A Trail Leading Home

by Hades Shadow 92

Ch. 40 - Mirror Struggles

Chapter 40

– Mirror Struggles –

Twilight flew through the air, dodging another blast from her counterpart. It seemed they were equal in magical strength and knowledge. It truly was like fighting her mirror image. She could see Starlight fighting Chrysalis by the castle, but there was nothing she could do until she brought down her fake.

“Worried about your precious student? If I were you, I would be too.” Fake Twilight said.

“Starlight can handle herself. I can’t afford to take my eyes off you or you’ll hurt my friends.” Twilight said, charging her horn.

Fake Twilight sneered and charged her own horn as well, both Alicorns firing their respective beams at the same time. The beams collided in mid-air, creating a shockwave that pulsed outwards. The struggle continued for several minutes before the Fake Twilight teleported away and Princess Twilight’s beam pierced through the air.

Princess Twilight looked around for her counterpart, but failed to notice that she had teleported above her. Fake Twilight drop kicked the Princess, making her fall into the ravine. Fake Twilight cackled and followed after her.

---

Tala and Zala watched as Trail was mopping the floor with his counterpart. Sure the Fake had all his knowledge and techniques, but honestly had the balance of a slug. He kept tripping over himself and the only hit he had gotten on Trail was a shoulder tackle.

But as Zala noticed the two Pinkie Pies trying to pin the other with balloon animals, a thought had occurred to her.

“Wait, what happened to Maud?” Zala asked.

Tala raised an eyebrow and looked around, “You know, I kinda forgot she was with us. I thought she followed us into the forest but then she disappeared before we all separated. She get lost or something?”

“I never get lost.” Maud said, appearing behind the two sisters.

Both females jumped with their respective fillies in their grasp. They turned to glare at the monotone mare.

“Don’t do that! Where did you come from?” Tala asked.
“A rock farm.” Maud said.

“Ugh, she meant where have you been?” Zala asked.

“My Maud sense was telling me we needed more help. So I went back to town for help.” Maud said.

“Maud sense? Oh never mind. Where is this help, who did you get?” Zala asked.

“They should be here soon.” Maud said.

“But who is it Miss Maud?” Ocellus asked.

She just gave a little smirk and looked back to see that Pinkie Pie had hogtied not only her fake but herself as well.

Maud didn’t even say anything as she moved towards her sister, she looked down at her with that same look she always had.

“Hi Maud, guess my Super Pinkie Pie Balloon Rodeo Party Trick works a little too well.” Pinkie PIe said, looking a little embarrassed.

Maud looked at the other Pinkie Pie, “Clones? Some kind of evil magic spell that makes fake ponies with opposite personalities?”

“Yeah, it should have been totally obvious. Like if we were walking through the Everfree for a Friendship retreat to the Tree of Harmony, how could we not tell these were fakes?” Pinkie asked.

“Yeah, that sounds really silly.” Maud said, freeing her sister.

Pinkie squealed, “Thanks Maud. Now, let’s go help the others!”

The pink mare zipped off with Maud following slowly behind her.

Tala and Zala looked on with wide and confused eyes. The fillies looked equally as confused.

Tala looked at her sister, “Did you understand any of that?”

Zala shook her head, “I don’t think I will ever understand those two. I certainly hope the rest of their family isn’t that odd.”

“Ditto.” Tala stated.

Rustling behind them made both females jump again. Emerging out of the forest was Zecora, panting like she had run a marathon.

Zala’s eyes widened, “Zecora, what are you doing here? Did Maud send for you?”

“I have not spoken to Maud, your question to me is odd. I saw the magic that shook the sky, an explanation I dare ask you to supply.” Zecora said.

“Wait, so you’re not the help Maud sent for?” Tala asked.

Zecora shook her head.

Tala and Zala looked at each other, “Then who!?”

---

Starlight let loose another blast of magic, barely missing Chrysalis and tearing through the wall behind her.

“Ha! Your aim needs work, pony.” Chrysalis laughed.

But as she said that, the wall behind her started to tilt towards her. As the Queen put up a shield to defend herself, the wall collapsed on top of her and created a large cloud of dust. As the cloud started to dissipate, the Queen was covered in dirt and held her head in pain.

She growled at Starlight who could only grin at the Queen’s misery. Chrysalis shot her own magical bolt at Starlight who teleported away and threw a rock at the Queen. The rock hit Chrysalis in her side, causing her to hiss in pain.

“You are starting to get on my nerves.” Chrysalis growled.

“Good. Because I’m going to put you through every misery I can think of, for everything you did to me. And for kidnapping Comet!” Starlight shouted, throwing another rock.

Chrysalis easily batted the rock away this time and took to the air once more. Starlight couldn’t fly, so the Queen had to use this to her advantage. Starlight threw boulder after boulder at the Queen, who nimbly dodged every one.

“Oh? Why so touchy about the filly? Do you truly care so much about a student?” Chrysalis asked.

“Shut up!” Starlight said, firing a bolt of lightning in frustration.

“A student who cares so much about you as well. Something lies deeper in this. I can taste it.” Chrysalis said.

“Shut up! Shut up!” Starlight shouted.

“It’s not just because she’s your student, or even because she’s his daughter is it?” The Queen chuckled.

And that line earned Chrysalis not only a rock, but the biggest rock yet. It grazed her side and sent her tumbling out of the air and towards the bridge again. Starlight followed after her target, eyes glowing with magic.

---

Twilight had recovered after getting the wind knocked out of her. When she got her senses back, she realized she had landed near the entrance to the cave that held the Tree of Harmony. The glow from the tree shunned through the cave and was visible from where Twilight landed.

“Well, it seems the Princess of Friendship isn’t so tough without her little friends.” Fake Twilight said, landing not far away.

“You caught me off guard. It won’t happen again.” Princess Twilight stated, getting back to her hooves.

“Play tough all you want, but we both know that fighting isn’t your-” Fake Twilight started to say before she looked behind the Princess.

A wicked grin started to grow, “I found it. I found it!”

Princess Twilight unfurled her wings to block her way, “There’s no way you’re getting anywhere near the Tree.”

“Like you can stop me!” Fake Twilight shouted as she fired another blast of magic.

Princess Twilight met the blast with one of her own, this time it was fueled with her determination to protect the Tree of Harmony. Her blast started to push back her fake’s. Her imposter didn’t have a chance to teleport away before she was blasted out of the canyon.

As the fake was launched away, Princess Twilight took to the air to follow her.

---

Rainbow Dash landed next to Applejack, who had been tussling with her own fake to a standstill.
Rainbow hadn’t gained that much ground against her fake either, due to the Fake knowing everything about her flight patterns and habits.

“Y’all having any luck? Cause this here imposter is about as strong as I am.” Applejack said.

“And this one’s just as fast as I am. And she knows all my moves. It’s like fighting a mirror.” Rainbow stated.

Fluttershy landed between the two, looking terrified, “Mine is so mean. I didn’t know I could be so mean.”

Rarity was running away from her fake, the latter screaming “Mine!” as she held the last of Rarity’s emergency hair brushes.

When the white unicorn reached her friends, she tried to catch her breath, “And mine is such a selfish greedy brat!”

The fakes all gathered in front of them, grinning with the exception of the Rainbow fake, who looked bored still.

“Well we got to do something. Starlight’s fighting Chrysalis and Twilight is fighting her fake. We gotta beat these fakes to help them.” Applejack said.

“And what do you suggest? They fight like us, they know all we know. How do we beat ourselves?” Rainbow asked.

“There’s gotta be a way. I know I could beat you no problem.” Applejack stated.

“You wanna say that to my face, Applesnack?” Rainbow said, scrunching her nose against Applejack’s.

“Ladies, now is hardly the time!” Rarity shouted.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash growled at each other.

“Girls.” A meek voice said.

The growling continued.

“GIRLS!” Fluttershy shouted, surprising all three mares.

They all looked at her, her face slightly annoyed.

“Applejack has a point. We can’t beat ourselves, but maybe we can beat each other?” Fluttershy asked.

Applejack and Rainbow looked at each other and slowly got a grin on their face, turning back towards the fakes. The fakes looked at the mares with a raised eyebrow.

“SWITCH!” Applejack and Rainbow said, giving each other a hoof bump before running towards their respective fakes.

Rainbow plowed into the Fake Applejack, launching her across the field, while Applejack wrangled the Fake Rainbow right out of the air.

Fake Fluttershy was about to move in and take Applejack’s hat, but Rarity quickly intercepted the imposter.

“I dare say it’s time somepony taught you to respect a proper lady.” She said, with a serious glare.

Fake Fluttershy’s eyes went wide as she gulped in worry.

Fluttershy then went to the Fake Rarity, who had made a mountain of random items from the area.

“None of these things belong to you. So you will put them all back where you got them.” Fluttershy said sternly.

“Never! They’re mine!” Fake Rarity shouted.

Fluttershy flew right up to the imposter and gave her, the stare. Fake Rarity quivered at the power of the stare, shrinking into herself.

“Well?” Fluttershy asked.

“But but…” Fake Rarity said.

“No buts. Now get down off this pile.” Fluttershy commanded.

The fake complied, landing at the base of the mountain. As she did, the rest of the fakes were brought in, hogtied by Applejack. Rainbow and Rarity joined Fluttershy, looking exhausted.

“Wow, she was almost as strong as you AJ. But nowhere near as smart. Tried to con me into letting her go.” Rainbow said.

“Yeah, this one may be fast like you. But as soon as I got her out of the air, she just kinda quit.” Applejack said.

“And this phony Fluttershy was a brute, but nothing a bit of etiquette and charm couldn’t fix.” Rarity said, retrieving her emergency brushes to fix her mane.

The Fake Pinkie soon joined the rest of her fake squad as Pinkie and Maud came over to join the victory.

“Oh you girls got your meanies too? Yipee!” Pinkie said gleefully.

“Nice one Pinkie!” Rainbow cheered.

“No biggie. Maud helped too.” Pinkie said, gesturing to her sister.

Maud nodded.

“Anywho, how’s Twilight doing?” Applejack asked.

Fake Twilight landed just behind them, dazed from the fall. Princess Twilight landed beside her friends.

“Nice one Twi. You got her.” Applejack said.

Fake Twilight groaned and looked up, seeing her team tied up and defeated.

“You fools are useless!” She shouted.

“This is over. Just stay down.” Princess Twilight said.

Fake Twilight growled, “No! I will not surrender to the likes of you!”

She unleashed a powerful wave of telekinesis, knocking all the real Elements Bearers away from the fakes. Fake Twilight then grabbed all her team and levitated them to the edge of the ravine.

“Stop them!” Princess Twilight shouted, pointing towards the Fakes.

Fake Twilight looked back and grinned, “Once we possess the power of the Elements, I will rule Equestria!”

She then flew down with the team floating next to her, down the ravine they went. Heading right towards the Tree of Harmony.

---

Trail had his fake in a tight lock, a hoof on his head and his other hoof locked his leg in an unnatural direction. Normally he would be worried about hurting the individual that was under his control, but this guy wasn’t even a real pony.

“Had enough?” Trail asked.

“I’m just getting started. Just need to… catch my breath is all.” Fake Trail stated.

“Yeah, sure. Look, this is embarrassing. Just give it up.” Trail suggested.

“No way. My Queen is counting on me to kick your butt.” Fake Trail shot back.

“Your Queen doesn’t care about you. Soon as she gets what she wants, she’ll destroy you.” Trail said.

“She created us to destroy you, and that’s just what I’m gonna do!” Fake Trail said, lighting his horn to push the real Trail away from himself.

Trail stumbled back from the force, but not by much. Come on, he knew his magic wasn’t exactly mage worthy, but this is just sad.

Fake Trail got up and tried to flex, “Ha! See. I’m getting stronger every second.”

Fake Trail tried firing a tiny bolt of magic at his counterpart, but the latter simply ducked his head to the side to avoid it. Trail had the same uninterested look on his face as he sighed.

“You know, when this whole thing started, I was really mad at what you did. I wanted to beat your face in for what you did to Starlight, Comet and Ocellus. But now, I can’t help but just pity you.” Trail stated disappointingly.

This made Fake Trail’s eyes go wide, “Pity?”

Then those eyes slowly turned to anger, “You are pitying me!?”

As the two stared each other down, their attention was soon drawn to a crash behind Fake Trail. Queen Chrysalis laid there in a crater, looking slightly bruised and dirty. Fake Trail immediately went to the Queen.

“Are you alright, Your Highness?” Fake Trail said, trying to help her up.

“Get away from me, Your Cretin!” Chrysalis shouted, pushing the stallion away.

Starlight Glimmer then appeared not far from Chrysalis, eyes white with magic and rage. Her horn glowed its usual turquoise, but much brighter.

Chrysalis stood up on shaky legs, “Such ferocity. I think I prefer this side of you compared to the goody goody little guidance counselor I saw.”

“Shut your mouth! I’ve had it with you.” Starlight shouted.

Trail moved next to Starlight, flanked by Zala and Zecora. Tala had both fillies in her claws, not willing to let them out of her sight as she kept herself and them in the air. Tala looked towards the rest of the fighting and noticed that the Fake Elements were heading into the ravine.

“Hey! The fakes are heading into the ravine!” Tala shouted towards Starlight and the others.

The good ponies looked in the direction of the ravine, as well as Chrysalis. Starlight immediately knew what was down there.

“The Tree!” Starlight shouted in worry.

“Ah, so that’s where it was. I should have known. It seems my minions have done my job for me. Now I shall claim the Elements for myself.” Chrysalis declared as she took to the air again.

Starlight was not having any of it, she blasted the Queen right out of the sky before she could make it even a hoof closer to the ravine. As the changeling laid in the dirt once more, having landed next to the Fake Trail, she growled at Starlight.

“You’re not going anywhere, ever again!” Starlight shouted.

Trail looked at his marefriend in surprise, he had never heard Starlight talk like that. She was more than just angry. She sounded, vengeful. Like this was personal for her. He could understand why she was angry, but seeing her like this was starting to worry him.

---

Comet looked down at her teacher, worry in her eyes as she could feel the heat of Starlight’s magic even from up in the air with her aunt. It was unsettling seeing her teacher yell and scream at the Queen. Then she watched her teacher shoot the Changeling Queen down from the air. She wasn’t used to seeing violence like this. Sure she had seen her Dad fight, but this was a pure magic attack.

She didn’t really like seeing magic used this way. To hurt others instead of helping.

And when Starlight’s eyes went white with pure magical power, Comet couldn’t help but feel more worried about her teacher even more. Something bad was about to happen..

Author's Note:

Hey guys, Hades here.

Starlight is mad. And I had a lot of fun doing the Fake Elements vs The Real Ones XD

Who is Maud call for help? What is Starlight going to do to Chrysalis?

Find out next time.

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