Cardcaptor Twilight

Yuko sat down on the porch of her shop, staring up and peaceful blue sky above her, the soothing wind and the jingling of the wind chime above her allowing her to relax as her errand boy, Watanuki, poured her some tea, as per her request.

She opened her eyes as her companion, Mokona, let out a loud “mekyo!”, and the peaceful feeling filling the air disappeared. “He is waking up,” Yuko said silently to herself.

Twilight woke up the next morning feeling terrible. He nose was runny, and her body was hot and sweaty. She couldn’t stop sneezing and coughing, and she could barely see properly, her vision blurred as her eyes watered up.

“I suppose it can’t be helped,” Kero said, unwrapping a chocolate bar on Twilight’s bedside table. “You were fightin’ out in the rain like that yesterday, so of course you’d get a cold.”

“Then how come you don’t have one?” Twilight asked with much annoyance in her voice.

“Guardian Beasts don’t get sick,” he answered, opening his mouth and taking a huge bite out of the chocolate. “By the way, where’d your assistant go?”

“Spike’s gone to Fluttershy’s to get me some-” Twilight stopped for a moment to sneeze, and then blow her nose. “-Some medicine. I hope he comes back soon…” Twilight plopped her head down on her pillow and closed her eyes, the light entering the room through her window only making her headache worse.

“Well, I just hope we don’t encounter any Clow Cards today,” Kero said, floating over to Twilight and wiping the sweat off of her forehead with a hoofkerchief. “I wonder if Trixie’s also ill? It wouldn’t surprise me…”

“Twilight, I’m back,” Spike shouted as he entered the library. Kero immediately took his place on Twilight’s bedside table, adopting the pose that he took whenever he wanted someone to believe he was just a toy.

Spike climbed the stairs to Twilight’s room, followed closely by Fluttershy. “How’re ya feeling?” he asked, before noticing the chocolate bar wrapper on the bedside table. “Hey! Have you been eating chocolate?”

Kero flinched, though neither Spike nor Fluttershy seemed to notice. Twilight rolled her eyes, but decided to cover for the Guardian Beast. “Uh, yeah,” she said, before letting out a few coughs. “I thought…I’d get better quickly if I had more energy?”

Spike facepalmed, and moved over to the wrapper to pick it up and throw it away. “Honestly, Twilight, for somepony so smart, you sure are stupid sometimes,” he said, earning an annoyed grunt from Twilight. “Anyway, Fluttershy said she’d be happy to take care of you, so I’m gonna go organize the library.” Spike took one last look at Kero, narrowing his eyes at the “stuffed toy”, before taking off down the stairs.

Kero wanted to sigh and lower his legs, but Fluttershy was still in the room. He took the moment that Fluttershy was checking Twilight’s temperature to wipe the sweat running down his forehead.

“Oh my, you really need your rest, Twilight,” Fluttershy said, reading the high temperature reading on her thermometer. “Here, I’ve got some medicine I prepared last night. It should fix you right up.”

Twilight happily took the medicine from Fluttershy, and let out a pleasant sigh as her headache started to ease up. “Thanks, Fluttershy.”

“No problem. I’m always happy to help,” Fluttershy said, putting the medicine to one side. “I just hope Trixie’s ok…”

“Hm?”

“Oh! N-nothing, never mind…”

“You said “Trixie”,” Twilight said, sitting up and turning to face Fluttershy. “What happened? Did she get hurt?”

“Oh, you know her?” Fluttershy asked. She received a nod from Twilight. “Don’t worry,” she said with a warm smile across her face. “I was just worried that she might have gotten sick, and when I woke up this morning, she was gone…”

“I see,” Twilight said, still wondering what Trixie was doing with Fluttershy in the first place, but in her current state of mind, her usual curiosity was gone. “I wouldn’t worry too much about Trixie. She’s stronger than she looks.”

Kero wanted to strongly disagree, but managed to summon enough willpower to sit still and remain silent.

“Hey! Twilight!” Spike shouted as he ran up the stairs. “There are some books missing downstairs!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the baby dragon. “What d’you mean? How many?”

Spike put a finger to his chin. “Uh, two shelves worth?”

Trixie stared forward at the small shop in front of her. The area around her was empty, and as she stood at the edge of the store’s yard, she felt a deep chill pass down her spine. She took a deep breath, and moved a hoof inside.

She felt the sudden change in the atmosphere around her as she entered Yuko’s shop, and took a moment to adjust to it before continuing forward. She saw Yuko sitting out in the front yard, her errand boy Watanuki cleaning a bunch of strange objects.

Yuko noticed Trixie enter her store, and turned to face her. “Trixie, how nice to see you again,” she said, though Trixie wasn’t sure if Yuko was being sincere or not. “What brings you back so soon? Surely you haven’t captured all of the Clow Cards just yet?”

“Actually, Trixie just wanted to confirm something,” Trixie said, walking up to the seemingly drunk storeowner. “It’s about the price Trixie has to pay.”

“Yes? What about it?”

“Well…There’s another Cardcaptor hunting down the Clow Cards,” Trixie said.

Yuko chuckled, and took a sip of her saké. “Yes, well, that doesn’t really surprise me. Someone had to release them, and knowing that Guardian Beast of the Seal, that same one would be assigned to collect them.”

“But, what if Trixie can’t capture all of the Clow Cards?” Trixie asked. “This other Cardcaptor is no pushover. She’s already captured many cards, and her talents are close to…Neigh, they’re on par with Trixie’s.”

Yuko took another sip of her saké, and then turned to Trixie. “But surely the Great and Powerful Trixie should have no problem taking her rival’s cards away, thus rendering her useless as a Cardcaptor.”

Trixie remained silent for a moment, and then shook her head. “No, Trixie can’t do that,” she said, sighing. “Unfortunately, recent events have left Trixie feeling uncomfortable with the idea of simply taking Sparkle’s cards from her.”

“Sparkle, eh?” Yuko asked, placing down her saké cup. “Tell me about this “Sparkle”, Trixie.”

Trixie thought for a moment, and then began. “Like Trixie, she’s a Unicorn whose special talent is magic. However, unlike Trixie, Sparkle has had her life handed to her on a silver platter! She had warm, caring parents, and the Princess of all of Equestria as her mentor!” Trixie stomped a hoof on the ground in frustration. “Ugh, just thinking about her makes me want to…”

Watanuki raised an eyebrow at the fuming Unicorn. “Wow, she must really hate her.”

Yuko chuckled at Watanuki’s comment. “No, I’d say her relationship with Sparkle is not much different than yours with Doumeki,” she said, before turning to Watanuki. “Watanuki, be a dear and bring me some more saké, would you?”

“What!? You drank it all already!?”

“I’ve had to catch up,” she said. “Now hurry up. I don’t appreciate slackers in my store.”

Watanuki let out a series of unintelligible mumbles as he stormed off towards the kitchen. Meanwhile, Trixie was still ranting about why “Sparkle” was so annoying to her. Finally, she calmed down, and took a breath.

“But…She’s also an amazing mare, in some ways,” Trixie said, blushing slightly. “Her magic is great, and her intellect unmatched. Indeed, Trixie wouldn’t be surprised if one day, Twilight’s name becomes bigger than even Starswirl’s.”

“Twilight?” Yuko asked.

“Oh, Sparkle’s first name,” Trixie answered. “Anyway, naturally Sparkle will always be second to Trixie.”

“I see…” Yuko said, grinning at the mare. ‘Yes, it’s quite clear that these two were destined to make an acquaintance.’

“Anyway,” Trixie started. “About Trixie’s payment…”

Watanuki returned from the kitchen with a bottle of saké, and began pouring some for Yuko. “Don’t worry, Trixie,” Yuko said, raising her saké cup to her lips. “I think you’re misunderstanding. Your payment isn’t to collect all of the Clow Cards for me.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow, confused at Yuko’s words. “Then…What is it?”

Yuko drank the saké in her cup, and placed it down. “It’s simply to enter the “hunt” on my behalf, since I am unable to hunt them down myself,” Yuko explained. “So, even if you fail, as long as you actually put the effort into succeeding, that will be sufficient payment.”

Trixie sighed a sigh of relief, suddenly feeling better at knowing that she wouldn’t be forced to give back her manepin should she fail. “Naturally,” Yuko continued. “If you succeed, I’ll be taking the Clow Cards for myself, since you’re collecting them on my behalf.”

Trixie nodded, a smile forming on her face now that her worries had been washed away. “Trixie doesn’t have a problem with that. And Trixie thanks you for clearing that up. She wasn’t able to sleep last night because of her worries.”

“Really?” Yuko asked. “You don’t seem so tired.”

Trixie thought about that for a minute, and then realised that she was unusually energetic for somepony who hadn’t slept in over a day. “That’s right…” she said as she looked towards her saddlebag. “I wonder if it’s because of the feather?” she mumbled.

Yuko’s eyes narrowed, and she suddenly seemed to sober up. She rose to her feet and approached Trixie. “The feather?” she asked. “What feather?”

Trixie turned to Yuko, and then back to her saddlebag. She opened it up, and levitated out the strange feather that was on Fly. Yuko’s eyes suddenly widened. “Hey, that looks familiar,” Watanuki said, putting a hand to his chin as he thought about where he has seen it before.

“This feather…” Yuko reached out to touch it, but a strange field repelled her hand. “Trixie, would you mind leaving this feather here?”

Trixie titled her head in confusion, and then shook her head. “This feather holds great magical power. Trixie thinks it can make her performances much grander.”

“It can also bring great disaster,” Yuko said, her face and voice suddenly more serious than either Trixie or Watanuki had ever seen or heard from her. “I can’t force you, but it would be in your best interest if it remained here.”

Trixie felt a chill run down her spine, seeing that Yuko wasn’t kidding around anymore. Whatever this feather was, it had Yuko worried, and that thought terrified Trixie. Trixie was about to hand it over, when suddenly, the shop started to fade out around her. “W-what’s going on!?” she shouted as the shop eventually disappeared, leaving a confused Trixie standing alone in the middle of a vast, empty field.

“W-what happened?” Watanuki asked, staring at the spot where Trixie stood moments ago in horror. “Was it that feather? Did it take her somewhere?”

Yuko shook her head, still staring straight ahead of her. “No, it was him. He prevented Trixie from giving me the feather…Which means…” Yuko turned around and started to walk towards her shop. “Watanuki, I have an errand for you to go on.”

Twilight stared in shock as she examined the lower level of the library. Sure enough, just as Spike had said, there were two entire shelves worth of books missing. Her hair was starting to pop out of place, and her eyes were starting to twitch. “W-w-w-w-w-w-what?” she asked, falling onto her haunches. “W-who would do such a thing?”

“Whoever it was, they must have had some skill,” Spike said. “I mean, I wasn’t gone that long, and there are lots of ponies outside. Oh! Maybe it was a ninja!”

“A n-ninja?” Fluttershy asked, sinking to the ground.

Twilight heard a knocking at her door, and walked over to open it. Standing outside were Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity, all looking pretty upset. “Hey, guys. What’s up?” she asked, though her voice was muffled from the facemask that she was wearing.

“Twi, it’s horrible!” Applejack started. “Things’ve been disappearing all over Ponyville! Half of our orchard has gone missin’!”

“Clouds have been disappearing, too!” Rainbow Dash added. “We’ve had to send a rush order for dozens of new clouds to be made at Cloudsdale, but we don’t think they’ll be here in time for tomorrow’s scheduled shower!”

Twilight turned to Rarity, waiting to hear what she had lost. “Lemme guess, you’ve lost something too?”

Rarity nodded her head furiously. “Oh, it’s dreadful, simply DREADFUL!” Rarity leaned in to whisper into Twilight’s ear: “All of the costumes and their designs that I made for you…They’ve vanished! Gone without a trace!”

Twilight let out a few coughs, and then asked her friends to leave, so that she could get some rest. “Oh, maybe I should stay, Twilight,” Fluttershy said, but Rarity offered to watch over Twilight instead, so that Fluttershy could get back to her animals to watch over them. Rarity also asked Spike if he could watch the store for her, a request the baby dragon was more than happy to accept.

Once everyone besides Twilight and Rarity were out of the library, the two mares made their way upstairs, where they found Kero sitting in quiet meditation. “A Clow Card?” Twilight asked, hoping against all hope that it wasn’t.

“A Clow Card,” Kero confirmed, resulting in a deep groan from Twilight. “And a pretty bad one, too. The Erase card.”

“The Erase?” Rarity asked, supporting Twilight who looked like she was going to collapse any second. “That’s what has been taking things from around town?”

“Not just takin’ ‘em. It’s been erasing them from existence altogher.”

Twilight and Rarity gasped, and stared at Kero with wide eyes. “W-why in Equestria would such a card be created?” Twilight asked.

Kero simply shrugged, however. “Who knows? Clow Reed was a strange guy,” he said, floating up into the air. “Anyway, we’d better hurry. Before Erase decides to erase ponies.”

“But, Twilight isn’t feeling very well…Surely it can wait until she’s better, right?”

Kero shook his head, a frown on his face. “‘Fraid not. If Erase isn’t captured soon, the effects will be permanent,” he said, floating over to Twilight’s key and bringing it over to the purple Unicorn. “Which means if any ponies have been taken by it, then our only chance to save ‘em might be now.”

Twilight stared at the key with wide eyes, and swallowed hard as she reached out for it. She was in no state to run around capturing Clow Cards, but if what Kero said was true, there was no choice. She had to capture Erase, or innocent ponies may suffer for it.

Twilight and Rarity made their way to the entrance to the Everfree forest, which Kero told them was the source of the strange presence her was feeling. They made their way through the Everfree forest very slowly, partially for the sake of caution, but mostly because Twilight was still ill.

They came to an unnatural looking clearing, and Kero pointed out that many trees and other features had been taken by Erase. “We’re getting close,” he said.

The group heard a rustling in the nearby bushes, and turned around to see Zecora emerge from behind some bushes. “Zecora!” Twilight called out in surprise.

Zecora turned to face the two ponies, a look of horror on her face. “Girls, run, with all haste! Before vanishing becomes your fa-”

The two mares and Kero watched in horror as Zecora suddenly disappeared, a bright flash of light surrounding where she one was.

“Twilight! It’s the Erase card!” Kero shouted. “Seal it away! Quickly!”

Twilight nodded, and levitated her staff into the air. “Return to the gui-” Twilight stopped to let out a series of coughs, and felt her headache getting worse. The magical field around her staff faded away, and she dropped it to the ground.

“Watch out!” Kero shouted as he dived in front of Twilight, shielding her from the light that was approaching.

“Kero!” Twilight and Rarity watched as Kero started to fade away, until he vanished completely. “Rarity, we’ve got to-” Twilight stopped when she saw Rarity also fading away.

Rarity noticed Twilight’s horrified face, and raised a hoof to examine it. “Oh no!” she shouted, panic in her voice. “Twilight, run! Hurry!”

“But-”

“You idiot!” Twilight turned around to see a blue Unicorn flying down towards the group on her winged staff. She jumped in front of Twilight, blocking yet another burst of light that was aimed at her. “Agh!”

“Trixie!” Twilight screamed, grabbing Trixie’s shoulders with her forehooves. Tears were starting to form in Twilight’s eyes as Trixie started to slowly fade away.

“You idiot…Why haven’t you sealed it yet?”

“But…I can’t…I’m just…” Twilight’s head started to spin, and she struggled to keep herself awake.

Trixie saw Twilight’s weakened condition, and levitated her feather out with her magic. “Here, use this,” she said, levitating it over to Twilight. “It should help. Use this, and seal that Clow Card, before it’s too l-” Trixie disappeared before she could finish, the only thing left behind being her feather.

“TRIXIE!” Twilight screamed as she saw the blue Unicorn vanish suddenly right before her eyes. She looked around, and saw no one around her. She was all alone. Rarity, Trixie, Kero, and Zecora had all been taken by Erase, and she was next.

Tears fell down Twilight’s cheeks, and she simply watched as Erase prepared to take Twilight to wherever it was it took its victims. However, just as it launched its attack, the strange feather that Trixie had given to Twilight started to glow, and a powerful burst of magic shot forth from it, shielding Twilight from Erase’s attack.

“W-what? What’s this light?” she asked as she felt her strength returning to her. He tears dried up, her vision returned, and her throat and head felt so much better. She could feel herself being embraced by this warm light, and all signs of her cold seemed to vanish.

She looked ahead at Erase, which was standing in front of her. She narrowed her eyes as she glared at the card, and picked up her staff, slowly approaching the Clow Card.

Erase once again attempted to take Twilight away, but the powerful magic of the feather protected her.

“Return to the guise you were meant to be in, Clow Card!” Twilight shouted as she slammed her staff down on Erase, which was attempting to flee. The staff drew Erase towards it, and sealed it in card form.

Twilight picked up the Erase card and stared at it for a few seconds, and then turned around with a hopeful look on her face. Her face lit up as she saw Rarity and Kero returning, shortly followed by Trixie.

“Ugh…What happened?” Rarity asked, feeling groggy from the whole experience. “Twilight? Trixie? How did we get here?”

Trixie raised an eyebrow at the white Unicorn. “We came here to capture the Clow Card. Did you forget?”

“It’s because she’s not got as much magic as you,” Kero explained. “Erase also erased some of her memories, too.”

“Kero, does this mean that everything else taken by Erase will return?” Twilight asked.

“Yep,” Kero confirmed, bringing a smile to the purple Unicorn’s face. “Speakin’ of, we should get her home, right?”

Twilight turned around to see Zecora resting on the floor. She smiled at the sight of her friend returning safe and sound, and walked over to her. “Leave it to me. I’ll take her home and then be back in no time.”

“Are you sure, Twilight?” Rarity asked, concern clear in her voice. “What about your cold?”

It was then that Twilight realised that all traces of her cold had vanished. “Huh…That’s strange…Was it this feather?” Twilight asked herself as she levitated the feather in front of herself.

Twilight’s magic field was enveloped by Trixie’s, and Trixie took the feather from Twilight, bringing it over to herself. “That’s Trixie’s. She only let you borrow it because it was an emergency.”

Kero stared at the strange feather, a look of uneasiness on his face. ‘That feather…I can’t help but get a bad vibe from it.’

“Anyway, Trixie shall be taking her leave of you now,” Trixie said, taking out her staff and activating Fly.

“Trixie,” Twilight called out. Trixie stopped to face Twilight. “Thanks.”

Trixie turned her face away to hide the smile on her face. “Honestly, without Trixie, you’d have never made it this far,” she said as she pushed up from the ground, flying off back towards her trailer.