Trixie's house was a small one-family building in the centre of town, with a tiny front garden but nothing else to greatly distinguish it. Luckily, Pinkie had already known the way from when she had organised her birthday party the previous year. On the way over, Rarity's quick look through Trixie's social media had brought up a rather convenient circumstance: She was home alone all week.
Sunset stood in front of the house with the both of them, still feeling the tension that had set in when she had first lost sight of Fluttershy while shadowing the date, and that hadn't left since then. She was stirring with a cocktail of unpleasant feelings. About Fluttershy, about Flash and Lyra, about the revelation that there were vampires just walking among the student body, about a bunch of other small questions on her mind. But this took priority right now and it required focus.
"So, how do we play this?" she asked sternly, looking at the light in the upper floor window, dulled by the layers of shawls and thin curtains hung behind the glass.
"I don't suppose asking her politely to stop is an option?" Rarity said flatly.
"Then we make her stop!" Pinkie felt the looks of the others on her and turned to return it. "What? You think I'm not pissed about tonight? Or about everything that happened to you guys? I need to vent!"
Sunset nodded and opened the small gate, heading past the sculpted bushes to the front door. She rung the bell and crossed her arms. While she waited for an answer, she looked around the corner, looking up and down the wall for any open windows, feeling uneasy about standing still.
"Hey, Trixie!" Pinkie shouted up at the windows, "We know you're in there!"
There was no response, neither at the door or the window, and after a moment the light turned off. Sunset sighed and patted down her pockets before reaching over into Rarity's hair, taking one of her pins. "Sorry. Watch my back." Ignoring her friend's short protest, she crouched down in front of the door and held her ear close to the lock, while moving the pin inside.
Pinkie stepped between her and the street, tapping her foot and whistling in an attempt to act normal. After a few moments, Sunset heard the telling scrape and click of the last tumbler and stood up, quietly opening the door.
"Why do you know how to do this?" Rarity asked pointedly as she took her hairpin back. Sunset just shrugged and avoided answering, quietly stepping inside.
The stairs were straight ahead. Framed family pictures and potted plants decorated the nearby dressers in the dark hallway. The only sound was the heavy ticking of a grandfather clock coming from the next room. Once they were all inside, Rarity quietly closed the door behind them.
Sunset pushed on, glancing at one of the pictures. The two adults in it were smiling, though only the man's expression seemed genuine. The young girl, who had to be Trixie, didn't even make an attempt. Her eyes snapped forward when the steps creaked and the soft padding of feet came slowly closer.
As soon as she was halfway down, Trixie locked eyes with Sunset and yelped in surprise. Immediately, she turned and scrambled back up the stairs.
"Trixie!" She made to follow her, but Pinkie already darted past her, running up after her and leaving Sunset as the third in line, coming around the bend in the stairway just after hearing the others tumble to the floor.
Pinkie had caught Trixie around the waist and thrown her down with her weight on top of her. "Gotcha!" she yelled, somehow still cheerfully despite the agitation in her voice.
"Get off of me! What do you want!?" Trixie struggled, trying to push Pinkie off of her but having a hard time doing so while she was lying on her front.
"We know what you've been up to, Trixie," Sunset said firmly, walking up to stand over her, crossing her arms. "You have to stop."
A look of realisation crossed Trixie's face but she quickly hid it with an accusatory squint. "You need to stop breaking into people's houses."
"It was an emergency this time."
"This time!?" Rarity asked, after having finally made it up the stairs behind them.
"Not the point," Sunset said quickly. "Trixie, you need to stop with your enchantments."
Trixie scoffed and tried to get up again, but Pinkie got up a few inches with her before letting herself drop on her back again. "You couldn't st-oof! stop Trixie if you tried."
"Wow, that's a toughie. I really am trying," Pinkie pointed out.
"Trixie, this is serious!" Sunset insisted, feeling her patience slip again. "I am not in the mood for arguments right now!"
"Oh, I see..." A cocky smile played on Trixie's lips. She propped up her elbow and rested her chin on her palm, trying to make her trapped position look casual. "You're jealous of Trixie's newfound power. Too bad, Sunset, Trixie's secrets are sealed within her mind."
Sunset growled and grabbed Pinkie's shoulder, pulling her up and with restrained anger pushing her behind her, before picking Trixie up by the front of her hoodie, dragging her up to her feet and glaring at her up close. "Listen, I don't know if you're reckless or just stupid, but your little stunts have seriously..." She trailed off as she noticed a glint under Trixie's collar. Tugging her a little closer still she glanced down her hoodie.
Set around the base of Trixie's neck was a thick necklace, flat against her skin. A wide band of black metal links, coming to a shield-like piece in the front, in which was embedded a red gem, glinting even in the darkness of the hallway. A stylised horned horse's head and spread wings stood out from the central piece.
She was distracted by the amulet for just a few moments, but long enough for Trixie to grab her jacket in turn. Her eyes glinted as if reflecting the light of the gem and with a sudden yank, Sunset's jacket sprung to life, forcefully pulling her back a few feet. Her hands slipped off of Trixie's clothes and her back hit the low shelf in the corner, toppling the empty vase sitting on top of it.
"That's enough now," Trixie said with a threatening calm, "You don't want to make an enemy of the Great and Powerful Trixie."
"Well, no of course not," Rarity finally spoke up again, "but perhaps you should at least... disenchant things when you're done?"
Trixie fixed her glare on Rarity. The glint returned to her eyes and stayed, a red haze drifting from her eyes like steam. "Trixie dispenses her gifts generously. You should be grateful."
"Your sewing machine enslaved me!" Rarity insisted, her indignation pushing through the intimidation. "And the fabrics nearly strangled Sunset!"
"That's silly, I didn't tell it to do that," Trixie said flippantly, making a dismissive hand motion.
"The soccer balls beat up Dashie," Pinkie added.
"And the mascot was chasing after Fluttershy!" Sunset yelled, trying to pull her arms out of the tightening sleeves of her jacket.
"Pffh, so what, no act is immediately flawless." Trixie made a beckoning motion and her hand-made cape fluttered out of her bedroom door and laid over her shoulders, the clasp sliding into place by itself. "Trixie just needs a little more practice."
"What you need," Sunset grunted, finally pulling her arms free, "is to take off that thing. It's not good for you."
"No!" Trixie's cape flared and she firmly glared at Sunset again. Her hair rose as if by an impossible breeze in the closed hallway. "It is the best thing that has ever happened to me! You can't take it!"
"Okay, I totally get that," Pinkie said with a nervous chuckle, "I used to take my favourite new toys to bed with me and my parents would get so mad and tell me to at least not bring it to the dinner table, but--"
"Quiet." Trixie pointed at Pinkie and two colourful handkerchiefs slipped from her sleeve, leaping towards her. Rarity raised both hands, creating a wide hexagon the flying cloth slapped against, before ineffectively fluttering to the floor.
Taking the chance while Trixie was looking at them, Sunset darted for her again, trying to reach for the amulet, but the cape billowed up between them, blocking her view. She tried to reach past it, but misjudged. Trixie easily stepped back and then skipped backwards, the billowing cape carrying her back through the bedroom door.
"You weren't supposed to know anyway! Trixie was going to keep it a secret until she had perfected it!" She landed in front of a tall trunk, the top opening by itself at her gesture.
"For trying to be secretive, you were pretty sloppy!" Sunset strode straight towards the door, her thumb and middle finger already coming together for a snap. In the last moment before she stepped through, Pinkie grabbed her arms and pulled her back. Simultaneously, Rarity stepped into her space instead, holding up her shield. An open pair of handcuffs slapped against it and fell to the floor, quickly followed by two juggling pins that landed with heavy thuds.
"Trixie, if it wasn't for us, who knows how many people would have found out. Found out by getting hurt," Rarity said firmly, slowly heading through the door with the shield up so they could approach. The cuffs on the floor sprung to life again, one half snapping around her ankle and the other around the leg of a heavy shelf. She nearly tripped and the magical construct faltered and vanished as she caught herself.
Sunset quickly ran forward when she saw Trixie's next hand motion, pointing towards Rarity, but Pinkie was faster again, pushing past her and catching the third juggling pin as it sailed towards her friend, though the impact was still heavy against her chest, not quite able to break its momentum with just her hands.
Sunset's fingers moved again, completing the snap. The by now familiar heat sprung to life and she rushed for Trixie. She wasn't sure what her plan was at this point, back in her brawler mindset of just rushing down her opponent before they could pull off anything else.
Something clamped around her legs, forcing her shins together, and she stumbled and fell, hitting the floor with her chest and chin. It was carpeted, but not enough to make it painless. She looked over her shoulder to see her own jacket, wrapped around her shins, the sleeves tying themselves like a straitjacket.
Trixie loomed over them now, the tables completely turned. With a triumphant snicker, she pulled more tools from her chest to hover behind her. The jacket was tightening, Rarity was trying to lift the shelf to slip the cuff away, and Pinkie was trying to keep the pin down, which was still lively.
Sunset held out her hand, reaching for the glint she still saw past the hoodie and cape obscuring it, past the slowly dying flame in her own palm. Just a bit more! Just reach further! She grit her teeth and with a slight thrust of her wrist, the flame obeyed, leaping up towards the magician.
Trixie yelped and stumbled back. A whole deck of cards fluttered from an inner pocket of the cape, catching the flames and burning to cinders. But she was startled enough for the temporary life to leave the jacket, letting Sunset push it off and push herself up again, enough to grab Trixie's hoodie and yank her down to the floor.
She ended up on top of her, pinning her down with one hand and grabbing the amulet with the other. It sizzled, suddenly growing hot in her hand. She grit her teeth against the searing pain and tried to block out Trixie's shouts struggling kicks, her hand on Sunset's face, trying to push her away.
Even though she didn't call on it, her magic sense flared up, a splitting headache instead of a dull thumping. Her vision tinted red, sharing the haze with Trixie for a moment.
Finally, the back of the necklace snapped open. Sunset ripped it away and tossed it behind her, making it clatter against the wall and fall onto the carpet. Her heart still pounding and her anger at a high, she balled her burned hand to a fist. Trixie flinched, trying to cover her face instead of holding her back.
"Sunset!" Pinkie wrapped both arms around hers, grabbing her fist with one clammy hand. Sunset yanked at her grip but she didn't let go, giving her enough pause to really look down at Trixie again.
The magician's expression had changed from smug triumph to bare fear. Sunset's hand was tightly wound into her hoodie, holding her by the front. What would have given her a rush of superiority before, now just left a cold sense of failure behind.
While her fist didn't unclench, she let go of Trixie and stood up, turning away from her. Pinkie still held on to her arm, more loosely, until she walked over to the amulet, picking up her jacket off the floor to not take it with bare hands again.
"It's not fair..." Trixie whispered into the sudden silence of the room, "You all get to have magic, too."
Sunset grit her teeth before consciously relaxing her jaw. "Yeah... life isn't fair, is it?" She looked down at the necklace, the red gem glinting like it was sneering at her.