Chapter II: the Temptation of Trixie

Trixie

"Thank you! Thank you!" I bow as the ponies of Trottersberg stamp their hooves on the ground. "You are a wonderful group of ponies and the Great and Powerful Trixie will have another show in 3 hours." I head to the back to collect the day's earnings. Today's audience was very generous giving three bits each. I place the bucket in my mouth as I notice a white pony with red eyes staring at me. I shrug it off as nothing and go into my wagon.

I pour the money out and begin to count when I hear a cold voice whisper, "it's such a pity the greatest unicorn in all the land reduced to doing parlor tricks." I beg your pardon but the Great and Powerful Trixie does not do parlor tricks. It apologized asking why I was not under royal tutelage. I rolled my eyes at having to answer this again. I had tried to get into Celestia's Academy but failed the entrance exam. "Still that is no reason for you to languish in obscurity." I was about to speak but something was clouding my mind. "How would you like to be the most powerful unicorn ever?" most powerful? That means I would be better than... Sparkle.

"What do I have to do?" I ask eagerly thinking of watching Twilight lose at something. A pair of red eyes stare into me. It says all I have to do is help him. I smile holding out a hoof you have a deal!

Dani

"Okay class that was very good," Sensei Tommy said before he dismissed us, "remember to practice your katas for next week," we bowed and left to change out of our gis . "Dani, can I speak to you for a moment?" I walk over and ask what he wants. "How is everything at home?" I swallow hard at those words.

"Uh...," I look down at the scars from the wounds Vlad inflicted on me. "It's okay why do you ask?" he says I have been jittery lately and was afraid something was wrong. "I have been having nightmares lately." He studies me for a moment and asks if that is all. "I am sure, I guess I shouldn't eat spicy foods before bed," he looks at me but before he can continue his watch alarm goes off and dismisses me. "That was close," I head back to the lockers to get changed.

I take my clothes out of the locker when I hear a voice declare 'time out!' everything is frozen. A bright flash appears in the center of the room as Clockwork appears. "Too much spicy food?" he asks placing a medallion around my neck. I ask him what's going on, "I am sorry to intrude but Daniel will need your help." My heart sinks at those words. "Don't worry he's fine at the moment."

He removes a pocket watch from his belt and swings it in the air. The metal object starts to glow creating a portal beside the now young ghost. He beckons for me to follow him. "Will I have time to get out of my karate gear?" he nods and walks through the portal with me following him behind.

Spike

The sky looks dark as we approach Canterlot, "What gives? I thought the pegasi said it would be nice today?" Rainbow shrugs and tries to outrun the dark clouds. There's something not right about this storm and Twilight knows it too. She keeps looking out as if she expects to find something.

"This isn't natural weather," Twilight says, I know what that means- Discord! Twi shakes her head and says it's not his handiwork. "Whatever is causing this is more powerful than him." She looks up at the sky and tells Dash to head to a clearing."We should...," the wind starts to pick up causing Rainbow sway back and forth.

I hear something whistling through the air, "Look out!" a large hailstone plummets into the basket forming a large hole in the center. I notice Twilight losing her grip and grab her tail. "I've got you Twi," I assure her as another stone ruptures the balloon and we go sailing out of control.

"We're going to crash!" Rainbow says as Twilight closes her eyes and tries to teleport us to safety. I close my eyes not wanting to see the ground but I feel nothing.

I open an eye, "I'm on Mt. Canterlot?" yes I was, "Thank goodness," I hear hoofsteps as two guards approach. They look down at me, "uh what's wrong," they slap some manacles on me and push me to the ground. "hey what gives, I'm a friend...," they push me up and force me to walk. "Okay! Okay! I am going!"

Danny

I took out my map of the Ghost Zone trying to figure out where I am. "Let see I should be near the river Lethe," I must have taken wrong turn as I don't see a river anywhere. I look at the map again but before I can concentrate I hear a voice calling out my name. "Who's there," I turn around but see no one. "Great it's…," the voice calls out again it seems to be coming from a nearby portal. "Not falling for that old…," the voice calls out again this time it sounds like Sam. Fearing she might be in trouble I fly over to the portal, "Sam you okay?" going through the portal I find myself in a ghostly forest.

A chill goes up my spine. "Of course it had to be a forest," I walked in deeper trying not to think about my nightmare. I hear Sam's voice calling me and ask if she is okay. She tells me that she trapped and needs my help. Something didn't seem right, Sam is more than capable of getting out of traps. I charged up an ectoblast and went deeper into the darkness. I look up but only see trees no stars maybe this is going to be…. again Sam's voice calls for help, "Hang in there remain calm," after I navigated through the thicket I finally found Sam. Her leg was stuck in a hole. I walk over to her and ask what she's doing here anyway.

"It doesn't matter anymore," she placed her hand on my chest and rubbed it. Part of me enjoyed this I had always dreamed of this moment but I soon came to my senses. I asked her what she was doing pulling her hands off me. "Can't I thank my big strong hero?" She places her hand back on me. She told me that we would be together forever. Her eyes begin to glow, this was a trap. I go to blast her but a tentacle grabs my wrists.

"Who are you," I asked trembling as Sam transformed into a a beautiful woman made of shadow. She introduced herself as Naamah, queen of the night hags. I tried to pull my hands free but her grip on me only got tighter. She walked over to me and stroked my face. Her touch was cold and made me shudder. She laughed saying my struggling was cute as I felt a tentacle wrap around my waist. She told me soon I would not resist her. She grabbed my head and pressed her lips against mine, my body became numb and began to fall into a black sea.

Twilight Sparkle

My head ached as I pulled myself up and massaged my temples. The last thing I remember was Spike saving my life then everything went blank. I heard a noise and rushed over to help Rainbow Dash up. I asked if she was okay, "yeah, I've had worse," her gait is a bit wobbly and help steady her. She asks where are we. From what I could tell we were on the other side of Mt. Canterlot. "That was some powerful storm, but it doesn't make sense my friends in Cloudsdale said that weather was going to be pleasant," I told her that wasn't a normal storm but a magical one designed to keep us away from the city. "Don't worry I can…," I stop her saying that no matter how fast she is that storm will still get us.

"Spike?" I ask noticing the dragon is gone, "Rainbow have you seen Spike he was right here," she tells me the last time she saw him was when he pushed me out of the way. "We better find him before something happens to…," I began to feel dizzy and have trouble staying focused. I begin to hear someone calling for help."Who's there," the voice sounds like a mixture of different ponies but one struck right at my heart. It sounded like my brother, "Shining?" I ask feeling my heart sink he calls out again but something snaps me out of my haze. "Rainbow we have to…," I say before everything goes black. The last thing I hear is my friend telling me that I will be all right.

Sam

"Tell me again why we're sneaking into Vlad's mansion," Tucker asked me as I slowly opened the door and crept inside. I explained one last time that I feel something wrong and went to do a tarot reading. I drew the eight of swords. "Danny is a big a boy and can take care…," I grab him by the collar and told him that Danny needs us and I was going to save him no matter what. Something in my gut tells me that Vlad is at the bottom of this.

"Vlad has something to do with Danny's dreams," I explain to him. It always seems that when Danny has weird dreams the Fruit Loop is up to something and we're going to figure out what. I instruct him to check the upstairs while I search down here for clues. He looks at me asking me if this a good idea but I tell him to go. Once I am sure he is upstairs I sneak into a hallway nearby. I can hear the sound of clicking camera shutters and follow it to an auditorium where Vlad is giving a speech. He was flanked by two statues under tarps.

"Art is an important part of culture and something I am a staunch supporter of," he says proudly as I sneak inside and hide behind a potted plant. He goes on to say he has commissioned the best artist in Europe to make these statues. "I present to you, people of Amity Park, Die ac Nocte!" he pulls the veil off revealing two winged unicorns made out of crystal."They symbolize the rebirth of a town under my leadership," he explains proudly.

I stare at the statues, there is something about them that captivates me. A voice in the back of my head is calling me to help them. Could it be Danny calling out to me, I sneak closer to the stage but before I can get far I feel someone grab me, "snooping around my private home," Vlad's slimy voice asks as I try to get free of his grip. I tell him that he is not going to get away with this and that Danny will clean his clock. "Really," he says as I start to feel something cold on my legs. I look down and see my legs being wrapped up in ectoplasm. "Don't worry soon you will fall into a deep sleep," he said covering my mouth. I can feel my eyes close and the last thing I see is the slime crawling up my waist.