Trixie was not a happy pony. The past week had been a living nightmare for her. Last week, she had demanded entry into the house of Twilight Sparkle at five in the morning. She had made a deal with Twilight that if she would take an IQ test, Twiight would let Trixie in. The only reason Trixie agreed was to prove that she was just as smart as her rival. After taking the test, Twilight's assistant, Spike, had tricked her into believing she had gotten a perfect score. Unfortunately, he revealed he was lying and said Trixie had not gotten one question right. It appears that after Trixie had left Twilight's house, she spread the news of Trixie's failure to all of the Equestrian royals. In turn, those royal spread it to every other pony. Now, as she trotted the streets of Manehatten, ponies stopped to stare, point, and laugh at her. It seemed that she was the laughing stock of all of Equestria!
"Hey, mommy! Isn't that the really dumb mare, Trixie?" asked a colt walking down the street with his mother.
"Why yes, dear. I think it is. Can you believe she has an IQ of 0! How stupid could a pony be?" Everywhere she went, ponies were making similar comments. A few ponies had even asked for her autograph. However, being the attention hog she was, Trixie gave it to them. That doesn't mean she enjoyed it though.
"I wish this would just blow over already." Trixie thought. "I mean, it's not that funny!"
"Miss Trixie?" asked a voice that snapped Trixie out of her thoughts. She turned around and saw a royal guard standing behind her. "You are Miss Trixie, yes?"
"Yes, I am the Great and Powerful...forget it. You're here to laugh at me aren't you."
"Actually, I am here to deliver a message. Your presence is requested at the Canterlot Castle."
"What!?"
"Princess Celestia wishes to speak with you personally, Miss Trixie. I assume you plan on attending."
"Uh, sure."
"Ok! I'll return to the castle and inform the princess that you are on your way." With that, the guard flew off and back to Canterlot.
"Just great." Trixie sighed. "Now even the princess wants to make fun of me."
A week ago, Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne minding her own business and eating a piece of cake. All of a sudden, a burst of green fire appeared in front of her and a letter floated out of the blaze.
"It appears Twilight has sent me a letter" Celestia said as she levitated the paper closer to her. "Now, what does it say?"
Dear Princess Celestia,
Unlike usual, this letter is not of great importance, so I am sorry if you feel it wastes your time. Yesterday, Twilight and I were woken up early be Trixie knocking on our door. You remember her, don't you? She wanted to get into our house for some reason. Twilight began to argue with her and eventually, Trixie said she was smarter than her. You know Twilight and how much pride she takes in her intelligence. Twilight made Trixie take the IQ test she took and guess what? Trixie missed every question! The mare has an IQ of 0! Isn't that hilarious? Anyway, Twilight just thought you should know because she's spreading the rumor a lot now.
Your Faithful Student's Assistant,
Spike the Dragon
As Celestia read the letter she couldn't help but feel surprised. It wasn't like Twilight to spread the news of other ponies failures, but Trixie did bring out the worst in every pony. While she could see how the average pony would find this hilarious, Celestia did not find it the least bit funny. In fact, she felt bad for the mare, who she knew would endure a lot of teasing for a while. That's when she had an idea.
"Flash Sentry!" she called. Immediately, a member of the royal guard rushed to her side.
"Yes, Princess?"
"I need you to deliver a message."
"Of course. What will that message be?"
"I need you to find the pony named Trixie Lulamoon and tell her to come to the castle. Something has happened and I need to speak with her personally."
"As you wish, your highness." said Flash Sentry as he galloped away.
"Don't worry Trixie." said Celestia when she was sure he was gone. "You will enjoy what I have to say."
As Trixie walked the halls of the royal castle, she still could't help but feel embarrassed. She could tell that the ponies there knew of her failure. Every so often, she would pass a guard or two and she could see them trying to hold back a laugh. In all honesty, she just wanted to get this over with. Trixie just wanted to be made fun of by the nation's ruler and leave. Finally, she made her way to throne room where she was stopped by two guards.
"Name?" asked one of the guards.
"Trixie Lulamoon." The other guard checked a clipboard and started to flip through it. Eventually, he found her name and nodded to his partner.
"You may enter." he said, opening the doors for her. As Trixie walked in, she was amazed by the amount of gold and silver that lined the walls. The room was full of stone pillars and had colored glass that she could tell displayed important moments in Equestrian history.
"I see you are impressed with the decor." said Celestia, making Trixie look at her.
"Your highness," said Trixie, bowing. "Trixie wonders why you have summoned me."
"Isn't it obvious."
"I thought it might be." Trixie sighed as she looked at the floor. "Just go for it. Tell Trixie how you think she is stupid."
"Why would you think I would do that?"
"Huh? Because that is why you have summoned Trixie to Canterlot for, isn't it?"
"Oh, Trixie. I didn't summon you here to make fun of you. I am sure you have been insulted enough these past few days."
"Then why is Trixie here?"
"Allow me to explain. I'm sure you know that Twilight told me about your IQ test."
"Of course she did."
"I know it must have been embarrassing to have failed. I understand that."
"But Trixie did not just fail. She got every question wrong! Trixie has an IQ of 0. I'm the stupidest mare in all of Equestria!"
"That is why I called you here, Trixie. You are not the stupidest. I know of another pony that has an IQ of 0."
"Really? Who is it?"
"You're looking at her."
"What! How is that possible? You can't have an IQ of 0. You're a princess!"
"Oh, Trixie. You do not need to be remotely intelligent to run a nation. It is actually quite easy."
"How do you know? How are you sure you're as dumb as Trixie is?"
"Well, a while ago, Twilight wanted to know how smart I was. Like you, she assumed my intelligence was beyond compare. However, when I took the test, I found I had gotten every question wrong."
"So, Twilight knows."
"No. I used magic to change the answers before she could look at my test."
"Wow. Trixie is shocked. And is Luna dumb too?"
"No. She has an IQ of 1,000, but I let her think I'm smarter."
"So, you called me here to tell me all of this."
"Yes, Trixie. I thought it would make you feel better to know you are not alone."
"I can't believe it. Now I can say I'm as smart as Princess Celestia!" Unknown to the princess and Trixie, a creature had been hiding behind a pillar, listening to their whole conversation.
"I must admit I'm surprised." it thought. "I must tell some pony about this." With that, Discord teleported out of the room, on his way to tell Equestria that their leader was an imbecile.
