Harmony and Courage: Running Parallel

by SSJRandomMaster

Chapter 6: That Mare Is Not My Twin!

Chapter 6: That Mare Is Not My Twin!
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Things had settled down somewhat over the past ten days. Occasionally, Azure would be called into work to move heavy objects, and there was a couple of building permits still pending from the Mayor's Office, but other than that, work had been ridiculously slow. Why, today the cyan pony was lounging about his house, tapping his hoof on a desk. He wasn't quite sure why, but he was feeling especially restless.

The answer to why he felt the way he did soon came to him. It was somewhat dull around Ponyville nowadays, unlike the past couple of weeks where something popped up at just the right moment. Sure, he'd paid a few of his friends a visit from time to time, but he just felt...misplaced, somehow. That role that the Princess had given him seemed to be an empty badge he'd have pinned to his headband, if he had been presented one.

Azure eventually wrestled himself from the sitting position at the desk he used for writing, and stood on all fours.

"I need to do something active. Maybe then I'll be able to shake this restlessness..." he observed. The pony proceeded to walk over to his door and open it, and soon, he was walking the streets of Ponyville. His bad sense of direction wasn't nearly as much of an issue as it was on the first day; he was confident he could find his way back home if he retraced his steps.

His walk was going smoothly. He was debating on whether or not to go to the library, or go train in that clearing of his, when abruptly, his walk was cut off by a familiar face.

"Azie!" Pinkie said, appearing almost completely out of nowhere. How she almost always managed to get the drop on him, Azure would never know.

"P-Pinkie!" the cyan colt responded, almost leaping into air by reflex again out of surprise. "What gives?"

"There's this one-mare travelling show that came into town!" the pink party pony explained, immediately bouncing around Azure's personal space until she was in a position to lead him.

"Pinkie, I don't know," said the headband-wearing pony as Pinkie continued to bounce around him. "I'd really rather--"

He really should have learned by this point that the earth pony never took "no" for an answer. Thus, his protests fell on deaf ears.

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" assured the pink equine as she moved behind him and began to push on his rear end with her front hooves. Despite his attempts to gain traction on the road, he was utterly powerless to stop his friend from taking him for a ride. She soon weaved through a crowd of ponies in front of what looked like a stage in the middle of town, miraculously not hitting any of them.

Azure found himself biting back the urge to grumble as he drew ever closer to the front row, where, surprisingly, the others were waiting for him, varying looks of discontent in their features. Twilight looked the most uncomfortable out of all of them being there, but the others didn't look much better. Except for Pinkie, who still looked as excited as ever. Who was the colt kidding? If you took the air out of that mare's sails, you'd have accomplished depressing the indepressable.

Before the cyan colt could ponder on whether or not that was a word, the party mare spoke up.

"What'd we miss, girls?" she asked, with her usual energy level (read: high).

"Nothin' much, just somepony who thinks she's all that," said Applejack, and the others, except Twilight and Pinkie, gave noises of agreement to this. Azure wasn't interested in the recent development at all, but he felt compelled to ask.

"'All that', how, exactly?" Azure asked. Rainbow Dash inhaled, apparently about to give him his answer, when the pony he only now realized was on stage began to speak. This pony was wearing a rather elaborate outfit (well, the fact she was wearing one at all made it elaborate); the fabric was a light purple, decorated in yellow, white, and light blue stars. Her mane was a whitish-blue, her coat a light blue. Her eyes were purple. The kicker? She was a unicorn, like himself. If people were uninformed enough, somepony might have mistaken him for her brother.

"When all hope was lost," The amount of ego he could detect in her voice alone almost made Azure want to hoof-punch out somepony, but he was surrounded by mares, and he didn't hit mares. Well, there was Spike, but he had no real reason to want to punch him out anyway. "the ponies of Hoofington had no one to turn to, but the Great and Powerful Trixie--"

Oh, sweet Celestia, she's referring to herself in the third person... The pony's eye started to twitch, but saying something now wouldn't be right.

"--stepped in, and with her awesome magic, vanquished the Ursa Major and sent it back to its cave deep within the Everfree Forest!" Only here did Azure manage to realize that there was an elaborate light show above, but what he could make out of it depicted a bear and a shape that vaguely resembled a pony.

Azure exhaled roughly. He hadn't even been aware he was holding his breath.

While my friends and I did...what, exactly? Stopped Nightmare Moon? The colt thought to himself. And...what the heck's an Ursa Major? Sounds like some kinda constellation...

"Sa-sweet!" This was two unicorns inexplicably just down from Trixie (Azure pointedly refused to even give her the "Great and Powerful" moniker in his mental labels). One was short, stocky, and light blue with an orange mane and tail. The other was tall, lanky, and had the reverse color scheme of his friend. Or brother. Whichever.

"That settles it!" This was the shorter unicorn. Here, Azure realized they were definitely younger than he was.

"Trixie truly is the most talented, the most magical, the most awesome unicorn in Ponyville!" The taller unicorn said, erasing any doubt in Azure's mind that they had more cognitive function than the average...snail.

"No, in all of Equestria!" Scratch that, a snail's snips had more brain cells than these two put together. Implying she was above ponies that defeated Nightmare Moon was one thing, but the Princesses? Azure had half a mind to clock both of them then and there, but he was a lot older than they were, and thus paid that part of him no mind.

"How do you know?" Spike cut in, pretty much putting the questions that Azure had floating around somewhere in his mind out there. "You didn't see it! And besides, Twi--" Suddenly, in a brief flash of magenta, a zipper appeared on his mouth and shut. His words were muffled. The colt turned to the lavender unicorn mare, whose horn's glow was dying down. Azure felt his brow crease.

"Twilight, what are you--" Just before he could finish his question, he felt his lips pull shut. Confused, he looked down...

and saw the tab of a zipper hanging off the side of his muzzle.

That's mature...

"It's true, my enthusiastic little admirers," Trixie responded to the two younger unicorns' statements of admiration.

...then again, a mare who needs to have her ego stroked is far more immature. She's even worse than Rainbow Dash...

"Trixie is most certainly the best in Ponyville."

Well, at least she's not that egotistical... Azure, thankfully, felt a sigh of relief coming on upon realizing this. He didn't feel the need to suppress the urge to laugh due to the zipper on his lips when the only response that the showboating mare on the stage got was crickets chirping.

"Don't believe the Great and Powerful Trixie?" asked the blue mare in response to the otherwise dead silence of the crowd. "Well then, I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians--anything you can do, I can do better."

Azure reached up to his jaw in an attempt to challenge her. He tugged on the zipper tab, every intent of mouthing off entering his subconscious. Virid had taught him something else besides the martial arts during their time together...

I can't stand this showboating--OWWWW!!! The cyan colt grunted as the zipper most unpleasantly caught on the flesh and fur around his mouth. Zipper's caught. Darn it!

"Any takers? Anyone? Hmmm?" Trixie did not appear to notice or care that a pony was valiantly struggling against the zipper that was on his mouth. "Or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine who has ever lived?"

On cue, the mare's horn began to glow a violet color, and fireworks began to go off, coming from the mare's mobile stage. Fanfare also sounded from seemingly nowhere.

Unbelievable...I've found a pony with more ego than Rainbow Dash and Virid Strategem put together! Virid would love to meet this mare! Azure thought bitterly to himself as he continued to tug at the zipper that was still caught on his lips. Ow! Ow! Ow! Darn zipper...!
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Spike didn't see the point in letting this mare talk. Twilight and the others stopped Nightmare Moon while he was basically unconscious for the whole thing, and from what he'd witnessed from Twilight earlier that day, even the smallest spell in Twilight's large skillset would be enough to show Trixie who was boss. Yet Twilight insisted that the others would apparently loathe her like they did Trixie, and resorted to using one of said spells to zip his mouth shut, and from what the baby dragon could see, Azure was also unsafe, given he was struggling against his own zipper.

The dragon was utterly at a loss with this self-proclaimed "Best in Ponyville", and had to make his concerns known. He tugged hard at the tab on his zipper, and unzipped his mouth near-painlessly.

"Please! She's unbearable!" Spike pleaded with Twilight. "Ya gotta show her! You just gotta!" He buried his face in his hands and began to sob in distress.

"There's no way I'm going to use my magic now, Spike," Twilight responded, turning to him. Azure apparently heard, and with his zipper only partway open, began to grumble incoherently, but Spike had a pretty good idea of what he was saying. The purple mare looked back to him and winced at the red spot on the colt's mouth from where the zipper kept catching. "Especially since--"

Trixie had apparently found somepony in the crowd to pick on for her suggested game. She was glaring straight down at Twilight, past Azure, who was still struggling to get his zipper open so he could probably gripe at Twilight properly for doing whatever it was she was doing.

"Hmm, how about you?!" she asked, sticking a hoof out directly at Twilight. The mare gulped, and hesitantly turned to face the stage.

"Well, how about it? Hm?" The self-proclaimed "Best in Ponyville" continued, staring down her selected mare. "Is there anything you can do that the Great and Powerful Trixie can't?" Just from the corner of his eye, Spike noticed Azure twitch just a little, having halted his attempt to get the zipper off for a moment.

"I--I--" Twilight appeared to be backed into a corner, completely running a blank.
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Why isn't Twilight stepping up? Azure asked himself. She's the student to the sun princess herself, for crying out loud! He raised a hoof casually to the still-caught zipper, seeing as how Twilight wasn't going to take the darn thing off, and zipped it back up. One...two...three... He breathed deeply through his nose, and prepared to yank the tab with all his force.

"That's it, I can't stand--"

As Applejack began to intervene on Twilight's behalf, Azure gave the tab the hardest pull he could manage. This time, his attempt at unzipping his zipper worked, but it wasn't his turn to talk.

"--no more of this!" The orange earth pony began making her way to the stage.

"You show her, AJ!" Spike called out, apparently having abandoned his attempt to have Twilight go on stage. Azure still didn't understand why she was so hesitant. He wanted to go up there and do something, anything, that would show the showboat who was boss. The orange farmer pony, meanwhile, pulled off her hat, producing a rope...no, lasso, as she called it, and proceeded to hold it with her tail.

"Can your magic powers do this?" With that, the mare proceeded to twirl the lasso using her tail, and performed a series of rope tricks. Close to the end of her performance, she was actually leaping through the loops of her own lasso. Finally, the mare chomped down on an apple; the whole thing, topping off her performance.

Azure felt a little too compelled to applaud along with the crowd, but he didn't hesitate in doing so. Applejack unfurled the rope from her tail.

"Top that, missy," the mare said to the bemused blue mare on stage. Trixie only gave a small chuckle.

"Oh ye of little talent..."

Virid, I've found your mate!

"watch and be amazed at the magic of Trixie!" The unicorn's horn began to glow violet again, as did the rope. Eerily, a snake charmer tune started to play, and the rope, too, began to move, almost like a serpent. It would have been impressive...except for the fact that just about any unicorn with a functional horn could have moved a rope/lasso/string as though it were a snake.

But Trixie apparently wasn't satisified with just that. Applejack, hyponitzed by the rope's slow movements, wasn't prepared for when the magic-moved object proceeded to knock her feet out from under her in such a way she wound up on her back. The rope, meanwhile, immediately proceeded to tie all four of her feet together. Then, just to add further insult (aside from the fact that her apparently precious headwear was knocked off as a result), Trixie decided to jam an apple into the mare's gaping mouth.

Did she just hogtie Applejack? If Azure had sleeves, he'd have prepared to roll them up then and there. That was terrible. To make matters worse, the gathered crowd was both applauding and laughing at the single trick Trixie did to Applejack's...well, Azure lost count when she started hopping through the loops, but there was definitely more than one trick. Okay, that was unnecessary--

Applejack began hopping off the stage, having somehow replaced her hat on her head.

"Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie prevails." Trixie said, apparently proud of what she'd done. Apparently, this pony couldn't count.

Keep it cool, Azure, you're probably the only one in this city that knows offensive spells. You don't need to seriously hurt somepony from nowhere...

"There's no need to go around struttin' around and showin' your stuff off like that." This was Rainbow Dash, hovering in front of the now hatless Trixie.

Then again, there's a battle of the egos about to go on...at least Rainbow Dash knows how to count.

"Oh?" Trixie asked, looking up to the hovering pegasus.

"That's my job!"

With that, Rainbow Dash immediately rushed off at the speed that she'd used on him when they first met. She turned into a moving rainbow as she approached a windmill. The pony proceeded to rotate around it at incredible speeds. Once she'd acquired enough momentum, the mare launched herself straight up into the air, allowing her to punch holes through several clouds as she ascended. She then sped back to the windmill, doing the same loops she'd done in reverse. Only as she made her way back to the stage did Azure see what that did.

It was after Rainbow Dash had landed. Carried by the velocity of the wind around her, the raindrops from within the clouds had followed her from the clouds to the windmill, back to the stage, where they proceeded to fall onto her. Just as the droplets finished their trajectory, the light blue mare opened her wings, causing a rainbow to form just above her.

For one of the few times since he'd known her, Azure Courage felt completely justified in applauding her efforts. Even if he had wings, he probably couldn't have pulled that off. At least with Rainbow Dash, she made darn well sure you knew two things: one, she was the one doing her stunts, and two...

"They don't call me 'Rainbow' and 'Dash' for nothing."

Well, that.

"When Trixie gets through with you, the only thing they'll call you is 'loser'." Trixie said, her horn taking on a violet hue. Before Rainbow knew it, the rainbows that were still around her began forming a spinning vortex. Azure felt a little motion sickness coming on just watching the rainbows spin all around her, so he could only imagine what Dash was going through. He could hear Dash calling out in confusion from within the whirling sphere.

Alas, the torture couldn't last forever. The pegasus was soon on the ground, headfirst, her red-violet eyes spinning around in their sockets. To make matters worse, she was suffering from severe motion sickness. She wrestled herself to her feet, trying her hardest to not throw up.

Incidentally, Azure found himself doing the same. Trixie was really starting to make him sick.

"I think I'm..." Rainbow weakly raised a hoof to her mouth as she belched. "...going to be sick..."

The cyan unicorn found his eye drawn to a black thundercloud that was slowly lowering itself behind Rainbow Dash.

"Seems like anypony with a dash of good sense," Trixie put special emphasis on the word "dash", "would think twice before tussling with the Great Trixie." Exactly two seconds passed between that and a lightning bolt coming from the cloud, striking Dash perfectly on the rear end. Azure felt vicariously insulted. That was two of his friends now that had been laughed at. And that last one was practically overkill.

Okay, you made your point by making her dizzy! Outrage surged through his veins faster than he could keep control of it. Was using that spell really necessary, at all? Azure wasn't even aware of it, but his legs were starting to move in place, his anger starting to exceed its bounds.

"Easy, Azure," The voice was so soft that Azure almost paid it no mind. However, the voice was also distinctive, so he turned to see Fluttershy. "Please don't go up there."

"Somepony's gotta put her in her place...!"

"With your style of diplomacy, you're only going to get yourself in trouble," Twilight came to life. "What kind of colt would hit a mare?"

"I wasn't going to--" Azure began.

"Azure's got the right idea," This was Spike. When twelve eyes turned to him, he immediately said. "I mean, the part where we need a unicorn to match her." Twilight suddenly once again became withdrawn at this.

"Oh, yeah!" Rainbow Dash immediately forgot all about Azure's alleged plan. He wasn't going to go up and smack Trixie, and besides, that's probably what she wanted him to do. He wanted to see if she could turn his martial arts against him like she had before. "A unicorn to show this unicorn who's boss."

That's exactly what I was about to do...

"A real unicorn-to-unicorn tussle!" Applejack cut in.

"Um..." Twilight looked completely hesitant now, looking from pony to dragon.

"Enough," said Rarity, loud enough for the others to hear. "Enough, all of you. I take your hint, but Rarity is above such nonsense," The white unicorn said. "Though Rainbow Dash and Applejack behave like ruffians, and Azure probably doesn't know any better,"

"Hey!" Azure cut in, now completely offended. First his friends think he's going to abandon a gentlecolt's code and smack a mare, even though by all accounts she was asking for it, and now Rarity was acting as though he didn't know better?

"but Rarity conducts herself with beauty and grace."

And since when does Rarity refer to herself in the third person? This was an honest question in the cyan colt's mind.

"Oooh," Trixie asked. "What's the matter? Afraid you'll get a hair out of place in that rat's nest you call a mane?"

Azure felt himself flinch. If there was ever a thing that he didn't ever want to do, insulting Rarity's mane was high up on that list. Not that he would anyway. She clearly took care in styling it every morning.

"Oh...it...is...on!" Sure enough, the white mare in question took complete offense to that insult, and began trotting up to the stage, while the blue unicorn mare looked on with a completely smug look on her face.

"You may think you're tough with your so-called powers," Rarity continued, her horn alight with a blue glow. "But there's more to magic than your brutish ways. A unicorn needs to be more than just muscle," Azure couldn't tell whether that was directed at him or Trixie after that earlier comment the unicorn made. "A unicorn needs to have style."

With this, the unicorn used her magic to create herself an elaborate ensemble. Her curled mane was now up in a bun. The actual clothing she was now wearing was made from the curtains. To create that sort of outfit in less than thirty seconds was nothing short of impressive. Of course, the audience thought so too.

"A unicorn is not a unicorn without grace and beauty."

"Rarity won't let Trixie get the best of her!" Spike immediately went into a tirade, prompting Azure to wonder if the little guy had a crush on the mare in question. "She's strong, she's beautiful..."

Of course, while the young dragon continued to list off Rarity's finer qualities, Azure focused on Trixie's horn. It was glowing violet, so whatever she had in mind wasn't going to be good.

The crowd gasped, and Azure flinched again. He didn't want to say anything, but Rarity's mane...oh Celestia, Rarity's mane...

"Quick, I need a mirror! Get me a mirror!" the mare in question wailed. "What did she do to my mane? I know she did something terrible to my mane!"

"Nothing." Twilight lied, flinching at the sight of it.

"It's fine." Rainbow assured, though the expression on her face betrayed reluctance.

"It's..." Applejack's face completely distorted, but she managed to get control of it. "gorgeous..."

"It's green." Spike said simply. When the others turned to look at him, he shrugged and asked, "What?"

Rarity's mane went from the bun it had been in to a literal slimeslick, and yes, it was a disgusting shade of green. You could have probably told Azure that somepony had decided to stick Rarity's head in a public restroom toilet and given it a few flushes and he'd have believed you. The mare gave a deep, disturbed gasp.

"Ugh, no! Green hair! Not green hair!" The white unicorn began, running past a green earth pony while crying. "Such an awful, awful color!" The earth pony took clear offense to this.

"Well, I never!" the pony grumbled.

Alright, that's three for three. This pony has the worst ego I've ever seen! Virid wouldn't be a good match. Even he knows when his ego's unwarranted...I think. Alright, I've had my fill.

"Alright, now I'm going up there..." Azure said in a low voice. "I've had enough of this." He began moving toward the stage.

"Azure, wait!" Twilight whispered. "Don't do something reckless!"

"Too late," the cyan colt responded. He knew he was beyond hope-none of his friends could have possibly talked him out of the action he was planning to do.
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Twilight held back the urge to swallow as Azure practically stomped his way past her. She'd heard, from Pinkie, what had happened when Gilda scared Fluttershy. Azure so happened to be there with her, and just like now, he got unbelivably angry and had a look like he was about to strike. The purple mare didn't see Azure as diplomatic at all. This was either going to end with Trixie making Azure's limbs rubber when he tried to strike, or the colt in question proving he was the farthest thing from a gentlecolt.

After all, he did technically try hitting Nightmare Moon twice, but could he really be faulted for that? Twilight wanted to think so.

"Alright, I'm done with this!" Azure called out. Trixie looked down to him, bemused, just as she had been this whole time when dealing with the others.

"Are you next to challenge the Great and Power--" she started, but apparently the cyan colt was too angry to be courteous enough to let her spout her overconfident drivel this time.

"Yeah, yeah, Great and Powerful Trixie, we get it." The crowd gasped at the cyan colt's statement, but the blue mare on stage kept the same amused smirk on her face. "Like a broken record."

"Please, enlighten me," Still with that sickening, condescending tone, Trixie lowered her head towards Azure, who didn't even budge. Twilight wondered what made the display of ego so different from Rainbow's for exactly one fraction of a moment, but then she realized that Rainbow didn't brag about helping in the defeat of Nightmare Moon. Plus, she didn't do overkill when displaying her ego. "what do you think you can do better than Trixie?"

The cyan colt reared back and leapt, jumping up on the stage with enough force to cause some of the wood to physically tremble. Trixie looked down, almost amused, at the trembling stage.

"I may be a unicorn, but I know the importance of keeping my body toned."

Twilight felt the strongest possible urge to hang her head and apply her hoof to her face from how that sounded. The entire crowd fell deathly silent, while Trixie, for the first time, looked honestly unsure, but she managed to recover from Azure's statement quickly.

"Trixie is shocked that you would think of striking a mare!"

If the crowd of ponies could have gotten even more silent, they would have. Precisely two ponies could be heard booing, and it didn't take a genius to figure out who those two could possibly have been.

"Why does everypony think I'm going there?" Azure asked, sounding hurt. "I wouldn't think of laying a hoof on a mare." Twilight chose to disregard the fact that he had in fact thought of it, technically three times: twice with Nightmare Moon and once with Gilda; though she wasn't a pony, she was still female. "I can react at the turn of a dime if I need to."

The crowd collectively breathed a small sigh of relief, while Trixie spied something behind Azure. Twilight forced herself to look. It was the same apple tree where Applejack and the unicorn mare had gotten their apples for their stunts. Around one of the apples, a violet glow appeared.

"Is this so?" Trixie asked. Exactly one second later, the apple snapped from the branch. It drew closer to the colt's head at incredible speeds, and for just a moment, it seemed like Azure would take the hit. However, at the last second, Azure's ear twitched, and he hit the dirt. The apple kept going, but Trixie dodged the apple she'd thrown.

"Is that it?" The cyan colt asked, already rising to his feet.

"Please, don't be ridiculous!" Trixie began levitating several stage props, varying in size from small, harmless noisemakers to entire crates. "That was merely a warm up, now, the entirety of Ponyville will see exactly how agile you really are!"

The stage props soon began to orbit around Azure. Only the slightest bit of fatigue was visible in Trixie's features, though she didn't falter in levitating the objects at increasing speeds. A small noisemaker lunged for Azure's back, but Azure hopped to the right. A small board tried to knock the colt's legs out from underneath him. A few more objects came rushing at him, but he had managed to avoid every one, with maybe micrometers seperating him and the flying object.

A large crate began rushing at him, exactly as another loose board lying around came about under him. In a moment of what Twilight could only describe as a mixture of sheer luancy and perhaps agility, Azure took a leap, somehow landing somewhat on his hind legs, buying himself just enough time to get on top of the flying crate with just a little bit of stumble in his step.

"Whoa!" Twilight turned to see a clearly amazed Rainbow Dash, whose wings were opening at the sight. The purple mare bit back the urge to make a remark and turned back to watch the spectacle. Azure's body was clearly very toned given the fact most unicorns were known for using magic; like he'd belonged alongside knights in a militia or something of that caliber. He'd demonstrated his agility back when they were en route to the Elements of Harmony, but it still was somewhat amazing to see. Meanwhile, the crowd began to cheer.

The crate's trajectory continued, so obviously Trixie was still moving it. However, Trixie dropped the smaller objects and loose boards she was using, opting instead to levitate two other crates, both about the same size as the first one.

"Not bad, but Trixie hopes you're ready for a real ride!" Trixie called up to the colt, who looked around. At first, Azure had complete control over the three crates, jumping from one to the next, even when they were being slammed into one another with enough force to make a loud banging noise. However, this moment of triumph, as Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity had just learned, was not to last.

Azure made one more jump, and from the height he was at, Twilight could somewhat tell he was starting to become fatigued from having to more or less continously jump or fight for balance on the floating objects. However, the crate made a sudden movement away from him that the colt didn't have enough time to correct his trajectory, and thus, fell back to the ground while the crowd gasped.

The fall would have probably been more harmful had Azure not known that descent-slowing spell, but it was still a very hard fall, flat on his four feet. He still managed to hit hard enough he wound up flat on his stomach, but from the way he grunted sharply on impact, he was definitely still conscious and alive.

Twilight couldn't remember running alongside the others (minus Rarity, who was probably still trying to reverse Trixie's effects on her mane) to Azure's side straight away, but Fluttershy had managed to reach him first. In a soft voice, she addressed him.

"O-oh, no, Azure," she asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," He was clearly shaken up from the fall, "I'm still ready to--" His face sharply contorted in pain as he fell back to his stomach after standing straight up. "Okay...no, I'm not." He turned to his left forehoof, which didn't look deformed, but it was still obviously the cause of his pain.

"O-oh, oh no, it is broken?" Fluttershy continued.

"P-probably just a sprain..." Azure said, his expression abnormally distant. He looked up to the crates. While the crowd hadn't laughed at him; even Trixie didn't really say anything, but continued to look smug.

"Well, now that that's aside," Either even Trixie had a limit to who she would taunt, or there was some semblance of pity within her, "will there be any other takers to Trixie's challenge?"

"Well, Twilight, I guess it's up to you," Spike called Twilight's attention, unfortunately, back to the problem. Trixie casually ran a hoof through her somewhat tousled mane (probably a result of the exertion to constantly move the objects). "C'mon, show her what you're made of!"

Twilight now wished she hadn't ran over to Azure's side so quickly. Now that she was out of the crowd-and Spike couldn't have said his statement any louder, she stuck out like the horn on a unicorn's forehead.

"What do you mean?" It was an effort to keep her voice steady. "I'm nothing special..."
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Azure stood in a way that he could keep the weight off his hurt foot. It had to have been a sprain. He looked up to the stage again. He couldn't think of any other explanation.

Trixie moved the darn crate on him after he'd jumped. That wasn't worth bragging about. That was foal stuff. Currently, her only claim to fame was manipulating the things that the others created and turning them against them. The cyan colt had severe doubts that this mare even saw an Ursa Major let alone fought one, whatever that beast happened to be.

"Yes, you are!" Spike argued, even louder. The cyan colt did have to agree with that. The very first thing Twilight said was that she was Princess Celestia's student. She would have had to know a great deal more spells than anypony he could think of, save for an alicorn. "You're better than her!"

Trixie drew closer to the edge of the stage, apparently very interested in the developments.

"I'm not better than anyone." Twilight continued to deny it, in every way Trixie's opposite. However, even if she had commensurate achievements to the contrary of her statements, Azure had a feeling the purple mare wouldn't lord it over everypony.

"Hah! You think you're better than the Great and Powerful Trixie?" Azure could feel his ears pin back. He was really getting sick of this. She still hadn't done anything the others had-well, to be fair, she didn't have wings-and had only turned their talents against them. The blue mare's eyes narrowed at Twilight and the smirk got even more complacent-Azure couldn't tell how that was even possible, but it was. "You think you have more magical talent?"

The cyan colt would have loved nothing more than to have known a gender-bending spell. That way, he wouldn't have been breaking gentlecolt's code when he dealt his brand of justice. His jaw was locked shut, not due to Twilight casting a spell on his mouth, but because he was afraid that if he spoke with as much anger as he felt, he'd only make it worse.

I know for a fact she does, even if your hubris would blind you to the truth... He felt his teeth grind against each other, but he kept his face towards the ground, hidden behind the bangs of his mane so nopony would see how mad he really was. I take back what I said. Virid isn't this insufferable. I don't know why he and Blitz fight over the stupidest stuff...

"Well come on, show Trixie what you've got!" Trixie taunted, not adjusting her position. "Show us all."

Twilight visibly shrunk from the challenge.

"Who, me?" she asked, looking incredibly nervous. "I'm just your run-of-the-mill citizen of Ponyville. No powerful magic here." She had been backing away the whole time she was speaking, so now Azure could see her eyes dart behind her as she was speaking. "I...uh--I think I hear my laundry calling. Sorry, gotta go!"

With that, the purple mare turned tail and fled the scene.

"Twilight?" asked Spike, more confused than anything.

What the heck, Twilight? Seriously, what are you so afraid of? Did I miss something more important? Azure didn't know what to make of it either, but he was soon called back to his rage and had the feeling enhanced by Trixie's reaction. She was entirely smug in her demeanor.

"Ha!" She turned tail and began strutting her way backstage. "Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie has proven herself to be the most amazing unicorn in all of Equestria. Huh, was there ever any doubt?"

Azure felt something tear within him. Gentlecolt's code didn't matter now. He could deal with Rainbow Dash's ego, and Virid's ego, because at least they had commensurate feats to back up their claims. This mare frustrated him endlessly since he arrived to her all-flash and barely-any-substance show-no matter what anypony or anyone would care to point out, all she did was turn her opponent's tricks against her. That wasn't even doing as they were doing-in Dash's case, he wasn't sure if there was a spell that would allow the user to grow pegasus wings. And of course, striking Dash with lightning when she'd already proven her point was disgustingly overkill.

As for Virid, even he knew when to knock it off...most of the time.

Paying no mind to the pain in his left foreankle that occurred when he walked on it, the cyan colt began clumsily limping toward the stage. The crowd was starting to disperse now, so nopony would see what he was about to do.

Of course, he forgot approximately four details. The friends that had stuck around to the end of the spectacle began holding him back. Two of them--for ponies that had just been subjected to the most humiliating treatment in a competition that Azure could think of, they bounced back quick enough to hold him back.

"Whoa there, sugarcube," This was Applejack. "We need to get that leg of yours checked out. Don't want it to get worse, do ya?"

"I'm just going to..." he set the bad foot down and gritted his teeth as the pain sliced through the afflicted limb. "...walk it off..."

"I know that look, Azie!" Pinkie cut in. "It won't solve anything..."

"Don't try to fight it, Az," said Dash, spinning him around a little too roughly. "We're taking you to the doctor's whether you wanna or not!"

He was outnumbered four to one, and was in no condition to fight if he wanted to harm any of them. Thankfully, even though each of the six mares had their moments, none of them had ever come close to angering him in the way Trixie just had. Arrogance was one thing, but potentially unfounded arrogance was another thing. First chance he got, he was going to have to ask Twilight some questions.

And why she didn't accept Trixie's challenge was not on that list. At least, not high up on that list.

"Fine..." The colt relented, releasing a deep sigh. He was going to try and remove the anger from his system another way.
-------------
It had been quite a bit since he got out of the hospital, and Azure found that even though he fell quite a distance, he was still restless. However, he couldn't do anything physically active due to the sprain in his left forehoof. He'd have to keep weight off it for a week, so there wouldn't be any freegalloping moments until then. He used his headband as a sling, holding the cast around his neck. It was incredibly awkward trotting about on three legs, but he wasn't going to put any weight on his bad foot when he limped from place to place.

After he'd been discharged from the hospital, it was already drawing close to evening. He awkwardly limped about, making for the direction of the library. Thankfully, the others had made their way to their respective homes after seeing him off. He didn't need them bombarding him with questions on why he was going there. Besides, he'd gotten angry on the behalf of more than just Twilight back when Trixie was strutting her stuff--or lack thereof.

What I just don't get is why Twilight refused to take Trixie's challenge... he thought, closing his eyes. She's got more magical talent than average...I mean, she's Princess Celestia's student! She would have to be some kinda prodigy to earn that title rightfully, and I can't picture Ms. Perfect as a cheater.

He continued, the library drawing ever closer, when a thought occured in his mind.

Was she scared of Trixie? Azure asked himself. C'mon, Azure, slap yourself for that right now. Nopony with a functioning brain should be afraid of her as she is now...
-------------
Spike still was in utter disbelief at Twilight's behavior earlier. She'd completely run off. To make matters worse, Snips and Snails, those two younger ponies from earlier, would not stop kissing up to her. It was enough to make the baby dragon want to throw up. He'd been Twilight's assistant for longer than he could remember, and he knew for a fact that what he saw Trixie do was a drop in the bucket compared to what he knew for a fact Twilight could do.

Plus, he didn't know what an Ursa Major was save for that illustrative show, but he'd had a pretty good feeling that what Trixie said didn't actually happen. With all this considered, the baby dragon set about on his goal to get Twilight to put that book down and listen to him...
-------------
Azure was now just outside the door. The colt was just about to go on his hind legs so he could knock with his good foreleg when he began to hear voices inside. He stopped, and went back to standing awkwardly on his three good legs.

"Twilight, would you please put down the book and just listen to me?" This was Spike's voice, still pleading with the mare in question like earlier.

"Didn't you see how they hated Trixie's bragging, Spike?" Twilight countered with another question. Azure couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this. "If I go out there and show off my magic, I risk losing them as friends..."

Rainbow shows off quite a bit and we don't hate her guts for it...

"It's not the same, Twilight; you'll be using your magic to stand up for your friends!" Spike continued to argue his point.

"No, Spike, it's exactly the same..." Twilight counterargued.

So wait, the only reason she's declining Trixie's challenge is because we'd think of her as a braggart, somepony that needs her ego stroked continuously? Azure almost laughed at the thought. I absolutely can't see her doing that, unless she completely let the status as "Princess's Pupil" go to her head.

"C'mon Twilight," The younger dragon didn't budge. "Any one of these tricks, even the teeniest, would be enough to show up Trixie."

"I don't want to be seen as a bragger like Trixie," the purple unicorn wasn't in the mood to budge either.

Twilight, it only counts as bragging if you're up in everypony's face about it. You know, like Trixie?

The sound of magic being used from within sounded off, but Azure could barely pick up on it. He then heard a door slam on the inside, and he felt his face pull into confusion.

"But you're the best," Spike continued, the sound of a door opening entering Azure's ears. He had to remind himself that there was somehow a door on the inside of the library now.

"Uh, please, Spike, I said 'no'!" Her tone indicated that she wasn't moving from the library.

Okay, so to recap: Twilight knows more magic than Trixie-at least, logically she would if she were the Princess's student; we were all there when the Princess called her, and I quote, "My Faithful Student". Twilight thinks we'd hate her guts if she showed off. Trixie, despite not doing commensurate feats, acts like she owns all because of a story I'm convinced is a lie. And...and... Azure raised his good forehoof to his face after going up on his hind legs for balance. I have a migraine...

"If that's the way you want to be, then fine!" His tone indicated anger, and he slammed the door shut. There was a little bit of awkward silence on the inside. Azure couldn't tell if the argument was over, but he quickly, though clumsily backed away from the door when he heard footsteps approaching, no doubt Spike.

The door that he was just at soon opened, and lo and behold, Spike stood there, and as soon as he noticed Azure, his eyes shot open in surprise.

"Azure?" he asked. "Wait...w-were you listening in this whole time?"

"No," Azure quickly lied, "I just came to talk to Twilight about something..." And that didn't sound weird at all... The young dragon quickly pulled his face into an annoyed grimace as he looked back through the opening door.

"Good luck with that," he said, walking away. "She's as stubborn as she says you are..."

Azure stood on three legs, blinking, as he turned back to the library.

Why does Twilight talk about me with Spi--you know what, not important. I don't want to know. Azure thought to himself, beginning to hobble his way through the front door. I've still got other questions that I need answered before I can tackle Twilight's problem...
-------------
Twilight could not focus on the literature she was poring over. Spike's voice, and the actions of her friends earlier, kept replaying in her mind like a broken record. She tried her hardest to shut out the distractions, since she wanted to continue to read it undisturbed. The sound of the front door closing echoed throughout the library. The purple mare didn't even turn, her focus entirely elsewhere.

"Hey, Twilight," It was a familiar, masculine voice. Azure. "What do you have there?"

"Oh, Azure," she said, not turning to regard him directly. "what are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know," he responded, and his voice was that sickeningly sarcastic tone he often took with her. "I was in the neighboorhood and just decided to drop by."

"Look, I'm pretty sure I know why you really came, Azure, but..." Twilight turned as she spoke, and upon seeing Azure's new condition following his accident earlier with Trixie, she gasped. He was standing rather awkwardly on three legs, with his injured hoof in a cast, held up by a sling made from his band. "You broke it, didn't you?" Anger and concern flooded through her, causing her to glare in his direction. "See, this is exactly why you shouldn't show off your skills!"

"Whoa, take it easy, Twilight, it's just a sprain..." he responded, seeming oddly calm given he was the one that got injured.

"Oh, sure, just a sprain..." Twilight didn't know what it was about Azure, but he always managed to strike a chord in her. "You still showed off and got hurt! You're lucky if the others still want to be your friend after that!"

"Twilight..." Even after that, Azure remained as calm as he could stand to, though Twilight could see his face twitch in slight anger from her statement. "You make it sound like standing up for yourself is the same thing as gloating..."

"Ugh, you sound just like Spike!" Twilight scoffed, turning away from him. Why were the males she knew so intent to see her show up Trixie? She'd lose her friends, and to make matters worse, she'd fail the princess. The studious pony couldn't have either one!

"Twilight," Azure was being his usual stubborn self. He still remained calm, though his voice betrayed that he was starting to lose his patience. "speaking from experience, I know for a fact it's not bad to stand up for your friends, even when you're showing what you can do."

Twilight whipped around to the injured, sitting colt, shooting him a nasty glare that she didn't use on anypony else. Not even Spike got the glare. Azure was impossible.

"Then..." she started, trying to compose herself, "Then you should consider yourself lucky. Your friends could have easily wound up hating you..."

"What kind of logic--" Azure had finally lost his patience. He'd finally gotten off his rump and limped closer to her, a nasty glare to match hers plastered on his face. "Listen to me, Twilight. You honestly think the others are going to hate you if you use whatever magic you have at your disposal, even though you're sticking up for them? Even though I was jumping around, and as you say, 'showing off', the others didn't leave me with an injury. As a matter of fact, the others actually personally escorted me to the hospital...

"They actually cared more about me than what I'd done to get in that condition!"

Twilight felt her glare ease up. Azure was starting to make sense. It wasn't the first time, but to Twilight, it was a rare occurence.

"After they made sure I was going to stay until I got checked out, they left to check if Rarity's mane problem had altered any. No matter what you might think, there is a difference between pointlessly gloating, and backing up what you can say. I may have issues with arrogance, but I want to make something very clear to you. None of us hate Rainbow Dash even though she gloats whenever she gets the shot. Unless I'm mistaken?"

The purple mare couldn't believe it, but Azure was actually hitting the nail on the head.

"N-no...t-that's...I don't..." She stuttered out, caught completely off-guard.

"None of us do. That's probably because she's actually able to back up her gloating when she says it." The cyan colt continued. "I don't even know what an Ursa Major is, but I just don't think Trixie was able to take one on on her own. If you have the skills, no one's going to hate you for using them. As long as you don't go around boasting of them to anypony who'd lend an ear."

"I..." Twilight was still unsure. What Azure was saying made sense. Yet, he didn't have any idea how skilled she truly was. "I don't know..."

"Just think about it, okay?" With one final sigh, the unicorn colt hobbled away. Twilight turned from him. Just as she heard him opening the door with his magic, she turned to him.

"Wait, Azure," she said. Azure stopped and turned back to her. "When you said you stood up for your friends before..."

A smile betrayed the colt's features.

"Well, I stood up to a chimera for you, but you don't hear me bragging about it." With that, he left.

Twilight didn't need to be told that her mouth was hanging open in shock. She definitely had quite a bit to think about. With this in mind, she returned to the book.

"An Ursa Major is..." she began, starting to read the entry from the book she'd selected...
-------------
It had been at least two hours since he left Twilight's home, and Azure Courage felt like he had accomplished something. He may have still been wondering what an Ursa Major was, and he didn't get any of his spell questions answered, but he left with confidence that he had done a better job of convincing Twilight to show off her skills.

Night had fallen on Ponyville, and now the colt did not know what he'd do with himself until his ankle recovered from the sprain. He couldn't freegallop, couldn't really practice any martial arts outside of the moves he could do on two legs. Even doing something like galloping for the sake of doing so wouldn't really work with three good legs. Meditation would only fill his time so well.

Whatever the case, the cyan colt knew one thing: he was definitely in a vulnerable position. If trouble came knocking at the doorstep of Ponyville, or Twilight, or any of the others, he most certainly would not be in any shape to protect--

An earth-shaking impact and roar shook Azure out of his thoughts so quickly he almost fell backwards on his rump again. He hobbled back onto three legs and looked up. Another roar, another distant stomp. He grit his teeth.

"Oh no," he grumbled, hobbling just as fast as his three legs could carry him in the direction of the screams of terror and beastly bellows. Each time he fell flat on his cast, he would punctuate the action with the words "darn" or " manure". By whatever force that allowed him to do so, he'd managed to reach the scene soon enough.

What he was looking at fit the light show that Trixie had used earlier. He had faded in and out due to the ego he heard in her presentation, but he did get the gist of what an Ursa Major looked like: a bear. And what he was looking at definitely fit the bill. It was light blue, translucent, looked like the night sky, and was in fact an oversized bear. It made the chimera look like a dwarf. In short, it was huge.

So that's...an Ursa Major...?! Azure asked. It was here he'd noticed that the two unicorns from earlier, the ones that persistently kissed up to the self-proclaimed "Great and Powerful" mare, cowering behind Trixie while at the same time looking expectant. Oh Celestia, why did those two foals have to be so stupid?!

The Ursa was clearly angered, and was on a rampaging, smashing anything in its path: the stage from earlier, random buildings, and even the odd tree here and there. The first thought that came to Azure's mind; somepony was gonna have to stop that thing. The second?

And I'm gonna have to clean all this up with three hooves. Wonderful. thought the cyan colt to himself. Azure began doing a rare thing for himself: analyzing the situation. Analysis was usually left up to Virid, but he had to size up this threat. And this threat was quite literally tenfold his size. What do I do now, darn it?! Can't walk right let alone jump around like I will need to...and I don't even know if my magic will have any effect on this thing!

Darn it...it's my first real Protector job, and I can't even pull it off! Injured, and even if I were healthy, I doubt I'd do anything of worth... It was probably one of the few times in his life Azure Courage had ever felt true hopelessness. His jaw clenched as a mix of fear and anger began to swell in him. He didn't even notice right away when those two moronic foals from earlier pushed that egotisical mare right next to him.

"Oh, Great and Powerful Trixie," Azure was snapped to attention by the smaller, stockier colt bowing down to the boastful mare in question. "you gotta vanquish the Ursa Major."

"Yeah," added the lankier, taller one, "vanquish it so we can watch." The sentiment alone filled Azure with enough rage to smoke a whole stack of newspapers if he'd lifted them telekinetically.

"It took a lot of trouble to get that thing here," He didn't know who he wanted to clock first anymore. It was taking the knowledge that hitting anypony would not help matters any just to keep Azure from letting out a terrible scream akin to a dying pig being dragged down to the deepest pits of Tartarus...whatever that was. He'd heard Virid saying it at least once when he got mad, but he never figured it out.

"Wait," The sound of Trixie's voice brought Azure slightly away from his anger. All the ego that was in her voice before was strangely gone. "you brought that thing here? Are you out of your little pony minds?"

They're head over heels for you, Trixie. Can't you see that? Azure thought to himself, his anger still way too much. It was still eating away at him like acid.

"But you're the Great and Powerful Trixie," the smaller one said in response, clearly not getting the cause of Trixie's fear.

"Yeah, remember? You defeated an Ursa Major," the taller one said. The disgust at the whole situation utterly ate Azure alive. He'd defeated a chimera, but never once mentioned it to other ponies. In fact, if anypony was bringing it up, it was Pinkie Pie, and that happened so rarely it wasn't even worth considering.

"Uh...okay," The light blue unicorn said, sounding completely unnerved. "Stand back." That ego was back in her voice, but it wasn't nearly as obnoxious as before. The mare's horn became enveloped in that violet glow again, and within moments, a rope began to slither about, just as it had with Applejack. The rope lunged for the Ursa, and ensnared it.

Or rather, ensnared two of its claws together.

"Heh," That unforgivably huge ego was back on the forefront, and being reminded of everything that Trixie had done while acting all high and mighty caused Azure to feel a rush of rage that blasted through him like a lightning bolt. It burned like no other, and the cyan colt fought to keep himself composed, because he was dangerously close to losing his mind. "Piece of cake."

The angered pony tried his hardest to stand his ground, but he was aware his face was twitching like no other, and he could feel a vein throbbing on his forehead, right next to his horn. The anger only intensified when, unsurprisingly, Trixie's feeble attempt fell flat. As soon as the ursa snapped the rope off its fingers, it bellowed again.

Azure couldn't hold himself. If you could ever imagine a unicorn colt that looked ready to melt your head off with just a simple glare, that was exactly how furious he was now.

"Do you see now what your boasting has brought us, huh?!" The amount of anger in his voice was indescribable. "You came to Ponyville and gloated to anyone who'd listen to you! You humiliate my friends, publically, for the satisfaction of your ego! You go from town to town, harping on about how you bested an Ursa Major, in Hoofington!" He hobbled forward, the rage never leaving his eyes, but only his voice. The force of the step was so strong, the ground immediately underneath his good hoof chipped. "And now there actually is one here in Ponyville because your two biggest fans decided to test you out! They looked up to you based on a lie! Well, now it's time for the truth to come out!"

The cyan colt had utterly spent his breath. His throat hurt from how he'd screamed at them. He still looked angry enough to snap somepony in two if they happened to be brittle enough.

"You're wrong," This was the lanky one.

Why in the name of all that is harmonious do I even bother?!

"Trixie is great and powerful and can vanquish the Ursa Major, eh?"

Only now that the cyan colt had utterly spent his rage, his voice box burning (and he was sure he'd neighed at least once unintentionally, but he couldn't tell) from the screaming he'd just done, he could see clearly. And what he saw was an entirely different Trixie. What he heard next was a far different mare than the one that had done all the nasty things he'd just described.

"I...can't." Her voice was so full of guilt that it was difficult to recognize. Plus, it didn't help that she actually used first-person pronouns.

"What?!" This was both of the foals now, completely caught off-guard.

"I can't vanquish an Ursa Major!" Trixie repeated, loud enough. "No one can! I made the story up to make myself look better." While those two stooges repeated the words "made it up" in complete and utter disbelief, Azure had only one thing to say.

"...I knew it..." His voice was so hoarse it almost didn't even sound right coming out of him. The Ursa, apparently having had enough of this, continued its rampage, roaring louder. Azure felt the ground shake, and knew instinctively that he should probably move from the spot, like the other ponies in his vicinity were.

Instead, he did something somepony with a death wish would do. He turned to face the impossibly huge blue bear, and tried to figure out what to do about this beast with three legs. He never really ran from anything other than that first chimera he'd encountered. But he couldn't allow it to get past, not while he still drew breath. The beast raised its massive paw, and one pony screamed as the paw began to come to Azure.

It seemed like the cyan colt would be crushed underfoot, but Azure soon realized there was a magenta glow surrounding him, particularly since it was night and it was visible against the dark. His body jerked back, just as the Ursa's paw crashed down on where he just was.

"Are you insane?!" That familiar female voice scolded. Now that he was on his back safely away from the Ursa, Azure turned to see Twilight shooting him a small glare.

"You already asked..." he whispered, his voice box still sore from yelling.

The glare in Twilight's face vanished when she apparently remembered what was really going on. The Ursa continued to roar. The cyan colt watched as the mare that had just saved him from being crunched to death took a few steps forward, so that she was a step ahead of him. However, he could still clearly see the look of indecision on her face.

The unicorn sighed. How many times did he have to tell her...?
-------------
Twilight Sparkle knew what she had to do. Azure, even if he were healthy, couldn't even stand up to this, and Trixie just proved that she couldn't even handle it whatsoever. It fell on her to knock two birds out with one stone: show up Trixie, and get this dangerous creature out of town now.

She swallowed back a lump in her throat. All this combined was really making her anxious.

"Hey, Twilight," For somepony that really should only be whispering, Azure still managed to be loud enough to be heard. Then again, he was just behind her. She turned her head to see him with a smile, one that really shouldn't have been him, considering it was him to begin with; but also because she'd heard him screaming, presumably at Trixie. What he said next, though, utterly left her at a loss. "No matter what comes of this, remember this. We're still friends."

Did Twilight have to be told her mouth was hanging wide open? No. The sentiment probably meant more than it should have, but what he'd said to her made her feel reassured all the same, so it was good enough.

"Thanks, Azure..." she said in response with a smile. She returned her attention to the ursa and began. Her horn glowed as she began putting her plan into motion. This was going to take quite a bit out of her.
-------------
Azure had given all the advice he could know to give Twilight. Now it was all up to her. She was clearly deep in concentration. At first, he didn't get what she was up to. Suddenly, as the winds picked up, he could hear a soothing tune start to play. The Ursa Major heard this, and suddenly had a look on his face that indicated it was completely calm. In fact, it looked as though it was about to fall asleep.

"Nice use of number sixteen," Spike commented. The cyan colt didn't have time to figure out precisely what that statement meant, though, for as the Ursa began to completely calm from the music, he heard a deep, metallic groan. But the Ursa wasn't sitting on anything metal, so--

The sound of water gushing from something forced Azure to turn his head and look. A watertower had just been busted, the actual holder of the water opened. It appeared that there was a lid removed from it, but the resevroir that held the water was already moving towards a large barn.

What's she doing? The answer to his unspoken question soon came when the tower went into the barn, and the sounds of cows being milked soon filled Azure's ears. It was faint due to the distance, but those cows were definitely getting milked.

"Well, that's new," said Twilight's assistant, prompting Azure to wonder exactly how much magic potential the mare before him had. Her horn glowed even brighter and the glow around it actually seemed to get bigger. The soothed, sleepy-looking Ursa Major was lifted up by a magenta glow, and it was here that Azure understood the reason for breaking the watertower.

The watertower, with its top replaced, floated into the gigantic blue bears legs. It hugged it with all four of its limbs and began to suckle on it, almost like...

"Almost like a baby..." he whispered. He was too in shock from what he'd just witnessed Twilight to do to say anything else. His mouth was gaping. Twilight had lifted up that heavy, heavy creature, and done all that in basically one go. How magically attuned was this mare?

Twilight looked tired from the exertion however, in fact, almost as if she were about to--

He was at her side before he could remember moving there, propping her up to prevent her from falling. He used his good side, helping Twilight to stand up straight while she recovered from the obvious strain using so much magic had put on her.

The cheering of the townsponies exploded around them. As Twilight regained her balance, she turned to him with an exhausted smile.

"Thanks..." There was nothing more she could say to him, however, for her friends came rushing up to her.

"Unbelivable," commented Rainbow Dash. He had to give that mare more credit - since at least she knew where it was due.

"That was amazing!" That was Spike, giving the unicorn a thumbs-up.

"Heavens to Betsy!" Applejack exclaimed. "We knew you had ability, but not that much..." Twilight looked worried, which, for somepony being praised, made no sense to Azure.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the purple mare...apologized?! "Please, don't hate me..."

Twilight, you are the only one I know that would apologize for being legitimately talented... The colt released a sigh, resisting the urge to cover his face with his good forehoof.

"Hate you!?" yelled all her friends at once.

"Why, whatever do you mean, darling?" Rarity asked, proving that was in fact her name for everypony she happened to like. Wait...like...Azure stopped himself before he could consider that thought more. Such a supposition was utterly ridiculous.

"Well..." Twilight started, sounding disheartened. Again, Azure wondered how somepony could be so modest. Then again, considering he'd had to put up with Trixie, this modesty was a breath of much-needed fresh air. "I know how much you all hated Trixie's showing off with her magic tricks, and I just thought--"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rainbow cut in before the purple mare could finish her sentence. "Magic's got nothing to do with it! Trixie's just a showoff..."

Even more of one than any other pony I know... Azure mentally added.

"Most unpleasant," This, coming from the pony who looked like she'd been dunked headfirst into a swamp earlier that same day.

"All hat and no cattle," Applejack commented. That was a relatively new turn of phrase that the colt hadn't yet heard.

"So, you don't mind my magic?" The studious pony gained confidence with the responses she'd gotten.

"Your magic is a part of who you are, sugarcube," This was the orange earth pony again. "and we like who you are. We're proud to have such a powerful, talented unicorn as our friend."

"And after whoopin' that ursa's hindquarters," Azure didn't quite know if Dash's statement was accurate, "we're even prouder."

"You are?" Twilight asked, only to be met with affirmtive sounds from her friends. The cyan colt blew out another sigh.

"I told you so..." he whispered.

"Wow, Twilight," the young dragon began, "how'd you know what to do with that Ursa Major?"

"That's what I was doing when you came looking for me," she explained. "I was so intriguied by Trixie's bragging that I felt compelled to do some reading up on them."

"So, it is possible to vanquish an Ursa Major?"

"Well, you saw it yourself," Azure cut in, really feeling like the obviousness of the unicorn's feat was missed. "She was able--"

"Actually," Twilight cut him off before he could say any more. "That wasn't an Ursa Major. It was a baby, an Ursa Minor..."

The headband-wearing colt felt as though he'd been slapped, and his jaw almost hit the ground for the second time that day. Well, second time that day not out of rage, that is.

"That was a baby?!" Trixie squeaked, for once echoing Azure's thoughts verbatim.

"And it wasn't rampaging," Azure would have asked how, but Twilight wasn't giving him an opening. "It was just cranky because somepony woke it up."

Glares were shot in those two foals' direction, who looked elsewhere nervously.

"If that was an Ursa Minor," Spike began, looking worried, "then what does an Ursa Major look like?"

Twilight looked away from Spike, and her facial expression suggested she remembered something disconcerting.

"You don't want to know..."

Whether or not her statement was directed at him, Azure Courage did not know or care. He knew that the adult Major had to have been impossibly gigantic compared to its child, and realized with his current skillset, he would not be able to stand up to one on his own, much less defeat it.

"Huh." Trixie stood there, silently contemplating what Twilight was saying. Finally, she seemed to return to reality, but unfortunately, not in the way the cyan colt had hoped. "You may have vanquished an Ursa Minor," The cyan colt felt his anger silently stew within him at the return of the seemingly undamaged ego, "But you'll never have the same amazing, show-stopping ability as the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Smoke surrounded her, but it'd take a pony with no way of seeing whatsoever to see she was clearly fleeing the scene on foot. Azure was so enraged he blew out a sharp exhale and slumped forward such that his rump was in the air.

"Why do I even bother...?" Seeing an incorrigible ego had taken all the fight out of him, leaving him to silently stew in his rage.

"Why, that little...!" Dash was just about to give chase.

"Just let her go," said Twilight. "Maybe one day she'll learn her lesson." The purple mare then turned to the foals that started the whole mess in the first place. "Now, about you two..."

The two foals whose names Azure still did not know nor care to know looked very sheepish for a few moments, before, to the colt's slight shock...

"Agh, uh, we're sorry we woke up the Ursa Minor," This was the shorter one.

"We just wanted to see some awesome magic..." The lankier one explained. Like that wasn't obvious. Too bad their idol wasn't all that she was cracking herself up to be.

"Yeah, and the way you vanquished the Ursa Minor was awesome," It only occurred to Azure one second after the end of that statement that the foals were shifting their idolization to Twilight.

"We deserve whatever punishment you give us."

Un-flinging-believable... Azure thought to himself, not sure whether to feel pity for the foals or to be disgusted by their behavior anymore. Twilight looked to him for a moment, then back to the two that had brought the ursa into town.

"For starters, you two can help clean up this mess," she said, which caused relief to flood from the colt's body in the form of a sigh. He could not have possibly done all of the work with a bad ankle. However, what Twilight said next mystified him. "And...what do you think, Spike? Should I give them number twenty-five?"

What exactly is with the number thing...? He found himself wondering this as Spike responded.

"Oh, twenty-five! Yes," said the younger dragon with enthusiasm. His next sentence, however, left Azure even more confused, to the point he felt another migraine setting in. "And I think I deserve it too!"

Spike, what did you do to deserve "twenty-fi--" He couldn't even finish his sentence, for Twilight's horn glowed magenta once again, and one brief flash later, the two stooges that brought the ursa into town, as well as Spike, grew mustaches, to which they expressed gratitude. ...Oh. Still don't get it.
-------------
Even after standing in front of an Ursa Minor, Azure still felt restless. He had tried to go sit down and write his letter to his family so he could update them on what just occured that day, but he just didn't feel like doing anything. His mind was in another place. For some reason, that place was the library where Twilight lived. And, his body had followed his mind's calling. He was at the door right now, visibly hesitant.

Okay, yeah, I admit she's got a lot more magical talent than I thought, but c'mon, she's still the same pony as before... The colt thought to himself, swallowing. Azure Courage...you know it's in your name. You shouldn't be afraid of this...

After taking a deep breath to steady himself, he raised his good hoof to knock. However, the strangeness of the situation did not end there. Instead of Spike, who usually answered the door, it was Twilight herself.

"Oh, Azure," she said. There was something not right about her tone, but Azure couldn't place it. "What brings you here?"

Ah, darn it...

"Uh, I never really congratulated you for taking care of the ursa..." The cyan colt devised his reason, though in truth, he had no idea why he was back here.

"You don't need to thank me..." Her gaze became distant and soft as she modestly deflected his sentiment. "If anything, I should thank you..."

"Thank me? For what?" Azure was not aware of what he'd done that would warrant her thanking him. Other than the time where she turned him purple so she could get away from the other ponies.

"When I saw the size of that Ursa, I began to wonder if I could ever pull it off..." she said. "But with your kind words, I got the confidence that I needed."

A reply was already on the tip of his tongue, but he never got to say it due to Twilight's next action. Without warning, one of her forelegs shot out and pulled him into an embrace.

"Thanks..." she whispered. Azure didn't know what to say. Something began to stir within him due to this event, but once again, he couldn't quite place it. All that was certain was that his heart rate definitely elevated.

What did I do?? That was the only other thing besides an incomprehensible mash of words he could discern in his altered thoughts. The hug only lasted about fifteen seconds, but it felt a lot longer somehow. Twilight gasped as she realized what she was doing and stumbled backwards, and here, Azure realized there was a light shade of pink on her cheeks that definitely wasn't there before.

"Uh, um, again, thanks..." she stuttered out awkwardly.

"Y-yeah," His reply was just as awkward. He didn't know what that was all about. "No problem." He took a small step back in case she tried reaching out for him again without warning. "A-anytime you n-need me, I guess. So, I guess I'll see you around..."

"Y-yes, see you tomorrow..." The purple mare continued to be awkward, as though she didn't know what she'd just done. "You know, if that's what you want...um..." The silence was more deafening than Trixie's ego, which was saying a lot. "So, yeah, um, bye..."

Twilight shut the door, enabling Azure to turn around and head back home in the night. As he hobbled his way back home, he rubbed at his mane with his good hoof while standing on his hind legs.

"What...just...happened...?"
-------------
To my family back home:

Well, I'm now hurt and have to take a week off. Today was one of those crazy days. There was this egotistical unicorn mare that came to town that made any of Virid's magic-flaunting exploits look time. At least Virid doesn't brag openly about defeating creatures, let alone ones he never did to begin with. I tried to stand up to her and lost when she moved one of the flying objects. Got a sprain in my left foreankle for that.

Later, these two stooges, I'd estimate around Spike's age (read: Twilight's dragon assistant), decide to test Trixie, apparently, by bringing an ursa to Ponyville. Note that Trixie once boasted she could beat an Ursa Major. Well, the beast she fought was a big blue teddy bear compared to one...because it was an Ursa Minor. It got mad because it was woken up from its nap.

Thankfully, Twilight was able to stop it from breaking anything else. That mare is talented. Guess that's what happens when you're the princess's star pupil...

Well, that's it from me. Hopefully I'll do something to pass this next week, otherwise I will go mad.

Until next letter,
Azure Courage
-------------
Virid Strategem, reading his younger cousin's letter, felt his brow crease. What exactly happened in Ponyville that warranted these constant events? Canterlot may have been one noisy city, but despite its quiet nature, the city Azure moved to suddenly seemed a lot louder by comparison. An Ursa Minor attacked because two idiots decided to test some showboat?

"What are you up to, Azure? Why'd you have to get yourself hurt?" he asked. He re-read the paragraph dealing with Twilight, and held back the urge to smirk. "Oh, I see. Got a crush on her?"

"Virid!" This was Blitz, cutting into Virid's thoughts. "You mentioned Azure got hurt...care to explain what's in that letter?"

"Oh, nothing much, just another one of his 'stuff went wrong then got fixed by his friends' sort of things. He tried to stand up to a mare whose ego sounds so irritating I probably couldn't even stand her--"

"Means a lot coming from you," The red unicorn whistled.

"Please let me finish before you make me mad," the green unicorn snapped. "Anyway, he sprained his foreankle trying to freegallop on...well, I'm going to assume objects high-up."

"That's my thing," Blitz countered.

"Hold on: I'm not done...now these two fans, probably her only two fans in the whole town, decide to wake up an ursa's child and bring it to town, believing it to be an adult."

"Aren't adult ursas at least twenty stories high?"

"That's because this 'Trixie' boasted she could beat one. Turns out she couldn't even beat a baby ursa, and then it falls onto Twilight," Encased in a bright yellow glow, the letter from Azure floated in front of Blitz's nose. "the 'talented mare', to apparently defeat it."

The two cousins took a moment of silence.

"Huh. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't," Blitz finally said. "But when you assume, Virid, you make an a--"

"So, I'm thinking about going down to Ponyville next week to visit..." The green colt said with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Virid, I know that look..." The red pony sighed. "I'll come with you. Somepony's gotta keep a lid on your antics."

"What's that supposed to mean, Crimson?"

"Nothing. We'll go next week to visit Azure and see what makes Ponyville so attractive for weird stuff to happen..."

Author's Note:

And with that, the "Boast Busters" adaptation is over. Next chapter, we get into more original chapters. Well, depending on how the next one pans out anyway.

Comments

[Tesla Moon]

Well I gusse it's going to be twilight ...... Dame is she over used as a love interest

[Mind Clash]

To the one bellow:
What are you talking about? Of course she gets used a lot for that stuff! Twilight is best pony afterall.

[TheArchive]

Alright, this was just sad. Azure, once again, is completely useless and unable to defend his friends from either being humiliated or attacked. Not only that, but the characters are absolutely unbearable in this chapter.

Seriously, where has all this stupidity with hitting mares come from?! It's gotten so nonsensical that gems like this show up:

After all, he did technically try hitting Nightmare Moon twice, but could he really be faulted for that? Twilight wanted to think so.

What?! Really, what? She seriously doesn't consider him a gentlecolt because he attacked Nightmare Moon? And she seriously faults him for that? No, that-, actually, I'll let DBZ abridged! Freeza say it:

Do you see this video? This perfectly sums up this chapter. They constantly don't trust him (for stupid reasons), they say he's not a gentlecolt because he attacked the most evil being they've ever seen (lets forget all the things he's done for them), and that stupid line of thinking seemed to infect the entire town. Seriously, even a show of strength made Trixie think he was planning on assaulting her! That's stupid! This chapter was stupid! The characters were stupid!

I'm sorry, but this was just bad. It was almost painful to read through this chapter, and considering how the previous chapters have been when it comes to Azure and the others, I don't see it getting better. We have Azure, his background family, and his continued failure at doing anything useful in the story while getting accused of ridiculous things ("How dare you attack Nightmare Moon! I know I did the same, but I'm a mare! You're just a brutish colt!). I'm undecided if I'll give this fic a dislike, but if you see the number of dislikes go up in the near future, then you can feel relatively sure that it came from me. Good luck with the rest of the story.

[BrotallySwagical]

Azure's character is really weak. He needs to man up. Seriously. Its annoying watching him do nothing all the time.