My Little Background Pony: Boasters Busted

Chapters

Introducing...
Great and Powerful
Idiot
Differences
Major/Minor Problem

Introducing...

Author's Note

Yeah, I know, it's been a while. Writer's block, new job, and just general laziness. But I'm back now, and I have a new story for you all. A sort of "rite of passage," as it were, for any Alternate Mane 6 series: the "Boast Busters" adaptation. Hope you enjoy.

Introducing...

My Little Background Pony
Boasters Busted

And the announcer introduces me. No need to be so modest, my good stallion. Vinyl walked up to her turntables, standing proud at the center of the console.

“Hey, everypony! How you all doin’ tonight?”

The applause is thunderous. My definition of a perfect storm.

“As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, I am your lovely hostess for tonight’s festivities: the one, the only, accept-no-substitutions, DJ-PON3!”

The crowd chants my name. It feels good to be on top of the world.

“Now I’m sure many of you have heard of me before. And you’re all asking, ‘Doesn’t she play with those other two mares in the next town over?’ Rest assured, I ain’t leaving my friends behind. But they both have solo careers of their own to work with, and I do not want to buck the trend. Hence (and it’s not very often I use such a fancy word)…”

Pause, wait for the laughter to die down.

“…my first ever appearance, not as the sound mare for somepony else’s band, but as a pony who marches to the beat of her own drum. And I intend to share those beats with you, tonight and whatever night I’m here for hereafter (again, not a word I use a lot).”

Applause? Laughter? Both? So long as they know they’re getting awesome, I’m happy with it.

“Okay, enough beating around the bush, fillies and gentlecolts. You all came here to party, so let’s get this party started!”

Aaaaaaand hit the music!

“So, how was that?” she asked. She looked expectantly at her “audience.”

Octavia was lying on Vinyl’s couch, holding her hooves up to her ears and gritting her teeth together. After a few seconds, she seemed to notice that Vinyl had stopped talking. “Oh, erm, are you done?” She slowly rose to a sitting position

“Yep. So, again, what’d you think?” Vinyl asked as she stepped away from her turntables.

“What did I think? Well…” Octavia paused and place her hoof on her chin, looking unsure. Finally, she looked at Vinyl, her face bearing her usual, almost stoic look, and said, “It was very… loud.”

“YES!” Vinyl shouted. “Just the tone I was going for! I always knew I could trust your instincts, Tavi.”

As Vinyl celebrated her achievement, Octavia just sighed and said, “Now if only I could have trusted them as well.”

“Ah, come on,” Vinyl replied. “It wasn’t that bad. You really need to loosen up, girl.”

“I’ll have you know I can be very ‘loose’ when I want to be.” Vinyl just held her hooves to her mouth, trying to contain her laughter; she failed. Octavia, after seeing her friend roll on the floor for a few seconds, finally realized what she had said. “Wait, no, that wasn’t what I… You were the one who… I was just… Shut up!”

Vinyl’s laughter only increased in intensity as Octavia tried to alleviate her blunder. She finally calmed down long enough to stand up and face her. Octavia just stared at her with a deadpan expression. “Oh, man, that was just amazing. This is the kind of thing they write books about.”

“Just promise me that the names will be changed to protect the innocent,” Octavia replied, her voice even, if a bit exasperated.

“Hey, you were the one who trotted headfirst into it. Don’t blame me.”

“Can I at least count you as an accomplice?”

“Partners in crime. I like that. I set ‘em up, you go for the punchline.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

“Okay, okay, I’ve had my fun with you. Howzabout we grab a bite to eat? I need the energy.”

“Your performance (if it can even be called that) isn’t for another two days,” Octavia pointed out.

“I still need energy.” Vinyl countered. “Come on, there are some hay fries calling out to me.”

“I knew you should have seen a psychiatrist about those voices,” Octavia said as she and Vinyl walked out the door.

My little pony, my little pony,
Ah-ah-ah-ah-My little pony!
I had forgotten what friendship could mean.
Until you all reminded me:
Time together,rockin’ beats,
Sweet experience,soothing melodies,
All for one.Such an easy feat!
Now thanks to you, my life’s complete!
Yeah, my little pony!
You are truly all my very best frieeeeeeeeeends!

“So, what do you feel like? My treat,” Vinyl said as the two walked through Ponyville’s restaurant row.

“Like my headache is finally going away,” Octavia replied. Vinyl just chuckled. “Did you really have to make your… introduction so loud?”

“Hey, as DJ-PON3, I need to present an air of confidence and energy. Because if I don’t think I’m awesome, they won’t think I’m awesome, and my music would just fail worse than my high school grades.”

Octavia didn’t say anything for a moment until, “You went to high school?”

“Exactly.”

“I honestly can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”

“Look, Tavi, you’re a performer as much as I am…”

“Just hearing you say that makes my stomach hurt.”

“… so you know that half of any performance is composure,” Vinyl continued, either ignoring or unaware of Octavia’s remark. “When you start playing for the orchestra, you hold yourself in a way that says, ‘You all came to see me play, so that’s what I’m going to do.’ Now, your audience is of the upper-crusty variety, wanting to listen to boring classical music, so you compose yourself accordingly, all stiff and serious-like.”

“Glad to know you still feel the way you always have about my music,” Octavia deadpanned.

“But with my audience, they expect to move around and get their blood pumping, so it’s my job to give them that energy. So, yeah, loudness is just part of the program.” Suddenly, they both heard a rumbling sound. Octavia jerked up and blushed slightly when she realized what it was. “And speaking of loudness…” Vinyl said with a small smirk.

Octavia chuckled in embarrassment. “Erm, I suppose that establishment will suffice.” She pointed at a small café off to their left. She moved quickly, likely to avoid another incident with the noises her stomach was making.

“Yeah, this’ll do,” Vinyl said as she approached one of the outdoor tables. A waiter was already approaching, so she turned to him and said, “Your finest hay fries, gar-kon.”

Octavia just rolled her eyes at the blatant mispronunciation and said, “Petunia sandwich for me, thank you.” The waiter nodded and left to get their orders.

“I got a good feeling about this whole thing, Tavi,” Vinyl said, starting up a conversation.

“Vinyl, you’ve done this sort of thing before,” Octavia pointed out. Indeed, this was far from Vinyl’s first performance.

“But this is different!” Vinyl defended. “I’m going to be playing over in Whinnydale! Yeah, it may be just a few miles out of town,” she added when she saw the disinterested look on Ocatvia’s face, “but it’s still out of town! I’m starting to get noticed! This is the concert that’s finally gonna put DJ-PON3 on the map!”

“I hardly consider playing at a night club a ‘concert.’ And I would be willing to bet that there are at least a few ponies there who already know of you, even if only by reputation at best.”

“Yeah, maybe, but they’d only know me as Vinyl Scratch, the sound mare and ambience provider for a three-mare band. But in two days, they will know me as DJ-PON3, soon to be the newest sensation in all of Equestria!”

“You saw the flier too, huh?” they both heard from a familiar voice. They turned to the two ponies that were walking toward them, Lyra and Bon Bon.

“Ah, good,” Octavia said, “some sensible conversation at last.”

“What’s this about a flier, Ly?” Vinyl asked, ignoring Octavia’s last statement.

“You mean you weren’t…?” Lyra started, looking confused. She looked to Bon Bon, who just rolled her eyes. “Hang on.” Lyra immediately ran off, but was back a few seconds later, holding a flier in her magic and levitating it to the table.

The flier was mostly dark blue with several stars scattered around it. In the middle was a picture of a mare, light blue in color with a silver mane and tail. She wore a light violet cape embroidered with stars, fastened by a gem-shaped clasp, and a wizard’s hat to match; Vinyl couldn’t be sure, since she was wearing the hat, but based on her attire, the mare might have been a unicorn. She stood up on her hind legs in a triumphant pose. The writing on the flier stated, “The Great and Powerful Trixie, Ponyville Square at Sundown. Come witness the newest sensation in all of Equestria!”

“I can see where you might have been confused, Lyra,” Octavia said, “but Vinyl was talking about herself again.”

“I think we got bigger issues right now, Tavi,” Vinyl said, “like who is this mare and why’s she stealing my tagline?”

“I saw her outside Sugar Cube Corner earlier this afternoon,” Bon Bon replied, “hanging up one of those fliers. I’m guessing she’s a traveling performer.”

“Hard to call oneself a ‘sensation’ when your venue involves anywhere you feel like,” Octavia said.

“Hmm. You know what? I say we check it out,” Vinyl interjected. The girls all looked at her.

“Weren’t you just saying that you didn’t like her?” Octavia asked.

“Hey, all I did was point out that she practically stole my catchphrase,” Vinyl stated. “But anypony who says that can’t be completely full of hot air.”

Octavia snorted a small laugh. “Considering all the ponies I’ve heard say that (one, by the way), I’m not sure you could recognize what ‘hot air’ is.”

“Either way, I could think of worse ways to spend the night,” Vinyl added. “Whaddaya say?”

Suddenly they heard a rumble coming from Vinyl. Bon Bon smirked and said, “I say we wait for you to eat first.” Vinyl ignored her, though, preferring to glare at Octavia’s snickering.

Great and Powerful

Vinyl and Octavia went to Ponyville Square immediately after their dinner; Bon Bon and Lyra had already left for their own agenda, so the musicians assumed they would be meeting them there. Sure enough, the two had already found seats among the growing crowd, with Derpy and Turner sitting beside them. The area in front of the crowd showed what looked like a cross between a house and cart, just a bit bigger than what could be considered standard size for a single traveling pony and her belongings.

“Timey, Ditzy,” Vinyl greeted. “I don’t suppose Ly dragged you guys into this, too?”

“I found the fliers while on my route,” Derpy replied, “and I told Turner about it. We only found them here by accident,” she added, motioning to the other two mares.

“Great minds think alike, I suppose,” Turner said.

“Personally,” Vinyl stated, “I wanna see what makes this mare so awesome. She has quite the yardstick to compare to.”

“Vinyl,” Octavia smirked, “just because you can fit two inches within a yard…”

Vinyl only had enough time to glare at her before a fanfare started. Suddenly, the walls of the cart facing the audience unfolded to reveal a makeshift stage.

“Come one, come all!” a mare’s voice shouted. “Come witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trrrixieeee!” There was a flash and a cloud of smoke, and when it dissipated, the mare from the flier appeared, wearing a large grin that practically created confidence.

Well, she’s got stage presence, that’s for sure, Vinyl thought to herself. Still too early, though.

“Watch in awe,” Trixie continued, “as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!” The stage erupted into a small fireworks display.

A bit more flash than necessary, but at least she’s trying to sell the act, Vinyl noted.

“You all have the Great and Powerful Trixie’s guarantee that when you leave here today, your lives will never be the same, knowing things you never knew before in this once in a lifetime experience!”

Okay, now I’m pretty sure she just said the same thing every time she opened her mouth.

“For example…” Trixie turned to one side and stood up on her hind legs. She waved her hooves in a flourish. As if on command, a bouquet of flowers appeared, hovering in an aura of pink magic. “For moi?” she said, as if genuinely surprised. “Oh, you shouldn’t have.” She took the flowers into her forelegs.

“You’re right; you shouldn’t have!” Trixie looked wild-eyed at the audience, scanning for the pony who interrupted her performance. She finally locked eyes with Vinyl, whose friends were staring in disbelief. “You call that an opener?” she continued. “You couldn’t even open a letter with that!”

“Vinyl, what are you doing?!” Octavia hissed at her.

“Well, well, well,” Trixie started, “it appears that we have a neeeigh-sayer in our midst." The flowers disappeared from her hooves and she lowered herself down back to all fours. "Not enjoying the show? Or are you just jealous of what the Great and Powerful Trixie can do?”

“Making flowers appear out of nowhere? Please, that’s not exactly advanced magic. And secondly, I’d hesitate to call this a show. More like a force!”

“Perhaps you mean to say ‘farce,’ though you’ll forgive the Great and Powerful Trixie if she doesn’t take into consideration the opinions of a clearly uncultured pony who can’t even say words correctly.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know I am a performer, and Performance 101 says that you perform for the audience, not your ego!”

“Says the pony who’s yelling over a crowd simply to express her displeasure at her better.”

“Better?” Vinyl let out a hearty laugh, as if she had genuinely found Trixie’s words funny. “Lady, you may be good at magic, but when it comes to putting on a show, you got nothing on me.”

“At least you admit Trixie’s magical prowess.” Trixie shifted her head to one side, almost like she was staring past Vinyl. “Based on her view of your cutie mark, you fancy yourself a musician of some kind? Because if so, you would not understand the skill it takes for the Great and Powerful Trixie to perform such feats of amazingness.”

“What I really don’t understand is the Great and Powerful Trixie’s need to refer to herself as the Great and Powerful Trixie over and over again. I mean, is that like your full name or something?”

Trixie harrumphed at this. “Trixie has earned her title as the Great and Powerful.” She magically removed her hat, allowing the audience to see her lit-up horn as lines of light started twisting above her from it. “After all, she has singlehoofedly defeated one of the most feared monsters known to ponykind,” the lights curved and came together to form the shape of what looked like a large bear: “the Ursa Major.” More lights formed a smaller image, looking like an outline of Trxie herself facing off against the creature. “With one mighty spell, the Great and Powerful Trixie was able to vanquish this ferocious beast, sending it back to whence it came!” Many ponies in the audience “oohed” and “awed” at her tale.

Vinyl just scoffed.”Puh-lease. That’s the biggest load of horseapples I’ve ever heard.”

“Then perhaps you’d fancy a chance to show the Great and Powerful Trixie what you can do?” Trixie challenged.

For a moment, it looked as though Vinyl was about to walk up to the stage. However, she stopped before she even took a step forward. She looked at the audience; all eyes were focused on her, their expressions filled with uncertainty as to what exactly was happening. No, she thought. I can’t. She was thankful her glasses hid her eyes from view.

“You know what?” she finally said. “The hay with this. This whole show wasn’t even worth my time.” She turned toward the back and, with a dismissive flick of her tail, walked out of the crowd.

“Spoken like somepony who knows when they’ve been beat,” Trixie called out. Vinyl didn’t even acknowledge her this time.

Idiot

Octavia walked up to Vinyl’s door and knocked. She had hoped Vinyl was in a better mood. She may not have stuck around after the DJ had left (as it turns out, Trixie’s repertoire was not all that impressive, all things considered), but it wasn’t a short walk, so perhaps she had time to calm down.

“I’m not home!” Vinyl’s voice replied; there was no emotion to it.

Octavia sighed, firstly because she wondered if Vinyl even thought that would actually have the desired effect, and secondly because her mood did not seem to have improved. Deciding to not heed her response, Octavia opened the door. The living room was exceptionally quiet; normally, if Vinyl was upset about something, she’d play something to drown out her sorrows. Instead, she was lying on the couch, looking very sullen. Her sunglasses were on the nearby coffee table to her side.

“Tavi,” she said, her face even, “the last thing I need right now is another scolding from you, okay?”

“Actually, I came by to see how you were doing,” Octavia replied.

“What makes you think I’m not okay?”

“Vinyl, we’ve known each other for a long time. Some have even mistaken us for sisters. If I can’t tell when you’re feeling upset about something, why are we even friends to begin with?”

Vinyl sighed and sat up. “I screwed up, huh?” Octavia remained silent, not knowing what to say. “I don’t even know why I did that. Guess I was just tired of her bragging about how ‘great and powerful’ she is (sweet Celestia, did I really just say that?)… without anything to show for it.”

“It is a performer’s job to sell the show, as it were,” Octavia pointed out.

Vinyl just sighed. “You see, Tavi? This is where you and me differ. You’re a cellist. You don’t do anything but play your cello. And you’re not a solo act, you’re part of a symphony; ponies don’t know or even really care who you are or that you’re there.” Octavia wanted to snap back at Vinyl for her rather crass remark, but she couldn’t argue. “Trixie and me, we’re the only face onstage. We gotta let ponies know we’re worth paying attention to. But she just… All she did was, ‘Ooh, look at me, I’m a unicorn! I can do magic! What a novelty!’” she said in an unflattering, mocking tone.

“I… do admit her performance after you left was rather… lacking,” Octavia admitted.

“All she did was perform for herself, and I just got so sick of it. Somepony had to tell her off. I couldn’t have been the only one who was thinking that.” Vinyl looked to Octavia expectantly.

“I… don’t know if I would agree with taking such a course of action…”

“Doesn’t matter now,” Vinyl said. “Best thing to do is just stay out of sight for the moment and hope everypony forgets about it.”

“Wait,” Octavia interjected, not liking where this was going, “you mean you…?!”

“Whinnydale’s not that far. Somepony’s gonna hear about this. Face it, Tavi, who’s gonna come to a performance by a pony who tried to publicly humiliate somepony else?”

“Vinyl, I will admit that what you did was rather stupid,” Octavia argued. (“Ya think?” Vinyl mumbled.) “But giving up what is probably your most important venue to date? All because you had a bad night?!”

“There’s no sense in it,” Vinyl answered. “I need to give everyone a chance to forget about Vinyl Scratch, the pony who yelled at a stage magician during her act, so they can focus on DJ-PON3, the pony who’s gonna make them dance.”

Octavia sighed. “Then how does that make you any different from Trixie?”

Vinyl stared wild-eyed at her friend. “What?!”

“You heard me. You’re doing this because you can’t live with the shame of what you just did.”

“Hey, this isn’t about me! How’s the audience supposed to enjoy themselves if all they see is the pony who shouted down some dumb magician who wasn’t all that great to begin with?!”

“And this counters my assertion, how?”

Vinyl just sighed. “Look, Tavi, I don’t know if you’re here to encourage me or whatever it is you think you’re doing, but it’s not working. Just… go away.” She lied back down on the couch, her muzzle pressed into the cushions.

“Very well,” Octavia sighed. “But we’re not finished with this conversation. I expect your head to be on straight tomorrow.”

“Oh, goody,” Vinyl mumbled sarcastically as Octavia walked out the door.

Vinyl didn’t feel like getting up off the couch just to go to bed. She had pretty much lost the will to move in any meaningful way. Besides, the couch was comfortable enough, and she would need as much rest as she could get before Octavia came back in the morning.

She doubted she would be ready, though; arguing with Trixie had taken a lot out of her. Add the fact that Vinyl made an idiot of herself in public, and she had a losing combination on her hooves.

She doesn’t understand, she thought to herself. I can’t go out there. I’d be booed off the stage faster than a circus clown at a Shakespony festival. Who wants to listen to a mare who publicly shames others? Deserved or not, this is not good for my rep.

She sighed. I’m getting worked up again. I need some sleep. Maybe Tavi’s right; maybe I do need a clearer head to think things out.

She was about to close her eyes and attempt to fall asleep when she heard something slap against the outside of her house. She looked up, the sudden assault waking her up. There was a piece of paper stuck to her window. Vinyl immediately noticed two things about it: the paper was held there with light pink magic, and the words she could read off it were, “You owe me a challenge.”

Vinyl opened her window and let the paper flow into her house, grasping it in her blue magic, leaving the other magic to disappear. She read the note aloud, “Come to the Everfree Forest and face me like a mare, unless you truly are as cowardly as you were this evening.”

That idiot! she thought as she crumpled the note. The hay is she doing in there?! Vinyl had few options, however; even if she’d rather not face Trixie again, she needed to get the showboating unicorn out of that forest as soon as possible.

Differences

Even with Trixie’s leftover “trail,” the ponies did not have to pay too much attention to their path to find the cave the Ursa appeared from; being so big, it made its own path to the town, leaving behind a swath cleared of trees. Vinyl was slightly reminded of their first excursion through the forest, though it wasn’t as elating as then.

The three unicorns carried the Ursa all the way to the cave, with the other four ponies acting as watch for any creatures about. Even though Vinyl hadn’t encountered anything other than the Ursa during her initial excursion, after remembering Octavia’s outburst when they got back, she decided it would be best, in a lot of ways, to have them accompany her.

Soon, they all reached the cave. Slowly and gently, the three unicorns ushered the sleeping Ursa into it. They waited until it was deep inside the cave and set it gently down until they felt it rest on solid ground. Everypony breathed a sigh of relief at having that humongous weight out of their grasp.

“Well,” Vinyl said after a few pants, “that’s that.”

“Indeed,” Trixie added. Then, with a suddenly renewed confidence, she said, “Well, then, seeing as Trixie has proven her point, she will be going now.”

“Wait, what?!” Vinyl said, just stopping herself from outright yelling.

“You admitted defeat,” Trixie said smugly. “Or did you not say, ‘I may not be as skilled in magic as you’?”

Vinyl recoiled a bit. “Um, maybe, but…!”

“Then the Great and Powerful Trixie has no more need to waste time with the likes of you.” Suddenly, she reared up and struck the ground below her, causing a plume of smoke to erupt from where she landed. The others all closed their eyes covered their mouths, though that didn’t prevent all of the smoke from invading their lungs, prompting a few coughs. When it finally cleared, everyone looked around the area. But Trixie was nowhere to be found.

“Did she just… disappear?” Derpy asked. One of her eyes moved to the side and something caught her vision. “Oh, wait, there she is.” Almost immediately, Trixie appeared from behind the tree from where she was hiding and ran off toward the edge of the forest.

“Maybe we can still catch her,” Lyra suggested, looking like she was going to break into a run.

“Forget it.” Everyone looked at Vinyl, almost surprised the words had come from her mouth. “She’s not worth the trouble.” She let out a deep sigh. “Wish I’d known that from the start,” she mumbled.

Octavia walked up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “At least you knew when to stop,” she reassured.

“Doesn’t make it right, though,” Vinyl continued. She started walking out of the forest. The others followed. “To be honest, I don’t really think I told her off just because her performance was bad. I mean, it was bad, but I guess I just thought I could do better.” She sighed again. “Really should have kept that bit to myself, though. You were right, Tavi, I’m no different from Trixie.”

“And I think that’s the difference between the two of you,” Octavia affirmed. Vinyl looked at her in confusion. “Maybe you didn’t stop yourself from bragging like she did, but you did admit your mistake. Trixie, as it stands, has yet to admit her own faults.”

Vinyl smiled a little, but turned her gaze back to the ground. “Maybe, but I can’t help but feel like I really screwed up. Between how I treated her and what it led to,” she pointed back toward the cave, “I’m clearly not the posterfilly for good decisions.”

Octavia thought for a moment before saying, “Well, if it means that much to you, I have an idea on how you can make it up to everypony.”

Okay, Vinyl, you got this. Just do it like you rehearsed. Still, even after all her practice, Vinyl felt something she never thought possible for her: anxiety. Whether it was because of the incident with Trixie or this being her first real performance outside of Ponyville, she could not entirely be sure; perhaps a combination of both.

She couldn’t dwell on these thoughts for long though, as she heard those pivotal words. “…so, fillies and gentlecolts, please help me in welcoming the newest face to the DJ gig, DJ-PON3!”

And the announcer introduces me. Vinyl breathed once to calm her nerves as she heard the cheers of the crowd on the other side of the curtain. Let’s do this. She stepped out onto the stage. “Hey, everypony, how you all doin’ tonight?” she shouted. The applause was thunderous. So far, so good. “Now, I know this is the part where I introduce myself because you don’t know a darn thing about me. But you know what?” She pointed to where the MC had walked offstage. “That guy already did that, so I won’t bother.” She heard a few chuckles. “Besides, I’m the kinda mare who lets her work speak for itself.” By now, she had made her way to her turntables and situated herself behind them. “I hope you’re ready to dance, because you’re all about to experience a case of Night Fever!” Aaaaaand hit the music.

The music started playing. The crowd started dancing. As she bobbed her head to the music, Vinyl looked out at her audience, smiling. Hm. Guess Tavi was right. Things turned out okay after all.

Wait, did I just admit Tavi was right? Oh, she’s not gonna let me hear the end of this.

Author's Note

This might be the shortest story I ever wrote for this series. I'll try to make them longer in the future, but I've always been the kind of guy who believes in letting the story itself dictate the length rather than unnaturally force it to be longer than necessary.

With that said, that's the end of another one, folks. Hope you liked it.

This is CF, signing out.

Major/Minor Problem

Vinyl walked carefully through the dark pathways of the Everfree, her horn glowing brightly enough to provide some illumination without attracting any undue attention. She was alone; she would have called her friends for backup, but between Octavia’s behavior and the rashness of Trixie’s choice of meeting place, running around town to get them would have been a waste of time. Besides, this trip would be different from the last time she came here; there weren’t any power-mad alicorns after her, and she couldn’t imagine Trixie making herself difficult to spot, let alone find, not with her ego, anyway.

This assumption held true as she found the trail Trixie had left: more of her advertising posters magically sealed to the trees, creating a clear path for Vinyl to follow. At least she’s not a complete idiot, she thought to herself. Still an idiot, though. She followed poster after poster, making sure to keep an eye out for any sign of Trixie or, at the very least, something that she’d rather not find.

The path continued farther into the forest than Vinyl would have liked; she had expected Trixie to stay closer to the edge, though she wasn’t too surprised at being proven wrong. Luckily, the path did end, opening to a small clearing. The only landmark of any real note was a cave entrance near the back. But Vinyl’s eyes were set on the blue mare in the center of the clearing, who was staring daggers at her.

“So, you showed up after all,” she said, a hint of venom in her voice.

“Don’t read too much into it,” Vinyl shot back. “I’m only here so I can get you out of this Celestia-forsaken forest and never have to deal with you again.”

“Oh no,” Trixie interjected, “Trixie has come too far to give up now.”

“Give up on what?!”

“After you left, Trixie’s audience started to dwindle. By the end, less than half were still there, if that! You completely ruined her performance!”

“Hey, if ponies don’t like your show, that ain’t my fault.”

“Who led the crowd? Who made a laughing stock out of the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“I would guess the pony who can’t let go of her third-pony shtick even after the show. Seriously, do you just talk like that all the time, or do you save it for when you’re trying to impress somepony?

“Look, if you want an apology, then I’ll apologize for interrupting the show, but that’s it. You didn’t do anything ‘great and powerful’ on that stage.”

“This is not about your stupid apology; that ship sailed long ago. This is about proving once and for all who is the better performer!”

Vinyl blanched a bit. “Wha… Seriously? How do we prove that? There’s nopony else here, which, by the way, is a very smart move on their part.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie would never let her fans lay eyes on what she is about to do. It would be bad for her reputation. But you never did step up to my challenge; if you are the better performer, a simple magic duel will prove that.”

“Okay, first off, what fans? You just said you lost most of your audience. Second, again, seriously? You came out here, of all places, just to avoid making yourself look bad? That’s dumb even for you.” As Vinyl said that, however, memories of her earlier conversation with Octavia started to creep up. “And third, how does shooting beams at each other prove anything?”

“You claimed you could do a much better job than Trixie. It only stands to reason that you can do what she does.”

“I just said I’m twice the performer you are; I didn’t say nothing about using magic!”

Trixie smirked. “Does this mean you give up before the contest has even started?”

“Only because this whole thing is stupid and we’re leaving right now. Even somepony like you must have heard the legends of the Everfree Forest. No pony in her right mind would come here willingly.”

“Which makes you…”

“The pony who’s going to drag your sorry flank out of this place kicking and screaming if you don’t move it yourself.”

“After Trixie has proven to you who deserves to be called ‘Great and Powe…”

Both ponies were stopped by a low rumble. It was close, like something had come up to them while they were arguing. Vinyl, acting on impulse, shut off her light. Trixie was about to voice her complaint before they both noticed that the area was still slightly illuminated (less so, perhaps, than when Vinyl’s spell was active, but still lit, nonetheless). They turned toward the source of the light; what they saw was a giant, bear-like beast, its body a translucent blue. They could make out what appeared to resemble stars coming from its body, which were lighting up the area. It was snarling, and drool could be seen dripping from its mouth.

“Please,” Vinyl started, “please tell that’s not what I think it is.”

“That depends,” Trixie replied, “do you think it’s an Ursa Major?” Vinyl didn’t say anything, too nervous to speak.

There was a short pause, both ponies waiting for the Ursa to do something. Finally, Vinyl spoke, softly, “Maybe, if we move slowly and quietly, we can—!”

“Are you nuts?!” Trixie nearly shouted. “If we move slowly, that just makes it easy for this thing to eat us! No, the Great and… Powerful… Trixie… will handle this monster… as she has… done in the past.” Although she tried to hide it, Vinyl could still hear the nervousness in Trixie’s voice. Before she could voice an objection, however, Trixie’s horn started glowing. A length of rope appeared out of her cape and started flowing toward the Ursa.

“Why do you happen to have a rope in your cape?” Vinyl whispered.

“Trixie had… prepared several methods for… taking you down,” Trixie replied, her nervousness still evident. “But this… will be a… much worthier cause.” She guided the rope, twirling it in front of the Ursa’s face, trying to disorient it, before finally looping it around its snout and tying into a knot.

“See?” Trixie said, a bit of confidence returning to her voice. “Piece of cake.”

“And what good is tying its mouth going to be?” Vinyl whispered, not convinced by Trixie’s actions or words.

“It will show this brute that the Great and Powerful Trixie means business.”

After a few seconds of understanding what happened to it, the Ursa opened its mouth, snapping the rope off. The two mares stared dumbfounded. Vinyl sneered at Trixie. “Any more bright ideas?”

Trixie glared at Vinyl for a quick second before turning back to the Ursa. “Okay… it seems you do not understand… with whom you are dealing.” Her nervousness began to return. “Very well. But just be aware… that Trixie gave you the choice.” Trixie closed her eyes in strained concentration. Soon, a black cloud appeared in front of its face. Vinyl would have been slightly impressed had it not been for the cloud’s less-than-ideal size, especially when compared to the gargantuan Ursa.

“What’s that dinky thing gonna do?” she whispered harshly. “What happened to that ‘one mighty spell’ garbage you were talking about?”

“Trixie will have you know that…” Trixie paused for a small moment, “if she set off a spell that powerful here, it would destroy the entire forest with us inside it. The Great and Powerful Trixie is not about to let that happen!”

A bolt of lightning shot out of the cloud, hitting the Ursa in the face. It roared in pain and rage. The two mares said nothing as they both immediately made a break for the forest border.

“Oh, yeah!” Vinyl shouted. “That worked!”

“Be quiet and keep running!” Trixie shouted back. Not too surprisingly, Vinyl found herself unable to argue with her. She just kept moving as fast as her legs would carry her; she hoped that the thick forest growth would keep the Ursa at bay until they could get out.

It wasn’t long before they reached the end of the forest, but even then, they continued moving until they were within the limits of Ponyville. “Do you think we lost it?” Vinyl asked, nearly out of breath.

“Trixie… wouldn’t… worry,” Trixie said. “Ursa Majors have a… brain the size of an apple. We should be safe.”

“What the hay is going on here?” a voice familiar to Vinyl said. Wait, Ly? They both turned to find Vinyl’s friends running up to them.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asked.

Turner spoke up. “I was just out for a moonlit stroll when I saw you running about. You had this strange look on your face, like you were angry about something. I found the others and we’ve been looking across town for you.”

“Here’s my question,” Bon Bon said; “what are you doing with her?” She pointed at Trixie.

Vinyl’s mood soured at being reminded why she was out in the first place. “Oh, the Great and Powerful Moron decided she wasn’t done with me and wanted to meet in the Everfree.” Trixie just glared at her in response.

She didn’t get the chance to say anything, however, because Octavia said, rather incensed, “Wait, you went into the Everfree Forest alone?!”

“Just to get her out of there,” Vinyl defended. “Besides, we made it out okay.”

Suddenly, everyone heard a loud roar. The five ponies turned toward the two mares. “Okay,” Vinyl said weakly, “maybe with one slight hitch.” She turned to Trixie and whispered harshly, “I thought you said it wouldn’t follow us this far!”

“Oh, sure, blame the magician for not having the right information,” Trixie argued. “Trixie just vanquishes them, preferably before they go wild.”

“Wait,” Lyra interrupted, having clearly heard them. “Do you mean that…?!” Everyone heard large footsteps approaching. By now, the commotion had drawn a crowd of sleepy, curious ponies. Everyone looked toward the edge of town to see a large, blue bear stomping towards them. Many of the townsponies started to run in fear as the Ursa began attacking some of the houses.

“Well, the good news is that we’re out of the forest,” Vinyl said. She turned to Trixie. “Now you don’t have to worry about holding back.”

“R-Right.” Trixie started to become nervous again, though this time, Vinyl got the sense that it wasn’t because of the Ursa. “No… holding…” She paused.

“I can’t.”

A chorus of gasps was heard throughout the area. Lyra stuttered a bit. “Is… Is she…?”

“She’s serious, Ly,” Vinyl said solemnly. “She just said ‘I.’”

“I can’t beat an Ursa Major,” Trixie continued. “Nopony can. Only a fool would willingly put themselves in front of one. I only said those things to make my show that much more amazing. I never actually thought I’d see a real, honest-to-Celestia Ursa Major.” She bowed her head in shame.

“Well, if it makes you feel better,” Turner said, “you still haven’t.”

The entire group stared dumbfounded at him. “Um, Turner,” Derpy started, “do you not see the big bear made of stars threatening to tear the town to pieces?” By now the Ursa was moving toward another house, having torn the roofs off of a few others.

“Plain as day,” he affirmed. “But it’s not an Ursa Major. Not that far off, admittedly, but it’s actually an Ursa Minor. A cub, if you will.”

“That’s just a baby?!” Trixie nearly shouted. She quickly regained what little composure she had, however, and said, “Well, even if that is true, it doesn’t mean a thing. I can’t defeat it.”

Vinyl, on the other hoof, was looking intently at the Ursa. Something about how Turner described it made her take notice of something, namely the look in its eyes. They seemed unfocused and were constantly blinking. Not only that, but its movements were sluggish, like it wasn’t putting much effort into its rampage.

“Um, is it just me,” she said, “or does that overgrown teddy bear look tired?” Everyone looked up at the Ursa.

“I… suppose,” Bon Bon said. “But why would a tired Ursa Minor come here?”

Vinyl just looked sheepishly at her friends and said, “Well, we may or may not have been arguing in front of a certain cave, and that may or may not have woken it up…” She coughed to regain herself. “The point is, we don’t have to beat it. Not in the usual way, at least.”

“How?” Trixie asked, a little skeptical. “What can you possibly do that I haven’t tried already?”

“Give it what it wants,” Vinyl said simply. Before anyone could ask, she turned and said, “Ly, you know any good lullabies?”

Lyra was taken aback for a second at being asked such a question out of the blue, but said, “Um, sure, but how am I supposed to make it loud enough?” She levitated her lyre off her back. “I mean, it’s not like we can hook this up to your speakers or anything.”

“Don’t think I haven’t been working on it,” Vinyl quipped, trying to lighten the mood a bit, “but you let me handle the volume issue.” Lyra nodded, if a bit skeptically, and started strumming the lyre. The tune she played was slow and simple, not an actual song that Vinyl could put words to, but it had just the right melody, almost dreamlike. If not for the adrenaline coursing through Vinyl’s body after the past few minutes, her eyelids probably would have started drooping right there.

She did close her eyes, however, and concentrated on the spell she was currently powering up. Everything around her simply started to fade as she focused on the spell and Lyra’s music. She was only just aware of the large stomps coming toward her or Trixie speaking to her.

“What are you trying to do?” the magician asked.

Without breaking her concentration, Vinyl said, “I may not know as much magic as you, but I know how to use the spells I do have. Like my sound direction spell.” The others could only give confused looks before a steady stream of blue magic flowed from Vinyl’s horn to the lyre. Lyra was caught slightly off guard but did not stop playing.

To everyone’s surprise, music notes, visible music notes, appeared around the lyre. One by one, they formed a stream that moved toward the Ursa. The giant bear had come very close to Vinyl when the notes started floating around its ears. It was surprised at the sudden sensation of sounds at first, but its face started to relax, mouth becoming a sleepy smile. Soon, it started to wobble back and forth, much to the nervousness of the ponies in the area.

Before it could fall over, however, it was caught in a field of light purple, preventing it from falling completely. Everyone looked to Trixie; her horn was glowing, and while she seemed to be straining herself, she was otherwise okay. Lyra played her lyre for about another half-minute to ensure the Ursa was fully asleep. After strumming one last chord, she added her own levitation spell to Trixie’s, easing some of the burden. The rest of the ponies who stayed were transfixed with wonder at what they had just seen.

Vinyl cut her spell and breathed a sigh of relief and exhaustion. After a few seconds, she added her magic to the levitation effort. “Let’s get this little guy back home. Preferably before his mom wakes up.” (She could hear Trixie mumbling something like, “Little guy.”)

“Very true,” Turner replied. “You really don’t want to meet a true Ursa Major.”

Derpy leaned in to whisper, “Have experience with that?”

Turner simply said, “Never again.”