Day of Coronation

Chapters

In remembrance of the day
Initial encounter
The first blow
Closest to their heart
In their element
Desperate measures
Revenge
Friendship

In remembrance of the day

On the second day of the second month of the Equestrian calender princess Celestia was to become the eternal queen of the land. With consent from the herald of the queen mother and her sister princess Luna, her ascension into matriarchal monarchy was to be celebrated on her coronation day. But betrayal had beset the would-be empress on all sides, as everypony she thought were her dearest friends conspired against her. Princess Luna holding a treasonous liaison with the god of Discord, she had amassed an army readying for war. And the queen mother's own herald aligning with changelings! This day we hold a truce in remembrance of that betrayal, in honour of the solar empress's perseverance! This day is in remembrance so that everypony present today may know that this unfortunate circumstance upon Equestria, upon this once peaceful and utopian land was ruined by the Queen of the darkness, Nightmare moon. To whom we all know with hatred in our hearts and forever know as merely princess Luna, no matter what her kingdom of vagabonds see fit to title her. As Celestia is my witness, I will not only champion the honour of our Queen-empress but also show to all the shining glory of our empire!

-In the words of Princess Twilight Sparkle The Great and Powerful on the eve of battle.

I, Trixie have come from a long line of great unicorns, heroes every single one of them, taught by the best like generations past and left parentless as if it were all part of some morbid tradition. But someone was there for me, every step of the way. A queen who quietly watches us all and holds us in the embrace of the stars and moon. She is a mother of this beautiful land and the rightful ruler of Equestria. But half way across Equestria, people are cursing her name and calling her traitor! I say nay to these ignorant foals. I say nay to the liar that titles herself empress! As the great herald of the Queen mother would tell you, Celestia had been running a dictatorship. Recreating history with lies and deceit, naming her very own little sister villain so that she may rule as opposed to the one chosen by the Queen mother herself. I, like all before me, cry out for retribution! And I in my humble life time intend to do many great things towards this inevitable justice. But for now, I promise to you all that I will honour my title as this kingdom's champion. I will defeat Twilight Sparkle and in doing so... I will regain my family's ancient title of "Great and powerful", I will reclaim the honour of our rightful queen and I will show to all the land that the New Lunar republic is indeed the new way. For we are not founded on lies and deceit, but in the shadow of our beloved Luna. Who protects us all in her eternal night.

-In the words of Trixie the 69th on the eve of battle.

Initial encounter

It was a clear and mild afternoon. As agreed by the terms, pegasii of both sides were to clear the area of any kind of weather, lest their side were found without honour. Everything about this day was a test, as if it were some mock exam of each side's right to fight. To any who dare sully the name of their queen would deem their's the guilty party of the war. It was by no means, a means in of itself to stop the war. But as both queens saw it, it would be a nice thing to know that they were indeed on the side of justice when the inevitable victory came. And then perhaps then, they can say to themselves that the deaths of so many ponies was worth the cause after all.

As tradition dictated they met on the field of battle with Canterlot due north of their position. Intruding upon neither's domain the two forces met, with the night coming from the west and the day to the east. In silence they both marched until they both stopped a respectable distance from the border. Once sufficient glaring was done and that both sides were certain no uncalled for hostilities were in order, the traditional parley began. The queens stepped out from their respective throngs to initiate the initial encounter. Luna, or rather Luna in her war-aspect of Nightmare moon, opted to stand with her ponies at the front rank with Trixie by her side. Matching step for step the pair began to walk the few hundred hoofs it took to get to the center of the divide.

At the same time Celestia reclined on a great raised dais-throne carried by six strong backed white stallions. Slowly and reverently they lowered themselves so that their empress could merely step to the ground and begin her walk. Princess Twilight Sparkle awaited her at the front of the army as they parted out of the way to give their empress free passage to meet with her champion. Each rank she passed the royal guard ponies would raise their halberds in salute and then neatly closed ranks behind her. Twilight met Celestia with a curt bow as she passed before her. Only until she was a whole hoof away did the champion finally follow.

Shrouded in the cloaking darkness of eternal night Luna and Trixie moved with solemn purpose, they looked only straight ahead locking eyes with their foe. Celestia took the brunt of their glares as if they dared to literally stare daggers into her. In retaliation Celestia sent out a silent command. Twilight's mighty horn began to glow invisible to but a few who knew how to see it. Trixie having matched her queen step for step was now struggling against an invisible hold, every part of her body felt resistance when the magic took hold. It was as if the gravity around her had drastically increased, forcing the little pony to drag herself across the field in the most undignified way. Despite everypony present knowing something was ahoof, the imperials merely looked on in indifferent pretence. The night side practically wanted to scream out great war cries by this affront to their champion. But as testimony to their discipline, they resisted their baser urges. Putting faith in their Trixie to do the right thing.

Trixie could see through mystified eyes Twilight's telekinesis at work. Seeing the obvious taunt for what it was, she opted to not be the first to attack. Instead Trixie warmed her horn with magic and began to dispel the faux-princess's work. Surrounding herself with her own sky coloured aura she pushed Twilight's lavender-pink aura back as if it were putty in her hoofs. Now free from the old mare's evil magic she began her work to make a mockery of her foe.

Twilight appreciated the feat for what it was, to be able to use telekinesis on a non-physical object was a rare skill. But she was not to be intimidated by a show pony foal's parlour tricks as she applied more power to her spell, pushing her aura more towards Trixie, despite the resistance. She knew the little one wanted to try to steal her spell and reverse the effect back onto her, using both her own power and her enemy's. Indeed a clever trick but by no means unavoidable for the greatest unicorn of several ages. For Trixie to achieve her feat, she would have to first overpower Twilight's spell. However now that Twilight has increased the strength of her magic, it was becoming a little too difficult to attempt with any degree of success.

Now locked in an invisible war of attrition the two champions battled for control for each other. With gritted teeth and locked horns they met. Ready to have it out right then and there. Until, of course, the command to relent came from each of their superiors. Exchanging quick disgruntled whinnies, they sat obediently next to their queen like the ponies of war they were. Trixie was glaring so hard as to will death to come for the tall celestially built purple unicorn. Twilight merely smirked with mirth so dark, the sadistic part of her soul exuded an aura all it's own.

"I see you are still playing with the same old protege, old sister." Luna took a moment to glance contemptuously to the empire's champion. A disgusted grimace forming on her face.

Celestia scoffed at the juvenile jab as she made to dramatically spread out her wings. As if hiding it within the fold of her wings, light flared out from the motion, banishing the darkness Luna wore. With the illusionary image of Nightmare moon removed, nothing was showing but a pitiful little child-mare. The night queen wearing her best war face for what seemed to Celestia as nothing more than a child's pouting face.

"At least my one is closer to a consenting age, filly fiddler." Luna bit her lip at that riposte of a retort. She was right, Trixie was still so young, with a mere fourteen autumns behind her she was the youngest of all before her to reach the title court magician and by extension Queen's champion. A mere child was thrust upon to face death so early in life.

But the power in this one was strong. Her hate and rage building up over the years, holding the grudge of generations on her back, Trixie, with all these things to drive her, had quickly become the greatest warrior in all the republic.

"I guess I learn from the best." Luna began admitting that she only took on the Trixies under her own wing because they rivalled that of Twilight sparkle. But she was not going to let this mimicry come off as mere flattery as she invoked the ancient name. "Molestia."

Celestia's flared with rage at that name. She opened her mouth with a ready retort but finally decided against it.

"Ten miles apart. We will all observe from there. I don't want any of your night fiends complaining foul play for Twilight Sparkle showing her full power." Celestia said simply, looking down on her champion who chuckled at the words. As if nostalgia had befallen both.

"To assure no such cheating occurs. I will also add that if any champion nears the range of any side, the army is free to attack with ranged weaponry. We don't want your puny little unicorns to be eviscerated in the fray of combat now." Luna spoke out, jabbing at the way the empire's military was so pathetic in close quarters compared to the heavily earth pony republic. The night mares shared a sadistic grin as if remembering a particular massacre out of so many others.

"Agreed." Celestia said simply before speaking some parting words to her champion and teleporting away. Luna did likewise but unlike Twilight, Trixie did not give her queen a response as she focused hard on the foe she wanted to face for so many years.

The moment Luna vanished from sight, both unicorns jumped back from each other for distance while they prepared their magic.

The first blow

Trixie watched Twilight jump back and with a quick flash of magic the air warped around her horn into wave of kinetic energy. Invisible to the eye Twilight barely dodged the blow aimed at her head, losing only a few tiny clippings of her mane. The shot had gone wide in her haste, that was true. But it would have been enough to wound the old mare were it not for the hag's natural instincts. Trixie landed on all four hoofs safely while Twilight had to shift her body weight again to land first on her hind legs and then safely on her fore. This gave plenty of time for Trixie to send forth even more kinetic waves her way. Anticipating this Twilight summoned the power of her horn to build a magical shield-wall, built purely to take the brunt of the attack from front.

"And another comes to fight the great and powerful Twilight. I swear you Trixies breed more than the changeling queen." Twilight shouted over the din of rushing wind that came with each impact of the magical waves. As if on reply, the frequency of their coming increased as the barrier began to show some signs of wear. So fast. Twilight thought, the surprise in her nearly revealing itself to her face.

The waves slashed and bit great scars into the barrier as if they were knives on butter. In moments the barrier fell into useless shreds of magic leaving Twilight exposed. She was overconfident, Trixie noted. Twilight had thought she could end it all in one spell. She knew she had the power to do so and now she knew the little filly was all too aware of this power-difference. And so the filly cast the quickest and simplest attack in the Trixie spell book. It did wonders to Twilight's ability to cast complex magic, just as Trixie had hoped.

"Temper temper little filly. We don't want you over exerting yourself. I want to actually enjoy myself this time." Casting this magic in such quick succession would take their toll. "Unlike the other sixty eight times." Twilight only needed to buy time until Trixie was ready was ready to die.

Twilight's eyes flared with magic. Twilight could see the sky blue waves coming towards her in droves. In grim acknowledgement she calculated that she only had a few seconds to succeed, failing that she would be cut to ribbons by the warped air. Focusing hard on her horn Twilight built magic at the tip and in one simple will she exploded the magic with a single pulse of kinetic energy. Meeting a force equalling them, the waves dissipated upon impact, rendering them non-existent and harmless. She knew more would be coming, but all she needed was this little window of time to breathe.

Time to test the waters.

"Look at you, so young. So ready to die for queen and country. Are mere fillies all the republic can offer these days?" Twilight made ready her counter offensive. Trixie's puny spell flying just wide of Twilight as she danced around the slicing death.

The air around them warped and pulsed as Twilight mimicked Trixie's spell sending forth her own kinetic waves, differentiating themselves from the little fillies as it charged with the old mare's purple energy. Where Trixie slashed horizontally to decapitate the purple pony, Twilight slashed asunder the offending attack in half in a vertically pattern to render the spell useless. Back and forth they went casting magic that would slice legions of ponies to ribbons. Parrying here, blocking there, dodging everywhere the two unicorns fought the most intense sword fight in the history of Equestria. Each impact rang out in tones creating a cacophony of melody, promising death and demise. Ear drums and lungs threatened to rapture, as the air pressure shifted back and forth almost beyond the limit of what their pony bodies could endure.

"You know you can still run away from all this. You are the last of your kind and clearly without a foal to your name. When this life is over, there will be no more Trixies left to entertain me." Having finally found her rhythm Twilight was at home in the combat. Relaxing so much as to speak in such a relaxed and cordial tone. To Twilight it seemed that this duel to the death only needed as much concentration as an absent minded day-dream. Despite the blood pouring from her nose and the corner of her mouth.

"I'll fight!" Trixie screamed out in an almost animalistic way. The intensity of her attacks impossibly increasing to such a rate that Twilight didn't think possible for the filly. It was still however easily within her comfort zone. A single wave managed to break through her guard, now slicing a chunk of her tail hairs. Barely in her comfort zone. Twilight corrected herself.

"I'll fight so that no child of mine would have to face a monster like you. So that no child of mine will have to carry this burden I have!" Trixie's burned with magic to such an extent that it seemed to leak out of her, like wispy tears of unadulterated hate.

"Today you will take all of it. My love, my anger and all of my sorrow!" Trixie screamed out with all her being as a screen of pure kinetic death pulsed out of her. It would not merely slice Twilight apart, it would incinerate her out of existence! Despite her efforts Twilight's own kinetic waves did nothing to slow the rapidly encroaching death.

Looking on helplessly Twilight could only conjure a single thought in this moment. Brother.

She was going to die, and not in some great flair of majesty or sacrifice but from an invisible force that no pony could see. They would only watch as Twilight merely ceased to be.

To die in a way that is as sad as forgetting.

Closest to their heart

"Today you will take all of it. My love, my anger and all of my sorrow!"

Magical fatigue did nothing but kill the body. Having poured out more power at once than she could safely handle, Trixie's body rebelled against her. Out of convulsion than any helpful bodily function she vomited out a gout of blood and mucus from her mouth. The tangy feel of the blood irritated her lungs and throat and the taste was terrible. Her breathing was labouring and with her profuse sweating, she couldn't help but thirst for some water. Everything about her ached, as the muscles and veins that channelled her magic frazzled with excess of their endurance. No doubt internal bleeding had occurred to such an extent that she would need immediate medical attention after this. But despite herself she was kind of happy. She had gone to lengths she hadn't gone before, beyond what she thought was possible. But the price of such a thing could be too dear for her to attempt twice.

Her head pounding with a migraine and body weakened with fatigue, she couldn't help but smile wry at her achievement.

At any normal time she would think the usual lie of never again. But given the grave situation and the prize at stake, she let herself have no mood for humour. Sniffing her nose free of bloody phlegm, she began the process of relaxing her body and recharging her magical endurance. It was a strange process that unicorns use to endure far beyond mortal limits. Magic was not natural in nature as it warped the fabric of reality and even the make up of living flesh. As a result the body naturally rejects it and unicorns have evolved horns to discharge this energy out of themselves. However over the millennia unicorns have learned how to harness that energy, as they used it to regenerate the damage magic caused to an intuitive cycle of birth and rebirth.

Drawing from the ether, she draw more magic that would harm her but channelled the discharge in such a way that they also aided in recovering from the given damage. In this age of war healing spells were no longer spells, they were a unicorn's instinctive ability. It would only take her a few moments to fully recover, being so well-practised in the art as it is. But it wouldn't do to not be cautious, despite the impossibility of it, Twilight Sparkle may have survived that monstrously painful discharge. Her body didn't care to listen to her intent to focus. Feeling another bout of fatigue, her vision blurred severely as her brain tried ever so hard to return to a state of normalcy. Deep breathes Trixie. Slowly.

Every so often her mind wanted to black her out into her unconscious, but as the urge came she shook the desire off furiously. Dammit, slowly I said! Trixie risked closing her eyes. She needed to as it helped her focus on the task. Listening to her heart she heard it begin to beat slowly into her relaxed state. And then it sped up again with the sound of a single word.

Twilight's body filtered through the screen of kinetic energy Trixie summoned, as the blue emerald around Twilight's neck glowed a pink heat. It took all the endurance of the delicate gem to not shatter right then and there, as it powered the protection spell that saved his sister's life. A bubble had formed around Twilight sparkle to protect her from certain death, violently scratching against and then needling through the surface of the death screen. Thank you brother,

Now safe from death she inspected the blue emerald around her neck with a careful hoof, cautiously inspecting the thing for any damage. Never again, Twilight said as sincerely as she could muster, but she just knew it wasn't a promise she could keep. As much as losing her brother's soul would be a great tragedy, she simply feared death too much to selflessly kill herself so that a rare blue emerald wouldn't shatter to pieces from magical strain.

Half expecting another wave to come from the blue filly, she let the barrier stay up until she was certain it was safe. The magic had taken it's toll as Twilight predicted. There she was perfectly ready with magical energy to spare and a tired filly just asking to die. She grimaced in disgust as the little filly loudly vomited out Celestia knows what out of her. The child was completely oblivious to what had occurred to her foe. Her eyes looked right at her, but by the dazed hazy eyed expression on that little face, Twilight could tell the filly couldn't see anything through those tired eyes. She could tell the filly was ready to fall over and out herself from exhaustion.

All she needed was a little... push.

"Funny..." Twilight Sparkle found herself saying, trying her best bravado to sound amused, taking the near brush with death in stride and empowering her with confidence. Killing her would be much too easy. The near death experience, Twilight self confessed, excited her, it had been such a long time a challenge presented itself. After all, for a mare powerful enough to single-handedly destroy a city. What could possibly be interesting?

By that single word Trixie's vision cleared, her mind bemused but focused and her stomach clench tight. The shot of adrenaline pumped through her veins and numbing all her previous pains. The sobriety that had brought her to attention was something Trixie had to admit, was not something she was not use to. Fear had overtaken her and she didn't like it one bit.

Now a dilemma came to her as instinct screamed at her logical mind. It told her to run, as fast as she could, honour be damned! This mare was going to kill her. But nay, as much as a part of her screamed "fool" into her mind's ear she couldn't run away. A part of her was excited. All that hate, all that pent anger and this euphoric joy she felt in her heart. The feeling of death staring her in the face practically made her spine twinge with delight.

"I've heard those words before. I find it so funny how each and every one of you lack such originality." Twilight spoke. Trixie, powerless as she was, waited for it but was refused the honour of death. "Broken records the lot of you!" Trixie wanted to attack but she simply too weak at the moment. She needed a few more moments, just a little more time. Talk like the rambling old mare you are!

"It sounded so noble once, but hearing it the umpteenth time. It's gotten quite sad how meaningless they were proven to be. Funny that." Trixie was ready now and with a roar she managed to fire off a few wild shots. The moment she did her body screamed in pain, the cold peeling sensation of regret washing over her. And then she felt it, in one instant she realised the peril she was in. How naive of her! Twilight was no foal, she wasn't just boasting. She was distracting her!

Twilight made no move as the waves went wide.

"Talking about a better future that never come, making promises to a child you couldn't keep. You Trixies are a pathetic lot cursed by the will of a dead mare who has sealed your fates for the rest of time!"

Light began to burn onto the ground at Trixie's feet. It's too late to dodge this!, thought Trixie as a ten meter wide pillar of flame burst forth from the ground like great fiery geyser. Twilight in reaction merely snorted with small embers bursting from her flared nostrils. Watching indifferently at the burning ground lighting up the once dark night into semblance of a midday afternoon. She was looking for something beyond the flames. A signal, a sign, a... a kinetic wave that sliced through the flames and aimed for her neck. With a contemptuous will, Twilight easily ripped the offending projectile to shreds with telekinesis.

A cloud of mist and darkness came over the flames extinguishing them in seconds. It was no natural mist either, as the misty substance twinkled with a thousand stars and the endless darkness of the night. Trixie's eyes were aglow with power indicating where she was in the darkness. She wore the darkness like a hat and cloak, looking almost exactly that of her distant ancestor. Albeit fractionally more impressive.

Twilight half expected the little filly to be drooling out her innards with such a discharge of magic. But nay, something about the mist had empowered her, regenerated her and even went as far as transforming her.So you've learned Nightmare moon's trick. This is an incredible first, Twilight thought. Somehow, she had harnessed a power only alicorns could tap into. No pony should be able to fuse with the ether, such things intruded on the realm of gods!

"Recovered then are we?" Twilight shouted out to the little filly. her only reply was a pair of snaking misty tentacles rapidly coming to entrap her. But summoning forth a tiny solar flare in her midst, all vision for a moment had turned white with light evaporating Trixie's little trinket. What was left was the original hat and cloak Trixie wore around her. An heirloom that surprisingly survived the ages. If survived meant ragged and torn and in horrid disrepair. Rarity would simply faint at such a sight.

"You ruined my hat... NO ONE DIRTIES THESE CLOTHES!" Trixie flared with renewed power, power flowing through her like a second wind. As if sensing this surge in energy in the air Twilight's blue emerlard began to glow. Calm brother. Save your strength. I can handle this.

In their element

Willing them into existence, Trixie summoned crystalline balls of ice that glowed a wan blue light, like stars in the night sky. In reaction Twilight summoned tiny orbs of her own that burned fiery flares like miniature suns. Trixie could do anything with these things, Twilight knew, those orbs were stored up magical energy that a unicorn could simply will into any spell they wanted. But the worse part was, Trixie was much better at summoning them.

With each moment more and more orbs of power came into existence around Trixie. They were surrounding her in their tens and then thousands and then a million came to be, while Twilight struggled to make only ten. Fear and astonishment marked the old mare's features. How in Celestia was she going to survive this? A cold sweat went down her back and she felt the beginnings of her hoof quivering. As if sensing her fear Trixie formed a sadistic grin.

No! I can do this, admonished Twilight. She was not going to be beaten by an upstart of a filly! Twilight's horn began to glow with power and the ground ignited into flame. Rapidly, the flames began snaking their way to their victim. Trixie made no move against it as she continued to gather more orbs.

At the very last second several of Trixie's orb smashed into the ground and into the path of the snaking flames, effectively distinguishing them. Whatever Twilight intended with them was not going to occur so easily.

Twilight watched as her spell became dispelled by Trixie's orb. Her probing had failed, there simply seemed to be no rhyme or rhythm as to how each orb moved. They all seemed to move at blistering speed at such an extent that any one of them could reach their objective as quickly as one closer to the target. But, every tactic had a weakness, a means of which to avoid. As every army needed an order, these orbs needed a command. In the instant of instances Trixie used the orbs Twilight noticed Trixie's eyes and head tilt to command her spell. It was useless to guess which orb would react first. But what Twilight realised was that she needed to focus on Trixie. If there was going to be any indication to look for, it would be into the eyes of that filly.

Twilight saw a twitch in Trixie's eye as she commanded one of the orbs. It moved as quick as lightning as the energy converted into a bolt of electricity. Twilight barely blocked the attack with one of her orbs. And then relentlessly a dozen more came. Five of them surrounded the mare as each connected to each other with lines of crackling energy effectively caging her in place. The blue glow of each began to build from a weak blue light to that of a shining white star. And with a great crackling sound they fizzled into an explosive lightning storm. It was only through Twilight's desperation that she managed to teleport out of the blast in time.

More came for Twilight, endlessly barraging her with javelins of ice spearing towards her from the front and lightning coming down from above. It was exhausting to dodge and weave and jump to avoid each spell, wholly reluctant to rely on her brother's protection or use one of her own previous orbs. Until, of course, the time was right. But somehow it had been possible, for every entrapment there was always a way out, a tiny window of time to dodge out of the way.I guess with all that power, it was impossible to control them with any real precision.

And then it happened, beset on all sides by lightning and ice, Twilight Sparkle exploded into flames. For a good two mile radius around her, the land burned furious into a merciless inferno. With Trixie blind to the old's mare's whereabouts she could do nothing but shout her jeers.

Trixie shouted over the din of the sound of burning, profanities that Twilight couldn't hear. She was simply too enthralled by the power that coursed through her, as the goddess's blessing burned through her veins. Aimlessly Trixie attacked the burning land with relentless barrages of ice, amazingly doing very little to the ensuing life-like inferno.

"Come out you coward!" Twilight could at least make out. As her reply, Twilight set off another one of her orbs. The world flashed an endless white. When Trixie's vision clear Twilight revealed onto her, a vision of wonder. Twilight had been transformed into a white unicorn with a burning mane. Trixie made to attack the burning mare, but was blinded by another flash of light. They came over and over, forcing Trixie to miss her mark again and again. With each glimpse she got Twilight came closer and closer with one orb less than before. Until finally she had one left with Twilight coming to a halt at the edge of the day. Taking great care not to intrude into the shadow of eternal night that even her flaming mane couldn't light.

"Come into the darkness. I dare you. Or do you fear it as I've been told." Trixie, now brimming some degree of confidence, wore a smugness that couldn't be mistaken by anypony but the old Trixie charm. Arrogant and boastful she jeered, but Twilight having lost her patience to such games looked on indifferently. This filly was more powerful than she anticipated. No more games. This child has to die. Taking Twilight's furrowed brow of determination as a reaction to her words, Trixie spoke knowingly, as if she had caught out the old mare.

"That's right. I know your secret. I know how the light of the sun hides your true, old and haggard self." Twilight wanted to leer at that fact, but there was no denying it. She cannot step out of the light. Within the rays of the sun was the goddess's blessing and that keeps her body in check, lest the darkness force her to age and die. A lot of ponies speak this fact, Twilight knew, but very few actually knew it was true. As ever this could come to my advantage. Twilight bitterly thought.

"Is that the lie your little queen tells you?" Taking her stride in this exchange Twilight made a broad smile that threw Trixie's confidence into doubt. Twilight's godlike ethereal voice giving way to even more doubt.

"Slander, mere slander to my name." Twilight's flaming mane began to flicker to life.

"I fear no darkness foal..." The flames in Twilight's mane flared up high into the sky like serpents rearing up to strike.

"Because I am Twilight."

With those words the world became that of light as everything became bathed in the vision of white and raging with the sound of the crackling fires of an incoming inferno.

Desperate measures

When Twilight's blinding light vanished, all Trixie could see was fire and rainbows. Out of intuition her horn began to glow and with a surreal miracle the flames did not burn. They flowed through her, their intense heat boiling her cold blood. In pain, she screamed as the magical fire consumed her energy. And with great rebellion she began to kneel. Kneeling on the floor, exposed as she was, she practically begged for a rainbow mare to crash hooves into her face. This forced her horn's light to die and whatever enchantment it was playing had died with it. The heat of the inferno grew tenfold and instantly began to set fur on fire.

But no sooner had the flame begun their work, they ended. The flames vanishing and phasing like spectres in the night. Trixie watched impotently as the ethereal rainbow mare flew to the side of the now lavender coloured unicorn in the distance. Why? Weakened as she was, looking up was all Trixie could do. Why did you stop?. However, the smirk on that sadistic purple mare's face was clear to even the increasingly blurry eyed filly. Kill me!

And then there was darkness.

She needs to die Twilight. The enemy deserves no mercy. From the tiniest of foals to the most ancient of elders, enemies of the empire had to die. She knew this, she echoed and repeated and admonished her this fact. But watching the little creature, so small, so helpless, a little one with such a life ahead of her. There was just something about her that she sensed, something precious. Something in her heart she knew she could never truly bring herself to destroy that thing. The cyan coloured phantom mare beside her looked with white eyes at her master. It coaxed and begged silently for the seemingly inevitable order, hopping lightly on its hoofs in agitation. But Twilight was silent and unmoving. Resigned into the recesses of her mind as she began.

"Thi-" -s fight is over.

"This is disgraceful!" Twilight eyes opened wide at the voice. Her words cut short by that voice that sounded so... familiar.

"How dare you dishonour I, The great and powerful Trixie, with such an affront!" The she rolls those Rs. "I will have your head for this. Nay! Your body and soul." The way she says her nays and occasionally speaks in that low and sultry tone.

"I will not suffer mercy by the hoofs of you of all ponies!" Trixie crackled with power as she spoke. Arcs of lightning striking out all around her as the energies within her gathered and saturated her being. "If you intended to cheat in the first place then at least go through with it! Not hesitate at the last moment!"

There was no mistaking this mare. It truly was her. Standing so proud, haughty and with such exhibitionist flair. Twilight practically exploded with joy at the realisation. And then she wondered why. Bewildered her voice needed to take a moment to find itself out of her mouth. It refused her commands. With a stamp of her hoof she regained her composure, she forced her mind to focus. It was all she could do to seem in control. And yet that smile she was wearing just wouldn't leave her face.

"Foal! Rainbow Dash is my magic, my power and my will. With my friendship I will defeat you!" Nostalgia washed over her. She hadn't spoken like that in such a long time. It had been eons since she could talk to someone who she could see as her equal.

With a turn of her chin and an arrogant, "hmph!" Trixie made her interests clear.

The orbs surrounding Trixie exploded into smoke. An inky thick supernatural darkness of smoke that dared to paint the world in night.

Before Trixie vanished into the shadows, she met eyes with Twilight. An understanding resonated between them. These old tricks aren't going to work.

"Hide in any shadow." Recited the old words.

With a silent command Rainbow Dash flew up to the sky

"But the light will eventually find you." There was such zeal in her delivery that she had thought herself somepony else. This feeling, this excitement, she hadn't felt so alive until this moment! Or dare she say it... happy?

Diving in at great speed Rainbow Dash fell in amongst the smoke, blasting it with a rainbow coloured mushroom cloud.

When the smoke cleared Rainbow dash stood dazed besides Trixie. Wearing a mocking grin at Twilight as she made a point not to kill her familiar right then and there. At another silent command Rainbow Dash shook her head and recovered her wits. With a dash and a rainbow she took to the sky retreating momentary, only to loop back around to come into another charge. A mach cone formed in front of the ethereal mare as she reached impossible speeds, crackling with power as she took to greater and greater velocity.

Trixie still wore that smile upon her, making another point to Twilight as she winked at the old mare. Twilight curiously couldn't help but watch in astonishment. Knowing later that despite her regret, it all happened way too fast for her to help her imaginary friend. Kill her Rainbow Dash. End her! She commanded with such gusto.

"Ursa Major!" Trixie shouted in a voice that befitted the first general of the New Lunar Republic.

Around Trixie a magic circle blinked into existence. It's many glyphs and runes and symbols swirling in a great rapid maelstrom, that if one looked with mortal eyes, it would merely be a flash of light. A giant claw the size of the massive circle itself swiped for Rainbow Dash. For a good few seconds she flew the expansive width of the bear-like appendage until she was clear from it. She dodged just in time to avoid the worse of the attack. But on her flank, the true story was told as she bled, profusely, molten bright blood glowing with a searing, angry heat.

By the lopsided flight the rainbow mare took, it had an injured wing. Landing clumsily to the side of Twilight and missing by several meters it hobbled to Twilight for help. But Twilight knew of Trixie's ways, galloping to her injured friend she threw Rainbow Dash over her back. It was useless however, the hot searing blood forced her to drop the injured pegasus.

"I'm sorry Rainbow." Twilight said sadly as her horn began to glow and slowly she levitated out of the ground, just as the floor fizzled with electricity by the magic of the great and powerful Trixie. Flapping with beautiful butterfly wings Twilight continued to ascend. Even as Trixie's lightning flashed across the sky, she flitted upwards twirling and pirouetting as she went.

Twiight had flown so high up into the sky that she was just a dot in the stratosphere. Normally if somepony flew with such wings they would burn out and die, but with eons of practice Twilight had learned to reinforce the wings with her magic. Making them elemental to fire as the one that bore the wings themselves, the wings would sooner freeze than burn.

"Now that I'm here, none of your magic can reach me. Come into the light. Or do you fear to tred?" That was a lie. Twilight had no idea just how far this Trixie's magical reach came. But she knew exactly how far the original Trixie did. She would need to walk into the light which was weakening to the ponies of the night. At the range of Twilight's spells and weak as she would be, her victory would be assured.

The little filly will have no choice but to surrender or die. Twilight promised herself to decide which when the moment comes.

"It seems the great and powerful Trixie can do no more to help you. Twilight Sparkle knows of Trixie, but Trixie knows you hold many surprises for her." Awake descendant. Awake my distant daughter. It is not the time to dream. But to make dreams come true!

"Do you surrender foal?" A lance of light illuminated around the foal, the air around it intensifying with magic.

"I am better than you." Trixie's horn began to glow. The determination on her face marking the effort it required of her to do what she intended.

Twilight watched as the aura of the filly's magic turned from night blue into an evil dark green. To Twilight this only meant one thing. But she had to be sure. She can't be. Screamed a fierce denial at her own reality.

The aura bathed Trixie's body as it changed her round child-like pupils into something reptilian and predatory. Materialising out of nothing two wings were borne upon her back. Trixie began to hover. In place, transparent wings buzzed with activity, oscillating at impossible speeds.

And with a flash of magic she vanished just as the lance of light turned everything white. When the light dimmed, face to face to the old mare, Trixie's true form hovered. She flew in close as to have the truth be beyond doubt at such close proximity.

"You... you can't be! You're a half breed?" Trixie had found herself in the middle of the day side, with no idea as to how she found herself in such a position. Bathed in the baking sun she looked bewilderingly at the aghast ancient. Recognising the figure as Twilight Sparkle, the direness of her situation dawned on her.

Any moment now I am going to die.

The idea of death becoming a certainty to her mind, a swift rush of the mind came to her. It filled her head with voices and images and feelings and emotions. Memories that were not there before. Sobering with knowledge, she pieced together flashes of memory. What had transpired after she passed out, astonished her little mind. An impossibility was what had occurred. She's dead. I have the memories!"

"What say you mongrel!" Twilight screamed, burning with ire for being ignored.

"My family..." Trixie began faintly, letting those two single words resonate within. "My family would never sully their blood with the likes of you!" She screamed at the army before her instead of that insignificant pony in the sky.

"So you'd consort with demons instead? Are you even a pony?"

The empire to the east jeered and screamed. Throwing out names like monster and mongrel and abomination. While in stark contrast the night remained silent and astonished. Trixie let all of that flow through her, she shouldn't let this pain in her heart well. She had a job to do, bred and born to do so, beyond anything a Trixie has done before. Beyond even the morality and sense of honour of even many a Trixie before her. She was a monster made for this moment.

In a great blast of air the blue and black Trixie the skies were alive with magic.

Revenge

Moments before Twilight had already gone into a dive. Her horn a aglow with power raging at her will. Her eyes were wide and pupils narrow, though not to such an extent as to form reptilian slits. But there was a coldness to them, a remorselessness, a murderousness that would make any Solaris's blood run cold. And a Lunarian's frozen stiff. In her mind Twilight only had one word screaming in her mind. It echoed so loud that it filtered out every previous notion she held, every sentiment she remembered and all safeguards that controlled her power.

Die

Twilight having the advantage of terminal velocity she made a mockery of whatever Trixie attempted. Breaking through Trixie's green changeling barrier she split the green flames surrounding the filly and impacted epicly upon the ground. In burst of pure white energy, the ground lit up in a white flash, incinerating the land with white hot flame. A grin formed on Twilight mouth. She chuckled and chortled at first. And then burst out into a mad cackle, her will fanning the flames skyward into a great white pillar.

No pony felt safe as the madness of Twilight's laughter echoed across the land.

Trixie was exhausted from the effort of transformation. At any normal time she would have gave herself a few moments to recover her magic energy before attempting to go on the offensive. But Twilight, admittedly, taunted her. She had poured a lot of what she had left into that barrier spell. She had intended to use it to impact upon Twilight and burn her with a burst of changeling flame. However Twilight was simply too powerful. It had only been miraculous instinct that saved her there. Using what tiny reserves she had left, Trixie teleported out of Twilight's dive and rid the resulting shockwave to glide a safe distance. If you called being flung out and landing face first into the dirt anything close to gliding, that is.

Her face was sore, her head was spinning and it hurt to move but Trixie was alive. Her horn began to glow but nothing notable came out. Barely a spark of magic to spare. Experimentally Trixie flit her wings. They buzzed and spluttered in a sluggish response but given a few moments of practice they began to work properly. It hurt worth a wince but she could definitely fly if she needed to. With no magic to protect her, she needed everything she had to survive that.

Trixie clutched the gem that had been passed down between Trixies for generation. In a wan light it had began to glow, as if reacting to Twilight's immense power. With a resolute nod, Trixie surmised that the great and powerful one knew what she intended. And so she ran charging head long towards the eye of the fire storm.

Twilight floated at the eye of the storm, rising several hoofs in the air looking down upon the masses below. The maelstrom of fire occasionally spat out flares of flame out into the distance, burning great scars onto the ground. Ponies from both the empire and the republic flinched back at the raining fires as with increasing frequency they began to intrude upon the boundaries of the battlefield. And then she saw her. That abomination, that changling foal. Flashes of memory came onto Twilight all at once, filling her with such hate. For a moment she lost control of her magical fire as they span and sprinkled bullets of fire in a relentless shower.

Regaining her focus once more, Twilight focused everything into one... thing.

Trixie had just barely dodged the shower of flame as they came at her from every angle. But because of her great, speed, reflexes and immense talent for patterns, she escaped the bullet hell grazing only a few minor burns on her flank and hoofs. Okay this might have been a stupid idea. Thought Trixie as she continued to run towards the swirling flames despite herself.

"You!" Trixie gulped. Twilight finally noticed her approach.

"You killed my sister and cursed my brother to a pathetic existence. You murdered my family and you ruined Equestria!" Twilight spoke as she channeled the will of her words into the flames, homing in on the changeling that buzzed about across the ground, dashing and galloping at impossible speeds. Ever so slowly she was surely getting closer to hitting her.

Twilight was no where near close to hitting her, but she was sure Twilight didn't know that. Trixie continued to dodge and weave as she mixed in between galloping and flying, occasionally switching between one of the two or doing a bit of both. It depended on the kind of manoeuvre she was trying. Predicting a bout of flame coming towards her front, Trixie landed swiftly on her legs to turn and burst her wings with speed to propel her gallop in the new direction to dodge.

"Die you changeling scum! I will destroy every single one of you one by one." No mercy. This was not a foal, not a pony to look to with a bright future ahead. Nay this was a monster that needed to die. A loveless creature that did nothing but reap the happiness of others.

Trixie was glad. Now she will have the satisfaction of besting her foe at her best. There will be no excuses or tricks now. her vengeance will be complete when she proves to the world that Trixie is indeed great and powerful. Her wings ached, her legs were screaming in pain and her breathe was like fire in her lungs. She was alive, more alive than she had in her life. The rush of true battle, the feel of real danger, this is what she was born for! Trixie was born to defeat Twilight Sparkle!

Magic had returned to her horn and with as much as she could gather, she summoned a healing spell to ease the pain of her body. She banished much of fatigue, most the burn had turned to bruises and shredded muscles felt mended. Not as completely as she would have ideally wished, but it would have to do. Still fleeing and galloping Trixie took the air and rose to great heights in the sky. Try as they might Trixie made a fool of Twilight's flames trying to reach her in the highly turbulent air.

Now safe from Twilight's magic Trixie for the first time in this bout of fighting, she turned to face her foe.

"Your brother you say? I've heard the story. That is not family! That is a rock!" Trixie's voice carried across for miles, magically amplified with her slowly recovering magic. There was no way Twilight could ignore her.

"You will never understand all of my hate and pain. All of which was caused by you." Trixie removed her hat and cloak, letting the fabric ride the westerly wind. In her hoof was the gem that she wore around her neck. The Trixie family heirloom was on her hoofs and with an absent minded chuck the rock was given away for gravity to have.

Twilight could not let that insult be tolerated. There was no love left in her. Only burning hate. The fires of her hate focusing from a wild maelstrom to a series of wide molten silver rings, burning with her magic. They orbited around her as Twilight's wings flitted skywards, slowly making Twilight ascend. Trixie merely waited, mocking Twilight with her indifferent action. Doubting Twilight's power, challenging it to reach out and kill her.

Trixie was within range of Twilight's spells. That much was clear, with the way the faux-princess grinned towards her with such grim confidence, it was a certainty. Those merciless murderous eyes of hers taunting her with excited anticipation. At any moment Twilight was ready to attack. And her first move was to let the flames explode out into hundreds of fiery arrows, all of which homing on Trixie.

However with the turbulent winds flowing about randomly, much of the flames struggled to fly properly often times going wide or slowing down or out rightly going out. When Twilight saw the smile on foals face, she only grew madder as she charged towards the child.

But then storm clouds began to brew about her. They came out so rapidly and expanded with such speed as to block out the sun into an artificial night. Twilight was too slow to have caught her with any spells and now found herself retreating with useless wings that propelled her slowly and left her to the mercies of the elements with little power to fight against. It took all her might to merely retreat and resist the winds blowing her westward into the ever expanding night sky. That dark sunless sky. The sky she feared, for in there was death.

Lightning crackled and thunder rolled as Trixie willed the darkness to follow her lead. To follow her towards the rising sun and engulf it's light in darkness. As the storm grew, lightning flashed more frequently, the wind blowing more violently and Twilight's anger turning more and more into fear and panic.

Desperately Twilight fired off explosions in the air, great flash bangs of light to illuminate the darkness. But they were useless, as with each cloud she destroyed more came to replace it. Soon it had gotten to the point where she could barely afford to attack uselessly and merely concentrated all her magic on retreating back in teleportation knowing that she could not fly anywhere near quick enough to escape the darkness. Soon, even that was waning. Her magic at their limits she galloped upon the ground and fleeing towards the imperial camp.

"Fire!" Celestia was the one to speak. And with a great volley of crossbows and bolts of magic, the advancing darkness halted just short of crossbow range. Trixie however was well within harm's way. Mixing in kinetic waves in her evasive manoeuvres Trixie made short work of the attack that came to her. However the attack was relentless and it was impossible to stay alive forever in that kill zone.

The night side jeered and booed at the celestial ponies. And Trixie in her frustration retreated just out of range for her spells to reach Twilight. However in the darkness she was free from the army of the day.

Twilight stood in the middle of the kill zone. Trixie was on the edge. They eyed each other with hate and contempt and silently agreed.

No more games.

Friendship

Trixie winced with each tiny movement, it had gotten to such extremes now that the sensation of merely living was a painful chore. At any moment she knew her body would give out. She had driven herself beyond limits of which no mere mortal could. Indeed with her lungs blooming with pain, veins aching with agony and her mind a red mist of anguish, she had proven herself worthy of rivalling gods themselves. In her drunken haze however she could muster just a little more. Every ounce of herself focusing on her task and the foe before her.

Trixie weighed her options and chances. Her body was essentially immobilised with pain, her reserves of energy were gone depleted beyond the point of which she could recover. She knew that if she truly needed to, she could move at a great price to her already deteriorating health. However, with her wings in shreds of useless insect-like membrane and her limbs skewered into bleeding appendages. The best she would probably muster was a useless trip and tumble.

Twilight looked on at the filly with a pity reserved to those she held with the greatest contempt. The misfortune of those who would call her foe, and dared to think that someone as near celestial as her could be measured to rival that of mere mortal ponies. The arrogance of the Trixies was phenomenal.

Look at her, daring me with that defiant look. Already beyond her limit and body torn to a useless pulp, and yet look at those eyes, as if she could still win. So confident in those shadows. So sure of the enveloping darkness's power over me. Had I not already said?

"I fear no darkness foal." spoke Twilight as if Trixie had shouted out a challenge.

"I am Twilight!" Her horn began to glow with power and before her a flaring light was giving shape to a certain rainbow maned pegasus, answering the summons of her master.

"Rainbow dash, clear those clouds in ten seconds flat!" Twilight pointed to the dark black clouds in the sky darkening much of the field in artificial night. The clouds crackled with immense energy, occasionally rolling with thunder and flashing with lightning. But even in life Rainbow Dash was the bravest pony Twilight knew, and she knew her friend would not be routed by something as insignificant as fatal danger.

"Relying on your queen, your brother and now a doppleganger of a long dead friend?" Trixie's voice was hoarse, brimming with fatigue and barely spoken with any breath to be heard. But Twilight could hear her, listening with all her attention.

"I see now that the empire holds honour as an alien concept." Trixie's voice was slowly growing in strength, now as those words most certainly reached Twilight's ears. The sound made her twitch, and with a will she resisted to be provoked.

"I will not tolerate this affront to such a sacred day. The deaths of my people will be avenged..." Trixie trailed off as she felt the strength drain from her. Twilight would let the foal have this, this small heroic moment before the end. Before she made her words worthless with but a single willing of the filly's death. Twilight looked on at the increasingly brightening field as the clouds rapidly dissipated.

"And your name be villain for all it is worth!" Trixie had forcibly shaken herself out of her daze to finish her pledge. This was it Twilight thought, you've said your peice. Now you will die.

Twilight's horn once again flared with power.

At the same time the ground pulsed with energy. Blue energy that brought with it the shade of midnight, essentially undoing all of Rainbow Dash's work, as the night returned to the field. At the heart Trixie stood, her hoof on the Trixies' magical summoning gem. The Trixie Twilight had been focusing her magic on phased out like a phantom, revealing the mad grin of the filly further away in the distance behind.

The Trixie gem continued to pulse like a cold stone heart sending waves of energy across the ground. Pooling with this energy, the patterned scars Twilight had scratched across the scorched earth formed a magical circle, complete with magical runes and symbols. In the darkness the ground glowed blue to a blood red and pulsed with greater intensity.

"Ursa Major!" The circle flashed with crimson light and materialising out of no where was a beast. A beast the likes of which one would see once in an age. The ursa major. With it's expanse nearing the length of the five miles of the night side, it dwarfed the comparably puny Rainbow Dash. Unsure of what to do the familiar followed it's summoner as Twilight retreated back, before the empire's front lines.

When the celestial looked back, she could see Trixie collapsed beneath the Ursa's protective mass. At no command from Twilight, the imperial army fired salvoes into the gargantuan beast. The Ursa roared its fury letting no magic or any pony getting anywhere near the exhausted unicorn.

This is worse than I feared. This child is no mere monster. She is a demon. Twilight exclaimed internally. It seems I will have no choice but to use... that. Twilight was now grim, fully understanding how horribly her plan could go wrong. Even Shining Armour could sense his sister's possibly morbid decision, his gem heart flaring with protestation. She acknowledged his pleas, but refused to comply. In her mind Twilight imagined her study in the city of Celestia. High atop the tallest tower of university of magic. She imagined a desk, and imagined the shining gem around her neck was on it. Her horn flawed with magic and instantly she felt the protection of her brother's magic vanish as the gem teleported.

Should I fail I would much rather die on my own than taking you with me. Mayhaps someday somepony else will be able to free you.

Twilight looked at the soulless pegasus. It only took a moment, but staring out with white eyes, it nodded in understanding. It took up position beside her and soon they had began their march.

"I won't lie to you, Trixie. My friendship is my magic." Twilight exchanged looks with Rainbow dash, their unity deepening.

"Those dearest and nearest to me may be dead or lost to me now. But in my memories I am never alone." Twilight continuing her march, she had found that the imperial army had joined her. No pony commanding them to do so.

"In my heart, my friends are with me and in their memory I beseech for their power." Joining Twilight at the head, Pinkie pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash marched along side their friend. Their eyes a glow with power, much in the way of Rainbow dash's. The Ursa major, previously roaring and maiming with such fury, began to cower. Covering it's mistress in a giant shield of flesh.

"I may be a shadow of what I use to be. Those surrounding me may be a shadow of what they were to me. But it is all I have" Intruding upon the shadow of the night, Twilight's form transformed from a Celestial unicorn into that of a normal lavender pony, still so young and filled with such promise. No pony of the empire followed. Instead staving off the Ursa's courage with their power.

"And I will give you all of it Trixie." The six ponies began to glow with power, their forms dissipating into light.

"The darkness will not conquer over me!" With those words, Twilight had become completely engulfed by the magic. Also evaporating into pure energy. The light glowing with such intensity, it exploded into a spectrum. Seemingly with a will of it's own, the spectrum flew a beeline to the mass of the Ursa. Wrapping around it in a giant tornado of colours of such proportions that it would have been seen as far away as Canterlot.

The element of magic drained the energy the Ursa used to give itself form until it had fully dissipated. As if satisfied by this result, the spectrum of colours vanished, leaving behind an old unicorn beside a weakened blue filly. Her purple form, just inside the light of the day.

"How can you speak of friendship, when you use it's magic like that?" Trixie rasped weakly into Twilight's ear.

"If my intentions weren't pure, the elements of magic would have killed me foal. You went too far." Twilight spoke almost friendly with the young unicorn, almost lecturing her arch nemesis like the pupil shewas so long ago..

"I've no more magic in me and I'm sure you have none either." Trixie said simply in reply, resisting the urge to retort at the old mare's jab.

"Then we settle this with tooth and hoof." Twilight replied simply.

Neither moved. Instead they stared into each other's eyes, a wry smile forming across their faces. As conciousness took them both, a single thought came to them.

Die.

"Attack!" At first it came from each queen. It then echoed passed the lips of their generals, to then be echoed by their lieutenants, then to the captains.

"For the Empire!" cried the ponies of the sun.

"For the Republic!" cried the ponies of the moon.

Within moments the two champions vanished by the wills of their respective rulers. Now each holding their champions in safety, they retreated in teleportation back to their capitals, leaving the truce once more forgotten.