Black, Turn 1: Black Pawn to E5
Scholar's Mate
Black, Turn 1: Black Pawn to E5
by MagnetBolt
“Trixie, this is a terrible idea,” Twilight said as she paced in a circle. Trixie watched her start wearing a hole in the castle floor. “You can't get in a magic duel with him!”
“Trixie reminds you that she was the one challenged, not the other way around,” Trixie said. She was sitting in front of an ancient tome she'd borrowed to brush up a bit on advanced spellcasting before the duel. Unfortunately, it seemed the ancient tome was Ye Old Foal's Guide To Thaumaturgy, and consequently wasn't helping very much.
“You can still call it off. Apologize to him, then we'll get him to apologize to you and Luna, and then we can end this without anypony having to be hurt,” Twilight said. She turned to find Trixie ignoring her and flipping through the yellowed pages of her book. “Trixie! Pay attention!”
“Trixie heard you the first time.” She looked up at Twilight and frowned. “But you need to listen too. This is a matter of honor for Trixie!”
“It's not about honor!” Twilight snapped. “You could kill him!”
Trixie raised an eyebrow and smiled at that. “So you don't doubt Trixie's power, at least.”
“Of course not.” Twilight sighed. “But that's the problem. You're probably like...” she sat on her haunches and tried to gather her thoughts. “...given what I've seen, and the average alicorn limits that I've established with the limited available data... probably around twenty times as magically powerful as he is.”
“Hah! A simple challenge now that the Great and Powerful Trixie matches your raw power!”
“Actually, I'm a lot stronger than- that's not important right now.” Twilight cut herself off before another argument started. “The point is, imagine if you challenged a foal to a wrestling contest. You could really hurt him without meaning to.”
“Trixie won't kill him. But she might hurt him just a little so he'll remember to have more respect next time he speaks to Trixie or Luna.”
“You're letting your power get to your head! Again!” Twilight fumed. “Didn't you learn anything from when you had the Alicorn Amulet and went insane?!”
“You mean when Trixie was about as powerful as she is now?”
“Yes!”
“And she was being manipulated by an evil magical artifact?”
“Again, yes.”
“And she still didn't really hurt anypony?”
“Y- that's not the point!”
“Isn't it?” Trixie stood up and trotted over to Twilight. “Trixie is in full control of herself, and despite what you and Celestia seem to think... I can handle it.” Her voice softened. “Just trust me, Twilight. I promise not to do anything to hurt him. But I'm not just going to run away with my tail between my legs. The last time I did that you had to drag me away from a rock farm.”
Twilight blushed. “Maybe you're right. It's just that Professor Sundowner was always such a nice pony when I was in school. He might just be having a bad day. I think if everypony slept on it and came back with a clear head, there wouldn't need to be a duel at all.”
“Maybe, but Trixie isn't so sure. He has always hated the way I did things.” She sighed, looking down. “He wasn't kidding when he said I only passed because Princess Celestia happened to be watching and thought my solutions were amusing.”
“And she knew that finding a different solution is sometimes even more important than doing things the way everypony else does.” Twilight gave Trixie a smile and wrapped a hoof around her shoulders. “Besides, you graduated. It's not like you have to care what he thinks about you.”
“Unless Celestia does send me back to magic kindergarten,” Trixie quipped. “To be honest, I think she would if she thought she could get away with it. It'd certainly keep me out of her mane for, ugh, ten years.” She stuck her tongue out.
“I don't think it's actually going to be that long,” Twilight said.
“It'd be longer if Sundowner was put in charge of grading my tests. He once failed me for a whole semester just because of one little mistake!”
“One little mistake?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.
Trixie looked to the side, as if deciding how much of the truth to tell. “I might have gotten frustrated studying for tests and used divination magic to determine the answers ahead of time.”
“Trixie, that's cheating!” Twilight gasped. From across the room, someone laughed.
“Hah! Wonderful!” Trixie and Twilight turned to look, Twilight glaring at the mismatched chimeric figure. Discord wiped a tear of mirth from one eye and grinned at the two. “I think I like having this new princess around. She's a lot more fun than the rest of you.”
“Discord, why are you here?” Twilight asked with a groan.
“Well I was just passing by on my way to see Fluttershy and a little bird told me that there was something exciting going on.” A sparrow appeared, perching on one of his horns.
“Trixie's going to explode a stuffy old professor with her amazing cosmic power!” The bird tweeted, with a voice almost exactly like Trixie's, just pitched a little higher.
“Songbirds just can't keep secrets,” Discord said as the bird flew off. “But once I heard the news, I knew I'd just have to step in and watch this. Tell me, were you going to banish him from Canterlot if you won? Then again, you're an alicorn now. Perhaps you'd prefer to put him in the statue garden. It's a lovely place, except for the pigeons.”
“Trixie isn't going to kill him or turn him into a statue!” Twilight yelled.
“Well, I'm not going to kill him,” Trixie said, quietly. “Trixie will keep the option of petrification open though.”
“Trixie!” Twilight said, turning from Discord to give her a look.
Trixie sighed, relenting. “Fine. Trixie won't turn him to stone or banish him to the moon or set him on fire or whatever else it is you're afraid she'll do to him.”
“Good,” Twilight said. “But just keep one thing in mind.” She got close to whisper in Trixie's ear. “If Discord thinks this is a good idea it means something's wrong. Be careful.”
***
The castle's rear terrace garden was a quiet place, open and away from the rest of the city, looking over waterfalls instead of homes. It was private, somewhere the princesses could go that they wouldn't be bothered.
Today it was a place where there wasn't an unacceptable risk of collateral damage. Twilight looked around at the hedges and fountains nervously.
“Is this really safe?” She asked. “Anypony could just walk out here, especially if they're looking for one of us. And it's not a large area. If something goes out of control, the spell could go right at the castle!”
“That would be terrible, wouldn't it? It might add a splash of color to these dull surroundings.” Discord appeared next to the castle wall, a paintbrush in hand. A mural had appeared on the wall depicting Celestia from a rather flattering angle, if one that she'd probably prefer not to have on the side of the castle. Assuming she didn't enjoy having ponies staring at her flank from a low and very personal angle, that is.
Twilight blushed and stammered, but before she could say anything, Celestia coughed politely. “Discord, I didn't know you had such a crush on me. Between this and the flowers, it's obvious you're quite smitten.” She gave him a small smile. Discord paled and scribbled over the mural before making it vanish entirely.
“Clearly that art is simply too advanced for ponies of this age,” Discord muttered.
“And to answer your question, Twilight,” Celestia continued, turning to her former student. “This garden used to be used for magic duels before they became... out of fashion.” She walked over to one corner of the terrace and used a hoof to clean off one of the paving stones. “Do you see the inscription?”
Twilight trotted over to look, leaning down to examine what she had revealed. “There's a circle cut deep into the marble, lined with iron, and these lines...” Her mouth kept moving as she trailed off, calculating and thinking. “This is part of a magic shield.”
Celestia smiled. “Exactly. If you and Luna would help me clean off the other tiles, we can set up a curtain between them that will dispel any spells that try to pass through them.”
“It looks similar to what they had in the Equestria Games, but...” Twilight considered. “This spell looks a lot more complicated.”
“The spell used for the Equestria Games is much more modern,” Celestia said. “This is almost as old as Canterlot, and I'm afraid some of the court magicians at the time prided themselves on not only the efficacy of their spells but on the complexity. Sometimes I think their secrecy and obfuscation set magical development back by decades.” She sighed, then smiled more broadly at Twilight. “Then again, you seem to be able to pick their magic apart easily. Maybe they weren't as good as they thought.”
Twilight blushed. “Well, I mean, anypony could-” she started to stammer, staring at her hooves.
“Oh how cute.” Below Twilight's hooves, a new carving had appeared, the lines in the stone moving as Discord walked around the magic circle, the runes spinning like a wheel as he jogged. “Looks like someone still has a crush on teacher. Just be careful your little blue marefriend doesn't get too jealous. She's got a bad habit of going over the line, you know.”
“That's rich coming from you,” Twilight said. Discord slithered up, the carving filling out into his body as he pulled away from the stone. “You're the master of going over the line.”
“Well, then, you should probably listen to what I say, since I am a master.” Discord grinned, leaning over to whisper. “Senpai would never notice you anyway.”
“Discord, could you please assist Luna with cleaning the dispel curtain?” Celestia smiled, pointedly ignoring everything he was saying.
“Oh of course, Princess. I'll go help the Princess. Excuse me, Princess and Princess.” He vanished in a burst of white light.
“While they clean things up, we should go over the rules.” Celestia stepped past the still-blushing Twilight to look at Sundowner and Trixie, who were glaring at each other. “Each of you will take turns casting spells. The winner will be the first pony who cannot match or exceed the feat of the other pony.”
“I expect that should take only a few seconds, given my opponent's natural ability, or rather the lack thereof.” Sundowner said, confidently.
“You are not allowed to harm your opponent intentionally during the duel. Using combat magic is against the rules, and death spells are both against the rules and highly illegal.” She fixed Trixie with a look. “No disintegrations.”
“As you wish.” Trixie rolled her eyes. Sundowner frowned.
“Why did she look directly at you when she said that?” Sundowner asked.
“Luna and I will raise the dispelling curtain ourselves to make sure it has enough power,” Celestia continued. “Twilight will assist us with judging. We will of course be impartial, even though you insulted my sister and my former student's friend.” She gave Sundowner a small smile.
***
Celestia and Luna stood at opposite ends of the garden. With a nod across the grass, the two acted in concert, their horns glowing. The runes carved into the paving stones flared to light, shimmering with blue and yellow magic.
“Almost every single one of these stones is enchanted!” Twilight said, kneeling to look at the ground around her. “The circle she cleaned off must just be an anchor point for the enchantment...”
“Trixie is surprised it works at all. Celestia said that dueling had gone out of style here a long time ago.” The blue mare frowned, thinking.
“This is Canterlot, not some backwater town where things are left to rot,” Sundowner snorted. “We preserve the past here. But of course that's something that a mare like you couldn't possibly understand, since you don't respect it.”
“Trixie has great respect for the past!” Trixie straightened up. “You simply don't understand Trixie at all, because you don't respect her. Of course, after this little duel you'll be forced to admit that Trixie is one of the greatest and most powerful in all of Equestria.”
“We'll see about that,” Sundowner muttered, adjusting his cloak and the jeweled amulet holding it closed.
***
The day before the magic duel, Sundowner had been surprised when a summons appeared in his inbox, Princess Celestia requesting to speak with him immediately. He had left immediately, leaving grad students to supervise the alchemy lab, to see what the solar princess required of him.
“Come in,” Celestia said, just before he could knock on the door to her chambers. The guards carefully avoided looking at him as he passed by, making the professor feel oddly invisible. As he pushed the door open, he saw Celestia looming over a desk full of papers and odd trinkets, clearly in the middle of something.
“I'm sorry, Princess. Is this a bad time? I can come back later-” He started to back out, but the door shut solidly behind him with a burst of yellow magic.
“No, I called you here. It's hardly a bad time when I made the appointment myself.” She smiled, but her eyes were tight and narrow. Sundowner had never seen her like this.
“What's wrong, Princess?” Sundowner asked. Celestia waved him over with a hoof and motioned for him to sit.
“There are a lot of things wrong, of course. But there is one thing in particular that I could use some outside help with.” She shuffled the papers in front of her. “I trust you're familiar with a pony named Trixie Lulamoon.”
Sundowner snorted dismissively. “I used to teach her. She was always lazy, looking for the easy way out of doing any real work. From what I understand, she didn't bother keeping up with her studies after she graduated.”
“That's not entirely inaccurate,” Celestia agreed.
“I'm curious as to how she could be a problem for you. I'm sure she's committed enough crimes that you could just throw her in the dungeon whenever you wanted. Do you know how many times we had to revise the student handbook because of her? I never thought we'd have to put anti-scrying spells on our test answers, either.”
“Unfortunately, there are certain things keeping me from doing just that.” Celestia sat back. “There are political concerns that I cannot reveal, but she has also, unfortunately, managed to impress my former student. Princess Twilight would never let her marefriend sit in the dungeon for long.”
“Ah,” Sundowner said, not entirely understanding. “That does seem to be a difficult situation. I'm not sure how I can help, though.”
“You'll be having breakfast with me in the morning,” Celestia said. “Trixie will be there. It would be helpful if you could put her in her place. I'd do it myself, but I'm not in a position where I can do that right now.”
“I see...” Sundowner said. “I don't think I'm the right pony for this, your highness. I haven't thought about her since she graduated, and what she's doing is no business of mine.”
“I think you are the right pony for the job. You obviously have strong opinions about her.” Celestia floated a paper towards him. “And I see you've been applying for grants to do research on aquatic sentient life in Hoofwai'i. I might be more inclined to approve this grant if you were to help me with this little matter.”
Sundowner blushed. “Well, that is-”
“Just think about it, Professor. You just do a little favor for me, and you can go on a nice little trip and chase seaponies.”
“I would have to, ah, consider...” he trailed off. A small wooden box landed in front of him. Celestia opened it, and he looked inside, confused.
“It's just a little something for you to wear to breakfast.” Celestia smiled, though no mirth made it to her eyes.
***
A curtain of shimmering energy rose up from the ground, shifting between blue and yellow as it wavered in the air. Celestia and Luna stepped back from it at the same time.
“Twilight, could you please try casting a spell through the barrier?” Celestia asked. Twilight nodded and created a glowing sphere shining with harmless light. She struck it with a hoof like it was a ball, and it bounced into the wall, dissipating harmlessly into sparks.
“Looks like it worked,” Twilight said. “Do you have any books about how to create a wall like this? I'd love to study it. I bet with a few tweaks you could create a spell that would surround a pony with an anti-magic field and keep spells from harming them!”
“Maybe later,” Celestia said, resisting the urge to ruffle Twilight's mane. Whenever there was a chance to learn new things, Twilight's face always lit up like a foal's on Hearth's Warming Day. “Now, are the two of you ready for the magic duel?” She looked at Trixie and Sundowner. The two stood on their marks, circular paving stones a few paces wide and raised above the level of the ground just enough to make them stand out.
“Trixie is always ready for anything. And after the foes she's fought, this should be nothing.” Trixie smirked as she looked at Sundowner.
“Unlike whatever you've done before, cheating won't help you here,” Sundowner countered. “Only experience, talent, and power. All of which I have and which you lack.”
Trixie laughed. “You have no idea what you're dealing with.”
Celestia sighed. “You may begin when you're ready. Trixie, as the challenged, you may cast the first spell.”
Trixie considered for a moment. “Trixie will start with something simple. Otherwise this will be over all too quickly.” She focused, and light appeared around her horn. After a moment, it pulled away, floating around her, then split into four parts that danced around her body in time to a slowly swelling beat.
“Barely a spell at all,” Sundowner commented. “A foal could have managed that.”
“Good,” Trixie replied, snidely. “Then it should just barely be within your ability.”
***
Meanwhile, Twilight frowned. She quietly turned to Celestia. “That spell... her horn isn't still lit. How is she keeping it up?”
“Oh, it's simple, really,” Discord said, pushing between Twilight and her mentor so the purple princess was looking at his misshapen face. “She just took the light from her horn and put it over there. I'm surprised a princess of magic hadn't figured it out already.”
“You can't just... do that with a spell!” Twilight said, confused. “If you remove the light the magic aura goes along with it and-and-” she sputtered and stopped.
“Now Twilight, I thought your mind was a bit more open than that.” With a flash of light, a dunce cap appeared on her head. “It's such a basic spell, too. Oh well. Off to magic kindergarten with you, then!” Discord handed her a saddlebag full of books and a scroll with the word 'homework' scrawled across the top, right before a long list of assignments. “If you get it all done by tomorrow, I'll let you play with your friends at recess.”
“Discord,” Celestia warned. The chaos spirit sighed and snapped his talon, the cap and accessories vanishing again.
“She never lets me have any fun.”
***
“Illusions are the most basic spells,” Sundowner said with a huff. “They have no real substance and are only good for entertaining children and impressing idiots. I suppose in that regard, you have a lot in common with them. It's no wonder that was your opening act.”
“Oh please,” Trixie rolled her eyes. “You wouldn't know a good illusion if your life depended on it.” Her expression shifted into a predatory grin. “Of course, with a really good illusion, that's the point.”
“All I hear is blah blah blah,” Sundowner said. His horn lit up with a flash of red light and the stone under Trixie's hooves was suddenly as slick as ice, covered with a slippery grease. Trixie squeaked as her hooves shot out from under her and she scrambled for traction before losing her balance entirely and falling squarely on her face.
“Ow,” she muttered, crawling to the edge of the patch of grease and standing.
“I'm sorry, did your pride take a fall there, or was it just you?” Sundowner laughed.
“Conjuring grease. Hmph. It's what Trixie should have expected from a slimeball like you.” She brushed herself off, rubbing her sore snout. “You won't even see Trixie's next spell coming!”
“Assuming you can even cast anything worthwhile,” the professor noted. Trixie's horn lit up with blue light, and she rippled and completely vanished from sight.
***
“Ah, yes. Grease. That's always good for slapstick,” Discord noted. “It takes someone with a real respect for the classics to use that.”
“I hope she didn't hurt her nose,” Twilight said.
“Oh, she's fine. Usually you follow up grease with a fire spell to light it up, but I suspect that's against the rules. And I doubt it would do much to her, anyway.”
Twilight frowned and looked at Discord. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing.” He smiled. “Say, that's a nice little invisibility spell she's got going on.”
Twilight turned back, having missed Trixie casting it. “Where did she go?”
“It wouldn't be a very good invisibility spell if you could tell that, now would it?”
Twilight groaned and cast a spell, her eyes glowing with blue light. “Well all I have to do is look for the magical aura given off by the invisibility spell and then I can... where is it? There's no aura to her invisibility spell!”
“Maybe it's invisible,” Discord noted, smirking.
***
“Clever, but that won't work.” The professor looked around, considering. “Even if you're invisible there are simple ways to locate you. Not that I need them.” He smirked and his horn lit up with a red light. A spark shot out and exploded into countless sticky strands, enveloping a huge area with webs.
Trixie sputtered and became visible, trying to get a stray strand out of her mouth. “A web spell, really?! Nopony uses those anymore! Your spells are even older and crustier than you are!”
“That's the attitude that always got you detentions. You have no respect for anypony else! You can complain all you want about my spell, but it foiled your invisibility and trapped you there! It worked exactly as I intended it to. It's reliable and useful, but you wouldn't know what those words mean.”
Trixie rolled her eyes. “I'm hardly trapped here.” She lifted a hoof effortlessly.
The professor frowned. “You shouldn't be able to move at all. You'd have to be as strong as an ox to pull away from that spell!”
“Trixie has been working out,” She explained. Her horn lit up, and nothing appeared to happen.
Sundowner snorted and laughed. “What's wrong? Another fizzled spell?”
From right next to him, a voice whispered in his ear. “Trixie thinks you've been confused by her afterimage technique.”
Sundowner screamed, spinning to face Trixie, who had appeared right next to him. His horn lit up with a ruby light, and his eyes flashed red as he unleashed a huge blast of ice magic in a wide swathe, the spell only stopping at the anti-magic curtain.
***
“Trixie!” Twilight screamed, standing and running towards the shimmering field of light.
“Oh, I'm sure she's fine,” Discord said, dismissively.
Celestia stomped a hoof with a sound like thunder. “Professor Sundowner! Clover's Cone of Chill is a combat spell! That is against the terms of this duel!”
“It was an accident!” Sundowner said, angrily. “She surprised me! It doesn't count if I was surprised!” He stomped a hoof.
“Is Trixie okay?!” Twilight got to the edge of the dueling area and stopped, looking around. Almost a quarter of the garden was covered in a thick layer of frost, the extreme cold filling the space with mist.
“A-as if such a pathetic spell could hurt the great and powerful Trixie!” The mare stood up, shaking off a layer of frost and snow. “T-that felt like no more than a mere breeze to Trixie!”
“Pegasus magic protects against extremes of cold,” Luna whispered, as she stepped close enough to Twilight to explain. “Also electricity, but I do not suggest thou try firing bolts of lightning at Lulamoon to test that out.”
“I guess that explains why I didn't need a scarf at the last Winter Wrap Up...” Twilight said, thinking.
“Trixie, he used a combat spell against you,” Celestia said. “As the victim, you have the right to declare yourself winner... by default.” She emphasized the last part. Twilight turned to look at her. “You can withdraw now with no loss of honor or need to prove yourself further.”
“Trixie would never declare herself the winner by default when facing a lowly opponent like this!” The mare adjusted her mane, looking at the professor haughtily.
“Celestia, you know she'd never agree if you put it like that!” Twilight whispered harshly.
“It's just the formal way of making the rules clear. I suppose the official wording would seem a bit insulting to a mare like Trixie.” Celestia looked thoughtful. Twilight frowned at that.
***
“So what are you going to do for your next little trick?” Sundowner asked. “Let me guess, more fireworks? It's the only thing you ever managed to be good at. All of your tricks are just low-level spells and sleight of hoof, and you talk it up so much that it fools idiots into thinking you're not as worthless as you really are!”
“Fireworks, hm? That sounds like a wonderful idea. A display that all of Canterlot can see.” Trixie looked up. Her hooves sparked against the ground, and at her sides, a flickering light shone through her bandages. Thankfully, the Professor followed her gaze upwards as she sent a coruscating ball of light upwards, where it exploded into brilliant sparks that filled the sky.
And they spelled out 'Trixie is the Greatest'.
“That's all?” Sundowner asked, smirking. “I mean, I shouldn't have expected much.” His horn lit up with red light, and with a gesture he wiped away the sparks hanging in the sky with a bright crimson beam.
“You missed a spot,” Trixie noted, pointing up. Sundowner frowned and looked. High above, the clouds had been twisted into a new shape. They spelled out words, in gray stormclouds over white puffs.
In fact, what they spelled out was 'Trixie is the Most Powerful'. Lightning danced around the letters, illuminating them from behind with flickering blue light.
Sundowner screamed with frustration and shot a blood-red fireball into the sky, the heat blasting away the clouds. He turned to Trixie with an evil grin.
“Just another pathetic parlor trick,” He said. Trixie, somehow, was still smirking at him.
“You... missed a spot,” She repeated, pointing again. Sundowner's eye twitched, and he looked up. There, beyond the clouds, he could make out stars, hanging in the morning sky. And they depicted the same smirking face that was laughing at him right now.
***
“How did she do that?!” Twilight demanded.
“There's no roof to the field,” Luna explained. “I believe if 'tis like the dueling fields in the old days, it was constructed such so that no dangerous resonance could build up within. Trixie merely took advantage of that.”
“That's not what I mean,” Twilight said. “I understand that magic can be used to manipulate clouds. Rarity managed it when she had Dash's cutie mark. But the stars? And doing all of it at the same time?!”
“'Tis a striking use of my night sky, giving a select few stars enough extra light to shine during the day. I thought the tome I gave her might be of some use. The spell was created to allow for easier observation of dim stars by astronomers, but to use it on so many at once speaks impressively of her power.”
“My favorite part was where she made him so angry that he's just one little push from trying to kill her,” Discord said, munching on a bag of popcorn. Twilight looked to him with horror. He smiled and offered her the bag. “Want some? It's just starting to get good.”
***
“That's it! I've had enough of this- of this nonsense!” Sundowner screamed, crimson light bursting from his horn to form a cage around Trixie. After a moment, solid plates of magic slammed shut over the bars. “There! Let's see you try something when you're stuck inside a solid cage of magical force!”
“That's not bad,” Trixie said as she walked out from behind the professor, tapping the outside of the cage with a hoof. “This is a top-tier spell. A unicorn like you shouldn't even be able to make solid walls of magic like this.”
“Thank you, I do- wait, what do you mean a unicorn like- how did you get out?!” Sundowner's eyes went wide.
“Trixie used to do an escape artist act before her caravan was destroyed.” She smirked at the professor.
“That doesn't explain anything! Those walls shouldn't have even let you teleport out, and they're sealed air-tight!”
“That's true,” Trixie agreed. “If Trixie had been inside it, she would have been caught quite securely.” She tapped on the side of the cage again. “But Trixie was never inside it.”
“That's not possible. I can tell with the alarm on the spell that somepony is in there! It's not just some illusion or trick!”
“Somepony is in there,” Trixie said, turning away from Sundowner. “You are.”
With that, the illusion of the grassy field vanished, and Sundowner found himself inside the cage he had created, staring at the softly glowing red walls.
***
Sundowner's screams were just barely audible from outside the cage. If it really was airtight, he was yelling extraordinarily loudly. And Twilight was sure that some of the words he was using were illegal to say at that volume.
“Oho,” Luna chortled. “She used a baleful transposition spell to switch her location with Sundowner's and at the same time created a hallucinatory terrain effect, so he would think he had never moved at all.”
“What I don't understand is how she's casting two or three spells at once,” Twilight said, frowning. “I mean power is one thing, but most of the spells she's used aren't that powerful, even if there are some effects to them that don't make any logical sense.”
“There's no fun to be had in making sense all the time,” Discord countered. “It's magic! It's better off without quite so many restrictions. Besides, she's just using her wings and hooves.”
“You can't cast spells with wings and hooves, Discord.” Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Maybe you can't.” Discord smirked, flapping his tiny, mismatched wings.
***
The cage shook and wobbled for almost a minute before Sundowner finally managed to take his own spell apart, the magic walls turning into motes of light as they cracked and buckled. He was panting from exhaustion as he stepped out, his mane ragged and cloak torn.
He found Trixie relaxing in a lounge chair, sipping a blue drink with a tiny umbrella. She raised the sunglasses she was wearing to look at him.
“Oh, you're back,” Trixie said. “If you'd taken much longer, Trixie would have had to step in and help you get out of your own little trap.”
“I'm going to turn you into a newt and give you to a grad student,” Sundowner growled. “I have no idea how you have so much cheek, but you're going to pay for trying to humiliate me in front of the princesses!”
Trixie stood up, the lounge chair and drink vanishing. “You were doing an excellent job of humiliating yourself without Trixie's help.”
“If the Princesses weren't there, I'd hit you with so much combat magic you wouldn't even leave a stain on the ground,” Sundowner said, quietly enough that only Trixie could hear him.
She laughed. “Trixie would love to see you try.”
“Laugh while you can!” Sundowner snapped. “I've seen the peak of your power, and I'm only beginning to tap into mine! Your illusions and parlor tricks won't save you!”
Trixie patiently waited for him to start casting.
“You might think you're so great and powerful just because you're clever enough to have your tricks work against a top-level unicorn. But now you're going to see real power. The kind of power that only comes from going beyond that of a top-level unicorn!”
Trixie rolled her eyes at that. “You really don't know what you're in for.”
“No, you just don't know what you're dealing with.” His eyes lit up bright red, and the jeweled amulet around his neck gleamed. Trixie frowned, really looking at it for the first time. It was mostly hidden by the folds of his cloak, but the black metal and red gem looked all too familiar.
“Wait, is that-” she blinked.
“When this is over, you're going to be crying like a lost little foal,” Sundowner growled. Magic started to pulse around his horn, surrounding him with red light. Trixie could just barely see the edges of the spell, the telltale distortion of time manipulation, before there was a sudden discontinuity.
***
Sundowner panted with exertion in the sudden silence. The noise around him had stopped. He looked out to the waterfalls and saw the torrent frozen in midair, each droplet gleaming like a jewel hovering in the air.
“I did it!” He exclaimed. “A time freeze spell! Not that anypony else is going to be able to appreciate it like I do.” He snarled and turned back to Trixie, the mare frozen with her mouth open and a confused look on her face.
“Hmph,” Sundowner snorted. “To think that's the last expression you'll ever have. It's fitting; confused and afraid, just like you always were.” He started pacing around her, marveling at the effect of the spell. “I used to think this spell was impossible, but it's so beautiful.”
Sundowner looked up at clouds frozen in place. Birds caught with their wings mid-flap. Outside the dueling field, he could see Celestia, with her small smile.
“Ah yes. She did want me to put you in your place. I thought she meant that I should crush your spirit, but I think it's clear that the only place she meant for you to go was a shallow grave.” Sundowner's horn flashed, and a dozen knives appeared, floating in the air around him.
His concentration was interrupted by a loud crunching sound. Sundowner's mane stood on end as he slowly turned to look at Discord. The draconequus slurped loudly on a drink and then shoveled more popcorn into his maw, chewing slowly and deliberately.
“Oh, don't mind me,” the chaos spirit said. “Carry on.”
Sundowner forced himself to focus again on Trixie. The blades floated in the air around him. After a moment, he took a step back. “N-no. I shouldn't do this. I can't just kill her.” He tried to take another step back. As he did, the amulet around his neck flashed again, and his expression changed. “But the princess is counting on me. And I can't just let a pathetic lout like her beat me!”
Sundowner focused, and the knives flashed through the air at Trixie, the showmare frozen in place and unable to defend herself.
“Die, you charlatan!” Sundowner screamed.
Just as the knives were about to reach her, the blue aura around her horn blazed brighter. Sparks floated up from the ground where her hooves touched the earth, and as Sundowner watched in mounting horror, a ghostly image of wings spread wide from her sides. Everything seemed to slow down as a phantom of magical power pulled away from Trixie's frozen body, knocking the knives away with a hoof, sending them spinning uselessly into the dirt.
“That's impossible,” Sundowner whispered.
“Now things are getting really interesting,” Discord said, his snacks and drink vanishing as he watched what unfolded in the frozen time.
***
Trixie stumbled, confused. She had seen Sundowner casting a spell she didn't recognize, then everything had gone sideways. Just for a moment, she thought she had seen something strange, but now that the moment had passed she wasn't sure what it had been.
Sundowner was lying on his side near the other side of the dueling arena, breathing heavily and obviously unable to stand. Trixie took a step towards him and her hoof fell on the hilt of a knife. She froze in place, looking at it.
“What just happened?” She asked slowly, looking around.
“I think it's obvious that this is over,” Discord said, snapping his fingers. The shield around the arena flared white for a moment and vanished. Twilight ran over to Trixie, the mare looking around her at the scattered blades.
“Where did these come from?” Twilight asked. Trixie shrugged.
“Trixie isn't sure. They don't look like her style. But- Sundowner! He has the Alicorn Amulet!” She bolted towards the fallen stallion. As she came close, she skidded to a stop, looking down at him in horror. His mane had turned gray, and he was dried up and wrinkled, like he'd aged a hundred years in an instant.
“What happened to him?” Twilight gasped. “Did you use an age spell on him?”
“The good professor did this to himself,” Discord said, leaning over from where he had appeared behind the two mares. “How awful. Make one little mistake with a time stop spell and you end up wasting a century in an instant. You really should have checked the math on those Heisenberg compensators.” Discord grinned down at the fallen stallion, Sundowner too weak to stand.
“He did this to himself with a failed spell?” Twilight asked.
“It's not possible... how did she move in the frozen time...” Sundowner gasped, trying to rise up, eyes wide. He looked at Trixie. “No! Stay away from me! Take the amulet! I don't want it! Just leave me alone!” He tore the amulet from around his neck and scrambled away, not strong enough to completely stand, crawling in the dirt away from the mare.
“He really did have it,” Twilight said, picking the amulet up carefully with her magic, holding it as far away from her body as she could. “How did he get it?”
“That's an excellent question, Twilight,” Celestia said, stepping past her and picking up Sundowner with her magic, at the same time taking the amulet from her former student. “I will have many questions to ask him about this. Trixie, you've clearly won this duel and upheld your honor and the honor of my sister.” Celestia smiled at her.
“It was nothing, of course,” Trixie said, waving a hoof. “Do you think you can... fix him?”
“The spell he used was complicated, but it might be possible reverse at least some of the aging,” Celestia said. “Luna, can you make sure Twilight and Trixie are taken care of? I'm going to find out just how this Amulet got in his hooves.”
“Of course, sister,” Luna said. “Come, we shall have a drink to your honor. You have not only defeated him, but done so despite his cheating!”
Celestia walked away, expression darkening as she walked inside and away from where the others could see her.
“How interesting indeed...” Discord muttered, watching the proceedings.
***
“Trixie, I'm sorry I doubted you. But you have to admit that I was right, and he did get hurt. And if you were just a normal unicorn, that blast of cold could have given you frostbite or worse.” Twilight said as they sat together, each with a glass of wine. Luna had left them so she could retire and get some rest before it came time to raise the moon.
“Trixie-” the mare started, stopping as Twilight raised a hoof.
“That said, I was wrong. You clearly do know what you're doing with your power. I should have trusted you more.” Twilight smiled at Trixie, reaching over to touch her hoof.
“Does this mean you'll stay in Canterlot with Trixie after all?” Trixie gave Twilight a hopeful look.
“I can't. But you know, this happened to me once before.”
“You had a marefriend get turned into an alicorn? And she was forced to stay in Canterlot while you ran off to Ponyville to study?”
“You know, even when you say it like that, I think my statement still stands. When I was growing up, I didn't have a lot of friends. The truth is, Princess Celestia was probably the closest thing I had to a real friend. When she sent me away to study friendship, I thought...” Twilight looked away. “It was a lot like how you're feeling. Like being abandoned.”
“Because she had to stay here, and you couldn't see your friend even when you were supposed to be studying friendship,” Trixie said, quietly.
“She asked me to write her letters every week about what I'd learned. At first, I thought it was just because she wanted progress reports, but I think I understand now. She sent me away for my own good, because she knew I needed more friends, but she was afraid to lose me. Those letters kept us connected as student and teacher, and as friends.”
“...Could Trixie send you letters?” Trixie asked, looking up. Twilight smiled at her.
“I'd love that.”
***
“You didn't do quite what I expected,” Celestia said, looking down at Sundowner. The stallion had mostly recovered, but his mane was still silver-gray, and would likely never return to its former shade, a permanent reminder of the duel. “Even so, I am a mare of my word. I hope you enjoy Hoofwai'i.”
“Celestia, I-” Sundowner croaked, his throat dry.
Celestia leaned down to whisper in his ear. “Don't come back.”
***
Dear Princess Twilight,
Today I learned something very important about friendship. I thought that becoming close to somepony meant you had to really be close to them, but now I understand that with somepony you really care about, you're never far from them. Even when you travel to a distant land, they're still by your side, because part of them lives in your heart. And sometimes, you don't know how much it matters to you until you think you're going to lose that special connection.
Yours,
Trixie Lulamoon, Future Princess Of Equestria
PS: Since you're already the princess of friendship, do you think they'll let me be the princess of magic?
PPS: Luna has informed me that friendship is magic so I cannot be the princess of magic. She also told me that humility was 'absolutely inappropriate', and I am not allowed to create a new celestial object to be the princess of, not even something small like a comet. Please forward any ideas you have for a title, because Trixie is out of ideas.
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I really detest EVIL!Celestia stories, so I hope you don't go in that direction.
Maybe Celly is jealous that Twilly isn't paying as much attention to her?
Apparently saving your favourite student from herself make teacher real steamed.
Uhh... so Celestia's gone full blown evil. Wonder what's up.
4562991
You'll find out in, oh... a chapter or two. I promise. *crosses fingers*
You know what Trixie needs? A victory song.
Also, Princess of Illusions? Trickery? Loopholes? Gotta think on that further.
Going into this duel, I wasn't sure how it would turn out. Sure, Trixie's an alicorn now, and has gotten through some tough scrapes from the previous story, but the professor did have experience and some extra help. It was a good match, and I was surprised at how well Trixie managed throughout it all.
Discord being there as extra commentator was also fun.
Wow, what bug crawled up Celestia's butt and died? And here she was praising Trixie's unique take to magic in the last story.
Oh, and a little slip of Star Wars in there for good measure.
Looking forward to more!
Does the Celestia thing have anything to do with what happened in the extra scene at the end of the last story?
4563388
Well, without giving spoilers to the next chapter, which will explain a few things (gotta have some buildup before the dramatic reveal!)
The world has room for only one big boss!
Celestia acting strangely? Why I do believe you've never had the pleasure to meet her before she's had her morning coffee!
no but seriously yeah celestia is like literally trying to kill trixie for no other reason than she's an alicorn. What does Celestia know about being an alicorn that's so bad? Why won't she tell anyone else?
And don't be saying there's like an alicorn quota or something because then Cadance and Twilight would be on the hitlist too.
Yep, yep, Celestia just happens to be evil and jealous, it's just how she is. It couldn't possibly be an indication that something sinister is looming on the horizon and that the chessmaster might find herself just a pawn in a bigger game. No, absolutely not. She's probably just jealous because Trixie's wings are prettier than hers.
Also, now I feel a bit bad about hating on Sundowner.
The duel was pulled off well. I've always supported the idea that it's as much about skill as it is about power, hence why Trixie would still be able to provide a good challenge for Twilight (even in stories where she's just a unicorn). Here, of course, they got to show off both skill and power. Niiice.
Because the chapter titles are chess moves, I'm expecting this to be a story with decent length. I have a feeling that the Celestia we are currently seeing, isn't Celestia. As for Trixie, I think she could be the Princess of Ingenuity. She is known for thinking outside the box.
I think Trixie should be the Princess of Redemption. I read the chapters and seen how greatly she redeemed herself
Lets be honest here. We all want Trixie to be the Princess of AWESOME!
Or, following the events of the previous fic, Princess of BADASS!
Or, taking into acount both motions, Princess of EPIC!
Good chapter, I'm really loving this fic.
That... was quicker an' consequently much more satisfying than ah was expectin'.
Here's hopin' Trixie doesn't hafta explode Celestia before this's all over.
what? no steamroller?
Quite good. Very much so. The plot twists are keeping me engaged. And Celestia's little tweak there... well, let's see what happens from here.
Come on. Everyone's missing the obvious. Trixie should be the princess of Tricks. Out of the box thinking, sneaky sideways ideas, and taking a dozen tricks to make one spell-like effect? Sounds about right.
4563146 that song works in so many ways
4563545 Fuck Yeah! Tactical espionage be the best... or would it be magical espionage?
i want that bird! btw u did an amazing job of describing discords antics in this chapter.
Celestia sure is out for blood. giving the professor the alicorn amulet? he almost killed trixie! thats a little risky, even for celestia. unless she wanted him to kill her...
...oh no, it doesnt mean anything.
I think Celestia's corrupted by that Ring she used. Luna did say using those artifacts changed a pony. And Celestia was much different and darker during the ages when the Ring was used. So yeah, Trixie needs to go show herself the world, and possibly /B/Smack Celestia to some distant star, or the sun for a few months or years. So she could get her head on straight.
So Celestia was pretty quick to forgive Trixie in the first story, and here she's openly lamenting not being able to lock her in a dungeon for stuff she's already been pardoned for, despite having done nothing but good since then, as well as hoofing out hazardous artifacts for her grudge match.
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I think you have the right of it. They said at the end of the first book that the stuff in the Archive was powerful enough to warp even the princesses, and that Celestia's in particular made her kind of a bitter, angry person. She might still be riding the whammy from that and doesn't like Trixie messing with cosmic order.
Way to channel Darth Vader, Princess Celestia!
No no. Celestia is just the
meaning, of course, that she will use anypony however she wants to.
That part doesn't make sense to me, if humility was inappropriate, wouldn't it be appropriate for her to create a new celestial object for the sole purpose of giving herself a title since that's the opposite of humility?
Cap.
__________________
I don't remember if we ever find out why Tia turned evil. I have to stop reading today, but I'll be back for more tomorrow or Sunday.
No disintegrations? What if Trixie has already memorized a re-integration spell?
Hey, does anyone know how to contact that Crystal Empire bloke with the bow? We could use one extra large arrow up one extra lare white plot about now...
Awww man, not even a comet? Trixie gets no respect.
Damn it. Also Celestia how dare you!
Discord knows something's wrong as he is the master of making something wrong.
Princess of All things Great and Powerful.
Master of Tricks, Illusions, and general Tomfoolery.
Lover of Twilight Sparkle
Beatrice Lulamoon