We Remember Everything

by Thunderscourge

Perseverance is The Key To Everything You Achieve

“Round three, begin!”

The crowd gathered in the Crystal Empire stadium was roaring with spirit as those words were announced. Having come to see the best of the best compete, seeing the most skilled Unicorn confront the newest princess in a duel was exhilarating for the ponies there to witness it.

The most vocal were the ones from Canterlot and Ponyville who were calling for Twilight to finish things and crush Trixie. Despite this fervent cheering on the part of those two towns a sizable amount of the stadium was instead cheering for the one who had just impressed them all with her magical prowess.

Hearing the crowd cheering her name too as their underdog granted Trixie the focus she needed to get into her groove. As Twilight moved to instantly demolish where Trixie stood with a powerful laser, Trixie took the easy way out and teleported next to Twilight.

From beside the purple mare Trixie smiled down a little at her just as Twilight managed to notice Trixie’s new position, “I have some ground to regain.”

Knowing that Twilight’s next move would either be to teleport away and grant her space to fire at Trixie again, or to emit a shockwave in every direction, Trixie cast her own magic just as a purple beam shot out in every direction from Twilight.

Twilight’s shockwave would have hit Trixie if a pillar of ice had not been conjured to raise Trixie a few feet off the ground so that she stood above Twilight completely.

Twilight noticed Trixie’s new perch and shot up at it, but Trixie had already leapt off of it.

“I will win this, Twilight. A final match to even the scales between us forever!”

While the top of the pillar was destroyed fully by Twilight’s attack, Trixie’s jump carried her past Twilight and onto the grass behind her.

“I never did anything to you! We’ve talked about this—”

Twilight’s attempt to turn and face Trixie was cut short by how her hooves slipped out from underneath her, the surface having been changed as she spoke.

“Wahhhh!” Twilight screamed as she finished turning, only to fall and hit the hard ice. The impact hurt Twilight, who had been unable to brace herself in time for the fall. She could have flapped her wings, but the unfair advantage their granted her made her hesitate to use them. After all, it was considered unfair and cheating during their last duel and Twilight did not want to embarrass herself.

In fact, she had just wanted to have some fun when Trixie offered this opportunity. While somewhat skeptical, she had seen no harm in having a nice play fight with her fellow student and rival of sorts. Now that Trixie was not holding back though, or rather the fact that she had been only playing around before, made the young princess worried about what the true implications of this match were.

Trixie was pacing around Twilight as the latter attempted to rise, though the more Twilight tried to get up the more she realized that the ground was frozen.

“Need a hand, Twilight?”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she noticed that Trixie was walking around on the ice as if it was not there at all.

“How are you not slipping?” Twilight scoffed as she came up with a solution to her own problem. Instead of stay down and lose by being counted out, Twilight opted to shoot the ground with a heat beam to melt it so she could stand up on the now wet ground.

Trixie snorted as she frosted over the ground again, freezing Twilight’s hooves to the wet ground they stood on, “I am creating the ice. I can dispel it where I choose just as easily.”

With a large leap Trixie placed herself in front of Twilight, her hooves not slipping at all as she landed about ten feet in front of her rival. Stuck to the ground, Twilight could not believe the mobility Trixie was displaying. It was if she was just skating despite having nothing at all on her hooves.

“What? How!?”

Trixie just snorted at her, “I can also just adhere my feet to it, as I have yours. I’ve had a lot of time to do nothing but learn, you know.”

Their viewers were oohing and ahhhing as they watched Trixie move around gracefully before Twilight while the latter continued to have ice creep up her legs and slowly ensnare her. Twilight could free her front hooves by melting the ice there, but she still would be immobile as the thick ice still had her back half encapsulated. Teleportation caught her interest, but she would slip and be frozen at any other place inside the arena. A more permanent solution was needed.

Twilight was already conceding this round in her mind, but she was determined to find a solution before the next round. The time in-between would give her a chance to think about the matter without dealing with the stress of actually being captured and under assault.

Speaking of which, why was Trixie not just shooting her while she was stuck? Wouldn’t that afford her an easy win? Twilight was not about to point this out, but it still was bugging her as she stood there in ice.

Twilight’s worries were addressed as Trixie gave a bow to Twilight, “To be fair I’ll give you one shot before I finish this round.”

Trixie backtracked to the edge of the arena, the ice forming a perfect circle for telling the arena’s dimensions. Her back hooves were daringly close to the very edge, which made Twilight tempted to just shoot straight at her. An inch backwards and she would still win, just because Trixie was overconfident…

“Go on Twilight, give me your best shot. I won’t move,” Trixie’s voice increased volume as she began to laugh, “Hit me with all you've got! If you get me, you win, so come on!”

Twilight, not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, charged up all of her power and let it loose in a beam straight at Trixie. The magenta magic shot forth at a hurtling speed right to where Trixie stood, and true to her word Trixie did not move an inch.

Not to the side, forwards, nor backwards. The shot never hit its target, so Trixie had no reason to be pushed backward even as she did no movement to avoid it. Her own horn finished glowing a purple as her spell ended the match.

In a split second Trixie had raised a wall of ice shaped like a rectangle, and with its clear blue coloration one would not be wrong to call it a mirror. Twilight’s beam struck the ice just as Twilight could notice the ice wall, and it deflected back into her face the moment afterwards.

The powerful blast knocked Twilight back with such force that it shattered the ice growing up her body and carried her body straight out of the ring. The crowd went silent as she tumbled back, though when she made a small movement they all went wild. This was exactly the kind of thing that could rile them up, what with the amazing magic on display from both participants and the light show that was following.

“Round three, Trixie!”

As the crowd began to shift and cheer Trixie’s name more than Twilight’s, the former approached the downed Alicorn and offered a hoof to help stand up.

“Are you okay? That must have hurt,” Trixie smiled at her rival as she helped her stand. A personal vendetta was no reason to not display some level of sportsmanship.

As Twilight took Trixie’s help and got up, she gave a nervous smile, ““Thanks. I’ll admit, that was impressive. Where’d you learn that?”

Trixie turned away so that she could avoid Twilight’s gaze, “My father.”

Twilight had not heard anything about Trixie’s family before, and so she had no idea that Trixie was in fact referencing Loki, “Is he some kind of ice specialist? That was some pretty intense ice magic after all.”

Having let Twilight fall into her in-joke, Trixie continued it, “He has a Giant amount of knowledge on the subject, yes,” with a sigh she added another piece of information, “Another family member gave me the time to learn these past months, for which I am grateful.”

As Trixie continued to approach the arena and where she would stand at the beginning of the match she snorted back at Twilight, “It’ll let me finally balance the scales and upstage you, Twilight. This makes two points for you and one for me. Good luck trying to earn that last point, Twilight.”

Twilight had just entered the Arena herself, and seeing that she was doing fine outside of the blackened fur on her face the announcer spoke up to interrupt the mare’s talk.

“Round Four, begin!”

His words were followed by an instant eruption of magic from Twilight, who summoned forth a large barrier in the area around her of complete magic. The energy from the barrier was infused with some heat and so it tore away the ice still left, reducing it to very wet grass instead of a skating rink.

Despite the momentary interruption Twilight tried to continue their talk, sensing that Trixie truly did wish to exact some toll out on her for their past, “Trixie, can you forgive me for whatever I have done? Talking out problems is how we—”

Twilight had her words cut short as Trixie teleported past her barrier and into close range, lunging her horn forward to lock it with Twilight’s longer one. With her growth Trixie stood at a height slightly taller than Twilight’s own, and this in turn made her able to press back and down against her foe.

“Oh don’t act so high and mighty, Princess of Friendship and Magic or whatever,” Trixie brought some magic to her own horn to combat the magic pouring from Twilight’s in order to create the barrier, “Need I remind you that when you cannot find a friendship problem, you’ll make a friendship problem?”

With their horns locked, Twilight did her best to fight back by pressing back against Trixie as their faces hung close to one another, “How do you know about that?”

Trixie leapt back momentarily to take a quick shot straight at Twilight’s chest, the blast knocking her rival back but not disrupting the barrier that was preventing Trixie from controlling the ground, “I have been granted access to all the files I could possibly need in Canterlot Castle. I may have poked around through a file case on you.”

Twilight needed to catch her breath after the hit she took, granting Trixie the opportunity she needed to leap back in and clash horns with Twilight again. Their horns touching made Trixie feel some pain because of how Twilight’s power was greater than her own, but Trixie was not aiming to overpower the horn.

Trixie activated her own horn’s energy again as she continued to mince words at Twilight’s expense, “I’ve also heard from some of your town that ever since you got your wings you have been preachy, often saying an opinion to your friends and not accepting any alternate viewpoint that contrasts your own.”

Having had the time she needed to breath, Twilight lashed back with some anger, “You don’t know that. You weren’t there!” she grunted as she managed to focus enough power in her horn to knock Trixie away, “And you’re one to talk. I’ve never forced Ponyville to bow down to me!”

Despite being rebuffed Trixie did not lose her composure. She could see the effects of her plan working, and she wasn’t about to give up because Twilight was fighting back verbally in addition to magically.

“Ponies aren’t perfect Twilight, and so be it if my flaws lay in my pride and my need to pay back those who have wronged me!” Trixie howled as she leapt back into the fray, “Let me end that now!”

Twilight teleported to the side to avoid Trixie, who landed in a thick puddle on the ground as Twilight disappeared, “Even so, we all should work to improve ourselves!”

Trixie cast her illusionary spell to create a half dozen extra copies of herself in the arena, her voice increasing in anger as she had each of the illusions and her real self charge at the princess, “I am improving myself! Every day I grow stronger, smarter, and more capable to do the tasks assigned to me!”

Twilight shot three of the illusions out of existence before teleporting away to behind the ice pillar still standing, intent on not allowing Trixie to continue whatever she was doing when they locked horns. This attempt to avoid Trixie was shattered when the true Trixie, who had anticipated where Twilight would teleport, tackled Twilight with a shoulder to give them distance and cast forth a beam of magic that hit the same part of the Alicorn.

Twilight slammed into the ice pillar, granting Trixie a moment to breath from her extreme magical exertion that day. She huffed and did not save any breath as Twilight slowly returned to her hooves, “So what if I am not socializing and running a library in that time? Does that make me inferior because you know how to handle a bunch of friends who were drawn to you because of a magical artifact? Forgive me for thinking that such qualifications do not make one princess-worthy!”

Trixie’s next shot was knocked straight up into the air as Twilight teleported right beneath her head and smashed the magician’s chin with her own scalp, “Don’t talk about them like that! They’re not only my friends because of the Elements of Harmony!”

Trixie had to ignore the iron taste in her mouth that came from biting her tongue as she teleported away, “Oh, how do you know that?” once she found a new place she summoned another pillar in the arena to raise her above Twilight, “Do you know that you would have met them if Celestia had not assigned you to stopping Nightmare Moon?”

Twilight was not about to let Trixie pull anything else, so with a surge of magic she blasted off the top half of the even taller tower, “We would have met still! We would have found a way!” Trixie leapt off of where the explosion nearly hit her hooves, the ice that broke off falling to lay beside the now broken pillar. Twilight tried to hit Trixie midair, but she teleported mid-shot, “Even our Cutie Marks were linked together, as we got them all at the same time!”

“And now you believe in destiny! So, Twilight, care to indulge me about whether those wings on your back are another part of your destiny?” Trixie scolded as she regained her footing on the flooded grounds. Despite Twilight resisting her previous trick, Trixie had lost no composure. Her anger was completely fueled by her indignant view of the pony known as Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Trixie’s words brought Twilight some pause as she turned around to try and find where Trixie had gone to next, “I…I had to earn the right to have them, just like Cadance earned her horn.”

Having found a place to twist the proverbial knife, Trixie shot a beam straight out at Twilight as she turned around, “Oh, is that so? What an amazing feat it is to make a spell! Very well done, I can see why that means you should become a princess.”

Her attack nicked Twilight in the side, the half foot of water on the ground slowing down Twilight as she attempted to turn towards Trixie. The hit was much similar to Trixie’s old magic, and it carried little weight despite its accuracy and speed. This, to Twilight, lessened the feat of Trixie demolishing that target, as if you transfer enough momentum into something it will be a forced to be reckoned with no matter how weak it was originally.

As Twilight took her own potshot at Trixie and only managed to sizzle a puddle that stood where Trixie once was, she tried to combat what Trixie was saying about her, “That’s not what I meant! Everything I’ve learned—”

Trixie could only laugh as Twilight’s own insecurities came out, making her easier prey, “Nothing you have learned has made you any better than anypony else, or any better at leading,” she teleported straight next to Twilight, who was now stumbling a bit from the sustained damage, “You are just a privileged Unicorn who had everything given to her from the start who managed to not screw up enough down the road to ruin it all!”

Twilight avoided Trixie’s lunge, though just barely, and used it to try and blow her away with magic at point blank range.

“That’s something coming from you, Trixie. You’re the student of a princess too, which is pretty lucky I’d say! How hard have you really even had it?”

Twilight’s strike did not touch Trixie in the slightest, instead passing through an illusion and once again making Twilight paranoid about where Trixie actually had ended up.

“You know nothing,” came Trixie’s growling voice, though Twilight could not discern a location from it. The venom held in her words though worried Twilight, who began to twist around in the water to find her.

“Trixie?”

Just as Twilight said her name the mare made herself known, leaping as if straight out of the water and at Twilight. Her horn locked with Twilight’s again, though this time it also caught itself underneath the golden structure atop Twilight’s head stating her rank.

“Since you’re so unworthy of your crown, I think I’ll just take it for myself!”

Twilight jumped backwards to escape Trixie, but Trixie had already flipped her horn up. The crown was tossed up and into the air, though a stream of purple magic pulled it in to where Trixie stood smugly.

Twilight had stopped doing anything when she realized, in fear of whatever Trixie was about to do, she had lost track of her own footing and step out of bounds.

“Round four, Trixie!” came the voice of the announcer, whose loud voice was amplified by his speakerphone. Whatever banter was being exchanged down on the field was lost to the crowd watching, all of whom were too enthused to really care one way or the other as the two mares duked it out.

A few heads were more calm during this time, though the entirely belonged to those in the VIP section. The Royal Guard captain was one of two happy about the event, seeming to be into the fighting display which made sense given his line of work, even if it meant his little sister was getting beat up by a weaker mare.

Less amused was Celestia, who watched the duel’s two most recent rounds with a pure sense of disdain. She did not like how this was going.

“Twilight was hustled.”

Besides Shining Armor, Luna was the only other one enjoying herself. Seeing the sparks fly between the two young mares made her remember when she was young enough to playfully fight with her sister, who now was the one sounding disapproving of this practice, “Whatever do you mean, Tia?”

Celestia shot Luna a look to tell her to stop playing around, but Luna kept an innocent façade on her face, “Twilight won their last encounter in Canterlot Castle, but it was close and she had to unknowingly cheat to come out ahead,” Celestia let out a disgruntled breath, “This time she started off strong, making her confident, but ever since Trixie lost the second round she seems to have jumped in ability to the point Twilight can barely keep up with her.”

“Perhaps Trixie only needed a moment to breathe after coming out ahead at the magic competition,” Luna posited before growing a smile on her face directed at Celestia, “That reminds me, Twilight hasn’t done anything strenuous at all today, has she?”

“Your student has not won yet, Luna. Do not be so smug.”

“Who’s smug? I’m not smug. Just making an observation.”

Luna knew she was being smug, but that was the plan after all. Months of hard work and planning, all to see Celestia’s face after it all…

“Round five, begin!”

Twilight’s first strike missed completely, striking a puddle and throwing up water into the air.

“Too slow,” Trixie taunted as she appeared somewhere else completely.

Her words fueled some vigor in Twilight, who shot another beam straight through her heat field. This was the final round, she would not let Trixie best her, especially not through using her effective ice. Twilight shot another shot at Trixie, who avoided it again with an easy teleport to another part of the arena.

“Over here.”

Twilight growled at the taunts being thrown at her, the constant insults distracting her in addition to everything else Trixie had brought up that had Twilight doubting herself. Her next blast of energy instead hit the side of one of the fallen ice pillars, which gave Twilight the idea of putting her back to one of them.

“Missed,” Trixie boredly stated while Twilight dashed over to the fallen pillars which formed a V in their shape. Trixie could only fire at her from on top or in front of her, reducing her chances of dodging one of Twilight’s own attacks.

“I get it already!” Twilight yelled while her hooves stamped in the flooded grass, her horn lighting up as she shot a wide beam across the V formed by the ice blocks.

This attack hit Trixie square in the chest, the magician having just teleported again to attack Twilight head on. The spread out nature of Twilight’s hit made it not knock Trixie back, but it did actually make her taste a little blood in her mouth, “A minor setback.”

The shot Twilight fired off to hit the vulnerable Trixie just ended up reflected by another ice mirror, though Twilight managed to catch this one with a different part of her body than her face. Twilight’s shoulder ached enough to cause her to lower her stance and put her weight on her opposite side.

From behind her mirror Trixie twirled the stolen crown around in the air, amusedly looking over her spoils of war, “Listen Twilight, while you’ve been doing your friendship lessons and been hanging out in that boring town, I’ve been growing stronger and more skilled.”

Twilight’s only response was a grunt of pain, which Trixie ignored from her safe spot behind the mirror. As she monologue Trixie summoned another ice pillar at one of the ends of the V formed by the other two, though she did nothing with it.

“I’ve been helping Princess Luna manage her duties now that she has more obligations, and I have gone so far as to defeat an Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.”

Seeing the pillar appear made Twilight curious, though she was not about to let Trixie pull something. Too hurt to focus and teleport, Twilight instead tried to dash towards Trixie and interrupt her spellcasting while the latter continued to speak, “I’ll admit I’m not as strong as you, or maybe even as smart, but that has little to do with using one’s potential to its fullest.”

Twilight’s dash came short as the newly rose pillar snapped of its own volition and tumbled down, nearly crushing her and instead cutting off her only escape path. The former V was now a full triangle, and Twilight realized with some horror that she had no way to escape it with how wounded she was feeling. Teleportation was difficult enough to do when one was not completely drenched, wounded in multiple places, and overall drained of energy.

As her trap she had set up across multiple matches closed, Trixie smiled out of view of Twilight. This was the difference between a student and a master of misdirection.

“You’re the better Unicorn, Twilight, but I’m the better magician.”

Trixie teleported to stand atop her fallen ice, looking down with a smug face as Twilight tried desperately to climb to no avail. The inside space was enough so that Twilight could move around easily, but the pillars were so tall and thick that she had no way of going over them now that they all made contact.

“Because of you and your friends I was ruined. I lost everything I had worked so hard to get through my life. I won’t return the favor, but I will use you to boost my own image.”

Trixie summoned an illusion to stand on every single part of the ice triangle, each of them reflecting her utter joy at having pulled this all off, “Think of this humiliation as karma. I can see the headlines now! Regular Unicorn defeats Alicorn Princess in fair magic battle!”

Not allowed to use her wings, and completely trapped, all Twilight could do as Trixie prepared to strike was whisper, “Princess…”

From the VIP booth Celestia was scowling down at the events unfolding before them. She could not believe that her prized student, an Alicorn, was being utterly destroyed in combat and overall capability by her sister’s Unicorn student. The idea in and of itself seemed wrong.

What made it worse for her though was that it not only undermined Twilight’s low self esteem, but it seemed planned. This was not something Celestia believed to be a spur of the moment event thought of by Trixie to entertain the crowds, as much as that likely would be her story concerning the matter.

“This is just humiliating,” Celestia commented aloud, though to nopony in particular.

Luna deemed it time to put into play her own part, and so she turned to face the other princess present with a large smile, “Cadance, would you please take the others down to go see Twilight? This match will not last much longer and she likely will want to see you all.”

Cadance accepted Luna’s words at face value and took all of the others in the booth with her out of its back door. Only Celestia stayed with Luna, as Luna expected and planned.

Once they were free to drop any pretenses, Luna dropped her innocent façade and brought a large frown to her Nightmare Moon face, “Tell me, how much does Twilight actually know about how to lead? Capture attention?” Celestia narrowed her eyes at Luna as the darker colored mare scoffed, “She is a shy bookworm who has, yes, come out of her shell, but in no way does that make her suited for leadership on the scale you have given her.”

Hearing Luna’s words brought a fury and a sharpness to Celestia’s own, “This is about me having her ascend. That was so long ago. Luna, I thought you were done holding on to grudges—”

“And I thought we were equal,” Luna cut her off with fury of her own. Celestia took a moment to close her own mouth, at which point Luna continued on with a poison to her voice, “Before you reveled in the adoration of our subjects, and now you go about bringing an unworthy pony up to our level without my consent.”

Still seething, Luna threw a hoof towards where Cadance had sat previously, “You did it while I was gone with Cadance, but now you do it again while I am here and able to lead? Twilight has done a great service to Equestria, that I will give her, but saving a nation and ruling it are not equal. They are not the same, nor do they share a skill set.”

Celestia just kept looking on at Luna with a disappointed glare as her younger sister chewed her out, “And now you are to have a foal with an arrogant anarchist, who himself could turn on us at any moment. That makes five Alicorns, Celestia, three of whom you have brought into being without once thinking of the consequences. There is no kingdom for Twilight to rule, there is no place for your foal until you grow old and need it to take over!”

“Luna…” Celestia warned, though she had no actual comeback to make.

That made Luna lash out again, her voice not growing in volume but in severity, “What? Tell me I am wrong! I would love to rule alongside you, sister, but you cannot claim the moral high ground when you are acting like the sole pony in power. Mother told us to share our responsibilities and handle them together, but instead you subvert me and undermine what little authority I even have now that I have returned.”

Luna finished her lecture by turning back to the match, where things were finally wrapping up, “I may not be perfect, but you have not fully learned your own weaknesses. Let this public display showcase that.”

The VIP box was no longer full of nervous ponies worried about if their family member might be harmed. It was instead filled with a thick tension between two sisters who had let something come between them once again.

The crowd had gone ballistic when Trixie trapped Twilight, having led her into a trap like a mouse is drawn to its doom by cheese. She still had one last thing up her sleeve thanks to her observation of Luna’s techniques, but she was going to save that until after she was done humiliating Twilight.

Two wrongs did not make a right, but this was a matter of egos. This made them even.

“If this goes on too long their attention and interest will sag, so I am ending this now,” Trixie continued to talk down to Twilight as the princess tried to find a way out or way to get rid of the ice. Her attempt to shoot it had only ended up hurting herself due to the proximity of the blast, and the ice damaged was easily replaced by Trixie.

A last ditch effort came to Twilight’s mind and the mare yelled to the sky as she unleashed all her remaining energy in a wave of every direction. While it simply passed over the blocks of ice, it did connect with Trixie and hit hard enough to almost knock her back.

If Trixie had not frozen her hooves to the ice she would have been swept away, possibly out of the arena entirely, and so she took a moment to breathe as she recovered from the powerful surge.

After finding the energy to summon her illusions again, the group having been dispelled when Trixie was hit, the former stage magician addressed her now exhausted foe, “That’s the other thing I have developed. Endurance. A little grit. I always had a grand supply of it given how long my performances are, but now it is leagues beyond the average pony’s.”

Trixie fired a round from her horn down at Twilight, who out of exhaustion almost did not remember to not fly. Her wings almost flapped, but they instead just hung as Twilight leapt into the air with her own legs.

As Twilight did all of this Trixie just shook her head while twirling the stolen crown around, “Tsk, tsk, tsk. That was close. You almost cheated there Twilight.”

Trixie smirked as Twilight landed in the foot deep puddle that had formed inside of the ice triangle, “Don’t worry though,” Twilight screaming in pain marked the end of the match, “You still lose.”

The entire time Trixie had been using Twilight’s magic to melt and flood the grounds, kept in by the thick ice Trixie had originally summoned and increased whenever Twilight did something to destroyed one of Trixie’s conjured objects.

The last shot Trixie had let off was an electrical bolt, slightly stronger than her original cloud based one and taken from observing Luna herself. The shot had missed, but the electricity was coursing through the water on the ground.

Not about to hurt Twilight beyond the point of winning, Trixie used her magic to push all the water to one side and freeze it while removing Twilight from the shocking experience she had begun to have.

This done, she turned to the announcer, “You can begin your count now.”

Trixie dispelled the ice blocks and let them disappear while the stallion began to count down to the point when the match would end, “Ten!”

Trixie approached Twilight, who was coughing on the ground and breathing heavily. Trixie just stood beside her with a smile as the count continued.

“—Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five—”

Twilight began to stir, but Trixie just planted a hoof on her chest to keep her pinned down.

“—Four! Three! Two—”

Twilight tried to rise up, her eyes closed as she clenched her teeth and her body screamed at her to stop.

Her body was not the only one asking her to stop, as Trixie sighed and shook her head at Twilight as her rival fought to open an eye.

“Don’t. For your own sake.”

Twilight gave Trixie a nod before stopping her struggle and letting her head fall back into the now dispersed water and the faint traces of a puddle it left. Trixie placed Twilight’s crown back on her head before rising to her full height and facing the announcer.

“One!” the announcer paused for a moment before shouting, “The winner is Trixie Lulamoon!”

The crowd could not be more ecstatic at the news, and the news that the underdog of the competition had triumphed completely and fully was all it took for ponies to start cheering in absolute glee.

Trixie took a moment to bow and lower her hat to the crowd, soaking in their adoring screams of delight as she relished in her own victory. She had done it. The moment promised to her by Princess Luna so many months ago had come to fruition, and with it came unimaginable glory. Twilight had been defeated, redeeming Trixie to her own self, and a crowd had been won over in doing so.

Still, there was one final piece to this display that needed to be done, and Trixie would not go without doing it. She had beat Twilight fair and square, and so she would show her the courtesy afforded of one’s worthy rival.

With the aid of magic and her own two hooves Trixie helped Twilight get up from her defeat, the princess appearing a bit out of it but conscious nonetheless.

Once Twilight was standing under her own power Trixie brought a hoof out for Twilight to shake, “Well done Twilight. For somepony not well versed in combat you are definitely powerful.”

Twilight’s attempt to shake it instead turned into a feeble bump, though the princess was none the wiser, “Thanks…” Twilight smiled weakly at Trixie, “Though, if I had to bet, you were messing with me the whole time.”

Trixie rolled her eyes jokingly, “Why I would never do such a thing. I wanted to win, remember?”

Not so prideful as to pass up an opportunity, Twilight smiled at Trixie, “Mind teaching me a thing or two?”

With their animosity finally settled once and for all, Trixie saw no reason in hording her knowledge, especially as she expected to do nothing but continue rising up far and beyond the point even Twilight could catch up with her, “I might be able to set aside some of my time to give you the scraps of my knowledge.

Seeing the two standing with one another and on good terms made the crowd roar again in zeal, which in turn made Trixie remember just why it was that she used to do what she did.

She loved being loved.

As Trixie and Twilight finished their little display Celestia cast a foul glance over to her younger sister. Twilight would likely need to be treated for her wounds instead of celebrating the night like Celestia and Twilight’s family had intended.

“Now what?”

Luna was still just smiling down at Trixie, her face full of pride and even almost crying from the sheer incredible nature of the feat Trixie had accomplished, “I am going to continue training her to become a suitable candidate for being a Princess to act in my stead for when I am away on other business.”

Celestia’s voice crept into complete condescension, “You’ll just ascend her like I did with Twilight. Subvert me in the same way you consider my own methods to be a grievance.”

Celestia’s lack of understanding made Luna laugh. She had be waiting to say and do this for quite some time, “No, not at all. That is why I am teaching her my duties. I am making her actual Princess material step by step so that when I bring it up to a vote with the other princesses they will have no choice but to say yes.”

“Teaching her combat skills won’t make her a good leader.”

That just made Luna snort. Celestia’s pathetic demonstration the last time she fought and the time before that against the same foe made Luna skeptical of her elder sister’s ability to harness what great power she did hold, “It is better to have them than not, if the Canterlot Wedding is any indication, and they are only the beginning of her education.”

Luna flashed Celestia a smug smile, letting her own condescension creep into her voice, “And besides, she has a natural charisma and knowledge to her that allows her to capture the attention of entire crowds. With the right guidance she could very well lead, provided ponies forget about how your student ruined her life once upon a time.”

“So this has been all one long, elaborate scheme,” Celestia noted as she thought over the situation. This all was a plot from the moment Luna took Trixie in and taught her, “Let me ask you something.”

Thinking her point proven, Luna had turned back to look down at Trixie as her student basked in the glory of the crowd, “Go ahead. The crowd is still cheering her name, so I have some time before I sell this image and swoop down to stand beside her in her moment of triumph.”

Angered almost beyond reason and seriously doubting if Luna’s mental state did not reflect her body’s form, Celestia snarled at her, “Do you actually even care about Trixie, or is she just some tool to use and discard against Twilight and I?”

Luna did not look at Celestia, her face remaining on Trixie. Her large smile disappeared as her face became dark, her eyes only darting to look at Celestia for a second before returning to their place on Trixie.

Her voice, however, carried a tone to it that Celestia had not heard since Luna’s time as a villain, and the mere sound of it sent chills down her spine, “If you were not my sister and not with foal I would have just killed you for even saying such a vile thing.”

The threat brought Celestia’s anger down as she realized just how out of line she had been to say what she did, but the fact that Luna did not appear to be joking made her put herself in line even faster, “Luna, I—”

Luna cut her off with a snapping voice, “I sacrificed some of my life just to keep her alive. I literally tapped into my very essence and granted her the energy she needed to survive yesterday. I nearly died saving her from the Ursa encounter when I had no power of my own!”

Celestia’s anger continued to simmer as she realized that Luna was crying, whether the younger sister realized it or not. She was crying as she continued to look forward at her student and spill her heart out through her words.

“I may have partially brought her in to counter Twilight’s ascension, but actually having somepony who idolizes and looks up to you for once…somepony who doesn’t judge you, unlike your own sister…”

Luna finally looked at Celestia through tear filled eyes, her voice stammering momentarily before she could gather it, “I’ve already drawn up the papers to adopt her. I may not be the best mother material there is, but that is what she looks to me for and so that is what I will give her. Every relationship has its give and take.”

Before Celestia could say something of her own and apologize further, Luna spread her wings and prepared to leave through the front of the open box, “Now, if you will excuse me, Celestia, I have a daughter to go congratulate.”

When Luna left her, Celestia could not help but feel as if nothing had changed over the course of a thousand years. She still could not help but push Luna away, and Luna was still too emotional to let things go.

Looking down at the smiling faces of Twilight and Trixie made Celestia hope that maybe, just maybe, this would not pass down and continue as a vicious cycle.

As Luna touched down on the ground next to Trixie the apprentice could not help but rush up to Luna and bury her face in Luna’s chest.

“I did it, Princess…”

Trixie couldn’t see that Luna was crying herself, so the apprentice felt a little guilty about being so emotional as she cried onto her.

Luna lowered herself down to be more on Trixie’s level, using her own face to nestle in next to Trixie’s, “I know you did, Trixie. I couldn’t be prouder.”

After a moment Trixie gave a nervous chuckle as something caught her attention about her hat. The previously new hat was now frayed on the front where Twilight had damaged it, “Sorry I roughed up my outfit a little. I can fix it when we get back to the castle.”

Luna found herself able to stop crying and instead laugh at how commoner that was for Trixie to say, “No need to busy yourself. We have tailors for that,” with a kiss to Trixie’s cheek, Luna stood back up to her full height, “What do you want to do to celebrate?”

Trixie blushed as she straightened herself out a bit, “I am a bit hungry. I don’t think I’ve had a good meal in months. I did not have much of an appetite last night.”

Luna smiled down at Trixie, who she would encourage to eat more than a modest amount of bread at the meal, “Of course. Whatever you want.”

“May we join you?”

Both Trixie and Luna looked over to see Celestia standing next to the barely conscious Twilight, who was smiling out of her bruised face.

Luna looked down to Trixie, who gave a nod, then they both turned back to the two.

“Of course, but only after you have Twilight take some pain relievers, sister.”

The royal sisters may not have been on good terms, but that did not mean that they could not be civil and talk things out. That was how they would be able to overcome their issue, even if it didn’t happen over a single meal.

Frigga had made sure to stay by Loki’s side as everyone else scurried about and tried to get things back in order at the castle. With only about twenty percent of their normal guards available and many of their staff slain in Lorelei’s brief reign, things were difficult, but Frigga knew that this was where she was most needed.

When the time came that Loki did awake in the healing chambers, Frigga flashed him a smile. He returned it, though he had little clue that hers was fake.

“Loki, you’re awake,” Frigga’s smile began to crease, “I have some questions for you.”

“Whatever you wish, mother,” he almost sang.

Checking first to see if anyone else was looking, Frigga drew and brought a dagger to Loki’s throat while making a motion to be quiet.

Her voice was hushed as she spoke to him in a threatening tone, “Where is my Loki and what did you do with him?”

The man on the table had his eyes go wide as Frigga threatened to kill him, “What? What do you mean?”

“My son was taken half naked, and he had on him a unique pendant,” Frigga tapped one end of the knife on where the pendant should be, “You are not him, as the son that was taken from me would not have let that pendant go.”

“I—I must have lost it,” he tried to lie, though Frigga was not buying it for a moment.

“Of course,” Frigga faked removing the knife, only to then place it even closer to his throat than it had been before, now digging into some of his skin, “And I suppose you managed to gain clothes in your time away. I wonder if your size has changed at all or if I will have to have a new fitting made for your wedding clothes.”

“Wedding?” he asked, sealing his fate.

Frigga took no time in punching the fake out, even at her elder age. Once she was sure he was unconscious with a couple follow up hits, she called for the men at the exit, “Guards, take this imposter to the dungeon. I have someone I need to speak with now.”

The men wordlessly took the imposter from the healing chamber, leaving Frigga behind to wonder about this new development.

“How will I break the news…”