The Magician and the Filly
The wind blew her white mane back, her star-patterned cape billowing behind her, the mare had long since left the town of Ponyville, but she had finally returned. She was not returning for a social call, though. She was here for revenge. The embarrassment she had suffered due to two idiot foals, but more than that, the fires of hatred burned in her heart towards one pony. She had spent the year since that incident studying her foe, and training her magic, all so that she could have her vengeance.
“Twilight Sparkle, you may be the holder of the Element of Magic, but your reign as a top magic user will be ending soon! I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, have successfully taken down stronger opponents than when we last met! I have beaten the frightful Canis Major, battered the voracious Byakko, and as a finale, obliterated the devastating Kirin!”
“Ooo,” a nearby vendor sarcastically started, “you defeated some monsters to prove yourself to a filly?”
“Perhaps you did not hear what The Great and Powerful Trixie has said, I am after my rival, Twilight Sparkle! Tell Trixie where she may find her!”
“Well if the “great and powerful” one really thinks that she has to show off, she’s probably at the school right now.”
“Ha! The Great and Powerful Trixie will interrupt her teaching, and prove to her students that she is worthless!” Trixie held her head high as she walked down the street, ignoring the snickerings of ponies she passed.
“Hey Twilight, come jump rope with us!” Sweetie Belle put her face over Twilight’s book Apple Bloom held the rope in her mouth.
“Let me just finish this page real quick, and I’ll...” the purple unicorn filly stopped as an overpowering voice filled the schoolyard.
“TWILIGHT SPARKLE! I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, demand that you show yourself so that I may humiliate you in front of your students!” The flashy blue mare called out.
“What does she want?” Scootaloo asked, a touch of irritation in her voice.
“I don’t even know who that is...and what does she mean ‘my students?’” Twilight was worried.
“What is going on out here?” Cheerilee walked out from the schoolhouse.
“I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, wish to get my revenge on your fellow teacher, Twilight Sparkle!”
A look of confusion crossed the educator’s face. “Fellow teacher? She may be intelligent for her age, but she’s not teaching classes.”
“Then why would she be here!?”
“To...learn?”
“Miss Cheerilee, what does she want with me?” the purple unicorn filly came closer, but stood behind her teacher.
“What does The Great and Powerful Trixie want with you!? I do not want anything to do with you! The Great and Powerful Trixie wants nothing to do with a foal! Though she does admit you look very much like her rival, are you her daughter or something?”
“No, my mommy is named Fluttershy...My name is Twilight Sparkle...”
“Do not lie to Trixie! I know my rival, she is not a foal!”
Cheerilee was starting to get a bit worried of Trixie’s attitude. “Kids, go back inside.” After the last one entered, she lowered her voice, and narrowed her eyes. “I think you need to leave now.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie refuses to leave until she defeats her rival!”
“You have one last chance, leave now, or I can let the police deal with you.”
Trixie pondered her options. If she stayed, she risked being arrested and then she would never get to have her vengeance. “You win this round, schoolteacher. But The Great and Powerful Trixie is not finished with her revenge!”
As the end of the school day came, Applejack and Rarity entered the schoolyard. Normally, the students were fine walking home by themselves, but Cheerilee had been worried that the magician was still nearby. She figured Trixie had clearly lost her mind if she considered a rival in a filly who was just learning how to use magic to turn a page in a book. Cheerilee had let Scootaloo leave earlier to deliver a letter to one of Twilight’s guardians, and the two that arrived just happened to be together at the time.
“So this mare ya mentioned, what’d she look like?” Applejack asked.
“Well, she was blue, with a white mane...” Cheerilee started.
“Gaudy hat and cloak? Tendency to talk in third person?” Rarity twitched a little with her first question.
“Yes, that’s the one! She came to town a year or so ago, bragged about defending Hoofington from an Ursa Major, and some of her fans brought that Ursa Minor to town and some other unicorn had to handle it.” Cheerilee had a puzzled look on her face at the last line. “You know, I can’t even remember who that was. Was it the librarian? No, it couldn’t be, Spike was in charge of the library then and he’s a dragon...”
The two partners looked at each other with a concerned look. “Can ya give us a second?” Applejack motioned Rarity to go outside.
“How in Celestia’s name would Trixie even remember Twilight doing that? No one else remembers her previous life, the princesses told us that nopony would remember.” Rarity was confused. Cheerilee just demonstrated for them that the spell the princesses had used was still working well.
“Ya don’t reckon...that Trixie just hates her so much that it overpowers the spell?”
“I don’t know, but we should have Spike send a message to them about this once we get her home. Though maybe we should let her stay with one of us, since Fluttershy’s in Canterlot tending to some sick animals.”
Applejack nodded in agreement, and they both went back inside.
Trixie had been watching the scene unfold from a nearby bush. “So, this filly really is Trixie’s rival...Trixie will have her revenge, regardless of the changes she’s undergone!” She galloped out from the bush, and down the path leading away from the school.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stood on either side of Twilight Sparkle, following behind their sisters. They were just as worried about their friend as the older ponies were, especially since they were there when the lunatic was trying to get to her.
“Hey sis, do ya know that unicorn?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Unfortunately.” Applejack’s voice showed irritation, remembering the events of the day Trixie arrived in Ponyville the first time.
Rarity’s eyes grew wide, recalling her episode. “If she even touches one hair on my mane this time...” She gritted her teeth.
Sweetie Belle fell backwards as she ran into an invisible wall. She tried to go around it, but found that she was blocked in every direction. “Rarity! Help!”
Rarity turned around and tried to go to her sister, but found herself thrown back by her own blockade.
“What the hay!?” Applejack pounded on the enclosure, to no avail. Apple Bloom tried to buck her own, but received a shock in return.
Twilight looked at her friends and adoptive parents. She backed away from the group, finding out that she wasn’t blocked at all.
“Run Twilight! Go find Rainbow Dash or Pinkie!” Applejack was still trying to find a way out of her trap.
“You don’t think The Great and Powerful Trixie forgot about your little friends, do you?” Trixie jumped out of the trees. “It wasn’t too hard, the pink one followed a trail of candy into her trap, and the rainbow showoff thinks she’s hanging with the Wonderbolts!”
“The only showoff here is you, Trixie!” Rarity yelled. Trixie smirked at her, waved her hoof for a second, and laughed as the unicorn promptly fainted, after discovering her white coat was now plaid.
“Leave them alone!” Apple Bloom scowled at the magician.
“Oh, you should be glad that Trixie doesn’t do much to foals.”
“Then why are you after Twilight!?” Sweetie Belle shouted.
“Maybe because she’s not a foal at all!” A devilish grin crossed the face of the white-maned unicorn.
“Are ya as stupid as ya are braggy? She’s just a lil’ filly!” Applejack’s anger was starting to flare.
“Oh, Trixie heard what you and ‘Plaidity’ were discussing at the school. So, the beloved princesses decided to make everyone forget about the original Twilight Sparkle? Trixie has no idea why they would go through the trouble. But after today, no one will remember her for anything!”
Twilight tried to run while Trixie was gloating, but was lifted off the ground and pulled back. “Oh, don’t think you’re going anywhere until I’ve finished what I came here for.”
The purple filly was starting to cry. “Why? What did I ever do to you? I’ve never even seen you before today!”
“Don’t play stupid with Trixie! You shamed her out of this town on her last visit! But Trixie has been training since that day! I have defeated the strongest of beasts in Equestria! All so that I can take. You. Down.” Trixie’s grin grew even more menacing than before.
“But I don’t KNOW any magic! I still have to write with my mouth!” Twilight struggled to break free of the spell Trixie was holding her with, but to no avail.
“Oh, you will fight Trixie with your full strength. You are not getting away from her vengeance!” She threw the filly to the ground.
Twilight fell forward as she was slammed down, hearing a crack underneath her. She tried to stand up, but her hoof caused her a great deal of pain. Her ankle had broken on impact. This mare was really out to hurt her! She cried out as she was lifted back up, and rammed into a tree.
“Stop that!” shouted Applejack, “You’re going to kill her!”
“If that’s what happens, then so be it.” Trixie hit Twilight against the tree a few more times, before slamming her to the ground again.
The purple unicorn again tried to stand, but every bit of her was filled with a searing pain. She tried to open her eyes, but they were strongly stinging as the light entered them.
“Trixie is somewhat disappointed in her rival. She expected more of a challenge.” She put her hoof on Twilight’s throat. “Trixie would say ‘goodbye,’ but that would suggest that she wants to see you again.”
“No, please...please let me go...” Twilight’s horn started to glow.
“Aww, how adorable. You’re finally going to fight back. Too bad it’s too late!” Trixie lifted her leg up, preparing for the finishing blow to her opponent, but found herself being thrown back. Twilight’s eyes finally opened wide, showing a pure white glow. Her body started to levitate, and a pair of transparent wings appeared on her back.
“LEAVE ME ALONE!” The luminous sparkle on her horn started to rapidly expand. The ball of light covered the entire area that the group could see, and much further. The sky started to glow with the same intensity.
“What are you doing!? This magic can not possibly exist! There is no way this is possible! You won’t win, Twilight Sparkle!” Trixie’s body was burning as the light covered her. What was happening? She couldn’t move at all. She tried to scream, but nothing came out.
As the light faded, Applejack found her invisible prison had vanished. She prodded Rarity awake, her coat having returned to its proper white color. All three fillies with them were unconscious on the ground. The two older ponies checked over Twilight, and found that she was completely uninjured. Applejack looked around, and Trixie was nowhere to be found. What did catch her eye was a plush doll of a blue unicorn, wearing a star-patterned cloak and hat, peeking out of Twilight’s saddlebag.
Out of the sky, Rainbow Dash landed among the group. “Hey, did you all see that crazy light? I was hanging out with the Wonderbolts, and they all disappeared after that happened! Hey, why are the kids sleeping in the middle of the road?”
“We’ll explain it to ya later.” Applejack sighed. “Can ya help us get these girls home before they wake up?”
Twilight Sparkle was laying in her bed as her door opened. Fluttershy had just returned from Canterlot, because the princesses told her that something had happened. She didn’t understand the light that filled the sky until the sisters told her that she needed to return home to check on Twilight.
Picking up the room a little, she discovered a blue unicorn plushie next to the bed. “I don’t remember getting this for her...Maybe one of the others did while I was gone?” Fluttershy picked it up and placed it next to her daughter, who pulled it into a hug without waking up. Smiling, she kissed Twilight on the forehead and walked out of the room.
Trixie is not finished with you, Twilight Sparkle. As soon as Trixie gets out of this accursed form, she will end you. Trixie promises that much.