Mega Mare

by DrakeyC

Magitek Duel

Mega Mare

Chapter 10 – Magitek Duel

Twilight stepped briskly up the hill, soft grass crunching beneath her hooves. The sun was low on the horizon, casting the hill in shadows. Soft ribbons of orange, yellow and violet light wove through the sky as Twilight reached the top. Taking a breath, she looked over the twilit-beauty of Rainbow Falls. The grassy plains were lush and thick, the water crystal clear and gleaming in the late afternoon light. Above the grass rainbow streams flowed from cloud to cloud, sunlight making the lines of color glimmer and sparkle. The rainbows emptied into a basin of water where the magic that held them together came apart, dispersing the colors into ripples and streams that fanned out and dissolved into normal water. Waterfalls of normal water fell from the clouds too, and stormed from the cliffs above into the basin, causing natural rainbows to shoot through the air as the water caught the sunlight.

Ages ago the Canterlot Preservation Society declared Rainbow Falls a tourist site and kept as it was centuries ago, right down to pegasi producing the rainbows by hoof instead of by the mechanical generators most weather factories used now. The water from the site ran down into a river that flowed through Froggy Bottom Bog. Normally pegasi workers would be busy keeping the rainbows and clouds clean and flowing. But Twilight didn't see anypony around as she crossed a bridge over a stream. Not that she minded. She was looking forward to dealing with the last Shadow Hunter with minimal distractions.

"Spike, detecting any hostiles in the region?"

"Just one," he replied. Twilight nodded. That was encouraging. But she didn't fully trust Spike's scanners, even if as she thought that he protested in her head.

"We've been fooled before," she said.

"Well, I… fine." Spike's hologram crossed its arms and huffed. Twilight ignored him and called up her map, rotating it over her display for a vertical view. The Shadow Hunter was directly ahead of her from a bird's view, but vertically she was high up the mountain. Twilight looked up,and her breath caught. Up the mountain, above the sheer rocky slopes, the distant form of a pony lurked at the edge of the cliff. Twilight shook her head to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but when she looked back the figure was gone. She narrowed her eyes; she knew what she had seen.

"Well if she's waiting for us, let's not disappoint her." Twilight began walking to the path up the mountain. Compared to Mt. Rushmare this climb was quite pleasant. The path was wide enough to walk along comfortably and instead of cold stone there was soft grass under her hooves. The wind was warm, the air sweet, and the scenery gorgeous. Twilight watched a trio of clouds pouring rainbow waterfalls into a fourth cloud below as she walked by and made a mental note to revisit this place in the future when she could relax and enjoy herself. "If only all the places we had visited were like this."

"Uh, Twilight? Heads up!"

Twilight turned her attention from the clouds to the path ahead and stopped in her tracks. A pair of earth ponies were standing at the top of the slope in front of her, glaring. Their eyes glowed red and steel covered their rear hooves.

"Of course," Twilight said, stepping back. One of the ponies charged down at her and Twilight rolled aside to avoid him. The other came towards her and Twilight swung out her hoof, the Pinkie Cannon forming. As the cannon glowed, there was a shower of sparkles over the earth pony's back. She leapt as Twilight fired, a pair of wings emerging from her back and carrying her over Twilight's head. Twilight looked up, shocked. The former earth pony was flying through the air as easily as a Cloudsdale-born pegasi. "That… that's impossible!"

"Apparently not!"

Twilight looked back at the first earth pony. Sparks of light gathered along his head and a long horn grew from it, a light red aura over it. Twilight stared in disbelief as the horn's energy formed into an orb on the tip and fired a sparkling beam of red energy towards her. She leapt away, the beam striking the ground and fizzling out in a burst of light.

"That was weird."

"No kidding!" Twilight landed and hunkered down to avoid the winged earth pony as it dove and attempted to tackle her.

"No, I mean based on the size of that beam and that he charged it up to fire, that attack should have caused an explosion, not just crackled out of existence," Spike said. Twilight barely avoided another blast of the same energy ray as she listened. She thought and realized Spike was right. There should have been some residual energy in its wake, heat, sound, something. But she felt nothing. A suspicion took root in her mind and Twilight raised the Pinkie Cannon to fire at the horned earth pony.

The glowing pink energy orb sailed through him with a blip of light and exploded on the ground behind him.

"You're not real!" Twilight smirked in triumph. "Spike, it's an illusion!" The earth pony fired again but Twilight didn't move. The red blast of energy hit her squarely in the head and crackled into a spray of light particles, but she didn't feel any pain at all. Twilight ran forward and formed the Rainbow Tornado on her hoof, the propeller spinning to life. She ran right through the earth pony and turned behind him to blast the Rainbow Tornado at him and the second winged earth pony coming towards her. The slicing winds didn't affect the ponies as far as the illusion went, but their images flickered and vanished after a few moments.

"Well that was pointless. Illusions can't hurt you," Spike said. Twilight looked at the edge of the cliff and took a breath.

"Not anymore."

The path continued further up the mountain. Only a few illusory ponies appeared again, but Twilight ignored their attacks and dispersed them with a blast of wind. The master of the illusions seemed to notice they didn't work anymore, and after the third encounter they stopped appearing entirely. With the illusory ponies thwarted, the journey became peaceful again and Twilight continued up the mountain uninterrupted. Cresting the top Twilight stopped and looked around. The mountain evened out into a plateau, a vast expanse of grass stretching before her hooves. Three rivers fell from the clouds overhead, flowing into a central pond and diverting down a fourth river to go down the mountain. Smaller boulders and trees littered the area. Twilight slowly approached the center pond and looked around.

"We're here, so, where is she?"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Twilight Sparkle." Twilight turned her head towards the sound. A young unicorn mare with a light blue coat stepped from behind a boulder. A light blue gemstone clasped a purple cape with stars around her neck, the fabric draping down her back and over her hooves.

"The last Shadow Hunter," Twilight replied.

The mare smirked. "You should show me some respect, Sparkle. You shall have the honor of being destroyed by the Master's right-hoof mare, the most powerful and famous unicorn in Equestria. You stand in the presence of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She tossed her head in the air and smiled after the declaration.

Twilight looked at Spike on her saddle. The hologram held up its claws. "Great and powerful? I've never heard of you," Twilight said, looking back at Trixie.

Trixie dropped her head and scowled. "I've made tours across Equestria! I've sold out theaters! I've been featured in magazines!"

Twilight rubbed her neck, looking sheepish. "Sorry. Um… what do you even do?"

"I'm a magician, you simpleton!" Trixie was seething, her eyes bulging.

Twilight shrugged. "That would explain it. I'm much more interested in the practical applications of magic, not showmareship and illusions."

Trixie huffed and glared. "The Usurper aside I should destroy you for your insolence alone. I guess the official order is just convenient."

"Try it. You're the last distraction between me and your Master," Twilight replied, remembering why they were talking now that Trixie had finished boasting.

"Don't delude yourself. Yes, yes, you've proven yourself exceptionally capable for a single unicorn. But Derpy and Octavia were nothing compared to me. Even with all the weapons and programs you carry, you have but a fraction of Trixie's ability."

"I've gotten this far. What makes you so special?" Twilight asked. Trixie sputtered slightly before she regained her composure and resumed her glare of arrogance again.

"Trixie has received a great gift from the Master. A reward for her aid, a show of gratitude. Trixie holds a fragment of the Master's power. With just a touch of her magical essence, Trixie possesses powers even the Usurper could not surpass."

"A fragment of her power as a reward? For what?" Twilight had to try to learn more while she could. She still had no idea what plan was in place that the Shadow Hunters were stalling her to complete.

"Trixie was travelling through the Everfree Forest, intending to put on a show in Ponyville, when she happened upon the Master. Cosmic coincidence or a twist of fate? It matters not. What matters is that it was Trixie's presence that allowed the Master to free herself from the Usurper's chains. For this the Master promised Trixie a place at her side in Canterlot when we conquer Equestria."

"You… you freed the Master? From the Everfree Forest?" Twilight thought back to all that Celestia had pointedly not been telling her. She had suspected the Everfree had some role in this, but if that was where the Master had been hidden...

"It was not intentional, but if given the choice Trixie would not undo it! She now has power the likes of which you can only imagine! All of Equestria shall fall to their stomachs to kiss her hooves! Come, Twilight Sparkle!" Trixie stood up on her hind hooves and snapped a front hoof out to the side. Her cape flared out behind her as she revealed a Multitool, the construct shifting form into a long blaster shape. "Show Trixie the power that has gotten you this far and know your inferiority to her!"

"You want to see my power? You got it, Trixie!" Twilight stood and flung out her own Multitool, the barrel of the Pinkie Cannon forming. Trixie smirked.

Then, her other hoof rose from beneath her cape and her second Multitool took on the same blaster configuration as the first.

Twilight paled at the sight of twin cannon barrels emerging from Trixie's hooves. She chuckled nervously and slowly held up the Pinkie Cannon. "Um, I only have one." Trixie's response was to sneer and swing the cannons forward. Twilight gulped. "Uh-oh."

The first cannon hummed and fired, a blast of light-blue shooting towards Twilight. She leveled her hoof and fired the Pinkie Cannon, the bright pink sphere racing forward. The two orbs of energy collided and exploded in a shockwave of magic, a spray of sparkles flying from Trixie's attack when it detonated. Through the smoke came a second blue blast from Trixie. Twilight focused magic into her horn and fired a trio of magic shots from her horn. The violet bolts hit the orb and it exploded in the same shower of sparkles as the first.

Then a trio of blue magic shots came from the other side of the smoke. Twilight took them in the chest and fell on her back with a cry of surprise and pain. It was a spell similar to her concussive blasts, and she gave silent thanks that Trixie apparently wasn't skilled in combat magic either. But whatever power she claimed to have received from the Master made them far more potent than Twilight's bolts. Twilight climbed to her hooves when Trixie burst out of the smoke cloud, her cape flaring behind her. Her hind hooves floated over the air in an aura of blue magic, her cannon barrels held out behind her and blasts of magic firing from them to propel her forward.

Twilight leapt aside as Trixie tried to ram her. Trixie rocketed past her, her cannons cancelling their momentum and their owner dropping to her hooves on the ground.Trixie fired her cannon and Twilight responded with another blast from the Pinkie Cannon, and anticipating Trixie's second attack shot another three magic shots after. Trixie's second shot came and cancelled out against Twilight's shots, but another trio of magic attacks from Trixie narrowly missed Twilight in return as she dodged them.

"So, she has three attacks and you have two. The math suggests a problem," Spike said. Twilight didn't respond, he could read her thoughts well enough to know she had noticed. Trixie's concussive blasts could be cancelled out, but they moved too fast for her to aim at before they hit her. She could try using her own blasts to cancel out both of Trixie's cannonfire and save the Pinkie Cannon for the magic shots, but she wasn't sure she could fire her own magic fast enough to overpower both blasts before the second reached her. And the Pinkie Cannon didn't recharge fast enough for rapid fire.

"I could Apple Whip one of those cannons but she'd just fire the other. The Rare Shield won't handle firepower like this will it?" Twilight rolled to avoid Trixie charging towards her again.

"Nope, the energy output of those cannons is too strong for the gems to contain. It'll be just like when you blasted them out of Rarity's grip with the Pinkie Cannon."

"Then next on the list…" Twilight turned towards Trixie as Trixie did the same and raised her cannons. The Flutter Stare lit up on Twilight's saddle, filling the air with a flash of blinding light. Trixie cried out and stumbled back, blinking rapidly and falling on her back. Twilight lowered her hoof to fire the Pinkie Cannon, but suddenly one of Trixie's cannons swung towards her and glowed blue. Twilight dodged as a blast of energy fired towards her, dispersing in a shower of sparks behind her.

"How did she resist that?" Twilight watched as Trixie slowly climbed to her hooves. T

Trixie chuckled at the look of shock on Twilight's face. "The Master told us about when you fought Fluttershy. I took precautions. My cannons have a dead mare's switch in their systems. Disrupt my connection to them and they auto-aim and fire on their own. Go ahead, try your little stare master trick again and test if I'm bluffing."

Twilight let out a curse under her breath as Trixie swung her cannons toward her. She dodged the double blast and fired the Pinkie Cannon to block the magic blasts she knew were to follow. Her hoof reconfigured as Trixie prepared another barrage, and before the attack came Twilight fired the Rainbow Tornado at her. The storm blew Trixie back through the air, as she came back down Twilight aimed her horn carefully and fired. Two magic bolts hit Trixie's flank, but when she neared the ground her cape snapped out in the grip of her magic and she righted herself, landing on her hooves.

Twilight let out an annoyed grunt. "This is getting annoying."

"With her firepower I don't think we'll have much luck being able to hold still long enough to fire off Derpy Thunder. So we've got one option left, unless we want to try our luck dodging until we get an opening."

"No thanks," Twilight replied to Spike mentally. She executed the program and her hoof elongated, wire mesh emerging from the bottom. Trixie swung her hooves towards Twilight and Twilight responded in kind, firing the Octave Blast. Twilight didn't hear or sense anything, the air was already crackling with magic from their exchanged blasts and this weapon didn't seem to add anything significant. But as Spike had advised, the results were self-evident. Trixie recoiled back, stumbling as though she had just been hit in the chest. Her hooves dropped to her sides and Twilight seized the chance, lowering her horn and firing several energy bolts. The barrage hit Trixie and knocked her on her back. Twilight tried to press her advantage, but Trixie's hoof rose and shot a large orb of magic at her, blue light racing towards Twilight. She rolled to avoid it and checked her Multitool's status. The Octave Blast didn't take as much energy as some of her other weapons to fire, but it still wasn't recharged yet.

"An impressive trick." Trixie smirked and her horn lit up in blue light. "Allow me to top it with a greater one!" There was a bright flash and Twilight looked away, keeping one eye squinting through the light to watch for attacks. The light faded to reveal Trixie standing in front of Twilight as before.

"Behold true magic, Twilight Sparkle!" Twilight spun around, her eyes wide. Another Trixie stood behind her, flinging her cape back and pointing her hoof forward.

"A technique no weapon of yours can break!" The first Trixie behind Twilight followed suit with her doppelganger, her cannon glowing blue. Twilight looked between the two, panic rising up on her.

"I… but… it's an illusion! It can't hurt me!" Even as she spoke though, Twilight was suspecting she was very wrong. She looked between them trying to figure out which was the fake. The two Trixies were perfectly identical, even the stars on their hats and cloaks were in the same place.

The Trixies laughed in unison at her confusion. "Trixie will prove her superiority to you! By our hooves, our fun has been doubled! And so has your peril!"

The first Trixie fired and Twilight dodged it, only to find the second Trixie firing her own blast. Twilight broke into a sprint, ducking and weaving as a storm of blue magic orbs exploded behind her. The two Trixies covered for each other, one firing while the other recharged or moved into position for a better shot. Twilight raised her hoof to fire the Octave Blast as she ran, but the Trixie she was aiming for didn't react. Was it an illusion or did she miss? Twilight couldn't be sure.

"Spike, need suggestions and need them now!" Twilight skidded to a halt as a magic orb flew in front of her face and turned in a different direction as a second came directly after. It exploded behind her, a shower of magical sparks falling over her tail in a burst of blue light.

"We figure out which one is real," Spike replied.

"And how do we do that?"

"Working on it."

Twilight heard her systems whirring as Spike processed various data. She caught snippets of his thoughts as he worked and ignored them, focusing her efforts on avoiding the Trixies and their blasts and thinking of a plan of her own. She knew one of the Trixies was an illusion, which also meant that only one of the two was firing attacks that could actually harm her. Likely the first one firing was the fake, so when Twilight dodged its attacks the second real Trixie could strike her. Unless Trixie had outsmarted her after the earlier illusions and was counting on Twilight trying that again. Twilight glanced back at the two and groaned. "Not like I could tell which is the first one at this point anyway!"

"Twilight, this isn't possible! I've got nothing!"

Twilight ducked a trio of magic shots, her eyes widening at Spike's words. "What do you mean nothing?"

"The two Trixies are completely identical. I've scanned them every way I scan something and I can't tell them apart!" Spike sounded panicked. Twilight was feeling the same as he explained the matter to her. Spike was an AI programmed for Celestia's personal usage, how could even he be stumped by this? Twilight tried to think of a way to turn the tide again. The barrage of magic shots wasn't letting up and she was tiring of the constant leaping, rolling and running to stay ahead of Trixie's attacks.

"Come on, there must be something!" She spoke to herself more than Spike. "She's a magician, a stage mare. She knows all about deception and illusions. But every illusion has a trick to it, so must this one!"

"I'm open to ideas," Spike said. Twilight turned her mental attention back to him.

"Spike, you said they're completely identical? No way to tell them apart?"

"Nope."

Twilight avoided a large magic blast aimed for her, energy crackling behind her in the air. "Scan the entire area, look for an output of magical energy aside from the Trixies."

"Roger." Spike worked and it only took a couple of seconds before he reported it. "There, in the middle of those two trees by the stream. Getting a continuous output of magic from it, it spikes now and then but I don't know what it is." Twilight looked over at the scanned area. There was nothing between the trees except grass and light. But if Spike's scans were right she had just had the discovery she needed to fight back. Twilight continued to dodge attacks, moving closer to the trees. "I don't get it, was is it?" Spike asked.

"It's one of the rules of magic, Spike!" Twilight jumped over a storm of magic shots from one of the Trixies and swung her hoof forward to point it between the trees, at the spot Spike was sensing the magic from. "The trick is in what you don't see!" The Octave Blast fired at the empty air. Twilight head a cry of surprise and grinned in triumph. She landed and lowered her horn, firing as many magic blasts as she could. The violet bolts exploded against the air in ripples of magic. With a flash of light and a groan Trixie popped into existence, stumbling back under the attack. Behind Twilight, the other two Trixies flickered and vanished.

Twilight pressed her advantage further, Trixie holding one of her hooves over her chest to block the magical attacks. The second hoof pointed at her and Twilight rolled to avoid the blue blast that shot at her. The Octave Blast returned fire as she got back on her hooves, Trixie recoiling from the sound wave. Twilight landed more magic blasts on her chest before Trixie swung both her cannons toward her. The two fired in unison, shining blue orbs racing forward. Twilight jumped to avoid them as the two attacks arced together and hit each other, creating an explosion of pure magical energy. Her senses tingled from the sensation, the air itself seeming to glow in the aftermath.

"You're making Trixie angry!" Twilight took the chance to hit her before the cannons recharged. She pointed her Multitool but Trixie lit up in blue light and vanished. Twilight felt the weapon fire, but too late to hit.

"Behind you!" Twilight turned at Spike's warning to see Trixie reappear some distance behind Twilight, cannons held out. They fired, the two orbs again colliding into an explosive meeting. The force knocked Twilight back, her body flipping head over hooves on the grass to lie on her stomach. She groaned and pushed herself to her hooves, running to avoid a pair of magic shots. The Octave Blast raised and fired, but once again Trixie teleported away before the sound wave left Twilight's hoof.

"She can't see it, but she can anticipate when I'm about to fire," Twilight thought. "Spike, heads-up display, overhead view. The second you sense Trixie is about to reappear, I want to know where." In response Twilight's map appeared in front of her eye, a blinking red dot marking Trixie while a violet dot marked Twilight. Twilight dodged Trixie's double-blast, braced herself against the explosion, and swung her hoof up. Trixie teleported in a flash of light. Twilight smirked; she hadn't fired yet. Trixie had fallen for the bluff.

Her display lit up with a red dot behind her and to the right and Twilight spun around to face in its direction. The Octave Blast fired and Trixie, just reappeared and not yet in position to attack back, doubled over as the wave hit her. Twilight charged forward, her horn blazing magical blasts at Trixie. She reconfigured her hoof as she ran, then ducked her head to tackle Trixie to the ground. Trixie fell back as Twilight flipped over her and raised her hoof. With a burst of pink light the Pinkie Cannon fired its pink orb towards Trixie. The explosion of confetti and streamers flung her through the air to land heavily on her stomach, her eyes closed. Twilight watched carefully, her hoof reconfiguring back into the Octave Blast in preparation for a continuing battle. To her relief Trixie was motionless.

"She's out." At Spike's confirmation Twilight relaxed and let out a breath. She shifted her hoof back to its normal form and approached Trixie, turning her on her back. Trixie was indeed unconscious.

Twilight turned her eyes towards the twin cannons emerging from her hooves.

"She had a lot of power for a showmare."

"Yeah. I'm getting a massive energy readout from her cloak," Spike said. Twilight looked down and reached out with her magic. The gemstone clasp disconnected and the cape floated up in front of her. "The gemstone is the source, someone infused a lot of magic into it. That's likely how she could do all those illusions. Most of them are basic spells, they were just pumped up by all that extra magical energy."

"Then hopefully she won't mind if we borrow it." Twilight gently clipped open the metal latch holding the cloak on the clasp and opened a hatch on her saddle. The gemstone and clasp slid into it and the hatch clicked shut.

"Her Multitool attack wasn't even really an attack, it's a fireworks spell that was weaponized with the gemstone's magic. Her Multitool is an older model so it needed the boost, but yours can copy its powered-up effects fine," Spike continued.

"We have the energy capsules from Celestia, we'll be fine. Copy the program." Twilight felt her systems come to life as they updated. Her Multitool shifted form, elongating into a narrow cannon barrel like Trixie had. Twilight raised it and fired. A shining silver-blue orb of magic shot out, after traveling over the edge of the cliff it burst, a shower of sparkles shooting in all directions and vanishing.

"It drains your energy pretty quick since it's so powerful, but it's got good range and packs a punch." Spike called up Twilight's display and flipped to her Multitool's energy reserves. Twilight confirmed that the new weapon did indeed need a lot of power, and dismissed the display.

"Call up Celestia, please, Spike." She sat down at the hologram manifested, Celestia's face forming in the blue light.

"Twilight, is it done?"

"Yes. The last Shadow Hunter is defeated. She was very powerful though. Whatever magic this Master commands she gave part of it to Trixie."

Celestia smiled, relieved. "Good. And just before you contacted me the engineering wing sent something to my lab."

"Really? What?" Twilight cocked her head.

"The time has come, Twilight, to tell you of the true danger we face. I won't waste any further time speaking to you this way. Return to Canterlot immediately. There is much to explain."

"Understood, Princess." Twilight's hologram vanished and her body and Trixie's lit up in white light, teleporting back to Canterlot.

LEVEL COMPLETE

WEAPON ACQUIRED – SHOOTING STAR

Comments

[Shazam 25]

You had Trixie copy Gemini Man from Mega Man 3 a little bit. I play and beat that game so many times I can easily go through it.

[DrakeyC]

4224291 Yup. Initially she was more based on Zero from X2, but I fought the action lacking, and Gemini Man's gimmick seemed appropriate.

[VampDash]

4224308 So wait... you were going to give her a kick ass sword?

[DrakeyC]

4226441 No, from Zero she took her triple shot and the dash attack.

[VampDash]

4226701 Ah okay.

[Kamen rider yokai]

Nice one that was some fight.

[DrakeyC]

4232332 Thanks. I figured, it's Trixie, this has to be a brawl worthy of her.

[Phazon]

So why doesn't the dead mare's switch in Trixie's dual Multitool's trigger after Twilight beats her? Just seems oddly specific that it triggers when she's neurally disorientated but not when she's KO'd.

Trixie huffed and glared. "The Usurper aside I should destroy you for your insolence alone. I guess the official order is just convenient."

Ooh, the typo is an anagram! Oh wait, it's got an extra 'e'. Damn.

[son_of_heaven176]

Wait a second: Trixie is able to teleport magically? We know that in canon, Twilight is able to do so. If magical teleportation is possible in the works off this fic, why hasn't Twilight ever shown that ability?