Friends, Forgiveness, and Magic
Destiny Duel
It wasn’t enough. It had gained back strength, but it wasn’t enough. There was so little that it could use. But it could still find conflict. There was always conflict.
The last decent sized piece of conflict it had encountered was from a donkey couple. The male was in a bad mood, or perhaps sleepwalking. It didn’t care for the details. The point was that the cranky male had gotten into an argument with the female. But the two donkeys cared deeply for each other, and the argument did not last very long. Not long at all.
Still, it took what energy it could gather. It still hurt from that night. That night. When it had been ripped away from its position of power and forced into the shadows. If it were to ever be a threat again, it would need more conflict. So it lurked through shadows, searching for what it needed.
There. There, in that store. There was an artifact, filled with power. Power but also anger, revenge, and much more.
It slithered into the store and merged with the artifact. It could already feel its strength growing immensely. But it wasn’t enough. Not yet.
It was raining heavily that night when she arrived in town. At least she had a black cloak to keep herself dry from the weather. While the cloak may not have been her favourite article of clothing it did fit in right for being mysterious, which is what she was going for. Seeing her destination within sight, she ran into the shop and quickly started looking for the item she had been searching for. Her horn glowed as her spell informed her that the object was close. Very close.
A creature that resembled a large, bipedal dog wearing a vest embroidered with gems came walking in from the back of the store. “Hello customer! I am Rover, the Diamond Dog. How can I help you?”
“Good evening to you, good sir, ” she said. “I am looking for a specific artifact that I have been told you possess. Ah, and there it is.” She pointed at the item on the shelf behind him. Within a glass container sat an amulet shaped like a red-eyed black alicorn, with a ruby at the center of the amulet.
Rover looked over his shoulder. “The Alicorn Amulet? This precious, shiny amulet is said to be very mysterious and powerful, and is far too shiny – I mean valuable – to be for sale.”
“Oh I do believe I can cover the cost.” She held up a bag stuffed full of various gems and placed it onto the counter.
Rover stared at the shiny precious gems and smiled politely. “Would the pony like the amulet gift-wrapped?”
“Please do not refer to me as a pony, darling. I am a lady.” Rarity said as she took off her hood to look closer at the amulet. “And yes, I would like it gift-wrapped thank you very much.”
It was a sunny morning in Peaceville, with small clouds here and there to provide shade for anyone. Nightmare Moon, Smog, Trixie, and Lyra were outside the changeling hive with Chrysalis.
“Are you sure about this?” Chrysalis mumbled hesitantly.
“Well that’s why we’re testing it here,” Lyra smiled. “There’s no need to worry about if the transformation spell doesn’t work the first time, since you can just change yourself back to normal.”
“I understand why I have to be the lab rat. Doesn’t mean I like it,” Chrysalis whispered, trying to avoid eye contact.
“If you ask Trixie, lab rats and stage mice are generally much more agreeable,” Trixie said as she tried to straighten her cape with her magic, making sure it billowed in the wind just right.
While Chrysalis muttered an apology, Angle stepped up from behind her and stopped in front of Lyra. His smirk alone told Lyra to hit him with their best shot.
“Angle! Oh no, I can’t ask you to do this. I-” Chrysalis paused as Angle frowned at her. “Well I know they’re great with magic but I don’t…” He continued frowning at her.
Chrysalis sighed, “Okay Angle. If you want to volunteer, you can.” She turned to Lyra and growled, “If your spell hurts him in any way, so help me...” Her horn glowed dangerously.
“There’s no need to fear my friend!” Trixie boasted while the sheepish Lyra backed up a bit. “With the combined might of the Magnificent Nightmare Moon AND the Great and Powerful Trixie, our triumph is guaranteed!”
“What about me?” Lyra asked. “It’s my spell.”
“Think up your own stage name. Trixie can’t be expected to do everything. And stop biting your hoof Chrysalis! You don’t want to get anymore holes than you already have.”
Nightmare’s, Lyra’s, and Trixie’s horns all glowed with magic. Angle’s body lifted into the air through their combined power, while Chrysalis continued to nervously bite her hooves. There was a flash of light and Angle opened his eyes to see that his form had been altered.
He was much taller now. His arms and legs seemed much ganglier and his wings and horn stretched a little further, yet his eyes were a little smaller.
Trixie tilted her head to one side as she examined him. “Huh. It’s like if Iron Will turned into a changeling.”
Lyra bounced in excitement. “I know! It does like a little minotaur-ish. But I actually based the form off of this!”
She levitated a book over to them and flipped it to a page with a picture of a strange creature. The creature was bipedal and wrapped in a dark red cloak.
Trixie examined the picture. “What manner of creature is that?”
“It’s called a human,” Lyra stated. “Nightmare let me borrow this book on mythological and mysterious creatures. The book describes humans as being similar to but also very different from ponies.”
“Ooh,” Chrysalis eyes widened as she took the book into her magic. “My great-grandparents told me about these things. The Harvester and the Human was one of my favourite bedtime stories.”
“Yep!” Lyra grinned. “There are many different legends described in this book. For example, one legend describes a human with absolutely no magic! To make up for it, the human had this small black rectangle that was like a movie theatre and an arcade game you could carry in your hoof!”
Smog’s eyes widened. “Really? That sounds awesome!”
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “So, was it like a box that contained a theatre seat and giant screen? Would such a machine distribute popcorn too?”
Lyra shrugged. “I dunno.”
“What of the cloaked human in the picture?” Trixie asked.
“I don't know. There's so little information on humans, even in this book. But that's what makes them so interesting," Lyra smiled.
She put the book down and gave a small chuckle. “Anyway, thanks for volunteering for this Mister Angle. You can change back now.” With a flash of green fire Angle regained his original form. “Thanks again for your help guys! Have a good day!”
Trixie watched Lyra happily skip back home, before turning to face Nightmare. “Well her spell was interesting, but Trixie has faith that an alicorn of your ability has a spell to outshine them all! Come and dazzle Trixie!”
Nightmare shrugged and gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry Trixie, but you’ve already seen most of the spells I can do. I can’t really offer you any new spell for you to try.”
“You could always show her your fusion spell,” Smog suggested. Within seconds, he was wrapped in Nightmare’s magic and pulled towards her furious scowl.
“Shut. Up. Smog,” she hissed.
“Fusion spell?” Trixie asked.
“Heh, heh. Don’t mind him,” Nightmare chuckled sheepishly. “It’s just something stupid I made when I was younger.”
Trixie was about to keep pressing her for that spell when a white and brown blur slammed right into Nightmare.
“Nightmare! We got an emergency on our hands!” Gilda screeched. “You-know-who is back for round two!”
They arrived in the main plaza of Peaceville to find the place in chaos (and not the fun kind). There were several craters in the ground and scorch marks along some of the buildings. Strangely, leaves within many tree branches were arranged into topiaries of a unicorn. The streets were completely deserted as many of the Peaceville citizens had locked themselves indoors.
Nightmare saw a furious Rainbow Dash rocket towards a cloaked pony. As Rainbow flew in closer to knock the pony out with an uppercut, a flash of blood red magic engulfed her.
Rainbow hesitantly opened her eyes to see what happened. Her wings struggled to keep her in midair, but her balance was thrown off by the huge pink and yellow dress that had been forced onto her.
“Ah! What the heck is this? How am I supposed to fly with this freaking skirt trying to eat my wings?”
Rainbow wobbled and crashed into the ground. She immediately began tearing at the dress with her teeth, but found that the overly frilly dress had too much cloth getting in her way.
While Rainbow struggled to break free, Sunset Shimmer dueled with the cloaked pony. She danced across the battlefield, dodging hexes and firing off her own spells at the cloaked pony. Unfortunately many of Sunset’s spells just bounced off a magical shield that surrounded her attacker. A bolt of red magic finally caught Sunset.
Sunset risked a glance, fearing the worst. She was surprised to see a black dress on her, with a red bolt and a yellow bolt of fabric overtop. “…What? That’s it?”
Sunset smirked. “Nice try. But unlike Rainbow’s, this dress fits just fine. It’s rather pretty too. Whatever game you’re trying to play here, I think you’ll have to-”
Before she could finish, another blast of magic engulfed her. The red smoke cleared away to reveal that Sunset’s body had been turned into solid orange crystal. She was completely frozen as nothing more than a pretty statue.
“Sunset!” Nightmare cried. She rushed over to her friend and immediately cast a spell. But as much as she tried, her magic couldn’t free Sunset from her prison. Desperately Nightmare screamed out, “Discord!”
A flash of light appeared and suddenly Discord was smiling at her. “You rang? Oh, good morning Nightie! What’s all the fuss about?”
Discord stopped talking as soon as he saw Sunset. “Oh now, that won’t do at all.” He snapped his fingers and the crystal statue turned back into a flesh-and-blood pony once more. While Sunset wiggled her hooves to regain the feel of movement, Discord turned and frowned at the cloaked pony.
“I may stir up a bit of trouble now and then, but at least I don’t turn ponies into statues,” he growled. “I believe we’ve had enough of this cloak-and-dagger nonsense.” Discord waved his hand and the cloak sprouted wings and flew off the pony, finally revealing her identity.
“It's Rarity!” Nightmare gasped.
"Wearing a tacky necklace!" Discord added.
Rarity smirked at them. “Yes darlings. Rarity has indeed returned. Surprised to see me?”
“Not really,” Discord shrugged. “Who else do we know that uses fashion as a weapon?”
“Trixie can think of one or two,” Trixie said, chuckling at a distant memory. “Quite eccentric, that one.”
“Whelp, great to see ya again,” Gilda growled. “But you’ve been dorking up our town for too long already! Time for you to hit the road and I mean hit it!”
Gilda dashed forward and grabbed Rarity in a tackle. But before she could fly out of Peaceville and toss her out of town, Rarity teleported out of Gilda’s grasp and onto the ground. A red bolt from Rarity’s horn made Gilda’s left wing grow until it was twice as big as the rest of her body. Gilda struggled but couldn’t keep flying with her balance throw off, and she crashed into the ground right next to Rainbow.
“Oh dear. Miss Rarity doesn’t seem to get it, does she?” Discord smirked.
But before he could snap his fingers to restore Gilda’s wings to normal, Rarity sneered and fired another spell that covered all of Peaceville in a red magical dome.
Discord snapped his fingers, but found to his surprise that nothing happened. He frantically snapped his fingers again and again. When no change occurred, Discord gulped. “That’s a failsafe spell, isn’t it?”
“You are correct darling,” Rarity smiled. “A wonderful spell, is it not? Her Majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle created that spell, hundreds of years ago. From what I read, it was to keep law-breaking draconequui from using their chaotic powers, so long as they were in the same area as the spell. What do you say to that?”
“Right then,” Discord clapped his hands together. “I’m going to leave, summon an army of tank-driving dinosaurs and then get back to you on that.”
“Leaving so soon darling? But I have another present for you,” Rarity grinned evilly as she charged her horn with a summoning spell.
A small, twisted monster with the head of a chicken and the body of a dragon appeared. The creature’s long, snake-like tail swished in the air as its eyes glowed red. The monster flew right into Discord’s face and hissed, staring into his eyes.
“Ah! Freaking cockatrice! Back demon bird, back!” Discord desperately waved his arms at the cockatrice and averted his gaze. But his attempts to shoo away the monster proved ineffective. The cockatrice flew right into his face again and glared at him.
Within seconds, Discord was turned to stone by the cockatrice’s foul curse.
“I believe that’s that taken care of.” Rarity banished the cockatrice away with another blast of magic. She grimaced, “Ick. Ghastly little beasts, aren’t they? Oh, don’t think I forgot about you.” Her horn flashed and Sunset was once more turned into crystal. She levitated Sunset’s statue to stand next to Discord’s.
“ENOUGH!” Nightmare roared. “Rarity! Stop attacking my friends right now, or else I promise you a world of pain!” she growled and charged her horn with power.
Rarity smirked. “Forgive me Miss Moon, for acting in such a brutish manner. I simply had to deal with your bodyguards before I could challenge you to a proper magical duel.”
“A magic duel?” Trixie snorted. “What for?”
“What for? You humiliated me!” Rarity screamed. “All I sought to accomplish when I came to this dreary town was to be reunited with my darling little sister and prove that there was no true artiste greater than I! But you six fiends upstaged me! Banished me! Forced me away from my Sweetie Belle!”
“No we didn’t!” Nightmare protested. “You ran off during that Windigo attack before we could talk to you!”
“And what is this I see?” Rarity growled as Polaris flew over their heads and landed next to Discord’s statue. The young Windigo whinnied sadly and snuggled next to Discord’s stone prison. Tiny ice cubes poured from his ghostly eyes as he sobbed.
“You actually kept one of those beasts as a testament to my failure! I will see it burn!” Rarity snarled as her eyes glowed an even darker red.
But before Rarity could hurt Polaris, a buzzing filled the air. Scootaloo came racing down towards them, riding a scooter attached to a large wagon. In that wagon sat Apple Bloom, Diamond Tiara, Snips, Snails, and Sweetie Belle.
Trixie idly wondered how they all fit into the wagon, before she spotted a picture of Discord’s grinning face on the back of the wagon. No other answer was needed.
“Sis stop!” Sweetie cried out. She jumped off the wagon and ran to shield Polaris from her crazed sister.
Rarity smiled, “Sweetie Belle, my dearest sister. You have come to witness my triumph over the ruffians who banished me.”
“Rarity, please stop!” Sweetie begged. “You’re hurting people! I know you’re mad about what happened but you have to stop this! This is too much!”
“Oh my darling sister, you don’t understand.” Rarity leaned forward and tapped her horn to Sweetie’s horn, as red light spread into her. “Perhaps now things are a bit clearer, yes?”
Sweetie blinked, her eyes turning red. “Yes Rarity,” she mumbled like a zombie. “I understand.”
Although Sweetie failed to stop her sister, her sacrifice wasn’t in vain. While Sweetie distracted Rarity, Chrysalis moved toward Polaris and whispered to him, “You need to go back home Polaris.”
The Windigo whinnied at her. Chrysalis shivered at the sight of those unnatural eyes, but felt her fear fading away as she saw the despair in them. “I know you're upset, but you can’t help Discord right now. Go home and I promise you, we will save him.
Polaris gave another sad whinny before flying back to the Chaos Corner.
“Hey! Leave her alone!” Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Diamond, Snips, and Snails all charged at Rarity. But another blast of mind-controlling magic engulfed the five of them. The fillies and colts wobbled as they felt their minds fall under a haze.
“STOP!” Nightmare screamed. “You want your duel, you can have it! If I win, you undo every spell you’ve cast and let my friends go!”
Rarity smirked. “A mighty alicorn such as yourself against a mere unicorn such as I? That hardly seems fair darling.”
“Fair?!” Trixie shouted. “You have ignored the rules of honourable dueling and you cowardly disabled our friends with the cruelest methods imaginable!” Her horn flared and her cape billowed in the wind. “If you truly want fairness then I, the Great and Powerful Trixie will see you defeated fair and square!”
“That won’t be necessary Trixie,” Nightmare said, glaring at Rarity as she charged her horn. She smirked as she saw Smog and Chrysalis line up beside her, ready for battle. “She caught us by surprise before, but between all of us she doesn’t stand a chance.”
“I would prefer my duel to be one-against-one. If you brutes intend to gang up on me, I’ll have no choice but to use more extreme measures to defend myself,” Rarity snarled as she charged her horn for her worst curse yet.
She unleashed a bolt of black lightning at Nightmare Moon. Nightmare screamed in pain as the lightning scorched every part of her body.
“This spell is supposed to make you writhe in agony,” Rarity calmly explained as she continued to zap Nightmare. “Your body is unharmed while your mind experiences the worst pain you can imagine. I don’t envy you at all, my friend.”
“Stop it!” Chrysalis cried in horror. “Stop hurting her! Please!” she begged.
Rarity smiled calmly and canceled the spell. “Will you agree to my terms then? I’m afraid a one-on-one duel is your only choice if we are to settle this like civilized ponies.”
“Nightmare!” Smog cried as he hurried to her side and desperately grabbed onto her. “Come on Nightmare, you gotta get up!”
“S-Smog…you have to…escape…” Nightmare whispered.
“We’re not leaving you! Listen to me Nightmare, you have to use the fusion spell!” Smog pleaded.
“I can’t…” Nightmare whispered as her eyes watered.
“Chrysalis. You take Nightmare and Smog to your hive,” Trixie ordered. “Keep them safe. I will deal with Rarity.”
“I think not darling,” Rarity smirked. “I would like to keep you all where I can see you. But I promise I won’t hurt them if you agree to duel me.”
“Very well. You have dared to challenge Trixie, and now you shall suffer the consequences! For no unicorn can possess the amazing, show-stopping dueling prowess of the Great and Powerful Trixie! ” Trixie declared.
Nightmare Moon winced through the pain. “Trixie…don’t do this…you can’t…”
“Save your strength Nightmare,” Trixie said, before turning to face Rarity. “Now…draw!”
Fireworks shot out from Trixie’s horn and raced to blast her opponent, but Rarity summoned a strong shield to counter them. Rarity levitated several crystals and gems out of the earth and sent them crashing towards Trixie and her friends, but Trixie quickly caught them and tossed them back at Rarity.
Rarity froze the gems in midair. She then conjured a wintery chill and blasted Trixie with snow. Trixie then used a spell that Sunset had taught her and increased her body’s temperature to melt the snow off her. She then created small fireballs and flung them at her opponent but Rarity simply extinguished the fireballs in midair with her magic.
“Darling, please. Anyone can just hurl spell after spell. I thought a fellow magician like yourself would put up a better show. After all, a unicorn should aspire to be more than muscle.”
With a flash of magic, various cloths appeared and swirled around Rarity. “A unicorn needs to have style!”
“Trixie has plenty of style!” Trixie countered. “Do you know how much work it takes to make sure her cape billows just right in the wind?”
“Please. A cheap hat and cape is nothing compared to the grace and beauty that Rarity exudes.” The swirling cloth settled to reveal Rarity, wearing a fancy blue dress with an expertly styled mane.
“Cheap hat and cape?!” Trixie screamed in anger. A blast of magic shot from her horn, turning Rarity’s mane and tail dark green.
Rarity frantically summoned a small mirror and gasped at the sight of her hair. She reflected a spell off the mirror that returned her mane and tail to normal, and then tossed the mirror aside. “Oh…it. Is. On! Time to finish this! Once and for all!”
Rarity’s horn glowed and engulfed both Trixie and Smog in magic. The area was lit up with a bright flash as her spell took affect.
Trixie swatted the smoke away with her hoof to see what had happened. The first thing she noticed was that she didn’t even have a hoof. Her blue, scaly claw shot up to feel her forehead. Not sensing a horn lead Trixie to a startling conclusion: she had been turned into a baby dragon.
Trixie looked over at Smog to see a red unicorn, looking down at his new hooves in shock. “…That’s not right.”
“A species-switching spell?” The flabbergasted Trixie asked. “But…only the highest level unicorns can accomplish those!”
“Well I do believe that makes Rarity the highest level unicorn, does it not?” Rarity smirked at her.
“But that’s cheating!” Trixie protested. “Trixie cannot continue the duel if Trixie doesn’t have a horn to cast magic with!”
“Well then, I do believe that makes me the winner,” Rarity grinned and spread her arms wide. “Look upon me Peaceville! For Rarity is the most magical and elegant unicorn of all!” She sneered at Trixie. “Don’t worry, Rarity is merciful in victory. I shall return you to your proper form now that our duel has concluded.” A flash of light turned Trixie back into a unicorn and Smog back into a young dragon.
“And now, following the traditional rules of magical duels, I believe this the part where you leave Peaceville and never return!”
“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow yelled as she finally ripped apart her suffocating dress and freed herself. She helped Gilda into the air and flew towards Trixie and Nightmare. Chrysalis and Smog joined the two fliers in shielding Trixie from Rarity.
“If you want Trixie to leave, you’ll have to go through us!” Gilda growled.
“A baby dragon, A pegasus, a griffon, and a changeling?” Rarity smirked. “An interesting group you lot may be, but compared to your friends you four are no match for the power Rarity now wields.”
A blast of red magic hit Rainbow, switching her body around so that her wings took the place of her front hooves while extra legs took the place of her wings. Rainbow cried in horror as she stumbled around in midair, completely disoriented.
As Gilda and Chrysalis tried to help Rainbow, Rarity’s eyes and horn glowed a darker red. “Well, I do believe that’s enough excitement for one day darlings.” Another black bolt of the agony curse struck Nightmare again.
Before her friends could protest, Nightmare and Trixie were both trapped in Rarity’s magic as she threw them out of Peaceville. She then conjured a gigantic barrier that resembled a large transparent diamond cut in half, and lowered it around Peaceville. With the barrier in place nobody could get in or out.
Gilda and Chrysalis grabbed ahold of Rainbow and Smog and quickly flew to the barrier’s wall as Trixie struggled to lift the weakened Nightmare. Gilda immediately began pounding at the barrier with all her strength while Chrysalis fired off the strongest spells she knew. But the barrier wouldn’t budge.
Smog glared at the barrier. Picking up a rock, he experimentally breathed fire on it. Sadly, instead of being transported right to King Sombra, the magical smoke just bounced off the barrier before dropping the rock. “Darn! As long as the barrier is up I can’t send a letter to King Sombra for help.”
Chrysalis shook her head sadly. “My changelings might be able to burrow under the ground, but they wouldn’t be able to fly all the way to the Crystal Empire.”
Rainbow jumped out of Gilda’s arms but struggled to keep herself flying. “I can barely fly at all!”
“Do not fear my friends!” Trixie roared as she pounded on the barrier. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will not rest until Nightmare Moon is healed and Rarity is destroyed! Trixie shall avenge you!”
“Oh for goodness sake! Nightmare, use the fusion spell!” Smog cried.
As Nightmare struggled to move her limbs, Trixie frowned. “That’s the third time Trixie has heard you mention that spell. Trixie demands an explanation!”
Smog looked her in the eye. “If that agony curse is as painful as it looks, Nightmare won’t be able to recover as fast as she usually can. But the fusion spell can help her get back up and fight.”
“Smog…no…” Nightmare whispered.
“If this spell can help you then cast it already!” Trixie cried as she tried to help Nightmare stand back up.
“Trixie, Nightmare needs your permission to cast the spell if we want the best results,” Smog informed her.
“Of course she has Trixie’s permission! Cast the spell already!”
“Fine,” Nightmare sighed. Her entire body swirled and turned into starry black mist. The magical cloud floated towards Trixie and poured itself into her mouth. Once the mist was inside her, Trixie shuddered violently as she felt something take ahold of every part of her body and mind. Her blue skin darkened as her mane and tail started blowing in a nonexistent wind. Once the fusion was complete the unicorn stood up and opened her draconic eyes.
Rainbow’s jaw dropped as she stared at them. “What…what just happened?”
The dark unicorn sighed. “Forgive Nightmare Trixie but…um, sorry I meant forgive me but I…ugh! This going to take some getting used to.”
“Nightmare Trixie? Oh, so that’s what you meant by fusion. Cool!” Gilda smiled. “How come we’ve never seen you use that before?”
Nightmare Trixie frowned. “For one thing, as much as I’d like us both to have equal freedom, it’s more like possession than fusion. I’m using Trixie’s body but I’m also combining and therefore increasing our magic. As soon as we can find a solution to bring down Rarity, I’m giving Trixie her body back.”
Gilda titled her head as she examined her fused friend. “You know, I wouldn’t mind getting possessed by you if it meant I got awesome alicorn powers.”
“It’s a very tricky spell,” Smog explained. “It works best if Nightmare fuses with another pony, and they usually need to give her permission for it to work. Any other way and…well…the very first time she used that spell, she tried to possess me by force. It didn't end well.”
“He’s right,” Nightmare Trixie nodded. “I have very little experience with this spell, and I only learned how to pilot a dragon’s body because Smog insisted I keep practicing so I don’t forget it.”
She sighed and looked off into the distance, in the direction of the Crystal Empire. “Plus, mom made me promise never to use this spell unless it was an emergency and I had no other options.”
“I’d say this qualifies,” Smog stated bluntly. Nightmare Trixie gave him a weak nod.
“Um, excuse me,” Chrysalis spoke up. “But if you're out there and we can't reach the king...do you think maybe Zecora could help us?”
“That’s just what I was thinking. See what you can do inside, we’ll come back for you guys.” With that, Nightmare Trixie ran into the Equestria forest where Zecora’s hut was located.
Even though Zecora was a beloved and hard-working citizen of Peaceville, she liked her privacy sometimes, which is why she lived in a hut just on the edge of the Equestria forest.
Her hut was filled with various items from her hometown or picked up along her travels. At that moment, she was listening to Nightmare Trixie’s finish their tale with a frown on her face.
“Your tale of woe saddens me so. Indeed, this Rarity must swiftly be stopped, but I fear what may happen if your spell isn’t dropped.” At Nightmare Trixie’s confused look, Zecora explained. “The reason my mood is sour is because of your own abuse of power!” She indicated Nightmare Trixie’s altered form.
She sighed. “Zecora, I didn’t want to do this but I had no other choice! Even Trixie agrees that this method will help us overpower Rarity. I’ll end the possession and let her go once we save Peaceville.
Zecora looked out the window. “You said Rarity disabled all your friends, even Discord. In this time of crisis, should the king not be informed?”
“Discord and informed? Do those two really rhyme?” Zecora glared at her in mild annoyance. “Sorry. Even though Trixie is cooperating, her thoughts are making me a little dizzy. Anyway, without Smog here I can’t send any letters fast enough.”
Zecora smiled and walked up to a shelf in her hut. She brought down a candle lit with tiny green fire. “In times of emergency, the king I can reach. This gift, Sombra gives to all those who teach. This candle burns with enchanted dragon flame. It can send your letter if you speak the receiver’s name.”
Nightmare Trixie smiled as she quickly wrote a letter requesting help. “Thank you so much Zecora. I guess since I’ve always had Smog, I completely forgot that other ponies used these candles.”
Zecora simply smiled as she drank her tea and watched as the letter was burned and magically sent to the king.
It wasn’t long before King Sombra and Princess Twilight Sparkle arrived with a dozen royal guards. Once the story was explained to them, they all marched up to the barrier surrounding Peaceville.
As Nightmare Trixie led them toward the barrier, she scanned the group of guards before turning to ask King Sombra, “Is my mom here?”
“I’m sorry, my faithful student,” King Sombra sighed. “Luna is stuck back at the Crystal Empire dealing with Princess Sparkle’s pet dragon. Apparently somebody ate a sheep.”
“Spike did NOT eat a sheep! He would never do anything like that!” Princess Twilight protested.
“Sparky, I trust you, but I’m not taking any chances,” King Sombra informed her.
Princess Twilight rolled her eyes. Not bothering to argue with him she instead focused on the center of the town where a dark storm cloud was hovering over Peaceville. She walked forward and tapped the barrier with her horn. She smiled, “It’s strong. But they don’t call me the Princess of Magic for no good reason.” With that, Princess Twilight, King Sombra, and Nightmare Trixie combined their magic into a tremendous blast of power. The barrier finally shattered into a thousand pieces of magic that shimmered and vanished into the air.
“Perfect,” King Sombra turned to address the others. “Guards, you know what to do in situations such as this. Nightmare Moon will try to confront Rarity directly and hopefully finish this with a honourable magic duel. If Rarity creates too much trouble, see that the citizens are taken out of harms way. Princess Twilight…” he paused as he watched Princess Twilight walk away.
Turning to see that King Sombra, Nightmare Trixie, Zecora, and the guards had noticed her leaving, Princess Twilight lowered her head to the ground in shame. “…I’m afraid you’ll have to do the rest without me. It’s just…I can’t…”
Nightmare Trixie stepped forward. “Princess Twilight, please. The people of Everfree have already forgiven you for what you did as Eternal Twilight. You don’t have to be afraid.”
Princess Twilight sighed but smiled once more. “You’re right. As co-ruler of Everfree, I need to put my subjects before myself.” She glared at the center of Peaceville with determination burning in her eye. “Let’s do this.”
Before they could get any further, the sound of several sirens filled the air. They turned around to see Sweetie Belle charging toward them, wearing a pretty blue dress and with her horn flashing with blue and red magic.
“Halt! Who goes there?” Sweetie screamed at them.
“By the night, what has she done to you Sweetie?” Nightmare Trixie gasped.
Sweetie ignored her and jabbed a hoof at Princess Twilight. “Improperly dressed pony! By order of Princess Rarity, all princesses need to be pretty at all times!” A flash of magic from Sweetie’s horn hit Princess Twilight, forcing a pink and yellow dress onto her.
“Hey!” Princess Twilight protested. A flash of her own magic made the huge dress disappear. She glared at Sweetie and demanded, “What makes you think you throw magic about like that, especially against royalty? You’re in big trouble young lady!”
“Just doing my job ma’am!” Sweetie barked.
“What job?!” Nightmare Trixie exclaimed.
“Chief of the Fashion Police, ma’am!”
Before anyone could dignify that with a proper face palm, they were interrupted by a dramatic gasp. Nightmare Trixie turned around to see Rarity, being carried around in a golden chariot studded with gems. An exhausted Big Macintosh and Sunset Shimmer were pulling the chariot and they didn’t look happy about it.
“The king has come to visit me?” Rarity smiled. “What an honour! Please step right this way, Your Majesty. I can give you a little tour of my village. I’ve been doing such a splendid job keeping order within this town, why I daresay I make a spectacular princess!”
Rarity teleported next to King Sombra, her eyes glowing red and black as she giggled madly. “Well come now, out with it! Rarity knows why you are here! You have heard tales of Rarity’s beauty and stylistic flair with magic, and so you seek to marry her! I accept your proposal, King Sombra! Ooh, soon I will be the greatest Queen that Everfree has ever seen! Come! Let us travel to the Crystal Empire upon my finest chariot! Or, as everyone will soon be calling them, ‘Rariot’!”
King Sombra took several steps back from the grinning maniac and rolled his eyes. “That amulet has filled your head with such delusions of grandeur you can’t even see what is in front of you, Miss Rarity.”
Rarity gasped a second time and hissed at Nightmare Trixie. “You! What’s the matter darling? Exile too much for you? I see that you even dared to bother the king with your sob story. And what have you done to yourself darling?”
“We’ve come to challenge you to another duel Rarity!” Nightmare Trixie declared.
“And why would I agree to that?” Rarity sneered.
“If she wins you give us the Alicorn Amulet and free the citizens of Peaceville. If you win I’ll make you the Empress of the Crystal Empire,” King Sombra said.
Rarity’s eyes lit up at the thought of being royalty. “Deal! Come right this way darlings.” She quickly led them to the center of town.
Nightmare Trixie whispered to King Sombra, “Alicorn Amulet? What’s that?”
He explained, “The Alicorn Amulet is a magical artifact that increases the user’s magic greatly but at the risk of corrupting the user. And only the user could remove it,” he sighed. “I went searching for many artifacts just like it many years ago, when I was still a prince.”
“Corrupts the user, eh?” Nightmare Trixie frowned. “I knew something weird was going on! When she first came her, all she did was boast about her abilities. But now, it’s like she’s gone from high and mighty straight to pure evil!” Her eyes followed Rarity as she led them all to the Town Square. “You’re not really gonna make Rarity a queen, are you?” she whispered
“Of course not. I have faith that you will defeat her.” King Sombra whispered back as his eyes followed Rarity. “Forgive me for asking but, have I ever met this mare before? She looks familiar.”
“I don’t think she’s been to the Crystal Empire before. Anyway, wish me luck.” Nightmare Trixie took her place to begin the duel.
King Sombra and Princess Twilight looked around to see the damage that Rarity had done. Several terrified Peaceville citizens were in the Town Square, stuck inside of overly frilly dresses and suits. They were all glued to the ground with heaping amounts of sparkly glitter glue.
As soon as Sunset and Big Macintosh had finished dragged Rarity to the duel on her ‘Rariot’, she blasted Sunset with another bolt of magic, turning her back into a crystal statue.
Another flash teleported Sunset’s statue inside a large birdcage, where many of Nightmare and Trixie’s friends were trapped inside. Smiles slowly formed on their faces as they saw Nightmare Trixie.
“Yeah, Nightmare! Woohoo!” Mayor Derpy cheered from within the cage.
Nightmare Trixie waved to them, before taking a battle stance. Her eyes narrowed and her horn glowed with power as she faced Rarity.
“Stop right there!” Rarity ordered. “Do you really think my eye for detail could have missed your little fusion spell? I told you before, Rarity will only partake in one-on-one duels.”
Nightmare Trixie sighed and whispered, “Fine. I’m sorry about this Trixie.” The magical cloud that was Nightmare Moon poured out of Trixie’s body, slowly restoring her body to the way it was before the possession.
“Never let it be said that Rarity is not generous,” Rarity smirked and blasted the magical mist, giving Nightmare enough strength to regain her corporeal form.
Nightmare quickly inspected her own body. Rarity’s strength spell had indeed removed any trace of the agony curse she had been under. “Well…thanks Rarity, I guess.” She turned to face Trixie. “How are you feeling Trixie?”
Trixie wobbled and gave her a dizzy smile. “The Great and Powerful Trixie thanks her fans for being a wonderful audience. She will now retire to her trailer,” Trixie yawned collapsed onto the ground. “Trixie has faith in you Nightie…ooh nightie-night that sounds like…” Trixie closed her eyes and slowly drifted off into dreamland.
Princess Twilight levitated Trixie over to her and King Sombra. They joined the guards and Zecora with the rest of the crowd to watch the duel. Nightmare Moon charged her horn and got ready to fight.
“Let’s start with a simple species-switch spell, shall we?” Rarity smirked.
“Let’s. You went first last time. My turn now.” Nightmare looked into the crowd, searching for something to use to her advantage. She spotted two colts with glowing green eyes and smiled.
She levitated the two colts over and announced, “I will now turn these two ponies into dragons!” Nightmare cast her spell and engulfed the two colts in a cloud of magic. The smoke dispersed to reveal two young dragons.
Nightmare turned around, smirking triumphantly at Rarity. But her crazed opponent simply frowned at her.
“I am quite insulted by how much you underestimate me, Miss Moon,” Rarity scoffed. A red aura engulfed the two dragons and a flash of light changed the two of them into young changelings.
Nightmare gasped. “But…how? How did you figure out they were changelings so fast?”
Rarity sneered at her. “Please, darling. Your friend Trixie isn’t the only magician here. Rarity has always had an eye for finding elusive details and Rarity is an expert artiste! I know all about making my magic look more impressive than it actually is.”
She scowled at Nightmare as her eyes glowed red again. “But I assure you, my current level of magic is no deception!”
“Oh yes it is!” Nightmare shot back. “King Sombra told me about your Alicorn Amulet. You’re cheating!”
“Cheating? Moi? I’m offended by your accusation,” Rarity mocked her.
“Then prove I’m wrong. Take the amulet off,” Nightmare suggested slyly.
“Oh I think not, darling. I admit that this amulet is the gaudiest piece of jewelry I have ever seen. But in this case, function is better than form,” Rarity sneered at her.
“Well…if she’s going to cheat, then why should I hold back either?” Nightmare muttered to herself. “Still...this is gonna be really uncomfortable."
Even though Nightmare cringed at the thought of what she was about to do, her eyes burned with determination. Nightmare turned herself into a cloud of magic and forced herself into Rarity’s mouth this time.
Rarity coughed and sputtered, as her white coat slowly started to turn black. But quite suddenly, she spat the magical mist out and forced Nightmare Moon to change back into her corporeal form.
Smog’s jaw dropped. “What? I-I know that forcing the spell to work makes it tougher...b-but that should have worked!” he exclaimed.
“No. Oh no, this is bad,” Nightmare’s eyes widened in fear as she backed away from Rarity. “Stand back!” she ordered everyone in the crowd. “The amulet isn’t the only thing possessing her!”
Rarity chuckled. And laughed. Her laugh twisted and mutated until she was cackling evilly. “Hee, hee he. Ha ha ha! Ah ha ha ha ha! Well now, I believe it's time we place ALL our cards on the table!”
Rarity's body lifted off the ground and hovered in midair as her white coat turned black, while her purple mane grew wavy, white streaks. Her mouth grew fangs while her eyes snapped open to reveal that they had become dark purple and draconic. “Well, well, well. It's been a long time since we last met, hasn't it?” the creature grinned hungrily.
“What is that?” A stunned Chrysalis asked.
“It can’t be!” Princess Twilight Sparkle shuddered. “That’s the same magic that possessed me! That’s Eternal Twilight!”
“Correct.” The creature floated over to Princess Twilight and brushed her face with a hoof. The princess flinched and shrunk away from her touch. “Did you miss me Princess Sparkle? I know I’ve missed you.”
Princess Twilight backed away, her eyes filling up with tears as she shivered in fear. “Rarity, please! You have to fight it! This isn’t you!”
“Rarity? You are right, Princess Sparkle. I’m not Rarity. I have evolved past the point of being simply rare, for I am truly a Wonder of the world now! No other is as unique as I! You may refer to me as…
“Eternity!”
Eternity turned toward Nightmare Moon and grinned hungrily. “Now to deal with you. I would offer you two to join me, had you not already refused to serve me. It doesn’t matter though. With Rarity’s magic and the power of the Alicorn Amulet fueling me, I have become UNSTOPPABLE!”
Eternity’s horn spat a huge beam of magic straight at Nightmare, who quickly flew out of the way.
“Come now, young Nightmare!” Eternity called out energetically. “I gave your friend a proper unicorn duel! It’s only fair I offer you a proper alicorn one!
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Nightmare grinned. In that moment, she looked like a five-year-old filly whose birthday had come early. “I have to admit…I’ve been dreaming of a moment like this my whole life!”
Nightmare flapped her wings and climbed higher into the air. Eternity’s form shimmered, as phantom-like black butterfly wings appeared on her back. She flew up to face Nightmare. The two charged their horns and sent colossal beams of magic blasting toward each other.
Eternity’s blast overpowered her own and sent Nightmare Moon flying across town. She crashed into the library and shook her head to recover from the dizziness. She gasped and teleported out of the way as a massive blast of magic soared toward her previous location and completely obliterated her home.
“My library!” Nightmare cried. She growled and took to the air once more, blasting at Eternity again.
As the two dark alicorns fought each other, King Sombra and Princess Twilight were taking advantage of the situation. With Eternity distracted, they began using their own magic to undo all the curses that Rarity had cast.
King Sombra got to work freeing the mayor and Nightmare’s friends from the birdcage. He was able to shrink Gilda's wing back to normal and free Sunset Shimmer from her crystal prison, but he was unable to reverse Rainbow’s transformation. Zecora and the guards got to work freeing the citizens glued to the ground. And Princess Twilight used her magic to free the colts and fillies from the mind-control curse.
Sweetie Belle rubbed her aching head as the fog faded from her mind. “What happened?”
“Quiet now Sweetie. It’s going to be okay,” Princess Twilight promised her. She pointed at a royal guard. “You there. Now that the other citizens are free, explain to these kids what’s going on.” She turned to King Sombra and spoke. “Sombra. If we’re going to beat Eternity, we need the Elements.”
“Well what do you need my permission for? Go!” he cried. She nodded and disappeared in a flash of light. A minute later, she returned with the chest that contained the Elements of Forgiveness.
“Um, hate to interrupt ya Princess,” Gilda started. “But how are we gonna use the Elements without Discord?”
She was right. While their combined magic had freed all the other Peaceville citizens, Discord was still trapped in stone. Princess Twilight’s horn glowed with magic as she tried to release him, but her horn’s aura sputtered and faded. “The spell is too strong!”
“It’s okay. If we can use the Elements, it should release him too,” King Sombra informed them. “Listen. I used the Elements all by myself when I fought Eternal Twilight. But the result wasn't perfect and I can’t live with the thought of the Elements failing me as they did before. We need to find somebody who can temporarily take Discord’s place as the Element of Freedom.”
“I can do it!” Rainbow shouted.
“No Rainbow, you’re still injured. I’ll take the Element,” Princess Twilight declared.
“No! I’ll do it!” They turned around to see Sweetie Belle, her eyes blazing with determination. “She’s my sister! I have to help her!”
King Sombra smiled. “Perfect. Someone who knows this Rarity. Someone who wants to set her free. To forgive her. To offer her a chance at redemption. You’ll do just fine.” His horn glowed red as he levitated the Element of Freedom onto Sweetie’s neck.
With most of the Elements accounted for Gilda turned to the snoozing Trixie. “Hey! Wake up!” Gilda screeched into Trixie’s ear.
Trixie woke up immediately and screamed, “Daddy, I don’t wanna stay on the rock farm!”
Gilda blinked at Trixie, who blushed at the non sequitur. “…Whatever. Here’s your Element. Now hurry up!” She said as she tossed Trixie the Element of Nobility.
As her friends grabbed the other Elements, Nightmare continued to battle Eternity.
To start with, Nightmare emitted a beam of blue light from her horn.
“Ooh! A light sword spell? I haven’t seen one of those in ages!” Eternity gleefully emitted a beam of purple light from her own horn and charged at Nightmare.
The two sword spells clashed and clanged against each other. Getting fed up with close combat, Nightmare flew away and charged her horn for a different spell.
Eternity launched a blast of purple energy at Nightmare. “Beam of Darkness!”
“Night Blast!” Nightmare roared as teleported away fired a huge blast of blue energy at Eternity.
“Jeweled Spin!” Eternity screamed as she summoned a miniature tornado around herself and slammed into Nightmare.
Nightmare recovered in midair and screamed, “Shadow Lance!” A spear of pure night formed and hurled itself at Eternity.
“Kiss of Oblivion!” Eternity roared as she summoned dark purple flames and surrounded Nightmare in a ring of fire. The fire closed in and almost crashed into Nightmare, but she dodged out of the way.
The alicorns continued to teleport and fly through the air, trading their most powerful spells. Meanwhile the Elements of Redemption, plus Sweetie, Smog, Rainbow, King Sombra, and Princess Twilight had finally caught up to the duelers on foot.
“Ah man!” Smog cried as he saw the library. “We just finished painting upstairs too!”
Gilda rolled her eyes. “I’m sure Discord can fix it up once we’re done here. Now gimme that thing!” She grabbed the Element of Power from him and flew up into the battle. She dodged one of Eternity’s curses and shouted, “Nightmare! We got the Elements!”
Nightmare quickly flew toward Gilda and grabbed the Element of Power, placing it on her head.
“No!” Eternity snarled. “I will NOT be defeated again!” she hungrily charged towards them as the elements glowed.
“I’ll save you Rarity!” Sweetie cried as the Element of Freedom sputtered, but slowly began to glow along with the other elements.
Eternity tried to shield herself, but was once more engulfed in the Elements’ power.
When the blinding light faded away, the Element bearers all groaned and slowly got to their feet. Sweetie quickly ran to her sister’s side and was relieved to see that she was back to normal. “Rarity!”
“...Sweetie?” Rarity whispered as the Alicorn Amulet unlatched and fell off her neck. Gilda quickly flew over and tossed the amulet to Zecora who locked it into a box that she had brought just for this occasion.
The very second Rarity was in control of herself she hugged Sweetie tightly. “Sweetie Belle…oh, Sweetie Belle I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay Rarity,” Sweetie sniffled, smiling happily even as her eyes watered.
“No it’s not. Sweetie I’m sorry. Big sister did something very bad. But she’s sorry. I won’t hurt you. I promise I’ll never hurt you. I’ll never allow myself to act like that again. I’m sorry Sweetie Belle. I’m so sorry…my dearest sister.”
Rarity and Sweetie both continued to embrace and apologize to each other. They sat there hugging each other for as long as the world would allow it.
Nightmare’s friends huddled up together. “Does anyone know what to do with her? We can’t send her to jail, that wouldn’t be fair to Sweetie,” Smog said.
“I say we seal her in one of those changeling cocoons!” Rainbow snarled. “Then drop her off at the Chaos Corner! Let Discord have a little fun with her!”
“You rang?” Discord said as he appeared next to them in a flash of light.
“Hey, you’re alright!” Gilda smiled.
“Oh ho, my little griffon! It takes more than that to keep the King of Chaos down! So, what was that about me having fun?” Discord gleefully asked.
Nightmare spoke up. “No guys. I know Rarity has been a huge pain in the neck, but she was being controlled by both the amulet and Eternity. We’re the Elements. If Rarity is ready to earn redemption then we have to give her a chance at forgiveness.”
King Sombra smiled, “Well said, Nightmare Moon.” He looked at Rarity and frowned in contemplation. “I swear I’ve seen her before. There are some differences but I swear, she looks almost exactly like Platinum…” His eyes widened.
“King Sombra?” He turned to his student and sighed. “Sorry, I’m fine Nightmare. It’s just…I need some time to think. Whatever you do to Platinum – I mean Rarity…I know you’ll help her.” With that King Sombra turned into a dark cloud and flew back to the Crystal Empire. The guards took that as a sign to return home.
Princess Twilight hesitantly looked at the town around her. She flinched as some of the ponies and changelings stared at her. In a flash of magic she teleported back home.
The Elements of Redemption surrounded Rarity. Rarity gave Sweetie another nuzzle and turned to face them. “There’s no easy way to say this. I treated you and your friends horribly when I was wearing that tacky amulet. Even though it corrupted me I’m the one who put it on in the first place. Honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking. On top of being dangerous it was also the most hideous jewel I had ever…at any rate I’m afraid I must take some of the blame.
“My behavior towards the people of Peaceville was utterly deplorable. I humbly ask you for forgiveness and I will do whatever it takes to earn it.” Rarity sighed and sank to the ground in a deep bow.
One by one, Nightmare and all her friends smiled. Discord walked toward Rarity and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
He then summoned an apple pie and flung it right at her face.
“…I suppose I deserved that,” Rarity sighed as bits of apple dripped off her face.
“Not to worry Miss Rarity, I believe I can find it within my heart to forgive you…in a week or so,” Discord grinned mischievously. “But before that, you and I are going to have a fun time indeed.” Rarity shuddered as Discord chuckled with sinister glee.
“The road ahead of you isn’t an easy one Rarity,” Nightmare started.
Trixie offered Rarity her hoof. “But speaking on behalf of the Elements, Trixie can honestly say that we forgive you.”
Rarity sighed happily as the Peaceville citizens who had witnessed the whole event cheered.
“What are you going to do now sis?” Sweetie asked.
“Well Sweetie, I intend to live here from now on. I can look after you and work to repay my debt to society. Once I've cleaned up the town and I have apologized to everyone, perhaps I can do my magic shows here like Miss Trixie. Why, I could even work more with fashion! If I could just find an empty store to set up shop…display some of my dresses there and…”
As Rarity discussed her plans with her friends, Nightmare felt a chill run down her spine. She looked up to see dark purple mist floating over her head.
“Congratulations are in order for you, young Nightmare. You have defeated me a second time.”
“How are you still alive?” Nightmare whispered. Her friends didn’t seem to notice the mist.
“You may have weakened me, but I am no mere mortal. I am energy and conflict incarnate. I was merely dispelled and shredded into pieces by your Elements, just as before. But I cannot be defeated, and so I shall be victorious when the time comes.”
Nightmare smirked. “I see where this is going. Go ahead. Crawl back into the shadows you came from, creature. Even if you return, we’ll stop you again.”
“We’ll see. For just as friendship and forgiveness are magic…
“Conflict is Eternal.”
Nightmare calmly watched the mist vanish into thin air. She then walked over to join her friends in celebration.
And so, Rarity was reunited with Sweetie Belle and worked to become friends with the people of Peaceville. As another former enemy to the Elements of Forgiveness, Rainbow Dash volunteered to help Rarity overcome her inner demons.
Of course, the tomboyish pegasus and ladylike unicorn didn’t become the best of friends right away, but the tale of their growing friendship is a story for another time.