GBOYHVerse: Magic Duel

by Godzillawolf

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Original Character, Trixie, Comedy
Length: 14760

Sequel to Trixie Getting Back On Her Hooves and Perfect Companions. Trixie bought the Alicorn Amulet and sought revenge on Ponyville and Twilight...but what about in a world where the two are already friends? And had been for a good while?

Sequel to Trixie's Getting Back On Her Hooves and Perfect Companions

Live Reading Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

In the episode Magic Duel, Trixie returned with the Alicorn Amulet to take her revenge on Ponyville and Twilight Sparkle...but what happened in a world where they're friends? And have been for a good while?

Trixie has been living in Ponyville for a good time since the defeat of her insane sister Checker Monarch. Life is going well for the blue mare. She's the mane cast's friend, she has a pet of her own, and she even has a house...sort of.

But when the Princess and some Delegates from Saddle Arabia are set to come to Ponyville with a show, things get a bit complicated...

Thanks to ItsfromPeople for Beta reading and birthright1979 for corrections!

Thanks to Paraderpy for the cover art!

Trope Page: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/GettingBackOnYourHooves

Published 2013-08-18 00:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-12 14:28:22 UTC

The Challenge

Getting Back On Your Hooves Verse: Magic Duel

“Behold Ponyville! Prepare for amazing and terrifying displays of magic the like of which you’ve never seen!” screamed Trixie in a black cloak, her eyes glowing red as lightning roared in the background. “Now! Trixie hopes you enjoy screaming! Because you shall be doing a lot of it! HAHAHAHA!” she laughed evilly as lightning continued to crash.

“…So, what do you think? Terrifying enough?”

Sally whimpered, giving a quick nod.

Trixie took off the hood of her cloak and nuzzled her pet. “And you even managed not to spray, Trixie is proud of you!”

She floated off her cloak and hung it up. “Thank Princess Luna Zecora knew where Trixie could find a terrifying cloak. Rarity’s an amazing designer, but her idea of what’s terrifying is well…not so horrifying…” Trixie wondered how Rarity could maintain her cool in the face of somepony like King Sombra or Checker Monarch, but a tacky dress made her freak out. It was rather odd. Though perhaps it was because those two insane control freaks at least had some style when it came to their evil wardrobes.

The showmare noticed Sally looking at her somewhat confused. “Trixie knows it’s a bit confusing to plan a Nightmare Night show so far in advance, but Princess Luna is going to be there and Trixie wants to make a good impression. And besides, Trixie still needs to get the details of her sinister chariot hammered out.”

Said chariot was presently sitting unpainted with the wheel axles broken. “The wheels keep breaking off…” she muttered, glaring at the wheels. “Hopefully by Nightmare Night Trixie will have found more trustworthy wheels…”

Trixie looked around her room. There were posters from the plays she’d been narrator for…and a small toy collection of which Trixie was proud. It’d taken a few months to earn the bits to buy it but between the work at the theatre and doing odd jobs around town, she’d finally succeeded. Well…technically, the building wasn’t just hers, she shared it with two other ponies, but she had her own room and her housemates were both her kind of ponies…each in their own way. She’d have to thank Pinkie again for helping set it.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like staying with Twilight, she just wanted some space…and to give Twilight her own. Sure, she was now sharing a house with two ponies, but she had her own room to make...well, hers, something she didn’t have at the library, which was undoubtedly Twilight‘s. And she still saw plenty of Twilight.

After setting out some food and water for her pet, she headed out into the hallway. “Octavia, Trixie is going to meet up with Fluttershy and Rarity. Please make sure to remind Vinyl Sally is present when she wakes up.”

The Earth Pony gave a nod. “Certainly, Trixie. As amusing as seeing Vinyl walking around pink was, the stench was far from worth it.”

“Um…Trixie is once more sorry about that incident…”

“Oh, it’s quite alright, Sally’s been quite well-behaved and at least it finally broke Vinyl’s annoying habit of bursting into rooms playing dubtrot full blast on her boom box. I have been trying to do that for months.”

Vinyl had taken being skunked surprisingly well, all things considered. Then again Vinyl being in a bad mood was about as frequent as Fluttershy being mean. Had only happen a hoof full of times and one had involved Discord.

The two were interrupted by a knock at the door. The showmare opened it to find a brown stallion with a darker brown mane, hourglass cutie mark, and a green tie. And a very strange device that was going ding for some reason. “Um…hello?”

The stallion pointed the device at her and it dinged several times. “Oh! I get it now! Well fancy that!”

“Um…fancy what?”

“Oh, my timey wimey detector was going off…”

“Uh…timey wimey detector?”

“Yes, it goes ding when there’s stuff.”

“Should Trixie be concerned it went ding while pointed at her?”

“Sometimes, but looks like this time it’s just a rudimentary timeline split, apparently centering around you, nothing to worry about!”

“Wait, what do you-”

“Sorry, I must get going, my companion and I have a planet of muffins to go visit and I need to plan it out!”

“Wait, tell Trixie what…and he’s gone…What just happened?!”

Octavia chuckled. “That is just the Doctor, you get used to it.”

Trixie got the feeling she knew more than she let on. Or maybe Ponyville was even stranger than Trixie had thought.

Trixie trotted towards the cream colored pony’s cottage. “Trixie wonders how F-”

“Stop! Stop! They can’t take it!”

Trixie blinked. “Trixie is now uncertain whether or not she wants to know…”

Trixie teleported quickly, landing on the bridge to Fluttershy’s cottage…and witnessed Twilight floating several animals in the air in a Mebius loop, being watched by an excited Spike and a fearful Fluttershy.

“…Why is it Trixie always arrives in the middle of bizarre situations?” Trixie asked herself.

The showmare trotted over to her friends as Twilight set the animals down safely…though Fluttershy continued cowering. “Uh…hello, Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy,” Trixie announced, recovering her traditional dramatic flourish.

Twilight smiled, turning to Trixie as the animals all rushed to comfort Fluttershy. “Hello, Trixie, it‘s nice to see you.”

Trixie smiled in returned, giving her ‘sister’ a hug. “As is it for Trixie…would you mind telling Trixie what’s going on?…And if she wants to know…”

Spike hopped up on Twilight’s back. “Twilight’s practicing for a show for the Princess and the delegates from Saddle Arabia.”

Trixie‘s eyes became comparable to dinner plates. “De-de-delegates from Saddle Arabia?! P-P-Princess?! S-show?”

Twilight blushed slightly. “Sort of…Princess Celestia put me in charge of the entertainment for the delegates…Is something wrong?”

Trixie stared for a few moments before she shook herself out of her daze. “Wrong?…No…Nothing is wrong,” the blue unicorn forced a smile. “Trixie is…happy you’ve been trusted with such a wonderful opportunity. Performing before the Princess and delegates from somewhere as beautiful as Saddle Arabia is a once in a life time opportunity! Why wouldn’t Trixie be…happy for her friend having such a wonderful chance?! She certainly wouldn‘t pass up such a chance! Ever! In fact she‘d jump on it like Pinkie Pie on a cupcake! So enjoy yourself!”

Twilight blinked, looking at the forced smile on her friend’s face…and almost painful attempts to hide the jealousy and desire to be in the spotlight for her friend‘s sake.

Twilight looked over to Fluttershy as the timid Pegasus went over each and every one of her friends with a fine-toothed comb to make sure they were alright. She then looked to Trixie, who reminded her of Rarity‘s attempts not to show how much she wanted Spike‘s Fire Ruby.

A thought formed in her mind. “…Trixie…Fluttershy’s worried that the trick might be a little much for her animals to handle…so perhaps we could do something together instead?”

Trixie grinned from ear to ear. “YES!YES!YES!YES!…” The mare cleared her throat. “Uh…Trixie means…are you sure?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, it’ll probably be a lot more entertaining a show. Two heads are better than one!”

“Then…thank you…Trixie…I would be most grateful for that, Twilight,” the azure unicorn replied, giving a genuinely grateful smile.

Twilight returned the smile. “Well, you are the resident showmare, I’m actually rather surprised I’d not thought to ask you before…”

Spike tapped Twilight on the shoulder. “Twilight…what about making the Princess proud?” he whispered. “Are you ok sharing this with Trixie?”

“That’s important to me, Spike…but performance is her life,” Twilight whispered, looking back as Trixie was trying to celebrate in the most modest way she could…which considering it was Trixie, consisted of giddily practicing how she’d introduce herself to the Princess in an overly dramatic fashion. “Being able to perform for the Princess and the delegates would be a great thing for her and look at how happy she is…I‘m willing to share the Princess‘ attention if it helps my friend.”

Spike looked at Trixie glee at the knowledge she’d be able to perform for the Princess. He gave a small smile. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“And besides, the Princess has me here studying friendship, so doing a show for her with one of my friends just seems like a good idea. And if we want the Princess and the delegates to have a good performance, having a real showmare costar will go a long way to do that.”

Twilight nodded, then looked to Trixie. “Trixie, what are we going to do?”

Trixie blinked, her euphoria finally dying down. “Trixie…does not know. Most of Trixie‘s acts are practiced to be performed with…”

“Your coltfriend?” Spike joked.

Trixie blushed. “…with Stage Hoof, or Sally. And…well, Trixie’s the star of all those instead of the co-star…Trixie doesn‘t have any prepared performances for a co-star…and from the sound of things, there‘s not enough time for you to learn a play Trixie could narrate…”

The two unicorns put hooves to their chins and gave it thought.

“Hey! Why don’t you make it a competition?” suggested Spike.

The two mares stared at him in confusion.

“Like you both just show off your magic? Like those competitions unicorns do back in Canterlot…” the baby dragon suggested.

“You mean like an exhibition magic duel?” Twilight asked. “I’m not sure that’d be fair, I’m Trixie’s magic tutor and it doesn‘t really sound frien-”

Trixie put on her game face. “You‘re one of Trixie’s tutors, Twilight. Trixie has been training with her grandmother, a master at theatre magic, and been doing a considerable amount of training on her own. And believe it or not, Trixie went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns just like you.”

Twilight and Spike both blinked. “You…you did?”

Trixie gave her typical smug smirk. “Yes, she did. Checker was so jealous of Trixie…well, more jealous than normal.” She frowned for a moment as she let herself think about what she’d just said, but quickly shook it off to let her excitement return.

“…Then how come you didn’t know I was Celestia’s personal student?” asked Twilight, cocking her head.

“Because you spent most of your time in your room or with Celestia and when you left, there was normally a book hiding your face,” Spike pointed out.

“…Point taken…So we do an exhibition duel?” asked Twilight. It didn’t seem as friendly as working together, but for some reason the idea of a competition seemed to get Trixie so excited. And so long as it didn’t turn into Applejack and Rainbow Dash at the Running of the Leaves, it was still a friendly competition.

“If you think you can handle Trixie Lulamoon Midsummer!” Trixie announced in her over the top fashion with a playful grin.

Twilight gave one of her own. “Alright, Trixie. You’re on.”

“Um…excuse me…”

The two unicorns and a dragon turned to look at the source of the voice, the resident timid little pegasus.

“Um…Trixie…Rarity’s probably waiting…”

Trixie blinked for a moment, then gave a sheepish smile. “Oh…yes, Trixie forgot she had a prior appointment.”

“Really, darling?” asked Rarity, getting a massage from Aloe of the Spa Twins. She’d taken to inviting Trixie along with her and Fluttershy. The showmare may have not been Canterlot nobility, but she was still somepony who understood the finer things in life. Considering she was from Hoofington, it was little surprise.

Trixie nodded, presently getting a mud bath to make sure she looked her best later on. “Yes! Trixie is so excited she could just scream! Performing in front of the Princesses and the delegates! She can‘t thank Twilight enough for this honor!”

Fluttershy (presently getting a hooficure) smiled at her friend’s glee and excitement. “I’m happy for you, Trixie…”

“Yes, darling, it’s simply divine,” Rarity added, giving a grin. “This will be so good for your career! Maybe you can finally get that…um Ursa off your back.”

Trixie gave a shudder. “Y-Yes…H-Hopefully the U-Usra minor incident will finally be put behind of Trixie…” She shook off the momentary fear stemming from her rather justifiable phobia of Ursas.

The memories of that horrible time flashed through her head. Losing everything. Her home, her career, all of her possessions. She’d been left with nothing. And then there was seeing that…that creature’s roaring maw right in front of her face. The mere thought made a chill go down her spine. Even with her success since then and having made her atonement for what had happened…she still knew many still judged her for what happened so long ago and wouldn‘t let what her own lie had done to her stay in the past. That it was a burden she could not cast off. She knew even defeating her insane sister wasn’t enough. No one had seen the battle in Checker’s dreamscape to know how hard it had been.

Trixie got a confident smile. “Now Trixie will finally wash away the burden her past has put on her!”

“That‘s the spirit, Trixie!” Rarity cheered, excited for her friend. She then gave a small cry as her back cracked during the massage.

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, Trixie, I hope you do well…”

“Trixie will put on a show the likes of which none have ever seen!” Trixie exclaimed, in her usual overly dramatic fashion…a little too overly dramatic.

Rarity cleared her throat and Trixie looked up to see the mare covered in mud.

“Um…sorry…but you know, that color does actually look good on you…”

“This shade of brown should only be used for accents!”

Twilight tapped her chin, sitting with Spike at a local restaurant and eating a daisy sandwich. “So what kind of spells should I practice for a magic exhibition?” she asked, rubbing her chin. “It’s not like an exam, it’s all about what Trixie might try…”

“You know plenty of spells, I’m sure it’ll be fine, Twilight,” Spike replied, giving a smile as he hammered up a poster nearby for the event.

Twilight blinked. “…Where did you get posters for it already?”

“I’m a scribe, I have my ways…”

Twilight gave him a raised eyebrow.

“Alright, alright, I figured you’d get Trixie involved somehow, so I had these ready and just needed to know what it was going to be,” the baby dragon then gave a smirk. “You’re Twilight, like you’d really pass up a chance to help your friend. I just asked you about the Princess to make sure you were alright with it.”

Twilight blinked in confusion. “And the Magic Duel?”

“That I kind of came up with there, but seemed like a good idea to let Trixie show off, hehe, not like she needs an excuse…and maybe showing she can stand toe to toe with Twilight Sparkle will be enough to get people to finally forget about the Ursa for good.”

Twilight then gave a warm smile and hugged him. “Thank you, Spike.”

She wondered if Trixie’s excitement over this was for that reason: the idea of proving herself to those who judged her based on what had happened in the past and leaving the Usra Incident that had ruined her life behind her.

Spike smiled back and returned the hug. “Hehe, what are assistants for?”

Twilight gave a small smile. “Well, I think my assistant just earned himself some gems.”

Spike smiled widely. “Alright!”

Twilight quickly finished her sandwich and trotted off with Spike in toe…As Bonbon and Lyra set down at the table they’d just vacated.

“Lyra, I’m glad you’ve gotten roles in plays as human characters, but I still think you’re too obsessed with…Hey, what’s this?” Bonbon noticed, drawing Lyra’s attention to the poster Spike had hung.

“Hmm…” Trixie said, looking at one of Spike’s posters he’d hung up. Then giving a somewhat vain smile. “It is a beautiful picture of Trixie. Really captures her good side.”

“Trixie!” called a familiar voice.

Trixie smiled, turning to see Snips and Snails running up to her. “Why hello, how are Trixie’s number one fans and apprentices doing this fine morning?” she asked the two colts.

“We’re doing great, Miss Great and Powerful Trixie!” called Snails.

“Now now, don’t call Trixie that,” the showmare replied. “She is no longer the Great and Powerful Trixie, she’s Trixie Lulamoon, or Trixie Midsummer, or Trixie Lulamoon Midsummer…She’s also considering the Magnificent Trixie.”

The two colts nodded. “Alright, the Magnificent Trixie!” Snips replied.

Snips then floated one of Spike’s posters out of a saddle bag, having gotten better at his magic from training with Trixie. “We saw this, is it true?!”

Trixie chuckled and took a rather high class pose. “Why yes, Trixie and Twilight Sparkle shall have a magic duel before Princess Celestia!”

“Are you going to win, the Magnificent Trixie?” Snips asked, the two colts staring at her in amazement.

“Is there any doubt?” the mare asked with a chuckle. “Though of course, Twilight is Trixie’s friend, so she’ll be quite pleased no matter what happens.”

“Well we’ll be cheering for you, the Magnificent Trixie!” they announced.

Trixie smiled as her two fans ran off to do…colt things. “Trixie loves her fans.”

Trixie continued to trot on. She noticed some ponies looking over another poster. “Spike certainly made a number of posters, didn’t he?…Trixie thinks she shall get a closer look…”

The showmare teleported to a bush nearby, seeing it was Bonbon, Lyra, and a pink mare with a yellow mane and cherries for her Cutie Mark.

“See, Cherry Berry, I told you, didn’t I?” asked Bonbon, pointing to the poster.

“Yes, you did Bonbon,” Cherry Berry replied, looking closely.

Trixie put a hoof to her ear to listen closely. Unlike her villainous sister, she never learned an eavesdropping spell.

“Poor Trixie, she doesn’t have a prayer,” Bonbon stated.

Trixie blinked. “W-what?”

“Yeah, Twilight’s like Princess Celestia’s personal student and knows like a hundred different spells,” stated Cherry Berry. “She is like the highest level unicorn there is. I mean didn’t Trixie learn from the last time when Twilight took care of that Ursa Minor that was kicking Trixie’s flank?”

“Feel kinda sorry for her,” Lyra remarked, looking sympathetic. “I mean she’s not a bad pony anymore, and now she’s going to get humiliated again.”

“Still, we might as well go, should be fun for a laugh. And at least we‘ll get to see Twilight in action, she‘s good at magic.”

“Of course she’s good at magic. Twilight’s great at magic. That’s why poor Trixie’s gonna get destroyed.”

Trixie watched the three trot off, irises shrinking to pinpricks and ears pinning back.

“We know about Ponyville, you hack!”

“Fought any Ursa Minors lately, the Weak and Pathetic Trixie?”

“Couldn‘t even tickle an Ursa Minor, why would we believe you beat an Ursa Major?”

“T-Trixie may n-not have t-thought this out as well as she thought…”

Twilight sat in the library, letting Spike eat his gems she’d got him. She thought carefully about how to go about this magic duel. “I know Spike had a point about not being sure what to expect, but still, a little practice wouldn’t hurt…”

A few moments later, the door swung open and in walked Carrot Top, or Golden Harvest as she was otherwise known. “Um, Twilight Sparkle?” she asked, looking around the room.

“Oh! Hello Carrot Top!” called Twilight’s voice.

The mare looked up to find Twilight standing on the ceiling. “Um…hello there…”

Twilight’s horn glowed and she teleported to the floor. “Sorry, practicing my gravity spells, haven’t used them since that whole thing with King Sombra.”

“So I see…For your magic duel with Trixie later?” the carrot farmer asked.

“Yeah, did you see Spike’s posters?”

“No, Derpy told me after seeing one of the posters on the way to visit the Doctor. Something about finally visiting a Muffin Planet.”

Twilight blinked. “Oh…Right…Well, I am just refreshing my memory on some of my older spells to prepare for it.”

Carrot Top gave a slow nod. “Well I’m not entirely certain why you feel the need to do that.”

Twilight cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

“Well dear, you’re the Princess’ personal student,” the orange mare explained. “And last time you came to a head with magic involved, you beat an Ursa Major she couldn’t even tickle. You probably won’t even need to break a sweat to beat her.”

Twilight suddenly felt a knowing sense of dread in her stomach. “Well…she’s gotten a lot better since then…”

“And so have you, dear,” Carrot Top pointed out. “So doesn’t that balance things out?”

Twilight pinned her ears. “Oh…Well…”

Carrot Top nodded. “Well, I was just making sure I knew what was going on. I had best be going. Derpy’s watching Noi for me and I’d better get back before she empties my fridge…again. Have a good day, Miss Twilight.”

As the farmer left, Twilight suddenly gave a worried whimper. “…This might not have been such a good idea…”

To Be Continued

The Preparations

The Preparations

“This is not good, not good…” muttered Trixie trotting back and forth in her room as Sally just watched her.

“How could Trixie forget Twilight is the Princess’ personal student?! Trixie is going to be crushed! And then…”

Trixie’s mind was filled with memories of being ponies laughing, ponies insulting. Being pelted off stage by rotten tomatoes.

The showmare shivered at the memory. “No, not again…I-I can’t be a laughing stock again!” she muttered, pinning her ears back in fear.

“I’ll get demolished! And in front of P-Princess C-Celestia!” Trixie exclaimed, her mind filled with a mental image of Celestia laughing at her humiliation. “The first I will ever perform in front of Princess Celestia and I’ll be humiliated! I’ll have to flee town in shame and live as a hobo…again! I might even have to work on a rock farm! Imagine me! On a rock farm!” she exclaimed, almost hyperventilating. “Well…there is one thing I could try but…I’m not sure…” she stated out loud, desperation in her tone. “I haven’t considered getting that since…”

She blinked, feeling something tapping her leg. She looked down and saw her pet skunk looking up at her. “…Yes Sally?”

The skunk gave some chattering, pointing to a picture nearby with her tail.

Trixie followed the white stripe to a picture of a certain white unicorn stallion. “Stage Hoof?”

The skunk nodded.

“You’re suggesting Trixie talk to Stage Hoof about this situation?”

The skunk gave a nod with a smile.

“A-Alright, Trixie doesn’t think Trixie has anything to lose by doing so and most of Trixie‘s mental images don‘t include him laughing at her…she hopes…”

Twilight paced back and forth, mane becoming disheveled. “Oh this is not good, this is not good!”

Spike walked down from the upper floor of the library and blinked, watching Twilight’s antics. “Uh…Twilight, what’s going on?”

Twilight jumped slightly. “Spike, it’s horrible!”

Spike sighed. “Did you forget to schedule time to schedule next month’s schedule…again?”

“No! Worse!”

Spike blinked. “Wow…this must be bad…” the little dragon said, walking down to the floor. “What is it?”

“It’s my magic duel with Trixie!” she said, pulling her copies of the friendship lessons off their shelf via telekinesis.

“…Yeah? It’s happening, what about it?” the dragon chick asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Carrot Top came in and pointed out one BIG flaw in it! A REALLY big flaw!” the lavender unicorn exclaimed, feverishly looking through her Friendship Reports.

“And that would be?”

“I’m me!”

Spike faceclawed “And how is that a problem?”

“Because I’m Celestia’s personal student! You said it yourself! I’m the strongest unicorn in Equestria! Trixie isn’t! I’m going to crush her! She’ll be humiliated! And I’ll be a horrible friend for doing it in front of the Princess! When I’m supposed to be studying friendship! I…I don‘t want to hurt my friend…Trixie is my friend! I will not hurt her!” Twilight said, a pile of read through friendship reports forming beside her.

Spike blinked. “That…is actually a problem…”

“Of course it’s a problem! Why would I be panicking if it wasn’t?!”

Spike gave a flat look. “Because you’re Twilight.”

“Put it in the schedule for me to glare at you for that later! I need to figure out what to do!”

“Couldn’t you just, you know, hold back?” the little dragon asked simply.

“No! It’s in front of Princess Celestia! I can’t hold back! She’ll know I held back! Or think that I’m falling behind on my studies! Or-AHH!”

Spike looked up at the now drenched unicorn, holding a metal bucket. “Twilight, calm down.”

Twilight took a breath pulling a hoof to her chest and extended it while breathing out. “Thanks. I needed that…”

“Twilight, you really think the Princess would be mad at you for holding back so you don’t hurt a friend?” the baby dragon asked, putting the bucket down. “Remember when she rewarded you for letting me and Cadence stop King Sombra instead of you?” he asked, a bit smugly as he mentioned helping defeat the Crystal Empire tyrant.

Twilight nodded, but her worry didn’t seem to subside. “You’re right but…that’s not the only problem.”

Spike sighed. “What else?”

“Trixie won’t LET me do that.”

“Uh…why?”

“Because her pride won’t let her accept me taking it easy on her!” exclaimed the unicorn, placing another friendship letter into the pile.

“Then why not give her a talking to? Like you did with Applejack back in Apple Buck Season?”

“Because that might hurt her worse!” Twilight replied. “Can you imagine how she’d feel if I told her ‘you’re too weak to stand a chance against me?!’ Hearing stuff like that hurt her enough coming from Checker! It’d crush her coming from her friend!”

Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, you’re right. It’d destroy her. Totally crush her, completely devas…I’m not helping, am I?”

Twilight gave a cry of anguish and slammed her head into the floor.

“Sorry…”

“And none of my friendship reports have the answer! We haven’t had a friendship problem like this before!” Twilight exclaimed, putting the last one into the pile.

“What about ‘when you try to please everypony you’ll end up pleasing nopony, especially yourself’?” Spike asked, looking at the report in question.

“I thought about that, but I don’t want to hurt my friend! No pony involved wants Trixie to get hurt! Her getting hurt would please nopony!”

“Oh…yeah, good point…“ Spike scratched his chin, thinking about it. “Hey, why not ask one of the others? I know one of our lessons has been about that.”

Twilight’s face brightened up. “That’s right! They’re my friends! One of them is bound to have the answer! Thanks Spike!”

The baby dragon chuckled and gave a smirk. “What would you do without me?”

Twilight hugged Spike. “I never want to know.”

“…so I’m going to be humiliated! I’ll have to run out of town in shame and become a hobo again!”

“Trixie-”

“Do you think rock farms are as dull and boring as they say?!”

“Um…Trixie?”

“I don’t want to work on a rock farm!”

Sally leapt up on the table and hissed, lifting her tail in Trixie’s direction, causing the started unicorn to cover her muzzle with her hooves in preparation of being sprayed. The skunk simply lowered her tail and smiled to Stage Hoof.

“Thank you, Sally,” the stallion replied. They were sitting in his apartment in Ponyville. The walls were decked out with theatre posters and other memorabilia. In fact, it seemed the entire room was themed after theatre, including the curtains resembling those found on a stage. A basket set near the window, Stage Hoof’s pet fox Violet curled up asleep inside.

The skunk gave a nod and jumped off the table, allowing her owner to recover from the surprise and uncover her snout. “You could’ve told Trixie a little louder.”

“I know…sorry…” said Stage Hoof, somewhat timidly.

Trixie rubbed her head. While Stage Hoof had gotten a lot better, he had still spent his entire life under somepony’s hoof, whether it was his father or Checker Monarch. It was little wonder he had some issues with asserting himself.

“But be that as it may…Why couldn’t you simply back out?” asked Stage Hoof. “Twilight wouldn’t think less of you.”

“No…she wouldn’t…but Trixie would think less of herself. And so would the town,” Trixie said, looking down at her hooves. “Trixie would be a coward…again…” Her ears pinned back as the mocking echoed in her head once more.

Stage Hoof gave a sympathetic look. “Well…what about…you know…asking Twilight to pull her punches?”

“No! Trixie is NOT going to ask Twilight to hold back!” Trixie replied, suddenly serious. “Trixie still has her pride, she is not going to beg anypony to go easy on her!” she continued…before her confidence seemed to just vanish and be replaced by vulnerability. “Besides…I made such a show of challenging Twilight that there’s no way I’d be able to live down backing out or asking her to go easy on me...”

Stage Hoof frowned. “Well…perhaps you could try and train?”

“What’s the point?”

“Well that way maybe you could perhaps manage to at least make a good show out of it? Maybe that way you won‘t do badly and you can at least come out smelling like a rose?”

Trixie blinked, looking up. “I…Trixie supposes that could be a good idea…but…who? Grandmother isn’t going to be here until the duel itself.”

Stage Hoof rubbed his chin. “Hmm…what about Zecora? You did learn from a Zebra when you were a filly and from what Twilight said, she is a very wise mare.”

Trixie gave a small smile, though not a confident one. “That…might just work…it most certainly couldn‘t hurt…”

“My Twilight, that is quite the situation,” said Rarity, rubbing her chin as they set in her boutique, Spike eating the leftover gems she had provided him with. “But why come to me right away? This feels more like a problem Applejack could help with.”

Twilight sighed. “Applejack is a good, honest, dependable pony, but she’s a terrible liar. And Trixie knows all her tells like the front of her hoof. All it’d take would be for Trixie to ask the right question and she’d know something’s wrong.”

“Well, Applejack is the Element of Honesty for a reason,” Rarity replied. “But as for what I think you should do…perhaps you could make the subject of this magic duel her forte? Stage magic?”

Twilight shook her head. “Then Trixie will feel like I’m giving her a handicap, and so will the town. That might hurt her worse than me holding back.”

“Hmm…I suppose you’re right…“ Rarity stated, putting a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “Then why not make it something that negates both your advantages? Be fair to you both?” the fashionista suggested. “That way you won’t be able to humiliate her?”

Twilight sighed. “That sounds good, but think! My special talent is magic and it’s a magic duel! There’s nothing we could do that I wouldn’t be at least decent at while Trixie’s special talent is stage magic: if I take that away from her she’ll do even worse!”

“I do suppose that is a problem…”

Opal suddenly gave a meow, pointing to a dress with her tail.

“Oh! Thanks for reminding me, Opal! Sorry Twilight: I have an order I need to get to,” the white unicorn explained, then looked concerned. “…But I could tell the client I need an extension if you really need my help darling,” she added, remembering the Smartypants Incident and the lesson learned from it.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “No, Rarity, it’s fine, I’ll be okay, I‘ve still got four friends I can get advice from…” she replied. Even if defeating Checker Monarch had gotten a dangerous criminal locked up and helped Trixie and Stage Hoof finally have lives of their own, Checker was one of Rarity’s high profile customers. While losing her business hadn’t crippled Rarity by any means, Twilight didn’t want to risk her friend losing another customer on her part.

“Alright, but if you need me, darling, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“So you see, Zecora…Trixie needs to get better…” the showmare said, her and Stage Hoof sitting across from the zebra, tea in her telekinesis. “And you’re the only one Trixie…I thought could teach me…” she said, humbly…well, as humbly as Trixie ever got.

The Zebra listened attentively the Trixie before setting down her tea cup, which she balanced on one hoof. “I hear your plight my friend, and I understand why you want it to end. Thanks to the Ursa Incident you have suffered much humiliation, you have a right to fear more tribulations. You finally broke free from your sister’s chains, but that incident still causes you much pain. And you are my friend, Trixie dear, so of my abandonment you need not fear.”

Trixie gave a relieved smile. “Oh thank you, Zecora. This means a lot to Trixie.”

Zecora gave a nod, then stood up and trotted over to her shelves. “A magic duel is a complex thing. Into one no potions may you bring. However, your special talent permits illusion, is that correct or a delusion?”

Trixie nodded. “Illusions are one of Trixie’s specialties! And her grandmother Helena has taught her well!” she announced, her characteristic pride finally showing itself a bit.

Zecora gave a smile. “Then I think I know a thing or two, the might just be of much help to you.”

“Oh my…” said Fluttershy with a frown, sitting with Twilight in her cottage, Angel and Spike sitting close by glaring at each other. “It does sound really…uncomfortable…”

Twilight nodded. “It is, I honestly don’t know what to do! It feels like everything I’m trying just won’t work! And if Trixie gets hurt, it‘s all my fault!”

“Um…what about calling it off?” asked the timid pegasus. “If that’s okay…if it’s causing you so much trouble, I mean…”

Twilight sighed. “I can’t, somepony has to entertain the Princess and the Saddle Arabian delegates. And besides, there’s no way Trixie would accept this being taken away from her. It’s her big chance to finally put the Ursa behind her once and for all. She needs this.”

Fluttershy nodded slowly. “Well…maybe…if you think it’s a good idea, you could let her do something on her own?”

Twilight looked down thoughtfully. “I…I wouldn’t be able to perform in front of Celestia…she’s counting on me too…”

“Um…s-sorry if I’m overstepping but…didn’t she put you in charge of entertainment?…You…uh…never said anything about having to perform personally…Um, sorry if I’m not understanding right…”

Twilight blinked. “That’s right…so as long as the delegates are entertained, I guess I won’t let her down…”

Spike looked concerned. “Twilight, you think Trixie could do it on her own?” he asked, before Angel hit him in the head with a carrot, prompting him to glare at the snickering rabbit.

Twilight gave it some thought, then nodded with a smile. “I know I can trust Trixie to put on a good show, she’s come a long way since we met her, she’s learned a lot. Even if she’s not strong enough to match me in a magic duel, I know she’s good enough to entertain the princess…” Twilight’s confidence suddenly took a dive. “But…how do I convince Trixie to do that? She won’t accept me just backing out. Especially if she knows I’m afraid of humiliating her.”

“Well…maybe you could pretend you’re sick?” asked the cream colored pegasus softly. “If you think it’s a good idea…”

Twilight blinked. “Pretend I’m sick?”

“Um…yes…I did it once to try and get out of something with Rainbow…”

Spike smirked. “That’s a good idea! We’ve even got that book on Pony Illnesses! And we could borrow some make up from Rarity!”

“Um…it didn’t-”

Twilight nodded uncertainly. “I suppose we could…I don’t like lying to Trixie but…it seems like the only way…”

“When I tried it-”

“Thanks Fluttershy, you’re a life saver!” said Twilight, hugging her friend. “We’ll see you later, I need to hurry!”

Fluttershy blinked as Twilight and Spike left. The pegasus sighed. “…it didn’t work…”

Trixie stood in a completely black area, no light. She had her eyes shut tightly and focused.

“An illusionist needs to not be fooled by their own trick, but for that they must see through it. However, a spell that can be seen through from one direction, can allow your target the same detection,” Zecora’s voice said from the darkness.

Trixie sniffed lightly. Trying to focus on the scents in the air around her. There was decaying plants, some animal smells. Stage Hoof’s shampoo…she quickly tried to phase them out and focus.

“Something many ponies take for granted, is while an equine’s nose is not enchanted, we have a powerful sense of smell, and it still works if the eyes are blinded by a spell. In this forest tracking has always been vital, so to me this skill is pivotal.”

Trixie sniffed again. As her nose picked up the scent of tea, she turned and launched a relatively harmless beam from her horn.

…Hitting a tree about ten feet from Zecora herself and leaving a pink mark on the trunk. Thick green dust fell to the ground, allowing light to reenter the clearing outside of Zecora’s house.

The Zebra gave a smile, setting down the tea cup she was balancing on her hoof. “For your first lesson that was quite well, in the wilderness did you once dwell?”

Trixie nodded, rubbing her nose a little bit. “Yes, Trixie was used to be a traveling magician…before the incident…after which she was a hobo…Trixie is not proud of that last part…Trixie had to eat wild berries. Occasionally they turned out to be poisonous. Which was extremely unpleasant.”

Zecora nodded. “I can see why that would be true, but in this exercise it may have helped you. Whether or not in your conscious mind the knowledge dwells, while scavenging you relied on your sense of smell.”

Trixie blinked, thinking back to her time traveling Equestria. “It is true Trixie supposes…what should we do now?”

“We continue this lesson, my friend, and then others will begin. In addition to the illusions you can perform, what other types of spells can you form?”

“Well…Trixie knows a little weather magic…She isn’t sure how it relates to her talent though…” Trixie stated, remembering the lightning clouds she knew how to generate.

“It wasn’t immediately apparent why Checker could learn a dream manipulation spell with her talent though,” Stage Hoof pointed out, standing nearby. “It might be a similar connection.”

“Regardless of the reasoning for it, I can help with that bit,” Zecora replied. She pointed to the area around them with a hoof. “The Everfree has a natural magic energy, and helpful to you that may be. I can give you some tips I’ve noticed from this place, which help you weather magic ace.”

Trixie gave a quick nod. “That sounds fantastic, Zecora. Asante.”

“Mwakaribishwa, Trixie,” the Zebra replied, giving a smile at the opportunity to use her native tongue. “Come my friend, we have much to learn before the day ends.”

A long time later, Trixie stood outside the library with Stage Hoof. “Stage Hoof…Trixie still isn’t sure about this…” she said, carrying herself a little confidently, but still not back to her normal self.

“Trixie, you’ve gotten much stronger thanks to Zecora’s training. You’ll do fine,” Stage Hoof encouraged, giving her a smile.

“Trixie knows, it’s just…she doesn’t know if it’s enough…”

Stage Hoof put a hoof on her shoulder. “You’re stronger than you think, have a little faith in yourself, okay?”

Trixie blushed a little with a sheepish grin. “Okay…Trixie…I suppose I can try.”

The showmare trotted up to the door and knocked slowly. “Twilight? Trixie is here! The duel is in an hour!”

Trxie watched the door open and blinked as Twilight emerged, covered in red spots and looking quite sickly.

“Hello Trixie, I…I‘ve been looking for you.”

“Trixie was with Zecora, but what wrong?”

Twilight coughed a little bit, carefully covering her mouth as she did so. “Oh…it’s nothing…I just seem to have contracted the Pony Pox…”

Trixie gave a genuinely concerned look, but reflexively took a trot back, not wanting to catch it herself. “Will you be okay? You look positively dreadful.”

Twilight covered her muzzle and sneezed into her foreleg. “Yes, I’ll be fine but…I’m afraid I won’t be able to make the magic duel in this condition, I’m sorry but you’ll need to put on your own show for the Princess and the delegates.”

“Really?! That‘s g…I mean, I’m sorry to hear that, Twilight,” Trixie replied, frowning. True, her confidence had gotten a boost from Zecora’s training, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t relieved to hear the dreaded moment would now never come. But naturally, her pride wouldn’t let her admit that. Besides, she certainly didn’t want to look like she was pleased her best friend was ill. “Trixie was really looking forwards to it, she even spent the entire day training with Zecora in preparation,” the azure unicorn continued, feigning disappointment in a way only an actress could.

Twilight’s expression fell even more as her eyes widened. “R-Really? The duel meant that much to you?”

“Of course! When the Magnificent Trixie commits to something she commits to it!” Trixie announced, regaining her swagger. Somewhat. “She was most certainly looking forwards to challenging you before Ponyville! To finally getting the Ursa Minor incident behind her! But Trixie understands, Twilight, she cannot blame you for becoming ill,” she replied, giving concerned look. “Just try to get well, alright, Twilight? Trixie can handle the show.”

Twilight gave a nervous and somewhat guilty look. “I…I’ll do my best Trixie…”

Trixie nodded. “Trixie has much to do! She shall see you later!” Trixie replied and began trotting away.

Twilight went back into the library and suddenly looked guilt-ridden as she dropped some pepper she‘d kept on her…and then carefully levitated it to its proper place on a shelf before continuing her hysterics. “Oh…this is not good!”

Spike blinked. “Why? Trixie bought it, you’re off the hook.”

“But Trixie was really disappointed! She was looking forwards to this! And I spent the whole day looking up the Pony Pox just to deceive a friend! How could I be so insensitive?!” Twilight replied, then her eyes widened. “Oh no…”

Spike sighed. “What now?”

“Trixie spent the whole day training for a magic duel and I just dumped the entire show on her without any warning at the last minute! She’s not prepared!”

“Uh, Twilight, not everypony need-”

“Trixie’s a great showmare, but if she’s not prepared, then she might choke! And if she chokes she’ll be humiliated again! And not only will she be humiliated, she’ll be humiliated WORSE because they’ll think she’s a bad magician instead of just not as good of a magician as I am! It’ll be worse than if I beat her!”

“Twilight, I don’t think everypony needs stacks of checklists to-”

“And the crowd might not like just Trixie there when they were expecting a duel between us! They’ll feel cheated if we‘re not both there! They might even think Trixie sabotaged me to get the show for herself!”

“Uh, I’m not sur-”

“Not only is she disappointed with me, she’s going to be worse off! I haven‘t helped her! I made this worse!”

Twilight was suddenly hit by another bucket of water. “Twilight, calm down,” Spike said, looking up to the lavender unicorn.

Twilight shook herself off, finding the spots washed off. “You’re right! Thanks Spike!”

“Wait, what-” Spike started, but was interrupted by Twilight teleporting away. The baby dragon gave an annoyed sigh. “I hate it when she gets like this…”

Suddenly, Twilight teleported directly in front of Trixie. “Trixie! I’m all better!”

Trixie backpedaled in surprise. “W-What?! How?!”

“I saw how disappointed you were that we couldn’t have our duel so found a healing spell!” said Twilight, giving a smile. “The magic duel is back on!”

Trixie’s eyes went wide and her pupils shrank down to pinpricks. “A h-healing spell? An instant healing spell?”

“Yep! We can have our duel now!” Twilight replied.

Trixie shook her head to clear it. “Y-yes, that’s…great…I-Trixie is very happy to hear that…” the azure unicorn replied with a forced smile.

Twilight nodded. “Alright, see you at the duel!” she replied and trotted away.

Trixie‘s expression turned to panic the moment Twilight was out of sight. “Sweet Celestia why must I be such a magnificent and convincing actress?!”

Stage Hoof trotted over and blinked, seeing her expression. “What is it, Trixie?”

“She knows healing spells that work on the Pony Pox! Instantly!” Trixie replied, frantically. “Instant healing spells! Only high level unicorns know those! I’m doomed! I am so doomed!”

“Trixie, it’s not-” Stage Hoof started, only for Trixie to gallop off for her place. The stallion sighed. “-the end of the world…”

“The duel is back on!” Twilight replied triumphantly.

“Yeah, but what about the whole ‘you’re stronger than her’ thing?” Spike asked flatly.

Twilight‘s eye twitched. “…Please excuse me for a second…” Twilight squeaked out, her voice slightly disheveled. The mare trotted over to the nearest wall and began pounding her head against it.

Spike faceclawed. “Smooth…really smooth…”

To be continued...

The Duel

The Duel

Trixie paced back and forth in her room. “What can I do? I need to do something. I have to! I’m not going to be humiliated again…I can’t be humiliated again,” she stated to herself. She then gave a desperate look. “Well…there is one option…”

She walked over to a deck drawer and produced a piece of paper and a quill. She wrote down an address from memory. After a few moments of thinking hard, the showmare sat for a second, looking at it.

Sally blinked, looking up at Trixie.

“Admittedly…Trixie didn’t always have the best intentions, Sally,” said the azure mare to her pet. “This is the location of something called the Alicorn Amulet. Trixie heard of it in Las Pegasus once and may have…intended to get it to gain unholy power and repair her reputation by crushing everypony who stood in her way. But all her attempts to get a job seemed to crash and burn…and admittedly, the idea of doing something like that reminded her too much of Checker. It felt like taking out Trixie's frustrations on others was what she'd do. Either way…Trixie just never tried to get it even after she discovered where it was. And using it on Checker made no sense, considering she wasn‘t somepony physical force would truly defeat.”

She looked at the paper. “If Trixie had the Amulet, she’d be even stronger than Twilight and could defeat her. It’s far away, but Trixie can teleport now, she could make it there and use the Alicorn Amulet’s power to teleport back in time for the duel…Trixie has the bits for it now…”

Sally whimpered, looking at her master with what appeared to be concern.

Trixie looked thoughtfully at the address for a few moments…then floated it up and burned it to ash with a small little flame spell. “…But that’d be cheating…both herself and Twilight…I’ve still got my pride. I’m not going to bruise it by taking the easy way out…“ she admitted with a somewhat prideful smirk. “…Even if this is very much going to stink worse than your musk…” she finished, ears pinning back and giving a gulp…

“GAH! What am I going to do?!” Twilight asked, searching more and more frantically through books and friendship reports.

Spike picked one up and blinked. “Uh, what about this one? ‘Being a good friend means being able to keep a secret, but you should never be afraid to share your feelings with a good friend?’”

Twilight shook her head. “I thought about that one, but this isn’t about secrets, it’s about not hurting Trixie! And it feels like no matter what I do, that’s exactly what I’ll do! If I tell her, it‘ll hurt her too!”

Spike sighed. “I suppose…still seems like we’re missing something…”

Twilight got a somewhat unhinged look. “I know! Maybe I should find a way to cancel it altogether! Maybe I can set off a freak snow storm of something! Then nopony-”

“Twilight stop!” Spike called, jumping up on the frazzled unicorn’s back and throwing yet another bucket of water in her face.

“Where do you keep getting buckets of water?!”

“Not important. What is important is you’re starting to sound like the Smartypants Incident all over again,” the little dragon pointed out.

Twilight’s eyes widened and she shook her head to clear it.. “Y-yeah…I guess I was…T-Thanks Spike.”

“I know you can’t help feeling nervous right now, but if you suggest something like that again, I’m sending a letter to the Princess and I don’t care what she’s doing, okay?” Spike stated with a serious expression.

Twilight gulped and nodded. “Crystal.”

“Hoo!”

The two looked over to a certain owl, who pointed to an almost empty hour glass.

Twilight pinned her ears. “Oh no…we’re out of time…”

It was time. The stage was set. Twilight stared out from behind the stage, her mane a disheveled mess. She gasped, eyes falling on the large number of ponies in attendance. There were even more than she expected.

“This isn’t good, this is not good!” she exclaimed. Thankfully, the Smartypants Incident and Spike’s warning was still fresh in her memory. “Spike’s right, I can’t do anything crazy, I can’t…but…I don’t know what to do!”

Not to far away, Trixie peaked out at the same audience a gulped. “So many ponies…so many…” she muttered, shuddering in fear as she saw all the eyes that would soon be upon her. She gasped as her gaze fell on a certain someone.

“T-There she is…”

Princess Celestia herself stood in her balcony seat, with a couple of what looked like giant ponies next to her. The unicorn knew they had to be Saddle Arabian delegates.

“They’re here…they’re here and they’re going to watch me fail…I’m is going to be a laughingstock again!”

Nearby, Spike blinked, watching Twilight and Trixie. “Wait…they’re both nervous wrecks?” he asked.

“I’m every bit as surprised as you are…”

Spike blinked, looking to Stage Hoof. “Really?”

“Yes, Trixie’s been worried sick all day after overhearing some ponies saying Twilight would demolish her without even trying,” the stallion replied. “She was just…a tad too prideful to admit it…

Spike promptly faceclawed. “And Twilight was too afraid of hurting Trixie’s ego to tell.”

Stage Hoof raised an eyebrow. “So they’re both terrified of the same exact thing and didn’t tell one another for the exact same reasons?”

Spike gave an annoyed sigh, watching as the two unicorns now curled into fetal positions, Twilight stroking her tail . “Yep…should‘ve expected this, stuff like this always happens to us…”

“So…should we probably do something?”

“Probably…looks like the sidekicks will have to save the day…” Spike replied dryly, giving some thought. He looked over to the crowd, his eyes falling on an orange mare chatting excitedly with a rainbow maned pegasus in particular. “Come on, let’s get some back up to get it through their thick heads.”

Spike walked over to the stands, Stage Hoof with him. “Ah, Applejack,” Stage Hoof said with a smile. “That’s a good idea, who better to help them see the truth than the most honest pony we know?”

Spike blinked. “Uh…yeah! That’s exactly why we’re going to her…not because she and Rainbow were closest and we‘ve only got like fifteen minutes left…”

“This is gonna be awesome! It’s about time Trix gets to show us what she’s really got!” Rainbow exclaimed, giving a smirk.

“Yeah, haven’t really seen her cut loose since we did that charity play! Should be a real hoot!” Applejack replied. “Ah just hope this show doesn’t take as long as some of our contests though.”

“Ha! No way are they going to outlast us!”

Spike blinked as he approached the mares. “Uh…girls…are you excited about this?”

“You bet!” Applejack replied, giving a smirk. “What ain’t tah like about a little friendly competition?”

“So you…don’t think Trixie’s going to get flattened by Twilight?”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Uh…no.”

“Well…everypony else thinks so…including Twilight and Trixie…And they kinda need your help…”

Twilight slowly got up and gulped. “Well…it’s almost time…”

“Twilight?”

The mare gave a jump. “A-Applejack?” she asked, looking at the stern but concerned expression on the mare’s face.

“Twili, yah really have been worryin’ yerself sick, haven’t yah?” asked the farm pony with a frown.

“Uh…no, whatever would I have to be worried about?” Twilight asked, giving a nervous smile.

“How about worryin’ yer gonna humiliate yer friend?”

Twilight’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks. “What?! Me? Worried about that? Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Rainbow Dash! Release Trixie!”

Twilight blinked, watching Rainbow Dash fly Trixie over and put her down. “Trix, relax! Twilight‘s freaking out too!”

“Trixie’s just as worried about it as you are,” Applejack stated.

Trixie and Twilight both blinked. “Wait…what?!”

Applejack gave a sigh. “Yah are BOTH worried about the same thin’ and bein’ too dang stubborn and prideful tah realize it!”

This got her a couple looks from her friends, with Twilight raising an eyebrow.

“…Alright, Ah guess Ah’m in no position tah call somepony else stubborn and prideful, but point is: yah’ve spent the day on pins and needles over the same thin’ and could’ve saved yourselves a lot of trouble if yah’d just talked it out.”

Trixie and Twilight blinked, looking at one another. “T-Trixie…you’re worried that…well…”

Trixie sighed. “…Well…Trixie may have been a little nervous that…”

Applejack facehoofed. “No wonder the little guy needed our help…” she muttered.

“Your both worried about hurting each others‘ feelings, now just talk about it!” Rainbow Dash said in her typical bluntness.

Applejack gave her a glare.

Rainbow glared back. “What? One of us was going to have to say it, did you want to be it?”

“…Point…”

“What’s the point of being the brash one if I can’t do put it to good use?”

Trixie sighed. “…Yes, it isn’t easy for Trixie…it isn’t easy for me to admit but…I am afraid, Twilight. I heard some towns ponies talking about it and…I…I just can’t bare the idea of being a laughingstock again after the Ursa…I was so scared…But…well, I’m…”

“You’re you…” Twilight replied, giving a sympathetic smile. “And that’s why I was so scared of telling you. I was terrified of humiliating you. I knew it’d hurt your pride if I did…and after all Checker put you through, I didn’t want to be the one to hurt you…I’m sorry…”

Trixie gave a small, but somewhat hurt smile. “I-It’s quite alright…okay, not exactly alright…it does hurt…quite a bit…“

Twilight hugged her. “I’m so sorry…I didn’t want to hurt you…“

Trixie returned the hug. “…At least you cared if you hurt me…that’s more like a sister than Checkmate ever was…And it is good to know we were both worried about the same thing…sort of…”

“And I guess just telling you would have been more practical than faking being sick to try and get out of it…”

Trixie blinked. “Wait…you faked being sick?”

Twilight gave a nervous look. “Y-Yeah…I got the idea from Fluttershy…” she admitted, getting Rainbow Dash to facehoof. “Are you mad?”

Trixie gave a relieved sigh. “No, Trixie is actually quite relieved at that, assuming it means you don’t know instant healing spells…”

“No, I don’t. The closest thing I know is some of Zecora’s potions, and even then she‘s a lot better than I am at it…”

Trixie couldn’t help giving a laugh. “So let Trixie get this straight: Trixie spent the day training while you spent the day trying to figure out a way to pull out of the same competition Trixie was training for and both of us did so for the same reason?”

Twilight gave a chuckle of her own. “It is kind of silly when you think about it…”

“Yah see, this is why it’s important we be honest with each other!” Applejack pointed out, getting the two unicorns to blush.

“Yeah, and besides, I don’t get why you’re worried about it,” Rainbow Dash stated.

Trixie and Twilight both blinked. “Uh…why shouldn’t we have been?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, Twilight is the Element of Magic and the strongest Unicorn in Equestria, why should Trixie not be worried?” Trixie asked, pinning her ears at having to admit it. The fact she wasn’t the only one who believed she was going to be demolished certainly hadn’t helped matters.

“Because we’ve been waiting all day to finally see you cut loose, Trix!” Rainbow Dash said, giving smirk.

Trixie blinked. “Wait…you don’t think Trixie is going to get trounced? Because Trixie does…”

“That’s cause yah are thinkin’ about it as power versus power, not about Twilight versus Trixie,” Applejack pointed out, giving a small smile. “Look at meh and Rainbow for instance. Rainbow’s the fastest Pegasus in Equestria, but does that stop meh and her from havin’ a good competition with each other?”

Twilight blinked. “…No…actually…if anything, you two are the most competitive ponies I‘ve ever met…sometimes too much so.”

Rainbow Dash rubbed her head. “Yeah…we can get kinda carried away sometimes…”

Applejack nodded with a blush. “But that’s the point: we’re still tied in kinda everythin‘…”

Rainbow chuckled. “Yeah, we need a tiebreaker sometime…but I haven’t smoked Applejack in everything! And do you see me just wiping the floor in every flying contest I ever compete in? Heck, I was worried about Rarity beating me in the best young fliers competition!”

Trixie blinked. “Wait…how is that physically possible?”

“Long story. But the point is, being the fastest Pegasus around doesn’t mean I’m going to win all the time…just a large percentage of it,” she stated with a proud smirk.

Twilight chuckled. “That’s more like our Rainbow Dash…So…you’re saying me and Trixie have been going about this all wrong?”

Applejack nodded. “Yeah, like Ah said: yer lookin’ at it like power’s all that matters. By that logic Rainbow Dash shoulda beat meh hooves down in everythin’, but that don’t happen. And why is that, Twili? Yer the brainac.”

Twilight blinked, giving it thought. “Because your strengths aren’t the same…because you’ve got Rainbow beat in sheer strength and endurance even if she’s faster than you…”

Rainbow nodded. “Exactly! And I love a good competition! Even if I’m the fastest pegasus alive. It’d be BORNING if that meant the Best Young Fliers Competition was a cake walk!”

Twilight nodded slowly. “But…I’m the strongest unicorn at MAGIC and this is a MAGIC duel.”

“Yeah, but are you as good at the kinda magic Trix is good at?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight and Trixie both blinked. “…No…Trixie‘s got a big experience edge on me and it‘s specifically her special talent…I‘ve just picked up a few spells from her I don‘t need to use as often as she does.”

“See?”

Twilight face hoofed when something occurred to her. “UGH! I can’t believe I did that! One of the first things Princess Celestia taught me was my talent being magic did not mean I was the best at everything! And not listening to gossip is a lesson that the Crusaders learned!”

“And Trixie can’t believe she allowed herself to be beaten down by other’s underestimating her! It was once Trixie’s FORTE to shut up neighsayers!” Trixie admitted. “…Trixie now feels extremely foalish…”

Twilight gave a chuckle. “Me too…” She then frowned, pinning her ears. “Trixie…I…I’m so sorry…I should never have underestimated you…”

Trixie hugged her friend. “It’s alright, Twilight, Trixie underestimated herself just as much…At least you felt that way to protect Trixie instead of hurt her…”

Twilight returned the hug. “Doesn’t mean it was right and I can’t feel bad about it…”

“…If there’s one thing that you six have taught Trixie, it’s that friends forgive each other…you forgave Trixie for humiliating your friends…and for occasionally being egotistical…and the multiple messes she made trying to get a job…and that time she got really carried away going pranking with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie…”

Rainbow Dash gave a sheepish smile. “…I probably should’ve kept a closer eye on you…”

“…You’ve forgiven enough of Trixie’s mistakes, Twilight…It’s only right that I forgive you this time…besides, you didn‘t believe anything about Trixie she didn‘t believe about herself…”

“Sugarcubes, we’re only equines, no pony expects us tah be perfect,” Applejack stated, giving a smile.

“Oh, so like the whole thing with Pinkie’s cake?” Twilight asked with a look of realization, giving a smile and a nod. “Everypony made the same mistake, so how can we blame anypony?”

“Let Trixie think…oh! Twilight told Trixie about that one! Yes, Trixie can live with that,” Trixie said, giving a smile of her own. “Everypony messed up so nopony did.”

Applejack facehoofed. “No! Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Rarity ALL got punished by the Cakes for that, remember?!”

Rainbow Dash gave a nervous smile and rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah…they weren’t too happy about that…”

“Mah point is Princess Celestia wouldn’t be expectin’ us tah have lessons tah give her if she expected us tah be perfect. What‘s important is we actually learn the lesson from our mistakes!”

Trixie blushed. “Oh yes…that makes a tad more sense…Trixie is glad she was not present for that adventure…”

Twilight bowed her head. “And I know I’ll have Spike write a proper friendship report about this when all is said and done…”

Trixie nodded, then gave a confused look. “But wait…how did you two know we both felt the same way?”

“Spike and Stage Hoof told us, said you were both freaking out,” Rainbow Dash stated.

Spike and Stage Hoof stood nearby nervously.

“Um…sorry, Trixie…it’s just you two were both freaking out over the same thing, and you needed help, but I didn’t know what else to do and I’m sorry…And I’m sorry I agreed with you that you were weaker than Twilight when it turns out you weren’t…Please don’t hate me! I’m so-”

Trixie promptly hugged him. “Thanks for helping Trixie…”

Stage Hoof gave a blush. “Y-You’re welcome.”

Twilight hugged Spike. “Thank you for helping me and Trixie, Spike…”

“Well, what am I supposed to do when you’re in trouble?” asked Spike, giving a smile.

“Spike really shoulda taught us all not tah underestimate the under diamond dog,” Applejack said, with a smile. “Considerin’ the whole ‘helped Celestia save Canterlot from mutant Cockatrices’ and ‘blew up King Sombra’ things…”

Spike blinked, then gave an embarrassed look. “Yeah…I probably shouldn’t have been one to underestimate someone…”

“Didn’t Trixie help with the cockatrice thing?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Trixie gave a blink and blushed. “Well…she did blind several with fireworks, but she didn’t do anything that special…She didn’t even meet Celestia…Spike was the one who rode on Celestia wielding a trident…And you six were busy dealing with Queen Chrysalis…again…”

Twilight smiled. “Doesn’t mean you didn’t help, or that we were any less wrong to underestimate you.”

Trixie gave a smile and hugged her friend. “Trixie underestimated herself just as much.”

“Um…sorry if I’m interrupting something.”

Everypony looked over to see Mayor Mare staring at them.

“But it’s time for the show.”

Trixie let go of Stage Hoof and stepped back. “Well…shall we give this a try Twilight?”

Twilight gave it a thoughtful look. “…If you’re up to it Trixie, then so am I…”

Trixie nodded, her horn glowed and she teleported her stage attire to herself, giving a theatrical spin as she did so. “The Magnificent Trixie is ready when you are!”

Twilight smiled, glad to see Trixie’s characteristic grin back on her face.

Applejack smiled. “We’ll be watching from the stands! Good luck you two!” she said, she and Rainbow Dash trotting off.

“I wish you luck, Trixie,” Stage Hoof said, giving a hug to the azure unicorn.

“Knock ‘em dead Twilight!” Spike called as the two trotted off to join the others in the stands.

Rarity and Fluttershy nervously found their seats next to Applejack and Spike. “Um…is everything okay?” Fluttershy asked, looking to Spike.

The little dragon gave a nod. “Yeah…it turns out we may have been worried for nothing.”

Rarity blinked. “Wait…what?”

Applejack looked over. “Turns out they were both worried sick over nothin’, just sit back and enjoy the show.”

“But…wait…what did we miss?!” Rarity asked, blinking in confusion.

“Apparently the plot being resolved!” Pinkie chimed in, hopping up and joining her friends. “Aww. I was hardly in this!”

Everypony just stared for a moment before turning their attention to the stage as the spotlights turned on.

“Hello ladies and gentlecolts!” announced Mayor Mare, stepping on stage. She seemed to quickly check to make sure the Princess was still in her seat and hadn’t vanished due to an ancient evil returning…again. She panicked slightly when she saw an empty balcony seat…until her aid pointed to the Princess herself seated safely in an entirely different one. The mayor gave a sigh of relief. “And welcome to the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of Harmony in all of Equestria, Princess Celestia! And her honored guests, the delegates from Saddle Arabia!”

Celestia seemed to zone out slightly as her lengthy title was recited, but quickly shook it off and smiled in return. “Thank you, Mayor Mare! We are looking forwards to a wonderful evening!” The Arabian horses nodded with a smile.

“For your entertainment, it is my honor to introduce Miss Twilight Sparkle and…” The Earth Pony looked at a small note card. “The Magnificent Trixie presenting an exhibition magic duel!”

Twilight trotted up to the front of the stage while Trixie dramatically teleported out. Both gave a bow to the Princess of the Day, though Trixie seemed much giddier about it than the purple unicorn.

“I’m performing in front of Princess Celestia…” she practically giggled to herself now that her nerves weren’t shot.

The two looked to the crowd, noting some looking at Trixie with looks ranging from worry to anticipation. The unicorns simply walked to the middle and hugged one another before going to opposite sides of the stage.

Trixie and Twilight took a fighting stance as Mayor Mare stepped back and watched them both get ready. “Begin!”

Trixie quickly fired what looked like a firework spell from her horn. The Bearer of Magic sidestepped quickly, allowing it to explode on the stage next to her…releasing a green gas instead of the normal pyrotechnic explosion.

Twilight blinked, sniffing lightly and gagging. “Ugh! Peeyew! A stink bomb spell?!” she exclaimed, coughing and putting a hoof over her nose tightly.

The showmare chuckled. “Just a little joke, Twilight, this is a friendly duel, after all,” she said, but her smirk made Twilight feel uneasy. “You shouldn’t be surprised, considering Trixie has been pranking with Rainbow and Pinkie.”

Celestia’s student’s horn glowed and she produced a wind spell, blowing the putrid smoke back at Trixie.

The azure unicorn coughed on the awful smell and struggled to keep her footing against the wind. Her horn glowed and scarves manifested and pinned themselves to the stage, wrapping around her hooves and keeping her grounded while another wrapped around her snout to block the stench.

Twilight’s spell faded and the purple unicorn gave a groan. “Ugh, it stuck to me a little bit…” she muttered, sticking out her tongue in disgust. “What was your plan, Trixie? You’re too smart to waste your first move on a prank…” she said under her breath. “Unless you want me to think that…or are trying to make me have nostalgic flashbacks to Spike stink bombing Blueblood?”

While Twilight over thought Trixie’s strategy, the showmare unwrapped the scarves and cast another spell, surrounding herself in a swirl of rose petals to remove the smell. She then focused back at Twilight. “Alright, now it’s time to be serious.”

Trixie concentrated magic into her horn and commanded her magically generated scarves to wrap around Twilight. The Bearer of Magic blasted a hole through the ones coming from the front, only for her opponent to sneak two others from behind and wrap Twilight up.

Trixie teleported back out of harms way as Twilight blew the scarves away and freed herself. Twilight quickly fired a beam of magic from her horn, hitting Trixie and causing her to float into the air like gravity had been reversed.

The showmare flailed for a moment, then smirked and manifested a bunch of pies in front of her, bucking each of them. Twilight jumped, dodging two before a third hit her in the face, allowing two more to hit her, knocking her on her flank.

Celestia’s student blasted the pies off her and fired another magic beam at Trixie.

However, the azure unicorn magically manifested a table behind her and bucked off it, dodging the beam and letting it fly harmlessly into the sky. Trixie took advantage of her positioning and hit Twilight with a magic beam, trapping her in a magician’s box, her head and hind hoofs sticking out of it.

Trixie smirked and fired a pink beam from her horn that made Twilight laugh uncontrollably as it tickled her.

The lavender unicorn teleported out of the box and shot Trixie with a beam, causing her to give a scream as the gravity spell was finally reversed and she fell to the stage with an grunt.

Trixie groaned as she got back to her hooves, just before Twilight shot a beam onto the stage, causing vines to sprout out and wrap around the showmare, tying her up. Trixie struggled to escape the vines until they entirely covered her…and then teleported out of the vines and appeared behind her rival, trying to blast her with a magic beam, but was dodged in turn by Twilight’s teleportation.

The two spent a couple moments teleporting and trying to get a spell on the other until Twilight stopped so not to waste mana…but Trixie teleported once more and finally got a spell on her from above, manifesting another magician’s scarf around her which she pulled with telekinesis as she landed, spinning Twilight around like a top.

The bookworm unicorn staggered dizzily, struggling to get her footing back. She shook it off and fired a beam at Trixie, wrapping her in a straight jacket and chains. Trixie tried to teleport out and blinked. “Huh?”

“Anti-teleportation enchantment,” Twilight stated, giving a smirk.

However, Trixie gave one a proud smirk. One spell later, the chains unlocked and fell off as she slipped out of the straight jacket.

Twilight facehoofed. “And stage magic includes escape tricks…”

“Also, you probably shouldn’t explain your spells out loud. But if you’re going to turn up the heat, then so is Trixie!” Trixie announced, concentrating. Trixie teleported and when she reappeared, Twilight was surrounded by a circle of copies of the showmare.

The Bearer of Magic blinked, looking from Trixie to Trixie. She then gasped when she noticed something. “Why aren’t any of you breathing?!” There was no difference in any of the Trixies, their chests didn’t seem to move with her inhaling and exhaling.

“A magician never reveals her tricks!” the Trixies all announced. They all began firing magic beams at Twilight. The unicorn had to dodge and duck under the spells being flung at her. Twilight gave a thoughtful look…then smirked in realization. “Ha! None of you are breathing! That means the real Trixie must not be in the circl-”

The Trixie directly in front of her in the circle fired a beam, hitting her head on and giving her a mild shock, making her mane stand on end and slightly singeing her (though naturally not nearly enough to actually hurt her).

The showmare gave a confident smile, teleporting again as her copies vanished, reappearing with a fresh batch.

In the crowd, Helena Midsummer gave a proud smile. “Sometimes a few little theatre tricks can make the magic work that much better.”

Twilight shook off the ash on her coat and had to dodge more beams, unsure of which Trixie was real and which ones weren’t. She looked around frantically, trying to figure out which showmare might be the real one, ending up once more blindsided by a spell that caused her mane and tail to frizz up like a sheep‘s, covering her eyes and blinding her. “She really has been practicing…” she muttered

The audience seemed to give a gasp of surprise that Trixie had managed to actually get the upperhoof. Except Rarity who screamed in horror at Twilight‘s mane.

The purple pony magically fixed her mane and tail in time to duck under another beam. Once more, Trixie teleported and scrambled herself with the copies. Twilight responded by magically generating a prism above her and firing a beam into it. The magic reflected off the inside and split, hitting all of the trickster magician’s illusions, as well as the real one, trapping her in a block of ice.

The frozen unicorn’s eyes batted back and forth for a moment before she concentrated and set off several fireworks to blast her way out of the ice. She shook herself off and then had to jump out of the way of another freezing spell.

Trixie panted a bit, noticing Twilight was panting as well. However, the Element of Magic seemed to be a good bit less tired than herself, much to her annoyance. Twilight fired another spell her way and the azure unicorn countered with a beam of her own. The two collided and Trixie found herself being swiftly overpowered, leaving her with no choice but to teleport out of the way.

Trixie landed nearby and cursed to herself for trying to match Celestia’s student for power. “Looks like Trixie will have to pull out all the stops…” she muttered and concentrated, causing an illusion of a dark cave to form around the stage, hiding her from Twilight‘s sight.

Twilight looked around closely at the cave illusion. “She has to be here somewhere…” she muttered…before a bolt of lightning came out of nowhere and forced her to dodge. She had to dodge a few more bolts, then blinked. “I…I can’t see any holes in the illusion? But how is she seeing me if the illusion has no openings?”

The crowd watched as lightning clouds Trixie created rained lightning down into the illusion, the showmare somewhere inside with nose twitching and following the scent of a certain stink bomb still stuck to her rival’s fur.

Zecora watched with a smile of her own from the stands, seated next to Helena. “Your granddaughter took my training to heart, but I only improved upon that with which she did start.”

Helena smiled. “Thank you, Zecora. Now let’s see if she can win this.”

Meanwhile, Twilight dove and dodged another bolt, but was shocked by yet another. She grunted and shook it off, feeling tingly but not injured. She teleported but found Trixie had covered the entire stage with her illusion. “Her weather control is a lot better too…” she muttered, having to form a quick shield to block the lightning, but still couldn’t figure out where her rival was. Trixie seemed to realize she’d stopped moving and made the clouds converge, pumping more of the lightning into the shield from all directions.

“I’m a sitting duck here…I can’t hit what I can’t see either and generating the lightning and the illusion won‘t take as much mana once the clouds and base illusion are made…at this rate I‘m going to run out of mana defending myself before she runs out of energy to attack…” Twilight muttered. “That must be Trixie’s plan, my power won’t do me any good if I can’t hit her with it…I need to get rid of this spell.”

Twilight focused and sent out a massive surge of pink energy around her, dispelling the illusion and the clouds with the shockwave.

Twilight panted as she looked at Trixie, the azure unicorn clearly being worn down as well. “That was really impressive Trixie…you actually made me use my failsafe spell…”

Trixie panted, but gave a proud smirk. “You’re quite welcome Twilight, Trixie had been working on that spell with Zecora for awhile…”

The crowd watched with baited breath as the two unicorns circled one another in preparation for their next move.

“Trixie believes we’re both getting tired,” Trixie replied, seeming to be preparing herself for something.

Twilight nodded. “Yeah…”

“Looking forward to a nap?” the showmare asked.

Twilight chuckled, giving a nod. “Yeah…you bet…” She was feeling tired.

Trixie’s horn glowed…but she locked eyes with Twilight as the unicorn prepared for whatever spell the trickster magician was charging up. “That does sound wonderful, doesn’t it? Laying down and taking a nice nap?” she asked, her voice taking a slight echoing quality and the magic in her horn began to swirl.

“Yeah…it does…”

Trixie’s eyes became swirling black and white circles. “Are you listening to the sound of my voice, Twilight?”

“Yeah…I…I hear you Trixie…” Celestia’s student said, feeling drowsy as her eyes matched Trixie‘s.

“You’re getting tired, aren’t you?”

“Kind of…” Twilight’s eyes beginning to droop.

“Your body is getting heavy?”

“Yeah…very…” Twilight muttered, her body sagging.

“You’re getting sleepy?”

Twilight gave a wide yawn. “Yeah…I am…”

“You want to lay down and take a rest?”

“…Kinda…” Twilight said, slipping down to a sitting position and struggling to keep her eyes open.

“Lay down and rest, Twilight. You’ve done well. Nopony will be disappointed in you. You’ve got nothing more to prove tonight. Just go to sleep…”

“Yeah…maybe…” she muttered, laying down slowly and giving a yawn.

“Yes, that’s right,” the azure mare said, her voice calm and soothing as she spoke. “Just enjoy a good rest, Twilight. You deserve it.”

“Yeah…we’ve worked hard…we’ve done a good job…we’ve had a good duel…we entertained the crowd…we entertained the Princess…” Twilight muttered, eyes closing. Then shot open a little. “Wait! The Princess!”

“Yes, she’s watching, but you know she’s proud of you, you don’t need to-”

Celestia’s personal student shot entirely awake. “I’m sorry princess! I didn’t mean to fall asleep in class!” she exclaimed, looking around frantically.

Celestia blushed a little. “Um…it’s fine Twilight…carry on…”

Twilight blinked in confusion and blushed a little before looking to Trixie. “You…You almost hypnotized me?” she asked, giving a look of surprise.

Trixie chuckled. “Well, the smarter somepony is the easier they are to hypnotize. And you’re as smart as they come.”

Twilight smiled. “I’m just impressed you managed to actually get it to work. Stage hypnosis spells normally don‘t work in combat since they need the target to be at least not be opposed to what you‘re trying to make them do.”

“Trixie knows, it only worked because we were already exhausted,” Trixie stated, trying to power up her horn again, but the magic sputtered out. The showmare panted and tried again with the same result.

Twilight frowned. “And that’s why you did it then…you’re out of mana.”

“Trixie believes so. Her storm spell took a lot of mana to set up after all. You? Tell the truth.”

Twilight powered up her horn, which while it was fainter than normal, still glowed steadily. “Yeah…”

Trixie nodded solemnly. “…Then finish it.”

Twilight blinked. “What?”

“End this duel. Now. Trixie is NOT going to give up. So you need to be the one to finish this.”

“Trixie…”

Trixie gave a serious look. “Trixie is not a quitter! The only way this is ending is if you end it! If Trixie loses, she wants it to be in a blaze of glory! Not in a whimper!”

Twilight cringed, then shot Trixie with a beam. The showmare shut her eyes…then blinked when she felt nothing, opening her eyes to find she was in her old Great and Powerful Trixie outfit. “Twilight?”

“The point of this is to finally break free from your past, right? Then it’s only fitting we lay the Great and Powerful Trixie to rest once and for all, right?”

Trixie gave a chuckle. “…Trixie can’t argue that it‘s a nice touch, she wishes she‘d thought of it…Fire away, Twilight. Trixie is ready!”

Celestia’s student slowly gathered mana into her horn, causing it to glow bright white, shining like a star, an audible vibration was heard by the ponies. Trixie closed her eyes as she was blasted full force by the beam, causing the crowd to gasp in shock as it completely engulfed the pony, turning night into day from the light of the spell.

Trixie slowly opened her eyes when she didn’t feel anything. She saw the beam burning away her outfit, tearing it to shreds, obliterating it into nothing…revealing the outfit Rarity had crafted for her beneath it. When the smoke cleared, there wasn’t a scratch on the azure unicorn, simply some ashes over her true garb. Trixie blinked.

Twilight gave a tired smile. “There…I gave the Great and Powerful Trixie her finale with a bang, it’s time for the Magnificent Trixie to take her bow and close this show.”

Trixie chuckled and shared a hug with Twilight. “Touché, Twilight Sparkle. Touché…”

Celestia gave a small chuckle. “Well done, my student…” she whispered.

Trixie staggered, but managed to keep her footing and turned to the stunned crowd alongside the likewise exhausted Twilight, giving a bow.

After a few moments of stunned silence, the audience broke out in applause.

“Great job, Magnificent Trixie!” cheered Snips and Snails, clapping their hooves.

“Way to go Trixie!” called Derpy, sitting with a stunned Carrot Top and the Doctor…and strangely surrounded by muffins, some of which were gigantic.

Applejack and the others, including Stage Hoof and Spike, rushed the stage and hugged their friends.

“See?! We knew yah had it in yah!” Applejack cheered, giving Trixie a hug.

Rarity and Fluttershy looked down. “ Trixie. I’m so very sorry for underestimating you,” the fashionista said with a frown.

Fluttershy nodded. “I’m sorry too, considering how often it happens to me, I don’t think it was right of me…I‘m sorry…Please don‘t hate me…”

Trixie smiled and hugged the two. “It’s fine…Trixie has already had this conversation tonight, long story short: Trixie forgives you because that’s what friends do…”

“Sorry ya didn’t win Trix,” Rainbow consoled. “I was rootin’ for ya.”

Trixie blinked. “R-Really?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah. I really wanted to see ya cut loose for once! You didn’t disappoint though. Just stinks you didn’t win!”

“My, the Element of Loyalty picking sides,” Trixie teased.

“Hey, I cheered for Twilight the first time…sort of. And besides, I thought you needed support more than Twilight, she already knows how awesome we think she is,” Rainbow said, earning a smirk from Twilight.

Trixie gave a smile and nod. “Thank you, Rainbow…but Trixie is just happy she did better than most, including herself, expected.”

Rainbow smirked. “Still proving the neighsayers wrong, huh?”

Trixie shared a laugh at the irony of the statement. “Oh you know it.”

The show mare then accepted a hug from Stage Hoof. “Good job, Trixie.”

“Thank you, Stage Hoof. And thank you for supporting Trixie as well…”

Celestia spoke a word to the delegates before flying down to the stage. “Well done Twilight Sparkle, and Trixie Midsummer.”

Trixie looked faint as the others stepped back to give the unicorns their moment in the spotlight.. “Y-You know my name?”

“Of course, I remember the names of all my students at my School for Gifted Unicorns,” the Princess announced, seeming to have positioned herself just so that the entire audience heard her, and reacted with multiple gasps of shock.

“And you continue to be a diligent student learning the magic of friendship,” Celestia continued, giving a genuine smile. “I’m very proud of you my little pony.”

Trixie giggled giddily. “Princess Celestia is proud of me…oh! Yes, thank you so much your majesty! That means so much coming from you!”

Celestia smiled. “I can imagine,” she said, looking over to the townsponies. She smiled to the showmare. “Did you two learn anything today?”

The unicorns smiled.

“Yes, we did Princess. We learned you shouldn’t assume you know what a friend is feeling or assume they won’t understand what you are, sometimes they might understand more than you could have imagined,” Trixie recited.

“And also I learned you should probably think long and hard about big decisions before making them. Jumping to conclusions, especially when it comes to friends, can cause more harm than good.”

Celestia smiled. “Well said, my little ponies…And Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“I think you and Trixie should get to taking that nap now.”

Twilight blushed, but then had to try and fail to stifle a yawn.

“Yeah, you’re right…Right Trixie?”

Twilight looked over to see the exhausted unicorn had passed out. She gave a smile. “…Get a good rest, Trixie. You deserve it.”

A couple days later, Twilight heard a knock on the door to the library. She concentrated and tried to open the door, but gave a grunt, rubbing her horn. “Ow…”

“Twilight!” called Spike running in rather worriedly. “Don’t overwork yourself, let me get it.”

However, as the baby dragon went to open it, the door opened, revealing Trixie using her mouth somewhat clumsily to turn the knob.

“Hello, Trixie, still recovering from the duel?” Twilight asked.

“Blech! Yes, Trixie cannot remember the last time she was this low on mana!” the azure mare admitted with a disgusted look at the taste of door knob. “Trixie does not know how Earth Ponies get through life without telekinesis!”

Twilight chuckled. “They probably wonder how we get through it without their connection to nature.”

Spike grumped. “And you could have just let me get it…” he muttered.

“…Valid points…” Trixie admitted, rubbing her sore horn.

“Hornache?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe…” the azure mare groaned, rubbing her horn.

“I have one too, and considering my mana reserves are bigger, it’s no wonder you have one,” she said, trotting over to the kitchen but being stopped by Spike. The little dragon brought back an ice back and put it on Trixie‘s horn.

“Thank you, Spike,” Trixie replied, giving the baby dragon a smile.

“You’re welcome, have to be Twilight’s hooves while she’s recovering.”

Twilight gave the little dragon a hug. She then gave Trixie a thoughtful look. “Hehe, it’s kinda funny when you think about it.”

Trixie blinked. “What?”

“The Ursa Minor didn‘t drain me this much, so I guess in a way, you did finally beat it.”

Trixie blinked then gave a laugh. “Hehe, Trixie supposes you’re right…” she said, then looked out the window to Ponyville. “And it seems she finally beat it in another way…Trixie finally feels like the Ursa Incident and the Great and Powerful Trixie are truly behind her…and that is worth any amount of horn aches and mana depletion.”

Twilight gave a smile in return. “And helping my ‘sister’ do that is worth it to me.”

The two hugged. “Thank you, Twilight.”

Spike gave a smile. “I’m glad everything worked out…you did really well. That big spell at the end was really cool!”

Trixie gave a smile. “Thank you Spike. Trixie believes that was the biggest spell she’s ever performed…She’s quite proud of it.”

“And…sorry for not really thinking things through when it came to to everything…” Spike admitted.

Trixie smiled. “It’s alright, Spike, it all worked out for the best and Trixie now finally has the Ursa behind her. Thank you for coming up with it.”

Spike nodded. “You’re welcome, Trixie.”

“How about we go get something from Sugarcube Corner to celebrate?” asked Twilight, giving a smile.

“That would be lovely, let’s go, Trixie shall lead the way!” Trixie exclaimed in her normal over the top energetic manner, turning to the door…and just looking at it for a moment before Spike politely opened it.

“Maybe I should lead the way?”

The two weakened unicorns blushed and looked at one another with awkward smiles. “That’s probably a better idea…”

The two unicorns followed the baby dragon, supporting each other when their tired bodies stumbled. Trixie couldn’t believe how much her life had changed in the last year. And with the Ursa incident finally behind her, she truly felt her life had begun anew.

Goodbye the Great and Powerful Trixie, the Magnificent Trixie is here to stay.

“…Trixie bets she can eat more ice cream than you Twilight,” Trixie said, giving smirk.

Twilight blinked…then gave a smile when she saw a playfulness in Trixie‘s smirk where smugness used to dwell. “Alright Trixie, you’re on.”

The End