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Spell 11

It’s MAGIC!

Art by FlairNightz!
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The young unicorn took a deep breath as she focused her thoughts, calling forth the magic deep within her, her horn glowing brightly. Twilight kept her eyes focused on her dragon scribe in front of her.

Then, with a flash of light popping on his face, a thick, bushy mustache sprouted on Spike’s face, a large smile following suit! “HAHA! Ya did it! Growing magic, that’s number twenty-five! Twenty-five different tricks and still counting!”

Spike took the opportunity to check off a pad of paper that had a number of spells listed on it, Twilight blushed a little bit with Spike’s praise.

The baby dragon was looking at a nearby mirror, stroking the mustache on his face, “You know, I think this is your best spell! I bet with this spell and if Haru lets me use that Excite Ring of his, then…”

Taking a moment to cough and lift his arms up, Spike spoke in a deeper voice, “Hello, Lady Rarity! What’s that? Aw, it’s nothing, it’s just an awesome mustache and I’ve just been hitting the weights lately.”

Twilight giggled as her horn began to glow brightly once more, “Sorry Romeo, as enticing as you look, it’s just for practice. And it’s gotta go.”

But, within a few seconds, the glorious mustache disappeared from the baby dragon’s face, with Spike slumping down close to the floor. “Aw rats.”

Twilight stifled a little bit of a snicker and trotted up to the list that Spike had crossed off. Within the last few weeks, Twilight was able to learn these new spells, it was actually a personal best in her track record to learn so many new spells within such a sort span of time. Before she came to Ponyville, it had taken her a few years to master some of the spells she’s used many times. ‘I guess with more real life experiences that I’ve had gone through, I suppose my growth and studies have matured quicker.

‘But there’s still something that’s bugging me – I was able to use Haru’s magic. From his explanation, it sounded like anypony who could channel magic into his rings would be able to use his spells. But, it’s still hard to imagine that I could use his own kind of spells, was it a fluke?’

Twilight shook her head and turned towards Spike, who was still slumped on the floor, ‘Hmm, maybe I should ask Haru if I could borrow a couple of his rings to test them out. I’m sure Spike wouldn’t mind if I could have him use Haru’s Excite Ring, outside of course.’

Speaking of the red dragon, his day wasn’t looking too good so far. Aside from the weird chaos he had to deal with the other day (including a red pegasus who shall not be named in order to protect the dragon’s mind), Haru was trying to get some work for the day. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going too well – Seemed like today was going well for the businesses of Ponyville, everypony was at work and everything was running smoothly.

Which wasn’t a good thing for the usual part-timing dragon, he wasn’t able to find work that morning like had usually done in his time in Ponyville. So, Haru was currently unemployed and traversed out of Ponyville, ‘If I can’t get a job today, I might as well go search for some magic stones. I need to catch up on my searches, practicing my riding and repairing the Machine Winger ate a bit too much of my time.’

When he was a good portion outside of the town, Haru stretched his arms through his black overcoat and lifted his head up high into the air. With his eyes closed, Haru whiffed the air a few times before he dropped to all fours and began to sniff at the ground. The red dragon whipped his head left and right, sniffing all the while, and after a certain whiff, Haru’s tail pointed straight up into the air. “I got your scent!”

Crawling along the ground, Haru began to follow the scent of the magic stone, his tail shaking wilder and wilder with every step he took. He had made good distance from the town before his tail slapped against the ground with a large grin on his face, “And here it is!”

Haru stood up for a second before he drove his claws into the ground, pulling the dirt away quickly. Quickly, the red dragon dug deeper and deeper into the ground until only his tail was sticking out from the hole he just made.

Haru popped his head out of the hole and lifted up a jagged magic stone in his claws, the rest of his body and clothes covered with dirt. “Well, let’s see if I can get some more.”

TTTTTTT

A loud roar echoed through the Everfree Woods, birds flying from the branches and the weird wildlife running off. The roar was actually a booming yawn that emerged from a familiar clearing in the woods, “What a good nap! I haven’t one like that for ages!”

Harpie and Hellhound sighed loudly at the almost fully recovered Minotaur who was stretching his armored body. Minotaur stood up straight and took a deep breath, “I feel strong! I feel refreshed! I feel… Like I could defeat that Ring Mage!”

A feathered wing whapped the back of Minotaur’s head, making him stumble forward slightly, “URK!”

“Don’t pull those sorts of stunts yet,” Harpie scolded as she folded her wings. “We still need to work on our plan, and in case you hadn’t notice, you’re not back at a one hundred percent yet.”

Minotaur moaned as he brought his hand up to his still broken horn, and he fell down to his knees, “Damn it, why’d you remind me of my shame?!? I’m still half a Phantom!”

“You should just be glad that you’re still able to talk,” Hellhound sighed loudly as he shrugged his shoulders. “Just get better soon you big lug, we’ve gotta get back at that loser mage. He’s been nothing but a pain! Two phantoms gone! Three if you count Inner Phantoms!”

The largest of the three Phantoms stood tall and cracked his knuckles, “I see, then that means that we’ll have to pay him back threefold! Harpie! When can we start the fun?”

“We’ll start by the end of the week,” Harpie replied as she spun around on her talons. “Until then, you’re to remain here Minotaur and complete your recovery. We’d need you at tip top shape for our plan to work. Hellhound and myself will be dealing with some other matters before that.”

Minotaur nodded as he made his way towards a particular spot of moss and jumped onto the ground, “Great, I’ll just keep on catching up on my Z’s then again.”

Hellhound snarled loudly as he threw his arms up into the air, “Great, since when did he get so lazy?”

Meanwhile, above the clearing in Everfree Woods, a familiar green pegasus watched as both Harpie and Hellhound walked away from the quickly dozing off Minotaur. “Hehehehehe, ooh, this is gonna be fun.”

TTTTTTTTT

The midmorning had dawned on Ponyville and with it, both Twilight and Spike were walking through the large town, and above them was none other than the ruby emblazoned Garuda, following the two.

“Twenty-five, Twilight!” Spike stated as he ran alongside the lavender mare. “That’s a lot more tricks than what Haru can do, and you’re learning more almost every day! And most unicorns only have a little magic that can match their special talents! That’s saying something!”

“Oh, Spike, stop,” Twilight replied with her face blushing red. “I’m sure there are lots of ponies right here in Ponyville that know just as much magic as me. Even Haru’s spells are unique, I’ve never seen them done by other ponies, or that they even existed before he showed up.”

“Yeah, but I bet that if you tried,” Spike stated with a bright smile on his face. “I bet you could learn magic like that in a snap!”

The student of Princess Celestia stopped in her tracks and looked up into the sky…

Hellhound roared as he leapt high into the air, his sword held over his head before he began to fall towards the two.

Twilight’s and Dash’s eyes widened as a rather familiar runic circle appeared before them, almost the same as Wizard’s. However, it was clearly different since the circle was a bright shade of lavender and the runes on the circle were completely different, looking like a familiar star-symbol in the middle of it. Even the voice that called out the spell was different, instead of the masculine voice that occurred when Haru used the magic, but this voice was clearly feminine.

Hellhound yelped as he crashed into the rune and was forced backwards, until he landed on the ground, rolling backwards until he got to his feet. “What the?! Where is he?!”

Twilight watched as the circle faded away and looked at the ring that was floating near her, ‘Was I… Was I able to use Haru’s magic?’

Spike on the other hand was trying to snap Twilight from her thoughts, “Besides Twilight, I don’t think there’s another unicorn in Equestria who could match you. A dragon maybe… But I’m sure you can top that!”

“Spike,” Twilight giggled sheepishly. Twilight was about to continue, but spotted something out of the corner of her eye. “Huh? Spike! Move!”

But before the baby dragon could react, two young unicorn colts crashed into him, Twilight winced as all three of them ended up in a slightly tangled pile before her. “Oooh, that’s gotta hurt. Are you three okay?”

After a few moments and using her magic to help untangle the three, Twilight looked over the two young unicorns, “Snips and Snails, right? Is everything okay? You two were kind of running fast.”

“Wha?” The taller, orange unicorn colt questioned, his green mane bobbing slightly as he turned his head. His eyes seemed a bit glazed over and he had a snail at his flank. “Haven’t you heard? There’s a new unicorn in town!”

“Yeah!” The shorter, teal unicorn colt chimed in, his buck tooth smile widening as he spoke. At his flank were a pair of scissors as his cutie mark. “They say that she’s got more magical powers than any other unicorn – EVAH!”

“They even say she’s got an assistant!” Snails added as he jumped up and down. “And they got a really, really, REALLY big shown about to go on!”

“No way!” Spike retorted, gesturing towards Twilight. “There’s no way that unicorn could top Twilight! She’s the best unicorn in Equestria!”

That pesky crimson crept back on Twilight’s cheeks as she looked away for a moment. “Ahem, so, where is this unicorn’s show?”

Both Snips and Snails looked at each other before they smiled brightly at Twilight and her scribe.

TTTTTT

Even though they followed the two youths to the town square, it wasn’t hard to find where the show was taking place. After all, there was a large amount of ponies gathered in front of the town hall, where a large wagon was placed in front of it.

Pushing through the large crowd, the small group of ponies plus one dragon made their way to the front of the crowd just as a loud booming voice blasted from the wagon. “COME ONE, COME ALL! COME AND WITNESS THE AMAZING MAGIC OF THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!”

The wagon began to unfold into a stage with many colorful sparks flying from all about it, even firing off a few fireworks through the air. A large cloud of blue and silver smoke erupted on the stage and standing on the stage was a rather suave looking blue mare with a silver mane poking out from underneath her star and moon adorned hat, with a matching cape and cowl that covered the rest of her frame. The unicorn smiled as the crowd was struck with surprise. “Watch and be amazed as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of spell slinging ever witnessed by pony eyes!”

More fireworks fired into the air as a cheerful music began to play through the air, eliciting more ‘oohs’ and ‘awes’ from the ever growing crowd.

Even Twilight and Spike were mesmerized by the show that was before them, at least until…

That voice was able to pull the two of them from their trance, with Spike shaking his head, “Oh come on, no pony’s as magical as Twi— Twi—Twi– Oh!”

Spike froze when he turned his head and his eyes widened when he realized that a certain white unicorn was standing right next to him. And with a clearing of his throat and puffing out his chest, Spike rubbed his now-hairless upper lip. “H-Hey, Rarity, I, uh – MUSTACHE!”

And just like that, Spike dashed away from his crush, making Twilight realize that it wasn’t just Rarity who was here – Applejack and Rainbow Dash were there as well (she also thought that she saw Pinkie Pie in the crowd, but there was no way she’d be that quiet). “There’s nothing wrong with being talented, is there?”

“Nothin’ at all,” Applejack replied, keeping her eyes on the stage to see that Trixie just made a bouquet of roses pop in front of her. “‘cept in when someone goes around showin’ it off like a school filly with fancy ribbons.”

“Isn’t that the point of a show?” Twilight asked with her head tilted slightly. “After all, I doubt anypony would come to see the ‘Average and Boring Trixie’.”

“While that may be true,” Rarity stated. “However, just because one has the ability to perform a great deal of magic, it does not make them better than the rest of us.”

“Especially when ya got me around being better than the rest of us!” Rainbow Dash laughed loudly as she floated around. But when Applejack leered at the blue pegasus, Dash laughed nervously, “Eh, I mean, yeah, uh, magic shmagic. BOOO!”

The stupendous Trixie furrowed her brow at the front of the crowd, “Well, well, well, 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? The Marvelous Trixie shall be glad to show you more of the Amazing Trixie’s mindboggling magic!”

A single, large slip of red paper slid out from under Trixie’s magician hat with a pale blue aura around it. With a smirk, the paper began to fold and crease for a few seconds until it floated in front of Trixie, revealing an origami dragon. The crowd wasn’t as mesmerized as the folded dragon floated down to the stage, but Trixie removed her cloak and draped it over the folded dragon.

Standing on her hind legs, Trixie threw her front hooves towards the cloak, as it slowly began to rise from the stage with a large bulge in the center of it. The cloak continued to ascend as the crowd leaned in closer to get a better look. Trixie smirked as a blue aura wrapped around the cloak and pulled it away, “And now the Breath-taking Trixie will now introduce the Super Trixie’s non-adjective-given assistant!”

When the cloak was fully off, a familiar red scaled figure stood on stage with his back turned. He was dressed in a black cloak that billowed in the wind with a matching black top hat and in his black claws was a simple brief case. The dragon figure spun around to reveal an absolutely familiar face with an equally familiar belt buckle. “Ta-da!”

“HARU!?!” The four mares questioned, completely surprised by the dragon’s appearance.

Haru didn’t say a word but rather pushed his top hat up slightly towards his friends, then with a spin, Haru revealed that there was a sitting stool behind him. And when he was behind it, Haru placed the briefcase on top of it and opened it. Reaching into the briefcase, Haru pulled out a large red bowling ball that he dropped to the stage and allowed it to roll of off it. “Figure that one out.”

Trixie smirked as her cape wrapped around her neck once more before she trotted in front of Haru, “Gaze upon the Amazing Trixie and the Moderate Souma!”

“Why can’t Souma be the Spectacular Souma?” Haru whispered to the unicorn. “Also, Souma doesn’t know why we’re talking in the third pony, but okay.”

“Just go out there and do your job,” Trixie hissed back, trying to keep her smile on her face.

Haru sighed as he jumped off of the stage and pulled his top hat off, slowly walking through the crowd, holding his hat up towards some of the ponies. “Tips, donations, any sorts of bits are welcomed!”

“What in tarnation is that Souma doin’?” Applejack sighed with a roll of her eyes.

As Haru collected a few bits from some of the ponies, Twilight smiled, “I think he’s just doing his job.”

“That’s what he does all day?” Rarity questioned, watching as Haru continued to walk through the crowds as Trixie continued to perform tricks on the stage. “I never pictured Mr. Souma as a beggar.”

“Actually, he does odd jobs around Ponyville,” Twilight explained with a smile. “He’s usually working hard for anypony, but I guess this was the only job he could get today.”

“Tartarus, if the dragon needed a job, Ah’m sure Ah could’ve found ‘im somethin’,” Applejack sighed as she shook her head.

“Indeed, even I had a few errands that needed to be done,” Rarity chimed in. “His magic would’ve made them that much easier.”

“I think he has a little bit of pride to him, and doesn’t want to burden us to give him work,” Twilight answered as she watched Haru traverse the crowd, smiling brightly. ‘He does have a good heart though.’

“Behold!” Trixie called out to the crowd as several streamers popped around her. “Now you all know that you are in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria!”

Rarity scoffed to the side when she was reminded that the boaster was still around, “Still, I can’t believe he’d take work from her. Just who does she think she is?”

“Yeah!” Spike added with his arms crossed. “Besides, everypony know that Twilight here is…”

Twilight was immediately pulled from the crowd via his tail until he was standing face to face with a nervous Twilight. “Twilight? What’s wrong?”

“Didn’t you see the way they reacted to Trixie?” Twilight replied, turning back to the stage to see said performer. “I don’t want anyone to think I’m a show-off. What’s stopping them from…”

Both Twilight and Spiked turned to realize that Haru was standing right next to them, his claws barely able to hold up the top hat that was almost overflowing with little gold coins. “Besides, they’re you’re friends, if they can tolerate Rainbow Dash’s boasting, Souma thinks you don’t have anything to worry about.”

Twilight smiled slightly, but Spike was a little less than pleased with his fellow dragon, “Haru! What are you doing?”

“… Uh, working so Souma doesn’t become a bum?” Haru innocently said with his head tilted slightly.

“Not that, I mean why are you working for her?” Spike asked, gesturing towards the stage. “She’s so overbearing that I can’t stand it!”

“It’s either this or mooch off you two,” Haru replied as he waved his tail about behind him. “Besides, she’s not that bad, she’s just trying to make an honest day’s pay, and she has to sell herself.”

“Exactly,” Twilight added. “Besides, it’s not like she’s hurting anyone.”

“But Twilight, you’re obviously better than her!” Spike pouted with his tail and arms drooping. “You’ve already mastered over twenty-five spells! And Haru, you’ve got just as many spells too! They may be whacky sometimes, but still something amazing!”

Whether Haru was about to continue the questioning about what Spike really thought of his magic he was never able to confirm since more several more fireworks erupted from the stage, drawing their attention back.

Twilight noticed that Rainbow Dash was flying towards Trixie before she floated over the stage, “What makes you think that you’re so much better than the rest of us?”

Trixie smiled as she lifted up her hoof, nearly hitting the pegasus in the process, “Very well commoner, the Magically Gifted Trixie will graciously bestow upon you all why the Amazingly Stupendous Trixie deserves your respect and admiration!”

Another firework shot off into the air, however, the sparks began to form into what appeared to be the outline of a large, neon bear in the sky with one of its paws waving in the air. “Many moons ago, the poor town of Hoofington was attacked by the dreaded Ursa Major! In their hour of desperation however, a hero appeared on the scene!”

One more firework exploded, this one forming into a small, neon version of Trixie, all dressed in her similar attire, “Yes! The Beautiful Trixie arrived and fought the terrible beast with her Amazingly Awesome magic, forcing it back into the dreaded Everfree Forest!”

The neon-like Trixie waved her front hooves, making the neon Ursa Major pop into many colorful sparks that danced through the air, eliciting the crowd to cheer out. Well, most of the crowd anyway.

“That settles it!” Snips announced as he and Snails galloped to the front of stage.

“Trixie really is the bestest unicorn in Ponyville!” Snails added with slightly dulled tone in his voice as he gestured towards the Prim Trixie.

“No! In all of Equestria!” Snips corrected before both of the young colts waved their front hooves about.

“How do you know?!?” Spike shouted as he stepped in front of the crowd once more. “You weren’t there! Besides, that title belongs to…”

One of the spells Twilight learned was a fancy little trick that allowed her to silence a pony or dragon. Oddly enough, when the spell was casted, the one who was afflicted the spell often had their lips shut and even had a zipper appear on their lips. A rather hilarious sight as Spike tried to unzip his mouth.

Trixie laughed out loud as Haru slowly made his way backstage, obviously to place the bits he collected into the wagon. “But it is true my enthusiastic admirers, Trixie is the most miraculous and amazing unicorn in all of Ponyville.”

That didn’t sit well with the stage pony, “Don’t believe the Great and Powerful Trixie? Very well, then Trixie challenges any pony to do anything! Anything you can do, Trixie can do better!”

The thing about that silence spell that Twilight used on Spike was that it didn’t last long, so when Spike was able to unzip the zipper on his mouth and fall to Twilight’s front hooves. “COME ON TWILIGHT! SHE’S UNBEARABLE! YOU GOTTA DO IT! PLEASE!”

“There’s no way I’m going to use my magic now Spike,” Twilight whispered looking down at her dragon scribe. “If I did…”

Twilight’s head snapped up when she realized that Trixie was looking at her, and even had her hoof pointed at the young unicorn. Twilight’s stomach was beginning to twist as she tried to speak up. “I… I…”

“Do you think that, little hayseed?” Trixie asked with her gazed turned slightly, not caring that Haru was going back into the crowd with an empty hat.

“That’s it!” Applejack growled before she jumped onto the stage. “Ah’s can takes no more of this!”

“Ah, our first volunteer,” Trixie chuckled as she took a few steps back from Applejack. “Go right ahead Southern Bell, but like Trixie said, anything you can do, Trixie can do better.”

“Fine, little missy,” Applejack scoffed as she trotted towards the side of the stage, heading for a spare rope that was on the side of it. “Ah don’t know who ya’ll think ya are, but ‘round here we don’t take kindly to show offs!”

‘So, you’re going beat the show-off by being a bigger show-off?’ Twilight thought to herself with a flat look in her eyes. ‘Logic at work.’

Within a few moments, Applejack had tied the rope around her tail and was whipping about a lasso for a few seconds before she jumped through the loop several times, wowing the crowd before she snapped her lasso through the air. The lasso flew over a branch and snapped tight over a single apple, and with a quick spin, the Southern mare pulled the apple from the branch.

And with the apple sailing through the air, Applejack opened her mouth and caught the apple, instantly eating it. The crowd was cheering loudly as Applejack whipped her tail once more through, making the lasso dance through the air once more, “And now fer the encore!”

With a quick turn, Applejack sent the lasso through the crowd, and with a quick turn once more, Applejack snapped the lasso back. It didn’t come back alone again, this time it returned with a familiar hand shaped belt buckle. “Tadah!”

“HEY!” Haru growled as he stood up straight in the crowd, showing that he was quite taller than most of the ponies. “I’d like that back, please!”

“Don’t worry yer little head off,” Applejack chuckled as she kicked the belt buckle back to the crowd, watching as Haru leapt into the air to catch it. But with a smirk, Applejack turned her attention towards Trixie with a smirk. “There, top that Showoff.”

“The Superb Trixie can easily do so,” Trixie chuckled as her hat floated off her head, revealing her unicorn horn now, which was glowing brightly.

The same aura that was around Trixie’s horn slipped over the very same rope that Applejack used a few moments ago, making the rope lift off the stage to wavier in front of the southern mare, almost hypnotizing her with its fluid movements. The other end of the rope however was coiling around the other end of her body, and before Applejack could notice, the rope constricted around her.

When the rope tightened around her body, Applejack disappeared in a flash of light while Trixie smiled. “She takes an apple from a tree, then the Great and Powerful Trixie shall replace the apple.”

With a flick of her hoof, Trixie gestured towards the same tree that Applejack had lassoed the apple from, and the crowd turned to see that Applejack was hanging from a branch with the rope tied around her hind legs with her strung upside down. “WHAT IN TARNATION!?! GIT ME DOWN!”

The crowd laughed at Applejack’s plight before the rope snapped in two and she fell to the ground with a number of apples falling from the very same tree.

Although the crowd’s eyes were drawn back to the stage, where Trixie was smiling brightly, “Once again, the Super Special Awesome Trixie prevails.”

Trixie turned her head slightly to see that Rainbow Dash was flying over her stage in place, her hoof pointed down at the still smug Trixie. “There’s no need to go strutting off like that!”

“That’s MY JOB!” Dash snapped before she blitzed through the air, leaving a sharp rainbow through the air behind her.

Dash sped through air, flying around a nearby windmill to make the propellers spin around quickly before she shot straight into the air, piercing through several clouds. The mass of ponies were in awe when they saw her stop right in front of the sun for a few seconds before she dove back through the clouds, pulling a lot of moisture with her as she quickly descended and followed the spin of the windmill.

With a large smirk on her face, Dash skidded to a landing on the stage, with the moisture she pulled behind her smacking her still fully extended wings creating a small rainbow overhead. “Touch the rainbow! Taste the rainbow! They don’t call me Rainbow and Dash for nothing!”

The crowd cheered loudly while Twilight blinked a few times at her flying friend’s ability. ‘That is impressive, but I’m not sure about that catchphrase…’

“When the Extremely Showy Trixie is done with you,” Trixie chuckled as her horn glowed brightly. “They’ll be calling you loser.”

The same aura appeared around the rainbow over Dash and caused the spectrum of light to wrap around Dash, creating rainbow twister around the blue pegasus before she flew off the stage in the magically created twister until she spun onto the ground with her eyes spinning as well. “I… I feel sick…”

‘Looks like Dash spun right round,’ Haru thought with a roll of his blue eyes. ‘Filly, right round, round, round… Dear Ishimori, Souma need to listen to some more modern music.’

“Seems like anypony with a dash of good sense would think twice before challenging the Dynamic Trixie,” the show unicorn chuckled before her magic conjured up a small storm cloud over the still recovering Rainbow Dash and shot out a loud boom of thunder that made the mare yelp loudly.

The crowd laughed at the fact that Dash’s tail and mane stood out straight. Spike grumbled before he turned towards Twilight, “What we need is some unicorn to challenge her! Somepony with some magic of her own!”

“Y-Yeah!” Dash exclaimed as she began to regain her suave style. “A unicorn to show this unicorn who’s boss!”

Twilight could feel her throat drying up as she felt the gazes of her friends fall onto her, but then she immediately realized something. “W-Well, how about a dragon? Haru’s talented at his sort of magic.”

“Sorry, but the Stupendous Souma can’t,” Haru stated as he casually walked past Twilight and the others, the top hat once again filled with many bits. “Souma get twenty percent of this, and with what we’re getting here, Souma can’t pass that up by out doing Souma’s boss.”

“Enough,” Rarity cleared her voice as she began to trot away from the crowd. “I know what you’re all thinking, but Rarity is better than such nonsense. Rarity is a refined unicorn who has nothing to prove to somepony, especially somepony in an outfit as gaudy as hers.”

“Ooo, pretty little words,” Trixie replied with a devious smirk on her face. “Hard to believe that they’re coming from a narwhal with a rat’s nest atop of her head.”

Rarity stopped her tracks, her right eye twitching slightly, every pony who saw that stepped back slightly, while atop of one of the remaining clouds in the area, a certain green pegasus was jumping excitedly atop of it. “Hehehehehehee! Ooh! Catfight! Catfight! I love this unicorn!”

“IT. IS. ON!” Rarity snarled as she leapt atop of the stage and spun around to reveal a completely cool and calm demeanor. Rarity smiled brightly as her horn glowed brightly, and the bright blue curtain on Trixie’s stage flew off. “Little Miss Showoff, there’s more to a unicorn than your cheap little tricks, but magic isn’t simply brute force. Magic is used to improve this world, not just for flexing ‘muscles’.

The curtain spun around Rarity’s body with sparkles and several pieces of neatly cut out fabric billowing through the air. When the spinning fabric ceased, Rarity was now wearing a blue dress with yellow trim and a matching yellow saddle on her back. The young unicorn’s mane was also done up into a fancy Canterlot beehive style that glistened in the sunlight. “Grace and beauty are staples in what makes a unicorn truly a unicorn.

“And while your magic is impressive, it is only for mere parlor tricks. Unicorns are not unicorns unless they possess elegance and intelligence that are on par with the highest class of noble ponies.”

Trixie just looked to the crowd admiring the classily dressed unicorn then smiled brightly as an all too familiar aura appeared at her horn. The crowd gasped loudly as the same aura quickly popped around Rarity, and their eyes widened as the aura quickly disappeared.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Rarity who stood on the stage almost completely frozen like a statue. “… She did something to my hair.”

It wasn’t a question, Rarity knew that the showmare had done something to her mane. “Mirror. GIVE ME A MIRROR!”

“Y-Yes! Just as magnificent as always,” Twilight added with a nervous smile.

“What are you ponies talking about?” Spike stated with his head slightly cocked to one side. “Her hair’s…”

Before he could even finish his sentence, a red tail covered his mouth. Haru leaned close to Spike and whispered, “Trust me Spike, as one guy to another, you don’t want to finish that sentence. It won’t end well.”

Unfortunately, even with that advice silencing the little baby dragon, Rarity’s scream echoed through the air. “GREEN!?! NO! NOT GREEEEEEEEEEEEEN!”

As it turned out, there was a rather large mirror dangling right in front of the green maned pony, being held up by a single fine line from above. From one of the clouds over the stage, Sora was snickering loudly as he held onto a fancy looking fishing rod, ‘Ah, nothing like causing a little mischief, hehehehehehehe!’

Like a mad mare, Rarity galloped off of the stage, screaming at the top of her lungs! “SUCH AN AWFUL, AWFUL COLOR!!!”

Although, as the distraught unicorn dashed through the crowds, another mare with natural green hair turned up her nose and snorted slightly, “Well, I never!”

As the mirror was being reeled back to the cloud, Spike turned towards Twilight pulling Haru’s tail away from his mouth, “Looks like it’s up to you Twilight! Come on! Show her what you’re made of!”

“Spike, I’m nothing special,” Twilight sheepishly replied as Trixie wiped one of her hooves against her cape.

“Yes you are!” Spike shouted back as he pumped his arms. “You’re better than her!”

“Spike, I’m not better than any pony,” Twilight retorted. A little louder than she intended.

“Oh? So you think you’re better than the Mighty Powered Trixie?” the showmare questioned as she trotted to the edge of the stage, all eyes falling towards Twilight. “Do you think that your prowess in magical talent is greater? Then by all means, step onto the stage, show everypony what you can do.”

“M-Me?” Twilight squeaked slightly as she stepped backwards. “I’m no one special, just the same old same old citizen of Ponyville, nothing special or magically gifted here! Oh! Did you just hear that? I think I heard the laundry burning! BYE!”

And just like that, Twilight galloped away from the crowd as fast as she could, leaving a small cloud of dust in her wake. Spike’s arms slumped down as he watched his foster sister dash away, “Twilight?”

Trixie on the other hoof was laughing loudly as she turned slightly, “Another win for the Supremely Amazingly Magnificent Trixie! The Great and Powerful Trixie has proven to be the greatest and obviously most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria!

TTTTTTT

After a few more tricks of the trade, the crowd had dispersed from the wagon and that left Trixie with a large mirror grooming her silver mane with a brush she was using with her magic. She was humming a tune to herself before a familiar red dragon stepped out from the wagon, now dressed in a black overcoat. “Miss Trixie?”

The mare in question didn’t stop grooming her mane, but rather just looked towards the dragon who was looking over a small notebook, “Right, well, I counted up all the bits I collected from the crowd, and you’ve doubled your initial quota for the day.”

“Excellent,” Trixie snickered as she put the brush down. “Then again, the Great and Powerful Trixie didn’t expect anything less.”

“Right,” Haru coughed out as he tossed the notepad over his shoulder. “Anyway, before we get to paying my services, I couldn’t help but notice something in your wagon. And I was wondering if you’re not using it, perhaps I could have it?”

Trixie tilted her head slightly, “That depends. What exactly caught your eye? The Beautiful Trixie knows she’s breathtaking, but to have a dragon enamored with her and to want her stuff is pushing it.”

“W-Well,” Haru coughed loudly as he rubbed the back of his head. “I was just talking about the steel guitar that you’ve got in the corner collecting dust.”

“Oh, that old thing,” Trixie sighed as she whipped her head to the right, showing off her silver mane once more. “Well, the Benevolent and Gracious Trixie is very generous – You can have that guitar…”

“… But if you’re willing to take only fifteen percent of today’s profits,” Trixie continued.

With a defeated sigh, Haru walked back into the wagon, “I’ll just be in here counting my fifteen percent.”

“Yes, yes, whatever,” Trixie chuckled as she turned back to the mirror, admiring the mare in the mirror before her. ‘Let’s see, the Great Trixie will stay here for the evening and head out in the morning after getting some supplies…’

Trixie’s thoughts were interrupted when a smoothie balanced on a flank was shoved right into her face, making the showmare reel back slightly. “I got you that smoothie you asked for! Extra hay!”

Trixie’s eyes narrowed slightly when she realized that the flank belonged to Snips, with Snails right next to him with a goofy look on his face. It was a look that Trixie knew all too well, it was a look of infatuation. “Hhmmm, hay…”

Regardless, using her magic, Trixie took the smoothie and sipped from the straw – noting that the two colts were still there and still swooning over her. “Yes?”

“Ooo! Tell us another story oh Great and Powerful Trixie!” Snips pleaded as he jumped a few times.

“Yeah! Ooh! Ohh! How about the Ursa Major one again?” Snails asked with that same goofy smile on his face.

“Nonononono!” Another, cheerful voice sounded out from above. “Tell us about the Tardius! Ooooh! W-W-Wait! I know! Tell us about the Golden Wolf Knight from Tartarus who slays Horrors! That’s a real good one!”

All three of the unicorns looked up to see that Sora laying down atop of the wagon, a large cheerful smile on his face while his head was propped up by his two front hooves. “Tartarus, I’d be fine if you told me the story about those red and blue ponies that kept fighting each other over a little valley with nothing but grass in it. I just love the blue dumb one.”

“What are you babbling on about?” Trixie questioned with her brow narrowed. “Better question, why are you on my wagon?”

Sora’s wings folded out and he flapped them a couple times. “Well, being atop of clouds is fine and dandy and all, but sometimes, a stallion just needs to knock on wood.”

To illustrate his point, Sora knocked his front hoof against the wagon’s roof a few times before he leapt off of the mobile home. With a graceful land, Sora bowed slightly towards the showmare and the two colts, “I apologize for dropping in, but I just had to say hello, and thank you for the wonderful show! I rarely get to see such nice entertainment in first pony, and it’s just so fun!”

Trixie rolled her eyes at the three weird colts, having fans of her greatness was nothing new, but this was just getting annoying now. “Trixie is far too tired from performing feats beyond your imaginations. Begone with you all till the morrow!”

Sora drooped his head down with his lower lip pouting while Snips and Snails bowed slightly before they trotted backwards.

Sora sighed as he watched the two younger colts trot away, with a roll of his eyes the goofy pegasus followed the two colts as they backed up into a familiar purple, baby dragon, “What are you two… Wait, aren’t you Sora?”

“Well, what are you three doing?” Spike continued as Snips and Snails turned towards the baby dragon. “How can you fall for her lameness? She’s just a showoff! Unlike Twilight who…”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie vanquished an Ursa Major!” Snips interrupted as he tapped his hoof a few times into Spike’s chest. “Can your Twilight claim that?!”

“Oh really?” Spike inquired as he pushed Snips’ hoof away. “And were you guys actually there? Did you see her do that?”

“Really? You two saw it?” Sora asked with his head tilted. “What was it like?”

Spike rolled his eyes at the stuttering colt, “And there ya go! Look unless an Ursa Major comes waltzing up the street, I’m not going to believe that…”

“Ooh! Me too!” Sora chimed in with a bright smile. “Chocolate or Vanilla?”

Both Spike and Snips looked at the two pudding obsessed ponies before Spike cleared his throat, “Anyway, I’m not going to believe a word that Trixie says unless an Ursa Major comes waltzing down the street and she ‘smites’ it. And I suggest that you two, er, three don’t believe a word she says either!”

And with his two bits spoken, Spike walked away from the three colts, leaving Snips to tap his chin a few times. “Hmm, an Ursa in Ponyville? Snails! Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I think so Snips,” Snails replied with a slightly dulled look in his eyes. “But wouldn’t going into the Everfree Forest in hopes of finding a creature that’s more than likely fifty times our size, angering it, and bringing it into Ponyville only end in disaster?”

Snips blinked a few times at his friend’s surprising reasoning. “Wait, what? Say that again.”

“That again,” Snails chuckled with that dulled look in his eyes appearing again.

“Now hold on a minute you two,” Sora cleared his throat as he threw a hoof out in front of the two young colts. “I want you two to think for a second – Why bring an Ursa Major into town for Trixie to face off against, when there’s something much more amazing for her to defeat? After all, she’s already defeated an Ursa Major.

“So why not bring something that’s more of a challenge for a mare of her talents?”

Both Snips and Snails looked at the green pegasus, with the smaller of the two unicorns stepping forward, “And what’s that?”

Sora reached into saddlebag and pulled out a glowing red feather in between his teeth, and yet he was still able to talk perfectly fine. “Tell me something, you two ever hear of a creature called a Phantom?”

Friendship is SHOWTIME!!

by MangaKamen

Spell 11 - It's MAGIC!