17: The Power of Magic
WHOOOOOSH
A deafening wave of sheer force flooded over Twilight as a golden scythe sliced straight through her multilayered forcefield of magic. Destabilized, the glowing violet sphere imploded on itself—all of the delicate threads of magic woven into its structure careened through the air and merged into the storm, feeding the angry clouds. Twilight felt a sickening lurch in her stomach as her body tumbled through the air, no longer floating inside the controlled environment of the forcefield, blasting through the howling winds and falling towards the merciless ground below. Desperately, with air screaming in her ears and her vision blurred with tears squeezed out by the force of the wind, Twilight concentrated and coated her body in a thin layer of magical energy.
Looking down beneath her, Twilight would have recoiled in shock if she could—she had fallen from more than a thousand feet above the ground level of Canterlot, and she could see almost the whole city beneath her rapidly growing in her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced for the impact…and with another gut-twisting bump she bounced off of the cobblestone road, rebounded against a wall and landed in one of the streets of Canterlot.
Twilight coughed once and got up to her hooves, staring up into the sky. Her opponent—Lula, was it?—floated in the center of a huge mass of storm clouds, glowing bright yellow, brighter than the blazing sun or the icy moon. Taking a few deep breaths to steady her panicking heart, Twilight closed her eyes and sat down on the cold stone. From the sudden disappearance of the cold feeling, Twilight assumed that she was now flying.
She opened her eyes…and immediately a fiery inferno of light blasted into her vision.
Lula felt the burning energies of her Element coursing through her body with every beat of her heart as she glared down through her magically fragmented vision at her enemy below. Every inch of her skin burned with golden fire, stinging with raw pain which only fueled her anger.
An armada of infuriated clouds surrounded her, all subject to her authority, all obeying her every whim. She could feel the power building within them, the rapidly growing tension of static electricity that had a kind of firepower ordinary ponies could only dream of. One cloud floating up to her left suddenly filled with raw energy as it flashed with light. TAKE THIS!
KRAC-KOOOOOOOM!!!
A bolt of blinding white arced through the air, severing it with the heat of five suns as it rained down onto the earth, radiating fire. She saw time slow down through a quarter of her vision as it curled down into the sky below her, automatically moving towards the closest target: Twilight Sparkle. An explosion of crimson heat blasted up towards Lula and she smiled beneath her mask.
And then everything went wrong.
The bolt of lightning did not stop. It poured down out of its cloud like a string from a ball of yarn, unraveling the cloud into a puff of useless white steam as all of the tension faded and the power disappeared. No, not disappeared; where did it go?!
Still glowing, the explosion did not disappear either. It grew and grew, spreading out horizontally until it formed a wall of fire between the sky and the earth, coating the land in a sea of red-hot flames. The sea faded away in less than a second.
Fuming, her eyes glowing with rage, Lula stood still in midair. Clever. You’re always so-o-o clever, aren’t you, Twilight…but no amount of intellect can outwit absolute power.
Taking a deep breath, she sucked in the energy from another of the clouds, stripping its electrified exterior and pulling all of the power into herself. Her skin screamed with pain and her headache intensified, pounding against her skull like a raucous drum, but it did not last for long as Lula exhaled all of the energy and breathed life into a beast of raw power.
Its body stretched a quarter mile across, casting a golden shadow over Canterlot Mountain as the moonlight filtered through its translucent skin. A pattern of ivory stars speckled its fur, spiking out aggressively across its skin. One bright star stared down from its forehead, above the pair of livid red dots swimming in golden yellow that glared down on all beneath it. Three razor-sharp white claws jutted out of all four of its thick limbs.
Lula grinned again. Try to defeat the beast this time, Twilight Sparkle…milk and music won’t stop it now.
Twilight panted as she hung in mid-air, exhausted from the effort of redirecting all the power of the lightning blast into the open air beside her. When she glanced up to see what Lula was going to try next…her pupils shrunk to two tiny dots. I-Is that…?
The Ursa Minor roared down at her, as if only to answer her question; its mouthful of fangs glinted in the dim light of its glowing skin.
What can I do?! There’s no way I could even think of anything to beat a creature like that! I… She glanced around wildly, and then looked down. A gigantic purple-and green dragon was standing in the courtyard, roaring at something that she couldn’t see—suddenly Twilight got an idea. As she poured magic into the open air, a tiny smile crossed her face. Thanks, Spike.
The Ursa paused in the air, looking down with its head tilted to one side as a stream of violet magic wavered and shifted in mid-air, flowing into a beast one-and-a-half times its size. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Lula shrieked from above him. “JUST DESTROY IT!!!” The beast snorted and a puff of steam escaped from its nose, crackling with electricity.
It rushed down through the air, running and falling…but skidded to a stop as a five-story dragon of pure magic charged up towards it, soaring on wings of violet flame. The Ursa’s eyes tightened into a glare and it reared up, baring its claws and teeth.
The dragon responded in turn, opening its mouth and revealing an impressive set of razor-sharp fangs. Suddenly, a jet of indigo fire streamed out of its maw, flooding the Ursa’s vision. Instinctively it shot up a claw to its face, trying to bar the stream of boiling magic, only to have the claw be seared off and fade into a wisp of yellow smoke.
Roaring with a blast of force that shook the foundations of the city a thousand feet below them, the Ursa dove down toward its opponent, ripping through the air with claws of golden steel, baring a mouthful of teeth and fire. The two beasts collided in an explosion of light, sending shockwaves through the air with every slash of teeth against scales and claws against fur.
AAAAAUUUGGGGHHHHH
The pounding of her heartbeat had obliterated her sense of hearing. IT’S FINE I CAN USE MAGIC TO HEAL IT LATER IT’S FINE. Her vision had shattered into thirty fragments, all staring into different parts of the sky or the world or the universe—IT’S FINE I CAN SENSE EVERYTHING AROUND ME IT’S FINE! Tongues of flame spat out of Lula’s mouth as she gritted her teeth together, trying to contain the power boiling over within her, power that frothed out from between her teeth and stung like venom. Concentrating on the fight below, she sensed the two synthetic beasts clashing below, sending ripples along the fabric of the universe, washing over and between her body as the power fought to burst out of her physical form. IT’S FINE. IT IS FINE.
A roar exploded out below her as the dragon’s toothy muzzle clamped onto the bear’s thick neck, crashing into her with the force of a tidal wave and knocking her loose from her post in the sky. Swinging out wildly with limbs of raw energy, Lula grabbed a chunk of cloud and threw it straight below her body, following up with a bolt of golden lightning that condensed the vapor into a platform of solid ice. Blowing a wisp of energy through the air, she froze the platform at its spatial location right before she smashed face-first into it, sending a spiderweb of cracks along its surface that immediately regenerated.
Grunting and floating to her hooves, she looked down through a corner of her eye and saw the glowing form of the Ursa tumble through the air and split open on the peak of Canterlot Mountain, bursting open and fading into the air. Its dragon opponent immediately condensed into a ball of magical energy that swirled for a moment, and then reformed into a catapult which flung the body of Twilight Sparkle across the sky towards the platform. Half of Lula’s face smiled for a second at the sight of her opponent’s hooves flailing in midair…until Twilight landed perfectly right across from her on the platform of ice with her horn and eyes glowing pure white.
Violet smoke seeped out of Twilight’s eye sockets, obscuring her vision as she glared at the costumed figure across from her. Lula stood rigidly still, frozen with the platform, flickering in the wind. Suddenly a wave of force crashed into Twilight and shoved her off of the platform, knocking the breath from her lungs and sending her once again tumbling through the air.
This time, though, Lula did not wait for her next move. Twilight watched with an ever-growing sense of panic as a dozen vultures of golden steel swept down from within the depths of a gigantic thundercloud, screeching calls of death into the darkness. Fire glowed in their eyes, glaring intently at her as they tightened their wings, forming a hailstorm of metal bullets that fell rapidly down towards her, and towards the city beneath her.
Panic bubbled over in Twilight’s mind as the bullets of golden steel glared down at her. Focus! She closed her eyes. Focus, focus, focus. What would a brave pony like Rainbow Dash do…?! Snapping her eyes open, Twilight shot out two blobs of magic in quick succession, shaping the dots of translucent violet into feathers and squishing them into what looked like the right pattern. She grimaced. Good enough for now.
Turning up towards the sky, Twilight flew straight towards the vulture swarm, her horn radiating violet energy. The shrieking of metal wings and metal throats filled her ears as they drew closer, and Twilight’s eyes narrowed. Remembering the extremely odd feeling of Pinkie Pie spinning her tail in circles, Twilight fired off a torrent of deadly energy beams, sending them spiraling through the air as they each scattered towards their targets, filling the sky with streaks of violet fire.
One of the beams flew straight upwards, missed the vultures completely, and crashed directly into the platform of ice, shattering it into a thousand pieces.
Smoke and fire and ruin…everything ruined…falling…
My face burning hot with shame. Their mouths stretched wide open in mirth, the stage smashed into a thousand pieces.
“Hey, braggart! Good job!”
Always the names.
Someone in the crowd, muttering. “What kind of unicorn is stupid enough to use a spell right next to a fireworks display?”
I’ve done this before, you know…
Another pony. “Wait a minute, isn’t this the pony that nearly destroyed Ponyville by luring in an Ursa Major just to show up Twilight Sparkle?”
NO! It was an Ursa Minor, I didn’t do it on purpose, and it wasn’t my fault!
I limped off of the stage and into the dark streets, ashamed and lost.
Smoke and fire and ruin…everything ruined…falling…
NO! FOCUS. IT IS FINE.
Air screaming past her, golden fire streaming from her pores, Lula redirected her fall straight towards the peak of Canterlot Mountain. A parachute of energy expanded behind her right before she would have smashed against the rock face, giving her just enough time to magically cushion her landing. Alighting on her hooves, Lula glared up and saw the winged unicorn do a one-eighty and flying straight towards her.
Let’s see how strong you made those wings, Twilight. The roar of a cannon thundered in her ears as the boulders surrounding her shot one by one into the air, flying faster than any physical object should ever travel.
Immediately the tiny dot swung to the side, dodging the boulders and continuing her dive. Lula’s half-smile stretched even further across her face. What goes up…
…must come down. The boulders exploded in mid-air, bursting into a thousand sharp fragments of rock, slicing clean through the air and through Twilight’s fragile wings as she fell now uncontrolled towards the peak. A twinge of burning pain seared Lula’s head as she lit her horn with golden fire, but she gave it not even a grimace as she began pelting the falling pony with thin rays of energy.
Immediately the dark figure became a glowing bubble as Twilight surrounded herself with a magical shield, reflecting the beams all across the mountain. One beam cut clean through the surface of a massive boulder, sending it tumbling down towards the walls of Canterlot Castle.
Twilight adjusted her position in the air, growing slightly more comfortable with the gut-twisting sensation of falling. Wrapping herself in the familiar aura of levitation, Twilight decided she may as well try it—I hope I can keep this sustained. By now, her horn itched and burned against her forehead, irritated by the sheer amount of energy she had pumped through it. How does Lula even handle it?
Suddenly the glint of motion caught her eye, and she stared dumbstruck as an avalanche charged down the mountain towards Canterlot Castle with enough force to easily level the city. There’s no way I can stop that and fight Lula at the same time! She racked her brain desperately for a solution, drawing all of her memories to the forefront of her mind for an answer. I couldn’t make another magic-beast; it wouldn’t know what to do. If I try and stop it myself then Lula will attack me from behind…wait. Twilight smiled as she dove straight towards the highest tower.
Lula stared down in triumph at the flying violet blur that shot past her vision towards the gleaming white towers, obviously desperate to save its precious city. A sphere of blinding fire ignited at the tip of her horn as she concentrated and re-formed her shifting vision, ready to obliterate Twilight from behind before the mare would even know what happened. Her tongue stretched out from her steaming mouth and licked her lips; all the saliva immediately fizzled and turned to boiling steam.
Lula frowned as her target suddenly exploded into a web of violet energy and stretched across the towers of Canterlot, and continued to stare at the strange wall of magic until a colossal force collided with her back, sending her tumbling down to the earth. The ball of energy exploded in a frenzied inferno, immediately knocking out her adversary and shooting both of the limp bodies down, down, down the mountain side.
My hooves ached as I trotted further down the road, once again driven away from my own show, once again cast out by the cruelty of the masses. Ever since Twilight Sparkle showed me up in Ponyville these ponies have been crueler than ever before, showing no pity, showing no mercy. If not for her…!
Distracted by my angry thoughts, I did not hear the sound of the stallion trotting up towards me with a spiteful grin across his ugly mug. I turned towards him and instantly my eyebrows folded into a glare. He was in the crowd. He was one of them!
He stopped to talk to me, and in the dignified voice of the Canterlot snobs stated, “Good evening, Miss…Lula Moon, was it?”
I stopped and glared at him through my blurry vision, nearly blinded by moisture. “What do you want?! Are you here to make fun of me?!”
“No, actually. Your performance impressed me—well, at least, before that unfortunate accident. Accidents happen to everypony, you know, and it disappointed me greatly that you cut off the show.”
I paused and looked him over again, wary. Despite his apparently friendly demeanor, the bloodred monocle sitting atop his left eye seemed to stare right through me. “Well, it’s obviously too late to start it back up. What do you want?” I asked, still bitter.
“Would you be interested in a business proposition?”
Again he had thrown me for a loop. Nopony had ever been interested in sponsoring my magic shows before, not even in the towns that had actually liked my shows. “…What kind of proposition?”
The stallion reached under his cloak and pulled out a leaf of tattered parchment, with a beautifully detailed sketch of a black-and-gold tiara on it. “Do you have any interest in rare magical artifacts?”
“No. Why?”
“I think you might be interested in this one. Twilight Sparkle has one just like it…”
Curious in spite of myself, I stared down at the drawing as he placed it in my numb hoof, no longer glaring. After giving it a once-over I creased it and tucked it into a fold of my cape. “Alright, fine. But I’ll need to get my cart.”
His grin widened. “Do not worry about that; my ponies have already packed up your cart and brought it to a safe location—the same one we can head to now, to discuss my business proposition.”
Did he already know I would agree? “Whatever. But one last question…” I hesitated. “Who are you?”
“Lord Silver Tongue, speaking on behalf of my company, Black Castle Enterprises. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lula.”
“Well, I haven’t heard of that company before.”
“That does not surprise me…my company tends to keep a low profile, but we are growing. We are hoping to expand into the entertainment business…and I have an idea for an event coming up soon that your talents are perfectly suited for, a large-scale show of sorts that will help my company’s publicity. This event will keep the whole city of Canterlot entertained, and trust me; it will be a long time before anypony forgets it.”
I thought over what he was saying, still unsure. The show itself would be perfect for re-establishing my reputation here in Canterlot and across Equestria…and this Black Castle Enterprises might be interested in more shows, providing me with a steady income for a little while so I could get back on my hooves. But still…something was off. Something didn’t feel right. “Why would I need that magical artifact thing though?”
“My brother can explain the situation in more detail when we get back to the Black Castle apartment. He will show you everything that you need to know.”
A chill raced down my spine when he said that, but I don’t know why.
Every inch of Twilight’s skin burned with pain when she woke up; her bones throbbed angrily and her horn felt like it was on fire. She forced open her eyes and took in the destruction around her, immediately looking towards the high city of Canterlot as soon as the fuzzy blobs settled into distinct shapes in her vision. A sigh of relief escaped her lips and she almost closed her eyes again as she saw a shimmering wall of magic standing proudly above the city, still steaming from the touch of boiling rock. With a wave of her horn, the wall evaporated into a fine purple mist.
Twilight shoved against the ground and got to her hooves, wobbling unsteadily, trying to ignore the deafening whine ringing in her ears. She glanced down at her hooves and winced, immediately tearing her gaze away. H-hopefully I can heal that later…
Trotting on unstable limbs, Twilight walked over to the half-conscious form of another pony lying in the dust, a sea-blue mare covered in splotches of black whose pale frazzled mane spilled over onto the ground. Tattered shreds of black and yellow cloth surrounded her, arranged neatly around her body in the form of a six-pointed star, crackling with yellow energy. Cautious to avoid them, Twilight stepped over to the mare’s side and immediately it hit her like a blow to the face. At her hooves lay a pony who had hated her ever since she had laid eyes on her and all but sworn revenge. At her hooves lay a mare with an ego greater than the Sun, whose lust for power knew no bounds.
Trixie Lulamoon, Element of Power.
Of course. It made perfect sense. “Trixie?” Twilight whispered, her voice too soft to hear over the loud high-pitched buzzing in her ears.
No response. The explosion probably deafened her as much as it did me…if the overload of power didn’t do that first, Twilight realized.
The mare’s eyes lay barely open, as if Trixie lacked the strength to push them any further…but her pupils made up for it, glowing golden-white as they glared straight into Twilight’s own. Suddenly her tiara lit up and her horn lit with it, fizzing and sparking as its power spilled over into the empty air.
“What are you doing?”
No response again. The light only grew brighter, and Trixie’s horn changed from gold to white. Twilight lifted a hoof to her face, blocking the wrathful glow.
Trixie gritted her teeth and shut her eyes as Twilight watched the black crown pour ceaseless power into the poor mare’s horn. Why isn’t she stopping? That much magical energy could kill us both-!
Suddenly Twilight’s eyes shot open. Oh no.
“Trixie…please don’t do this…”
No response. The inferno grew ever brighter, scarring the world with white as it exploded through Twilight’s vision. The whiteness seared her eyes even as she closed them, and as she tried to put up a magic shield the energy was sucked out of her horn and into the maelstrom of power and death.
Trixie’s voice finally spoke out in a hoarse whisper, giving her last words. “You…won’t…win…this…time…”
The words punched Twilight in the heart. That is all she can think of…? Out of the blue an idea jumped into her mind, electrifying her body. Maybe I can still find a way out of this.
Swallowing her doubt, Twilight lifted her hooves to her head and removed her golden crown, placing it on the ground in front of Trixie’s falling eyelids. As soon as it left her mane it felt like all of her energy drained out of her, and Twilight crumpled to the ground, fighting to stay awake. Staring through the white, Twilight gained the feeling that Trixie was staring at her in shock.
“You win, Trixie.”
With the thunderous roar of a hundred explosions, a devastating blast of force detonated and expanded out into the world, shaking Canterlot Mountain to its core...and yet, as Twilight watched tiny beads of light flowing from her and Trixie’s horns into the Element of Magic, something held the mountain together, protecting the thousands of innocent lives staked here in the city.
Some hours later, Twilight awoke to the smell of burnt fur and the sight of Trixie’s chest rising and falling weakly in front of her. Both Elements lay still on the ground, though the Element of Magic pulsed with a faint violet light.
Twilight rose to her hooves and wove a quick spell of healing that she draped over Trixie like a soft cloth, like a blanket of warmth on a freezing night. Small wisps of golden smoke wafted from Trixie’s mouth and pores as the Power left the poor mare’s body now and forever.
Turning aside, Twilight saw the City of Canterlot rising up above her, its luminous white towers gleaming in the unfiltered moonlight as the storm faded into the nothingness from whence it came. A tiny plip! broke the soft quiet as Twilight stared at the City through shimmering eyes, the beautiful City that stood strong over eons of fire and war, struggles and destruction, the brilliant symbol whose unwavering cry echoed into the night that Good shall always triumph over Evil.
Before she trotted back into the city, Twilight gave one last glance and one final message to the mare resting peacefully on the unshaken ground.
With a wry smile she whispered, “Good job, Trixie. You finally beat me.”
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This chapter was simply amazing. The fight scene/s were exemplary and the ending was very poetic (in my opinion anyways), defeating an opponent, whose only goal is to "win", by "admitting" defeat yourself.
I can't wait and see how this all ends.
3239962 That comment kinda made my night.
I was kind of afraid that the action parts would get overdramatic and/or repetitive, but apparently it worked pretty well. yay
And yeah, it took a lil while to think of that ending idea and I'm glad ya like it.
The next chapters are the fun part...how the newly-reformed villains adapt, and how Puzzle Master reacts to all of this. Trust me--with that character, you know he's always at least three steps ahead of everypony else
3240234 But from what I've seen his reaction to all of this will make Twilight's Lesson Zero panic attack seem mild in comparison.
3241082 Not necessarily, I have much better emotional control than Twilight. I would say my reaction would be just below her panic attack.
Yay update
super duper happy