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                                                     Seeking a Weakness

                                                               by Rex Ivan

It was past dusk when the Great and Powerful Trixie leaned a ladder against the back wall of the Library tree house. Even though she had cast a disguise spell on herself, she had to be careful that no pony saw her actions. Getting arrested was the last thing she needed now.

Trixie crept up the ladder and onto the balcony. Using her Great and Powerful magic, she opened the simple latch lock, and stifled a giggle as she stepped inside. She had done it. She had made it into the home base of her arch nemesis. The distraction Trixie had set up for Twilight would ensure her absence for a few more hours, along with that baby dragon servant of hers. Finally, she would discover why Twilight Sparkle was so much more powerful than other unicorns.

She stood in the center of the room for a moment, chanting her incantation. Completion of the spell created a pulsing orb of pale blue light, which floated through the room. This specially made spell was created to direct the caster to the most often used magical artifact in the immediate vicinity. Trixie reasoned that this would no doubt be the central hub of Twilight's resources.

The spell lead Trixie through the library and into Twilight's bedroom, where it promptly slid under the bed and stopped. She thought it a bid odd that such an important secret would be hidden in so obvious and mundane a place. Twilight must be able to sleep easier knowing her prime source of arcana was close at hand. It also made sense to have it available for access while sleeping. That was careful planning, she had to admit.

Trixie reached under the bed to pull out a long flat box, nearly the same size as the bed itself. She also thought it strange that she could only detect a minor warding enchantment over the box. There were no arcane barriers, no invisibility shrouds, or even an alarm spell. There was just a small one that inhibited the invasion of . . . dragons? Trixie studied it for a time, before understanding that there really was nothing else binding the box. Surely Twilight was a fool for only protecting her secrets with a layer of slightly enchanted cardboard. Trixie whispered a word and the blue orb floated up and increased its intensity enough to well illuminate the room. She smiled to herself as she pulled the lid off the box. Nothing could stop her now.

She immediately lost her smile as she looked down at the countless magazines stacked very neatly into every available space inside the cardboard container. “This . . . This is . . “ She reached down to bring one of the issues closer, to make certain her eyes were not lying to her. “This . . . there's no way . . . “ Her brows furrowed together as her mind tried to process what she was seeing. She read the cover out loud just to reaffirm what she was seeing.

“Seventy-four pages of pure pony pleasure? This can't be right! What is all this?” She stared blankly at the archive before realizing just what this might mean. “My spell must be defective . . . and Twilight is a pervert . . . “ She stared unblinkingly at the lewd collection. “They’re all mare magazines. Twilight . . . likes dirty MARE MAGAZINES?! W-what . . .?”

Her mind began to cramp as she struggled to take in the implications of her discovery. She continued to look down at the various issues spread out before her until one caught her eye. “No . . . wh- . . . no!” She reached over the sprawling collection and brought the offending document towards her. Adorning the cover was none other than Twilight Sparkle herself. She was clad all in black leather and was wearing a strange hat that looked like something stolen from a foreign military uniform. She had an evil smile with a riding crop between her teeth, while posed over some poor pony who was strapped into a straight jacket with a black bag over her head.

Trixie stared for a moment, then, with an almost involuntary motion, she opened the magazine. As she flipped through the pages her eyes were greeted with fillies attached to various devices that looked like they were made more for a torture chamber than anything else. When she finally got to section concerning Twilight she felt her mind freeze over. She blinked down at the title on the page before her. “The Twilight Hours of a Great and Powerful Playmate.”

The blue pony stared down at page after page of Twilight binding, abusing, and molesting a pony that looked like she could be Trixie's twin. She looked closer. It was more than just a close resemblance. Trixie had looked at herself in the mirror far too often to fail to realize that it was an exact copy of her in the pictures.

“What is going on . . . “ She stared a moment longer before her reason returned to her. She put the still open book on the floor and began an incantation over it. The pages began to glow as her analysis spell went to work. The various forms and specifics of the spell within the book floated through her mind. Within moments Trixie knew exactly what sort of magic lay before her.

A sharp red hue crept into her complexion. This was dream magic. It was Twilight's fantasies recorded down on magical paper bound in magazine format. Her blush deepened as she looked back down at the various positions Twilight had imagined her being bound into. The machine she was attached to didn't even look like it would actually function with the physics of the real world.

As she picked up the book her eyes fell on the the remaining stacks still in the box. She suddenly felt that she had done something very wrong, even if it was to her arch-enemy. How many sleepless nights did the images on these pages represent? What other sorts of fetishes did Twilight have, and who did she want to share them with? From what Trixie recalled from her stalker reconnaissance spells, Twilight didn't have anything close to a love life. Mostly all of her days were usually spent in her books, and now it seemed that her nights too were spent the same way.

Trixie closed the book and placed it back on top the pile before collecting the others she had shuffled through. Just then the front door of the library opened. Trixie panicked upon hearing Twilight's voice increase in volume as she entered her home. Trixie snuffed out her own light spell just as the lights turned on in the rest of the library.

“I don't care Spike. It was obviously written by some pony trying to pull a prank. I'm just glad we found that out sooner rather than later. We very well could have been following that trail till daybreak.” The door closed and hoof steps moved through the ground level. Trixie fumbled to re-stack the magazines.

“You don't think Pinkie Pie would pull something like that, do you?” As Trixie put the last of the books back into the box, she heard something heavy being set down onto a table.

“She was my first guess but the whole thing didn't have her sense of fun to it. It all just seemed more like a task for the sake of taking up time. Well, whatever. I'm tired now, and I know you are too.” Hoof steps mounted the stairs, and Trixie scrambled to close on the box. The lid slid on and she shoved the box under the bed just as Twilight reached the top stair.

“Besides, I . . . “ Trixie pulled her hooves out from under the bed at the same time she heard Twilight's gasp. “ . . . who are you? And what are you doing in my house?” Trixie stood and turned to face her nemesis. Twilight looked honestly confused and alarmed. Her stare fell to the spot on the floor where Trixie had been sitting, and her eyes went wide. “What were you doing under my bed?”

Trixie locked eyes with the purple unicorn in an indignant glare. Surely, she couldn't have forgotten the most worthy rival she had ever faced in her life. Then she remembered the disguise spell she had neglected to remove. With a wave of her hoof she dispelled the illusion and stood tall in her full glory. “Ta-da! It is I, The Great and Powerful-”

“Trixie?! What . . . what are you doing here?”

Trixie took a step forward while wearing her smuggest of grins. She decided it was time to use her superior linguistic techniques to bluff her way out of the situation. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has come to challenge you to a duel in the old order of-”

“Wait. WAIT! Answer my question. What were you doing here now, while I was away? And what were you doing under my bed?” This was not going as the Great and Powerful Trixie had planned. Twilight looked toward her bed again. “Did you . . . what did you do? What did you see?!”

Trixie opened her mouth to speak, but a response failed her. Instead, a visible blush         spread across her cheeks, and Twilight's jaw dropped to the floor when she saw this. “You SAW!”

“Um . . . The Great and Powerful Trixie sees ALL! This is surely nothing you didn't already know. Unless you truly are the fool they claim you to be. Are you admitting to being a fool?” Trixie nearly stumbled as she walked back towards the nearest window.

Twilight's expression shifted into a combination of shock and indignation as she realized what Trixie was tying to do. She refused to have her mental train thrown off course by this nonsense. “You saw it ALL, didn't you?!” Tears started to well up in Twilight's eyes as her own blush deepened.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't know what you are talking about. She came to challenge you, and that-”

“What are you talking about Twilight? What did she see? . . . Hey, are you alright?” Spike was at her side now with a look of deep concern, as he saw the tears running down Twilight's face.

“Get out! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!” The books on the shelf nearby nearly fell to the floor with the impact of Twilight's outburst.

Trixie flinched as she started to turn to the window. “AAH! OK! The Great and Powerful Trixie now retreats, but beware. She will-”.

“OUT!! NOW!!” With this Twilight launched a crackling black beam of lightning streaking from her horn towards the invader. Trixie barely had time to create an impact shield in front of her before being blasted out the window with such force that she collided into the roof of a small shop on the opposite side of the road.

Twilight stood seething, staring out the broken window which now had scorch marks adorning its frame. Spike stared up at her while huddling down, partially hiding behind a nearby chair. Twilight allowed herself to catch her breath before speaking to her apprentice. “Spike.”

“Yes, Twilight.” He didn't move from behind the chair.

“Do we still have that tome of memory erasure?”

“Yeah. I think it's-”

“Go get it. Now. Before she wakes up.” The little dragon ran down the stairs to retrieve the book, leaving Twilight to mumble angrily to herself. “Why?! Why did she go for the happy box? She could have searched for anything else. Hrm!”

                                                                           *****

Trixie awoke to the stars. They were very nice. Her first thought was that it had been such a long time since she had watched the stars like this. Then events began to filter back into her mind. She sat up with a groan and braced herself against the roof waiting for the spinning in her head to stop. She opened her clenched eyes just as a lavender spark of light flashed a few feet in front of her. Twilight stood peering down at her, looking a bit annoyed.

“You're awake. That's too bad, but it does give me time to apologize for what I did back there. Emotions clouded my judgment. I usually make every effort not to just blow up like that.” Her horn started to glow as she levitated a book out of her saddle bag. “Considering the current situation, though, I think my agitation is understandable.”

“You know,” Trixie said as she attempted to stand, “it's not that big of a deal. I mean I have heard of lots of other ponies who are into . . . uh . . . things that, that are . . . “ She lost her footing and slumped back onto the roof.

“Oh yes, there are. Many in fact. However, none of them are the star pupil to Princess Celestia herself. If word got out about my studies into the magic of pornography, it would reflect bad on both the Princess and myself.” Twilight flipped through the pages of the book as she spoke. “But no matter. Soon this will all be taken care of.”

“What are you going to do?” Trixie looked up at her with a twitching fear in her eyes. She had heard quiet rumors in the underground wizard's circles, just gossip really, of some of the stranger activities of the Princess and her underlings. She had dismissed them as rubbish initially, but with Twilight standing over her now, her imagination went wild with the various things that she had overheard.

“Hm?” Twilight sounded as if she had almost forgotten the battered pony laying at her hooves. “Oh, I'm just going to do a little magic. You know, since that's what I do.” She looked up from the book's pages. “Oh, I'll have to borrow a bit of this too.” Twilight's horn glowed again as the open wound on Trixie's shoulder bled out into the air. Trixie winced, and looked up to see her blood floating away from her in a thin stream.  Twilight intensified her focus, and the crimson liquid was fashioned into a magical rune circle which remained suspended in mid-air. As Twilight began whispering the magical phrases from the book, a brighter glow erupted from her horn and infused it's light into the hovering circle. Suddenly a tight beam of light shot out from the circle's center and hit directly into Trixie's forehead. With an electric shock that sent her mane standing on end, Trixie fell unconscious without uttering a sound.

“OK, then. It's time to get you down from here.” Twilight looked down at Trixie for a moment, then looked around to see if her light show had attracted any unwanted attention. Satisfied that they were still alone, she leaned in close to the unicorn's head and sniffed deeply into her mane. She allowed a gentle moan to escape her lips as her eyes rolled slightly back. “Heh, alright then. Now it's time to get you down from here . . . a shame we don't have a little more time.”

                                                                         *****

Twenty minutes later Trixie opened her eyes to find herself laying out in the street just below the library's balcony. Twilight Sparkle looked down at her. “Uh, Trixie?”

Trixie sat up and held her head. “Ooohh. What happened?”

“Well, while you were trying to break into my house your ladder apparently tipped over, and you landed on your head.” Twilight pointed to the ladder laying in the street a few yards away.

She looked up dumbly at Twilight again. “I did? It was . . . what?” She had the distinct feeling that she was forgetting something. It was like a dream that began to fade away upon awakening.

“Yes, you did. You took a few gashes on the cobblestones, but my magic helped to heal you up. Now, honestly, I know you consider me your enemy, but really, Trixie, I'm not. I don't think it would be worth your while to try to break into my house again. If I hadn't returned from my errands when I did you might have bled out while every pony slept.”

Trixie slowly stood, and allowed herself a moment to adjust to the position before speaking. “Of course you would say that. You, of all ponies, would want me to lower my guard. That's when you would swoop in and take your revenge on The Great and Powerful Trixie.”

“Revenge? Why would I possibly want revenge? Because you fell down and gave yourself head trauma?”

“ . . . yes.” With that Trixie stomped down on the street sharply producing a thick white plum of smoke. Twilight coughed and sputtered as she trotted away to get clear of the haze. When the smoke cleared Trixie was gone.

“Well, I guess that went as well as can be expected,” Twilight said to herself. She spun around suddenly as she heard a clattering sound behind her. A rope was tied to one end of Trixie's ladder and was pulling it loudly down the street. Twilight followed the rope down the street and around the corner of a nearby building. She casually turned the corner to find Trixie pulling the rope with her mouth.

Trixie stopped for a moment and then glared at her. “It's a rental, OK? The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't wish to lose her security deposit.”

Twilight sighed and walked back to the library. She would have to remember to put a stronger protection ward on her research before something like this was able to happen again, and she was pretty sure that it was going to happen again . . . repeatedly. At this thought she allowed a broad grin to creep onto her face. Then, with a hop, skip, and a jumping hoof click, she entered her home for the night.