Gemini in All Things

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Inequity lives in us all
Chapter 2 - Fitting shapes and passages
Chapter 3 - Obstacles and shortcuts
Chapter 4 - Temptation and reward
Chapter 5 - Burning fuse
Chapter 6 - Demolition mare
Chapter 7 - Everypony hurts

Chapter 1 - Inequity lives in us all

Disclaimer:

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro and associations and are used without permission for the sole purpose of entertainment for no financial gain of any kind.

Much respect to the fanart of Twilight and Trixie entitled “Magic Duel” created by YoorPorick showing an intense magic duel seemingly to the death. This fanfic was directly inspired by that picture.

Background and setup:

I once saw a fanpic of Twilight and Trixie in a magic battle to the death. The art style itself was impressive, but the sheer emotion of mutual desperation really moved me. I could see how both ponies could be so proud that they felt compelled to attack the other rather than truly settling their differences rationally.

After watching the episode “Boast Busters” a few times, I can see how Twilight completely outclasses Trixie in sheer potential. I wondered how Twilight or anyone else might react if they found out that Trixie was not as lucky as they were in life and reacts out of fear born from desperation. Would anything change?

Could any of us ever feel shame or guilt knowing that our rival was fighting us for survival instead of pride like we would? It would take a very generous heart to try to help our enemies up instead of always knocking them back down.

Gemini in All Things

Late afternoon in Ponyville is normally a good time to be alive, especially in summer. Instead of the normal routine, the wielders of the Elements of Harmony had gathered at their local restaurant for a friendly outdoor dinner. Stories, laughter, and well-wishes were overflowing at the table.

Slowly walking up the street towards the restaurant was a blue unicorn with a white mane and purple eyes. Soon, whispers were flying from table to table. Laughter and stories were quieted as one by one, the entire patronage turned to view the unicorn.

The head waiter walked up to meet the unicorn. She preened her purple pointed hat and cape, fusing over the tarnished stars upon both.

The waiter asked, “May I help, you…miss?”

The unicorn straightened her posture and announced, “Yes, you may. Your restaurant is not completely full even though it is a nice summer’s day. Allow me to dazzle your audience with my stupendous feats of legerdemain. I will fill the rest of your empty tables with hungry customers. All I ask in exchange is a simple meal. Certainly that is a very small price to pay for the supreme magical talents of the Great and …”

The waiter sniffed audibly and interrupted, “We all know who you are. You’re the one responsible for the Ursa attack last year.”

The unicorn was visibly shaken by the memory. She gathered her resolve and defended herself, “That was NOT my fault! I did NOT tell those two idiots to wake a sleeping Ursa…”

The waiter replied forcefully, “You were the one who filled their heads with your lies. They wouldn’t have woken it except to try to prove you right. No deals. Now, get out.”

Defeated, the unicorn reached into her cape and produced a tiny pile of coins. She insisted, “I have money. I’m a customer. Now seat me and take my order.”

Clearly insulted at having to serve someone he completely disliked, the waiter escorted her to the smallest open table.

Giving her a menu, he asked, “What would you like to drink?”

She immediately replied, “Just water. What are the specials today?”

The waiter sniffed again, clearly offended, “Miss, this is a high-class establishment. We only serve…”

She interrupted, “Do you have any specials or not?”

The waiter recited, “I’m sure I can offer you a cucumber sandwich for a discount.”

The unicorn took off her hat and set it on the table. She asked, “Two specials, please. Can you recommend a cheap place to stay for the night?”

The waiter turned around to head for the kitchen. He replied carelessly, “No.”

Finally unable to take any more rejection, the Great and Powerful Trixie hung her head in silence.

All other tables were now awash with the buzz of idle gossip.

Rarity turned up her nose and stated, “Well, I certainly wouldn’t have the gall to show up in a place I had nearly destroyed, that’s for sure.”

Applejack frowned at the blue unicorn and said, “I wonder what she’s up to. No good, that’s for sure.”

The shy pegasus tried to speak, “Um…I don’t think…”

The multi-colored pegasus interrupted her by saying, “I’ll follow her around. If she is up to something, I’ll stop her.”

Pinkie Pie declared, “She’s not coming anywhere near my Gummy with those overblown magic tricks of hers! If she hurts my pet alligator, why I’ll hurl a batch of Applejack’s special cupcakes at her!”

The shy pegasus tried to speak, “I think she won’t…”

The farm pony complained, “Would you please give that a rest? It was a mistake!”

The white unicorn smiled and playfully countered, “Those cupcakes certainly are useful for getting rid of unwanted pests, Applejack.”

The shy pegasus tried to speak, “Uh…Just look at her…”

The purple unicorn announced, “Quiet!”

The table quieted down. She looked over to her friend and asked, “What did you want to say?”

Fluttershy said in a subdued voice, “Um…Just look at her. She’s too sad to cause a rampage over Ponyville.”

The group looked at Trixie, who was trying very hard not to sob in her chair. The waiter brought over her tray of food. Two sandwiches, barely laced with grass and only a few slices of cucumber each, were placed on her table. Any self-respecting customer would complain about the quality of the sandwiches.

However, Trixie’s eyes lit up in delight. She ate the sandwiches hungrily, as if she had not eaten since yesterday. The waiter rolled his eyes and placed a slip of paper upon the table.

He mentioned, “Your bill, miss.”

Twilight’s eyebrows narrowed at this display. Even if Trixie was not well-liked, every customer deserved good treatment. The waiter should have left her alone for at least ten minutes to relax before asking if she wanted the bill.

Trixie picked up the bill and read it. Her eyes opened wide at the total.

She objected, “Hey! You said these sandwiches were at a discount! This is full price!”

The waiter sternly replied, “They were discounted for you. Are you ungrateful?”

She added, “You charged me for the water! Water is free!”

The waiter drew himself up taller and snarled at her, “Are you causing trouble? If so, I’ll have you thrown in prison, you…”

Suddenly, Twilight stood up tall and called out, “Excuse me!”

The waiter looked over and saw who it was. Recognizing the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, he trotted over and put on a gracious smile.

He intoned smoothly, “Yes, ladies! What can I get you?”

Pinkie Pie asked in a whisper, “Twilight, what are you doing?”

Undaunted, Twilight asked, “My friends and I all had water also. Are you going to charge us for water?”

Without thinking, the waiter stated, “Of course not! I would never charge any of you for…”

Twilight then finished her statement, “Then wouldn’t charge anyone else here for water, right?” She fixed a glare at the waiter, who backed down.

He apologized, “Yes, Miss Sparkle. I made a mistake. I’ll take it off the bill right now.” He then ran back inside to recalculate Trixie’s bill.

The entire restaurant gaped openly at Twilight. She sat back down and took a drink of her fruit smoothie.

Noticing the stares of the assemblage, Twilight grumpily stated, “What? Charging one pony for something that you give to another for free is against the law. It’s just not right.”

Feeling just a little ashamed at not saying the same thing earlier, Applejack spoke up, “Well, I guess yer right, Twi. That wouldn’t be the right way to do business here in Ponyville.”

Everypony put their attention back to their own tables.

Fluttershy smiled and offered, “That was really nice, Twilight.”

Rarity fussed her perfectly coiffed mane and added, “Yes, I suppose that was the moral thing to do. Good for you, dear.”

The waiter brought the new bill to Trixie, who smiled at the new lower total. She pulled out her coins and placed all but one on the tray. Looking at the bill, she mentally calculated the customary tip in her mind.

The waiter patiently waited for her to finish. He sincerely hoped that he would still get a tip. Else wise he wouldn’t find it easy to serve this particular pony again.

Trixie looked up at the expectant waiter and then back at her last coin. Her mind went into a panic, conjuring up images of various cheap foods that she could buy with the last coin. She might be hungry again tomorrow. In fact, she knew she’d be hungry again tomorrow. Maybe she could get away with not leaving a tip just this one time.

She looked up at the waiter, who tried to control the impatience in his expression. Still, he said nothing nor did he emote at all.

With a heavy sigh, Trixie placed the coin with the others. The waiter smiled.

He said genially, “Thank you, Miss. I’m sorry about before. It won’t happen again.”

Trixie stood up and said simply, “Thank you.”

She left the restaurant carefully, trying not to draw too much attention to herself.

Rainbow Dash commented, “Well, that went better than expected. I thought she’d throw a tantrum and light the place on fire.”

Fluttershy said, “I’m glad she didn’t.” She then gazed at her fruit smoothie thoughtfully.

Twilight was still watching after Trixie as she left. Her mind kept trying to calculate what the blue unicorn was really up to in Ponyville again.

At length, Applejack waved her hoof in front of Twilight’s vision. “Yoo hoo! Twilight, are you in there? Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

The purple unicorn stood up and decided. She left a small pile of coins for her part of dinner.

She left, saying, “It’s been fun, girls. However, I gotta find out something.”

Ever energetic, Rainbow Dash stood up and said, “We’re with you, Twi! If that crazy mare tries anything nasty on you, she’ll get a one-two!” For emphasis, she stood up on her hind legs and punched the air with her front hooves.

Twilight called back over her shoulder, “No thanks. If more than one approaches her, she’ll clam up. See you tomorrow!”

The purple unicorn trotted up next to Trixie. The blue unicorn seemed to be wandering aimlessly towards the outskirts of Ponyville.

As Twilight came up alongside of her, Trixie snapped, “Well, what do you want? Come to mock the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

Twilight scrunched up her forehead in confusion and replied, “Uh, no. I was wondering what you were doing in Ponyville. You didn’t exactly make any friends last time.”

Trixie felt shame as the dreaded memory surfaced in her mind. She felt her face flush with embarrassment and turned her face away to hide it.

She replied, “If you must know, I’m on my way to Stalliongrad. I need a job and the last one in Hoofington…didn’t work out.”

The purple unicorn felt that something was wrong. She observed, “Stalliongrad’s a long ways away. Where’s your wagon? Won’t you need to sleep in there tonight?”

Trixie felt a sting to her pride, but she didn’t want to show it. She screwed up her pride and stated, “I sold it. It was just slowing me down. All those fireworks were expensive and heavy, you know. Now I have more food money and I can travel farther since my load is lighter.”

Twilight was now concerned. She pressed, “But now you have nowhere to sleep. How much longer will your food money last?”

The blue unicorn slowed her pace involuntarily. She tried to hold back her tears. She almost succeeded. She half-choked a sob and said, “That was the last of it!”

The purple unicorn gasped, “You mean you’re penniless? You’re homeless? My gosh, why don’t you go back to your magic school and ask for a job teaching? I’m sure I could write a letter of recommendation…”

The blue unicorn turned on the purple unicorn, standing in an aggressive posture. She challenged, “I didn’t go to magic you, you stuck-up teacher’s pet! All my magic was self-taught! I didn’t have a special, royal appointment like some ponies! I never had the soft life you had!”

Twilight backed off, feeling the anger palpable in Trixie’s words. Unwisely, she added, “What about your parents? Don’t they know somebody who could help you out?”

Trixie fairly steamed at the mention of her parents. “My parents are dead! My father died when I was too young to remember him! My mother had even less magic than I do! All she could teach me was the simple light spell that practically every unicorn knows! Everything I do on stage is what I learned by myself! You want to rub it in my face? Huh?!”

The purple pony felt offended. She had never rubbed her intellect or prowess in anyone’s face.

She stood up to Trixie and stated evenly, “I’m not insulting you. I’m just trying to help you get back on your hooves. If you need help with your magic, maybe I could teach you.”

The blue unicorn felt shell-shocked. Twilight, the one who showed her up, would teach her how to use magic?

She felt her body tremble in shock and fury. “Wh-wh-whaaaaaaat?”

Twilight smiled offering, “Sure. If you agree to become my apprentice, then you could sleep in the library. I’m sure I could fix up a spare bed somewhere. You’d share chores with Spike and…”

Trixie rose up high onto her hind legs and declared, “The Great and Powerful Trixie does NOT need your high-and-mighty charity! I’ve suffered worse and I’ve always come out on top!”

She openly sobbed with tears streaming down her face. She declared, “I will be fine ALL BY MYSELF!!!” She then turned towards the open fields and bolted as fast as her legs could carry her, crying openly the whole way.

Twilight Sparkle could only stare on in confusion and sympathy. She had only wanted to help. Still, she had never been in Trixie’s position before. It must be terrible to be alone, penniless, jobless, homeless, and even hated by many.

She did the only thing she could do at this point. She went home.

=====================

As night fell, Twilight was writing in her laboratory journal about the experiment she had performed hours earlier. The attempt to turn coal back into organic wood was a failure. All she had gotten for her efforts was a green mush. She grunted as she wrote her observations and conclusions. If she could just figure out this process, then she could help forests and field recover from wildfires faster and more thoroughly.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door of the library. Grateful for the distraction, she left her writing stand.

Spike came down the stairs, rubbing his eyes with fatigue. After yawning, he offered, “I’ll get it Twilight.”

The purple unicorn insisted, “No, Spike. I need the break. Just get yourself to bed. It’s been a long day.”

She opened the door to the library, saying, “Hello, can I help you?”

In the open doorway stood a very contrite Trixie. She absently pawed the ground and looked sheepishly at Twilight.

Spike caught a glimpse of who it was in the doorway and grumbled, “Oh, great. What does she want?”

Twilight glanced at Trixie with a very neutral expression, as if waiting for her to speak first.

Trixie hung her head shamefully and spoke softly, “I’m really sorry for earlier. I, um, uh…apologize…and I was hoping that your offer was still available.”

Twilight smiled widely and said in her most friendly way, “Of course! Come on in!”

Trixie smiled a feeble smile and trotted inside the library. As Trixie closed the door behind herself, Spike felt uneasy.

He asked fearfully, “Uh, Twilight? Is there something you want to tell me?”

Chapter 2 - Fitting shapes and passages

The next day, Twilight dictated a letter to Princess Celestia:

“Dear Princess Celestia,

Yesterday, I learned more about one of the Elements of Harmony. Generosity is always easy to look at from the outsider’s point of view. However, giving of one’s self is hard to do where the ‘hoof meets the highway’.

A former rival of mine, Trixie, has come back to Ponyville in a desperate situation. Her parents are deceased, she no longer has gainful employment, and she had to sell her only home just to eat. No one here will give her a chance, but I see something good and useful in her.

I am going to offer to teach her enough magic to make her way in the world. She’s a proud mare, but nopony should be so hated that they cannot earn redemption. She’ll share chores with Spike and Owlowiscious and learn the lessons she missed not being able to attend formal magic school.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle”

=====================

Only an hour later, Spike received a return message:

“My Generous Student Twilight Sparkle,

While I applaud your intentions, I feel that Trixie may have more problems than just a place to sleep. Trixie should really be taught by professional instructors who can help her with all of her difficulties. She may have a learning disability or even personal issues that you’re not trained to handle.

Not everypony can afford to send their foals to a proper magic academy like your parents could. There are so many unicorns who just don’t have the education they need but you can’t help them all. We need more qualified teachers and that takes time.

Because you have learned a very big lesson in the magic of friendship, I will give a royal appointment to Trixie to my School for Gifted Unicorns in Canterlot. One of the teachers there will be much better for the task.

I will send a chariot for her next week.

Yours faithfully,

Princess Celestia”

=====================

Several minutes later, Spike sent another letter to the princess:

“Dear Princess Celestia,

Trixie has respectfully declined the royal appointment. In her own words, she’s ‘struck a bargain and the Great and Powerful Trixie always holds up her end of the bargain’. I really don’t think she’d feel comfortable in Canterlot surrounded by strangers. She can be abrasive to strangers, especially if she feels outnumbered.

I’m sure I can help her develop her talents. She just needs a friendly hoof and a good meal and maybe a friend. I’ll watch over her like a sister. She’s already warmed up to me and I am the Element of Magic. Who better to teach her the ‘friendship of magic’? Hee, hee.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle”

=====================

The next day fared both better and worse for Twilight. After a nice breakfast with everyone in the kitchen, it was time to get Trixie acquainted with her new home and responsibilities.

She noticed that Trixie seemed to stop speaking so much in the third person every time, but now she invoked Twilight’s name often as some kind of authority.

“Spike, clean the dishes. Twilight and I have much studying to do.”

The baby dragon countered, “I know my chores, Trixie. You don’t have to order me.”

“Also, we really must speak about the sleeping arrangements. I am normally accustomed to having my own sleeping chamber, however I can bring myself to sharing a bedroom with Twilight. But, I will not share a private chamber with someone of the opposite gender! You’ll have to move your basket elsewhere.”

Spike protested, “No way! I’ve been sleeping here longer than you have! Twilight gave me that place when we moved here from Canterlot. I’ve always slept in her room!”

The blue unicorn then turned to Owlowiscious and snarled, “And you! If I ever catch you grasping my hat with those talons of yours again, I’ll fry every feather off your body with lightning bolts! You’ve already crumpled it and I don’t have the money to fix it again! I swear if you ruin it…”

The owl had been perched in the kitchen as usual in the morning. The last thing he normally did was to eat with the others and then fly off to the top of the treehouse to sleep through the day.

Now, the owl was awake and trembling. He hooted, “Whoo?” He then flapped his wings and flew out of the kitchen and up to the top of the living space to get away from the angry pony.

Twilight could take no more. She shouted, “Enough!”

Trixie and Spike looked at Twilight with trepidation. She didn’t normally yell.

The purple unicorn addressed her new apprentice firmly, “Trixie, I know you’ve had it hard, but you will NOT give Spike or Owlowiscious grief over it! You do not order Spike. The sleeping arrangements are fine for now. If you need privacy, then you can move your bed downstairs by yourself.”

She then stood up and stepped over into Trixie’s face. She ordered, “Your job is to be my apprentice. That means you do as I say. You will read books. You watch me perform experiments. Eventually you will perform experiments. You will practice incantations and exercises and you will do your best. Other than that, you will stay out of our way. If you cannot do all of that, then you will be asked to leave. Is that CLEAR?!?!”

Trixie’s body felt flushed with ice water. Inwardly, she shivered at the prospect of losing her new home. Still, her pride demanded she not give any satisfaction to anyone speaking against her.

She hid her fear and put on a brave face. She lowered her head slightly, showing submission. She backed off a few small steps and turned her grimace into a small smile.

She said, “Sure, Twi…I mean, yes, ma’am. I’m sorry.”

Spike saw the conflict in Trixie’s eyes, and it worried him.

Twilight seemed not to notice. Instead, she was pleased with the quick change.

She stated with a smile, “That’s better. I think you’ll find that we’re all friends here. The more you try to get along, the easier you’ll have it with everyone.”

=====================

An hour later, Trixie was standing next to the side of a large wooden cutout. The cutout had nine holes in it, cut into shapes. The bottom row had a large star, square, and crescent moon. The middle row had a middle size star, square, and crescent moon. The top row had a tiny star, square, and crescent moon. A small table in front of the cutout had tiny blocks of wood cut into a star, square, and crescent moon.

Twilight stood in front of the table and gestured to the wooden shapes. She asked, “Now Trixie, when you used the rope at your magic show, did you use a Come To Life spell or was it a Manipulate Object incantation?”

The blue unicorn looked bored. In a careless voice she asked, “What? What are those?”

The purple unicorn’s eyes bugged out as she imagined the scope of Trixie’s lack of arcane knowledge. She queried, “Well, how did you move the rope?”

Trixie just looked at the shapes on the table and replied, “I just summoned a bunch of energy and sent it to the rope at many points. I imagined each point as a hoof grabbing and pushing the rope.”

Twilight tried to track in her mind how many points of articulation the rope must have had to move the way it did in such varied patterns. She tried to estimate how much raw energy Trixie would have to summon to fuel the points of articulation.

She marveled, “That was incredible. You must have had at least a dozen ‘hoof’ points to move the rope like that.”

Trixie replied proudly, “Three dozen. I could only do a dozen when I was a filly.”

Twilight realized just how hard Trixie had to work all her life for what little magic she currently had. In fact, Trixie had just as much power as Twilight did on her best day. All Trixie lacked was a classical education and she would be as great a magician as Twilight, maybe more!

The purple unicorn gestured to the shapes and explained, “This is a basic exercise to practice fine control when you, um…’hoof’ objects through the air. What you were doing was a very raw form of the incantation known as Manipulate Object.”

The blue unicorn sniffed and said, “Why are such things given stupid names? Why not give them impressive names, like ‘Trixie’s Rope Flourish’?” She then rose up on her hind legs and struck an impressive pose fit for the stage.

Twilight grumped, “Down, girl. This isn’t showtime.”

Trixie landed on all fours and said, “Oh, right.”

Twilight tried to compliment her by saying, “That was very impressive to control so many ‘hoof’ points at once. Right now, I want to see how you do with just one. Try to pick up this square block and move it through the bottom square hole.

The blue unicorn sighed and summoned the energy in an instant. She grasped the object with her magic and thrust it towards the square-shaped hole. The shape bounced off the side of the hole and went through.

Twilight’s mouth turned down and she said, “Now bring it back out here.”

Trixie rolled her eyes at the task. She willed the shape and it moved quickly. It wobbled in mid-air and scraped the edge of the cutout.

The purple unicorn kept a mental note that each ‘hoof’ was not very coordinated. She asked, “Now pick up the star and put it through the middle star hole.”

Trixie knew a bigger challenge when she saw it. She summoned more energy and grasped the star block. She raised it up and flew it fast towards the cutout. The shape bounced off the hole as it was not quite lined up right.

The blue unicorn grunted and grimaced in frustration. She picked up the block with yet another ‘hoof’ dedicated just for rotation. She pressed the block into the hole and then rotated it. It slipped through easily.

She exclaimed, “Ha! No block of wood can humiliate the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

Twilight smirked and said, “Oh, no? Now put the crescent through the top hole.”

Trixie’s face fell as she realized she had set herself up for a fall.

Not dropping the other three ‘hoof’ points, she summoned another two to grasp the crescent and lifted it carefully. She pressed it against the board with vigor and then rotated it quickly. The odd shape kept slipping back and forth into the hole and back out.

Trixie’s anger was building. She spat out, “Come on, come on! Work, you damned shape!”

Twilight yelled, “Trixie!”

The blue unicorn lost her concentration. This dispelled all of the ‘hoof’ points and the shapes all dropped to the floor noisily.

She looked at her teacher, who was visibly upset.

The purple unicorn chastised her student, “We do NOT swear in the library. Spike is too young to hear that kind of language and you never know when little fillies or colts will be here to read books.”

Trixie’s pride stung her. She was not used to being told what she could or could not say to anyone! Still, she needed this job and this place to live.

She stepped back and said, “Sorry, Twilight, uh…ma’am. I’m just used to being on the open road where I can speak my mind.” Seeing Twilight’s expectant gaze, she added, “I’ll watch my mouth from now on.”

Twilight nodded, satisfied. She stated, “That was still impressive for a beginner. I noticed how you kept maintaining all your other shapes even though you were adding more. That takes real talent. Now, let me teach you the right way to levitate an object. It’ll be much easier to move it and adjust it’s orientation through the air with just a single spell.”

The purple unicorn summoned a great deal of energy and surrounded the star shape with a skin of purple energy. The object levitated up towards the hole. Twisting and turning on its way, it slid through the top hole with ease and no scraping.

Trixie summoned a great deal of energy and grabbed the crescent. Surrounding it with a giant ‘hoof’ that enveloped it, she moved it towards the top crescent hole. She slammed and scraped it around until it passed through.

Twilight rebuked her, “No! Don’t force it! You’re wasting your energy by forcing it. You’ll also damage the board.”

The blue unicorn complained, “It’s not working! I have to push hard to get it to pass through. You said to push it through. This is what it takes.”

The purple unicorn ordered, “You’re doing it all wrong. Don’t just make another ‘hoof’. Wrap it in a thin skin like me.”

Trixie turned her head away. Twilight cleared her throat audibly.

The blue unicorn sighed and dismissed the ‘hoof’. The shape fell to the table and bounced onto the floor. Twilight’s frown deepened at her apprentice’s carelessness.

Suddenly, a blue sheen surrounded the square shape. Levitating it towards the hole, the shape easily rotated into the correct posture. The block slid through the top shape with ease.

Trixie silently marveled at how much less effort it took to slide the shape through. She then created another skin to wrap around the crescent and the star.

Twilight dropped her own incantation to allow her student to flex her new magical muscle. All three shapes were sliding silently and effortlessly through the cutout multiple times.

She stated with elation, “Congratulations, Trixie! You’ve mastered the Manipulate Object incantation. This will make it so much easier to move things the way you want. In the long run, you’ll find this to actually be more efficient with energy than all those ‘hoof’ points you had to conjure and maintain.”

Silently, Twilight marveled at how fast Trixie completed the lesson. Even Princess Celestia had to teach this board to Twilight for three days before she mastered it and Twilight was considered a prodigy. Deep inside, she became nervous at the prospect of training such a powerful pony.

She dismissed the thoughts as just Trixie having an edge of practicing for years before Twilight met her. That’s all.

She said, “I’ve never seen anypony master the board so fast, even in Canterlot. You must be proud.”

Trixie curtsied and said, “Thank you…ma’am.” Deep inside, Trixie was celebrating wildly. She learned her first real incantation! The rush was…nice. It was very nice! She wanted more! If this was what it was like to be a student of magic, then she wanted it!

She asked eagerly, “What’s next?”

=====================

That night, Spike sent another letter to Princess Celestia:

“Dear Princess Celestia,

I am learning first-hand how hard it is to be a teacher. The first thing to figure out is how to grab your student’s attention. Once you have that, you need to keep it. Trixie is certainly used to doing things her own way. I need to show her the better way and convince her that she’ll be better off my way.

Once I convince her that my way is more efficient and more effective, she just dives right in and masters the lesson right away. Did you know that she mastered the shape board in less than an hour? I chalk it up to her head-start in life by doing magic to survive. After that, we moved right in to fixing objects and sensing magic fields. Once she’s convinced that I have knowledge she wants, she’s like a sponge.

It bothers me that she always starts off the same way. Too much force and too little control. I keep wondering if I’ll have to replace my equipment until she learns to slow down and use just a little finesse.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle”

Chapter 3 - Obstacles and shortcuts

Over the course of the next week, Trixie had made remarkable progress. It would always start the same way. Twilight would set up an elementary challenge that a filly or colt in their first year at magic academy would complete. Trixie would rush through it with force and fail. After some berating by Twilight, Trixie would slow down and set it up right the first time. Then she would ace the test.

There was even a lesson that Twilight thought to be clever about being careful with the things you manipulate.

Trixie called from the kitchen, “Do I really have to do this?”

In the main room of the library, Spike tried hard not to chuckle. Twilight rolled her eyes at Trixie’s reluctance. She kind of expected it by now.

She called back, “Who’s the teacher here? Just remember the point of the exercise and you’ll do fine!”

The reply from the kitchen came back, “Well, okay!”

Twilight felt a shift in the energies inside the library tree. Trixie had begun her incantations. Slowly, the sounds of hooves walking towards the kitchen came clearly.

Trixie came into view, levitating a dozen eggs all around her head like a necklace. Upon her head were a stack of three thick books.

Spike fell over laughing. “Bwa, ha ha! Look at Trixie! Is Rarity having another fashion show? Ha, ha!”

The blue unicorn snorted with a frown. She pawed the floor once, saying, “You’re just jealous that I am learning magic from the wise Twilight Sparkle. You could not possibly replicate this feat of legerdemain.”

The baby dragon retorted, “The next time I want to set myself up to look like a fool, I will.”

Trixie’s anger began to rise. She curled her lip up, baring teeth. The eggs began to wobble in mid-air.

Twilight was looking for this. She cautioned, “Focus, Trixie. Your eggs are unstable.”

Spike called out, “The eggs aren’t the only things unstable about her! Bwa, ha ha!”

The top book upon the blue unicorn’s head shifted slightly.

She hotly replied, “When I get out of this, I’ll turn your scales to pudding!”

An egg dropped upon the floor. It broke and splattered all over her hoof.

Trixie complained, “Look what you made me do!”

The purple unicorn warned, “You dropped it yourself. Pay attention to what you’re doing. Now come over here and deliver the books to me.”

The blue unicorn stepped forward, slipping in the broken egg. Her posture upset, a book fell to the floor.

Spike taunted, “Oh Trixie, that was an egg-cellent performance! It was truly eggs-trordinary!” He began clapping half-heartedly.

Trixie’s anger flared powerfully. The eggs began boiling in their shells.

Twilight called out sternly, “Stop it! You’re failing the test. Now give me my books before you lose any more.”

The blue unicorn was torn. She wanted to punish Spike, but she had to pass the test. She resolved to finish the test now and punish Spike later.

She levitated the remaining pair of books upon her head and moved them over to Twilight, who took them in her own energy field.

Two of the eggs popped, spilling their half-cooked contents all over Trixie’s face.

The baby dragon could not resist. He shouted, “Ah ha ha! Looks like the yolk’s on her! She sure has egg on her face!”

Trixie screamed, “I’ll kill you!!!” She charged up her horn with a huge amount of blue energy.

Spike yelped in surprise and jumped behind Twilight. The purple unicorn stepped directly in front of Trixie fearlessly.

The blue unicorn narrowed her eyes at her rival. They stayed like that for several seconds until Trixie’s face fell. She sighed pathetically and discharged her energy away. She then sobbed once.

Twilight spoke sternly, but not unkindly. “Trixie, I told Spike to taunt you. The point of this exercise is to keep your cool and not forget what you are doing. In the real world, you know as well as I do that sometimes your problem won’t just stand still and be nice. Sometimes you’re gonna have to ignore a few worthless taunts and hurtful names in order to keep your concentration.”

Trixie stared at Twilight with an expression the purple unicorn had never seen before nor could she identify.

Twilight finished by saying, “If you’re upset at being messy, remember that you allowed the eggs to fall. Next time, don’t care what others say. Just finish what you’re doing. That’s the important part. Now since you let the eggs fall, you need to clean this up.”

The blue unicorn turned around to head for the kitchen and the cleaning supplies therein. She hung her head in a subdued manner and said, “Yes, ma’am.”

=====================

The next day, Twilight was going to set up an experiment for Trixie to do. However, she needed a few glass beakers. Rummaging around in the closet was fruitless. She then went upstairs to the bedroom to see if she left anything on the windowsill overnight to dry out.

There she was greeted by the sight of Trixie levitating both beds, Spike’s basket, all of the books on the bookshelves in her shared room, a spare stack of special sweet-smelling firewood for special occasions, and her spare writing stand. She was also magically commanding a feather duster to sweep all of the newly vacated surfaces, gathering the hidden piles of dust into a single bag for the dust bin.

Trixie smiled slyly and greeted, “Why, hello ma’am. Spike said he needed to go into town for some supplies, so I took this opportunity to practice my control. Much better, don’t you think?”

Twilight openly gaped and smiled, “That’s wonderful! It would strain me to left all of that weight at once, but you’re doing it without even breathing hard. I dare say that soon you might surpass me in skill. A few more spells under your hat and you’ll be ready to represent the princess in a town of your own.”

The blue unicorn’s face unguardedly exploded with glee at the thought. Suddenly, the beds and firewood slipped down.

Suddenly, Trixie turned around and fiercely asserted herself. The falling objects resumed their previous floating position.

Twilight chuckled a little and she said, “As soon as you get that concentration under control, right?”

The blue unicorn turned back to the purple unicorn and smiled sheepishly.

=====================

That night, Spike sent a letter to Princess Celestia:

“Dear Princess Celestia,

I’m pleased to report that Trixie seems to be finally getting over her distraction problem. She’s even levitating more objects comfortably than I can unless I exert myself. I really think she has more raw potential than I do. She will make a fine addition to any community she chooses.

There’s only one real stumbling block. No matter how hard I try I cannot seem to fix her attitude towards magic and other ponies. She is clearly scared of rejection, I mean who isn’t? But every time she masters a new spell or incantation, she seems to cling fast to her old habits. Her abilities have made her arrogant. The more she learns, the more she is both agreeable and overconfident.

I really think that I’ve taught her just about everything I can about magic and friendship. She’ll need a new teacher soon. I’ll talk to her about your generous offer of royal appointment to the School for Gifted Unicorns again.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle”

Chapter 4 - Temptation and reward

The next day, just before lunch, Twilight and Trixie were performing a magical experiment. They were trying to distill the essence of fresh, healthy wood to help twilight solve her problem in trying to reverse the effects of charring.

Trixie had just levitated a small beaker or blue chemical up to the top of the glassworks and carefully poured it into a swirling glass tube. The blue chemical slid down in a helix towards a bubbling brown mess and started dripping into the mixture. The mixture was being heated by a magic flame. Once the bubbling mixture accepted the blue chemical, it turned flat gray and dried out.

The two unicorns sighed in frustration. It was the tenth failure so far. They were running out of ideas.

Suddenly, the sound of Spike’s fire breath came from the kitchen.

Twilight called over, “Is that what I think it is?”

Spike replied, “Twilight! It’s from the Princess and she says it’s an emergency!”

He ran into the living room as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Twilight levitated the paper in front of her, reading quickly.

Curious, Trixie tried reading over the purple unicorn’s shoulder. She asked, “What is it?”

Twilight’s eyes went wide and she summarized, “Oh, no! An enraged family of manticores are headed for Ponyville!”

Spike and Trixie gasp in astonishment. They had heard of manticores, but had never seen them. According to old mares’ tales, if you meet a manticore, you die.

Spike tugged his headspikes and frantically asks, “What are we gonna do?”

Trixie strikes a heroic pose and declares, “We’ll fight them off! Twilight and the Great and Powerful…”

Twilight interrupts by saying, “No! We’ll corral them in the Everfree forest and figure out what’s causing them to rampage. Trixie, get my saddlebags!”

The blue unicorn fetches the saddlebags without any comment.

As she ties them to Twilight’s back, the purple unicorn levitates several items into them.

She orders, “Spike, run off and get Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Tell them to meet us at Sweet Apple Acres.”

The baby dragon salutes and races off into town on his errand.

Trixie asks, “What shall we open with? Lightning? Fire? Oooh, how about that spell to mess with your opponent’s vision? They attack each other!”

Twilight refutes her by saying, “No. You will stay here. You’re not ready to take on manticores. I want you to finish this experiment, then learn the spell of Reversing Poison from my book on Advanced Alchemy Applications.”

The blue unicorn stammers, “B-but T-Twilight! I can help! You even said I was stronger than you in some ways!”

The purple unicorn gave her student a firm glare and ordered, “You don’t have the experience yet! Manticores are nothing to take lightly! Now finish your tasks and then organize the alchemy lab. I’ll be back later.”

She then concentrated and teleported in a flash of light.

Trixie just stood there, hurt and confusion plain on her face.

=====================

When Spike returned, he found Trixie copying a final set of notes from Twilight’s alchemy book. He looked and saw the glassworks replaced in the storage closet.

He asked, “What’s going on, Trixie? Any word from Twilight?”

She closed the book and re-shelved it. She said, “No, not yet. I finished the experiment. Then I learned the spell she said to learn. Now I need to organize the lab and I’ll be done.”

Impressed, Spike asked, “Wow. That’s awesome! How did you finish the experiment all by yourself?”

A smile graced the blue unicorn’s lips. She liked it when people were impressed with her.

She replied with some smoothness, “Oh, Twilight and I had a few more things to try for the experiment. Once she was gone, I just selected the approach that I thought was best and it worked. The spell was an elementary one so I learned it fast. Now I can save you if you are ever poisoned.”

The baby dragon actually clapped for her, stating, “Bravo! Twilight would be proud! Tell you what, why don’t I go make lunch while you organize the lab. Then we can have a free day until she gets back.”

Trixie drew herself up taller as she accepted the idea, “Well, why not? Could you please put radishes in the salad? I like radishes.”

Spike saluted and said, “Radishes it is!”

The blue unicorn quickly set to re-stacking the bottles of ingredients and dusting them off. She finally decided that things were looking up for her.

=====================

After lunch, there was a knock on the door. Since Spike was washing up the dishes from lunch, Trixie opened it. There stood the mayor of Ponyville and two stallions she did not know.

The mayor was frowning but politely asked, “Is Twilight home? We’ve got a bit of a problem and I need her advice.”

Trixie stepped aside and waved the trio in, saying, “Twilight was sent by Princess Celestia to prevent a vicious pack of ferocious manticores from destroying Ponyville. She has not returned.”

The three ponies became very concerned. One of the stallions fretfully asked, “Should we evacuate?”

The blue unicorn hastily assured him, “No, no! Twilight Sparkle is on the case! My teacher shall surely succeed. We must simply be patient and await her return. In the meantime, can I be of service?”

The mayor, remembering the last time she came across this particular unicorn, stepped back and said, “Um, I think not. It’s just a silly disagreement. It can wait until tomorrow.”

The other stallion griped, “How long do we have to wait? The work crew is ready to build now! Every day we waste is more money out of my pocket!”

Trixie smoothly asked, “Well, why are you not building already?”

Trying to prevent a fight between the two stallions, the mayor summarized, “These two gentlecolts are trying to decide who owns a particular strip of land between their two homes. One wants to build a fence but the other claims the land is his and he does not want a fence there.”

Inside, the blue unicorn’s spirit fell. This was important enough to bother Twilight Sparkle about? Property rights?

She called out, “Spike! Where is the book on land deeds of Ponyville?”

The baby dragon came out, slid the rolling ladder over to the reference section, and climbed it. Pulling out a thick, dusty book, he offered it to Trixie, who levitated it to a nearby table and began flipping through the pages.

Spike asked, “That’s the one. What is this about?”

Trixie responded, “A property dispute. We need to settle this before two ponies start a fight. Mayor, what’s the address in question?”

The mayor replied, “It’s the strip of land between number twelve and number thirteen on Saddle Way. The proposed fence is supposed to be in the middle.”

After flipping through the pages, Trixie found the land chart of Saddle Way. Finding the layout of number twelve and number thirteen, she saw that the layout of the land and houses only offered one solution.

She asked, “Who owns number thirteen?”

The first stallion said, “I do.”

Trixie declared imperiously, “The strip of land between the houses is actually your land almost in entirety. In fact, your land comes right up to six inches from the outside wall of number twelve. If built, the fence would be completely on your land.”

She turned to the other stallion and stated simply, “You’ll have to build your fence elsewhere, I’m afraid.” Both stallions looked closely at the map.

After mulling over it silently, the second stallion griped, “Well, I’ll be galloped. That’s right. Dang it! I’ll have to think of something else. Maybe I can get my money back if I tell the work crew the situation.”

Both stallions left satisfied. The mayor turned to Trixie with a cautious eye.

After an uncomfortable moment, she said, “Thank you. That could have turned out worse, I’m sure.”

Trixie bowed theatrically and replied, “Always happy to be of service to Ponyville.” With that, the mayor left.

Spike asked, “Trixie, are you sure we should have done that? Maybe we should have waited for Twilight to come back.”

The blue unicorn primped her mane and said plainly, “Spike, you know she would have done the same thing I just did. Besides, you want to tell ponies that we’re useless when they need help?”

The baby dragon shook his head. He certainly didn’t want anypony to think that of him, especially anyone who might gossip to Rarity.

=====================

An hour later, a loud wail rose up from outside. Trixie rushed outside to see what the emergency was.

She looked in the sky. No, no giant vultures.

She looked to the horizon. No, no swirling flames coming this way.

She looked at the ground. No, no trembling of pebbles from some giant cataclysm.

So, what was the big deal?

The voice came form the next street over, even louder. Trixie raced over to find a circle of ponies surrounding a mare with a gray coat and light green mane.

Pushing her way through to the center, she asked, “What is wrong? What happened?”

The mare opened her green eyes and sobbed, “My…l-l-little filly…is gone!” She then sobbed even harder.

Trixie rolled her eyes with impatience. Yes, this was important, but not worthy of hurting her ears this way.

She gently placed her hoof upon the shoulder of the mare and commanded, “Take me to your home.”

The mare followed Trixie’s physical commands, asking, “Wh-why?”

The blue unicorn declared, “The Great and Powerful Trixie will use her magic to find your lost filly! Now take me to your home!”

Not knowing what else to do, the mare obeyed.

Once they arrived, Trixie commanded, “Find me the last piece of clothing that she wore which is still in this house.” When the mare’s expression showed confusion instead of action, she added, “Now!”

The mare ran off to a small bedroom and returned with a pair of ballet slippers. She said, “My little filly just loved dancing the ballet. She wore these to practice last night.” She nuzzled the little shoes, relishing the scent of her lost child.

Trixie firmly took the slippers from the hysterical mare. She channeled energy into her horn and sensed the essence in the shoes. She had to search hard to find the tiny bit of essence still left there.

She then cast out a wave of magical energy similar to the essence in the shoes in all directions. Nothing. She sent out another wave, more powerful. Still nothing. She loaded up her horn with a huge amount of energy and sent out a powerful pulse. To an earth pony or a pegasus pony, the wave would be unnoticeable. To a unicorn who was actively searching for magical energy, it was like a thunderclap right a ground level.

Suddenly, a faint echo sounded. Trixie let loose with another wave. The echo sounded again.

The blue unicorn raced out of the house and followed the direction of the echo. The upset mare followed as fast as she could.

They actually left the edges of Ponyville and raced along the major road headed eastward.

The mare frantically asked, “Are you sure she’s this way?”

Trixie tuned out the words and focused on the echo. It was very strong now.

Soon, they came upon a wailing sound, similar to the mare, only higher-pitched. It came from the side of the road where a cart loaded with boxes sat unmoving. Tethered to the cart were four strong stallions. The logo of a shipping business was stenciled on the sides.

One of the stallions was untethered and trying to calm a small filly on the side of the road. The filly was white with a green mane and blue eyes.

Suddenly, the filly heard the hoofbeats and looked over.

She screamed, “Momma!!!” She then ran up to tackle the hysterical mare.

The mare in question started crying again, “My baby! My baby!”

Trixie ran up, out of breath, to the stallions. Catching her breath slowly, she looked all four of them over. They all were tall, powerfully built stallions who had dark brown coats, black manes, and brown eyes. She guessed that they were all brothers in a family business.

At length, she said, “Thanks for stopping the cart.”

The stallion shrugged and said, “All of a sudden, we heard crying in the back. We’ve had a heck of a time trying to just get her to tell us her name so we could return her.”

One of the tethered stallions asked, “Hey, are we done here? Can we get going? We’re gonna be late!”

Trixie shook hooves with the untethered stallion and said, “I’ll be sure to tell the mayor you helped. Good day.”

After the stallions left pulling their cart, the mare hugged Trixie powerfully. She gushed, “OH, THANK YOU!!! If it wasn’t for you, my baby might be all the way to Stalliongrad by now.”

The blue unicorn needed a moment to make sure her ribs were not broken before she felt capable of breathing again. Then the trio walked back to Ponyville.

=====================

When they arrived, the town was in an uproar. Several stallions and mares were busy arguing and looking around.

The mayor saw Trixie and galloped over. She asked, “Can you help us? The food storage has been broken into and some of the food is gone! We need everypony to help find the thieves.”

The mare spoke up right away, “This clever unicorn found my missing baby right away! She can definitely find the thieves!”

The assembled ponies gave a cheer and began to bombard Trixie with questions.

Trixie shouted, “Quiet!” Upon seeing the crowd hush, she added, “Take me to the storage.”

The mayor frowned and impatiently asked, “It’s already been broken into! They wouldn’t hide there! Why do you need to go to the storage shed?”

The blue unicorn insisted, “I need something to track them with. Now, take me there!”

The mayor led the assembled ponies and Trixie to the storage shed. She declared, “Here it is. Now will you stop goofing around and help us?”

Trixie examined the shed with a practiced eye. She indicated the lock and asked, “This lock has not been forced. Who has the key?”

The mayor huffed noisily and replied, “Only I have the key and I did not steal the food!”

The blue unicorn asked, “Open it, please.”

The mayor began to complain, “Now see here, young…”

Trixie fixed the mayor with a powerful glare that she reserved only for her worst hecklers. The mayor gave up and produced the key.

Opening the doors, she gazed at the multitudes of sacks of grain, fruit, and vegetables. Over a dozen were ripped open, the contents spilled all over the floor.

The mayor declared, “We’ve been robbed again! More sacks are torn open! Everypony! Let’s organize into search parties!”

Something tugged at the back of Trixie’s mind. Something was familiar about this. She looked around, noticing the deep shadows in the corners of the building.

Summoning a light from her horn, she lit up the corners until she found one that had a hole in it. She frowned, being proven right.

She used a simple incantation to cause a minor explosion of light and sound.

Outside, the assembled ponies were ready to go door to door demanding to be let in to find the thieves. The sudden light and explosion startled them into silence. They all looked at the storage shed.

A short stream of rats fled the far corner of the building, heading outside of Ponyville.

The assembled group of ponies tried to squeeze into the building to see Trixie using her magic to repair the hole in the corner of the building.

The mayor demanded, “What is going on here, young mare?!?!”

Without turning around, Trixie explained, “The sacks were not taken away, they were chewed open. Therefore, ponies did not take the food, rats ate it right there. They chewed through the weakened wooden corner and came in. It reminded me of when I used to live in my wagon. Rats would try to chew their way in and eat my food. I just lit up the place and found where they came in. I used a simple incantation to scare the rats away. Now, I’m fixing your hole.”

Once the hole was repaired, she turned around to face the mayor and said passively, “Once this angry mob is done being silly, you should get a carpenter to shore up the walls on the ground here. They’re starting to get rotted. That makes them easy targets for rodents. I would suggest putting metal plates over the planks to discourage future rat infestations.”

The entire assemblage just stared blankly for a moment. Then they erupted into cheers! Their winter food was safe!

The mayor declared, “Ponies of Ponyville! We are saved by this very clever unicorn! Three cheers!”

The crowd cheered loud and hard for Trixie. The unicorn could not wipe the huge grin off her face, no matter how much she realized she should. It just felt so good to be appreciated.

=====================

Trixie returned to the library, tired from all the exertion. Still, her spirit was flying high. She was wanted! She was appreciated! She could definitely get used to this.

Spike call out from the upper floor, “Twilight, is that you?”

The blue unicorn responded, “No, Spike, it’s me. I just solved a problem which would have starved Ponyville this winter.” She tilted her head back, awaiting the applause.

The baby dragon called back, “Oh, that’s good. Let me know when Twilight gets back. The princess wants to hear from her right away.”

Trixie’s ego deflated. Her practiced grin turned to a sour frown. She expected more. Still, it was better than nothing.

She waked into the kitchen, suddenly having a craving for some of Twilight’s herbal tea.

Suddenly, the library windows rattled under the assault of a hideous roar. A general panic arose in Ponyville.

Trixie looked through the windows in anxiety. Trying to mask her visceral fear, she demanded, “What is that noise?”

Spike yelled down from the upper floor, “Twilight once described it to me. That’s just like the manticore the group found in the Everfree Forest! One of them must have gotten away from her and charged into Ponyville! What are we going to do?”

The blue unicorn felt the thrill of challenge once again. This is her chance to fight off a manticore! She could prove herself to all of Ponyville how much she had learned!

She shouted, “I will face the manticore and I will defeat it!” She then raced over to open the front door.

Spike poked his head out from the upper floor and shouted, “Twilight said you’re not ready! You’ll be killed! Shouldn’t we call for help?”

Trixie shouted back, “Who are we going to ask for help?! Twilight and her friends have not returned from the Everfree Forest and these local ponies are not warriors. Are we supposed to sit back and let the town be destroyed just to save ourselves? Is that what Twilight would do?”

The baby dragon scratched his scales nervously. He couldn’t deny that logic.

“Well, no. She would save Ponyville. But what can we do?” He suddenly got an idea. “I got it! I’ll write a letter to Princess Celestia!”

Trixie galloped towards the far end of town, calling over her shoulder, “You do that!” She raced as fast she her legs could carry her towards the deafening roar.

It was easy to figure out where the manticore was rampaging. Everypony was running away from it. Trixie had to push her way through the constant stream of panicking ponies towards her goal.

“Get out of my way! I have to help!”

Eventually, she pushed her way to the public square. The manticore was easily three times as tall as she was and outweighed her a dozen times. It was big, nasty, and aggressive. It had already smashed the fountain in the public square. Water was leaking all over the ground.

The manticore had cornered a family of three ponies up against a pile of rubble that had once been a house. The stallion bravely stood in front of his wife and colt, but even he was scared at the sheer size and strength of the creature.

Trixie reared up on her hind legs and neighed a challenge.

The manticore looked over to her.

She called out, “Leave them alone, you flea-bitten mongrel! Pick on someone your own caliber! I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, will vanquish you!”

The cornered mare mumbled to her husband, “Isn’t that the mare who brought the Ursa Minor here last year?”

The stallion grunted, “Great. Now we’ll be humiliated as well as killed.”

The manticore turned back to the family and raised his paw to strike.

Trixie’s blood began to boil. That incident was NOT her fault! Why was everypony blaming her for the actions of those two dolt colts?! Why wouldn’t they give her a chance! She deserved a chance!!

She looked at the manticore. It ignored her as if she were nothing of consequence. Nobody turned away from her!!

She summoned energy into her horn and then directed it at the manticore’s paw. The paw was enveloped in a thin blue field of light. As the paw came down, Trixie pushed it aside.

The paw slammed into the ground next to the stallion, leaving a small crater. Surprised, the manticore turned its attention to Trixie.

The blue unicorn summoned the moisture in the air to form a thunderhead cloud. A cloud twice the size of her sprang into being above her. Not the size she wanted. She had controlled the moisture properly, but there just wasn’t enough water in the air to form an impressive one.

The manticore slammed its enveloped paw upon the ground, shattering the energy field. It then ran towards the blue unicorn that had annoyed it.

Trixie willed the wind to blow hard and push the creature back.

The cloud released a wind burst…and whipped the manticore’s mane around and around.

Trixie’s jaw dropped. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

The manticore leaped up and slammed its paw down.

The blue unicorn rolled out of the way and then backed up against the wall of another house.

The stallion griped, “And now the Small and Not-Powerful Trixie is gonna die with us. Brilliant. Maybe you should have stayed with your Ursa friends.”

Trixie’s anger ceased to boil. Instead it started to explode!

She turned to the stallion and screamed, “Will you give it a rest?!?! I did NOT bring anything to Ponyville!!! Not then and not now! But now I’m gonna save your sorry tails if it’s the LAST THING I DO!!!”

The entire family’s eyes bugged out at the mare’s rage.

Trixie turned to the manticore, who had now turned around and made ready to pounce.

Trixie allowed her anger to override her calm sense of logic. She extended her reach of magic farther until it nearly felt it reached the horizon.

Dozens of large clouds flew in from all over the skies to join with the small thunderhead, expanding it to ten times its original size.

Several lightning bolts crackled in every direction. Three pierced the ground all around the manticore, causing it to halt its attack. Another one struck the broken fountain, melting it into slag. Another one struck the wall of the house behind Trixie, carving a hoof-sized hole in it. A lightning bolt sailed right out of the middle of the cloud and slammed the manticore right in its chest, wounding it.

The creature screamed its pain to the heavens. It raised its claws, ready to strike.

The unicorn overcharged her horn and pointed it at the broken fountain. Flicking her head at her target, the magic responded sympathetically. The water splashed the manticore on its front half. The water got into its eyes and stung its chest wound.

Trixie then forcefully ordered the wind to blow. The cloud erupted with a powerful gale of freezing cold wind, pushing the manticore back a few feet in the muddy ground. The water instantly froze all over its body, causing it frostbite and untold pain.

Howling in despair, the manticore fled the way it came.

As it crossed the edge of Ponyville, a cry split the air.

“Wing! Formation Delta!” It was the flying Royal Guard of Canterlot!

Eight armored pegasi wearing bronze plate armor and wielding silver spears flew down from the sky and broke into two flights of four warriors each. Each flight formed a line of spears and began to harass the manticore in its flanks.

The creature turned around and swiped its claws, striking two of the winged warriors. Minor wounds opened in their shoulders, staining their white coats a brilliant crimson.

Trixie knew that the fight was out of her hooves now, but the wounds on the guard worried her. She felt that she had to do something to help the royal guards.

A dark thought formed in her mind. This would certainly turn the tide.

She commanded the cloud to rise up high in the sky. Then, she used Twilight’s lesson on concentration to combine many lightning bolts into a single, thin lance of electricity. Aiming it carefully, she let loose with her last thunderbolt.

The air sizzled and spilt apart with the shaft of power pushing its way forward. The bolt struck the manticore right in the left shoulder, drilling its way through the flesh and into the bone of the creature.

The beast fell to the ground, howling at the top of its lungs in pure terror and sadness. It’s now crippled left arm lay limp upon the ground.

The flying royal guard surrounded the manticore, no longer wary of its claws. Only one side of it was not covered by spears.

The commander ordered, “Push it west, stallions!” The guard thrust their spears menacingly at the creature, herding it toward the open spot, which faced west.

The manticore slowly limped west miserably, whimpering in pain the whole way.

=====================

Trixie walked with the family towards the hospital just to have them looked over. As they crossed a street, the population of Ponyville came back, cheering loudly.

The mayor stepped up next to the blue unicorn and addressed the crowd. “Citizens of Ponyville! We have been saved by the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The crowd stomped their hooves in appreciation.

She continued, “This brave unicorn risked her very life to protect our home and our foals from the rampaging manticore! I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are all glad she came back to us.”

The entire crowd cheered their approval.

Trixie’s eyes shed a single tear each as she felt untold waves of joy fill her heart.

The mayor patted the blue unicorn on the shoulder and smiled.

Trixie tried hard not to cry in front of everypony.

Mr. Cake called out, “You know what Pinkie Pie would say at a moment like this!”

Mrs. Cake finished, “It’s time for a party! Everyone gather around Sugarcube Corner and we’ll hand out some goodies!”

The assembled ponies all moved steadily towards Sugarcube Corner. Trixie was overwhelmed. Her smile widened deeper than it had ever been on stage.

She asked, “A party? For me?”

The mayor agreed, “Yes, a party for saving us from the manticore. I think it’s a splendid idea.”

The party erupted with music playing from every window on the street. Ponies would crowd around the windows playing their favorite music. Sweet treats were handed out freely. Tasty punch was mixed and disappeared fast.

Trixie had never had such fun in her entire life. She danced and ate until she felt fit to burst.

Suddenly, everypony started chanting, “Speech! Speech! Speech!”

The blue unicorn was gently pushed to an opening in the crowd where she tried to stammer out a speech. Funny, she never had trouble making speeches before.

She said, “Well, um…Thank you, everypony. I just wanted to do what was right. I hope you’ll let me stay this time. I kinda like this place.”

Everypony cheered wildly in agreement. Another pair of tears dripped from Trixie’s eyes.

Suddenly, she felt a nudge on her shoulder. She turned around…and then looked up slightly.

She looked deeply into the eyes of the most handsome stallion she had ever laid eyes upon. Considering how many places she had visited in her life, that was no easy statement.

He was tall and muscular, with a face to die for and eyes that she could drown in. His coat was a light sandy brown, his mane was black, and his eyes were the loveliest shade of sapphire she had ever seen.

He spoke with a deep, rumbling voice that said, “Hey there.”

Somewhere in the back of her brain, she knew that ponies could not really melt. However, she chose to believe what she felt anyway.

She mumbled, “Hi.”

He said, “You know, I saw the way you fought that manticore.”

Trixie’s brain just shut down. She said mildly, “Yeah.”

The stallion added, “I’ve never seen such magic, even from Twilight Sparkle.”

Trixie just allowed her face to dissolve into a sloppy grin.

She nodded slightly and said, “Uh-huh.”

He moved his face close to hers and whispered, “You’re also the prettiest pony I’ve ever seen. You wanna…maybe…go out tomorrow night? Maybe get something to eat and then a walk by the meadow?”

Her lips parted, revealing the most dazzling smile. Her eyes lit up like bonfires.

She moved her jaw…and squeaked, “Yes!”

The stallion blushed and said, “Cool! I’ll meet you here at dinnertime tomorrow. Bye, Trixie.” He cantered off towards his home.

The blue unicorn immediately felt like she was flying. Up on her hind legs, she glided and spun in pure bliss.

The mayor called out, “Well, it looks like the party’s over, folks! Let’s help clean up and call it a night.”

Trixie looked up and saw it was nighttime. She immediately thought that maybe Twilight had returned already and would want to know what had happened.

Still riding on her cloud of happiness, Trixie trotted off back to the library. She thought about how proud Twilight would be for hearing about how she had taken on a manticore all by herself!

Suddenly, she remembered Twilight’s speech about how she was not ready. She remembered how upset Twilight was about Trixie trying to come along. She also remembered Twilight mentioning sending Trixie away to live somewhere else.

The blue unicorns heart immediately went back to the library. The place she called home. The place she now missed.

More tears welled up in her eyes, but now they were not from happiness but from grief. If Twilight found out about the manticore, she would blame her for it! Everyone already blames her for bringing the Ursa Minor to Ponyville. They’ll blame her for the manticore, too!

If that happened, then Twilight would send her away immediately! Maybe forever! She would lose the best home she’d ever have…and she’d never see her stallion again!

More tears dripped down her face. Suddenly, something clicked into place inside of her mind. She knew what she would do. She would fight for her home!

She raced back to the tree as fast as she could, hoping and praying that she would not be too late.

Chapter 5 - Burning fuse

She burst into the library, huffing and puffing.

She fearfully asked, “Spike? Is Twilight back yet?”

The baby dragon slid down the rolling ladder from high up on a bookshelf and reported, “Nope, not yet. Did you see those royal guards? They were awesome! I wonder if they’d let dragons join the Canterlot Royal Guard? I bet I’d be amazing, swooping down and saving Rarity…I mean, everypony!” He smiled sheepishly, hoping Trixie wouldn’t catch that last part.

The blue unicorn instead ran over to Twilight’s writing stand. She levitated a quill and quickly wrote out a letter, singing it herself. Rolling it up, she walked over to a bookcase and levitated out a book on wild creatures.

Flipping the pages, she said, “Spike, take a letter.”

The baby dragon placed his hands upon his hips and stated forcefully, “Trixie, just because Twilight is away does not mean I’m your servant.”

Trixie smoothly stated, “I know that. But the princess needs to know the situation is taken care of. Otherwise, she’ll think it’s still on-going and keep sending soldiers when she doesn’t have to.”

Spike looked dubious at this line of thinking.

Trixie cleverly asked, “You were the one who wrote that urgent cry for help, right? Well, did you write back and say the crisis was over?”

The baby dragon blinked and said, “Well, no. I was thinking that the guards would have told her, but…well, okay. Just this once, though.” He picked up paper and quill, ready to write out what Trixie dictated.

The blue unicorn recited, “My Most Noble Princess Celestia, it is I, Trixie, who write to you after the defeat of the manticore. Ponyville is saved with minor damage and the guard has chased the manticore away…after I softened it up for them. Twilight Sparkle has not yet returned but I felt you would want to know before any more time has passed. Thank you for your quick attention. Your humble servant, Trixie.”

The baby dragon added, “P.S. And thanks to Spike for writing this letter.”

The blue unicorn snorted impatience and acquiesced, “Oh, very well. If you’re ready, please send it.”

Spike rolled up the paper and took a deep breath. He exhaled forcefully, spraying the paper with enchanted green flames. The paper crumbled into powder and flew out through the open window towards Canterlot.

He dusted off his hands and declared, “Well, that’s done. I guess it was a good idea.”

Trixie rolled up her paper and levitated it to Spike. She replaced the book back on the shelf.

She asked sweetly, “Oh, before I forget. Would you please send this one also?”

Spike narrowed his eyes in suspicion and asked, “What? Wasn’t the other letter complete or something? Princess Celestia doesn’t like unfinished reports, you know.”

Trixie shook her head and said, “Oh, no. This one is from me. She’s expecting it.”

The baby dragon took the paper, saying, “I don’t know. Twilight doesn’t approve of me sending other pony’s letters to the Princess this way. It’s a special link just for her.” He started to unroll the paper and look at it.

The blue unicorn stomped forward in panic, screaming, “No! Don’t!”

Taken aback, Spike fixed his eyes on Trixie and asked, “What?! Twilight always lets me read her letters. What’s so secret about this one?” He narrowed his eyes, clearly not liking this idea.

Trixie thought quickly, coming up with something that sounded halfway decent.

She said, “It’s a private letter, Spike. From me to her. It’s…kinda personal.” Seeing that Spike didn’t believe her, she went for broke by finishing with, “It’s all about my royal appointment to magic school. She expecting it.”

Realizing that this may mean Trixie’s upcoming departure, Spike relaxed and smiled.

He said, “Well, why didn’t you say so?” He took the paper in his hands and breathed in fully. He exhaled forcefully, spraying the paper with enchanted green flames. The paper crumbled into powder and flew out through the open window towards Canterlot.

Trixie breathed a sigh of relief. She offered gratefully, “C’mon, let me make some snacks this time.”

Spike chirped, “All right! Hey, Owlowiscious! Soup’s on! Trixie’s making it!”

The owl stretched his wings widely and yawned. He had slept in later than usual since Twilight was not here, but food sounded good to him.

=====================

After the meal, the door to the library opened. Not expecting visitors to the library after sunset, Spike walked out to the main area to see Twilight stumble inside. She looked exhausted, but satisfied. There were also various crumbs on her face, evidence that she had eaten before coming home.

He gushed, “Twilight, you’re back! You missed all the excitement!”

She sat in the rocking chair and replied wearily, “Yes, I know. During the fight with the manticores, one of them left the battle and ran off. I tried to keep track of it, but I nearly got squashed by a pair of them leaping from behind.”

Spike checked her over, his eyes wide with concern. “They didn’t maul you, did they? Do you want a doctor?”

Twilight gently pushed him off, clearly not wanting to be pawed right then.

She explained, “No, I’m all right. Just tired. It turns out the manticores had to leave their home because some adolescent dragon decided to take their cave for himself. The manticores were wandering lost and hungry until they rampaged. We had to subdue them all and then Fluttershy figured out what was driving them crazy. We also had to fight the dragon until it left the Everfree Forest.”

Spike offered, “You want some vegetable soup? Trixie made it for a change. By the way, how did you know what happened here? Did the princess respond to the letter Trixie dictated to her?”

That last part made Twilight’s mood drop one level. Trixie didn’t have permission to send letters to Princess Celestia yet.

The purple unicorn politely refused, “No thank you. We all filled up with leftover cakes and cookies at Sugarcube Corner. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were cleaning up after the big party and had some leftover. They told us about what happened. Would you send Trixie in here, please?”

The baby dragon walked into the kitchen. A moment later, Trixie pranced into the main room up to Twilight.

She curtsied with a flourish and asked, “You wanted to see me, ma’am?”

Twilight rolled her eyes at the display. She asked, “Trixie, why didn’t you tell me that a manticore was rampaging in Ponyville?”

Trixie’s eyes went wide. This was not what she was expecting to hear.

She answered, “The manticore was rampaging already by the time I heard it. I couldn’t just stand by and let ponies die. I had to fight it.”

Twilight chastised, “You could have spent one moment to send a telepathic message to me.”

The blue unicorn retorted, “You never taught me that spell.”

The purple unicorn replied, “It’s just an inversion of the Gather Information spell. I thought you would have figured that out, being great and powerful.”

Trixie choked on her breath. It never occurred to her that spells could be inverted.

She defended herself, “I’ve never inverted a spell in my life! I didn’t want to risk a backfire. That would have hurt me.”

Twilight mentally rebuked herself for not telling Trixie how to invert a spell. She didn’t say so out loud. She didn’t want to appear incompetent in front of her apprentice.

She pointed out, “You could have sent Owlowiscious with a note. He could have found me fairly fast.”

Trixie didn’t think of that, either. She just thought Owlowiscious was off-limits during the day. She did not want to appear incompetent in front of her teacher.

Instead, she stated, “There wasn’t time! I arrived with only two seconds to spare before an entire family got slaughtered by that manticore. It would take more than two seconds just to wake him up.”

Twilight stated, “You could have gotten killed! Think! You’re too valuable to risk losing to a rampaging creature. You’re so close to being ready that I would hate to lose you.”

Within Trixie’s heart, two opposing feelings bubbled up. On one side, pure pride swelled at being called valuable by her teacher. On the other side, anger bubbled up strong at the implication of being called weak.

The two sides struggled against each other until anger got a familiar foothold in her heart.

She blurted back at Twilight, “I am NOT a filly! I can take care of myself! I fought a manticore all by myself and didn’t even get a scratch. Look at you! You look like you need a doctor. How many injuries did you take, anyway?”

Twilight’s anger bubbled up. No apprentice should talk to her teacher that way! She wouldn’t dare even think that way about Princess Celestia.

She spoke with a low, dangerous tone. “Very nice. One manticore. The group of six of us had to take on twelve. I’d like to see you come out unscathed against two-to-one odds. In fact, there was a moment in the battle when I had to fend off four of them all by myself, while totally surrounded and cut off from the others! You couldn’t keep up the concentration for that!”

Trixie replied haughtily, “I could so!”

Spike called out from the kitchen, “Girls, girls! Is this worth yelling about? It’s been a long day and I’m nearly ready to pack it in!”

Both mares breathed heavily, feeling their fatigue finally creep in.

At length, Twilight said, “Very nice work, Trixie. That was a very brave thing you did. Of course, you almost caused as much damage as the manticore with your aim. The fountain in the town square will never look the same.” Her anger dissolved away.

Trixie smiled and felt her anger evaporate. She asked, “Hee, hee. I say it’s my take on modern pony art. Perhaps I could have used a little more concentration. Teach me an inversion spell?”

Twilight smiled and replied, “Maybe tomorrow. Please clean up the kitchen and send Spike in.”

The blue unicorn went into the kitchen and the baby dragon came into the main room.

Twilight said, “Spike, take a letter and then go to bed.”

The baby dragon grabbed quill and paper, grumbling, “What, again? Oh, all right. Go.”

Twilight dictated:

“Dear Princess Celestia,

I suppose you have heard all of the detail of the manticore attack in Ponyville by Trixie. I’m sorry if she sent a letter unexpectedly, but I suppose she didn’t know what else to do since I hadn’t returned yet.

Taking on twelve manticores with only six ponies sure takes it out of us. Secretly, I’m thrilled at her increase in power and control. She still can’t seem to do some basic things like invert a spell, but her ability to keep control under the most grueling loads of simultaneous spells and incantations amazes me.

I’m pleased to say that I think her rehabilitation is nearly complete. She is making a great citizen of Ponyville. I daresay that she would make a great addition to any community. Now if I can just teach her to limit the collateral damage everything would be perfect, hee hee.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.”

Spike rolled up the letter and took a deep breath. He exhaled forcefully, spraying the paper with enchanted green flames. The paper crumbled into powder and flew out through the open window towards Canterlot.

Chapter 6 - Demolition mare

The next morning found Twilight and Trixie in the main room of the library. They sat face to face in opposing chairs, staring intently at each other.

Twilight whispered, “All right, now take that same mental attitude and literally flip it upside down.”

A bead of sweat came down Trixie’s forehead as she concentrated. She only said, “Uh-huh.”

The purple unicorn explained, “It’s very important that the energy be exactly the same for the entire spell. One little deviation and it will fail. You might waste your time or maybe even the wrong pony would get the message. Do you still have the pattern?”

The blue unicorn moaned with the effort. She said, “Yes.”

Twilight then said, “Okay, it’s gathered enough momentum. Now GENTLY push it towards me.”

Trixie strained to not shove it with all her might. It was not like pushing a train with one pony. It was more like pulling back on a runaway train car with on pony.

She strained herself and then allowed it to go forward.

Suddenly, Twilight recited, “My name is Twilight Sparkle and I like stallions a bit too much.”

Shaking her head in surprise, she glared at her student, “Trixie!”

The blue mare laughed and fell off her chair. She rolled around on the floor for a moment before Twilight’s frown melted into a smile. She giggled along with her student.

Finally, she stated, “All right, you trickster. I think you’ve learned the basics of inverting a spell.”

Trixie got up and brush the dust off her immaculate cape and pointed hat. She chuckled, “You should have seen the proud look on your face. Maybe I should slip something in your mind the next time you visit Sweet Apple Acres.”

Twilight mock-snarled at her apprentice and said, “You better not!”

The pair giggled again for a moment before Twilight addressed her pupil proudly.

“Trixie, you’ve come a long way in a short time. You’ve really learned a lot that you missed not being formally enrolled. After the way you stood up for Ponyville against the manticore, I think it’s time to give you some responsibility.”

The blue unicorn felt flattered. She smiled and said, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Twilight explained, “I’m going to send you to Appleloosa to be Princess Celestia’s official representative there. The buffalo and the ponies will need a mediator and who knows what wonderful discoveries you’ll make out on the frontier where nopony has explored before?”

The blue unicorn’s face fell. Her mind tried to put a positive spin on the whole idea, but all she felt was the breaking of her heart.

She spoke softly, “What? Why?”

The purple unicorn’s mind locked up. She couldn’t understand why Trixie wouldn’t be happy about this.

Twilight explained carefully, “You’ve finished your training here. It’s time for you to put that training to use helping others. They have nopony in Appleloosa nearly as powerful or skilled as you. What happens when there’s a sudden ethereal vortex? What about if the buffalo threaten war with the Appleloosans? There’s always the chance that some other filly or colt will go missing out there in the desert. They could die of thirst before the others blindly search the desert.”

The blue unicorn’s pupils shrank to half their size. She whispered, “What did I do wrong? What did I do? I’ll fix it.”

Twilight insisted, “You’ll have your own assistant and important projects to achieve! You’ll have the authority of the princess if you really need it. You won’t be alone.”

Trixie whimpered like a little filly, “Don’t send me away. Please.”

Twilight’s heart broke upon seeing the display, but she forced herself to push forward. She stated, “You’ll have the entire top half of a renovated barn all to yourself. It’s a storage barn for tools and supplies but you’ll have your own private stairway and lots of books for reference.”

Trixie’s pupils expanded suddenly. Twilight felt a shudder pass through her body. It was as if she could see something behind those eyes. Something dark. Something she never wanted to touch.

The blue unicorn spoke harshly, “We had a deal, Twilight Sparkle. I would be your apprentice and you would give me a home.”

The purple unicorn asked, “Is that what this is about? I told you that you would have an entire top half of a barn to call home. You won’t be homeless again.”

Trixie stated, “I will NEVER be that way again! If anypony’s going to leave it will be you!”

Suddenly, the sound of Spike’s breath sounded from upstairs. After a moment, he shouted, “Twilight! Did you ask to be transferred to Appleloosa?! What about me? What about Owlowiscious? What’s going to happen to us? Don’t you love us anymore?”

Twilight panicked, “What?! Spike, let me read that letter!”

The baby dragon jumped down to the main level and produced the scroll that had just appeared. Twilight read the letter over and over again, trying to make sense of it. Finally, she read it aloud:

“My Beloved Student,

Why didn’t you confide in me if you were unhappy in Ponyville? I thought after combining powers with the Elements of Harmony that you would have lifelong friends. If the ponies in town aren’t treating you right, then you may most certainly travel to Appleloosa instead.

I am disappointed that I had to learn about this from your apprentice. You have always been so open with me before. Trixie may take your place in Ponyville once you arrive. Be sure to write to me as soon as you are settled in.

Always your dedicated mentor,

Princess Celestia”

Twilight glared at Trixie with a hot stare. She demanded, “YOU wrote to Princess Celestia saying I was unhappy?! WHY?!?!”

Spike’s eyes shot open with understanding. He added, “That’s what that letter was? Twilight, remember I said Trixie sent the report on the manticore? She also had me send a private letter to the princess.”

The purple unicorn glared at Spike, asking, “What?! You allowed that?”

The baby dragon pointed a finger at Trixie and explained, “She said it was a letter about that royal appointment at the magic school! I thought I was doing her a favor!”

Trixie stomped her hoof, sending a magical tremor through the floor. She yelled, “You were doing me a favor! Twilight was scheming to kick me out after she did her ‘special favor’ for the princess!”

Both Twilight and Spike gasped, “WHAT?!”

The blue unicorn’s eyes were wide and trembling as she spoke, “That dirty, purple backstabber sure did fool the princess. Sure, take in poor, broken, worthless Trixie and teach her a few minor spells. Call yourself a miracle teacher and you’ll be set for life!”

Twilight argued, “That’s NOT true!!!”

Trixie added, “Then kick her out and claim you’re dropping her off in Appleloosa…a DAMN FREAKING DESERT!!! Just the place for Trixie to ‘get lost’ and never been seen again!”

Spike screamed, “Twilight would NEVER do such a thing!!!”

The blue unicorn fixed Twilight with a deadly glare, the light from the windows reflects in her cold, dark pupils.

She spoke venomously, “Then you’ll be the hero of Ponyville. You’ll be forever remembered as the best unicorn to have ever lived.”

Before Spike or Twilight could deny anything, Trixie shouted powerfully, “And then you’ll…have…HIM all to yourself!!!”

Spike dumbly asked, “Him? Him who?”

Twilight looked deep inside the wide pupils in Trixie’s eyes. She shuddered at the darkness inside, but she forced herself to read Trixie’s thoughts. She saw the desperate fight for her life. She saw a cold, lonely filly trying to sleep at the foot of her mother’s sickbed. She saw the party at Sugarcube Corner. She saw Trixie’s father’s gravestone. She saw the tall, handsome stallion who gave affection. Then she saw Appleloosa as Trixie imagined it. It was a cold, bleak, wasteland.

The purple unicorn mumbled, “Spike, she must be in love with somepony she met at the party…and now I’m sending her away. What have I done?”

Remembering Trixie’s unprecedented rise to power under Twilight, Spike asked, “Should I be afraid?”

Twilight replied timidly, “Very.”

Trixie declared, “This is the BEST home I’ve ever had in my life! I will NOT be cast out again! I will not be tricked out of happiness. I…will…NOT…LOSE…HIM!!!”

Twilight tried to assert herself, “Trixie, calm down. I’ve changed my mind. Nopony’s leaving.”

The blue unicorn did not seem to hear her. Instead, she pawed the floor forcefully. Her hoof actually carved a thin ribbon of polished hardwood up from the floor.

Trixie ordered, “I am no longer your submissive little errand filly. I am your equal. In fact, I’m more powerful than you are! If anypony’s leaving, it will be YOU!!

Twilight’s mind reeled with the magnitude of the betrayal. Feeling her own home threatened, her temper rose to a boil.

On reflex, she grimaced and spat, “Trixie, for the act of intentional betrayal to your teacher, you are FIRED! Pack your things, you are out! Go now and maybe I won’t get the mayor of Ponyville to round up the guards and force you out.”

The purple unicorn stomped her hoof upon the floor, sending a magical tremor through the library’s main room.

Suddenly, Trixie’s face fell into total shock. Her pupils shrank into tiny pinpricks.

She whispered pathetically in a tiny voice, “Daddy?”

Twilight immediately regretted her action. She had just caused Trixie to flash back to the most traumatic moment in her life.

She tried to apologize, “Trixie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

Suddenly, the blue unicorn screamed a bloody war cry and lowered her head. She overcharged her horn with uncontrolled, chaotic blue magical energy, causing electrical discharging all around her horn.

Twilight backed up as much as she could and reflexively summoned a shield of purple energy in front of her, pouring as much energy into it as she could. She knew this first exchange would decide the overall outcome of the battle.

Trixie slammed full-force into the mostly-formed shield of energy. Her horn discharged most of its own energy, cracking the shield apart. Trixie’s body’s momentum carried her through the shield. The shield shattered into dozens of sharp fragments, which sliced Trixie’s flesh, drawing blood with each cut.

Undaunted, the blue unicorn leapt horizontally at Twilight’s chest, striking her just a little left of center.

Twilight screamed in pain and surprise, twisting away from the deadly horn, still pulsing with blue electrical energy. Her torso twisted her heart away from the deadly onslaught, but the horn dug a hole across her ribs, shocking her bones with energy.

Trixie backed up from the attack, Twilight’s blood dripping from her horn.

She smiled serenely and gloated, “How’s that for power, Twilight Sparkle? Accept me as your teacher and I may let you live.”

Spike screamed, “TWILIGHT!!!” He threw a heavy flower pot down from above, striking Trixie in the head. The pot shattered, but Trixie was unmoved. A thin bead of blood dripped down the right side of her head. She impassively turned to look up at Spike.

The baby dragon realized just how outmatched he was.

Trixie opened her mouth and breathed outward. A wave of high-pitched sound emitted. It slammed spike off his feet and shattered the bedroom window behind him.

He screeched, holding his ears shut with his hands. The pain was driving him crazy.

Just outside of the window, Fluttershy ducked just in time to avoid being shredded by the flying bits of broken glass. Looking inside, she saw the confrontation brewing.

She gasped loudly and flew up towards the clouds.

Twilight immediately stood up, a pained expression on her face. The wound began to slowly bleed.

She called out, “SPIKE!!!” Her temper grew to monumental proportions that she had only felt once before. Now, she had a reason to be angry.

Her mane erupted into white fire and her eyes glowed with bright, white energy. She charged her horn with power and sent a concussive blast directly at Trixie.

The wave struck her and knocked her off her feet and carried her into the front door. The door and doorframe shattered, flinging the blue mare out into the street.

Twilight imperiously walked out, declaring, “You will NOT harm my baby dragon!”

The passersby all screamed in fear and scattered away from the library.

Trixie stood up, seemingly unhurt by the blast. She fixed her hateful glare upon Twilight and growled like a wounded beast.

Her eyes glowed with a bright blue light and she filled her horn with overwhelming amount of energy.

She declared, “I have already lost a home because of you once, Twilight Sparkle. I will NOT lose this one also!”

Both unicorns cast a power wave of raw magical energy at the other. The blue wave met the purple wave halfway between the two of them, colliding with the force of an asteroid.

The power waves exploded like a bomb. Both ponies had put most of their energy into those waves. Their eyes no longer glowed, but their horns did.

Meanwhile, up in Twilight’s bedroom, Spike had picked himself off the floor and began frantically searching around.

He repeated to himself, “Gotta find it! Gotta find it!”

His hands clutched a spare quill and paper.

He congratulated himself, “Ha, ha! Now to call in the cavalry.”

He quickly wrote a note, rolled it up and blew his special magical fire breath upon it. The paper dissolved and flew off through the broken window to Canterlot.

Back outside, Trixie and Twilight stared each other down. Neither spoke a word, but their intention was clear to all.

Suddenly, a blue streak shot down from the clouds.

A fearless voice called out, “Hey! Pick on someone your own size!”

Trixie’s eyes were dazzled by a short-lived streak of rainbow colors. A hoof flew out of nowhere and socked Trixie right on the jaw. The blue unicorn staggered with the punch.

Twilight looked around and saw all of her friends charging to join the battle. Her blazing mane reverted back to normal as she felt fear.

She called out, “No! Trixie’s too powerful! Stay away!”

Rainbow Dash landed on Trixie’s right, twisting around to aim her hind legs at her side. Kicking out powerfully, her back hooves struck Trixie in the ribs. The blue unicorn recoiled form the blow.

The spirited pegasus shouted, “No way we’re lettin’ you face this alone, Twi!”

Applejack lumped over to Trixie’s left side and turned to face away.

She bantered, “Nice work, Rainbow Dash! Now lemme show ya how it’s done on the farm! YEEHAW!”

Applejack’s famous applebuck landed squarely on Trixie’s ribs.

The blue unicorn staggered with the blow.

Twilight wondered why Trixie wasn’t fighting back. She decided to sense the flow of local energy.

Suddenly, she felt it. She looked up in the sky to see a huge, dark thundercloud above her.

Trixie saw the secret was discovered. She smiled a nasty smile and said loosely, “Let’s see if Rainbow Dash is worthy of her cutie mark. Catch!”

Blinding light flashed in everypony’s eyes. Rainbow Dash sped herself in a roll away from the blue unicorn. The lightning bolt missed by inches.

Trixie lightly applauded, “Very good. Now let’s see if you’re fast enough to save Applejack from electrocution.”

A second lightning bolt shocked the earth pony off her hooves and onto the ground.

Fluttershy hid behind her wings and cried out, “Applejack!”

Rainbow Dash screamed, “Applejack!!” She then flapped her wings hard and sped under Trixie’s belly to scoop up Applejack in her hooves. As she tried to carry her friend away, a third lightning bolt zapped her in the back, causing her wings to stop functioning. The pair crashed and rolled to a stop unconscious a dozen yards away.

Twilight shouted, “Enough!” She discharged a spell, creating a miniature tornado. Guiding it with her thoughts, it flew up and enveloped the thunderhead. The cloud dissipated into the sky as harmless fog.

Rarity took this moment to act. She charged up her horn and used its magic to levitate several bolts of fine silk cloth from inside of her boutique. More than a dozen streams of fabric sailed towards Trixie, wrapping up each of her legs, her torso, and her neck stiffly.

The white unicorn taunted, “Ha! Now you’re captured, you naughty filly. Mama’s very angry with you!”

Twilight felt the burning hot anger in Trixie surge to new heights.

She cautioned, “Rarity, don’t mention her parents!”

The expertly-coiffed unicorn asked in confusion, “Why not? It seems to me that she needs a good spanking.”

Suddenly, all of the fabric erupted into flames. Rarity panicked, losing control of the fabric. Trixie took this opportunity to grab the flaming cloth pieces and smother Rarity in her own burning fabric.

Fluttershy screeched fearfully, “RARITY!” She dove in and stuck her hooves in the bundle. Grabbing her friend, she flew her away from the fight and into her boutique, where she placed the charred unicorn into the tub and turned on the shower nozzle.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie appeared out of nowhere and thrust an oversized pineapple-upside-down cake with whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles, cookie crumbs, and a cherry right into the face of the dangerous, blue unicorn.

She then stood in front of her enemy and shouted angrily, “Take that you big meanie! You are the meanie-est meanie who ever graduated from the most-meanie school in a hundred years!!!”

Everypony who was conscious just stared at the pink one.

After a heartbeat, Trixie calmly asked, “Is that it?”

Pinkie Pie blinked and then said, “Yup. Feeling sorry yet?”

Trixie smiled a sick, twisted smile and said, “Nope, but you are.”

The unhinged unicorn let loose a tightly-controlled concussive wave directly at Pinkie Pie, who could not dodge. The wave slammed into her and flung her across the street and through the window of a nearby house.

Twilight finally summoned enough energy to cast two spells.

Trixie noticed the shift in magical energies. She tried to figure out what Twilight had done, but she could not. The purple unicorn had cast the spells very subtlety to hide their identities.

She saw the door lying in the street. She had an idea. She levitated the door and thrust it at Twilight, expecting it to spring whatever traps Twilight had set.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice gasp to her right. Glancing over, she saw the stallion from the party. He had a scared look on his face.

He asked with horror, “Trixie? What are you DOING?”

As the threatening object sped towards Twilight, it suddenly burst into hot, red flames.

Then it struck an invisible object and exploded. However, the flaming shards only flung in the opposite direction the door was flying.

Trixie’s ears heard the sound and turned back towards Twilight. Too late, she saw the cloud of flaming shrapnel ready to impale her.

On reflex, she turned her head to the left and tried to cover it with her right front hoof. The shards of flaming wood easily pierced his skin and powered their way through her flesh. They ripped holes in her right front knee. The tunneled under the skin on her face. They shattered the bone in her leg. They charred the flesh of her face.

Trixie screamed a bloody cry of pain and confusion. She stumbled where she stood, nearly falling down.

Her gaze turned back to look at the stallion. She wanted so much to explain everything to him. She just wanted him to see her side of this cruel fight. She just wanted everyone to stop throwing her away!

As Trixie showed her shattered right foreleg to her stallion, she turned her face to him. The right side of her face, from her upper jaw, across her entire cheek, and up to her eye socket, was completely missing any skin. The flesh was charred in harsh black streaks. The foreleg was a compound fracture, dripping blood upon the street. The knee was all but severed, the offending wooden shard still smoking.

The stallion suddenly felt sick. His face drained of color and he ran away.

Trixie’s resolve cracked, splintered, and then broke away. All energy drained from her horn. Any spells or incantations faded with the lack of magical upkeep.

Twilight felt a tug on her heartstrings, but she did not lower her guard. Instead, she filled her horn with magical power, ready to discharge at a moment’s notice.

With a heavy heart, she could keep herself from emitting a sob as she asked, “Trixie, why are you doing this? I took you into my home! I loved you like a sister! I worked hard to give you the education you never had!”

Trixie turned her horrible face to Twilight. Trixie’s eyes were wild and crazy, bloodshot and twitching. The purple unicorn was not completely sure Trixie even heard her.

The scarred, blue unicorn accused, “You drove him away from me!”

The purple unicorn felt offended. Was Trixie blind even to her own actions?

Perhaps unwisely, but truthfully, Twilight declared, “That was all YOUR doing.”

The blue unicorn trembled, emitting strange sounds. Twilight wasn’t sure if Trixie was going to laugh or cry or scream or just explode. She felt a dull, cold sensation from her chest. She knew she was losing blood. She had better end this confrontation soon or else it won’t matter how close a hospital would be.

Suddenly, two full wings of armored pegasi dropped down from above and pinned both unicorns to the ground. Feeling the ground slam into their wounds, both unicorns screamed in pain.

The last thing either one heard before the blackness overtook them was the Captain of the Royal Guard of Canterlot bellow, “By order of Princess Celestia, you are both under arrest. We’ll sort this out in Canterlot. Sergeant, take these two to the prison hospital!”

=====================

A full night and day later, it was night once again in Equestria. Even this late, sometimes doctors are called in for emergencies.

The patient lay upon a cold table, secured by leather straps. The doctor was just putting the final adjustments on the artificial right foreleg. The patient had suffered a sudden and inexplicable heart attack after he had brought out the metal half-mask for her face. Several experts in various fields had taken turns to save this one’s life.

Several of the doctors questioned the wisdom of saving this one’s life. However, a direct order from the princess was law, especially in Canterlot.

The artificial right foreleg was fixed to the severed stump right at the knee. This one would limp for the rest of her life.

The doctor said, “Start fusing the flesh to the metal.”

A unicorn next to him said tiredly, “Put the half-mask on her face. I want to fuse both together.”

An extra pair of hooves pushed the carefully-made metal piece over the exposed flesh on the face.

Suddenly, the patient’s eyes opened and she gasped loudly.

The doctor barked to another unicorn, “I thought you had her under!”

The second unicorn intensified the magic affecting the patient. He reported, “She’s resisting the Anesthesia spell! She must have powerful magic to do that from unconsciousness. Hurry up because any more and I might stop her heart!”

An extra pair of hooves came from the sides of the table and pressed the metal pieces to the flesh of the patient.

Trixie tried to scream out that she didn’t want the metal in her body. She tried to tell them to go away. She tried to call for her father. She tried to resist them with what strength she had left.

The first unicorn grunted in frustration and overcharged his horn with white magic. Both metal pieces glowed with white light and fused themselves to her flesh perfectly.

Suddenly, Trixie felt violated. Her body jerked around in panic and she stood up on the operating table.

The doctor cried out, “Orderlies! Hold her down or she’ll start to bleed!”

Upon hearing the call for somepony to hold her down, Trixie summoned every ounce of magic in the surrounding area. Even the magic for other unicorns in the operating room was drained into her horn.

The unicorns in the operating room shivered at the unnatural sensation and backed off.

Choosing to smash her way out, she surrounded herself with the thickest, strongest film of blue magic she had ever created, she flung herself through the wall and out of the building. Seeing she was in Canterlot, she aimed herself westward, for the Everfree Forest. She would be safe there.

Chapter 7 - Everypony hurts

An hour later, another patient woke up groggy. She was nauseous and feeling clumsy. In the back of her strangely inefficient brain, she knew she had been given medicine to force her to sleep.

She opened her eyes and looked around herself. Many shadows greeted her vision. She moaned, irrationally fearing that she was in some kind of place of torment.

A gentle, yet stern, voice spoke, “Easy, faithful student. The doctors said that too much light would hurt your eyes right away.”

Twilight’s spirits soared. She searched around, but could not find her teacher.

She called out, “Princess? Are you there? Where are you?”

A tiny light appeared at the foot of Twilight’s bed. It illuminated the form of the alicorn who ruled all of Equestria. Her mane, normally gently flowing in some unknown gentle breeze, actually flapped as if in a strong wind.

Twilight remembered that meant the princess was seriously displeased.

Celestia asked, “Are you all right? I have many questions for you.”

The purple unicorn swallowed the bile that threatened to come up on her. She tried to speak, but it hurt her head. She just nodded instead.

With a very even tone, Celestia asked, “Why did you insist on taking Trixie as your apprentice? You know that you don’t yet have the training to guide a young mind.”

Twilight whimpered, “I’m sorry.” Knowing that such a statement would not evade the question, she added, “Her story was just…so sad. I felt so guilty over having everything growing up while she had next to nothing. I wanted…”

Seeing her student’s hesitation, Celestia prompted, “Yes?”

The purple unicorn squeaked, “I wanted to fix her. When she came back to Ponyville, she was broken, defeated. Totally penniless and homeless. I wanted to give her the chances that I had.”

Celestia waited a moment more.

Twilight finished by saying, “I wanted to be friends, to be sisters. I wanted to help her.” She closed her eyes tightly and cried.

The princess alicorn considered her next words carefully. She said, “You did a good job teaching her magic. You did not learn her personality or the depths of her problems. You needed to fix those before giving her something as dangerous as magic.”

The purple unicorn just wanted to hide under the covers rather than disappoint her teacher.

Celestia commented, “A while ago, Trixie woke up on the operating table.”

Twilight gasped and sat up in bed. Her hooves trembled at imagining what shock such a thing might be to a frightened unicorn.

She asked, “Did they put her under again?”

Celestia hunger her head and closed her eyes in sadness. She reported, “She tapped into a huge energy source and broken through the wall. My scouts lost her after she levitated herself into the Everfree forest.”

Twilight moaned, “This is all my fault! I never knew!”

Princess Celestia raised her head and opened her eyes to look curiously at her student. She asked, “Knew what?”

The purple unicorn began crying fully. She wailed, “It wasn’t until that last fight that I looked deep into her mind. She kept it so guarded until then. She was still crying inside. Crying because of her father. Crying because of her mother. Crying over losing her wagon. She’s lost home after home until she was totally beaten. Then…then…I threatened to take away the place she had just accepted as her new home!”

Celestia gently prodded, “What happened?”

Twilight admitted, “I set up a deal with the mayor of Appleloosa to have Trixie be your representative there like I am in Ponyville! I thought it would be good for her to have her own town to look after. I didn’t know I was taking away another home.”

The alicorn princess stood up, deciding that the rest could wait. She spoke, “Now you know why I told you not to take an apprentice. You were not ready and now you passed that inadequacy to another. To be a teacher some say is the highest calling. It requires training and discipline, not just desire.”

Twilight slipped under the covers, feeling very sick in both her stomach and her heart. She whispered over and over, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Tilting her head in curiosity, Celestia asked, “Who are you apologizing to? Me or Trixie?”

The purple unicorn took a deep breath and peeked her head out from under the covers. She meekly admitted, “Her.”

After a moment, a tear slid down her face, glinting in the light of the alicorn’s small light.

She begged, “Princess, help me.”

Princess Celestia walked over to nuzzle her faithful student tenderly. She whispered, “Of course, my dearest student. Always for you.”

=====================

A week later in Ponyville, most of the townsfolk stepped outdoors to watch the spectacle. It was nothing they haven’t seen before, but it simply wasn’t every day that a royal chariot came to Ponyville.

It landed in front of the library. Instead of taking off right away, an armored pegasus stepped down from the passenger section and offered his hoof to the other passenger. She took his hoof and slowly walked off the chariot and towards the library.

The guard walked with her the whole way like a gentlecolt. He even opened the door. Once she entered, he mentioned something kind to her and then shut the door.

Inside, Twilight Sparkle limped towards the ladder that served to ascend to the upper floor. Suddenly, the ladder seemed intimidating.

She wore bandages all across her chest and back. There were bandages around her head as well.

Suddenly, Spike came out of the kitchen. He stopped and stared, then blinked.

Suddenly it hit him. “Twilight! You’re back!”

The purple unicorn winced, feeling a headache come on. She said quietly, “Spike, keep it down. Everything hurts now.”

He raced over, calling, “Owlowiscious! Twilight’s back!”

The owl woke up immediately, gliding down from his high perch to rest upon her back. He called out, “Whoo?”

Reflexively, Spike restated, “Twilight! Don’t you remember…? Ugh, stop that.”

Twilight giggled at the old joke.

The baby dragon plied her with a million questions, including ones such as, “Are you okay?” and “What happened?” as well as “Do you want a sandwich?”

The purple unicorn looked up at her bedroom and hesitantly asked, “Actually, could you call the others here? I think I need to sleep on the ground floor for a couple of weeks. Also, I need to tell them something.”

=====================

A little while later, Applejack stood up at the top of the ladder, clenching a rope between her teeth. She lowered her head slowly, grunting the whole way.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash strained their muscles trying to lift up the bed, or at least lighten the load.

Pinkie Pie and Rarity received the bed on the ground floor, pushing it in front of the fireplace, but not too close.

Twilight slowly crawled onto the bed and lay down upon her belly.

The others gathered around her supportively.

Fluttershy asked, “So…uh, Twilight? What did you want to talk about?” She hastily added, “That is, if you want to talk about it.”

Rainbow Dash stated, “Just spit it out. What’s eatin’ ya?”

Pinkie Pie turned her head upside down and asked with a smile, “You need another party?”

Twilight chuckled until she coughed in pain. She answered, “No, I don’t need a party. I anted to share with you what Princess Celestia told me.”

Rarity fussed over her mane and commented sympathetically, “Oh, my. It must be serious if we all need to hear it. What is it, dear?”

The purple unicorn hung her head in shame, but bravely told her friends what she had to tell them.

“When I took Trixie as an apprentice, I wasn’t ready to teach. I never tried to figure out if she had any real problems before diving right in. Trixie has several bad issues that prevent her from adjusting to a normal life. I made that worse by pushing her to excel at her studies the way I was pushed. I had the support of my parents. Trixie watched both of her parents pass away when she was younger. I’ve never been desperate. She’s lived her whole life desperate. Finally, just when she was adjusting against all odds, I destroy that by forcing her away to a strange place.”

Applejack interrupted her by saying, “Horseapples! What she did to you was NOT your fault!” The others vehemently agreed with this.

Rainbow Dash added, “If I ever see her, I’m gonna kick her where she’ll be screaming for weeks!”

Rarity was shocked, “Rainbow Dash! I never want to hear you say such a thing again!” After moment, she added, “Not that I didn’t think of such a thing myself.”

Fluttershy quietly, said, “I think…”

Pinkie Pie interrupted by saying, “I’m never inviting her to another of my parties!”

Rainbow Dash offered, “Whaddaya say, Pinks? We go prank her right now?”

The pink one jumped up and down, screaming, “Prank contest! Whoever pranks her the worst gets all-she-can-eat cake!”

Flutter shy tried to speak, “Um, girls…I think…”

Applejack asked, “Say there, can anypony get in on this?”

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie gave her a high-hoof and said, “YEAH!”

Twilight said firmly, “No.”

The pranking trio deflated.

Pinkie Pie asked, “Why not?”

The purple unicorn stated definitively, “That’s the worst thing we could do. It’ll just make her more desperate.”

Rarity supported Twilight by saying, “Darling, don’t blame yourself. You can’t be held responsible for what she does.”

Fluttershy said, “Twilight did the right thing.”

Everypony looked at the yellow pegasus.

She shrank into the folds of the blanket and said, “Never mind.”

Twilight asked, “No, please finish your thoughts.”

Fluttershy stated, “I think Twilight was kind for trying to solve Trixie’s problems. I mean…how would any of us act if we were treated the way we treated her?”

Rainbow Dash peevishly asked, “You mean telling her to buzz off when she brings an Ursa into Ponyville?”

The purple unicorn rebuked her friend strongly by stomping her hoof onto the bed and saying, “Trixie did NOT bring the Ursa Minor into Ponyville! That was Snips and Snails. Perhaps she did brag, even outright lie. However, you can’t punish her for what somepony else does wrong. That’s not justice.”

Nopony had anything to say about that.

She continued by saying, “Fluttershy is right. Trixie came back to Ponyville when she was lost, scared, tired, hungry, nearly broke, and even homeless. The first thing she did was try to earn a meal. Was that so wrong? Then that waiter tried to cheat her! How would you react if that was the only treatment you ever received?”

Without thinking, Rainbow Dash blurted, “I’d sock the jerk right in the chops!”

Applejack agreed, “He’d deserve it, that’s right!”

Fluttershy explained, “Trixie really has worse problems than just being poor. She can’t even deal with what’s around her.”

Twilight regretfully stated, “When Trixie attacked me, she may have chosen that herself, however I was the one who made her feel threatened. Without asking her what she wanted, I wound up almost taking away the one thing that kept her stable.” She lowered her ears and finished, “A real teacher would have taken the time to learn al about her and given her the help she really needed. I really failed her. I gave her a powerful weapon and then made her think she was under attack.”

Pinkie Pie observed, “Well, it’s not like she’s all alone and homeless again…” Suddenly, her eyes went wide as she realized what she just said. She feebly said, “Oh.”

Applejack asked, “So, what yer sayin’ is that now we’ve got a super-powerful unicorn who hates everyone in Ponyville an’ she’s hidin’ out in the Everfree forest?”

Twilight affirmed, “That’s about the size of it. You should know that Trixie has more inner potential than I do. If a proper teacher ever started teaching her again, she would only grow more powerful. If we ever tried to capture her, she would only double her hatred towards us. I just don’t know what we can do about her. Princes Celestia has forbidden me from taking another apprentice until further notice.”

Rarity trembled on her part of the bed. Fluttershy placed a supportive wing over her back.

The stylish pony asked fearfully, “Wh-what if w-we just, um, ignore her? You know, live and l-let live?”

The purple unicorn felt the old fire in her soul. She felt compelled to help.

She recited, “I refuse to just let her suffer. I’m going to find a way to help her. Even if it means risking myself, even if it means letting someone more qualified than I am do it for me. Princess Celestia said to tell all of you, ‘Never judge a pony until you have walked a thousand miles in her horseshoes’.”

Silence reigned for several minutes.

Finally, Fluttershy piped up, “Um, Twilight? We’re with you.”

Rainbow Dash punched the air with her hooves, saying, “Yeah! Whatever you need us to do, we’ll do it!”

Applejack agreed, “Whatever makes you happy, sugar cube. I guess you really should turn yer back to yer problems.”

Rarity announced, “I shall be happy to assist you in any endeavor you choose.”

Pinkie Pie cheered, “Sounds like a party to me!”

Twilight smiled for the first time in days. She counted herself lucky. Suddenly, she looked out of the window at the bright, blue sky. She wondered if Trixie fared just as well without her own private cadre of supporters.

=====================

Deep in the Everfree forest, a group of manticores all surrounded a cave. The cave used to belong to them. However, an intruder had just through them all out at once.

The biggest male of the group was working up his courage to try to win his family’s cave back. Finally, he jumped in front of the cave and roared a challenge. He spread his wings menacingly and arched his poison tail in an attack posture.

The other manticores roared in support. The biggest male took a step towards the cave. His left foreleg stepped over the boundary of the mouth of the cave.

A soft, feminine voice spoke sweetly, “Wrong move, kitten.”

A lightning bolt erupted from the cave, drilling its way into the chest of the big male manticore. Shocked beyond pain, the creature fell over backwards onto its back.

Bright tendrils of blue energy snaked out, gripping the creature by its limbs. The strange things pulled the manticore into the cave in a single, swift motion.

All that was left was the whimpering of the manticore as it reached the master of the cave.

The rest of the family all mewled pathetically, hoping the monster in the cave would spare their family member.

The sound of sharp crackling answered their pleas. The weak sound of whimpering somehow came out amplified from the cave. The whimpering continued for nearly a minute.

Then the sounds of wet tearing filled the air. Gone were any trace of whimpering.

The family of manticores fled the area, deciding that they would find a new home somewhere…anywhere far away from here.

The last sound from the cave was the soft, feminine voice delicately saying, “Mmmm…juicy!”

THE END