Chapter 7 - The Cold Heart

All six mares look up from the ground, noticing the tall dark-blue mare that looks at them with glaring eyes. Her luminesant-white mane hangs over her face and waves in the wind, like it's made of snow. Though the tips of her mane seem almost solid, crystallic like ice. A horn and wings are attached to her body, just like the sadistic smile of satisfaction on her face. A large sapphire-blue crystal is decorating the silver chestplate, glowing with a very recognizable glow of power. But even if everything on the alicorn looks nearly unrecognizeable, her Cutie Mark is not: A cloak and a magic wand. The alicorn truly is the "Great" and "Powerful" Trixie.

'Trixie, It really is you, isn't it?' Twilight whispers as her eyes look over every inch of the mare, nearly unable to recognize anything of her original form.

This is the second time that Twilight sees this form of corruption. Her fears of Lord Ignis haven't passed since that day, making her a little scared to see the once-harmless artist turned into a mare of mass destruction. It's just like Spectrum Brush's accident: Trixie has been transformed by one of the mightiest beings of Equestria.

'Lady Fame is in no control, if that's what your wondering,' the mare comfirms and continues to chuckle at the faces of the astonished mares. 'You all expected to see Trixie again as the little mare as she was, didn't you?

'Wow! She turned around just like Brushy!' Pinkie Pie realizes, recognizing the smililarities between Trixie's and Brush's transformations.

Trixie smiles, understanding that the terrible experience from Lord Ignis is still burned in their memories. 'Yes, that's right. Except this time: Trixie remains in control!

'How in Celestia's name did you do it?' Twilight asks her, dieing of curiousity about what Trixie has that Brush didn't.

The question causes Trixie to laugh, mocking the purple mare. 'Trixie is far more talented in magic! Ofcourse Trixie would remain dominant over the alicorn and claim her power for myself!'

'Th-Then why did you freeze Ponyville? Why freeze all of Equestria?' Twilight asks, growing a little scared of the tall blue mare.

'To lure you fools out...,' she grunts in response. 'All those fools deserved to suffer, like they mocked me!'

'Y-You're not serious, are you, Trixie?' Twilight asks, hoping that Trixie is lying.

But the alicorn shakes her head and smiles. 'Look me in the eyes and tell me that Trixie is joking. Trixie came, Trixie saw, Trixie conquered. And know what? It was FUN to see everypony squirm!'

Her words are filled with sadistic joy. Trixie's motives are vague, showing no true reason of why she would go through so much trouble. The mystery tickles Twilight's brain, making her grow a need to know why this nemesis has turned her back on so many ponies.

'I let you go that day... I thought you'd return and come around your mistakes. But it seems I was wrong about you after all...,' Twilight sighs, dissapointed to have believed that Trixie would've changed her attitude by now.

'Oh, Trixie's heart is bleeding,' the alicorn laughs at her. 'Sorry to not shake hooves that day and become best friends forever. It's a good thing that I didn't turn out as the likes of you... It made Trixie stronger and more talented than before!'

'More talented and stronger? Look at you! You have desecrated your own mind and body for power and knowledge! How can you live with yourself?!' Twilight asks her, unable to understand the reasons of Trixie's rash actions. 'I may have only seen you one day. But I know that you have been an artist in your shows throughout Equestria, becoming a succes on your own talents!'

'And a big bloated pushover...,' Rarity grunts in herself.

'That was long ago. That Ursa Minor wrecked my home and supplies, remember? Though, I've left that behind now. As you could see: I paid him and his mother back in full...,' she laughs and looks at the crushed rock, once serving as the home cave of the Ursas. 'It was thanks to you that Trixie realized her weakness! Trixie became terrible at the following shows after Ponyville, becoming a laughing stock for the audiance! I had to sleep outside in the cold, because I had no place to stay anymore!'

She takes a moment to take a few breaths and calm down. The blue alicorn doesn't want to give her enemies the satisfaction of her anger.

'But now everything is different! Trixie has her own talents! Lady Fame's are a part of MINE now! And Trixie will use them to show all of you ingrates just what she has accomplished!' she laughs again, amused the idea that she can truly make everything happen as she pleases.

'You mean a pair of wings and a bigger horn?' Rainbow Dash mocks her. 'All you managed to do was give me a cold!

Without much of a reaction, Trixie's eyes simply stare at the cocky rainbow-maned mare. 'Well, Trixie also managed to break you fools apart... Trixie doubts that she needs to prove any further?'

'So it really was you, hm?' Rainbow Dash asks. 'Well, that only proves that your powers are nothing! You tried to make us hate each other. But now were still together!'

'Grrrr...,' Trixie grunts provoked, grumpy about that she's been proven wrong by a pony she deems weak. 'Silence! If it wasn't for that bothersome stallion and his cursed devotion, you would still be fighting with each other,'

'His name is Spectrum Brush! And you betrayed him, along with Princess Luna!' Twilight shouts, angry and confused about why Trixie would do such a thing, after being treated so well by the princess and lost artist. 'He thought you were a friend, Trixie! How could you throw that away for mere power? Wasn't the talent you had enough?'

'NO! Ofcourse it wasn't enough!' she shouts back, which mysteriously affects the storm, causing the wind to blow even harder. 'Trixie doesn't need friends! Trixie only needs herself! Hopeless fools like the painter are only thorns in my side! He will never understand true power!'

'He understands very well, Trixie...,' Twilight mumbles. 'He knows that power doesn't come from strength, horns, or wings. He knows that true strength is friendship: A combined power that can overcome any obstacle!'

'Trixie has been alone for months in the Frozen North, braving the coldest mountains on Equestria. Trixie doesn't need anypony! Spectrum Brush was merely a little guideline to my succes and has served his purpose now! Trixie had to be patient... Trixie had to wait... Trixie DESERVES this power!' she shouts in anger, both mad about the confrontation with her most hated nemesis and the idea of what she had to go through to get this far. But then Trixie sighs and smiles again. 'But what about you, Twilight Sparkle? If you're so determined in stopping me with your friends, what is letting you from doing so? Why are we talking, while you're supposed to stop me and bring "peace" to Equestria as usual?'

Twilight is still waiting for Princess Luna to arrive with the Elements, believing it to be the only thing that keeps them from beating the almighty alicorn. But she doesn't want Trixie to know THAT. But if Luna takes any longer, they'll be forced to fight Trixie with their own skills. Either it will be enough to stop her, or atleasy buy time.

'Trixie will say why: You are scared,' the blue mare tells them. 'All ponies are scared. My power has become so much greater... It shifts the balance of Equestria by the mere blink of my eye! All this knowledge in this tiny gem... You envy me, don't you?'

'Forget it! I would never do something so incredibly stupid, even if it wouldn't cost me my friends!' Twilight shouts provoked, furious over how Trixie is trying to make her seem as heartless as she is. She can feel her blood boiling of anger. Not because she aches for vengeance on Trixie, but to stop her from causing more harm to any pony. Twilight will always remain true to fight for a right cause, while Trixie only believes in herself.

'And that's exactly what makes me the strongest,' the alicorn nods. 'With such attitude. Trixie could never hope on surpassing the student of Princess Celestia.'

'That's enough out of you, Trixie!' Applejack shouts and moves to Twilight's side. 'Ya been blaming Twilight this whole time for your own mistakes! It's exactly what I'd expect from a coward such as yourself: Unable to handle the truth.'

'Darn right!' Rainbow Dash agrees and moves to Twilight's side as well. 'A weak and cocky mare like you would never understand the right values! You make truths up in your head as you see fit and does whatever's neccesary to get back it!'

'Twilight has nothing done anything to you,' Rarity says and follows Dash. 'In fact: She saved your live along with everypony else's! If it weren't for her, you would have become bearfood.'

'Maybe we were too hard on you...,' Fluttershy mumbles. 'The ponies only challenged you to see if you were as good as you said you were that day. You seemed overconfident, even though you've proven to be very talented. But... If it's somehow my fault that you hold such a grudge against me and my friends... I'm sorry.'

'Yea!' Pinkie Pie cheers, seeming to be happy. 'Sure: You messed up bigtime against that Ursa back then. But that doesn't mean we can't let bygones be bygones, right? We can still settle our differences, stop this winter and celebrate a happy ending!'

Trixie seems somewhat surprised by the mares' remaining confidence and the courage to try and lecture HER. She doesn't become angry though, even though she's been told that she's believing in lies and that SHE is a madmare here. After all: These mares are not the likes of which she should feel insulted by. She merely chuckles instead, finding entertainment in their attempts for peaceful resolvings.

'-hmhm-' she snickers and looks at the orange pony. 'So, I am a coward? I blame the mare that cost me my show, which means I am a coward? I believe it is you who is the true coward, farmgirl. You fear me, which causes you to lash out instead of keeping it down. You seem so brave... while actually you're scared to the bone...'

'And you...,' she continues to speak as she turns her gaze towards the rainbow-maned mare. 'I don't understand the right values? Are you truly in a position to say that to me? You say I'm making up the truth, yet you were the one that immidiatly blamed your best of friends when you were struck by the apples I shot at you. They were your friends! They were the ones that you could always trust, right? Isn't that the what you mean by "the right values?"

'I could say the same about you,' she snickers and turns to Rarity. 'Twilight Sparkle saved my and your lives? She prevented me from becoming that Ursa's dinner? Is that what you truly believe, or are you simply backing up your friend's excuses in order to not seem like a friend who only has bad things to say about her friends? You have trouble with the differences between the others, forcing you to ignore it and support them: Fooling yourself. How can you say I am making up lies, when you may be doing the exact same thing?'  

The mares are shut silent, feeling strange to be taught a lesson like this by their enemy. They remember Trixie as a selfish and ignorant mare who only thinks like she's the whole world. It's Lady Fame's knowledge that she is able to abuse for her own excuses. She uses her mind as a weapon to make them doubt, just like she did to seperate them. Trixie's greatest weapon now is not just her extensive knowledge of spells, but her brains.

'No,' Twilight suddenly says. 'I don't believe a word you say, Trixie.'

Trixie looks down at the purple mare, astonished by her words 'Wh-What?' the alicorn asks surprised, not having expected an answer like this.

'No matter what you say: The utmost truth is that ESPECIALLY you are not the right mare to judge others. You betrayed those that wouldn't betray you, selfishly accepted powers that are beyond your control and only wanted to break us apart for your amusement,' Twilight speaks from her heart, piercing through Trixie's lies. 'Maybe the things you say are true or not. But I know I can always trust my friends no matter what. And I also know that it's about time that your madness ends now.'

Her friends look astonished at the confident purple mare, realizing the truths that she spoke in the open. Even if they has a little trouble between each other a while ago, it doesn't mean that they're bad friends. Everything that Trixie tells them are simply excuses to break them apart again, which means that they will have to disregard anything that Trixie may say no matter how convincing it may be. They stand together: Ready to finish the madness of the Great and Powerful Trixie.

The alicorn remains quiet as she continues to look at the confident face of Twilight Sparkle. Even if terrible underpowered, Twilight has outsmarted the blue mare. She won't be able to seperate the mares anymore, meaning that this is one battle that she lost. But she continues to smile, knowing that the real one is about to begin.

'Very well... You win, Twilight Sparkle... But I shall win the final battle,' she promises. 'My lonely self VS you six? It's unfair for you... but ok. Allow me to remind you: Ignis was able to take you on without breaking a sweat' Trixie mocks them, implying that their presence is of no threat to her.

The mares continue to stand ready to take her down, unmoved by her threats. But other than standing, they don't actually show the guts to land the first strike. They remain standing in the cold until a minute passes, without even having moved one hoof. Trixie has grown tired of waiting.

'What, are you scared to battle the Great and Powerful Trixie now? Where's the party?'

'Oh, I like parties!' Pinkie Pie chuckles, gullible to believe that Trixie has no harm in mind with her words. 'Does that mean you're going to surrender? That would make everything so much easier for everypony!'

'That was a play on words...,' Trixie mumbles, only to be ignored by the pink mare completely.

'Let's head over to Sugercube Corner and talk this over like friends! We'll have some cake and play some games...,' she says as she imagines it.

Her friends look with big eyes at Pinkie Pie, astonished about what could possible cause the mare to come up with ideas like these at a time like this. They're in conflict with the most selfish mare of all. And Pinkie Pie can think of is settling things peacefully and celebrate. Though meant with the best intentions, they all know that it would never work.

The alicorn slowly gets more and more irritated by her voice.

'Alright! You will be the highlighter of this celebration!' the alicorn laughs and aims her horn in the pink mare's direction.

Before anypony could comprehend what is happening during Pinkie's chattering, the horn of Trixie begins to glow with a white radiance. The light reflects from the smooth crater's side, causing the entire area to light up. A white beam explodes out of her horn, passing between the other mares with the speed of sound. Pinkie Pie looks up when she hears and sees the light coming at her, moments before it crashes her. Pinkie’s panicking screams slowly fade in the white light that comes from her, followed by a chilly mist that shrouds in a few meters radius around her.

'PINKIE PIE!' Rainbow Dash shouts, panicking for how her friend next to her got hit by Trixie's spell.

The mares continue to look in horror at the mist where Pinkie stood, growing more and more anxious as the earth pony remains silent. Once the clouds slowly blow away, her friends all gasp in horror. There stands Pinkie Pie: frozen solid inside a large block of ice. Her face is still posing like when she screamed, wrecking the memory of the always cheerful Pinkie Pie.

'Instant freezing spell,' Trixie tells them with a sadistic chuckle of satisfaction. 'Works perfectly against loudmouths such as her.'

'T-Trixie, are you mad?! Unfreeze her!' Twilight tells her as she's shocked by the terrible abnormal action. Combat with spells is one thing. But this is even greater madness than any pony could expect even from Trixie.

'Not a chance,' the alicorn bluntly answers. 'It's possibly the most favorite spell that Trixie controls now. And I find it a very good fate for my enemies...'

'Please, Trixie...,' Fluttershy mumbles, barely hearable to anypony but herself. 'We don't know why you're so upset or what we ever did to you to deserve this, but please change free Pinkie Pie. She always has the best intentions, including for you.'

'And... who are you?' she grunts when she looks at the anxious little Fluttershy. 'You've never been to one of my shows as far as I remember.'

'P-Please d-don't hurt me,' she whimpers in fear and walks back slowly.

'Enough, Trixie!' Twilight shouts. 'You've crossed the line for REAL now! Unfreeze Pinkie Pie and leave everypony alone!'

'Please, Sparkle, let the little mare speak. The scared pegasus didn't got to speak to me when I wasn't this powerful, yet now she gets the honor. I would like to hear what she has to say further,' Trixie chuckles and turns her attention back to Fluttershy. 'Now, "Fluttershy," what is it that you ask of Trixie?'

She needs a moment to swallow her fear and speak again, afraid that she may get the same treatment as Pinkie Pie if she doesn't live up to Trixie's anticipations. 'L-Last time, when you held your show in Ponyville, I wasn't around to see everything. If I take up a challenge now, will you free Pinkie Pie?'

Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity look in surprise when their friend offers the challenge against the almighty mare. Trixie begins to smile, seemingly interested by the pegasus' offer.

'Are you insane, Fluttershy?' Rainbow Dash asks her doubtful. 'What makes you think you can beat her with a magic trick?'

'If... If I win, will you free her?' Fluttershy asks.

Trixie chuckles, growing more amused when she figures that Fluttershy is being serious about this. 'Alright then. If you win: I shall free the pink terror again,' she promises with a hoof on her heart, causing Fluttershy to believe that she got a chance to help.

But her friends know better. They know that even if Fluttershy would manage to win, Trixie will never uphold her end of the bargain.

'Dun' do it, Fluttershy,' Applejack warns her. 'Ya know this ain't gonna work.'

'B-But I've been given the chance already!' Fluttershy tells the orange earth pony. 'If I got a chance to help my friends, I must take it!'

Fluttershy moves slowly forwards, until she stands before the tall blue alicorn. Even though she shivers from fear, Flutttershy is eager to give it a shot to save her friend.

'Now then, what would you challenge the Great and Powerful Trixie with?' Trixie asks the puny mare.

'I... I challenge you to...,' Fluttershy speaks as she thinks, trying to come up with something that she can win with. '-Ehm-...I challenge you in who can give the best compliments!'

Everypony is baffled to this request. A challenge of giving compliments. It sounds nearly ridiculous. But when giving thought: It may be something that Fluttershy could actually be better at than Trixie.

'-Haha!- That challenge has NEVER been offered to Trixie. It sounds rather ridiculous,' Trixie tells her and laughs, proving from her mocking that it's truly something that the "Great and Powerful" Trixie can't do even with her newfound power. 'But... I accept.'

Even though a duel that Fluttershy most likely could win, her friends are still worried because she's dealing with TRIXIE.

'Are you sure you want to continue with this, Fluttershy?' Rarity asks her.

But Fluttershy simply turns around to her and smiles.  

'Your friends seem worried about you,' Trixie tells her, causing Fluttershy to look back at her. 'You should be glad to have them.'

Fluttershy nods. 'But so should you, Trixie. You've been on your own for who-knows-long, but you continue to stand tall and be proud.'

And like that: the challenge has begun.

'May I just say that your shows are inspirational?' Fluttershy asks. 'You have a talent for excelling above other and decorate it with such a grand show. It nearly makes you seem invincible by your mere devotion.'

Trixie smiles and nods. 'Thank you, Flutttershy. You are most certainly right. I've been always put alot of effort in my work, hoping to receive the praise I would deserve.'

'And you should really not stop with that! You should start your touring again and show everypony your talents! It's both entertaining as it is a test to the ones that need to calm down about their own overconfidence.'

'Alas, that is too late. It's kind of you to have faith in me, unlike many others do, but it's too late. The damage has been done, regretfully as it may be,' Trixie answers to her. 'You are lucky, Fluttershy. You've never had trouble to deal with hate or pain for others. You see deep in others' souls and try to uncover the kindness that resides deep within. You deserve a good life.'  

Fluttershy chuckles softly, finding comfort in their peaceful conversation. Her friends ca hardly believe it: Their most anxious friend has found peace between herself and the most destructive mare of Equestria.

'You're too kind,' she mumbles and begins to blush from the compliments. 'You deserve a good future, just like everypony else does. There's nopony whou wouldn't deserve a good life, no matter how dark their hearts may be.'

'Maybe... you're right, Fluttershy,' Trixie whispers. 'Just maybe you're right...'

'Believe me, Trixie: It's never too late,' Fluttershy tells her.

Both mares speak no words anymore. The five friends behind the pegasus are waiting anxiously for what follows. When the time continues to pass in silent, Rainbow Dash dares to ask the question that everypony has on their minds.

'So... who's judging who wins?' Rainbow Dash wonders out loud. 'Because if it's us, I will most likely vote for Fluttershy!'

'No, we are the judges,' Fluttershy tells her friends. 'It's tough to judge something like kindness. It's not just the words, behind the meaning behind them.'

'Trixie agrees,' the cold mare answers. 'Who do you believe wins, Fluttershy?'

The pegasus thinks deeply, puzzling out in her own way of how valuable the words were that were spoken by both of them. 'It's tough...,' she mumbles in thought. 'What is your opinion, Trixie?'

The others have no doubt about what Trixie will answer. She will most likely vote for herself, considering her true egotistcal nature. Trixie was most likely faking all her kindness, managing to even fool Fluttershy. All she has to do is declare herself the winner, and Fluttershy might not even object.

'I'd say Fluttershy wins,' Trixie suddenly tells them, astonishing the other mares completely. 'You've proven to be more kind than Trixie, which means that you have defeated Trixie with a skill that surpasses hers. You should have the honors, in my opinion.'

'That's very kind of you, Trixie...,' Fluttershy whispers, realizing that she has been granted victory by the "selfish" mare. Fluttershy seems to have won, due to the surrendering words of Trixie. Her reward: Pinkie Pie's release out of her icy prison, as promised.

'But... this is exactly why YOU win,' Fluttershy suddenly claims.

'Wh-What?!' Rainbow Dash asks baffeled. Her friends react the same way: astonished by Fluttershy's unreasonable decision. She had won from the powerful blue mare, but forfeits before claiming the prize.

'You haven't lost before. Have you, Trixie?' the mare asks. 'Defeat now would scar your victory... I wouldn't like to ruin that for you.'

'You're certain, Fluttershy? It would mean you loses. Would you really give up a chance to save Pinkie Pie just to keep me from the only defeat Trixie would know?' Trixie humbly asks.

'I do...,' Fluttershy mumbles with a smile. 'But.. it was fun, right?' she asks and smiles at the tall mare, remaining sportive about her loss.

'It certainly was,' Trixie agrees and smiles in return. If Fluttershy didn't know better, she could swear that there's a sparkle of joy in Trixie's eyes.

Fluttershy nods and turns around, off to walk back to her friends. She gave it a shot to save Pinkie Pie without any unnecesary violence and failed. But she feels like she bonded with the powerful mare. After giving compliments to one another, it feels like they've become friends. It may change Trixie's way of thinking bad about friendship, causing her to understand the folly of her diabolical plans.

She can only hope for the best and looks at her friends. They all show a faint smile to cover up the sadness of her loss to free Pinkie Pie. Even though they should be terrified about Fluttershy's decision to give up victory, they believe in their friend and trust her gut. The pegasus is coming closer to them. But then everything suddenly turns white in her vision and she feels cold all around her.  

'You forgot your consolation prize,' Trixie snickers as she looks at Flutttershy, who is now frozen inside solid ice. The alicorn's horn is still breathing a freezing cold mist from her freeze spell, which has claimed another victim. The mares look at horror at the second friend that got frozen up, without even the slightest proper reason.

'Fluttershy!' they shout together, though the pegasus is unable to hear them.

Fluttershy remains in a trotting pose, still with the smile on her face. But when looking closely at her, anypony could see that her eyes are filled with fear. She has shown forgiveness and kindness to Trixie, which only resulted into nothing but utter defeat.

'What in tarnation?! You said nothing about this, madmare!' Applejack shouts furious.

The alicorn gloats over the angry faces of the mares, understanding that by freezing Fluttershy she provoked them even further. 'Trixie didn't say that she WOULDN'T freeze her if the pegasus would lose, did she?' she answers with a smile.

This act of betrayal weighs like a ton on the remaining mares' minds. Fluttershy tried to reason with her, befriend her and even give her the pleasure of holding onto her winningstreak. And still, she froze Flutttershy up for the fun of it. Trixie has done terrible things already, but this is one hoofstep too far.

'You ain't getting away from this!' Applejack shouts and rushes towards the blue alicorn, without any anxiety or fear for failure.

'Darn right! Let's get her, Applejack!' Rainbow Dash agrees and rushes after her, flying close to the ground.

The long-waited struggle against the powerful mare has begun. Trixie watches as the two mares storm towards her, willing to do her harm.

'Very well...Let us begin then,' she whispers.

As soon as Applejack is one jump away from her, she tries to headbutt against the alicorn. But Trixie merely avoids her by moving her head a bit to the right. As soon as Applejack lands on the ground again, she immidiatly leaps for Trixie again, unrestrained by anger.

'Hold still, darn it!' Applejack shouts as she keeps missing her.

The orange mare continues to grow more angry everytime she hears Trixie chuckle, provoking her. But when Rainbow Dash tries to charge into her as well, she stops her laughter. Requiring her full focus, Trixie avoids the two attacking mares by sheer alicorn strength and slenderness. Even though it seems like she may be able to keep this up longer than Applejack and Rainbow, Trixie begins to break a swear.

'Take this!' Rainbow Dash shouts as she charges towards her again, missing her by an inch this time.

'-Kgh...-' Trixie grunts and begins to back away, feeling closed in by the furious little mares. Betraying Fluttershy like this has certainly angered them more than she expected.

'Where do ya'think you're going?!' Applejack asks and jumps in her way, preventing her from backing away further in the crater.

'Trixie goes to the TOP!' she grunts and stretches her blue wings, pushing herself off the ground.

'Bad move, chump!' Rainbow Dash yells at her and begins to dash even faster towards her. Trixie may be powerful in magic now, but not in flight. She has entered Rainbow Dash territory, being even less safer for her than when she was on the ground. Before she gets even the chance to fly away from Applejack, Trixie is forced to land.

'Curses...,' she sighs when she sees how Applejack is rushing towards her again, ready to repeat the process until Trixie is supposed to collapse from exhaustion.

'Game over, Trixie!' Applejack tells her, ready to leap into her again. 'Any last words before we buck you to the moon?'

But just as Trixie is about to be stuck between two forces again, her horn begins to glow with a soft white radiance. Before Applejack is able to reach her, Trixie has vanished into thin air. Reappearing with a flash on the other side of the crater, she has basically warned the mares that she's about to become serious and use magic against them. Thanks to the extensive knowledge she now possesses, Trixie doesn't even require time to conjure a teleportation spell.

'Come, over here!' she tells to them and chuckles, somehow seeming to be glad even though she had a tough time just now.

It simply means to them that Trixie had grown desperate, unable to find a way out other than using her emergency exit. If she's able to grow desperate this fast: It means that she can be stopped.

'Alright, Rainbow, let's counter her from two sides this time,' Applejack tells to her pegasus ally.

Rainbow Dash nods, ready to finish it.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash try to charge her together from two different directions, guessing that it's a tactic Trixie wouldn't expect for them to do. All she does is move her head back and forth between both mares, who move closer to her. But just as the two mare charges into her, she quickly teleports away again. Instead of succesfully landing a double blow to the mare, Applejack's and Dash's heads strike against each other with fullspeed.

'OUCH!' they grunts in pain and drop with their flanks on the ground. With their front hooves on their head to ease the pain, they can both feel rather dizzy from the impact.

As they are slowly recovering from the blow, they notice that Trixie is laughing at them from a distance again. 'Come now! Trixie was expecting more from your "power of friendship!" So far you've only been a dissapointment to Trixie! Is simply fighting together all you can do?'

'Gaaah! Stop with those third-person speeches!' Rainbow Dash shouts and presses her hooves against her ears. 'They're driving Dash mad! ...-Argh!- Now I'm starting to do it too! It's contagious!'

But Trixie has lowered her guard, being too focused on the two hot-headed mares.

Twilight and Rarity try to sneak onto Trixie, using the distraction of Applejack and Rainbow Dash to close in on her. They know that if they can remove the contact between Trixie and the blue gem on her chest, she should turn back to normal, freed from the powerful source of Lady Fame. Only a few more steps and they'll be right behind her.

'Ready?' Rarity whispers to Twilight.

'Let's get her,' she says with a nod in return, ready to make a jump on the distracted alicorn.

'Not so fast, Sparkle!' Trixie suddenly raises her tone, without even looking back to the mares. 'Did you honestly believe that Trixie is that blind?'

With a conjuration time of merely three seconds, Trixie levitates both mares into the air, unabling them to move to or away from her.

'W-Wow!' Twilight gasps as she tries to remain stationary a meter above the ground.

Both mares, mowing around with their legs, try to get a hold on the ground. But as helpless as they are, Trixie can simply shake them and swirl Rarity and Twilight around like two dolls.

'Pathetic attempt. Didn't you think that I might use an all-seeing spell to keep the entire area under surveilance?' Trixie laughs and turns her head around to look at the dizzy mares. Without warning, the blue mare suddenly drops Twilight on the ground.

'-Ooph-' Twilight sighs from the collision with the frozen ground, making her cough for air.

'Twilight, watch out!' Rarity gasps. She is frightened to see how Trixie is conjuring a freezing spell, while Twilight can't even see clear yet. The purple mare is nothing but a dizzy bulls-eye now.

But instead of freezing Twilight completely up like Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, Trixie fires a white light on the right hoof Twilight, instantaneously freezing it into a coat of ice. The friends' little plan has failed, having only resulted in getting Twilight shot by Trixie's freezing magic.

'-Kgh!-' Twilight grunts, surprised by the suddenly cold around her hoof. She can't move an inch. When the unicorn looks down, she realizes that her hoof is frozen in a magical chunk of ice to the ground, unabling her to move. Desperatly she quickly tries to use her own magic to reverse the ice, without succes. Lady Fame's magic power is powerful enough to be able to counter any known spell in Twilight's knowledge.

'I'll save you for last...,' Trixie mumbles to her. The tall mare then turns her attention to the worried mare next to her, who continues to float a meter above the ground. 'Oh yes, Trixie Remembers you. You were that mare who's hair Trixie turned green! Trixie has been wondering... How would you look like if Trixie would turn your hair blond and fuzzy?'

'NOOOOOOOO!' Rarity screams in fear that Trixie may actually do it. 'Leave me and my hair alone, you maniac!'

'Ugh... That voice! Your shrieks hurt Trixie's ears!' she grunts and distances her head from the screaming white mare. 'Your no opponent to Trixie anyway... Begone!' Before Rarity even gets the chance to calm down, Trixie quickly uses a new spell to launch the pretty away.

'-Owww!-' Rarity yelps, even though she lands in the soft snow. Her ten meter flight has made her dizzy again, adding up to the headache she already has. It makes Rarity completely defenseless, becoming a potential target for the spell that Trixie now begins to aim at her.

'Rarity, run away!' Twilight shouts to her. She can only turn her head towards her friend, because of her right hoof that remains frozen to the ground. 'She's preparing another spell! Get out of the way, NOW!'

But it's too late. Before Rarity can even hear the words of the purple mare, or even see clear through her eyes again, Trixie is already done.

'Trixie remains victorious!' she shouts and fires another white beam, striking into Rarity.

'EEK!' is all Rarity can say, before she is engulfed in the white blast. The white mare shares the fate of being a frozen statue with Pinkie Pie and Flutttershy, happening in front of Twilight's very eyes.  

'Another one bites the snow...,' Trixie whisperes satisfied as she sees how the Rarity is encased in ice, holding her face full of fear. 'Do you see now, Twilight Sparkle? Your endevours are futile.'

Twilight suddenly begins to shiver and stutter incomplete words, catching Trixie's attention. Small drops of water begin to fall on the snow beneath Twilight, originating from the mare's eyes. Twilight can't hold her tears now that three of her friends are frozen up.

'Hm? Twilight Sparkle, don't tell me you are crying,' Trixie grunts, 'Was this all that was needed to make tears come out of you?'

Twilight doesn't answer. She continues to stare at Rarity and can't stop thinking about the fear she must've feld right before this magic strukc her.

'Well, you certainly should,' Trixie tells her and smiles, feeling joy from giving others sorrow. 'I have frozen three of your friends and your hoof. You are not made for combat like this. You are friends. Nothing else. You are friends of each other, without any form of true strength or magic.' she tells the helpless purple mare, nearly convincing her that all the fighting is in vain.

'Face it: I, Trixie, shall be-'

Her words are cut off when something dashes against her face with alot of strength, pounding the alicorn into the snow. Twilight looks up astonished, hardly able to believe her eyes about what just happened. Trixie has fallen down! She was caught off guard and bucked against the ground, powerful enough to make the mare pass out from the blow.

'That one's for turnin' me against my friends!' Appejack shouts, being the one that charged into the alicorn.

'Way to go, Applejack!' Rainbow Dash cheers and rushes over to her non-frozen friends.

The orange mare simply spits on the ground and breathes deeply, still too angry to sound victorious right now. 'Thanks, sugercube. But let's celebrate when we got that infernal gem in our hooves and the others are unfrozen,' she commands, sounding like the battle isn't over. 'y'allright, Twi?'

'Y-Yea,' Twilight says and nods, still surprised about the near-impossible victory. 'I'm just stuck to the ground still... And the others are-'

'Leave that to us,' Rainbow Dash nods and walks with Applejack to Twilight for a closer look.

'Ow! Don't pull! That only hurts more!' Twilight grunts after a failed attempt from Rainbow Dash.

'Sorry, sorry,' she apologizes and pulls her hooves off of the ice. 'Hm..., hay. This is impossible!'

Applejack shakes her head. 'Nothin' is impossible, Rainbow. If we have to, we could set a fire and melt it slowly. Then we'll find a way to get the others out of their beautysleep-' she plans ahead, but stops talking when she realizes that Twilight and Rainbow Dash are looking with wide eyes in her direction.

'Wha?' the orange earth pony asks. 'It ain't that much of a weird plan. Sure: It'll take some time, but-'

'BEHIND YOU!' both mares suddenly shout during Appejack's explaination, surprising her.

But when Applejack turns around to see what is behind her, it's too late. A blinding light fills the mare's sight: moments before she's instantaneously cover in solid ice.

'Teleportation spell: #13 and body illusion spell: #83,' the alicorn chuckles. 'I merely had to fake a body, let it toy with those two mares, let them throw off their guard, and claim the victory personally... Like Trixie was saying, Twilight Sparkle: All your futile little plans are futile against my knowledge.'    

Having been faking her body this entire time, the real Trixie is unharmed. As her unconcious fake body starts to vaporize in smoke, Twilight and Rainbow look horrified at Applejack, who now too stands frozen in place.

'J-Just stop it!' Twilight shouts, having become desperate for her friends' sakes.

'Is that despair Trixie hears, Twilight Sparkle?' she laughs like a sadist. 'Keep it in until I've frozen the last one! That cocky rainbowhead made fun of me before! Now it's my turn!'

Fearing Trixie's magic, Rainbow Dash and Twilight see how Trixie lowers her horn again, ready to freeze up the pegasus as well. If Twilight could, she would jump in front of her. But thanks to this ice on her hoof, she is forced to watch and do nothing else.

'Wait!' Rainbow Dash shouts and leaps into the air, moments before Trixie could finish. Flying around in the air above the crater, Rainbow Dash feels confident again. 'Hah! You can't freeze me when I'm up here, can you? You're weakness is against me while flying!'

'W-Wait! Rainbow! Don't do it!' Twilight shouts to her friend, too late to warn her from flying too high.

'I don't need to freeze you myself,' Trixie snickers and simply looks at how the blue mare is flying higher into the air, leaving the crater below her.

Before Rainbow Dash could understand that Trixie has a plan, she is surprised by how the wind is suddenly enveloping around her. 'Wh-What the?!' she gasps, not having expected the winds to turn against her.

The blue mare attempts to fly out of it, without succes. The winds rage around her like a whirlwind, causing her to remain hovering on one spot. No matter how much Rainbow Dash flaps with her wings, she can't free herself from the winds. Twilight knew this would happen: Knowing that the high air is too cold for anypony to fly through now. If she was faster in warning her friend, she could've prevented Rainbow from becoming an idle piece of target practise.

'All HAIL The Great and Powerful Trixie!' the alicorn laughs and prepares a new spell, which immidiatly turns the winds around Rainbow Dash into solid ice. The mare can't even scream in anger or fear, being instantly frozen in a cask of impenetrable ice. With a heavy drop, Rainbow Dash crashes into the ground before them.

'Rainbow Dash!' Twilight shouts in denial of the terror. It feels like it's her fault that she can't help her friends. Twilight is forced to sit back and watch at how her nemesis is harming them, one by one. A total nightmare, only having occured before when Ignis was unleashed in Equestria.

All that remains is snow and ice, flying through the wind over the battlefield. Scattered around the giant crater stand five chunks of ice, each containing a frozen mare. The howling wind is all that sounds, along with Twilight's deep breaths. Puffing clouds of warm air from her lungs, the purple mare looks with wide eyes around her. The lifeless statue of her friends are shattering the final bits of sanity she has left. Unable to think or hope, Twilight falls in depression, right before the very presence of the mighty mare of the Great Blizzard.

'Is it over already?' Trixie sighs in dissapointment. 'I was hoping to saviour the fight a little longer. If I knew how weak you six are before we began, I would've considered to show restraint after all...'

Twilight ignores her as she tries to free herself from the ground. 'How could you, Trixie... HOW COULD YOU BE SO COLD?! How could you turn my friends into icecicles like that!' she shouts with anger and sorrow in her voice.

The blue mare simply looks over her shoulder at the furious mare. The pony she always blamed for being better than her is no more. All Trixie sees now is a purple mare with anger over her victimized friends. 'You are so weak, Twilight Sparkle. Look at you: frozen to the ground, unable to free yourself with your own magic! And yet, you're still better off than your friends though... They're popcicles now.'

'Trixie... You caused so much pain and sorrow to so many ponies when you became like this... You don't have to do this... Why DO you do this?' Twilight asks.

Trixie turns around and walks up to Twilight, continues to look at her with confused and frightened eyes. Trixie has no reason to surprise her with any tricks now, considering she has basically won now. 'You've shown Trixie to be greater in magic than me, Sparkle... You've shown Trixie the fearful truth of excelling me in every aspect of unicorn magic. A Minor Ursa was defeated by your hooves, while I was helpless against it... The only way I could keep up was to do this...'

'And do you actually think it's worth it, after all it cost you?' Twilight whispers, unable to believe it herself.

'Well... I have gained a terrible power that most certainly exceeds that of the Princesses... And now that I look at how weak you look from up here... Yes, I regret nothing,' she simply chuckles, showing no care for how monsterous it may be to most ponies.

'I never did something wrong to you... My friends never did anything wrong to you... So, why?' Twilight keeps asking, still unable to understand Trixie's simple motives.

'The truth is lost to you, Twilight Sparkle...,' Trixie sighs. 'You and your friends shall stand here for the rest of eternity,' Trixie whispers and points her horn in Twilight's direction, which begins to glows with its cold white radiance once again. 'Allow me to liberate you from your sorrows.'

Twilight has reached the end of her limits. She felt anger about Trixie's crimes to everypony, sorrow for the victims and Trixie's poor decisions, and confusion about Trixie's unnecesary terrible motives. But now she feels nothing but confusion. She is unable to be angry, sad or scared as long as the lingering question remains beyond her understanding: Why is Trixie doing this? Twilight closes her eyes and ends her struggles against the ice around her hoof. All she does is wait for the overpowering mare to freeze her up, just like her friends, accepting defeat with a heavy heart.

'Farewell..., Twilight Sparkle...'

'ENOUGH!'

A voice shouts out of nowhere, surprising both mares. Completely unexpecting somepony else, Trixie's concentration has broken, causing her freeze spell to cease.

'Who in pony's name...,' Trixie grunts and turns around towards the rim of the crater, where the voice came from.

Before Trixie could even prepare to defend herself, she is astonished by the huge fireball that is bursting towards her, the size of a grown appletree. But instead of striking into her, the flame strikes into the ground before her hooves, nearly stopping her heart from the shock. It was a warning shot. When it turns out to be harmless, the blue alicorn looks back up.

'It ends her, Trixie...,' the pony in the distance grunts softly, though it is loud and clear because of his use of the Royal Canterlot Voice.

'P-Princess Luna?' Twilight assumes, though the voice sounds far from the princess'.

A big smile appears on Trixie's face, followed by a soft chuckle. Madness has taken her common sense, causing her to laugh for barely any reason. 'Spectrum Brush..., it seems my windigos did a poor job on getting rid of you...,' she whispers between her chuckles. 'It's good to see you again at last.'

'B-Brush?' Twilight stutters, surprised to the unexpecting turnout. She was expecting the princess to arrive with the Elements of Harmony, instead of her injured friend. But it's truly him: The red stallion with the dark mane, unmoved by the cold that breezes over his skin.

'B-BRUSH, GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!' she shouts to him, urging him to get away before she has to witness another friend being frozen by Trixie's might.

He looks down to the front of Trixie, noticing the half-frozen purple mare. He clearly heard his words. But instead of turning around and walk away he jumps over the ledge, sliding into the crater with no way out. He deliberitly thrown himself in Trixie's trap.

'Sorry if I'm a little late, Twilight,' he tells to the purple unicorn as he slowly walks up to the mares. 'I've come to help a hoof out before it's too late... Which seems to have been close enough.'  

'Nothing to say, Spectrum Brush?' Trixie asks with a bitter smile, causing the stallion to glare to her. 'We haven't seen each other for sooooo long. Trixie was NEARLY going to miss you.'

The red unicorn doesn't respond to her, not even showing any signs of provocation. When he arrives a meter before the two mares, he continues to glare at her in the eye.

'Taking you on my journey was a bad idea, Trixie. I've come to set things right!' he suddenly tells her.

'Hah! The cold must have given you brainfreeze!' she mocks him. 'What do you, an injured helpless little painter hope to accomplish against the mightiest mare of Equestria?! Do you honestly believe that you, a simpleton, can stop Trixie?!'

He remains quiet and unmoved, while Trixie on the other hand begins to show a nervous twitch. His presence alone seems to cause a reaction of several emotions through Trixie's head, even though he shouldn't even be able to harm her.

'Yes, I do,' he suddenly answers boldly, without cringing by her threats.

'-GRRR!-' the blue alicorn growls and bites on her lip.

Twilight can hardly believe it: Brush is actually able to anger her. But she's most certain that it's not a good thing. Brush still wears bandages on around his body and he walks sickly. The purple mare is afraid something really really bad is going to happen if Brush doesn't have a VERY good plan right now.

'Wait, wait, wait...,' she suddenly tells them. Trixie takes a deep breath and calms down, causing her to smile again. 'What will you do, Brush? By the sight of those bandages, Trixie doubts that you had much luck against ONE windigo... How will you stand up against me?'

'I made a promise, Trixie. I promised to everypony in Equestria that I would set everything right. That includes my terror when I was Ignis and when I got you and Luna in the Frozen North with me...,' he tells her. 'But... I also made a promise to myself, a very personal promise. I promised myself that I would stop your madness AT-ALL-COST!'

'-HAH!- Brave words!' Trixie mocks him and prepares to shoot everything she got at him. 'Now prove them, Toy of Ignis!'

'TAKE THAT BACK!' he shouts furiously and channels a flame around his red unicorn horn, a spell of extreme heat and devestation. He quickly throws the sidebag he hid on his side on the ground and begins to walk towards the blue mare.

Though Trixie backs away, she continues to smile.

'You recognize this flame? It's the personal spell off Ignis. It's a spell nopony else will ever learn. And you know how effective it works on ice like Fame's...,' he asks her as he eventually closes her in between him and the end of the crater.

'B-Brush, what do you think you're doing?' Twilight asks him, afraid that Brush will do something brutal out of vengeance.

'What do you think you can do, Brush?' Trixie asks him, unimpressed by the spell. 'Didn't I already froze you once with my new power? You think a little fire will stop me?'

'You froze and betrayed me that day! We were supposed to put that gem in a place that would never see daylight again! And you selfishly stabbed me in the back and took it instead, wanting to hurt my friends!' he shouts at her and points his horn closer to the mare, though it doesn't intimidate her. He looks deeply into her eyes, without even thinking of blinking. 'I injured Princess Celestia with this spell once... Now I'll finaly put it to good use!'

'BRUSH, DON'T DO IT!' Twilight shouts at him. She's terrible frightened. Trixie has been a monster. But that doesn't mean that she wants Brush to do something equally monsterous back to her! If Brush injures Trixie with that spell, he would be no better than Trixie.

The stallion hesitates and looks over his shoulder at his friend, who nearly begs him to do no crazy things. 'It will be alright,' he whispers at Twilight and winks, followed by unleashing the flame.

The western side of the crater is completely lit in flame, melting the snow instantenously. The flame's are intense enough, able to scorch the earth black like ashes. It's definitly the destructive power that Lord Ignis once wielded. And Trixie stands in the center, supposedly turned into a crisp by the merciless fire. It's over.

Brush quickly turns around, ending his spell immidiatly. The flames vanish like a candle that's been blown out, leaving a circle of ash and smoke the size of a barn behind. The stallion doesn't look back, having no need to see if Trixie is there or not. Twilight looks horrified at her friend, who has done something terrible against her warnings. Brush doesn't look at her, just like Twilight quickly looks away from him. No words need to be spoken, considering that there is nothing sane to be spoken.

But suddenly he stops, noticing a clop sound coming from behind him. When he turns around to look at the smoke, he can still hear the clops, sounding like a slowclap.

'Impressive, Spectrum Brush,' a voice speaks from within the smoke. 'If that would've hit me, Trixie would never have needed to sunbathe ever again.'

The smoke clears, revealing the blue mare, standing on the smoldering earth. Her skin and manes are untouched, as if she wasn't there at all when she was struck.  

'T-Trixie! Y-You're alive!' Twilight stutters, astonished and frightened by the mare's survival. 'H-How's that even possible?!'

'-Haha!- Ofcourse Trixie lives, Twilight Sparkle! Trixie was never in any danger!' she laughs and takes a few steps aside, revealing the injured blue mare behind her, which suddenly evaporates into thin air.

'I knew it!' Brush grunts. 'I could see it in those eyes! It was a fake body!'

'Exactly! And still you used all your energy against it...,' she sighs with a smile. 'Why would you waste all your power? You're already weak as it is! A mere unicorn isn't supposed to use advanced magic like that!'

Her words speak truth. Everytime Brush would use this spell, he'd feel like he galloped for hundreds of miles in an instant. '-Urk!-' he suddenly grunts and collapses on the ground. The injuries on his side are acting up, causing paralysis to the brave stallion.

'B-Brush!' Twilight shouts and tries to free herself from the ice again.

She attempts to use several spells again. Unlocking, fire, icepick, teleportation and even hitting it with a keychain. Nothing helps. Lady Fame's magic is absolute. Twilight Sparkle is forced to continue to watch as how Brush is unable to defend himself, while Trixie is walking up to him. It feels like a horror movie.

'Aw. Poor little Spectrum Brush,' Trixie speaks to him like he's a helpless little colt. 'You seemed so strong when I met you... Such a powerful leader. Good thing I know now that that was all a ruse. In truth: You are SO terribly weak...'

'Sh-Shut up...,' the red unicorn grunts and quickly manages to stand up. To the mare's surprise, Spectrum Brush attempts to leap at her, with his horn pointed towards her.

Trixie doesn't even need to use her magic against him. The stallion is slowed down by his injuries to the point where she simply has to step aside in order to avoid him. When Brush lands on the ground, he needs a few seconds to recover for another futile leap, which only entertains the female alicorn.

'Oh...,' Brush sighs and collapses again, right in front of Trixie. He seems to have run out of energy.

'Idiot...,' she grunts and hit him in his side with a hoof, causing him to grunt in pain.

'Do you see this, Twilight Sparkle? Another friend that needs your help! What are you going to do against the Great and Powerful Trixie? If you won't hurry, he'll only beg for mercy!' she laughs and kicks the stallion again. Trixie has become nothing but a sadist.

'Stop it! You're hurting him!' Twilight shouts furious, amost ready to burst out of tears again. This pit isn't a mere trap for Twilight and her friends. It's a torture chamber: Just to make Trixie's nemesis suffer from the helpless feeling of watching her friends becoming defeated one by one. But when she looks at the weakened red stallion, something happens that Twilight didn't expect as well. Something that boggles her mind: he smiles at her and winks. If she didn't know better, it's as if he intended all of this.

'THIS-IS-WHAT-YOU-GET-FOR-CHALLENGING-TRIXIE!' the alicorn shouts and kicks him every time she speaks a word, causing him to grunt harder for every kick he receives. 'I hate you, Spectrum Brush... Trixie is still disgusted by the idea that you considered me as a friend... If I knew you were going to be such a pain in the flank, I would've made certain that you would never unfreeze!'

The stallion lies battered in the snow, unable to move an inch. He can only lie and puff clouds of breaths, glad that Trixie walks away from him.

'Oh, what is this?' the mare curiously asks him when she notices the sidepack that Brush dropped in the snow. Using her magic to levitate his backpack to her, she curiously looks inside. It contains a lockbox inside.

'Get your filthy hooves of of that...,' Brush hisses at her.

'Oooh! Look at what Trixie finds!' the alicorn cheers like a little filly at the candystore when she opens the box. 'Look Twilight. You're friend brought me jewelry! Don't they look pretty?'

The purple mare looks up in confusion, having no idea what is going on. Her breath is taken by the sight on the contents of the box. Five necklaces, each decorated with a different symbol, lies inside. And on top of that: A crown, with her own Cutie Mark decorating the peak.

'Th-The Elements of Harmony!' she gasps.

'And these are the real ones! Not fake ones, like Celestia tried on Ignis!' she chuckles, being able to read the magic power from the objects.

'Thank you, Brush. That's very kind of you! I'll keep them at a place where they're safe from anypony!' she tells them and chuckles. 'I won't foolishly attempt to break them. Trixie knows better than that. No, I'm going to make them unreachable.'

She chuckle over her own plan and looks over her shoulder, towards the center of the crater. With one swift move with horn, the earth cracks open at her mercy, creating a pit of many feet down.

'Say Bye-Bye Elements!' Trixie jokes and plunges the lockbox in it and waits until she hears the landing. When a soft "bonk" is heard at the bottom of the pit after five seconds, she quickly blast a blue beam from her horn, which fills the hole with snow from her magic, filling the entire pit with impenetrable frost. The stallion and mare can only look in horror at how their salvation is disposed of. They'll never get the Elements now.

'And that is that,' Trixie tells them, followed by a big laugh. Feeling victorious, enjoying every moment of torture to the two ponies, Trixie's happiness feels endless. Now that she's the most powerful mare of Equestria, unable to be stopped by anypony, her dreams have come true. 'Well, Twilight, don't you have anything to say to your brave little friend? -Hahaha!-' Trixie jokes and uses her magic to grab the red stallion by his front legs, making him hover above the ground before her.

The stallion looks at the ground, covering his eyes with his mane. He is defeated. Defeated by his greatest nemesis: Trixie. Twilight doesn't know what to say. He couldn't have done anything more to stop this, just like she feels useless this entire time. His failure is theirs to share.

'You've shown your purpose, Brush. But now it's time to get out and accept defeat!' she jokes and shakes the stallion with her magic, causing him to grunt in pain. 'Now, out of my sight! Your weakness sickens Trixie!'

Without any sign of restraint, the mare uses her magic to throw the stallion away, outside the crater.

'-UAGH!-' Brush screams in agony as he lands on the ground, unable to move from the pain that shoots through his body.

Twilight looks over the shoulder, looking at the ridge of the crater of where her friend was thrown beyond. She can only lie down and listen to his cries of pain. Her heart is filled with grief, unable to do anything for him. Trixie listens for a little while too, until the stallion's screams start to fade, making her smile.

'It's about time we keep unwanted visitors outside. Don't you think so too, Twilight?' she asks her nemesis, who looks back at her with wide eyes. 'The windigos failed Trixie... They were supposed to break you and your friendship apart. But they couldn't even stop Spectrum Brush from telling on you! As punishment: They shalls serve as my shield!'

Conjuring a new spell, Trixie's horn begins to glow with a snow-white hue. The windigos appear from the forest with their ghastly voices, responding to the call of her mistress. They all land on three different spots outside the crater, in a position that resembles a triangle. As the spell of the alicorn continues to be channeled, the equine beasts start to dissolve into their mist, stirring the very air that surrounds them. Moving like one giant wind around the air above the crater, they begin to freeze up into smooth ice. The beasts have abandoned their equine forms and have fused into one big dome of ice, making it impossible for outsiders to come in the crater, and vise versa. The space inside is now one big sphere, containing Trixie and Twilight, along with the frozen friends of Twilight, who are still able to see everything from their prisons.

'So....cold...,' the unicorn whispers and shivers, feeling how the air inside the dome is beginning to cool down.

'How sad that it comes to this, Twilight Sparkle…,' the alicorn whispers to her. 'I was so sure that you would put up a little more resistance than this. But you couldn't even break the ice around your hoof.'

Twilight can only grunt exhausted, feeling like her lungs are freezing my the mere breaths she takes. With the last of her strength, she attempts to break loose from the frost that keeps a hoof stuck to the ground, though it still proves to be futile.

'Even your precious princess, Celestia, managed to defeat both Lord Ignis and Lady Fame together,' Trixie chuckles, making fun of the purple mare while she walks around her frozen friends. 'Or should I say... BETRAY?'

'Wh-What?!” Twilight gasps.

'You're dieing to see what Trixie knows, don't you, Twilight Sparkle? The curiosity about your mentor's past is a burden on your shoulders... Don't deny it,' she whispers as she moves back to the weakened mare and moves her face close to Twilight's. 'I can show you... I can show you everything...'

Twilight doesn't know what to think or say anymore. Is Trixie speaking the truth or is she lying again?

Suddenly they are interrupted by a loud knock on the ice walls.

'Trixie! That’s enough!' a muffled voice comes from behind the icy dome. A blurry red dot can be seen leaning on the ice, unable to stomp through.

'Ah, Spectrum Brush. You're still with us. Sorry, but this is "girl talk." No stallions allowed,' she laughs.  

Twilight looks surprised behind her, realizing that her stubborn friend is still around, wanting to help her. If he keeps this up, he'll be fighting to his end.

'Brush! Get out of here, NOW!' Twilight yells to him, believing that there's nothing he can do anyway. 'You're going to get yourself killed!'

'Let him stay there,' Trixie tells her. 'Besides, Brush knows it too...'

Twilight looks up at the blue alicorn and back at the stallion, recalling that Brush has suffered a same fate as her. He, like Trixie, came in contact with an alicorn from the same time of Lady Fame: Lord Ignis, the Harbringer of Hatred.

'He knows about Celestia's secret too and even shared it with Princess Luna..., but never shared it with you, did he? HE thinks that you should be kept from the truths, all the time. But I say that you're smart enough to make your own decisions...,' she tells the purple mare, confusing her with her words. 'Wouldn't you want to finaly witness it yourself? The past of Princess Celestia?'

Twilight can't ignore the fact. She was always curious about her mentor's past, but never got to hear it from her personally.

'I-I,' Twilight stutters, unsure of how to respond. She would really like to see the past of Princess Celestia, considering this to be the only time she may have the chance. But should she trust Trixie, the one has brought her nothing but trouble? Brush may have the best intentions, but he still decides for her.

'Just touch my alicorn horn, and you will see it all with your own eyes...,' Trixie whispers and lowers her head, pointing her horn in front of the freezing mare, tempting her with this one-chance decision.

'Y-You lie! All you've done is bring us and everypony else nothing but pain! Why should I believe that you can "show" me the past?!' Twilight declines and shakes her head.

Her response makes the tall mare laugh, finding her resistance from her own desires humorous. 'But I know that you're desperate enough to try it out anyway,' she tells her, followed by a soft chuckle. 'I don't need to show you a lie. The truth is good enough...'

'Twilight...,' Spectrum Brush whispers, unknowing whether Twilight will drop this tempting oppertunity or see that which he and Trixie have witnessed. He can only lean with his hooves against the inpenetrable icy walls and watch.

Twilight continues to think, slowly believing that Trixie means what she says, considering that she already has her where she want her, which means that Trixie wouldn't need to use this as a trap.

Twilight then reaches out with her right hoof, making contact with the glowing horn.

'Very good... Let us dive inside Lady Fame's, Lord Ignis', Princess Luna's and Princess Celestia's memories...,' Trixie whispers, followed by being engulved into a bright white light, along with Twilight Sparkle in front of her. The are no longer in the crater. Spectrum Brush isn't here. In fact: None of them were even born by now. They're heading back in ages past: The youth of Princess Celestia. 'It's a lesson you'll never forget...'