The Last Mage

The Last Mage

Chapter 7: Istar vs. Trixie Part 2

Istar stepped around the Town Hall and there, on the other side was, sure enough,  the the fold out stage that belonged to Trixie. And of course she was standing on stage, boasting and weaving tall tales, and not actually doing any magic beyond simple parlor tricks. When he got to the crowd the girls were already there. Twilight saw him and waved him over.

“There's nothing wrong with being talented, is there?” asked Twilight when he got to them.

“Nothin' at all, 'cept in when someone goes around showin' it off like a school filly with fancy new ribbons.” said AJ.

“Just because one has the ability to perform lots of magic does not make one better than the rest of us.” declared Rarity.

“Especially when ya got me around being better than the rest of us.” said Rainbow, laughing until Applejack gave her a wither look. “Eh, I mean, yeah, uh, magic shmagic. Boo!”

“Well, well, well, it seems we have some neighsayers in the audience. Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they're in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?” At this point, Istar decided to try and avoid anymore trouble, and end this all now.

“I will face you.” Istar said.

“Who, and what, are you to challenge the Great and Powerful Trixie?” declared the narcissistic showmare.

“I am Istar Stormcrow, last of the Wizards, and I am of the race of humans.” stated Istar, in a voice that none of them had heard before. It was solid, powerful, and sounded ancient.

“Very well, I shall accept your challenge. How shall we go about this?” asked Trixie.

“I propose a three-step contest. First, a contest of illusion. Second, a test of levitation. Last, a test of raw power. My magic against yours head on.” said Istar.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie accepts these terms.” stated the third-person-speaking mare.

“Then let us prepare.” he replied.

POV Change. Istar Narrative.

“What are you doing Istar!? They'll think that you're showing off just like Trixie!” Twilight furiously whispered to me after we had arrived back at the library.

“Twi, there is a difference between flaunting your skills and proving you have them. Trixie lords her abilities over others, I intend to stop that. One must know the difference between boasting and taking pride in what you can do.” I told her, and as I looked I saw her eyes shrink down, then get larger than before, then a spark appeared in them for a moment. Just like when she figured out how the Elements of Harmony really work.

“Istar, I think I understand now. Go beat Trixie and then we can write a friendship report to the Princess together.” she said, now smiling and having a strangely determined look to her. I will never understand the thought process she went through to resolve that so quickly.

“Of course.” I told her. We had arrived at a cafe, having decided to stop for lunch. After about an hour of enjoying our food, and each others company, I spoke up.

“Now, I think that Trixie should be ready by now, so let's get going. Hope you enjoy the show Twi.” I told her with a grin. She blushed. Wait, is she starting to like me? As in like me like me? Well... this is now awkward... or I'm just imagining things.

We arrived back at the stage, Trixie was not there yet, but the crowd had reformed after the hour-long wait. I climbed onstage and Twilight went to join the rest of the girls, once again at the front of the crowd. The girls all waved to me and I nodded to them. There was a puff of smoke and as it cleared Trixie stood there.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie will now awe you with her magic as she defeats this human.” she declared, still using the third person.

“Let us begin. You may cast your illusion first.” I told her. She sniffed before levitating her hat off, revealing her horn. It began to glow brightly, then there was a flash and a pop and there stood... the most pathetic depiction of an Ursa that I'd ever seen. It looked like the fireworks she had used earlier, but more crudely done. A few applause were heard, and Snips and Snails were losing it at the sight of this 'great magic'.

“My turn.” I said as I pulled out my Light Pipe. The girls smiled, knowing after last night's story what I could do with it. I placed the stem between my lips, inhaled through my nose, and blew into the pipe. Out came a cascade of colors that flowed for a moment before settling into three shapes. They seemed to be statues of winged women with flowing robes, covering their faces with their hands. The girls and the Mayor gasped, seeing as I had described the Weeping Angels in the stories I had told both of them. I grinned at Trixie.

“Don't blink.” I told her. And can you guess what she did? She blinked. The Angels were surrounding her, now reaching for her with hideous toothed maws open. She screamed.

“Weeping Angels,” I said. “Are almost as old as time itself. They have developed the perfect defense mechanism: a quantum lock, while you look at them, they're nothing more than statues. But the moment you look away, they will move faster than you can imagine. They can either break your neck, or take you back in time and feed off of your potential. They can feed off of any type of energy. And you can't kill them.” I finished my lesson, and waved the hand that held the Light Pipe in it through the Angels, dispelling the illusion.

“Onto levitation!” I said.

Trixie had recovered from the Angel scare and was now looking as dignified as she could. Which is to say she was blushing furiously and looked pissed off.

“Trixie will not lose this one!” she half yelled. With that her horn began to glow again and so did the crowd. Soon everypony that had come for the show was floating in the air, surrounded by Trixie's magical aura. They began to fly about and started screaming.

“That is enough Trixie, you are frightening them.” I said. She ignored me. And nopony will cause problems for Ponyville if I have a say in the matter. I made a pushing down motion with my hand, and just like that the aura was gone, and everypony dropped safely to the ground, free of Trixie's magic. They glared at her. “Now I'll go.”

I held my left hand as though I had something resting on it, and began to bring it upward. A phantom wind began to whip against my hair and cloak. Then they saw it. A tree from the Everfree Forest, levitating, with no magical aura about it, across the town. I held it above us for a moment before turning my hand, palm facing outward, and made a pushing motion. The tree was launched back to the Everfree. Everypony there stamped their hooves in applause.

“Onto the last challenge.” I said. Trixie just nodded, looking defeated, before she seemed to realize something and gave me a determined glare. She took her place at the far left side of her stage, and I at the right. “Pinkie, my staff?” I asked, having left said staff with her before the contest began.

“Okie dokie lokie!” she said, throwing my staff to me from apparently nowhere.

“Thank you Pinkie.” I told her, as I turned to face Trixie. “Begin when you are ready.” I told her as I raised my staff a bit. She said nothing, but her horn began to glow, and the a bolt of what looked like lightning shot out of it in a stream. I raised my staff the rest of the way and a white light began to shine through the gaps in the head. Trixie's beam seemed to hit an invisible wall, as the phantom wind returned, with greater force, giving me the appearance of standing in the middle of a windstorm. She was visibly struggling. I shifted my staff and her beam of magic began to be forced back toward her. Withing moments it was at her horn, and when it touched there was a flash and Trixie flew backwards. The crowd applauded, then began to disperse, the winner clear. My friends rushed up to me and began to congratulate me on winning. But I heard something over their compliments. I turned and saw Trixie, hunched over and... crying.

I walked over and sat down next to her. She wasn't just crying, she was sobbing. I placed a hand on her back and she tensed up.

“Why are you crying little one?” I asked her in a gentle tone. She turned to look at me with her tear stained face. She saw that I was actually concerned, then buried her face in my chest and resumed sobbing, but this time she started to choke out her story.

“T-Trixie's parent's never thought that she was g-good enough. T-they always told her she was worthless and that... that they were ashamed to have Trixie as their daughter!” she began to sob harder. “Trixie tried to make them love her, by being better than the others but they never did! And nopony wanted to be around Trixie when she was acting like that.” she sniffled and continued. “Trixie never had any friends, she thought that they didn't want to be around a nopony like her. A useless pony with no talent. Trixie thought that if she told lies, that if she could impress them they would like her. It-it didn't work. Trixie is still alone, still useless, just like her parents said.” she finished.

“Trixie Lulamoon!” I said, the shock of hearing me use her full name stopping her crying for now. “You are by no means worthless. You are talented, and if you would simply stop humiliating others and telling tall tales then you can have friends. And I'll tell you what, you can start with me. I'll be your friend, if you want me to be.” I told her in a gentler voice. Her eyes widened and she simply nodded before once again bursting into tears and hugging me around my neck. I simply held her there for a few minutes before her crying stopped. I looked and saw that she had fallen asleep, understandable with how much magic she had used combined with a breakdown.

I turned to Twilight and asked a silent question. She seemed to understand as she nodded with a small smile. The other girls shared that smile. Except Pinkie who had her usual manic grin. She opened her mouth to begin ranting but I cut her off.

“Wait until tomorrow for the party Pinkie.” she nodded. We began to head back to the library, Luna's moon beginning to rise in the distance. Huh, that day really flew by. Didn't seem like that much time had passed. I took the sleeping Trixie up to my room in Twilight's library then  tucked her in. I smiled as I looked at her before turning and heading back down, taking my place on the couch. Twilight was just having Spike send a friendship report to Celestia. I yawned.

“Goodnight Twilight. Spike, you too.” I said.

“Goodnight Istar.” said Twilight, heading up to her room.

“Night man.” said Spike, following Twilight up.

Things turned out better than I though today. I thought to myself as I drifted off to sleep.