Age Spell plot - prologue

[no_vampires_plz]

There is a Twilight Sparkle in the bar.

Accompanying her is a potted marigold flower, a particularly large and musty book of spells, and a look of Very Serious Concentration.

Interrupting her would probably be a bad idea.

[ooc: Not plotlocked, but any other tags will be Millitimed to before the thread with Trixie.]

Comments

[cape_and_wizard_hat]

Trixie comes proudly sauntering in with her usual swagger; Trixie would have gone straight to order something, but the sight of a certain purple unicorn causes her to pause in her steps. Trixie raises an eyebrow, wondering just what The Sparkled One us doing, but doesn't approach just yet.

[no_vampires_plz]

Twilight looks up from the book and fixes her gaze on the potted plant, her horn flaring with magenta light.

Nothing whatsoever happens to the plant.

[cape_and_wizard_hat]

...Time to see what's going on! Trixie activates a small smoke and glitter right beside Twilight and runs into it, it looks like she teleported there. When the smoke clears, Trixie's standing there in a majestic pose. She remains silent for a few seconds as she soaks in the awe of The Sparkled One.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie cannot help but notice that you had failed in what you were attempting to do, Sparkled One, and cannot fathom the identity of the spell of what you had just cast!"

[no_vampires_plz]

"...y'know, you could just ask 'what are you doing?' and be done with it."

[cape_and_wizard_hat]

"Trixie speaks the way she so chooses to and awaits the answer to the mystery that has been presented to her."

[no_vampires_plz]

"I'm trying to cast an age spell on that plant," says Twilight. "I've been reading up on advanced temporal arcana for class so I thought I'd give it another shot."

[cape_and_wizard_hat]

"What?" Trixie briefly glances at The Sparkled One's neck to see that there is no amulet there. "You cannot possibly hope to accomplish such a thing."

[no_vampires_plz]

"I almost had it once!" Twilight protests. "Back when you had me 'exiled' from Ponyville? I had a daisy regressed back into a bud, but it didn't stick. I know I can do it if I just apply myself."

[cape_and_wizard_hat]

"There is no such fault in admitting yourself to be less powerful than an artifact that boosts the strength of the bearer. Need Trixie remind you that you had been unable to do an age spell in either duel? Even the most powerful equine is unable to perform an age spell!"

Yep, Trixie referred to herself as the post powerful equine.

[no_vampires_plz]

Twilight bites back the urge to respond with something like How would you know?. "Why would the spells be written down if no one could do them?" she points out instead.

[cape_and_wizard_hat]

"...Trixie shall concede the point to you. But...!"

The showmare thrusts a hoof in her direction.

"That does not mean that ponies such as you and I are capable of it. If you were indeed capable of such an age spell, then why did you require body doubles during the duel?"

[no_vampires_plz]

"...beeeeecause the point of the duel was to get you to think the fake amulet was better so you'd take off the real one?"

[cape_and_wizard_hat]

"The performances of The Great and Powerful Trixie contain not only sleight-of-hoof and misdirection, but also comprise of very real spells. If you were capable of an age spell, you could have done it whilst mixing up with trickery. 'Tis what Trixie does all the time!" Well, Trixie has sort of a point.

[no_vampires_plz]

"Well, maybe I couldn't do it then, but that doesn't mean I can't do it now!"

[cape_and_wizard_hat]

"...Trixie needs your confirmation if you truly believe you can perform an age spell, as the mare you stand before still possesses serious doubts."

[no_vampires_plz]

"I'm at least going to try it," says Twilight testily. Trixie may not be a bad pony, per se, but she definitely wears out her welcome in a hurry.

[cape_and_wizard_hat]

Trixie is silent for a few seconds. "...So be it, Sparkled One." She turns to face the plant, levitating off her hat and setting it on the ground.

"If you truly believe you are capable of performing it, then so is Trixie!"

[no_vampires_plz]

"--Okay, fine. If it'll shut you up for five minutes..." Twilight stands up to face Trixe over the top of the marigold's foliage. "First one to regress the flower back into a bud wins. Deal?"

[cape_and_wizard_hat]

Trixie can never back down from a challenge. "Deal! And soon, you shall see just who the superior unicorn is! No amulets, no trickery, just pure skill and power!"

Trixie's horn lights up in her usual pink magical aura as she attempts to perform an age spell on the flower.

[no_vampires_plz]

Twilight's horn, in turn, flares magenta as she concentrates on the plant.

[cape_and_wizard_hat]

Trixie knows a lot about magic. She needs to. She's a storytelling magician. And needless to say, she successfully performed an age spell before. It was even to the point where she performed two simultaneously, aging one up into an old man and another into a baby. She didn't even break a sweat or need to concentrate. Trixie definitely knows how to perform an age spell. The question is if she has enough magical power.

Trixie's pink magical aura intensifies a little, her pouring more magical energy into trying to perform an age spell. She HAS to win this. She HAS to beat Twilight Sparkle. If she doesn't, it'll be that much harder to rebuild her reputation back up to what it was.

[no_vampires_plz]

You can do this, Twilight. You know the theory. You have power to spare. It's just a matter of execution.

Her horn flares and sparks.

An organism's life is a line of which we can only perceive a single cross-section. Move along the line to where you want to be.

The marigold's petals seem to... twitch, just a little.

[cape_and_wizard_hat]

You've done this spell before, Trixie! You performed it with ease! You know exactly what to do! Turn that flower back into a seed!

Trixie notices the twitching. She is so close to beating Twilight. She is so close to performing an age spell. All she needs to do is put as much magical power into the spell as she possibly can until it obeys and regresses in age. Trixie concentrates as she grits her teeth. Her horn flares a brighter and prighter pink.

[no_vampires_plz]

So does Twilight's.

The marigold starts to glow with Twilight's magenta magic. Then it starts to look more like Trixie's pink. Then magenta again, then pink again, then magenta, then pink, and then--

BWA-BOOOOOOOM.