> Gazing Into Darkness
>  by Zeck
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	‘Dear Princess Twilight,

I write you in regards to a matter that is most…troubling for myself and my sister. Word has reached us that a creature has been seen in the depths of the Frozen North. What we believe is a Gazer has been sighted in the region. Our knowledge of this creature is limited at best, and comes from rumors and legends. Not the most reliable of sources, I fear, but I will tell you what I know.
A Gazer is not of our world. Starswirl believed that they came from another dimension, and if that is true, it would explain why there are no actual records of the creature. Starswirl said they are drawn into our realm by powerful magical energies, or enchanted items. Normally, we would not send you to deal with something that we know so little about, but Starswirl warned my sister and I that, if these things are indeed real, that we personally were never to approach them, under any circumstances. He never explained why, but he never spoke false to us before, and his knowledge on the arcane far surpasses both Celestia’s and my own, so we defer to his judgment. 
We have elected to send you in our stead. We know this may seem cowardly, but we both have confidence in your talents. You have overcome every challenge you have ever faced, and unlike us, you were not born an Alicorn. My sister believes this may be the key as to why Starswirl warned us of these creatures. Something to do with our birthright. 
But do not worry. You do not go alone. I have hoof-picked another pony to accompany you. She has dealt with arcane powers before, and I feel that she may have something to offer on this account. She will meet you at the location marked on the map below.  Under no circumstances should you venture forth without her. 
We hope that this turns out to simply be a false lead, or perhaps some Crystal Ponies with overactive imaginations, but if a Gazer has appeared, I fear for all of Equestria. Starswirl was terrified of these things, and he was not easily frightened. Unfortunately, what little information he was able to gather on the creatures has been lost to the ages. I wish we could tell you more, or offer our own assistance, or not have to send you at all, but alas, these are the duties of a Princess.
Please use caution, and take care of both yourself and the pony who I am sending with you. We have faith in both of you.

With regards,
Princess Luna.

P.S.
I have enclosed something that may prove useful, but neither of you are to use it unless there is not other choice. Its power is great, as you are well aware, but the cost can be too high if you are not careful.’

Twilight Sparkle stared at the signature on the letter for the twenty-seventh time. It was indeed Princess Luna, not Princess Celestia. She did not know what to make of that. It was always Princess Celestia who sent her letters. Princess Luna had never sent her so much as friendly note.
And now, the first letter ever from the Princess of the Night had not only asked her to go on a quest that sounded rather dangerous, but it had also included something Twilight had hoped to never see again.
She pulled out the small black box and popped it open. The Alicorn Amulet stared back at her, its cold black metal looking corrupted and its lone red gem staring up at her like an unblinking eye. She shuddered as she looked at it, then snapped the box close and put it back in her bag. She had thought Zecora had hidden that thing away somewhere, but apparently Princess Luna had decided it might have its uses. Still, she would make sure she returned it to the Princesses as soon as her task was done.
Twilight shifted her weight on her hooves, growing slightly impatient. She used her magic to pull her leggings tighter around her legs as she waited for this other pony to show up. It was getting rather cold, and she was starting to wish she had brought a coat, and maybe a scarf. She refreshed the warmth spell over her body and sighed as the cold fled her limbs. 
“What is keeping this pony?” Twilight asked herself as she stood in the snow. “Doesn’t she know how important it is when Princess Celestia—I mean, Princess Luna asks her to do something?” She was also getting tired of waiting herself, and waiting in the snow at that. 
Maybe she got lost? Twilight thought. It was entirely possible. Not many ponies were familiar with The Frozen North, because once the Crystal Empire had vanished, there had been little reason to visit the area. Records of it had slowly declined over the centuries because of that. Of course, all any pony had to do was visit the library and check the back section of Equestria Geography and they would have had plenty of information. That’s what Twilight had done, and she was now certain that she was very familiar with The Frozen North. 
“Let’s see, that mountain over there is—”
“Well well, look who it is,” a voice said from behind Twilight. “Princess Luna said to meet another pony here. Never thought it would be you though.”
“You?!” Twilight spun around in the snow. No. No no no no no. Not good. It had to be a mistake! It just had to be. Why would Princess Luna send her to help?
A pony wrapped in a black cloak with a hood pulled over her head walked forward in the snow.  She stopped in front of Twilight and stared at her from under the shadow of her hood. Twilight was afraid she would see two red eyes shining back at her as she met the pony’s gaze, but thankfully she saw nothing of the sort. 
“Hello, Trixie,” Twilight said, trying to keep the disappointment from her voice. “Are you the pony Princess Luna sent to meet me?”
Trixie pulled back her hood and flipped her mane as her head emerged. She closed her eyes and raised her chin slightly, letting out a small breath from her nose as she did. “Trixie believes it was you who was sent to meet her, Twilight.”
Twilight bit her tongue and ground her teeth. “At least you’re not calling yourself ‘Great and Powerful’ anymore,” she said quietly.
Trixie’s ears fell, as did her personality. She suddenly looked a lot smaller as she lowered her head and looked up at Twilight. “Um, yes…well, Trixie does not feel she deserves to call herself that. At least, not for a while.”
Twilight blinked. “Oh,” she said, confused. Sure, Trixie had apologized after their last encounter and they had parted on relatively friendly terms, but she had still had her air of superiority, even in her apology. Twilight wondered what had happened to her since. 
The two ponies stared at each other in silence for a bit, and when Twilight could no longer stand it, she tried to think of something to say. “So…where’s your normal cloak?” she asked finally. 
“Oh, Trixie is wearing it,” Trixie said, and just like that, her personality was back to its normal self. “Clearly Trixie’s magic is improving if it is good enough to fool a Princess.”
“Trixie, that looks nothing like your cloak,” Twilight said, wondering why she had been missing this side of the show pony just seconds before. 
“Watch and be amazed.” Trixie pulled off the cloak in an overly-grandiose manner and threw it up into the air. There was a flash of light and a small puff of smoke. Twilight closed her eyes and coughed, waving her hoof in front of her face to clear the air. When she opened her eyes again, the cloak was back around Trixie, only this time it was her usual purple and stars one.
“Are you impressed?” Trixie asked, her eyes wide and eager. She seemed like she honestly wanted Twilight’s approvable, but then she caught herself. “Of course you’re impressed. Trixie is always impressive. Now watch this.” She reached behind the neck of her cloak and then whipped out her hat from a place that Twilight knew wasn’t large enough to hold the thing. She placed it on her head and smiled brightly.
Twilight hated to admit it, but it looked like Trixie was getting better at magic. Well, her show magic anyway. 
“Why weren’t you wearing them before?” Twilight asked. 
“Oh, well…” Trixie scratched the back of her neck and looked at the snow around her hooves. “Um…Trixie’s cloak is not all that warm for this type of weather. So she decided that she should wear something more suitable for this awful cold.”
“I know a warmth spell,” Twilight said with a smile. “I can teach it to you, if you want. It’s really easy and it will only take a second.”
“Are you implying that Trixie is incapable of learning complex spells?” Trixie asked, her eyes narrowing under her hat. “Because any spell you can do, Trixie can—” Twilight braced herself for the contest that Trixie always tried to drag her into, but to her surprise it didn’t come. “Uh…Trixie apologizes for that.”
“You what?” Twilight asked, not sure she had heard correctly.
Trixie glared at Twilight. “You heard Trixie. Stop trying to make her do it again. Can we just get going now, before Trixie makes a fool of herself again?”
“Uh, sure, but what about that warmth spell? I’d love to teach it to—”
“Trixie is sure you would greatly enjoy any chance you got to lord your abilities over her.”
“But I don’t—” Twilight stammered.
“But! Trixie already knows the spell. She used it the moment she stepped off the train back at the station.” Trixie stomped past Twilight, lifting her chin as she did. After a few more paces, she stopped and looked back. “Well? Are you coming with Trixie or not?”
Twilight sighed and hung her head. She had a feeling it was going to be a very long walk to the cave marked on the map. 
Thankfully, the trip wasn’t long because Trixie was constantly mouthing off, or complaining about Twilight, or trying to prove how much better she was than the Princess.
Unfortunately, the trip was long for another reason. Trixie refused to talk, and whenever Twilight asked her a question, the Unicorn’s answers were short and to the point. After about ten minutes, Twilight simply gave up and the two of them trudged through the snow in silence, leaning their heads against the wind and breaking eye contact immediately if they caught the other one looking at them. Thankfully, that didn’t happen too often, as the howling wind was constantly obstructing their view. If it wasn’t for the glow from each of their horns, they probably would have lost one another in the blizzard.
After seven more minutes of walking in silence, with nothing but the sound of crunching snow beneath their hooves, Twilight felt like she was going to go insane. She was about to ask Trixie what was wrong with her—because something was—when her hoof hit something hard. She looked down, expecting to find a rock poking out through the snow.
Instead, Twilight saw bare ground. She took another step forward and it was like stepping into a bubble. The wind stopped and the whipping snow vanished. She looked around and found that the storm was still raging around her, but it was like its fury was being held back by a glass wall. The ground was bare of snow, but it still looked cold and dead. There was nothing growing from it, and it seemed even more unfriendly than the bitter storm that surrounded it.
But the worst part was the cave directly ahead. It was huge, perhaps bigger than the entrance to Tartarus, and it loomed ahead of her like a gaping mouth. She stood perfectly still as she looked at it. It was pitch black, with no light daring to enter more than a few inches into it. She felt like it was waiting to swallow her, and that if she took a step into the darkness she would never find her way out. 
“Trixie believes we are here,” Trixie said as she walked up next to Twilight.
“Uh, yeah,” Twilight said, regaining her senses. There was something wrong with this place. It felt…lifeless, as if the energy had been sucked from the surrounding area. She gulped as the feeling began to eat away at her. She could handle this. She was a Princess. Princesses Celestia and Luna had faith in her. She wouldn’t, couldn’t, let them down. 
“Trixie finds this place…unsettling,” Trixie said as she looked around. She seemed to shrink into her cloak and she pulled her hat down further over her head. “Trixie is starting to wonder if Luna’s offer was worth it.”
“Princess Luna,” Twilight corrected her, and then her brain registered exactly what Trixie had just said. “Wait, what offer?”
Trixie’s personality changed back to that shy, shamed mare that she had been earlier. “It is…nothing. Princess Luna just offered to show Trixie a few magic tricks. To improve her show.”
“Oh,” Twilight said. “Well, shall we get this over with?”
“Trixie would very much like that,” Trixie said. “So…what do you know about what we’re doing here?”
“Apparently, there’s something called a Gazer in that cave. The Princesses said that it’s not from this dimension, and that’s it. I was kind of hoping you’d know more, since Princess Luna said you’re familiar with arcane lore.”
“Well, Trixie is rather fantastic in her knowledge of magic,” Trixie said, tapping her chest as she spoke, “but, um…she does not know why Lu—uh, Princess Luna would say such a thing. The only arcane thing she is familiar with is that dreadful Alicorn Amulet.”
Great. Why did Princess Luna send her with me? Twilight suppressed the thought and rummaged through her bag until she found the little black box.
“Speaking of that amulet, Princess Luna sent it with her letter,” Twilight said. She flipped the box open to show Trixie the item. “Maybe it has something to do with—”
Trixie backed away quickly, her eyes going wide as she stared at the piece of jewelry. “Get that thing away from me!” she shouted. “I…I won’t do it! I won’t put it back on! I promise!”
“Trixie? Trixie, calm down,” Twilight said, putting the amulet away and taking a step toward the mare. Her eyes were wide and she was shaking, and Twilight doubted it was because of the cold. What had that amulet done to her?
Trixie took several deep breaths through her nose until her eyes returned to their normal size. “Yes, um…Trixie is fine. Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.” 
“So, you know nothing about this Gazer creature?” Twilight asked as she stared at the cave. 
“As much as it pains Trixie, she must admit that she has never even heard of the creature,” the Unicorn said as she walked up next to Twilight to stare at the cave. “Naturally, Princess Luna chose to inform you of its name, but not Trixie. Trixie is always last in everypony’s thoughts.”
The statement sounded more like a hurt comment about Trixie than a shot at Twilight or Princess Luna. Twilight tried to think of something to say to the Unicorn, but she drew a blank.
Besides, she’ll probably just throw it back in my face.
“Well, now we’re equal. You know as much about this Gazer creature as I do. Congratulations. We’re both experts on the subject now.”
That brought a smile to Trixie’s face. “Trixie will be a bigger expert than you,” she said, and for once Twilight was glad to hear her bluster return. 
“Okay, so…” Twilight stared up at the unfriendly darkness of the cave’s mouth.
“Trixie…supposes we should go in there now…” Trixie added, looking into the cave with the same expression of dread.
“Yep.”
“After you.”
“Thanks.”
Twilight swallowed and took a step into the cave. The darkness engulfed her, and it was so complete that she had to look over her shoulder to make sure the cave entrance hadn’t sealed behind her. No light from the outside dared to enter the cave it seemed. She took several calming breaths and took another step forward.
“Trixie isn’t scared,” Twilight heard Trixie say in the dark, “but um…if you feel a bit worried, Twilight Sparkle, you may walk next to Trixie.” 
Twilight rolled her eyes, thankful that the dark would not let the Unicorn see her face. “Thanks, Trixie,” she said. She stopped and closed her eyes—not that it made any difference in the blackness—and focused her magic. Light flowed from her horn, illuminating the cave.
For a moment, Twilight considered turning off her illumination spell. The cave looked very unwelcoming, and she noticed that she could not see the ceiling or the walls on either side of her. If it wasn’t for the ground directly beneath her hooves, she would have thought she was attempting to illuminate space itself. 
“Ah, that’s better,” Trixie said as she walked up next to Twilight. Twilight noticed that she was standing rather close, and she was pretty sure she could see the Unicorn’s legs shaking. “Trixie likes to be able to see where she’s going. Thank you for your service, Princess.”
“You’re welcome,” Twilight said, moving forward into the cave. They walked in silence for a bit, until a question popped into Twilights mind. Something she had been wondering about for a while.
“Trixie, why did you freak out over the amulet?” Twilight asked. “The last time you saw it, you wanted it back pretty badly. But just now, you acted like Rarity does whenever she sees shoulder pads.” 
Twilight expected Trixie to deny everything, or perhaps just brush it off as no big deal, but Trixie’s response caught her completely by surprise.
“I…I don’t want to go through that again,” the Unicorn said with a hung head. “When you and your friends ran me out of Ponyville the first time,” Twilight wanted to point out that her friends hadn’t run her out and that she had run away, “I hated you. You…you showed me up. I became a laughing stock, like I said. I needed to beat you, to prove that I was better than you. But that amulet, it changed me. I just wanted to show you up, but it made me into that…monster. Worse, I could sense what it was doing to me. After I beat you in the duel, I had planned to leave and spread the tale of how The Great and Powerful Trixie had bested Twilight Sparkle, but the amulet wouldn’t let me. I found myself banishing you, and then making Ponyville my own little kingdom. I never wanted that. How was I supposed to spread the word of The Great and Powerful Trixie if I was in one place? I became trapped in my own mind, begging for somepony to come save me.”
“I…I had no idea,” Twilight said, shocked at what she had just heard. She knew the effects of the Alicorn Amulet, but she hadn’t realized that the user slowly became trapped in their mind. “Well, at least I got it off of you, right?” she said with a smile.
“Yes, you and your friends,” Trixie said. “I…I wish I had friends. Before, I was just laughed at wherever I went. I thought that was the worst possible thing, but I was wrong. It’s…it’s so much worse now. Now ponies won’t even talk to me. They see me coming and they turn away, or fear my approach. They look at me with disgust, and they whisper about me whenever they think I can’t hear them. ‘She’s the one who took over Ponyville.’ ‘Why is Celestia letting a criminal like that walk free?’ No matter where I go, it’s always the same. Everypony hates me now. It’s why I was wearing a different cloak. Ponies recognize my outfit now, so I had to change my clothes. I spent the train ride her huddle in the back seat, hoping no pony saw me and knew who I was.”
Twilight was at a loss. She stared at the sky blue Unicorn and her heart ached. She had no idea that that had been Trixie’s life after their magic duel. She wanted to tell her that it would be okay. That she could come visit the library, and that Twilight would even teach her some new tricks if she wanted, but she found that the words would not come.
Trixie wiped her hoof across her eyes and blinked. “Sorry about all that. Trixie did not mean to burden you. You’re a Princess now, so Trixie understands that you don’t have time to worry about her. Trixie suggests that we just focus on dealing with this Gazer creature, and that you forget everything she just told you.”
“Trixie, I can’t just—”
“Twilight, are you doing that?”
“Doing what?”
“That.” Trixie pointed and Twilight looked. Ahead of them there was a greenish yellow glow. It looked sickly, as if the light itself was ill.
“No, I’m not,” Twilight said, trotting toward the light without hesitating. She heard Trixie follow close behind her. In a moment, they both stood in front of the strange light.
It was a gem of some sort, but it was cracked and chipped and stained. Rarity would probably have screamed at the sight of such a waste, but Twilight found it fascinating. She could feel the magic radiating from it, but just like when she had first entered the clearing in the storm, the magical energy felt weak, as if it was being syphoned away.
“Um, Twilight,” Trixie said, tugging at Twilight’s tail.
“Yes?” Twilight asked as she continued to stare at the gem. What in Equestria could it be?
“Um…how many Gazers did that letter say Trixie had to deal with?”
Twilight raised her head to look at the Unicorn. “It didn’t say you had to deal with it. It said us. And the letter said there was only one.”
“Okay…so why is Trixie seeing three pairs of eyes looking down on her?”
“What?” Twilight saw that Trixie had a terrified look on her face as she stared up at the blackness. Twilight followed her gaze. Her body went stiff and she felt her wings cramp up and her ears go flat.
Six yellow eyes with red pupils were staring down at her and Trixie. They formed a circle in the blackness, like six torches lit around a campsite. Only, the distance between the eyes was too great. Even if Twilight laid down and stretched herself and four of her friends from one set of hooves to the other, they still would not have been able to completely cover the diameter of the circle. 
“Are…are those Gazers?” Trixie asked, and Twilight noticed that she was now slowly backing away from the eyes.
“Well, I suppose so,” Twilight said, scratching her chin. “They must be rather small though. I mean, their eyes are only as big as our heads, and for them to be that far apart, they must be incredibly skinny and flat. Let’s have a little more light.”
Twilight closed her eyes again and tried to increase her illumination spell. For some reason, it was tiring her out more than it should have. She brushed it off as fatigue from the trip and channeled her magic.
“T-T-T-Twi-Twi-Twilight…!” Trixie stammered.
“What?” Twilight asked, but as soon as she opened her eyes, she knew what was freaking Trixie out. 
Twilight found herself staring at the biggest eye she had ever seen. It was huge, a giant version of the six little ones. The red iris shifted around, making a sickening sloshing noise, until it saw her. It froze on her, and the giant eye narrowed. The six smaller eyes all whipped around to focus on her too, revealing that they were attached to tentacles that all attached to the floating eye before her.  
Then the thing opened its mouth. Twilight came face to face with rows of jagged teeth that were as long as her body. She could see the spit and drool clinging to them, and as the thing roared at her, it covered her in saliva. She felt something smack into her face, and when she looked down she saw that it was a skull. A pony skull. 
Twilight couldn’t move. Nothing she had ever read about even came close to what was before her. It was a giant floating eye, with a gaping maw of teeth and six more eyes wiggling around its circular body. As the creature opened its mouth to bite her in half, her mind screamed at her legs to move.
“Twilight!” Trixie tackled Twilight, sending both of them tumbling across the cave floor. Twilight felt the air rush past her as the teeth slammed shut just a few inches away from her body. 
“Twilight!” Trixie shouted again, standing over her and shaking her with her hooves. “Twilight, what do we do? Trixie has no idea how we’re supposed to beat this thing!”
Twilight blinked, her mind coming back from shock when she saw the terror on Trixie’s face. She stood up and shook her head, then shoved Trixie behind her. “Look out!”
Twilight erected a magic shield just in time. A beam of energy shot from one of the Gazer’s smaller eyes. It crashed against her shield and nearly shattered it. The entire cave seemed to shake from the impact. Twilight wobbled and her shield blinked out.
“Two can play that game,” she said. The fired her own magical blast, launching it straight at the repulsive creature’s main eye. It closed its eye and the beam slammed into its eyelid and…did nothing. 
“What was that?” Trixie asked. “If you are trying to make Trixie feel better about herself by not using your talents, now is not the time!”
Twilight focused and fired another blast. This time, the Gazer opened its mouth and…swallowed the beam? Twilight wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes. Then the Gazer seemed to grow in size.
“It’s…it’s feeding on my magic?” Twilight said, dumbfounded. Then she managed to put the pieces together. The sudden break in the magical storm; the feeling of lifelessness around and inside the cave; the sickly magic light from the gem; the fact that Twilight had found it more tiresome than normal to cast her spells. 
The Gazer was feeding off of magical energy. It was sucking the magic from the very air. No wonder Starswirl had warned Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to stay away from the creatures. If a Gazer managed to eat one of them, the magical energy it would obtain would be disastrous. 
Okay, think Twilight. It feeds on magic, but it’s not from our world. That means something must have drawn it here. Pulled it here through another dimension. 
Twilight’s eyes fell on the strange gem. The gem! Perhaps it was serving as an anchor of some sort. If she could destroy it, then maybe the Gazer would snap back to its own world. 
“Trixie, listen to me,” Twilight said, raising a magical shield around the two of them as the Gazer fired another beam from one of its smaller eyes. “I think that gem is the key. If we can smash it, I think the Gazer should disappear.”
“Are…are you sure?” Trixie asked, not taking her eyes off of the monster that was now roaring at them, shaking the cave with its echoes of rage. 
“Not really, but it’s the only thing I can think of. Now, I’m going to put on the Alicorn Amulet. I’ll—”
“No!” Trixie said, her eyes ripping away from the Gazer and focusing on Twilight. “Twilight, please don’t put that thing on. It’s dangerous.”
Twilight was startled by Trixie’s genuine concern, but she pushed it aside. “Trixie, I’m going to need all the help I can get. This thing is draining my magic, and probably yours, at an alarming rate. I’ll hold it off while you run for the gem. Smash in against the floor with your hoof, okay?”
“Are you sure?” Trixie asked, hunching her shoulders and looking terrified. 
In all honesty, Twilight wasn’t sure. She knew that Alicorn Amulet corrupted the user, and she was certain she could take it off before it got to her—she planned to only use it for a few seconds, after all—but the look on Trixie’s face gave her pause. The Unicorn used to be so full of herself, so confident that it was annoying and disrespectful, but now she was a terrified little pony. Maybe using the amulet wasn’t such a good idea…
Twilight shook the thought away. There was no other choice. Now that she knew what was happening, she could feel the Gazer somehow sucking the magic from her just by being near her. And she didn’t have to imagine what those teeth were for once she became too weak to fight back. If she and Trixie were going to get out of this alive, let alone stop this monster, she had no other choice.
Twilight reached into her bag to pull out the amulet and then the world exploded.
The Gazer fired off an attack from each of its small eyes. All the beams slammed into Twilight’s shield at once, shattering it. They then slammed into the ground, the wall, and her. For a moment the world seemed to move in slow motion as she was blasted across the cave. Then she hit the ground and tumbled, her wings aching in protest as she was tossed across the uneven surface of the cave, shredding her leggings against the uneven surface.
Twilight finally came to a stop and struggled to open her eyes. Her entire body hurt in ways she didn’t think were possible. It felt as though her wings had been ripped off. She looked to make sure they were still attached and found that they were, but she was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to bend at those angles. She tried to stand, but found that her legs would not support her. A roar echoed through the cave and she looked toward the source of the noise.
The Gazer was floating toward her, all seven eyes locked on her. Again she tried to stand, and when that failed, she tried to crawl, but she found that she couldn’t look away from the eyes.  The Gazer opened its mouth as it drew closer and Twilight’s vision began to dim. It was no more than four feet away from her now, and she could literally see the purple aura of her magic being sucked into the thing’s mouth. 
“Trix…Trixie…” Twilight whispered. “Help…help me…please…” She reached a hoof out toward the darkness, but she knew it was hopeless. If Trixie wasn’t dead or unconscious already, she had no doubt fled. Twilight couldn’t really blame her for it. This thing was beyond anything she had ever encountered. Even the Princesses were terrified of it. This was not something a normal show Unicorn could handle.
Tears streamed down Twilight’s face as she closed her eyes, waiting for Gazer’s teeth to rip into her and finish her off.
“Hold it right there!” a voice said from the darkness. Twilight’s eyes snapped back open and she tried to look past the giant floating terror before her. “How dare you ignore Trixie, you beast! You stand before The Great and Powerful Trixie, the most powerful Unicorn in all of Equestria!” The Gazer turned three of its smaller eyes around, while the others—including the big one—remained focused on Twilight.
“That’s right! You think that pathetic pony over there has tasty magic? Pah! Don’t make Trixie laugh. This is what real magic looks like!” The entire cave let up red for a moment and then the Gazer let out a scream as an energy beam slammed into its back. It whirled around, completely forgetting Twilight and allowing her to finally see what was happening.
Trixie stood in the middle of the cave, her mane whipping around her face and her cloak and hat billowing in a fierce wind. Her eyes flashed red, and Twilight saw that she had the Alicorn Amulet around her neck.
Oh…no…
“Ha! Take that!” Trixie shouted, stomping her hoof on the ground. The Gazer roared and fired its own attack, but Trixie put up a shield and the beam bounced away. “That’s right. Not even you can measure up to the Great and Powerful Trixie. With this Alicorn Amulet, she is unstoppable!”
The Gazer roared and charged toward her. Twilight wanted to yell at Trixie, to tell her to get out of the way, but she couldn’t make her mouth work. She still hurt all over. 
“Now watch and be amazed!” Trixie shouted, raising both of her front legs into the air. “The Great and Powerful Trixie’s grandest finale ever! One that is truly worthy of the greatest Unicorn to ever grace Equestria with her presence!” Just as the Gazer closed the distance, Trixie brought her hooves down. Fireworks suddenly sprang from thin air, filling the cave with deafening cracks and blinding light. Twilight covered her eyes as the display continued, drowning out every inch of darkness. 
“Twilight, the stone!” she heard Trixie shout over the roar of the fireworks. “Get the stone!”
Twilight forced her eyes to open and blinked repeatedly to clear them. The fireworks had died off now, but she could still barely see. When her vision cleared, she saw that the Gazer was spinning in circles, all of its eyes closed, and howling in pain. Her eyes then shifted toward the sickly light coming from the stone. It was too far away for her to crawl toward it. She looked over at Trixie, hoping she could somehow get to it, but the Unicorn was backed up against the far wall, a magic shield raised around her body to protect herself from the Gazer’s fury.
“I…I can do this,” Twilight said. She closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could. Ever second was agony as she strained her body and mind. She reached out with what little magic she had left and tried to grab the stone. She managed to levitate it into the air, but she could feel her grip slipping. Sweat trickled down her face as she struggled to bring the thing back to her.
“Twilight, hurry!” Trixie shouted, fear flooding her voice. “I…I can’t hold on much longer. I can feel it.” She wasn’t sure if Trixie mean the amulet or the Gazer, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting that stone and smashing it. 
Finally, the stone was floating in front of Twilight. She let out a breath of exhaustion and the stone fell directly in front of her as her head sank back to the ground. 
Smash it. I have to…smash it.
Twilight knew she didn’t have enough strength left to levitate a rock heavy enough to break the gem. Instead, she poured every last bit of physical strength she had left into her right front hoof. She raised it as high as she could while the rest of her body was collapsed on the floor. If this didn’t work, she and Trixie were doomed.
Twilight brought her hoof down as hard as she could on the gem. It shattered with the first strike, letting out a sound like breaking crystal. A loud popping noise followed next, and Twilight suddenly felt strength come rushing back into her body. She blinked in shock and stood up. She was still in pain, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been moments before. 
Sunlight flooded into the cave from the entrance then. She blinked again to adjust her eyes, then looked around. 
The Gazer was gone. There wasn’t a trace of it to be seen.  The gem lay shattered at her hooves. She decided that she needed to take whatever it was back to the Princesses. This was something they clearly needed to be made aware of. She levitated the fragments into her saddlebag and look around for Trixie. If she was still wearing the Alicorn Amulet, Twilight feared that things were about to go very wrong. 
“Trixie never wants to do anything like this again,” Trixie said, walking toward Twilight. Her neck was bare, thank Celestia. She reached up under her hat and pulled out the box that had housed the amulet and gave it to Twilight. Twilight popped it open just to make sure that it wasn’t empty, and when she saw the amulet, she quickly put it back in her bag. “Take that thing back. Trixie could feel it clawing at her mind the entire time she was wearing it. She never wants to see it again.”
“You know Trixie,” Twilight said with a smile, “that was pretty great and powerful, what you did back there.”
“Of course it was,” Trixie said, turning her chin up and closing her eyes. “No pony knows show magic like Trixie. And…as much as Trixie hates to admit it, the amulet did allow her to increase her already amazing talents with the stuff.” Her head hung down then. “She just wishes ponies had been able to see her in her moment of glory.”
“Well, I saw it, and I’ll never forget it.” Twilight stepped forward and gave Trixie a tight hug. “Thank you for saving me, Great and Powerful Trixie,” she said as she held the Unicorn.
Trixie was stiff in Twilight’s embrace for a moment, then she relaxed and hugged her back. “Naturally,” she said. “The Great and Powerful Trixie couldn’t let her rival die like that. Besides, you’re the only pony who saw my greatest display ever. No pony else is ever going to believe me…”
“Well, I am a Princess now, so if I tell them, they’ll have to believe it,” Twilight said as she started walking toward the exit. Trixie trotted up beside her and smiled.
“Hey, that’s right,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “Trixie saved a Princess. She truly is the greatest Unicorn in all of Equestria!”
Twilight smiled, glad to see Trixie slowly returning to her old self. “Hey,” she said. “I saved Princess Celestia when Nightmare Moon returned.”
“True,” Trixie said with a grin. “But you’re not a Unicorn anymore, are you, Princess Twilight?” Trixie made a face and stuck her tongue out. “Ugh. Trixie will never use that phrase again. It leaves a bad taste in her mouth.”
Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes. She would stay in contact with Trixie now, just to make sure she was doing okay, but she decided that the Unicorn was already doing much better than when they had started their adventure.