For the second time of the day, a large shadow fell over the group of ponies. The Ursa stood on her hind legs, lifted her head up to the sky and let an angry roar that made Trixie’s fireworks seem feeble in comparison.
Everypony pressed their hooves against their ears, trying to muffle the sound, but it was useless. Twilight was preparing to use her magic and cast a sound proof spell around the group of ponies and their pets, but before she could do that, the angry roar ceased. The group tentatively lowered their hooves to the ground and looked up.
Ur was still standing on her hind legs. Her gaze focused on the message that Trixie’s firework left on the sky. When the sign started to vanish, Ur lowered her gaze and growled at the group at her feet. She let the upper part of her body fall to the front.
“Everypony move!” Twilight shouted to the rest of the group, but there was no need for that. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash had grabbed their pets and ran to the side before the stellar creature could make pancakes with them. As Twilight took a quick glimpse back, she saw that Fluttershy was frozen in place, a little white rabbit pulling from her pink tail, trying to make her move.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight shouted before turning around and running as fast as she could towards her pegasus friend. The adrenaline was flooding her in such way that she could see in slow motion how Ur’s front left paw was getting closer and closer to where Fluttershy was standing.
Twilight screamed while using all her strength to run as fast as she could, but that wouldn’t be enough. She jumped and batted her wings, trying to reach Fluttershy faster. Twilight wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy. A little bunny was on the pegasus back, kneeled and praying to the bunny god. Twilight took a quick look up to see that a purple translucent paw was just a foot or two above her.
“Twilight! Fluttershy!” Her friends shouted while Twilight closed her eyes and started to gather magic in her horn. A bright flash of light appeared just before the Ursa’s paws met the ground, shaking the whole area and causing a large cloud of dirt to lift. Everypony held their breath until a second flash of light popped just next to the group.
“That was a close call. I thought we would get crushed for a sec-” Twilight got interrupted when a group of ponies tackled her to the ground followed by a group hug. “Girls... I can’t... breath...”
“Sorry, sugarcube.” Applejack reluctantly pulled away, followed by Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Pinkie, on the other hoof, took the opportunity to move her hooves from Twilight’s back to a more inappropriate place in the south. Before she could reach her goal, Applejack grabbed her “power suit” and pulled her away from the alicorn. “It’s just that we were mighty scared for a second back there.”
“Me too, Applejack.” Twilight got on her hooves and turned to look at the yellow pegasus lying on the ground, and the stunned Angel next to her. “Are you alright, Fluttershy?”
“Y-yes. T-thank you, T-Twilight.” Fluttershy managed to say while trying to stand up. Angel remained on his back, staring blankly up at the sky.
Twilight looked back at the rest of her friends and Trixie. “I’m happy to see everyone is fine...” Twilight trailed off as she saw that they were still short one pony. “Oh Celestia, where’s Luna?!”
Every pony let out a gasp and looked around for the missing princess. “Oh no! I think we left her under the tree that-” Rarity stopped as she saw that such a tree no longer existed. In its place, only a house-sized paw and a mass of splinters could be found. “Oh my...” Rarity rose a hoof to her forehead and tried not to faint at the moment.
“No...” Twilight sat down and brought her hooves to her temples. “No, this just can’t-”
“Wait, I think I can see her” Rainbow shouted from just above the group, pointing with a hoof to a spot next to the big paw.
Everypony focused their eyes to where Rainbow pointed. As the cloud of dirt settled, they managed to see a mane of the color of the night, waving lazily on the ground. Princess Luna was lying just next to the large paw.
“She’s alive! She dodged the paw!” Pinkie bounced happily.
“Rainbow, you have to get her out of there.”
“I’m on it, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash immediately shot forward, flying towards the Ursa. She flew below Ur’s armpit and snatched Luna in a swift motion. She flew back to the group just as quickly as she got to the princess. Rainbow proceeded to set the princess on the ground.
“Princess Luna, Are you okay?” Twilight waited for an answer, but the only one she got, was the sound of Luna snoring. “She... She’s still sleeping? After what happened?” Twilight looked to Ur and then back to Luna. “Wow, she was lucky back there. I think she rolled over in her sleep just before the Ursa stomped the ground.” Twilight smiled as Luna rolled a bit more and murmured something.
“Yeah, yeah, she’s adorable,” Rainbow snarked, annoyed at Twilight’s reaction to the sleeping princess. “But we still have a problem over there.” She nodded her head towards the big creature that was looking back at them while growling through her fangs.
Someone cleared her voice and the rest turned to look who was it. “Trixie sees that you all are busy, so she will leave for the time being.” She then proceeded to stand on her hind legs and rise her front hooves to the sky.
“Trixie! Don’t d-” Just before Twilight could finish, a second set of fireworks with less power shot straight to the sky.
Ur let out another roar.
“Bye.” A blue cloud covered Trixie, but dissipated in time to spot the magician running towards town. It didn’t take long for Ur to follow after the running pony. Passing over the rest of the group, the Ursa Major made the ground shake with each step she took, getting closer and closer to her target.
“Trixie, Wait!” Twilight shouted in vain. The Ursa was gaining with each of her giant steps, and soon Trixie would be within her reach. And another thing that bothered Twilight was the direction in which Trixie was running. ‘I- No, We have to do something.’
“Fluttershy, could you...” Twilight was about to ask to her pegasus friend if she could use the stare on Ur, but she saw that Fluttershy was still shaken from the events of a moment ago. “Fluttershy, take care of the pets. Rarity, Pinkie, try to wake up Princess Luna, she’s the only one who know how to calm Ur down. Rainbow, Applejack, we have to go and save Trixie now.” When she finished giving orders, Twilight started to gallop after the Ursa.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash quickly followed after the lavender pony. Rainbow could easily fly past Twilight and save Trixie, but there was something hypnotic in the view she was getting that just wouldn’t let her go save the pony that caused all this mess. ‘Yeah, Twilight, shake that booty.’
“Rainbow!” Twilight sudden shout made the pegasus snap out of her thought. “Fly me closer so that I can grab Trixie with my magic!”
“Why don’t I simply go and grab Trixie myself?” Rainbow immediately regretted asking that. This was the perfect chance of holding Twilight between her hooves, and she had just ruined it.
“I know you are fast, but that could be dangerous.” Rainbow felt relieved that Twilight still wanted to be held in her hooves, to save Trixie, but it was something that had to be done, no matter how much she disliked the showpony. “ If you carry me close enough for my magic to reach Trixie, I can get her out of danger from a safe distance.” Twilight watched as Ur’s jaw was just a few feets away from the showpony. “Rainbow, we have to move!”
Rainbow wrapped her hooves around Twilight’s torso, just below her wings, and flashed Applejack a victorious smile before taking off to the sky.
Rainbow managed to reach Ur in matter of seconds, close enough for Twilight to shout at the blue unicorn. “Trixie! Stop running!”
“Are you -‘pant’- crazy?!” Trixie was at her limit. She was not an athletic pony to begin with and had not recovered from her journey through the Everfree Forest. It was matter of seconds before the worst would happen. “If I -‘pant’- stop running, that thing-” Trixie tripped with a rock in that moment of distraction and tumbled to a stop. She didn’t dare to turn and look at the monster that had been chasing her. She just waited there, with her tail on the air and her head under her hooves.
Ur stopped and looked down at Trixie. In a swift motion, she lifted a paw to the sky and brought it down to crush the pony that had made her so angry. A smaller cloud of dust appeared. Ur withdrew her leg, staring at the empty pawprint. After a few confused seconds, she let out the third angry roar of the day. Where was the blue annoying unicorn? Two voices sounded nearby, so she turned to look.
“What took you -gasp- so long -gasp- to save me? -gasp- I almost -gasp- got crushed” Trixie said between breaths. She was hanging upside down by her tail, which was held just below Rainbow and Twilight in an aura of purple magic .
“You wouldn’t need to be saved if you hadn’t done your stupid presentation in the first place.” Rainbow answered angrily at Trixie. “And why the buck did you have to make more fireworks appear? Didn’t you see how it reacted the first time? But no, it must be more important to be a showoff than being alive, right?”
Trixie harrumphed and tried to point her nose up, but it was hard to do while dangling-upside down. “Whatever you say. Twilight Sparkle, you apparently were the one that wanted to see the fall of Trixie. Why else would you tell me to stop running?”
“Because you were leading a rampaging Ursa Major directly into town. The devastation it would have caused is just... inconceivable!” Twilight looked down at Trixie.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now just do your “superior magic” to save the day and rub it in my face like the last two times.”
“Trixie, I’ve never tried to rub anything in your face,” Twilight said softly, before lowering her gaze uncertainly. “And... I don’t know if I can do it. When I dealt with the Ursa minor, I had to use a lot of magic just to make it sleep and levitate it away from the town. This time we are dealing with an Ursa Major many times bigger than the Ursa Minor. I don’t know what to do. We will have to wait until Rarity and Pinkie wake Princess Luna.”
“But we have to do something before- Whoa!” Rainbow got cut off as she was almost smashed by a giant purple paw.
“What are you waiting for you feather-brained pegasus. Get us out of here!” Trixie shouted from her undignified position.
Rainbow ignored the insult and flew in the opposite direction of the town. Just as she was starting to get enough speed, a second claw swept in from the side. Rainbow barely managed to dodge the claw, but the sudden jolting made Twilight lose control of the spell that was holding Trixie.
“I curse you, feather brain!” Trixie shouted as she fell to the ground. Reacting quickly, she cast a wind spell, one of the few she had learned after her second defeat, and created air pillow that cushioned her fall. “Aha! You will need more than that to take down the Great and Powerful...” Trixie trailed off as she watched a big clawed foot getting even bigger.
A lasso grabbed Trixie’s front left hoof and yanked her away before the paw crushed her. “Not so fast!” Applejack shouted.
“Nice work, Applejack!” Twilight cheered from her seat in Rainbow’s hooves.
“Oh shucks Twilight, it was nothin’.” Applejack kicked the ground and blushed at the compliment.
“Applejack, move!” Twilight shouted.
“Huh? Move fro-Horse apples.” Ur was now aiming to step on the farm pony, but before that could happen, a blue aura wrapped Applejack’s body and moved her away from the paw.
“Trixie has returned the favor of being saved, not that she needed it in the first place.” Trixie said with smug satisfaction. “And if you don’t mind, let’s get out of here, now!” Trixie ran away from Ur, being followed by Applejack.
Ur wasn’t pleased, these ants were getting in the way. If she had to take down each of them to crush the blue noisy one, then so be it. Ur roared again and locked her eyes on the pair that was flying up in the sky. They were impressively high, but nothing she couldn’t reach with her size.
“Oh, come on Princess Luna, wake up.” Rarity nudged the princess side, she had been doing this from the moment Twilight asked her, but no matter how much she tried, Luna just wouldn't wake up.
“Uhm, Twilight, that tickles,” Luna mumbled low enough that the other two ponies near her couldn't understand her.
“Let me try something, Rarity.” Rarity stepped aside to let Pinkie get near the princess. Pinkie held her up in a sitting position, took a deep breath and shouted at the top of her lungs, “WAKE UP, PRINCESS!” as she shook Luna with all of her strength.
“Pinkie, stop! that is no way to treat a princess.” Rarity moved Pinkie away from the princess. “You just can’t be that violent with-”
“AHHH!” A shout from the distance interrupted Rarity. When the white unicorn turned to look in the direction of the shout, she saw Twilight, being held by Rainbow, shouting while the pegasus dodged the Ursa Major’s swipes.
“Oh Celestia! Twilight needs help.” She turned back and grabbed the princess with one leg while hoof slapping her with the other. “Wake -‘slap’- up -‘slap’- Princess. -‘slap’- Twilight -‘slap’- is in -‘slap’- danger.” Rarity let go of Luna, but the princess remained asleep. That, or Rarity had woken her up and then knocked her out with one of her slaps.
“Wow, Luna sure is a heavy sleeper. No wonder she is the princess of dreams.” Pinkie said from behind Rarity.
“What can we do?” Rarity set one hoof on Luna’s chest. “She just wont- Wa!” She got interrupted as a pair of hooves grabbed her and dragged her to the ground. “P-Princess Luna?” she said after seeing the princess wrap her hooves around her, locking her in place.
“Oh, Twilight,” Luna said on her dreams, “I love you so much.” She started to nuzzle Rarity’s neck.
“Princess! I’m not Twilight! You have to-” Rarity gasped as she felt a pair of lips pressed to her coat, just below her jaw. Rarity’s face was getting hotter and hotter. “Princess! Please stop this at once! You don’t know what you-” Another gasp escaped Rarity’s mouth. She looked up to her horn.
Princess Luna was giving long, steady licks to Rarity’s horn. “Just stay quiet and enjoy the moment, Twilight.”
“P-Princess... please... stop... this.” Rarity tried to pull herself away, but even if Luna was just dreaming, she was still much stronger than Rarity, who was losing her own to the “torture”. “Pinkie...” Rarity lifted her head to look at her pink friend. Luna stretched her neck to follow, still giving small licks to the horn. “Help... me...”
“Wait a second Rarity.” Pinkie pulled a small notebook and pencil from her power suit. “So the horn is a sensitive spot. Humm, that could be useful for the future. Oh wait!” Pinkie jumped and landed just next to Rarity. “Do all unicorns have sensitive horns, or is it just something for a few?”
“Pinkie...”
“Oh! And if it’s a thing for all unicorns, are alicorns the same? Rarity, quick, give a lick to Luna’s horn.”
“Pinkie! Just... Help me!”
“Aww, okie-dokie.” Pinkie put the notebook and the pencil back in the power suit and extended her hooves to help Rarity get away from Luna, but before she could do that, she felt her tail twitching. ‘Something is going to fall.’
Pinkie turned around until she was looking in the direction of the Ursa Major. Ur had gotten closer to where they were standing, but her back was turned to them as she tried to swat Rainbow and Twilight out of the sky, missing her target by inches. Suddenly Twilight’s horn started to glow before letting off a bright flash of light directly in the Ursa’s face. Blinded and off balance, Ur teetered for a few moments before tilting backwards like a great tree sucumbing to gravity.
Ur was falling, and would land right on top of Pinkie, Rarity and Luna. As the sky darkened with her looming bulk, Pinkie looked at Rarity who was still trapped between Luna’s hooves. She grabbed both of them and used all her strength to throw them away just before Ur crashed into the ground, growling in pain.
“Girls!” Twilight shouted as Rainbow flew her next to the Ursa. “Rarity, Luna! You’re okay!” she cheered as Rainbow reluctantly let her go. She quickly moved to where the two ponies were and hugged them. After a moment, she pulled away. “Where’s Pinkie?”
“I... don’t... know...” Rarity answered, still in Luna’s dreaming gasp. She was thankful that the licks to her horn had stopped, at least. She didn’t know how much longer she could take such “torture” before her mind went completely blank.
“What? But she was with you just a-” Twilight saw a piece of pink fabric from Pinkie’s power suit pinned under the Ursa. “No...” Twilight slowly walked to the fabric.
“Twilight, what are you doin’?” Applejack shouted from the distance. “Get away from there! It’s too dangerous!”
Twilight didn’t listen. She just kept walking until she reached the pink fabric under the purple fur. “No.”
Ur stopped growling as her vision returned to normal. She looked up to the sky, searching for the flying ant that had blinded her momentarily, but she couldn’t find her. A small noise caught her attention, so she lowered her eyes to look at the sound that was coming from her right side.
“Move.” Ur saw the lavender ant that had blinded her. “Move.” Without thinking much, Ur lifted her right paw. “Move.” Ur placed her leg over the ant, and let it fall to crush her. “I said, MOVE!”
Twilight’s horn flared with a powerful light. She could feel the magic power running from her whole body to the tip of her horn, like no other time. The magic was powerful, more powerful than any she had ever experienced, and she knew exactly what she was going to do with it. Twilight cast a spell, and in a flash of light Ur was nowhere to be seen.
Everypony was completely slackjawed, except for Luna who was now gnawing on Rarity’s ear.
“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted as she frantically looked around.
“Yes, Twilight?” said a pink head that popped out of the ground.
“Aaahh!” Twilight readed back in surprise and landed on her rump. “Pinkie?” Twilight watched in bewilderment as the pink head was followed out of the ground by an equally pink body. “Pinkie!” She grabbed Pinkie in a crushing hug, one the party pony was quick to return it. “I’m so happy you’re okay!”
“Of course I’m fine, silly filly. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because I thought the Ursa had landed on you!” Twilight pulled out of the hug as the other ponies approached. “What exactly happened? How did you survive?”
“Well, after my tail started twitching, I realized that something was going to fall, so I turned around and saw the Ursa falling backwards. I had to move Rarity and Luna out of the way because they were all lovey dovey-”
“That’s not true!” Rarity cried, having finally pried herself out of Luna’s grasp.
“But after I did that, there wasn’t enough time for me to get away, so I decided to dig a hole where I could be safe.”
“Wait.” Rainbow landed next to Pinkie. “So, there was no time to move out of the way, but there was enough to dig a hole and bury yourself?”
“Of course! I am an Earth Pony after all.”
“But I thought Earth Ponies could only...” Rainbow started before throwing her hooves up in defeat. “You know what? Never mind!”
“Twilight.” Applejack walked next to the alicorn. “What did ya do a moment ago? Where’s the Ursa?”
“I think I teleported her somewhere where she wouldn’t hurt anypony. A place where she willbe alone and can calm down her rage.”
“That’s amazing!” Rainbow cheered. “Your magic is really incredible, Twilight.”
“Just as incredible as that flank.” -‘smack’- “Ah mean, glad ya did it before that Ursa had hurt any of us.” Applejack smiled awkwardly, hoping Twilight hadn’t heard the first part.
“I’m also glad that none of you is hurt, but I’m a little worried abou-” Twilight got interrupted as a pair of hooves grabbed her and shot up to the sky. “Rainbow what are you doing?”
“It’s not me!” Shouted the pegasus from below.
“What? then who-”
“Oh Twilight, I was so scared when I saw that Ursa attacking you. I thought she would hurt you,” came the voice of Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy, it’s okay, we all are fine now.” Twilight positioned herself between the yellow hooves to look directly at Fluttershy.
“And it’s all thanks to you, Twilight. You were so brave, so amazing, so beautiful. I just...” Fluttershy pressed her lips against Twilight’s. The pegasus enjoyed the warm sensation and the softness of the lips of the pony she loved. She slowly pulled away and opened her eyes. She saw a pair of wide open eyes, a red face and two wings spread at their full length. Realising what she had done, Fluttershy withdrew her hooves and covered her mouth.
Twilight began to plummet. Halfway to the ground, a gust of wind caught her wings and pulled her into a glide until she reached the ground, face first.
Fluttershy landed just next to Twilight and was about to help her stand when something caught her attention. The other ponies were completely slack jawed, with the exception of Trixie. Some eyes were twitching, and Rarity had fainted, but more than that everypony was staring at her. Fluttershy did what she did the best, hide behind her mane.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie broke the silence. “First an Ursa Minor, and now an Ursa Major. Trixie sees that she has a long way to go. Trixie admits her defeat, for now, but that will change. Feel honored, Twilight Sparkle. Trixie has decided that she will learn magic under your tutelage. Just wait and see, The Great and Powerful Student will surpass the teacher!”
Not a single one of the ponies present moved. They were still shocked by the actions of Fluttershy, the shyest pony of Equestria, that had stolen the first kiss of Twilight Sparkle and proceeded to drop her out of the sky. The only reaction Trixie got, was a long yawn from behind the group.
“Is my decision not amusing? I believe that the fact that I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, decided to stay in such a place is-” Trixie stopped her speech as she saw who was the pony that yawned.
“Uhmmm, I slept so well, and what a good dream,” Luna said as she stood and stretched her legs. She then walked up to the group. “I’m sorry I fell asleep, I was just so exhausted.” No one replied.”Ummm, did I miss something?” Luna looked around the area. “Where’s Ur?”
That night, Fluttershy was pacing around her cottage. The little critters just watched her go from one side of the room to the other. “Why did I do that? I’ve never done something so bold like that.”
“You can thank me for that.” Said a voice from behind the pegasus.
Fluttershy squeaked and jumped to hide behind the coach. “W-who said that? Who’s t-there?”
“Oh, my dear Fluttershy. Have you already forgotten about me. You hurt my feelings.”
Fluttershy popped her head from behind the coach. That voice, she recognized that voice. “I-is that you, Discord?”