Chapter 149: Magic Duel
A couple of days went by after Spyro and the ponies returned to Equestria and Spyro was hard at work trying to figure out what had happened to him, running a series of tests on himself to figure out what went wrong with his drive, the memories of what he had done coming to him and he wanted to figure out what it was. As he was conducting the tests, Applejack came in to get him as the night was coming and the Pegasi had scheduled a storm for the night and saw he was hard at work trying to understand everything that had happened, seeing the bags under his eyes as he looked like he hadn;t had a goodnight's sleep as she walked over.
"Spyro, ya ok there sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, AJ, sorry, just... just trying to understand that's all." Spyro replied, looking at a sample of his own blood as it was being scanned, which had trace amounts of his powers. "I'm trying to see what kind of power I had that would cause my fusion drive to go all... well... I don't know how to describe it."
"Spyro, Ah know yer worried about what happened back on Ego's planet, but ya need to get some sleep." Applejack said.
"How can I sleep?" Spyro asked. "What if this happens everytime I try to use the Fusion Drive? What happens if it attacks you girls and I can't stop it?"
"Spyro, Ah love ya and all, but ya need to relax." Applejack said. "Ya managed to stop yerself from hurting Peter, ya'll can control it. Now come inside and get some sleep. Trust me, you'll feel better after a good night's sleep."
Spyro looked at Applejack with worry as he got lucky last time when he stopped himself from hurting his friends when that fusion happened, but he wondered if he could do that again, stop himself before he hurt somepony he truly cared about, but he knew Applejack was right about one thing, he wouldn't be able to get much done if he pulled off another all nighter, so he decided to get some sleep, taking the sample and putting it in a refrigerator unit to keep it fresh as he followed Applejack inside as the storm started, rain coming down hard as the lights went off. In Canterlot, during the evening, there was a pony who was wearing a dark cloak overthemselves as they looked around for a particular building, going underneath rooves and tables with Umbrela's to avoid being soaked until she reached the building she was looking for, opening to the door and entering to get out of the rain. Inside of the store was a bunch of rare objects and items from across Equestria from skulls of creatures made of either bone or rare minerals, aftefacts from civilizations and kingdoms long forgotten, even some tomes of magic.
They began looking around, trying to find something in particular, even resorting to rensacking the place to try and find what they were looking for and after some time, they located what they wanted, a black and gray amulet with the head and wings of an Alicorn and a large red gem in the center of it. As the mystery pony approached, the shop keeper came out from behind the counter, looking at his customer as they approached.
"Welcome traveler." The shopkeeper said. "How may I help you this fine evening? I can tell something drew you here? Something... powerful." The pony then pointed to the amulet on the shelf, which was encased in a glass case and sitting of a shelf behind the keeper. "Ah, the Alicorn Amulet. I see you have a keen eye for magical artifacts, for it is one of the more powerful and mysterious artifacts in all of Equestria. However, it is not for sale as it is far too dangerous, for the longer a pony wears it, the more powerful they become until the amulet will consume them." The pony then tossed a large sack of pbits onto the counter, the pony looking at it, but pushed it away. "As I said, it is not for sale, for it is far too dangerous. The longer you wear it, the more it will corrupt and consume you. I am sorry, but no amount of bits will change my mind."
"Well, isn't that unfortunate." A voice said.
The shopkeeper looked up and was then hit with a blast of sickly green magic, turning him into a statue with a horrified look as he tried to protect himself. Fromt he shadows came Maleficent, smiling as she approached the pony, who removed her hood to reveal it was Trixie who was trying to buy the amulet.
"You didn't need to do that." Trixie said. "I could have handled it."
"My apologies, but why prevent a pony from acquiring what her heart desires?" Maleficent asked, smiling as Trixie took the amulet. "Are you sure you can handle it? You remember what the shopkeeper said, right? The longer you wear it, the more it will consume you."
"I don't care about the consequences!" Trixie said, using her magic to take the amulet. "With this amulet, I will have my revenge against Twilight Sparkle and her little prince after how they humiliated me!" She then took the amulet out of it's case and put it on, feeling the power of the amulet flowing through her as she felt it's energy, the magic of her horn changing from a light pink to a blood red, her eyes changing to red as she smiled. "Look out Ponyville, Trixie is making a comeback."
In Ponyville, everyone was buzzing with excitement for Princess Celestia was coming with some delegates from Saddle Arabia and instructed Twilight that she would be entertainng them with some of the magic she had learned while under the princess's tutelage and on her own. She had decided to go to Fluttershy and see if she could enlist some of her animal friends aid while Spyro provided some security, making sure ntohing bad happened while the delegates while they were visiting. They arrived at Fluttershy's cottage and explained the idea to her and her animal friends, which some of them were very much excited to do and many volunteered to do the show, despite Fluttershy trying to talk them out of it for their own safety.
"Now, don't be scared little friends." Fluttershy said, reassuring her 'frieghtened' animal friends. "Twilight is wonderful with magic... nothing bad should happen to you... right Twilight?"
Fluttershy looked back at Twilight, giving her a murderous stare as if telling her that if anything happened to her animals friends, she would regret it.
"Don't worry Flutters, she's amazing with magic." Spyro said. "She's really imporved."
"Yeah, she's gotten a lot better after she accidently crushed me, Applejack, and Spyro with a giant snowball." Spike said, making Twilight blush with embarrassment.
"Oh of course she's good with magic." Fluttershy said, becoming more and more nervous. "I just don't want my animal friends to get hurt. Ph, what of they get hurt!? Oh, look how scared they are!"
However, the animals didn't look scared at all, but instead looked excited, enthusiastic actually to be doing this, eagerly awaiting for Twilight to practice.
"Don't worry little butterfly, they won't get hurt." Spyro said, planting a kiss on her head. "She knows what she's doing."
Fluttershy didn't look very calm at all, looking back to Twilight as her horn started to glow, her aura surrounding the animals as she made them start flying into the air, doing different stunts and tricks as she made them fly around, even making them do a figure eights in the air before setting the little animals down gently, wiping the sweat off her forehead as the animals all crowded around her.
"That's enough practice for now." Twilight said. "Maybe we can do it again later if Fluttershy says it's ok to do so."
They looked at the lemon colored pegasi, seeing how freaked out she was as she shook uncontrollably as she hugged some of her animal friends.
"The show was excellent." Spyro said. "But it needs a little more... well... a little more flair and pizzazz to it."
"Well, what about those arrows you got from Yondu?" Twilight asked. "You could put on a show with those."
"I'd rather not." Spyro replied. "They are weapns, not toys. Besides, I know a good firework spell that Sora taught me, might be just the thing to add some pizzazz to the act." A second later, Spyro turned into water and Rainbow Dash passed through him, slamming into the ground and skidding to a halt as she took Twilight with her instead, making him face smck himself. "Ok Rainbow, we need to have a serious discussion about how best to get someone's attention besides slamming into them."
"Twilight, Spyro, we got trouble!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she got off Twilight. "Trixie's back!"
"Trixie?" Spyro asked. "Haven't seen her since the Ursa Minor incident. Why's that an emergency? She's harmless."
"Yeah, but she's got some serious magic now!" Rainbow Dash replied. "Heck, she's at the town hall right now with Rarity and she's firing off spells at random!"
Not liking the sound of what was happening, the three of them rushed back into town to see what was going on for themselves. As they ran into town, they saw a large crowd had gathered in front of the town hall, seeing what was happening there and as they arrived, they saw that Trixie was there, smiling as her eyes glowing red for a moment as her horn was charging up as she was wearing the Alicorn Amulet, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie walking up and freezing when they noticed her and her glowing red eyes.
"Trixie?" Applejack asked. "What in tarnation is she doing here?"
"And why are her eyes glowing like that?" Rarity asked. "Ghastly."
"Tell the Great and Powerful Trixie where Twilight Sparkle and Spyro are, now!" Trixie shouted.
"Is it just me or is somethin' different about her?" Applejack asked.
"Trixie demands to know where they are now!" Trixie shouted.
She then fired a beam of red magic towards them, which Pinkie and Applejack got out of the way of, but Rarity wasn;t as lucky as she was now wearing a dress that was mostly brown with green and yellow to go with it.
"YOU MONSTER!" Rarity screamed. "This shade of brown should only be used for accents!"
Rarity then fainted, which Applejack caughter her before she couyld even hit the ground.
"Come on Applejack, let's get Rarity to a nice soothing pink!" Pinkie said.
"Aren;t you pink Pinkie?" Applejack asked.
"Not the piont!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Trixie will not ask again!" Trixie shouted, firing another bolt into the crowd and making them scream, but SPyro reached out with the Force, freezing it as he approached.
"Seriously Trixie?" Spyro asked, redirecting the bolt into the air. "Now you're attacking innocent bystanders? Oh how the mighty Trixie has fallen."
"Ah, there you are." Trixie said as Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy approached. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has returned! And this time, more powerful than the mighty Prince of Light and Darkness."
"Hah, you call that great and powerful!?" Rainbow Dash asked, scoffing at Trixie. "You're nothing but a hag!"
Trixie just smiled at Rainbow Dash, charging up her magic as she released a bolt f magic and hit her, making one of her wings bigger, causing her to wobble around and fly in a random direction.
"Oh, now she's Rainbow Wobble." Trixie said, amusing herself.
"Hey, who gave you permission to do that to my herd!?" Spyro exclaimed, feeling his rage rise.
"You go Great and Powerful Trixie!" Snails called out.
"Stay out of this!" Spyro and Trixie shouted in unison.
However, Trixie released another bolt and hit the towns local idiots, making their horns glue to one another as Snips was hanging upside down, connected to Snais horn.
"Seriously Twixie!?" Spyro exclaimed. He charged his own magic and fired two bolts, breaking Trixie's spell like it was nothing, reverting them to normal. "Attacking an adult is one thing, but a child!? What's wrong with you!?"
"Why nothing is wrong with me." Trixie replied smuggly. "It's just that the three of us have some unfinished business. As mentioned before, my magic has grown stronger and I'm here to prove it."
"Spyro, something is wrong." Twilight said. "She's... different."
"I know." Spyro said. "She seems... darker than usual."
"Don't ignore Trixie!" Trixie shouted. A moment later, she created a magical screen with an image of herself, somehow projecting herself in third person. "After the Ursa Minor incident, I became a laughing stock in all of Equestria! Everywhere I went, every showed I performed, they laughed at and ostrasized me. Because of you, I was forced to get a job on a rock farm! A ROCK FARM!"
"Hey, you're lucky a rock farm would take the likes of you!" Pinkie shouted.
Trixie growled, conjuring an arrow and taking Pinkie's mouth off, summoning a miniature trashcan and putting it in there before making both disappear.
"Pinkie!" Spyro exclaimed.
"I want revenge and I'll continue to cast spells until you agree!" Trixie said, casting another spell and hitting the library, turning it upside down and shaking the books out, which all of the bullying was starting to get on Spyro's nerves as he felt his rage rise up inside of himself, but as his rage rose, he felt the presence of the the Primitive Dragon again, trying to get out as he calmed himself down.
"That does it." Spyro said, turning to Trixie. "You have gone too far Trixie. What are the terms of your duel?"
"We'll each cast spells." Trixie said. "The winner stays in Ponyville while the loosers leave, forever!"
The entire crowd gasped at what she proposed, looking to Spyro and Twilight, which the unicorn seemed nervous while Spyro was confident, though he did feel a little worried, he knew his magic and Twilight's was superior to hers.
"Fine." Spyro replied. "We're utilize whatever kind of magic that we feel like."
"Fair enough." Trixie added. "We'll also use combat magic as I want to make you suffer."
"Trixie, if we use combat magic, there's a chance you'll get hurt." Spyro replied.
"I'll take my chances." Trixie replied.
She then used her magic to conjure two seperate blades made of blue flames, smiling as she looked at Spyro as he called his Keyblade, holding it with his own magic as he looked at Trixie.
"Twilight, stay back." Spyro said. "Leave this to me."
"You sure?" Twilight asked.
"Very sure." Spyro replied.
He approached the blue unicorn as she did the same, the two combatants getting into position as Spyro saw her eyes glow red, making him wonder what was causing her eyes to glow. A moment later, Trixie fired a bolt of magic at Spyro, which he smacked out of the way and dodged Trixie's lung, Spyro backing away a bit as he blocked and dodged Trixie's flaming swords, leaping into the air as his horns glowed to make several large orbs of water appear, sending them directly towards Trixie, but she just made a shield for herself, sending several bolts of red eletricity towards him, but he used his Keyblade and delfected them right back at Trixie, which she jumped back and was growling, unleashing a powerful blast of energy at Spyro, which he turned into water and the blast went through him, turning back to normal as he floated down, landing on the ground while not even breaking a sweat, studying Trixie as she was breathing heavily.
However, a moment later, he noticed that the amulet she was wearing was glowing, seeing it was feeding her magic as he could feel powerful magic coming off of it, now knowing what it was that was giving Trixie her new found strength as he got ready to go on the offensive. However, Trixie took the initiative and threw both of her blades, Spyro turning into shadows as they passed through him harmlessly, but then they changed direction, flying back at him, so he deflected both blades away as she threw a cart full of apples at him, but he just fired a golden bolt of magic and turned the cart and apples into harmless butterflies, fasinating everyone at how he did that as he looked at Trixie.
"Why won't you just die!?" Trixie shouted, using her magic to summon a row of Spikes heading for Spyro, but he just surrounded himself in a green ball and rolled through the spikes, encasing himself in Earth as he did before the ball exploded and he flew right at her.
"Already did." Spyro said, Trixie blocking him. "Didn't really like it."
Trixie was getting more and more annoyed, sending spell after spell at Spyro as she tried to land a hit on him, but with his training in the Force, magic, and the Keyblade, he was impossible to hit, which she then tried to slow him down with an ice spell, encasing him in ice, but it suddenly exploded, showing it had no effect on him, so she resorted to something special just for him, smiling as she fired a new bolt of magic at him, but he deflected the bolt, accidently hitting Snips and Snails as they suddenly turned into foals, crying and getting his attention.
"Wait, an Age Spell?" Twilight asked. "But... that's impossible. That's only done by the highest level of unicorns. How the heck do you know it?"
"Probably because I am more powerful than you now!" Trixie said, sending the same spell at Twilight.
She flinched, bracing for the hit, but Spyro appeared in front of her and blocked the spell, using the Force to freeze it in the air and give her time to move out of the way before letting go, dodging the spell and sending it back to Snips and Snails, turning them back to normal.
"Seriosuly Trixie?" Spyro asked. "You're not even close to the level Twilight is at. She's more powerful than you ever will be. She's on a higher level than you are."
"Trixie is the highest level unicorn!" Trixie shouted.
She then raised her horn up and a dark red bolt of lightning shot into the air, hitting the sky and causing it to crack, shocking Spyro as from it, she opened a portal and from that portal came a Dark Side, looming over everyone as it stared directly at Spyro.
"Are you insane Trixie!?" Spyro shouted.
"No, just resourceful, that's all." Trixie replied.
The Darkside pulled it's arm back and then slammed it onto the ground, allowing a dark portal to open up as Shadows appeared from it, the entire village screaming as they ran away.
"Why the heck are the Heartless here!?" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"We need to stop them!" Applejack said.
"No, I got this." Spyro replied.
He stood before the small army of Heartless and they starred at him, ready for a fight, but Spyro started to whistle, a small device on his ear lighting up as from his jacket, the Four Yake arrows came out, hovering right next to him as he whistled, even confusing Trixie. A second later, he changed the whistle a bit and the arrows went flying, going through the Heartless as it destroyed them in a single hit, each arrow going after one heartless and another while Spyro headed straight for the Darkside, leaping up as it tried to grab him and flew in the air, deciding to use an oldie, but a goodie as he encased himself in ice, a large orb of frozen water surrounding him as massive icicles attached tot he orb and started to spin, seconds later, the orb exploded and send the spikes everywhere, hitting the Darkside and destroying it in a single go as the Shadows got frozen solid, the arrows going through them while Trixie covered herself with her cape to block the ice, only looking when it was done and over, but then saw that the arrows were pointing at her, hovering in the air glowing purple as Spyro approached.
"Cheater." Trixie said.
"It's not cheating if it's magic." Spyro said. "Admit it Trixie, you're beaten. Whatever magic you have is nothing compared to my magic and my technology."
"Oh, you think I'm beaten?" Trixie asked, red eletricity arcing across her. "Trixie is NEVER BEATEN!" She then fired a massive beam of magic right at Spyro, which he didn't have enough time to dodge and got the full blow of it, being sent flying backwards as his arrows dropped to the ground, Spyro rolling as he hit the ground, stopping as he groaned. "I am the strongest Unicorn in all of Equestria! I am stronger than the mighty Princess Celestia! I am the Great and Powerful TRIXIE!"
Spyro groaned, feeling the pain coursing through him as he slowly got up, opening his eyes to reveal they had turned blue as the whites of his eyes turned black, the flame from Primitive Dragon appearing on his back, but he quickly shut his eyes, trying to keep it under control as he felt it struggle against him, lifting his head up until his eyes were to the sky and opened his mouth, releasing the blue flames as Primitive Dragon got out, roaring in rage as it flew down from the sky, threatening to destroy everything as it charged towards Trixie, foring her to use her shield as it bashed it's claws against her shield, causing the ground to crack and eventually, the shield started to crack as well, freaking Trixie out, but Spyro suddenly started to fight back, pulling the dragon back as it tried to remain out to finish the job, looking back at Spyro with anger in it's eyes as Spyro reabsorbed the monster, falling onto the ground unconscious, everyone looking at him as Trixie breathed heavily, the shield shattering as she smiled.
"There." Trixie said, panting. "Trixie has... defeated... the prince."
"Spyro!" Twilight shouted, running up to the unconscious prince. "Trixie, have you ost your mind!? Why did you summon a Darkside!?"
"It matters not what I did, are you capable of going toe to toe with the Grat and Powerful Trixie!?" Trixie asked.
"I... I can't." Twilight replied.
"What the heck are you saying Twilight!?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You can kick her butt no problem."
"No, I can't." Twilight replied. "I haven't even come as close as being capable of using an age spell."
"You give up then?" Trixie asked, a dark smile appearing on her face. "Then by default, I am the victor! And now, away with the loosers!"
Trixie surrounded Twilight and Spyro in her aura and threw them out of the town, sending them flying into the air and near the Everfree Forest, Spyro tumbling on the ground while Twilight landed in a tree, her eyes spinning as she saw stars before shaking her head and looking to see Trixie had conjured a glass dome, placing it over Ponyville and preventing their friends from getting out, Twilight teleporting off the branch and onto the ground as they arrived.
"Twilight darling, what will we do?" Rarity asked as Rainbow Dash and Applejack tried to use the Keyblades to break the glass.
"The Keyblades are useless!" Rainbow Dash said. "Whatever kind of magic this is, it's too strong for our weapons."
"Don't worry everypony, we'll figure something out." Twilight said. "Look out for one another until we get back. And please, keep an eye on Trixie. Something is off about her and we need to figure out what it is."
The group them returned to the town while Twilight walked over to Spyro, picking him up and looking into the Everfree, knowing there might be somepony who could help them. In the town hall, Trixie made hrself at home, decorating it as her own personal palace as she smiled to herself with Maleficent walking up behind her.
"It seems you were victorious." Maleficent said.
"Yeah, and it's all thanks to this little amulet." Trixie said, pointing to her amulet before using her magic to lift the arrows up. "Not even the prince could stop me, even with these little arrows of his."
"I'm more interested in what came out of the prince." Maleficent said, getting Trixie's attention. "That thing that attacked you, it would have succeeded and you would have lost if the prince hadn't contained it."
"Yeah..." Trixie replied, sitting up from her chair she was lying in. "That thing was powerful. Why did he recall it if he could use it to beat me?"
"That's a very good question." Maleficent said. "Regardless, the prince and the princess's student shouldn't be a problem for you now, but remember, do not remain in the darkness for too long, otherwise it will consume you."
"Pfft, like I have to worry about that." Trixie said, clapping her hooves as Snips and Snails came with a tray of food. "Now if you excuse me, I have a village to rule."
Trixie then started to feast on the food that was brought to her, Maleficent leaving her as she smiled to herself, pleased to see her plan was working. In the Everfree, Twilight had brought Spyro to Zecora, which she welcomed them inside and pointed for a place to put Spyro at as she explained to her what had happened, the magic duel, Trixie summoning the Heartless, even how she had thrown them out of P{onyville and now has the entire village as her prisoners, pacing back and forth as she worried.
"This explains Spyro's unconcious state, but in time he'll be good to go, just you wait." Zecora replied. "And your tail does bring such worry, but you do not need to be in a hurry."
"But I need to figure out what I can do to beat Trixie." Twilight said. "Nothing I have comes close to her magic and I can't get a letter to the princess in Saddle Arabia without Spike! Oh, what will I do?"
"I might be able to help, for you will train with me, and in time you'll be very good, you'll see." Zecora replied. "I will show you the way, to help to make her unable to stay."
"Y-you mean it?" Twilight asked, looking back to Spyro. "But what about Spyro?"
"He'll be safe in here, nothing for you to worry my dear." Zecora replied.
"But, she was doing age spells, weather spells, even able to crack the barrier protecting our world from a massive floor of Heartless." Twilight said. "How can I beat her?"
"When it comes to magic, it would be quite tragic if someone licked me." Zecora said, waving her hoof and water appeared in her cup. "Especially Trixie?"
"You really think I have a chance to beat her?" Twilight asked, Zecora nodding. "Then when do we start?"
"Right now we help you to strengthen your magical bond." Zecora replied. "Come with me to the pond."
Zecora got up and started to walk out the door, Twilight walking after her when she felt something through the Force, turning back to Spyro as she saw something red glow in his jacket, wondering what it was as she walked over, approaching the unconcious stallion and reached in to pull out the Sith Holocron, which was whispering to her as she looked at it, lookingh to Spyro as she took it with her, walking out the door, but as she did, Spyro woke up, sitting up and looking to the door as he sat there, fearing the worst.
In Ponyville, everyone was miserable as Trixie had them erect a statue of her in her supposed honor, made everyone put up banners of herself and made Twilight's friends her personal slaves, keeping the spells she casted on them on while Spike was in the library with Rosy and Midnight, the three of them looking around for information about how Trixie would have gotten so powerful. After a while, Applejack and the others joined them in the Golden Oaks Library, reading through all the books they could to understand how Trixie was more powerful than she was in the past.
"Ugh, nothing!" Midnight said, hitting her head in frustration. "What the heck are we missing!? How the heck is Trixie so powerful?"
"Really, this reading isn't getting us anywhere." Rarity said, tossing the book behind her, which Rosy grabbed it.
"We must be patient Rarity." Rosy said, opening the book. "Though the answer isn't in the books you might have, at least one of them holds what we need."
"Even Ah can't find what kind of Magic Trixie is doing." Applejack said.
"We can't give up now." Spike said. "There has to be something that explains how she got so powerful."
They kept on looking until Fluttershy picked up a book from a shelf, opening it and seeing the same amulet that Trixie was wearing, realizing she might have found the answer.
"Um, I think I found something." Fluttershy said, trying to get everyones attention.
"We're doomed!" Rarity said. "We now have to consider our futures with Trixie around."
"Um, I think I have something." Fluttershy said.
"She want's me to grow apples without peels." Applejack said. "How the heckl can Ah do that!?"
"Mom, everypony, please, we need to remain calm." Rosy said. "Besides, I think Fluttershy found what we need."
Everyone looked to the lemon pegasus and she flew down, presenting the book to the group to read what she found.
"Hey, this book has a pictutre of Trixie's necklace!" Spike said.
"According to this, it's called the Alicorn Amulet." Midnight said. "And according to this, whoever wears it is blessed with near limitless power."
"But according to this, you become more reliant on it for your magic until it completely destroys you, turning you into a monster." Spike said.
"Ah think she's already past that stage." Applejack said.
"Corrupting the user, exposing their heart to darkness." Rarity said. "My, how ghastly."
"So all we need to do is get that thing off of Trixie and everyrthing will be awesome!" Rainbow Dash said, flying to the door, but Rosy used the Force to freeze her, turning her and putting her on the ground.
"I think there's a problem with that plan Rainbow Dash." Rosy said.
"She's right sugarcube." Applejack said. "Accordign to this, only the pony whose wearing it can take it off. We need to get this info to Twilight ASAP."
"But how the heck are we gonna get this information to her?" Rainbow Dash asked. "That barrier is too powerful. Our blades are not strong enough to bust through it."
"Not to mention her forcefield will inform Trixie if anypony tried to leave." Rarity pointed out.
"Ugh, what would dad do?" Midnight asked. "He's smart, plans three steps ahead, always has a plan once he had all the information before him. But how would he-"
"I got it!" Rosy said. "The Trojan Horse!"
"The what?" Everyone asked.
"Dad told me a story about the city of Troy and how an army of greek soldiers made a wooden horse to trick the enemy to let them in." Rosyt replied. "But this time, we use this method to sneak someone out."
"But who?" Spike asked.
That was when they all slowly looked to Fluttershy, who looked at all of them and felt a shiver go down her back, already not liking the way they were looking at her.
"Wait, hold on a second!" Fluttershy said. "Remember, ponies can't leave!"
"Yeah, ponies can't, but what about woodland creatures?" Midnight askd, making Fluttershy shiver in fear.
A while later, Trixie was having Snips and Snails pull her personal chariot that she had crafted with her magic, cracking a whip over her number one fans, but the two colts struggled to pull the charriot as not nly they weren't exactly fit to pull the charriot, but the fact is had no wheels on it made the entire thing worse for them.
"Faster you morons!" Trixie shouted, cracking the whip ofver them and making them yelp. "Somepony triggered the barrier. Trixie intends to punish them."
"B-but Great... and powerful... Trixie, wouldn't it be faster... with wheels?" Snips asked, panting heavily.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't Trust wheels!" Trixie replied.
"I'm telling you Snips, she's getting weirder and weirder." Snails said. "Plus, this doesn't make sense as her wagon had wheels."
"Did Trixie say you could take a break!?" Trixie asked, cracking the whip above them and making them jump. They continued to pull, pulling her to the barrier where the barrier was going off and there stood a few beavers, two of them hitting their tails on the force field with a large log next to them. "You there, what's the meaning of this!?"
The beaver started to chitter and chatter quickly, pointing at the log before pointing to the woods, possibly telling her they wanted to get the log t a dam, so Trixie just rolled her eyes and used her magic to lift the barrier, letting the beavers through. After they got through, she lowered the barrier sand used her magic to make the cart she had her fans pull even bigger, this time made it look like a bed with no wheels like the last one, but this time it was made of gold, shockig the foals.
"Ugh, why is she so mean to us!?" Snails complained.
"One more word out of either of you and you'll be pulling it, but you'll be half your current hieght!" Trixie shouted.
The colts got spooked, pulling the bed, though it dug into the earth, making the colts grunt and wheeze as they pulled it along. Once they were out of sight, the Bevers looked back to make sure they were gone and set the log down, tapping against it to let someone know that the coast was clear, but the pony inside refused to come out, so they reached in and pulled her out, revealing that Fluttershy was wearing a black and blue spy suit with bunny ears, seeing it was ruined.
"Oh dear, the suit Rarity made for me is ruined." Fluttershy said. "We should probably go back." However, the animals all stopped her, saying they had a mission they needed to complete and that everyone was counting on them. "Oh, you're right. We need to find Spyro and Twilight. But where are they?" That was when the birds flew over, chirping to her as they told her where they were. "Oh, you found them? Wait, they're in... the Everfree!?"
She then ran back to the log, hopping into it to hide, but the birds picked her up, litterally carrying the pegasus as if kidnapping her as she screamed, trying to get away. In the Everfree, Twilight was standing on the surface of the water, her eyes closed as her magical aura was holding the water up, doing the best she could as Zecora was meditating nearby, standing on one leg as she breathed in and out.
"No noise, no sound, no din, no fuss." Zecora said. "Nothing must interfere with your focus. Unlearn what you have learned, only then can victory be earned."
Twilight tried to do as instructed, trying to clear her mind so that she could focus, but she kept on hearing Trixie's voice, mocking her and proclaiming she was stronger, hearing her laugh as Twilight was loosing focus.
"I am more powerful than you!" Trixie's voice echoed, makig Twilight open her eyes and loose focus, falling into the water and popping her head up, looking annoyed.
"There is much that I can teach, but maybe the answers you need are yet out of reach." Zecora said, walking away.
"I'm sorry Zecora." Twilight said, getting out of the water and shaking it off. "I'm doing my best, but I can't stop thinking about Trixie. It's just, there is something different about her. She went from high and mighty to mean and nasty. And I'm trying-"
"Do or do not, there is no try." Zecora said, surprising Twilight. "For if you tell yourself to try, then basically to yourself, you are telling a lie."
"Wait, do or do not?" Twilight asked. "That's the same thing Spyro said. How do you-"
"Your thinking you must readjust, for total concentration is a must." Zecora replied, walking away. "Enough training for today, but tomorrow we will continue your training like this way."
As Zecora left, Twilight sat down, frustrated as she looked to the sky, seeing the sun was about to set as she groaned and growled.
"Way to go Twilight." She said to herself. "You basically gave up on yourself, you didn't even fight to protect your friends and to stay home, ugh! I HATE BEING LIKE THIS! WHY IS TRIXIE SO MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN ME!? I NEED TO KNOW!" A moment later, she heard the whispers again, looking back as she used her magic to pull out the Sith Holocron, looking at it as she heard their whispers, asking her to open it, looking around before taking in a deep breath and looking back at the Holocron. "Here goes nothing."
Twilight closed her eyes and tried to use the Force, reaching out to the Holocron to open it like how Spyro showed her once with the Jedi Holocron, but the more she tried, the more it resisted, making her grow inpatient and frustrated as her anger grew when finally, it gave out to her, one of the corners turning followed by the other three, one by one opening until the Holocron was floating as redich purple lightning shot between the corners, Twilight opening her eyes to see the holocron floating as it started to glow, spooking her.
"We have felt the yearning of the one who has opened the Holocron!" The Holocron said. "Who dares to open this container of knowledge?"
"Uh, my name is Twilight Sparkle." Twilight replied. "I... I need help. I was told that this holocron held knowledge... answers."
"Indeed Twilight Sparkle, it does." The Holocron replied. "Answer me this question first, what is knowledge?"
"Oh, knowledge is information that-" Twilight said as the lightning crackled.
"No, not just that Twilight Sparkle! The Holocron said, floating higher into the air. "Knowledge... is... POWER!"
Red and purple lightning shot into the air, forcing Twilight to step back as a bolt of it shot out, hitting her head as her eyes rolled back, being sent into a vision where she saw herself returning to the town, ready to face Trixie where she actually defeated her, standing victorious before taking the Alicorn Amulet, smiling as she saw, to her horror, that her eyes were now yellow and red, placing the amulet on her chest.
"Wait... what's going on?" Twilight asked, looking around and finding that Trixie wasn't moving, seeing that smoke was coming off of her as she felt her blood freeze. "What's happening!?"
"To defeat your opponent, you must give into your rage, your anger, your hatred." The holocron replied, taking her to see that she was cutting through anypony that got in her way, charging straight for her mentor as they fought. "You were destined to rule Twilight Sparkle. You will be the most powerful ruler in the entire galaxy."
"No... this isn't right." Twilight said, backing away as she watched the fight.
"You were always destined to become something more Twilight Sparkle." The Holocron continued, making her watch as she struck down her mentor, making her gasp in horror. "This world is yours for the taking, the galaxy is yours for the taking, the whole universe and beyond is yours." It then shifted to her and Spyro fighting, both using their lightsabers, except Twilight's saber was now red instead of green, making her shake and quiver in fear. "The only thing in your way is the prince. Destroy him and take his power as your own. Becaome the first Sith Empress."
"No, no this isn't what I want!" Twilight shouted, watching as she saw herself take down Spyro, cutting his horns off before pushing him down, twirling her saber as she raised it above her head, ready to deal the killing blow. "NOOOOO!"
She charged and ignited her green saber, catching her darker half off guard as she cut through her, making her wake up to reveal she was still at the pond, the Holocron having fallen onto the ground still opened with her lightsaber in her aura, breathing heavily as she deactivated the saber, plopping down as she started tio cry, tears rolling down her face as she had witnessed something truly horrifying, unable to fully comprehend what she saw.
"Not what you wanted to see, was it?" Spyro asked, making Twilight look up to him.
"Spyro..." Twilight said, her voice cracking out of fear.
"It's ok Twiley, you're not in trouble." Spyro said, using the Force to take it back and lock it before putting it back in his jacket. "You don't need to-"
He didn't get to finish as she ran up to him, hugging him as she started to bawl her eyes out, Spyro hugging and gently patting her on the back as they both sat down.
"I'm so sorry Spyro." Twilight said, her voice cracking as she was crying. "I shouldn't have opened the Holocron! I should have just left it alone, I-"
"Shh, shh, shh, it's ok Twilight, it's alright." Spyro said, consoling her. "It's ok, none of it was real."
"It... it felt real." Twiligth said, ending the hug as she looked down, her eyes turninhg red, but not from anger, but from the tears and from crying so hard. "What if I do become a Sith!? Will I hurt my friendsw!? Will I kill my mentor!? Will I-"
"Twilight, you don't need to worry about that." Spyro said, hugging her again as she cried. "You resisted the Holocron, that's what matters. You resisted it's temptations. You did great." He ended the hug, still seeing how shaken she was as he smiled, rubbing her back to make her feel better. "Zecora told me she was trying to help you to become stronger."
"Yeah, but... I failed." Twilight replied. "Heck, I can barely stand in the middle of freaking water without hearing Trixie laughing at me."
"Well, maybe I can help you." Spyro said, making her look at him. "Here, let's sit by the water." The two of them walked over to the pond, both sitting next to the pond in front of one another as Spyro smiled. "Now, what was Zecora trying to teach you?"
"To clear my mind, unlearn what I have learned." Twilight replied. "But when I tried, Trixie's laughter was all I could hear. Hearing how powerful she was." She then dug her hoof into the ground, looking depressed as she felt guilty about not fighting back. "I feel like I abandoned my friends, that I let them down for not fighting back. I'm a coward."
"You are not a coward Twilight." Spyro replied, lifting her head up so their eyes could meet. "You have proven that to me time and time again that you are not a coward. You are one of the bravest ponies that I know, smart, and beautiful." Spyro could see her blushing as she smiled, feeling how happy it made her as she smiled. "Now... close your eyes."
"What?" Twilight asked.
"Your eyes... close them." Spyro repeated. Twilight didn't understand why she needed to close her eyes, but did it anyway, closing them for Spyro as he held her hooves. "Everyone believes that clearing your mind will help to make you focus, but in fact, all it does is make you vulnerable, easily distracted as you try to cleaer your head, but instead, let's try focusing on something else."
"Like what?" Twilight asked, keeping her eyes closed.
"Like the water for example." Spyro replied. "Tell me, what do you hear?"
"Nothing." Twilight replied. "Nothing but the wind."
"Well, try again." Spyro replied. "Only this time, tune out the wind. Listen. Listen to the droplets, the rippling waves, the splashes. Now... what do you hear?"
Twilight did as he asked, tuning out the wind to focus on the water and when she did, all she could do was hear the wind, no droplets or splashing, getting frustrated, but then calmed down, taking a deep breath as she tuned it all out, sound litterally ceasing to exist around her as she heard nothing at all. She was surprised at first and wanted to see if Spyro was just covering her ears when she heard it, a dropplet hitting the pond, making her ears flick to the pond and when she did, she could hear something else, sounding like it was singing as she continued to listen.
"I hear something." Twilight said.
"What do you hear?" Spyro asked.
"Singing." Twilight replied, her eyes still closed, but she could see the dropplet hitting the water, making the ripples in her mind as she heard someone singing an ancient song in her ears. "It sounds... ancient. Like the spirits in the North American Ice Age."
"Good." Spyro said, moving his hooves away from her. "Good. What are they singing?"
"It's... it's hard to describe." Twilight replied, not noticing that had removed his hooves and was standing. "I can't make it out."
"Listen." Spyro said. "But this time with your heart, not your ears."
Twilight continued to listen, the song still going as she couldn't make it out, but somehow she understood every word of it, like she had heard it hundreds of times before as if she knew it by heart. Witout telling her, Spyro removed his hooves from hers as he got up, looking to the pond as the water moved to her, going up her back, but she didn't flinch or move a muscle, watching her float into the air as the water suddenly levitated up, tendrils of liquid floating into the air as droplets from trees, bushes, flowers, from everywhere flew to Twilight, creating a large water orb as it took the shape of a merpony, swimming in the air as Spyro watchd, shocked yet happy that she did this, watching as the pony swam around him, laughing as it moved before circling Twilight, stopping in front of her as she reached out her fin, stroking her face as she opened her eyes, seeing the merpony and making her eyes widen in shock, breaking concentration and causing the water to fall to the ground, even dropping Twilight into a large puddle of mud as she looked annoyed and embarrassed, getting up as Spyro came over.
"That was great Twilight!" Spyro said as she shook the mud off of herself. "You did great! That was amazing!"
"What just happened?" Twilight asked. "How the heck did I do that?"
"You were connecting to the water." Spyro replied.
"Connecting?" Twilight asked. "How?"
"That's what happens when you use the elements." Spyro replied, walking to the pond as he took a step on the water, walking on water. "When you were trying the first time, you were trying too hard, forcing your mind to let go and become clear, but that was when the mind can connect to random memories or listening to things from the past." He then closed hsi eyes as the water flowed around him, tendrils of water swirling around him as they changed into minature water dragons, roaring as they flew around. "Meditation is never easy as we try to clear our minds and make them empty, but the mind will always wonder to one thing or another, becoming more prone to distractions, but if you let go of yourself, allow your mind to wonder and flow, can you truly find peace with yourself."
Spyro got up on his hind legs and moved his forelegs around like he was bending the water, moving the dragons round as they moved around, doing stunts and making patterns as they moved, flying past Twilight as she watched in complete shock, seeing them fly into the air as they collided, making it sprinkle and mist everywhere, hitting Twilight's face as she felt happy, calm and at peace as Spyro walked over to her.
"Amazing." Twilight said. "I... I had no idea that was even possible."
"Anything is possible Twi." Spyro said, walking over and holding her hooves. "You just need to let go."
Twilight couldn't explain what she felt, still hearing the song coming from the water, but as she tried to understand it, her body was on auto pilot, the two ponies leaning in to one another until their lips connected, sharing a long and passionate kiss as she felt her heart beating, not caring about anything else as she enjoyed the moment, her heart beating very fast until they ended the kiss, looking into one anothers eyes until they heard wings flapping, looking to the direction of the village and seeing Fluttershy being carried by the birds.
"Fluttershy?" Spyro asked, the terrified pony looking at the two of them.
"Spyro, Twilight!" Fluttershy said, the birds dropping her.
"Nice costume." Spyro said. "Planning on wearing it for Nightmare Night?"
"Thank goodness I found you." Fluttershy said, removing her hood. "We figured out how Trixie is so powerful."
"You have?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, it's her amulet." Fluttershy replied. "It's called the Alicorn Amulet."
"Of course!" Twilight said, hitting herself in the head. "The Alicorn Amulet, the one magical item that could make their wearer as strong, if not stronger, than the princesses!"
"So wait, it was this amulet that gave Trixie her power?" Spyro asked. "I knew there was something off about it."
"And the more she uses it, the more it will corrupt her." Fluttershy said.
"Now we know what we're dealing with, we can stop her." Spyro said.
"Yes, you can beat her Spyro." Twilight said. "Maybe you can-"
"No Twilight, you will stop her." Spyro said.
"ME!?" Twilight asked. "Spyro, you have got to be kidding me, right!? My magic isn't good enough to go horn to horn against her! I'll loose!"
"You won't." Spyro replied, wrapping his wing around her. "Remember what I showed you, and you will come out victorious. You just need to focus and listen."
Twilight looked at Spyro, smiling as she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder as she nuzzled him, feeling more confident about herself than she did before.
"Alright, I'll do it." Twilight said. "But how are we going to get the amulet off of her? Only the wearer can remove it."
"Well, I have an idea how to make her remove it." Spyro said. "What are Trixie's three main weaknesses that every super villain shares?" The two mares looiked at him, looking to one another befre looking back at Spyro, not knowing how to answer that. "Pride, ego, and power."
"How are those her weaknesses?" Twilight asked. "I mean, she does have a big ego and prides herself to trying to be the bst, but how the heck is power her weakness?"
"You'll see." Spyro replied, looking to Fluttershy. "Little butterfly, think you can sneak back into the village and deliver some instructions to our friends?"
"I think so." Fluttershy replied. "What do you need them to do?"
Spyro motioned his head for her to come close, the three of them huddling up to hear what Spyro had in store for them to defeat Trixie, heading to Zecora to fill her in on what they had planned. The next day, everyone had their instructions on what to do as the group approached, Spyro, Twilight, and Zecora approaching the village while Fluttershy managed to sneak back in to let their friends know what they had in store, Twilight wearing a gold necklace with a green gemstone in it as the group of three stopping in front of the barrier as Spyro touched the barrier, setting off the alarm and waited for Trixie to arrive, forcing Snips and Snails to pull her ride, approaching the barrier and seeing them, surprised to see them back.
"You two again?" Trixie asked. "Not enjoying your exile?"
"We know about the Alicorn amulet Trixie." Spyro said. "You cheated."
"Cheated?" Trixie replied, vaining ignorance. "Moi? Weren't you the one who cheated usig those arrows?"
"As mentioned before, we didn't set any rules there." Spyro said.
"And we didn't set any rules for using magical items either." Trixie said, smiling smuggly.
"That was because we didn't know about you using the amulet." Spyro replied. "Until now. Plus, I wanna see you have a match with Twilight, see whose truly powerful."
"Like I would trouble myself going against the princesses star looser." Trixie said, turning away. "She gave up, didn't even put up a fight. She's not even worth the time or energy."
"Oh, too bad." Spyro said. "Guess it's true what they say, a coward will always be a coward."
"Excuse me?" Trixie asked, leering at him.
"You're so scared to go up against Twilight that you resort to hiding behind a fishbowl to keep us out." Spyro said. "Afraid to face the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria, who now weilds the most powerful amulet known to only the princesses."
"WHAT!?" Trixxie asked, her eyes glowing red. "That piece of junk!?"
"This 'piece of junk' is the Everfree Amulet." Twilight replied. "Zecora found it while living in the Everfree, saying it holds powert that even the princesses know nothing about."
"Hah, nothing is more powerful than the Alicorn Amulet!" Trixie boasted. "And Nothing is more powerful than the great and Powerful Trixie!"
"Oh well, you're loss." Spyro said. "Guess you'll never see how powerful this amulet is. Guess we'll leave and tell everypony we come across how the 'Great and powerful Trixie' his behind a fishbowl, too afraid to duel Twilight and prove she truly is all great and powerful."
Trixie's blood was boiling, growling at Spyro as she lifted the barrier, allowing thm to come inside.
"Oh, you are so on!" Trixie shouted. "I'll prove to you whose truly great and powerful!"
The three of them smiled, pleased to see that she took the bait as they walked in, heading back to the town hall where the two unicorns stood on opposite sides, Spyro standing with his friends as they looked at the two unicorns, both ready to get started.
"You sure this will work?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Trust me, it'll work." Spyro replied. "It will most definitely work."
"Let's start with a simple Age spell, if you can handle it." Trixie said. Snips and Snails walked up, both terrified of Trixie as she fired a bolt of magic, hitting the two colts and turning them back into foals, which they started to cry. "An oldie, but a goodie. Now, let's see what your little piece of junk can do."
"No problem." Twilight said. "AJ, Rarity, care to give me a hoof?"
The two ponies nodded, walking up next to the statue as Twilight fired her magical bolt, hitting them and making a smoke screen and in their place were two fillies, AJ's hat going over her eyes and shocking Trixie as her jaw dropped open.
"WHAT!?" Trixie asked, looking to Spyro, who was too far away to do anything. "So you can do an age spell, big deal." However, Twilight just smiled, firing the bolt againa nd turning them back to adults, doing it over and over again as the two ponies continued to be changed, appearing in different poses and positions, making AJ old for one of them while Rarity remained young, turning them back as they started to sweat. "But... that's impossible. You can;t do multiple age spells at a time, it's impossible!"
"Oh, there's more to come Trixie." Twilight said.
She turned to Rainbow Dash, which she pointed at herself when Twilight fired a bolt, hitting Rainbow Dash and a second later, a second Rainbow Dash popped up behind her, coping her.
"But... how!?" Trixie asked.
"Duplication spell." Twilight replied. "But have you ever seen a pony play ten instruments before?"
She then fired another bolt at Pinkie, which she had more than ten intruments, playing them at the same time, confusing Trixie as she looked at Twilight in awe and surprise..
"Thios cannot be!" Trixie said, completely lost for words.
"Oh, I got one more I'd like to show you." Twilight said. "Ever seen a mare turned into a stallion?"
Applejack looked up, seeing that Twilight was looking at her, so she jumped up to run away, but the bolt hit her, revealing a male version of Applejack, Twilight firing another beam and turning her back to normal.
"I don't believe it." Trixie said.
"Well Trixie, what do you think?" Twilight asked. "It appears that my amulet is-"
However, Trixie then yanked it off of Twilight's neck and took it from her, surprising everyone as she started to laugh.
"With this amulet, all of Equestria will belong to me!" Trixie shouted, taking the Alicorn Amulet off and putting on the fake one, throwing it away as Rainbow Dash took it. "You can have that Amulet, I don't need it anymore! Now gaze upon and more poweful TRIXIE!"
She then fired a bolt towards Rainbow Dash, attemtping to hurt her, but she was just laughing.
"Hey, stop that!" Rainbow Dash said. "That tickles!"
"Tickles?" Trixie asked. "No, that can't be, it was supposed to make you collapse and scream in agony." She fired another bolt at Rainbow Dash, which she dodged with no issue. "Give the Alicorn amulet back this instant!"
"Sorry Trixie, but this is going back into hiding where it belongs." Rainbow Dash said, tossing it to Zecora.
"And Trixie, you can take that amulet off now." Spyro said. "It's nothing more than one of Zecora's door stops."
The gem then fell off, breaking into multiple pieces as she looked at them in confusion.
"But... if it's fake... then how the heck did you do those spells?" Trixie asked. "No pony can do those spells."
"That's true." Twilight replied. "No pony can. That's why we had to get creative." She turned her head and from behind the statue, Big Mac, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle came out, the second Rainbow Dash wiping herself off to reveal it was Fluttershy having been painted. "You see, I knew my magic wasn't strong enough to defeat the Alicorn Amulet, so I had to use a different kind of magic. The Magic of Friendship."
"We had our friends disguise and paint themselves to look like AJ and Rarity." Spyro said. "When Twilight created that cloud of smoke, our friends switched places, making it look like Twilight was changing their age while having Fluttershy looking like Rainbow Dash, though finding the right contact lenses to make her eyes like Rainbows wasn't easy. Maroon colored eyes are pretty unique, and beautiful at the same time."
As he said that, Rainbow Dash blushed, tryi8ng to hide her red face, but everyone already saw her blushing.
"And we knew the only way to get the amulet off was for you to take it off." Twilight said.
"So we used your three biggest weaknesses against you." Spyro said, walking up. "Pride, ego, and power. We knew that by taunting to about how scare you were would make you want to face her, preying on your pride as the great and powerful Trixie. We also knew you had a big ego, which fueled your pride, wanting to make sure no pony would want to prove you were powerful. And ffinally power, for when we presented an item that we said was more powerful, you would take it nd discard what you had to ensure your power."
"But... what about the pony with the ten instruments?" Trixie asked.
"Oh, that's not magic." Spyro said, looking to Pinkie as she continued to play her instruments. "That's just Pinkie being Pinkie."
"You don't need to prove to others that you are powerful Trixie." Twilight said. "All you need to do is show some repsect and care and they will do the same, not boasting and belittling others to prove a point." Twilight then put her hoff on her shoulder, making Trixie quiver as she looked at her. "It's up to you who you want to be and how you want others to think about you. You're a great magic user Trixie, you just need to lt go of your pride and open up, let others in and you'll discover your true potential."
Trixie looked at Twilight, not believing that she was showing her such kindness after everything she did to them, smiling as she hugged her, understanding the true benefit of friends as Twilight hugged her back, everyone cheering that it was all over.
"Aw, how revoltingly adorable." Maleficent said, everyone looking up to see her. "It appears I have overestimated Trixie's abilities to destroy the prince and his lackies."
"Maleficent!" Spyro exclaimed, calling his blade as did the Mane Six and his daughters.
"I must admit, you did a marvelous job of getting Trixie to remove the Alicorn Amulet, but it was all for nothing." Maleficent said. She used her magic to raise her staff as green flames shot out underneath Zecora, making her drop the amulet and the green flames surrounded it. "Now we will see what this amulet can really do with the power of the DARKNESS!"
The amulet then flew straight towards Trixie, hitting her in the chest as it made her fall to the ground as tendrils of darkness started to envelop her, making her scream in agony, reaching her hoof out, pleading for help as the darkness fully covered her as she started to stand up, her horn glowing red as the darkness seeped into her, her light blue coat turning into a dark indigo, her mane a blood red as her eyes were completely black, black flames shooting out of her back and forming into wings as she started to laugh, standing before everyone as she grew taller.
"Behold, the new and imporved great and powerful TRIXIE!" Trixie shouted, unleashing a torrent of red lighning everywhere, hitting the houses and making everyone flee for cover.
"Trixie, stop!" Spyro exclaimed, diving and saving some fillied from the lightning. "Trixie, you need to fight it!"
"Trixie doesn't need to fight it!" She replied. "She embraces it!"
"What's going on with her!?" Midnight asked, blocking some lightning. "What did Maleficent do to her!?"
"She fused the Alicorn amulet into her chest!" Spyro replied, deflecting another bolt. "This isn't her, the Amulet's controlling her!"
"So how the heck do we get it off her then!?" Rainbow Dash asked. "The only way to get it off is for her to take it off! And I don't think she's going to take it off this time!"
"Spyro, we need to fuse!" Twiligth exclaimed.
"Uh, I don't know if that's a good idea Twi." Spyro said, still fearing Primitive Dragon.
"We don't have any other choice!" Twilight replied. "It's the only way we;ll have a chance at saving her!"
Spyro was apprehensive about doing that, the memory of Primitive Dragon still in his head, but he nodded, closing his eyes as did Twilight as the two golden domes surrounded them, everyone doing what they could to protect the ponies when a dome appeared around Rainbow Dash, surroundign her as all three shattered at the same time, the purple dragon roaring out as it flew into the air with the purple and cyan ponies following closely behind as they collided, releasing the colors of the rainbow As spyro landed on the ground, his jacket with the lavender coloring on the right with the unicorn head on his shoulder and stars going all over his jacket while on the left was the cyan with lightning bolts and clouds on it with the Pegasus head on his left shoulder, his mane long and rough looking with Rainbow Dash's mane color as the three blades he usually got from fusing with both mares appeared behind him, spinning behind him.
"So it isn't everytime I use the fusion drive it happens." Spyro said.
"What was that Spyro?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Uh, nothing." Spyro replied. "Come on, we need to hurry before we loose her forever!"
Spyro then rushed forward as he used his magic to take the three baldes, as he took the fight to her, which Trixie just smiled asnd conjured a shield, protecting herself, but Spyro just zipped around, hitting the shield both physically and magically as stars appeared in the sky, bombarding the shield with fire, ice, earth, and eletric spells, Trixie just smiling, but then a hand came out of the shadows, grabbing her leg and spooking Trixie, seeing it was Spyro smiling at her.
"Peekaboo!" Spyro said.
He unleashed a powerful gust of wind, knocking Trixie away and breaking her concentration as her shield deactivated, the both of them fighting as Trixie used more blue flames to try and destroy him, which he started to glow and seperated into three version of himself, the flames passing through as the lights disappeared, revealing that the three Spyro's had two different colored manes, one with red and purple, another with orange and blue, and the third with green and yellow.
"It doesn't matter how many of you there are, Trixie will destroy all of you!" Trixie shouted.
She released dozens of blades made of blue and red flames and lightning, trying to hit one of the three Spyro's, but the one with the blue and orange mane phased into water, the one with green and yellow turning into a cloud while the third became shadows, eveyrthing going through them as they charged towards Trixie, the red and purple maned Spyro encasing himself in flames as he did a comet dash, slamming into Trixie as the blue and orange maned Spyro moved his forelegs, opening up the ground as torrents of water shot out of the ground and encased the corrupted pony, leaving her helpless as the third Spyro summoned a litteral tornado, spinning around and catchign the pony as she was spun round and around, trying to regain her bearings until it turned, flying down to the gorund and slamming Trixie onto thre ground, the three Spyro's fusing together as the corrupted unicorn got back up, firing another bolt of magic at Spyro, but he raised his hopof as a large star appeared, blocking the blast before opening another, transporting the attack and hitting her in the back, making her fall to the ground.
"Trixie, I know you're still there." Spyro said. "I know you need help. This isn't you, it's the amulet."
"You know nothing about me!" Trixie shouted, getting back up. "I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, I don't need anyponies help!"
"Trixie, I know you don't want help." Spyro said. "But you need help. I know you need it, you just need to let go."
Trixie tried to act tough, but then her eyes started to flicker, as she shut them tight, opening them to show thery were normal again, but she looked like she was struggling.
"Please... help me." Trixie said, fighting to regain control.
"Hang on Trixie, I'm coming." Spyro said. He got his Keyblade and rushed over, the corruption attempting to take over agian as he put his blade against Trixie's chest, turning the blade tot he right as he opened Trixie's heart. As he dove down into Trixie's heart, he spotted her platform, which was Trixie on a stage of her cart, a large assortment of spells being used all at once, but as he got closer, he saw cracks appear on the ont he platform as he landed, looking around as he saw the Alicorn Amulet hovering in the darkness, not liking what he was seeing. "Trixie, hold on, I'm here." He looked to his right and saw a double sided door with stars and hats on, approaching it as it opened for him, revealing her room was a regular kids room, but instead of toys there were books and props for magic acts like a box for cutting people in half, phony cuffs and trick boxes and more. "You seem to have a knack for magic, don't you Trixie?" He then picked up a box of cards, looking at it as he assessed what her anchor was. "But why? Why would you be boastful and belittle others?"
"Because I thought myself superior to others." Trixie replied. Spyro turned to his left and saw Trixie, though she appeared to be wearing a mask like the one from the Phantom of the Opera, but parts of her body were missing, sections missing as purple mist was coming from the empty gaps across her legs, torso, even from one of her eyes as she looked at him, continuing to disappear. "I thought that if I showed my magic and made up a story about how powerful I am, like how I beat a Ursa Major, everypony would like me. I... I thought that by doing these shows, showing off my magic, everyone would like me. But... but when Twilight showed me up with the Ursa Minor, they laughed at me, calling me a fraud. I just wanted to be remembered, loved, admired."
"Ah, so you don't want to be forgotten, is that what you fear?" Spyro asked.
"No, I... I'm afraid of disappointing my dad." Trixie said, walking to a dresser and picking up a photo that had a picture of her, her father, who is the same color as her and the same mane, a near spitting image, and her mother, a golden unicorn who looked happy. "My family, we're a family of performers. My parents wuld perform for ponies who had little to nothing to give. What money they had, they'd save up for us. Sometimes they'd give food just to let us have something to eat. Later, we came to canterlot andf I entered Celestia's school to learn more about magic. But... I wanted to be like my father, I wanted to become a famous magicina like him."
"Ah, now I see." Spyro said. "You come from a family of famous magicians, but you have a lot on your plate, others expecting you to be as great as your father."
"Yeah, so I made up the story about the Ursa." Trixie replied. "I want to be great like my dad, be remembered for my deeds, just like my dad."
Spyro could sense how much pain Trixie was in, walking over and standing next to her as he looked at the photo.
"You don't need to prove you're anything like your father Trixie." Spyro replied. "Your family put on those shows for those who had little to nothing, giving them happiness in the darkest of times." He then put his hoof on her shoulder, feeling how shaky she was. "But you shouldn't try to do the same things as your father, try to live up to the expectations that other place on you, but instead you need to forge your own path, do things that are as unique as you are." Spyro looked at the photo, seeing how happy they were, despite not having a lot. "If you want to be well known as your father, you must do stunts and feats that are things others haven't seen before, spells and tricks that you come up with, not what your audience will expect you'll do, but instead of belittling others and making yourself feel great, try making them happy, put on a show that will make them smile just like the way your father did." He then looekd to Trixie, see she was back to normal as she looked at her family phtoto, seeing how upset she was before placing his hoof on her shoulder, making the mare look at him before lunging and hugging him, catching him by surprise, but he hugged her back, smilig as he was hapy to help her when a light shined from the photo, a door appearing behind them, knowing what it meant. "Time to go."
"But... what will happen to me now?" Trixie asked. "Will they just shun me again?"
"Your fate is for you to decide." Spyro replied. "It may take time, but if you are willing, you will become a wonderful magician."
Trixie smiled, feeling her heart bang against her chest as they approached the door, the light shining as it engulfed them, flooding the entire room. In the real world, Trixie collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain as her transformation started to wear off, returning to normal as she ripped the Amulet off and threw it away, Spyro using the Force to grab the amulet and hold it as he helped Trixie up.
"It appears you're more resourceful than I once thought." Maleficent said. "Regardless, with that Amulet, I will be able to take this world and the countless others around!"
"Yeah, not going to happen." Spyro said. His horn started to glow as he levitated itno the air, expanding his wings as the membrane started to glow, filling in like Dark Reqium Xyz Dragon, growing bigger and bigger until there were black lines in the stain glass like light, smiling as he saw the shock and fear in Maleficents eyes. "Get off our world."
He then flapped his wings forward and from them, many lights shined out and hit the Maleficent, causing her to cover her eyes as shje was flung off the nearby building, being sent into the sky as she screamed, flying through the air and out of sight, Spyro defusing and returning to three ponies, looking to the sky.
"Think she'll be back?" Twilight asked.
"Twilight, the one thing you will need to learn is that villians always come back for more." Spyro answered, holding amulet and looking down at it. "She'll be back, I know it."
The crowd all cheered for him and Twilight, Trixie remaining out of the crowd as they all cheered and applauded them. Later that night, Twilight was conducting her show for the Princess and the delegates from Saddle Arabia, enjoying the show as Twilight had the animals do their stunts while Spyro was whistling, using his arrows to fly through some apples that APplejack threw up, amazing the crowd and as the last bit of the show was done, fireworks were going off, surprisng them both as they looked down and saw it was Trixie that provided the light show, putting her hat back on as they approached her.
"Trixie?" Twilight asked. "What are you doing here?"
"Providing a little more pizzazz for your show." Trixie said. "It's the least I could do after what I did to you, Spyro, and to all of Ponyville. After using the Alicorn Amulet, I... I couldn;t forgive myself for all of the horrible things I did."
"The path to redemption is never the easiest one Trixie." Spyro said, walking up to her. "But you're already on the right path. Right Twilight?"
Twilight wasn't sure about it, thinking it over before smiling, hopping down and approaching her.
"Sure, I think I can." Twilight replied.
"Oh, thank goodness." Trixie said, flicking her mane. "Don't you think the Great and Powerful Trixie is the most humble pony in the world!?"
She then threw down a smoke bomb, running away as both Spyro and Twilight smiled, shaking their heads at her.
"She's never going to change, will she?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, I think you might be surprised at how much someone can change." Spyro replied, watching as she ran. "Besides, I have a feeling we'll be seeing her again real soon. I mean after all, she is part of the family now."
"Guess you're, wait what?" Twilight asked, looking to Spyro as he walked away, questioning what he meant by that.
At the edge of town, Trixie had reached the first hillside and there before her was her wagon, completely repaired and in pristine condition like it was never destroyed, shocking Trixie as she approached it, seeing a note on the door, using her magic to take it off the door and bring it over to her.
"Hey Trixie,
I know you aren't one for making friends all that much, but I wanted to let you knwo that you aren't alone anymore. You can count on me to be your friend now and remember what I told you, it doesn't matter who your father is, you are the one whose doing your shows, not your father. You don't need to do the same stunts and tricks your father does, be creative with your shows. You don't need to live in your fathers shadow and think what he would do, jyst think of what you could do with your shows. I had a lot of spare time, so I thought I'd send you off with a little present, your wagon, fully repaired and fully operational, heck even added a few other features to the wagon to make you a bit more comfortable for you on your journey. Know that you are always welcome with us, even if the girls may not fully forgive you yet, they will in time.
Stay safe Trixie and hope to see you again soon.
Your friend,
Spyro.
P. S. Welcome to the herd."
Trixie read the note, surrpised and touched by the gesture from Spyro, looking back to the town and seeing Spyro approaching the Delegates, but he then stopped, turning to look at her and smile, waving good bye to her as she smiled, waving back as she felt her heart beat quickly as she looked at him, the Prince's light appearing on her chest as she walked away, attaching herself to her new wagon as she continued her journey across Equestria, hoping to redeem herself and hopefully have earned Twilight's forgiveness and everyone else's when she returned.