The Braggart and the Bug

Chapters

Chapter 1: Outcasts of the Everfree
Chapter 2: How Not to Make a Comeback
Chapter 3: A Bold New Plan
Chapter 4: Observing the Observers
Chapter 5: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Chapter 6: An Egoist's Epiphany
Chapter 7: Revelations and Reconciliations
Author's note - Sequel now online!

Chapter 1: Outcasts of the Everfree

The Everfree Forest. Feared by ponies all over Equestria. Few dare venture into its shadowdy depths for fear of the terrible creatures that lurk within. As Celestia's sun began to rise one morning over this dark and uninviting place, a soul-piercing wail could be heard from within. But this was not the cry of some horrific Everfree beast, but the sound of a pony. A pony shrieking in the throes of unthinkable, unfathomable agony...

"THAT IS THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE'S HOOF, YOU SPONGE-LEGGED SIMPLETON!", a blue unicorn angrily snapped, a bruise already beginning to appear.

She hopped around the clearing in the forest which she grudgingly called home, cursing and sucking her battered hoof. Her assistant, a small changeling with a hammer threaded awkwardly through the holes in one of his front legs, looked down at her from the roof of a partially-constructed wooden wagon.

"Why Trixie not just uzzse magic to hold nail zzzsteady?" quizzed the insectoid creature in his strange, buzzing voice.

Trixie stopped sucking her hoof and glared upwards.

"Because my magic is far too precious to waste on such menial tasks!" she snarled through gritted teeth, neglecting to mention the fact she simply couldn't focus her magic on such a small object for very long.

Her magic was nowhere near as good as she believed it to be - in fact, even by normal unicorn standards it was fairly poor. It was only because of this shortcoming that she'd allowed the stupid pony-bug-thing to stay with her in the first place - over the last few weeks he'd been immensely useful in sprucing up her stage act.

The changeling, who called himself Leech, had been part of the invasion party who had attempted to take over Canterlot during the royal wedding a couple of months ago. Like the other changelings, he'd been repulsed and sent flying far away by a force-field generated by the sheer power of love. He'd landed in the Everfree forest, just outside the clearing where the disgraced traveling showpony had been living in a makeshift tent since her ill-fated attempt to win the admiration of Ponyville. Fortunately, Leech had not been badly injured (his head had broken his fall). Trixie took Leech in, but not out of kindness - the only thing she was interested in was his power. Although he was one of the lowest-ranked changelings in the swarm, his powers were still far in excess of anything Trixie possessed. Coupled with his naturally subservient nature, low intelligence even by changeling standards and his eagerness to please his new "queen", he made the perfect assistant. Trixie momentarily forgot about her throbbing hoof, and reflected upon how her fortunes had improved since meeting this powerful yet willfully pitiful creature...

Together they had toured some of the smaller, backwoods towns around the far side of the Everfree, impressing the ponies who lived there with cheap tricks and cheaper fireworks. With Leech taking on Trixie's form, Trixie had been able to fool her audiences into thinking that she had mastered self-duplication, teleportation, and other forms of magic that only the most powerful of unicorns could master. Leech would also take on the form of a random pony and place himself among the audiences at these shows. Trixie would then pick him as a "volunteer" from the audience, bring him onto the stage and then turn him into various animals, supposedly using her magic. Of course, this was actually Leech using his shape shifting powers but since many of these towns didn't even know what a changeling was, they were never found out... apart from one especially backward town where all the ponies looked extremely similar and Trixie had been unable to tell which one was Leech. Trixie abruptly ending the show by pretending to faint probably wasn't the best way to have dealt with it, but it seemed to work at the time.

The italic-fonted flashback paragraph was interrupted by Leech. With a couple of triumphant bangs of his hammer, he poked his head over the edge of the roof.

"Wagon izz finished!" he buzzed cheerfully.

He and Trixie, through their fraudulent magic shows, had finally managed to acquire enough bits to buy materials to build a new wagon to replace the one that was destroyed during Trixie's last visit to Ponyville. Leech had finished nailing the roof together by himself because Trixie was still in a bad mood about her hoof and preoccupied with backstory-summarizing daydreams.

"It's about time, cheese-legs!" she yelled, quickly coming to her senses. "Now get down from there and help me move my stuff into it! And be careful, the Great and Powerful Trixie's possessions are worth far more than you can afford!"

Through the power of teamwork, Leech doing the heavy lifting and Trixie lounging under the shade of a tree and telling him where to put things, Trixie's and Leech's makeshift tent home was soon empty and the new wagon filled with all of Trixie's touring paraphernalia. Leech had a small basket placed at the foot of Trixie's bed in which he was to sleep, which Leech didn't mind. It was better than top-and-tailing with Trixie under a single sheet as they had done in the tent. She had a tendency to kick in her sleep, making Leech extremely grateful for his tough insect exoskeleton at times.

After the duo had taken a few minutes to examine and admire their new home, Trixie began to walk towards the edge of the clearing. She turned back to face Leech.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie must go to the nearest town to acquire some supplies for her next show", she announced grandly. "Starlight Firecracker's Pyrotechnic Emporium has a two-for-one sale on stage fireworks. I just hope he's still got those ones that can momentarily blind the first three rows of an audience - they're vital for the disappearing card trick!"

"Doezzz Trixzzie need azzizztanzze?" asked Leech, picking words that really didn't sit well with his buzzing speech impediment.

"No, I can manage", sniffed Trixie. "You will stay here and watch over our wagon. I don't want to come back and find that a Manticore has set up home in it. Trixie shall return shortly!".

With that, an impressive puff of smoke suddenly engulfed her. As it cleared, Trixie could be clearly seen running into the forest.

"Why doezz she keep doing that every time she goezz zzsomewhere?" wondered Leech out loud.

As he lounged in his basket, listening to the mid morning breeze gently blowing through the clearing and the various bloodthirsty creatures of the Everfree attacking each other in the distance, his thoughts drifted to how his life had been before meeting this eccentric unicorn...

Leech had been a maintenance drone back in the changeling hive. These were the lowest ranked of all changelings, despite the important job they did. They were responsible for the building, upkeep and repair of the hive. They possessed grass-green eyes instead of the usual blue - these allowed them to see better in dark tunnels. Their smaller stature made them more suitable for working in narrow tunnels, as they often had to do. They also had straighter, elongated fangs and a pointed spur on each of their front feet, which allowed them to dig, cut and shape various hive-building materials. The maintenance drones were proud of these features, since it made them stand out from other changelings.

Leech initially had a number instead of a name, Maintenance Drone 1017. Only higher-ranked changelings had their own names. Low ranks were simply numbered according to how competent at their role they were. To say Leech was incompetent was an understatement - he was number 1017 despite there only being 842 changelings in the hive. He gave himself the name because leeching love from other creatures was his favorite pastime - when he got the chance. Maintenance drones rarely left the hive, instead subsisting on secondhand love brought in by higher-ranked changelings such as Scout drones.

Leech's main job was tunnel digging. He liked this job because he only had to use his front-leg spurs, thus allowing him to keep his fangs in good condition. Some maintenance drones had to cut hive-building materials, which was chiefly done using their specially-extended fangs. This made them short and blunt very quickly, depriving them of one of the few things they had which other changelings didn't. Leech thought he was very good at tunnel digging, even being awarded a medal for it by Queen Chrysalis. Although it was less of a medal, and more of a piece of hive wall roughly chewed into a medal shape with a smiley face drawn on it. And instead of being awarded it, he made it himself. But Leech was sure the Queen would have done the same if she hadn't been so busy.

In reality, Leech wasn't a good tunnel digger. Though maintenance drones were not noted for their intelligence, Leech was less intelligent than most. Once, he was asked by Mirror, one of the higher ranking Changelings, to dig a tunnel from the cocoon chamber to outside the hive in order to improve ventilation. However, Leech had gone the wrong way entirely and dug a tunnel to a river bed, causing a flood in the hive that took several weeks to clean up. It was at this point he earned his humiliating number. He nevertheless remained upbeat, and cheerfully continued doing pointless tasks other changelings gave him just to keep him out of trouble.

Then came the fateful day where General Carbon, an elite-ranked changeling, announced that every changeling in the hive was to leave immediately for Canterlot, and that Chrysalis would meet them there. Leech had been very excited, as this was the first mass raid he had participated in. He relished the idea of being able to feed on love first-hoof, instead of living on sloppy seconds. He was also keen to prove himself to the others after the tunnel mishap. As the force-field surrounding the city crumbled, Leech dived in with gusto, ready to wreak terror on the ponies below... only to be almost immediately leveled by a right-hoof haymaker. As he hit the ground, he caught a brief glimpse of the perpetrator, a cyan pegasus with a colorful mane. He brought a hoof to his face, and noted with horror than his left fang was broken off halfway down. After this, he drifted in and out of consciousness until that terrible love-powered forcefield threw him and the other changelings far away from the city.

After landing with a bump near an Everfree clearing, Leech staggered to his feet and continued to lament the loss of his fang. These didn't grow back, and Leech had been extremely proud of them. His thoughts were soon distracted however, when he began to pick up an incredibly powerful source of love nearby. He staggered through the undergrowth until he happened upon a shoddily-built tent. A blue unicorn poked her head out.

"Who goes there?" she yelled "Who is foolish enough to trespass in the Great and Powerful Trixie's domain?"

Leech was stunned. The source of love was this pony... and yet there were no other ponies around. This pony was exuding massive amounts of love... for herself! In fact there was so much of it, Leech was able to feed on it without her even noticing. She was a living battery for a changeling like him! By sticking with this pony, Leech would never be hungry again! Plus, he knew deep down the swarm wouldn't be looking for him. In fact they were probably glad to be rid of him. So, he decided to seize this opportunity and began to introduce himself...

This time it was Trixie's turn to interrupt the daydreaming.

"Leech! I have returned!" Trixie announced, carrying a saddle-bag filled with various stage pyrotechnics.

Leech was pleased to see her - although he'd initially stayed with her simply to feed on the love she gave off, he enjoyed having someone to follow and saw her as his 'Queen' of sorts. Plus, although he'd never admit it, he also sort-of saw her as a friend. After all, she had taught him a much wider vocabulary (although it was still limited) and he'd even picked up a few new magic tricks from her. Sadly, the sentiment was not at all reciprocated by Trixie.

"Now then, lazy wings", she began, "Get up - we're heading to Trottingham for our next show. With our improved repertoire, I can once again start playing the bigger towns! No longer will I have to rely on hick towns to generate a meager income. Trixie is heading for the bigtime!"

Leech immediately stood to attention. He buzzed around the wagon, checking everything was in order for their journey. Wheels oiled, check. Loose items inside secured, check. Then Leech checked the harness at the front.

"Uh-oh", he said sadly. "Lookzz like we made a mizztake. Harnezz izz far too zzsmall for Trixie."

Sure enough, there was no way a pony big enough to pull the wagon would fit between the limbers and into the harness. Trixie, however, didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

"Naturally!", she said with a smile "I didn't design it for me. Now, hold your wings up."

With this, Trixie's horn began to glow. A magic aura surrounded both Leech and the harness. Within minutes, Leech was strapped into the harness and Trixie had taken a seat inside the wagon. She opened a window at the front and called out to the bewildered changeling.

"Better get going!" she said, pouring herself a drink "Trottingham is five hours from here!"

With only a slight sigh, Leech flapped his wings as hard as he could, and the wagon slowly lumbered away through the trees and bushes.

Author's Note

Mirror and General Carbon are characters from TeaPartyCannon's awesome story 'Smoke and Mirrors'. Just had to give a little shout out to one of the stories that inspired this one! It's worth noting that this story takes place in a similar, but definitely separate continuity to Smoke and Mirrors.

Also, for those of you old enough to remember Transformers Beast Wars - try reading all of Leech's lines in Waspinator's voice. That's sort of the voice I had in mind for him!

Also, I'm British. I've tried to Americanize the spelling as much as I can, although the occasional British spelling may have slipped through. Force of habit.

Thanks for reading, next chapter will be along at some point. Hopefully!

Chapter 2: How Not to Make a Comeback

Despite almost five hours of travelling, fatigue wasn't taking its toll in the slightest. The wagon arrived in a remote area just North of Trottingham where the two travelling performers would be setting up their camp. The journey had been extremely smooth and comfortable, even relaxing...

...for Trixie, anyway.

Leech, on the other hoof, was lying in a heap at the front of the wagon, gasping and wheezing for breath.

They'd had to take the back roads to avoid being seen - the larger towns and cities in Equestria were still on high changeling alert after the Canterlot incident. Trixie couldn't risk being seen with one, much less using one to pull her wagon - it could be disastrous for her comeback tour! Leech couldn't adopt the form of a pony to pull the wagon because when he changed to a pony form he also altered his size slightly, and became a little bigger. Of course, this meant in any form but his changeling one, he'd never fit into the wagon harness. In her haste to design the wagon in such a way that she'd never actually have to pull it, Trixie had overlooked this issue. A pity, as if they'd been able to take the direct route they'd only have been traveling for 3 hours.

However, this made no difference whatsoever to Trixie. She finished her third apple and grass smoothie and hopped down the wagon's steps. She walked around to the front, where the little changeling was still attempting to get to his hooves. Her horn once again glowing, she quickly used her magic to remove the harness from her exhausted assistant. In a rare moment of compassion, she even offered him a glass of water, which he downed in a single gulp.

"Tha....th-thaa...aannk....y-youuu....", Leech gasped between breaths, his lungs still greedily sucking in the cool early evening air.

"Yes, that's me, the kindest and most noble of showponies.", she said smugly. "You will have plenty of chance to show your gratitude at the show later tonight."

Leech, who was beginning to feel the hydrating benefits of the water, was finally able to stand. He turned to face Trixie, still breathing quite heavily.

"Wh... what....routine... will....Trixzzie....be.....doing?" he asked, again between breaths.

"An ingenious new one, conceived by me - the greatest show planner of all time!" Trixie replied grandly. "First of all, you will head into town 20 minutes or so before the show starts. Keep yourself hidden, scour the town and find an insignificant pony who definitely will not be at the show. Take their form, and add yourself to the front row of the audience. Then, as I make my spectacular entrance, you will pretend to be a neigh-sayer. To prove my amazing power, I will..."

Trixie stopped, and looked quizzically at the still heavily fatigued changeling before her. He was struggling to remain standing.

"Are... are you alright?" she asked in an unusually quiet voice, looking away awkwardly.

Leech, taken aback by his narcissistic friend's seemingly worried tone, tried to puff up his chest and put on a brave face.

"Leech izz fine," he buzzed "Juzzt a little bit zzsleepy from the trip."

"Oh. Good," said Trixie, almost sounding genuinely concerned for someone's welfare but her own. "Because I'd hate for you to ruin Trixie's big break for her by falling asleep before your cue!" she added sharply, sounding more like her usual self.

Leech assured her this wouldn't be a problem, and listened as intently as he could to the rest of Trixie's nauseatingly self-aggrandizing routine plans. Trixie then told him to get some rest before the show, an order with which Leech gratefully complied.

A couple of hours later, evening was descending over Trottingham. The stage had been prepared, and the first ponies were beginning to gather around, chatting among themselves. Some had never heard of Trixie and were curious to see what would happen. Others had heard the tale of Ponyville and wanted to see what kind of mess Trixie could make of her act this time.

Leech woke up, groggily climbed out of his basket and looked at the clock - 25 minutes until showtime. Trixie had already left to make the backstage preparations, so Leech ensured the wagon was secure before departing. Being sure to keep a low profile, he headed towards the town, moving on the tips of his hooves. After realizing this didn't actually make him any stealthier, he settled for trotting normally instead.

Hiding behind a bench, Leech looked around the town square, and attempted to listen in on the ponies' conversations. He was listening out for any pony saying that they wouldn't be attending the show so he could safely take their form. He was also occasionally leeching small amounts of love from passing couples (he liked some variety once in a while). However, something was bothering him. Trixie had specified that the pony he took the form of should be 'insignificant'. Unfortunately, due to Leech being half asleep whilst being told the plan, he'd forgotten the exact criterion Trixie had given him. He knew it began with "in", and was racking his tiny brain trying to remember.

"Interezzting? No, that'zz not it. Intolerant? Zztill not right. Indeterminate? No, pluzz Leech hazz no idea what that meanzz. Incestuouszz? Ugh. No. Thizz izz not that kind of zzstory. Intricate? Intriguing? Aaagh, thizz izz hopelezz!" he buzzed anxiously to himself.

He had to get the disguise right, or Trixie's opening act could be ruined! Leech snapped out of his worried frenzy as an elderly male Earth pony trotted past, speaking to a friend.

"Are you going to the show?" asked his companion, a younger female pegasus.

"Me? Oh no." replied the Earth pony. "I need my rest for tomorrow. Besides, I've always been indifferent to traveling performers. See you tomorrow, and enjoy the show tonight!"

Bidding his companion farewell, he cantered to a grand-looking house at the edge of the town square and went inside. From behind the bench, Leech buzzed with delight.

"Indifferent! That wazz it! Trixie said find indifferent pony to dizzguizze azz!" he thought joyously.

Waiting until the pony's companion was well out of sight, in a flash of green magic he took the form of the indifferent pony he'd just seen. A tall, pale blue Earth pony with a gray mane, tail and matching handlebar moustache. His disguise's cutie mark was a grand-looking pair of scrolls. Glancing at the large clock tower in the center of the square, Leech noted there were only 3 minutes until the show started. He galloped towards the stage, unsure of how he was going to get to the front row - by now a large crowd had gathered.

To his surprise, as the assembled ponies saw him coming they smiled and waved to him. Some greeted him verbally, and they all moved out of the way and allowed him to go to the front.

"Theze poniezz zzsure are friendly!" thought Leech, blissfully missing what should have been a massive warning sign.

His thoughts were interrupted by an intense flash and an ear-splitting bang. Seemingly all the fireworks Trixie had bought that morning went off at once, as she appeared in a puff of smoke from behind a curtain. The crowd of (mostly female, as was normal in the oddly gender-imbalanced land of Equestria) ponies cheered and stomped their hooves. Trixie's eyes scanned the front row - Leech gave two quick nods of his head. This was a signal they'd used since the incident involving the town of near-identical ponies.

"I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! Gaze upon me in awe, ponies of Trottingham!" boomed the grinning Unicorn on the stage.

Leech always loved this part of her shows, as Trixie's love for herself became even more intense - he always helped himself to a generous portion. He was careful not to get too lost in his indulgence however, as his cue would be coming soon.

"Many say that Trixie is the greatest unicorn magician who has ever lived!" continued Trixie, not so much twisting the truth as disregarding it entirely. "However, before I begin to dazzle you all with my amazing feats, do we have any neigh-sayers with us tonight?"

This was Leech's cue. He raised a front hoof and proclaimed loudly, and rather woodenly: "I do not think Trixie is as powerful as she says she is! I think that Trixie is silly, and uh... dumb."

"Really smooth, Leech." Trixie thought to herself, rolling her eyes at Leech's still-stunted vocabulary.

Nevertheless, she noted that nopony else seemed to be concerned by Leech's unconvincing criticism, and so she continued her act.

"WELL!" she thundered "I shall show you all how I deal with such ignorance! YOU SHALL WITNESS THE INCREDIBLE POWER OF TRIXIE FIRST-HOOF, NEIGH SAYER!"

Closing her eyes and focusing hard, her horn began to glow. She used its magic to activate another volley of incredibly bright fireworks, which stunned the audience long enough for Leech to do his part.

Using a texture-change spell Trixie had taught him, Leech's disguised form was again bathed in a green aura. He concentrated, and was eventually able to change the coloring of his disguise to an all-over mottled gray. When the fireworks died down, he stood perfectly still. This, along with the color change, gave the impression that the pony he was disguised as had been turned to stone!

"Ha-HA!" gloated Trixie. "See what my infinite powers are capable of, ponies of Trottingham!"

There was a long, awkward silence. Trixie hadn't been expecting this - the idea had been to instill awe, admiration, fear, and respect within her audience. However, the stunned ponies simply stared at the seemingly-petrified stallion, occasionally turning their glance back to Trixie. Trixie stood in equally nonplussed silence, attempting to read the audience's faces. The silence was broken by angry sounding shouting from the third row.

"How DARE you come to our town and do that to our beloved Mayor!" came the voice.

It was followed by more yells and jeers from across the audience as the assembled ponies' shock began to boil over into tempestuous fury.

"M...M....Mayor?!" stammered Trixie as her blood ran cold.

Realization hit her like a wet fish to the face - Leech had only gone and chosen the most significant pony he could have disguised as! Trixie, sensing an impending disaster, hurriedly attempted to regain control of the crowd.

"Heh... nothing to fret over, ponies of Trottingham!" she called shakily over the rising wave of hissing and boos. "This is a little something me and your fine Mayor set up beforehoof! Watch and be amazed as Trixie swiftly returns your town's leader to his handsome pony self!"

Her horn lit up again. She attempted to set off another flash-bang firework to give Leech a chance to switch back to the non-stony version of his disguise. But the fireworks didn't activate. No matter how hard Trixie tried, she simply couldn't get them to ignite.

"Stupid fireworks!" she muttered beneath her breath, "I'll be having serious words with Starlight Firecracker about this! I bet that's why these were on special offer!"

She kept trying, her attempts becoming increasingly frantic, but nothing happened. Leech couldn't simply switch forms without the cover provided by the fireworks, as the distinctive color of his magic aura would make it obvious that he was a changeling.

The audience grew angrier and angrier - all they could see was Trixie standing on the stage, her horn glowing uselessly, and their Mayor still looking like a statue. Soon, objects began to rain down on Trixie from the raging mob - apple cores, rotten fruit, balls of paper, even more dangerous items like small logs and an empty jam jar. Trixie quickly dived behind the stage curtain. She poked her head around and desperately pleaded with the crowd.

"Please, give Trixie time! These spells are very complex, and Trixie cannot concentrate if you throw things at her!" she wailed, waving a hoof despairingly at the seething mass of ponies that stood before her.

The marauding crowd were beyond bargaining with at this point, and they began to push against the stage, as if they were trying to tip it over. Leech, who was still keeping up the act of being a petrified Mayor, had seen enough. He wasn't about to let his friend get hurt by these lunatics! With a flash of green magic flame, he assumed his true form and flew above the center of the stage.

"It'zz alright!" he shouted to the crowd "Izz not really Mayor!"

He beamed proudly at the gathered ponies, not realizing the extent of his folly. The crowd again momentarily fell silent. Trixie, watching from behind the curtain, felt her stomach churn - she knew exactly what was going to happen next.

"A CHANGELING! GET IT!" shrieked a mare from the back of the crowd "AND GET THAT TRICKSTER WHO HARBORED IT TOO!"

The now fuming crowd charged the stage en masse, knocking it down and causing Trixie to fall off the back of it, just as Trixie had expected. Leech swooped down and grabbed Trixie between his front hooves. Although his wings still ached from the journey to Trottingham, he flapped his hardest and quickly flew Trixie away from the near-rioting ponies. Some of them had inexplicably acquired pitchforks and flaming torches from somewhere, and were preparing to pursue them. Only when the real Mayor came out to see what the commotion was did the crowd calm down and disperse.

Trixie and Leech were already far away from the scene of madness by the time this happened, however. They buzzed over treetops and through valleys before Leech set Trixie down in the woodland where the wagon was parked.

"That wazz a closzze one!" buzzed Leech, mopping his brow - which was odd, since changelings didn't sweat.

Trixie just glared wordlessly at him, her face glowing crimson and her brow deeply furrowed. Her face seemed ablaze with silent fury, her entire body trembling as if struggling to contain her barely-bridled rage. She turned and headed up the steps, opened the wagon door and went inside.

"Guezz thizz show didn't go how you wanted, huh?" called Leech sadly. "Leech izz zzsorry for-"

Leech was interrupted by the wagon door slamming, and being bolted from the inside. He saw that his basket had been thrown out of the door and was resting on the ground at the bottom of the steps.

"Oh." he said quietly.

Chapter 3: A Bold New Plan

The night sky was clear over the woods where Trixie and Leech were camped. Stars sparkled, and Luna's moon shone more brightly than ever. Alas, even such a spectacular sight as this could not lift the two downtrodden spirits in the clearing below.

Trixie lay on her bed, staring up at the wooden ceiling of the wagon she and Leech had built. A torrent of thoughts swirled in her mind...

...her comeback was over before it had begun...

...she was now a known harborer of changelings, a punishable offense under interim laws...

...it would only be a matter of time before even the most outlying of towns heard about it, so she couldn't even go back to doing shows at those places...

... and the most painful thought of them all - it was mostly her fault.

Sure, Leech could have waited a little longer before changing form in public. Trixie might have come up with a solution before being flattened by a mob of angry ponies. But then she might not, and then she would have really been in trouble. And yes, Leech's choice of disguise made the crowd go against her far quicker than it should have. But really, turning a pony to stone? What a stupid idea for an act! Cockatrices turned ponies to stone, and they were almost universally despised! Even if it hadn't been the Mayor, the trick would have made her very unpopular very quickly. Trixie cursed her seeming inability to admit when an idea of hers was a bad one.

Things hadn't been much more optimistic outside. Leech had been laying in his basket looking up at the moon. He'd moved the basket slightly further away from the wagon to where he could see the sky better. He reflected upon his numerous failings, both with the swarm and with his only friend. He recalled the time he'd been asked to repair the foundation of a wall within the Queen's chamber...

An 80/20 mixture of mud and wax was normally used for these situations - Leech of course, got the ratios back to front and built a wall with an 80% wax foundation. As soon as the sun came up the next day, the foundation immediately melted, causing half of the wall to fall onto Chrysalis herself. As one may expect, she wasn't pleased.

He remembered having to hide himself for two whole weeks after that one. Then he thought back to an unfortunate fireworks incident, shortly after he'd met Trixie...

Trixie had returned one night to their tent, having been to town to collect another batch of fireworks for her stage shows. As she took off her saddlebag, she noticed a firework was missing - it was a huge mortar-type firework that Trixie used for her grand finales. She sighed, and complained that she must have dropped it on the way back. Leech, eager to please, immediately volunteered to go and look for it. He grabbed one of the oil-burning lanterns illuminating the tent in his teeth, then charged off into the darkness to go and find it. A few minutes later, he happened upon the bowling-ball sized explosive on a pathway. He set his lantern down next to it... unfortunately, he'd put the open-flamed device just a little bit too close to the firework...

Leech didn't remember much else of that night, other than he'd woken up the next morning thirty feet up in a tree, looking down at a crater the size of a haystack in the path.

He rolled over in his basket and let out a long sigh.

"Why Leech fail at everything Leech doezz?" he wondered sadly, "Why should Trixie even put up with Leech's conzztant bunglingzz?"

He contemplated getting up then and there and flying away, but remembered that Trixie was currently his only source of nourishment. Plus, she was the only friend Leech had ever had, and he was fond of her - even if she did treat him like horseapples at times. He wondered if Trixie would even want him around anymore, or whether she'd send him away. Either way, Leech eventually concluded that there was nothing he could do about things at the current moment, and drifted into a troubled sleep.

Trixie on the other hoof, was still wide awake. Having managed to calm the maelstrom of self-doubt in her mind somewhat, she was now dealing with another unfamiliar feeling - guilt. Trixie usually had no remorse, regardless of the situation - she didn't understand what was different this time. She couldn't help but feel that Leech was only looking out for her best interests, albeit in his own clumsy way. Trixie let out a melancholic sigh, rose to her hooves, and trotted over to the wagon door. She opened it and looked around the moonlit clearing. There was a moment of panic when she realized she couldn't see Leech anywhere, but this was soon over as her attention was drawn to a distinctive buzzing snoring. Using her horn to light the way, she quietly strode over to the sleeping changeling. Using her magic, she gently lifted the basket and Leech with it. She brought it back into the wagon and delicately set it down at the foot of her bed.

With the self-doubt under control and the guilt somewhat soothed, Trixie decided it was finally time to get some sleep herself. She climbed into bed, laid her head onto the pillow, and felt an uncomfortable lump. She sat up and batted an apple core and a paper ball out of her mane with her hoof.

"Throwing things at The Great and Powerful Trixie indeed... buck you all, Trottingham!" she murmured before drifting off into slumber.

She was awoken some hours later, by a beam of dappled mid-morning sunshine through the wagon's window. She drowsed as the gentle warmth of the beam shone upon her face. Lazily opening an eye to check the time, she suddenly leapt to her hooves as she realized she'd slept later than she'd intended to. She had wanted to travel away from Trottingham as soon as it was light enough, in the early hours of the morning. She rubbed at her eyes groggily with a forehoof. She noticed that Leech was still asleep. Although she didn't quite understand why, she decided to let him rest for another 10 or so minutes before waking him.

"The less I have to deal with his idiocy and his annoying buzzing, the better!" she told herself, yet somehow she knew that wasn't really the reason.

Her horn glowed, and she picked up the apple core and paper ball she'd removed from her mane the night before. She threw the apple core out of the window, and was about to be equally environmentally irresponsible with the paper ball when her curiosity was piqued. She unscrunched it to see what it was - it seemed to be a flyer for some kind of upcoming event. As Trixie scanned the crumpled page, her eyes narrowed and a disturbing smile spread across her face.

"This is too perfect! Trixie can definitely make use of this occasion!" she said with a sinister grin.

Presently, Leech awoke. He stood up, and stretched his legs whilst letting out a lengthy, hearty yawn. He looked around, somewhat confused.

"Thizz doezzn't look like outzzside." he said, uncomprehendingly. "How did Leech get back in here?!"

"Outside? What are you buzzing about, bug brain?" asked Trixie, attempting to deny throwing her assistant out in a fit of temper. "You've been in here the whole time!"

"Really? Leech wazz sure Trixzzie wazz mad at Leech for ruining show, and made Leech zzleep outzzside!" said Leech, accurately remembering the previous night's events.

"Trixie says she did not throw you out, breezy-knees!" replied Trixie crossly, simultaneously feeling bad about lying to Leech and feeling good about creatively insulting his legs. "Must remember that one." she noted to herself.

She didn't want to tell Leech the real story about how he got back inside, lest he think she was going soft. Heck, she didn't want to believe it herself, never mind somepony else!

"Maybe Leech dream it." he shrugged, sounding decidedly unconvinced with himself.

"Yes, well, since you can barely comprehend whether you're awake or not, that's highly possible." Trixie said firmly.

"Trixzzie..." ventured Leech quietly, "Leech izz very zzsorry for ruining your show lazzt night and making everypony hate you. Pleazze forgive Leech!"

Trixie felt another massive pang of guilt stab at her heart as she looked at the changeling's pleading little face, a small tear appearing in the corner of his eye. Quickly taking a deep breath, swallowing the lump in her throat and discreetly wiping away a tear of her own, she regained her usual demeanor.

"Trixie forgives you... this time." she said, as firmly as she could without her voice cracking. "But be warned - do NOT let it happen again. Besides... it wasn't entirely your fault..."

Leech was surprised. "Trixie think it partly her fault too?" he enquired innocently.

"NO!" snapped Trixie. "This is the fault of Twilight Sparkle and her horrible little friends in Ponyville!"

This revelation caused Leech to pause. Trixie had complained in depth about this Twilight Sparkle and her friends, the Elements of Harmony. Leech thought this was a silly name for a group of friends, largely due to him not understanding their true nature. He'd heard all about how Twilight and Ponyville had upstaged and humiliated Trixie, disproved her claims of power and wrecked her previous wagon, but couldn't see how they were relevant here. After a few moments of contemplation, he turned to Trixie with a quizzical look on his face.

"How izz thizz Ponyville'zz fault?" he asked.

"Do I have to explain EVERYTHING to you, Holey-Hocks and The Three Brain Cells?" scolded Trixie, again feeling a mixture of guilt and self-praise for her inventive changeling insulting skills.

"If Twilight, her ghastly little followers and that poxy town of Ponyville had just accepted Trixie's superiority, everything that has happened to me since would never have happened! I would never have had to scrape a living in the Everfree! Last night's terrible show would never have occurred! I could have been performing the Gala circuit by now! Ponyville and the ponies in it are going to pay for these humiliations!" she explained, her voice becoming increasingly maniacal with each sentence.

Leech pondered for a few moments. Trixie's bitter ranting sort-of made sense, except for the fact it didn't really. Although in all honesty he was just glad Trixie hadn't banished him. With this in mind, he immediately discarded any doubts he had about Trixie's convoluted logic.

"Szzo what are we going to do about thizz Ponyville?" he asked, attempting to sound dark and menacing, but failing miserably.

"Ah, my inarticulate invertebrate" began Trixie, moving onto alliterative insults. "We are going to attend THIS."

She held up the crumpled flyer to Leech. After a few minutes of Leech simply standing there waiting for something to happen, Trixie remembered Leech couldn't actually read. She cleared her throat, and read the flyer to him.

THIRD ANNUAL GEMSTONE FESTIVAL

ALL PONIES WELCOME TO JOIN EQUESTRIA'S ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF EQUESTRIA'S 5th MOST ABUNDANT NATURAL RESOURCE!

- RARE GEMSTONE DISPLAY!
- GEMSTONE MARKET!
- GEM-THEMED PARTY!

TAKES PLACE IN THE TOWN OF PONYVILLE, HOME OF THE FAMOUS ELEMENTS OF HARMONY!

"And it just so happens, the date on this flyer is tomorrow!" she finished smugly.

"Trixie hazz plan?" asked Leech.

"I always do." replied Trixie, grinning unsettlingly. "A plan which will ruin Ponyville's little festival, make me the wealthiest mare this side of Canterlot, drive a wedge between Twilight and her silly little Elements, and most of all make Ponyville see Trixie as the hero she is!"

Trixie cackled to herself. This plan really was perfect - but with the festival beginning tomorrow evening and Ponyville being half a day's traveling away, they would need to act fast. Once they reached Ponyville, Trixie would have to make some preparations before executing the plan, making time even more of the essence.

Leech quickly assumed the position between the wagon's limbers, and was soon harnessed up. With renewed vigor, he pulled the heavy wagon forwards, buzzing his wings to give himself some extra forward propulsion as he walked. Trixie popped her head out of the wagon's front window and called to Leech.

"Onward, my moronic minion! Soon, the Great and Powerful Trixie shall take her rightful place as the most admired equine in Equestria!"

She let out a piercing laugh which echoed throughout the woods, as the sinister duo made their way towards the small town of Ponyville.

Chapter 4: Observing the Observers

Meanwhile, in the small town of Ponyville, an infectious buzz of excitement was in the air. The annual Gemstone Festival was to take place that night, and the town's residents chattered with anticipation to each other whilst rushing back and forth making preparations. Bunting was hung from every rooftop, lamp post and any other place that it was possible to hang things off. Stalls were being assembled in the town square, ready for traders and exhibitors of gemstones from around Equestria to come and show their wares.

At Sugarcube Corner, as one might expect, Pinkie Pie was preparing to host the gem-themed party.

She'd never thrown a party with such an odd theme before, and even she was having some trouble coming up with suitable ideas. In the end, she settled for throwing one of her usual parties, except everything would be gem shaped. To that end, she'd just finished delicately removing a large lump of apple jello from an angular mold. As the green dessert jiggled and lurched about on the plate, it resembled a large emerald... albeit an extremely wobbly one. Next to it were similarly-molded jellos in strawberry, blueberry and grape flavors (to resemble oversized, wobbling versions of a ruby, sapphire and amethyst respectively).

She'd had a less easy time with the muffins - unfortunately, there was no real way of molding these into a gemstone shape. She stared at the puffy, round confections with a puzzled look on her face, until an idea landed atop her bouncy pinky mane, crawled down her head, and squeezed itself into her ear. She suddenly grinned broadly.

"I am just about to be BRILLIANT!" she squeaked, barely able to contain her excitement.

Within minutes, the muffins had many angular surfaces and strange corners - they vaguely resembled chocolate-chip encrusted gemstones. However, they more closely resembled regular muffins that had been battered with a coal shovel. This is because that was exactly what they were.

Pinkie set the shovel down behind the counter, and admired her work. Sure, the muffins were a bit crooked but it wouldn't matter once they'd been eaten!

"Perfect!" she exclaimed, and nodded triumphantly.

Noticing the matt black coating some of the muffins had taken on, she wondered if she should have perhaps washed the coal shovel first. She shrugged, and carried on with the party preparations, merrily humming nonsensical tunes to herself as usual.

Outside, Rarity was already transporting boxes of assorted gems towards the trade area. She wanted to get first pick of the stalls so she could guarantee herself a good place. The traders' market got very busy during the festival's peak hours - stalls in more secluded areas were often overlooked by potential customers. It was therefore vital for her to get a decent spot! A few paces behind Rarity, carrying a large sack filled with opals of assorted colors was Spike, who was only too happy to help his beloved. One thing he was not happy about however, was the mesh muzzle Rarity had made him put on before allowing him to help.

"Why do I even have to wear this thing?" he grumbled. "It's uncomfortable, it's chafing my snout and makes me look stupid!"

"Sorry, Spikey-Wikey." replied Rarity, barely able to contain a semi-sympathetic giggle "But I can't have you eating up all my profits! I'm hoping to trade these rare opals for some more baby-blue sapphires. I ran out of those a while back, thanks to my sister."

"I didn't eat all those gems you collected for Sapphire Shores that time!" protested Spike. "Well, maybe a couple... alright, I had a few... look, I left you enough to finish the costumes, didn't I?" he attempted to argue, without success.

"Barely!" said Rarity, still giggling to herself. "But don't worry Spike, I'll make it up to you later."

She peered into one of the boxes of gems she was carrying with her magic. On top of the assorted gems lay one much larger than most, an unusual frosted azure blue color. It was an extremely rare Ice Sapphire, a gem of similar desirability to the Fire Ruby that Spike had given Rarity some months before. Rarity was planning to give it to Spike after the stall was set up as a token of gratitude for helping her, and to make up for the Fire Ruby that he never got to eat.

However as Rarity and Spike continued putting the stall together, neither realized that they were being watched, as were all the ponies preparing for the Festival. Three pairs of malevolent-looking eyes glared at the unfolding scene from the secluded safety of a large nearby bush.

"Sshhh! Don't make a sound! It's the whining pony!" whispered a voice urgently. "My ears are still ringing from our last encounter with her and her friends! Whining pony must not see us!"

The voice belonged to Rover, the leader of a small band of Diamond Dogs. He and his cohorts always attempted to steal gems from Ponyville during the Gemstone Festival, believing it to be easy pickings. However, for one reason or another they had always failed. Had they been slightly more intelligent than a pebble, they may well have given up pursuing gems in such a way. However, their simple minds were inevitably enthralled by the prospect of so many hard-to-find types of gem being in the same place at the same time.

"I think we see enough." came a lower-pitched voice, belonging to a hulking Diamond Dog known as Fido.

"Yes, now we need to go plan!" said a high voice, belonging to a small and exceptionally ugly Diamond Dog called Spot, who despite his name didn't have a single spot on his fur. "And we need to get out of here before whiny pony or any of her friends see us!"

Rover conceded that his minions were right, and the three of them slowly shuffled away through the undergrowth towards the cover of the Everfree. Despite their espionage, none of them had a decent plan which would get them past the ponies and allow them to escape with the gems. What the greedy canines didn't know however, was that they themselves were being watched...

After waiting for the Diamond Dogs to leave, Leech leapt from his vantage point in a nearby tree, and flew as fast as his insect wings would carry him back to the wagon, where Trixie was waiting.

They'd taken longer than expected to reach Ponyville - they'd stopped overnight as Trixie had said she didn't want Leech to be too tired to listen to instructions properly this time. Leech got the feeling however, that this wasn't the whole reason she'd allowed him to rest. He'd noticed over the last day or so that the love he was skimming from her had changed flavor slightly. It tasted slightly stronger and sweeter, although he wasn't entirely sure why. He didn't give it too much thought, however. He presumed it was because Trixie was so pleased with herself over this new plan she'd devised.

He landed in the same Everfree clearing they'd lived in previously, which was to be their base of operations during the evening's proceedings.

"Leech see Diamond Dogzz, they came juzzt like Trixzzie said they would!" he reported to Trixie.

"Excellent. I knew those bone-brained fleabags wouldn't be able to resist! My plan needs some dumb muscle for it to work, and muscle doesn't come much dumber than those cretinous curs!" Trixie said smugly.

"What izz next zzstep?" asked Leech.

"Simple." answered Trixie with a sinister smile. "We find these halfwitted hounds and recruit them! They'll almost certainly want to join us when they see the flawless plan that Trixie has so cleverly created! Did you see which way they went?"

"Yezz, they went due ZZSouth!" Leech said proudly.

"Good work." Trixie said approvingly. "Now let's-"

"...or wazz it ZZSouth-Eazzt? Maybe ZZSouth-Wezzt. Or at a push, pozzibly juzzt Wezzt." Leech fumbled, attempting to recall which way was South.

"Look, just point which way they went!" Trixie snapped, her patience wearing thin.

Leech pointed a hoof in the general direction that the Dogs had headed in, and he and Trixie set off in pursuit of their potential partners-in-crime.

Making their way to another clearing, where Leech had last seen the Diamond Dogs traveling, Trixie again asked Leech to point in the direction the gem-obsessed canines had headed. Leech pointed to what appeared to be a very overgrown path, coated with vines and cloaked under a solid blanket of bushes. The forest's thick undergrowth impeded their progress considerably - the direction Leech had pointed in didn't seem to be a path through the forest at all. Trixie snarled as she untangled her hooves from yet another tenacious clump of tangleweed, before calling out to Leech.

"Alright, STOP!" she shouted, causing Leech to halt in his tracks. "How could they have gone this way, leg-holes? There isn't a pathway!"

"Leech izz zzsure they went thizz way!" Leech protested.

"But how? There isn't a pathway! This route is absolutely impassable!" Trixie countered crossly.

"Umm... magic?" said Leech feebly, running out of ideas.

"Don't be ridiculous you... um... ventilated-shinned... varmint." muttered Trixie, running out of decent insults.

"Trixzzie uzzezz magic!" Leech said, attempting to make a point.

"Yes, but Trixie isn't a smelly Diamond Dog!" Trixie replied, her will to live draining by the second. "Look, my hooves are getting muddy and I'm fairly certain I've got a centipede nesting in my tail. Let's go back to where we started and see if you can remember which way they really went."

Giving a nonchalant shrug, Trixie and Leech struggled and forged their way back through the Everfree's bushes and plants until they reached the clearing where Leech had last seen the Diamond Dogs.

"Now," said Trixie briskly, "Have another look around and see if you can recall which way they went."

Leech slowly paced around the clearing, as if he was a detective looking for clues at a crime scene. His face the very picture of intense introspect and concentration, it was several minutes before he spoke again.

"Leech thinkzz it might be thizz way!" he said at last, pointing down a narrow, but much clearer pathway.

"How can you be certain?" asked Trixie suspiciously.

"Diamond Dog trackzz!" said Leech proudly, pointing to a set of paw-prints in the Everfree mud.

Trixie was agape.

"How did you not notice those before we wasted all that time battling through the forest?!" she gasped. "I mean of all the stupid... look, you know what? Never mind, let's just get going before we run out of time!"

With this, the duo headed down the thin, darkened pathway in order to locate their new recruits.

"So hard to find good help these days!" thought Trixie. "I hope the Dogs are better minions than this fool!"

After around a half-mile of galloping through the dark and forboding Everfree foliage (due North, as it turned out), the scheming twosome found the three miserable-looking dogs in a small clearing, sitting on a rotten log by a fetid muddy pool. They were dejectedly throwing stones into the thickened brown water, whilst lamenting their lack of a strategy.

"It's not fair!" whined Spot.

"Too many ponies for us to fight or to sneak past" moaned Fido.

"Selfish ponies, keeping all the good gems for themselves!" grumbled Rover bitterly. "Those rare stones should belong to Diamond Dogs!"

"Perhaps I can help with that..." came a voice from behind them.

All three Diamond Dogs immediately leapt to their feet and spun around, panic in their eyes.

"W-who's t-t-there?!" stammered Rover. "Show yourself!"

The three dogs glanced around the forest, attempting to find the voice's source, unaware of the two pairs of eyes watching them from a nearby bush.

"Well, Leech." whispered Trixie to her accomplice. "Looks like it's time for our recruitment drive to begin!"

Chapter 5: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Trixie stepped forward, out of the darkness of the forest, locking eyes with Rover as she strode towards them purposefully.

"I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, and I believe I can help you get all the gems you need from those selfish Ponyville ponies!" she said, hoping that the simpleminded canines would be suitably impressed.

Rover, slightly calmer by now, stepped towards Trixie with a confused look on his face.

"Who?" he asked, quizzically.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie repeated, "I am the greatest unicorn magician in all of Equestria, and possibly the greatest who has ever lived!"

All three Diamond Dogs simply stared at Trixie, blank looks adoring their faces. They looked towards each other, shrugging as they did so. Trixie facehoofed, and attempted to win them over once again.

"I don't even know where to start with you." she began, cockily. "I mean, do you even know who you're talking to? Do you have ANY idea - any idea of who I am?"

More blank stares met this.

"Basically, kind of a big deal." continued Trixie, attempting to rally the increasingly catatonic-looking dogs before her. "I'm a force of nature, the ponies of Ponyville will be powerless to stop me from getting their gems for you!" she finished, grandly.

"Oh, really?" Rover said suspiciously "And what makes Trixie pony think Diamond Dogs want or need her help? And what does Trixie pony get out of helping Diamond Dogs?"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie has an ongoing feud with the denizens of Ponyville." Trixie began to explain. "They enacted a great injustice upon her many months ago, and now she has returned for revenge! That is what Trixie wants from this. As for why you should let me help you..."

Trixie began to regale the now-entranced Diamond Dogs with outlandish, exaggerated and just plain fabricated tales of her exploits. She told them her now-legendary yarn of how she defeated an Ursa Major, and her epic (but equally fictional) battle against Celestia, in which she fought the sun Goddess to a standstill using nothing but a good luck charm and a twig.

"... and legend has it that it took a team of surgeons three whole days to remove that twig from where Trixie shoved it!" she finished, proudly.

After a long, slightly awkward silence as the Diamond Dogs mentally digested her self-pontification, Spot was the first to speak up.

"So, Trixie pony will go and fight all of Ponyville so we can take the gems?" he asked, hopefully.

"Oh, no." she said quickly, slightly taken aback by the question. "The Great and Powerful Trixie does not just use brute force. I am far too refined to resort to methods so lacking in finesse."

"But Trixie pony told us she beat up Ursa Major and shoved a twig-" interjected Spot.

"Stop talking." Trixie flatly interrupted, with a cold stare into Spot's eyes.

"So, how we get gems?" enquired Fido, not wishing to push the point any further.

"Leech!" called Trixie. "Bring the plans over here and show them to our new friends!"

Leech emerged from the forest's dark shroud, causing Rover, Spot and Fido to flinch slightly. They'd never seen a changeling before, and found Leech's insectoid appearance unsettling. Sticking through a hole in one of Leech's front legs was a large scroll. Trixie's horn glowed, and the rolled parchment slid out of Leech's leg and unfurled in the air in front of the awestruck Diamond Dogs. Trixie glanced at the scroll and immediately turned to Leech.

"Leech, you sieve-shinned screw up! I told you to draw diagrams of my ingenious plan, not doodle all over the scroll!" she spat crossly.

"Thozze are the planzz!" protested Leech. "Zzsee, the zzstepzz are numbered!"

Trixie examined the scroll again. It was covered with simplistic drawings, some of which she didn't even know what they were supposed to be. Yet, as Leech had said, they were numbered and had arrows between them, indicating some sort of sequence. She took a few moments to decipher what they were possibly supposed to resemble, before attempting to explain them to the assembled Diamond Dogs.

"Ahem... this is step one." began Trixie with some trepidation, pointing to the doodle numbered "1".

It showed a badly-drawn blue pony with what appeared to be a purple dunce cap on its head and a tablecloth on its back, three bipedal stick-creatures with pointed ears and collars and an over sized housefly surrounding a large grey blob with a long nose.

"As you can see, the first step is that the five of us sneak into Ponyville and capture one of the elephants-" Trixie stopped herself, suddenly realizing what the grey blob was.

"Leech! I said ELEMENTS of Harmony! Elements!" she shouted through gritted teeth.

Leech smiled sheepishly and shrugged. With a derisive snort, Trixie resumed her explanation.

"As I was saying, we go into town and capture one of the Elements of Harmony" she continued.

Her hoof moved along a slightly crooked arrow to the second drawing, which contained two long-nosed grey blobs, one of which had a big smile and green eyes.

"My changeling assistant here will then take that pony's place..." she explained.

Her eyes focused on the third drawing, which showed the green-eyed blob holding lots of gems, with badly-drawn ponies of various colors all around it. They had sad and angry looks on their faces.

"He will then brazenly loot the entire Festival - the residents of Ponyville won't expect such a daring raid by one of their own, especially not from one of their precious Elements of Harmony." Trixie chuckled darkly.

The next picture showed the same over sized fly from before, dropping what Trixie assumed to be sacks of gems to the three smiling, collar-wearing stick figures below. In truth, the sacks looked more like muffins. Nevertheless, she pressed on.

"You three, after helping to subdue the Element of Harmony we capture, will wait outside the town, where Leech will bring the stolen gems to you. You will then take them far from the town, back to my wagon, and wait for me there."

The Diamond Dogs' ears perked up at this step, Fido even wagging his tail for a short time before an elbow in the ribs from Rover interrupted his joy.

"Pay attention!" Rover hissed.

The final drawing on the scroll showed the purple-dunce-cap-wearing pony with a broad smile on its face, standing atop the grey long-nosed blob from before. Various ponies stood around her, all wearing happy expressions. Trixie explained the meaning behind it:

"After you three and Leech are safely out of town, I will take the real Element of Harmony, who will be a wanted criminal by this stage, and hand them in to the Ponyville authorities." she finished proudly.

"What good that do?" asked Fido.

"Seems like a waste of time to me, why Trixie not just come back to wagon so we can share loot sooner!" yapped Spot.

Trixie quickly thought of an explanation, having not expected the Diamond Dogs to have been this curious or mistrusting of her.

"Well, if the ponies of Ponyville think the thief has been caught, they won't go searching for her, so there's no chance they might find us by mistake." she said, hoping the Diamond Dogs wouldn't catch onto the insincerity of her words.

In reality, Trixie couldn't have cared less about the fates of the dogs after the plan was complete. Fortunately for her, they didn't seem to realize this.

"This seems a good plan, Trixie pony." admitted Rover. "Let me discuss it with my associates."

The three dogs turned their backs on Trixie and Leech, forming a tight huddle.

"Hehehe... this will be too easy." whispered Rover "When we have gems, Diamond Dogs won't go to Trixie pony's wagon, we shall head back to our own home! Then we can keep ALL the gems!"

All three Diamond Dogs snickered quietly among themselves before turning back to face Trixie.

"You have a deal!" said Rover. "Just one question - why must pony we replace be an Element of Harmony?"

Trixie had her reasons for this, but decided not to disclose them to her new canine companions. They knew she had a grudge against Ponyville - they didn't need to know about her personal feud with Twilight Sparkle. That was Trixie's business, and Trixie's alone.

"Like I said before" she explained innocently, "by using an Element of Harmony, the raid will take Ponyville by surprise. Whilst nopony expects a Ponyville pony to go rogue, they REALLY won't expect one of Equestria's protectors to do so! By the time their simple minds process what has happened, we will already have their gems!"

Rover nodded, his curiosity seemingly sated by the lie.

Trixie of course, had her own agenda behind every facet of this plan. She had already instructed Leech to remove the finest and most valuable gems from the haul he was going to steal, and stash them separately to the sacks of gems he was to give to the Diamond Dogs. These precious stones would be Trixie's source of income, replacing the living she could no longer make as a travelling performer. The Diamond Dogs had no interest in the monetary value of gems anyway, so Trixie figured valuable gems would be wasted on them.

The ruining of the gemstone festival would not be a mere by-product of a mass gem theft, but a calculated act on Trixie's part. Ponyville had ruined what should have been a joyous occasion for her, so she was now about to retaliate by doing the same to them.

The decision to use an Element of Harmony as Leech's disguise had nothing to do with taking Ponyville by surprise, although this was an advantageous side-effect. Trixie knew that the most precious thing in Twilight Sparkle's life was her friends. She reveled in the thought of the pain Twilight would suffer, seemingly watching one of her closest friends turn against her and the rest of Ponyville, becoming a criminal before her eyes. Ideally, Trixie would have Twilight herself replaced, thus causing the whole town to turn on her as it had Trixie, but Trixie knew that Twilight was far too powerful to take on directly. She would have to settle for the look on Twilight's face as the royal guards dragged one of her friends away to face trial. Trixie laughed cruelly to herself at the very thought.

Finally, and most importantly, the handing in of the real Element of Harmony to the authorities. This had nothing to do with the reasons Trixie gave, she couldn't care less if the Diamond Dogs were discovered by the ponies. By seemingly capturing and bringing a wanted thief to justice, the ponies of Ponyville would almost certainly see Trixie as a hero. They'd shower her with praise, and maybe even throw a parade in her honor. Perhaps the Gemstone Festival would be replaced with The Great and Powerful Trixie Festival next year! This was the most vital part of the plan, winning Trixie the admiration and attention she had craved so much since her last disastrous visit to Ponyville. Even if it meant a perfectly innocent pony having their life and reputation ruined.

"Uuh... Trixie?" buzzed a small insectoid voice. Trixie, who had been lost in thought, suddenly snapped out of it and looked down at Leech.

"Izz nearly evening! We muzzt get going, we need to hide ourzzelvezz in Ponyville before fezztival beginzz!"

"Uh, of course." replied Trixie "Where are the Diamond Dogs?"

"They went on ahead." replied Leech "Leech wazz waiting for you, but you were zzstaring at the zzsky and laughing to yourzzelf."

Leech and Trixie galloped back through the forest until they caught up with the Diamond Dogs. During the rest of their trek back to Ponyville, the wicked fivesome discussed which of the Elements of Harmony they should try to replace based on the Diamond Dogs' earlier observations and Trixie's own knowledge. Twilight was a no-go, as she was far too powerful and would almost certainly defeat them. The Diamond Dogs refused to go anywhere near Rarity, based on their previous experiences. Rainbow Dash was considered too dangerous and difficult to subdue, given her combination of aggression, flight capabilities and strength. Pinkie Pie would most likely be surrounded by ponies at all times, given her position as party host. Plus, she seemed to have strange powers beyond the laws of nature themselves, which all of the villainous group found unsettling.

In the end, it was decided between the group that either Fluttershy or Applejack should be the pony that Leech committed crimes in the name of. As the Elements of Kindness and Honesty, they would be the last ponies that Ponyville would expect to betray everyone, allowing the villains to use the element of surprise to its fullest. Plus, although Applejack was stronger than Rainbow Dash, she couldn't fly and the Diamond Dogs were confident that between the three of them, they could overpower her. Fluttershy would most likely put up no resistance whatsoever - the only thing that the evildoers would need to beware of was something known as "The Stare". It was crucial that during a confrontation with Fluttershy that they did not make eye contact.

Presently, Trixie and her band of desperadoes approached the top of a hill, overlooking the town. They could see that the party was already in full swing and had been for some time, which meant most of the populace was at Sugarcube Corner. A few ponies remained outside, making final preparations. They had to act quickly if they were to pull off the plan - soon the traders and exhibitions would open, and ponies would fill the streets. If this happened before everything was in place, they would have no chance of taking a pony's place without being seen.

Trixie peered hard at the brightly-lit town below. She could see her nemesis, Twilight Sparkle, leaving her library en route to Sugarcube Corner. Her dragon minion followed behind, seemingly chattering excitedly about a large blue gem he held in his claws. As they vanished from sight, a distant movement caught Trixie's attention. She glanced towards the outskirts of the town - she could just make out the form of a pink-and-yellow pegasus heading into town from the Everfree border. This could only be Fluttershy. As she drew nearer, Trixie noticed she was carrying something in a saddle-bag.... a book? That meant she was heading for the now-empty library! This was almost too perfect - their chance had come!

Taking care not to be seen, the miscreant quintet made their way down the hill, and hid behind the gigantic hollow tree that was the town's library. Trixie ordered Leech to stay outside and stand guard in case Twilight returned. Trixie would call him inside to take Fluttershy's form when she had been successfully captured. Trixie and the Diamond Dogs opened the library door (because apparently no-one in Ponyville bothered to lock anything), slipped inside. They stood, poised and waiting, with their backs to the wall at either side of the doorway, ready to jump the unfortunate Pegasus as soon as she entered the room.

Leech had hidden himself in the branches of the tree. This gave him a good all-around view of the town square, and thanks to the myriad of balconies and windows hidden in the tree's upper trunk he could quickly get inside when Trixie called him or if he needed to warn Trixie of something. As Trixie had predicted, Leech soon saw Fluttershy approaching the library, a thick tome in her saddle-bag.

As Fluttershy came within a few meters of the library door, however, Leech lost his footing slightly. He luckily managed to retain his balance, but he'd made a loud rustle among the tree's branches in doing so. This had scared the timid pegasus, and she had instinctively reared up, throwing the book out of her saddle-bag. It landed with a squelch in a small patch of mud on the ground nearby.

"Oh dear" sighed Fluttershy, picking up the now-muddy book. "It wouldn't be kind of me to give Twilight's book back like this! I'll take this back home and drop it off there before I go to the party. I'll clean it up tomorrow morning, I'm sure Twilight won't mind if it's a little bit late."

With this, she turned around and began to trot away.

Leech was mortified - he couldn't believe it! He'd managed to ruin everything again, without even trying! He wondered if he should go and tell Trixie what had happened. Then he remembered the disastrous show in Trottingham, and didn't want Trixie to be upset with him again. Instead, he decided it would be a better plan to just wait and hope that Fluttershy would come back. It wasn't an especially clever plan, but if nothing else it'd give him more time to think of an excuse.

Elsewhere in town, Rainbow Dash was cantering down a side street. She'd never really understood all the hoo-hah about gems - they didn't fly, or explode, or shoot lasers or any cool stuff like that. Although she enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with her friends, she often got bored quickly at gemstone festivals and left early. As she emerged from the street into the main town square, she noticed the library lights were still on.

"Weird." she thought. "Twilight and Spike are at the party! Maybe she's left the library open with someone else looking after it? Or maybe she's forgotten to turn the lights off? Either way, I'd better check it out. Plus, I wonder if she's got the newest Daring Do book yet?"

She changed direction and trotted towards the library.

Leech, in the upper reaches of the tree, was curled up with his front legs over his face. He was rocking back and forth, thinking what Trixie would say when she realized Fluttershy wasn't coming and that they'd have to abandon the plan. He felt dreadful at the thought of disappointing his friend again, and even more dreadful about the possible punishments.

"Leech izz zzstupid! Why Leech not do anything right?" he wailed.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his vision he noticed the silhouette of a pegasus entering the library. Leech was overjoyed.

"Shy Pony came back!" he buzzed with quiet glee. "Now Trixie won't be mad at Leech!"

The muted sounds of a scuffle began to emerge from the library below, causing Leech to feel a peculiar mix of relief and pity for the poor pony that Trixie and the Dogs were doubtlessly pummeling at this very moment. Still, at least Trixie wouldn't be cross with him anymore!

Unbeknown to Leech, however, Trixie was cross with him - or rather she would have been if she wasn't so scared.

She and the Diamond Dogs had lunged at the pegasus who entered the library the second she had walked through the door, realizing slightly too late that it was not the pegasus they were looking for. Rainbow had managed to evade the four assailants with ease, using her fast reflexes and agile wings to their fullest. She had doubled back on her attackers and was now standing between them and the library's only exit. She was reared up on two legs, and snorting fiercely.

"I don't how you creeps got in here," she snarled, "but you're gonna be leaving on stretchers!"

The three nervous canines and the somewhat-less-confident-than-usual unicorn steeled themselves for a titanic struggle they hadn't been expecting.

This was not going to be as easy as they thought.

Chapter 6: An Egoist's Epiphany

Leech listened intently from his branch to the commotion going on inside the library. There were shouts, squeals, the soft thud of bodies hitting the walls and the crashing of furniture being destroyed.

"Trixie and the Diamond Dogzz muzzt really be letting pony have it!" he muttered to himself.

He didn't much care for this stage of the plan, but pleasing Trixie was his number one priority. Any moral issues on his part would just have to wait. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel a slight pang of guilt for 'Fluttershy'. Little did Leech know the truth of what was happening beneath him at that very moment!

Away from the relative quietness of outside, a scene of utter chaos was unfolding inside Ponyville's library. A severe beating had indeed been dispensed, but it wasn't by Trixie and the Diamond Dogs. The room was a mess - books and pieces of broken furniture littered the entire floor. Twilight was certainly in for a shock when she got home that night!

Spot was laying on the floor in the corner of the room, clutching his stomach where he'd been hit by a double-hoof buck and groaning as best he could whilst being winded. Rover was attempting to get back to his feet, staggering as he did so and rubbing his jaw after a brutal front-left uppercut from the cyan pegasus.

Fido and Rainbow were now dueling in the center of the room, Fido swinging his massive fists wildly and uselessly as Rainbow effortlessly dodged the cumbersome attempts to hit her. Trixie had bravely taken the position of strategist, and was ducking behind an overturned table shouting orders to the Diamond Dogs.

"Get up, you weaklings!" she snarled to Rover and Spot, her attention then turning to Fido. "And you, you great lummox - stop stumbling around like a concussed foal and actually land a punch! I didn't employ you idiots to fail me, you're here to do a job! Now get it done!"

Fido didn't have chance to register his increasing annoyance with Trixie's attitude. He swung a punch powerful enough to floor a full-grown stallion at Rainbow, only for her to dodge once again. This time, instead of waiting for him to swing again, Rainbow grabbed his outstretched arm between her front hooves and using the giant canine's own momentum against him, swung him round a full 180 degrees. At this point, she released his arm and sent him hurtling across the room and into an empty bookcase, reducing it to splinters and taking the final standing Diamond Dog out of the fight. Rainbow's attention then turned to Trixie.

"You've got some nerve showing your face around here again!" she said, advancing on the now cowering showmare. "What are you and these gem-stealing fleabags doing here, anyway?"

Trixie said nothing, she just curled even into an even tighter ball and awaited the inevitable thrashing she was about to receive. She was far too terrified at this point to attempt to distract Rainbow with her magic - she just couldn't focus on her horn at all in her present state.

Outside, Leech noticed that the noise had died down. After a few moments, he began to wonder why Trixie hadn't called for him yet.

"Maybe Trixie forget to call." he reasoned "Maybe she waiting for Leech right now!"

Leech decided to go inside and check the situation for himself - he figured that he wasn't needed out here, all seemed quiet. Most of the ponies were still at the pre-festival party, none of them seemed to be moving towards the library.

He pushed open one of the library's upper floor windows and squeezed inside. He cautiously hovered through the darkened upstairs rooms, attempting to find the stairs. Navigating through the dim light wasn't easy, even with his specialized low-light-vision eyes. Leech grunted and cursed under his breath as he bumped into walls, and grimaced as he knocked some breakable-sounding items off a dresser. After some near-blind hovering through the upper floor's rooms, he finally saw the glow of the lights from downstairs. He buzzed over to the top of the stairs and landed on the top step, and gasped as he saw Trixie being pressed for information by a colorful-maned pony in the room below.

"Leech let wrong Element get into library!" he wailed despairingly.

As Leech looked in horror at the scene below, he realized he'd seen the pegasus somewhere before. Obviously, she was an Element of Harmony so she would have been present during the Canterlot incident. But Leech felt it was something more than that... he tried to think back to that day, instinctively licking at the broken remnants of his left fang as he often did when in deep thought.

Then it struck him - THIS was the pony who'd knocked him out almost as soon as he'd arrived in Canterlot! This pony was the pony who'd broken his beloved fang! An unusually intense flame of anger and lust of vengeance suddenly rose within Leech's tiny insect heart. With a personal score to settle, Leech abandoned any coherent thoughts he may have been having, revved up his wings and zoomed down the stairs. Rainbow didn't even have time to turn her head before Leech dive-bombed her broadside. The two went rolling across the library and ended up in a heap next to the front door. Rainbow was the first to get up, rubbing her head as she did so.

"So, the rumors ARE true - you really are working with a changeling!" exclaimed Rainbow with surprise. "The Trottingham weather team told me this morning, but I didn't think anypony would be stupid enough to do that - not even you, Trixie!"

Leech struggled to his hooves and glared at Rainbow.

"Trixzie izz not zzstupid! Trixzzie izz Leech'zz friend!" he growled fiercely.

Trixie was amazed - as far as she had seen, this was the first time the almost endearingly passive changeling had displayed anything even approaching anger.

"Oh yeah? Well, when the royal guard hear about- HEY!" Rainbow yelped.

She hadn't noticed the three Diamond Dogs recovering from their various punishments, and now had all three pairs of strong hands holding onto her. Fido held her wings, whilst Spot and Rover held a hind leg each.

Trixie immediately regained her usual bravado, now that the threat was safely contained. She stood up, dusted off her signature cape and strode cockily over to Rainbow Dash. Her horn glowed, and she levitated her hat to reveal several ropes underneath. Using the same rope trick she'd used on Applejack during her first Ponyville performance, the captive pegasus was soon bound wing and hoof.

Trixie had also unwittingly pinned one of Fido's pinkie fingers underneath the rope holding Rainbow's wings. He'd managed to pull it out without Trixie having to loosen the rope, hurting his finger in the process. He moodily sucked at his damaged digit whilst Trixie coordinated the next stage of the plan.

"Finally, we have an Element of Harmony!" she announced triumphantly. "Not one of the ones we were after, thanks to Lord Of The Dunce over here," she continued, giving Leech an angry glare, "but now we've got her she will do. Leech, if you would do the honors..."

Acknowledging the command, Leech stood before Rainbow Dash, and before her eyes he engulfed himself in a fiery green aura. When it subsided, there stood an exact replica of the Element of Loyalty herself. Well... almost exact. The duplicate Dash had a gap in her teeth on the left side due Leech's damaged fang. As it turned out, whenever an injured or disfigured changeling disguised, its injuries and disfigurements were copied into the disguise as well. More powerful changelings with advanced disguising magic could compensate for this but Leech, of course, was not one of these.

"Hmmmm." mused Trixie, examining the missing tooth "No matter. Just try not to speak with anypony, so they won't have a chance to notice. Focus on grabbing the gems and creating chaos!"

"HAH!" laughed Rainbow, who was lying on her back with her bound hooves in the air at this point. "THAT'S your grand plan? Do you really think Ponyville would be stupid enough to think that bug-faced bozo was really me? Nopony can imitate the one and only Rainbow Dash!" she said proudly.

"We'll just see about that." replied Trixie, smiling menacingly. "If the town of Ponyville is simple-minded enough to deny the Great and Powerful Trixie's indisputable abilities, I'm sure they'll fall for this!"

Her attention shifted to Spot, Fido and Rover, who were still rubbing their various bumps and bruises from the brutal melee that had taken place just a few short minutes ago.

"Diamond Dogs - get yourselves to the meeting point just outside town. And make it snappy - the festival starts soon! Wait there for Leech to drop the gems off to you." she said with urgency.

With a salute of highly questionable sincerity from Rover, the three canines hurried away. Trixie then turned to the duplicate Dash.

"Leech... conceal yourself somewhere until the festival is properly underway. Try not to get into any conversations with other ponies, lest you blow your disguise. When the time is right, grab all the gems you can, making sure everypony can see you!" she ordered, before looking at her hooves for a moment. "And... please be careful." she added quietly.

Leech raised an eyebrow at Trixie. He hadn't expected this! Trixie picked up on the changeling's surprise and quickly regained her usual demeanor.

"I mean... be careful not to mess up again, it seems I can't do a thing without you bungling it up! Trixie has everything riding on this plan, so you'd better get it right!" she quickly blurted out.

Leech headed for the door, turning back and giving Trixie another quizzical glance on the way out. Trixie simply shuffled her hooves and looked away awkwardly.

Leech trotted through the town in his new pony form. Whilst he found it refreshing being able to stride about the town without constantly hiding, he never liked taking the form of a female pony. Whilst he often took Trixie's form during certain tricks at their shows, this was only for a short time. He didn't like female disguises when he had to use them for an extended period - indeed, many changelings were poor at acting like the opposite gender. In fact, alternate-gender disguises had been discouraged back in the hive, under Rule 63 of the Changeling Basic Training. It also made it difficult for them to keep their pronouns straight, which could often lead to cover being accidentally blown during conversations.

Nevertheless, Leech paced back and forth around the town square, attracting a few odd looks as he did so. Noticing this, he decided to take cover in an alleyway to wait for the festival to start properly, out of the view of any prying eyes. Watching the events of the evening begin to unfold around him, Leech felt a nervousness that he'd never felt before in his life. As a maintenance worker, he'd never been on a proper infiltration mission and so was uncertain of how to proceed.

"Maybe Leech should have told Trixzzie thizz..." he thought nervously.

Leech had little time for regrets and cold hooves, however, as the Mayor of Ponyville announced the official beginning of the Gemstone Festival. Within a short period of time the streets were positively heaving with ponies from the length and breadth of Equestria.

The party was still going strong, with a stream of ponies milling in and out of Sugarcube Corner. The gemstone market was thriving, with gems and bits changing hooves left, right and center. An exhibition of especially valuable gems, which were not for sale, stood in the middle of the town square. Security was low, because Ponyville was ordinarily known for being one of the safest towns in Equestria. That was part of the reason why the Festival was held here.

But tonight was no ordinary night, and with the exhibition picked as his first target, Leech prepared to commit Rainbow Dash's first crime spree! He took off, unsteadily at first as he wasn't used to flying with pegasus wings. High above the packed town square, Leech could see many ponies had looked upward to see what Rainbow Dash was doing. With his new audience watching, he went into a steep dive and swooped down over the square, almost at head level. As he did so, he passed over the exhibiton and scooped up all its precious stones in a single pass. There were diamonds of various colors, a fire ruby, a pumpkin-sized emerald and even a small piece of ultra-rare jadeite. Speeding out of the town with his new haul, he touched down at the meeting point, where the Diamond Dogs were eagerly waiting with sacks.

Ill-advisedly, Leech gave all of his freshly-plundered loot to the crooked canines, who hungrily snatched the gems from his hooves and stuffed them into their bags. Although Trixie had told him to put the most valuable gems aside, he had nowhere else to stash them. Leech, rather naively, figured he would separate the more valuable items from the other gems when they all got back to the wagon.

He took off again, and sped back towards the town where the previously bustling festival had been reduced to many shocked ponies whispering to one another, wondering what had just happened. Before they had chance to think any further, a rainbow streak whizzed over from the opposite direction, again at head level. This time, a box of assorted amethysts disappeared from a trader's counter. The crowd watched in horror as the rogue Element of Harmony doubled back and wooshed over again, this time scooping up Rarity's bag of rare opals. Mouths hung open as the assembled ponies watched the spectral after-trail disappear once again.

Back at the library, which was still an absolute mess, Trixie was idly flicking through a book on spells in the hope that she could learn a few whilst she waited for Leech to finish his work. However, she couldn't focus on the now dog-eared pages in front of her. Her mind was restless, something was bothering her, and it wasn't just nerves that the plan wouldn't work. She had begun to harbor serious doubts about her own motivations, and had a terrible feeling that she was missing something that should have been obvious. The real Rainbow Dash looked over to her from the corner of the room. She'd long given up struggling against the ropes, and instead decided to try a different tactic.

"This is never going to work, you know." she began, attempting to spook the villainous unicorn. "Twilight could come back here at any time. And lemme tell ya, she'd kick your sorry flank all the way to Canterlot! Then she'd kick it out of there again because it's way too nice a place for trash like you!"

"I know what you're trying to do, insolent foal!" hissed Trixie, still in the midst of figuring out the source of her doubts. "And it's not going to have any effect. You might as well keep your inane ramblings to yourself!"

"Looking a little tense there, Trixie." whispered Rainbow mockingly, a smile appearing on her lips. "Realized your stupid little plan's about to fall flat on its flank, huh?"

Trixie shot the captive pegasus a glare so sharp that it could have cut through glass. With a muted snarl under her breath, she abandoned her pursuit of the cause of her worries for a moment. She trotted across the room, stepping over the shrapnel of the smashed furniture and the forlorn remains of the library's tomes, into the kitchen. With a wisp of magic energy from her horn, she levitated a dishcloth from the kitchen as Rainbow continued her attempted psyche-out speech.

"You should just get out of here whilst you still can," called Rainbow Dash with gusto, "cos Twilight's at least 20% cooler than you and your idiot minions. I bet she could beat the lot of you in ten seconds fl- hey, what are you doing with that?"

Trixie said nothing as she and the dishcloth made their way back across the war-torn library before coming to a stop at the spot where the prone Rainbow Dash lay.

"Horseapples." whimpered Rainbow quietly, her ears dropping as she realized what was happening. "I hope that's clean..."

With this, Trixie deftly tied the cloth tightly around Rainbow's snout, effectively cutting off the pegasus' attempts at scare tactics. To further ensure silence so that she could think, Trixie's horn glowed brighter, and she levitated the stricken Rainbow Dash over to a nearby storage closet filled with books. Caring nothing for the comfort of her captive, Trixie unceremoniously dumped Rainbow inside and closed the door. The muffled protests and occasional bangs on the closet door were far less grating than Rainbow's attempts at freaking her out. With this matter dealt with satisfactorily, Trixie returned to attempting to make sense of what her subconscious was trying to tell her.

She asked herself exactly why she was doing this... it was because she craved attention, praise, and admiration, right? Plus, the bits from the stolen gems would be a great bonus. It was mostly the former that drove her, however. She was a showmare at heart - positive attention was what she thrived upon, as was the case with all showponies. And when she handed Rainbow Dash into the authorities, she'd be showered with all of this and more...

So why did she feel as if she was looking in the wrong places for these things?

Why did she feel that she already had what she had been looking for, and had failed to appreciate it?

Why did she suddenly feel unfulfilled by the prospect of being worshiped by strangers?

Then it hit her. Leech. Since meeting Leech, he had done nothing but shower her with admiration and praise. He'd saved her flank from the crowd in Trottingham, worked tirelessly on her wagon for her, and stopped her going mad with loneliness during her Everfree exile.

He'd been the first creature in years to have ever genuinely cared about Trixie, and she had been too preoccupied with gaining empty praises and platitudes from large numbers of insignificant ponies to take notice. She'd abused his trust, taken advantage of his eagerness to please and used him as a means to an end. He had freely given what Trixie had needed most all along without realizing:

True friendship.

And she had just thrown it back in his face. The only true friend that she had ever made, without even knowing it. A being who liked Trixie for Trixie, and not for the parlor tricks she did on stage. Sure, Trixie had no doubt in her mind that Leech had some interest in feeding off her unique array of emotions at first - but it was beyond that now. He'd gone above and beyond the call of duty so many times in recent weeks. But Trixie had been too wrapped up in her own insecurities to notice or care.

"Leech..." she whispered, a lump growing within her throat, "... I'm sorry. What have I gotten you into?"

Trixie knew the answer to this question all too well. Her cheeks were ablaze with remorse and shame as she considered how her short sightedness had landed herself and him in a desperately dangerous situation. The pair were marooned, stranded halfway through a ridiculous plan to obtain a vastly inferior version of what she already had. She couldn't stop the plan now, they were too far into it to call it off. Leech had already begun trashing the festival, and the Diamond Dogs would probably have the stolen gems by this stage. No, they were in too deep to cut and run now.

Or were they?

Trixie stood up, her eyes staring intently into the middle distance as she came to a decision. She no longer had any interest in being the hero of Ponyville, or the money that the gems would bring. Now, her primary objective was simply to find her friend and get him out of this place before any harm could come to him. Unsure of how she was going to do this, she charged out of the wrecked library and into the cool breeze of the night. Casting a temporary and only semi-effective invisibility spell, she became translucent enough to slip through the evening shadows unnoticed by the crowds of stunned and dumbstruck ponies. She had to get back to the wagon - Leech and the Dogs would most likely be there by now.

As Trixie left the town and began to run down the moonlit country road that led to the Everfree, she hoped that nopony would find Rainbow Dash until she'd been able to get herself and Leech a safe distance from the town. Once word got around that Rainbow Dash had been bound and locked in a closet the entire time, it would become obvious that the raid was a changeling's work. Most of Ponyville, and possibly even the Royal Guard would come looking for them. Trixie resolved to make sure they were far away if and when this happened.

She wasn't worried what would happen to her if they were caught - she'd be alright. Justice tended to be quite lax in Equestria, at least if you were a pony. If you were a Draconequus or a manifestation of envy possessing a Princess, then retribution tended to be somewhat harsher. The same was true for changelings - after the failed raid of Canterlot, changelings were being hunted all over the continent. None had been caught yet - being changelings, they were somewhat hard to capture. However, the Royal Guard had pledged that any that were caught would be thrown into the Canterlot dungeons. Trixie shuddered at the very thought of this fate befalling Leech. She ignored the fatigue in her legs and continued to gallop hard towards her intended destination.

At the wagon, a distraught Leech had dropped his disguise and was pacing back and forth, considering his options. The Diamond Dogs were gone, and so were the entirety of the gems he had looted. Leech had never gotten a chance to separate the valuable gems from the others, and the Diamond Dogs hadn't stayed around long enough to share the rest with Trixie...

As soon as Leech had delivered the final lot of stolen gems to the Diamond Dogs, he noticed that all of them wore smug expressions upon their faces.

"Thanks a lot, insect-pony! Now, we will be going. With ALL of these jewels! Tell your Trixie friend we said thanks!" Rover sneered, turning to leave with his associates in tow.

When Leech attempted to stop them, Fido had simply swatted him to one side with a vicious backhand, breaking off even more of his left fang, reducing it to a stump. When he had woken up, both the Dogs and the gems were gone.

Leech knew that most of Ponyville would be on the lookout for 'Rainbow Dash' at this point, but he couldn't bear to leave Trixie empty-hoofed. Not again, not after the trouble he'd caused her before. She was relying on these gems for income, and he was NOT going to disappoint his only friend. He had to go back one last time, to see if there was anything left that he could grab for Trixie.

Donning his colorful Pegasus disguise, Leech took off from the Everfree and headed back to Ponyville once more. He knew that this would be the most dangerous raid of all, now that Ponyville was on high alert. Evading capture in these conditions was not guaranteed. He flapped his wings harder and forged ahead, disregarding the danger for the sake of his best friend.

Less than a minute later, an exhausted Trixie dashed into the deserted clearing. She dropped her invisibility spell and frantically looked around.

"Leech? LEECH? Where are you?" she called, her voice reverberating through the silence around her.

But no answer came.

Chapter 7: Revelations and Reconciliations

Trixie's mind raced as she searched the clearing and the wagon fruitlessly, using her horn for illumination. The light it gave was weak and fading fast, as Trixie was extremely tired from running and her magic severely depleted from holding her partial invisibility spell for an extended period. As she frantically looked around in the increasing darkness, she desperately tried to think of where Leech could be. Had something gone wrong? Had he been caught? That couldn't be it, as Trixie would have noticed something back in Ponyville.

"Think, Trixie, think..." she said out loud to herself. "If I were a halfwit changeling with an overwhelming desire to please my friends, where would I be?"

With this in mind, Trixie attempted to calm herself and took a more in-depth survey of her surroundings. Leech wasn't here, but then neither were the gems or the Diamond Dogs.

"So if they're not here... that must mean those backstabbing mongrels have fled with all of my gems!" she hissed crossly. "How utterly predictable!"

She couldn't dwell on the almost-inevitable betrayal of the Diamond Dogs for long, however, as her thoughts turned to figuring out where Leech could have gotten to.

Trixie reasoned that Leech must know of the Diamond Dogs' absconding, and figured that he must have done one of two things - pursued them in an attempt to reclaim the gems, or returned to Ponyville to gather more. If it was the former, there would be nothing Trixie could do. She had no idea where the Diamond Dogs had gone to, not even the general direction, and thus wouldn't know where to start searching for Leech. If it was the latter, with the town on such high alert, he would almost certainly be caught and sent to Canterlot.

With Ponyville being the only logical place she could start her search, she dimmed her illumination spell and began the long run back to the town, her fatigued legs burning with every step. She ignored the pain and focused on the task in hoof - she only hoped that Leech was there, and that she would not arrive too late to rescue him.

Back in Ponyville, the Mayor was attempting to calm the now-agitated ponies down. Most of the stalls and exhibits were empty - those that hadn't been raided had been cleared by their owners. Trading and exhibiting ponies clutched their remaining gems close, or hid them in saddlebags to prevent the spectrum-hued bandit from getting them if she returned. Even the party had been stopped - Pinkie Pie wandered outside to see Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike attempting to console a distraught Rarity.

"My... my opals!" she sobbed "I spent YEARS collecting those! I was going to use them to trade for Baby Blue Sapphires! Of all the things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!"

With this, she burst into tears yet again, with Fluttershy putting a comforting hoof around her distressed friend. Applejack paced, a look of fervent thought on her face.

"Ah just don't understand it." she sighed. "Ah mean ah know Rainbow's never been a fan o'all this gemstone stuff, but ah never thought she'd do anythin' like this!"

"Can it really be true?" squeaked Pinkie Pie, joining the others. "I mean, my Pinkie Sense didn't warn me - it's usually two tail twitches and a left eye wink that warns me of an imminent friend betrayal!"

"Something isn't right here." agreed Twilight, tapping her chin with her hoof.

Twilight thought back to recent events at her brother's wedding - the last pony she'd seen acting totally out of character was Cadence. As it turned out, it wasn't Cadence at all but the queen of the changelings, Chrysalis. And since the changelings themselves were now scattered the length and breadth of the land, could this be the work of one of them?

"It sounds a little crazy," ventured Twilight to her friends, unsure of her own theory, "but could this be a changeling's doing?"

"Sure doesn't look like it." replied Applejack dejectedly. "Rainbow was doin' some real fancy swoopin' and divin' back there. Nopony else would be that crazy to do that in a crowded area, surely. It's just gotta be her. Besides, changeling sightings have only happened in the big, fancy towns. What would one a' them varmints want here?"

"Changelings can partially copy the talents of their disguises." countered Twilight pensively.

She knew the second part was true, however - Ponyville had very little to offer a changeling invasion party. And even if it was a changeling, what in Equestria would it want with gemstones? Changelings' primary goals were usually based around feeding, and they sure as hay couldn't eat gemstones!

"But whatever the cause is, we've got to get to the bottom of this. Something must be making Rainbow act this way, she may lack sensitivity and like to prank but she'd never do anything like this normally." Twilight added, somewhat firmly.

"Well if this IS one of her pranks, it's not funny!" sniffed Rarity crossly.

Spike, clutching his Ice Sapphire under one arm, rubbed his crush's foreleg with his other hand to attempt to comfort her. Twilight turned to him.

"Spike, we've got to get back to the library." she announced. "We need to find what might suddenly cause such a drastic change in Rainbow's behavior! Maybe she's under the influence of a spell, or has some sort of illness or-"

"Maybe she's just plain bad!" chimed in a passing unicorn. Other ponies in the crowd muttered darkly in agreement.

"That's not true! Tell them, Twilight! It's not true.... is it?" asked Pinkie, her coat losing its usual radiance and her mane deflating a little.

"I...I... really hope not." hesitated Twilight.

Really, she didn't know what, if anything, was behind her friend's drastic change in character. With this, she began to trot back to the library, with Spike a few steps behind. He was planning to hide his Ice Sapphire as soon as he got back. He hadn't taken a bite out of the frosty-looking gem yet - he always savored gifts from Rarity for a long time. It would likely be several days before temptation got the better of him and he began to devour it!

As Twilight left, the Mayor took her position on a podium and began an announcement to the crowd of disgruntled ponies.

"Ponies of Ponyville... in light of tonight's despicable thefts by one of our very own Elements of Harmony, the Princesses themselves have dispatched a contingent of Royal Guards to investigate. They should be arriving shortly. Please be extra vigilant in the meantime!" she grimly called across the throngs of furious citizens.

The four Elements in the crowd looked even more crestfallen and miserable at this news. Pinkie's mane deflated more as her pink coat became muted and dull in hue. Rarity began to sob yet again, although this time it was not only for her lost gems, but partly for her newly-disgraced friend.

Twilight and Spike arrived at the front door of their hollowed-tree home. Spike looked at his Ice Sapphire and sighed heavily.

"Twilight..." he began. "Would you mind doing this by yourself? I want to go and give this back to Rarity. Maybe it'll help cheer her up - I can't stand to see her so upset."

Twilight couldn't help but smile at her assistant's devotion to his unrequited love. He would have made a pretty strong candidate for being the Element of Generosity if the position hadn't already been filled by Rarity!

"Very well then." she said warmly. "But be careful on your way back... Rainbow might still be around."

She felt an awful knot in the pit of her stomach for talking about one of her best friends in such a manner, but she didn't want Spike to lose his precious gift. She watched Spike cautiously walk away, before turning and pushing open the library's door.

"CELESTIA'S BEARD!" she exclaimed as she beheld the chaos that lay before her eyes.

Her library was a mess! Her beloved books were strewn all over the floor, tables and shelves were broken - yet nothing was missing. As Twilight surveyed the damage, she thought of how long it was going to take her to straighten the dog-eared pages that so many of her previously immaculate books had acquired. Noting the damage to the shelves and the furniture, she made a mental note to fetch some wood and nails in the morning - Spike would certainly be busy for the next few days! Looking around, she noticed that nothing was missing... so this hadn't been a burglary. Nevertheless, a struggle of some kind had taken place in here judging by the devastation that was all around her.

"Hrrmmmm Mrrnnnn!" came a muted sound from somewhere within the library, accompanied by a round of dull thuds.

"Great, first somepony trashes my library and now the plumbing's making noises. I'll have Spike check the pipes tomorrow." muttered Twilight, sifting through the books that lay on the floor. "Now, where's that book on sudden psychological changes?"

In the cloudless night skies above Ponyville, Leech circled, still in his Rainbow Dash disguise. From his vantage point, he could see that almost all the ponies in the town were gathered near the town hall, awaiting the arrival of the Royal Guards. He couldn't see any gems anywhere, and assumed that the ponies had hidden them for safekeeping. He sadly contemplated what Trixie would say when he returned with no gems for her, when his attention was caught by Spike making his way towards the crowd. He was carrying a massive blue gem. Leech's eyes lit up - Trixie would love this! Its sale could probably finance them for a year, maybe more! Readying himself for one last valiant effort, he went into a steep dive towards his reptilian target.

As Spike approached the crowd of ponies, he called out to his friends, who sat forlornly in a small group, a short distance away from the rest of the gathered Ponyvillians.

"Hey guys!" he panted, rejoining the group. "I'm back."

He led out a nervous, audible gulp as he held his Ice Sapphire up to Rarity, who momentarily ceased her morose sobbing and looked at the little dragon.

"Rarity, I know you're sad about your opals being lost, so I... um... I wanted you to have..." Spike began, with a slight blush.

Spike was rudely interrupted by a cyan shape swooping down from the sky and knocking him off his feet. Leech grasped the Ice Sapphire between his front hooves and began attempting to rend it from Spike's claws. However, Spike had a very strong grip for such a small dragon, and Leech realized he wasn't going to give up as easily as he'd hoped.

"Give... me.... gem!" Leech grunted, attempting not to display his discomfort with his own actions. "I... need... it... for...."

Leech was cut off by Applejack ramming him head-first, causing him to lose his grip on the gem and roll head-over-flank a considerable distance across the town square's cobbles. Spike quickly got to his feet and scurried behind Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, still clutching his gem.

"What in tarnation's gotten inta you?!" bellowed Applejack at her 'friend'.

"Please, ponies don't understand!" garbled Leech in Rainbow's voice. "Lee...I mean, Rainbow needs gems!"

By now, the entire crowd of ponies was watching the confrontation unfold. Aside from a few jeers aimed at 'Rainbow', none of them did anything other than stand around and watch, as was the norm in Ponyville. The tension in the air could be felt by everypony present as the fake Rainbow Dash was stared down by the remaining four Elements and Spike. Leech instinctively began to back up as his disguise's friends began taking steps towards him, their expressions a mixture of anger and concern.

At the library, Twilight's search for answers was proving fruitless. Books were strewn all around her as she rapidly levitated tomes up to her eyes, flicked through them, and cast them aside.

"There's nothing here!" she cried, "None of these psychology books describe anything that could be the answer!"

"Twlllllrrrrrt, hrrmphnnn thrrph frrrkhnng dhrrrrr!" came another volley of muffled sounds, accompanied by increasingly manic thudding.

"Ugh, those pipes just won't stop!" groaned Twilight, rolling her eyes. "I'll have to take a look at them myself, before they drive me to distraction! Now then,I'm sure there's an opening where I can access the pipework in the closet..."

As Twilight trotted over to the closet and flung it open, her eyes fell upon something she had NOT been expecting - a helpless pony form atop a pile of books on the closet's floor.

"Rainbow?!" gasped Twilight, her horn glowing and untying the gag from her friend's muzzle. "What in Equestria happened here?"

"Twilight! Thank Celestia! It took you long enough, I heard you come in here fifteen minutes ago!" began Rainbow, somewhat annoyed.

She quickly explained to Twilight what had happened with the Diamond Dogs and Trixie, how she'd been jumped by a changeling and replaced, and how she'd spent much of the evening imprisoned in a closet full of books. After she had finished, she noticed Twilight had a thoughtful look on her face.

"Um... Twi? Little help?" she asked, motioning to her still-bound limbs with a raised eyebrow.

"Just a moment." said Twilight. "How can I be sure this is really you? If there's changelings about, this could be another trick."

"Yeah Twilight, because I often tie myself up and lock myself in closets." answered Rainbow, rolling her eyes impatiently.

"Actually, there was that one time..." began Twilight, with the merest hint of a grin.

"I thought you said we'd never mention that again!" snapped Rainbow. "Now let me out of these things so I can go invite Trixie and her changeling friend for a snack at the Hoof Sandwich Cafe!"

Twilight smiled - this could only be the real Rainbow Dash. With a flash of magic, the ropes holding the pegasus fell away. Rainbow immediately leapt onto her hooves and raced for the door, stopping halfway out of the room and turning back to Twilight.

"C'mon!" she said with a determined smile. "Let's go give that changeling impostor what's coming to it!".

She hurtled from the library and into the lantern-lit streets of Ponyville with Twilight following, barely able to keep up.

In the town square, the counterfeit Rainbow Dash was being held down by her (or rather 'his' ) tail, Applejack gripping it firmly between her teeth. The other Elements were grilling the pretend pony with questions.

"Where are my opals?" demanded Rarity.

"Um, what's the matter with you Rainbow?" asked Fluttershy quietly. "This isn't like you at all."

"My Pinkie sense is acting weird." added Pinkie Pie. "Why am I getting a super-duper strange vibe off of you today, Dashie?"

Leech of course, could answer none of these questions. He may have emulated Rainbow's flying skills, but he had none of her knowledge, or even any idea of what her personality should have been like. Instead of answering, he looked at the ground as he awkwardly shuffled his hooves. What he would have given for something to break up this awkward moment...

Leech got his wish, albeit not in the way he would have liked. The crowd let out a gasp in unison - again, the norm in Ponyville - as Twilight and the real Rainbow Dash came galloping onto the scene.

"Hold everything!" yelled Twilight between breaths. "That's not really Rainbow Dash! My suspicions were right, that's a changeling! The real Rainbow Dash is..."

Before Twilight could finish her sentence, the genuine Rainbow flapped her wings and took to the sky.

"Let's see how you like being dive-bombed, bug breath!" she growled.

Overcome with desire for revenge, she zoomed down and smashed herself into Leech's side. The two went tumbling across the ground, only stopping when the frenzied ball of Rainbow Dashes hit the town fountain. Both Rainbows stood up and glared at each other, snorting fiercely.

Twilight sighed. Why did Rainbow have to make things so difficult? During the scuffle, nopony had been able to keep track of which Rainbow was which - now she had no idea which Dash was the one she'd just rescued!

"Ooh, I know, I know!" said Pinkie excitedly, her mane puffing back up and her color brightening. "Twilight can use her changeling de-disguising spell on them! You remember Twi, the one you used on the changelings back in Canterlot - the changeling will be revealed and Dashie will be safe!"

"Pinkie, I can't use the spell on both of them. You ever see what happens when you use a de-disguise spell on something that isn't a changeling?" Twilight responded, looking hesitant.

Noticing that there were foals present, Twilight trotted over to Pinkie and whispered something in her ear. Pinkie's pupils became like pinholes and her mane drooped as the mental image appeared.

"Okie... dokie... lokie..." she said shakily. "Umm... better not do that then..."

"Well, there must be SOME way we can tell." stated Rarity. "Maybe we could ask them questions that only Dash would know?"

The real Rainbow lost patience. "I've got a better idea!" she shouted. "I'll just pummel this impostor until it passes out - then it'll drop its disguise for sure! Put 'em up, insect!" she challenged, adopting a boxing stance on her hindlegs.

Leech gulped. He had absolutely no combat skills whatsoever, and he'd seen what this pony was capable of when he'd seen the unconscious Diamond Dogs. He attempted to adopt a fighting stance, knowing full well he was about to lose.

"Leech doezz not like the lookzz of thizz!" he thought, despondently. "Leech izz going to be zzsmashed! And then guardzz will come and put Leech in dungeonzz! Gah, why did Leech ever bother hanging out with..."

Leech turned to see a blue unicorn pushing through the watching crowd.

"...Trixie?" he enquired out loud.

Rainbow, Twilight and the others all turned their heads to look. Sure enough, the showpony was battling her way through the heaving mass of watching ponies. Eventually, she made her way through and placed herself between Leech and Rainbow Dash.

"No! Wait! STOP!" she cried. "Please... please don't hurt my friend."

"Never mind your friend here." snarled Dash "I'm gonna put you in Ponyville General first!"

"Whoa there Nelly!" said Applejack, holding Rainbow back. "Let's see what these outlaws gotta say for 'emselves first."

Trixie turned to her attention to Leech, her expression one of kindness and concern.

"It's alright." she said softly. "You can drop the act."

With this, Leech bathed himself in his green aura and changed back to his natural pony-insectoid form. This elicited another dramatic, unified gasp from the ever-unhelpful crowd of ponies, some of whom had procured popcorn from somewhere. Pinkie Pie beamed proudly from the popcorn stand she'd erected behind the crowd.

"What?" she asked, when she noticed the other Elements staring at her, "Business is business!"

Everypony's attention turned back to the disgraced Trixie and the changeling standing before them. Trixie explained what her plan at been, and why she had done it. She took great pains to make it clear that Leech was just following his nature and trying to please her, and that it was ultimately her fault that the night's events had occurred.

"...so, I just wanted to be a hero!" finished Trixie meekly, looking at the six angry Elements before her. "That's why I did it, I just wanted you all to worship me for the Great and Powerful pony that I am!"

Before anypony could respond, four armored white pegasi swooped out of the star-filled blackness of the night sky, touched down upon the town's cobbled and strode up to the crowd, causing yet another gasp in unison.

"33rd Celestial Battalion, reporting for duty." said their apparent leader. "We've had reports of a rogue Element of Harmony committing a series of daring thefts in the town, and we have come to..." he continued, suddenly stopping when he saw Leech.

"A changeling!" he yelled. "Quickly, troops! Apprehend it!"

The four Guards advanced on the quivering Leech, weapons drawn and ready to do serious harm to him. Thinking fast, Trixie concentrated all of her remaining magic into her horn, drawing magical strength from reserves she never knew she had. Channeling the mysterious energies, her horn emitted a blinding flash which momentarily stunned the guards.

"Leech! Quickly, go! Get out of here!" she said urgently.

"But what about..." Leech attempted to protest.

"Please! Hurry, forget about me!" she added firmly. "Just get as far away from this place as you can! I'll be fine, trust me!"

Leech tearfully nodded and reluctantly took to the air, his wings buzzing harder than they had ever done before. He turned in the sky and headed for the Everfree Forest. The guards quickly recovered from Trixie's stun spell and set off after him, the four of them quickly disappearing into the night's darkness. With the excitement over, everypony's attention quickly turned back to Trixie. Twilight was the first to break what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence that followed.

"So, where are the gems that you and your friend took now?" she enquired, hoping to salvage the festival.

"I... I don't know." replied Trixie ruefully. "The Diamond Dogs stole them all..."

"Ha!" gloated Rarity. "How does it feel to be stolen from? Feels positively ghastly, does it not? Now you know how all of us feel thanks to you, you ruffian!"

"Likely story!" burst out Rainbow. "I bet your little friend's got them stashed somewhere, and you're gonna tell us where!"

"I... I really don't know!" stammered Trixie, all the while looking for a way of escaping.

Minutes passed, as Trixie felt the entire collective stare of the townsponies bearing down on her, threatening to crush her with the immense pressure it carried. Just as Leech had done, Trixie said nothing and stared at the floor, attempting not to make eye contact with anypony present. Alas, no matter where she looked she could feel the weight of their gaze, as a feeling of rising panic set in as she realized there was absolutely no escape from the situation. Trixie breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the gaze lifted from her as everypony's eyes turned skyward.

The citizens of Ponyville watched in awe as the four pegasi guards returned, swooping over the town's rooftops before landing in front of the assembled ponies. The lead guard stepped forward and addressed the crowd.

"Unfortunately, we were unable to locate the changeling" he reported. "He went into the Everfree, and could be anywhere or anything by now. However, we did see something else of interest..."

He motioned to the three troops behind him. Each of them had a sack of gems draped over their backs and a sullen-looking Diamond Dog being held by their collars in their teeth.

"They were trying to make a getaway across the eastern side of the Everfree" explained another guard, dropping Spot as he spoke and causing him to yelp as his bottom hit the floor. "They surrendered immediately when we showed up, though!"

The three canines looked somewhat embarrassed at this revelation, as a few of the crowd let out sniggers at their cowardice.

"As far as we can tell, all the gems are there" continued the lead Guard "But they're all mixed up. It'll take a while to sort them all out and give them back to their owners."

After a few moments of contemplation, a bright idea came to Twilight. She trotted over to the Mayor, who'd been standing around uselessly with the crowd during the whole drama. She whispered something into the Mayor's ear, which caused the Mayor to smile and give a nod.

"An excellent idea, Ms Sparkle!" smiled the Mayor, before turning to address the crowd. "The Gemstone Festival will continue! Twilight Sparkle has just told me of an ingenious plan to sort out the gem situation!"

Around an hour later, the Gemstone Festival was almost in full swing again. Many of the traders once again had their wares on display, the valuable gem exhibit was back in place (with one of the guards watching it this time) and Pinkie's party had restarted. She was busily 'sculpting' more gemstone muffins with the coal shovel in the kitchen, her mane and coat back to their normal selves. In the middle of the town square, a new stall had been put up. A large banner above it read "Returns", and an even larger queue of ponies stood in line next to it.

Staffing the stall were three grumpy-looking Diamond Dogs and a scowling Trixie. The remaining three guards stood behind them, making sure they were doing their job properly. Each time a pony came up to the counter, they would describe the gems they had lost in the raid. Trixie and the Dogs then had to sort through the pile of gems behind the counter until they found the correct ones. These would then be given back to the owner, the next pony would step up and the process would begin again. Watching from the steps of Sugarcube Corner were Twilight and her friends.

Rainbow was none the worse for her ordeal. She lay on the ground reading the latest Daring Do book (which she'd seen in the closet at the library, but had of course been unable to read. She described this as the most torturous part of the evening.) She was wearing a necklace that the citizens of Ponyville had given her to make up for their thinking that she was really capable of such fiendish acts. It had a ruby, a piece of amber, a yellow quartz, an emerald, a blue topaz, a sapphire and a piece of amethyst threaded onto it, making a sort of gem rainbow. Fortunately for Ponyville, material items apparently compensate for a massive betrayal of faith and trust.

Nearby, Rarity had finished her trading for the night and was admiring the bag of baby blue sapphires she had managed to trade her opals for. She gazed dreamily at the sparkling stones, imagining the stunning outfits she would make using them. Next to her, Spike clutched his Ice Sapphire, fighting the temptation to take a bite.

Twilight was sitting with Applejack and Fluttershy, watching the villains perform their punishment task. She had a quill and a scroll in front of her, and was preparing to report to Celestia about the night's goings-on.

"Y'know, what ah don't get is why Trixie came back here." commented Applejack.

"Yes." said Fluttershy gently. "She could have just left at any time, she was already out of Ponyville when we caught that changeling."

The timid pegasus hadn't spoken much during the dramatic events of the previous couple of hours. She'd realized early on that Trixie's gang had initially planned to replace her, if not for her mishap with the library book. She felt a confusing mixture of relief and intense guilt that Rainbow had ended up taking her place.

"Ah mean, Trixie only cares about herself and what her audiences think a' her ridiculous shows" continued Applejack. "Why would she risk everythin' for that changelin' creep?"

"She described the changeling as her friend... so it'd make sense that she came back to save it. I'm sure any of us would do the same for our friends. Maybe she's realized that one individual liking her for who she is... is far more valuable than lots of ponies liking her for what she does. And it just goes to show, no matter how insurmountable a problem seems, the power of friendship will always save the day - even in ways you don't expect". Twilight said thoughtfully.

Twilight excitedly scribbled both of these lessons down onto scrolls, and put them and the quill into her saddlebag. She'd have Spike send these later, when he'd finished fawning over his gift from Rarity.

Many hours later, the ponies of Ponyville had gone back to their homes after a successful Gemstone Festival, and certainly the most memorable to date. Most of Ponyville was asleep by now - all except Pinkie Pie who was cleaning up after an evening of partying, and gargling to get the taste of coal dust out of her throat.

Outside of ponyville, however, the scene was not so amicable. Four sinister figures slowly shuffled through the night's black shroud towards the Everfree Forest. Trixie and the Diamond Dogs, after finishing returning all the gems to the ponies of Ponyville, had been told in no uncertain terms to leave the town and never return.

They had been incredibly lucky to get off so lightly - Trixie in particular had racked up an impressive charge list that day. Ponynapping, harboring a changeling, and accessory to 57 counts of property theft. Trixie wondered why she hadn't been carted off to Canterlot to face trial. As it turned out, it was only due to the fact that Equestria's penal resources were currently stretched to the limit with hunting down the changelings who had crashed the royal wedding.

Her good fortune, however, was about to run out.

"Trixie pony..." hissed Rover darkly. "You promised us gems!"

"Yes!" Spot piped up. "Diamond Dogs waste whole evening on Trixie's plan!"

"Trixie will work for Diamond Dogs." rumbled Fido "Until Trixie pony has found enough gems to pay Diamond Dogs for wasted time!"

Trixie froze. She had no magic energy left, she was tired, she was lamenting the loss of her best - and only - friend and now she was about to be enslaved by the idiots she had previously been in cahoots with.

"N...now, now..." she stuttered, backing away from the advancing Diamond Dogs. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is certain we can work something out..."

The Diamond Dogs, however, looked in no mood to be bargained with. They raised their arms as they continued their advance, readying themselves to grasp and subdue the fatigued unicorn.

Before they could grab Trixie, however, a rustle could be heard coming from the undergrowth of the Everfree. As the foursome ceased what they were doing and turned to look, a large, angry Timberwolf leapt from the darkness. It began snarling and baying as it hurtled towards the group. It stopped short of the gathered villains and pawed at the ground, all the while staring and growling at the three terrified dogs.

"Timberwolf!" cried Spot.

"It looks angry!" yelled Fido nervously.

"Forget Trixie pony, Diamond Dogs save themselves!" called Rover.

The three greedy canines immediately disregarded their unicorn quarry and turned their tails, fleeing into the darkness of the Everfree and leaving Trixie to her fate.

Trixie felt deeply relieved that they'd gone... that was, until she remembered she was now alone with a fearsome predator. Physically and mentally exhausted, she closed her eyes and waited for the end. The end, however, did not come. Trixie opened her eyes and noticed that the Timberwolf was now calm. She examined it closely, and noticed that it was missing a tooth on its left side.

"It can't be... can it?" breathed Trixie. With this, the Timberwolf glowed green, and soon in its place stood a familiar changeling.

"LEECH!" she cried, running forward and gathering up the little shape-shifter in a hug.

Leech was surprised by this, but happy that Trixie wasn't angry with him.

"Y...y...you came back for me!" said Trixie, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "After everything I did to you, you still came back for me!"

"You came back for Leech!" explained Leech with a broad smile. "Are Leech and Trixie even now?"

"Even?" asked Trixie. "Oh no, we're nowhere near even."

"Leech will make it up to you later." Leech promised with a small nod.

Trixie couldn't help but giggle at the changeling's innocence.

"No, Leech, I meant that I need to make it up to you. I still owe you so very much..." she whispered to her friend.

The two disengaged from their hug, and began to stroll back to their wagon. Leech turned to Trixie.

"Zzso, what happenzz now? Are we going to get revenge on Ponyville?" he asked.

Trixie reflected upon what she'd told Leech the previous day. If she'd never been rejected by Ponyville, she would never have lived in the Everfree and never embarrassed herself in Trottingham. That much was true. But equally, she would never have met her new best friend. Which, in Trixie's mind, made everything else worthwhile.

"No, Leech." she said gently. "If anything, I owe them as well...."

"But what will Trixie do for income? Poniezz everywhere hate Trixie because of Leech." he said sadly.

"No problem!" beamed Trixie, some of her usual swagger returning. "The ponies of this world may not be ready for the Great and Powerful Trixie, but there's more to Equestria than just ponies! We could do shows in the Griffon kingdom! Or the land of the Zebras! Yes, that's what we'll do! The Great and Powerful Trixie's World Tour begins here!"

Trixie began to excitedly make plans for new tricks and routines - her idea for a Combustible Lemon juggling act was sure to go down a treat! Leech listened happily to Trixie's ideas as the duo headed for home, side by side. As equals. As partners-in-crime.

And, most importantly of all... as friends.

END

Author's note - Sequel now online!

Hello, favouriters and watchers!

PointlessGizmo here.

It might be of some interest* to you to know that TBATB now has a shiny new sequel! It's called Back To The Swarm, and can be found here:

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/32554/Back-to-the-Swarm

So... yeah. Go and read it! Or something. It's got zebras in it. And everyone loves zebras, right?

Apologies for using a chapter update to promote a sequel, but I figured that this story was already being tracked by the sort of people who could be interested in seeing more. So, I put 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 together and decided that this was the easiest way of letting them all know! Simple, huh? If this violates any rules, let me know and I'll take this notice down!

Happy reading, and thanks to you all once again.

* Or it might be of no interest whatsoever. You decide. :D