A Darker Tale

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.'