Rarity had been trying to learn various spells from Twilight for a while, but it seemed impossible for her to do anything but move objects around, cast a torch light, and find jewels in the ground. One day, she really wanted to make an effort to learn something because Twilight was going to Canterlot on royal business in five days.
“I don’t see why that means you have to learn more spells,” Twilight said.
“When you leave, I will be the only Royal Taskforce unicorn left in town,” said Rarity, still trying to teleport five feet to her left. “I have to be prepared for an emergency.”
Rarity’s horn kept spitting out little globs of light which dropped to the ground like stones.
“Don’t tax yourself,” warned Twilight. “If you wear out your horn, you won’t be able to protect Ponyville at all.”
Rarity stopped attempting the spell and stared at the ground. “Will anypony notice if I wear my horn out?”
“Don’t forget, Rarity. You wield an element of harmony,” said Twilight. “And now that we know that each one can be used on its own, you can use your Element of Generosity to deal with a threat.”
“Hm. I suppose,” Rarity said. “Perhaps I should wear it the whole time you’re gone.”
“Well, if it’ll make you feel more comfortable,” Twilight shrugged.
All he same, Rarity still attempted the teleportation spell every day leading up to Twilight’s departure, and all day the day she left. Snips and Snails ran by and chuckled at her when a huge blob of blue light oozed out of her horn and landed with a blub on the ground in front of her.
“Those clowns,” she snorted as they ran out of sight. “I’d like to see them teleport… far away… and stay there.”
Rarity would have been practising this at home, but she didn’t want Sweetie Belle to see her struggling. It was a cold day and there were very few ponies outside, so Rarity had picked the park to practise teleportation. But she was never completely alone. All morning, she’d spot somepony watching her and it made her feel deeply embarrassed.
“Why couldn’t Princess Celestia come here instead of calling Twilight to Canterlot?” she moped.
When noon came, things were going the same way, accept none of the ponies who passed by Rarity seemed to notice her at all. Soon, it dawned on her that they were looking annoyed about something.
It wasn’t long before Rarity discovered what was upsetting the local ponies.
“Greetings, Rarity!”
Rarity was so surprised, the glob of light coming from her horn suddenly vanished.
“Trixie?!”
“Yes, the Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie has returned! And I have something amazing and incredible to show you!”
As Rarity was getting a headache from trying to magic herself to another location, she was happy to take an excuse to quit for a bit. However, unlike Twilight, she hadn’t quite forgiven Trixie for her last visit to Ponyville.
“You haven’t gotten hold of another evil necklace, have you?” she asked.
“Moi?”
“Don’t play innocent,” glowered Rarity. “For your information, Twilight is not here, so any problem you have…”
“Oh, the Great and Powerful Trixie knows Twilight is not here,” smiled Trixie. “She was the one who sent me to this town.”
“Twilight sent you here?!” Rarity exclaimed.
“That’s right,” said Trixie.
And she produced a dark blue cloud from her horn. Inside was a cartoon of herself and Twilight.
“I journeyed to Canterlot to demonstrate my latest and greatest achievement,” Trixie narrated as her drawing crossed from cloud right to center cloud. “And who should I meet but my old friend Twilight Sparkle?”
Rarity snorted a bit as Twilight’s drawing met up with Trixie’s.
“And when I told her what I had been cooking up since our last get-together…”
“Where she gave you a right showing up,” Rarity muttered.
“She knew I was really on to something,” Trixie went on. “And she couldn’t have been more excited when I asked her to help me test it.”
“But she was too busy with royal business, right?” asked Rarity.
“No,” replied Trixie. “She did not agree to help me test it because she had somepony in mind who might appreciate it even more.”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “Me?”
“Yes, you,” Trixie smiled. “Twilight tells me you were upset that you were having trouble learning to do spells that she can do.”
“Oh. She told you that?” Rarity asked, going red in the face.
“No need to be embarrassed, Rarity,” said Trixie. “For it is unicorns like you who inspired me to create Magic Freeze Tag!”
Trixie extinguished her cloud and the animated Trixie and Twilight vanished.
“Magic freeze tag?” repeated Rarity.
“Yes! Are you interested in a free trial?” asked Trixie, beaming at Rarity.
“Well, yes, I suppose I am,” Rarity answered.
“Excellent! Now let’s go find more unicorns to take part,” said Trixie.
“Oh, it’s a multi-player game, is it?” asked Rarity.
“It will be when it takes off,” Trixie smiled keenly.
If you thought Twilight’s friends were the only ones who’d been treated like dirt during Trixie’s last visit – oh, and Snips and Snails as well – then allow me to tell you that Trixie had made a point of roaming the streets humiliating the citizens with various spells. Twilight seemed to be the only pony who’d forgiven her for letting the Alicorn Amulet warp her mind. As she and Rarity walked around Ponyville in search of other unicorns to take part in Equestria’s first game of magic freeze tag, a lot of angry faces turned in their direction.
There weren’t many ponies outside now. The weather patrol was turning up the wind to blow the fallen autumn leaves out of town. When Trixie and Rarity were just considering going to some unicorns’ homes to ask for volunteers, Vinyl Scratch, Lyra and Minuette suddenly jumped out from behind the fountain. They looked like they were going to attack.
“Oh, hold it, girls!” called Minuette. “Rarity’s here. She’ll deal with her.”
“Mess her up, Rarity!” shouted Vinyl Scratch.
“What?!” Rarity exclaimed. “What are you talking about?! Do you all know about magic freeze tag?”
“Magic freeze what?” asked Lyra.
“Rarity, keep it down!” urged Trixie. “I haven’t patented this game yet.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” said Vinyl Scratch. “You two are playing a game together?”
“Yes, but we need more players,” replied Rarity.
“Would you three lucky unicorns care to join in?” Trixie asked with a bright, excited smile. “The first game is free.”
Vinyl, Lyra and Minuette looked from the eager Trixie to Rarity, who was wearing her Element of Generosity.
“What do you say, girls?” Minuette asked the other two.
Lyra leaned over to Minuette as whispered. “If Rarity’s playing, Trixie won’t give us any trouble.”
“Yeah,” hissed Vinyl. “And if she does, she’ll probably go to prison this time.”
The three of them smirked and told Trixie that they would play her game. Trixie was not even slightly put off by their sneers. Rarity however found them odd.
A bunch of yellow leaves buffeted Rarity’s face.
“Could we play this game indoors by any chance?” she sputtered.
“Of course we’ll be playing indoors,” said Trixie. “I don’t want anypony stealing my idea. Can we use your place?”
“Yes, alright,” answered Rarity as the last of the leaves blew off her.
This made Vinyl Scratch, Lyra and Minuette feel better. They didn’t think they’d be able to contain themselves if Trixie had asked one of them to host the game.
“You have a sister, right?” asked Trixie.
“Yes. Can Sweetie Belle play as well?” Rarity asked.
“Um, has she learned any magic yet?”
“No, she hasn’t,” answered Rarity.
“Then I’m afraid she won’t be able to play,” Trixie told her. “This game can only be played by unicorns who can use their magic.”
“Wait a second,” said Rarity. “I thought you said this game was for unicorns who can’t learn magic.”
“No, no, I said it’s meant for unicorns who can only use one kind of magic,” replied Trixie. “Like you. You can only find gemstones.”
“What are your abilities?” she asked the other three.
“I can make things louder,” said Vinyl Scratch.
“I can change my voice,” said Lyra.
“I can measure time in my head,” said Minuette.
“And does it bother you?” asked Trixie. “Not being able to learn more spells?”
Lyra was about to say that Trixie was being insensitive, but Rarity spoke before she could.
“That’s exactly how I’ve been feeling since Twilight’s coronation.”
“Glad I could come and cheer you up,” Trixie smiled, putting her hoof on Rarity’s shoulder.
“Apple polisher,” muttered Vinyl.
Sweetie Belle wasn’t quite as uncomfortable as Vinyl, Lyra and Minuette were when she saw Trixie enter her house with Rarity.
“Is this some kind of royal meeting?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Do you need refreshments? I could be your waitress.”
“Um, no thank you Sweetie,” said Rarity hastily.
She knew that Sweetie Belle and food preparation did not mix.
“That’s that loser Trixie isn’t it?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Sweetie Belle, mind your manners!” said Rarity sternly.
“Yeah, like Trixie did when she took over Ponyville,” muttered Minuette.
“I assure you the Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie is no loser,” said Trixie. “No loser could come up with this game.”
Trixie’s horn lit up and she magiced a large scroll out of thin air. It had an overhead view of a labyrinth painted on it.
“Behold! The game area for magic freeze tag!”
Vinyl Scratch took her shades off and stared at the map. “How in the name of surround sound are we supposed to play on that?!”
“Observe,” replied Trixie.
Now she made a camera and five black blindfolds appear. She took one blindfold and gave the rest to the other players.
“You don’t have a scarlet one, do you?” asked Rarity.
“No, I don’t,” Trixie answered. “But…”
Her horn lit up and one pop later, Rarity’s blindfold was deep red.
“Anypony else want a different colour?” Trixie asked the others.
No one else made a request.
“Suit yourself,” said Trixie after nopony answered her. “Now you will notice that there are two straps on these blindfolds. What you have to do is put one around your heads and the other around your horns.”
“What for?” asked Minuette, keeping her blindfold suspended in front of her.
“It will absorb your magic. That way, you won’t really cast a spell when you’re wearing them.”
“But if we’re not casting spells, then what makes this game of freeze tag magic?” demanded Lyra.
She jumped suddenly as Trixie had made the camera take a picture of her. The photograph was ejected and Rarity was surprised to see that the camera didn’t capture Lyra’s blindfold or the wall behind her. None of the others noticed. They were watching the camera as it took a photo of the rest of them in turn.
Soon, five photographs were being attached to the map. Trixie had placed each photo on a different area on the labyrinth.
“Now, once you put the blindfold on,” she said to the group, “your mind will be transported into the maze. The object of the game is to reach the middle first.”
She indicated the center of the map where a small scroll was painted on.
“If you encounter somepony on the way,” Trixie continued, “you can cast a freezing spell on them.”
“But we don’t know freezing spells,” Vinyl piped up.
“You will when you enter the game,” grinned Trixie.
Rarity beamed.
“They will last for ten seconds,” Trixie went on. “But if you do freeze somepony, you’ll be transported one row to your left.”
Rarity became as bouncy as Pinkie Pie after a pitcher of energy drink.
“Freezing and teleportation?! Those are the two spells I’ve wanted to learn the most!”
Vinyl, Lyra and Minuette eyed Trixie suspiciously.
“So you still haven’t done it yet?” chuckled Sweetie Belle.
“Oh, be quiet!”
“Now Sweetie Belle,” Trixie turned to the young unicorn, “we’ll need you to take our blindfolds off when we’re done playing.”
“What for?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Once we put the blindfolds on, we won’t be able to move in real life,” Trixie said to all of them. “The players will need someone to get them out of the game.”
“How did you find this out?” asked Rarity.
Trixie’s face went pink a little.
“Um, my boss on the rock farm had to help me out last week,” she said.
“You’re still working at that rock farm?!” exclaimed Vinyl.
Rarity shot her a warning look and she stopped herself from laughing.
“Not for long!” Trixie didn’t look embarrassed anymore. Her eyes flashed with determination. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will be back on her hooves once this game takes off!”
Vinyl Scratch, Lyra and Minuette kept glancing at the Element of Generosity on Rarity’s neck. They felt uncomfortable, but they were sure that no harm could come to them if she had her element of harmony.
“Are we ready?!” Trixie called, placing her blindfold above her eyes.
Lyra took one last look at Rarity’s element, and then said “Game on!”
They all nodded.
“How long shall we play?” asked Trixie.
“An hour?” Rarity suggested.
That was longer than the others would have liked, but they didn’t want to argue.
“OK, I’ll let you all out in an hour,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Let the game begin!” announced Trixie, setting the map of the labyrinth on the floor.
The five players put their blindfolds on, second straps around their horns. Sweetie Belle chuckled at Vinyl Scratch, who had put her blindfold on over her shades. As soon as they each had their eyes covered, they stopped moving. Sweetie Belle could see that they were still breathing, but they were standing perfectly still. Then she heard shuffling from behind her. She looked at the map and saw that the photographs of the players were moving along their respective paths.
When Rarity next opened her eyes, she found herself in a dark hedge maze.
“Oh, my. It feels so real,” she said.
Then she covered her mouth remembering that she was supposed to be quiet. She looked around. Behind her was a dead end and the path ahead of her was so dark, she couldn’t see where it ended. She walked forward and after a minute, she found an opening to her left. She went that way and began to speed up. Then she stopped. She spotted someone. It was Trixie. For a moment, Rarity thought she didn’t stand a chance of freezing her before she got her. But Trixie didn’t cast any spells. She just walked aimlessly around. Rarity took a chance. She cast a spell. It felt like her own gem finding spell, but sure enough, she had stopped Trixie in her tracks. Then Rarity’s vision went blue for a second and she found herself in a different row.
“Outstanding!” she cried, and ran forward.
But then she stopped. She was still curious. Surely Trixie had spotted her. It couldn’t have been that dark. She could see Trixie quite clearly. She spotted an opening to her right. She remembered seeing an opening to Trixie’s left and went through it to see if she was there.
“Whoa!”
Rarity had nearly collided into Trixie. The freezing spell had worn off.
“How did it feel?” asked Trixie, eyes agleam.
“Quite spectacular,” Rarity answered. “Did you let me get you first on purpose?”
“Like I said, I want you and your friends to experience new magic,” Trixie smiled. “How can I do that if I go around zapping you all?”
Then she frowned.
“Oh. I shouldn’t have said that. Now you know I’m not even trying.”
“That’s right!” shouted Rarity with a fanatical smile.
She zapped Trixie again who froze on the spot, and then she found herself in the other row again.
“Oh, yes! This is gonna be fun!”
And she darted off.
“Don’t tell the others I’m going easy on you all!” she heard Trixie’s voice coming from the wall to her right.
“I won’t!” Rarity called back before taking a left turn.
Vinyl Scratch had a bit of a surprise when the game started. She didn’t have her shades. But she quickly realised that they would have been a hindrance in that dark labyrinth. She started running down her row. She turned a corner. Rarity was there. Vinyl tried to freeze her, but Rarity got her first. Vinyl watched, unable to move, as Rarity disappeared in a flash of blue light. Before she was gone, Vinyl saw that Rarity wasn’t wearing her element of harmony.
“I don’t have my shades, Rarity doesn’t have her element…”
The freeze spell stopped.
“I think we’re doomed,” she said, feeling reluctant to move on.
Lyra hadn’t stopped running since she’d entered the maze. At last, she spotted Minuette running ahead of her. She lit up her horn and Minuette went still. Her vision went yellow and she found herself in another row. She would have felt good if she hadn’t teleported right in front of Rarity. As soon as she looked back, Rarity zapped her. She couldn’t move. Rarity vanished. Ten seconds later, she was able to move again. She took off down the row. She came to a fork and decided on the right. In the distance, she saw Vinyl Scratch. But she couldn’t see her properly and thought she was Rarity. Vinyl saw her and zapped her. Lyra watched, frozen, as what looked like Rarity was transported out of the row.
“She got me again,” she groaned.
When she was able to move again, she zoomed through the maze. Then she ran into Rarity (the real one) again. She started to cast the freezing spell, but Rarity was too quick for her.
“Again!” growled Lyra after Rarity was gone. “Is she cheating somehow? Or did Trixie rig this game?”
As for Minuette, she had a fairly easy run. She did well with the freezing spell after Lyra had halted her. She managed to get Trixie three times.
“Beaten in her own game,” she smirked as she ran. “I can’t wait to see her face when I get to the middle.”
But when she did get to the center of the maze, she was disappointed to see that Rarity, Vinyl and Lyra were already there. Then, barely a few seconds after she got there, Trixie came into view.
“Ah, good. We’re all here,” she said. “So, what’s the sore?”
“Rarity won,” said Lyra, eyeing Trixie with suspicion.
“No, no, no. Look at the scroll,” said Trixie.
The large stone scroll in the middle of the clearing had words on it. None of them had seen them there when they’d arrived. The scroll had written their names in order of arrival. Rarity was first, Lyra was second, Vinyl third, Minuette fourth, and Trixie fifth.
“Good job, Rarity,” congratulated Trixie. “How do you feel?”
“I feel great!” exclaimed Rarity.
Vinyl, Lyra and Minuette all stared at Trixie.
“So, are you all ready for round 2?” asked Trixie.
“Yes, let’s play!” shouted Rarity.
Then, before they knew it, Rarity, Vinyl Scratch, Lyra and Minuette found themselves back where they started.
Trixie had been moved to her starting spot as well. She was happy that Rarity was enjoying herself.
“If the others enjoy this game as much as she does,” she said to herself, “I’ll make enough money to be able to leave that rock farm forever.”
And she trotted off down the path. Eventually, she spotted Vinyl Scratch. Vinyl Scratch saw her as well, and thought she was Minuette for a second. Trixie pretended she hadn’t seen her, but Vinyl knew that she knew she was there. She was aware that she and Rarity didn’t look too different from each other, especially in that dark maze.
I thought SHE was Minuette, she thought. Does she think I’m Rarity?
At first, she thought she should just freeze her and move on. But at the last second, she turned her head.
“Come on, I know you can see me!” she called as her spell hit the wall next to her. “Go on! Hit me!”
Trixie considered, and decided to give Vinyl a taste of the freezing spell.
I suppose there’s no reason I can’t have a little fun, she thought as she froze Vinyl in place and disappeared from the row.
But Vinyl wasn’t having fun at all.
“I had a feeling she was letting Rarity win,” she said.
“So did I.”
Vinyl would have turned around, but the freeze spell hadn’t worn off yet. Lyra walked past her and turned around.
“Rarity was constantly zapping me in that last round,” she told Vinyl.
The freeze wore off. Neither of them zapped the other. There was only one pony they wanted to beat. They ran away from each other without another word.
Trixie had run into Minuette and zapped her into submission before being transferred one row over. But then she got zapped by Rarity, who laughed before disappearing.
“Drat,” she said, waiting for the freeze to subside. “Oh, well. As long as Rarity’s having fun.”
Lyra had turned the corner behind Trixie at that moment.
“I knew it,” she groaned.
As soon as Trixie was free, Lyra zapped her. After she was moved to the next row, she cast her own voice changing spell and put on the slimiest smile she could muster.
“Forget those other three losers,” she said in Trixie’s voice. “I need Rarity to win so she’ll like his game and I can say a member of Ponyville’s Royal Taskforce loves magic freeze tag.”
She cast her spell again and changed her voice back.
“You just can’t stop showing off, can you?” she said in a low growl.
She didn’t know Minuette was in the row next to her. She heard Lyra’s mocking statement and thought it was Trixie. What she didn’t hear was Lyra’s angry remark to her accusation.
“I’m not playing this game anymore,” she said to herself, lying down on the ground. “I am gonna stay right here until our time is up.”
Meanwhile, Vinyl and Lyra were running all over the place. They were trying to find Rarity and zap her, therefore causing her to lose. They did not want a member of the royal taskforce to endorse magic freeze tag in any way. But eventually, they both found themselves in the center of the maze. And there was Rarity smiling from ear to ear.
“Isn’t this the most spectacular game you’ve ever played?” she asked.
Vinyl Scratch and Lyra looked away from her.
“Oh, now you aren’t upset because you didn’t win, are you?” chuckled Rarity, completely unaware of their bad attitude towards Trixie.
Nothing more was said as they waited for Minuette and Trixie to show themselves. Vinyl and Lyra had a few words they wanted to say to Trixie. But they waited an awfully long time before they saw either of the remaining players. Rarity had gone to look around a corner to see if either of them was coming.
“Whoa!”
Trixie was right there standing just out of sight from the center of the maze.
“Don’t tell the other two I’m here,” Trixie whispered.
“Anyone there?” came Lyra’s voice.
“Um, no,” replied Rarity.
She turned back to Trixie.
“Are you losing deliberately?”
“Just to make you all happy,” said Trixie, smiling weakly. “I’m sure no one’s forgotten my last visit.”
“If you didn’t have my forgiveness before,” said Rarity, “you certainly have it now.”
She walked back to the center of the maze.
Minuette had finally stood back up. She was growing concerned.
“It’s been an hour and five minutes,” she said. “Sweetie Belle should have gotten us out of here by now.”
She started off again looking for the other players. She was almost at the center of the maze when she spotted Trixie peering around a corner. Minuette remembered this part of the maze. She’d gone through that same area the last time she got to the middle. Trixie, unaware that Minuette was behind her, had the same feeling that they’d been in there for over an hour. She also had the ability to measure time in her head. She ventured into the center of the maze to tell the others that something was wrong. Minuette snuck up behind her and quite quickly, she saw that Rarity had arrived.
“We’ve…” Trixie started to say.
Minuette cut in.
“Alright, Trixie! Game’s over! Let’s get outta here!”
Once Trixie had gotten over the surprise, she told them all that she didn’t know why they were still in there.
“I know that all Sweetie Belle has to do is take our blindfolds off,” she said. “That’s exactly what my boss did to me.”
Rarity had been feeling wonderful all game, but now she was very worried.
“Are we stuck here?” she asked Trixie.
No matter how much she loved this game, she didn’t want to stay in that dark maze forever.
“I… I think we are,” said Trixie.
Rarity looked up at the black sky above the labyrinth.
“Sweetie Belle?!” she called. “We’d like to come out now!”
Trixie shook her head. “We can’t actually talk in real life. My boss never heard me yelling before he got me out.”
Vinyl Scratch, Lyra and Minuette watched Rarity’s increasing anxiety with interest.
“Can you teleport us out of here?” she asked.
“I tried that too when…”
“Please try!” interrupted Rarity.
Trixie knew it wouldn’t work, but she didn’t want anyone to panic. So they all gathered around her and she lit her horn. They all disappeared in a ball of blue light, but only found themselves on the other side of the large scroll.
Rarity began to tremble.
“I don’t think I like this anymore,” she shivered.
“Ha!” Vinyl Scratch burst out.
Trixie and Rarity jumped. Vinyl, Lyra and Minuette were grinning.
“Your game’s over, Trixie,” sneered Minuette. “Literally. Your silly magic freeze tag will never take off.”
“What- I- didn’t you like it?” asked Trixie.
“Like you care,” scoffed Minuette. “I know you were just trying to get Rarity’s seal of approval because you couldn’t get Twilight’s.”
“That’s not true!” protested Trixie.
“I heard you say you were letting Rarity win,” snapped Minuette.
“Is that right?” asked Vinyl and Lyra together, eyeing Trixie malevolently.
In her excitement over discrediting Trixie, Lyra didn’t make the connection between what Minuette had said and her own bit of hocus pocus when she was mocking Trixie.
“I saw you waiting around for Rarity to get here first,” Minuette continued.
“Not just her,” insisted Trixie. “All of you.”
“Don’t lie to us,” said Lyra. “You only wanted Rarity to win and be happy so she’d give your stupid game a royal endorsement.”
“We all know it,” said Vinyl Scratch. “You thought I was Rarity at one point. You didn’t fire at me until you found out I was Vinyl Scratch.”
“I knew it was…” Trixie began.
Vinyl Scratch, Lyra and Minuette advanced on her.
“Face it! It’s over. Your game is a complete failure. You’ll never get your reputation back. Ever!”
Trixie had never felt so weak and powerless.
Rarity’s fear of being stuck in that maze was replaced with disgusted rage.
“How very dare you?! All of you?!” she rounded on Vinyl, Lyra and Minuette. “She told me she wanted all four of us to enjoy the thrill of using new magic!”
“And you believed that?!” scoffed Lyra.
“She told me not to tell you all, but now I wish I had!” Rarity scolded. “She told me when we started that she was losing on purpose to make us all happy.”
“That’s ridiculous!” objected Vinyl Scratch. “She’s been crawling around you like an omega this whole time. She gave you the colourful blindfold.”
“She offered to change your blindfolds as well! Don’t you remember?”
“Oh, right,” said Vinyl Scratch. “But she still didn’t care if the three of us…”
“You’re wrong!” bellowed Rarity. “Trixie created this game to make unicorns like us who only know one bit of magic happy, just like she said. Think about it. When you thought she was causing trouble in Ponyville and obstructed her on the street, what were you planning to do?”
Vinyl Scratch, Lyra and Minuette faltered.
“Well?” demanded Rarity. “What could you have done? Vinyl?”
“Um… I guess I could have yelled at her really loud,” said Vinyl Scratch pathetically.
“M-hm,” nodded Rarity, knowing she was getting her point across. “Lyra?”
Lyra blushed. “I guess all I could do was imitate someone else at her.”
“And you, Minuette?”
“I… could have… told her that it was 2:13 in the afternoon.”
Vinyl Scratch, Lyra and Minuette didn’t feel so confident now.
“You see?” asked Rarity. “I know generosity when I see it.”
Then it happened. Rarity, Trixie, Vinyl Scratch, Lyra and Minuette were lifted off the ground. Too surprised to speak, they watched as they rose out of the labyrinth and went up and up and up into the dark clouds above. Then, quite suddenly, they emerged from the clouds and into a clear, blue sky. Now they were zooming through the air towards the ground below.
“There’s Ponyville!” cried Lyra.
“Thank heavens!” exclaimed Rarity. “We’re going home!”
Trixie looked back. She could see her map blowing away from them in the wind. None of the others noticed. Vinyl, Lyra and Minuette might not have enjoyed the experience of using freezing spells and teleporting, but now that they weren’t so mad and suspicious, they were enjoying flying through the air like pegasi. Quite soon, they zoomed into Ponyville.
“There’s Carousel Boutique!” shouted Minuette.
“My window!” cried Rarity.
Her parlour window had been smashed. The five unicorns had a strange experience. One by one, they glided through the window and saw themselves standing in a corner of Rarity’s parlour wearing blindfolds. There were leaves all over the floor. Sweetie Belle was standing completely still close by the door. Then, in a flash, each player found themselves being sucked back into their bodies. The last thing Rarity saw before everything went dark was a bright purple light coming from the Element of Generosity around her neck.
Rarity could feel herself moving her hoof. She touched her face. It felt solid. So did her element of harmony. She took the blindfold off.
“We’re back!” she cried.
She watched as the other unicorns removed their blindfolds and basked in the relief that they were back in their real bodies.
“What’s with Sweetie Belle?” asked Vinyl, pointing to Rarity’s motionless sister.
The five of them walked over to Sweetie Belle, who looked as if she was turned to stone while running and had an urgent look on her face.
“She’s been frozen!” exclaimed Trixie.
And she cast an unfreezing spell. Sweetie Belle lurched forward a little, then started talking right away.
“Trixie, your horn straps weren’t working! The five of you have been casting real spells the whole time you were playing! Rarity, your box of diamonds has been glowing forever. Minuette, that clock on the wall kept telling me what time it is. Like, actually saying it.”
“Sweetie, did you hear any of us call you?” asked Rarity.
“Only two of you talked when you were blindfolded,” replied Sweetie Bell. “Vinyl Scratch yelled ‘Hit me! I know you can see me!’ or something like that, and she said it so loud, the window cracked and broke.”
Vinyl remembered her last second decision to not freeze Trixie.
“The wind came in, caught the map,” continued Sweetie Belle, “whipped it around the room, and blew it out the window.”
“My map blew away?!” cried Trixie.
“I tried to take your blindfold off to tell you,” Sweetie Belle said, “but before I reached you, you accidentally cast a freezing spell on me. I couldn’t move.”
“But you weren’t anywhere near Trixie,” interjected Vinyl.
“You all teleported into that corner just a few minutes ago,” Sweetie Belle told them.
“So we were all casting our own spells and Trixie was casting actual freezing and teleporting spells?” asked Minuette.
“Yeah,” said Sweetie Belle. “Like I said. I think those straps around your horns weren’t absorbing your magic at all.”
“You said two of us spoke,” said Rarity. “Who was the other one?”
“Lyra,” answered Sweetie Belle. “But she had Trixie’s voice.”
“And what did she say?” asked Rarity, glancing at Minuette for a second.
“She said something like ‘if Rarity wins, she’ll give me a royal engorgement’ or something.”
“Endorsement?” asked Lyra, going as red as Rarity’s blindfold.
“Yeah, that was it,” said Sweetie Belle.
“That was you?” asked Minuette.
“I… I was kinda making fun of Trixie when I thought she was kissing up to Rarity,” blushed Lyra.
Vinyl Scratch, Lyra and Minuette felt ashamed.
“We’re sorry we were so judgemental, Trixie,” said Lyra.
“We could probably have enjoyed your game if we weren’t so keen to catch you doing something sneaky,” sighed Vinyl Scratch.
Rarity gasped. “We have to get your map!”
“That’s right,” agreed Minuette. “You can do it, right Rarity?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You have the ability to find gems.”
Trixie smiled. “You really think my game is a gem?”
“It will be once you’ve got it through its teething troubles,” said Minuette.
All six unicorns went out to look for the map. They knew it was somewhere outside of Ponyville, which was now warmer and almost completely devoid of autumn leaves.
“There it is!” said Sweetie Belle, pointing to an orange mound.
Trixie magiced the pile of leaves aside and there was the map with all their photographs still stuck to it.
“Well, thank you all for participating,” said Trixie. “I’m sorry everything didn’t go completely smoothly.”
“You have no reason to be sorry,” said Lyra.
“Yeah, the three of us were the ones who wronged you,” said Minuette.
“Let us make it up to you,” said Vinyl Scratch.
And the three of them produced a sack of money.
“Oh, no. I couldn’t,” said Trixie. “It was a free trial.”
“Please, use it to improve the game,” urged Vinyl.
“It’ll be a hit,” said Lyra optimistically. “We know it.”
Minuette forced the bag into Trixie’s hoof.
“Thank you,” smiled Trixie. “Thank you for your support. And thank you Rarity, for standing by me.”
“Thank you for reminding me that I do know more magic than telekinesis and gem finding,” said Rarity, her element of harmony flashing.
“What magic is that?” asked Trixie.
“Why, the magic of friendship of course,” Rarity grinned.
