//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 (Boast Busters) // Story: Spike The Brony Dragon // by red4567 //------------------------------// There was not much I could change when Gilda came to town. I was able to stop her from making Fluttershy cry, but that was as much as I could do. I doubt she wanted to talk after storming out of that party. But I had a higher priority, this time with one of the great and powerful unicorns: Trixie. In the show, she claimed that she could stop an Ursa Major. Snips and Snails wanted to prove that, so they went and woke up an Ursa Minor. It took Twilight’s magic to calm it down. Trixie hit an all time low after that. Her career was stained, and she resorted to buying an amulet from the black market which corrupted her mind. She then ended up kicking Twilight out of town. It wasn’t until the rest of us were able to trick Trixie into giving up the amulet. While Trixie was reformed in the end, she still left a dark mark. Hopefully, I could change that. Twilight was practicing spells in the library while I watched closely. “Come on Twilight, you can do it,” I said. Twilight’s horn started glowing. And just like that, a mustache grew on my lips. I doubt dragons even had hair, but since it was magic, I didn’t question it. “He-ha! You did it!” I said. “Growing magic, that's number twenty-five. Twenty-five different types of tricks and counting. And I think this is the best trick so far.” I looked at myself in the mirror. I did look good with a mustache. “Sorry, Romeo. As attractive and enticing as you look, it's just for practice, and it's gotta go.” Twilight’s horn glowed again, and the mustache was gone. I was a bit disappointed. Twilight and I decided to take a stroll around Ponyville. “You’re really good with magic, Twilight,” I said. “All those spells you can cast. Heck, if you keep this up, you may end up being as powerful as an alicorn some day.” “Oh, stop,” Twilight giggled. “I'm sure there are lots of ponies right here in Ponyville that know just as much magic as me.” There will be soon. “Gangway!” Almost on cue, I quickly dodged past Snips and Snails. The blue and orange colts had barely even given us a warning as they galloped towards the center of town. “Wonder where are those two going?” Twilight coughed from the dust cloud kicked up from the colts. “We better go check it out,” I said. We headed to the center of town. There was such a huge crowd, all standing in front of a stage on wheels. Twilight and I pushed our way to the front, where the rest of our friends were. “Come one, come all!” a voice shouted. “Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” A large puff of smoke and shimmering dust filled the stage. Almost as soon as it appeared, it began to disperse as I managed to make out the trademark purple cap and cape of the blue unicorn known as Trixie. “Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!” Fireworks and flares filled the sky. “My! My! My! What boasting,” said Rarity. “Relax, Rarity,” I said. “It’s all part of the act. No need to be rude. She’s just a unicorn with magic, like you and Twilight. There’s nothing wrong with that, right?” “Nothin' at all,” said Applejack. “Except when someone goes around showing it off like a school filly with fancy new ribbons.” “What is wrong with you girls?” I asked. “Trixie is a performer. She’s supposed to exaggerate about her skills. Why can’t you enjoy the show like normal ponies? You act like she stole your lunch money.” “Spike is right,” Twilight said. “You girls don’t need to heckle somepony who’s just doing her job. How would you like it if somepony chewed you out for bucking apples or sewing clothes?” The girls stayed silent after that. The rest of Trixie’s show went pretty well without any interruptions from the audience. I even got to volunteer for one of her tricks, which was unexpected. I was a bit nervous standing in front of a large crowd, but Trixie managed to calm me down. The trick went something like this: “Pick a card! Any card!” Trixie held up a bunch of cards.  I picked the ace of spades. “Now, put it back!” Trixie covered her eyes as I placed the card back into the pile. She quickly shuffled them, and flashed a card in front of me. “Is this your card?” It was the seven of hearts. “No,” I replied. “Are you sure about that?” She rubbed her hoof on the card, and it turned into the ace of spades. “That’s my card!” I said. The crowd applauded. After the show ended, the crowd of ponies left. The girls were still sour about Trixie’s attitude, but at least they didn’t try to prove they were better than her. I actually wanted to talk to Trixie. As I was heading in her direction, I saw Snips and Snails backing up. “What are you two doing?” I asked. “Just bringing the GNPT (the Great and Powerful Trixie) a smoothie,” Snips replied. “You guys sure are big fans of her,” I said. “Do you really believe she’s that talented?” “Of course she is! She claimed she could vanquish an Ursa Major!” “She can do that? Amazing.” I knew that she couldn’t, but I didn’t want Snips and Snails try to find one to prove it.  “See? Even you admit she’s a powerful pony!” “Well, unless somepony else comes along and proves that they can defeat an Ursa as well, I’d say Trixie has my full respect.” As Snips and Snails left, I was glad that they didn’t come up with the idea of waking up an Ursa Major. That was one weight off my shoulder.  I walked up to Trixie. “Hi, there. My name is Spike.” “Trixie does not want to sign autographs, now begone!” She then looked at me. “Wait, aren’t you that dragon who volunteered in one of my tricks?” “That’s me. I just came by to say that I really liked your show. That card trick you pulled really got me.” “It’s what I do best.” “I heard that you were able to defeat an Ursa Major, is that true?” I knew it wasn’t, but I didn’t want to get her angry. Trixie explained her story. She didn’t do it during her show because the girls didn’t call her bluff. “It all started in Hoofington. An Ursa Major was threatening to obliterate the town. Just when all hope was lost, the Great and Powerful Trixie came in and vanquished it into its cave of Everfree Forest!” Never had I seen a pony’s eyes more lit up than hers. “Wow! That’s amazing! Twilight would be jealous of you,” I lied. “Who is this Twilight?” “Oh...uh...She’s just some unicorn I know. She’s really into magic, and was really fond of your tricks.” “Maybe she can convince me to teach her a few things.” “I'm sure she will. Well, I better get going. See you later, Trixie.” “You too, Spike.” Later that night, I saw Twilight reading a book, as always.  “So, did you like the show?” I asked. “I thought it was entertaining,” Twilight replied. “If only the others could agree.” “I’m sure they were just annoyed by her boasting.” “It’s not as if Trixie could speak in a quiet tone, though. Could you imagine how boring she would be if she spoke like Fluttershy? If you ask me, the girls were just being mean.” “The girls don’t know what it’s like to perform in front of an audience. It’s not everyday somepony comes to visit Ponyville.” As fate would have it, the floor started to vibrate. “W-What’s going on?!” I asked. The floor shook harder. Before long the entire tree was shaking. “What’s happening?!” “Nothing good, I’m sure,” Twilight replied. As we headed outside, my worst fear came true. An Ursa Minor was roaring and stomping around town. What the hay?! But I thought… I scrunched my eyebrows. I knew who was behind all this. “I’ll be right back, Twilight.” I dashed for Trixie’s cart, and sure enough Snips and Snails were approaching. “Stop, you two!” I shouted. “This isn’t the time, Spike!” Snips said. “We’re in big trouble!” “You’re right about that! I know you two were responsible for bringing that Ursa here!” “Yeah right. And we were responsible for Nightmare Moon’s return as well.” “Quit joking and tell me the truth!” “Neither of us were responsible for that Ursa! We didn’t even think about finding one at all!” “Are you sure about that?” “Spike, leave those kids alone!” Twilight called out. “We’ve gotta take care of that Ursa!” “We’ll talk later,” I said to Snips and Snails. The Ursa Minor was right before us. I had to admit, it was a scary creature. Its nightly fur did nothing to hide the fangs and claws of the vicious beast. Given how it’s capable of breaking somepony’s horn off, you’d best hope it wasn’t coming for you. I knew what Twilight was going to do. In all seriousness, I was thinking Fluttershy should’ve calmed it down with her stare, but she wasn’t here right now, and it would take a while to get her. “Twilight, use your magic!” I cried out. Twilight’s horn glowed. The rest of the events played out like in the show: a wind spell for the lullaby, the water tower and milk for a bottle, and a levitation spell to get the Ursa Minor back into its cave. When all that was done, Twilight was practically out of breath. The entire town cheered for her. Even Trixie was impressed (Snips and Snails had woken her up). “That was amazing!” I said. “Heavens to Betsy!” said Applejack. “We knew you had ability, but not that much!” “I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “Don’t be sorry, Twilight,” I said. “You’re magic spells are amazing! It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” “It’s just that, the other girls weren’t fond of Trixie’s show...” “We didn’t hate the show,” Rainbow Dash said. “It was just the host that we couldn’t stand.” “Hey!” Trixie called out. “Face the facts.” Applejack walked up to Twilight. “Your magic is a part of who you are, sugarcube, and we like who you are. We're proud to have such a powerful, talented unicorn as our friend. Even more after saving us from that Ursa Major.” “That was an Ursa Minor,” I replied. “Spike’s right,” Twilight said. “It was only a baby, and it was acting all scared and confused, like it woke up from a bad dream. I was reading a book about it a while back, so I had an idea about what to do.” "That was a baby?" Trixie quickly covered her mouth after asking that. “If that’s what an Ursa Minor looks like,” Rarity asked, “what does a Major look like?” “You...don’t want to know,” Twilight replied. “Guess you don’t need me to teach you!” Trixie called out. “You may have vanquished an Ursa Minor, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” She disappeared in a puff of smoke, and by “disappeared” I meant she ran away after throwing a smoke bomb. “That mare sure is full of herself,” Rainbow Dash said. “Just leave the black kettle be, pot,” I said. “What?” She gave me a confused look. “Nothing.” Later on, I sent Twilight’s lesson over to Princess Celestia. I was happy that Trixie didn’t humiliate herself, but I didn’t know how or why the Ursa Minor still came to Ponyville. Twilight and I interrogated Snips and Snails, but they claimed they didn’t even go near the Everfree Forest. We decided to take their word for it. Twilight did say that the Ursa Minor was acting all scared, so it might have had a bad dream.