//------------------------------// // Witches 6: Trixie Lives // Story: A Witch in Broad Daylight // by Epsilon-Delta //------------------------------// Tonight was the night of the blood moon and a Friday the 13th on top of that. Something massive and world-changing would happen on a night like this, no doubt, but most likely it wouldn’t happen here. Apple Bloom lay on her back, wearing a pair of 3D glasses, reading a 3D comic. Over time, she’d grown less afraid of the whole blood moon thing. The air felt still and heavy, but it didn’t bother her much. That’s just how the air got before a lunar eclipse. It wasn’t like she had to do anything but sit around inside anyway. She was at the very center of the caravan, inside a large cart with a small living space built into it along with all the other kids. You could fit a lot of ponies in here, the place having a small bed and a couch even. But with this many kids, it was still crowded. There was an adult standing just in front of the door too, so Apple Bloom wouldn’t even need to bop any stray zombies if it came down to that. It was more fun when you had a big caravan like this. Normally, Apple Bloom didn’t have many ponies her own age to talk or play with, but when there was a big gathering like this there was a whole ton of kids around. It kinda sucked having to move around sometimes. She wished she could just live in Oaken Point, or some other town, all year. Of course, they were lucky that even Oaken Point would let them stay for parts of the year so that was largely an impossible dream. No place wanted werewolves around. Heck, most places wouldn’t tolerate you for one second. There were a few upsides, of course. At just 11, Apple Bloom already felt worldly from all the places she’d been. She just wished she could have participated in the rituals instead of hiding inside all the time. Next to Babs, Apple Bloom was the oldest kid who needed to set a good example for all the younger ones. She’d never actually participated in the ritual, nor had she ever fought the horde of zombies that preceded it, but she was only two years from ‘final initiation’ and already felt like a pro at all this business. If Apple Bloom was stuck in the kid cart, she might as well do whatever job she could. The other kids were quiet for now, a little too quiet on account of their nerves. Pretty soon the younger ones would be wailing when the cannons, howls, and screaming zombies started. Applejack told her being calm and collected in an emergency was the best way to help the fears of younger ponies. The others would be looking up to her, so that’s just what she’d do. She decided to see if there were any kids here who could use some help. The pony who looked the most scared was one only a year younger than Apple Bloom, but with no experience at summoning at all. Twist, the curly-haired, thick-glassed newcomer, was unable to sit still. She’d walk to one end of the room, try to clean her glasses, then go back to pacing when her hooves weren’t steady enough for even that. Twist only just became a werewolf a few months ago. You really couldn’t blame her for being so on edge all the time. Apple Bloom couldn’t possibly imagine what having to leave your home was like as she’d been born into this. Apple Bloom wanted to do anything she could to help Twist see it wasn’t such a bad thing. Werewolves and the servants of The Darklord would look after any kid like it was their own. It wasn’t that big a deal to not have parents here. In some ways, it was better than living in Equestria. “Hey, Twist!” Apple Bloom called out to her, remaining reclined. “You wanna try on my 3D glasses? I got a ton of 3D stuff to look at.” “Huh?!” Twist turned suddenly to Apple Bloom like she’d just remembered any other ponies were inside the cart. “I can’t concentrate on that right now! How are you not scared?! A blood moon is about to start and we’re basically outside!” “You must have been through a bunch of blood moons before this,” said Apple Bloom. “It ain’t that different from what you’re used to.” “But I was always locked inside in a basement. This thing doesn’t even have a door.” Twist looked over at the guard then ran up to Apple Bloom grabbing her so tight Apple Bloom’s glasses fell off. “We’re all going to die, aren’t we?!” “You don’t gotta worry.” Apple Bloom offered an awkward smile. “My sister’s the chosen one. She and the rest of the cult are way better than a silly old locked door.” “You’re not scared at all?” “Well sure, I used to be scared.” Apple Bloom shrugged. “But after a few times, I realized it was no big deal! Why I’ve been through this at least ten times and I never seen nothing worse than some zombie. I’m sure you’ll get used to it just as fast.” Apple Bloom smiled. She was doing it exactly how her sister told her! “But what about the summoning?” Twist asked. “That’s the part I'm scared of. How can I not be nervous about The Darklord appearing? Isn’t he scary? And evil? I know he’s considered one of the evil gods! I don’t want him to eat my soul or whatever!” “Oh, we’ve been over that. That’s all just lies those untouched tell about us. He’s a lot nicer than he looks.” Granted he did look horrifying the first time you saw him. “And he doesn’t ‘eat your soul’ or any nonsense like that. You just bow down and he puts a little thing on your forehead and that’s it. Doesn’t even hurt!” “So he’s not evil?” Twist loosened her grip on Apple Bloom just a little. “At all, right? And we’re okay?” “Eh.” Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her head, unwilling to go that far, “Well maybe he’s slightly evil.” “Slightly evil?!” Twist’s grip went right back to max. “Why are we worshiping a god you yourself say is evil?!” “Nah, nah. See, worshiping gods is a tricky business, that’s why most ponies don’t get it right.” Apple Bloom picked her glasses back up, pointing to the red half. “If a god is too full of morals and stuff then they see every last pony as some filthy heretic, and they’ll kill you no matter what you do. You’ll just never be good enough for them to spare.” Apple Bloom pointed to the blue half. “But if they’re too evil? Well then they’ll kill you no matter what you do on accounta they’re so evil!” Apple Bloom put the glasses on and pointed at both the red and blue halves at once. “Only by worshiping a slightly evil god can you get anything out of it,” said Apple Bloom. “Why I’d say he’s like an old miserly pony who hates everypony but loves his dog, you know? And we’re the dog so it’s all good.” “So he’s nice to you?” Twist’s death grip began to loosen once again. “You’ve met him, right? What’s he like when he talks to you?” “Yeah! I guess I’d say he’s really patient and he’ll listen to you talk for a long time. Most adults just kinda blow you off, but he takes everything seriously. Cause like one time he said even Granny Smith is like a little kid talking about some toy to him, so he doesn’t see one difference.” “I guess that doesn’t sound so bad.” Twist finally relaxed enough to actually let go of Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom smiled. It felt great to be helping. “Uh-huh. Oh! Like, I remember this one time—“ The blast of gunfire undid all of Apple Bloom’s progress and interrupted her funny story. Twist got scared and ducked under Apple Bloom’s chair. One of the youngest kids started crying. Apple Bloom sighed, feeling like she had to start all over. She looked over to Babs to see if she was going to get any help here, but Babs just gave her a disinterested shrug and went back to her own comic book. Taking charge, Apple Bloom jumped off her chair to talk to the other kids. “I know it’s scary!” Apple Bloom had to yell over the increasingly loud sound of the fight outside. “But there’s no need to panic. You’ll see that nothing bad will—“ There was a thud behind Apple Bloom, and all the other kids jumped back as far as they could go. Even Babs, who’d acted completely oblivious to everything so far, jumped up to her feet. Apple Bloom didn’t want to look back there but there just wasn’t any choice. She turned slowly to find the guard lying on the ground, unconscious at best, bleeding badly. “Uh.” Apple Bloom decided backing up was a good idea after all. A single crow flew into the cart and landed inches in front of Apple Bloom. It felt like time slowed. More kids were crying behind Apple Bloom now, but it sounded like they were miles away. Babs, the only one braver than Apple Bloom, ran to her side holding a knife on the off chance that would do something. Apple Bloom, meanwhile, stood completely paralyzed in front of the crow as the blood felt like it was slowly draining out of her. There was no way… But the crow broke into a pile of feathers and from them rose an adult pony wearing a witch’s hat. This was seriously happening. This really was the worst possible scenario. That was when Apple Bloom realized she wouldn’t be able to stay calm and collected for the other kids after all. Applejack walked back towards camp. It was safe for now, at least. The only real thing to worry about was that pegasus, but Applejack felt a strange trust towards that mare. She was pretty sure that pony didn’t see her transform, anyway. It was hard to believe she’d gotten that unlucky, but it was Friday the 13th, after all. Best to get the bad luck out of the way. The summoning should go smoothly after this. Most of the zombies around here were already gone, leaving things eerily silent. The only sound was a wind growing stronger. It might rain soon, which would be bad if that dragon didn’t fly far enough away first. There was a sudden noise, a caw from a tree that made Applejack freeze in place. A crow. ‘Never be cruel to a crow,’ they said, ‘because you never know which one is a witch.’ Applejack was far from the most superstitious pony out there, but even skeptical ponies worried about hurting a crow. To think she saw that after the dragon, to be reminded there were even worse things out there. She couldn’t help but shudder. Heeding the adage, Applejack tipped her hat to the crow as she passed. A little way further, just as she was shaking off the omen, Applejack heard a flutter behind her. That same crow flew just ahead of her, perched on a tree, and cawed down at her. Applejack’s legs felt numb. She started walking fast. She passed the crow again. Two crows landing just in front of her this time. They crowed at her from either side in perfect harmony. No! Applejack ran! She had to get back to the caravan as soon as possible. She had to warn everypony. She had to make sure they were okay. If this seriously was a witch, the mission was failed, and they had to get out of here as soon as possible. More and more crows were following her as she ran, leaving little doubt it was a witch following her. But they all broke and flew off in different directions as soon as the camp came into view. Rain started coming down just as Applejack got back to camp. She dug her hooves into the now muddy ground to stop herself, panting just for one second before shouting out. “Big Mac! Braeburn! Granny Smith! We gotta get out of here!” Applejack yelled. “I think there’s a witch nearby. We need to get out of here.” “Hold on. Are you sure?” Braeburn ran up to her. “What makes you think that.” “There was this crow.” Applejack panted. “That’s it?” Braeburn raised an eyebrow. “We can’t blow off The Darklord just for that. Not after we just went up against a dragon.” “First of all, he’s the laid-back sort. He’ll understand.” Applejack caught her breath. “And second it wasn’t just one crow but a whole gaggle of them chasing me! I know it’s a witch.” “You mean you were chased by a murder of them.” Granny Smith came walking up to them slowly. “That’s likely the most famous witch spell, the murder one I mean. It’s also the easiest to learn. Plenty of magic-using types can do it, though it’s largely frowned upon.” “We have to assume that it’s real,” said Applejack. “We have to pack this up and run.” “Now hold up.” Braeburn stopped her again. “Say it is a witch chasing after us. There ain’t no way we’re escaping it. Finishing the ritual and summoning The Darklord is the only hope we’d have of walking out of this.” Applejack closed her eyes and tapped her hoof, deep in thought. Though she wanted to run right now, Braeburn did have a point. Applejack was likely the only one who could escape from a witch, but there was no way she was leaving the rest of her family behind. “I think Braeburn has a point,” said Granny Smith. “Witch of nothing, we need to finish the summoning before it’s too late.” “But don’t you see? It’s already too late!” An unfamiliar voice drew everypony’s attention. Through the rain approached a stranger, wearing a witch’s hat with bells attached to the edges. Her cape was a loose mesh of black fibers, looking almost like a spider web flowing behind her. As she got closer, Applejack could see it was a blue unicorn levitating a book at her side. The book was black with a familiar cutie mark on the cover. It was Twilight’s cutie mark. It was a book of shadows! In a panic, Braeburn went for his gun but the witch was much faster. She cast a spell and in a poof of smoke Braeburn was petrified, left a statue frozen in place. Plenty of other ponies had their guns out, but none of them dared point it at the witch after that. The witch continued forward with a smug smirk on her face. “That one’s name is Trixie Lulamoon.” Granny Smith came up and whispered in Applejack’s name. “She’s one of the known witches, alright. She ain’t quite normal. Keep in mind she’s—“ “Be quiet!” Trixie cast another spell and the words vanished in Granny Smith’s mouth. Granny kept talking but no sound would come out. “I’ll introduce myself, thank you.” Trixie took off her hat and bowed low enough it made Applejack feel she was being mocked. “I am the great and powerful Trixie! I consider myself the second most powerful witch alive.” Trixie rose and put her hat back on. She flicked her cape so that it blew in the strong wind. “Of all the witches, I alone am worthy of standing in the presence of Twilight Sparkle. Or I will be worthy soon enough. I’m missing a piece or two if you get me. Which is why I’m here, actually.” “Look, if you’re here for one of us then it’s me.” Applejack stepped forward. “I’m the chosen one. Just don’t hurt anypony else and I’ll go with you without a fuss.” “Aw! That’s so cute.” Trixie smiled and put a hoof on her cheek. “It’s trying to negotiate with me as if it has any control!” Trixie swept her hoof and a chunk of earth rose from beneath Applejack, hitting her hard in the chest with an audible slam. A full-strength buck from a stallion wasn’t nearly enough to knock Applejack down, but that blow sent her staggering back. Applejack had to go down to stop herself from falling over. “’Do whatever you want, Trixie!’ That’s what I want to hear you say.” Trixie crouched down to look at Applejack. Applejack pushed herself back up. “What do you want?” Applejack tried to stand as tall as she could. “Hm! Close enough.” Trixie was arrogant enough to turn her back. “Well you’re not wrong that I’m here for you, but a good witch has more than one plan going at a time. You see, I need you for project A and a great number of werewolves for project B. So I’m afraid it’s all of you coming with me without a fuss.” Applejack looked at Granny Smith, who could only give her a solemn frown at this point. “What if—?” Big Mac started an offer. “What did I just say?” Trixie blew him back with a blast of lightning, no easy feat given his size. “This isn’t a negotiation! Your choice is to bow down and do what I say or to do what I say after I’ve beaten you all to a pulp.” Every single thing Trixie said or did made Applejack’s blood raise another degree. But the sad truth was she was right. Applejack really did have almost no power here. “Before I decide that I want to know how long you need us and if we’ll still be alive after,” said Applejack. “Oh, don’t worry. I won’t kill you.” Trixie smirked. “Maybe seven or eight months. If you’re a good dog, I’ll let you go. Really!” That honestly wasn’t even the worst an encounter with a witch could go. Applejack still wasn’t convinced she shouldn’t fight Trixie, though. She couldn’t beat her, but she could stall the witch long enough for the kids to get away. Applejack would gladly endure whatever punishment Trixie had in store, would even be a good hostage for the eight months, but she couldn’t sign Apple Bloom up for that. “The children!” Another pony came running from the wagons in the back. “The foals are all missing!” Apple Bloom! A surge of anger went through Applejack, her teeth briefly sharpened, but she got it under control. She was so much better at controlling it these days. She couldn’t let herself transform recklessly, not now of all times. Still, she kept her once again flat teeth gritted. “What did you do?!” Applejack started walking towards Trixie. “They’re not dead,” said Trixie. “Needless to say, I’m taking them too. I figured you’d try to stall while they got away, so I prepared for that. Was that what you were thinking? It was, wasn’t it?” Trixie started to laugh. “That’s too far!” Applejack walked up to striking range with Trixie, the witch did nothing to stop her from closing the gap. “Give them back and I’ll do whatever you want, but—!” “How slow are you?” Trixie jabbed Applejack in the chest with a blow that made an audible slam. Applejack staggered back a second time. That had to be the strongest punch she’d taken save from other werewolves. Dang it! She was physically strong too? There had to be something more to her than even just being a witch. Even still, she knew she could have withstood the blow if she wanted to, but she had something else in mind. Applejack let herself get thrown to the ground for now, let Trixie think she’d hurt her more than she did. Trixie not being a normal witch was what Granny tried to warn her about. Applejack looked over to her, but all she got was a nod for now. Trixie stood there with her eyes closed and her head raised high. She was arrogant. That might be the only weakness Applejack would get to exploit. “Behold! The Book of Shadows volume 2!” Trixie turned her back on Applejack to show some of the other ponies her book. “I have access to ten thousand spells in alphabetical order from E to H! I’m not arrogant enough to assume any of you know how to spell, but ‘hyper’ starts with the letter H, if you weren't aware.“ Granny Smith closed her eyes and focused. With her psychic abilities, she could dampen the sound around Applejack. While Trixie bragged away, Applejack slowly took out a knife. She transformed her right foreleg, the fur becoming rough and coarse, her hooves silently cracking apart into claws, and her muscles tightening. Then she threw the dagger at the back of Trixie’s head as hard as she could! The dagger flew forward faster than a cannonball, with enough force to not just pierce a pony’s skull but to shatter it to pieces. As the knife left her claw, Applejack already knew the attack would fail. In that tiny fraction of a second, Trixie tilted her head to one side just enough to dodge the knife. Even still, the force from the dagger was enough to throw Trixie’s hat off without even connecting. She anticipated the attack! Trixie must have been psychic too! “Bad idea!” Trixie grabbed her cape. “Maybe if I don’t use any of the hyper spells this will be slightly interesting. Hurricane cloak!” Trixie swung her cape as she cast the spell. The wind picked up immensely, more to the level of a short tornado than a hurricane. The wind threw the carriages and wagons onto their sides, blew away a few of the weaker or older ponies, even a tree or two was knocked over in the sudden burst of air. Applejack dug into the ground, only being pushed back a few inches. The rain was falling hard after that, but very few of Applejack’s group were thrown off. Most of them had already partially or fully transformed to keep themselves from being thrown. Now she was surrounded on all sides by hulking, snarling wolves far stronger than any normal beast. Dozens of werewolves would have made a normal pony wearier, but Trixie just kept laughing louder and louder. There was no way to avoid a fight now. The ones who fully transformed snarled, having lost control for the most part. That was fine for now, they wouldn’t attack other werewolves. But they were going to charge in recklessly. Apple Fritter was the first in. “Glass bones!” Trixie flicked her mane as she cast the spell. The witch just let Apple Fritter swipe at her, the blow connecting with a crunching noise. But when Fritter hit, it was the werewolf who cried out in pain, falling to the ground, clutching her leg in a way that made Applejack think it was broken. That didn’t deter anypony, though. Ready to fight, several more charged in at Trixie. “Elemental resonance!” Trixie shouted. She jumped into the air then, upon landing, with a great splash, sank into the thin film of water that covered the road as though it were a swimming pool. The two ponies who charged at her pounced on the spot she vanished through but couldn’t dive down like she could. A wave of water erupted from a tiny puddle, sweeping over another pony and pulling them under. Then a second wave took a second pony. Applejack’s keen sense picked up on the secret, a slight motion in the water as Trixie moved from point to point. If she did that one more time— Another ripple! Applejack got ready to lunge at the place Trixie was headed to. It was always a careful balancing act on how much to transform. She needed as much speed as possible, but couldn’t afford to lose control, either. Applejack changed one of her rear legs, to push off from, and one of her forelegs, to attack with. Even that much sent a surge through her, heat through her blood, but she could handle it. A massive torrent of water came up this time, much more than Applejack had expected. The ponies who were closer but less aware of its incoming were badly bruised by the blast of water. Applejack was able to brace for it, at least, and didn’t lose her orientation. Trixie was up in the air now, at the top of the waterspout. Applejack crouched down and jumped up at her. “Ethereal chains!” Long, orange, translucent chains erupted from Trixie’s back. They flowed in an invisible medium behind her as though they were her new wings. With a spin Trixie sent the chains whipping about. Applejack managed to narrowly dodge a chain headed her way, but two other ponies got hit. When they did the chains wrapped all around them until no part of their body could be seen. A hail of musket fire flew at her, but Trixie managed to stop the bullets with her psychic powers. There was no way to get close to her with those whips and ranged attacks were useless! She could use magic and psychic powers at the same time, making her incredibly dangerous. Applejack jumped back as the others kept her busy for a moment, though Trixie was making short work of them. She still had Granny and Big Mac. They’d have to all attack together. Applejack backed up until she was near the other two. Both of them gave her a nod, silently thinking the same thing. Granny Smith grabbed the chains with her psychic powers, stopping them for a moment and leaving an opening. Big Mac went through first, jumping and threatening to bring his claws down on Trixie. Trixie looked up and grabbed him with her own psychic powers, stopping him in midair. The musketeers took the opportunity and fired at her from four different angles. The bullets connected, and Trixie stumbled slightly. This was it! Her magic, body and psychic abilities were all staggered. The best opening she’d likely get! Applejack rushed in as quickly as she could. “Forked lightning!” Trixie shot out a bolt of lightning that forked, hitting all four musketeers at once, throwing them to the ground paralyzed. Applejack dug into the ground, stopping herself as she realized her approach had already been compromised. How was Trixie not more hurt by this?! How did she recover that fast?! Applejack had seen a witch get shot with a musket before and they didn’t shrug it off like this even if they had one of those fancy iron skin spells going. “Empire Swarm!” Trixie called out. Every link in her chain whips exploded with a burst of light. Each one of them changed into a wasp-like insect. They weren’t the biggest wasps Applejack had ever seen, but then she’d seen ones the size of stallions with stingers like swords out in the Festering Scar. Still, they looked bad enough to take out an eye with one of those stingers. They were no doubt poisoned too. There were only a few ponies left now, swiping at the air, trying to keep the bugs away. The ones who got stung quickly fell to the ground twitching helplessly. And those bugs just kept coming too! The air above was quickly saturated to the point they were nearly stopping the rain from reaching the ground. The buzzing grew deafening. Granny Smith was the only thing keeping them at bay. She concentrated, quickly crushing huge swaths of the insects as they approached. But she could only keep a fraction of them from closing in. “So that one’s the psychic.” Trixie pointed to Granny. “Let’s see how good she is. Howl of madness! Mini version, of course.” Despite the name, Trixie didn’t howl but blew in Granny’s direction. Whatever the crow happened must have been hurting her psychic brain. Granny trembled and fell to the ground clutching her head before passing out. That witch was willing to attack both the young and old! Now there was nothing they could do to stop the swarm! Big Mac and Applejack stood back to back, wincing as the inevitable flew in around them from every side. “Maybe that spell was too much for you to deal with.” Trixie flicked her mane as she watched the remainder cower away. “Here, I’ll go gentle. Firecracker!” Every one of the insects exploded where they were, sending rumbles of sound that shook the ground and left all the remaining ponies disoriented. Even if they had gotten through the swarm, Trixie still had so many more surprises and tactics waiting for them. That was what made witches so dangerous! Those books gave them so many spells they could switch their fighting style every few seconds. Even if you fought one a hundred times, you’d still not know all their tricks. Adapting and forming a strategy against something like that was of no use. Biding your time was no use. The only thing you could rely on was luck and the ability to see and take an opening without hesitation. Maybe a werewolf was the worst thing a witch could go up against. Nearly any other creature would get caught flatfooted by the flurry of spells a witch brought with her. Applejack though could just barely react in time. But even then it was near hopeless. “Ground dance!” Trixie tapped her hoof on the ground repeatedly. With each tap, rock spikes erupted up from all around her. Most the remaining ponies got the wind knocked out of them in moments, hitting them hard enough to throw them into the air. The ground opened up and swallowed those ponies as they fell back to the ground. There was almost nopony left to fight now. Trixie was bleeding badly from those gun wounds but seemed completely unconcerned. She put her hat back on and turned to Applejack with a cocky smile. “Looks like we’re down to two!” Trixie proclaimed. “Are you impressed? Well I’ll tell you what. Bow down, kiss my hoof, and tell me how amazing I am, and I’ll let you surrender to me without any more fighting. No sense in pointlessly getting hurt, is there?” Big Mac was the only other werewolf left standing. He’d gone too far with his transformation and wouldn’t be able to keep control much longer. The normally stoic stallion was digging his claws into the ground, tearing up the pavement. Right now ‘big’ was an understatement. When Big Mac fully transformed, he could nearly fit Trixie in his mouth. He lost control and lunged forward. Trixie managed to create a wall of ice between the two, her cocky smile breaking ever so briefly as Big Mac smashed straight through it. “Whoa! Big guy!” Trixie clapped her hooved together, creating a vortex of flames. “Flame vortex!” A swirl of fire moved forward, singeing Big Mac, forcing him back. Even though she was out of the cone, Applejack had to move back and cover her eyes to endure the brightness, still felt like the tips of her fur were being scorched brown from the heat. There was no way a normal pony could survive that. He struggled and managed to push through even that, only for it to pick up to a greater degree and throw even Big Mac to the ground, unconscious. Applejack was the only one left now. Applejack stood back, alone. Now would be a convenient time for that dragon to suddenly show back up and save the day. The rain must have washed its muzzle clean so where had it gone off to? “Well?” Trixie picked her hat back up, dusted it off, and put it back on. “For the record, I’m still fighting you on baby mode. Aren’t you supposed to be the chosen one? Aren’t you going to shoot a friendship laser or love bomb at me or something? I’ll take any kind of deus ex machina right about now.” Applejack gritted her teeth. She did have one option left. There was no way to tell how Trixie would react to being sent to the shadow realm. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to get out, though maybe she would. The Darklord may save the day or simply sleep through the whole thing. Trixie might not have fully understood Applejack’s gifted powers or going to the shadow realm might be exactly what she came here to do. That was the main reason Applejack hesitated so much. What if this was all just an elaborate way of goading Applejack into banishing her? “Here!” Trixie closed her eyes, went up on her hind legs, and held her forelegs out wide. “I’m wide open! I’ll give you ten seconds to do whatever you like just so you can finally appreciate how hopeless the chasm between us is.” She could hardly stand the arrogance of this witch! Somepony needed badly to knock her down a few thousand pegs and even then she’d be too much to stomach. Applejack had to do something. Escape and go for help? But who would help her? The Darklord didn’t have very many allies on this side of reality. “Seven. Six,” Trixie counted down. There was no time to think! It made her sick to leave her family behind, but it really was coming to this. She silently vowed to come back to them and plunged into the shadow realm. Applejack pressed her hooves into the ground. The darkness of her unseen, true shadow spread out across the earth, creating a pit of pure blackness that she sank into. She reached her hooves down into the blackness and grabbed what felt like the bottom of the ground. She pulled herself up, or down depending on how you looked at it, through that portal. She climbed to the other side and into the new world, now standing on the true shadow of the land itself. Here, you could see the true shadow of everything that had one and things that existed only as shadows. She could still see the ghostly image of Trixie before her, Trixie’s shadow, standing wide open. She could still see all of her friends and family as their ghost-like shadows as well. The pavement she stood on changed to a dim purple and the shadow rain came down much more softly in red drops that vanished upon touching the earth. But the moment she saw the scraggly shadows of the trees, Applejack knew she’d made a mistake. All the trees were on fire, their leaves replaced with purple flames, the shadow flames that existed on one side of the barrier. That wasn’t how they normally were here! That’s when she remembered the blood moon was still out! She looked up at the sky and saw the moon, covered by the shadow of the planet, burning like a purple sun. The darkness was too thick for Applejack to escape into right now! She wouldn’t be able to leave until the blood moon ended and that wasn’t for another minute or two at the least. It might as well have been a month. Did Trixie know about that? “Three, Two,” Trixie was nearly finished now! Applejack was hard to touch in the shadow realm, but not completely safe. She wasn’t sure if escape was an option now! Only one choice was left. Applejack let herself transform as much as possible. Her bones cracked, then thickened and her muscles tightened. Her muzzle protruded out and fangs snapped into place. Applejack was twice the size she had been when this started. At least she’d be able to get one last surprise attack. “One.” Time seemed to slow as Trixie opened her mouth to say something else. She dove back down to the real world and rose up right next to Trixie. Trixie just barely managed to open her eyes in time for Applejack to bring a claw down hard onto her back. The blow connected hard! Applejack heard and felt the spine crack! But she needed more! Her bloodlust was rising and all she could think about was destroying this witch! Even if she could think straight there was no way she’d trust a single blow to take a witch out. Applejack bit down hard on Trixie’s neck and jumped forward, tearing out most of it. She could feel it in her mouth, that she’d nearly decapitated the witch with that blow. Trixie fell several feet and tumbled to the ground. In mere seconds she was lying in a huge pool of blood. But before there could be any hope, Trixie rose. The wound in her neck was so severe she needed to put a hoof there just to keep her head up. It didn’t seem to bother her at all, didn’t even stop her from laughing. “Do you understand now?” Trixie cocked a smile. “Even if you did that a thousand—“ Unfortunately for her, Applejack was too far gone to feel fear at this point. Anger and aggression were all she had this far along with her transformation. She intended to pounce on Trixie even if the witch stayed down. She lunged forward at full speed once more. For a brief second, Applejack did sense a tiny bit of fear in Trixie, even if it was just a tiny bit of shock. She saw in slow motion as the witch’s eyes opened in surprise. The world erupted into fire and lightning before she got to her target. Then everything turned white. Then everything turned black.