The stars twinkled above them; like glittering diamonds cast upon an endless expanse of night. Trixie had to admit: the princess did good work. Very good work indeed. The midnight sky served as the perfect backdrop for their duel, the shimmering, shining stars over head like spotlights to her greatness. Trixie smiled quietly and twisted her neck, reveling in the loud, resounding pop that rippled through her frame.
"Is this not the perfect night for a duel, Twilight Sparkle?!" Trixie barked, her voice echoing across the sleeping town of Ponyville. Across from her, past the plaza's sputtering fountain, Twilight stood with a wry grin wrapped around her lips. She was pacing back and forth, like a tiger in a cage, glaring at her 'prey'. Trixie felt a shiver ripple down her spine at Twilight's cold, calculating glare.
"The perfect night to put you in your place, Trixie!" Came the response and Trixie's ears perked in surprise. Playful banter? From Twilight?!
Oh. Tonight was going to be good.
And yet, there was something strangely enchanting about the evening. The two of them had lit a ring of candles around the dueling arena- Ponyville Plaza where the fountain sent cool jets of mist through the warm summer night. Trixie had cast a simple spell to add hue and tint to the dancing flames, until they burned red, purple, blue and green, yellows and magenta and gold and orange! The stars twinkled overhead and Ponyville was silent; dreaming whilst they dueled, leaving the entire town to the two of them. It was almost too much- it really was. Trixie wanted to call out, to cry surrender to Twilight and charge forward into her arms. To lose herself to the lilac scented mare and whisper kisses into her lips. Let the burn and sting of the world wash away in the embrace and just find their own paradise under the stars.
So caught up in the fantasy Trixie almost missed the first spray of purple magic barreling towards her from Twilight's horn. She dodged to the side with a practiced little roll and sprang up onto her hooves in a battle stance. Her head lowered, horn glowing, she held off on her assault. She had fifteen seconds to fire her next shot and she could have immediately returned fire, but that was often the mistake of amateur duelists. No no, Trixie knew full well that if she wanted to bring Twilight down, it was going to be well precise calculated shots, not praying for the best result from wild bursts of magic.
They matched step for step with each other, pacing slowly back and forth with only the hissing fountain to separate them. Every step, every move, every muscle twitch and every tail swish, calculated and cataloged. In the short time they had taken to dueling for fun, Twilight had proven to be very, very good at learning the rules fast. What she lacked in experience, she made up for by coping Trixie's style and implementing moves of her own. She was an impressive opponent, the blue mage would give her that, but still no match for the Great and Powerful Trixie!
Trixie threw her head into the air and fired off a burst of magic. A shot colored the purest of white, a sinister grinned crisscrossed her lips as she watched the realization hit Twilight as the purple unicorn tracked the shot into the sky. It was a simple tactic, really. One Trixie was sure would work only once, but effective none the less. The magic spiked up and into the air and vanished into the silvery stars overhead. After a moment, it crashed to earth, catching Twilight by surprise, beaning the poor pony right on the noggin. A direct hit!!
Twilight stumbled back and instantly shook her head, but Trixie could already see the effect of the spell taking hold. Droopy eyes and fading alertness. Twilight braced herself and gave a snort, shaking away the effects of Trixie's spell and focused on landing a shot of her own. 'Dream Drop' was a very simple duel- another from kindergarten Trixie let Twilight skate by with as an inexperienced duelist. The first to fall asleep loses. Drowsy spells only, fillies and colts played it for fun on plush comfy lawns during warm summer afternoons.
Twilight threw her head to the left, firing off a purple colored bolt that curved strong and zigzagged in flight. Trixie had to admit; it was an impressive spell for somepony that had just taken a direct hit. Despite Trixie's best efforts to dodge, the blow caught her in the side and the result was immediate: a languid, cute yawn that made Twilight smile inwardly.
"I'll ghet yoo for that one, Twilight." Trixie squeaked, doing her best to speak through the energy draining yawn that rattled her core. Twilight rolled her eyes and tried to waggle a dismissive hoof, but the next bolt of magic energy came too fast for her to finish her taunt. A straight blast that crashed through the spurting fountain and grazing past Twilight's frame as she dove to the ground, catching the cobblestones hard with her ribs. Hard enough to make Trixie wince, especially when her next shot hit the fountain in it's entirety, ricocheting into the night sky harmlessly.
Now for the finishing blow. Trixie rolled to her right, narrowing her eyes at Twilight and firing a perfect shot from her horn while Twilight tried to climb to her hooves. There was no way Twilight could have hoped to dodge- and she didn't. She couldn't. A direct blow due to Twilight's sluggish reflexes, that sent the filly to the ground, crashing shoulder first into the cobblestones. Still moving though, Trixie frowned. Twilight was much more resilient than she had realized. But that was fine. At this point, she had the other unicorn right where she wanted her. It was over.
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For Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville Plaza was a spinning top. The silky blur of multicolored candles whirled around her while she tried to stay awake and ready her next spell. Trixie had the upper hoof, but not for long! All she needed was a moment or two to her get wits back around her, and shake off the effects of Trixie's last spell. Try as she might though, the unicorn discovered she was fighting a losing battle. Her eyelids were like lead and the complex designs of spells formed jarred and muddled gibberish in her head. She was falling asleep and all of her energy was now lost to keeping herself awake.
Twilight found herself struggling to her hooves when she felt something warm and soft coddling her into a standing position. She blinked bleary eyes at the girl helping to hold her up and frowned.
"D-duel isn't done yet! I-it's, it's still going. I'm still awake. We can still fight." She protested as Trixie and her hobbled around the little makeshift arena, slowly blowing out the candles.
"Forget it, Sparkle. Trixie does not wish to see you crash on the cobblestones. " The unicorn huffed quietly, as the two started for the Golden Oaks Library. Twilight narrowed her eyes and gave a sharp little huff of dismay. Luckily, the two weren't terribly far from home, and a simple walk down the street had them in front of Twilight's tree.
"Not fair. That's not fair at all, I was fine. I AM fine! I would have won! You didn't even let me use my secret weapon!" Twilight whined, struggling to stay conscious as Trixie pushed open the door to the tree house. She didn't bother turning on any lights, or waking the sleeping dragon who was undoubtedly somewhere in the library. No, all she had to do was pull Twilight upstairs and get the unicorn to bed. An easy task that saw the two of them in Twilight's room after a short jaunt up the stairs.
"I'd have won. Really." Twilight was saying, standing on wobbly hooves while Trixie prepared the bed for the two of them. She gave a gentle smile and gestured towards Twilight's bed.
"Uh huh. Trixie is sure." Trixie explained, casually drawing the covers of Twilight's bed back and helping the mage slide in. Twilight still frowned, even if her eyes were losing focus and Trixie was beginning to blur.
"N, next time...Next..." Twilight mumbled, dozing off into a restful slumber. Trixie smiled quietly and leaned in to plant a delicate kiss on Twilight's lips, before she gently slid into bed next to the other unicorn.
"Well, for what it's worth. Trixie believes you and Trixie concedes. But only for you, Twilight Sparkle. Only for you. Good night." Trixie whispered lovingly as the warm feeling of the blankets wrapped around her body and snuggled her into slumber.
Author's Note
Insomnia story, written at 4:56 am.
I had a new idea for a duel in mind, and wanted to see it played out with my favorite pair.
