//------------------------------// // Busting the Boaster // Story: The Impact of Humans on Ponies // by the koopanater //------------------------------// "Hey, not bad Xavier!" "Heh, thanks Rainbow." It's been a few days since Gilda showed up to Ponyville and the bond between Xavier and Rainbow grew quite a bit. The two of them were currently in a field, with the former training with his sword and the latter watching. "And you say you're bad with it!" Rainbow teased. "I never said that, I just said I never used a sword before." Xavier said as he turned to her. "And besides, this feels... different. The only time I used this thing was with Nightmare Moon staring me down with her horn right in my face, and yet... I felt like I held it before..." "What is that suppose to mean?" Rainbow asked. "I wish I knew, Dash, but it feels like I know how to use this though. I wonder what secrets this thing holds..." Xavier said as both of them looked at it. Deciding not to think about it too much, Rainbow brought up another topic. "Well, I'm hungry, so do you want to get some grub?" Looking up at her, Xavier chuckled and put his sword away. "Alright, alright, I get it, you don't want to think about it, so I'll bite. Besides, I could go for something spicy right about now." Smiling, Rainbow flew down to join Xavier in a walk back to town. Walking into town, Xavier and Rainbow noticed a large crowd gathered around town hall, all clearly exited for something. Curious, the two went over to investigate finding Applejack and Rarity in the crowd. "Hey Applejack, Rarity!" Xavier called out, getting their attentions. "What's going on here? What's with this crowd?" "I don't know, Xavier." Applejack responded as Rarity continued. "We just know that somepony is here to perform soon." "Who's going to perform?" Rainbow asked. "Somepony who goes by the name 'The Great and Powerful Trixie'." Applejack informed, getting a not-so-impressed look from Xavier. "Seriously? 'Great and Powerful'? That's what they came up with?" Xavier deadpanned. Their conversation was interrupted by trumpets as a voice rang out. "Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Soon, a blue unicorn mare came onto stage in a cloud of pink smoke, wearing a magician's cap and hat. The crowd oohed in response while the girls and Xavier looked a bit annoyed. "My, my, my! What boasting!" Rarity said. "Yeah, I mean come on!" the four of them turned to the new voice, seeing Spike and Twilight coming over. "Twilight? Spike? When did you two get here?" Xavier asked. "We just got here." Twilight Answered. "We overheard about this from two young colts. But there's nothing wrong with being talented, is there?" "Nothing at all, except when someone goes around showing it off like a school filly with fancy new ribbons." Applejack told Twilight. "Just because one has the ability to perform lots of magic does NOT make one better than the rest of us." Rarity added, agreeing with Applejack. "Especially when ya got me around being better than the rest of us." Rainbow said, getting an elbow from Xavier. "Oh, um, I mean... Magic, shmagic. Boo!" "Well, well, well," Trixie said, overhearing the group. "it seems we have some neighsayers in the audience. Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they're in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?" "More like the most annoying and overconfident one..." Xavier said under his breath as Spike came up. "Yeah right! There is no way you are, since we all know that Twi-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence however, because he was taken by Twilight's magic away from the crowd, leaving the others confused. This didn't stop Rainbow however, as she flew up to Trixie's level. "Oh really, miss 'Great and Powerful'? What makes you so sure you are so strong?" "Well, only the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa major!" Trixie then used her magic to conjure up an illusion of a bear-like creature, receiving gasps from the crowd. "When all hope was lost, the ponies of Hoofington had no one to turn to, 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!" Trixie said as she used her magic to show her tale, receiving a large amount of praise from the crowd, with the only ones who weren't was a slightly uncomfortable Twilight, three unimpressed mares and dragon, and a confused human. "Hoofington? That doesn't sound familiar. If it did, then I would know where that is in relationship to the Everfree, which means..." Xavier whispered under his breath, clearly confused by Trixie's tale. "That settles it." Xavier looked up to see a young unicorn colt, apparently kind of chubby and a blue coat, going up to the stage with an innocent, though oblivious, smile alongside another, lankier, colt. "Trixie truly is the most talented, the most magical, the most awesome unicorn in Ponyville." The blue one spoke. "No, in all of Equestria!" The orange one exclaimed. "How do you know? You didn't see it! And besides, Twi—" Spike was saying before swiftly having a magic spell cast onto him, making his mouth a zipper. Trixie, despite the outburst, seemed unfazed with her cocky smirk. "It's true, my enthusiastic little admirers. Trixie is most certainly the best in Ponyville." Trixie chuckled, receiving silence in return. "Don't believe the Great and Powerful Trixie? [chuckles] Well then, I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians. Anything you can do, I can do better. Any takers? Anyone? Hmm? Or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine who has ever lived?!" Trixie announced, launching fireworks behind her. Having a chance to speak, Spike unzippered his lips and got down onto his knees. "Please! She's unbearable! Ya gotta show her! Ya just gotta!" Spike pleaded, getting whispers from Twilight. Xavier tried to listen to her, but that's when Trixie pointed. "How about... You!" When they looked, they saw that Trixie was pointing at Twilight, shocking them all. "Well, how about it? Hm? Is there anything you can do that the Great and Powerful Trixie can't?" "I-I-" Twilight stuttered, clearly in some stress. Xavier was about to get in between the two, but Applejack beat him to the chase. "That's it! I can't stand for no more of this!" Applejack said, clearly irritated and jumped up onto the stage. "Can your magical powers do THIS?" Applejack then used a lasso and began to do a bunch of tricks with it. She ended it with using it to lasso an apple and take a bite out of it, getting a large amount of cheering from the crowd. "Top that, missy." Applejack said with pride. "Oh ye of little talent. Watch and be amazed at the magic of Trixie!" Trixie said as she took off her hat, allowing her horn to show. Using her magic, she made a nearby rope move like a snake towards Applejack, mesmerized by the movements. She then took the other side of the rope and grabbed an apple, bringing it closer. When the apple got near, the snaking end burst forward towards her legs, tying them up, while the apple was brought to her mouth, giving the image of a pig roast, getting the entire crowd laughing at her. "Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie prevails." Trixie said as Applejack hopped off the stage. That's when Rainbow flew up to the stage. "There's no need to go struttin' around and showin' off like that." Rainbow Dash challenged. "Oh?" Trixie replied, interested. "That's my job!" Rainbow announced as she flew off in a blur towards a windmill. After spinning it around a bit, she shot towards a cloud, breaking it. After pausing in the sun to pose, she shot back down, hitting water droplets that were still airborne and carrying them behind her as she flew back into the windmill. Landing back on stage, the water hit her back, creating a rainbow over her. "They don't call me 'Rainbow' and 'Dash' for nothin'!" Rainbow said with confidence, gaining the crowd's cheers. Trixie, however didn't look intimidated. "When Trixie is through, the only thing they'll call you is loser." Saying this, Trixie used her magic and made the rainbow above Dash spiral around her, creating a tornado. She spun her around for a little bit until bringing her to a stop, leaving her dazed. "Seems like any pony with a DASH of good sense would think twice before tussling with the Great Trixie." Trixie said as she conjured a cloud above Rainbow, zapping her as Applejack was helping her up, getting the crowd to laugh at HER now. As Rainbow and Applejack came down, Xavier went up to the two. "Are you two ok?" He asked, clearly worried. "We're fine, but that mare sure is not pleasant." Applejack responded as they rejoined the group. "What we need is another unicorn to challenge her. Someone with some magic of her own." Spike said as he looked at Trixie angrily. "Yeah! A Unicorn to show this unicorn who's boss." Rainbow agreed. "A real unicorn to unicorn tussle." Applejack added. Twilight was looking uncomfortable until Rarity walked up. "Enough. Enough, all of you. I take your hint, but Rarity is above such nonsense. Rainbow Dash and Applejack may behave like ruffians, but Rarity conducts herself with beauty and grace." She said, clearly not understanding that they wanted Twilight to challenge her. "Ooo, what's the matter? Afraid you'll get a hair out of place in that rat's nest you call a mane?" Trixie insulted, getting a angry glare from Rarity. "Oh, it. Is. On!" Rarity spat as she got up onto the stage. "You may think you're tough with all of your so-called powers, but there's more to magic than your brutish ways. A unicorn needs to be more than just muscle. A unicorn needs to have style." She then used her magic to grab Trixie's curtain and make it into a dress. "A unicorn is not a unicorn without grace and beauty." The crowd looked at her in awe at her beauty. Trixie, once again, didn't look worried as she charged her magic. "Rarity won't let Trixie get the best of her!" Spike began. "She's strong, she's beautiful, she's—" He stopped when Trixie used her magic, causing the whole crowd to gasp. "Quick! I need a mirror! Get me a mirror! What did she do to my hair? I know she did something terrible to my hair!" Rarity said in a panic, knowing something happened despite not seeing it. "Nothing." "It's fine." "It's gorgeous." "It's perfect even!" "It's green." Everyone looked at Spike angrily. "What?" "No, Green hair! Not green hair!" Rarity exclaimed in despair, seeing her hair looking like a grassy nest as she ran off stage. "Such an awful, awful color!" She cried as she ran off, probably to attempt to fix it. Xavier looked towards Trixie, clearly peeved at her and her ways. "Well, Twilight, guess it's up to you." Xavier turned to see Spike talking to Twilight. "Come on, show her what you're made of." "What do you mean? I'm nothing special." Twilight replied nervously. "Yes, you are! You're better than her!" "I'm not better than anyone." "Hah! You think you're better than the Great and Powerful Trixie? You think you have more magical talent? Well, come on, show Trixie what you've got. Show us all." Trixie provoked. "Who, me? I'm just your run of the mill citizen of Ponyville. No powerful magic here. I, uh...I think I hear my laundry calling. Sorry, gotta go!" Twilight nervously declined and ran off, surprising everyone. Xavier was about to run to her, but Trixie spoke. "HA! Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie has proven herself to be the most amazing unicorn in all of Equestria! Was there ever any doubt?" Trixie said as she began laughing. That was what broke the camel's back as Xavier glared back at her, speaking for the first time since Trixie came on stage. "Hey, gloaty!" Trixie looked down to the voice, surprised to see Xavier. "That's enough out of you." "O-oh really, why should listen to something like you?" Trixie said, getting over her shock quickly. "Because you hurt my friends." Xavier said in a stern tone. "I don't know what your game is, but there is a difference to showing of and just being rude. You clearly don't know that line, so try to learn that line before you get hurt." "Oh really?" Trixie said smugly. "Why don't you make me, ape?" Her smirk faded slightly when she saw that Xavier didn't move nor let his expression change. "Because I know your game Trixie. You want to rile up ponies with insults to get them to come up to your stage and embarrass themselves to your hands. Unfortunately, you won't get that from me, not because I'm afraid, but because I'm smarter than that. Also, maybe don't go around saying you're the best at everything and lying about events that never happened." Trixie began to sweat a tiny bit. "Because there will be one time where everypony will look at you in hopes that you can do it, only to see that you have no power, and end up as an embarrassment to them as their problem becomes worse." Xavier's face softened slightly. "I'm not trying to be cruel, not even mean. I'm just trying to help you by keeping you from falling from the pedestal you put yourself on." "W-well, there is no need to! Trixie IS the best, so you have no power over me!" Trixie said, with an unnoticeable, but present amount of worry in her voice. "Your right, I have no power over Trixie. Only you have power over her, I'm just trying to warn you. But I still think Trixie should tune things down a bit. Now if you will excuse me, I have to find my friends, they need some help right now." Xavier turned around and walked away, leaving a speechless crowd and a very angry Trixie. When he found Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity (Who fixed her hair from Trixie's meddling), the three had shocked expressions. "Um, why are you three looking at me like that?" "Well, you just went up to a pony with zero fear or hesitation and told her of, so we would be shocked." Applejack responded. Xavier sighed in response and spoke. "Well, I have experienced those types of people, so I just said what I always wanted to say to their faces to her." "Who was like that though, darling?" Rarity asked, getting an uncomfortable look from Xavier. "I-I rather not say, lets just drop this, alright?" Xavier began to walk away. "I'm going to find Twilight, so don't worry about me, alright?" As Xavier walked away, the three watched him, wondering what his past was like. When Xavier finally found where Twilight was held up, she was at her library. Xavier tried to enter, but he couldn't. He began to worry until Spike came out. "Huh, Xavier? What are you dong here?" Spike asked. "I came to check on Twilight. Is she ok by the way? She seemed a little uncomfortable." Xavier explained, getting an annoyed face from Spike. "Oh, that. Can you follow me, I need to walk this out." Spike and Xavier began to walk as Spike began to explain. "Earlier today, Twilight and I were practicing her magic and she was doing very well. That's when Snips and Snails told us about a new unicorn in town, who I think you know. When we got there and saw Trixie gloating about her magic and hearing the others not approving of her boasting, Twilight became worried-" "That she would lose us because of her magic." Xavier concluded, connecting the dots. "So that's why she looked so worried and uncomfortable at the stage. And yet... why would she be worried? She doesn't gloat nor brag about her skills. If anything, her going on stage would be defending her friends, so why is she so worried?" "That's what I said to her, but she just doesn't get it!" Spike exclaimed, clearly frustrated at her. "Spike, calm down." Xavier said in a bit of worry. "Remember, Twilight is new to friendship, so she may not know that using her skills won't lead to her losing us." "Says you, Mr. 'I'm not good at electronics'." "H-Hey, there's a difference in that! I say that because I'm not confident in my skills and I really am not the best at them! Twilight seems to have worries that she won't be able to keep both her friends and her abilities at once." Sighing, Spike calmed down a bit. "Alright, fine. I'm going to walk alone for a while, you can go home for now, see ya." Spike said slightly down. Even though Xavier wanted to continue with him, he respected Spike's wish and went home for the day. A Few Hours Later It was nighttime and Xavier was getting ready for bed for the day. He had just taken a shower and had put on some bed clothes. He was now wearing a light t-shirt and some black and red plaid pajama pants, all hoof made by Rarity. While getting ready for bed, he was thinking about the day. "I wonder how everypony is taking things? Today was stressful for all of us. Especially Twilight..." Xavier sighed as he got into his bed. "Maybe in the morning, I'll talk to her. I doubt that she want's to talk about it before bed." As Xavier was closing his eyes however... GGGRRRRAAAAAARRRRRWWWWW Falling out of his bed, Xavier stood up with a start. "What in the world was that!" Xavier didn't waste any time to investigate as he grabbed his sword and ran outside. Running a bit, he saw the two boys from earlier watching Trixie, who was shaking in fear. "What's going on here?" "We brought an Ursa to town!" the blue one said with a smile. "Don't worry, the Great and Powerful Trixie will vanquish it." The orange one said as they looked at Trixie in hope. Trixie, however didn't share their hope. "I-I can't." "WHAT?!" The two colts yelled. "I-I can't, I never have. No one can vanquish an Ursa major. I just made the whole story up to make me look better." Trixie said in a panic. "MADE IT UP?!" Their conversation was interrupted by another roar as they looked up, seeing the beast, a giant bear with blue fur that simmered like the stars it was under. When seeing it, Xavier felt shivers down his spine. "Ah rust-oil." Xavier said, clearly worried. He was about to run, but he saw that the beast was focused on the two kids and Trixie, and it was tearing apart buildings to get to them, so he acted. He ran to the bear until he was in earshot of it. "Hey bear! Over here!" Xavier yelled, getting the Ursa's attention. The Ursa roared and jumped at him, Xavier dodging at the last second. Sword in hand, Xavier thought about attacking it, but he knew it wouldn't do much to it, so he held it close for defense as the Ursa swung it's claws at him. He barely blocked it as he flew back back onto his back, dazing him. Groaning, he saw the Ursa right above him as it readied to crush him, at least until a certain rainbow blur came and grabbed him as the Ursa slammed down. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was next to his friends with Rainbow holding him. "You okay Xavier?" Rainbow asked worriedly. "Yeah, just dandy..." Xavier groaned as he stood up. "Why'd y'all go and fight an Ursa? You could've killed yourself!" Applejack yelled, clearly concerned and confused. "I couldn't let anypony get hurt, especially since it was targeting Trixie and those two kids. I couldn't leave them to get hurt. Even if they were the cause of this..." Xavier said, mumbling the last part. They all looked at the Ursa rampaging, only to be surprised to see Twilight standing there. When they were wondering what she was doing, she used her magic and made a wind, creating a pleasant melody from some reeds, calming the Ursa down. she then used her magic and took hold of a nearby water tower and brought it over to a barn, filling it with milk. When it was full, she brought it to the Ursa and gave it to it, to which it began suckling on it like a baby would a bottle. Twilight then used her magic and lifted it into the sky and slowly but surely levitated it to the Everfree forest. When the Ursa was in the forest, she stopped her magic and collapsed, breathing heavy. Her breathing was interrupted by the entire town cheering for her. "Heavens to Betsy! We knew you had ability, but not that much!" Applejack said as she, Rainbow, Rarity, and Xavier came up. ""I'm sorry!" Twilight replied immediately. "Please, please don't hate me!" "Hate you?" The girls responded as Rarity continued. ""Why, whatever do you mean, darling?" "Well, I know how much you all hated Trixie's showing off her magic tricks, and I just thought-" "Whoa, whoa, whoa." Rainbow Dash said cutting Twilight off. "Magic's got nothing to do with it. Trixie's just a loudmouth." "Most unpleasant." Rarity added. "All hat and no cattle." Applejack finished. "So...you don't mind my magic tricks?" Twilight asked. "Your magic is a part of who you are, sugar cube, and we like who you are. We're proud to have such a powerful, talented unicorn as our friend." Applejack explained. I nodded towards what she said. "And after whuppin' that ursa's hind quarters, we're even prouder." Rainbow Dash encouraged. "You are?" Twilight asked happily. "Uh-huh." "Mm-hmm." "Yep." Everypony agreed. "Wow, Twilight, how'd you know what to do with that Ursa major?" Spike said as he approached. "That's what I was doing when you came looking for me. I was so intrigued by Trixie's bragging that I was compelled to do a little reading up on them." Twilight said with confidence. "So it is possible to vanquish an Ursa major all by yourself?" "That wasn't an Ursa major. It was a baby, an Ursa minor." Twilight corrected, getting dumbfounded expressions out of everyone. "Wait wait wait, BABY?! That was a baby!?" Xavier asked, to which Twilight nodded. Something then clicked in Xavier. "Wait, if it was a baby, then it was probably just cranky from being woken up." Xavier said as his tone grew more angry, causing the two colts to sweat nervously. "Well, if that was an Ursa Minor, then what's an Ursa Major look like then?" Spike asked. "You don't want to know..." Twilight said as everyone nodded, agreeing that they don't want to know. "Huh." The crowd then turned to who scoffed, seeing Trixie approaching Twilight. "You may have vanquished an Ursa Minor, but you have not bested an Ursa Major like I-" "Oh can it Trixie!" The crowd gasped at Xavier as he got in between her and Twilight. "Don't you even dare say you've concurred a major! You said it yourself, you haven't, nor has anyone defeated one before." Trixie opened her mouth, but was cut off. "Don't even try to deny it! You didn't even have the guts to fight the minor, or even take it somewhere it couldn't hurt anyone!" Xavier walked towards her in anger. "I tried to warn you to cap your ego before something like this happens! Just stop, you've fallen from the pedestal I warned you about, and you are just making the fall worse by making a hole around it." "Why you... You think you are so much better then Trixie? Well I will become even greater then you and your friend over there!" Trixie growled as she used a smoke bomb and ran off. Seeing her run off, Xavier realized how angry he was and cooled down as Rainbow came over. "You okay man, that was quite intense, even for you." Rainbow said, slightly intimidated by him. "I-it's nothing Rainbow. Just, don't ask please. I already said that I've dealt with people like that so please leave me be." Xavier sighed. He then noticed something and walked over to the two colts. "Now for the two of you." The two colts froze. "You two do realize that what you did was not a good idea? You could have gotten somepony hurt or worse." Xavier said, his voice showing not aggression, but instead a tone a parent would have when talking their child who did something wrong, surprising his friends. The two colts looked down in shame. "I'm not truly mad at you two, just please try to think about legitimacy before you believe something, especially if it could put you or others in danger." Xavier said softly but firm. The colts nodded, receiving a small smile from Xavier. "Good, now how about you two go and help out in cleaning the damages that the Ursa caused and you can be forgiven. Who knows, maybe if you do a good job I'll get you two an ice cream later." The two smiled at each other and got to work. Xavier then began to walk back to his home. "I'm going to go home now, see you tomorrow girls." As he walked away, the girls looked at him in awe. He was angry to burst a few moments ago, but yet he was so kind to Snips and Snails when he confronted them. What was his past that made him like this?