A Tale of Sparkles and Black Magic

Ponyville was eerily silent and sparsely-crowded when Black Magician Girl, Spike, Starlight, and Twilight left the castle. The time for the magic duel was fast approaching and, judging from the lack of life throughout the town, everyone had left to see it unfold. Sure enough, the sounds of chatter reached their ears the closer they got to Town Square until they caught sight of the large throngs of ponies gathered, talking excitedly to each other and pointing to a very large stage that had been set up in the center of the Square. A stage upon which Trixie stood with a large, box-like object and a table next to her. She was very visibly enjoying the attention of the crowd, drinking it in like freshwater from an oasis.

“She’s come a long way since her first time in town,” Twilight remarked.

“Definitely,” Spike said. “Amazing what a few years’ difference can make.”

“And good friends,” Starlight added.

“What’s that stuff she has?” Black Magician Girl asked.

“Stuff for her act,” Twilight answered.

“Act?”

“Her magical expertise is focused more on putting on a good show rather than utility or offense. We did fight once before, but she had the help of an artifact to make her more powerful. From the look of things here, she’s somehow planning on incorporating her stage props into her battle strategy.”

“Wonder what that’ll be like?” Starlight said.

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

They entered Town Square, immediately attracting the attention of the crowd. Black Magician Girl was surprised to see a number of banners featuring a stylized drawing of her waving above the ponies’ heads alongside many featuring Trixie. Crowds of adoring fans were nothing new to her, but to amass so many in a new world so quickly? She hadn’t even done anything noteworthy here yet. But it wouldn’t do to not put on a good show for any fans in any world.

The crowd parted with applause, allowing Black Magician Girl to make her way through to the stage while Twilight, Spike, and Starlight took places among everyone. Trixie cast a continuous challenging gaze her way as she climbed onto the stage and took her place across from the magician mare. A string of colorful scarves, as well as some type of playing cards different from those of Duel Monsters with black and red patterns against white backgrounds, floated off of the table in front of Trixie in her magic. The box next to her had question marks running along the front, nearly identical to Magic Death Boxes from back home. In theory, Trixie had the advantage because she’d seen most of her spells whereas Black Magician Girl hadn’t seen anything from her. But only in theory. In reality, victory had already been determined.

The crowds continued to cheer wildly until a gray-maned mare with a beige coat stepped onto the stage and raised her hoof, quieting the crowd.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, thank you all are coming! It is my honor to welcome Black Magician Girl to our fair town of Ponyville! May the rest of her stay be a splendid one!”

There was another round of cheers before she continued.

“Now, onto the duel! Here are the rules: No spells that will severely injure your opponent physically or mentally; no spells that extend beyond the edge of this stage; defeat comes when one yields to their opponent. Do the combatants agree to these conditions?”

Both Trixie and Black Magician Girl nodded.

“Then on my count, let the magic duel commence.” She began counting down while making her way off the stage. The crowd stared in rapt silence, excited anticipation clear in their faces. “3… 2… 1… Begin!”

The first thing Black Magician Girl did was summon her Magic Cylinders, placing them directly in front of her to protect against any projectiles Trixie shot her way. That’s what she expected Trixie to try off the bat, but her expectations were immediately subverted when Trixie levitated the cards over instead. The thought that they might be explosive crossed her mind only briefly as she trusted Trixie wouldn’t break the rules of the duel. But then what could they be?

“Pick a card,” Trixie said, no small amount of confidence in her tone. “Any card.”

The cards spread out before her. Confusion took root in Black Magician Girl’s mind. This wasn’t how she expected the duel to begin, but she decided to play along. The various patterns meant nothing to her, so she just picked one with cute little hearts. She showed it to Trixie.

“Psyche! Fifty-two pickup!”

The cards exploded all over the stage, startling Black Magician Girl. But her fright subsided quickly when she realized they weren’t doing anything besides floating harmlessly down to the ground. Black Magician glanced down at them, confused, before looking back up to Trixie, but the mare was already inside the Magic Death Box along with the line of scarves.

“Prepare for a grand performance the likes of which Equestria has never seen!” Trixie called out to the crowd.

The box closed. It then proceeded, despite Trixie's size being enough to fill up two-thirds, to detach into three identical parts before floating into place, forming a straight line. Black Magician Girl decided to take initiative and fire a subdued Black Burning at the center box. But before the projectile hit, all three boxes disappeared in a flash of light. Teleportation. Which meant Trixie could come from anywhere. Of course, assuming it worked the same here as back home, teleportation had a vital weakness.

She relocated herself to a different part of the stage and primed her Magic Cylinders, anticipating an attack at the spot she was just at. But instead of that happening, she felt something blast her back, knocking her down to the stage and kicking up some cards. Groaning, she looked up to see one of the boxes with the door open, Trixie’s disembodied head grinning at her with her horn glowing. Black Magician Girl pointed her staff at her, only for something to hold her back. Looking back showed that the second box had appeared behind her and shot out the scarves, wrapping around her wrist and pulling her back.

“Clever, is Trixie not?” Trixie said haughtily.

Black Magician Girl smiled. “Not enough.” She twisted her wrist so that her staff pointed towards the scarf box. “Black Burning!” Her magic exploded the scarf box, showering the stage with wooden splinters and tattered cloth to a chorus of ‘oohs’ and ahs’ from the crowd.

Black Magician Girl giggled a little at the shock and frustration in Trixie’s eyes.

“A good magician keeps multiple tricks up their sleeve!” Trixie cried.

Her box disappeared in another teleport. Black Magician Girl swiveled her head around, hoping to catch Trixie when she came out of her teleport. She walked around a little, darting her eyes back and forth. The crowd was practically on the edge of their metaphorical seats with anticipation.

That anticipation turned to surprise in a second’s time. Black Magician Girl felt her backside getting blasted again, knocking her onto the floor and kicking up some more cards. A groan escaped her and she hoisted herself to her feet, taking care to keep her butt pointed away from the audience. Trixie smirked down at her from her box for a moment before teleporting away again.

Something wasn’t right. Somehow, Trixie was able to tell where she was standing coming out of each teleport. No doubt magic was involved, but the exact nature was impossible to decipher without a greater understanding of how magic in this world worked. But there was one thing she could reliably rely on: the audience.

She stood right where she was, turning her attention to the ponies in the crowd. She focused on their faces, specifically, the movement of their giant, expressive eyes. Seconds passed. Tension mounted, creeping through her like an army of scarabs. Even the slightest movement would draw her attention.

But nothing happened.

Confused, she walked around a little more, wondering if her positioning had something to do with the tracking magic being used. Then all of the ponies’ eyes darted to a point to her left. In a split second, she repositioned her Magic Cylinders to absorb the oncoming blast. The magic went in one cylinder and quickly exited the other, sent careening towards a panic-stricken Trixie head in the box. Her horn lit and she teleported out of the way just in time.

Now she had a way to counter Trixie’s tricks. Over and over, Trixie tried to sneak attack her only to continually fail as Black Magician Girl continued to use the audience’s reactions to counter effectively. Trixie grew increasingly frustrated with each successive failed attack, becoming sloppier and more frantic in her actions. All the while, Black Magician Girl continued to ponder how exactly the tracking magic worked. That part where Trixie took a bit longer to attack than usual had to be a clue.

“How are you predicting Trixie’s teleports!?” Trixie wailed after a dozen or so failed attacks.

“How are you predicting my own movements?” Black Magician Girl countered. “Wanna trade secrets?”

The face that Trixie made in response was picture-worthy, a mixture of frustration, shock, disbelief, and anger, distorted as if by the work of an abstract painter. She couldn’t help but giggle at how funny it looked.

“Trixie will win regardless!”

Black Magician Girl shot a light Black Burning at her, only for Trixie to quickly disappear in another teleport. She kicked the stage in frustration, sending a bunch of cards scattering around. Teleport abuse was probably the cheapest tactic any magician could employ, but at least the audience wasn’t growing bored. Yet. She stood on edge, watching the audience’s reaction again. The seconds passed in tense silence. No one’s eyes shifted direction. More seconds passed. A full minute. Two minutes. Now the audience was starting to get confused, but it was clear to her that the secret to Trixie’s tracking magic was exposed; she just needed to find it.

It was a gamble to take her eyes off the audience, but she took it, glancing all around the stage for anything out of the ordinary. Even with alien magic, some kind of sparkly stuff or flashing lights or anything of the sort should be visible, especially since she could see magic on the ponies’ horns whenever they used it. But there wasn’t anything like that which she could see. Trixie still wasn’t coming out of her teleport, so whatever she wasn’t seeing was still in effect.

Then her eyes glanced downward. For a second, she didn’t think much of the cards still scattered everywhere, but then one particular detail caught her attention; her feet weren’t touching any. An idea sparked in her brain and she touched a nearby card with the end of her staff, switching her gaze back to the audience. Their eyes shifted to the right, prompting her to reposition her Magic Cylinders for yet another reflected attack before Trixie disappeared again in a screaming rage.

She smirked, reaching down and swiping several cards off the stage. She then walked over and repeated the same with another bunch. This repeated over and over until she’d gotten rid of every card, save for one. The audience was staring rapt with excitement again. Twilight, Spike, and Starlight, especially, were mouthing words of encouragement to her. The last card she gently nudged to the center of the stage, careful not to directly place a finger on top of it. Next, she retreated to the edge of the stage and quickly slipped off one of her boots. It took her a few tries, but she eventually managed to land it on top of the card.

Trixie’s box appeared between her and the card, the back turned to Black Magician Girl.

“Wait, wha—?”

She was cut off when Black Magician Girl fired another Black Burning, destroying the box instantly with an accompanying cry of surprise from her. Splinters showered everywhere, followed by a burst of pink smoke that covered center stage. When it cleared, Trixie stood with her full body intact, the remaining third of the Magic Death Box next to her, looking about ready to explode from frustration— was that steam coming out of her ears?

Wordlessly, Trixie fired off several magic blasts at Black Magician Girl, only for her to easily reflect them with her Magic Cylinders like all the rest. The shots all sailed past Trixie, tearing holes in the curtain behind her. The damage was enough to cause the bottom half to fall down, eliciting a surprised gasp among the crowd.

“THAT’S IT!” Trixie yelled.

Her horn enveloped in a pink glow. The Magic Cylinders were enveloped in the same glow and yanked away from Black Magician Girl over to her. Her face changed from frustration to smugness instantly.

“Haha! The Great and Powerful Trixie has stolen your ultimate defense with a simple bit of telekinesis! Do you have the means to continue this fight now that Trixie commands this power!?”

The crowd collectively ‘oohed’. Trixie soaked in the attention like a sponge.

“Two can play at theatrics,” Black Magician Girl replied before clearing her throat. “Yes, I, Black Magician Girl, personal student to the renowned Black Magician, slayer of undead and cutest magical girl across worlds, have the means to end this fight with one simple spell! Or, should I say, a trap.”

“Bring it on!”

Black Magician Girl pointed her staff at Trixie, who positioned the Magic Cylinders in front of her.

“Hexagram Curse!”

A magic circle surrounded Trixie, making her and the crowd gasp. A yellow line moved back and forth across the inner edges, forming a hexagram shape surrounding Trixie’s body while the outside formed a green barrier filled with runic language. The whole thing started off transparent before fully materializing after a second. At that moment, Trixie’s horn stopped glowing, causing the Magic Cylinders to drop to the stage.

Black Magician Girl placed her staff on her shoulder and winked at Trixie. “The duel is over.”

“What the—?” A small pink spark flew off of Trixie’s horn, but nothing else. “Why— Why can’t I use my magic!?”

“A Hexagram Curse completely immobilizes anyone caught within,” Black Magician Girl explained. “It also blocks their magic, so until the trap is lifted you can’t do anything. Unless you have the means to continue without your magic…?”

Trixie glared icy daggers at her. Were this a real fight, no doubt, she’d be filled with murderous rage at being completely and utterly incapacitated so easily. She tried to fire off her magic a few more times while struggling against the curse’s physical barrier but failed. Eventually, her body slumped and she held her head low, eyes closed in silent resignation.

“We have a winner!” Mayor Mare announced. “Victory goes to Black Magician Girl!”

The crowd erupted into an uproarious cheer, pounding the ground in applause. Black Magician Girl did a curtsey for the crowd and winked, making a V sign with her fingers above her eye. Once she was done soaking up all the applause and the crowd began dispersing, she undid the Hexagram Curse, allowing Trixie to move again. She tested her horn, finding her magic to work just fine again.

“Why didn’t you use that curse right away?” she asked.

“It wouldn’t have been very fun if I did that, now would it!?” Black Magician Girl giggled. “I have to admit, you’re pretty good yourself. If I couldn’t use Hexagram Curse, you would’ve stood a real chance at beating me.”

Trixie’s eyes lit up, then she seemed to reconsider and coughed into her hoof. “Yes, well, Trixie thanks you for your attempts to massage her bruised ego. But rest assured, this has only motivated Trixie to train harder, to become not just the greatest stage magician, but the greatest magician warrior in Equestria. Mark her words! But for now, she must prepare for her part in the festival tomorrow!”

She procured another smoke ball seemingly from nowhere and threw it down at the stage. Once the smoke cleared, she could be spotted running off in the distance, disappearing quickly around a building. Now that she’d seen Trixie teleporting her boxes around, Black Magician Girl had to wonder why she didn’t just do that after throwing down her smoke balls?

“You were so amazing, Black Magician Girl!”

“You’re the bestest ever!”

“So cute, yet so strong, too!”

“Can I have your autograph, please!?”

Black Magician Girl turned back to see many ponies standing in front of the stage, staring up at her with wide, adoring smiles, many of them holding notepads and quills in their hooves and magic.

“Of course!” She sat down on the stage. “Form a line and I’ll give you all autographs. Anything for my adoring fans!”

The crowd cheered.

“This is a complete one-eighty from last week,” Twilight said, staring at the ponies lining up in front of Black Magician Girl.

“Totally,” Spike said.

“She’s got that natural charm about her,” Starlight said. “It’s like if Pinkie Pie was a human and good with magic.”

“Oh, there are little nuances separating the two,” Twilight said. “But it’s good that her vacation is going well. This is exactly the kind of experience Ponyville needed after what happened last week. It’s a shame that their opinions can be swayed just because one bad apple came through the Window even after we’ve had several good guests.” Her eyes swept across the line of ponies waiting to get Black Magician Girl’s autograph before settling on a sight at the edge of Town Square. “What’s that?”

“What?” Starlight said.

Twilight pointed her hoof at a hooded figure watching the scene, face completely obscured. “Is that Zecora?”

Starlight and Spike looked where she was pointing. “Yeah, those are her hooves,” Spike said. “Why’s she wearing her cloak?”

“That’s strange,” Starlight said.

It might have been a trick of the light, but Twilight thought she caught a glimpse of something yellow poking from underneath the hood. Zecora looked in their direction, holding her gaze for a moment before disappearing around a building out of sight.

“You think something’s wrong?”

A knot grew in the pit of Twilight’s stomach. Something definitely wasn’t right.

“You guys go back home,” she said. “I’m gonna go check out her hut.”

“You sure you don’t need my help?” Starlight asked, worry present in her tone.

“... On second thought, we might need all the firepower we can get.”

“Twilight?” Spike said, concerned.

It took a long time for the line of Black Magician Girl’s fanponies to receive their autographs— seeing their smiling faces helped alleviate some of her worry. Once they were gone she approached Black Magician Girl.

“That was a lot of fun!” she said happily. “I’m so glad I came here!”

“Yeah, it was thrilling,” Twilight said, nowhere near as passionately. “Mind if I ask a favor?”

“Sure thing!”

“Would you mind coming with us through the Everfree Forest? We need to check on a friend of ours.”

“Everfree Forest?”

“It’s the big, spooky, scary forest outside of town filled with monsters,” Starlight explained.

“Oh, well of course!” Black Magician Girl twirled her staff. “No monster will prevail against me!”

They made their way through town to the edge of the Everfree Forest in short order. The sun was nearing the horizon by that time, casting the land in an orange glow. Time was of the essence.

“I see what you mean by spooky and scary,” Black Magician Girl said, staring at the thick woodland swaying ominously in the breeze. “What kind of monsters are in there?”

“Chimeras, hydras, lots of big carnivorous species,” Twilight said.

“It makes reaching Zecora kind of a pain in the flank, really,” Spike said.

“Well, we manage to get through just fine when we’re together.” Twilight stepped across the treeline. “Let’s go. Keep your eyes peeled for any signs of movement.”

Black Magician Girl fell into step behind her with Spike in between her and Starlight who brought up the rear. The sneaking suspicion that Spike might pretend to walk too close so he could look up her skirt crossed her mind more than once, but she trusted Starlight to keep an eye on him, trying to concentrate on the trees surrounding them. The Everfree Forest certainly wasn’t like the rest of Equestria. It felt vastly out of place, almost like it was a scab on the otherwise perfect skin of this world. Easily the least fun place to be that she’d seen so far which made her ponder who in their right mind would choose to live out here.

They were about two minutes into their trek when they heard a scream. It sounded like a tiger. The sound filled the dark forest, a cry of pain and despair mixed into a horrific, shrilling cacophony. A flock of birds abandoned the forest canopy somewhere out of sight. The first scream was quickly followed by another, even more shrilling one, then another, softer, yet no less horrifying third. Everyone covered their ears, but no amount of pressing could block the sound out completely. The screaming lasted for a solid minute before disappearing as quickly as it started.

“Was what that?” Black Magician Girl asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight said. “Wait… if there were three screams… could that have been a chimera?”

“There aren’t many things that could take down a chimera,” Starlight noted. “If it got hunted down, that means there’s something even bigger in this forest.” She shuddered.

“We’re not going to be eaten, are we!?” Spike asked, gripping the sides of his head.

Twilight appeared to ponder for a moment before saying, “The only thing that would, or even could hunt down a chimera is a dragon, but there wouldn’t be any dragons here now that we’re allies with Ember.” Her face became a mask of dread. “I don’t know what it could be…”

“Twilight?” Spike said, placing a claw on her leg, fear lacing his tone.

“We need to find Zecora, fast.” She took off in a gallop down the path. “Hurry up!”

Everyone matched her brisk pace through the forest, eventually coming upon an old-fashioned, very tribalistic hut set among the trees. Twilight ran up to the door and knocked loudly.

“Zecora! Zecora! Please answer the door!”

Everyone waited for a short while, but no response came.

“C’mon Zecora, answer the door, please!”

Still nothing.

Twilight tried opening the door and was surprised to see it wasn’t locked. She stuck her head inside for a moment before coming back out.

“Nothing. Something is definitely wrong here. Zecora was just in town; if she was coming back home then we would’ve caught up to her.”

“You don’t think she got eaten by whatever’s in the forest, do you?” Spike asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m sending a letter to Celestia straight away. We’ll get the Royal Guard to conduct a search for her.”

“I hope your friend is okay,” Black Magician Girl said.

“Thanks.”

He waited in the next clearing over, listening closely for the group to leave. Once they did, he turned to his prey, a chimera that hadn’t known when to shut up even before it screamed. It laid before him as nothing more than a bloody, headless carcass. All three heads were gone, sliced off by his Space Ripper Stingy Eyes. Thankfully, the forest’s canopy sufficiently shaded him from the sun, making it safe to remove his head from the zebra’s body and onto the new vessel.

All the while he transferred his head, he pondered whether that magical girl, Black Magician Girl, as she called herself, would be an obstacle to his quest for dominance. Never would he have thought that a girl who dressed so provocatively and was so full of cheer could also be so powerful. Certainly nothing like the women from his world. Quite the opposite as them, in fact. But she was incredibly childish, more than likely not a real threat to him even with their similar levels of power and cunning. Such feeble minds were easy to break under the right pressure.

He finished transferring his head. This new body would serve him well in scaling Canterlot Mountain once he adapted to it. There, when the festival was underway, he’d kill the royal sisters and drain their blood. Without them, the ponies would bow before him, too afraid to stand against the one who murdered their beloved princesses. That title still confused him, but it was a different world, one where the word princess could easily have the same meaning as queen. This world was a bit too saccharine for his tastes, but having access to magic would make that all easy to tolerate.