“There are times when I think life is enjoyable. Because… The sky is blue, for one.”
- Eiji Hino / Kamen Rider OOO

TTTTT

Spell 12

Tunes and the Feather

TTTTTT

It had been an hour or so since Twilight had run away from the stage and had holed herself up in the library to do some studying to clear her mind of her troubles. The thought of Spike egging her on to one up Trixie was still floating about in her head, weighing down on her. Her friends were all shown up by Trixie, and all she did was watch.

She could’ve stepped up and tried her hoof at outdoing Trixie at her own game, but with how her friends were reacting to the showmare…

Twilight shook her head, remembering Haru’s words about how her friends wouldn’t think any differently about her for doing so. ‘But I don’t want to take that chance... I don’t want to lose my friends.’

The young mare’s thoughts were interrupted when she heard the downstairs door open up, prompting Twilight to trot towards the main lobby of the library. As much as she wanted to stay upstairs with her own personal collection of literature, Twilight knew that she attend to her responsibilities as librarian of the Golden Oaks Library and had to help any pony who wandered into the building.

Of course, when Twilight was atop of the stairs that led into the main room of the library, she was a little taken back at two ponies in the room, “Applejack? Rainbow Dash? What are you two doing here?”

Indeed, the two mares were standing in the lobby of the library, their attention drawn towards the unicorn at the steps. Applejack tilted her hat towards Twilight, “Nuthin’ much, Twi. Just wanted to come check up on ya’ll. Ya ran off like yer tail was set ablaze.”

Twilight stopped her descent on the stairs and turned slightly away from her friends. “W-Well I…”

“Yeah! What’s up with that?” Dash asked as she flew up through the air and floated in front of Twilight. “You could’ve easily mopped the floor with that show off if you stuck around!”

“Dash, that’s enough,” Applejack stated as she trotted closer towards the stairs. “Ah’m sure that Twilight here has a good reason that she didn’t get up on stage. And we certainly can’t force her to go against that reason.”

‘Well, that was easily resolved,’ Twilight thought as she stopped holding her breath. “Well, I’m fine, but you two didn’t have to come here.”

“It was no biggie,” Dash sighed with a shrug. “Sides, we had to go check on Rarity, and she’s much worse off than you.”

“Nah, she’s right, Twi,” Applejack added with a roll of her eyes. “She’s locked herself up in her boutique, and when we tried to get to her come out, she just screamed back at us. Somethin’ about gettin’ the horrible green out.”

“Don’t see what the problem is,” Dash scoffed to the side. “I got green in my hair and you don’t see me freaking out.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that Dash,” Twilight sighed with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Dash muttered as she landed on the floor, waving one of her front hooves in front of her. “I just don’t get why she freaked out about it. Hair is hair, it’ll grow back if you cut it.”

‘You’re missing the point Dash,’ Twilight thought to herself. The unicorn was about to speak out loud once more…

But that’s when a beautiful song echoed through the air, drawing the attention of all three of the mares to the guitar stringed beat. The song was close by and had a soothing rhythm that soothed through the normally quiet library’s walls. The music continued to play for a few moments before Applejack tilted her head and spoke out, “Where in tarnation is that coming from?”

“Wicked beat,” Dash admitted as she bobbed her head up and down a few times.

TTTTTT

Following the music outside the library, the three mares trotted around the library to find the source of the music. Twilight, Applejack and Dash blinked a few times as black claws strummed on the strings of the guitar, creating the notes that graced the flowing breeze around the library.

Indeed, seated on the grass next to the library was none other than the sleek red dragon, only this time he had a guitar placed on his lap. His eyes were closed and he continued to play the music from the guitar, yet he lifted his head up slightly, “Afternoon ladies.”

Still Haru continued to play his guitar as he looked up, his claws still strumming out the tune, “What’s going on?”

“Sweet! You know how to play the guitar?” Dash asked with a large smirk on her face. “Gotta say, that makes you about twenty percent cooler, Wizard.”

“Gee, thanks,” Haru muttered with a roll of his eyes. But with a final flick of his claws, Haru finished the song.

“I don’t mean to be rude Haru,” Twilight stated garnering the dragon’s attention. “But, since when could you play a guitar? And where in Equestria did you get that thing in the first place?”

“I’ve always had a thing for music,” Haru explained as he leaned the guitar gently on the tree behind him. “I’ve always enjoyed it whenever I get the chance, but I got out of practice when I got into my magic training – Kind of took priority. That and the fact I didn’t have a guitar to my name during that time, so practicing was impossible.

That made small scowls appear on Applejack’s and Dash’s faces, which didn’t go unnoticed by Haru and Twilight. The dragon chuckled sheepishly as he pushed himself off of the ground with his tail. “Still a little sore about this morning?”

“Mistah Souma,” Applejack stated as she trotted up towards the dragon, making him reel back slightly. “Ah ain’t got nuthin’ against ya’ll working fer that showoff, since Ah know some ponies, and some dragons, need to get bits to live off of. But what Ah shocked at is that ya’ll didn’t come to me to get some work!”

Haru leaned back more as the Southern Mare’s leer continued to take effect on the dragon. “Ah thought Ah told ya’ll that if ya ever needed work, ya’ll were more than welcomed to come to Sweet Apple Acres! We’re always in need of help, and willing to lend a hoof to our friends!”

… Only to realize that Rainbow Dash was just as close as Applejack and her violet eyes were leering at him. “And how come you didn’t show up that stuck up mare? Twilight or you could’ve easily out shined her! Twilight could’ve easily outdone her with her own unicorn magic!”

“Or you could’ve even done something!” Dash continued as she stood up on her hind legs and crossed her front hooves. “You got all that kooky magic of yours too! Couldn’t you have, oh, I don’t know, drilled right through her stage? Or fly through the air without wings? Or even just smash her with a large claw! That would’ve been awesome!”

Both Dash and Applejack reeled back when suddenly Haru disappeared, leaving only a single red runic circle in his place before it faded away.

Twilight, having already seen the spell before, looked down past her friends’ legs to see that a mini Haru was running from in between them. With a small snicker, Twilight’s horn glowed brightly and lifted the miniature dragon off of the ground and through the air with a high pitch yelp. “I see you found a use for that spell.”

Both AJ and Dash turned back to see the miniature dragon being brought back to the ground. Applejack’s hat nearly flew off her head, “What in the name of Granny’s Dentures?! Since when could ya’ll pull that off?”

“Meh, it’s not as cool as those other spells you got,” Rainbow Dash sighed with a roll of her eyes.

When Haru was back on the ground, the same runic circle popped around his body and he returned to his normal size. “I’ve found it’s a lot more useful than it looks, like it’s good to get out of crowded or cramped spaces. But anyway, I wasn’t planning on helping Trixie out, it just sort of happened.”

“Care to elaborate on that?” Twilight inquired, tilting her head at the dragon. “How do you just suddenly get employed into something like that?”

“Well… You see,” Haru coughed as he looked up, trying to remember. “I wasn’t going to look for work this morning. Like a few ponies know, I tend to go out and search for some materials for my rings. I didn’t get much, only one Magic Stone for the day, and I already got my ring for it.

“But that’s not important, when I was done searching and on my way back, her wagon was stuck in a hole that I forgot to fi… I mean, it was stuck in a ditch.”

“Mistah Souma,” Applejack stated flatly. “That was one of the worst lies Ah’ve ever heard in mah life.”

“Gargh! Fine!” Haru sighed loudly as he hung his arms in defeat. “I forgot to fill in the hole that Trixie’s wagon got stuck in! I wasn’t expecting anypony’s wagon to get stuck in it! It wasn’t even on the road!”

After a moment, Haru continued on with his explanation, “Anyway, I did help her out of the hole, wasn’t too hard with my BIG ring. I did kinda owe her, and she didn’t know much about Ponyville, so, one thing led to another, and somehow I got hired to be her temporary assistant.

“Wasn’t too bad of a job actually, and it was definitely good pay. Even if it was just a guitar and fifteen percent of those donations.”

“That makes sense,” Rainbow Dash stated with a few nods. “I’m betting that you’d get right on stage though and show her up if you weren’t working for her!”

“Do you know what it’s like to live on the road?” Haru asked with his brow raised up slightly. Without waiting for an answer, the dragon walked past Applejack and Rainbow Dash to get to his guitar. “When you don’t have a permanent residence and need to live out on the road, you need to be able to do what you can to survive. For a performer, they need to do what they can with what they’re good at in order to provide for themselves.

“Could I have easily outdone Trixie? Who knows, but I’m not going to ruin a pony’s source of income just to prove that I’m better than them.”

Haru picked up the guitar and nodded at it, “Sides, it’d be unfair if I used my own magic against her.”

With a quick spin, Haru sat back down on the ground and strummed the guitar strings once more. “Still, I don’t approve of what she did to you two and Rarity, but then again, she was just trying to drum up some income from the crowd. Still, I’m sorry for not interfering.”

“Ah guess that makes sense,” Applejack admitted as she scratched the back of her head. “Still, Ah don’t have to like it. But I can see why she would do it.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever” Rainbow Dash grumbled with a roll of her eyes. “But how come you’re taking her side?”

Taking a moment to adjust the guitar strings, Haru looked up at Rainbow Dash with a smile on his scaly face. “I’m not taking her side, I don’t like how she humiliated you guys, but sometimes we need to do things that others don’t like. But enough about that, got any requests?”

“As much as Ah’d like to spend the afternoon listening to yer music Haru,” Applejack stated with a smile on her face. “Ah got some errands to run. Ah’ll be see ya’ll around Twilight, and Mistah Souma, next time ya’ll need work, ya’ll better get yer tail to Sweet Apple Acres, ya hear?”

Haru gulped audibly as he nodded a few times. Applejack smiled brightly before she trotted off.

“I gotta jet too,” Dash added as she leapt into the air with her wings flapping to keep her up into the air. “Got some cloud stuff to deal with, but you owe me a song Haru! You got that?”

Haru nodded before Dash flew off into the blue sky. The dragon then turned towards Twilight and smiled, “I hope you’re not going to ditch me too.”

Without a word, Twilight sat down and looked at Haru. “Actually, I’m kind of curious.”

“You talked real passionately when you were defending Trixie,” Twilight reasoned with her eyes closed. “Especially when it came to living on the road, it sounds like you have experience with it. You even know how to play music, I’ve never heard of a dragon that can play music.”

“Well, I did have a life before I started living among the books,” Haru stated with a smile.

“And that’s what got me curious,” Twilight continued, making Haru stop playing. “You never talk about your past – Aside from when you started living here in Ponyville. You know a lot about me and most of my friends, but you’re still practically a walking mystery. Why is that?”

“Well there’s a good reason for that,” Haru replied with his right claw at his chin. “And that reason is – Because it’s cool!”

Twilight looked at her dragon friend with a flat look in her eyes. “Yeah, I’m not buying that for a second.”

The red dragon snickered slightly as he rubbed the back of his scales. “… And you shouldn’t. I’ll tell you what Twilight, I will tell you about my past, but before I do, I need to mentally prepare myself. It’s not something I can talk about casually, so, let me practice with my music for a few hours so I can relax and gather my thoughts.

And with that, Haru didn’t say another word, and began to play the same song that had caught Twilight’s attention in the first place. The unicorn smiled at her dragon friend before she got to her hooves and began to trot towards the front of the library, “Take your time Haru, I’ll be in the library doing some studying.”

TTTTTT

“Of course! We gotta do this to prove to everypony that the Great and Powerful Trixie is pure amazing!”

The two young unicorn colts slowly trotted through the thick Everfree Forest, a saddle bag on Snails back that had a familiar red feather sticking out of it. “I dunno… We really shouldn’t be in here. Especially when it’s getting dark…”

Indeed, the woods were creepy and dangerous during the day, but when sun set, the woods were a practical deathtrap. The wild beasts’ cries echoing through the trees with the wind shaking the bushes were enough to send shivers down any brave stallion’s spine.

“Oh don’t worry!” Sora giggled as he trotted behind the two young colts. “It’s not even close to midnight. And nothing evil will be lurking in the dark.”

“But, ma always said that under the moonlight,” Snails gulped as he inched closer to his friend. “That the Everfree Woods would have a sight that could stop a pony’s heart. Even if we try to scream, the terrors take the sound before we make it.”

“Hmm, I should’ve brought my red leather jacket and single white glove,” Sora giggled to himself as he took the lead. “But don’t worry little ones, we’re almost done!”

The goofy green Pegasus stopped near a bush and gestured with his head to the two young colts. Snips and Snails trotted quietly to the bush as the older stallion, used his front hooves to pull back the bush’s leafs. The two unicorn colts peered through and saw that what they were looking at was a moss covered clearing with the shadows of the nearby trees covering the edges. But what caught the attentions of the two colts was the large, turquoise armored minotaur sleeping in one of the shadier spots of the clearing, laying on its back with its horn covered head pointed towards them. A large, transparent bubble grew and shrank from the creature’s nose.

Sora lifted one of his hooves up to his mouth and shushed the two entranced colts, “Be very, very quiet. We’re hunting Phantoms. And there’s one there.”

“It doesn’t look mightier than an Ursa Major,” Snips pointed out, his eyes narrowing slightly at the goofy, green pegasus. “It just looks like a bad Nightmare Night costume.”

“Trust me you two,” Sora replied with an honest smile on his face. “All you gotta do is use that feather on that bully, and he’ll become something that would send any Ursa Major back into their cave for hibernation.”

“Uh, how do we use the feather?” Snips questioned before he took the feather from Snails’ saddlebag.

“Nope!” Sora quietly replied as he gestured with his free hoof. “All you have to do is use that Phoenix Dow… I mean, Feather of a Phoenix, don’t wanna get sued by Square Enix. You take that Feather of a Phoenix and place it on that bully’s broken horn. Once you do that, you’ll see what’ll happen.”

“Un, Snips?” the taller of the colts whispered to the shorter one, both of which inched from the weird Pegasus. “Are you sure we should do this? Didn’t Miss Cheerelee tell us something about strange ponies?”

“Oh come on, I think we can trust Mr. Sora,” Snips retorted, with the Feather of a Phoenix now on his back. “How can we not trust a pony with a face like that?”

“Well, alright,” Snails replied before both colts gently, and quietly trotted into the clearing.

With the two colts’ backs to him, Sora’s warm smile began to mutate into a much more diabolic smirk, his eyes growing darker with each step they took to get closer towards the sleeping Minotaur. ‘It’s best to have failure happen early in life. It wakes up the Phoenix bird in you so you rise from the ashes… But sometimes, a feather from Phoenix is just what is needed to make things…

Both of the young colts grew closer towards the snoring Minotaur, having stopped when the Phantom turned in his sleep slightly. When Minotaur stopped moving once more, the two colts got closer, Snips taking the feather from the back of Snails.

Time seemed to slow down as Snips leaned forward with the feather in his mouth, and quickly dropped the feather over Minotaur’s broken horn. Sora cackled under his breath the moment that the feather touched the Phantom’s broken horn.

The bubble from Minotaur’s nose popped as he roared out in pain, getting to his knees as his hands shot to his glowing, broken horn. The Phantom screeched loudly as the feather sunk into his horn, red energy surging from in between the Minotaur’s armored body. A powerful flame then erupted from his broken horn, and solidified to create a second horn. “IT… IT BURNS! WHY!??!”

Minotaur got to his feet and stumbled about the clearing, making the two young colts back away. The same flames that recreated his horn washed over the Phantom’s body and immediately melded to it, turning his turquoise armored skin into a bright red and yellow.

There was a moment of silence before the transformed Phantom creaked his head towards the two colts, leering down at them with his now fiery eyes. Minotaur roared while the two young unicorns screamed loudly.

Sora laughed as he watched the two young colt gallop away in fear while the enraged Minotaur began to give chase. “OH! This is rich! So very, very…”

The goofy pegasus didn’t get a chance to finish that monologue, at that very moment, Minotaur charged past him and whapped his arm into Sora’s chest, sending the pegasus flying through the air before he crashed into a thorny bush. “Ow.”

TTTTT

The dusk was slowly overtaking Ponyville and most of the ponies in town were beginning to close up shop for the day. Stores closing, windows in many homes starting to light up, and only a handful of ponies were walking the streets.

And amongst them was a familiar purple dragon, sulking even more with each step he took until he was outside Ponyville. For the last few hours, Spike had been keeping his distance from the library – He didn’t feel like talking to either Twilight or Haru, part of him was annoyed that his two magically gifted friends didn’t stand up to Trixie’s boasting or even when she outdid their friends.

The young dragon stopped in his tracks and looked up at the sky, and sighed loudly as he watched the stars beginning to appear in darkness above.

Spike jumped when he saw two familiar colts galloping towards him, tears in their eyes and screaming like wild stallions. Spike was about to turn away from Snips and Snails when they just galloped right past him, confusing the dragon. “Guys? Where’s the fire?”

Spike scratched his head in confusion when a loud snorting sound caught his attention, the young dragon turned around to see the Red Minotaur stomping towards him, flames slipping from between the gaps of his armored skin. The horned phantom snarled as it picked up its pace, which made Spike run as fast as his tiny legs could take him, and miraculously, the young dragon was able to out run the two colts!

Minotaur roared loudly as it slammed its shoulder into a tree, breaking it in two!

Snips and Snails galloped even faster to the town square, and when Trixie’s wagon was in sight, they made a beeline towards it. The moment the two reached the door to the wagon, they slammed their front hooves against the wood countless times while calling out to the mare insie. “TRIXIE! TRIXIE! C’MON OUT! SOMETHING SCARY’S COMIN’!”

The door flew open, nearly knocking the two colts away. “Who dares to break the Beautiful Trixie’s ten hour sleeping regiment? The One Hundred and Fifty-One Percent Amazing Trixie needs at least nine hours of sleep to perform her most amazing tricks.”

Anypony would be scared of the sight before the two young colts, Trixie had her silver mane done up with a single ironing curl, her face was covered with some sort of green goop, and she had cucumber slices over her eyes. Using her magic, the cucumbers over Trixie’s eyes floated off, “Oh, you two. Look, you two can continue to grovel at the Marvelous Trixie’s hooves in the morning.”

“But, we kinda have a bit of a little, teensy, weenie problem,” Snips chuckled sheepishly.

“Can’t this ‘problem’ wait till morning?” Trixie growled, looking up when an even louder growl echoed through the air.

A number of yards away, several broken trees that were outside Ponyville were flung through the air as the red Minotaur charged right towards the wagon with flames flicking from its body. “RARGHH!!”

At a blinding speed, the Minotaur quickly closed the distance between it and the wagon. Trixie screamed loudly as she leapt into the air, the hair curl and facial mud flew off her before she jumped from wagon, with Snips and Snails following suit. Half a second later, Minotaur slammed both of his horns into the wagon and sent it flying through the air.

The enraged phantom cackled as the wagon sailed through the air. “Going… Going… GONE!”

Minotaur pumped his muscular arms a few times as he snorted out some flames from his nose. The monstrous Phantom creaked his head, remembering why he was annoyed in the first place – The two little colts that ruined his nap!

“BREAK IT ALL!!” Minotaur roared out loud, shaking the entire ground and causing a number of the houses to light their windows.

TTTTTT

Twilight was reading from a book in the second floor of the library, with the library now officially closed for the day, the young mare was able to enjoy her literature without any interruptions. The afternoon was actually rather quiet since Rainbow Dash and Applejack had left, save for the music that Haru kept playing.

For hours on end the dragon continued playing his music, playing different songs every so often. Twilight was a little annoyed that he needed so much time to prepare himself, but at least the music was comforting and creative.

‘One of those songs sounded familiar though,’ Twilight thought to herself as she used her magic to turn another page in the book she had. ‘But I can’t remember its name… Oh well, probably just has a familiar beat to it.’

The young mare turned around just in time to see Spike stumbling into the room, barely standing and trying to catch his breath. “YOU! NEED! TO *pant* COME QUICK!”

“Spike? Are you okay?” Twilight asked as she trotted towards her tired dragon scribe.

“Big… Big… PROBLEM!” Spike panted as he fell to the floor. “T-Trixie…”

Twilight frowned at the baby dragon, “Spike, I thought I told you before, I don’t want to try to show up…”

The young unicorn didn’t get a chance to finish as a familiar wagon crashed through the wall of the library, getting stuck in the wall and surprising the two in the room. Twilight blinked a few times before she turned towards Spike, “Um, I’m guessing this is what you’re referring to.”

“Looks like Haru noticed,” Twilight chuckled sheepishly. “So, what exactly is happening?”

TTTTTTT

Minotaur slowly walked towards Trixie and the two young colts, snorting loudly as flames shot from his nose. The enraged Phantom bellowed loudly at the three.

“C’mon Great and Powerful Trixie!” Snips yelped out. “You can beat this guy! You just gotta!”

“Yeah!” Snails added with a goofy smile appearing on his face. “Vanquish it so we can watch.”

“It took a lot of trouble to get this… Uh, what was this thing called again?” Snips asked as he turned to his friend.

“Right! A Phantom!” Snips exclaimed as Trixie looked at the two colts. “Aren’t you glad we brought it here?”

“Are you two messed up in the head!?” Trixie yelled out, making the two colts reel backwards. “What would possess you to bring a monster like this here!?!”

“Yeah, remember?” Snails chimed in. “You beat up an Ursa Major! No way this thing’s as big as that!”

Minotaur tapped his foot against the ground a few times, waiting patiently for the three to start screaming in terror again. Trixie gulped audibly as she trotted forward slightly “S-Stand back! Watch and b-be amazed!”

Minotaur crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Trixie’s horn engulf itself in a bright aura, the same aura appeared over rope at a nearby stand and caused it to shoot through the air. The rope coiled around Minotaur’s body, tightening about its armored skin until his legs and arms were bound tightly to his body.

Trixie sighed with relief at the sight of the bound Phantom and smiled brightly, “Behold! The Phantom Buster Trixie has caught this terror!”

With a shake of his head in disappointment, Minotaur drew in a deep breath before he snorted out flames. The flames quickly burned through the rope and released his arms, which he promptly brought together and cracked his knuckles loudly. “Lame.”

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Trixie’s head as her horn glowed brightly. Using all of her concentration, Trixie summoned a large black storm cloud over Minotaur’s head. The red Phantom craned his head up to see what was happening just in time for a bolt of lightning to strike his left horn. Minotaur roared loudly as electricity surged through his body, and within a second, he fell face first into the ground before the three ponies, his body smoking.

For a few seconds, Trixie just stood there, letting what she just did sink in. With her chest puffed out and a large mile on her face, Trixie stood up on her hind legs. “BEHOLD! THE GREATEST UNICORN TRIXIE HAS SLAIN THE PHANTOM!”

Both Snips and Snails cheered loudly as Trixie rubbed one of her front hooves on her chest and smiled brightly, “YAY TRIXIE! YOU REALLY ARE THE GREATEST!!”

Unfortunately, the three didn’t seem to notice that Minotaur’s left horn glowed a bright, fiery red before the same aura wrapped around his entire body. The Phantom’s already large body began to bulge with its muscles growing larger. Then, all of a sudden Minotaur snapped his upper body back up and roared extremely loud, which of course made a number of ponies flock out their doors or to their windows to see the red Minotaur get back to his feet.

Of course, this didn’t go unnoticed by Trixie or the two young colts. Minotaur snarled as he lifted his arms high into the air, brought his hands together and immediately began to bring them down on the three ponies.

Or would’ve if not two familiar black clawed feet slammed into the side of Minotaur’s face, knocking him off balance and stumble away.

With a spin through the air, Haru landed directly in front of Trixie and the two colts, his belt glowing brightly at his waist. “Sorry to steal the spotlight from you, the Grandstanding Trixie. But this is the part of the show where the assistant gets to shine.”

Minotaur cracked his neck before he slammed his hoof into the ground, shaking the ground, turning his attention towards Haru who messed with his belt. “RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING MAGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEE!!!!”

“Looks like someone’s been doing his crunches,” Haru stated as his belt glowed brightly and began to sing its song. “Although, I think you’re taking it a little far turning red – Someponies might start thinking you’re a fan of mine instead of a foe.”

“And this is the point that I realize that something’s not right,” Haru muttered out loud as he lifted up his left claws up to reveal the large red ring on his claw. Minotaur roared loudly as he charged forward, making Haru wave his left claw in front of his belt.

The red dragon ran forward and leapt into the air as Minotaur threw a powerful punch towards the leaping dragon. Midair, the familiar fiery runic circle appeared before Haru flipped through it. “Hii Hii Hii Hii Hii!”

And landing on the ground with embers around him was none other than Wizard who spun around to see the back of Minotaur. “It’s showtime.”

Minotaur spun around, trying to backhand Haru with his large muscular arm, however, Wizard just leapt over once more with a spin to slam his tail into Minotaur’s face, making the Phantom stagger back a few feet, shaking the ground with each step it took.

Snips and Snails watched without blinking, watching as the masked Wizard dodged each of the enlarged Minotaur’s attacks with ease and quickly whip his tail across the enraging Phantom’s face each time. “OOOOH! AWESOME!”

Trixie on the other hoof was standing there with shock, “W-What sort of magic is this? And the Amazed Trixie’s temporary assistant is doing this?”

With once more flip over an attack, Wizard spun around and waved one of his coat-tails up to wave the red fabric inside at the Minotaur. “Torro! Torro! Isn’t red supposed to miff you off?”

Minotaur snorted loudly with flames erupting from its armored face and slammed its fists into the ground. The masked dragon spun around and began to run off while he fitted another ring on his gloved claw and threw it in front of his hand-shaped belt buckle. “CONNECT – PLEASE!”

Several yards ahead of Wizard, the large red circle appeared with the Machine Winger slowly wheeling out of the circle. Minotaur roared loudly as he charged after Wizard, who in turn leapt over the circle and landed on the motorcycle, and immediately revved it up. “Right this way!”

As the Machine Winger raced off, the red Minotaur chased right after him, many ponies watched the large monster pursue the masked dragon out of the town.

Both Snips and Snails turned to see Twilight skidding to a halt next to them with Spike on her back. Snips smiled goofily before he proudly proclaimed, “We found a Phantom for the Great and Powerful Trixie to face off against!”

“WHAT?!” Twilight gasped loudly. “How do you two even know what a Phantom is? Wait, that’s not important…”

“Right! Don’t worry!” Snails added. “The Great and Powerful Trixie just summoned her Dragon Assistant to fight the bully! But she’ll vanquish it! Just like she did with that Ursa Major!”

Trixie bit her lower lip before she lowered her head in shame, “W-Well, you see the thing about that is…”

“Ow… That big meanie hurt me!” Sora whimpered as he rubbed the bruise that was now on the side of his head. The green pegasus was also covered with thorns that stuck to his clothing and his wings. “I’m glad I’m using that big lug for my mission! Humph!”

Sora looked down from his cloud to see that Trixie was confessing her lies to the ever growing group of ponies that came to see what the commotion was. A smile appeared on the pegasus’ face as he chuckled, “Heehehehehehehe! Oh how delightful! She’s on the brink of despair! I can see how some Phantoms can like this sort of job.”

That smile disappeared as Sora winced from the pain, “Owwie! I can’t laugh while I got these thorns! Humph! Too bad it’s a waste of despair.

Sora turned his head to watch Minotaur chase Wizard out of Ponyville, and with a lick of his lips, that smile appeared back on his face, “But maybe after I get done seeing if Magic-Boy is what he’s supposed to be or not, I’ll have Minotaur do a one-eighty and head back to Ponyville.”

Taking a moment, Sora spat his tongue out, “Bleh! Exposition! I feel like I just did the work for a lazy author in a somewhat popular story!”

Friendship is SHOWTIME!!

by MangaKamen

Spell 12 - Tunes and the Feather