//------------------------------// // Lost Luster // Story: Fallacies of the Elements // by Dapper Guy //------------------------------// Knock, Knock. Spike felt his eyes travel to the door, but ignored the sudden sound of somepony banging against it. Picking up a book in his claw, he shelved it back in its proper place. The title ‘Pony Performance Potential Party Practices’ was embossed in pink, loopy lettering on the yellow cover. KNOCK! KNOCK! A small knot of frustration flared and died as he carried on with his task of shelving the library books. He was sure that the ‘CLOSED’ sign would’ve deterred anypony from entering, but then again, he didn’t need two guesses as to who was at the door. “Spike, please let us in,” called out the compassionate voice of Fluttershy. “We won’t fight this time, Pinkie Promise.” The young drake felt his heart stop for a moment. A sense of guilt welled up deep inside of him as he reflected on his actions. With a deep sigh, Spike walked over to the door. Just as soon as it had creaked open further than an inch , a pink blur zipped into the room and glomped him. “Oh, Spike, that was the most fearsome, fiery, flamboyant, fantastic, fiery, oh wait, I said that already, most amazing fireworks show ever!” While Pinkie Pie ‘congratulated’ Spike, Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity and Fluttershy trotted inside. Freeing himself from the hug, he regarded everypony with a searing gaze. “So, are we going to have a repeat of last time, with all the screaming and the accusations?” bluntly asked Spike in a droll tone. Rarity took a tentative step towards him. “Now, Spike, surely you can see reason?” Spike let out a blood curdling snarl at Rarity, making her mane stand on end. “You’re the last pony in Equestria I want to talk to!” he spat, shoving an accusing claw right at her nose. “Rarity, what was I to you?” Tears formed as Spike’s head drooped down, unable to look at her eye to eye. “Spike, please, I-“ “NO!” Knocking away Rarity’s hoof, the drake barred his claws at her. “What was I to you? Why didn’t you at least try to stand up for me? Don’t I deserve that much at least, Rarity?” Everypony inside the library was flabbergasted at his spiteful words. Spike, the dragon who chased after Ponyville’s residential fashionista’s heart, had laid his claws on her. Even Pinkie Pie couldn’t speak, her jaw hanging wide open but no words coming out. Licking her lips, Rarity straightened her back and gave Spike her best scolding parent stare. “Spike, you’re acting very inappropriately right now. You need to stop this foalishness right this instant.” The resounding whine of a tea kettle boiling over whistled out of Spike’s mouth as steam shot out of his ears. Well that usually works when Sweetie acts up, thought Rarity as she cautiously backed away from the, quite literally, steaming drake. Rainbow kicked off from the ground as a small voice in her head told her to back away, as did everypony present. The air waved and distorted, rising in temperature as Spike's rage became palpable. “Easy there pardner, simmer down,” assuaged Applejack. She could smell the smoke clearly as she approached Spike. Very clearly, in fact. So clearly that that it felt like standing next to a still burning campfire. “We just want to let you know that you’re-“ “A stupid, little gecko!” screeched Trixie, stampeding into the room and shoving her face right into Spike’s. The magical mare whipped her sopping wet mane back with a fierce snap. Trixie’s cape now only covered half of her body, the rich purple now grayed with soot and blackened cloth. A small trail of water followed behind her, soaking into the library’s oak floor. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done to Trixie?” Grasping Spike by his shoulders, Trixie pulled him so close that he could see the veins running through his eyes. “Besides showing everypony how much of a flippin’ flop you really are?” retorted Spike in a sardonic voice. For a brief second, Trixie’s horn began to charge with magic, before pitifully blowing out like a deflated balloon. Her eyes were livid as she glared daggers at Spike. An orange hoof grasped Trixie’s withers, yanking the blue unicorn back and releasing Spike from her tight hold. Landing on her back, she stared into five pairs of eyes, all looking down at her. Each of their faces told her how far over the line she had now just crossed. “Bah, Trixie doesn’t have time for these things.” Back on all fours, Trixie dusted off the remaining part of her cloak. “Trixie demands that Sparkle’s lackeys bring her here, now that I’ve won.” “Won? Is that what was, Trixie?” said Applejack, stabbing a hoof at the burnt cape. “It sure don’t look like you won anythin’!” “Applejack, she did try her best.” Fluttershy squeezed herself into the small space in-between the two, trying to suppress the feelings of anger being thrown around. “Yes, Trixie did.” “Even though Spike melted her snowball.” “AUGH!” whined Trixie as she pulled her wizard hat over her ears. “That didn’t count. Trixie said quite clearly that anypony could challenge her, not anydrake.” “Oh, I’m sorry. I meant that Spike did his best too.” Lunging down at Trixie, Rainbow Dash flared her wings up in a defensive posture. “Forget her, Fluttershy. You don’t need to stick up for this hack. ”Besides, Twilight isn’t here right now.” A dawning realization spread over everypony as soon as Rainbow Dash said those words. “Hey... Wait a sec. Trixie, how did you know that Twilight wasn’t here?” “Errmm…” “Trixie, would you mind explaining how you knew Twilight wasn’t here?” The Elements began to huddle around Trixie, cutting off any chance for her to escape. “Trixie doesn’t— mprh!?” Rarity’s hoof lodged itself deep inside Trixie’s mouth. “You listen here, Trixie. I’ve had my mane frizzled, my pristine coat frazzled by your magic tricks, and, worst of all, you laid your hooves on Spike. I think an explanation of why you just ‘happened’ to come back now is well in order.” “Trixie will not—“ “Don’t. Even. Finish. That. Thought,” seethed Rainbow Dash, enunciating each word. “Fine. Trixie will tell you then. Now, back away from Trixie, she can’t think with so many ponies invading her personal bubble.” Flicking her drying mane, Trixie’s face was riddled embarrassment. “Trixie was here a few days ago. She had everything ready, in order to stand against Twilight Sparkle.” “Pfft, yeah right," said Rainbow Dash. “Silence from the peanut gallery! As Trixie was saying, she knew that day belonged to Trixie, it even said so in Trixie’s horoscope,” said Trixie, pulling out a torn piece of newspaper from inside the brim of her hat. “When Trixie arrived, everypony was running around after some kind of ratty doll. Using her natural sense of deduction, Trixie’s knew something odd was about that doll, because when Trixie saw it, she felt a burning desire to possess that wretched doll. Naturally Trixie knows enchantments better than anypony in Equestria and could perform the necessary counter spell to cancel out the magic.” The tenor of her voice grew stronger as she painted the scene for her audience. “Keeping a safe distance, Trixie saw this as the best time to show everypony how big a star Trixie is. Just a few seconds more and she could have broken the spell placed on the doll.” “Wait an apple pickin’ minute there, Trixie. You could’a broken that spell?” said Applejack, cutting into Trixie’s story. “Yes. Trixie could tell it was strong, but she waited idly by as more ponies fought over that doll. When the time was right, she’d break it and have everypony see Trixie’s victory.” Whump! Rainbow Dash threw Trixie into the back wall, knocking down a few books out of place and off their shelves. “Are you bucking kidding me!?! You could have stopped all this from happening before Twilight was taken away!?” Rainbow shook Trixie so fast, it sent her hat zooming off her head, to land neatly on to the wooden unicorn bust on the center table. “Rainbow Dash!” Four sets of hooves—and one pair of claws—latched themselves around Rainbow’s body. With a strained effort, everypony and drake managed to pull the riled pegasus off of Trixie. After her pupils stopped spinning and regained their focus, Trixie scooted away from Rainbow Dash before continuing. “Before Rainbow Crash interrupted Trixie by assaulting her, which Trixie will press charges later, Princess Celestia showed up. As her hopes for righting the wrong that Twilight had committed against Trixie went up in smoke, an unforeseen opportunity presented itself. A pegasus lurked outside of Ponyville Library that night, snapping up pictures of the incident. Trixie could barely make out what he was saying, but that’s when Trixie was struck with inspiration.” “Real quick, Trixie.” Spike tapped a polished nail against the floor while shooting her a disbelieving glance. “A pegasus was snapping up photos from above and you could hear what he was saying even though you were hiding?” “Trixie can read lips, lizard,” stated Trixie, pressing a hoof against her mouth. “Now then, everypony shut up, please, so that Trixie can finish her story.” Seeing for the moment that they complied with her demand, Trixie continued. “Trixie didn’t wish to make herself known, so she stealthily made her way back to her wagon with nopony the wiser. After that, all Trixie needed was to confirm Sparkle was out of the picture by keeping an open ear. The rest doesn’t matter and that, everypony, is what happened. The end,” finished Trixie with a pearly smile, with a flourish of her cape. A silent pause took hold of the room, disrupted only by the soft snores of Owlicious hooting in his sleep. An ant could’ve been heard walking beneath their hooves. “I’ll snap that horn clean off your empty head!” For the second time today, Rainbow Dash came close to successfully snapping a pony in half. Fortunately, a certain cowpony had the foresight to tie the end of her tail to the center table with a rope. The resulting belly flop jostled several books from their perches, eliciting a sigh from Spike. While Rainbow fiddled with the knot restraining her, Rarity took her chance to get up close to Trixie. “Well, I dare say that your plan utterly backfired, Trixie. Guess you hadn’t thought far enough to see it through.” “Trixie doesn’t fail. She finds ways of succeeding in a manner that ponies simply can’t understand.” Retrieving her wizard hat with her weakened magic, it dipped and wobbled as it made its way back to Trixie. Caressing it with a loving hoof, Trixie regarded Rarity with a childish smirk. “Twilight sees her friends’ humiliation in the papers and naturally comes back to Ponyville to duel. Trixie doesn’t need to tell you rest, does she? Trixie would then stand above Sparkle in every conceivable way.” Spike jumped into the air with the energy of a live current. Dashing up the stairs, he threw open Twilight’s door and hurried inside. Wood grating against wood told everypony Spike was moving furniture. A small cardboard box was thrown through the doorway, spilling small yellow sticky notes at the base of the stairs. “Ah-ha!” Spike leapt from the very top of the steps, and landed square on his feet with an ornate red and golden embossed box held above his head. “There’s one thing Twilight has that you never will, Trixie.” He turned the gold clasp holding the case shut. Click. Opening up the case, Spike displayed the contents to Trixie. “What do you say to this, Trixie?” Trixie’s initial reaction of surprise melted into disgust. “And why, in all of Equestria, would Trixie want such gaudy jewelry?” Spike turned the case around as the other Elements, including Rainbow who had finally managed to unite herself, looked inside. The Elements of Harmony’s jewels had all turned black, darker than even onyx. The gold comprising the bands of the necklace was tarnished and dulled to an iron grey, or twisted into some disturbing, wicked fashion. “Our elements!” Each of the ponies grabbed their respective necklaces from inside of the box. The Element of Laughter hung in Pinkie’s hoof like a deflated balloon, drooping limply in her hoof. The balloon jewel of Pinke’s cutie mark had a small freckle sized drop of blue in its center. “Yowza.” Rainbow Dash held her hoof out in pain, her eyes watering as if she had been struck. “My Element bucking burned me!” Applejack was busy tossing her Element between her hooves before dropping it. “Feels like I’m playing hot patata with a chuck of ice,” whined Applejack as she stared at the jet black apple jewel. “My Element isn’t looking so well either,” said Fluttershy. Curiously enough, the Element of Kindness retained a healthier complexion than the rest. The butterfly was a dull pink all over, but it looked healthier, in comparison, than the rest. “Speak for yourself, darling.” Rarity held up her Element with a disgusted face. The band was rigid with spikes, bending at odd angles like barbwire. The purple jewel in the center was blackened in its entirety. “What happened to the Elements?” Spike lifted Twilight’s Element of Magic to eye level. The six pointed star was black just like the rest, the gold setting turned to a bleached, bone white. Each of the bearers exchanged looks of concern seeing that their most prized treasures had been defiled in a sickening manner. “We need Twilight back,” said Spike as he went to the table and began writing a letter, quill in claw. Quick Shot trotted through the Canterlot Times main entrance wearing what could only be the biggest smile in the entire town. After Trixie made a complete flop out of herself with her last act, Shot had gotten everything he needed to spin the best story imaginable. I wonder if I could pull off an Equestria Daily Award from this. Not likely, but hey, a colt can dream. The familiar thrum of the automated machinery was a pleasant tune to Quick Shot’s ear as he was back in what, he considered, was his second home. Ink stung at his nostrils, but the smell didn’t bother him much since he had worked here for so long. At first he honestly doubted himself, but now he was aware of what he was meant to do in life. Blissfully ignorant to the reproachful glances of the ponies inside of the Canterlot Times news office, Shot made his way up to the editor-in-chief, Hot Press. Reaching the top of the stairs, he saw that Press’ office door had been left ajar. Huh, guess she’s been waiting for me. Walking in without a second thought, Hot Press was indeed sitting behind her wormwood desk, a pencil behind her right ear and a newspaper in each wing. The ivory pegasus dropped everything she was currently holding as Shot shimmied up to her desk. “Quick Shot, you’re back.” Fine Press tugged on her red tie nervously. “There’s something we need to discuss.” “Don’t worry, boss, I got an even better scoop than last time. This will make that Twilight Sparkle story look like yesterday’s news. Well, technically it will be but you know what I mean, right? Eh, boss, what’s the matter? You’re all rigid like.” Hot Press was waving her hooves in front of face, trying to convey to the thick headed reporter than now would be the best time to stop flapping his gums. “Well, that is good. I have a keen interest in your recent work, Quick Shot,” said a royal voice. Princess Celestia walked out into the open, stepping from behind a set of filing cabinets that she had previously been going through. “Please, sit.” A chair materialized by Shot’s side, and the now terrified pegasus felt his heart crumble into dust. “I wish to discuss with the two of you about the respect of pony’s personal matters, and the boundaries of what the press should and should not publish.”