Trixie huddled in the alley, squeezing the water from her hat and cape while the eaves overhead sheltered her from the pouring rain. The Manehattan pegasi had messed up their weather schedule, and now she was the pony paying the price for their incompetence.
Shivering as she donned the damp clothes, she considered calling off her visit to Trotterfield’s Magical Emporium. She didn’t like shopping while wet. On the other hoof, she was already most of the way there.
She sighed. That left the magic umbrella option, but that spell was hard. And tiring. Still, tired beat wet, and Trotterfield probably wouldn’t mind if his best customer wanted a hot drink and some time to recover her energy before heading back into the storm.
Hopefully the patch on her wagon’s roof held.
Conjuring a spectral hemisphere over herself, she trotted down the street, pushing her way through the crowd as she struggled to avoid puddles and the splash of carriages rolling down the road, all the while wishing she’d brought boots.
The fur on the back of her neck prickled and a sudden sensation of unease washed over her. Something felt wrong. Unfamiliar. Which was stupid, because she knew the area pretty well. She always got a drink at the cafe on the corner, cloth for her costume at the fabric shop down the street, supplies for her fireworks two streets down, dinner at the curry place wedged in the alley…
That was it!
Right next to the curry shop was a sign she couldn’t remember having seen before, a battered wooden rectangle featuring a blackened diamond and Blackstone’s Tricks & Charms, Bringing Magic to Manehattan printed neatly below it. It definitely didn’t look like a new sign.
Trixie hesitated, ignoring the glares from the ponies forced to stream around her. Trotterfield’s was only another block or two away, but the shop called to her. Maybe it was just the novelty of having missed it every time she’d been down this way, maybe it was the lure of a magic shop she hadn’t visited, or maybe it was just her great and powerful instincts guiding her.
Up close, the shop didn’t look like much, a ratty little hovel tucked away in a back alley where nopony could see it. A dinged and dented door, the windows dirty and almost impossible to see through, and no hint as to whether the place was even open.
Trying her luck, Trixie was surprised when the door swung open easily at the touch of her hoof, revealing a dim and dusty interior, bereft of ponies, but filled with all manner of water tanks and sword-pierced barrels and segmented boxes. A dozen magicians worth of props filled the interior, leaving precious little floor to navigate the mildew-scented room with.
She frowned, leaning closer to a milk can sitting on a stand near the door. It looked like the one Hoofdini used in one of his most infamous escapes.
“It’s the real thing.”
Trixie jumped, an indignant squeak escaping as she whirled in place. Barely a hoof’s width from her face stood a well-dressed crystal pony, her black mane and white coat glittering in the faint light of the room’s lamps. “What?”
“You have a good eye. That can was the actual prop used by Hoofdini. Quite the collector’s item.” She smiled and bowed. “Welcome to Blackstone’s Tricks and Charms. My apologies for not greeting you. I was preoccupied with a few new items in the back.”
Struggling to conceal her embarrassed blush with the brim of her hat, Trixie cleared her throat, “Greetings! The Great and Powerful Trixie, Equestria’s greatest illusionist, has decided to grace your humble establishment and see what strange and mysterious wares you might have to offer her.”
The pony bowed deeply, her snout nearly touching the ground. “Well, it is my honor to welcome you, Great and Powerful Trixie.”
“Ah…” Trixie wasn’t used to ponies playing along. “Ah… oh. And um, you are?”
“The proprietess of this humble establishment, Blackstone.” The smile remained, as if it were glued in place. “So how is it that I might assist you, oh Great and Powerful Trixie?”
“Trixie just saw your shop from the street and was curious because she had never seen it before. She thought she already knew all the trick shops in Manehattan.” For a moment she considered asking if the shop was new, but it seemed silly. The shop felt old.
And smelled it, too.
Blackstone looked her up and down. “Well, I do tend to deal with a more… discerning clientele, so it doesn’t usually serve me to advertise. Walk-ins are rarely interested in what I have to sell.”
A lot of words to say that they sold really, really expensive stuff. If that milk can was the actual Hoofdini piece, Trixie dreaded to imagine how many bits it would cost. Certainly more than she’d ever see in her lifetime. “Trixie can see why.”
“Oh, not everything here is a collectable.” Blackstone trotted towards the counter at the back of the room, her short tail bobbing with every step, while she continued, “But what I have here is not for dilettantes. I collect and sell only the greatest tricks, ones that would astound even an Alicorn. Ones that require true skill and dedication to the craft to master.” As she spoke, the room’s lamps brightened, the growing light reflecting off crystal ornaments on the ceiling and painting the room with dancing rainbows. “So, tell me, was it fate that led you to my humble shop?”
Trixie grinned. Her instincts had been right. While it might have looked like a junk shop from the outside, Blackstone had the soul of a performer. “Perhaps. For, you see, the Great and Powerful Trixie is no mere huckster. She has already mastered more than a hundred, nay, more than a thousand tricks! Only the most astounding and stupefying tricks are of any use to her.”
“I should have expected as much from one who calls herself the Great and Powerful.” Blackstone seated herself behind the counter, her eyes meeting Trixie’s. “But I promise, my tricks are unlike any you have ever seen. After all, the wonders of the Crystal Empire have been lost to Equestria for so long.”
“Then show Trixie something you think would impress her,” Trixie demanded.
“With pleasure,” Blackstone said, the lights returning to their dull glow. “Though I will do you one better. I shall give you a trick that will astound not just a master magician, but even the most skilled and talented unicorns.” After digging under the counter for a moment, she produced a small, wooden box and opened it, revealing a deck of cards, their back bearing a crystal sigil.
“A card trick?” Trixie scoffed.
“Come now, Trixie. A skilled magician such as yourself surely know that there is often more to a thing than meets the eye. This particular trick was created by my father, a master magician in his own right.” Spreading the cards across the table, she smiled. “He called it the Destiny Trap, for you see, every pony’s fate is preordained.” With a deft hoof movement, the entire row of cards flipped, revealing blank faces. “We believe we begin our lives as blank slates,” she said, another movement flipping them back over, “with infinite possibilities spread out before us. But that’s not true.” She pushed the deck towards Trixie. “Would you shuffle it, please?”
Snorting, Trixie lifted the cards with her magic, riffling, overhoofing, and weaving them to her heart’s content before she gave the deck a final, decisive cut and presented it to Blackstone.
“You see, even in a random, disordered world, the truth,” she said, flipping the top card and revealing a face that featured a black diamond, “is that I will always be me.” Blackstone turned her body just enough to show off a cutie mark that matched the card face. “Try as I might to change it, I can never escape who I am.” For emphasis, she drew a second card off the deck, revealing another black diamond.
“A nice performance, but Trixie is not impressed. The trick is obvious.”
“Is it?”
“Yes. You have obviously prepared cards with your cutie mark on them and used sleight of hoof to stack the deck. Trixie will admit that you are quite skilled, though.”
Blackstone tilted her head and looked from a hoof to the deck. “Really?” She pulled another card from the top, revealing yet another black diamond. “Well, that certainly seems possible. Perhaps you should try though, just to be sure?”
Trixie paused, watching the mare’s face, studying her perfectly innocent expression and knew she’d been baited. “Can Trixie take any card?”
“Of course.”
Trixie pulled a card from the center of the deck, hesitating for only the barest moment before she flipped it. Its face bore a perfect replica of her own cutie mark.
Blackstone’s grin nearly reached from ear to ear. “As I said: our destinies are truly inescapable.”
Starlight Glimmer lounged on a cushion near the crystal table, levitating her half-eaten daffodil sandwich to the plate on the floor, feeling more relaxed than she had in weeks. “I’m glad you finally made it back to Ponyville, Trixie. It’s been pretty lonely around the castle with Twilight and everypony else in Saddle Arabia.”
“Trixie is not sure,” Trixie said between bites of her own sandwich, “why you consider their absence a bad thing,”
“That’s one of the problems with having friends.” Starlight couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she looked at the unicorn sitting across from her. “You miss them when they’re gone.”
Trixie took another bite, saying nothing as she returned the smile.
“So how’s the tour going? You visited Fillydelphia and Manehattan, right?”
“Trixie did. It was a long and arduous journey all on her lonesome, but Trixie persevered, bringing with her not just tricks that astound, but also word of her incomparable humility and grace to all ponies along her path.”
Starlight giggled. “Did you ever work out a better title than ‘The Humble and Penitent Trixie’s Equestrian Apology Tour’?”
“Trixie did not.”
“You really should keep workshopping that.”
“Trixie does not disagree.” She grinned, her voice softening. “I still have a few more stops planned. You could come and help come up with a better name. ”
“I wish I could, but I really can’t just up and leave.” Starlight sighed, rolling onto her side and staring up at the table that held the cutie map. “I have a lot of friendship stuff to study, magic to practice, a castle to sit…”
Trixie snorted. “Trixie thinks saving Equestria entitles you to a break from all that. Besides, wouldn’t coming with Trixie count as studying ‘friendship stuff’?”
“I wish. Twilight’s lessons are really specific.”
“You should quit being Twilight’s student and become Trixie’s great and powerful assistant full-time.”
“Probably,” Starlight said, meaning it despite not really meaning it. She couldn’t just pack up and leave on a whim. While Twilight might be okay with it, there were probably ponies out there who wouldn’t appreciate her running wild.
“Maybe if you waited until after Twilight got back I could sneak out for a few days?”
“When will she be back?” Trixie asked
Starlight shrugged and offered a hopeful smile. “Not sure. A week? Maybe two?”
Trixie raised an eyebrow.
“It’s not that long, right?”
“Well, Trixie could stay a few days, at the very least,” Trixie said, feigning exasperation without much success. “If you would like her to, of course.”
Starlight pushed herself to her hooves and nodded. “I would.”
“Then that is what Trixie shall do.” Finishing her sandwich, Trixie pushed the plate aside and grinned. “That reminds me: I have a brand new trick I want to show you! It might be my best one yet.”
Starlight’s ears pricked. Trixie had been testing all her new tricks and acts on Starlight. “Even better than the Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive?”
“Not quite as dramatic, but still good.” Clearing her throat, Trixie pulled a small wooden box from under her hat and placed it on the Cutie Map before opening it and revealing a deck of cards. “The Great and Powerful Trixie knows much about the world. For example, she knows that her own destiny is one so magnificent and so incredible that, no matter what happened, she would still achieve it!” Spreading the cards on the table, she revealed that the front side of every card was blank. “No matter how the world may change, Trixie’s destiny is one of such greatness that it cannot be denied. Will you shuffle the cards, volunteer?”
Starlight barely kept it to a chuckle as she lifted the deck and mixed the cards, a shiver running through her horn and down her spine. “They tingle.”
“That is the power of destiny flowing through them! For, as you see, despite the infinite futures laid out before Trixie and shaped by your hoof,” Trixie pulled the top card from the deck and, to Starlight’s surprise, revealed a card bearing her own cutie mark, “Trixie’s great and powerful destiny is assured!”
“Not bad.”
“Trixie believes you are not suitably impressed, volunteer! Let her amaze you further! See, it is not just Trixie’s destiny is inescapable, it is everypony’s! While your own destiny may not be as manifestly incredible as hers,” Trixie said with a wink, “that does not change that it is still your destiny!” With a swift hoof movement, she spread the facedown cards on the table. “Take a card for yourself and see!”
Starlight studied Trixie’s face, trying to guess at how the trick was being performed even as she decided on her card. A force? Sleight of hoof? Gimmicked cards? She finally flipped a random card with her hoof.
It was blank.
“I think you made a mistake, Trixie.”
Trixie frowned, flipping another card and revealing her cutie mark on the face once more. “Trixie is… not sure what she did wrong. Try another?”
Starlight did as asked, flipping another card with her hoof, revealing another blank face. “What was supposed to happen?” Starlight asked, idly flipping a few more blank cards over.
“The card you chose should have had your cutie mark on it,” Trixie grumbled, pulling the faceup cards towards her. “Destiny and all.”
It made sense. “Want to try again?”
“If you don’t mind,” Trixie grumbled, mashing the cards together. “Blah, blah, blah, destiny. Shuffle them.”
Starlight levitated the deck to shuffle it.
The cards didn’t move.
She tilted her head and tried again.
Nothing happened.
Her heart thudded in her chest and her throat tightened as she tried telekinesis again. And again. And again.
“Were you going to shuffle?” Trixie asked.
Starlight couldn’t feel her magic. Not even the faintest hint of power flowed through her horn. “I can’t use magic.”
“What?”
“I can’t use my magic!” Starlight’s voice cracked, her legs shaking as she pulled from deeper and deeper inside herself, hunting for any trace of magic in her body and finding nothing. This wasn’t like the Changeling Kingdom where her spells just fell apart. This was like she didn’t have any magic at all. “I… I can’t…”
Trixie started to say something, but she stopped, her breath catching. “Starlight, your cutie mark is…”
“What?” Starlight jerked her head around to try and see, but panic made the coordination nearly impossible. Twisting around, she caught her reflection in Twilight’s throne, and her heart skipped a beat.
It was gone.
Her cutie mark was gone.
Trixie watched Starlight stare out the window of the train as it bumped and rattled down the tracks towards Manehattan, Trixie’s cloak wrapped around her like a protective blanket that concealed her blank flank from all the world. Or, at least, the hoofful of passengers they shared the car with.
Biting her lip, she struggled to think of something to say. Starlight might’ve stopped hyperventilating, but she still looked like she might start again at any moment. “You doing okay?”
Starlight shook her head, squashing herself back into her seat, pulling Trixie’s cloak tighter around her.
“You’ll have your cutie mark back in no time,” she promised, setting a hoof on Starlight’s shoulder. “And after she fixes this, Trixie will wring that shopkeeper’s neck.”
There was no response.
It being Blackstone’s fault was the only thing that made sense: Starlight touched the cards and suddenly her magic and her cutie mark disappeared. Except, try as she might, Trixie couldn’t pull any secrets out of the cards besides the imprint gimmick.
It figured that when Trixie actually needed Twilight she was nowhere to be found.
The thought ate at her. She should be be the one helping Starlight, but she couldn’t. The only time she’d ever performed magic on the level of Twilight or Starlight had been when she’d had the Alicorn Amulet. Without it… she really was just a huckster. A second rate one, at that.
Trixie forced herself to smile. “Everything will be fine, Starlight. I promise. After all, is Trixie not the greatest and most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria?”
Starlight’s lips quirked upward just a little.
“So, do you think Trixie should make the trick part of her act?”
“Probably not until you figure out to put my cutie mark back,” Starlight finally said, flashing a faint and fragile smile at her.
“Trixie admits that is probably a good idea.”
Leaning against the train’s wall, Starlight lapsed back into silence, her eyes returning to the window. The train rattled and clanked. Ponies chatted and snored.
Just as Trixie was about to try and say something again, Starlight spoke up.
“I wonder if this is how it felt after I stole a pony’s cutie mark.”
Trixie started, looking at her. “What?”
“I mean, everypony seemed so happy at first, but…” she trailed off. “I feel empty. Like I’m—”
“Trixie doesn’t think this is a particularly constructive line of conversation.”
“Probably not,” Starlight agreed, “but I can’t stop thinking about it. I thought things were changing. I thought I was finally past all this. I was finally getting past all this and then—”
“Then nothing,” Trixie said, setting a hoof on her friend’s back and scooting closer. “The past is past. You are not that pony anymore.”
Starlight sighed, sagging back against Trixie. “I know. You’re right.”
Leaning back into Starlight, Trixie didn’t say anything.
Starlight’s stomach churned as she stared at the empty storefront, the dirty window not managing to conceal the empty darkness that loomed behind it. Her legs shook as she sat down on the damp sidewalk, barely able to keep herself from being sick on the spot.
“But… it… I… there was…” Trixie stammered.
Pulling Trixie’s cloak tighter, Starlight struggled to find her voice. “Are you sure this is the right place?”
“Yes! It was right here! Right here! Not more than a week ago! I’m sure!”
“Nopony in the curry shop remembers it.”
“Well, they’re wrong! Starlight, I swear, there was a shop here. It was right in this building! Full of magic stuff! Classic tricks, collector’s items, all that!”
“So, what?” Starlight snapped, unable to stop herself. “It just disappeared?”
For just a moment Trixie looked like Starlight had kicked her the face, but she turned away, her horn glowing as she pointed it at the locked door. “Trixie will see about that,” she growled. With a snap, the door tore open, splintering the frame as the lock ripped through the wood. She didn’t even wait before entering the darkened interior.
Forcing herself to her hooves, Starlight followed. The room certainly didn’t seem like a place that’d been recently occupied, the air thick with the smell of dust and mildew. Still, despite the lingering fugue, the place did seem oddly clean.
“Blackstone, where are you?” Trixie shouted, circling the room, peering through side doors.
Starlight walked more slowly, her eyes scanning every surface they could, looking for anything. There was no reason for Trixie to lie to her, of course, but that belief didn’t do anything to silence the voice that said there definitely wasn’t a shop here.
She cast an illumination spell.
Or, at least, she tried to. There was no familiar and warm surge of magic flowing through her. There was nothing. Where all her power should have been, there was just a gaping, cavernous void.
Magic was what defined her.
Without it, who was she?
Her breath caught as she spotted an envelope wedged into the baseboard of a counter. Even in the gloom she could make out To Starlight Glimmer written across it in an odd iridescent ink. When she couldn’t magically open it, she just tore it open with her teeth instead, removing the note from inside.
Starlight Glimmer,
If you are reading this, then I will assume that the Destiny Trap has functioned as intended and that braggart nitwit has unwittingly stripped you of your cutie mark and your magic.
You might expect me to say that I am sorry for doing this to you or that I regret involving another pony, but the truth is that I am not. You are both guilty of crimes, and it is only fitting that you are both punished. However, she lacks the talent to concern me. You, on the other hoof, are a unicorn of incredible power. Power that has been misused, abused, and turned against your fellow ponies.
They say that, under the tutelage of Princess Twilight Sparkle, you have turned over a new leaf. That you have redeemed yourself. That you are a different pony now.
But I know that’s not true.
A pony cannot change who they are. Our destinies are written plainly upon us, and to ignore that fact is folly. As the Crystal Empire learned a thousand years ago, a hoof extended in forgiving friendship can be the undoing of an entire kingdom. Your nature and your skill made you a continued danger to all ponies everywhere.
Now, though? I have freed you and Equestria from the burden of your destiny.
Your thanks will not be necessary.
-Blackstone
The note fell to the floor. Her stomach churned. Her rear legs gave out, dropping her to her haunches.
Trixie steadied her, keeping her from falling over. “What’s wrong?” At Starlight’s weak gesture she lifted the note and read it, her face twisting into a grimace as she progressed. “Is this a joke?”
“What do you think?” Starlight managed.
Trixie crushed the paper with her magic, shaking. “She tricked me. That conniving crystal pony tricked me!”
“She used you,” Starlight agreed, hugging the cloak around her as her mind raced. This wasn’t a weird magical accident. Somepony had deliberately stolen her magic. Stolen her cutie mark. Stolen everything she was. All because of who she had been.
She squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to hold back tears.
“Starlight…”
“Shut up, Trixie!” she snapped, shaking off the hoof that Trixie tried to lay on her. “Just shut up! This is your fault!” Standing unsteadily, she started for the door, the sound of Trixie’s hooves following her. She needed to think. To figure something out. But every time she tried to think about the sort of magic that might do this to her, a pit opened in her stomach.
And here she thought she had finally been making amends for her past.
“Slow down!” Trixie called, making Starlight notice she had slipped into a canter. She wanted to run, to gallop, to flee the pony responsible for her current predicament, but some tiny, rational part of her reminded her that Trixie was her friend, and that she hadn’t really done anything. Not on purpose. She stopped, but she didn’t look back.
Trixie’s steps stopped behind her, but it was a moment before she finally spoke. “You told me you have a friend in the Crystal Empire, right? The smart pony who knows stuff?””
“Why does it matter?”
“Blackstone was a crystal pony. Maybe he knows something or somepony who can help.”
Glancing back, Starlight caught the concern on Trixie’s face and her anger cooled. “Sunburst.”
“Then let’s catch a train to the Crystal Empire! Trixie will find this Blackstone and use her formidable magic to undo what she has done.”
Starlight didn’t respond immediately, preoccupied by what she would do to this Blackstone if she got her magic back. Perhaps see how the pony liked having her cutie mark ripped off. And that thought scared her more than she expected. “Maybe we should wait for Twilight to get back. She might know a way to fix it.”
“Maybe you should,” Trixie agreed, “But Trixie doesn’t plan to wait for Princess Twilight Sparkle to make this better with the power of hugs and friendship. She is going to find the pony that did this to you and make her fix it.”
“Trixie,” she started, but stopped when she saw the tears in Trixie’s eyes, her anger finally evaporating. “Fine. But I’m not going to let you go alone.”
Starlight shifted uncomfortably as Sunburst circled her, his eyes fixated on her blank flank.
“I have never seen anything like this before,” he mumbled, returning to his table to look at the cards. “None of your magic works? Not even simple spells?”
“It isn’t that it doesn’t work,” she growled. “I told you: it’s not there. There’s nothing there. I’m… empty. I don’t have magic anymore.”
Returning to his desk, he very carefully moved the cards around again, perhaps afraid that it would be his cutie mark and magic next. For all they knew, it might be. “Well, I can tell you one thing: these cards weren’t made using unicorn magic. What did you say the name of the pony who sold them to you was?”
“Blackstone!” Trixie snapped from her seat.
“Hm,” he mused, trotting to his bookshelf and scanning it. “I could swear I’ve heard that name before. Blackstone, Blackstone, Blackstone…” He continued muttering the name like a mantra as he walked to the bookshelf.
Starlight thought about the contents of the note. A pony blaming the fall of the Crystal Empire on the fact that they took Sombra in. “What about ponies who opposed Sombra after he conquered the Crystal Empire?”
“Hm?” Sunburst stopped, looking towards the roof of his cottage for a moment. “Maybe? Obviously the histories from around that time are a little incomplete, but I don’t suppose it would hurt to look.” He levitated several thick tomes off the shelf and dropped them on the table.
Starlight watched as he flipped through the pages of the books, his eyes scanning with a speed that rivaled Twilight’s.
“Let’s see, the Crystal Heart Ponies, Dawnsfall, the slave uprising… ah! That’s it! The Blackstone Rebellion!” He tapped the page with his hoof. “I knew the name sounded familiar! Supposedly there was a group of artificers – ponies who used crystals to craft relics infused with the power of the Empire – that tried to dethrone Sombra.”
“Does that actually help us?” Trixie asked.
“Well, it would certainly be a bit of a coincidence for her to use that name without an awareness of the group, giving what she did,” Sunburst offered. “And even among crystal ponies, artificers are rare. The books state that the Blackstone ponies were wiped out by Sombra, though.”
“No reason for him to lie about that,” Starlight muttered. Could she have been a survivor of the group? Or just a big fan?
Trixie walked to his desk, looking at the book with him. “Did they have a stronghold? A secret base? An underground fortress?”
Starlight looked at her. “Why?”
The grin Trixie offered him did not look nice. “Because Blackstone – or whoever she is – is like Trixie. This is one big performance, and she thinks she’s the star. The name, the way she attached the trap to a thematic trick, the way she used me, even the note she left… she’s putting on a show. She’d use a place that belonged to them.”
“That’s a lot of conjecture for—”
“Just answer the question!” Trixie demanded, pressing her snout against Sunburst’s.
Sunburst coughed and turned toward Starlight, looking like he was about to run.
“Please. It’s the closest thing we have to a lead right now.”
Coughing and stepping back from Trixie, he turned his attention back to the book and started flipping through pages. “Uh… well… um… ah! It was rumored they had a secret stronghold in the cave systems outside the city? It was never found, of course. They were caught while recruiting within the city. Still.” Edging around Trixie, he continued, “Uh, just a minute. I have a map around here somewhere.”
Starlight almost tried levitating the book towards herself, but managed to remember herself before she tried.
A pink haze surrounded the book and lifted it to her.
“You wanted it?” Trixie asked.
“I didn’t need your help,” Starlight muttered, her hoof pressing it back onto the desk.
Trixie’s magic evaporated from around it as the unicorn looked away.
Starlight just focused on the book, already regretting what she’d said.
“Here we go!” Sunburst declared, spreading the map in the open air, a quill circling a spot northeast of the city. “I don’t know much about it beyond being a system of caves in the mountain. I mean, for all I know, Sombra totally destroyed the place.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Trixie said. “Let’s go.”
Starlight nodded.
Trixie’s teeth chattered as the wind whipped around them. Apparently the Crystal Empire’s magic didn’t extend that far beyond the city walls. Even if she didn’t want to admit it out loud, she was quite glad Sunburst had made them stop and pick up warm clothes.
“Is that it?” Starlight asked, pointing at a rock wall in the distance.
Trixie squinted through the drifting snowflakes. “Maybe?”
The two of them picked up their pace as much as they could, plowing through the thick snow that coated the ground. Possibly leaving tomorrow would have been a better idea, but Trixie couldn’t stand to wait even one more minute. Blackstone was going to fix this.
“It’s there,” Starlight said. “Tucked behind that big outcropping.”
“Trixie sees it now,” she said.
The inside of the cave felt much warm, though Trixie suspected part of that was just being out of the wind. Beyond that, there wasn’t much to be said about it. It was a cave. It was a made of rock. It went deeper.
Starlight shook herself, the snow from her heavy clothes making another tiny blizzard around her. “It’s dark.”
Trixie nodded, her own horn lighting up. The added brightness let her see Starlight’s expression tighten for a fraction of a second before she looked away. Trixie wished she knew what to do or what to say to make everything better, buts she couldn’t even imagine what losing both her magic and her cutie mark would do to her. There weren’t any words for it.
It turned out her light spell was barely needed, as, after a few minutes, they reached a portion of the cave where the walls were studded with crystals that cast a faint white glow. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to see by.
The two of them walked in silence, the only sound the echoing of their hoofsteps. Trixie cast an occasional glance sideways, but Starlight seemed to be lost in thought, her eyes focused somewhere ahead of them.
Eventually they reached a split in the path, two branches leading in opposite directions.
“Which way?” Starlight asked.
“Trixie… does not know. Sunburst didn’t mention this, did he?”
“No, he didn’t.” Starlight sat back, looking from one tunnel to the other. “I wonder how deep these caves actually go. Or how many more branches there are deeper in.” Even Trixie could hear the sound of defeat creeping into Starlight’s voice. “Which way should we go first?”
Trixie stared at the two paths, her ears twitching. If she were trying to defeat a super powerful, megalomaniacal unicorn, how would she do it? Trickery. Even overwhelming power could be beat if you were clever. Misdirection was the key to a magician’s art, after all. “Neither.”
Starlight frowned. “Then what do we do?”
“We find a third path.” Trixie grinned. “They were hiding here from Sombra, right? They wouldn’t use an obvious path.”
Starlight’s ears pricked. “You’re right.”
Staring at the rockwork ahead of her, Trixie tried to think of how she’d conceal a third passage. Would she even do it at the crossroad? Yeah, because then it’d be easy to find for ponies in the know, while everypony else just went deeper. She reached out a hoof and touched the massive crystal formation that jutted out of the wall.
The thing shuddered and shook, then split, revealing another, narrow path that looked ponymade. There were even more crystals lining the wall inside, giving it an almost homey look.
Starlight started forward, but Trixie stepped up first. “Please let Trixie go first.”
“Fine.”
The path sloped downwards, leading them into an expansive cavern, lit like the daylight and as warm as spring, strange crystalline structures jutting out of the ground and all sorts of things Trixie didn’t recognize covering workbenches. Though some of it she did. Like the items she’d seen in the magic shop.
“Oh my,” echoed Blackstone’s voice, “I did not expect visitors in my shop today.”
Starlight’s spine stiffened at the voice, as well as the approaching hoofsteps that followed. From the far edge of the room approached a mare, her pale crystal coat glittering in the light of the cavern, a look of calm amusement on her face.
“Is that her?” Starlight asked.
“It is,” Trixie snarled, crouching low.
The mare stopped a distance from them and bowed. “Trixie, a pleasure to see you again. And Starlight Glimmer. Also a pleasure. It appears I underestimated you. I really would not have expected you to find me here.”
“Give Starlight back her cutie mark and her magic!” Trixie growled.
Blackstone ignored her, looking to Starlight. “Do you mind if I ask how you did it?”
“Don’t ignore Trixie!” Trixie shouted, magic gathering around her horn and then dissipating as quickly as it had gathered.
“Would you please calm down?” Blackstone asked, finally sparing a look her way. “There’s no sense in getting worked up. Your magic won’t work here.” She waved a hoof around the room. “The crystals here interfere with unicorn magic, so I doubt you’ll be able to do much in the way of magic. I may have underestimated you, but I’m not stupid. This place was built to protect us from a pony with truly powerful magic.”
Starlight spoke up before Trixie could move, “Trixie, don’t. We don’t know what else she can do.”
The nod Trixie gave was almost imperceptible, but it was there.
Blackstone nodded. “Smart. Though it does raise a question: what exactly were the two of you hoping to achieve by coming here?”
“I want what you took back,” Starlight said. “That’s all. I know I did terrible things, but that’s not who I am anymore. I… I’ve changed.”
“Have you?” Blackstone asked, tilting her head curiously.
“I have.”
“Can you prove that?”
The question took Starlight by surprise. “What? Well… I’ve been studying under Princess Twilight. I’ve learned about making friends. I’ve made amends for what I did in the village.”
“And?”
“And what?” Starlight snapped.
Blackstone shook her head. “Sombra could be kind, when the occasion called for it. That didn’t change the fact that he was still a monster. I won’t deny you’ve done better things, but that doesn’t mean you’ve changed. Inside you are still the same pony who stole the cutie marks of dozens of innocents and ruled over them with an iron hoof. Who tried to take revenge on Twilight Sparkle by changing history. Who resorts to dangerous magic she doesn’t understand or comprehend when faced with the slightest challenge. Those sorts of things don’t go away.”
The barbs sunk deep. Starlight took a step back. “I…”
“You can pretend you’ve put it behind you, that you’re a better pony now, that you won’t make the same mistakes, but can you honestly tell me that you never think about abusing your magic?”
“I…” she started, but the rest of the words stuck in her throat. Starlight longed for the power to do something about the mare in front of her, but that’s what scared her. In a way, it proved her right.
“Our destinies are inescapable, plain as the marks on our flanks.” Blackstone bowed her head slightly. “Most of ours. Honestly, if you really did want to change, you should thank me. I’ve made it so you really can’t hurt anypony again. You’re free.”
“But… I…” Starlight stammered, what little confidence she’d had draining away. Could Blackstone be—
“Trixie has had it with you running your mouth like you know anything about Starlight!” Trixie snapped, stepping up to stand shoulder to shoulder with Starlight. “Ponies are defined by the decisions they make. As sure as Trixie has changed, Starlight has changed too. We are better ponies than we used to be.”
Blackstone quirked her head again and offered a soft smile to Trixie. “Interesting that you of all ponies would say that. I heard that part of the reason you befriended Starlight was simply to one-up Princess Twilight Sparkle. Is that not true?”
Trixie’s eyes widened as she tried to stammer out a response, tripping over her own words before she finally fell into an indignant silence.
Even knowing it wasn’t really true, remembering that moment still stung Starlight.
“Honestly, Trixie? Were you a more powerful unicorn, I would have taken your ability too. Your sort of arrogance with any real power… well, I suppose we saw what would happen when you had the Alicorn Amulet.” Blackstone shrugged. “Not that any of this really matters. I don’t have anything to give back. What good would my trap be if you could simply confront me and force me to give back what was taken?”
Starlight’s legs gave out, forcing her to sit.
“That’s a lie!” Trixie shouted.
Blackstone shrugged. “Have your princesses throw me in Tartarus or banish me to the moon for a thousand years. It won’t change anything. Your magic and your cutie mark are gone, Starlight Glimmer.”
The declaration echoed in the cavern, punctuating the finality of it.
“I can’t say I’m sorry.”
Starlight opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She felt sick. Worse than when she’d realized her cutie mark was gone. Worse than when she’d realized her magic was gone.
Her heart pounded in her chest. The world seemed to spin around her.
“Then take Trixie’s cutie mark too.”
The words cut through the building panic. Starlight’s head jerked towards her friend, her own, “What?” perfectly mirroring Blackstone’s.
Trixie stepped forward and produced the box of cards from her cape, then threw it towards Blackstone, scattering the cards across the stone floor. “You heard her. Trap Trixie’s destiny.”
Forcing herself to her hooves, Starlight shook her head. “What are you doing, Trixie? Why? Look, we can… we can just go back to Twilight and ask for her help! Maybe she can do something!”
Trixie snorted. “Then she can fix Trixie at the same time.”
“That is beyond stupid! What if she can’t?” Starlight shouted, moving until she was muzzle to muzzle with Trixie. “Why are you even suggesting this?”
“I won’t let you face this alone,” Trixie responded, her voice soft as her hoof touched Starlight’s. “I won’t.”
Blackstone shook her head as she collected the cards. “A touching and suitably dramatic offer to convince me that friendship and love has changed the both of you, but it won’t work. I already told you, I can’t give back what was taken.” She pushed the deck forward. “Still. Go ahead. Show me how much you’ve changed, Trixie. Give up the only thing that makes you special. Throw it all away. Just a touch from your magic will be enough. I won’t stop you.”
Despite herself, Starlight breathed a sigh of relief as she realized what Trixie had been trying. Too bad the crystal pony had seen right through it.
“Trixie doesn’t need some mark on her flank to tell her what her destiny is, nor does she need her magic to be great and powerful!” Then, to Starlight’s horror, Trixie levitated the cards into the air and hurled them toward the ceiling, their blank faces raining down around her even as her cutie mark faded away. “We’ll make new destinies for ourselves. Together. Right, Starlight?”
Starlight stared at her friend’s now barren flank, unable and unwilling to believe what had just happened. “Trixie, you…”
Even Blackstone looked taken aback.
Trixie kicked the cards away from her. “Let’s go back to Ponyville. Maybe Twilight can help. And if she can’t, well…” Trixie smiled at her she continued, “At least we’re in it together now, right?”
As the doubts and fear washed away, Starlight could feel the tears building in her eyes. “I guess we are,” she said as she smiled back.
“Why?” Blackstone snarled, her voice shattering the quiet moment. “Why would you do that? There’s nothing for you to gain! You’ve thrown away your talent and your magic, and, without those, you’re nothing, you narcissistic—”
“Trixie told you: she doesn’t need them,” Trixie said. “She is not the same pony she was, just like Starlight’s not the same pony she was.”
Buoyed by Trixie, Starlight met the crystal pony’s eyes. “That’s the magic of friendship, Blackstone. Ponies can change. They can make each other better. They can support each other. They can put each other on the right path.”
“Be quiet,” Blackstone growled, the sound echoing around the cavern. “Stop with this friendship fixes everything act! Hate me! Threaten to strip me of my cutie mark if you ever get your magic back! Swear vengeance on me! Stop pretending that you’ve changed!” her breathing came in ragged gasps as she shook her head. “I have seen firsthoof what ponies like you are capable of! All the signs were there with Sombra – the cruelty, the callousness, the arrogance, his very nature as an umbrum – but we believed he deserved a chance. We offered him friendship, and he repaid by enslaving my people and my friends!”
Staring at Blackstone, Starlight could see a perfect reflection of herself, of the pony she had been. And she knew the way through to that pony. “What’s next for you then, Blackstone? Will you hunt down Discord? Princess Luna?”
Blackstone didn’t answer.
“And then what will you do with the ponies who try to stop you?” Starlight pressed, stepping closer. “Will you decide they should have their cutie marks stolen too? After all, you won’t be able to continue your mission if Princess Twilight Sparkle comes after you. Trust me, I know that one all too well.”
“Don’t even think of comparing me to you.”
“Why not?” Trixie interjected. “From where Trixie is standing, you are certainly following in Starlight’s hoofsteps. Right down to the stealing cutie marks bit.”
Despite herself, Starlight laughed. “Trixie!”
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?”
“Shut up!” Blackstone screamed.
“No,” Starlight said. “You need to hear this. I’ve been where you are right now, Blackstone. I know I can’t imagine what it must have been like to lose your home and your people to Sombra, but I do know all about the road you’re walking right now. I’ve seen how it ends. But it isn’t too late to change.” Starlight reached out a hoof. “It’s never too late to change. Come back to Ponyville with us. We’ll show you.”
Blackstone stared at the extended hooves, shaking as the tears continued to build in her eyes. “I’ve stolen your cutie marks. I’ve stripped you of your magic. And this is how you fight back?”
“It is,” Starlight said.
“Why?” Blackstone asked, the building tears obvious in the corners of her eyes.
“Because we were given the same chance.”
Nothing of the calm and collected pony that had greeted them in the cave remained as Blackstone sagged. Her confidence had vanished. It felt like forever before she spoke again, her voice barely more than a hoarse whisper, “I lied.”
“What?” Starlight and Trixie asked in unison.
“I lied.” She shook her head. “I can restore your cutie marks.”
Trixie’s legs were still shaking as the two of them approached the cavern mouth and the freezing cold tundra that awaited them. Well, the three of them technically, but Blackstone seemed dedicated to walking a ways behind them, lost in her own thoughts.
Not that Trixie could blame her.
Or minded her keeping her distance. Ponies might be able to change… but it didn’t happen right away.
Besides, she was still a teeny tiny bit miffed about everything Blackstone had done. Real forgiveness didn’t happen right away either.
Starlight beamed as she bumped against Trixie, her horn lighting their way with a familiar – and welcome – teal glow. “Don’t worry, the trip back will be easy. I know a spell to block the wind, and one to move the snow out of the way, and another that’ll keep us warm while—”
“Trixie is glad,” she said with a smile. “She was not looking forward to freezing her flank off again.”
“I still can’t believe you did that, Trixie,” Starlight whispered. “I really can’t. How did you know Blackstone was bluffing about being able to return our cutie marks? Just more of your magician’s intuition?”
“Trixie didn’t know.”
“You didn’t know,” she repeated, locking eyes with Trixie.
Trixie smiled and shook her head, offering Starlight nothing but the simple, unadorned truth as they stepped out into the dull light of the world outside the cavern. “I didn’t.”
“So…” Starlight started, then trailed off. “I think things are going to be a bit busy when we get back to Ponyville.”
“Trixie imagines so,” she said, glancing back at the subdued crystal pony.
“Still, once things have settled down a little…” Starlight barely hesitated before she pushed on, “...do you want to go on a trip? I mean, without it being some mission to get back my cutie mark or save Equestria or part of a magic tour. Just a trip. And just the two of us.”
Little flakes of snow fell all around them.
“Can it be somewhere warm?” Trixie asked.
“Definitely.”
