As the last trailing notes of Pinkie Pie's trombone went silent over the devastated village of Ponyville, the pink and magenta mare's five best friends approached her tentatively. With a nod of satisfaction she laid her instrument aside and dusted off her hooves.
Applejack called out to her in a tremulous voice. "Wh-whut in tarnation was all that about, Pinkie?"
The pink pony turned to face them, her bright blue eyes darting about the gnawed wreckage of the town center. Shellshocked ponies were just beginning to poke their heads out and examine their surroundings.
She gave a curt little nod. "Checkin' for stragglers. I'd say Ponyville is all clear of parasprites."
Twilight Sparkle was still boggling that Pinkie knew exactly what they were dealing with and how to stop them, but part of her mind, the part that had come to understand that she was far from an encyclopedia of all knowledge, told her she'd lived in Ponyville too long to be surprised by anything the hyperactive party pony did, said, or knew about. Still, the academic in her wanted answers. "How did you know about parasprites, Pinkie Pie?"
Pinkie gave her a wistful yet knowing look. "Well, the Pie family didn't always run a rock farm, Twilight."
At this Applejack gave a little shudder, looking in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Fluttershy sidled up beside her and laid a hoof on her shoulder. "Um... It's okay, Applejack. At least Twilight's spell kept them from eating all your apple trees."
The lavender unicorn hung her head. "Yeah, but most of Ponyville is in ruins because of me. I'm so sorry, everypony."
The group of close friends turned as a shaken voice called out to them. "W-would you care to explain what you mean by that, Twilight Sparkle?"
A distinguished older mare with a scroll for a cutie mark was approaching at the head of a group of townsponies, her aura of authority somewhat diminished by the disheveled state of her grey mane and the large bite that had been taken out of her tie.
Twilight stepped forward hesitantly, digging a hoof on the cobblestones. "Well, you see Ms. Mayor, I tried to stop those creatures from eating all the food in town with a simple dieting spell, but all it did was make them ravenous for anything that wasn't food. I have no idea how it could have backfired so spectacularly."
Her voice cracked as a tear started to flow down her cheek. "All this destruction is my fault, and... and I understand if you all want me to leave Ponyville." At this a gasp went up from all the ponies in earshot, particularly Twilight's close friends.
Fluttershy stepped forward with wings flared and an uncharacteristic passion in her voice. "Twilight, NO!"
Her voice dropped in volume as she slouched behind her flowing pink locks, suddenly self conscious again. "Um... I'm sorry. I mean.. If... if anypony should be banished it... it should be me! I brought the first parasprite into town, and then kept one when we were trying to get rid of them and started the whole thing over again. I'm really so, so sorry."
Rainbow Dash stepped up, her multicolored mane bristling and her tail hiked angrily. "That's not your fault, Fluttershy. You didn't know what those little creeps could do, or how fast they multiplied. It was a dumb mistake, sure, but not worth getting chased out of town over."
She turned and cast an aggressive scowl at the growing crowd of stunned ponies around them. "And if anypony tries, they're gonna have to get through me."
Applejack joined her at the forefront, shoving her cowpony hat forward at a pugnacious angle. "And me too, I reckon."
The Mayor raised a hoof and cleared her throat. "Ladies, please. Nopony is talking about running anypony out of town." She looked around the devastated town square with a nervous twitch fluttering her right eye. "This whole situation was completely out of anypony's control. I'm sure even the Princess herself would be hard pressed to..."
At this, the tan coated official suddenly stiffened, her eyes shrinking to pinpricks. "Holy Horseapples! The PRINCESS! She's going to be here any minute now!" The older mare's legs went rigid like the legs of a sawhorse, and she began to breathe at a faster and faster pace as a murmur of alarm went through the crowd.
Twilight hurriedly stepped forward and laid a calming hoof on the panicked Mayor's shoulder. "Don't worry, Mayor. My friends and I met Princess Celestia just as she arrived at the edge of town. She had to cancel her visit because of a similar infestation in Fillydelphia. She didn't see anything." The unicorn gave her a weak smile and a shrug. "Hey, she thought Pinkie leading the creatures out of town was a parade in her honor. She actually seemed quite pleased with us."
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and if'n y'all believe that then I got some prime farmland t'sell ya in Froggy Bottom Bog." She gave her lavender friend an earnest look. " Celestia ain't no foal. She knew whut was goin' on, and she was bein' nice about it."
Twilight cast the honest farm pony a "you're not helping" glare and continued. "Well, regardless, things are smoothed over with the Princess. That's the least of our worries right now."
The Mayor's breathing softened and her legs wobbled a bit. She let out a sigh of relief, rubbing a throbbing temple with a hoof. She cast a fond look at Twilight after she'd regained her composure. "Well, just chalk it up to another time you and your friends have saved us, Twilight Sparkle."
The grey maned earth pony reached up and took the lavender mare's hoof in her own. "Our memories aren't so short here in Ponyville, girls. We still owe you a lot for all the other times you've saved us. Nightmare Moon, the snoring dragon, that terrible incident with the ursa. Even if you did make some mistakes, the fact that there was a town here in the first place for those horrible little creatures to dine on is thanks to you."
Twilight began to tear up in earnest, a fragile smile playing across her face. She lunged forward and took the startled Mayor into a hug that she held for a long time as her five best friends beamed with joy and relief.
Just as the older mare was beginning to squirm uncomfortably in the unicorn's embrace, Twilight disengaged and spoke up to the crowd. "Thank you, everypony! Oh, thank you! I promise to do everything I can to help fix things. Even if you don't trust me to use my magic, I'll pull wagons and hammer nails with my hooves if that's what's needed."
Applejack nodded and stood proud beside her friend. "It'll take a lotta work, but there ain't nothin' we can't put right if we put our backs into it. You got the Apple family's support soon as I can get the word out. And thanks to Twilight there's still plenty o' vittles in town t' keep us all goin' strong."
Rainbow Dash drew herself up as well. "Right. And I'll make sure the weather patrol reschedules any rain until after everypony's roofs are fixed."
The blonde farm pony cast her a look, and leaned in to mutter in her friend's ear. "Uh... Now hang on there just a minute, Rainbow..."
The rainbow pegasus rolled her eyes, replying in a low voice edged with annoyance. "Okay, only over the houses, all right? We'll make sure the crops get watered on time. Chillax, AJ."
Swept up in the swell of enthusiasm that was beginning to rise from the crowd, Rarity stepped up. "This is the perfect chance to beautify the town. Oh, Ponyville will be ever so much more charming once we've finished. Ponies will come from miles around just to visit and spend time here."
Pinkie Pie hopped forward with a wide grin. "Ooh! And just think of the party we can throw once we're done fixing everything up. A big celebration after a job well done is one of the bestest kinds of party there is!"
They all turned and looked at Fluttershy, who kind of shrank back with a little squeak and gave a nervous nod. She raised a hoof and waved it tentatively. "Yay Ponyville. woo hoo..."
At this, the Mayor took her cue, drawing herself up and standing proudly beside Celestia's prized student and her five friends. "They're right, everypony! We've got our work cut out for us, but I'm sure with the Elements of Harmony on our side, we can do it. Now come on, we've got to get organized and assess the damage, then we can start planning out the reconstruction. I'll be convening a general meeting at the town hall in..."
She was cut off by a loud creaking followed by a thunderous crash in the center of town. Her right eye started twitching again as she cleared her throat and continued. "... I'll be convening a general meeting in the central square next to where the town hall... used to be. After... After I go lie down somewhere for a little while. S-see you there, everypony."
***
As the crowd dispersed to look to their homes and businesses, most of the ponies ignored a rather nondescript unicorn mare who stood a little ways off from Twilight and her friends, staring at them as they hugged one another. Her coat was a neutral, middle value grey, her lank mane and tail a faded beige. Her face and figure were rather plain and unremarkable. She wore a drab brown skirt and a khaki traveller's cloak with a cheap set of panniers underneath.
Bottomless rage boiled in her muddy brown eyes, her teeth grinding against one another just as her hooves ground into the cobblestones on the street. A hot tear rolled down her cheek, as her voice came out a tiny, strained whisper. "It's not f-fair. They should be running you out of town on a rail! They should be making you into a tar and feather pegasus and launching you toward the swamp with a catapult. The Princess should be banishing you, then throwing you into a dungeon in the place she banished you to, with a cockatrice and a bunch of incontinent pigeons for cellmates."
The faintest ripple of magic surrounded her blunt horn as she pulled up her hood up and turned to stomp away. "I hate you, Twilight Sparkle. You and all your little friends too."
The fuming stranger had failed to properly account for the exact number of friends currently clustered around the lavender unicorn, however, and when she came about she found herself staring into the limpid blue eyes of an earth pony mare seemingly composed of 50% cotton candy and 70% manic energy.
Pinkie gave a little hop. "HI!"
The drab stranger let out a tiny squeak of alarm and stumbled backwards as the pink mare pressed her affable assault. "I don't think I've ever seen you in Ponyville before, which means you're new because I know everypony in town and I'd probably remember you if I'd seen you before but I haven't seen you before so unless you've been following me and my friends around all day skulking behind hedges and peeking around corners then you probably just showed up."
Her grin widened. "I almost didn't spot you just now but lucky for both of us I did so I came over to say hi and sorry about all the mess but we just had the whole town half eaten by little bugs so I'm afraid any party I throw to welcome you is gonna be a little low key as in okey dokey low key until we make sure Sugar Cube Corner is structurally sound enough for line dancing although I guess we could put up some support posts and have a sock hop and that wouldn't make the rafters shake so much but better safe than sorry I guess and not as many ponies like to wear socks as you'd think even though they're awfully cute, especially on Princess Luna but she doesn't come to parties very often that I know about. In fact, I haven't seen hide nor hair of her for a whole season now. Maybe I could get Twilight to have Spike send an invitation if you really wanted her to come."
She shrugged. "If not I suppose we could do without the dancing and still have some cake and maybe play some board games on a folding table in the town square. Ooh! If we hold it in the town square we could have square dancing, which is super fun even though I don't always remember which way to turn when they call out doe see doe, you wouldn't know which direction that is, would you?"
The grey unicorn's left eye began to twitch, and she stammered in an almost inaudible voice tinged with panic. "Um... I d-don't know and I really have to be going now so if you'll excuse me."
She turned and made to walk away, but let out another squeak as she found herself blocked by Pinkie's startling reappearance in front of her, a slightly pouting look on her face. "Aw, but you've only just arrived in Ponyville as far as I know and the least we can do is give you a big Ponyville welcome."
At this, the plain unicorn's expression darkened, and her faint voice became briefly tinged with sarcasm."Oh, I've had as big a welcome as Ponyville can dish out, thanks."
The nervousness reasserted itself as she again sought to end the conversation and walk off. "I'm just passing through, don't mind me-EEK!" She found Pinkie standing in front of her again.
The vibrant pink mare cocked her head to the side with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Wow, that's super cryptic and it sounds like you probably don't mean it at all in the way I mean a big Ponyville welcome, which involves at least twenty pounds of cake, ten gallons of punch, and a conga line which is the only definition I know or at least the only definition that ought to be in the dictionary if you looked up "Ponyville welcome", although to simplify things they probably should just put the address for Sugar Cube Corner care of Pinkamena "Pinkie" Pie, which is me, by the way, although only my family ever calls me Pinkamena. My friends call me Pinkie which is what you can call me too 'cos I wanna be your friend but I don't believe I caught YOUR name yet." She fluttered her eyelashes expectantly.
The drab mare's eyes began darting around for a way to escape, as she heard hoofsteps behind her. "Um... My name's not important. I really should be l-leaving right now."
The pink mare let out a giggle. "That's silly. Everypony's name is important. How else do you get your mail delivered? I'd never get all my invitations to all my parties out on time if I had to guess who I was sending them to. Although that gives me an interesting idea..."
The grey stranger flinched as Rainbow Dash's sandy voice called out. "Hey Pinkie, who's your new friend?"
Pinkie glanced over at the multicolored pegasus. "She hasn't told me her name yet."
Applejack's voice sounded out nearby as well, causing the strange mare's panic to rise as she began to feel hemmed in. The farm pony spoke with a chiding tone. "Now Pink, y'need t' back off n' give the gal some breathin' room. Give her a chance to get a word in edgewise."
Rarity spoke up, too close for the plain unicorn's comfort. "Indeed, it's not polite to dominate the conversation. We've spoken about this before. Well, I've tried to speak to you about it but we always end up being diverted into a conversation about paragliding or cheese danish or something."
Pinkie replied to her friends with a slightly wounded tone. "I was just getting to her turn to speak if you silly fillies wouldn't keep interrupting. She's hard enough to hear as it is." She raised a hoof to the reticent stranger with a bow of her frizzy magenta maned head. "Over to you, Miss or Mrs..."
The drab unicorn bunched her shoulders and let out a squeak of rage. "Whisper. I go by the name Whisper. Now leave me alone you freak!"
With that, she reared and attempted to wheel away from Pinkie and break out of the small circle her friends had formed as curiosity had drawn them in. Her shoddily made panniers came loose and fell down around her feet, breaking open and spilling out their contents as the straps tangled around her back hooves and sent her toppling to the ground. She landed on the hard cobblestones with enough force to knock the wind out of her.
Instantly, the six mares who had accosted her rushed forward to help as she lay dazed and gasping for breath, her legs kicking and flailing awkwardly. Twilight and Applejack helped her up to a sitting position as the lavender unicorn apologized profusely. "Sorry! Sorry! I'm so sorry. Pinkie's a nice pony. Really! But she gets a little too enthusiastic sometimes. Well... all the time, really. Are you all right? I hope you're not hurt."
The strange mare shook her head to clear it, and turned a glare that would burn through a castle wall towards her fellow unicorn. "That's hilarious coming from YOU, Twilight Sparkle." She hissed with a voice as soft as a breeze but dripping with venom.
Taken aback, Twilight blinked at her. "Do... do I know you?"
The drab unicorn's response was drowned out by Fluttershy's voice. "Um... Is... Is that a parasprite in that jar?"
The butter colored pegasus' gaze was fixed on a small glass bell jar that had fallen out of the stranger's panniers and rolled a short distance away. A tiny, globular brown shape flitted around inside on a blur of gossamer wings, staring out through the glass with wide faceted green eyes and an eager little smile on its face.
With a panicked expression the mare who called herself Whisper reached out with her magic to snatch up the jar but found it held immobile in a much stronger purple aura. She recoiled, eyes wide with terror, stammering in her tiny voice. "W-wait... I... It's not what you think."
Twilight Sparkle floated the imprisoned parasprite over between them with a furrowed brow. "Frankly, Miss, I'm not sure what to make of this. What are you doing with this in your bag?"
Whisper recoiled as the gazes of Rainbow Dash and Applejack became hard and suspicious. Rarity arched an eyebrow and pursed her lips, while Twilight's expression was coldly analytical, like a detective trying to unravel a mystery. Pinkie Pie's face was pinched in mild disgust as she stared at the little creature happily buzzing about in its container. Even Fluttershy wore a look of wariness, from what could be seen of her face behind the impenetrable curtain of her long mane.
The drab mare cast about wildly, her watery brown eyes widening in fear. A snarl contorted her face as she hissed at them. "You'll never take me alive, you horrible monsters!"
A bloom of dusty tan smoke blinded them all, followed by the sound of scrambling hooves on pavement.
The five ponies all coughed and blinked their eyes as the smoke cleared. Rainbow Dash hopped into the air and dispersed the rest of it with powerful flaps of her wings. The grey unicorn mare was nowhere to be seen.
Applejack reached up a hoof to rub her eyes clear. "What the hay was that all about?"
Twilight cocked an eyebrow, a look of deep thought and puzzlement on her face. "I have no idea. I've never met that unicorn in my life, but she seems to know me, and to think I've wronged her somehow."
Rarity's mannered voice chimed in, still a bit rough from the smoke. "What a simply ghastly creature. Just her mane alone sets fabulousity back a hundred years." She sniffed with disdain. "If she turns up again I may need to round up a posse at the spa for an extreme makeover."
Fluttershy spoke up... Well, she spoke. "Um... I don't know, but if it's okay with you all... If you don't mind..." She plucked up the jar containing the parasprite in her front hooves and lifted off with a soft beat of her wings. "One of us should take this parasprite out to the edge of the..." She swallowed hard. "... the Everfree Forest and turn it loose."
Rainbow Dash flew over and clapped her on the shoulder, nearly causing her to drop the jar. "Don't sweat it, Fluttershy. I'll go with you." She leaned in and sneered at the merrily bobbing little monster in the jar. "The buffet is CLOSED for you little jerks here in Ponyville."
As the two pegasi gave a wave and flew off, Twilight crouched down and began to examine the other personal effects that were scattered around the stranger's fallen saddlebags. Her voice was thoughtful as she gathered the various objects up and placed them back in the bag. "I wonder who she was."
Rarity craned her neck to look, her sapphire blue eyes narrowing. "There doesn't seem to be much to go on here, darling. Some cheap brushes and combs, some make up which wasn't doing her a bit of good." She cocked her head. "Hello, what have we here? A round trip train ticket from... Fillydelphia to Ponyville?"
The two unicorns traded a pensive look, before Twilight directed the alabaster coated mare's attention to some other bits of paper that had fallen out of the bag. "And what are these... More ticket stubs. Theater tickets? Neighvid Cropperfield, Mane and Trotter, Lipizzaner The Great, The Amazing Pooftwinkle... Magic shows?"
Applejack had been standing off to the side watching them with a furrowed brow. "Y'know, gals. Normally I wouldn't cotton t' rummagin' through a pony's belongin's, but I reckon that gal was mighty suspicious..."
She raised her eyes to scan the surrounding streets of Ponyville. A puzzled expression crossed her freckled face. "Hey, wait. Where'd Pinkie go?"
***
Whisper stood pressed tightly against the wall around a nearby corner, fuming and panting raggedly for breath in tiny wheezes while she watched the trio of mares rifle through her personal effects. She spat on the ground and stomped a hoof, turning to slink away out of sight.
A manic pink face with wide blue eyes filled her vision. "Hi again!"
The drab unicorn's mane and tail sprung straight out like she'd bitten down on a joy buzzer, and she let out a scream that sounded like a drawn out cricket chirp as she leapt into the air with front and back hooves flailing. She pivoted in midair and shot off like a rocket, scrambling madly into the street. Pinkie Pie shrugged and started to skip after her.
Applejack's eyes narrowed as she spotted the flourish of pinkness bouncing out into the open, and a second later she spotted the dun colored figure that her fellow earth pony was following.
Casting about for a second, she spotted the wreckage of her apple cart nearby and darted toward it. After a moment of rummaging, she produced a coiled lasso, thankfully undiscovered and therefore undamaged by the parasprite plague. With a whoop that startled Rarity and Twilight, she reared back and broke into a gallop.
In a few rapid strides she had matched Pinkie Pie's carousel-like pace, hot on the retreating unicorn's heels. The blonde farm mare turned to her bubbly pink friend with an eager glint in her eye. "Pinky, go 'round and head that varmint off. I'm gonna try t' lasso her."
The bouncing party pony nodded and threw her a salute. "Okey dokey, smokey! We'll catch this bandit before she reaches the county line!" With that she bounded down a side street, making woOooo woOooo noises for some reason. Applejack let out a loop of lasso and started it spinning over her head.
Whisper's features contorted into a desperate grimace as she glanced back at the galloping farm pony thundering hot on her heels. With a look of determination on her plain face, she sparked her horn to life. The faint, whitish gray glow of a teleport spell started to play across her drab coat. She spared one last sneering glance back at her pursuer as she felt the static like crackle of magic envelop her.
She let out a gasp as she looked forward. More horrible, inescapable pink filled her field of view, as the manic mare dropped seemingly from the sky right in her path. The desperate unicorn's spell fizzled, her concentration broken. She let out a barely audible snarl and lowered her dull horn in a charge. Her candy colored tormentor reared back and spread her forelegs wide as if expecting a hug.
Suddenly, Whisper's back hooves were slammed together by a coil of rope that went taut with a snap, sending her pitching forward face first onto the street. The impact knocked her silly. She flipped over, her horn sparking on the cobblestones as she pivoted over it, and tumbled like a rag doll into Pinkie's waiting hooves.
The drab mare mumbled as her eyes rolled back in her head and she lost consciousness. "And for my next trick I'd like a volunteer from the audience..."
Applejack casually coiled the rest of the lasso as she trotted up. Pinkie Pie extracted herself from underneath the unicorn's limp, insensate form and bounced to her hooves, sharing a victorious high five with her fellow earth pony.
Twilight Sparkle and Rarity came cantering up, both of the relatively non-athletic unicorns panting for breath. The lavender mare had the stranger's panniers slung across her back.
The bookish unicorn gave her friends a warm smile. "G-good job, guys. We ought to be able to get to the bottom of all this now." The three turned at the sound of Rarity letting out a gasp.
The alabaster unicorn pointed a hoof toward the grey pony's hindquarters. "Speaking of bottoms, look there! I've seen that cutie mark before!"
The others turned their attention to the fallen stranger's flanks. The groaning unicorn pony was lying face down with her fore hooves splayed out and her rump in the air, which had caused her skirt to fall aside and reveal a pictogram of a light blue magic wand with a pale crescent of magic trailing from the star at its tip.
Twilight's jaw dropped as she saw it, and she turned to Applejack to see a similar expression on the farm mare's face. Pinkie cocked an eyebrow, shrugged, and let her jaw hang open as she fixed a wide eyed stare on the unconscious unicorn's upraised rear end in imitation of her three friends.
***
The mare who'd called herself Whisper awoke with a throbbing pain in her horn. She blinked her eyes and looked around groggily. She was lying on her side on a soft couch in a large room lined with book shelves. The unicorn let out a tiny gasp of alarm and dismay as she realized that she was enveloped in some kind of shimmering purple magic field that seemed to center on her horn. She tried to rise and found that she couldn't move her legs.
Her enraged squeak shifted into a frightened one as a mannered voice called out nearby. "Twilight, darling. It seems our guest is awake now."
Rarity tossed her luxuriously curled violet and purple mane as she stepped into view. The white unicorn cocked an ear and leaned in as the drab stranger began to mutter while straining against her magical bonds. "Oh do speak up, my dear. I can hardly hear you."
Her porcelain features flushed bright red as Twilight walked up flanked by Applejack and Rainbow Dash, with Pinkie Pie and a skittish Fluttershy in tow. The lavender unicorn cast a questioning glance at her. "What's she saying, Rarity?"
The elegant mare cleared her throat, still blushing a bit as she flicked an ear. "Nothing repeatable in pleasant company. After we wash this guttersnipe's mouth out with some soap I fear I may need to wash my ear out as well."
Twilight pursed her lips and fixed the captive unicorn with a questioning gaze. "Allright, Trixie. What's going on here?"
The drab mare scowled at her, and she spat back in a barely audible tirade. "Oh, so you're finally done pretending you don't recognize your own handiwork, eh? Tired of that little game, are we? Enjoy your sick amusements while you can, you evil enchantress."
The lavender unicorn blinked, and shook her head, a hint of frustration creeping into her voice. "I never did anything to you, Trixie. What in the wide world of Equestria are you talking about?"
Tears began to roll down Trixie's drab grey muzzle as she replied, her faint voice cracking in anguish. "Don't lie! You did this to me, you spiteful witch. You stole my voice, and took away my beauty. You made the Great and Powerful Trixie into the dull and forgettable nopony! It wasn't enough that you humiliated me and destroyed all of my material possessions on that terrible night. You had to take away everything else as well. I'll never be in the spotlight again, and it's all because of you."At this she broke down, sobbing bitterly into her hooves.
Twilight's brow furrowed, as she leaned in to make eye contact with the miserable mare. "Trixie, I promise you, I didn't do this to you."
The grey mare scowled up at her through her tears. "I don't believe you! There's no other possible explanation. I've seen your power. Only a unicorn like you could cast an unbreakable enchantment like this, and believe me I've tried everything to break this curse you've placed me under."
Twilight tossed her head dismissively. "Trixie, please. There's no such... thing... as... curses..."
Her eyes widened as she trailed off, the wheels turning in her mind. She knelt down beside the weeping unicorn, taking one of her hooves in her own. "I need you to tell me everything that happened to you after you ran off. Give me every detail."
Trixie was taken aback by the urgency in the lavender mare's tone, and eyed her suspiciously through her tears. She strained to try to tug her immobilized hoof away. "Wh-what? Is this another twisted game?"
Twilight gravely shook her head. "No games, Trixie. I didn't do this to you and I want to help, but I need you to confirm a theory. Please, just tell me what happened to you after you left Ponyville that night."
The grey unicorn stared hard at her interlocutor with her dull brown eyes, then let out a trembling sigh. "All right. I'll play along. I ran out of town at a full gallop, and didn't stop until I was deep in that big forest outside of town. By that time I was exhausted and terrified and miserable and humiliated and heartsick and put upon and nobody liked me and..."
At this Applejack interjected. "Y'wanna spare us the adjectives and stick to th' nouns and verbs, there, Trix."
The drab mare cast her a scalding glare and continued. "Fine. So I found a patch of flowers and settled down to take a little rest and gather my wits. I guess I fell asleep 'cos the next morning I woke up there. I had weird, unsettling dreams all night, but when I woke up, that's when my real nightmare started, because I was like this. I didn't even realize I was screaming at first, I thought it was a bird chirping."
Twilight gave a nod. "Those flowers, do you remember what color they were?"
Trixie blinked at the question and cocked an eyebrow. "What does that even matter?"
The lavender unicorn rolled her eyes. "Were they blue flowers, Trixie?"
The captive mare nodded, a scowl appearing on her plain face once more. "Yes. They were. A beautiful blue like I used to be before you cast your wicked..."
Twilight held up a hoof for silence. "Okay, that's what I thought. Trixie, do you think you could open your mouth and say AAH for me?"
The drab unicorn blinked in shock at the request, then huffed and complied with a vindictive glare at her captors, poking her tongue out farther than was necessary. Her faint "aah" became a squeak of surprise as she found her jaws held open and her tongue pushed down by shimmering purple magic.
The lavender mare leaned in and peered down her throat, shining a beam of white light off of the tip of her horn into Trixie's mouth. "Uh huh... Just what I thought." She turned and beckoned to her yellow pegasus friend. "Fluttershy, come here and look at this. What do you see?"
Fluttershy came tentatively forward and looked into the indignant mare's mouth. "Um... okay. What am I looking for... Oh! She's got blue spots all over her throat."
They both turned as Pinkie Pie's voice chirped behind them. "OoOOooh! She's got poison joke!"
Twilight turned to her with a smile and tapped the tip of her nose with a hoof. "Bingo!"
Trixie felt the hold on her jaws release, and she blinked at the assembled mares in confusion. "P-poison what?"
The lavender unicorn settled easily into a discursive manner as she climbed to her hooves. "Poison joke, a member of a genus of plants that act like naturally occurring magic wands. In this case, the spell it casts is transformational in nature, and takes the form of a cruel practical joke on the victim. Those blue flowers you slept on were poison joke. Probably the same patch that got all of us a couple of months back. We've all suffered the plant's ill effects." She gave their captive a smile. "Luckily, the cure is fairly simple."
At this Trixies dull brown eyes started to glisten. "It... it is? You... you're not lying to me, are you? I... I could really be my... myself again?"
Before Twilight could answer, Rainbow Dash interjected, a frown creasing her brow. "Slow down a minute there, Twilight. Before we rush out to help the faint and inaudible Trixie here, we need a couple more questions answered, like what was she doing with that parasprite in her bag?"
Rarity chimed in, arching an eyebrow as she looked the suddenly stricken grey unicorn over. "Yes, and what's the connection with Fillydelphia? I find it a rather telling coincidence that they are suffering an infestation there as well."
Applejack drew herself up and fixed the cowering unicorn with stern, green eyes. "I reckon' tellin' is what our gal here better do if she wants us t' fix her up the way she used ta be. And even then a lot is gonna depend on what we think o' what we hear."
The drab unicorn's watery brown eyes darted from face to face, and she began to tremble. Her plain features contorted in abject misery as new tears began to pour down her cheeks. "By the grace of the sisters, what have I done? What has Trixie done?" She broke down more bitterly than before, sobbing uncontrollably.
Fluttershy and Pinkie both rushed forward and laid comforting hooves on her. The shy pegasus spoke in a soft, soothing voice. "There there, you don't have to cry."
The pink earth pony's face was grave, as she stroked the shuddering unicorn's back. She hated seeing anypony cry, no matter who they were. "What DID you do, Trixie? Maybe if you get it off your chest you can feel better."
Trixie kept her eyes screwed tightly shut, her head slumped against the back of the couch. "I'll tell you what I did. I brought the parasprites to Ponyville. I planted them around town, and I used my magic to mess up that spell you cast to stop them, Twilight Sparkle."
At this the lavender unicorn's jaw dropped while all around her friends let out a collective gasp. "How... how did you manage that? I would have noticed if somepony was interfering with my magic."
The drab mare rolled her head sideways, looking in Twilight's direction with puffy, tear reddened eyes. "If what you say is true about this poison joke, then part of the gag is that my magic has become rather hard to notice. Blink and you'd miss it."
A shudder passed through her as she looked away. "Performing was my life. I loved the stage, I loved the attention, the applause. But once... once this happened, that was all denied to me. Who'd pay a moment's attention to a mare who looks and sounds like a mouse? With magic you'd have to strain your eyes to even see?"
She continued, her tiny voice so low and morose that the others had to strain to hear her. "I went back home to Fillydelphia, took a boring job filling out boring forms in a boring office at the boring Bureau of Agriculture just so I wouldn't starve in the streets."
A wistful look washed across her plain face. "What... what little money I had left over I'd spend on tickets to magic shows. I'd sit in the back and blubber quietly to myself while the magicians did their tricks, just s-so I could close my eyes while everypony else was cheering and applauding and imagine it was me up on stage again."
The wretched unicorn let out a tortured squeak of a sigh. "I spent my nights dreaming of ways to get back at you, Twilight Sparkle. To get my revenge on you and all of Ponyville. When parasprites started turning up on the farms around Fillydelphia, I hatched my little scheme and bought a train ticket. I lifted one of the little beasts from quarantine and smuggled it here in a jar. The Princess' upcoming visit was just icing on the cake. Here was my chance to bring you down, and Ponyville with you."
Her faint voice took on an edge of hysteria. "And now it turns out it wasn't your fault all along, and I... I wrecked an entire town for something they didn't even do to me. I'm a worse monster than that horrible ursa!"
A haunted look settled on her features. "And worst of all, I've blown any chance I had of getting back to normal because of it." With that, she let out a tiny wail and buried her face in her hooves.
Twilight cast a sidelong glance at her shocked companions. "Girls, I think we need to have a talk."
Twilight Sparkle looked from friend to friend as they huddled up out of earshot of the despairing unicorn pony. "So what do you all think we should do about this?"
Rainbow Dash let out a snort. "I say we leave her like that. Serves her right for wrecking Ponyville."
Fluttershy responded with a mixture of incredulity and dismay, raising her voice to almost conversational levels. "That's so cruel! How would you feel if you had to spend the rest of your life with your wings on upside down? We have to cure her of the poison joke, no matter what else we decide." At this the rainbow pegasus lost a bit of her sneer and couldn't meet the yellow mare's earnest gaze.
Applejack nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I'm inclined t' agree with ya, Fluttershy, but only so far as I think leavin' her all joked up ain't a fair punishment. My family lost their barn today, a barn that's been standin' since before I was even born, but it ain't worth destroyin' a pony's life over." She set her jaw as she glanced over at Trixie. "That bein' said, I do think she oughta be taken t' account fer what she did, make her pay off all th' property that got destroyed."
Rarity pursed her lips and shook her head. "With all the damage that's been done to Ponyville, the poor thing is going to be slaving away until she's older than your dear grandmare to pay it all back."
The farm pony returned her gaze with a furrowed brow. "Well, maybe she shoulda thought o' that before she went n' set them critters loose on an innocent town."
The alabaster unicorn let out a sigh. "It's all so sad and senseless, though. I lost just as much in the parasprite attack as you, Applejack. My shop is in shambles, and I watched as a whole showroom full of my original creations was devoured before my eyes. But I still can't quite bring myself around to the idea of trying to get anything back by making the poor wretch suffer any more than she already has. Not over mere objects that can be replaced."
Twilight took a grave look around the library. "Some of the books that got eaten can't be replaced, at least not easily. I can't begin to put a value in bits on what was lost. It makes me more sad than angry, though."
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "So what, you're all saying that if you do enough damage you should be let off 'cos there's no way you'll ever fully pay it back anyway?"
She ruffled her wings in irritation. "Well, you might not be angry but I am. She came here specifically to wreck the town and ruin Twilight's reputation. That makes me so mad I could just go right over there and kick her."
Fluttershy pawed at the ground, giving her fellow pegasus a pleading look. "Oh please, you mustn't... This was all the result of a terrible misunderstanding. A mistake." She hung her head and peered anxiously at her brash friend from behind the curtain of her pink mane. "You were willing to forgive me for keeping a parasprite around even after we'd struggled to get rid of the first swarm."
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "That's different. You kept that parasprite 'cos you love little animals, maybe too much for your own good. Trixie did all this out of spite. She wanted to hurt us."
Twilight Sparkle looked thoughtful. "Princess Celestia was willing to forgive Princess Luna for imprisoning her and trying to plunge the world into eternal night, and we were willing to forgive her for trying to waylay or kill us while we searched for the Elements of Harmony. Her motivations were just as malevolent if not more so."
Applejack pursed her lips. "Well, th' Princess weren't rightly herself when she tried t' pull all o' them shenanigans, Twi."
The lavender mare cast a long look over at Trixie, who laid limply on her side staring miserably back at them now, her grey cheeks dampened with tears. "Neither was Trixie, to be perfectly honest. While I don't condone it, I think I can understand how she might have been driven to do what she did."
The blond earth pony gave a soft whicker of disgust. "If'n she thought she'd been wronged, there's a whole lotta better ways to go about gettin' things set right."
Twilight gave a small, sad shake of her head. "If you thought your problems had all been caused by Princess Celestia's personal protege, how much recourse would you think you would have through proper channels?"
Applejack nodded and let out a sigh. "Not much, I reckon. I think I'm comin' round t' Fluttershy n' Rarity's point o' view. This whole business is more sad than anything else, just a big mess o' bad luck n' bad decisions."
Pinkie Pie, who'd been shakily balancing on one hoof and then another through the whole exchange finally broke her pensive silence. "Well, my two bits is that what's in the past is done, and what's done is in the past, and we need to figure out how to make things so nopony is sad anymore."
She started to lazily pirouette on her right front hoof, casting a pitying glance over at Trixie as she rotated in the drab unicorn's direction. "I can tell just by looking at her that she's super-duper sorry with sprinkles on top for what she did, and would never, ever do anything like that ever again in a million zillion years. I've also got a tickle in my right nostril, which either confirms what my gut is telling me or it means that I've got a piece of confetti lodged up there."
She let out a sneeze that threw her off balance and tumbled into Rainbow Dash, who barely managed to catch her. Her limpid blue eyes met with the pegasus' maroon ones. "I think we'll all show who the better ponies are if we could forgive and forget, and we'll probably get a really good friend out of it too."
The cyan pegasus huffed and shifted her wings, shoving Pinkie back onto her own hooves and grumbling in reply. "Well... Fine, if the rest of you feel that way I'll go along with it."
Twilight Sparkle looked from one friend to another, receiving nods of assent from each. A businesslike expression settled on her face. "All right then, I think we've made our decision, but I think there's one thing I need to hear from Trixie before we can go about getting her cured."
***
The group walked over to stand before the couch, where the drab grey unicorn huddled, a harrowed shell of a mare trembling with fear and uncertainty. "Wh-what are you going to do with me?"
Twilight gazed at her levelly, as her horn shimmered with her distinct color of magic. The restraints holding Trixie in place vanished, causing her watery brown eyes to go wide and her jaw to drop in disbelief. The lavender unicorn spoke clearly, with an undertone of finality. "We're going to help you get rid of your poison joke problem. But before we do that, we'd like an apology for what you've done."
The drab unicorn swallowed hard, tears flowing down her face as her whole body began to tremble. She threw herself at Twilight's hooves, wrapping her forelegs around them with a barely audible wail. "Ohhhh. I'm sorry!"
She started climbing up the thoroughly nonplussed unicorn's chest, her back legs and tail dragging on the floor behind her. "I'm sorry for making foals of your friends on stage and for insulting you and for boasting about fighting giant space bears and for bringing the parasprites and for destroying Ponyville and for thinking that you were an evil sorceress and wanting you to be tarred and feathered or turned to stone or crushed by a garbage wagon or kicked in the shins."
When she climbed as high as she could she clamped Twilight's neck in a tight embrace and buried her tear stained face in the lavender mare's shoulder. "I'm sorry for everythi-hi-hinnnng."
Twilight cleared her throat uncomfortably and cast a pleading look to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who both stepped forward and pried the sobbing unicorn off of her neck. They set Trixie down on her hooves in front of them all.
The drab grey mare stood huddled meekly, still choking back her tears with a troubled look on her face. "I... I don't get it. How... how can you even consider helping me? I've wrought such terrible destruction on Ponyville, twice if you count the... the ursa. By all rights you should be s-stringing me up by my hooves in what's left of the t-town square and hitting me with sticks until candy comes out."
Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "We've decided to forgive and forget. Taking revenge doesn't make anything better for anypony."
Trixie bit her lip, her face quivering with emotion as a new wave of tears welled around her eyes. "I... I understand..." Her voice faded even softer. "Th-thank you. Thank you all..."
With a satisfied nod, the lavender unicorn turned and sparked her horn to life, lifting a green bound volume off of the shelves and floating it over. "Okay, well the cure for poison joke is immersion in an herbal bath. I'll just refresh my memory of the recipe and then we can..."
Her face fell in horror as she opened the tome to find nothing but a few gnawed scraps of parchment clinging to the spine. With a weary sigh, she tossed the shell of the book aside and cast her friends a mournful glance. "Well... I guess we're going to Zecora's place."
***
The small herd of mares clustered close together as they made their way into the deepening gloom of the Everfree forest, warily peering at the ominous trees that loomed over the winding trail. The occasional cawing of an unseen crow or a sudden rustle in the underbrush would startle them, but mostly an oppressive silence hung in the air.
At least, it did, until Pinkie Pie started to sing in time to their hoofbeats. "She's an evil enchantress and she does evil dances, and if you look in her eyes she will put you in trances, and what will she do, she'll mix up an evil brew, and then gobble you up in a big tasty stew, sooooooo...."
Twilight rounded on the pink mare and cast her an exasperated glare. "Pinkie!"
The cotton candy colored pony looked sheepish, as she turned and saw that Trixie had begun trembling violently. "Oh! Ohhh.... sorry. It got stuck in my head while we were talking at the library."
The drab mare's faint voice quavered in the stillness as they fell back into an uneasy silence. "Um... I'm beginning to have second thoughts about this, T-t-twilight Sparkle."
The lavender unicorn responded calmly. "There's nothing to be afraid of, Trixie. We're taking you to a friend's place for the cure to your condition." She nodded down the path ahead. "In fact, we're almost there."
They entered the clearing, Applejack and Rainbow Dash pushing aside claw like branches to reveal a huge gnarled stump that crouched at it's center, it's irregular windows glowing inside with a flickering orange light. A moaning wind rattled the bottles, gourds, and grotesque masks hung from the sparse tree limbs that still twisted from beneath the thatched roof. Trixie took one look at the ominous structure and spun on her hooves to make a break for it. "Oh, buck this noise. I'm outta here."
She let out a panicked squeak as Twilight caught her tail and stopped her. The lavender unicorn dug her hooves in as the drab mare fought to break free. Applejack rolled her eyes and bit down on Trixie's tail as well, followed by Rainbow Dash, then Rarity, then Pinkie Pie, then Fluttershy. Between the six of them, they overcame her surge of adrenaline pumped strength and dragged her backwards toward the entrance to Zecora's hut.
Trixie's faint wail sounded like air escaping through a pinprick in a balloon. "No! No! Nooooooooo!"
***
"Yes! Yes! YEEESSSSS!" An exultant blue mare cried as she rose up out of the bubbling cauldron and thrust her dripping hooves skyward. "The Grreat and Powerful Trrixie has rreturned!" She collapsed back into the murky brew, hugging herself and giggling with untrammeled joy.
Zecora cast a wan glance at Twilight Sparkle and her friends. "She's certainly louder, that's for sure, now that we've given her the cure."
Trixie reared up on her hind legs again, shouting out at the top of her lungs. "Fillies and gentlecolts! Ponies of all ages! Feast your eyes on the flawless form and glittering horn of the grreatest unicorn... No..." Her face fell as she paused, settling back down on her haunches and leaning forward with her hooves on the lip of the pot.
She sniffled as she brushed her sodden silver mane out of her face.Tears were beginning to form at the corners of her violet eyes as she gazed across at Twilight and her friends. "No... not the greatest unicorn in Equestria. That... that honor goes to you, T-twilight Sparkle. The... The Great and Powerful... Trixie is humbled by the kindness and compassion you and your friends have shown her... have shown me."
With that, she climbed unsteadily out of the cauldron and dropped onto the packed earthen floor with a splat, rising to her hooves with wobbly knees. She shook herself, the remains of the herbal bath glistening on her slicked down coat as Zecora came forward with a large towel and started to gently dry her.
Trixie kept her earnest gaze on Twilight as she let out a slightly giddy laugh. "I feel like a newborn foal right now. Like I've just started out on a whole new life."
Her cobalt blue features became very serious. "I want the new Trixie to be a better mare, to live up to the example you all have set. If I could ask you all for one more boon, I would ask that you help me learn how to be that better mare, to teach me about kindness, and generosity, and loyalty, and honesty, and laughter, and especially the magic that comes from all of those qualities being shared by good friends. I want to stay in Ponyville and help rebuild, to make amends for what I've done. Will... will you accept me here and let me start that new life off right?"
In answer, the six mares drew in close and embraced the seventh, surrounding her with a new sense of belonging.
Twilight's voice sounded out faintly in the warm silence, overcome with such joy that it was barely a whisper. "Of course..."
