The peaceful idyll of Ponyville life is a testament to its resilience. The poor little village has endured monster attacks, disasters natural and otherwise, invasion from no less than three megalomaniacal entities, and Pinkie Pie. Yet, somehow, it endures.
So when a large blue-and-purple dirigible floated down into the middle of town square one spring day, the inhabitants of Ponyville chalked it up to business as usual - even when the airship magically deflated its balloon and transformed from a simple cabin into a large, ornate stage, complete with bleachers for a small audience.
A familiar blue unicorn stepped out onto the stage, and called out with magically amplified vociferation. “Mares and stallions, colts and fillies! Feast your eyes, for the Great and Powerful Trixie has returned yet again to grace Ponyville with her presence! ...and to make reparation payments for the last time I was here,” she added under her breath before returning to her usual boisterous tone. “Come, one and all, as this evening Trixie will offer a performance to the citizens of Ponyville, free of charge!”
Nopony seemed to notice Trixie as she made her proclamation. Her facade broke for a brief moment as she counted how many angry faces glared at her for a brief second before turning away in disgust. She quickly replaced her brave face as she stepped off the stage and folded it up with a small burst of her magic. “Can anypony direct Trixie to the mayor?”
“She’s out of town on a family emergency,” a voice called out from behind Trixie. “I’m in charge for the time being.”
Trixie bristled instinctively at the tone. “Twilight Sparkle,” she said coolly as she turned to face her. “It is good to see yoooOH DEAR CELESTIA!”
Twilight’s friendly half-smile turned into a look of shock as she spun about in place. “What? What is it?”
“Y-you’re an alicorn.” Trixie’s jaw refused to close.
Twilight ruffled her feathers awkwardly. “Yeah. That happened, I guess. You didn’t hear?”
“You’re an alicorn.”
“...Right,” Twilight said tentatively. “What are you getting-”
“WHY ARE YOU AN ALICORN.”
Twilight took one look at the flabbergasted blue showmare and another at the slowly gathering crowd. “It’s a funny story, really... but perhaps we should take this inside.” With a burst of her powerful magic, Twilight and Trixie vanished from sight.
One teleport, one sufficiently detailed explanation, and one skeptical tug at a wing later, Trixie’s lamentations filled the interior of the library. “This is ridiculous!” she moaned. “My greatest rival has practically ascended to goddesshood!”
Twilight grunted. “There’s no causal link between alicorns and divini-”
“How in Tartarus am I supposed to make my comeback now?” Trixie trudged over to the nearest bookshelf and slammed her head into it repeatedly.
Twilight rushed over to the distraught mare, half to save her from self-destruction and half to preserve the condition of her furniture. “There, there, it’s alright.” When she was satisfied that Trixie was not going to run her horn into anything expensive, she continued. “What’s this about a comeback?”
“I was going to show up in Ponyville in a blaze of glory, defeat you in a fair fight, and use it as the tagline for my new show!” Trixie wailed; a small part of Twilight was proud that Trixie was able to shed her showmare persona in front of her.
The rest of her, however, was losing its patience. “It can’t be that bad...”
Trixie shifted gears from despair to desperation as she grasped Twilight’s forehooves in her own. “It would have been glorious, Twilight! Picture, if you will: The Great and Powerful Trixie, strong enough to vanquish one of the legendary Elements of Harmony in a duel to the death!”
Twilight snorted, giving Trixie a half-lidded stare. “Duel to the death?” she deadpanned.
“Creative embellishment, nothing more,” Trixie backpedaled. “Oh, of all the things that could possibly happen... this is the worst possible thing!” Trixie put up a hoof, and Twilight couldn’t help but be reminded of another unicorn she knew.
And that’s when the light bulb went off.
“If that’s your angle, Trixie, I think I know somepony that might be willing to help...”
“No. Absolutely not.”
Twilight dropped to the floor in supplication. “Come on, Rarity, please?”
Trixie watched the scene with quiet bemusement. If Twilight was to be believed, this Rarity was her friend, ally and fellow Element Bearer. The white unicorn with her styled purple mane and tail looked slightly familiar, but she just couldn’t place her, as hard as she tried to do so.
As it turned out, it didn’t matter whether Trixie remembered Rarity... because Rarity definitely remembered Trixie. “Do you recall the last two times Trixie darkened our doors? It was utter chaos!”
“Trixie paid back the damages to the town!” Trixie insisted.
“You enslaved the whole of Ponyville,” Rarity continued, “tortured my friends with dark magic, and banished Twilight into the Everfree Forest! And let’s not forget the time that you ruined my mane!”
“That was the Alicorn Amulet!” Trixie argued. “Totally not Trixie’s fault!” She put a hoof to her lip. “Except the last one. Trixie doesn’t recall that one.”
Rarity’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “You don’t recall-”
“Come on, Rarity,” Twilight cut in, “she’s sorry for all of that. She told me so!”
“Well, I’m certainly glad you can be so forgiving, dear,” Rarity said dismissively, “but I won’t go about helping somepony with an attitude like hers!”
Trixie gaped for a moment, genuinely hurt by the statement, before standing her ground. “Suit yourself. The Great and Powerful Trixie wouldn’t waste her time dueling with a lesser unicorn anyway.” Trixie turned with a flourish of her cape and made her way for the door.
“Excuse me?”
Gotcha. Trixie turned her head back just enough to glance at Rarity and Twilight while still hiding her victorious smile. “Trixie is not that petty, you know. Just because Trixie’s true rival has risen above her doesn’t mean she’ll settle for trouncing somepony that’s second-rate.”
“Wh- second-rate?”
Twilight stood out of Rarity’s line of sight, sending body language that all but screamed Trixie! Ix-nay on the econd-say ate-ray! The damage was done, however, and Trixie relished her dominance over the situation.
“I am hardly second-rate,” Rarity argued. “I may lack Twilight’s brute force, but I have creativity, elegance, and floridity that would put her to shame!” The white unicorn’s breath caught in her throat, and she looked back at a thoroughly miffed Princess. “Ah, no offense, darling.”
“Well, then,” Trixie said demurely, “how about you show The Great and Powerful Trixie what it is you can do?”
Rarity’s cheeks flushed crimson, her sapphire eyes turning to cobalt steel. “Oh... it. Is. ON.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. There were not enough facehooves in Equestria.
The sun was nearing the end of its regular sojourn, and its departure colored the town square a brilliant, dramatic gold as ponies gathered around Trixie’s stage. Trixie marveled at the sight - nearly all of Ponyville was in attendance. “Free of charge, foalish me,” she muttered to herself. “Even at two bits a ticket I’d have made a killing.”
She decided not to focus on the fact that they were all there to cheer on Rarity. The home field advantage definitely favored her opponent.
Still, it would make her inevitable victory that much sweeter.
Trixie, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle formed a perfect isosceles triangle on the stage. Despite it being Trixie’s show, she had acquiesced to Rarity’s single demand - that Twilight Sparkle officiated the duel.
“Do you two understand the rules?” Twilight asked, perfectly playing the role of impartiality.
“For the few that there are, yes,” Rarity replied. “Anything goes, right Trixie?”
“Just the way Trixie likes it,” the showmare responded.
“I’ll stop any collateral damage as well as keep you two from doing too much damage to each other. The fight ends when one combatant yields or is otherwise unable to-”
“I said we understood the rules, darling,” Rarity insisted, her eyes never straying from Trixie’s.
Twilight blushed. “Oh. Right. Okay.” She flapped her wings, hovering directly above the arena. “Are the duelists ready?”
Rarity and Trixie nodded, neither saying a word.
“Go!”
Trixie immediately led with a dazzling violet beam of telekinetic force. Rarity, to her credit, only yelped a little bit as she ducked out of its path. But as the beam struck the stage, it didn’t just dissipate - it detonated, firing off a shower of sparks that singed the end of Rarity’s tail. “How’s that for creativity, elegance, and floridity?” Trixie jeered.
Rarity fretted for only a moment, already launching her plan of attack against the boisterous showpony. “If parlor tricks are all you have, then this will be over quickly,” Rarity fired back. Her horn was aglow with pale blue.
Trixie opened her mouth to reply, but noticed a strange sensation in her cloak. Before she could react, her cape had been torn off, twisted into a rope, and twirled through the air. Trixie leapt for it, but that would be her undoing as the rope coiled about her forelegs under Rarity’s expert guidance. Mere moments later, Trixie was on her back, hogtied by her own cape.
“I’d like to offer my thanks to Applejack for showing me that little trick,” Rarity announced, bowing slightly. Applejack let out a howl of approval from somewhere in the background, which got the rest of the crowd cheering and stomping. Rarity leaned into Trixie’s ear. “That’s for the green mane,” she hissed, making sure only she could hear.
Trixie struggled to loose her bonds, but the fashionista knew her way around fabric. Every move she made brought the rope in tighter. She bristled at the sound of ponies laughing in the audience. With a furious growl, Trixie used her magic to fashion a blade out of thin air and slice through the rope with a single swipe.
The blade continued its sweeping motion, stopping short of Rarity’s muzzle before vanishing. Rarity cowered, caught off guard by the unexpected attack.
“That’s your one free shot,” Trixie warned. “You won’t be getting a second.” Her horn and eyes shone a brilliant violet for a split second before the stage rumbled ominously beneath them.
Rarity whirled about, trying to discover the source of the rumbling - only to discover that an array of four columns had emerged from the stage, one at each corner. They rose easily to two or three times her height before locking in place. Suddenly, with the hum of powerful magic and the sound of swirling air, a wall of translucent purple magic extended from column to column. “A cage match? How crude,” Rarity criticized as the spell completed.
Trixie declined to comment, instead firing another of her exploding force beams directly at Rarity’s face.
Rarity weaved left to dodge the beam, but was surprised to see it bounce off the wall behind her and ricochet about the stage before finally hitting the floor and exploding. She winced - avoiding ricocheting spell beams was tricky business. Perhaps somepony with a knack for physics would be able to predict where the beams would go on each bounce, but-
Trixie let out a barking laugh as she fired five beams into the walls around her.
Rarity, coincidentally, did not have a knack for physics, but she did possess a keen eye for detail, which proved to be a blessing as she managed to dance around the beams as they barely missed striking her by inches. The situation wasn’t good, Rarity thought to herself, since Trixie could essentially continue to rain beam after beam upon her until one eventually met its mark.
One of the beams exploded right in front of her face, turning into glittering shrapnel. Her expression brightened as a new plan came to fruition. As she dodged, she kept her horn alight, focusing neither on the projectiles nor her opponent, but on the stage, the ground beneath it, the sky above, and not least of all the ponies in the audience. Her mind’s eye filled with blue motes of light as her signature spell did its work.
A full minute later, Rarity was satisfied with her progress and shut off her spell, remembering each and every single spot of light. Her horn flashed again, and the spots became visible to the naked eye, drawing Trixie’s attention.
“What are you doing?” she dared to ask.
Rarity simply smirked, turning to face the audience. “I would like to apologize in advance for what I am about to do. Any articles of clothing I damage as a result of my actions can be taken to Carousel Boutique, where they shall be repaired and re-set, free of charge, once I conclude our duel.”
“Don’t talk to the crowd like you-” Trixie began to retort, but she was cut off by another rumbling noise.
There was a flash of light, followed by the sounds of cracking earth and a few flustered audience members - one filly in particular was crying to her father that her tiara was ruined. Within moments, jewels began to swarm through the air, swathed in Rarity’s powerful telekinesis.
Trixie didn’t even have time to marvel at the sight when Rarity began her attack. Gems pelted Trixie from all directions, never giving her a chance to recover, let alone put up a shield of any substance. In her frustration she let several beams fly, but they did nothing to halt the attack.
They did momentarily serve as a distraction, though, as the laser beams continued to carom between the walls of force. With a toss of her mane, Rarity guided her swarm, collecting them into a sphere around herself that deflected the beams harmlessly away. With no effort at all, she then turned the swarm of jewels into a concentrated stream of projectiles directed straight at Trixie.
Trixie smiled as she found her opening. “Time for some prestidigitation,” she called out to the crowd. “Behold! An ordinary silk wizarding hat!” She whipped her own hat off of her head, tipping it over to reveal it was empty. With a magical flourish she tossed her hat in the gems’ path, grinning with glee as they vanished within its depths. “Now you see them...”
Trixie leapt up to catch her hat in her own hooves and waved it about. “...now you don’t!” She took a short bow, inverting her hat for good measure - the gems were nowhere to be found.
Rarity gasped audibly, genuinely impressed.
“But where have they gone, you ask?” Trixie said, dividing her attention equally between Rarity and the stupefied crowd. “Well, to answer that question, why don’t we follow the bouncing balls?”
“follow... bouncing... what?” Rarity asked.
Trixie beamed as she inverted her hat once more, retrieving three small spheres glowing every color of the rainbow. She tossed one into the air and caught it again. “Think fast!” Trixie jeered as she fired the ball at Rarity with a burst of telekinetic force.
Rarity leapt to the side, out of the way, as the ball struck the ground and burst with an explosion of light and a shower of gems. She felt stinging cuts against her right legs where the makeshift grenade had exploded. The sudden onset of pain caused her to crumple to the floor, looking up at a triumphant Trixie.
“Do you yield?” Trixie asked smugly. In response, Rarity simply glared, returning to her hooves on her own power. Trixie raised an eyebrow, the corners of her lips turning up in a ghost of a smile. “Fine,” she said, tossing the second glittering sphere. Rarity whipped her body around, swatting the projectile with her tail and sending it off to her right.
This proved to be a mistake; Trixie snickered as the ball bounced off of the wall and back towards Rarity. She threw the third and final sphere, relishing as the two collided with each other right in front of Rarity’s face.
The resulting explosion of light and color sent the white unicorn tumbling across the stage until she collided with one of the shield columns. The crack of her impact snapped the column in half, causing the shield to flicker away.
Twilight swooped down from her aerial vantage point. “Rarity!” she cried out. “Are you alright?” She reached a hoof to Rarity’s crumpled form on the stage...
...only to have it swatted away. “Not now,” Rarity groaned. “...‘m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine,” Twilight argued.
Trixie used the momentary lull to her advantage, hyping up the crowd. “That was a fine duel, was it not?” The quiet mumbling that came in response indicated to Trixie that she had won over at least part of the audience. “Trixie would tip her hat to her opponent, but...” Trixie inverted her hat once more and a flock of doves emerged, flying off into the sky. “...who knows what would come out?”
That set the crowd off in a set of renewed cheers and laughter. Trixie relished the sound, smiling quietly before remembering herself. “Twilight Sparkle? Is the duel over?”
A flying jewel buzzed her ear.
“Not by a long shot,” Rarity’s voice bellowed in response.
Trixie turned to the far corner of the stage, seeing a livid white unicorn ready for another round. Next to her, Twilight could do naught but shrug her shoulders. “A round of applause for Trixie’s opponent!” Trixie said as stomps and cheers resonated through the air.
Understanding flitted across Rarity’s facial features for a brief second before it settled into a self-satisfied grin. “Save the sympathy. We’ll see who cheers for whom after this is over!” she cried out so the audience could hear. She reared back, horn glittering a brilliant blue, and charged at Trixie amid cries for more.
Trixie responded in kind, galloping towards Rarity with a fully charged horn. The resultant blast of light and color lit up the night sky amid thunderous applause.
Rarity perked up her ears at the sound of tinkling bells. She put on her new-customer face and took a deep breath. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique!” she said in her practiced, refined lilt, “Where every garment is-” Rarity’s face fell at the sight of an extremely cross unicorn. “Hello, Trixie,” she said, sheepishly.
“Rarity,” Trixie grunted.
Rarity stepped aside and allowed the showmare through. “What brings you in to see me?”
Trixie put a hoof to her chest. “The Great and Powerful Trixie would like to-” At the sight of Rarity’s exasperated look, she sighed. “Ahem. I would like to know... why did you throw the fight?”
Rarity coughed emphatically. “I did no such thing!”
Trixie hooked a limb around Rarity’s neck and brought her in closer. “You had plenty of opportunities to stop my attacks. And then you telegraphed all of yours for miles. Oh, and let’s not forget the showy, inconclusive ending!”
“I thought showmareship was your raison d'être,” Rarity replied weakly. “Don’t tell me you didn’t appreciate the explosion.”
Trixie put a hoof to her lip, conceding the point. Donations had poured in immediately afterwards... but she was digressing. “You’re avoiding the question, Rarity. Why a draw?”
In response, Rarity slipped out of Trixie’s grasp, tossed her mane back, and stared into Trixie’s eyes. “What was the point of the duel?”
“Excuse me?” Trixie’s face was the picture of indignation.
“You came here to duel with Twilight. Why?”
Trixie pursed her lips in frustration. “To make my comeback, of course. What better way to win the crowd than by besting your greatest rival in-”
Rarity placed a hoof over Trixie’s mouth. “Don’t lie to me. I may not be the Element of Honesty, but I’ve dealt with enough of the Canterlot elite to know a what a lie looks like.” Trixie pulled away from Rarity’s grasp, but before she could open her mouth to speak, Rarity cut in again. “It’s not about the crowd, is it? This is about you.”
Trixie’s eyes widened as she stared at Rarity in shock. But when the white unicorn did not press the issue further, her expression softened. “I need to know... that I am good enough.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“You... and Twilight, and your other friends... you will go down in history,” she continued. “Your legacy will go on for centuries.” Trixie shed her hat, which to Rarity’s eyes somehow looked more tattered than ever. “I want to know that I can do that, too. Great and Powerful aren’t just titles... they’re what I want to be. I want to leave my mark on history.”
Rarity smiled. “You don’t want to be forgotten,” she replied as she sauntered away, circling her counter again and ducking underneath it.
“Th-that’s what Trixie just said, didn’t she?” Trixie’s face flushed, bright red even against her blue coat.
Rarity lifted herself back into view, carrying a ribboned box by her teeth. Trixie eyed the package - it was a deep purple, and had the words “Carousel Boutique” letterpressed on its lid above an image of Rarity’s cutie mark. She beckoned for Trixie to approach, which she did warily.
“First, a gift,” Rarity explained. She used her magic to undo the ribbon and lift the lid. “This should make up for the cape I inadvertently ruined, I hope.”
Trixie peered into the box - only for her jaw to drop to the floor. She saw shimmering indigo fabric framing a picture-perfect depiction of her cutie mark stitched with silk thread. With a burst of telekinesis, she lifted the cloth out of the box. This was no ordinary cloak - it seemed to scatter light across its surface, turning a rainbow of blues and purples and greens in the spring sunshine.
The cloak came with a matching hat - not mere felt covered up with patches, but sleek and smooth silk, decorated only with a light blue ribbon at the brim and a jeweled charm of her cutie mark at the hat’s tip.
“This... this is...”
“Come now,” Rarity said, the excitement in the room contagious. “Don’t be shy, dear. Put it on.”
Trixie did so without hesitation. The cloak looked even better framing her body - if that were even possible. “How did you get it to shimmer like-”
“Sapphire, emerald, and diamond dust, mostly,” said Rarity with a smirk. “There was plenty of it to go around after the duel and subsequent jewelry repairs.”
Trixie couldn’t believe her eyes. “I had no idea you could create something so beautiful!”
“Exactly.” Trixie’s brow furrowed, but she allowed Rarity to continue. “Trixie, you’re probably right. Centuries from now, ponies will know about how Princess Twilight Sparkle and her five friends wielded the Elements of Harmony and ushered in a new era of prosperity and peace. But how many of them will know my name, or that I ran the Carousel Boutique?”
Trixie huffed. “That’s preposterous. Who could possibly forget you?”
Rarity grinned wryly. “Name each of the six current Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”
“E-each of the six?” Trixie blanched. “Well, there’s you, and Twilight, of course... the rainbow pegasus, and the pink rock farmer... or was the orange one the farmer?” Rarity’s grin stretched from ear to ear, causing Trixie to blush. “That’s not fair, you put me on the spot!”
“Mm. Quite. Rainbow Dash and Applejack would be livid right now. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, on the other hoof...” Rarity watched Trixie squirm for a few moments before continuing. “The point I’m trying to make, darling, is this. We are only mortal.”
Rarity looked past Trixie, over to a framed picture of her friends on the far wall. “Our time on the stage is limited, and our influence only slightly less so. It is therefore our imperative to put on as good a show as we can.”
Trixie’s eyes widened as the weight of her words sank in. “A show?”
Rarity nodded. “And as a showmare, you can’t be beat, Trixie.”
Trixie cleared her throat, choking back her simultaneous desires to laugh, cry, and wrap Rarity in a big hug. “You’re too kind, Rarity,” she said, “really. I thank you.” She stood up and offered her hoof.
Rarity took it with her own and the pair shook. “Generosity is my thing, it seems,” she joked. “Now... go on. Go out there and dazzle them.”
“Mares and stallions, colts and fillies! Meet the mare who stopped an Ursa Major with a single hoof! The mare whose grasp of the unknown is unfathomable! The mare who went blow for blow with the Elements of Harmony themselves and survived, who has glimpsed the edge of corruption and come back unscathed! The one! The only! The Great and Powerful, Trrrrrixie!”
Author's Note
Sorry-not-sorry for the abrupt ending.
