The Twilight Child

by Detectivefish

A Duel of Sorts

In the darkness there was comfort. In darkness, there was peace. In darkness, there was strength. Darkness was her ally. But there was that annoying beeping noise which had been going for the last while and it was getting to be a bit much. Blindly she smashed her hoof against the bedside table, hoping to find whatever was causing it. Eventually she was rewarded by the satisfying click of an alarm clock turning off. Normal sleep could be resumed.

"Aren't you going to get up?" Came a voice from the cold outside. It was an illusion, a temptation designed to lure her away from the fluffy soft bed and the joy of being cosy. She gave it no heed. There was a polite cough.

"Midday?" However this thing from beyond the curtain of the duvet knew her name, it mattered not. She slept when she wished and none dared resist.

Something started nudging her. This felt annoyingly familiar. One of the hazards of living with somepony like Twilight Sparkle was that she didn't seem to understand the difference between 'asleep' and 'awake'.

"Get up." She said. Deciding not to drag this conflict out, she shuffled slightly. Her eyes opened, rewarded by the blinding light of a new morning.

"What time is it?" Midday slurred.

"Ten o'clock." Twilight Sparkle said, as if it were a death sentence. Midday tried to get out of bed, only to find her restive state had caused her to wrap the entire bed-cover around herself. Which probably explained why she'd felt so warm.
She looked across the room of the small sleeping bag Trixie had managed to find during the night. She couldn't remember much of what had happened, but she was sure there had been an argument.

Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her head.
"Had I been drinking?" She muttered. Twilight looked a bit uncertain.

"You did seem a bit... inebriated last night."
"Feels like I've been drinking." She wandered towards the door. Breakfast awaited.

*****

It was halfway through breakfast that Trixie finally appeared, disheveled and... nowhere near coherent.
"Guurrrugggfff cffee" She muttered.

"Coffee?" Twilight asked. There was a grunt that was probably 'yes'.
After Trixie downed a full pot of coffee, she briefly slumped over the table. Then she looked up at Midday.

"You." She groaned.
"Good morning, as some might say."

"You said we'd duel today."
"I did?" Had she? She couldn't have done something that mad. Then she gave it some thought.

"You did." Twilight said.
"Fine, at noon. Gives us time to prepare."

"Excellent." Trixie beamed, before going on to down another round of coffee.

*****

The two chose to hold their duel in one of the scenic meadows outside of town. Midday had wandered up to it early, mainly because she had gotten bored with pacing around the library. She was sitting, staring at the view when she heard a commotion behind her. Trixie was leading a small crowd of ponies towards.

She was making a show of it. Well, if that was what Trixie wished, then she'd be happy to provide.
"Trixie, could you explain the whole... crowdiness?" The blue mare simply smiled.

"Trixie simply promised them a unique and exciting event, fun for all the family."
"Nothin' like a little mare-on-mare action" Said one pegasus, a cheeky grin on her face. She was the only one who found that funny.

"Prepare, Midday Eclipse, for your humiliation shall come at noon!" Trixie hollered.

They stood there.

Time passed. Slowly.

"Noon approacheth..." Trixie muttered.

The minutes slowed to a crawl. Passing second by second by second.

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF-! What time is it?"
"Just gone quarter past eleven." Someone said. Trixie frowned and turned to Midday.

"Shall we just go now?"
"Fine."

"Who wishes to go first?"
"You can go first Trixie." Midday made sure to smile innocently, trying not to laugh. The showmare looked uncertain.

"Well, if you so desire." She coughed.
"PREPARE YOURSELF! FOR YOU FACE THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!"

Midday made a fake yawn.
"I'm dying of old age here..."

Trixie focused, a small piece of magic first. She focused on Midday, and fired. There was a burst of colored smoke, and when it cleared, Midday was changed.

Her fur was now orange with green and purple polka dots. In an instant the whole crowd was laughing. She simply smiled. Her horn glowed every-so-slightly, and the colors seemed to melt away, leaving only the familiar dyed-in lilac color.

"My turn." She smiled. She closed her eyes and focused.
Before she had arrived, she'd made sure to set up potential weapons, just in case Trixie had decided to go for a different sort of magical duel. Fortunately, Trixie hadn't.

The crowd watched as a plant pot soared through the air, and beaned Trixie. She shook it off.
"Ha! Your pathetic attack is no match for me!" She said. Midday smiled. Another followed. Trixie looked annoyed.

"You dare strike Tr-" Another hit her.

"You dare st-" and another.

"You dare-" One more.
Then came a tablecloth, which Trixie struggled with for a few moments.

"Knock that off!" She yelled.

"Just about done." Midday smiled. Her last weapon was far larger and took a few seconds more to lift. Trixie's eyes went wide in horror as she saw what approached.

"Uh-oh." She whispered. There was a horrific crashing noise, as a grand piano slammed into Trixie, smashing into pieces on contact. From the wreckage, one of Trixie's hooves stuck out at a comedic angle. For a brief while the only noise anyone could hear was Rainbow Dash struggling not to explode with laughter.

"Huh." Someone in the crowd said. The crowd, sensing everything was over dispersed.
Midday walked over to the smashed piano, and focused, lifting the pieces into the air. Trixie glowered at her.

"That. Was cheating." She hissed.
"Was it? You didn't say what the rules were, viz a viz piano hurling."

"Tell me, is your plan simply to kill me? Because if so, I would like fair warning."

"Well, Trixie, maybe next time don't challenge me to a duel before putting down rules."

She sighed.
"Look, Trixie, your best spells are just illusions and trickery, you weren't ever going to win this fight Me? I'm ludicrously powerful. I didn't cheat, I just... sped things up a bit."

Trixie made no response.
"We could just keep fighting until one of us is dead."

"There's an idea."
"Or we could act like moderately sensible beings and not challenge each other to fights, especially not in front of crowds."

"Not enjoying that one so much."
Midday sighed.

"You can't handle defeat, can you?"
"Can so," Trixie yelled.

"Evidently not."
Trixie fumed.

"That's it. Trixie quits. I shall forever give up on my dream of being a successful magician and do... children's birthday parties" She said with disgust.
"No need to go that far."

"If it means I don't need to get pianos thrown at m-.... Actually, where did you get that piano from, anyway?"
"I have my ways."

"That answer is wholly unsatisfactory. Tell me!"
"Not gonna."

Trixie stared at her.
"How old are you?" she asked.

Midday paused. She turned towards the town.
"You know what? I'm hungry. Throwing pianos at ponies gives me an appetite. You want to get some brunch?"

Trixie paused.
"I might settle for brunch."

*****

"Hey, Twilight, did you hear about the duel between Midday and Trixie?"
"Hmm?" Twilight said, not looking up from her book.

"Rainbow Dash told Bon-Bon who told Lyra who Pinkie Pie that Midday threw a piano at Trixie. Won the whole fight in a second."
Twilight Sparkle put down the book and turned to Spike.

"Seriously? A piano? Who throws a piano?" She sighed, and went back to her book.
"I'm glad no-one in my family is that insane."

*****

Meanwhile, in Canterlot.
"Cadance, gimme back my helmet!" Shining Armor tried to take it back, but the pink alicorn maintained her grip on it.

"Not gonna happen Shiny" She giggled, jumping onto the sofa.
"Seriously, come on. I've gotta be back on patrol in ten minutes. If I'm late I'll get busted down to donut detail again."

"'Oh, look at me, I'm Shining Armor, I like playing soldiers more than taking five minutes of my time to tell my girlfriend how much I love her'" Cadance laughed, waving the helmet in the air..
"Not funny."

"It's a little bit funny. I definitely got your voice down. Oh, maybe I could be captain of the guard. Captain Cadance, nice ring to it. Better than that lazy-bones Shining Armor."
"Gimme!" He lunged, slamming into the sofa. All too late he realised his mistake.

"Gotcha!" Cadance laughed, pouncing on him. Despite her slender build, she was remarkably strong.
"Oh dear, looks like Shining Armor won't be able to report for duty. A serious case of hug deprivation, it seems." She leaned in closely.

"But I know how to cure it." She whispered. Shining Armor struggled to free himself from the cruel vice-like grip of his girlfriend. He didn't succeed. Though to an outsider, it would have looked amazingly like he wasn't really trying.
Shining Armor would later discover Celestia had given him the afternoon off without telling him anyway.

*****

Trixie and Midday sat outside, mainly because Trixie was unwilling to eat inside. The blue showmare had ordered what had probably been salad, while Midday chose what the menu had dubbed 'mystery soup'. Upon tasting it she had decided the only mystery surrounding it was why they'd bothered calling it a 'mystery'. It tasted distinctly pea-ish.

Trixie had upon the arrival of her salad chosen to cover it with a truly staggering amount of mayonaise and pepper.
"Trixie?"

"Yes?"
For a minute Midday had to fight down the urge to ask what she doing to the poor salad.

"Where exactly did you find all those ponies anyway?"
"Oh, a few members of the weather team, the odd store owner, like that nice young colt who works in the candy store."
Midday drew a blank.

"Cream-colored coat? Dark Blue mane with pink bit? Bit unusual for a boy, but still, his girlfriend seemed pleasant enough."
Midday realised who Trixie was speaking of, and briefly wondered if Trixie was just doing this to play with her mind, or whether she just refused to acknowledge that Bon-Bon was a mare in a relationship with another mare.

"Is that Pinkie Pie... always like that?"
"I'm fairly certain she is."

"She just seems a bit... off."
"I think that's just Pinkie Pie."

"I'm actually a bit afraid of even saying 'good morning' to her, in case she goes on some crazy spiel."
"What, something like 'what do you mean? Are you wishing me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I wish it to be or not, that you feel good this morning, or that is is a morning to be good on?'" Trixie stared in alarm.

"How did... what..."
"The voice? Yeah, that's a spell I'm fond of. Lets me change my voice to sound like anypony else's." She frowned, "Gets a bit tricky with some voices."

Trixie just nodded.
"So you were saying about Pinkie Pie?"

"Oh, yes. I was. It's just... she was chosen to bear one of those 'Elements of Harmony', correct?"
"Yes. I understand she represents Laughter."

"Seems a bit of an odd choice. For the pony, not the Element."
"Well, there were only six ponies present, and none of the others were seriously funny. If somepony other than Pinkie Pie had been there, perhaps they'd be laughter. Maybe if there hadn't been someone else there'd have been an Element such as inspiration, or I don't know... knowledge or hope or something..."

"That doesn't sound exactly right." Trixie said, inbetween a mouthful of salad.
"Heck, ask Twilight then." She drank some of the soup. "Or don't. You'll probably get a lecture on parrallel dimensions or M-theory or so on, or so forth." Trixie smirked.

"Doesn't she have a coltfriend or something?" Midday accidentaly took a deep breath mid-swallow.
"N-no. No. She doesn't. No boyfriend." She sputtered.

"You okay?" Trixie asked.
"Just mistimed my breathing."

"Surely she has a hobby or something?"
Midday blinked, her temporary breathing difficulty forgotten. She blinked again.

"Hobby?"

*****

"SPIKE! You misarranged the dictionaries!"

"Sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry? A-D is now next to H-L, and I can't even find E-G! Were you even paying attention to what you were doing?"

*****

"I don't think she has a hobby, exactly. She just studies. And studies. And studies. And occasionaly she reorganises the bookshelves."
"She doesn't even go dancing?"

"Ponyville... is not really a dancing sort of town." She said, trying not to laugh at the memories of her mother's attempts at dancing. Trixie looked confused.
"Not a... then what do they do-"

"For fun?"
"Trixie was going to say 'to ward off self-harm'."

There was a slight pause as Midday tried to think of regular Ponyville activities.
"They... talk."

Trixie made a noise of disgust.
"Go for picnics."

And a noise of disinterest.
"Wholesome athletic activities."

And another.
"Play chess."

Trixie stared in confusion
"Screw." Trixie paused. Her mouth twitched for several seconds. She giggled, before moving onto guffawing, and eventually on to full-blown laughter. She collapsed off of the chair, taking several seconds to stop laughing.

"So, this one-donkey town doesn't do anything fun?"
"Actually, I'm pretty sure there are two donkeys around. And there are the occasional sporting events, such as rodeos, or whatever those posters are advertising." Midday pointed a hoof towards a small board next to the cafe door, which was covered with a variety of posters.

Trixie walked over to the board. She looked at one which proclaimed

"Sisterhooves Social

For sisters ONLY

(We meant it. No brothers)

11-05, 1.05 pm"

Trixie walked back to the table and sat down again.
"I choose to not understand that poster."

The two mares sat there, quietly eating in the slightly chilling October air.
"I still haven't forgiven you, by the way," Trixie said.

"Pardon?"
"For humiliating me. Twice."

"Okay."
"I shall get my revenge on you. And you will not see it coming."

"I understand."
Trixie frowned.

"You cannot talk me out of it."
"Good to know."

Trixie sighed and said no more.

*****

Twilight Sparkle was calmly going over some notes when the two mares returned, neither speaking to the other.
"Hey Twilight." Midday said.

"Good afternoon."
"What are you up to?"

"Mostly going over some notes on ancient Equestrian history. I don't know why, but even since I found out no-one knows who Star-Swirl the Bearded is, I've been... I'm concerned about the fact that no-one seems to recognise him."
"You considered going to the school someday, telling all the little foals about him until their brains explode?" Twilight didn't seem to acknowledge that last bit of sarcasm.

"That's an idea..." she said, before rushing over to a small book and pawing through it.
"I mean, Star-Swirl is the one who trained Clover the Clever, one of the co-founders of Equestria. He's an important historical figure, he knew the Princesses, why does no-one know about him?" She roared.

"Maybe certain individuals carefully suppressed all knowledge of him out of fear anyone might do something stupid like emulate his stupid bearded face." Midday slowly slipped into muttering the last part.
"I didn't catch that last bit."

"Nothing."
Trixie had been watched this, and merely yawned.

"This is all gibberish to Trixie. She's going to take a nap. Good-day." She wandered over to the suspicious looking chair from the other day. Midday's eyes went wide in shock.
"No, Trixie, don't sit in that chair!" she yelled, but it was too late.

There was a horrible, horrible noise.

There was a terrible, terrible silence.

It was broken only by the distant sound of a cackling Rainbow Dash.

Trixie's eyes narrowed.
"Revenge..." she hissed.

Comments

[Bandana The Reaper]

Wait a minute... Rainbow is still trying That one? (yesh, somepony is slipping on the prank-front)

[Detectivefish]

2166063
The triple cushion chair gag is just the opening act.

[Galaxy of Equestria]

"I'm glad no-one in my family is that insane."

pffffffff haaaahaaa lol. how wrong she is.

[RealityCheck]

It's impossible to to keep track of who is speaking. Use names on occasion, not just pronouns. And make a paragraph break every time someone new speaks. DO NOT PUT TWO SENTENCES BY TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE TOGETHER. Yes, you CAN make a paragraph break after one sentence--- in fact you HAVE to if you have a different speaker!

[Enderstorm]

Sisterhooves Social

For sisters ONLY

(We meant it. No brothers)

If that sign was actually there, it would make Brotherhooves Social make way more sense.