Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and tried to suppress a growl. There was no way Trixie could have done that on her own. It was impossible. Not even Sweet had been able to pull off anything like that, and she had been the best of the worst. Trixie was cheating. There was no other explanation.

Stage one was being airlifted away by a group of pegasi. Soon, an identical stage would be flown in to replace it. Royal Blue was already on stage two and beginning to make cinnamon rolls. He always liked doing the fancy things and showing off just how bad he could be while still doing technical maneuvers. Now he was a worthy rival. It would definitely be Rainbow Dash and Royal Blue in the finals again this year. Not that cheater Trixie.

Rainbow Dash watched Trixie approach the competitor’s booth. She had that smug look on her face again. Well, it was actually more a look of exhaustion. Was it possible to be smugly exhausted? If it was, that was the look Trixie had.

“Nice moves,” Rainbow Dash said dryly as Trixie sat down.

“Thank you.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“So was I.”

Rainbow Dash placed her hooves on her forehead and ran them down her face. “I can’t believe—”

“—how annoying I am. Yes, Rainbow Dash. You’ve been telling me this all day. I haven’t forgotten.”

The audience cheered as a cloud of cinnamon erupted from the stage. Rainbow Dash ignored Royal Blue and the commentary from Spike and Pinkie. She instead focused on Trixie.

“How did you do it?”

“Looking for some pointers?”

Rainbow Dash could no longer hold back the growl. “More like trying to find out just how bad you’re cheating.”

“Cheating? Me?” Trixie laughed. “Why, Rainbow Dash. Do you say that to everypony better than you?”

Rainbow Dash grumbled. “Just you wait until it’s my turn. I’ll show you how it’s done.”

Trixie smirked and started watching Royal Blue’s performance. Rainbow Dash glared at Trixie and then noticed something odd. A patch of blue, darker than Trixie’s coat, peeking out from under her hat. Rainbow Dash had seen patches like that before. Realization set in. Trixie was cheating and she now had the proof. All she had to do was wait until halftime and then talk with Sweet.

Luna watched the competitors on stage. More accurately, Luna watched the competitors’ auras on stage. Trixie’s had been strange. At first, she had no aura. Then it suddenly flared to life, larger than any aura Luna had witnessed yet. However, the aura quickly dwindled and Trixie rode the residual magic into the finish. Trixie didn’t have the natural talent, or the unnatural talent, or... Luna really had to work on classifying these terms. Something was assisting Trixie in touching the bad baking magic and allowing her to use it in short bursts. This whole competition was starting to worry Luna. She didn’t like the idea that there were ponies besides her and her sister who could touch the background magic of the world itself.

The world’s magic was difficult to explain to somepony that couldn’t see it. It was like a field full of gently rolling curves that expanded in every direction imaginable. It was divided into two parts. The foreground magic; that existed within everypony, and the background magic; that made everything work. The foreground magic was simple. Unicorn spells, pegasus sky magic, the earth pony connection to the land. There was more but that covered the basics. The background magic was complex. Every fundamental rule from gravity, to the seasons, and even the ability to move the moon and sun was tied into the background magic. Small changes to the background magic could have huge effects on the physical world. This bad baking magic was not a small change.

Loud cheering caused Luna to lose her concentration. Fireworks were going off in the air. She wondered where they were coming from until she noticed another one launch from stage one. Sunny Lights was there. She was smiling and looking up as, one by one, her biscuits were igniting, launching into the air, and then exploding into multi-colored balls of light.

“A most impressive display,” Spike said.

“I love fireworks! Although, I wonder how Sunny Lights is going to have her biscuits tasted now that they all exploded.”

Sunny Lights’ smile slowly faded as she realized she was about to be disqualified. Fair Breeze was getting ready to compete next. Luna returned to her thoughts.

If the world’s magic was like a field, then the bad baking magic was like a rock placed on the field. It would have started off with no real attachment, but slowly over time, it would become embedded into the field and become a part of it. The bad baking magic had to have been added sometime during the last few decades. It still poked out enough that it was noticeable if you knew where to look. There were few beings powerful enough to make lasting changes to the background magic, and one of them had been absent for the past thousand years. It took time, but Luna began to recognize the two magical essences that made up the rock—er, bad baking magic. She did not like the implications of it.

Luna sighed and went back to watching the auras. All the contestants had large auras. Luna’s original theory that having a large aura meant being a worse baker was likely true. That would explain why Rainbow Dash was the champion. Her aura was huge, easily the largest. That is except for one other pony. Luna looked at Derpy.

Derpy’s aura had changed. It was still slippery and pure, but... the only word Luna could think of to describe it now was ‘violent.’ It was like a swirling chaos of a storm cloud ready to burst. Stranger still, it had also grown tremendously since Luna had last seen it. Derpy had a haunted look on her face.

“Are you alright?” Luna asked.

Derpy shook her head and whispered, “The enemy is angry with me.”

The enemy. That was how Derpy referred to her aura. Seeing it now, Luna could understand why she called it that.

“You don’t have to go out there if you don’t want to,” Luna said. “I could win, and then give you the prize.”

Derpy shook her head again. “I have to be the one to do it. Dinky is counting on me.”

Luna understood. It wasn’t a matter of pride. It was love. The years’ worth of free food wouldn’t mean the same thing if it came from some other pony. Derpy’s turn was fast approaching. Luna worried what would happen to her friend.