Magic Duel
Magic Duel
Weeks before Chronicle's birthday, in the dreamscape…
Chronicle was busy attacking a dream version of the Discord statue in his training range. In fact, that was what his 'scape was like. Just then, the statue began to get up from its post and dodge his next attack.
That's when he knew something was wrong. Somebody was controlling his dream, and it wasn't him. "Who's there?! Show yourself!" None of his family, not even his father or mother (the latter not having yet visited), had the ability to completely wrest control over his dream.
He wasn't sure on how to respond to this, so he decided to call out again. "I know you're in here!" He then dispelled his environment, leaving only the regular black void. And found some purple mist he knew he wasn't dreaming up. As with any intruder, he responded to it by attacking. The mist evaded his magic shot and Chronicle gave a smirk. This was his dream, so he had control over this domain.
He conjured a dome of light to trap the mist, but then it smashed through like it wasn't even there at all. Getting a bit more irritated, he conjured an orb of flames around the mist, compressed it, and pulled it towards himself. This mist attempted to escape through like last time, but Chronicle followed it with a small tornado, resulting in a fire twister.
With a little more overkill in mind, he unleashed a lightning bolt from his horn at the twister, but then dark tendrils began to creep from below his feet. He escaped this by teleporting elsewhere. Upon emerging however, he found the fire twister heading straight for him.
He teleported again, this time somewhere above the twister and unleashed another lightning bolt but from the sky instead. The twister then immediately dissipated to reveal the lead Shadowbolt that had appeared all the way back from the beginning of his friends' first trip to the Everfree Forest, the one that failed to tempt Rainbow Dash and tested her loyalty.
Could this be…
As the Shadowbolt rushed straight for him, he teleported again and emerged somewhere higher, this time with his Glimmer Wings. He could easily have made pegasus wings for himself in the dreamscape, but he didn't know enough of its ins and outs, so he settled with what he was familiar with.
Using his dream power, he conjured plenty of spheres that would fire loads of energy bolts, even though he knew a good flyer would be able to dodge all of them. And dodge all of them she did, and quite quickly too. Even as both of them began to weave around the blasts, with Chronicle directing the spheres' attacks away from him, the Shadowbolt was just too good.
Chronicle decided to up the game once more. If this was a relative of his performing some sort of test, he wasn't going to fail this one so easily. If it was a sinister infiltrator, he's definitely not failing. In his mind, he willed the Shadowbolt to be larger, and then 'conjured' artillery cannons on the ground. If this infiltrator was actually native, at least the ones he thought of looked like they came straight from a sci-fi story. (He was able to deduce that such existed from a few comics he read and a pony with a robot cutie mark he saw.)
The cannons fired at the Shadowbolt, who flinched at the damage, but managed to recover so quickly and render herself invulnerable. Even as the spheres continued firing, the Shadowbolt then let out a cry and comets rained down from the sky and right for the cannons…which already moved to destroy them and defend themselves and each other.
Chronicle proceeded to unsheath his signature spell and began to spin like a drill. He then poised himself to charge straight for the Shadowbolt, even as he willed for jets (he saw a trio of them as a cutie mark on one pony in Canterlot) to support him. As the spheres pulled away while still firing, the Shadowbolt decided enough was enough and the whole dreamscape shook.
The comets ceased, the spwhees and jets that just came exploded into white lights, the same thing went for the cannons, and Chronicle's attack was suddenly halted as his Glimmer Wings vanished. However, he had remained mid-air, in a sense, as the Shadowbolt then dispersed into mist once more. The two began to descend to the 'floor' as the dreamscape resumed its default void form, only with added white mist.
The purple mist then coalesced into a certain alicorn… "Very few lucid dreamers have this amount of control over their dreams, or realize this early that something was amiss."
"Princess Luna! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Canterlot?", Chronicle asked. "From what your sister told me back when she visited during the Running of the Leaves, you're busy catching up with today's technology. And yes, I remember your Nightmare Night visits."
"I am the Princess of the Night," Luna answered as she walked towards him. "Thus it is my duty to come into your dreams. Also, you may address me as Luna here as well."
"Thank you…Luna. But why me? I heard you only come to those having nightmares. I certainly have no nightmares. Nothing I couldn't solve on my own." He didn't comment that she wasn't using the old speech and the ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE, but he presumed that she's more confident in the dream world.
"Ah yes. The torment of failing to avenge your friends when Discord—"
"I very well know that one, and you weren't there to help me. Or at least I didn't see you. I don't blame you though. You can't be everywhere at once."
"I see. I came here because I sensed something peculiar in your mind."
"And what would that be?" It's probably my family meetings.
"One early morning, immediately after the attack of those blue monsters in Ponyville and Canterlot, while I slept the day, I was doing a cursory scan of everypony's dreams when I stumbled into yours. You were talking to somepony else, and it was an alicorn. A male alicorn."
Uh oh. She found my dad. Wait, can she read my thoughts in the dreamscape?
"My sister had confided to me that she was seeing her male counterpart from some other world through a magic mirror," Luna continued. "But that wasn't him, whom she called Prince Solaris."
Okay, so she was told that. "And…"
"When I enter a dream, I can always tell which is the dreamer and which is part of the dream. But that alicorn was neither. Tell me. Who was he?"
"…I'm afraid I'm not allowed to confide that information to anybody. Not even Princess Celestia can make me." If only because she already knows. "Besides, don't you think it's rude to force a pony to confide their secrets, even if you're a powerful princess?"
"Apologies. It's just that many perceive the unknown as dangerous. I do not know what is going on in your mind, but if whatever is entering your dream is dangerous—"
"I promise it's not dangerous," Chronicle assured. "Pinkie Promise." He proceeded to do the motions. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. It does not bode well for a Pinkie Promise to be broken. Trust me, it won't end well. If you want to know what a—"
"I know what a Pinkie Promise is. I ended up making one with her last Nightmare Night."
"I see. You sure took control of my dream so quickly. But I could tell you could've forced your power over me completely if that outburst that ended our 'fight' was any indication." At any point, either of them could've modified the dreamscape, but they decided to keep it as is.
"The night isn't my only domain. Dreams are as well and I have absolute power over those I enter. Only a fellow alicorn can wrest control from me."
"I wonder if this is another reason the Princess of the Night was feared in the past. For all I know, Nightmare Moon probably cursed them with bad dreams."
Luna shook her head. "Nay. I did not have such an opportunity before Celestia sealed me away."
"Oh."
"Another thing I'd like to know, concerning our 'fight'."
"Yes, Luna?"
"What were all those weapons you conjured to attack me? I am not familiar with their existence in Equestria."
"Well, they're not a reality here, but they are in science fiction stories. Literature has advanced over the last thousand years. There are also night-goers with the advent of nightclubs. But surely there were stargazers even in the past."
"Ponies sleeping in the night was just one factor that led to my becoming Nightmare Moon. There were others as well, but I do not wish to confide them to just anypony."
"I understand." Chronicle traced a circle with his left front hoof. "So it's okay if you confide to a dragon, or a zebra, a griffon, or—"
"You very well know what I meant to say."
"I know. It's just that ever since my first greatest failure as a bodyguard, I've learned I should be exact with my words. I have confided the details to Princess Celestia after I awoke three days since Discord's defeat, so you could ask her."
"I see."
"I took a long drink after that, the only time I allow myself to be inebriated. Because I don't take failures that great very well. And surely you can't spend all night just talking to me, can you? Don't you have some sort of court to attend to?"
"Ah yes. The night court."
This made Chronicle wince, given what the Night Court in Blue Diary's world was like. Thankfully, last he heard, that court was no more, finally ousted by his friends, as well as a criminal they 'hired' named Zizanie. Zizanie herself was turned in after she was discovered to be a "Discordian" and wreaked havoc at the Gala. In the end, he and his friends were knighted by Luna herself in order to give them real political power so they would no longer be mere political puppets ever again. Also, Blue Diary contracted a minor case of Cutie Shift; his mark remained the same, but there were now two crossed swords behind it in an X-formation.
That was what Blue had relayed to him an Timerity right after their disastrous Grand Galloping Galas.
Luna noticed the dreamer's wince and asked, "Something the matter?"
He quickly regained his composure. "Nothing. Nothing you need to be concerned with."
And with that, Luna vanished back to her dreamscape. And then something else happened. An illusion spell dropped, revealing the eldest brother of the core Timer family, which consisted of their father Record Keeper, their mother Ebony Spell, Blue Diary the youngest, himself and Timerity the fraternal twins, and— "Mystic Wand." —him.
"Hello, Chronicle. Your dream showdown with Princess Luna Prime was sure intense, I was sure she'd find me."
"How were you even able to successfully hide from her and me in the first place?"
"Princess Twilight Sparkle taught me the spell. Personally." Wand was assigned to a world where Twilight Sparkle was the ruling Princess. It was still uncertain as to whether or not it was this world's future. "Turns out you don't always need loads of mana to perform high-level spells like these. It's all on the technique and know-how on the inner workings of magic. Blue Diary told me that's how Trixie modifies spells she learns to her needs. Like a sleep-for-chickens spell into a sleep-for-ponies spell. Or make 'call item A' spell to 'call item B'."
Chronicle put a hoof to his face. "Now I remember why we don't interact much. You can get into such a tirade when it comes to magic theory."
"Got it from our mother. We all have."
"Not Blue Diary. Although it's because his friends aren't nearly quite as 'stupid' as mine and Time's."
Wand frowned. "I heard it's not nice to call your friends stupid."
"But they are. And I want them to not be. I like them, but I want them to be smarter and wiser."
"Don't we all?" Wand said as he rolled his eyes.
"By the way, what brings you here, anyway?"
"Well, good news is that I was able to reach our youngest brother in Luna Equestria again via a complex spell. Bad news, it was only for a couple minutes. And he only had time to relay a message."
"What's the message?"
"Something about the talk he had with you about meeting you in the future and both of your worlds' Elements of Harmony. He realized it implied he already undergone the event, but in reality a dream message just told him to say that."
"So it hasn't really happened to him yet, right?"
"Yes. Only time will tell as to when it will happen."
"I see."
"Well, I'm done here. See you some other time." And Wand disappeared, returning to his dreamscape.
C—PL—MW—C—PL—MW—C—PL—MW—C—PL—MW
Daytime, at Fluttershy's cottage…
At the backyard stood the place's owner, her 'coltfriend', his charge, and her assistant. The first of them was hunched down to address several of her animals.
"Don’t be scared, little friends. Twilight is wonderful with magic," she said. Flicking her eyes over her shoulder, she wheeled to face the unicorn mare, her sweet demeanor instantly replaced by naked hostility. "Anything happens to them, Twilight, so help me…" Spike immediately came in between them and shoved them apart as she relented.
"Aw, don’t worry, Fluttershy," the dragon assured. "Twilight’s magic has gotten a lot better since she accidentally crushed me and Applejack with a giant snowball."
"Last Winter Wrap Up," added Chronicle. "And I have improved as well since then, although it's less on magic prowess and more on power limit and combat capability." His charge gave them an embarrassed little grin, blushing as her ears drooped.
"Of course she’s good with magic," Fluttershy assured herself. "Twilight’s great with magic. I guess I just don’t want my little friends to be scared." She started to panic. "Oh, oh, look how scared they are!"
"Looks far from it." Indeed, the animals seemed to be chittering happily.
Twilight stroked her pegasus friend's shoulder "I promise, Fluttershy. Nothing bad will happen to them."
Fluttershy was breathless, speaking through clenched teeth, "I know!"
"That's what I'm here for; to make sure nothing goes wrong," Chronicle told her. "Thanks to many mishaps my charge has done, I've practiced restoration spells, and have succeeded in a smaller-scale version of the failsafe spell." He turned to face Twilight. "Which you had failed to cast successfully."
This earned him a glare from his charge, before she took a couple of steps toward the menagerie and flaring her horn as the focused her mind.
"Stop! Stop!" Fluttershy was crying out as she hunkered down and covered her face, shaking. "They can’t take it!"
“It,” so far, consisted only of the entire group of critters being enveloped in Twilight’s magic, who then aimed a concerned look back at the terrified pegasus and got down to work. One after another, she levitated the animals up several yards and got them moving in a circle, much to their audible delight. As she flicked her horn in a new direction and Fluttershy chewed her hooves—to Chronicle's confusion and concern—and stared pop-eyed, the animals were maneuvered until they were describing a deft figure-eight pattern, or more accurately the symbol for infinity.
"Twilight! That looks amazing!" gasped Spike.
Sweat had started to trickle down Twilight’s face as a few sparks fell from her horn. At this point, she wound down, gently lowered the volunteers back to the grass, and wiped her forehead. "Whoo!" The animals gathered around her and cheered in their various ways. "That’s all for now, little ones. Maybe we can practice again later, if Fluttershy says it’s all right."
The animals hurried over to the self-compacted yellow/pink ball of equine and tried to raise her spirits, even as the only stallion around tried to do the same.
"Your magic has really improved since we came to Ponyville, Twilight," Spike said. "Princess Celestia’s gonna love it!"
"Thanks, Spike. I have to be at my best when she arrives with the delegates from Saddle Arabia." The prodigy laughed a bit. "I can’t believe she’s trusting me with the entertainment!"
All of a sudden, Rainbow Dash rocketed right into her, plowing her away and into a fence. The violet mage had wound up on her back, with the blue flyer standing over her. "Twilight, come quick! It’s an emergency!"
"What's wrong?" Chronicle asked in his charge's stead, who blinked uncomprehendingly.
C—TS—S—RD—F—C—TS—S—RD—F—C—TS—S—RD—F
At Ponyville's Town Hall…
A sizable crowd has gathered out front, and Rarity was standing in a clear spot among them. A bolt of red energy lanced in and burst against her, causing a green/yellow/brown-striped peasant-style dress with pink trim to appear on her body. As she looked herself over, her first reaction was a horrified shudder. There were shocked gasps from the crowd.
"You beast!" she addressed the source of the beam. "This shade of brown should only be used for accents!" Applejack galloped up, just in time to catch the fainting Rarity on her back. Pinkie Pie arrived on the scene as well.
"Come on, Applejack. We’ve gotta get her in a nice soothing pink—stat!" she said as they headed off.
Nearby, Mystic Shield lay on the ground groggily, his horn charred black from his attempt to subdue the intruder.
Twilight and her companions then came in, one of them gasping at Mystic's plight as his students helped him up. "What’s going on here?" she asked.
The next voice—female, dramatic, soaked in venom but still oddly familiar—threw a major-league fright into her and her bodyguard.
"Well, well, well." They turned to see that the speaker was a mare in a black cloak. Around her neck was a gray medallion, an upside-down triangle set with a large, red, lozenge-shaped gem. Two red/gray wings stood up from the top corners of the triangle, and a red-eyed, gray unicorn head protruded above the gem. "If it isn’t…" She threw up her hood back to reveal her face, the medallion serving as a clasp for the cloak. "…Twilight Sparkle!"
The violet eyes briefly flashed red, prompting surprised murmurs from the crowd and a shocked gasp from Twilight and her bodyguard. "Trixie!"
"Oh, dear Luna," said Chronicle. "I feared this would happen."
"What’s she doing here?" asked Spike.
Rainbow flew up from the crowd. "You call that great and powerful?"
There came another red-eye flash, accompanied by an aura in the same color around the medallion, and Trixie let go with a burst that nailed her dead on. It left her right wing perhaps four times bigger than her left. She tried to fly but ended up veering out of control, yelling all the while. Down below, Snips and Snails looked on from within the crowd.
"Cool! She’s Rainbow Wobble now!"
"Yeah!" Snails' laugh got cut off by a crazy swoop toward the town square, and only the two colts’ last-second dive kept Rainbow from caving their heads in. Once they were back upright, Snips nodded happily and Snails waved. "Good spell, O Great and Powerful Trixie!"
Trixie was evidently not happy with them, not after what they did. "You two!" And she fired another bolt. "Quiet!" The glare and smoke from this spell cleared to reveal that—
"Hey! What happened?" Snips stammered, joined horn to horn with Snails and now upside-down.
"Get off of me!" Snails cried out.
The two unicorns galloped back and forth, tumbling and arguing all the while in a futile attempt to separate themselves.
"Stop picking on my friends, Trixie!" yelled Twilight as her bodyguard drew his magic horn blade.
"I may have tolerated you last time," warned Chronicle. "But with what you're doing now…"
"You and I have some unfinished business," Trixie addressed his charge. "My magic’s gotten better since I was here last." She approached Twilight. "And I’m going to prove it. Me and you. A magic duel. Winner stays. Loser leaves Ponyville…" Her eyes flashed red. "…forever!"
"Forget it! I’d never make a deal like that!" She turned pointedly to face away from Trixie.
"Hmph. Your choice." She warmed up her horn, and all of a sudden Spike cried out as he found himself being floated up above the crowd. The cries turned to yells, and the red aura squashed him into a perfect sphere and bounced him on the pavement.
"Trixie, put him down!" Twilight demanded, also raising a leg to prevent Chronicle from rushing in, engaging in battle, and probably make a mistake that could cost him.
A hard bounce sent Spike up; next, a basket materialized at one end of a roof and the dragon ball (Chronicle had to groan from the pun that he realized he made) hit the rim, rolled around, and dropped in. The bottom had been removed from the basket so that he fells through as if this were a basketball goal; Twilight turned back toward Trixie.
"Why are you doing this?" she demanded.
"Why? Because you humiliated me!"
"Hmm…so those bits haven't helped that much, huh?" Chronicle said to the showmare.
"While those bits managed to get me a new wagon, it didn't help for what came next."
She conjured up a wavering flashback to the events from that fateful day; Twilight using her magic to levitate the Ursa Minor after quieting it (with her bodyguard supplying magic). The natural light dimmed a bit as the 'clip' played out in a frame of red magic.
Huh. Looks like I can play off Surveillance like this. If only I could ask her how…
"After you showed me up with that Ursa Minor…" The scene on the screen changed to that of Trixie’s portable stage wagon being thoroughly defaced with mocking graffiti and garbage, and other ponies jeering and pointing at her. "…I became a laughingstock!" The Trixie in the screen bugged out in a cloud of smoke, shedding her cape and hat. "Everywhere I went, I was laughed at and ostracized."
Ouch. Word sure spread fast. But what were those ponies doing in those towns? Lyra, Berry Punch, Carrot Top, Bon Bon, Daisy, Cherry Berry… I'll have to ask them later.
The next shot framed one very glum unicorn using a levitated hammer to chip at a rock in a field. As it splits open, a stallion Chronicle recognized to be Pinkie Pie's father, who walked up and pointed impassively past her.
(During the period between the disastrous Grand Galloping Gala and Discord's release, Pinkie Pie took her friends to the rock farm where she grew up in. Introduced her to her parents and two of her sisters, one he almost swore was Octavia in casual look, but he was immediately told otherwise.)
"I even had to take a job on a rock farm just to earn a living!" On the end of this, the Trixie in the scene looked apprehensively behind herself and the 'camera' zoomed out to reveal a tumble of much larger boulders waiting for her. The flashback ended in a poof of red smoke. "A rock farm!"
"Hey!" an incensed Pinkie yelled. "You’re lucky a rock farm would take the likes of you!"
What looked like a small arrow winked into being next to her, similar to what Chronicle identified as a computer mouse cursor, and poked itself onto her nose. After a moment’s tugging, the arrow yanked her mouth and nose completely off her face; now a small trash can appeared as well. The lid popped off, the arrow deposited the bits within, and the lid went back on, so that the entire operation resembled the act of dragging files away to be deleted on a computer desktop. Cursor and can both vanished, leaving Twilight to stare at her suddenly muted friend and then at Trixie.
Trixie's eyes flared red. "Now I want revenge. And I’ll just keep casting spells ’til you agree." She then saw an irate Chronicle headed her way, horn blade drawn, a cry of rage escaping his mouth, and ready to strike her down. One could swear there was a glowing aura about him, but as he prepared to strike, she fired a beam of magic.
The attack was surprisingly fast and strong, it blasted him straight into somepony's house, making cracks in the wall and leaving him dazed for a few seconds.
He could hear the mayhem Trixie was causing and he knew she had to be stopped, but most of all, he had to find a way to get Pinkie Pie's mouth back. He knew she was one with "Toon traits", but who knows how long she would last? A normal pony would be dead in seconds, and if Pinkie did indeed… If that happened, Trixie will have to die.
"Well, what do you say?" he heard Trixie say as he got his head cleared. He got up, and saw more of Trixie's mayhem. Thankfully, it seemed that Pinkie has not asphyxiating (a normal pony should be down on the ground already, dead). But Trixie will have to go down either way.
And he saw Twilight about to say something, and he quickly got up and teleported in front of her, getting between her and Trixie… right before she could accept the challenge.
"Hold on a second!" he said. "Remember what I said last time about continuing our duel another time? What about we do it right now?"
Trixie just gave a haughty laugh. "Do you really think you can beat me?"
"As a matter of fact, I think I have a better chance than anypony else here. Also, I've faced more powerful beings than you even before I came to Ponyville." He wasn't just talking about Discord; he had confronted one or three great magi during his pre-Twilight Sparkle days as a freelancer. "If I had my way, I would fight you to the bitter end, but there would be dire consequences, regardless if I win or not." Namely, 'public relations'.
"What do you propose, then?"
"Combat duel. Anything goes, be it magic or physical, so long as it's not fatal or permanently crippling. First to break a bone or bleed loses. Remember, this is just between the two of us, so no involving the bystanders."
Trixie gave an evil smirk. "And the stakes?"
"Pride's not high enough a stake? Don't tell me you're chicken."
"I'm not. But maybe you are!" Just as she finished the sentence, she fired another magic bolt, which was dodged by its target and the other ponies that would've been in the line of fire.
"Whoa! You were just about to turn me into a chicken, aren't you?!"
"You said anything goes, right?" Trixie reminded him.
"Maybe, but if the next blow you planned to make would've been fatal to a chicken, that would be against the terms. Also, I haven't even said we could start." Just then, a wall of magic appeared around the two dueling unicorns.
Trixie was a it surprised at this and took a look and saw the unicorn she had taken down earlier back on his feet, casting a spell along with four other unicorns. "What is this?"
Chronicle didn't so much as react, seeing his friend and the First Four doing the casting. "Just a little insurance. This is between you and me. Now we begin."
"The terms have been laid down, and everypony here has stood witness," grunted Mystic. "Begin!"
Trixie made the first move by firing a bolt of red energy. Chronicle swiftly evaded that and countered with a "shuriken". Trixie fired another bolt that neutralized it.
He continued to shoot some more, and Trixie responded with a large force field, then let out another magic bolt that went through her barrier. Chronicle cast a barrier of his own, which managed to hold against the attack.
Wow. Trixie's stronger than last time, but either she underwent training through Tartarus—I think that's Equestria's term for the underworld—or… He then noticed the medallion…and recognized it. Oh no… the Alicorn Amulet! One of the most mysterious and powerful of all the known magical charms!
Just then, Chronicle's barrier began to crack. And then it shattered…but he wasn't there. Trixie clearly thought she was able to wipe him out, as evidenced by the gasps of the crowd. "A-ha-ha! Looks like the challenger couldn't take my—"
She was interrupted with a tap to the shoulder. Before she could turn to face whatever did it, she lost her focus on the barrier because she was headbutted by her opponent, who created a barrier around his own head. His horn wasn't sharp enough (like Pokey Pierce's) to make a cut, and too much force could be very crippling and maybe even fatal and he didn't want that.
Chronicle followed this up with a buck to the side, sending Trixie rolling all the way to the barrier. He then charged right at her, ready to make a slash at her with his signature spell, but she teleported away at the last second, re-emerging at the area opposite him. "What?!" he gasped. he didn't expect her to make such a close recovery as he withdrew his 'weapon'.
"Have you forgotten what I said?" taunted Trixie. "Anything you can do, I can do better." She then fired a volley of 'shurikens' that diverged from one another before converging again all on him. He shielded himself against her parody of his attack (and he did not know how to curve his in so many directions), then lashed out with a tether spell attached to his horn and it 'latched' itself into Trixie's.
"It doesn't matter how powerful you are," Chronicle taunted in return. "If your horn is under physical stress, be it pulled, pushed, gripped, or struck, it cannot cast magic. And most unicorns are nothing without their magic."
"Is that so?" Trixie then did the most unexpected thing; she rushed straight at him, then turned around for a buck. But Chronicle was ready for it; erecting a barrier, the attack was successfully blocked, although it was stronger than he anticipated from a unicorn.
"You're gonna have to do better than that." He canceled his tether spell and 'unsheathed' his horn blade, aimed at Trixie's side. He could've aimed for her heart and anticipated that she would dodge but not in time, but he deemed that too risky. She was able to dodge it and unleash a magic bolt that hit the barrier full force.
Unlike the last one, this bolt already started making cracks in the barrier. Damn, how did she get that Amulet? Probably from the money she earned at the rock farm. He shoved off the thought as he teleported away before the barrier shattered. Knowing Trixie would be aware of his previous tactic, he instead emerged to the left of his last location.
He immediately went for another tether spell to snag her horn, but it crackled with energy and the moment the 'tether' latched on, it immediately traveled across it and onto his own horn. The result was an intense pain so all-consuming he nearly forgot where he was. Red-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin under his coat, his head was filled with pain, it was all he could do not to scream (instead grunting) as he rolled on the ground.
He could hear cries of concern and cries of his name, and one voice in particular reached him. No, I can't let this powered-up Trixie beat me! I promised myself not to fall again! I will not let them down! With all of his willpower, he managed to teleport out of Trixie's spell, and…not outside the large barrier's bounds, but right above his opponent, mid-air.
Trixie hadn't looked up when Chronicle landed on top of her, leaving both of them dazed, the former from the crash and the latter from recovering from the previous spell. She soon chucked him off her back, aimed her horn at him, and fired another magic bolt. Her opponent teleported away and back in front of her.
"No more games," he said before casting a different spell. A decorated 'circle' began to form underneath Trixie, glowing bright blue. She tried to get out, but she couldn't. She then tried blasting at the circle, but it was no good either. "No matter how powerful you are, you cannot escape." He would have to end this soon; he was running a bit low, and while he could've done the power transfer spell, he thought that would've been very unfair even for her.
With her nowhere to go, Chronicle leaped, his signature weapon drawn, ready to deal the wounding blow. Before he reached her however, he received a jolting pain on the side. This caused him to lose focus and drop to the ground in front of Trixie, where he saw that she had created a "horn blade" of her own and—upon turning—that it had made a serious gash at his side. It was bleeding too and it hurt something fierce; not something for the kids to see.
"Halt!" Greatstone called. "Chronicle has sustained an injury. Trixie wins!"
"Hah! Looks like I'm the victor!" Trixie gloated as the barrier was dismissed. She then 'picked' him up and hurled him behind his charge, instantly knocking him to near-unconsciousness.
Immediately, Mystic Shield was on it, "Lemon Hearts!" Said unicorn came over and did her stuff, covering the gash with a "magical bandage".
"Nnnh…" Chronicle groaned as he saw Twilight step forward.
"So, Twilight Sparkle. Shall we?" he heard Trixie say. "I'd say you have a bit of advantage since while you're still quite fresh, I'm a bit winded. Not that that matters much. I can still beat you."
Twilight turned to her bodyguard, who was slowly losing the fight to stay awake as a result from the critical hit and his unceremonious throw. "Don't," he tried to warn her. "Her power… it's not all…" But he couldn't finish as he continued to slip away.
The last words he heard before finally passing out told him his warning failed.
"All right, Trixie," he heard his charge say icily. "Let’s duel!"
"Excellent," Trixie had replied.
C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—S—T—MS—G–TB–B–CC
"Why did you skip the duel?"
Personally, I found it a bit boring. Also, the scene after was quite heart-wrenching for me to type down. With the forced eviction and the sealing of the town. Kinda makes me wonder why the Princesses aren't sometimes a bit more hooves-on on these matters.
"But—"
As for the 'scenes' in "The Return of Harmony" arc, I skipped some of them too, and yes I did make a somewhat heart-wrenching scene of my own with the way Chronicle's battle-obsession was stopped.
"I remember. Fluttershy had to purposely use the Stare, but not before punching him in the stomach to force his eyes open. And then him actually crying, not that I thought he was incapable of doing so. I mean—"
I know, I know. Anyway, the case is, there are some scenes I can't write down because I got too much feels for them (that I successfully keep in) or because I don't feel it's overly necessary to know what Chronicle was doing there. Only on rare occasions will I do them; if not, I resort with my own.
"Oh."
Now, back to the story proper! I intended to do a dreamscape sequence, but…oh, what the hay, I'll do it!
Within Chronicle's mind, Mystic Wand was busy fiddling around at his brother's "memory cathedral" by way of a complex spell he learned while in his world. Unlike the rest of his siblings (indeed, the rest of his -core- family), Wand was more experienced in magical theory and application than in combat. While his siblings were akin to knights in a sense, he was more of a scholar.
The "memory cathedral" is a place developed by a person who practice the technique called the method of loci. One would order their memories into a visual location of some sort—a cathedral, town, house, carrier, even a submarine—so long as it can be pictured easily and is familiar to the person. It can be used to remember or forget, but he wasn't all too familiar with the how of that.
He was about to investigate the memories of his younger brother's arsenal when he was suddenly whisked to the dreamscape. He found Chronicle looking dazed. Not wanting to tell him he had been snooping about, he asked, "Is something the matter?"
"Oh, Wand! Am I glad to see you!" He didn't question why his eldest brother was suddenly here, because he needed his help right now.
"Why Wand? Why not Mystic?"
"Because I already have a friend whom I call Mystic, only his second name is Shield. Anyway, I need your help."
"Are you sure? You know we're not supposed to meddle in each others' world's affairs."
"I know that, but…my friend's muzzle—both mouth and nose—has been removed and I need to find a way to get it back. Luckily for her, she has Toon traits, so she isn't dead yet, but I don't know how long she'll last."
"How was it removed?"
"Clicked-and-dragged into a 'virtual' trash bin by a 'virtual' mouse. Caster of the spell was wearing the Alicorn Amulet."
This shocked the dark blue unicorn. "What?! The Alicorn Amulet?! How did—" He cut himself off. "Wait. Is it from some black market?"
"Yes."
"Oh. It's just that in my world, the Alicorn Amulet is sealed in a high-security vault. It's a forbidden artifact made out of…brr, I don't want to say."
"I think I get what you're saying." Alicorn is also a term to describe a unicorn's horn. "What else is there about the Amulet?"
"Well…"
Wand told Chronicle about the Amulet, about its power, about its history of users that went corrupt with it, the fact that it was not the amulet that made them so but the power it granted, and how to part it from its wearer.
"I see. Thanks, Wand."
"You told me that your friend has Toon traits, right?"
Pinkie Pie. Chronicle nodded. "Right."
"And that she managed to fight an 'iris out'?"
"Yes."
"Ah. I'll see what I can do. I can't enter your world. Not supposed to, anyway. But I can go to its 'black dimension' and fix her if she happens to go there. Try and inform her of that when you get the chance."
"How will you go about it?"
"Well, step one, I'll—"
But before he could say anything, both of them were evicted from the dreamscape, one back to his own, and the other—
C—MW—C—MW—C—MW—C—MW—C—MW—C—MW
—back into the domain of the waking. Chronicle felt pain coursing through his back and all over his body and wondered what his brother was about to say before being forced awake.
"Oww…" he groaned before opening his eyes and realizing just where he was.
He was at a stretch of meadow well outside Ponyville, lying on a patch of dirt. He had apparently been tossed, most likely by Trixie, all the way out of town, and rolled for a while before awaking. He turned to the side to see that the same thing has happened with Twilight; she lost her duel, just as he has lost his.
He also saw a gigantic dome flash into existence above the town and was slowly lowered over it as they got to their feet. By the time it landed, it cut the two of them off from the town as well as their friends, the other Spirits of Harmony, Spike, and Mystic Shield.
Rainbow was trying uselessly to smash through headfirst, and Spike and Mystic pressed one claw/hoof against the barrier. The two forced exiles touched their hooves to their respective spots.
"It’s okay, guys," Twilight assured the others. "I’ll figure something out. Just take care of each other, and keep an eye on Trixie. There’s something strange about her." And then off she went, Spike saying her name as he thumped his forehead against the dome—as solid as any glass or plastic wall.
Meanwhile, Chronicle was saying, "Mystic Shield, I leave this to you and your students while I'm gone."
For some reason, Mystic was feeling at all confident, likely shaken from seeing Chronicle fall and his own failure to oust Trixie earlier. "After seeing what she did, I'm not sure we can."
"I need you, more than ever. Should Trixie try something again, you and your students are the next line of defense. Please," he pleaded.
The ascot-wearing unicorn shook his head. "No promises. I know of no other place where I can set up my academy should I ever cross Trixie and have her ban me. Most everywhere else I tried setting up, they either had very few unicorns if any, or the officials didn't approve. Ponyville's my only way to uphold my mentor's legacy, and I swore to him that I would continue his teachings.
Chronicle gave a sigh. "…Fine. I'll see what I can do out here. Best of luck to you." With that, he took off after his charge, leaving his friends behind, not that he had a choice in the matter; they were trapped here, and it will be up to him, Twilight, or some other wandering hero to save Ponyville. Well, there was still Princess Luna, and despite her night hours she would probably be awake to tend to legal matters in Celestia's absence, but he felt it would be 'cheating' to ask her for help on dealing with some madmare. Maybe as a last resort.
C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS
Eyecatch (picture-type) - To the right is Twilight Sparkle and Chronicle running off somewhere, their faces in a determined expression. To the left is the closed off Ponyville, where their friends saw them off. The show's logo is seen on the upper right.
C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS
All right! It seems that I had enough in me to write the sealing of the town. Just shut up, okay?
"I didn't say anything."
C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS
Somewhere at the meadow…
While Chronicle paced about behind her, deep in thought, Twilight was standing in a grassy area and casting a spell on a flower in front of her. Her shaking lean forward and moan through gritted teeth told just how much mental effort she was putting into this one; the teeth ground and the sparks flew, and in due time the bloom folded itself up into a bud. She smiled at the result, but a moment later the effect undid itself and she voiced a supremely frustrated groan.
"It’s impossible!" she exclaimed. "How could Trixie know such advanced magic? Without Spike, I can’t get a message to the Princess in Saddle Arabia."
And it'll take a long time to go all the way to Canterlot to inquire with Princess Luna. Assuming we can even get an audience with her in record time, thought her bodyguard. He didn't voice his opinions though.
"So who else do I know who understands strange and powerful magic?"
"What about Zecora?" Chronicle suggested.
"That's a great idea!"
C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS
Later, at Zecora's hut…
After the two explained to the zebra their current predicament, Twilight paced the floor while Zecora sat cross-legged on her haunches at a small table, holding a cup of tea, and with Chronicle standing in front of her.
"Your tale of woe upsets me so," the Everfree resident took a sip. "No wonder you’re dour. It’s an abuse of power!"
"I don’t know what to do, Zecora," said Twilight. "I feel like I’ve abandoned my friends, but I can’t take her on horn-to-horn."
Zecora took another sip before setting down the cup. "If you train with me, so good you’ll be. I’ll show you the way to make sure she won’t stay."
"You’ll train me in magic? But she was doing age spells, weather spells, you name it!" An overly emphatic gesture knocked over the cup, spilling the tea. The herbalist looked at her worriedly and held the vessel in one hoof.
"When it comes to magic, it would be tragic—" She waved her other front hoof over it and it was instantly refilled. "—If somepony licked me, especially Trixie."
"You really think I can beat her?"
The zebra nodded. "Mmm-hmm."
This got Twilight so excited that she jumped her forelegs onto the table, spilling the tea again. "Okay. When do we start?" This time, she got a slightly nasty look through narrowed eyes and gave back a placating grin.
"Well, I could use some help too," said Chronicle. "A shame I left the element crystals back home." This earned him a confused look from the zebra. "Twilight had one when those blue monsters attacked Ponyville. And your hut."
"Ah, that memory is quite clear to me," said Zecorra. "She had a companion with her named Kairi. And there is something I would like to ask; how was she when you saw her last?"
"Well, after the attack, she had to leave. She had friends with her, so don't worry. Also, how is this relevant to our situation?"
Zecora had nothing to say to that.
C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z
Later, elsewhere in the forest…
The two unicorns were standing on the surface of a totally still pool, both using a mild version of Chronicle's walk-on-water spell, floating a couple of large, shapeless blobs of water around themselves. Zecora stood meditating on one hind leg at its edge, the other one stuck straight out in front and her front hooves touching. All of them had their eyes closed.
"Ahhh…no noise, no sound, no din, no fuss must interfere with your focus," Zecora said. "Unlearn what you have learned. Only then can victory be earned."
Twilight seemed to be concentrating too much and groaning as she tried to keep focus while Chronicle was still relatively calm. Eventually, the former popped open her eyes and, having lost her concentration, she had just enough time for one yelp before splashing into the pond along with her three water blobs.
As her head surfaced, Zecora leaned in towards her. "There is much, much that I can teach. But the answer you need may still be out of reach. Chronicle over there, as you can see, in spite of the crisis, remains serene."
Indeed her bodyguard remained undisturbed, although his legs began to buckle a bit, but he remained standing. What followed next was a tickling sensation. While he did his best not to show that he was laughing, his face betrayed the fact that he was resisting.
Twilight surfaced from the pool as her new teacher walked off, stopping when she said, I’m sorry, Zecora. I’m trying my best, but…I can’t stop thinking about Trixie. There was something different about her. It’s like she’s gone from high and mighty to mean and nasty."
"Your thinking needs a re-adjust," Zecora said before walking off again. "Total concentration is a must."
All of a sudden, Chronicle's tail began to twitch before his body was then forced into a series of high-speed dance moves before ending with a wild spin. Naturally, this broke his concentration and he and his blobs of water fell. Zecora stopped one more and turned to look at the lake as he surfaced and spat out some water that made it into his mouth.
"My friends are in trouble," he said. He didn't want to use Surveillance in Zecora's constant presence. "Trixie is tormenting them with menial tasks and punishments as we speak."
"How can you tell, if I may inquire, that your friends' situations are most dire?"
"You see, just like my friend Pinkie Pie can predict certain things with the Pinkie Sense, Chronicle has something like it, but it works differently," Twilight explained. "It's called the Harmony Link."
"I know what the Pinkie Sense is." Her time in Ponyville eventually taught her what it was. "But not, however, of this Harmony Link."
"While Pinkie predicts random things about to happen, Chronicle predicts bad things about to happen to me and my friends. When Pinkie's tail twitches, something's going to fall. If his tail twitches, something bad's happening to Pinkie."
"For each of my friends, a certain body part reacts accordingly depending on who, then I either receive a portion of what they're suffering, or a migraine if their minds are being affected," Chronicle continued. "For Twilight, my horn sparks magic. For Applejack, my legs buckle. For Rainbow, my sides ache at the places where I would have wings if I were a pegasus. For Rarity, my eyes sting. And for Fluttershy, my heart beats out of rhythm." He then turned to face his charge. "Harmony Link? Not the first name I would come up with."
"It was in The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide."
"Really? That means I'm not the first." He then shook his head vigorously. "But let's ponder on that later. Right now, we need to practice. Find a way to stop Trixie and talking about things like these isn't helping."
C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z
Back in Ponyville…
Spike peeked out of a curtain, seeing the banners of Trixie attached to various Ponyville buildings and flapping in a strong wind. The sky had gone a dull, cloudy gray. There was also a statue of the vanquishing sorceress—rearing up on her hind legs, dressed in her old, star-spangled hat and cape with jewel brooch.
He and the rest of Twilight's friends were inside the Books and Branches Library. With them were Mystic Shield, and two of his students: Tricky Books and Morpheus.
Everypony was skimming through the library's books with a speed that would be the envy of any college student cramming for finals. The books had been dumped in piles on the floor, the shelves nearly empty.
Rarity gave a sigh as she magically closed book and threw it aside. "This really doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere."
The book had landed on a pile away from her, from which Pinkie put her head up with a resigned moan and shrug. Just in case, Tricky had cast a spell on her so that breathing wouldn't be needed for her to survive. Food and water is still a problem however, so it was merely a temporary measure.
"I hear you, Pinkie," said Applejack. "I can’t find anythin’ that describes the kinda magic Trixie’s doin’."
Spike groaned. "There must be something. Twilight has every magic book there is!"
"All I can figure out is that the magic isn't really coming from her," said Tricky.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy found a picture of the Amulet in the book she ws currently holding. She pointed to the picture. "Um, I think I may have found something."
Rarity popped up in front of her, hamming it up, "Yes, it’s time for us to consider our futures in this new, Trixie-led Ponyville."
Fluttershy shifted position. "Um, this sounds an awful lot like Trixie’s magic."
And then came Applejack. "She wants me to grow apples with no peels!" She gave a sigh. "Now how the hay am I supposed to do that?"
Fluttershy moved again. "Um, there’s a picture here of that necklace."
The mouthless pink pony stood up with a few irked grunts and gesticulations. None of the others have paid her the slightest bit of attention throughout. Except for Morpheus.
"Um, girls?" he said. "Everybody!" Nopony paid attention to him either.
"It’s called the Alicorn Amulet, and whoever wears it is blessed with untold—" Spike yanked the book out of Fluttershy's grip.
"Hey, everypony, look! This book has a picture of Trixie’s necklace!" White, pink, blue, orange-tan, purple, and silver-gray heads instantly clustered around for a better look. "It’s called the Alicorn Amulet, and whoever wears it is blessed with untold powers!"
The diligent yellow pegasus had found herself at the back of the group alongside the black disguise-capable stallion. "If you read a little further, you’ll see—"
Rarity was reading. “Even though it provides great power, it also corrupts the user.”
"Yes, but, um, you can’t—"
"You can’t just take the Alicorn Amulet off her neck." Spike. "It has a magical lock. Trixie’s the only pony who can take it off!"
"Maybe we can—"
"We need to get this information to Twilight." Applejack. "She’ll know what to do."
"But…h-how—"
"If any of us try to leave, Trixie’s magical force field will tell her." Rarity.
"Maybe we should—"
"I’ve got it!" Rainbow flew up toward the ceiling. "Trying to sneak past the force field would be impossible without help." She then gave a wink. "But I know who’s got the goods to get into the woods."
"I-It must be—" Rainbow then swooped down and lifted the other pegasus overhead.
"Fluttershy!"
"What?!?" She crashed to the ground and shivered under an open book as Applejack walked over to her.
"What do you say, Fluttershy? Can you handle the mission?"
Fluttershy popped up. "No!" She landed on her haunches, clutching the book. "I’ll crack under the pressure!" She hunched down under it again. "I’ll snap like a twig!"
The brash blue daredevil came to sweep her off the floor, making her drop the book again. "Perfect! Fluttershy’ll sneak out of Ponyville and find Twilight and Chronicle."
"But…but I…I…"
Down she went again like a ton of bricks wrapped in a pink mane and tail. At the center of the room, and four hooves—white, pink, blue, orange-tan—reached into view and piled up. Their owners look hopefully across the room, where Fluttershy huddled miserably with bugging eyes and chattering teeth. Three more hooves—purple, silver-gray, black—relented and did the same.
"As much as they're apparently inconsiderate of your lack of confidence in this mission," Mystic said, "you're really our only chance. Come on."
Fluttershy finally lets off a defeated sigh and hesitantly added hers to the pile of limbs. "Okay."
They broke the pile with assorted declarations of support, confidence, and yielding.
"And I know just the design, for a dangerous-mission outfit!"
Just in case, I'm sending Morpheus to accompany her," Mystic said. "Should she get caught, he'll serve as the distraction.
The black unicorn took offense to this. "Hey!"
"Twilight doesn't know or trust you enough as she does Fluttershy."
"And why not?"
"Because she knows her much more than she knows you."
"…Good point. I'll need some time to perfect my disguise." And with that, he went over to the shaking pegasus and looked her over, but made certain his eyes weren't too leery or lecherous.
S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—TB—M
If one were to look at Ponyville from outside, they would see dark clouds confined within the force field Trixie put up around it; outside, the sky was still clear and blue.
Not that Fluttershy and Morpheus could see it from their hiding place. It was a clever plan. Employing three beavers that were stuck inside the barrier, they would hide inside a felled tree trunk with a knothole—both of its sides bitten off to enforce the illusion— and the beavers would take it to the force field. Two of them would then pat at the force field to call for Trixie's attention and one of them would convince her to lift it up for them to pass.
"You there! What are you doing?" Morpheus heard Trixie's voice. The plan was working.
The beaver not beating on the field let go with what was almost certainly a torrent of unprintable language, pointing at the log and the barrier to make its point—they want to move their cargo toward the forests.
From the sound of magic that followed, Trixie seemed to allow them to pass, tipping the whole thing up just enough to let all three beavers carry their lumber out, and let it slam back down.
A few seconds later, they heard Trixie leave. "Okay," Morpheus whispered. "I think the coast is clear."
One beaver then reached into the knothole and yanked Fluttershy out, with another pulling on his tail to help. She was now dressed in goggles and a dark gray hooded shirt and matching shorts with lighter gray accessories: utility belt, sewn-on covers for her ears, shoes on only three hooves. The missing shoe and her generally disheveled, dazed appearance spoke to the very rough journey she had had getting to this point. Shaking some sense into herself, she propped the goggles on her forehead.
Morpheus popped out as well, his appearance identical to hers, but cleaner and with the fourth shoe. He noted that the outfit had his not-really-existent wings covered, not that they'll even open up since it was but a disguise.
"Oh…oh, dear!" Fluttershy said as she backed and turned away. "Rarity’s dangerous-mission outfit is ruined! Guess we better go back."
Her retreat was stopped by one frantically chittering beaver in front, then the other two and several birds from behind. One of them chirped in her right ear.
"Oh…okay, okay, you’re right. I need to be brave and find Twilight." Another bird chirped in her left ear. "Oh! Y-You’ve found her?" She then entered a panicky state. "She’s in the Everfree Forest?!"
The scuffed-up pegasus galloped back to the log she rode out on, tackling Morpheus in the way, and dove back into its knothole, but the birds dragged her out by the ears, mane, and tail. She found herself being carried backwards toward the untamed wilds.
"Oh, for Celestia's sake, Fluttershy. Don't back away now!" said Morpheus as he followed her. "Twilight needs you! Chronicle needs you! What will he say if he finds out you were assigned to send a message to them only to chicken out at the last second?"
"Oh, this is me being brave!" she ignored him, trying to “run” in midair as the beavers followed. "I want to be brave at home! Locked in my closet, with my teddy bear!"
"Wow those birds must be very strong," commented Morpheus. "There's no way a pegasus could be this light. Or is it just pegasus magic at work?" He shrugged the question away.
F—T—M—F—T—M—F—T—M—F—T—M
At Zecora's hut…
Fluttershy was seated on her haunches at the table inside, out of her covert-operations gear, picking up a cup of tea, and sipping it. She was seated opposite of Zecora, and Chronicle (naturally dried off) sat between them, an expression that was between being cross and being ashamed in his face. The two of them had similar cups as well.
"I'm disappointed in you, Fluttershy. You, who braved the Everfree Forest with us. You, who decided to go in after me to rescue Elizabeak and the Cutie Mark Crusaders after they wandered here. Being such a…" He couldn't finish and just groaned. "Ugh."
Fluttershy felt extremely ashamed. He had a point, and she had no excuse in his eyes. "Sorry. It's just that after seeing what Trixie can do and is willing to do, I… I…"
Chronicle let off another sigh. "Fine. I'll let this by." He then turned to Morpheus, who was now back in his original appearance. "What brings you here?"
"Backup plan and distraction. And I had to push your friend the rest of the way once the birds and beavers started being not enough." The black unicorn shook his head. "Guess that didn't make for a very good scene, huh?"
"It didn't." When Chronicle had saw two Fluttershys coming over, he fired a weak shot at the pusher, as the one he knew would never force another pony around. The shot had struck Morpheus in the horn, forcing him to drop the disguise.
Twilight, also dried off, was currently pacing the room, taking in the intel their friend had offered. "I can’t believe I didn’t recognize the Alicorn Amulet!"
"And the more she uses it, the more it will corrupt her!" Fluttershy added.
"But is the corruption from the amulet itself, or just the temptation of such power?" asked Chronicle.
"Don't tell me you're thinking of taking that amulet for yourself," gasped Morpheus.
"Yes. Unless the corruption is from the amulet itself, I think I can resist the temptation. I won't use it all the time, of course, and not at all if the corruption is from the amulet itself. Don't worry, I'll have it verified once we have it."
"But how am I supposed to beat that Amulet?" complained Twilight. "My magic’s not good enough."
Her bodyguard then gave a sigh. "And neither is mine. This is why I don't do magic duels; battle's more of my forte. I should'nt've held back. But then I could've killed her."
"Twilight Sparkle, much work have you done. You learned all of my lessons—all but one," said Zecora. "If Trixie’s tricks have you in a fix, You must nix your magic and use the six."
“Nix your magic, use the six”…“nix your magic, use the six,” Twilight repeated to herself. A floodlight then came on behind the purple eyes. "“Use the six,” that’s it! Zecora, you’re a genius!" Zecora allowed herself a contented little smile and nod, and Twilight levitated aquill and scroll over to the table and began to write. "Now we’ll need to get you back inside Ponyville, Fluttershy, Morpheus."
Chronicle turned to face Zecora and asked, "Is the 'six' you referred to the six?" Eventually, as the zebra got integrated into the Ponyville community, she learned about the Elements of Harmony and its bearers.
Zecora answered with a nod.
"I see."
C—TS—F—Z—M—C—TS—F—Z—M—C—TS—F—Z—M
Eyecatch (video-type) - On the left side is Zecora's hut. From the right emerges Fluttershy, who was pushed by the similar-looking Morpheus. Chronicle opens the door, and blasts Morpheus, reverting him to his original look and leaving him dazed. As the blue unicorn put a hoof to his mouth in apology, the show's logo appears on the upper left.
C—TS—F—Z—M—C—TS—F—Z—M—C—TS—F—Z—M
It was a few hours before dusk would set in.
"This better not be another false alarm, or the Great and Powerful Trixie will—" This threat died with a gasp as the self-proclaimed dictator of Ponyville saw the two exiles, and the Everfree Forest's resident behind them.
"You!" she seethed as she walked over, her voice muffled by the field. "What’s the matter, Twilight Sparkle? Not enjoying your exile?"
"I know about the Alicorn Amulet. I know you cheated," was the reply.
Trixie feigned offense. "Cheated? Moi?"
Twilight gave a shrewd smile, levitating another necklace. "Yeah. And I thought you might want to see what a real magical amulet looks like." This one consisted of a thick gold band set with a roughly circular piece that displayed three spirals curling in from the edges. "Zecora gave it to me. It’s from beyond the Everfree Forest—" The prodigal unicorn secured it around her neck. "—and it’s way more powerful than your measly little Alicorn Amulet!"
"Ha! Nothing’s more powerful than the Alicorn Amulet!" Trixie boasted. "And nopony’s more powerful than the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Her eyes flickered red.
"Care to put your amulet where your mouth is? How about another duel?"
"Why should I? I already beat you."
"That’s up to you…" Twilight replied teasingly as she walked away. "…but I guess you’ll never see the totally awesome magic from beyond the Everfree Forest. Come on, Zecora."
The departing teacher and student gave Trixie a good view of their rumps and hind legs. Chronicle seemed to be at odds with something, then he seemed to relent and leave as well, but not before giving Trixie an "it's not over" glare.
"Wait!" Trixie then said, her eyes broadcasting her desire to do anything more pleasant—say, pulling her own teeth out through her nose—but she teleported herself out of the force field and let it dissipate. An instant later, she has reappeared next to the confident pair and grumpy stallion. "Okay, okay, you’re on. A second duel," she finished softly and viciously.
C—TS—T—Z—C—TS—T—Z—C—TS—T—Z
Later, at the town square…
Everypony was gathered. All the pieces were set. Chronicle was furious that Trixie caged the mayor. Trixie, Snips, and Snails stood at one side of the open space facing Twilight, him, Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, and Spike at the other.
Lightning ripped the air behind the scowling blue unicorn, and Twilight planted her front hooves a bit wider to give herself a good stance. Her face was set in a quiet, squint-eyed grimace, as are those of the friends ranged behind her.
"Remember, Trixie," Chronicle warned. "If I see you crippling anybody for life or ending it, I will end you."
"Oh, please. If our duel last time was any indication, you don't have what it takes."
"I was just going easy. It wouldn't do for me to commit outright murder in front of the whole town."
Trixie decide to ignore that and addressed her opponent. "Let’s start with a simple age spell, shall we?"
"Let’s."
"Snips! Snails!" As soon as they galloped in to face her, they get hit with a spell that turned them both into newborns and start crying at full tilt. Trixie smirked. "An oldie, but a goodie." She then gave a dismissive chuckle. "Now let’s see what your little charm can do."
There came a moment’s thought from Twilight. "No problem." She looked to one side. Um, Applejack, Rarity? Could you help me, please?"
"Huh?" Both of them said, one after the other.
As they stepped forward, Trixie rolled her eyes and tossed her head as if to say, Is this really the best you can do?
Twilight adjusted her stance a bit, got her horn going, and faced down the two very uneasy volunteers now standing in front of her near a statue. Trixie floated an emery board up to file the edge of a hoof, clearly unconcerned about anything her opponent might do.
Then came the boom, throwing up a cloud of smoke that dissipated to reveal that both Applejack and Rarity have been turned into fillies and lost their cutie marks. Applejack’s hat was the same size as it was, meaning that it is now far too large for her head. It toppled forward, covering her entire face.
Across the way, Trixie kept filing her hoof for a moment, then dropped the board with a bug-eyed, slack-jawed stare. Total disbelief was quickly replaced by a bored sigh and gesture. "Ho-hum. So you can do an age spell. Big deal."
Another shot from the violet horn put them back at their proper age—but she wasn't done yet. The third left Filly Rarity standing on Mare Applejack’s back; the fourth, Mare Rarity atop a very old Applejack in the same pose; the fifth, both at their proper ages with all four hooves on the ground. Now Twilight had Trixie’s undivided attention.
"That’s…that’s impossible!"
"That’s nothin’!" A quick over-shoulder glance disclosed Rainbow, who cringed a bit at finding herself such an easy target. She then took the next spell and wound up unchanged when the haze cleared—or so she thought until two additional blue wings popped up from the sides of her head. These rose slightly behind her, joined by an identical rainbow-maned noggin; a moment later, she backed up quickly into the air and was facing an exact duplicate of her, the real deal was on the left of Trixie's visual range.
"Yow!" They eyed each other cautiously from various angles and even traded places to make sure their eyes are not fooling them.
Down below, Trixie looked as if her eyes might pop out of her skull. "How did you…?"
"Duplication spell. Ever seen one pony play ten instruments?"
Her next sideways head tilt put Pinkie in the line of fire, who was between Carrot Top, and Lyra and Bon Bon, the unicorn drinking a smoothie and seemingly uncaring for the current crisis. A spell then blasted the pink pony, forcing the others to duck, and the smoke cleared to show her rigged up as a one-mare band similar to he get-up during the parasprite incident. She went into a lively polka number, somehow managing to play the tuba around her midsection despite the minor technical hitch of having no mouth.
Trixie gets a few bits of up-close-and-personal performance, the last of which came from directly overhead and forced her to crouch down in order to avoid eating the instruments. "This…just can’t be!"
"Ooh, one more. I can turn a mare into a stallion! And vice-versa! At the same time!"
At this line, Applejack's eyes displayed terrified green points, and her teeth were about to chew through her bottom lip. Chronicle, who had moved over next to them during the polka, just gave a big gulp. Before either could get away, they took the full brunt of that “one more” .
Once the haze evaporated, the mare had become a large and bulky stallion whose blond mane/tail were no longer tied back. The hat, coloration, and cutie mark were intact. She—or rather, he—crossed right legs over left with a noticeable degree of embarrassment. "Ee-yup," 'he' said.
"Not again! Why do I always end up looking like my sister?!" the second voice, a female one, came. It came from a mare—the eyelashes confirmed it—with the same color scheme (and cutie mark), but different mane-style. Her muzzle was also more curved than before.
The follow-up spell reversed the transformation just as quickly and left Applejack quite disoriented. Chronicle however managed to keep his composure. Trixie’s jaw hung so low that it might fall out of her head with one good sneeze.
"Well, Trixie, looks like my amulet is more powerful than yours." As Twilight spoke, red aura seized the relic and yanked it off. "Hey! Give it back!" It was floated over to the power-hungry unicorn, who let off a diabolical laugh.
"With this amulet, I shall now rule all of Equestria!" One hard pull undid the Amulet’s chain, the red aura of her horn and eyes flickered away—revealing a pink aura—and she floated Twilight’s charm on to replace it. "Witness, my subjects! Gaze upon an ever greater and powerful-er Trixie!"
As Chronicle entered a battle stance, lightning then cracked around Trixie and she stood up on her hind legs. One of the two Rainbows darted in and snatched the Amulet away. "Hey!" Be she caught herself, smiling wickedly. "I don’t need that old Alicorn Amulet. I have this!"
Aiming her horn toward the clouds, she let go with a burst of her own magic and hit the escaping pegasus square in the belly. She didn't lose her hold on the Amulet, though, and the energy coursing over her form had no effect except to start her laughing wildly.
"Stop it!…That…" Rainbow struggled to say as the spell faded away. "…that tickles!"
"Tickles?" Trixie began to stammer. "That.was supposed to make you writhe in agony!" She tapped her necklace. "This amulet is defective!" She fired another round, which Rainbow ducked easily. "Give mine back!"
"Sorry." She flew down to Zecora, who held a small, open wooden box. She dropped the Amulet in and closed the lid "This is going back into hiding where it belongs." In reality, after much convincing, it would be given to Chronicle for safekeeping and emergencies.
Twilight sidled up to the was-dictator and said, "By the way, Trixie…" She tapped the necklace. "…the amulet around your neck? It’s one of Zecora’s doorstops." And it chose that moment to fall off the gold band and crack in two when it hit the ground.
Trixie continued to stammer. "But…how did you do those spells? Nopony can do those spells!"
"You’re right. Not even me. Zecora taught me so much about magic while I was in exile. She even taught me when not to use it. My magic alone wasn’t powerful enough to take on the Alicorn Amulet head-to-head. So I needed to use a different kind of magic. The magic of friendship! I also knew that the only pony who could get the Amulet off your neck was you. "
As it turned out, the letter Twilight wrote was instructions for Fluttershy and Morpheus, who would relay it to not only their friends, but also Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, one of Mystic Shield's female students.
The former three were the ones who posed as Male Applejack, Old Applejack, and Young Applejack. Sweetie 'starred' as Young Rarity. As for the female student, who took the role of "Chronicle's sister", that 'volunteer' was Twinkleshine, who said she didn't "want to miss an opportunity to practice full-on make-up". And Fluttershy posed as Rainbow's double.
They pulled this off with copious amounts of paint, hair-styling, eye contacts, wigs, and spare stetsons. Oh, and the statue served as a hiding place for the 'doubles'.
"In short," Chronicle teased. "We used 'stage magic', which is supposed to be your forte, to trick you. You know, I've always been comparing the two of you with my charge excelling in power and you excelling in skill. But it looks like…Twilight's got the skill down pat. 'Anything you can do, she can do better…' ring a bell?"
Trixie was left a bit speechless before she managed to regain her voice. "But…what about the pony with the ten instruments?"
"That’s not magic, that was just Pinkie Pie," Twilight answered.
On the end of this, she gestured to the polka-playing party pony, who earned a round of cheers from several onlookers. As the crowd slowly started to advance on Trixie and she backed away uneasily, the impenetrable overcast parted to yield an expanse of cheerful blue and a bright sun above it all.
At around the same time, Snips and Snails returned to normal in a poof of smoke, as the age spell was thankfully only temporary.
C—TS—T—S—A—BM—AB—GS—RD—R—F—PP—T—SB
Later that night…
Fluttershy’s bunny Angel floated blissfully under Twilight’s control, along with the rest of her animals, going in an infinity pattern overhead. The performing unicorn stood on a stage in the town square, and ponies watched from the packed bleachers set up on three sides, where they ooh’ed and aah’ed in wonder and delight. Two high private boxes had been set up on opposite sides of the street; one held the Mayor, the other Princess Celestia and what looked like two horses, the delegates from Saddle Arabia. The first was a brown, blond-maned stallion and the other a light blue, purple-maned mare, both wearing finely decorated saddles, bridles, and headwear.
Fluttershy shivered in Spike’s comforting arms, lifting her face for one quick, terrified glance before ducking away again. Her fears for the animals’ safety were entirely unfounded, though; Twilight maneuvered them into a new aerial pattern while fireworks burst around them, eliciting more awed reactions.
Finally, she brought the critters back down, seeming a bit puzzled at this new development. Turns out it was Trixie—back in her usual starry cape and jewel brooch—standing just past the edge of the stage who did the effects. Chronicle stood next to her, watchful. "Trixie?"
The showmare gave Twilight a smile of genuine contrition as her hat floated down onto her head. She had removed the gold band on which Twilight’s fake amulet was mounted. "It’s the least I could do. I treated you and your friends so horribly when I was wearing that Alicorn Amulet. I just couldn’t control myself. You can forgive me, can’t you?" She gave her opposite number a one-two punch—a pitiful pout coupled with the big sad soulful eyes—but Twilight remained unconvinced for a long, silent moment.
"Hmmm…" But she finally gave a smile. "…sure."
Trixie sighed in quiet relief. "Oh…good."
"Here." Chronicle levitated a full pouch over to Trixie. "Some more bits to help in getting you back on top."
"Thank you." After accepting the bits, she resumed her old over-the-top manner. "Don’t you think the Great and Apologetic Trixie is the most magnificent humble pony you’ve ever seen?"
Twilight rolled her eyes disgustedly, but let it shift into a little smile and the merest shake of her head. Chronicle did the same. Maybe someday she’ll get it. Just as in her last, ignominious flight from Ponyville, Trixie reared up and was lost in a sudden burst of smoke, which cleared to show her galloping away from the camera. Her “grand” exit was marred by a stumble that dumped her on the ground, but she was soon up and moving again.
C—TS—T—C—TS—T—C—TS—T—C—TS—T
In the mist of the "Iris Out" phenomenon, two pink hooves shoved themselves through the tiny aperture from behind and stretched it out so that Pinkie can tumble through. The black ground snapped shut behind her as she entered the 'black dimension', straightened up and pointed out her still-missing facial features, hum-grunting furiously all the while as if to say, “Now how about my mouth, stupid?”
The sound of a spell being cast came, and revealed Twilight—actually Mystic Wand in disguise—walking out to join her through a portal 'she' created. This winked away, and a quick burst of magic restored Pinkie’s mouth and nose to their rightful place. She sucks in a huge breath, then let out her words.
"You're not Twilight, are you?" she asked.
This caught Wand off guard, who relented before dropping his disguise. "No, I'm not. I'm a resident of this dimension."
"Are you related to Chronicle?" She then pointed at his cutie mark. "Because you share the same cutie mark! Oh, I also remember the time where we went to this other world where everypony there had their genders switched, except his counterpart wasn't simply that, but his sister!" A thought then came to mind. "Oh, maybe he's part of a family full of ponies with the same cutie mark, and that family's on a mission related to stories and such! And maybe you also have a few griffons, a zebra, a dragon—"
During her rant, Wand was already building up a spell, already wanting to get rid of this gal. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good to hea—" He suddenly pointed somewhere. "Hey, is that a place that needs a party?!"
She immediately turned to where he was pointing. "Where?!"
He then hit her with his spell…sending her back to Equestria Prime—and modifying her memories so that all she would remember of this dimension is that she somehow got her mouth back…and that would be about it. "Whew," he said to himself. "Didn't think that would work. Everypony in my world is too smart for the Yoink."
Just then, he received an alert in his mind. Mystic Wand, a stern voice resounded. What were you doing with that pony from Equestria Prime?
Wand gave a sigh. "Sorry, Father. Timmy asked me to restore her mouth after it was taken away. If it weren't for her Toon traits, she would've been long dead."
You should've taken it up with me, you know. Record Keeper was very cross.
"Sorry again. I was spending the time looking for a way to reverse the effects of the Alicorn Amulet."
That thing? The dangerous artifact was known to the Story Crew as well, but its degrees of corruption varied from world to world. In some, it indeed slowly leads its wearers to evil. In others, its promise of power is simply too tempting for lesser ponies to resist for long.
"Yes. I can safely presume that—"
Tell me the rest once you return to Twilight Sparkle Equestria and into your dreamscape. That 'black dimension' can drive you mad the longer you stay there.
"Oh, all right." With that, he teleported himself away.
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