//------------------------------// // 3. It's a Kind of Magic // Story: Crisis on Two Equestrias // by RainbowDoubleDash //------------------------------// Trixie had woken up several minutes earlier, but she had spent those few minutes in almost a meditative state, as she focused on her low, but growing, internal supply of magic, willing it to move and flow around in side of her, making every last iota of power count. Once done, she slowly opened her eyes, and found herself looking at and an orange unicorn in a doctor’s outfit, whom she assumed was the Doctor Stable that Applejack had mentioned…whenever she had last woken up. She grunted a little. “Good morning,” Doctor Stable said, his horn glowing blue as he levitated over a potion of ether. “Now, I know it’s not the best thing in the world to wake up to, but…” Trixie nodded, taking the ether potion in both front hooves as she sat up, drinking it down as quickly as possible. Doctor Stable stared a few moments at her as she did. “I’ve never seen a faster recovery from overchanneling,” he noted. Trixie finished the vile concoction, wincing the entire time. She paused after doing so, willing it to stay down. “I’m really good with magic,” she explained, smiling weakly. “It’s my special talent. Well, doing magic for others, but it still counts. I’m sort of…juggling my magic, I guess you could say. Making it count…” Doctor Stable nodded. “Do you know where you are?” Trixie nodded. “Sweet Apple Acres.” “Alright…now, Trixie, you overchanneled, and you were struck by lightning. Either one in combination is bad, but both has me understandably concerned. Physically, you seem fine, so I just want to make sure that everything is alright up here as well.” He tapped the side of his head. Trixie nodded, as the doctor levitated another ether potion over to her. She drank that down as well, even as she glanced around the room out of curiosity. It was appointed simply, though there was a cozy, homely feeling to it. She wasn’t much surprised by that – for all her faults, Applejack certainly came across as a pony who’d want to make sure her home felt like a home and not simply a place where she lived. She spotted her hat and cape hanging from a pair of wall-hooks; they seemed undamaged and dried out from the rainstorm. “Now then,” Doctor Stable said, picking a clipboard up off the floor where he’d left it, and levitating a pencil over it. “Let’s start with the basics. Some of the questions will seem very simple or pedantic, but I just want to make sure to cover my bases. Now…your full name?” Trixie winced a little. “Trixie Lulamoon,” she said, grabbing at the jug of water and glass still on Applejack’s nightstand and pouring herself a glass with her hooves and mouth, earth-pony style. She didn’t spill as much as another unicorn not using telekinesis might, but then she had excellent hoof-eye coordination. “But please, just Trixie…I don’t like my second name very much.” “Alright,” Doctor Stable said. “Now, Trixie – ” “Oh, wait!” Trixie interrupted, nearly spilling her glass. The doctor looked at her as her face split into a wide grin. “Sorry, I forgot a second, you must be right about that lightning. Dame Trixie Lulamoon.” The doctor stared a moment. “Dame?” he asked. “Yeah. I was knighted two weeks ago.” “Really?” Doctor Stable asked, as his pencil glided across the paper on the clipboard he telekinetically held. “Well then…Dame Trixie. What’s your occupation?” “Representative of the Night Court of Luna to Ponyville.” Doctor Stable raised an eyebrow for a moment, though he wrote it down immediately. “Sounds like a hard job,” he said. Trixie pressed her lips together for a moment. She couldn’t very well call it hard, but it certainly did her best to keep her busy. “I have Pokey to help me. Pokey Pierce. He’s my assistant.” “Alright. Who’s the head of state of Equestria?” “Princess Luna.” The doctor pursed his lips at that. “Very good,” he said, writing. He paused a moment, tapping the end of the pencil to his mouth, eyeing her. “What’s the Equestrian currency called?” “The bit. And there’s ten jangles to a bit.” “Good.” The doctor smiled a little, looking almost relieved. “Do you know who Celestia is?” Trixie was silent at that, eyes narrowing a little. “Of course I do,” she said at length, in a low voice. “You know I do. Everypony does.” Doctor Stable held up his hooves at Trixie’s tone. “I’m sorry, again – the questions might get a bit pedantic. I’m just covering my bases.” He turned back to his clipboard. “Tell me about Celestia.” Trixie blinked a few times, before closing her eyes, sighing. “Celestia was Luna’s older sister,” she said, echoing the foal’s tale known by every mare and stallion across the land – the legend of the Tyrant Sun. “A thousand years ago, Celestia and Luna were co-rulers of Equestria, with Luna governing the night, and Celestia the day. Celestia used to be kind, and gentle, and strong. But the years on the throne of Equestria, fighting monsters and protecting ponies, made Celestia grow spiteful, greedy, and paranoid. She wanted to become the unchallenged Queen of Equestria, and rule over night and day both. Luna tried to reason with Celestia, but she’d gone insane, and Celestia became Corona, the Tyrant Sun. So Luna had no choice but to steal the Elements of Harmony from Corona and use them on her own sister, sealing her into the heart of the sun. She thought it was permanent.” Doctor Stable wrote down everything Trixie said, eyeing her. “I see,” he said. “But then Corona escaped,” Trixie pressed on, as the doctor’s eyes widened a little. “She escaped six months ago, she sealed Luna in the moon, and tried to become Queen. So me and my five friends, we went into the Everfree Forest. We found the Elements of Harmony and claimed them. When Corona tried to kill us, we used them, weakened her. She would have been put back in the Sun if not for the fact that she had help, and escaped. So she’s still at large, and me and my friends are the only ponies in all of Equestria that can fight her.” The doctor wrote that down, too, nodding. “I…see. So you’re a bearer of an Element of Harmony?” Trixie looked to the doctor. Something was…off…about him. “Yes,” she answered after a moment. “The Element of Magic. Or…I am the Element of Magic. I don’t know, it’s complicated. I chose it, it chose me…yeah.” She stared at the doctor as he continued to write. He glanced at her, then quickly looked away. Trixie frowned. “Can I see what you’ve written?” The doctor paused, looking like a foal caught with his hooves in the cookie jar, before nodding after a moment and hoofing over the clipboard. Trixie stared at him for several long moments before looking down at his notes, reading them quickly. They weren’t anything untoward, though – simply the questions that he’d asked, and her answers. His writing was bad, but that was a common trait amongst doctors. Once satisfied, she hoofed the clipboard back over. “Sorry,” she apologized. “You were just giving me a look…” “Sorry. Ponies say I do that sometimes. Now – ” “If you don’t mind,” Trixie interrupted, scooting back down into the bed and yawning. “I’m…I’m still really tired. Can we call it quits for now?” Doctor Stable nodded, standing. “Of course. Just get plenty of sleep. I’ll be by tomorrow to check on you again.” He trotted from Applejack’s room. Trixie watched him go, eyes slightly narrow, before she glanced up at her horn, willing a bit of magic through it. It responded by taking up a blue glow, like it should have…but she still felt weak. And for some reason, she had a feeling that this was not a good state to be in, or at least wouldn’t be for long. The ether potions, at least, were certainly real and doing their job. Trixie sat back up, taking another one into her hooves, closing her eyes and resisting the urge to retch at the incoming bad taste. “Bottoms up,” she said, drinking the whole potion as quickly as she could. As soon as it was down, Trixie set the bottle aside, and picked up the next. --- “Beg pardon?” Applejack demanded of Doctor Stable. The two were standing in the Apple family kitchen. “I can’t be certain,” the doctor said, holding up his hooves, “but I think that Trixie has entered what’s called a fugue state. She’s thinks that she’s the bearer of the Element of Magic, that Princess Luna is the sole monarch of Equestria, and that Princess Celestia is some kind of monster the way Nightmare Moon was. She also seems to think that she lives in Ponyville, and that she’s been knighted.” Applejack blinked at that, glancing up at where she knew her bedroom was. “That ain’t right,” she noted. “But Trixie thinks it is,” Doctor Stable said. “She’s not lying, at least, not intentionally. She honestly believes what she’s saying is true.” “Well how long’s this thing gonna last?” “Hard to say. Usually it’s only a few days, but it could be weeks, or longer. If she’s even in a fugue state at all – which I can’t tell after just a few minutes of talking to her. I’ll need to get in contact with a psychologist to be sure, and do a full physiological evaluation.” Applejack again glanced up at her bedroom. “Shucks,” she said softly. “That…that ain’t right. Ah can’t even imagine not really knowin’ who Ah am or what the world’s really like.” “Physically, she seems to be recovering just fine. But her mental health in this case is delicate. I wouldn’t do anything to agitate her.” “Ya mean Ah have ta lie to her? Worse, let her lie to herself? That don’t sit right with me, Ah don't mind tellin' you.” “I can understand that, Miss Applejack. If you would feel more comfortable moving her to the hospital…” Applejack bit her lip at that. “…no,” she said at length. “She’s a guest a’ Sweet Apple Acres, and it’s mah job to make her as comfortable as possible. She can stay. Ah’ll just…have t’ lie to her.” “Even still, I’d avoid outright lying. Just don’t challenge anything she says, agree with whatever she claims is true, even if it seems outlandish. I’ll be back in a few hours with a psychologist, and we’ll get to the bottom of this, and find a way help her.” With that, Doctor Stable said his goodbyes, slid on his winter cloak, and went out. Applejack watched him go, before grimacing, looking back at the ceiling. “Consarn it all,” she cursed, trotting towards the stairs. “Ah’m terrible at lyin’…” She paused outside her door, steeling herself. Going to talk to a pony that wasn’t quite right in the head…much to her own consternation, Applejack found herself not wanting to do that. But Trixie was a guest, and she needed help, and that was all there was to it. Applejack opened her door. --- Twilight opened the library’s door even as the chariot set itself down on the ground a hundred feet away. Ponies were already gathering all around, of course, at the sight. It didn’t matter if Celestia had visited Ponyville more often over the last year than in the entire century preceding it, the arrival of the head of state and one of the diarchs of Equestria was a momentous occasion. The golden armor of the Royal Guard glistened brightly in the morning sun, the pegasi that had pulled the chariot – their armor enchanted to make them both appear uniform in appearance, with white coats and blue eyes – unhooked themselves from the royal conveyance and instead stepped to either side of it, wings spread wide and faces stern. Twilight’s eyes, however, were not really focused on them. Instead, they were focused on the being that they had carried across the skies of Equestria, from Canterlot and to Ponyville. Her coat was the white of fresh snow, but tinged slightly, almost imperceptibly, with pink, and otherwise marred only by the golden cutie mark of a full, eight-armed sun on either flank. Her mane wasn’t made of hair at all, nor her tail, but instead both formed a long, flowing pastel rainbow of pure magic made manifest. Her eyes, kind and inviting, had seen the passage of innumerable millenniums. Her hooves seemed almost dainty, but they could crack mountains in half. Her horn was long and pointed, accounting for nearly a quarter of her total height, which was nearly twice that of the typical stallion. Her wings were wide and strong, and any pony lucky enough to be under them would find themselves to be in the safest place in all of Equestria. And her soft, serene smile was the stuff of legend – who knew how many poems had been written about that smile alone? She was the Steward of the Sun, the Bringer of Light, a Diarch of Equestria, the eldest of alicorns, the Undimmed Daystar. She was Princess Celestia Equestris – Twilight’s teacher, role-model, and one of the wisest, most forgiving ponies Twilight had ever known. She couldn’t stop herself from dashing up to Celestia with a smile on her face as the Princess approached. The slightest twitch of Celestia’s wings checked her guards, as it always did, and so nothing stopped Twilight from almost plowing into Celestia, nuzzling her close, an action that Celestia returned without hesitation. “My most faithful student,” Celestia said, her voice motherly but never condescending. “I’m so happy to see you.” “Me too, Princess,” Twilight said, as their nuzzle broke. Twilight blushed a little. “And, um…I’m g-glad that we’re getting together for a good reason this week.” Celestia’s smile didn’t falter in the slightest at Twilight’s allusion to the want-it-need-it incident. “And I as well,” she said. “In fact, I think we should make it a habit to get together more often as teacher and student.” She closed her eyes as her smile widened a little as she laughed lightly. “It should take more than some new crisis brewing for us to see each other.” Twilight’s eyes widened at that. “O-of course!” she exclaimed. “I’ll just have to adjust my schedule – not that it’s a bother! It’s just, well, you know how I like to have a routine going, and – I mean, again, not that it’s any problem at all – ” Celestia reached out a hoof, placing it gently on Twilight’s withers. “We can discuss it later,” she assured Twilight. “There’s no hurry today. Although…” She glanced behind her, horn glowing gold. Levitating itself from her chariot came a blue box inlaid with gold, and Celestia opened it up as it neared, showing the contents – five gilt necklaces, and one tiara, each inlaid with a gemstone – to Twilight. “I’m sure you’re as eager as I to get to the experiments?” With that single word, a small shift seemed to overcome Celestia. She wasn’t a diarch of Equestria anymore – she was a teacher with her prodigal student, confronting a mystery even she didn’t have the answer to, the teacher eager to at once crack the mystery, and see if her student could surprise her along the way while she tried to do likewise. A similar shift overcame Twilight, as she tapped her two front hooves together, smiling as well. Celestia the Diarch, Twilight grew nervous around for some reason, even though the rational part of her brain knew there was no reason to. But Celestia the teacher? All of Twilight’s panic and jumpiness seemed to just melt from her. “Oh, yes!” She exclaimed. “Right this way, Princess!” Twilight turned and trotted, a notable spring to her step as Celestia followed. She didn’t even think to feel nervous when Celestia entered the library and was given a full view of Twilight’s home and place of work. Even as she noticed Celestia glance around, however, her teacher smiled down at her before any of the panic could return. “Spotless as always, I see,” she noted. The spring in Twilight’s step doubled. “I’m sorry to say that will no doubt change due to our experiments, though.” Twilight faltered a little, but then decided that promises of getting magical residue, or smoke, or whatever other fallout there was from examining the Elements of Harmony in detail, all over her nice, clean library, was worth it. --- Applejack stepped into her room, and found Trixie sitting up in bed, guzzling the last of the ether potions that Doctor Stable had left behind. She was notably green in the face, and on finishing the ether potion put a hoof to her head and groaned. “Whoa, nelly,” Applejack objected, trotting over quickly. “Was that really a good idea?” “I dunno, let’s find out…” Trixie said, her horn glowing blue. An effervescent aura of identical color wrapped itself around the jug of water and glass, and Trixie poured herself out some, then brought it to her lips and drank it down eagerly. She suppressed a burp after finishing. “Looks like,” she confirmed with a smile. “Still a bit wobbly, but I think the magic’s back on.” “Glad t’ hear,” Applejack said, taking the empty bottles from Trixie and setting them aside for the moment. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. “So…” said, rocking on her hooves for a few moments. “Doc says you’re recoverin’ nice. Probably eager to get out a’ here, ain’t ya?” Trixie nodded, looking to Applejack. “I’ll pay you back,” she promised. Applejack shook her head at that, taking off her Stetson. “Ain’t no need, Trixie. You needed help, and Ah ain’t about to turn away a pony that needs it.” Trixie shook her own head, however, pointing at Applejack. “No, I mean it,” she said. “I was…I was rude on the Longest Night, I agitated you all throughout that farm competition with Carrot Top…it’s the least I can do.” Applejack stiffened at that. She’d forgotten for the barest moment, somehow, what Doctor Stable had told her. Trixie had just reminded her immediately, however, that she was remembering things that never happened. Applejack couldn’t think of any farm competition with Carrot Top, and she’d never heard of a Longest Night, whatever it was supposed to be. “A-Ah see,” she stuttered. “W…well, if’n ya have to. Ah don’t want much, though.” Trixie looked like she was about to say something, but stopped herself. She set her horn glowing again, pulsing with light, probably doing the unicorn equivalent of flexing and stretching her magic. Applejack rubbed the back of her head at the sight, however. “Um…if ya don’t mind me askin’…how come your magic’s blue?” Trixie paused, glancing at Applejack. “Huh?” “Well, it’s just, last time ya – ” Applejack stopped herself after a moment, bucking herself clear to Cloudsdale mentally. “Ah mean, last time Ah saw ya, yer magic was pink.” Trixie’s eyes widened. “No it wasn’t.” Applejack was an honest pony through and through – and she was more than adept at noticing a lie. Doctor Stable had said that she wasn’t to question anything Trixie claimed had happened…but this didn’t seem like a fugue-induced memory, this seemed like an out-and-out lie. “Really?” she asked. Trixie started shifting around in bed a little. “Yes. Blue. It’s always been blue.” She paused. “Always.” Another long pause, glancing at Applejack, who was just looking at her with a slight smile. At length, Trixie let out a long-suffering sigh. “Okay okay okay. When I first started doing magic it was pink. But then Luna took me on as her apprentice, and I got into the habit of making it blue, ‘cause Luna’s is blue.” Applejack blinked. So not only did Trixie think that she was the bearer of the Element of Magic, but on top of everything, she thought that she was Luna’s apprentice, the way Twilight was Celestia’s? She realized after a moment that she was staring, and more importantly Trixie was staring at her. “Uh,” Applejack said, looking away. “That’s, um…Ah didn’t know that unicorns could just up n’ change their magic’s color like that.” Trixie kept staring at Applejack for a few long moments. “It’s not easy,” she said after a moment. “But with enough practice, you can. These days it’d take me effort to make it pink.” She leaned forward to Applejack. “You okay?” “Fine! Just…darn tootin’,” Applejack said. “Well, um…you look pretty tired. Ah’ll just get these bottles outta here an’ let you get some shut-eye.” Trixie stared after her. “Okay,” she said, suspicion evident in her voice, though she just as clearly didn’t know what she was suspicious of. She looked to the window, horn glowing again as she grasped the curtains that were keeping the room dim. “Think I’ll open the curtains, though…” The curtains slid open, and Trixie blinked a few times at the sudden glare. Applejack was about to leave, when she noticed that Trixie was staring out at Sweet Apple Acres, eyes wide. Looking out the window, Applejack didn’t see anything out of the ordinary – vast fields of apple trees, leafless due to the season, the whole vista covered by four inches of snow. The sight of apple trees without apples or leaves was always a bit disheartening to Applejack, but hardly unexpected this time of year. “Sugarcube?” she asked Trixie. “There a problem?” “There’s snow on the ground,” Trixie said. “There’s no leaves on the trees.” Applejack blinked. “Uh, yeah,” she said. “It’s winter.” “No, it’s summer. It’s July.” Applejack didn’t sense any dishonesty there – this was one of those things that Trixie honestly believed. Her mind raced back to what Doctor Stable had said. “Ah…Ah mean, right!” she said. “It’s July! Yup, had a nice barbecue last week, hay fries and eggplant. Whole town came down. Good times.” “Then…what am I looking at?” Trixie asked, glancing behind her. Applejack quickly looked away. “Um…oh, well, you know. Mix-up with the weather schedule…accidentally got four inches a’ snow while you were out. Just…waitin’ for it to melt.” “And the leaves on the trees?” “Uh…um…w-well, we had a bit of a nasty blight. Them trees are, uh…dead. Lost their leaves. Lost the whole darn crop! Terrible thing – ” “A blight.” “Yup.” “Which in…what, two days…managed to kill every single apple tree outside and strip them of leaves.” “W-well, uh, the…snow! Yeah, the snow didn’t help none. Terrible thing.” Applejack put her hat back on her head, glancing at Trixie. The blue unicorn had shifted in bed, sitting on her barrel – looking read to spring if she had to. “But you’re just waiting for the snow to melt,” Trixie said. “Which means that, if I open up the window, I shouldn’t feel any kind of wintery breeze come in. It’ll be warm out.” “Uh…window’s stuck! Swells in the summer – ah, shoot.” The last came as Trixie’s horn glowed and she lifted the window open without any effort. A gust of cold air rushed in immediately, though Trixie didn’t stop staring at Applejack. “N-now, just hold on, Sugurcube,” Applejack said. “Ah’m sure there’s a…a perfectly reasonable explanation for why it’s so cold…and snowy…and nothin’s growin’…in the middle of summer! Maybe…maybe Twilight cast some kind a’ spell accidentally and – ” “Twilight?” Trixie demanded, standing suddenly. She rocked back and forth a little when she did at the sudden motion, but kept her balance on the bed. “Twilight Sparkle?” Applejack stepped closer to her bed. If things got ugly, she knew that unicorn telekinesis and spellcasting gave them a tremendous advantage at distance, but up close, earth pony strength and stamina would win every time. “Uh, no,” she lied again. “Twilight…Twinkle. Yeah.” Trixie stared hard at Applejack. Normally, she farm pony wasn’t one to be intimidated, but she hated lying, especially to a house guest. She found herself wilting. “Y…yeah. Twilight Sparkle.” “She’s in town?” “She lives in town,” Applejack noted. “R…remember? You remember, right? The library?” “No, I don’t remember. What I do remember is that crazy mare dragging an Ursa Minor into town just to try and prove how good she is at magic!” Trixie’s tone, coupled with her words, got to Applejack. Before she knew what she was doing, she pointed a hoof at Trixie. “That ain’t what happened. Snips n’ Snails brought the Ursa Minor in ‘cause a’ your boastin’!” Trixie blinked at that. “That ‘ain’t’ what happened,” she said, echoing Applejack. “Stars Above, Applejack, the Ursa destroyed your applecart too! I got a faceful of pie!” “Ya deserved a faceful of pie, but ya didn’t get one! Twilight saved the entire town, and you, and ya couldn’t even thank her! And then ya came back with the Alicorn Amulet and turned the entire town into your own little Trixieville ‘til Twilight stopped ya!” Trixie recoiled at that, and Applejack instantly realized what she was saying. She stepped back, wondering if she’d just triggered some kind of mental breakdown on Trixie’s part. “Ah…Ah mean, um…what you said. Yeah.” Trixie’s eyes narrowed. “You…you’re not lying,” she said. “You don’t realize it, anyway. You really believe that happened.” Applejack looked away. “Maybe,” she said, forcing herself not to rise to Trixie. “Where’s Twilight?” “Ah dunno,” Applejack lied. “Applejack, look at me, I’m being serious. You said she was at the library, right?” The earth pony glanced at Trixie. Applejack saw that Trixie was standing with her legs far apart, horn glowing brightly as she levitated her hat and cape off of the nearby wall-hook and put them on, and looked down at Applejack with authority and purpose that she had never before seen in the showmare. “Applejack, I think I know what happened,” she said. “I think that Twilight Sparkle’s back and she’s looking for some kind of revenge on me. She cast some kind of spell on the town that turned her into a hero and me into a villain – ” “Well, Ah wouldn’t call ya villainous…a mite touched, maybe – ” “But don’t worry,” Trixie said. “I’m going to go and stop her and try and talk to her and convince her to turn herself in at last. I’m going to undo whatever she did, and I’m sure that Princess Luna will help the town out with its weather problems this time without any Night Court shenanigans this time. Because I am the Great and Powerful Dame Trixie Lulamoon, Apprentice of Princess Luna, Representative of Ponyville, and Knight of Equestria!” She finished this last by rearing back on her hooves and making her horn flash brightly in a multitude of bright, gaudy colors, one flash in particular nearly blinding Applejack. Maybe she ain’t so far gone, Applejack thought. She stepped forward again. “Trixie, Ah can’t let you do that,” she said. “I’ll get to Twilight and talk her down. I know that she can be reached. It won’t be easy, but I can fix this.” Trixie said, setting herself back down on the bed and looking at Applejack. “The spell probably tries to defend itself, will make you all try and fight against any attempt to counter it. I’m sorry, Applejack, I really do appreciate you helping me.” Applejack planted herself firmly on the ground. “Trixie, get back in bed. You ain’t well, and Doc Stable will be along soon ta see ta you.” She reached out a hoof to Trixie. “Ya ain’t leavin’ this room – ” Her hoof passed straight through Trixie, however, like she wasn’t even there. Starting, Appleack reached forward again, waving her hoofs around – Trixie remained unaffected. “So that’s why I left this illusion behind to distract you,” Trixie finished. There was a flash of blue light, and she suddenly exploded in a cloud of blue smoke, which quickly dissipated. Applejack stared in shock, until she heard a slamming sound from downstairs – and, through her window, she saw Trixie, having dashed through her front door, running down the road leading to her front door. Trixie glanced over her shoulder at Applejack and waved, before resuming her gallop. “Oh consarn it!” Applejack exclaimed, turning around and galloping from her house and after Trixie, stopping only long enough to grab her lasso from her room. “This ain’t gonna end well…” Applejack was faster than Trixie. Within a minute she had closed the distance between herself and the escaped mental patient, close enough for her to whip out her lasso and twirl it a few times before throwing it at her. Trixie saw, however, and dodged out of the way. She skidded to a halt, letting Applejack slide past her, as her horn glowed. “Applejack, you have to fight the spell!” she called. “There ain’t no spell, Trixie!” Applejack called back, gathering her lasso back up. “Doc Stable says you’re in something called a fugue state – ” “I’d know if I was in a fugue state!” “Ah don’t think it works like that, Trixie!” Trixie grimaced. “Applejack, I’m sorry,” she said, blue smoke manifesting from nowhere all about her. Applejack let out a cry of consternation as she turned and looked back down the road, looking for where the real Trixie had gone – and therefore not seeing it when Trixie, never having been an illusion at all, leaped backwards from the blue smoke, landed, and gave Applejack a good solid buck to her flank and barrel. She wasn’t very strong, but Applejack hadn’t been expecting the blow, and she cried out as she stumbled and fell down, gasping in pain. Trixie was off again. Applejack snorted as she picked herself up and followed. “You sucker-bucked me!” she accused. Trixie glanced behind her and stuck her tongue out at Applejack. “You’ll thank me later!” she called back. “Ah seriously doubt that!” Applejack wheezed. The blow hadn’t broken anything of Applejack’s, but it had winded her, enough that she wasn’t able to catch up to Trixie as fast as she had the first time. They were already in Ponyville proper. Trixie disappeared behind a moving cart for a moment, and when Applejack cleared it herself, she found herself staring at a half-dozen Trixies. Her eyes widened as each shot off in a different direction. Applejack shook her head as she ignored all of them and simply started running for the center of town. “Won’t help, Trixie!” she called to the nearest one, which didn’t glance at her. “Ah may not be able to tell one from the other, but Ah know where you’re goin’!” Applejack caught sight of several Trixie bursting apart into blue smoke, but the nearest one remained real. “Zut alors!” That one – the real Trixie – cursed. “Don’t you start speakin’ Fancy now!” “I’m from Neigh Orleans! I’ll speak all the Prench I want, vous moitier fou po-chum!” “Those ain’t real words!” “Well neither is ain’t!” Applejack leapt at Trixie, but she nimbly dodged out of the way, horn flashing. This time she wasn’t crafting any illusions, instead using simple telekinesis to hurl a nearby stack of crates at Applejack. The earth pony took them with a few grunts, but Trixie had charged in, slamming her shoulder against Applejack’s side. Again caught unprepared, the earth pony faltered and fell again. She was up in a moment, but when she looked, Trixie was nowhere in sight. “Shoot!” Applejack cursed, getting up and galloping again, this time towards the library. She saw two golden-armored pegasi of the Royal Guard standing watch outside of it. As Applejack watched, however, she saw one of them suddenly lurch to the side, as though bucked in the face, despite nopony around to do the bucking. He crumpled, dazed. The second one moved away in a second, wings spread wide in challenge to the invisible foe as his eyes darted around – but before he could do anything, a blue field wrapped around him and threw him into the sky. He recovered quickly, but it was all the time the invisible pony – Trixie, no doubt – needed to open the library door and charge in. Applejack was seconds behind her. “Twilight, company!” she called out as she entered. She needn’t have bothered – Twilight was already in the middle of the library, surrounded by a pile of open books and with an open blue-and-gold box next to her, containing the Elements of Harmony. She saw as blue smoke manifested from nothingness, and Trixie appeared. “Twilight Sparkle!” Trixie cried. “Surrender now and undo whatever spell you’ve put over Ponyville! Your issue is with me!” Twilight stared with wide eyes. “What?” she demanded. “Trixie? How…how are you up already?” “Twilight, careful!” Applejack warned, as the two Royal Guards entered, wings spread threateningly and the one she had bucked looking none too happy, especially seeing as his helmet was now dented. “Trixie’s gone off the wall! She thinks yer doin’ somethin’ bad ta Ponyville!” Twilight glanced at Applejack, before looking back to Trixie. “Trixie, calm down – ” “I’ll calm down when you’ve turned Ponyville back to normal! It’s supposed to be summer! And – and are those the Elements of Harmony? What did you do to them?” Her eyes widened. “Is…is that your cutie mark on the Element of Magic? And why does one of them have Applejack’s?” “Trixie,” Twilight said, holding out a hoof. “Please, calm down – ” “I’ll calm down when – ” “What is all that shouting?” A firm, commanding voice demanded as the door to the library’s basement opened. Applejack gulped when she saw Princess Celestia walk out, carrying some kind of magical device that Applejack didn’t recognize. She was frowning deeply. Applejack, Trixie, and the royal guards all opened their mouth to explain. None of them, however, reacted as fast as Trixie, who pointed a hoof at Celestia, eyes wide in panic. “Corona!” She shrieked. Celestia froze suddenly at that. For just a moment, her look of concern dropped, becoming one of…familiarity?…before she set aside whatever she was holding in her telekinetic grasp, and took a step towards Trixie. “That is not my name.” the Princess said. “I am Celestia. And you appear to need help – ” Trixie glanced between Celestia, Twilight, and the Elements of Harmony. “Oh…oh no…” she breathed. “Oh no…it wasn’t you, was it, Twilight? It was her…” Celestia took another step towards Trixie. “Please, miss…Trixie, is it? I recognize you from my student’s reports. You – ” Trixie shook her head, backing away from Celestia. “No, no, no – ” “Please, let me help you – ” “No!” Trixie screamed, shutting her eyes. Several things happened simultaneously, but Applejack was running on just enough adrenaline to notice them all. Two flashes of blue magic appeared, one over Trixie’s eyes, the other over Celestia’s, and the magic left behind jet-black magical sheets. At nearly the same time, there was a blinding flash of light, bright enough to send Applejack reeling. She heard shouts of surprise from everypony, even Celestia. Then there was a cacophonous sound, like a dozen fireworks going off simultaneously. Applejack felt herself being shoved out of the way by somepony. When the blinding light cleared a few seconds later, Applejack squinted, looking around. She saw Twilight and the royal guards both recovering from the painful light and burst of noise, rubbing their eyes and shaking their heads. Celestia, meanwhile, was standing still, her horn glowing as the black film over her eyes dissipated. “Wh…what happened?” Applejack demanded. “Trixie ran off,” Celestia noted, frowning deeply. “She cast a burst of light to blind all of you, but covered her own eyes and mine with a magical film that shrouded us in darkness – she correctly guessed, I assume, that I could see through any light, no matter how bright, while the darkness over her own eyes protected her from her own flash. The explosion we heard was a ghost sound meant to cover the sound of her escape.” She looked to her student, then Applejack, then her guards. “Are you all alright?” There were some confirming nods. “Wait,” Twilight said. “She…she blinded herself, blinded you, set off a ghost sound and a flare, all simultaneously?” Celestia nodded. “It would appear,” she said, “that Trixie is a very adept magician when she wants to be. Guards, please contact Ponyville’s local authorities and see that they search for – ” Celestia, and the rest of them, started when there was a puff of blue smoke. Glancing at its origin, they saw the blue-and-gold box that had contained the Elements of Harmony dissipating into nothingness, leaving behind only a blank floor. Trixie had stolen the Elements of Harmony.