replied in deadpan, earning he a quizzical look from her mentor.
"Remember to have fun," the ruler said with a smile. Noticing that Trixie was finished her self-promotion, Celestia returned to her place, followed by Twilight. "Are you prepared?"
"Of course," Trixie said confidently. Twilight merely nodded, gathering the last of her wits.
"The let the second match BEGIN!"
The now familiar light of Celestia's magic faded, revealing a world of degraded stone. Twilight instantly recognized the architecture as very early transcendent, possibly even pre-schism. Such ruins were extremely rare outside of the everfree forest, the mystical wilds within which all the rules of the ordered world were undone. Twilight was entranced, reaching for where her notebook usually hung in her bag, ready to be used. Quickly realizing its absence, she began desperately looking for a substitute. Maybe a stone tablet. Or she could transmute something from wood or...
"Twilight!" a voice called, echoing weakly off the ruined walls. Yanked back to reality, Twilight looked round to find Trixie beckoning to her. Naively, possibly still slightly distracted by the scenery, she complied. The overdressed Transcendent, who until then had had both hands behind her back, now produced one and offered it to Twilight. "To a clean duel." Twilight smiled, berating herself for doubting Trixie. After both Pinkie and Applejack, surely she could have learned to give people the benefit of the doubt. Smiling, she took the offered hand strongly.
"Same to you, friend." Twilight began to pull away but Trixie's grip did not loosen. She tried again, and now she saw the magic symbols swirling around her hand. A binding spell?!
"The Great and Powerful Trixie needs no friends." the trickster raised her horn threateningly. With her free hand, Twilight fumbled for her own horn. the first bolt of cyan energy whizzed past her ear. The second took her square in the chest. However, Trixie had missed one crucial detail in her plan. As Twilight was thrown back, the binding spell still active on her wrist, Trixie was pulled after her, causing both to careen out of control. In between bounces Trixie managed to release the curse, allowing her to escape before the dazed Twilight crashed into a wall.
Trixie picked herself up, dusted herself off with a wave of her horn, and sincerely hoped no one had been watching that encounter too carefully.
They had.
"That cheating!" Spike roared from the stands. There was enough muttering from the crowd to say hat he was not alone in his outrage. "She can't be allowed to do that!"
"And why not dear?" came a silky and alluring voice behind him. Spike blushed crimson, barely able to maintain his composure.
"Sister!" Sweetie exclaimed, partly surprised and excited, partly annoyed. "Why couldn't she stay away a bit longer?" "What are you doing up here? I thought the contestants all sat down there.
"Yes dearie, but all the sane people down there are either competing or gone to care for the last competitors. All that's left are the insane and...eugh." Rarity shivered at the thought. "But back to that comment, dear boy." She turned to Spike, finding him looking longingly up a her. "Err, are you alright?"
"mmhmm," he managed, love struck.
"O...K. Anyway, there is no reason she shouldn't be allowed to use any tactic she likes. No matter how deplorable it is, if Twilight falls for it it's her own fault." Spik continued to stare dumbly up at her, nothing she had said making any impact. All thought of the contest was lost. Rarity sighed, knowing her cause was lost. Sweetie Belle, also less than pleased at her sister's interference, saw an opportunity to end the charade, at least temporarity, the form of an unlucky food vendor.
"Look, ice cream."
"Where, where?" His attention once again shifted, the little boy ran off in search of food. A relieved Rarity slumped down, turning wearily to her sister.
"Sweetie, why is that strange child obsessed with me? And why does he have a marker beard?"
"Isn't it dashing?" Sweetie said dreamily. Rarity gave her an incredulous look. "What? It was Scootaloo's idea!" As Spike returned happily with a massive cone of vanilla ice cream, Rarity turned back to the show where Trixie was fuming.
Trixie glared around, trying to find Twilight. Somehow she had disappeared from her crash site in the wall. Somehow, before she had gotten up, Twilight had escaped. It caused her a little more trouble, but it mattered little. All could still go to plan, it just needed a bit of tweaking. Twirling her wand absent mindedly, she went hunting. If the impact made a crater like that, she couldn't have gotten too far.
It took three seconds before Twilight released her invisibility spell. She was gasping for breath. Her wand arm hurt to move, as did her other arm. And her legs. Quite unsurprising, everything hurt. It was lucky she'd been wearing the battle dress, otherwise she be a lot more than hurting. Most of all, her pride was hurt. How could she fall for something so base. It was demeaning.
Putting aside her personal berating for the moment, she concentrated on the problem at hand. Twilight assumed that she was facing an opponent whose skills far outclassed her own. How else could she have such a title as 'great and powerful'? She would need to to be cunning to defeat her.
Could she defeat her? Nerves struck out at her, determined to take no prisoners. This was a person who was famous across all of Equestria for defeating an Ursa Major, one of the most feared creatures from the forest. She wasn't anything special; just a very lucky student. She didn't stand a chance.
Her self destructive train of thought was temporarily halted by the sound of Trixie booming voice. Obviously she had grown tired of searching. "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" she boomed. "THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE TIRES OF THIS GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK. REVEAL YOURSELF AND SURRENDER, OR THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE WILL DESTROY THIS ENTIRE LANDSCAPE."
As the last echoes of her ultimatum faded into the sky, Twilight was still in a state of shock. Such a statement, made without any hesitation. It was truly terrifying. Looking around her, she knew she could not let such history as this be destroyed. Unbidden, her legs began carrying he towards the sound of Trixie's voice.
Suddenly, a thought struck her. It was possibly brilliant, probably crazy, and she instantly tried to dismiss it. But it refused to let go, preying upon her sense of logic. After all, it reasoned, this was her only chance.
Trixie's foot tapped rhythmically. She rubbed her fingers together over and over. She bit her lip.
She did not like to be kept waiting.
She raised her horn to her throat, about to issue another ultimatum, when Twilight appeared at the opposite end of the courtyard. All her twitches stopped as one, giving the Transcendent an air of confidence and contempt. "very wise, Twilight Sparkle. Now come over here, like a good girl, and proclaim the triumph of the Great and Powerful Trixie to all the world!"
"No thank you." There was momentary silence as Trixie, to stunned to talk, gawped at her.
"Excuse me? Trixie does not think you realize whom you mock. I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, saviour of hoofington and scourge of the monsters of the everfree forest. Kneel, or I will destroy you."
"Please, destroy away."
"...what?"
"Well, I have never witnessed power strong enough to destroy an entire castle. I'm curious. After all, what do I have to lose? The contest is purposely designed to be non-fatal. So please, show me this almighty power."
To her credit, Trixie only hesitated for a few seconds before assuming her usual persona. Standing tall, she struck her best pose, adding effect with a few magical fireworks behind her.
"Very well," she said solemnly . "Prepare to be annihilated by the magical prowess of the great and powerful Trixie!" A ball of cyan light appeared at the tip of her horn, which grew larger and larger, surpassing Trixie's own height, then that of the surrounding walls, and still continued to grow, gradually dwarfing the entire landscape. once the sky could no longer be seen it stopped growing, hovering over them like a second sun. "There! Prepared to surrender now?"
"That's very impressive," Twilight complimented. "But let's see what it can do now." Trixie hesitated again, her smile wavering. But she would not be defeated, and with a wave of her horn she detonated the 'land devastating magic' in a blinding explosion of light. For a moment the crowd was left in suspense, as nothing could be seen through the flare. When the light show subsided it revealed the trickster in Twilight's face, her horn sparking after an attempted point blank attack. The sparkling remains of a shield spell around Twilight showed that the plan had been foiled. Trixie looked aghast.
"But how could you..."
"Know that you were bluffing?" Twilight finished for her. "Simple. I didn't. But if you weren't bluffing then I had no chance at all. But the clues were there." Trixie attempted to cut her off by casting another barrage of hexes. Twilight conjured another barrier, but only a few of the spells came even close to hitting it. Unperturbed, Twilight continued. "Besides from the point that magic powerful enough to level an entire building is rare at best, you kept having to set me up. When we started, you could have easily shot me in the back, but instead you had to trap me within arms reach."
"Trixie wanted to give you a fighting chance," she muttered unconvincingly.
"and even then you managed to get caught in with me, and failed to see through a simple invisibility spell. As you just demonstrated, although your illusionary magic is impressive, your physical magic can barely shoot straight." Fuming now, the cyan spell caster let fly another volley of energy. Twilight didn't even bother blocking it, watching them all fall wide she returned fired with one well aimed spell, knocking Trixie flying with her horn flying out of her grasp. She scrambled to find it, her ridiculous cape getting in her way but as she reached itTwilight was already towering over her, horn pointed down menacingly."This match is mine."
Trixie froze, head downcast and hidden under her pointy hat, then her shoulders began to heave. Twilight heard whimpers coming from under the ridiculous attire. Was she crying?! Twilight hadn't been expecting much from her defeated adversary, a couple of curses and foul names maybe, but certainly not tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." In the instant he guard was lowered, Trixie struck. With one hand she slapped Twilight, pushing the threatening horn away with her forearm. The other quickly grabbed her own horn, reversing their positions in one fell swoop.
"Smart brat," Trixie sneered, "but you're too soft. I may not have much magic, but some things require only the intent." an evil light gleamed in her eye, and an unnatural green magic poured out of her horn. It slithered out, first slowly then striking viscously for Twilight. Instinctively, Twilight conjured a protective shield, which which the strange spell ignored entirely and it struck the Transcendant's horn. The weapon glowed green, splintering and screaming in protest, before completely disintegrating. Twilight stared incredulously, collapsing to her knees as the last remains of her instrument slipped through her fingertips. Trixie's familiar sneer returned to her face. "No horn, no magic!"
"She can't do that!" Spike all but screamed, unable to stay still in his seat. His ice cream, barely touched despite it's delicious aroma, wobbled dangerously in his hand.
"Unfortunately dear, once again there are no rules against it." Rarity's face was contorted into a scowl, but there was nothing she could do. "No matter how deplorable a tactic it is, it's just that. A tactic, as legitimate as any other."
"But Twilight worked so hard." Spike's disappointment was so overpowering it even overcame his inability to speak to Rarity. "She was finally getting into it too."
Rarity sighed, unable to think of a tactful reply. All that was left was for the Princess to end the match. She looked towards he regal entity, surprised to find her unmoved from her usual position. Squinting slightly, she could even make out the ghost of a smile on her fair lips.
"Oh how foolish to believe you could ever hope to match The Great and Powerful Trixie. Truly pitiable." So engrossed was the showman in her gloating, she failed to notice the sparks of purple magic that had started dancing around Twilight's skin, flooding through her fingers and making her hair stand on end. Nor did she hear her breath come in painful gasps, only to be cut down to complete silence, or see her pupils become flooded with white light. "Oh well, might as well finish this now." Lazily, Trixie flicked her horn to release a final blast to finish Twilight off.
The shot stopped in from of Twilight's open palm.
Trixie's look of boredom quickly changed to one of surprise, then fear as Twilight's full magical presence became startlingly clear, overbearing all her other senses. In contrast, Twilight's emotional response seemed muffled, giving her a peaceful, detached aura that only made her more terrifying. She looked at the stagnant energy ball, mutely curious. In her other hand she formed a similar shot from her own magic, but brighter and sparking unstably. "How can you...?" The question died in Trixie's throat as, imitating her lazy demur from before, Twilight threw the spell her. On impact it exploded into a thousand tiny fireworks, each spot burning against the feeble magic woven into Trixie's cloak. The smoke engulfed both of them.
"Th...that was nothing special," Trixie managed to yell, although lack of conviction made her words hollow. Hidden by the smoke, she quickly reactivated the binding charm on her hand. Adrenaline pumping through her she located Twilight, unmoved and with the same detached expression. Never one to give her enemies a chance, Trixie dove for the seemingly defenseless maiden.
It was like grasping at pure magic: solid, fluid and gas all at once, with a sense of not being entirely there at all. But above all this it burned. Trixie screamed, trying to pull away but once gain her own spell prevented her. She tried desperately to dispel the magic, but it refused to obey her. Through this tantrum, Twilight remained completely unfazed. As Trixie began trying to dismiss the magic by cursing her arm, she slowly pointed one finger at her. Lavender magic surrounded the trickster, destroying the binding magic and restricting her movements to nothing. Twilight flicked her finger sharply, and Trixie was thrown like a rag doll, sailing along the ground till she came to a violent halt at the nearest wall.
Disoriented, Trixie struggled to her feet. Her cape was now badly torn, and her star spangled hat lay meekly at Twilight's feet. Both items seemed different as well. Their fabrics seemed faded and threadbare, something that couldn't be caused by a battle. Her face also looked different. No longer was it flawless; blemishes, acne and stress lines were present where they could not have been before. Although the implication of this was lost to the magic-fuel led Twilight, this was not the case for Trixie. Hissing in surprise and embarrassment, she desperately cast a spell on herself. For a moment her image flickered between the perfect and imperfect showman, but the spell gave way. She was out of magic, and out of tricks, and she knew it.
With her true form revealed, and everything had gone wrong, there was only one real option remaining: groveling. She threw herself at Twilight's feet, whimpering to the best of her abilities. "Please, please leave Trixie be. Trixie have nothing left, surely you wouldn't harm a defenseless opponent." the tears were fake; only as long as the game continued did Trixie have a chance of winning. But Twilight was so quiet, completely unnerving her. What was she thinking?!
Finally Twilight spoke, her voice a harsh distortion of its normal tone, her words a Mimicry of Trixie's own. "Surrender or I will destroy everything." Trixie looked up sharply, her mind racing to think of a way out.
"B...but you said yourself such a feat was impossible. Sure you don't expect me to believe that..." she petered off, staring at Twilight's hand. A point of energy had begun to compact, forming a swirling ball of pure energy. At Twilight's behest more magic poured into it, making it denser and darker, but no larger. As this continued, the point's own magical force began attracting nearby objects into a swirling vortex. Pieces of masonry began shooting out of the wall, and the few remaining artifacts not bolted down began sliding along the ground noisily. The magician's hat spun above the display like a glorified child,s toy. Trixie felt her own feet being pulled out from under her, threatening to toss her into the tiny void. "Stop, STOP!" she screamed.
Twilight yielded, dismissing the magic with a whoosh. Trixie, breathing heavily, looked on this monster with nothing but fear. "I...surrender."
"Too late."
Beams of lavender light shot from Twilight's fingers, raking across the walls and leaving burning scars in its surface. Trixie dived aside, barely escaping unscathed. As she looked on in shock and horror the lights left her fingers, spontaneously multiplying and tracking Trixie like hounds as Twilight directed them with an open hand. The Transcendent dived again, desperately weaving to avoid the deadly lasers as they continued to fill the air until she had nowhere let to go. Like an iron coffin trick, the threatening spells all pointed in on her as the crowds looked on at her as the centre of attention, waiting for he to escape or fail spectacularly. Just as she'd always loved it.
Her face cold and impassable, Twilight snapped her hand closed.
And everything stopped.
The magical attacks failed to move. The rubble around them stopped smoking and smoldering. Even the air itself was frozen, which would have caused a problem for anything living if they weren't also frozen.
Time stood still.
Then princess Celestia was there, walking amongst the unmoving world like a stranger in a statue garden. Carefully, almost reverently, the Princess approached her student, a look of tender pride on her face. "That's enough for today, my faithful student." Then, with lightning speed and precision, she jabbed her finger into Twilight's forehead, sliding though he flesh like it was water.
The time spell broke with a violent crash, and Celestia was gone. But peace did not return, as the sound of the breaking spell was quickly followed by supernatural screeches as all of Twilight's magic rushed back into her, concentrating at the point on her forehead where the princess had touched. The dangerous spells around Trixie lost their form, their energy flowing harmlessly past the stunned sorceress. On Twilight's forehead the magic solidified, binding and compacting into a long, thin point. As the last dregs of magic twisted into place there was a second shockwave and symbols began carving themselves into the strange new object. As the last stars of her sigil appeared in he ethereal material the magical maelstrom ceased and the new horn fell into Twilight's waiting hand. Twilight in turn collapsed into a grateful slumber, leaving no sound but that of her soft breathing and Trixie's panting. A flash of celestial magic, and even this was gone.
The cloud applauded modestly as the contestant reappeared, most still not entirely certain what had transpired. To the untrained eye it appeared that Twilight had been possessed, a disturbing thought to even the hardest among them. But how would the Princess rule on such a matter? When neither contestant moved or responded, the meager sound petered out. As the last clapping ceased, Celesta stepped forward and gave her decree.
"The match is over. Twilight Sparkle is victorious." Another round of applause sounded, bolstered by a few very specific, and very loud, members of the audience.
"Wait!" Again the crowd went silent as Trixie, who until that point had been in a stupor, objected loudly. As the crowd's eye turned upon her, Trixie remembered that her usual illusion spell wasn't in effect, and quickly tried to hide beneath her hat, before realizing she had lost it. Regardless, she continued her objection. "The rules of the competition stated that the first one rendered unable to continue would lose. The Great and Powerful Trixie is still standing, so She should win!" As she spoke, her confidence rose again, returning her former arrogant persona.
Princess Celestia regarded her with regal eyes, a kind smile in place where one would expect anger. "Twilight was knocked out by my interference, which was required only because of your use of dark magic and to save you from a most painful and gruesome demise." The words were spoken sweetly, but with each line Trixie felt her hopes plummet further. "But you opinion is as valid as any other, so we shall let the crowd decide."
Instantly, the trickster perked up. The crowd loved her. She even had her own fan club; could Twilight boast such a thing? Her arms uplifted, she waited for the resounding support. The silence was deafening. Not a single voice sounded in her support. Then the boos started, low at first, then getting louder until they reverberated everywhere. Trixie went white, mouthing silently as the last vestiges of her world fell apart. An ice cream took her in the face, barely visible against her pale complexion, snapped her back to reality. Embarrassed and humiliated, she ran from the field, dodging any more residue food. Under her breath, she cursed Twilight and her mentor with every ounce of her being, vowing revenge.
"Booo!" Spike roared a final time.
"Now dear, that's not very sporting," Rarity cautioned. "She's beaten, we've done our part."
"But sis, didn't yoummmfmvmmmf," the end of Sweetie's statement was lost as Rarity silently hexed her mouth shut. The older girl laughed nervously to hide the sudden change, earning a vicious glare from her sister.
"I guess," Spike murmured. "Hey! Where's my ice cream?!"
"Never mind that dear," Rarity covered again, wiping her offending hand on the nearest possible object. "I'll owe you one."
"You, what...?" The goofy smile returned to Spike as imagination took over his sense of reason. Rarity, slightly disturbed by her small companion's sudden loss of human function, nudged him softly.
"Uhh, Spike? Spike dear, shouldn't you check up upon Twilight?
"Huh...?" Still stupefied, Spike's glazed eyes looked over at his older friend, as Celestia picked up her sleeping form and carried her away. "Aw fiddlesticks. Twilight! Wait!"
Her strange admirer gone, Rarity breathed a sigh of relief. Her relief was short lived, as a figure blocked the sun from her face. Glancing over, she locked eyes with her sister. Sweetie's mouth was a snarl, her hair was full of ice cream, and she sported a glare that could have scared any monster of the Everfree Forest witless. Her pinprick of a horn was held high, more like a dagger than an instrument of magic.
"...Oh my...."