The Great and Powerful Photobomber!
It was a beautiful spring day at Canterlot High. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Trixie was making her way down the hallway towards her next class. As she looked around, she saw everything as it had been for the past three weeks. All quiet and tender. Absolutely nothing going on.
That's what was WRONG about it!
Trixie sighed frustratingly as she looked at the average day going on around her. The problem was quite obvious. She was SO BORED! It had been three weeks since the incident with the Dazzlings, the whole Battle of the Bands thing, and the night when Sunset Shimmer, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and their friend from another dimension, Twilight Sparkle, saved the entire town from falling under the Dazzlings' spell. The whole event with those sirens from Equestria, as Twilight Sparkle called it, was so tense, but that's what Trixie loved about it. She had always loved big and flashy events. Even if it DID almost lead to total mind-control, she still thought the whole thing was epic. But since it had ended, EVERYTHING was back to the way it was, and it was so boring to her!
Every day, she would do the exact same thing. Get up, go to school, come home, work on magic act, sleep, and start all over in the morning. Trixie felt like she was in a rut that she would never get out of. Nothing in her average life was exciting or adventurous anymore, and that needed to change asap! She needed something that would get her out of her rut. But what? As she walked down the hall to her locker, she thought of different things she could do to spice up her life.
"C'mon Trixie," she thought as she opened her locker. "It shouldn't be this hard to think of something different. Think outside the box." As she continued to think, she grabbed her books, closed her locker, and headed down the hall. She soon passed Rarity and Fluttershy talking, and noticed Rarity then pulled out her phone and stretched it out in front to take a picture of her and Fluttershy, but just before the camera flash, Trixie looked to the corner to see Pinkie Pie sneak behind them and make a goofy face into the phone. She then walked away as Rarity looked at the picture. Her expression changed from pleasant to annoyed as she glared at Pinkie, who snickered slightly.
"Special delivery to Rarity," Pinkie said jokingly. "One photobomb! No returns or refunds!" Rarity just rolled her eyes as Fluttershy giggled. As Pinkie continued to skip down the hallway, Trixie stood there with a blank expression.
"Photobomb..." she thought. "The act of accidentally or purposely putting oneself into the view of a photograph, often in order to play a practical joke on the photographer or the subjects. Hmm..." She had seen students do it all the time, but she had never done one herself. Trixie's face suddenly lit up as a light bulb turned on in her head. She then looked up to see that she was under a ceiling light that just flickered on, ("The school should really get that old light fixed," she thought) but that was besides the point. Trixie got an idea of how she could spice up her day. Now she just needed the opportunity.
The first thing she needed to do was to find a target. Trixie looked all around in between her classes, looking for someone taking a picture. Anyone would do as long as it brought her out of her rut. As she looked through the halls at the students just talking to each other, she soon gazed her direction upon Lyra and Bon Bon, and she could see that Lyra was talking out her phone. Interested, Trixie inconspicuously scooted closer to the pair to get a better view of what they were doing. Sure enough, after Lyra pressed some buttons, she lifted the phone to arm's length as she and Bon Bon touched cheeks and smiled. Seeing her opportunity, Trixie dashed behind them, her heart racing with excitement, and stuck her tongue out and crossed her eyes as the flash went off. As soon as the picture was taken, Trixie dashed from behind the two girls and hurried down the hall, her heart still going a mile a minute. She didn't even look back as to not draw attention to herself, but as soon as she heard Lyra grunt in frustration and call out Trixie's name, that's when she couldn't hold it in anymore.
Trixie started laughing so hard that everyone looking at her would've thought she just went off her rocker. Trixie couldn't remember the last time she had that much fun pulling a prank, or doing anything for that matter. As her laughter subsided, Trixie noticed that her heart was still going and the adrenaline still remained. She...needed more. She needed to do that again. It was all so much fun, that she just HAD to find another opportunity. She started to look around her again for another chance to photobomb, and as if luck had it, she happened to see another group of friends getting a picture ready. Smiling both excitedly and deviously, Trixie rushed over to the group.
Now, if Trixie would’ve just done a couple of photobombs and then gone on with her life, things would’ve been fine for the students at CHS. Sadly, this is not what happened. Trixie didn’t just stop after two. After the second, she told herself she needed another one, then another one, then another one. Throughout the majority of the school day, Trixie kept finding new targets to photobomb. Something about the rush of making faces in others’ photos just made her want more. She must’ve bombed 15 photos. A choir of students groaning, grunting, and angrily shouting Trixie’s name echoed throughout the day, and Trixie enjoyed every minute of it. The students had hoped that it was just for the day, and by tomorrow, Trixie would be back to normal. They underestimated Trixie’s addiction. She started up the next day just as quickly as before. No photos were safe from the Great and Powerful Photobomber, as she called herself.
It didn’t take long for the students to realize they had to take action about this. Most of them were talking about just making an angry mob and forcing Trixie to stop. Six of the students, on the other hand, had different plans. Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash thought it would be best to call a meeting about it before they took action. So that day, after school, a large group of students who were tired of Trixie’s antics had gathered at the local coffee shop. The students sat around at the different tables, all taking over each other, complaining no doubt, and Sunset and the others stood at the front by the back wall, trying to get everyone to settle down, but to no avail.
“Attention! Attention please!” Sunset’s shouting was muted compared to the onslaught of angry students. “Could I have everyone’s attention please? Everyone! Attention!” Still nothing.
“HEY! SHUT IT!”
The crowd was immediately silenced by Rainbow’s booming voice. Even the other five up front jumped a bit. Still, it was quite effective, and as Rainbow smiled a successful smile, Sunset took the initiative.
“Thank you Rainbow,” she said. “Now, you all know why we called this meeting. We’re here to figure out Trixie’s recent photobombing spree.”
“IT’S OUTRAGEOUS!” Bon Bon shouted. “Lyra and I haven’t been able to take a picture without ducking behind the dumpsters during lunch! And even then, she STILL sometimes manages to find us!”
“Before, it was just a little annoying,” Flash Sentry chimed in. “Now it’s become ridiculous! I mean, who gets addicted to photobombing?”
“Apparently Trixie,” Pinkie answered.
“Rhetorical question Pinkie,” Flash sighed. “My point is; something has to be done about this!”
“I say we form up as a whole, track her down, and FORCE her to stop,” a random student shouted. Everyone else started to shout in agreement, saying things like, “Let’s get her!” and, “Where’s she at?” Realizing she was losing the crowd, Sunset gave the stand to Rainbow.
“People please!” Rainbow shouted, silencing the crowd again. “I’m just as annoyed as you guys are, heck, all six of us are, but we can’t just turn into an angry mob!”
“Yeah!” Pinkie added. “We don’t even have torches and pitchforks!”
“What she means is,” Applejack chimed in, “that we need to talk to her first before we do anythin’ drastic. Try and get to the bottom of her…addiction. Now, if anyone has any better ideas that DON’T INVOLVE FORCE, raise your hand.”
The crowd started to murmur to themselves, but nobody raised their hand.
“Looks like we’re in agreement then,” Sunset confirmed. “Now, any ideas of who should talk to her?”
Within a split second, all hands in the crowd pointed right towards the six.
“Should’ve seen that one coming,” Sunset mumbled to herself before going back to the crowd. “Alright alright. We’ll talk to her tomorrow. For now, this meeting is adjourned.”
Approaching Trixie was easier said than done. Ever since the Battle of the Bands, the six were never on the best terms with Trixie, considering the fact that she dropped them down a trapdoor and locked them under the stage so they couldn’t perform. In a normal circumstance, Sunset and the others didn’t think to talk to Trixie much, unless it was of utmost importance. Well, they, as well as a majority of the school, would say that an addiction to photobombing and annoying the heck out of everyone was something important. As they walked down the hall to find their patient, the six girls went over the plan.
“Ok, so let’s go over this again,” Sunset said. “We find Trixie, sit her down, and…”
“Calmly ask her to stop,” Rarity finished.
“Are you sure that that’s the best plan?” Applejack asked. “If ah know anything about Trixie, it’s that she’s more stubborn than Rainbow Dash.”
“Y’know I’m right here, right?” Rainbow interjected.
“It’s still a good point,” Fluttershy added. “She’s not good with someone telling her something that’s wrong with her. What do we do if she lashes out at us?”
“We just have to stay calm with her and try and show her that her actions are affecting everyone around her,” Sunset answered. “How hard can it-“
“There she is!” Pinkie interrupted, pointing towards the gym. The girls quickly looked ahead just in time to see Trixie slip into another photo being taken and slip back out, laughing maniacally. They hadn’t really seen Trixie photobombing as much as others, but the last time she did it to them, she wasn’t as…crazy. She definitely wasn’t laughing maniacally and running away. Now looking at her, it kind of made the girls uneasy.
“Y’know,” Rainbow mumbled uncomfortably, “that angry mob idea is sounding better and better right now…”
“We’re NOT forming an angry mob!” Sunset snapped. “C’mon girls. Let’s talk some sense into her.” The others nodded as they walked over to Trixie, who was now hiding out in the gym, laughing to herself. When they entered, Trixie noticed them immediately, and her smile dropped a bit.
“What do you girls want?” she asked snobbishly with her arms crossed.
“Trixie,” Sunset said calmly, “we wanted to talk to you about this…photobombing spree you’ve been going on.”
“My ‘photobombing spree’,” Trixie emphasized with air quotes, “has nothing to do with you. Why don’t you mind your own business?”
“Look Trixie. We’ve just been seeing that you’ve been doing it an awful lot,” Fluttershy chimed in. “We’re worried about whether or not you’re taking this too far. I mean, photobombing is a fun little prank to play once or twice, but constantly every day? That’s a cry for help.” The others nodded respectfully.
Trixie, however, scoffed as if she was just insulted. “Are you saying Trixie is addicted to photobombing? That is absolutely absurd! So what if I get a thrill out of making faces in peoples’ photos? That doesn’t mean I can’t stop! Trixie can stop anytime she wants!”
“Oh really?” Rarity asked with a raised eyebrow. She then opened her purse and took out her phone. “Then I guess you wouldn’t mind if the six of us took a quick picture?”
“Go ahead!” Trixie huffed.
Rarity and the others gathered around her phone as Trixie stood by the door. Rarity outstretched her arm to get everyone in the picture. The six glanced over to Trixie, who just stood there with a bored expression and her arms crossed. The girls looked back to the phone, smiled slightly, and…
CLICK!
Rarity pulled the phone back and the six looked at the photo. The photo showed the six doing their slight smiles…and Trixie in the background sticking her tongue out and crossing her eyes. The six sighed and shook their heads.
“Well THAT proves our statement,” Rarity sighed. “You see Trixie? It clearly shows that you have-“ she was cut short however, as the six looked back to where Trixie was, and she wasn’t there. They then glanced at the gym doors, and they stood ajar.
And from inside, they heard her familiar voice shouting from down the hall, “The Great and Powerful Photobomber! Mwa ha ha ha ha!”
The six girls sighed in defeat. “This could be harder than I thought,” Sunset said as she scratched her head.
And harder it was. The girls had faced against Sunset when she turned into a raging she-demon and battled against three mystical sirens in a magical singing contest, and they were starting to believe that those events were easier to overcome. Trixie just wouldn’t listen to reason. Whenever they faced her about it, she denied any problems, yet went straight back to photobombing seconds after they departed. Applejack was right when she said she was one stubborn girl.
The girls were tempted to send a message to Princess Twilight back in Equestria, but they felt the problem too trivial to bring in magical, Equestrian royalty as backup. They had to think of something to do, and fast. The more Trixie continued on her spree, the more students became less forgiving. How long would it be before they actually confronted her about it? And the girls had a feeling that the confrontation would NOT be a civil one.
"Before, her actions were ridiculous," Rarity remarked as the six walked home from school, "but now she's just acting absurd!"
"Wow. From ridiculous to absurd?" Pinkie thought out loud. "This IS serious! Something has to be done!"
"Agreed," Sunset nodded. "But whenever we try and point out her problem, she just denies it and goes on as before."
"There has to be something we can do to break Trixie out of this denial," Fluttershy sighed. "Something we can-"
"What the heck is going on over there?!" Rainbow suddenly snapped. The others broke out of their conversation and looked to where Rainbow was pointing. What they saw made their eyes grow as wide as plates. A group of students were huddled in a group outside the local hardware store, and from the look of it, a few of them were holding...pitchforks?
PITCHFORKS?!
Something said that they were NOT picking up farming supplies. All eyes turned to Pinkie, who had said something about the lack of torches and pitchforks to form an angry mob.
"What?" Pinkie asked innocently as the others scowled at her. "I didn't think they would take it literally!"
"C'mon!" Applejack shouted as the others followed her to the group. As soon as they got there, the students stopped muttering among themselves and turned focus to the six girls before them with their arms crossed and unimpressed frowns. Applejack was the first to act. She ripped through the crowd to the center, where Flash Sentry was. When he saw Applejack, and realized she was staring at the pitchfork he was holding, he starting blushing and smiling embarrassingly.
"Seriously?" Applejack asked as she ripped the pitchfork from Flash. "SERIOUSLY?!"
Flash fumbled with his words a bit to find the right sentence. "Well...to be fair, we're not planning of USING them on her. We just want to get her attention...and...possibly scare her out of her spree."
That didn't make it any better. If anything, it made Applejack more annoyed, as she got into Flash's face and snapped, "THAT'S yer plan? To scare her? She's not FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER ya know?"
"I bet Frankenstein's monster would be easier to convince," Rainbow muttered.
"THANK YOU!" Applejack snapped sarcastically before turning back to the students. "Look guys, we need to try somethin' that doesn't involve scarin'! OR PITCHFORKS!"
"But what?" Octavia asked. "You girls have already tried telling her she has a problem, and yet she stays in denial!"
"What she needs is a blast of reality," Rarity said with her hand thoughtfully on her chin. "She needs to understand what her actions are doing to not only herself, but to us as well."
"Kind of like an intervention?" Fluttershy added.
An intervention, Sunset thought. She had seen the workings of one of those before, but she never considered that. Maybe THAT is what they were doing wrong! Maybe just telling Trixie that she had a problem wasn't enough. They had to SHOW her she had a problem. Let her know how much everyone's being affected. If they were to make something click within her, maybe they could understand why she started photobombing in the first place. It was so crazy, it just might work. When Sunset came out of her deep thought, she saw that everyone was talking loudly over each other, trying to think of what to do.
"Guys!" Sunset shouted. No one heard. "GUYS!" Still no quiet. Getting tired of the nonsense, Sunset planted her feet firmly on the ground, sucked in a deep breath, and...
"QUIEEEEEEEEEEEET!"
The time it took to kill the silence was record-breaking. Everyone immediately shut up and looked toward Sunset at attention. Well...all but one.
"-and THAT'S why cats have cleaner tongues than-" Pinkie stopped as soon as she realized that everyone had grown quiet. She blushed embarrassingly as she whispered, "Sorry."
"Thank you," Sunset calmly said to the crowd. "Listen guys, I think I may have an idea of what to do, but I'll need all you guys' help. We're going to need copies of those photos that Trixie has photobombed. We're also going to have to lure Trixie into the gym when the time comes."
"How are we gonna do that?" Rainbow asked.
Sunset's face curled into a confident smug. "We're going to need bait."
The next day, Sunset's plan was set into motion. The night before, the students made sure to print out copies of their photobombed photos like she had asked. Sunset explained her plan and everyone fanned out to get things ready. Fluttershy made sure that Principal Celestia knew what was going on, and thankfully, she thought it was a good idea. The principal had seen Trixie going on her spree and she couldn't think of a better way of helping her. With the principal's permission, the students set up the gym after school, and it seemed that everything was in place. The only thing missing was Trixie, but Sunset had a plan for that. After the final bell had rung, Trixie was walking toward her locker when she heard Lyra and Bon Bon talking rather loudly from across the way.
"So, you ready for it, Lyra?" Bon Bon asked.
"Yep! Everything's set up!" Lyra loudly responded. "I can't think of a better time to take a photo!"
As soon as Trixie heard photo, her head perked up and she couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation. As soon as they saw that they had gotten her attention, Lyra and Bon Bon winked with success and continued.
"It's definitely going to be a Facebook worthy photo!" Lyra said. "Where should we do it?"
"I think the gym is the best place!" Bon Bon answered. "Let's go!"
As soon as they had left, Trixie's face curled into a devious smile. How could she refuse an opportunity to photobomb such an important photo? Depending on how big and important it was, it could be her biggest bomb yet. And so, snickering like a madman, Trixie headed off to the gym. Little did she know, however, that Lyra and Bon Bon had actually ducked into the girl's bathroom. When they saw her heading towards the gym, Lyra quickly called Sunset and when she answered, Lyra whispered, "She's coming."
When Trixie arrived at the gym, she was still giggling to herself like a kid at Christmas time. She was about to pull off her biggest and best photobomb yet, and it was going to feel so good! Not wanting to wait anymore, Trixie opened the door and stepped in, sticking to the walls to avoid being seen. When she got in however, she noticed that Lyra and Bon Bon weren't there. In fact, in all of her excitement, she had failed to realize that a majority of the lights were off. She could barely see a thing. Looking around for a second, she wondered what the heck was going on. Then, just when she thought about leaving, she heard a light turn on next to her. She turned, and there, standing in front of her, was Sunset Shimmer and her five friends.
"Figures"," Trixie scoffed to herself. She turned to leave, but saw that the gym door had closed on its own. Trixie sighed annoyingly as she turned towards the six girls. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Trixie, we just want to talk for a second," Sunset calmly answered. Trixie sighed again and crossed her arms, waiting for the explanation. "We just want to talk about your little photobombing spree you've been going on-"
"This again?" Trixie huffed.
"Trixie," Sunset continued, "I know you think that this is just harmless fun, and maybe it started out that way, but you've been doing it so much! And you're attitude's been changing because of it. You've become obsessed with photobombing, and it's not healthy." The others nodded respectfully.
"Look," Trixie snapped, "I told you girls before; I DON'T have a problem! So I've done a few photobombs! It's not hurting anyone! I haven't done any harm!"
"Oh you think so, hm?" Rarity asked. The girls then turned to each other, nodded, and looked toward the side doors. Within a second, the other lights came on throughout the gym. The six then pointed to the wall behind Trixie. Rolling her eyes, Trixie turned around, looked up, and what she saw stunned her. The back wall was COVERED in photos. But not just any photos. Photos that she had photobombed. From one door to the next, as far up as the basketball hoop and as far down as the ground level, all she saw was herself, making funny faces behind others who, from the angle of the pictures, were holding their phones out.
It took Trixie a few seconds to scan the wall before turning back to the six. Her face still was wide-eyed and her mouth was open in shock. When she finally found her words, the first thing out was, "I did ALL of these?"
"All of them," Fluttershy nodded, "and the sad thing is that these were all done through the course of just three days."
Trixie's heart dropped. Three days? She had photobombed a whole month's worth of photos in three days? Even she had to admit; THAT was a little bit sad.
"Everyone's getting affected by this too," Applejack chimed in, making Trixie snap out of her trance. "Everyone in these photos is tired of your antics Trixie. They can't even take a decent picture or a normal selfie without worrying that you would pop up in the background."
"And we can tell that YOU'RE getting affected too," Rainbow added. "You used to be so sophisticated Trixie. Then when you got on the photobombing spree, you've turned into a maniacally laughing, twitchy-eyed nutball! And we hate to see you like that. We miss your old stuck-up, ever boastful self."
"I know it's hard to accept," Sunset said sincerely, "but you have a problem Trixie, and it needs to be addressed."
Trixie looked from one girl to the other. Her mind was going in circles. After hearing all of this, how much she had been obsessed with photobombing, how much she had been affected, and how much others were affected, she just didn't know how to take it all in. It was like someone had just dropped a cast iron safe of the sad truth right on top of her. But strange enough, in a way, she realized that she needed it. The evidence was clear now. She HAD a problem, and she needed help. Finally letting her stubborn side go, she dropped to her knees and looked at the six with defeated eyes.
"I-I'm sorry guys," she said softly. "I was just...SO BORED! Ever since the incident with the Dazzlings ended, I had been feeling like I was in a rut. I had to find something to liven up her schedule. That's when photobombing came into the picture, no pun intended. I guess I just got caught up in the rush I was having that I lost track of everything else, and everyone's reactions. I'm really sorry!"
The six smiled softly as they helped Trixie up.
"We understand Trixie," Sunset said. "You just wanted to make your day different than usual. That's natural for someone who can't stand boring days, like you. And don't you worry. We'll all be here to help you get over this addiction. You've already taken the first step in getting out of denial. You're already on your way!"
"Next time though," Applejack chuckled, "maybe you can find a hobby that doesn't result in pitchforks."
"Deal!" Trixie laughed as the six gathered around and hugged her.
"I have an idea!" Rarity said as they broke the hug. She dug into her purse and pulled out her phone. "Let's all take a photo to commemorate the first step to recovery! And this time, you are included on purpose Trixie!"
Trixie smiled as they seven girls grouped around each other. With their faces pressing into one another, Rarity outstretched her phone arm, everyone smiled, and...
CLICK!
Rarity brought the phone back and everyone looked at the new photo. Their expressions changed to shock however when they saw that Trixie WASN'T in it! Just then, the six heard the gym door swing open and they all looked just in time to see Trixie wisp away while shouting, "THE GREAT AND POWERFUL PHOTOBLOCKER! MWA HA HA HA HA!!"
The six slapped their foreheads and groaned as Rainbow shouted, "Aw COME ON!"
"Well, I guess there's only one thing left to do," Pinkie sighed as she faced the reader.
"A-BADEE-BADEE-BADEE-THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!
