Magical Girl Trixie: Last Gambit

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6 (Narrated by Last Gambit)
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
How it would have ended
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 12

Chapter 2

That day was the hardest school day of my entire life.

Even during my days at Manehattan Middle School, my bullying was always contained to certain unspoken limitations, but the situation I was dealing with this time felt like an entirely new brand of persecution. The kids in Manehattan would say mean things to me, put me in my place if I ever stepped out of line and occasionally shove me to the ground, but they never went further than that. The kids here were specifically going out of their way to make my life a living hell. They were shooting spitballs into my hair during class, knocking my books out of my hands in the hallway, girls were flipping up my skirt, boys were pushing me into lockers, and I still didn’t know what was going on.

Once the bell for lunch rang, I ran as quickly as I could to the bathroom, avoiding as many taunting students as I could until I slammed the stall door shut and began sobbing as quietly as I could. I couldn’t let anyone hear me crying out of fear that everyone would know where I was and continue their onslaught, but after all I had been through so far, I could only hold back so much.

‘It’s only been half a day!’ I thought to myself. How much worse were things going to get before I could go home?!

Oh, no. What if there was another misunderstanding? What if my mom got another call home? I wasn’t safe anymore, either in school or at home! Just the thought of it made me cry harder, forcing me to bury my face into my legs before I could let out my desperate wails of sorrow.

Suddenly, the very next moment, I felt a message buzzing from my pocket. My immediate inclination was to grab it, but before I could move a muscle, my entire body froze in fear. What if it was somebody looking for me? What if they noticed that I wasn’t there and were trying to bully me through text messages? I didn’t want to look, but after a few moments, I felt a buzzing in my pocket again, leading my curiosity to take over for my better judgement.

“Trixie, I need to talk to you. Where are you at?”

Flash Sentry? No! I hadn’t seen him so far today, but I knew that he was just trying to lure me out. If I met him in the cafeteria, I knew he would just bring me over to his friends, pour school milk over my head and decorate my neck and shoulders with applesauce. I couldn’t take that risk. I had to stay where I was…

“Trixie, I’m sorry. I need to tell you that in person. Can you please just meet me by the statue?”

...But I knew I couldn’t stay there forever. My next plan was to wait for the bell to ring, run off campus as quick as I could and hide, but if Flash Sentry was waiting for me by the statue in the courtyard anyway, I no longer had any place to run. If he was being sincere, maybe I’d be able to figure out why people were treating me so badly, and if not, it would only be a matter of time before they found me. If there was one thing I learned from all my years of being tormented by Lulu Lemon, it was that waiting only pisses them off more.

After quietly opening the stall door and glancing around to make sure nobody was there, I snuck out of the bathroom as quickly as I could and started running towards the front door. If they started chasing after me, I would have to seriously consider turning into my magical girl form just to escape before they put me in the hospital. Luckily for me, though, I didn’t need to make that decision. After just a few moments, I had made it out of the school without anyone seeing me, finding Flash all alone in the courtyard while I hunched over out of breath.

“Whoa!” the boy said, rushing over to my side. “Trixie, are you alright?”

“What’s it to you?” I asked with malice in my voice, turning my head to the side to avoid eye contact. “Did you just call Trixie here to embarrass her?”

“No! No, nothing like that.” I raised an eyebrow, slowly turning my head until he was at least in my peripheral vision. “I really did just call you over to apologize. Look, I’m sorry that I got kinda mad at you yesterday. I realize now that I might have overreacted. I shouldn’t be the one who tells you whether or not you need help.”

This time, I looked straight into his eyes with a face caught between frustration and confusion. What was he even talking about?

“So this… isn’t about Cozy Glow?”

This time, it was Flash’s turn to raise an eyebrow in curiosity. “Who’s Cozy Glow?”

“Aha! Zer you are!”

Then, as if on cue, both of us turned our heads back to the front doors of the school, looking at a girl with her hands on her hips, staring down at the both of us. At least it looked like she was staring down at us. It was hard to tell with those large purple glasses over her eyes.

“Photo Finish?” the two of us said in unison.

“Yes. I, Photo Finish, have arrived.” The two of us stood there in silence until she made her way over to where we were standing, switching looks between the two of us. “I have been looking everywhere for you, Mädchen. I’m just glad I vas able to spot you running down ze halls before you made it outside.”

“You’ve been looking for Trixie too?” Flash said quizzically, which I was wondering wholeheartedly myself.

“Yes. I’m sure you also have somezing important to speak wiz her about, but I’m afraid zat my issue is more important.”

Flash looked like he had taken offense to what Photo Finish said, but I held up my hand to cut him off before he could get too angry. Photo Finish probably did have something important to talk about, at least if it had something to do with magical girls, which was the only reason I could think of why she would be talking to me.

“Is it something that Trixie can talk about openly?” I asked, to which Photo Finish nodded.

“Yes. I just need to know whether zose rumors about you are true.”

“What rumors?” Flash Sentry intervened. Photo Finish then turned to me, as if waiting for me to tell him that it was none of his business, but honestly, I needed to know what these people were saying about me more than anyone.

Then, with a sigh, Photo Finish slumped her shoulders and said, “Zer is a rumour around ze school zat you…”

I held my breath.

“...tried to kill a young freshman girl.”

“WHAT?!” both Flash and I shouted in unison, making Photo Finish back up with her hands raised.

“I’m only ze messenger here! I didn’t want to believe it myself, but it seems as though zose comments were inaccurate.”

Suddenly, I understood. Why everyone was so mad at me. Why my mother was so stressed that she almost took my life. They didn’t just think that I assaulted her; they thought that I tried to murder her in cold blood! But why…?

“Was this that Cozy Glow girl?!” Flash Sentry asked, his voice seething. “Why would she make up something like that?! I bet she signed up for the magical showcase! She knows Trixie’s gonna win, so she tried to sabotage her so that Trixie would drop out!”

“Oh, please,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Trixie may be intimidating, but I sincerely doubt that she would actually spread rumors because of that. I bet she didn’t even sign up for the--”

I was caught off mid-sentence by the face Photo Finish was making, holding her hand up apprehensively as if to deliver more bad news. “I’m sorry to say zis, but… Cozy Glow has indeed signed up for ze magical showcase.”

“You see?! That proves it!”

I knew that there was no way she had really spread a rumor like that for such a petty reason, but there was no way I could let Flash Sentry know the details of our conversation the day before. I still didn’t know exactly why Cozy Glow had said the things she did, and although I had a few hunches myself, I was really going off of blind theories alone. As much as I wanted Flash to help me find out more about her, it would probably be best to leave him out of the loop as much as I could, but Photo Finish, on the other hand, would be a completely different story.

“Do you know…” I began turning towards the girl in the glasses. “...what exactly she said that I did?”

Photo Finish shrugged. “All I have been told is zat you allegedly threatened her for signing up to be in ze showcase. I'm not sure how accurate zese claims are, but apparently you told her zat if she didn't take her name off of ze list, you ver going to kill her in a way ver nobody would know it was you.”

“None of it is accurate!” Flash Sentry exploded. “I can't believe her!”

I couldn't believe her either, but there was more to it than I understood. She seemed to think that I actually killed her friend, but I had no idea what the details were supposed to be. I knew for sure Discord knew about Divinity, and there may have been a chance that Photo Finish knew, but I didn't have any options other than to piece together whatever clues I could get.

“Photo Finish…” I began, making the girl’s eyebrow raise in curiosity. “You don’t happen to know about anyone named Divinity, would you?”

I was nervous saying the name in public, just because things like this were normally only spoken about in serious privacy, but the girl in the large, purple glasses simply shook her head without flinching a single time at the name. “I’m sorry, Mädchen, but is zis person supposed to be related to zese rumors, perhaps?”

I gave her a serious stare and said, “The Great and Powerful Trixie believes so,” to which Photo Finish’s mouth opened slightly, appearing to understand the subtle nuance to the context.

“Who’s Divinity?” Flash asked, giving me a weird look.

“Trixie doesn’t know… but from what Cozy Glow said yesterday, she might be involved in this somehow.”

“She sounds like bad news. Maybe I should find her and--”

“NO!” I screamed unintentionally, grabbing onto his shoulders with the utmost urgency in my voice. “You must promise Trixie to never, never go looking for Divinity!”

“Alright! Alright! I’ll stay away from her!” Finally, I realized what I was doing and let Flash go, brushing my hair to the side in embarrassment while he straightened out his leather jacket. “Is this girl supposed to be bad news or something?”

“I… I don’t know… But it sounded like she was really close to Cozy Glow…”

“Was?”

“...Yeah…”

Flash Sentry’s face cringed, getting the hint that whoever this Divinity girl was, she wasn’t alive anymore, and I hoped that I didn’t just give away that I might have had some kind of connection to her death. I still couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t comprehend it, even. What reason did Cozy Glow have to connect me with a dead magical girl? How did she even know I was a magical girl? I wish Discord could have told me more, but based on what everyone close to me was saying, nobody had any idea who this girl was or why Cozy Glow was blaming me for her death. I didn’t have a choice anymore. I was going to have to talk to Cozy Glow personally if I wanted to straighten this out.

Then, in the next moment, the bell rang, telling us to get back to our classes. The three of us looked at each other like we weren’t ready to go, knowing that once classes started again, I was going to receive another onslaught of persecution from my fellow classmates. The sad thing was, if I wasn’t on time, my mom would be getting a phone call right away, and there was no way I’d ever be able to recover from something like that. I may have wanted to run away on the spot, but I knew that I would have to return home and face my mother eventually, who would be less than happy about skipping my last three periods in school.

Finally, nodding my head, the three of us turned towards the front door of Canterlot High School, slowly walking back to the warzone just waiting to happen.

“Bitch.”

Once again, I was pushed into a locker by someone who just the day before I would have considered my friend. Fortunately, after all the crying I had already done so far that day, I was basically used to it by that point, even though every time it happened, I wanted to die a little bit more.

The school day was over, which meant that I had to find Cozy Glow before she left school if I ever hoped to make sense of why she was making my life a living Hell in the first place. I also had to make sure that I didn’t look like I was specifically looking for her, so just to make sure, I stopped at every girls’ restroom on the way to hopefully get away from anyone who was watching me. Honestly, I didn’t even know where I was supposed to be looking, but I had to find her no matter what.

Sticking my head out of the bathroom once again, I looked around to see if anyone was tailing me, and for probably the first time since school started that day, I wasn’t being watched. This just meant that I had to find her fast, but I also had to make sure that if anybody did spot me walking through the halls, I couldn’t be too conspicuous. Otherwise they would know not only that I was looking for someone, but also who I was looking for, which would probably end in a worse way than I realized at the time. Luckily, though, I didn’t have to wait much longer, seeing as how after a couple quick turns down the freshman corridors, I spotted a girl with pink skin and blue, curly hair walking down the hallway alone.

She didn’t do this on accident. She picked a secluded hallway so that we could talk without anyone getting in the way. She wanted me to find her.

“Cozy Glow!” I shouted, slamming my hand onto a locker beside me, making her yelp in surprise, turning around with an innocently fearful demeanor. “Trixie wants to talk to you.”

“Golly! You aren’t gonna try and hurt me again, are you?”

My fingers gradually turned into a fist until they dropped from the locker to my side, making me actually more mad than I was planning on being when I spoke to her. The whole purpose of talking to her was so that I could clear up why she had tried ruining my life, both in school and outside of school, but the moment I saw her, all the bottled up emotions came pouring out of me, exacerbated by the obviously fake tone in her voice.

“Trixie has just had the worst day of her life, and she thinks you might have an idea as to why.”

“Probably because of all the mean things these kids are doing to you, but then again, can you blame them?” The girl in front of me shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head with a vile grin. “After all the things I said you did to me, they were like putty in my hands. Now everyone at Canterlot High School knows just how much of a villain you really are.”

At this point, I was trying to hold back all the anger that had built up before I acted on the insurmountable rage boiling under my skin. I couldn’t remember a single time when I had ever laid hands on someone before, and I was doing my best not to let my feelings get to my head before I confirmed all the things she said about me.

“Who is Divinity?!” I shouted.

“Don’t you dare say her name!”

I smashed my fist into the locker beside me, quickly losing my temper as both of our expressions grew more and more enflamed. “Listen, freshman! Trixie has had enough of your games, so if you don’t tell me RIGHT NOW what’s going on, I’m going to--”

Before I could even finish my thought, however, my words quickly caught in my throat, not because of nervousness or magic, but because out of nowhere, somebody had come up behind me and wrapped their arm around my neck, lifting me into the air and preventing me from being able to speak.

“Was this girl causing you problems again?” the person asked in his hefty voice. I didn’t need to think twice about who the voice belonged to or why I was having such a hard time breaking free from his grip.

“Bulk… Biceps…?”

Once I said the boy’s name, his grip around my neck grew tighter, making it to where I could barely breathe between his arm and his chest.

“Ohhh, thank you so much for saving me~! I was so nervous that nobody would be able to find me in time!”

“Li...ar…”

Again, his grip grew tighter, now to the point where I would lose consciousness in a matter of seconds unless something happened to make him stop.

“You know, Trixie,” she continued, “you shouldn’t go around threatening people like that. If you’re really that scared about losing the magical showcase, you could have just told me about it. I would have let you win first place! I just wanted to try out showcasing my magic because I thought it would be fun! I never meant for anyone to get upset.”

Suddenly, the grip around my neck became a little more loose as Bulk Biceps began to cry theatrically behind me, making me roll my eyes before Cozy Glow returned to speaking.

“But… you know… after all that you’ve done, I just don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive you.”

“Then don’t! Trixie has done nothing wro-augh!!”

The restraint around my neck tightened once again, pulling all the air from my lungs, and this time, Cozy Glow didn’t seem too happy about hearing me speak. With our eyes focused, staring deep into each other’s pupils, she snapped her finger and said gently, “Kill her.”

Immediately, Bulk Biceps was squeezing at my throat with an intent to kill, overlooking the hypocrisy of what he was doing and blindly following the freshman girl’s orders. My eyes were beginning to water as I gagged, choking on his arm as my body flailed in a desperate attempt to pull air back into my lungs. Any minute now, I was going to be dead, but the worst part was that I knew exactly how I was going to be remembered. Everyone would believe that Bulk Biceps was a hero, saving Cozy Glow from some crazy narcissist who was only trying to gain popularity by winning some stupid extracurricular competition. Nobody would know the true story, and for that matter, even I didn’t know what Cozy Glow’s true intentions were.

With my body going limp and the lights around me beginning to fade, I started to cry on the inside, giving up all hope that I would ever make it back home. I never should have confronted her. I never should have lost my temper. Now I was going to die, all because I let my own ego get the better of me. Maybe I really was a narcissist, and maybe everyone would be better off if I didn’t make it out alive...

‘Good bye, mom…’ I thought just before the lights went black for the last time. ‘I promise, I really did try… I love you...’

Then, finally, my body went limp, and I stopped struggling. It was all over…

...or so I thought.

“OH, NO YOU DON’T!”

In the next instant, air returned to my lungs with my body falling to the ground. I quickly grabbed my neck as I began coughing all the built up saliva in the back of my throat, squeezing my eyes shut in pain while I bent over on my knees. Then, once I could finally process enough thought to figure out what had changed, I looked back to see Flash Sentry with a fist facing forward and Bulk Biceps pulling himself off of the floor.

Did he really just…?

Oh, dear.

“If you’re looking for a fight,” Flash said, rubbing his knuckles as he winced in pain, “then you’ve got one right here.”

Bulk Biceps, however, was not scared. The minute he was back onto his feet, he immediately puffed out his chest and released a loud, “YEEEEEAAAAAHHHH!!!” making both Flash and I flinch in fear.

I was thankful that he had saved my life, but if we didn’t do something quick, there were going to be two dead bodies by the end of this. He didn’t stand a chance in a one on one fight against the strongest kid at Canterlot High.

“Flash,” I muttered, backing away slowly. “You should probably run away now.”

“Yeah,” he said with a gulp. “You’re probably right.”

Then both of us immediately turned on our heels and began running away, but not without a scowling Cozy Glow pointing in our direction and shouting, “After them!!” Bulk Biceps didn’t waste a second, and we could only hope that with all that weight that he was supporting on his knees, he wouldn’t be able to catch up with Flash Sentry and me running for our lives.

Adrenaline was rushing through my body, pushing me harder than I had probably ever experienced in my whole life, but Flash Sentry seemed to be having a tougher time than I was. He didn’t have to deal with all the rigorous physical challenges that I had to deal with as a magical girl, after all, and his aptitude as a musician didn’t make up for the physical attributes that jocks like Bulk Biceps had.

Looking back, I saw that Cozy Glow’s lackey was gaining on us. His heavy weight didn’t seem to impair him from running at full speed, even though he was heaving with every step that he took. There had to be something we could do to keep ourselves from getting killed!

Then it came to me. After turning the next corner, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small, gray ball, making Flash freeze in fear.

“Trixie! What are you doing?! Let’s go!”

What Flash Sentry didn’t realize, however, was that I knew exactly what I was doing. I may not have been able to safely transform into a magical girl in public, but that didn’t mean I didn’t still have tricks up my sleeve.

“Feast your eyes on Trixie’s most famous illusion! Behold! Her great and powerful disappearance!”

Then, just as soon as Bulk Biceps had caught up with us, I slammed the gray ball onto the floor, creating a smokescreen that immediately hid us both from view. I had to hold my breath to keep myself from coughing, and fortunately I didn’t need to explain that to Flash Sentry for him to pick up on the clue and get himself out of there before Bulk Biceps could follow the sounds of his voice. I had trained myself to orient myself before every disappearing act so that I knew exactly where I was and which direction I needed to turn, but Bulk Biceps was going to have a much harder time navigating through all the smoke. Even if I set off a smoke detector in the process, it would be worth it if it meant we got to live to see another day.

Turning around, however, my heart stopped. Just when I thought I had managed to escape…

“Found you!”

...Cozy Glow was right there.

She then grabbed onto my arm, using her other hand to grab hold of her necklace with a red gem, a gem that looked oddly familiar.

“Let--urk--me… GO!”

“Oh, no! You’re coming with me!”

Before I could even question where, however, the lights around me started changing colors, swirling around each other and transforming the shapes of the images around me. The smoke was disappearing, my body was becoming lighter, and the air around me felt like it was being sucked through a vacuum, like space itself was disappearing behind us. This wasn’t the first time I had felt this happen before, though. In fact, I had been through this same feeling dozens of times over.

Then, as suddenly as it started, the colors surrounding us returned to normal, although normal at this point was all relative. We weren’t at Canterlot High School anymore. She had transported us to a different dimension, a parallel world, and to my surprise, it didn’t look a thing like Platinum City, which was what I was really expecting. It was barren, lifeless, deserted…

Cozy Glow, however, folded her arms and glared at me. “You know, I was so set on killing you that I almost forgot what I needed you for in the first place.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, placing my hands on my hips. “And what, pray tell, is that?”

“You’ll see. Come on.”

Cozy Glow then started walking away, but after all I had been through that day because of her, there was no way that I was just going to go along blindly with whatever she was planning.

“You used a teleportation gem on Trixie, correct?” Cozy Glow turned her head to the side, giving me a dirty look. “Where exactly are we? This doesn’t look like Platinum City.”

“That’s because we’re not in Platinum City.” Finally, she turned around and looked me dead in the eye. “We’re in Everfree City.”

Then, as if on cue, the searing pain returned to my head once again, bringing to my knees as I winced in agony. Discord had told me never to come here, but there were too many questions now, and I wasn’t leaving until I knew why he was so opposed to me coming here in the first place.

“And what did you bring Trixie here for?”

“You really don’t get it, do you?” With a heavy sigh, Cozy Glow folded her arms and sternly said, “You’re going to meet Autumn Blaze and tell her why I’m the only magical girl Canterlot has left.”

Author's Note

Starting this Saturday, I'm going to be doing the 12 days of Trixmas, where I'm going to be adding a new chapter to the story every day leading up to Christmas Day. I hope you're all just as excited as I am and that you're all enjoying Last Gambit so far! I'm planning to add a bunch of stuff that I think you're all really going to enjoy, so be sure to give the story a thumbs up if you're excited for the 12 days of Trixmas!

Chapter 3

“We’re going to see Autumn Blaze?”

I was apprehensive to say the least, but I didn’t exactly have much room to bargain. Since Discord had taken my teleport gem, there was no way for me to leave parallel universes, which meant that I was trapped here until Cozy Glow--or Autumn Blaze, whoever that was--let me go. Still, though, maybe this meant that some of the questions I had could be answered. Who was Divinity? Why did Cozy Glow think I killed her? What was Everfree City supposed to even be?

“Turn into your magical girl form while you’re at it,” the girl beside me said as she began to glow a bright light. “I wanna make sure Autumn Blaze recognizes you.”

Recognizes me? How did she know what I looked like, or rather, what my magical girl form looked like?

Regardless, I did as I was told, feeling the bones in my body change shape, growing lighter and heavier at the same time, burning my skin while my blood grew cold like ice. This was the same feeling I had experienced every time I transformed into my magical girl form, and once the light surrounding my body eventually faded, it left me with a witch’s hat, a wizard cape, and very accentuated feminine features. Then, summoning a spear to my hand, my appearance was complete. Trixie Lulamoon had disappeared, leaving behind a magical girl named The Great and Powerful Trixie.

“About time I got to meet the illustrious magical girl I’ve heard so much about.”

Cozy Glow, likewise, had disappeared, instead leaving behind a girl the same height as myself, still leaving her normal pink skin, but now with much longer curly hair, wing-like tassels underneath her ears, a purple cape held by a golden insignia, and a golden crown atop her head. Whereas before she looked humble, innocent and weak, now she looked majestic, confident and powerful, folding her arms while she glared in my direction.

“Yes,” I responded with a bow. “Allow the Great and Powerful Trixie to formally introduce herself. And who, may I ask, do I have the pleasure of introducing myself to?”

The girl turned her head away, now looking down the dirt path. “My name is Last Gambit. I’m the final magical girl Autumn Blaze ever gave her powers to, selected by Divinity herself.”

Finally. This at least solved one piece of the puzzle.

“So Autumn Blaze was the one that gave you your powers?” That meant she had to have powers similar to Discord, maybe even being the ruler of Everfree City like how Discord was to Platinum City, and if that was the case, maybe that meant that Everfree City was the haven for the magical girls of Canterlot like Platinum City was to us. Immediately after the thought crossed my mind, a painful jolt sent shocks through my head, which more or less confirmed that I was on the right trail.

“I don’t get what you’re trying to accomplish by asking all these questions, but we’ve kept her waiting long enough. Let’s go.”

Even despite my hesitations, I promptly followed behind her as she led me down the dirt path, passing by oak trees and wooden houses, but not much other than that the rest of the way. As the two of us walked, I couldn’t help but wonder why Discord hadn’t stepped in and taken me back home, especially since he had been so hesitant about me going to Everfree City in the first place. Hopefully all my questions would be answered shortly. After all, it wouldn’t be much longer until we finally arrived at our destination.

I knew the two of us had made it once I saw a large fountain in the center of the empty peasant village, similar to what we had in Platinum City, but unlike Platinum City, there were no signs of life anywhere nearby, a feeling which matched the rest of the city.

I then turned towards Last Gambit, waiting for her to summon this Autumn Blaze creature, but before she even had the chance, I felt the wind blow by me, providing a pleasant breeze that complemented the warm atmosphere. The wind itself blew in the sound of chimes, violins and harps, swirling the leaves on the ground until a figure appeared atop a nearby hill, standing triumphantly until her visage completely materialized. She had the head of a pony with a large, chitinous horn in the center of her head, very similar to if a unicorn had a tree branch for a horn, as well as a lion’s mane that wrapped around her neck and scales along her back and hooves. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, but based on the way she was looking down at me, it didn’t look like she was as happy to see me as I was to see her.

“Is that the Great and Powerful Trixie I see?!”

Aaaaand suddenly her demeanor changed completely as she hopped down from her hill to get a good look at me.

“Oh, I haven’t seen you in forever! And when I say forever, I mean for. Ev. Er. How long has it been? A year? Gosh time flies by so fast. It probably flies by a lot quicker for me since I’m immortal and all, but for you it must have been aaaages. How has life in Canterlot been? You know, it would be nice if you could come visit Everfree City every once in a while, especially since we didn’t exactly leave off on the best of terms the last time you were here.”

“Actually,” I began, cutting her off hesitantly before she could continue her long-winded speech, “Trixie wanted to talk to you about that.”

“Oh reeeeally?” she replied, gradually losing her smile before turning the corners of her mouth upwards again. “Well, of course you do! It looks like your memories have been erased. Don’t worry, not by me or Last Gambit here. How do you two know each other, by the way? I’m getting ahead of myself. You wanted to know about how we know each other. Am I right? Your face says it all. Well, your face is saying a lot of things right now, but one of them is definitely how you know me. I mean, it would take a preeetty big memory erasing spell to forget a face like mine. Not to sound conceited or anything, but I do tend to leave an impression on people. So, I’m guessing that Discord was the one who erased your memories. Not exactly sure why he did that, but I’m guessing it probably had something to do with you and your friends KILLING ALL OF MY MAGICAL GIRLS!”

By the end of her monologue, her color scheme had completely changed colors, turning her fur black while her mane blazed a bright blue flame. I quickly jumped back in fear, leading Autumn Blaze to shift back to her normal appearance, although now I was a little more hesitant about how I would approach her from now on.

“Sorry. Lost the happy, but the happy’s back! Anyway, you’re probably really confused right about now, so if you have any particular questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them for you.”

I couldn’t believe that she had actually stopped talking, but finally, once there was a lull in the conversation, I took a breath to remember exactly what I wanted to ask her in the first place. From what she told me, though, I had so many questions that I had no idea where to even start.

“So… you’re saying that Discord wiped my memories?”

Autumn Blaze nodded her head. “I can’t say it was Discord for sure, but this definitely feels like his magic. Besides, do you know anyone else who could use memory manipulation? After all, it was you who killed the only girl we had who could do that.”

“No,” I said, holding onto my arms, shaking my head in disbelief. “Trixie has never k-k-killed anyone! Sh-she would never--”

“Face it, Trixie,” said Last Gambit. “We really have no reason to lie to you. Besides, why else would we be so angry at you in particular?”

I had no idea why they were so angry, but my memories had been wiped! What else could I believe other than the story they gave me?

“Why?” I asked nervously. “Why would Trixie do something like that?! Why would Discord wipe my memories?!”

“He probably wiped your memories to save you from the guilt you must have felt,” Autumn Blaze continued. “After all, the real reason you killed my magical girls was because Discord manipulated you into doing it.”

This was beginning to sound exactly like something Discord would do, but by the same token, I still couldn’t believe it.

“What happened?! What did Discord tell me?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” replied Last Gambit. “Discord has had a grudge against Autumn Blaze ever since Divinity decided to leave Platinum City and join Autumn Blaze here in Everfree City. So he told you that for every magical girl in Everfree City you killed, he would bring back to life a girl from Platinum City.”

“Bring back… to life?”

“Uuuggghh.” Last Gambit groaned as she placed her face into her hands. “This is gonna take forever if we explain it like this!”

“Let me see if I can summarize everything into a few quick sentences,” Autumn Blaze stepped in, taking the reins from the annoyed magical girl. “Divinity was the very first magical girl ever conceived. She was given her powers by Discord, but then she moved to Canterlot and Discord and I had a fight. Then Divinity decided to join Everfree City and recruit a whole bunch of magical girls to make this place the most shining utopia in the world. It’s still a work in progress, but that’s probably because you killed all my magical girls. Losing the happy… OK, we’re good! So Discord didn’t like that very much and decided to recruit his own team of magical girls, one of which just happened to be you! But then Discord being Discord and all decided to have you all kill each other for some reason? It’s hard to say. I’m mainly going off of little details I’ve heard from Divinity and Palette. Oh, but here’s the real kicker! Once you moved to Canterlot--”

“Wait, you know Palette?!”

“Please don’t interrupt. Where was I? Oh, yeah! The kicker! So then you moved to Canterlot, and Discord tricked you and Palette into killing all of our magical girls so that you could bring back all of the girls from Platinum City who, again, you killed. Huh. No wonder Discord would wipe your memories after all that. Could you imagine carrying that around for the rest of your life? Not me. No thank you.”

There was so much information swirling around in my mind, and every time she told me something new, the pain in my head grew more and more painful. It felt like my skull was going to split into two at any moment, but I still had questions I needed answered, even if the answers ended up killing me.

“So you’re saying that Discord put us into a death game?! No… No way! Discord has manipulated us plenty of times, but he would never--”

“Has he ever said that he didn’t make you kill each other?” Last Gambit interrupted, taking a seat at the fountain and crossing her legs. “From what Divinity told me, Discord doesn’t lie. Maybe you should just ask him yourself.”

That wouldn’t work. Discord always deflected whenever I tried asking him about my memories… but why…?

“So then how do you know Palette?”

“She was one of the survivors, I guess,” Autumn Blaze added. “There were apparently three survivors from Discord’s game, and all of you moved to Canterlot together. It was you, Palette and I think some girl named Dream--”

“Hang on, Autumn Blaze!” Last Gambit interrupted, preventing me from experiencing another sharp pain that was unlike any of the others so far. This last one was more severe, and if Last Gambit hadn’t interrupted, I felt like it could have potentially killed me. “Why should we go along with her questions? After all, she doesn’t have a teleport gem. She’s under our control if she ever wants to make it home again.”

“You wouldn’t!” I shouted, despite already knowing the answer.

“How does it feel, Trixie, knowing that you may never get to leave this place? Actually, based on all the stuff you’ve done, I think spending eternity here doesn’t sound like such a bad punishment now that I think about it.”

My heart began to speed up at the thought. Cozy Glow had done some pretty horrible things to me already, so there was no real reason for me to believe that she wouldn’t go through with her threat if she wanted to.

Falling to me knees and bowing my head to the floor, I solemnly begged, “The Great and Powerful Trixie would like to atone for all the things that she has done. If what you’re saying is true, then please let me know what I can do to make it up to you.”

“Weeell,” Last Gambit began. “That’s just the thing. Autumn Blaze here is already trapped here for all eternity, and you know what we really want? To get back at Discord for everything he’s put us through! I want you to help us break the seal that’s keeping Autumn Blaze here so that she can finish things with Discord once and for all!”

Now I was stuck with a truly impossible decision to make. My choices were either to help Autumn Blaze destroy Discord or face being trapped for eternity in Everfree City, forced to listen to Autumn Blaze talk on and on until I eventually died from old age, which was no doubt prolonged with all the magic in the air. On the one hand, I never truly respected Discord, especially after what Autumn Blaze had told me about him, and I did owe it to Autumn Blaze after everything I had apparently done to her and her magical girls, even if I didn’t remember most of it… but…

“I… I can’t…”

“What?!” Last Gambit shouted, rising to her feet while a tear fell down my face.

“I just can’t do it! I can’t betray Discord!”

Finally, I raised my head from the ground, seeing a look of fury on Last Gambit’s face and a face of disappointment from Autumn Blaze. I knew I wouldn’t be able to change my mind, though. Even after everything Discord had done, memories or no memories, there was no way I could betray him like that. He was the one who gave me my powers in the first place, and it was my responsibility to keep him, Platinum City, and the rest of Equestria safe.

“How disconcerting,” Autumn Blaze replied, shaking her head. “Well, the good news is, you’ll have plenty of time to change your mind.”

“NO! Trixie is begging you! There has to be another way!”

“There was,” Last Gambit said, grabbing onto her teleport gem, “but then you made the wrong choice.”

Without wasting a second, I rose to my feet and started racing towards her, stretching out my hand to grab her before it was too late, but before I even came close, she disappeared, leaving a circle of wind in her place. I then turned around, ready to beg Autumn Blaze to send me home, but like Last Gambit, she had disappeared, leaving me alone in this wasteland known as Everfree City. Then, with no teleportation gem and no magical girls left, I dragged my feet over to the fountain and fell down, crying into my hands. I didn’t think it was possible, but the worst day of my life had actually gotten worse. Suddenly, the thought of returning home to the onslaught of torture from my classmates and my mother didn’t seem as bad as I had made them out to be before.

I had only been alone for a few moments, but I was beginning to feel what Autumn Blaze must have felt every single day for the past several years. Trapped. Alone. Hopeless.

I thought that life in Manehattan was bad, but never in my life had I been in as much pain as I was in in that moment. At least… not that I could remember…

“Discord,” I sobbed. “Please… save me…”

Author's Note

1st day of Trixmas

Chapter 4

Hours had passed. Had it been hours or days at this point? Honestly, I had no idea anymore. For all I knew, though, none of that seemed to matter seeing as how I was probably going to be trapped here forever, or at least until Discord decided to save me.

That was just the problem, though. He wasn’t saving me. Was he angry about me coming to Everfree City despite telling me not to come here? Did he even notice I was gone? It made sense that he didn’t realize I had disappeared, because then that would mean that he didn’t see Cozy Glow take me here against my will. Maybe he really had noticed, though, and he just didn’t care whether it was against my will or not. Maybe he was just angry that I was here in the first place, regardless of whose fault it was.

How long had it been since I had started debating all these possibilities with myself? Minutes? Hours? The sun never set in parallel worlds like Everfree City, and without clocks to help me keep track, there was no way for me to know how much time passed, even between thoughts.

Pulling out my magical phone for probably the eighteenth time since Autumn Blaze and Last Gambit abandoned me, I saw the same message that I was despairingly hoping would have disappeared by now: “No service.” Up until that point, I had never seen it lose service no matter where I was, but then again, it made sense that I wouldn’t be able to get ahold of others if I was trapped in an alternate universe. Either that or Discord took service away from me as punishment.

If only I had asked Discord for the ability to leap through dimensions. Now that I thought about it, the ability to travel through portals seemed like a pretty fun power to have, but just as soon as I entertained the thought, a searing pain travelled through my skull, giving me the clue that it was probably related to my wiped memories somehow. Had I encountered a girl with that power before? Just how many girls had I killed? I couldn’t help but smile at the idea that I may have killed Lulu Lemon, but once again, the pain came back through my mind, making me grunt with discomfort. It didn’t matter thinking about those things since seeing as how I would never be able to remember them anyway, but there was still one question that wouldn’t leave my head.

If I had to kill Autumn Blaze’s magical girls to resurrect girls who had been killed in Discord’s death game and all the girls from Everfree City were already dead, did that mean… there could be girls who weren’t revived from Platinum City? Autumn Blaze said that there were three survivors from the death game, but I didn’t get to hear who that last person was. My initial theory would be that Marrow had been the one to survive alongside us, seeing as how I couldn’t imagine her ever losing a fight, but Autumn Blaze also said that this person moved to Canterlot with me and Palette. As far as I knew, though, the two of us were the only girls who had moved from Manehattan. Was there another member of Platinum City that I didn’t know about?

The pain was growing louder, sharper, more severe. The more questions I asked, the more I found myself grabbing onto my scalp, trying to soothe the agony that was pushing through my eye sockets. I couldn’t stop, though. As each question was more or less answered by the pain in my head, it led me further and further down the rabbit hole, connecting more and more pieces as I tried to make sense of my missing memories. What else had I forgotten? What else was I missing?!

Before I could let my thoughts drive me to the brink of death, however, I heard something off in the distance. It sounded like footsteps, making me quickly pull my head out of my hands as I jumped to my feet, looking around in every direction. It didn’t look like there was anything out of the ordinary, but I knew someone was there. The only two I could think of would be Cozy Glow or Autumn Blaze, but if it was really one of them, why would they be sneaking around like that?

Wait! Or maybe…

“Discord?” I asked, silently regretting my words just in case it really was Autumn Blaze or Last Gambit, but as I should have guessed, it was just a rabbit hopping out from behind a tree. I immediately slumped my shoulders in disappointment, embarrassed that I thought the god of chaos was legitimately going to come and save me. “Of course. Have you come to torment the Great and Miserable Trixie too?”

The rabbit then tilted its head as it looked at me, lifting up one of its large back legs to scratch behind its floppy ear. When it did, though, I couldn’t help but notice that the fur on its body was being scratched off, falling to the floor like drops of water rather than hair in the wind. Then, raising an eyebrow, I slowly walked towards the rabbit, examining the spot it had left behind as it leapt away in fear. As I expected, this wasn’t fur that had been left behind. It was…

“Trixie!”

I jumped in shock. “Y-yes?!” Turning around, though, I was met once again with Last Gambit’s fiery glare, allowing me to calm down as I placed my hand to my chest while I caught my breath. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“Well, duh! Who else would it be?” She then narrowed her eyelids and leaned her head forward with her hands on her hips. “Just what are you up to?”

She probably knew what I knew, but I still had to play it off just in case there was any chance left of escaping.

“Obviously, Trixie is trying to catch that adorable little bunny rabbit. If she’s going to be trapped here for all eternity, she may as well make a friend to help pass the time.”

“But… Everfree City doesn’t have any animals!”

“...Uh-oh…”

Then, channeling my magic into my hand, I stuck out my palm and hit Last Gambit with a forcefield, pushing her into the air and sending her back several feet. I had no idea what kind of power she could use, but I didn’t want to just wait for her to use it before I found out the hard way.

“Palette! Now!”

Upon calling her name, a magical girl in a multi-colored dress jumped from the trees, grabbing onto my waist with one hand while holding her teleport gem in the other. We had to get out of there before either Last Gambit or Autumn Blaze did something that would prevent us from leaving, especially since it looked like that was their very next course of action.

“Autumn Blaze!” the girl shouted as she lifted herself up from the ground. “Destroy her teleport gem!”

Before the ruler of Everfree City had the chance to arrive, however, the colors around me began to blur, dissolving into each other as the weight of my bones began to grow heavier. In the next moment, Palette and I fell to our knees in some secluded area in a place that I had never seen before. It was hard to say for sure what the surroundings were due to how dark it was outside, but it looked like we were by a small pond somewhere in Canterlot, surrounded by trees and bushes.

My heart was still racing so fast that I was unknowingly panting, leaning over with my hands on my knees. Everything had happened so fast, but it seemed like the two of us were going to be OK.

I noticed back in Everfree City that the rabbit wasn’t alive in the traditional sense. It was just a live painting, the power Palette had to make anything she drew come to life, and it looked like she was trying to make sure the coast was clear before she came out of hiding. My guess, though, was that Autumn Blaze tipped off Last Gambit about someone being in Everfree City, and if Autumn Blaze really had the power to break our teleport gems, we were lucky to have escaped.

“Are you safe?” Before my mind had fully wrapped itself around the situation, Palette grabbed onto my shoulders in urgency. “Zey should not be able to find us here. At least not any time soon, but I need to know. Are you safe?”

“Yes, yes! Trixie is fine!” I quickly shrugged Palette off of my shoulders so I could go back to breathing, eliciting a sigh of relief from the girl across from me as we both got up to our feet. “How did you know to come get me?”

“Discord told me zat he needed me to rescue you, but he didn’t tell me what happened. Who was zat girl who appeared so suddenly?”

“Well, do you remember that girl who’s been spreading those rumors about me around school?”

“...Ah… So she is a magical girl, zen.” Then, exhaling a deep breath, she folded her arms and looked out towards the pond. “And is she supposed to be zat Divinity Mädchen you told me about?”

“No. Her name is Last Gambit, and apparently she’s Autumn Blaze’s last magical girl.”

“I’m sorry, Great und Powerful Trixie, but… who is Autumn Blaze?”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “Wait… You don’t know who she is?”

“Am I supposed to?”

That settled it. My memories weren’t the only ones that had been wiped. There was still the chance that both Autumn Blaze and Last Gambit had been lying to me, but everything just seemed to make sense based on what they told me. It also explained why I couldn’t remember becoming a magical girl in the first place, something I definitely would have remembered under normal circumstances.

But wait…

“Palette!!! Can you tell Trixie about the day you became a magical girl?!!!”

“Alright! I’ll tell you!” I didn’t even realize that in my urgency, I had gripped onto Palette’s slender arms, making her tremble uncomfortably before I let her go with redness in my cheeks. “I was ten years old at ze time when I saw Marrow, Night Seam and Storm Rose rescue mein papa from a car accident that almost tossed him off of ze Manehattan bridge. I asked them if I could help zem save people like they had helped me, and zey allowed me to make my covenant with Discord.”

Wait… why did she remember how she got her powers but not me?

“Is zer… somezing I’m not understanding correctly?”

“Huh? Oh! It’s just that… Autumn Blaze said that she knew you.”

“Vas?!”

“Yeah. There’s more that I want to tell you, but…” I needed to take a deep breath for this next part. “...Trixie thinks we need to call Discord for this next part.”

“...Again, vas?!”

“You need to trust Trixie on this one!” Palette looked confused, as expected, but there was no way for me to really explain the situation without her bringing up the same questions that I had. Besides, some draconequus had some explaining to do. Then, taking out my magical phone and scrolling to Discord’s contact information, I held out the device and shouted, “Appear, o spirit of chaos! Discord!”

It had been as long as I could remember since I had been the one to ask for Discord to come to me, and when I did, the method of arrival he chose sent shivers down my spine like it was the very first time. Clouds and fog surrounded the sky and surrounding environment, giving the already dark atmosphere a deeper shadow, but not dark enough not to notice the serpent-like creature swimming through the air. Palette and I put our backs to each other out of reflex, as if the creature we had summoned were really some dangerous beast ready to take our lives away at a moment’s notice.

Then, finally, the creature rose from the dense fog, stretching out his eagle claw and lion paw with an ear-shattering cackle, making our legs grow weak from sheer terror. Once he started speaking, however, all of our fear quickly transformed into agitation from the monster’s goofy tone of voice.

“Well, if it isn’t the Great and Powerful Trixie! It’s been ages since you last rang. I was beginning to think you’d never call!” His eyes then switched to the magical girl at my side. “Oh, and I see that Palette managed to rescue you while making it out alive herself. Isn’t this wonderful?”

“You erased our memories, Discord,” I said sternly, refusing to wait another moment to hear whatever his excuse was. Palette, though, switched glances between Discord and myself, her face in total shock.

“...Again, vas?!”

“I see you had a little chat with Autumn Blaze,” Discord replied in a much less pleasant tone than before.

“Trixie had no choice! Cozy Glow took me to Everfree City against my will!”

With a sigh, Discord folded his arms, shaking his head in disappointment. “I’m not upset with you. I saw what happened. I’m just… curious as to what the two of you spoke about.”

I then folded my own arms, looking at the ground rather than face the demon’s eyes. “We spoke about… everything. She told me about Divinity. She told me about the death game. She mentioned that you wiped our memories, but… why?”

“Death game?” Palette asked, again switching very concerned glances between the two of us. “What death game? Why do I not remember zis?”

Discord, however, groaned, creening his large neck back in annoyance. “Don’t you think I would have told you if I could? I’m under solemn oath that I would make sure you didn’t remember any of the details between when you gained your powers and just before you moved to Canterlot.”

“What solemn oath?!” I shouted. “Who made you promise?!”

“Hmm…” Discord then rested his chin onto his monstrous tail, looking out the corner of his eyes as he thought deeply. “Well, I guess I’m not under any obligation to keep that a secret. It’s not my fault someone else spilled the beans, anyway.”

Finally, with a sadistic smile, he looked me straight in the eyes and quietly said the name I had already suspected.

“Marrow.”

Of course. The one girl who had dedicated her life to making mine full of torment and misery. I had no idea why she had chosen to make us all forget about our memories, but there was no doubt that she had done it partially to hurt me for some reason. If it was supposed to be directed at me, though, why were Palette’s memories also affected?

“Whose memories have been erased?” I asked.

“Everyone’s! That includes people who may have had any kind of relationship with you prior to your memories being erased, including your classmates.”

“So…” Palette began, obviously scared and confused. “What other memories have you erased?”

“I’m sorry, Palette, but I’m not at liberty to disclose that with you. Try asking something else.”

Crap. There were rules to what he could and couldn’t say. Of course there were! I just had to rely on what I did and didn’t know to figure out what question I would ask next.

First of all, I knew that there had been a death game that he had subjected everyone in Platinum City to, but based on the fact that those memories had been erased intentionally, there was little chance that he would be able to tell us about that. I also wanted to know whether or not any girls had been killed who hadn’t been brought back to life, but based on the pain I felt in my head from earlier, there was a good chance he wouldn’t be able to talk about that either. I had to think outside the box, ask questions that Discord wanted to be asked.

“Autumn Blaze,” I said quietly, to which Discord raised an eyebrow. That was a good sign! I was on the right track! “Why did you seal her away in Everfree City?”

Discord, however, brought his paw to his chest in offense. “Me? I think you’re speaking to the wrong omnipotent being here! It was Divinity who sealed her away for all eternity.”

What?

“But… Autumn Blaze told Trixie that the reason the two of you were so mad at each other in the first place was because Divinity decided to leave Platinum City for Everfree City! The whole purpose of Cozy Glow bringing Trixie there in the first place was so that I could break the seal and--”

Suddenly, the snake-like creature slithered as close to my face as he could, staring deep into my eyes as he urgently asked, “Are you saying that you can undo the seal?”

“Uh… Th-that’s what Trixie assumes, but--”

“Do it. I’m sending you back right now.”

Discord then reeled back his eagle claw, which began to glow a bright green aura until I backed away, held my hands up and shouted, “WAAAAIIIITTT!”

The draconequus froze in place, one eyebrow higher than the other with his head tilted to the side. “Yes, o Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Don’t I get some say in this? Trixie doesn’t know how she feels about letting Autumn Blaze out into the real world.”

“She did help in kidnapping ze Great und Powerful Trixie, after all.”

“Oh, shut up, Palette,” Discord exclaimed, rubbing the corners of his eyes in frustration. “Doesn’t anyone ever care what I want?”

“YOU WANT CHAOS!”

“AND WHAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH THAT?” Discord seemed obviously disgruntled by my reply, but I couldn’t change my position now. I didn’t know what would happen if I allowed Autumn Blaze into Equestria, but I knew it wouldn’t be good. “I could take away your powers with the snap of my claw. You know that, right?”

I flinched at the thought, but as far as I knew, the reason I became a magical girl in the first place was to protect Equestria and all its inhabitants. I couldn’t just go back on that now.

“Yes.”

Discord groaned. “Well, I guess I need you if I’m going to ever reverse Autumn Blaze’s seal. I don’t know how they plan on using you, but I don’t see why else they would bring you to Everfree City just to keep you alive. Hmm… I just need to find a way to convince you.”

That, however, wasn’t a good sign. Discord knew all my weak points, what I cared about, what would destroy me the most, and he could easily destroy my life without a moment’s hesitation. What I really needed to do was shift Discord’s mindset, make him want to change his mind, and I think I knew exactly how I was going to do that.

“What if…” I began, taking a deep breath and hoping my plan worked, “...we turned this into a game?”

Discord’s eyes lit up. Yes! It was working!

“Go on.”

“Cozy Glow is the only magical girl Canterlot has. She goes by the name Last Gambit, and I think I can get her to agree to a deal.” Discord’s smile was widening. Honestly, I was just riffing at this point, but I was at least on the right track. “The two of us will play a game, and the winner gets to decide what to do about Autumn Blaze’s future.”

Discord was smiling a little bit less, but my guess was that these were still terms he could agree on.

“And I suppose if you win, you’d prefer Autumn Blaze to remain in Everfree City forever?”

“Yes, but if Trixie loses…” I couldn’t lose, but if I did… “Then Trixie will release Autumn Blaze and let you take care of her. Does that sound fair?”

Moments passed with Palette and I holding our breaths, waiting for the spirit of chaos to give us his response. Then, I heard a low rumble, a sound that eventually grew to a deep chuckle, shifting into a maniacal cackle, and then erupting into a deafening roar of laughter, the kind to break even the strongest magical girl’s spirits. I knew it was never a good thing when Discord laughed, but based on the choices I had, this was the best alternative I could have asked for.

“Oh, Great and Powerful Trixie, you sure know how to haggle. Alright, I’ll agree to your terms. You find Last Gambit and come up with a game to play. Just one piece of caution, though.” Discord once again came closer to my face, making me gulp in nervousness as he smiled his wily smile. “That seal that has the power to hold Autumn Blaze in also has the power to keep me out. You’re going to be on your own, not that I would have helped you anyway.”

Then, with another cackle and a roar of thunder, the draconequus disappeared in a flash of lightning, leaving Palette and I standing alone with hearts filled with dread.

“Vut was zat?!” Palette shouted immediately, placing her face into her palm. “Ach, I am so confused.”

“It’s alright, Palette. Trixie has a plan.”

The magical girl beside me slowly turned her head in my direction, shooting me an unbelieving stare. “Vut game do you have in mind zat you are so confident you vill win?”

“Trixie has an idea, but she’s going to need your help.”

“...I already want to say no, but I am listening.”

I gulped, already fearing Palette’s response.

“Trixie was thinking about a death game.”

“VAS?!” Yup. About what I expected. “No. No, no, no, no, no! I have no idea vut you are thinking, Mädchen, but you vill not be dragging me into it!”

“Palette, listen!” I literally had to grab Palette’s ankles as she struggled to march away. “I promise you won’t get hurt!”

“Oh, right. Nobody has ever been hurt in a death game before.”

“Trixie needs to pick a game that Cozy Glow will agree to! If we do a death game, she won’t be able to resist!”

“And how are you--ugh--so confident--urk--zat we vill win?”

Palette was still trying to break free from my grip, but I held on regardless. “Because we’ve already won twice!” Finally, she had stopped moving, but I was still on a timer for how long I had to convince her before she tried leaving again. “Autumn Blaze told Trixie that the two of us were the winners of Discord’s original death game, and since we’re both alive now, I’m guessing that means we were able to beat Divinity and the other Everfree City magical girls with no problem. Trixie doubts Cozy Glow has ever had any life or death experience before, which means that if the two of us compete together, there will be no way we could lose!”

Again, Palette remained frozen, sighing loudly as she looked up to the sky. “Und you really think zat zis vill work?”

“It’s better than letting Autumn Blaze go without a fight. A real magical girl would stop her at all costs.”

The two of us remained still for several moments, maybe even minutes as I held onto her legs, literally begging on the floor for her to go through with my plan. Finally, Palette sighed, turning her head to the ground while I looked up at her with the biggest smile I could muster.

“If zat is ze only way, then yes, I vill go through with your plan. However,” she held a finger down towards the tip of my nose, “I vant you to at least think of somezing zat doesn’t involve us getting killed.”

“Don’t worry!” I quickly let go of her legs and leapt up to my feet, wrapping her body into a tight hug that she immediately wriggled to get out of. “Trixie has an idea of how this whole game is going to work, and nobody is going to die.”

Palette raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but I was beginning to work out a plan in my mind, a plan that just might end up saving both of our lives as well as the rest of Equestria. The only thing I needed to do now was convince Last Gambit to play. Then, maybe things could go back to exactly how they were before I ever laid eyes on Cozy Glow, and maybe I’d figure out what the rest of my memories that had been erased were supposed to be.

Maybe… I’d find out who that third magical girl was supposed to be, the third winner of Discord’s original death game.

Author's Note

Second day of Trixmas

Chapter 5

That night, I decided to stay by the pond rather than go home to sleep, seeing as how if I went home to my mother after being gone for so long, I knew exactly what was going to happen. Honestly, I had no idea when I’d be able to return home, when I’d be able to face my mother again, and the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if I would ever really be able to go back home. What was she thinking about me in that moment? Was she worried about me? Disappointed in me? Did she even notice that I hadn’t come home?

Fortunately, the night was warm enough to where I only needed my cape to use as a blanket, although this also meant that I wouldn’t be able to transform back into my regular form until school started the next morning. I was silently praying that when I transformed back, I wouldn’t look like a total mess, like if my magical girl bedhead were to transfer over or my run in the day before had left any noticeable bruises.

Finally, once the sun came out and I had received my full two hours of sleep (which was pretty typical for a normal school day anyway), I transformed back into my normal appearance, checked my reflection in the pond for any loose hairs and quickly pulled out my magical phone. I was going to need Photo Finish if I was planning on surviving the rest of the school day. Even despite how vicious the kids at school had been the day before, they would think twice about trying to pick on someone whose friend was right beside her. I just hoped that Photo Finish’s reputation wouldn’t be completely destroyed just from being seen with me.

Later that day…

The final school bell for the day had finally rung, and as much as Photo Finish had tried to help throughout the day, she couldn’t be with me the entire time. From the moment I started my first class, I was shoved to the floor, spat on, kicked and humiliated while the students nearby pointed and laughed, all coincidentally when the teachers weren’t looking. If any of my instructors did ask what was going on, however, someone would blame all the noise on me, telling the teachers that I was trying to copy their homework or otherwise be a distraction. I was lucky that I was only given warnings, despite the protests from the other students, but I needed to continually remind myself that once I spoke with Cozy Glow, maybe this whole thing would blow over. I didn’t have too high of hopes, but maybe...

I waited silently at my desk when the final bell rang, resting my head into my arms as I leaned over the flat surface, hoping that the kids around me would get bored and leave. I could hear a few of them talking about me, waiting for me to get up so they could torture me some more, but after a few minutes without moving, they eventually got up from their seats and left the classroom. There was a good chance they were still waiting in the hallway to beat the shit out of me once I finally decided to leave, but I wasn’t waiting for them to leave. I was waiting for someone else.

A few moments later, a girl walked into the classroom and put her hand on my shoulder, making me jump in panic until I saw the face of the person I had been waiting for all along.

“Thanks, Photo Finish,” I said, rising from my chair despite how badly my legs hurt after a day of bullying. “I owe you one.”

“Are you… alright?”

Looking down, I saw that my boots were covered in scuff marks, my skirt was dirty and the zipper of my jacket was falling off, but it wasn’t like there was anything we could do about that now. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

“Did… your classmates do zis to you?”

As I rose from my chair, Photo Finish blocked my path, making it to where I couldn’t leave without talking to her, even though I couldn’t even make eye contact with her. “Look, it’s really nothing I haven’t been through at home anyway. Can we just--”

“Zis happens ven you are at home too?”

My eyes went wide, and suddenly my hands were gripping onto Photo Finish’s pink scarf, holding her right next to my face as my hands shook in terror. “Please, you can’t tell anyone about this! Promise me you’ll keep it just between us! Promise me!”

“I understand, Mädchen, but--”

“PROMISE ME!”

“Yes! I understand! Now vill you please let go of me?!”

I then realized just how strong my grip was, to the point where I must have been choking Photo Finish with her own scarf. As soon as I let go, rubbing my hands in embarrassment, Photo Finish began coughing, clearing the spit from her throat as she attempted to breathe normally again.

“Sorry.”

“Und you think zat you are fine?! If I’m going to go through with zis plan of yours, you need to tell me who has been doing zis to you. If you are not protected, zen Equestria is not protected.”

I looked back to the ground, moving my hands up to my arms as I hugged myself self-consciously. “Can we not talk about that right now? We need to find Cozy Glow before--”

“We vill find Cozy Glow regardless. Now tell me…” As she spoke, she grabbed a hold of my shoulders, lowering her face so that I could see her heavy stare underneath her glasses. “...who has done zis to you?”

I was beyond hesitant to tell her about my abuses, but it sounded like no matter how much I protested, I was only going to make her mad by not telling her the details. So, I did as she told me. I told her about all the things done to me by my mother, by my classmates, and even by Lulu Lemon, which apparently she still hadn’t heard about. I was so scared that she wouldn’t believe me, that she would think I was just exaggerating so that she would pity me, but her serious face never changed throughout the entire conversation. She just looked at me the same as if I were telling her any normal part of my day. It was nice… but it also put me on edge.

“Is zer anything else zat you have not told me?”

“No… At least, Trixie doesn’t think so.”

Photo Finish then took in a deep breathe through her nose and silently exhaled through her mouth as I awaited her response.

“If zat is ze case, zen you must be kept safe. You shall not return home until ze game is over, and you vill not be returning to school.”

“WHAT?!” My face contorted in confusion and panic, but Photo Finish’s stoic expression remained consistent. “Trixie can’t do that! How will--”

“You shall come home viz me, and you shall stay zer until ze completion of ze game. I am willing to compromise, but only after Last Gambit has agreed to our terms regarding Autumn Blaze. Und now… we go.”

Photo Finish immediately grabbed me by the wrist and led me out of the classroom, passing by some boys who were no doubt waiting to ambush me as soon as I walked out. Once they saw the other girl’s determined face, however, they all decided to back away, allowing us to make our way to the freshman hallways without the slightest inconvenience.

It was amazing how the entire way through the school corridors, even though there were people lined up waiting for me, none of them dared touch me while Photo Finish was with me. It was like she had some kind of control over the school that I didn’t know about, or maybe she had just enough of a reputation to where hurting her meant damaging their own reputation. It was this kind of popularity that I had always hoped to have one day, where I would be able to walk down the halls with so much confidence that nobody would be able to stop me. Then again, though, I had no idea if Cozy Glow would be able to turn them against her just like they had me. She still didn’t know Palette was Photo Finish, after all, but if Photo Finish was supposed to be protecting me, it may not have made any difference.

“Well, well, well,” a voice said as a girl closed her locker, revealing pink skin and curly blue hair on the other side. “Look who decided to show up to school today. Who’s this?”

“A friend,” I replied, not wanting to give away too much too soon, “but the real reason Trixie is here is because she wanted to talk to you about Autumn Blaze.”

“Oh?” She then looked over at Photo Finish, giving me a smile. “If you can talk about her so openly, then I guess that means this girl here must also be a magical girl too. Palette, am I right?”

Crap. Did I seriously give it away already? Before I could think about it too much, however, the girl beside me held out her hand and said, “Photo Finish.”

“I see. The school photographer. Wouldn’t have guessed that you were one of Platinum City’s finest, but then again, you don’t give away your identity as easily as other people.” I turned my face away in embarrassment, remembering how easy it was for her to find me in the first place. “So what did you two want to talk about? I’m guessing you haven’t changed your mind since yesterday.”

“Actually,” I began, “Trixie wanted to make a deal with you.”

Cozy Glow looked up and down my figure with a suspicious stare, apparently attempting to find the catch in my plan before I told her. “What kiiiind of deal?”

“Discord wants Autumn Blaze to be free just as much as you do, but that makes me want to release Autumn Blaze even less.The only way I could get him to agree not to send me back to Everfree City and release her on the spot was if I turned this into a game.”

Cozy Glow scoffed. “Well, that’s no fair! You’re just gonna pick a game you know you’ll win!”

“A death game.”

Suddenly, her aggravated expression began to gradually shift into one of enthusiastic anticipation. “Go on…”

“This game will take place in Everfree City, but Autumn Blaze will not be able to interfere. If we believe that Autumn Blaze is impacting the game in any way, you automatically forfeit, and we win.”

“‘We’? That makes it two against one! How do you expect me to agree to that?!”

“I’m not doing this without Palette.”

Cozy Glow shifted glances between Photo Finish and me, debating the conditions thoughtfully. Even though things may have seemed unfair on the surface, she knew that the game taking place in Everfree City gave her the home court advantage, not to mention that if she decided against my conditions, the chances of freeing Autumn Blaze grew much more difficult. By the same token, though, the two of us knew she wasn’t going to risk her life so easily. This was just a way to get her to the negotiating table so that Palette would be allowed into the game.

“Alright, Trixie,” Cozy Glow said, folding her arms with a devious grin. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll each gather a team of magical girls. The first one to kill the other team’s captain wins, and the winner gets to determine what to do with Autumn Blaze.”

“Deal,” I said with a smile of my own, shaking hands with the freshman in front of me while Photo Finish grimaced in the background.

“I’m sure you have already thought of zis,” she began, “but how exactly do you plan on releasing Autumn Blaze if ze Great und Powerful Trixie dies?”

Cozy Glow shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head with a giggle. “It’s obvious, silly! We’ll have Trixie put a timed release on Autumn Blaze’s seal. The game will last exactly five days, and if I’m not dead after five days, Autumn Blaze will be released. Those are conditions you can agree to, right, Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Hmph. The Great and Powerful Trixie isn’t as stupid as you may believe. We both know that you’ll go into hiding the moment the game starts. That way not only will you stay alive, but you’ll also be able to keep the game going until you eventually win.”

The freshman clicked her tongue. “Dang it. I was hoping you wouldn’t catch onto that one.” She then rubbed her chin as her eyes drifted off to the side in deep thought, at least until a lightbulb suddenly went off over her head as she smiled with enthusiasm. “How about this? Starting this Monday, we’ll play the game starting thirty minutes after the final bell rings until midnight every day for five days. During that time, nobody’s allowed to come in or out, but it is part of a magical girl’s duties to be resourceful and tactful. If you can’t manage to find me in five days when we’re restricted just to Everfree City, then you don’t really deserve to call yourself a magical girl.”

Things were beginning to sound more and more concrete as we continued to go over the details. So far, the game seemed to work in a way we could both agree on, which made me perfectly happy, but I could see out the corner of my eye that Photo Finish still wasn’t too excited about the rules so far. I wanted to tell her not to worry, that I had one last trick up my sleeve, but it was still too early to bring it up this early in negotiations.

“Trixie agrees. The two of us will be captains, and each of us have to gather a team of magical girls in order to kill the other. What rules do you have on recruiting?”

“Well, first of all, they have to all be girls. Could you imagine a magical boy? Blech!”

This actually worked against me. Seeing as how the only person I knew of in the school who didn’t hate me was Flash Sentry, making an all-girls rule was going to make it hard to find people who actually wanted to be on my team. If the limit was manageable enough, though, I would be able to play with the same number that she had.

“Fair enough,” I replied. “How many girls on each team?”

“Not including the captains? Ten.”

“Three.”

“Three?! That makes it a catfight, not a death game! Give me at least five.”

I had to think about it for a minute, racking my brain for any girls besides Photo Finish who would be willing to join me. Suddenly, though, I came up with an idea of my own.

“Is your only requirement that they can’t be boys? Is Trixie allowed to pick whoever else she wants?”

“Sure, but I would be careful about who you pick. You never know what your enemy will be able to do against them.”

Cozy Glow then winked towards Photo Finish, communicating that she had seen right through my plan. I was hoping that I would be able to get some of the girls from Platinum City to help out, but I quickly realized that Autumn Blaze must have known more about us than we knew about her. Then all that information would go to Last Gambit, who would be free to communicate all the details with her own team before the game started, circumventing the rule that Autumn Blaze couldn’t interfere. Even still, though, I couldn’t pass up on the kind of talent that I had grown up with.

“Understandable,” I continued. “Any other rules?”

“Uhh… No guns? I guess it wouldn’t be fair to bring something like that to a magical girl fight.”

Intervening, however, was Photo Finish, raising her hand to make her own contributions to the negotiations. “Und what about me? Zat is a main factor in my magic, after all.”

“Hmm… Alright, you get a free pass, but you have to create them using magic! Also, by allowing this into the rules, you’re agreeing that we aren’t going to put any limit to the amount of magic that we’re allowed to use. If we can use it as our power, we don’t have to turn the notch down under any circumstance.”

Cozy Glow smiled maniacally as she said it, but I could understand the ramifications that could come if we started putting rules on each other’s magic. The last thing I wanted was for the game to get called off due to too many restrictions, which would no doubt lead to Discord being very, very upset with me.

“Trixie understands, but I still have a few more conditions I want to add.”

The girl in front of me groaned, falling sideways into her locker and sliding down theatrically. “You mean there’s more rules?”

“Yes. Anyone who dies in the game does not die in real life. They will be brought back to life exactly where they were before going to Everfree City.” Cozy Glow suddenly straightened out her body in shock, along with Photo Finish, who was finally able to understand what my plan had been the whole time. “Also, you need to get everyone to stop picking on me! Trixie is going to have a hard time finding girls to join her if everyone still thinks that I tried to murder you over some stupid showcase.”

Cozy Glow put her finger to her lip, and I was almost certain that she was going to tell me no to both conditions. To my surprise, however, she shrugged her shoulders as if they were no issue.

“Well, if we’re really going to add more rules, then I may as well add my own.”

What other rules could she have? She seemed so ready to be done with negotiations just a few seconds ago. What had I said that changed her mind so quickly?

“I’ll use my charm to get people to start being nice to you again. After all, unlike you, I actually have friends at this school.” I clicked my tongue from her unnecessary comment, but allowed her to continue regardless. “But if they’re just going to come back here after they die, then it has to be after midnight. I’d hate to respawn just for one of the girls already eliminated to be there waiting to kill me.”

“Fine. Anything else?”

“Just one more thing.” As Cozy Glow held out her index finger, she gave me one more smile, only this time, I could tell that she was going to turn the tables of this game in her favor. “That last rule doesn’t apply to us. If one of the captains dies in the game, we die in real life too!”

That was it. This way she could get exactly what she was looking for, a real death game where our lives were really going to be on the line. She was out for blood like I expected, but I didn’t realize the extent she would go through to make sure I died.

“But why?” Photo Finish asked, shaking her head in confusion. “Why is it zat you want Trixie to die so badly? You do realize zat Autumn Blaze would be set free regardless, correct?”

The freshman girl then looked away, standing in silence for several moments until her eyes started to glow red. It wasn’t red like magic. It looked like… like she was about to start crying.

“I want Trixie to die because of what she did to Divinity…”

“But Cozy Glow, Trixie doesn’t remember--”

“IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU REMEMBER!” she shouted, tears now trailing down her face. “DIVINITY WAS MY VERY FIRST FRIEND! SHE MADE ME FEEL IMPORTANT! SHE HELPED ME BE MORE THAN JUST A MAGICAL GIRL! AND YOU KILLED HER!!!”

I didn’t know who Divinity was. I didn’t know how I supposedly killed her. I didn’t know why I left Last Gambit alive while all the others died.

But Cozy Glow did, and she had been holding onto this pain for an amount of time that I just didn’t know.

“Trixie agrees,” I said, looking Cozy Glow straight in the eyes.

“Vas?! No, no, no, no, no! We’re still in negotiations! You don’t have to--”

“Yes… I do.”

For about thirty seconds, the three of us remained still like a painting, me looking straight at Cozy Glow while she and Photo Finish stared back at me. While it was true that I could have still used my leverage to convince her to change the stakes of the game, it wouldn’t have changed how things played out in the long run. She would still be out to kill me regardless, but this way, even though I was holding out hope that I would be able to win without killing her, this tension between us would finally end once and for all.

Then, as she held out her hand, I took her with my own as the two of us shook to finalize the deal. In just a few days, the three of us were going to fight each other to the death to decide the fate of all of Equestria.

“Palette?”

“Y-yes, Great und Powerful Trixie?”

“...Let’s get more magical girls.”

Author's Note

Third day of Trixmas

Chapter 6 (Narrated by Last Gambit)

This chapter is narrated by Cozy Glow, also known as the magical girl Last Gambit.

“A key? What do you mean?!”

“Listen, child. I don’t have much time. When I sealed Autumn Blaze within Everfree City, I never meant for it to be permanent. I’m the only one who has the key to open the seal that separates Discord from Autumn Blaze, but I fear that if I die, she will be kept here against her will for much longer than I ever imagined.”

“Don’t talk like that! You can’t die!”

“I wish that were the case, but I always prepare for the worst case scenario. We have already lost four sisters, and I cannot guarantee that even I, with the powers that I have, will be able to keep Everfree City safe if they continue to gather members. Instead, I will be passing this key to the member of Platinum City that I feel will know how best to handle the responsibility of Autumn Blaze’s safety.”

“What?! Why wouldn’t you just give the key to me?!”

“For the same reason I did not give you my powers. You’re still learning what being a magical girl means. The person I’m thinking of has already seen the terrors of what being a magical girl involves, and she values life as much as I do. I would have liked to hand down the key to you some day, Last Gambit, but sadly, the time to pass it down has come much sooner than I had anticipated.”

“Then let me fight with you! We can still win!”

“I didn’t give you powers to fight, child. I gave you powers so you could avoid this war, so you could one day take my place when I was no longer able to protect my sisters.”

“Divinity, please… You can’t leave me! You can’t die!!”

“I’m sorry, child, but some things… are even out of my control.”

“............Who is it?”

“Hm?”

“Who’s this magical girl that you would trust giving the key of Everfree City to, even though she’s trying to murder you?!”

“Heheh. It’s funny you should ask, because I believe the two of you will meet at some point in the future. When that day comes, however, I hope that the two of you will become friends.”

“What’s her name?! Tell me!”

“Her name is…”

One year later…

“The Great and Powerful Trixie.”

I punched my locker as soon as she was gone, wagging my hand from the pain I had accidentally caused my knuckles, but too pissed off to care. It was Thursday afternoon, which meant that I didn’t have a whole lot of time to gather up magical girls, even though I would still have a way better chance than Trixie did after I got the whole school to turn their backs on her. It was only fitting. She had taken away my best friend, the only friend I had at the time, and I still wasn’t done showing her just how painful it felt to be all alone, to have lost everything.

Five magical girls. We were each allowed to only recruit five, which was the perfect amount to find a manageable team while still creating an exigency to find enough before the deadline. The real question wasn’t who would join me--I would be able to recruit anyone easily--but rather who would be the best candidates to join my team. I wanted girls who were powerful, independent, known for their leadership skills and critical thinking. I wanted girls who had already taken on big roles before, but they also had to be willing to join my side without questioning my authority.

I needed leverage. I had to find girls who needed power, who were nothing without it.

With that in mind, the seven girls from the senior class were definitely off my list. Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity. They all had the makings of someone I would want to bring with me onto my team, but if any of them decided to switch to Trixie’s side, my whole strategy would backfire, even if I did get Autumn Blaze to remove their powers. Plus, they had been friends with Trixie for so long that I doubted whether or not they would really be willing to kill her, especially if they knew that it meant she would die in real life too. Instead, I would have to find girls who relied on their power, who were so grateful to have it that they would never betray me, even if their lives depended on it.

Who was left, though? The cutie mark crusaders? No, they weren’t mature enough to handle magical girl powers yet. Diamond Tiara was another option, though. She craved power, and she would do anything to get it. The issue with her, though, was that she was so headstrong that I couldn’t trust her to follow my instructions. With all of them out of the running and none of the boys as available alternatives, though, it looked like I was going to have to depend on girls outside of Canterlot High School entirely.

Who did I know outside of CHS, though? It’s not that it would have been a problem for me to get someone to join me if didn’t know her, but it definitely made the search less of a headache if I at least knew which direction to move in.

“Hmm…” I rubbed my chin as I thought aloud. “Who do I know of that wants power, can easily think for herself, but still relies on others to help her achieve her goals?”

It almost sounded like a social media influencer now that I thought about--

“WAIT!” I immediately smiled deviously, pulling out my phone to see who was trending on all the social media platforms, and as luck would have it, the same girl was at the top of SnapGab, MyStable and Flitter. “Yes… You would be perfect!”

Then, with my hands trembling in excitement, I sent her a message, one that she wouldn’t be able to ignore, something that even someone with 3 million followers would have to notice.

“I’m feeling purple, but not so much of a puuuurple as more of a purrrple, and while I’m thinking about it, throw some magenta in there. This vaycay is gonna be craycray! KK, well, I’ll call you with the deets once I get more info about the catering. Trust me, you would not believe how much bloating shows up in your selfies after a tuscany salad. Love ya!”

Then, tapping her phone to end her conversation, the girl across the table from me folded her arms, sitting back in her seat while staring at me impatiently.

“So you’re the one they brought in to negotiate making me the new social media manager for Trenderhoof’s SnapGab feed? I would have thought they would have brought in someone with more experience. I almost missed your DM just because you only had like 100 followers. How did you even get this job anyway?”

Great. She was cutting to the chase. So much for sweet talking her into a conversation that would make her forget about the lie I told her to meet me in the first place. That wouldn’t be too much of a problem, though. I still had ways to keep the attention of someone like her.

“I am so touched that you agreed to meet with me today!” I said as innocently as I could. “And yes, it’s true that I don’t have many followers myself. I was actually wondering if you could teach me some new tricks to gain more fans.”

The girl’s mouth then turned upward with vanity. “Oh, that’s easy. I, myself, follow a simple three point plan. Number one: look cute all the time. You need to be ready to take a selfie at a moment’s notice, and no offense, but I don’t think your whole creepy doll from the 80’s hairdo is gonna make the word ‘like’ come to mind when people are scrolling through their feed. Number two: you need to use a filter for every single pic, and I mean eeeevery pic you take. You need to have filters on top of your filters. Juno, Lark, Mayfair, Moon, and don’t forget those cute little emojis too. It reminds people that you’re fun and relatable, which leads to point number three: BYBB.”

The girl held out three fingers to punctuate her third point, but sadly, I wasn’t as versed with internet acronyms to understand what the fuck she was even talking about anymore.

“Uhh… BYBB?”

“‘Be Yourself, But Better!’ It’s the motto I live by. You know how everyone is always telling you to just be yourself? Well, I thought, ‘Why would I just be myself? Why not take myself to a whole new level?’ You obviously weren’t going anywhere by being yourself in the first place, so you need to make sure that you know what you’re lacking in and improve yourself. I know, totes inspirational. I guarantee that if you post that with a couple trendy hashtags, you’ll see way more likes than your selfie with the doodie mark crusaders.”

I’m not gonna lie. I laughed on the inside. I would have to use that one later. On the outside, though, I made sure to look like I was keeping an intent interest with what she was saying, smiling from ear to ear with my eyes growing enthusiastically wider after every sentence.

“Wow, Miss Valencia! You’re so smart!”

The girl across from me giggled. “Oh, please. No need to be so formal, girl. Call me Vignette. Hashtag friendsies!”

Vignette Valencia, the first girl I wanted to join my team. She had yellow skin, short pink hair with luscious white highlights, an adorable brown cardigan, and short denim capris, all under probably five pounds of makeup and hair products. She agreed to meet me at a diner in downtown Canterlot after I had mentioned that Trenderhoof, another fashion icon in Equestria, had been looking for a new social media consultant. I was surprised she bought it, to be honest, but the more I learned about her, the more I knew she would be perfect to join my team of magical girls.

“Golly! I didn’t know I’d be friendsies with someone like you so quick!”

“Well, when you represent the hottest teen heartthrob in all of Equestria, it kinda comes with the territory. Hahaha! Wasn’t that funny? I should totally tweet that one.”

She was also kind of an idiot, but there was no doubt that she had all the qualities I was looking for in a potential teammate. Even if her head was full of hashtags, I knew that she always thought two steps ahead, that she was all about fostering relationships while focusing on her priorities.

“Actually, Vignette, there was one teensy weensy thing I wanted to talk to you about before we discussed any contracts.”

“Lay it on me, girlfriend. What were you thinking? A blog for Trenderhoof’s story feed? Some off the wall food pics from all the places he travels to around the world? Or even a couple pics of him… topless?”

“Actually…” I began, trying to get the disturbing image out of my head. “I wanted to talk to you about something that happened a couple months ago.”

Suddenly, the girl’s expression changed, causing her to frown as she uncharacteristically grabbed onto her arm in nervousness (albeit without letting go of her phone). “Oh… You mean… That.”

Just a few months ago, she had experienced what magic tasted like firsthand. By some crazy turn of events, she was granted magic just like Twilight had at the Friendship Games, and she had used it to capture anyone who disagreed with her popular vision, sending them to another realm within her phone. That other realm just happened to be a white room in the middle of a theme park, but it clearly pointed out that once she experienced what magic felt like, she grew to depend on it. Plus, from what I could tell, she had matured from that experience. This time, I knew that she would be able to handle her magic without going too far.

“Aww, there’s no need to frown!” I said joyfully. “I don’t think you did anything wrong.”

Vignette’s expression quickly changed again. “Do you even know what happened?”

“Sure I do! But just because you had a learning experience doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.”

The girl across from me looked down at her lap with remorse. “It wasn’t just a learning experience. I turned into a monster. I was so wrapped up in how I wanted everyone to see me that I didn’t even realize how terrible of a person I had become. I just… want to forget it ever happened.”

“Does that mean you want to forget about magic too?”

“Huh?”

“That was your first time dealing with magic, right? Like I said, I would think of that more like a learning experience than you turning into some terrible monster. Actually, I would bet that most people would start acting strange after they learned that they could do stuff nobody else could.”

Then, pouting her face, Vignette folded her arms and slid back in her seat, still avoiding eye contact. “Will you stop pretending that it was totally normal? I used a magic phone to literally capture people whenever they didn’t do what I wanted. It’s no wonder I didn’t have any friends. Ugh. And after Rarity zapped my phone, I lost all my adorable selfies that I was saving for later.”

“Well, if someone gave you your magic back, would you do it again?”

Finally, Vignette looked straight into my eyes, her jaw dropping slightly as she thought about the question. Of course, she probably didn’t believe that there was any way that she could ever use magic again, but I could tell that she was mulling over the possibilities in her head, just in case it was still possible.

“No way! Even if someone gave me another magic phone, there’s no way I would use it.”

“Well, what if you had a different magic power?”

“Huh? Like what?”

“Whatever power you’d like! You can only pick one, though. That’s the only rule.”

The girl then rolled her eyes with a scoff. “Could you, like, make it to where I could go back in time?”

“Hmm… There’s probably limits that come with that, but I think we could make that happen.”

“Wait!” Suddenly, Vignette looked around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping before she leaned towards me, covering the side of her mouth so no one could read her lips. “I thought this stuff was supposed to be hypothetical or whatever! Are you saying there’s even more magic out there somewhere?”

Finally, I had her right where I wanted her. Even though she was outwardly hesitant about ever using magic again, I could see in her eyes just how much she wanted to use it again. She was just like anyone else in this world, not immune to the vices of power.

“Vignette… Have you ever heard of magical girls?”

The girl across from me scratched her head in confusion. “No…? What are those?”

“That depends. Have you learned from your mistakes? Are you ready to try out magic again?”

I held out my hand with a sly grin, waiting with enthusiasm as I watched her stare at my palm hesitantly, going back and forth in her head about whether or not she really wanted to have that kind of power again. Her hand continued to hover over mine, jerking back instinctively every so often, but gradually moving closer and closer as time continued. She was finally about to take my hand in hers, but then, she suddenly pulled herself away, flinching from me as if I had some contagious disease.

“Wait… Could you like, tell me what I’m getting myself into before I sign myself into a devil contract? I don’t think my followers would like that very much.”

Seriously?!

“All I want is for you to be a magical girl and help me win a game.”

“...A game? So you want me to help you cheat?”

“Noooo. It’s not cheating if everyone can use magic!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! You’re telling me there are more girls who can use magical phone thingies? Is there like some kind of magical girl app that everyone’s downloading? How am I so late hearing about this?”

I slapped my face in frustration. “Becoming a magical girl isn’t that easy. You have to be hand-selected, and if you say yes, you’ll be one of only a handful of girls in all of Canterlot who can use magic! All you have to do is join me in a game, and if we win, you get to keep your powers forever! Also, we don’t need phones to use our magic. We can use them with our thoughts alone.”

Vignette stared at me for several long moments, squinting her eyes with hesitation until she finally said, “...You’re not really Trenderhoof’s agent, are you?”

“Nope! You’ll see that what I can give you is WAY better than what any amount of followers can give you!”

This was it. I had taken away her last objection. She knew as well as I did that she wanted to use magic again, and once the game started, she would never want to give it up, even if it meant killing a few girls along the way. She would fight tooth and nail to make sure that we won, regardless of what she thought about my plan to free Autumn Blaze from her prison. All that mattered was holding onto the magic that she had, and if that meant we had to win at any cost, I knew that I could trust her to do her part.

Finally, she grabbed onto my hand, sealing the deal to officially make her a magical girl.

Once I was about to grab onto my teleport gem to take her to Everfree City, however--

“Hold on.”

--I was interrupted. Not from Vignette Valencia… but from someone behind me.

Vignette leaned to her side to see over my shoulder as I turned around to see who had spoken, just to be met with a hooded figure facing the opposite direction.

“You’re saying that you can use magic? Are you talking about magic from another world?”

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “Just what do you know about magic from other worlds?”

“...I know how powerful it is. Capturing someone with a phone? That’s nothing. I’ve seen far more incredible things done with magic, from turning others into stone, hypnotization, exiling foes to foreign dimensions, and even taking away the powers of somebody else.”

OK, now I was really suspicious.

“And just how do you know what magic can do?”

The figure remained silent for several long moments before speaking again. “...Because I had magic once…” Then, she finally pulled down the pale hood off of her head, revealing a copious amount of poofy orange hair and a spiky purple headband. Once she turned around, however, I could see in her deep magenta eyes that she had been through pain, a kind of despair that only someone who had experienced it could recognize. “...And I want it back.”

“Uhh, could we call time out for one sec?” Vignette said, tapping her hands in the shape of a T. “So, who are you supposed to be again?”

The poofy-haired girl scoffed. “Adagio Dazzle. You might not realize it, but for a brief period of time, I had even more influence than all of your followers combined.”

“Doubt it. I know basically everybody who’s anybody, but if you want, we could take some pics together for your profile. Everyone will wanna follow you after that.”

“...Is she seriously who you decided would be a good candidate to wield magic?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Meh, beggars can’t be choosers. You wanted in too, then?”

“If that’s no trouble for your friend over there.”

The two of us then looked straight at Vignette, who rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders in defeat. “Fine. If you think she can help us win, then whatever. So what do we have to do to get our magic back?”

I couldn’t believe how perfectly everything had gone. I still didn’t know much about who this Adagio girl was supposed to be, but a magical girl could tell from instincts who had potential, something I could see a lot of based on her attitude alone. Plus, I had managed to score Vignette Valencia without any problems, which only left three magical girls that I needed to collect in just under four days.

“Just hold my arm,” I said, grabbing onto my teleport gem. The two girls did as they were told, each grabbing under each of my armpits with looks of confusion, but in just a few moments, everything would be made clear. “Oh, and girls?”

“Yeah?”

“Welcome to Everfree City.”

Author's Note

Fourth day of Trixmas.

G&PT: 1 magical girl (Photo Finish)
Last Gambit: 2 magical girls (Vignette Valencia and Adagio)

Also, I'm going to be switching perspectives between Trixie and Cozy Glow throughout the story from now on. I'll make sure it's not confusing, and this way I'll be able to cover two different perspectives without the other person having to be there. Hope you're enjoying the series so far!

Chapter 7

☆☆☆

Great and Powerful Trixie

☆☆☆

Friday morning.

I knew I didn’t have much time before the game started, which meant I would need to skip my first handful of classes so that I could travel back to Canterlot after my meeting. She didn’t know I was coming, neither of them did, but when Photo Finish and I went back to her place the night before to strategize, we both agreed who we wanted to be on our team more than anyone. She wasn’t exactly who I was hoping for to be my first choice, but there was no doubt that she would completely level any of the competition we faced from Last Gambit.

Fleur De Lis, also known as the magical girl Night Seam. Her power: to turn anything she touched black.

Honestly, I had to negotiate with Photo Finish to make her our first priority. She was only the second most talented girl in Platinum City, just behind Marrow, who had not only better leadership skills, but had a much better power, and she knew how to use it better than anyone. The problem with that, though, was that I didn’t feel like I could ask Marrow to join our cause. Even if the fate of Equestria depended on it, I just couldn’t bring myself to ask for help from the person who had made my life a living hell until I moved away from Manehattan altogether.

Our destination was Crystal Prep Academy in the center of Manehattan, the rivals of my own school. Fleur De Lis, Lulu Lemon and Le Blanc all attended this prestigious academy, but my hope was to find Fleur De Lis as quickly as possible, avoid any confrontation from the other two and get out before I ran into any problems. Unfortunately since everyone wore a special school uniform at Crystal Prep, Photo Finish and I stuck out like a sore thumb, causing everyone’s eyes to turn in our direction as we walked through the corridors.

“Are we really sure we want to be here after all?” I asked, turning towards Photo Finish and trying not to notice the scowls the other kids were giving us.

“You vant to save Equestria, no?” she replied, facing forward as if none of their stares phased her. “We vill need help from experienced magical girls. If we are to be playing in Everfree City where zey are already familiar wiz ze area and our powers, zen we need to find magical girls who are already strong.”

“Right, but… They’re probably just going to say no anyway. Maybe we should just--”

“Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to come back home.”

I knew that voice, but I wish I didn’t. It carried the most alluring tone, like whenever she opened her mouth, her words were sung by a flock of birds singing the most beautiful songs in the world. Unfortunately, the person behind that voice was one of the most despicable human beings to ever walk the earth.

Or rather, one of the most despicable magical girls to ever walk the earth.

“Le Blanc,” Photo Finish said, addressing the person approaching us. “So good to see you again.”

Of course Le Blanc would be the first to find us. She had long, slender legs, beautiful, flowery white hair, a large chest, thin waist, clear, pink skin, and a face that seemed to be carved by angels. Everything about her was completely flawless. She was just as close to Lulu Lemon as Fleur De Lis was, which meant that if she was here, the other two had to be close by. Unfortunately for me, though, I didn’t want anything to do with her, even if she was the third most talented magical girl in Platinum City.

“Photo Finish! Tripsie.” She sounded less pleasant when she said my name, throwing me a dirty look that only I would see. “So what brings you two to Crystal Prep Academy? Have you two finally decided that you wanted to transfer?”

“We’re here for Fleur De Lis,” I said quietly but bluntly. “Do you know where she is?”

“Sorry. I don’t. Guess you made this trip here for nothing. How sad. Tata! I’ll miss you!”

She knew we weren’t leaving that easily, but that was all part of the game for her. She wanted to toy with me as much as she could until Lulu Lemon eventually showed up, who would take the bullying to an entirely new level. It honestly surprised me that she could be so openly hostile towards me in front of Photo Finish without a second thought, but at this point, it was probably just second nature for her.

“Le Blanc,” Photo Finish said with seriousness in her voice, making the preppy school girl turn her head with curiosity. “You know we vould not be here unless zis was serious. You know vut zis is about.”

She hesitantly rose a suspicious eyebrow, but then she smiled coyly, folding her arms in a way that couldn’t be more demeaning. “If that’s the case, then we should probably have Lulu here, don’t you think? I mean, if it is as serious as you’re making it out to be.”

Of course she wouldn’t make it easy. As Photo Finish looked in my direction, it seemed like she was communicating exactly what she was telling me the night before: we could still use Marrow. The last thing I wanted was to invite her into our plan to take on Last Gambit, but it sounded like Le Blanc was the gatekeeper to Fleur De Lis, and to get to her, we had to get permission from Lulu first. Maybe, though, there was something else we could do.

I tilted my head in Le Blanc’s direction, causing Photo Finish to raise an eyebrow in confusion, seemingly unable to pick up on the subtle cues I was trying to send her. Again, I rolled my eyes and tilted my head towards her again, looking at her with urgency in my eyes, and this time, Photo Finish’s mouth opened slightly, apparently able this time to pick up on my silent messages. When we turned back to Le Blanc, however, she was giving us both the stink eye, her face contorted in disgust and confusion.

“Uh… What are you two doing?”

“Actually, Mädchen,” Photo Finish began, smiling at the girl who was otherwise giving her a repulsed expression, “we ver hoping zat perhaps we could talk to you about somezing. You are quite talented yourself.”

Le Blanc’s face was slowly changing from disgust to curiosity, hesitantly becoming more open to what we were saying. “What is this about? I mean, I know what it’s about, but why do you need us? Can you not take care of it on your own?”

“We can’t,” I said humbly, bowing my head in humility. “There’s a girl in Canterlot who has some kind of crazy grudge against Platinum City. You wouldn’t know about it because Dis--*ahem* Because You-Know-Who wiped our memories. The main point is that if we don’t do something, it might not just be Canterlot that’s in danger. It could be all of Equestria.” I almost spoke one word too much, but luckily Photo Finish nudged me on the shoulder before I gave too much away. Le Blanc, though, seemed more pissed off than ever.

“What did you do to piss someone off that bad, Tripsie?!”

“You don’t understand!” Photo Finish intervened. “It’s more complicated zan zat! Our memories--”

“Oh, and about that. What memories have been wiped?! How do you two know about this when the rest of us don’t? Are you sure it’s not your memories that have been screwed up? That does sound like something that would happen to you, if I’m only being honest.”

I expected Le Blanc to be mean to me, but I’d never seen her be this cruel to Photo Finish before. Then, taking out my magical phone before her insults could continue any further, I held it out towards her and said plainly, “Go ahead and ask him yourself.”

Le Blanc looked down at my phone, then looked back at me and chuckled. “You’re joking… right?”

“Zis is no joke, Mädchen. If you vill not let us speak to Fleur, zen let us speak to you.”

Le Blanc’s eyes continued to move in a triangle around Photo Finish, my phone and myself until she eventually placed her hands on her hips and said, “I’m listening.”

“Vut we are dealing wiz is unlike anyzing we’ve ever seen before.”

“Allegedly, but go on.”

“Imagine anozer one of him, only zis one wants revenge.”

“Wait, there’s another one?! What did you two do to piss this one off?!”

“Oh, don’t think you’re off the hook on this one,” I said bluntly. “Our memories might be warped, but Trixie believes that you’re just as responsible as we are.”

Le Blanc immediately walked forward to meet me up close, pressing her chest against mine as she looked down angrily into my eyes with a scowl that made even her look ugly. “You’d better watch your mouth, Tripsie. If we get pulled into a problem that you started, I promise on my father’s life that I will fucking murder you. Now tell me what the hell you did to make this thing so angry.”

“No.”

Suddenly, all three of us turned our heads. Before Le Blanc and I got into a physical altercation (which I had been waiting on for years), another girl in the hallway stopped us before things got too heated. It wasn’t a teacher, faculty member or hall monitor. Instead, it was a girl just as beautiful, just as stylish, just as tall, and just as angry as Le Blanc was, the girl who I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid, standing next to the girl we came looking for.

“Tell all of us.”

Lulu Lemon, also known as the magical girl Marrow, and by her side was Fleur De Lis, who looked equally as unhappy to see us. Then, upon seeing her leader come to rescue her, Le Blanc gave me a haughty smirk and took a few steps back to join them, folding her arms as all three of them waited for me to speak.

I clicked my tongue, looking away in anger as I mumbled, “You’re one to talk, seeing as how you were the one who asked him to wipe our memories in the first place.”

Lulu immediately took a step forward to beat the shit out of me, but Fleur De Lis held out her arm to stop her in her tracks. Lulu may have been able to get away with something like that at Manehattan Middle School, but Crystal Prep wouldn’t be so tolerant of violence, especially when it was towards students of another school.

“What’s this about, Trixie?” Fleur asked calmly. “Why did you come to our school?”

Finally, I had the chance to talk directly to the person I had come to see, but now I had no idea what to say. All of the talking points that Photo Finish and I had practiced the night before were now completely out the window thanks to Le Blanc’s intervention.

With a long breath to calm myself down, I looked directly into Fleur’s eyes and said, “We need your help. All three of you if we can get it.”

“Help with what?” Lulu asked, folding her arms.

“There’s another girl in Canterlot. She says that we killed her friends, and the reason we don’t remember it is because our memories were wiped.”

“And how do you know about this?”

“Because there’s someone else like him in Canterlot, or rather, in Everfree City.” Le Blanc looked confused, but Lulu and Fleur seemed to understand immediately what I was getting at. “Her name is Autumn Blaze, and she has a serious grudge against You-Know-Who. She told me that he wiped our memories, and when Photo Finish and I confronted him about it, he basically confirmed it. Plus, he said that you were the one who told him to do it in the first place. Do you at least remember that part?”

Lulu put her hand to her chin as she thought, but shook her head after the memory failed to reach her. “I don’t remember, but I trust in the decision I made. If what you’re saying is true, then I must have done it with our best interests in mind.”

“And zat is ver we think we know vut happened,” Photo Finish added. “Apparently, zer was some kind of feud between Manehattan and Canterlot zat involved everyone we know. Zer is even a possibility zat zer were more girls from Platinum City zat we do not know about.”

“And that’s why Trixie believes that our memories were warped, so that we could forget about what we did and continue doing our jobs without hesitation.”

Lulu put her hand to her chin again, thinking over what I said as she mulled over the possibility in her mind. “That does make sense now that you put it that way. Tell us about the enemy. Is there anyone else we should be aware of?”

“There are,” I began hesitantly, “but we don’t know who they are yet. We only know there’s going to be five of them besides Autumn Blaze and the other girl.”

“What’s her name? How do you know there’s going to be five of them?”

I knew this was going to take forever if I continued like this, and the more questions I answered, the more Lulu began to lose her patience. If I wanted to get any of them onto our team, I was going to have to appeal to her first.

“Her name is Cozy Glow, and she’s the leader of the Everfree City girls. We’re about to have a game with them, and this game is going to decide whether the seal placed on Autumn Blaze that keeps her bound to Everfree City will be broken or not. Apparently I’m the only one who can break the seal, and this game was the only thing preventing You-Know-Who from basically sending me back and forcing me to open it.”

“That bastard,” Fleur said, clenching her fist and gritting her teeth. “He doesn’t care about our safety or well-being. He thinks that lives are just a game, and we’re just his toys that he can use and manipulate however he sees fit.”

“And so now you need our help,” Lulu said, putting a period on the backstory. “You want us to join you in fighting these girls to prevent the seal from being broken, which would ultimately lead to another psychopath wreaking havoc on Equestria.”

Finally! She understood!

“Exactly! The game is set to start this Monday afternoon. Trixie believes you should all be out of class during that time, so we could--”

“Out of the question.”

I raised an eyebrow, looking into Lulu’s eyes with as much incredulity as I could. I then looked over to see Photo Finish’s reaction, and she seemed to be thinking the same thing. How could the ruler of Platinum City turn her back not just on its own magical girls, but also on possibly the fate of the earth?

“Lulu,” I began, still trying to think of a way I could possibly emphasize the severity more than I already had, “Trixie doesn’t think you understand.”

“No, you’re the one who doesn’t understand!” Lulu was now approaching me, but this time, Fleur De Lis wasn’t holding her back. I quickly began to back up until my spine hit a locker behind me, shrinking even further as Lulu hovered over me with her face pressed into mine. “You’re going to take care of this. You’re the one who can undo the seal in the first place, so this is your responsibility, you got that?”

“And if Trixie loses, then it’s your responsibility too!”

“Which is why you’d better not lose. If Autumn Blaze breaks free and you’re still alive, I promise that I will make you wish that you were dead for every fucking second that you breathe. This is exactly why I never wanted you to be a magical girl in the first place, and I still don’t know why I didn’t kill you back when you first got your powers.”

“Lulu!”

The girl in front of me quickly turned around to see that Fleur De Lis had cut her off, preventing her from saying any more taboo words in the middle of a school hallway. Lulu then nodded and turned back to me with a scowl, leaning into my ear so that only I would be able to hear what she said next.

“If you have any more fuck ups, I’ll have Graveyard Girl finish you off herself. Now leave Crystal Prep, and never come back.”

Finally, Lulu backed away and joined her friends, leading them away while I was left to calm my heart back down, but not before Le Blanc looked back in my direction, giving me a sardonic wink before walking away.

Graveyard Girl. It was Le Blanc’s magical girl name. Her power was the ability to kill someone on the spot just by touching them, and out of all the members of Platinum City, she was the least hesitant to take someone else’s life. If Marrow ordered her to come after me, she wouldn’t sleep, eat, or do anything else that would possibly distract her from finding and killing me. My death would be her number one priority, and I didn’t doubt that Marrow would go to a length like that if I ever made her mad.

All three of them wore bright pink in the daytime, but when they turned into magical girls, their outfits were all pure black. It would have been funny… if it wasn’t so terrifying.

Photo Finish then quickly helped me stand up straight, pulling me off of the locker that my back was pressed against and turning towards the three girls walking away, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Vut has gotten into zose girls? Especially Lulu. I had no idea zat ze leader of Platinum City was--”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, looking away in anger. “It was a stupid idea to ask for their help. Trixie regrets coming here in the first place.”

“So… who else should we try to contact?”

“None of them. Marrow is just going to tell the other girls not to join us, and they all trust her judgement a lot more than they trust mine. Let’s just go.”

This whole trip turned out to be a bust. We travelled all the way to Manehattan just to be a few moments away from a fight, all because we thought we could somehow convince one girl to join our side. If we had just been able to talk to Fleur in private, there was still the possibility of being able to bring her to our side, but after everything that just happened, there would be no way to convince her now.

Finally, with my head hung low, I put my hands in my jacket pockets and began walking away. Photo Finish obviously wanted to at least come up with another strategy before we left, but I didn’t want to be there anymore. What point was there in staying?

“Wait.”

I turned my head and looked at Photo Finish, but for some reason, she shrugged her shoulders in confusion. That’s when I realized that the voice hadn’t come from her, and looking just beyond her shoulders, I saw a girl a little bit further down the hallway, closing her locker and looking back at us.

“Umm…?” I mumbled. “Were you… talking to us?”

“Keep your voice down!” she whispered, looking past the corner to make sure none of the fearsome threesome had turned their heads back. Then, after a sigh of relief, she tiptoed discreetly until she knew that the other girls had disappeared beyond earshot. “What exactly were you girls talking about?”

“Oh! Uhhh… We were talking abooouuuttt…”

“Hair accessories!” The girl and I then looked over at Photo Finish with bewildered expressions, making her blush bashfully. “I’m sorry. I thought I vas being useful.”

The girl then turned back towards me, putting her hands on her hips in a way that mimicked the girls who we just saw walk away. She had yellow skin and purple hair white white streaks. Her image was just as perfect as the others, complete with expensive designer earrings and a beautiful pearl necklace. Even with a school uniform, it was obvious that she came from a higher up family just based on how she looked and carried herself about.

“You’re Trixie, aren’t you?”

“Wait… Upper Crust?”

I couldn’t believe I didn’t recognize her sooner! Upper Crust was one of the first friends Lulu made besides Fleur and me when she first moved to Manehattan, and Lulu made sure that the two of us never spoke to each other. I didn’t know her that well besides the fact that she came from a welltodo family, and fortunately, she never bullied me despite the fact that she spent all her time around Lulu Lemon. Even though she was friends with my worst enemy, however, she was nowhere near as close to her as Fleur and Le Blanc were.

“What was Lulu talking about when she brought up magic and powers and such?”

I quickly turned towards Photo Finish, but she held up her hands defensively. “You are on your own for zis one, Mädchen.”

“Please,” she pled, grabbing hold of my hand. “Be honest with me. Does this have something to do with the day Le Blanc was kidnapped?” My jaw dropped in surprise. The day Le Blanc was kidnapped was around when she, Lulu and Fleur De Lis all got their powers. How much did Upper Crust know, exactly? “I just want to know why the three of them having been acting so differently since that day.”

“Different how?” I asked, tilting my head in curiosity.

Upper Crust sighed defeatedly, dropping her gaze in sadness. “We used to be the best of friends. We still are, to a degree, but something changed on the night of Le Blanc’s kidnapping. I don’t understand! Fleur De Lis went with me to find her father while Lulu went after the kidnapper, so why is Fleur so close with them but not me?! I knew something was amiss, but I’ve never been able to figure out why. After the Friendship Games, however, and after discovering that magic truly exists, I didn’t want to rule anything out. That’s what this is about, though, isn’t it? Lulu, Fleur and Le Blanc can all use magic, can’t they?”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”

“Yes,” Photo Finish said bluntly, making me flinch in fear. “It is true. We are magical girls, and so are zey.”

“Photo Finish, Trixie reeeeally thinks this is a bad time to--”

“Zis is ze only time, Trixie. When else are we going to be able to find someone who we can speak so openly about ze game we have coming up? It’s not like we planned on losing our options for literally everyone in Platinum City.”

She was right. Now that we couldn’t recruit Platinum City girls anymore thanks to Marrow’s annoyance with me, we needed to start looking for alternatives, and it wasn’t going to be very often where we could bring up magic so openly. Not only that, but she seemed interested already. We probably wouldn’t even need to push very hard to get her to join us.”

“Platinum City? Where’s that?”

“Photo Finish, do you still have your teleport gem?” The girl beside me quickly pulled out a red necklace from underneath her striped shirt, making me scoff in annoyance. “Why did Discord let you keep yours? He broke mine as soon as I moved to Canterlot.”

“Oh, zis one is new. He gave it to me ven you were stranded in Everfree City.”

“Ladies,” Upper Crust interrupted, switching apprehensive looks between us. “I absolutely adore your accessories, but does this have anything to do with what we were talking about a moment ago?”

I nodded my head. “Do you think you’d be OK missing your first class?”

Upper Crust chuckled boisterously. “Darling, I’ve been looking for an excuse all morning.”

“Then hold onto my hand. You’ve never seen anything like what you’re about to.”

Upper Crust did as I said while Photo Finish’s gem began to glow, but right before we disappeared, I saw a figure hiding in the shadows, smiling deviously. Before I had the chance to examine any further, however, the lights around us began to change color, and we were already on our way to Platinum City. My first time back in over a year...

Author's Note

Fifth day of Trixmas

G&PT: 2 magical girls (Photo Finish and Upper Crust)
Last Gambit: 2 magical girls (Vignette Valencia and Adagio Dazzle)

Chapter 8

☆☆☆

Last Gambit

☆☆☆

It took her long enough.

When I first decided to follow them, I was really just trying to find out which Platinum City girls were going to decide to join Trixie’s team, but never in a million years did I think they were all going to say no! There was still that girl that they brought with them to Platinum City that I would need to look out for, though, even if she looked like she wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Besides Palette, it looked like all of Trixie’s choices were going to be newbies, leaving me to pick up exactly where they left off.

Crystal Prep Academy had some of the best students in the country, which meant that there had to be girls here who would be able to pick up magic with no problems. It probably would be a good idea to stay away from those scary girls from Platinum City, though. I was holding out hope when I got there that maybe I would be able to bring over some of Trixie’s friends over to my side, but after seeing how mean they were, I didn’t want anything to do with them. Where else could I look, though? Where would I even start?

“Seriously? Watch where you’re going.”

“I’m sorry. I just--”

“Just what?”

I quickly pressed my back to the corner of the wall, slowly leaning my face past the threshold to see what was going on without the kids on the other side being able to see me. It was two girls, one down on her knees, picking up a textbook from the ground while the other girl stood over her with her hands on her hips, glaring down at her with malice on her face. The girl standing up had light turquoise skin with short mulberry hair, carrying herself with total confidence. The girl on the floor, however, was the exact opposite, wearing large glasses held together by tape with her reddish purple hair pulled back on top of her head.

“I don’t know what else you want me to say,” the girl on the floor said bluntly. “I didn’t see you. I’ll watch where I’m going next time.”

“Next time? What about right now? Do you think you can just mess up all you want and expect everyone to just pretend like it never happened? How selfish can you get?”

Wow. Were all the girls at Crystal Prep this mean? I pulled my head back just in case the girls looked over in my direction, waiting for them to start their conversation back up before I decided to spy on them some more.

“Listen, Sunny Flare. Can I go now? We’re obviously going around in circles.”

“What did you say?!”

Wait, was Sunny Flare about to hit that girl? I felt myself leaning my face further and further past the corner, but I couldn’t hold back my curiosity from getting the better of me. Finally, the girl on the floor picked up her book and stood up, looking Sunny Flare in the eye as she scowled back at her. There was actually going to be a fight! I couldn’t wait!

“We both know you’re not going to hit me,” the girl said, tipping her glasses back.

“Oh, yeah?! How do you know that?!”

“Because you would be expelled from Crystal Prep, and we both know you wouldn’t do something that stupid.”

“I’ll only get caught if you snitch me out, and we both know you don’t want to do that.”

The two girls continued to glare at each other, one of them getting angrier by the second while the other looked ready to be done with the whole conversation. Sunny Flare had a good point, though! This girl was getting way too cocky for her own good, and it looked like she was going to get what she had coming to her. I was practically salivating from how excited I was to see an actual school fight, but suddenly, the other girl turned away and bluntly said, “Good bye, Sunny Flare.”

“OH, COME ON!”

Both students then turned in my direction, but hopefully I had pulled my head away before either of them saw me. Fortunately for me, however, after a couple seconds of silence, I heard Sunny Flare scoffing, apparently returning to the conversation they were just having.

“Whatever. Just don’t forget your place here, Moon Dancer. Then maybe you could make some friends for once.”

“I don’t need friends. Now get out of my way. I have to go return this book, if you don’t mind.”

I could hear footsteps approaching and quickly hid behind another row of lockers, barely missing Sunny Flare as she walked by. Then, once she was gone, I looked back at that girl Moon Dancer, who was already walking in the other direction. I couldn’t believe how much she was able to fend for herself, even though she was powerless, even though she had nobody on her side. If what Sunny Flare said was right, that she had no friends, then I had a feeling that this Moon Dancer girl may have been just the kind of girl I was looking for.

I then followed her all the way to the school library, which was probably the most humongous library I’ve ever seen, and Moon Dancer was navigating through their dewey decimal system like it was her house. After returning her book to the librarian, she then pulled out another armful of books off from various shelves and pulled out a seat at a nearby table. Now all I had to do was find a way to make friends with her, but judging by how well she functioned without them, I was probably going to need to think differently than I would with anyone else.

After taking a look at what she was reading, I then pulled out a book on the history of economics, pranced over to her table and sat down directly across from her. I was pretending to be looking up a specific section, but I could see out of the corner of my eye that she was looking up from her book to glare at me. Then, I went back to reading, giving her about three minutes of total silence until I finally reached over and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Excuse me,” I said, seeing her flinch as soon as she felt my touch.

“What?” she whispered in annoyance.

“This book about economics is sooo interesting, but I’m having such a hard time figuring out what this little graph thingy means. You look really smart. Could you help explain it to me?”

The girl looked over at the graph on the page, then looked me in the eye with a dull stare. “Are you telling me you don’t understand basic supply and demand equilibriums? I think that book might be a little too complicated for you.”

“Oh, goodness! You think so? All this stuff is so interesting to me, but I just can’t seem to wrap my head around it sometimes.”

“Yeah. I can see that.”

The girl in the glasses then looked back down at her book, moving her head around the page until she found where she had left off. It was so cute how she thought I was going to leave her alone after that.

“I saw your fight with Sunny Flare this morning.”

The girl groaned just quietly enough to not draw a throng of shushes from the people around us trying to study. “You don’t even go here! Why are you bothering me?!”

“Golly! I didn’t know I was making you upset! That’s too bad. I was hoping I’d be able to help you with your equations over there.”

I then closed my book and stood up, subtly smiling down at her as she suddenly scrambled to look over her math homework, switching glances between her equations and the textbook. “My equations aren’t wrong!”

“Did you remember to square x?”

Again, Moon Dancer looked down at her paper, then looked back up at me with her eyes squinting. “...How did you find that?”

Because I erased it when she dropped her protractor earlier.

“Oh, there’s lots of things I could help you with, Moon Dancer.”

“...How do you know my name?”

“Because you and me are a lot more similar than you might realize. We’ve both been picked on our whole life, and even though we might try to pretend like it never bothered us, it’s made us hate people who we think are inferior to us. What’s the point of friendship if it doesn’t get you what you want? I think you know that better than anyone.”

Moon Dancer was still glaring at me, but she was doing so with an eyebrow raised in curiosity. I had her right where I wanted her.

“That’s nice and all, but I seriously doubt you could give me anything that books couldn’t give me, so I’d appreciate it if you left me alone now. After all, don’t you have your own school to go to?”

“Actually, I think I have something that you want more than anything else in the whole world.” Moon Dancer had already brought her face down to her book by this point, but I could see her looking at me through the corners of her eyes. “Have you ever studied the science of magic?”

I was really hoping that one would work, but Moon Dancer just sighed defeatedly, returning her gaze to the page in front of her. “That’s illogical. There is no ‘science of magic.’ Magic is just what we use to describe the phenomena of science that we can’t explain yet, and if we can’t explain it, there’s been no research done on it. Now will you please leave me alone?”

What the hell? Didn’t these girls know that magic was real after what happened last year?

“Don’t you remember the friendship games?”

“No, I didn’t attend. While everyone else was busy cheering on their school in some pointless competition, I was broadening my understanding of the anatomy of plant cells.”

“Well... why do you think Principal Cinch was fired?!”

“Probably because she used corporal punishment! It’s not like we didn’t all see it coming. It was only a matter of time before the rest of the faculty caught on.”

“Dude, is that what you think happened at the friendship games?”

Suddenly, the whole library was shushing in our direction, not because of me or Moon Dancer, but because some other girl had unwelcomingly joined in on our conversation. Her hair was three different shades of green, the sleeves on her school uniform were rolled up past her elbows, she was wearing an entire assortment of eye shadow, and she somehow managed to hear our conversation through her large, wireless headphones. She then took a seat beside me, making Moon Dancer roll her eyes with another groan.

“What do you want, Lemon Zest?”

“Seriously, bro! Principal Cinch was fired after she went berserk over at CHS. She got Twilight to do some kind of magic thing that made her go crazy and nearly destroy the world. How did you know Prin Cin got fired, though, shrimpy? You have a sister who goes here or something?”

Because I was there. I was only doing my part as a magical girl, waiting in the shadows, ready to take over the situation until Sunset Shimmer stepped in and calmed things down, but that’s not exactly the easiest thing to talk about with two complete strangers.

“Uhhh, yes! I had a sister who went here. She didn’t have any friends, though. You probably never met her.”

“Is all this really necessary?” Moon Dancer asked, pulling our attention back towards her. “Look, I don’t really care why Principal Cinch was fired. She was a terrible woman, and she got what she had coming for her. I don’t care what you two say about magic. It doesn’t exist, and even if it did, I doubt you would be able to teach me much about it.”

“If you don’t believe it’s real, then why do you think Twilight transferred schools?”

Both Lemon Zest and Moon Dancer looked back at me, and honestly, I was pulling at straws at this point. I just figured that since she and Twilight were both bookworms, maybe they knew each other somehow. For all I knew, though, the two of them had never even met, but Lemon Zest did just bring up her name like it was common knowledge.

“Oh, yeah, man! It was so crazy! Twilight turned into this monster with wings and a horn and started blowing stuff up! I was all like, ‘The quiet girl’s attacking the school! I heard about this stuff in the news, but I never thought it would happen to me!’ But she ended up transferring because she liked the kids there or something.”

“...Did all that stuff really happen to Twilight?” Moon Dancer’s question caught me off guard, but not as much as the reaction that came after it. With her hand balling up into a fist, she smacked down on the table, making both Lemon Zest and me flinch. “Dammit! She’s always one step ahead of me! Whenever I think I’m catching up with her, she pulls ahead with some new genius discovery! Oh, I think I’m catching up when I discover how string theory relates to quantum fields, but then she learns how to harness freaking magic?! How am I supposed to compete with that?!”

The whole library was looking at us now, but they seemed to be too intimidated to try and silence Moon Dancer’s loud voice.

“Whoa,” Lemon Zest said, holding out her hands calmly. “Chill, bro.”

“You don’t know what it’s like, Lemon Zest. Sure, you pay attention in class most of the time. Sure, you do your homework and get by with decent grades, but you’ve never put in the hours that I’ve put in, always to be second best to someone who was just born with talent! While you’re busy listening to music and hanging out with your friends, I’m here studying, trying to compete with the top students in my class, but it’s JUST! NEVER! ENOUGH!”

Lemon Zest looked completely freaked out, like she was about to witness an attack similar to what Twilight had done the year before, but for me, this couldn’t have been a more perfect moment. I had to hide how wide my smile was growing, just because she had walked to perfectly into my hands.

I looked around to make sure everyone had gone back to their studying while Moon Dancer buried her face into her hands. “Sounds to me like you were actually on pace to surpass Twilight before the whole magic thing happened,” I said. “Wouldn’t it be great if you could surpass her in that too?”

She then opened her fingers just enough to see through her hands. “And what can you teach me about magic?”

“Everything!”

Suddenly, Moon Dancer and Lemon Zest were both looking at me in shock.

“Whoa!” the girl in the headphones exclaimed. “You know how magic works?”

I giggled with my chest puffed out. “I may not look like it, but I actually know more about magic than even Twilight Sparkle.”

“Seriously?”

“And how do you know that?” Moon Dancer asked with a skeptic stare.

I was more than ready to tell Moon Dancer, but I was a little nervous about revealing my plan in front of Lemon Zest. Moon Dancer was an easy choice to make part of my team. She was intelligent, analytical, independent, and she wanted to push herself to the next level. Lemon Zest, on the other hand, was a wild card. First of all, I had no idea who she was other than what Moon Dancer said about her being a decent student, nothing out of the ordinary. In a normal situation, I would have dismissed her completely, instead choosing a different girl to make part of my team, but maybe she could still end up being useful. She already had experience dealing with magic (even if she had never used it herself), and she had a sort of optimism unlike any of the other girls I had met at Crystal Prep so far. She was positive, but she wasn’t an idiot.

...at least that’s what I was hoping for.

Leaning my head down so that only they would be able to hear me, I quietly said, “How would you two like to learn how to use magic?”

“Wait, you’re teaching Lemon Zest too?”

“Wait, you’re teaching me too?”

They both spoke in unison, surprised by the exact same idea that I was beginning to regret more and more, but my gut was telling me that I couldn’t pass up on either of them.

“Yes, I want both of you. All I ask is that you come with me to Canterlot, and then I’ll give you both powers that not even Twilight Sparkle has.”

Moon Dancer looked back at Lemon Zest, who shrugged in confusion. I had thrown out my base offer, and if Moon Dancer still didn’t like the terms, I could probably throw Lemon Zest out of the equation and still be fine. She couldn’t resist an offer like this, though. I knew that I was offering her the one thing that she couldn’t get on her own: a positive self-image.

“What do you think?” Moon Dancer asked, turning towards her classmate.

“I dunnooo…” the other girl said, her eyes trailing off to the side. “The whole thing at the friendship games kinda freaked me out. I don’t know if I want to turn into something like that.”

Great. Now they were a joint package and Lemon Zest was the one backing out.

“Did you know that Upper Crust is also learning about magic?” Finally, both of them turned towards me in disbelief. “She started today, and if you don’t believe me, go ahead and try to find her in any of her normal class periods.”

“Upper Crust?” Lemon Zest asked incredulously. “Why her?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” I asked, shaking my head. “Pretty soon, everyone will be able to use magic. You two don’t want to be left in their dust, do you?”

“No way! If Upper Crust is doing it, then I’m doing it!”

It was just that easy. I then turned towards Moon Dancer, and she seemed to share the same sentiment.

“I guess it’s the most logical choice. When do we leave?”

“Right now!”

The two of them looked at each other with the same hesitant fear in their faces, but turning back towards me, they both nodded their heads and stood up from their seats. I could tell that even though they didn’t know exactly what they were getting themselves into, they knew that taking a day off from school to learn magic would be better than playing it safe.

I, on the other hand, was now confident in the choices I had made. On the one hand, Moon Dancer would be the brains of the team, and Lemon Zest would be the easiest to give orders to, which would come in handy in case I ever needed to sacrifice someone in order to survive or give commands that seemed counterintuitive. The more I thought about it, the more confidence I gained in the team I was building.

It was only Friday, and I had almost my entire group set in stone. Now I had even more time to train up my magical girls while Trixie and Palette were stuck looking for more members. I only needed one more, and then my team would be complete. Then, Autumn Blaze would be free, and I would finally have my revenge on the girl who killed my only friend.

Author's Note

Sixth day of Trixmas

G&PT: 2 magical girls (Photo Finish and Upper Crust)
Last Gambit: 4 magical girls (Vignette Valencia, Adagio Dazzle, Moon Dancer and Lemon Zest)

Chapter 9

☆☆☆

Great and Powerful Trixie

☆☆☆

“Sorry, Trixie.”

“Hey, no hard feelings, yeah?”

“Could we just forget about some of those things I said the other day? I didn’t mean them.”

“I baked you a cake as an apology!”

It looked like Cozy Glow actually followed through with the promise she made to get the kids at school to stop bullying me. I didn’t know what she told them--although I would probably find out later--but ever since I arrived at school, even after missing the first half of the day, everyone around me had started acting much nicer than the days before. Whereas they were calling me a bitch and throwing me to the floor just a day prior, now they were throwing their apologies at me, even offering to do me favors so that I would forgive them. It was nice, but it still didn’t feel like I deserved it. After all, my mom was the biggest victim of all, and I still had no idea what she would say when I eventually came home. The only thing I knew for sure was that I doubted it would be any good.

The one who was most happy to see me, however…

“Trixie! I’m so glad to see you!”

...was the person who never doubted me in the first place.

The moment Flash Sentry saw me walking into the cafeteria, he immediately attacked me with a giant hug, nearly making me fall over backwards in his embrace. I wanted to hug him back, but my arms were too busy sticking out like a tree, wobbling back and forth as I tried to keep my balance.

“I was so worried,” he continued, holding onto my arms as he looked into my eyes with concern. “I didn’t see you at school at all yesterday, and after I heard you weren’t here this morning, I--”

I wanted to let him finish, I really did, but seeing him so worried about me made me giggle hysterically, cutting him off before he could even tell me what he thought happened.

“Did you really think that I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, would let a couple bad days at school prevent her from gracing the school with her presence?”

“Then… why weren’t you here this morning?”

Crap! How did I not come up with an excuse for that yet?

“Well, you see… uh…”

“We missed ze bus!”

Not exactly the best excuse in the world, but it would have to do. “Y-yeah! What Photo Finish said. We missed the bus.”

Flash Sentry raised an eyebrow. “And it took you until now to get here?”

“Yes. Trixie was staying at Photo Finish’s house last night, and she lives really far away.”

“You know, you could have called. I would have driven--”

“But enough about us!” I intervened before he could accidentally walk us into a verbal contradiction. “Actually, Photo Finish and I were having a friendly debate about something we were hoping you would be able to answer for us.”

“We ver?” I quickly elbowed Photo Finish in the gut, causing her to suddenly get the clue before she ruined my plan. “Oh, yes! Ze debate! Er… Perhaps you would prefer to ask him, Mädchen.”

“Right. So, theoretically, if everyone in the school somehow gained magical powers and had to fight each other to the death, who do you think would win? Hypothetically, of course.”

Photo Finish palmed her face, shaking her head in embarrassment, even though I thought that my question at least put us on the right track. This way he wouldn’t know that we were specifically looking to recruit magical girls, but he could still point us in a direction we could use to find our next selection. There were still only two girls on the team other than myself so far, and we needed five if we wanted to stand any chance against Cozy Glow, who would no doubt have met the maximum number of girls she was allowed to select.

Flash Sentry, though, looked confused by the question. Understandable. It was kinda out of left field, but immediately afterward, he smiled wide with confidence.

“That’s an easy one. I think Twilight would win.”

“Twilight Sparkle,” I groaned through gritted teeth, clenching my fists in annoyance. Of course he had to pick my rival of all people. “Any particular reason you chose her?”

“Well, I guess now that you mention it, Sunset Shimmer would be a good choice too. I just chose Twilight ‘cause my mind automatically went to the Twilight from the other world, but now that I think about it, our Twilight hasn’t exactly been raised on magic like Sunset Shimmer has.”

I immediately turned to my side and looked over at Photo Finish, who put a finger to her mouth, thinking deeply until she eventually nodded her head. Come to think of it, he was probably right, even if I hated to admit it. Twilight and Sunset had more experience controlling real life magic than probably anyone else in Equestria, even if their version of magic came from a totally different world. Plus, as far as I knew, they were willing to help anyone who needed them, making them the best chance we had at putting together a legitimately powerful team.

“Thanks, Flash. Oh, and by the way, you wouldn’t happen to know where they are right now, would you?”

Flash then shook his head sympathetically. “Sorry. I can’t say that I’ve seen ‘em. Back a year ago, we’d usually be able to tell where anyone was during lunchtime just based on which table they sat at, but after Twilight united the whole school, it’s always a mystery who will be sitting next to who.”

Just as quickly as my hopes had grown, they were shot right back down, leaving me to slump my shoulders in disappointment. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if we at least had more time to work with, but the day was already halfway over on Friday. Once school let out that afternoon, I had no idea who I’d be able to talk to until Monday at the earliest, the day the game was set to begin!

“Oh,” I said mournfully. “I guess you wouldn’t know where everyone is all the time, huh?”

Flash could probably tell how anxious I was, however, since his very next words were, “But I can tell you where they’ll probably be after school!”

“Really? Where?!”

I had changed my demeanor so quickly that I had probably made Flash uncomfortable, but at the same time, I couldn’t hold back my enthusiasm. If we got both of them to join us, we would only need to find one more girl to join us, and there was a good chance that one of them had to have another idea of who else could join our team.

“Sunset Shimmer is the head of the yearbook committee. They normally hold their meetings after school on Fridays, so you’ll probably find both of them there this afternoon.”

“Thank you!” I then leapt forward, embracing him with all the emotion that had been building up over the past couple of days, but once I saw his face blushing while he combed his hand through his hair, I quickly pulled away, tracing circles on the ground with my foot. “I mean, *ahem* the Grrrreat and Powerful Trixie owes you her gratitude. Come, Photo Finish. We have work to do.”

“Uhh, can I ask one thing, though?”

Just as Photo Finish and I had begun walking away, though, we turned to see Flash scratching his head, deep in thought. “Was there any particular reason you asked me who would win a fight to the death?”

Shoot! How was I supposed to respond to that? Was the fact that it was theoretical not good enough for him?

“Because… Um… Uh… No. We had literally no reason for asking that question.”

Flash Sentry blinked in confusion.

“O… K…? Well, I hope you guys find them alright. I gotta go eat before lunch is over. I’ll catch you guys later.”

It wasn’t exactly the greatest way to end a conversation in the world, but it at least settled things without us giving away the idea of an actual death battle in real life. With both of us waving to each other, Flash left to sit down with some rocker kids while Photo Finish and I sat down at the only unoccupied table in the cafeteria, taking out a piece of paper so that we could brainstorm other ideas of who to add to our magical girl troop. We were on the right track… I hoped. All we could do was plan to the best of our abilities and hope that Sunset and Twilight agreed to join our game.

If they didn’t, though, we would be severely and hilariously outmatched come Monday.

By the time the final bell rang, I had probably experienced--and this isn’t an exaggeration--over one hundred apologies from all the students at CHS over how they’d acted over the past couple of days. Some of them just said they were sorry whereas others went to lengths such as offering to buy me gifts as reparation for the names they’d called me or what they said about me. As it turned out, Cozy Glow sent a mass text to as many people as she could, saying that someone else spread the rumor about her as a joke and that she was totally fine. I hated to admit it, but I was actually enjoying all the attention I was getting now that the torment was over.

Moving beyond that, though, Photo Finish had created a list of a little over a half dozen names of girls who we could potentially add to our team, two of which we were already on our way to see. If the other names didn’t work out, though, we had no leads for any other girls we could possibly recruit. We needed at least someone to pull through for us right here and now.

Once the two of us arrived at the classroom where the yearbook club met, I immediately burst through the door and exclaimed, “The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to speak to the yearbook editor immediately!”

I was hoping my entrance would garner some attention, but sadly, there were apparently only two people in the room to even notice me. The good news, though, was that these were the exact two people I wanted to find, even though they both seemed less than enthused by my great and powerful entrance.

“Unfortunately for me, that’s me,” said Sunset, putting down a sheet of paper and walking towards me with a sigh. “What do you want, Trixie?”

I was a little nervous that the two of them might have still been mad at me about the whole event with Cozy Glow, but luckily, it seemed like they were more unimpressed than they were angry. I just needed to not screw up the presentation to get them to join Team Trixie, which was already beginning to make me nervous.

“As you may know, Trixie is the most talented magician in all of Canterlot High School--”

“We know. Sorry, but does this have something to do with the showcase? Because we’re trying to get a lot done right now. Everyone else in the yearbook committee needed to take this whole week off, so we’re kind of shorthanded around here.”

“Oh! Sorry. Did you two need any help?”

Sunset started looking over all the pages scattered around the room, but Twilight seemed to have a better idea on how everything was organized. “We should be fine,” Twilight said, “just so long as we stay focused. Honestly, we would probably be saving time just by not having to explain what to have you work on. Oh, and thanks for all the work you’ve done, Photo Finish. We really appreciate having all these pictures for the yearbook.”

“Actually,” my friend said, turning everyone’s heads towards hers, “we were hoping zat we could ask ze two of you a favor.”

“Sure,” Sunset said, putting all of her papers back down on her table. “What can we do to help?”

“You might want to hear what the favor is before the two of you decide to say yes,” I added, rubbing my knuckles anxiously.

Sunset Shimmer and Twilight both raised an eyebrow, but smiled nonetheless. “Honestly, after all that Photo Finish has done to contribute to the yearbook, there’s no way we could say no, even if it does end up keeping us here longer.”

“Heheh. Heheh. About that…”

I slowly began to back up behind Photo Finish, allowing her to make our pitch before I completely screwed things up for the both of us.

“We can use magic,” Photo Finish said bluntly, making both of the other girls’ eyes widen. “It is a special kind of magic, unlike ze magic zat ze two of you are used to from ze other world.”

“Wait,” Sunset said, rubbing her forehead in confusion. “You mean you can use magic, but not like the kind from my Equestria?”

“I’m suspicious as well,” Twilight added, tilting her glasses. “Not only am I curious about where your magic came from, but I’m also wondering how you can use it.”

I still wasn’t so sure exactly how we’d be able to explain it to them. We couldn’t very well show them in the middle of the school, but I doubted we would be able to tell them that some magical dragon thing gave us powers after we told him who we had a crush on.

“Well, do you remember the friendship games?” I asked, making Twilight flinch from the memory. “Right, well, it’s kind of like that, only we just get one power, and that power stays with us for the rest of our lives. The two of us got our powers from a magical creature from a different dimension, kind of like how Sunset came from a dimension of her own.”

“And unfortunately,” Photo Finish continued, “zer are more dimensions zan ze two of you may realize. One of zem is connected to Canterlot, and it is currently holding a creature much like ze one who gave us our powers. If she manages to break loose, however, we believe zat she will destroy everyzing in her path on her way to Manehattan, and if zat happens, ze entire world could be her battlefield.”

“Why Manehattan?” Twilight asked.

“Because that’s where Discord lives,” I replied.

“Who’s Discord?” Sunset asked with her head tilted to the side.

“Ugh. Trixie is starting to get a headache.”

As soon as we answered one question, it just led to the next. The easiest way would just be to show them, but we couldn’t just call Discord over to explain everything while we were still at school! We needed to get them to say yes now and explain everything once we got them to Platinum City, but how would we do that when they were still so stuck in the dark about what magical girls even were?

“I think I understand,” Twilight said, making my stressed brain breathe a sigh of fresh air. “So what you’re saying is, there’s a monster with magic unlike normal Equestrian magic who’s on the brink of attacking everything from Canterlot to Manehattan, right?” I nodded vigorously, but Twilight was still rubbing her chin pensively. “Well, what did you need our help for? If it’s in another dimension, I don’t know how we would go about stopping it, even if we did know how to access Equestrian magic on our own.”

“But what about what you did at ze games?” Photo Finish asked, turning towards Sunset Shimmer.

“It’s true that the magic of friendship has been able to solve all of our problems so far, but I don’t know if we would be able to stop a monster from another dimension using that alone. I guess it could work in theory, but I’m nervous about putting the fate of Equestria in the hands of magic that has only been used to stop minor problems. We’ve never tested it on a scale that big before.”

“Und unfortunately, we do not have much time to worry. Starting Monday, Trixie and I will be competing in a game zat will determine whezer or not ze creature vill be set free, and seeing as how you two know about magic more zan anyone else here in Canterlot…” Then, bowing down on one knee and bowing her head, Photo Finish humbly said, “...we need your help.”

Both Sunset and Twilight bit their lips nervously, looking back at each other and back to Photo Finish over and over. I wanted to tell them not to worry about it, that we could just find someone else, but the fate of Equestria really did depend on the two of them joining our team. We needed them if we ever hoped to win. There was just no other way around it.

“What exactly do you want us to do?” Sunset asked.

“Become magical girls like us,” I pled, grabbing hold of Sunset’s hands. “You’ll each get a power just like the kind we have. Trixie doesn’t want to sound desperate, but without you two… we don’t know if we’ll be able to win on our own.”

“And I’m guessing this game isn’t something easy like chess or tic-tac-toe,” Twilight said with a nervous laugh.

“No… It’s a death game.”

““WHAT?!””

“Calm down, ladies,” Photo Finish said, rising to her feet. “You vill both be brought back to life by ze end of ze day if either of you die. Trixie, on ze other hand, vill not be so lucky…”

Both Sunset and Twilight turned their heads urgently towards my face, but I couldn’t look at them. I couldn’t force them to join a game just because my life was on the line; I had too much pride for that. I wanted them to join because they wanted to save Equestria, the exact motivation that everyone should have before becoming a magical girl. Unfortunately, though, now they knew, and even if it meant helping the world in the long run, I would still feel guilty about pushing them into my problems, no matter how severe they were.

“Oh, my gosh…” Twilight said, walking towards me while I continued looking away. “Trixie… I had no idea…”

“And Photo Finish shouldn’t have brought it up!” I exclaimed, glaring at Photo Finish, whose expression never changed. “Girls, if you do this, I don’t want it to be because of me.”

“How could it not?” Sunset asked, wielding an empathetic smile. “We can’t just turn our backs on someone who could potentially die without our help, especially if she’s a friend.”

Finally, I looked up at Sunset Shimmer, not because of what she said, but because I could feel her hand on my shoulder, smiling down at me with the most comforting expression I could imagine. I had to hold myself back from crying, just because in the over seventeen years that I had been alive, I had never had someone who was truly there for me when I needed them. I had always felt like I was a problem, an outcast, a narcissist, but right there, in that moment, I finally knew what it was like to have a true, true friend.

“We’ll help you, Trixie. We both will.”

Suddenly, I couldn’t keep it in anymore. I immediately wrapped Sunset into the tightest hug I could muster, crying into her shoulder while she patted my back, holding me just as tight as I was holding her. Then, in the next moment, Twilight was joining in on the hug, making me bawl even louder. I felt so vulnerable, like I would be completely destroyed if they said this was all one big prank, but by the same token, I was ready to take that chance. I wanted to feel this happy for the rest of my life.

Finally, once I released the two girls from my grip and wiped away my tears, Sunset put her hands to her hips and said, “So where do we start?”

Oh, right. That was gonna be another hurdle.

“Weeeeeelllll, you could start by coming with us to Manehattan.”

““WHAT?!””

“We vould not ask unless it was necessary,” Photo Finish replied, but Twilight and Sunset’s mouths wouldn’t move from their place on the floor.

Eventually, though, Sunset was able to compose herself enough to sigh and say, “Well, can we at least get our yearbook stuff done first? We’re kind of on a time crunch here.”

“Of course!” I said, bashfully tiptoeing away, but before I made my way out the door, Photo Finish tapped me on the shoulder, reminding me of one more key details. “Oh, right! Before we leave, could you two just look over our list of potential magical girls and see if any of them stick out to you?”

I then pulled a sheet of paper out of my backpack, handing it to the two girls while they examined the paper closely. Sunset grabbed onto the paper with a raised eyebrow, physically jerking her head back as Twilight squinted her eyes and readjusted her glasses.

“These are…”

“Yeah…”

“List of Potential Magical Girls…”

Sunset Shimmer
Twilight Sparkle
Rainbow Dash
Applejack
Pinkie Pie
Rarity
Fluttershy

“These are all our friends,” Twilight said, reexamining the paper.

“Do you think any of them would work?” I asked. “We only need one.”

Again, they looked over the paper, but the more time they looked at the list, the more they shook their heads.

“As much as we trust in our friends,” Sunset began, “they each have their own flaws. If it’s something this serious, maybe if we got them all to come together--”

“No,” Photo Finish said, cutting her off. “Ze rules of ze game say zat we may only have five players on each side, not including Trixie.”

I seriously regretted not accepting Cozy Glow’s original ruleset of allowing ten players, but there was no way to take that back now. There was no way I could have known that it would come back to hurt me, and for all I knew, maybe it was even better this way somehow. The only problem was that Sunset and Twilight were both scratching their heads, trying to pick a single name from the list now that their options had been severely limited.

“I’ll tell you what,” Sunset said, handing the paper back to me. “I’ll talk to Princess Twilight tonight and see what she says about it. Then we can meet up tomorrow and go over what our strategy is. Does that sound alright with you two?”

That sounded perfect! But I couldn’t break my character again. I gave myself the rule that I would only allow myself one emotional episode per day maximum.

“Trixie supposes that will do,” I said, putting my hands to my hips. “Very well, then. We’ll meet you out by the courtyard as soon as the two of you are finished with your yearbook activities. In the meantime, Photo Finish and I will be mulling over more possibilities that we could add to the list. Are you ready to go, Photo Finish?”

“Yes. We go.”

Photo Finish and I then turned towards the door to leave, but before I left, I saw Twilight rubbing her chin, thinking very deeply about something.

“Are… you OK, Twi?” I asked hesitantly.

“Huh? Oh! Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just… have any of you girls heard anything?”

I tried thinking of any point in the conversation where I would have heard something out of the ordinary, but nothing came to mind.

“Like what?” Sunset asked, to which Twilight just shook her head.

“No, I’m sure it was nothing. We’ll talk to you in a little bit, Trixie.”

I wanted to ask her further about it, but at the same time, they were obviously in the middle of a time crunch. I would be able to ask her about it later, and maybe by then she would know what it was. Instead, I waved good bye and started walking out the exit again, just to see Photo Finish standing a few feet outside the doorway.

“Hm? Something the matter?”

“Hello, Great and Powerful Trixie.”

I should have guessed.

Turning my head to the side, I finally noticed a small freshman girl leaning on the lockers beside the door to the yearbook club. She was folding her arms with a large smirk on her face, and there was little doubt that she had been listening in on our conversation.

“What do you want, Cozy Glow?”

“Me?” she asked innocently, pointing a finger in her own direction. “Gosh, I don’t really need anything. I was just hoping to say hello and maybe even catch up! Did you two manage to find any new team members since yesterday?”

“Do not answer her, Mädchen.”

Photo Finish held out her hand to stop me, but now that I only had one girl left to find, I wanted to rub it in her face. She probably hadn’t expected me to find a single girl in the span of one day, and I was about to show her just how great a job the two of us had done.

“Actually,” I began, “the two of us have already found four girls for Team Trixie. You have permission to be amazed now.”

“Really? You have that many?” She was speaking with such excited bewilderment, but in the next moment, her tone returned to the normal snarky Cozy Glow that I knew was beneath it all. “Tough titties, ladies. I’ve already found all five of mine.”

“What?!”

There was no way! I knew that she was good at getting people on her side, but she’d already found all five of her teammates?!

“Who are zey?”

As Photo Finished posed the question, Cozy Glow wagged her index finger back and forth, shaking her head. “Can’t tell you that, and actually, I’d like to make an addendum to our ruleset.”

“You can’t just change the rules!” I exclaimed. “We’ve already agreed on them!”

Cozy Glow groaned. “Relaaaax! I’m only going to change the rules if you both agree on them.”

“So what are zese rules you speak of?”

“I’m glad you asked, Palette! The new rules are simple: before the game starts, we give each other a descriptive list of each girl’s powers, but we’ll keep their identity hidden behind their new names, just like regular magical girls. If they want to give away their identity like you did, that’s fine, but they’re not required to.”

Photo Finish scoffed. “You really think zat we vould just give you a list of our teammates’ powers?”

“Hang on a second Photo Finish,” I said, holding out my hand while I thought deeply about all the different variables. “Trixie thinks we should agree to this idea.”

“Vas?! Why vould we do zat?!”

“Think about it. This is a game of strategy, not power. If we want to out-strategize them, it behooves us to get as much information about them as we can, even if it means giving up some information ourselves.”

“If I were you, I’d listen to Trixie,” Cozy Glow said snarkily. “From what Autumn Blaze told me, she was the top killer in that death game that Discord put you girls through a couple years ago.”

Photo Finish glared, but ultimately looked towards me for approval. Even if this was walking right into Cozy Glow’s hands, I couldn’t say no to an opportunity to learn more about who our enemies were supposed to be.

“Fine. We vill accept ze terms.”

“Oh, that’s just super dee duper! I’ll send an update for our magical phones as soon as your team is complete. Oh, and this just goes without saying...”

Cozy Glow’s face then contorted into the most sick and twisted grin I’d ever seen.

“...If Trixie or I die any time between now and when the game ends, her team immediately forfeits.”

It wasn’t an additional rule; it was an extension of one of the rules already set in place. The rule was that the game ends when either Cozy Glow or I die, but that meant that if either of us died before the game even started, the results were official before anyone could even fight. The same logic also applied to dying in between game sessions. I knew that she was planning something, but this was probably why she wanted us to keep the girls’ identities secrets. That way they couldn’t be used as bait to draw out their captain.

“Trixie understands, and if that’s all you have to say, we’ll be leaving now.”

“Toodaloo! I’ll see you girls Monday!”

Photo Finish was hesitant about leaving things unsettled like that, but I continued walking away until she finally decided to catch up with me. There was really nothing left to resolve anyway.

Starting tomorrow, we’d have our fifth magical girl. I would make sure of it.

Author's Note

Seventh day of Trixmas

G&PT: 4 magical girls (Photo Finish, Upper Crust, Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer)
Last Gambit: 5 magical girls (Vignette Valencia, Adagio Dazzle, Moon Dancer, Lemon Zest and ????)

Chapter 10

☆☆☆

Last Gambit

☆☆☆

“I’ll just finish up!”

“Whoops, forgot to turn out the lights.”

*Click*

“...in the dark.”

Finally, two hours after Trixie and Photo Finish left Twilight and Sunset Shimmer to finish up with their yearbook editing, the two were finally done, exiting the room and turning out the lights behind them. Neither Twilight nor Sunset thought about locking the door before they left, but even if they had, they would have forgotten one key detail. Or rather, they wouldn’t have even noticed one key detail.

Actually, when I told Trixie that I had already found all five of my magical girls, I was only telling a half truth. It was true that I had a hard commitment on four of the five girls that I needed, but the last girl I had my eye on hadn’t agreed to anything yet, even though I already knew that I could get her to say yes.

As soon as Twilight and Sunset had walked around the corner, leaving the yearbook room behind them, I quickly swooped in and turned the lights back on, illuminating the room as I searched for my target. Unlike the girls who were here earlier, I had found her in less than a second, a girl who had been sitting in the room the entire time while Trixie was talking to the others, a girl who nobody even noticed. Of course, she saw me walk in immediately, but rather than confront me or greet me, she just gave me a dull stare and went back to working on whatever task she had in front of her. She probably had no idea who I was yet, but she was about to.

“Hi!” I exclaimed, making her flinch and drop all of her papers to the floor. She then looked back at my wide smile and nervously bent down to pick up the papers she had dropped onto the floor. “What were you doing here in the dark?”

The girl then gave me a strange look, examining me up and down with confusion written all over her face. “You…” she began quietly. “You can see me?”

Of course I could see her, and maybe if Trixie (or anyone from earlier) had paid a little more attention, they would have been able to see her too. She had light green skin and dark green hair, wearing a turtleneck striped sweater and regular pants that any of the kids would be found wearing. She was so normal, but maybe it was because she was so normal, so average, so ordinary, that nobody even noticed she was there, sometimes even looking straight through her like they didn’t even know she existed.

“Well, of course I can see you! You’re not invisible or anything!”

The girl chuckled, picking up her last paper from off the floor. “I feel like it sometimes. Anyway, I was just finishing up some last minute details for the yearbook club. I guess the others just didn’t notice that I was still here and decided to turn off the lights before they left… They also didn’t notice that I was here at all today… or that I’ve been part of the yearbook club all year…”

“Golly! That sounds horrible! Have you tried talking to them?”

“I have, but they usually just talk over me. I was really hoping that Twilight was going to notice I was here after she heard my voice a little bit ago. Turns out she just ignored it… like everyone else has… the whole time I’ve been alive…”

This girl began to frown more and more as she continued to speak, which made it harder and harder to keep myself from laughing just because of how perfect this was. She was exactly the kind of person I was looking for to fill that last slot, a person who wanted to be noticed, someone who needed her powers and would fight to the death in order to keep them. I couldn’t give myself away that easily, though. I needed her to come to me.

“I’m Cozy Glow, by the way!”

“Wallflower Blush. It’s actually kind of nice introducing myself to someone for the first time. As you can imagine, sometimes even the people who have known me for years can’t remember my name.”

The two of us shook hands, and I could tell just by her grip how much her self-esteem had been impacted by others. It was now my responsibility to make her whole again.

“Wait a second! If the other kids in the club didn’t notice you were here, why did they leave you to finish up the work?”

“That’s just it,” Wallflower said sadly, taking a seat by her computer and sorting pictures into files. “There’s so much that goes into this club that the others don’t even know about. I don’t know if they think that the pictures all sort themselves by magic, but never once has anyone in this club wondered how all the extra work gets done around here. Speaking of magic, Twilight and Sunset had to leave to go fix some kind of magic problem again.” Wallflower then folded her arms on her table, laying her head down sadly. “I wish I had magical powers. Maybe then people would notice me.”

There it was! I could finally blow my cover without scaring her off!

“Weeeellll,” I said, rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet, “how would you like to become a magical girl just like them?”

Suddenly, she jerked her head up and gave me a suspicious stare. “That was the word they used! ‘Magical girl!’ How did you know what they were called?”

I giggled haughtily with my chest puffed out. “Because I’m a magical girl myself!”

“Whoa, really? Does that mean you’re gonna be helping Twilight and Sunset with that terrifying monster who’s going to destroy Equestria?”

I wanted to keep the charade going, I really did, but the way that Trixie and her friends had completely destroyed Autumn Blaze’s character was making me so mad that I nearly screamed out of nowhere. I was still able to keep things under control, but my teeth were clenched in anger while my fists shook by my side, an image that did not go unnoticed by Wallflower Blush.

“Uhh, Cozy Glow? Are you alright?”

“...No, Wallflower. No, I’m not.”

The girl in front of me quickly turned off her computer, stood up and approached me with her hands on my shoulders. “What’s going on?” she asked. I was nervous that I was going to blow my cover, but at the same time, nothing made me more mad than what Trixie had done to demonize Autumn Blaze and all of Everfree City’s magical girls.

With a sigh to calm myself down at least a little, I looked into Wallflower’s eyes and said, “There are two kinds of magical girls in the world, Wallflower. Not all magical girls fight for what’s right.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I’m saying is… There’s a real monster out there named Discord.”

“Yeah, Trixie mentioned that name at some point. Who is he?”

“The god of chaos, the creature who Trixie and her friends are trying to protect.”

Wallflower tilted her head in confusion, and rightfully so. She knew that Trixie and the others had been completely thoughtless towards Wallflower her whole life, but she had probably never suspected that they would stoop so low as to protect an actual deity of destruction.

“And what about this other creature?” she asked. “Isn’t it supposed to be trying to destroy Equestria?”

“Her name is Autumn Blaze, and all she wants to destroy is Discord.” Even though all of Equestria might end up becoming their battlefield. She didn’t need to know that part right away, though. “Trixie and her friends are trying to protect Discord, so she’s raising a group of magical girls to keep Autumn Blaze sealed away forever in a parallel world.”

I could see the gears turning in her head as she rubbed her chin, looking off to the side as she tried to process all the information coming at her from every direction. “They did mention parallel worlds, now that I think about it.”

“I’m in charge of keeping Autumn Baze safe. I’m the only magical girl left to protect her… after Trixie killed all of my friends.”

“WHAT?!”

Wallflower immediately backed away, shaking her head like she couldn’t fathom the idea of Trixie doing anything bad. I was going into risky territory by telling her all this, but at the same time, I couldn’t just sit back and let Trixie say all those terrible things after what she’d done.

“Like I said, Wallflower, there are two types of magical girls in the world. The world I’m from is called Everfree City, an extension of Canterlot, and Trixie is from Platinum City, an extension of Manehattan.”

Again, the girl rubbed her chin pensively. “That’s where Twilight and Sunset are going! I have to stop them!”

“Do you really think that’ll work?” By the time I had finished my question, Wallflower had already leapt to her feet and made it all the way to the doorway before freezing where she stood. Even though I did enjoy the possibility of Trixie losing Sunset and Twilight before they became magical girls, I knew that Wallflower wouldn’t be able to do it on her own. “After all, based on what you told me, they wouldn’t even know who you are.”

“So what? Are we just going to stand by and let Trixie manipulate them like that?!”

“I have a better idea.” Finally, Wallflower walked back into the yearbook room, standing in front of me again with skepticism in her eyes. “Why don’t you join me in Everfree City? You could help me free Autumn Blaze so that we can get rid of Discord once and for all, and maybe then we can bring some justice for all my sisters that Trixie killed.”

Wallflower frowned deeply, openly empathizing with me despite how much she obviously didn’t want to believe it. “Did Trixie really do all the things you said? I mean, I knew she was kind of self-centered, but I never thought…” I sadly nodded my head, acting depressed so that I wouldn’t get angry again and scare her off. Then, with a determined expression on her face, she nodded and said, “I’ll do it. I know firsthand how easily they can miss something that’s right in front of them, and if they really think they can get away with killing human beings while keeping the god of chaos alive, then I’ll use my lack of presence to finally do some good in the world!”

Yes!

YES!

YEEESSS!!!!!

In a little over 24 hours, I had managed to solidify my entire team! They each had their own strengths, and I felt like I could count on every single one of them to keep me alive.

Vignette Valencia would help me learn more about the enemy’s personal information, Adagio would be an unwavering soldier, Moon Dancer would be the analyst, Lemon Zest would keep up our morale and Wallflower Blush would be the prime option for sneak attacks and espionage. I couldn’t believe how well-stacked my team was, and we still had an entire weekend to prepare ourselves for the game on Monday! My dream to release Autumn Blaze was finally coming true!

Sticking out my hand, I gave one final warning. “You know, being a magical girl is a serious responsibility. Nobody has ever become a magical girl without getting hurt.”

Wallflower looked hesitant at first, but as I expected, she hardened her resolve, shook my hand and smiled with the utmost confidence. “If it means that we stop Trixie from hurting anybody else, I’ll do whatever it takes.”

I don’t think I had ever been as happy as I was in that moment. Finally, someone understood exactly what I was thinking.

“Wallflower Blush, I think you’re gonna make a great addition to Everfree City.”

☆☆☆

Great and Powerful Trixie

☆☆☆

Just one more. We just needed one more girl to join our team… but who?

When Sunset told us to meet her the next day, I assumed that she meant at a park, the school, or one of our houses. Instead, the place she chose for our meetup was…

“Um… Can you explain to Trixie why we’re meeting in the Canterlot City Mall?”

Instead of laying low and going over our plans discreetly, we were out in the open, surrounded by hundreds of people who could easily overhear our conversations. Not exactly the first place I would have chosen to go over plans on how to find our final member. Plus, as an added bonus, Twilight, Sunset Shimmer, Photo Finish, Upper Crust and I were all there, making the chances of someone hearing our plans skyrocket! I hated to say it, but I wasn’t so sure I would be able to have full confidence in Sunset’s strategy on this one.

“I spoke to Princess Twilight last night about how we’re doing a life or death game that could decide the fate of Equestria and asked if she thought that any of our friends would be a good fit as the last candidate for our team,” Sunset explained, making me tilt my head in confusion.

“And she told you to go shopping?”

“Well, when she finally wrote me back, she said that she wouldn’t have been able to come out of any of her dangerous missions alive without the help of all of her friends.”

“...So she told you to go shopping?”

“She actually told me that she didn’t have any good answers for who we could use as our final member, so she had her student Starlight Glimmer try and give me some suggestions instead.”

“Who then told you to go shopping.”

Sunset groaned in frustration. “No! Starlight said she might have an idea, but she’s kind of a wildcard. Twilight and I both know who she’s talking about, and we were kind of thinking it was kind of a stretch. At the same time, though, we both agreed that she was probably the best idea any of us had in mind.”

“Und do we get to hear her name?” Photo Finish asked skeptically.

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Twilight asked with a smile, pointing towards the spot in the mall where we were all walking.

A movie theater? Was the person we were recruiting supposed to be some kind of cinema critic?

“Are you sure that this is really the best place to find a good addition to our team?” Upper Crust asked, mimicking my thoughts exactly. “We are going to be playing against girls who will be looking to take our lives, after all.”

“To be honest,” Sunset began, “I don’t know, but seeing as how we didn’t have any leads to begin with, I’m going to trust that Starlight Glimmer knows what she’s doing.”

“Forgive me,” Photo Finish added, “but vould it not be a good idea to add zis ‘Starlight Glimmer’ person if she is really as dependable as you make her seem?”

“I thought about that, but I can’t ask her to come here to solve our problems. She has her own troubles back home, some of which are even more serious than this, and even though I know she would probably say yes, I wouldn’t feel good about asking for a favor this huge.”

“Besides,” Twilight continued, “we’re already here! We might as well talk to the girl Starlight recommended and see if we think she’ll be a good fit.”

I was hesitant. My life was on the line as well as everyone in Equestria, but I was too prideful to make this problem about me. I didn’t know who Starlight Glimmer was, but I had a feeling that if I were ever to go to Sunset’s home world, maybe she and I would end up becoming friends one day.

With all of our hesitations momentarily put to rest, the five of us then pushed through the doors of the movie theater, walking up to the counter to see a girl who looked extremely bored, tapping her fingers on the food court counter. She had the beauty of an actress with a fair complexion, a slim waist, adorable glasses and gorgeous greenish-blue hair tied up into twintails that fell down to her lower back. She looked like she should be starring in movies, but here she was, standing behind the concessions stand at a theater, obviously not wanting to be there any longer than she had to be.

Finally, once the five of us got within inches of the food stand, she finally looked up to see us smiling down at her, never changing her unenthusiastic expression despite what her job probably required.

This was the girl Starlight Glimmer had in mind?

“Oh,” she said apathetically. “It’s Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle. And you brought more friends. Neat.”

“Hey, Juniper Montage!” Twilight said happily, trying to change the mood of the conversation. “Long time no see!”

“Lemme guess. Large popcorn, extra butter, salted in thirds, and probably a discount since you know the girl at the register. Am I right?”

From the way Starlight had brought her up, I had assumed that she was at least friends with Sunset and Twilight, but from the way she was talking, it sounded like she wanted us to leave as soon as possible. I was beginning to think that we should just give up and start looking somewhere else, but I ultimately decided to give her one last chance, just in case she turned out to be some kind of diamond in the rough.

“Listen, Juniper,” Sunset said, “I know that the last time we met, things didn’t exactly turn out so great.”

“For me,” Juniper scoffed. “You two got to be in a blockbuster movie, you’ve been on TV for a dance video you made with your friends, and you’re already heroes for saving everyone in the mall from a giant monster. Oh, wait, I was the giant monster, and I haven’t made a single friend since, whereas you two seem to have new friends every time I see you.”

Her tone went from depressed to angry in the span that she had been speaking, basically sealing the nail in the coffin that she just wasn’t going to work out. We couldn’t trust our lives with someone who hated our guts.

“You’re wrong, Juniper.” The girl at the counter looked up with curiosity on her face, as did the rest of us, looking straight into Twilight Sparkle’s determined eyes. “We’re here because a friend of yours sent us.”

“A friend?! Who?!”

“Starlight Glimmer,” Sunset said, making the girl behind the counter flinch. “She sent us here because we asked her for help, and the first person she told us to turn to was you. She believed that you would be able to help us better than anyone else, so could you at least give us a chance? Maybe we could start over from the beginning?”

Juniper Montage’s eyes darted back and forth between the five of us, still holding that embarrassing flinch from before until she finally slumped her shoulders with a long breath. “No… I’m the one who should be asking for us to start over. After all, the reason things didn’t turn out so great between us was because I was so full of myself from the moment I met you. I felt like I deserved things that I wanted, and I put you and your friends in jeopardy because I was so jealous that you all had things that I didn’t. Even then, I could tell you really wanted to be my friend, despite trying to trap your friends in a magic mirror for all eternity.”

“Wait, she did what?” I asked, surprised that this was something they just forgave her for.

“And we’re sorry we didn’t try harder,” Twilight added. “We knew that you needed a friend, but after Starlight Glimmer went back to her world, we kind of just lost touch. We should have been here for you the whole time, not just when it’s convenient for us.”

Juniper then smiled up at Twilight, and for some reason, I could see an exact replica of myself from just a few years ago. I used to be the kid with the glasses who had no friends, someone who desperately needed someone to be there for me in order to feel better about myself, and just like her, I had grown full of myself, trying to make everyone love me by pretending to be great and powerful, a moniker which I still clung to. I didn’t know what this Juniper girl had been through, but I felt like the two of us were more similar than I had initially realized.

Then, like a snap of the fingers, my opinion of her had completely turned around. I wanted her to be a magical girl, just like someone had once asked me to be a magical girl in spite of my imperfections, even if I couldn’t remember it.

“Thanks, girls,” she said with a genuine smile. “I’d appreciate that. So! Who are your friends?”

“Juniper,” Sunset said, gesturing in my direction, “we’d like you to meet--”

“The Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie,” I said, taking a bow, just another gesture that made her flinch uncomfortably. “Oh, and this is Photo Finish and Upper Crust.”

The other girls waved joyfully despite me once again trying to pull all the attention towards myself. I didn’t know why I did that. Maybe I was still nervous meeting people for the first time.

“Nice to meet you,” Juniper replied. “So you girls said you needed me to help you with something?”

“You could say that…” Sunset began, trailing off and rubbing her arm nervously. “But you know something? I think the Great and Powerful Trixie would do a much better job at explaining things than I could.”

All eyes then fell on me to break the bad news, but honestly, I didn’t feel like there was anyone who would be able to explain the situation better than me anyway. “Meh, it’s true. Listen, Juniper. It sounds like you already have an idea that magic exists here in Canterlot, but it comes in more forms than you might realize.”

The girl at the counter folded her arms with a curious eyebrow raised. “Like what?”

“Like a specific magical power that we can use whenever we want. We’re called magical girls, and just like regular people, some are good and some are bad.”

“Right, but… I’m not a magical girl. What do you need me for?”

“We want you to become a magical girl.”

By this point, Juniper’s mouth was hanging open in shock, and understandably so. When she came to work that day, she probably thought that ushering people to their seats would be the highlight of her day, but now there were people coming to see her and offering out of nowhere to give her magic powers. Pretty sure anyone would be a little intimidated by a request like that.

We needed her, though. She had to be our fifth member. I didn’t want to sound desperate, but we really had no other options left.

“You really think it’s a good idea to let me use magic after what happened last time?” she asked, rubbing her elbow anxiously.

“Of course!” Twilight said. “Remember, Sunset Shimmer and I have both used magic for the wrong reason before too, but we learned to overcome our past and learn from it. We came to you because there are magical girls out there who are looking to release something out into the world that could potentially harm all of Equestria.”

“What about your other friends? They seem like better candidates than me.”

“Trust me, Mädchen, we vent to zem first. OUCH! Scheiße! You didn’t have to hit me zat hard!”

After bonking Photo Finish on the head for her unnecessary comment, I approached Juniper Montage again with the utmost sincerity in my voice. “We can only pick one girl, and Starlight Glimmer put her trust in you, out of all the girls in Canterlot. She believes that you can use what happened in your past to get stronger and become a great magical girl, and if Trixie can be candid for just one minute, we need you right now. Please… will you help us?”

Juniper looked back and forth between the five of us again, taking a step back in unease. We were losing her. We must have been putting too much pressure on her.

“I don’t know, girls,” she said unconfidently. “I mean, I just don’t know if I would be the right girl to put the hands of all of Equestria in. I’m shy, clumsy, I’m not the smartest girl or the fastest--”

“If I may…”

Suddenly, everyone’s head turned towards Upper Crust, who had been completely silent up until now.

“Juniper Montage, is that right?”

“Y-yes. Who are you?”

“My name is Upper Crust. I attend Crystal Prep Academy, one of the most elite schools in Equestria.”

Juniper rolled her eyes. “Rub it in my face, why don’tcha?”

“That’s not the point I’m trying to make. You see, when I was younger, a friend of mine was kidnapped by a man who was looking to extort her family for money. I was with her as well as another couple of girls when it happened.”

The green-haired girl gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth in shock. “Oh, my gosh! What happened next?”

“One of my other friends went after him… and made it out alive. I thought I was doing the right thing by running to tell her father about what was going on, but instead, I ended up losing the friendships that I had already made.” Juniper Montage tilted her head in confusion, but allowed Upper Crust to continue. “You see, dear, the girl who charged after her, the one who tried to take things into her own hands, ended up as a magical girl, along with the girl who was kidnapped. Then they asked another one of their friends to become a magical girl, and while their friendships flourished, I was eventually pushed further and further out of the picture.”

“Uh… OK? I’m sorry, but I don’t really see where you’re going with this.”

Upper Crust then took a minute to collect her thoughts, take a deep breath and look confidently into Juniper’s eyes.

“The reason I’m telling you this is because I didn’t grow up like them. I wasn’t born to be a magical girl. Instead of learning how to fight or run, I focused on clothes and school. I am the exact opposite of the typical magical girl. I cry when I break a nail, my hobbies include fashion and makeup, and I spend hours trying on new outfits just to impress boys with tattoos on their arms, yet Trixie still let me become a magical girl, even when the fate of Equestria hangs in the balance!”

“Oh… Wow… Kinda makes me seem like a coward now that you mention it, huh?”

Then, making her eyes turn up from the ground, Sunset Shimmer placed a hand on top of her shoulder, giving her the widest smile imaginable. “You’re not a coward,” she said. “Even Twilight and I were scared at first, and I’m sure it was the same with Trixie and Photo Finish when they first got their powers. Listen, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but we all sincerely believe that you would make a great magical girl.”

Finally, Juniper smiled back. “You really think so?”

“Of course. We don’t want to put the fate of Equestria into anyone’s hands but yours.”

Juniper Montage quickly looked over Sunset’s shoulder to see if anyone might have been unconvinced by what Sunset was saying, but just like she claimed, we were all smiling wide into her face with the utmost confidence. We had all been in Juniper Montage’s shoes in one sense or another, and that’s why we knew that we needed her in particular to fight Last Gambit. She had the potential to become stronger than any of us.

“Alright,” she said with an optimistic energy. “I’ll do it! Should I tell my boss I quit, or--”

“Maaaaaybe you might wanna hold off on that for now,” Sunset said, but Twilight looked as though she might have had other thoughts.

“Actually, that might be for the best. We only have until Monday, and from what Trixie told us, Last Gambit has already found all five magical girls that she needed to complete her team. Plus, we also need to factor in travel times between Canterlot and Manehattan. That already puts us at a severe time disadvantage to the other team.”

“Manehattan?”

Sunset chuckled, wrapping her arm around Juniper’s shoulder, who was continuing to get shocked by even more information coming out of nowhere. “It’s where we officially get our powers. The initiation is gonna be a little bit scary, but once you get past that, you’ll be fine.”

“OK… If you say so…” Once Juniper said those words, however, she pulled her work apron off of her waist and shouted, “Hey, boss! Get someone else to do the popcorn around here! I quit! Oh, and please don’t tell my uncle. He worked really hard to get me this job.”

The girls around me began to giggle at her surprise outburst, but I, on the other hand, was too relieved to feel anything right now.

We did it.

We found them.

We had our team: Photo Finish, Upper Crust, Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, and now Juniper Montage.

Now the only thing we had left to do was beat Last Gambit and make sure that Autumn Blaze stayed right where she was. Forever.

Team Trixie vs. Team Cozy Glow

Author's Note

Eighth day of Trixmas

Chapter 11

☆☆☆

Great and Powerful Trixie

☆☆☆

The girls and I decided that it would probably be for the best if we all stayed in Platinum City until Monday morning when we were obligated to return to our normal class schedules. Discord was gracious enough to provide the new girls with magical phones, despite the fact that none of us had the appropriate amount of brownie points, nor was our vision necessarily aligned with his. I was worried that their phones would malfunction as soon as we needed them most just so that I would lose and that he would be able to free Autumn Blaze, but I made sure that he promised not to do anything to get in the way of our game, similar to how we asked Autumn Blaze not to interfere as well.

“Oh, isn’t this wonderful, Great and Powerful Trixie?” he said, slithering down while I watched the new girls practicing their magic for the first time. “You got to recruit your own team of magical girls, just like Marrow before you and Divinity before her.”

“And apparently Trixie has killed all of them at one point of another,” I said annoyedly, trying not to make eye contact.

“Oh-ho! That’s right! Well, I wouldn’t say all of them, but you did manage to put quite the dent in both teams’ numbers. You know, I would have thought you would have been so grateful to have your powers when you first got them that you wouldn’t dream of hurting another magical girl, but you truly slaughtered those girls without a second thought! It was marvelous.”

Finally, I broke my eyes from the other girls so that I could send an icy glare towards the draconequus beside me. “Oh, so now you can apparently tell Trixie all about the details?”

“Well, my promise was to wipe your memories, not to keep all the details to myself after someone else spoiled it for you.”

“Then tell Trixie this. Who from Platinum City did I kill during our first death game?”

Suddenly, Discord had summoned a tub of popcorn, which he began eating as if the girls in front of him were putting on a show just for his own personal entertainment. “Guh-hah-hah. That Juniper Montage girl is such a character, and she really does know how to make the best popcorn. Extra butter and salted in thirds? Who even thinks of something like that?”

Of course, the girls all had the same reaction when they met Discord for the first time: they screamed. I was lucky enough that by showing them what Platinum City looked like, it softened the blow when they eventually met Discord’s terrifying appearance and zany personality. The girls recruited by Cozy Glow must have had the opposite experience, seeing as how Everfree City was a barren wasteland while Autumn Blaze herself was a beautiful, majestic horse.

“Focus, Discord!” I snapped, pulling the draconequus’s attention back to the question I’d asked him.

“Oh, right! All the sweet, innocent girls who you brutally murdered. Hmm… Who were they again…? Well, first was Storm Rose, then Mind Games, then--and you’ll get a kick out of this--Marrow, and finally Night Seam. You single handedly took first place in terms of kill count, well above the second place winner Mind Games, who had only killed two girls, but then you went and revived them all by killing Divinity’s team anyway. Ooo. That was a crunchy one. Munchmunchmunchmunch.”

I tried to hide how happy I got from knowing that I had proven to Marrow that I was the better magical girl, but there was probably no point in hiding anything from the god of chaos himself. “And what about Divinity’s team? How many did Trixie kill to bring our girls back?”

“Let’s see… One, two, carry the three, subtract by nine, multiplied by the square root of pi--Oh! That’s right. You killed five girls, even more than the first game! I’m impressed!”

“And I suppose one of them was Divinity.”

“Nope!”

I quickly jerked my head to look up at Discord, who was still eating his popcorn and watching the girls practice, ignoring my reaction like I had been ignoring him.

How could that be?! This whole event was started because I was supposed to have killed Cozy Glow’s friend, but I apparently wasn’t even the one who did it?!

“Who killed her?!”

Discord didn’t even seem to hear me, instead grabbing another clawful of popcorn and tossing it into his mouth with a large crunch. “Bah-hah-hah. Keep trying, Upper Crust! I’m sure you’ll get it this time!”

“DISCORD!”

“Hmm? Oh, right. Marrow killed her. Oh, my goodness! Look at Twilight! Baaahahahah! I just need to get a picture of this.”

My breathing stopped. My eyes went wide. Of course it had been her. Who else had turned my life into such a living nightmare as much as Lulu Lemon? And after the nerve she had to suggest that this was my problem, that I was the one responsible for all this…

“Does Marrow remember killing Divinity?”

“Hmm? No, I erased all that, just like she asked me to, which is quite strange considering that it was actually quite the accomplishment.”

“Accomplishment? What kind of powers did Divinity even have anyway?”

Finally, Discord finished his tub of popcorn and turned his head towards mine with a sly, sinister grin. I instinctively took a step back, just because any time Discord smiled like that, the answer always made me regret asking the question in the first place.

“I’m sorry. Did you ask me, ‘What kind of powers did Divinity even have?’ Oh, that is too priceless.”

“What? W-what was it?”

Then, leaning his snout to my ear, he whispered, “Omnipotence.”

My skin crawled, and suddenly the huge accomplishment I had felt from defeating Marrow had been for nothing. What good was defeating Marrow if I ended up bringing her back, just to lose to her in the end? That question, though, brought up a thought that I had been mulling over for the past couple of days…

“Discord, why did Trixie bring Marrow back to life anyway?”

Of course, as I should have expected, Discord guffawed until he fell over backwards. “You?! You think that you of all people brought Lulu Lemon back from the dead?! Gahaaaah! No, no. It wasn’t you. It was Night Seam, and you should have seen the look on your face when she did it, too! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that traumatized in your entire life, and trust me, I’ve seen a lot of trauma when it comes to your life.”

Things were beginning to make more sense, but that still didn’t change the fact that we were ultimately going to be responsible for what happened next. I may not have killed Divinity like Cozy Glow implied, but I had still killed five of her friends, an act that I would have to live with, despite my memories of it having been wiped. Whether or not I remembered any of it didn’t change the fact that Cozy Glow was mad, and willing to put the future of Equestria in the balance to get her revenge.

“Trixie,” Discord said, making me flinch. He had never tried to get my attention by saying my name before, and the way he said it was so… ominous. “When was the last time you saw your mother?”

“Huh? Around three days ago. Why?”

“...You should probably go back home right now.”

“Wait, what? What’s going on?!”

“Well, you know how you should never underestimate a magical girl?”

“Wait, are they coming here?!”

Were they seriously trying to get a head start on the competition with a sneak attack?!

“No, I put a special barrier around Platinum City that prevents her and her friends from coming in. You can rest assured that you’re safe here in Platinum City.” I put my hand to my chest, breathing a sigh of relief. “But your mother… is not.”

“...No…”

All of Discord’s goofiness disappeared in an instant as he grabbed hold of my shoulders and looked at me with urgency in his eyes. “I’ll teleport you to Canterlot. There’s no time to wait! They’re on their way right now!”

My whole body was growing tight from stress, especially my lungs, which felt like they were about to cave in on themselves as I began to hyperventilate. I was breaking out into a cold sweat. How did they know about my mother?! I couldn’t live without her!

Before I could think about it any further, however, I looked up to see that I was back home in Canterlot, teleported in an instant in my normal human form. I didn’t waste a second running through the door, sprinting as fast as I could to the living room where I was hoping I could find her watching TV. She wasn’t there. Everything was quiet. This wasn’t like her.

“Mom?” I turned my back and started walking into the kitchen, ready to turn into my magical girl form at the slightest sight of someone else in the room. Everything was dark, but not dark enough to where I wouldn’t be able to navigate through the rooms and hallways. “Mom, are you here?”

*Shing!*

I held my breath. My eyes went wide. There was heavy breathing beside me. Slowly turning my face to my left, I saw my mother with a butcher’s knife stuck in the wall right beside me, glaring at me while she heaved in anger, her breath reeking of whiskey.

“M-mom?”

“...Don’t you dare call me that you fucking bitch…”

She immediately pulled the knife out from the wall and started slashing towards me again, making me fall onto my butt, crab-walking backwards as I desperately tried missing every swipe at my jugular. Then she nicked my knee, but I couldn’t grab the cut to soothe the pain. I had to keep trying to push myself up, falling back down as she swung at me like her life was on the line.

“Mom! What are you doing?!”

“I’ve fucking HAD IT with you! You’ve had everything! A good home! Food to eat! What did I ever do deserve a daughter like you? AAARRGGHHH!!!”

She emphasized whatever word she was saying as she swiped at me again, but even after all the episodes she had put me through, she had never been this serious about taking my life. Was it because I hadn’t been home in three days? Was she still upset about the Cozy Glow rumor?

“Is this about that girl from school? It was just a rumor! She said so herself!”

“You think this is about some kid from school?”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been home the past couple of days! I just--I just--”

I couldn’t even speak anymore. Tears were falling down my face like a faucet, my chest growing so tight that I couldn’t make any of my words come out as anything but wails.

“You just WHAT?! You’ve had me worried sick! Do you not realize that until you turn eighteen, I’m the one who will be held legally responsible if you do something illegal? I heard you cut half your classes yesterday. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?!”

“Mom! Stop! Pleeease!”

Finally, just as I was getting my balance again, she dropped her knife and kicked me square in the chest, knocking the wind out of me and sending me to the floor as I wrapped my arms around the wounded area. Of course, she didn’t stop there, though. What happened next was probably the most pain I’d ever felt my whole life.

For the next twelve minutes, she beat the shit out of me until my vision started going blurry, and not just because she knocked out both of my contacts in the process. She had thrown so many cross punches to my mouth that I actually felt it snap, my jaw now dangling off its hinges. Her knuckles were getting bloody not just from the blood pouring out of my mouth, nose, skin and even eyes, but also because her knuckles were getting ripped apart just from all the wear and tear of her attacks. If I ever started falling backwards, which was happening more and more due to how dizzy I was getting, she would grab me forcefully by the hair, pulling me back up, and if my hair fell out in the process, which happened almost every time, she would force the hair into my mouth, trying to get me to suffocate from my own hair and blood.

Everything was going black. Finally, I fell down motionless, not quite unconscious, but getting close to it. Then she started stomping on me with all the fury she had been holding back my first seventeen years of being alive. She started by jumping onto my ribcage, making me vomit all the hair from my mouth, covering the floor with blood, hair and bile. Of course, though, this just made her even more angry, responding with several stomps to my breasts for good measure, amplifying as much pain as she could possibly give me. I just wanted her to stop. I wanted to tell her that I was sorry. I wanted to tell her that I loved her and that I would never make that same mistake again, but even if I could prevent myself from screwing up again, I physically couldn’t speak anymore. I couldn’t move anything from my feet to my hands, but I was still awake, still conscious, waiting for her tirade to be over while the pain continued to sear through my senses.

Stomp. Kick. Punch. Grab. Punch. Knock. Grabbing my bloodstained hair from the floor and shoving it back into my mouth, breathing heavily while she tortured me to the best of her ability.

Was I really that bad of a kid?

I tried to be a good girl.

I really did.

Was this what I deserved?

No.

I deserved worse.

She should have killed me when I was younger.

That way she wouldn’t have had to deal with a daughter as defective as I was for as long as she had.

She was a good mom, and I was a terrible daughter.

No matter how much I wanted to prove to her that I loved her, that even though sometimes she hurt me, even though I had always forgiven her--and I always would--I would just never be able to make it happen.

I would never be able to give her the life she deserved.

Her strikes were beginning to lose some of their power, growing weak from all the overexertion she had put her muscles through. Once the adrenaline started to die down, what were once powerful punches turned into weak slaps until even her breathing had descended into traumatized sobs. Tears fell down her face onto my skin, breaking my heart with every droplet. Then, with all the stress she had been under, she collapsed onto my body, burying her face into her arms as she wailed out her misery. It hurt to keep my eyes open, it hurt to close them, but it hurt even worse when I started crying myself, mixing water with blood as even more of it fell down my own cheeks. She didn’t deserve to feel this way. This was all my fault, but I couldn’t even tell her that with my dislocated jaw.

“Why…?” she sobbed. “WWHHHYY??!!!! Why couldn’t I just have a normal life with a normal daughter?! Why did it have to be me?!”

It was true that I had never been in as much pain as I was in at that moment, but not because of the cuts, not because of the bruises, not because of the blood or the broken bones. It wasn’t until then that I realized for the first time how truly, deeply, and horribly I had hurt her.

“I can’t do this… *sniff* I can’t! I just can’t do this anymore, Trixie. I’m sorry.”

She was sorry? She had never said she was sorry before! She wasn’t planning to hurt herself was she?!

Finally, my mom pulled her weight off of my body, limping weakly in her drunken stupor towards the kitchen drawers, and even though it caused me an insurmountable pain, I lifted my neck up to see what she was doing. She then put her hands into her pockets and shakily pulled out a set of keys, wobbling them to the keyhole, trying over and over again until they made it into the slot successfully. I had never seen her open that drawer before, and in the next moment, I would know exactly why.

The object she pulled out was a 9 millimeter pistol, and her finger was beginning to wrap around the trigger. She wouldn’t try killing herself would she?! NO! I couldn’t let her!

I tried moving my mouth, desperately doing my best to at least mouth the words, “Don’t do it, mom!” Unfortunately, however, I could barely lift my neck, let alone try to speak.

“You know something, Trixie? I’ve been thinking about killing myself for years now. You have put me under that much stress.”

I’m sorry, mom! I love you! Please stop!

“I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to, that you’d turn eighteen and become society’s problem at that point, but I just can’t take it anymore. The stress is too much! I just--I--I can’t! I can’t do it anymore.”

Again, she covered her mouth with her free hand and started crying, and all I could do was whimper on the floor, unable to do anything about it. She didn’t deserve to die! I did! Please, mom! DON’T DO THIS!

“And then…” She gulped, taking a deep breath through her quivering lips. “...And then I thought why should I?”

...What?

“Why should I, who has done nothing wrong, have to die for some little cunt who has never done anything right?” In the next moment, she cocked the gun and pointed it in my direction, making my eyes grow wide in fear. She wasn’t going to really… Was she? “No, this bullet isn’t for me, Trixie. It’s for you, so you’ll finally leave me the fuck alone forever. Maybe then I can be happy. Maybe if you just weren’t here anymore, I wouldn’t have to go about this shitty life every day after day. I would have more money. I would be able to travel the world without worrying about the mouth at home that I’m not feeding. I might be able to meet a nice man knowing that I don’t constantly have to check up on you. You know what? Let’s cut the bullshit. I have tried so hard, but you’re just never going to be good enough, Trixie. I’m sorry.”

She… she was really going to kill me! She wasn’t joking!

Again, I wanted to scream, to tell her not to do it, that I could be better… but she was right. I was never going to be the daughter she wanted me to be. She was better off without me.

With one last tear streaming down my cheek, my eyes squeezed shut from pain both physical and emotional, I finally said my last prayer to whoever was listening.

I’m sorry, mom. I understand, and I love you so, so much. Goodbye...

…

‘Nice to meet ya, little girl! My name’s Dreamdrop! I’m a magical girl!’

Dreamdrop?!

In the next moment, I transformed into my magical girl form, causing all of my mortal wounds to disappear in the process. Then, leaping up to my feet, I held out my hand, just in time to catch the bullet that had shot out of her gun, now levitating just an inch away from my heart. I would have to apologize to my mom later, but I couldn’t die yet. Equestria was depending on me to survive, and I couldn’t let the whole world down like I had done with my mother.

The woman in front of me then fell backwards, using the kitchen counter to hold herself up as she shot bullet after bullet, completely cleaning out her magazine in the process. One by one, I sent the bullets to another direction until any time she pulled on the trigger, she was left with an empty click. She must not have recognized me in my magical girl form, but even if she did, it wouldn’t have changed the expression of absolute terror on her face.

“Trixie?” she said between horrified breaths. “I always knew you were a monster!”

“Mom!” I shouted desperately, not caring whether or not I gave up my cover. “You don’t understand!”

“Oh, I understand perfectly. I’ve known your whole life exactly what you are… a freak! A freak who doesn’t deserve to live!”

“Mom, you’re drunk! You don’t know what you’re doing!”

Rather than confronting me any further, however, she stomped her way over to the front door, turning the lock and kicking the doorknob off of its hinges. Once she eventually did look me in the eyes, however, she said, “We’re finishing this tonight, Trixie. You don’t get to run away like you always do. I CAN’T KEEP LIVING LIKE THIS!”

What was I supposed to do now? I could have broken down the door if I needed to, but that wouldn’t stop my mom from trying to murder me!

In the next moment, though, she pulled her bottle of haynnessy off of the coffee table and smashed it against the wall, leaving just the handle and a circle of jagged glass. It was obvious that she wasn’t giving up.

“Mom, don’t. Please!”

She wasn’t listening, though. She was just approaching closer and closer, and I had run out of room to back up.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie commands you to STOP!”

Then, acting on instinct alone, I lifted up my mother into the air with my powers, making her dangle in the air as she clenched at her throat. What was I doing?! As soon as I realized that I was choking her, I gently set her back down to the floor, releasing her neck so that she could breathe, though she was still bending over and coughing out the built up saliva.

“Mom! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to--”

“Die.”

“Huh?”

Everything that happened next was a blur. Glass was coming towards me, but for some reason, blood was starting to spurt out of her neck. I had summoned my spear to protect myself, but it was suddenly covered in red liquid. I was the one who was trying to keep myself from getting killed, but my mother was the one falling onto the floor, seizing uncontrollably like a fish out of water, grabbing onto her windpipe as blood sprayed out all over the furniture. Finally, I looked at my spear, then back at my mom…

...and then everything made sense.

“MOM! NO!”

I dropped my spear and fell to my knees by her side, grabbing onto her hand while her body convulsed violently. This couldn’t be happening! It couldn’t end this way!

“DISCORD! HELP ME! PLEASE!”

But he wouldn’t come. My mother turned her head towards me, blood spewing out of her neck while her mouth frothed, and the whole time, she was looking at me with fear, something I’d never seen from her before. I couldn’t stop crying, trying to use my powers to prevent the blood from leaving her neck, but they just ended up spilling out of her mouth instead, making me scream even louder.

This couldn’t be happening! She wasn’t supposed to die before me! She just needed to live for just one more week and she’d finally be done with me! But it wasn’t stopping. The blood wouldn’t stop until her heart stopped beating.

“Please, mom! Hang in there! We’ll get you help! You’re gonna be OK, you hear me? We’re gonna get you to a doctor, and they’re gonna fix you up. Just please stay with me. Mom? No! No, please don’t go! Stay with me, mom! I’m begging you! PLEASE! STAY WITH ME! MOM! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

No matter how much I begged, no matter how much I cried, I couldn’t do anything to save her. Finally, after several moments of convulsing on the floor, her body laid limp, her skin turning white as the last remaining droplets of blood dripped down her neck and chin. She was gone…

...I had just killed my mother…

“No!”

I put my hands to my eyes as I sobbed uncontrollably, falling onto my mother’s body as if it could somehow bring her back. I wasn’t ready for her to die. I didn’t get to show her how much I really loved her, how even though she hurt me, I would never be the girl I was without her. She put up with so many of my shortcomings, but I wouldn’t be able to tell her what I was hoping to tell her on my eighteenth birthday.

Then, raising my head with a sniffle, I looked down at her and said one last thing before she was gone forever.

“You were a good mom. Thank you… for everything.”

Suddenly, however, I heard something from just outside the window, and without wasting a beat, I jumped across the room to see what it was. When I looked out the window, however, I saw someone running away whom I didn’t recognize, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t know exactly who it was. A normal person wouldn’t be able to run that fast, nor would they be able to jump from roof to roof like it was second nature. Someone was watching me, and that someone was a magical girl. Unfortunately for her, though, she picked the wrong time to piss me off.

“...I’m going to fucking kill you.”

I once again grabbed my spear and jumped through the window, sprinting in the direction she had run off in. She was new to being a magical girl, which meant that she wasn’t used to running away the same way we normally did. She didn’t know the routes, when the roofs would stop, how far she could jump, and it was only going to be a matter of time before I finally caught up with her.

Suddenly, I found her. It was hard to see what kind of outfit she was wearing in the dark, even with the lights of the Canterlot streets, but there was no doubt that it was the same person from before. If they hadn’t tried stalking my mom, maybe she wouldn’t have had to die, and I was going to make them pay, whether or not they had anything to do with it.

I was right there, so close to being able to use my magic to pull her towards me, but she knew I was right behind her. She was taking odd routes, hoping that she would be able to ditch me, completely forgetting that I knew the Canterlot backstreets like my own front yard. She looked back towards my face in fear, knowing that once I caught up to her, she would be dead, and it filled me with a bloodlust that I didn’t even know I had. Was this the bloodlust that had led me to kill nine magical girls over the course of my life? Because it was this feeling rushing through my veins that was going to add my tenth victim.

But then…

“Panicity! Now!”

Another magical girl came out of nowhere, zipping by on roller skates and holding out her hand. I didn’t know what they were planning, but it wasn’t going to work. Just then, though, the magical girl that I had been chasing stuck out her own arm, slapping hands with the magical girl on her rollerblades, and right when I was about to catch up with her, some magical force pulled her away, taking her at a speed that I would never be able to catch up with. There was still the other, girl, though.

I turned on my heels, now heading towards the magical girl skating away. She suddenly looked behind her, and seeing that I was following just a block away, she sped up her pace, zooming past buildings like it was nothing. She was using the speed of both a magical girl and her roller skates, moving faster than I would ever be able to catch up with. Finally, I stopped once I landed on a nearby building, trying to catch my breath, even though my heart wouldn’t stop pounding.

I… I lost.

And then, just like before, I fell to my knees, bending over as I bawled my eyes out. I lost twice tonight! No, three times! I had failed in every single responsibility I had as a magical girl! Not only had I failed to keep my mom safe, but I couldn’t even catch the bad guys, the ones whose fault this really was! If they hadn’t been there…

Out of nowhere, however, I felt something on my shoulder. Then, jerking my head back, I saw Discord with his paw on my arm, trying to console me and giving me the rare image of the god of chaos actually displaying a moment sympathy.

“I couldn’t do it,” I sobbed with a sniffle. “I lost… I lost!”

“You’ll get them next time, Great and Powerful Trixie. Come on. Let’s get you home.”

“Discord…?”

“Hmm?”

“...Who’s Dreamdrop?”

“...Don’t ever tell Marrow that I showed you that memory…”

Author's Note

Ninth day of Trixmas

For the next several chapters, the story will be narrated by the Great and Powerful Trixie. I'm going to stop adding the names at the top of the chapter until a new narrator comes in, which won't be for a while.

Chapter 13

Palette, Daydream Shimmer and I decided to sleep in Platinum City Sunday night, both because Last Gambit already knew our identities as well as because the idea of going back home to a world where my mom wasn’t there… just didn’t appeal to me anymore. Midnight Sparkle would have stayed with us, but she had her own family to get to who would have been worried sick if she didn’t come home that night, even if it meant running the risk of a magical girl sneak attack. I could understand why she didn’t stay--I really could--even though I couldn’t help the slight envy I felt knowing that she still had a family to go home to.

I also entertained the idea of sneaking out while they were all asleep and trying to attack Cozy Glow to end the game before it even started, but I couldn’t do something that risky, especially when she was probably knew it was coming. If I won, I might be able to bring my mom back to life, but if I lost, Autumn Blaze would be released. As if losing my life wasn’t keeping the stakes high already, I now had that much more reason to win than ever. Part of me wondered why Last Gambit decided to kill my mom in the first place, though. Was she just trying to lure me out? Did she not realize that with the most important person in my life no longer there when I came home every day, I would be that much more motivated to risk my life to the fullest, ready to take any gamble necessary?

“Sleeping alright?” Daydream asked, turning over to her side to check up on me, but of course, my eyes were wide open, staring at the neverending daylight of Platinum City’s beautiful skies.

“Yes. Trixie always sleeps with her eyes open.”

“Aaand I’m guessing you always respond coherently to other people’s questions in your sleep too.”

“...Snore… Snooze… Zzzzz.”

“You know, saying the letter Z over and over again isn’t exactly what normal people do when they sleep.”

“Ugghh.” Finally, I propped myself onto my side so that I could look over Palette’s sleeping body and make eye contact with Daydream Shimmer. “Fine. Trixie is awake.”

“Yeah, me too. Honestly, I don’t know how Palette can sleep at a time like this.”

I then looked down at the magical girl between us, trying to figure it out myself, but when I saw how peaceful she looked, I couldn’t help the smile that came over my face.

“Trixie thinks that maybe Palette’s used to it by now.”

Daydream raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“It’s… a long story. Palette has helped me so much in our time being magical girls together, so maybe risking her life on Trixie’s behalf is just second nature to her by this point.”

“How long have the two of you been magical girls together?”

“I’ve been a magical girl for five years, and Palette gained her powers a little while before I did. To be honest, I don’t remember a lot of the time I’ve been a magical girl, but I can imagine she’s been picking up the pieces I’ve left behind for a long time.”

The girl across from me chuckled femininely. “You know something? I bet you anything that she’s just as grateful to have you here with her as you are.”

I couldn’t imagine the idea of me trying to fix a problem that Palette caused, but I also didn’t want to argue with Daydream Shimmer when she was just trying to lift my spirits up. At the same time, though, seeing her acting so genuinely courteous towards me made me suddenly feel guilty about roping yet another girl into my problems. This whole thing may have been Marrow’s fault to some extent, but she was right in telling me that it was my responsibility to take charge of it. If I didn’t do anything, then everyone would end up paying for it in the end.

“Say, Trixie?”

“Hmm?”

“What made you become a magical girl in the first place?”

“Honestly, I don’t rem--”

‘Nice to meet ya, little girl! My name’s Dreamdrop!’

“Agh!”

I quickly put my hand to my forehead. It was that memory again, and it came right as soon as I thought about how I became a magical girl. Right as soon as the thought went through my mind, however, the throbbing pain that I associated with my forgotten memories split through my brain, making me bend over in agony. Was this Dreamdrop person supposed to be related to how I originally became a magical girl?

“Trixie?!”

I then turned my head quickly towards Daydream, whose face was filled with panic. I guess she would be surprised to see me in so much pain, seeing as how I still hadn’t told her about my memories being erased or that any time I thought about things related to them, I felt a searing pain in my head.

“It’s nothing. Trixie is fine,” I said, laying back down on my side, facing the opposite direction. “We should try getting some sleep. Trixie is starting to feel tired after all.”

Daydream obviously wanted to protest, just to make sure that I was really OK and not just putting on a tough face, but after a few moments of silence, she finally said, “Yeah, maybe you’re right. Big day tomorrow.”

The sad thing was, I felt like I was always putting on a tough act, trying to make myself look stronger than I really was, since on the inside, my heart always seemed to feel like it was shattering. Even though I told Daydream that we should go to sleep, I was begging her internally to rebuttal, to stay awake and keep me company for just a little while longer. My mother had just died, and now I was going to risk my life to protect the world seeing as how my friends back home didn’t care enough to help me. I was a total wreck on the inside! Of course I didn’t want to go to bed!

Unfortunately for me, however, she agreed with what I said and laid down to sleep, the one time I wanted someone not to listen to me. We were going to fight Last Gambit tomorrow regardless, but if this was really my last night alive, it would have been nice to just spend the night talking with my friends.

‘It’ll all be over soon,’ I told myself, wrapping my cape around my body like a blanket as I tried to drift off to sleep. ‘It’ll all be over soon…’

*Diiiiiing!*

30 more minutes and the game would begin.

Seeing as how neither Juniper Montage nor Upper Crust attended our school, I told them to meet us by the front gates of Everfree City as soon as we were forcefully transported. Then, if they happened to run into any of the girls from Team Last Gambit, they already knew what the procedures were.

For Daisy Quake, if she ran into Onida or Frost Lass, she was free to fight, assuming the stakes weren’t too dangerous. For Mother Time, Panicity and Bloody Mary, however, I asked her to flee, seeing as how I didn’t know how their powers would directly influence her battling strategy. As for Miss Monster, I told her to run no matter who she encountered if Daisy Quake wasn’t there. She could use her monster to both create a diversion and fight for her without her being there to command it, after all, and if they ended up killing it and pursuing after her, she would hopefully have recovered enough by that point to create another one. The main focus I wanted, however, was for us to fight as a team. If there was a chance for us to regroup without encountering anyone, I would easily choose that option over splitting up and risk decimating our numbers.

This was all just as a precaution, however. After all, there were special rules set in place specifically for Upper Crust to be transported directly to Everfree City since she would normally be sent to Platinum City anyway. Maybe the forced teleportation sent us all to specific places. For all I knew, we could each be separated into various parts on a map right in front of a member from the other team, thus reducing the numbers to half right at the word go, assuming that neither Last Gambit nor I were the first to lose.

“Perhaps we should speak of this wiz Cozy Glow?” Photo Finish said after she, Twilight, Sunset and I gathered fifteen minutes after the bell rang.

“That might be a good strategy,” Twilight agreed. “It seems she has no issues in playing fair. If she knows any details about the game that we don’t, it behooves us to at least give it a try.”

If she was playing fair, sure, but all she needed to do was lie once to turn the tables and kill all of us.

“It’s too dangerous,” I said, folding my arms and trying to think. “If she set up the game how she wants it, asking for her help would just be putting our guard down. We want to put ourselves at the lowest chance of getting killed possible.”

Just as I finished speaking, however, Sunset placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a comforting smile. “Anything we do is gonna be risky at this point. If we decide to go talk to her, I promise we’ll keep our guard up the whole time and take anything she says with a grain of salt.”

I then looked back at the other girls to see what they thought of the plan, and with both Photo Finish and Twilight nodding in agreement, it was basically already decided.

“Fine. Trixie agrees. We’ll speak with Cozy Glow about the parameters of the game.”

“That wouldn’t be little ol’ me you girls are talking about, is it?”

The four of us immediately turned our backs to see that someone was walking towards us, her arms folded as she sneered devilishly. I was glad that we didn’t have to go looking for her, but I would have to remember from now on that anything we said at Canterlot High would never be kept a secret. Anything we talked about as a group would have to be done assuming that Cozy Glow was just a few steps behind us, especially since we didn’t know if any of the girls on her team attended our school.

“Were you listening to us?!” Sunset asked in offense, apparently unaware that common courtesy didn’t work when it came to life or death.

“Meh. I caught a word here and there, but I wasn’t really paying attention.” She then leaned backwards onto a nearby locker in the hallway where we were standing, kicking her leg back and forth as if she was anxious to get the game started. “Did you girls have anything you wanted to ask me? You all seem to be really worried that I might have rigged the game against you.”

Sunset shot her a dull look. “Oh, and you’re saying you haven’t?”

Without even looking in our direction, however, Cozy Glow lifted up a single finger as she said, “Rule number one: The game will take place in Everfree City, but Autumn Blaze will not be able to interfere. If any of you believe that Autumn Blaze is impacting the game in any way, we automatically forfeit and you win.”

The girls and I gave each other strange looks in response to her answer. “So what does that mean?”

“I asked Autumn Blaze to set up Everfree City in a way that would be fair for everyone. If anyone is placed strategically in a way that gives my team the advantage, we would be forced to forfeit. Do you really think Autumn Blaze would cheat when her eternal freedom is on the line?”

Sunset Shimmer seemed not to have an answer to Cozy Glow’s rebuttal, but after looking back at me for advice, I gave her a stern stare, reminding her that this was exactly how talking to her could bring her guard down. We didn’t know what she was planning, so it was important for all of us to stay on our toes, even if she was telling the truth.

“So zen does zat mean we are all going to be placed in undetermined places ven we arrive at Everfree City?”

“You girls really don’t update your phones every chance you get, do you?” As the four of us raised suspicious eyebrows, however, Cozy Glow took out her own magical phone, sliding through her apps until she fell upon one that said “map”, which she prominently displayed. “You see what I’m using? This is your cue to open up your phones and do this yourselves.”

We then all reached for our pockets in embarrassment, pulling out our phones and seeing the words “update recommended” across the top of our screens. Finally, after allowing the phones to finish processing, we opened up the new app and browsed through the area, which was entirely different from the Everfree City we knew before.

“This is…”

“This is the Everfree City that Autumn Blaze wanted to create when she first started recruiting magical girls,” Cozy Glow said with an angry tone. “This is the first chance Autumn Blaze has had to use all the magic she’s been storing up since Divinity started harvesting it years ago.”

“Who’s Divinity?” Twilight asked, to which Cozy Glow replied with a snarky smile.

“Good question, Twilight! Maybe your friend Trixie would prefer to answer instead, though.”

That bitch! This was probably why she came to see us in the first place! I couldn’t see how far in advance she had planned this, but I knew she was trying to turn my teammates against me before we could start the game.

Luckily, though, before I needed to answer the question, Sunset Shimmer stepped in and said, “That doesn’t matter right now. Where are we going to arrive when we get to Everfree City?”

“Look at your map!” We all did as we were told, browsing through the new array of information until we all seemingly found what we were supposed to be looking for at the same time. “You see that square that says ‘Trixie’s base’? That’s where you’re going to spawn every day to start the game. Now if you look at the other side of the map, you’ll see a square that says ‘Last Gambit’s base’. See? Now you can’t claim that Autumn Blaze is interfering with the game.”

Whether or not I believed that this was the real reason she had come to speak with us, however, was irrelevant, seeing as how it had already been twenty-eight minutes since the bell had rung to release us from our classes. It looked like the other girls noticed too, each of them nodding their heads towards each other while Cozy Glow’s smile began to widen.

“Don’t forget, Trixie,” the freshman said, a little more seriously than before. “When you get to Everfree City, your base is going to have a spot where you’ll press your hand to officially give us word that you’re ready to start the game. We won’t move from our base until you’ve touched the handprint on the wall. If you don’t touch it in ten minutes, though, I’m going to count the game as a draw and refuse to play.”

“What?!” I exclaimed. “Why are you springing this all on Trixie now?!”

“I’ll see you soon, girls. Hopefully we can end this tonight.”

Why did she even need me to press some stupid hand print to start the game? Wouldn’t it have just been easier for them to start out in their base and go right into whatever their strategy was? I didn’t have time to argue, though. Cozy Glow was walking away, and we only had thirty seconds left. I had to get one last thing off my chest, though, before it was too late.

“Cozy Glow!” The girl turned around slowly with a look of curiosity. “Why…? Why did you kill my mom?”

Then, just before the lights around us began to merge into one large blur, I saw her smile the smallest grin.

“So that you would know what it’s like.”

And then we were somewhere else.

In the next moment, I was in a stone room surrounded by five beautiful girls in exotic dresses. Then, looking down at my feet, I noticed that my body had also changed during the shift, turning me into my magical form before I even had the chance to do it myself.

“Gah! Girls? Where are we?”

Everybody suddenly looked over at Daisy Quake, who was grabbing onto her arms and shivering in fear. I guess it made sense that she would be scared considering we told her that she would be getting transported to a barren wasteland and end up sent to a small brick room instead.

“This is Everfree City,” I explained, looking for the handprint that Cozy Glow told me to look out for. “There have been some changes made since the last time Trixie was here. Have you updated your phone?”

“No. Should I?”

“If your phone ever gets an update, you should install it immediately. Now where is that stupid handprint?”

“Pardon me,” Miss Monster began, making everyone’s eyes turn towards her, “but were you looking for this?”

I then turned my own head towards her, and right where she was standing was a blue outline of a hand, probably the same size and shape as mine. There were no obvious traps associated with it other than the text above it that read “press here to start the game,” but even that seemed too straightforward. There still had to be a reason why she was making me go through with it in the first place, a reason other than just trying to be fair.

“Press here to start the game?” Daisy said quizzically, staring at the handprint. “What would happen if we just left without pressing it? Are the doors sealed without it?”

Right when she asked the question, however, Midnight pulled open the metal sliding door to the room, revealing the blinding light outside. “Nope. It sounds like it’s just as Cozy Glow said. Trixie just needs to press it to start the game.”

“What if it’s a trap, though?” Daydream asked cautiously. “If it ends up electrocuting her the minute she puts her hand there, it won’t matter what the rules are. She’ll already be dead and the game will be over!”

“Zat would be somezing zat was influenced directly by Autumn Blaze, no?” Palette added. “It was Autumn Blaze zat arranged zis room, after all, and if any of us even suspects zat she cheated, she loses. I am not sure myself why Last Gambit refuses to start ze game wizout using ze handprint, but we know zat it is fair and zat ze game will not start until she does.”

“That and we’re on a time limit,” Daydream added, biting down on her finger as she thought deeply. Before Daisy Quake or Miss Monster could ask, however, she continued, “We only get ten minutes to start the game, and it’s already been four minutes. I’m as skeptical as you are, Great and Powerful Trixie, but there’s no point in arguing about it anymore.”

I then looked around the room to make sure that everyone was in accordance, and as I expected, everyone nodded their heads, signaling for me to place my hand down and get it over with. Of course, there was still the possibility that there was something we didn’t know about, but we really only did have one way to find out. I took a deep breath and wiggled my fingers, and then with one final push of courage, I placed my hand on the print, creating a blue light to circle around the outline until the whole wall turned blue.

I immediately took a step back, but even though my feet were moving away from the wall, my hand was stuck in place, held together by some magnetic force that wouldn’t let me go. Just as the other girls were either coming to my aid or backing away in their own fear, I grabbed onto my wrist, placing one foot on the wall as I tried pulling myself off, but that wasn’t working either. Suddenly everyone was pulling on me, tugging around my waist so that I could be freed from the wall, but if they tugged any harder, the only thing they’d accomplish was pulling my arm out of its socket.

“Game set,” a voice said through the wall. “Handprint identified. The Great and Powerful Trixie. Extracting key.”

“Extracting key?! What does that mean?!”

Everyone but me had stopped pulling at this point, spending more of their effort trying to analyze the wall than to unhook me from its magic that was never going to budge in the first place. Finally, though, my hand was released, leading me to fall backwards onto my butt with a painful jolt to my pelvis. As I rubbed my lower back to soothe the pain, however, a timer appeared on the wall, counting down by the seconds to a number that Midnight must have figured out immediately.

“It’s counting down how much time we have left in the day,” she said, nodding as if to confirm her own hypothesis. “The other girls have probably already left their base by now. What’s our plan?”

“Our plan is to find them and kill them,” I said, summoning my spear and using it as a crutch to pull myself off of the ground.

“I would have guessed that, but do we have any more details?”

They probably already had a much better plan, seeing as how each of them had undoubtedly looked at their map before any of us had. They were probably planning on each of us leaving our base and moving to a new area that fit our play styles. Looking over at each of the different terrains from plains, forests, mountains and cityscapes, it would make the most sense for us to go to literally anywhere but the plains, seeing as how the other locations gave us plenty of opportunities to hide and spy on the others. This was probably exactly what they were hoping for, which was why we were going to do the exact opposite.

“We’re going here,” I said, pointing towards the center of the map and making everyone’s eyes go wide.

“Vas?! Do you not realize zat zis is exactly ver zey want us to go?”

“Then we’ll take them all head on. If any of them tries to run, we won’t chase after them. We’ll just use the numbers we have to our advantage and eliminate their team one by one. Does anyone object to that?”

All of the girls then looked around at each other to make sure, but it didn’t look like anyone disagreed. We had our first location picked out, and it was there where we’d have our first all out battle.

“Is everyone ready?” I asked, and as expected, everyone nodded their heads with a confident smile.

“Yes, Mädchen. It is time to make… de magics!”

Author's Note

Eleventh day of Trixmas

The twelfth and final day of Trixmas will be the first real battle between Team Trixie and Team Last Gambit. I hope you're all just as excited as I am! Happy Hearth's Warming Eve!

Chapter 14

As we predicted, we were the first ones to reach the battlefield. As soon as we arrived, the six of us formed a star formation, looking out for a sneak attack while Daydream Shimmer floated a few feet above us, looking over the plains in the direction of their base. There was no way to know for sure, but my guess was that they had split up their numbers, figuring we had done the same, to which we would be at an advantage. If there was one thing I knew, however, it was that Cozy Glow was smarter than I gave her credit for. She probably had something figured out that we didn’t.

“Are you sure zis is ze best strategy?” Palette asked, never taking her eyes off of the landscape in front of her. “After all, we only get five days to finish ze game. For all we know, zey could all be back at zeir base, stalling for time.”

“If they’re as smart as we think they are, though,” Midnight Sparkle began, “then they know how terrible of a strategy that is. It would only be a matter of time before we eventually went in and killed them all in one big sweep attack.”

“Can we even enter their base, though?” asked Daisy Quake.

I wondered the same thing at first, but Last Gambit knew better than that. “That would mean that Autumn Blaze would have influenced the game to work in their favor,” I told her. “If they tried stalling for time, the game would be rigged from the start. They’ll be here. We just need to give them some more time.”

“Uhh… Girls?” Daydream said from above, causing all of us to look upwards. “I don’t think we’re gonna have to wait very long to find them.”

They couldn’t have gotten there this early, could they have? That would mean they would have had to predict our strategy before we even made it, supposing they hadn’t searched in other areas too.

“How many are there?” I asked.

“Six. It looks like they’re all here.”

Then, within moments, the girls began to appear in our field of vision as well, allowing us to break our star formation and focus on the direction from which they were all coming. They hadn’t split up, which meant that they knew exactly where we would be, and seeing as how the plains were closer to our base than to theirs, the logical explanation was that they started making their way towards this exact spot from the moment the game began. Were they on their way to our base, assuming we would still be there? Were they all just that confident? Or had we unwittingly fallen straight into one of their traps?

They all took their time walking towards us, none of them using more energy than they had to until they were just a few meters away, all of them smiling with confidence. Mother Time, Panicity, Last Gambit, Onida, Bloody Mary, and Frost Lass. I had to remind myself of each of their powers, just in case one of them tried catching us by surprise, but if any of them as so much as moved, I was fairly certain that we would be able to counter them in an instant.

“Good to see you all in one place,” Last Gambit said with a sneer. “It would have been a pain if we had to search all over Everfree City looking for you girls.”

“How did you know where we would be?” I asked demandingly, to which Last Gambit shook her head with a giggle.

“You girls seriously don’t get how easy to read you are, do you? Of course you would all choose to stay together, seeing as how you’d be too afraid that by splitting up, you’d essentially make your team weaker against a group attack. Now, where would you choose to gather that would cater to the strengths of all six of you? I asked everyone on my team, and they all said the exact same thing. Why choose an area filled with obstacles when you could have an easy fight in the middle of a field?”

Shoot. She deducted our own logic to a level deeper than we realized. If we were going to beat these girls, doing so by strategy might have been out the window at this point, despite the fact that magical girls usually depended on outsmarting their opponents. We would have to beat them with sheer strength and willpower alone, and judging by the powers the other girls had, our combat skills were far superior to theirs. Our magic was made for head to head battling, whereas their magic was better suited for sneak attacks and mental games, meaning that in a situation like this where the six of us were going to be fighting close combat, we were in the ideal situation.

Then again, though, they probably already thought this far ahead. Either they were just that arrogant or we were going to have to adapt a lot quicker than what we were used to.

“So you have us figured out,” Daydream said, floating closer to the opponents. “Now give us a chance to figure you out. Why are you trying to destroy Equestria?”

“Destroy Equestria?” Onida asked. “Dude, what are you talking about?”

“Is that what your leader told you?” added Panicity, folding her arms with a smug grin. “If she’s really lying that openly to you, then I guess you all must be wondering what other things she’s been hiding from you.”

“Und we are just supposed to trust ze word of someone who was responsible for ze death of her mother? Or are you pretending like you had nozing to do wiz zat?”

“Stop pretending like you’re all the good guys in this battle!” This time, it was Bloody Mary who intervened, yelling angrily at Palette as she spoke. “All we want is to bring justice to a murderer who you all seem to support!”

“That’s not true!” Midnight replied with a shout of her own. “It’s obvious that Last Gambit has brainwashed all of you into thinking that Trixie did something that she didn’t. The only time when she would ever hurt anyone is to protect someone who needs her, just like she’s doing right now!”

Panicity smirked. “So you’re saying that Trixie has never killed an innocent person before? If that’s true, then we should hear it from her own mouth.”

“We get what you’re trying to do!” yelled Daisy. “No matter what you say, we’re not going to turn our backs on the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“Uhhh… girls?” Suddenly, we all looked up at Daydream, who was now looking around the area with panic on her face. “Weren’t there six of them before?”

Now we were all panicking, looking back at the team of girls in front of us and noticing that she was right. There were only five of them now! Who had we missed? Who had disappeared? We had to find her quickly! If we didn’t catch her, we were going to die! My heart was racing. My hands were shaking. I couldn’t die this early. Was there even any hope left? I wasn’t going to bring my mom back. I was going to let everyone down. Equestria was going to be destroyed!

Just then, however, I realized what was going on.

“Panicity is using her magic! The battle’s already started!”

“Then you’d better all stand back!” Daisy shouted, lifting her arms as we cowered behind her. Then, with a loud battle cry, she slammed her fists into the ground, creating a shockwave that sent shards of rock flying out from the ground as a tremor headed straight towards the enemy.

The five of them then moved out of the way of the attack, either rolling to the side or running away to avoid falling into the ground that was opening up beside them. As they were dodging the attack, though, I quickly tried counting the girls once again, thinking much more clearly now that Panicity’s magic had been temporarily broken. Daydream was right that one of them had gone missing, so just to make sure we didn’t get hit by a surprise attack, I created a forcefield wall between Daisy Quake and the rest of us, shielding us from a straightforward attack.

“You really think that’s going to protect you?”

Suddenly, I felt a chill run down my spine, and immediately I got a grip on what was going on. Turning on my heels, I summoned my spear and slashed behind me, nearly hitting Palette in the process.

“Vut are you doing, Mädchen?!”

“Frost Lass is here somewhere, but I can’t find her anywhere!”

“That’s always the problem, isn’t it?” Then, in the next moment, she seemed to appear right in front of my face, a girl with a blue dress and a white hood over her face. “Even though I’ve been right in front of you this whole time!”

I didn’t even know how to attack anymore. She was so close that even if I tried swiping at her with my spear, I only would have ended up smacking her with my under arm. Any attacks that I would have tried to use would have been too awkward to work as a suitable offensive move, but if I tried moving backwards, I would have run right into Daisy Quake right as soon as she was reeling back for another tremor. At the same time, though, Frost Lass’s hand was raising up to the center of my chest, and if I didn’t act quickly, I would turn into an ice sculpture in seconds!

“Oh, no you don’t!”

Midnight then grabbed Frost Lass by the shoulder, her hands glowing a bright blue until the enemy jerked her whole body away, wincing from the feeling on her shoulder. “So you finally noticed me, huh, Twilight?”

The remark made Midnight’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. “Wait! You know who I am?!”

“Obviously! It’s not like this is the first time we’ve seen you turn into a monster!”

Just as Frost Lass reeled back to send a wave of ice towards her, however, a ray of heat shot down right where she was standing, causing her to jump back, freezing the ground behind her so that she could quickly slide away.

“Midnight! Trixie!” she shouted. “I’ll take care of Frost Lass! You two go after the others!”

“Right,” I replied. “Trixie will go after Last Gambit. Daisy Quake, can you keep the others preoccupied in the meantime?”

“Heh. With pleasure.”

Then, reeling back her arms again, Daisy Quake released a yell as she slammed her hands down to the ground, creating another fissure along the ground headed towards Last Gambit’s magical girls. Most of them merely dodged by jumping out of the way, but Onida raced forwards, skating along the jagged rocks as they began protruding from the ground. As one boulder flew out of the air, she quickly tapped the stone with her fingertips, creating a bright yellow light as she made contact with its surface. Daisy Quake then tried slamming her foot down, causing the earth to cave in sideways, but again, Onida skated along the edges, circling around until she was within an arm’s reach of Daisy.

Suddenly, her fingertips began to glow yellow again, and reaching out to Daisy’s back, she shouted, “Tag! You’re it!”

Before any of us could react, though, both Daisy and the boulder that was touched a few moments earlier flew towards each other like a magnet, slamming together with a force that made her gag from the impact. She then fell to the ground motionless, making me fear the worst until I heard her moan in agony.

“Daisy Quake! Are you alright?”

She was slow to get up, but after pulling herself to where she was at least on her feet, she said, “Yeah. I can keep going.”

“Sike!”

Again, Onida rolled by, touching both Daisy and Palette with one long reach, and once she had skated past them, she clapped her hands together, making both magical girls crash into each other with a violent impact.

We seemingly had no answer to any of their attacks. As soon as we tried hitting them, they would just dodge and counter with their own magic. I couldn’t even concentrate on finding Last Gambit in the middle of battlefield seeing as how I was constantly searching for the enemy’s next move.

Then, out of nowhere, I started coughing, falling to my knees as I choked out a liquid building up in my windpipe. I could barely breathe in between bursts of gags, but looking down, I noticed something even worse. My hands were covered in blood, and the more I coughed, the more of it began to crowd in my throat, making breathing that much harder.

“Hang on, Great and Powerful Trixie! I’ve got you!”

I couldn’t see who was speaking to me, considering that my eyes were squeezed tight as I started throwing up, mixing blood with bile and creating a burning pain from my stomach to my mouth. In the next moment, though, I felt a hand on my shoulder sucking the magic out of my system. With a deep inhalation, I could finally feel myself breathing again, wiping the red liquid from my lips and getting the strength to get back to my feet.

“Thanks, Midnight,” I said, coughing out the remaining buildup in my throat. “Trixie owes you one.”

“You’re not getting away that easy!”

Finally, I saw the one who had attacked me. She had a black dress and pale white skin, glaring angrily at the two of us as the energy returned to my veins. Apparently she didn’t need to make direct contact to cause sickness, and the powers she used were strong enough to kill from where she was, supposing Midnight wasn’t there to save me.

“I’m tired of always being second best to you, Twilight Sparkle!” she shouted. “This time, you’re the one who’s going to come up short!”

Just when we were going to attack, however, Miss Monster charged in front of us, leaning forward as a black creature pushed its way out of her spine, roaring angrily as it escaped her skin. “I’ll take care of this lowlife,” she said once the monster was finally free. “Beasty! Attack that girl!”

“Raaaah!!”

The black beast didn’t waste a second charging towards Bloody Mary, reeling its massive arm back and throwing a harrowing punch towards the magical girl, but as she held out her arms in fear, before the beast could make contact, it froze right where it stood. Then in the next moment, it was moving as if in reverse, redoing all of its actions backwards until it was in the exact spot where it started in the first place. We were all confused as to what was going on until we noticed a girl standing off to the side, tilting her tophat down with one hand while the other had a magical circle hovering in front of her palm.

“Nice try, ladies,” she said, “but I’m afraid you just can’t compete with real magique.”

Before any of us could react, however, we felt the ground rumble beneath us, seeing a fissure appear in the earth in a straight line headed towards Mother Time, but just before it reached her shoes, she held out her palm again, causing the fissure to close back up as it rewound back to its owner.

How were we supposed to fight them now? It was bad enough that we were already stuck trying to combat them at long range, but there was no conceivable way to battle someone who could just turn back time and reverse all of our attacks! We were doomed! There was nothing we could do! No matter what we tried, they were just going to use their own magic to make everything we did pointless. I was going to die. I was really going to die!

I couldn’t move anymore. I was paralyzed. I just couldn’t find the strength inside me to use my body anymore. What was the point in trying? We were all going to lose anyway. At least if I stayed where I was, it would be over that much quicker. I didn’t want to keep fighting if I was just going to lose eventually!

“Trixie!” Daydream shouted in the background. “Your magic is the only one that will stop Mother Time! You have to use it!”

“I can’t move… I-I-I-I can’t do anything! We’re going to lose! WE’RE ALL GONNA TO DIE!”

Then, in the next instant, a lion made out of a rainbow of different colors charged forward, leaping on top of another magical girl who I hadn’t noticed before, and out of nowhere I could feel my heart regaining its rhythm again. I could think clearly now!

With my mind returning to normal, I noticed that Panicity was busy fighting off one of Palette’s creations, Bloody Mary was hiding behind Mother Time, Daydream Shimmer was holding off Frost Lass and we were all busy trying to dodge Onida whenever she skated by. This was good. We were still managing to hold up on our own, despite how bleak things had looked just a second ago. That meant that there was only one magical girl left who hadn’t been accounted for, but she had the scariest magic of all.

I turned around to make sure she wasn’t right behind me, but that just meant she was somewhere else I wasn’t looking. She managed to escape in the commotion, and I couldn’t turn my back away for too long without Onida tagging me and sending me on a collision course with something else she touched. If I baited her out, though, maybe someone would be able to come in and take care of her before she took any of our powers away.

I then turned back towards Mother Time, using my levitation magic to grip her by the neck, strangling her in midair while she kicked her feet, struggling to break herself free. The other girls would try to intervene, but they would have to break through our own team of magical girls if they wanted to save her.

“Don’t worry, Mother Time! I’m comin’ to get ya!”

Suddenly, Onida zoomed past us on her roller skates, tapping Mother Time in the back and racing away from the action until she had reached a safe distance away from us. Then, slamming her hand down to the ground, her finger glowed yellow, snapping Mother Time away from my magic as her body catapulted in Onida’s direction. My one mistake was not trying to grab both of them at the same time, but right when I was about to go after them again, I was met face to face with another magical girl, the one I should have been looking out for the whole time.

My eyes went wide in shock. She was legitimately inches away from my face, smiling from ear to ear, raising one hand into the air. “Nice powers you’ve got there. It’d be a shame if someone were to take them!”

She then thrust her thumb and middle finger towards my forehead, which I was just barely able to move away from in time, although she had come so close that I could actually feel the air between us whipping across my face. Even as I was falling backwards, however, I had just enough concentration to put my hand out and push her away with my levitation, causing us to both fly backwards from the impact. I was safe for the time being, but I needed to focus. Another close call like that could mean the difference between winning the game and losing my powers forever.

I quickly bent over to pick up my spear just as she was pulling herself up, rubbing her back after the impact had knocked her onto her spine. She was completely defenseless, and I didn’t waste a moment lunging towards her, reeling back my spear and swinging it towards her at full strength. There was no one to save her now. Both Onida and Mother Time were too far away to do anything, and even if Panicity or Bloody Mary tried using their powers against me, they’d be too late for it to work. This game was as good as over… at least that’s what I thought.

*Cling!*

“Huh?!”

But before my spear could touch her, she had blocked my attack with a spear of her own.

“I wouldn’t get so cocky if I were you, Great and Powerful Trixie. You’re not the only one who has weapons besides magic!”

Shoot! She had a spear like mine?! This meant that I would have to spend all of my focus fighting her! How else were we supposed to fight Mother Time if Last Gambit was keeping me preoccupied?!

“Hang on!” Daisy Quake shouted. “I think I have an idea! Can anyone lift me into the air?”

“Trixie is a little preoccupied at the moment! URGH!”

“Give me one sec!”

As I was busy grappling with Last Gambit, however, Daydream Shimmer released a giant fireball towards Frost Lass, leading her to slide away as fast as she could, giving Daydream just a split second to speed over to Daisy. Right as soon as Frost Lass had moved out of the way completely, though, Daydream grabbed Daisy by the hand and shot up into the sky, carrying her teammate with her.

“This is it! Let me go right up here!”

“I hope you know what you’re doing!”

The two of them must have been dozens of storeys into the air, but Daydream Shimmer let her go regardless, and as Daisy fell towards the ground, she flipped herself forwards, falling headfirst towards the ground. We were all holding our breaths, waiting to see what she was going to do before any of us made a move. What she was doing looked on the outside like suicide, but once she was a few feet away from the earth, she reeled her arm back and punched through the ground, causing the entire plains to rip into two squares, plunging all of us into the cater beneath it while the ends of the squares caved in upwards. Then, while everyone else was falling down below, I quickly used my magic to catch all of my teammates in mid air, moving them away from the crater and waiting for the others to fall to their deaths.

Of course, however, as I should have noted, things are never that easy.

Before any of Last Gambit’s girls fell down into the gaping hole below, Mother Time held out her hands, creating large magical circles in front of her palms that caught the two squares of land as well as her magical girls before they fell into the abyss. The amount of magic that she needed to use was causing her veins to bulge from her skin, which must have meant that she was doing everything she could just to keep her momentum going. It was like she was lifting a weight that was too heavy for her, but if she didn’t hold it up long enough, she was going to die. Gradually, the land began to slide back to its normal position, but not if we had anything to say about it.

“Daydream!”

“Already on it!”

Fortunately for us, she was still in the air from carrying Daisy, and winding up both of her arms, she outstretched her palms and released a giant blaze of fire headed directly towards Mother Time. In a different scenario, she would be able to use her magic to stop the attack, but with the amount of focus she was using to pull the two giant land masses back together, there was no way she could block the attack and save her friends.

“Keep going Mother Time! I’ll save you!”

But, of course, I had underestimated Last Gambit’s team yet again.

Frost Lass was now using her ice powers to slide herself into the air above her teammate, and before the fire could collide with Mother Time, she held out her hands and screamed, sending a giant flurry of white and blue powder into the fiery blaze. The fire was melting the ice, but the ice was cooling the flames, creating an equilibrium where even the water evaporated before it could drop more than a few inches. Frost Lass was still outmatched, but she was still able to hold her ground, holding Daydream’s magic back just long enough for Mother Time to put the ground back to where it was.

“Good work, Frost Lass!” Mother Time shouted. “Now let me help you!”

Now, with both magical girls extending their hands towards the pillar of fire, the flames began to gradually move backwards, seeping back into Daydream’s hands no matter how much she struggled to keep it going. With the ground back to where it was, though, I no longer had anything holding me back from using my own magic. Then, once the flames had completely disappeared from Daydream’s hands, I grabbed Mother Time with my magic and forced her into the ground, causing her to flail as she grabbed at her neck. I was already beginning to feel myself become nauseus again, however, no doubt thanks to Bloody Mary’s magic, but I had to stay strong, at least long enough to get rid of one more magical girl.

“H-help! *cough* Somebody!”

Almost immediately, however, Miss Monster picked up on what was going on and pointed her finger towards Bloody Mary. “Beasty! Kill her!”

Nobody even had time to react. Frost Lass was still preoccupied with Daydream Shimmer. Mother Time was struggling to get out of my magic. Onida wouldn’t be able to get there in time, and both Last Gambit and Panicity were too late to do anything. Even Bloody Mary had barely any time to respond, but in the next moment, Miss Monster’s beast was already in her face, roaring at her in anger.

Just as she held up her arms in a vain attempt to protect herself, though, the monster shoved its pointy fingers into her chest, ripping out her heart and crushing it in his bare hands. Her eyes went wide, looking down at the hole in her torso before her vision went out entirely. Blood was now pooling out of her chest, covering the floor beneath her feet until she wobbled back and forth, falling to her knees and eventually falling backwards with her eyes and mouth wide open.

We couldn’t believe that our plan had actually worked, but there was no denying it. Last Gambit’s first magical girl had been killed, and in the next few seconds, she reverted back to her original form, revealing a girl in a Crystal Prep uniform with her hair tied up on her head and glasses held together by tape tilting off of her face.

We did it. We took the first life!

“Frost Lass!” Last Gambit shouted with fury. “We need you down here!”

“On my way!” the girl replied, and after dodging a pillar of fire from Daydream Shimmer, she shot a glacier straight towards me, causing me to jump away, breaking Mother Time free from my magical grip. Mother Time then rolled over to her side quickly, holding onto her windpipe and choking, but breathing nonetheless.

“Mother Time! Now!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

In the next moment, the newly freed magical girl pointed her palms towards the lifeless girl on the ground, and with her body glowing a bright green light, the blood on the floor gradually returned to her body, bringing her back up to her feet as even her crushed heart found its place nuzzled behind her broken ribcage. The girl with the red and purple hair was being encompassed in the same light that shone when she reverted back to her normal form, and in the next moment, we saw a girl with white snow white skin and a black dress, inhaling deeply from her mouth as she once again breathed life into her system. There was no way her magic was that powerful…

...but there was no way to deny what we saw.

Mother Time had the ability to not just turn back time, but also to bring people back to life.

“I’m sorry, Last Gambit,” Bloody Mary said, coughing up some blood, but otherwise wiping the dribble from her lips. “I got cocky. It won’t happen again.”

“How is zat fair?!” Then, everyone’s eyes suddenly turned back to Palette, who was screaming in anger at the newest revelation. “How are we supposed to compete ven you can just bring your teammates back from ze dead?!”

We were all just as anxious and mad as Palette was, but Last Gambit seemed to laugh at our misery. “Hey, don’t blame me!” she said. “You were the one who agreed that we should be allowed to use the full extent of our magic. I’m just playing by the rules. Rule number nine, to be exact.”

We were now at a complete loss. We were already having a tough time as it was, but now that they added a bring-a-teammate-back-to-life button to their arsenal, we looked completely outmatched. We were barely hanging on, despite how well we had played so far, and they seemed to have an answer to everything we threw at them.

“Oh, and Palette?”

“Vas?”

“You should really look behind yourself every once in a while.”

*Slice!*

Nobody saw it coming.

Our mouths were low.

Our eyes were wide.

We thought we had accounted for all of our enemies.

We were wrong.

We thought we knew what was going on.

We were wrong.

We thought we were paying attention to our surroundings.

We were wrong.

Once Palette knew what was going on, it was already too late. Then, looking down at her chest, she saw a blue shard of ice protruding from her torso, covered in blood. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. We all just stood there watching in horror until Palette finally wobbled her body away from the icicle piercing through her ribcage and fell to her knees, grabbing at the sudden gaping hole in her chest.

Standing behind her the whole time was Frost Lass, but for some reason, we had all missed her. Somehow, she had gotten away from our focus. She somehow snuck past Daydream Shimmer--whose expression was probably more traumatized than anyone else--and managed to get behind Palette, cutting through her body in a perfect sneak attack.

Finally, Palette fell onto her side, her body going limp until her beautiful dress covered in different paint blotches turned into a black and white dress, a pink scarf and a pair of tinted glasses falling off of her ears.

“That’s what happens when you never pay attention someone.”

Our first teammate was dead, and unlike the other team, there was no way of bringing her back.

I couldn’t believe it, but the magical girl with the most experience out of anyone on this team… wouldn’t be competing in this game any longer…

Last Gambit, meanwhile, smiled from ear to ear.

“One down, five to go.”

Author's Note

Twelfth day of Trixmas! Happy Hearth's Warming!

Wow! Can you believe it? 12 straight days of chapter updates! It's been so much fun (albeit
a little stressful sometimes) adding a new chapter to MGT:LG every day for the past twelve days, but now I need a break. The story will continue, but now with more than just a couple of hours between chapters updates. A big thank you to everyone who's been reading! I hope you're enjoying the story, and I hope you liked the first battle between Trixie and Last Gambit!

Chapter 15

They had obviously put just as much thought into what their plan would be as we had, only they seemed to be one step ahead of us no matter what we tried throwing at them. We needed to get out of there, to come up with a new game plan. If we continued fighting the way we were, it would only be a matter of time before they ended up killing someone else, especially now that they had more numbers than we did.

“Girls! We have to get out of here!” I shouted. “Daisy, can you create a diversion?”

“I can try,” she replied, lifting her hands over her head. I could see Onida catching wind about what was going on, but just as soon as she started skating towards us, trying to tag Daisy Quake before she could use her magic, Daisy slammed her hands to the ground, causing a large wave of jagged rocks to shoot up from the ground, separating our team from Last Gambit’s. Onida immediately turned sideways, skidding to a halt before she ended up running into a stray boulder, but we didn’t take a second look to see what they would do. We had no idea just how much range Mother Time had; we just knew that if we wanted any chance in escaping from her, we needed to run now. And fast.

Daydream Shimmer immediately grasped the gravity of the situation and shot a ray of light into the ground by the protruding earth, creating a sea of molten magma that put even more ground between us. That relief was short-lived, however, once we saw a ghost-like figure rising above the barricade on a ramp of ice.

“You’re not getting away that easily!” Frost Lass yelled, reeling her arm back. The moment she swung her palms towards us, however, a black monster raced towards the incoming icicles, grabbing them with its hands and jaws and crushing them with a loud roar.

“Beasty, you stay here!” shouted Miss Monster, to which the monster let out another cry. It looked like Frost Lass was still trying to pursue us, but Miss Monster’s beast managed to stop her before she could get close. It would probably only be a matter of time before she was able to subdue the monster, but a matter of time was all we needed to escape. Besides, I didn’t want to look back anymore.

We could only escape if we kept running forward, and escaping was the only way to keep ourselves alive right now.

“Where are we going, Trixie?” asked Midnight. “This direction just leads us back to the base!”

“Trixie doesn’t care! We need to find somewhere to hide until we can come up with another plan!”

“The base is the first place they’ll look!” Daydream intervened. “We’ll be sitting ducks!”

Her argument made sense, but at the same time, we were sitting ducks no matter where we went. I was sure that no matter where we chose to go, they had probably already planned on us being there and had come up with a perfect strategy to use the new landscape to their advantage. By the same token, though, now I was suddenly being thrusted into a role that I had never had before, one where everyone’s safety and well-being depended on me making the right decisions at a moment’s notice. For the first time in my life, it was my turn to be the leader, and even if I felt like they were just going to catch up with us no matter what we did, I needed to strengthen everyone’s resolve so that they would have both confidence in me as well as themselves.

“Then we’ll go to the cityscape!” I shouted, trying my best to improvise.

“Why there?” asked Daisy.

“They’ll think twice before going there without a plan. With your magic, you can cause the whole city to crumble in an instant. They would be dead the minute we knew they were there!”

The girls looked hesitant, knowing that there was no way it could be that easy, but they nodded regardless, meaning that it was now my responsibility to keep them safe. If only Palette were there… maybe she could have been an even better leader…

It was hard to believe we weren’t in Platinum City by the time we reached the cityscape. Everfree City’s barren land and wooden buildings were quickly replaced by tall skyscrapers, massive, concrete buildings, and roads that interwove with each other in an intricate pattern. I wasn’t wrong when I said that Daisy Quake could level the whole landscape in an instant, but they had a magical girl on their side who could easily negate that power.

The five of us immediately entered into a vacant office building, went up to the fourth of five floors and entered into a completely random room, just so there was as little chance of being found as possible. The room we entered luckily enough appeared like a conference room, even though the layout itself was completely vacant without any chairs or tables to speak of. It wasn’t like that was a problem, though. After all we had been through in the past hour, whether or not we sat on the floor was the least of our worries.

“Those girls are terrifying,” Daisy said, pressing her back against a wall and sliding down to her haunches.

“I don’t know if ‘terrifying’ is the right word,” Midnight began, rubbing her chin pensively, “but they’re definitely able to adapt much quicker than we previously imagined.”

“So what are we gonna do?” asked Daydream, and although I didn’t have an exact answer, I at least knew where to start.

“Mother Time,” I said, gulping in nervousness once everyone’s eyes fell back onto me. “If she can bring her teammates back to life, she has to be the first one eliminated.”

Miss Monster rolled her eyes. “And just how, pray tell, do you plan on us doing that?”

That was where my plan fell apart. It was obvious that we wouldn’t be able to kill her so long as she was with the rest of her team, but there was no doubt that Last Gambit was already aware of that. We had to force their team to split up if we wanted to even out the numbers in our favor. I just had to figure out how, and I had to do it before any of them lost their faith in me as their leader.

“We’ll have to split up and fight them one on one!”

“Aren’t you forgetting one key detail?” Daydream asked, folding her arms with an eyebrow raised. “Even if we decided to split up, that would still leave them with an extra magical girl to do whatever they want, and if they know we’re after Mother Time, they’d probably just have her make a run for it so she wouldn’t have to risk anything.”

“Trixie understands, which means that if we’re going to do this, one of us is going to have to fight two magical girls at once.”

The other four girls and I looked around at each other to see if there was an obvious choice or matchup we could use to our advantage, but no matter how we looked at it, it sounded like we were going to be at a disadvantage no matter what we did. Even just battling one on one would prove to be difficult. I couldn’t imagine how we were ever going to let one of our girls battle two at the same time, even if it was my idea to begin with.

“I can handle Frost Lass,” Daydream announced, lifting up her hand. “Her powers and mine seem to balance each other out. Plus, I kinda want to be the one to kill her after what she did to Palette. She sounds like she has a personal grudge against us for some reason, and I want to find out why.”

“Do you think you can handle anyone else?” I asked, to which Daydream shook her head.

“I might be able to if you really need me, but I can’t say for sure.”

Understandable enough. I couldn’t ask her to push her limits if it meant losing her as a teammate.

“Trixie wants to help you,” I began, “but Last Gambit is going to be focused on me the entire time, and it sounds like she’s been waiting a long time to finally have this chance. Sorry girls, but it looks like the Great and Powerful Trixie is going to have her hands full.”

The girls all nodded their heads sympathetically, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they understood the situation and didn’t think I was weak for not being able to take on the brunt of the load by myself. Still, though, that left four more Everfree City girls to disperse between Midnight Sparkle, Miss Monster and Daisy Quake.

“Leave Bloody Mary to me,” said the girl in the black dress. “Her magic won’t have any effect on Beasty, after all.”

“Good idea,” I replied, “but your magic is only suited to battle one opponent at a time. If anything happens to your monster, we’ll have to retreat and come up with a different strategy altogether. We’ll keep you safe until then.”

“I think I’d be best suited to handle Onida,” said Daisy, raising her hand. “If I don’t at least slow her down, she’s gonna be all over the place.”

That was right. With the speed Onida had along with her skates, she would be an absolute nightmare to deal with using anyone’s powers other than Daisy’s. Even if she couldn’t stop Onida completely, just so long as she kept her from interfering with any of the other girls, we would have a legitimate chance of killing Mother Time before she’d be able to escape.

By the process of elimination, however, all of our heads turned towards Midnight Sparkle, who was probably going to have the hardest time out of any of us, and once the message sunk in for herself, she quickly shrunk into her shoulders. Not only would she have the hardest job, but she would be facing the two trickiest members of Everfree City all by herself. I didn’t envy her, but it was doubtful that there were any options better than where we ended up.

“Oh…” Midnight said self-consciously. “That means I’m the one who has to kill Mother Time, doesn’t it?”

“Listen, Midnight,” Daydream began, grabbing her by the shoulders with an empathetic expression on her face. “We can think of another way if you don’t think you can handle it.”

“N-no! I can handle it! I just--”

“No, you can’t.” Suddenly, all of our eyes turned towards Miss Monster, who was folding her arms while scowling at the cowering magical girl. “First of all, you have no way to kill Mother Time on your own. Daydream Shimmer, Daisy Quake, the Great and Powerful Trixie and myself all have powers made specifically for offensive combat, whereas you are predominantly a defensive magical girl. Not only that, but your power is absorbing other magical girls’ powers and using it against them, correct? How is turning back time going to kill someone?”

Midnight flinched, physically hurt by how bluntly Miss Monster was criticizing her. “But…”

“Not only that, but you would also have Panicity to deal with on top of that! How would you even go about absorbing her power? With someone like Daydream Shimmer or Frost Lass, you could easily just touch their attacks to absorb them, but you would have to touch Panicity herself in order to absorb her powers. Plus, not to be harsh, dear, but there’s no way you would survive coming within five feet of her before having a fatal panic attack.”

“That’s enough!”

Again, all of our heads turned towards the new focus of the room, Daydream Shimmer, standing in front of Midnight Sparkle, who was now practically shaking from the verbal assault she had been forced to deal with.

“What’s wrong with you?” Daydream continued. “Midnight is just as qualified to be part of this team as you are, and I think she’s more than capable of handling both Panicity and Mother Time at once, right Twilight?”

“R-right, heheh…”

Miss Monster tapped her fingers along her folded arms while continuing to hold her fierce scowl towards the two magical girls in everyone’s focus. “Interesting sentiment, my dear, but how exactly will she kill Mother Time?”

“Maybe she doesn’t have to!” Once again, everyone’s eyes shifted in my direction to see me holding my chin pensively. “Midnight! Do you think you can survive battling against Mother Time and Panicity by yourself?”

The purple-skinned magical girl shrunk slightly again before mumbling, “I… I think so. Theoretically, they don’t have any kind of magic that should be able to kill me on their own.”

“Then stall them! All of us have powers that can kill someone. I know I said that we have to target her first, but so long as she’s away from her teammates, there’s no one who will be able to revive them if they die. One of us will just have to win our respective battle before we can join you.”

“By that logic,” Daisy said, grabbing her arms like a chill just ran down her spine, “that means we’ll have no room for error.”

She was right. This whole plan rode on the assumption that none of us would die in the process, giving Last Gambit an even greater advantage. Even with that taken into consideration, however, there was no way to advance in this game without taking away Mother Time in one way or another.

“There’s just one more problem, though.” I then gulped, trying to find the best way I could phrase my next sentence as everyone waited with concern on their faces. “Last Gambit… probably has a strategy that’s better than ours.”

“What?!”

“Then what’s the point of even going through with this strategy?!” Daisy exclaimed.

“Seriously, Trixie,” Daydream agreed. “Have some confidence in us.”

“No,” I replied bluntly. “Ever since I’ve met her, she’s always been two or three steps ahead of me. She’s far better at knowing what we’re going to do even before we even think of it, and it’s hard to believe that we’d be able to change that now.”

“So what are you saying?” asked Miss Monster. “Should we just give up?”

“No, we have to get them to play the game our way.” All of the glares in the room suddenly began to fade as their ears perked up with interest. “If they’re going to out-strategize us, we need to be better at adapting than they are. It’s good to have a plan in place, but when they poke holes in our strategy, we need to be able to change directions on the spot. That’s how we’ll win.”

Finally, all of the gloomy expressions in the room began to lighten up, some of them even smiling with a confidence that put my heart at ease. Unfortunately for me, however, that feeling would disappear as quickly as it came.

“There’s just one thing that’s been bothering me, though…” I then turned my attention towards Midnight Sparkle, who was rubbing her chin in deep thought. “These other girls…”

“What about ‘em?” Daydream responded.

“I don’t understand what they’re hoping to get out of this. If what we’ve been told is correct, then a magical creature named Autumn Blaze will escape from Everfree City and attack Equestria if they win. Why would they go through so much trouble to make that happen? How does that benefit them?”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Daisy chimed in. “I’ve been trying to ignore it, but what that Panicity girl said earlier is starting to bug me.” Then, with her desperate eyes looking deep into mine and her lower lip quivering, she asked me, “Trixie… There’s something you’re not telling us, isn’t there?”

I had no idea how to respond, but the longer I took to answer her simple yes-or-no question, the more concerned everyone’s faces became. If only Palette could have been there, she might have known what to say.

“I…”

I tried to speak, but words weren’t coming out. Even if I knew what to say, my breath was getting caught in my throat, choking me while I tried to come up with an explanation that I could give them.

“Trixie might… know something…” Everyone’s eyes grew wide, making my heart race. “But not everything! Trixie’s memories have been erased, and now I’m trying to fill in the missing pieces!”

“Well then,” Daydream retorted, putting her hands on her hips, “just tell us what you do know.”

As quickly as I had gained their trust, I had immediately lost it. I was backed into a corner, still unsure of how many gory details I was supposed to share with them, especially since I really didn’t know that much more than they did. Their eyes, however, continued to squint in suspicion, and after another gulp, I knew that I had to at least tell them something before they started coming up with their own theories.

With a deep sigh, I hung my head and mumbled, “This… isn’t the first death game that Trixie has been a part of.” Daisy and Midnight gasped, Daydream’s eyebrow rose, but Miss Monster seemed unphased by the explanation, almost like she was already suspecting something like this to come up. “If Trixie understands correctly… this is the third.”

“But you don’t remember because your memories have been erased?” Daydream continued to clarify. “Who erased them? Why? And why didn’t you tell us?”

“Discord. One of the girls from Platinum City asked him to do it. I’m still not sure why, but I can’t remember either of the death games that I supposedly took part in before now. I don’t even remember how I became a magical girl in the first place.” Everyone’s faces were becoming more sympathetic, but it still wasn’t easy explaining all of the details when I didn’t know half of them myself. “I didn’t mention anything because I didn’t want you to think of me differently.”

Finally, Daydream chuckled and shook her head. “You had nothing to worry about, Trixie,” she replied. “At this point, it would take a pretty big shock to make any of us change our minds about you.”

“What about murder?”

The five of us all shrieked, turning our heads to the doorway to see a younger girl leaning against the wall, rocking her foot back and forth with her spear in her hands. Her skin was pink, she had curly blue hair, and she was wearing a purple cape that fell to her ankles. She’d found us, and it hadn’t even taken her more than an hour to pinpoint our exact location.

“What do you mean ‘murder’?!” Daydream exclaimed angrily. “The Great and Powerful Trixie isn’t a murderer. Unlike you!”

“Oh, really?” Last Gambit replied with a chuckle. “You know, I’m actually being honest when I say that I’ve never actually killed anyone before. Can you say that, Trixie? Oh, that’s right. You can’t exactly talk about that while your friends are here.”

“Everyone!” I shouted. “Be on the lookout for the others! Panicity could be using her magic right now!”

“Hang on,” Daisy said, approaching me hesitantly. “Answer her, Trixie. Have you ever killed anyone before?”

“Daisy!” Daydream shouted. “That’s enough!”

“No! I want to hear it from her own mouth!” Again, Daisy looked into my eyes with desperation. “She’s lying, right, Trixie? Please tell us you’ve never killed anyone before.”

Last Gambit’s smile grew wider and wider while everyone around me began to subtly look towards my direction. None of them wanted to admit it, but they were all wondering whether or not I was actually the murderer that she was making me out to be.

I didn’t have a choice anymore. I would risk my friendship with them if I told them about my past, but unless I told them my side of the story, they would lose their trust in me forever.

Lifting my head towards Last Gambit, avoiding the eyes of my teammates, I said, “The reason Last Gambit wants to release Autumn Blaze…” I gulped. “...is because I’m responsible for the death of every magical girl in Everfree City.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay. I'm going to try to update the next couple of chapters more regularly than once every 3 months. I think this story is about 1/3 of the way finished, so I hope you enjoy the rest of the ride!

Chapter 16

The girls around me all froze up, leaving an awkward silence as Last Gambit was the only one left in the room smiling.

“You’ve… killed… other magical girls?” Midnight muttered, holding her shaking hands to her chest.

It wasn’t as simple as that, of course, but if I continued to pussyfoot around the subject, it would lead Last Gambit to continue manipulating my teammates into thinking I was a monster like her. “Yes,” I replied bluntly. “Trixie has killed nine girls over the course of her magical girl life, and I don’t even know who half of them were.”

At that moment, however, I summoned my spear and pointed it towards my enemy, who folded her arms and tilted her head back in curiosity.

“The one thing that I do know, though,” I continued, “is that I wasn’t the one who killed Divinity!”

Last Gambit continued to smile in my direction as I was nearly heaving in anger and anxiety. Panicity was probably somewhere close by, using her magic to make the situation even worse, but I needed to at least tell them the truth so they would know they could trust me once they calmed down. While I was busy trying to keep my shaky hands from lowering the angle of my spear, however, Last Gambit unfolded her arms, shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

“You see, girls?” she said arrogantly. “She’s already admitted to killing my teammates, but did she ever tell you about how she killed some of her own teammates too?”

“No…” Daydream said, turning her head to give me a soft scowl. “She coincidentally left that part out.”

As I looked around the room, all of my teammate’s expressions had changed from fearful to furious, except for one girl who shook her head in annoyance. Then, as she took a step forward, all eyes fell onto her as she looked confidently into Last Gambit’s eyes.

“I’ve been friends with the popular girls for a long time, dear,” Miss Monster said, folding her arms. “I know manipulation when I see it, unlike these girls who have lived a sheltered life where everyone was friends with each other for as long as they can remember. So now that I’ve uncovered what you’re trying to do here, why don’t you be honest with us? Why exactly are you trying to kill Trixie and release a monster to destroy all of Equestria?”

The scowls around me then began to fade, and the pompous smirk that Last Gambit had been wearing this whole time was slowly beginning to turn into an enraged glare. Then, she took in a deep breath and exhaled through her mouth, but her hands were still trembling in anger. She was now looking at the floor, standing in silence as we all awaited her answer.

“To bring her back…”

“I’m sorry?”

Finally, Last Gambit lifted her head, looking right at me with her teary face as she screamed, “SHE TOLD ME SHE COULD BRING DIVINITY BACK IF I KILLED YOU!”

“That’s insane!” Daisy exclaimed. “If Autumn Blaze could really revive your friend, then she wouldn’t need you to kill the Great and Powerful Trixie to--”

“No.”

Suddenly, Daisy Quake stopped talking. Everyone shifted their gaze back to me, waiting in silence for me to continue, but it was so hard to explain. If I told them the rest, would they still be my friend? If I told them that Last Gambit had been telling them the truth this whole time while I was keeping secrets from them, would they ever forgive me?

It didn’t matter anymore. Again, looking confidently towards my teammates, I said, “She’s right. By killing Trixie, she can bring back Divinity, and if that happens, then she could kill every single one of you with the snap of her finger… both in the game and in real life…”

The girls then looked back towards Last Gambit for clarification, but all she did was shrug innocently. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”

“And you expect us to just stand back and let that happen?!” Daydream shouted, getting into a fighting position just like the others.

“Not really, but then again, none of you have a choice now, do you?”

“What did you just say?!”

While the five of us glared, however, Last Gambit smirked with confidence. “Ta-ta, bitches!” Then suddenly, at that moment, all the windows surrounding us shattered, bringing in a heavy wind that made her cape flutter, and as she folded her arms with a confident smile, the rest of us were now screaming and scrambling for our lives.

Where was the attack even coming from?! As I looked around at my surroundings, the only magical girls I saw were Last Gambit and the ones on my team! They were all shrieking at the top of their lungs, and every second that passed was another moment where any one of us could die without realizing it. I needed to act, even if it meant doing something risky.

“Daisy!” I cried out above the loud winds. “Destroy the city!”

The girl in the blue dress immediately turned towards me and flinched, her hand shaking near her chest. “B-but if I do that, we might not--”

“Hurry!!”

She bit down on her lip, her whole body shaking, but upon closing her eyes, she slowly lifted up her foot and--

“LOOK OUT!”

Before she could even set her foot down, however, she found herself falling backwards, dodging an icicle that jettisoned right past her ribcage, barely missing it as Daydream shot a wave of fire towards it. Right when she landed, though, her hand slipped off the edge of the now shattered building, making her crawl back to safety while the rest of us desperately placed our backs to the remaining walls. We were lucky that Daydream managed to spot the attack before it was too late, but we still had no answer to their ambush.

“Daydream!” I shouted. “Give Midnight some of your powers! Quick!”

Daydream looked back at me and immediately nodded her head, holding out her hands towards Midnight who mirrored the girl in front of her, squeezing her eyes closed and turning her head away. Just as soon as she did so, though, Daydream fell to her knees, holding onto her gut with one hand while the other covered her mouth. Suddenly, blood was pouring out of her lips, and unable to hold the liquids back anymore, she found herself using her spare hand to hold herself up from the floor as she heaved in air between stream of vomit.

They were here. They were all here, and none of us could find them! All we could do was stand back and wait to die! As soon as Daisy looked towards me again, however, I gave her a nod. Even if she was cowering in the fetal position, all she needed to do was slam her hand down to create the exact tremor we needed, but right when we needed her most, she started shaking again.

“I… I-I-I don’t think I can do it!” she exclaimed, running her hands through her hair and sliding her knees up to her chest. “We’re gonna die if I do that! Don’t let me die, Trixie! Please!”

“Daisy! Get ahold of yourself!”

“I DON’T WANNA DIE!!”

This had to mean that Panicity was somewhere watching too. As I looked around, I saw that Daisy was trembling on the floor, Midnight Sparkle’s face was turning white from seeing Daydream Shimmer vomiting her own blood, but Miss Monster… was discreetly stepping away from everyone. The moment we made eye contact, she sent me a glare, causing me to immediately look away. At the same time, though, my curiosity got the better of me, and out the corner of my eye, I could vaguely make out the site of a black claw gripping her shoulder.

I had to be a distraction before they remembered that she was still a threat.

“Midnight! Bloody Mary is somewhere nearby! Trixie needs you to--”

Before I could even finish my thought, however, I immediately grabbed onto my neck, coughing up the insides of my throat as the inner coating began to gradually peel off. As tears dripped down my cheeks while my eyes continued to burn hotter, I did my best to maintain eye contact with Midnight, praying that she would understand through my agonizing coughs what I needed her to do.

‘Use your magic before she kills us!’ I thought loudly. Midnight’s trembling hands stayed close to her chest, but once she took a step forward, Last Gambit immediately stepped in, thrusting her spear between the two of us.

“Oh, no you don’t! We’re ending this right here! Now get out of the way and let me bring back my friend!”

“Midn--*cough, cough*--Heal Dayd--”

Suddenly, I was silenced yet again, not by the feeling of a scratching inside my throat, but by Last Gambit’s shoe striking across my face. I could barely see out of my eyes due to both the searing pain as well as all the water in my tear ducts, but I barely managed to make out the sight of Last Gambit’s enraged scowl just before she stomped her foot against my right temple. I was lucky that I hadn’t felt anything crack from the impact, but there was still a good chance that I had just not noticed it through my muffled scream.

“I’m so fucking done with you, you worthless bitch. Do you realize how long I’ve planned for this moment? Do you realize how much fucking anguish I’ve had to experience just to bring back my best friend?! This for Divinity and all the girls of Everfree--”

I quickly blinked as hard as I could to clear the tears from my eyes and turn my head upwards. For some reason, I couldn’t hear Last Gambit speaking anymore, and when I moved my head, the pressure from her boot had nearly disappeared. Then, my eyes went wide, but not nearly as wide as the horrified shock of Last Gambit, who looked down to see a black claw piercing through her chest, blood dripping down its talons. Suddenly, Last Gambit took a step back, her face turning white as she turned towards the magical girl behind her. Standing behind her with her arms folded and a smug grin across her face was Miss Monster, as well as a black creature extending from her back and slicing through Last Gambit’s lungs.

My breathing stopped almost as immediately as Last Gambit’s had. Was this it? Was the game over? Had we really just won already?

Then, just as I was getting ready to celebrate, a pair of black shoes with black and white knee-length socks entered my vision, leaping down from the floor above. I couldn’t look up high enough to see who they belonged to, but realizing the situation as well as the enchanting voice above, it didn’t take me long to figure out the rest.

“Well, I suppose now’s as good a time as any to make my appearance. Time Warp!”

No! No, no, no, no! We had her! We were so close! As I felt my nerve endings slowly coming back to their senses, giving me just enough energy to painfully push my torso off of the ground, I saw Beasty’s claw fall back into Last Gambit’s chest, sealing the wound as the silhouette of a clock’s hands revolved counterclockwise. Finally, tipping her tophat and spinning her cane, she turned towards me with a sadistic smile on her face.

“Sorry about that, love, but I can’t just allow you to win, now can I? Although brava on that little diversion of yours. If I had waited another second, you might have actually succeeded.”

What did this mean now? Was I going to die? Was Equestria going to fall into chaos, all because of me? With my fist clenched, I closed my eyes again. Unless Midnight acted fast, I was as good as gone, and with Panicity having as much influence over her mind as she did, I couldn’t see any way out anymore. Maybe her magic was clouding my own judgement as well, but no matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t see us coming back from this one.

With my eyes returning to the floor once again, the only thing left in my vision were Last Gambit’s shoes and spear, whose tip was just an inch above the ground. Just as soon as it entered my field of view, though, it had quickly disappeared. I couldn’t see exactly where it had moved, but I could very faintly hear Last Gambit breathing above me.

“Trixie…?”

Midnight’s voice was soft, scared, and flustered. She had probably never seen a girl die in real life before. Now she would get to experience firsthand what kind of dangers magical girls dealt with in the real world. Even though my memories were blurry, I could still make out the face of the first person I’d ever seen die, a drug lord who took his own life right in front of my eyes. Would she be as traumatized as I was that day? Would she handle herself better than I did? Or would she blame herself, like I did every day since it happened…?

‘Mom…’ I thought to myself, holding back a stifled tear before my life came to an end. ‘I’m sorry I had to join you so soon. You probably wanted some time to be away from me for a little bit, but I messed up like always. I promise I’ll go to the other place, just so you’ll never have to deal with me again, so please... don’t be mad.’

“Trixie!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Right when I thought that I would feel something sharp slice through my neck, however, I felt the ground begin to rumble. It hadn’t been Midnight’s voice crying out like I had expected, but at the same time, the tense pressure in my throat had suddenly disappeared as the vibrations against my body amplified in severity. I then quickly pushed myself up, just to fall back onto my butt along with the other girls in the room, which started shaking back and forth, causing the floor and ceiling to begin to crack under the pressure.

“What the heck are you waiting for?!” Last Gambit screamed, facing the magical girl in the tophat while they both tried to keep their balance. “Do something before she kills us!”

“I can’t! The range is out of my control!”

Wait! Mother Time had a weakness?!

Before I could think any further, however, the floor caved in, sending all seven of us on a downward spiral towards our death. High-pitched screams filled the air, which I could gradually feel growing colder and thinner. Despite how terrifying the situation was, however, both Panicity and Bloody Mary’s magic had completely disappeared, and with adrenaline rushing to my head, I had just enough time for one last-ditch effort to keep ourselves alive.

“I’ve got you, girls!” shouted a voice that had seemingly come out of nowhere, creating an icy platform that caught Mother Time and Last Gambit before they could fall any further. Now it was my turn.

I had never used this much magic in my life, but with all of my strength and focus, I released a giant forcefield, gripping onto everyone’s bodies and freezing the five of us in midair. The screaming had stopped, but we weren’t out of the clear yet. Before we even had time to catch our breaths, a maelstrom of icicle shards plummeted towards our bodies at a volume we’d never be able to dodge, and if I tried using my own magic, we’d just go right back to a fatal freefall.

Then, as if on cue, the frigid temperature disappeared as a blinding light combusted towards the storm of ice shards. Once it was safe to open our eyes again, the translucent barrage of snow was nowhere to be seen, but we weren’t out of the clear just yet. The disadvantage state was gone. Now we just had to play in neutral.

I then lowered the five of us down to the pile of rubble on the ground as quickly as I could, and as if on cue, the air once again dropped to subzero temperatures, filling the sky with a white blizzard. Almost immediately, the entire city was covered in a flurry of snow, and just behind a thin sheet of frosty fog stood six magical girls with Last Gambit in the middle, folding her arms as she calmly glared us down. We each had our own assignments, and now it was time to put our plan into action.

“Kill them.”

The moment the words escaped Last Gambit’s mouth, the city turned into a warzone filled with fire, ice, earthquakes and chaos. The first one to move was Onida, who moved so fast that we almost didn’t have a chance to react, but out of reflex alone, I managed to put up a forcefield right as she lunged forward to tag me. Reading the situation almost immediately, Midnight reached out to steal her magic, but in the next flash, she was gone, replaced by Last Gambit, sneaking the other way, reaching her glowing, red hand out to grab me. Just as she was an inch away from touching my face, however, she clicked her tongue and somersaulted backwards, barely dodging an earthquake that would have pulled her under. Finally, with just enough space for us to breathe, the Platinum City girls and I all nodded our heads, and with our assignments in our minds, the five of us split up and charged towards our targets.

Four of us immediately jumped into the air while Daisy Quake slammed her fists into the pavement, creating a ripple that headed straight towards Onida’s direction. The pink-haired magical girl quickly skidded on her rollerblades, dodging the attack and immediately raced along the edges of the jagged rocks sticking up in the aftermath. As Onida got closer, however, Daisy reeled back her arm, clenching her fist while squaring her legs. Then, once the target was close enough, the girl in the blue dress sent a violent punch in Onida’s direction, just for her target to move her head off to the side at the very last second, reaching her glowing yellow hand out and slapping Daisy on the back.

“Tag! You’re it!”

In the next moment, Daisy was launched away from the city, on a collision course that was probably headed to the other side of the map, but just before she could leave the area, Midnight Sparkle leaped in at the last second, wrapping her arms around Daisy with her hands glowing a bright blue. The two then slammed into the ground, skidding across the pavement while Mother Time leapt in like a vulture. With a clock appearing in front of her, its minute hand turning counterclockwise, the two girls started moving in reverse, but right when they were about to reach the moment before Midnight was able to use her magic, a black monster swooped in, slamming its fists and screaming wildly, causing Mother Time to break her focus just enough to leap away from a surprise punch to the neck.

“Midnight! You take care of the rest!”

Once the purple-skinned magical girl could reenact her previous fall to the ground, she immediately nodded in Miss Monster’s direction before turning towards Mother Time. The girl in the tophat, however, lifted her chin with a haughty smirk.

“Good luck, love. You’ll need it.”

“I’ll take care of you in a minute,” Midnight replied, her hands glowing a bright blue once again. “You’re not my only assignment, you know.”

Suddenly, with Mother Time’s smirk fading, Midnight Sparkle and Daisy Quake darted off in separate directions, neither one charging towards the time-turner. Instead, Midnight leapt straight towards the girl in the red dress with long, purple hair who had been evading the battle on the outskirts, no doubt trying to manipulate Daydream as she battled against Frost Lass. The moment Panicity noticed Midnight charging towards her, however, she quickly dodge rolled to the side, lifting her hand with her eyes glowing a bright green.

That, however, was the last thing I saw before Last Gambit completely pulled my attention away, swiping her spear towards me, which I barely managed to deflect at the last minute with my own. I then lifted her into the air with my magic, squeezing her arms into her waist as she flailed helplessly above the ground. It looked like I had a clear shot, but right when I swung my spear to slice through her abdomen, I felt my entire body being pulled in the opposite direction, crashing into a building behind me, causing a surge of pain up my spine. Last Gambit didn’t waste a second. The moment she was free of my magic, she ran towards me at a speed only a magical girl had, but just like my plans had been ruined by one of her magical girls, she was forced to stop short as the ground in front of her was severed by a trail of jagged rocks protruding from the pavement.

With a growl, Last Gambit shouted, “Onida! Can you please take care of her already?!”

“I’m trying, boss, but Twilight ruined my best shot!”

Last Gambit grumbled under her breath, brushing the dust off of her dress. “Change of plans, Trixie. You’re gonna have to wait a couple minutes.”

As soon as I realized what she said, I reached out my hand to grab her again, but by this point, she was already out of my magic’s range, racing to aid in the fight between Daisy Quake and Onida. Daisy was already having trouble with her opponent, but there was no way I’d be any help by constantly chasing after Last Gambit. I would have to switch to someone else and hope that she’d be able to handle two opponents for the time being.

Luckily for me, however, I picked the perfect time to look away from my target. No sooner had I turned my head when I found myself leaping into the air, avoiding a boulder that looked like it was on a collision course with the opposite side of the city.

“Aww, not thinking straight, are we? That’s too bad. You had the perfect shot, too!” Upon looking in the direction from where the boulder had nearly taken my head off, I noticed Panicity standing triumphantly with her hands on her hips while Midnight punched the ground angrily.

Maybe she could be my next target! She was already busy trying to fight off one opponent, and Midnight Sparkle would probably need my help anyway. Before I could run after her, though, I felt a sudden pain in my gut, causing me to fall to my knees, covering my mouth with my hand before I started vomiting all over the asphalt. It wasn’t just my stomach that was in pain, either. My muscles were so weak that I couldn’t physically get enough energy to move my arms anymore.

Where was Miss Monster?! She was supposed to be taking care of Bloody Mary!

Finally, I couldn’t hold it in anymore, and with my throat gagging on itself, I started throwing up everything in my system, burning my insides on the way out. If Last Gambit saw me like this, there was no way I’d be able to make it out alive, but fortunately, before anyone else was able to take advantage of my moment of weakness, Daydream descended to the ground in front of me, creating a pillar of fire that encapsulated the surrounding area.

“You alright, Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Trixie will--mmf--be fine. Where is--”

“I’m taking care of it. I just wanted to make sure you were OK first.”

“Don’t worry about Trixie! Just take care of--”

“How can I not worry about you?! You’re literally the only one whose life matters here! Just hang on for a second, OK? Let me just take care of Frost Lass real fast and I’ll be right back to help you out with Last Gambit.”

I hated that I had to be the one that needed to be saved, but I was still grateful to have someone as dependable as Daydream Shimmer on my squad. Nodding my head, the flame-haired magical girl released her pillar of fire and ascended back into the air, shooting a ball of fire towards a ghost-themed magical girl sliding on a track of ice high up in the sky.

Now that I was alone again, I quickly surveyed my surroundings, looking for whoever needed my help most. It appeared that Miss Monster was leading an attack against Bloody Mary again, although Beasty was half-decorated in icy crystals, moving much slower than he usually would. In an effort to contain Onida, Daisy Quake had created a giant crater between herself and the rest of the girls in the city, making it nearly impossible for Onida to make it back to the battle without any outside help. Last Gambit was now fighting alongside Panicity, but Mother Time was nowhere to be seen.

‘Shit!! She got away!!’

There was the chance that she was still somewhere nearby, waiting to use her powers in case someone died, but there was a much better chance that she had escaped the fight entirely. She was their most powerful weapon, after all, as well as our biggest target. It made sense that they would fight five on five for the time being and wait for a sneak attack to utilize her when we weren’t expecting it, especially given how they had utilized her powers so far.

I didn’t have time to worry about that for the time being, though. Out of all the magical girls in Everfree City, Panicity and Last Gambit were easily Midnight’s worst matchup, and they knew that just as much as I did. Then, without taking another moment to think about it, I pushed myself back to my feet and ran to help my teammate, but before I could close even half the distance between us, a flurry of ice crystals cascaded in front of me, blocking me in a similar manner to Daydream Shimmer’s pillar of fire just moments prior.

“Hold it right there, murderer!” shouted a magical girl wearing a spooky outfit, descending to the ground from her diamond path above. “I’m not going to let you get in Last Gambit’s way!”

As much as I wanted to help out with Midnight, however, there was no way for me to take my eyes off of Frost Lass without her turning me into an ice sculpture. I would just have to hope that Daydream was using this opportunity to help Midnight in my place now that Frost Lass had switched targets. Besides, this would give me the chance to get inside the head of one of Autumn Blaze’s magical girls.

“Funny you should mention that. Wasn’t it you who killed Trixie’s teammate earlier?”

Frost Lass flinched in surprise, but quickly regained her composure, along with a glare that I could see even behind her mask. “Don’t try to compare me to you! We both know she’ll come back once the game is over!”

“But Trixie won’t. Although I’m sure Cozy Glow has managed to trick you into believing that murdering me would somehow make you different from Trixie.”

“That’s… That’s not the same!”

“Don’t you realize how many people will die if Autumn Blaze is released?!”

“Autumn Blaze isn’t the monster! Discord is!”

This was going nowhere. I was just wasting time at this point. In the next moment, the two of us were leaping towards each other, and I was now using my magic to block as many ice shards as I could. Out of all of Last Gambit’s magical girls, Frost Lass was easily their best fighter, and if I managed to kill her when I had the chance, they had no shot of winning the game anymore.

The closer I came, the colder I got, feeling my body moving slower, my skin changing color, and even even turning to ice in my legs and arms. Even if she completely paralyzed my body, though, I still had my magic. Once I got close enough, I started squeezing onto her ribcage, gripping it as firmly as I could, feeling her bones begin to collapse in on themselves. Frost Lass was now struggling in pain, but the ice beginning to surround my body wasn’t slowing down one bit. My consciousness was starting to fade, and now there was no way for me to escape anymore. I had to kill her right here or the game was over. As I struggled to hold onto my senses for as long as I could, I forced my entire being into shattering her bones, and after a small snap, the magical girl in white fell to her knees, grabbing onto her side.

This was it! Just a little bit more!

I now had more energy than ever, and now that her attack was only at half its power, I was gradually starting to get feeling back into my nerve endings. Once she saw how quickly I was approaching, however, she squeezed her eyes shut, wincing in pain as both of her wrists pointed towards me, showering my body with a white mist that was even stronger than before.

Killing her with my spear wouldn’t be an option anymore. I had to do it with my magic, but crushing her ribcage was taking too long.

Finally, once I had basically lost all feeling in my fingers, now just moments from going unconscious, I switched my target from her torso to her neck, and once she knew what was going on, her eyes went wide and her attack stopped completely. She quickly brought her hands up to her neck, struggling to get a grip on the invisible force that was attempting to choke her to death. I then looked around for any other threats, but to my relief, everyone else was so immersed in their own battles that they didn’t even notice what was going on.

With my eyes falling back onto Frost Lass, all I could see was total despair and panic as she held onto her neck for dear life. Every once in a while, she would take her hands off to try and fight me off, but any time she tried, I would grip even harder, reflexively bringing her hands back to her throat. Just a few more seconds, and she’d be dead. Just a few more seconds!

Her eyes were now beginning to close, her face turning a deep blue underneath her mask. Her flailing body was getting weaker and weaker, kicking her legs and gripping her neck with less and less energy as the seconds passed. This was it! She was about to d--

“Time up. Redirecting.”

Then, out of nowhere, Everfree City disappeared.

Before we knew what was going on, Twilight, Sunset, Photo Finish and I were now in the middle of a dark hallway within Canterlot High School, back in our normal bodies. We were in the most awkward positions, and if somebody were to walk by and see us, they’d no doubt be suspicious. Besides us, however, there were no signs of life anywhere in the school that we could tell.

As soon as I realized what was going on, I immediately pulled out my phone to check the time, and like I expected, the number read 12:01, Tuesday morning. I couldn’t believe it, but the first day of the competition was already over. We hadn’t been able to kill even one of Last Gambit’s teammates, and right when I was about to even out the score, I ran out of time at the very last second. We had been completely outplayed, outmatched and outstrategized at every level.

In short, we had completely fucked up.

SLAM!

Twilight, Sunset and I jumped reflexively. Before we could get rhythm back to our hearts, we heard the same sound getting louder and louder, making us instinctively flinch every single time. Slam! Slam!! SLAM!!!

“Scheiße! Scheiße, Scheiße, Scheiße, SCHEIßE! I cannot believe it. I cannot… I… RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!”

Again, the three of us jumped from hearing Photo Finish scream at the top of her lungs, leading Sunset to quickly place a hand onto her shoulder. “Whooooa! Calm down, girl. Let’s just take a second to breathe real quick, OK?”

“You zink I can just calm down after vut happened today?!” Photo Finish screamed, shaking Sunset’s hand off of her shoulders. “I vas completely useless! Don’t you get it?! I have been a magical girl zan any of you, yet I vas ze first to die! If zey free Autumn Blaze, it vill be on my shoulders more zan any of you! Und you expect me to be calm?! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

Again, Photo Finish punched the locker in front of her as hard as she could, and even without her magical girl strength, she was able to put a small dent in the sheet of metal, making us all take a step back in fear. After that, however, she immediately slammed her head against the depression she had made, banging her fist against it much more lightly while she bawled her eyes out. Sunset reached out to put her hand onto her shoulder again, but right before her fingers made contact, she froze, pulling her palm back to her own chest and dropping her eyes to the floor.

“Scheiße! Scheiße! Scheiße! Scheiße! Scheiße! Why… Why did I have to lose? After all zese years of being a magical girl… Have I learned nozing?! I… I’m sorry, Mädchen. I am so sorry…”

After waiting several moments, watching her heart break in front of me with no clue what to say, I did the only thing I could think of. Finally, she stopped crying, although she didn’t turn around. She didn’t move a single muscle, but she didn’t need to. With my arms wrapped around her waist and my face pressing into her shoulder, I began to cry right along with her.

This was my fault just as much as it was hers, and now, our chance was gone. The first day was over… and we had failed…

Author's Note

Fun fact: magical girls vomit rainbows. Hopefully that makes it less gross as you continue reading about sickness-induction. Sorry again for taking so long to update. If you can, though, let me know your thoughts on the story so far!

Chapter 17

I was now the only survivor. Out of all the girls who had ever received her powers from Discord and Platinum City, I was the only one who had yet to die, and that fact was slowly beginning to kill me.

“Are you sure you’ll be OK?”

“...Ja, I vill be fine.”

Photo Finish sighed deeply, tilting her glasses back up her face to try and portray the normal, composed expression that she always had. She was still alive, technically, but so were the other girls from Platinum City. They all knew at one point or another what it was like to fail, to lose their life fighting a game that they didn’t want to be a part of, yet somehow, I had escaped that pain again and again. Why me? It felt like everyone always had a target on my back, so out of all the talented girls that Platinum City had, why was I the only one who was spared that pain?

Sunset Shimmer nodded at Photo Finish’s reply, but none of us were very convinced about her answer. She was obviously taking this much harder than any of us thought she would, and if I was being honest with myself, part of me wondered whether or not she wished she had died in real life too.

“You know, you can always stay over at my house if you need to--”

“Zat vill not be necessary,” she replied, cutting off Sunset Shimmer while she still had composure. “Although I do appreciate your concern. Zank you again, Mädchen. However, I do not think zat I vill be ze one who needs a place to sleep tonight.”

Suddenly, everyone’s eyes fell back onto me, making me flinch backwards. “Th-that’s alright! Trixie can just sleep in Platinum City tonight!”

Their faces all said the same thing. They were just as concerned about me as they were about Photo Finish, but I couldn’t continue to let myself continue to be a problem anymore. I could tell that they wanted to help me out, but… they just didn’t understand… None of them did.

Sunset scoffed, putting her hands onto her hips. “Oh, come on, Trixie. You know it’s not a problem if you stay over for a while. When I first came here from my own world, I didn’t have anyone to take care of me, so believe me when I say that I know how hard it can be trying to survive on your own.”

No, she didn’t. She didn’t know anything about me. She didn’t know what it was like growing up in my shoes. She didn’t know what it was like dealing with the constant fear of coming home every day, just to have the everliving shit beaten out of her, and thanks to Lulu Lemon’s little memory intervention, neither did I!

I then shook my head, trying my best to ward off the inner demons bringing up the only thoughts I was actually trying to forget. I couldn’t figure out what I was getting so worked up about, but I couldn’t bring them down with me if I was just going to have a mental breakdown anyway. “No, thanks,” I said as calmly as I could, rubbing my elbow as I tried to force a smile. “Trixie has had a long day. I kinda just want to go back to Platinum City, if that’s OK.”

Sunset looked to the others for their own thoughts, but after they all shrugged in reply, Sunset let out a sigh and gave me a sympathetic smile. “OK. Well… just message us if you need anything.”

“...Thanks…”

My eyes travelled back down to my shoes. I knew that I was only making their concern grow worse, but the last thing I wanted to do was look into their eyes, especially if it meant they would just take longer to leave. I could hear their footsteps walking away, becoming dimmer and dimmer as they stepped further and further off into the distance. I then waited until the sounds were completely gone, standing there for another minute or so to make sure they wouldn’t come back, and once I was sure I was alone, I fell to my knees, bawling into my hands.

All I could think was “why?” Why did this have to be my life? Why did I have to be the one to save Equestria? I was one of the least qualified girls in the entire world, so why was it that the most powerful, vindictive magical girl in the world was dedicating her every waking moment to make sure that I died?

I must have been on the floor for a good five minutes, sobbing like a baby, but I knew that at least this way, nobody would hear me. Nobody would make fun of me or get annoyed by me. I would have cried longer, in fact, if I hadn’t realized how little time I had before I needed to wake up again. School started in a little over 7 hours, and if I wanted to have any shot at competing against Last Gambit’s team, I needed to get as much rest as I could, no matter how impossible.

If only there were a magical girl whose power was to put people to sle--

“AAAGGHHH!!”

“Pipe down, will you? Otherwise the whole neighborhood will know we’re here!”

I must have triggered some memory that Discord had erased, but the sudden pain in my skull wasn’t even a concern anymore. I had completely forgotten that the four of us weren’t the only ones transported here directly from Everfree City. Sunset, Twilight, Photo Finish and I were all sent back to the exact same places where we had originally come from before we ended up in Everfree City, but I could think of at least one girl who went to Canterlot High who had made the exact same journey from the exact same place.

The moment I pulled my aching head from out of my hands, I looked up to see a girl much shorter than me, looking down into my eyes with a sadistic smile on her face. “How did you like day one? Was it exciting enough for you?”

The tears were threatening to come back, but I couldn’t lose my composure here. If the rest of her team secretly went to this school, they could all be in the same room, waiting to kill me with nobody around to stop them.

“What do you want?” I asked, more in a grumble than an actual voice.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You know, not every encounter we have is just me trying to kill you. You should at least give me a little credit.”

“OK,” I said much more confidently this time, rising back up to my feet and making her look up at me. “Then why exactly are you here? Come to poke fun at Trixie’s miserable first day?”

“...Yeah, pretty much.” I growled again, but that just made her laugh, grabbing onto her waist for dramatic effect. “I sure hope my team isn’t being too mean to you. Maybe we should give you girls a head start next time. After all, we all know what happens when you try running away.”

*Clang!*

I didn’t even know what I was doing anymore. One second I was standing above her, and the next second, my hands were gripping the collar of her shirt, lifting her up and slamming her into a nearby locker, yet despite the sudden power shift, she never once stopped smiling. She knew something I didn’t, and I was pretty sure that something involved her magical girls being somewhere close by.

Finally, after taking a deep breath, I allowed the girl back down to the floor, where she fixed her shirt and arrogantly folded her arms. “Smart move, Trixie. I think we both know what would have happened if you tried anything here.”

“Then why don’t you do it and get it over already?”

“And turn this place into a war zone?! Golly, Trixie! We’re in the middle of school for crying out loud! Show some class!” The girl then snickered at her own joke, but if this was really all she came to do, there was no point in me being there anymore.

“I’m going home.”

Finally, however, right when I turned around to walk away, Cozy Glow stopped laughing. “You don’t have a home.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that…”

Suddenly, both Cozy Glow and I took a step back in surprise, looking around for wherever the voice had come from. I knew who it belonged to, but that somehow only terrified me just as much as it was terrifying her. Fog was beginning to set around our ankles, shadows jumping out at every corner, slithering from one side of the school to the other. Then, with all the smoke piling up into one large billow, a creature emerged from the smoke, cackling demonically, making Cozy Glow yelp in uncharacteristic fear.

“What the shit?! What is he doing here?!”

The creature in front of us, however, just smiled at her with his signature snaggletooth grin. “It’s an honor to officially meet you, Cozy Glow. My name is Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony.” As the draconequus took a bow, the girl beside me took another hesitant step backwards.

“Yeah. Cool. Thanks. Again, what the shit?!”

“Oh, calm down. I am on your side, after all.”

““YOU ARE?!”” the two of us exclaimed, looking back at each other as if our faces could somehow explain what was going on. As I should have expected, though, Discord just cackled loudly at our expense, making me wonder if this was some kind of twisted joke.

I knew Discord, though, and as much as I didn’t want to admit it, this was no joke.

“Of course!” he shouted with total jubilee. “You and I share the same goal, after all. Don’t we?”

Cozy Glow, however, just scratched her head. “Uhh… I guess so? Do I need to ask again?”

The god of chaos rolled his eyes. “Alright, I can see that you’re not one for roundabout discussion, so I’ll cut to the chase. You’re not allowed to kill Trixie outside of the game, so whatever plan you had going on here will have to wait until tomorrow. Oh, and Trixie, you really should be more careful. One of her magical girls is standing right beside you.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, confused as to how he could see someone that I didn’t, but as soon as I looked to my side, I jumped back with a yelp, holding my hands up like a shield. Surely enough, there really was a magical girl there, and it was the exact same one that I had tried killing just a few minutes earlier. Once I saw her, though, I shot Cozy Glow a furious look, to which she replied with a casual shrug.

“Hey, she’s been here this whole time. Not my fault you never noticed her.”

“So you’re Discord,” the icy girl beside me said, her hands balling up into a fist and shaking at her side. “You’re the one who sealed away Autumn Blaze into Everfree City!”

“Me?!” the draconequus said, holding his paw defensively to his chest. “I’m sorry, erm… Spooky Girl--”

“Frost Lass.”

“Gesundheit. Anyway, what I was saying is, you’re sorely mistaken! I want Autumn Blaze free as much as the both of you! Trixie here is the one keeping her locked up in Everfree City!”

Frost Lass’s icy gaze then shifted from Discord to me, creating a white mist from her sleeves that she probably didn’t even know she was creating. Like her, however, I was equally as upset, just towards someone else, who was coincidentally holding a heater next to me, shielding me from her unconscious blizzard.

Finally, with a sigh, I pinched the bridge of my nose and said, “Trixie has had a long day, and I would like it very much if everyone could just let me go back to Platinum City.”

“YOU THINK WE’LL LET YOU ESCAPE NOW, YOU HEARTLESS BITCH?!”

Just as Frost Lass was about to jump in and turn me into an icecube, however, Cozy Glow quickly held up her arm, holding her back before she could start a fight in the middle of school. “Sorry, Frost Lass. Change of plans.”

“What?! What are you saying?! She’s right here! Let’s just kill her and get it over--”

“You’d be wise to listen to your friend here.”

The hooded magical girl then looked up at Discord’s wily grin, and before she knew what was going on, she gasped in a sudden huff of air, looking down at her hands as quickly as she could. Instead of the beautiful white dress she was wearing earlier, she now wore baggy jeans and a striped sweater over her light green skin. Once she realized that she was now looking at her normal form, she took a few steps backwards, nearly hyperventilating as she bumped into the locker behind her. The strangest part, though, was that I felt like I knew her… somehow…

“W-w-w-what did you do to me?!”

“Let me make myself clear.” Suddenly, Discord was eye level with the girl in front of us, making her shriek as his face came closer. “I like games just as much as anyone else, but I only like them when they’re played fair. Trixie is playing your game by your rules in Everfree City, but you are playing by my rules here. Don’t forget, just because we share the same goal doesn’t mean that I want you alive. You are one of Autumn Blaze’s lackeys, after all.”

Then, with the snap of his claw, the girl’s magical girl costume returned, allowing her to hug onto the fabric as she weakly fell to the floor. As Discord turned away, however, I couldn’t help but look down at the once confident magical girl shivering in fear, clutching onto her sleeve like she was freezing to death.

“You didn’t do anything to her… right?”

Discord rolled his eyes at Cozy Glow’s question. “She’ll be fine. She’s just suffering from how beautiful I am. Anyway, let’s go, Trixie. I have someone here to take you home.”

I tilted my head, looking over his shoulder to see nothing but a black hallway for as far as the eye could see. “You do?”

“Tch. Why did I have to be the one to babysit tonight?”

I knew that voice, even without the uptight attitude that came along with it, and as Discord slithered his body out of the way, I noticed a magical girl standing behind him, arms folded with throwing knives in her hand. I instinctively flinched once she made eye contact, backing up to the other girls who all wore the same concerned expression as me. They probably just thought that since there was another Platinum City girl here that they needed to be on the defensive, but they had no idea how scary she could be without fighting.

“N-Night Seam!” I said as amicably as I could. “What are you doing here?”

Again, the girl in black clicked her tongue, ignoring me as she turned towards the draconequus. “I think I should be able to take it from here, Discord. Is you-know-who waiting for us outside?”

“As requested! And you’ll be happy to note that she did a phenomenal job of making sure nobody tried attacking the other girls as they made their way out of the school, although you should have seen that poor girl’s face when she found out that there was somebody waiting for her.”

I then quickly turned my head towards Cozy Glow, who took another step back and grit her teeth. “Damn it! So Panicity didn’t do anything?!”

“She peed herself a little.”

Cozy Glow then bent forward with one arm around her waist and one hand over her mouth, her eyes going wide as she made exaggerated gagging sounds. “Gross! You didn’t need to tell me that much!” As soon as the words escaped her lips, however, Discord once again slithered his face in front of hers, making her shriek in surprise.

“It would be a good idea if you followed her back to Everfree City now.”

It looked like she couldn’t figure out where to be scared or angry, her face switching between the two emotions wildly until she finally lowered her head, still looking up at Discord with a bitter glare. “This. Isn’t. Over.”

“Oh, I would hope not. You girls are just too much fun. Toodaloo!”

With her eyes never deviating from Discord’s smug expression, Cozy Glow grabbed hold of Frost Lass’s arm with one hand, pulling out her teleport gem with the other, and in the next instant, the two of them were gone once again. Finally, I could fall to my haunches, rubbing my forehead while breathing a sigh of relief, but before I even got a moment to relax, Night Seam grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me back up to my feet.

“H-hey! Can’t Trixie just have a moment to breathe?!”

“You gave that up when you decided to be a magical girl. Discord, you can leave now.”

The god of chaos made an offended noise, putting his hands on his hips while he portrayed an insulted persona. After a few seconds of Night Seam’s less-than-welcoming stare, however, Discord drooped his arms and breathed out a defeated sigh. “Fiiiine. Have it your way. Good luck, Trixie. You’ll need it.”

Then, with the snap of his claw, he disappeared instantaneously, but Night Seam was already tugging at my arm, pulling me towards the entrance of the school. “Seriously?! Can’t you at least trust Trixie enough to walk herself--”

Before I even finished my sentence, the black-themed magical girl turned around and shoved me into a locker, much like I had experienced so many times back in Manehattan. The surprising thing, though, was that even though she was always around when I was bullied in middle school, she never once laid her hands on me. My eyebrows pinched in confusion, her eyes obviously filled with rage, but not looking directly into mine.

“I had plans to go shopping today.”

“OK…? What does that have to do with me?”

One of her hands fell off of my shoulder, balling into a fist before punching the locker at my side, making me flinch involuntarily. “Did you think I had planned on going alone?”

“Soooo did your boyfriend dump you or something?” Again, she punched the locker at my side, this time with so much force that she broke it off its hinges. “OK! OK! Who did you plan on going shopping with?”

“The same ones I always go shopping with: Lulu Lemon, Le Blanc, Suri Polomare, Upper Crust…”

“...Ohhhhhh. Trixie sees why you might be mad now.”

“Trixie, you IDIOT!!” In what could only be described as a rage blackout, Night Seam immediately grabbed the broken locker door and tossed it to the other side of the hallway, shattering a wall so deep that it revealed the classroom behind it. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”

This time, it was my turn to click my tongue. “Taking action where you fell short, or did you forget when Palette and I went to Crystal Prep just to recruit you specifically?”

Finally, Night Seam’s glare met my own. “Is this some kind of game to you?!”

“What else would you call it?! How else was I supposed to keep Discord from releasing Autumn Blaze into Equestria?! You should be thankful that Trixie was able to come up with a game in the first place!”

“MY FRIEND’S LIFE IS IN DANGER BECAUSE OF YOU!”

For the next few moments, I didn’t speak. I just let her scowl at me while she attempted to catch her breath, calming down no matter how temporarily. Finally, once she would be able to hear my voice over the sounds of her panting breath, I said, “If I lose, then all of Equestria will be in danger.”

I knew that Night Seam wanted to shoot back at me, to hit me, to cut me down to my core, but we both knew that nothing was going to change by doing that. As much as we hated each other, we were teammates, and she knew just as well as I did that if I won, it would be saving her from a headache she would end up dealing with further down the line. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Night Seam pulled herself away from me and turned towards the entrance of the school once again.

“Now who was this mysterious person you were talking to Discord about earlier?” I asked with my hands on my hips. “Let me guess. Marrow decided to stop by to give me a lecture too?”

“If Marrow were here, you’d be dead.” I scoffed at the comment, but Night Seam thankfully ignored me. “Come on. She’s waiting to make sure we make it out OK.”

I gave her a dull stare, unenthused by her lackluster response, but she didn’t bother looking back to see it. The rest of our walk to the front entrance was done in silence, both of our pulses probably still racing from our altercation from earlier, though neither one of us was exactly looking to start another argument. I could only imagine how much cajoling it took to keep Marrow from coming down here and starting a fight herself, but I was sure that Night Seam was more than happy to fill that role for her.

Once the two of us made it outside, Night Seam placed her hand to the floor, causing half of the shadows around the schoolyard to disappear, simultaneously revealing a woman with one foot placed against the side of the Canterlot High School statue, her arms folded as she smoked a cigarette. Finally, once she turned to see us, a small smile broke her lips.

“There you girls are.” She looked familiar, but at the same time, I couldn’t remember (or even think of) a time where I would have seen her before. Her clothes were tattered and dirty, like she hadn’t washed them in years, and her hair was long and dishevelled, portraying the visage of someone who probably came straight from B Street. “I take it things went well on your end?”

Night Seam flicked her hair behind her shoulder. “It was just like we thought. There were two of them waiting for her.”

“Only one waiting over here, but she wasn’t much of a problem.” The woman then took in a long puff of her cigarette, the red flames sizzling the ends away until she breathed out a long wind of smoke, blowing out small circles before coughing out the rest. “Rookies will be rookies. She took one look at me and scurried off with her tail between her legs.”

“Yes, Discord told us about the erm… vivid imagery.” I shook my head, trying not to think about it too much. “Sorry to sound rude, but should Trixie know who you are?”

The woman giggled before inhaling another breath of smoke, blowing it out much more smoothly than before. Then, dropping it onto the pavement and stomping the flames dry, she blew out one last breath of nicotine and folded her arms, a small grin growing on her face. “I suppose you wouldn’t remember me. Not after what Discord did to you girls.”

Suddenly, my eyes went wide. “You know what happened?!”

The woman chuckled quietly, reaching behind her back and pulling out some kind of translucent ball, making me squint my eyes and tilt my head. “I guess I have this to thank for that.” I still had no idea what she was talking about, but taking into consideration that Discord had wiped my memories, it made sense that I wouldn’t. “I didn’t exactly know what these things were supposed to do at the time, but apparently I had one in my hand the moment Discord wiped all of our memories. Turns out, thanks to this little orb, I was the only one lucky enough to not have their memories erased.”

My eyes went wide again. “Who… Who are you?”

“Will you stop messing with her already?” Night Seam asked with an obvious bite in her tone. “As much as Marrow wants her dead right now, it would be in our best interest to help her until she’s taken care of that Canterlot problem.”

“Then I guess I should stop wasting your time.” Finally, with a large smile, the woman held out her dirty hand and said, “Pleased to meet you again, Great and Powerful Trixie. You can call me Dazzling Gleam.”

Chapter 18

I squinted my eyes, tilting my head to the side, trying to figure out how I was supposed to know this woman, but regardless, I reached out and shook her hand. Once my hand was free, though, I reflexively rubbed it against my skirt, trying to get the germs off of my hand as quickly as I could while silently hoping she wouldn’t notice. She seemed nice enough, maybe even trustworthy, but I still had my own reservations about putting my trust into one of Night Seam’s friends, especially one who knew more about my past than I did.

“Nice to meet you, Dazzling Gleam,” I said, nodding my head politely. “So, sorry if Trixie is being blunt, but why are you here, exactly?”

The woman chuckled, turning her face towards Night Seam. “Leave us.”

Night Seam clicked her tongue and folded her arms. “Don’t let us down. I doubt Marrow would be very happy if Trixie’s problem became our problem.”

“You think I’m scared of her? Trixie was the one who killed me the first time, after all.”

Suddenly, my eyes snapped back towards Dazzling Gleam, who was still giving Night Seam a snarky smile. The girl in the black dress, though, clicked her tongue again and vanished into the darkness, leaving me alone with the mysterious girl whom I’d apparently killed once already. Was it someone that Discord didn’t tell me about? I already knew both Marrow and Night Seam’s real identities, which meant that the only other options--supposing that Discord had told me everything--were Mind Games or…

I lifted my head curiously. “Storm Rose?”

The woman smiled, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief. It was actually a relief seeing a Platinum City magical girl who didn’t hate me right now, but then again, I still didn’t know that for sure. After all, I still wasn’t one hundred percent sure what she was doing at CHS in the first place.

“I’m impressed, Trixie. How did you figure out it was me so easily?”

I shrugged my shoulders with a sheepish look on my face. “Discord told me half of the details. Trixie just guessed the rest.”

“Ah. I should have figured that Discord wouldn’t keep your history a total secret from you after everything that’s going on right now. Come. Let’s go for a walk.”

Before I even had the chance to nod my head, Storm Rose had started making her way down the sidewalk, leaving me to fast-walk to catch up with her. She probably had no idea where any of these roads took her, but it wasn’t like either of us had any specific destination anyway. It was just relaxing to feel the fresh air around us as we walked down the streets of Canterlot, knowing that after the long, crazy day that I’d had so far, I could almost take a break from it all.

“What has Discord told you, Trixie?”

“Not a lot. Basically he just said that we were part of two different death games, and the only ones to survive both of them were me and Palette. Although… that does bring up something Trixie wanted to talk about…” I then looked up at Dazzling Gleam’s face, whose eyes just barely turned to where she could look both at me and the sidewalk in front of her. “...Was there a third girl that survived to the end with us?”

Suddenly, the smile that Dazzling Gleam had on her face vanished, now looking straight in front of her, pretending like I didn’t exist as a long silence took over. “What do you know about the death game?”

“...The first one or the second one?”

“The first one. The second one was more of a hunt than a game.”

“All Trixie knows is that Discord made us fight each other… and that I won.”

The other girl snickered, placing her hands into her pants pockets. “You did a lot more than just win. You single-handedly beat the three most-experienced girls in Platinum City after only having your powers for one day. I still can’t figure out how you did it, but then again, I was one of the first girls eliminated. Figures. I was the one who started it, after all.”

I snapped my neck towards her, but she didn’t even flinch. “What?! But I thought Discord--”

“Discord was the manipulator. I was the tool. That’s how it always has been, that’s how it will always be, either until humanity ends or he’s somehow turned to stone. Now, what about the hunt? What do you know about that?”

“That’s why Autumn Blaze and Last Gambit are so angry, right? We killed all of the magical girls from Everfree City to bring back all the girls who died in the death game?”

As we turned the corner to a new street, Dazzling Gleam pulled a hand out of her pocket, rubbing her chin quizzically. “Yes, but that’s only half the story, I suppose.”

“Oh. Fun. Even more details Trixie doesn’t know about.”

The girl beside me chuckled softly, leaning her head back to view the stars above us in the dark evening sky. “I don’t have all the details myself. On top of being one of the first girls killed in the death game, I was the last one resurrected from the hunt. I do know, however, that Autumn Blaze and Divinity wanted us dead, and they would have done literally anything in their power to make that happen.”

“You… remember Divinity?”

Silence descended for the next several moments before she finally spoke again. “Oh, how I wish I’d never have to remember that name again. You know, you were lucky to have your memories wiped. I still get terrors every night thinking back on the fight we had with that girl. I still have no idea how we managed to survive.”

“Was… Was she really as powerful as everyone is making her out to be?”

Finally, Dazzling Gleam stopped walking, and slowly turning her neck to face me, I saw eyes of complete terror, like she was experiencing post-traumatic stress just thinking about it. “She was worse than you could possibly even imagine.” My mouth trembled, trying to think of what I could possibly even respond with, but before I had the chance to speak, she turned her face forward and started walking again.

“And Marrow was the one who killed her, wasn’t she?”

“Yes. Divinity was about to go back in time and kill us before we got our powers, but Marrow courageously stopped her at the last moment. Platinum City is lucky to have a girl like her, otherwise we would all be dead right now.”

I was about to scoff at the excessive praise for the girl who had made me want to commit suicide for years, at least until a question suddenly came to my mind. “Wait! You were there during the fight with Divinity?!” Dazzling Gleam solemnly nodded her head, her face as stoic as ever. “But Trixie thought you were the last one to be resurrected! Does that mean we didn’t revive anyone after we killed her?”

The girl beside me suddenly stopped, and with my eyebrow raised, I found myself practically shaking from the tension that came out of nowhere. I could tell that there was something she was holding back, something she wasn’t telling me, but I needed answers about my past, especially with everything that was on the line here.

Finally, with a sigh, Dazzling Gleam turned towards me and softly said, “There’s a reason Marrow asked Discord to wipe our memories, and it wasn’t just because of Divinity.”

“Then what was it?” Dazzling Gleam’s eyebrows pinched together like she was getting ready to make an excuse, but grabbing onto her hands, I quietly begged, “Please. Trixie needs to know what happened.”

Another few moments passed before she sighed defeatedly, pinching the bridge of her nose while rubbing her eyes. “Marrow’s skeleton.”

I tilted my head. “OK…? What about it?”

“Do you know what she named it?”

I folded my arms with a question mark practically hovering over my head. “Yeah, she named it Summer Breeze. What does that have to do with Divinity, though?”

“Summer Breeze was the last girl that Divinity killed, but the girls of Platinum City knew her better by the name Dreamdrop.”

‘Nice to meet ya, little girl! My name’s Dreamdrop! I’m a magical girl!’

“AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!”

I immediately fell to my knees, ignoring the pain of my knees hitting the pavement as my brain suddenly felt like it was being torn apart from its center. My heart jumped in circles, clenching up like it would burst at any second, and the blood in my body started building up behind my eyes, creating an agony so severe that I couldn’t keep my voice inside anymore. I was probably waking up half of Canterlot from how loudly I was screaming, but there was no way I could physically hold it in based on how much I was suffering.

With a concerned look on her face, Dazzling Gleam fell to her knees beside me, grabbing onto my wrists while I continued writhing on the ground. “Trixie! Trixie, get ahold of yourself!”

“Aaaahhh!! It hurts! Make it stop!! AAAAHHHHHH!!”

The pain was only getting worse. It went from a tearing sensation in my chest and brain to the point where I felt like I was experiencing an actual heart attack and brain hemorrhage at once. Even with Dazzling Gleam holding onto my wrists to try and hold me back from flailing on the ground, I couldn’t keep my back from spasming on the pavement, hitting the ground with enough force to break my bones if things continued the way they were going.

“Forgive me, Trixie.”

“What...ungh… what are--YAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!”

Suddenly, the pain was completely different, and when I looked up to face Dazzling Gleam, giving her the most terrified eyes I had, I noticed a different girl standing in her place. Meanwhile, the agony in my veins was replaced with a static shock, one that stiffened my muscles completely, making my whole body immobile. The only thing that worked was my voice, and it was screaming as loud as it would go. Finally, I felt a vocal cord snap, and in the next moment, the shock subsided, as well as the pain in my body.

The woman beside me rose up to her feet again, allowing me a few moments to catch my breath now that my heart was gradually finding a steady rhythm again. A small tear fell down my electrified body, giving me another shock as it travelled down my nose.

“I’m sorry I had to do that,” she continued. “I hope you understand now why Marrow erased your memories.”

I didn’t understand at all! What was the point of Marrow making me forget about Divinity? What was the point of making me forget about Dreamdrop? What did Marrow’s skeleton have to do with this? Everything she told me just made me more and more confused!

“Storm Rose…” I mumbled, doing my best to at least lift my crippled torso off of the ground. “Why did Marrow erase that memory? What does Dreamdrop have to do with me?!”

“I’m sorry, Trixie, but I can’t answer that.”

“LIKE HELL YOU CAN’T! IF WE KILLED DIVINITY, WHY DIDN’T WE REVIVE DREAMDROP?! WAS IT JUST SO THAT BITCH COULD KEEP HER SKELETON?!”

Storm Rose sighed, placing her hand over her face and shaking her head. “You know I can’t tell you things that Marrow wants you to forget.”

By this point, I was so angry that the adrenaline alone helped push past the pain enough for me to at least get onto one knee. “Oh, yeah?! Well, you’ve done an awful lot of talking for someone who doesn’t want me to find out what’s going on! Why did you come here in the first place?”

Storm Rose met my glare with that of her own, the only movement in the next few seconds being that of the evening Canterlot wind brushing through our hair. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she opened her mouth, speaking in a low, stern voice that made my heart clench in my chest.

“To say goodbye.”

My eyebrows rose slightly before coming back together in a fierce scowl. “And just what is that supposed to mean?!”

“Exactly what you think it means. The girls and I don’t have any confidence in you to survive this battle, so while you’re playing your little game in Everfree City, the rest of us are getting ready for the real fight, the one where our own lives will be at stake.”

I quickly rose back up to my feet, transforming into my own magical girl form and grabbing Storm Rose by the lapels of her dress, my teeth seething with fury. As I glared with all the indignation in my body, however, she continued to stare back with the same, unphased expression, waiting for my tirade to end. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do; I wasn’t going to do anything to hurt her, but I still needed to show her somehow that she was wrong not to trust the prowess of the Great and Powerful Trixie.

“...Are you finished?”

Her words made me click my tongue in anger, but with nothing else to contribute, I slowly released her from my grip, looking away and trying not to blush from humiliation.

“Trixie, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“Oh, sure. ‘Everybody thinks you’re going to lose.’ How could I possibly misinterpret that?”

“...I’ve missed you.” My heated face suddenly began to soften, but I continued to keep my eyebrows furrowed, still hesitant to let my emotional guard down so easily. “I’m not the only one, either. Paradox, Iron Maiden and Cupid Symphony still talk about you.”

“Ugh… Stop changing the subject! If you really just came to tell Trixie goodbye, then at least answer one question.”

Storm Rose nodded. “I can’t promise that I’ll be able to answer, but I will tell you anything I can.”

“It’s obvious that Dreamdrop and I share a connection somehow. I’m guessing Marrow decided not to revive her just to spite me, but if we didn’t revive her, who did we bring back?”

As soon as I asked the question, Storm Rose regretfully ran her hand through her black and blue hair, sighing while she dropped her eye contact. “Please, Great and Powerful Trixie… I know that you and Marrow haven’t always gotten along, but try not to judge her for her actions. She’s always done what she thought was best for Platinum City, even if it didn’t always work in everyone’s favor.”

“Yeah, and she has a special way of making sure that Platinum City’s interests never align with mine. Will you just tell me already?”

With a frown, Storm Rose solemnly nodded her head and said very, very clearly, “Graveyard Girl,” and suddenly my anger ascended to a new level.

“No…! Le Blanc?! She chose not to bring back Dreamdrop so she could bring back that bitch?!”

“Listen, Trixie--”

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!”

Storm Rose probably tried consoling me at this point, but I couldn’t see her anymore. I couldn’t see, hear or feel anything other than the magic leaving my body, being projected on anything I could touch. I knew I was screaming, but in my total rage blackout, the only thing that entered my ears were the words Storm Rose just said. Just when I thought Lulu Lemon couldn’t make my life any worse, I realized that she always found new ways to make my life a struggle, and all I could think about was how much I wanted her to die.

“TRIXIE!”

Finally, I came to, and when I looked around at all my surroundings, I saw that mailboxes had been crushed, trees had been pulled out of the ground, light poles had toppled onto houses, and every car in the neighborhood was flashing while blaring their loud alarms, toppled over sideways and crunched. Then I felt someone grabbing onto my wrist, and lifting up my head, I noticed that Storm Rose had turned back into Dazzling Gleam, looking urgently into my eyes.

“Trixie, change back! Quick!”

With a hesitant nod, I followed her instructions just before everyone in the neighborhood rushed out of their homes, seeing all the damage that seemingly came out of nowhere. They all looked so scared, confused and angry, like I was looking into a mirror and seeing the same expression I was making projected onto every face in the cul de sac. None of us had any idea what could have caused a mess like that, but after looking down at my hands and seeing how violently they were shaking, the pieces began to slowly come together.

“Did…” I began, my lip trembling. “Did I do that?”

“...We need to leave.”

“But…” I turned towards the people again, seeing them beginning to shout profanities, some breaking down and crying, and all I could think about was how I could even manage to create an absolute devastation like this. I could barely move, but there was no way I could stay there any longer. Finally, I turned towards Dazzling Gleam and nodded my head. “R-right.”

I checked my phone. I barely had any battery left, but all I needed to do was to check the time. Two-thirty in the morning, which meant that if I did manage to get any sleep, it would be brief before I had to wake up for school the next morning. Part of me wanted to just skip classes and try to get whatever rest I could, especially since it wasn’t like there was anyone back home waiting for me anymore, but I needed to spend every waking moment I could figuring out a plan for day two of Cozy Glow’s game.

“You made a real mess back there.”

I looked to my side towards Dazzling Gleam, who was crouched against the same wall as me, bringing a cigarette to her lips as the flames slowly approached her mouth. Then, after blowing out a stream of smoke, she lightly flicked the remains to the side, lowering herself to a sitting position while I remained squatting, looking between my knees in remorse.

“Did Trixie really do all that?”

“Oh, you should have seen the look on your face. I thought you were going to kill me for sure.”

Hearing Dazzling Gleam reaffirming my fears, I slid myself down to my butt, sighing heavily as my shoulders slumped. “Those poor people. Can you imagine how hard they must have worked for those homes, just for Trixie to destroy them in one rage blackout?”

“I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it.” I opened my mouth to interject, but once I turned my face towards hers, I noticed a surprising smile on her face. “I think we may have just found your secret weapon.”

“...My secret what?”

“While it’s true that those people have probably had their most prized possessions damaged beyond repair, it would be even worse if they lost their lives, don’t you think?”

“You’re not helping, you know.”

Dazzling Gleam chuckled, leaning her head back on the brick wall behind us as she gazed up at the stars. “I don’t think either of us really know how much magic Discord decided to store in that body of yours, but I think we both realize by now that it’s more than just great and powerful.” I tilted my eyebrow in curiosity, but she continued looking up at the sky with a smile. “I hope the girls and I are wrong about you, Trixie. If Marrow was the one you were supposed to kill, I’d have no doubt that you would win.”

“So you still have no faith in the Great and Powerful Trixie, huh?”

“Maybe… But just in case I’m right, I wanted to make sure that I wished you luck one last time. If you don’t make it out alive, just know that there are girls in Platinum City who will always miss you from the bottom of their hearts.”

Neither of us spoke for several minutes after that. Maybe I was just so tired that I couldn’t think of a way to respond, or maybe I was just mad knowing that there were still going to be girls in Platinum City who would be happy if they found out I’d died. It was a peaceful silence, though. It was nice knowing that I didn’t have to respond, that I could just sit there and think about everything going on.

Finally, though, Dazzling Gleam lifted herself up with a sigh, patting her pants to somehow make them less dirty than they already were. As much as I wanted that moment to last forever, time would progress whether I wanted it to or not, and sooner or later, I would be back in Everfree City, competing for my life and possibly even the fate of the world. I wished that I could just take a break from it all, to spend one day with my friends, just in case I didn’t make it out alive, but I was old enough to know by now that things don’t happen just because you want it bad enough.

“Where are you going to be sleeping tonight?”

“...Doesn’t matter.”

“Come now, Trixie. You’re not homeless.”

I brought my knees up to my chest, folding my arms around my legs and glaring to my side. “Trixie might as well be at this point.”

The girl beside me ran her hand through her hair with a groan. “You know, Dreamdrop would be perfect right now. Her magic was to put people to sleep.”

“Then maybe we should have revived her.”

“Yes… I know. If only it were my decision to make.”

Another silence followed until I finally looked up to meet Dazzling Gleam’s gaze, my eyes now softened and humbled practically to the point of tears. If this was really the last time I’d get to see the one girl who knew about my past, I just needed to know one thing.

“Can… Can you tell Trixie why I keep getting these flashbacks?”

“Hm?”

Dazzling Gleam tilted her head to the side while I looked back down at the floor. “Discord restored some of my memories, but only a little bit. All I remember is someone saying, ‘Nice to meet you. My name is Dreamdrop. I’m a magical girl.’ Every time that memory comes up, though, Trixie feels something special. I can’t explain it…”

Dazzling Gleam took a moment to think, leaving me in suspenseful silence until she finally said, “Of course Discord would show you that memory. It’s when you first became a magical girl.” I quickly shot my face up towards hers, just to see her looking off into the distance again, this time with a large smile on her face. “You were so weak and fragile back then, but I was so happy when Dreamdrop brought you to Platinum City for the first time. You should have seen Night Seam’s face when Dreamdrop brought up the idea of you becoming a magical girl, but even though she was against the idea at first, not even Night Seam could argue with Dreamdrop for long. If it weren’t for Discord’s game, there’s no doubt that we would have been the best of friends.”

I didn’t speak for a long time after that. I was too preoccupied trying to keep myself from crying to think of what I could say back. That was it, the reason why I didn’t remember how I became a magical girl, the reason why those memories kept flashing in my mind. I still had no idea who Dreamdrop was or what she might have meant to me, but at least I had some answers.

The only answers I would get before the end of the game.

Finally, pulling myself up to my feet with a sigh, I stretched my shoulders and turned to my side, looking down the street with my head held a little higher. “Thanks, Dazzling Gleam. Trixie feels a little bit better now.”

“Of course. I don’t want this to be the end, but just in case it is…”

“Yeah… I know…”

“...Goodbye, Great and Powerful Trixie.”

I didn’t look behind me to see what happened next, but somehow, I felt alone again. At this point, though, that no longer mattered. The only thing that mattered anymore was killing Cozy Glow, stopping Autumn Blaze, and maybe once that was taken care of, I could finally get my memories back.

Then, taking one step forward, I slowly began making my way back home, now with a newfound determination to end this game once and for all. I’d need my rest for later when the second day began, and if I did what I needed to do, hopefully there wouldn’t be a day three.

“Ugggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh………”

“Trixie, what happened to you?”

“You look like a total mess.”

“Are you alright, Mädchen?”

I hadn’t looked in a mirror since I had woken up, but to be fair, I had barely woken up fifteen minutes before walking to school. My hair was probably a mess, and I probably had bags under my eyes, thanks mostly to the fact that I’d only ended up getting three hours of sleep altogether.

“Trixie is… *yawn* Trixie’s good. Has anyone come up with any plans since last night?”

“Actually, I think I may have an idea of how to win,” Sunset said. I tried appearing as excited as I could, but I probably just looked like a zombie turning towards its prey. “The first part is the same as yesterday: we try to separate Mother Time from the others and eliminate her as fast as possible. After that, if Daisy Quake and I can use our magic to create a barrier around Last Gambit, then you, Midnight and Miss Monster can fight against her three to one! It’s so simple, but if we can keep the rest of her team from getting in, we should be able to win!”

I blinked lazily, which in my mind meant, ‘That’s a great idea!’ but in her mind probably meant, ‘That’s so stupid. Why would you ever think that would work? I’m not going to take advice from someone who tried to turn an entire school into zombies after Flash Sentry broke up with her.’

“I… uh… I’ve run the scenario through a couple of different times,” Twilight quickly intervened, “and from my calculations, the plan will work so long as time doesn’t become an issue. If we take too long, the wall will be breached, or in a worse case scenario, time will run out for the day. Based on Last Gambit’s magic, though, we should have no problem eliminating her quickly and easily if it’s three versus one.”

“Supposing zat nobody’s magic is taken away,” Photo Finish added. “Zis plan only works if both Daydream and Daisy survive with zeir magic intact. I’m sorry zat I von’t be able to join you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sunset chimed in again. “So? What do you think, Trixie?”

“...Ngh… Who’s the president, again?”

Photo Finish slapped her hand to her face while Sunset sympathetically placed her hands on my shoulders, turning me towards the direction of my first class. “Maaaaybe we should let you take some time to think it over.”

“Think what over?”

Sunset froze. Those words hadn’t come out of my mouth, nor had they come out of Photo Finish or Twilight’s. Finally, my eyes began to open again as I saw a blue-haired girl standing in front of us, her hands on her hips as she smirked her cocky grin.

“What do you want, Cozy Glow?” Sunset chided.

“I wanna see what you girls are planning. Duh.”

Suddenly, everyone flinched in surprise. “Did you hear--?”

“Fortunately for you ladies, I missed it. I’m sure I’ll figure it out sooner or later anyway, though. It’s not like I won’t be there when you try it out, after all.”

“Did you come to mock us?” Photo Finish asked with a bite in her voice.

“Actually, I came for her.” Cozy Glow then pointed towards me, and with my eyebrows beginning to furrow in anger, I shrugged Sunset’s hands from my shoulders and took a step forward. “Autumn Blaze wanted to talk to you. Is it cool if we head over to Everfree City real quick?”

“You’re insane if you think Trixie’s just going to--”

Before Sunset could finish her sentence, though, I held up my hand to silence her, my eyes never leaving Cozy Glow’s.

“What does she want?” I asked.

“She wants to add an addendum to the rules. I thought it’d be fair to ask before today’s match started, just in case you thought that Autumn Blaze showing up mid-game would be an unfair advantage for some reason.”

“What addendum?”

“How the crap should I know? Are you coming or not?”

I looked back at my teammates, all of whom were shaking their heads in disapproval. If Autumn Blaze wanted to add or change any of the rules, it was obvious that she believed that her team would have the upperhand, but at the same time, if she were open to discussing it, that meant she also believed that I would find it advantageous too somehow. I hated doing something that my teammates obviously didn’t want me to do, but I had to at least hear what she wanted. I could always say no, and maybe even change my mind later if I wanted to.

Finally, looking back at Cozy Glow with a lump in my throat, I calmly said, “Trixie agrees, but I’m not going to make any promises.”

“Meh. Works for me.”

“Hang on one second!” Twilight intervened, taking the forefront. “If Trixie’s going, we’re going too!”

“Sorry. Team leaders only. You smelly loser girls will have to wait here.”

Twilight flinched, raising her arm and sniffing awkwardly as Sunset took over the conversation for her. “Trixie, you’d be insane to go along with this. You know that, right?”

My eyes continued to stare straight forward, never deviating from Cozy Glow’s gaze. I could tell they were worried, and honestly, I didn’t blame them. This was something that I had to do, though, whether or not I had their support, and if I decided to go through with the negotiations, hopefully they would understand and support me when the game continued later.

“Let’s go.”

The girls around me gasped and grunted, but Cozy Glow smiled. I just hoped that this wouldn’t be something I would regret later once it became too late to turn back...

Chapter 19

It was a surreal experience. It didn’t feel like this was the same Everfree City that I’d entered the day before during the game.

The surroundings looked like an old peasant town, mostly covered in dirt paths and wooden cottages rather than large buildings, forests or mountain ranges. It looked just like the place where I’d first met Autumn Blaze, or rather, where Last Gambit had first introduced the two of us. I still had no idea what it was like when I met Autumn Blaze for the first time, but thanks to Storm Rose, the pieces were gradually beginning to come together again, albeit vaguely.

“Whoops! Watch out for that rock over there! We wouldn’t want you getting hurt before our game started, would we?”

Pulling my head back to reality, I quickly maneuvered my feet away from a large rock before I accidentally gashed my knee in my absentmindedness. There were so many things rushing through my head in that moment, from the game to my discussion with Dazzling Gleam to that mysterious Dreamdrop girl, and it was only made worse thanks to my lack of sleep from the night before.

“Right,” I said sarcastically, shaking my head, “because it would be soooo inconvenient for you if Trixie didn’t have her full strength this afternoon.”

“Actually, you kinda did that to yourself when you decided to pull an all-nighter. I just don’t want your team to think that we cheated at all if you left Everfree City with a nasty scrape on your leg. That would mean we’d have to automatically forfeit, after all.”

She was right. The odds of us winning were outrageously stacked in our favor, yet somehow, we were still losing. I just had to hope that Autumn Blaze’s rule-change would end up working out in our favor, because if it didn’t…

“We’re here!”

Finally, we arrived at a fountain in the middle of what could only be described as a park, although it was still more of a dirt path than the kind we had back in Equestria. There was still nobody there, but I knew that given enough time, she would make her appearance known, no doubt in a similar way to how Discord always chose to appear to us. To my surprise, though, rather than the sky turning dark or clouds forming around our feet, I was greeted by the smell of flowers, a soft breeze between my legs, and the sound of windchimes ringing through the air. I quickly grabbed onto my hat before it could fly away, and by the time I could lift my head again, she was there, not standing menacingly, but rather with an elegance that befit a deity.

I had to remember that even though she had a countenance that was the exact antithesis of Discord, this was still the being that had created Last Gambit. If I let my guard down during these negotiations, I wouldn’t just be putting my team in danger.

Then, after taking a deep breath, I looked the creature in the eyes, reminding myself that this conversation could potentially end up deciding the fate of Equestria.

“Welcome back, O Great and Powerful Trixie!” the kirin exclaimed with glee. “How have you liked the game so far? Not to brag, but I think I’ve done a pretty darn good job with all the decorating. Which area do you like best? Oh, right, I guess you’ve only seen the cityscapes and the flatlands--which really surprises me, to be honest. I really thought you’d like to check out the more unique areas first, but I guess it would make sense for you to stick with what you know first. Maybe try checking out the other ones today when you get the chance! Oh, and I left a little easter egg in the forest area that I think you’re gonna find hi-LARIOUS! Unless you don’t get the joke, in which case I’ll be super embarrassed. Hehe *snort*”

“Ugh…” I moaned, rubbing my forehead. “Trixie has a headache already…”

Autumn Blaze lifted an eyebrow with a smug smile, and finally, closing her mouth, she nodded towards Last Gambit, who took a seat on the fountain behind her. Then, turning towards me, she said, “Sorry! Didn’t mean to drag on like that. Anywhoozer! There was a liiiiittle change I was hoping we could make to the rules. You wouldn’t have a problem with that, would you?”

I turned my eyes towards Last Gambit once more to see if she already had any clue as to what Autumn Blaze was inferring, but the magical girl just shrugged her shoulders. Then, turning my attention towards Autumn Blaze again, I gently asked, “What kind of changes were you thinking about?”

“Well, it’s not really a rule change as much as a way to make the game more… interesting!”

“And?”

Autumn Blaze’s smile faded into a dull stare. “Wow. You must be fun at parties. Anyway! I was thinking that instead of everyone being transmitted to the exact same place once the game started, everyone would be transported to a completely different place on the map! Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“What?! Why would Trixie agree to that?!”

Even though I was shouting in astonishment, Autumn Blaze didn’t even flinch. Instead, she just wagged her tail back and forth like an excited puppy. “Come onnnn! Don’t you think that’d spice this game up a little bit? Besides, I bet you can think of at least one way how this little addendum fits perfectly with one of your goals already.”

I then turned towards Last Gambit again for clarification, but again, she shrugged her shoulders. “Hey, don’t look at me. This is my first time hearing about this.”

My brain was obviously telling me that there was no way this could work out in my favor, but for some reason, my gut was telling me to at least think about it a little harder before I dismissed the idea completely. She was obviously adding this rule because she thought that it would benefit her more than me, but at the same time, she wouldn’t have even brought it up if there was no way I’d at least consider it. Was she just naive? No. If I’d learned anything from Discord, it was that these creatures thought much further ahead than their external personalities led on. Still, though, if she really thought as far ahead as Discord did, then she probably knew for sure that we’d never be able to take advantage of the new rule as much as her own team would.

Suddenly, though, I gasped, and in that moment, everything began to click in my mind.

Mother Time. This whole plan was so that we would have a better shot at killing their most dangerous member without anyone else intervening! Now that I had that figured out, though, it left an even bigger question left unanswered.

“And just what do you get out of the new rule change?” I immediately asked Autumn Blaze, who pranced in place with excitement.

“Ohhhh, I thought you’d never ask!” Then, with a skip in her step, the kirin frolicked to my side, covering her mouth with her hoof as she giddily whispered into my ear, “The same thing you get out of it!”

I tilted my eyebrows hesitantly, but allowed her to continue.

“Out of all my magical girls, you girls really seem to have your eyes set on Mother Time after what she did with Bloody Mary yesterday, and I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but your entire goal yesterday seemed to be separating her from the rest of the group. Am I wrong?”

“You’re not wrong, but…”

“So! I thought to myself, ‘I have the perfect idea!’ If everyone starts the game in different places, then half the work is already done for you! No need to praise me. I mean, maybe just a little. OK, you’re giving me a weird look, so I guess I should probably get to the point now. There’s one rule that really irks me, but there’s basically no way to change it without it benefitting your team more than mine, so I had to improvise a little!”

“OK…? And what rule is that?”

Autumn Blaze’s smile then began to disappear, but just barely. “The five day rule.” I tilted my head in curiosity before she explained further. “You know the rule where if you don’t kill Last Gambit by midnight on Friday, your team loses automatically? Well, as nice as it would be to be freed from my prison just by being patient enough, it would still leave a bad taste in my mouth. I feel like I wouldn’t have really earned the victory, you know? But at the same time, I’m not stupid enough to just get rid of the five day rule altogether and risk my team losing on the sixth day.”

“And what does the new rule change have to do with the five day rule?”

“Like I said! It’s so that I can get the same thing out of it that you would! By having everyone start the game in separate places, you’ll have a much better chance in eliminating Mother Time before she can regroup with the other magical girls. Not only that…”

Autumn Blaze’s smile then returned to her face, albeit now twisted into a sinister grin.

“...but my girls will have a much better chance to kill you before your team has the chance to save you.”

My eyes went wide. I could feel my chest begin to tighten, keeping the fresh air of Everfree City from entering my lungs. If I agreed to this rule change, it meant that I would be completely isolated from the other girls in my group, and if I ran into one of Last Gambit’s teammates before finding someone on my own team, the game could end a lot sooner than I’d planned. And not in a good way.

Still, though…

“Last Gambit!” I exclaimed, making the other magical girl’s ears perk up. “What do you make of this rule change?”

“I don’t give a fuck. I trust in Autumn Blaze’s judgement, so it's all up to you at this point. I’m good either way.”

So that’s really what this all came down to: a complete roll of the dice. Autumn Blaze didn’t just want to be freed; she wanted to win specifically by killing me, and she was willing to put her own team members on the chopping block as bait. The only problem with that logic was that the bait was too difficult to turn down that easily. Of course I would be gambling with my life if I elected to go along with Autumn Blaze’s plan, but if we didn’t eliminate Mother Time (or even just separate her from her teammates), then they’d have a free revival tool at their disposal whenever they wanted.

I didn’t want to play right into her hooves…

...but if I didn’t take this deal, I saw no realistic way for us to win by midnight on Friday.

“Trixie has one more question before she agrees to anything.” Autumn Blaze nodded her head, but it was still difficult for me to force the words out of my mouth. “Would the places we end up be completely random?”

“Random? Are you crazy?! If we left it up to total chance, what would you do if four girls on my team started the game right next to one of your girls? You’d think I manipulated it for sure! So--not to toot my own brilliance again--but I’ve got an update for your phones that will let you choose to place your girls anywhere you choose on the map. Likewise, Last Gambit will also get to choose where she places her team members at the start of the game. Does that work for you?”

That did sound like it would work, but there was still one flaw with that plan. “You can see everything Trixie puts into her phone, right? How does Trixie know you won’t use that information to tell Last Gambit where to place her own magical girls?”

“Ugggghhhh!!” Last Gambit rolled her eyes. “Seriously?! You find problems with EVERYTHING! Autumn Blaze, can you update my phone real quick?”

The blue-haired girl quickly held up her magical phone, and after a quick moment, the screen lit up with a playful tone ringing from its center. Then, before I knew what was going on, she immediately began tapping across the surface until another jubilant tone sounded into the air.

“Here.” Finally, she held out her phone so that I could see what she’d been doing on her screen. “I’ve officially placed my magical girls already. If any of your teammates start the game next to any of my teammates, you’ll know that it was 100% coincidence. Plus, once you’ve locked in your answers, you can’t change them, so there’s no possibility that Autumn Blaze could influence the game in any way that would benefit me.”

I then checked the message on her display, which read “Positions set.” It seemed like she had covered all of her bases to make sure that everyone ended up with a fair, unbiased result that worked out in everyone’s favor. Any excuse I had not to go along with the plan didn’t make sense anymore, considering the options they were giving me.

“Oh, and one more thing!” Last Gambit continued, slipping her phone back into her dress. “In case you haven’t figured it out by this point, Everfree City is huge, so I’m going to say that no two team members can be within six miles of each other at the start of the game. I don’t think I need to point out how unfair it would be to start the game with three of your girls spawning right next to one of mine.”

I nodded my head. “Trixie agrees, and I suppose you’ll be abiding by the same rule?”

“No shit, doofus.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I no longer had any reason not to go through with their plan. Even though I knew I was falling right into their plan, there was no way I could pass up the opportunity to put my own team in a better position to win.

“Can Trixie’s teammates decide for themselves where they start the game?”

“Sure. Go crazy.”

I needed to at least have that much guaranteed. They probably wouldn’t be too happy with me making a commitment this large without their approval, so I needed to have something to soften the blow when they found out about the new plan.

Finally, I closed my eyes, exhaled a deep breath through my nose, and lifted my head, looking straight into Autumn Blaze’s large, golden eyes. “Trixie… accepts the terms.”

Immediately, Autumn Blaze jumped up and down happily, shrieking in giddy bliss. “Oooooh, we’re gonna have so much fun! I can just feel it! I’ve already updated your phone, so be sure to choose your spawn points before the game starts. Otherwise everyone will just start the game back at their assigned bases. Good luck, girls! I’m rooting for you!”

Then, before I even had the chance to look back up from my phone after seeing the new update, I was standing in the hallways of Canterlot High School, along with Cozy Glow right beside me. I quickly patted my body all over, just in case I was still wearing my magical girl outfit, but thankfully, Autumn Blaze had transported both of us back in our regular forms, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief.

Now that the rules were set, though, what were we supposed to do next? The glances that Cozy Glow and I exchanged were awkward at best, despite her absolute look of confidence with her head up and arms folded. Should we talk about it more, or just go our separate ways?

“Just to let you know…”

“Hm?”

I then looked straight into Cozy Glow’s eyes, who continued to look away, staring at a fixed point.

“I think you made the right choice taking Autumn Blaze’s deal,” she continued. “It’s true that this deal probably helps me out more than it does you, but I’d be lying if I said that you had any better options.”

“Trixie agrees, but… What do you mean, ‘in more ways than one’?”

Cozy Glow groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Because if the game ends after five days with neither of us dying, Autumn Blaze is gonna go straight for Discord. If I kill you, not only do I get justice for what you did to Divinity, but I also get to bring her back.”

“...Trixie wasn’t the one who killed your friend.”

“Maybe…” Finally, she looked straight into my eye, and even though her face showed no emotion, her eyes communicated all the pain and sorrow she was holding inside. “...but if it weren’t for you, I think she’d still be alive.”

“...Trixie can’t say one way or the other…”

“...Yeah, I know…”

The two of us then dropped eye contact and stood in silence for the next several minutes, waiting awkwardly until the bell rang to begin our morning classes. Then, the two of us looked at each other again, saying nothing, yet communicating everything we needed to.

This was it until later, when the two of us would try to kill each other again. It was a sad reality, but it was the one we had both agreed to.

Finally, the two of us turned our backs to each other in unison, walking in opposite directions as we made our way to our first classes. Neither of us had any idea what would happen next, but whoever ended up walking out of this game with their life still intact would know that they had played a good, fair game all the way to the very end.

“You did WHAT?!”

“Please tell me this is a joke.”

“Oh, Trixie…”

“Das ist nicht gut.”

“Hang on, everyone. I’m sure Trixie had a good reason for doing what she did.”

When I finally decided to break the news to everyone, the response I got was less than glamorous, to say the least. I had brought together Twilight, Sunset and Photo Finish while conference calling Uppercrust and Juniper Montage, but when I let them know the deal I made with Autumn Blaze, Sunset Shimmer was the only one to even humor the chance that I had made the right call.

“How did you not see how dangerous that choice was?!” Uppercrust exclaimed, deciding to not sugarcoat her words. “Or should I remind you that we were already outnumbered?”

“T-Trixie understands, but--”

“What happens if someone finds you before we do?!” Juniper chimed in. “Don’t you understand that our main goal right now is to keep you safe at all costs?”

“Th-that’s true, but--”

“I von’t be there to protect you zis time, Mädchen! Vut would you have me tell Marrow if you are killed?!”

“EVERYONE! ENOUGH!”

Thankfully, I wasn’t the one to quiet everyone down. Before the girls could bombard me with more questions or criticisms, Sunset Shimmer immediately held out her hands, silencing the entire group.

“OK, now that I have everyone’s attention, maybe now we can ask Trixie what she thinks about our new situation.”

Suddenly, everyone’s eyes turned towards mine, and at this point, I didn’t have the option to be timid anymore. Not if we were going to win this one.

After a deep sigh, I looked into everyone’s glares and returned them with one of my own. “Trixie knows what she’s doing. The only way we can win this game is by killing Mother Time as soon as possible. So long as she can resurrect her teammates, she’s easily the single-most dangerous magical girl on their entire team.”

“Still, though,” Twilight interrupted. “If you die, we don’t get to continue the game.”

“Trixie knows that, but they’re at just as much of a disadvantage as we are. Mother Time isn’t the only one we’re trying to eliminate, after all. It would be far easier to kill either her or Last Gambit if they’re isolated than if they’re with their teammates. Trixie will be OK by herself until we regroup. I promise.”

The other girls looked at each other nervously, but after a moment of silence, they all either shrugged their shoulders or nodded their heads. Juniper was the first to speak up after that.

“Then we should make regrouping at a central point our main priority. We can take care of any magical girls on the way if we need to. How about we meet up at the base?”

“No,” Twilight said, rubbing her chin. “That’d be too obvious. I’m sure Last Gambit’s planted at least one of her girls there specifically with that in mind.”

“How about here?” The five of us looked over at Sunset’s magical phone, which had a specific point on Everfree City’s map pulled up. The spot she was referring to was an abandoned building in the forest area, a seemingly random place with no direct relevance to the rest of the world’s geography. “I sincerely doubt that even Last Gambit would think to corner us here. What do you think?”

The girls and I all gave each other quizzical looks, checking to see if anyone had any objections to Sunset’s idea. Then, after a brief silence, we all nodded our heads in agreement. When the game started, we would all pick completely random segments of the map and meet up in the forest area if we didn’t die on the way. Our goal wasn’t to survive anymore; it was to win.

“Alright,” Twilight replied with a smile on her face. “I’ll start in the cityscape. It isn’t too far away, and there’s plenty of places to hide in the meantime.”

“And I’ll start at the base,” Daisy chimed in. “If there’s anyone waiting to ambush us, I’ll crush ‘em before they know what’s coming!”

“I’ll start in the plains,” said Uppercrust. “If anyone’s there, the field will be too wide open for anyone else to notice a sneak attack. Beasty will give me a second pair of eyes, so I should be fine if one of the Everfree girls shows up.”

“Trixie,” Sunset began, “I’ll start off wherever you want me. Since I’m the only one who can fly, I can travel the furthest distance.”

“Hmm…” I mumbled, looking at the map with my tongue sticking out. “In that case, you and Trixie should both start out in the mountain range. It’s the biggest area on the map, so we should have no problem starting six miles apart.”

“Got it. In the meantime, I’ll try to catch up with you as soon as I can so we can head back to the base together.”

“Ugh… Und I vill still be dead...”

“Umm… Girls…?” Suddenly, we all turned our attention towards Twilight, who was now rubbing her knuckles anxiously and staring down at her feet. “There’s… probably something I should mention before we go back.”

Sunset tilted her head to the side. “Hmm? What is it, Twi?”

“It’s… about one of the Everfree girls…” Finally, she looked back into our eyes, and the look she gave us was one of absolute terror. “Bloody Mary. When she died yesterday, I saw her transform into her human form before Mother Time brought her back, and… I think I know who she is.”

My eyes immediately went wide. “Who?! Does she go to this school?!”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I know her back from when I attended Crystal Prep. Her name is Moondancer, and…” The girl in front of me shivered reflexively, tilting her glasses back onto her face as she attempted to recompose herself. “She’s probably the smartest girl I’ve ever met in my life, maybe even smarter than me. If you think that Last Gambit is good at strategizing by herself, the two of them combined will be completely unstoppable. They’d be able to come up with a plan for literally every situation imaginable.”

“I don’t think they’re that crafty, Twilight,” Sunset replied with a chuckle, but Twilight just shook her head, shaking again.

“No, you don’t understand. We can’t out-strategize them. The only way we can win is by doing what we did yesterday: hitting her head on with no tricks, but we can’t do that alone.”

“OK…? So what do you think we should do if we run into her?”

“Run. Run or hide. If you try battling her one on one, you will die. Especially you, Trixie. Promise me that whatever you do, you won’t fight Moondancer by yourself.”

Perfect. And just when I thought Last Gambit’s team couldn’t get any scarier. Still, though, I was lucky to at least have that information to go off of. Nodding my head, I said, “Trixie promises.”

And with that, the five remaining magical girls input our spawning locations into our phones. We’d still need to rely on luck, but there was no doubt that this was the best strategy we had to win with. Autumn Blaze’s desire to kill me would be her downfall.

Then, without a second to lose, we were once again transported to Everfree City, where we would finally continue with the second--and hopefully last--day of our death game with Last Gambit.

Chapter 20

The air around me was cold, making me look all over just in case I’d spawned in the same area as Frost Lass, but after taking a quick survey around the area, I managed to breathe a small sigh of relief. I was safe for the time being, at least as far as I was aware, but unfortunately for me, I didn’t exactly have the luxury of being able to sit and wait for reinforcements to show up. If this game was ever going to end, I would have to go on the offensive and catch the enemy off guard before they knew I was there. That’s what they were able to do for the entire first day, and because of that, my team was left running away the entire time, suffering our first casualty without even making the other team nervous.

Our target was at least six miles apart from the rest of her team, which meant that I had the perfect opportunity to either kill her or one of her teammates before she had the opportunity to revive any of them. They were no doubt planning on regrouping at a specific location, similar to what we were doing, but that also meant that if they were able to assemble themselves together before I did, I would be as good as dead.

I slapped my cheeks before I could dwell on it too much, knowing that no matter what they were planning on doing, there was no advantage to sitting around worrying about it. My objective was to get to the rendezvous point as fast as I could and eliminate any Everfree City girls that I found on the way… that is, unless I ran into Bloody Mary... I still had no idea what made her so dangerous to the point where Twilight nearly broke out into a cold sweat just thinking about her, but if Twilight honestly believed that she was that much of a threat, I wasn’t about to wait around to find out for sure.

I then made my descent down the mountains in the direction of our meeting location, stumbling down rocks as my eyes travelled from left to right. One misstep, one unnecessary sound, or one wrong turn, and I’d give away my location to anyone nearby, basically losing the game before we ever got the upper hand.

“C-c-cold.”

Maintaining balance was hard enough as it was when trying to quickly--yet quietly--run down the slope of a mountain, but once the frigid temperatures were added in, I was basically a clumsy mess. Why did I think it would be a good idea to create a magical girl outfit without any sleeves? With my hands rubbing frantically against my arms to keep myself as warm as I could manage, I had no way of catching myself whenever I fell down, skidding my knees against the rocks just before they tumbled down the cliff of the mountain range. I needed Daydream Shimmer to show up fast, for more than one reason.

It felt like hours were passing, even though I knew that I probably hadn’t even spent thirty minutes climbing down the mountain landscapes. Again, I looked up at the sky, impatiently waiting for my teammate to find me, but again, the only objects above me were the white clouds that blocked out the sky. I’d probably be able to tell if she were coming from a mile away just from the light source she’d create from using her powers, something that the opposing team would no doubt take advantage of.

Maybe they’d already found her. Maybe they’d already found one of my other teammates. Was there any way to know if someone had been killed before the game ended that night?

I had to sit down just to help clear my mind from all the anxious thoughts I was having, only made worse by the mental effort it took to not slip and fall down the rocky hillside. It hurt my butt sitting on a surrogate chair made of gravel, but the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as the aching sensation in my muscles. Even with my magical girl strength, I had severely underestimated how exhausting it was trying to keep myself moving on such rigid terrain.

Just as I stopped moving and allowed the sounds of soft winds blowing past my hair to fill the silence of the terrain around me, however, I noticed one strange detail that I hadn’t recognized before: there was no silence. Even though I’d stopped moving, the sounds of rocks awkwardly tumbling down the mountainside were continuing to echo throughout the environment.

Immediately, I turned to my side, and that’s when I finally noticed her.

“Weeeell. It took you long enough. I thought I’d be halfway to the cityscapes by the time you turned around.”

Suddenly, my hand wouldn’t stop twitching, my heartbeat racing at twice the speed it was before as the magical girl walked towards me at an almost leisurely pace. My mouth immediately dried up and my eyes went wide, but that wasn’t even the beginning of the emotional rollercoaster that had taken hold of my thought process. Yes, a surge of adrenaline had suddenly spiked through my veins, and yes, a good portion of what I felt was a sudden fear that I was about to die. Once the initial shock wore off, though, my eyebrows furrowed, my fists clenched, and my teeth ground together with enough friction to destroy normal bones.

It was her, the one who killed my mother and left me alone to bury her body.

“Can’t say I’m surprised, though,” Panicity continued. “You never did seem like the observant type to me. What was your plan for choosing the mountain side first? You obviously don’t seem like someone who enjoys long hikes.”

“Shut up…”

Her ears perked up. “Hmm?”

She was probably using her magic without me realizing it, but whether I was under her control or not, I had completely lost control of myself. Everything I saw was red, my mind now functioning solely on the bloodlust rushing through my mind, and suddenly my body began moving on its own, charging at full force towards the magical girl in front of me. That’s when she smiled, but by the time I realized what had happened, it was already too late.

“Like mother, like daughter.”

*slice*

Then, with my spear raised over her head, my body froze like a statue as my head slowly travelled down to the searing pain within my ribcage. Again, all I saw was red, but this time for a completely different reason than before. Blood was suddenly beginning to gush from my body onto the pile of rocks between us, covering her already red dress with an even darker tone that dripped onto her legs and shoes. Then, with another painful twist, she pulled the utensil in her hand out of my side, revealing a dagger now soaked with my life liquids.

I then fell to my knees, no longer able to comprehend the pain they must have been in after hitting the stones below with the force of my full body weight. Gripping onto my wounded area as tight as I could, praying that I could at least slow down the bleeding, I finally began to realize how stupid I’d been in charging at her. Did I really think it would be that easy? Was I going to die now, to lose everything I’d worked for in one shortsighted act of selfishness?

“You…” I mumbled, wincing with even more pain thanks to my diaphragm pushing against the wound in my torso. “You don’t… know what you’re doing…”

The girl above me raised a curious eyebrow, followed by a smug smile. “Oh, don’t I? Why don’t you fill me in on those gaps?” She then lowered her lips to my ear and brought her voice down to a gentle whisper. “That is... while you still can.”

The world around me began to spin, losing all of its color as a dim black void crept its way into my peripheral vision. My muscles were starting to lose their strength, but I had to keep myself conscious for as long as I possibly could, if not for me, then just to give this bitch one last piece of my mind before the world turned to darkness. “You picked… the wrong side…!”

Suddenly, the smirk on her face disappeared in one quick instant, and the next thing I knew, I was now back on my feet, staring into her eyes as she held me up by my hair. Blood was now seeping through my fingertips, and with the added adrenaline making my heart pump even faster, I was doing all I could just to keep my eyes open and see the seething scowl on her face.

“Who the fuck are you to lecture me, you hypocrite?! How many girls have you killed in your life?! Yet you want to stand her and tell me that I should have joined your side this entire time?!”

“If Cozy Glow wins, Equestria will--”

“I don’t give a shit about Equestria!”

My eyes widened just slightly, my eyebrows raising as high as my weak body could lift them. Was this really all she was, a psychopath who didn’t feel any remorse for any of the pain that she caused others? If she was part of the reason everyone in Equestria died, would she be proud that she had just picked the winning side? Still, though, if I could keep her talking, I could use this to my advantage. If she was going to use my emotions to her advantage, I was going to do the same thing to her.

“How can you not care?!” I exclaimed weakly, discreetly using my magic to wobble a large stone a few feet behind her. “If Autumn Blaze is set free, her battle with Discord will--”

“Then take that up with Discord! I finally have powers again, and I’m not going to lose them all because you want to protect the god of chaos!”

She was falling for it! I could see pure malice in her eyes. If I could keep her attention on me for just a little bit longer, if I could just distract her for a few more seconds, maybe I wouldn’t lose here after all.

As I looked into her eyes, trying not to glance past her shoulders at the stone that was now slowly beginning to levitate off the ground, I quietly shouted, “It’s not about Discord! Innocent people are gonna die too! People like Trixie’s mother… are going to die just so you can keep your powers.”

Her teeth grit tighter together, her hand letting go of my hair so that she could pinch her fingers around my neck. “I never asked to be part of this world. I’ve spent years wishing I could leave this place altogether, but if I’m going to be stuck here, I’m going to live on my terms. Even if people get hurt…” Her hand gripped tighter. “...it’s nothing compared to what this world has done to me!!”

Now! This was it!

I then channelled all the magic left in my body and sent the rock flying as fast as I could, and to my absolute surprise, it was a total bullseye, slicing dead-center into the back of her head. Her forehead nearly bashed into mine from the recoil, but once her eyes went wide in shock, the rest of her body went limp almost immediately. In the next moment, her hand let go of my throat and her body fell to the floor, motionless and lifeless aside from the bright light that encased her corpse out of nowhere. I had just enough energy to grab hold of my wounds, stopping whatever blood was still leaking from my ribcage, and after wobbling back a few feet, I saw her body slowly revert back to her original form.

Once again, I was faced with a dead body. She had poofy blonde hair, a worn-down purple hoodie, and a spiked hairband that took some of the attention away from the rock lodged in the back of her head. Seeing Palette’s corpse was traumatizing enough already, but knowing that I was the one responsible for taking her life away filled me with so much disgust that I nearly threw up everything in my stomach. Even knowing that she’d come back to life at the end of the day, seeing her dead body with its eyes wide open in shock made my insides churn in discomfort. Was this what it was like to kill another human being? Had I really already done this a half dozen times already?

Finally, I gently lowered myself back to the floor, still lightheaded from the blood loss and morbid scene in front of me, but at least cognizant enough to keep myself conscious before I ended up just like her. At least… until what happened next.

“Sorry, dear, but we just can’t have this, now can we?”

No… Nooo!!! Of all the times to appear, she had to choose now?! We were finally one step closer to winning, but before I even had the chance to collect my thoughts, the fingers of the corpse in front of me began to twitch.

Lifting my head, my field of vision became encompassed by a holographic clock, whose hands began to slowly turn backwards in front of her palm. Then, before I could react, a bright light once again encompassed the corpse at my knees, lifting her back up to her feet, and once the light subsided, she was once again wearing her red dress and black high heels. The main difference now, though, was that the rock that I’d used to kill her was now back where I’d picked it up, completely devoid of a single drop of blood.

That’s when Panicity opened her eyes again, and just like that, I had gone from being the lone to survivor to fighting for my life in a two-against-one situation.

“Wha--?!” she shrieked, grabbing onto the back of her head and looking all around her. “What did you do?!”

“She knocked you unconscious, dear,” the magical girl behind her said with a smile, making Panicity flinch as she turned around. “And when I say unconscious, I mean she totes killed you. You really shouldn’t let your guard down so easily, you know.”

“Can it, Mother Time. I’m not in the mood for a lecture right now.”

“Very well, love,” she replied, taking a seat on a boulder behind her, placing her elbows onto her knees. “Carry on with what you were doing.”

Panicity clicked her tongue at her teammate before looking down at me with annoyance in her eyes. Her dagger once again rose in the air above my head, but I no longer had any way to escape, my energy having bled out of my body with the rest of my strength being used to keep myself alive for as long as I possibly could. I still had enough stamina left to use magic, but even if I did, now that the time-turner was here, anything I did would just get reversed immediately. Even if I went after Mother Time instead, Panicity would just kill me on the spot, and the game would be over just like that.

Think, Trixie! Think, Trixie! Think, Trixie!

Then, just as I was about to lose all hope, I saw the clouds begin to disperse out of the corner of my eye. It was still faint, probably just faint enough for someone to mistake it for the sun emerging in the sky, but if I was right, it was exactly the backup I’d been waiting for. The other two magical girls didn’t seem to think anything of it so far, which meant that if I could just stay alive for a few more seconds, I might make it out of here alive.

In the next moment, though, my time had run out, and the dagger in Panicity’s hand swung down towards my forehead. Immediately, I let my reflexes act on their own, using my magic to send a rock flying to my safety, colliding with Panicity’s wrist. She then let out a painful grunt, dropping her weapon to the side and using her spare hand to soothe the agony in her hand.

“Urk! You little shit!” In the next moment, Panicity lifted her high heel shoe and slammed it into my face, sending me to the ground with my already aching ribs colliding with the jagged mountainous terrain. “Why are you making this harder than it needs to be?! Why won’t you just give up and--”

“PANICITY! USE YOUR MAGIC! NOW!”

Suddenly, Panicity looked into the sky with terror in her eyes, and before my mind could process what was going on, she had already jumped back several feet as a solar flare cascaded towards the ground in a rain of fire.

“Shit!” Panicity exclaimed. “Mother Time, get her out of here!”

“I can’t! She’s out of my range!”

The magical girl in red clicked her tongue again. “Figures I’d have to do everything myself.”

Then, as I pulled myself back up to a sitting position, a girl in a pink dress with wings made of flames descended to the ground in front of me, looking straight ahead with fireballs crackling in her hands. She made it! I was still alive!

“Both of you,” she announced in an authoritative tone, “leave now and I’ll let you live.”

Let them live? What was she talking about?! If she could kill them, now was our chance!

“Oh?” Panicity suddenly smirked, walking towards Daydream with confidence written all over her face, her hips casually swaying with every step she took. Daydream, though, took a hesitant step backwards, still facing forward, albeit with her body gradually shrinking the closer Panicity came. “You know, I died for the first time today, and if we’re all being honest here, I really underestimated how much it would hurt.”

Panicity was now face to face with Daydream Shimmer, who was literally leaning backwards while her opponent practically pressed their noses together. All Daydream had to do was use her magic and Panicity would be dead, but she wasn’t moving! She was doing anything except… shaking…

“S-stay back!” she said, trying to sound as confident as she possibly could, but her attempt was so futile that Mother Time began cackling in the background from how pathetic she sounded. “I’m warning you! I’ll--”

“You’ll do what? Give me a sunburn?” The magical girl in red chuckled femininely again as she reached down to pick up the dagger she’d dropped earlier. Meanwhile, Daydream Shimmer was literally shaking in her boots, taking another step backwards to put more distance between them. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t I give you a five second head start?”

Daydream once again froze motionless, but after a few seconds had passed, she looked backwards, seeing me giving her a frenzied stare before she turned towards Panicity again. Was she weighing her options? Was she legitimately taking Panicity’s offer seriously?!

“Daydream…” I muttered. “What are you doing?”

“I… I don’t know!” Again, Panicity took another step closer, causing Daydream to step backwards as her smug grin grew even wider. “W-w-what should I do?”

“Kill h--!” I tried to shout my answer, but I couldn’t even get two syllables out before I started coughing my lungs out, feeling the lights growing dimmer after every breath. “Quick!”

“I--I can’t kill her! She’s too strong! I don’t wanna die, Trixie! I DON’T WANNA DIIIIEEEE!!”

Daydream then collapsed onto the ground, holding her hands over her head to hide herself from the magical girl before her while she wept loudly, sobbing as if she were moments away from an inevitable death. Was Panicity’s magic really this strong? I quickly looked up at the girl in the red dress, who smiled back down at me with a sadistic grin on her face, but by the time I realized that I was also falling under her spell, it was too late. Suddenly, I was paralyzed in fear, squeezing my eyes closed to block out the reality of my surroundings.

“Quit playing around!” Mother Time shouted with annoyance in her voice. “If you wait any longer, someone might show up!”

“Ohhh, trust me,” Panicity replied in a low voice. “I’m willing to take that risk.”

I refused to open my eyes to see what was going on, but the next thing I heard was Daydream grunt and hit the floor, making me shriek as I wrapped my arms around my waist in terror. This was it. This was the end. I was really going to die. Why did I think that some weak, insignificant girl like me could ever hope to save Equestria?

“Get up.”

Finally, I opened my eyes, and Panicity’s grin was now gone, standing angrily with her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed in animosity. As I quickly looked over at Daydream, I was able to breathe one quick sigh of relief. She seemed to be OK, just knocked over by Panicity’s high heel shoe as the magical girl approached me closer. Even though I was afraid to move, however, the last thing I wanted to do was make her even angrier, even if it meant losing even more blood as I shakily made my way back up to my feet. Once the two of us were at eye level, Panicity made the dagger in her hand magically disappear before she reached down and picked up a rock that was roughly half the size of her head. Her eyes seemed to examine every depression and protrusion that made up the stone’s surface before looking back at my face in annoyance.

“Was this the one you used earlier?”

“I--I don’t think--I--I don’t know! I’m sorry!”

The magical girl in red groaned in aggravation, rubbing her temples with her spare hand. “Well, you’d better find out quick. Otherwise I’ll just have to hit you with every single rock on this mountain until you can figure out which one you used to kill me!”

“Panicity! We don’t have time for this!”

“Quiet! You can tell me what to do after you know what it’s like to die!”

“I… I can’t…”

Suddenly, my vision went out, and the next thing I felt was my body once again crashing into the stony ground beneath me. I could still breathe, but everything else was all a blur. I knew that Panicity and Mother Time were still yelling at each other and that my life was still in danger, but by this point, I had lost so much blood that now all I could do was make peace with reality. I was going to die, and if I just gave into the dark clouds surrounding my vision, maybe the pain would finally go away.

Finally, I’d never get hurt again. Just the thought of it made me smile, and with my mind now made up, I laid my head back and allowed the blissful sensation of death to take away the pain...

“Trixie? Trixie?! No… No, no, no, no, NO! AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!”

...But Daydream wasn’t quite ready to let me die just yet.

Just as everything went dark, a bright light suddenly entered my field of vision, and even though it took all of my remaining energy just to open my eyes again, I was suddenly met with the visage of a giant pillar of flames rising into the sky. Panicity then stumbled backwards, taking several steps away to avoid being caught in the growing fire, and suddenly, all the anxiety that had been building up in my heart was beginning to disappear.

I could think clearly again! We could still win this!

As Panicity looked up at the magical girl flapping her giant, fiery wings, I once again grabbed hold of the bloody wound in my ribcage, which seemed like it had finally begun to clot. My sight was coming back to me, but there was still no way that I’d be able to fight in the condition I was in, not even enough to use my magic. If I so much as reverted back to my original form, my body would probably die on the spot from overexertion, which meant that it was now up to Daydream Shimmer to handle two magical girls at once.

“Mother Time! Get over here!”

“Got it!”

The moment Mother Time leapt to her feet, a wave of fire rained down from the sky, headed straight towards Panicity with nowhere to escape. Just as Panicity helplessly held out her arms to block the onslaught of flames, however, Mother Time quickly jumped in, turning back time just far enough for the flames to rescind back into Daydream’s palms.

“What happened?!” the girl in the white dress asked her teammate, keeping her hands out for whenever Daydream would strike next. “Why isn’t your magic working?!”

“I think it might have been a little too effective,” she responded, grimacing from how quickly the tables had turned.

“Well, go take care of Trixie! Hurry! I’ll hold off her friend in the meantime.”

“R-right.”

Now what was I supposed to do?! I couldn’t move my body anymore, I couldn’t run away, and I couldn’t teleport back to Equestria until midnight, which was still hours away! Instead, I squeezed my eyes shut, blocking out the world around me and praying that everything would work out. There was nothing else I could do. My entire life was in someone else’s hands.

Meanwhile, Panicity marched closer to my body, and whether or not she used her magic on me was completely irrelevant at this point. I was already panicking to the point where I was close to fainting again, my heartbeat only increasing as she magically pulled her dagger out of thin air. If only I could summon my spear, I’d at least be able to do something, but as soon as I tried summoning magic back to my fingertips, I felt a brief flash of darkness taking over my vision again.

Suddenly, a pillar of fire cascaded towards Panicity, but like before, Mother Time used her own magic to recall the attack, leaving Panicity without a single singed hair on her head. The magical girl in red was now standing above me, raising her dagger in the air, ready to strike down without another moment of hesitation. Thousands of thoughts travelled through my mind at once, collecting together into an ocean of information funnelled by my remaining adrenaline. If I could pull something, anything from that sea of ideas, then maybe, if I was lucky, I could find some way to keep myself alive for at least a few more seconds.

And at the last second, it came to me.

“DAYDREAM! GET OUT OF MOTHER TIME’S RANGE!”

Daydream Shimmer raised an eyebrow but nodded regardless. Then, just as Panicity began to swing her dagger downward, the sun-themed magical girl soared backwards and released another burst of flames, barely missing me and immersing the other in fire.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

“Stand still, Panicity! I’ve got you!”

Standing still while engulfed in flames, however, was a request easier said than done. Immediately, Panicity dropped to the floor and began rolling in agony, making it even more difficult for Mother Time to reverse what had happened, but while the two of them were busy trying to douse the fire, Daydream Shimmer descended to my side, picking me up and carrying me away.

“Let me handle this,” she said quietly. “I’m just gonna set you somewhere safe for right now. You can leave the rest to me.”

“What… *cough* are you going to do?”

“...I’m finishing this.”

Daydream then flapped her wings and took off into the sky again, flying towards a nearby cliff from the next mountain over. Meanwhile, the inferno encasing Panicity’s body began to disappear, leaving her body shaking with her eyes the size of saucers. Panicity was still alive, but there was no doubt that she was shaken from the torture she’d just experienced. Now she was the one too anxious to fight.

Then, Daydream set me down onto the surface of the nearby bluff, turning her attention immediately to the magical girls on the ground below. “I think I know how to beat them now.” She didn’t elaborate any further, but I had a feeling that I was thinking the same thing she was.

Nodding my head, she returned to the battlefield, hovering hundreds of feet into the air above them, looking down at them as if they were ants on the playground. I could hardly see what was going on from my position, but I could see the look of absolute terror on both of their faces, barely making out the sounds of Mother Time’s voice.

“R-run. Panicity, GO! YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! QUICK!”

“I--”

“PANICITY, NOW!”

Without arguing any further, the magical girl in red quickly nodded her head and began running as fast as her legs would take her in the opposite direction while Mother Time stood steadfast in place. Panicity nearly fell over multiple times, but despite how easy a target she was, Daydream didn’t even bother looking in her direction, and if I understood what was going on, I didn’t blame her. That’s when Daydream’s hands once again began to engulf in flames, subtly at first until the fire gradually grew to the point where it encased her entire body.

Finally, the entire sky lit up in a bright light, the clouds disappearing as far as the eye could see. Then, with a grimace on her face, Mother Time tossed her tophat to the side and held out both of her hands, summoning a large holographic clock in front of her body. That’s when Daydream finally unleashed her attack, summoning so much fire that it encased a half mile of land almost the moment it touched the ground.

The light was so blinding that I couldn’t see everything that was going on, but within the flames was a small opening, a small area where I could see Mother Time’s magic pulling the flames back towards Daydream Shimmer’s hands. My breath caught in my throat, believing that our plan had failed, but in the next moment, I saw that opening slowly begin to close. As much as she tried to reverse time, as hard as she tried to stop Daydream’s attack, there was just too much for her to handle on her own, and in the next moment, the flames coming in from all around her began to break through her range, consuming her flesh with searing fire.

Even past the roaring of the crackling flames, I could hear her screams, wailing in agony as loudly as her lungs would allow. I could feel in my own body how much pain she was in, experiencing the most brutal end a person could endure, slowly burning to death, wishing it could all be over despite your body trying to save you from its inevitable demise. It seemed to go on forever, but Daydream couldn’t stop until the screaming ended, not until we knew for sure she was dead. Eventually, however, the sound of cackling flames began to drown out the sounds of her voice, and after just a few more seconds to make sure that the job had been done, the fire gradually fizzled out, leaving behind nothing but cinders of what used to be a magical girl.

Daydream Shimmer breathed a sigh of relief, but I knew that our mission wasn’t finished yet. “Daydream! Panicity is escaping! Go after her before she gets away!”

“Huh?! Oh! I’m on it, Great and Powerful Trixie!”

Daydream then flapped her wings down the slope of the mountain, chasing in the direction of where Panicity had tried to run away, but there was no way she’d be able to outrun Daydream on the rocky mountain terrain. I saw Panicity look back with horror in her eyes, breathing so hard that she grunted with every step she took. She knew that she’d never be able to escape like this. In a matter of moments, Daydream would catch up and do the exact same thing to Panicity that she’d done to Mother Time. Her death was inevitable.

At least… that’s what we thought.

“Tag! You’re it!”

Then, out of nowhere, a girl with pink hair, a yellow dress and green roller skates came skidding by, slapping Panicity’s hand the moment she entered our field of vision. In the next moment, however, Panicity was gone, catapulted to a completely different location at a speed we’d never be able to match. Just when we thought we’d had one more magical girl eliminated, she slipped right through our fingers.

Onida then came sliding to a stop along the jagged landscape, dust billowing behind her as she wiped sweat from her forehead. “Phew. Came just in the knick of time. Speaking of time…” The magical girl quickly turned her head to the side, but as if she already knew what had happened, her face contorted into a disgusted scowl, making her gorgeous face almost unbearable to look at. “You… What did you do to her?!”

“We did what we had to do,” Daydream replied, to which Onida scoffed.

“What you had to do?! Dude! What’s wrong with you?! She was only trying to help our friend!”

“And you think that helping her release Autumn Blaze into Equestria is a good thing?!”

“If it means getting rid of Discord, hell yeah it is!”

Daydream groaned, her hands once again lighting up into balls of fire. “I’ve had enough of this.” Almost immediately, fire once again rained down on the floor below, but unlike Mother Time, Onida wasn’t going to stand still and take the attack head on. As if it took no effort, she quickly zoomed past all of Daydream’s attacks, skidding along the ground like socks on a kitchen floor. Daydream grunted again, shooting off attacks in different patterns, doing her best to either outspeed her or trap her, but no matter what she tried, Onida was able to outmaneuver her, the smile on her face growing wider and wider.

“You’re gonna have to do better than that, bro!”

Then, pulling in as much energy into her body as she could, Daydream sent down an eruption of fire similar to what she’d done against Mother Time, searing the terrain as far as the eye could see. Seconds passed, Daydream’s face filled with anger as she waited to make sure that she had hit her target, but unlike what happened to Mother Time, there was no screaming. Even past the roars of the fire, we should have been able to hear something. Once the flames sizzled out and the ground was once again visible, however, all we saw were skid marks from where the magical girl had escaped.

Not only had she gotten away, but so did Panicity. Normally, with the death of Mother Time, that would mean that our numbers were even, but seeing as how I couldn’t even move my body, I would be basically useless until Discord could heal me up later that night. We were still outmatched, and I was the weakest link on the team.

Daydream sighed, flapping her wings sadly as she slowly hovered over to where she’d placed me earlier. Then, holding out her hands, she quietly said, “C’mon, Great and Powerful Trixie. Let’s get out of here.”

I tilted my head curiously. “Where are we going to go? Wouldn’t it be better if Trixie stayed here until midnight?”

“Don’t be silly. Now everyone in Last Gambit’s team knows where you are. We need to get you to the base where the four of us can protect you together.”

Of course. I need them to protect me, because if I died, then all this effort would have been in vain. Some leader I turned out to be…

Regardless of the bitterness in my heart, however, Daydream slid her hands under my knees and back, making me wince from the sudden pain coursing through my body. I had barely made it past the brink of death, but at least I’d made it out alive. Even though we’d failed in eliminating either Onida or Panicity, we’d managed to eliminate the one we were targeting from the beginning, and now we were one step closer to ending this game once and for all.

Chapter 21

Daydream had to stay low to the ground to keep ourselves as far out of sight as possible. Even though we’d be able to cut our time in half if she were to take off into the air, I was in no position to fight if someone from Last Gambit’s team hit us with a surprise attack. We needed to get to our meetup spot before anything like that happened, just so we’d have more backup if the Everfree City girls found me again. I’d barely managed to survive the first time, but if they ambushed us again, there was a far higher chance of me losing this time around.

“How’s your body holding up?” Daydream asked. As if to respond without speaking, I weakly lifted my head to make eye contact, but no sooner had I done so when the aching pain in my gut pulled me back back down into Daydream’s arms. She had been carrying me ever since we’d left the mountain ranges a good thirty minutes ago, and of course, the two of us just had to be the furthest away from our meetup location out of all the girls on my team.

The flatlands seemed to extend forever. If we were lucky, we’d be able to meet up with Miss Monster on the way, but unless she’d had a runin with one of Last Gambit’s magical girls, she would have definitely already made it to the rendezvous point by now. Again, we’d more than likely be alone the rest of the way there. The good news was that the longer the two of us travelled without running into any enemies, the less time we had before the game ended for the day, giving me a chance to have Discord heal my injuries… so long as he wasn’t feeling like a total bastard and refused to help. It was in his interest for me to lose, after all. He was only putting up with this game because he thought it would be a fun little diversion, but if he ended up getting bored halfway through, he no longer had any incentive to help us out.

“How long... *cough* do we have left?” I muttered in pain.

“We’re almost halfway there.”

That was too long. We were sitting ducks out there, especially in a wide-open area with no place to hide!

“How long would it take for you to fly there?”

Daydream shot me an incredulous glance that I could only partially see from my position. Since Daydream had all the powers of the sun, she also had the ability to use her fiery wings to lift herself in the air, but along with that carried the risk that we’d be far more visible and far more vulnerable.

“You know we can’t do that.”

“Just tell Trixie how long it would take for us to fly there.”

Daydream groaned uncomfortably. “We could probably cut that time in half, but I really don’t think that’s a good idea. Could you imagine what would happen if I led their whole team to our hideout?”

“Trixie understands the risks!” Once again, I coughed violently into my hands, falling back in pain as my stomach reminded me not to move my body. “How long do you think it will take for the other girls to get there?”

I could see in her grimacing face that she knew where I was going with this, but that didn’t stop her from clicking her tongue in aggravation. “They’re probably all there already. Miss Monster was the furthest one from the rendezvous point besides us, but she’d have more than enough time to make it there by now. Unless…”

Unless she encountered another magical girl. Onida and Panicity both had a good chance of spotting her on their way back from the mountain range, and that wasn’t including the other three girls on Last Gambit’s team who were still alive. She needed us as much as we needed her.

“Trixie, I get what you’re trying to say, but--”

“Fly.”

“I really don’t think this is--”

“FLY, DAYDREAM!”

The magical girl carrying me cursed under her breath before leaping into the air, flapping her wings as she ascended into the sky, creating a bright light in the sky similar to a second sun. It was a little jarring to feel the safety of footsteps replaced by the flow of turbulent winds underneath my body, but it would be worth it if it meant we could get to our hideout in half the amount of time.

Daydream was almost like a beacon in the sky, pointing everyone within a mile radius to our exact location. Even still, I would have a much better chance of staying alive if all of my teammates were there with me, and with one less girl to worry about now that Mother Time was dead, there was a much better chance of our team having a number advantage once the five of us regrouped. I would be next to useless, but hopefully we weren’t going to find literally every single member of Everfree City there waiting for us when we got there.

Suddenly, the flatlands began to disappear as a forest landscape emerged along the horizon. Dirt was replaced by grass, trees and bushes, creating a new dimension in contrast to what was otherwise a vast, empty sea of earth. We were still a decent distance from the forest area in general and even further away from our hideout, which was located closer to the cityscapes than the open plains. Once we made it, though, that’s when I would know for sure that we were safe.

But at the same time, thanks to my impatience, a fight was now almost inevitable.

“Do you see anyone?” I asked, still too weak to move my head.

“Not right now. I’d be surprised if they don’t see me, though.”

A long pause loomed between us, the only sound being that of the wind whipping past our hair. I could almost feel how bitter Daydream was just from looking at her teeth chewing into her bottom lip, experiencing how much her hands shook underneath my back and knees. I needed to at least say something to lighten the mood, but thankfully, just as I opened my mouth to speak, she immediately cut me off.

“You know I trust you, right?”

“Even though you know that Trixie is probably leading them straight to us?”

“Yeah, but…” An awkward pause suddenly filled the air with Daydream looking straight ahead, never even glancing down at my direction as her lip began to tremble. This couldn’t be good. “...Since I trust you, I want you to be honest with me.”

I tilted my head in curiosity. “OK? About what?”

“Once we get to the hideout, I want you to tell us everything you know about what’s going on. I’ve been trying not to think about what Last Gambit said yesterday, and I know that your memories have been erased. If I’m having these thoughts, though, then others must be thinking it too. I just think it would be best if we heard all the details from your mouth instead of Last Gambit’s.”

Of course. I hadn’t had the chance to properly explain my past to the girls before Last Gambit and her own team showed up the day before. There was no doubt that after Last Gambit brought up the fact that I’d killed multiple people already--including my own teammates--without giving me a chance to clear things up, the others were bound to have questions. Plus, now that Dazzling Gleam had helped me fill in the blanks that I didn’t know earlier, maybe I’d be able to finally let the others know exactly what we were up against.

Letting Autumn Blaze free was a scary enough thought by itself, but there was no way we could let her revive Divinity.

“Trixie understands,” I said quietly, closing my eyes. “I just hope I’ll have a chance to explain before they show up.”

“Then we’d better hurry.”

Suddenly, the light surrounding Daydream got brighter, and in the same moment, the winds stroking against my skin began to accelerate. If there was any chance that they didn’t see us before, they were sure to notice us now.

What would I even say to them when I got there? Should I tell them about the original death game that Discord put us through, knowing that this was the same Discord that gave them their own powers? Of course I should tell them about that; I’d promised to be open and honest with them about everything, including the parts they may not have wanted to hear about. Did that mean telling them about the other Platinum City girls, though? Did that mean telling them about Dreamdrop?

We didn’t say another word on the entire way back, both giving me a chance to collect my thoughts while simultaneously leaving me to fight with myself inside my own head. I debated with myself over and over whether I should plan what I would say ahead of time or just try to forget about it altogether, but thanks to Daydream’s speed, I wouldn’t have time to think about it for much longer. There wasn’t much for me to say anyway. So long as they knew how important it was for us to win, the rest would work itself out.

Hopefully.

What would have taken us over an hour was suddenly cut down to just a few minutes, and finally, the two of us had arrived at the rendezvous point where Daydream slowly descended to the ground yet again. I couldn’t see anything other than the tall trees rising above us, but I could immediately begin to hear the confused mumbles from the other Platinum City girls. Finally, they were with me again. Their voices were all panicking for one reason or another, but just knowing that we were all there in one piece caused all the anxiety to disappear almost instantaneously.

“Great and Powerful Trixie! What happened?!”

“Daydream, what were you thinking?! We could see you coming from a mile away!”

“Oh, thank goodness you’re both here. I was starting to get worried.”

Daydream, however, didn’t waste a second getting me inside the empty building, pushing past the throng of magical girls and setting me down onto the hardwood floor. “Girls, make room. Trixie got hurt pretty bad out there.”

“What happened?” Midnight asked again.

“Panicity happened,” Daydream replied. “We were able to take care of Mother Time, but Onida showed up before we could stop her.”

“Hang on,” Daisy intervened. “You’re saying you killed Mother Time?”

Daydream slowly nodded her head, leading Midnight and Daisy Quake to jump up and down, cheering with excitement. “I wouldn’t celebrate too soon, though,” Daydream continued. “Onida and Panicity were able to get away after all, and there’s a good chance they’re coming here right now.”

“And whose fault do you suppose that is?”

Suddenly, everyone’s eyes turned to glare at Miss Monster, who folded her arms as her own eyes continued to stare disapprovingly at Daydream Shimmer. The sun-themed magical girl quickly scowled back, standing up with her hands on her hips.

“You know, I’d think you would be able to trust my judgement at least a little bit.”

“I did. Are you going to explain yourself, or should I just assume that that trust was misplaced?”

“What do I have to explain to you?! Do you not see the shape the Great and Powerful Trixie is in right now?! Did you expect me to let her just walk here?”

We didn’t have time for this, and I especially didn’t want my own team to get into one huge fight because of me. I quickly tried lifting my shoulders off the floor, falling back and groaning in pain immediately, but thankfully, it at least caused the other girls to quit their bickering just long enough to rush to my side.

“Girls,” I mumbled weakly. “Before they show up… I need to talk to you.”

The girls around me all looked at each other in curiosity before turning towards me again, waiting for me to continue. Even after all the thinking I’d done, I still hadn’t been able to think of where I would even start, but I had to tell them something, just to make sure they trusted me if for nothing else.

“Trixie is sorry for… Agh! For not telling you earlier… about the things I’ve done in my past…”

Again, the girls looked at each other in curiosity before collectively smiling down at me again. “We understand, Great and Powerful Trixie,” Daisy replied. “I’m sorry that we ever doubted you. I guess hearing it from Last Gambit kinda caught us off guard.”

“No,” I said, making the girls flinch as I pushed back the pain to prop myself onto my elbow. “Trixie needs to tell you everything that happened. I may not remember any of it, but I can at least tell you what I know.”

Midnight offered me a sympathetic smile. “You don’t have to. We get the gist of it.”

“I don’t.”

Once again, everyone glared at Miss Monster, who continued to stare down at me with her eyes fixed and arms folded. Daydream, though, quickly turned with a fiery scowl.

“What’s your problem?! I thought we were on the same team!”

“Last Gambit is going to try and manipulate us again. Remember how quickly you were ready to turn on her back at the cityscapes? I think it would be best for all of us if we heard it from Trixie’s mouth, just so we don’t have to risk something like that happening again.”

Daydream Shimmer flinched in embarrassment, growling in anger before finally allowing her aggravated scowl to soften slightly. Then, once it was clear that the other girls were all in accordance, they turned their attention towards me again so that I could continue with what I was saying.

“As you know, this is the third time Trixie has had to kill other magical girls. The first time was because… Discord asked me to.”

The others raised their eyebrows in surprise. “Who did he tell you to kill?” Midnight asked, to which I hesitated for several moments before answering.

“...He asked us to kill each other.”

Suddenly, Midnight and Daisy gasped, placing their hands over their mouths in shock. “Is this… the same Discord you introduced us to?” Daisy Quake asked.

“...Yeah… It was him…”

“B-but he must have had a good reason, right? He wouldn’t have just had you kill each other for no reason, would he?”

“No…” I breathed a deep sigh, wincing at the pain in my gut while the others watched on with wide eyes. “If I understand right, he did it just for the chaos. That’s who Discord is. He gave us our powers for his own twisted reasons.”

“And we’re here fighting for him?!” Midnight snapped, clenching her fist in fury, but surprisingly, Miss Monster immediately stepped in, holding her hand in front of her to calm her down.

“Let’s give the Great and Powerful Trixie a moment to explain before we rush to conclusions.”

I wanted to laugh. The only thing stopping me was the pain I’d undoubtedly feel if I tried. “You’re right… Discord is a monster who’s just using us in whatever way benefits him the most. BUT!” I quickly cut Midnight off before she could speak, leaving her with her mouth open while she waited for her turn. “I think it’s better we fight for Discord than Autumn Blaze. I thought that was the real reason we were fighting in the first place, to keep her locked up inside Everfree City, but it turns out there’s something else that I hadn’t thought of.”

“OK?” Daisy said quizzically with her hands on her hips. “What is it?”

“Divinity. If I die, she will be brought back to life.”

“I think now’s a good time for you to explain who this Divinity girl is,” said Miss Monster, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

I nodded my head. “If Trixie understands correctly, Divinity is the most powerful magical girl to ever live, and if she decides to go along with Autumn Blaze’s plan, nothing you do will matter anymore. You won’t be able to stop them after that. She’s that strong.”

“Trixie,” Daydream began hesitantly. “What can she do?”

I breathed a deep sigh while the other girls held their breaths, gathering my thoughts for several seconds before speaking again. “Everything. Her power is omnipotence. I spoke with one of the girls who fought against her with me, and she said that Divinity was even more powerful than we could possibly comprehend.”

Some of the girls gasped, but Daydream shook her head. “But you beat her, didn’t you? If you did it once, we can do it again, right?”

“Not if we lose. If Trixie understands correctly, it took all of the Platinum City girls just to stop that one magical girl. If I die and Autumn Blaze is released, there’s going to be no way we can stop them. Trixie doubts that Divinity’s memories will be gone when she comes back to life, and someone with powers like those won’t lose twice, especially with Last Gambit behind her. If you think that Last Gambit is tough right now, just imagine a game where Autumn Blaze is allowed to intervene. Plus, once this game is over, the Everfree City girls will still have their powers. Even if we win, I’m scared that they might try to come kill us in real life…”

The other girls’ faces were now contorted in fear, which was honestly what I was hoping would happen. If we lost, then it wouldn’t just be Platinum City versus Autumn Blaze. It would be Platinum City versus Autumn Blaze, Last Gambit, Mother Time, Panicity, Onida, Frost Lass, Bloody Mary, and Divinity.

Miss Monster, however, nodded her head before breaking the silence. “Understood. So Discord had you kill your own teammates as well as the Everfree City girls. Now, I know for a fact that there are plenty of girls still alive in Platinum City right now, and if Divinity could be resurrected, then I’m guessing that resurrection correlates to all of this somehow?”

I nodded my head. “For each one of Autumn Blaze’s magical girls that we killed, we were allowed to bring back one of Trixie’s fallen teammates, which means that the real reason Last Gambit wanted the team captain to die both in the game and real life--”

“Was so that she could bring back Divinity!” Daydream quickly exclaimed, folding her arms and placing a finger to her bottom lip. “It’s all starting to make sense now.”

“And the reason the others are fighting against us,” Midnight began, “is because they know what kind of creature Discord is.”

“Right,” I answered. “Last Gambit probably knows just as much about Discord as I do, and she’s going to twist every little detail to make it sound like we’re fighting for the bad guy.”

Daydream scoffed. “We basically are fighting for the bad guy, but… I guess it’s still better than the alternative.”

“There are no ‘bad guys’ in a fight like this,” Miss Monster added. “There are simply two competing sides who are both looking to win. The winners will get to decide who the bad guys really were.”

Then, cutting our conversation short was the sound of a slow, loud clap that echoed throughout the abandoned building, making my eyes go wide as my breathing stopped. The sound hadn’t come from anyone surrounding me, which meant that we’d barely had the chance to rest before somebody else arrived at our rendezvous point. Then, as the girls around me gradually backed away, giving me a clear view of the girl standing at the doorway, I finally saw the one behind the source of the sound, clapping her hands unenthusiastically. She had curly blue hair, a pink dress, a long, purple cape, and a dull stare that somehow sent shivers down my aching spine.

She wasn’t alone. That much I was sure of.

“Gee, Miss Monster! That sure was elegant of you! Though I’m sad to say that yet again, Trixie left out probably the most important part.”

My glare began to harden, and from what I could see, the others shared the same expression. “What do you mean?” I asked, angrily yet sincerely. There was no doubt that she still knew things that I didn’t, and I wanted to get as much information out of her as she would give me before the others started what was inevitably going to be another battle.

“Oh, just one teensy weensy detail is all. Just the fact that you, Trixie, were the one who started the attack on Everfree City in the first place.”

My eyes squinted in confusion. “That can’t be true…”

“Oh, but it is! The Everfree City girls were all just minding their own business when you started hunting them down one by one until Divinity stepped in!”

“Quit lying already!” Daisy shouted. “You really expect us to believe that?!”

Last Gambit chuckled, shrugging her shoulders with a smug smile. “You know what? I’m actually not even exaggerating. You can ask Discord yourselves! The Everfree City girls never saw it coming, but you decided to use their lives to revive the friends who you killed in the first place!”

I grit my teeth, seething both from anger and confusion. I knew she wasn’t telling the whole truth, but who was I to complain when I didn’t know the details myself? “Storm Rose told me that Autumn Blaze wanted us dead!”

“For what?! None of them ever did anything to you, yet you guys murdered all of my friends! Dokaeru, Sonic Boom, Lucky Star, Trickster, Sun Shadow, Catastrophe, Genny, La Proxy, DIVINITY!”

“TRIXIE WASN’T THE ONE WHO KILLED DIVINITY!”

Last Gambit scoffed, folding her arms as her eyes peered down bitterly at my weak body. “No… But you’re gonna be the one to bring her back.”

Suddenly, all four of my teammates fell to the floor, covering their heads and screaming at the top of their lungs. They were all shaking violently, squeezing their eyes closed as if someone were standing above them with a butcher’s knife. Then, after a few moments of screaming, Miss Monster suddenly fell forward, grabbing onto her stomach as rainbow-colored bile poured out of her mouth, causing her screaming to momentarily stop while her eyes began to water. With one girl no longer crying out in terror, however, the other three began shaking even more vehemently, their whole bodies convulsing as their minds gradually shattered.

Nothing had happened to me yet, but that must have been part of their plan. They knew I couldn’t move, and if they couldn’t kill us in one quick motion, they would have to eliminate the biggest threats first. They didn’t need to focus on me in order to kill me; I was already broken. All they needed to do now was walk in and slice my throat, which was exactly what Last Gambit had in mind as she summoned her spear and walked right past the other Platinum City girls.

I quickly tried using my magic to create a forcefield, to push her back, to trip her--anything that would keep me safe for at least a little while longer, but the only thing I could do was wince in pain. Then, seeing me hopelessly attempting to save myself at the last second, Last Gambit’s smile began to grow wider. She wasn’t wasting a single moment that could hinder her plan, and in the next second, her spear was above her head, ready to swing down the moment it reached its apex. Now was the time to think of something. If I didn’t come up with anything right then and there, I was dead!

“I know who killed Divinity!”

Last Gambit froze, her spear halfway into its swinging motion. With my life spared for just a few moments longer, I breathed a soft sigh of relief as Last Gambit’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Boss! What are you waiting for?! Now’s your chance!”

Looking just past the magical girl’s body, I made out the image of another girl with pink hair, a yellow dress and fingerless gloves calling out to her, but Last Gambit held up her hand to silence her. “Quiet for a second! If you girls do your job, there’s no way they can get out of this!” Onida grimaced, but a small smile crept up on Last Gambit’s lips. “Keep talking, Trixie. The more information you give me, the longer you get to stay alive.”

“Her name is Lulu Lemon, but she goes by the name Marrow.”

Last Gambit’s smirk grew wider. “You’re really gonna sell out one of your own teammates just to buy yourself a couple of extra seconds?”

“Trixie wants her dead just as much as you do.” I flinched once I realized that I was saying this in front of my own teammates, but if they could hear me past their screaming, hopefully they would understand. As long as I was still alive, I had to keep talking. “She’s the one who had Discord erase Trixie’s memories in the first place!”

Last Gambit raised an eyebrow, chuckling quietly. “Huh. Sounds like this chick has been a real thorn in your--”

“GAH!”

Suddenly, Last Gambit looked behind her, but by the time she got her head turned around, her entire body was being launched to the side of the building, landing with a crack against the wall. Then, looking around, I saw that while Daisy Quake, Daydream Shimmer and Midnight Sparkle continued to shake in fright, Miss Monster slowly made her way back up to her knees, coughing out the remaining vomit in her throat. Immediately, however, once she was free of the sickness in her stomach, she placed her hands over her head and began screaming with the others, but while she shrieked in terror, the panic in the other girls’ voices slightly diminished.

In the next moment, a lightbulb went off in my head. ‘That’s it! Panicity’s power must have a limit! If she wants to use her powers on multiple girls, then she has to divide it between them!’ If I was right--and I still didn’t know for sure--then if she was using her powers on all of them at once, it would be that much easier to break out of it. That must have been why I wasn’t under the anxiety spell: because I was so helpless already that I would only end up making it easier for everyone else to break themselves free. I still didn’t know how to snap them back to reality, but it was going to be easier so long as they were all being hypnotized at once.

Quickly, though, I looked around my environment again for what had saved me. Onida was no longer at the doorway, so it must have been her voice Last Gambit and I had heard earlier. Finally, I heard it, and looking off to where Last Gambit had landed, I noticed a black monster growling angrily as it stepped towards the magical girl sliding down the wall.

“RAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!”

Finally, Last Gambit opened her eyes, glaring daggers down at the creature who’d struck her. “Frost Lass! Get over here!”

Immediately, ice surrounded the entrance, followed quickly by a ghost-themed magical girl appearing out of nowhere, lifting her hands as icicles formed at her palms. If this was going to be a fight, Beasty wouldn’t be able to handle them alone.

“Forget about them!” I shouted. “Go find Panicity! Quick!”

The black monster looked curiously in my direction, but once Frost Lass’s icicles turned into projectiles, he immediately bolted for the door, jumping from wall to wall to avoid the incoming blizzard. Hopefully he’d be able to get the others free from their mental prison, because as soon as Frost Lass had taken her eyes off of Beasty, her eyes immediately shot towards me.

“Oh, you’re so dead.”

Icicles once again formed in the air around her, circling around her body as they got bigger and bigger. I had seconds to spare. I needed Beasty to act quick. Unlike before where there was at least the possibility of distracting them for a few seconds, now they were on kill mode, taking shots as soon as they had the opportunity.

Once again, I tried calling my magic, and once again, nothing came except for pain in my stomach. “Daydream!” I shouted. “Save me! Quick!”

“I…” she muttered, moaning in fear before falling even further to the floor, screaming out in terror. “I CAAAAAAN’T!”

It was too late. Frost Lass had already thrown her icicles towards me, and my body was too weak to allow me to move, even with all the excess adrenaline shooting through my veins. I couldn’t even lift up my arms to flinch, instead just squeezing my eyes and waiting to experience a frigid pain taking away my last few moments.

But somehow, I was still breathing. The attack was taking longer to hit me than I expected, and upon slowly opening my eyes in curiosity, I saw Midnight Sparkle standing in front of me with her hands grabbing hold of the icy spears. They seemed to disintegrate into her hands, creating a warm steam around her as the magic gradually disappeared. My mouth was wide open in shock, but in the next moment, she turned towards me, offering me an optimistic grin.

“But I can.”

Following immediately, however, was a growl from Last Gambit as she bit down onto her finger in fury. “What the hell, Panicity?! Why did you let her out of your magic?!”

Suddenly, Panicity emerged in the doorway, helping Onida back up onto her feet. “I thought Daydream would have been more of a threat, so I released who I thought would have been useless. Turns out I was wrong.”

“Yeah, a little more than wrong! Put her back under!”

Wait. If Panicity was here, then where was Beasty?

“Frost Lass! Emergency!”

Everyone turned their attention towards the doorway, and Frost Lass wasted no time bolting out as soon as she could, following the voice that had called out to her. Panicity quickly stepped out of the way to allow the magical girl passage, but in that moment of weakness, Midnight thrust out her palms towards her and sent Frost Lass’s magic hurtling towards the anxiety-inducer. Frosty ice gathered all around Panicity’s arms and legs, building up so much that even as she attempted to take a step back, she found herself stuck to the ground with her feet frozen below. After that, I could see Miss Monster’s eyes begin to look upwards again.

“Miss Monster! Go take care of Bloody Mary!” I shouted, quickly followed by another panicked expression from Midnight Sparkle.

“No! She can’t go alone! It’s too dangerous!”

Was this the result of Panicity’s magic? No. The others weren’t screaming anymore, and there was no way Panicity would have broken her magic just to focus on Midnight. Her concern was real, and the moment Miss Monster got up to charge after her, Midnight quickly followed behind.

Even though Panicity was frozen to the ground, however, Onida’s body was ready to stop them, holding out her hands like she was about to make a tackle. “Oh, no, you don’t!”

Again, Midnight held out her hand, using one to grab Onida by the shoulder and the other to slam against the outer wall of the hideout. The pink-haired girl’s eyes went wide with Midnight smiling triumphantly. “Tag! You’re it!”

This time, Onida was the one sent on a collision course, her shoulder hitting the wall with an “oof” once her body made contact. Miss Monster and Midnight then made their way towards the sound of the voice, following after Frost Lass while Daisy and Daydream slowly rose from the ground, still breathing heavily with their hands on their chest. Last Gambit was now the only one left in the building with her mind and body still intact, although she was gradually getting more and more furious with everything that was happening.

“Shit!” she muttered. “Shit, shit, shit, shit! Everyone! Cover for me as best as you can! I’m gonna take this bitch’s powers before I kill her, just in case she even thinks about coming back.”

Anxiety shot through my body once again. “Daydream! Daisy! Quick!”

Luckily, they seemed to both have their head on their shoulders again, and in the next moment, the two of them leapt in front of me, holding out their hands like a barricade for protection. Last Gambit, though, wasn’t phased in the slightest. Her hand suddenly turned a light blue as she reached out towards me, making the other two girls flinch backwards, trying to avoid her magic. As Daydream fell backwards, though, her hand subtly moved inwards, turning into pure fire and reaching towards Last Gambit’s gut. In the next moment, though, Daydream gagged.

“Did you really think I was that stupid?”

Last Gambit had rematerialized her spear again, but she’d done it inside Daydream’s stomach. The fire-themed magical girl immediately put one hand to her stomach while the other slapped to her mouth, her eyes watering and her abdomen bleeding. Excellerating the pain, Last Gambit pulled her spear out of Daydream’s body, sending her toppling forward and gripping around her lower torso while wailing in agony.

“Daydream!” Daisy exclaimed, stepping backwards. Then, once she realized she was the next target, she turned her attention towards Last Gambit again, taking a stance like she was about to retaliate. Last Gambit, however, simply smirked in response.

“What are ya gonna do? Cave in the whole building? Ha! Out of my way, bitch.”

Just as Last Gambit stepped towards me, though, everyone’s eyes went wide. Daisy hadn’t been bluffing. The moment Last Gambit tried getting past her, Daisy sent a harrowing punch to Last Gambit’s jaw, sending her stumbling to the side several steps with her hand quickly rising to her mouth. She probably would have been cursing right about now, but we could hear the bones in her jaw begin to crack, shattering to pieces within her mouth.

Immediately, she fell to the floor, rolling side to side and screaming in pain while holding onto her broken jaw. Now was the time to attack, but both Daydream and I were useless at this point. Daisy was our only hope left, and she didn’t waste any time walking towards Last Gambit with her hands still clenched into fists.

“What did you call me?!” she asked, reaching down to grab Last Gambit by the collar, but before she could get there in time, Onida had managed to pull herself up again, holding onto one shoulder while her other hand quickly tagged her leader.

“Boss! Run while you can!”

Daisy swung her fist downward, but before she could connect with Last Gambit, the target had suddenly been pulled out of the hideout, flinging to some area in the wilderness. With her momentum still pulling her forward however, Daisy shifted her body to aim for Onida instead, who was just a hair quicker, skidding along the floor and dodging at the last possible moment. That blunder, though, would lead to our downfall.

“Guh!”

Daisy hadn’t just missed her target. She had hit the ground on the way down, causing the walls all around us to begin to sway back and forth, debris falling from the ceiling. Daisy immediately saw what she’d done and flinched, grabbing both Daydream and I and running as fast as she could out of the building. Of course, Onida was the quickest one out of the area, zooming out at twice our speed while Daisy attempted to carry two magical girls in her arms. Then, leaping towards the exit, the three of us collided with the ground just as the building behind us toppled into pieces, creating a large billow of dust rising from its crumbled remains.

Ahead of us, though, was another battle. Miss Monster was shouting commands to her creature while Midnight did her best to play both defense and offense, absorbing Frost Lass’s magic and hurdling it towards Bloody Mary before she could use her own magic.

“Dammit, Frost Lass! I told you I could handle it from here!”

“In a two on one?! You can’t handle that by yourself!”

“Then take that monster thing and get it out of here! I can handle Twilight myself.”

“Or maybe you could make yourself useful and help out over here!” shouted a third voice.

Panicity was still frozen solid just outside the rubble, doing her best to pull herself free of the icicles at her feet and failing miserably. Once Frost Lass saw the situation, however, she immediately nodded, sliding on a trail of ice towards her immobile teammate. It looked like the perfect opportunity for Miss Monster to attack, but as soon as the ice queen was gone, Miss Monster suddenly fell to the floor, screaming in pain while clutching at her heart.

“Aaaaahhhh!! I can’t breathe! I CAN’T BREATHE!”

Beasty immediately lunged forward to attack, but after the first step, Bloody Mary shouted, “Take another step and I’ll give her a heart attack right here! I just wanna talk to Twilight really quick.”

The creature suddenly stopped and turned towards her master, who nodded silently while trying not to scream any further. None of us knew whether or not she was bluffing, but based on the situation, none of us wanted to make any hasty moves just yet. Meanwhile, Frost Lass was already beginning to unthaw her teammate, creating yet another problem that we had to deal with.

“Daisy,” I said weakly, pulling her attention towards me. “I need you to take care of those two for me. Get them as far away from here as possible.”

“But you can’t--”

“Daisy! NOW!”

By the time Daisy Quake turned towards the other magical girls, though, Panicity was just about unfrozen from the ground. She no longer had any time left to waste, and with a loud gulp, she brought her fists up as high as she could and screamed loudly, slamming them both to the ground in front of her. Craters didn’t just form. An entire mountain rose up from the ground, separating the two Everfree City girls from the three of us closest to them. Then, once the ground stopped shaking, Daisy looked back to give us a nod before running along its circumference and creating more mountains around them.

Immediately, I looked down at Daydream, who was still holding onto her stomach. “How bad are you hurt?”

“Ngh! I might--AGH!--be alright if I just--UGH--use some of my magic to stop the bleeding.”

“Your magic? You mean you’re going to set yourself on fire?”

“I’m just gonna try... to get the blood... to clot… GAAAAHHHH!!!”

The hands around the wound in Sunset’s abdomen suddenly began to glow, and in the next moment, she was screaming at the top of her lungs as her blood literally began to boil. I had to do all I could not to watch. Besides, Midnight had her own issues I needed to worry about.

“What did you want, Moondancer?”

Bloody Mary scoffed. “Let me guess. You saw my real body when I was killed by that thing yesterday, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but the real question is how you got caught up with someone like Last Gambit in the first place.”

“‘Caught up’?! I’ll never catch up so long as you keep getting ahead of me!”

Midnight flinched. “Is this… about me?”

“You know what? I don’t even know anymore! At first I thought it was about you, learning magic so that I could finally get ahead of you, but surprise, surprise! You can use magic too! Now I finally get it. I’ll never be able to be happy until I prove once and for all that just this once, I can be better than you at something!”

“Moondancer… You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do!” Bloody Mary’s voice continued to grow louder and louder, and the more she yelled, the more Miss Monster’s beast leaned forward in precaution. “Because this time, it’s not just about me. It’s about making sure that we get rid of Discord once and for all! If I can’t do that, if I can’t surpass you when there are people who are depending on me with their lives, then maybe I should just kill myself!”

“Listen to me--”

“NO! YOU LISTEN TO ME!” Beasty flinched, but still, nobody moved other than Miss Monster, who remained with her hand on her chest, breathing heavily. “You picked the wrong side, Twilight. I thought you were smarter than that.”

Another moment of silence fell before Midnight spoke again, this time with her head held high and her eyebrows furrowed, despite the total calmness her voice carried. “I’m just trying to protect my friends.”

“Tch. I thought I was your friend.”

Everything that happened next was a blur. Beasty took a step forward in reflex, but by the time he could react, the fight was already over. Bloody Mary’s hand was on Midnight’s head, but Midnight’s hand was on the center of Bloody Mary’s chest. The two stood still for several excruciatingly long moments, making everyone stand on edge until--

“Mmff! Blaaaffch!”

Bloody Mary suddenly collapsed to the floor, vomiting all of the fluids she could, but it wasn’t bile or rainbows that she was throwing up. It was blood. Gallons of blood. It was as if her lungs had ruptured, leaving her spurting so much blood that she couldn’t breathe even if her lungs still worked, audibly gagging from the discomfort in her throat.

Midnight suddenly took a step back, her trembling hand rising to her mouth while Bloody Mary’s eyes poured tears of pain. There was nothing left that could save her now. Bloody Mary had gone for a kill shot, and Midnight had sent the shot straight back into the user’s body before the magic could take effect. Even if Midnight tried to save her, the damage done to her body had already taken place. This wasn’t a mild sickness like she’d done before; she made sure that someone would die from this attack, but the last person she probably expected to suffer was herself.

Minutes passed, and all any of us could do was watch Bloody Mary as she writhed in agony, crying out in pain as more and more blood mixed with bile cascaded out of her mouth. Even Miss Monster had managed to recover, still clutching her aching chest, but otherwise still carrying a functioning body. Then, after what seemed like forever, Bloody Mary finally stopped moving and gagging, albeit with bloody still pouring out of her throat. Once her entire body had finally gone limp, a bright light surrounded her body, and when the light eventually diminished, what was left was the body of a high school girl with large glasses and messy, reddish hair.

Midnight immediately fell to her knees to reach out for the body, but as soon as she did, we heard a sound that made us all flinch and look up.

“Time up. Redirecting.”

Chapter 22

We got lucky.

On the first day, we were just moments away from taking Last Gambit’s first team member away from her, but this time, we had managed to eliminate one of her pieces with only seconds to spare. We had successfully eliminated two of her magical girls, which meant that the numbers were now officially on our side, five to four, and not only that, but we’d managed to remove their biggest threat altogether. There was hardly any reason to worry at this point… until I realized where I was.

‘My body!’ If I was transformed back into my human form, I was as good as dead!

I quickly felt all around my torso for the area where I had been injured earlier, but surprisingly, the wound was already gone. The weirdest part, though, was that I was back in my human form without a single scratch on me. Normally, when I transformed from my human form to my magical girl form, my human injuries would disappear, but if I ever got hurt in my magical girl form, the damage done to my human form would be multiplied. Here I was in my normal body, though, and all of my wounds had magically healed. Was this Discord’s doing?

“Ah. We are back, so it vould seem.”

I quickly turned my head towards Photo Finish, who simply folded her arms while awaiting the news. I couldn’t comprehend what it was like for her to be dead during the entire time we were stuck in the game. Did time pass for her, or was it like a blink where nine hours passed in between? Was it no big deal, or was it as terrifying as I imagined?

“So,” she continued. “Vut did I miss? Anyzing worth mentioning?”

“Yeah, a lot, actually,” Sunset mentioned. “Mother Time and Bloody Mary are both dead.”

“Und how about us? Did we lose anybody?”

“No, I think we all made it out OK. Trixie, how are you doing?”

Both Photo Finish and Sunset turned to face me, Sunset with her hands on her hips and Photo Finish with her arms folded. It was hard to face them knowing how close I was to death today, how close I was to losing this game for us, especially since my injuries nearly led to Daydream’s death after her fight with Last Gambit.

“Trixie is fine,” I replied. “It seems our injuries from the game are gone now. Discord’s doing, I bet.”

“Nope!”

All of us then turned towards the direction the voice had come from, and standing in the center of the hallway was Cozy Glow, completely alone and unguarded. She had such a smug look on her face, even though the cards were completely stacked against her right now. If we all transformed at once, we could probably eliminate her before we were sent back to the game the next day, but I couldn’t give away my thoughts just yet. I still wasn’t sure whether or not she had any backup, especially in the darkness of Canterlot High School in the depths of night.

“What do you know, Cozy Glow?” Sunset asked in annoyance.

“Just that I always think two steps ahead of you guys,” the freshman replied, shrugging her shoulders as she paced between us. Now would be the perfect chance to transform and end this once and for all… but after what she just said, I had to at least take into consideration that she already knew her disadvantage. She could easily be planning something, leading us straight into a trap, and there was a chance I was falling for the bait. “Actually, it’s more like I don’t want you girls to think I’m cheating.”

“Und why vould we assume zat?”

“Because I knew that Discord was just gonna heal you up at the end of the day anyway, and if I ever asked Autumn Blaze to heal up my party, then what would happen if Discord ever changed his mind and left you girls to suffer? I wouldn’t want you girls to think I had an unfair advantage, now, would I? Besides, Discord is kinda fickle like that, am I right?”

Sunset growled in anger, but I held up my hand to calm her down. The last thing I wanted Cozy Glow to think was that we were about to start a fight, especially if I wanted any chance of catching her off guard. “So when we return from the game, anyone who suffered any injuries is automatically healed. Is Trixie correct in that assumption?”

Cozy Glow rolled her eyes. “What do you think? It’s not like I’d be able to talk to you girls if my jaw was still broken, after all! Oh, and speaking of which…”

Cozy Glow then walked up to me and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, making the other girls flinch before I held up my hand to calm them down again. Discord would make sure nothing happened to me here, but we couldn’t just initiate a battle while she was aware of her surroundings enough to defend herself. We might still be able to ambush her, but everyone needed to relax for just a couple more seconds.

“...that girl that busted my jaw. What’s her name again?”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “Daisy Quake. What does that have to do with anything, though?”

Cozy Glow chuckled quietly before clenching her teeth onto her bottom lip, a scowl returning to her face with more vitriol than ever. “Daisy Quake, huh? You let that bitch know that she’s going to be the next one to die, and before she does, I’m going to take her powers away for good. You can fucking bet on that one.”

Once she was done with her threat, she released my shirt from her grasp and turned around, walking back down the darkened hallway. I waited as quietly as I could for a few moments, listening for the sounds of footsteps or anything that would reveal if any of her teammates were nearby. Nothing so far. I then quickly held up my hand just as Sunset was about to retort. I didn’t want anything to turn her attention towards us again. We just needed to wait for her to take a few more steps away, hopefully forgetting we were even there, and then…

“Get her.”

I quickly changed into my magical girl outfit, summoned my spear and charged towards her with as much speed as my magical form would allow. There was a sick irony in knowing that Autumn Blaze was the one to heal my body, just for me to use it to kill Cozy Glow the minute the game ended, but I couldn’t risk any more failures. I was going to end this war right here and now.

Suddenly, Cozy Glow turned around, and it was clear from the look on her eyes that she hadn’t been expecting a surprise attack, which meant that for the first time, I actually had the upper hand. The amount of time she had left didn’t even give her the opportunity to transform into her own magical girl form. Instead, she just fell backwards, holding up her arm in a vain attempt to shield herself while I swung my spear towards her. This game was ov--

“TRIXIE! WATCH OUT!”

If I didn’t have my magical girl reflexes, I would have been dead. I quickly jumped backwards just as a pillar of fire separated myself and Cozy Glow, sliding backwards on the floor until I lost my balance and stumbled onto my butt. Then, turning towards my teammates, I saw that Sunset Shimmer was still in her human form, not yet transformed into Daydream Shimmer and running towards me to lift me back onto my feet. Photo Finish, likewise, was still in her regular form, but if neither of them started the fire, then what just happened?

“Hey!” Cozy Glow shouted beyond the flames, pulling herself back up to her feet and patting the dust off of her skirt. “That’s a foul, Trixie!”

“That was close,” Sunset said, ignoring the girl on the other side. “Are you hurt at all?”

I rubbed my head in confusion, looking around for any clues I could get. “N-no, Trixie is fine, but who…?”

Did I even need to ask? Before I had the chance to finish my question, I saw a shadowy figure snaking its way through the wall of flames, laughing a maniacal cackle that echoed throughout the empty school hallways. It seemed so illogical, so self-destructive that he of all creatures was the one behind this, but if there was anything I’d learned from him, it was that he found no fun in things making sense. Finally, with one more rapturous laugh, the draconequus lifted his body from the burning border between us, thunder booming and lightning striking out of nowhere upon his arrival.

Discord, the god of chaos, had just saved Cozy Glow’s life.

“Goodness gracious!” he shouted with glee. “You really don’t pull your punches, do you, O Great and Powerful Trixie?”

I clicked my tongue and pulled myself the rest of the way back to my feet, shaking off Sunset’s helping hands as I stared the demon down. “What the hell, Discord! Trixie almost had her!”

“That’s right! If I hadn’t stepped in, she’d most certainly be dead by this point! I guess you really don’t have any reservations about taking away human lives anymore, but based on your past, that’s basically a given at this point.”

Cozy Glow immediately motioned her hands towards Discord while looking directly at my teammates. “You see?! Straight from the dragon’s mouth!”

Ignoring her comments as best I could, I focused my attention on Discord again, whose smile never faltered. “Then can you explain to Trixie why you just ruined everything by nearly killing me instead of her?”

Discord scoffed. “Oh, puh-lease. I can’t just kill you whenever I want like that. It’s against the draconequus code!” He then reached into his fur like it was a pocket, searching comedically until he pulled out a giant scroll of paper that was far too big to fit into the small dimension it came from. As it quickly rolled to the ground, Discord used his spare claw to pull a pair of reading glasses from behind his back, despite the words on the paper being written large enough to see from across the hallway. “Hmm… Let’s see… Section Q subparagraph eleven--Ah! Here we are! ‘Trans-dimensional gods cannot kill humans by their own means!’ See? You were safe the whole time! You could have gotten burned, but not killed!”

While my teammates and I palmed our faces and shook our heads, however, Cozy Glow looked down at her wrist, pretending she was wearing a watch and tapping her foot impatiently. “Yeah, that’s cool and all, but can I go now? You’re not going to let them kill me, right?”

“You have my word. Think of it as a favor for Divinity.”

I had completely forgotten. The whole reason we were doing any of this was because Discord was upset at Autumn Blaze for taking Divinity away from him, the same Divinity that had given Cozy Glow her powers in the first place. That still didn’t explain his motivation for saving Cozy Glow, but it at least bought her enough time to walk away, waving her hand like she wasn’t a split second away from dying just a minute ago.

Then, once Cozy Glow was gone, I immediately grabbed the god of chaos by the fur and pulled him in, glaring daggers into his eyes while he continued to smile smugly. He’d done so much to make me suffer in my life, but this… This was a completely new level of betrayal that even I would have never expected, even from him.

“What game are you playing at, Discord?”

“Oh-ho-ho! I think you might have the wrong idea about what the game is and who’s playing.” I lifted an eyebrow in confusion, but the draconequus simply peeled away at my fingers until he was free from my grip, rubbing down the strands of fur that were left sticking up. “Do you remember last night when I saved you from Cozy Glow after she tried sneaking up on you?”

“Yeah? So what?”

Discord comedically slapped his paw to his face, running it down and pulling his cheeks along with him until they snapped back into their normal position. “I told you that I want you to play this game fair and square. That goes for the both of you. Don’t forget, it’s in my best interest for you to lose.”

“So you really just want Trixie to die?!” Sunset screamed, jumping into the argument and making Discord roll his eyes.

“Why does everyone always jump to that conclusion? Doesn’t anyone ever consider the alternative where people don’t die? Yeesh.”

It took me a minute to figure out what he meant, but then I remembered that if the game didn’t end in the next three days, then my team automatically lost, setting Autumn Blaze free whether or not anyone died. Discord honestly didn’t care whether or not anyone survived. All he wanted was Autumn Blaze, and that would only happen if Cozy Glow was kept alive for as long as possible.

In the next moment, though, Discord raised an eyebrow, craning his long neck past me and sneaking up on one of my teammates, who suddenly shrieked upon seeing his big eyes in front of her. “You’ve been awfully quiet lately,” he said with a large grin, making the girl step back hesitantly. “You aren’t having second thoughts about this game, are you, Twilight?”

The girl in the glasses gulped, looking away as her hands began to shake nervously. “I’m just worried about my friend is all. She said some things that I didn’t expect to hear when we were in there…”

“Oh?”

“I…” A small tear fell down Twilight’s cheek, and in the next moment, she darted past us, running towards the fire which opened up like a gate to let her through. “I’m sorry, girls! I need to go check up on her!”

Before any of us could question her any further, though, she was already out of earshot. I’d never seen Twilight run so fast in my life, but then again, I don’t think I’d ever seen her that worried in all the time I’d known her.

“This must be about Moondancer,” Sunset said, folding her arms. “I can’t imagine having to kill one of my own friends. She must be a wreck right now.”

“Zat is part of being a magical girl, sadly,” Photo Finish chimed in. “It means protecting vut is most precious to you, and sometimes, ze answer of vut you value most isn’t always as clear as you vould think.”

It was all fake, though! Nobody actually died! Even though the pain was real and the situations seemed realistic, it was all just a simulation! At least, that’s what I wanted to tell them, but I couldn’t even tell myself that after hearing what Bloody Mary had said during the game…

‘If I can’t do that, if I can’t surpass you when there are people who are depending on me with their lives, then maybe I should just kill myself!’

Moondancer’s life was in actual peril right now. Twilight must have been terrified out of her mind. If I had to be the one to kill one of my friends, even if it was just a simulation, the responsibility I would feel if they ended up dying in real life… I couldn’t even say for sure. After all, apparently I’d already done it before. Did I feel remorse for what I’d done back then, or was I just as blithely unphased then as I was now?

“Maybe we should go check on her,” Sunset said, breaking me out of my train of thought.

“No,” Photo Finish interjected. “She must deal wiz zis herself. Vut we should really be doing right now is getting some rest while we still can. You girls have a big day ahead of you tomorrow, after all.”

Sunset dropped her gaze to the ground, folding her arms while sighing loudly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I just wish there was more that we could do.”

While Sunset glared down at her shoes, however, Photo Finish walked over to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder with her own expression of sadness. “Welcome to ze world of magical girls, Mädchen. Come, Trixie. We go.”

We had completely forgotten that Discord was right there eavesdropping, and by the time we turned towards the exit, the pillar of fire had already fizzled into cinders. The moment Photo Finish dropped her hand from Sunset’s shoulder, the three of us then began walking out of the school building together, trying our best just to stay positive about the situation. We had just managed to win Day 2 of our death game, which finally gave us a reason to celebrate for once.

Even still, there was always more to worry about then there was to be excited about. We couldn’t afford any more close calls if we wanted to win. We had to play offense the whole time, which was increasingly difficult with how easily Last Gambit managed to continually outmaneuver us. We needed one more major victory before we could celebrate, but we could think about that in the morning.

I think what we all needed was a chance to rest, especially after the previous night where I’d basically stayed up the whole time. Even after getting probably five hours of sleep over the past three days, though, I still wasn’t sure if I’d be able to relax with all the adrenaline still pumping through my body. I just hoped that the other girls would have an easier time resting tonight than I would.

If only that one magical girl were here, the one with the power to put people to sleep…

‘Nice to meet ya, little girl! My name’s Dreamdrop!’

Day three of the magical girl game.

Once the school day was over, the other three Canterlot High girls met me in the hallway where we normally came together, along with Uppercrust and Juniper Montage on a conference call. For the first time in a long while, I was actually rested enough to feel confident about the day ahead of us, especially now that two of their biggest threats had been eliminated. The real question now, though, was to determine who would be our next target.

“You think we should just go straight for Last Gambit?” Juniper asked. “I mean, if they can’t bring her back anymore, then there’s no real reason to try wasting our time with the others, right?”

“I wouldn’t be so hasty,” Sunset replied with a finger on her bottom lip. “If we put all our energy on Last Gambit, we’d be sitting ducks against her teammates.”

“Then who would you say is the biggest threat?” asked Uppercrust.

The question made me think for a minute, but it didn’t take me long to come up with the obvious answer. “Panicity,” I said. “She has the power to make us completely useless. Trixie was able to come to the conclusion yesterday that she needs to divide her magic between her targets, which means that if we attack her, it needs to be all of us in unison.”

“I agree,” said Uppercrust. “While I still don’t know for certain, I want to say that Beasty will be able to withstand her magic, so feel free to utilize me as much as you need.”

“It vould be doubtful zat she vould be alone, however. If you cannot focus on her, zen who vould be ze next likely alternative?”

The three of us took a minute to think before Juniper Montage added her own thoughts. “Onida has been a bigger problem than I thought she’d be at first. I almost had Last Gambit taken care of yesterday before she showed up.”

“Trixie agrees. Onida was the one who kept us from killing Panicity yesterday as well. If we run into all four of them at once, we should prioritize Panicity, but the second she’s gone, we need to put all of our efforts on Onida.”

Suddenly, Sunset turned to her friend, who had been completely silent up to this point. “What do you think, Twilight? Does this sound good to you so far?”

I had noticed that she’d been quiet during the whole meeting, making me wonder if things had been alright after she’d left to check up on Moondancer, but then, giving us a smile that helped me relax for a minute, she nodded her head and said, “I think that sounds perfect. Now the real question is where we should start.”

“You think we should have a meeting place like before?” Juniper asked.

“Trixie thinks that would be a good idea, but preferably some place different than where we chose last time.”

Uppercrust scoffed. “It’s not like that place is much use after Daisy’s little debacle yesterday anyway.”

“Heheh. Whoopsie.”

I then turned my head towards Twilight, who flinched in surprise. “Where do you think would be the best place to start?”

Twilight’s phone was currently being used to call Juniper Montage, but after having Sunset’s phone handed to her with the map of Everfree City pulled up, the quiet science girl tilted her glasses back and squinted her eyes as she meandered over the different possibilities. “It has to be somewhere that works to our advantage more than Last Gambit’s, just in case they ambush us again like yesterday. Plus, it would need to be somewhere that has a six mile radius that wouldn’t be difficult to traverse in the process.”

“Then how about the cityscapes?” Juniper added. “If they try to ambush us, I can just tear down the city.”

“Unless Panicity shows up and makes you useless,” Uppercrust chimed in. “If we’re going to be six miles apart, I would suggest a star formation around the new base. That way we can regroup more quickly than if we had someone at our base from the start.”

“What? Wouldn’t that just take longer?”

“No, she’s right,” Twilight replied. “If we originate at five points in the shape of a pentagon, you cut one of its equidistant sides in half to get three miles, and using the angles of 36, 54 and 90 degrees respectively, you use the sine to divide the distance of the hypotenuse, which gives you a total mileage of 5.1039048…”

“...”

“...Vas?”

Twilight suddenly put her hands behind her back, shrinking with a sheepish smile as she looked away, trying to hide the awkward blush on her face. “Er… I agree with Uppercrust.”

“How about here?” Sunset said, pulling our attention back to the map and pointing to a completely random building. “There’s no way they’d be able to find it unless they followed us there, and since the cityscapes have so many obstacles, it’s not like we’d be able to give ourselves away as easily as last time.”

“Trixie’s biggest concern is whether or not we’d be able to recognize it enough to remember where to go.”

“Look.” Sunset then pointed to a distinct crossing not far from the building she alluded to earlier. “We can use that as a landmark. We’ll meet up five buildings to the west on the south side of this road. Just use the map up until that point and we’ll all meet at the center.”

I then looked up at Twilight, the only other girl present who was still alive, and with a confident grin, she nodded her head. “Trixie agrees. I can start on the north end.”

“I’ll take northwest,” Twilight responded.

“Give me southwest,” said Juniper.

“I’ll do southeast,” said Uppercrust.

“And that leaves me with northeast,” replied Sunset with a large grin on her face. “Then we can all go after Cozy Glow together!”

“Cozy Glow? What’s up with her?”

Suddenly, the four of us turned around, flinching in terror as an unexpected bystander snuck up behind us. Luckily for us, it wasn’t one of the Everfree City girls, which at least let me breathe a quick sigh of relief, but somehow, the real person who showed up might have been even worse in a way.

“Who was that?” Juniper asked. “He sounded cute!”

Twilight and Photo Finish quickly hung up their phones while I stepped in front of the group with an awkward smile on my face. “F-Flash Sentry! What are you doing here?”

“I was kinda worried after not seeing you girls around for the past couple days,” the blue-haired boy replied with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck. “Cozy Glow isn’t messing with you again, is she?”

“What?! No! Actually, why don’t the two of us talk waaaaaaaay over there?”

“Huh?”

Before he could interject, however, I immediately began pushing Flash away, making his eyebrows reach towards his hairline while Twilight and Sunset clumsily tried acting as casual as they could.

“You know what I just realized?” Twilight said. “I should probably see how Moondancer is doing.”

“Yeah!” Sunset agreed. “And I should… go check up on Rainbow Dash!”

Again, Flash Sentry turned in confusion. “But Rainbow Dash is the other w--”

“Come on, Flash! There’s a reeeeeeally important conversation I wanted to have with you!”

Despite how much the teenage boy practically tossed in my hands, I had to do everything to make him as confused as possible, just so there was no chance of him ever piecing things together. Finally, once I was free of every student within view, I pushed him into a vacant room, locked the door behind me and slowly slid my back down to my haunches, leaving Flash with an even bigger look of shock on his face.

“Uhh… Trixie? Is this what I think this is?”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, I looked around my environment and noticed for the first time where we were. The two of us were in a vacant classroom with the door locked behind us. Boy and girl. Together.

Alone.

“WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! No! Flash! It’s not what you think! Trixie just--”

“R-right! Sorry!” Flash quickly put his hand over his eyes, turning his face away like there was someone naked standing in front of him. “I shouldn’t jump to conclusions like that. A-anyway, what did you need to talk to me about?”

“O-oh… Uhh…” Now I was the one looking away, rubbing my elbow with my cheeks burning red. I hadn’t quite thought this far in advance yet, leaving Flash Sentry tilting his head in confusion while my anxiety skyrocketed. “Trixie wanted to talk to you… about… THE SHOWCASE! That’s it!”

Finally, the two of us could look each other in the eyes again, albeit still with slight hesitation. “OK. What did you wanna talk about?”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhh.” Shoot. Where would I go from here? “Could you get Trixie some materials?”

“Sure. What did you need?”

“...A fish.”

“...A fish?”

“Yes! Trixie needs a fish! A halibut, to be precise.”

“You know, now that I think about it, I don’t think we’ve ever really established what we were gonna do for the magical showcase.”

“Trixie will take care of it!” Then, opening up the door again, I moved behind Flash Sentry and began pushing again, shoving him out just as forcefully as I had led him in in the first place. “You just go get that fish and everything will be made clear later.”

“OK,” he muttered, looking back with concern written all over his face. “Do you know where I would even find a halibut?”

“Nope! That’s why Trixie needs you! You’d better hurry before the fish markets close!”

The moment Flash Sentry was out of the classroom, I propped my hands on my knees, breathing heavily both from exhaustion and anxiety. Why did boys have to be so heavy?

The boy in the hallway, though, shrugged his shoulders and gave me the most sympathetic smile he could. “Well, alright. Whatever you say, Trixie. Later, Twilight! Later, Sunset Shimmer!”

Flash Sentry then turned away and started walking down the hallway, and turning my head to my left, I saw the two girls he was referring to, both with deep, red blushes on their cheeks.

“Sorry if this sounds blunt,” Twilight began, dropping eye contact and pushing her glasses back, “but… w-w-what were the two of you doing in there, exactly?”

“Talking about fish! Now, get in here!”

Before either of them could discuss the matter any further, however, I pulled the both of them into the empty classroom, slamming the door behind them. We were going to be transported any second now, and the last thing I wanted was for any of my classmates to see us disappear out of nowhere. The other two girls may have been rubbing their backs in pain as they pulled themselves off the floor, but I was breathing another sigh of relief, knowing that I had momentarily avoided another awkward event that would have ended even worse.

I checked my phone. One minute left.

“Hey, girls,” I muttered, making them look at me with their eyebrows raised. “Trixie just… wanted to say thank you again for doing this for me.”

Both Sunset and Twilight looked at each other in confusion before turning back to face me with huge smiles. “Of course, Trixie,” Sunset said. “We’re your friends.”

“Not only that,” Twilight agreed, “but we’re doing this for a much bigger cause. I promise you, from the depths of my heart, the right team is going to win in the end. No matter what happens, everything is going to work out.”

I smiled again, but quickly looking down at my phone once more, I saw the minutes change, and before I could blink, the scenery around me had shifted into something else entirely. Then, pulling my face up from my phone, I saw that I was now in the cityscapes where I had set my destination before, in a completely different body than what I went to school with. Day three of the magical girl game had officially started, and now I just had to make it back to the base before I ran into any more magical girls.

One step. Two steps. Three steps. And that was as far as I made it before I felt a chill run up my spine. A chill from the outside. A cold, frigid, frosty chill that was suddenly making my arms shake, and turning around, my mouth dropped as my eyes went wide.

No. Not already! We’d just barely started!

“Oh, so now you finally notice that I exist?!”

I had taken three steps, and I was already face to face with a ghost-themed magical girl, floating in the air, being lifted by a snowy current underneath her feet. They knew exactly where to find us. Somehow, they’d found out exactly where we were going to spawn, and if I didn’t take care of Frost Lass quick, it would only be a matter of time before her teammates showed up to finish me off.

It was going to be one-on-one, and I would have to win this one by myself.

How it would have ended

This story has been cancelled. Everything that comes next is a legitimate spoiler for how the story would have ended. If you want to hold out hope that the story will be continued in the future, I wouldn’t recommend reading the next section, but I sincerely doubt that I will ever finish.

Trixie kills Frost Lass and returns to the base. When she arrives, though, she finds that Daisy Quake is already dead. Trixie, Midnight Sparkle, Daydream Shimmer and Miss Monster discuss what could have happened and come to the conclusion that there was a traitor among them. They examine all the events leading up to the incident, but right when they’re getting close to putting all the pieces together, they start to feel the ground shake. In the next moment, the building they’re in collapses on top of them.

Trixie manages to use her magic to save them at the last second, but immediately, they realize that the traitor is Midnight Sparkle. When they ask why Twilight would betray Trixie like that, she says that she wants to be on the winning side when Autumn Blaze is inevitably released and that she’s willing to sacrifice Trixie for the greater good of all magical girls. Midnight then escapes.

As the three of them go after Midnight Sparkle, Onida shows up out of nowhere in the forest area and takes Daydream to some faraway place across the map. She then tries to fight with Miss Monster and uses her magic to send Beasty into a tree branch, killing the monster. Now that it’s just Trixie and Onida, Onida outmaneuvers Trixie and is about to kill her when Miss Monster is able to finally summon a second beast and kill Onida. The third day ends.

Once they return to CHS, Twilight and Sunset immediately return back to their magical girl forms and attempt to fight to the death. Trixie then transforms and uses her magic to stop them just as Flash Sentry shows up with the fish Trixie asked him to get. He freaks out and runs away, making Trixie feel like she’s lost almost all of her friends again.

The next day when going over their plans (now without Twilight), Juniper Montage tells them that when she came back from the game, she couldn’t transform anymore. They discreetly ask Discord if he could just give her powers back, but he tells them that there’s a block preventing him from giving her any kind of magical abilities. Her powers were gone forever.

Day 4 begins. Trixie and Miss Monster meet up first and run into Panicity. Panicity brags about the look on Trixie’s face when she killed her mother and Trixie completely loses control, inversing her powers to create a gravitational pull that starts destroying Panicity’s body, similar to what happened when Trixie was with Storm Rose in chapter 18. Miss Monster, however, prevents Trixie from torturing Panicity any further, warning her that she’s turning into the villain. Panicity says they should fight without using their powers and Trixie wins, killing Panicity.

The two of them then run into Daydream Shimmer, fighting Midnight and Last Gambit by herself. Midnight tells Last Gambit to leave and that she can take care of everything herself. As Daydream fights Midnight, Midnight absorbs Daydream’s powers and uses them to kill Miss Monster. Day 4 ends.

At the end of the day, Trixie talks to Marrow, asking about why she would erase her memories in the first place. Marrow says she never wanted Trixie to become a magical girl in the first place, specifically because she was afraid something like this might happen. Marrow tells the other Platinum City magical girls to get ready to fight Everfree City and Autumn Blaze one last time.

Cozy Glow approaches Trixie that morning and asks if they can just settle things without the six mile rule this time, and Trixie agrees. Once the fifth and final day begins, all four magical girls remaining arrive in the flat lands. In the subsequent fight, Midnight kills Daydream, but fearing that Midnight might waver once Autumn Blaze is released, Last Gambit takes away Midnight Sparkle’s powers.

Finally, Last Gambit and Trixie have a fight to the death where Trixie loses and has her powers taken away forever. Before Last Gambit kills her, however, she receives all of her memories that were taken away by Discord.

Her last words are “SUMMER BREEZE!” and Last Gambit slices her head off.

Autumn Blaze is released, and when Last Gambit asks Autumn Blaze to revive Divinity, Autumn Blaze mentions that Discord has to die first to prevent herself from getting sealed again. Last Gambit agrees and goes to Manehattan to help fight against Discord. The Manehattan Platinum City girls then declare war on Everfree City. The other Everfree City girls, however, upon having felt death once and realizing that they could die for real this time, decide to sit this one out.

Last Gambit is left fighting all nine Platinum City girls by herself while Autumn Blaze fights Discord. Just as she’s about to steal Graveyard Girl’s powers, however, Graveyard Girl uses her power to kill Last Gambit. (Last Gambit needs to touch someone’s forehead to take their powers. Graveyard Girl can kill someone just from a single touch, so when Last Gambit tries to steal GG’s powers, she ends up killing herself.)

Meanwhile, Trixie is in a void. That’s where she runs into Summer Breeze, and the two of them can finally reunite. While she’s there, however, Summer Breeze says that Trixie can’t stay there. Just as Trixie tries to object, a second girl says that Trixie has a duty that she still needs to fulfill on the other side. Trixie doesn’t recognize her at first, but then realizes that this girl is actually Cross Stitch (also known as the magical girl Divinity).

Trixie asks why she created Last Gambit in the first place, but Cross Stitch explains that she never expected Last Gambit to release Autumn Blaze. Trixie explains that she can’t return because her powers are gone forever, but Cross Stitch tells her that now that Last Gambit is dead, her powers are also gone, meaning that the Great and Powerful Trixie's powers should return. Just as Trixie tries to argue that she wants to stay with Summer Breeze, however, a third woman appears, Trixie’s mother.

Trixie’s mother tells Trixie that she’s so proud of her for everything she’s done. Now Trixie wants to stay even more, but she begins to hear voices calling to her from the outside. When she’s about to ask how she could possibly stop Autumn Blaze, though, Cross Stitch tells her that it’s not only Autumn Blaze that Trixie needs to stop; it’s Discord too. She tells Trixie that with all magical girls put together, they have more power than even the beings that created them, and before she can say anything else, Trixie is brought back to life.

Once she comes back, she looks around to see what’s going on, and to her dismay, Manehattan has become a warzone, just like she’d feared. Picking her up off the ground, though, is Marrow, who brushes her off and explains that she brought Trixie back to life using Last Gambit’s spirit. Discord asks Trixie to help him fight Autumn Blaze, but Trixie immediately runs off to Canterlot to meet up with the other magical girls, both from Platinum City and Everfree City.

Trixie explains what’s going on and how they can help, and with all of them agreeing to Trixie’s plan, they all return to Manehattan for one final battle. Then, with all the magical girls pooling in their powers together, Marrow, Night Seam, Storm Rose, Palette, Mind Games, Cupid Symphony, Paradox, Iron Maiden, Graveyard Girl, Miss Monster, Daydream Shimmer, Midnight Sparkle, Daisy Quake, Mother Time, Panicity, Bloody Mary, Onida, Frost Lass and Trixie all create a rainbow similar to the elements of harmony that turn both Discord and Autumn Blaze into stone.

The world goes back to normal, and the magical girls go back into hiding, helping the world in secret and earning brownie points which they then use to power up their own respective parallel dimensions, Platinum City and Everfree City (which remains the same as how it was during the death game). Flash Sentry apologizes to Trixie, and the two of them win the magical showcase, beating out their one and only competitor, the Snips and Snails duo. (Petunia Paleo ends up rejecting Flash Sentry.) Finally, with the world at peace again, Trixie waits patiently for the day when she can once again reunite with the girl she loves, this time forever.

Thank you to everyone who supported me in writing this story. I’m sorry that this was the best I could do.

Prologue

“Little girl, why are you weeping?”

“H-huh?! Who are you?! S-stay back!”

“Calm yourself, child. I do not wish to harm you.”

“Who are you? W-w-what do you want with me?”

“My name is Divinity. Yours is Cozy Glow, is it not?”

“Yeah, b-but how did you know that? How did you get in here? How did you know where I live?”

“Little girl, won’t you tell me what’s the matter?”

“I’m… It’s none of your business! I’m just crying because I felt like it!”

“You mourn because you seek friendship, am I correct? All you’ve ever wanted was to make friends, to feel like you belong, but this world is cruel. Instead of greeting you with open arms, people shun you, torment you and drive you away, even though you’ve done nothing of malicious intent towards them.”

“...How did you…? Miss Divinity, how do you know all this stuff about me? You didn’t just come to bully me, did you?”

“No, Cozy Glow. I come bearing you something much more valuable than friendship.”

“You… You do? What is it? What's more valuable than friendship?”

“Power, Cozy Glow.”

“Power?”

“Exactly. I want to offer you my friendship and sisterhood, but at this time, I think it would be better if nobody found out about you.”

“What do you mean? Why don’t you want anyone to find out about me? I’m sorry, Miss Divinity, but I don’t understand just what you're trying to say.”

“You will understand in time, child. Are you interested?”

“Well, you’re kinda scaring me… But… you say this power thing is even better than friendship?”

“Correct. I would say that without power, the world would fall into chaos. Let me ask you another question, young Cozy Glow. Why exactly do you seek friendship?”

“Well… I guess because I just want people to like me.”

“And why do you want that?”

“Huh? So people won’t be mean to me, of course!”

“That’s what I thought. You see, with power, nobody will ever be mean to you again.”

“They won’t?”

“In fact, I would say that with power, you could have more than just basic friendship. You could make every single person in all of Equestria your friend. You could even become the empress of friendship if you so desired.”

“The empress of friendship...? Actually, that doesn’t sound so bad… But… If power is really that valuable, then why are you giving it to me?”

“A most dreadful event is about to take place, young Cozy Glow. I need to make sure that we will be prepared for the future if the worst comes to pass.”

“Miss Divinity? This is starting to sound less like a hypothetical and more like a prophecy if you ask me.”

“...I hope not, child…”

“So let me get this straight. You’re here because you can give me what I want so that I can be your backup plan in case something goes wrong?”

“Exactly.”

“W-what exactly would I be the backup for?”

“I wish I didn’t have to say.”

“Well, I’m not agreeing to anything without getting all the details! Besides, I still have no idea who you are or how you found me!”

“Simple enough. I found you with magic.”

“With… magic?”

“Indeed.”

“...Ooooookaaaaaaayyyyyy? Miss Divinity, this has been fun and all, buuuuut you should probably leave my house now.”

“Do you not believe me?”

“Oh, suuuuure I believe you! I just know of this really great psychological ward down the street that would just love to--why am I floating?”

“Do you still not believe me, young Cozy Glow?”

“Why am I floating? Miss Divinity, are you doing this? I’d like to be put back on the ground, please. I don’t know how you’re doing this, but I’d really appreciate you putting me down now!”

“Fine.”

“Thank y--Oof! Oooowwwww… You could have set me down slowly, you know.”

“I would hope that you would trust my word when I tell you that I can use magic now.”

“That was kind of impressive, but can you do anything else?”

“Anything else? Like what?”

“Liiiiiiike can you materialize a chocolate chocolate chip sundae in my hands?”

“...You must be joking…”

“Hey, I understand if you can’t do it, but that would mean--Holy guacamole! It actually worked! You can actually use real life magic!”

“Please do not doubt me again, child.”

“Alright. Point taken. Now will you please tell me what I’m supposed to be the backup for?”

“There is about to be a war between magical girls such as myself. I’m afraid that my sisters and I might not live to see the end of it.”

“Hang on! And you want me to be the backup in case you lose?!”

“This is why you will be kept a secret. Nobody will know that you are a magical girl other than the two of us.”

“And if you lose, what exactly do you want me to do?”

“Your job is not to fight. I want you to remember that very, very clearly.”

“Right. No fighting. If you die, I sure as heck wouldn’t do any better. Is that all, though? I feel like there should be more to the plan than this.”

“There is, young Cozy Glow. Your purpose actually has nothing to do with our war. You see, I won’t be the one bestowing your powers upon you.”

“Huh? Then who is?”

“Her name is Autumn Blaze, and she is the reason we need you more than anything. If we lose this war, I want to make sure that there is someone who will be there to keep her safe.”

“But… you just said you didn’t want me to fight!”

“And I sincerely hope it doesn’t come to that, but you must do everything within your power to prevent that fight from occurring. Please, let us count on you to keep Autumn Blaze safe, as our final plan, our last gambit.”

“Will I get all the same powers that you have?”

“Unfortunately no. I have a specific power that I would like to bestow upon you. If any girl were to have the same powers that I have, it could lead to total chaos, and chaos is something that I tried to get away from many years ago.”

“Awwww! Do I still have to wear the same funny outfit as you?”

“Heheh. No, you may dress however you’d like.”

“There it is! I knew you could smile!”

“...I… I am, aren't I? Thank you, child. It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced laughter, and I sincerely hope that this won’t be the last time, either. Come now, Cozy Glow. Let me show you to the world of magical girls where Autumn Blaze lives, a world we call... Everfree City.”

Chapter 1

One year. So much can change in such a short period of time, and when it does, it can make life completely different from how things were before...

It had been a little over a year since I moved to Canterlot, and in that time, I had seen magical events completely unlike anything that I had ever experienced as a magical girl. It all started when a girl named Twilight Sparkle came to town, bringing with her some magic from a parallel universe where apparently everyone is a talking horse… Yeah, kinda crazy to think about, but not as crazy as the fact that immediately after she arrived, our school bully turned into a she-demon, a group of sirens tried to feed off our positive energy, and a different Twilight Sparkle turned into another she-demon. Needless to say, things have been pretty crazy ever since she came to town, keeping me pretty distracted from doing any of my magical girl duties in my new home.

Speaking of which, Canterlot doesn't seem to have any magical girls of its own other than Photo Finish, also known as the magical girl Palette, but she doesn't count since she moved to Canterlot from Manehattan a little bit before I did. I've asked Discord if any exist besides the two of us, but he always deflects from the issue, which he does about basically anything I ever try to bring up. The thing that makes me the most mad, though, is that ever since I moved to Canterlot, Discord deactivated my teleport gem, making it impossible for me to even go back to Platinum City, the home for all the magical girls in Manehattan, not that I really had any incentive to go back there anyway.

Back home in Manehattan, life was miserable in every way possible. I had no friends, I was bullied in school, and even Platinum City was run by the three meanest girls in the world, or as Discord called them, “the fearsome threesome”: Fleur De Lis, Le Blanc and Lulu Lemon. The three of them had made it their own personal mission to make sure that I knew I was not welcome among their ranks, and if they ever got their way, they would probably take away my magical girl powers altogether.

The funny thing about that, though, was that I couldn't remember for the life of me how I ever became a magical girl in the first place. Actually, there were a lot of things that I felt like I was forgetting, but I could still feel some kind of strange feeling of nostalgia, even though I could never quite figure out where the feeling was coming from. The feeling first came when I moved to Canterlot, then again when I started thinking about magical girls within the city, then at oddly specific times such as when I thought about indestructibility, shapeshifting, luck, and especially whenever I thought about any kind of deities… but it also came whenever we studied specific frog species in science class, so I guessed that it was just my imagination acting up on me.

The main focus, though, was that life in Canterlot has been a total blessing, even if a couple crazy events nearly ended in my whole school being blown up. I've started a band which I humbly named “Trixie and the Illusions”, I perform magic tricks in school (which are met with mixed reviews), and most importantly, nobody treats me like I'm worthless here. In fact, it feels like everyone here is my friend! Even though I may still have some problems at home, I'm excited to come back to school every day. There's this strange focus on friendship at CHS, like it's somehow the basis of all magic, and even though the magic I use stems from chaos, they still share their friendship with me, a total outsider! Anyone can have a fresh start at CHS!

“Anyone, you say?”

“Waaah!”

I quickly closed my locker, looking around the hallway to see if anyone had seen the magical figure popping out of nowhere and appearing next to my trigonometry homework. Then, once I got a good look at my surroundings and saw that nobody was paying any attention to me, I breathed a long sigh of relief, followed by a look of anger as I squeaked my locker open.

“Discord! What did Trixie tell you about popping up while she's at school?!”

When I peeked back inside my locker, however, I saw that he had taken the letter T from the name on my homework and was sipping on it as if it were some kind of hot drink. “I'm sorry, Trixie,” he replied, tossing the letter back onto the page from where it came and leaving a wet stain around the edges. “Things are just so boooooring over at Crystal Prep right now. So what's this I hear about anyone being able to sign up for the CHS magic show? You know, I have been known to put on quite the show over the past few millennia.” Discord then materialized a magician’s hat and began juggling miniature bombs, causing me to trail my hands down my cheeks as I growled in frustration.

“I'm pretty sure the flyer for the magical showcase didn't mean creatures who could already use magic!”

Suddenly, I felt the gazes of dozens people passing by, and once I turned around, I saw that basically everyone walking to their next class was giving me a curious stare while I was yelling quietly into my locker. With a strong blush, I pressed my back to the locker door and chuckled awkwardly until everyone watching had shrugged their shoulders and hopefully completely forgotten about me. Then, with another sigh of relief and another look of anger, I opened my locker back up, ready to give Discord a piece of my mind, but once I looked inside, he was gone yet again.

“Wouldn't that mean you're disqualified too?”

“Waaah!”

Of course, as I should have predicted, he had just changed his location to my shoulder, barely being shielded by my long hair, making me stand very still to make sure nobody would notice. While gritting my teeth to cause as little movement of my head as possible, I whispered, “I think there's a slight difference between being able to transform into someone who can use magic and literally being a spirit of chaos! Now can you please go back to Crystal Prep and bug someone over there?”

“I would…” Discord then slithered over to my other shoulder, making me shudder as discreetly as I could, praying that nobody was watching as I stared into my locker while whispering to myself. “...but Fleur De Lis is giving a presentation, Le Blanc is talking with her career adviser and Lulu--well, you know Lulu Lemon. Not even I want to be near her during one of her rage fits.”

“Trixie doesn't care where you go! Can you please just leave her alone?!”

Then, as if to put a period on the discussion, I slammed my locker shut, but the moment I did, I saw a boy standing right where my locker door had hid my line of view, appearing like someone had just broken up with him. I flinched nervously, immediately looking down at my shoulder to find that Discord had already disappeared. I could thankfully avoid that awkward conversation, but I was still silently praying that he hadn't overheard me talking to apparently no one. The last thing I wanted was for another person at school to think I was a weirdo.

“Sorry, Trixie,” he said, looking down at his shoes and dipping one hand into his leather jacket while the other combed through his flashy blue hair. “I didn't mean to bother you.”

“What? Oh! No, Trixie wasn't telling you to leave her alone!”

Suddenly, an eyebrow went up on the boy’s face, making me gulp from the question I knew he was about to ask. “So... who were you talking to?”

Crap.

“Uhhhh, a boy from a different school. It was a phone call. He had the wrong number. ANYWAY! For what reason have you come to speak with the Grrreat and Powerful Trixie?”

“Well…” The boy then kicked an imaginary rock, shrugging his shoulders together bashfully in a way that would make any girl who didn't know him better fall for him immediately. “I was thinking… You know how there's that school magic show coming up?”

I couldn't help but smirk. “Ahhhh. So you've come to seek guidance from the most talented magician in all of Equestria? Fear not! When Trixie is done parting unto you all of her knowledge of magical arts, everyone will be astounded by just how much you--”

“Actually, I was kinda hoping we could do an act together.”

He was obviously trying to sound sincere, but again, I knew him better than that. Breaking character and putting my hands on my hips, I asked bluntly, “Alright, Flash. What's her name?”

“Come on, Trixie. Does there always have to be a girl involved? What if I legitimately just want to be part of your act? I mean, you are the most talented magician in school, after all.”

“Ugghhh…” I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head, knowing that despite how sincere he was trying to come off, I knew there had to be more involved than that. “Fine! Trixie will let you be part of her show, but you have to tell me who this girl is that you're trying to impress.”

Flash Sentry's face lit up. “Really? Thanks, Trixie! Her name is Petunia Paleo. I heard that she likes magic, so I thought if I invited her to see us perform, she'd finally start looking at me differently.”

“Wait! Isn't Petunia Paleo in middle school?”

With a shrug, he replied, “She's almost a high schooler. I mean, how old were you when you first fell in love?”

*CLICK!*

Out of nowhere, a throbbing pain seared through my head, causing me to fall to my knees with Flash trying to hold me up for support. There it was again! That feeling like there was some part of my memory trying to reconnect with a past event! Without fail, however, no matter how hard I tried to remember whatever my brain was trying to tell me, I was left with a painful cloudiness that kept me out of my own head.

As I rubbed my head in agony, the blue-haired boy helped me back up to my feet with a concerned look on his face. “You good, Trixie?”

“Yeah,” I groaned. “I'm fine. Just had a migraine is all. Anyway, Trixie has never been in love, so she can't relate to your tasteless girl chases.”

“Really? Have you never even had a crush on someone before?”

*CLICK!*

“AAUUGHHH!”

This time the pain was even more unbearable, leaving Flash Sentry by himself to hold me up before I inadvertently collapsed onto my knees. “Whoooaaaa whoa whoa whoa. Hang on. Let's get you to the nurse's office.”

The minute I was back on my legs, however, I pulled my arm out of his grip angrily, rubbing my temples to help soothe the aching sensation between my eyes. “Trixie said she's fine!”

“Fine? You just collapsed two times in thirty seconds! Do you really just expect me to let my partner walk to class, knowing that she’s in complete pain, just because she said she’s fine?”

With a serious look on my face, I looked him in the eyes and said plainly, “Yes.”

Flash, however, needed a minute to take in my reply before giving me an unapproving scoff. “Whatever, Trixie. All I’m doing is trying to help.”

“You can help Trixie at the magical showcase. I don’t need you for anything else.”

Again, Flash stood silent in disbelief for a few moments before shaking his head in aggravation. “Works for me,” he said, walking away with his hands in his jacket pockets. “I’ll just put my name next to yours on the signup sheet. I’ll see you later.”

Then, all the annoyance I was feeling suddenly disappeared, quickly being replaced with guilt and shame, but before I could rush over to apologize, someone appeared in my way. She was younger, probably even younger than Rarity’s sister, with fair pink skin and bright blue hair done up in frilly curls with a cute, light-colored bow that sealed the perfect image of an innocent little girl. She was the exact type of girl who I would normally walk around without giving another second of thought, but somehow, when I saw her, I saw myself back when I was a middle schooler in Manehattan. As much as I wanted to push past her in my urgency to apologize to Flash Sentry, however, I couldn’t help but think of how someone would have done that to me just a few years earlier.

“Golly!” she said in a youthful, high-pitched voice. “That didn’t sound very nice!”

“Trixie was just about to apologize. Sorry, could you excuse me for just a second?”

The moment I had squeezed myself past her shoulder, however, the young girl continued. “You don’t really think he’s going to forgive you just like that, do you?”

Freezing and turning back towards the girl with my eyebrow raised, I asked, “What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” She then shrugged, shaking her head like there was something I was too naive to see. “You can’t just apologize when he’s angry.”

“...I can’t?”

“Nope! You gotta give him some time to cool down first! If you walked over and apologized right now, do you think he’d actually forgive you?”

“That… was what Trixie was hoping for, yes.”

“After the way you just treated him? He’s too angry to think about forgiving you, even if it is the right thing to do! You need to let him calm down for a little while so he can think about all the good times you two have had together. You did just let him have a part in your show, after all, and it was all out of the goodness of your heart! Do you really think he’d see that if you tried asking him to forgive you while he’s all riled up like that?”

As much as I urgently wanted to take care of the issue as soon as I could, the little girl’s logic seemed to make perfect sense. I didn’t want him to be mad at me anymore, but I couldn’t deny that he would probably be more receptive to an apology after he had some time to collect himself. I didn’t know how angry he was, to be honest, but even if it was just a little bit, I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize our friendship.

“My name’s Cozy Glow, by the way!” she said, sticking out her hand energetically. “You’re the Great and Powerful Trixie, aren’t you?”

I flinched intrinsically. Even though I had promoted myself at school by that name, the only times I had ever heard it used were when I was in my magical girl form. Nobody had ever called me by my stage name at school, but then again, this little girl probably didn’t have anything to go off of other than that.

“I saw your name on the signup sheet,” she continued while I shook her hand. “Everyone at school says you’re in a shooin to win.”

“They do? I mean--Naturally!”

“It’s no wonder that boy wanted to be part of your act so bad! Actually, I had a question to ask you about that, but it’s kind of embarrassing…”

As the girl put her hands behind her back, innocently tracing a circle with her foot, I placed my hands to my hips with a newfound confidence. “Ask away. It’s been a while since the Great and Powerful Trixie has had a Q&A.”

“Then…” Suddenly, her bashful smile turned into a sinister smirk. “Can you use real magic?”

My heart stopped. My whole body froze. She couldn’t know, could she? There weren’t supposed to be any magical girls in Canterlot! How would she know?!

Once I looked back down at her face, though, I saw that her sinister smile was back to being an innocent grin, complete with large, pleading eyes that made me second guess what I saw just a moment ago. “N-no!” I replied hastily. “They’re all parlor tricks; look at this hand while I’m setting up with that hand. Nobody can use real mag--”

“I can.”

I instinctively took a step back, trying to repress an expression of fear while she once again grinned with malevolence. Part of me felt like I was overreacting, like she was talking about some different kind of magic completely unrelated to magical girls, but after the way this conversation had gone so far, I had no idea how else I was supposed to think. Could she actually be one of us? And if she was, how was I supposed to react to that?

“Th-then…” I stuttered. “Then you should enter into the talent show as well! The Great and Powerful Trixie can’t remember the last time she had an adequate rival.”

“Really? What about Divinity?”

*CLICK!*

“AUGH!”

Once again, the searing pain from before swarmed through my skull, giving me an almost unbearable headache as I fell to the floor. Unlike Flash Sentry, however, Cozy Glow didn’t rush to my aid. In fact, while I had collapsed onto my knees, the blue-haired girl stood above me with her hands on her hips, her smile having vanished from her face, replaced with a disapproving scowl.

“Not much fun remembering what you did now, does it?”

Remembering what I did?

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Great and Powerful Trixie. We both know the real reason why there are no magical girls in Canterlot.”

I was right! She really was a magical girl! But that still didn’t explain what she was saying or why she seemed so angry all of a sudden.

“What are you talking about? Why aren’t there any magical girls in Canterlot?”

“Oh, like you don’t know.” The pain was gradually beginning to dissipate, but my confusion was still as strong as ever. “By the way, I’ve got a message from Autumn Blaze for you.”

*CLICK!!!*

“AAAAAHHHH!!!!”

“STOP SCREAMING!”

Even with Cozy Glow yelling at me to stop, I couldn’t stop the sounds coming out of my throat. It felt like my brain was about to snap in half, like the more things she told me about, the more my mind would rip itself apart. Once I was finally able to calm my voice down into a little more than a whimper, however, I still couldn’t lift my head to to more than Cozy Glow’s feet, which began pacing around me.

“I’ve done my homework, you know,” she said, much more calmly than before. “I’ve been waiting for you and your friends from Platinum City to show up, but I never thought I’d find one of you attending my school.”

One of us? That meant she hadn’t found out about Palette yet! I had to keep my thoughts to myself, though, just in case this girl turned out to be just as bad as Lulu Lemon, which so far seemed to be more than just a probability.

“How do you know about the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Oh, that’s an easy one! Divinity told me about you… before you killed her, that is.”

I bit back on the pain as my mind clicked again, trying to get as much information out of her as I could before my mind stopped thinking clearly.

“Who’s Divinity? Trixie would never kill someone!”

Suddenly, Cozy Glow froze, and once I finally had the strength to look up to her face, I saw her staring back at me with an expression of total confusion. Once the initial shock was over, though, her eyebrows furrowed again in a look of pure anger.

“You’re not fooling me! You know what you did!”

“I don’t!! Trixie has no idea what you’re talking about!”

“YOU’RE LYING!”

*RIIIIIIING!*

Finally, the bell rang to start the next session of classes, and even though that meant the two of us were late, we both knew that our time was up here, at least if we wanted to save face. With one final glare in my direction, Cozy Glow said, “Saved by the bell, huh? Well let me tell you something, Great and Powerful Trixie. Autumn Blaze wants to talk to you, and she said that I could do whatever I want to convince you to see her.”

My head was still spinning. Divinity? Autumn Blaze? Were these magical girls? I’d never killed anyone before, so was there someone out there pretending to be me and killing people? Did that mean Canterlot had more magical girls than I thought? As I got back up to my feet, though, Cozy Glow’s previously aggravated demeanor had disappeared, replaced with the sweet, innocent smile she was wearing when I first ran into her.

“We’ll be expecting you in Everfree City tonight. See ya later, Great and Powerful Trixie!”

As the younger girl waved goodbye and merrily skipped to class, however, I fell forward onto a nearby locker, taking a few moments to soothe the discomfort that had made its way throughout the rest of my body. There was no way I’d be able to attend class like this. If I showed up late looking like I’d just been beaten up, it would mean that my mother would get a message sent home for sure, and I wanted to do every possible thing I could to avoid that. Besides, I had way too much to wrap my head around already to pay any attention in science class.

With just enough energy left to weakly push myself up straight again, I slowly made my way to the nurse’s office, dragging my feet as I tried to figure out how I was supposed to make any sense of this mess.

“Moooom! I’m home!”

Silence.

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Usually when I got home, I would be able to hear her getting ready for work or using the television, but almost never would I get home and hear nothing. Almost never…

With a slight shiver running down my spine, goosebumps beginning to form on my skin, I walked down the hallway to the kitchen, looking everywhere for signs that my mom was even home. “Hello?” I called. “Anyone home?” Nothing again, but as I got closer to the kitchen, I began to hear a very faint sound of someone’s fingertips tapping against the countertops. “Mom?”

Finally, I turned the corner and saw my mom slouched over, her hair dangling over her face like she was in the middle of sobbing, but I knew my mom better than that. In the seventeen years I had been alive, I had never once seen her cry. All I’d ever seen was pure rage, and this time was no exception.

“Sit. Down. Now.”

I did exactly as I was told, sitting down at the kitchen table while my hands shuddered in my lap. “Mom? Are you OK?”

“Am I OK?” She then began to giggle, causing me to gulp reflexively while my whole body began shaking internally. “Ohhhhh, Trixie. Where do I even begin with you?” She lifted herself upright, still with her hair dangling over her face. “I have given you nothing but a good life. I’ve given you food, shelter, and the clothes on your back, but this is how you repay me?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb, you stupid bitch!”

Before I even had time to react, a butcher’s knife soared right past my cheek, getting stuck in the wall behind me, leaving me to quiver with my eyes and mouth wide open. My whole body was trembling. I couldn’t breathe. The knife had missed me by no more than a few centimeters, and judging by how much my mom was shaking and heaving with anger, I could only assume that she didn’t mean to miss.

“You’ve had a lot of fuck ups in your life, Trixie, but assaulting a freshman girl? How fucking twisted do you have to be in order to even do something like that?!” Assaulting someone? Did this have something to do with Divinity again? “Here I am, trying to get ready for a long day of work ahead of me, and not even five minutes ago, I get a call from Principal Celestia. Apparently you decided to attack some girl named Cozy Glow? For what? Were you pissed off that she was prettier than you or something?”

Wait! Did Cozy Glow say that I attacked her?!

“Mom, you don’t understand!”

“THAT’S IT!” With all the adrenaline in her body surging at once, she walked away from the counter and marched in my direction. I intrinsically got up and backed away, but before I managed to even take three steps, her hand was around my neck, forcing me into the wall behind me and sending violent punches across my face. “You’re trying to tell me that I don’t understand that my own daughter is a monster? HOW DUMB DO YOU THINK I AM?!”

“Mom!” I cried, desperately trying to breath with her grip still firm around my neck, blood pouring out of my nose. “Mom! Stop! Ple-hee-heeease!”

“Oh, so now you suddenly don’t want to fight?!” She then let go of my neck, only to grab me by the hair, sending another punch into my mouth. “I bet you that girl Cozy Glow was saying the same thing!” Right hook. “I bet you she wasn’t crying like a little bitch like you are, though!” Uppercut. “All I’ve ever done is try to give you a good life, BUT YOU KEEP! FUCKING! UP!!!”

Punch to my ribs. Punch to my face. Elbow to the face. Punch. Punch. Punch! Finally, she let go of my hair, just to give me a knee to my gut as I fell forward. Blood was streaming from my nose and mouth, tears cascading down my cheeks, and all the while, I was in a battle between trying not to cry anymore and desperately heaving for air. After having the wind knocked out of me, though, all I could do was fall onto my knees with my arms wrapped around my stomach, trying to get that breath of air into my lungs so I could let out a loud wail. Before I even got that chance, though, as my eyes were squeezed shut to try and block out the rest of the world, she thrust her foot into my jaw as hard as she could, knocking me backwards, my head hitting the wall in the process.

“Get up! Get up right fucking now!”

“I can’t!”

“Oh, you wanna talk back to me, you little shit?” Leaning over to grab me by the neck once again, she lifted my whole body up against the wall, this time taking the knife out from where it had gotten stuck in her previous burst of rage. Then, once I opened my eyes, I saw a look full of anger from my mom as she angled the tip of the knife towards my chin, huffing furiously while her hand shook from the pure adrenaline. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just get rid of you. My life would be so much better. Maybe then I could start over with a new daughter, one who actually listens and behaves like a good little girl!”

When I looked down at the knife by my throat, I expected to feel terror, to look for any way I could to calm her down and try to get myself out of there, but instead, I felt nothing. I was in so much pain already that why did it matter if she hit me again? Would I really care if she left me a scar? What if she actually killed me like she was threatening? Even though I thought I would be scared, that I would be flailing for my life and begging for her to let me live, I didn’t feel anything.

I didn’t care if I died anymore.

“I’m going to give you to the count of three, and if I don’t hear an apology out of you in the next three seconds, I promise I’m going to actually kill you this time.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but I was too weak for the words to come out.

“One.”

I tried to push air out of my lungs, but I just didn’t have any left to give.

“Two.”

This was it. If I didn’t make something happen now, I was going to die. With one final push, I tried to get my mouth to make words… but I knew that I was hopeless. With my eyes shutting in despair, tears rolling down my face, I sadly hung my head and began to cry my heart out.

“Thr--”

*Riiiiiing!*

The two of us froze. My mom’s cellphone was going off, cutting my death sentence short for at least a couple more seconds, allowing me to get all the air I needed in the meantime. Dropping the knife, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, lifted an eyebrow and shot me the most fierce glare she could muster.

“Don’t move. Don’t talk. Don’t cry.” I nodded my head vigorously, and with a sigh, she answered her phone with an aggravated, “Who is this? ... Huh? ... No, I don’t want a vacation to Las Pegasus! ... I don’t care what kind of contest I won! I never signed up for--Who are you? … Joe? Joe who? … Oh, your motherf--Don’t ever call me again!”

With a pissed off sigh, she then clicked her phone off, but before she could even put it back into her pocket, I quickly said, “I’m sorry, mom. I love you.”

My mom froze, her fierce gaze softening slightly from the unexpected reply, and after a few moments of looking straight into my eyes with disapproval, she released my neck from her grip, allowing me to fall to my knees again, grabbing my throat and coughing out the built up saliva. I expected her to kick me once more for good measure, but instead, she took a seat at the kitchen table, burying her face into her hands as her hair drooped over once more.

“Go to your room, Trixie. I don’t want to hear one more word come out of your mouth the rest of the night. We’ll talk about this later, but you’re not off the hook just yet. You’ve put me under a lot of stress with that stunt you pulled today.”

I was about to apologize again, but quickly remembering what she said, I simply nodded my head, wobbled myself back up to my feet and limped my way to my bedroom upstairs, trying my best not to get any blood on the carpet. Once I got upstairs, I quietly shut the door, took off my bloody clothes and started looking for something I could use to wipe the blood off of my skin. Fortunately she hadn’t knocked out any of my teeth, but she still left me with a black eye, which would be a nightmare to get out with makeup.

“Ugh…” I moaned, looking into my bedroom mirror. “Just great. Right as soon as I convinced everybody that the last one was from a freak baseball accident.”

“To be fair, you could have come up with something better than that.”

“Wah!” I flinched wildly upon seeing the god of chaos laying down on my bed from my mirror, leading me to cover myself up with my arms as I turned towards him angrily. “Discord! Could you at least pop up when Trixie isn’t changing?”

“Oh, we both know how long it takes you women to get dressed nowadays.” Then, with the snap of his paw, the clothes I was wearing earlier reappeared on my body without a single trace of blood. Actually, looking back into the mirror, my black eye and messy hair were completely restored as well, leaving me looking like nothing happened at all. “Nooooow do I have permission to speak to you? I was the one who saved your life, after all.”

It took me a moment to understand what he was talking about before it suddenly clicked (in a way that wasn’t painful). “Wait! That was YOU calling my mom?!”

“Please, hold your applause!” Discord took a bow regardless, though, as bouquets of roses flung to his feet from my peripheral vision. My mind, however, was now stuck on a completely new thought.

“Actually, Trixie is glad you’re here! What can you tell me about Cozy Glow? Is she a magical girl?”

“Cozy Glow?” The draconequus put a claw to his chin, scratching his head with his tail. “Can’t say I’ve ever met her. Although, I just happen to be all-seeing. It wouldn’t be hard to learn a thing or two about her.”

That might come in handy, but right now I had other questions.

“What about Divinity or Autumn Blaze? Have you ever heard of them?”

Suddenly, Discord’s previous goofy expression dissolved into a face just like my mother had worn just moments earlier. I gulped and took a step back, but Discord continued to move in closer. “Who told you about them?”

“C-Cozy Glow did. Does that mean you can tell me about them? Cozy Glow told me to meet her in Everfree City tonight, but I have no idea where that--”

“You’re not going to Everfree City! Ever!”

Discord had now gotten so close that I fell back onto my rump in surprise, wincing unintentionally as I was hit with a sharp pain from my earlier encounter. “You know something, Discord! Tell Trixie what’s going on!”

“Is Cozy Glow in Everfree City right now?”

“Probably, but how will Trixie know unless you take her there?!”

I quickly slapped my hands to my mouth, more afraid that my loud voice might summon my mother’s wrath than anything the god of chaos could do to me. Discord, however, seemed unentertained, something that was actually an uncommon sight given the draconequus’s personality. As he careened his long neck down to make direct eye contact, he whispered sternly, “I want you to find out everything you can about Cozy Glow.”

“But… aren’t you the all-seeing one?”

Discord continued to scowl, but rather than continue the conversation any further, he lifted his head back up and said, “Do what I say, Trixie, or next time… I won’t be making any phone calls.” Then, with the snap of his fingers, he disintegrated into the air, leaving no trace that he was even there.

This whole situation was becoming even more confusing! Who was this Cozy Glow girl, and why didn’t Discord know anything about her? Who were Autumn Blaze and Divinity, and why was Discord so adamant about me not going to Everfree City? What even was Everfree City?

I pounded my fist onto my dresser in frustration, silently praying that I hadn’t made a noise loud enough for my mom to hear. “Dammit, Discord… What are you hiding?”

“Sshh! Sshh! That’s her!”

“Really? She actually came to school today?”

“Can you believe her?”

“I wonder if she still thinks she has friends at this school.”

As I walked through the front doors of Canterlot High, the aura of the school was different than normal. It was like everyone was looking at me, only it felt like they were all judging me for some reason. I held my books close to my chest, just like I had done when I was in middle school, walking to class as quickly as I could while overhearing almost a chorus of whispers.

“She did what?”

“I always knew she was strange.”

“Why did they even let her back here?”

“I wish someone would just get rid of her already.”

I was fighting back tears as I walked, hoping that everything they were saying was about some other girl, even though I could feel their gazes on my back. What could have possibly happened that made them all talk so cruelly? Did this have anything to do with what happened yesterday?

Finally, I made it to my classroom, but the moment I did, my jaw dropped as my books fell to the floor. I wasn’t able to hold my tears back any longer. Silently standing there, I began to cry as I looked down at my desk, which was now covered in hateful messages.

“Loser! Punk! The world would be better off without you! Kill yourself! No friends! Liar! Great and Powerful psycho! So weird! Jump off a cliff! Future school shooter! Lunatic! Ugly! Narcissist! Why don’t you just die already?!”

As I read the words over and over in my head, a small chuckle cracked behind me until the entire classroom had erupted into a roar of laughter. I immediately fell to my knees, bawling my eyes out into my palms while the laughter grew louder and louder, mocking me as I cried in painful agony.

“What a loser!”

“She got what she deserves!”

“Hey, everyone! Check out the Great and Powerful cry baby!”

My hands were now drenched in tears, but when I looked around, I saw that not only were they laughing at me, they were all pointing in my direction as if to prove that yes, they were laughing at me. I was the one who they wanted to feel bad. I was the brunt of their jokes. They wanted to make sure that I knew my place.

Out of the corner of my eye, though, I saw someone who wasn’t laughing. She was standing in the hallway with her arms folded, and she was staring right at me. She may not have been laughing, but the smirk she was wearing was even worse.

“...Cozy Glow?”

Her smirk, though, only grew wider, and as she walked off, I was left completely alone in my classroom while everyone I knew pointed and laughed at me. Then, for the first time in my life, I didn’t want to be the center of attention anymore… I just wanted to disappear forever.

Chapter 12

*Gasp!*

“Oh, my goodness…”

“Das ist nicht gut.”

“Oh, Trixie…”

They all found out immediately afterwards.

Discord let the other girls know the news about my mother’s death so that I wouldn’t have to be the one to say it, and of course, all the girls were extremely supportive. As Twilight rushed in to hug me, though, I knew at that moment that I had to put on a brave face for everyone. I couldn’t start crying now and weaken my resolve when the entire world was depending on us to win, especially when my mother died just so that I could live for another week.

“If there’s anything we can do for you,” Sunset began, “please remember that we’re all here to help.”

There was nothing any of them could do. My mother was dead, and there was no bringing her back… until I killed one of the magical girls who got me to go to Canterlot in the first place. If I understood correctly, by killing magical girls, I could bring someone back to life, although I would still need to ask Discord what the parameters for that were. I also couldn’t exactly let my team know that I was turning into a cold-blooded murderer, especially when none of them knew that I had already killed nine people before tonight.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie will be fine,” I said, trying to sound confident, but not too confident to the point where they wouldn’t believe me. “I just need a little time to myself. Do you girls think you’ll be OK if Palette takes over for a little while?”

The girls all gave me a supportive smile. “Of course!”

I would still be there, watching over them, but there was no way I would be focused enough to be able to give them feedback on the night my mother died.

“Alright, girls! Let’s go!”

Then, as Palette guided the other four girls back to their drills, I fell onto my haunches, burying my face into my knees and trying my best to cry out the rest of my sorrows away. Sadly, though, even though I knew that crying itself wouldn’t be enough to soothe the pain, my whole body was so numb that I couldn’t even force the tears out the one time I actually wanted to. I was basically just a walking corpse, like Marrow, unable to feel anything but anger, and it made me wonder whether or not the god of chaos himself knew whether or not this would end up happening when he sent me to Canterlot in the first place.

“Discord?”

“Yes, o Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Why did you send me back to Canterlot? You’ve never seemed to care about Trixie’s well-being before, after all.”

As I should have expected, however, Discord put his paw to his chest in offense, emphatically searching for words even though he probably knew exactly what he wanted to say. “Never cared about your well-being? Why, I’m appalled that you would even think that!”

“You knew what was going to happen, didn’t you?” Finally, the tears were starting to flow. “You knew I was going to kill my mom, didn’t you?! That’s why you sent Trixie back!!”

I couldn’t even wait for his answer before I broke down crying, grabbing onto my knees as the floodgates opened up. “Do you really think I don’t care about you, Trixie?” With water droplets still falling down my face, I wiped my nose and looked back at the god of chaos with a hesitant expression. “Trixie… I saved your life. Your mother was going to kill you. I went behind Marrow’s back and gave you a memory she told me to erase, just so you could continue to live.”

Then there was the whole issue about that memory.

‘Nice to meet ya, little girl! My name’s Dreamdrop! I’m a magical girl!’

“Who’s Dreamdrop? Why did I react so strongly to that memory? I was so ready to let my mom kill me, but as soon as I remembered her face… I just couldn’t let myself die.”

“Trust me. It’s better that you just forget about her again. Also, since you seem to distrust me so much, I can assure you that if I hadn’t sent you over there, those girls would have killed her themselves. Apparently no matter what you did, your mother was going to die tonight, and you shouldn’t blame yourself for what happened. Besides, you did manage to get a sneak peek as to what Cozy Glow’s magical girls could do, didn’t you?”

Suddenly, I remembered something very vital that Cozy Glow had said.

“Discord! Can Trixie still get phone service if she wanted to text someone in Everfree City?”

“Probably, but who in Everfree City do you plan on texting?”

“Last Gambit. Duh.”

He would continue asking questions forever unless I stopped him there, and in the next moment, I pulled out my phone and started writing a message to the leader of Everfree City. She made a promise with me, after all, and I intended to make sure she kept that promise.

“What are you typing?”

“Sshh!”

“...Did you just shush me?”

“Sshh!”

And send. Now I just needed to wait for a message back, which hopefully wouldn’t take too long, supposing she was true to her word. She had been honest in keeping up with her part of all of her deals so far, but at the same time, I couldn’t just assume that she would be true to her word one hundred percent of the time, especially considering what was on the line.

In the next second, though, everything went black--not on my phone, but my entire vision! I immediately began to panic, falling backwards slightly as I flailed my arms around the object that had covered my eyes out of nowhere.

“Guess who!”

Oh. Someone was just covering my eyes? I knew that the voice belonged to someone I knew, but who would be able to sneak up on me like that without being noticed by a single--Oh.

“Paradox?”

Suddenly, the hands that were covering my eyes disappeared completely, and turning myself around, I finally saw a girl in a purple dress with matching goggles, grinning at me with a smug face. The very first friend that I had made in Platinum City was now standing behind me, putting her hands to her hips with a confidence that rivalled even my own. “Who else?” she said, falling onto her butt by my side. “So, Discord told us all about what happened.”

I then glared up at Discord, but he quickly turned his head away, putting his hands behind his back while whistling innocently. Stupid bastard.

“And Marrow told us about you doing some kind of mission in Canterlot. I’d love to help you out, but you know how she gets.”

“Yeah… Trixie understands, but she’s got it covered anyway.”

“I noticed! Who are the newbies?”

Just as I was about to answer her, however, I could see something bright headed straight towards our heads.

“WATCH OUT!”

Just as I was about to use my magic to deflect a ball of flames away from its collision course, however, a large, black monster with a huge torso and jagged black horns atop its head jumped in between us, taking the brunt of the damage with a harrowing roar. Then, looking up to the sky, we saw a girl in a pink dress with long, fiery wings and a matching golden horn in the center of her forehead, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment.

“Sorry about that!” she called out.

“You’re fine! Keep practicing!” I then turned back towards Paradox, pointing to the magical girl in the air and saying, “That over there is Sunset Shimmer, or as she’s known now, Daydream Shimmer.”

“Sounds like she took your advice on not doing the whole ‘secret identity’ thing. What kind of power does she have?”

“The power of the sun. She can defy gravity, use heat rays, shoot fire out of her fingertips, things like that.”

Paradox laughed in amazement. “Sounds pretty dang powerful!”

Then, in the next moment, another girl started running towards us, breathing heavily until she bent over with her hands on her knees, sweat dripping down her whole body. Of course, Upper Crust still wasn’t used to doing a whole lot of physical activity, passing even PE class with a C minus, but that was all going to need to change if she hoped to keep up with the other magical girls. She was wearing a deep, black dress similar to what all of her best friends wore, along with yellow sleeves and a long slit up the back of her dress to reveal her bare skin from her waist to her shoulders.

“Excellent job,” she said, approaching the black creature in front of us and rubbing underneath its chin once she could finally breathe again. “Momma’s so proud of you.”

“Thanks for saving us, Miss Monster,” I said. “Although Trixie still could have protected us without your help.”

The magical girl in front of us rolled her eyes before turning back to her creature. “Come, Beasty. We have more training to do.”

“Raaaahhh!”

As the two of them went back to the battlefield where the other girls were training, Paradox leaned over to me and asked, “So that girl’s name is Miss Monster?”

“Her name back home is Upper Crust, but yes. She’s actually best friends with Marrow, Night Seam and Graveyard Girl, yet I happened to be the one to turn her into a magical girl.”

“And I’m guessing her power has something to do with that black demon thing?”

“Did you notice that hole in the back of her dress? She can summon a monster from her spine and use it to fight for her. It’s already pretty powerful as is, but if anything were to happen to it, she could just summon another one in its place, supposing she’s not too weak from summoning the first one.”

“I can imagine forcing something like that out of your body would take a lot out of you. That’s why I’ve never had kids! That and because I’ll probably be single forever… I don’t know why I brought that up. What about those other two girls?”

Paradox then pointed towards a girl in a blue dress, matching knee-high boots, dark blue gloves and a black cape. Right as soon as she asked, the girl slammed her hands onto the ground, creating a ripple we could feel from where we were sitting, although where she was standing, the earth was beginning to split in two, trailing straight towards another magical girl. Just as soon as the rupturing ground reached the other girl’s feet, however, she slammed her own hands to the ground, causing the ripples to come to a complete halt.

“The girl in the cape,” I began, “is Juniper Montage, or as we call her, Daisy Quake. She can force seismic waves onto anything, from the ground to buildings to people.”

Paradox jerked her shoulder back with a shudder. “Yikes! I’d hate to be the person who feels that. What about that other girl?”

“Our last magical girl is named Midnight Sparkle.” I then pointed to the girl with dark purple skin and an outfit that appeared like a darker version of Daydream Shimmer’s, along with fiery blue rings around her eyes that resembled glasses. “She has the power to absorb any magic that people use against her...”

Then, Midnight Sparkle suddenly kicked at the ground, creating a tremor so strong that it knocked Daisy Quake onto her back.

“...and turn it against them.”

“She seems kinda scary, don’tcha think?”

“She was, at least when I first saw her back at the friendship games. It’s a long story, but she actually had magical powers of her own once before. This is what she looked like the first time she used magic, and she nearly created a rift between two parallel universes that almost destroyed them both.”

“Whoa. Seriously? Why would she choose to look like that again if the first time ended so badly?”

I had asked myself the same question when I first saw what she chose to look like, but the answer she gave was perfectly reasonable.

“She said that she wanted to forgive her past self,” I explained, “to overcome the things she did that were continuing to haunt her, and she felt like this was the best way to make that happen. She wanted to make Midnight Sparkle a force for good, not a weapon of destruction that only appeared in her nightmares.”

As I explained Twilight’s backstory, I could hear Daisy Quake complaining about how rough she was being, to which Midnight Sparkle responded with a round of apologies. It was actually kind of funny, to be honest. As I watched the girls all practicing against each other with Palette at the forefront, painting objects and creatures that came to life with the stroke of her brush, I gradually began to forget about the upcoming game and the death of my mother. That feeling of relief, though, was about to end.

*Bzzt!*

“Looks like you got a message,” Paradox said, pointing towards my phone. “Who’s trying to get ahold of you at this time of night?”

I then picked up my magical phone and saw a message from the person I had been so anxious to hear back from. Without taking a moment to explain, I opened up the message she sent, updated my phone and quickly scrolled through my apps until I found what I had been looking for: a complete, detailed list of all of the magical girls competing in the upcoming game. As soon as I opened up the application, there were two options which read “Team Great and Powerful Trixie” and “Team Last Gambit” respectively, and I didn’t waste a moment opening up the data on my opponent’s team.

Once I did, though, my eyebrows began to furrow as Paradox leaned over my shoulder in curiosity. “Are these her magical girls?”

“Yeah…”

Finally, I had exactly what I wanted. I was going to find out exactly which one of them was there when my mother was killed, and I was going to kill her with my bare hands.

Mother Time

Power: Ability to turn back time

Of course, the first girl had an ability so powerful that I couldn’t even begin to come up with a proper strategy to use against it. Fortunately, though, the list also included images of the girls who could use these powers. She wore a plain white dress with a clock in the center of her chest, along with black and white striped socks, white, elbow-length gloves and a black tophat on top of her beautiful black hair. This wasn’t either of the girls who I had seen outside my window earlier that night, and even if she was there, I couldn’t see how she could have used her powers to have influenced the outcome of what happened in any meaningful way. Next up was…

Frost Lass

Power: Ice/snow manipulation

The image of this one was a little disconcerting. Even though she wore a beautiful bright blue dress with long, white sleeves that dangled off of her wrists, she also wore a white hood that covered the top half of her face with holes cut out in the eyes like a ghost. Her ability was a little bit vague, but I was guessing that the description just meant that she could create ice and snow from thin air and use it however she wanted. We would have to keep an eye on this one at all times.

Bloody Mary

Power: Disease inducement

Her image would have been beautiful if it wasn’t so graphic. She had snow white skin and a black dress, but her hair was disheveled with both her skin and dress covered with blotches of blood. What was “disease inducement”, though? She could make us sick? Did she have to touch us for it to take effect, or could she use it just by looking at us? How bad could the sicknesses get? Surely instantaneous death was against the rules, but now that I thought about it, Last Gambit would go to lengths like those to make sure that she won.

Onida

Power: Ability to play tag

I blinked in confusion.

“The hell?!”

“What do you think it means?” Paradox asked, seemingly just as confused as I was.

I couldn’t wrap my head around it, but suddenly, I noticed one key detail that may have at least cast some light on one question I wanted answered. Upon giving her a closer look, I noticed that she was wearing green roller skates on her feet, which meant that her power must have had something to do with why I wasn’t able to catch up with that magical girl I had been chasing earlier that night. The rest of her outfit was pretty plain, a yellow dress with fingerless red gloves and deep, pink hair. I was about to put her on the top of my list for girls I would try to kill first, but then I got to the last name on the list…

Panicity

Power: Anxiety inducement

Her dress was a deep red, her hair a long purple with streaks of black and white. She also wore black high heels and a hairpin of a face closing one eye and sticking its tongue out, creating a disturbing image that was uncomfortable to look at.

The good news, though, was this was her, the girl I had been chasing after in Canterlot, the one who had been right outside my window when my mother attacked me. Suddenly, the gears were beginning to turn in my head. I had seen my mother angry and upset before, but tonight she kept telling me how stressed she was, how she couldn’t do this anymore, a mental breaking point unlike any stress she had ever dealt with my whole life. Now my teeth were grinding together, my mouth seething with rage. It was her. This whole thing was her fault!

“Uhh… G and PT? You alright?”

“She’s the one.”

“...The one what?”

“The one behind my mother’s death.”

“Whoa… Holy crap…”

Paradox had probably never seen me that mad before, but to be fair, I had probably never been that angry my entire life, at least in regards to the memories we had that hadn’t been erased. I wasn’t going to hide my anger this time, though. She was going to be my first target once the game began, and if I ever found her in real life, I would kill her for real.

“What about that last girl?” Paradox asked, taking my attention away from the stress momentarily. “You know, the leader of the team you’re up against.”

She was right! I still didn’t know what Last Gambit could do!

I then went back to the app and scrolled through until I found Last Gambit’s information, observing it as closely as I could. What I saw, though, made my heart twinge in fear.

Last Gambit

Power: Ability to take away another magical girl’s power forever

So that was why she was their last gambit. She didn’t need to kill her competition; she just needed to take away their powers, permanently. Even if she killed us and we were somehow brought back to life, we wouldn’t have our powers anymore. I just had to check one thing to make sure, though.

“Discord!”

“Yeeeesss?” he said, slithering to my shoulder opposite of Paradox, making both of us shiver in discomfort.

“If this Last Gambit girl takes away our powers, could you just give us new ones?”

The draconequus then put his tail to his chin, rubbing it pensively while he mulled over the question. “It’s hard to say, really. It’s possible that I could, but there are so many variables that I couldn’t tell you for sure. Perhaps her magic puts a block on your body, thus creating a sort of exoskeleton that rejects magic from being able to enter your body, or rather, preventing magic from entering your body the good way. Gahaha! Get it? It’s a murder joke! I’m so funny!”

Basically, there was no way to know for sure, and we definitely didn’t want to find out the hard way.

“You got any plans?” Paradox asked, to which I shook my head. All of Last Gambit’s magical girls must have had individual strengths and weaknesses, but I couldn’t think of a single way to combat them with the team that we had. Maybe Daydream Shimmer would be a good counterpick to Frost Lass, but other than that, I didn’t know what our strategy would be when we finally confronted them. To make matters even worse, though, Last Gambit had probably already come up with a strategy against all of our magical girls. It was just a hunch, but I had quickly come to find that when a magical girl had a hunch, it was never just a hunch.

“Girls!” I shouted, making everyone out on the battlefield turn their attention towards me. “Everyone gather round! Trixie has news.”

The other girls then stopped what they were doing immediately and came over to form a semicircle around Paradox and me.

“What’s the news?” asked Daisy Quake.

“Yes,” Miss Monster agreed. “Have you received any updates regarding the girls who were at your home this evening?”

“Even better,” I replied with a smile. “We now have a list of all the magical girls on the other team as well as what powers they can use. I want everyone here to help come up with a good strategy to fight every single one of them, and that includes you two as well.”

Discord and Paradox quickly pointed a finger to themselves in confusion.

“Did you mean me or her?”

“Did you mean me or him?”

Yes, they were both idiots, but it was their kind of out of the box thinking that would prove to be fatal against Last Gambit. She may have figured out a science to how I thought, but she had never met Paradox before, and there was no way anyone would ever be able to figure out what was going on inside Discord’s head. (Night Seam tried on multiple occasions, and she failed every single time.)

With the team that I had assembled, though, and with all of our minds coming together to think as one, we had a serious chance to put up a good fight against Last Gambit’s team. Equestria was counting on the eight of us coming up with the perfect strategy, after all, and we couldn’t let everyone down, no matter what.

Getting revenge for my mother’s death, though, would definitely be the cherry on top.

Author's Note

Tenth day of Trixmas

GAME TIME!

Try and pair up each of Last Gambit's magical girls with who you think their true identity is!