//------------------------------// // Illusionists Revealing the Truth? Only in My Life // Story: My Twilight Facade // by axelsempai //------------------------------// Well, I hope I never get that drunk again. Sure, drinking is a great activity if you're living in the moment. The problem arises when you wake up the next morning, then you hate alcohol with an unrestrained passion for a couple of hours, and then you can't wait to get hammered again, only for the cycle to begin anew. It's a painful cycle, at times. But enough about my potential alcoholism! I still needed to become more powerful in the field of magic (*gag*)! To that end, I researched a spell that would allow me to control the earth like Moses parting the Red Sea. What better place to test this spell than my own backyard? It's spacious, it's right next to where I live, and the only one who would possibly care about damages doesn't give a shit. It's perfect! It was just after breakfast when I stood outside, ready to begin my field testing. The wind blew and rustled the grass, because things needed to be dramatic. It was just me, the earth around me, and my power ready to be unleashed. I charged up my horn and channeled the spell, letting the spell loose into the center of the yard. From the grass and dirt emerged a spike of stone, ripping through the natural greenery. Success! I've created a tiny mountain in my backyard! Huh, the way that spike burst forth reminded me of something really cool. I cast the spell again, this time I stomped a hoof just as a stone column burst up beside the spike. I smiled with excitement. I stomped again, simultaneously casting my spell to rip up a head-sized rock from the ground, and I kicked it. I threw it with my telekinesis just as the kick connected, hurling the rock at lethal velocity into the column, shattering both in a shower of broken stone. The column tumbled down into the spike, shattering further in a satisfying display of physical forces. I reared up and brought my hooves down, lifting myself up with a conjured column of stone. I hopped off the column, summoning another column to catch me, lifting me higher than the previous column. I hopped off again, gaining altitude with pillar after pillar. I was having a blast with my new spell, so much so that I laughed joyously. I knew that I could force objects to surge from the ground, so it was time for me to test the limits of the spell. I brought myself down with a stomp of a hoof. I stomped alongside another casting, summoning a small platform beneath me. I raised my hoof to signal the summoning of a stone half-pipe, and I threw my hoof back, channeling the spell to propel my platform forward. It worked so goddamn well! I shot forward at an exhilarating speed, ascending the half-pipe like I was on a skateboard! The platform on which I stood launched out of the half-pipe, and this was the part that was the trickiest. I tried to summon another half-pipe from the ground, the idea being that I would be launched into it and continue moving forward as if I was going through a loop. However, my control over the spell was not as fine as I was hoping. What happened instead was that I summoned another column. I slammed face-first into the column, shattering my stone-board just above me. I dropped head first onto the ground in a disoriented heap, the column collapsing above me like a falling tree. Luckily, the falling mass landed next me, not even touching me. I groaned with effort as I picked myself up, looking at my handiwork and counting my lucky stars that I didn't just hurt myself. Spike came out of the library to investigate the carnage I caused. "What's all this?" I stood up and brushed myself off. "Just practicing my Earth Bending." Spike looked inquisitively at me. "Earth Bending?" "Yeah! It's the ancient and noble art of telling the earth what to do!" I explained. "You mean you cast a Ground Moving spell." Spike clarified with an unimpressed frown. "No, it's Earth Bending!" I argued. "What's the difference?" "Earth Bending isn't magic." "...Huh? But you're using supernatural force to move the ground! That's magic!" "Nuh uh! Bending comes from the power of the spirits! I'm just a middle-man directing the force!" Spike looked unconvinced. "It's still magic." I raised a hoof to argue further, but I couldn't think of a counter point. Instead, I glared at him. "Spike, for the love of God, let me have this!" Spike returned a flat glare at me, unwilling to concede. I'm sure he would have argued further, had a rainbow blur not slammed painfully into one of the columns still up in the yard. Yes, it seemed that Rainbow Dash crashed nearby again. "You okay?" I called. Rainbow peeled herself out of a pegasus-shaped indentation on the pillar with an audible pop. She rubbed her sore face. "I meant to do that." She landed and cast the column a steely glare. "What's up with that thing, anyway?" "I made a few columns with my Earth Bending abilities." I replied. "She actually used a Ground Moving spell." Spike corrected, just to spite me. I shot him an angry glance, and turned back to Rainbow. "So what's up?" "Well, there's this new mare in town calling herself Trixie. She set up a stage for something. Wanna come check it out?" She asked, gesturing towards the town's square. I raised a curious eyebrow. "Some kind of show, I wager? Sounds like it could be worth checking out. You want in, Spike?" Spike looked up at me in thought, then shrugged. "Might as well." Spike turned away, muttering under his breath so that I could barely hear him. "Someone's got to keep an eye on you." That little statement made me a little worried. Was I doing something wrong, or am I looking too deep into this statement? I did slam myself into a stone wall just a few minutes ago, so maybe he was just looking out for me? His muttering was apparently too low for Rainbow to hear, for she didn't react to it at all. She hovered off, and we followed behind her. I considered what Spike could possibly suspect of me, but that was hard to do. My only hint at how he felt was the constant glaring that I originally thought was from a feeling of neglect, but that couldn't be it. We hang out quite often, so there must be something else. As much as I would like to get to the bottom of it, now was not the time. For now, we were going to find out who this "Trixie" character was. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow, Spike, and I arrived before a sizable crowd could form in front of a trailer. The trailer was maybe two ponies wide and two ponies high from my perspective, had a bright red roof, and a yellow paint job for its walls. A yellow window decorated with purple hearts faced out to me. Obvious jokes about hurting oneself on nails aside, a dangling sign in front of the trailer was decorated with a star wand and a crescent moon. I paid no attention to the sign, I was more interested in the folded-up stage just hanging off the trailer's side. We got front row seats, so I was quite happy with our fortunate timing. A crowd formed around us just in time. We were soon joined by a few familiar faces: Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie stood beside us. While Pinkie was visibly quaking in excitement for whatever was about to happen, Rarity and Applejack were more reserved with their excitement. "Hey girls, welcome to the show." I greeted. "Howdy." Applejack returned. Rarity, on the other hand, looked at me curiously. "And hello to you, too. I must ask, why are you here?" I thought the answer was pretty obvious. "I wanted to see a show. Is something wrong with that?" Rarity looked like she mentally debated what she was going to say before speaking again. "You do know what kind of show this is, don't you?" "No, what-" I was interrupted by a voice loudly projecting from the trailer. "Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" I snapped my head at the trailer, eyes wide in disbelief. The stage unfolded to reveal a purple stage curtain, and the doors to the front and back of the trailer swung open to make way for two trios of trumpets. The roof popped open and more props shot out: one of those twirling wheels with the bottle rockets, a generic planet prop, and a big striped rocket. With a burst of light, a smokescreen filled the stage, quickly dissipating to reveal a blue pony in a starry cape and starry wizard's hat. She posed triumphantly, smiling confidently at her audience, which unfortunately included me. "Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!" She reared up, throwing her hooves up to a fireworks display and a grand trumpet fanfare. "Oh, fuck this!" I declared, stomping off. Trixie, I believed her name was, sputtered in shock. "W-what? Where are you going? Trixie's show hasn't even started!" She called out to me. I turned to her. "Man, fuck magic!" I stormed off successfully this time. Before I left completely, I heard Trixie ask the audience in utter confusion. "Was it just Trixie, or was that a unicorn denouncing magic?" --- Trixie stared off at the departing Twilight, flummoxed. She could not believe that a unicorn could ever hate magic like that. Spike, on the other hoof, totally could. In hindsight, it was completely obvious that the biggest change in Twilight's behavior was her sudden dislike of magic. Spike had to smack himself at his folly. He didn't need to spend any more time skulking around the library to pilfer evidence, for what evidence could be more damning than Twilight Sparkle not liking magic? Spike smiled at his imminent success. It was obvious now. None of her Ponyville friends would know about this drastic contrast, but he knew somepony who would. A very powerful princess would be very interested indeed. All he had to do was send a letter, and they'd have the real Twilight back in no time. After this show, of course. Trixie was recovering from her shock, and she was getting ready to begin the show proper. Spike decided that he would stick around and enjoy it. After all, if this obviously evil clone of Twilight didn't like it, then that was all the more reason for Spike to watch it. Spike did not end up liking Trixie's magic show. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When I got back to the library, I practiced my fine control over the Ground Moving spell. Sure, I could have done so in the back yard, but I felt it was time to give the library a more personal touch. I decided it was time to take up sculpting. You would not believe how much easier making a statue is with magic. With a little flick of magic, you can modify a few little details in an instant. On one hand, that made my task a lot easier. But on the other hand, fuck magic. One little thing that I forgot to mention, though, was that it still took me two hours to get as far with my sculpting as I did. I rounded one of the curves on the statue, shaving some more bits of rock to the floor. I gave my statue a satisfied smile, for I think it turned out very well. While I would have basked in the glow of my craftsmanship a little longer, the door burst open with the gloating of a recent addition to Ponyville. "Behold, the magnificent entrance of the Great and Powerful..." Trixie trailed off as she got a good look at the statue. "What is that?" She asked. I didn't even turn to face her. I just admired my work with a nod. "It's Toph Beifong." Trixie walked beside me, staring at my masterpiece with uncertainty. "That looks like a human to Trixie." "Well, yeah, she is a human." Trixie looked at me, noticing my proud expression. "Trixie takes it you like humans?" I shrugged in response. "You could say that." Since I had company, I picked up the fallen rocks from my statue and chucked them out a window. My actions confused Trixie. "For a mare who hates magic, you seem quite adept at its use." I shrugged again, this time with a resigned frown. "Yeah, what can you do? I have to get good at it, whether I like it or not." Trixie seated herself at one of the tables, preparing for a long conversation with me. "Actually, Trixie was wanting to talk to you about your arcane aversion." Ah crap, I was being interrogated by a magician. I had to tell myself to relax and be cordial. I didn't want to run out of my home with a swarm of magicians chasing me, throwing knives at me from hidden compartments in their top hats. Again. I sat across from her, hiding any anxiety I felt from the imminent discussion. "Look, I'm sorry about ditching your show like that. It's just that I have no interest in magic." Trixie couldn't comprehend my words. "Trixie heard your words, but only recognized gibberish. Did you just say you had no interest in magic?" "None. Sorry." Trixie blinked. "That can't be possible. It makes no sense... nay, it's impossible that a unicorn doesn't like magic!" Trixie's gaze hardened with resolve. "This impossibility must be fixed by the Greatest Mare Who Ever Lived!" She declared. I leaned back away from Trixie, suddenly fearing for my sanity over the next couple of hours. "What are you going to do?" I tentatively asked. Trixie leaned forward with determination. "Trixie desires to know why you dislike magic!" I winced. "Really? You want to play therapist to me so that I can get over my anger towards the arcane?" Trixie nodded. "The greatest shame in life is a pony who lacks appreciation for magic. The very reason Trixie became Great and Powerful was because she loved magic from the first day she bore witness to it! I will not let a single pony be deprived of the joy magic can bring!" I gave her flat, doubtful look. "I seriously doubt that magic is as great as you believe." Trixie's glare was challenging. "Oh yeah? Well what makes you so sure magic is so bad?" "Well, for your information, magic has been screwing me over ever since I first encountered it. I wouldn't be here in Ponyville, tromping around as a librarian pony, if I weren't first cursed by some asshole in a fucking dress." I opened my mouth to continue ranting, but I stopped way too late to realize that Trixie got me to open up about it. Well done, Trix. You're better at manipulating others than I am. "Hmm, so is Trixie to assume that you dislike living in Ponyville, and blame magic in your ire?" I sighed in resignation. No use in hiding it now, since she got me start talking. "No, Ponyville is fine, it's just that the circumstances could be better." Trixie nodded at me in confirmation, but wordlessly asked me to continue. "I'd rather not get into it, but suffice to say that magic is entirely to blame for my misfortune." "So it's the actions of a lone mage that upset you?" Trixie summarized. I shook my head. "That's not all. There was this one time I was playing Dungeons & Dragons, and I was dueling this bandit king. We were both low on health and the bandit won initiative. All I had to do was survive the next round of attacks, and I would have kicked his ass! But no, the party wizard had to steal my glory with a bolt of lightning!" Trixie was unimpressed with my additional backstory. "You were upset that the wizard stole your kill and that's the reason you dislike magic?" "We were fighting like MEN!" I roared. Trixie raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Men? But aren't you a mare?" "That's not the point!" "Right, the point is that blaming magic over the events of a game is completely irrational!" "I- you-" I stuttered, trying to make a comeback. I took a deep breath. "Okay, you got me there, but the point stands that a wizard booted my ass to Ponyville." "But you admitted Ponyville wasn't the problem, so what is? What exactly did you leave behind?" I thought on that. What was my life like before Equestria? I certainly didn't have many friends. We hung out in the break room for a few minutes before we went back to work, but I've never felt the need to build my relationships farther than that. My job sucked, so that couldn't be it. I lived alone, in a small apartment, with only a computer and an internet connection to pass the time. "I guess I didn't leave much behind at all." I concluded. "Interesting, then why are you so angry?" "Again, it's the circumstances. No, I won't tell you what they are." Trixie took a moment to think. "But surely you have had other experiences with magic? Perhaps moments when magic was instrumental or otherwise helpful to you?" She suggested. I remembered back to the time my friends and I scaled the mountain to confront the dragon. Boulders fell around me, trapping me. I was almost crushed by one of them, but I saved myself with a levitation spell. "That's right, magic saved my life." I surprised myself with my own recollection of events. Trixie smiled. "Great. Do you remember anything else?" Interesting, I remembered quite a few moments I've had with magic lately. Thinking back, I recalled when Rainbow Dash was feeling nervous about the Young Fliers' Competition. If I hadn't cast the Flight spell, we never would have gotten to support her. "Because of magic, I went to Cloudsdale to cheer for a friend." Trixie raised an eyebrow with interest. "Oh, really? You went to Cloudsdale?" "Yeah. Strangest thing, I was the one who cast the spell, too." Trixie's smile grew wider. "It sounds like magic has been very helpful to you." For a few moments, I mulled over what I just admitted. Magic has been very kind to me, lately. What was more surprising? The fact that magic was helping me left and right, or that I was considering that I might be wrong about magic? Trixie realized how close I was to a breakthrough, and prodded further. "Haven't you had any experiences with spellcasting? I'm sure you can remember a time where you were happy with the results." Now that she mentioned it, I could. Rarity and Applejack stayed over for a sleepover in a lightning storm. A tree was struck by lightning, and it was about to crash into my house. I blasted it apart with a bolt of energy. What really struck me about that memory was the first thing I thought after I had done that. That was pretty cool. My God, I called magic cool. It wasn't a one time deal, either. Just that morning, I was having a blast with one of my new spells! Never mind the fact that I pretended it wasn't magic, because the point was that it was still magic. "Strange, I've been having fun with magic all this time." I admitted, hardly believing myself. "So if you've been enjoying magic, could you honestly say that you hate magic?" Trixie asked. "I guess not." I conceded. "Still, this is shocking. I've hated magic my entire life. This transition is a little jarring." "Trixie understands. It is difficult to change a fundamental aspect of one's life." The library door opened, and we turned to face the entrants. Two colts walked in, one was a tall and lanky orange while the other was short and round light turquoise. While I had no clue who these two young unicorns were, Trixie obviously did. She rubbed her face with a hoof, silently muttering "Oh no, not these two again." I quirked a brow at that, wondering just what made Trixie despise their company. I soon got my answer as they approached Trixie and bowed. Yes, they bowed. As if they were bowing to royalty. "Oh Great and Powerful Trixie, we washed your trailer like you asked." The tall one droned in reverence. "Yeah! So, can we hear another story?" The other one asked. "Trixie told you that she was tired. Please, for the love of Celestia, stop asking me!" She pleaded. Did she just appeal to Celestia like I would a deity? Usually, one only appeals to a being that you can't actually visit. Or is that just how humans do things, and we're just weird? Whatever, Trixie was being pestered by fans, and it was getting on her nerves. While one would think that she would be used to this by now, I guess I could help her out. Time to work my magic. The key to my plan was the fact that the colts were children. And look, we were in a library! "Actually kids, Trixie here was just popping in to read a few books." I leaned towards them menacingly. "Nonfiction books." They paled and gasped at me. "No..." "Yessss." I hissed. I levitated a nearby book from the nonfiction section and quickly scanned the title. "Would you like to join us as we read the wonders of Trade and Commerce?" They screamed in terror, bolting out of the library to my maniacal laughter. My laughter died down to victorious chuckles. Trixie nodded in appreciation, impressed by my work. I grinned. "You might be good with magic, but I'm good with words." I held out a hoof for a handshake. "I'm Twilight Sparkle." Trixie shook my hoof. "And I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! So, has Trixie been Great and Helpful?" "I think so." I replied. "I'll definitely give it some thought." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was nearing dinner time, and the sun had already set a few minutes ago. I was cooking dinner, stirring a steaming pot of noodles. Trixie left hours ago, presumably to do some shopping before she leaves, which left me to do whatever. I decided to read up some comic books, because I felt like it. Spike didn't even come home yet, and it was already past sundown. I began cooking dinner ahead of time, waiting for him to come back. Seriously, where the hell was Spike? Did he finally score with Rarity? Hey, I guess if I was getting some, I'd take my time, too. A little warning is all I'm asking for! Spike slammed the front door open. I peeked out of the kitchen, finding the poor kid having a panic attack. "Spike, what's wrong?" I asked. He looked at me, silently considering his choice of words. "Uh, how good are you at fighting monsters?" How am I supposed to react to that? I guess I didn't need to, because a loud roar pierced the night. I widened my eyes with incredulity. "What the fuck was that?" "Um... an Ursa Major?" Spike hesitantly answered. I looked out a window, finding a giant star bear wrecking Ponyville's shit. Yep, that was an Ursa. Let me guess, I'm the one who has to deal with it? I sighed. At least it was an Ursa Minor. It could totally be worse. "Man, fuck nature." I groaned. "Let's just kick its ass, already." I ran out the door with Spike following behind me. Crowds of frightful ponies screamed and scrambled past us, away from the rampaging beast. Not me, though. I'm the only one in Ponyville with the balls to fight it, hence why my gallop led directly into its path of destruction. Before long, I reached a zone of confrontation. Surprisingly, someone else beat me to it: Trixie, bereft of her outfit. "Alright, let's hope she knows what she's doing." I said. "Of course she does!" One of the idiot colts from earlier declared. "The Great and Powerful Trixie defeated an Ursa Major before!" "Shit, really?" I looked between the surprisingly patient monster threatening to tear apart all we hold dear and the increasingly nervous Trixie. "Then why does it look like she has no tricks up her sleeve?" "I don't know why she's goofing around! Come on, Trixie! Vanquish it!" Trixie shivered in fear at the Ursa still bearing down on her. "I can't..." The two dolts gaped. "What?" Trixie clarified. "Trixie can't defeat an Ursa. Nopony can. I just made the whole story up to make me look better." The two stooges were horrified and surprised at this revelation. But never mind those clowns, if Trixie can't do it, then I had to try. I flared up my horn. "Magic, you'd better not fuck this up for me." I took the time to channel as much energy as I could into my spell. The Ursa was still being incredibly patient and not ripping us all to pieces. Maybe it had to do with the increasingly powerful glow from my horn, which was gathering everyone's attention. I proved a good enough distraction for Trixie to move behind me, at least. After five seconds of continuous build, the power in my horn felt like it was ready to burst out of my horn in a fiery explosion. With my spell overcharged to the greatest possible degree that I could manage, I let loose the what could possibly be the most powerful casting of the Sleep spell in pony history. The glow surrounded the Ursa's head, and its eyes quickly lulled shut. With a quake and a thud, it slumped to the ground in a deep slumber. Overcharging a spell like that has painful consequences for the caster, as I suddenly had an overwhelming sense of vertigo. I fought to keep my balance and blearily opened my eyes to see my handiwork. I smiled victoriously. "Yeah! Fuck you up, bear! Woo!" I pumped a hoof to the air for a pose, but I lost my balance and landed square on my face. "Gah!" Hoofsteps sounded all around me while I had my eyes shut to recover and get my bearings. Apparently, one of the ponies surrounding me now was Rainbow Dash. She whispered to me. "Wow, great work, Twilight! Though I don't suppose you could get that Ursa out of here before it wakes up?" "Nah, sorry; my magic's shot." I spoke aloud. Applejack, who also stood beside me, whispered. "Then how in the hay are we supposed to get rid of an Ursa without wakin' it up?" "Don't worry about it; that guy'll be out cold for at least a few hours. We can make as much noise as we want." I stood back up once I felt stable. "Just get a bunch of unicorn volunteers to put him in the forest, and we'll be just fine." "Um, Twilight?" Rarity caught my attention. "Not to doubt your work, but how are you so sure that your spell will last that long? Creatures this large tend to shrug off spells rather quickly." I waved a hoof dismissively. "It'll be fine. Ursa Minors have undeveloped minds, ergo they are vulnerable to mind-altering effects." "Wait, that was an Ursa Minor?" Trixie gawked. "Yep, just a kid." I confirmed. "Then what's an Ursa Major like?" "Think bigger, bitchier, and purple. Rather hard to miss." "You seem to know a lot about Ursas." Rainbow commented. "You've been reading nerd books, haven't you?" I scoffed lightheartedly at her. "What? You expected me to not read a bestiary entry on giant bears made of cosmic energy with rigid social structures based on how much territory they control? You're even crazier than the Mane-iac!" "So... what? Was this Ursa trying to conquer Ponyville or something?" Rainbow asked. "No, the Ursa Minors are unmotivated at best and lazy all other times. They mostly just sleep in and hope their mothers aren't too cranky. Likely, the beast was awoken by some meddling trespassers and followed them to Ponyville to kick some ass." "Gee, I wonder who could have done that." Spike sarcastically wondered aloud, pointedly glaring at the two dolts. While Spike obviously meant the two morons, everyone else glared at Trixie. I noticed this misplaced blame, and rolled my eyes. "He meant the two chucklefucks over there, dummies." "Oooohhhh." Went the crowd, leveling the withering glare at the dolts. "Wait one darned moment! Why wasn't Trixie able to beat the critter?" Applejack demanded. "She made up a big fuss about how she beat an Ursa before, but she couldn't even handle a baby!" The crowd glared at Trixie again, this time they were judging her. Murmurs through the crowd made it clear that they were calling her a fraud. They called her a liar. A cheat. A con. Trixie backed away from their glares, fear written in her eyes. She could see her career sinking before her. Now, I'm a nice guy. Saying that you can beat an Ursa is exactly the kind of lie that shouldn't be tested like this (it should be disbelieved at best), and I really couldn't blame her for talking up a big game like that. After all, you can't blame her for the actions of stupid people. She didn't come here looking for trouble when it found her, and now her way of life was threatening to be torn asunder. As I've been saying all day: Fuck that. I walked up to Trixie with a haughty gait. "Well Trixie, it looks like we're 1:1." Trixie quirked a brow. "Huh?" "You beat an Ursa Minor, and now I beat an Ursa Minor. We're even." I explained. "What." Spike said, annoyed. "That don't make a lick of sense!" Applejack claimed. "She was cowerin' from that Ursa like a rabbit from a wolf!" I turned to Applejack with a challenging glare. "Oh really? While I'd like to know where you were when the Ursa attacked, have no doubt that Trixie distracted it long enough for me to come by! This Ursa she encountered today caught her off guard, but with enough preparation, she would have brought this motherfucker to its knees!" "Oh yeah, well what kind of preparations would she have made? How do you know all this stuff?" Rainbow demanded. I smiled confidently, which was difficult because I was making this all up as I went. "Trixie told me the whole story. She told me of the elaborate battlefield traps she set for the beast, and how she outsmarted and outmaneuvered the beast, driving it off once and for all!" "You mean to tell us that she beat an Ursa with a few snares?" Rarity asked, unimpressed. "Not just 'a few snares'. I'm talking explosive nests! Pitfalls! Beehives!" My declaration of that last one impressed the crowd the most. "She might not have to ability to blast it away like Team Rocket, but she's a cunning and ruthless tactician!" I smiled at the effects of my speech. The crowd bought my bluff like the sheep they were. Sure, my friends were less than impressed by my obvious fabrications, but I wasn't to worried. The mayor came by shortly afterwards and got as many ponies as she could to move the Ursa back to the forest. The crowd dispersed, and only Trixie, my friends, and myself were left. I stretched out my neck in a gesture to demonstrate finality more than anything else. "Whelp, looks like we're done, here. I've got noodles going back home I should be getting back to." "Yeah, Trixie would be going home soon, if the Ursa hadn't destroyed Trixie's trailer." Trixie sighed. "Ah, that sucks." I concurred. "How about you come over to my place? We're having dinner in a few. Well, if the noodles don't get soggy, first." Trixie perked up at my invitation. "You'd really let Trixie stay for a night?" "Sure! We'll fix your trailer in the morning." Trixie beamed at me. "Thank you! You've done a lot for me already!" "Anytime." I replied with a nonchalant shrug. "Whoa whoa wait a minute!" Rainbow interrupted, shooting in between us. "You just lied to a whole group of ponies! What's your deal?" "Why not?" I asked unrepentantly. "It's only natural to lie to protect your friends." "When did you and Trixie get so chummy, anyway?" I chuckled. "She helped me out of a jam, and didn't even know me. Of course we'll be friends!" I walked down the street to my house. "See you later, girls! I need to get some sleep." Spike and Trixie rushed to catch up to me, while I could feel Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity glaring at us from behind. I didn't pay them much mind. Hell, I didn't even care that I hardly gave them an explanation. My head still felt like it was spinning, and I really wanted to lie down. "Yeah, when did Trixie and Twilight become friends?" Trixie asked. I glanced back at the sleeping Ursa, slowly being dragged along by a horde of unicorns and pegasi. An Ursa that I defeated with my magic. "You helped me sort out a few issues I had. Call me grateful." We had a peaceful walk back to the library. The noodles were unfortunately in ruins for one reason or another (I'm not a cook), but that was not an issue as we just fixed something else. But as we ate dinner, I couldn't help but notice Spike's suspicious glares at me and Trixie. I was getting worried that he was catching on.