//------------------------------// // Chapter Six: Punches and Discussions // Story: The Nail // by Boltstrike58 //------------------------------// Fizz and Twilight slowly paced around in a circle, staring each other down, like a pair of prowling cats. While Fizz didn't understand exactly how Twilight was able to siphon the magic of the other princesses, she knew the unicorn's goal was to add her magic to the pot. With the magic of four alicorns and Discord, the question wasn't what could Twilight do. It was what she couldn't do. Fizz wouldn't allow that to happen. "It doesn't have to be this way, you know," said Twilight. "You could just give up your alicorn magic. It'd be quick and painless, I promise." "Let me guess: if I did that, you'd spare me and my friends when you destroy Equestria?" Fizz snapped back. "Please. Like I'm going to trust your word on that." Twilight blinked. She actually appeared confused. "Destroy Equestria? Why would I ever want to do that? I love Equestria! Everything I've done has been for the greater good of Equestria!" "Oh, yeah. Stealing the princesses' magic? Totally the thing Equestria needs! What, do you think you can do a better job raising the sun and moon?!" "I'm not stealing it!" Twilight insisted. "I'm just borrowing it until I do what needs to be done!" "Whatever. I don't care what your crazy plans are," Fizz snapped back. Tiny bolts of static zapped out of her horn, burning the earth beneath her hooves. "I'm doing what's right, that's all." "But you don't—" Twilight began, only to be interrupted by a bolt of lighting launching out of Fizz's stump. Twilight barely managed to raise a shield in time. The force of the attack pushed her back a little, but with the magic of three alicorns, it held. Fizz spread her wings and flew forward, aiming a descending punch towards Twilight's head. However, this attack was easily foiled by a quick teleport, putting Twilight behind Fizz. Twilight then launched her own magic beam, blasting Fizz directly between the wings and knocking her out of the air. "I meant what I said!" Twilight shouted. "I'm doing this for the good of everypony! I know my methods aren't the kindest, but—" "Zip it," Fizz shot back, climbing to her hooves once more. "I don't care about whatever crazy motive you have. I'm gonna stop you, no matter what." Twilight gritted her teeth. "You don't understand!" she retorted. "Granted, I haven't explained everything, but to be fair, you aren't really giving me a chance! Now if you'd just stand still and listen—" That was when Fizz struck. She launched another ball of lightning towards Twilight, and though she missed a direct hit, it still exploded like a firework at Twilight's hooves. Twilight was launched off the ground and fell back, slamming into the dirt and sliding a good distance. Fizz closed in on her with her alicorn wings, preparing to seize Twilight's horn with her magic hand. Hopefully, this act would serve to stop Twilight from casting spells, canceling out most of her offensive and defensive options. Unfortunately, Twilight recovered faster than she expected. The unicorn teleported away just before Fizz could grab her horn, appearing a short distance away, back on her hooves. Fizz grunted, and continued flying towards Twilight, but Twilight lit up her horn, before sending a pink wave over Fizz's body. Suddenly, the effort required to keep her in the air increased tenfold, and Fizz dropped like a rock. Twilight had increased the gravity around Fizz, pinning her down. "There," Twilight said, in between pants. The effort of keeping the princesses' magic, as well as the fight, was clearly getting to her. "Now, if you'll just wait a few seconds, I can explain why I need your—" This time, the interruption took the form of Fizz using all her strength to raise her head, and firing a flurry of lightning bolts from her horn stump. Twilight raised a shield to block them. "You're not making this easy, Princess Fizzlepop," she said, the annoyance clear in her voice. "Bite me," Fizz growled back. "Come on, Fizz! Fight through it!" yelled Rainbow Dash. "You can't let this wannabe take you out!" "Fizz, you must keep going!" implored Celestia. "I know you can stop her!" Twilight groaned. "Your little cheering section is getting on my nerves." She enveloped Fizz in her magical aura, pulling the alicorn over to her. "We're gonna go somewhere quieter, if you don't mind." She lit up her horn, and teleported, taking Fizz with her. Fizz and Twilight reappeared on the top of Mt Canter. Fizz, still under the effects of Twilight's gravity spell, grunted as she slammed into the ground once again. Twilight wobbled on her hooves, but managed to keep her balance. "Whoa...sorry, I didn't mean to teleport us this far," she moaned. "I'm not used to having that much magic. Oh well, I'll get it under control." "Keep telling yourself that," Fizz grunted. "Keep telling yourself that you're not in way over your head." "Hey, I know what I'm doing!" Twilight snapped back. "I've been planning this for a long time, and figured out every tiny detail! That's kinda my thing!" "Yeah? Well, you forgot the fact that this plan was completely insane! Seriously, what could possibly make you think this was a good idea?" "You don't understand," replied Twilight. She looked forlornly down at the earth beneath her hooves. "I have to explain everything. Then I'm sure you'll willingly let me borrow your magic." Fizz rolled her eyes, but she didn't interrupt this time. She did genuinely want to know what had set Twilight down this path. "It all started with my entrance exam to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. For my exam, I was tasked with hatching a dragon egg - Spike's egg - with my magic. I tried my best, but it just wasn't working for some reason. Then, all of a sudden, there was this huge explosion of sound, and a blast of rainbow light washed over. It super charged my magic, and all of a sudden, Spike hatched into a giant dragon, my parents turned into potted plants, and the judges all turned into rocks." Fizz's brain suddenly remembered Rainbow Dash's story of her first Sonic Rainboom. It had to be that same event that triggered Twilight's magical surge. "Princess Celestia wasn't around, so it took a team of unicorn mages hours to undo the spells. I was still allowed into the school, because I did technically hatch the egg, but it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows from there. Everypony was afraid of me because of what happened at the exam. They called me a freak, a disaster waiting to happen, all sorts of nasty things. I'm guessing you're no stranger to insults, what with your broken horn." Fizz gave her a small glare, but nodded nonetheless. "I did my best to ignore the taunting, but it became too much. Nopony would work with me, and they actively sabotaged my attempts to find work, even with my vast knowledge of magic. Eventually, I just couldn't take it anymore. I took Spike from the school and ran away. "I watched from afar as you and your five friends rediscovered the Elements of Harmony, defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord, and you ascended to become an alicorn. If I said I never felt jealous of you, I'd be lying, but I don't hate you. In fact, you're part of the reason I decided to go through with this plan." "Me?" asked Fizz, confused. "Look at this world ponykind has created, Fizzlepop," continued Twilight. "Some ponies go through life never experiencing loss, desperation, or misery. For others, those are the only things they know. I'd never claim my life was the worst, but it certainly wasn't easy. Princess Luna had to be imprisoned in the moon for one-thousand years. Then...you. I don't know everything about you, but I can tell your life hasn't been just prancing through the flowers. So I'm going to fix that." "What are you talking about?" asked Fizz, growing uneasy as to where this conversation was going. "I'm borrowing all the magic of Discord and the princesses so I can undo all those things. With Star Swirl's time travel spells, and a little bit of creative rearranging, I can fix everything that's ever gone wrong in Equestria. No more suffering, no more abandonment, no princesses being trapped for one-thousand years in the moon." She turned to Fizz. "No more broken horn. Doesn't that sound great? Living your life without anypony looking down on you." Fizz just stared, unable to comprehend exactly what she was hearing. Finally, she shook her head. "I was wrong when I said you were crazy. You are completely unhinged, Twilight," she finally said. Twilight blinked. "...what?" she asked, after a long pause. "I said, you're completely unhinged," replied Fizz. "There's a reason Star Swirl never put those time travel spells to the test, you nutcase! Do you have any idea how many things you could screw up by going back in time?! Especially as far back as Nightmare Moon's time?! You could completely erase yourself from existence! And don't get me started on the damage you could do to Equestria!" "But I'll have the magic of the princesses and Discord!" Twilight shot back. "I'll disconnect myself from the time-stream until I put everything in the right place, and—" That was when Fizz struck. Twilight's gravity spell had been gradually wearing off, and now it had broken completely. Fizz lunged forward, wrapping her forehooves around Twilight's neck and rolling forward, sending the two ponies rolling in a ball over the grass. After a few rotations, Fizz threw Twilight off of her, sending the unicorn into a tree before she could teleport. "And besides," continued Fizz, getting back on her hooves, "I don't want my horn restored anymore." Twilight rubbed the back of her head where she'd been struck. She got back into a standing position as well. "Why not?!" she demanded. "I've studied your life. I saw how Blueblood and all those snooty rich ponies looked down on you because of it. I saw how you lost your friends back at your home, how they abandoned you just because of your injury! For what reason could you possibly want to keep those experiences in your life?!" "Because they're part of me," Fizz replied, simply. "They helped make me the pony that I am, for better or worse. I'm sorry for what you went through in magic school, Twilight, but that's no excuse for what you're doing now. You've gotta stop this madness." "NO!" Twilight yelled back, charging up her horn. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ME AT ALL!" Fizz wisely took off with a flap of her wings, just in time to avoid the magic beam Twilight launched at her. Looking down at her opponent, Fizz noticed Twilight grimace and squeeze her eyes shut, as bolts of loose magic zapped out of her horn. Clearly, she had not planned on holding onto the magic of three alicorns for this long, and the strain was beginning to get to her. Fizz had a window, and she intended to take it. And this time, she wouldn't play by Twilight's rules. She dived downwards, creating her magic hand in the air above her. Twilight recovered enough to see the attack coming, of course, and blasted Fizz's magic hand apart. However, the hand was just a distraction. The alicorn continued her descent, until her forehooves slammed into the dirt. Before the rest of her body could follow, she swung her back end around, in an improvised version of the sweeping kick she'd practiced a thousand times. Twilight's legs were knocked out from under her, and she fell onto her side. Not content to end there, Fizz grabbed Twilight's mane with one hoof and tossed her to the side, where she landed with another painful thump. Fizz fell into her familiar fighting stance as Twilight was forced to climb to her hooves once more. "You'll pay for that," growled the unicorn. "I'm sure you'll try," retorted Fizz. "Probably won't succeed, though." With a roar of frustration, Twilight teleported behind Fizz and seized a chunk of the earth with her magic. Before she could bring it down on the alicorn, Fizz dropped her whole body down and rolled like a log, evading the clumsy attack. Fizz then created another magic hand, which flew forward and punched Twilight in the face. Twilight, clearly getting more irritated, responded with a blast that split the earth beneath Fizz's hooves, sending dirt and grass into her eyes. As Fizz tried to clear her vision, Twilight enveloped the alicorn in magic, intending to drain her powers in one quick stroke. However, Fizz cut her off by channeling all of her anger into her horn stump, sending several electric bolts out that zapped Twilight. Freed from Twilight's magic once more, Fizz nailed the unicorn with a roundhouse punch to the jaw, staggering her opponent once more. "I'm trying to fix everything, you idiot!" Twilight grunted, massaging her sore cheek where she'd been hit. "Why couldn't you at least let me try?!" "Because I'm not willing to gamble the fate of everypony everywhere on a theory," Fizz shot back. Part of her briefly considered pointing out how she'd handled the misfortune life had dealt her much better than Twilight had, but her brain reminded her that, had it not been for Celestia's kindness, she probably would've run away from home. It was very possible that Fizz herself might've ended up like Twilight, or worse. Twilight didn't seem to care either way. As Fizz sent another few bolts of lightning towards her, Twilight raised a shield to deflect the incoming assault. However, as soon as she dropped it to launch another attack of her own, Fizz struck with a jumping kick, nailing Twilight right in the pectorals. Then Fizz dived down, grabbed Twilight's tail with her mouth, and swung the unicorn against the ground like a golf club. Twilight's horn dug into the earth, creating a long, grassy scar, and her mane was messed up even further. At this point, Twilight apparently had had enough. She teleported out of Fizz's grip, appearing in the air just above the alicorn, and dropping down onto her back. Fizz reached up with her forelegs, intending to grab Twilight and perform an overhead smash, but Twilight had already cast a spell before she could. That spell took the form of a raspberry wave that pulsed outward from Twilight's horn, which diffused into Fizz's skin. Nothing happened until two seconds later, when Fizz felt her muscles slacken, like they'd turned to rubber. She immediately tried to tense up, but the spell was too powerful, and her whole body collapsed. The only things she still had control of were her eyes, ears, and mouth. Twilight climbed off the paralyzed alicorn. "There. I don't know why I didn't do that in the first place," she grunted. "Now I can borrow your magic without you interfering." "No...you can't..." Fizz weakly protested, unable to so much as lift her head. "I'm sorry," Twilight replied, "I know this hasn't been a pleasant experience for you. I promise, when I'm done, I'll make it all up to you. I—" "By making it so I never become Celestia's student in the first place?!" Fizz shouted, though her voice was somewhat muffled by the grass. Twilight flinched a little, but soon recovered. "I beg your pardon?" she asked. "I first met Celestia when I was running away from home!" Fizz snapped. "It was months after my horn first broke! If you change that, make it so I never met that ursa, I might not become Celestia's student at all! Then you'll be missing the magic of a fourth alicorn! What are you gonna do then, genuis?!" "Well, I'm sure there's some way I can make it—" "ALSO, IF LUNA NEVER GETS SEALED BANISHED TO THE MOON," Fizz continued, screaming now, "CELESTIA AND LUNA WILL NEVER NEED TO FIND NEW BEARERS FOR THE ELEMENTS! WHAT ABOUT DISCORD?! WHAT IF HE NEVER REFORMS AND JUST STAYS TRAPPED IN STONE FOREVER?!" "I can fix all of that!" Twilight insisted, though her words didn't have much weight behind them. "You're just trying to confuse me—" "NO, I'M JUST POINTING OUT ALL THE THINGS YOU DIDN'T CONSIDER! ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS PREVENTING YOUR OWN PROBLEMS, AND YOU ACT LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO FIX EVERYPONY'S SO YOU CAN HOLD THE MORAL HIGH GROUND—" "SHUT UP!" Twilight screamed back, punching Fizz in the face. She flinched, as if she herself couldn't believe what she'd just done. Fizz spat out a few drops of blood. "See? You can't even deny I'm right. You're not trying to fix Equestria, you're trying to ruin everypony's life so you feel better." "No...that's not true, I-I just wanted..." Twilight was on the verge of tears now. "I-it hurts so much, I—" The paralysis spell was wearing off by now, and Fizz was able to lift her head ever so slightly. "I know," she said, softly. "I've been where you are now, trust me. I was about to abandon ponies altogether after I lost my horn. If it hadn't been for Celestia, I would've done just that. I'm sorry nopony was there to do the same for you." Twilight fell to her stomach, weeping into her forehooves. "I...I'm so sorry," she said in between sobs. "I thought I could...make everything better...but I didn't think it through..." Fizz managed to shrug off enough of the spell to get to her hooves. "I know I said some pretty harsh things, but you can still stop. Just give up the magic, and you can end it. You haven't done anything that can't be reversed." Twilight trembled a little more, but she managed to stand up as well. "I-I'll give it back...I'll—" And that was when a thunderous crash drew their attention. Fizz and Twilight both spun around, looking back at the city of Canterlot. A massive cloud of smoke began to rise upwards from the city, indicating a fire had started somewhere. "On second thought," said Fizz, "maybe you should hold onto it for a little longer." "Spike..." Twilight muttered, the worry fully evident in her voice.