Azure & Lavender
Trixie Lulamoon and Twilight Sparkle were fierce rivals of magic and talent. The day before, Trixie had suddenly challenged Twilight to a duel. Twilight refused, however, insisting she had no intention of showboating. It was then that the unthinkable happened.
Trixie had slapped Twilight with her hoof. Hard. “You’re a coward!” she had shouted. “You’re weak and pathetic, ignorant of the strength and majesty that is Trixie!” Twilight didn’t take this physical attack lightly, and glared at her fiercely. Trixie had merely smiled at her anger.
It was then decided that they would battle in Ponyville Park that night, the most wide-open space in all of Ponyville.
*****
The fight was hardly fair, however; almost immediately after Twilight arrived on the battlefield, Trixie sent a bolt of magic at her, deigning not to wait until her opponent was ready. This was where it all took place. A battle of wits, magic, cleverness… and a sneaky bitch.
“Trixie, stop this! This isn’t right!” An amethyst bolt of magic retaliated towards the opposing end.
Trixie dodged the incoming bolt with a roll, followed by a small, purple explosion behind her. Trixie merely grinned at Twilight as she dug her hooves into the ground.
“Oooh, what’s the matter? The fact that you’re better than me?” Trixie sneered, charging up her horn and aiming it at Twilight. The lavender unicorn shook her head with a glare.
“Of course not, why are you even fighting me to begin with?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Trixie said as she launched another bolt of magic at Twilight, who deflected it easily with her own magic. Trixie spat at the ground and gritted her teeth. “You ruined my reputation, you ruined my performance, and you’ve ruined my ego! You’ve ruined every bit of my life!” She punctuated each harsh word with a blast of her magic, barely even seeming to aim anymore.
“That was—ugh—all an accident! If you hadn’t spun that lie to Snips and Snails, that Ursa Minor wouldn’t have ruined it for—“
“Shut up!” she interrupted. “You’re just as guilty as that accursed bear! Now, prepare to be bested!”
With words failing to penetrate the cloud of frustration and torment surrounding Trixie, Twilight needed to end all of this once and for all. She looked around the battlefield. Several dirt holes and a few broken trees laid flat on the ground’s surface, mirroring a warzone.
The mayor’s going to kill me for this…
A small bolt of blue energy suddenly made contact with Twilight. Her body was enveloped by the aura for a brief second, and she momentarily cried out as an electrifying sensation filled her entire body. With her fur slightly singed, she collapsed to her haunches, one hoof out to support herself. The battered unicorn weakly brought her legs up, glaring up at Trixie. Trixie, herself enjoying the moment, was brandishing a wicked smile.
“Didn’t your oh-so-special mentor ever teach you to keep your eyes on your opponent?” Trixie deftly used her magic to lift Twilight into the air, her opponent being too weak to stop her. “Breaking your concentration inevitably leads to dire results!”
The azure unicorn slammed her rival into a tree, holding her firmly against it. Twilight gagged as the impact took her breath away. She attempted to deflect Trixie’s magic with her own or break her concentration, to no avail.
“Ahh, how the mighty have fallen…” Trixie jeered, pointing her glowing horn at Twilight. “It seems you’re not so talented after all, are you?” The azure unicorn smiled as she licked her lips. “Any last words before you’re conquered?”
“I… will…”
“What’s that? I can’t seem to hear you over the sheer presence of my victory!”
Twilight managed only a subtle frown as she struggled against Trixie’s grip. Managing to free her head just enough, the trapped unicorn aimed her horn at Trixie.
“I’ll send you flying!”
A nova of energy burst from Twilight’s horn, beams shooting forth in all directions. Trixie was flung backwards, landing hard on her back. Twilight dropped to the ground, regaining her composure and glared at Trixie.
“Why…?” Trixie gasped as she placed one hoof on the ground, pushing herself back up. “Why are you still out of my reach…?” Then another hoof, “Why do you best Trixie in everything she’s good at?”
“That’s your own imagination floating around, Trixie. I’m sure you’re better with some things than I am, but there’s nothing to gloat over!”
“Horseapples!” Trixie countered. “You’re more skilled at everything than I ever was. That burst just now proved it.”
“Have you gone delusional? Why keep up this charade of being better than me? There’s no point to it! Neither of us are better than the other; you should know this by now!”
Trixie stood in silence, staring into Twilight’s eyes. She wanted to try and find any hint of deceit by the lavender unicorn, anything to know that Trixie was right and Twilight was wrong. She held the stare for several seconds... seconds that seemed to drag on for hours.
Not once did she see any flinch in Twilight’s resolve staring right back at her. No hint of hesitation, nor aversion of her eyes. Could she have been telling the truth?
“I refuse…” Trixie began, digging her hooves into the ground, aiming her horn at Twilight. The purple unicorn took this as a hint of imminent hostility, and immediately charged towards Trixie, who seemed to be in a blind rage.
“I refuse to believe you!”
As Trixie’s rage boiled over into her horn, Twilight tackled her to the ground, which in turn flung Trixie’s outburst of emotion and magic towards the sky. As the bolt was launched, it illuminated the sky for a brief second, before disappearing into the yonder. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the sky seemingly burst at its seams, a rain of glittering peonies slowly falling to the ground below. It briefly blinded both mares as they shut their eyes. When Twilight regained her focus, she looked back at Trixie, only to see she was frozen in shock and awe.
“I… did that?”
“Yes, you did. You nearly killed the both of us with that blast,” Twilight said, pinning Trixie’s hooves down. “Why won’t you listen to me?”
“Why would I kill you? T-that spell was only meant to knock you back…”
“Trixie,” Twilight interrupted, “why won’t you listen to me?”
“Because, I…” Trixie averted her eyes from Twilight, giving a small sniffle. Twilight thought it was her imagination playing her, but after getting a close look at Trixie’s eyes, they were wet, a small stream running down her cheek.
“Because… you’re just better at so much more than me. I wanted to show you that that was not true, and I wanted to see if I could best you at anything… anything at all,” she said with a sniffle. “I just… didn’t want to feel so worthless, and I didn’t want to feel so underpowered when you looked down on me, especially on that day when you took care of the Ursa. I… I just ran away. What else did I have if my magic was useless against it?”
Twilight released Trixie from her grasp, to which the azure unicorn just sat on her rear end, hiding her tears with her hooves. Did Twilight misunderstand her from earlier, or did Trixie just not fully understand her own motives?
Twilight didn’t quite understand. But she knew one thing: she had no intention of standing over anyone—not even Trixie. Twilight brought a hoof toward Trixie’s face, wiping a tear away from under her eyelid, and gave her a smile.
“Trixie, I’m not out there to be better than anypony. I just want to help others in any way I can.” She looked up towards the sky, smiling. “I don’t want the power, the fame, or the showboating. I practice magic because it’s what I’m good at. I only practice it to experiment, to help other ponies, and to be with my friends…” She paused. “You need to understand, Trixie…” she began again, softly. “I’m not out to be better than anypony. Please, believe me.”
Trixie looked at her for a moment, frowning, but she just stuck her nose in the air and grunted. Twilight knew it wasn’t going to be easy to convince her like this, but she wanted to find a way. Or was it really necessary? It was Trixie she was thinking about, after all.
Trixie snuck a quick glance at Twilight, but immediately went back to staring at the ground.
“Your friends, huh? You’re lucky to have them.”
“What do you mean?”
Trixie pushed Twilight off her hooves, causing her to land with an audible thud. Twilight immediately stood up, ready for the worst, but Trixie merely stood up and stared at her.
“Trixie has no friends. Tri... I... I never did.”
Twilight blinked at Trixie’s answer.
“You… have no friends?”
“No. Trixie has been travelling for a long time, and everything Trixie’s been through was done alone. No support, no friends, nothing. You always seem so cheerful, letting nothing get you down. When it seems something horrible happens, you just stare it down with the same brave demeanor.” Trixie faltered slightly, suddenly staring down at the ground. “Trixie has none of that, which is why I keep thinking you’re better than me…”
“Trixie…” Twilight couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Despite Trixie’s attack, she couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy. She slowly walked up to Trixie, putting a hoof on her shoulder. Trixie looked up with a sniffle, but merely grinned.
“Trixie is better than you at one thing, though…” Trixie slammed her face into Twilight’s face. At first, Twilight didn’t know what had happened, but she felt something wet around her mouth. Realizing her lips were being devoured by Trixie’s, she went wide-eyed as her mouth was invaded by Trixie’s tongue. Something about her technique just made her melt like butter, and yet part of her wanted to back away. Why couldn’t she break their contact, though? Was the sensation too much, or did she want to experience… more?
Once the ‘kiss’ had ended with Trixie blushing wildly, Twilight was left breathless. She found herself unable to form any intelligible words.
“Wha—I—what…?” Twilight staggered, to which Trixie just bashfully smiled, walking past her. She turned her head and looked back at Twilight as she walked on.
“Heh, Trixie is a much better kisser than you are.”
*****
“And then they all bucked! So, so!? What did you think!?”
Back in Twilight’s Library, Pinkie was holding a few sheets of paper whilst sitting down, reading out everything that was listed on them. Twilight and a few random ponies just stared at her as if she was crazy. In fact, Twilight was blushing like a madpony, while the other random ponies that visited the library slowly backed away.
“Wh… where did you come up with these crazy ideas, Pinkie!? And why did you just suddenly barge into my Library, sit in a random corner, and just read what’s on that… that embarrassing trash!?”
“Awww c’mon, silly! Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it? With how you and Trixie duke it out for each other, it just neeeeeeeded to be crafted into an exciting battle of love! As they say, ‘keep your friends close, and your enemies closer!’”
“Y-you don’t even know what that line means!” Twilight shouted in a flustered manner, trying to push Pinkie out of the library. She had heard enough nonsense from her as it was. As she pushed her, however, Pinkie ‘magically’ slipped out of her grasp. The lavender unicorn blinked a couple of times, wondering where she was.
“Sure I do! It means make love, not war, right?” Pinkie said excitedly. Twilight turned around to see Pinkie back in the corner again. How she managed to do that was just a Pinkie mystery to her, however. Twilight could feel a headache forming as she held her hoof to her forehead.
“No, I… Ugh, Pinkie, just… just get out of my library! You’re disturbing everypony!”
“Aw c’mon… didn’t anypony in here enjoy my story?” Pinkie asked, hopping up on the stool and announcing it to everypony inside. A couple of ponies had already left the library in a hurry. One muscle-bound stallion with a crew cut, however, was looking at books at the time. He turned around to face Pinkie, eying her carefully. With a nod, he flexed his muscles and drew out his neck.
“YEEEEAHHHHH!!”