One Spell again....Darn it.
In hindsight, Twilight blamed Starlight Glimmer for this.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t her fault entirely, but Twilight felt the majority of her problems could be blamed on Starlight now. Ever since that adventure through time, Twilight couldn’t help but notice that she was….well, really bad at fighting. Starlight had said she didn’t have a lot of fighting experience either, but that didn’t change the fact Twilight Sparkle, Alicorn Princess and the Element of Magic, hadn’t been able to force anything more than a stalemate between the two. It was really something of an eye opener for Twilight, and so, during that relative period of peace, which consisted of “no monster attacks are happening right now but will probably happen soon” Twilight had decided to train.
Oh, nothing like reading ancient spell books to increase her repertoire of magic, but, you know, training. Push-ups, sit ups, and running/flying 1km every day. The reason for that was simple, Twilight had simply figured that she needed to train her body first before she got into anything more advanced like combat techniques or tactics. After all, it was simple building blocks, you couldn’t know how to chart a graph without knowing what an ordered pair was first, and you certainly couldn’t learn how to throw a pony without getting some muscles first.
Oh sure, she was now one-third earth pony and one-third pegasus, but that didn’t change the fact that she was born a unicorn, and a “egghead” who liked to spend most of her time indoors reading books and as such, left her body somewhat underdeveloped. Running from monsters usually did wonders for her cardio, but there was a distinct lack of giant creatures attacking lately, so that meant no running anymore, save for the fall Running of the Leaves.
There was the occasional race from Rainbow Dash, but they didn’t really help. She wanted to train her body, not get left in the dust by her rainbow haired friend. Even if she did have a nice flank, Rainbow Dash’s attitude towards leaving her behind wasn’t helping matters. Applejack, on the other hoof, was a lot more helpful with her training. As it turns out, bucking Apple trees a lot harder than you’d think, especially when you had to make sure that not every single apple fell on you.
This went on for a period of about four months, and during that time, well, there was still no monster attack.
That was until the fifth month.
From out of nowhere, (at least Twilight thought so, she wasn’t paying attention at the time) a Chimera of all things came hunting for Apple bloom...or Applejack, Twilight didn’t care really. It ravaged the town, so that put it on the list.
The battle was hard fought, buildings were destroyed, muffins were stomped on, and flower mares had fainted. But after the dust cleared, Twilight and her friends had emerged victorious and the Chimera was banished back to wherever it came from. The wounds Twilight had sustained were the worst of the lot, but a few quick healing spells and she was back at one hundred and back to her training routine.
That is, until, the next day.
A Diamond Dog was there, and seeking revenge on Rarity for...something, and naturally, Twilight leapt to her defense. At first, Twilight tried words first, after all, diplomacy was the bedrock of any relationship, but the Dog wouldn’t hear it.
So that meant he got a free trip to Canterlot by way of a spell blast to the face.
Celestia’s letter to her was either written in anger or in laughter, Twilight couldn’t tell through all the scribbles, but the gist of it was that the Diamond Dog landed in Jet Set’s pool and that the royal guard had to flush him out using oversized fishing nets. Apparently it was also shedding season as well, so that meant a lot of fur stuck in the pool.
Oh well, Jet set and Upper Crust needed a vacation anyway.
Thankfully though, for the next few weeks, it was relatively quiet. No book messages from Sunset, no calls for aid from the crystal empire, hell, the Griffon territories didn’t need anything taken care of at the moment.
So, naturally, Twilight became bored.
Now, boredom, at first, wasn’t that bad. After all, being bored meant nothing bad was happening aside from the occasional lab mishap or Rainbow spraining a wing during their races. But...it sorta meant all the training Twilight was doing was pointless. If nothing bad was happening, then what was the point? The map wasn’t helping; it wasn’t beeping like some kind of...inter-transcontinental messaging device!
Wait, didn’t Sunset have one of those? She mentioned it in a report once...Cell...Bone? Book? Cell Book? Or was it Sell Book? Twilight couldn’t remember.
But then, out of nowhere again, it seemed like her prayers were answered.
Queen Chrysalis had returned from the badlands, Changeling army in tow and hell-bent on seeking revenge. At last, Twilight would have a challenge, after all, this bug queen once matched Celestia in power!
….Okay, that was due to a love-power boost and convenient timing. Apparently Celestia had a cold at the time and was hiding it through basic illusion magic, who knew?
But still! Chrysalis was a powerful foe! Worthy of Twilight’s new power!
At least, that’s what Twilight had thought at first.
One solid telekinetic spell blast to the face and the Queen went back to the Badlands on an express trip. Needless to say, the army soon followed her, voluntarily.
So, yeah, that killed Twilight’s boredom for about two minutes, which, in a way, was worse. Getting your hopes up then finding them fall short was...an unpleasant feeling to say the least.
So yet again, Twilight was bored.
Trixie came around again, that was nice. If anypony could match Twilight in magical prowess it was her, Starlight didn’t count due to the fact, well, Starlight was Starlight and not fun to measure against. Sides, Trixie always brought flair to their contests, she was fun to match wits against. Sunset was also out of the running because she was out of practice for...how many years? Ten? Twenty? Twilight wasn’t sure, interdimensional time was strange. It could be a fun problem to solve, but that could wait.
Anyway, back to Trixie. To both her glee and disappointment, Trixie wasn’t there to fight her, she was actually there to apologize for the Amulet thing and ask for the hatchet to be buried. Naturally, Twilight told her in no uncertain terms that Trixie was never at fault to begin with, after all, she wasn’t the one to summon the Minor Ursa and the Amulet had some magic corrupting thing going on. Things like that were a bit-a-bunch, there were even royal guidelines about what to do if you were recently corrupted by a magic trinket.
So, once again, Twilight was bored and out one rival.
But then, out of nowhere for the third Celestia-damned time, King Sombra appeared and had taken over the Crystal Empire!
Apparently there was something going on with his horn and he was somehow speaking complete sentences this time around instead of just “CRYSTALS!”
When she asked him about that, he just muttered, “Corporate Contract” in reply.
So, one….almost cinematic battle later, and Twilight stood victorious.
Again.
It took her even less effort than the last one! It wasn’t even a spell! She just flew up to him and punched him with her hoof! Her hoof! Just one punch! Then he exploded into a dark powder or something! She spent the rest of the day cleaning him up with a vacuum and putting the remains into a jar which she kept on her nightstand. The powder then grew eyes and a horn, a very tiny horn that was absolutely adorable. Strange thing though, every-time it...he? Looked at her, it would squirm back in sheer terror. No clue as to why.
So, yeah, she was bored again.
So, nothing left to do, Twilight went back to her spells and research. Of course, every time she tried to, some random monster would appear interrupting her research. So of course Twilight would fly out and blast the thing back from wherever it came, to go back to doing research, then another monster attack and so on and so on.
An endless cycle of repetition and boredom. Some of the monsters looked cool, but none of them were really….threatening. One of them had green lipstick and flew around in a chair thing flanked by some purple creature and a...Human? Twilight wasn’t sure, were they capable of transforming? She asked Sunset about that and Sunset had said humans weren’t capable of transforming into anything unless magic was involved.
Twilight didn’t think magic was involved, but the lipstick wearing one kept going on about how, “This isn’t even my final form!” or something, so Twilight just sent him...her… into far orbit with a hoof to the face.
Her….his...lackeys soon followed.
So, yeah, really, really, bored. But more than that, she was disappointed. It was like preparing for a difficult math test only to discover it was all just combining like terms.
It was particularly an insult; no pony could offer a challenge anymore when all it took to win was one spell. When she related this to Celestia, whom in her infinite wisdom merely said, “Twilight, shouldn’t you feel happy you are strong enough to defend your friends?”
To be fair, she sorta was, really, but….her friends really didn’t need defending. Rainbow Dash was still the better flyer, even if Twilight was starting to outpace her in sheer speed. Applejack was still the better fighter, Fluttershy was friends with Discord and woe to whoever thought harming her was a good idea. Rarity was surprisingly skilled hoof to hoof, and Pinkie Pie…was Pinkie Pie.
So yeah.
Eventually, Twilight managed to discover ways to tap into alternate dimensions like Starswirl the Bearded once did, all she needed was a focal point.
And she had already been to a few alternate dimensions recently, so that left a few options in her hooves.
And in retrospect, Nightmare Moon was proving to be a really good challenge so far...but…
“It still feels like it’s missing something.” Twilight finished, “Like I’m not really being pushed to my limits. You know?”
Celestia stared at her, then pointed upwards.
Or rather, downwards.
Twilight looked up, down? At the planet above her from her seat on the moon.
Coughing, she rubbed the back of her head, “Alright, I may have let her catch me off guard with that banishing spell...hehe…”
Alternate dimension Celestia or not, she still had that same questioning look that got under Twilight’s fur each and every time.
“I’ll uh….Go solve that now….I’ll just...you know…”
“My faithful student.” Celestia began causing Twilight to squirm uncomfortably.
“You know, I’m not this timeline’s Twilight….Just saying…”
“My faithful student.” Celestia said as if she hadn’t spoken, her horn alight to keep the magic shield up that would allow them to talk on the desolate surface of the moon, “I understand your need for excitement, but was coming to an alternate timeline in order to pick a fight truly the best idea you had?”
“Well….It’s just….” Twilight coughed to buy some time, it didn’t help, “....Kinda?”
Shaking her head, Celestia sighed, “Well, there’s nothing for it. Unless you have a way to get back to Equestria, we are both stuck here, I am sorry.”
At that, Twilight perked up, “Oh! Don’t worry about that! I can get us back really quick!”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, “What’s your plllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN-”
Nightmare Moon heaved in heavy breaths, her entire body sore and bruised, just who was that purple Alicorn? She showed up out of nowhere and picked a fight! Who does that? Recurring Saturday morning cartoon villains?
Oh well, it didn’t matter now. It may have been dumb luck that spell landed, but it still worked, that purple Alicorn was now stuck on the moon, she may have utterly ruined her castle and wrecked the majority of her forces, but she was now gone! A few of her soldiers and staff were unhurt for the most part, especially that rainbow haired one and the one that was her tapestry designer, they were almost completely unharmed. In between gasps of breath, Nightmare Moon made a note to ask them why the Alicorn didn’t bother fighting them and why there was a kiss mark on the rainbow one’s face.
Oh well, at least now her sister would have comp-
“AAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN-”
What was that?
And why did it sound so familiar?
Before she even knew what happened, the castle parlor behind her exploded with cataclysmic force. The very cliff side shook as immense pressure was suddenly put on it from above, turning around, Nightmare Moon’s jaw dropped.
There was the purple Alicorn, completely unharmed, beneath her was a crater formed from impact. That was at least five feet of solid marble, how did she….
No…
Nightmare Moon gaped, “How...how did you…”
“Oh about that...Ahhheeeee…” The Alicorn rubbed the back of her head, “I jumped.”
“.....You what?”
“I jumped, from the moon.” The Alicorn repeated.
Nightmare Moon’s jaw was now only barely attached to the rest of her skull. There was no way, that’s…
“Impossible?”
Nightmare Moon looked up, oh good grief, if this kept up, she wouldn’t have a jaw anymore.
There was her sister, holy and radiant wings flapping in the air above them both. But that was the only thing holy and radiant about her, the rest of her looked completely haggard, like she had been stuck in the wrong end of a wind tunnel.
One eye twitching involuntary, Celestia looked at Nightmare Moon and shared a look of empathy, “Trust me dear sister, seeing is believing.”
“....How?” Nightmare Moon gaped, “I sealed you in the moon!”
“You released me when you sent this mare to the moon.” Celestia said, gesturing to the purple Alicorn.
“It was sorta a crash landing.” The Alicorn said, shrugging.
“....Who are you?”
“My name’s Twilight Sparkle.” The Alicorn introduced herself, “Just a pony who’s a student for fun.”
“..........GRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”
Throwing herself forward at the Ailcorn, Nightmare Moon disappeared in a blur of movement as she rushed the damnable pony with a flurry of attacks. A tempest of spells and hoof strikes that this Twilight had no way of following, no pony, not even Celestia could keep up with this speed!
But she did.
A hoof to the chest plate sent Nightmare Moon flying back through the castle wall, shattered it behind her as she continued on. Skidding to a halt and damn near crippling her legs as she tried to brake, Nightmare Moon spat out blood as she came to a halt. A rumble escaped from her throat despite the pain.
“.....Ha….”
Was she laughing?
“HahahahhHAHAHAHAHAH!”
Oh yes, she was laughing.
“Is this….fun?” Nightmare Moon asked herself, bloodshot eyes looking at the Alicorn who stepped through the hole she created.
Twilight Sparkle, that was her name.
“You...you are powerful!” She laughed as Twilight came closer.
“Thanks, I put a lot of work into it.” Twilight said modestly.
“You are worth it….You are truly worth it!” Nightmare Moon chortled.
“Oh, thank you. But I already have eyes for somepony else.”
“My full power!”
“Oh.”
Leaping into the air, Nightmare moon felt her heart beat.
“Prepare yourself!” Unbelievable power began to gather in Nightmare Moon’s horn, vile twisted magic called from the deepest recess of her soul, the darkest magic, called forth from within to obliterate this upstart mare!
“FINAL ECLIPSE: METEORITE CRASH!”
“Oh, I get it, the moon is essentially a big rock and should it fall it could cause-”
“RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHH!”
“Oh right.” Composing herself, Twilight Sparkle stared at the glowing mass of pure magic being formed at the top of Nightmare Moon’s horn. As she did, a streak of light, grayish olive appeared on her mane and tail, “Well, since you’re using your ultimate move….”
With one last mighty cry, Nightmare moon unleashed her magic. A black beam devoid of any light or color approached Twilight at eye bleeding speeds.
“I’ll use mine.”
Enveloping her hoof in magic, Twilight watched as the beam came within spitting distance, then pulled herself back.
“Serious spell: Serious hoof.”
And for the lack of a better word, she punched the beam.
Luna, Princess of the Night, slowly opened her eyes. Above her, she saw a glorious, and somewhat funny sight.
“Luna...are you okay?” Celestia asked, her mane in complete disarray.
“Sister….” Tears welled up in her eyes, “I-I’m so, so-”
“Ssshhussh, it’s alright.” Celestia took her sister in a tight hug, “It’s okay, it’s over now. You needn’t worry anymore.”
“W-what happened?” Luna asked, why did her cheek hurt? “I remember...a purple mare...her name was...Sparkle….”
Celestia smiled warmly, “It’s okay sister, she saved you. Though I must say, I am somewhat confused as to the how.”
“What do you mean?” Luna asked.
Celestia turned away, “....Oh, nevermind.” She said after a moment, “It’s not important.”
“But I must thank her!” Luna said, “She freed me! I want to...to…”
“One thing at a time Luna.” Celestia said sweetly, but took on a solemn expression, “But...I’m afraid that the mare that freed you has left. She came when she was needed, and left when she wasn’t.”
“....She’s gone?” Luna said, “But….why?”
“I do believe she said something to the effect of “Maybe Tirek will give me a challenge.” Celestia said, and at Luna’s confused look, the white Alicorn shrugged, “I do not know either sister, but I do have a feeling that if we look hard enough, we can find that mare again.”
“We will?” Luna said hopefully.
“I’m sure of it sister.” Celestia nodded, “In fact, before she left, the mare who freed you had a message for you.”
“She did? What was it?” Luna pressed.
“She said: “If you ever find me, don’t ever let me become too strong. Because if I do, then all it takes is one spell.”
“....That seems terribly anti-climactic sister.” Luna pointed out.
Sighing, Celestia rubbed her head, “Trust me Luna, I know.”
Meanwhile, in another universe…..
Twilight coughed and looked at the broken, beaten body of Tirek.
“Well….That was boring.” She muttered, walking away and opening a time portal as Tirek whimpered something from under the rubble his face was in, “Back to one spell….Darn it.”
Author's Note
Don't ask, I was honestly just making this up as I went. Anyway, this was all just a funny little thing to do to kill some time and have a few laughs.
Don't think I'll be making any more of this, but if enough people want me to, I'll give it a shot.
Rainbow Dash let out a pain-filled scream as she fell to the ground, her side blistering with pain, her combat armor did nothing to protect her from a full on blast from King Sombra. Her metal wing was shattered, and she could only tumble helplessly down to the ground while the tyrant's cruel laugh repeated over and over again in her ears. Her old scars burning as she finally hit the pavement, she could only let groan as she lay against the cold hard ground. The battle for the Crystal Empire wasn’t going well, their forces had been routed, the Princess was nowhere to be seen, Pinkie Pie...Maud, she had no idea if they were alright, no idea if they were still living. Her squad was in a similar state, she saw Soarin go down, and Spitfire had raced after him, right into a field of anti-pegasus spell fire.
The cold, apathetic part of her told her that they were probably dead, and the sad part was, it was probably right this time.
And it seemed, she would be too.
“Well, what do we have here?”
Oh no….
“A bird who flew with clipped wings, it seems.”
She knew that voice.
Sombra.
Straining to look up from her shattered visor, Rainbow Dash was greeted with the sight of Sombra leering over her with his smug face. Flanking him were two brainwashed ponies, one male and female, and that looked like they were…
Oh Celestia, Captain Armor and Princess Cadance.
“You sick….sick...fu-” Rainbow snarled, but was cut off when a hoof pressed against her helmet, silencing her.
“Now now, I don’t think your princess will want to hear such foul words.” Sombra scolded as if Dash was a disobedient filly, “After all….” He leaned down against her ear, “They're going to be your last.”
Ah shit.
She could see Sombra charge up a magical spell in his curved horn out of the corner of her eye, a close range headshot then? There wasn’t a lot she could do now; run? No dice, she was stuck, try to stick her broken metal wing into his eye and make an escape? Plausible but how would she lean forward that far? Any movement would just cause him to fire the spell prematurely, which could either help her or just kill her quicker.
Well, it was worth a shot at least, better to burn out than to fade away after all.
Using what remaining strength she had, Corporal Dash threw herself at the tyrant, and to her credit, she was almost quick enough.
Sombra’s eyes widened in surprise as Dash’s metal wing rocketed towards him, but at the same time, he back pedaled and shot his magic off reflexively.
Rainbow let out a small smile hidden under her helmet as she watched the dark magic come closer. Well, at least she surprised him, in the end.
She closed her eyes and waited.
There was a slight rush of wind, and Rainbow opened her eyes, expecting to see wherever it was Ponies went to when they died. She was expecting either a hell hole filled with the screams of the damned, or an open sky where all her fallen comrades would welcome her.
Instead, all she got was the smiling face of a purple mare with caring eyes looking down at her.
“It’s going to be alright, Dash.”
“.....Huh?” She said, smartly. To be fair to Rainbow Dash, she was still alive, and...well, she was sorta expecting to be dead at this point, magic bolts to the face generally did that after all.
Looking around, she discovered that yes, all of her limbs were intact and her heart was still beating. Strangely enough, she was also being held lovingly by the purple pony’s hooves as if she was a bride, she also noticed that they were floating a bit off the ground, because...yes, the purple pony had wings, and a horn.
Okay, weird.
Again, “Huh?”
As she looked up at the mare, Rainbow Dash noticed she was missing her helmet, which was currently laying against the ground about five feet away, right at the hooves of King Sombra, who had a confused and dumbstruck look on his stupid face. Looking back up at the purple mare, Rainbow’s face scrunched up in confusion, “Who…” She began to ask, but found herself unable to answer as the Mare just smiled at her and gently lowered herself to the ground.
Setting the still dumbstruck Rainbow on the ground, the Mare turned to Sombra. It was at this time that Rainbow Dash noticed three things. One: The newcomer was an Alicorn.
Two: The newcomer was an Alicorn.
Three: Her Cutie Mark was the same as Princess Celestia's head researcher, Twilight Sparkle.
Actually, she looked a lot like Twilight Sparkle, mane, coat color, eyes, hell, her voice sounded similar too. But the last Dash checked, there were only two Alicorns in existence, and they were all Princesses.
So...did this make the Not-Twilight a Princess too?
“....Who are you?” Sombra asked, obviously confused by this sudden change of events.
At this time, Rainbow shared his feelings, as much as she hated to admit it.
Even from behind the Alicorn, Rainbow could see her smirk.
“I’m just…” The Alicorn shuffled a bit in her stance, shifting her posture of one who just didn’t give a damn, “A pony who's a student for fun.”
“......What?” Both Rainbow and Sombra asked at the same time.
Sharing a glance with each other and shuddering, the two paused to allow the mutual feeling of disgust to pass. Recovering first, Sombra frowned, “What kind of half assed introduction is that?” He demanded.
To Dash’s surprise, and probably Sombra’s, the Alicorn actually looked hurt by this, “You didn’t like it?” She asked.
“No! What kind of intro is that?” Sombra spat, “You didn’t even hint at backstory! I’ll show you how it’s done, I am King Sombra, chosen of the Umbra to lead Equestria into Dar-”
“Yes yes I know.” The Alicorn interrupted, waving her hoof dismissively, “I’ve read your journal. You do know Hope had a pretty big crush on you, right?”
“Do you really-” Sombra cleared his throat, catching himself with some red coloring his features, “I mean, how the bloody hell did you even know about it?”
“Eh,” The Alicorn shrugged, brushing the question off, “Don’t worry about it.”
“Hey, um,” Both Sombra and the Alicorn were suddenly reminded of Rainbow Dash’s presence on the ground, “Just...who are you?” The Corporal asked.
“Oh, I’m Twilight Sparkle.” The Alicorn said cheerfully.
“....I think I’m hallucinating.” Rainbow Dash said flatly.
“You and me both.” Sombra agreed, muttering.
“Anyway,” “Twilight Sparkle” said, shuffling her hooves in the dirt, “King Sombra, you have committed crimes against the Kingdom of Equestria, give up now, and no harm will come to you.”
Rainbow Dash swore she heard Twilight muttered, “Please don’t give up.” under her breath.
This was really strange, did Twilight become an Alicorn through magical experimentation or something? The fallout of that would be extreme, to say the least.
Thankfully though, Sombra snorted, “Ha, as if. I do not know who you are little mare, but I am the tyrant king, the looming shadow, the-”
Sombra didn’t even get to finish his sentence. Within half-a-second, he became nothing more than black powder spattered against the ground. Rainbow Dash gawked stupidly as the helmets around Captain Armor and Princess Cadance fell off like somepony had flipped a light switch.
“No….Not again…”
Lost in her own world, Twilight fell to her knees, her horn smoking slightly.
“It only took one spell. Just one…”
There was a sudden silence across the battlefield.
Expect for…. “DARRRRRRRNNNN ITTTTTT!”
The sudden plume of dirt and debris clouded the surrounding area by a hoof slamming into the pavement, blinding Rainbow Dash for a moment. When she was able to see again, the only sign that the Alicorn had been there was a hoof print in the ground.
Just one.
Looking around at the cracked and shattered pavement of the Crystal Empire, Rainbow Dash could only blink in surprise. She lay there for a moment, a surge of mixed and confusing emotions swelling in her, before finally speaking: “I feel let down.” She muttered, “Like all my problems were solved because of a convenient plot device.”
“Dashie!” A voice from her right called.
Looking over to the source, she saw Pinkie Pie with her sister Maud, Soarin’ and Spitfire slumped on her back.
“You guys made it!” Rainbow yelled, relief filling her body.
“I’ll say!” Pinkie chirped, running over to her. Looking around, she rubbed the back of her head, “Errr, Dashie, what happened here?”
Thinking for a moment, Dash shrugged, “I dunno, I think it was a Deus...ex something or other.”
“What, like a superhero?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head.
“No...more like...I dunno, somepony who's way too strong.” Rainbow said.
“......Are you feeling okay Dashie? Didja take any to the old noggin?”
“I’m fine Pinkie. Just help me up.”
“Okie Doki loki!”
Twilight sighed as she poured water over her potted plant on the Friendship Castle’s balcony, another dimension scratched off the list, and still no challenge. It was so dumb, she was hoping that the Crystal War one would give her the thrill she wanted, but still no luck.
Well, at least she saved War Dash from certain death, she had contemplated sticking around, but...eehhhh, the world didn’t need more than one Twilight, and despite how good Rainbow Dash looked in uniform, Twilight wasn’t really up for explaining she was there again. Two Celestias had been enough, thank you very much, she didn’t want to meet another one.
As Twilight mulled over how boring her life had become, a flea landed on her neck. Flicking it off with her tail, Twilight’s eye twitched as the flea came back, undisturbed by the murder attempt.
Swatting at it with unsurpassable speed, Twilight growled as the flea somehow escaped from certain death yet again. Setting the teacup with a bright yellow frog design down, Twilight spotted the flea in the air and formed a telekinetic field around it, bringing it in front of her, Twilight spit multiple atoms in the small sphere and grinned as the small purple ball became a contained planet bursting explosion.
“Got you.” She said, staring at the magical sphere.
The flea landed on her snout.
A vein appeared on Twilight’s neck.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen area.
Spike munched on Celestial Raisins (All part of a magically balanced breakfast!) as multiple sonic booms suddenly erupted from the roof. “I think Twilight’s at it again guys.” He said to the assembled group.
Owlicious nodded in agreement, “Hoo.”
“I’m telling ya man, ever since she started training, she’s really seemed kinda high strung.”
“Hooo.”
“That’s what I’m saying! She really needs to learn to kick back and enjoy godhood sometime, ya know?”
“Hoo.”
“A coltfriend? Like who?”
“Hoo?”
“Flash who now?”
“Hoo.”
“Oh, so not even you know?”
“Hoo.”
“What about Rainbow Dash?”
“Hoo.”
“Huh, ya think so?”
“Hoo.”
“You also think Sunset would be good? Well, they do have a lot of similarities, but I dunno…”
“Hoo.”
“Good point, hey Sombra, what do you think?”
Lowering his daily newspaper, once King, now a jar of black dirt with eyes and a horn, Sombra took a second to glare and roll his eyes at Spike before going back to reading The Ponyville Times.
“Hey, just asking.” Spike muttered.
Outside the nearby kitchen window, there was a thundering crash of fire and lightning that rocked the skyline for miles. It scorched the air and split the sky as the elements clashed against each other in a contest of power, each one seeking to overpower the other in a spectacle that would be told for eons to come.
So when the door to the kitchen opened up and an annoyed looking Twilight came in, Spike wasn’t the least bit surprised when her tail was smoking slightly.
“Stupid flea…” Twilight muttered, ignoring the looks she was getting from the kitchen’s other occupants.
“Having trouble today Twi?” Spike asked casually.
Twilight sighed, floating over her own bowl and milk, “Just an annoying flea.” She explained, pouring herself her own bowl of cereal as she did.
“Huh.” Spike looked over his shoulder out towards the window, “And the light show was to get the flea?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” Twilight hanging her head and avoiding direct eye contact with Spike.
“Geez Twi, overkill much?”
Twilight snorted, “Please, this wasn’t any ordinary insect. I’m fairly certain this was actually a magical powered construct sent to spy on me, equipped to avoid whatever anypony throw at it.” The Alicorn smirked, “But I’ve foiled that plan, and I’m going to find out whatever-”
Right in front of her, the same damn flea flew out of nowhere and landed onto her snout, stayed there for a bit, then jumped over to Spike’s head.
On reflex, Spike smacked it with his claws, crushing it between his hand and his head.
The flea fell to the table, where it released a few sad whimpers of death before it finally keeled over and died.
“.....” Twilight stared.
“....” Spike grinned and blushed, rubbing the back of his head.
“....” Sombra didn’t say anything, on account of being magical powder.
“...Hoo?” Owlicious hooted.
Moving her breakfast out of the way with her hoof, Twilight paused for a second before slamming her head repeatedly against the wooden table.
“You were really hoping for that, weren’t you?” Spike asked.
Twilight mumbled something incomprehensible, her face pressed firmly against the table.
Looking in between Sombra and Owlicious for support and finding none, Spike rubbed his head, “...Annnyway, we doing anything today?”
Lifting her head and beaming, Twilight grinned, “Well today, I was hoping we could tinker a bit with the mirror, with what Sunset said about those portals popping up in her world when magic was used somehow, I’m thinking it might be possible to stabilize those elements using the Mirror as a focal point.”
Spike snapped his fingers, “Like you were doing with those other timelines we visited?”
Twilight nodded, “Exactly!”
“By the way, did you ever go back to that one with the Changelings?” Spike asked.
Twilight coughed and rubbed the back of her head, “Well...sorta, I don’t remember that much of it.”
“How come?”
“Err...I sorta found out where...you know, those pods were kept, and when I got there...I sorta lost it.” Twilight explained nervously.
“Lost it?”
“I maaaayyyy have threw a mountain at Chrysalis.” Twilight admitted.
Spike, being, well, Spike, didn’t even blink at this revelation, “And?”
“....And it was probably Canterlot’s mountain.” Twilight hung her head, “It was hard to explain to that timeline’s Celestia why there was two Twilights and why they would all have to move down to Ponyville.”
Spike tilted his head, “Huh, how’d she take it?”
“Honestly? A lot better than expected.” Twilight shrugged, “I think I heard her say something about “mirror Sombra”, or something.”
The two glanced down at the jar of dark shadow powder with green eyes and a horn, who appeared to be only half listening to their conversation, he glanced at them, shook his eyes, somehow, and went back to reading his newspaper.
Spike and Twilight shared a look, then shrugged mutually.
“Anyway,” Spike began, “When are you going to start it? There’s a hoofball game on today and it’s my turn to host with the guys, you’re not gonna...you know, blow up the castle again?”
Twilight waved her hoof, “Pfft, like that'll happen.”
Spike raised an eyebrow.
“....Okay, I’ll admit that potion with the poison joke and Pinkie Pie’s sugar recipe didn’t turn out quite the way I expected, but still!” Twilight protested.
In response, Spike pointed at a patch of pink, wriggly flowery vines laying on the floor.
“...I thought you got all of them.” Twilight observed.
“I did, but that one keeps going on about “Determination,” or something.” Spike shrugged, “Oh, and tails.”
“Tails?” Twilight repeated, slightly confused.
“I’unno.” Spike shrugged.
Leaving that as food for thought, Twilight took a bite of her cereal, and much to her horror and disgust, she had been distracted by the conversation, so now her breakfast was, dare it be uttered...soggy.
Oh, and she was out of milk too, that was bad too.
“Horsefeathers.”
Ponville did not have a tried and true “grocery store” like Fred Hayers, or SafeNeigh, instead they had a Farmer’s Stable, which, really, was just a bunch of stalls huddled up together near the center of town. It made finding what you wanted really easy, the hard part was dodging the crowd.
“Hi Twilight!”
“Hi Sweetie.”
“Hey Twilight, what’s up?”
“Heya Scoots.”
“Twilight! Good to see ya.”
“Always a pleasure Caramel.”
“Twilight, you’re cleaning your wings every day, right?”
“Yes Nurse Redheart, that guide you lent me has been a major help, thanks.”
The best part? Meeting the crowd.
In any other place, Twilight mused as she nodded towards a passing Cheerilee, she would’ve been greeted by formal bowings and callings of “Princess Twilight!” She probably would be asked to bless somepony’s baby, or some other insane thing, just because she had the power of a god, it didn’t make her one.
Or...did it?
“....Food for thought.” Twilight mumbled, her mood dampening a little by the reminder of her deity status.
“Hey there Twilight, looking to buy?” Lifting her head, and her spirits, Twilight saw the always reassuring face of Applejack manning her Apple stall. Rows of shiny red apples lied in baskets, organized and ready to be sold, Twilight gave it her mental seal of approval.
“Just going for some Groceries.” Twilight affirmed, “How’s Big Mac?”
“Still healing ‘fter that shiner you gave him.” Applejack said, wincing at the memory.
Twilight cringed, “Well...I’ll admit, it wasn’t the best idea to let Apple Bloom get into my lab.” To her relief though, Applejack shrugged and waved it off,
“Ah, don’t let that rattle you none, you didn’t know she’d turn him into as tall as a mountain and all….musclely like that.”
“I’m still trying to figure out how she did that…” Twilight mumbled, all she had did was let Apple Bloom help her brew a simple growth potion, how would she know that would turn Big Mac into Bigger Mac? Granted, a lot of the mares in town probably owed Apple Bloom a thank you, but still, it was the principle of the thing.
Also didn’t help Big Mac stepped on her by accident…
“Anyway,” Twilight began, “Anything new going on?”
Applejack shrugged, “If’n you mean something else besides the usual insanity, then ah ain’t got nothin’ for ya.”
“What day is today?”
“Wednesday.”
“Shoot.” Looking around, Twilight sighed in disappointment, how funny, a year ago, she would’ve dreaded the thought something strange and wacky might happen, but now that she was actively looking for it, it just wasn’t happening. What was the point of all her training if there was no challenge to be offered?
“Oh, speaking of, you coming down to the farm later to practice bucking some more?” Applejack asked, as if reading her mind.
Giving it some thought, Twilight nodded, “Sure! Always happy to help A.J.”
“Thank ya kindly, but uh,” Applejack looked hesitant, “When ya come by, can ya not send the tree over the horizon when ya buck it?”
“That only happened once!”
“And the time before that, ya wound up vaporizing the darn thing.”
“Grk….Okay, but to be fair-”
“And the time before that ya managed to break the darn tree in half, and the one behind it.”
“Okay, okay, I get your point.” Twilight grumbled
Giving her a sheepish smile, Applejack rubbed the back of her head, “Sorry sugarcube, but ya gotta admit, ya got pretty strong pretty quick.”
Twilight snorted, “It’s just basic wing ups, push-ups, sit ups, and 10kms of running and flying, it’s nothing special, anypony could do the same thing.”
“Says the mare that flew to the moon and back, lifted a mountain over her head with magic just because thought she lost her keys somewhere on the mountain, and if ah recall correctly, once broke the sound barrier just so she could get some bargain savings at Trotters.” Applejack said, causing Twilight to roll her eyes.
“Gee, your moral support is unwavering.” The Alicorn drawled, trying to ignore the feeling of indignation welling in her chest.
“Sorry Twi, but somepony’s gotta keep your head from getting too full of applesauce, if ya know what I’m saying.”
Scowling, Twilight sighed while acknowledging the fact Applejack had a point, having lots of power meant nothing if you got a big head over it. Besides, she didn’t ask for power, she just wanted to be a little bit better at fighting, that’s all.
After all, no pony asks to be too strong.
Well….Okay, maybe Rainbow Dash would, but that’s beside the point. Trixie definitely wouldn’t though, that Amulet did a number on her psyche.
Poor girl still had trouble looking at a piece of jewelry without suffering a panic attack, but thankfully though, sometime at Applejack’s farm where she could work on building a new wagon in peace had done some good for her mind.
Twilight wasn’t quite sure she wanted Trixie to be teaching Appplebloom how to disappear in a smoke cloud though.
Actually, Twilight wanted to learn how to do that, it would be so neat. Needed to get out of sight? Boom, smoke. Wanted to make a sudden entrance? Smoke bomb. All of life’s problems solved in one handy, round pellet.
Okay, she was probably over selling it, but still.
“Aww, come on Applejack!” A cheery, and somehow pink voice cut in, just like a smoke bomb, “Let Twilight revel in the spotlight for a while! I mean, she usually does, like when she first moved to Ponyville, or the wedding, or when she became an Alicorn and became a princess, or that time when she went into a separate dimension and sung for a rock band!”
Looking around for the source of the voice, Twilight and Applejack were greeted with the sight of Pinkie Pie lying on top of Applejack’s stand on her back, all too used to their friend’s antics, neither pony batted an eye. Bouncing off the roof and landing without missing a beat, she leaned on Twilight’s shoulder, “Okay, I’ll admit, you do tend to hang onto the spotlight a lot Twi, but that’s okay, life would be pretty boring if there wasn’t any sudden and exciting stuff going on!”
Forcing a smile onto her face and trying to ignore the sudden feeling of despair, Twilight choked out her words as much warmth as she could muster, “Uh, yeah...happy to help!”
Needless to say, nopony was convinced.
Seeing her friend’s disappointed mood and trying to ignore the glare Applejack was sending her way, Pinkie Pie tapped her hoof against her chin, “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I’m working on a song about your god-like power!”
“Pinkie, that’s not really necessary….”
“Oh don’t be silly little pony! How does; “There’s a goddess in my horn tonight” sound?”
Glancing at Applejack, who snorted at the line, Twilight gave Pinkie her best reassuring and utterly fake smile, “That’s nice Pinkie, but I really don’t need a theme song, and I don’t have a goddess inside my horn.”
“Well, how do you know if you never checked?”
“What-”
Before anypony could stop her, Pinkie reached up and opened Twilight’s horn like a bottle of ketchup.
“....” Twilight’s eye twitched.
Applejack blinked in surprise.
And the tiny, brown haired Alicorn that was residing in Twilight’s horn looked utterly flabbergasted before quickly grabbing the horn’s tip and clapped it down.
“....” All three were silent for a good minute, before Twilight finally spoke up, “When I find out what happened, we never talked about this, agreed?”
“Agreed.” Pinkie and Applejack said in unison.
“....Anyway, I’m going to go get some milk.” Twilight said, “Have a good day girls!”
Waving goodbye to her two earth pony friends, Twilight trotted along, humming a tune to herself as she did.
“We’ve been here so long,” She sang to herself as she walked along the stalls, looking for her desired object of white milky goodness, “Still I remember that rainy September....contact…...2...4...1…10….2...4…1...10…Am I transmitting? Is anypony listening? Con-ack, stupid fleas!”
Biting the inside of her lip in annoyance, Twilight whipped around and glared at the insect in question, it was hovering around in the air making an annoying buzzing sound.
“So, you came for revenge then for your fallen-hey! Don’t fly away from….me...” Watching the flea fly off, apparently disinterested in engaging her in mortal combat. Lowering to the ground, Twilight sighed, “Isn’t anypony gonna take me seriously…?” Picking herself up, Twilight walked over to a random stall, which, thankfully, had milk.
Levitating up some bits, Twilight took a random carton of milk in her mouth. Nodding halfhearted in thanks, Twilight lifted the thing into a magical grasp and started to trot back to her crystal castle. Her good mood practically gone by now, having been replaced by a sense of melancholy.
That was quickly replaced by the sound of a fiery explosion erupting behind her that enveloped all of her senses and washed over her body.
Blinking as the fire dissipated and leaving her unharmed, Twilight paused and took a second to look at her bottle of newly purchased milk.
It was molten slag, and Twilight was out 10 bits.
Sighing, Twilight hung her head and walked towards the center of the explosion, “Today’s gonna be one of those days, huh?” She asked no pony in particular.
Flipping out of the smoke cloud, a pegasus mare with a light turquoise coat skidded to a stop, her breaths coming out in pained labor as she did. A lightning bolt adored her flank, and her amber mane was thrown about as if she was she had been just struck by electricity.
And for the record, she had been.
Looking up at her foe, the mare called Lightning Dust glared at the hovering creature in front of her. It was a large, bear like creature with white and black fur with a stringer of some sort protruding out of it’s rear. From what she could remember, this….thing was a Bugbear, and it certainly had the name down pat.
Growling like a wild animal, Lightning Dust pulled herself back into a launch position, then shot off like a rocket towards the creature. Lighting and fire erupted around her as she collided against the Bugbear in midair, but to her surprise, the damn freak not only stopped her charge with ease, it also threw her aside as if she were a piece of trash.
Granted, it was into the side of a building, but still.
Grunting in pain, Lightning Dust winced as she felt machinery dig into her flesh. This was bad, her battle pack was starting to break, the doctor warned her about this, damnit, if she survived this then-
The only warning Dust got was the roar, the next thing she knew, she felt two large feet slam into her stomach, sending her through the building she had been lying in.
Needless to say, it hurt, a lot.
As she came to rest in nice, solid pavement, her eyes swerved about in all directions, “Did anypony get the number of that Bugbear that hit me?” She asked.
“Ummm….Are you alright?”
Blinking, Lightning Dust had to wait for a second for her eyes to realign back into their proper place. Standing above her was a purple unicorn...scratch that, Alicorn with concerned eyes and magenta hair.
Groaning to herself, Dust forced herself up, “I’m fine, just gonna kick this thing’s butt back to Tartarus.”
“Do you need any help?”
That caused Lightning Dust to pause for a second, and to look at the Alicorn, she was starting to look awfully familiar, like that Princess Twi……Light.
“....Oh.”
“Oh?” The princess tilted her head in confusion. This was bad, very, very bad. If the princess got hurt in any way, then it would certainly be pinned on her. Things had a way of being blamed on her family, like when her uncle was blamed for Spitfire being late for a show. Dust couldn’t let her family name be tarnished any further because she was unable to protect the princess.
“You should get out of here.” Lightning said curtly, “There’s a monster running about, and I’m not sure I can stop it.”
“Stop what? And what’s that thing on your back?” The princess asked, pointing a hoof at her battlepack.
Rolling her eyes, Dust turned to face the Alicorn fully, she was about to say there was no time to explain, but as it turns out, there was really no time to explain.
The building behind her shattered in full, and through the wreckage, the Bugbear emerged. Barely able to turn around in time, Lighting Dust saw her life flash before her eyes as an opened claw came bearing down on her.
“You’re really bugging me, bear.”
The next thing Lightning Dust knew, she was completely unharmed, and the Bugbear was nowhere to be seen. In front of her was Princess Twilight, hovering above a large crater in the ground, her horn smoking slightly from recent spell-use, and in the center of the crater was….
No...how did she…..
In the center, which was at least half a mile underground, was the Bugbear, with the world’s largest booboo on it’s head.
“.....What.” Was all Lighting Dust could say.
Fluttering down to the ground, the princess rubbed the back of her head, “Oh, did you not like my joke? I thought it would be funny. See, it was a pun on bug and bear and….oh, okay. You’re not listening...I’ll just….bye.”
Turning around and walking away, Twilight Sparkle sighed and hung her head. As Lighting Dust watched her go, her mouth spoke out before her brain did.
“Wait!”
Twilight paused, and turned around.
“Please, teach me how to fight like you!” Lightning pleaded.
The Alicorn nodded once, “Sure.” She took about a step, then did a double take, “Wait, what?”
Author's Note
Back by somewhat popular demand, the second chapter of One Spell Mare. I made this with a lot of hesitation and more then once did I consider just stopping so I could work on other things, like learning how to draw a pony (The legs are hell I say, heeellllll). But, as I've finished it, I might as well post it. Let me know what you thought, what worked and what didn't. This story probably won't go for very long, only five chapters at the most, but yeah, here's hoping it all goes smooth.
