//------------------------------//
// Chapter 22 - Magic duel 
// Story: Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness II 
// by bigsnusnu 
//------------------------------//

Magic Duel

Sunset Shimmer had been through a lot in her life. Being an orphan, she had lacked loving parents. Being raised by the cruel Archmage meant having very few and fleeting moments of happiness. And a rebellious and arrogant attitude like hers had made her deserving of very little affection from anyone who knew her. Yet despite all that, Sunset Shimmer had never felt more uncomfortable in her life than where she was right now… Staying next door to newlyweds Shining Armor and Cadance.

After arriving at the famous Neighagra Falls, the newlyweds had been locked in their room for two days. And having stayed in the next room, Sunset Shimmer couldn't help but hear 'certain noises' that the loving couple made in their room.

That first night, Sunset Shimmer hadn't slept at all. With her pillow covering her ears, and her cheeks completely red as she imagined her current teacher being with her new husband. And everything had continued exactly the same that morning without the newlyweds even going out for lunch. Alone locked in their room, doing what any couple would do on their honeymoon.

“When Cadance asked me to accompany her, I didn't think it would be for this…” Sunset Shimmer cried with embarrassment, hiding her head under a pillow after returning to the room that afternoon.

The yellow unicorn had taken advantage of that day to visit the famous falls but seeing that there were only couples in love there, being a very popular destination for newlyweds, is that Sunset finally ended up hating being outside her room even more, and decided to risk go back to her room. Fortunately, at that hour, it seemed that things had finally calmed down and there was no longer so much noise coming from Cadance and Shining's room.  Sunset pulled the pillow from her face and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"I wonder if Dusk Shine will have the same energy as his brother..." Sunset whispered. A thought that made her blush deeply, and she covered her face with the pillow again. "What am I thinking!? That…” A thought made all her embarrassment disappear, and her eyes turned sad. "That doesn't matter... Dusk and I are condemned to never be together..." 

'Knock-Knock' Suddenly there was a knock on the door to Sunset's room. The unicorn quickly got up from her bed and forgot everything she was thinking. She opened the door and saw a unicorn with white mane and gray fur. In fact, it seemed like his entire body, including his eyes and cutie mark, were just different shades of gray. As if there was no color at all in his fur.

"Excuse me, is this Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's room?" That singular gray stallion asked with a look full of concern. "I need to talk to her."

“Uh… I'm sorry. The Princess is…preoccupied until further notice.” Sunset replied, raising an eyebrow curiously. 

"Please! Tell her it's urgent!” That gray pony quickly begged for help. “My name is Sunny Skies, I am the Mayor of Hope Hollow. Our town need her help.”

“I'm sure you can solve your own problems, Mr. Mayor. That's what you were elected for." Sunset Shimmer answered without flinching and started to close the door.

"That's the problem! I'm the mayor, but even I can't stand up to the great and powerful Archmage…” Mayor Sunny Skies said. Sunset stopped abruptly from closing the door.

At the word 'Archmage', Sunset froze and stopped hearing everything else that Mayor Sunny Skies continued to say. At the mere mention of the pony that had 'taken care of' her and made her childhood hell, Sunset  flashed back to all those dark moments in her life. Paralyzed when hearing that title, which she hoped never to hear again.

"What did you say?" Sunset interrupted.

“I said that neither I nor anyone in the village could stand against the Archmage's magic. After all, the Archmage is known to be the most talented unicorn in the kingdom.” Sunny repeated what Sunset couldn't hear. "A few weeks ago, the Archmage came to our village and cast a spell that took the color out of the entire village, even the ponies that live there!"

“It's… It's impossible. It can't be the Archmage." Sunset said quietly. Lowering her gaze as her eyes were lost in a memory she wanted to forget.

"I saw it. They have the royal seal of Canterlot, and those high-level spells… No normal unicorn could cast them.” Sunny Skies added. “Also, that cape with stars… I've read about it. It is the symbol given to the most talented wizards in the kingdom, following the tradition of the famous Starswirl the Bearded.”

"Wait, did you say 'they'?" Sunset asked confused.

"Yes. The Archmage arrived at the village with a student.” Sunny Skies replied. “After our town lost its color, the Archmage left but the student stayed in the village. Now she is the one terrorizing the whole town.”

“The Archmage's student!? That's me! Did he have another student…?” Sunset thought, very confused. “No, wait! I'm forgetting the most obvious. There's no way he's the Archmage. Not after…what happened the last time I saw him.” Sunset thought, closing her eyes in fear and shivered as she recalled that memory from her past.

“Once a day, the Archmage's student challenges someone from the village to a magic duel. She says that if we beat her, she’ll leave the village, but no one can match her magic!” Sunny Skies continued with a look full of fear. “The worst thing is that every time someone loses a duel, she imposes a punishment on us. Now we are all forced to serve her like a queen without being able to do anything about it.”

Sunset Shimmer fell silent and looked down at the floor with a thoughtful gaze. 

"Okay... I'll go help you." Sunset Shimmer finally answered. Looking at Mayor Sunny with a look full of determination. She was going to solve this strange mystery, which in a strange way, involved her.

"Uh? You? B-But what we need is a princess! Only a princess can rival the magic of the Archmage or its student!” Sunny Skies said in alarm.

"Don't worry, with me it will be more than enough." Sunset answered with a smile full of pride. Imagining the surprise the mayor would have if he knew he was standing in front of the Archmage's true student. “After all, I’m Princess Cadance's student. It’s my duty to catch that pair of imposters.”

"What? Why do you think they’re imposters?" Mayor Sunny asked confused.

"Trust me. I just know.” Sunset replied with a serious look. It was impossible for the true Archmage to be in that town.

Sunset Shimmer prepared to leave the room to accompany Sunny Skies. However, just as she was about to leave, Sunset paused for a second and decided to write a letter to Cadance. Not because she was scared or needed help, but Cadance was still her new teacher nonetheless, and Sunset's new attitude told her that she at least owed the pink alicorn the respect to let her know where she was going.

“Anyway, I doubt that Cadance will even get to read the letter...” Sunset thought as she finished writing, with an amused smile. Just when certain noises began to be heard in the next room again, indicating that the newlyweds had returned to the fray.





On the way to Hope Hollow, Sunny Skies took the opportunity to tell Sunset Shimmer a little about the history of his town. Telling her how before him, his father had been mayor, and his grandfather before him. The latter being a talented inventor, he built a small 'rainbow generator', which they turned on once a year at their famous Rainbow Festival.

“A week ago, it was the date to celebrate our Rainbow Festival. However, after the town lost its color, no one wanted to celebrate the festival.” Sunny Skies said with a sad smile as they walked. “Heh! It would be ridiculous… For all those colorless ponies to celebrate a festival called the Rainbow Festival…”

At that moment, Sunset blinked several times quickly and looked attentively at Mayor Sunny.

“Is it me or is he even grayer now than before?” Sunset thought, not sure if that was true or just an effect of the light of the place.

Finally, both unicorns reached Hope Hollow. It was a small town that was very close to the river that flowed downstream of the Neighagra Falls. Once there, Sunset widened her eyes in surprise when she saw that indeed the entire town seemed to have lost color with everything, even the ponies and animals, in different shades of gray.

“Here, I think it's best that you hide for now. Your colored fur will draw a lot of attention.” Mayor Sunny said suddenly and put a cape and hood over Sunset Shimmer. “You had better see for yourself how powerful the Archmage's student is before she challenges you to a duel.”

“Ugh… Are you serious? Am I doomed to always hide my face?” Sunset muttered with annoyance. “There’s no need to hide. I'm not afraid that impostor will challenge me to a duel." Sunset added, grabbing her hood to pull it off. For an instant, though, Sunset remembered her past with the Archmage and imagined the very remote and unlikely possibility that somehow the real Archmage could actually be here. And with that thought, the mare finally chose to stay hidden under the hood.

“Sunny Skies! Where were you?" An earth pony, with a large mane of wavy mane tied in two pigtails, and a cutie mark of two flowers suddenly walked up to the pair.  The gray mare walked up to the mayor and gave him a quick kiss.

“I’m sorry I didn’t notify you of my departure, dear Petunia. I had to go for help.” Mayor Sunny replied. "Have you seen the Archmage's student?"

"Yes. It's 'that' time of day. Everyone is gathering in the central square.” The gray mare answered and pointed towards the center of town.

The three ponies hurried to the central square, where most of the locals were already gathered. Everyone had fearful looks as they awaited for the Archmage's fearsome student to appear.

"Who will she face this time?" A fearful mare asked near Sunset.

"I don’t know. But what else can we do? There is no hope of beating the student of the most powerful unicorn in the kingdom.” Another colt answered.

Suddenly, everyone fell silent when they heard 'Her' approaching. A mare dressed in a cape and hood was carried carried on a huge gold and gems saddle by four very tired stallions. Then Sunset peeked through the ponies to get a better look at the pony they all feared. At that moment, a shiver ran down Sunset's back, seeing that indeed whoever was approaching, was wearing a cape with stars. A historical symbol used by the high-level mages of the kingdom. However, that chill quickly disappeared when she realized that although it was a cape with stars, it was not the cloak of the fearsome Archmage.

“I've seen that cape before… But I don't remember where.” Sunset thought at the approach of the supposed student of the Archmage.

“Mayor Sunny, what did the Archmage you met that time look like?” Sunset asked, still watching the 'Archmage's student' approach.

“Oh! She was wearing a different cape than her student, but it also had stars on it.” The mayor answered with a small shiver. “She was a terrifying mare. And she must be, if she is capable of being the teacher of an already extremely powerful mare.”

"The Archmage is a stallion, not a mare." Sunset corrected. Which left Mayor Sunny and his partner Petunia very surprised. 

Finally the 'student of the Archmage' arrived in front of everyone and put on an arrogant smile when she saw the fearful looks of everyone present.

"Very well, who will dare to challenge me today?" That mare said, full of confidence. “Remember, if you can match any of my spells, I will gladly leave this town. But if you lose… Hehe, well, you know what will happen to you.” That mare added. Looking askance at the four ponies carrying her luxurious golden palanquin. 

"I-I'll do it." An old unicorn said suddenly, with a fearful look.

"No, dear!" The wife of the stallion said quickly.

"We must try if we want to save our village." The stallion said, patting his wife before advancing towards where the fearsome 'Archmage's student' was. As if he was heading towards his imminent execution.

"Oh no! It’s Mr. Hoofington.” Sunny Skies said with a worried look.

"Is he a unicorn skilled in magic?" Sunset asked, who had been about to challenge that mare right there, before Mr. Hoofington beat her to it.

"He's just a pastry chef." Sunny responded with a frightened look. “He’s just desperate, like everyone else. All he wants is for that mare to leave town.”

“Hehehe… Well, a new challenger. Let's see… What will be today…?” The supposed student of the Archmage said with a mischievous laugh. She then smiled wickedly and with her magic brought Mr. Hoofington's wife in front of her. “I think today I’ll try something new.”

“Let go of my wife!” Mr. Hoofington yelled in fright.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen to her. In fact, she should be grateful for what I will do to her… Let’s make her bit younger.” The hooded mare smiled wickedly and used her magic on Mrs. Hoofington.

After a big flash, everyone was stunned to see that Mrs. Hoofington had transformed, or rather, rejuvenated. Becoming just a little baby filly that immediately began to cry.

“A de-aging spell!? ” Sunset Shimmer thought in surprise. That was a very high-level spell. One that even she doubted she could do properly.

"What did you do to my wife, monster!?" Mr. Hoofington yelled in terror.

"It's only temporary, it’ll last a few hours." The hooded mare said, shrugging her shoulders. “But if you want to get her back right now, it's very simple. You just have to do the same spell that I did.” The mare added with a wicked smile.

Fearfully, Mr. Hoofington approached his wife, now just a baby filly. He then focused his magic on his horn and concentrated to try to reverse the magic that had been used on his wife. However, no matter how hard he tried, his magic was so weak that he could do nothing to reverse the powerful spell.

"Poor Mr. Hoofington." Petunia said, fearfully hugging Mayor Sunny. The mayor watch with fury and helplessness as poor Mr. Hoofington tried in vain to get his wife back.

"When she used that spell, I felt something strange... A strange magic." Sunset whispered and carefully analyzed what she had just seen. "Perhaps that impostor is using some kind of trick."

"A trick?" Mayor Sunny said, feeling increasingly furious with that mare who called herself the Archmage's student.

"Hahaha! It's useless. Neither you nor any of the unicorns in this town can match the power of my magic! Hahaha!" The hooded mare scoffed, enjoying the frightened looks of everyone present.

"ENOUGH!" Mayor Sunny suddenly shouted and stared furiously at the hooded mare. “I already found out the truth. You’re not who you say you are, you are just an impostor! And you only use tricks! Leave our village alone!!”

The hooded mare stopped smiling and looked at him seriously.

"What do you mean I'm an impostor?" The hooded mare asked, looking with a red gleam in her eyes at the mayor.

The mayor turned to look at Sunset Shimmer, so that she, being Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's student, would tell everyone the truth about the false Archmage and her student. However, she subtly moved her head, so he wouldn't reveal her identity yet.

“There is something very strange… something that I still can’t see. As if a piece of the puzzle was missing…” Sunset Shimmer thought. “The best thing is to remain hidden until I discover the truth.”

Understanding Sunset Shimmer's suspicions, the mayor turned back to look at the Archmage's fake student.  “I… I went to Neighagra Falls to talk to Princess Cadenza.” Mayor Sunny said. Deciding to tell what he discovered, but keeping Sunset's identity hidden. “There, she told me that the true Archmage is a stallion, not a mare, like the one that visited us a few weeks ago. And if she wasn't the true Archmage, then you can't be his true student either."

All the other ponies in the town started whispering amongst themselves at the mayor’s deduction. They were confused about whether what the mayor said could be true or not. As for the hooded mare, she simply fell silent and looked seriously at the mayor.

“You are all ignorant. None of you know the true Archmage, much less know the name of her greatest student…” The hooded mare said with an arrogant smile. She lowered her hood and moved her cape so everyone could see her face and cutie mark. "...the Great and Powerful... Sunset Shimmer!" The mare yelled, showing off her blue fur and cutie mark in the shape of a red and yellow sun.

“Lulamoon!” Sunset Shimmer yelled in her mind when she recognized the mare that pretended to be her.

Some time ago, when she was still outside of Equestria, she had faced Trixie Lulamoon in a magical duel. She was a skilled but inexperienced dueling unicorn who traveled performing magic tricks in and around Equestria. Normally, Sunset didn't remember the names of her rivals, since she had defeated dozens of unicorns in magical duels. However, she remembered Trixie for her particular cutie mark of a moon, which contrasted with her own. The very moon cutie mark that Trixie had now hidden, painting herself a copy of Sunset's cutie mark instead. In addition to mimicking Sunset's cutie mark, Trixie had also copied Sunset Shimmer's manestyle.

“At least she told the truth. She said that 'Sunset Shimmer' was the Archmage's student, but… why is she imitating me!?” Sunset pondered. “And not only that. If she's the Trixie Lulamoon I know, how come she can now cast high level spells? Was the age spell some trick?”

As Sunset's mind filled with even more questions, she didn't notice Mayor Sunny staring at her in confusion. Meanwhile, Trixie, aka, 'the fake Sunset Shimmer', glared at all the ponies that saw her.

“You, dumb villagers, doubting my identity. For that insolence, you should be punished.” Trixie said, touching her neck as her eyes flashed red for a second.

In that instant, Trixie used her magic and a huge barrier began to form in the sky, expanding and beginning to enclose the entire town under a bubble. All the ponies ran to the edge of the town to try to escape from being imprisoned, but it was too late. The dense magical barrier completely enclosed the town, before the terrified gaze of all, who in vain hit the barrier to try to break it.

"That's the punishment for doubting the Archmage, and the Great and Powerful Sunset Shimmer, hahaha!" Trixie cruelly laughed. “Tomorrow, you can challenge me to a duel again. And so, you will receive another punishment when you lose again, hahaha.” The mare then teleported away from the audience.

After Trixie disappeared, the real Sunset Shimmer walked to the edge of town, where most of the town's ponies were now. She touched the barrier and saw how strong it was.  “High-level magic again… How can she do something like that?” 

"That Sunset Shimmer is a monster." A little pegasus filly said, seeing that now she and her family were trapped.

“She and the Archmage… Are all the mages in the kingdom this evil?” An old mare pondered in fear.

Murmurs about how evil 'Sunset Shimmer' was and how the Canterlot unicorns were all evil began to spread throughout the crowd. All while the real Sunset Shimmer stood motionless, listening as everyone now spoke her name with fear and hatred.

For a second, Sunset closed her eyes and wanted to yell at those ponies that she was the real Sunset Shimmer and to stop believing everything they were told. However, her new empathic side managed to calm her down in that situation.

“Don't worry, they’re not to blame. They’ve all fallen for a deception. Now the important thing is to know, why does Trixie want to deceive them with a false name?” Sunset thought, managing to calm down.

“I could get through this barrier, but…” Sunset muttered, falling silent.

"You could go, but you don't want to leave us, do you?" Petunia suddenly said while approaching Sunset and looking at her with a sad smile. “That is very noble of you.”

At the mayor's marefriend's comment, Sunset looked at her in surprise, then looked away in embarrassment. What the mare said was true. Sunset knew that everything that happened there was not her problem, and that the old Sunset would have left without hesitation. However, now she knew that even if it wasn't her problem, if she could help, she should. It wasn't that she felt an obligation to help, Sunset legitimately felt inside that she WANTED to help. And that change of behavior inside her shamed her because she saw how Cadance's lessons had really taken their toll on her.

"Now I understand why you knew that those who attacked the village were just impostors." Sunny Skies suddenly said, approaching Sunset and looking at her with a serious look. “That mane and that cutie mark… You are the real Sunset Shimmer, right?”

Once again everyone in the town began to murmur and looked attentively and worriedly at Sunset. Then the yellow unicorn lowered her hood and showed them her face. As she did, they saw that it was the same manestyle that 'the other' Sunset Shimmer had that had locked them up. Then the ponies around her began to mutter different things, some frightened mutters, some confused, and a few hopeful ones. A few hints of hope began to grow among the townsfolk slowly.

“If she is an impostor, and you are the true Sunset Shimmer, then you are the true student of the Archmage!” Sunny Skies said hopefully. A comment that encouraged several of the ponies present, who for a second seemed less gray than normal. "With your level of magic, you could defeat that impostor!"

“It’s true that I was the student of the Archmage, but that was a long time ago. I am now Princess Cadance's student." Sunset narrowed her eyes, as if something was bothering her.

Back inside Sunset Shimmer, her two sides were fighting: the old Sunset and the new Sunset. The old Sunset was fighting to be heard, and what she was screaming was that she wanted to face Trixie in a magical duel. She wanted to defeat her and humiliate her for taking her name. However, the new Sunset wanted to avoid conflict. A part of her told her that there was something more hidden in all of this, and to discover it, she had to be smarter than just jumping in and attacking Trixie.

"Something is not right. I feel like there's something I can't see…” Sunset whispered out loud. At that moment she looked up and saw that all the ponies in the town were looking at her attentively. As if everyone was suddenly pinning their hope on her.

There was Mayor Sunny with his fiancée Petunia, Mr. Hoofington holding the baby filly that was his bewitched wife, colts and mares of all ages, old ponies and many foals, all waiting to see what Sunset's response would be. In that instant, for some reason, Sunset's gaze was drawn to two little pegasi, a colt and a filly, who appeared to be twins. Seeing them, both sides of Sunset finally stopped fighting in her mind, finding a common solution. She could have a magical duel, and at the same time, perform a cunning deception to swindle the scammer, and thus perhaps be able to unmask the mystery.

"Mayor Sunny, you said that your father and grandfather had been mayors too, right?" Sunset asked Sunny Skies. "Do they also live here in the village?"

"Uh? Y-Yes, why do you ask?” The mayor answered with confusion.

"Because everyone will be part of the greatest magic show you have ever seen." Sunset replied with a sly smile.





The next morning, Trixie lounged in a large room in what had been the town's hotel. There, she made sure that everyone in town filled the room with the greatest luxuries, so that she could have the room fit for a queen, as she had always deserved.

At that moment, Trixie was in front of the mirror, retouching her fake sun cutie mark, since in just a few hours, she would have to go out in public again to challenge another unicorn in a duel.

"What should I ask to be given now as punishment..." Trixie smiled wickedly while looking at her own reflection.

Trixie could have sworn she saw a red glow in her eyes in the mirror. She quickly shook her head and looked back at herself. After staring at herself in the mirror for several seconds, she found that her eyes were still the same violet color they had always been and that it must have been just an illusion.

Unbeknownst to Trixie herself, her eyes weren't the only ones that had occasionally changed, her own behavior had changed as well. Over the last few weeks, Trixie's actions had become crueler, and she had even begun to enjoy seeing other ponies suffer with her powerful new magic. Trixie thought that this was a simple consequence of having more power, but what she didn't know was that there was 'something' that was altering her own way of being. Something that she wore at all times hanging around her neck and that was slowly altering her mind.

After verifying that 'it' was well hidden under her cloak, Trixie went to the window of her room to look outside and check that everything was fine under her powerful barrier. As she did, she stopped as her hooves collided with something. Crouching down, Trixie saw a small travel bag, the one containing a few items that she had managed to salvage after her travel wagon was destroyed in Ponyville. She hadn't opened in weeks since she'd arrived in Hope Hollow.

Out of simple curiosity, Trixie picked up her bag and opened it. In doing so, the first thing her hooves touched was a photograph. His father's photograph, signed with his autograph. The one that Dusk Shine had given her before she left Ponyville, whose back read: 'To my biggest fan, don't give up and always smile.'

'Your father was a great wizard, but I think he preferred to make others laugh rather than demonstrate his great power…' These were the words that Dusk Shine said to Trixie some time ago. Words that now the blue mare remembered and, for some reason, moved her.

“What am I doing? Did I lock up an entire town just to show my power? Why?” Trixie thought with a struggle. At that moment her eyes glowed red again and she radically changed her gaze.

“What does it matter! The only thing that matters is that with my new power, I would shatter Dusk Shine if I faced him again!” Trixie said with a look full of anger. With her eyes glowing red, she threw away the photograph of her father.

Suddenly Trixie widened her eyes when she felt a strange vibration in her horn. The mare went over to the window again.

“Someone broke through my barrier!?” Trixie shouted, quickly using her magic to teleport to where she felt that magical disturbance. She was ready to punish anyone who had dared to break her barrier.

Arriving at the point where her barrier was broken, Trixie was surprised to see that the entire village was already gathered there. With all that crowd, she couldn't quite see who had broken through her barrier.

"Move! Make way for the mighty student of the Archmage!” Trixie demanded, using her magic to move the ponies in front of her. Once it did, Trixie finally saw what it was that had broken through the barrier. Which made her jaw drop. "What is this!?" 

In front of the hole in the barrier, there was a small cart, yellow in color with a red roof, with a small lilac sign that had her original cutie mark drawn on it. That whole cart… It was almost identical to her old cart that was destroyed by the Ursa in Ponyville!

Before Trixie could say anything else, the cart suddenly opened up and stretched out on itself, forming a small stage. Just like her old wagon did.

"Who dares to put a barrier in the way of...?" A voice suddenly said from behind the curtains of the newly formed stage. Then the curtains parted, revealing the real Sunset Shimmer, only now she was wearing a little costume. “…the Great and Powerful Trixie!!” Sunset yelled, who was wearing a cape identical to Trixie's, as well as wearing her mane styled as Trixie originally wore it. In addition to that, unicorn hid her face with a small mask.

Trixie turned red with anger and embarrassment, remaining silent for a few seconds due to the impact of that surprise.

“Is this some kind of joke!?” Trixie yelled with great annoyance.

"Who are you to say that the Great and Powerful Trixie is a joke?" Sunset Shimmer said, mimicking the theatrical voice she remembered Trixie using at her magic shows.

"I... I'm the real-!" Trixie stuttered before shutting up suddenly as everyone in the village was staring at her. So she gritted her teeth in annoyance and glared at the 'fake Trixie'. “I am Sunset Shimmer, the Archmage's student…” Trixie said through clenched teeth, forced to play along with the impostor who was imitating her.

“As I thought, she's going to play along to keep up her facade… Alright, we're going with the plan.” Sunset Shimmer thought with a devious smile.

The night before, Sunset had explained her plan to Mayor Sunny and her closest friends. A very skilled handipony named Torque Wrench was able to perfectly follow Sunset's plans to build a wagon identical to Trixie's. And a skilled fashion designer named Kerfuffle managed to create a perfect imitation of Trixie's cape.

“Well, she already fell into the trap. Now it’s the mayor and the others’ turn to act.” Sunset smiled, determined that it would not be her who would free this town from Trixie, but that it would be the ponies themselves who would free themselves. “Time to scam the scammer.”

"Oh... So you're the famous Sunset Shimmer..." The real Sunset said, looking at Trixie and smiling arrogantly. "Well then, the Great and Powerful Trixie challenges you, Sunset Shimmer, to a duel of magic!"

The few ponies in town who knew of the plan watched the real Trixie closely, waiting to see if she would fall for it. Curiously, that small group of ponies seemed to look less gray this morning. As the rest of the town, they also kept an eye on everything that was happening there. They had no idea of what was happening, but they expected to see that someone challenged the Archmage's student to a duel. For her part, Trixie simply lowered her head and smiled ominously.

"Fine... I'll show you my power, and then you'll pay for pissing me off..." Trixie muttered with a fierce look in her eyes.

Quickly, Trixie teleported onto the stage and smirked at the fake Trixie. With her ace up her sleeve, it was impossible for her to lose in a duel of magic.

"Well, what do you have in mind?" Sunset feinted disinterest. "Are you prepared to present a true challenge to the Great and Powerful-?"

"Shut up!" Trixie interrupted furiously. She was getting more and more irritated to see that imitator making fun of her. "If you want a real challenge, how about starting with a simple age spell?"

Before she could react, Trixie levitated a surprised old pony from the audience, who vainly tried to flee into the air. Then she used her magic, and with a big flash, the old pony rejuvenated and transformed into a little foal.

"Top THAT, 'Trixie'." The real Trixie smirked. “Although you don't even have to beat it. Just like I've told all these useless townies. If you even manage to match a spell as high level as mine, I’ll accept defeat. But you and I know that this is impossible, right? Hahaha!" Trixie laughed wickedly.

“Yaaawwnn… How boring. This is not a challenge for Trixie." Sunset faked a yawn and levitated someone in the audience. Who curiously, was Mayor Sunny Skies.

Once on stage, Sunset made her horn shine brightly and cast a beam of light at Mayor Sunny. As soon as the beam hit him, a huge flash of light blinded everyone for a few seconds. Once everyone was able to see again, everyone, including Trixie, was shocked to see that Mayor Sunny was now an old pony.

"That... That's impossible." Trixie was stunned as that mare imitating her had also managed to cast a powerful age spell.

Without Trixie noticing, several ponies in the audience started whispering among themselves. Especially the older ones, who knew perfectly well that who was now on stage was not really Mayor Sunny Skies, but his father, the former mayor.

To trick Trixie, Sunset had to imitate Trixie's age spell, but it was something so complex that even she couldn't do it without practicing first. Because of that, Sunset asked the mayor to bring his father to trick Trixie into switching places when no one was watching. And fortunately for the plan, the mayor's father was almost the same as the mayor himself, with the same colors of fur, mane and eyes. The only different was that he was much older and with a long white beard.

"An age spell is nothing." Sunset said with a small smile, deciding to gloat while she was still in a daze. “How about transforming a colt into a mare?”

“W-what!? There is no such spell!” Trixie said, slowly snapping out of her daze.

Without notice, Sunset levitated someone else in the audience back onto the stage. A young colt pegasus who feigned surprise at being chosen. Then Sunset shone her horn again, shooting the same beam of light that blinded all the ponies for a second. When everyone could see again, they saw that the young colt had somehow transformed into a filly. Identical to how he was as a colt, only with her long mane and subtly more feminine face.

"It’s the Barrel twins!" Some young ponies in the audience whispered, immediately recognizing the young pegasi who liked to do somersaults in the air.

As the murmurs grew in the audience, realizing what was really going on, Trixie's jaw dropped, unable to believe her eyes. Not even she knew of a spell to do what the fake Trixie did.

“I see I left you speechless, how about one more? Imitate this!” Sunset yelled, illuminating her hoof with a white light. She then stomped on the stage and a huge rainbow-colored lightning bolt flew into the sky from the floor.

As soon as the rainbow lightning hit the sky, a large rainbow circle formed in the sky, filling it with an aurora that shone with all the colors of the rainbow.

"It can't be... It was a clear sky, no water in the sky... Even weather pegasi can't do something like that!" Trixie yelled in a mixture of panic and frustration. The mare could hardly comprehend that this fake Trixie could do better spells than hers and touched her neck. A movement that Sunset well noted, noticing that Trixie had something shiny hanging from her neck.

While Trixie screamed in frustration, not understanding what was happening, the opposite was happening in the audience. Some of the residents of Hope Hollow already knew the mayor's father, others already knew the little Barrel twins, but what they all knew, without a doubt, was the rainbow light. As Mayor Sunny told Sunset, every year Hope Hollow held the Rainbow Festival, where Sunny Skies' grandfather's generator was used to light up the sky with colors. It was thus that all the ponies in town finally understood what the mayor and the real Sunset Shimmer were doing. Since they couldn't match Trixie's spells, they were tricking her into finally leaving town.

Admiring what Mayor Sunny and the others were doing, hope finally returned to the hearts of all the ponies in gray in town. And as they watched the rainbow-colored sky, knowing that the Archmage's so-called student would finally have to go, they all began to laugh and celebrate, just as if this was their Rainbow Festival. By doing so, not only was the sky filled with color, but everyone in the town finally stopped being gray and recovered their bright colors in their fur and mane. Magically returning all the color to the town.

“Now I get it… It was 'hopeless magic'.” Sunset thought, widening her eyes in surprise as she saw the town and the ponies regain their color. “Supposedly when a pony loses hope, its inner magic is affected. But this… It was taken to a whole new level! To break it, all that was needed was for the ponies to recover their hope, but whoever cast the spell made sure that the hopeless magic was enhanced by everyone being in the hopeless town at the same time. And more importantly, whoever did it, made the ponies lose hope day after day so that they couldn't find the solution that was in front of their eyes... Something so simple and at the same time so cunning... Was it Trixie who planned all this?” Sunset thought intrigued.

As the town celebrated having regained its colors, Trixie glared helplessly at everyone there. Then she turned her attention to the fake Trixie and her fury grew and grew. Just at that moment, when Trixie saw who was imitating her, it was then she noticed a movement behind the stage curtain, fleetingly seeing some hooves, a sign that someone was hiding there. Trixie widened her eyes in surprise, and in a few seconds, her gaze glowed red again, putting on a look full of fury as she finally understood how that impostor had achieved such impossible spells... It had all been a hoax!

"You... the only thing you did... was make fun of me!!" Trixie yelled in fury, her eyes glowing red. She used her powerful magic to break through the huge barrier that covered the town and summoning a huge gust of wind that violently slammed onto the stage. Causing Sunset to take cover and the ponies in the audience to flee.

Once the gust of wind passed, Trixie was able to unmask the fraud. As the stage curtains parted, she could see that Mayor Sunny and the young colt that had supposedly been turned into a filly were hiding behind it. Neither of them had been transformed with magic at all. It had all been a simple trick, changing places when the light from Sunset blinded everyone for a second.

With such evidence in sight, Trixie would have reacted furiously. However, something else caught the attention of the blue unicorn. The gust of wind had not only moved the curtains on the stage, it had also blown away the mask and cape that hid the true identity of the false Trixie. A face Trixie had nightmares about for a long time, a mare she hoped never to see again. The mare whose name she had stolen to intimidate that town.

“Sunset Shimmer…!” Trixie muttered furiously. Her teeth clenched and her eyes glowing redder than ever as she recognized the mare she hated the most in the world.

Hearing Trixie call her by her real name, Sunset touched her face and realized that her mask had fallen off. She looked up and barely had time to react, throwing up a shield to protect herself just as Trixie, in her fury, launched a powerful bolt of magic to attack her.

With the magic of both unicorns colliding and converging on each other, both of them could sense in a split second the spell the other was about to cast. So they both cast the same spell at the same time. With a great flash of light, both unicorns disappeared from the stage, leaving Mayor Sunny and the remaining ponies there very confused.

Not far from town, near the famous falls where Mayor Sunny had gone to look for Sunset, Trixie and Sunset Shimmer reappeared. Both of them had used the teleportation spell to leave the stage, and being both united by their magical attacks, they both arrived together. Sunset was relieved that she'd gotten out of town so no one would get hurt, but a little confused as to whether they'd come to Neighagra Falls because she'd thought of it, or because Trixie had chosen that destination as well.

“You don't know how much I hated having to use your name…” Trixie said with a furious look and used her magic to fix her mane to its original manestyle. The drops of water that came from the fall of the waterfall, erased the painting of the fake cutie mark and showed the real one. “Ever since you defeated and humiliated me the last time I saw you, I dreamed of this moment… The day I would exact my revenge!” 

“It's funny… Cadance asked me not to challenge anyone else to a magic duel again. She says they bring out the worst in me.” Sunset said, taking the opportunity to also fix her mane to its original manestyle. "But in your particular case, I think I'll make an exception." 





“I know I'm disobeying my teacher, but Trixie deserves a lesson for tormenting that town…” Sunset thought with excitement. Her old personality quickly surfaced though and she smiled mischievously. “Who am I kidding? I'm not just doing it for the town, I'm doing it for myself. I want to have a real magic duel!” 

Just like Sunset said, when she told Cadance about her past and how the Archmage raised her by forcing her to face magic duels; was that Cadance asked her not to have any more magic duels. Since she noticed that Sunset loved defeating her rivals, and that feeling of superiority prevented her from feeling empathy towards those she had defeated. However, despite complying with her new teacher's request, inside, Sunset was itching to duel magic again. And now that Trixie was challenging her head on, there was nothing Sunset's new kind personality could do to control the competitive urge that had always been within her.

“I’ll wipe that smile off your face… This time I’ll defeat you without a doubt.” Trixie touched her neck under her cape and smiled.

"You have a magical amulet that enhances your magic, don't you?" Sunset said with a small smile at Trixie's surprised look. “I noticed in town that you touched your neck a lot. It's the only explanation for you being able to cast such advanced spells now."

“Hmph… As cunning as ever. That's why I hate you." Trixie whipped off her cape to reveal what she wore around her neck. A black amulet with an alicorn emblem on it and a crimson gem in the center.

"I have no problem with you using a magic amulet in the duel." Sunset said with an arrogant smile, not even looking at Trixie's amulet. “But only if you take it off afterwards. Some magical items affect the mind and-” At that moment Sunset fell silent and opened her eyes in surprise when she recognized the amulet that Trixie was wearing. "That... Is that the alicorn amulet?" 

Without giving her an answer, Trixie's eyes glowed red and she used a speed spell to launch herself at Sunset, shooting a powerful magical beam at the yellow unicorn at the same time. As for Sunset, she barely managed to react after her surprise, and jumped away to avoid Trixie's beam.

Both unicorns knew that this magical duel was no longer just a show of parlor tricks. This was a battle, one in which both would attack each other with strong magical rays to hurt and incapacitate their rival. A battle in which no mistake could be made, else risk the life of whoever failed.

Giving Sunset no time to fight back, Trixie continued to fiercely fire several powerful magic beams. The yellow mare invoked some shield spells so Trixie's lightning bolts wouldn't hit her. However, to Sunset's surprise, her shields only lasted two or three hits before being destroyed. Forcing Sunset to teleport to save herself, reappearing not far from where Trixie's lightning hit the ground.

“That was close! That amulet is no joke. I think it doubled the power of Trixie's attacks." Sunset thought while panting. With so much dueling experience, it was easy for her to gauge her rival's power.

"What's wrong? Where did that arrogant smile you always had go?" Trixie sneered with an evil smile and her eyes glowing red. “The last time we met, you made fun of me. I still remember… 'Power', 'Concentration', 'Imagination', the three elements of magic. You told me that a 'Concentration' expert like me could never beat a 'Power' expert like you, but what do you think? With the amulet of the alicorn my power has increased, and now I am an expert in both principles!”  The blue unicorn threw another spell bolt at her opponent.

Seeing that Trixie was attacking her again, Sunset decided to forget the shields and defend herself in another way. After all, Trixie herself had given her the answer. Sunset's forte was 'Power', so the best defense was a good offense.

Sunset Shimmer focused her entire being into her horn and fired the same bolts of energy at Trixie's beams. The magical bolts canceled each other out upon hitting each other with huge rumbles.

"You... You won't beat me!" Trixie yelled and charged as much of her magic she could in her horn for a few seconds, to finally launch a single but very powerful magical beam. 

Sensing that Trixie had taken a while to charge up her magic, Sunset also hurried to do the same. Likewise launching a single powerful beam that collided head-on with Trixie's beam.

Unlike the other lightning bolts, these last two bolts were so magically dense that they didn't cancel each other out. Instead they pushed back against each other while the two mares tried to concentrate more power into them.

"You can't... You can't match me!" Trixie screamed when she saw that her opponent was able to keep up with her despite having the power of the amulet.  The red in Trixie’s eyes began to flash in and out sporadically.

"An expert in 'Concentration', who increased her strength by becoming an expert in 'Power' as well... That's what a good duelist should do..." Sunset said with effort, as she was using a large amount of magic to prepare for her next move. "That's what I did too... The only difference is that I didn't use shortcuts!" 

Sunset looked at the ground and, using her training to strengthen her concentration, made two small portals appear in front of her hooves.  Which appeared near Trixie, one on each side of her. So Sunset did her best to concentrate to keep the powerful beam colliding with Trixie's beam, while at the same time, keeping the two small portals active and launching other beams through them to attack Trixie from the sides.

Trixie was so focused on just powering up her beam that she didn't see the attack coming from the sides through the portals created by Sunset. Something that Trixie never expected, as Sunset's forte was supposed to be empowering high powered spells, not casting multiple spells at the same time.

With the attack coming from the sides, Trixie lost all her concentration on her main attack. As she did so, Sunset's strong beam pushed Trixie's beam toward her. Trixie received her own attack back, hitting her hard. Luckily though, Sunset banished her own magic at the last second. In order to at least save Trixie from the blow of both magical rays which could have left her very badly injured.

Although Trixie was able to evade a potentially killing blow, she was left quite sore and bruised. Sunset approached the battered mare, seeing that she had finally managed to defeat her.

"Im…Impossible..." Trixie growled in pain, gradually regaining strength, but still too weak to stand up. "I have the powerful alicorn amulet... You can't be that strong, it's impossible!" Her eyes intermittently changing color between red and their natural purple.

Sunset approached the defenseless Trixie, lifted her cloak to see the necklace she was wearing, and with a strong yank, ripped the necklace off her. As she did so, small red bolts jumped out from the necklace and the red gem that had been glowing stopped.

"No! That amulet is mine! That… I…” Trixie whined but quickly changed her attitude as her eyes stopped glowing red. It was as if she had woken up from a dream and all of a sudden, all the memories of what she had done hit her full force. “I… I enclosed all that town in a barrier? What was I thinking…?" Trixie muttered once her eyes completely returned to normal and was frightened at how cruel she was.

It wasn't that Trixie hadn't been in control of her actions. She was fully aware of what she was doing in breaking down the poor ponies of Hope Hollow. However, only now did she realize that she in her right mind would never have acted in such a cruel manner. Without realizing it, that magical necklace had not only increased her power, it had also intensified her hatred, her pride, her cruelty... And now that she was finally no longer wearing that necklace, all the remorse, guilt and fear that Trixie had been hidden inside herself for weeks pounded hard on her heart. Leaving her nearly speechless and finally being able to understand how cruel she had been for no reason.

"I told you that magical amulets affected the mind." Sunset said with a stern look after seeing that Trixie finally realized the horror she caused. “Especially defective ones.”

“Huh…? Defective?” Trixie asked slowly, coming out with a lot of effort from the impact caused in her by the avalanche of guilty emotions that she now felt.

Sunset threw Trixie's necklace on the ground and broke it with one stomp.

“If it had been the true amulet of the alicorn, I wouldn’t have been able to take it from you. The real one can only be removed by the wearer." Sunset answered, looking worriedly at the broken necklace.

"You... did you know that necklace was fake all along?" Trixie got up slowly with a sore face. 

Sunset averted her eyes and put on a hesitant look. Then she looked at Trixie again, seeing the guilty and sad look that the blue unicorn now had after understanding all the evil she had caused. Something that generated a strong feeling of empathy in Sunset. Because she too had been through something similar.

Then she sighed and used her magic. As she did so, a small chest appeared out of nowhere. A chest that Sunset kept very well, since it contained her two most valuable belongings. She opened the chest with her magic and levitated some of it. When Trixie saw what Sunset took out of the chest, she widened her eyes in amazement, seeing that Sunset had an exact copy of the necklace that she had been wearing minutes before.

That necklace was the object that Sunset had stolen years ago from the Archmage in a moment of anger. The same thing that she hid for years under a floorboard in her old room and that she had recently recovered on her return to Canterlot.

“There are two alicorn amulets…!? No... That necklace is different... It exudes much more magic than my necklace exuded.” Trixie noticed the intense brightness and dark magic that emanated from the beautiful but dark necklace. There was no doubt that it was the true and only alicorn amulet!

“The amulet you had was a very good imitation. Like most ancient magical artifacts, it greatly increased your power, and also affected your mind when used. But the true amulet is much more dangerous.” Sunset said, looking almost fearfully at the now levitating necklace, remembering probably her darkest and scariest memory. "Ancient magical artifacts can give a lot of power, but the price of using them... is very high..." Sunset added, putting on a dark look and closing her eyes, remembering the last time she had seen the Archmage.

“She cheated on me…? She… She never told me that the amulet was fake.” Trixie whispered. 

“Who gave you the fake necklace? Who was the-?” Sunset asked, shutting up suddenly upon realizing something.

Why had she brought out the alicorn amulet? Just to show Trixie? That had been a mistake! However, Sunset realized this too late. Just as Sunset widened her eyes in surprise, finally discovering what had been bothering her all this time, a powerful beam of energy came out of nowhere and hit her full on. Taking her flying away, falling next to the river that came down from the falls.

Once Sunset fell away injured, a hooded figure approached Trixie. The same figure that had given her the fake alicorn amulet, had guided her to Hope Hollow to enslave that town and told her to use the name of Sunset Shimmer to trick the town's ponies.

“Get out of here, Trixie. Your work here is done.” The mare wearing the hood said, not even looking at Trixie and focused at where Sunset Shimmer had fallen.

Trixie had dozens of questions, but what she did know for sure was that she had to obey that mare. Anyone who had hit the mighty Sunset Shimmer that hard was someone to be feared. So, Trixie gave a startled look and ran out of there.

After receiving that strong blow by surprise, Sunset slowly stood up and clenched her teeth at the pain she now felt in her chest where she had been hit.

"I was so focused on Trixie and the fake amulet, that I forgot what was really important.  I shouldn't have let my guard down!" Sunset thought with a pained look. Watching as Trixie fled while the mare that had attacked her kept her face hidden under her hood. “There was someone pulling strings behind Trixie. The mare who posed as the Archmage. The same one who had to give the fake amulet to Trixie. Who knew that I was the former student of the Archmage…”

Sunset was surprised to see that the mare's hood was exactly like the Archmage's old cloak. However, being an expert at hiding her emotions, Sunset always kept her poker face, giving her rival no clues as to what she might be thinking, lest she use it against her. "Who are you?" she asked stoically, not wanted to give her opponent the satisfaction of her pain.

The hooded mare didn’t respond. She simply reached down and picked up the real alicorn amulet that Sunset had dropped when she was hit. She inspected it and smiled victoriously.

“I've stolen a lot of things lately. I don't regret anything, but I must admit that I did feel a little guilty." The hooded mare finally said to Sunset with a smile. “However, this time I don't feel any guilt. After all, you stole it from the Archmage in the first place, didn't you?"

Sunset tried to hide the shock from her face from the mare’s knowledge of her secret.  She tried to remember all the ponies she knew to try to unmask the identity of that mare. However, her flow of ideas stopped abruptly when she saw the hooded mare take another step and pick up something else from the ground: Sunset's chest. In which, she kept her two treasures, the alicorn amulet, and an old photograph.

"How cute... The powerful and immutable Sunset Shimmer in love..." The hooded mare mocked, taking the photograph where a young Sunset Shimmer was with her first love, young Dusk Shine. “Hm, well, I do admit.  This colt is pretty cute.  Maybe I’ll find him and steal him away from you too!”

For the first time Sunset found it impossible to keep her poker face. She gritted her teeth and glared at the hooded mare, furious to see that someone else had her hooves in her most valuable possession. It was the only photo she had with Dusk. The one she had kept hidden from the Archmage, so he wouldn't destroy it.

"Give it back to me." Sunset Shimmer glared with a murderous look at the hooded mare.

At that instant, Sunset's horn glowed with enormous intensity. Accumulating an enormous amount of magic in her horn. A great burst of magic shone that would have frightened any unicorn in any magical duel.

The cloaked mare was indeed shocked, she even gave a nervous look at the huge magical aura surrounding Sunset's horn. However, after analyzing it for a few seconds, she lowered her gaze and smiled.

“You want me to believe that this is just a display of your power, haha! I congratulate you; you almost fooled me.” The mare smiled. “I suppose that would have put any other pony to flight. But I can read you like a book, Sunset Shimmer. I know you spent a lot of your energy fighting Trixie, and the pain in your chest from the blow I gave you must be killing you. Besides, you know very well that I have the alicorn amulet in my possession. You want to intimidate me because you know you have no chance of winning against me! Hahaha!"

“Damn it!” Sunset internally swore. Everything the mysterious mare had said was true. Sunset had used her moment of anger to try to scare her rival. Showing her a large amount of magic to intimidate her. In reality, Sunset had enough magic left for five or six more spells before she was completely exhausted. And if she added to that that her rival now had the true alicorn amulet, the truth was that Sunset's chances of winning in a duel were equal to zero.

"Don't worry, if you want to fight me so much, I'll give you the pleasure." The hooded mare said. Holding both Dusk's photograph and the alicorn amulet, and then looking at Sunset with a cruel smile. “By the way… I can beat you without much of an advantage.” The hooded mare added, keeping the photograph and the amulet in the chest.

Sunset smiled at her rival so confident that she wouldn't wear the alicorn amulet. Against the alicorn amulet, her chances of winning were zero. But fighting a simple unicorn was something she could do, even if she was exhausted. The only problem would be that it would have to be quick before she was completely exhausted.

As soon as the hooded mare put the amulet back in the chest, Sunset quickly teleported right in front of the hooded mare, who was surprised by such a fast attack. Then, before she could even react, Sunset kicked her far and she dropped the chest.

As soon as the other mare released the chest, Sunset used her magic to catch it out of the air to bring it to her side. However, the other mare managed to react before Sunset's hooves touched the chest. She launched a powerful beam that hit the chest and caused it to open and fall to the floor.

Both mares used their magic to grab from the items from the chest they most desired. The hooded mare levitated the alicorn amulet for her. Whereas Sunset, instead of fighting for the amulet, chose to ultimately save the photograph in the first place.

'Dusk, I've always told you. You're too emotional...' Were the words that Sunset had said to Dusk when he thought he would forget his friends. Words that now echoed in Sunset's mind, since she herself had chosen to save a photograph instead of the magic amulet, which would have saved her from losing the duel.  "I'm just as emotional as Dusk..." Sunset thought with a nervous smile, knowing that she could have made the biggest mistake of her life but satisfied with saving her last memory of Dusk and her as friends, her true great treasure.

“And there goes your chances of winning…” The hooded mare gloated and used her magic to disappear and hide the alicorn amulet.

"It's true that I'm weak..." Sunset said, also smiling. She also took the advantage of the opportunity to disappear and protect Dusk's photograph. “But tell me… do you really think you can beat me without the amulet?”

Without waiting for an answer, Sunset charged her horn with magic and fired a powerful bolt of magic at the cloaked mare. However, this time Sunset's rival was prepared and stopped the beam, putting up a shield in front of her.

“What is this?” The hooded mare thought, noting that despite protecting herself with her shield, Sunset's beam was so strong that it slightly pushed her and her shield. “She's already fought Trixie… Does she still have that much power left!?”

Knowing she had to end this duel quickly, Sunset used her teleportation to appear in the sky above her rival. From there, she launched another powerful beam, which the hooded mare barely saw. Then Sunset's lightning struck the ground near the river squarely, causing a lot of water to fly out, as well as steam formed from the heat of Sunset's magic.

Sunset landed and stood guard. The steam had clouded the area and she had lost sight of the mare. She was sure her rival hadn't had time to react to her last attack, and she hadn't felt any other defensive magic activate the moment her lightning struck.

“I don't know if that lightning was enough to defeat her, but it must have hurt her at least.” Sunset breathed heavily, as her body began to feel the weariness of magical exhaustion.

“Not terrible, Sunset. I would have been hurt…if I had been there.” The hooded mare's voice said from behind a shocked Sunset. The yellow unicorn quickly turned around and flashed her horn to defend herself.

“I'm sure I hit her! She didn't react in time and she didn't use…” Sunset thought, until she finally recognized what had happened. “It was an illusion… Did she use the reflection of the water to create a kind of realistic reflection?” 

"My turn." The hooded mare said, breaking Sunset's flow of thoughts. She charged her horn with magic and launched a strong beam at her opponent. Sunset saw that that beam was less powerful than the ones she launched, so she could stop it with a simple shield. However, knowing that she had little magical energy, she decided to evade the attack by jumping.

“What!?” Sunset thought, noticing that despite wanting to jump, her legs didn’t move.

Looking down, Sunset saw that her hooves were somehow glued to the ground along with her own shadow, which seemed darker than normal. Giving Sunset no time to understand what had happened, she was left with no choice but to quickly use a magic shield, just as the other mare's lightning bolt was about to hit her.  The magical beam was strong, but with a shield it was more than enough to stop it. The only thing Sunset regretted as the lightning hit her shield was that she had to forcefully spend magic to stop the attack.

“She tied my hooves to my own shadow? When did she do that? And with what spell?!” Sunset thought, maintaining her magic shield while the other mare kept hitting her with her magic beam.

As if Sunset didn't have time to think, she again widened her eyes in surprise as her shield began to break. She hadn't been wrong, her shield was stronger than that mare's lightning. However, to Sunset's utter astonishment, the mare's magical beam began to spin like a drill. Thus, despite being weaker than Sunset's shield, the beam began to slowly pierce and crack Sunset's shield.

Realizing that the cloaked mare's lightning was about to pierce through her shield, Sunset raised her head, causing her shield and her rival's lightning to fly upwards. A huge burst of light lit up the sky as both magics collapsed. Sunset breathed heavily and narrowed her eyes, feeling that magical exhaustion was about to make her pass out.

Without giving her time to breathe, the hooded mare smiled and fired another magical bolt at Sunset. This time launching a yellow beam of light, much thinner, but faster, than the other magical beam previously launched.

Using the last of her magic, Sunset managed to summon a small shield in front of her, just as the yellow beam was about to hit her. However, to Sunset's astonishment and disbelief, her rival's yellow beam curved just before striking Sunset's shield, swiftly circling the shield and directly hitting Sunset from the side.

As soon as the lightning hit Sunset, she felt her body fill with electricity and she fell paralyzed to the ground. With no magic mana left, and being attacked by a strange paralyzing ray, Sunset was left trembling on the ground, completely defenseless. Her opponent smiled victoriously and slowly approaching Sunset.

“I heard what you and Trixie talked about with the three foundations of magic… About the importance of 'Power' and 'Concentration'… So naïve! Neither of you understands that the true strength of a spell, it comes from the 'Imagination'.” The hooded mare said as she approached the paralyzed Sunset. "It's useless in a duel to have unlimited power or concentrate to cast ten spells at the same time if you can't defend against a spell you don't know, hehe..."

As the hooded mare gave her speech, Sunset couldn't help but frown. 

The hooded mare put a hoof on her, stepping on her in a show of superiority.

“Here is the almighty Sunset Shimmer. The mare that defeated dozens of unicorns in magical duels. Here she is… defenseless under my hoof, haha.” The hooded mare laughed, mocking Sunset. Then she stopped smiling and glared at Sunset. “I heard a lot of rumors about you. They even say that you broke a mare's horn after defeating her in a duel." At that moment, the hooded mare put a hoof over Sunset's horn and slowly pressed. "I don't blame you, I've had that thought too... What would happen to a unicorn when you break its horn?  Let’s find out." With a cruel smile, she started to put more weight on her hoof to break the yellow unicorn's horn. All while Sunset screamed in pain.

Suddenly, the hooded mare saw out of the corner of her eye a great light approaching. Which gave her time to jump and evade a strong magical beam that almost hit her. With a great leap, the mare managed to get away from Sunset just before the mare that had attacked her landed.

“Leave my student alone!” Cadance said with a fierce look, standing in front of Sunset to protect her, glaring at the perpetrator.

“How did the Princess get here?” The hooded mare thought confused, until she remembered how Sunset blew up her drill beam alongside her shield, making them both explode with a great light. "Even under all that pressure, she thought of a way to let her know where she was, in case she lost the duel..." She couldn't help but admire a little how smart Sunset had been.

Seeing that it would be difficult to fight a princess, the hooded mare narrowed her eyes and glared at Sunset. Who slowly seemed to be coming out of her paralysis.

“Bah!  This is pointless!  I already have what I came here for.” The unicorn shot another beam of lightning at the river to cover the area in steam once again.  “But this is far from the last you’ll see of me.”

Narrowing her eyes from the steam in the air, Cadance watched in annoyance as that mare fled hidden in the mist. She would have liked to go after her immediately, but the first thing was to see that her student was okay.

"Sunset, are you okay?" Cadance asked, turning to Sunset.

Cadance was surprised to see that Sunset was trembling. With her eyes lowered, hugging herself as if she were very cold.

"I… I lost. She… She almost broke my horn… She even… She could have… ended my life…” Sunset repeated what she had just experienced, as if her mind was still struggling to believe everything that had happened.  She had just lost a magic duel for the first time that wasn’t her former mentor.  Her pride felt…shattered. 

“Oh…Sunset.” Cadance said worriedly, approaching her student to give her a comforting hug.  The poor thing must have been trembling with fear after what she experienced. However, just before she hugged Sunset, Cadance stopped in her tracks at the sight of something strange… Was Sunset smiling?

“I… I want to duel her again!” Sunset said with a big smile. Indeed, she was trembling out fear, but it was also with excitement.  The adrenaline was coursing through the yellow mare, giving her an almost high sensation.  After all these years, she finally had a rival!

Seeing that her student was stronger than she seemed and that it was more than enough to console herself, Cadance sighed resignedly with a small smile. The side of Sunset that loved dueling magic, and that she had tried to suppress in Sunset, was precisely what gave her student the courage to go forward.

“Sunset, you are incorrigible.” Cadance huffed in amusement and helped the mare up with a hoof.

"I know." Sunset smiled and looked towards the river where the hooded mare had fled. The face she had caught a glimpse of under the hood when her rival had approached her was burned in her memory. “I think lilac has become my new favorite color.” Sunset added, determined to fight again against the mysterious mare with lilac fur and purple eyes.





In Golden Oak Library, Spike was snacking on some small emeralds while quietly reading Lyra's latest comic. Normally, he wouldn’t have been reading Lyra's comic with the naked eye, since Dusk had forbidden him to read it due to ‘certain scenes’ depicted in the story. However, now Spike had the freedom to read without fear of Dusk catching him.

At that moment, somepony knocked on the library door. The dragon reached over to open it quickly and saw that it was Derpy. The cross-eyed mare delivered the day's mail, as always, with several late letters that should have arrived several days before.

Spike prepared to throw it next to another pile of mail that Dusk hadn't opened. However, after thinking about it for a while, Spike put on a serious look, took all the letters that had arrived and went up the stairs to Dusk's room.

Spike opened the door to the room and sighed despondently as he saw that the room was still as he had seen it the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that... With the curtains closed, leaving everything in darkness, and with Dusk Shine lying on his bed, motionless, with the pillow over his head.

“Ugh… Duuuusk! You've been like this for a week, enough is enough!" Spike huffed and opened the curtains in the room. “Ever since we came back from Shining's wedding, you've done nothing but cry and wail in your room… You haven't even taken a bath! You're even still wearing your wedding suit!" Spike added, seeing that his brother was still wearing his tuxedo from a week ago.

After returning to Ponyville, Dusk had walked home like a zombie and locked himself in his room. Spike understood that his brother felt sad, after all, his marefriend had broken up with him at the wedding. For this reason, Spike let his brother sink into his grief, knowing that it was something he had to get over with time. But after a week of depression, seeing that his brother still refused to even get out of bed, Spike decided that Dusk's self-pity had to end.

"I know it hurts that you and Applejack are no longer dating, but you have to go back to your normal life." Spike added, looking worriedly at his brother. "You and Applejack can still be friends."

Dusk sighed and finally took the pillow off his face. He looked up at the ceiling with a serious look.

“I know… I know that Applejack doesn't hate me, and that she, just like me, wants us to be friends again. But how do I do that?" Dusk said, putting on a sad look. “I'm so embarrassed and scared to go out and see her again… I… I don't know how I should act now.”

It had been a long time since Dusk had already passed the stage of crying and sadness after breaking up their courtship. However, every time he thought about going out and meeting up with his friends again, especially with Applejack, it made Dusk's stomach ache with nerves, and he would remain motionless on his bed again.

Spike sighed tiredly and put on a thoughtful look.  “Yesterday I ran into Apple Bloom at Sugarcube Corner. She told me that Applejack was also locked up for a couple of days like you.” Spike said, walking over to his brother. "But she’s already out of her funk and back with hanging out with the girls again.”

"I thought so... She's a strong girl... Stronger than me." Dusk said with a small sad smile. He then closed his eyes, inhaled strongly, and then exhaled, opening his eyes with a look full of determination. "You’re right! Enough self-pity. Time to get back up and move on!” The empowered colt finally got off his bed.

"That's the spirit!" Spike cheered and gave Dusk the mail they had received.

With a smile, Dusk took Spike's mail and opened some letters. However, as soon as he opened the second letter, Dusk's smile disappeared, and he lowered his head again as if a sudden storm cloud were floating above him.

"What's wrong?" Spike asked, concerned about Dusk's surprising change in attitude. The pony picked up the last letter he had opened and showed it to Spike.

"It's our divorce letter..." Dusk cried in a very tragic way. The mayor, as promised, had finally annulled his marriage to Applejack after a month. The letter couldn't have come at a worse time, just when Dusk had finally spent two seconds without thinking about his ex-marefriend.

“Ugh! Stop!" Spike cried.  The small dragon jumped up to slap Dusk. "No more of this sad pony stuff!  I want my big brother back!”

"You're right!" Dusk said after the drake slapped some sense into him, albeit leaving a red claw print on his cheek. “Time to go out into the world again!”

“Yeah!...Although you should probably go shower. You reek!” Spike added, seeing that Dusk was still wearing his wedding suit that was starting to smell ripe after so many consecutive days unwashed.

"Oh, right." Dusk said, finally taking off his wedding suit and walking towards the room's bathroom. "I've let a lot of time go by, and there are a lot of things that- Ouch!" Dusk screamed in pain after Spike threw a book at his head.

Turning around, Dusk saw that Spike was looking at him with a look full of horror.

"Get out! Changeling!” Spike yelled and threw more books at Dusk.

"What!? Ouch! Are you still paranoid?" Dusk panicked and evaded the books thrown at him by his little brother. “The wedding is over! The changelings were expelled from this kingdom!”

“You won't fool me again! You didn't even imitate my brother well this time!” Spike said without stopping throwing books at Dusk. "That's not my brother's cutie mark!"

"What are you talking about? My cutie mark is still-" Dusk gestured at his flank he hadn't seen in days since he'd put on his suit for the wedding. However, Dusk widened his eyes in surprise and went pale. His cutie mark was the same as always, with the difference that... "Why did one of the stars change color?" Dusk muttered, noticing that one of the five white stars on his cutie mark was now rose like the star in the center of his cutie mark.

End of chapter 22