Chapter 7
The sound of armor clanking echoed throughout the camp, as a column of re-enactors passed through the lane, moving through the crowds as they paraded themselves in front of them. Passing by the stage, the column caught the attention of anypony who saw them, attracting the attention admiring ponies, as the re-enactors looked like real life members of the Royal Guard.
Twilight watched as the parade passed by in front of her, showing off their bright armor and accessories as they made their way. Marching to the beat of the band’s drums and humming to the sweet tunes, column went by in front of her, with their colors leading, while the ponies followed in rhythmic march, one hoof step at a time.
Keeping her eyes on the armored ponies as they passed by, she had to admit that despite the fact that they were just pretending to be members of the Royal Guard, the re-enactors looked really realistic and life like, they could have easily fooled anypony who wasn’t aware of today’s festivities.
Turning her attention away from the line of marching ponies, she turned her eyes and moved her eyes towards the stage.
There, placed on a table with the other prizes was the Book of Arcane Magic: Spells and Rituals, the prize that she had set her eyes on.
Standing here and looking at it, she could feel the book drawing her to take it, wanting her to read every word on its ancient pages. She could already imagine the spells and secrets hidden within, as well as imagining herself study them and find a way to cast them.
If she could, she would have made her way to the officials and demand the book itself. And if they didn’t agree to it, she would have taken in a galloped away.
But she didn’t, because she knew that she was a princess now, and princesses had to set examples. If a princess like her just stole a book, because she didn’t want to go through a competition, then it would teach the wrong lesson to ponies everywhere.
So she must win it fair and square, which she believed was an easy task.
“Oh, they’re starting! They’re starting!” The pony to beside her said, and Twilight’s gaze moved away from the book and towards the far end of the line she was on.
Looking towards the direction, she saw the three judges of the competition move up to the first pony who signed up for the look-alike contest of Twilight Sparkle. Despite the distance of the end from her, she was still able to hear the voice of the first contender, as the judges filled up in front of her.
“Be amazed at the sight of the great and powerful Tri…I mean…Twilight Sparkle!” The voice said in a boastful and confident tone, while a puff of smoke appeared and rose to the sky.
Hearing the familiar voice, Twilight tried to get a better look of the first contestant and as she did, she finally began to realize why the voice sounded so familiar.
With splatters of purple paint on her fur and a card board cut out of the tiara of the Element of Magic, which had gold paint sprayed on it, Trixie Lulamoon, self-proclaimed greatest unicorn in Equestria, stood in front of the judges, boasting the she was the only pony in the competition who managed to copy Twilight in every bit of detail.
Normally, conversations from such a distance would be impossible to hear. But with Trixie’s loud booming and arrogant voice, anything she said seemed to be amplified, as if she was using the Royal Canterlot voice.
Twilight actually found it quite funny that Trixie would actually attend such a competition, as it meant that she would have to make herself look like the pony she despised the most. Maybe this was a sign that she wasn’t jealous at her anymore?
Listening to Trixie’s explanations on why her form was spot on, Twilight couldn’t help but shake her head at how wrong she was.
Despite the distance, she could tell that the shade of paint on Trixie’s fur was too dark. Glancing towards her own coat before turning her attention towards Trixie, Twilight knew that there was no chance that Trixie would be able to convince the judges that she managed to look just like her.
The judges most likely had a reference picture and once they saw the difference of color, they would probably strike out a point. Maybe Trixie was boasting so that the error would go unnoticed? What if she succeeded into talking the judges and convincing them the she in fact was the one who had the best look?
The thoughts rambled in her head, making her heart beat faster in panic. All this possibilities and with no chance of her altering it.
She suddenly remembered Rainbow Dash’s apprehensive look when she learned that she was participating in this contest. Was she trying to tell her something? Was that a sign that she would lose?
Her mind soon wondered towards the chances of Trixie winning and gaining the book, as well of the possible effects of that event. Images of the last confrontation between the two flashed before her eyes, as she feared the worst.
But when she saw the judges move away from Trixie and towards the next contestant, Twilight shook her head.
‘You’re Twilight Sparkle!”’ She told herself. ‘There is nopony out there who can claim that she is you! You are the only pony who can be Twilight Sparkle and there is nopony out there that can defeat you! You can win this and receive that book!’
“Yeah, well, not in that costume.” A voice said to her. Twilight’s eyes went wide, when she suddenly realized that she was saying all of it out loud, for everypony to hear.
“Excuse me?” Twilight said, turning towards the pony who contradicted her.
Staring at the pony, she saw a decent looking Twilight look-alike, with a terrible recreation of her cutie mark. But besides the cutie mark, the pony seemed to have copied everything right, it was as if Twilight was looking at a mirror that displayed her old unicorn self.
“The wings…” She said, pointing her hoof towards her sides. “…your wings are ruining the look you have right now. If you ask me, you look like a perfect copy of Twilight Sparkle, except for the fact that you put on wings.”
“Huh?” Twilight asked, still a little confused.
The pony rolled her eyes before shaking her head. “It’s a Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, look-alike contest. Not a Princess Twilight Sparkle look-alike contest.”
When Twilight heard that, she felt her body go stiff and eyes go wide in realization. How could she have been foolish? Why didn’t she realize it sooner? Was she so ignorant that she had managed to miss the simple fact?
Her wings, of course her wings!
The judges would surely notice and realize that she doesn’t look anywhere near the reference pictures they have brought. Since this was a look-alike contest for the Element of Magic, then the references would surely be pictures of her as a unicorn, not an alicorn.
What was she to do now? There was no way for her to be able to remove the wings, except for cutting them off, which was not an option that she would want. A spell would have helped, but as far as she knew, there wasn’t any spell that could hide her wings.
So was she doomed to lose the contest, as well as the precious book? Her panic mode had returned once more as things seemed hopeless. The possibility of her loosing now seemed more logical than her first worries, as her mind told her to just leave and spare herself from further embarrassment.
But her panicked thoughts were soon cut off, when the hoof of the pony who was talking to her waved in front, attracting her attention.
“Hey, are you alright?” She asked, a little worried. “Do you need somepony to help you or something?”
Somepony to help…
“That’s it!” Twilight cried out, as an idea popped into her head.
She needed somepony to help her, help her win.
She may not be able to win the contest herself, but she could still ask a friend to do it for her, to take her place and possibly win.
But who would she ask in such a short notice? Most of the ponies she knew would have most likely joined this contest or other contest just like it. And she doubted that anypony she knew who joined this exact contest would be willing to just give away the prize they worked hard for. So who would be generous enough to accept the offer of dressing up as her and compete in a contest?
A smile soon formed on her face as the options narrowed down to pony.
Taking a glance towards her number, she tried to calculate if he had enough time to conduct the makeshift plan she had laid out. ‘42’ Her number read. With a quick glance towards the judges, she saw that they were currently with the third contestant. She had a perfect amount of time.
So in a quick flash of bright light, Twilight was gone. Having teleported away from the competition and towards the pony who would hopefully offer her some help.