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Magic Duel (December 1st 2012, 22 minutes)

Summary: Trixie's back, and she is going to make Twilight pay!

The shop of 'Needful Things'. This one's an old trope, predating Steven King (novel by that name), and the Gremlins movie (which is probably why the shopkeep is dressed with a mandarin hat). It's a shop that you only find when you're vulnerable, and they always have something that will 'help' that turns out to be the worst thing ever. The oldest story I've read that has one of these is The Magic Shop by H.G. Wells (1903), but it wouldn't surprise me to find out that it's much, much older.

Alicorn Amulet. All black and red. Oooooh. Evil.

The shopkeep's scarf is tied in a strangely complicated way. I'm not entirely sure what's going on there. There's a knot at the front where two small ends are put together like a triangular neckerchief, but there's a length wrapped around, then under and over like a long scarf. I've not seen anything quite like that style.

Twilight shows some strain during this maneuver. However, Rarity pulls off tricks like that on a regular basis with no effort. Unless there's some additional cost because Twilight's targets are alive?

Basketball with the traditional fruit basket. Invented in 1891 in New England, using peach baskets. The ball didn't pass through the basket in the original version, but had to be poked out of the bottomless basket by a pole.

So Trixie managed to buy another wagon after her original was destroyed. And we get reference to Pinkie's parents.

Just as a note, nearly every farmer I know calls their patch a 'rock farm'. It's just one of those things that working the soil for whatever reason (which includes just having livestock running over it constantly) causes the rocks to 'float' to the surface.

Age spell is for the highest level of unicorn. A couple of things to note. Snail's cutie-mark changed here, and Snips no longer has one. This actually did change their age, and apparently cutie-marks *can* change over time, if slightly. Likely the age spell transferred age from one to the other.

Why can't Spike send a letter on his own?

Zecora demonstrates slight-of-hand at least, and actual magic at best. Does Zecora have access to the same tricks that Pinkie pulls?

Why are there bunny ears on the dangerous outfit? I just...

Twilight is still using 'Beyond the Everfree Forest' as an indicator of 'truly foreign'.

This time both targets aged in a similar way.

Interesting that the glass contained Ponyville is developing a storm front inside of it. The heat and humidity in there must be astonishing.

And Trixie's lightning blast tickles RD. Now, Pegasi are probably resistant to lightning, or at least weather ponies are. And since Trixie was intending an extremely painful blast (but not lethal, she said so.) which wasn't boosted by the amulet like she expected, this is probably much like a static electricity shock.

And Trixie is defeated by stock stage magic.

Bingo! Saddle Arabians. Definitely far more horse-like than the ponies. Almost as tall as Celestia, with thin legs with defined hooves. All the trappings are typical Arabian horse tack.

And a true fourth-wall breaking moment, from Pinkie *and* Twilight.