The Pledge

by Extractor

Rating: teen
Tags: Thriller, Adventure, Mystery
Length: 2063

Do you see this rock? It's no ordinary rock. It's a special rock. What do you think will happen? Will it explode? Transform? Disappear? You've seen it all before haven't you? Well, why don't I show you something... completely different?

Trixie hates defeat. She loathes it. There is nothing worse than seeing your trick, one that you so emaculately orchestrated, crumble spectacularly to the ground. It's happened in front of her audience time and time again, but no more! Regular magic just doesn't surprise anypony. It's time for something different. Much different.

Loosely based off of The Prestige, a film by Christopher Nolan.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2016-11-29 14:20:16 UTC

Chapter 1: The Trigger

   Trixie and I have had our fair share of squabbles. She truly was one of the worst unicorns I ever met. Her ego surpassed Rainbow Dash, she tried to kill me, and to top it all off she referred to herself in the third person. The third person! Who even does that anymore!

But after months of pure hatred between us, we were friends. Not best friends, she still referred to herself in the third person, but friends nonetheless.

And friends support each other, which is what I'm doing for her right now.

Her stage was getting prepped up. Snips and Snails cleaned the floors with mops as I sat in a chair next to a bunch of moms and their kids, all earth ponies. It was an open show kind of thing, so you didn't have to pay any bits to get in. First come, first serve. It was also her first magic show after an entire year of failures.

"Are you all ready for... the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

A flurry of multicolored explosions and fireworks soared into the air as Trixie raised her hooves in a dramatic pose.

But I guess she must have bust through the curtains a bit early, because Snips and Snails stared at her with their pupils shrunk to the size of a peanut.

"Oh, too early? My bad."

She blushed and crept back through the curtains, some of the little colts and even the moms were chuckling around me. Luckily they thought it was an elaborate joke. Trixie can still start off strong.

Snips and Snails wiped sweat off their heads and left the stage. Through the closed red curtains I could see the silhouette of them whispering into Trixie's ear.

"Now, are you all really ready for... the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

A burst of cheer and applause as the remaining fireworks burst into the sky.

"Very good! Very good! Now, for my first trick, I want you to pay attention to this rock. You're probably waiting for me to say that it's an ordinary rock, but deep down you know it isn't. Watch, as the Great and Powerful Trixie...

She squinted at the rock and held her hooves high.

"Turns this rock into a butterfly!"

The rock disappeared for a second in an array of blue lights and came back, but as a rock again.

"Oh. Let's try that one more time. Turns this rock into a butterfly!"

Nothing happens.

"Into a butterfly!"

What Trixie was attempting was something in magic called the Size Swap. Turning one object into something else of roughly the same size, but that's nearly impossible. It's even hard for alicorns to do.

"Into... a... butterfly."

One of the moms got her kid and left.

"Oh, I know! Who wants to see a cloud form from water!"

Kids cheered and clapped their hooves.

"Okay, so here I have a glass of water. Watch as the Great and Powerful Trixie...

Just like with the rock, she raised her hooves in a dramatic pose and held her breath.

"Turns this glass of water into a cloud!"

Again, nothing happened. Just blue sparks of magic.

I looked around at the crowd. They were at their last straw.

"Okay, clearly there are some problems, but that just means I can show you the best trick first! We are going to open a portal that's fifteen miles away from here, so we can travel in an instant!"

Woah! Fifteen miles! That's not just hard, that's technically impossible. A unicorn can go so far as ten and even that's a stretch.

"I want you all to pay attention very closely, as I concentrate my magic...

The audience leaned in their heads.

"And I...

Their eyes widened as they waited in anticipation.

"Open a portal!"

The last straw had been pulled. Nothing happened.

"You promised this wouldn't be like other times!" Somepony stood up and said, provoking the entire audience.

"Yeah!"

"I've had enough of coming to your shows and you messing up! That's it, I'm leaving!"

One after another, they took their kids and huddled away from the stage, mumbling and groaning.

"Wait! No, we can still make this work, just...

She stopped short when she saw I was the only one there.

Her eyes started to well up. She turned from shock to sadness to anger and back to sadness.

I heard an audible cry as she broke down and ran away from the stage. All proffesionalism was gone.

Before she did, I examined her face. I remember every detail. It was covered up with sadness, but deep down I saw determination. She was angry. Very angry. She knows now that nothing like this will ever take her anywhere. Her ego was too big for that. Whatever she would do next would be something different. Much different.

"Trixie! Wait!" I shouted. Flying at a rapid speed, I followed her as she ran through Ponyville, heads turning her way from just how fast she was running.

I flew downward and smashed into her, holding her to the ground while she reluctantly tried to break free.

"Leave me alone! I'm worthless!" She said with a choked voice.

"Calm down Trixie! Everything's going to be fine! We can figure out why the trick didn't work!"

She shot a small blast of magic on my face that didn't harm me but caused me to let go of her. I watched as she ran, tears flowing down her cheeks.

I clutched my face, trying to ease the pain of the magic. I got up and saw she was still running. Still trying to get away from the embarrassment.

I don't know if she can come back from this. Her audience has been dissapointed one too many times. It might be the end for the Great and Powerful Trixie.

***

"Calm down Trixie! Everything's going to be fine! We can figure out why the trick didn't work!"

I blasted a small ray of magic on Twilight's face that didn't harm her but caused her to let go of me.

I was now running as fast as I could, tears flowing down my face like I was a madmare.

As if nothing could get worse, a piece of paper flew onto my face, causing me to trip over a branch and badly injure my knee.

In anger I removed the paper from my face, ready to crumble it, until I saw what it said.

'Do you think you have what it takes to learn magic other than what you're used to? Would you like to study the art of wind magic? Dark magic? Even anti-magic? Well, we aren't offering invitations just yet. We're offering unicorns everywhere an audition. If you can decipher the clues and find out where we're located, you'll be accepted, and will be granted the opportunity to learn wonders. We hope to see you there. If you find us.

                                           From the leader, Light Source.'

I think this might be exactly what I needed.

Chapter 2: The Plains

   "Hello Light Source."

"Hello Cloudy White."

Cloudy White took a seat on the mahogany table across from Light Source. They were in a room with golden yellow lights illuminating form the low ceiling, which gave it a calm, warm feel. Background noise was of the sound of portals, weapons, and beams being used on badge-colored dummies.

Cloudy White was of a cloudy white fur color, had a light blue mane, and frequently bore mechanical wings that he built himself. Light Source was a bright yellow unicorn with a cuite mark of a light bulb.

"You brought me here bearing good news?" said Cloudy White, raising an eyebrow.

"Good news is an understatement, what I found might be the break we were looking for."

"Well, I'm eager to know what you've found."

"Dark magic. We can stop lying on our flyers that we've found dark magic when we really haven't."

"Where? Where did you find it?"

"A scout told me that near some barren grassy plains, there is a surge of dark magic. Obviously he can't harvest it because he doesn't have the capacity too, but I know you can."

"I can indeed. What other information did this scout find?"

"He said that there was a mere trace of anti-magic. Just a trace, but it exists."

"Very good. Our flyers have been out for days now. Somepony's bound to find this place, and they'll get bored of wind magic soon enough. They always want more."

"But can you blame them?"

"Hmm?"

"Magic is a very interesting subject. Why wouldn't they want more ways than just regular magic?"

"I don't appreciate this behavior Light Source. You're defending ponies with that mindset, and that's what we want to avoid."

"Don't talk to me like that. I'm the leader, you're not."

"Fine."

"Good. Now that that's out of the way, we can continue talking about dark---

"Did I ever tell you about Lemon Clover?" interrupted Cloudy White.

"Who?"

"Lemon Clover. He was a student here, learning wind magic. Amazing he was, being able to solidify wind and do all sorts of things. He had his own magic show too."

"Cute."

"He also found a surge of anti-magic once. Now he's trapped in an alternate dimension where his skin boils."

Silence came from Light Source.

"I'll go get that dark magic for you now. Goodbye." said Cloudy White, grinning at Light Source as he left the room.

When he left the room, Light Source grinned with a much wider smile.

The door swung open again.

But the pony on the other side wasn't anypony Light Source knew.

It was a light blue mare with a strange hat, holding a map with arrows all over it.

"I did it. I spent eight days and I found your stupid location, now give the Great and Powerful Trixie her magic!"

The room went silent. Anypony shooting the beams at the dummies stopped and stared directly at Trixie.

"You deciphered it?" said Light Source.

"Yes."

"Well then. Our first audition has arrived."

"Audition? I thought that finding this place was the audition."

"Oh no," said Light Source, putting his nose an inch away from Trixie's, "We haven't even scratched the surface."

***

Cloudy White soared through the grassy plains. It was good weather as the air brushed against his face and mechanical wings, ones that he built himself.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a black pegasus flying dangerously near him.

"Hey! You're flying too close!" screamed Cloudy White over the current of the air.

To his left, he saw another black pegasus, almost identical to the one on his right, flying just as close.

"What's going on here? Who's doing this!"

"I am."

"What?"

Cloudy White looked up and saw that the clear sky was being blocked by a shadowy figure directly above him.

"Who the heck are you?"

"I'm just an old friend."

Immediately, Cloudy felt his mechanical wings vibrate. His face turned pale as they stopped working. The two black shadowy pegasi propelled him up with their bodies.

The figure who was on top of him descended from the air and was now in full view of Cloudy. It didn't take him long to realize who it was.

"S--S--S---Sombra?"

"Yes."

"H--H--How!"

"That should be the least of your worries."

"What do you mean!"

"Well, as you may guess, I'm not in a particularly good mood. And you have some 'information' that I need. Information about anti-magic."

The two pegasi carrying him dropped him until he was inches away from the ground before carrying him again.

"AH! ALRIGHT! We can work this out, just--- AH!"

They threw him up into the air and tossed him dangerously near the ground.

"You see Cloudy, we have a plan set in motion, and I have no interest in postponing it. This anti-magic is a strong force indeed. I hope you will begin to understand the gravity of the situation when we 'interrogate' you."

"What would you want with anti-magic? What're you even going to do me? What's this plan you're talking about? Who's involved in this!"

"You should be conserving your fear, Mister White. There's a lot to do to you."

The two pegasi carried him and tossed him as they flew to their destination while Cloudy was still screaming.