The Dimension Travelers X: The Pony Gambit

Dimension Travelers X: The Pony Gambit

If any of you were wondering, you all probably won't get a lot of time to breathe during this fic, but the cookie crumbles in mysterious ways sometimes.

Twilight Sparkle's POV

As the first week of our training came to a close, the six of us were all worn out, but we all felt good working towards a goal. Even in such short a time, David's training and teaching methods had proven effective. However, as we reached the halfway point of the last session of the week, things took a turn for the worse.

At the time, David had been teaching us the basics of pressure points and their uses both on and off the battlefield. Then a stranger walked up…a stranger who looked a lot like David. We were all surprised, but David recovered first.

"Who are you?" David growled

"Why, I'm hurt, I thought Pokémorphs had perfect memories? Surely, you remember your own brother?" The unknown person asked

"You're not my brother, he's dead," David shot back

"Did you ever think to check the coffin, after Time burned?" The person returned

"Even if you are using my brother's body, which I doubt, I can still tell you're not him! Now drop that disguise or I'll kill you where you stand!" David shouted

"You wouldn't hurt-" The rest of what he was going to say was cut off as David dashed forwards at speeds faster than my eyes could follow and sliced the doppelgänger right through the stomach. Instead of blood, a black substance gushed out for a moment before the whole body dissolved into a black pool before reforming whole once more. But those few moments were all it took for an awful stench to make itself known and we all covered our noses.

"What's that smell?!" Rainbow dash shouted in disgust

"Ink," David answered, "Which means you're either some kind of spelled construct or a demon."

"Well, well, well, aren't we clever? I'm not stupid enough to tell you which I am, but I bring you greetings from my master," The thing responded

"If you think you can mess with my head by wearing my brother's face, you and your master have another think coming," David snarled, "DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM?!" That's when I heard thunder and looked up. Thunderclouds that most certainly hadn't been there a few minutes ago had appeared and they looked very dark and very threatening. Suddenly an idea popped into my head, could it be that these thunderclouds had been summoned by David, either on purpose or in response to his very mood? I resolved to ask him later.

"My master told me all about you; a Pokémorph whose abilities become even more sensationalized and exaggerated with every retelling of your tale," The thing said confidently

"Is that so? But what happens when those exaggerations turn out to be gross understatements?" David asked

"That's impossible. That would make you-" It suddenly stopped in mid sentence as David smirked darkly and then pointed at the thing with only his pointer and thumb sticking out and then he said 'bang'. Suddenly a massive bolt of lightning crashed down on the thing and we heard it scream briefly before it stopped. When the light died down and we could see again, there was a massive crater where it had been. David put his hand in front of his eyes before sighing.

"We're done for today. You all can go," David told us and then walked off towards his house.

"I don't think we should leave David alone right now. Ah think he's more troubled than he lets on," Applejack said a minute later

"He just had to kill a thing that looked exactly like his long dead brother. That'd mess anyone up in the head," I agreed

"We can't let him be a moping-mopeypants when we can help it!" Pinkie Pie said

"Then it's decided. We're gonna go and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," Rainbow Dash said and we all headed to David's house.

Once we got there, I was surprised to hear upbeat music playing, but it was soon clear that it wasn't David's choice.

"I just want to drown in my sorrows with a sad song! Is that too much to ask?!" We heard David shouting, soon followed by the sound of something metallic being kicked. The upbeat music just got a little louder. We headed inside and found him collapsed on a chair.

"David, if you want to talk, we're always ready to listen," I said

"And besides, I can't imagine your brother would approve of you going all to pieces like this," Rarity added and I almost facehoofed at Rarity's lack of tact, but David snorted in amusement.

"You're right. If he could, he'd probably be kicking my butt right now," David remarked and then he went a bit cross-eyed, "Then Yuffie would stick one of her giant shuriken where the sun don't shine…you know what, suddenly I feel a whole lot better! Wouldn't want to give the dead a reason to rise up and stick sharp things where they don't belong!" We all gave David a funny look but we were starting to get used to his unique brand of crazy.

"Y'all really gonna be alright, sugarcube?" Applejack asked

"Yeah, sorry if I worried you guys. It's just that when you get as old as I am with the kind of life I lead, you accumulate a lot of emotional baggage and anything can potentially cause an avalanche," David apologized

"Like Twilight said, we're here for you. Friends help friends through each other's problems," Fluttershy said

"Looks like I won't be getting properly depressed for a long while then. I'm sure those back home will be pleased," David quipped

"Yeah, we'll send you back to them better than we got you!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed

"Through the powers of parties and friendship!" Pinkie Pie agreed and we all started laughing. Things may not always be easy, but it's the moments like this that make it all worthwhile.

Two days later

Between training sessions with David and the others and my own studies, my magic had never been better or more diverse. On that day, I was studying a hair growing spell and for practice, I gave Spike a nice moustache. It went right to his head, but I didn't let him keep it.

After that, we went out to get some groceries, but that plan was cut short when we ran into Snips and Snails, two young unicorn colts. Or rather, they ran right into Spike. They told us that a new unicorn had shown up in town and was claiming to be the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria. So I decided to go see what all the fuss was about. We made it just in time to see Trixie start her show.

"Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie! Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by ponykind!" Trixie declared

"My, my, my, what boasting," Rarity commented

"Boasting? It might be a little over-the-top, but it's just a bit of showmanship to hype the crowd. Whether or not she can back it up remains to be seen," David disagreed

"Showmanship?" Applejack asked

"You guys don't have many traveling entertainers, or entertainers in general, do you? Showmanship is basically appealing to the crowd, getting them excited. The more excited they get, the more likely they are to remember the performance and the more likely they are to be favorably impressed and thus spread positive news through word-of-mouth and/or printed mediums. It's how people like Trixie back where I come from make their livings," David explained

"I don't know, still sounds an awful lot like bragging. Just because somepony can use more magic than somepony else doesn't make them better than the rest of us," Rarity remarked

"Especially when you have me being better than the rest of us," Rainbow Dash boasted, but quickly started singing a different tune upon Applejack's glare, "Er, I mean, yeah! Uh…magic shmagic! Boo!" Well, Trixie couldn't let ponies just talk trash about her and not do anything. So Trixie claimed to have vanquished an Ursa Major. Most ponies didn't really believe her tale, but Snips and Snails were eating out of her hoof. So she then challenged everyone in Ponyville.

"Anything you can do, I can do better!" She claimed

"Now we have entered the realm of boasting and cockiness," David remarked and Spike started begging me to show up Trixie. I didn't want to; for fear that the others would think I was showing off. Trixie then decided that since nopony had volunteered, she's pick someone herself.

"How about…you!" She declared and pointed at David. I let out a slight sigh of relief.

"No, it wouldn't be fair," David answered

"So you admit that the Great and Powerful Trixie is too much for you?!" Trixie crowed

"You misunderstand me, it wouldn't be fair for you," David answered, "Now if you'll all excuse me, I have things I need to be doing." David started to walk off, but Trixie wasn't done yet.

"If you're so sure, then why don't you put your magic where your mouth is?! Or are you just chicken?!" Trixie shouted and suddenly David started laughing

"You know, in a weird, roundabout way, I really am a chicken! Fancy that! Wonder why it took me so long to connect those dots…" David said that last part more to himself as he wandered off while still chuckling. That took a lot of the wind out of Trixie's sails, but not all of it. Trixie's next pick was Applejack and while Applejack did some pretty fancy rope tricks, Trixie was able to use the rope to simultaneously hogtie Applejack and grab an apple out of a nearby tree to stick in Applejack's mouth. As far as the crowd was concerned, Trixie had won that round.

"There's no need to go around strutting and showing off like that!" Rainbow Dash shouted, but even though she pulled off some amazing aerial stunts and ended with a rainbow appearing over her, Trixie used magic on the rainbow and got it and Rainbow Dash to spin like a top until Rainbow Dash was so dizzy, she couldn't stand up. Then, to add insult to injury, Trixie conjured up a lightning cloud and zapped Rainbow Dash.

Next up was Rarity after Trixie called her mane a 'rat's nest'. That obviously didn't go over well with Rarity's pride. So Rarity used Trixie's curtain to make a dress and she did up her hair. Then Trixie turned Rarity's hair green and it had twigs and other bits hanging out of it. Rarity ran off in slightly melodramatic tears. With Rarity out of the picture, Spike tried to egg me into challenging Trixie, but I didn't want to. So I ran off.

Later, I was at the library reading and Spike was trying to convince me to go up against Trixie. I didn't want to show off and Spike kept telling me it wasn't the same thing.

"Bragging is an interesting thing, Twilight. It's one of those things where, you can't define when exactly it's bragging and when it's not, but you know it when you see it. Somehow, I doubt defending the honor of all of Ponyville by bursting Trixie's ego balloon counts as bragging or showing off," David remarked over his own book.

"Then why don't you do it?" I shot back

"Two reasons: First, I'm not a pony and so the advantages I have all come from being what I am, not from any training I did in a particular field. Secondly, I'm not the student of Celestia. You are and all of Ponyville knows it. Therefore, the court of public opinion is far more likely to be swayed by you beating her than if I did," David replied and I had to admit, he had two good points.

"Exactly Twilight; if anyone's going to beat Trixie, it's you and you should do it!" Spike agreed

"No! I don't want to be seen like a braggart like Trixie is!" I protested

"Twilight, do you honestly think that your bonds of friendship with the others are so fragile that even if it were seen as showing off, you'd lose them? Heaven knows Rainbow Dash shoots her mouth off often enough, but everyone still is friends with her. Or, is this really because you're projecting your own insecurities onto your friends?" David asked and I found I couldn't answer him. But I was saved having to because at that moment we felt the whole library shake and then something roared.

"What was that?!" Spike shouted and we ran to find the source: An Ursa Minor. While not nearly as big as when they're full grown Ursa Majors, Ursa Minors are still bigger than Ponyville City Hall.

"WHAT IS THAT DOING HERE?!" David shouted over one of the roars. Trixie pointed to Snips and Snails. They were treated to a very potent evil eye from David and a promise that they'd get read the riot act.

"But you don't have to worry! The Great and Powerful Trixie will vanquish it!" Snipes declared

"I can't," Trixie admitted, "I can't and I never have. I just made it up to make me look better; nopony can vanquish an Ursa Major!" With that confession out of the way, Spike and David motioned for me to do something. I was still hesitant, but I knew that A.) David wouldn't so much as lift a finger until either I had tried or the Ursa Minor was just about to chomp down on somepony and B.) They were right.

So first, I started up a stiff breeze that blew over the reeds, which made music. Or at least close enough that it made the Ursa Minor drowsy. With that taken care of, I used my magic to empty out the water tower, then carried it through a barn to milk the cows, and then placed the milk in the empty tower. Next, I lifted up the sleepy Ursa Minor before it could squish anypony and gave it the makeshift bottle. Finally, I put the Ursa Minor back into the cave from whence it came.

Before I could even catch my breath from all of that, all of Ponyville had burst into cheer.

"Heavens to Betsy, we knew you had ability, but not that much!" Applejack exclaimed

"That was some serious power and you were putting up a 90% efficiency rating! That is straight up impressive!" David agreed

"I'm sorry! Please don't hate me!" I cried

"Hate you?!" Everyone exclaimed

"Why would we do that, darling?" Rarity asked and I tried my best to ignore the 'I told you so' looks both Spike and David were giving me.

"Well, I know how much you all hated Trixie showing off with her magic, and I just thought-" Rainbow Dash then cut me off

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, magic's got nothing to do with it! Trixie's just a loudmouth!" Rainbow Dash explained and the others told me similar things. Then I told the others that the Ursa I had defeated was a minor, not a major.

"If that was an Ursa Minor, I'd hate to see an Ursa Major," Spike remarked

"Maybe one of these days, you will," David commented and Spike shuttered. Then I noticed that Trixie had suddenly vanished. After the crowd had dispersed back to bed, David and I decided to go looking for her. When we found her, she was crying over the remains of her wagon. To my surprise, David took out his wand and then cast 'repairo' on it. Suddenly the wagon was back in one piece and Trixie whirled around and was surprised to see us.

"You! But why did you help me? I've done nothing but put everypony down and my crazy stories put everypony in danger and got my wagon destroyed!" Trixie cried

"Just because someone is mean, doesn't mean that I have to return his or her rudeness with my own. I've seen far worse than bragging and showing off and I'm a firm believer in giving second chances when I can. I've also been told I'm pretty good at helping others out of self-destructive patters and you know what I think? I think you hide yourself in the flash and bang of your show because you're afraid if they see the real you, they'll think you're not good enough. You disguise yourself with the mask of 'The Great and Powerful' and put others down so they focus on others rather than on you. But I have a bad habit of looking past the surface of things. So when I look at you, I see a young mare that desperately craves approval and attention, but is so very sad because she thinks the only way she can get it is by being someone else. A young mare, who, when she was younger was ignored and neglected by her parents and maybe, just maybe, cried herself to sleep more often than not. Whose only thing she cares about in this entire world is that wagon. But it doesn't have to be that way anymore. If you want it, today can be the first day of the rest of your new life. It won't be easy and there will be doubters for a time, but you'll have friends that will care about you, the real you. I'd like to be one of those friends," David finished his speech and I was reminded of that night when Nightmare Moon returned. How David had just somehow known what went on in her head. It was extraordinarily sobering to realize that he could read anypony like an open book, if he so chose.

Trixie looked at David with a mixture of awe, shock, and trepidation before she broke down crying in earnest. David pulled her into a hug and whispered words of comfort into her ears and I found myself choking up too. This was the same pony, who only hours ago had been claiming she was better at everything anypony else could do? I had a hard time reconciling this crying Trixie with the boastful one she had been.

Eventually, Trixie cried herself to sleep and David decided to take both her and her wagon to his house. I made my way home. I had a lot to think about and I also had the task of distilling it into the form of a letter for Princess Celestia. But such an important lesson just couldn't be left unwritten.

David's POV

I put Trixie in a spare bed and I made my way to the living room.

"Computer, start a new entry in my journal." The computer made an affirmative beep.

"Today I learned something I probably should have learned back when I was running around in Sailor Moon's dimension. Sometimes, I'm not put in a place for my power in battle, for the Dimension Traveler; sometimes I'm there for my Heart and Soul. Here, in this land filled with talking, magical ponies founded on values of friendship, the worst I've come across thus far is a demon possessed pony. But it was during that confrontation with that same pony that I started to realize why I was here: my empathy. The one skill I've cursed above any of my other skills, save, perhaps, my ability to see the future from time to time.

My empathy nearly killed me when I was unaware of what I was, but at that moment, it showed me the path to connect my life and that of the pony named Luna in a meaningful way that has helped her greatly in readjusting from her life of banishment for a thousand years on the moon. Tonight, it helped me understand a pony named Trixie who all others saw as a 'holier-than-thou' self-righteous braggart. It showed me the neglect that scarred her Heart and I was overcome with a need to heal that hurt, which was so similar to mine when I was younger.

That is my purpose here. To help, not through strength of arms, but through strength of Heart and strength of newly forged friendships. As of late, I have become jaded, cold from the deaths of so many of my friends and family. I need this as much as they do; I need to be immersed in a friendship so strong that it can melt the frost that has started to creep into my Heart. The six I have been chosen to protect and those like Trixie…I know that they will pass into my memories eventually, but they are already helping me to remember why I should still make friends and why Death only has victory if I let it have it.

Though storm clouds have gathered, they are a while off yet. Together, as friends, we will meet that threat and I know we will pull through. No matter what, even in our darkest hours, we are not alone. Computer, end entry."

Twilight Sparkle's POV

The next day I went out to get those groceries I hadn't gotten the day before. In the market, I met up with Rainbow Dash, who was doing her own shopping. In the middle of our shopping trip, we ran into David and Trixie.

"What the hay are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked in an accusing tone. Trixie opened her mouth to say something, but then seemed to think better of it and then she shrank back.

"Leave her alone Rainbow Dash," David said with the barest hint of a growl

"But she-she-" Rainbow Dash spluttered

"She's my new friend and I've given her a second chance. I suggest you do the same," David remarked briskly and then left with Trixie following close behind. The whole incident with Gilda a little more than a week ago was still fresh enough in Rainbow Dash's mind that it stopped her from pursuing the matter.

I supposed that sooner or later Pinkie Pie would throw a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party and not for the last time I was struck with just how a single event can completely change a pony. I had never needed nor wanted friends before Nightmare Moon. Now my friends are one of the things I treasure above anything else. I was sure that if I asked, all of my friends would have major life altering experiences. Trixie had just experienced one and I was determined to make sure that I did everything in my power to help her. I felt she deserved the chance.

Originally, I hadn't planned on Trixie joining the gang at all, but then I read an interesting fanfiction and that set the ball rolling. In addition, you can thank Nickleback's Lullaby for the contents of David's journal entry, David's speech to Trixie, and the majority of non-canon-complicity including the final decision to give Trixie her second chance so early (Aren't spur of the moment changes awesome?). I was listening to it while writing this chapter. Go listen to the song for yourself, it's incredible. Until next time!