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// Chapter Nineteen 
// Story: A Camping We Will Go 
// by Trinary 
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Breakfast ended up being a very modest affair of oatmeal and toast. Trixie was disappointed because she was unable to impress Big Macintosh with Neigh Orleans style cooking. Big Macintosh, in turn, was disappointed due to a depressing lack of apples. Sweetie Belle was disappointed because her own attempts at breakfast came out so dismally. The other foals were disappointed that their trip was going to be cut short and that they’d have to go home soon. Rainbow Dash was disappointed because everypony else was and she didn’t want to be left out.
There was a certain hangdog air about the camp between the sad meals, sad faces and the generally sad state of the camp (Big Macintosh had wrung a terse apology out of Rainbow Dash and Sweetie Belle for lightly charring the place). So it was a quite an uncomfortable breakfast.
So Sweetie took it upon herself to try to break the ice. “Miss Trixie…are you coming back to Ponyville with us?”
The ice was suddenly broken and everypony promptly fell into freezing glacial water. 
“NO WAY!” Rainbow Dash and Trixie leapt to their hooves and shouted in unison.
The two mares then whirled on another. “And why not?” Trixie demanded, pushing her forehead against Rainbow’s.
“Because we don’t want you back!” Rainbow Dash shot back.
“As if Trixie would ever grace your pathetic little town with her magnificent presence again!”
“Then don’t!”
“Don’t tell Trixie what to do!”
“Do you WANT to come back?”
“Of course not! But if the Great and Powerful Trixie wishes do to so she can go anywhere she wants!”
“Can not!”
“Can so!”
Big Macintosh cleared his throat. “Ladies…” He then quailed under the furious combined gaze of not one but two incredibly POed mares.
“You stay out of this!” They barked as one, then immediately became angry at their impromptu agreement. 
“You don’t you talk to Big Mac that way!” Rainbow Dash snorted angrily.
Trixie harrumphed. “Trixie can talk to anypony she wants, anyway she wants. And furthermore…”
STOMP.
Big Macintosh stomped his hoof. Once. The ground shook with a small tremor as several of the little ponies fell over at the ensuing aftershocks. Trixie and Rainbow Dash stopped their arguing in favor of maintaining their balance.
“As ah was SAYING…” Macintosh said once he was sure he had everypony’s attention. “This squabblin’ ain’t helpful and it’s not the kind of example y’all want to be setting for the foals, is it?”
Rainbow Dash kicked at the ground with her hoof and Trixie hung her head, the two of them having the grace to be abashed. “No…” They said in unison, for the third time. It was really getting on each other’s nerves.
“Good.” Big Mac nodded. “Now, ah’ve been up since…well, the night before last. Ah’m plum tuckered and want to get some shut-eye. So ah want you two to quit yer squabbling and a feudin’ and keep an eye on everypony. Alright?”
“You got it.” Rainbow Dash said quickly, making sure to beat Trixie to the punch. The showmare, who had opened her mouth to answer, quickly shut it. No need to seem like she was agreeing with the rainbow mare, after all.
Macintosh nodded amiably and stood up, stretching as he did so. Then he turned to the foals and said. “Ah’m countin’ on y’all to behave…and to keep an eye on these two.” He nodded to the two grown mares. “Make sure they behave too.”
Pipsqueak saluted. “Can do cap’n!” The others imitated him in saluting, albeit a bit more sloppily.
“Heeeey!” Rainbow objected. “Just wait a—”
“Not now Dashie.” Big Mac forestalled her. “Ah’m really tired and ain’t in the best of moods. We’ll talk later, okay?”
“But…” Dash sighed. “Fine. Whatever.”
Bemused and a little tired, Big Macintosh turned around. “Aww, dun be like that.” He gave his new marefriend a quick peck on the lips. Rainbow Dash perked up immediately as the kids either awwwed or giggled. If looks could kill, Trixie would’ve had Rainbow Dash be six feet under and pushing up the daisies. “See you in a bit Dash.”
“See ya Mac.” Rainbow waved. As soon as the farmpony went inside the tent, her good mood wore off. “Look Trixie,” she turned back around.
“That’s the Great and Powerful Trixie to you.” Sniffed the blue unicorn.
“…Yeaaah, no.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, blowing a lock of her hair out of her face. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’m gonna be keeping an eye on you.”
“Use both eyes.” Trixie sneered. “You might learn something.” She flicked her tail dismissively and walked off. Fuming, Rainbow turned and stalked off in the other direction until they sat on opposite ends of the campsite.
“…You ever get the feeling they forgot we were here?” Archer asked as she finished off her oatmeal.
“Hmm hmmm.” Came the chorus of agreement from the rest of her peers.
Sweetie Belle set her bowl down. “Maybe we should help!” Once she was sure she had everypony’s attention, she explained. “This trip was all about learning how to cooperate and get along right?” The other five little ponies looked at each other and nodded. “So…how about if we help Rainbow Dash and Trixie become friends?”
“That’s a great idea!” Snails applauded. “That’d be super awesome!” To have not one but two of his childhood heroes become friends? That’d make it, like, at least….he frowned, math wasn’t his strong suit. Finally he decided that Trixie and Rainbow Dash doubling up would make it three times as cool.
Silver Spoon was a bit more restrained. “I don’t know…those two are really stubborn.” She said hesitantly as she thought back to the night before when she and Snails first came across Trixie. “And Trixie is pretty stuck up and…mean.” 
“Aw, c’mon Spoony.” Archer nudged her. “No offense but it’s not like you were much different than her at the start of this trip.”
Silver blushed and gave an awkward nod. “I know, I know…but I-I didn’t like it when ponies thought of me like that. I don’t know if Trixie even minds it. You can’t change a pony if they don’t even WANT to change.”
“Then let’s find out!” Sweetie Belle hopped to her hooves. “I’m gonna go talk to Trixie and Silver Spoon, you can talk to Rainbow Dash!”
Pip raised a hoof. “What about the rest of us?”
“You guys can….hmmm…Snails, you and Dinky can help Silver Spoon talk to Rainbow Dash and Archer and Pip can come with me!” Sweetie was on a roll. “We’ll have them becoming best friends by the time we get home! They’ll think it's an excellent idea.”
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“What a ridiculous idea!” Trixie reared and whinnied in distress at the three little ponies who had approached her. “Are you out of your mind?"
Sweetie Belle’s face fell. “Well…we just thought that maybe you and Rainbow Dash…”
Trixie held up a hoof. “Trixie is going to stop you right there. There is no ‘Trixie and Rainbow Dash.’ ”
“Shouldn’t that be Rainbow Dash and I?” Sweetie Belle interrupted, looking at Trixie sideways. Behind her Archer rolled her eyes and silently mouthed ‘dictionary’ at her.
“Trixie always receives top billing.” The unicorn snorted. “And it is irrelevant. There is no Trixie and Rainbow Dash, no ‘us’ in any way shape or form. Trixie will have nothing further to do with that ruffian.”
Sweetie grumbled. “Yeesh, you sound like my sister.” She facehooved. 
Pipsqueak hesitantly stepped his way forward. “Um, Miss Trixie…aren’t you lonely being out in the woods all by yourself?”
Her anger partially quailed by the adorableness of the colt’s high, soft voice and accent, Trixie only responded with an indignant snort. “The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t need anypony.”
“But…” Pip objected. “Even Princess Luna was lonely when she came to visit Ponyville—and she’s the Princess! Then she made friends and it made her be happy.” He shuffled his hooves. “M-maybe…it could make you be happy too?”
Trixie bit her lip. “W-who says Trixie isn’t happy now?” She countered shakily. “What makes you think I’m not head over hooves HAPPY?!” Her smile had taken on a forced, almost twisted look that reminded Sweetie Belle of an incident involving Twilight Sparkle and a doll that she tried to block from her mind.
Archer decided to answer Trixie’s question. “Uh, we found in a tent, by yourself, in the middle of nowhere and your cape and hat look like they haven’t been washed in forever and Sweetie almost sent your tent on fire.” Sweetie pouted as Archer finished off her list with a very dry deadpan. “Even Pinkie Pie would be a bit down after all that.”
The filly’s simple answer just caused all of the anger and denial to leak out of Trixie like a stuck balloon, leaving her looking and feeling deflated. She looked away. “If Trixie is…less than satisfied then it is because of how other ponies treat her!” An idea clicked as she turned around. “Yes, it is just like the young colt said!” Pip let out a brief ‘woah!’ as he felt himself being magically lifted up in the air and enveloped in a crushing hug by Trixie.
“Princess Luna and I are two of a kind—under-appreciated, misunderstood! Two lost souls adrift in a world that fails to appreciate their talents. Yes, I must meet her!” She twirled on her back hooves. “Together the two of us with our combined talents can take the world by storm. Why—”
“Uh that’s not really what we meant.” Sweetie Belle said.
Archer nodded. “Also? You’re making Pip turn green.” Where Sweetie’s objection didn’t really register with the showmare, Archer’s remark got her to promptly stop spinning and quickly holding Pip as far away from her as she could.
Trixie smiled nervously at the dizzy young colt. “Are you…okay?”
Pip’s eyes spun in circles as he nodded faintly. He burped, then bit his lip. With exaggerated care Trixie gently set him down and then backed away like he was an armed bomb.
The little colt fell down on his rump as he waited for the world to stop spinning. “I’m okay…”
Sweetie Belle looked up at Trixie. “Uh anyway….”
“Yes…” Trixie coughed. “The Great and Powerful Trixie can see now why other ponies are uneasy around her—They’re all jealous of her amazing skills and talent! That’s why everypony dislikes Trixie. That’s why nopony is ever sorry to see her go…or looks forward to seeing her again.” She rubbed her face with her hoof. “They’re just stupid and jealous and…stupid!”
Archer rubbed the back of her neck. “Um, it kinda might have had something to do with you being a big bragging jerk too, you know?” She offered.
“Yeah!” Sweetie nodded. “You turned my sister’s hair green and made a bunch of other ponies feel bad. That wasn’t nice!”
“…Trixie forgets, were you here to make me feel better or worse?” She asked.
“Both! I mean neither! Um….” Sweetie Belle lost her train of thought.
Pip raised his hoof. “Gosh, we don’t want to make you feel bad Miss Trixie.” Everypony turned to look at him. “But other ponies don’t like to feel bad either and that’s what you did.” He got up and trotted over, gently resting his head on Trixie’s hock. “I bet if you say you’re sorry everypony will forgive you…everypony likes Princess Luna even though Nightmare Moon was really mean and scary. And now she has lots of friends and is really happy and fun.”
Trixie grit her teeth. “Fine…but why do I, er, why does TRIXIE have to make nice with that obnoxious pegasus?”
“Cuz Rainbow Dash is really loyal and stuff.” Archer answered. “And if you can make friends with her, you can make friends with anypony!”
Sweetie nodded. “Besides, you *did* zap her with a lightning bolt. You need to apologize.”
“And if she decides not to accept Trixie’s apology?” The blue unicorn queried.
Pipsqueak piped up. “Well, then that’s up to her. Big Macintosh told me that if you’ve upset somepony the only thing to do is to apologize…even if that pony doesn’t want to hear it, you’ve still got to say it because it isn’t just about them. It’s about you and the kind of pony you are.” Pip recited, closing his eyes to help him remember what he’d been told. “You have to decide if you’re the type of pony who walks away from a problem you made—even if you didn’t mean to—or are you gonna stick with it until you fix it? When you see somepony who needs a hoof, are you gonna help them out, or just walk away because they don’t wanna accept it at first? Will you just quit when things look hard?”
“Big Macintosh said that….” She mused softly. Then Trixie’s eyes steeled. “Trixie may be called a great many things…but a quitter is not one of them!” She tossed her mane, letting her cape billow behind her. “Very well! The Great and Powerful Trixie is so great and powerful that she can do anything—even if it means trying to get along with the ponies who shunned her! I will show her! I’ll show them all! Nothing can keep the Great and Powerful Trixie down! NOTHING!”
“Yippee! Hooray!” The three eager foals cheered, hopping up and down.
Smiling, Trixie added a silent postscript to her declaration. “And nothing will stop me from showing Big Macintosh just who the best mare here is!”
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