//------------------------------// // Black Flips Table // Story: Scholar's Mate // by MagnetBolt //------------------------------// Scholar's Mate Black Flips Table by MagnetBolt The doors burst open, surrounded by thick black smoke that clung to them like it was solid. Cadance walked through the smog, wearing a new dress in shades of red and white. “I seem to have lost my invitation. I hope you don't mind me crashing the party!” She grinned, her eyes trickling eldritch flames for a moment before she blinked, returning them to normal. “Oh, you're always welcome Cadance,” Celestia smiled, from up on the stage. “I was hoping you'd come. You did miss the first course, but I can have the soup brought out with the entree. It's Cast Iron's special corn chowder!” She wiggled her eyebrows. “That sounds really-” Cadance caught herself. “I mean, I'm here to assume control!” “Do you have a dramatic speech prepared?” Trixie asked. “Well...” Cadance took cue cards out of her dress. “There were a few things I wanted to say.” Before she could start reading them, they were snatched by Trixie's magic, the showmare looking them over. “Let me see... you're resentful because Celestia didn't put you in charge even though you've known her for decades, you don't think Luna is ready for modern politics, and think Twilight is a nice little filly and you feel sorry for how Celestia has used her as a tool.” “That mostly covers it,” Cadance admitted, blushing a little. “There's nothing in here about me,” Trixie said, frowning. She discarded cards as she read them. “Why is there nothing here about Trixie?” “Trixie please don't complain that someone hasn't declared you an enemy,” Twilight groaned. “I... forgot to write anything about you,” Cadance admitted. “Honestly I don't really know you that well! I'm really sorry. I'm sure we'll become great friends. Or... mortal enemies? I don't know which of those two things you want to happen.” “...Trixie would prefer friend.” “Great!” Cadance smiled. “I prefer friends too. So, um, I'm going to take over Equestria now. If you could just stand down so I can usurp Celestia?” “You can't,” Celestia said. “You'll find that I can! I'm not the same mare I was decades ago! Now I have the power to-“ “No, I mean, you can't. I've already put Luna in charge. You have to usurp her. I'm on vacation.” “Oh!” Cadance blinked, looking at Luna. “I really should have gotten here before the soup course. I just thought it would be more dramatic if I was a little late.” “A little late would have been like an hour ago,” Trixie snorted. “It was a good effort, though. Trixie likes the dramatic black smoke and entrance.” “You liked that?” Cadance asked, pleased. “Well, it looks like things are finished here, so I'll just be leaving,” Celestia said, starting down the stairs on the side of the stage. “Princess?” Twilight asked. “What about the usurping thing? Shouldn't we stop her?” “Oh right! I was usurping Luna!” Cadance gasped, reminded of what she was doing. “I almost forgot. I declare myself true ruler of Equestria. I am stronger than Princess Luna and more worthy to sit on the throne!” “Strength alone does not make one worthy,” Luna said, stepping forwards. “Thou do not deserve to sit on Equestria's throne while draped in that black sorcery. I can sense the sickness even from here.” “Like you're one to talk,” Cadance returned, rolling her eyes. “At least I don't have a track record of trying to destroy Equestria when I'm in charge.” “Cadance that was very rude,” Celestia said, as Luna reared back in shock from the verbal attack. “There were extenuating circumstances. She was being controlled by the Nightmare. Please apologize.” “You're right. I- no, wait! This is a coup! I'm not apologizing!” Cadance stomped her hooves. “Celestia,” Twilight said, coughing. “Maybe you should just...?” She waved a hoof at Cadance. “You know. Help deal with this instead of going on vacation.” Her tone had an edge of annoyance to it, a twist of her mane coming undone. “She can't,” Cadance said, very assured. “Not unless she wants to kill everypony in the room. It's the same reason she couldn't stop the changeling queen. If Celestia uses more than a tiny fraction of her power, she can't control it.” “What?” Twilight tilted her head, confused. “Cadance I didn't mean she should fight you. I meant that she should help sit down and talk with you about this, since most of your problems are with how she's been acting as a mentor and leader.” “Oh.” Cadance looked down, suddenly sad. “I thought you were finally starting to take me seriously.” “Cadance...” Celestia smiled and walked over to put a wing around the younger alicorn. “I've always taken you seriously. The reason I sent you to the Crystal Empire wasn't just because it was your destiny, it was because I wanted you to be able to bloom on your own where ponies wouldn't always compare you to me.” “Not that it would be a fair comparison,” said somepony from the crowd. Jet Set. Heads turned to look with expressions of horror as he continued, apparently not noticing everypony. “Celestia has been controlling the sun and moon on her own for a thousand years. You never even got around to helping her.” “Blueblood...” Celestia said with a warning tone in her voice. “Just have the guards send her back to her silly little 'Empire' where she can't bother us. At least the zebras and griffons know not to interrupt important Equestrian events and stay in their rubbish little countries.” Before anypony could say anything, a bolt of violet and green magic swatted the unicorn through a table, the wood breaking in two as it was launched into a wall. Food splattered like shrapnel across the room, mixing with the very real and more dangerous shrapnel of the shattered plates and thrown cutlery. Cadance seethed with anger, blasting Celestia away from herself with a surge of mist-like energy, the magic so thick around her that it was starting to condense out, crystal growths forming around her hooves like brittle black grass springing from the stone. “You see?! They don't take me seriously at all, even though I could tear them limb from limb!” Her voice had a strong echo to it, like someone else speaking at the same time in a deeper pitch. “That's a lot of dark magic,” Twilight whispered, torn between moving closer to get a better look and backing away to find cover. The Night Guards acted quickly, getting between Cadance and the civilians. The pink princess looked around as they formed a cordon. Koloth helped Celestia back to her hooves. “Stay back, your highness. We can take care of this.” He looked up at her as she got up, though Celestia's eyes never left Cadance. “I don't need you to protect me. I need you to protect them.” Celestia gently pushed Koloth aside and walked closer to Cadance. “Cadance, stand down. If you don't, I will use whatever force I must to keep them safe.” “I'd like to see that,” Cadance growled. “What are you going to do, pawn it off on Twilight again because you can't do anything for yourself?!” “Well...” Celestia looked guiltily at Twilight. “It wouldn't help anyway. I'm much stronger than she is.” Cadance smirked as her neck shimmered, a glamour dropping to reveal a black and gray amulet set with ruby-red magicite. “That's the Alicorn Amulet. Why does she have the Alicorn Amulet?” Twilight asked, her voice a harsh whisper. “I... gave it to her,” Celestia admitted. “I thought she would keep it somewhere safe.” “Oh, I'm sure she considers it to be quite safe around her neck,” Luna said, glancing at Trixie and Twilight. “If I understand its properties, it will be quite difficult for us to remove it while she is alive and unwilling to part with it.” “Impossible, to be accurate,” Cadance cut in. “And unlike Trixie and Sundowner, I've perfected the amulet. Sombra's original notes from when he created it were still in the castle in the Crystal Empire. With another thousand years of discoveries, certain limitations he ran into have been bypassed.” The amulet lit up, bright red sigils tracing along its carved lines as if the whole thing were glowing red-hot from within. “I'm ten times stronger, and I have access to all of Sombra's magical talents as well.” She looked at Luna. “So, Princess Luna – do you think you have a chance against me? I'm stronger than your sister, and she's made a habit of kicking your flank.” “Thou art treading on thin ice,” Luna whispered, her eyes narrowing. “Ten times stronger?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. “Are you measuring that in terms of absolute magical output, or is it focused in only one area? I have a theory that an alicorn can be much stronger than they'd otherwise be, if their magic was highly imbalanced to one area.” Cadance rolled her eyes. “This isn't a subject for you to research, Twilight.” She paused. “But I was testing it through wingpower, if you must know.” “That makes sense. A thaumeter tends to top out well before you'd see even your natural maximum as an alicorn, but-” “I'm here for a fight,” Cadance said, loudly. “Not another lecture. I'm going to show you that my power is easily your equal. Am I going to have to kill everypony here before you realize I'm not just your little pink pet that you can shove in a little crystal cage?!” Cadance's eyes flared up, and she grabbed half of the assembled crowd of nobles in her magical aura, lifting them up with sparkling black and blue magic. “If you want a fight, you got it,” Twilight sighed. “Twilight?” Celestia looked down at her. “It's okay, Celestia. I calculate that I can beat her on my own, even if she is ten times stronger. It would be easier if my friends were here, but I'm not going to run and hide. Tirek almost conquered Equestria because we were slow to take action. Neither of us had faith in me, and it cost us. But now I know that I can do anything.” “Luna and I could handle this,” Celestia said, quietly. “Without killing her?” Twilight asked. Celestia shook her head, accepting her former student's logic. “And Trixie, no offense, but she's too strong for you to fight directly. I don't want you to get hurt.” “Trixie will focus on making sure your battle doesn't get anypony else killed. You tend to cause a lot of collateral damage, Twilight Sparkle.” Trixie smiled. “I'll keep it to a minimum this time,” Twilight said. “So, have you finally made the obvious choice and elected to have Twilight fight for you, like you always do?” Cadance asked, loudly. Twilight stepped forward, nodding. Cadance smiled and let the ponies she was holding fall to the floor. “I've been doing a lot of research on alicorns ever since I became one,” Twilight said, her tone taking on the tones and pacing of a lecturing professor. “I've recently had a few breakthroughs you might be interested to know about.” “Twilight Sparkle, this is hardly the time for this,” Luna said, watching Cadance closely. The pink mare smiled, the expression not reaching her black-rimmed eyes. “No, I think I'd like to hear. I've been doing my own research and I'd like to compare notes. Besides, Twilight has always been a good teacher, even when she was a filly.” Her tone was warm, even if the expression wasn't. “Thank you, Cadance,” Twilight said. “As you can clearly see, I'm an alicorn.” Twilight extended her wings. “More than anything else, an alicorn is defined by the shape and power of their magical flows.” Cadance sat down and watched as Twilight paced back and forth. The shadows around her gathered into a throne, with a suggestion of something lurking behind it. “Alicorns are thousands of times more powerful than the average pony,” Twilight continued. “At least in terms of raw power. Output is somewhat limited by the stark division into three flow systems and-” she coughed. “The point is, lots of magical power.” “Not all alicorns are equal, though,” Cadance muttered, darkly. “That's correct,” Twilight agreed. “Actually, in my research I found that my own magical flows cannot possibly be sustained much beyond the power I have now. The pressure would cause them to collapse.” “You're wrong! Celestia and Luna are much stronger than you!” “They are,” Twilight agreed, nodding excitedly. “And when I had to take in their magic when they were trying to hide it from Tirek, it sent my magic flows off the rails. I was really unstable for a while, but when I had to fight it all just came together.” Twilight pointed to Celestia. “I wondered why her mane was always flowing like that, and why Luna's changed after her magic recovered. At first I thought it was a fashion choice or glamour, but my mane did the same thing when I tried to use that power. Their magical flows are significantly different from ours. They're more ordered and structured, allowing them to grow larger without becoming more chaotic and collapsing into entropy. It's like the difference between a mere thunderhead and a hurricane.” “That is interesting, Twilight,” Cadance admitted. “I hadn't considered that those differences caused the gap in power. Of course, I wasn't butting into a maximum capacity either.” “Well what you're going to find really interesting is that when I figured out how to use the magic, I had to learn to rearrange my own magic. Like this!” Twilight closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they were a brilliant white. Her mane and tail moved on their own, a breeze pushing them back as stars began twinkling through them, as if viewing a night sky through purple and pink silk. “I call this an Ascended Alicorn,” Twilight said. Around her, sparks filled the air, even small discontinuities in her magical field grounding out in visible displays. “My.” Cadance stood up. “Your hair changed. So what?” “I'm almost as strong as Celestia like this,” Twilight said, modestly. “I can't maintain it indefinitely like she can, but I'll figure it out eventually.” “If you're only as strong as Celestia it won't be enough.” Cadance stood, the throne dissolving and flowing over her coat to form leaden armor and a cape of soft-edged shadows like a cloak made of raven feathers. “I'm stronger than three Celestias!” “So was Tirek,” Twilight said. “And that's when we had to use a power beyond alicorn magic.” “Oh, this should be good,” Luna said, prodding her sister in the side and smiling. “I regretted not being able to see this myself!” “Luna, we're still in the blast radius,” Celestia muttered. “Trixie, have your legion begin escorting the ponies out of the room while Cadance is distracted.” Trixie nodded and ran off to start whispering orders to her troops. “This might take a moment,” Twilight admitted. “I haven't had a lot of practice with this yet, and it's a lot different from what you've seen. With the power of friendship, even when apart, our hearts are always close together.” Twilight's horn started to glow like the sun, a prismatic light glowing around her. The magic pouring from her was strong enough that it could be felt, warm and radiant but leaving a prickling, numbing sensation. The tile under her hooves cracked. The entire castle started shaking, like an earthquake had started right under the foundation and was growing in strength. “Move!” Trixie hissed, guiding the stubborn nobility around the edges of the room, trying to keep as much distance from Cadance and Twilight as she could. *** Rainbow Dash stopped, sliding her racing goggles up as she looked towards Canterlot. She'd felt something tugging inside of her. “What is that?” She asked. “Is something going on with Twilight?” “Dash, what's up with this wind” Thunderlane yelled. Rainbow Dash looked over to where he was trying to wrangle some clouds together to provide shade for the town picnic below. “That's not wind,” Dash said, hovering and feeling the air. The clouds weren't being pushed. They were being pulled, by some kind of powerful magic, heading right towards Canterlot. *** Applejack stumbled as the ground buckled underneath her, sending her to the ground mid-buck. In shock, she watched as the trees in her orchard fell out of their orderly lines, the earth cracking and the roots pulling free as they leaned this way and that. “Granny always said there'd be days like this,” Applejack muttered. As if to add insult to injury, an overripe apple fell from the tree and splattered as it hit her head. Applejack stood up and shook the chunks of bruised apple from her bruised Apple head. She replaced her hat and turned, feeling it in her bones, something surging through the world. Something inside told her who was responsible. “What in the hay are you doing, Twi? It feels like the whole world is shakin' apart!” *** “Oh! Tail twitch! Hoof itches! Ear twitching! Whole body shakes!” Pinkie managed to set the tray of cupcakes she had been decorating down before the shakes sent them flying into the walls. The pie she'd been balancing on her tail didn't fare as well, though, being launched by an involuntary buck into a stallion's face. “Mm. Jelly!” He licked the pie filling from his face appreciatively. “Kidney flips! Or was that a liver?” Pinkie suddenly went still. “I don't know what feeling that is at all. Whatever's going on, it must be a super doozy. No, a triple super doozy!” *** Rarity's hair stood on end, instantly turning her into a fluffy fashion disaster. She dropped the needle she had been holding, before a wash of unseen magic abruptly smoothed her coat back out. “Oh my,” She muttered. “Dear, I believe we'll have to finish this fitting another time. Something's come up.” “What” Golden Harvest frowned. “But I need this dress so I can finally ask somepony to be my special somepony!” “And I am all too happy to help your young love bloom with my finest work, but-” before Rarity could finish, the entire boutique started shuddering, the ground vibrating with power. “What's that? What's going on?” “I have a sinking suspicion that it's Princess Twilight Sparkle's fault.” *** “Everyone calm down!” Fluttershy yelled, trying to be heard over the cacophony of the animals. They'd all started howling, chirping, tweeting, chittering, and mewling at the same time. Not every animal made all those noises, of course. Except for that strange one she kept in the cage with a blanket over it. Fluttershy didn't like to look at Mister Tendrils. “I hope nothing bad is happening...” Fluttershy worriedly held Angel, walking over to the window to look towards the mountains. *** The magic in the ballroom reached a crescendo, the prismatic energy sinking and solidifying into a sphere around Twilight. The room seemed to grow dark in its glare, and her mane and tail flashed, growing longer as strips of gold appeared in the hair. Twilight extended her wings, the feathers having grown almost as long as her body and changing to brighter colors. Even her cutie mark was affected, traces of it spreading to her hooves and crawling up towards her knees in a constellation of six-pointed stars. “And this is the Rainbow Power! I don't know what Sombra is doing to your mind, but I'm going to save you, Cadance!” “I don't need saving, Twilight. And I don't want to fight you, any of you. Just stand down and let me have the throne-” Cadance was cut off as Twilight appeared in her face, moving so quickly it might as well have been teleportation, slamming a hoof into her jaw so hard that the glass in all of the windows shattered outwards. “Sorry. I don't have time to argue with you. I can't maintain this for a long time so far away from my friends.” Cadance had stopped talking, but hadn't fallen from the force. Her head was turned away from Twilight, knocked to the side by the blow. She slowly turned back to look at Twilight, a hard edge to her smile now. Without saying anything, Cadance unleashed a torrent of energy, a cracking beam of blue and black death. Twilight was forced back, her own magic aura keeping out the curse but not the force of the raw magic itself, her hooves digging divots into the floor as her earth pony magic tried to grip the stone for stability. “I was planning on letting you go!” Cadance shouted, her voice overlaid with an echoing growl. Her horn lit up, and the stone around Twilight cracked, shattering into pieces as big as her hoof. In the blink of an eye they surged inwards, assailing Twilight from every angle and sticking, covering her in a sphere of rock. “So this is your own fault.” Twilight roared, and the sphere shattered in the wake of the multicolored energy erupting from her body, the stone being crushed into dust with the force of her power, the castle shaking as one of the guard towers finally gave out, the foundation crumbling and sending it tumbling down the mountain. “I'll show you...” Twilight growled, her eyes glowing, the air around her turning into luminous plasma from her stray magic. “The true power of friendship!” “Hmph. You'll show ME?” Cadance snorted, rising into the air with trails of green and purple flames streaming from her wings, her horn charging for another attack. Twilight spun on her hooves, leaping into the air with enough force that the already-cratered ground exploded in an other eruption of chipped stone and broken marble, rushing up to meet her. They cast at almost the same time, Cadance and Twilight's magic bending and twisting as the opposing spells were caught in each other's web of influence. Twilight's curved sideways and blasted half of the roof off of the ballroom, while Cadance's more careless blast went right towards the guests. Trixie was there in an instant, stepping out of the shadows and holding it back with a magical shield, the force of the blow eroding it quickly. She tossed the nobles and her own guards aside with a flick of a glowing, sparking hoof, just before the shield failed and she was blasted into the wall. Twilight spun in midair, a move learned from watching Dash's tricks over and over again, the motion easy and natural with the influx of power from her friendship, suddenly leading with one of her rear hooves in a flying kick. A black shield formed around Cadance's wings as she wrapped herself in them, trying to protect herself. She grit her teeth, trying not to cry out as her feathers sheared away. Twilight flapped her wings, and was up and around her, bringing her forehooves down onto Cadance's upper back in a double ax handle. Pinkie had always been good at attacking a problem from an unexpected angle. Cadance's dull iron armor shattered under the blow as she was smashed down into the floor, sliding along the broken floor and into a table, the oak shattering as she reduced it to splinters. “That wasn't very nice, Twilight...” Cadance growled, shaking her head as she got up to try and clear the stars that had appeared in her vision. Twilight's strong right hoof slammed into her jaw again, sending her into a stone column with enough force to break it and cause part of the ruined roof to collapse down onto her. “I learned a lot about you, Cadance,” Twilight said, breathing heavily. Mana streamed from her like water escaping from a broken dam, irresistible power and force for the short time it lasted. As Cadance tried to get up, Twilight put a hoof firmly in her back. “The reason you're using that amulet.” Twilight grabbed at Cadance's armor with her magic, tearing more of it free from the alicorn, the same spell Rarity used to peel a dress away from a client without damaging it, amplified a thousand times over. Cadance screamed with alarm and rage, throwing another death curse at Twilight to try and scramble away. Twilight countered with a blast of her own, throwing Cadance free and into the stage, smashing most of the way through it. “The reason you're so obsessed with power!” Twilight yelled, rushing towards Cadance as the larger alicorn regained her balance. Twilight grabbed her horn with a hoof and head-butted her, sending the older princess to the ground. It was Applejack who taught her that fighting dirty was the most honest way, with no pretense or pretending about rules. Cadance slumped to the ground, struggling to stand, blood dripping into her eyes from the laceration on her brow. “It's because you're afraid,” Twilight said, more softly. “You're afraid that you'll always be stuck like this, while others surpass you.” She took a deep breath and offered Cadance a hoof. Kindness was the only real way to stop a cycle of hate. Fluttershy knew that better than anyone. “Please, Cadance. Don't make me do this. This is the real power of friendship. The power to forgive and be forgiven. You don't have to be afraid.” Cadance looked up at her, breathing heavily and trying to regain some kind of composure. Her eyes were dark and watery, tears starting to leak from the corners. She looked at Twilight, and everything seemed to slow down. Just as Twilight took her reaching hoof, Cadance's grip suddenly tightened, her hoof hanging on with unnatural strength. Twilight's eyes went wide as Cadance growled, black and purple flames pouring from her eyes as they turned flat green. “What has a GODDESS to fear?!” Cadance roared. She threw Twilight aside and stood, her armor reforming from the dark magic surging from her body. Twilight hit the wall, cracking the plaster and dropping to the ground on her hooves, not really hurt. Cadance rushed at her, her second wind giving her even more strength and speed than before. “Honesty!” Twilight yelled, punching her and knocking her back, Cadance's charge cut short in an instant. “Kindness!” Twilight screamed again. A second blow followed up the first, an uppercut that knocked the pink princess back. She tried to stand her ground, blood dripping from her nostrils as she turned, snarling, to Twilight. “Laughter!” Twilight shouted, sending her back down to the ground with another blow, her old foalsitter unable to keep her composure together long enough to react. Twilight's body started shimmering, orange, yellow, and pink flashes surging around her hooves like lightning. “Generosity!” Twilight continued, driving a sparking hoof into Cadance's shoulder, the armor shattering again. White joined the other colors in the energy around her hooves. “Loyalty!” Cadance tried to hold Twilight back, but a surge of blue energy sent her reeling. Twilight's mane rose up, stars shimmering in its depths. Cadance growled and tried to charge a spell before a wave of telekinetic energy tore her from her hooves, holding her in the air helplessly. The energy around Twilight reached a crescendo. “Magic!” She screamed, six individual streams of energy striking at Cadance like ribbons. Just as they started to converge, they flickered and died out, Twilight gasping as the attack failed, Cadance dropping to the ground, unharmed. Twilight slumped, falling to her knees as her rainbow power transformation ended, her magic almost entirely drained from the effort. “What did you do?!” Trixie demanded, clenching her teeth and trying to restrain herself from launching herself at the empowered alicorn. “I outlasted her,” Cadance said, panting. She started laughing. “You said it yourself, Twilight. You could only maintain it for a short while! All I had to do was outlast you.” Cadance kicked Twilight in the jaw, sending her into and mostly through the wall. “Cadance,” Luna said, her voice loud and clear, drawing the fallen alicorn's attention. “Hm? Are you going to try to beat me next?” Cadance sighed. “I mean, you could all come at me at the same time, if you wanted. I don't have all day.” “Thou shall have much time to contemplate thine actions after thou are defeated,” Luna countered. “Cadance, this is your last chance to stand down,” Celestia said. Cadance glanced back. While she'd been distracted, the sisters had moved to flank her. “If you force us to fight you, you could be killed.” “Let me guess, you have all kinds of terrible dark magic from a billion years ago,” Cadance rolled her eyes. “I'm not intimidated, Celestia.” “Thou would do well to be afraid,” Luna countered. “Celestia and I have long had the blood of immortals on our hooves. We have had to learn to kill alicorns.” “I'm sure I'll pick it up quickly,” Cadance shrugged, before tossing a sphere of magical power into the air, where it splintered into a thousand shards, coming down in a storm of magical power. Celestia and Luna easily defended themselves, but as the splinters hit the ground, spires of black crystal grew from the marble. “Free thine self from the heaven's bonds, O blade of the cold, dark void!” Luna yelled. “An incantation? How old-fashioned!” Cadance snorted. Her amusement died as a black, crackling blade scythed through the crystals forming around Luna. With a single effortless swipe, they collapsed, leaving the princess of the night standing among them. “Source of all power, light which burns beyond golden, let thy power gather in my hoof!” Celestia chanted. Cadance turned as the light in the room turned harsh and hot, and as she turned, she saw the crystals around Celestia melt away into golden motes, as if burning up in some heatless flame. As the solar princess was revealed, a harsh golden light erupted from her hoof, the shoe on that leg already burned away by the coursing energy. She held her hoof carefully above the floor, not daring to touch it as she took a three-legged step towards Cadance. “Sister, thou must be careful with that spell,” Luna admonished. “Thou could easily reduce this entire castle to mere illumination if thou lost control.” “I could say the same for you, Luna. Isn't the Blade of Disaster one of Nightmare Moon's spells?” “Tis perfectly safe compared to thy choice of the Sunrise Hammer,” Luna snorted. “You might be right,” Celestia admitted. “This is touching, but in case you've forgotten, I'm still more powerful than both of you put together.” Cadance's horn flared, and an array of jagged crystals formed in the air around her like hovering blades. “I wasn't intending to kill you, but I will if that's what it takes to make everypony respect me!” “You cannot force ponies to respect you. Only to fear you.” Celestia said, calmly. “Respect is earned. You should know that better than anypony.” “How was I supposed to earn it when you wouldn't even let ponies know I existed for decades?” Cadance yelled. A shield of swirling red and blue appeared around her. Luna was the first to charge in, attacking while Cadance was distracted. The black Blade of Disaster slashed through the shield, passing through the barrier as if it wasn't there at all. Cadance made a pained, squeaking sound as the defensive spell itself was cut apart, as if it was a physical object instead of a field of force. It was impossible, yet the blade had still done it. Cadance blinked as blood dripped into her eye. She reached up and felt her horn with her hoof. The tip had been cleanly cut off, the edges as sharp as a knife. Blood dripped from the deep wound, spilling down the spiral shaft and into her face. “How dare you?!” Cadance shouted, wiping the blood from her eyes. “Thou hast forgotten thou are fighting two opponents,” Luna said. Cadance turned and jumped away as Celestia's hoof came down, the floor under her simply vanishing, disintegrating into twinkling light. Celestia flapped her wings, coming at Cadance again. The young alicorn's eyes went wide with fear, and she dissolved into mist just before the blow connected, Celestia shooting past her, the white alicorn's expression turning into profound surprise as her charge carried her towards Luna. Luna brought up her blade as a reflex, the golden and black energies crashing against one another. There was a silent explosion of pure white light, and the sisters were flung in opposite directions to crash into the walls, their bodies marred with burns, steam rising from them. Cadance reformed and launched beams towards both of them from her injured horn. The recovering Princesses were instantly encased in black crystal, frozen in place in the same way Sombra had been. Cadance laughed, her cackle eerily familiar as lighting flashed above her. It sounded just like Nightmare Moon's laugh. *** “Trixie, I've got an idea,” Twilight muttered, her lip starting to swell. “I have a spell that might stop her.” Koloth helped Trixie pry the lavender alicorn out of the wall. Literally pry. Her horn had gotten stuck in the granite. “Then you should have cast it to start with!” Trixie groaned. “There's a catch,” Twilight said. “Of course there is.” Trixie sighed. “There's always a catch.” “I never designed it for combat. It takes five minutes to cast.” Twilight glanced at Trixie. “I need you to keep her busy for a while.” “You want me to keep her busy. The mare that easily kicked Celestia and Luna's flanks.” “For five minutes,” Twilight said, nodding. “You're lucky the Great and Powerful Trixie's greatest and most powerful skill is to entertain and distract.” “I'm sure you'll be fine,” Koloth said. “You're more or less immortal, right? The rest of us might die, though, so don't screw up.” He patted her on the back. “Here,” Babbidi said, tossing Trixie a velvet bag. She opened it and found it was full of silvery dust. “I've been researching some of what you did to beat the Smooze. This is based on that mirror coating you had. I can't find a way to make it stick to anything, but you can use it to intercept a spell. Or throw it in her eyes and run, I guess.” “Thank you,” Trixie said, smirking. “Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for the greatest show in Equestria.” She walked calmly to the middle of the emptied hall, almost directly between the frozen sisters of night and day. Trixie grabbed her black cloak with one hoof and dramatically tore it free, revealing a purple cape covered in stars under it. With a flick of her wrist, the cloak was replaced with her familiar, pointed hat. She set it on her head deliberately and faced Cadance, who watched bemused with her eyebrow raised. “Watch in awe as Trixie takes the stage!” Trixie declared, her voice magically enhanced, echoing all the way into the city. “I'm afraid that Twilight broke your stage quite badly.” Cadance glanced at the shattered platform. “And that's where you're wrong!” Trixie declared boldly, smirking. “I am no mere illusionist! The whole world is a stage for the Great and Powerful Trixie!” She stomped her hoof, and a spotlight shone down on her. “Dare you challenge Trixie when she is in her element?” “Give it up, Trixie,” Cadance said, tired. “The arrogance was amusing for a while, but it should be obvious at this point that you don't have much of a chance. Celestia was ten times stronger than you could ever be, and even she isn't a challenge.” Trixie adjusted her hat. “Trixie wasn't aware you were a hypocrite,” Trixie said, raising an eyebrow. “You were just complaining about how you wanted ponies to take you seriously no matter what your power was like, and now you dismiss Trixie merely based on your primitive measure of her magical strength?” “Trixie, you don't want me to take you seriously,” Cadance said, magic flaring along her horn. “Then Trixie will dazzle the stage!” She reared up, cape billowing out around her. Her wings flared, sparks erupting between the feathers, and a box appeared around Trixie, elaborately decorated in purple and gold. The box spun on its own before doors opened on opposite sides, two identical Trixies stepping out of both doors. “Stage magic? Really?” Cadance snorted. “An illusion isn't going to stop me.” “You underestimate the power of Trixie's magic at your own peril!” The left Trixie said, walking calmly towards Cadance. “Trixie has something that Twilight Sparkle, Celestia, and Luna all lack,” the one on the right noted. They circled around Cadance, taking opposite sides and walking at a measured pace. “A hat?” Cadance asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Cunning!” Both Trixies said at once, suddenly striking out at her, not able to match Twilight's speed or power but coming from both directions at once. Cadance smirked and didn't even bother blocking, letting both Trixies hit her. As they did, there was no sound of blows falling, the alicorn not even flinching. The images of Trixie flickered. “It's not very cunning, Trixie. They were both just illusions. I know you're still hiding behind that box.” Trixie sighed and stepped out of the box. “It's a bad day when the audience sees through the magician's tricks,” Trixie lamented. “The box is real, though,” Cadance noted. “Conjured instead of just an image. It's a nice touch. But like I said, illusions are worthless.” “Are they?” The real Trixie asked, smirking. “Don't underestimate the power of an illusion!” the right image of Trixie said, grabbing Cadance around the neck. “Especially when we're mixed with Nazca's Explosion Array!” the left one said, grinning and hugging Cadance's back leg. Cadance's eyes went wide as the two burst into light, a pillar of fire and light erupting into the sky as the spell went off. “Trixie calls it the Phantom Breaker,” Trixie said, smirking. “Independent, programmed illusions that explode on contact. And since they look like me, they're the most beautiful attack spell in all of Equestria!” The smoke cleared, and Cadance walked out of the debris of the attack, coughing. Her armor was torn up, and the unexpected attack had left her limping, her back leg scorched. “What's wrong? Did Trixie's little illusion do more than you expected?” Trixie smirked. Cadance grit her teeth and looked up at her. “I should have known to expect the unexpected,” Cadance growled. “But that wasn't nearly enough to stop me. I admit I'm impressed. You really have grown. Maybe in a decade or two, with Luna as your teacher, you'd learn enough spells to be a threat.” “Oh, that one was a Trixie original.” Trixie smirked. “For my next trick, a perennial classic!” Trixie's horn flashed, and a metal ring appeared, hovering in the air in front of her. It was as wide as a hoof, and made out of a dull silver metal that had an odd iridescent glimmer to it. With a dramatic twist, two more rings slid out of its silhouette, revealing that it was in fact three interconnected rings. “I've seen this one before,” Cadance said. She fired a crackling beam of black energy at Trixie, not even bothering with subtlety. The rings interposed themselves between Trixie and the death curse, the spell breaking apart as it hit the circles. “Not like this,” Trixie smirked. More rings appeared, impossibly sliding out of nowhere to join the chain, as if they'd simply been hidden by the angle she was viewing them at. “Party tricks won't beat me!” Cadance took a step forward, her back leg dragging on the ground. “The mystical rings are one of the oldest forms of magic,” Trixie countered. “And Trixie was a master even before becoming an alicorn. You've probably only seen a tiny fraction of what they can do from whatever paltry magicians and illusionists that have attempted to harness their power!” “Has anyone ever told you how annoying you can be?” Cadance asked, before two black disks of magic appeared at her sides, launching out in curved paths towards Trixie, shearing through stone like it wasn't even there. They were blocked edge-on by the rings, sparks rising from the metal. “What? That's not possible!” Cadance yelled. Trixie smirked. “Never try to tell a magician what is or isn't possible!” The solid links of metal shuffled, and duplicate rings dropped from the growing chain like rain, falling to the floor in neat stacks. Cadance pulled back the spinning disks of destructive magic just as the stacked rings launched themselves at her like arrows, each blow landing like a punch with enough force to break stone. Cadance ducked back, stumbling on her bad leg, and blocked with her disks, using their faces as shields to sweep the rings aside, where they embedded themselves into the walls and floor. “Is that all you've got?” Cadance asked, breathing heavily, when the hail of rings finally stopped. “A magician always has more tricks up her sleeve,” Trixie said. She clapped her hooves twice, and the rings in the walls and floor shot towards Cadance, coming from every direction at once. Only a few hit her before she spread her wings, a shield of rippling prismatic energy surrounding her. The rest of the rings dissolved into dust and sparkles of magic as they connected with the seething barrier. “Give it up!” Cadance screamed. “You're pathetic!” “And yet you still can't beat Trixie. So much for your power.” Trixie smirked and clapped her hooves again. A few rings were still inside Cadance's shield, and they rapidly changed, expanding and tripping her up before securing themselves around her legs and barrel, pinning her wings to her sides and binding her legs together as they shrank back down to be painfully tight. The shield around Cadance collapsed as she lost her concentration. “I super-hate you,” Cadance growled. “Many ponies have said this to Trixie,” Trixie shrugged. “Now what was that you said before? Something about how you'd never be defeated?” “I said that party tricks won't beat me,” Cadance said, calmly. “And I meant it.” Magic flared around her body, and the rings wrapping her body shattered as she broke them with brute physical force. Cadance stood up, and before Trixie could do anything else, she blasted her with a wide cone of magical force, the rings scattering out of Trixie's magical grip. “What's it going to be next? Pulling a rabbit out of your hat?” Cadance grabbed Trixie's hat with her magic and tossed it into the air, incinerating it with a beam of heat. “Or maybe a card trick?” Cadance grabbed one of the fallen columns, her magic swinging it like a bat into the blue magician. Trixie was sent into and through the wall. “Why did you kill my hat?” Trixie complained, wincing and out of breath, barely able to speak as she pulled herself free of the rubble. “Because I wanted you to get a preview of what I'm going to do to you,” Cadance replied, a crackling beam of hot death lancing at Trixie. Trixie smirked and tossed an arc of glittering dust into the air. The beam hit the dust, and the energy bounced chaotically between the floating silvery motes before reflecting back towards Cadance. The beam struck her in the chest, tearing her armor free, the Alicorn Amulet gleaming as it resisted the blow. “Remember, Cadance, a magician's greatest allies are smoke and mirrors.” Trixie threw a dozen tiny spheres towards her, Cadance reflexively blocking them with a shield. They erupted on contact into a thick cloud of smoke. Cadance growled. She could feel it slowing her down. It wasn't just smoke, it was compressed clouds, almost the right grade to build a permanent cloud structure. Her natural pegasus magic was pushing against it, almost trapping her in place as they set around her. She spotted movement, and fired a beam of dark magic at it. There was a flash of light, and the beam came back at her, the searing beam burning a line from her neck down to her shoulder, her coat blackening. “Your first mistake was not finishing Trixie with your initial attack,” Trixie said, her voice echoing through the smoke. The thick haze made it difficult to tell where it was coming from. “Trixie!” Cadance screamed, frustrated. “Your second mistake was thinking you could defeat Trixie with mere brute force. You have no finesse or skill.” Cadance fired a beam at where she thought the voice was coming from, only to have it come back and hit her, literally, on the flank, the beam burning a line through her cutie mark. “Third, you forgot that Trixie has become Equestria's foremost expert at being blown up. Nazca Flare!” Cadance's eyes went wide. A ball of red light the size of a marble shot through the smoke and hit her in the side, erupting into crimson light. The force exploded out towards the smoke and reflecting dust and rebounded, imploding back on her with twice as much power. The air cleared as the force of the secondary blast blew away the smoke, the dust settling to the ground. Cadance looked up to see Trixie only a few steps away, looking down at her. A mere magician, looking down at her. Cadance felt rage grip her heart, and screamed, forcing herself back to her hooves with a surge of dark energy, black crystals erupting from the ground around her. She lunged at Trixie, trying to stab her with a sword of black quartz held together with bolts of ebon lightning. The sword went right through her. Cadance blinked, confused, as Trixie didn't react for a moment. “Sometimes a magician repeats her tricks,” the illusion explained, before it exploded in Cadance's face. *** “Remind me to never try fighting you,” Twilight muttered, as Trixie appeared out of invisibility next to her. “Is that spell ready?” Trixie asked, panting. Twilight looked at her. The mare was bruised and beaten. With her cape shredded and her hat gone, her injuries were easier to see. “If this goes on much longer, Trixie is going to have to use a cup and balls.” “I just need a few more seconds,” Twilight said. “This had better be a good spell,” Trixie groaned. She stepped into the shadows and appeared behind Cadance. The princess of love slowly stood, her mane burned to only half of its usual length, her crown broken and lying at her hooves. “Death isn't severe enough punishment for you!” Cadance screamed. “I'm going to turn you into crystals and carve you into a chandelier!” “That's no way for a princess to talk,” Trixie returned. Cadance turned on her, the Amulet blazing with light, the subtle carvings on its surface glowing with the sickly color of dark magic. A spiraling beam struck Trixie's shoulder before she could even react, the magic boring through her flesh and bone, emerging from the other side and putting another hole in her wing. Trixie fell as her leg gave out, shock making it more numb than painful. Cadance picked her up with her magic, forcing the magician to look into her scorched face, her eyes bloodshot and dripping with flames. “You sicken me,” Cadance said, her voice harsh. “Because we're so much alike?” Trixie guessed, before her voice was cut off by the magic around her throat as it tightened like a noose. “We're nothing alike. You're a pathetic excuse for a pony! You don't know what it's like when you try your hardest and fail when it really matters!” Cadance shook her violently. “I had to watch my parents die because I wasn't strong enough to help! I couldn't beat a stupid bug when she wanted to take my place! I couldn't even defeat Sombra on my own! Every single time I tried to do anything myself, I failed! Even Celestia was ashamed of me!” Cadance slammed Trixie into the floor, driving her skull into the stone. “She even let Twilight sit in with her at court! Twilight! She was just a filly! I was an alicorn and I was lucky if I was even allowed to show my face in public!” She threw Trixie into the ceiling and followed it with another beam of dark magic, this one slicing through Trixie's long mane and leaving it a shortened mess. “Do you know what I went through, all because she had no faith in me!” Cadance shouted. “If she'd ever given me the support or love she showed everypony else...” Cadance fought back tears. “Trixie thinks...” the mare gasped, her injured leg and wing hanging limply as she tried to break the grip around her neck. “Trixie thinks you don't understand at all. Celestia trusts Twilight Sparkle because Twilight tries to do her best even when she isn't asked. You sound like all you do is hope good things fall into your lap, and you never worked for it yourself.” “What would you know?” Cadance demanded. “That's how Trixie was,” Trixie said, struggling to make herself heard. “Trixie thought she deserved to be the greatest and most powerful unicorn. She thought she deserved to defeat Twilight Sparkle! But I was wrong.” Trixie gasped as the force around her squeezed, her wounds dripping blood. “I told you-” “Nopony deserves anything. You aren't entitled to anything you aren't willing to fight for.” Trixie winced as a rib cracked. “What have you ever done to make Celestia think you deserved more?” “I- I thought it would just come with time!” Cadance snapped. She also snapped Trixie's good wing. Previously good wing. It was now her bad wing. “She kept telling me I'd find my place!” “You don't find it if you wait for somepony to hand you a map,” Trixie whispered. Cadance roared with frustration. Trixie was launched across the room and through Celestia's throne. Trixie pulled herself out of the ruins of the royal seating. As Cadance started towards her, she saw it out of the corner of her eye, Twilight, her horn burning with energy as she readied her spell. “What is that?” She asked, just before a pastel rainbow surged from Twilight's horn and touched hers, sparks coursing down both of their bodies as their magic clashed. Cadance's eyes went wide, then she started to laugh as she felt it, power surging into her own. “I'm using a spell I developed studying the Rainbow Power,” Twilight said, one eye closed and dripping with sweat from the effort of maintaining the link. “It allows two unicorns, or alicorns in this case, to join their magic together for greater effects without needing a specialized ritual.” “So that's your big plan to beat me? Give me even more power?” Cadance laughed. “It goes both ways. I can use your power too,” Twilight said. “Right now you're only stronger than me because of that amulet. And I can't take it from you. But you can take it off any time you want.” Twilight smirked. “Or, in this case, your magic can take it off.” Twilight grabbed for the Alicorn Amulet, her magic shimmering with the blue tone of Cadance's own spellcasting, or at least the tone it usually had when she wasn't using enough dark magic to make Sombra look like a lightweight. Cadance's eyes went wide. The clasp on the amulet popped open, and Twilight pulled it free before breaking the link between her, leaving Cadance with only her own magic. The dark aura faded from around her, the mystical armor falling away and vanishing. The last thing to go was the fire from her eyes as she fell to the ground. “No! I needed... I was finally important...” Cadance gasped, before she passed out from a combination of her injuries and the shock of losing nearly all of her magic. “You were always important,” Twilight said, quietly. “You just never believed it.”