//------------------------------// // My Word Against Yours // Story: Trixie's Last Show // by Str8aura //------------------------------// The chamber Twilight was trapped in was rolling and rumbling, and all around her the roars and screams of monsters called to her. She opened her eyes, but still saw nothing. She was curled on cold metal, and found herself wanting only to pull herself further into a ball, to go to bed. But the beasts weren’t quieting. They were every monster she had been tasked to defeat, every monster she had saved the town from, and they hated her, they closed in on her, jaws salivating and hunger growing and they wanted her please no please no oh Celestia Calm down. The noises didn't die, animals against metal confining them. They were real, and so was the metal underneath her and the darkness engulfing her, but she wasn't dying. They were caged, and the metal underneath her meant she was in a cage too. She was in Tartarus. It was a spell she had seen used before, meant for use on monsters and wild animals, to lock them in one of Tartarus's prisons, like they were criminals to be locked in cages. Twilight had always sworn not to use it; it was better to spend hours fighting to bring them back to the Everfree than to take the easy way out, and to throw them in a confined darkness for the rest of their days. Twilight was the animal now, and escape was only a simple teleport away, but she couldn't... muster the strength. Her magic felt drained, she couldn't reach through the haze of her mind. Was this the spell Trixie had used? No, she was just... Tired. Twilight had never felt this tired in her life. Twilight would return to the womb for now. Into her dreams, roars followed her. The prison had been a castle, once. Now, a familiar purple shield was erected over it, held constantly by some form of physical cantrip to remain stable even when the creator was in another country. Trixie eyed it up as she approached, impressed; especially now, she could appreciate good magical craftsmanship. The sign said 'WARNING: Do not approach. Keep away 200 yards. PENITENTIARY.' Trixie smugly crossed yard 200. "Good morning, Miss Sparkle. Here to check up on her imprisonment?" Trixie smiled under her illusion spell, while the face of her old nemesis she hid under kept its eyes steadfastly locked on the royal guard's. "I am. Princess Celestia has given me Royal clearance to see the prisoner. In person." "We weren't informed of this-" "Would you like to question the Princess herself, sir?" Trixie leaned into the guard at the gate, drawing herself up. The Guard didn't flinch. "You still understand, it's a must for every visitor." Trixie fell back with a hmph. The ruse had failed, but she had expected it to. It's purpose had been buying seconds. With a flourish, she withdrew the scroll she had been casting over for the seconds she was talking. Nearly every textbook she had ever had had taught her illusion spells as a means of disguising a living creature. Naturally, she had decided to branch out. The guard read the disguised decree closely, and finally relented. Of course it was flawless- Trixie had seen Celestia's letters now, neatly arranged at Twilight's. She knew how the princess wrote and sealed. Finally, Trixie signed the list of visitors she was offered, drawing a cute little star over the I in Twilight. Passing through the gate built into the bubble, she trekked up towards the door of the converted castle. Locks and warning signs covered its face, alongside a more detailed notice on the stone wall. 'Journal spells and minor motion spells only. Restrict all other magic.' "It seems somepony isn't a very good reader. I can smell an illusion from here. Tsk tsk, trying to trick a changeling with a disguise... Disgraceful." The voice seeped and oozed from behind the door, toxicity crawling up Trixie's leg and into her ear. Trixie fell down against the door, leaning into it thoughtfully. "Queen of Changelings. It's an honor. I used to read little kid's horror stories about you. The Sandman, Mother Horse Eyes, The Knackerman, all the bogeymen under my bed. Imagine my surprise at finding out you were real." "It's about time someone greeted me with respect... Oh, I do so love legend. What do they say about me? Spare no gory detail." "They say you hide in closets, run from light, swallow children whole." "Well, they exaggerate a little..." Trixie realized a part of her was scared. In a movement faster than she could stop herself, she opened the flap on the door, peering in at the darkness to confront her bogeyman. A lime green eye opened inches from her. She didn't flinch, but did quiver. Just for a second. "You're not Twilight, indeed. Who might you be?" Chrysalis rested her head against the door, moving her fangs into view through the peephole. "An old friend of hers. It really is horrible how she's treated you. Caged, humiliated, beaten..." "And I suppose you've come to offer me flowers." Trixie shut the hatch, not letting the sting show. "I've come to make my mark." Trixie distinctly heard the sound of some sort of salivation on the other end. "That's all anyone wants, I suppose... Would you like to know what comes with Fame, Not-Twilight?" "From you?" "I've been around for a good few thousand years. From what you tell me, I've built up quite a fame, haven't I? And eeeevery few centuries, decades even, someone approaches me, and I always listen. They boldly show themselves to my face with much less than your petty little disguise spell. Some come to kill me. Some come to join me. All of them want their names in the book right besides mine. And do you know what I do to them each time after hearing them out?" The hatch forced itself open. "I eat them alive. The obituaries are more of a record than a book, but I suppose it counts. So, you know, talk. I always appreciate a visitor." Trixie puffed herself up, licked her lips, and spoke clearly and proudly, "I think you'll find there's a difference between me and them." Pause for effect. "Twilight Sparkle is dead. I have killed her." Instantaneous, without a breath of thought. "No she isn't." Trixie had expected denial, vehement rage. Or perhaps an incredulity, a begging for details. Maybe even delight, a happy congratulation, although that was more of a fantasy. But a simple 'no', as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, as if she were stupid for even implying it... Trixie’s blood boiled. "And what makes you so sure, since you're the expert in killing her?" She snapped. "Exactly that." Chrysalis boredly replied. "Thousands and thousands of years. I've killed kings, gods, monsters. Oh, that dragon was fun... But I've encountered Twilight twice, once even in one-on-one combat. I've learned her, as well as I can learn any opponent. If she still eludes me... How many encounters have you had with her, exactly?" The answer burned at the back of Trixie's brain, but she refused to entertain it. "You dare doubt Tri-" "I dare, I dare. Lean towards the door more, I can't hear you. Is this all you've come to offer me? Empty boasts and pride? I've met a thousand magicians like that. And like most people in Twilight’s life, they were fools." Sparks were flying over Trixie's eyes now as a cone solidified around her horn. She leaned towards the hatch, not noticing the corner of a smile at Chrysalis's lip. "I could kill you where you stand, bug." Chrysalis yawned. "In a cage, weakened and wearing a magic suppressor. I'd say a particularly impassioned dog could kill me now, but I seem to be dealing with one as we speak." Trixie’d had enough, and practically jammed her muzzle through the hatch. "If you had any idea-" Chrysalis reached into Trixie’s open jaws and grabbed her tongue. The Changeling Queen smirked. Boiling over, Trixie dropped her disguise, bursting from the magic veil she wore and teleported inside. Twilight was awake. Darkness. She had never felt so rested. How long had she slept? Ten hours? Two days? One hundred years? All she knew was how good she felt, even with the muttered growls and sniffs and muggy air and metal floor. Feel around. What had happened? Trixie. They had fought, but it wasn't... normal. Trixie had tried to kill her. Even now she could feel her injuries beneath her. Why had she sent her to Tartarus? Crawl forward. There should be bars, eventually, miles and miles and miles and- here. Why had she been so weak? She had held herself in a fight before, hundreds and hundreds of changelings and growls and roars and monsters and Manticores. She had been asked to fight off a monster. That was who she was, Twilight Sparkle, the magical prodigy, the monster hunter, the superhero. She felt at the bars- about 2 inches wide, important not to botch this- For a second, she saw in the light from her spell, and in that second she wish she hadn't. The dripping saliva, the sharpened fangs, the glaring eyes, they were everywhere. By the time the teleport was over and Twilight was out of the cage, she was too shaken to move. I can't fight them off, they'll tear me apart, I'm not strong enough, I can't- Deep breath, deep breath. The monsters were caged. She wasn't. Listen to them, listen to horrible roars and noises telling her how far away they were. Don't misstep, don't come within their reach. Don't light your horn. I don't want to see them. Twilight crawled forward on her belly, using only her front legs to drag herself along, grimacing at the feeling of stone against healing wounds. She hated monsters. She hated friendship lessons. She hated being an episodic adventure, every day a new threat, with specials on weekends. Specials like Trixie. These monsters won't hesitate to kill me. Trixie won't- No, Trixie did. Trixie wasn't the serialized cartoon villain who came back with a new plot each week only to run away cursing her when she was defeated. I hurt her. She had to. It didn't have to go this far. I never wanted to hurt her, to humiliate and show her up and fight her. She was just... solving the puzzle placed in front of her. Trixie hadn't been a pony. She had been another monster the town wanted her to handle. Where did Trixie come from? She was just a traveling magician, doing fake tricks, but... she had such talent. That much is obvious. The spells she had cast, even without the Alicorn Amulet were incredible. Spells like that weren't the mark of amateur magicians, but students. Twilight searched her memories. The two of them were around the same age, if Trixie had gone to a magical school... A blue colt with a cutie mark of a star-tipped wand and a crescent moon. Dropped out after only two years. Anti-social, only cared about studying. Talented, but friendless. Twilight closed her eyes. She didn't need them. The noises of Tartarus' stomach sounded all about her, and she used them to guide her. Wiping her hooves, Trixie caught her breath and surveyed the damage. Hundreds upon hundreds of cocoons had filled the entry hall Chrysalis was sealed upon, growing like boils along the walls and ceilings. In her fury, she had cleaved through all of them in bursts of magic. The walls were seared. Guards were banging at the doors, realizing their own keys didn't work; she had had enough sense to put a few extra enchantments on them before getting to work. And Chrysalis, oh how easy to tear she was. Missing a leg, hair tattered, several gaping holes on her barrel leaking unidentifiable fluids. Nevertheless, she remained infuriatingly conscious. Were Trixie calm, she might have been impressed. Chrysalis groaned, coughing up something, heaving a breath. "You know... You were right... You are better than Twilight... I'm really feeling the compassion for how horribly she treated me... Really feeling the love... Coming out my neck... Might have been an old meal..." Another zap. Celestia, please drop dead. "Shut up." "Ah, the refreshing- hack- zap of moral superiority, burning in my brain." "Shut up!" "My children have been killed in their sleep. My legacy ends to a fool. You'll have your name in the history books, as the mare who broke into a prison to be the vigilante." Before Trixie could even begin to respond, Chrysalis leaned forward weakly. "And one last thing. I give Twilight another day before she shows up. Throw her a welcome party, will you?" Trixie gave up on calmness. In the last minutes before the guards broke down the door, she charged her horn for one last spell. Trixie thought of flowers, then tore Chrysalis apart to the fibres of her being. A crack of magic, and Trixie teleported away. The roars were a distant susurrus now. Feeling ahead, Twilight could now gauge the sensation of a giant door in front of her. She pressed her ear to the door, and heard birds twittering outside. Get to your hooves. Twilight stabled herself against the door, deep and rusty laughs belching out of her system. She had gotten to Tartarus and back to Ponyville in two days before. She just needed this teleport. How thick was the door? What was the terrain around it like? Somewhere she knew well was easy to teleport between, but she had only visited Tartarus once- if she botched this... Twilight stumbled, and her cheek ran down the length of the engraved carvings on the door. It hurt. I need to get back. I don't know what Trixie's doing to town, to... my friends. I need to tell her... How could she fix this? This wasn't a friendship problem anymore. Monsters be damned, this was a real person she was talking to, a real person who had been beaten down by more successful mages her entire life. Show her up, beat her in a duel- there was no good way to diffuse the situation. Well, there was one. Ironically, it was friendship related. Twilight made the leap of faith, and sunlight blinded her. In the dirt outside Tartarus' entrance, Twilight fell to her knees, laughing and hooting. In Ponyville, the doors to the Golden Oaks Library had been double, triple, and quadruple locked. All the blinds were shut. Inside, five mares and a drake spoke in heated hushes, wary of listeners even in the safety of the library. Their faces were painted with worry, and their eyes frequently darted to the closed windows, conversation frequently punctuated by periods of silence mid-word, flinching at small noises. Rarity spoke hurriedly and despondently. "Neither hide nor hair of either, for going on a day now. Twilight was apparently called to help with a Manticore venturing onto the roads, and- Oh, Celestia, I can't imagine what's going on." Applejack spoke contemplatively but determinedly. "I reckon these little excursions into the routine are easier when there is a giant monster. At least then we can see the root of the issue, smack dab on the schoolhouse or climbing a building or whatzits. Here? It feels like something we ain't involved in, and that makes me worried." Dash growled suddenly. "If we're not involved, we're going to be. Twilight is our friend. There's no way she'd consider a mission too important for us." "I just don't understand." Fluttershy added. "What could Trixie possibly want that she's so... secretive about? This isn't like her at all. I think... I think something is seriously wrong." "I should think you're right... Fluttershy? I don't believe we've met." They hadn't even heard her enter. The entire room started, and Applejack placed herself between the new guest and Spike. Dash was more direct; she put herself at the front of the group, haunches raised, shoulders lowered, jabbing her nose in Trixie's direction. "You! What are you doing here? Where's Twilight?" A weak barrier was raised between them lazily, not even coming up to Trixie's neck. "Sheathe your claws, Crash. You wouldn't want to do something drastic." "Tell me what I don’t want to do." Dash retorted. "I'd never dream of it. I'm sure you all have a lot of questions, and I come with an invitation I hope may satiate them." Trixie paused, waiting for a reaction, eyes scanning the crowd. "A party. We all like parties, don't we? I think you may find this one, ah, enlightening." "Trixie..." Rarity warned. "We know you're trying something." "You haven't a clue." Trixie snapped. "I'm offering you an olive branch. One last show, as it may be. A celebration." "Celebration... of what?" Shy meekly prodded. Trixie's brow furrowed. "It all depends on who shows up, I suppose." With a tilt of her head, a scroll wrapped in red coalesced next to her, and was laid on the floor between them politely. "I highly recommend showing. Wear something nice." And she turned, unlocking the door from the inside and parting with a tip of her hat. Dash rolled the scroll on the floor suspiciously, as if wary of a bomb. Then, tearing the ribbon off with her teeth, she unfurled it on the wood. Come one come all Watch the birdy At Trixie's greatest show yet Fluttershy sighed. "I suppose I did ask for her old self back."