“Eyes On You”
Chapter twenty-five – Harmony, part two
The two unicorns began to circle with slow, measured steps, keeping a good ten strides between them. That smirk never left Flaire's face.
“Not going to help your partner?” Trixie spat.
Flaire quirked his head grantingly. “Perhaps... if I knew the counterspell. But then again, I wouldn't want to miss out on a chance to catch up with my little sister.”
Trixie grunted, and simply continued to circle. She watched his movements, looking out for any sign of an attack, but he didn't seem to be in any kind of rush. He was waiting for her to make the first move, out of some sense of mock courtesy – an attempt to impress the crowd, no doubt.
“If you wanted to 'catch up', you would've sent a letter inviting me to dinner,” said Trixie, “not challenging me to a contest.”
“Would you have come?” Flaire countered. “Would you have obliged me if I'd said I simply wanted to see you again?”
Trixie scoffed. “Come off it, Flaire. You don't care about seeing me – you only care about making yourself look better.”
“You're my sister, Trixie.”
Trixie shook her head defiantly. She wasn't buying it.
Flaire slowed down, still keeping his eyes fixed on her. Trixie matched him as he came to a steady stop and regarded her with searching eyes.
“...Do you really hate me so?” he asked, in a tone of softness that was obviously trying to betray her.
“Why wouldn't I?” Trixie threw back. “After all you've done...”
“All I've done?” Flaire repeated.
“Oh, please. All you've ever done is show me up – even when we used to perform together you just used me to make yourself look better. Not to mention trying to get between me and Twilight. And don't even try to play dumb,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “She told me you asked her to dance.”
“Can you blame me?” said Flaire.
Trixie scowled. “Maybe not if you were actually interested. But we both know you were only trying to get to her to get to me.”
Flaire shook his head. “You paint a cruel picture of me, Trixie. You think my behaviour is selfish, but I've only ever--”
“Flaire,” Trixie interrupted. She hardened her gaze and lowered her head a little. “You're not going to fool me again, so stop trying. We have a duel to finish.”
Flaire looked up and around at the ponies crowding the stands. “Hmm, you're right – the crowd is getting restless,” he said, before meeting her eyes again. “I suppose we'll just have to talk after I beat you.”
At that, an ominous silence seemed to fall between the siblings. Trixie squared herself up as Flaire lowered into a martial position. There was a long and tense moment which seemed to drag out for minutes, as they continued to stare at one another – each waiting for the other to make a move.
Flaire's smirk held. Trixie's eye twitched.
With the speed of a bird taking flight, Flaire stepped forwards and thrust out his horn – lighting it up for a split second before launching forth a bolt of bright, purple light. Trixie was quick to defend herself as the bolt shot straight towards her. She lowered her stance and focused her magic into deflecting the attack.
But just before it reached her, it detonated in midair – sending out a deafening bang and a massive blast of white light that tore into Trixie and forced her to shut her eyes. For a moment, she could see or hear nothing at all, but as the daze began to clear, she forced herself to refocus on Flaire. Except that he wasn't there...
Her eyebrows shot up her forehead as she heard a muffled hoofstep behind her, and she managed to react just in time to jump to one side as Flaire dived at her from behind. His teeth clicked together just an inch from her necklace chain. The near miss didn't throw him off though – and he was quick to spin in place to face her again.
Trixie made to counter-attack. Channelling magic all the while, she reared up onto her hindlegs and then brought her hooves down onto the stone floor. There was a quiet 'bang!' as a vent of black smoke shot up right into the space between she and Flaire, clearly catching him off guard as he recoiled out of sight behind it.
Sensing her chance, Trixie jumped forwards through the smoke and made for Flaire's own necklace, but he sidestepped the attack just as she had.
They each brought their horns up to cast at each other at exactly the same moment – bringing them just inches apart. As the glow engulfed both of their horns, the proximity and desperation of the casts sent magic sparking between them. There was another flash of light, the sound of a muffled explosion, and Trixie felt an intangible force pushing her backwards along with a blast of wind.
She ground her hooves into the stonework to keep herself from falling, and felt herself skidding across the arena. When she finally came to a stop, she opened her eyes to find a low cloud of clearing dust between she and Flaire, who was now at least twenty strides back – clearly having been thrown back as well. Their eyes met again.
Trixie felt a hot flash and let out a heavy breath through her nose – anxiously relieved that she'd managed to stay standing, but equally surprised by the power of the clash. Sure enough, Flaire was still as strong as ever. And what was more, he hadn't held back with that attack. He really meant to give this his all now, which meant that Trixie couldn't afford to make any more mistakes.
Deciding to stick with what she knew best – the classics – Trixie lit up her horn and focused on the space above Flaire. Dark shadows began to dance over his figure...
He looked up just in time to see the storm cloud take its full shape above his head. 'One good hit,' Trixie told herself. 'One good hit is all it'll take to stun him. Then I can grab the necklace and help Twilight...'
With that thought driving her, she lashed downwards with her horn – the motion bringing with it a bolt of lightning from the storm cloud over Flaire's head. But he was already gone when the bolt struck, and it glanced harmlessly off of the ground with little more than a sparking crackle.
Flaire recovered immediately from his dodge roll, but Trixie didn't give him a chance to counter. With a strained grunt, she moved the cloud and brought down another bolt, with struck just between his forehooves as he hopped backwards. Another bolt – he hopped back again. Another – he stepped deftly to the side.
He was out of the way of the fifth bolt almost before Trixie had cast it, having anticipated the attack. Flaire took his chance to retaliate. His horn lit up its signature purple, and a flickering green firework shot up from it a moment later – striking the storm cloud in its very centre. The ensuing burst of colour and light caught even Trixie off guard as it dispersed her spell into nothingness, and she felt suddenly dizzy, as if having hit her head.
As she blinked and staggered in place, trying to shake off the haze behind her eyes, she could make out movement from Flaire. She stumbled back on instinct, but he didn't seem to be moving towards her. A few more seconds passed, and the haze cleared up enough for her to make out his figure properly. His eyes were closed, his hooves a steady distance apart, and an illusory breeze blew through his mane as he channelled magic through his horn.
Dark shadows played over Trixie, and a sickening sensation welled up in her stomach. She hadn't even regained herself properly, but she forced herself to look up, all the same. And there, hovering right above her, was a dark, swirling storm cloud.
The first bolt shot forth a second later, and she barely had time to jump to the side fast enough to avoid it. Even then, her tail got caught by the attack, and she let out a gasp as she saw the blackened ends of her beautiful silver streaks.
She hadn't time to express her anger though, because the cloud crackled with energy again straight away. Without time to think, she dived to the ground and made a clumsy roll to avoid the next attack. Next thing she knew, she was running across the arena – pursued by Flaire's cloud as she headed for Twilight's prison. She didn't know what she was doing, only that she felt the nearer she was to Twilight, the better.
Every fifth or sixth hoofbeat was punctuated by a thunderclap as lightning struck the ground in her wake, but she only dared to stop and turn when she'd reached Twilight – still frozen in her pyramid prison. When she did, she saw that Flaire was dashing after her as well, with his cloud leading the way of course – almost over Trixie's head again.
Whether by some subconscious thought of 'What would Twilight do?' now that they were closer, or simply by some random coincidence, Trixie had an idea come to mind. As the cloud crackled with energy again, she didn't try to dodge, but instead squared herself up and raised her horn to the sky, focusing on the lightning.
The bolt lashed down a moment later.
Trixie cringed and grunted as she felt the spell's heat against the tip of her horn, but no pain struck her along with it. Instead, the energy from the point of contact seemed to swim down through her horn and disperse as it reached the rest of her body – sending a tingling sensation to the very ends of her hooves and making strands of her mane stand on end. She also felt a sickening feeling in her stomach – that hadn't worked nearly as well as she'd expected, and she wouldn't be able to do it again.
But she'd still achieved the desired effect – having filled her body with static energy just waiting to be released. And she knew just where to send it...
As the next bolt arced down from the cloud, Trixie jumped forwards and galloped the few strides further to reach Flaire – ignoring the thunderclap behind her. She twisted her body, skidded to a halt, and savoured the look of surprise on his face as she swung her horn towards his chest.
With an infinitely satisfying 'crack', the potential energy coursing through Trixie was released into that concentrated point on Flaire's chest, hitting him with a wave of force so great that it knocked him clean off of his hooves. His cloud disappeared immediately as he forwent the channelling and focused on an effort to guide his fall with telekinesis – backflipping midair and gliding down to land on his hooves half-way across the arena. It may have looked impressive – begrudged as Trixie was to admit it – but he'd clearly not been expecting that attack, and he was forced to pause to recover.
Trixie considered it only a minor triumph, considering how tired she, herself, was feeling already. She was good, but so was he. Right then, it could've gone either way, and Trixie, even being as Great and Powerful as she was, knew that she was running out of tricks.
She stepped backwards, took a breath and cast an instinctive look towards Twilight, trying to refocus herself on tactics. That's when she saw it.
There, at the base of the icy pyramid encasing her partner, Trixie saw a black scorch mark – from Flaire's lightning strike. A splintering crack in the ice had risen up from the ground where the lightning had struck. It rose only a few inches, but there was a faint, white glow from between the cracks...
It was then that Trixie's eyes lit up and her mouth inched open. She chanced a look up at Twilight's frozen figure – still suspended off the ground and huddled helplessly against herself. Everything fell into place.
“I'm impressed,” Flaire called. “For a moment there, I thought I was in trouble.”
Trixie's lips set themselves in a solid line, and she took a deep breath before forcing herself away from her partner. She locked eyes with Flaire – who approached slowly from across the arena – and started towards him, positioning herself between him and Twilight.
“You are in trouble, Flaire,” she said, stopping a few strides forwards and waiting for him to come the rest of the way. “You're up against the most Great and Powerful unicorn in all of Equestria.”
Flaire chuckled quietly and shook his head. “Still so full of yourself. And here I was thinking you'd changed.” He came to a stop ten strides back and squared his stance. “You're certainly talented, Trixie, but you're far from the strongest in Equestria.”
“That's where you're wrong,” said Trixie, finding a tiny smirk of her own. “You haven't seen half of my strength yet.”
“Oho?” said Flaire, clearly amused. He raised his voice and lifted a hoof up to gesture around at the audience. “Well then, why don't you show us, Trixie?” he called, before fixing her with a firm smirk once again, and speaking in a low, ominous tone. “Show us all.”
Trixie's lip twitched. This was it – her best chance, her last shot. Her mind was made up. It was all or nothing now.
She lowered herself into a defensive stance, preparing herself for what was to come. “...Take your best shot,” she said, calmly enunciating every word.
Flaire quirked a brow, and then the rest of his head, though the smirk never left him. Trixie knew that look – he was scanning her for some sign of a bluff or deception, but she made sure that there was none. She stared him down. He narrowed his eyes. She narrowed hers. They continued to stare – a battle of wills – until finally...
“...So be it,” he said.
Trixie's entire body seemed to harden as Flaire's horn lit up a shimmering purple. The light started gently, and grew over seconds and seconds until it was practically blazing atop his forehead. He ground his teeth together – pouring every inch of his energy into the one spell. His mane whipped back in an invisible breeze, of which Trixie could feel wisps even from her distance away. She held her ground.
Finally, when the spell was ready, Flaire's face and body seemed as strained as if he were holding up a sack of concrete with his neck. All that magical energy would probably be a great deal more straining than that, if she was honest. It would be next to impossible for her to conjure up a spell strong enough to deflect it. But she couldn't lose. She wouldn't lose.
Flaire met her eyes, watching her.
Trixie narrowed her eyes, daring him.
A pained second later, he launched the spell.
A veritable beam of grey-blue light burst forth from his horn – at least as wide and tall as Trixie herself, and coming straight towards her. She was as ready as she could ever be for something of that magnitude.
The air rattled and time seemed to slow as the beam of energy expanded towards her. She held firm. If she tried to do anything to avoid or deflect the attack now, Trixie knew that he'd just move the beam around her defenses – spells so focused were rarely as clumsy as they looked. She had to wait until the very last moment, and even then, there was no chance of her getting out of the way unscathed. But Twilight was counting on her – Twilight trusted her – and so she had to do this.
The beam seemed to grow ever larger in Trixie's eyes. The ground shook as it drew nearer and nearer. She gritted her teeth to fight off the instinct to protect herself.
And then, as it was just inches away from striking her, she shifted her weight and tumbled to the side. She let out a gasp and felt an overwhelming cold as the beam grazed her side – it was as if its mere touch was draining all the strength and magic out of her to fuel itself.
She landed on her side on the cold, stone floor, suddenly completely exhausted. Having achieved its goal, the beam didn't change course, it just continued straight on, out of Trixie's sight. There was a sound of rushing water coursing against stone. Trixie's eyes filled with white, hazy light – forcing them closed in a cringe. A high-pitched whistling filled the air. The sound of shattering glass...
And finally, it all stopped. There was no sound other than gasps of shock and awe from the audience. Trixie was strained to allow her eyes to flutter open ever so slightly, and when she did, she saw Flaire still standing across the way. He looked shaken, as he should after casting such a massive spell, though he would recover in seconds.
The same could not be said for Trixie. The spell's hit had taken so much out of her. The only time she'd ever felt so exhausted was when she was lying in that clearing in the Everfree forest, all those months ago... And just as then, she was helpless to do anything.
She blinked slowly to try and refocus on Flaire, just as he seemed to shake himself out of whatever daze he was in. He steadied himself, and his horn lit up. Trixie knew she should've felt dreading, maybe even scared, of what was to come – her defeat at his hooves once again, just like always. But a vague memory tugged at the back of her mind. A string of hope. A purple light...
The world moved in slow-motion as Flaire flicked his horn forwards. Blazing, multichrome light shot forth in a cone of magical orbs. Trixie squinted, but didn't close her eyes.
A curved wall of purple shot up between Trixie and Flaire, just as the lights were closing in on her. The orbs swerved or disappeared as they touched the shield, passing over or around Trixie to create a sort of surreal, silently beautiful spectacle to watch from her position on the floor. The cold started to fade, and she was able to inch her eyes open a smidge further.
A purple hoof filled her vision.
Craning her neck, Trixie looked up past the proffered hoof into the glowing purple light that stood beside her. The glowing figure was so bright and obscured that it seemed faceless, yet somehow still the kindest, warmest thing Trixie had ever seen. And as her eyes began to adjust, she felt warmer still.
“Need a hoof, partner?” said Twilight Sparkle – her voice and smile radiating a light powerful enough to drive away the rest of the cold.
Trixie blinked up at Twilight's form. Her breath caught. Her chest fluttered. “...I knew it would work,” she muttered, a clumsy smile finding her own lips.
With that, she reached up and took Twilight's hoof. The moment they touched and she felt Twilight supporting her weight, lightning sparked through her entire body – coursing from that hoof all up her leg and neck before spreading out across the rest. A second wind took her, and she grunted determinedly as Twilight lifted her upright.
A moment later, they stood before each other – hooves held, eyes locked and both smiling as the colour storm continued to rage outside the safety of Twilight's seemingly effortless shield spell.
“That was clever, Trixie,” Twilight said, her soft voice carrying over the gentle roar of Flaire's spell.
Trixie cracked a tiny smirk. “You almost sound surprised.”
Twilight smiled and shook her head. “Not surprised. Pleased... I thought you'd want to fight him alone. It is kind of your fight, after all.”
“It is my fight,” said Trixie, brushing Twilight's hoof a little. “And I want to win it together, with you.”
She smiled back at Twilight, whose expression softened into one of gentle admiration. Trixie stared at Twilight. Twilight stared back at Trixie. So much was said in that moment – countless silent words exchanged as that single look held for seconds that felt like minutes. It was obvious that neither of them wanted to let go, but it was Twilight that finally summoned the strength to break the silence.
“Then let's win,” she said.
Trixie felt a rush of heat in her chest, and savoured it for the blissful split-second she could, before nodding determinedly. Together, the partners released one another's hooves and gazes, to turn to face Flaire.
His colour storm was still raging outside the shield, obscuring Trixie's view of the outside world. He obviously wasn't trying to physically break through the shield – for all she knew, he might've simply been sustaining it while he re-thought his tactics, or he might even have been trying to startle she and Twilight into panicking and opening themselves to attack.
“I see him,” Twilight suddenly whispered.
Trixie glanced sidelong at Twilight, to see her eyes narrowed straight ahead. Try as she might to follow the gaze though, Trixie still couldn't see anything through the storm.
“Where?” she asked.
She felt a sudden warmth against her cheek as Twilight pressed up against her and guided her head. “That way,” Twilight said. “You don't have to see, just fire a spell. Try and startle him.”
“Startle him?” said Trixie sceptically. “And then what?”
“You'll see,” said Twilight. “Just follow my lead.”
Trixie frowned in uncertainty for a long moment, but it soon faded in the face of Twilight's cheek brushing gently against her own. It reminded her more than a little of the night before, when they danced for hours on end in that ballroom.
A calming air descended over her, and a soft smile spread onto her lips as she nodded again. She began to pour magic into her horn, focusing on the simple spell that she'd cast so many times before. She traced a hoof forwards along the ground, ready to move. And then, with a steady focus and determination, she thrust forwards and lunged towards the spot which Twilight had shown her.
A brilliant purple firework shot forth from the tip of her horn, leaving a sparkling trail in its wake as it passed through the shield and vanished out into the colour storm. A moment later, there was the distinct sound of it bursting, and Twilight seemed to take this as a signal.
She drew up alongside Trixie again with a single, graceful step, with her own horn alight its signature purple. The world seemed to shift around them, and Trixie's stomach twisted too whilst she registered what was going on. The shield protecting them was expanding – as if to push back Flaire's spell – and also twisting in on itself in the strangest way.
Twilight's eyes lit up with a white glow. Trixie had to close her own to keep from getting dizzy. There was a great flash that shone even through her eyelids. And then total silence.
She craned an eye open. The other shot open immediately.
Before her, half-way across the arena, was a much smaller, purple dome, large enough to surround a single pony. Within it, she could first see nothing other than the dancing, multichrome lights of Flaire's spell. But as the seconds passed, these quickly began to fade, leaving a single, dazed-looking pony staggering around inside the dome.
The dizzy and disoriented look on Flaire's face was priceless for the short while it lasted. Naturally though, he recovered very quickly, shaking his head to clear it, only to assume a look of surprise as he found himself surrounded by the purple light.
The nudge from Twilight was enough of a silent cue for Trixie to know that it was her turn. The showmare took another step forwards and raised her horn to the sky, lighting it up with a gracefully exaggerated light. This was the grand finale, after all – she wanted to make it look impressive.
Flaire reacted immediately. He ran forwards and tried to barge out through the shield with his side, only to bounce off and regain his balance back in the centre of the dome. He quickly shook off the blow and lowered his head, opting instead to break out with magic. He closed his eyes, his horn lit up again, and his body began to glow with a pulsing, yellowish light.
At Trixie's side, Twilight grunted with a sudden strain. The shield around Flaire flickered ominously. He'd clearly prepared a counterspell, after seeing Twilight's use of the shield spell in the other events, and it would overpower Twilight at any second.
But, just as Trixie, Twilight wasn't alone.
Trixie seized the moment and let loose the spell she'd been channelling – giving form to a shimmering length of rope overhead. She swung her horn downwards and sent it soaring towards Flaire, aimed straight at his hooves.
The stallion was so focused on his counterspell that he didn't have time to register and react to the attack fast enough, and the rope passed effortlessly through the faltering shield to reach him. Trixie flourished her horn with deliberate elegance, guiding the rope between and around Flaire's legs to form a practised knot – a spell she'd last used on Twilight's friend back in Ponyville.
Just as then, she dragged the tied ends of the rope upwards into the air, yanking Flaire off of his hooves and disrupting his spell as he flipped over in midair. He let out a winded “Oof'” as he fell onto his back, with his legs tied helplessly above him like piñata.
“Now, Twilight!” Trixie yelled, grinding her hooves into the ground as she used all her strength to keep him restrained.
Twilight didn't need telling twice either. The ends of Trixie's mane were kicked up as her partner dashed past, with her horn alight and face set.
There was a flash as Twilight leapt forwards and vanished, taking her shield with her and leaving Flaire tied up on the ground. A split-second later, she re-materialised right in front of him. In one deluxe and forceful movement, she landed, skidded forwards and brought her teeth down around the pendant that hung from Flaire's neck.
Click.
The sound seemed to echo amidst the stadium's speechless silence as everyone, Trixie included, watched Twilight make a valiant twirl on her back hooves, spinning the stolen pendant around her.
Trixie's magical grip faded, and though the rope remained around Flaire, the crackle of magic seemed to dissipate from the air into a shaking calm.
Twilight landed on all four hooves.
The silence drew on.
And then the applause came.
It was a roaring sound, as every pony in the stands rose from their seats to shout and to cheer, and to clap and punch the air. Trixie let out a strangled breath of joy mixed with disbelief and pride and every other emotion she couldn't name in the moment.
Twilight met her eyes, grinning toothily around the pendant still hanging from her mouth.
Trixie's gaze grew watery as she looked back into those wonderful, wonderful eyes. She burst forwards into a full-on gallop, so overcome that she didn't even care about looking clumsy. Twilight dashed forwards too, still grinning as she did.
The seconds it took for them to reach one another did nothing to quell the feeling in Trixie's chest. And as Twilight threw the pendant to the ground and leapt towards her with hooves outstretched, Trixie was all too happy to return the gesture.
She threw her hooves around Twilight and caught her in a wonderfully crushing hug, burying her nose into that striped, midnight mane and shutting her eyes tight to revel in the touch. A giggle-sob escaped Trixie, almost failing to express the utter happiness in her heart.
'We won... We won.'
She squeezed Twilight even harder as the thought brought even more warmth to her chest. Twilight gratefully squeezed back. In all honesty, the victory felt nothing like Trixie had imagined. She'd always pictured herself finally stepping out of Flaire's shadow alone, and that when she did, she would hold her nose to the sky and revel in applause and the spiteful pleasure of finally being better than he was.
But no... it wasn't like that at all. She'd won, together with Twilight Sparkle – the mare to whose kindness, and magic, she owed everything. That, more than anything, was what brought about the overpowering feelings of pride and affection she felt as that lone tear of joy tumbled down her cheek and into Twilight's mane.
Twilight's body shook with a silent giggle. “Oh, Trixie...”
The applause continued to rage in the stands overhead as the two mares pulled back to stand with their noses touching, looking into one another's eyes. Twilight brought a hoof up to subtly wipe the wetness from Trixie's cheek.
“We did it,” Twilight whispered.
Trixie fought back a sniffle, determined to look cool for her partner. “Yes, we did.”
She closed her eyes and continued to smile as she felt Twilight do the same. They stayed there, letting the rush of emotions play by as they focused on nothing other than one another's breathing.
When, at last, Trixie's mind was calm enough to remember their surroundings, she gently lifted open her eyelids and pulled back from Twilight. Her gaze trailed past her partner, to where Flaire still lay on his back, on the stone floor of the arena, with his own eyes closed and a completely calm, emotionless look on his face.
Twilight shifted too, turning to look in the opposite direction. Trixie followed her gaze over to the pyramid of ice that still encased Desert Rose some ways across the arena. The pendant still hung around her neck.
Twilight and Trixie met one another's eyes again, and they made a silent accord. Twilight stepped away first, to make towards Rose and her prison. That left Trixie to face Flaire.
It took her a long moment to get moving, but once she'd taken that first step, it was easy to make the rest. She soon stood over him, staring down at his expressionless face and over the knotted bonds that still restrained him. He hadn't made any effort to escape them.
“...Flaire,” she said firmly.
As was typical of Flaire, he took his sweet time responding to her, but eventually he did open his eyes to meet hers. Silence hung between them.
“...You won,” he said.
“Yes.”
He stared, as if waiting for her to go on. And she knew exactly what he was expecting. He was expecting her to burst into a boastful rant about how much better than him she was, how his complacent attitude had driven him to underestimate her and allowed her to finally overcome him.
But she had no such thing to say. Part of her wanted to, of course – a distant, tiny voice inside that she didn't even need to force down. It was easier than she expected to magically reach down and untie the knot that bound him, letting the rope tumble to the floor.
She continued to stare down at him, and he up at her. He waited for a long time, before finally seeming to accept that she had nothing to say.
He smiled. It wasn't a self-satisfied smirk, or one of those disarming smiles that he flashed at ponies he wanted to charm or subvert. It was just a smile – one Trixie could only remember seeing a very, very long time ago.
“You have grown up,” Flaire said simply.
Trixie blinked at him. There were plenty of things she could've said to that, but all of them would've been biting or cold. He might well deserve them, she had no doubt about that, but she held her tongue all the same.
There was a flicker of magic in the air, and the sound that came with it. Trixie and Flaire both turned to look towards Twilight Sparkle, who stood before Rose's prison with her horn lit up. A purple glow encased the ice, turning it purest white for a few seconds, before the entire thing disappeared – leaving Desert Rose suspended in midair.
Held by Twilight's magic, she drifted steadily down to the floor, where she lay, limp and breathing softly – fast asleep.
Twilight crouched down and grasped Rose's pendant with her teeth, gently pulling it until it came unclasped. She tossed it to one side and smiled down at Rose for a moment, before turning to nod at Trixie.
Trixie smiled back.
A brilliant white light spread out over the stadium as Princess Celestia materialised in the very centre of the arena and floated down to the ground. Flaire was calm but respectfully quick to untangle himself and rise to his hooves. Celestia's magical entrance even seemed to stir Rose from her enchanted sleep, and she blinked clumsily towards the Princess' radiant light.
Celestia, as seemed to be typical of her, was beaming that particularly warm smile once again.
Casting a glance over at Twilight, Trixie saw that her partner's eyes were fixed on Celestia. And judging by the look on her face, she saw something in the Princess' expression that Trixie did not. There was the faintest hint of a blush on her cheeks.
“Fillies and gentlecolts,” Celestia called out, “we have our victors. Trixie Lulamoon, Twilight Sparkle, please step forward.”
Trixie found herself hesitating for all of two seconds before she started towards the Princess. The movement seemed to snap Twilight out of some kind of daze, and she was quick to hurry up alongside.
Behind them, Flaire had risen and was moving over to rejoin Rose, but Trixie's attention was hardly focused on the two of them. Instead, her mind was occupied solely by the elation of victory, and her eyes fixed on the smiling Princess.
As she and Twilight came to a stop before Celestia, they each gave a deep and graceful bow of respect.
“Rise, my little ponies,” Celestia said.
They did, and Trixie looked right up into Celestia's warm, smiling eyes as the Princess looked between she and Twilight in turn. If Trixie had to give that look a name, she'd say that it was the look of a proud mother.
“Today,” said Celestia, her voice echoing out over the stadium, “not only have you proven yourselves powerful adversaries, but you have once again shown the trust, teamwork and determination that has brought you this far during the Display. It is my great honour and privilege to be the one to award this year's prize to two such deserving ponies...”
Celestia's horn lit up a regal yellow, and from thin air she drew forth a pair of glittering, platinum medallions, each hanging from a blue ribbon. At Trixie's side, Twilight bowed her head gracefully, ready to receive her award. Trixie, on the other hoof, wasted no time in puffing out her chest, closing her eyes and proudly smirking up towards the sky.
A matter of seconds passed before she felt the caress of the ribbon as it draped around her neck, and she forced herself to wait a good count of another three-and-a-half before opening her eyes to look down and check it out. Sure enough, it seemed to shine against her chest as it reflected the Sun's light. 'I wish I had a mirror...'
On an instinctive whim, she turned to Flaire with a mockingly proud smirk on her face, meaning to rub her victory in his face, just as she had done in every daydream she'd ever had of this moment. But that smirk wavered...
He stood there with the still groggy-looking Desert Rose pressed up against him in a cuddle, with her eyes closed. His eyes were looking right back into Trixie's. And he was smiling that same, genuine smile. Almost as if he was proud of her.
Trixie blinked as her mouth formed a thoughtful line. This was nothing like she'd imagined...
A bump against her side distracted Trixie from her thoughts, and she turned to see Twilight giving her a meaningful, sidelong look. The showmare blinked cluelessly for a few seconds before she cottoned on and turned to the still-smiling Princess.
“O-oh, ahem... Thank you, your highness,” said Trixie hastily.
Celestia lowered her voice to its normal tone and leaned in a little. “As I said, it is my pleasure. You have both earned this, and I am very proud of you.” She paused to offer Twilight a quick wink, to which the purple unicorn responded with a bright smile. As to what exactly that wink meant, Trixie could only guess. She was probably just letting Twilight know that she was proud of her in particular, which was perfectly okay in Trixie's book.
After one final glance between the two of them, Celestia nodded, took a step back and puffed out her chest, ready to address the stadium as a whole.
“Fillies and gentlecolts,” she called out. “I hereby present to you this year's Champions of the Manehattan Display... the Educated and Well-read Twilight Sparkle and the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
At that, the audience broke into veracious applause once again – rising to their hooves and yelling at the top of their lungs in celebration of Trixie's victory.
Twilight and Trixie's victory. Strangely enough, that thought was a whole lot sweeter to Trixie than knowing that she had the spotlight all to herself. She had somepony to share it with. And that somepony just happened to be Twilight Sparkle – the smartest, specialest, most beautiful unicorn in all of Equestria.
...Next to Trixie herself, of course.
On impulse, she turned to the side to smile at Twilight, who was looking out across the stands above with her eyes wide and her jaw partly agape as she took in the applause. There was something twinkling in her eyes. Pride, joy, a little embarrassment perhaps. Whatever the case, it was that look – coupled with the lingering elation of victory – that prompted the idea both mischievous and brilliant into Trixie's mind...
“I'm sorry, Twilight,” she said.
Twilight blinked rapidly. She'd clearly been so caught up in listening to the applause that it took her a moment to register Trixie's words. When she did, she dragged her eyes away from the crowd to offer Trixie a confused look.
“Sorry? What are you sorry for?”
Trixie's smirk widened. For her part, Twilight just quirked her head in question, clearly puzzling over what Trixie was talking about. She was utterly clueless...
After leaving it a good few moments for effect, Trixie decided to enlighten her.
In a movement quicker than lightning, Trixie thrust herself forwards and caught Twilight square on the lips, locking her into a kiss.
Twilight gave a muffled yelp and her eyebrows shot right up her forehead as flames seemed to light up in her cheeks. She made what could hardly be called an effort to pull away before her eyes darted to the side in panic.
Mischievously curious, Trixie followed her gaze.
Princess Celestia was looking right back at the two of them, with her smile wider than ever and with her own eyebrows raised ever-so-slightly. Trixie couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at seeing that look. It was more than enough to get Twilight back for the bold neck kiss that she obviously thought she'd gotten away with.
At this point, Trixie expected Twilight to pull away, tell her off or possibly pass out from the embarrassment of being kissed in front of a thousand spectators and the Princess who'd been her mentor since childhood.
But Twilight didn't pull away.
Instead, she let out a nervous, muffled giggle and resigned herself to Trixie's kiss, closing her eyes and melting into the embrace. Taken off guard, Trixie hesitated for a moment, before promptly letting go of her thoughts and following suit.
The two ponies held their kiss as the still-roaring sound of applause faded to a dull background noise. And though what seemed like the entire population of Manehattan might've been watching them, it felt, to Trixie, as if they were the only two ponies in the world.
And, somehow, she knew that Twilight felt that way too.
* * *