And I'm Just Scared, So Scared That I'll Fail You
A/N: Special thanks to ArcaneVisions, King Sombrony, Cadmium, Evowizard25, D48, Killabyte, chaos5367, JaceArveduin, Obsidian Raindrop, Drgnwolf, D-Bence35, New Spark, nukestar, MoonSparkle The Vampony, Mutie Genic, The Whovian16, and Hela for your comments last chapter! They certainly have helped me, so I'm really grateful for your support.
Chapter title once again brought to you by Relient K's "More Than Useless"
I'm spoiling you guys! Really long chapter ahead for you all to check out, and I'd love to hear your thoughts about it in the comments! This was my whole Saturday, from me with love!
“Luna, are you sure you want to go through with this?”
A month after her last visit Luna had received word from Asgard that they may have some way of fixing her current ailment. Frigga had found a possible remedy, but they had no way of knowing until they tried it.
Even then the spellbook it was retrieved from hinted at what else may come: temporary loss of magic, which would mean Luna would be left relatively defenseless. Frigga recommended having Asgard’s guards take care of her in the meantime, but Luna had passed off the idea. She would be fine in her own, relatively safe realm after all.
Luna stretched out on the medical table to make herself comfortable. This would take some time apparently, and losing access to her magical power sounded quite painful, “The being I have melded with should be removed. I am willing to accept the consequences of this.”
“Your magical abilities will be suppressed,” Frigga warned again. As physically powerful as Luna was, there were threats looming around the horizon that may use this as an opportunity.
This possibility did not disturb Luna as much, who would be in a castle with her sister and Discord, who happened to be able to warp reality, “So long as that is not permanent, so be it. I can do without my magic for a brief time, and any who say otherwise can enjoy being trampled underhoof.”
The doctor from Luna’s previous visit, Eir, interjected, “What research we have done suggests that it will be no more than one month at the longest. The issue is not actually losing it entirely for that time, rather it should be impossible to gain access to it. You will be disconnected, like how the being is being disconnected from you.”
Luna frowned at that. While this may accomplish the goal they were working towards, that being freedom from her nightmarish self, a part of her mind still wondered how she would possibly cope if it ended up being permanent, “And it will not return along with the power?”
Frigga took one of Luna’s front hooves in her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, “We willl have to see. My texts are most vague on the subject.”
Frigga was Loki’s teacher in magic, and Luna had a feeling that she would not have brought this treatment up if she had serious doubts about its chances of success.
“Do it.”
More reports of Ursa attacks, fatalities, and other Everfree Forest related issues were waiting for Luna upon returning to Equestria. To her regret, she returned with the black fur of Nightmare Moon rather than her own shade of blue.
The procedure had been a partial success, and the readings showed that it removed part of the dark influence within Luna, but it was by no means a complete one. Less than five percent had been estimated as being gone now.
The side effect, however, was in full force. Luna did her best to not groan and grit her teeth at the loss of her power, which she could only desperately hope would return soon.
“How was your trip, princess?”
Luna shook off her bad feelings and the feeling of helplessness that accompanied being without magic. She had an apprentice to tend to.
With a yawn Luna took a seat beside the real Trixie, who was working on her illusion techniques in the courtyard, “Tiring for all of the right reasons. Loki says hello.”
The mention of the prince made Trixie blush profusely and quiet entirely, with her seven illusions even fading as she thought back to her first and only meeting with Loki a month prior. She was still using his illusion abilities, but had stopped thinking of him with some effort.
Luna could read the embarrassment on Trixie’s face well and found herself amused. Luna knew why her student was so put off, “Still flustered?”
Trixie averted her eyes as she poked at the ground with a hoof, “Not as much as Prince Loki was…”
Luna rolled her eyes. Loki had been such a baby that morning. And no, that was not just her hangover at the time being angry at his sudden yelp that woke everyone in the hallway, “He was not expecting to have two sets of hooves around him when he woke.”
Trixie cleared her throat as she thought to the next part of their little…incident, “Or for his brother to walk in…”
Instead of being flustered Luna was instead remembering the situation with a bit of joy, given how much everyone was laughing at the time, “And mother.”
Trixie nodded, “I would be wrong to say I was not completely embarrassed.”
Luna tried to not snicker. Trixie may still be working on getting her arrogant pride back, but she was so adorable while she was flustered.
Luna brought a hoof around Trixie’s shoulder, “These things happen. I was drunk, you were tired, and it was Loki’s bed after all. He’s too prideful to just give it up to us I would assume.”
Trixie looked up to her teacher with a nervous smile. There was another reason she felt so off because of the encounter, and that was that it felt like she had failed Luna in some way, “It was not the best way to be introduced to more royalty, or so I think.”
“Lady Frigga isn’t there to judge you, and don’t mind Thor. So what if the ruffian spent the next full day on his back laughing? I know you are new to dealing with royalty, but it is time you get acclimated.”
Again, that was not the full picture, and something else was off with Trixie. Something more…personal.
“Well…”
Trixie had to think hard how she wanted to phrase this. After all, it could lead to any number of responses, many of which would hurt her feelings.
“They thought I was…”
Luna had not put any thought into Thor’s joking tone or Frigga’s follow up to it. It had just been a joke after all, although Luna could see how it might put her student off a bit.
“Their horses have shorter life cycles than our own. Much shorter in fact,” Luna moved her hoof from Trixie’s shoulder to her hair to tousle it, “What, did them mistaking you for my daughter startle you?”
Trixie only could nod as her eyes reverted to being bound to the ground. Luna was not as put off by the idea though, seeing as how she could understand why Thor may have come to that conclusion. They had similarities, and would have even more if Luna was not trapped in her Nightmare Moon form.
Still, Trixie needed comforting, and so she would be given just that, “A horse with a similar moon marking is a rare thing to come by. The situation they found us in likely did not help matters much.”
While touching Trixie’s hair Luna could feel some sweat in it, which brought her mind back to why they were both there. Trixie had work to do, and this was not contributing to that.
Luna stood up to physically show the change in topic, “Now, enough of this chit chat. It’s been a whole month and you are still flustered. It is time for us to forget the matter and continue our exercises.”
Trixie was very much in favor of the idea, and she too rose to her hooves. To show her progression since Luna left a day ago, Trixie summoned forth her illusions again and with a little extra effort added one to their count to make a total of eight.
That impressed Luna greatly, who was not expecting such improvement. It had been a month, but she would have been satiated with four or five illusory Trixies. And the more Trixie used at once, the faster her pool of magic to draw from would grow which would then facilitate faster and exponential growth.
Luna turned to where Trixie should be, only to notice that it was instead an illusion of her apprentice now. Trixie had teleported and swapped places with an illusion, just as Loki would have her do it, “Impressive. You have been improving remarkably with your work.”
“Thank you, princess,” the Trixies spoke in a chorus. Another magic trick Loki must have passed on, to disable sound as a way of determining which was the true self.
Still, there was one thing Luna knew she could do to determine which was the real Trixie. Her apprentice had not fully mastered the technique yet, and only one of her had a shadow. Even without her magical powers Luna could use such mundane things to track the real one, “You are the one who has been putting the effort in. No need to thank me.”
“But I do owe everything I have to you, princess,” the illusions disappeared, leaving a bowing Trixie before Luna, “Without you I—I’m nothing.”
Luna narrowed her eyes down at Trixie. This was not the attitude her apprentice should have, especially not after proving over the course of months that she was something spectacular.
“Lift your head.”
It was an order, and Trixie felt her spine stiffen at it. She complied and rose her eyes slowly to meet her mentor’s, who was still holding a serious expression.
Luna lifted a hoof to Trixie’s chin to finish raising it, “You are my apprentice. My chosen student. You are only as great and powerful as you act. You think that you are nothing because others look down on you? Then am I a monster only because those of Canterlot believe me to be?”
Trixie shook her head no, but had no words to respond with.
Luna moved her hoof to brush across Trixie’s blue cheek, “Do not let their views on what and who you are ever change who you actually are. They can react however they wish, but as long as you stand strong and be yourself you have nothing to worry about. Never let anyone change who you are.”
Praise, despite not being Luna’s strong suit, should be given where it was due and so she would give it now. Her apprentice still did not feel as if she deserved what she had despite her own efforts.
“I doubt many other Unicorns could have mastered Loki’s illusion technique and in fact seem to be learning how to better use it than him in such a short time. Be proud of yourself or no-one else will.”
Trotting in the hallway nearby filled the silence left after Luna’s words. The princess turned her gaze over to it and was surprised to see Twilight Sparkle walking casually by, her face focused on the document floating before her.
Apparently Celestia had Twilight visiting for something, but Luna did not care about the reason. The fact was this could serve as the perfect confidence boost to her student in addition to helping her reputation.
Luna looked down to Trixie again, this time with a mischievous smirk, “You still doubt your worth?”
Before Trixie could open her mouth, Luna had turned back to Twilight and yelled to her loudly.
“Twilight, we would have words with you!”
The purple Alicorn had her attention caught and quickly turned from her document to Luna and Trixie, whom she had not even noticed before. She approached the two at a casual pace and with a smile, not knowing what Luna could possibly need from her.
As Twilight drew closer Luna looked between the two youngsters with a grin, “What would you say to a duel of magic with Trixie tomorrow afternoon?”
While not the most competitive pony, Twilight did have to admit it might be fun to try out her magical skills for what would be the first time in a long time. Her time was not as free as it had been before her ascension, “What kind?”
Trixie was growing pale beside Luna as her teacher continued speaking.
“Combat. It would only be a sparring session.”
Twilight smiled at the sound of the challenge, “Sure, if it’s just for practice I don’t see why not.”
“Good. Meet us here at this time tomorrow.”
Twilight nodded to them and gave a wave as she departed. Once they were alone again Trixie took no to turn Luna and freak out.
“How can I possibly win against her? I’ll get destroyed!”
Luna closed her eyes. This is exactly what she needed to do away with.
“Can she cast illusions?” was the rhetorical response.
That fact made Trixie bite her lip as she realized that yes, she indeed had something up on Twilight. Still, she needed a magical artifact to out do her before and that was before Twilight became an Alicorn.
“Not like I can now, but—”
Luna cut her off, “Trust me, I have a plan. One that carries forward to the Equestria Games as well.”
“How will I win though?” Trixie complained, not wanting to be humiliated once again by Twilight Sparkle of all ponies.
Luna smiled at her student knowingly. She didn’t expect her to win, especially not when it suited her more to lose.
“You won’t. It’s the show you’ll put on that matters.”
One word in particular perked Trixie’s ears up, “Show?”
There was a small chuckle Luna could not help but let out as she thought about the long term plan she had brewing now, “Win now and all eyes would be cast on you, quite possibly in a negative fashion given her public image versus your own. They may believe you to have cheated if you do.”
Trixie nodded, already knowing quite well her reputation amongst other ponies. Sensing that Luna had more to say though, she let her speak.
“Lose now, lose in a close fashion, and you will cultivate interest. After all, she is an Alicorn and you are not. Trust me, do exactly as I say for the upcoming duel and you will know victory in the end.”
Luna had let word out that a duel would be taking place, and by dripping through the grapevine she managed to accrue quite the crowd at the field where she and Trixie trained their magic together. The turnout went beyond even her expectations, not that she minded. The more publicity the better.
Amongst the gathering crowd was Celestia, who had just returned from a lunch with Discord to find a great deal of commotion in her castle. She enjoyed good entertainment, so she set aside the time in her day required to view the coming duel. After all, it involved her own apprentice.
Luna greeted her sibling as both Trixie and Twilight prepared themselves for the coming duel, “It is good to see you, sister.”
Celestia nuzzled heads with her sister before sitting down beside her cheerfully, “How have you been, Luna?”
“Very well. I am sorry that I have been so busy these past weeks and not had a proper chance to see how you are doing,” Luna apologized, feeling she ought to given how little she had seen her recently.
“I can say the same. Things have gotten busier for me now that I have had to add things and appointments to my schedule. The Everfree Forest keeping you busy?”
Luna sighed at the mention of work, knowing that it would be impossible to tackle the issue until her magic returned, “It is all I can do to stem the tide of beasts that no longer feel at home in the purified woods. Even so, I will have to wait for some time to regain my magical power after my recent procedure.”
Celestia gave her sister a reassuring look to cheer her up, “Just do your best. Now, I am curious to see just what has you so confident that your student can defeat my own.”
With raised eyebrows and a laugh Luna responded, “Confident? Why, this is only a sparring session my dear sister. I only wish to give my dear student the chance to see just how much she has learned.”
Celestia could tell her sister had something up her sleeve, but she would let the matter pass. After all, Twilight was no doubt going to win. Twilight was better than Trixie before even becoming an Alicorn, and Celestia knew just how talented her own student was, “Well, so long as you are not hoping to win, I too am looking forward to this.”
Luna only nodded to Celestia before departing her resting place to meet up with Trixie, who was warming up her powers in the field’s center. Luna was ready to get her own version of Fandral’s challenge started, but she needed to know Trixie was too.
“Trixie, are you ready?”
Trixie’s eyes darted around the field to the multitude of ponies gathering around, noting that there must at least be a hundred, “Yes, princess.”
“Good. Ignore the crowd. They don’t matter. Remember what I’ve taught and told you and you’ll do just fine.”
Trixie nodded affirmatively, giving Luna the heads up to start things. Luna approached the space between the two and made sure to not be in the direct line between the two opposing horses. Trixie and Twilight locked gazes as Luna announced the rules.
“You will be using standard combat dueling rules. Either pony who is knocked out of the ring or is down for ten seconds will lose. No fatal blows are allowed, and contestants are not allowed to use physically altering spells on their opponents such as age spells.”
As Luna left to take her place by Celestia, Trixie snorted at her rival. They had unfinished business from their last duel.
“Good luck, Twilight. May the best mare actually win this time.”
Twilight rolled her eyes as she tucked her wings in, “Are you still on about that? All I did was trick you.”
Now seated, Luna prepared to start things, “Are you two ready?”
Both the Unicorn and former Unicorn nodded inside the thirty foot diameter ring they stood in, giving Luna all she needed to start the match.
“Let the duel begin!”
Twilight started right off by shooting a stream of magic to where Trixie stood, only for it to pass straight through Trixie. Twilight took a moment to halt her magic beam to instead observe what just happened.
“What the heck?”
A purple blast of energy caught Twilight in the side, knocking her a couple feet to the side before she caught herself. Twilight noticed the first Trixie fade and with a turn of the head noticed where Trixie now stood to her right.
Twilight retaliated with another blast of her own, only for it to pass entirely through Trixie again and for another blast of energy to slam into her, this time from the left.
Twilight growled as she noticed some of the ponies gathered in the crowd laughing at this turn of events, only for her irritation to grow when she noticed that she now had a Trixie looking at her in every direction, “When did you learn that!?”
Trixie had all of her illusions laugh alongside her in an insulting chorus, “I’ve been taking my studies seriously!”
Every one of the Trixies began to charge up their horn to strike, and Twilight panicked as she realized she had no idea what to do. Trixie could teleport and take the place of any one of them, which meant that no matter which way she dodged she could still be hit. If Twilight teleported outside the ring Trixie had formed she would be dangerously close to the edge of the arena, at which point a single good hit could make her lose.
But she couldn’t just stand there and take the hits forever. Trixie’s beams hurt, and this one likely more so, and Twilight knew she could weather a few more of them given their lack of relative power. But to be endlessly hit from every direction? She could not possibly stand through that, even if the individual hits were weak in comparison to Twilight’s own.
As all the Trixie’s let loose their beams of magic, Twilight reacted first and thought second. She watched as all the beams passed through one another, despite being fake, beneath her.
She was up in the air, above the crossfire that would have beaten her. The crowd had an audible groan as Twilight’s physical difference from Trixie became apparent, and as her advantage came into play.
The many Trixies on the ground shook their heads disapprovingly, further mocking Twilight for her dodge, “Tsk, tsk, Twilight.”
Luna turned to her sister with raised eyebrows, having intended for this to happen but still playing her part in this charade, “Wings are not disallowed by the official rules, but they are hardly fair, would you not agree?”
Celestia, all for fairness, nodded as she called over to the arena where Twilight was lowering down to the ground, “Agreed. Twilight, no more flying. It is an unfair advantage.”
“Understood,” Twilight called back as she thought about how to win the match despite Trixie’s illusion magic. Another blast of magic slammed into her and shook her before she thought of how to win, at which point she charged up her own horn to unleash its power.
Trixie did not expect the burst of magical power in every direction Twilight sent out, quickly finding herself knocked a few feet back. This moment of surprise caused her illusions to disappear, a chance Twilight seized to locate the real Trixie and send her most powerful attack straight at her.
Trixie caught her footing just as Twilight’s torrent of magical power crashed into her. The blast pushed her back across the ground with great force, but Trixie dug her hooves in to try and halt herself.
As Twilight ended her attack, she looked forward with surprise to see that Trixie was still standing. The fur on her crest was singed and she was panting heavily from the head on attack she had just received, but she was still upright and ready to fight.
Unfortunately for her, her back hooves were just outside of the ring. Trixie had lost, even though she had taken a brutal attack that greatly outclassed her own power.
Despite this loss, Luna could not be happier. Things had gone perfectly after all, “And the victor is Twilight Sparkle!”
Twilight approached her rival at the edge of the ring with a smile on her face. She was genuinely surprised and impressed by how much Trixie had caught up despite her own leaps in power, “You did really well, Trixie. I thought you had me there.”
Twilight held a hoof out to shake in good sportsmanship, which Trixie accepted reluctantly. As much as she knew she would lose going into this, it did not soften the blow to her pride at all.
Trixie ignored the blood drizzling down her partially singed face as they shook hooves. There was one last piece of the plan to do, and she would do her part, “I did.”
Twilight realized what she was referring to and could not help but feel embarrassed, “Sorry about the wings. It was just second nature.”
Trixie was pleased to see the seed of doubt sewn, at which point she lowered her hoof and turned around to approach her teacher on the sidelines, “Whatever you say.”
The crowd dispersed, whispers throughout it questioning how a normal unicorn could do so well against an Alicorn or just how powerful Trixie was, given that she had done the mentioned feat. Listening in was Luna, who met with Trixie as all the others left them behind.
Luna brought a hoof to Trixie’s black and blue mane, “Well done.”
Trixie cast her eyes towards the departing Twilight sparkle with annoyance, “I lost still.”
That was what Luna wanted. Pride. Trixie was getting back on her game with showing her competitive side, “But you did put on a good show. Or did you not hear the surprise of those gathered?”
Luna had not actually expected Trixie to be standing after getting hit by Twilight. Twilight had killed a Changeling with a similar strike, and Luna had actually prepared to bring her apprentice to the medical wing of their castle or even Asgard’s more advanced one after the duel. To have taken the hit and be still standing was a testament to Trixie’s determination, as well as her growing endurance and power.
To show that she was indeed serious, Luna flashed as proud a look as she could to the younger mare, “I am proud of you. Do not fret. Now we only need to have you confirmed for the Equestria Games in two weeks time.”
In that moment, for once, Trixie was able to forget her past disgraces. Her teacher, her princess, was proud of her, and she actually felt some hubris in her own development. She would have had Twilight Sparkle beat if not for her wings, which gave Twilight the time to develop a strategy to beat her.
“Thank you, princess Luna.”
“You earned this moment. Be proud of it.”
Things quieted down after the duel, with there only being a murmur about it a week later. Still, the view of Canterlot’s elite had changed from condemnation to interest in Trixie with the lack of Blueblood there to pollute their opinions. It was with this newfound, albeit very minor, popularity that Trixie found herself pushing herself even more in her training with Luna.
Luna had been focusing on what she could teach Trixie without her own powers, even bringing books on the magical abilities they were developing in the young unicorn. They were paying off too, as Trixie became more and more refined in her usage of Loki’s illusion trick and teleportation. Given the rate of improvement, Luna was pretty sure Trixie would be able to teleport through physical objects soon without fear of finding herself fused with them.
As Trixie worked on controlling her eleventh and twelfth illusions in addition to all of the others, Luna found herself smiling at her work. Was this how Celestia felt back when she had Twilight as a student, or was it something more?
“Keep up the good work. It is already paying off.”
Trixie turned to Luna with a beaming smile right before collapsing on her side, laughing weakly as her exhaustion caught up with her. She had been pushing herself for close to six hours now and had not taken a break yet.
Luna joined in the light laughter as Trixie tried her best to get upright to no avail, “However, being well rested is just as important a part of preparing.”
“I will, Princess,” Trixie responded before flopping on her back and giving up on her attempt to get up, taking the idea of rest and putting it to application that very moment.
Luna moved and shifted herself so that she was relaxing next to Trixie now, “I won’t let your dreams bother you. I know you must be on edge about the competition, and nerves can disturb sleep greatly.”
Trixie softly poked Luna in the side, “Can you still use your dream powers?”
The touch tickled Luna, who had to fight not to laugh at it, “To a minor degree. It is something innate to me. It has not been effected like my other powers. Sadly Celestia has had to take on my moon duties as my powers return because while I can move it, it is just barely.”
A yawn caught Trixie, who closed her eyes under Luna’s night sky, “When will you be able to cast magic again?”
“Some weeks from now, but don’t worry. I can still tutor you and lend you my knowledge in the meantime. You will be fine.”
Luna sensed her apprentice drift off to sleep from her exhaustion. With her being asleep, Luna nuzzled her head to Trixie’s now snoring one.
“I cannot wait to see you outshine whatever arrogant Canterlot citizens show up.”
For the sake of the Equestria Games an entire stadium had been set aside for the Canterlot team try outs. There were hundreds of eligible Unicorns, so they needed to have open try outs every time to keep their position as the best of all of Equestria at magic. Not that it was difficult given that they had as many Unicorns as many other towns and cities put together, and thus more talent to use.
The sign ups for the event were at the inside gate, while inside the stadium was a stage, a table for judges, and equipment for the various trials. Going horizontally across the large grass field were bullseye targets, while standing at one edge of the field was a lined up group of punching bags.
Trixie entered the stadium by herself to sign up, bringing with her a satchel of all the possible forms she could need. The pony at the registering table, however, tilted their nose up at her as she drew close.
Trixie ignored their rude expression and instead smiled at him politely, not willing to lower herself to his level, “Hello, I am here to register for the Equestria Games try outs.”
The stallion in charge of the registration snorted at her from behind his counter, “To register you must actually take residence in the town or city you are applying to join for. The last time I checked, a wandering and washed up magician has no place of residence. Have you found a box to live in at any town by some chance?”
Trixie continued smiling at him, having just the tool to shut him up, “I’m glad you asked. I will be applying to join the Canterlot team. Here is proof of my residence.”
She retrieved a document from Princess Luna stating the room Trixie was residing in at Canterlot Castle to be her own for the duration of her studies. She levitated it over to the stallion, who read it with part confusion and another part disgust.
Trixie could see why her teacher hated Canterlot so much.
The stallion behind the counter tossed it back at Trixie after reading it, “Canterlot Castle? You almost surprised me there. Why bring something so completely fake?”
“I do not take kindly to my documents being called fakes, foal.”
Princess Luna now stood over Trixie, having appeared out of seemingly nowhere to both Trixie and the registration pony’s shared surprise.
The pony behind the counter recovered after Trixie who smugly looked at him as he tripped up on his words, “Ni—Princess Luna, it is quite the surprise to see you! Whatever reason could you have for coming here this day?”
Luna made her eyes as narrow as a snake’s before leaning down to glare at the stallion at point blank range, “I was wondering what was taking my student so long from my audience seat. Seems an obstructive bureaucrat is to blame.”
He pulled back as far from her as he could in his seat while preparing a quill with his magic, “I apologize princess, I did not know that this was your apprentice. I will register her at once.”
Once he finished signing Trixie in, Luna turned to her apprentice to give her a final nod. This was an even more important event than facing Twilight, and this time success was mandatory.
Not that there was any chance these noponies could stand up to her apprentice. After all, could any of them boast the levels of skill and endurance Trixie was growing to have?
“Do your best. What can they possibly do to hold a candle to you?”
After seeing Trixie off Luna returned to her seats in the audience, purposefully arriving through an entrance above all the other seats so that ponies would not cower as she found place to sit. They wouldn’t be looking behind them as much as they would be looking forward after all in the stadium. She needed a few seats to herself anyways since she was significantly larger than the others and wanted to see things from the same view the regular ponies would, not caring to take the royalty booth oh so far from the action.
As the dozens of contestants arranged themselves on the field Luna found her ears being bombarded by the stupid words of the ponies before her.
“Is that Trixie?”
“What’s she doing up there?”
“I hear she’s Nightmare Moon’s apprentice now.”
“Nightmare Moon? Don’t you mean Princess Luna?”
“No, Nightmare Moon’s back and she’s training herself an apprentice to overthrow Celestia and Princess Twilight. Heard it all from Blueblood.”
“Yeah, and I heard they killed him after he bothered Trixie!”
“I don’t really miss him much. At least Trixie can put on a show.”
“She’s a nopony though! Why would Luna take her in? What chance does she think she has here, competing for the best Unicorn team?”
“Didn’t she face Twilight in a duel the other day?”
“Yeah, and she almost won! Twilight had to use her wings.”
“Whatever, she’s still a washed up magician. Get off the field you—”
Luna had enough of these pathetic noponies and their drivel, using her long neck to crane down between two of the offenders.
“Boo.”
The nearby crowd jumped and screamed, quickly moving as far as they could from Luna’s head in their seat.
Now that she had their attention, Luna thought now would be the best time to clear things up, “Blueblood left the country under his own free will, not that I mind,” she leaned back to her own seats, “And my apprentice will be shown respect or Blueblood will not be the only one shaved head to hoof.”
One of the startled ponies jabbed a hoof in Luna’s direction, “Praise Celestia and the sun! We’ll, uhm, we’ll never bow down to—”
Luna narrowing her eyes at the mare trying to stand up to her, instantly frightening the mare into silence, “Oh, I’m sorry, do continue,” the mare fell off their seat in fear as Luna continued to stare at them, “No? Nothing else to say?”
The crowd hushed and turned from Luna as a pony with a wizard’s hat came out onto the field before the contestants. Luna was not at all surprised that these idiots were making a show out of this, but she was going to enjoy seeing Trixie put the other contestants in their places.
The pony with a stupid looking hat, a somewhat young Unicorn with an energetic face, turned to the crowd. With his magic he amplified his voice to announce to the few hundred ponies sitting in the stadium.
“For our first trial, our contestants must perform their most powerful spells to impress the judges in under thirty seconds. Only the top sixteen scores will move on, at which point the second trial will be done. Now, without further adieu, let the trials begin!”
Luna watched with disinterest as ponies took to the stage set up and did their best to curry favor with the three judges set up at a nearby table. The judges, three boring looking mares past their prime, appeared almost as disinterested as Luna and gave out increasingly lower and lower scores as the performances went on.
That was until Trixie took the stage in a flash, teleporting and letting out her fireworks to announce her arrival. At this point she cast her illusion spell, and from these fifteen extra Trixies she shot out a new volley of fireworks that quickly stunned the entire crowd.
The announcer was as surprised as everypony else, and rightfully so as Trixie impressed the entirety of those gathered, “Illusion magic intermixed with teleportation, and on such a large scale? What impressive skills for such a young unicorn!”
Luna smirked at the display, the smirk growing as she listened to the ever changing opinion of the fools in front of her.
“She’s actually good!”
“Maybe she isn’t as bad as the news columns say.”
In the end Trixie earned the highest marks out of any contestant, instantly passing onward to the next round while so many others had to go home. The crowd in the stadium milled quite a bit as the failure Unicorns left, their families and supporters leaving as well.
Once only the remaining sixteen were left the announcer amplified his voice again while pointing to the next area of the trial, “Now, the second trial! Our last sixteen contestants will now be reduced to the final eight. Those eight will participate in the final trial, which will leave four unicorns for the Equestria Games team of Canterlot. This trial will have the contestants use skill to aim at the various targets to earn the best score they can in the time given. One shot per target is allowed.”
Again, Luna ignored the other ponies outside of Trixie as even their best were seemingly not at all close to her in ability, even if these were the best of the previous crop.
Once Trixie got up for her turn she utilized her teleportation to get close to every target and hit each and every one spot on, only not getting a single bullseye. Once again, she passed on to the next round with no contest from her competitors.
The doubtful ponies before Luna once again found themselves stunned by this display of skill from Trixie, who was last seen in the public as a starved and destitute magician.
“A near perfect score. How’d she get so good?”
Luna snorted. Hard work was how she got so good, as well as the guidance of two masters of magic.
The announcer returned to pester the eardrums of the audience as the second last group of Unicorns was milled out, “In our final trial we will now move to a test of strength. The four unicorns able to send their bag the farthest in a single magic blast will join the Canterlot team.”
And in that one moment Luna felt her stomach drop. A strength competition? Trixie had improved, sure, but she had not even reached the strength of Twilight prior to the Unicorn becoming an Alicorn.
She might actually lose this time, even if she gave it her all.
“Trixie…” Luna whispered to herself as the bad feeling in her continued to rise.
She had finished with the highest marks of the previous two groups, though given the style of the competition that meant little here. Given her competition, Trixie could actually lose here and both she and Luna knew this.
The Unicorns lined up behind their bags that they would have to send flying, and Luna could swear she caught a glimpse of nervousness rise on Trixie’s face. At the command of the announcer, each Unicorn powered up their horns and prepared to strike.
When he commanded again, they shot their bags forward one at a time across the field. Trixie was the second to fire, and hers did not go nearly as far as the first contestant’s.
With the following bags shot across, Luna tried keeping track of just where Trixie stood amongst them. In the end, she found herself shocked by the result.
The announcer was surprised too, albeit with enthusiasm, “And there is a tie between the fourth place contestants two and seven! Our panel will have to discuss the matter, at which point the team will be finalized.”
Trixie had tied for the last spot on the team…the alternate position. Even if she did qualify at this point, she would not be on the actual team unless something unfortunate happened to one of the ones above her.
Luna looked down to Trixie on the field, who was trying her best to keep composed as her efforts crashed down around her.
After a minute of discussion, the announcer returned to speak to the crowd with his obnoxious voice, “Given that contestant seven has a longer reputation with Canterlot and has resided here their whole life, they will be representing the city in the Equestria Games.”
Trixie gaped at the decision and how it had nothing to do with their skills, but rather their background, “Can we not just do another trial between the two of us? I beat them at every other competition.”
One of the panel members shot Trixie a glance similar to what Luna could send someone’s way, “I am sorry, girl, but we do not want a fraud representing our city. Actually defeat an Ursa and maybe we can discuss the matter further. Until then, contestant seven will be the Canterlot representative.”
And with that, the competition was over.
Trixie had lost.
The entire stadium was soon empty, save for two ponies that once again stayed behind after everypony, except the panel staff and competition workers, left. Trixie tried to find her voice, but she was too focused on not crying to succeed.
Not only did this crush her recovering self worth, but the glance she had received from Luna was one of disappointment.
Before leaving, Luna only had one thing to say, trying to come to terms with her own feelings.
“I should not have placed my expectations so high so early in your training.”
Trixie reached a hoof out towards her teacher as she departed, struggling to find what to say still, “Princess…”
Her legs buckled underneath her, having been shaking nervously this whole time, and Trixie failed in her attempts to hold back her sobbing. Tears rushed to her as she felt every bit of self worth she had vanish.
On their way out the panel passed by Trixie dismissively, not caring that she was breaking down in the slightest.
“Good luck next time, Ursa slayer.”
“Yeah, why don’t you go and vanquish a real one? You have as much of a chance of doing that as you do of ever competing in the Equestria Games.”
“—not even able to qualify for the team with a princess as her coach. What a loser. How does she even live with herself?”
Trixie wished she had her hat to hide her face as they laughed at her, not wanting them to see her cry like this.
She had let down the one pony she cared about pleasing, and done so publically. How could she ever make it up to Luna after all Luna had done for her?
Luna smashed a hoof down in frustration as she closed her room’s door behind her. This was not how things should be. This was not what she expected from Trixie.
She had ruined the plan. The timeline set would have to be changed, new arrangements made…
Luna would most be definitely be lying to herself if she did not admit to being disappointed and irritated. Not solely at Trixie however, as Trixie was by far the most talented Unicorn there. She had even tied with her competitor, only for her reputation to lose her the tie. Luna, as much as she did not want to change her schedule, would not be pulling strings to fix that. If word got out that she changed a judge’s opinion it would destroy Trixie’s growing reputation before it could amount to anything.
Still, knowing Trixie these past months, Luna had no doubt the Unicorn was out training. Making herself better to excuse her failure.
She was a good student, with potential to be so much more…more than even Trixie herself knew.
Luna felt a bittersweet smile grow on her as she realized she would be bringing her apprentice food from the pantry again. After all, Trixie would no doubt be too busy focusing on training and improving her powers that night to get anything to eat for herself.
Trixie may suffer from an inferiority complex and be recovering from how she lost everything, but Luna would not add to the issue. Trixie deserved the same loyalty and hard work she put in.
It was admittedly harder to carry food without the aid of telekinesis, but Luna did her best to balance the plate and everything on it on top of her large back. There would be no crying over spilt milk.
“Trixie?” Luna called out to the courtyard like so many other nights, trying to make her voice sound soft. Sound motherly.
No response came, so Luna tried again, “Trixie, where are you?”
Luna looked around and found that in the dimming light she could not find her student there. Could she be in her room, crying away the disappointment? Luna doubted it given her student’s determination.
So where was she?
Luna placed the food down where Trixie normally had it in the grass before turning and semi-rushing back to the residential part of the castle. In took only a moment to confirm Trixie was not in her room, for the door swung open as Luna tried knocking on it. It opened to reveal nothing except that Trixie’s damaged cape and hat were missing with everything else remaining in place.
The feeling Luna had earlier when her stomach dropped did not even compare to what she felt right then. Instead of just anxious, she was absolutely terrified. Where could Trixie have gone? She had returned at some point, even if it took Luna awhile to get around to checking on her.
It had been hours since the competition and Trixie did not even leave a note. Every single warning was shooting off in Luna’s mind as she rushed down the hallway to catch up to a guard who was pacing around idly.
“Have you seen my student?” she demanded of him with a full dose of fear in her voice.
The guard shook his head no, “Not for some hours, milady.”
Luna cursed herself for her own attitude that afternoon, knowing that if she had just been supportive Trixie might not have run away to do whatever she was doing, “Do you know where she was headed?”
“She left for the front gates.”
“Have every guard look for Trixie! Search the castle and city, understood?”
Luna pushed past him, rushing down the hall to find her student.
The princess was crying and did not care who saw. Trixie was the one and only thing on her mind.
Where's Trixie? Anybody know or have an inkling? Even if you don't, please let me know what you think about the chapter in the comments below!
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Poor Trixie...
So, is she going to the Everfree looking for an Ursa?
So Thor and Frigga thought Trixie was Lunas daughter? That's one step more awkward than being found cuddeling with two ponies by your mother and brother
.
I honestly would have been suprised if Trixie blew away any kind of competition in the trial but i still thought it would have been a last impressive act after a few mediocre ones that got her into the team and not the last rather lacking act after a stunning series of successes that ruined it.
Also i call bullshit on the judging system they used to rank the participants! Stupid uptight Unicorns with their horns so far up their own asses they need to open their mouth to cast spells!
And now Trixie is devastated and probably will engage in stupidly dangerous activities to prove for herself that she is not as useless as she sees herself and with Lunas magic out of comission i can see that spiralling downhill faster than a foolproof CMC plan to get cutie marks not involving tree sap.
My plot-sense is tingeling that the solution will include one or more asgardians alerted by a certain sword toting guardian wearing a silly helmet.
Holy moly. That's just... Jebus. It's like you made a cocktail of bad, worse and worst, and not the tasty kind of wurst. A direct tie in terms of a long-throw equivalent is... Strange, to say the least, considering how precisely distance can be measured and given that the bags are stationary after landing, so direct comparison is possible. That can easily be written off as Plot Convenience Stuff or Plot Stuff, depending on how you want to spin it.
Canterlot judges, however, are flippin' harsh. I mean, just... Wow. "Oh no, she said she killed an ursa as a performer whose entire job consists of shock and awe, but in a good way, but she didn't actually. That's grounds for eliminating an extremely promising candidate from the team." I find it a little weird how she's publically scandalized, but I suppose nagging on the intricacies of an alien media system is beyond my credentials. Still, it's a little funny that they essentially blacklist a performer for... What reason exactly? Bragging about non-existent achievements? That would be like if it became a public scandal that every single phone service provider advertises that their service is the fastest, even faster than the others, because Obama's son got a phone which had higher delays than his friend at school's.
Still, that's canon/fanon (I don't watch too much of the actual show, most of the writers I liked stopped writing so I lost interest), not your writing. It's also very telling how Canterlot ponies have the gall to tell pretty much the best out of all of the contestants that she should "go kill an Ursa", a feat that would be beyond even Twilight, the go-to measuring stick for magic power. Sure, she levitated an Ursa Minor across a town and a forest, but it was asleep and it pretty much looked like she was doing the magical equivalent of a soccer mom lifting a car, that is, to say, pulling out every single biological stop no matter what reason it was there for to do something really impressive with a really high chance of screwing you up bad.
Also, if Twilight singed Trixie with her most powerful blast as an ALICORN, I'm pretty sure that MIGHT tickle an Ursa Major. Trixie, however, could probably lure it into a canyon and get it to bean itself in the head with a sheer cliff face hard enough to at least knock it out.
Also, I find it interesting how a more powerful (according to Princess Luna, who probably knows her stuff) blast singed Trixie despite it just flat-out killing a changeling. Can force of will just... Disperse magic? If so, Thor is probably stubborn enough that he's effectively magic proof. Pretty impressive nonetheless.
Poor Trixie......Please be ok, you still need to beat Purple Smart in a duel.
Im glad i started reading this story when i first saw it instead of skipping over it. Its quite good and deserves every like and favorite it gets.
Guy, this chapter was hard to read. Everyone hates trixie so much, I don't get it. Also....wow, Luna, your pretty terrible as a pony sometimes. I think even Loki would of comforted trixie and not dumped on her like that. I was expecting some holy fire from Luna to rain down on the audience. They need a little slap in the face on how judge,entail they are. Everyone just lets twilight slide for pretty much mind slaving the entire town with smarty pants, but trixie bragging is like a deadly sin.
I'm sure trixie just had to leave, her growing self worth was just crushed and the one chance it had to be repaired was screwed by Luna. I feel like this is time for Luna to grow a little as a person. She is a little cold, and really manipulative to those she thinks are useful. I wonder if she even loves Loki, or just the idea of Loki.
4120734
Without knowing a better way to say it, I'll just call it the "DBZ Effect" in which the stronger you are, the more punishment you can take. Like how early on, Piccolo literally blows up the moon, but when he shoots Vegeta, it just roughs him up.
Good chapter, as much as Trixie probably deserves it, you can't just have her sail through everything without failing! And, honestly, the ending didn't really surprise me. The judges, themselves probably of some form of the Canterlot Elite, while impressed by her skill, were looking for any reason to sit her out to keep their image. Though, I will admit, it did seem odd that they pulled a 180, giving her some praise at first, and then back to shoving their horns up their asses when she does something and it isn't super spectacular.
Poor Trixie i hope she doesn't do something stupid that she will regret later.
O nooooooo
Now she's gonna go fight an ursa and probably get hurt. And Luna has no magic, so she can't help. o noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Stupid Judges, Trixie won 2 events, and they kicked her out! Twilight didn't even kill the ursa, she lifted that away. Ursas are like indestructable! and now Trixies gonna hurt herself, and I am going to get a team of people to help teach those judges a lesson.
Trixie's gonna do something really dangerous now, isn't she? Don't answer that, she is. Shit.
If this is going where I think it's going then I'll be happy.
I win my bet..... I was rather liking this chapter until you had trixie loose.
I hate you for making me almost flip my table from this chapter because trixie lost
May you be banished to the moon for ever and eternity
Other than that good work as always
4119874 Poor Trixie...how could she ever beat an Ursa?
4120152
Yeah, pretty awkward. I hope to go more into it in future chapters!
I am very glad then that I defied expectations and basically reversed what you thought would happen! I wanted to feed the idea that Trixie really IS good at certain things and let her show off just how great she’s gotten, then sucker punch everyone by reminding them at the end that as much as she’s improved she has less potential in regards to raw magic power.
Well that amused me greatly. I am glad you hate them! It’s supposed to be that way, so I fully support your statement!
Hahahahahahaha, oh, you have no idea just how bad things got. Like take what you might be thinking and square it. Heck, cube it.
Heimdall sees all…that he wants to see. What reason does he have to look in on Luna and her apprentice at the moment?
4120734
Actually, I’m not writing it off. It’s going to be a plot point later. Tell me, given how much I’ve displayed Canterlot is filled with uppity bastards, what are the chances the measurement was “accurate”? Luna and Trixie did not question it for their own reasons, Luna’s being that fourth place wasn’t worth further besmirching Trixie’s reputation over and Trixie’s being that she just had her soul crushed and thus all mental activity is at a lifetime low.
Yes, they are very harsh!
Judges in the most judgmental part of Equestria can be expected to be a bit bitchy! However, from a city’s standpoint, taking a team member who is an actual lifelong resident of your city over one who is slightly better and not can make sense. It’s just that they use that logical reason to justify their petty one that is that they plain just don’t like the scandal that is Trixie. However, again this can make sense as having such a disgraced member on their team could bring the team a bad name. Again, that’s not the full/real reason, just a logical take on it. They are really just pettiness masquerading as authority (kind of like Blueblood in that regard).
You are quite right! Twilight does not have it in her to defeat an Ursa. I had her go toe to toe with Chrysalis in the story and come out about even, now that she’s an Alicorn, but you are very much correct. Twilight’s also been noted to not be the most intelligent combatant though, despite her regular intelligence. Most intelligent thing she’s done in a fight in the show is teleport past Nightmare Moon in the show’s beginning episodes. Since then she’s about as tactical as you could expect a ruffian like Thor to be.
Funny thing that you mention that…
Flesh is flesh, and even Luna was surprised that Trixie didn’t need to be carted off to the medical wing. Only thing keeping Trixie standing was her guts (literally and metaphorically).
If you take a look in the original Thor Movie, Laufey is disintegrated from two blasts coming from a powerful magical artifact. A human would no doubt have been disintegrated or burnt to a crisp with a single shot. My theory is that the a combination of species (for flesh and bone toughness) and magical ability tie into this, as races and beings with more powerful magic should be more resistant to it while the general toughness of a being does as well. Changelings are weaker than ponies physically (as shown by how a regular pony like Rarity can overpower them physically) and almost definitely weaker magically (outside of their transformations). As such, the rapidly improving Trixie who’s bent on beating Twilight can take a shot from Twilight head on (while being wounded pretty badly, given that her fur is on fire) while a Changeling is burnt to a crisp by the same thing.
4121074
I hope Trixie will be okay too, because she does indeed need to beat Purple Smart in a duel! I doubt she’ll stop breathing before she can do at least that.
Thank you very much. Some heretics may say it deserves even more than what it gets
4121093
Quite possibly. At the worst Loki would have done so to manipulate her feelings, at the best he would just be doing so out of kindness as he does occasionally do things like that.
My very first script for that scene had her actually physically transforming the dissidents into animals, but as things changed in the story I was unable to let her cast magic. So they got off with a warning instead.
Yeah, everyone DOES forget that…especially Twilight lovers who hate Trixie.
Like most of Equestria. 
Trixie needs more love. 
Speaking of Trixie needing more love, Luna. Luna screwed up because she’s never really been in this role before. For all intents and purposes she is a maternal figure for Trixie, one who Trixie only wishes approval and love from. Luna being dismissive shattered Trixie’s feelings, but Luna did not intend for the breakdown. But you’re 100% right, now is the time for Luna to grow herself as a pony. She’s cold and not the most compassionate, and Trixie’s giving her a chance to be just that.
Loki’s very much like her, both being manipulative and cold as far as most emotions go. It’s part of the attraction. While not the same, I think a good parallel are the Underwoods from House of Cards. They are both ruthless monsters who will do anything to accomplish their goals, but they work together to do so and are genuinely supportive of one another. Luna and Loki aren’t that bad persay, but they’re in the same kind of boat. No-one else can understand them quite the way they do eachother.
4121218
Pretty much goes with the theory I had and listed in another recent comment. And Piccolo attacks Nappa, not Vegeta. Piccolo dies before the Vegeta fight.
Everyone fails at some point, and Trixie had her first major upset here. And the judges are jerks, who while stunned by her abilities that outclass everypony else’s are still jerks and revert to being jerks at the first opportunity. Besides, if they didn’t give high marks to Trixie after her performance you can be rest assured Luna would have a word or two with them for the complete BS that’d be.
4121317 Well, if she does something stupid enough there's a chance she won't even be able to regret it
4121377 Trixie vs Ursa, who could possibly win?
I mean, it's like she's the size of its toe.
And Luna does indeed have no magic, which means she is just a very large pony at the moment.
If you want to get a team against the judges just look at the other comments. They're filled with people who I've made hate them
4121725 Well, you said not to answer it, so I won't
4121960 Well, where do you think it's going?
Because I do want my readers to be happy 
4122340 Trixie lost at the end and I told you that you'd be hating on me afterwards, so I actually won
With all your table flipping you are almost as bad as Bad Cop from the Lego Movie who abuses chairs
Thank you for your praise though
4122797
As I said, Plot Convenience Stuff versus Plot Stuff. Either it's important and yet to be answered, I.E., Plot Stuff, or was just simplified for the plot, I.E. Plot Convenience Stuff.
Also Bad Cop/Good Cop is Best Cop. I did like what they did with the names of 'artifacts' though, like Kraggle, the Polish Remover of Na'il, stuff like that. It was really pretty neat.
1. She's headed for the Everfree. After all, handling Luna's papers means she knows what's going wrong where.
2. She's gone to do something dramatically drastic. Yes, I know it's the same as the first one, shhhhh.
By the Stars above I hope you burn for the sadness in this. Then again, making Trixie win would've been too simple. And you're never one for simple and straightforward, are you?
I mean, come on, even after all that hard work and dedication, you can't expect her to magically [Hue] get into the Canterlot team when it's being judged by CanterSnobs. 
4123314 Your assumption has very much evidence behind it. It's almost like I've put such evidence in the previous chapters to make this completely obvious for everyone
And me, burn? Oh come now, I've said it before and I'll say it now, I like happy endings. They just need to be earned by the characters involved
Yes, it would have been too simple for her to just win here either with Twilight or the competition. But now we have things she can continue working towards, and do her best to succeed at having first failed! Provided she's breathing after next chapter of course
4122982 I wish everyone had that level of perspective...unlike real novels I've noticed people don't give fanfiction the benefit of "IT WILL BE EXPLAINED LATER". If it isn't instant they go ballistic.
And Bad Cop and Unikitty were my favorite characters because of their double sided natures
4123965 Hahahahahahaha
You know it. I love how it took over 1,000 comments for someone to think that "maybe Sleipnir's mom won't be Loki". That being said, no "Sleipnir" will be appearing. That's not a very pony name after all
4122851
4122860
i'm currently sharpening my pitchfork. I await for loki to save the day because we all know what is about to happen to poor trixie and luna if she goes to help her....
Do this and you shall have a temporarily happy fan
4125515 But Asgard doesn't know of the impending issue
Heimdall looking and seeing it at just the right moment would be quite ridiculous. Not that we don't have stuff like that happening in the story already, but still 
And watch the pitchfork. I just finished the script for the next two chapters
4125553
I'm keeping it at the ready, just in case of emergencies..
Now what I'm thinking is that loki gets the feeling that something is wrong and rushes out of his room and to the bifrost to go to help save woona.... and trixie who I am starting to like more and not just in this fic
4125588 I am glad I could facilitate your change in heart on Trixie on some level
Doesn't she make such a great little minion—I mean student? 
4125666
I've actually started liking trixie since Magic Duel but there are some fics out there (this one as an example) that shows that she does have character behind her and I like it especially since she is trying to change her ways. Impress me and I'll throw the pitchfork away
4125692 Oh, then you'll definitely like next chapter if you're looking to be impressed
4125697
We shall see
but I look forwards to it
4122819
This is why you're supposed to do your research! But yeah, It's been some time and I'm a bit hazy, took me forever to remember that, and even then I was wrong lol
4122860
It's not his fault chair's make such good weapons!
Trixie?
I want to hug you and tell you it's alright...but that whole 'sowing doubt' thing was a bad move and poor sportsmanship.
You know, with the new episode and all, Luna here seems like a giant hypocrite.
"Don't let jealousy cloud your judement and make you resent your sister. Let bygones be bygones...Now if you'll excuse me. I'm going to find a way to one up my sister and prove that I am the better sibling."
Yeah, let go of the past....This is the kind of thing that turned you into a psychotic, murdurous, daemon princess, Luna. Learn from that and move on, lest ye do it again.
Keep the faith, loyal citizen.
Keep the faith and she who is eternal in your heart, and you shall never be swayed by the dark powers.
4123482
Oh shut up, you
Well, the only way for the characters to earn it is for you to let them, after all, in the end they're just words in a document
And there'll always be things to work towards
Had she got into the Games, she'd still need to work for something. what fun will there be, otherwise?
Oh she'll be breathing, I know she will. That's something you won't do
At least not this soon, anyways.
Oh God, Oh God, it's watching me. What do I do? What do I doooo?! Right, act natural! Pretend it isn't there, then it won't feed off my agony!
*sips coffee*
Seriously though, thanks for
stalkingwatching4126470 Twiloight only won because she used her wings, like Rainbow Dash in the competitions in Falll Weather Friends. So what if Trixie called her on it like Applejack did to Rainbow? It's deserved, even if there wasn't a rule set against it because it's cheap.
This chronologically takes place way before this week's new episode, so there's no use comparing that Luna with this one until we get to that point
This being said, I am ever so pleased Luna did a past, present, and future treatment solo...gives me precedent to do what I was going to anyways 
4125909 Just watch Dragonball Z Abridged and all will be known.
It's funny AND covers all the plot points in a serious and continuous manner.
Chairs are great weapons, I must admit
4125710 So do I! I've been building towards this point for awhile now
4127278 Why must I shut up when we are having such nice conversation?
And words on a webpage. You must not forget this.
And I will be giving them chances to make their happy endings all the way to the very distant end 
You're quite right, there will always be things to work towards for the characters. Especially as we go on
Had she got into the Games she'd have had too easy a time and not had to taste defeat again
Now she gets to show just how much she's dedicated to her Princess who has turned her life around.
You KNOW she'll be breathing? You obviously haven't read next chapter
And you're welcome. I'm surprised I haven't watched you before
4127614 Twilight flew because of instinct. {Avoid attack} She didn't plan to, it happened. {So Trixie's strike was uncalled for. Trixie is such a sore loser.}
Rainbow Dash did it because she's a jerkish pegasus who liked to lord over he flying capabilities over AJ. {I'm glad RD has gotten better over the series. She was a huge jerk in seasons 1-2.}
4127741 Intention does not negate an act. The point still stands that Twilight only won because of her wings.
And sore loser? How is it being a sore loser to say your script after losing a match you were expected to lose?
As for Rainbow, it's almost like character development is a thing!
4127679
Well, I don't know, maybe just because?
There better be good chances they'd have to work for. Don't just be handing them out like free hugs! Though, knowing you, that won't happen.
Yay
And what better way to build her character than work more on that dedication she's been showing in the last few chapters, eh? Unlike Twilight, some ponies actually have to work for their worth
Yes, I know she'll be breathing. Even if she momentarily stops
Well, I'm surprised you actually did
You must be more insane than I thought
4127747 Say your script?
Princess Luna told Trixie to say that?...Gosh, Luna's a feathering plothole.
4127766 But I don't want to!
Everypony has to work hard to earn their happy ending. I believe in the meritocracy of happy endings. More work put in = more happy.
Given that standard Trixie will be very happy in the end...although that end can be at any point 
And yes, dedication is going to be a major theme with Trixie! She's all about hard work, and she's willing to pour everything she's got into that work. And yes, she is the opposite of Twilight who is just naturally gifted. Twilight does study and work, but she doesn't drive herself to exhaustion. Thus the difference in what they're good at (Twilight -> raw power, Trixie -> endurance from years of performing and hard work).
Momentarily? Sure, let's go with that
Again, I'm surprised I didn't earlier. I don't watch pretty much anyone, but seeing as I talk more with you than anyone else here I am still surprised I never did!
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Remember, Luna never intended for Trixie to win and so you are left to think just what of that match wasn't a part of her specific plan.
On the other hoof, Celestia dismissed the match as even being a competition. And you're complaining about perfectly reasonable and fair words that were said 
And what's wrong with having Trixie call Twilight out on her unfair advantage? To NOT call her out on it would be to accept it, and Trixie even swallowed her pride and shook hooves.
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Yeah, I don't want you to, either.
That'll be boring.
You know you are now making me doubt my earlier claim, you no good creature
But there's no way you're gonna make Trixie stop breathing. You ain't gonna kill her. Nopity nope.
Twilight is just too goddamn gifted. Seriously.
She's one of those characters that, if not for being canon, she'd be hated and avoided like the plague for being so OP
You know, when you said you don't watch pretty much anyone, I thought you watched like, 10 people or something but damn
4127828 That WOULD be boring. So I won't
Yay, doubt! I like doubt! Tell me, just what and how much are you doubting?
And there is NO way I'm going to make her stop breathing? None at all? Remember, I killed a character before and I will most definitely do so again. Funny thing too, Luna got close to a human and they died, and now she got close to a pony who is in peril...almost like Loki feared this possibility a bit ago...
You are absolutely correct! Twilight would be a Mary Sue if not for the fact she was the series main character. Though that's not uncommon across shows and stories. Twilight's too damned perfect and the last time she got called out on just about ANYTHING was season 2 (Lesson Zero, Canterlot Wedding). I hate how preachy she's gotten since, trying to sound as wise as Celestia when she's not...Intelligence score of 20, Wisdom score of 11. Not the same thing! Then you add in the OP level of power and you get miss Sue
Yeah, I don't watch people because I don't trust 'em to continually post things I want to read. I did watch some people awhile back (still ~5) but they either derailed their story (changing pairing MID STORY), started producing work with stupid alicorn OC's or just stopped posting things I was interested in reading.
Only Alicorn OC's you'll see in this story are blood relatives