Chapters As Spike yawned and stretched his tiny dragon arms and looked up to see that Twilight Sparkle had risen before the sun, yet again. As the little dragon wandered out of the bedroom he saw Twilight reading another thick book.
"Morning Twilight," he said as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.
"Oh, good morning, Spike," Twilight answered, looking up from her book. "Did you sleep well?"
"I dreamed I ate a swimming pool of ice cream!" Spike burped as he remembered the magical dream and Twilight laughed.
"Well, I hope that doesn't lead to a tummy ache! Remember, we're going to see Rarity this morning for brunch." Spike blushed when Twilight reminded him that he was going to go see his second favourite unicorn. "Brush your teeth and we'll get going, okay?" Spike nodded and ran to clean himself up, wanting to look his absolute best for Rarity.
Suddenly there was a knocking at the door. "I wonder who that could be this early in the morning," Twilight thought out loud. It was odd to be getting mail this early in the morning.
"Delivery!" a chipper voice called from outside. Twilight opened the front door of the library to find Derpy Hooves holding a fancy looking envelope in her mouth. "Here you go, Twilight Sparkle!" Derpy mumbled, her words getting caught on the envelope in her mouth. Derpy giggled when she realized she couldn't talk with her mouth full, and Twilight giggled with her.
"Thanks, Derpy!" Twilight said. "Have a great day!"
Derpy gave her a salute. "Derpy is the best malemare!" she said as she happily trotted away.
"What's that?" Spike said as he looked up at Twilight's delivery.
"It's a letter from Princess Celestia!" Twilight replied happily. "I hope all his well in Canterlot!"
Spike smiled, but then realized something. "Why did she have it mailed? Why not use my firebreath?"
"It looks like an invitation, she probably wanted it delivered special, Spike. Don't worry!" Spike crossed his arms, he didn't like being left out! "Let me read it and see, okay?" Twilight said, trying to reassure the baby dragon.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle," the letter read. "I request that you would honour me with your presence for a meeting of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria for an afternoon of discussion and research. Yours truly, Princess Celestia." Attached was a map to the location of the meeting, what looked like a small manor not far from Ponyville.
"I'll be meeting with all the most powerful unicorns in Equestria?" Twilight gushed. "How exciting! And I'll have to leave as soon as possible!" Spike sulked off to the corner, upset there was no mention of him coming to this meeting of the unicorns. "Come on, let's go see Rarity!" Twilight said, cheering Spike up at the idea of seeing his long time crush.
"Oh Darlings, good morning!" Rarity gushed when the two arrived. "I've set out crumpets, I'll get you some tea." Rarity, always the good hostess, dashed off to the kitchen to get things for her friends.
"I'm afraid I can't stay too long," Twilight said as she munched on a crumpet. "I've gotten word from Princess Celestia that we have an important meeting with some of the most powerful unicorns in all Equestria this afternoon, I can't be late."
"Oh that's silly," Rarity said. "It can't be that important, I didn't get an invitation." Twilight bit her lip, realizing she'd put her hoof in her mouth a little bit. Rarity hadn't been invited, and now Twilight felt guilty for bringing it up.
Trying to cover up for herself Twilight gave a nervous giggle and said "no no, I think it's selected at random. Like a lottery." She gave an awkward smile and stared into her tea, waiting for someone to say something. Rarity gave her a bit of a look, but told Twilight not to worry about it, these things happen.
"I hate to cut brunch short, but I really must get going," Twilight said after eating a muffin and another crumpet. "I don't want to be late."
"That's fine, darling," Rarity said. "I hope you have a marvellous time."
"Wow, Rarity. Thank you for being so understanding!" Twilight flashed a happy smile and was out the door. Spike was about to follow after her when Rarity put a hoof on his tail.
"Wait until she reaches the edge of town," Rarity whispered, her eyes narrowed. "Something smells rotten in Ponyville."
"Are we going to follow her?" Spike asked as he stuffed another muffin in his mouth.
"Oh yes, Spikey-wikey, follow her we must!" Rarity and Spike watched as Twilight Sparkle happily trotted towards the edge of Ponyville, finally giving chase as Twilight reached the edge of town.
"One more for the road!" Spike said as he grabbed an armful of breakfast treats and followed close on Rarity's hooves.
The duo followed Twilight for several miles, all the while Spike was happily munching on muffins. They spoke in hushed tones, not wanting Twilight to realize she was being followed. Rarity would never admit it, but she was jealous that Twilight had been invited to this meeting and she hadn't. She tried to push the jealousy out of her mind because a bigger part of her had a bad feeling that something was wrong.
Twilight trotted down the road thinking of all the questions she had for the other unicorns. What spells they knew, the best ways to conserve magic. It had been a while since she and Princess Celestia had been able to talk in person, and she wondered if Cadance would be there as well. Oh how exciting it would be to meet all sorts of unicorns and to learn new spells and meet everypony!
Twilight finally approached the manor after following the map for over an hour. She was a little disappointed to see that the manor looked like it could use a little love. The paint was peeling and some of the windows had been boarded up. "Well, it's not the greatest thing," Twilight thought out loud. Then she realized that if this was a meeting of the most powerful unicorns Princess Celestia would probably want it to be somewhere inconspicuous so that they weren't interrupted!
Twilight knocked on the door. After the third knock the door swung open on its own. Twilight peaked her head inside the door. "Hello?" she called.
"Twilight Sparkle, is that you?" Princess Celestia's familiar voice replied.
"Yes!" Twilight called out. "Where are you?"
"We're in the study, come join us!" Princess Celestia responded. Twilight trotted into the manor to see that it wasn't much better kept on the inside. The main entrance was bright and cheery, it was filled from the sunlight coming in from outside, but there was a thick coating of dust on everything. She thought she'd heard Princess Celestia's voice coming from up the stairs, so Twilight made her way in that direction.
"Hello? Princess?" Twilight called when she reached the top of the stairs. This time there was no reply. "That's odd. Maybe she's in the middle of a discussion," Twilight wondered aloud. The upstairs portion of the manor was dark, there was only the boarded up window which didn't let in any light. Twilight cast a spell so that she could see her way down the hall. She was startled to find a long row of closed doors. "Which one is the study?" Twilight asked herself, poking her nose into rooms as she walked down the hall. Every room was almost identical, dark with furniture that was covered in sheets. Every room was covered in a thick layer of dust. "Where is everypony?" Twilight could start to feel nagging doubt in the pit of her stomach, but then Princess Celestia called for her again. The voice came from the end of the hall and Twilight trotted there as fast as she could, wanting to get away from the dark hallway.
"Princess, I'm so glad to see you!" Twilight said as she entered the study. Princess Celestia smiled, but something seemed off. The room seemed foggy, and the Princess's movements seemed jagged, weird. "Princess, is everything okay?" Twilight asked as that gnawing doubt returned to her stomach.
"Of course it is, Twilight Sparkle," the Princess said. "Why would you assssssk tttttthhhaaaat?"
"What's going on?" Twilight cried in alarm. "Princess are you okay?"
"Yessssss Twiiiiiiiiilight Sssssparkle," the Princess mumbles and hissed as the fog grew thicker. Everything started moving very quickly, images fading in and out and suddenly there was a loud pop. Twilight shielded her eyes and after a moment she looked up. The room was completely bare and small. All around her were mirrors, her own face staring back at her from all four walls. Even the floor and ceiling were mirrored
"What's going on?" Twilight called out as she tapped on the mirrored wall.
"Drat, I thought I had that spell down," a familiar voice echoed through the mirrored room.
"Trixie!" Twilight cried with a sudden realization. "What are you doing?" Twilight easily recognized Trixie's voice and her exaggerated tone. The traveling magician was up to something big!
One of the mirrors faded to revealed The Great and Powerful Trixie had been hiding out this entire time. Twilight readied a spell to break the glass and shot it right at Trixie. Trixie didn't even flinch as the bolt of energy flew towards it. As it hit the glass it bounced upwards towards a small sphere hanging from the ceiling. When the magic energy hit the sphere it glowed green and grew just a little.
"What in Equestria?" Twilight murmured, looking up at the glowing green sphere.
"That's a Magic Trap," Trixie explained as she flipped her silvery blue mane. "Every time you use your magic the power bounces off these mirrors right to the Magic Trap and it gets bigger. Once it's big enough I'll perform the greatest magic trick known to pony from Princess Celestia herself!"
"But why me?" Twilight asked as she paced across the mirrored room.
Trixie scoffed. "Because you foiled The Great and Powerful Trixie! Your magic was strong enough to defeat that dreaded Ursa Major and make me look like a fool. I'll show all of Equestria when I use your magic to impress Princess Celestia herself when I make a baby dragon grow to its full size right before the Princess's eyes and then I will make it disappear!" Trixie let out a long laugh and the reflection of the mirror faded back to show Twilight looking back at herself in horror. The realization that the baby dragon Trixie spoke of was probably Spike hit Twilight right in the gut.
Twilight didn't know what to do. If she used her magic, Trixie would steal it for her own fiendish gains. But how would she escape? There was no other choice, she just had to hope someone heard her when she screamed, "HELP!"
"Help!" Twilight Sparkle screamed from her mirrored cage. Trixie sat in her control room behind the mirror and laughed. Silly Twilight, she'd never be able to break those mirrors. They were reinforced with magic, and if Twilight tried to use a spell the Magic Trap would take her magic! Trixie laughed at the thought of it. Twilight stomped around and tried to break the mirror with kicks, but it wasn't going to work.
Trixie quickly grew tired of her game. She needed Twilight's magic and she needed it now. Using as much of her power as she could she created an illusion of Twilight's baby dragon Spike and revealed him to Twilight from behind the glass.
"Help me, Twilight Sparkle!" The illusion cried and Twilight cried out when she saw him.
"Spike!" Twilight cried. "I'll get you out of there!" Twilight paced back and forth. She couldn't break down the mirrors by force, but if she used magic then Trixie would use it to hurt Spike. Maybe if she tried to overload the Magic Trap it would burst! Twilight drew all her power together and shot it right at the Magic Trap!
The room exploded in light and magic and Twilight shielded her eyes from the blast. When she finally opened them she looked up and her face sunk. The Magic Trap had grown to the size of Twilight's head!
"I can't believe you thought that would work," Trixie laughed. "That looks like more than enough magic for my greatest trick!" Trixie disappeared once more behind the mirror and Twilight collapsed on the floor in exhaustion. She watched, helpless as Trixie opened a mirrored panel on the ceiling and emptied the Magic Trap.
"Just in case, I'm going to leave you there with the trap. Don't need you to ruin my big day tomorrow!" Trixie laughed from behind the mirror. "Oh don't worry, Twilight Sparkle, I'm sure someone will be along to find you. Maybe!" Trixie laughed to herself and Twilight was left alone in the mirrored room, trapped and unable to help Spike, the Princess, or even herself.
Outside, Rarity and Spike were looking at the manor from behind the hedges that outlined the property.
"Don't you think this place looks a little," Rarity paused, trying to think of a polite way to say repulsive. "Don't you think it looks a little unsightly?"
Spike shrugged. "You think we should go in?" he asked. He was happy doing whatever Rarity wanted to do.
Before she could answer Rarity saw a figure coming out of the manor and put a hoof on Spike's head, hiding them both behind the bushes. "Hey!" Spike protested, but Rarity shushed him. The Great and Powerful Trixie trotted right by, not even noticing them.
"Well that can't be right," Rarity said with a flip of her mane. "How was she invited and not me?"
"If she was invited why did she just run away?" Spike asked, slightly distracted by the fact that he was out of muffins.
"You're right, Spikey-wikey. Something certainly smells rotten and we need to get to the bottom of it." Rarity slowly made her way up the cracked pathway towards the manor, Spike following close behind her. When she got to the door she didn't bother knocking, instead she stuck her nose in and said a very polite "hello?"
"I doesn't look like anyone's here," Spike said, scared by the dark interior of the manor. He grabbed on to the tip of Rarity's tail for support and she was about to tell him to stop, but he looked too cute and too scared to stop him so she let him stay.
"Hello?" Rarity called out, a little louder. "I don't mean to impose but we're looking for our friend. Is anyone here? Hello?"
Upstairs Twilight could hear very faint sounds from the world around her. She wasn't quite sure, but it almost sounded like Rarity's very recognisable voice. She didn't have the time to wonder, she yelled "help!" as loud as she could. "Someone help me!" she yelled again.
"That was Twilight!" Spike realized when he and Rarity heard the cries for help. "It sounded like it was coming from upstairs!" Without waiting for Rarity, Spike was running as fast as he could up the old staircase. "We're coming, Twilight!" he yelled as he ran towards he voice.
"Help!" Twilight cried as she could hear the voices getting closer. "At the end of the hall!"
Rarity and Spike raced down the dark and dingy hallway until they reached the very last door. To their disappointment the door was locked and wouldn't budge. "Twilight, you have to unlock the door!" Rarity yelled to her friend.
"I can't!" Twilight yelled back. "It's locked by magic!" Twilight tried to think what to do and then yelled out, "Go into the room on your left, there might be something in there!"
Rarity did as Twilight said and went in the door, finding what almost looked like a control set up and a window into the room Twilight was trapped in. "Twilight?" Rarity yelled through the glass. "Can you see us?"
"No, just me," Twilight said as she stared at her own reflection.
"Use your magic and break free!" Rarity told her.
"I can't!" Twilight whimpered. "It gets stuck in a Magic Trap and I'm just getting weaker and weaker! You need to break it from outside!"
"But how?" Rarity asked. "It's locked with magic."
"Use your magic, Rarity!" Twilight said. "You can do it, I know you can."
Rarity paced inside the room, unsure what to do. She knew she could do it deep down, but nagging doubt pulled at her with its ugly claws. What if she failed? What if she wasn't a good enough unicorn? Rarity looked down at her little Spikey-wikey with his encouraging smile. "Okay!" she said. "I can do this!" With all her might she searched deep down inside her, pulling all her magic up and getting ready to fire it right at the glass in front of her. When she felt as strong as she could she fired all her magic straight at it and…
Nothing. The glass didn't move one bit. Rarity's heart sank. If the roles were reversed she knew Twilight would have been able to shatter the glass with her magic. Rarity felt positively worthless by comparison.
"Rarity, it's okay," Twilight said. She could sense that Rarity felt defeated and she didn't want her friend to feel like a failure. "I could feel how strong that blast was, it should have worked."
"But it didn't!" Rarity whined. "I shouldn't even be called a unicorn."
Spike looked up at Rarity, who looked like she was about to cry. He felt tears welling up in his own eyes, the last thing he wanted was for the beautiful, stunning, and amazing Rarity to feel less than perfect. "Maybe it's not breakable with brute strength," he said, trying to cheer her up.
"He's right," Twilight yelled from behind the glass. "Rarity, close your eyes and feel the magic around you. There may be another way!"
Rarity did as she was told, but her mind was cluttered with thoughts of failure and doubt. "It's not working," she whined.
"Believe in yourself," Twilight said. "You can do it, just trust yourself and you'll do fine."
"Twilight's right," Spike said, looking up at the beautiful Rarity. "You're amazing, Rarity. You just forgot that for a second."
"Oh Spikey-wikey," Rarity said, barely above a whisper. She could see he really meant it by the look of love in his eyes and it filled her with confidence. She nuzzled his purple cheek with her nose as a thank you and the little dragon just about fainted. Rarity then closed her eyes and let the magic in the room flow through her.
At first there was too much magic, it almost overwhelmed her. Then she saw it, a little flicker of red in the sweeping magic. She felt her horn grow warm and concentrated on the red light. The more she stared at it in her mind's eye, the deeper it glowed. She focused so hard on it, concentrating her entire will on that one spot until finally it moved just a little. As it came into focus she saw it wasn't just a flicker of light, but that it took the shape of a lock. Rarity pushed her magic as far as she could, forming the shape of a key and slowly she turn it in the lock until POP, the lock sprung open and the mirrors around Twilight faded away.
"You did it, Rarity!" Spike cheered.
"I knew you could do it!" Twilight said as she excited the room which had become just like the others, furniture covered in dusty sheets.
"I couldn't have done it without you two," Rarity said. "Thank you for believing in me."
"What do we do with that?" Spike asked, pointing at the Magic Trap.
"I know a certain unicorn who may need a taste of her own medicine," Twilight said. "And I know just where to find her. Come on guys, let's go stop Trixie!"
"Quick!" Twilight said as she ran out the door of the decrepit manor. "We have to get to Trixie!"
"Where are we going, Twilight?" Spike asked from Twilight's back. It would just slow them down if he ran himself, his short dragon legs couldn't go as fast as the unicorns' long legs.
"Yes Twilight, I did wonder that myself," Rarity said as she ran beside Twilight as they headed towards the road that lead back to Ponyville.
"To the library!" Twilight said with a smile.
"Um, Twilight?" Rarity said, trying to choose her words wisely. "I don't think this is the time for reading a book."
Twilight laughed as the trio ran back towards town. "Of course not, but I think that's the first place Trixie is going to look for Spike."
"Me?" Spike asked. "Why me?"
"Well," Twilight said, hesitating. She didn't want to alarm Spike with the idea that Trixie was going to hurt him. "She wanted to use you in a magic trick."
"I don't see what's so bad about that," Spike said. He liked magic tricks.
"A painful magic trick." Spike did not like the sound of that. He kept his mouth shut on the ride back to Ponyville.
It was apparent to Twilight and Rarity that Twilight's guess of where to find Trixie was correct when they reached the library. Through the windows they saw flashes of light and magic as Trixie ran through the library looking for little Spike.
"Spike, I want you to go to Fluttershy's cottage, just in case," Twilight told him.
"No Twilight," Spike said, but Rarity cut him off.
"Spike, I do believe Twilight is correct in being cautious, you should stay away for your safety."
"No!" Spike said. "You're my friends and I wont let you get hurt for me. I'm going to help. I'm not a baby!"
Rarity and Twilight looked at each other, unsure what to say. "Fine," Twilight said after a moment. "But be careful." She didn't wait for a response as she nudged the door to the library open. The three of them crept inside, trying not to be noticed by Trixie as she ran around the library.
"Um, Twilight?" Rarity said with an unsure smile. "Do we have a plan?"
"Well…" Twilight said, thinking. "We have to get the magic she took so she can't use it. And then?" Even Twilight wasn't sure what to do with Trixie once they'd stopped her. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it!"
"Oh baby dragon!" Trixie's voice trilled from upstairs. "Come out, come out wherever you are!" Spike shuddered at the sound and Twilight gestured for Rarity and Spike to follow her up the stairs, keeping low and crouched to hopefully not get seen.
Her plan worked well until she reached the top of the staircase and came face to face with none other that Trixie herself who was just about to come back down the stairs. The two unicorns collided and if not for Rarity there to catch her, Twilight would have fallen right back down the stairs.
"You?" Trixie cried, rubbing her head with a hoof. "How did you escape?"
"Ow," Twilight said, then tried to shake off the pain. "With the help of a friend," she replied, trying to cover up how much her head hurt.
"Um, hello," Rarity said now that the attention was on her. "My name is Rarity, you must be -"
"I am the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie cut Rarity off. "And two against one isn't fair!"
"Trixie, I don't want to fight you," Twilight said, taking a step towards Trixie. "Just release the magic you took and go home."
"Let me finish," Trixie said. "Two against one isn't fair, so it's good that with the help of your magic I've got the strength of two unicorns!" Trixie let out a beam of magic and Rarity barely had time to jump out of the way. The magic struck one of Twilight's books instead, shrinking it down to the size of a pea.
"Why I never!" Rarity cried, and in her anger she shot a beam back at Trixie who easily stepped out of the way. The two fired magic bolts back at each with Twilight screaming for them to stop over and over again. Poor Spike had taken refuge at the edge of the stairs, trying to stay out of the way of a misfired magic bolt.
But then he saw it, the pouch hidden just under Trixie's cloak. It glowed pink and green when she shot out bolts of magic at Rarity, his Rarity. It had to be where she was storing the magic! Even though he knew it was dangerous Spike had to stop Trixie before she hurt Twilight or Rarity. He snuck up the stairs, keeping low to the ground. Thankfully Rarity's show of magic and complaining kept Trixie occupied, and Twilight was too busy yelling at both of them to notice what Spike was up to.
When he was only a couple feet away he pounced! He landed right on Trixie's back and she reared up, trying to knock him off. He clung to her cloak for dear life as he heard his friends call out for him, telling him to run. As Trixie tried to knock him off her back he hung on with one hand, reaching for the pouch with the other. He reached as far as he could and grabbed the pouch, ripping it open.
The magic flew out of the pouch in brilliant fireworks, lighting up the entire library. Outside, passing ponies wondered what in Equestria was Twilight Sparkle up to in there, unaware of the battle raging within the library.
"No!" Trixie cried out as Twilight's magic dissipated. "No…" Trixie looked like she was about to cry, all the fight left her in that moment.
"Trixie?" Twilight said as she approached Trixie.
"Why did you have to ruin my fun?" Trixie said. "I wasn't going to hurt Spike, I was just going to play with him."
"You were going to turn him into a giant!" Rarity said, not falling for Trixie's shift in attitude.
"But I was going to turn him right back," Trixie said, shoulders slumped. "I just wanted to show the Princess that I could do it, you know?"
"You didn't want to hurt me?" Spike asked.
"Of course not!" Trixie cried. "But I knew without Twilight's magic I couldn't turn you right back."
"But why Spike, why me?" Twilight asked, unsure whether to call the Ponyville jail or to give Trixie a shoulder to cry on.
"I was jealous, okay?" Trixie said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Magic seemed to come so easily to you, great magic. I'm The Great and Powerful Trixie! Yet, I couldn't compete with you, some pony from Ponyville. How do you think that made me look? How it made me feel?"
"That is quite enough," Rarity said, putting her hoof down. "You can sit back and sob and feel sorry for yourself and blame your troubles on some other pony, or you can look inside yourself and work hard and find your true strength. You need to believe in yourself, Twilight taught me that. Don't blame her, look up to her."
Twilight was speechless, she didn't know Rarity felt that way! "Rarity," she said, trying to find her words. "Thank you."
"No," Rarity said. "Thank you, Twilight. Like Trixie, I admit I felt a little jealous of how easy magic came to you. But you taught me that if I only believed myself and looked deep down inside that I could be just as powerful. That's what makes you a great unicorn, and a great friend too."
"You're right," Trixie said. "You're right. I need to look inside myself if I really want to be great and powerful. I've done wrong by you because of my jealousy and I hope you accept my apology. Rarity, thank you for opening my eyes to that."
"Spike," Twilight said. "Take a letter. Dear Princess Celestia. Sometimes we may be jealous of our friends and want to have their skills as our own. Jealousy and pettiness isn't the answer. We need to ask our friends for help in order to try to better ourselves. Together we can achieve great things. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."