//------------------------------// // Red & Black // Story: The Time Has Come // by Commissar Rarity //------------------------------//      Sword at the ready, Trixie entered the courtyard. A low fog laid upon the overgrown courtyard, and massive trees reached to the sky, greedily drinking the rain that was falling. Trixie grumbled to herself, wishing that she had been allowed to bring her hat, or at least something with a hood.    She removed her kerchief, and tied it into her hair as a makeshift headscarf. It wouldn’t protect her much from the rain, but it helped a little. Trixie took a few more steps into the courtyard. A snipping sound gave her pause. Scanning the courtyard, she saw several ents trying to tend to the overgrowth, snipping off limbs seemingly at random.    One ent walked by, turning its knotty face towards her. It never slowed in its stride; it simply stared at her blankly. Trixie smiled and waved at it. The ent stopped in front of a particularly large tree to Trixie’s left and began to attempt to trim the massive grapevines that were choking the tree.    Trixie continued into the courtyard, sheathing her sword and clutching her arms tight around her. It was already cold out, but the rain just made it even more miserable. She was certain that nothing could make it worse.    She stepped on a sleeping ent. Its chest caved in with a loud crack, and it let out a keening wail. Trixie leapt back with a shriek, right boot dripping with dark green sap.    The other ents in the courtyard, six of them, all turned towards her, shears frozen mid-snip. They all began to move towards her of one accord. Trixie swore, and pulled out her sword.    The first ent to reach her snipped at the air a few times before trying to plunge it into her neck. Trixie parried the blow, and struck at its arm. The limb flew off, and the ent staggered, shear falling to the ground. It simply couldn’t hold the heavy iron shears with one limb.    Trixie spun in a circle, severing two more ents in half. Green sap splattered everywhere, including all over her face. The remaining three ents charged her all at once. Trixie leapt into the air, and they collided where she once stood.    She landed behind them, and whipped out her catalyst. With a quick flick of the wrist, Trixie summoned a wall of flame. The fires licked at the wood bodies of the ents, sending them into a panic. The rain was not enough to quench the burning ents. They soon collapsed in a heap, still burning.    A slow, sardonic clap joined the crackling of the fires and the rain as the only sounds in the courtyard. Trixie looked up from the ent bonfire, towards the fountain in the centre of the courtyard. It was your standard marble fountain – three dolphins mid-leap spitting out water from their blowholes. Or at least, they would be spitting out water if there was any left.    Atop the highest dolphin stood a woman. Her hair was two-tone: half red, half orange. She wore a leather jacket, black blouse, a necklace with a red-and-white sun, and bright red jeans. The woman stopped clapping, and put her hands on her hips.    “Who’re you?” Trixie asked, gesturing with the sword. “One of the occultists?”    The woman shook her head. “Name’s Sunset Shimmer. You’re on my turf, girl.”    Trixie frowned. “I’m on a mission from the griffons to clear out this castle.”    “And I’m on a mission for myself.” Sunset leapt down from the fountain, landing neatly in front of Trixie. “You did fine against those ents and that scissorhand. Surely you’ve felt what I feel when I defeat a demon?”    Trixie’s frown deepened, brow furrowing. She did feel something strange every time she had slain one. Her strength seemed to return, better than before. Sometimes tenfold, like when she killed the gargoyle atop the castle walls.    At Trixie’s response – or lack thereof – Sunset smiled. “So you have. It’s how we demon hunters grow stronger. The death of a demon gives us power.” She clenched her fist and shook it. “The power of the archdemon here will be mine! Leave if you know what’s good for you.”    Trixie smirked. “And how are you gonna beat the archdemon?” (Whatever that is.) “Talk at him to death?”    Sunset snapped her fingers. With a loud pop, a spear appeared in her hands. The head was golden, emblazoned with a sun. It seemed to glow from within. There were also lines every few inches on the spear’s shaft, like it would be able to collapse on itself. “Unlike you,” she said, “I’m a real bi- witch. There’s nothing I can’t do.”    She twirled the spear like a baton. “I won’t kill you right out, not this time. Instead, I’ll give you the satisfaction of a real fight. No pussy demon battles, but a real girl-to-girl fight. You lose and you leave the castle to me. You win and… well, you won’t win.”    “You gonna fight or talk?” Trixie asked, getting into a fighting position she remembered from her grandmother’s memories.    Sunset leapt into the air, and the head of the spear flew at Trixie. Trixie rolled to the side, allowing the head to bury itself in a tree root. A chain connected the head to the shaft. She could only guess that the lines on the spear were where the spear could separate and fly out, bound by chain.    Trixie sliced at the chain, but was too slow. The spear was whole again, and Sunset was jumping at her, hoping to impale her. Trixie leapt to the side, letting Sunset crash into the ground. The spear acted like the pole in a pole vault, springing Sunset towards the castle wall. To Trixie’s surprise, Sunset hit the wall feet-first, bounding off it back to the spear. She slid to a stop a few feet shy of the fountain, and charged Trixie again.    Trixie raised her catalyst and fired a quick magic missile at Sunset. It struck the other magical girl in the shoulder, knocking her off balance. Trixie followed that up with a quick slash, knocking the spear out of Sunset’s hands. The rival hunter responded with a roundhouse kick to Trixie’s face.    Sunset did a flip over to where the spear was, kicking it into her hands. Charging Trixie again, she slashed the spear faster than the eye could see. Trixie held out her catalyst, summoning a magic shield to block most of the blows. Sunset continued the barrage, smiling as the cracks in the purple shield grew wider.    Trixie returned the catalyst to its holster, allowing the shield to dissipate. She swung her sword, catching the spear under its head. She took a step forward, forcing the spear back towards Sunset. The other girl swore, and began to press back.    The two struggled for a while, rain pouring down on them, soaking them to the bone. Neither one was gaining much headway – the two weapons were between them, grinding against each other.    Sunset stepped backwards, causing Trixie to stumble. Sunset then leapt into the air, her spear separating at every junction. The chains surrounded Sunset, providing an almost-impenetrable sphere of metal.    The head of the spear darted towards Trixie, who raised her sword to parry it, but instead it slid around the sword, and around her arm. She tugged at it, but the chains just dug deeper into her flesh.    “The more you struggle the tighter it gets!” shouted Sunset, still hovering in the centre of the chain-sphere.    The hilt, Trixie thought. The hilt of the spear was metal. Trixie grabbed the chain with her free hand, and smiled at Sunset. What she was about to do was risky and stupid. Without a catalyst, anything could happen. But she had to try.    Trixie grimaced as she summoned electricity. It arced through her body, and into the chain. Fingers of lightning snaked up the chains, towards Sunset. It finally reached her, a loud crackle drowning out the sound of the rain.    The chain loosened, and Trixie forced her arm and sword through it. Sunset dropped her spear, and fell to the ground. Trixie walked over to her, and prodded her body with her boot. Sunset snapped awake, and kicked Trixie in the jaw, flipping back on her feet.    “It’s showtime,” Trixie said. She grabbed her catalyst, and brought it down in a theatric manner. Purple energy flowed through her, creating an aura of power. She took several strides towards Sunset, preparing to strike.    The other girl’s eyes widened, frozen in fear. “It couldn’t be… Not moon-magic!”    Trixie performed an almost perfect imitation of Sunset’s lightning strikes from before, leaving purple afterimages wherever she struck. Sunset snapped her fingers and quickly brought up her spear to defend. Twirling it, she began to deflect Trixie’s assault.    With a yell, Trixie brought her sword down hard. The spear broke in half and Sunset’s eyes widened even more. The sword struck her in the stomach, slicing downwards.    Staggering backwards, Sunset tossed aside the broken shaft, and began to jab with the part that still had the head. With her free hand, she clutched where Trixie had sliced her gut open. Trixie managed to block every one of Sunset’s increasingly weaker blows.    Sunset’s free hand produced a forked catalyst and she fired a flurry of magic missiles. Most of them missed due to her shaking, but a few struck Trixie, producing smoke and knocking the girl back on her ass.    Trixie rolled into a new battle stance, ready to deal with Sunset’s magic tricks. The other magician did a twirl, and jabbed the catalyst downwards. A fiery dragon swooped out of the ground, mouth open in a silent roar.    Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the impressive dragon, but Trixie still had a few tricks of her own. She produced her own catalyst and did a sweeping gesture in the shape of a crescent moon. Almost immediately, a starry giant of a bear appeared and grabbed the dragon with its front paws, uttering a silent roar of its own.    By this time, Sunset had managed to repair her chain-spear, and threw the front half at Trixie, chain rattling as it did so. Trixie knocked the blow back at Sunset, and charged her. Sunset did the same, preparing to clash again.    The two weapons clashed together in another power struggle. Sweat joined the rain in pouring down their faces as the two tired women pressed against each other’s strength. Above them, the dragon and bear collided, biting into each other’s phantasmal flesh.    Sunset grimaced, losing her grip on the spear. She clutched at her bloody stomach with one hand, her guard down. Trixie pressed harder, knocking the spear out of her hand. She dashed towards Sunset, sword piercing Sunset’s stomach.    Sunset’s mouth opened in a silent O, and her dragon summon flickered into non-existence. She collapsed on the ground, blood pooling beneath her.    Trixie collapsed too, out of exhaustion instead. She sat there for a while, heart pounding. She felt sick in her very soul. There was no power flowing into her like there had been when she defeated the gargoyle. Instead, there was just a sickening hollowness. It occurred to her, rather abruptly, that she had just killed another human.    She vomited.    She stayed there, sobbing until the rain stopped. Then something changed in her. She could hear her grandmother’s harsh voice, telling her to get up and continue. Trixie realised she was right. There was a time limit on her quest. The time for mourning her opponent would come later.   ***    The doors to the castle proper were sealed. Trixie kicked them out of anger, and immediately regretted it. She hopped around for a few moments, clutching her foot, and swearing like the storm that had just passed.    In her comedic stompings, she noticed a stairway to the side of the castle. Once the pain had died down, she limped over to investigate. The stone staircase was surrounded by a black iron fence, which only took a kick to dislodge. It clattered into the recesses of the staircase.    It seemed like the only way into the castle. Trixie took a quick survey of the courtyard. Everything else that could have been an entrance was blocked off by thick vines or the trees.    Sighing, Trixie started down the stairs. She followed the stairs down all the way, to a rotten wood door. Despite the lock, it too yielded after a single kick. Entering the dark castle, Trixie pulled out her catalyst and cast a simple spell of light. A little orb of white light appeared above her head, shining on the dismal walls.    Trixie took a few more steps into the castle, and grimaced. From what little she could see, she was in a dungeon.    “This just keeps getting better and better,” she sighed. “What’s next? A sewer?”   ***    Sunset stirred. She sat up, and raised her blouse. There were only white scars where the blade had cut into her, and soon those would fade.    She stood, and walked over to her spear. Picking it up, she twirled it with a slight grin. Phalanx hadn’t failed her yet, even when that idiot girl had cut it in two. With a snap of her fingers, she banished the spear to a pocket dimension, and looked around.    Sunset was quite familiar with the castle Fortnight, having studied it in the recesses of Altair’s library. She knew it better than anyone alive. And judging from where it appeared her rival had gone, Sunset definitely knew it better than her.    Putting her hands in her pockets, Sunset whistled a jaunty tune as she kicked open the castle gate.