Imperishable Night

by nifboy

Rating: everyone
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Crossover, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Trixie
Length: 16110

Twilight and Trixie banter, bicker, and blow up ponies for basically no reason.

The natural order of the night sky has been corrupted, and only two unicorns in all of Equestria seem to notice. They set out for Canterlot to seek an audience with the Princesses, but somepony always seems to be in their way.

A very loose adaptation of the Touhou game of the same name - a story told in six stages. Imported from Gensokyo: Spellcards, banter.

Published 2012-02-21 23:04:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-28 06:34:03 UTC

Prologue

Twilight Sparkle adjusted the knobs on her telescope again, and frowned. She looked up at the early night sky though the telescope, then again with her naked eye. The sight she saw was the same, ruling out a possible prank on the telescope’s lens. She floated an open tome in front of her and looked back and forth between the sky and the book before flinging the book backwards into the library.

Her draconic assistant Spike hung onto the balcony's railing, looking concerned. “Wow, Twilight, I think this is the first time I've seen you unhappy to be stargazing.”

Twilight let out a frustrated noise, somewhere between a growl and a shout. “Why! Why why why why why? Deneb, why are you so far away from Vega and Altair? Why are the Gemini twins separated? Where's Cassiopeia, and what is Crux even doing in the sky this far north?" Twilight yanked the telescope, turning it around to point at Canterlot, looking for trouble. "And why isn't Princess Celestia answering my letters about it?”

Spike stuck out his tongue at this. He had sent those letters, and the possibility of a response was the only reason he was still up at this hour. “Twilight, you shouldn’t worry so much. I mean, stars are stars... right?”

Twilight shook her head rapidly. “Nuh-uh. The positions of the stars have important navigational and magical implications. They’ve been the same for as long as anypony can remember. And if Princess Celestia isn’t going to do anything about this, then I’m going to take this straight to the top!”

Spike frowned. “But I thought Princess Celestia was the top?”

Princess Celestia’s most loyal student smirked. “There are two princesses in Canterlot now, and I intend to go straight to Princess Luna to find out just what the hay is going on with her night!”

With that, Twilight returned inside the library, grabbed her saddlebags and began packing. She made sure to grab at least two astronomical guides and a portable telescope, a smaller version of the one she left on her balcony. As Spike watched her he only grew more concerned. “Uh, Twilight? You’re not planning on leaving now, are you?”

Realizing her second-favorite astronomy tome didn’t quite fit into her left bag, Twilight took everything out of it and began repacking it. “Of course I am, Spike. If I make it before dawn, I can get this resolved straight away. If I wait until tomorrow and that night turns out perfectly normal, everypony’s gonna think I’m crazy and it’s just gonna keep bugging me until I do something about it.”

Spike racked his tired brain for a way of telling Twilight that she was crazy without telling her she was crazy. He eventually settled on saying, “I think you’re overreacting just a bit.”

“Oh, Spike.” Twilight hefted the saddlebags onto her back, and gave her number one assistant a big smile. “I’m not overreacting. I’m being proactive. Besides, Rarity and Rainbow Dash are both staying in Canterlot this week. Maybe I can surprise them.”

Spike looked doubtful. “If you say so.”

“I say so.” Twilight turned her head just as she reached the door. “Oh, make sure to dust off the shelves and water the plants in the windowsill tomorrow. I’ll write tomorrow morning to remind you. All right, I’m off!” Twilight opened the door into the night and began her trek in the general direction of Canterlot.

Twilight trotted through the streets of Ponyville, the cool night air blowing gently through her mane. The night was still young, as evidenced by the number of windows still lit and the occasional passerby which Twilight greeted along the way. Once she reached the outskirts of town, the road leading to Canterlot became clear, leading into the peaceful Whitetail Woods.

A brief flash of light caught Twilight's attention out of the corner of her eye. Curious, the unicorn diverted from the path and headed towards its source.

Twilight spotted a familiar wagon, and a familiar pony in front of it, casting from a card, larger than a normal playing card and with an intricately-designed back. Trixie wasn't wearing her trademark cape or hat, and the aura enveloping her horn was quite spectacular, far more powerful than anything the blue unicorn had demonstrated when faced with an angry Ursa Minor. Knowing better than to interrupt a spell of such magnitude, Twilight settled for watching at a distance, wondering what kind of spell was being cast. She couldn't tell what its effects were, and nothing seemed unusual about it, aside from the spectacular light show.

After a few minutes, the glow faded from Trixie’s horn, and she looked towards the moon, hanging low in the eastern sky. Twilight saw the scowl on her face and knew they shared the same concern.

Twilight ventured out into the open, and called out, “Hello there!”

Whatever reaction she was expecting, she didn’t expect Trixie to gasp, chomp down on the spell card, and leap into her wagon. Twilight couldn’t see inside, but it reminded her of Spike’s desperate attempts to hide what he insistently called his “action figures” when she walked in on his tea parties. It wasn’t long until Trixie came strolling back out, adjusting her cape and hat, with an air of haughtiness and a smirk on her face.

“Who dares disturb the work of the Great and Powerf-!” The last words died in Trixie’s throat as she recognized the mare who dares. “Twilight Sparkle,” she spoke with a measured tone with a hint of a threat behind it. Trixie recovered her bravado and continued, “I see, you sensed the Great and Powerful Trixie practicing her newly improved magic, and came out to catch a glimpse of it. Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but my next show isn’t until tomorrow night.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Right. You’re not here to cause trouble again, are you?”

Trixie harrumphed. “The Great and Powerful Trixie refuses to take responsibility for the actions of a pair of foals with no concept of self-preservation or danger.” The way she said it indicated the line had been well-rehearsed prior to her visit.

“I agree.”

“Of course you wouldn’t- wait what?” Trixie’s mask of arrogance faltered completely. “You do?”

Twilight tried to give a reassuring smile, but it came out more as a smirk. “Of course. The Ursa wasn’t your fault.” Her smile quickly gave way to a frown as she pressed on, “No, I’m more concerned about you causing trouble amongst the ponies in town.”

“If you’re asking me not to show off my incredible feats of magic, you ought to also ask the baker to give up his kitchen, or the Princess to give up her crown.”

Twilight’s first instinct was to correct Trixie regarding the Princess’s history - Princess Celestia had on multiple occasions during her long rule tried to abdicate the throne to ponies who actually wanted the job. The current record-holder managed a just and fair rule for thirty-eight years before dying of natural causes; his heir, unfortunately, only lasted two years before galloping back to Celestia begging to have her back. Prince Blueblood traces his ancestry to that king, rather than to Princess Celestia herself.

But it was completely irrelevant to the task at hand, so Twilight let the comment slide. Instead she tried a different approach, saying, “So I’m sure the Great and Powerful Trixie has noticed the night sky is completely wrong. Especially considering the Ursas missing from the sky.”

“Hmf, flattery will get you nowhere.” Trixie’s eyes darted upwards nervously; Twilight didn’t need to follow to know what constellations she was looking for and not finding. Eventually Trixie’s eyes rested on the moon to the east. “And indeed, the moon hasn’t budged in the past hour; it seems quite content where it is, just above the horizon. It would be quite inconvenient for me to try and perform under such.. conditions.”

“Something for your show?”

Trixie had her smug grin back on. “You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?”

“Well, I’m heading to Canterlot to speak directly with the Princesses about this.” Twilight carefully regarded the other unicorn for a moment. Ultimately she decided to see if there was an opportunity to learn something about friendship here. “Did you want to come with me?”

“Excellent! It’s been quite some time since the Great and Powerful Trixie has resolved an incident. And you will have the honor of bearing witness to it!”

“Well, you certainly seem eager about it.”

And so the two unicorns set out into the night. The path to Canterlot lead through the Whitetail Woods.

Stage 1

The path winding through the Whitetail Woods was wide enough to let the night sky’s light through. Tiny lights danced amongst the trees, fireflies filling the forest with their own stars. Twilight was enraptured by the sight, feeling it a welcome diversion from the lights above. Trixie was trying not to look impressed as they walked along.

Twilight tore her attention away from the fireflies to turn to Trixie. “I’m surprised you came back to Ponyville after what happened back then.”

Trixie turned her nose up as she walked. “If a pony can’t come back to any given town after a small setback like that, she has no place in showbusiness. It is simply a question of tailoring the story to the audience.”

A meek voice called out in front of them, “Wait.”

Trixie continued to fill the air with her voice, “Of course, no magician worth her salt can do the same tricks forever. So I put my tour on hold to hone my magic. I found the most phenomenal mentor, and learned how to handle some truly powerful magic.”

Twilight was intrigued. “Oh? I never took you for the studious type.”

“Oh, please wait,” the quiet voice insisted.

“You clearly have no idea how much preparation and research goes into one of my shows. The fireworks alone take weeks to set up properly without lighting the wagon on fire, or causing it all to explode under your hooves while on stage.”

“Ah, I was wondering why you never came back to recover the wreckage after the Ursa stepped on it. You clearly have a lot of experience in the demolished-wagons department.” Trixie only snorted in response. Twilight smirked. “Especially considering a couple of books I found cleaning up the mess that was left there.”

Trixie’s eyes went wide. “You didn’t!” a nod confirmed her fears. “You did! Aaaugh, if ponies find out about that it’d be worse than them finding out about that stupid Ursa story!”

The meek voice lamented, “Oh, I’m never going to get their attention at this rate. Wait...”

“Oh, don’t worry, those books are safely stowed away in my library.”

“Fine, what’s your price? The Great and Powerful Trixie knows blackmail when she hears it.”

Twilight smiled, more genuinely than before. “Just think of it as an incentive to be on your best behavior while in Ponyville.”

“Unseasonable Butterfly Storm!” the voice squeaked.

A great swarm of butterflies descended upon the two unicorns. They found themselves swept up in the insects’ frantic flapping, scooping them up and carrying them off. Trixie lay back and allowed herself to be carried along, grateful for the opportunity to rest her hooves.

Twilight was ecstatic, completely forgetting her previous conversation. “Oh wow, I’ve never seen so many butterflies at once! I wish I had brought my entomology texts, I could identify all these different species! Or a net, so I could give them to Owloysius and we could start a museum! Hm, but we couldn’t have a museum with just bugs. We’d need fossils and paintings and - Oh! We could have fish! I had been thinking about starting an aquarium.” Twilight turned her head to Trixie. “What do you think we should put in a museum?”

Trixie had her hat tilted over her eyes as she responded, “Statues. I hear there’s a cockatrice in the Everfree that would be happy to help you with that.”

Twilight shuddered at the suggestion. Changing the topic, she asked, “So, can you show me some of that ‘truly powerful magic’ you were talking about?”

“Hmph, I thought you’d never ask. Very well, you shall be the first to receive the Great and Powerful Trixie’s lesson on how to Spark.” Her horn shone briefly, dispersing the butterflies as Trixie gracefully landed on the ground. Twilight was less lucky and landed on her back.

Trixie planted all four hooves on the ground, an aura enveloping her horn. Trixie lowered her head, pointing the glow down the path into the forest.

"Concentrate your mind,

Mutter the spell tenderly,

Take aim at someone you don’t like,

And unleash your annihilation of love!"

Trixie’s eyes glowed a brilliant white, only barely eclipsed by the light given off by her horn, which started to hum with power. Her cloak and hat billowed dramatically as Trixie’s voice rang out.

“Love Sign: Master Spark!” The white light suddenly flared and shot off, engulfing the section of forest in front of Trixie. The hum of magic was overwhelming, but Twilight thought she could hear a faint screaming above it.

The magic faded, and Twilight’s eyes took some time to readjust to the darkness. She could see where the path curved but the spell continued on, carving its straight path through the forest, flattening the tall grass and gouging out the bark of trees the spell glanced off of. Twilight’s jaw dropped open.

Trixie beamed with pride. “For a pony like the Great and Powerful Trixie, a laser”-she gestured at her handiwork-“is not difficult.” She strutted forward down the path, past the shell-shocked Twilight.

Twilight shook her head, and started to hurry after her. She tripped on something and fell, tumbling to the ground. Looking back, she saw a yellow pile of disheveled fur and feathers, with a pink mane and tail sticking out. The pile whimpered, “ow.”

“Oh, hey, Fluttershy! I didn’t see you there.” Twilight nudged her friend with her nose. “Are you all right?”

“Um, I’ll be fine, I think. I’m just going to lay here a while, if that’s okay with you.”

“Okay, if you say so.” Trixie was almost out of sight around a bend in the path. Twilight galloped off after her.

“Ow.”

Stage 2

"So what was that spell I saw you casting back at Ponyville?"

"Oh, that little thing?" Trixie made a show of pondering before she responded, "I suppose it won't do any harm to satisfy your curiosity. It's an illusion."

Twilight waited, but Trixie was quite done speaking. Twilight tried again to ask, "Okaaay, what's it an illusion of?"

"Ah, now that would be telling."

Twilight gave up on conversation, and just stared up through the trees as she walked along the path. The moon hung lazily near the horizon, having barely budged from its initial position. It mocked Twilight, in its oddness. Not only was it a poor excuse for a moon, it apparently wasn’t in any hurry to cross the sky like a proper celestial body.

Not looking, she plowed directly into Trixie, who had stopped. Trixie made a shushing motion with her hoof and perked her ears up. Twilight followed suit, and soon she could hear a faint, wordless melody emanating from deep within the forest, away from the path.

It took them a while to locate the source of the sound, a small white unicorn sitting up in a tree, singing softly to the night.

“Sweetie Belle?” Twilight called out, “What are you doing out here?”

The girl in question jumped with a squeak, promptly falling out of the tree and into a bush underneath. She crawled out, shook her mane and tail, and only then noticed the two other unicorns. “Oh, hey Twilight. I’m on a trial of guts!”

“A trial of guts?” Trixie echoed.

“I think you mean a trial of courage.” Twilight corrected.

“No, it’s definitely a trial of guts.” Sweetie Bloom said, “Apple Bloom said something about mushrooms out here in the forest, and Scootaloo wanted to see if we can’t get a mushroom for a cutie mark. And I said, ‘well, mushrooms glow in the dark, right? So we should go out at night.’”

Twilight chuckled. “Cutie Mark Crusader Mycologists? That’s certainly a new one.”

“Huh? I don’t know anypony named Michael.” Sweetie Belle said.

Twilight shook her head. “Never mind. So why is it a trial of guts?”

“Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both got sick. Twice. So they went home.”

The two older mares exchanged a glance. Twilight leveled a disappointed stare at Sweetie Belle. “Well, I hope you learned a lesson about eating foods you don’t know if they’re safe or not. Come on, you should get back home. Rarity must be worried sick about you by now.”

Sweetie Belle stood firm. “Nuh huh! There’s another reason I’m out here! I’m looking for a pet bird!”

Twilight sympathised - her own junior assistant Owloysius was a great help around the library, and Fluttershy could lead a choir of birds to sing beautiful songs. She thought about how a bird could fit into Carousel Boutique, and immediately saw a problem. “Um, I hope you aren’t going to bring a pet bird into the same house as Opalescence.” Referring to Rarity’s aloof, moody cat.

Sweetie Belle blushed and looked away, frowning. “I - I knew that!” She sniffled. Poor Mister Tweets. They had been together barely a week. Blinking back the tears forming, Sweetie Belle soldiered on. “That’s why I’m looking for a special bird, one Fluttershy was telling me about. A bird that dumb cat wouldn’t dare lay a hoof on!” Sweetie Belle’s eyes twinkled with new resolve as she spoke, “A phoenix! And I know that those glow in the dark!”

Twilight remembered that story - Spike had brought his own baby pet phoenix Peewee to the group's pet play dates. The day had ended with Opal needing treatment for burns on the inside of her mouth. Rarity had been distraught, Spike was distraught because Rarity was distraught, and Peewee was the smuggest little bird outside of Canterlot.

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Your logic is infallible. Clearly a being born of magical fire would be found hanging out in a forest.”

“Hm, I might be able to help you with that,” Twilight said, pulling out one of her astronomy guides, “The phoenix has a southern constellation, so there should be a description in here...”

She stopped on a particular page and read aloud, “The phoenix is a rare, elusive bird, with sightings reported all over the world. Normally solitary creatures, groups of phoenixes (referred to as “blazes”) are sometimes seen in the aftermath of large forest fires, or near active volcanoes. It is believed phoenixes will gather there to mate and nest in the ashes, laying eggs and sowing the seeds for a new forest to regrow.” Twilight closed the book and stowed it away. "Spike found his pet Peewee in the forests near an active volcano, but I don't recommend it because of both the dragons and the adult phoenixes in the area.

“And no, you are not going to start a forest fire just to get a pet bird.” Trixie said, immediately trying to squash Sweetie Belle’s train of thought.

“Aw.” Sweetie Belle pouted. “Where are you going, anyway, Twilight?”

“Well, we’re heading to-”

“Can I come with you?” Sweetie Belle didn’t wait for an answer.

“No.” Twilight took her turn.

“Awww, gimme a chance!”

Trixie considered this for a moment, and nodded. “Very well. The Great and Powerful Trixie grants you your chance, and challenges you!” She pulled a card from her cape, floating it in front of her. “If you can dodge my spell, you may accompany us on our adventure!” She reared back, flaring her cape as she did so. “If not, you shall return to your home like a good little filly. Do you accept these terms?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and widened her stance. “I am not afraid of you!” Her voice cracked.

Trixie returned the gesture. “Very well, you shall receive the strongest spell I have available to me!” Trixie cast from the card in front of her, “Ice Sign: Icicle Fall!” The air temperature dropped as tiny balls of ice began to swirl around Trixie, eventually coalescing into packed balls of snow, orbiting around the three ponies. Sweetie Belle backed up, trying to put some distance between her and Trixie...

...And backed into the path of the snowballs, taking a hit in the side for her efforts. Trixie released her spell, and the other snowballs fell to the ground, melting away almost as soon as they landed.

There was a short silence as Sweetie Belle realized what happened. She just brushed the snow off her flank and stared at it for a moment. “I guess I’m not gonna get a Great and Powerful cutie mark, either,” she whimpered.

Trixie opened her mouth, but her mind shut down the first three things that came to her mind to say, so she didn’t say them. Celebrating the defeat of a filly was a bit much. Instead, Trixie draped a forehoof over the young girl’s shoulders in a comforting gesture. “Oh, don’t say that. Here.” She pressed the spell card she had just used into Sweetie Belle’s hooves. “It’s much easier to use in the winter time, but if you master it, you can be the queen of snowball fights year-round!”

The young unicorn still looked doubtful. “You really think so?”

“I know it. Now go, in the name of all that is Grreat and Powerrful!” Trixie trilled her “r”s for added emphasis.

Sweetie Belle nodded, smiling. “Thank you, Miss Great and Powerful!” and dashed off.

Twilight Sparkle, having watched the entire exchange, raised an eyebrow. “You know her sister is going to have a fit about her casting spells like that inside the house.”

“Not my problem.”

Stage 4

Before railways took travellers and traders directly up the mountain into Canterlot, all the major roads to the capitol met at the base of the mountain. The elevator installed into the side of the cliff carried fewer passengers than before, but was still operational. The two unicorns planned to take the elevator to save themselves a lengthy trip up the mountain path.

The pair eventually reached the mechanical contraption, a large platform suspended from the landing above. It was gated off and a sign next to it explained why; the sign read, “Hours: Sunrise to Sunset.” Underneath it was an advertisement: “Travellers can stay at the Sun’s Shadow Inn” with an arrow pointing towards a brightly-lit building nestled against the cliff face.

Twilight sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Way to go, Twilight Sparkle. That’s some good thinking ahead you did, going on hoof and not by balloon.” She stared at the solid cliff face for a while. When she turned to look, Trixie was already halfway to the inn. Surprised, Twilight ran after her. “Hey, we don’t have time to sit around!”

“Of course not. But there’s more than one way to scale a mountain. Watch and learn, as the Great and Powerful Trixie works her magic.” Trixie opened the door and sauntered in, Twilight following, confused.

The reception area was relatively small and sparse, with scant few decorations. A tall, lanky stallion stood behind the counter, at attention from the moment the door opened. “Good evening travellers! Welcome to the Sun’s Shadow Inn! The elevator up to Canterlot won’t be open ‘till dawn, so take a load off!”

“My good sir,” Trixie began, “My friend and I are in need of a more expedient way up the mountain. Do you have a rug or carpet I could borrow?”

Twilight was bewildered. “A carpet? How’s that going to help?”

The innkeeper didn’t bat an eye. “Nope, all outta carpets." he said, "Last one I lent out crashed into a tree somewhere and I haven’t gotten it back yet.”

Trixie pressed on. “Got any brooms?”

The innkeeper paused to think a moment. “Would a push broom work?”

“Ugh, please! The Great and Powerful Trixie has some standards. Flying on a push broom.” Trixie sneered at the thought. “I don’t suppose you have any turtles? Tortoises will also work in a pinch.”

“Nope.”

“Well!” Trixie declared, “This was a waste of time. Unless you have any better ideas?” she said, looking at Twilight.

The other unicorn shook her head. “The only flight spell I know requires gossamer and morning dew, which means we would be stuck here waiting for dawn anyway. And, um, I’d rather not try an improvised solution.” Images of Rarity falling to her impending doom briefly came to Twilight's mind.

“Fair enough. Looks like we’re taking the mountain path.” Trixie turned back to the innkeeper as Twilight headed for the door. “Thank you for your time, sir.” With a flourish, Trixie made her exit as well.

The mountain path was a wide road that could accommodate two wagons passing each other even at the narrowest bend. A guardrail kept inattentive ponies like Twilight from walking off the cliff edge. Naturally, Twilight kept bumping into it, distracted by Trixie, who was rehearsing her tale.

And as far as Twilight was concerned, Trixie was getting the tale entirely wrong.

“No, no, no!” Twilight hollered, “My friends and I did not ‘vanquish’ a sea serpent! He had his moustache cut off by Nightmare Moon and Rarity cut off her own tail to restore it, thus embodying the Element of Generosity!”

“Pah, preposterous. The crowds would never be satisfied with such a contrived, peaceful solution.”

“But it’s the truth!”

“That doesn’t matter.” Trixie stated, “What matters is the first-hand account that was printed in all the papers the day after, which clearly described a drawn-out fight with a sea serpent. Now that was a tale worth telling.”

“What ‘first-hand account’? Who... oh no.” Twilight realized. “Rainbow Dash.”

“You rang?” Came the voice over the guard rail.

“Aah!” Both unicorns jumped back at the sudden interruption by a third pony. Rainbow Dash draped herself over the guardrail, laughing.

Twilight was the first to recover. “Rainbow, it’s not nice to sneak up on ponies like that. What are you doing out here anyway?”

Dash eventually stopped laughing, and flipped over the railing, landing on her hooves. “I was just coming back from an awesome Wonderbolts show in Canterlot. And it was so awesome! They were showing off completely new tricks, like this one, where all the ‘Bolts come together at a single point and then all explode out in all directions, and it creates this huge shockwave that just knocks the crowd off their feet! And I’m all the way out here because, uh, I am just so pumped after seeing them that I had to do some flying of my own!” She paused in her fangirling, looking over the two unicorns. “So, uh, how about you, Twi’, what are you doing out here? And what’s she doing out here?” Dash pointed a hoof at Trixie. “You here for some revenge?”

“Oh, you must be Rainbow Dash!” Trixie exulted, “Hero of Equestria! Vanquisher of both the evil Nightmare Moon and the embodiment of chaos, Discord!” Trixie swept down low into a deep bow, the kind normally reserved for Princesses. “I must apologize for my atrocious behavior to you the last time I was in Ponyville. I had no idea I was speaking to a living legend like yourself.”

“What? I mean, oh, yeah!” Dash smiled. “I guess I am pretty awesome, huh?”

“You are,” Trixie gushed, “In fact, I was so impressed by the tales of your bravery that I gave up on telling my own stories, because I could be telling the stories of the Great and Wonderful Rainbow Dash!” Trixie’s declaration was accompanied by a few bursts of magical fireworks.

“Woohoo! It’s about time somepony recognized my talents!” Dash jumped up into the air and did a twirl, but stopped halfway into it.

“Wait,” Dash looked at Trixie carefully. “Are you making fun of me?”

Trixie batted her eyelashes. “Who, me? Why, I would never have fun at another pony’s expense!” Her innocent facade immediately cracked into a wide smirk.

“All right, that’s it! I’ve had just about enough of you!” Dash zipped off into the sky and, just as quickly, began speeding towards Trixie, who was making a show of not defending herself. Dash aligned herself for a flying tackle...

...And slammed directly into a door Twilight put up between the two other ponies. Dash peeled herself off the door and shook her head to clear the extra stars from her vision. Once she was back on her feet she glared at her friend. “What the hay, Twilight?” She snarled.

“Dash.” Twilight’s voice was flat. “If you have a problem with Trixie, just ignore her. I won’t have you two fighting.”

“What?” Dash's voice cracked, “Why are you on her side?”

“I’m not!” Twilight insisted. “I’m trying to keep you two from fighting!” She turned to Trixie, who was studying one of her hooves disinterestedly. “And you! That is exactly the kind of trouble I don’t want you making in Ponyville!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash chimed in, “That Ursa coming into town was all your fault! If Twilight wasn’t there to save the day the town would be a complete wreck!”

Trixie continued to study her hoof. “Very well. The Great and Powerful Trixie admits it. The Ursa minor in Ponyville, the parasprites in Fillydelphia, cola rain in Cloudsdale... It’s all Twilight’s fault.” Trixie turned her glare onto Rainbow Dash and stomped her hoof on the ground. “Now, mule, get out of the way!” Her hat floated up, revealing Trixie’s horn. A thin beam of light shot out, eliciting a yelp from Dash as she twisted out of its path.

“Trixie!” Twilight shrieked, “What are you doing?!”

“Just a few warning shots,” Trixie replied calmly, continuing her volley of light into the sky. As Dash flew close to the cliff a laser hit the wall, leaving a blackened scorch mark. Dash’s face whitened, and her maneuvers became faster and more erratic as she tried to close in on the unicorn.

Deciding that enough was enough, Twilight bit onto Trixie’s hat and pulled it down over Trixie’s horn and eyes. Surprised, Trixie reared and tried to cast again - her hat glowed brightly, light escaping under the rim. When she managed to pull back her hat, her face and mane were darkened with soot. She coughed, a tiny puff of smoke escaping her lips.

Dash fell over in mid-air laughing, “Hahaha, that’s great! I always knew it would blow up in your face one day, and it did!” She composed herself under Trixie’s venomous glare. “Here, lemme show you a trick that’ll blow you two away!” Dash dove off the cliff, out of sight.

“Not literally, I hope,” Twilight said, eyeing the cliff edge suspiciously.

Rainbow Dash’s voice echoed from all directions, “Illusionary Dominance!”

The two unicorns saw a blur shoot across their field of vision. The wind Dash left in her wake nearly knocked them over, but they managed to hold their ground. When Dash made another pass coming from the opposite direction, the turbulent winds caused both unicorns to go tumbling to the ground. Twilight lay herself flat on the ground, trying to minimize the wind’s effect on her, while Trixie struggled to stay upright, bursts of light shooting wildly out of her horn. As Dash sped back and forth, her multichromatic, blurred form began to fill the night sky, and the winds picked up around her.

“Dash!” Twilight shouted above the howling winds, “Would you quit it!?”

“No way!” came the reply from all sides, “She hasn’t learned her lesson, so I’m gonna teach her! You got to teach me one, so I get to teach her! That’s how it works, isn’t it?”

“Are you still bitter about Mare-Do-Well?!” Twilight shouted back.

The winds seemed to subside a moment, just long enough for Dash’s reply. “Maybe a little.”

“A little?!” Trixie exclaimed, still trying to hit the speeding pegasus with a beam of light.

Looks like I’ve got to be the bigger pony here, Twilight thought. That’s it! It wasn’t a spell she had ever cast intentionally, but she remembered it well enough from the time she got her cutie mark.

“Missing Power!”

Twilight’s body suddenly grew. Trixie stopped to stare as Twilight eventually got so big that the path was too big for her; she had to step down off the mountain path into the valley below. Dash, unable to react to the spell, bounced off Twilight's giant form harmlessly and landed on the path near where Trixie was gawking. The giant unicorn turned around, her head level with the other two ponies, up on the mountain, whose jaws had dropped.

“Now then, my little ponies”, the giant Twilight rumbled, smiling. “are you two quite done fighting or do I have to separate you two?”

“Yes ma’am” came the automatic reply from the other two ponies, who looked like toys to Twilight. Very frightened little toys.

“Whoa, Twilight, you’re huge!” Dash floated around Twilight, in awe. Twilight craned her head to try to follow her friend.

“Not as big as your two egos, apparently.” Twilight sighed, careful to exhale away from either of the other two ponies. “Whoa, this spell takes a lot to maintain. Lemme just..” Twilight put a hoof onto the mountain path next to Trixie, who flinched away from the huge mass of purple. Twilight quickly shrank back down to her normal size. “There, that’s better. Dash, I’m heading to Canterlot to speak with the Princesses. Trixie is coming with me. All right?”

“Uh, sure, Twilight. But what’s so important that you’re heading to Canterlot in the middle of the night about it?”

“The night.” Trixie responded simply.

Dash followed Twilight’s gaze up at the night sky. “Huh? What about it? I mean, I’m not a big egghead about stars like you are, but I know basic night navigation.” She pointed her hoof at a particular star, which Twilight would swear had not been there two hours ago. “There’s the Little Dipper, with the North Star at the end of the handle. What do you need any other stars for?”

“Normally, yes,” Twilight explained, “But if you followed it right now you’d be heading south, not north.”

“What?” Dash flew up high into the air, surveying her surroundings. When she came back to the ground she looked immensely confused. “Whoa, that’s messed up. No wonder I got los- I mean, I can see how it would be really easy for some pony else to get lost.” Dash glanced at the two unicorns, hoping her slip-up wasn’t noticed. “Okay girls, it’s been fun, but I gotta jet.” She took off into the night sky.

“Running away...” Trixie muttered under her breath. She fetched her hat from an exposed tree root it had caught on in the wind.

Twilight sighed, something she seemed to be doing a lot of on this trip. “Well, so much for making sure you stay out of trouble. I almost think I’d rather have the Ursa Minor come back to town. At least I know how to deal with that.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Trixie readjusted her hat and set off again, Twilight in tow.

Stage 5

The streets of Canterlot were quiet. That is not to say they were empty, or that Canterlot did not have an active nightlife. But Twilight Sparkle was leading the way to the castle, and given the choice she vastly preferred streets where she could enjoy the company of her own thoughts. Trixie lost count of how many libraries and bookstores they passed, all closed for the night.

Before she knew what she was doing, Twilight opened the door to a familiar lit building. A familiar voice rang out, “Twilight Sparkle! I haven’t seen you since the Gala! Back in Canterlot again, eh?”

Twilight froze, only now realizing she had waltzed into Pony Joe’s purely out of a habit born from years of late-night studying fueled by caffeine and donuts. The brightly lit cafe made her squint her eyes a bit, but she knew it well enough that she could make it to the counter blindfolded. “Hi Pony Joe! Um...” At the smell of the baked goods behind the counter, she rationalized that she was hungry and it wouldn’t do to meet the Princesses on an empty stomach. She looked over the selection. “Chocolate-glazed custard and a cocoa.” She felt Trixie’s glare on the back of her head. “To go, please. My all-nighters now involve me running around all over Equestria, apparently.”

“You got it.” Pony Joe said. He turned to the unicorn that had followed Twilight in. “And what can I get for you?”

“Coffee, I suppose. Cream and sugar as well.” Trixie exhaled as Pony Joe turned to the coffee maker, muttering, “And so our heroines stopped in their glorious quest so that they could get donuts.”

“Hey,” Twilight protested, “Even Star Swirl the Bearded had to eat.” Pony Joe came by with their drinks and Twilight’s donut. Twilight thanked and paid him before leaving, donut in mouth and cocoa floating by her side. “Although I will admit,” she said between bites, “I stopped by completely without thinking about it. I almost sat down and took out my books to study."

“That’s because you still think like a student,” Trixie observed.

“Because I still am a student,” Twilight countered, “And I’m going to keep being a student until I run out of things to learn.”

The two continued their trek through Canterlot. They approached Neighouse Square, the second-biggest theater complex in Equestria. As the building came into view, Twilight’s eyes were immediately drawn to a poster proudly displaying a familiar pattern of stars - her own cutie mark. Rushing over to take a closer look, she saw another familiar sight adorning the advertisement - the moon as it had been seen for one thousand years, with Nightmare Moon’s stylized features clearly visible on its surface. In flowing script the play’s title was declared, The Mare in the Moon.

“Wow,” Twilight breathed, “I had hoped you were kidding about that.”

“Would the Great and Powerful Trixie lie to you?”

Before Twilight could craft an appropriately depreciating response, the theater doors swung open and a herd of ponies streamed out of the exits, chatting amicably and each going their own way. Twilight recognized a tall frilly hat standing out among the crowd and trotted over to greet its owner.

“Rarity!” Twilight called.

The white unicorn let out a startled, “Twilight?”, but quickly regained her composure when she saw her smiling friend, but it quickly morphed to concern as she got a better look. "Dear, your mane is an absolute mess. Here, allow me..." Pulling a small brush out of her dress, Rarity began work on the stray hairs sticking up out of her friend's mane. “It’s good to see you, but if you wanted to come to Canterlot you should have come with me when I left Ponyville yesterday.”

Twilight flattened her ears, embarrassed. “Sorry, this was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. Princess Celestia isn’t answering my letters, so I’m.. kind of a little worried. I'm heading over to the castle to see what's up.”

Rarity frowned a bit. “Well, I won’t tell you not to worry about it. I’ve certainly learned my lesson about that.” She gave a small smile at the memory. “But I did catch a glimpse of the Princess this morning, and if anything she looked positively radiant. Moreso than usual, anyway. But what’s...” Rarity froze once she caught sight of Trixie, who had walked up next to Twilight as if it was the most natural thing to do. Trixie's expression was oddly neutral. The crowd coming out of the theatre had dispersed entirely, leaving the three unicorns effectively alone on the side of the street.

After carefully regarding the magician, Rarity returned her focus to her friend. "Twilight, you wouldn't happened to have seen Rainbow Dash on your way here, did you?"

"I did. How did you know?"

"Because, there's 'windswept' and then there's what Rainbow Dash does to long manes when she wants to show off." Satisfied with making sure Twilight was presentable, Rarity addressed Trixie for the first time, "And how about you, hm? You're sporting the same hairstyle, so either you're here with Twilight or you're waiting for me to club you over the head with this brush."

Twilight spoke up first, "Please don't, Rarity, I already had to break up one fight today."

"Our purpose here is quite simple, really,” Trixie stated, “We are on a grand quest, which has brought us here to Canterlot. As it has to do with the Princesses’ domain, we are on our way to the castle to request an audience.”

"The Princesses' domain? That would be..." Rarity looked skyward. Almost immediately her jaw dropped. “Oh my,” she breathed, “I never noticed...”

“I know, right!” Twilight’s eyes shone.

“It’s amazing.”

“What?!” Trixie and Twilight shrieked in unison.

“It’s the most beautiful night sky I ever laid eyes on!” Rarity gushed, “The composition! The way the moon hangs low gives deference to the stars above, letting them shine!” She began gesturing wildly to the west. “Each direction has its own theme and highlights! To the west, blues and whites sparkle like snowflakes in the winter. To the north floats orange and red autumn leaves. East, yellow summer suns and pale blues make the sky glow like daylight even at night. The Milky Way in the south flows like a spring river. Twilight, this is no mere night sky. This is art!”

“But... But...” Twilight stammered, “But Orion’s belt has four stars! It’s supposed to only have three!”

“As well he should change out his old belt for something new. Fashion is hardly eternal, after all.”

The two other unicorns were too stunned to respond. Rarity chuckled, bemused at their matching expressions. “Hm, twins. No wonder you two are together.” As soon as the words left her mouth she gasped, bringing a hoof up to cover her mouth. Her eyes darted back and forth between Twilight and Trixie.

“Huh?” Was all Twilight could think to say to her friend’s odd mood shift.

“Nothing, nothing! Ha ha. Just an odd thought that struck me.” Rarity tried to wave it off as if it were an errant fly. “You’re heading to the castle, right?" She turned her attention back to Trixie. "Well, it just won't do to subject the Princesses to the sight of a bedraggled mane such as yours, so please allow me..." Rarity advanced, brush at the ready. Trixie gave the fashionista a strange look before reluctantly removing her hat and allowing herself to be fussed over.

Twilight Sparkle, satisfied the other two unicorns weren't actively trying to antagonize each other, returned her gaze to the sky, bewildered. For the first time tonight she actually looked at the sky as a whole, not just the individual stars or constellations she knew so well. As her eyes wandered the heavens, she could, objectively, see the themes and beauty Rarity had described.

And yet, it was an unfamiliar beauty, like the mares in the fashion magazines Rarity kept in her storefront. Twilight pined for the old night sky, the one she had spent so much time studying and familiarizing herself with. Twilight couldn't fathom the idea that it was simply gone, never to be seen again, without fanfare or warning. Had that time spent studying, making star charts, and watching the Horsehead Nebula, all been wasted? Twilight didn't want to think about it.

Returning her gaze to the ground, Twilight saw that Rarity was still fussing over Trixie's mane, and making small talk at the same time. "Why, of course the costuming was excellent, they were patterned after the dresses I debuted at the Grand Galloping Gala." Catching Twilight's eye, Rarity paused before addressing her, "Welcome back to reality, dear." Rarity gave her friend a smile. "I was just discussing with Trixie the play I just saw: The Mare in the Moon." Rarity tittered. "I must say, it was something of an experience to see myself portrayed upon the stage like that. I highly recommend you see it if you get the chance."

"Er, no thanks. If Trixie's version of that story is any indication," Twilight said, giving a sidelong glance at the mare in question. "I may have to write my own account of that night to set the record straight."

"Oh?" Rarity looked intrigued, turning to the magician as if she were an old friend. "You're going on tour again?"

"Of course! The Great and Powerful Trixie tells only the greatest stories in the land! And no story beguiles audiences more than that of Fabulous Rarity and the Manticore!"

"Uh, what?" Twilight interjected, "Don't you mean Fluttershy and the Manticore?"

"Hm?" Trixie asked, "I thought it was Fluttershy and the Dragon?"

"Er, no. I mean, yes, there was that, but that wasn't the night of the Summer Sun Celebration." Twilight grumbled, "See, that's what I'm talking about. I should just get my letters to the Princess published as a memoir. That way everybody will know the truth."

"Oh, Twilight," Rarity chastised her friend, "Don't take it too hard. It's what happens to a living legend like yourself." She tucked the brush back into the folds of her dress. "There! Perfect. What do you think, Twilight?"

"Huh?" Twilight looked at Trixie, who looked much the same as she always did. "It looks fine, I guess. Why are you asking me?"

"Oh good," Trixie said, returning her hat to her head. "For a moment I was wondering if you were turning my mane green back there."

"That's true," Twilight recalled, "Rarity did say the next time she saw you she was going to shave your coat off."

"Oh no no no!" Rarity exclaimed, "I couldn't! After all, I knew you would be very cross with me, Twilight, if I did that. And friendship is the better part of valor. Or something like that. In any case, let us be off, to the castle!"

As the trio of unicorns walked down the street, an idea occurred to Twilight. "Oh, that's right. Rarity, we saw your sister on the way here."

"Oh? And how is dear Sweetie Belle doing?"

"Well, when we saw her she was looking for a pet phoenix."

Rarity's face hardened, becoming unreadable for a moment. Eventually she simply sighed. "You know, I specifically made Sweetie Belle promise not to burn down the Boutique while I was gone. Ah well, c'est la vie."

"If it's any consolation to you," Trixie put in, "She was not having much success."

The three passed through the outer gate to the castle grounds without any issue. Rarity turned to the other two unicorns. "Well, I must be off to my suite. As always, I do need my beauty sleep. Oh, and Twilight?" Rarity dropped her voice to a whisper and leaned in close. "Stargazing is a good choice for a first date, but I think it's a little soon to be introducing her to the Princesses." She backed off to a normal distance and brightened. "In any case, ta for now!"

Twilight stammered, "What? Hey wait, Rarity!" but it was too late. Rarity turned and practically galloped away, giggling the whole way. Twilight fumed for a moment, before resigning herself and just rolling her eyes.

Trixie watched the exchange with interest, and met Twilight's glare with a smirk. Twilight trudged onward, leading the way through the grounds to the castle.

Stage 6a

Marble was the building material of choice for Canterlot Castle. It was white, it was an absolute pain to ship in from the valley quarries below, and it was white. The smooth, Celestia-colored stone was mostly for show, though, so more frugal ponies used the plentiful dull, coarse granite from the mountainside. Those ponies were usually not let anywhere near the architectural plans for the castle, though, so almost everything there was built out of marble.

Even the guards seemed to be hewn from the stone, two white pegasi at the main entrance to the castle. Strangely, only one of the two guards raised a wing to block their entry. "Halt! State your name and purpose." His eyes momentarily twitched in the direction of his passive partner, and somehow managed to harden his face further, from marble to granite.

Twilight didn't miss a beat at the command, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and with me is Trixie. We're here seeking an audience with Princess Celestia."

The guard immediately blanched and lowered his wing, "My apologies, ma'am." His partner smiled only with his eyes.

Twilight gave the offending guard a sympathetic smile, "Thank you, sirs." She entered the castle, Trixie following close behind her. Inside was the same decadent tastes as decorated the outside, marble with the addition of rugs and tapestries which a younger Twilight had discovered to be soft enough to take a nap on.

At the far end of the foyer, on the stairway landing leading up to the second floor, Princess Celestia, the Divine Flame stood, brightening at the sight of her student. No pony else was present in the hall. "Twilight Sparkle! My faithful student, I've been expecting you."

Twilight ran to her mentor, remembering halfway to stop and bow before closing the remaining distance between them. "Princess Celestia! It's so good to see you! Did you get my letters?"

"I did, however I haven't been able to give them the attention they deserve. And who's this you've brought with you?" the Princess asked, referring to the mare still bowed near the entrance. "You may approach. I won't bite," she said, giving a conspiratorial wink to her student.

As Trixie came forward, Twilight introduced her, "This is Trixie, I met her in Ponvyille. She's here with the same question I have; Princess, what's going on? Why are the stars all messed up?"

"All in due time, Twilight." Celestia's eyes were still looking patiently at Trixie, who was trying hard not to meet her gaze. "Hello, Trixie."

"Your Highness." Trixie made a sweeping bow with her hat before replacing it on her head.

Satisfied, Celestia addressed the two unicorns, "You see, this is a very important night for me, but I didn't want to make an announcement until everypony-" The Princess grandly gestured at the empty hall, "-was here."

"But there's nopony here, Princess, just Trixie and me."

"And that is more than enough. It's certainly more than Princess Luna was expecting." Celestia turned to ascend the stairway, "Come, come. We could stand here to see if any more ponies show up, but I would rather we have a chat over tea."

As the three ponies walked the wide hallways of the second floor, Celestia asked her student, "So, Twilight, do you have anything to report on the magic of friendship?"

Twilight cringed. She should have expected this question. Her thoughts flashed back to the last letter she wrote, which was... Oh Celestia, it was weeks ago! What had she been doing since then? There was Hearts and Hooves day, during which the most exciting thing to have happen was the Cutie Mark Crusaders borrowing a book from her in the morning and dutifully returning it well before its due date. Nothing to report there. Was there something she had learned on her way here? That was the entire reason she asked Trixie along, after all. "Er..."

After a quick mental review of the evening's events, nothing stuck out as a particularly good lesson, or even a decent one. Trixie had shown off her magic, and while Twilight had learned from it, that wasn't a friendship lesson. "I'm not ready to be a teacher" was useful to know, but again, not what the Princess was looking for - or was it just not what Twilight thought the Princess was looking for? She would want to know but -

Trixie interrupted her train of thought. "How about, 'Friends don't let friends try to knock ponies off of cliffs?'"

"Friends don't let friends try to shoot ponies out of the sky, Trixie!" Twilight snapped back. As soon as she said it she covered her face with both forehooves, as if her mask had fallen off and she was most embarrassed about it. Which she was.

Trixie snorted, indignantly, "Well, friends don't let friends get engulfed in uncontrolled magical explosions."

Twilight said nothing to this, only after an awkward silence did she finally look up at her mentor to speak, "Er, sorry Princess. It's kind of a work in progress." At this Trixie finally remembered just who she was in the presence of, and ducked underneath her hat, hiding her own face.

Princess Celestia just gave a small chuckle, "Aren't all friendships? It sounds like you had quite the adventure on your way here. Why don't you tell me about that instead?"

"I can think of a few reasons why not," Trixie muttered.

"Oh, actually..." Twilight floated out some papers from her bags, "Trixie was showing me her magic, and I learned quite a bit from it! Here are my notes, Princess!"

Celestia took a look over the notes. "Love Sign: Master Spark?" After quickly looking through the other pages, she looked down at Trixie, "Oh, so you're Lady Mima's latest student!"

"Er... Y-yeah." Trixie shrunk a little. "You know her?"

"She's an old friend of mine, from a time most ponies don't remember." Princess Celestia stopped at a large, ornate door with a prominent sun motif, flanked by two guards. The door opened of its own accord and the three ponies stepped inside. "I do believe I have her latest letter in my study. Twilight, put on the tea, would you?"

"Of course, Princess!" Twilight chirped.

Trixie took a look around the room she found herself in. Her immediate impression of the room was "cozy". Unlike the high, vaulted ceilings found everywhere else in the castle, the roof above her head was only as high as it needed to be for the Princess. Light from the fireplace was accented by candles along the walls, giving the room a mild glow with few shadows. A doorway lined with sheer curtains led, presumably, to the Princess's bedchambers. Princess Celestia herself had vanished into a different doorway into her study. Twilight Sparkle lay down at a low table near the fireplace, eyes closed as she floated over a tea set from across the room. Not sure what else to do, Trixie busied herself looking over one of the bookshelves, noting the top shelf was lined with pink paperbacks with floral designs.

Celestia returned with a letter and settled herself on a large cushion opposite Twilight. Trixie took the hint and took her own spot at the table, facing the fire. Twilight poured the tea. It was a happy scene between teacher and student, plus Trixie.

Princess Celestia set the letter down so the two unicorns could both read it, "Here, take a look. It seems you made quite the impression on her, Trixie."

Trixie gave a weak laugh, "Yes.. I suppose I did," and began scanning the letter, looking for death threats. She was interrupted when Twilight suddenly sprang up from the table, bumping the table and causing the teacups to rattle.

Twilight's eyes were wide as she nearly shrieked at the other unicorn, "You broke into her study and stole an entire bookshelf!?"

"Hey, I left the shelf there-" Trixie cut herself off before she could dig herself in deeper. Instead she decided a better response would be to curl up in a ball, her forehooves over her head, cowering and whimpering softly.

Twilight, as always, looked to her mentor for advice, but Princess Celestia's smile hadn't seemed to have changed in response to the acrimonious exchange. Instead she simply gave a small nod back towards the letter. Twilight blinked, but obediently returned to the table and picked up the letter to read it more closely.

"'Best student ever'?" Twilight read off. "That's sarcasm, right?" But as Twilight read on her face scrunched up in confusion more. "'Trixie was the most ambitious, cunning, and driven student I've ever had the pleasure of teaching, unlike those ivory-tower dolts you sometimes send me to learn for the sake of learning.'" Twilight sneered at the paper for a moment, then cast a meaningful glance at the crackling fireplace. Deciding against torching the letter, she slammed it back down onto the table with perhaps a bit more force than necessary, before sitting back down to fume.

The commotion caused Trixie to look up. Carefully bringing the letter over to her, Trixie began reading it. Midway through it, she let out a quick laugh, followed closely by a second. By the time she finished, her insufferably smug grin had returned. She put the letter back down and tittered, "She even called me the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Twilight beside her just snorted and shook her head.

The Princess floated over a card and lay it face on the table in front of Trixie. It featured Celestia's cutie mark sun half-hidden behind a green hill. Princess Celestia spoke, "Perhaps the, ah, Great and Powerful Trixie is up for a challenge?"

Trixie's eyes glittered at the Royal use of her self-appointed title. She reached over for the spell card and nearly began casting on the spot, but had enough sense of mind to ask what it was.

Princess Celestia deferred the question to her student, "Twilight?"

Celestia's prized pupil shifted uncomfortably where she was sitting before beginning to explain, "It's the sun-raising spell. In the time before Princess Celestia's reign-"

"SUN SIGN: ROYAL FLARE!" Trixie bellowed, pouring magic into the spell. Every ounce of her focus was honed onto the card, willing it to channel her magic. She blinked, and her irises disappeared, eyes glowing white. Twilight winced at the display. The window on the far side of the room remained stubbornly dark.

Princess Celestia gracefully stood, walking slowly around the table before touching her horn to Trixie's, breaking the spell. The card fell to the table, face down. Trixie wavered but only slumped her shoulders in defeat. The glow faded from her eyes and her pupils returned.

After the blue unicorn had recovered her senses, Celestia beamed. "Well done!"

"Huh?" was all Trixie could manage. Princess Celestia flipped up the card on the table, showing its new face: the sun had risen high into the sky, shining down on the the land below.

"Before Princess Celestia ascended to the throne," Twilight explained, annoyed at having been interrupted, "It took the combined efforts of over a dozen unicorns to raise the sun each morning. If you were expecting to be able to raise the sun all by yourself..."

"Besides," Celestia put in, "My sister would need to lower the moon first, and she would be quite irate at having her night cut short. Particularly this night." Shaking her head, Princess Celestia turned to her student. "How about you, Twilight? You've written me much on your studies of the magic of friendship, but I know you've been keeping up on your studies of other fields of magic. Why don't you show me what you've learned?"

"Eh? Me?" Twilight paused in thought. "I want to see if I can do the Master Spark. I haven't seen anything like it before tonight!" Watching her mentor's reaction carefully, she pressed on, "Maybe we should move to the courtyards? It's not exactly an indoor technique."

The greatest teacher in all Equestria chuckled. "No, here is fine, Twilight. These rooms are the most warded, and I wouldn't want you clipping some poor night sparrow just to impress me." She gestured at the fireplace, "You can direct your magic there."

Twilight blushed, quickly rising to her feet to get ready to cast. She closed her eyes and drew power into her horn as Trixie and Celestia looked on. Twilight opened her eyes, showing off the glow that had become so strangely common tonight. "MAGICANNON!"

"Wait!" Trixie tried to interrupt, "That's not the name of the-"

"FINAL SPARK!"

Everything went white.

The sun shone down upon the tree that was also a library that was also Twilight's home. Inside, two unicorns had tea.

Twilight buried her face in her hooves, "I can't believe I did that to the Princess!" she whined.

Trixie calmly turned the page of the paperback book she had pilfered from Celestia's shelf, a trashy romance written by one Rose Papillonne. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is no longer going to criticize your spell names."

As Twilight wallowed in her embarrassment, a realization struck her, "And she never answered my question! That whole trip was for nothing!" Twilight sighed, "I guess it can't be helped when the moon's already set. The only thing left to do is head back out to Canterlot tonight."

Trixie frowned, looking up over her book, "Why don't we just take the train during the day like normal ponies do?"

Normal Ending #6

Canterlot Castle.

The dawn has come, and two sisters sit on the balcony admiring the sunrise.

"Last night, I think, was just for practice. This next night shall be even more glorious," says the younger.

"I'm glad I could provide you a night to work, free from interruptions," says the elder, "Although I do not think I can say the same for tonight."

"'Tis enough."

Stage 6b

After beating Imperishable Night through Stage 6A (previous chapter), a second playthrough with the same team will go to Stage 6B immediately following Stage 5.

Standing in front of the castle, Twilight Sparkle stopped to give another despondent look up at the night sky. She saw none of the familiar patterns she had grown so accustomed to, and could no longer tell any one star from another. A twinkle of a particular star caught her eye, and she watched with some mix of fascination and horror as it began to move amongst the other stars, displacing them as it went. The errant star eventually came to rest somewhere almost directly overhead, and Twilight got the sense that it might begin to fall directly on her head at any moment.

Twilight immediately resolved to spend less time around Pinkie Pie and her twitchy tail. Seconds later, she felt guilty about making such a resolution and decided to spend more time around Pinkie, some of which would be spent resurrecting the study of Pinkie Sense. After all, the study of something that defied study could yield some insight into the nature of studying and...

A tap on her shoulder brought Twilight back to the real world, where Trixie was. "Do not look so hard into the eyes of chaos," she intoned gravely, "lest they stare back at you."

Okay, maybe not the real real world, Twilight thought. "What does that even mean?"

"I have no idea." Trixie admitted. "It just seemed like the thing to say."

"Well, if you're looking for the 'eyes of chaos', Discord is over-"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie has no interest in your little trophy statue." Trixie rolled her eyes. "Can we just please get up to where Princess Luna is so we can get our proper night sky back?"

"Oh! Um," Twilight glanced up at the castle towers, then back down. "The first place to look is the Eastern Balcony, the traditional site where the Sun and Moon are raised."

Twilight led the other unicorn around to a side entrance, where an unassuming wooden door interrupted the marble exterior of the castle. Twilight lowered her head to peer through the keyhole, and disappeared in a flash of light. The door swung open afterwards, revealing Twilight on the other side, bashful at what she had just accomplished.

After a moment's thought, Trixie asked, "Was that door even locked?"

"I did it so many times as Princess Celestia's student that I don't even check anymore," Twilight admitted. "The guards once offered me a key to save me the trouble, but at the time I thought it was silly, 'why would I want a key when I have magic? Magic is its own key'."

"Ha, that it is," Trixie agreed, "Well then, Key, lead on."

"Um, right." Twilight began down the hallway at a brisk pace. A stairwell and a few more hallways later, the two ponies arrived at an opulent double-door framed by two gargoyle statues. After checking the statues to ensure they weren't animate, Twilight tried the latches on the doors. "Locked. No keyhole to see if I can teleport safely, either."

Low on other options, she tried knocking.

The doors burst open and a voice cried out from the other side, "ASSASSINS!" A blast of magic followed, sending the two ponies tumbling to the ground. Once upright again, the two ponies peered cautiously through the doorway to see Princess Luna hovering above the balcony, eyes glowing with power and her figure framed by the full moon behind her.

"We are pleased" the princess intoned, loudly, "To see that some of our old enemies have seen fit to send their agents against Us once more. Who sends ye, perhaps the titans We banished to Tartarus so long ago?" Princess Luna paused, to cast her pupilless gaze upon the two ponies, sending shivers down their spines. She blinked, returning her eyes to normal. "Twilight Sparkle?" Blink. White. "Ah ha, so 'tis a relatively new foe, Queen Chrysalis, who sends her changelings against Us."

"No! Princess!" Twilight tried to yell over the Royal Canterlot Voice, "It's me, the real Twilight Sparkle! And I just want to talk!"

Luna froze, glowing eyes unblinking. An unseen wave of magic washed over the two unicorns, ushering them out onto the balcony, and Twilight recognized it as a variant of her brother's anti-changeling shield. The Princess blinked once more, but even with her eyes returned to normal her expression was unreadable.

Trixie saw an opportunity, and pounced on it. "Princess Luna! I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, am here to demand that you return the stars to their rightful positions!"

The silence that followed Trixie's proclamation was deafening, an easy feat in the aftermath of the Royal Canterlot Voice.

Eventually Twilight got her jaw working again. "What? Oh no no no no no, that's not how I wanted this to go at all!" Twilight practically leapt at the stage magician, using both forehooves to clamp her muzzle shut. "Forgive her, Your Highness, it's been a trying evening for her, that's all! No demands being made here, nuh huh!"

Her attempts to salvage the situation were interrupted when Princess Luna swept the two unicorns up into a chest-crushing hug. "You noticed!" She squealed with delight.

"It took months and months for me just to get up the nerve to go ahead and just do it, it was just this morning that I said 'tonight is the night' and Celestia was just so happy and supportive and - wait," She released her grip on the two ponies whose faces had turned blue and purple. "You said you wanted them back? The way they were before?"

"If it isn't-" Twilight coughed, regaining her breath, "-too much trouble."

"Oh, I see! You are thinking like I did, thinking that the starry night sky should stay the way it is," Looking directly into Twilight's eyes, Princess Luna's pupils narrowed, becoming draconic in appearance. "Forever."

Twilight went shock still in the face of the Nightmarish display.

Trixie was merely bewildered, saying, "Well, yes. The stories of Orion, Cassiopeia, and the other constellations could hardly be considered timeless if they could be wiped away with a thought. Even a Royal thought."

Luna smirked. "You have never had the pleasure of actually meeting vain Queen Cassiopeia or the boastful hunter Orion. If you did, you would want to wipe their smug visages from the heavens too. Only a lunatic would have thought it a good idea to immortalize them in an imperishable night." The Princess giggled following this declaration.

Twilight really wished Princess Luna would stop doing that thing with her eyes. Some part of her brain filed away a notion entitled "Dragon-eye contacts for Nightmare Night" as Luna was certainly putting the effect to good use...

...Wait, Nightmare Night? "So you're saying the night sky I've studied since I was a filly-"

"-Its arrangement was one of my final actions as Nightmare Moon." Luna spoke the name with no malice, only a small sadness. "I had spent months drawing and re-drawing the star charts, hoping to design the perfect night, one that would rouse ponies from their beds to relish in the night instead of the day. It was the... sixth, I think, attempt to do so. And also the last." She shook her head ruefully, scattering stars from her mane to the wind. "After my exile, my dear sister found and published my notes. She said it was the least she could do, to encourage ponies to love the night, even in my absence." She turned and stared at the moon. "Upon my return, I raised the moon for the first time, and saw the same stars in the same night sky that I had once declared eternal so long ago."

"But no more!" Luna roared, turning back to the two unicorns with fire in her eyes. "The Elements of Harmony have renewed me, and so I return a new Princess, with a glorious new night sky! This renewal shall be a joyous occasion, and your timely arrival has offered a way to rejoice in a most spectacular fashion! The Traditional Canterlot Duel!"

"What." Both ponies spoke in unison.

"Oh, do not be like that. it shall not be boring in the least! The very opposite of boredom, in truth. What is the word you used for it? Oh yes," Princess Luna leaned forward menacingly. "Fun."

The two unicorns took a step back, eyes wide.

Luna took a step forward. "No harm shall come of you, I swear, and it would be nigh-on impossible for you to cause me any lasting harm."

Twilight continued her retreat, unaware of the curious glance Trixie gave her.

"And I also promise you won't get in trouble even if my diplomat of a sister barges in and attempts to interrupt our duel." The Princess's advance continued unabated.

Twilight was backed up against the wall now, Luna still scant inches away from her. Unnoticed off to the side, Trixie began rummaging around in her hat, looking for an old spellcard her mentor had given her for just such an occasion.

"...Please?" Princess Luna pouted. The Royal Pout was a weapon developed by the younger sister in order to counter her elder sister's Reproachful Stare. Both weapons were a thousand years out of use by the Princesses, but they had been taken up by more normal ponies in the interim, carrying out a proxy war between elder and younger siblings across Equestria.

Even in its disused state, Luna's Royal Pout did its job, and Twilight folded. "I.. Alright, fine."

Before she could properly express her jubilation, a flash of light caught Luna's attention. "Lady Mima sends her regards!" was Trixie's battle cry, her horn flaring with light that spun out into small orbs. She posed dramatically, standing on her hind legs.

"You are an assassin!" Luna exclaimed, in the same tone of voice a young foal might exclaim, 'There is a tooth fairy!' upon finding a bit under her pillow.

"Light Blast: Shoot the Moon!" The orbs surrounding Trixie glowed brightly, then erupted in narrow beams of light aimed at the Princess.

Still grinning, Luna made only a short leap, allowing just enough room for the lasers to pass her by and impact the castle walls harmlessly. As a second volley came, she continued to prance about like a newborn fawn, keeping her front legs together as well as her back legs. She even kept her grand wings open and upright as she bounced, making her a bigger target but no easier to hit. "Ha ha! You are quite good at this! Twilight!" Luna was between the two unicorns now, her back to the angry blue one firing lasers at her. "You should join us in our revelry!"

Suddenly, Luna's open wings flapped downward, propelling the Princess upward. Twilight realized too late what was happening, and took a ray of light to the face. She yelped and fell backwards onto her haunches, rubbing her muzzle, now sore and comically blackened as a side effect of the magic.

It wasn't until she heard the giggling above her that Twilight made her decision. Across from her, Trixie apparently either didn't notice or didn't care where her stray shots ended up, still focused intently on the gamboling Princess. Twilight cast her intended spell, creating a shimmer of light in the air in the path of Trixie's magic...

...And the ray of light bounced, redirecting itself. Luna's carefree movements were interrupted as she jerked her body to the side in order to avoid it. Watching carefully, she noticed a second shimmer in the air and moved to avoid the oncoming laser. She soon fell back into a rhythm prancing through the beams of light now coming from every direction. Trixie was absolutely furious; despite the whirlwind of light being created on the balcony, Luna seemed to always be in the eye of the storm.

After a few moments of this Twilight decided it was time to strike. Grabbing hold of a beam of light she redirected it once... twice... thrice.. and struck Trixie square on her flank.

Startled, Trixie dropped her spell, causing the lights to scatter in all directions, either impacting the castle walls harmlessly or flying off into the night sky. Realizing the pony responsible, she stomped over to a giggling Twilight. "And what was that for?!"

Twilight immediately stopped laughing, eyes wide with realization. "Wow, I suddenly understand; it is fun turning a pony's spells and talents against them! It's the easiest, most cost-effective prank in the world, and you even ask for volunteers!" Her eyes glazed over, lost in thought. "Wow. If I had known this sooner... I probably would have turned into a real jerk."

Princess Luna's voice above them stole the two unicorns' attention before Trixie could appropriately display her wrath. "We believe you two have forgotten who your opponent truly is. Allow Us to remind you: Moon Sign: Silent Selene!" Behind her, the moon began to shine more brilliantly than ever before, with the Princess casting her silhouette upon it. Moonbeams peeked through the gaps in her wings and outstretched legs, casting their light upon the balcony.

Twilight stepped forward, not caring for the spell's intended purpose, and knowing exactly what she wanted to do. Grabbing hold of the narrow rays of light with her magic, she gently lifted the ends of the shining bands of light away from the balcony, instead wrapping around the Princess. Soon she was fully cocooned within a shell of sparkling moonlight, no part of her visible through the prison.

Now all Twilight had to do was give it a tug and Luna would go spinning across the balcony, the same way Trixie had done to Rainbow Dash for her first trick.

...

...Give it a tug...

...

....It wasn't working. Twilight strained to move the roll of moonlight so much as an inch. Trixie rolled her eyes at Twilight's increased efforts to accomplish anything, and stepped forth to lend her efforts.

...

...Which didn't amount to anything either. The bands of light refused to budge.

"Dost thou need some help with that?"

"Yeah, that would be great, Lu-" Twilight's breath caught in her throat as Princess Luna walked past her towards the rolled-up light, sweeping it up in her magic and unfurling it in one graceful motion, showing it to be completely empty. With a flourish she cast it back up towards the sky, where it returned to its lunar origin.

"Bravo, Your Highness!" Trixie cheered, stomping her hooves in applause, as Luna took a theatrical bow. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has not seen a proper escape act in many years!" Twilight simply stared, jaw open.

"Thank ye, thank ye. I believe that shall suffice for my turn, and so I yield the ground to you, Twilight Sparkle. Whatever spell you decide to use, you may cast when ready." Although she chose not to paint a target on her chest, the resemblance to a previous encounter was uncanny. And how well had that turned out for her against Discord, with frustrations mounting on all sides and Spike acting in for Rainbow Dash in absentia?

With that thought in mind, Twilight forced her anger down so that she could think her way through the situation. It was a pop quiz administered by Princess Luna, certainly - Twilight had seen enough such questions under Celestia's tutelage to recognize it as such. Though she hadn't studied - she forced that panic down as well.

Certainly there was no small number of spells she could rely on - but what good were they in a duel? What little she had seen of Luna's prowess, both physical and magical, suggested no weakness. Trixie had, in some bizarre show of foresight, cast a spell whose name suggested it was custom-made for use specifically against the embodiment of the Moon, but it had done her no good. Thinking even further back, she had successfully feinted with a teleport against, then, Nightmare Moon, but a feint is no good if you have no followup, and it wasn't like she could be excused to go get the Elements of Harmony, fetch her friends, and then convince her friends to unite in purpose for a stupid duel. Luna seemed unbeatable....

And yet, the Sisters were very much beatable, weren't they? Princess Celestia had shown as much in the utter disaster that was the lead-up to Shining Armor's wedding. The eldest Princess had quietly vanished during the after-party, along with an entire layer of the wedding cake, which was Twilight's only clue that she had shut herself into her room for a Rarity-level wallow in misery and sweets. Fortunately, lessons in friendship were just as applicable to Princesses as they were to her friends, and the night had ended with a resolution by the Princess to better herself for the nation's defense.

-And she was getting off-track again. Right. Princess Celestia versus Changeling Queen (did she ever mention her name?) seemed to come down to simple brute force. It wasn't much to go by, but was brute force really the best option?

"If I may, Twilight Sparkle?" Luna's voice knocked Twilight out of her thoughts. Twilight's ears perked up attentively. "There are no things superior to beauty and thought. That was the creed of the ancient unicorn duelists. The spell you saw Miss Trixie Lulamoon cast is an artifact from that era - a spell which is inherently flawed for use in combat, because it can be dodged. It would be simple enough to modify the spell such that it could not be avoided, but in the minds of the ancient unicorns such an attack would be.. inelegant."

"What, you want me to come up with a dance routine on the spot?"

"Nothing so elaborate. However, whatever you do should be a reflection of yourself, even better if it is a challenge to overcome."

Twilight lapsed back into silent thought, while Trixie made herself comfortable some distance away on the balcony's tiled floor. After a moment, she raised her head. "I've decided on a course of action, Princess Luna."

The Princess said nothing, merely nodding her head and smiling.

Closing her eyes, Twilight began to channel magic into her horn, causing it to glow brightly. Her chosen reagents for the spell appeared in front of her - parchment, quill, and ink. Adding another layer of brightness to her aura, Twilight opened her eyes, now glowing with power. Trixie was suddenly struck with recognition - it was the same spell she had been casting outside Ponyville when Twilight first found her.

It was a spell that did nothing except look like the unicorn casting it was casting a very large spell.

Twilight called out the name of her 'spell':

"Friendship Report: Letter to Princess Celestia."

The quill dipped into the ink and was put to parchment.

Eyes still aglow, Twilight began dictating as the quill wrote:

Dear Princess Celestia,

As your student it is my duty to inform you opportunities as they arise. As regards the discussion we had following the Royal Wedding, I would inform you that Her Royal Highness Princess Luna has declared tonight as fitting for a Traditional Canterlot Duel. She's up here on the Eastern Balcony.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

In a final burst of Twilight's magic, the letter was enveloped in the green flame of dragon magic and sent on its way into the castle by way of a chimney flute on the roof just above where she stood. Clearing her eyes of glow, Twilight cantered over to the doorway leading into the castle and gestured grandly.

The doors promptly burst open in a shower of coherent light, the yellow beams twisting and curving through the air before scorched the ground where Luna had just been standing. "Luna!" Came the sound of the Royal Canterlot Voice, one very rarely heard because it was not Luna's. "You should have told me you were itching for a fight!" A blur of white and pastels sped past Twilight, impacting the in-flight Luna head on. Twilight thought she saw the Princess of the Night wink before the two forms went over the edge of the balcony, falling out of sight.

Twilight and Trixie both galloped to the railing edge of the balcony, just in time to see the two fighting sisters swoop back up far into the sky, their magic acting as an extension of their selves. The waning night sky lit up in warring gold and silver, the moon and stars themselves seeming determined to make themselves heard before the encroaching dawn. At a distance the fight looked more like an intricate dance that would put the Wonderbolts to shame. The two students of magic looked upon in awe, both feeling like they did as foals, one at her first fireworks show, and the other at her first Summer Sun Celebration.

Without taking her eyes off the sky, Twilight conjured a pair of beach chairs and lay back in one, completely overwhelmed by the sight of the two in their full glory. A small magical nudge tipped Trixie back into her own chair. And so the two unicorns had front row seats to what could only be described as the greatest show in Equestria.

Dawn came, and went. It was not until midday when the two forms in the sky, movements flagging, returned to the castle balcony, declaring the fight a draw. The four ponies had all taken a nap there on the balcony - the Princesses recuperating from their exertions, the unicorns having stayed up all night but unable to achieve a full night's rest at noon. The four awoke just in time for afternoon tea, held inside the castle.

Twilight Sparkle was the first to speak up after sipping her tea, "Princess Luna, I'm really sorry. I didn't realize what changing the night sky meant to you."

"It's quite all right, Twilight." Luna sipped at her tea with all the grace of a Princess, ignoring the bandages dotting her form. "You know, manipulation of the stars is something of a lost art among unicorns. I could teach you, and you could organize the heavens the way you wanted to."

Twilight went wide-eyed. "Really? But... That seems like a lot of responsibility, creating something that everypony will be able to see like that."

"That's actually why it became a lost art in the first place, Twilight." Celestia stretched lazily on her cushion, a sight bewildering to the onlooking Trixie. "The unicorn nobility used to all know the spell, but after one too many fights over its use Luna became the sole arbiter of the night."

Trixie's eyes sparkled with hope. "I can just see it now! The Great and Powerful Trixie, master of the heavens, weaving the stars themselves into her story, for all of Equestria to see!"

Twilight glanced over at her companion. "What? No, we should do things exactly by the book! That way all those poor books on astronomy won't be discarded!"

"Yes, exactly like that." Celestia put in. Luna laughed, and soon all the ponies around the table were laughing.

"But no, honestly," Twilight began, "At the very least there needs to be some consistency - I saw Rainbow Dash miles outside of Canterlot because Polaris was pointing south instead of north."

The two Royal Sisters shared a quick glance - Luna's a mix of shock and inquiry, Celestia's more bashful than anything. "I did not realize the stars could be useful for such a purpose," Luna said. "Navigation was traditionally done by daylight. Very well." Luna's horn gained a magical sheen as she pointed it up at the ceiling.

Upon completing her spell, Luna announced, "It is complete. Scribe," A servant leapt into action, presenting quill, ink, and parchment to the Princess, which she gladly took and began to draw "Henceforth, this shall be the constellation which marks North. Regardless of whom may learn to move the heavens, none may change this." The other ponies at the table stared at the new constellation.

Trixie was the first to react, her face twisting in jealousy before breaking out into giggles shortly after. Princess Celestia presented a far more controlled response, just smiling pleasantly. Twilight Sparkle just stared, and it wasn't until she rotated it so that it was facing her that she realized what it was.

"My cutie mark!?"

Good Ending #2

Stage 3

The path to Canterlot exited the heart of the forest, swerving around trees and gently rolling hills.

Twilight Sparkle was diligently taking notes as she walked. “So the Master Spark is simply a deliberate, guided magical overload," she summarized, "Unlike a typical overload which has seemingly random effects, the guidance maintains its form as raw magical energy and light.” She paused to see if Trixie would correct her before continuing on, “Under classical magical theory it would not be considered a spell, but rather a technique or exercise, where the unicorn guides the magic, but does not have a deliberate end result in mind.”

Trixie had her nose turned up as she walked. “It’s good to know my talents are apparent to somepony around here.”

Twilight started to respond to that, but decided against it. “So why is it called ‘Love Sign: Master Spark’? What part of it is about love?” she asked.

“Because, it is filled with the love that Trixie has for everypony.”

“Then, wouldn’t a better name for it be ‘Malice Cannon’?” Twilight snarked.

“Hmph, you have no spell-naming sense whatsoever. Honestly, how could I be the heroine of the story using a spell with a name like that? How did you get to be the Hero of Equestria when you just number your spells?”

Twilight was taken aback by the question. “Hero of Equestria? Me?”

“That’s what they were calling you in Fillydelphia. Last I saw there were no less than three different productions based on your exploits being advertised: ‘The Mare in the Moon’, ‘Twilight Descends’, and ‘The Return of Harmony’.”

Twilight stopped in her tracks as she processed this. “Wait, I’m.. famous?”

The showmare narrated, “And so, Twilight Sparkle, trained by Princess Celestia herself, rescued her mentor and ensured the sun would rise once again. Princess Luna would return to her sister’s side and resume her duties, bringing about the night forever after.” Trixie returned to, what was for her at least, a normal voice as she spoke, “Indeed, that is precisely the story the Great and Powerful Trixie returned to Ponyville with.”

“So you came back to Ponyville, and the story you’re planning to tell is a story about me? And there are plays in Canterlot being written and produced about me? And nopony has actually come by and asked me if I’m okay with this?”

Trixie tilted her head, confusion on her face. “Why, of course! Are you... not... okay with this?” The way Trixie formed the word “not” it seemed foreign on her tongue.

Twilight groused, “I probably would be okay with it if they had asked first.”

The showmare thought on this a while. “Well, The Mare in the Moon was commissioned by Princess Luna herself, so you’d have to take it up with her.”

“Maybe I will.”

Cresting a hill, the two spotted a pony walking in the opposite direction on the path between Canterlot and Ponyville. Twilight immediately recognized the fuchsia earth pony.

“Cheerilee?”

The earth pony cantered up to meet the two unicorns. “Twilight Sparkle, good to see you! What are you doing out on the roads this late?”

Twilight deflated a bit, realizing what she was doing. “Oh, you know, the usual. Saving the world from a corrupted night sky.”

Cheerilee instinctively looked up, confused. She even slowly walked in a circle, taking in the whole night sky. “Huh? Corrupted? It looks the same to me.” She turned back to Twilight. “If anything, it looks even more beautiful than usual.”

Twilight’s eye twitched. Cheerilee missed it, but Trixie immediately broke into a smirk, earning herself a glare from the other unicorn. Cheerilee turned to the grinning unicorn. “I don’t think we’ve met before, miss...?” Cheerilee offered her hoof.

Trixie hesitated for a moment, then shook Cheerilee’s hoof. “Trixie.” She stepped back, doffing her hat in a sweeping gesture, speaking grandly, “I am accompanying Twilight Sparkle, Revered Child of the Dawn, Keeper of Harmony, and Dragon Master, on her quest.” She felt Twilight’s glare intensify, and reveled.

Cheerilee was suddenly struck with recognition. “Wait, Trixie? As in The Great and Powerful Trixie? Traveling magician extraordinaire?”

“That I am. A pleasure to make your acquantance, Miss Cheerilee.”

The teacher was all smiles. “So you’re the one my students have been talking about for months! I must say, there are a couple young colts in my class who were absolutely inspired by your show, and completely turned their grades around after you visited. They even won the award for the best magic act at the talent show this year. Thank you so much for being such an inspiration to my students.”

The glare coming from Twilight Sparkle was nearly enough to set Trixie’s mane on fire. As it was, though, it merely warmed her blackened heart and broadened her smile. “Of course,” she said, adjusting her hat. “It’s an honor to be an inspiration to the young.”

Twilight let up her glare, knowing it was having the opposite of its intended effect, and returned her attention to Cheerilee. “How about yourself? Canterlot is a bit of a trek at this hour.”

“There was a teacher’s conference today in Canterlot. I thought I’d save money on a hotel by just coming home when it was over.” Cheerilee let out a small yawn. “It was a better idea an hour ago, I’ll admit.” Despite her tiredness, her eyes suddenly lit up with inspiration. “And, actually, speaking of inspiration... Twilight, I was hoping I could have your assistance with something?”

Twilight piped up, trying to distract herself from her current irritation, “Sure, Cheerilee, I’d be happy to help!”

“Very good! Every unicorn I talked to at the conference today emphasized the importance of an early magical education. But the nearest magic school to Ponyville is in Canterlot, and none of my current students go there at all. So I was thinking of setting up a magic kindergarten in Ponyville.”

Twilight froze, caught in her own memory of magic kindergarten. Laughter ringed in her head, an eternity of punishment for every small mistake or misheard question. That time had sent her into a solitary fortress of books and knowledge for years, and it took a Royal Decree to coax her out of it. Twilight Sparkle did not remember magic kindergarten fondly.

She looked up at the stars, silently pleading that she would never have to return to such an awful place, but that was a mistake. The stars themselves, all out of order, were mocking her, and the laughter of the erroneous night sky of the present joined with the laughter of cruel fillies of the past. It drowned out Cheerilee's words, and Twilight didn't notice that the schoolteacher had wrapped up her pitch.

“...Twilight?” Cheerilee looked for a reaction, but Twilight wasn’t responding. Her eyes were distant, somewhere far away. Just as the other two ponies were getting concerned, she spoke quietly.

"I'll show them."

Cheerilee was ecstatic. "You will? Great! We can discuss the details once you've gotten back from Canterlot, but thank you so much."

"Yes, I'll show them! I'll show them all! Hee hee hee! AHAHAHAHAHA!" Twilight broke out into maniacal laughter, madly giggling at the ghosties of her past. Cheerilee felt herself being floated upwards and away from the laughing mare; Trixie had grabbed the teacher and started running away very fast, eventually taking cover behind a tree some distance away.

Twilight's voice took on a distant, echoing tone as she spoke, "I know! I'll show them... The LEGEND OF EQUESTRIA!"

Twilight Sparkle then exploded.

From her limited view behind the tree, Trixie watched the burst of light fade from the surrounding hills, then started counting down from ten, slowly. Cheerilee next to her was too shocked at the outburst to do anything. At “four”, there was a second burst of light, fainter than the first. Trixie started her count over, holding a foreleg out to discourage Cheerilee from approaching.

Only when she reached zero, did Trixie peer out from behind the tree, to see Twilight curled up in the center of a ring of charred grass, shuddering. As the two other ponies approached they heard Twilight’s faint, panicked voice:

“oh no no no no no, not gonna go back, can’t go back, they’ll all make fun of me and my homework and my smarty pants no no no no no no no...”

After a moment’s consideration Trixie decided a distraction was in order. Gesturing grandly at the sky, she announced, “Look! It’s Princess Celestia!”

“What!?! Where? Where where where?” Twilight sprang to her feet and looked around wildly. Only seeing Cheerilee’s concerned face and Trixie’s victorious grin, she slowed down, eventually coming to a complete halt, blinking a few times as she realized what she had just done. “Oh my gosh! Cheerilee, I am so sorry! I don’t... I’m not even sure what just happened, but...I don’t think I could do what you do.”

Her ranting was stopped by a hug from Cheerilee. “It’s okay, Twilight. I'm.. not sure what happened either, but I won’t ask you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Well...” Twilight began, “I guess... I could do some tutoring. I mean, if you still want me to...” Twilight flattened her ears and averted her eyes.

“Of course. Just...” Cheerilee faltered for words for a moment. “Teaching is like learning for a second time. Think of it that way.”

“All right, I will.” Twilight returned the hug before separating. “We should get going. We’ll talk about it later, okay?”

“Okay.” Cheerilee turned to the other unicorn, who was busy looking disinterested. “Trixie, thank you. Will you be putting on another show in Ponyville soon?”

Trixie tilted her hat and smiled. “Of course. It’s good to know the Great and Powerful Trixie still has fawning admirers in Ponyville.”

With that, the teacher parted ways with the two unicorns.

Once the earth pony was out of earshot, Trixie nudged Twilight and whispered, “So, do you explode for all the pretty mares you meet?”

At first, Twilight just looked at Trixie, confused. A moment later she reddened, covering her surprised mouth with a hoof. A second moment later she stamped her hoof down, annoyed.

“You realize I’m obligated to hit you now, right?”

Trixie laughed and turned her cheek. Twilight let out an exasperated sigh and just kept walking.