//------------------------------// // (Present Chapter 3): Roast Busters // Story: The Unique Properties of Dark Magic // by Shadestyle //------------------------------// "And so, having received the coins from a supposedly historic figure, one whose return has been vouched for by investigators, and whose appearance here in Ponyville is corroborated by several reputable witnesses, I believe their value as collectors items is only exceeded by the rarity of the aforementioned items. I thank you for your consideration, and expect your timely reply," Twilight finishes dictating to Spike. "How do you spell "Corroborated"?" he asks, chewing the tip of his writing quill, to which Twilight responds with the answer. "And... "Aforementioned"?" he asks again, a bit more sheepishly. Twilight answers again. "... "Consideration"?" It's around this point that Twilight simply plucks the quill from his hand and jots in the words for him. "Anyway, yeah, Gilda! I'm sure that Mister Antique Appreciator's Historic Amassment of Practically Appreciated Antiques will appreciate what is practically a mass of historical antiques like these," She says confusingly. "Gesundheit" Spike responds, making Gilda and Dash chuckle while Twilight looks unamused. "Alright, so she'll just leave the coins with you and you'll get her the cash?" Dash clarifies, making Twilight nod. "Yes, It's very likely that you'll receive it in installments, instead of all at once, both to keep the market from being damaged, but also because buyers will need to be found." Gilda feels annoyed, then cautiously frightened of that annoyance, prompting her to quash down the feeling before it can properly manifest. "Yyyeah. It's cool. I can be patient," she says for her own sake. Twilight seems to pick up on the mood. "If you need anything else, Gilda, please don't hesitate to ask." She then poses a question. "Have you found anywhere to stay yet while I handle this for you?" Gilda scratches her foreleg lightly. "Dash said I could crash at her place for a while." Dash nods sagely at this. "No friend of mine is bunking at some dirty motel while I've got room," Dash claims. "I'm not sure I would call Woodwork's inn a "dirty motel"..." Twilight says, chastising Rainbow Dash. "Yeah, yeah. We're going to to out. You coming Twilight?" Dash questions. Twilight shakes her head. "No, sorry, I took so long helping the two of you that I've fallen a bit behind on my magic practice. I'll need to take a raincheck on that." Spike pipes up, hopping up and down "Oh, oh! Can I go? I haven't done anything all day!" Twilight hums. "You don't want to stay and help me practice spells?" At Spike's negatory headshake, she shrugs. "Alright, but stay with Dash and Gilda, and be back before too long." "Aww yeah!" Spike shouts, hopping over and out the door with the duo. As the trio walk out, Dash speaks up. "So, Spike have you heard about the new unicorn in town?" she trails off as they leave earshot. Twilight looks curious at this, but shrugs it off, pulling a spellbook off one of her shelves and cracking it open. "Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" A pony calling themselves "The Great and Powerful Trixie" commands, as her wagon unfolds into a stage, and she hops out onto it. "Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!" She shouts, unleashing a barrage of spinning flares and fireworks. The smile on her face as she does so seems more genuine than her claims, as she readies herself to bask in the crowd's praise. Rarity mutters from within the crowd itself. "My, my, my... What boasting!" Spike looks ready to say something, but Gilda interrupts. "Yeah, she's got spunk!" Gilda chortles. A black-coated unicorn mare smugly retorts within earshot. "There's nothing wrong with showing off your talents, after all." This seems to set Applejack off, as she makes a claim of her own. "There's a difference between showin' off and showin' off like yer better than everypony else." "Yeah, especially when you've got me around being better than everypony else," Rainbow brags, ignoring the resulting halfhearted glares from her friends as she hoofbumps a laughing Gilda, only to notice them afterwards. "Oh, uhh, I mean... Magic-shmagic. Boo!" Trixie's cheerful smile rapidly turns bitter. "What's this, neigh-sayers in Trixie's audience?" "Do they not realize? Do they not know they stand in the presence of the most talented and magical unicorn in all of Equestria?" She scoffs, flicking her head. Rarity huffs. "Well, she has a very inflated opinion of herself, doesn't she?" Rainbow Dash nods her head. "Yeah! What makes you so awesome anyway?" She asks as Gilda smirks standing next to her. Trixie waves her head theatrically. "You mean other than the fact that Trixie alone holds the power to vanquish an ursa major?!" Her stage unleashes a spray of magical fireworks that form their sparks into the neon outline of a star-studded beast, prompting the crowd to ooh and ahh. "When all hope was lost, the ponies of Hoofington had no one to turn to," She says with mock despair as the magically drawn bear bobs menacingly. "But the Great and Powerful Trixie stepped in, and with her awesome magic, vanquished the ursa major and sent it back to its cave deep within the Everfree Forest!" The bear illusion is popped into stardust by the tiny stick figure Trixie that is sent up with wand in hand to vanquish it. This prompts a more sizable reaction from the crowd, even prompting two unicorn colts to practically sing her praises. "I mean it's not like you saw it, she could just be saying that!" Spike says to the duo. Trixie ignores Spike's words, and opts to instead further hype herself up. "Yes, my little admirers, Trixie is absolutely the best in Ponyville." The crowd fails to respond loudly enough to please her, so she continues. "Don't believe The Great and Powerful Trixie?" She laughs faintly to herself. "Well then, I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians. Anything you can do, I can do better-" she is interrupted. ♫"We can do anything better than you,"♫ The black-coated unicorn snipes back suddenly, melodically, and loudly with a smug grin. Trixie scowls, feeling a hint of something build up. "No you can't." ♫"Yes we can,"♫ The black mare hums. "No you can't!" ♫"Yes we can!"♫ Trixie, feeling the urge to entertain the crowd and curious where this heckler is going, allows her magic to bubble up in her chest and begins to sing along. ♫"No you can't!"♫ The heckler in question just grins further, and their voice is joined by several others, who decide to join in. ♫"Yes we can, yes we ca~an!"♫ Applejack steps up to the plate first, with a lasso tied to her tail. ♫"Any trick that'cha got, we've got one better, betcha a bit that I'm better'n you."♫ ♫"No you're not,"♫ Trixie responds, grinning at whatever dumb trick this hayseed is about to pull, only to be shocked when she begins performing complex rope tricks. ♫"I sure am,"♫ Applejack says, leaping inside and outside of the spinning loop of rope with ease and grace. ♫"No you're not!"♫ Trixie says louder, igniting her horn to pull out a rope to trip up the farmer, who dodges it without even paying attention as she is focused entirely on her footwork. ♫"I sure am!"♫ Applejack finishes, throwing her lasso to a nearby tree to yank an apple off of it. ♫"No you're not!"♫ Trixie shrieks with frustration, trying to wrap the rope around Applejack's legs. ♫"I sure am, I sure am!"♫ Applejack sings as she stomps the offending rope flat like a snake, catching the apple in her mouth and chomping it down in one bite. Trixie wracks her brain quickly. ♫"Trixie flies a rocket! Look, she even docks it!"♫ She exclaims, launching an empty firework around over the crowd's heads in a complex flight before landing the hollow paper tube right on the heckler's horn with her careful telekinesis. The mare retorts, igniting her horn and causing the paper to pop into shreds. ♫"I blow it to pieces, and that's when it ceases!"♫ Applejack pipes up proudly out of nowhere, pulling an apple out of her hat. ♫"I live on apples and bread!"♫ Trixie looks confused and questions. "And only on that?" "Yeah!" Applejack says. "So can a bat," Trixie dismisses, turning to the unicorns in the crowd. She needs to get these ponies back on her side, and fast. To that end, she breaks out one of her most complicated performances as she begins her verse. ♫"Any spell you can cast Trixie casts faster, Trixie casts any spell faster than you!"♫ She claims, allowing her horn to briefly flash before summoning up several colorful balls. ♫"No she can't!"♫ The crowd jeers. ♫"Yes she can!"♫ Trixie retorts, beginning to throw the balls in the air, juggling them with only the briefest flashes of levitation. ♫"No she can't!"♫ They say, watching the balls go flying around. ♫Yes she can!♫ Trixie continues, juggling the balls even faster. ♫"No she can't!"♫ The crowd continues, not yet impressed. ♫"Yes she can!"♫ Trixie further continues, summoning up more balls even as she juggles the ones she has out already. ♫"No she can't,"♫ The crowd dims, slowly entranced by the display. ♫"Yes she can!"♫ She claims, summoning up brief flashes of light and fireworks in-between every juggle she performs. ♫"No she can't..."♫ They finish, starting to look very impressed. ♫"Ye~es she~e... Ca~an!"♫ Trixie sings, tossing the balls into the crowd, where none of the unicorns manage to grab one before they bonk them softly on the head. She laughs privately to herself by their shocked and awed expressions, waiting for more. Agitated by Trixie's claims of speed, Rainbow Dash takes her opportunity to join in. ♫"Any rainbow you make I could make cooler, I can make rainbows way cooler than you!"♫ She sings, flying rapidly around town and through several clouds to amass the rainwater needed to surround herself in a scintillating chromatic glow as it impacts her when she halts on a dime in the middle of Trixie's stage. ♫"No you can't!"♫ Trixie builds up her magic, launching it at the rainbow surrounding Dash. ♫"Yeah I can!"♫ Dash says with her eyes closed smugly, unaware of her rainbow starting to swirl around her. ♫"No you can't!"♫ Trixie laughs again, as Rainbow is put in the spin cycle. At this point, Gilda takes to the stage, trying to pull Dash out of the tornado with flapping wings. ♫"Yeah she can!"♫ Gilda shouts, fighting the weather anomaly. ♫"No she can't!"♫ Trixie's pleased expression turns to a scowl as she prepares another spell, only for her to be blown back when Gilda yanks Dash out of the tornado, making it explode into an even larger, more beautiful rainbow. ♫"Yeah we can, yeah we can!"♫ The pair sing, spinning around in the middle of the awe-inspiring weather feat from the residual forces. Trixie begins to get nervous, the crowd cheering for the pony and griffon's amazing trick. She actually takes a step back when they're all cheering for these random upstarts who took over her stage. She forces herself to smirk and steadies herself. ♫"Anything you're great at, Trixie is Greater, The Great and Powerful's greater than you!"♫ ♫"No she's not!"♫ Spike snorts. ♫"Yes she is!"♫ Trixie gaffs. ♫"No she's not,"♫ Applejack retorts. ♫"Yes she is!"♫ Trixie laughs. ♫"No she's not!"♫ Rarity cries. ♫"Yes she is, yes she is!"♫ Trixie lies. Trixie, already stressed out, realizes she's running out of tricks, and hides her sweating face behind her hat for a moment as she flips it around to begin her next act. ♫"Rabbits out of her hat, nobody could top that!"♫ She says desperately, whipping her cap around and pulling a stuffed animal out of it. ♫"I could sew one finer, as I'm a designer,"♫ Rarity responds, pulling the curtains from Trixie's stage and turning it into an adorable plush bunny. ♫"Trixie can learn any spell!"♫ She strains. "From out of a book?" The black mare from before asks. "Yeah?" Trixie says obviously, which only makes them laugh. "Yeah, you'd have to look. Ya chump!" They joke, making Trixie's blood boil with humiliation as they turn on them. The mare in question is more than happy to continue. ♫"Any chant you incant I can chant cleaner, I'll incant any chant cleaner than you."♫ ♫"No you can't,"♫ Trixie says bitterly. ♫"Yes I 'cant,"♫ They slang back with amusement. ♫"No you... can't?"♫ Trixie says, confusion growing on her face. ♫"Yes I 'cant!"♫ They say agreeably. ♫"Wait, who can't?"♫ Pinkie pops out of a bush nearby to ask, her question going unanswered as the mare finishes. ♫"Yes I 'cant, yes I 'ca~ant!"♫ The mare cheers. Trixie throws her hooves up. ♫"Yes you ca~an't!"♫ She decides to turn to her stage, and activates some of the hidden mechanisms to launch more neon fireworks into the air. ♫"Any yarn you can spin, I know one better! The ones that I know are all better than yours!"♫ Trixie claims, preparing the fireworks for another animated show. ♫"Ones with scares?"♫ Snails asks slowly ♫"Ones with laughs!"♫ Trixie responds affirmatively. ♫"Ones with twists?"♫ Snips questions excitedly. ♫"Every twist!"♫ Trixie nods with pride. ♫"No you can't!"♫ Spike retorts, arms crossed. ♫"Yes I can, yes I can!"♫ Trixie finishes, standing tall on her back legs as the neon fireworks turn into a menagerie of magical monsters, with little stick figure Trixie standing against them. Rarity steps up to the stage now. ♫"All of your clothes dear, I could sew them finer, you'll find that my stitches are finer than yours!"♫ ♫"No you can't!"♫ Trixie says self-consciously. ♫"Yes I can!"♫ Rarity says, converting her giant plush rabbit into raw materials swirling around her. ♫"No you can't!"♫ Trixie shouts. ♫"Yes I can!"♫ Rarity continues, her magic rapidly stitching and restitching the cloth. ♫"No you can't!"♫ Trixie practically begs. ♫"Yes I can, yes I ca~an!"♫ Rarity finishes, showing off her vastly improved duplicate of Trixie's stage outfit. Trixie, having grown to regret this entire day rapidly, still has it in her to try one last time to impress and entertain the ponies who came to watch her perform. ♫"Trixie can juggle knives!"♫ She says, hoping she won't have to prove it as exhausted as she is. ♫"I can bake apple pies!"♫ Applejack shouts over the din. ♫"Trixie calls down thunder!"♫ Trixie tries again. ♫"Nah, you'd probably blunder!"♫ Gilda laughs. ♫"Trixie can cast any spell!"♫ She boldly claims. "So you can cast "Fly"?" The dark-coated mare questions with genuine curiosity. "No?" She responds, prompting them to shrug. "Neither can I." It's too much for the performer, her body starts to shake with pure unrestrained rage and humiliation, after that final stupid little inane comment that that heckler made finally pushes her over the edge. "Enough!" she stops singing with a stomp, shocking the crowd into silence with her one, violently spat word. "Show's over! I'm packing it up!" Trixie shouts, running into her wagon and causing it to fold back up, the ponies still on it jumping back and off the stage in shock. "You want to make a fool out of the mare trying to entertain you bumpkins, then you should leave me out of it!" She screams, slamming the wagon's window slats shut. She fails to see the ponies outside, who had honestly been having a lot of fun, and who look disappointed that the show's over. The shadow-coated pony who had started all of this is nowhere to be found. Weiss awakens from his meditation as the shadow clone disperses. "Hmm. I may have gone too far, starting that music number," He says to himself as he rises from the black glassy floor of his tower. "Well, it should still put her on track to help me with my plans, even with Gilda interfering in the timeline." He walks over to an archway with his arms folded primly behind his back, and observes Ponyville past the distant treetops of the Everfree. "And judging by Spike's restraint at the magic show, it's unlikely that he will provoke Snips and Snails into drawing out that damn Ursa Minor," He sneers, afraid of the consequences of trying to face a beast like that. One thing he's firmly aware of is just how weak he is without the Arcana Nox. Something that studying the Alicorn Amulet should remedy quite nicely until he can return to the Shadow Realm and reactivate it. Without The Arcana, his chances of defeating anything in combat are slim at best, he feels. Judging by how Celestia and Luna haven't shown up, either his earlier bluff worked, or they believe he'll be little more than a speed bump for the Element Bearers. A thought like that can't help but evoke laughter from the dark sage, a cruel, satisfied sort of laughter that one only gets from knowing something that one's opponents do not. "Trixie leaves town disgraced and insecure, but not destitute and homeless, I offer her the power she craves in return for bringing the amulet to me. Ponyville's less hostile to her because she wasn't successful at embarrassing the Element Bearers. Like clockwork, the hands tick towards fun times." He starts laughing again, in a perfectly sane manner for one who had just been monologuing to an audience of zero. "And she was talking about how she took down an Ursa Major!" Spike relays to Twilight, who is working on removing a giant mustache from the Golden Oaks Library. "Really? That's some claim," Twilight responds curiously, finally getting the arborious 'stache to cease existing. "Yeah, you probably could have beaten her with one hoof tied behind your back, I mean, twenty-five magic tricks and counting! It's incredible!" he points to the tree she just finished scraping facial hair off of. Twilight looks sheepish, and even goes so far as to blush a bit at the praise from her number-one assistant. "I don't know Spike, boasting or not, if what you told me is true, Trixie is still a very talented mare. I can't even perform levitation that fine yet." Spike scratches his head. "Yeah, I guess it was a pretty cool show. I kinda feel bad that she thought we were making fun of her. I know Snips and Snails think she's the best thing since sliced hay." Twilight ponders at that. "I think you might have a point Spike. Tell you what, how about tomorrow, we get the girls together, and try to make it up to her before she leaves?" "I'll need to tell Pinkie she'll need to fast track her party plans if we're going to catch her before she goes, though," Twilight thinks to herself. "What makes you so sure Pinkie's preparing a party for Trixie of all ponies?" Spike asks. Twilight responds, explaining her logic. "I doubt anything less would make Pinkie Pie miss a magic performance that nearly the whole town went to see." Spike shrugs, and the pair walk off to Sugarcube Corner to tell Pinkie about what they've learned. "We're back with your smoothie, oh Great and Powerful one!" Snips mumbles through his teeth, holding a tray bearing a trio of milkshakes in his mouth. "For some reason, the Hay machine's been rented out, so they gave us a few different flavors to make up for it!" He apologizes. 'Trixie's bad day can't be made any worse, she supposes', she thinks to herself, picking up the strawberry one and taking a long sip. Seeing the two colts are still there looking at her expectantly with their own smoothies, she feels exasperation rise up in her lungs. "Yes?" Trixie questions, wanting to get this over with. Snails pipes up. "Could you tell us another story?" Snips follows up on that energetically "Yeah, could you tell us the story of how the Great and Powerful Trixie vanquished the Ursa Major?" Trixie feels a migraine threatening to pop up, any attempts at boasting turning bitter after today's farce. She groans. "Trixie is far too exhausted from her incredible feats being met with mockery and belittlement to do such a thing. Begone with you." The two look saddened at this, and slowly walk away. "Maaan, Trixie sure looked sad," Snails says obviously after a few minutes. Snips thinks to himself, and pipes up. "Yeah, there's gotta be some way we can cheer her up! I bet all we gotta do is show Ponyville that she's the real deal!" "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Snips smirks at his best friend. "Why don't penguins swim south for the summer?" Snails drawls questioningly. "Oh piss," Weiss says, as he spots the trail of shattered trees leading to Ponyville. Walking to the center of the room, the pony plops down and enters a meditative pose, dark magic wafting around him until it splits off into another shadow clone. The clone frowns sharply. "That stinking animal better not crush Trixie's wagon. I don't need to wait several months while Trixie slums it in a rock farm instead of getting me my amulet." Without another word spoken, the clone leaps out of the open window, bursting into smoke on impact with the ground, and reforming mid-gallop towards Ponyville. Trixie is woken up by pounding on her wagon door, leading her to blearily walk over with her shouting voice ready, only to see it's those two colts from before. The duo begin rapidly rambling, but Trixie is unable to parse it, and simply responds angrily. "Didn't Trixie tell the two of you to begone? That doesn't mean "come here and wake Trixie up at this ungodly hour of night"." Snips manages to form a coherent sentence to explain with. "We have a... bit of a problem." Snails corrects his friend, responding with "Actually, it's a whole problem..." Trixie's eyebrow raises. "And what could be so important that it needs to be dealt with in the middle of the night?" It's around this point she spots a gigantic star-spangled bear pushing it's way through the treeline, directly towards Snips, Snails, and by extension herself. The trio run away as fast as they can from the charging bear as it kicks Trixie's wagon aside, where it crashes into a building and becomes splinters. Before long, they're all backed up against the wall, with the monster bearing down on them and citizens looking on in terror and fear. Twilight, who had been walking home from Sugarcube Corner, spots the commotion, and runs to stand the bear down while Spike runs for cover. "Hey Trixie, now's your chance to vanquish it just like your story!" Snips says, nudging her forward. "It sure wasn't easy getting that Ursa Major into town, after all!" "What? Is this entire town made up of crazy ponies?!" Trixie shouts, trying to back up. Snails decides to interject "Come on, you're the Great and Powerful Trixie! You've got this!" The duo try for a reprise while Twilight is contemplating the spells she'll need. ♫"Any beast we could beat you could beat surely, now here's your chance to prove better than we!"♫ "You're both nuts!" ♫"But you can!"♫ "Call the guards!" ♫"But you can!"♫ "We need help!" ♫"But you can!"♫ ♫"But you can, can, can, can!"♫ They sing together, trying to encourage her to finally prove to everyone that she's really the greatest, only for her to respond. ♫"No I can't, can't, can't, can't!.. No... I... ca~an't!"♫ Trixie crushes her eyes shut and finally admits the truth, shocking them both utterly. "What!?" Snips and Snails shout at the same time. Trixie shouts what she had thought to be fairly obvious. "Nobody can vanquish an Ursa Major, I just made that up as part of my character for the act!" "Made it up?!" They respond, shocked and suddenly realizing the danger they're in from the Ursa. At the same time, Twilight, who had been ignoring the commotion, quietly and impressively lulls the monster to sleep with music drawn from reeds using wind, milk taken from the local cows using a water tower, and gentle rocking from immense levitation magic, before lifting it up and carrying it all the way back to it's cave in her magical aura. Trixie looks between the Unicorn who had just, if not vanquished, certainly pacified the Ursa, the townsfolk who are looking at her with an expression she doesn't comprehend, and the two little colts who caused all this trouble. It's simply too much. Abandoning theatrics, Trixie bolts out of town as fast as she can. Gilda, who had been watching the entire thing with a rapidly growing suspicion, takes flight after her. 'I really hope this isn't what I think it is.' Gilda thinks to herself as her suspicions are confirmed. At Ponyville's border, Trixie is stopped by the mare from yesterday who started the ruination of her show, standing alone in the middle of the road. "You! You're that unicorn!" Trixie says dumbly, jabbing a hoof towards them with a snarl. The mare simply smiles. "I certainly am. Queen Meany, Professional Heckler, at your service." "And what need does Trixie have for a heckler of any kind?" Trixie growls. They shrug. "You really don't. But maybe you're in the market for something to increase your magical power instead." "I heard your little lament back there. It just tears you up inside that you don't live up to your own hype, doesn't it?" They jab at Trixie's insecurities. Not waiting for Trixie's response to that, Meany continues. "I've been looking for a... Particularly useful artifact. I'll bankroll you, provide funding to restore your lost livelihood, and in return, you keep an eye out for something called the Alicorn Amulet. Bring it to me, and I'll complete our deal by teaching you magic that will let you live up to every tall tale you've ever spoken." Using a bolt of purple lightning, they summon a wooden chest filled with gems and golden trinkets. Trixie looks tempted, very tempted. Her home, gone, all her possessions, smashed to pieces. All she would have to do is bring this annoying mare one measly artifact in return for all of that? She opens her mouth. "So you are doing this crap again," A distinctly non-Trixie voice interjects, landing in front of Trixie. "Get the flock out of here Weiss. I'll hurt you if you don't," She says, cracking her talons. The now-ousted Weiss frowns. "You're really fucking this up right now Gilda. Why don't you go back home and cry about how scary you are." Gilda smirks, walking forward. "You're trying to piss me off. Right? That's what you do. You piss ponies off, make em do dumb stuff, and then swoop in to take advantage of it." Judging by Weiss's genuine angered reaction, Gilda suspects that she's touched a nerve. She turns to Trixie. "Don't listen to him, he's trying to use you." Gilda explains to the confused Trixie. "He offered me the exact same thing. "I give you what you want more than anything else, and all you've got to do is learn dark magic"." "Look, that bear broke your stuff, right? Talk to Twilight. You're owed something for that." Weiss takes a step forward, his disguised clone's hair flickering with black flames as his anger grows. "Don't listen to her, Trixie. She's one of the ones who showed you up! They might offer you some pittance of bits, but I'm offering a king's ransom! More importantly, I'm-" Gilda interrupts. "Twilight also got together everyone who jumped up to ruin your show, and has em ready to say sorry. They're waiting for you if you just come back into town." She looks ashamed in a familiar way. "An apology is something we really owe you right now." Weiss's mane explodes into flames when he senses Trixie's temporary feelings of insecurity that he had been cultivating dim and then be snuffed out by Gilda's words. His teeth audibly grind when he realizes his musical number altered Trixie's act enough to endear her to the town instead of alienate her. "You've fucked me over, Gilda. You really have." "Happy to hear it, chump!" Gilda snarks back, smirking. With the knowledge in mind that he's lost this battle of wits and temptation, Weiss steps back, and announces for the world to hear. "You will regret those words. We will meet again." "Avidus!" He throws his horn in the air, and a bolt of lightning crashes down, dragging his clone and treasures away in a flash of magical energy. Gilda stares at the spot Weiss's clone once occupied, before turning to Trixie. "Come on, let's get you that apology! Twilight's got everypony at Sugarcube Corner." When they arrive, Trixie is stunned at the cacophony of cheering she receives when the doors open and the lights come on. A banner reads "Thanks for the Show!". Pinkie Pie bounces up and down cheerfully, hopping over to Trixie and dragging the stunned mare over to the smoothy machine she rented out for the party, shoving a shake into Trixie's grip. Extra hay, just the way she likes it. "Dear Princess Celestia, My friends and I have learned a very valuable lesson about friendship: There may come times when the way a pony behaves or boasts can come off as inappropriate, but we should try not to react inappropriately ourselves, trying to one-up a pony who chooses to brag can lead to hurt feelings all around, and worst of all, the proudest of ponies are often unwilling to admit flaws and hurt feelings alike until it's almost too late. We should instead appreciate a pony's true talents, and help them realize that their real achievements are often worth more than the ones they make up."