Of Two Minds

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chpater 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue

Chapter 1

As the Great and Powerful Trixie looked out over the crowd of ponies gathered in front of her stage-coach, she realized that her initial hunch was right: trying to put on another show in Ponyville was a very bad idea. Canterlot hadn’t been a great location for her off-season travels either, but that was mostly because the mountain-side city was a hub for unicorns and magic, which made it difficult for a magic stage show to attract any real attention. Ponyville, however, was much worse for one reason: she’d been made an absolute foal of in that town – twice – and thus the residents weren’t likely to be supportive of a third attempt. She’d let some of her… not quite friends but more than acquaintances, who lived in Canterlot talk her into taking her new, improved, and generally successful act to the small town to try and repair her reputation. Trixie knew that they, or at least one of them, had her best interests in mind, but she was having second thoughts before she’d even started.

The audience was giving her tolerant stares at best, although she could see clear disapproval and outright malice in more than a few eyes. She’d started her act as usual, starting behind the scenery as she projected her voice out to welcome everypony to her show, promising mind-blowing illusions, amazing sleight-of-hoof, and, of course, great tales of daring-do. She announced her name and cast a smokescreen spell along with setting off some fireworks to cover the flash and sound of her teleporting onto the stage in time with announcing her name. Although doubts ran through her mind at the sight of the lackluster response, Trixie didn’t falter. She was used to getting poor receptions, having had to muscle through more than her share when she was rebuilding her image. What she wasn’t expecting, however, was the flying produce.

Trixie had no idea who’d started it. It wasn’t the cyan pegasus with the rainbow mane, since she’d have been all too eager to be known as the instigator. Trixie couldn’t see the orange earth pony apple farmer in the audience, so she wasn’t a suspect either. All the blue showmare knew was that a slightly over-ripe tomato hit the stage only seconds after the smoke had cleared, and that impact heralded a storm of fruits and vegetables flying up from the crowd, which began to jeer and boo, and homing in on Trixie’s location. Trixie dropped out of her dramatic reared-back pose and raised a hoof to cover her head as she activated her horn and tried to decide what to do. She simply couldn’t allow herself to take the abuse lying down, but to grab the projectiles with her magic and fling it back would only serve to cement her image in the Ponyvillians’s minds. She decided that a tactical retreat would serve best, but just as the produce was about to impact and she was working her teleport spell, the projectiles all stopped and hung suspended in a purple aura of magic.

“Shame on all of you,” said a voice Trixie found familiar and which raised an old anger that she quickly forced back down. A purple unicorn with a slate blue mane with a pink highlight and a cutie mark of a large starburst surrounded by smaller stars approached the stage from off to the left, her horn glowing brightly with magic. She hopped up on the stage and leveled a disappointed glare out at the ponies. “Now,” she said, “I know Trixie here hasn’t been the best visitor to Ponyville in recent times, but that’s no excuse to pick on her now.”

“But,” a pony in the audience started to say.

“No buts,” Twilight Sparkle snapped, “If you don’t want to watch Trixie’s show, then you can just leave.” She gathered the fruits and vegetables together and dropped them in a neat pile in front of the stage. The crowd slowly dispersed, the ponies grumbling as they went. Twilight gave a deep sigh and lowered her head, feeling worn out from the effort of holding so much in her magic at once. Silence reigned for a while as Trixie simply stood and looked at Twilight, trying to sort out her thoughts and feelings. Beyond a doubt, she was grateful that Twilight had intervened, since Trixie hadn’t been sure she could’ve escaped without suffering some fruit-based damage to her self or, worse, her outfit. On the other hoof, she had her pride and there was a voice in her head trying to link this latest event to the previous times Twilight had gotten involved with Trixie. She finally decided that the best course of action required talking to the lavender unicorn. She cleared her throat to get Twilight’s attention.

“Sorry about that Trixie,” Twilight said, cutting off what Trixie was going to say.

“What are you apologizing for?” Trixie asked, rallying to her usual attitude of pomp, “You are not responsible for those foals and their treatment of the Great and Powerful Trixie. Perhaps, though, you mean to apologize for stepping on Trixie’s hoof once again and-”

“Please don’t go there Trixie,” Twilight said, narrowing her eyes at the showmare, “I saw a pony in trouble and decided to lend a hoof, that’s all. I was hoping the things I’d heard about you lately were true, that you’d learned a little humility and responsibility.” Trixie opened her mouth to make a scathing reply, but then paused and closed it, feeling a little ashamed. She had changed since her last visit to the backwater little town, a visit which had been far more humiliating than the first by a long shot for reasons Trixie did not wish to dwell on. Twilight sighed and gave Trixie a small smile. “Look,” she said, “I think we need to talk, just the two of us. I was just on my way home for lunch; would you care to join me?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie… accepts,” Trixie said, “Just give me a minute to close up.”

Trixie lingered over her carrot soup. It wasn’t because it tasted bad; in fact, Trixie had to admit it was a lot better than most of the soups she’d eaten on the road. No, she was simply feeling awkward sitting in Twilight’s library home, being served food by the lavender unicorn’s baby dragon assistant, whom she recalled from her first Ponyville show as one of the more persistent hecklers. The fact that he was holding his tongue and only giving her cool glances now was obviously due to the fact that Twilight was sitting across the table from Trixie at the moment, finishing off her own bowl of soup.

“Thanks for making lunch Spike,” Twilight said to the dragon after swallowing the last of the soup and setting the bowl on the table. Spike just nodded and took the bowl to the kitchen, returning quickly out of a determination not to leave his caretaker and employer alone with the showmare longer than necessary. Ignoring the dragon for the moment, Twilight met Trixie’s eye and asked, “What exactly were you expecting to happen when you showed up here again?”

“Trixie was hoping the ponies of this little backwater would give her at least a few moments to perform before they broke out the produce,” Trixie replied sourly, “Although, considering what happened before, even that may be too much to expect…” She took a sip of soup while she considered her next thought.

“You’re still not trying to find some way to prove you’re better than Twilight, are you?” Spike asked. Trixie eyed him angrily before swallowing.

“For your information, lizard,” she said, “The Great and Powerful Trixie does not harbor petty grievances.”

“Lizard?” Spike exclaimed, “I’ll have you know I’m a dragon.”

“Whatever,” Trixie said dismissively, “This conversation does not concern you, so be off with you.”

“That’s enough,” Twilight said, shooting Spike a disapproving gaze as he took a breath as if preparing to spit fire, “Trixie, I invited you here so we could have a nice, calm talk. Besides, this is a library.” Spike let his breath out in a disgruntled noise and slumped away.

“I’ll be shelving books if you need me,” he grumbled.

Twilight sighed and looked back at Trixie. “He did make a good point,” she said, “You have gotten over the Ursa Minor incident, right? Applejack told me you were telling an… altered version of that night in your Manehatten show.”

“Well,” Trixie said, “Telling the true account would destroy the image I portray on stage. Don’t worry though Twilight Sparkle, I’ve come to terms with that unflattering episode of my life and realize that although the blame can be shared among many, you are not one of those ponies.”

“So you’re coming here had nothing to do with me?” Twilight asked, sounding a little pleased at the prospect.

“No,” Trixie said with finality. A few seconds later though, her face fell and she added, “However, I’d be lying if I said you’re not on my mind more than I’d like. I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, have traveled the length and breadth of Equestria, faced many ponies in contests of skill and wit, and have experienced nearly every level of success a performer of my caliber can stand at. I should be happy with the course of my life now, but always, in some corner of my mind, I hear this voice questioning why I’ve never met you on even ground. I hold no grudge, and I’m sure it will only lead to trouble, but I don’t think I’ll ever be truly content to move on until I’ve tested myself against you in a proper challenge.”

“Ah-ha! I knew it!” Spike declared, poking his head in from the back room.

“And just what would a ‘proper challenge’ entail?” Twilight asked.

Trixie’s eyes shifted to the side and she took several slurps of soup while she thought. “That is the conundrum,” she said at last, “Based on the incident with the Ursa, it is obvious that you have more power than the Great and Powerful Trixie. Therefore, a direct contest of strength would be weighed significantly in your favor. We would need something that’s more or less an equal challenge for the both of us.” Her gaze went around the library until it settled on the window through which she could see her wagon parked next to the tree and her eyes lit up. “Of course,” she said, stamping a hoof as she gave Twilight her best game face, “This will be the challenge Twilight Sparkle: can you put on a better, by which I mean more well-received, magic show than the Great and Powerful Trixie here in Ponyville? Of course, we’ll have to make sure the Ponyvillians will give Trixie an actual chance to perform this time…”

“Can I cut in?” Spike asked, coming over to the table.

“What’s up Spike?” Twilight asked.

Spike turned his face toward Trixie and said, “As much as I’d love to see Twilight beat you at something, you do realize that the ponies around here like and respect her, and don’t like you at all. Do you really think they’ll give you a fair chance?”

“Some might,” Twilight said.

“No,” Trixie said, looking thoughtful, “he’s quite right. The odds are still against Trixie. There must be some way to balance things out.” She thought for a few seconds and then stood up from the table. “I will return in a moment,” she said, “I may have just the thing.” She walked out the door and headed to her wagon. She entered the portable stage and located her stash of scrolls and spell books. After she’d earned enough bits from her big break in Manehatten to replace the wagon she’d lost during her first Ponyville fiasco, the blue unicorn had picked up the hobby of collecting spells that weren’t exactly common in the hopes of integrating or adapting them to her act. What she was looking for now was a spell she’d found in an old tome in the Trottingham Library a few months back. She hadn’t found a way to alter it for use on stage, but if she understood it properly it would be the perfect way to level the playing field between her and Twilight. She found the scroll and picked it up with her magic, making it float along behind her as she returned to the library. Spike had cleared away her bowl of soup, which had still been half-full, but Trixie simply filed that away to deal with later. “Here,” she announced, bringing the scroll forward and unrolling it, “I have a “Mile in Another’s Hooves” spell. It will cause us to switch bodies for a short time.”

“What?” Twilight and Spike both asked at the same time.

“What I’m thinking,” Trixie explained, “Is that if I look like you I’ll be able to get my next show going before anypony realizes who I actually am. By the same token, if you look like me, your success will depend wholly on your skills at charming the crowd and not on any biases of friendship or familiarity.”

“Have you ever used that spell before?” Twilight asked, walking over to look at the scroll. Trixie rolled it up with a snap and pulled it away from the lavender unicorn.

“I am the Great and Powerful Trixie,” she said, “Do you think I’m so irresponsible?” Twilight and Spike just narrowed their eyes at her. “Look,” the showmare said crossly, “I may not be as powerful or skilled as you Twilight, but my talent is in magic and I know how to follow instructions for a spell. Besides, the book from which I copied it was quite informative regarding its successful use in the past. What do you say?”

Spike and Twilight shared a glance and then huddled together for a discussion. “I don’t like this Twi,” Spike said, “It seems really risky.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Twilight, “but she seems pretty sure of herself.”

“She was pretty sure about her ability to vanquish an Ursa Major,” Spike deadpanned.

“This is different Spike,” Twilight said, “It looks like she’s put in at least a little research. And if this will make her happier, I’m willing to risk it. We might even become friends after this.” She looked up at Trixie and said, “Ok Trixie, I’m in.”

“Wonderful,” Trixie said triumphantly, unrolling the scroll again. She read it over quickly, frowned for a split second, and then nodded. “You just stand there and try to keep your mind clear,” she said, “This should only take a minute or two.” Twilight nodded and Spike moved to give the two unicorns space, watching Trixie warily the whole time. Trixie took a deep breath and began to focus her magic, glancing at the scroll every once in a while to make sure she was doing the spell right. As the magic moved into place, she sent it toward Twilight. The lavender unicorn stiffened and her eyes glazed over as the spell entered her head. Trixie felt herself start to sweat a little from the effort of maintaining the spell, but kept her concentration as she began to guide the magic into herself to begin the transfer of minds. As soon as the energy touched her, Trixie suddenly began to feel lightheaded and disoriented. Her horn flared and dimmed several times as she fought the dizziness, but ultimately she lost that battle and blacked out as the spell collapsed on itself and Twilight fell unconscious to the floor as well.

Chapter 2

Twilight Sparkle was drawn out of unconsciousness by the sound of Spike’s voice calling her name. “Come on Twilight! Wake up!” He sounded really worried, and Twilight was surprised that she didn’t feel him shaking her or anything. She shifted slightly before opening her eyes. She blinked them several times to try and clear away the blurry clouds in her vision and, when that wasn’t quite working, brought her front hooves forward to rub her eyes. She stopped as leg-shaped blobs came into view; they were pale blue. I guess it worked, she thought, rubbing her eyes until she could see. Her guess was confirmed as she saw herself laying on the floor a few feet away, with Spike frantically shaking the lavender body’s shoulder as he continued to implore her to wake up. Twilight moaned a little to test her throat and, finding it to be in working order, spoke up.

“Spike?” she said. The baby dragon froze and slowly turned to look at her, his eyes widening in surprise.

“T-twilight?” he asked, coming over for a closer look, “Are you ok?”

“I think so,” Twilight said, slowly getting to her feet. Her vision was suddenly blocked by something falling over her eyes, and after she shook it off she realized it was Trixie’s pointed hat. “It seems the spell worked,” she said, looking herself over. She was wearing the showmare’s starry purple cape and so far as she could tell looked exactly like Trixie, down to the cutie mark.

‘I must disagree with that assessment.’ Twilight leapt a few feet in the air as a disgruntled voice echoed from off to her left.

“What was that?” she asked, looking around once she landed back on the floor.

“What was what?” Spike asked, giving the unicorn a strange look.

“That voice,” Twilight said, “It… you didn’t hear it did you?” Spike shook his head.

‘You can hear me?’ the voice said, ‘I guess that’s one bit of good news. What’s not good is that I seem to be a passenger in my own body!’

“Twilight? Are you ok?” Spike asked, getting worried again as Twilight’s face screwed up in confusion.

“I… don’t know Spike,” she said. She put a hoof to her forehead and closed her eyes as she tried to think. As soon as her eyes closed all the way, she felt something shoving her head to the right and all but the faintest sensations fled away. Her eyes opened, but not by her will. The pale blue unicorn body squirmed and stretched slightly under some power that Twilight couldn’t override. The other entity put a cocky smile on her face and then spoke.

“Ah, that is much better.” The voice was that of the Great and Powerful Trixie.

‘Wait,’ Twilight said, and then stopped in shock, hearing her voice as a faint echo in the air. ‘What… what’s going on here?'

“Trixie?” Spike exclaimed at the same time, “What’s going on here? What happened to Twilight?”

“Oh, she’s in here somewhere, I’m sure,” Trixie said, rubbing the side of her head before picking up and putting on her hat, “Most likely feeling annoyed that she’s no longer in control.”

‘I’m actually more concerned about why this happened,’ Twilight muttered, ‘Trixie, you can hear me, right?’

Trixie sighed and closed her eyes. “Yes Twilight, I-” There was another shifting sensation and Twilight found herself in control of Trixie’s body again. ‘-can,’ Trixie finished, and then made a frustrated noise. ‘I take we we’re going to switch control every time we blink?' she asked sourly.

“I hope not,” Twilight said, “now, where’d that spell scroll go?” A quick look around revealed that the scroll had landed on the floor a short distance away. Twilight picked it up and began reading.

“Um, Trixie?” Spike said tentatively.

“It’s me again Spike,” Twilight said, sparing her assistant a quick glance and smile.

“Oh, well,” Spike said, “So… both you and Trixie are there in that body, right?”

“It seems so,” Twilight said.

“Then, what about your body?” Spike asked, looking at the unmoving lavender body behind him. Twilight dropped the scroll with a gasp and rushed over to her body.

‘Oh please tell me you’re not dead,’ Trixie’s voice said, sounding legitimately worried. Twilight leaned her head and put an ear on her body’s side.

“I hear my heart,” she said, relaxing a little, “and I’m breathing steadily.” A sigh-like echo floated through the air.

‘So this can probably be fixed then,’ Trixie said.

“It probably can,” Twilight said, returning to the dropped scroll, “Spike, take a letter.” As Spike jogged off to find writing equipment, Twilight blinked and Trixie’s mind slid into control. Spike returned with paper and quill and looked expectantly at the blue pony. ‘Uh, Trixie,’ Twilight after an awkward moment passed, ‘would you mind blinking?’ Trixie sighed and complied, letting Twilight take control again. “Ok,” Twilight said. She cleared her throat and began dictating, “Dear Princess Celestia.”

‘Why are you writing to the Princess about this?’ Trixie asked.

Twilight gritted her teeth. Because I’m her most beloved student and if anypony knows how to get me out of your head, it’ll be her, she thought sarcastically before preparing to give a less scathing version of the explanation out loud.

‘Oh,’ Trixie said in amazement, cutting her off, 'I wasn’t aware… that explains a lot about you.’

You can read my thoughts? Twilight asked silently, blinking in surprise, and then groaned as she felt herself forced to give way to Trixie’s will again.

Apparently I can… the show-mare replied mentally.

“Uh, Twi?” Spike asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You are speaking to the Great and Powerful Trixie now,” Trixie declared.

Spike threw up his hands in frustration, but kept his grip on the paper and quill. “Stop switching up on me!” he shouted, “This is going to take forever if you girls can’t decide who gets to be in control!”

“Believe me little dragon,” Trixie said with an over-played tragic air, “Trixie agrees with you whole-heartedly, but this an altogether new experience that has caught even the Great and-”

“Yeah yeah,” Spike cut in impatiently, “just give me Twilight back so we can write this letter.” Trixie huffed indignantly at being interrupted. She intended to remain in control to spite the dragon, but in her annoyance she closed her eyes and found herself once again feeling like a sentient puppet in another pony’s hooves.

“Sorry Spike,” Twilight said once she was back in control, “Are you ready?”

“I’ve been ready,” Spike replied dryly.

Twilight cleared her throat again and began dictating from the start, “Dear Princess Celestia, I am writing to request your advice and help with a magical accident I have just had. I’m not sure if you know of her, but a traveling performer-”

‘She knows about me,’ Trixie said, cutting off Twilight’s train of thought again, ‘Through her sister at the very least.’

“-named Trixie,” Twilight continued with a little extra force in her voice, “who has visited Ponyville a couple times before, returned today and, to make a long story short, talked me into letting her attempt a mind-swapping spell on the two of us. The spell collapsed on her with the result of trapping both of us in a single body- Trixie’s body to be precise. My own body, while obviously without any consciousness…” She paused to let spike work his way through the large word before continuing, “… still maintains basic autonomous-”

“Auto…?” Spike asked, giving Twilight the look that meant he didn’t understand the word.

“Automatic,” Twilight offered instead. Spike nodded and resumed writing. “… automatic functions like breathing and operating my heart. Along with this letter I am sending the scroll from which Trixie cast the spell as well as notes on how this… oh, how do I describe it?”

“Bodymates?” Spike suggested.

‘Body sharing?’ Trixie put in, ‘Or… Bipersonality perhaps?’

Bipersonality? Twilight thought, Where’d that come from?

‘It just rolls off the tongue. So to speak…’

Twilight rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Spike. “I think I’ll call it a Multiple Mental Occupancy for now,” she said. Spike raised an eyebrow and set to work writing the phrase down. “Anyway,” Twilight said, getting back into diction mode once more, “…notes on how this Multiple Mental Occupancy seems to operate. I humbly request that you provide as much assistance as you can to reversing this situation as quickly as possible. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” As Spike finished writing, Twilight began to turn her attention back to the spell scroll, only to blink and have her control stolen away again.

“So, it’s finally my turn again,” Trixie said, stretching out a rear leg before picking up the spell scroll. I do hope you don’t mind if I run things for the moment Twilight, she added mentally in an off-hand manner.

‘We really should figure out if we can control this blink-to-switch thing better,’ Twilight said.

In a moment, Trixie thought as she laid the scroll out on a book stand and began reading it. “What I am interested in,” she said, out loud so Spike could hear, “is where I went wrong with this spell. I won’t let you send it until I figure out my error.”

‘Fair enough,’ Twilight said, reading along with Trixie. She realized rather quickly that reading through the eyes of somepony else was an exercise in patience, especially when that somepony else read at a noticeably slower rate than Twilight was used to. After a few lines, she was able to adjust to Trixie’s rate and started mastering the art of reading out of the corner of her eyes whenever she overtook the showmare. After they made it halfway through the spell, Twilight started to suspect the reason it had failed. If she was right, it was a big error.

“I do not understand,” Trixie said after she finished the first read-through, “I followed this to the letter.”

‘Even that part where this spell is supposed to be cast by a third unicorn who’s not part of the mind-swapping?’ Twilight asked. Trixie’s eyes returned to the start of the scroll and blinked, ceding body control to Twilight. “Right here,” Twilight said, not missing a beat as she placed a hoof below the relevant lines, “This spell is designed to be cast by a mediator on two other subjects. I’d have to read the book you found this in Trixie, but I suspect this was meant as a way to help ponies learn to appreciate one another’s point of view.”

‘Well,’ Trixie said, ‘we didn’t have another unicorn, so I had to adapt.’

Twilight sighed and shook her head slowly. “I should have insisted on looking this spell over before letting you cast it Trixie,” she said, “But, what’s done is done. Are you finished with the scroll now?”

‘Yes, I suppose so,’ Trixie said after a few seconds of thought. Twilight nodded, rolled up the scroll, and levitated it over to Spike so he could add it to the letter. Twilight then found a few blank sheets of paper, borrowed Spike’s quill, and set to work noting down the aspects of MMO. After noting the means by which the situation was created and how the inactive mind – which Trixie quickly insisted be referred to as “the passenger” – was only capable of speaking to the active, or controlling, mind and experiencing the world through sight and sound, she and Trixie began experimenting with the method of switching control. They determined that the Passenger mind held the power to decide if control of the body was exchanged, although exchanging seemed to be the automatic choice if they weren’t paying attention, and that a switch couldn’t occur less than twenty seconds after the previous one, give or take a second.

At the end of the testing, Trixie ended up in control and took the time to add her own thoughts to Twilight’s notes – despite protests from the latter – before adding them to Spike’s load. “There you go,” she said, “now make yourself useful and get those mailed off before the post office closes.” Spike gave Trixie a withering look before rolling the papers up, tying a ribbon around them, and then sending them off with his magic fire. Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle as Trixie’s mouth dropped open in utter disbelief.

‘It’s ok Trixie,’ she said before the showmare could get mad at the dragon, ‘Spike has magic that lets him send letters to the Princess by breathing fire on them.’

Trixie closed her mouth and looked askance at Spike. You could have warned me, she accused. Spike returned the look.

‘Sorry,’ Twilight responded, ‘We do it all the time, so I forget it’s not a common method of correspondence.’ Trixie huffed and rolled her eyes, turning away from Spike and gazing upon Twilight’s body.

“Now, what should we do about this?” she asked, nudging the comatose body with a hoof, “We can’t just leave it here on the floor, can we?”

“No,” Spike said simply.

‘Let’s put me… it… in my bed,’ Twilight said.

“What?” Trixie exclaimed, “why should this… shell get the bed?”

‘Because it’s my body and I want it to be in good shape when I get it back,’ Twilight said.

“I’m not going to let you just stuff her in a closet or whatever you’re thinking Trixie,” Spike said at the same moment, arms crossed in determination.

“I wasn’t suggesting anything like that,” Trixie protested, “Do whatever you want with it.” She blinked and Twilight took control of their shared body. She took a deep breath and began to focus her magic into levitating her comatose body. The aura of magic surrounded the body, but when Twilight went to lift it into the air it barely rose, the legs still laying limply on the floor. Twilight squeezed her eyes to the brink of closing in concentration and managed to get the body another few inches higher, the legs tucked underneath, and the head propped up. ‘Now, where’s all that power of yours?’ Trixie asked mockingly as Twilight began moving toward the stairs.

It’s with my body, Twilight responded, struggling to maintain the spell as she did so, Not only… do you have… less magic than me… yours is unfamiliar to me.

‘Then let me take care of this,’ Trixie said, 'I know the Great and Powerful Trixie can handle a pony’s weight more easily than this.’ Twilight nodded and blink-switched with Trixie, wincing mentally as the magic suddenly stopped and the unconscious unicorn body fell to the floor like a rag doll. Trixie frowned and re-activated her horn. The lavender body drifted effortlessly upward, floated up the stairs, and into Twilight’s room at the showmare’s command. “If this situation is going to take very long to undo,” she said as she settled the body onto Twilight’s bed, “Then I insist you work at familiarizing yourself with my magic because that last attempt was simply embarrassing.”

‘Thanks for rubbing it in,’ Twilight replied sarcastically. Trixie smirked. ‘Well,’ Twilight said, ‘there’s not else to do until we hear back from the Princess so-’ Her thoughts were cut off by a loud, high-pitched, and cheerfully familiar voice calling from downstairs.

“Twilight! Hey, Twilight, where are you? I’ve got something amazing to tell you!”

‘Oh no…' Twilight moaned, wishing she could do more to convey her distress, ‘Not Pinkie Pie...’

Chapter 3

Twilight Sparkle was in a panic. With all the effort of learning and adjusting to the Multiple Mental Occupancy and writing to Celestia, she hadn’t had time to figure out what to do about it in regards to her friends! The rational part of her mind tried to assure her that her friends would be helpful and supportive once everything had been explained, but that part was rapidly drowned out by neurotic worries over how to explain, and what everypony’s first reaction would be, and the fact that the first pony who was going to find out was the rather unpredictable Pinkie Pie. So wrapped up in her thoughts as she was, Twilight didn’t realize that Trixie had ceded control of their shared blue body and that she was pacing around until she heard the showmare’s voice echo loudly in the back of her mind. ‘Will you just calm down!’ Trixie insisted, ‘you’re driving me crazy in here with all this worrying about who’ll think what about us!’

“But I haven’t had time to plan anything!” Twilight wailed quietly. She squeaked in terror as she heard hooves climbing the stairs outside her room, accompanied by Pinkie’s voice calling for her. Twilight threw herself up against the door and cast a very sloppy locking spell on it as Pinkie reached the room and tried the door latch.

“Ok Twilight,” the pink pony’s voice said through the door, “I know you’re in there because you never lock your room, even when you say you need privacy because somepony’s being waaay to chatty, although you never tell me who’s being too chatty and…”

‘Does she ever stop talking?’ Trixie asked, distracting Twilight from Pinkie’s word tsunami for a moment.

Only once she makes her original point, Twilight responded wryly, the question is how long it’ll take her to circle back around to it. I’d rather not wait for that… She opened her mouth to call out Pinkie’s name, but then paused as she came up with an idea. She made a few ragged-sounding coughs and put a rasp in her voice before speaking. “P-pinkie?” she said weakly.

“Ah ha, I knew you were in there!” Pinkie declared, dropping whatever her latest train of thought had been.

“Pinkie, I’m not *cough* not feeling very good right now,” Twilight said, adding more coughs and a low moan to the end for good measure.

“Aw, that’s too bad,” Pinkie said, her voice dipping into melancholy for a second before returning to its normal chipperness, “Although, it’s strange that Spike didn’t mention that when I came in…”

‘Oh dear,’ Trixie said with clear sarcasm, ‘your little lie is already breaking down. Whatever shall we do?’

Just try not to switch with me when I blink, Twilight retorted. “What… *cough cough* what did you need Pinkie?” she asked, hoping to divert the earth pony onto a different, safer line of thought.

“Oh,” Pinkie said, remembering the original purpose for her visit, “I wanted to ask you for help with a surprise. You see, I was walking near the edge of town earlier and guess who I saw lurking around Whitetail Wood?” She paused to give Twilight time to guess, but the librarian pony kept silent, drawing a blank. “It was Rainbow’s old griffon friend Gilda!” Pinkie announced enthusiastically.

“Gilda’s back too?” Twilight exclaimed, forgetting to keep up her sick act. She winced as she realized her error and prayed that Pinkie wouldn’t catch it. Trixie did as Twilight had asked and held back against the exchange of body control when their eyes closed. That was the only good news.

“Twilight,” Pinkie said, sounding suspicious, “are you suuure you’re not feeling ok? You’re not trying to avoid me are you? We’re friends, right?”

“Yes Pinkie,” Twilight said, deciding just to abandon the act, “I’m just… dealing something really weird that just happened to me and I… let’s just say I’d rather not be seen in public until I fix it.”

‘Are you implying that Trixie is ugly or something?' Twilight ignored the showmare’s indignation as best she could, focusing more on the silence that had fallen on the other side of the bedroom door. Pinkie was processing Twilight’s new story and the unicorn hoped she was buying it.

“Okie dokie lokie,” Pinkie said at last, to Twilight’s relief, “Just don’t forget, me and Applejack and everypony else are always ready to help if you need us!”

“Thanks Pinkie,” Twilight said with a real smile. As she heard Pinkie’s hoof-steps head back down the stairs, she backed away from the door, undid the lock spell, and let herself relax.

‘Is it over?’ Trixie asked. Twilight simply nodded. ‘Very well,’ the showmare continued, 'I would like my body back for a minute or two; it is quite boring to simply spectate.’

“Well,” Twilight replied, mulling over the request, “I really should practice using your magic, like you insisted.”

‘Please,’ Trixie begged, ‘Just long enough get rid of the feeling that I’m just a puppet with a brain.’

“Fine,” Twilight said, blinking as emphatically as she could. As Trixie took control and stretch and revel in the freedom to move about, Twilight said, ‘You know we’re going to have to get used to long periods of not being in control if we go outside like this Swapping every few minutes around Spike is awkward enough.’

“Well then,” Trixie said, walking up to Twilight’s vanity to look at herself in the mirror, “we simply won’t go outside then.”

‘True, I could get away with that for a little while,’ Twilight demurred, ‘but-’ She stopped suddenly when she heard the distinct and currently very welcome sound of Spike belching, with an undertone of dragon fire. ‘The Princess wrote back!’ she exclaimed. Trixie made use of the mirror to give Twilight a good look at her confused expression. ‘Trust me on this Trixie,’ Twilight said with some amusement.

“Very well,” Trixie said, turning away from the mirror. As she headed for the door, the sound of Spike’s rapid footsteps could be heard, growing louder as he climbed the stairs.

Trixie stopped by the door and sat down, adjusting her hat and cape to look properly regal for Spike’s arrival. The footstep sounds were suddenly drowned out by a shout from downstairs that sounded like Pinkie Pie: “Ear-flop-eye-flutter-knee-twitch!”

“What in Equestria?” Trixie asked.

‘Pinkie sense,’ Twilight answered, racking her memory for the meaning of that combo. ‘Ear-Eye-Knee is…Uh-oh. Trixie, get away fr-’ she was cut off as the door flew open, smacking the pale blue unicorn in the face and sending her rolling backwards. Spike froze in the doorway, unsure whether to laugh at Trixie or be concerned that he’d just hurt Twilight. ‘Ow… I felt that…’ Twilight moaned as Trixie checked to see if her nose was bleeding. Her hoof came away free of blood, but her pride was more than wounded enough for her liking.

She sat up and leveled a glare at Spike. “You overgrown lizard!” she shouted, “Be more careful! Don’t you know how to knock?”

“Sorry,” Spike said with a roll of his eyes. He stepped into the room and held up the sealed scroll in his hand. Trixie looked at it expectantly as Spike broke the seal and began to unroll it.

Pinkie Pie’s head appeared from the doorframe, looking slightly concerned. “Hey Twilight, did you…” she trailed off when she saw Trixie in the middle of the room getting to her feet and keeping a neutral expression on her face. “Hey, I know you,” Pinkie said, pushing past Spike to enter the room, “You’re that magician pony Trixie!”

“That’s the Great and Powerful Trixie to you,” the showmare replied.

“Ok,” Pinkie said, giggling a little before putting on a very serious expression. “Now, what are you doing in here? Twilight didn’t say anything about having another pony in her room.” She looked around and spotted Twilight’s body lying on the bed, seemingly fast asleep. “There you are!” the pink earth pony declared, bouncing over to the comatose lavender unicorn. “Now Twilight,” she said in a lecturing tone, “Tell me the truth this time, because you don’t look very funny to me. Twilight?” She poked the body a few times, frowning when she didn’t get a response. “Are you pretending to be asleep Twilight? You’re doing a really good job with that and all, but I’m not leaving until I get some answers missy.”

“She’s not, is she?” Trixie asked in a low, disheartened tone.

“Nope,” Spike said.

‘Argh,’ Twilight moaned, imagining the act of rubbing her forehead in frustration, ‘Ok, we obviously can’t avoid it any longer. Trixie, give me control please.’

Why? Trixie responded mentally, she might just think I’m playing a trick by altering my voice or something.

‘She’s very perceptive,’ Twilight said, ‘And with the way her mind works, she’ll probably just take my word for it. If not, I’ll just have Spike read the Princess’s letter to her.’

All right, Trixie thought, but you’re taking full responsibility if this turns out badly. She blinked and the two mares exchanged places, putting Twilight in control of the body.

Pinkie had progressed from poking to shaking Twilight’s body gently. When she still didn’t get a response from the unconscious pony, she attempted to tickle it into wakefulness. The lavender unicorn didn’t even twitch as Pinkie lightly dug her hooves into its sides. “Oooo, you’re good,” Pinkie said, sitting back to think. Twilight decided that she wouldn’t have a better opportunity, so she cleared her throat and spoke Pinkie’s name. Pinkie’s ears went up and she craned her head around to look at the pale-blue pony in the purple cape and hat. “Twilight?” she said incredulously, looking from the comatose body to the one Twilight was currently inhabiting.

“Yes Pinkie,” Twilight said, “It’s me. I wasn’t lying when I said I was dealing with something weird. You see-” Pinkie interrupted her by dashing over to her, holding her mouth open with both hooves, and staring down her throat with one eye.

“Whoa,” Pinkie said, “Did Trixie magic your brain out and swallow it or something Twi?”

‘WHAT?’ Trixie exclaimed, ‘Where did… what?’

Twilight rolled her eyes and chuckled. That’s Pinkie Pie for you, she thought before shoving the earth pony away from her. “No Pinkie,” she said, still smirking a little, “That’s not… quite what happened. Trixie and I were trying out a mind-switching spell and it didn’t work quite right.”

“Oh,” Pinkie said, grinning, “That makes much more sense! So, what’s it like?”

“It’s… interesting,” Twilight said simply, “I’m not sure how to describe what it feels like; you’d have to experience it for yourself. And no, I’m not going to let you talk me into adding your mind to this,” she added, seeing the interest in Pinkie’s eyes.

‘Thank you,’ Trixie said with a strange degree of relief.

“Okie dokie,” Pinkie said with a shrug.

“Ahem,” Spike said, waving the letter in the air, “I think you girls need to hear what Celestia has to say.”

“Oh right, sorry Spike,” Twilight said, turning toward the baby dragon, “Would you mind reading it?”

“Gladly,” Spike said, holding the letter in front of his face. “Ahem, ‘Dearest Twilight Sparkle,’” he began.

“I must admit your letter has caused me great concern. I will spare you any reprimands regarding the lack of reasoning and precaution that has led to your predicament, but only because I can see by the tone of your letter and what I could glean from a quick overview of the notes you sent that you are treating this with the care and seriousness it deserves. The spell that Trixie attempted to use is one that has not seen sanctioned use in several centuries due to the risks inherent in transferring a pony’s mind into another vessel; although neither I nor Luna can recall it ever resulting in something like your Multiple Mental Occupancy. As you read this letter I will be gathering the best spell-makers from both my school for gifted unicorns and other sources for the purpose of analyzing the spell and your notes to find a means to restore you and Trixie to normal. If Trixie can recall the precise way she altered the spell, please send that information to me as well. In the meantime, continue to study. I strongly suspect you’ll find a new lesson on the magic of friendship or two from this experience. I will write to you again once a solution has been found.

“Sincerely, Princess Celestia.”

“P.S. If possible, make sure to feed your unoccupied body; small amounts of thin vegetable broth should suffice every half hour or so.”

“Good,” Twilight said with a smile, “Between doing that and keeping Trixie happy by practicing magic, I’ll be well occupied until the Princess can fix things.”

“What about the surprise for Gilda?” Pinkie asked, “I don’t see why you can’t help me with that, and I promise it’ll be super-duper fun!”

“I’m sorry Pinkie,” Twilight said, “I’d like to help, but I can barely do any magic right now. Although, maybe Trixie…”

‘Trixie sees no reason why she should be lending her skills to some pony she barely knows,’ the showmare replied.

“…Trixie’s being a sourpuss,” Twilight said, not all that surprised.

“Well, you just said you were going to practice your magic,” Pinkie said, “Will you help once you’re good at it again?” She put on a pleading face that made Twilight swallow the refusal she was about to shoot out.

“Fine,” she said at last, “If Gilda’s still lurking around after I feel confident in my abilities, and assuming I can talk Trixie into playing along, I’ll help you.”

“Pinkie Pie Swear?” the party-pony asked. Twilight resisted the urge to blink in surprise; she wasn’t sure if Trixie was willing to hold back from taking control at this point.

“You must really want to do this,” the unicorn mused. Pinkie smiled and nodded energetically. “Tell you what,” Twilight said, “If you Pinkie Pie Swear not to tell anypony about me and Trixie, I’ll Swear to lend you a hoof with Gilda.”

“Deal,” Pinkie said. She and Twilight mimed the actions and spoke the words in unison: “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

‘I am not going to play along with a promise made in such a… foalish manner!’ Trixie protested as Pinkie left the room with her signature bounce-step.

“Too late Trixie,” Twilight retorted, “A Pinkie Pie Swear is as binding as a royal decree here in Ponyville. Now,” she added as Trixie continued to protest, “if you want me to learn your magic, you’ll need to be quiet so I can concentrate.”

Spike hid a chuckle as he went to file Celestia’s letter away. To him, it seemed that Twilight had things well under control.

Chapter 4

Falling asleep with a case of Multiple Mental Occupancy proved to be less of a hassle than either Trixie or Twilight expected, but it wasn’t easy either. For the sake of appearances, the double-minded blue mare bedded down in Trixie’s stage-wagon which, while not truly uncomfortable, was not the kind of place Twilight was used to sleeping. It took her a bit longer than usual to feel comfortable enough to fall asleep, and even being the Passenger mind – a status that kept being changed up – didn’t seem to help. On top of that, the pair’s thoughts kept waking the other one up. Eventually, though, they were both able to drift off and get some real sleep.

Trixie was pleased to find that she was in control when she woke up the next morning; there had been so much control swapping the previous night that she’d lost track of her position. A chill ran down her spine as her thoughts turned unbidden toward the possibility that she and Twilight might begin to lose their sense of individuality if they remained the way they were for too long. Chasing that thought away, she stood up, located her hairbrush and hoof mirror, and began fixing what was probably the worst bed-head she’d had in months. Once her mane was styled to her satisfaction, she levitated her cape onto her back and tied it on. As she picked up her hat, a thought occurred to her and she decided to speak it out loud. “Trixie does not relish the prospect of spending the entire day indoors waiting for your pet to burp up a letter Twilight,” she said. Twilight didn’t respond right away, causing Trixie to frown in disappointment. After a few more seconds of silence from her mental tenant, Trixie began to get worried. “Twilight? Twilight Sparkle! Answer me!”

‘Muh… huh?’ the echoing mind-voice of the other mare sounded groggy, ‘Oh, morning Trixie. What’s going on?’

Trixie heaved a huge sigh of relief. Oh thank Celestia, she thought, You were just still asleep.

‘You were worried that something had happened to me?’ Twilight asked, ‘How sweet.’

“I was merely afraid of having to tell your mentor that your mind had become lost or something,” Trixie replied with an air of unconcern as she floated her hat onto her head, “Now, to see about breakfast.” She went to her little pantry box, which was beginning to run a little empty. She dug out a container of oats and regarded it for a moment.

‘Spike’ll be making breakfast in the library if he’s awake,’ Twilight noted.

Trixie lowered the oats and grabbed her mirror so she could shoot Twilight a glance. “Do you think he’d be willing to feed me?” she asked.

‘He’ll feed me,’ Twilight pointed out.

That is true, Trixie thought, and it would be nice to have a hot breakfast for once. She blinked and let Twilight take control of their body. ‘However,’ she added as Twilight peeked opened the top half of the wagon door to look around, ‘since you were in control for dinner last night, I insist on being the one who actually eats breakfast.’

“We both taste the food you know,” Twilight muttered, and then sighed and added, “But if it’ll keep you happy…” Twilight couldn’t see any ponies nearby, so she opened the lower door and stepped down to the ground. After closing and locking the wagon – all by magic to continue acclimating to the magic in Trixie’s body – she walked around to the library door and stepped inside. She found Spike in the kitchen in the act of hopping down from the step-stool in front of the stove with a plate in his hand. “Good morning Spike,” Twilight said cheerfully.

“Morning Twixie,” Spike replied with equal cheerfulness as he set his plate down on the kitchen table, “I hope you’re in the mood for wheat waffles, because I’ve got everything you’ll need for them set out.”

“Twixie?” Twilight said, giving the dragon a confused look.

“Yep,” Spike said, returning to the counter to reposition his step-stool in front of the waffle iron, “It’s such a hassle keeping track of which one of you’s in control, so I decided to combine your names into one that I can use for both of you.” He poured some batter onto the waffle iron and clicked it shut.

“It sounds more like you just replaced the ‘r’ in Trixie’s name with a ‘w,’” Twilight said.

“Well,” Spike said, “It’s either that or Trixie Sparkle.” Twilight frowned slightly. She wasn’t pleased, but she didn’t want to ruin Spike’s good mood at the moment, considering her current arrangement with Trixie.

“Speaking of Trixie,” the unicorn said, “I’m going to let her run things while we eat. Try to behave.” And that goes for both of you, she added mentally. Spike simply nodded his acknowledgment as he busied himself with moving the completed waffle onto another plate. Hoping she wasn’t about to unleash some kind of storm, Twilight closed her eyes and let Trixie take control of the body. The showmare opened her eyes and wrapped the plated waffle in her telekinesis magic. Spike cast a glowering glance at her, but released the plate into her control and turned back to the waffle iron.

“Thank you,” Trixie said, setting the plate in front of herself, “By the way, Trixie is willing to answer to the nickname. It’s rather cute sounding, like a little foal trying to get Trixie’s attention.”

“Thanks,” Spike said dryly, “Good to know that somepony approves.” Trixie smiled in satisfaction as she began to top her waffle with some berries Spike had set out in a bowl earlier. She paused when she laid eyes on the plate Spike had placed on the table when she and Twilight had entered. “What, pray tell, is that?” she asked, pointing at the yellow, vegetable-studded mass sitting on the plate.

“Huh?” Spike said, glancing over his shoulder, “Oh. It’s just an omelet. You know, slightly scrambled eggs with stuff in them?”

Trixie’s hoof recoiled from the plate in horror. “Eggs?” she exclaimed, “As in, bird eggs?”

“Chicken eggs,” Spike clarified, fishing his new waffle off the iron, “Fluttershy gives me the ones her chickens lay that she can’t sell to anypony else.” Trixie found herself unable to respond, as her mouth was hanging open while one eye twitched in an expression of disgust. Spike raised an eyebrow as he turned around and saw her look. “What? I’m a dragon,” he said, “I eat all sorts of stuff: grass, flowers, eggs, gemstones, lemon worm muffins…” Twilight gave herself an imaginary face-hoof as Trixie continued to simply stare. “Besides,” the dragon continued, taking his seat across from the blue unicorn, “Eggs are used in all kinds of baked goods: cupcakes, muffins, bread, and donuts just to name a few. You did know that, right?”

“I… I…” Trixie stuttered, regaining the use of her mouth at last, “I think I’ve lost my appetite.”

‘Well I haven’t,’ Twilight said, a little impatiently, ‘so move aside and let me eat.’ Trixie complied without saying a word, and as soon as Twilight was in control, she gave Spike a slightly disapproving look. “That wasn’t very nice you know,” she said.

“What?” the baby dragon said innocently, “I was trying to help her understand. It’s not my fault that she’s obviously never taken the trouble to find out what goes into her food.” Twilight wasn’t sure if she completely believed that explanation, but Spike’s expression seemed genuine to her, so she let it slide and applied herself to eating her waffle.

By the time breakfast was over, Trixie had come to grips with the idea of edible eggs thanks to being exposed to Twilight’s casual acceptance of the three omelets Spike had consumed during the meal alongside his share of the waffles. Twilight had tried to help her along by drawing parallels between the use of eggs and cow milk, but Trixie simply couldn’t see her logic. To the showmare, milk was produced specifically to provide nutrition, whereas eggs seemed only a step away from eating the bird itself. Faced with that logic, and surprised to be out-done, Twilight had backed off and left Trixie to her own thoughts. Now that breakfast was over and she wasn’t distracted by hunger, Trixie’s mind returned to the thought she’d been voicing before Twilight had awakened. ‘Twilight,’ she said, ‘I’ve been thinking; it might be best if we leave town until the Princess can restore us.’ Twilight stumbled in surprise and lost her grip on the waffle iron, which she’d been the in the middle of returning to its place in the cupboards, only to restart her magic and catch it a split-second later. 'Impressive,’ Trixie said, ‘Your magic is progressing quite well, my student.’

Thanks, Twilight replied flatly, putting the waffle iron away. “Spike,” she said to her assistant, “Trixie and I need to have a talk. Do you mind cleaning up by yourself?”

“No problem Twixie,” Spike said, busying himself with washing the dishes. Twilight shot him a frowning glance at the nickname, and she thought she heard Trixie’s self-satisfied chuckled in the back of her mind. She went out into the main room of the library and made a quick circuit to insure the door was locked and that nopony was hanging near the windows or by Trixie’s wagon before sitting down by the central table.

“You want to go out?” she asked, staring at the statue in the center of the table and imagining Trixie’s face on it, “I thought you said you’d rather stay here, out of sight, rather than having to spend a long time as the passenger mind.”

‘What, is Trixie not allowed to change her mind?’ Trixie snapped. ‘I’ve put more thought into things since then,’ she continued in a level tone, ‘and I’ve realized that there isn’t much reason for me to take control if we simply sit here. You still need to work on adapting to my magic, and if I’m in control I’ll probably just end up getting on your… assistant’s nerves. Besides, if we go somewhere else we won’t have to worry as much about other ponies catching on to our present predicament.’

“If we left, we’d have to take Spike with us,” Twilight pointed out, “not to mention my body; I want to know the minute Princess Celestia’s ready for us. And what do you mean by ‘we won’t have to worry about other ponies catching on?’”

‘I can easily pass off your moments of control as part of a routine,’ Trixie said, ‘I am the Great and Powerful Trixie after all, one of the best actresses in all of Equestria. And being able to get back on the road performing for other ponies will do a world of good for my patience with Spike, I’m sure.’

“Even so,” Twilight said, not sure if she believed the entirety of Trixie’s claim, “I promised Pinkie Pie I’d help her out with Gilda. Even if I hadn’t made a Pinkie Pie Swear over it, I still refuse to back out of a promise to a friend.” Trixie fell silent, and after a moment Twilight stood up and walked to one of the bookshelves, considering the matter resolved and dropped. She grabbed a book on a high shelf in her magic and began pulling it out when Trixie spoke up with the mental approximation of a shout.

‘Trixie demands some fresh air!’ Properly startled, Twilight lost control of her telekinesis and the book fell onto her head. The strict and seemingly arbitrary rules of Multiple Mental Occupancy translated the involuntary, pain-induced closing of her eyes as the signal to allow for a control swap, leaving Trixie as the one to rub the bump forming behind her horn. “Right,” she said with a triumphant grin, “my larder is running a bit low, so I’ll settle for a simple trip to the market at the moment.”

She made it halfway to the door before Twilight brought up a point that gave her pause: ‘What sort of treatment do you expect the ponies at the market to give you?’

“I would think they’d be willing to sell to any pony with bits to spend,” Trixie replied, but her voice betrayed her uncertainty. At best they’ll just overcharge me… she admitted silently, frowning at the front door, ingrates… Twilight fought back the desire to come to Ponyville’s defense, since Trixie’s reaction was what she’d been shooting for. Trixie lowered her head and began to pace, deep in thought. Twilight tried to follow along, but the showmare quickly lost her in a mess of half-formed ideas. The general tone was easy to determine: how to make use of Twilight’s standing in the community despite Trixie’s distinct appearance. “Twilight,” Trixie said at last, removing her cape and hat, “Do you have any experience with illusion spells?”

Chapter 5

If there was one thing Twilight Sparkle could take from her experience sharing a body with Trixie, it was the unique opportunity to study the differences between unicorns with similar talents. It was common knowledge that each unicorn’s magic manifested in ways connected to their special talent, but now Twilight was learning that said magic operated differently on a much deeper level. Her initial trouble in using magic while controlling Trixie’s body wasn’t because the showmare had less potential power than Twilight; in fact, Trixie had more than enough power to fuel most of the spells Twilight knew by heart. The difficulty stemmed from the fact that Trixie’s magic felt different from Twilight’s; the studious unicorn struggled to find the words as she wrote her notes in between attempts to cast the spells Trixie was drilling her on, but eventually she decided to compare her magic to squeezing a bottle of mustard, requiring focus and effort to output the required energy, whereas Trixie’s magic felt more like pouring out a cup of water, requiring more attention to keeping the magic from “spilling” out of the spell and going to waste. Trixie hadn’t understood the analogy, but Twilight chalked that up to not having to learn to master another’s talent.

Once Twilight formed the mental concept of how Trixie’s magic worked, it took her only a few minutes to make the illusion spell work to her and Trixie’s initial satisfaction. The result was to make Trixie’s blue-coated and silver-haired body a dead-ringer for Twilight’s lavender body, down to the colors and style of her mane and tail and, most importantly, her cutie-mark. The only issue was that Twilight had to keep part of her attention on maintaining the illusion to keep it intact. ‘That is a detail we’ll have to work on,’ Trixie noted, feeling the fatigue from using so much magic despite not being the dominant mind at the moment, ‘Have you honestly never tried illusion magic before now?’

Never got around to it, Twilight responded mentally, It’s going on top of the to-do list after this though.

“Wow Twixie, that’s amazing!” Twilight turned her head to smile at Spike, who was standing just outside the kitchen door admiring the now-lavender unicorn, “I bet I couldn’t tell the difference if you stood next to the real thing.”

“Thanks Spike,” Twilight said. She took another second to admire herself before letting out a tired sigh. “I think it’s high time I took a-” She was interrupted by a faint, all-too familiar cry of “Incoming!” followed by rainbow blur entering the library through one of the higher windows and crashing into a wall, shaking the giant tree enough to dislodge a number of books from their places. Twilight groaned as she refocused on the illusion spell; she didn’t even need to look to know that Rainbow Dash had already picked herself up and was giving the unicorn her usual sheepish post-crash grin. That meant the cyan pegasus had seen her looking “normal,” so dropping the illusion would be a bad idea. “Can I help you?” Twilight asked, looking toward Dash. Please let this be a quick visit, she added mentally.

Rainbow Dash dug at the floor with a hoof for a second, clearly uncomfortable, and not just because of the angry look Spike was shooting her. “Um,” she said at last, “Have you seen Pinkie Pie lately?”

“Not since yesterday,” Twilight answered.

“When exactly?” Dash asked, regaining some of her normal attitude.

“Some time in the afternoon,” Twilight said, thinking back, “Why? Is this…” she paused for a moment. Pinkie hadn’t said anything about not telling Dash about the Gilda surprise, but Twilight wasn’t sure if she could deal with the pegasus’s reaction if this turned out to be the first she’d heard about it. Still, beating about the bush was not something Twilight was very good at; that was probably a big reason she was so bad at keeping secrets. Deciding to just go for it, she took a breath and asked, “Is this about Gilda lurking around Whitetail Woods?”

Dash nodded. “Pinkie told me a little about the welcome surprise she’s trying to set up,” she said, “At first I thought that was cool. But while I tried to go to sleep last night, I started worrying. I’d love it if Gilda and I could be friends again, but… well, you remember what she was like when she came to town last time.” Twilight just nodded. Dash continued talking, but as she went on about her concerns that Gilda hadn’t actually changed, that she might just be looking to make trouble, and how those worries were making Dash question if was ok to feel loyalty to someone who’d been a jerk, the effort of maintaining the illusion spell started catching up to Twilight and her focus began to fade. She didn’t realize that Dash had stopped talking until the rainbow-maned pony walked over and gave her an impatient poke on the shoulder. “Hey, are you ok?” she asked.

“Huh? Oh, sorry,” Twilight said, blushing, “What were you saying?”

Dash snorted and backed up a few steps, “I was asking if you had any advice. You know, from one of your friendship reports or something?”

“Oh, well,” Twilight said, trying to think through the fog of fatigue, “I… Well, I’ve never had to fix a…” She shook her head, trying to clear it out enough to form a complete thought.

‘Don’t you dare pass out on us Twilight Sparkle!’ Trixie shouted, wishing she could do something to help keep the other unicorn awake.

“If you want my advice,” Spike said, “I’d let Pinkie go ahead with her plan and see how Gilda reacts.” He gave Twilight a wink and subtle nod toward the stairs as Rainbow turned her attention toward him. The unicorn just gave him an odd look, not catching the hint.

‘Get out of here you fool!’ Trixie hissed, ‘Before you collapse and drop the spell!’

Huh? Oh… right, Twilight responded, having enough mental power left to remember to keep the reply silent. She began to turn away while Spike kept Rainbow occupied, but lost the fight against exhaustion before she took two steps.

Trixie found herself in control of a body that started to go limp, only to catch itself a split second later in a stumbling shuffle of hooves. She bit her lip and froze, hoping Dash hadn’t heard anything. Her gaze slid toward the pegasus and locked onto a pair of rose-colored, suspicion-narrowed eyes. Twilight… Trixie thought as she and Dash continued to look at each other, Please tell me you’re awake already. There was no response from the other unicorn’s mind; Trixie had to face the Rainbow alone. “Hello,” she said with just the right amount of pleasantness for her stage persona.

“What the hay are you doing here?” Dash asked, instantly belligerent, “What happened to Twilight?” Trixie stood her ground, but blinked furiously, partly in surprise and partly in the vain hope that she could drag Twilight into the controlling position so she could calm her friend down. There was no luck on that front, so Trixie fell back on the tried-and-true performer’s back-up plan: improvising.

“I honestly do not know where Twilight popped away to,” she said, grabbing her hat and cape with her magic, “As for me, I was just leaving.”

“Oh no,” Dash said, going into a hover and shoving her face right up next to Trixie’s, “Twilight wouldn’t just teleport away in the middle of a talk. Besides, I know what her teleport spell sounds like, and I didn’t hear it. All I heard was…” She trailed off and backed away as she was struck by a realization. “You,” she said, pointing an accusing hoof at the blue unicorn, “You were pretending to be Twilight just now, weren’t you?”

“What possible reason would the Great and Powerful Trixie have to do such a thing?” Trixie replied, eyes narrowing to dangerous slits.

Behind Dash’s back, Spike raised a claw and opened his mouth to speak, but the pegasus fired off her retort first. “I don’t know,” she said sarcastically, “embarrass her, ruin her reputation, try and make her as big a laughingstock as you are?”

“Trixie is no laughingstock,” the showmare hissed, “just because all you insular little ponies in this backwater of a town can’t appreciate the wonder that is Trixie-”

“Shut up!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “I don’t have time for any of your lame boasting. What did you do with Twilight? You know what?” she added as Trixie and Spike tried to speak, “Don’t answer; I know you’ll just lie. I’ll find her myself.” Without another word, she zoomed away toward the stairs, the wind from her passing knocking Trixie’s hat out of her telekinetic grip.

“Just great,” Trixie muttered, dropping her cape and focusing on teleporting to Twilight’s room to head off the irate flying pony. Her horn sparked and flared a few times before the aura died away completely; her magic hadn’t recovered enough from Twilight’s efforts to allow for teleportation. Grumbling, Trixie galloped up the stairs and into Twilight’s room, arriving just in time to see Rainbow Dash starting to lift Twilight’s unoccupied body from the bed. “Stop at once!” Trixie shouted, leaping up to the sleeping alcove, “you don’t know what you’re doing!” She tried to wrap the lavender unicorn in a magic grip, but Rainbow Dash cut her off with a kick that sent her tumbling out of the alcove. Trixie hit the floor hard and lay there stunned, eyes rolling as Rainbow got a better hold on Twilight’s body and fluttered out the window with it. With much effort and some painful wincing, Trixie picked herself up and then climbed back into the alcove to look out the window. She made it just in time to see Dash’s tail disappear around the side of the tree, and she pounded the window sill in frustration. “Stupid pegasus,” she muttered as she climbed back down, “I am not going to let you get away from me!” After some quick stretching to make sure she wasn’t too badly hurt from the fall, the pale blue showmare galloped down the stairs, past a worried and confused Spike, and out into the street. A quick scan of the sky revealed a rainbow contrail leading toward the middle of Ponyville, giving Trixie cause to smile slightly as she galloped off in pursuit.

Several blocks later, a moaning echo alerted Trixie to the fact that Twilight was returning to consciousness. ‘What’s going on?’ the librarian asked, seeing that they were no longer indoors.

“You’ve been kidnapped,” Trixie replied, keeping an eye on the fading rainbow streak in the sky.

‘Kidnapped?’ Twilight asked, confused, ‘Why? Where are you taking me?’

Trixie rolled her eyes. Let me rephrase that, she said mentally so as not to attract more stares than she already was, your body was stolen and I’m trying to catch up to the pegasus who did it.

‘What pega…’ Twilight began, and then stopped as pieces started to fall into place in her mind. ‘Rainbow Dash,’ she said, sounding weary, ‘My disguise fell apart right in front of her, didn’t it? What did you do?’

Nothing at all! Trixie said defensively, She jumped to conclusions, kicked me, and flew off with your body before I could get four words out. I seriously doubt she would’ve listened to reason anyway. Not coming from the Great and Powerful Trixie anyway.

Twilight sighed and traced the rainbow contrail as best she could when Trixie glanced at it. ‘There’s a good chance she’ll take me to the medical tent,’ she said, ‘We’re heading in that general direction anyway.’

Well, since you know where that is and I don’t, I’ll let you take over. She blinked control over to Twilight, who immediately tripped and somersaulted several feet down the road, ending up on her back covered in road dust and an aching nose.

“Ow,” Twilight said, rubbing her nose, “Next time, slow down before we switch.” Trixie muttered an apology as the bookish unicorn glanced at the fading rainbow contrail in the sky and then leapt back into a gallop. Although she had a good guess where Rainbow Dash was heading, Twilight did her best to stay ahead of the contrail’s fading end just in case the pegasus had decided to do something unexpected. So focused on the sky as she was, she didn’t realize she’d entered the marketplace and nearly collided with Applejack until the orange farm-mare brought her to a stop by grabbing her tail.

“Now, just where are you rushing off to?” AJ asked, giving the blue unicorn a suspicious look as the latter picked herself off the ground once again, “It wouldn’t have anythin’ to do with why I just saw Rainbow Dash flyin’ by with Twilight hangin’ from her like ragdoll, would it?”

‘Oh of course,’ Trixie said with pure sarcasm, ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’s in town, so everything out of the ordinary must be her fault!’

She’s correct this time, Twilight pointed out flatly. She mulled over her options for handling this new confrontation, she’s a bit biased, so being honest might not… wait. Applejack is the Element of Honesty! She’ll know it isn’t a trick if I explain. She realized that Applejack was waiting impatiently for a response and opened her mouth to give it, only to be interrupted by a gust of wind announcing Rainbow Dash’s arrival on the scene.

“The jig’s up Trixie,” the pegasus declared, “Twilight’s in the doctor’s care, and I’m on to your little plan.”

“What plan?” AJ asked, looking between the two ponies.

“Messing with Twilight’s image,” Dash announced, clearly wanting to make a scene, “She put Twilight in a coma so she could take her place and…” she trailed off as she tried to think of a good way to spoil a reputation. Twilight saw her chance and took it.

“There’s no ‘plan’ Applejack,” she said. The farm-mare blinked in surprise at hearing her friend’s voice come out of Trixie’s mouth. “Trixie simply-”

“Oh no,” Dash said, interrupting the unicorn by shoving a hoof in her face, “Don’t even try using that voice-change trick.” She exchanged her hoof for pushing her face right up against Twilight’s, forcing the mare to take a few steps back. “Why’d you even bother coming back here anyway?” she asked, “All you do is cause trouble and mess with my friends! And this time… this time you took advantage of Twilight! Don’t think I haven’t heard how she protected you when you tried putting on your stupid show yesterday. How could you stoop so low?” Twilight’s mouth hung open under the onslaught of accusation. She knew she had to speak up to explain everything and defend Trixie, but she couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

‘Twilight,’ Trixie’s mental voice sounded worried, ‘Look around.’ Twilight complied, casting her eyes left and right. A crowd of ponies was gathering around to watch Rainbow berate the unicorn, and none of them were looking very happy. ‘This is starting to look like a mob,’ the showmare said.

What do we do? Twilight asked.

‘Simple, just give me control.’ Twilight blinked. “Good,” Trixie muttered, taking a defensive stance and glancing around, “and now…” She reared back, waving her front hooves dramatically, and then cast a smokescreen spell and teleported away.

Chpater 6

‘Running away. Is that your answer for EVERYTHING Trixie?’

“She who turns and runs away, lives to act another day,” Trixie recited elegantly, gesturing dramatically with a hoof. The Double Mentally Occupied mare was standing just inside the door of her stage-wagon, front hooves propped up on the lower half as she guided the vehicle down the road through Whitetail Wood at a rate meant to leave even the fastest galloping pursuers in the dust. After teleporting herself away from the growing mob of ponies in the market, Trixie had made a beeline for her wagon and managed to get it and herself to the outskirts of Ponyville before the masses had caught up. She, and her mental passenger Twilight Sparkle, had been dogged for a fair distance down the road and into the woods, but now it seemed like the pursuit was breaking off. After using her hoof mirror to assure herself that she wasn’t being chased anymore, Trixie slowed the wagon down and turned it off of the path to park out of sight beneath a few trees.

‘We should have grabbed Spike before we left,’ Twilight said as Trixie closed the top half of the door and allowed herself to relax, ‘We need to go back and get him.’

“Eventually, yes,” Trixie said, curling up on a cushion and holding her mirror up, “But first we need to wait for Ponyville to calm down and drop its guard, and then make our move under the cover of darkness or something. Angry mobs are not be trifled with Twilight, and you must admit that was a mob.”

‘Have you ever actually been chased by a mob before?’ Twilight asked, feeling quite annoyed by the current situation, ‘You basically ran yourself out of town after your previous visits.’

“Do you honestly think Ponyville is the only place the Great and Powerful Trixie has found herself unwelcome in?” the showmare asked, cocking an eyebrow, “Between the Ursa Minor incident and her second showing, Trixie was chased out of towns by an angry mob at least three times, and even when I wasn’t, I barely made enough to get by on. In hindsight, it was utter folly to try and continue using my boastful routine without my stage, costume, or fireworks to support the image, but my pride was still too great for me to realize it.”

‘Oh my,’ Twilight said, ‘I… that must have been really hard.’

“You have no idea,” Trixie said haughtily, “How could you anyway? Princess Celestia’s prized student, I’m sure you’ve had everything given to you on a silver platter. You’ve never known want, or real hunger, to what it’s like to not have any real friends in the world.”

‘I know what it’s like not to have friends,’ Twilight said, ‘For years I buried myself in my studies, spending more time with my books than with other ponies. The Princess literally had to order me to make some friends. So, I think I can sympathize with you on that at least.’ Trixie sniffed and wiped a tear out of her eye, but then gave her reflection an askance glance. ‘A-anyway,’ Twilight said, feeling awkward, ‘You got through that, right? You’ve had more success lately, haven’t you?’

“I have,” Trixie said, “Thanks in part to that one unicorn… actually, both of them. If Soul Mage hadn’t outwitted me, I probably wouldn’t have bothered to listen to the other one’s advice. ‘The livelihood of the performer depends on the audience’s reaction to them. Please the audience first, yourself second.’ I ran off without giving that the thought it deserved, but after a few nights of sleeping on the ground with a belly full of nothing but wild grass I was forced to re-evaluate myself.” Her ears dropped and a melancholy shadow fell over her face. “I had to admit that I had let my persona as the Great and Powerful Trixie take over my life. My talent is in prestidigitation and showboating, to be able to leave ponies standing in awe. It was-” a knock at the wagon door interrupted the story and Trixie fell silent.

After a few seconds, there was a second knock followed by a cheerful call of “Mail call!”

“Mail call?” Trixie said in a quiet, suspicious tone as she approached the door.

‘That sounded like Ditzy Doo,’ Twilight said, mildly surprised, ‘She is the mail-pony for Ponyville…'

Trixie frowned and opened the top half of her door with caution, peeking around it to look outside. A grey pegasus with blonde hair and bright yellow eyes, one of which was wandering slightly, was hovering in front of the door with a mail satchel slung across her shoulders. Trixie glanced around to confirm that the pegasus was alone before opening the top of the door completely and giving Ditzy an expectant look. “Special derp-livery,” the mail-pony said before chuckling at her own pun and pulling a letter out of her satchel. Trixie gave her an odd look before taking the letter in her own mouth and setting it aside.

“Thank you,” she said, “but, how did you find me out here?”

“Neither rain, nor snow, nor the intended recipient being run out of town can stop the postal service from completing its duty,” Ditzy declared with a salute and a big smile. The smile quickly faded though, and the pegasus’s eyes both slid to focus on the blue unicorn as they narrowed dangerously. “Also, next time you show your face in town, it had better be to fix up Ms. Twilight Sparkle.” Trixie blinked, sliding Twilight into control, as Ditzy turned around and flew back toward Ponyville. Twilight couldn’t help but smile as she closed the door and picked the letter up with her magic.

‘Do you have that entire town wrapped around your hooves or something?’ Trixie asked. Twilight paused, her reply dying on her lips as she considered her actual position in Ponyville’s society. ‘Oh, never mind,’ Trixie said, ‘I honestly don’t care that much. Can I read my mail please?’

“Of course,” Twilight said with a blink. When the two didn’t switch control, Twilight pursed her lips in confusion, and then counted to five before blinking again, this time resulting in a successful switch. ‘Roughly twenty seconds between swaps,’ she mused, ‘I forgot about that.’ Trixie rolled her eyes and picked up the letter again, since it had fallen to the floor during the control swap. ‘How is it that you’re getting mail anyway?’ Twilight asked, ‘You’ve only been around Ponyville for… about 48 hours now, and with me for almost all of that time.’

“Before leaving a town or city, I make it point to make sure my mail is going to be sent to my next destination,” Trixie explained, “I don’t get much mail though, and I usually pick it up at the post office, but…” She shrugged and checked the post-mark on the letter before opening it, and smiled when she saw it had come from Manehatten. “Ah, this must be from Mr. Arch,” she said, opening the letter and holding it up, “Let’s see… ‘Dear Great and Powerful Trixie, I trust this letter has found you in good health and that your tour is meeting with success.’ Well, yes, current predicament notwithstanding,” the showmare commented before continuing, “‘I am writing to you in regards to the upcoming theater season here in Manehatten. I know we had previously discussed adding your show to our line-up, but over the past few weeks I have been approached by a number of other performers and acting troupes who seem to be good investments. In order to make a proper decision between all the possibilities, I’ll need you to return to Manehatten as soon as possible for an audition. Sincerely, Proscenium Arch, owner and operator; Silver Halter Theater. P.S. I feel I should warn you, your competition is formidable.’ Hmph.” Trixie set the letter aside with a nonchalant air and walked over to her stash of books and scrolls. Twilight kept quiet and observed as the showmare began sorting through the books and setting a few off to the side in a pile along with a pair of scrolls.

‘So,’ she said at last, startling Trixie for a second, ‘Sorry. Are you ok? That letter…’

Trixie laughed, a genuine, if somewhat condescending sound of mirth. Twilight held herself back as Trixie’s eyes closed in amusement to avoid switching places; she was getting wary of pulling swaps in the middle of high-energy activities like magic or running. “Am I ok?” the showmare said, “Oh Twilight, I’m more than ok. I’ve got a challenge on my hooves. Ponies are lining up to try and steal the spotlight from the Great and Powerful Trixie, and Trixie intends to give them a run for their bits. Who needs the approval of Ponyville? The minute you leave Trixie’s head, she is heading straight for Manehatten to defend her place in the Silver Halter’s summer performance series! And while we wait, I can focus on creating the perfect act to prove why the Great and Powerful Trixie is the greatest magician to ever grace an Off-Broadway stage!”

‘Only Off-Broadway?’ Twilight asked sardonically.

“I’ll take my victories where I can,” Trixie replied, opening one of her books to a random page, “Besides, I’m indebted to Mt. Arch for giving me the chance to escape the desperate pan-handling of street-corner ‘shows’ so quickly after my last fall. I intend to work with him for as long as I can. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got an act to put together.”

‘Just don’t forget, we still need to get in touch with Spike,’ Twilight said.

“As if I would forget,” Trixie said with a haughty sniff.

As Trixie had come to learn, a successful stage show depended as much on the audience’s reactions as the performer’s act. Even during rehearsals, having some pony around to observe greatly enhanced the experience and helped to smooth out the rough patches. Trixie had performed before crowds of all sizes and dispositions in her life, but none of those shows were anything like performing for somepony who was sitting in the back of your own brain, seeing what you saw and being able to read your surface thoughts. All in all, it was not a particularly helpful arrangement, especially since Twilight had no practical knowledge of what constituted good theater. Not that the other unicorn was entirely useless; she had given Trixie some useful notes on managing her magic during transitions between tricks.

Trixie’s act typically followed a four-step formula. She would open with a dramatic entrance and a speech to welcome and entice the audience with promises of amazing feats. She would then begin a series of increasingly complex-looking sleight-of-hoof and illusion tricks that would transition smoothly into the third part: stories of monsters and heroics starring, of course, the Great and Powerful Trixie. The final part was impossible to rehearse, since it was when Trixie invited any and all nay-sayers to challenge her skills, and was never the same twice. For Trixie, the trickiest part of planning an act was selecting the stories to tell. For several hours, she had tried several combinations of stories, looking for the perfect increase in spectacle to leave the gullible properly wowed and the skeptics chomping at the bit to challenge her by the end. There was one story she resisted adding to the act though, simply because she didn’t want to hear Twilight’s criticism about it. However, as time went by without finding a set of stories that felt right, she gave in and began setting the illusions for her all-time most popular tale: the Ursa of Ponyville.

‘Ursa of Ponyville?’ Twilight asked, picking up on Trixie’s thoughts as the showmare filled the back of the stage with illusory houses and tents to represent the town, ‘You actually tell ponies about that?’

“Yes,” Trixie said, “with a little creative license so Trixie doesn’t come across as a coward at the end.” She conjured up a few pony-shaped blobs of light and set them to wandering about the set. “Didn’t your earth pony friend… the apple one, tell you about this?” she asked, “She came to one of my shows a few months back. She seemed rather perturbed by the freedoms I took with the telling.”

‘AJ did mention seeing you,’ Twilight answered, ‘All she told me though was that Princess Luna was there too and that it ended rather badly.’

“That’s a fair assessment,” Trixie said with a sigh, “It could have gone a lot worse though, with the way I was egging the princess on…” She shook her head and refocused on her illusions, which had begun to waver and fade. “No matter,” she said with firmness, “Just sit back and watch this, with an open mind if possible.” She took her place in the center of the stage and put on a slightly ashamed air. “Now, not all of Trixie’s adventures began so well,” she said projecting her voice while still sounding demure, “But even the hardest of beginnings can lead to opportunities.” She raised her head and gazed out at the trees, imagining each one to be a pony giving her their full attention. “The Great and Powerful Trixie had brought her show to the town of Ponyville, expecting nothing more than an eager audience and acclaim. Sadly, the residents were less than welcoming…” Trixie’s horn flared ever-so-slightly and the illusory ponies turned toward her and began approaching in a menacing manner.

‘It wsn’t that bad,’ Twilight protested.

“Let Trixie tell the tale,” the showmare snapped. She cleared her throat and sent the illusions back to their starting places. “Sadly,” she said, picking up where she’d left off, “the residents were less than welcoming.” This time, the ponies gathered around in an attitude of booing and heckling. “Nevertheless, Trixie withstood the mocking and completed her show, planning to leave the town on the following day.” She dismissed the pony illusions and cast a spell to darken the stage slightly, simulating night. “However, that very night an Ursa Minor, disturbed from its sleep by something, came rampaging out of the Everfree Forest to attack the town.” A large blue bear-shaped illusion materialized at the edge of the stage and began tearing into the nearest “building.” “The noise awakened Trixie from her slumber,” the showmare continued, affecting a dizzy wobble as she turned toward the beast, “And being so tired meant she was not at her full potential.” She sent two weak-looking bolts of magic at the Ursa. The Ursa turned toward her and swung a paw at her. Trixie jumped back and rolled across the stage as if she’d been sent flying by a powerful blow. Regaining her feet, Trixie’s horn took on a purplish glow and the image of a purple unicorn trotted onstage from behind her. “Luckily for her,” Trixie said, resuming her narration, “there was a unicorn in Ponyville who, although not as Great and Powerful as Trixie, knew how to tame an Ursa Minor. By working together we calmed the beast and sent it home to its cave.” The purple unicorn image raised its head and a flute appeared above it playing a soft melody as Trixie “lifted” the Ursa off the ground and rocked it gently before moving it off stage before dismissing it and the other illusions. “And that,” Trixie declared with a dramatic pose, “will be my final story. Any critiques Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight’s long list of comments regarding the inaccuracies of the story was derailed before she could start it by the sound of clapping hooves. “Woo hoo!” a bright, cheery voice declared from somewhere in the woods, “Brava! That was an awesome story!” Trixie’s face screwed up in confusion as he looked around, and then leapt back in fright as Pinkie Pie jumped into view from behind the closest tree. Spike was sitting on the pink party pony’s back, looking slightly ill from all the bouncing. “Encore!” Pinkie shouted, continuing her praises.

Handle this, Trixie told Twilight, blinking to give the other unicorn control.

“What are you two doing out here?” Twilight asked, hopping down to the ground to meet Pinkie eye-to-eye.

“Oh, right,” Pinkie said, growing sober to Spike’s obvious relief, “Well, I don’t think I’ll be needing your help with Gilda’s welcome-back surprise anymore Twixie.”

“Why is that?” Twilight asked, giving spike a withering glance.

“Don’t look at me,” the dragon muttered, “she came up with it on her own.”

“It’s bad Twixie,” Pinkie said, “Gilda came flying into town just a few minutes ago with a bunch of other griffons, and they’re being really big jerks to everypony.”

“They’re breaking everything,” Spike exclaimed, “Store windows, stalls, and a couple of them were picking a fight with Applejack when we left.”

“Oh dear,” Twilight said, “What about Rainbow Dash? What was she doing?”

“I don’t know,” Spike said, “I didn’t see her anywhere. I’ll bet she’ll be confronting Gilda when she shows up though.”

“How many griffons are we talking about here?”

“A whole bunch,” Pinkie said, “I saw One… Two… Three… Four… Maybe seven or eight in all besides Gilda the Grump. You’ve got to come help Twixie, we’re going to need all the help we can get to stop them.”

“Of course I’ll help Pinkie,” Twilight said with a reassuring smile.

‘No,’ Trixie said, ‘I refuse to set hoof in that town again. They’ve made it quite clear that Trixie is not welcome, and don’t forget that we look like Trixie.’

“One moment,” Twilight said to Pinkie and Spike. She turned away from them and turned her attention inward. Come on Trixie, she pleaded, I can’t just sit back while my home is being attacked.

‘Hmph,’ Trixie replied, ‘Why should I care? There are already plenty of ponies in Ponyville, more than enough to drive out nine griffons. If they don’t have the backbone to help themselves-’

What about all your stories Trixie? Twilight asked.

‘Most of those are made-up, as you know all too well,’ the showmare retorted.

True, the librarian replied smoothly, But in every one you pass yourself off as the defender of those who can’t help themselves. And think about this: as successful as you are telling stories that are mostly fabrications, wouldn’t it help to have just one story that’s more fact than fiction?

Trixie paused and thought for several seconds. ‘You have a point,’ she said with mild surprise, ‘however, I’m just a showmare, and you still aren’t as good with magic as you used to be. How do you expect us to face down a gang of angry griffons?’

“Gilda’s a proud creature,” Twilight said aloud, feeling confident enough in her argument to let Pinkie and Spike hear it, “She thinks she’s superior to ponies, and her pride was hurt pretty badly at the end of her first visit to Ponyville. All it took was Rainbow Dash standing up to her last time, but if she’s got back-up, we’ll need a pony with more presence. Somepony who’s both Great and Powerful.” She grinned as Pinkie applauded.

Chapter 7

The Ponyville Marketplace was the scene of a stand-off. Broken stalls and ruined food littered the ground between the two groups that were staring each other down. One group was comprised of griffons, with none other than Gilda standing at their head. The other group was led by Rainbow Dash and included Applejack, Big Macintosh, Caramel, Carrot Top, and several members of the weather patrol. The remainder of Ponyville’s population was keeping its distance from the scene, watching from the relative safety of the nearby stores and alleyways between buildings. All those standing in the street showed signs of battle- bruises, black eyes, missing feathers or patches of hair, and Dash was sporting a scratch on her right cheek that was bleeding lightly. The cyan pegasus and Gilda eyed each other in silence for a long time, and then the griffon’s beak quirked upward in a smirk. “Good to see you’ve still got your spunk Dash,” she said, “too bad you’re wasting it defending all these lame ponies.”

“Shut up Gilda,” Dash snapped, “you wouldn’t know real coolness if it came up and bit your tail off.” She flared her wings out and took a few steps forward. “You know, I’ve been beating myself up with worry ever since I heard you were back in the area. I was starting to think you’d changed, that you were here to apologize for being such a jerk to my other friends, and I was going to forgive you!” Tears started to well up in the pegasus’s eyes as she stepped closer to the griffon, but her face was set in an expression of pure anger. “And then… Then you finally show your dumb beak in town with a bunch of thugs at your back, just to prove how big of a bully you really are.” She came to a stop right in front of Gilda, who actually took a step backward in the face of her former friend’s anger. “Get out of Ponyville,” Dash growled, “Get out and take your new friends with you, or so help me…” She let her voice trail off, leaving the threat up to Gilda’s imagination.

The fearful look on Gilda’s face vanished after she took a glance back at her posse of eight griffons. When her gaze returned to Rainbow Dash, she was scowling. Without speaking, she lashed out and grabbed the pegasus in her talons, squeezing just hard enough to start breaking skin before throwing her back toward the group of town defenders. Dash’s back legs hit the ground first and her momentum carried her onto her back. She lay still for several seconds before slowly struggling back to her feet, one wing hanging limp at her side. Applejack was at her side instantly, giving her a body to lean against and glaring death at the griffons across the way. The other ponies tensed, as did the griffons, both groups simply waiting for any excuse to launch into a fight. Just as the tension was about to snap, cries from the east side of the marketplace followed by the sound of rapidly rolling wheels diverted their attention. A small caravan wagon came thundering toward the groups, forcing both to back away and give it space to pass. Those who took the time to focus on more than getting run down thought they saw a blue and purple, manically smiling something on the front end of the wagon before it blew past them. The wagon slowed slightly after it passed the groups and then turned sharply to the right before skidding to a halt a short distance away.

“What in tarnation?” Applejack asked, voicing the confusion of all the ponies, and griffons, as they stared at the contraption. Casting glances at their opponents, the griffon gang and Ponyville defenders slowly approached the wagon, joined by some of the braver spectators.

As they approached, a magically amplified voice rang out as the wagon unfolded into a modestly-sized stage. “Come one, come all,” the voice declared, “Come and witness the wonder that is… The Great and Powerful Trixie!” Fireworks went off, trumpets sounded, and the pale-blue, hat-and-cape wearing showmare appeared onstage in a puff of magical smoke.

“What?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, eyes twitching furiously, “You have got to be kidding me! Why that…” She started to leap toward the stage, only to find herself being restrained by a pull on her tail. She looked back, expecting to see applejack holding on to her and blinking in surprise when she saw it was actually Pinkie Pie, wearing a dangerously serious expression. “Pinkie, what’s the big idea?” the pegasus asked.

“Give ‘er time,” Pinkie said around the mouthful of rainbow-striped tail. Dash tried to protest, but the look on Pinkie’s face brooked no argument. Dash sank to the ground with a sigh and turned her attention to the stage, digging at the ground impatiently with a hoof.

Gilda, not facing any similar restraint from her group, marched up to the foot of the stage and eyed Trixie dangerously. “What’s all this?” she asked.

“Did you not hear the Great and Powerful Trixie?” Trixie replied, her superior attitude cranked to the max, “You are gazing upon the greatest and most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria!” This declaration was greeted by a round of raspberries from the pony group and loud “Boooo” from Rainbow Dash.

‘Easy Trixie,’ Twilight cautioned from her place as the Multiple Mental Occupancy passenger, feeling a slight twitch in Trixie’s face, ‘Stay focused on Gilda.’

I do not need coaching, Trixie snapped back silently, I know how to act! She gave Gilda her smuggest smile and waited for the griffon’s response.

“Great and Powerful huh?” Gilda said, arching an eyebrow, “So what? You’re still just a pony.”

“Just a pony?” Trixie replied in an offended tone, “The Great and Powerful Trixie is more than ‘just a pony,’ my fine feathered friend. The Great and Powerful Trixie wields powers beyond the imaginations of ponykind, and none can boast a greater skill at the vanquishing of monsters. In fact, Trixie stands alone as the only pony to even vanquish the great Ursa Major!”

“Yeah right,” Dash deadpanned, “you’d never even seen an Ursa bef-” she was suddenly muffled by a pair of muffins being shoved into her mouth by a pink hoof.

Gilda cast a glance at the pegasus before looking back at Trixie. “Yeah,” she said, “I’m calling you out on that. There’s no way you fought an Ursa and lived. Even a griffon can’t do that without help.”

“Ah my,” Trixie said in a long-suffering tone, “Always with the doubt and disbelief; such is the life of the Great and Powerful.” She went back to her cocky stance and strode the edge of the stage to look down at Gilda. “You want proof?” she asked.

‘Don’t say anything that might cause them to lure an Ursa Minor into town,’ Twilight warned.

“Then the Great and Powerful Trixie challenges you,” the showmare said without missing a beat, “Anything you can do, I can do better.”

Gilda turned her head to the side and regarded Trixie with a single eye. “Anything?” She smirked wickedly and took flight hovering up to look the unicorn square in the eye. “I can fly,” she said, “beat that.”

Trixie gave Gilda a strange look and then chuckled. “Flying?” she said mockingly, “Is that really all you have to challenge the Great and Powerful Trixie with? Certainly you have some sort of unique-”

“You said ‘anything’ Lame-o Trixie,” Gilda retorted, poking the unicorn’s nose with a talon, “I pick flying, so unless you can grow a pair of wings in the next few minutes, you lose.”

Oh no, Trixie thought, panicking behind her façade, I wasn’t expecting something like this.

‘Really?’ Twilight responded, ‘You’ve never been challenged to fly before?'

Never, Trixie thought, I guess it’s just taken for granted; Unicorns use magic, Pegasi fly, and Earth Ponies… do whatever makes them special. I’ve never had to try something so... ordinary to win.

‘Hmm…’ Twilight thought, racking her memory, ‘There’s a spell I used once that can give wings to non-pegasus ponies…’

Quick, use it! Trixie exclaimed, catching Twilight off-guard long enough to blink-switch with her. Twilight froze up for a brief moment upon finding herself in control, on a stage, and with an annoyed griffon hovering in front of her face.

You could’ve given me a few minutes to remember how to cast it, the unicorn groused to her mental partner. Doing her best to re-claim the image Trixie had been projecting to the audience, Twilight thought back to the day of the Best Young Fliers competition, trying to recall how she’d cast the spell to give Rarity wings. O…kay, she silently said at last, I’ve only done this once before, and it was on a different pony. Brace yourself Trixie. She removed Trixie’s cape, squeezed her eyes shut, and concentrated, imagining the pathways her magic would have to follow and guiding the energy with as much delicacy as she could. Whether due to her previous experience with the spell, or to the relative ease of getting Trixie’s energy to flow, the spell left Twilight feeling less worn-out than she had been after using it on Rarity. When the swirling energy faded from around her, the unicorn looked over her shoulder to see a pair of large, iridescent butterfly wings on her back. There you go Trixie, Twilight thought with a proud smile, put them to good use.

‘Wait,’ Trixie said as Twilight started to blink, ‘The spell will break if we switch, remember?’

It shouldn’t, Twilight thought, I’m not maintaining it. It’s supposed to stay put for a few days, or until the wings break. They’re rather fragile.

‘Very well,’ Trixie said, allowing herself to be pulled into the control position when Twilight blinked. The showmare glanced at her back and saw that the wings were still in place. Satisfied, she looked back and Gilda, and grinned wickedly at the griffon’s shocked expression. Flapping her new wings took almost no thought at all, so Trixie took a confident upward leap and began hovering several feet above the stage. Gilda’s beak, which had already been hanging open, dropped even farther. “That’s right,” Trixie said, crossing her front legs and looking down on the griffon, “gaze in awe at the Great, Powerful, and Airborne Trixie!”

Gilda gaped for a moment before shaking her head and flying up to Trixie’s level. “All right,” she said, “You’ve got the wings, but do you know how to use them?” She turned away and scanned the sky. “There,” she said, pointing to low-hanging cloud, “Think you can beat me to that cloud?”

‘The wings come with cloud-walking,’ Twilight noted as Trixie contemplated the dare.

“First one onto the cloud wins?” Trixie asked, descending to the stage, “Agreed. So long as we start on even footing.” Gilda snorted and alighted next to the unicorn.

“Count us off,” the griffon said, pointing to one of her gang members. That griffon stepped forward and flared his wings up as high as he could. Gilda and Trixie both knelt down in preparation and waited for the signal.

“Ready,” the starter said slowly. Gilda snorted and narrowed her eyes, focusing entirely on the cloud. Trixie smirked and began preparing a spell, grateful that her hat was covering her glowing horn. “Aaaand, go!” The griffon snapped his wings down and Gilda took off like a rocket, leaving a cloud of dust that obscured the sight of Trixie vanishing in a burst of light. The showmare re-materialized on the cloud and scooped some of it up to make a pile to lean against as she smiled smugly at the rapidly-approaching and very angry Gilda.

“You cheater!” the griffon shouted, coming to a stop just inches from the unicorn’s face.

“Cheater?” Trixie protested, trying to calm her racing heart as she kept her face impassive, “In what way did the Great and Powerful Trixie cheat?”

Gilda gave Trixie a look of utter confusion as she tried to find her voice. “You… you teleported,” she said at last.

“Yes,” Trixie said, nonchalant. Twilight, she said mentally, do these wings give me other pegasus skills?

‘I’m... not sure,’ Twilight replied, ‘Why?’

You’ll see, Trixie said, turning her attention back to Gilda, who’d been rendered speechless again by Trixie’s blasé attitude. “Do you have an issue with Trixie’s methods?” she asked in a prompting manner, “Or are you just blowing smoke?”

Gilda’s beak snapped shut and she lashed out with a hand, grabbing Trixie by the neck and dragging her closer. “Don’t toy with me Pixie,” she growled, “you know darn well what I’m talking about.”

“Unhand Trixie,” the showmare demanded, knocking the griffon’s arm aside. She took a step back and made a show of composing herself before settling onto her rump and giving Gilda a flat look. Then, without warning, she jumped up and kicked at the cloud with both hind legs, adding a spark of magic just to make sure the white mass broke apart completely under Gilda’s front legs. Gilda tipped forward into the gap and tumbled through the air with a shriek, hitting the ground before she could recover her balance. “You never specified how we had to reach this cloud,” Trixie shouted down as she peeked over the edge of the cloud at Gilda.

Gilda stood up slowly, shaking her head to clear away the strange chirping sound in her ears and to stop her eyes from spinning. She glared up at Trixie with one eye, and then turned her attention to her cronies, who were looking at her with a mixture of expectation and worry. “What are you goons looking at?” Gilda snapped, “Go teach her a lesson.”

Eight pairs of wings flared open and eight pairs of eagle eyes locked on the hovering blue unicorn in the sky. The griffons jumped into the air and began flying toward Trixie, spreading out to approach from as many angles as possible. Trixie’s irises shrank as she looked around for an avenue of escape or, by some small miracle, somepony coming to help her. As the griffons drew closer, Twilight spoke up, ‘I’ve got an idea. Give me control.’ Trixie complied and Twilight began charging magic. At the last minute, just before the griffons reached her, she forced the magic into a teleport spell and re-appeared on the stage. The griffons back-pedaled, but most of them ended up colliding with each other. Meanwhile Twilight wasted no time in casting another spell. Three long ropes materialized out of thin air and began wrapping around the dazed group, lashing their legs together and tying the whole group into a rough jumble of feathers, fur, and outrage. Twilight took a hold of them in her magic and lowered them gently to the ground before releasing everything and catching her breath.

‘You know,' Trixie said, 'I could have done that.’

Probably, Twilight responded, I don’t mind if you want to claim credit for doing that. Everypony else is going be giving it you. She blinked control back to the showmare and then added, ‘Now you need to make sure Gilda’s going to leave.’ Trixie nodded imperceptibly and took advantage of the twenty-second post-switch period to close her eyes and take a calming breath. When her eyes opened, they locked onto the slightly sagging Gilda, who was trying to maintain her tough look despite the pain from her fall. She opened her mouth to begin taunting the griffon, but was interrupted the sound of a fiery belch from behind the stage curtain. Trixie sighed and cast a glance behind her to see Spike poke his head out from behind the curtain and holding out a scroll. ‘Finally! Princ-’ Twilight began.

Later, Trixie thought sharply, I’ve got a show to finish. “So,” she said aloud, turning back toward Gilda and raising herself up with her wings, “What do you think of the Great and Powerful Trixie now?”

“I still say you’re a lame little cheater,” Gilda growled, limping toward the stage, “All you did was pull a bunch of cheap parlor tricks on me.”

“True, but those tricks took the wind out of your feathers pretty quickly.” Trixie and Gilda both stared in amazement as the speaker, Rainbow Dash, flew up onto the stage and landed next to the showmare. Dash looked Trixie square in the eye and said in a low tone, “I don’t know what your motive is, but I can’t help but admire your courage in coming back.” She gave Trixie a wry grin before turning on Gilda. “Just how cool are you anyway, if ponies like Trixie here can beat you?”

“What?” Gilda asked flatly, eyes narrowing dangerously.

‘Oh great… she provoked her…’ Twilight moaned with an imaginary face-hoof.

“I’ll show you ‘beat!’” Gilda roared, pouncing. Dash flinched and spun around to bring her rear hooves to bear, but Trixie acted faster, conjuring up a small storm cloud in Gilda’s path. A bolt of lightning shot out and hit Gilda in the face, knocking her out. Trixie stepped smoothly to the side as the griffon crashed onto the stage and rolled over once to lie on her back, face blackened and eyes rolling in slow circles.

Trixie gave a derisive snort in Gilda’s direction, and then flared her butterfly wings wide as she reared back and declared, “And thus the Great and Powerful Trixie has once again proven herself to be the greatest in all of Equestria!” She settled back onto all four hoove,s picked up her cape and turned to walk backstage. “Was there ever any doubt?” she asked flippantly.

“Yes,” Rainbow Dash answered emphatically, echoed by several ponies in the audience.

“Ingrates…” Trixie muttered.

Chapter 8

“Tell me good news,” Trixie said to Spike as she stepped behind the stage curtain. She glanced at her back and added, “And Twilight, how do I get rid of these wings?”

‘They’re made from gossamer and morning dew,’ Twilight said, ‘Like I said before, they’re fragile. Oh, and they burn off rather easily.’

“Burn?” Trixie said, glancing at Spike, who was unrolling the scroll in his hands. “Could I bother you for some flame?” she asked him, “On the wings,” she added when he gave her an odd look.

“Sure thing Twixie,” Spike said with a malicious-looking smirk. He spat out a jet of green fire that pierced both of the iridescent wings, which quickly disintegrated into ash.

“Thank you,” Trixie said, placing her cape onto her back and fastening the clasp, “I feel much more like myself now.”

“That’s either a good thing or a bad thing, and I ain’t sure which I’d prefer.” Trixie turned around to see Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie standing just inside the curtain.

“I assume you’re here to thank Trixie?” the showmare asked.

“As a matter of fact,” Applejack said, throwing up a leg to stop Dash from charging, “yes, we are. We certainly coulda handled those griffons on our own, but you saved us more than mite bit of time and pain gettin’ the job done. That said,” she added, cutting off Trixie’s preening, “I think ya owe us some explanations, right?” she looked at Dash, who nodded emphatically, and Pinkie, who was keeping a neutral look on her face.

“You can start by telling us why you’ve got Spike with you,” Dash said, pointing at the baby dragon.

Trixie also cast a glance at Spike. “She’s on her way?” she asked simply.

“Yeah,” Spike said, scanning the letter.

“Good.” Twilight, the showmare said mentally, these are your friends. You should explain everything.

‘I agree,’ Twilight said, ‘Thank you.’ Trixie blinked and Twilight took control of the body. She looked at each of her friends in turn before settling on Pinkie. “You don’t have to keep the secret anymore Pinkie,” she told the pink pony.

“Okie dokie Twilight,” Pinkie replied, her customary grin spreading across her face.

“Pinkie,” Dash said, giving Pinkie a sideways glance, “Don’t tell me she’s got you fooled with that voice trick.”

“It’s not a trick silly,” Pinkie said.

“Rainbow,” Twilight said, “Please stop jumping to conclusions and just listen.” She looked at Applejack next and said, “AJ, I hope you’re willing to keep an open mind, because I’m going to need you to be true to your Element.”

“How do ya know about me being an Element of Harmony Trixie?” the farm-pony asked.

“Because,” Twilight said, “the pony talking to you right now isn’t Trixie. I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Rainbow groaned and dragged her hooves down her face, while Pinkie simply smiled and nodded. Applejack’s jaw dropped slightly as she stared at the unicorn mare in front of her.

“Give it up,” Rainbow said, “you’re not going to convince-”

“She’s tellin’ the truth,” AJ said in amazement.

“What?” Dash exclaimed.

“I can sense it,” the orange earth pony said, “She was tellin’ the honest-ta-pony truth. That’s our Twilight standing there.”

“But… how?” Dash asked, “She was Trixie a minute ago! And Twilight’s in the hospital right now, comatose!”

“That’s just her body Dashie,” Pinkie said, “Her mind’s hanging out in Trixie’s head right now.” Dash glanced between Pinkie and twilight repeatedly with a look of pure confusion on her face.

“You knew about this Pinkie?” Applejack asked, “Why ain’t you said anything before now?”

“Pinkie Pie Swear,” Pinkie and Twilight answered at the same time.

“Oh.”

“I, well, Trixie and I were hoping to fix this before anypony could find out,” Twilight said, and then gave Dash a flat look.

“How’d this happen anyway?” Applejack asked.

“Well,” Twilight began, only to be interrupted by a thought from Trixie.

‘May I take this?’ the showmare asked, ‘It was my fault, so I should take responsibility for it.’

“Trixie’s going to answer the question,” Twilight told her friends, “just a second.” She blinked and surrendered control to Trixie.

“After Twilight came to my aid,” the showmare explained, “We talked for a while and I convinced her to have a little contest with me, to test our performance skills against one another.”

“Pffft,” Rainbow said, barely holding in a laugh, “Twilight putting on a magic show? I’d like to see that.”

‘I wouldn’t have been that bad…’ Twilight thought grumpily.

“To try and even the odds,” Trixie continued, warming up to the story, “Trixie attempted a spell to transfer our minds into one another’s bodies, so that Twilight would have to work around Ponyville’s… bias against me and I would have had a disguise that would allow me to actually perform without the fear of flying fruit pre-empting me. However, the spell didn’t quite work…”

“Shoot, that doesn’t sound like much fun,” Applejack said, “So, uh, I hope y’all don’t mind me askin’, but what’s it like?”

“It took some getting used to,” Twilight said, taking control again, “but it hasn’t been all that bad. Still, the sooner Princess Celestia gets here with the spell to put me back in my own body, the better.” She walked past her friends and poked her head through the curtain to look around. Her eyes fell on the limp form of Gilda and she frowned slightly. “Well,” she said, “hopefully she doesn’t get here too soon. What will she think if she sees this?” She gestured out at the messed-up marketplace and the eight hog-tied griffons as Pinkie, AJ, and Dash joined her out on the stage. As if in answer to Twilight’s question, a large ball of white light began to appear in the middle of the street. The ponies who had just started to clean the place up stopped their work and stared at the light until it grew to bright to look at. With a sudden flare and a warping noise, the light vanished, revealing Princess Celestia, along with a small entourage. Besides the usual pair of statuesque white pegasus Guards, she was joined by a slightly dazed-looking ash-grey unicorn with a red-and-orange mane and tail styled to resemble flames wearing a necklace made of gemstones and a pair of saddlebags.

“Next time,” the ash-grey unicorn said, blithely ignoring the ponies around him, “I run the teleport spell. Assuming I can set up a proper way-point before we leave.”

Celestia cast a glance at the unicorn before looking around the marketplace with a genial smile on her face. “My little ponies,” she said, “Please, get up and go about your business.” As the crowd stood up and resumed cleaning up the mess. Celestia made her way toward the stage, avoiding the debris in her way with perfect grace. Her smile faded briefly as she saw the trussed-up griffons, but by the time she reached the panicked-looking Twilight/Trixie, the smile was back. “It looks like you’ve had a bit of excitement here,” she said.

“I suspect that’s an understatement,” the ash-grey unicorn muttered as he joined the Princess.

“Oh,” Twilight said, rubbing her head, “Just… just an average day in Ponyville really.” She grinned widely at Celestia, and the ash-grey unicorn snorted in amusement. “So,” Twilight continued, looking at the unicorn, “Why did you bring Ashen Blaze Princess?”

“Because,” Ash said, “It is I who constructed the spell which shall restore the fair Twilight Sparkle to her original body.”

“And since he designed the spell,” Celestia added, “he’s currently the only one capable of casting it. Now, shall we proceed?”

“Yes!” Twilight exclaimed, jumping down from the stage and looking at Ash expectantly.

“Yes, right,” Ash said, looking uncomfortable at the attention, “We’ll have to be near your… Twilight’s body. Sorry, I’m not sure who I’m speaking to. Can I just call you Twixie for the time being?” Twilight groaned as Trixie broke down into laughter.

‘Clearly,’ Trixie said through her mirth, ‘the very universe itself has decreed that our combined nickname shall be Twixie.’

“Let’s just get this over with,” Twilight said flatly. She looked over her shoulder at the stage and asked, “Rainbow, would you mind leading us?”

“Uh, sure,” Dash said, blushing slightly as she hopped down from the stage, “Follow me; we’re keeping it at the hospital.”

“Wait up,” Pinkie Pie said as she and Applejack jumped down as well, “I wanna see this.” Celestia nodded her approval as Spike trotted out from behind the curtain and jumped down onto Pinkie’s back, and the group made their way out of the market and toward the hospital tent. They arrived to find Rarity and Fluttershy standing just outside the entrance, talking in low tones.

“‘Scuse us,” Rainbow Dash announced as she approached, “Royalty coming through.”

“Royalty?” Rarity said, disapproval clear in her voice, “Rainbow Dash, what are you- Princess Celestia!” The white unicorn dropped into a bow, followed quickly by Fluttershy, both of them quivering in different forms of panic.

“Please get up,” Celestia said soothingly, “I’m simply here to lend a hoof with Twilight’s condition.”

“Really?” Fluttershy asked, looking up with a small smile, “Oh that’s wonderful.” Rarity scrambled to her feet and quickly moved the tent flap aside far enough to accommodate the alicorn, although Celestia still had to duck her head slightly to avoid sticking her horn through the ceiling. As the group filed in behind the princess, Rarity noticed Trixie and narrowed her eyes.

“What is she doing here?” the white unicorn asked.

“Her presence is integral to restoring Twilight,” Ashen Blaze said, locating the cot that Twilight’s body was laying on and trotting over to it, “you know, since Twilight’s mind is currently riding shotgun in her head. Now,” he continued, ignoring Rarity’s confused reaction and levitating several sheets of paper out of his bags, “Everypony not directly involved in this spell should keep well back. I need plenty of space in order to set this up right.” He consulted a paper and then moved an empty cot to sit facing the body’s cot with about four feet between them. “Twixie,” the ash-grey unicorn said, “lay down there, and make sure the Great and Powerful one is in control.” Twilight nodded and ceded control to Trixie, who walked over and climbed onto the cot. “Right,” Ash said, moving on to another paper, “Princess, stand next to Twilight’s body, on her right side.” He glanced at the dirt floor of the tent, frowned slightly, and then produced a large piece of chalk. He marked out a rough circle on the floor that encompassed both cots and then began sketching a pattern in the space between the cots. “If I understand the situation correctly,” he said as he worked, “The reason Trixie’s mind-swap spell failed and trapped both minds in a single body is because magic cannot be used by an unconscious pony, and when one’s mind is separated from their body, they’re technically unconscious. That’s why the spell has to be used by a third party. Reversing the effects isn’t going to be as simple as re-casting the mind-swap spell; Twilight and Trixie’s minds are likely intertwined with each other at this point. I’ll need to remove both minds, and then Celestia and I will help them separate and guide them back into their proper bodies.” He finished drawing and then looked at the pale blue unicorn. “Twilight,” he said, “if you can, try to focus on Celestia’s aura. Trixie, look for me. That should make things a little easier. Now, are we ready?”

“Yes,” Celestia said.

‘Let’s do this,’ Twilight said.

“We’re both ready here,” Trixie reported.

“Good.” Ash’s horn began to glow, followed by his gemstone necklace. He traced the pattern on the ground with his eyes and then tapped it with a hoof, causing it to be begin glowing as well. Backing up to stand next to Trixie’s cot, he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. A beam of energy stretched out from his horn and wrapped around Trixie’s head.

Twilight had no recollection of the time spent out of her body during Trixie’s spell, so she was quite surprised to discover that she was still awake, in a sense, when Ash levitated her mind out of Trixie’s body. She couldn’t sense anything in the usual manner, but she was aware of several points of life around her, including one that felt like it was right next to her. She “looked around” and found she could identify each presence: Pinkie Pie, full of energy but with a curious melancholy beneath it, Applejack, strong and uncomplicated, Spike, somehow smaller and larger than the others at the same time, and a pure, comforting, enormous aura that could only be Princess Celestia. Recalling Ash’s instructions, Twilight tried to reach toward Celestia’s aura and felt herself slowly draw closer to it.

‘Twilight?’ Trixie’s voice echoed from the aura she was pulling away from, ‘Don’t leave.’

‘I have to Trixie,’ Twilight answered, ‘That’s the whole point.’

‘But…’ Trixie sounded scared, ‘I… I don’t know where to go. There are so many… people around and I don’t know which one to go to.’

Twilight stopped and returned to the Trixie-aura. ‘Let me help,’ she said. She “looked” around again at the auras. She described each one to help make sure Trixie was “looking” at them too, and put a name to each one. ‘Elegant but tense: Rarity. Firm and fiery: Rainbow Dash. Soothing and disarming: Fluttershy.’ Finally, they focused on an aura that was quite unlike the others. It didn’t feel like it belonged to a pony, and it seemed to be in slight turmoil; a strong, almost obsessive net of determination that was just barely holding in a darkness tinted with despair. Trixie recoiled from the aura, but Twilight held fast. ‘A troubled soul looking for peace by righting wrongs,’ she said, ‘That’s Ashen Blaze.’

'I’d hate to be him,’ Trixie said, ‘with a mind like that…’ she trailed off for a second. ‘No matter,’ she said, ‘Go to the Princess now Twilight. I’ll be alright.' With a mental smile, Twilight drifted away from Trixie and toward the presence of her beloved mentor.

As Twilight stirred, her friends rushed over to the cot on which she lay. They all held their breaths as the lavender unicorn’s eyes blinked open and focused. “Twilight?” Rarity asked quietly.

“Hey girls, Spike,” Twilight said smiling up at each of them in turn. Her smile grew wider as she looked herself over and found everything to be in place- lavender coat, dark-blue-with-pink-highlight mane and tail, star-burst cutie mark…

“How are you feeling?” Fluttershy asked.

“I feel fine Fluttershy,” Twilight said, stretching out and rolling off the cot. Her stomach rumbled and she gave an embarrassed smile. “And a bit hungry. How’s Trixie?”

“Trixie is fine,” the showmare said, standing up on her cot as the group turned to look, “It’s good to be alone with my own thoughts again.”

“Welp,” Ashen Blaze said, rubbing out the magic pattern on the floor, “My work here is done. I’ll see myself back to Canterlot. Farew-” He was cut off by Pinkie pouncing on him as he tried to leave the tent.

“You can’t leave yet!” the pink pony said, “you’ll miss the ‘Twilight and Trixie are all better now’ party!”

“Yes,” Rarity said, “We simply cannot allow you to leave without a proper thank-you.”

“I believe I have time to enjoy your company,” Celestia said, “provided it’s kept casual.”

“Yipee!” Pinkie said, bouncing in place on top of Ash, “Just give me some time to get Sugar Cube Corner set up.” She ran off without another word, leaving Ash with a mixture of relief and disgruntlement on his face.

“So Twilight,” the Princess said, turning to look at her student, “Do you have anything to report on the magic of friendship?”

“Uh,” Twilight said, looking around the room and thinking back at the previous days, “Can I… get back to you on that? I’ve got a lot to sort through.” Celestia nodded and left the tent.

Epilogue

As a result of her role in stopping Gilda’s gang, and Celestia putting in a good word for her, Trixie was able to spend a couple days in Ponyville to re-supply for her trip to Manehatten. However, despite taking the stage to make a formal apology for her rude behavior in the past, the showmare was denied the opportunity to publically rehearse her new act. She made do with practicing out in Whitetail Wood with Twilight, Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash for company. The showmare and the prismatic pegasus continued to butt egos from time to time, but the others were able to keep them in line.

When the day came for Trixie to leave, Twilight and company met up at the edge of town to see her off. “Good luck,” Pinkie said. The sentiment was echoed by Fluttershy, AJ, and Rarity.
“After all you’ve done, you better knock ‘em off their hooves,” Dash said, giving Trixie a challenging smile.
“Thank you,” Trixie said, returning the smile, “I’ll be sure to give you proper credit when I talk about how I saved Ponyville from a marauding army of griffons; you’ll be the fearless defender who held out until Trixie could arrive.”
Dash mulled that over in her mind and then smirked. “Darn right,” she said.
“Of course,” Trixie continued with a mischievous glint in her eye, “it may be more dramatic if you were to die seconds before Trixie could get to you.” Dash’s smug look vanished, the pegasus puzzling over whether that was a good thing or not.
Have a safe trip Trixe,” Twilight said, horn aglow as she floated a scroll toward the showmare. Trixie took the scroll and looked at it curiously. “That’s a copy of the wing-making spell,” Twilight explained, “I thought you might like to have it, just in case someone challenges you to fly again.”
“Oh,” Trixie said, surprised, “Thank you. I’ll put it to good use.” She opened the wagon door and dropped the scroll inside.
“Feel free to stop by if you’re ever in the area again,” Twilight said, “I can’t speak for everypony in town, but my door will always be open for you. And if you still feel you need to test your skills against mine…”
Trixie chuckled. “Oh, don’t you worry about that Twilight Sparkle,” she said, “Having you in my head for over a day has given me more than enough opportunity to come to terms with our differences.” She turned away and stepped up into her wagon. Pausing in the doorway, she looked back with a smug smile and said, “However, the Great and Powerful Trixie never turns down a challenge. If you’re ever itching to prove yourself, I’ll be waiting for you in Manehatten.” She took the last few steps into the wagon, closed the lower half of the door, and turned around to look out at the group. With a final “Farewell!” she activated her horn and guided the wagon down the road.

Dear Princess Celestia,
Your student, Twilight Sparkle, has given me a brief overview about her studies on “The Magic of Friendship,” and encouraged me to attempt to write a report of my own. I

If you are reading this, it means I, Trixie, have decided that I have indeed learned some things that I would not mind telling you about.
First, I’ve learned that friendships can arise from the oddest of situations. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration that the time I spent with Twilight in my head is the closest I have ever been to another pony, but even so, she’s the only pony besides my parents I can recall spending time with outside of my stage persona. At times it felt like she was trying too hard to make me happy, but I can tell she can be a reliable anchor when things get rough. She probably had me on her list of friends before I was even willing to consider the possibility.
From Rainbow Dash, I learned that being loyal to one’s friends can occasionally lead to pain and disappointment. It takes a strong heart to be ready to forgive and forget old wounds, but an even stronger one to get through the moments where you realize that those wounds might never heal. I do hope that Dash learned from me and Twilight that true friends never stop giving each other second chances. The griffon, Gilda, may never change her ways, but for Dash’s sake I hope she does.
Lastly, I’ve learned what may be the most important lesson of all: if you want to make a friend, be a friend.

Sincerely,
Trixie

P.S. On behalf of Mr. Proscenium Arch, I’d like to cordially invite you and Princess Luna to the opening night of the Silver Halter’s new season, starring none other than the Great and Powerful Trixie. It would be an honor to perform for you, and this time the show should reach its proper conclusion.