“A key? What do you mean?!”

“Listen, child. I don’t have much time. When I sealed Autumn Blaze within Everfree City, I never meant for it to be permanent. I’m the only one who has the key to open the seal that separates Discord from Autumn Blaze, but I fear that if I die, she will be kept here against her will for much longer than I ever imagined.”

“Don’t talk like that! You can’t die!”

“I wish that were the case, but I always prepare for the worst case scenario. We have already lost four sisters, and I cannot guarantee that even I, with the powers that I have, will be able to keep Everfree City safe if they continue to gather members. Instead, I will be passing this key to the member of Platinum City that I feel will know how best to handle the responsibility of Autumn Blaze’s safety.”

“What?! Why wouldn’t you just give the key to me?!”

“For the same reason I did not give you my powers. You’re still learning what being a magical girl means. The person I’m thinking of has already seen the terrors of what being a magical girl involves, and she values life as much as I do. I would have liked to hand down the key to you some day, Last Gambit, but sadly, the time to pass it down has come much sooner than I had anticipated.”

“Then let me fight with you! We can still win!”

“I didn’t give you powers to fight, child. I gave you powers so you could avoid this war, so you could one day take my place when I was no longer able to protect my sisters.”

“Divinity, please… You can’t leave me! You can’t die!!”

“I’m sorry, child, but some things… are even out of my control.”

“............Who is it?”

“Hm?”

“Who’s this magical girl that you would trust giving the key of Everfree City to, even though she’s trying to murder you?!”

“Heheh. It’s funny you should ask, because I believe the two of you will meet at some point in the future. When that day comes, however, I hope that the two of you will become friends.”

“What’s her name?! Tell me!”

“Her name is…”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie.”

I punched my locker as soon as she was gone, wagging my hand from the pain I had accidentally caused my knuckles, but too pissed off to care. It was Thursday afternoon, which meant that I didn’t have a whole lot of time to gather up magical girls, even though I would still have a way better chance than Trixie did after I got the whole school to turn their backs on her. It was only fitting. She had taken away my best friend, the only friend I had at the time, and I still wasn’t done showing her just how painful it felt to be all alone, to have lost everything.

Five magical girls. We were each allowed to only recruit five, which was the perfect amount to find a manageable team while still creating an exigency to find enough before the deadline. The real question wasn’t who would join me--I would be able to recruit anyone easily--but rather who would be the best candidates to join my team. I wanted girls who were powerful, independent, known for their leadership skills and critical thinking. I wanted girls who had already taken on big roles before, but they also had to be willing to join my side without questioning my authority.

I needed leverage. I had to find girls who needed power, who were nothing without it.

With that in mind, the seven girls from the senior class were definitely off my list. Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity. They all had the makings of someone I would want to bring with me onto my team, but if any of them decided to switch to Trixie’s side, my whole strategy would backfire, even if I did get Autumn Blaze to remove their powers. Plus, they had been friends with Trixie for so long that I doubted whether or not they would really be willing to kill her, especially if they knew that it meant she would die in real life too. Instead, I would have to find girls who relied on their power, who were so grateful to have it that they would never betray me, even if their lives depended on it.

Who was left, though? The cutie mark crusaders? No, they weren’t mature enough to handle magical girl powers yet. Diamond Tiara was another option, though. She craved power, and she would do anything to get it. The issue with her, though, was that she was so headstrong that I couldn’t trust her to follow my instructions. With all of them out of the running and none of the boys as available alternatives, though, it looked like I was going to have to depend on girls outside of Canterlot High School entirely.

Who did I know outside of CHS, though? It’s not that it would have been a problem for me to get someone to join me if didn’t know her, but it definitely made the search less of a headache if I at least knew which direction to move in.

“Hmm…” I rubbed my chin as I thought aloud. “Who do I know of that wants power, can easily think for herself, but still relies on others to help her achieve her goals?”

It almost sounded like a social media influencer now that I thought about--

“WAIT!” I immediately smiled deviously, pulling out my phone to see who was trending on all the social media platforms, and as luck would have it, the same girl was at the top of SnapGab, MyStable and Flitter. “Yes… You would be perfect!”

Then, with my hands trembling in excitement, I sent her a message, one that she wouldn’t be able to ignore, something that even someone with 3 million followers would have to notice.

“I’m feeling purple, but not so much of a puuuurple as more of a purrrple, and while I’m thinking about it, throw some magenta in there. This vaycay is gonna be craycray! KK, well, I’ll call you with the deets once I get more info about the catering. Trust me, you would not believe how much bloating shows up in your selfies after a tuscany salad. Love ya!”

Then, tapping her phone to end her conversation, the girl across the table from me folded her arms, sitting back in her seat while staring at me impatiently.

“So you’re the one they brought in to negotiate making me the new social media manager for Trenderhoof’s SnapGab feed? I would have thought they would have brought in someone with more experience. I almost missed your DM just because you only had like 100 followers. How did you even get this job anyway?”

Great. She was cutting to the chase. So much for sweet talking her into a conversation that would make her forget about the lie I told her to meet me in the first place. That wouldn’t be too much of a problem, though. I still had ways to keep the attention of someone like her.

“I am so touched that you agreed to meet with me today!” I said as innocently as I could. “And yes, it’s true that I don’t have many followers myself. I was actually wondering if you could teach me some new tricks to gain more fans.”

The girl’s mouth then turned upward with vanity. “Oh, that’s easy. I, myself, follow a simple three point plan. Number one: look cute all the time. You need to be ready to take a selfie at a moment’s notice, and no offense, but I don’t think your whole creepy doll from the 80’s hairdo is gonna make the word ‘like’ come to mind when people are scrolling through their feed. Number two: you need to use a filter for every single pic, and I mean eeeevery pic you take. You need to have filters on top of your filters. Juno, Lark, Mayfair, Moon, and don’t forget those cute little emojis too. It reminds people that you’re fun and relatable, which leads to point number three: BYBB.”

The girl held out three fingers to punctuate her third point, but sadly, I wasn’t as versed with internet acronyms to understand what the fuck she was even talking about anymore.

“Uhh… BYBB?”

“‘Be Yourself, But Better!’ It’s the motto I live by. You know how everyone is always telling you to just be yourself? Well, I thought, ‘Why would I just be myself? Why not take myself to a whole new level?’ You obviously weren’t going anywhere by being yourself in the first place, so you need to make sure that you know what you’re lacking in and improve yourself. I know, totes inspirational. I guarantee that if you post that with a couple trendy hashtags, you’ll see way more likes than your selfie with the doodie mark crusaders.”

I’m not gonna lie. I laughed on the inside. I would have to use that one later. On the outside, though, I made sure to look like I was keeping an intent interest with what she was saying, smiling from ear to ear with my eyes growing enthusiastically wider after every sentence.

“Wow, Miss Valencia! You’re so smart!”

The girl across from me giggled. “Oh, please. No need to be so formal, girl. Call me Vignette. Hashtag friendsies!”

Vignette Valencia, the first girl I wanted to join my team. She had yellow skin, short pink hair with luscious white highlights, an adorable brown cardigan, and short denim capris, all under probably five pounds of makeup and hair products. She agreed to meet me at a diner in downtown Canterlot after I had mentioned that Trenderhoof, another fashion icon in Equestria, had been looking for a new social media consultant. I was surprised she bought it, to be honest, but the more I learned about her, the more I knew she would be perfect to join my team of magical girls.

“Golly! I didn’t know I’d be friendsies with someone like you so quick!”

“Well, when you represent the hottest teen heartthrob in all of Equestria, it kinda comes with the territory. Hahaha! Wasn’t that funny? I should totally tweet that one.”

She was also kind of an idiot, but there was no doubt that she had all the qualities I was looking for in a potential teammate. Even if her head was full of hashtags, I knew that she always thought two steps ahead, that she was all about fostering relationships while focusing on her priorities.

“Actually, Vignette, there was one teensy weensy thing I wanted to talk to you about before we discussed any contracts.”

“Lay it on me, girlfriend. What were you thinking? A blog for Trenderhoof’s story feed? Some off the wall food pics from all the places he travels to around the world? Or even a couple pics of him… topless?”

“Actually…” I began, trying to get the disturbing image out of my head. “I wanted to talk to you about something that happened a couple months ago.”

Suddenly, the girl’s expression changed, causing her to frown as she uncharacteristically grabbed onto her arm in nervousness (albeit without letting go of her phone). “Oh… You mean… That.”

Just a few months ago, she had experienced what magic tasted like firsthand. By some crazy turn of events, she was granted magic just like Twilight had at the Friendship Games, and she had used it to capture anyone who disagreed with her popular vision, sending them to another realm within her phone. That other realm just happened to be a white room in the middle of a theme park, but it clearly pointed out that once she experienced what magic felt like, she grew to depend on it. Plus, from what I could tell, she had matured from that experience. This time, I knew that she would be able to handle her magic without going too far.

“Aww, there’s no need to frown!” I said joyfully. “I don’t think you did anything wrong.”

Vignette’s expression quickly changed again. “Do you even know what happened?”

“Sure I do! But just because you had a learning experience doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.”

The girl across from me looked down at her lap with remorse. “It wasn’t just a learning experience. I turned into a monster. I was so wrapped up in how I wanted everyone to see me that I didn’t even realize how terrible of a person I had become. I just… want to forget it ever happened.”

“Does that mean you want to forget about magic too?”

“Huh?”

“That was your first time dealing with magic, right? Like I said, I would think of that more like a learning experience than you turning into some terrible monster. Actually, I would bet that most people would start acting strange after they learned that they could do stuff nobody else could.”

Then, pouting her face, Vignette folded her arms and slid back in her seat, still avoiding eye contact. “Will you stop pretending that it was totally normal? I used a magic phone to literally capture people whenever they didn’t do what I wanted. It’s no wonder I didn’t have any friends. Ugh. And after Rarity zapped my phone, I lost all my adorable selfies that I was saving for later.”

“Well, if someone gave you your magic back, would you do it again?”

Finally, Vignette looked straight into my eyes, her jaw dropping slightly as she thought about the question. Of course, she probably didn’t believe that there was any way that she could ever use magic again, but I could tell that she was mulling over the possibilities in her head, just in case it was still possible.

“No way! Even if someone gave me another magic phone, there’s no way I would use it.”

“Well, what if you had a different magic power?”

“Huh? Like what?”

“Whatever power you’d like! You can only pick one, though. That’s the only rule.”

The girl then rolled her eyes with a scoff. “Could you, like, make it to where I could go back in time?”

“Hmm… There’s probably limits that come with that, but I think we could make that happen.”

“Wait!” Suddenly, Vignette looked around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping before she leaned towards me, covering the side of her mouth so no one could read her lips. “I thought this stuff was supposed to be hypothetical or whatever! Are you saying there’s even more magic out there somewhere?”

Finally, I had her right where I wanted her. Even though she was outwardly hesitant about ever using magic again, I could see in her eyes just how much she wanted to use it again. She was just like anyone else in this world, not immune to the vices of power.

“Vignette… Have you ever heard of magical girls?”

The girl across from me scratched her head in confusion. “No…? What are those?”

“That depends. Have you learned from your mistakes? Are you ready to try out magic again?”

I held out my hand with a sly grin, waiting with enthusiasm as I watched her stare at my palm hesitantly, going back and forth in her head about whether or not she really wanted to have that kind of power again. Her hand continued to hover over mine, jerking back instinctively every so often, but gradually moving closer and closer as time continued. She was finally about to take my hand in hers, but then, she suddenly pulled herself away, flinching from me as if I had some contagious disease.

“Wait… Could you like, tell me what I’m getting myself into before I sign myself into a devil contract? I don’t think my followers would like that very much.”

Seriously?!

“All I want is for you to be a magical girl and help me win a game.”

“...A game? So you want me to help you cheat?”

“Noooo. It’s not cheating if everyone can use magic!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! You’re telling me there are more girls who can use magical phone thingies? Is there like some kind of magical girl app that everyone’s downloading? How am I so late hearing about this?”

I slapped my face in frustration. “Becoming a magical girl isn’t that easy. You have to be hand-selected, and if you say yes, you’ll be one of only a handful of girls in all of Canterlot who can use magic! All you have to do is join me in a game, and if we win, you get to keep your powers forever! Also, we don’t need phones to use our magic. We can use them with our thoughts alone.”

Vignette stared at me for several long moments, squinting her eyes with hesitation until she finally said, “...You’re not really Trenderhoof’s agent, are you?”

“Nope! You’ll see that what I can give you is WAY better than what any amount of followers can give you!”

This was it. I had taken away her last objection. She knew as well as I did that she wanted to use magic again, and once the game started, she would never want to give it up, even if it meant killing a few girls along the way. She would fight tooth and nail to make sure that we won, regardless of what she thought about my plan to free Autumn Blaze from her prison. All that mattered was holding onto the magic that she had, and if that meant we had to win at any cost, I knew that I could trust her to do her part.

Finally, she grabbed onto my hand, sealing the deal to officially make her a magical girl.

Once I was about to grab onto my teleport gem to take her to Everfree City, however--

“Hold on.”

--I was interrupted. Not from Vignette Valencia… but from someone behind me.

Vignette leaned to her side to see over my shoulder as I turned around to see who had spoken, just to be met with a hooded figure facing the opposite direction.

“You’re saying that you can use magic? Are you talking about magic from another world?”

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “Just what do you know about magic from other worlds?”

“...I know how powerful it is. Capturing someone with a phone? That’s nothing. I’ve seen far more incredible things done with magic, from turning others into stone, hypnotization, exiling foes to foreign dimensions, and even taking away the powers of somebody else.”

OK, now I was really suspicious.

“And just how do you know what magic can do?”

The figure remained silent for several long moments before speaking again. “...Because I had magic once…” Then, she finally pulled down the pale hood off of her head, revealing a copious amount of poofy orange hair and a spiky purple headband. Once she turned around, however, I could see in her deep magenta eyes that she had been through pain, a kind of despair that only someone who had experienced it could recognize. “...And I want it back.”

“Uhh, could we call time out for one sec?” Vignette said, tapping her hands in the shape of a T. “So, who are you supposed to be again?”

The poofy-haired girl scoffed. “Adagio Dazzle. You might not realize it, but for a brief period of time, I had even more influence than all of your followers combined.”

“Doubt it. I know basically everybody who’s anybody, but if you want, we could take some pics together for your profile. Everyone will wanna follow you after that.”

“...Is she seriously who you decided would be a good candidate to wield magic?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Meh, beggars can’t be choosers. You wanted in too, then?”

“If that’s no trouble for your friend over there.”

The two of us then looked straight at Vignette, who rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders in defeat. “Fine. If you think she can help us win, then whatever. So what do we have to do to get our magic back?”

I couldn’t believe how perfectly everything had gone. I still didn’t know much about who this Adagio girl was supposed to be, but a magical girl could tell from instincts who had potential, something I could see a lot of based on her attitude alone. Plus, I had managed to score Vignette Valencia without any problems, which only left three magical girls that I needed to collect in just under four days.

“Just hold my arm,” I said, grabbing onto my teleport gem. The two girls did as they were told, each grabbing under each of my armpits with looks of confusion, but in just a few moments, everything would be made clear. “Oh, and girls?”

“Yeah?”

“Welcome to Everfree City.”

Author's Notes:

Fourth day of Trixmas.

G&PT: 1 magical girl (Photo Finish)
Last Gambit: 2 magical girls (Vignette Valencia and Adagio)

Also, I'm going to be switching perspectives between Trixie and Cozy Glow throughout the story from now on. I'll make sure it's not confusing, and this way I'll be able to cover two different perspectives without the other person having to be there. Hope you're enjoying the series so far!