Tendrils of fog clung tightly to shadowed trees and pooled in the clearing. A dim light shone through the vapor, barely illuminating the clearing. A lone mare stood in the mist, shivering from the cold and glancing around nervously.

From everywhere, a voice reverberated, shaking the mare to her very bones. “You poor foal. You want power, something to defeat those who have humiliated you. You desire revenge. You feel deserving of such a fate. After all, who has worked harder for this than you? Who has put more effort forth than you?”

The ambient light suddenly increased in intensity and concentrated to a single point in front of the mare, nearly blinding her. “I have power you desire, but that does not mean you are going to get it. The question is, what you will do for me,” the voice continued. The sheer force of magic behind the voice nearly caused the mare to collapse. Despite the power, it spoke slowly, deliberately teasing her with its words.

The light moved closer, the sheer power radiating from it addicting to the mare. Before it reached her though, it paused. A single beam of light connected to her horn and the mare felt her mind probed against her will. The unfamiliar consciousness rifled through her memories, her wants, her needs. It spared her no comfort, viciously bringing up memory after painful memory and just as quickly discarding them. The consciousness finally left, satisfied with what it found. The mare’s head was left aching, pounding from the rough handling.

There was a pregnant pause, but finally the voice spoke a single sentence, so quietly the mare almost couldn’t hear.  

“I think you’ll do just fine.”

The already overbearing presence increased, causing her to shake violently. The mare in the mist was finally forced down onto her stomach. The sheer amount of magic would have overwhelmed lesser ponies long before, but not her. The light started to drift over to her, the sense of oppression growing all the while.

All of the light in the clearing coalesced into a single point. The contrast between light and dark left her nearly blinded. Finally, the light touched her horn. A searing bolt of pain flooded her mind, leaving her senseless.

The pain dissipated with the bright flare. The mare rolled onto her side, body heaving with each painful breaths. Her coat glistened with sweat and she struggled to compose herself. But still, she smiled.

“Th-thank you,” the mare managed to gasp out. The mist slowly dissipated, fading to black. From the growing shadows, the voice rang out once again.

“Ah yes, my little pony. Have fun with your new toys, but remember your debt,” the voice finished ominously. Silence fell, leaving the mare alone in the dark.

A single thought now filled the mare’s mind.

Wake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight’s life couldn’t have been more perfect. She had the best friends in all of Equestria, she had a regular correspondence with the two princesses, and she lived comfortably in a growing town.

For the first time in quite a while, her life was peaceful. Discord had been defeated, Luna was free, and her friends were as happy as could be. Sure, they sometimes had problems like Trixie or Gilda, but they always seemed to work out. Barring the appearance of anymore long-lost foes, she could actually have some time to finally get in real research without any disturbances. But that was for tomorrow.

It was with this feeling of contentment that Twilight finished her nightly schedule and checked the last item off of her regular list (which just so happened to be, “check final item off of ‘get ready for bed’ checklist”).

“Good night Spike!” Twilight called out cheerily. She was finally settling into bed for the night. Spike only mumbled something in return, too far gone already to be coherent. Twilight smiled in amusement at her assistant and pulled the covers up around herself. She let her horn-light die out and closed her eyes, counting pegasi to sleep. She flickered on the edge of consciousness, going through one final mental checklist. Unfortunately, Twilight would not get her sleep, not tonight.

Her wall exploded.

The explosion blew catapulted her from her bed, twisting her up in her blankets. Debris from the wall peppered her body with multiple small cuts and bruises. The larger pieces thankfully missed her. The accompanying boom left her temporarily deaf.

Twilight struggled her way out from the mess of her covers. Spike was much better off; he was able to get to his feet quickly and was apparently unharmed; her bed must have shielded him from most of the damage. Through the smoke and dust, Twilight could vaguely discern a pony-shaped silhouette in the new hole in her wall.

Twilight got to her hooves and shook her head, trying to clear away some of the dizziness. Her horn shimmered as she cast a spell to clear away the smoke. Most of the smoke instantly cleared, leaving only a faint tinge of gray in the air and an acrid smell. Twilight’s eyes widened in shock, easily recognizing the mare.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie’s voice boomed, resonating with raw, powerful magic. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is so very happy to see you! It’s been too long!”

Twilight’s horn flared to life again, reflexively summoning a protective bubble. “H-hello Trixie. I don’t suppose you have a good reason for bursting into my library like this?”

Twilight’s nervous stuttering sounded pathetic in response to Trixie’s sheer confidence. Trixie’s superior grin became something closer to a sneer.

“Oh Twilight. You remember don’t you? All that time ago when The Great and Powerful Trixie visited your ‘quaint’ little village. She had so much fun! The show amazed everypony, naturally, even your friends! And then you had to come along.”

Her smooth tone twisted, becoming malicious. The blue mare started to pace in front of the hole now.

“You. The self-righteous prodigy of the princess herself! No, you had to come and be a big hero and make The Great and Powerful Trixie look like a loser! Let me tell you something Twilight. No pony, and I mean no pony makes a foal out of the Great and Powerful Trixie! Not anymore at least.” Trixie abruptly started cackling crazily. Her horn started to glow, sparks flickering off it in an unadulterated display of power.

“L-Look, I don’t suppose we could, er, talk our way through this?” Twilight asked. Trixie didn’t feel the same anymore. Her magic hadn’t been dismissible when they first met, certainly above average, but now? Now it was oppressive, almost suffocating. And the look in Trixie’s eyes was hauntingly similar to that of Pinkamina’s, but with a cold intelligence behind them. Twilight telekinetically pulled Spike behind her, the young dragon shaking and hiding his eyes.

“Oh no Twilight. Your chance to beg for forgiveness is long passed. You belittled the Great and Powerful Trixie --now Trixie is going to prove who the real magician is!” Trixie’s horn flared brighter and Twilight felt something nip at the edge of her shield.

Twilight could feel her shield started to decompose. Normally, when her shield broke, it went away all at once. This was slower, like the shield was dying. The magic touching her felt like nothing she had felt before; it felt toxic.

In a panic, Twilight hugged Spike to her chest and teleported away, outside the library. She could hear Trixie’s magically amplified voice scream in frustration. Twilight readied another teleportation spell, trying to get as far away from the enraged Trixie as possible.

Before she could even begin to gather her concentration she was interrupted by a telekinetic blast to the face. The force separated her from Spike, sending her clear across the square.

Twilight landed flat on her face, eliciting a painful groan. She felt foreign magic flip her onto her back and saw Trixie looming over her. Trixie’s appearance had changed now. The color had left her eyes, leaving them shining white, overflowing with power. The light flowing from Trixie’s eyes was hypnotizing and Twilight lost herself within it. The azure unicorn’s horn glowed with both her normal magic and something deeper, a sickly green shine.

As Trixie began to speak, Twilight noticed her sharpened teeth; a new wave of terror washed over her and she began to struggle. Trixie only chuckled and forced her back into the dirt.

“You won’t escape the Great and Powerful Trixie that easily! Quite a poor show coming for the fabled Princess’s apprentice!” Trixie’s mocking tone was accompanied by a condescending sneer.

Somehow Trixie had procured a knife gripping it tight in her magic. The knife touched the base of Twilight’s horn as she squeezed her eyes shut, praying it was all a nightmare.

Suddenly, Trixie’s weight was gone, her oppressive magic shoved away from her along with a great whoosh of air. The knife fell, cutting her cheek on the way down. Twilight dared to open her eyes again; Trixie had been thrown all the way across the clearing and now stood opposite an unlikely figure.

Luna landed on the ground with a crash, sending up a cloud of dirt. Her horn shone with the light of the moon and her eyes gleamed with ferocity. “Thou shalt not harm Twilight Sparkle lest thou deal with us!” The night princess shouted in the royal Canterlot voice. Twilight struggled to her feet and tried to move closer to Luna, only to be stopped by an invisible barrier.

“And you’re going to be the one to stop the Great and Powerful Trixie?” Trixie asked mockingly. “Not even an alicorn can stand against the Great and Powerful Trixie!” She lashed her head, sending a wave of white flames out towards Luna. Even from the other side of the barrier, Twilight could feel how magically intense they were, enough to scorch a pony to the bones. Luna didn’t bother moving immediately, waiting for the flames to get close and obscure her visage. At the last moment, she teleported behind Trixie and bucked her before she could even realize what was happening.

Trixie’s body flew through the air, landing in her own conjured flames. She yelled out, with the savagery of a wild animal. The flames instantly disappeared. Trixie now stood where her flames had been, cape singed but otherwise unharmed.

“Take thy warning! Thou may be strong, but we have been fighting for centuries!” Luna taunted, an honest-to-Celestia smirk on her face. Luna’s stance radiated confidence, and she stood ready to enforce her threat.

Trixie’s eyes narrowed, but for once, she kept her mouth shut. Instead, she replied by sending multiple azure missiles streaking towards Luna. Luna simply moved out of the way for most of them, but sent the few that got too close back towards their owner, twice as fast. Trixie’s eyes widened in shock as her own missiles sliced through her skin, drawing blood. Luna teleported once more, this time striking Trixie’s muzzle with a forehoof. Trixie tumbled across the ground.

Trixie barely managed to pull her battered body to her hooves. Her eyes had started to dim enough to make out her eye color. “I- The Great and Powerful Trixie shall return!” She proclaimed. Her magically enhanced voice slipped for a second, revealing her weakness. In a bright flash of green and accompanying bang, she disappeared.

Twilight still stood, stunned by the display of such powerful magics. As soon as the barrier dropped though, Twilight sprinted across the square towards Spike’s prone form, desperate to ensure her trusted assistant’s safety.

“Spike?!” She tried to shake him awake, gripping him in her magic and levitating him to her face. The little dragon didn’t move, but his steadily rising and falling chest assured her that he was still alive. Twilight sighed in relief and placed him gently on her back.

Preoccupied with her assistant, Twilight didn’t notice Luna approach from behind her, seemingly unaffected by the battle she had just fought and the amount of magic spent. “Twilight Sparkle, how fare thee?” Luna asked, toning down her volume for a face to face conversation.

“L-Luna? W-What was all that!?” Twilight yelped, eyes grown to the size of saucers.

“That? That was nothing,” Luna answered with a scoff. “Come now, it appears as if it is not safe for thee here. We would like thee to accompany us to Canterlot.” Luna started to lead the way through the square, in the direction of the town hall as if she already knew what Twilight was going to answer.

“O-of course I’ll come. But princess, what about my friends? And how did you know I was in trouble?” Twilight questioned, struggling to keep up with the longer strides of the princess of the night.

“Patience, Ms. Sparkle. We will explain all when we are safely in Canterlot castle. Chariots have been dispatched for thy friends. Thou art safe.” Twilight frowned at the blunt dismissal but didn’t press on. If the princess said she had it under control, it was not Twilight’s place to doubt her.

They traveled in silence until they reached the town hall, where a chariot awaited them headed by two of Luna’s bat-ponies. “Climb aboard,” Luna ordered. Twilight boarded it without a second thought, used to following the Princesses’ commands, and the chariot instantly took to the sky, followed by Luna herself.

Hundreds of questions flooded Twilight’s mind. How had Trixie gotten so strong? She certainly wasn’t so overwhelming the last time she had been in Ponyville. Talented yes, but not in terms of raw magic.

And how had Luna managed to show up exactly when she needed her? There was definitely something going on here more than just Trixie’s petty vengeance and Twilight intended to find out.