A Darker Tale

by chaos2012

Chapters

Prologue: Cold Blood
Coming to Town
Pain and Magic
Help from the trees

Prologue: Cold Blood

The city of Manehatten was experiencing one of the most intense storms it had been dealt this year. The Pegasi had missed a storm from two weeks prior due to a mishap in the organized list of dates at the Cloudsdale weather factory. Now, they had to make up for the loss by piling on the previous amount of rain clouds with the ones that were set to appear today.

The cold wind rushed through the dark sky, whipping the heavy drops of rain down onto the desolate town. Windows rattled from the force that was pushing at them from the outside. The gathering water on the roofs poured over the sides and fell down into the streets below. Small streams flowed through the cobble stone alley ways and streets downhill following the flow of gravity. Every pony locked themselves indoors to escape the harsh weather.

All except one.

A lone pony ran through the vacant main street of the city. It's body was draped in a dark cape, partly used to help block the harsh weather that battered it, but mostly to hide its identity from any pony that may happen to be outside or look out of their window. Dipping behind the covered wagons and stalls on the sidewalk, the mysterious figure made its way towards a certain shop in which it was looking for in this town. It was seeking one thing specifically that it desired for its goal that it wanted for itself.

Coming to the door, the pony opened it and quickly escaped the bitter wind from outside. Turing around, the pony pushed back against the wood and forced the front door shut once again to the storm. To its delight, the store lights were off inside, giving the secrecy that it desired. The pony then went on to begin shuffling through the many piles of loose items that were stuffed together in unorganized masses across the tables and floor. Pushing stuff aside, several items fell to the ground with more noise than preferred.

Suddenly, the lights at the front counter flipped on, startling the cloaked figure. Turing it's head around, it saw a pony coming from the doorway behind the counter. Entering the light, it was revealed to be a gray, middle aged earth pony. Its braided light blue mane was topped by a tan and red cap, complementing the brown shirt and red scarf it adorned. His golden eyes stared through the spectacles on his muzzle at the pony that had entered his shop.

After a moment, the shopkeeper grinned at seeing a possible customer. "May I help you, traveller?" he asked in a curious tone. He watched at the dark figure slowly came into the faint light from the counter. All that he could make out under the black Cloak was the hooves of the pony, which were a bright azure color.

Walking behind his counter, he kept his eye on the secretive pony, "Something drew you to my shop, something powerful." he watched as one of the hooves lifted off the ground and pointed to the glass lid that covered the stores most prized possession.

Inside of the glass container was a dark gray amulet In the shape of an upside down arrowhead. Inside of the center of it was a blood red diamond inserted into the metal. On the top of the pendant was the head of a unicorn with red eyes. Spread out to the sides of the he's were gray wings tipped with red feathers.

The shopkeeper chuckled at the choice, "Aw, you have a keen eye. The alicorn amulet is one of the most mysterious and powerful of all of the known magical charms."

The "customer" once again pointed at the amulet on the shelf. The shop owner suddenly felt a strange chill go up his spine, 'What would any pony want with this trinket?' he thought to himself. Walking over, he stood between the pony and it's goal, "I'm afraid this is... Far too dangerous."

The secretive pony reached under its cloak and pulled out a large bag. Tossing it onto the counter, the top of it tipped over, allowing the contents to spill out. A large number of bits toppled onto the wooden top, the gold sparking under the ceiling light. The owner was astounded; judging from the size of the bag, he guessed it must have contained at least three hundred bits. Still, he shook his head, "I don't think you understand, this is not for sale. No amount of bits will get this to be sold."

From below the cloaked ponies hood, a magenta glow suddenly appeared through the dark material and shot out to the owner. Enveloping his body, the owner thrashed around in fear to what was happening to him. In an instant, he felt his body thrown across the room and slammed hard into the wall.

"Agh!" he yelled out in pain. Immediately, he feels the sensation of being lifted again and thrown across a nearby table. Crawling off the ground, he looked over to see the now identified unicorn walking towards him. Panicking, he tried to crawl backwards towards the hallway. Before he made it, he felt a hoof connect with the center of his back, holding him down in place. He flipped his head around to see the dark figure standing above him, it's face completely hidden in the shadows. His blood ran cold as his mind began creating images of what was going to happen to him. "Pl-please..." he pleaded, "Just leave me alone."

The figure did not respond by speaking, but instead once again causing its horn to glow. Enshrouding a nearby trophy in magic, the attacker bought it down and connected with the side of the stallions head, striking him directly in the temple. The owner screamed out in pain and fear from the blow, rattling his mind against his skull. Before he could put his hooves up to cover up, the trophy is brought down again to the same spot, creating a large gash on the scalp. The pony's head dropped to the ground with a hard thud, completely unconscious.

Stepping off it's victim, the pony walked back behind the counter towards the item that it desired. Approaching the glass, it saw the outline of the cape in the reflection, followed by the bright white grin that showed up through the shadows of the hood. The cold pony had obtained the item that it wanted, but now it had a much more important thing on its mind.

Revenge.

Coming to Town

Outside of the town of Ponyville, a small cottage sat pleasantly on top of a hill. The sounds of birds happily chirping in the sky was common occurrence here, for the owner of the home was one who gave wonderful treatment to all animals.

To the side of the home, a collection of small animals consisting of beavers, raccoons and rabbits all sat together as they listened to Fluttershy, a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane, explain to them what exactly was going to happen. Her good friend Twilight Sparkle, a lavender unicorn, quietly sat back with her assistant Spike, young purple dragon, as they waited for Fluttershy to finish talking to her animals.

"Don't be scared little friends, Twilight is wonderful with magic." Fluttershy pleasantly said to her animal friends. Suddenly, she flipped around to Twilight, giving her a cold and angry look, startling the unicorn, "Anything happens to them Twilight, so help me!" her words dripped venomous threats with each syllable she stated.

Spike quickly got between the two of them, putting his claws on each to push them apart. "aww, don't worry Fluttershy..." he said as he walked Fluttershy away, "Twilight's magic has gotten a lot better since she accidentally crushed me and Applejack with a giant snowball."

Twilight blushed with embarrassment as she remembered the incident at her first winter wrap up in Ponyville few years prior. She had tried to enchant her snowplow to help push the snow off the fields much faster, but lost control of it, creating a massive wall of snow which made an even larger mess than before.

Fluttershy took a deep breath to calm herself, "Well of course she is good with magic, Twilight is great with magic. I guess I just don't want my little friends to be scared." Her eyes suddenly widen as she looks down to the animals, "Oh, oh! Look how scared they are!"

Despite her panic, all of the small critters had wide grins on their faces as they awaited the test to begin. Twilight walked up and put a hoof on her trembling friend to reassure her. "Don't worry Fluttershy, I promise nothing bad will happen."

"I know!" responded Fluttershy, who was now shaking at this point.

Twilight walked forward to the group of animals and focused her magic. After a second, her horn glowed as her purple energy formed. Then, all of the animals were enshrouded in the glow as they were lifted off the ground. All of the critters cheered with excitement as they felt themselves be lifted off the ground. Twilight could hear Fluttershy panicking behind her, but chose to ignore it to focus on her performance.

Levitating the animals, Twilight weaved them up and down in a mix of different directions. Some she had dive down in a steep arc, while others were pulled up and spun through the air. After a moment; they were flowing in a very smooth figure eight pattern above her head. Chirps and laughs emitted from the animals as they flipped around inside the comfortable grasp of magic.

Spike stared in awe at the spectacle he was watching. "Twilight, that looks amazing!"

Twilight smiled as she lowered the animals down to the ground. Once they were safely down, she deactivated her magic, causing the purple aura to disappear. She brought a hoof up to her head to wipe a way the sweat that had gathered. 'Phew! That takes more concentration than I thought it would be.' she thought to herself. Her thinking was disrupted by the cheering of the small creatures hopping around her, demanding to do it again. Twilight chuckled at how much fun the animals had, "That's all for now, little ones. Maybe we can practice again later, if Fluttershy says it's alright."

The animals all then ran over to Fluttershy, who was still cowering in her hooves. She had been so worried her animals would get hurt she didn't even notice how much fun they were having. Spike giggled to himself seeing her like that. He then turned and smiled up to his unicorn friend, "Your magic has really improved since you came to Ponyville, Twilight. Princess Celestia is going to love it!"

Twilight gave a small grin; normally she never liked others bragging about her skill, but having a compliment now and then always felt good. "Thanks Spike. I have to be at my best when she arrives with the delegates from Saddle Arabia. I can't believe she is trusting me with the entertainment."

POOF!

Twilight felt herself get hit in the side by something quick, knocking her off her hooves. After regaining her focus, she looked up to see a cyan Pegasus with a multi colored standing above her. Recognizing her friend, Twilight glared up at her, "Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?"

"Twilight, come quick! It's an emergency!" Rainbow quickly responded.

Twilight's frown disappeared when she saw the panic on Rainbow's face. Crawling up off the ground, she shook dust off her coat before speaking, "What's the matter?"

"Some weird pony came to town and is causing trouble!"

"What!?" Twilight gasped.

Several minutes later, Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy arrived in Ponyville. There was a large crowd of pony's all in the streets watching something. Twilight looked around, curious to what was happening. "What's going on here?"

Suddenly, a bright flash of red appeared in the middle of he crowd. As soon as it vanished, a mix of gasps and panic went over the pony's. Then, the crowd dispersed, making room for a screaming white unicorn that was running away from the mass of ponies. Twilight's eyes went wide when she saw who it was. "Rarity? What's wro-" She quickly brought a hoof up to her mouth to what she saw, "Oh my gosh! What happened your hair!?"

Rarity's normal purple mane had been nearly completely burnt off, leaving only enough to hang past the base of her head. Her eyes were filled with tears as she looked up to her friend, "Oh Twilight! I can't believe what that horrible pony has done to me! Look at this!" she screamed as she pointed a hoof up to what was left of her hair.

"What? Who did his to you?" Twilight then looked past her crying friend to see a single pony standing in front of the town hall. It's body was completely covered by a black cloak that hid its entire body except for its azure hooves. Anger coming over her, Twilight walked through the other pony's standing there to confront this stranger. "Who are you? Why did you Do that to my friend Rarity?"

The figure sat still for a few moments before bringing one of its hooves up to the hood covering its head. "Well well well. If it isn't..." it paused as it flipped the hood back, revealing a shining two toned silver mane and azure unicorn head, "Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight's mind immediatly recognized the unicorn as the magician who came to Ponyville years ago claiming to be the most powerful unicorn in the world. She was also the one who nearly caused the destruction of Ponyville from the lie that she created. Despite the fact that this mare never set foot in their town again, Twilight never forgot the name to this fraud.

Looking up, Twilight stared up into the eyes of the one she thought she would never see again. "Trixie."

Pain and Magic

Twilight stared at the unicorn in front of her, eying the dark cloak and the strange amulet that was connected to the front of her outfit. She was still trying to put together her thoughts as she wondered why Trixie had returned to Ponyville. Spike glared up at the once show off magician. "What is she doing here?" he sneered.

Trixie glanced around to the surrounding buildings, ways keeping a smirk on her muzzle, "Well, it seems this pathetic town has cleaned up since I was last here."

Rainbow Dash flew forward, crossing her hooves in front of her chest. "You mean after you nearly got our town destroyed by an Ursa Minor?"

Trixie just closed her eyes and smiled up at the cyan Pegasus, "You have got quite a big mouth. I doubt it is as large as your wing." the amulet on her chest began to glow bright red. Snapping her eyes open, they glowed the same color as the amulet. Before Rainbow could react, a bolt of red magic shot out from Trixie's horn and struck the startled flyer.

"Ahh!" Rainbow screamed as she felt the bones in her right wing shifting under her skin. The sickening sounds of pops were heard across the courtyard as the magic contorted with her physical features. After a moment, it all stopped instantaneously, followed by Rainbow dropping to the ground. "Oof!" she yelped as she hit the dirt. She tried to flap her wings, but felt something off. Looking back, she gasped at what she saw.

Her right wing was five times larger than it was before.

Trixie chuckled at her work before her eyes went to the crowd. When she saw two certain fillies, her smile was replaced by a snarl, "you!"

Snips and Snails both gave shocked looks as the angry unicorn glared at them. "Uh oh. Snips, I think we should get out of here." the gangly orange unicorn stated to his shorter green friend.

"Y-yeah, I think your right, Snails." Snips shakingly replied.

Before Either of them could move, however, a blast of red magic enshrouded them and pulled them through the air towards Trixies face, her eyes filled with hatred. "You two were the stupid foals who brought that Ursa Minor to the town in the first place!"

Both young colts trembled under the gaze of the enraged unicorn as they thought back to when they groveled at the hooves of Trixie as when she last visited their town, bragging about how she defeated an Ursa major, and how they had the bright idea to bring one to town for her to fight. Snails shook his head clear of his memory to focus back on Trixie as she help him, "We just wanted to see you vanquish an Ursa Major!"

"Y-yeah, we didn't know you were just a fraud!" Snips said without thinking.

Trixie glared even more angrily towards them. "A fraud!? I'll show you who is the fraud!" she lifted them higher and threw them hard across the clearing. They screamed out as they came towards a tree before a purple Aura caught them moments before they struck the trunk.

Twilight gave a sigh of relief as she lowered the two frightened fillies down onto the ground before returning her glare back to Trixie. "Leave my friends alone, Trixie."

"Hmm, looks like you are ready for what I want." Trixie said with a smirk. "I will leave them alone... If you accept my challenge. You and me, a magic duel. Winner stays, loser leaves Ponyville. forever!" her eyes glowed red once again as she shouted louder.

Twilight was startled; both by the challenge that was thrown at her, but by the strange glow that came from Trixie's eyes. 'What is that? It is the same color as that amulet' she thought to herself. After a moment, she glared back at the blue unicorn, "Forget it. I'd never agree to anything like that."

Trixie sighed, "If that is what you want, alright then." she quickly shot another blast of magic at Spike, catching the small dragon off guard.

"Ahh! What's going on!?" Spike screamed as he was lifted into the air. Suddenly, he felt his body being contorted into a tight ball, forcing his limbs locked against his body. He cried out in pain as his bones were pushed to their limits in flexibility. Then, Trixie began to bounce his body up and down off the ground like a beach ball.

Twilight gasped at seeing Spike being tortured like this. "Trixie, leave him alone!"

Trixie laughed as she threw Spike against a wall, causing him to rebound off and ricochet toward the crowd of onlookers. "Why don't you make me, Twilight?" she snickered as she made Spike bounce off the heads of the scared ponies around the courtyard. After a few more seconds of fun, she dropped her grip on him, making him fall down into the mud.

"Why are you doing all of this?"

Every emotion of enjoyment fell off of Trixie's face at Twilight's question. She slowly turned her head to face the purple unicorn. "Why? Are you really going to ask me that after you destroyed my life?"

Twilight furrowed her brow at what she heard. "What are you talking about? I have never even seen you since you ran away from Ponyville."

"That Ursa Minor you sent back to the cave just happened to destroy my wagon before you had to show off your fancy magic to humiliate me. After I left, I had to live on the streets for months! I had to scrap for anything I could get my hooves on just to eat."

"Trixie, if it was so bad, why didn't you just go home? Why did you live like that?" Twilight asked.

"You don't understand, do you? That wagon was my home! Not all ponies are like you and have a princess to help them out with a problem. That was all that I had. I had to save up months of bits from various small things to finally get myself a new one. I felt like I could get over my small problem and once again do my shows. But guess what, my problems were just starting! Word of what happened in Ponyville spread all across Equestria. I became a laughing stock in every town that I tried to visit. Ponies saw me as a joke and a fraud."

Trixie began panting out of anger as she continued her story, "I was hated and pushed out of nearly every place that I went to. I couldn't even get bits for food most of my days! Just to eat, I had to sell my new wagon and go back to living in the dirt. I couldn't even show my face in a town without being laughed or pointed at. I had to wear my cloak and walk in the dark just so I could get around.

Trixie finally came to a stop, her eyes burning with hatred. "Now, I want revenge for what you did to me. I am going to prove that I am the strongest unicorn in Equestria."

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie bounded right up to Trixie's face and glared right at her. "Bring it on! Twilight is the most super awesome unicorn ever! You would never be able to beat her!"

"Shut up." Trixie snapped. Shooting a bolt of magic at Pinkie's mouth, she clamped it shut and summoned a thick, metal muzzle. Placing it over the pink ponies head, she latched it on so tight it caused her face to scrunch up in pain. Trixie grinned at silencing the annoying pony. "There, now some pony will actually want you around."

Twilight looked back to all of her other friends behind her; She saw how Rarity was still distraught over her destroyed mane as Applejack tried to comfort her. Rainbow Dash was awkwardly trying to control her disfigured wing on the ground. Fluttershy was helping Spike get off the ground and stretch out his sore limbs. Her anger grew inside her as she saw her friends humiliated and even somewhat injured. She knew she couldn't let Trixie get away with what she did. She turned and faced her challenger, "Fine. I will challenge you to your duel. If I win, you never come back here."

Trixie gave a sinister smile seeing she was getting her desire, "And if I win, you are to live off alone out of this pathetic city."

"first, fix what you did to my friends."

Putting a hoof to her chin, Trixie glanced up to the sky, "Hmm. No, I think I'll leave them like that until after we are finished. They will be my insurance to make sure you don't try to leave early. We finish this to the end."

Twilight glared at Trixie, "No. I won't duel you until you fix them!" Her eyes went wide as she watched Trixie shoot a blast of red lightning towards her. Jumping to the side, she barely dodged the attack as it crashed into the dirt. She looked back up, seeing the red glow illuminating from Trixie's eyes.

"Sorry, but the duel has already begun, Twilight!" Trixie shouted as she shot out another beam of magic.

Twilight felt her heart speed up as she quickly jumped out of the way of the incoming blast. Landing on her hooves, she stared at Trixie for a moment as her thoughts raced inside of her head. 'She is serious. She really wants to fight like this.' Charging her own horn, she fired a purple blast at her opponent.

Trixie smirked as she stood still as the beam raced towards her. "You really think something so weak can stop me?" she pointed her horn down and focused her magic into the ground beneath her hooves. Suddenly, a column of Earth lifted Trixie up and over the blast, causing it to harmlessly strike dirt. Looking down, she charged her magic and levitated a large portion of dirt, crushing it into a tightly compressed ball and launched it at Twilight.

Seeing the giant dirt mound rush at her, Twilight summersaulted forward only a second before the giant mound slammed down and shattered everywhere. Before she could stand up, however, a bright flash of red to her right caught her attention. "What the-" Trixie had teleported down to the ground, lifting up another large chunk of earth and hurdling it at Twilight.

"Agh!" Twilight yelled as she was struck in her side and knocked across the clearing. Ponies gasped as they watched Twilight being thrown down, but they were too terrified to try and help her out.

All of Twilight's friends stared in shock at how Trixie was actually beating Twilight. "How did she get so strong?" Rarity asked.

Applejack glared and scraped her hoof on the ground, "Ah don't care how tough she is. Ah'm gonna give her a hoof up the side of her head."

Spike quickly put his claws on her shoulder, "No, you can't!"

Applejack turned back to him, confused by his statement, "Why can't ah?"

If a pony is challenged to a magic duel, they cannot accept help from those watching it or they will be forced to lose!" spike exclaimed, "Once engaged in the duel, a magical bond is formed between the two combatants, keeping them connected until it is over."

Rainbow's eyes floated up from Spike to her friend on the ground across the clearing, "So she has to fight her alone."

Twilight rolled up to her hooves and stretched out her legs. She felt an odd tightness in her chest as she tried to breathe. "She *huff* must have broken a rib from that hit." she said to herself. She glanced up to see Trixie slowly approaching her, the glow of her eyes illuminating the same as the amulet on her. "What is that thing? Why is it changing the color of her aura?"

Trixie grinned to herself as she looked down to the amulet she adorned. 'The rumors of the Alicorn Amulet were true. I do have much more advanced magic with this now.' she thought to herself. Knowing she had power beyond normal, Trixie felt unstoppable.

Looking to her left, Twilight saw the water in the fountain, giving her an idea. 'let's see how she does against water.' focusing her magic, she lifted a large stream of water, controlling the liquid as if it was a slithering snake. Beads of sweat began falling down her forehead as she strained to keep the stream from falling down into the ground. Using all of her willpower, she shot the long stream through the air towards her opponent.

Trixie shot out her own magic, colliding with the stream and enshrouding it with her aura. The water was now locked in a match in which magic could overcome the other. Both were pulling with all that they had. To Trixie's surprise, Twilight was giving her amulet a run for its money. 'arr! She is actually resisting the amulets power!?' she sneered to herself. 'No, I won't lose to her!'

Trixie's eyes grew an even brighter red as she focused her magic. After a moment, she ripped the water out of Twilights grasp, Causing the purple unicorn to drop to the ground from strain. Pulling the water behind her, the former magician separated the water into several small liquid balls. They then began to shift into elongated spears, and then were frozen solid. She smiled when she saw the scared expression on her target, "I'd be careful, Twilight. You may hurt your precious librarian hooves if you strain yourself." she then turned the spears and launched them through the air.

Knowing she couldn't outrun them, Twilight focused whatever magic she had left and illuminated her body. In an instant, she teleported behind the incoming ice spikes, dropping down to the dirt again and putting a hoof to her horn. "ugh! My head!". The use of so much magic was beginning to take a toll on Twilight, causing her mind to blur. She looked back up to Trixie, who suddenly enshrouded herself in a powdery glow before vanishing completely. "What-, what was that? Teleportation?"

"No. I'm still here, Twilight..." Trixie's cold voice said, "You just can't see me."

Twilight's blood ran cold when she realized what was happening. "An invisibility spell? That's impossible! Only Mage level unicorns can perform that!"

A sinister laugh was heard in the air from an unknown location, "You have no idea how powerful my magic had become, Twilight. There is no way for you to defeat me now that I possess this new level of skill."

Twilight stood up and looked around, trying to find where Trixie was, but was blindsided by a blast of magic from her right. "Agh!" she collapsed back down, her side burning from the strong strike. She shot a small blast in that direction, but her magic didn't hit anything. Then, another blast hit her, this time from the left. She fell on to her belly, unable to keep her head up anymore as her chin hit the dirt below. Before she could try to move, another beam hit her, this time connecting with her left shoulder.

Her body was aching all over from the mix of injuries and from the overuse in magic. She couldn't take anymore punishment; she just wanted to stop. "Alright. I *huff* I surrender."

Gasps were heard from all of the ponies watching the duel after they heard Twilight give up. They could not believe that she had actually been beaten.

Trixie's laughter echoed across the clearing as her body began to become visible again. "Ha ha ha! Oh my, I am disappointed. I didn't get to really experience that spell too much. You didn't last long after I started it. Now, I am the winner!" she trotted and stood over the battered unicorn in the dirt. "Now, you will face the pain that I have suffered." Tilting her horn down, she fired a beam at point blank range at Twilight.

Help from the trees

Trixie grinned as she watched Twilight fly across the clearing and crash into the side of the nearby store. Charging her horn, she teleported herself above the battered purple mare, grinning at her accomplishment. "Now you pathetic worm, lay there in the dirt like you belong." her eyes once again glowed red as she shot another blast of red lightning at Twilight.

Twilight screamed in pain as the magic struck her body. The powerful shocks made her mind pulse from the overload of torment that her body was recieving. Unable to focus at all, she knew that trying to use magic was pointless, not to mention she was drained above that. She tried to thrash around, but her muscles felt locked in place as she laid there helpless under the wrath of her tormentor.

Trixie's heart fluttered with excitement as she watched the unicorn below her cry in agony. After all of that time living like a street rat, nothing in her heart was wanted more than to find the one who took everything away from her suffer for what she did. Her grin spread even further across her cheeks when she saw Twilights movements become less and less frequent as the seconds rolled passed. "So much for the element of magic."

"Trixie, Please stop this!" Spike screamed out from behind her, "You already beat Twilight, now leave her alone!"

Trixie stopped her stream of magic to turn around to face the small dragon. Like she figured, he was right there with the rest of those mares that tried to challenge her up on stage. All of their eyes were filled with pain from what they were watching. She turned back to look at Twilight, who was barely conscious on the ground as she tried to crawl back up to her hooves. Snickering to herself, she charged her horn up again, "Alright Twilight, as part of the duel, you are to leave this town." shooting it at Twilight, her magic enveloped the started made and held her eight feet of he ground.

"That's enough, Trixie!" Applejack yelled out, "Y'all beat her in a duel, now let her go!"

"You can't possibly make Twilight leave Ponyville!" Rarity exclaimed.

Trixie just chuckled as she listened to the pleas behind her, "She agreed to the duel, and one must honor the code in a duel. Even your oh so precious princess would know this to be true." Her eyes began glowing even brighter as she lifted Twilight higher into the air, "Now, you are to live in your own with nothing to call your own. Just like I had to all of this time." charging her horn up, she blasted Twilight into the sky away from the town.

"Twilight!" Spike and the others sprinted after their launched friend, but as they reached the edge of the town, a large wall of red energy dropped in front of them and stopped them from going any further. They looked up and saw the shield stretched all the way into the sky above the center of town, coming to a center point and completely sealing Ponyville inside. A sinister laugh quickly followed behind the energy, causing all of them to shutter out of fear to what they saw.

Trixie was standing on top of large chunk of Earth as it lifted it her above the crowds of frightened ponies. Her eyes shined brightly as she looked down to all of the scared faces below, "Now, Ponyville is my town now!" she tilted her head up and began shooting blasts of magic Into the clouds inside of the barrier. the once white patches became dark, spreading out and blotting out Celestia's sun from coming through. After several more minutes, Ponyville was enshrouded in darkness.

Twilight felt herself falling through the thick branches of the Everfree forest. She bashed and smacked against the limbs as she tumbled down through the canopy of leaves towards the muddy ground below. Panicking, she focused her magic and caught herself just inches from smashing into the forest floor. Deactivating her horn, she collapsed down into the dirt.

Twilight tried to stand up, but her legs gave out from beneath her. Her body was pulsing with pain. Every muscle was twitching, sending waves to her brain, making her head become dizzy. She felt her mind begin to slip into blackness, but the sound of a rustling bush caught her attention. She quickly turned her head in the direction of the sound, her heart racing as she imagined what could be stalking her in the forest. "H-hello?" she hoarsely asked, unsure if whatever it was could even understand her.

A cloaked figure stepped through the leaves, walking straight for her. Twilight panicked as she tried to crawl away from the approaching stranger. "Please, j-just leave me alone!"

The figure chuckled as it came closer. "Why do you back away in fright? I do not wish to fight." lifting a black and white striped leg up, the figure pulled the hood back, revealing a familiar zebra.

"Zecora?" Twilight happily exclaimed. She tried to stand up to greet her, but gasped and collapsed back down.

Zecora's grin disappeared when she saw the condition of the unicorn before her, "My, what happened, my dear? What did this to you, please tell me, I wish to hear."

Zecora quickly hoisted the battered unicorn onto her back and picked her off the ground. She carried her through the bushes as she listened to everything that Twilight had to say about the pony that came to her town, hurting her friends and challenging her to the duel. Zecora was surprised when she heard how Twilight had been beaten in the challenge. She knew Twilight had an incredible talent in magic and was perhaps one of the strongest unicorns around.

Eventually, the two of them came to the small but set in a small clearing in the trees. Walking past the tiki heads set up around the path, Zecora opened the door to her home and set Twilight on the couch against the wall to the side. Trotting over to her table of potions, she began mixing up a strange glowing blue liquid with a dull green powder. As she poured them in a bowl, the contents began bubbling and sizzling like hot soup. "Now, drink this brew. It will bring relief to you."

Twilight stared curiously at the bowl that Zecora handed her, unsure about the contents. Choosing to trust her friend, she put her hooves around the sides, lifting it up to her lips. To her surprise it didn't have any kind of taste; it was like plain water. As she drained its contents, a strange feeling came over her body.

The throbbing inside of her head had disappeared almost as soon as the bowl was empty. "Huh?" she whispered as she sat up from the couch. Even the injuries across her body seemed to dull down compared to what they were before. She looked over to Zecora, who just smiled down at her. "What was that you gave me?"

"A special drink to regain your power. It removes the urge of feeling sour. Your injuries still remain as you see, but your magic can heal those as easy can be."

Twilight focused her magic in her horn, and to her relief felt it flowing steadily. Targeting her injured rib, she used her magic to realign the bone back into place, settling it in its proper setting. After that was done, she began tending to the other spots that were hit by magic. After a few more minutes of tending her wounds, she felt almost fully recovered. Smiling, she turned back to Zecora, "Thank you. I feel much better now."

"No need to thank me. You need to go back and make your friends free." Zecora bluntly stated.

Twilight tilted her head in confusion, "What?"

"The one called Trixie is still in that town. Go back right now and take her down."

"I think I tried that already." Twilight grumbled as she stood up and jumped to the floor, "Trixie is too strong. Somehow she is able to do spells that shouldn't be possible for a pony like her. She was doing an invisibility spell for pony sakes! Her eyes were glowing red like that amulet and-

Something in her mind clicked all of a sudden. "That amulet. I've seen it before! It's the alicorn amulet, I've read about it in several books."

Zecora came closer as Twilight was deep in thought. "The amulet that is in her hold, what makes it so special to her magic you've told?"

Twilight walked over to the couch and sat back on her haunches, "The alicorn amulet is a dark relic that amplifies the users power to a level far above normal magic usage for them. Because of how dangerous it can make a unicorn, it was taken and kept in a shop in Manehatten. Trixie must have stolen it to come and challenge me."

"Hm. Do her magic is strong due to that piece. So to stop her you must take that off and-"

"You don't understand, Zecora! Even if I challenged her again and somehow beat her, only Trixie can take off the amulet. The power bonds the user to it, giving them an advantage so some pony couldn't steal it. The biggest problem is getting to that point. I. Can't. Beat. Her." twilight turned her head to the wall, her eyes swelling up in tears.

Zecora sat still for a moment before going up to Twilight and putting a hoof on her shoulder. " You are the strongest unicorn that I know in the land. No pony comes close to your talent and gets hit to the sand. I can sense in your heart that you are afraid, but there is also power that you have yet to be laid. You need something to let it all free, giving you the chance to fight full out for others to see."

Twilight lifted a hoof and wiped out several falling tears away. "unless I have an amulet of my own, there is no chance for me in beating her."

Zecora sat there, thinking what could be done to help, when something clicked in her mind. Standing up, she went to her chest and searched for the item she desired. When she found it, a large grin spread across her face. Pulling it out, she trotted back over to the couch and tossed it onto the cushion. "Here is the item that you seek, now go and stop feeling bleak."

Twilight turned around and looked at the golden plated necklace that Zecora had brought over. On the center part was a golden jewel attached to it. "What is this for?" she asked.

"You need an amulet to beat your foe. Use this and you will feel its glow."

Twilight was skeptical about what she was told, but when she lifted the amulet in her aura, the jewel shined brightly as the magic touched it. "Wh-what was that?"

"That jewel is special from my land, for when blended with magic it makes it grand. The amulet will focus your magic and make it strong. Put it on and you will feel your magic grow like how it belongs."

Twilight quickly slipped the amulet onto her neck, clipping on the latch in back. After she had it on, she charged her magic in her horn, then noticed the amulet also gave off its own bright green glow. Closing her eyes, she continued to charge her magic, noticing through her closed eye lids the glow getting brighter. Twilight cast a large grin. "I can feel it. My magic is stronger than before. I feel like I could go on longer already."

Zecora had to try and suppress the bright smile of her success. 'just like I thought.'