Chapter 4: Pride of the Angel
Canterlot Castle Throne Room
Oct. 29 9:00 A.M.
"You did what!?" Celestia couldn't believe what she just heard, her uncle was the person responsible for Twilight to be in the hospital. She couldn't believe that her own uncle was responsible for what happened to Twilight.
Luna was trying to hold back Twilight's parents from going berserk on Nicolas, but she was beginning to wonder why he did it. Nevertheless, she was struggling to keep her parents on bay.
The others couldn't believe him either and were ranting at him and to Nicolas, it was very painful to him, "Why in tarnation would you do something like that to her?!"
"Yeah, why would you do something like that to her?!"
"Girls." Nicolas was trying to tell them why but he kept on getting interrupted by their ranting over and over again.
"Please tell us why you did it."
"Why did you do it?"
Their ranting was getting out of hand and it was getting Nicolas a little agitated, but when it got to the point where it was going beyond his point of reasoning, he snapped right where he was, "SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" That there silenced almost everyone in the throne room. Not only that, they were scared from seeing the eyes and the blood red aura. Nicolas reverted back to normal and took a deep breath, "Now you see it." Nicolas was being calm throughout this but was a little enraged, "Listen, what I did was wrong, I understand that." Nicolas showed the form once again but this time in full effect. The wings showed only his bones revealing from what the others described as feathers made out of blood, a blood-red halo appears, the horn had a red aura surrounding it, the mane and tail become blood-red as well, his fur goes from a light-brown to white and the cutie mark darkened, "But I wasn't in control of myself at the time I attacked her." His voice was deeper then normal, but it was still him talking to them, "This form only kicks in when I received multiple fatal injuries or when my anger rises at its peak." Nicolas reverts back to his normal self and calmly looks at them, "I am deeply sorry for hurting her, but as I said before, I wasn't in control of my actions. That and also..." At this moment, memories of his past life resurfaced and a few bits of tears fell down his face.
All the others felt sad for Nicolas and tried to comfort him. Celestia and Luna forgave him and decided to leave them be. Both leave the throne and went to the hospital to check on Twilight.
Canterlot Hospital
Oct. 29 9:15 A.M.
When both princesses enter the room where Twilight was in, they see her in good condition reading what seems to look like a "Daring Do" book. They ask the doctors if they can enter the room. The doctors nodded and both of them enter the room. As they enter, Twilight notices and closes the book. Both Celestia and Luna are delighted to see her in good condition, "Hello Twilight, I see that you are making a fast recovery, am I right?"
"Yes, you're right." Twilight puts the book back where it was and returns her attention at the two princesses, "So what brings you here?"
"We came in just to check. Twilight, there is something that has been bothering me. Why did you keep on asking out uncle that question. The one involving his personal life?"
Twilight was hoping that Princess Celestia wouldn't ask that question but since it came, she had to answer it anyway, "Well, it's hard for me to answer, but I wanted to know about it so badly."
Luna was not surprised about this, but she was a little shocked she would go this far to find out his personal life. Besides that, she has nothing to say that involves Nicolas at the moment, "I expect that will be able to walk by tomorrow? You want your daughter to know you that you are in the hospital?"
Twilight brightened up from that response. She nodded yes and went back into reading the book. Doctors come in and tell that she will be able to walk by tomorrow like what the princesses said making her glad. She was really worried that she wasn't able to make it and thought she was actually gonna die. She actually wondered what death would feel like and seeing it up close, she wished she never thought about it. She returns back to the book and reads it with glee.
With Twilight being okay and happy to see Luna leaves and returns back to the castle. Celestia on the other hand had one more question in mind for Twilight, this one being a little personal, "Twilight, were you able to get anything out of Nicolas of his personal life?"
"No I didn't and I don't want to remember it." Twilight doesn't want to recall it ever again, the first time upon seeing his dark side scarred her very life making her scared of making him mad. She was shaking with fear from just remembering it, "Princess Celestia, do you think that Nicolas will forgive me if I apologized?"
"It is worth a try." With that said, she leaves the hospital and out of Twilight's room. When she goes out she sees some cloud cake. Wanting some cloud cake for a long time, she goes to the baker and asks for a while cloud cake. The baker agrees to this and goes to making the cake.
Canterlot Castle
Oct. 29 9:30 A.M.
At Canterlot Castle, Nicolas goes out of the throne room into the garden for some fresh air after all of this. He hopes that Twilight will be able to recover from her injuries and apologize to her for what happened. After some good air flowing, he decided that now may be a good time to build a house. He hasn't forgotten about Oni, but he takes his time, why not use this time to build one now? He teleports to Gaia Falls and starts building his house there for the beautiful scenery. While he was building his house, he was wondering how he is going to make Fluttershy fight. She has done it before, but only because of the situation at hand. After much thought, he has this idea that may work but it all depends if it even works.
While he was building his house, the others began their own training from Shining Armor and Cadence practicing their defensive spells, to Applejack bucking more apples with much more speed and strength, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash for speed, Rarity and Nyx just in case for magical strength, and Pinkie doing whatever she does for training. Twilight was still in the hospital at the moment, but was also practicing her spells as well. During much of their training, someone from within the shadows of another town seeks revenge on someone. She manages to find a rare artifact that grants the wearer almost unimaginable power. With that out of the way, she returns to Ponyville to settle the score.
After hours of building the house from the design to the exterior and interior, he manages to make his house. Noticing that it was getting nighttime he decided to put the furniture on later and heads to sleep. He still wonders if Twilight is the one to forgive so easily with his mind running crazy, he tries to calm down and puts himself into a deep sleep.
While everyone was asleep, deep within the ruins of the old Canterlot Castle, Oni looks around the castle and checks every locations while discovering a few secrets along the way. While the castle was broken down from it being left behind, Oni saw it as a perfect place to begin his true destruction. He goes into the library first to do some research on the world once again to be certain that he did not miss a single important, historical detail about Equestria.
Ponyville
Oct. 30 7:36 A.M.
Twilight was checked out of the hospital after one good night's rest. She returned to Ponyville by teleporting to the library, thereby hoping not to awaken anypony else that are still sleeping. She did it in pristine condition and decided to check on what was going on after her time in the hospital. She looks around the house and sees Nyx and Spike sleeping peacefully making her happy that Spike was able to take care of her. She goes outside to see her friends and notice that the sky was being blocked by storm clouds. She doesn't recall there to be a scheduled rainstorm. When she walks to the town hall, what she finds almost shocks her, "Trixie, is that you?"
Trixie was toying with the citizens at the time Twilight was still resting in the hospital. When she heard her nemesis's voice, she turns around and sees her making a somewhat devilish grin upon seeing her, "Hello, Twilight Sparkle."
Gaia Falls
Oct. 30 7:43 A.M.
Nicolas wakes out of his bed all ready to meet Twilight again. As he was prepping himself for a visit to Ponyville as he heard that Twilight has checked out of the hospital, he senses a disturbance in the weather. He looks out of his window and notices a storm appearing only above Ponyville. He can tell the difference between a magic-caused storm and a normal storm and what he was looking at was a magic-induced storm. What was different from the others he felt was that this one he can feel the emotion of the spellcaster. The clouds were filled with jealousy, hate, and some negatives emotions making Nicolas worried. If Twilight were to fight this pony, it would not be a good idea as she is not in a good condition to fight and that, from the looks of things, she was strong, very strong. He gets ready a teleportation spell and tries to get a mental image of Ponyville. For some reason, he was struggling to get a mental image of Ponyville telling him that something was obscuring it. He tries for the closet thing to Ponyville and teleports to Fluttershy's cottage. Upon teleporting to her cottage, he sees the problem. A magical bubble was preventing him from getting a mental image of his destination and it prevented anyone from going in or out. He goes near the bubble and tries to see if there were any weak spots on it. As he was looking for one, he sees Twilight out of the bubble looking a little sullen, he calls for his name, "Twilight!"
Twilight heard Nicolas and upon seeing him, runs to him in glee, "Nicolas!"
"Twilight, what is going on? What's with this force field?" Nicolas looked at the bubble concerned about what was going on.
"I'll tell you about it later, I need to go to Zecora's house. Do you know her?"
"Yes, but why do you need to go to her?"
"Someone I never saw in a long time came back and was toying with the citizens."
"Who was this pony?" Nicolas wanted to know who he or she was.
"Her name is Trixie. She was a magician that came to Ponyville months ago. She's boastful and arrogant and tried to prove that she can do better. Some colts accidently bought a Ursa Minor into town to prove that Trixie was the better one. Of course, things did not go so well, so I had to take care of it."
"And were you able to put the Ursa Minor back to its place?" Nicolas was wondering if she was able to do what he was thinking.
"I did, she wasn't happy about it though. She left Ponyville and it has been awhile since I last seen her. I didn't expect her to get this strong after some time. She managed to turn two ponies into an elder and into a colt and that was high level magic that I saw there..."
Nicolas was listening to every word that Twilight was saying getting more information about this Trixie, but what got him the most was the neckless that this 'Trixie' was wearing, "Twilight, not to change the subject, but can you give me the description of this necklace that she is wearing?"
Twilight nodded and gave an accurate description of the necklace that she was wearing. To Twilight, the thing looked very familiar, but she wasn't able to get the idea on what it is.
Upon hearing the description of the necklace, Nicolas knew what was going on with Trixie getting an almost sudden magical strength boost as he has seen that object before, "I see, I think I have the answer as to how she has immense strength."
Twilight was getting a little giddy from hearing that able to find out what caused the immense strength, "Great, what caused it?"
"We'll have to talk about it later, why won't we get to Zecora's hut for now, that okay?"
Twilight nods and both went into Zecora's house hoping to see if she can teach Twilight anything that might help. After going through the forest without running into something, they see Zecora's hut. Twilight knocks on the door.
Zecora goes to the door and notices both Nicolas and Twilight. She notices that Twilight was looking a little desperate. She moves out of the way allowing them to enter. As they enter, she asked Twilight what was bothering her, "Come now. What is bothering you?"
Twilight looked at Zecora, "Zecora, is it possible for you to teach me anything that could help me?"
Zecora was a little baffled from her question, but at the very least could be able to teach her something, "I do not know if so, but perhaps I can try."
Nicolas was thinking about Trixie and how did she get her hands on the amulet. Upon remembering the amulet, he pokes Twilight shoulders to get her attention, "Twilight, do you still want to know what is giving her the immense strength she has now?"
Twilight was again getting a little giddy from able to find out what gave her this sudden strength, "Sure, what is it?"
"It's the necklace. From the description you gave me, it sounds like she has the Alicorn Amulet."
Upon hearing those two words, Twilight's mind went alert, "What!? No wonder why it looked so familiar."
Nicolas was trying to understand what Twilight just said, "Wait, you've heard of it before?"
"Yes, I was reading books about it when I was just a filly."
Nicolas couldn't but laugh a little from her answer, "Wow, even as a filly, you like to learn. I get to learn something new everyday." Nicolas managed to calm back down from all of the laughing but the idea still made him laugh, "Never mind that, Twilight, I think it's about time I taught you every spell I know of."
Twilight almost jumped at the sound of hearing what Nicolas just offered. She finally gets the chance to learn all the spells that he has to offer. She nodded yes in excitement hoping to see them all.
"Sorry on this short visit Zecora, but I got it from here."
Zecora nodded back at Nicolas, "You are the alicorn. You have more knowledge then I do, go make her proud."
With that said, Nicolas teleports themselves at Gaia Falls where she noticed that he built a house, "Twilight, focus, what I am about to teach are spells known to many multiple worlds I have visited. So expect this to be a grueling training exercise for you. Now watch what I do and see if you can do the same." Twilight nodded and the training began. Throughout the hours there, Nicolas teaches Twilight all kinds of spells from time-based spells, to elemental spells, and even to the forbidden spells that very few know. This is probably the first time he has ever taught someone else besides Luna and Celestia all the spells he knows. He feels like a master now, teaching his students all of what he has learned from his past life. With all that said, he teaches her first some of the most of the most basic spells he knows, then goes ahead into the advanced spells. When he gets to his last spell, he stops there and takes a break from it, "Twilight, I think that's enough spells for you to get even with her."
"You think so?" Twilight was a little worried about what will happen when she fights Trixie again.
"I know so. By the way, do you recognize these?" Nicolas pulls something out of an unusual chest that looked familiar. What he pulls out are what she didn't expect, the Elements of Harmony.
Twilight was shocked to see that Nicolas has a hold of the Elements of Harmony, "Where did you get them?!"
"Celestia had them hidden away in case anyone tried to take them. She decided that it would be safer if she gave them to me since only I know where Gaia Falls is. Tell me honestly, do you think I represent all of them really well?" Nicolas knew he represented them well but he wanted a reassuring answer from someone he knows and trust. He wanted to see if he can unleash the hidden power within the Elements of Harmony.
Twilight wasn't so sure how to answer the question, but seeing him do all the things that represent each one of them, she can be honest. Nicolas definitely represents each one of them well especially the Element of Magic, "Yes Nicolas you represent each one of them well."
Nicolas was happy to hear that from Twilight and did something Twilight wasn't expecting. Nicolas hugged Twilight like that of a family member and also embraced her. Twilight was trying to understand why he just did it but she hugged back as well. She almost went into tears, she was guessing that this was sorry for what happened to her when she asked the question about his personal life. As they embraced each other, something made Nicolas feel rather uncomfortable. The heat around the falls was palpable and seemingly felt like it was around him, or rather in front of him. He noticed that Twilight was exhibiting some heat from her body and it was sorta burning at the moment, "Uh Twilight, you can let go now..."
She did not what he said only continued to extend the embrace. It's only when Twilight gets a whiff of burnt fur that she notices the she was burning onto the fur. She backed away slowly blushing a bit much for that prolonged hug.
Nicolas was trying to understand what just happened there when his fur got singed. For a few seconds, he was silent making Twilight wonder what was going on in his head until it clicked on him as to why he felt the heat. He never imagine that the student of Celestia was a fire elemental, "Never thought to realize that I'm training a fire elemental or in my case a pyrokinetic."He was reeling a bit from seeing one in a long while and coming from the student, he wasn't surprise that she would represent fire. He returns to his serious face and returns back to the event at hand, "Never mind that, Twilight, you have to fight Trixie. I think the training is enough for you to go against her. Also, keep this our secret, I don't want our friends to find out about this now."
"I don't think I can keep it a secret..."
"Why?" Nicolas asked.
"Because my friends already now about this?" Twilight laughed weakly from telling him. Nicolas laughed as well, but was much heartier than Twilight, "If your friends already know about this than I don't need to worry than!" Twilight was a little silent from that exchange. Nicolas changed the subject and allowed Twilight the honor of teleporting him. She nodded in agreement and casted a teleport spell on Ponyville. Normally she wouldn't be able to teleport into the city when the force field was in effect , in this case, Nicolas casted a spell dampener on the field allowing her to enter.
While Twilight was prepping herself for the fight with Trixie, Nicolas went on ahead invisible and checks on what Trixie was doing. He sees her toying with some of the ponies making him a little mad. Then again, it isn't her fault for wearing the Alicorn Amulet. While it does give untold amounts of magical power, whoever wears it becomes corrupted and the only way for it to be removed was for the wearer to remove it his or herself. He was mad at her for using this item just for get revenge on, yet felt a bit of sympathy for her. She was so consumed by jealousy that it drove her to do this, honestly for Nicolas maybe he may help Trixie. but as of right now, priorities come first.
Twilight was about to go out it but out of nowhere she sees Nyx out there and from the looks of it with the CMCs looking like they were bringing Trixie food and looking tired to add that. Seeing that she would go this far as to use children for servants and keep on using until they reach them tired made her more mad, "Oh no, Trixie, why would you do that to them? You are going to be sorry for that, especially for what you are doing to my Nyx."
Nicolas noticing what was going on with the little fillies was also fuming as well. Recalling that it was not her fault but the Alicorn Amulet, he takes a few deep breathes to calm himself down before going into a rampage. When he sees the CMCs leave, he decided to check on them while Twilight does what she needs to do. He signals Twilight telling her that he was going to check on the CMC.
Twilight notices him and nods leaving her to what she needed to do. She steps out of the corridors and meets Trixie face to face not wavering from her or the amulet.
Trixie was looking at the food they bought to her, when upon noticing that Twilight was right in front of her, wondered how she was able to enter Ponyville even with the force field in effect. Nevertheless, she was delighted to see her ready to embarrass her once again, "Hello Twilight Sparkle. Ready to lose again by me?" Trixie was enjoying every moment to do this once again in front of her friends.
Twilight recalled the first time that they faced each other. When they did their magic duel, she was using high-level spells that were almost impossible to learn unless you were an able unicorn. Now she was aware on what gave her this immense skill and from her perspective, she thinks she has gone even with Trixie now that she has otherworldly spells not known in Equestria and to her, "Yes, but this time, you are going to lose."
Hearing that from her nemesis almost made her laugh, "Haha, you? Defeat the Great and Powerful Trixie? As if, I'd like to see you try." She gets into position and stares at Twilight who was helping the citizens get back on their feet. While she managed to helped them get back on their hooves, she looked at Trixie who was waiting patiently for her nemesis.
"With pleasure!" As that was said, everypony in Ponyville was coming to the town hall to watch the duel once again hoping to see Twilight win. Her friends came from the sidelines and were cheering for her making her much more determined. As they stare each other watching each others moves, Trixie makes the first move and shoots a magic beam at Twilight. Hoping that her training paid off, she casts a barrier around herself and it reflects the spell from her to Trixie.
Trixie narrowly dodges her own spell and was utterly shocked to see what just happened. Her spell reflected by a simple barrier?
Twilight was almost jittery from actually doing it right. All the other ponies go "Oooohhh" from seeing what just happened and it made Trixie all the while more jealous. Twilight dispels the barrier for now and smiles, "Now what do you have to say for yourself?"
Trixie wasn't so sure what to say, but she was more mad at what she just and went into the offensive and shoots another beam from her horn.
Twilight this time dodges it and chants something that baffled Trixie. She manages to complete the incantation and casted a fire spell regardless if was not in her fire form on Trixie.
Trixie notices the spell being casted and dodges it. She was being shocked again at seeing an fire spell being done even if she wasn't in her form, "H-how are you able to do that?!"
Twilight was expecting something like that from her and decided to go as she planned. She shows off her Element of Magic at Trixie, "This is what is giving me that strong boost. You aren't the only one that has something that uses something to boost their magical strength. We're even now, want to keep on fighting or quit?"
Trixie was at the verge of literally ripping Twilight apart as she was getting enraged. She releases one of her spell this time powered up from a magic surge.
Twilight noticed that her spells were now getting powered up from magic surges and was on the defense dodging them while casting spells back at her. Trixie too was doing the exact same thing dodging and casting spells back at her. While this was going on, Nicolas checked on the CMC just in case they weren't in pain or of anything like that. He looks around trying to find them without alerting Trixie of his presense. For a while, he was beginning to lose hope of finding them until he hears talking and from the sound of it, it was coming from the CMC clubhouse. He finds the clubhouse almost looking a little barren making him very worried about them. When he knocks on their door just to be certain that they are there, the CMC open their door and much to their surprise, it was Nicolas who was knocking.
They embraced Nicolas full of excitement upon seeing him, "Oh thank goodness, you're here! We thought you were gone with Twilight."
Hearing that from the CMC made him wonder, "Wait, what do you mean? You saw me with Twilight outside of the force field?"
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle nodded their heads in a no fashion, "No, Nyx did. She was crying from seeing her leave Ponyville. We tried to cheer her up by telling that she will come back, it worked but only for the moment. When we saw Twilight coming out of nowhere, Nyx was so happy to see her."
"I see. Where is Nyx by the way?" Nicolas only saw the three in their clubhouse making him very worried about her.
The three looked at each other in confusion, then after much thought, had a suggestion, "Maybe she went to where the mean Trixie and Twilight are fighting at?"
"I hope you're right. You three go on ahead I'll catch up with you." As the three left the clubhouse, he looks upon the house and sees pictures of what he believes to be every event that happened while he was gone from Equestria. He looks upon each of the pictures showcasing what happened during those times. From the first talent show with just the three, to the field trip, and finally to the second talent show with Nyx in it this time. He was delighted to see all of these wonderful memories of the CMC and of the six. He leaves the clubhouse at goes to the city hall. Upon leaving the house, he hears a faint sound that sounded like his name.
"Nicolas."
It was quiet from where he was, but it was loud enough for him to hear. He wonders who was calling his name, but ignores it for now and continues his slow walk to the city hall.
"Nicolas."
Again he his name being called on, but it was a little louder and it has a distinguishing voice that almost sounded familiar. Ignoring it once again, he speeds up the pace and jogs to city hall.
"Nicolas."
Once again he hears it, but this time he recognized it all too well. It sounded like one of his deceased siblings Euria. At first, he was trying to be sure that he was just imagining what he was hearing making sure that he didn't touch anything that could cause this or that he was being dizzy. For some time, he was trying to forget what he just heard, but upon hearing his name being called one last time with her voice, he decided to ask just out of curiousity, "Sister, is that really you I hear?"
Upon asking that question, she answered it and asked her own question, "Yes, it's me. How are you brother?"
Hearing her made him almost break down, but he's been through enough of those for today, "Honestly, I have no idea hearing your voice and all, haha." Hearing her laugh made him very glad to hear one of his siblings voice, but one thing was making him wonder, "Euria, how are you still alive? I though you died alongside mother and father."
She wasn't so sure either how was she still alive, but that didn't matter at the least, "To be honest, I don't know. I've got no idea where I am and to be honest it doesn't matter to me so long as I get to hear your voice."
That made him almost blush out of embarrassment after hearing that from her, "Thanks, sorry but I got to help somepony, I mean someone."
That almost got her into confusion, "Did you say somepony. Have you forgotten how to speak correctly brother?"
"No, its not that. The place I'm in is full of ponies, rarely do I see other kinds of animals that talks especially mythical creatures."
"I see, well whoever you have to help, go help it out. You are always the kind of person to help out."
"Thanks sister, it is very good to hear your voice once again." Nicolas goes in a gallop making haste and heads to Ponyville.
At Ponyville, the two unicorns are continuing their duel with what looks like no end in sight. Twilight and Trixie were getting tired from casting one spell after another as they were getting more and more weaker. Nyx appears from the crowd cheering Twilight onward alongside the CMC. That gave a boost in her determination and continued the fight until they were depleted of their magic. Trixie wasn't able to hit her at all for the duration of the duel. It was making her more mad and close to actually using forbidden spells that she dared not to use. As the heated battle continued, Trixie's patience was getting thin. She stopped still in her place looking malevolently at Twilight and smiling. Twilight made eye contact with her said nemesis not looking away from her sight.
"You'll fight me Sparkle." Trixie demanded, not loosing the evil grin on her face. "Unless you want more blood on your hooves that is." Twilight's eyes widened, suddenly realizing how far off the deep end Trixie was. "I see now." Twilight spoke softly, "What a shame. I didn't think even you could stoop that low. Is that really how it is?" Trixie didn't answer her, she simply continued to stare a hole through Twilight, still malevolently smiling at her. "Answer me!" Twilight shout at her, "Do you let yourself be a slave over something like this?" Rather than giving Twilight a response, Trixie's horn began to glow with the red magic. Not taking her eyes off her foe for a moment, released her magical energy at a group of ponies that gathered around the two of them. As several of them were thrown around screaming, Twilight looked over to the knocked around group, a look of sheer disbelief now on her face. She was all right that the majority of them weren't young fillies and colts, but she was still in disbelief after seeing what she did. "Tell me," Trixie said, finally speaking up. "Is it slavery that will assist you getting what you want?" With the dust blowing past her from the burst of power, Trixie lifted her face up, now baring her teeth in that sinister smile she was giving Twilight.
Twilight was still looking at what Trixie did. All those ponies were now hurt or worse. And Why? Because Trixiecouldn't back that grudge even after what happened? As she looked on, Twilight began clenching her teeth. Her once concerned look now slowly being replaced with an angered one. She slowly turned her face back to Trixie, who was still giving her that upturned evil look. Where as Twilight was above being lured into confrontation once again, she couldn't allow any more ponies to be hurt because of her nemesis doing anything cold-hearted even for her. She continued to give Trixie a death stare, the blue unicorn still sizing her up.
Twilight's horn came to life, a gentle aura now surrounding it. At the sight, Trixie slowly lowered her head back down. It took a little prodding, but she was finally going to get her rival to react.
"No Twilight." Spike said, suddenly stepping in from the side. "You can't. If you fight her, you'll be doing exactly what she wants. You'll be no better than she is."
"Tell me, Trixie," Twilight said to her, completely ignoring Spike's words, "I know that amulet you're wearing has been making you act like this. So is that why your so avid about this battle, or is this just the same old routine of you needing to prove you're better than everyone?"
As expected, Trixie gave no answer. She simply continued her sadistic stare at the unicorn she faced.
"Does it really matter?" Rarity questioned from the side.
"Maybe not to you," Trixie answered the white unicorn. "But to a true unicorn it matters greatly. And you know as well as I do Sparkle. I have been waiting for the day to give you a taste of what a true magician can do. And I will not miss this opportunity."
Twilight and Trixie again stared at each other for a few moments. Their brows both furrowed. Trixie still wearing her smile, but Twilight had a very serious look on her face.
"Who are you?" Spike said to Trixie, "Don't you realize that ponies lives matter more than you meaningless grudge?"
At his words, Trixie's smile quickly contorted into an angry scowl. "Meaningless, huh!?!" she shouted. Spike took a prominent step back, knowing he had invoked the mare's wrath. "And what do you know of meaningless!?!" Trixie shouted again. The magic aura in her horn came back, this time so powerful that it caused a shock wave, sending dirt and other debris flying everywhere. Despite having loss most of her strength from the fight, the Alicorn Amulet amplified her magic reserves to immeasurable levels. Many of the on lookers shielded their eyes from the sudden kick up of dust. All except one. Twilight Sparkle still maintained her composure.
Spike took his arm away from his eyes, noticing the magical aura now surrounded Trixie's entire body. And that scowl was still plastered on her face.
"Spend all of that being ridiculed and looked down upon by others!" Trixie said, resuming where she left off, the aura now slowly fading from her body. "Watch all that you had dwindle away until there's nothing left. And then tell me what has more meaning to you than your ability! I have in me the power of a true unicorn, she is nothing but a joke. Yet I watched her surpass me in power! My reputation, completely destroyed!"
Trixie took a short pause, getting her breath back. "Sh-She's even saved my life as if I were a helpless foal. She has tarnished my name... And her dues... Will. Be. Paid." Nicolas was hearing all of what she said the moment she stopped the battle and hearing what her life from Trixie, he now had his reasons to feel sympathetic for Twilight's rival. He realizes that Trixie has now went beyond the point of reasoning as her hatred grew and the amulet amplifying that said hatred. From where she was, without hesitation, she began chanting up a forbidden spell not before binding her foe in place. Twilight was caught in the binding spell and was unable to perform any action at all. Everypony saw this and tried to stop Trixie from casting the spell, however, it was already too late as she gained enough magic to cast it. As she finished her chant, she casted the spell at Twilight with not a care of her pathetic life. With each second passing by, the blast got closer and closer looking like she was actually going to die right in front of everypony. Her life was beginning to flash before her eyes thinking she was going to face death. She closed them realizing that she had no hope of surviving and accepted her fate. When the blast got within point-blank range, Nicolas teleported in front of the spell with his sword unsheathed and blocked it. Twilight opened her eyes and sees him blocking the Spell Trixie conjured up, "Twilight, it's too early for you to accept death. No pony is going to die prematurely while I'm here!" Trixie noticing that the spell has been stopped wondered who was blocking it. She amplified the spell hoping to decimate both Twilight and whoever was blocking the spell. Nicolas, noticing that the spell was getting stronger each second, decided to deflect it and launched it upward. The spell headed up towards the sky. It hit the force field upon making contact with it destroying it in the process. Trixie saw the spell go upward. It amazed and shocked her to that one pony alone somehow managed to deflect that. When looked at where Twilight, she face suddenly changed from a malicious smile she had to a fear unlike any other on any pony.
Nicolas tries to release the binding spell on Twilight, happy to see her at least alive, "Sorry I got late there. I got a little carried away." He waves at the CMC and tells them to stay put. They responded leaving Twilight and Trixie injured from the long fight. While releasing Twilight, Nicolas looked at Trixie who was in fear upon seeing him for the first time, "So you are Trixie? Honestly, it feel a little silly fighting against you."
Trixie never saw him before in her life, but seeing that he was able to deflect that blast away made her a little worried. Not only that, but he is an alicorn making her even more worried, "W-who are you?"
"A friend, that's all you need to know. Using forbidden spells on your part? That I would consider cheating on my standards." Nicolas was never fond of using any arcane magic as he knew the consequences of using just one of them. "You know you can't fight in the condition you are in."
He was right about it, fighting him would be meaningless as she was at her breaking point and she was in no condition to fight. She was about to quit out until she sees that a magical aura was surrounding both Twilight and Trixie. After that, Trixie notices that she wasn't in pain anymore. She wondered what and why did the alicorn do what she was thinking, "What did you do?"
Twilight was fully recovered from the fight as well. She makes a guess that Nicolas used a healing spell to heal them, but why he also did it on Trixie, she wanted to know, "I know you healed me, but why Trixie as well?"
"Because this is your fight Twilight, not mine. She is all yours. No worries, I'm here to keep an eye on her should she do something sneaky." Nicolas gives a reassuring nod to Twilight, "Trixie, your fight against Twilight still continues, I healed you because it is not fair for the both of you to fight in your condition." Nicolas walks up to the City Hall stairway. He looks at the both of them and continues, "This fight will have a victor, but it is up to the skill of the pony at hand. Trixie, are you ready?"
Trixie was wondering what was going on with this alicorn, healing her and allowing the fight to continue. He was an unusual alicorn, yet at the same time, she couldn't pass up this opportunity to finally defeat Twilight once again, "Trixie was born ready."
Nicolas turns to look at Twilight looking battle ready as ever. He was proud to train her. Now he gets to know if his training with her paid off, "Twilight are you ready?"
Twilight ensued a battle stance the moment he asked her that, "Ready to go."
"Okay then, this is it. Ready..." At this time, everypony was hoping that Twilight would be able to win. They cheer for Twilight with the best of their efforts and watched, "Begin!"
Twilight was the first to strike. She casts a beam strong enough to sting a Ursa Major at the time right on Trixie while also casting a defensive spell on herself.
Trixie sidesteps from the incoming beam and upon noticing that she was casting as defensive spell when she shot that beam, shoot an energy ball upwards into the sky. The ball splits apart upon reaching its peak and showers on the battlefield.
Twilight looks up and notices that the ball of enerby that she made was splitting into multiple tiny versions of itself. She manages to create the barrier only for it to falter upon making contact of just one of them. Seeing that, she tries to dodge all of the incoming energy balls.
Trixie sees an opportunity and begins charging while saying some incantation of some kind. This spell she learned by herself was one of Trixie's personal favorites as it was her families's own idea of a spell circle which she implimented into her own spell. She was the only who made and perfected the spell. It required mass amounts of magic that only unicorns who specialize in magic have. With the Alicorn Amulet's power combining with her own, it was powerful enough to leave a hole in the mountain. She manages to get enough of her magic to make a spell circle in the air and putting all of her magic in it. She puts her horn on the circle and begins concentrating on pouring all of her magic in the circle.
Twilight was dodging all of the energy balls that were falling on her. As it begun to stop, she notices that Trixie was preparing a spell she never saw before. She wondered within the short time she had what kind of spell that Trixie was using. She does see something about her spell that was similar to spell that require a spell circle. She too also weaves a spell circle except the spell circle of hers was using the power of the Elements of Harmony. Six small circles surrounded another circle bearing her cutie mark. The others beared the cutie marks of her friends as well including Nicolas. As her spell circle was near completion, she also pours all of her magic in the circle.
Both were done with their spell circle and looked at each other one last time before finally with the last bit of magic they have, they shoot an enormous beam of pure energy from their spell circles. The beams make contact and created a big sphere of energy where the two made contact. Nicolas manages to teleport everypony a few feet away from the sphere and looks upon the sphere in awe. Never had he seen such raw power from two very determined and powerful unicorns. Seeing that the beams was powered from the respective choice of relic, Nicolas begins to wonder if Trixie does have something she actually fights for. Twilight's powered up by the Elements of Harmony. Trixie's powered up with the Alicorn Amulet. There was no way that Trixie was able to do this without something for her to fight for. He begins to notice that the corruption that was within Trixie was beginning to fade from her. The red aura that had once surrounded her horn was gradually returning back to her color. He begins to see now what was pushing Trixie to her limit if the corruption of the Alicorn Amulet had left her.
Both were giving their all at what could possibly be their last fight. Trixie pours more of her magic into the spell circle, giving her a slight boost to the beam. Twilight also does the same thing to her spell circle, putting themselves back at their original location of contact. Both kept on pouring the magics on the spell circle continuing the fight. As they were putting more of their energy into the beam, the sphere that was made when their magics was getting slightly bigger and bigger.
Nicolas notices that sphere was getting bigger. He shrugged it off at first, but upon remembering that last time something like this happen, it was clear that if they keep on continue doing this or if one runs out of energy to best the other, anyone else caught in the explosion or the beam could die. He tries to stop them from continuing to pour in all of their energy into the attack, but they were so concentrated on defeating the other, it wouldn't work regardless of what he does. He doesn't want history to repeat itself on something else, so he decided to try something desperate. It was very risky because if he doesn't time it right, the explosion will either kill them all or transport all of the residents into unknown areas. He had to time his spell right or it will be the end of Ponyville.
Trixie and Twilight continued pouring their magic into the beams none besting the other. They were beginning to wear out from using almost all of their energy into their last attack. Twilight begins to notice that the fight was going beyond from a simple magic duel. It was something personal for the both of them and she was now beginning to see the seriousness being put in this single fight. Trixie was now beginning to see the true strength of her adversary, she begins to wonder now throughout this fight what gave her the amount of magical strength she has now. She was thinking that perhaps she was fighting for her friends, like how she herself was fighting for her family. As they continued, the sphere began to almost unbelievable size making the two unicorns very worried, they stopped pouring magic into the spell, but it was already too late for them as the sphere almost instantly exploded covering much of Ponyville.
Nicolas casted the absorption spell before the explosion was too much and absorbed all of it. The energy of the explosion was almost too much for his physical body to take, but he manages to turn all of the excess energy into a condensed sphere. He looks at the sphere once admiring the beauty of the multiple colors swirling in it. He throws the sphere into sky high enough for the explosion to not be able to make contact with any city including Cloudsdale. The moment the sphere was almost in space, Nicolas detonated the sphere creating an extravagant, beautiful, multi-colored explosion that made everypony who saw it go in awe. When the explosion come to pass, he walks to the two unicorns who were incapable of casting any spell. He first looks at Twilight, then Trixie, and finally looks upon the residents of Ponyville and now was ready to declare the winner of the magic duel, "This magic was beyond simple. It was a testment to what it feels like to see two powerful unicorns fight to the death. I declare the winner to be..." Everypony was holding their breaths hoping that the winner was Twilight, "TWILIGHT!" Everypony cheered for Twilight had bested Trixie once again.
Trixie was looking upon Twilight and her friends as they were cheering for her victory against her. She was about to fume, yet at the same time, was delighted for unknown reasons to have a fight like this once again. She takes off the Alicorn Amulet and gives to Nicolas who notices that he was being given the amulet, "Thank you, but I don't need this anymore." With that said, she leaves Ponyville holding her shame and joy inside her body.
Nicolas was happy to see her gone, but at the same time, he felt very sad for her. He never saw anyway filled with so much grief, it must be hurting her pride. He decided to follow her once he gets Twilight to the library. After helping the CMC and the five get Twilight to the library and seeing that Nyx and Spike were taking care of her just fine, he decided to find Trixie and see if he can reawaken her pride back up. He sees Trixie heading into her carriage all solemn and closes her door slowly. He wonders if it was a good time to talk some sense into her, but now is better than later. He gets near the door and knocks on it. For a few seconds, she wasn't responding at all making him wonder if her pride was that broken. He opens the door only to see her on her bed. He checks if she was fine, from the look of her, she wasn't at all fine. He decided to leave a letter behind should she want to see him. He writes a letter and leaves it on Trixie's desk hoping that it might persuade her to come. After that, noticing that it was getting night, decided to get some sleep. He casts a teleport spell to Gaia Falls and enters his home soundly asleep.
Trixie's Carriage
Oct. 31 6:00 A.M.
Trixie wakes up feeling very depressed now that she know that she isn't the Great and Powerful anymore, she just wanted to be alone in her carriage. When she goes to her desk to clean herself up, she notices a letter that was for her. She opens the letter and sees that it was empty. She felt even more depressed upon seeing a blank letter, but upon closer examination of the letter she sees some unusual words etched on it. As she red the words out loud, the letter reacted and a force field surrounded her and was teleported to an unusual place, "Where am I?"
Nicolas sees Trixie from his windows and smiles to see that she red the letter. He goes down the stairs and meets her again, "Hello Trixie."
Trixie sees Nicolas and backs away from him a bit afraid to get the punishment from an alicorn. She was losing hope as he was getting closer to her until she runs into an obstacle blocking her way. She braces for the punishment that was coming at her.
Seeing her get scared made him back up a little bit from her. As she sees that she was not getting punished, he went to her once again, this time telling her, "Trixie. Why I brought you here is not to punish you, but to train you."
Hearing that from him made her mad blurting out questions that she didn't expect, "Why do I need to be trained!? Why did you come to Twilight's aid?! Who are you even!?" She closed her mouth shut and was wondering about him now.
Nicolas was expecting that from someone that was boastful, but nonetheless decided to answer her questions, "Trixie, what you were doing was wrong, I could banish you to the moon if I desired..."
That right there made her very scared. She didn't want to be banished from Equestria, no less the moon.
Nicolas takes a deep breath and continues, "But I don't want to because a grudge like yours can affect the person. Secondly, why I want to train you is because of three things. One, I was the one that trained Twilight those spells."
"You were the one that taught her those spells?" Trixie was surprised to see someone that actually had the skills to cast elemental spells like that though she shouldn't have seen that coming from an alicorn.
"Two, you have hidden potential within you, you just don't realize it. And three, there is an evil much worse than anything anypony faced here and I need all the help I can get." Nicolas hoped that answers some of her questions then remembered one more question she asked, "Oh, and by the way, my name is Nicolas."
Trixie was trying to process what he was saying. Being taught by Twilight's teacher was something she couldn't pass especially seeing those spell she saw during the fight with her. A new threat unraveling on Equestria that is worse than Nightmare Moon or Discord, that was scary to think about. As much as she hates the citizens there, she loves Equestria, especially her family as they care for her. She decided to do what she wanted all her life, be the unicorn that could stand out from the rest of them. She stands strong and accepts Nicolas offer.
Hearing that made him very happy. He was able to reawaken her pride once more and now he has two students on count. He sends a letter to Twilight telling to come to Gaia Falls.
A few seconds later, she teleports in and sees Trixie next to her, "Nicolas, why is Trixie here?"
"Twilight, you got yourself a classmate. Do not worry, I told everything that has happened. She wants to learn as well, is that fine with you?" Nicolas was hoping that making this decision would help Twilight to get along with Trixie as well.
Twilight smiled and nodded yes to Nicolas. She walks up to Trixie telling her how sorry she was at breaking her pride. Trixie was scoffing it at first, then seeing herself smile, she hugged Twilight in friendship. Twilight hugged her back feeling happy to be friends at the very least with Trixie then enemies. They stepped back from each other and looked at Nicolas who was being patient.
"Well, now that this is aside, let us get to the harder spells shall we?" For what seemed like forever, the two unicorns were training vigorously with Nicolas learning more spells each minute. Not only they were being trained mentally, but they were also trained physically because as it was stated by Nicolas, unicorns may be strong in magic, but there are certain locations where magic is disabled leaving it up to their physical strength which unicorns lack in. They never thought that being trained physically was much more harder then training on the magical aspect of it. Despite that, they were able to have considerable physical strength and almost enough magical strength that it was almost in par with the Royal Sisters. Seeing that they are getting along made him happy to see the two unicorns like this. Noticing that it was getting nighttime, he was about to go to sleep until something made him wonder, "Twilight, what is today's date?"
Twilight was wondering what was today's date the moment he asked that question. After a few seconds pass, it clicked on her, "Oh my goodness, today is Nightmare Night! I forgotten all about it!"
Nicolas was wondering what was Nightmare Night now that he heard it. The date and the time made him realize that Nightmare Night is their version of Halloween, something he celebrated at his own home world. Halloween was considered his favorite holiday to celebrate, next to Christmas which if he recalls, it's called Hearth's Warming Eve which works well, "Well, now that is something worth celebrating, why won't the two of you return back to Ponyville while I get dressed for it?"
"Sounds like a good idea, Trixie wanna come?" Twilight teleported them to the library. While she was getting her Star Swirl the Bearded costume, she was waiting for Trixie's answer.
"Trixie doesn't want to celebrate, not after what happened yesterday, but if Trixie must. What costume do you want Trixie to wear?" Trixie was wondering what to wear now that Twilight was wearing her Star Swirl the Bearded costume.
"To be honest, I don't know. What do you think is best Trixie?" While Twilight was still looking for costumes for Trixie, Spike and Nyx see Trixie in the library. They were going to attack her and kick her out until Twilight intervened, "Stop, it's all right. She changed."
Spike and Nyx hardly believe her story, "Yeah right, what if she is just doing this just to get to you?"
"Don't worry, she won't get me. Nicolas managed to talk through to her and she has changed for the better. In fact we managed to get along quite well." Twilight went back into looking for a costume for Trixie to wear. She was limited on costume since the Star Swirled the Bearded costume was all she had, the rest were when she wore them at a young age. When she went back, she sees Trixie wearing her magician's hat and cape, "Is that all you are gonna wear for Nightmare Night?"
"It is the only decent costume Trixie can find."
"I guess it is true. All right then, we are set. Nyx did you and Spike find a good costume to wear?"
Nyx comes wearing one of her costumes when she was young, it was also Star Swirl the Bearded but a fillies size, "Do I look nice as Star Swirl the Bearded?"
"Of course you do." Twilight looked at Trixie who was looking at herself with a mirror.
Trixie was wondering if this was okay to wear, it reminded her too much of her boastful self. She then recalled she had this as a gift from her family when she enrolled in Magic School. This was a reminder of her beloved family, as much as she wanted to throw it away, she decided to keep it because of her family and Twilight that she was proud to be a friend to the alicorn. She looks at the three and upon seeing Nyx's costume almost made her laugh, "Its like I'm seeing a filly version of Star Swirl the Bearded."
Hearing that from someone that banished her mother almost made her go on a rampage but at the same time, it was kinda funny thinking of a filly version of Star Swirl, "Thanks, I guess."
"Well, now that everyone is dressed for Nightmare Night, lets go outside." Twilight takes Nyx with her outside alongside Spike who of course, was wearing a dragon costume which Trixie couldn't help but laugh from seeing it.
When they head outside, everypony was enjoying in the festivities. The same thing was happening like last Nightmare Night except that Princess Luna was there to enjoy the festivities. With that said, Twilight shows Nyx to the CMC and allowed her to play with them so long as she was with them. She returns back with Trixie watching the pumpkin catapults where Luna was acing it the most. Twilight was enjoying seeing Trixie like this, though it was going to take a while for her other friends to accept her as she is. Noticing that Nicolas wasn't here yet, she wondered where is he, "Trixie, have you realized that Nicolas isn't here yet?"
Trixie was still looking at Luna who was going away from the catapults to meet Pipsqueak. She has never met one of the princesses before and up close before and seeing Luna up close and personal almost made her night very grand. Upon her going away her view, she heard Twilight's question though only a little bit of it, "Hmm? What is it Twilight?"
"Trixie, have you noticed that Nicolas isn't here yet?" Twilight looks around Ponyville wondering where he is.
Trixie looks around Ponyville and also sees that he wasn't around at all, "Trixie agrees with you there, where is Nicolas?" As that was asked, suddenly some clouds began to form above Ponyville. Both Twilight and Trixie looked at each other confused. The weather ponies didn't say that it was going to be rainy tonight. As it begun to rain, what both notice about the raindrops is that instead of the normal sorta clear water, it was red and it looked like blood.
"What in the world? Blood rain? What is going on with the weather?!" Twiiight was trying to think of a solution as to the scary weather. Then out of nowhere, a figure in a dark cloak appeared in the town hall. Everyone saw the mysterious pony and were questioning his timing of the unusual weather. As more begun to rise, the mysterious pony rises up into the with a pose strikingly similar to that of Trixie and stops the blood rain. He removes his cloak and revealed himself. Twilight recognized who the pony was and his costume was bringing back bad memories of that incident.
Nicolas revealed himself in his dark form, he decided to use this as a Nightmare Night costume as he does this a lot of times in his world. He comes down the stairs almost eeriely and greets the mayor, "Hello Mayor. How is Nightmare Night going? Surely all of you aren't scared to see me like this right?" He sees the citizens being very scared upon seeing him. He wondered if his entry was a little too drastic or a little too scary.
The CMC got a different opinion on him however as they were in awe at seeing his form, "Oh my goodness, you look awesome Nicolas."
Hearing that from the little fillies made him happy to hear that, "Thanks, you four sure are brave to come up to me like this."
"We know. *squee* Come on, can you show something that is awesome so we can make this the best Nightmare Night ever. The blood rain was cool, but it was a little scary." The CMC couldn't hold their excitement, they wanted to see Nicolas do something outstanding.
Nicolas was wondering what to do at this time. He had an idea, but with the people really scared of him now, he needed help to ensure that they were safe, "Hey, do you girls think you can help everyone here get back on their feet? I need them to know that there is no worry."
The CMC nodded and went off to do their thing. Nicolas took a deep breath and walks around the town. Upon getting to some of the sections of Ponyville, he sees Twilight and Trixie next to each other. He walks up to them and shakes them just to be certain that they weren't scared.
Twilight looked up to see Nicolas in his dark form although looking happy compared to last time, "Nicolas, you there?
"Yes, why do you ask?" He helps both Twilight and Trixie get back on their hooves and cleans up their costumes for them.
"Remember the last time you were in that form?" said Twilight bringing up what happened last time.
"Oh, that. No worries, I have control over it, I only lose it when I get really injured or really agitated."
"I see. Well I heard what the CMC said. What do you think you want to do?"
Nicolas was wondering about it. He has a lot of things he can do to impress the ponies here, but it was hard to choose which one was best for them, "To be honest, I don't know."
Luna was walking around looking for something to do when she saw Nicolas in that state. At first, she was getting worried that he went into a rage or something of that catagory. Over time, she noticed that he was laughing in that form and in a good way. She decided to go up to him just in case that he wasn't corrupted, "Hello uncle, how are you feeling?"
Nicolas turned around to see Luna all happy to be in the festivities and a little surprised to see him at this state. Considering that the holiday was suppose to represent her, he would have expected Luna to enjoy Nightmare Night, "Good, how about you?"
"It is going well. To be honest, I wasn't expecting you to show up especially in the state you are in, I honestly thought that you were going to, *ahem*, 'blow a fuse.'" Luna couldn't help but put that pun out there though she thought she executed it poorly.
Nicolas was getting where Luna was trying to get there, "I see where you are going Luna." Now that Luna was here, he was at least happy to celebrate it with one of his former students. He notices that most of the citizens have calm down for the most after that blood rain. Thinking on what to do for Nightmare Night, he had a brilliant idea that might be perfect, "Twilight, Trixie, Luna. I got myself an idea." Upon hearing that, all three listen to what he has to say. After discussing it to the three, they wondered if it was all right. All looked at each other and agreed to it. They set up the stage for the grand finale for Nightmare Night while calling all of the citizens to the city hall. While everyone was gathering to the stage, Nicolas looked around to see if there an able ponies that want to join in the fun. The only people that wanted to be a part of Nicolas's idea were the CMC and the seven as well as Luna. Twilight was having trouble trying to make her friends accept Trixie for who she is now. Nicolas comes and tries to describe all of the details that Twilight may have missed from her conversation with them. By the time he finishes the speech, they gave it a second thought and decided to trust her for now. As they were prepping themselves, Nicolas goes out into the stage and begins his part of the play, "Thank you all for coming to the stage, sorry if my sudden surprise scared most of you. As you may have already know, I will be hosting a play for you. It's not based on Nightmare Night, but the meaning of friendship. Here, you will hear the grand tale of a fairy from another world that embarked on a quest to not only save her friends but her own world as well." Nicolas leaves the stage and begins the narrating.
Twilight makes her appearance as one of those fairies.
"There was once a fairy by the name of Lip. Known as the fairy of flowers, she was a bit tomboyish yet cared for her friends. When she heard that monsters have begun to cause destruction to their home world of Popple, it was up to her to free her friends and defeat the imminent threat."
Twilight says her line and begins her part by heading for the cloud floating in the air. Nicolas used some of his magic to create the effects for the whole play. "The first of the fairies she has to rescue was the Fairy of Wind, Windy." Rainbow Dash appeared above the cloud looking down at Twilight, "Windy is good friends with Lip and is sometimes mischievous. For her, she is good to everything in the sky." Both Rainbow Dash and Twilight sternly looked at each other as they were beginning for a fight. One of Nicolas's points was that in this play, the fairy Lip has to fight her fairy friends to free them from someone's control, "But with her being under someone's control, Lip had no choice but to fight all of her friends as it was the only way to free them from the control." The fight began as both charged at each other. Nicolas began the fight with a flash as they saw the both of them not holding back on each other. Everypony was in awe when seeing the intensity of the fight. The whole crowd was cheering for Twilight as she was beating Rainbow Dash. As the fight came to a close, Rainbow Dash managed to regain her composure realizing how much she was having fun for begin a part of this play. Twilight helped Rainbow Dash get back to her feet.
"Lip has managed to defeat Windy and freed her from the control. With one of her friends freed, she goes with Windy to rescue the next fairy." Both Rainbow Dash and Twilight walked over a rainbow and jumped into the next area, "The next fairy was the user of ice," Pinkie Pie popped out of nowhere and surprised both Rainbow Dash and Twilight, "As the Fairy of Ice, Sherbet may look cold-hearted, but she was just a calm and sweet child." Pinkie prepped up her party cannon. Her cannon was encased in ice to look like she was using an ice spell, "Windy comes in and takes Lip's place for the fight. Lip allows it and the fight between the wind fairy and ice fairy began." Both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie begin again with a bang as both did their respective moves, no thanks to Nicolas's magic. Again, the fight was intense as expected, however, unlike the last one, this one was much more erratic as both of them caused more craziness. As the fight drew to a close, Pinkie was hopping around all happily to enjoy this.
"Windy has managed to defeat Sherbet, freeing her from the control." Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie with a smile. Pinkie also did the same thing back to Rainbow Dash. Twilight pokes and tells them to concentrate on the play at hand. Both nodded and looked at the crowd who were almost on edge as to what was going to happen once they freed them. As the play continued, the fights began to get more and more intense. The fight with Pinkie and Fluttershy as Thiana, Fairy of Nature, was a surprising fight for the crowd, as they never expected the gentle Fluttershy to be a good fighter. The next fight, where both Fluttershy and Rarity, who was Ruby, the Fairy of Jewels was hectic. They also never expected Rarity fight that well, although she fought with a bit more grace then the others. The next fight was a bit of a shocker for everypony, Rarity was going against Princess Cadence, who was role-playing as Elias, Fairy of Water. While the idea of her controlling water wasn't right, the personality and characteristics of Elias were perfect for the Princess of Love. The next fight again almost shocked everypony. Applejack was roleplaying as Flare, Fairy of Fire. The idea of her making fire almost sounded amazing for the whole crowd, especially her family as they look up to her. Both Cadence and Applejack putted up a majestic show as the opposites of one another showed a dazzling array of awe and wonder. Next came Shining Armor who was role-playing as Neris, Fairy of the Sea. While not much of a singer and water user, being a friend to Elias was the one idea that fitted him for this role as Cadence was playing as Elias. After both Shining Armor and Applejack putted up another show of grandness, what came after was a no brainer. As everypony has access to the script to the play, they expected Princess Luna to play the part of Selene, the Fairy of the Moon, and she indeed play the part well. Shining Armor was a little hesitant to fight the Princess of the Night, but after a morale boost from her sister, Twilight, he became ready to fight the princess. At the last moments of beating her, Shining Armor felt a little proud of beating her, but went back to the play at hand and helped her back up.
"Lip has managed to free all of her friends, however, the monsters were still wreaking havoc over the world of Popple. As all looked at each other, all decided to head to the one place they never checked. Lip takes all of them and heads into Death Mountain." The name itself sent chills down everypony as they begin to wonder what kind of monsters lurked inside the mountain, "As Lip made entry into the mountain, she and company encountered the first monster causing havoc. A Phoenix who had a temperament with the fairies who escaped the spell." The way the Phoenix looked made the crowd scared. Compare to other phoenixes they saw, this one was more intimidating. Nicolas was paying off with his magic as the first three monsters were made by him. While they were illusions, they can still hurt them thus they literally had to fight to the best of their abilities. Luna made the first stand against the Phoenix who managed to speak to them. Nicolas was doing the voice of both the Phoenix and the next monster once he was defeated. The fight began and it almost made everypony silent. Luna was using magic beyond what everypony saw as she was actually having trouble beating this illusion. As the fight began to get more intense, Luna was able to deliver the finishing blow on the Phoenix and the beast disappeared from sight never to be seen again. Luna was barely able to stand up from that fight. Nicolas came in invisible to the crowd and healed her. Luna was a bit surprised to see he putted that much effort into those illusions. Nicolas scratched his head in embarrassment after realizing how much power he put into those illusions. Nevertheless, he continued the play with no worries. As Twilight and company continued the walk, the next enemy shows itself, and to Spike, it didn't feel right to him. A Dragon appears in front of them with his fangs bared. Luna was planning to take the stand again, but Fluttershy stopped her and decided to do this fight. Luna was hesitant to allow her, but after seeing her fight with Pinkie, she allowed her to do it. Fluttershy looked at the Dragon who was looking at her, with a craving for her. The fight begins with the Dragon breathing fire at her. Fluttershy dodged the incoming fire and went straight into the beast. Normally, she would try to calm the beast down, but knowing that this one was an illusion, she didn't mind actually fighting one for once. The ordeal grew more and more intense as both opponents were equal to one another. At the last second, Fluttershy was able to hit the final blow defeating the Dragon and making him disappear from the play. Fluttershy was breathing heavily from the match, but was okay from it. The whole crowd was literally on the edge of their seats as they were reaching what they thought was the true mastermind to the destruction of the world.
As the group finally reached the end of the mountain, the ground below them began to darken as if somepony was coming to meet them and to their surprise, that somepony was humongous, "At last, the fairies have reached the mastermind to the cause of Popple's demise." That said thing very much made almost everyone shiver just from seeing the monstrosity, "I am the Demon King Thanatos! I am impressed. You managed to beat both the Phoenix and the Dragon, but now you must stand against me!" As the crowd was wondering who was going to fight the Demon King, Rainbow Dash decided to make the fight against him. Trixie who was watching this from the crowd, thought that Rainbow Dash was going crazy. But she remembered that anything she finds a good challenge, she would rise up to it. All she could do was watch as to how the fight would go. Rainbow Dash and Thanatos looked at each other sternly until Rainbow Dash made the first move. The moment the fight began, everypony was literally hoping that she might win. They red the script and know that, but seeing the whole fight made them forget about it. Each time they try to land hit on them, they would always counter each other. The last few moments of the fight ended in victory as Rainbow Dash was able to land the finishing blow on him. As the Demon King vanished from sight, everypony thought that the show was over. That is, until some petals were falling from above the mountain. The crowd was wondering what was going on as this was never written in the script they were given.
The group, however, knew what was going on and continued with the play. They looked around the place and another being appeared where Thanatos was standing. To the crowd, they thought that this thing was the true mastermind and the moment she talked, it all made sense to them, "I am the Goddess Cordelia! You shall not proceed any further! Turn back, turn back now and I will let you live." Within that time, the whole crowd knew that this one last fight would determine the fate of Popple but they also wondered who was role-playing as this Goddess? Even though all of this was a play, everypony was on the edge of the seat wondering how this last battle will go. Twilight decided to go and face her as she was main fairy of the group. The group didn't object to her and let her do the final part. Both the Goddess and Twilight looked at each other as both are waiting for the right moment to strike. Everypony was almost antsy on wondering who was going to deliver the first blow. As time was passing, Twilight made the first move. What resulted from this fight was a grand show of epic proportion. Just all the effects from the group and Nicolas made everypony go in awe. As the last few minutes of the fight reached beyond a simple play, it became clear that it was close to the epic finish. The last moment, both the Goddess and Twilight both delivered their final hits. As the last petal fell, before the Goddess went down, she said something that befuddled them, "I was defeated. I am happy now… I was able to meet fairies stronger than I. We'll meet again." She then disappeared leaving no trace. The whole group left Death Mountain as it begun to return back to its normal mountain and the flower that held the fairies bloomed. The whole was just about to celebrate until Twilight noticed someone coming, "Hold on a second! Someone is coming here!" That person was Cordelia, who kept her promise when she said that 'We'll meet again,' "Oooh! Cordelia! Do you still want to fight us?" At that moment, Cordelia begun to laugh befuddling all of them. She revealed herself and to everyponies surprise, the pony role-playing her was Princess Celestia, "You did truly well!" The group was almost in shock having not expected her to role-play. Still they continued with the play with Twilight starting the conversation, "Ah! Mother!" Everypony went almost silent after hearing those words. The others said their lines finishing off with Cadence asking a question, "Why are you here Queen?"
Celestia having surprised nearly the whole city of Ponyville answered Cadence's question, "All the monsters were illusions I created. I merely tested your strength…I needed to see if you could govern the new world."
"A test?" said Fluttershy who was looking at everypony.
"New world?" asked Applejack.
"What do you mean?" Cadence asked.
Celestia answered in a royal tone unlike Luna's, "In the future, a new generation shall give shape to a new world."
"We will create the new world!" said Shining Armor.
"At last, out time has come!" said Rarity.
Luna said her part almost in her royal voice, "Yes, we will all shape this world."
Celestia once she said her part, realizes the many wonderful things that this world, Popple, shares with Equestria, "This world's new Queen shall be… the Fairy of Flowers! You, Lip!"
Twilight comes out of hiding within the group having a surprised face, "Me? I'm the Queen?"
Celestia began to see the story of this whole play. From the intense trial, to the monsters lurking, and finally to picking the new queen, she begun to see that maybe someday, she might try something like this to Twilight only not so grueling of an adventure, "From now on, you shall lead."
At this moment, everypony was finishing their lines all about supporting the new Queen, "Give it your best, Lip!"
Pinkie being the energetic pony said this with a joyful tone, "You have my support."
Fluttershy went to Twilight's right side saying this, "I'll do my best!"
Applejack did the same thing although went to her left, "I'll do my best as well!"
"We'll all do our best!" said Cadence as she went next to Applejack.
"Yeah Lip, have confidence." Saying that to her little sister almost putted Shining Armor in tears having remembering the time they celebrated with each other at their youth.
"Let's create this new world." Rarity was wondering what Popple did look like when she said her line. After all of this, she began to think that maybe it went through a lot of changes.
"Yes Lip! We will!" said Luna having seeing the enjoyment of being a part of the play herself.
With all the lines said from her friends, say said her final lines with confidence, "Yes… We're not afraid of anything. We will protect the new world. Hehe, I'm the Queen!" As she finished her line, the curtains close ending the play. The whole crowd cheered loudly for having seen such a wondering play. As the curtains open once again, the crowd got to see the actors who participated in this play. As the roaring crowd cheered for them, they bowed down having done their part. Twilight who was leading the bow went forward to tell them something of importance, "We thank you all for coming here, but don't cheer loudly for us, save it for the stallion who wrote this play." As she said that, Nicolas comes out of hiding and shows himself in his normal state looking at the big crowd, "Give a round of applause to the stallion himself, Nicolas!" The crowd gave a deafening cheer for Nicolas. He bowed down having not get this loud of a cheer. The only time this ever happen was… never. Nicolas almost wanted to hug the whole crowd but in the end, the whole group did their best as well.