“Unicorns, front and center!”
Shattershield’s bellow raced through the platoon like a wildfire - all unicorns were to report to the parade area. It had come down during the typical hour of afternoon free time, so ponies were scrambling to hide contraband and throw on their uniforms.
It had meant a lot of complaining and spilled tea for Twilight’s social group. Bay Orchid was blase about the whole thing, helping Noble Cause round up the more stubborn of their clique, but Twilight saw the tightness around the unicorn’s eyes. For once, her considerable familiar information network hadn’t predicted something and it was showing on her face. She even asked Twilight for help rounding everyone up, which she’d never done before.
And, to Twilight’s great surprise, she didn’t mind helping. Her “arrangement” with Orchid had gradually morphed into something a little more concrete. They weren’t friends, not really, but Twilight had found herself enjoying tea and evening talks with the snooty group, or walking Noble Cause through some advanced telekinesis lessons. It beat trying to turn in early and have Lightning Dust wake her up when she flapped into the tent just before lights out.
Speaking of the feather brain, she was waiting on Twilight near the front with many other trainees, probably eager to watch someone get smoked. Shattershield and his cadre had a distinctly “group punishment” streak in them - some unicorn had probably been caught using magic during the day and now every unicorn would pay for it.
At least, that’s what Twilight had thought. But Shattershield wasn’t sporting the gleeful look he usually had when dishing out punishment, nor did he badger the slower unicorns for once. He was strictly professional, standing almost at attention, and Twilight soon spotted the reason why: Colonel Jackdaw was standing a few feet to his right. Twilight hadn’t seen the Colonel since getting off the train, but he still had that same unimpressed look about him that she remembered.
He stepped forward when every unicorn was gathered. “I expect you to gather twice as fast the next time we call you to attention,” he said. Jackdaw’s voice was a sharp contrast to Shattershield’s, but his slight displeased sneer was twice as intimidating.
“I will not mince words. There is a mission you may be put on. The task force needs a powerful unicorn, so we’ll be testing some of you.”
A ripple went through the line of unicorns. They were just under three weeks from graduation, but someone was getting sent out on a mission? Next to Twilight, Bay Orchid gave her a slight hip bump. When Twilight looked over, the other unicorn was giving her a significant glance.
‘You need to be the one,’ she mouthed, and turned back to the front.
Twilight let out a breath. This was her chance! Her hoofs stamped involuntarily and she had to rein herself in.
The Colonel’s eyes slid over to her. “Well, some of you are eager. That’s good, because this is entirely voluntary. There is a possibility that this mission could be deadly. Monster hunting usually is. Everyone who does not want to risk themselves can step back now. I highly encourage those slated for administration jobs to do so.”
A full two-thirds of the group did so. Twilight had known that many unicorns went into clerical jobs, but she hadn’t expected that only four unicorns would be left. Noble Cause was still at the front, and Twilight herself, but so was the red unicorn from Lightning Dust's little gang - Sure Shot.
“This makes things a bit easier,” Colonel Jackdaw said, sounding pleased. “We had dozens of potentials for the earth pony and pegasi slots. I suppose not many unicorns join the Guard that aren’t clerks or medics.”
“Because most unicorns don’t put stock in the dramatic! Or the adventurous!”
A robed figure leapt out from behind the colonel, twirling in midair and landing on her two back hooves. “Today is your lucky day!” she declared, whipping the hood down from her head. Locks of a moonlight-pale blue mane spilled out around the mare’s pretty face. Twilight saw some stallions in the crowd blush; they hadn’t seen a clean, makeup’d mare in over a month now.
But the unicorn didn’t have eyes for them. She smirked (the expression seemed default for her) and looked the group of unicorns that had stayed at the front over critically.
“Well, at least they look the part of the brave Royal Guard. Perhaps the Great and Powerful Trixie will find what the Magisterium needs here after all.” She flipped her mane over her shoulders, clearly aware of the attention she was getting and reveling in it. She trotted straight up to them and walked up and down the line of four like a judge at a dog show.
Twilight could have sworn there was a look of calculation in Trixie’s eyes as she sized her up, but maybe she was being more critical because Twilight was the only mare? “Twilight Sparkle?” she whispered, making a show of looking at her hooves and horn. No one else seemed to have caught the question. “Trixie will be looking forward to seeing what you can do.”
That was… odd. The other mare was still smiling at her, but it had turned conspiratorial. When she moved on to Noble Cause, it went back to cocksure and flirty. Weird mare; didn’t she know the Magisterium had it out for her?
“Yes,” Trixie called out, “this group will do! Allow Trixie to prepare something for our little test.”
Her horn lit magenta and four training dummies flew out into the courtyard. They were shabby-looking things; unicorns had probably been using them for target practice at the fort for decades.
Shattershield grunted. He didn’t seem to like Trixie taking over his training yard because he stomped past her. “Alright, so the four of you can see what we want you to do here. You each get three minutes to show the magister your abilities.” He jerked his head at the dummies. “Pretend they’re monsters that are going to do whatever it is that will get you motivated enough to not be your usual brand of useless.”
“And the Great and Powerful Trixie can help you with the visualization,” she said. The dummies shimmered magenta for a moment before a silverish smoke bellowed out from them. That smoke solidified into four forms - illusions - of a griffon in full war armor, a ferocious manticore, a moaning zombie pony, and a towering, club-wielding ogre. They even moved and paced around like real things!
An excited murmur rose from the crowd of trainees, and not nasty looks from the cadre could quiet them down. Twilight had to consciously keep her jaw from dropping; that level of illusion magic was incredible, and Trixie didn’t even look winded!
The mare took a small bow, and made her illusions do the same before they went back to snarling. “Now, shall we begin? Who wants to go first?”
Before Twilight could even think to open her mouth, Lightning Dust’s unicorn friend jumped forward. He was big for a unicorn, brawny muscles stretched tight under a bright red coat. Twilight hadn’t seen his casting yet, but he looked sure of himself.
“I will, ma’am! Trainee Sure Shot, at your service.”
“Eager! Trixie likes it!” She dramatically pointed at her dummies and the big ogre lumbered forward. Somehow, even the sounds of it walking seemed to boom out over the training yard!
Sure Shot grinned. He crouched, like he was getting ready to sprint. “Just want to save you a little time, ma’am. You won’t need to test anyone else after this.”
Shattershield had a stopwatch. A nod from Trixie and he hit the timer. “Go!”
The red stallion’s horn blazed to life. Twilight and Noble Cause shied back from the sudden wind that whipped past them and flattened the grass in a circle around the unicorn. Instead of launching a spell at the ogre, his magical aura settled on his body like a second skin.
“Ooooh, physical enhancement,” Trixie cooed. “That’s-”
Whatever else she was going to say was drowned out by Sure Shot letting out a bellow and breaking into a thunderous charge. The unicorn was big - almost as big as most of the earth pony stallions in their group - and his hooves made a clatter as he rapidly closed distance with the ogre, but Twilight didn’t know what he hoped to do. He was going to run face-first into that dummy.
At least, that’s what Twilight thought he was going to do. A few yards away he lowered his head and his horn lit again. A thunderous BOOM went through the training yard, shaking even the tents, as a red streak of unicorn zipped straight through the illusion.
A dozen feet on the other side, Sure Strike slid to a halt, kicking up dirt and rocks as he applied four hooves as breaks; even still he skidded a solid yard before coming to a stop, panting hard.
The ogre fared much worse. The illusion flickered and there was a massive hole straight through the center, showing the shattered training dummy at its core. Trixie let the magic fade away and the whole thing collapsed in a heap.
It was the single-most impressive thing Twilight had ever seen. Judging by the stomps and claps from the audience, that was true for most of the other ponies, magical or not, who had just witnessed the same thing. Even Trixie looked impressed.
“Bravo! Trixie did not know Dressage taught War Magic. An excellent application of Flawless Victory’s Instantaneous Movement Incantation!”
Sure Shot managed to nod, but he still looked wobbly. “I wanted to show you the best I could do,” he wheezed. Whatever that spell was, it had taken a toll on the unicorn and he was wobbly on his hooves. “I learned that from my dad. I’m going to be a second-generation battle mage.”
Trixie smirked at him. “Very good, very good! But~”
The zombie pony started to shamble toward Sure Shot. It wasn’t fast very fast, but it didn’t need to be to get into the unicorn’s personal space faster than he could recover. Its ugly, rotted teeth clicked and snapped and even though it was an illusion Sure Shot still ducked and weaved to avoid getting bit.
“You have to use your magical ability like a resource,” Trixie lectured. The zombie pony wasn’t pressing Sure Shot very hard, but it was all he could do to fend it off. “Come now, let’s see how fast you can recover! Monsters won’t wait on you to catch your breath!”
A few times the illusion of the zombie bit into Sure Shot before he could get his horn sparking again. When he did, he used a simple telekinesis spell to push the dummy back and get some space. Before he could gear up for another charge, though, Shattershield called out, “Time’s up!” and clicked the stopwatch.
Trixie nodded, and she even clapped along with the rest of the audience - even the colonel. “We have a front-runner!” she declared. It didn’t even matter that Sure Shot was the only one to go so far - Twilight knew he would be the one to beat. The red unicorn was swarmed by Lightning Dust and her group, all patting him on the shoulder and telling him how cool that was.
The pegasus threw a look Twilight’s way, knowing she could hear them. “No way you’ll lose to some nerdlinger who can only lift heavy rocks,” she said. “Bet she doesn’t even know any spells. You’ve got this thing in the bag!”
Shattershield cleared his throat. “Next!” he called out. “We’re going down the line now.”
That meant Twilight was last, after Noble Cause and, weirdly, the admin job unicorn element leader - Little Snow. He was a weedy thing, thinner than even the smallest pegasus, but he had a determined look behind his glasses as he watched the remaining three dummies.
Trixie sized him up. “Well, well. How will you do against our manticore?” she asked, and the illusion bounded forward. Shattershield started the clock right before it reached the little unicorn.
But his horn lit in a flash and a green shield popped right up in front of him. The illusion bounced right off it, complete with the beast looking confused. As impressive as the swift shield was, Trixie’s commitment to her act was better. Twilight was even starting to forget it was all an act, and so was the crowd judging by the gasps as the manticore took swipes at the green wall in front of it.
The stallion split his attention. His horn glowed brighter as a separate string of magic went over to the ruined pieces of the dummy Sure Shot had destroyed. Amazingly, they all mended back into a complete dummy and Twilight couldn’t see a flaw in the spell work.
“Time for some offense!” Little Snow shouted, and he whipped his head at the manticore. His reforged dummy lurched forward like a puppet and slipped right through his shield, swinging at the manticore. The crowd oohed and awed as the two constructs battled, but it was clear Little Snow had the advantage. His shield was still there and he used it to block hits from the manticore, while his dummy could pass through it at will. Soon the manticore was boxed in on the far side of the training ground and Little Snow’s puppet scored a clean hit. The head of the manticore dummy went spinning off into the air, to the amazement of the crowd.
It wasn’t a showy battle like Sure Shot, but Little Snow didn’t look nearly as winded. When Trixie sent the diamond dog after him, he could still keep it away with his shield and his puppet. Even when the zombie pony joined in he held up until the timer ran out.
“What excellent spell craft,” Trixie said, and for the first time she didn’t seem to be joking. She took hold of the puppet and brought it over for her inspection as well. “Perfect repair. We can use it in the next demonstration.”
Little Snow blushed. “I’m good at fixing things,” he muttered. There were snickers from the crowd; he couldn’t even look Trixie in the eyes.
No one said it, but Twilight knew that a new front-runner might have just appeared. What could be better for a monster hunt than someone who could cast shields and animate objects? But then again, if the group needed more firepower Little Snow wasn’t it. It took him a long time to put down the manticore.
Noble Cause hummed. “Offense or defense. It looks like the magister has a choice,” he said, voicing just what Twilight was thinking. Unlike the other two, Twilight knew some of his spell work. They had been training together for a few weeks, after all, and he was a graduate of Celestia’s School. If there was someone to beat, it was probably him.
“No need to look so fierce,” he laughed, and Twilight realized she’d been staring a hole in him. “But we’re competitors now! I’m not going to go easy on you. This will be another feather in my cap, Ms. Sparkle.”
“Big talk for someone scared to get his coat dirty,” Lightning Dust sniped. “Aren’t you worried you’ll chip a hoof?”
But Noble Cause didn’t rise to the taunts. He took his position in the field, giving Little Snow a nod as they passed. Facing down the illusions he was all business. “I’m ready when you are, Magister.”
Trixie’s smile was back. The zombie lurched forward, in a herky-jerky shamble that was surprisingly quick. “And to give our audience a good show, let’s see how you deal with two at once!” At her words, the griffon took to the air in one mighty leap, armor and battle-ax rattling as it went.
“En garde!” Noble Cause shouted. His horn lit a vibrant blue and a spectral sword and shield materialized in front of him. It was a thin, long blade and a small magical dueling shield, but Twilight saw the wisdom of it. He would have to be precise with his movements, but Noble would be able to conserve a lot of energy and still retain his offensive speed!
The noble unicorn smashed his shield into the zombie’s face and charged the griffon. His magical sword caught the blade of the griffon’s ax and Twilight looked away from the action to concentrate on Trixie. The magister wasn’t keeping up with her color commentary for once; she was concentrating on her illusions. She had switched the griffon’s ax for a magical construct, on the fly, to keep pace with Noble Cause! It was incredible!
But Trixie did not have the experience Twilight’s friend did, and that became evident when he neatly sliced the griffon’s arm off. The underlying training dummy’s arm went too and the illusion flickered for a moment. Noble flicked his attention back to the zombie, who was just getting around the shield. The lithe unicorn neatly sidestepped the bite and lashed out with a hind leg, nearly taking the thing’s head off. His sword came down right after and split the illusion in two.
Trixie let out a huff of air. She was sweating now, if only a little. “I’m no magical fencer,” she muttered, sounding just a little perturbed.
Shattershield clicked the stopwatch. Noble Cause hadn’t even used up a full minute. “I think we have our winner,” he said, shooting Twilight a look.
And Trixie was nodding! “I didn’t know we had someone classically trained. But we do have one more over here, maybe…”
“Don’t you think we’ve wasted enough time with this?” Shattershield cut in. “I need to get these trainees back on schedule. Disruptions like this can ruin entire classes.”
Everything was moving too fast. Noble Cause was frowning, but the colonel was walking up to Trixie and Lightning Dust was looking so very smug and Bay Orchid was frantically shaking her head and… and…
“I want to take on Magister Trixie.”
Twilight’s world stopped. Who had said that? What moron had just signed their own death warrant?
...why was everyone looking at her like that? Like she was a crazy pony?
“Well, someone thinks an awful lot of herself.” Tixie’s face was a few inches from hers and Twilight was so shocked that she fell back on her rump. Across the field the illusion of Trixie was only just starting to fade, making Shattershield jump.
The “Great and Powerful” Trixie wasn’t any older than she was, Twilight realized, but the unicorn carried herself in a completely different way. Confidence flowed off her in waves. This was a unicorn mage in her element. Magisterium mages went out on missions for the crown, fighting monsters and monstrous ponies all the time. But she was right there, right in Twilight’s face, staring into Twilight’s eyes.
And she smirked. “They told me you were trouble,” she whispered. Louder, she said, “The Great and Powerful Trixie applauds ambition, even if it’s a bit too big in this case! But she is also very gracious.”
Trixie trotted away, nearly swatting Twilight on the nose with her tail as she went. She went to the other side of the training yard where her training dummies one stood and lit her horn. “You’ve got two minutes,” she said, still smirking. “Let’s see if you can impress Trixie!”
Two minutes to impress a trained mage in single combat?! “Me and my mouth,” Twilight grumbled. She had the beginnings of a plan earlier, but she doubted it would still work. Then again, she didn’t know any fancy shield spells, or augmentation magic, or fencing.
All Twilight had was brute force and a nasty disposition when it came to losing.
Trixie braced herself when Twilight lit her horn. Trixie’s magenta shield popped right down between them, ready for anything. The surface of it was etched with arcane symbols of strength; the type of mental craftsmanship and spellwork that came after years and years of dedicated study. The Great and Powerful Trixie was ready for anything to come her way, be it spell or sword.
What she was not prepared for was a two-tonne plow weight to float above her head.
Trixie jumped just as the massive thing crashed down right where she’d been standing. “Are you trying to kill Trixie?!” she screamed. But that neanderthal purple pony wasn’t listening. A smaller weight flew from the side of the field and crashed straight into her shield, shattering it like so much glass and missing Trixie’s head by inches.
Oh, that was it. Trixie twirled her horn in a circle, lighting the afternoon sky. The bright magenta circle turned into a ring of red fire that shot out toward Twilight. That pony wanted to live dangerously? Okay then. And Trixie was ready for Twilight’s own shield. She had a special bit of magic that would do the trick, hidden in the flames.
But the other unicorn never conjured a shield. Instead, she just jumped through the ring, like some kind of circus act, and it ripped up the ground behind her in an (impressive, if Trixie did say so herself) inferno.
And damn was that unicorn fast! She crossed the field in just a few strides, nearly taking Trixie’s head off again, but with her own hind legs this time. Trixie, who had never had to actually fight anyone, did what any pony would do in this situation - she ran. She ran like the dickens, forgetting that she had all kinds of magic at her disposal because Twilight was right there! The purple unicorn was easily keeping pace with her, not even breaking a sweat, as she pulled aside her and gave her such a hip-check that Trixie went sprawling.
And then, to add insult to injury, Twilight had Trixie by the scruff of her neck! In her teeth! Like a foal!
“Enough of this!” Trixie shouted, lighting her horn again. But Twilight’s own horn lit in response and Trixie felt the firm press of magical suppression. “You want to compare horns, huh?” Trixie growled. She threw everything at the purple unicorn. Every scrap of raw magic that had been won through years of study and training. Every little bit.
And slowly, slowly, Twilight’s suppression was pushed back. It rolled back like a thick blanket on a muggy summer day, sticky and clinging, but back it went. And Trixie started to think that she could salvage this, that she could get back in the driver’s seat, that maybe she’d just been caught off-guard by some psycho…
But then Twilight’s horn started sparking and licks of fire started rolling off it in waves and what little resistance Trixie could put up died. Snuffed out like a candle in the middle of a wildfire.
It terrified her.
Shattershield tackled Twilight. Slammed into her like a runaway freight train. He was twice as massive and several times more bulky, so she went tumbling. “When I say ‘match over’ you damn well better listen!” he shouted. “You alright, magister?”
Trixie let out a breath. She hated herself for how shakey it sounded. “I’m… Trixie is fine. We just got a bit carried away.”
The stallion looked at her like she was nuts. Between the massive fire that the trainees and cadre were trying to put out and the biggest training weight in the yard being thrown around like a hoofball, Trixie could understand the look he was giving her. If her regent got even a sniff of this, he’d have her robes.
Well. There was no way Trixie was going to pick that neanderthal. Telekinesis and magical suppression. Both at amazing, astounding, levels, but so very mundane. No spells. No incantations. No wards or shields. No, Trixie wasn’t going to pick that one.
Trixie opened her mouth to say just that, but then she caught a look at Twilight. The trainee was still there on the ground, cowering under Shattershield. Terrified. Shaking. She thought… well, she probably thought they were going to throw her out of training. Trixie looked over at that colonel, Jackdaw. He was talking to his staff and gesturing angrily at the purple unicorn.
But that wasn’t Trixie’s problem. Trixie had a mission and she didn’t intend to get embroiled any deeper in Magisterium politics than she needed to right now, as a new magister. It wasn’t healthy, it wasn’t…
Twilight stared at her. She was scared, yes, but also angry - indignantly so. I won, she mouthed. Trixie realized then that the two of them were the only ones who recognized the magical suppression for what it was - everyone else was too far away from the fight to feel it, or didn’t have the ability to feel it. They only saw Twilight grab Trixie by the neck, which probably wasn’t strictly legal in a magical duel.
All Trixie had to do was turn around and pick someone else. Maybe that stallion who could fence? He looked like a noble and nobility could always help a smart and upwardly-mobile pony like Trixie…
But. But. “Celestia damn it,” Trixie muttered. Shattershield gave her a look, but Trixie was already turning to the colonel. “Colonel. Colonel Jackdaw. Trixie thinks we have… we have our winner.”
She was really going to regret this.